One Last Treat....

From my bag of Halloween tricks!

This is my final batch of Halloween cards using the wonderful Creepy Crawly Designer Series Paper. I've made several cards lately where I "pinned" back the double-sided Designer Paper so I didn't have to decide which side to use! On these cards I used the Batty for You Stamp sets and the coordinating Batty Wheel so the fold back reveals paper -- and text!


Stamp Sets: Batty for You, Batty Jumbo Wheel
Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Whisper White
Designer Paper: Creepy Crawly
Ink: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: 1 3/8 punch, 1 1/4 punch

No Tricks -- Just Treats!

Are you getting whipped into a frenzy over the Halloween party favors you need pronto!

Here are 3 quick and easy ideas.


The 2-5-7-10 Box -- created with one sheet of cardstock -- holds all kinds of treats. Directions HERE.


The Toilet Paper Tube Table Favor. Go ahead -- squeeze the Charmin and cut the rolls -- add a little patterned paper, and a punched Scalloped Circle for a bottom.


And the Coffee Filter Favor. Get out those plain filters. Use a Jumbo Wheel to cover them in a pattern. Fill with treats and tie!

(Nichole over at www.papertreyink.com created the tube and filter!)

Happiness....

That is what we wish for Leslie and Matthew as we celebrate their marriage.

Congratulations!

Stamp Sets: Baroque Motifs, Warm Words
Cardstock: River Rock, Very Vanilla
Ink: River Rock, Versamark
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder, Dazzling Diamonds, Vanilla Narrow Grosgrain, Designer Label Punch

October Projects

Here are the first of the October Stamper's Club projects. We're getting ready for Thanksgiving with a 6 x 6 envelope album -- it has spots for photos, journaling, even places to tuck in your favorite recipes. As soon as the dishes are cleared, you'll be ready to scrap the celebration.





We're also making a Thanksgiving card in a less-than-traditional size (so you'll get an envelope as well!)



I promise I am working on a Christmas Card -- but I'm just not satisfied with it yet. Stay tuned......

Did You Say 40% off????

Yes, I did. 40% off all Stampin' Up! Simply Sent Card Kits purchased between now and 8 pm on October 8th.

You'll love the SIMPLY SENT kits loaded with die cut stamps (hooray!), cardstock, inks, accessories, some adhesives -- even the envelopes are included.

Get (at least) one for you and one for a friend.

But do it before 8pm on October 8th.

View the kits online HERE or in your Big Idea Book beginning on page 12.

Happy World Card Making Day!

Criss-Cross, Applesauce!

This is a criss-cross card -- I followed the directions on THIS Splitcoast Stampers Tutorial. Fun cards to make -- and a great way to show off patterned paper and the matching stamps. I made these two last night for a pair of adorable preschool teachers named Ms. Joan and Ms. Anne. They have let Sophia spend the morning in their class three times during her track out. So I made these gift card holders for their beverage store of choice -- Starbucks! Criss-Cross Applesauce as we say at circle time.........

Stamp Set: In the Spotlight
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Patterned Paper: Cutie Pie
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Rhinestone Ice Brad, Soft Subtles Brad, Tab Punch,Slit Punch Purely Pomegranate Stitched Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

September Stamping!

Here's what we will be making at the September Stamper's Club Meeting.

*One 12 x 12 Scrapbook Layout ready for Halloween photos

*One coordinating Halloween card

*A "Christmas" card with a winter theme and a bit of sparkle and bling

The card technique for your technique ring is "heat embossing" -- that's what we'll be doing to the branches on the Christmas Card.

See you there!

A Birthday Doodle!

Here's a birthday card for Super Stamper (and Sister-in-law) Lori. She is an "Earth Elements" girl so we fixed her up a little something from the other color families.

Have a great day, Lori!

Stamp Sets: Doodle This, Party Punch
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Black Staz-on, Whisper White Craft, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Ice Rhinestone Brad, White Embossing Powder, Designer Label Punch, Black Grosgrain, Aquapainter

It's a Stampin' Up! Fall Frenzy!

Make a $30.00 Stampin' Up! purchase this month and select one of six popular sets for 30% off. Spend 30 -- get 30. Read all about it here!

The sale sets include Halloween, Thanksgiving, Fall and Back to School choices. Now's the time to pick up one (or two or three or more...).

Punch a Bunch -- And Feel the Love!

We are in the Final Days of the August Stampin' Up! Punch a Bunch Promotion! If you haven't gotten your hands on this cutie little punch box set -- you don't know what you're missing.

The blue tin comes packed with the Three for You Stamp Set -- and all the stamps are DIE CUT (just punch and go -- no trimming or cutting required!). The adorable three flower punch matches the stamps exactly. And you get three stampin' spots -- two are the In-Colors of Wild Wasabi and Purely Pomegranate.

But wait -- there's more!

Order from me by August 31st and you'll get 30 3x3 note cards with envelopes for free! The cards are in the yummy new textured cardstock. The colors are Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate and So Saffron. The envelopes are Very Vanilla and if you haven't stamped on and mailed with one of our envelopes yet, give them a try and see the quality firsthand.

I've ben telling everyone who will listen the box is soooo great because with the promotion it contains everything you need to make darling cards. Pre-scored cards, envelopes, ink, stamps and a punch. And don't get me started on how much I love keeping everyhting together in that sweet box!

So go ahead -- Punch a Bunch -- item # 109227 -- before August 31st!

(If you need new ideas for Show and Tell consider this punch. Sophia snatched it right off my work table and took it with paper scraps to show and tell and punched a bunch for everyone!)

August Stampers Club

Here is what we're making at this month's meeting.

* We will scrap highlights of the entire summer using the Office Accoutrements Stamp Set and the coordinating Notations Double-sided Designer paper. The base of our album is the 5 x 5 On Board Art Journal. And we are adding photos the super simple way - by using the Spiral Punch to put them right into the book!

*A Birthday card that incorporates the Office Accoutrements Stamp Set and Prints Designer Series Paper.

*Our Christmas Card uses the new Year after Year Stamp Set and coordinating See You Around Jumbo wheel.

Our Technique portion includes hints for watercoloring stamped images and by popular demand the Cliffs notes review of cutting and scoring 101!

See you there!

Happy Birthday, Craig!

Here's how you know I love you. I let some of my always cherished, always hoarded stash of retired Cool Caribbean cardstock make its way onto your birthday card. Now THAT's special!


Stamp Set: Office Accoutrements
Cardstock: Cool Caribbean, So Saffron, Whisper White
Patterned Paper: Petals & Paisley
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Cool Caribbean
Accessories: Hodgepodge Hardware, Chocolate Grosgrain (retired), 1 3/8 in circle punch, 1 1/4 in circle punch, pencil eraser

Sparkling Summer

We are getting ready to celebrate a 3rd birthday around here -- and we're doing it with a POOL PARTY! I sat down to make a batch of invitations and I wasn't all that inspired by anything that popped into my brain. And so I said to myself WWJTD?

Those of us who are immersed in the cult -- er, company -- known as Stampin' Up! often make business and creative decisions by asking ourselves, What Would Jan Tink Do? Jan is a fantabulous stamper and demonstrator in Michigan . She is the goddess of GO-JUHS and she loves herself and all her fans love her right back.

Well, wouldn't ya know Jan Tink had previously crafted up a cutie litle invitation with the Sparkling Summer set that she folded into a basketweave based on an article in a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator magazine from a few years back. That did it! I pulled out my Bold Brights and scored and cut and folded -- and there you have it!

One more confession. Sparkling Summer isn't even my stamp set. Had to borrow it from Auntie Robin. I lovd the set for years -- should have bought it half a dozen times and then it retired right out from under me this past summer. Let that be a lesson. Buy 'em when you like 'em. Or hope Auntie Robin did!

Stamp sets: Sparkling Summer, Hugs and Wishes
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, YoYo Yellow, Pixie Pnk
Ink: Black Staz-on, Tempting Turquoise, YoYo Yellow, Pixie Pink
Accessories: Turquoise Grosgrain, Blender Pens, 1/8" hole punch, Black Journaler

The Wasabi Twins

So Joe walks in last night with the following questions.

Joe: "What time is dinner?"

The Little Voice Inside My Head: "Every night for the past year -- yes, exactly one year since we moved, a hot meal has been placed by me on the table in front of you between 5:45 and 6:00. Even when I'm leaving for a meeting, I still have it all timed out."

Actual Answer: "5:52."

Joe: "Who made the mess on the screened porch?"

The Little Voice Inside My Head: "You just would not have believed the aliens that swooped in here and took out all the plastic dinnerware to arrange such an elaborate tea party. And I think Martin, the Wonder Cat, helped."

Actual Answer: "I let them have a tea party."

Joe: "Hey, I need two presents and cards. For new babies. John's and Stuart's."

The Little Voice Inside My Head: "What do I look like, a Hallmark store?"

Actual Answer: "Remember that new catalog Stampin' Up! Demonstrator order that cost you a small fortune? I'm so glad I got those things because now I can whip out my Year after Year stamp set and the matching See You Around Jumbo Wheel and play with some new color combinations involving that Wild Wasabi cardstock I am so wild about it. Good idea, honey!"

Sometimes it is very hard to tell my inside voice from the outside one!

Stamp Sets: Year after Year, Warm Words, Holidays & Wishes, See You Around Wheel
Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Pretty in Pink Whisper White
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Pretty in PInk, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Whisper White Grosgrain, Aquapainter, Crafter's Tool Kit

Trying Textured!

I have always loved using textured Cardstock for my Scrapbook Pages and now Stampin' Up! is delivering it in yummy colors in the new catalog. This new paper is textured on one side and smooth on the other (I still prefer to do the stamping on the smooth side)and of course coordinates with the ink and the ribbon and all the other wonderful accessories!

Stamp Sets: Pick a Petal, Big Deal Alphabet, Short Order Alphabet
Cardstock: Textured Soft Sky, Textured Groovy Guava, Whisper White
Ink: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Groovy Guava
Accessories: White Grosgrain, Aquapainter, 1 3/8" circle & 1 1/4" Circle Punches Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Birthday!

This one is for Gampy who turned 29 today! He gets my favorite Office Accoutrements set AND some of that Cool C paper I stocked up on before it disappeared -- yet strangely enough can hardly bring myself to use! There's something so comforting about packages of unopened cardstock just standing by...

Stamps: Office Accoutrements
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Cool Caribbean, Whisper White
Paper: Petals & Paisley Designer Paper
Ink: Cool Caribbean, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Spiral Punch, 1 3/8 and 1 1/4 circle punch, Chocolate Grosgrain

Good Luck!

This is a card for our stamping friends, Sheila and Anna Lee, who are embarking on a mission trip to Canada. We hope they have a wonderful experience and bring back plenty of pictures to scrap!

Stamp Sets: Pick a Petal, Holidays & Wishes
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red
Prints Designer Series Paper: Rose Red
Ink: Rose Red, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Rose Brad, Pretty in Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, Blender Pen

Here is another example with Baroque Motifs. I love the way some of the true stamp "artists" have used this set and added a "drop shadow" to it. I loved that technique in this particular combination using the new In Colors when I happened on a sample over at Splitcoaststampers by Sdiego Gal.

This is also one of the projects we'll be doing when the new Stamper's Club meets later this month. There's still room for you to join us!

Stamp Set: Baroque Motifs
Cardstock: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Whisper White
Ink: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky
Accessories: White Signo Gel Pen

The new catalog and I are back and ready to dive into all this new stuff. While we were away I thumbed through it every chance I got. This is my Catalogue Travelogue....


Here we are at a gas/lottery stop in South Hill, Virginia.



Or after lunch at the Cracker Barrel in Frederick, Maryland.



On the banks of the Susquehanna River in Wormleysburg, Pa.



And after my "Long Run" on City Island in Harrisburg.

It's loaded with good stuff! I can't wait to show you around....

(P.S. I'd like to thank my 5 year old chief photographer for supplying the photos along the way. She has so much more Stampin' enthusiasm than say -- her father!)

Happy New Year's Eve!

On the Stampin' Up! calendar this is it - the end of another creative year!

If you need something from the Spring Mini catalog or the 2006-2007 Idea Book use the email link on the left hand side of this page to get your order in and processed before the close of business Saturday. (Bye, Bye Crab & Company. Farewell Au Chocolat paper...)

If you have cardstock, ink and refills on your wish list consider ordering now. Classic pads are going up by 30 cents, classic refills by 25 cents, the 24 sheet cardstock packs are increasing by 55 cents and the 36 sheet assortments are going up by $1.00 in the new catalog.

I'm placing one last order for this business year Saturday night and then let the NEW YEAR begin!!!