Weekly Deals

Some great Weekly Deals this week!  Take a look:

	Something To Say Clear-Mount Stamp Set Item # 134180 Regular Price: $22.00 US/$27.00 CAN Discounted Price: $16.50 US/$20.25 CAN
	Hearts Border Punch Item # 133784 Regular Price: $16.00 US/$20.00 CAN Discounted Price: $12.00 US/$15.00 CAN
	Very Vanilla 5/8" Satin Ribbon Item # 134550 Regular Price: $7.00 US/$8.75 CAN Discounted Price: $5.25 US/$6.56 CAN
	2015-2017 In Color Envelope Paper Item # 138312 Regular Price: $6.00 US/$7.50 CAN Discounted Price: $4.50 US/$5.63 CAN
	2014-2016 In Color Designer Washi Tape Item # 138382 Regular Price: $8.00 US/$10.00 CAN Discounted Price: $6.00 US/$7.50 CAN

You've seen me use the In Color Envelope Paper many times--this great paper makes the perfect weight envelope along with the Envelope Punch Board.  And the Vanilla Satin Ribbon and Hearts Border Punch -- just the right time (before Valentines Day) to snatch up your discount on those! 

Don't miss these prices!

All items can be purchased here.

Time for a Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop!

Yes it's time for an Occasions Catalog Blog Hop with the Wacky Watercooler gang. With the release of the new Occasions Catalog AND the Sale-A-Bration brochure, there's lots to show off.  Our hop is a circle; jump on anywhere and click the "next" or "back" buttons to travel to another blog.

You may have just seen Buffy Cooper's fabulous samples--isn't she the best?  And if you've joined here, be sure to visit all seven Watercooler artists and see what they have to show you.

I got to preview the Occasions and Sale-a-Bration catalogs in November at an event in San Diego.  I was SO excited to take home this first stamp set, Beautiful Ride.  Because my first love - my VW Bug - was so very special to me, this set really tugged at my heartstrings.   Take a look:

As soon as I saw the stamps, I had a vision of the beach.  I grew up on a beach on Long Island, NY, and now spend time twice a year on Cape Cod.  So this card was in my mind and I had to get it onto paper!

I started with Shimmery White Cardstock and masked off my "beach" and the "water".  I sponged the sunset, then the ocean and finally the sand with my Stampin' Sponges and Sponge Daubers.

My bug was stamped with Basic Black Archival ink on Watercolor paper and then colored with Aquapainters.  Be sure to notice the "Love" on the door--what a great touch (as this is an anniversary card for my niece and her husband).  The bug was snipped and popped on Dimensionals.  I repeated the process for the couple and added them to the roof of the car.

Now since my niece's husband enjoys surfing, how fun was it that this set includes a surfboard?

That, too, was stamped, colored and cut out and adhered with really skinny pieces of Dimensionals.

Isn't that fun?

And speaking of fun, wait until you see the offerings in the Sale-a-Bration catalog!  My next sample spotlights a new set that can be yours for FREE (with a qualifying purchase) as well as some absolutely yummy designer series paper:

Wowsa!  I got hungry just looking at these luscious colors!

This card shows off Birthday Bouquet DSP - beautiful prints and colors in Watermelon Wonder, Mint Macaroon, Blushing Bride and Pool Party, along with a few more.  So soft and romantic!

I used two of the prints on this card, AND there's a wonderful scallop of Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper...WHAT?  OMG...what a fabulous addition to our glimmer papers!

"Hooray" is a Sale-a-Bration offering called Perfect Pairings (I used the Happy Birthday stamp on the inside of this card).  Love the font!  My banner has a wash of color (Aquapainter and Blushing Bride ink refill swiped across my Whisper White cardstock) and then Hooray is stamped in Watermelon Wonder.

And see that little cupcake?  Also from a new set in the Occasions Catalog - Party Wishes - and three of the stamps have coordinating punches!  The Party Punch Pack includes the cupcake, a balloon and a candle!  Woo Hoo!

"It's Your Day" is from another new Occasions Catalog set - Sunburst Sayings - a perfect combo of sweet phrases to be used for many occasions.

That's it for me!  I hope you have enjoyed my creations highlighting lots of goodies now available in the Occasions and Sale-a-Bration catalogs!

Now on to see what Deb Smart has to show you!  She always wows me with her ideas; I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Thanks for stopping by!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Sale-a-Bration Sneak Peek

It's Sale-a-Bration Time!  Where every $50 purchase gets you a FREE item from the Sale-a-Bration brochure.  What a great time to place an order!

Today I'm featuring a Sale-a-Bration offering called Perfect Pairings.  This cute set of phrases will be popular due to the numbers of reasons to use it--from birthdays, to thanks yous, to celebrations and congrats, this set has the just-right sentiment.  Take a look:

 I need a card for my brother's birthday (have you noticed a pattern here this week?  Yeah, I have LOTS to celebrate in January!) and this set just hit the right note.

I started with a card base of Soft Suede and added a piece of delicious English Garden Designer Series Paper--a piece with a more masculine feel.

I punched a circle of Soft Suede using the 2-1/2" Circle Punch and then cut another piece of the DSP (I love that they all coordinate!) with my Circle Framelits.

For my sentiment I didn't want a plain white background, so using my Aquapainters and some Mint Macaron reinker, I gave it a wash of color, over which I stamped my sentiment using Night Of Navy ink.

Adding a little snippet of (retired) Champagne Glimmer Paper and a Gold Basic Metal Button with some Mint Macaron Bakers Twine (this came in a kit, now retired, but still sitting on my shelf--read about my need to use my stuff here).

A new set, Sunburst Sayings, just having made it's debut in the new Occasions Catalog, had just the right saying for my card.  It's stamped in Night of Navy ink and mounted on a small piece of Soft Suede.

And inside?  Another stamp from Perfect Pairings, along with some dots (Sunburst Sayings).

I'm really happy with the way this card turned out.  Simple and masculine, but with just enough panache to make it special!

What do you think?  Is Perfect Pairings on your wish list?

Supplies can be purchased here.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Weekly Deals

In case yo need to bump up an order to $50 so you can take advantage of those great Sale-a-Bration items, here are this week's Weekly Deals:

	Honeycomb Hello Wood-Mount Stamp Set Item # 134075 Regular Price: $22.00 US/$27.00 CAN Discounted Price: $16.50 US/$20.25 CAN
	Tiny Triangles Textured Impressions Embossing Folder Item # 133740 Regular Price: $7.50 US/$9.25 CAN Discounted Price: $5.63 US/$6.94 CAN
	2015-2017 In Color Blossom Accents Item # 138383 Regular Price: $8.00 US/$10.00 CAN Discounted Price: $6.00 US/$7.50 CAN
	Eclectic Paper-Piercing Pack Item # 133778 Regular Price: $8.00 US/$10.00 CAN Discounted Price: $6.00 US/$7.50 CAN

All products can be purchased here.

Paper Pumpkin Meets Birthday Bouquet

Did you know that every Paper Pumpkin kit comes with an exclusive stamp set?  While they are meant to be used for the enclosed contents of the kit, they are also great for using after your kit is complete.

December's Paper Pumpkin was a beautiful desk calendar (mine is done and on my desk at work, but you can see what it looks like here).

Here's an idea for a birthday card using the Paper Pumpkin stamp:

I have a niece with a January birthday.  I mounted all the stamps (January - December) on one clear block until I got the size that I wanted.  I then removed January, inked up the others with Mint Macaroon and stamped on Whisper White.  I then stamped January with Watermelon Wonder.  Because the stamps are clear photopolymer, it's easy to see right where you want it. 

The card base is Whisper White Thick Cardstock.  The beautiful, subtle balloon paper is from Birthday Bouquet (available Tuesday!); both the balloon paper and the paper with the months are mounted on thin layers of Mint Macaroon.

The numbers were cut from a very old die that I have lying around (got it to use with an old machine, prior to getting my hands on the Big Shot), but these could be stamped using either the Alphabet Rotary Stamp or the Back To Basics Alphabet.

The "Your Special Day" sentiment is a pared down version from Botanicals for You, a Sale-a-bration offering (also starting Tuesday) and can be yours for FREE with a $50 purchase.  The actual phrase is "...on your special day", but I omitted the "...on".

I also added a piece of the balloon print on the envelope flap:

So how do you use your Paper Pumpkin stamps?  What?  You're not a member?  Well fix that right now by clicking on the Paper Pumpkin link on the right.  Just $19.95 a month gets you a wonderful orange box loaded with everything you need for some crafting heaven, and it's delivered right to your door! 

All supplies can be purchased here.  Now go make something pretty!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Simply Sports meets Birthday

Last summer, while surfing some of my favorite blog spots for ideas, I came across a post by James Weber.  Although I'm not sure he's still a demonstrator (as he has not updated his blog since August), he had an idea that got my juices flowing.  Using Simply Sports, he turned it into a party.  So here is my version:

I don't know if you are familiar with Simply Sports.  It's a great set of silhouette bodies playing their favorite sports:

By omitting the balls these stamps became a party!

I started with a Basic Black card base, but it's big:  4 1/2" x 6 1/2".  Stampin' UP! doesn't make paper long enough to make a 13" card base (folded in half), so I used a 4 1/2" x 7 1/2", with a score at 1", and then adhered the 1" tab to a 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" piece.  It worked perfectly.

I then layered on a skinny Mint Macaroon layer and on top of that I adhered some new It's My Party Designer Series Paper Stack.  Oh my goodness!  This stack is huge, 48 sheets of  double sided 12" x 12" paper, four of each design.  And the colors and designs are to die for!  Black, Mint Macaroon, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry and Sahara Sand...I'll be using LOTS of this!

I stamped the figures using the fabulous Archival Basic Black Ink--so rich and black!  I added a pony tail to one of the dancers (OK, true confessions--I had to stamp this panel about four times to get it right--I either dropped a stamp on it, stamped the music notes upside down, or missed the pony tail!  Geez...but the outcome was worth the frustration!).

The pinata horse is from Zoo Babies--I used the zebra and painted all the stripes using Stampin' Write markers.  This was cut out and popped up with Dimensionals after I added a piece of Gold Thread. 

The party hats are from No Bones About It; stamped, cut and popped up on tiny pieces of Dimensionals.

The sentiment is from Boys Will Be Boys, stamped on Mint Macaroon and punched with the Banner Punch.

And of course, due to the size, I had to make my own envelope, using more of the DSP and my Envelope Punch Board.  Due to the unusual size, I had to look up measurements on this site:  http://www.thecraftyowl.co.uk/EnvelopeExpert/
Hang on to that address--you can make ANY size cards and this will help you figure out the measurements for your envelope.

So this card is going to my nephew...do you think he'll like it?


And don't forget; the Occasions Catalog goes live Tuesday, along with Sale-A-Bration--where any $50 purchase gets you a FREE item from the Sale-a-bration selection!

All supplies can be purchased here.

Now go make something pretty!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Sending Hugs

When I attended the Stampin' UP! On Stage Local event in San Diego last month, I won a Prize Patrol featuring a new set from the upcoming Occasions Catalog (only 3 more days until it's debut!).  Bear Hugs has matching framelits and I couldn't wait to make something to send my grandsons.  (Save by purchasing the Bear Hugs Bundle--stamp set AND framelits for 15% discount)

I stamped the bear with Chocolate Chip ink, cut it out with the framelit, turned it over and stamped it again--this gave me the "arms" that could be folded around the heart.  Totally adorbs!

The heart is popped up on THREE Dimensionals, and then the "hands" are attached to the heart with more Dimensionals.

The card base is a Whisper White Note Card, with a layer of Mossy Meadow and then a piece of some new Designer Series Paper--Birthday Bouquet is the yummiest collection of soft colors and pretty prints.

My sentiment wraps to the inside of the card...

...where two little bears are all decked out in their fancy bow ties.

Of course there's a matching envelope, cut with the Envelope Punch Board and In Color Envelope Paper.  (The Note Cards come with envelopes, but because of all the dimension of this card I had to make one that was a little bigger--thank goodness for the Punch Board!).  And the little butterflies?  To cover a mistake--somehow when I was working on the inside of my card, the card touched my Mossy Meadow ink pad!  Aargh!  Have you ever done that?  But as I always tell my stampin' friends, "It's not a mistake; it's an opportunity!"

You can get your own set of Bear Hugs starting Tuesday, January 5th.  Place orders here.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog