Holiday Extravaganza Sale!

Wow! Check out this flier for super special sales from Stampin' Up! (Click it to see it larger.) There are lots of goodies grouped in bundles up to 50% off! Don't miss the Curly Label Punch bundle at 30% off for only $23.77!

The sale runs November 26 - December 1 and items are limited, so hurry! You can place your order online with me here or email me, either way is fine! For every order of $25 or more that you place, I will send you 12 hand-stamped cards from my collection!

Let me know if you have any questions! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Kristina's Color Inspiration #32: Always

Happy Tuesday! It's so great to be on Thanksgiving vacation already! Yesterday I had to finish up reading Breaking Dawn, the 4th book in the Twilight series (I did NOT like it although it got a little better half way through) then I went to see the Twilight movie with some non-Twilight reader friends. The movie was TERRIBLE, in my humble opinion, bad acting, bad directing, etc. and now these friends will never understand how good the book is, sigh. Oh well! But if you liked the movie, I'm happy for you, I wish I would have!

Anyway, finally cleaned up the stamp room a little bit today and made this card for Kristina's Color Inspiration #32. Again, I would never have put these colors together, but I loved them (I always love the more monochromatic look): Red Riding Hood, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, and Whisper White. This turned out a little plainer than I had hoped for, I think I should have stamped the bird on Red Riding Hood designer series paper instead of solid cardstock maybe? The bird is from the Always set, you might remember when I made him a solid color back from this post.

Well, I just worked out (I know, a miracle! Trying to make the most of this vacation and start back on some good habits), and now I better clean up and run a couple of errands before some stamp club girls come over tonight. Hope you're all having a great week and having fun getting ready for Thanksgiving. Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Always
Cardstock: Red Riding Hood, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, and Notebook DSP (retired).
Ink: Versamark.
Accessories: Old Saint Nick Rub-Ons, White Embossing Powder, Versamarker, Heat Tool, Spiral Punch, Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon, Red Riding Hood Designer Button, Dimensionals, white thread.

Laura's Sketch #13: Mark the Date

Happy Saturday and Happy Birthday to my dh! I took him out for brunch and shopping for some new shirts (his choice of birthday plans!) and on the way back home I said, "Wow, you've spent half your life with me now." Then he replied, "Yeah, the best half." Awwww, isn't that sweet?! Hope that wasn't too much *cheese* for ya, but sometimes he has a little "Edward" in him! hee! hee!

Anywho, this is the card I made for him using the Mark the Date and Full Calendar stamp sets. I was worried it seemed a little unpersonal, but I wrote some romantic stuff inside! lol! I used Laura's Sketch #13 and it came together very quickly! The size is 5 1/4" square, and I even used my envelope template to make a homemade envelope for it because I'm out of square envelopes. If you have any questions about any other parts, just let me know!

I went to a crop last night with some girlfriends and had a great time. I didn't take much to work on, just my computer and some die cuts to play with, mostly I needed some girl time, and I left feeling so much better than when I got there, as is always the case, so thank you girls! And...I have to admit...I stopped on the way there and bought the 4th Twilight series book. Since my Thanksgiving vacation has officially began (whoo! hoo!), I can read guilt-free now! lol!

Hope your weekend is off to a good start! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Mark the Date, Full Calendar, All Holidays, Take a Number Wheel, and Straight Up Alphabet & Numbers (retired).
Cardstock: Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, and Pumpkin Pie.
Ink: Old Olive, Staz-On Brown.
Accessories: Silver Brads, Clips Assortment, 1/2" Circle Punch, Dimensionals, Old Olive Twill Ribbon (retired).

Peace Gable Box

Happy Wednesday! Thank you for all of your comments and well wishes on my last post. My, I never dreamed I would have so much competition for my Edward though! A few replies on some of your comments: Megan, yes, they are VERY addicting, so don't start reading if you have anything else you might have to get done (like feed your children or take a shower!)...Jen made the comment about using a receipt for a bookmark and I used a Marshall's one, glad I'm not the only one!...Chelle, I agree, book 2 was a little boring to me too because it had a long, lack-of-Edward part in the middle and it was making me SO mad!...and the rest of you, I will be the only one running away with Edward! hee! hee!

Okay, back to stamping...sorry for the detour (well, not really!). This little gable box I started on last night for our 2nd stamp club project. It's not *exactly* like I had envisioned, but I hope the girls still like it. I had a bunch of these gable boxes left over from when SU sold them, and they really do make nice gift boxes, this is the largest one. I stamped some several years ago for famly members, and it's nice to see them get reused and passed to someone else every year.

I used the Ski Slope DSP and the Join in the Cheer die with the Big Shot (Vina's request!). I bought the snowflake dies last month with the intention of using them, but it didn't end up that way, sigh. Maybe next month, right?! I just couldn't resist using the BIG felt flurries, they were perfect for this box. I find the big ones a little hard to use on cards, they're probably best for scrapbook pages and gift packaging or home decor projects. Have you made anything with the big ones yet? Do share!

Okay, I'm off to blurf a bit, I'm still way behind and I'm dying to check out some super cute stuff out there! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Best Yet level 1 hostess set.
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Red Riding Hood, Whisper White, Ski Slope DSP.
Ink: Red Riding Hood.
Accessories: Ticket Corner Punch, Small & Large Tag Punch, 1/8" Circle Punch, Red Riding Hood 5/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Join in the Cheer die, Big Shot, Large Felt Flurry, Jumbo Eyelet, Crop-a-Dile, Vintage Brad, Glue Dot, Dimensionals.

Organic Outlines Bookmark

Happy Tuesday! Sorry for my prolonged absence, it's been such a bummer. I've been sick, nothing major, just one annoying thing after another that's kept me from sitting up at my stamp table. Grrrr! I did manage to spend 2 hours there this evening, yay!, and I came up with this little bookmark that we'll be doing for stamp club this month. Thank you to my wonderful stamping friends in the club who are flexible when we meet, love you girls!

Anyway, I saw this precious bookmark idea on Jen Del Muro's fabulous blog, you can see hers here. She used the rectangular Nestabilities, but I made do with the Scallop Border Punch, and made mine a little bit longer than hers.

I started with a piece of Baja Breeze cardstock cut 2 7/8" x 8 1/2" (I practiced with a piece of copy paper first to get it right.) I used the Border Scallop Punch along both long sides, then did the short ends across last. When I finished that, I folded it in half and scored with a bone folder, then put a piece of Sticky Strip tape inside about 1" down from the top, so that it will slide over your book pages and stop. Jen shows a picture here showing how it works, I should have done that, sorry! This picture below shows the side view and you can see better how it will slide over your pages. Wouldn't these make cute little Christmas gifts?


This project also ties in with how I spent a lot of my time these last few days while lying around sick and not stamping...I joined the cult of people reading these little books. I'm pretty sure it's a sin for a 42 year old married lady to be in love with a young vampire named Edward (he is an old soul though!), but heaven help me, we are meant to be together, maybe even more than Mr. Darcy and me! lol! Yesterday at the doctor's office, the nurse saw me reading the book while waiting and we had a 15 minute discussion about Edward and Jacob before we even started discussing medical issues, and the office was packed too! Yikes! I guess that makes it sound like I wasn't that sick, but I think the *love* (or *lust*!) endorphins were actually helping with the pain and sickness! Okay, I better stop now...hee! hee! Oh, I haven't read the last one yet, so don't give anything big away!! hee! hee!

Hope you all have been doing well! Thank you so much for all the sweet comments on the last few posts and for bearing with me during my absence. I have something else almost finished to post tomorrow night and a plan to get caught up on 300+ posts on Google Reader! lol! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Organic Outlines, Best Yet hostess level 1 set.
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Whisper White, and Patterns Pack level 1 hostess DSP.
Ink: Real Red, Baja Breeze (stamped off once).
Accessories: Scallop Border Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Jumbo Eyelet, Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Crop-a-Dile, Sticky Strip.

Kristina's Color Inspiration #30 Trio

Happy Wednesday! I *loved* Kristina's Color Inspiration #30 this week and could not stop making cards with it! What a relief, because I haven't felt very creative lately with all my sinus crap and headaches. For this first card I made above, I pulled out the butterfly stamp from the retired hostess set Cause for Celebration. I love that butterfly and have never used it, so I decided "Use it, girlfriend!" I was stuck at first, so I fell back on an old crutch...the circle design card! Whenever you're stuck, use circles...you can't go wrong! I also pulled out a much ignored set, Sweet Sampler, and used it for the other two circles.

This next card below I found the Certainly Celery card 6 1/2" x 3 1/4" already cut and ready to go in my stash, and I really wanted to use some rub-ons since they are on special this month. See here for more details. I used a stamp from Sweet Sampler again and embossed it with Winter White Embossing Powder. It started out as a square, but I decided it needed to be a circle too. I LOVE that new 1 3/4" circle punch! The background was too plain, so I also dug out my much ignored Baroque Motifs set (I dropped it first and it landed on the still spilled buttons, pretty much
finishing them off!) Lastly, I added the "congratulations" rub-on from the level 3 hostess Holiday Happenings Bundle on the satin ribbon (old, from the Michael's $1 spot).


Then this last card, I ended up loving! I had the Ski Slope Old Olive patterned paper frame left over from a Top Note die cut and I had to save it because it was so perfect (that's rare for me!). I thought it would make a perfect picture frame for a holiday card. I also have some old envelopes from somewhere that fit a 5 x 7 card, so that's the size I made this. I put a thin row of dimensionals (you know, the edge piece) on three sides of the frame and left the top open to slip a picture in. That's my cousin's little girl, Sydney, isn't she a doll?! She's not camera shy at all, can you tell? That runs in our family.


I embossed the snowflake from Winter Post with Winter White Embossing Powder, then punched it out with the fabulous Curvy Label punch. I added the white "celebrate" rub-on from the retired SAB rub-on set, Love & Happiness.

So that's it for my trio! Don't you love these colors together, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Sahara Sand, and Whisper White?! I never would have thought of them on my own, especially that Sahara Sand, I always forget about it!

Hope your week is going well out there! We're on the downhill stretch now. I'm attending a workshop Thursday and Friday, so it sort of feels like being off work!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe #1: Butterfly Friend card
Stamps: Cause for Celebration (retired), Sweet Sampler.
Cardstock: Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Sahara Sand, Whisper White.
Ink: Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Sahara Sand.
Accessories: Circle Punches (1 3/4", 1 3/8", 1"). Ribbon from Michael's $1 Spot, polka dot brad from Target $1 Spot last year, white flower from a RAK.

Recipe #2: Congratulations card
Stamps: Sweet Sampler, Baroque Motifs.
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Old Olive.
Ink: Versamark, Certainly Celery.
Accessories: Winter White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Pretties Kit pearl, Mini Glue Dot, Dimensionals, Holiday Happenings Hostess Bundle rub-on. Ribbon from Michael's $1 Spot.

Recipe #3: Celebrate picture frame card
Stamps: Winter Post.
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Sahara Sand, and Ski Slope DSP.
Ink: Versamark.
Accessories: Winter White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Curvy Label Punch, 1/16" Circle Punch, thread, Love & Happiness rub-on (retired), Dimensionals, Big Shot, Top Note die. Ribbon from Michael's $1 Spot.

Kazan's Sketch #13: Vintage Scrappy Card

Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone survived the storms without too much harm! It only seemed to harm my head around here! lol! I should have went to bed at 10:00, but I hadn't done any creating all evening and thought I better just make one little card!

I wandered over to one of my favorites sites, 2 Sketches 4 You, and tried Kazan's Sketch #13. I didn't feel any stamp sets calling my name, so I played with some vintage goodies that my friend and downline Valerie gave me back last month on our scrapbooking retreat. Don't you love that fabulous lady?! It's an old playing card. I thought it would be a sweet card to send to my grandparents.

Okay, chumlies, gotta run. (Chumley is one of my dh's words!) Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: none!
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Holiday Happenings level 3 hostess DSP.
Ink: none!
Accessories: Baja Breeze 5/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Vintage Brads, Pretties Flower, Dimensionals, stapler, needle/thread. Unknown items from RAKS: vintage playing card, button, Hug ticket, and polka dot flower.

Rub On Some Cheer!

From November 10-30, get 20 percent off all Rub-Ons when you spend $20 on Stampin' Up! products.

For only $8.76 per package (regularly $10.95), you can get any of Stampin' Up!'s fun and unique Rub-Ons that can be used on cards, scrapbook pages, crafting projects, and more!

Item #	Page #	Rub-Ons Description
111417	178	Word Flurries
111277	178	A Perfect Day
111416	178	Chateau Bella
111414	178	Hidden Garden
110283	179	Take Note
111806	179	Chills & Thrills
111804	179	Chit Chat
111415	179	Greatest Moments
111805	179	School Days
110282	179	Anchored
128443	11*	Old Saint Nick
112843	17*	Season of Cheer
112735	39**	Hidden Garden Blossoms

Contact your demonstrator for more information, or if you don't have a demonstrator, contact me here! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Punches Three: FS92 Challenge

Happy Sunday! Hope your weekend has been going well! I've been resting between little bursts of energy where I work on cleaning/organizing/laundry. So during one little *resting* break I worked on this card for the Splitcoast Featured Stamper 92 Challenge. This week is the fabulous Wendybell, click on her name to check out all her great stuff!

I chose this super cute card to case. She used the long rectangular Nestabilities, which I don't have, so I had to wing it with the Scallop Border Punch. I tried several different test sizes using copy paper before I broke out the cardstock (live it, learn it!) to make sure I could get the scallops even across the bottom. So I started with a piece of cardstock 4" x 8 1/5" and scored it at 4 1/4". First I punched the scallops up both long sides, then I did the ones along the bottom. I changed the colors, stamps and used a different Cuttlebug embossing folder, and I also didn't use one small layer piece behind the ribbon, I just couldn't find one I liked with my card. Wendy has a great gallery, go give her a case!

Okay, back to the laundry. The last load is in now, what a relief! The last few weeks I've been finishing up so late, like 11:00 pm on Sunday. I don't know how 2 humans and 1 dog manage to produce as much dirty laundry as we do! lol! Have a good evening! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

*Edited to add: Leave a comment here to get a chance for a free pass to check out the 12 Days of Christmas! It's yummy goodness!

Recipe
Stamps: Punches Three Level 1 hostess set.
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Purely Pomegrante (retired).
Ink: Bashful Blue, Rose Red marker.
Accessories: Sherbert Ribbon Originals (retired), Square Scallop Punch, Scallop Border Punch, 1" and 3/4" Circle Punch, Dimensionals, Rose Red Brads, Big Shot, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder.

Laura's Sketch #12: Holidays & Wishes

Happy Saturday! I barely made it with something today! Decided at 11:00 I better make a card for Laura's Sketch #12 over at 2 Sketches 4 You. I made the chipboard bird the other night for a different card, but it didn't work out, so luckily it was salvaged for tonight!

I made this paper rosette a different way, using one piece of paper. I had tried it before following Martha Stewart's instructions, but I think I was cutting the paper too wide maybe. I tried it again following Lisa Pace's instructions and it worked better. I cut the paper 1" x 12", then scored every 1/4", and glued the ends together. The center wants to pop up, but will stick down with a glue dot or strong adhesive.

Thank you so much for all of your well wishes for my past week and for your sympathy with my button spill! I wish some of you "Monk" (that cracked me up when Tara said it!) and OCD types lived closer and could come reorganize them for me. I'm ashamed to admit it, but they're still sitting there, behind the craft closet door, like that! I know once I start picking them up I'll be compelled to resort them too and just haven't been able to face it yet! lol! I did do a major clean-up on my stamping desk and my office desk today, though, so that feels really good now!

Okay, off to Bedfordshire again (the movie is Bridget Jone's Diary!). Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Holidays & Wishes
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, and Autumn Vine DSP.
Ink: Staz-On Brown.
Accessories: Rope Twine, Border Scallop Punch, Chocolate Chip Felt Flower, Chipboard Bird unknown, button RAK, thread, Glue Dots, and Dimensionals.