Trick or Treat

Now that I have kids, I love Halloween. I've never been a fan. Even in grade school, it was always a drag to get dressed up and participate in the school Halloween parade (of course, now schools arn't allowed to do this kind of celebration anymore. But, the kids are still allowed to give out Halloween treats so I enjoy doing that for the class). So, needless to say, I've never given out Halloween cards, but this card was too cute to pass up. I saw a version of this card on Tiffany Bauer's blog and changed it up a bit. Arn't the little bats the cutest things!





Stamp Set- Holiday Best, Batty For You

Paper- Basic Black, Perfect Plum, Whisper White, Cast-A-Spell DSP

Ink- Basic Black, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie

Accessorries- Coluzzle, Black Gingham ribbon, Key Tag punch (which is retired and I'm still upset about it!)


I cut out a couple of the bats and put them on dimensionals to give it more of a 3D look.

Shot Till You Drop

Stampin' Up! is launching a new section of the online store called the Clearance Rack. The purpose of the Clearance Rack is to clear out the inventory of surplus items that have been retired. Many of these retired items will be offered at a substantially reduced price.

All items are only available while supplies last and all sales of Clearance Rack items are final. No returns or exchanges will be accepted, except in the case of defective product.

You can only purchase these Clearance Rack items online, so click on Shop Now from my Stampin' Up! website and scroll down to the Clearance Rack. Today is the first day so don't miss out on your chance to stock up on your favorites!

Give Thanks

I've never really sent out Thanksgiving cards before, but I'm going to this year for sure. It's a nice way to give thanks to our friends and family who can't celebrate with us on Thanksgiving Day.

My friend, Lisa, actually bought this stamp at club last month and when I saw it, I immediately called her and asked if I could use it (isn't that awful?). Oh well, she was more than excited because she was planning on making Thanksgiving dinner invitations and she told me that whatever I designed, she was using. Soooooo, this is what I came up with. The actual design is very simple, but it's the watercoloring that makes it all come together. I just love, love, love to watercolor!!!

Stamp Set- Gifts of the Earth

Paper- Naturals White, Soft Suede, Elegant Eggplant, Ruby Red, Autumn Traditions

Ink- Elegant Eggplant, Soft Suede, Ruby Red, More Mustard, Always Artichoke, Pumpkin Pie

Miscellaneous- Ruby Red brads, Soft Suede 1/2" Polka Dot Grosgrain ribbon, Aqua Painter

Sweet Treat Cups!!!

Have you seen these cute little sweet treat cups yet? Oh my god, they're in the holiday mini and if you don't have them yet, they're a must! They come in a package of 12 for only $2.95!! And, they coordinate perfectly with the Sweet Centers stamp set. This stamp set hits all the holidays - Halloween, Thanksgving, Christmas, Valentine's, Easter, and a hotair baloon that can be used for birthdays and thank yous. It's a must have stamp set!

The problem that I was stuck on was that in order to get the little treat in the cup, the person who received it would have to rip the card. This was really bothering me so I decided to poke around some blogs and I found the perfect solution - a little sliding "door". Thanks to Becky at Inking Idaho for thinking this up!!!! You can find her and the directions for this sweet treat at http://www.inkingidaho.blogspot.com/

So, this is cased from Becky and we're making it tonight at my stamp class.

Stamp Set- Sweet Centers, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper- Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White

Ink- Black StazOn, Pumpkin Pie Stampin Write marker

Miscellaneous- Sweet Treat Cup, 1 3/4" Circle punch, Round Tab punch,

Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain ribbon, Glue Dots

Here's what the inside looks like with the slider closed.

Here's what the inside looks like with the slider open.

Thankful, Grateful, Appreciative

Fall is in the air, well at least in the stores! It's still 98 degrees but I'm in holiday mode already. So here's a Thanksgiving card we'll be making on Thursday night. I love cards that open in the middle, definately one of my favorite designs!

Stamp Set- Wandering Words, Sweet Centers

Paper- Chocolate Chip, Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla, Razzleberry Lemonade

Ink- Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry and Crushed Curry Stampin Write markers

Accessories- Chocolate Chip 5/16" Jumbo brad

The Last of the Birthday Cards...

Here's the last of the birthday cards. I think I'm set for the rest of the year...phew!

I'm getting ready for my class this Thursday night and it's all about Fall. I love to make Halloween treats for my friends and family and I always make something fun for Brenden's class. We'll also be making a couple of Thanksgiving cards. Stay tuned...

Stamp Set- The More the Merrier, On Your Birthday

Paper- Old Olive, Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Cottage Wall DSP

Ink- Rich Razzleberry

Accessories- Rich Razzleberry 1/2" Polka Dot Grosgrain ribbon, 1", 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Circle punches, Modern Label punch

Stamp Set- Inspired by Nature

Paper- Creamy Caramel, Whisper White, Garden Green

Ink- VersaMark, Garden Green, Summer Sun, Close to Cocoa Chalks (no actual inks)

Accessories- Whisper White 5/16" Jumbo brad, Photos Corners punch, Butterfly punch, Big Shot with Cuttlebug Embossing Folder

Stamp Set- Circle Circus, On Your Birthday

Paper- Creamy Caramel, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink- Creamy Caramel, Basic Black

Accessories- 1 3/4" and 1 1/4" Circle punches, Basic Black 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon

Stamp Set- Birthdays Count (retired)

Paper- Kraft Pendant Notes, Tea Party, Certainly Celery

Ink- Close to Cocoa

Accessories- So Saffron 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon (retired), Yellow Circle Fire Rhinestone brad, 5-Petal Flower punch

More Birthday Wishes...

People are always very surprised/impressed by the cards their making in class and wonder how I find the time. Well, there is no reason to invent the wheel, and I certainly do not design everything I make. I love to design and I think it's a lot of fun, but it is time consuming and sometimes I just don't have the patience, so I get ideas from classes that I attend, swaps I participate in or different websites. I try to have my classes where at least half are my designs and the others are cased.

Here are a few more cards from my 10/10/30 Birthday card class:

Stamp Set- Good Friend, On Your Birthday

Paper- Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP

Ink- Soft Suede, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Old Olive

Accessories- Soft Suede 1/2" Polka-Dot Grosgrain ribbon, Pumpkin Pie Flower Fusion, Silver brad, Key tag (retired)

Stamp Set- Heard From the Heart

Paper- Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip Patterns DSP

Ink- Chocolate Chip

Accessories- Big Shot, Flower Daisies #2 Bigz Dies, Chocolate

Stamp Set- Party Hearty

Paper- Whisper White, Brilliant Blue, Taken With Teal, Bravo Burgundy

Ink- Brilliant Blue, Taken With Teal, Bravo Burgundy

Accessories- Bravo Burgundy 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon, 3/4" Circle punch

**I don't know why, but my camera would not show the Whisper White paper or background so it looks really yellow...

Birthday Card Class 10-10-20

With summer vacation coming to an end, the new school year starting, and a filled birthday/anniversary calendar in August, I haven't held my monthly card class since July, but, itching to stamp, I decided to have a 10-10-20 Birthday card class last month. It was good to see people stamping and definately inspired me to get some classes scheduled. So, I'm having my monthly card class next Thursday, Sept 24th and a Stamp-A-Stack Christmas card class on October 1st. Interested in attending??? Give me a call!

Here's a couple cards we did at the 10-10-20 Birthday card class:

Stamp Set - Look Who's Turning

Ink - Rich Razzleberry

Paper - Rich Razzleberry, Orchid Opulance, Whisper White, Cottage Wall DSP

Accessories - Circle Ice Rhinestone brad, Whisper White 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon, Large and Scallop Oval punches

This card was 100% copied right out of the catalog (page 71). I loved it when I saw it and had to make it!

Stamp Set - On a Pedestal

Ink - Old Olive, Real Red, Melon Mambo, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink

Paper - Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White

Accessories - Chocolate Chip 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon, Scallop Edge punch, Pretty in Pink button (retired), Mat Pack and Paper-Piercing tool

Stamp Set- Just Beachy, Fun & Fast Notes

Ink- Black Staz On, Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Always Artichoke, Basic Black

Paper- Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Hostess DSP (retired), Watercolor Paper

Miscellaneous- Word Window punch, Pewter brads, Dimensionals, Blender Pens, Going Grey




More to come....

May the Force Be With You...Always

My six year old son is obsessed, obsessed, obsessed with Star Wars. He just celebrated his birthday, and for the third time, wanted a Star Wars themed party. I really wanted to make his invitations and thank you cards, so I went on ebay and found a Star Wars stamp set. I was so excited when I found it, but I had found it on the first day of the posting so I had about seven days to wait to see if I was the winning bidder. Well, I won!!

Here are my creations:

Although these stamp sets are not Stampin Up! (this is only the third time I've ever bought non-Stampin Up!), all other accessories and papers are Stampin Up!

And, on that note, what a difference Stampin Up! makes!!! There is no comparison and no argument that Stampin Up! has the absolute best products!!

Here, I used the Simple Birthday Thanks stamp set and used a Star Wars stamp as the "cherry".

This stamp set is perfect for my six year old. Only having the patience to write a few words at a time, I think this is a little more personal than me writing out his thank you's for him and gives him some writing practice outside of school. He wasn't thrilled, but he got them done!!

I will be posting my 10-10-20 Birthday class cards for your inspiration! Stay tuned!

Talk soon...