A Trillion Gazillion Thank-You's!

Is that a real number? According to Emma it sure is and this year I need that many Thank You cards when I return to school on Tuesday! I couldn't think of a better way to use my scraps and left overs from this year's Holiday Mini-Catalog. I am always sad to see some of the items in these mini's retire. I will miss the Holly Berry Designer Series Paper and the Stocking Punch the most. This was a fabulous grouping of items.

However I am also looking ahead to a great Occasion's Mini Catalog - ready to go "live" on Wednesday! As you might have noticed from my previous posts this week, I have been trying out some of those new items and stamps. I love the new dies, and the Sweet Shop Product Suite is hands down my new favorite - I might even order the coordinating sticker sheets!

Anyway - that's my post for today. Best Wishes to everyone for a Healthy and Happy New Year!

Printer's Tray Club

Join me this year in a series of classes to decorate your favorite Printer's Tray or Shadow Box. This first class will take place on Saturday February 4th @ 1:00 and will feature a Valentine's Theme. I am planning for Easter, Patriotic, Fall and Holiday classes to follow. This design leaves plenty of room for you to customize with your favorite photos or mementos. All materials are included in the class fee. Contact me for more information.

January Stamp A Stack

Here are the samples for January's Card Club. The first is called Be My Valentine. It uses the PS I Love You stamp set from the 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog and will be available on January 4th. I used a combination of Pink Pirouette, Calypso Coral and Chocolate Chip. Who would have thought that Calypso Coral would coordinate so nicely with a Pink and Chocolate combination?

The second card is called Be Mine and features the Hearts Collection of Stampin' Up!s new Framelit Dies. I used the little girl from Greeting Card Kids, a much under used favorite from the current Idea Book and Catalog. It features the new Blushing Bride Smooch Spritz, Silver Waffle Paper, and Vintage Glass Glitter. I thought she was cute with the Soft Suede card base, but this might not be everyone's cup of tea so participants may choose between the Soft Suede or a Pink Pirouette Base.

The last card I called Love. This card uses the Framelits Hearts also, along with some punches and many of the images from the PS I Love You stamps set, as well as the Candy Conversations A la Carte Stamp from the upcoming Mini, and the Outlined Occasions Stamp Set from this year's Sale-A-Bration Catalog - available January 24th - March 31st.

My 2012 Monthly Card Club will resume on Thursday January 12th and will run the 2nd Thursday of each month. This year's club will feature 3 cards each month and attendees will Stamp A Stack of 3 of each version for a total of 9 cards. Class starts at 6:30pm and will be taking place in the Play Room at Life's Memories and More. Call or email me to reserve your space!

Come back soon for an upcoming Valentine Project and more information about this year's Sale-A-Bration!

Happy Hanukkah and Peace on Earth

I needed a Hanukkah card this week, but sadly there are no Hanukkah Stamps in my stash of stamps, so I used the Peace on Earth greeting from my Peaceful Season stamp set (retired) and the flourish from this year's Pines and Boughs to create a blue and silver shimmery card. Gotta love that Glimmer Paper - Hope they like it!

Happy Birthday Zoey!

I managed squeeze in a little time to stamp this morning getting ready for Zoey's 4th Birthday, and made two banners, one for her birthday cake and a holiday banner that her parents could keep after. The cake banner was stamped using the candy piece from my Jolly Bingo Bits stamps set in Wild Wasabi and Real Red Classic Ink and the snowflakes were cut from the Norther Flurries Sizzlet Strip Die. I used a combination of white baker's twine and silver tinsel trim (retired SU)with white organdy ribbon from my stash.

For the holiday banner I used Holly Berry Boquet DSP, Stocking Accents Die and the Stocking Builder Punch. The snowflakes were cut from silver glimmer paper, and I added some crystal snowflakes (from my stash) and Mini-Jingle Bells. I finished the whole thing off with Champagne Glitter - wish you could see it on the snowflakes, it looks great IRL!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Holiday Clearance Rack

This is something worth checking out - lots of great items - ribbon, card stock, punches, dies, and 3-D items, a personal favorite of mine! I have my list made...Holiday Keepsake Boxes, Design A House, Gusseted Envelopes, Punches! Can't wait for that box to come in, it's going to be like Christmas!

You can shop by visiting the clearance rack at the online store. Don't forget to add me as your Demonstrator to get the preferred pricing.

Candy Cane Lane Gift Set

Here is a fun gift set I made using Stampin' Up!s Candy Cane Lane Simply Scrappin' Kit. These kits make it super easy and quick to make scrapbook pages, but they are great for other projects as well. The tag box is not my original idea, but came from Lisa Young's Splitcoast Stamper's Gallery.

Have a great day!

Snow Much Bling!

Hi Bloggy Friends!I've been missing for awhile, but I haven't stopped stamping. Things have been busy around here, but I'm back! Today I wanted to share these cute snowman cards I made recently as Thank You's. It was inspired by a card that Joni Maki made. You can view her blog here: Stampin' Joni Presents I love the Glimmer Paper tags - a little of that stuff really does go a long way - and the Baja Breeze Glass Glitter. Can you believe I have had this in my stash for almost a year, and it's the first time I broke it out?

I will try to make it back in the next few days to post some more holiday goodies that I have been working on. Don't forget to stop by during Christmas Vacation, when I will be posting some samples made from the upcoming Occasions Mini Catalog and Sale-A-Bration!

Enjoy your holiday season!

You've Been Boo'd

Have you ever been BOO'd? Weeks ago someone (not really sure who...or am I?) began Boo-ing at work. Okay it was me, but I couldn't make it obvious so I left a store bought bag (shh don't tell the Stampin' Up! fairies - I mean what respectable stamper leaves a treat for someone in a store bought bag??) it finally came around and I walked into my office yesterday to find a bag of treats waiting for me...who snuck those in there when I wasn't looking I wonder?? Anyway I think there is only one person left who hasn't been BOO'd - so at this point in the game, I think it's okay to make it obvious that the last Boo was left by me and is this not the cutest bat you have ever laid eyes on? I wish I could take the credit for all this awesomeness, but the original design came from the fabulous Shelli Gardner....Do you think they'll ever figure out who left the first??

Gearing Up For a SPOOKY Halloween!

Today I worked on Thank You cards for my customers this month, along with a few for some very thoughtful volunteers who helped me get ready for our Fall Festival at school this coming week. I have lots of Halloween projects I am trying to wrap up including a sweet little black crow who's just waiting for a Halloween costume - can crows even be considered sweet? Well maybe just this one as soon as I am finished with him!

All About R-einkers

I am so excited to share these fun cards with you at my Stamp Club this month! Each of them is made using Stampin' Up! Re-inkers with different techniques. I still have time to prep for more people if you would like to join in!

Candle Boxes completed!

Back in you June you may have viewed a picture of a box I had designed to be used as a wedding favor - sized just right to hold a Yankee Candle Votive. Today I finally finished all 96 of these little babies - Sorry Kim I am keeping two - Rick and Emma deserve a treat for entertaining themselves for the past two days :) If you missed June's post, you can view it here! It was hours worth of work, but I loved every minute of it - and I hope Kim and Pat like these little boxes as much as I do!

I put together a brief tutorial with the measurements and directions - cut on the solid lines and score on the dotted lines (except for the error!) please don't mind my horrible writing, and take note of the error on the box top where it's noted to score and not cut! I added a picture of a cut box top to help.





Thanks for stopping by today - GO PATS!

Beau Chateau

I have had this package of die cuts called Side Notes (#122379 $5.95) from the Belle Chateau Product Suite since July and just opened them this past weekend. Can you believe that I held onto these little darlings for this long? I needed a quick Birthday card the other day and these worked to make a perfect collage on the top of this card. I quickly put them together with a piece of Beau Chateau designer paper, a quick punch, a few pearls and a spritz of Log Cabin and Vanilla Smooch, and I was good to go....I think the recipient loved it too - well.... who wouldn't?

FREE Big Shots!

Join Stampin' Up! as a Demonstrator during the month of October and receive your choice of a FREE Big Shot or $100 in Stampin' Up! Products in additional to all the fun supplies you can choose for your Kit!

Not sure you want to commit to a business? A Demonstrator Kit is also a great way to build your personal Stamp and Paper Craft Supplies at a fabulous price. For only $175 you will receive $375 worth of Stampin' Up! Products of your choice plus business supplies, a one time discount of 30% off of you next Stampin' Up! Order, access to our exclusive Stampin' Connection Demonstrator Only Website that is full of great stamping, scrapbooking and paper crafting ideas, and a free subscription to Stampin' Success - Stampin' Up!'s monthly publication for demonstrators only. Contact me today to learn more about joining my team!

World Card Making Day

Hi everyone,

Did you know that today is world card making day? I can't think of a better way to spend a dreary October afternoon inside than pulling out my stamps and paper supplies to make something fun and special, and I know that many of you feel the same! In honor of World Card Making Day I wantl to let you know that I have accepted a challenge of booking three Workshops in November. I have decided to offer an incentive - book your workshop in November and receive a *FREE* package of Winter Wishes Stitched Felt Accents. If you have $100 in outside orders on the night of your workshop you will also receive a *FREE* package of Mini Jingle Bells. You have to see these to believe how cute they are, it's a fun way to add a little Jingle to your holiday cards, tags and projects. All this is in addition to Stampin' Up!'s fabulous new Hostess Plan which gives you more options that they've ever offered before, plus the opportunity to purchase a Half Price Item. This is a great way to purchase the new Simply Scored scoring tool for only $14.98 - making your 3-D projects easier than ever before. You can see it HERE

Join my Stampin' Up! Team during the month of October and get a FREE Big Shot or an additional $100.00 in Stampin' Up! Products. This is a fun way to earn some extra income just in time for your holiday spending! Visit my Stampin' Up! Website for more information and let me know if you're interested in starting your own business!

I have been busy working on some 3-D projects for a friend's wedding, but in Celebration of World Card Making Day today I decided to share this past card with you. This little cutie was made using Fabulous Florets, and the 2010-2011 In Colors - Pear Pizzazz and Peach Parfait. I spiced it up a bit using Vanilla Smooch Spritz. Have you tried this stuff on your paper crafting projects yet? It's something you definitely will want to add to your collection!

A Big Shot Christmas - 2011 Edition!

I must be on a roll because I just scheduled this class for November 6th @ 1:00 and my samples are already made and ready for a pre-view! I have been really having fun making Stocking Banners for the upcoming holiday season and I thought I should share them with YOU! Join me for this class on Sunday November 6th where we'll be making this Stocking Banner using some of the 2011 In Colors, two Petal Cone Ornaments and a stack of Match Boxes. I can just imagine some moss and a teeny little Cardinal in there, so I will most likely be making a trip to the craft store this week too!

I think the top of this match box is just the cutest thing, don't you?!

August Card Club

This month's Holiday Card Club was all about Fabulous Folds. We folded a Big Shot project with the Mini-Milk Carton Dies, made an easel card, and folded with some new quilted satin ribbon.

It took awhile to get these posted - guess I got a little busy with the start of a new school year!

Fabric Embellishments

Did you know that Stampin' Up! has a line of fabrics that can be used to spice up your cards and projects? Here I used some fabric from the new Holiday Mini to dress up these cute little bags. The tags were inspired by a card that Sandi McIver recently posted to Splitcoast Stampers. I love the color combination of Crumb Cake, Lucky Limeade, and Island Indigo that she used on her card - so I brought it over to my tags. They aren't necessarily traditional fall colors, but I like the different look it gave to my French Foliage Stamps.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Layered Punches

I have been coming across these cards recently and thought it was time to try making one of my own. Unfortunately it ended up that I needed two this week, but of which were not for happy occasions. I hope they touch someone's heart in a positive way - even if it's just to let them know I'm thinking of them!

Out On A Limb For You

Today I cased a card by Lydia Fiedler who is the featured stamper this week at Split Coast Stampers. You can see Lydia's card here or visit Lydia's blog to see what else she has conjured up. Whenever I need to lighten my mood I like to pop over to read Lydia's latest post and if you stop by her blog you might understand why!

I especially like the way Lydia includes her Fur Babies in her posts. This past weekend my cat has taken up residence in my stamp room - she likes the corner behind my desk when she's not sitting right on my work space. So I altered this card a bit in honor of my cat Salem - and Lydia's babies as well!

Hope everyone stayed safe during Irene's wrath - or her teeny little hissy fit, as we witnessed here in Western Mass!

Haunted House with Matching Card

I love making these little houses - they can be decorated to match the season and easy enough to make more than one to give away as gifts! Today I decorated mine with items from the upcoming Holiday Mini-Catalog available for purchase starting Sept. 1st.

On this project I used the new "Out On A Limb" stamp set, new In Colors,and some favulous Glimmer Paper. You can make one of these houses with the matching card for yourself at my upcoming class on Saturday September 24th @ 12:30. Call me to reserve your spot today!

One For The Weekend!

Here is a bottle I made for a friend of Rick's who recently got married. It was fun, quick and easy to create, using Nature Walk, and the Just Believe stamp sets, along with Crumb Cake, Early Espresso and Soft Suede inks and the Beautiful Wings Embosslit. It's probably hard to see, but there are butterflies and bumble bees stamped on this in Smooch Illuminate Ink.

I love the signs behind them too - Rick made those - pretty neat, huh?