It's Almost Time to Sale-a-brate!

Here's a peek at one of the fun and FREE sets you can earn during Stampin' Up!'s Sale-a-bration. This is "Birthday Whimsy" -- a set that will make feminine and masculine cards with ease. This is a girly example though, in one of my favorite color combos!

Between February 1st and March 17th you'll qualify for a free stamp set (or package of rub-ons) for every $50.00 you spend on merchandise. See the FREE SETS HERE and the ONLINE CATALOG here.

Workshop hostesses can earn even MORE free -- check my CALENDAR and book your party. And if you join my team during Sale-a-bration you also get to pick an EXTRA free stamp set from the Big Catalog and THIS JUST IN... get the entire starter kit for 20% off. Sometimes we really are giving it all away!

Stamp Set: Birthday Whimsy
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Berry Bliss
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Pink Taffeta Ribbon

A Sweet Slide

Here's a fantastic way to make an ordinary candy bar an extra sweet treat. Make it slide! This is a basic candy bar pouch -- with the addition of a piece of ribbon that allows you to slide the candy bar up and out without even untying the bow.

I followed the tutorial at Splitcoast (where else!) and crafted it up in one of my favorite combos -- Pretty in Pink and Close to Cocoa. I've already made a half dozen or more. Hope all my Valentines like them!

Stamp Set: Happy Heart Day
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Berry Bliss DP
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Three for You Flower Trio Punch, Soft Subtles Brads, narrow pnk grosgrain, Theater Ribbon Originals, Sticky Strip,

Classes, I've Got Classes.....

The Embrace Life Photo Wallet
Saturday, Feb.9 2:00 My Stampin' Spot
You'll love how Stampin' Up! Stamps, Paper, and Ink coordinate for this gift for your Valentine -- or just for yourself.
Class Fee: $10.00 or 5.00 if you place an order at the class that qualifies for free Sale-a-bration merchandise.
RSVP by February 1st.


The 10 for 10 Class -- make 10 Cards for 10 Dollars.
Sunday, March 9 2:00 My Stampin' Spot
"Happy Birthday" "Thank You" "From the Heart" and no sentiment at all -- a great assortment you'll reach for over and over again. Learn great simple stamping techniques.
Class Fee: Each set of ten for $10.00
RSVP by March 1st.

An Unforgettable Elephant

This one is for Hillary! We made this card with the elephant in the Happy Heart Day set at a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator event this weekend. This design is brought to us by Susanne Moyer who is really the High Priestess of Stampin' Up! in these parts.

This doesn't look like Valentine's Day, either. Does it???

Stamp Set: Happy Heart Day
Paper: Gable Green, Almost Amethyst, Basic Black, Whisper Wite, Almost Amethyst Designer Prints DP
Ink: Basic Black, Gable Green, So Saffron,
Accessories: Spiral Punch, Black Gingham Ribbon

Valentine Bundle is good until January 31st.
Watch the counter to the right -- we are DAYS away from FREE STAMPS!

A Happy Heart Thank You

I'm a big fan of versatile when it comes to my stamps. While Valentine's Day is the focus of the Happy Heart day set featured in the Valentine Bundle -- the set has a lot of other possibilities. This is a Thank You card that only uses Happy Heart Day. Yes, the "thank you" is part of the set and the font type and size matches my super-fav "Crab & Company" which means those fun creatures are in perfect proportion for Thank You notes as well!

Stamp Set: Happy Heart Day
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Berry Bliss
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Theater Ribbon Originals, 3/4 circle punch

Stamp Club Projects

Here's what the Stamp Club is making this month:

*A Valentine's Day card featuring "Happy Heart Day"
*A "Milk carton" treat box
*A 2008 Desk Calendar made from a CD jewel case

"Happy Heart Day" is the stamp set in the Valentine Bundle. Order before January 31st to take advantage of the special.

And get ready for Sale-a-bration! The biggest Stampin' Up! sale of the year begins February 1st. It's a great time to place an order, host a workshop or become a Demonstrator.

See the FREE STAMPS here. And watch the countdown clock.....

Playing with Color...

Here is my offering for this week's Color Challenge over on Splitcoast Stampers. I love that particular challenge each week because it helps me work outside the (crayon) box -- move away from my favorite combos (when in doubt -- go pink!) and try something new. Exhibit A is this week's combination. if you had sat me down with the Stampin' Up! Catalog and told me not to move until I had created the most unlikely color combo ever -- this might have been it. Apricot Appeal -- Rose Red --and Sage Shadow.

I may never work with it again -- but I am glad I gave it a try!

Stamp Set: Heartfelt Thanks
Paper: Apricot Appeal, Sage Shadow, Whisper White, Rose Red Designer Prints
Ink: Versamark, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red
Accessories: Apricot narrow grosgrain

Celebrate You!

Happy Birthday to my sister today -- here in the month of "Jandra-uary"! I am celebrating one of my favorite stampers with some of my favorite new Berry Bliss Designer Paper. After your fabulous trip, Sis, you'll get the card in person!

Stamp Set: Celebrate Everything
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Berry Bliss Designer Paper
Ink: Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Scallop Punch, 1 3/8 circle punch, 1 1/4 circle punch, Theater Ribbon Originals

I've Caught the Bug!

Not the "stamping, scrapping, crafting all the time and buying supplies for it" bug. That, I have had for some time. This is the first thing I've made with my brand new Cuttlebug. Leslie and Matthew gave me this too cute and easy for words die-cutting machine for Christmas. I got it going for this week's Color Challenge over at Splitcoast.

Now the Thank You notes have been crafted and are on the way!

Stamp Set: Everyday Flexible Phrases
Paper: Barely Banana, Wild Wasabi, Blue Bayou
Ink: Blue Bayou
Accessories: Wild Wasabi Stitched Ribbon, White narrow grosgrain, Cuttlebug

Celebrate Teal... and Celery...and Red!

Here's one I pulled together for a Color Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers. I don't use a lot of Taken with Teal -- no real reason -- it just happens that way. But that's why I like challenges. They s-t-r-e-t-c-h the creative process. This is also my frst sample with the new Celebrate Everything stamp set. So many of you are already Happy Everything fans and this one is just as versatile!

Two notes about this card: 1) I wanted the ribbon to be sort of fireworks-ish -- made up word, I know. 2) A Stamp-a-ma-jig is key for placement of the words.

Stamp Set: Celebrate Everything, Print Pattern
Paper & Ink: Taken with Teal, Certainly Celery, Real Red Whisper White
Accessories: Red, Celery, White Narrow Grosgrain

More to Embrace....

Still playing with that Ginger Blossom Designer Paper and the "Embrace Life" set. This one's got a little "bling" thanks to the Dazzling Diamonds!

Embrace New Stamps!

While I am patiently (tap, tap, tap) waiting for my Valentine Bundle to arrive -- I am playing with some of the new sets from the new catalog that have already arrived. (And if you tell Joe these are actually NEW stamps I will swear that the UPS man was actually here dropping off YOUR order. :) )

I was inspired to follow the theme of the Groovy Guava Cardstock and the Ginger Blossom Designer paper on the cover of the new Spring/Summer Collection 2008. (You can follow the link in the right sidebar to an online version of the big book, or email me for your own copy.)

Stamp Sets: Embrace Life
Cardstock: Groovy Guava, Riby Red, Basic Black, Watercolor
Designer Paper: Ginger Blossom
Ink: Black Staz-On, Groovy Guava, Ruby Red
Accessories: Black Gingham Ribbon, Aquapainter, 2-Way Glue, Dazzling Diamonds

New Year, New Stamps!

If anybody knows what happened to most of December be sure to let me know! Phew... what a whirlwind. Anyway, the trees are gone, the presents have been worked into the available space, the Thank You notes are in progress and the brand new Stampin' Up! catalogs have arrived!

The book is beautiful and the artwork inside is inspiring. You can view it online using the link in the sidebar on the right or contact me for your very own copy.
So let's move on to Valentine's Day. You've just got to have the new Valentine's Day Bundle special. A stamp set, two rolls of wide grosgrain, and medium cello bags for $33.40 (a $41.35 value!). The sale goes on until January 31st -- but you'll want to order it now to go ahead and get out in front of those sweet projects.
You can get a better look at the pieces in the bundle HERE.

I promise to get busy with some of the new stamp sets and share what I'm doing. Stay tuned, as they say...

Getting Clipped....-

A little dilemma here -- how to present restuarant gift certificates the old-fashioned paper way (?) along with Starbucks gift cards in those oh-so-adorable mittens. All that is too big for one of my mint tins, so I bought the $1.00 wooden clothespins at A.C. Moore, covered them with acrylic paint and Designer Series Prints paper. A Big Deal alphabet intiial in the scallop circle and some organdy ribbon. There you have it -- more Teacher's Gifts -- to go!

Gift Tins

Every once in a while I look up from my table to see if the Christmas Crafting is finished! There is still plenty to do, but I thought I would stop and share one of my Teacher Gifts this season.

These are DVD tins inspired by something I saw on Cambria's Blog back in August. I've made a half dozen or so. I cover them in some of the fun Stampin' Up! Designer Papers (One set here is Cutie Pie, the other Fall Flowers.). On the inside I make one side with a little pocket to hold a gift card, the other side has a notepad. Cambria's tins seemed to have real little legal pads in them. I couldn't find any to fit my tins. So I purchased memo pad refills and just made toppers for stacks of papers.

I personalized each tin with my Simon Lower Chipboard letters. These are really coming together quickly. And since the papers and ribbons all coordinate so beautifully, I don't even have to think about "matching"!

Gift Card Tins

The gift cards for teachers and bus drivers and other important friends are starting to fly out of here! And I'm sending lots of them out in those fabulous mint sized tins.

This one (and plenty others like it) features the "Dashing" Designer Paper. I didn't snap a photo of the inside but the bottom is covered in a coordinating stripe and the inside of the top has solid cardstock and a message in Very Vanilla.

I used a retired set called "Tiny Talk" for my greeting. I know it's not current, but it is one of my all-time favorites for use with the Small and Large Tag punches.

The ribbon is the Wide Grosgrain in Old Olive and it gets a little bling from a rhinestone brad.

Going, Going, Gone....

As I suspected, my little Cold Play snowman IS retiring at the end of the month. The new Stampin' Up! (first) Semi-annual Retirement list was announced today -- see it HERE.

Our July retirement sale was soooo long and soooo extensive the word "retirement" list makes me break out in hives. But alas, this list looks normal and predicatable even if it is a little sad for my snowman. (Lots of snowmen are retiring -- I am expecting fabulous new ones in six months!)

Anyway -- look over the list. Because it's Christmas I'm offering 20% off the stamp sets that are retiring. Grab them soon, though. Once January 2nd gets here it's a new Stampin' Year!

Cold Play

This is a fun favor I have been handing out this month. My favorite part is how adaptable the basic technique is to ANY occasion where you need a "little something". This hot chocolate holder is made from a large Whisper White Stampin' Up! envelope. I used the Large Tag Punch to cut the sides out and make a little "handle". It's just the latest in a series of envelope tricks shared by Stamping Goddess Amy Celona !

I fixed up the outside with some torn, coordinating Whisper White for "snow", a little Dazzling Diamonds on the edges, because you can never have enough *sparkly* snow, and my favorite snowman set, Cold Play. This is the set where you an build all sorts of snowmen in all different shapes and sizes because each piece is a separate stamp. I cut the sentiment with my Designer Label Punch just to well, punch it up!

I'm afraid Cold Play might be ready to melt away forever. It's THAT time of year again, time for Stampin' Up! to retire my old favorites to make way for my new favorites. I'll have the list for you very soon. Remember, we get a new catalog January 1st loaded with great goodies for '08!

Tag Box

As you probably know by now I often get sidetracked by a stamping project while I should be paying attention to another worthwhile, yet not crafty, endeavour. Such is the case with this little box that is holding my package tags.

I was in the carpool line the other day thumbing through the latest issue of Papercrafts Magazine (at this rate I will be finished with it sometime around February of 2009). I saw that someone had made a little box for their tags and since I had just made all my tags with that --- have I mentioned it today -- fabulous Tags for All set that is actually on sale now -- I figured I'd go home and whip up a box myself!

I went to my "alter me someday" box (which is camouflaged as toy storage -- shhhh and don't tell Joe!) and pulled out this little white lunch tin. Then it was off to the "craft with me someday" paper stash (you can tell him, this he has seen!)-- and I spotted some of last year's Stampin' Up! "Holiday Thyme" Designer Paper.

A few coordinated (naturally) scraps later, my "Big Deal" alphabet, assorted ribbon, a Jumbo eyelet (can you say Crop-a-dile?) and some Old Olive ink and I was done. It is holding all my finished gift tags plus tape and scissors. A spiffy addition to the wrapping station if I do say so myself.

Only problem is now that it's done I actually have to wrap. Unless I can design something you can roll around in ink and glitter to hold wrapping paper... Hmmmmmmm...

Wrapping up the Holidays Sale!

Stampin' Up! is offering some great specials right now on items that will "wrap up the holidays" for you. Discounted prices on wrapping paper, accessories to make cellophane bags with toppers, my favorite Tags for All stamp set and that luscious satin ribbon.

The specials are good through December 15th -- or while supplies last.

Click HERE to see the colorful flyer!

Or read the black and white here:

Holiday Tag Bundle (item 112409) A new item just for this promotion!
This bundle includes several pre-cut pieces from the Holiday Glitz kit and makes 15 quick and easy toppers for gift giving.

Empty Accents and Elements Tin-3 Pack (item 112410) A new item chosen just for this promotion!

Tags for All Stamp Set* (item 110380) 20% off!

Hand Selected Accents & Elements (item 110228) 25% off!

Designer Gift Cards* (item 110264) 30% off!

Purely Pomegranate (item109863) and Chocolate Chip (item 109862) Satin Ribbon* Buy 1, get 1 free!