OnLine Extravaganza Final Hours!

Don't forget to take a peek at the sale items still available.  This is the final day for these low prices and once they are gone, they're gone!

Here's a link to the current list. 

All products can be purchased here.

Another Botanical Blooms Sneak Peek

Yesterday I showed you a new set to be released in January in the Occasions Catalog. Today I'll share another card I made using the same, Botanical Blooms.

Yes, it's a busy card!  But it really is pretty in person.

One of my colleagues of 10 years has moved on to another job.  She was the administrative assistant in my office, and my co-workers and I will be "lost" without her.  Hence the sentiment (actually another sneak peek from another new set--I'll feature that one next).

This new suite of products, Botanical Gardens, has Designer Series Paper that actually matches the stamps, meaning that you can stamp right over the images on the DSP with your stamps to give it more depth.  Pretty neat!

I used a large square of the DSP to start me off (this card measures 5-1/4" x 5-1/4").  On the left edge, I added a strip of Cajun Craze (cut with the Small Scallop Stampin' Trimmer Rotary Blade), and a strip of Gold Glimmer Paper.  This was all layered on a card base of Mossy Meadow, on which I stamped leaves along the side.

I cut an oval with my framelits and stamped some leaves and flowers using inks that match the DSP and then I adhered the Expressions Natural Elements (the wooden Thanks) using the Fine-Tip Glue Pen.  Then I just added some stamped and cut flowers and leaves, made easy with the matching framelits. 

Inside I stamped a few leaves and the sentiment, using Mossy Meadow.

And it was finished with a matching envelope made with the Envelope Punch Board and Neutrals Envelope Paper:

I hope you have enjoyed my "sneak peek weekend" and are looking forward to getting your hands on this lovely new suite of products!

Products can be purchased here. 

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

It's a SNEAK PEEK Weekend with Botanical Blooms

Are you ready to see another beautiful suite of craftiness soon to come your way?  I attended the Stampin' UP! local convention last weekend, and was fortunate to be able to purchase some of the upcoming goodies.  I thought I'd reveal a new stamp set this weekend.

This is called Botanical Blooms, and it's a beauty.  The set itself is large, with lots and lots of flower and leaf options.  AND there is a matching set of framelits so layering all these images is easy-peasy!  AND there is gorgeous Designer Series Paper to match!  Wowsa!  What is better than that?

So let's take a look at the first card I made using my new goodies:

This card used minimal stamping, but lots of cutting.  And it was SO easy!  See those flowers?  All cut with the framelits.  See the leaves?  Yup, framelits--NO fussy cutting!  LOVE IT!

I stamped Thank YOU in Pistachio Pudding (and the so much in Crumb Cake), and layered it on a piece of Pistachio Pudding card stock.  This was layered onto the Crumb Cake stripes from the Neutrals Designer Series Paper Stack.  And it was all adhered to a Watermelon Wonder base.

Now for the flowers:  The leaves were stamped on Pistachio Pudding card stock in matching ink and then cut with framelits.  The flower was not stamped at all; one of the framelits actually cuts the inside AND the outside of the flower, allowing you to pop up the inside for a little added texture.

Same here:  leaves stamped and cut, flowers just cut and layered.  So quick and easy!

I used a coordinating pattern from the paper stack to add a little pizzazz to the back of my envelope, and added two Pearls Basic Jewels to the insides of my flowers, and called it a day.

So what do you think?  Are you getting excited to see more of the wonderful new items to be released in just one month?  Can't wait?  Becoming a Stampin' UP! independent demonstrator allows you to purchase your goodies before anyone else...click here and choose the "join the fun" button, and you'll be able to choose $125 of product in your starter kit for just $99!  And if you join now, you will also get Sale-a-Bration rewards, increasing the value of your kit with extra stamps, designer paper or Project Life card collection.  It's a great time to join my Stampin' Amigos!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Christmas Elves

With my grandsons 3000 miles away, I decided to celebrate the holiday season in a new way...a daily "advent mailing".  I had originally planned to send them the advent tree I made last week (here), but decided it would be too much to try to mail.  So instead I'm doing LOTS of mailings!  Sometimes I just don't know what gets into me...

I have a bunch of small gifts and will be sending something every day.  And of course I HAVE to decorate them all, right?

For the 4th day, I'm sending them some holiday PEZ dispensers.  But look what I did to make them extra special:

I created little elves to add to the packaging.  Aren't they cute?

I saw the elf hat idea on Becky Roberts' blog.  Remember this Santa hat?  Well, this is pretty much the same idea, but instead of just the hat, I added a face.

The Tree Punch without the trunk made the hat.  Then I used the 1-1/4" circle punch with some Blushing Bride card stock, and added ears punched from the Bird Punch.  The eyes are from my 1/4" handheld punch, the nose is punched from the Owl Punch and I drew the mouth with my Project Life Journaling Pen.

It's all put together on a clothespin (on sale now in the OnLine Extravaganza), and then I clipped it to my PEZ dispensers.

I think the kids will get a chuckle out of them.  Don't you?

All items can be purchased here. 

Weekly Deals

As if the OnLine Extravaganza isn't enough, here are this week's Weekly Deals. Don't miss the great offerings this week:

Berry Merry Photopolymer Stamp Set Price: $17.00 $12.75	Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper Price: $5.00 $3.75	Embellished Ornaments Wood-Mount Stamp Set Price: $28.00 $21.00
Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack Price: $10.00 $7.50

All products can be purchased here.

OnLine Extravaganza Sample

Have you gone shopping yet?  The prices on this week's OnLine Extravaganza are fabulous!

To entice you, here's a little sample I made using one of the stamp sets, Map It Out (which coordinates with the Greetings From set); both are on sale now for 30% off!

Many of you have heard that my grandsons have moved 3000 miles away.  I'm trying to stay in touch with them, and this little stamp was the perfect way to send my love.

My base of Whisper White Thick cardstock was cut to 4-1/4" x 11, and was scored on all sides (from the inside of the card so it left an embossed edge).  I punched a very small hole on the fold (left side) and put a very small notch on the right side, and then wound my Bermuda Bay Thick Bakers Twine around the card.  It was tied in a knot on the very edge, and I used a Paper Piercing tool to "shred" the ends.

My map was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and I used Blender Pens with Lost Lagoon to shade my two states (California and Maryland).  Then I traced their cross-country route using a Stampin' Write marker (Elegant Eggplant).


The Alphabet Rotary Stamp (page 132 in the Annual Catalog--take a peek!) allowed me to stamp my message--so fun to be able to create your own sentiments!


So head on over to the Extravaganza and see what you can pick up to start your creative juices stirring!  Click here to see the list.

All items can be purchased here.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Monday FLASH Sale!

Here's a look at the 24-hour Flash Sale for Monday:

 

 These prices are good for 24 hours only, or until supplies are gone.  Don't delay!

All items can be purchased here.

OnLine Extravaganza

Wowsa!  Check this out!  Stampin' UP! is having our own version of Black Friday ALL WEEK LONG!

November 23-30, save up to 50 percent on select products during our week-long Online Extravaganza! To make it even better, there will be flash sales that last 24 hours on November 23 and November 30, the first and last days of Online Extravaganza. But remember: Online Extravaganza savings are only available while supplies last, so get them while you can!

Click here to see the deals and steals!

And come back this afternoon--I'll have the Monday Flash Sale info posted for you!

It's Christmas with the Wacky Watercooler Gang!

It's time for another Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop and this month we are celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah.  It doesn't matter where you begin; just click on the blog buttons and follow around the entire hop.  You may have just hopped over from Deb Smart's blog - she's always a tough act to follow! - and I thank you for coming to visit me.

Our mission this month is to showcase the upcoming holiday season using our choice of products from the Annual Catalog, the Holiday Catalog, AND (bonus for me!) anything in our "stash" of old products...and boy, do I have old products!

But let's start with some creative inspiration using current supplies:

I absolutely LOVE these edgelit dies (Sleigh Ride) and incorporated them into a technique card.  I used the "Salted Background" idea (tutorial to come soon), which created a beautiful base for my trees and houses, which were cut using Shimmery White cardstock.

The "wash" was a combination of Tempting Turquoise and Pacific Point on Watercolor Paper; after I was satisfied with the color I sprinkled table salt on the paper which gives it an interesting texture.  The Watercolor Paper layer is mounted on a layer of Silver Glimmer Paper (and I punched tons of little stars with the Star Border Punch) so this card really sparkles.

Card number two is a fancy fold card:

Similar elements to the first card include use of the Sleigh Ride Edgelits and Star Border Punch, but this time I used Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper and then cut a second and third set of the edgelits in Real Red and Early Espresso.  Isolating just the sled in red and horse in Espresso, I glued them on top of the glimmer paper figures.

This card also has a touch of "spin" - Using the Circle Framelits, I cut a circle in the center of the card front.  I stamped the sentiment from Among the Branches in Night of Navy ink two times and punched them out with the 2" Circle Punch.  These were glued together, back to back, with a length of Whisper White Bakers Twine in the middle.  Some Tear & Tape Adhesive adheres the twine to the inside of the card (all covered with a circle of white) so my sentiment spins around.

And now for my stash of hoarded supplies.  Why do I do this?  I have absolutely no idea.  As new catalogs come out, I'm still in love with products from the old one, so I order more -- don't want to run out!  Then I can't use them anymore (for demonstrating cards)...and then I fall in love with the new stuff...and my old things get relegated further and further to the back of shelves and deeper and deeper in the drawers.

Until today!  Thankfully my friends of the Watercooler understand...and today I'm allowed to bring you some inspiration using my old stuff!  Now just for the record, what I have created here, you, too, can create!  It will just look slightly different than mine (unless you happened to hoard the same goodies that I did!).  So no discouragement please--just get out your stuff and create!

An Advent Tree!

Many of you know that I have recently become a lonely grammy--my grandsons have moved from California (my home) to Maryland!  So here is how I will connect with them this holiday season.

I took retired Under the Tree Specialty Designer Series Paper (extra thick cardstock) and used the Box Punch Board to make 26 of the smallest (1.75" x 1.75" x 1.75") boxes.  And I used the retired Metro Type Alphabet to stamp the numbers.

Each number was punched with the 1-3/8" circle punch and mounted on a Metallic Foil Doily (I used gold--and these are still available from the Annual Catalog) or a Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Early Espresso or Crumb Cake scalloped circle (punch also current).  Then I hot-glued my boxes into the shape of a tree.

The star on top is Gold Foil Sheets cut with Star Framelits (all current)--five of them scored in the middle and adhered over a skewer which is pushed into the top box.  And then some Cherry Cobbler Organdy Ribbon (retired - oh darn) is tied in a big bow.  Each box opens to reveal a small treat. 

Well that's it for me!  Thanks so much for dropping by; come back again soon.  And now on to see what the incredibly creative Marsha Reed has to offer! 

November's Paper Pumpkin!

Christmas cards - squeal!  My Paper Pumpkin arrived today and I can't wait to create this:


Not a member yet?  Sign up today and receive your first kit in December.  Just $19.95 a month for your own bright orange box to arrive at your door, with everything you need for some crafting time all to yourself.  Or share it with a friend!

Click on the link to the right and get your very own Paper Pumpkin!

Sneak PEEK!

I was fortunate to attend the On Stage Stampin' UP! event in San Diego this past weekend.  Such fun!  There were four of us from my group:  Bonnie, Crystal, me and Tani:

We all won FREE stuff!  Can't get any better than that!  But we can't show you any of the images:

We had such fun hearing about brand new products to be released in January, and we all got a new stamp set, Beautiful Ride.  This hit my heart for a number of reasons:  (1) my first car was a VW Bug; (2) my son and his family just moved far away and the sentiments in this set are perfect; and (3) it's a BIG set of stamps that can be used for so many occasions!

I was sworn to secrecy until last night at 9:00 west coast time.  Now that that has passed, I'll show you my first sample:

Is that not the cutest?  Love (<3) this set!

I used Shimmery White card stock so I could paint my bug with an Aquapainter.  Shimmery White is the perfect white (as Watercolor Paper is more vanilla-colored); it's a heavy-weight and takes the water well.

I gave my bug a wash of watered-down Marina Mist, with Smoky Slate accents.

My luggage was fussy-cut and popped up on Dimensionals.

This sweet card is on it's way to my son and daughter-in-law and two grandsons; they have arrived safely in Maryland and spent their first night in their new home (without any furniture) after having their first dinner "picnic-style" on the floor.  They are in for a new adventure...

I hope you enjoyed my sneak peek at what's to come.



Don't forget - the current Holiday catalog is retiring soon; complete your wish list now!


 

And finally, here are this week's Weekly Deals!  Just in time for your Holiday card-making and home decorating:

	Season To Season Wreath Project Kit Item # 139645 Regular Price: $27.00 US/$33.25 CAN Discounted Price: $20.25 US/$24.94 CAN
	Season Of Cheer Cardstock Pack Item # 139591 Regular Price: $7.00 US/$8.75 CAN Discounted Price: $5.25 US/$6.56 CAN
	Snow Friends Framelits Dies Item # 139664 Regular Price: $27.00 US/$33.00 CAN Discounted Price: $20.25 US/$24.75 CAN
	Jolly Christmas Wood-Mount Stamp Set Item # 139873 Regular Price: $27.00 US/$33.00 CAN Discounted Price: $20.25 US/$24.75 CAN

All products can be purchased here.