Create With Angie

Time to go "old school"

2010-02-02T10:36:00.003-05:00

I made my parents a set of tiles for their anniversary one year and just found the pictures of them as I was looking through pictures on my "old" laptop. I thought y'all might like to see them....hope you enjoy this walk down "Memory Lane" with me! :o)

All six tiles together.

My mom & dad when they were in elementary school. There were no such things as "middle school" when they went to school. The funny thing is that not only did they go to school together but they lived right around the corner from each other when they were young. Guess you could say they were destined to be together all their lives!

My parents wedding day and an early family picture.

Since I couldn't find pictures of my brother and myself alone (it was a last-minute project), I used different ages of us together. Weren't we just so cute when we were teeny-tiny?! ;o)

Dad's Home!!

2010-02-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

Gary was out of town Monday thru Thursday of this past week. I was not the only one that missed him being home. When we went upstairs to play Wii, he reclined back in the love seat to rest & watch me play.....Lily and Layla promptly decided to get as close as the possibly could to him! They obviously wanted him to know how much they love & missed him (I'm not telling them he'll be gone again this week!)

Lily loves dad - Layla loves dad and her toy!

Layla's afraid her toy is going to move when she's not looking....

so she stares at it to make sure she knows where it is at all times!

Lily is afraid that if she doesn't "hold dad down", he'll leave again.....

yes, he did fall asleep for a little while with Lily on his chest and Layla at his side.

And the winner is.....

2010-01-31T09:47:00.001-05:00

Missing! I scanned in the "winning" Bridesmaid Luncheon invite - well, the two that incorporated Kehley & Katie's ideas and now they're missing! After I edited them this morning, I moved them to a different file on the network (along with a LOT of other pictures - some family pictures that I can't replace!!!!) and they are now nowhere to be found! I'm even doing a "Search Results" search on my whole laptop! So far, nothing! :o( I swear if it doesn't find these pictures, I may cry!

What I can tell you is that Kehley's favorite of the invites is the one with the dress.....The 4th one down that Kathy Baffone created. The changes were minimal (different colors for the "tux", ribbon and ink) but they really looked good. Hopefully I'll be able to find them so I can share!

What happens when you fall asleep at our house?

2010-01-25T10:28:00.001-05:00

Our little Lily turns you into her bed! :oD Poor Will found this out last night before Brittany woke him up so we could go to dinner. As funny as this is, it makes my heart proud to know that my daughter's boyfriend feels so comfortable here that he will take a nap on our sofa!

Bridesmaid Luncheon Invitations

2010-01-24T21:00:00.001-05:00

My next-door-neighbor asked me if I could make some Bridesmaid Luncheon invitations for her older daughter's wedding this June. Of course I told her that I would be happy to.....then I started to panic!

We've known our neighbors for 10 years and they are like family to us. We've watched the girls turn into beautiful young ladies and feel as if we're gaining a son just as much as Gary & Katie are (yes, my neighbor's husband is also a Gary....and their last name starts with 'P' as well!)! For this reason, the invitations had to be perfect! This was nerve-wracking for me and as a result, I didn't get started on putting them together until today!

I actually dreamed one of the layouts and in my dream, it was Kehley's favorite! The bad thing is that I didn't "see" what was stamped as the focal point. What's that all about? If I'm going to dream her favorite invite, shouldn't I see the whole thing so that I can re-create it?!!

Four of the five cards you will see were CASE'd from our Stampin' Up! demo-only website. I changed something on the card on each one & will tell you what that was as well as who created the original card, but I won't post the originals as I don't have permission to do so and I just don't feel right doing that.

Jane Hignite created the original that this card was based off of. I changed the colors to Kehley & CJ's wedding colors, changed the way the flowers were placed (Jane's were cascading down the cake) and I ran the cake "layers" through my "Elegant Bouquet" embossing folder.

Anita Haines was the creator of the original card this one was based on. I still used the Manhattan Flower embossing folder but I tied my tag to the ribbon and I again changed the colors. I also inked up one side of my folder so that it would add just a tad bit of color (Regal Rose) to the So Saffron.

Teresa Giordano is the one that created this original. Honestly, I changed very little of this one because I thought it was just beautiful! I added the Chocolate Chip base and I didn't heat emboss the bride and groom as she did (she did that in silver - beautiful!). I again changed the colors to the wedding colors.

Kathy Baffone is the creator of this card and she's being SO kind! She stated that she used a template to make the "bride" side of this card and she's looking for it so that she can send it to me. I'm hoping like crazy she can find it because I just couldn't get the bust of the card to look "right"! The only two things I changed on this card is the stamp and I didn't add flowers.

This is the card I dreamed! I wanted to use my Manhattan Flower embossing folder to create a dress as the focal point but I had a "blonde moment" and it just wouldn't work out. I figured out how it would have worked as I was showing the cards to Katie & Kehley earlier tonight! I may create that card to see how it would have looked if I hadn't been so darned blonde earlier tonight!

Which one do you think Kehley picked as her Bridesmaid Luncheon Invites? You'll have to come back tomorrow to see! She asked about changed a couple things around and Katie had a couple ideas as well so I'm going to make those changes for them so they can actually see what they're thinking and then make their final decision....but Kehley already knows what she wants.

Hmmmm, maybe I need to turn this into a contest?! I will wait until Tuesday to post the requested changes. Y'all post a comment telling me which card you think Kehley picked as her favorite and the first person to answer correctly will receive a prize. I can't tell you what it will be (because I don't know right this minute) but I'll make sure it's pretty! ;o)

2010 Purse Calendar

2010-01-23T13:55:00.001-05:00

At the end of 2008 when we had a promotion that consisted of a "box calendar", a demonstrator from Canada created calendar pages for the remaining days of 2009 (since it was an '09 calendar) and shared the file with anyone willing to pay $5 for it. I was one of those that was willing to! ;o)

I loved that calendar so very much and it was AWESOME! I realized when it got close to the end of '09 that I hadn't seen or heard of a 2010 purse calendar and I panicked. I frantically searched my emails to see if I still had the demonstrators name and email address and sure enough, I found it. I quickly emailed her to ask if she had created a 2010 calendar and luckily she had!

I had so many compliments on my '09 purse calendar that I had decided that I wanted to give some of these as Christmas gifts to friends and family. I shot off an Internet payment to Karrie, she emailed the file and I was set! I did add US holidays to the calendar since there were no holidays listed (I absolutely do not blame her since she's providing calendars for people world-wide!) and I even saved a separate version for myself, my mom & my mother-in-law that contained family birthday's and anniversary's! :o)

The one you'll see below is the first one I finished. This one was done for a friend with 5 ACTIVE kids and a very busy schedule for both herself & her husband! I added a pocket between each month per Karrie's suggestion and I love the way it turned out! I loved it so much that I believe I ended up making 11 or 12 of them! LOL!

So, what do you think? I wanted to keep the cover simple and not add a lot of embellishments since these will most likely be put in purses and bags. I think the sentiment and ribbon added the perfect finishing touch, don't you?

Fabric Flower Purse Charms

2010-01-18T20:01:00.002-05:00

At Leadership, a top Demonstrator showed us these awesome fabric flowers that she used to create purse charms. I absolutely could not wait to get home & try them! When I got home, I realized that I didn't have the correct dies to create them. I was bummed - especially since I had gone fabric shopping & bought the supplies to create the flowers! I placed an order! ;o)

My order arrived today and guess what I did?!?

These are just three of the 13 I made. Well, I haven't really made 13....I've done all but add the ribbons to the remaining 10. The others are made from the same fabric designs so they look very similar to these. The only difference is that the flower layers are different since the Big Shot die (Flower Folds) cuts out four different sizes of flowers at once.

I love the color combination of blues and browns! I do really like this flower but I can't decide if it's my favorite or not.....I'm leaning toward, "Yes!"

This one is really cute and I wasn't sure how the designs would look together - even though they were bundled together when I bought the fabric.

This one is one of my favorite design combinations. I definitely wanted to use a black/white combination so that it would coordinate with more of my bags and purses.

This is the blue/brown flower.

This is the multi-color flower.

This is the black/white flower. As you can tell, they are various thicknesses. I'm not exactly sure why this is, maybe because I held the iron on that area longer? No matter what the reason, I think I like it.

With the three previous pictures, you can get a better look at the fabric designs I used.

Now, I have to tell you that these flowers may be a little "involved" than I was thinking they would be. I used a "fusible" batting at first but either my iron is just too old to do the job (it is over 20 years old!) or it didn't get hot enough (again, it is over 20!). When that didn't work very well, I ran to the local craft store and bought a batting spray (read: batting adhesive) along with more batting to complete the job. The spray didn't work as well as I expected it to work either. I ironed all the fusible batting fabric designs (I had only tried one design earlier) to see if that would help. That does make the batting more rigid and that looks really good but it doesn't really stick to the fabric. :o(

The only thing I can think of to do next is to sew around the petals with a sewing machine but I'm not a seamstress and I can't even begin to think of doing that. Maybe a different adhesive? What do you think? Anyone have any suggestions on an adhesive to use that won't "gum up" my brand new die?

Work Table Buddies

2010-01-17T11:07:00.000-05:00

I have to take a break from posting projects for just one day. Not because I don't have any projects to post but because I have to share something with y'all.

While I've been working on both my projects and transferring files and information from my "old" laptop to my new one, I've constantly been interrupted. I've had to deal with begging, pleading and just down right pitiful eyes! Seriously, every time I sit down I have to watch out or my lap will be filled unexpectedly.

What is it being filled with? That cute little black face that y'all saw in my previous post......Lily! Gary was out of town for a few days last week and I guess since we were both out of town the previous week she thought she needed to keep me weighed down so that I wouldn't leave too. It got so bad that one day I stood at our kitchen counter with my laptop sitting on the counter so that she wouldn't have anywhere to sit! It didn't quiet work - she kept "pawing" at my legs!

While I ignored her and Layla for a while one day, I finally got a bright idea. What do you do with an adorable dog that wants nothing more than to be near you at every waking moment? One that wants nothing more than to be sitting in your lap as you work on your projects? Well, you do this......

Yep, that is both Layla (the nearest one) and Lily (the "camera shy" one) laying on their doggy cushions ON my work table! That seemed to do the trick for Lily - they both laid on the table all day. The only time they weren't laying down is when I told them it was time to go outside for a bathroom break and even then, they would stand up and wait for me to pick them up and put them on the floor. I may have new work table buddies when I work on my projects now.....we'll see. ;o)

Big Shot Fabric Flowers

2010-01-16T12:59:00.004-05:00

One of the projects I learned about at Leadership was these really cute fabric flowers. I've seen some other fabric flowers & we were even shown a different type at Convention last July but these are totally different. I loved the other ones I've seen but don't have the correct die to create those.....until Monday. ;o)

When I got home, I couldn't wait to go shopping for fabric to make these flowers! I bought lots of fabric, rushed home to make the flowers and found that I don't own the die that was used at Leadership! :o( I was bummed but my "punch puppy" card fiasco taught me to get out of the "tunnel" and look for solutions right away! And so I did!

This is what the finished product looks like.

I think it looks a lot like a Posey and it's cute-as-can-be in real life! I used the ugliest fabric I bought for this flower. Yes, I thought it was an ugly design but bought it anyway. Why? Because I thought it would end up making the prettiest flowers.....and so far, I'm right! lol

Let me tell you how I made them.....I used my Circles die and cut out 8 layers of fabric (IMPORTANT side note here - you can cut out 8 layers of fabric when you're using a die that does NOT have score lines but only 3 layers if it does). Also, be sure you use fabric that will melt such as Polyester or nylon. Basically, if it's flammable it's good for these flowers!

See, I told you the fabric design was ugly!

Here are the circles after they've been cut out - I think they look much better here!

I forgot to take a picture of the circles after they were layered onto each other so you'll have to see how cute it looks when you create your flowers. ;o)

Next step is to "tack" the layers together. I did this by sewing the pin back on at the same time so I didn't have to do another step. Some call this lazy, I call this working more productively! LOL!

After you tack the layers together, put a pin back on your flower (if you didn't follow my "working more productively" lead).

Once you have a pin back on your flower, you'll want to put it on a clipboard. I put a "bulldog clip" on the end of a Popsicle stick then slid my flower on it & let the flower slide to the clip. I then put the other end of the Popsicle stick under the clip of a small clipboard. This is to 1) hold the flower still & 2) hold the flower with something other than my fingers!

At this point, you'll want to heat up your heat gun. Once it's sufficiently heated, start from the center of your flower, work toward the outside and "melt" the fabric so that it starts curling up.

After you've melted the front of your flower to your liking, flip it over (holding the Popsicle stick!) and "melt" the back a bit so that it will support itself.

Once you've done this, set it aside so that the metal from the pin can cool off......DON'T touch it before it's totally cooled off! ;o)

So, what do you think? If you make some flowers yourself, be sure to either send me a picture of yours or post a link to it (if you have a blog & add it as an entry on yours)! I would love to hear what you think of my "Posey". I'll be working on the other flowers after I receive my other dies so check back to see those.....I can't wait to get started!!

Leadership & Punch Puppies

2010-01-15T11:04:00.000-05:00

I typed up a long post last night right before heading up to bed and as I was about to hit the "Publish Post" button, everything disappeared!! I have no idea what happened but I just couldn't re-type the whole post again. :o( Here is what I was going to post last night - but most likely not the same words I used then. LOL!

This past week I was in Phoenix, AZ for Stampin' Up!'s Leadership conference. I learned LOTS of different things that I couldn't wait to get home to try! I'll be posting those things over the next few days as I try them out so be sure to check back & see what I'm doing!

When we gather together at Stampin' Up! events, there are times when they have "stadium seating". Those would be at the larger events - Convention, Leadership, etc. I love this type of seating because the chairs seem to be more comfortable & you don't have to worry about someones head being in your line of vision or yours keeping someone else from seeing what's going on. I usually go straight to the top row, plop right down and get my camera out to take pictures of the things I want to try as soon as I get home!

One of the things that goes on when you get Demonstrators together is "swapping". After you swap with other Demonstrators, everyone shows off the different swaps they got. This was happening a couple rows below me and as soon as I saw the following swap, I grabbed my camera, zoomed in & snapped a picture. I needed to make a couple Thank You cards for some pet sitters and this was PERFECT!!
The only problem with this is that I had no idea what was used to create the adorable puppy! I knew it had to be punches but when I got home, I realized that our heart punch is too small to create this dog. Unfortunately for me, when I get a project in mind I tend to get "tunnel vision" and can't see other possibilities to complete the project!

I posted a plea to a group of Demonstrators & asked if they could help. One kind Demo actually received the swap above and gave me the creator's name but that's all she could give me as none of the tools used were listed. I found the swap creator and sent her a message. She was sweet enough to reply and let me know that the heart she used to create the dogs head is an old Sizzix die. There went my project....or so I thought.

While I was running errands, I had a "light bulb moment" and realized that even though our heart punch is too small to create the puppy above - it is small enough to create two puppies! What is the significance of that? I needed to create two puppies for the front of my card! I had planned to create two cards & use one of my dogs for the front of one card and the other one for the front of the other card. When I realized that I could put both Lily and Layla on the front of the cards, I couldn't wait to get home & try to figure out the different punches to use to make my cute dogs.

After a while, I got my girls on the front of two cards and couldn't wait to give them to the girls that took care of them while Gary & I were out of town. Here's what I came up with. What do you think?

What did I use to create these cute girls?
Full Heart, Boho Flowers, Trio Heart & Double Circle Punches (the Double Circle punch is retired)
Pewter brads
Linen thread
Sponge daubers
Creamy Caramel Classic ink & Very Vanilla Craft ink
Basic Black marker

The Going Gray background is an embossing folder with "Thanks" & "Thank You" in different languages.

Here are the real-life versions of Lily (the black one) and (the cream one). What do you think - do they look like the punch puppies on the card?

Holy Smokes!

2009-12-29T14:24:00.002-05:00

I knew it's been a while since I last updated my blog but I had no idea it has been this long! :o( I'm working on getting a few things in order and then I'll be posting quiet a bit to the blog and hopefully you'll not only like with I post but also the new look of the blog!

Until then, stay tuned.....

Wonderful Decor Elements!

2009-09-23T13:49:00.003-04:00

I just LOVE the Decor Elements line from Stampin' Up! I ordered two sets of the Manhattan Flower for my bathroom outside my stampin' room and now I can't wait to order another set!

The first two pictures are obviously "before" I added the flowers to my walls.....

And these two pictures are "after" I added the flowers.

{Supplies}

Manhattan Flower (Chocolate - 114115)

Manhattan Flower (Kraft - 114077)

My bathroom walls ;o)

So, what do you think?

Happy Halloween Bear

2009-09-15T19:46:00.000-04:00

How cute is this little guy?! I wanted to make a card of the bear only but when I ran the card stock through the Big Shot, I realized that he's just a little too small to be considered a "full card". I didn't want to abandon my idea so I got the bright idea to put a base layer down and adhere my "bear card" to it. Since you wouldn't be able to open the card if it were a full 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 (because of the pumpkin top), I cut the card stock down to 4 1/2 x 4. I stamped "Happy Halloween" on the inside of the card (the bear's belly).

When I showed this to Gary, he went "ga-ga" over it and really bragged about how cute it was.....the things that makes this man happy! lol! What do you think? I would love to "hear" your comments about it!

{Supplies}
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card stock: Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Orange, Summer Sun, Ballet Blue, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Big Shot, 1 3/4" circle punch, Build-A-Bear Bigz Bear die, Build-A-Bear Originals Kooky Spooky die

Lollipop, Lollipop, oh Lolli, Lollipop!

2009-09-02T20:00:00.000-04:00

I wanted to take something sweet to Brittany when we went for our first official visit and since she doesn't like chocolate (I know.....the horror of it all!!) and is not big on many sweets at all (really....I'm thinking DNA tests are in order to prove she truly is my daughter! LOL!), I came up with this Lollipop Bouquet.

Can I just say this was one of the easiest projects I have ever done!! I purchased the tin at a local $1 store along with that floral Styrofoam stuff to hold the suckers & some artificial leaves. I used my Big Shot and the Flower, Daisies #2 Bigz Die to punch out a bunch of different colors of flowers. I started out using Mini Glue Dots to adhere the flower to the wrapper of the sucker and then realized that was just a waste because they would 1) stay at the bottom of the sucker because of the leaves and 2) the girls were just going to rip them off as soon as possible....so I stopped! ;o)

Brittany may not like a lot of sweets but she does like the occasional sucker. When she saw the "bouquet" I had made for her & her new friends, she "aaaahhhh'd" and "oooohhhhh'd" like the sweet & wonderful daughter and showed it off to her roommate and next-door neighbor. Gotta love it when your kid brags on you!

I would love to hear your comments! What do you think? Have you made one of these before & how long did it take you? Honestly, this was a last-minute project that took me all of about 45 minutes....start to finish!

Be a Hostess & get Sweet Rewards!

2009-09-01T08:00:00.002-04:00

I'm excited to bring you this sweet deal for hostesses September through November:

Host a workshop totaling $250 or more and choose any one item* from the 2009 Holiday Mini Catalog for only $10! *Offer excludes hostess sets and My Digital Studio.

On October 1, when My Digital Studio is released to customers, this offer will become even sweeter:

Host a workshop of at least $400 and get My Digital Studio for 50% off the retail price (retail price: $79.95; promotional price: $39.97)!

Things to Remember:

This promotion applies to workshop orders and is intended to reward hostesses for the act of doing a workshop. Online orders are not eligible for this promotion.
Hostesses who hold a workshop of $250 can choose any one item from the Holiday Mini catalog for just $10.
Items include stamp sets, accessories, Sizzix dies, etc.
This includes any products featured in the Holiday Mini Catalog, even if they are also shown in the Idea Book & Catalog (Movers and Shapers Die, Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin', etc.)
Items exclude Holiday Mini hostess sets and My Digital Studio.
This promotion is not incremental. For example, a $500 workshop is not eligible for two $10 items, and an $800 workshop is not eligible for two copies of My Digital Studio at 50% off.
After My Digital Studio is released to customers on October 1, hostesses who hold a $400 workshop will be eligible for both a $10 Holiday Mini item and 50% off My Digital Studio.

Holiday Mini Catalog Special

2009-09-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

Everyone should receive your Holiday Mini Catalog any day now and I love this mini so much, I have a special offer for those of you that received a mini catalog from me. I will be calling everyone on my list of mini catalog recipients next week and if you can correctly answer the following question I will pay half of the shipping total on your next order placed by Sept. 30th.*

Where are best friends made?

Hint: Look at pages 33 thru 35.

If you have not received a mini catalog from me but you would like to be able to "play", just send an email to StampinWithAngie@yahoo.com with your name, address and phone number. I will get a mini in the mail immediately and add you to my mailing list so that you can play again in the future.

*Discount applies to workshop, email & phone orders immediately; online orders placed from my Stampin' Up! website will receive a refund in the mail from me once your order has shipped.

Have you ever had one of "those" days?

2009-08-31T13:00:00.000-04:00

Today is one of "those" for me! Oh good granny, this day started out wrong. It's not "bad", just not the way I wanted.

I woke up before the alarm and was in such a good mood! I had in mind what I would do today and it was going to be a very productive day for me. I hopped in the shower then got dressed and started downstairs to chat with my hubby before he left for work.....then I remembered it! Umm, hello!.....it's Monday....workout day....in like, 30 minutes! No problem, I have plenty of time to change and get to the gym, so off I go. I'm warming up on the treadmill and one of the other trainers informs me that my trainer will not be there today......after I've worked up a slight sweat! Well, this can be a positive thing.....quick workout, get home, shower (again!), get dressed and get busy on my "productive" day!

I make my "to do" list for today and get to work.....1st on the list - my Stamp-A-Stack reminder invite. I finally get it finished after calling Demo Support for a problem then I send it out to my mailing list. One down, 50 to go. ;o) I go to my Meetup group to add my events to that calendar and can't find where it can be a "recurring" event.....fine, I'll just enter them individually. Then I see it......I put the wrong date on my S-a-S reminder that I sent out to my mailing list! GREAT!! Now I go back to the SU! site & send my mailing list a corrected invite with an apology for giving them the wrong date & having to send two messages back-to-back! Geeze! #2, and now #3 off the list.....day is looking a little better. :o)

I get a text from a friend, "Can you print off a form for me....I'm out of ink." Ummm, sure. I have to meet Brittany in town & can meet this afternoon. I'm then informed that she's NOT WORKING TODAY! Well hello, go buy ink & print out the form yourself!! Of course I don't learn this little tidbit until after I've printed the form (using up my ink!) and am heading out the door. She tells me she'll be there in a bit....she's in the shower!!! O-M-G!! What in the world did I just get "suckered" into?!

Because I messed up the date for my S-a-S, that frees up a LOT of time for me so that worked to my advantage. I've updated a group website that I "own", replied to some messages and completed tasks that were not on my list but definitely needed to be taken care of! My day is on the up-swing (don't read that out loud....I don't want anything "jinxing" me!)! Now to get a few projects photographed, complete some others and get my step-daughter's pictures onto a disc. I have a full plate for today but doggone it, I'm up for the challenge! ;oD

I had actually typed up some posts for y'all while I was out of town last week.....they didn't post (could ya tell?!). I'll fix those so that they'll post over the next few days & you can see what I was up to along with posting pictures from my quick trip to DC with my wonderful hubby! I hope you have a fantastic day and very few of "those" days! :o)

You Rock!

2009-08-21T08:00:00.001-04:00

I fell in love with this set last year when it was released and somehow it just kept getting bumped down on my "must have" list. Obviously, I now own it and I have to say it's just so darned cute and versatile! It's not just a guy stamp, girls like it as well.

I couldn't resist giving this little girly skull a "grill" (isn't that what they call the silver accessories put in your mouth?) and a shimmery bow! I think Brittany is really going to get a kick out of this card since we have the same sense of humor. The inside of the card says, "YOU ROCK!"

The DSP I used on the front of the card is from the new "Cast A Spell" DSP and I just can't wait to use it on other things. The scallop circle is not a Sizzix Die.....it's a circle that I scalloped with my slit punch! That is so easy it should be illegal - LOL. All you do is cut a circle - cut a circle out of the inside of that circle, then punch "slits" all the way around the outside of your circle with the slit punch. If that is not clear, leave me a comment and I'll see if I can post a tutorial on how to do it.

Speaking of comments, leave me one telling me how you like this card - I would love to hear from you!

Stamp Set: Just Jawing

Cardstock: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Confetti Ivory

Ink: Basic Black, VersaMark, Melon Mambo

Accessories: VersaMark pen, Silver embossing powder, glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds

Things I Love

2009-08-20T08:00:00.001-04:00

You'll get to see the cards I send to Brittany before she sees them so y'all have to promise not to share them with her! ;o) She is only 45 minutes up the road from us so it's a lot easier on both of us with her being away at college but I still want to send her paper hugs from home!

This is one of the stamp sets I received when I picked up my bag at Convention. Yes, I said "one of"....we got 4 sets and a wheel this year! I LOVE Convention! You could too and this month is the perfect time to join my team with the $85 Mini Starter Kit AND the welcome gift from me....1/2 the cost of the new "My Digital Studio" when it's released! That is an almost $200 value for only $85!

This card sentiment shows you exactly why I like to use the Stamp-a-ma-jig when stamping sentiments...notice the slight downhill slant. I had already adhered everything to the card before stamping the sentiment so I left it alone and I'm not really freaking out about it because I know Brittany will get a chuckle out of it not only being crooked but also because she knows I LOVE shoes!

I hope you enjoyed today's card and I would love to hear any comments you have!

Stamp Set: Things I Love

Cardstock: Very Vanilla

Ink: Dusty Durango, Soft Suede

Accessories: Square Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Scallop Edge Punch, Sponge Daubers

Growing Up Promotion

2009-08-19T09:06:00.000-04:00

Spend $35 on stamp sets from the Growing Up section of the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog (pages 74-90) until August 31st and receive a FREE package of Designer buttons--a $7.95 value! Eligible buttons are listed below and can be found on page 181.

Playground Designer Buttons

Sherbet Designer Buttons

Button Latte Designer Buttons

Purchase the brand-new Décor Elements Growth Chart, only available August 1-September 30, and as an added bonus, receive a free applicator tool with your purchase (a $1.95 value).

Brittany's 1st College Card

2009-08-19T08:15:00.001-04:00

My beautiful daughter started college today....okay, she started classes today. We had a very busy weekend with her this past weekend. We had a family cookout on Saturday so that family and friends could see her before we moved her into her dorm. Sunday we moved her into her dorm room - wow that room was small!! We had her room pretty much set up and I took a little stroll down the hall to look at a "Pepto & black" room. This room looked like someone got sick off a major binge of Pepto....only brighter pink! I seriously don't know how these girls are going to be able to sleep because their room is SO bright pink....maybe the black accents will help! The good thing about their room was that it was so big because of their layout! I immediately called Brittany, her roommate Jordan & Jordan's mom to see it.....we decided to "CASE" their layout and that really opened up their room as well!

The girls had scheduled activities beginning Sunday afternoon/evening and continuing through yesterday so that they didn't have enough time to get homesick. It worked pretty well although Brittany did say she was a little homesick....just not enough to want to come home - YAY!! Today is the start of her classes and I can't wait to hear from her to see how all two of them went! Yes, you read that correctly....she only has TWO classes today. Actually, she only has two classes Tue. thru Fri. Monday is her "heavy" day where she has THREE classes. LOL!

She got her address yesterday and as soon as she sent it to me, I had to get a card in the mail to her! The colors on this card really don't show up well....it looked so pretty in real life. I used the new stamp, "Medallion" that is the number one seller since the release of the 2009 Fall/Winter catalog! I'm seeing some great things with this set that have really got me excited so don't be surprised if you see it often in my projects! ;o)

Stamp Set: Medallion

Cardstock: Confetti Ivory

Inks: Chocolate Chip, Brocade Blue

Accessories: Button, Stampin' Dimensionals

Exciting News!

2009-08-07T18:04:00.000-04:00

I can’t tell you how flippin’ excited I am!! I am currently in Salt Lake City, Utah for our annual Stampin’ Up! Convention and we had a wonderful announcement/challenge this morning: All Demonstrators attending Convention have the opportunity to get the new (and soon to be released!) “My Digital Studio” at half-price or FREE! How? By team building! If we add 1500 team members to the Stampin’ Up! family by August 31st, we will be able to purchase it for 50% off. If we add 3000 team members, we will get a copy of it absolutely FREE!!

Now, my question to you is…..when would you like to discuss joining my team? Seriously! With the Mini-Starter kit special ($85.00!!!!) going on right now (promotion ends August 31st), there is no better time! The great thing is that you decide how much or how little you work YOUR business! You could be someone that only wants to purchase the Standard Starter Kit because of the value (you pay $199 and get over $335 in product!). You could be a “Hobby Demo” that wants to receive the 30% discount on your first $150 order then the normal 20% discount as well as have the occasional purchase from your family and friends. You could be a “Hybrid Demo” that loves the 20% discount, getting together with family & friends for workshops and earning extra money to help out with the bills or to have some “fun money”. Finally, you could be a “Career Demo” that not only loves to receive the 20% discount, but also loves to teach classes, host workshops and receive recognition for your hard work. You look at this opportunity as a way to do what you love, share what you do and inspire others to join you in this journey.

You decide how active you want to be. Once you purchase the Starter Kit, you have no obligation to make another purchase and there is no penalty if you should decide to drop. The minimum to stay an active demonstrator is $300….quarterly! Yes, you read that right – only $300 every 3 months to stay active & keep getting that 20% discount!

Whether you want the discount on your personal purchases, you want to earn enough money to cover your quarterly minimums, you want a part-time job to get you out of the house or you’re looking for a full-time career where YOU’RE in charge, I would love to have you on my team!

Contact me for any questions you may have or if you are as excited about this promotion as I am and you want to sign up online, click here. The required password is 40115.

Happy "Sweet 16" Trevor!

2009-07-30T11:24:00.000-04:00

Okay, I know boys don't have "Sweet 16" birthdays but who cares....he's turning 16! Not only does this work for my son's 16th birthday tomorrow but it's also the requirement to enter Shelli's blog challenge. How do you like that....2 birds with one stone! ;o)

I'm not sure why I used the little old lady and little old man for a 16 year old's card but for some reason I just thought they "fit". I think he'll like the inside best.....it holds his BP gift card!

What do you think? I would love to read what you think of his card.

It's a Holiday!!

2009-07-30T00:01:00.000-04:00

The state of Georgia is having a sales tax holiday from July 30 – August 2. Because school supply items are included in this sales tax holiday, the below list of items will be tax free during the holiday period. Please note that you must place your order with me during the tax holiday period in order to receive these items tax free.

Uni-ball Signo gel pen, 105021, $3.95
Basic Black Stampin’ Write journaler, 105394, $3.25
Stampin’ Write markers, various, $3.25
Watercolor Pencils, 101879, $19.95
Watercolor Wonder Crayons Bold Brights, 106695, $19.95
Watercolor Wonder Crayons Earth Elements, 106696, $19.95
Watercolor Wonder Crayons Rich Regals, 106698, $19.95
Watercolor Wonder Crayons Soft Subtles, 106697, $19.95
Watercolor Wonder Crayons Neutrals, 106746, $9.95
Stampin’ Pastels, 105542, $24.95
Craft & Rubber scissors, 103179, $19.95
Paper snips, 103579, $9.95
Pencil sharpener, 100745, $4.95
Blender pens, 102845, $9.95
2-Way Glue Pen, 100425, $3.50
SNAIL adhesive, 104332, $6.95
SNAIL refill, 104331, $4.50
Mini Glue Dots, 103683, $4.95
Pop-Up Glue Dots, 104183, $3.95
Stampin’ Dimensionals, 104430, $3.95
Anywhere Glue Stick, 104045, $3.95
Dotto, 103305, $12.95
Dotto refill, 100902, $6.50
Sticky Strip, 104294, $6.95
Tombow Adhesive, 110755, $3.95

You can e-mail me or call me to place your order or you can just hop on over to my website and place your order online! Don't wait.....get your order placed today!

Last Week for Deal of the Week

2009-07-27T10:00:00.000-04:00

This Friday is the last day for the current Deal of the Week.....the Heart to Heart Punch!
You get this punch for only $10.99 instead of $15.95! Give me a call today to get yours....or better yet, hope over to my website and order it online! :o)

Mini Starter Kit!!

2009-07-07T14:01:00.000-04:00

Become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator with the limited-time $85 Mini Starter Kit. The Mini Starter Kit contains the following products:

For All You Do stamp set
Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin' Pad
Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad
Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad
Dusty Durango Classic Stampin' Pad
Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad
Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad
Whisper White card stock (8-1/2" x 11")
In Color assorted card stock (8-1/2" x 11")

Recruits who purchase the Mini Starter Kit will receive the same business supplies as those who order the standard Starter Kit.

During the promotional period there will also be a standard Starter Kit incentive for new recruits who choose the standard Starter Kit instead of the Mini Starter Kit; new recruits who choose the standard Starter Kit will receive the following, along with the standard Starter Kit supplies:
All six of the new In Color Classic Stampin' Pads
One pack of In Color assorted card stock (8-1/2" x 11")
Incentive items have a $43.65 value and are not substitutable.

If you're interested in starting your own business, contact me today for more information!

Overwhelming

2009-07-07T13:48:00.002-04:00

That is what the past 2 months have been! Not even 2 months....more like a month and a half. It began with my baby girl's 18th birthday followed by her graduation just 4 days later (with a b.day/graduation party in between)! That was the beginning of what has become nothing but a blur from that day to today! In a nutshell we've had the birthday & graduation; 3 trips (2 planned & one surprise); moving a close relative from one state to another; a family member in the hospital out of state & just when it looked as if we would be attending his funeral he turned the corner (Thank you God!!); more medical issues with me (this is RIDICULOUS!!!); a shocking death of a dear family member that still isn't "resolved" and I'm sure there is more that I'm forgetting right now! I made it through it all with only one personal setback and I'm ready to put it all behind me and move forward again (what else can we do?)!

This is why you haven't "seen" me for so long but you'll be seeing me more often now! I've got some exciting news to share but it deserves its own post so I'm off this one. Have a wonderful day and enjoy the weather....whatever it is! :o)

The Tour is Over

2009-05-17T08:57:00.000-04:00

I hope you enjoyed the Blog Tour. The links are gone for this tour, so I hope you bookmarked all your favorites. Our next tour will be July 27 and 28. It will coincide with the launch of our yearly catalog, so be sure to stop back here in July for updates!

Welcome to the May 15th & 16th Blog Tour

2009-05-14T20:08:00.011-04:00

Welcome to

Tour #5

Stop #5

Welcome to Stop #5! This tour features 20 stops featuring projects using stamp sets from the 2009 Spring/Summer Idea Book & Catalog. Hopefully you've poured yourself a glass of tea, Coke or (in my case) ice cold water, have your feet propped up and are enjoying all the wonderful projects on this tour! Be sure to bookmark your favorite stops as the links that make up this tour will be gone at midnight on Saturday (May 16th)!

I am using the cutest stamp set - Animal Crackers (113395, page 49) and I had so much fun creating projects for this stop on the tour that I had to just stop and walk away so I could work on other projects!

The first card uses the little penguin sitting on an ice cube image. Because penguins are black and white, I wanted to use just those colors for the card...the only color I used is the Bashful Blue Stampin' Write marker for the ice cube. I didn't want the top layer to be totally plain so I used a Texturz Plate to give it a little umph. I punched the Basic Black layer with the 1 1/4" Circle Punch and the Shimmery White layer with the 1 3/8" Circle Punch. Isn't he just the cutest little thing looking out that "window"?

Stamps: Animal Crackers

Paper: Basic Black, Shimmery White

Ink: Basic Black Classic Ink, Bashful Blue Stampin' Write marker

Accessories: 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Circle Punches, Harlequin Texturz Plate

The next project uses the squirrel image. He instantly reminded me of my dad! Not because my dad is "squirrely" or has a big, bushy tail but because my dad LOVES peanuts!! I used the Sizzix Matchbox Bigx XL Die to create a box and its cover. The "belly band" is also cut from a piece of DSP and the tag is one of the tags on the Matchbox Bigx XL Die. As you can see by the second view of this project, the matchbox is filled with peanuts! :o)

Stamps: Animal Crackers

Paper: Riding Hood Red card stock, Whisper White card stock, Candy Lane DSP
Ink: Basic Black & Going Grey Classic Ink

Accessories: Watercolor Pencils, Matchbook Bigz XL Die, mini glue dots

The third project is one that I made for my niece. She's a gymnast and the giraffe holding the star was just perfect for her! I love making little treat bags and really can't believe how easy they are! I used black, red and white jelly beans because those are her team colors (as well as her beloved UGA Gym Dawgs!). I couldn't wait to give her this little treat bag and see the big smile on her face....it was priceless!

Stamps: Animal Crackers

Paper: Basic Black, Real Red and Whisper White card stock

Ink: Basic Black Classic Ink

Accessories: Watercolor Pencils, Top Note Bigz Die, Small Cellophane Bag

My last project uses the little rabbit image. This one reminds me of my nephew....he's always moving! I just look at this little guy and think, "Donny!" I was blog-surfing one day and saw this color combination as a challenge and just had to try it out for this card. It's not a color combo I would normally put together so I had to challenge myself.....that is why it's called a challenge, right?!

Stamps: Animal Crackers

Paper: Barely Banana, Real Red, Basic Black and Confetti White card stock

Ink: Basic Black & Creamy Caramel Classic Ink

Accessories: Aqua Painters, Scallop Edge Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

That is it for my leg of this tour. I hope you enjoyed your visit and the projects I created. I hope you'll leave me a comment to tell me how you liked my projects and come back to visit often or you'll subscribe to my blog. There are more stops and some great projects for you to see so I'm sending you on your way to Dawn Dickinson at Stop #6. Dawn is showcasing Trendy Trees and I'm sure you love what she's going to show you!

Click on the "Next Blog" icon below to travel to Dawn's blog. This icon will be used throughout the tour to help you find your way to the next stop on the tour.

Mother's Day Cards

2009-05-12T10:47:00.004-04:00

This was the first Mother's Day that I got to spend with my grandmother in a long time and I couldn't wait to get to my parent's house to spend the day with my mom and grandmother! Since these two women are a lot alike (don't tell my mom I said that!), I knew that I had to make two cards that were alike only different! My mom's favorite color has always been yellow so I used Summer Sun for her card and my grandmother had a pink rose bush that had grown up her garage wall and over the opening so I used Regal Rose for her card.

They loved the cards...and their gifts. ;o) The day was wonderful...great weather, great company, great time!

At last!!

2009-05-06T22:30:00.000-04:00

After my trainer didn't show up for our session this morning, I came home and got started on Brittany's b.day/graduation party invitations. They're not totally finished but I wanted to get the finished version posted. I'm happy with the way they turned out and Brittany really likes them so that makes it even better!

The stamp set I used is the new set "Great Grad". The base card stock is Basic Black and I made the invite a top fold card. I used Whisper White for both the outside layer and the inside sentiment layer. I stamped the "Graduate G" twice - once in Basic Black and once in Brilliant Blue. I punched out the Basic Black one with the 1 3/4" circle punch and sponged the edges with Brilliant Blue. I then punched the Brilliant Blue one with the 1 3/8" circle punch and adhered the blue 'G' over the black 'G'. I used Dimensionals to pop this up. The outside Whisper White layer was run through my Big Shot with the Texturz Flourish plate to give it something extra....it looks great! The ribbon is a royal blue organdy ribbon that I bought at a local craft store....it matches perfectly! What do you think?

Outside view

Outside view with peek to the inside.

Before they were punched.....

after they were punched and put together....

after the Dimensionals were added.
They look like "poker chips" in this view to me. LOL!

I hope the wait was worth it for y'all! I had fun putting everything together and look forward to working on my Mother's Day stuff tomorrow! Hopefully I'll have those cards completed and posted for you to see....at least I know my mom, mother-in-law and grandmother won't see them here! ;o)

Ever have one of those days....or two of those days?

2009-05-05T22:37:00.000-04:00

The past couple days have been "those days" for me! I've been taking care of a family emergency since last Wednesday and even though it was supposed to be over Sunday evening for me it has continued until tonight! UGH!

I was able to get the card stock cut for Brittany's birthday/graduation invitations before I got a call and had to run out the door. Tomorrow I'm hoping to actually get one invitation put together, scanned and posted for you all to see! If I'm really lucky I'll get all of them done and in the mail...but I'm not holding my breath! ;o)

I hope you all have a great night....and remember to hug the ones you love....and be good to them!

It's Graduation Season!

2009-05-02T10:16:00.000-04:00

I have a Senior! I can't believe it but I do! I haven't been able to stamp much this week because of a family "issue" but I was able to get Brittany's birthday/graduation party invitation samples done for her to choose which one she wants to go out to everyone. I was surprised when she picked my favorite....pleasantly surprised since it's also one of the easiest I did! ;o) I had to change one thing on it and I didn't want to show you until I made one of the "real" ones with the change. I'll post that as soon as I get it done....most likely Sunday.

I really can't believe that not only will Brittany be graduating at the end of this month but she'll also be turning 18! All this within days of each other....She turns 18 on a Friday, we'll have her birthday/graduation party on Saturday and she graduates the following Tuesday! Where did my little preschooler go? I can't believe she'll be going off to college in a few short months....even if she is going to school nearby! ;o) I am SO very proud of Brittany and super excited about this next phase of her life...and mine!

Be sure to check back Sunday evening to see the invitation that will be sent out for Brittany's celebration and tell me what you think about it!

Scrapbooking Starter Kit Promotion

2009-05-02T09:48:00.000-04:00

In celebration of National Scrapbooking Month, join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator for only $75 with our limited-time Scrapbooking Starter Kit. The Scrapbooking Starter Kit contains the following:

Schoolbook Serif Alphabet stamp set* - $42.95
Simply Scrappin' Petal Party - $19.95
Earth Elements Assorted textured card stock (12" x 12") - $11.95
Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad - $7.50

*Substitutable for any stamp set up to $43.95 value.

Please note: Each of the products listed above may be substituted for like items. Please see the Scrapbooking Starter Kit Order Form for details. The Scrapbooking Starter Kit also contains all the business supplies contained in the standard Starter Kit:

Getting Started DVD
Getting Started Guide
Guest Invitation Postcard (100)
Idea Book & Catalog (8)
Occasions Mini Catalog (8)
To My Hostess Envelope (10)
Recruit Folders (5)
Recruit Brochures (20)
Hostess Brochure (20)
Hostess Benefits Form (10)
Customer Order Form (50)

You can either join my team via my website or we can get together to complete the paperwork and mail it in. If you have any questions or need more information, don't hesitate to contact me!

Exciting Scrapbook Promotion!

2009-05-02T08:32:00.000-04:00

Did you know that May is National Scrapbooking Month? For many people, scrapbooking has played an important role in their lives. It may have started with something simple: the first time they placed a sticker on a piece of paper or picked up a camera. Perhaps for you, it was the first time you realized you could leave your family story for future generations to read, enjoy and learn from.

During the month of May, we are celebrating National Scrapbooking Month. This is an opportunity for you to create while you save money at the same time....two different ways!

1. Buy three packs of Designer Series paper (including our Specialty Designer Series paper) or 12" x 12" textured card stock, and get one FREE! There is no limit to how many free packs of paper you can get, you can mix and match your paper and ALL Designer Series paper, Specialty Designer Series papers, and 12" x 12" textured card stock are eligible for this promotion!

2. Buy a sneak peek stamp set from the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog--Jumble Alphabet (set of 52; double-mounted)--at a 20 percent discount. There is no limit to the number of sets you can purchase at 20% off and this special is only available during the month of May.

Contact me if you would like more information.

Happy Birthday Becky!

2009-04-28T22:00:00.001-04:00

This past Friday was my friend Becky's birthday (I'll keep her age to myself!). I wanted to take her out to dinner to celebrate and tonight was the day that worked best for her so she came over after school (she's a Para-Pro at a nearby middle school) and we chatted for a bit then headed out to visit TJ Maxx to see if we could find a lamp for her and then to dinner at Chili's followed by Chick-Fil-A for dessert! I can't tell you how GREAT tonight was! I loved getting caught up with Becky and making plans for next week. We've both got some milestone events coming up that we'll be working on.....Brittany's graduation and 18th birthday for me - her son & her mom's weddings for Becky. It's going to be a busy few weeks coming up!

I know that Becky needs some pampering so I made a very simple gift bag to hold the bath gel, body scrub and lotion I got her and a faux alligator skin purse to hold the bath beads. Does the card look familiar? ;o) After I made the card that you can find in the post below this one, I thought, "That card screams BECKY! I need to make one for her!" so I did! LOL! I didn't want to post these projects until after I had given them to her....just in case she visited. I would hate for her to see her gift before she got it so I waited until after we visited tonight. ;o)

Faux Alligator Skin purse, bag & card...notice how the colors coordinate...

AND they're same colors that Jaron challenged us to use?

Sorry for the glare...I had to take a very quick picture & I had already put it in an envelope.

Faux Alligator skin purse

Close-up of purse. How stinkin' cute is this?!

Bag holding bath accessories.

I wanted to keep this VERY simple so I just covered a small paper bag

with some DSP and punched the "handle" with the large oval punch....easy peasy!

What do you think? I would love to hear what you think of Becky's gifts. ;o)

Jaron's Color Combination Challenge #1

2009-04-24T22:30:00.000-04:00

One of my very favorite Stampin' Up! employees is Jaron Winder....I should rephrase that to "former Stampin' Up! employees". He is no longer with Stampin' Up! but he's still one of my very favorite people! I would "stalk" him at each Stampin' Up! event I attended, have my picture taken with him and chat a little bit about his family. He has the most adorable little "chickens" (that's what he calls his kids) and his wife is just beautiful! He has a personality that's as big as Utah (they live there) and a heart to match! I was sad to hear that he was no longer with Stampin' Up! but happy that I get to keep track of him through his blog.

When I checked his blog this morning, I saw that he decided to start posting a Color Combination Challenge. Since it's Jaron I couldn't not do it! I mean how bad would it be for me to say that this man creates some amazing work and then not trust his judgement by not participating in his challenge? Just because his first color combination is Old Olive, Taken with Teal and Soft Sky (a retired In-Color, color) doesn't mean he's lost his mind or anything....or at least I hope he hasn't.

After I finished some projects that I had to finish today, I decided to pull out Jaron's colors and see what I could come up with....Holy Smokes - they look GREAT together! I don't think the scan of my card does it justice! Using the stamp set Bird on a Branch, I first stamped the peacock (I don't know if that's what it really is but it's what I'm saying it is!) in Taken with Teal, then I stamped it in Soft Sky and did the "rock-n-roll" technique to outline it in Taken with Teal on a separate piece of Whisper White card stock and cut it out. The sentiment is stamped in Taken with Teal and the tree limb is stamped in Chocolate Chip. I first inked up the blossoms with Soft Sky and then removed the ink off some of the blossoms and colored them in using my Old Olive marker. I "popped-up" the peacock with dimensionals after I did all the stamping. Because I wanted everything to line up in specific places, I used my handy-dandy Stamp-a-ma-jig. There is no way I would have been able to get everything lined up the way I wanted it if I hadn't!

So, tell me what you think. Do you like these colors together? Why don't you give it a try and leave a comment to tell me what you think. Better yet, send me a picture of your creation and I'll post it here and put a link to it on Jaron's blog as well (if you're okay with that). I would love to see what you come up with!

Admin. Assistant's Day

2009-04-24T14:15:00.000-04:00

I wanted to make a small gift for Gary to take to the two Admin. Assistants that he works with. I used the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set to make the cards and some DSP to wrap around the bottle of air freshener. I also used the butterfly die to make the butterflies on the bottle. I didn't want to go "overboard" with the gift so I put some "smell good" bath items in the basket along with the reed diffuser air freshener. Gary was pleased with the gifts (although he forgot I was making a gift and was only expecting a card....again with the "man" thing!!!). He said the ladies LOVED their gifts and were pleasantly surprised! I'm a happy stamper! :oD

Close-up view of the basket contents.

View of the two baskets for Gary's Admin. Assistants.

Melissa's 23rd

2009-04-24T13:58:00.000-04:00

I sat down to make my older step-daughter a birthday card and knew that I wanted it to be simple and pretty. I had just made Kehley's engagement card (see previous post) and loved the way the Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder worked with the vellum and I decided to do it with Melissa's birthday card.

I embossed the vellum and cut it down to 5 1/4" x 4". I stamped "Happy Birthday" on the same size Whisper White card stock and then adhered the vellum to the card stock using mini glue dots on the two upper corners (you couldn't see them through the vellum either!). After I did that, I wanted just a tad bit of color so I gently went over the raised edges of the vellum with my pastels and a sponge dauber. It doesn't really show up, but I used blue to give the rose some color...I didn't want a lot so I barely did it.

I wanted something more than the sentiment on the inside of her card so I stamped the big rose on the inside bottom corner. I *really* liked the way this card turned out!

Now that you saw the card that I created especially for Melissa....this is the card she'll get in the mail! Why? Because when I gave Gary the card to sign I didn't specifically say, "This is Melissa's card." and he signed "Gary" instead of "Love, Dad". I didn't because I told him earlier that I was making cards to get into the mail along with Melissa's birthday card that we would send her and another that we'll give her when we take her to dinner Sunday night.....I thought he would remember that his daughter was the only birthday card I would be making. Yeah, I know what you're thinking...."Are you kidding?! He's a man! Men don't remember things like that!" Oy! It was late last night and I was not going to make another card to get in the mail this morning so I went to my box of cards and grabbed this one. I'll most likely re-make the one above to give her Sunday night because I liked it so much but this is the one she'll be getting in the mail. :o( Oh well, at least she'll be getting one!

So excited!

2009-04-24T13:00:00.000-04:00

I got a phone call from our neighbor telling me that her older daughter is engaged! I'm SO excited for Kehley and CJ! They are such a wonderful couple....sooo nice and just exactly what you would want in your own kids! I had to know how he proposed....OMG - he just stole my heart again (our family just loves CJ and Kehley!)!

He hid in Kehley's apartment - she came home from class early (she's attending UGA) and he almost got caught! He asked her if she had made her bed that morning. She went in to check and found a rose & a note. The note told her to go to a friend's apartment....where he had a rose & note waiting to give her. That note told her to go to another friend's apartment....where she had a rose & note waiting to give her. That note told her to go to the balcony....where she found another rose & note. That note told her to look down....where CJ was standing with a rose. She ran down to him and he proposed! How sweet is that?!!

I made the card below using UGA's colors since I have no idea what colors they will use (they're thinking next year) and I don't know what Kehley's favorite colors are. I used the Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder and cut out the dress. I saw this idea on a blog one day and knew I had to try it for myself! I really like how it turned out! What do you think?

Happy "Sweet 16" Kimberly!

2009-04-20T21:03:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was our youngest daughter's 16th birthday and I really wanted to make a special pop-up 3-tier cake card for her! I knew I wanted to use chocolate and pink and this is what I came up with. I really like the way this one turned out...hope you do to! Let me know what you think of it. :o)

16 candles just for Kimberly

1st Birthday Invites

2009-04-20T19:55:00.001-04:00

My Trainer's girlfriend asked if I could make some birthday invitations for her little girl's 1st birthday in June. These are the samples that I made up for her to choose from. Which one do you think she chose? I'll post the one she chose in a few days....she had a question about changing some colors so I did that & sent it to her to see how she liked it. :o)

Get Connected Promotion

2009-04-20T13:19:00.000-04:00

Just a reminder that until April 30th, spend $40 on Occasions Mini Catalog products and choose any one item from the "Under $10" page in the Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalog for free. There is no limit to the number of free "Under $10" products you can earn and you can purchase stamps and/or accessories to reach the $40 minimum.

Hold a workshop of $150 or more and choose any one item from the "Under $10" page in the Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalog for free. For every $150 spent at the workshop, the hostess will receive another "Under $10" item. If you host a $300 workshop, you get to choose two "Under $10" items!

For more information, click here.

More Bunny Treat Boxes

2009-04-18T20:52:00.003-04:00

I made one of these boxes for my last month's Gift Exchange partner and decided I "needed" to make more. I made these two for a couple ladies that came to my last Stamp-A-Stack. Are these not just the cutest little boxes you've seen? I think I'll have to try to come up with something for Mother's Day....maybe a flower? What do you think...any ideas to replace the bunny with? Let me know and I'll post it if I can create it! :o)

10 Year Friendship Swap cards

2009-04-17T19:28:00.001-04:00

I belong to a wonderful Yahoo! Group that is celebrating its 10 year anniversary. One of the members decided to host a "Friendship Swap" and I participated. I knew what I wanted to do from the beginning....Flower pot cards with a packet of flower seeds. The "rules" were to create cards to swap and include a little written note about yourself so that you can get to know the other participants a little better. I put the packet of seeds and the note about myself behind the flower card. These were so easy to make...no adhesive for the flower pot (I did put a mini glue dot on the back of the ribbon just to hold it still) and little adhesive on the flowers! :o)

These are my completed flower pots.

Here is an up close view of one of the cards.

The card comes out to show the sentiment and your note.

The card pulled all the way out.

The flowers are created with the Simple Flower Embosslit.

My Easter Goodies

2009-04-16T18:13:00.001-04:00

I wanted to make up some goodies for Easter this year....I don't know why, I just did. ;o) We go to my parent's house for Easter lunch and egg hunting every year and even though our kids are older, they look forward to hunting eggs. I wanted to make a very simple treat for my parents (the last 2 pictures) with some of my mom's favorite and then I just kept going with the other treats....I had a ball creating these!

Let me know what you think about them..

This is the basket that I put all the treats in...it looked so cute (if I do say so myself-LOL!).

I used the Scallop Circle, small star, 1/4" circle and Boho Flowers punches to make the little chick and the Top Note Big Shot Die to make the bag topper. I stamped a flower from Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set to create the background. Can it really get any easier than this? I think not!

How would you like to see these sweet butterflies flying around your yard? These were created with Stampin' Up!s exclusive Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die. I made a ton of these knowing that they would be one of the favorites...and they were! My mom took what was left over to the kids on her school bus the following day and she said they really liked them.
After I cut out the butterflies, I decided the wings needed some texture. I

used my exclusive Stampin' Up! Backgrounds I Texturz plates to give the wings that texture. I think they turned out pretty cute.

This box holds 12 Hershey's Nuggets! It's another Big Shot Die...Box #2. With the Big Shot dies, creating these treat boxes are a snap!

Yet another Stampin' Up! exclusive die for the Big Shot! This is created using the Stampin' Up! Baskets & Blooms Bigz XL die. I thought this made a cute little "Easter Basket" so I added some grass (under the treats).

You guessed it...another die! The Top Note Bigz die was used here. Talk about easy! Just cut out 2 of the Top Notes and adhere a small paper bag (cut down to about 3" tall) to the insides of both. Open bag, fill with treats and ta da...you've got an EASY treat holder! Can you imagine all the possibilities with this one?!

These are the treats I put inside the treat holder above.

You can make bag toppers with the Top Note Bigz die as well! All you have to do is fold your card stock in half and put the folded edge right below the "cut line" on the die. You'll have a perfectly cut bag topper that's folded at the top. You can also do this to create your cards...just adhere it to a 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece of card stock and you've got your card.

This is Stampin' Up!s exclusive Matchbox Bigz XL die from the Occasions mini catalog. I can't tell you how E-A-S-Y this box is to make! The box has NO adhesive at all and the cover only needs it on one end!

I put some mini-Snickers and M&Ms in one and little chocolate bunnies in the other. I wanted to keep these really simple so I didn't add any embellishments to them....and they went over pretty darn well. Just think what would have happened if I had actually added some type of embellishment! ;o)

Yes, this is yet another Big Shot Die! I used the Scallop Circle to create these bag toppers. For the bunnies, I used the 1 3/8" circle, 1 1/4" circle, 1/2" circle and small oval punches. These were so easy to do that I was a little sad I ran out of candy!

My mom loves black jelly beans....and those creme things (I have no idea what they're called)! They're kind of like Jr. Mints but the inside is not peppermint-flavored. I don't like them but Mama does so I try to make her something using them whenever I see them. I used a "Frappacino" bottle to hold the candies. I knew that these shouldn't be really decorated so I kept them very simple!

The simple decorations for these bottles was a cute bunny on each (created with the punches mentioned above & a cotton ball) as well as the Simple Flower Embosslit Die (they're on the lid).

I loved the way they turned out and couldn't wait to hear how much my parents liked opening up their little bunny jars to get a treat! That's not what happened! I got a phone call from Mama a couple days later...She asked how I got the treats into the jar! WHAT?! Are you kidding me? It's a twist-off lid! I thought she had lost her mind and couldn't believe she was asking me how to open the jar! I told her to twist off the lid and she said they tried that....and they tried using a bottle opener but they wouldn't budge! I couldn't believe the lids wouldn't come off and she said that every time she walked into the kitchen she would see the black jellybeans and wanted one even more and couldn't get into them...it was driving them crazy! You'll be happy to know that my dad got them open.....he used his vice grips! Oh my word!! I can't tell you how hard I laughed whelm Mama told me this...and I can't tell you how shocked I am that it took that to open them! LOL!!

Brittany's Easter Basket

2009-04-13T17:56:00.000-04:00

This is my baby girl's last year at home...she turns 18 AND graduates high school next month and then she's off to college. Not that I'm sad or not looking forward to her going to college....I am. This is a wonderful stage in her life that I want her to grab hold of and enjoy! I'm SO excited for her! I know that she'll be home on the weekends (Kimberly has already made her promise she'll be here on the weekends that she's here! LOL!) and she's not going to be far from home (only about 45 minutes). I just wanted to make this Easter a special one for her and I had so much fun putting her Easter basket together so I thought I would share it with y'all.

She LOVES Peeps...hence the Peeps on each side of the basket!
Isn't that little duck dressed as a bunny too cute?!

PEZ at the holidays is a tradition here. Did you know they have chocolate PEZ...I didn't!

When I saw this "Peep", I had to get it for her! You touch 2 metal "buttons" on the bottom and the chick lights up...3 different colors flash....too cute!

An online friend of mine posted this last year and I knew it would be perfect for her this year! What I didn't realize is that it comes with a recipe to make a dessert! Not sure she'll make the dessert but I know she'll eat the Peeps! ;o)

This is the only stamped item she got in her basket. It's a cute little 3x3 (when folded) treat holder. I thought it would be perfect for her because she doesn't like chocolate and the little treat is really small.

1st unfold view

Totally open view.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-11T23:59:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone has a wonderful and Blessed Easter! I will be spending time with my family, laughing uncontrollably at some point and thanking God for the blessings he's given me!

I have a LOT to be thankful for and I know that...it is not something that goes unnoticed or unappreciated. One of the MANY blessings I have is YOU! Thank you for touching my life in some way or another! I hope that I bring you as much joy and happiness as you bring me - whether it be a simple, "Hello", an e-mail or a phone call out of the blue...I appreciate you and would like you to know that your friendship is a wonderful thing that I cherish! Thank you! :o)

Haley's Birthday Card

2009-04-11T23:58:00.001-04:00

April 10th was our niece, Haley's 13th birthday and I decided she needed an extra cake! This is the new Sizzix Pop-Up Die (the Cake 3 Tier Die). You do need to have some type of closure for the card because the cake makes it pretty bulky but I didn't add it to Haley's card. I thought these colors worked well for a 13 year old...how bout you?

This is the outside of her card. I used the Scallop Oval punch that is in the Occasions mini catalog to punch the purple oval and the large oval punch to punch out the birthday greeting.

This in the cake on the inside of the card. Isn't it cute?

Basketball

2009-04-11T23:54:00.004-04:00

A friend asked me if I could help the girls high school basketball team make a gift for their coach. She said they had a frame and all the girls had signed the mat but there was "white space" left and they wanted to use it up and make it look pretty so she asked if I could add the word "SOUTH" and something to it. "Sure I can, bring it on over!" I knew I wanted to add "bouncing" basketballs on each side of "SOUTH" and the years on either side. I didn't realize that I didn't have the matching numbers for this alphabet when I did the project so I have to get it back from the coach since I now have those numbers! ;o)

This is the finished (almost) project.

The close-up shot of the "bouncing" basketball.

My beautiful & crazy helper, Brittany! She held the frame so I could take pictures of it
and then decided to peek over just as I was about to take this one.
She's such a nut & I love her more than she'll ever know! :oD

What do you think? I would love to hear your comments on this little project.

Hospitals and Sleep

2009-04-11T23:49:00.001-04:00

Most of you know that I spent "4 luxurious days" in the hospital a few weeks ago due to my annual "mystery pains". You also know that I absolutely LOVED the medical staff that visited me during the night while I was not sleeping and during the day when I was napping.....since I really didn't sleep the whole time I was there! Seriously, these staff members should be going around to each and every hospital teaching "bedside manner" classes!!! To show my appreciation for their kindness, I made mini pound cakes (using my grandmother's recipe of course!) and a "Thank You" card for each one that took care of me.

After the tests that were done, I still have one more (Monday morning at 8:30 no less!) so the doctor can see how much damage has been done over the years but his diagnosis is Crohn's Disease...but only a mild to moderate case and he sees no reason that I will not be able to live my life as I always have! He has me on medication for the inflammation and one of the meds will be my "long term" medication to treat the Crohn's. I believe I've been lead to Dr. Lee and have all the trust in him that he will treat me as a whole and not just the "disease". He's a wonderful man that wants to get to the bottom of what ails you....how refreshing!!

Now, these are pictures of the boxes of mini cakes (no, I didn't think to take one out and take a picture of it....what was I thinking?) and cards that I delivered to the hospital the week after I was released. By the way....my sleeping "habits" are still all out of whack....I was up at 4a today and am still awake at 11:49p!! YIKES! Good thing the meds are giving me energy! LOL!!

Gift Exchange Goodies

2009-04-11T11:05:00.000-04:00

Each month on a Yahoo! Group that I belong to, we have a Gift Exchange. I am the Moderator of this program and I really look forward to it! I get to pair two members together for the month and they e-mail, chat, IM, etc. to get to know each other and then they send a "goodie" package to each other at the end of the month. Last month, I got a late start to getting my package together because of my little "4-day luxury hospital stay". LOL! I got myself together after I got home and sent my package late (communicating with my GE partner the whole time of course!). I had a BLAST putting this package together and thought I would share what she received....

The whole package (almost)

I bought this frame at the Dollar Tree...simple.

I added the flowers in the corners as well as the words between the hearts and "dressed it up".

How easy it was with the rub-ons that I used....how cute is that?!

This is a drink "topper".

You put it over the top of a water bottle (through the hole) and it holds your drink mix.

The top picture shows the drink mix & sent and the bottom picture shows

how I "popped up" the flower.

This is an "Embosslet Holder" that I made for the Stampin' Up! gift I sent.

I used the Big Shot to cut out the scallop envelope....SO easy it should be illegal! LOL!

I had to laugh after I sealed Shaline's package and opened my package from her

(I refused to open it until I had finished my package to her!)....

She sent me the exact same Embosslet!

What's that saying...."Great minds think alike" ;o)

This is a "to do" note pad that I covered and added a ribbon to keep it closed.

I got this and 2 items that are not in the picture from Michaels.

The other items were a tin that I filled with ribbon

and a magnetic notepad with an "S" on the front.

The colors were what I chose to use when I covered the notepad above.

I got this idea from a Demo friend of mine....how cute is this?!!

The paper bag is from Michaels (they're small).

The front and back is cut using the Big Shot Top Note Die!

Decorate, embellish, adhere the bag to the front & back and you're done!

Fill the bag with candy treats and you've got an E-A-S-Y goodie bag!!!

How in the world can you send someone a goodie package near Easter & not send a bunny?!

This little guy is created using ONE Top Note Die and a 4.5"x6" sheet of card stock!

Amy Celona is the Demonstrator that created this little guy and I followed her instructions.

You can find them here.

She has other tutorials as well so be sure to check them out.

You can see the Hershey's Nuggets that I added to the inside of the box in this picture.

The perfect little treat...a cute little critter and chocolate!

Gail's Easter Card

2009-04-05T13:48:00.003-04:00

Another talented stamper alert! Look how Gail used a FLOWER stamp (Tulips) to create the bunny.....How stinkin' cute is this?!!

April Birthday Cards

2009-04-05T13:45:00.000-04:00

Open
Closed

These are the cards that I created to send out to the April ladies of the "Birthday Club" that I belong to on an online group. It uses a 12x12 sheet of card stock cut into thirds, then you score it at the 4" mark and fold that over. You end up with 3 cards out of one sheet of card stock and they can be mailed in the regular letter envelopes. Pretty darn smart for the person that has tons of those envelopes! ;o)

I made another one for my mom (her 60th was April 1st....YES, that day fits her perfectly! LOL!!) and did the layout a tiny bit different. Instead of having the stamped image go all the way under the flap, I stopped it 1/4" shy so that I could write in that covered area (under the flap). I like that layout better but forgot to take a picture or scan it before we left to go meet her & take her to dinner. :o(

Diane's Easter Card

2009-03-31T18:00:00.001-04:00

Isn't this card just beautiful?! Diane gave me permission to post it to my blog and I'm so glad she did!

I have a *lot* to add to my blog and I'll be updating it shortly but I wanted to make sure y'all had something new to look at. Hopefully I'll be able to add some tonight after I get some cards stamped for some April birthdays that *have* to go out tomorrow! :o)

Featured Project of the Month

2009-02-20T14:49:00.003-05:00

This will be something new that I add to my blog each month. Be sure that you check it out each month & if you create the project, please let me know by sending me an e-mail with a picture of your project. Experiment with the colors and layout of the project and see what you come up with. I look forward to seeing what you create! As a matter of fact, I think there should be a monthly "contest"! Everyone that sends me their version of the monthly project will be entered into a random drawing to get a gift from me. Go ahead, start creating~

Love, Peace, Joy card

Stamps:
Branch Out
Paper:
Bordering Blue card stock
Bravo Burgundy card stock
Very Vanilla card stock
Ink:
Bordering Blue Classic Stampin' Pad
Bravo Burgundy Classic Stampin' Pad
Close to Cocoa Classic Stampin' Pad
Stampin' Up! Accessories:
Very Vanilla 3/8" taffeta ribbon
Chit Chat Rub-Ons
Stampin' Dimensionals
Scallop Edge punch

Instructions:
Scallop edge of Bravo Burgundy card stock using Scallop Edge punch. Adhere to Bordering Blue card.
Stamp snowflakes image repeatedly in Bordering Blue ink on Very Vanilla card stock.
Stamp tree image in Close to Cocoa ink on Very Vanilla card stock. Stamp bird image in Bravo Burgundy ink on tree branch.
Tie Very Vanilla 3/8" taffeta ribbon in a knot and adhere to bottom-right corner of Very Vanilla card stock.
Apply "Love, peace, joy" Rub-On to Very Vanilla card stock using stick included with Rub-Ons.
Adhere Very Vanilla card stock to card using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Anything Missing?

2009-02-20T14:34:00.004-05:00

Have you noticed anything missing from the Spring/Summer '09 catalog? Even though it's 212 pages long, there are over 20 pages missing. Those missing pages are the project "recipes" that you normally find in the back of each catalog. Why leave them out? So that more products can be included in the catalog!

There is a big difference in these pages and what is usually provided. What is the difference? There is a picture with every project so that you'll know which "recipe" goes with which project. It's a pretty cool thing but you'll need to download the Supply List and save it to your computer. That's even easy to do - just click on "Supply List" in the previous sentence and it will start to download for you. Once it finishes (it may take a few minutes), save it to your hard drive for future reference.

Place An Order, Get a Catalog!

2009-02-20T14:23:00.004-05:00

From February 1-April 30, 2009, we're giving away our award-winning Idea Book & Catalog with every online purchase. To receive a free idea book, simply place an online order through my web site during the promotional period. There is no minimum order required, and you can combine this offer with any of our other current offers. To place an online order click on the picture above to view and select products. Once you place your order on my website (don't forget to select me as your demonstrator), you'll be eligible for the free idea book and you'll also qualify for the discount price listed on all products.

Stampin' Up! will be offering free idea books with the first 22,000 orders or until April 30, 2009, whichever comes first.

Valentine's Swap

2009-02-19T18:18:00.002-05:00

I made this card for a Valentine's Day swap I was in. I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to put the birds on top of "Love" and left the flower off so that the birds would be the only thing there. I used the Big Shot to cut out the pink layer as well as the DSP layer. I cut the DSP into thirds and put one section at the top, middle or bottom depending on which section I grabbed. This made it SO easy to use less DSP and do more cards! I'm telling you, I'm loving that Big Shot!

What do you think? Hopefully the ladies that received the cards liked them. I was happy with the way they turned out. :c)

Ghirardelli Boxes

2009-02-19T17:48:00.004-05:00

I made a couple of these EASY boxes for friends and got the bright idea to see just how easy they were to make. My niece and nephew came to play with Trevor until he had to go back to his dad's. I decided that they needed to stay a little longer to play with me and my stamps so I took Trevor to meet his father and came back to play with Sydney and Donny before meeting their parents (my brother and sister-in-law) for supper.

I showed them my box and asked if they would like to make one (dumb question, I know). I let them pick out their own colors and stamps and this is what they came up with. I forgot to get a close-up of Donny's box before I left and this is not the better of the two pictures of Donny, but it absolutely, positively captures his personality.....cracking himself and everyone around him up! Donny made his box for his dad (you can see his head over Donny's left shoulder there).

Sydney made her box for her mom. She was quick to pick Tempting Turquoise as her box color and then the coordinating DSP. This girl's got an eye for coordinating! She came back the following day and made a card and another treat holder but I forgot to take pictures of them. :-(

This is a close-up of Sydney's box.

If you would like to try your hand at it, you can find the directions on the SplitCoastStampers (SCS) website - or just click here to go directly to the directions. If an 8 year old and a 5 year old can make these with very little help (seriously! I only cut out the sections because they couldn't see where they had scored - that's it!), you can whip out a dozen or so with no problem!

If you make any, please be sure to leave me a comment with a link to your finished version - I would love to see what you came up with!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-18T22:19:00.004-05:00

This is the card I made for Gary. No stamping, just a punch, DSP and a rub-on. How easy is that?!

Gary's favorite candy bar is Snickers so I made this treat box and filled it with 6 mini Snickers. The box still looks like this today but the rest of the bag is almost gone....and Gary didn't eat them! :-(

I made these cute treats for the ladies that came to my Stamp-A-Stack on Valentine's Day. I also made one for my niece and nephew.

I'm 40!

2009-02-18T21:12:00.001-05:00

Unlike so many people, I don't have a problem with 40. In fact, I couldn't wait to get there! I just knew that my 40th birthday would be an amazing day. January 14, 2009 was so much more than I could have ever imagined!

It began with family and friends calling to wish me happy birthday. I had a great work out and then went to my neighbor's house for hot chocolate and treats. My other neighbor asked me if I would be home around 2:30 or 3p so I was looking forward to a visit from her and her two boys later. I had a great day doing whatever I wanted to do and then my doorbell rang. I expected to see Jenn and the boys but when I opened the door I found SEVENTEEN kids on my front stoop & down the stairs! They were there singing "Happy Birthday" with a bouquet of tulips, a huge card and birthday balloons! Y'all know I started crying! :-D After they finished, one of the moms gave me a bottle of champagne from "the big kids". Do I have THE BEST neighbors or what?!!

Since I didn't get permission from their parents to post this picture on my blog, I've blurred out the faces of the precious "chorus" members but you can see how many there are. OH! These kids are all in elementary and pre-school so the oldest is in 5th grade. Can't you just hear those sweet voices singing "Happy Birthday" right now? It was as amazing as you're imagining!

This is what the kids had for me (minus the champagne).

My Birthday Cards

2009-02-18T21:11:00.009-05:00

Along with the sweet angelic kids that made my 40th birthday, I received the following cards throughout the month. I have a wonderful life and wonderful friends! ;-)

Trish Brunkhart

Trevor (my son)

Sue-Lynn Bock

Ruthann Suttles

Penny Bongers
Michelle Gensheimer

Michele Bortvit

Mary Craig

Mary C.

Liz Bassett

Julie Galbreath

Judy Baughman

Jeanne Gibson

Jane Giggy

Hetty Sanders (all the way from the Netherlands!)

Chera Wiest

Cathy Silver

Barbara Gates

I have "puppies"

2009-02-18T21:10:00.001-05:00

Meet Lily and Layla (left to right, 2 and 5 years old)

Lily is a love pup!
She is also a total lap dog! You can't really see her because I'm wearing a black shirt but she's laying in my lap like a baby! Seriously?!

My mother called me right before Christmas to see if we wanted to get Brittany a dog. Apparently some friends of the family had taken these two in from a lady that couldn't take care of them because she started traveling more for her job. Our friends took them in but they have a dog that is very old and she was NOT having new dogs invade her turf! She went into a depression and they decided they couldn't let their dog commit suicide in order to give these two a good home. They talked to my parents to see if they could give these two a good home and my mom called me and my brother thinking that maybe we could each take one. Me and the kids visited to see how the dogs were and after we dropped my mom off at her house I called back and asked if I could pick up both dogs the following day. They joined our family on Dec. 24, 2008 at 11a. :-D Aren't they just too cute?!

Christmas Projects

2009-02-18T19:27:00.006-05:00

The first picture is the gift tag for Brittany's gifts. This was easy to do with our punches!

This next project was what I made to hold the "Magic Reindeer Food" for the kids in our neighborhood. I got the idea from a friend's blog (thank you Chera!). She took the directions for a triangle box directions from SplitCoastStampers and then added the details to make Rudolph. You can see her version here and go to the directions for the box here. The oval at the end of the ribbon says "Untie Here" because Gary told me that he wouldn't know how to open the box if I didn't have some kind of direction added to it.

Multiple reindeer but this is not all of them - SO easy to make!

Giftcard Holders

2009-02-18T19:20:00.006-05:00

This year was "Gift card Central" around here! These are a few of the gift card holders I made for family members.

These first pictures are of Kimberly's gift card holder.

Closed

Open - it held 4 gift cards

These are pictures of Trevor's holder - it also held 4 gift cards:

Front - closed

A little bit open

Open so you can see where the gift cards were held.

More Gift Cards

2009-02-18T19:20:00.005-05:00

These are for the Franklin family...First is Haley's.

Closed

Open

This one is Grant's.

Closed

Open

This one belongs to their mom & dad. I LOVE how easy this was with the Big Shot and punches!!

Closed

Open

Christmas Cards

2009-02-18T18:40:00.004-05:00

I'm so far behind in updating that you're going to see a lot by the time I'm finished!

I didn't want to send out just one card for Christmas so these are the cards we sent to family and friends...

Updated Decor Elements!

2009-01-19T12:05:00.000-05:00

Click on the picture above to be directed to the new Decor Elements that have just been added. There are so many more Decor Elements with more colors....there's something for everyone from the youngest family member to the oldest! I LOVE this phase of Decor Elements - absolutely AWESOME!!

New Year, New Catalog!

2009-01-19T12:00:00.002-05:00

I think you'll love this catalog as much as I do! Click on the picture above and it will direct you to my website where you can view the new stamps and accessories...WAY COOL!! :c)

First Ever Inventory Blowout Sale!!

2009-01-05T18:53:00.000-05:00

Get retired, retiring, and current products up to 50 percent off regular price!

Things to Remember:

Items and special pricing are limited supply.
Retired/previously retired items will be sold until quantities run out.
Current items may revert to their retail price if inventory levels become acceptable.

Retired Accessories....Get 'em while they're available!!

2009-01-05T18:45:00.005-05:00

Items on this retired accessories list will be available at regular price while supplies last or through January 18, whichever comes first.

Products are marked as available or unavailable. If an item is unavailable, our supply is exhausted and the item can no longer be ordered. This list will be updated every day through January 18. Keep in mind that the status of any retiring product may change quickly based on demand.

With most catalogs, some accessories are completely retired while others are redesigned or reconfigured for the new catalog. Sometimes popular items are "retired" in their current packaging or style to come back with improved packaging or added product features. This year, no accessories are being reconfigured.

The items listed in red are no longer available already so be sure you call me ASAP to place your order!

Accents & Elements Roof Garden
Accents & Elements Season to Share
Accents & Elements True Elegance
Album Leather Black 12X12
Album Leather Black 6X6
Album Linen Post Mellow Moss 6X6*
Album Linen Post Nave 6X6
Album Linen Post Real Red 6X6*
Buttons Bold Brights*
Buttons Earth Elements
Buttons Earth Elements & Neutrals
Buttons Rich Regals
Buttons Soft Subtles
Days-to-Remember Calendar 12X12
Days-to-Remember Calendar 8 1/2X11
Designer Series Paper Banbury
Designer Series Paper Georgia Peach
Designer Series Paper Ghostly Greetings
Designer Series Paper Green Tea
Designer Series Paper Haiku
Designer Series Paper Hawaii Papaya
Designer Series Paper Holiday Treasures
Designer Series Paper junior Varsity
Designer Series Paper Maine Blueberry
Designer Series Paper Muirfield
Designer Series Paper Parisian Summer
Designer Series Paper Prestwick
Designer Series Paper Summer Picnic
Designer Series Paper Windsor Knot
Elementos Para Tarjetas Dias Festivos Hechos A Mano Simply Sent
Envelope Template Five-in-One Card Cover
Envelope template Mini
Envelopes Confetti white Medium
Envelopes Open End Kraft Small
Envelopes Open End Very vanilla Small
Metal Edge Tags Aluminum White Square
On Board Bitty Book*
On Board Clipboard 9X9*
On Board Simon Upper
On Board Something Seasonal
Page Protectors Ring 3.25 X 3.25
Punch ¼ Inch Circle
Punch ¼ Inch Square
Punch ¾ Inch Square
Punch Double Circle*
Punch Handheld 1/8 Inch Circle
Ribbon Gingham Caramel
Ribbon Gingham Light Blue
Ribbon Gingham Light Pink
Ribbon Gingham Moss
Ribbon Grosgrain More Mustard ¼ Inch
Rub On Anchored
Rub On Chills & Thrills
Rub On School Days
Rub On Word Flurries
Rub On Take Note
Simply Scrappin’ I Wish
Simply Scrappin’ Pina Colada
Simply Scrappin’ Summer Home
Simply Scrappin’ U R Sweet
Simply Scrappin’ Winter Retreat
Simply Sent Card Elements Handmade Holiday
Simply Sent Card Kit Lifelong Notes
Stampin’ Store Mini
Write Me A Memory Font CD Vol II

Retiring Wheels:
Mateys Map
Bright Bulbs
Bronco
Making Tracks
Sandy Shells
Snow
Snowflake
Sweet Stars
Take a Number

*This item is discounted and included on the Inventory Blowout.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T13:00:00.000-05:00

I don't "do" resolutions - I have never been one to believe in them. That being said, I have decided that there are 2 things that I really want to try in 2009 (notice I didn't say that I was "resolving" to do them)!

1 - I want to try a new recipe each week. For some of you, this is no big deal but for me (and my husband!) it is! Why? Because I hate to plan meals!! I have a ton of cookbooks and I really don't mind cooking, I just do NOT like planning what to have with the main entree. I'm thinking that if I go through my cookbooks and pick out one from each one, I'll be covered for the year (seriously, I have at least that many cookbooks!). I'm actually looking forward to this and I've already started it with a recipe that I haven't made in a few years! If you have a recipe that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to do so! :c)

2 - Becky Higgins has this idea that is called Project 365. You can read about it on her blog by clicking here. In a nutshell, she's taking a picture of her life every day and then scrapping it. While I can't (and won't) commit to scrapping every single day I think setting aside one day per week (Friday) to scrap will work for me! I have SO many pictures of my kids that I need to get into albums that I would absolutely feel overwhelmed if I let myself! Then I think about the pictures I have of me & my family when I was a kid and my mother-in-law has just given me a few pictures of my DH and his family (and I get more when I go to visit so she & I can go through them all). As if that isn't enough to make you quake in your boots....my grandmother has a lot of pictures (6 or 7 boxes) that I have and will be putting them into albums for her (and scanning some for me!). I'm absolutely thrilled to do this and will start next Friday (Jan. 9th). I even have an album to work on already. I'll finish the album for our July 4th trip last year that I started at my friend Cindy's crop! If this is something that you would like to do, let me know! We can keep track of how much we have completed and keep each other on track. :c)

I'll be getting a jump start on my pictures today/tonight....we're going to the Chik-Fil-A Bowl!! I'm so excited and I can't wait to go! We're going with our next-door neighbors and it's going to be fabulous!

Whatever you do, please be careful and have a safe New Year! I'll be sharing pictures for what I've been up to over the Christmas holiday tomorrow and I hope you enjoy the projects I created!

Happy New Year! :c)

Love You Much Promotion

2008-12-23T11:13:00.000-05:00

Get ready for Valentine's Day with the exclusive Love You Much Bundle (item 115405). From now until January 31, 2009 you will get 20% off a stamp set, Designer Series Paper AND a new punch that will be in the Spring-Summer catalog! Don't wait and miss out on this opportunity....order yours today!

The Love You Much Bundle includes the following:

Place your Christmas orders by Dec. 16th!

2008-12-09T08:05:00.000-05:00

If you need to order some Christmas gifts be sure to do it today so that you'll receive them before Christmas! Dec. 16th is the deadline with Stampin' Up! but I would order them prior to that to make sure it gets here and with FREE SHIPPING on all order $70 or more there is no better time to order than NOW! :c)

It's here, it's here!!

2008-12-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

The Retired List is here and for the first time I know of, from now until Dec. 23rd, dozens of stamp sets are 10% off and ANY order of $70 or more receives FREE SHIPPING from December 9-23, so don't wait to order!

So let's recap....
10% off retired stamp sets beginning today through Dec. 23rd
FREE shipping on ANY order (not just retired sets!) $70 or more today through Dec. 23rd!

If you need anything (and let's face it, we all need something to finish our Christmas cards & begin our Birthday cards! LOL!) get over to my website, click the "SHOP NOW" button, log in (be sure you choose me as your Demonstrator so that your prices will be lower than ordering directly through SU!) and start shopping.....or click here to go straight to the retired list on my website & shop.

Check out these deals!!

2008-11-26T08:56:00.001-05:00

You really don't have to sit in traffic trying to get to a mall then "shark" the parking lot trying to find a parking space! Think about how crowded the mall will be and just when you spot that "perfect" sweater someone grabs it and continues to shop while you go stand in that LONG line at the register! Don't forget how cold it's going to be outside and lugging packages out to your car will only feel worse!

Forget all that! Stay in your PJs, grab a cup of coffee (or hot chocolate), turn on your favorite Christmas music and have a seat in front of your computer! Go to my website (www.AngiePage.stampinup.net) and click the "SHOP NOW" button in the top right corner. From here you can save an AMAZING 20% - 50% on Stampin' Up! products! Just check out the deals on the bundles listed on the flyer above!! What's even better about it is that these products will be delivered to your door in no time flat!

How cool is that?! More time with your family, less time fighting the crowds at the mall! :c)

2008-11-26T08:55:00.000-05:00

For a limited time, get select Stampin’ Up! bundles for up to 50% off. Click the picture above to start saving!

2008-11-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

This holiday season, make Stampin' Up! your one-stop shop for fabulous decorations, cards, packaging, and gift ideas. We've got everything you need to make your holidays merry and bright!

The Holiday Gift-Giving Guide includes a list of products that make great gifts for family and friends.

Holiday Gift List - You can find gifts in a specific price range for easy shopping. If you're not sure what to buy, you can always give a gift certificate for any amount. Contact me for your gift certificate purchase.

Packaging & Tags - Whether you're wrapping a gift for a family member or giving your mail carrier a holiday treat, Stampin' Up! has great ideas--and products--for memorable holiday packaging.

Gift Giving -

Decorating - Beautiful handcrafted holiday décor is literally at your fingertips with Stampin' Up!'s treasure trove of ornament kits and unique ideas.

Card Making - Handmade cards add a uniquely special touch to the traditional holiday greeting. Get everything you need to make beautiful handcrafted cards--including ideas and supplies--at Stampin' Up!

2008-11-23T21:48:00.000-05:00

There will be a special promotion beginning Nov. 26th just in time for the holiday! Keep checking back to get the details.

2008-11-23T21:47:00.000-05:00

Spend $20 on any Stampin' Up! product, and get 20% off Rub-Ons! Click here to see the rub-ons you can choose from.

2008-11-23T21:46:00.001-05:00

If you're looking for a great gift (for your favorite stamper or yourself!), the Country Living Holiday Collection Stampin' Kit is a GREAT deal! They're only available while supplies last so if you want one you better get it now! Invite the warmth and coziness of the holidays into your home with Stampin’ Up!’s Country Living Holiday Collection Stampin’ Kit.

That's the Holiday Collection stamp set
Die-cut chipboard and Designer Series Paper
Card stock
Ribbon and cord
Pretties Kit brads
Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter
Adhesives
Classic Stampin' Spots

The kit comes with everything you need to create hand-made ornaments you can make in minutes that you’ll love using year after year . Imagine your home filled with simple and rustic ornaments like this snowflake ornament.

2008-11-23T21:35:00.001-05:00

I forgot all about the Thanksgiving card I created for the people that are staying at our house over the Thanksgiving holiday! As a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, we have access to some great ideas either online or through our monthly publication Stampin' Success. This way-cute turkey was in a past Stampin' Success - Oct. I believe - and I just had to make it to welcome our visitors to the house and wish them a wonderful holiday!

Would you believe this guy is created with punches? Yep, punches! Leave me a comment telling me how many punches it takes to make this little guy and I'll e-mail the correct guess the directions so you can create one yourself!

Here is a close-up so you can try to get a better count. :c) Good luck!

2008-11-23T21:03:00.001-05:00

I created the following projects to put into our mountain house that we have in Helen, GA. The "Guest Book" is for renters to sign in and tell what they enjoyed in the area (and how much they enjoyed staying in our house! ;c}). It's a "Composition Notebook" that I covered not only the front and back cover but also the inside of both covers since they have some school-related information printed on them.

This is a closer view of the bottom of the Guest Book....

and this is a better view of the camper and bear. The camper is Brittany & Gary's favorite part of the book since it looks like those silver "Airstream" campers but my favorite part is the bear. I used some retired Stampin' Flock on him so that he would be "fuzzy". He's just too cute and soft to be a mean bear!

This is a 30-page book I created to give everyone ideas of things to do, places to eat and other places to visit in the area. I think it turned out pretty darn well if I do say so myself! ;c)

This is a close-up of the image on the front cover. Brittany liked the fish because I colored it like a Rainbow Trout. :c)

If you are going to visit the North Georgia Mountains in the near (or not-too-near) future, we'd love to have you stay at our house (Gary calls it a "cabin" but I say cabins don't have basements or upstairs bedrooms)! If you would like to see it, click here and if you would like to make a reservation, call 706-878-3830, ask for Bernie and tell her that you want to stay at "The Eagle's Nest".

To get more information on this beautiful little "Alpine village", click here. This is a beautiful little city tucked away in the mountains and you can't help but have fun when you visit here!

2008-11-23T20:50:00.000-05:00

The Creekside MOPS Holiday Showcase was a good couple of days (followed by a week of not-good days!). These are the items I had on display/for sale.

These test tube treats make a great stocking stuffer for the little ones!
These bookmarks make it easy for your kids teachers to find those papers they need to grade!

These three cards are actually money holders! How stinkin' cute are they?!

These candles not only look good but they smell wonderful!!

Just think of all the treats and small items you can put in these bottles! So cute! :c)

Although you can really see the image (and I couldn't get a clear picture to save my life!), you can see that these "Snowman Treats" are York Peppermint Patty treats. Easy-peasy!

2008-11-23T20:42:00.000-05:00

I made these super-cute goodie bags for my mom to give to the kids on her bus and their teachers. You can't really tell it but they have "googlie eyes" that are so darn easy to create it's easy to make a lot!

All you do is punch a 1 3/8" circle and cut it into a spiral. Adhere one end to your goodie bag topper and the other end to the "color" part of your eye (another 1 3/8" punched circle). Punch a 1 1/4" white circle and adhere on the colored circle, then add a punched 1/4" black circle as the pupil. Be sure to fill the bags and staple the topper onto the bag before you adhere the "googlie eyes".

The Sizzix Top Note Bigz Die is perfect to create goodie bag toppers with - super easy!

What have I been working on?

2008-11-23T20:33:00.000-05:00

I made these ultra cute "spiders" for my niece and nephew. After seeing them, my sister-in-law (their mom) decided to make them for Donny & Sydney's classmates and Sydney's gymnastics team. After completing this "little" project, I've been "forbidden" to give them any other cute things like this! LOL!! Even though these are super easy (you only use punches and adhesive) it gets a little tedious when you are making about 75. ;c)

The only thing I forgot to do was take a picture of the ones I made using Halloween suckers instead of York Peppermint Patties. :c( I guess that's OK since these are cuter.

Whoa!

2008-11-18T16:53:00.002-05:00

You know how behind you get when you get sick and can't do anything for a week? That's how bad it is right now! Apparently my body was fighting something off last week because I literally didn't wake up until 11a or 12p and one morning I didn't wake up until 12:30! Each morning (or should that be afternoon!) I would get up, brush my teeth and drag myself to the sofa where I would spend the day napping off and on until time to go to bed that night around 10p or 11p and I was exhausted! I'm hoping that all that sleeping helped my body fight off whatever it was that was trying to invade me! Today is filled with sneezing so I'm going to take an Allegra and hope and pray that it's my allergies acting up because of the wind! :c) I'm positive that's what it is...my allergies.

I have a TON of things to get caught up on so look for new additions over the next few days. I just wanted to let you know why I had disappeared for the past week (prior to that I was preparing for classes & the Creekside MOPS Holiday Showcase). For now, take a peek over in the margin at the current special on rub-ons - AWESOME deal!!

Really cute treat bags!

2008-10-09T16:30:00.001-04:00

Are these not the cutest?!! This first picture is all of them laid out on my table - using the extra "candy box" as a prop for the eyeball bag.

This is the best picture I could get of this tiny box - sorry! I just saw this template on Jackie's blog and had to try it! It is SO easy that I think I'll be doing these for our Halloween treats this year! The box holds 4 Starburst candies but I'm sure you could put other types of candy inside. You can see the template (as well as print it off) by clicking here.

This is another treat box from Jackie's blog. Isn't this just the cutest "piece of candy" ever? This little box is filled with Halloween colored M&Ms (green, orange, purple & black). See this template here.
Now this little guy is totally hilarious! You can't really tell it but it's eyes "spring" out like those funny "glasses" with a spring that lets the "eyeballs" fall out. The candy is from Kroger but I think you can find it anywhere you buy your Halloween candy. How cute is this?
As soon as Gary gets here we're headed to Trevor's football game & since he won't be here this weekend I think I'll take them to get his opinion on them. Maybe I'll give them to him so he can have a little treat on the bus ride from his game back to his school. I think he'd like that! :c)

Happy Birthday Stampin' Up!

2008-10-01T17:03:00.001-04:00

It's Stampin' Up!s birthday but YOU get the gifts! Just spend $20 in regular catalog merchandise and get 20% off any of the birthday stamp sets below!

To get a closer look at the images, jut click on the birthday card to the left. Offer expires Oct. 31st so don't wait!

Holiday Mini Catalog

2008-10-01T17:02:00.000-04:00

The Holiday Mini Catalog is now available! If you have not received your copy in the mail please contact me & I'll get one to you ASAP! You're really going to love the products inside this mini catalog! If you can't wait to get it in your hot little hands, click on the link to the left to see the products. Don't say I didn't warn you - my bank account has already suffered! LOL!

There's a new Big Shot in town!

2008-10-01T17:00:00.000-04:00

Did you know that Stampin' Up! and Sizzix have partnered to bring you a GREAT deal on the Big Shot? Yep, they have! You can order exclusive Stampin' Up! dies or a variety of Sizzix dies from me to make cards, scrapbook pages, home decor and more! There are over 50 different materials that the Big Shot will cut through so your options are virtually endless!

Get started with a Special Edition Starter Kit for only $195.95 that includes not only the machine but also the Multipurpose Platform and Standard Cutting pads, 2 Stampin' Up! Exclusive Bigz Dies, 1 Stampin' Up! Exclusive Sizzlits 4-Pack, 1 Stampin' Up! Exclusive Decorative Strip, Decorative Strip Cutting Pads AND Extended Spacer Platform! As if that's not enough, you can add the beautiful Big Shot "doctor's bag" for only $64.00!!

Click the picture of the Big Shot to the left for more details and to see all the dies available through Stampin' Up!

Happy Halloween

2008-09-27T23:34:00.004-04:00

This was a great challenge for me! The original card that I used to create this card was in one of our company publications & it was a Christmas card. After I created this one I decided that I want to make a Christmas card of my own with this layout so you'll see that one tomorrow (since I haven't created it! LOL!).

I'm not sure how I feel about this card to be honest with you. I love the layout but I'm wondering if I had used purple as the base card instead of orange, would it look better? Hmmm, maybe I'll have to try that and see which I like better.

{Supplies}

Stamps: Batty for You, All Holidays

Paper: Only Orange, Basic Black, Eggplant Envy, Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Green Galore

Ink: Basic Black Classic, Whisper White Craft

Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, 3/4", 1", 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" Circle Punches, 2-way Glue Pen, Crafter's Tool Kit

Spooky Spider

2008-09-26T09:00:00.001-04:00

Just in time for Halloween!

This fun image comes in three sizes and two colors and is designed to coordinate with our Ghostly Greetings Designer Series paper and our Chills & Thrills Rub-Ons from the Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog. Spooky Spider is available for you to order --just in time for Halloween--and will also be available through Online Ordering.

Spooky Spider was created specifically for Halloween, so you won't see it in the Décor Elements Phase 2 brochure. Spooky Spider is a limited time offer, and will no longer be available after October 31, 2008 so if you love this little guy (like I do!) act NOW to get yours! You may want to order a couple extra to use next year!

Click on the picture in the side margin to get prices and more details.

Black Magic

2008-09-24T16:30:00.001-04:00

This cool project is a result of an assignment from my "Boot Camp". I've wanted to try this technique but didn't because it was too daunting...or so I thought!

I tried to find the newsletter that had the instructions but I couldn't find it so I went on memory from when I read them months ago. It was SO easy I can't believe I didn't try it immediately!!

Now it's time for you to try it out...

1. Stamp your image using Whisper White or Very Vanilla Craft ink on dark cardstock.

2. Allow the ink to dry.

3. Use your Watercolor Pencils to color your image (coloring over the White or Vanilla ink).

4. Punch out, cut out or otherwise adhere to your project.

5. You're done - that's all there is to it!

{Supplies}
Stamps: Batty for You
Ink: Whisper White Craft pad
Paper: Basic Black, Only Orange, Green Galore, Eggplant Envy
Accessories: Watercolor Pencils, Black Hemp Twine

50 Reasons to Be A Demo

2008-09-19T11:07:00.002-04:00

Oh my word y'all! I was checking out a fellow demos blog yesterday and found the best song ever!! I immediately e-mailed her and asked for permission to post it to my blog and she has graciously given me permission! Her name is Kathleen and you can see her blog here.

Music is a big part of her life and she often "hears" songs when someone tells her something. Well, she said that someone was talking about all the great reasons to become a demonstrator and Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" popped into her mind. LOL! When you read what she came up with, be sure to read it in his melody to get the full oomph of it. ;c) Check out her creative song....

You love to stamp and scrap and let your muse go free
The answer's easy -- it's an opportunity
I'd like to help you in your creativity
There must be fifty reasons to be a demo

Just slip out the ink, Pink,
Make a new page, Sage
No need to be coy, Joy,
Just listen to me
Say "yes ma'am," Pam,
No need to discuss much
Just give it a whirl, girl,
And get yourself free.

She said it grieves me so I can't explain the pain
I need new ink and stamps and paper with a grain
I said just stamp and scrap -- it's easy, don't you see?
There must be fifty reasons to be a demo.

Make a new choice, Joyce,
Stock your paper bin, Lynn,
Try some new hues, Sue,
It's a really low fee
CASE a new scheme, Breen,
A Big Shot is waiting for you
Just give it a whirl, girl,
And get yourself free.

She said, why don't we both just sleep on it tonight
I said, in the morning you'll begin to see the light
She signed up 'cuz she realized I was so right
There must be fifty reasons to be a demo.

Take a good look, Brooke,
It's all the rage, Paige,
Scrapbook a day, Kay,
Be all you can be,
Sparkle and gleam, Jean,
Embossing is so much fun,
Just give it a whirl, girl,
And set yourself free.

After that VERY creative song, she listed 50 reasons and I couldn't agree more!! After reading her song and these reasons, contact me & we'll talk about signing you up as part of my team! You won't want to miss these opportunities!

Free stamps
Independent Contractor status
Unlimited Income Potential
Ability to invest in your own business
Tax Advantages
Trip Incentives
Fun
Friends
Personal Growth
Self Esteem
Confidence
Minimal Investment
Regional Trainings
National Convention
Leadership Training
Direct Deposit
Online Ordering
Company Website
Monthly Training Publication
Swaps
Contests
New Product quarterly
Rapidly Growing Company
Variety of Sales Options
Commission on Personal purchases
Credit for Personal Purchases toward incentives
Commissions – 12 Step, 5 level overrides
Override commission starts with first recruit
Awards
Customer Incentives from SU!
Low quarterly Minimum
Flexibility
Hobby Demonstrators welcome
Big Shot Die Cut / exclusive dies
Home Décor products
Automatic Promotions
Semi-Annual new catalog
No Inventory
Stampin’ Start Program
24/7 order access
Access to the website with samples and pattern library
Live Demo support 8 hours each weekday
20% instant income on all personal or customers orders
FREE Great Rewards!
20% hostess rewards on top of your 20% instant income
Camaraderie of fellow demos
Tons of inspiration and creative ideas
Demo only workshops and chat groups
Company responsive to demonstrators' needs
Business adjusts to your schedule

A Special SU! Song!

2008-09-18T16:00:00.005-04:00

Remember my post about the group that performed at Convention this year - Tonic Sol-fa? Well, they preformed a song just for us at Convention and there was no way it was going to be on one of their CDs for me to share and I hated that! Enter YouTube! :cD One of my fellow demonstrators recorded their special performance and put it on YouTube so I can now share it with you! Woo-hoo! These guys are so talented (and cute!) I think they could sing the phone book and it would be enjoyable! ;c)

Here is the link to the personalized Stampin' Up! song by Tonic Sol-fa for your viewing pleasure. In case you missed the previous post with a link to their MySpace page where you can hear "normal" songs, click here.

Donny's Card

2008-09-18T12:45:00.000-04:00

Today is my nephew's 1st baseball game and I can't be there! :c( I quickly created this card for him wishing him luck today & telling him to be sure to call me and tell me all about his game! :c) I will be in Commerce at Trevor's football game so hopefully Donny will call while I'm there so I can tell Trevor how his little cousin did in his first baseball game!

{Supplies}

Stamps: Sincere Salutations, Sporting Goods (retired)

Paper: Basic Black, Very Vanilla

Ink: Basic Black, Close to Cocoa, Basic Brown Classic Pads, Real Red, Going Grey & Creamy Caramel markers, VersaMark Pad

Accessories: Dimensionals, Pearlescent Powder (retired)

A challenge

2008-09-17T09:35:00.000-04:00

As part of the Late Night Stampers group, the Design Team presents challenges to us each week. This week's challenge was to create a 1, 2, 3 card. The requirements for Challenge # 1 were:

You must use only ONE stamp set TWO kinds of Embellishments (ribbon, brads, hodgepodge, buttons, etc...) THREE Colors (any of SU! Colors & Basic Black & Whisper White each count as one color... so if you use them you can only use 1 more color!!!) and UNLIMITED punches!!!!

This is the card I came up with. It was actually one of the Stamp-a-Stack cards we did but I added the Pretties Pearls to it so that it would fit into the challenge. What do you think - did it fit the challenge?

{Supplies}
Stamps: To You and Yours
Paper: Night of Navy, Real Red, Very Vanilla
Ink: Night of Navy & Real Red markers, Close to Cocoa Classic Pad
Embellishments: 2-way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds, Pretties Pearls
Punches: Scallop Edge

5-Petal Flower Baby Card

2008-09-16T18:00:00.001-04:00

I made a baby card for a friend but I didn't want to post it before I gave it to her. I visited her today after not being able to attend her baby shower on Sunday due to something I ate the previous night not agreeing with me (I was really afraid I had caught a bug and did NOT want to give it to her!). She liked the card so much that she wants to do it at her workshop next Sunday! That means I'll be coming up with a couple different versions - woo-hoo, more playing with my stamps!

I did NOT come up with this, I got the idea from Dannie's blog. As soon as I saw this tutorial I knew I had to do it for Cindy's baby shower card! I hope you like it as much as I did - it was super easy to do! If you would like to have your friends over and create a card like this let me know and we'll book your workshop just like Cindy did! :c)