Thursday, August 31, 2017

One More Look

Our Holiday Catalog will be live tomorrow!  Can't wait?  Me either!  So here's one more look at what's coming:



This perfect set makes beautiful holiday cards and invitations to your New Year's Eve party!  Get ready to place your order and get an early start.

Don't have a Holiday Catalog?  If you don't have a Stampin' UP! demonstrator, I'd love to be yours; contact me for your FREE copy of the new catalog, and order your products starting tomorrow.

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Merry Little Christmas

It's almost time for YOUR early Christmas!  Yes, the Holiday Catalog goes live in a few days, and you can order your holiday project products on September 1st.

Here's another peek at what's coming:


Ready for Christmas?  Coming soon...

Don't have a Holiday Catalog?  If you don't have a Stampin' UP! demonstrator, contact me and I'll get a catalog out to you.

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Time for Fall

Almost time for Autumn, although with the heat we continue to have in California, it doesn't quite feel like it.  But I am noticing a slight chill in the air when I take my evening walk, so maybe it's really gonna get here one of these days.

And in preparation, here's a card to welcome Fall:

Painted Harvest is a new stamp set from the Holiday Catalog, making it's debut on September 1st.  I know this will be a popular set, judging from all the samples I am seeing popping up all over.  And I loved it as soon as I saw it.

This two-step set is very easy to stamp.  I started with Daffodil Delight for the larger "ring" of flower, and then stamped Crushed Curry over it.  The center is Early Espresso.  Then, using my Paper Snips, I fussy cut the flowers.  There was a slight Very Vanilla border so I sponged on more Daffodil Delight ink, and my flowers look so real!  They also got a Wink of Stella treatment for just a hint of sparkle!


The leaves were a happy accident.  I stamped the "veins" of the leaves using Always Artichoke ink, and then stamped Wild Wasabi for the leaf.  But it seemed to "spring-y"; so I experimented by stamping Old Olive right over the Wasabi, and I love the color!  Darker but still bright.

The leaves were punched with the matching Leaf Punch - hint - this is a bundle--Painted Harvest and Leaf Punch, and you can save 10% by purchasing the bundle instead of individually...and trust me, you're going to want the punch AND the stamps, so just get the bundle!

The card base is Thick Very Vanilla.  I cut a piece of Early Espresso 4-1/4" x 5-1/2", ran it through the Big Shot with the Pinewood Planks embossing folder, and adhered it to the card front, completely covering the Vanilla.

The sentiment was stamped in Early Espresso; don't you love that little acorn?  I know...sunflowers don't come from acorns, but it was so darn cute, I had to add it.  And I stamped some "splats" from Timeless Textures, using Crumb Cake ink (stamped off once).  Then it was cut using the Lots of Labels framelits.


All I needed was a rustic bow--strings from the Burlap Ribbon did the trick!  Happy Fall, y'all!


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Monday, August 28, 2017

Hearts Come Home for Christmas

I love the holiday season.  Now that my three children and five grandchildren have all moved far away, it's always so special for us to gather at Christmas.  Here's a new stamp set that brings the love home:


Itching to get your hands on this set?  It's coming September 1st.  Just a few more days.

Need a Holiday Catalog?  If you don't have a Stampin' UP! demonstrator, contact me and I'll drop one in the mail for you. 

Soon you'll be creating loving projects with Hearts Come Home!

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Happy Birthday, Charlotte!


My granddaughter is ONE!  I can't believe it!  After having 4 grandsons, I couldn't wait for little Charlotte to be born.  I flew to Maryland to be there for the birth.  My daughter-in-law's parents were there too.

Sarah went into labor in the early afternoon.  She and my son left for the hospital, leaving her folks and me in charge of our two grandsons.  After we put them to bed, her mom, Lynn, said to me, "Let's go!"  I looked at her and said, "Where?"  And of course she replied, "To the hospital!"

So we left grandpa in charge of the sleeping tots, got in the minivan and took off trying to find a hospital that was about 25 miles away (we are both from California, and I had not driven in Maryland).  Fortunately Siri told us where to go, and after only one wrong turn, we found it.

However, it was a military hospital, and there we were, two grandmas from out of state, in a car that wasn't ours, staring down an Air Force airman, who asked us to get out of the car, open the hood and the hatch, and stand "over there", after taking our licenses.

And I had no idea how to open the hood.  I looked at Lynn; she shrugged.  I made sad cow eyes at the airman, who stared at us, stonefaced.  But he finally relented, came to the door and showed me where the release was, and the two grandmas giggled as they searched our car.

Things didn't go as well inside the hospital, but the outcome was a C-section, and beautiful Charlotte was born.  All was well with mom, dad and baby, and we finally got back home after 2 a.m.


So here we are, a year later...and my darling little granddaughter is one. 
Here's her card:

Baby Bear makes such a CUTE card!  Of course the card had to be pink--I've had my fill of trucks, dinosaurs and blue cards.  

My three-step stamping bear was stamped in Smoky Slate, Basic Gray (stamped off once) and Basic Gray, full strength.  It's easy to stamp the bear--the stamps are photopolymer so you can see through them.  I started with the lightest color, stamping the shape of the bear.  The next stamp is most of the fur, and the last one (the darkest color) are all the details.  

The sentiment is from Number of Years, and was stamped in Sweet Sugarplum.  And I punched three balloons in Fresh Fig and some retired In Color Designer Series Paper.  I placed the balloons where I wanted them, without gluing them down and used the Fresh Fig marker with a ruler to draw the balloon strings.

Inside is special too.  With a stamped balloon string and birthday wish from Happy Birthday Gorgeous, and a sentiment from Baby Bear, I was able to send love to this little girl.

And of course there's a matching envelope!  

Happy Birthday, Charlotte!  Can't wait to see you next month!

Supplies used are listed below; click on the photo to order.

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Saturday, August 26, 2017

Do You Need Some Mittens?

Probably not yet...much too warm.  But here's an adorable set, coming in the Holiday Catalog:



Ready to make some mittens?  Well put away your knitting needles and yarn, and grab some paper and Smitten Mittens - coming September 1st.

Don't have a Holiday Catalog?  If you don't already have a Stampin' UP! demonstrator, I'd love to be yours; contact and I'll drop a catalog in your mailbox!

Friday, August 25, 2017

August Paper Pumpkin

Have you seen the August Paper Pumpkin?  No?  Take a look:




This is such a cute project!  The little gift box is just perfect for storing or for gifting your cards to someone special. 

Not a Paper Pumpkin subscriber?  Why not?  You get a pretty orange box delivered right to your door each month, filled with everything you need to have a "crafting holiday" all to yourself!  Or get together with friends, and enjoy making something new together.

And right now, new month-to-month subscribers can get the September Paper Pumpkin for HALF PRICE!  Head over to the Paper Pumpkin site (link below) and enter the code  HALFOFF0917, but be sure to sign up before September 10th!

You have nothing to lose (you can stop at any time), but so much to gain.  And at HALF PRICE, why wouldn't you give Paper Pumpkin a try? 

Click on the link to the right, or here to join!

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Too Early?

Are you ready?  We're just a week away from the release of the new Holiday Catalog, and I've been playing with my new toys!  But I have to admit, there's something that doesn't feel exactly right when it's 90+ degrees outside and I'm making Christmas cards; I mean, this isn't Australia, right?

But I was having fun trying to be creative, and this is what I came up with:




Gorgeous?  YES!  Wait til you see how shiny this is!

Musical Season caught my eye in the new catalog.  Maybe because the sample, on page 25, is so pretty in Bermuda Bay, Silver, Black and White.  Maybe it's because my husband used to play the Renaissance Lute--yes, about 100 years or so ago (or so it seems), when I first met my husband, who was a Classical Guitar major at USC (with my brother and brother-in-law), Jim dabbled with the lute.  After a few years he was actually quite good, and in our early years, played at a book store on Friday evenings, and in the library, or for private parties.  But as reality set in, he decided this was no life for a wife and kids, so he gave it up for computers.  😇  What a guy!

So now, many years later, I've decided to honor him with a lute card.  And it's a beauty!


I started by stamping Sheet Music with Versamark ink on Basic Black card stock, and heat embossing it with Gold Embossing Powder.  I also embossed the lyre, the lute and the sentiment, stamped on Very Vanilla.


Then it was off to the Big Shot with the coordinating Musical Instruments Framelits Dies (yes!  this is a bundle, and you can save 10% by purchasing the stamps and matching framelits) to cut the lute, lyre, and the horn and treble clef out of Gold Foil.

I did realize that to get this all on a card, I'd have to make it a little larger, and settled for a 5-1/2" square card of Basic Black with a layer of Gold Foil.

I love the Merry Little Christmas Designer Series Paper, and used that on one side of the card, with the embossed music on the other side.


The sentiment was a little lonely on the left side, so I added some gold Metallic Enamel Shapes--finished off the card just right.


I'm not a huge fan of Christmas in August, but I really had fun playing with this set.

So are you ready?  Ordering begins September 1st; if you need a Holiday Catalog, and don't have a Stampin' UP! demonstrator, please contact me for one.  You won't be sorry...although your checkbook might be!  😉

 



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