Vintage?

Happy New Years Eve!  Hope you have big plans for bringing in the New Year, me not so much...I decided to come into the office to do a little stamping and catch up on a few things but will probably be in bed by 10:00.  My girls have a few days left of Christmas break and they have plans for Monday and Tuesday so I am sure I will be driving them wherever they plan to go so I may be hard to catch until they go back to school on Wednesday.  I did at least unpack a shipment and made this card.  I don't do very well at Vintage and this beautiful DSP is very much that.  It is the Everyday Enchantment from SAB catalog and the stamp set is called Elementary Elegance and is also SAB.  It is much prettier IRL but still I don't think it is vintage which is what I wanted to achieve.  The card stock colors are Pool Party,  Lucky Limeade, and Very Vanilla.  Thanks for stopping by!

Happiest Birthday

Good afternoon!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, mine was an adventure.  I won't go into details except to say stomach viruses make Christmas a little less merry.  But all is well now so maybe I can get some things made with all the new stuff I ordered from the Occasions Mini and Sale a Bration catalogs.  If you need either of these catalogs let me know and I will get one out to you, they are full of awesome new stuff.   For today's card I used the stamp set, Apothecary Art, which is made to be used with the Label Framelet dies.

Stampin' Up has announced that the Stocking Punch  and Stitched Stockings stamp set  will not be carried over to the new main catalog in July so if you want that punch you will need to order it by Jan 3.  The Stocking Die and Accents die will be carried over as well as the Peekaboo Frames die.  I will be placing an order on Jan 3rd if you need something.

Good afternoon!  Wow, I can't believe Christmas is almost here, I think the realization hit me this morning that I am totally not ready.  I have bought a few things but the lists still have a lot to be marked off.  It has been crazy things that have kept me from getting what I need to get done, like losing power on Saturday and having to spend most of the day helping my husband get the parts to install a whole new electrical breaker system.  I am just thankful we were home when it burned up because we could have easily lost our home.  Luckily I went into the laundry room and smelled wood burning just before the electricity went out.  Plus I must have been crazy to schedule dentist appointments and check ups this close to Christmas, that is where we have been this morning.  The girls have parties at school tomorrow and of course I have lots to do get ready for that but then it is off to the mall.

Anyway, I do have a card to show you for today, it has a total of 5 sneak peaks on it!  The DSP is gorgeous and is called Sweet Shop from the Occasions Mini.  The stamp set  is called Mouthwatering and is one of my favorites as well as the Jelly Bean Brads which coordinates with the Sweet Shop paper.  We are also getting Baker's Twine in all five of the new In Colors.  I used Lucky Limeade here.  And the best one...the Labels Collection Framelit Dies are just what I have been wanting.  Thanks for stopping by!

A Lotta Snowmen

Good Monday afternoon!  Today I have a lotta snowmen to show you, well you only see the last 9 in the photo but the other 47 are in the boxes all ready to be shipped.  I had an order for 56 snowmen treat holders!  When I got the email ordering them I immediately sent one back confirming the number just in case it was a typo.  I used the Fancy Favor die to make the box and then used the Top Note to make the snowman, they actually go together fast especially since I had a little help from the girls with punching.  They didn't mind helping since when we finished these on Saturday they knew it would be cookie baking time!

Gingerbread & Sugared Things

Good afternoon!  It's time to get the teacher gifts ready, those at school, church, piano, girl scouts, and basketball.  Shelby has seven at school alone and then she always takes a little something to the office staff, music teacher, and librarian.  So...we have been busy getting those together.  I found these Gingerbread Cookies and knew they would have to make their way into a gift basket.  I love this phrase from the stamp set Sweet Season and it fits perfectly with the Decorative Label punch.  I will show the finished basket when we get it all together.  Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Traditions

Good morning!  Do you  celebrate Christmas with traditions that have been in your family  for years?  We do, and I want to share a few with you.  I have to admit sometimes it is just plain hard to get to everything and last year I wasn't on top of things and time kind of slipped away and we didn't do all the things we traditionally do.  So this year I have made it a priority, my girls won't let me get away with slacking again!  They love making a gingerbread house and usually I bake the gingerbread myself but this year I went with a kit(I didn't say I wasn't going to take a few shortcuts:)  A second tradition is to shop for the new addition to the Christmas village, this year it had to be a horse since they are all about horses right now.  We also got the barn that is in the photo.  Check back to see the rest of our traditions..... we have a long list.

Happy Holidays

Good afternoon!  By this time of the year I am looking for quick and easy which is how I would sum this card up.  I just cut out three of the postage images and glued them on to the card, can't get much easier than that.  The other DSP on this card is retired but the cut out images are from Letters to Santa.  Thanks for stopping by.

Christmas Fun

Good Monday morning!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend, ours was super busy but so much fun too.  On Saturday I had my last class until the New Year and after that the girls and I finished up all the house decorations and did a little baking.  Yesterday was nonstop...we went to church and then at 2:00 Shelby had her band concert and choir performance which was over at 3:30 and then we hurried home to get Sadie and Dalton ready for their musical at 5:30.  I am the choir director for the 2-3 year old choir at church aka as The Noisemaker Choir which is the one Dalton is in.  My little ones will sing their  hearts out in the room but the minute they walk on stage they freeze and hardly sing at all but the cute factor is enough to get us through.  Sadie is in the Christ Kids choir and they put on a play and musical, she did an awesome job with the actions and singing.  I will show you a little clip of it tomorrow. 

Ok, enough of my bragging about my little ones...today's card has some very old DSP on it(not sure what it was called).  The card stock is Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, and Whisper White.  The tree is from the set Bright Hopes.  Did you notice the ribbon, it is the 3/8 inch Pleated Satin Ribbon that will be available in the Occasions Mini and will come in Pear Pizazz, Blushing Bride, and Baja Breeze as well.    Thanks for stopping by!

Thinking of You

Good afternoon!  Today I have a card showing some of the new products that will be available for FREE in the Sale~a~bration catalog starting January 24th.  I love this new DSP called Everyday Enchantment and the ribbon to match in Calypso coral is also a FREE item.  The stamp set I used here is from the set You are Loved from the Holiday Mini.  Thanks for stopping by!

The Same...Only Different

Good morning!  I know I said I had something other than Christmas but here is another Christmas card, actually the other things haven't been photographed yet.  I almost always make two of everything I make and so that was the plan here except when I started assembling the second one I added glue to the wrong side of one of the panels so they are the same..only different.  I used some retired DSP along with Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, and Very Vanilla card stock.  The stamps are from Bright Hopes.  Thanks for stopping by!

Enjoy the Journey

Good afternoon!  Today I thought I would show you something besides a Christmas project, I have  had several special orders recently so I will show you those for the next few days and then it will be back to Christmas projects.  This is a card I made for a local physician who was honored recently.  Since I really didn't know what his hobbies or interests were, I thought this image would work and especially the sentiment inside...enjoy the journey.  I used the well Worn DSP with Cajun Craze, Not Quite Navy, and Crumb Cake card stock.  The stamp set is called Pedaling Past and is retired.  Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas is Love

Good afternoon!  I got to go Christmas shopping this morning all by myself which rarely happens.  I power shopped, I had only done a few items online so far so I still have a lot to go but I have at least started.  Today I have a super cute card to show done by Trudy Jensik.  Trudy made this cute dog with punches for the Humane Society or Animal shelter, I forgot which.  She has some donations to drop off there so she needed a card to go with it.  I love it, especially the Christmas toboggan.  Told you my stamping ladies are very talented!

Mom's Diner

Good morning!  Today I have a couple of the projects made at my gift and treat class over the weekend.  I showed you the one I made here but don't you just love these.  I have the most talented ladies who love to stamp and I love spending time with them.  The first one was made by Menthia and she made hers as a gift for her daughter who is a teacher, she cut the big flowers from another piece of DSP which made the perfect accent for her memo board.  Chris made the second one for her kitchen  and I love how she made the tea bag.  I will show you more tomorrow

A Little Something

Good Monday morning!  Do you have a list of people that you want to give a little something to...well this gift is perfect for that.  This is a little box that would be perfect for homemade candy or cookies or even a cupcake as well as any small gift you had in mind.  It is made using the Scalloped Envelope die, you cut 4 of them and cut one flap off of each one and then adhere them together and shape into a box.  I also made a platform for mine from chip board using the Scalloped Square die and then adding a layer of embossed card stock.  This was one of the options for my Gift and Favor class this past weekend.   I will be showing you some more of the projects throughout the week as well as some of the fabulous gifts and cards the talented ladies attending the class came up with. 

Let it Snow!

Good morning, it is snowing here in Southern Illinois.  My girls were doing a happy dance when they got up this morning to snow but they didn't get out of school as they hoped.  So, since we have snow I thought a snowman was in order....as a card not a real one!  I ordered this set(Snow Much Fun) in July but haven't used it very much so I pulled it out today.  I love the little singing  birds in this set.  I used Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze and Whisper White card stock and the Snow Burst embossing folder.  Thanks for stopping by!

Naughty or Nice?

Good Monday morning!  Today I have a cute little bag decorated to look like a Santa suit.  This is a 5 minute project and it is sure to make someone smile.  I cut the bag down a little to make it approx. 5 inches and then cut Real Red card stock to fit, two strips of glitter paper, a strip of black for the belt, and a 1 1/4 inch square of Brushed Gold layered with a 1 inch square of black for the buckle.  The sentiment is from Tags til Christmas punched out with the Decorative Label punch and a glimmer brad with a Real Red Satan bow.  Thanks for stopping by!

Morning Cup

Good Sunday afternoon!  I don't usually post on Sunday but I had someone request photos of a project we will do at an upcoming class that will be about small gifts, favors, and treats.  This is the perfect class to make teacher and co-workers a little something that will mean a lot because you made it.  I do still have space left if you haven't already RSVP'd for this one.  Today's project smells soooo good...it is a candle holder with coffee beans in the bottom.  I used a Mason jar and put the votive holder on top in place of the lid, made a belly band, tied some ribbon on the top and added the coffee beans.  I am not a coffee drinker but the smell on my desk right now is so enticing I may have to try it again.    I used the stamp set Morning Cup for the image.  Thanks for stopping by!

Stocking Accents

Good Saturday morning!  I have made about 30 different stockings now but I think this one is my favorite so far.  I really like the Christmas tree which is from the Stockings Accents die.  This die also has a candy cane, holly leaf and berry, and two different ornaments.  I cut this one in card stock but I have also made some tree ornaments using chip board and then covering it in card stock or DSP.  This die is only $17.95 and when you consider a punch is $16.95 this is a very good price.  A few other details ...the tree is decorated with Rhinestones that have been colored with a red sharpie, the holly is from Winter Wishes stitched felt and the Baker's twine is Cherry Cobbler.  Thanks for stopping by.

Tag Time

Good morning!  hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful, mine was ...lots of food and family.  Today I have a gift tag to share with you.  I found this cute stamp set  called Festive Friends that came out in 2000 at a consignment store and had to have it.  The images are perfect size for tags and really fun to color as well.  I used a die to cut the tag out but wanted it to be a little longer so I added a piece of embossed card stock and sandwiched it between two die cuts.  This keeps the back side neat in case the markers bleed through as well. 

"One Horse Open Sleigh"...

Good afternoon!  Hope all your plans are going along nicely for Thanksgiving, I am starting my meal preparations tomorrow.  We are expecting at least 12 for dinner.  It will be hard this year as one seat will be empty, my husband lost a dear friend a few month's ago who always came to all our  holiday meals since he had no family.  I am sure we will remember all the good times and all the funny stories we always shared with him but he will be missed.

Today I have the cutest little sleigh to show you.  I have seen some around made using the Top Note die but mine is made using the Sizzix die which I am sure is the inspiration for the others.  My dear friend Brenda got the die and of course she shared it so I could make a few for myself.  I made a box to sandwich between two die cuts and it holds 4 chocolate nuggets perfectly.  This would be so fun to give to teachers or co-workers for their desk or to use as a table decoration.

A huge THANK YOU to all who have ordered during the Extravaganza!!!  Don't forget to email me your choice of glimmer brads so I can get those ordered and sent to you.  Thanks for stopping by!

Frostwood Christmas

Good Monday morning!  Hope you had a good weekend, mine was busy but good.  I took the girls to Paducah to see one of the celebrities from their favorite Disney show, Shake it Up Chicago.  They were so excited and didn't mind at all waiting in line for  over 2 hours. It was fun although tiring for me and of course we had to shop afterward.  Shelby got her dress and shoes for the Fall Ball, they are growing up way to fast for me.

My card for today is one for an upcoming SAS.  I used Welcome Christmas again with the Frostwood Lodge DSP.  The card stock is Garden Green, Whisper White, and Cherry Cobbler.  Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome Christmas

Good afternoon!  Today I have a Christmas card using  the stamp set, Welcome Christmas.  I used Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, and Very Vanilla card stock with  Letters to Santa DSP.   I added Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding ribbon and Cherry Cobbler Quilted Satan ribbon as well.  This is one of the cards we will do at my next Christmas SAS.  Thanks for stopping by!

J O Y Banner

Good evening!  This week has flown by, I can't believe it is Thursday already.  Today I have a banner made using the Stocking Die, I had made a different one but forgot to take a picture of it and then it sold at my last craft show.  I made two of these, one for my mantle at home and one for a sample to hang in my classroom.  It is hard to see in the photo but the stockings on each end have DSP on them.  I used the Timeless Type alphabet dies to cut the letters and the cuff of the stockings are embossed with the Snow Burst folder.  Thanks for stopping by!

MOJO Monday Christmas

Good morning!  I loved the sketch from MOJO Monday and had to give it a try.  I saw a card done  using the Designer Frames embossing folders on one of the display boards while at SU Regionals and knew I wanted to use it for a Christmas card.  I used Early Espresso for the base with a layer of Cherry Cobbler and then a layer of Very Vanilla that was embossed with the Snow Burst embossing folder.  The designer papers are retired.  The skaters are from my all time favorite Winter Post set and the sentiment is from the Beautiful Season stamp set.

Don't forget about the Christmas Card Buffet coming up this week,  if you haven't already RSVP'd please do so soon.  Thanks for stopping by!

Red Nosed Reindeer

Good Monday morning!  Hope you had a wonderful weekend, mine didn't start out so good but yesterday made up for it.  I have to tell you about an event  I set up a booth at.  I probably didn't find out enough about it before hand which was my first mistake.  It was a fund raiser so they charged admission and sold tickets beforehand.  What I didn't know was that they also sold alcohol at the event which is  always  a red flag for me.  I don't think it was well advertised either because the attendance was not good and the ladies there were more interested in the drinks than anything else.  It was supposed to last until 10:00 pm but at 7:30 I packed up and left.  I guess it was a lesson learned.  Yesterday was a wonderful day out with all three of my girls, we went shopping and had a super good day.

Ok, enough whining...I do have a cute project for you today.  I love the stocking die in the Holiday Mini and also love finding multiple uses for it.  I didn't come up with the original idea to use it for a reindeer but I put a few of my ideas into this one.  I used the one of the leaves from the leaf die for his antlers and made his eyes from the oval punch and gave him long eyelashes.  I also put a Box #2 die in the middle to hold a gift card, treat, or small gift.  The box fits perfectly and all you have to do is cut one end out of it.  Thanks for stopping by.

Timeless Portrait

Good evening!  I hope you are taking time today to honor a Veteran.    My Dad was a Korean War Veteran and I have had him in my thoughts all day, he passed away in 2004 and it is days like today that I miss him most.

Today's project is a Memo Board I made using a chip board base covered with a 12 x12 piece of DSP from the Timeless Portrait collection.  I cut Top Notes from magnet sheets, cork board, and blackboard Decor Elements and attached them down the side.  This is one of the projects we are making in my Big Shot class tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by!

Spice Cake Christmas

Good afternoon!  Today I have a card that was inspired by Mary Brown who was one of the presenters at the Louisville Regional SU event I went to last month.  Mary makes the cutest bows which is what she demonstrated.  It does take practice and mine is not even near as pretty as hers but I will just have to practice some more.  I used Pool Party  and Cherry Cobbler card stock along with Spice Cake DSP.  The sentiment is from Petite Pairs.  There are pearls on the tree as well but they didn't photograph very well.  Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet Friend

Good afternoon!  I have to tell you what an exciting weekend I had at a local craft fair this past weekend.  I met sooo many new people who were excited about card making and scrap booking, thanks to everyone who came by my booth and either bought or signed up for classes.  My card today is one we made at the SU Regional event in Louisville, Ky recently using the stamp set You Are Loved from the Holiday Mini.  At first glance I thought of this set as just a Valentine set but it is much more.  I will use it for Valentines but it also great for just pretty girly friend cards as well.  We used one of my favorite color combos, More Mustard and Cherry Cobbler.  Thanks for stopping by.

Snow Man Treats

Good evening!  Today I have two cute little snow man treat bags.  I found some white bags in my stash and decided to make them into something.  I used the Top Note die and various punches plus some of the Stitched Felt pieces from the Holiday Mini.  Cute and easy!

Beautiful Season

Good afternoon!  Today I have a card using the stamp set Beautiful Season, I had not planned on buying this set because I had the Cardinal Christmas set which I love.  But, I loaned my Cardinal Christmas set to someone and forgot who so I bought this one.  I like it but it is hard to color so that is why I didn't color it.  Anyway...thanks for stopping by!

You are Loved

Good afternoon!  This is one of the Make and Takes we did at Regionals last weekend.  It was made with the the stamp set You are Loved from the Holiday Mini.  I haven't bought that set yet but I know I will have to have it for Valentines Day cards for sure.  Thanks for stopping by!

Spooky

Good afternoon!  I had a wonderful time at the SU Regionals in Louisville, Ky yesterday.  We made a couple of cute make and takes which I will share with you next week and saw some very inspiring demonstrations.  I went with two good friends and except for me getting us lost it was a beautiful day. 

Today I have one last Halloween project to share.  I used the Top Note die to cut the topper from last years Halloween DSP.  The eyeballs are actually gum and they are in a pretzel bag.  Thanks for stopping by!

'tis the season

Good morning!  Hope you are having a wonderful week.  I have had two days filled full of fun with a very busy two year old.  I am also getting ready for the next craft show so I made a few treats.  These are chocolate nuggets covered with DSP and packaged in a pretzel bag.  I added tags to some of them. 

I am heading to Louisville, Kentucky tomorrow for a SU Regional event, can't wait!

Ahoy Matey

Good morning!  Today's project is a favor box for a birthday party I have been working on.  I used the Build a Bear die along with the clothes die which I changed a little to make his pants looked frayed.  His patch is held on with Baker's twine and his ht is from a retired stamp set(forgot the name of it).  I only have 19 more to make!  Thanks for stopping by.

A Grateful Heart

Good afternoon, hope your week is going good!  I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who stopped byt my booth at the craft show this past weekend.  I was a little skeptical about this one since it was a new one and the space was limited but I have to say how wrong I was.  I sold a lot and made a lot of new contacts, can't wait to get this new group started!  My card today uses some retired DSP but it was perfect for the color combination I wanted to use.  The greeting is from the stamp set Pursuit of Happiness and the leaves are from the Gently Falling.  Thanks for stopping by!

Stocking Box

Good Friday morning!  This week has flown by, I have a craft show this weekend and still have a million things to do to get ready.  I plan to get a lot accomplished tonight at our Open Crop session, if you haven't ever attended and would like to, give me a call and I will give you all the details. Today's project has been in my head for some time, I wanted to make the Stocking into a box.  I used the Box #2 die and cut one end out and then sandwiched it between two stocking die cuts.  It works perfectly and will hold a lot of loot.   Thanks for stopping by!

Peace on Earth

Good  morning!  Today I have a Christmas home decor project to share.  I have seen these framed pieces everywhere in blogland, I don't know who came up with the idea but I am enjoying making them.  The frame is 10x13 and I got it at a dollar store either Family or General can't remember which.  I used Letters to Santa DSP and Chocolate Chip card stock.  I got the felt Nativity at a craft and hobby store.  This was a very easy project to make and I am working on a few different styles which I hope to share soon.

Joy

Happy Monday to you!  Today I have a Christmas card we made last month at a Christmas SAS, it has a very simple design but the Letters to Santa DSP gives it a WOW factor.  I usually start in July making my Christmas cards and each month the cards become a little more involved.  So, if you have signed up for the Christmas SAS for this month expect the cards to be up a notch( now this is not to say they will be complicated, which is what I thrive on:) but just more steps).  If you haven't signed up yet, there is still time.
Thanks for stopping by!

25 and Counting

Hope your weekend is going good, mine has been super busy.  I wanted to share a little about the conference I attended the first part of the week.  It was so awesome, we had a bunch of well known speakers and musicians such as Selah and Ricky Skaggs.  The classes were all good, I wish I could of gone to all of them but we could only choose 4 each day.  I am very tired and it has taken me a bit to get rested, our classes started each morning at 8:30 and we finished around 9:00pm each night. 

I do have a project to share, I actually finished this a while ago but had forgotten to photograph it.  I used the 25 and Counting stamp set and the Peekaboo Frames die.  I used a ton of different products on this such as the jingle bells, bakers twine, punches, buttons, and ribbon.  It is even musical!  I found these cute little music buttons at a local craft store and just had to incorporate them into the countdown. The music buttons are located on day 19, 24, and 25 and they play Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Silent Night.


 Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas SAS

Good Monday morning!  Hope your weekend was good, ours was perfect with sunny days and lots of time spent outside.  Today I have one of the cards we did at a recent SAS using the stamp Jolly Old St. Nick.    The design is CAS but the embossing folder gives it a lot of WOW.  It is hard to see in the photo but there is lots of glitter.   If you are interested in coming to my next Christmas SAS, it will be October 27th during the day and then again that night.  Contact me and I will be glad to send you all the details.  I am also offering the class as a kit and will give you details on that a little later.  Thanks for stopping by!

Just For You

Good evening!  I wanted to share this beautiful card made by my friend Elaine Lemonds.  She made it  for my birthday and it is just beautiful.  I also wanted to let some of my stamping friends know that I will be out of town for the next three days, I thought this was the best way to contact you since my regular email list hasn't been updated in a week or so and I was afraid of missing someone.  I am going to be in Nashville, TN attending a Conference on Children's Ministries.  It is put on by Lifeway and was awesome   last year so I am looking forward to it again this year.  See ya soon!

Birthday Bash

Shelby going down backward.

I hadn't got my photos from the girls birthday's last weekend until today so I thought I would share them with
you.  Their birthday's are a day apart and most of the time they each want a separate party but this year they allowed me to have it together.  The only catch was that they both wanted sleepovers.  So, I knew they would need some kind of entertainment and decided to rent some inflatables.  One of them was nearly 30 feet tall, taller than our house and had a double slide. I think the adults enjoyed it as much as the kids, I was even talked into going down the slide on the condition that no photos were taken:) 

Dalton completely wore himself out and had to take a nap and then start over again.

 Sadie's ladies posing for the camera.

 View from the second floor balcony of our house at the giant birthday cake.

Uncle Chad enjoying the slide.

Now on to something stamped.  I used my favorite Christmas set from the Holiday Mini, Comfort and Joy, for this card.  The image is stamped on Real Red with Versamark and then embossed in white.  The DSP is retired.  Thanks for stopping by!