Christmas Extravaganza!

Hello there! I am so excited! I have been having so much fun in my newly renovated craft studio. I will try and share some photos with you later, but for now I want to share some of the projects I've been working on.

I will be hosting a Christmas Extravaganza here in a couple of weeks and my ladies are going to get to make a couple of really fun projects. Here's the first one.

I saw something similar online and thought it would be fun to try. I couldn't find a tutorial, so I just played around till I could make it work. I LOVE it!! My only wish is that the little fairy lights I bought had a timer so they would turn on and off automatically. Oh well. I think I may make another one using the Night in Bethlehem set.

Speaking of Night in Bethlehem, this is our second project.

This is a card that folds into a standard envelope. I originally found the idea on this blog. It's in another language, but it wasn't too difficult to figure out.

I am so looking forward to this Extravaganza. I've told the ladies it will be like a craft class and Christmas party all rolled into one. Between the downstairs renovation, and a couple months of health issues, I am practically giddy just being able to craft again, and I may be going a little overboard with goodies for my ladies. I had a hard time narrowing down the projects and how many gifts to make for them. :-) I guess that's a good problem to have. I sure hope they enjoy it as much as I'm enjoying the planning. I'll share more with you later. I don't want to give all the surprises away. ;-)

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

PS. Don't forget to take advantage of the Online Extravaganza (I think they stole my name) going on at Stampin' Up! for this week only! Lots of great deals to be had.

Please use the Hostess Code above when placing an order so I can send you some extra goodies with your Thank You gift.

The Stamparatus is Coming!!!

Hello there! I know your first thought is, "What in the world is a Stamparatus?" Good question. I will answer that in a minute, but first I want to share a couple of projects we made at my TNT class this week. In case you're not familiar, TNT stands for Tips and Techniques, and boy did we learn a lot of new ones this month.

I had to jump on the ever-popular Eclipse Technique bandwagon. I love how this card came out, and the technique is a LOT easier than it looks. This was also my first time playing with the Painted Harvest stamp set. This one is kind of addicting. I will have to post a video, 'cause it's kind of like magic the way the second stamp all of a sudden adds petals and shadows where there weren't any just before.

Secondly, we played with the new Stampin' Blends. Each of the ladies chose a different image from the Sugarplum Dreams stamp set to put on her notepad. These will help us keep track of our "Naughty and Nice" lists. :o) 

And now for the BIG NEWS! The Stamparatus is coming and trust me, you want to be among the first to get it! 

The Stamparatus is a new and innovative stamp placement tool developed in partnership with a team of demonstrators leaders. It will change the way you stamp! In fact, you'll wonder how you've ever lived 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

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!!

Okay. I’ve gotta have one. How do I get in line?

With the launch of this tool, we’re trying something different: testing a new reservation system. It acts like a true preorder: you reserve your spot and we guarantee shipment as soon as the product arrives in our warehouse.  This system will allow us to get the product to market as soon as possible while avoiding backorders and efficiently managing inventory.

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.
• The first reservation window opens at 2:00 PM (MT) on November 16. While supplies last.

Have more questions? I’ve got answers. Check out the resources below.

   *Stamparatus Launch Q & A

   *How to Reserve Your Stamparatus Tutorial


I cannot tell you how excited I am about this new tool. I cannot wait till it comes out!! I believe it's going to make stamping so much easier. No more smeared edges and missed spots. Not to mention how easy it will be to do multiple cards of the same design. Can't wait!!

Oh, and I will be back later this week with some sneak peeks of projects for my upcoming Christmas Extravaganza!!

I've included below some of the items I used in the TNT projects. If you do put in an order, please be sure to use the Hostess Code listed above and I will be sure to send some extra goodies along with your Thank You gift.

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

Sneak Peek Saturday--I mean Wednesday.

Y'all, I was going to wait till Saturday to post this so I could do the whole alliteration thing with the title, but I, seriously, couldn't wait.

I LOVE this new bundle called Colorful Seasons from Stampin' Up! Right now, it's only available to demonstrators, but it will be available to all when the new catalog goes live next month. You are going to love the new catalog. So many great sets and fun ideas in there!

For this card I used a couple of the dies, and just a sentiment from the stamp set, but you also see a sneak peek of 2 of the new In Colors; Berry Burst-the centers of the flowers, and Tranquil Tide-the greenish color in the middle of the color wash.

I used the "acetate smoosh" technique on our watercolor paper for the background with Marina Mist, Tranquil Tide and Pool Party markers. In case you've never heard of the "acetate smoosh" technique, I took a piece of acetate (the flexible plastic piece on top of my stamp set) and scribbled color on it with the markers. Then I dropped lots drops of water on the paper from my aqua painter in the area I was planning on coloring. The next step is to place the colored acetate on the wet paper and watch the fun. I lifted the acetate up and then touched it down in a few areas to get the random dots on the edge. I think I need to order more watercolor paper 'cause that technique is kind of addicting. :o)

I cut the flowers from watercolor paper as well, and used the Berry Burst marker in the center of them and an Aqua Painter to draw the color out into the petals. For me, the hardest parts of this card were picking out which of the background colors I wanted to use as the base card (I went with Marina Mist) and determining where to put the sequins.

Do you want to see the stamp set and dies?

See what I mean about versatile? It covers the whole year, and those leaves and snowflakes are GORGEOUS!! I'm going to have to play with those next.

Don't forget, like the title above says, there are a lot of great items on the retiring list, some are discounted up to 50%, and some of them are already gone, so if you have something on your wish list, better get it quick.

Oh, I almost forgot! You can get a sneak peek, or should I say, your own pre-order of items in the catalog with this awesome offer from Stampin' Up! This bundle is really cool, and you get a FREE gift with either bundle. These items will be in the new catalog, but this bundle with the free gift will not. Check out my website for all the details and what's included in the bundles.

OK, that's a lot of fun stuff! One more piece of important info--don't forget to use the Hostess Code you see above when you place an order through my store. When you do, I will send you another free gift along with your Thank You gift and card.

Well, I have several more stamp sets I was able to pre-order that I am dying to play with, so I better get stamping.

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!!

Spring Basket Video

Hello there and Happy Spring! 

I hope you have some nice weather to enjoy right now. I live in Wisconsin. Wisconsin doesn't know how to handle spring. It was 70 yesterday. We're in the middle of a thunderstorm right now. We're supposed to get a couple inches of snow tomorrow. No kidding. I kind of like it though. Keeps me on my toes and I love seeing the brightness of the new greens against the browns of winter, and those purples look super pretty wrapped in a blanket of white. 

I designed this Get Well basket a little while ago and decided I wanted to make a spring version and show you how to make it. It only uses one sheet of cardstock, a few scraps, and an optional sheet of copy paper for your "grass" in the basket. This is really a good sized basket as you can see by the goodies inside, and it is pretty sturdy. In fact, after I took these photos, my daughter confiscated the brown one, changed up the tag, and filled it with nail goodies for her friend's birthday. :o)

Please let me know what you think of the project, and I would love to see one that you've made. 

I've included a link below to the items I used. If you're interested in some free goodies, please use the Hostess Code you see above when placing an order. At the end of the month the Hostess credits will be divided up among all the orders and I will send out a surprise goodie to you along with your thank-you card and gift. 

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!!

Crazy About Watercolor

Hello there, here's a simple card to give to someone special. I used the Crazy About You Stamp Set, but changed it up a bit with our Watercolor Pencils. 

After stamping the image with Pool Party and Pear Pizzazz, I went over the petals and leaves with varying shades of the pencils and then brushed over them with water from an Aqua Painter. Because our inks are waterbased like the pencils, it all blended together. I used the Bermuda Bay at the base of each petal and added a touch of Calypso Coral to the tips. I used Old Olive and Daffodil Delight on the leaves. I like the dimension it gives to this simple stamp set.

Hope you enjoy this card and get a chance to do some crafting this week. I'm going to be busy making swaps for OnStage Local this Saturday. It's my first time at one of these and I'm SUPER excited!!

I've included a link below to the items I used. If you're interested in some free goodies, please use the Hostess Code you see above when placing an order. At the end of the month the Hostess credits will be divided up among all the orders and I will send out a surprise goodie to you along with your thank-you card and gift. 

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!!

Easy Rose Wonder Card

Hello there and happy spring!! I love the Rose Wonder Stamp Set and the Rose Garden Thinlits. They are gorgeous, but, for me, they can be time consuming. I generally like to emboss the rose and then watercolor it in, or even do the Stanied-Glass technique of gluing in all the pieces from the rose die. For this card though, I was looking for something a little quicker. I had a rose cut out from another project and thought I would try and use it as a stencil. And, voila! A beautiful rose in no time at all.

I simply held the rose down and sponged color over it, rubbing gently. I used Rose Red for the rose (how appropriate :-) ) and added a bit of Real Red to the center to give it some depth. And, as you can see in the photo above, I now have a colored die cut to use on another project. Double win! 

Here's a list of supplies I used for this card. Don't forget to use the Hostess Code you see above when you place an order so I can send you some freebies.

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

Ice Cream Surprise

Hello there! I have been having so much fun with the new Cool Treats Bundle. I love the color combo in the paper pack, and of course, who doesn't love ice cream? or popsicles? or cute little strawberries? Aack! There's even a cute little spoon! This set is super easy to use and you can make some quick cards with it.

This was not necessarily a quick card, but it is super cute, and well worth the little extra time to make it.

Can you see what the surprise is? The card starts out with a single scoop ice cream, but when you pull the tab, you get a quadruple scoop! How fun is that? I've put together a little video to show you how to make it. Hope you like it. Let me know what you think.

I like the Cool Treats Bundle so much I've decided to host a Cool Treats Card Class. We will make 4 adorable cards using the bundle along with some washi tape and confetti. There are 2 options with this class: option one includes the supplies for 1 set of 4 cards with matching envelopes, option 2 includes the 4 cards PLUS your own Cool Treats stamp set, Frozen Treats framelits dies, Tasty Treats washi tape AND you get to choose one FREE Sale-a-Bration item of your choice! Want to see what we're going to make?

Be sure to check out my website for all the details and to RSVP for the class. 

What do you think? Want to see the Sale-a-Bration items available? There are stamp sets, ribbon and even a complete card kit. Remember, for every $50 you spend in the Annual or Occasions Catalog, you get to choose one of these for FREE! 

Hostess Code Club: If you place an order through my site, be sure to put in the hostess code above and I will be able to send you a little extra goody in your Thank You packet. If your order is over $150, DON'T use the code, as you qualify as your own hostess and you get to choose your own goodies.