Ghirardelli Chocolate Envelopes

I like to include thank you gifts to my customers with their orders from time to time.  This one is a quick and easy gift you could make for anyone in no time! I used the Envelope Punch Board and followed the instructions for a 3x3 envelope.  I assembled the envelope as usual then instead of a card I filled it with some chocolate!  The little Ghirardelli squares are the perfect size and treat!

I added a quick and simple belly band and they were done!  I used the Petal Garden DSP stack for all them.  You could make a stack and keep them in your bag and had them out as a random act of kindness this holiday season to anyone you run across in your daily life!

Thank for looking, see you soon!!!

Whole Lot Of Lovely

I love how beautiful all of our DSP's are.  I'm really more of a collector than a user of DSP but I'm trying to be better about using it and sharing it.  The Whole Lot Of Lovely DSP pack is defiantly one of my favorites this year, I know that because I haven't used hardly any of it!  I love all the patterns and I just want to save it!  This card is fun and simple and showcases a couple of the gorgeous patterns.  I added a white embossed greeting on some vellum punched out with our Everyday Label Punch. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon! 

Sale-a-Bration Stamp Camp!

It's time for my 2018 Sale-A-Bration Stamp Camp!

It's time to Sale-a-Brate!  Join me for my annual Sale-a-Bration Stamp Camp and get your first look at this years Sale-a-Bration and Occasions Catalog offerings! 

 

Earn FREE Sale-a-Bration products for every $50 you spend (before tax and shipping).  Plus see some exclusive items you can only earn with a $100 purchase!  

 

At the class you'll make 6 cards using all new Sale-a-Bration and Occasions Catalog stamps and accessories.  Plus enjoy even more perks at the class including get $5 off a purchase of $50 or get $10 off a purchase of $100+. Plus BIG surprises for those that join my team during Sale-a-Bration! 

 

You must sign up via the link below for this class.  

Space is limited, sign up early!  

When: Saturday January 13, 2017 at 9:00am

Where: St. John's Cathedral 318 Silver SW in downtown ABQ Cost: $20

Fox Punch Skunk

I love all our punches, particularly the ones that are super versatile like the fox. There is no end to what you can make with the fox punch.  I made a stack of these super cute skunks.  I love how cute he is!  I love the googlie eyes and the little bow tie!  I used the new Stampin' Blends to color the grass around the stump and the sky right behind the stump.  I even used the Dark Pink Pirouette to color our White Accents for a cute little pink nose!  I finished of the card with some DSP and some banners.  Super cute!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Baby Bear

Last week I went to a baby shower and my go to stamp set for baby showers is the Baby Bear stamp set.  This is a 3-step stamp but it makes the cutest little teddy bear!  The colors I stamp him in was Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Early Espresso.  I love all the different blues on this card, I use Pacific Point and Dapper Denim.  

To line up the bear I find it easier to line up the two triangle areas under his arms.  I think if you get those two triangles lined up on each layer of the stamp you can get a good image.  I do make sure to double check the ears and feet but usually the triangle trick works!  I fussy cut the bow and added it on with some Mini Dimensionals.

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Gift Of Soup

Last week at my class I gave these cute gifts away to my guests.  They're so cute and easy and perfect for anyone feeling under the weather.  I used our retired Gift Card Enclosure packs.  We used to sell them years ago, recently I found a bunch in my box of "boxes and bags".  I love all our gift-able items, but I tend more to be a collector then a giver so I'm working on that!   

The idea for the soup packet came from this cute idea by Sharon that I saw on Pintrest.  It was too cute to pass up.  I looked through all my stamps for a cute get well sentiment and I love this one from Watts of Occasions.  I dressed up the packet with Lemon Lime Twist Cardstock and DSP and added a pop of red to match the printing on the soup.  'Souper' easy fun and cute!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!   

Disney Cupcakes!

This is my final project from craft weekend and I'm not even sure they're finished, but they're so cute I had to share them.  I did not come up with this idea first and foremost.  Complete credit goes to Michelle Suit.  She posted a framed image of these Disney cupcakes on Stampin' Up!'s demonstrator Facebook page back in July.  I've had the picture saved to make for a while!!!  If you want to check out Michelle's blog, she does great work you can see her blog here.     

I did have to come up with my own versions of these guys, the exact punches, etc weren't mentioned in the FB post.  But that's ok, I like deconstruction punch art anyway.  The cupcake bottoms and tops are all the same, they're from the Coffee Cups framelits.  The bottom is the little sleeve for your cup and the top is the whipped cream you'd put on a cold coffee.  Each character has a few additional pieces.  Mickey and Minnie's ears are each the 1" Circle Punch. Mickey's buttons and Minnie's spots are the 1/2" Circle Punch and Minnie's bow is from the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch. 

Donald and Goofy are pretty similar and really the only difference is Donald's bow tie.  Both of their hats are from the Coffee Cup framelits, this is the piece that would cut out the coffee beans.  All the pieces, with the exception of white and black are sponged in their coordinating color to add more dimension to each piece.

The cards all have the same basic layout. They're all notecards, with a white panel and a corresponding piece of colored cardstock on the side.  The colored piece is stamped with the diagonal background on all of them while the white panel is stamped with the zigzag stamp from the Work of Art stamp set.  

Pluto's ears were probably the hardest.  I finally figured out the cat's tail in the Cat Punch would work perfectly!  In addition Pluto's collar is just a 1/4" strip of cardstock with a 1/2" circle tag.  I mentioned I wasn't sure if they were done, only because they don't have greetings, do they need greetings, a birthday greeting???  I'm not sure.  That will be determined later when and IF I ever use them.    

Onto the princesses!  Snow White's apple is from the Tree Builder punch and her bow is also from the Cookie Cutter Builder.  

 Cinderella uses a 3/4" Circle Punch for her hair, the bow is from yep you guessed it Cookie Cutter Builder.  And to create the layers on her skirt I used a 1 1/4" Circle punch and trimmed it after it was glued down. 

Finally Tinkerbell, who may actually be my favorite, but who am I kidding I LOVE them all!!!  Tinkerbell's hair is the same as Cinderella.  I thought about adding vellum wings to her but everything I used never looked right.  She's stinkin' cute without them!  That's it!  That's all my projects from craft weekend!  If you're in the USA I hope you're enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving however you choose to celebrate!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Stampin' Blends Birthday Blooms

I took some time at craft weekend to play with our amazing Stampin' Blends and made four birthday cards that are all similar in design but I switched up the colors of each flower.  I love how each of the flowers came out with the Stampin' Blends.  There's so much depth and dimension just with 2 colors of markers!  This first one is the Calypso Coral.  Normally I'm not a huge Calypso Coral fan but I love these markers! They might just change my mine on Calypso Coral!

Rich Razzleberry is up next.  This has always been a favorite color of mine!  All the cards have the same basic elements.  A strip of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper, some gold foil cardstock and a white embossed panel.  

If you didn't want a birthday card you could change it up and make them sympathy or even a wedding or bridal shower card.  Isn't this Pink Pirouette one so beautiful so soft and delicate! I love it! 

Finally the Cherry Cobbler one.  I love how bold and vibrant this card is!  Instead of using the Polka Dot folder for this white panel I clear heat embossed the Marbled Background, it was a little too subtle for my liking so the rest of the cards were run through the Big Shot.  It's still an amazing card!  

Here's all the cards together.  If you haven't tried our Stampin' Blends you can order them now.  Don't forget to shop the Online Extravaganza going on now! 

Thanks for looking see you soon!!!!

Cards For Guys

Over the weekend I had a class, Cards For Guys.  If there's ever any card I struggle with it's masculine cards for sure!  It's always nice to have a stack of guy cards ready to go.  I love to keep guy cards nice and simple.  I think too many layers or embellishments and the guys are overloaded with what should be a fun greeting card.  So here's the 4 cards from my class.   I actually love this first one.  That Old Olive plaid pattern is perfect!  This is such a simple, classic design that it could easily be adapted for any card for anybody!  Change up the DSP and you have a Christmas card or a kid card. The possibilities are endless!

This is another card I love!  I ended up modifying this one a little after I took the pictures.  I added an embossing folder to the card base for my class.  Another great card though!

I love this card, and the simple image to it.  I love the tag on the front and the waves embossed on the background.  

This argyle pattern is probably my favorite of the guy cards.  What's awesome about this card is that it's easy to prep, easy to make and it's so classic looking!  I still have lots to share from the craft weekend.  Check back all this week for more! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Shop The Online Extravaganza NOW!

Don't miss the 24 hour flash sale going on NOW! 

Plus there tons of other items on sale that you don't want to miss out on!!  Shop today! 

Framed Watercolored

At craft weekend I had plans to make this framed decor piece for my stamp room.  I wasn't sure what exactly I wanted to do so I didn't really have any big plans and I wasn't sure I'd even get to it.  I did preprint the saying before I left on some vellum so I had it if I needed it.  The saying which I love I heard in a stamping video a while ago but it always stuck with me, I keep chocolate on my desk and I always reach for a piece when I'm feeling frustrated so it really embedded itself inside my brain.  Unfortunately I can't remember what video I was watching or even who said it.  I think I was so blown away by the wisdom and truth to this saying.  So if you know who said this please leave a comment and let me know.  I love it!  It's a 5x7 frame and I took a big piece of watercolor paper and randomly watercolored it with some Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry and Tempting Turquoise reinker.  I love the final look of it and it is now proudly displayed in my stamp room! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Advent Boxes

While at the craft weekend I had two goals.  Plan the cards for my upcoming class and to make 24 advent boxes for my children.  I made sure both of those were done on Friday.  I wanted easy boxes that I could put together quickly, I wanted them to be about 2"x2" in size and if I could store them easily for next year I wanted that as well.  As luck would have it Sam from Pootles posted this box just a couple days before the weekend.  This box is genius too!  There is no adhesive to hold it closed.  Not a lick!  It's an incredible box!  I was blown away by how easy it was to make!  I followed Sam's instruction on her video exactly so I'm not going to go into those details.  Check out her website for all the directions.  I made 12 Old Olive boxes and 12 Berry Burst boxes.  Old Olive for Logan and Berry Burst for Megan.  I used the Merry Little Christmas DSP to decorate the sides of each box.  The kids will alternate days opening the boxes and each box has a special treat for each kid inside.  I'm so glad they're done and because they have no adhesive they fold flat so I can use them again next year!  So exciting!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Reserve your Stamparatus today!  

Online Extravaganza!

It's nearly time for Stampin' Up!'s Black Friday Holiday Extravaganza sale!  The sale begins November 20 and runs through November 26.  Don't miss the 24 hour flash sale on November 20 where select stamp sets will be on sale! 

For the full list of sale items see the PDF.  I'll be placing an order first thing on November 20, contact me to place your order today! 

Introducing The Stamparatus!

Big News!!!  Introducing the new Stamparatus!!

It’s big news when something breaks the mold and changes everything. The Stamparatus will change the way you stamp, and before long, you’ll wonder how you crafted without it!

Why do YOU need one? You’ll fall in love with stamping all over again when you learn everything you can do with it!

• Make multiples with ease
• Consistently stamp crisp, clean images
• If you want a darker impression, apply more ink and restamp—no need to start over
• Make fewer mistakes, saving time and money
• Easily create 2-step, 3-step, and 4-step stamped images using reversible plates
• Develop new and specialized stamping techniques with adjustable stamping plates and precision placement

I need product details!

• Compatible with Stampin’ Up!’s red rubber and photopolymer stamp
• Foam mat to use with photopolymer stamps
• Rulers and gridlines for quick measuring
• 2 open sides so you can stamp on larger paper
• 2 reversible plates: a total of 4 surfaces to work with
• 2 magnets to hold the paper in place
• Magnet storage areas
• Retail Price–$49.00 USD

How do you get one?

The global launch will feature three reservation windows. For each window, please note the following:

• Reservation quantities are while supplies last.
• Limit is 1 tool per customer per reservation window.
• You may participate in multiple reservation windows.
• In order to reserve your Stamparatus, you are required to provide your credit card information.
• Credit cards will not be charged until the Stamparatus ships from our facility. When you close your order, be sure to verify that your credit card and shipping information is correct.

Reservation and shipping times are:

November 16–30, 2017	Approx. February 1, 2018
December 5–30, 2017	Approx. March 19, 2018
January 15–30, 2018	Approx. April 15, 2018

	Head to the Stampin' Up! website on November 16th, to reserve yours!  Still need some more information on this tool, check out this video!

I'll be back tomorrow with more projects from Craft Weekend!
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!

Book Of Life Scrapbook Weekend

Last weekend was the Book Of Life Scrapbook weekend.  If you're not familiar with the Book Of Life it's and animated movie about life, afterlife and love.  It's a cute movie.  I didn't take any pictures so I have (with permission) used some of my friend Kim's pictures.  It was a fantastic weekend filled with friends, crafts, laughs, food, fun and games!  These weekends never disappoint!  This is what the tables looked like when everyone arrived.  So colorful and fun!  I love them!  The beer bottles I made, in 4 different colors.  Big thanks to my Dad for drinking all that beer LOL!

We all have our own assigned seats, there are 28 spots total.  Michelle, my downline who plans and executes these weekends flawlessly never misses a detail.  She planned activities and games to play with every event.  The activities are designed to get you up and moving and meeting new people.  I wish I would have gotten some pics of the actual games.  They were all so much fun!  There was a scavenger hunt, a card making challenge and more!  She always has a little gift after each activity!

One of the things people had requested was some demos of products.  So I volunteered to show some techniques with our new Stampin' Blends markers  Our new Stampin' Blend markers are pretty remarkable and the interest drew quite the crowd!

No craft weekend would be complete without a trip to the Applebee's next door with my BFF Kim for some craft weekend fuel ;)  This trip has become a tradition for us!  Kim's a pretty remarkable women and I'm so glad we get to see each other as often as we do!

Speaking of pretty amazing women, these women are all part of my team.  Michelle of course runs the weekend.  She always enlists the help of her team and I'm so honored to be included in that!  From L-R there's Tracy, Nikki, Cindi, Michelle, me, Anne and Kim.

Coming home and unpacking is always a challenge, I come home with so much more than I go with.  Between all the wonderful gifts from Michelle, everyone else at the weekend is so generous too!  I cam home with more gifts and treats than ever before!  So much more that I had to display it all on the floor instead of on my desk!  Wow!  That's pretty incredible.   

Of course when you do it on the floor there's always the off chance the dog will photo bomb your shot.  It was a fantastic weekend.  If you're interetested in learning more about Michelle's weekends head to her blog.  The next weekend is in February and I CAN'T WAIT!  I did get a few projects accomplished while I was there so I'll share those in the next few days!  Thanks for looking, see you soon!

Gold Pizza Box

Wouldn't it be great if our pizza's came in boxes like this?  So pretty!!  I'm back from craft weekend and I have lots to share over the next few days, first up is unpacking, that's always hard LOL!  For my box I used an Xacto knife to cut slits in the top of the lid to wrap the DSP around.  Because the belly band is just on the lid. You don't have to slide it on and off to open the box.  Which I love because sometime belly bands can get damaged or torn going on and off boxes.  I used the Bow Builder punch and some gold foil for the box.  I finished it with some gold leaves in gold foil and gold glimmer paper. So pretty and festive!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Multiple Image Shaker Card

These two cards were pretty intense to make.  They took a few days of sitting on my desk and working on them when I could.  While they took a while to make they were sooo worth it.  The inspiration came from this card. I love the finished look of them!  Each circle is basically a different shaker area.  They have different items in each shaker area, and different images. There was lots and lots of sponging and ink blending on these cards.  I was very careful not to overlap colors or have two of one color next to each other.  Basically I made myself crazy!  This whale one is pretty darn cute, but I think I love the mermaid one the best!    

I think I'm more drawn to this one because of the colors.  I love the 5 sweet mermaids peeking out.  YES those were fussy cut! That was actually one of the quicker parts of these cards LOL!  But it was all a labor of love and I love the finished results of them!  Super cute and fun.

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Watercolored Birthday

This card is soooo pretty and super elegant!  I just love the softness the vellum brings over the watercolored piece.  This was the watercolored piece that I demoed at my Tips and Techniques class.  I used the Block Watercoloring technique I talked about here.  I loved the look of the piece that I demoed and I kept it on my desk waiting for some inspiration. This white embossed greeting was perfect for it!  I love the pop of silver glimmer paper on the bottom of the card too!  Today's the day!  I'm off to Craft weekend!  Yay!!!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Garden Girl and Stampin' Blends

I'm loving our new Stampin' Blends!  Have you had a chance to use them?  They're incredible!  I decided to sit down and color for a while so I stamped the sweet girl from the Garden Girl set and created 2 similar but different cards.  I thought I would love the Bermuda Bay one the best but then I colored the girl with the Cherry Cobbler Polka Dot dress and I was in love!  I used the Color Lifter to add all the dots to her skirt after I colored the image.  I love how simple it was! 

After the color was done I stamped the girl again on some scratch paper to mask off the image and I added some grass and a sky to the background.  I can't handle cards that have floating images.  I needed to add some 'ground' for her. I used some sponge daubers and my Lemon Lime Twist and Soft Sky pads.  I added a simple greeting to the cards to keep them nice and simple! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Pop Of Paradise and Gold!

You guys! Craft weekend is THIS weekdn!  Oh. My. Gosh! I cannot wait!  I've been so busily working on all my assignments to get done before craft weekend and I am sooooo ready for a crafting break where I can sit and create for me!  I cannot wait!  Make sure to follow my Facebook page for updates throughout the weekend.  I need to finish a couple more things then it's time to pack!  I'm trying to be more strategic about packing this time, plus this time I'm actually going into the weekend with a couple things I want to get done so that helps with the packing. Today's card is a challenge for my downline.  I've given them a sketch and they have to create a card based on the sketch.  I'm posting a new sketch every Wednesday throughout November.  It's never too late to join my team and now is a GREAT time to join.  The Occasions and Sale-a-Bration catalogs will be out soon and that means pre-order for demonstrators!  Yay!!  I know this years offerings will be amazing! The card is pretty straight forward.  I pulled out my Pop of Paradise stamp set, I LOVE IT!  I added lots of pops of gold with some gold embossing and lots of gold foil and glimmer paper punched leaves.  So pretty!!  I love this card!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Tiny Box Ornaments

At my class last weekend I had a fun tree with lots of gifts hanging from it.  Every class I love to give my guests a small gift for taking time to come.  This sweet little box is perfect for Christmas and a set of 24 of them hanging from a tree would make the cutest Christmas countdown!

The boxes were super easy to assemble.  I was inspired by this box from Sam at Pootles.  It only takes a 3x6" piece of paper so you could get a ton of them from one pack.  For all the details and measurements head to Sam's blog here. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Stampin' Blends on Sale Today!

I'm so excited!  Today you can order out new Stampin' Blends!  I love these markers so much!  They're new alcohol markers that blend beautifully!  They come in 12 colors, plus a bronze, ivory and color lifter! 

Each of the color groups has a light and a dark shade that you use to blend and get amazing coloring and shading!

 Along with the new blends today you can get this amazing new card kit and stamp set! The kit makes these amazing four cards that are beautiful and come with the most gorgeous envelopes!  The gold trim on the envelopes is simply stunning!

For all the details on this card kit, stamp set and blends head to my website and click 'shop now' in the top center.  While you're there pick up a few sets of the markers and get blending!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!