Super Sweet, Don't Ya Think?

I cased the bows from my Upline Dana. But I just love the rose red and close to cocoa combination. The elephant is colored with a blender pen and some basic grey ink from the lid. Just enough to make him light grey. The heart flowers are colored with Markers and I added a little glitter to the one on the nose. On the inside it says Happy Valentine's Day. This set is so fun!

Recipe:
Stamps: Happy Heart Day
Ink: Basic Grey and Basic black
Paper: Regal Rose designer prints, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White.
Other: slot punch, corner rounder (guard removed), celery grosgrain ribbon, brads

Target note card boxes

I have had these 2 note card boxes from Target for a very Long time. My friend Kim gave me one of these - I am not sure where I got the other- probably Target! Needless to say, I have finally altered them and I used them as gifts this holiday season. The Stampin' Up! Small note cards and Envelopes fit right inside these boxes. I saved the note cards for something else, and used the envelopes for these. The envelopes are 5 1/8 by 3 5/8. I cut card stock cut to the same size as the note cards and created these adorable Thank You note sets. I also used up some retired paper that was being neglected. Every one needs Thank You notes this time of year.

For the Pink and Turquoise set here is the recipe:
Stamps: Think Happy Thoughts
Ink: Turquoise and Regal Rose

Paper: Regal Rose, Turquoise, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Loves Me Designer Paper (retired)
Other: scallop punch, circle punches, retired rose grosgrain ribbon, brads

For the Red & Blue set here is the recipe:
Stamps: Priceless and All holidays

Ink: CTMH Cranberry and CTMH Dutch Blue, Sahara Sand

Paper: CTMH Cranberry and Blue, Whisper White, Stampin Up Sahara Sand, Unknown Designer Paper
Other: scallop punch, circle punches, misc matching ribbon

Happy Heart Day & Promo

Isn't this little guy so Adorable? I knew I had to have this set when I saw it in the Preview Brochure. The mouse is my favorite part of the set, but the whole set is just too cute. And, perfect for Valentines day and beyond. You can get this set as part of the Valentines Bundle starting January 2nd.

This card follow the new Boho West colors in the Spring Summer Catalog. The rose, pink and Browns are so fun. I used retired ribbon from last year's Flirty Originals collection and the close to cocoa patterned paper is actually from last years Loves Me paper collection as well. But Guess what? the Close to Cocoa Designer Prints paper has this pattern and it is almost the same. The spacing of the polka dots is just a little different.

Here is the recipe:

Stamps: Happy Heart Day,

Ink: Basic Black

Paper: rose red, pretty in pink, close to cocoa, whisper white, Loves Me Designer Paper (retired)

Other: Marvy Punches, corner rounder (guard removed) Uni-ball White Gel Pen, Blender Pens and markers for coloring, retired Flirty originals ribbon, pink taffeta ribbon, hodgepodge hardware

Valentine's Day Bundle

Starting January 2nd- Stampin’ Up is offering a Valentine’s bundle. If you purchase the Valentine’s Day Bundle (item #111903) for just $33.40 you will get a Regal Rose wide grosgrain ribbon-FREE!

Or if you hold a workshop of $350 or more you will be able to choose any one stamp set from the Spring-Summer Preview 2008 Brochure for FREE!

The Valentine’s Day Bundle includes:

Item-----------Description----------------- Price
111089 ---Happy Heart Day stamp set ---$20.95
109052 ---Real Red wide grosgrain ribbon--- $7.95
102757 ---Medium cellophane bags ---$4.50
109056 ---Regal Rose wide grosgrain ribbon ---FREE!

111903 Valentine’s Day Bundle $33.40

Email me if you would like to place an order!

A bit about me....

I was tagged by my friend Michelle over at Bella Kitty Creations...it just took me a little while to get to this!

Here are 7 things about myself...

1) I married for almost 13 years and I have 3 kids and 2 standard poodles. which is a very FULL house!
2) I work full time for Soundview Executive Book Summaries as their Vice President of Marketing. They publish a subscription product that summarizes business books. (http://www.summary.com/)
3) I am very crafty, besides stamping, I also cross stitch, accessory knit and I love to decorate. But as you can see I mostly stamp!
4) My favorite food -- donuts!
5) My favorite color is PINK. I am loving the new Pink and brown Boho collection in the new catalog. *wink*
6) My parents live in Florida part of the year, so we travel there quite often!
7) I love to bake, not cook, just bake. My hubby does the cooking.

Now I am off to tag a few ladies!
Margie
Patty
Carolyn
Mary Jo

Gifts, Gifts and more gifts...

These adorable gift card holders were made for my nieces who are 13. I cased the idea from a magazine I saw along the way. Each pocket holds a different gift card for a store they like, 4 in total. I made the pockets out of scrap. I just folded a piece around the gift card and cut the rest to match. I also decorated these with small scraps from the Dashing designer Series paper from Stampin Up. My niece are twins, so I had to make the second similar, but also different. I punched them at the top with the slot punch and tied them with wide grosgrain SU ribbon. Many thanks to my friend Karen. She came over to stamp one afternoon- and these totally came together while we were stamping.

RECIPE
Stamps: All Holidays, Merry and Bright short and sweet, riveting (retired)
Paper: Old olive, Real red, Dashing DP, very vanilla
Ink: black, real red

Embellishments: real red and old olive wide grosgrain ribbon, Corner rounder, oval, scallop, circle, designer label and slot Punches, sticky strip, sakura stardust glitter pen, markers.

More is more with Blue Bayou

Hi everyone. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Whew, what a busy week. we have been shopping and wrapping in secret- and stashing it all at my Mom's house 1/2 hour away to avoid any peeking! I took a break from baking and cleaning and shopping today to share these cards with you.

I made the card on the left for a Stampin' Up team shoebox swap. what fun! I struggled with a card all last weekend because I was still in holiday card and gift making mode. So I cased (more like copied) a card from Joanne B. You can see her card here. After I got to stamping with the girls, I totally came home that night- and spruced it up a bit. They do say "more" is more! and the result is the card on the right. I love both of them.

RECIPE

Stamps: All Holidays

Paper: Blue Bayou, Prints DP in Blue Bayou, soft sky

Ink: Blue Bayou

Embellishments: Blue Bayou & soft Sky double stitched Ribbon, Silver Brads, Corner rounder and slot Punches, paper piercer, dimensionals

Friends and Family

Like all of you, I have been so incredibly busy. All the usual stuff, gift planning, shopping, wrapping, holiday cards, baking, etc. etc. etc. I have been making hand stamped gifts that I can not wait to share with you. I can't post them until all the gifts are given to the recipients. I would hate to spoil the surprises! (and I am not sure if they are all blog readers or not, but I know a few that are)

Here is one card I can share, Elzybell.

I caved and purchased these adorable Elzybells- I could not help myself! Here was my 1st creation with her. ( I got 2 other cute stamps as well.) The image is stamped on very vanilla. I colored Elzy with blush blossom and real red, and creamy caramel markers. I added snow, accents and a white trimmed coat with the SU white gel pen which is really hard to see in the photo. The paper is dashing, I will be sad to see it retire! the card stock is old olive and its stamped with the flannel plaid background stamp. The sentiment is from Papertreyink.com.

I finally completed most of my gift projects so I can stamp for me now! I will be packing up the Christmas stuff for a little while and getting on with some new toys! Merry Christmas!

1 Layout, 1 Stamp Set = 3 options

I borrowed this set while stamping at a friends house. Thanks Lanie! I have seen a bunch of stampers create a bunch of cards from 1 layout or 1 stamp set. Here are my versions of the Noel from Big on Christmas

This card uses the Dashing designer series paper, old olive, real red, river rock, and whisper white card stock. The Noel is colored with real red and old olive markers and there is dazzling diamonds glitter all over the ornament. I added 2 strips of real red grosgrain ribbon and punched the corners with the ticket corner punch. The dashing paper is soon to be retired, if you need some, please Email me before the end of the month.

For this version I used the Holiday Harmony designer series paper (retired) from the past holiday mini. I used always artichoke, river rock, purely pomegranate and whisper white card stock. The Noel was colored with an artichoke marker and to get the pomegranate color to match I used a blender pen and some ink from the lid of the ink pad. The ribbon is the purley pomegranate satin ribbon. The satin ribbon is on sale, Buy one get 1 free until 12/15. It also comes in chocolate! and I also punched the corners with the ticket corner punch.

For this one, I used the Wintergreen designer series paper. This paper is soon to be retired, if you need some, please Email me before the end of the month. Card stock is sage shadow, always artichoke, certainly celery and whisper white. I used non- Stampin' Up! ribbon in my stash that matched the artichoke perfectly. Again, I had dazzling diamonds glitter all over the ornament and I colored with the matching markers and used the ticket corner punch on the corners.

Let me know if you like these and which one is your favorite. My favorite is the dashing...but they all look good!

Holiday Gift Card Holder

I cased this holder from Patty Bennett. You can see her version and Tutorial HERE On the outside I used Real red cardstock and I heat embossed the snowflakes (from the Snowflake spot stamp set) with white embossing powder. I was using just white craft ink, but the snowflakes looked a little light. I quickly added white embossing power before the craft ink dried and voila: now they really pop!

Patty has the full tutorial on her blog, to see it, click the link above. and be sure to check out her blog: Patty's Stamping Spot she also has some great projects!

Here are the basics to get you started: Cut cardstock to 4-1/4"x11" then score at 3", 5-1/2" and 8". Then fold in 1/2 and then fold the outside flaps backwards in toward the center. secure it with sticky strip on 3 sides of the folded inside. Use the word window punch and a circle punch to create the opening for the gift card. I had better luck using the word window 1st then the 1"inch circle punch. for me they lined up better. Fold and decorate!

Its Real red, Black, Kraft and white card stock. I used Wishing you Cheer for the inside panel and colored him with markers. the Merry Christmas is from Holidays and Wishes. The sentiment on the inside is from Papertreyink's holiday sets. Love that set- its perfect for all the inside greeting on your Christmas cards. the back panel, the one behind the gift card, is left blank for a message to the recipient and to sign your name. The snowflake brad is a gift from my crafty friend Jen, Thanks! and some black ribbon to tie it up. Let me know what you think!

Thanksgiving Book by Diane

My friend Diane sent me these beautiful pictures of her Thanksgiving book. She made this for a choir member who will be moving out of the area next year. I am sooo impressed with this project I had to share it with all of you. and I am so honored that she asked for my opinion on the project. (*blushing*) I love all of Diane's attention to detail, all the embellishments and the ribbon. Thanks for sharing Diane- its fabulous! What a great memento for your friend!

More Snowman Cheer

I cased this card from dlounds on SCS. You can view her card HERE. I used the Wishing you Cheer and Short & Sweet sets, wide grosgrain ribbon, brads, DCWV winter stack designer paper and brocade blue and whisper white card stock. I just love this snowman when he sparkles! Can you see all of his dazzling diamonds? Lots of paper piercing on this card. I used the Stampin Up mat pack to get the holes lined up perfect. What a handy tool.

I have been busy, busy busy! I am wrapping up my merry and bright class, decorating the house, shopping for the kids and family, and all the other holiday stuff that happens this time of year! Ho Ho Ho!