Hey!!!!

Did you miss me? I've had a wonderful vacation, spending the last 11 days with my hubby. He leaves again tomorrow. :o( I just wanted to let you know that I'll be back to my regular posting. I also wanted to make sure that everyone has what they want from the retiring list. If there is anything else you need before it's gone let me know. I can place orders through tomorrow.

Have a great night everyone and I'll see you in the New Year!!!!

Before & After

I must say, I have the most photogenic niece and nephew. I think these pictures are proof. These pictures were just too cute not to scrapbook. I didn't want to eat at chain restaraunts in San Diego (except ones we don't have in Indiana or Ohio) so I found this diner called Studio Diner. It's outside of a movie lot and there's been a few shows filmed at the diner. The food was excellent and of course since we were on vacation we had to have dessert. We all opted for an ice cream dessert. So the before is Taj and Faith eating their ice cream and the banana split that Becky, Gebe and I were going to share. The after is how messy the kids were from eating the ice cream and that we finished the banana split. Taj kept most of his ice cream on his face, but Faith had it all over herself, including dripping down her shirt. Yum!!!


Recipe
Stamps: Big Deal Alphabet
Ink: Close to Cocoa, More Mustard
Paper: Close to Cocoa, More Mustard
Accessories: Antique Brass Brads, Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon


Thanks for checking out my blog! You probably won't see any more posts from me until the New Year!!! I'm on vacation!!!! Happy Holidays everyone!!!!

Phlippin' Cute

It's a scrapbook marathon around here!!! Well, the weather was nasty this weekend. Lots of ice and I just didn't feel like leaving the house. So, I got a lot of scrapbooking done.

Here's another girly page for you. Faith just loved the dolphins and kept wanting her picture taken with them. Imagine my surprise when this dolphin popped up right behind her pose. I'm so glad I was able to snap this picture. I also snapped a few pictures of the dolphins playing around and showing off.

I used the retiring Petals & Paisley Designer Series Paper for my base. I love the colors in this paper. I mounted the picture of Faith and the dolphin on a piece of Barely Banana and added some Tempting Turquoise grosgrain ribbon on a Pewter HodgePodge Hardware ribbon slide. I added my pictures of the dolphins to a strip of Pretty in Pink and added the Tempting Turquoise buttons between the two pictures as well as a tab punched with the Round Tab punch. I wrote Dolphin Discovery on the tab with my Old Olive marker. I stamped my title "Phlippin' Cute!" in Tempting Turquoise on Whisper White using Short Order Alphabet and journaled just a wee bit with my Old Olive marker. The journaling reads "Faith loved the dolphins. The dolphins seemed to love her, too." I added some flowers from the coordinating stamp set Polka Dots & Paisley in Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana, and Old Olive and mounted it on a piece of Old Olive. I also stamped some flowers in Barely Banana on Whisper White and punched them out with my 1" circle punch and layered them on Barely Banana and Old Olive cut out with my 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches. Those were added to my page using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Just in case you haven't had enough scrapbooking, I have a few more pages to share later in the week. Also, starting in January I am having a monthly scrapbooking class. On the 3rd Friday of every month I will have a class where you can come and make 2 12x12 scrapbook pages featuring the theme for the month. January's class is on the 18th and will feature Valentine's Day/Love. Check out my calendar above for more details, or my SU! website.

Wrapping Up The Holidays

Hey, everyone! I just wanted to let you know that the Wrapping Up the Holidays promotion has been extended through Dec. 31.

Monkey See Monkey Do

I took a look at the challenges from this week on SCS and then took a look at the photos that I still needed to scrapbook from my San Diego trip and I found that this weeks Color Combination Challenge coordinated perfectly with the colors in the kids' shirts in the second picture. Taj's shirt has Pumpkin Pie and Certainly Celery in it, while Faith's shirt has Rose Red.

I started with a Pumpkin Pie base and did several dry runs of how I was going to lay out my pictures and title. I finally settled on this one. Now this was a stretch for me because I have never overlapped pictures on a scrapbook page before. But it was the only way I could put all three pictures and such a large title on a page. I stamped my title on a strip of Rose Red and a strip of Certainly Celery in Whisper White with Jumbo Outline Alphabet. Originally I was going to do a curved title, but I didn't like the way it turned out, so I modified it. I stamped some circles from Polka Dots & Petals in Pumpkin Pie on Whisper White and punched them out with my 1" circle punch. One was mounted on a piece of Certainly Celery cut with my 1 1/4" circle punch and layered on a piece of Rose Red cut with the Scallop Circle punch. All 4 were adhered with dimensionals. I also added some strips cut with the Word Window Punch to add a little more interest. As a finishing touch and because I thought the upper corner was a little bare I added a piece of Pewter HodgePodge Hardware.

Meanwhile.....

Now, you've already seen how Taj spent a part of his day at the zoo. Here's what Faith did while her brother was sleeping.

I was so excited to make a girly scrapbook page. I never get to scrap girly. So I used a base of Ruby Red and stamped some flowers from Time Well Spent (Spring/Summer Collection Level 3 Hostess set) randomly on the page in Close to Cocoa. I colored all the dots in with my white Signo gel pen. I added my photos and then stamped some flowers on a scrap of Barely Banana in Close to Cocoa and cut them out to add to the flowers on my base. I stamped my title "Meanwhile" in Close to Cocoa again on Barely Banana. I cut it out and adhered it to my piece of Whisper White. I then added my journaling with my Basic Brown journaler. I also stamped the 3 flowers on with Close to Cocoa and colored them in with my Barely Banana marker. I thought it needed to be more girly, so I added some Barely Banana flower eyelets (retired) using my Crop-a-dile. As a finishing touch (and to fill a gap) I added a piece of Whisper White grosgrain ribbon which was threaded through holes I punched with my Double Circle Punch.

New Catty Sightings!!

So, some lucky demos in Canada have already received their complementary copies of the Spring/Summer Collection catalogs. The demo side of SCS is crazy!!! I think I'm going to love this catty. I can't wait to get my copy. And I can't wait to place my first order!!!!

I've been tagged!!!

Chris and Lynn tagged me and I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about me, so here goes:

1. I'm originally from NW Indiana. I now live in Ohio. One thing that irks me about Ohio is that everyone assumes I'm just going to become an Ohio State fan now that I'm here. I graduated from Purdue. No chance of becoming and OSU fan here. I'm a Boilermaker through and through.

2. I have many hobbies. I love to stamp and scrapbook. I also sew. I also make stained glass mosaics (although that's been put on the back burner due to stamping). I dabble in carpentry. I've built two cornhole sets (I love power tools). And I like to paint.

3. I drive a VW Beetle. It is my dream car. I wanted a Beetle all my life. My bedroom as a teenager was decorated in bugs, peace signs, and flowers. All all sorts of funky colors (lime green, yellow, purple). I really wanted an old one, but I really need a trustworthy car, so I have a New Beetle.

Oh, this is harder than it seems..............

4. I'm a faithful follower of Days of Our Lives. I've been watching it for about 12 years. (I'm watching it right now).

5. I love being a housewife. Unfortunately I don't get to be one right now, since I'm working. I prefer to spend my days cleaning house, planning dinners, running the errands, baking cookies, taking the dog for walks.

6. I ran a half marathon. I started training in the spring and I ran the marathon in October. I finished, which was my only goal. It was hard and I'm glad I did it, but I don't think I'd do it again. I don't mind running 3 or so miles, but 13.1 is a little much for me.

hmmmm......one more........

7. I'm a picky eater, but I LOVE seafood. I would eat seafood every day if I could. I had seafood for dinner every night while we were in Hawaii and almost every day while is San Diego. I always want to get seafood when we go out for dinner, but I usually can't get anyone to agree to it.

OK, that's 7, and I guess I have to tag more people now, so, how about.....
Kate
Ema
Heather

Nap Time at the Zoo

My little nephew is so cute. He just saw so much as the zoo his little mind couldn't take it any more. He needed to rest. Good thing we rented a stroller. So, this is my page for Taj sleeping at the zoo. I used the colors in the stroller and his jacket for my layout. The base layer is Garden Green. I mounted my photos on Brilliant Blue and I added a Yo-Yo Yellow Round Tab to the vertical picture. I stamped my title in Brilliant Blue on Yo-Yo Yellow using my new Jumbo Outline Alphabet and also Rough Edges Alphabet. I added strips of Brilliant Blue behind the Yo-Yo Yellow title before adhering it to my page. I journaled (again!!!) on a piece of Yo-Yo Yellow with my Garden Green marker. I added a piece of hemp twine to the bottom of the journaling and tied two hemp twine knots.

This page was a bit of a struggle for me because I felt like it needed more. I stamped the alphabet, but I wanted to stamp some more, but I didn't have any stamps to use. Oh, well, I'm happy with it.

Shamu!

More scrapbook pages!!!!! These are my favorite pictures from the whale show at Sea World San Diego. I took a ton of pictures, but these were the ones I felt were scrapbook-worthy. I just got Big Deal Alphabet so I was dying to use it. So I immediately jumped in to a two page spread that was begging for titles. I started with a sheet of Whisper White for both my pages and then took a 12x12 piece of Not Quite Navy cardstock and ripped it in half. I mounted it on the bottom of both scrapbook pages to mimic waves. I stamped my titles in Basic Black on Not Quite Navy and layered them on Basic Black. I mounted all my pictures on a piece of Basic Black cardstock as well. I used Rough Edges Alphabet to add San Diego on the first page. The pages are a little plain, but I was really stumped by what else I could add. I did add two black brads in the corner of each page to add a little dimension. I then called them done. Again, I'm a simple scrapbooker, so I'm happy with them.

Polar Bears

I'm not one for using patterned paper much, but with the DSP promotion last month I ended up taking a chance on it. So, here is another scrapbook page using DSP. For this one I used the DSP as my base layer. This piece is from Dashing. I tried to mimic the circles from the paper with the partial circles in two corners. I cut those out in Very Vanilla with my Fiskar's Shape Cutter. I mounted all my photos on Old Olive and mounted them on the page. I then felt that I needed to journal on this page. I have such a hard time journaling, so this was also a challenge for me. Again, I cut a piece of Very Vanilla with my Fiskar's Shape Cutter and wrote a little about the polar bears using my Old Olive marker. I mounted that on an Old Olive square to mimic the patterned paper.

A simple page, just the way I like it.

ETA: I forgot that I had tied some hemp twine on Old Olive buttons to add this page, but when I was cleaning up my stamping table I found them. So, I added 3 buttons on the upper circle. Two small and one large. I'll try to update the picture here soon.

Oh, and on a side note I placed a pre-order for some sets out of the Preview Brochure today. I wasn't planning on it, but demos were offered 15% off all stamp sets from the brochure, so I broke down. I ordered two stamp sets and some more DSP. As soon as they arrive (probably next Friday) I will post some wonderful creations!

Beach Babes

Well, I was able to get some scrapping done at my PMS night on Friday. This is one of the pages. Boy, do I wish I was on that beach right now. These pictures were taken at La Jolla beach in January earlier this year. The water was cold, but the temperature outside was not. Here in Ohio it is freezing. It's only 30 degrees. And it's supposed to snow tonight. I am a wuss when it comes to cold weather. And I hate shoveling snow......I hope the meteorologists are wrong.

Anywho, back to my page. I love these pictures of the kiddos playing in the water. They had so much fun and were the only ones brave enough to go in the water (at least without a wet suit). I stepped out of my comfort zone on this one by using Designer Series Paper (Linen Prints). I ordered 4 packs of it with the November Paper Party promotion, so I thought I better use it. I think this pattern works well for the beach. I also used Twill Tape and Pewter Jumbo Eyelets for the first time. I stamped my title on the Twill Tape with Chocolate Chip ink and added the Jumbo Eyelets using my Crop-a-dile. I love both the Twill Tape and Jumbo Eyelets and see myself using them a lot more in the future. I mounted my pictures on Chocolate Chip layers and added Not Quite Navy corners that I punched with my Photo Corners Punch. It needed a little something more, so I added the piece of Not Quite Navy that I stamped with Short Order Alphabet in Chocolate Chip. I also added some photo corners in Chocolate Chip. As a finishing touch I used my Basic Brown Journaler to add the kiddos' names.


That's all for now, but I have a few more scrapbook pages to share with you later.

Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers - 3

OK, so I've been checking this out and decided to take the plunge. I'm joining the Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers. The sisterhood was designed to encourage each other and get to know our fellow blogging stampers.



My first mission of the sisterhood is to tell you about me....so here goes.

I've been married to my wonderful hubby, John, for just over 4 years.We met while at school at Purdue. He is the reason we relocated to the Dayton-area. He is a rocket scientist (he hates when I tell people that) and works for the Department of Defense. I work part time at a Dermatologic Surgeon's office. I am the computer person as well as involved in marketing and creative design. The funny thing about that is that I went to college for Health Science and I never thought of myself as computer smart (probably just because hubby is computer smarter). I am also a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. I just finished my first year as a demo and I love it!!!!

John and I have a 3 year old dachshund, named Oscar. He is the funniest little dog. He can be overwhelming at times, but he's so darn cute. You know you wanna see a picture of him, right?That's all I can think of right now, so I'll leave it at that.

Now I'm in the Christmas Spirit

I've been making Christmas cards for months now. It seemed weird, especially in July. But now that Thankgiving is past and the Christmas decorations are up it ain't so bad. So this morning I made these blocks. They are 2x2 blocks decorated with Dashing DSP. This is one set of blocks, that are reversible. You can have them say Peace or Joy. I painted the blocks with Ivory acrylic paint, stamped my letters using Short Order Alphabet on Dashing DSP. I punched the letters out with my 1 3/8" square punch and adhered them to the blocks with Modge Podge. I added more squares of paper and cardstock around the remaining sides of the block. I stamped a snowflake from The Snowflake Spot to add a little fun when you're displaying Joy. For a finishing touch, I added some Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon on the first block. These would look so cute displayed on a fireplace mantel. If you can picture these on your mantel head over to my store 'cause they're for sale.

The List is Here!!!

The Retiring List that is. Check it out! These stamp sets will no longer be available after January 1st. Let me know what stamps you need before they're gone!

Are you ready for snow?

We had a small teaser of snow recently. Just flurries. We actually went up to NW Indiana for Thanksgiving and it snowed all day, but didn't accumulate. I don't know if I'm ready for it, yet. I just don't want to have to clear the drive-way. However, I do like stamping snowflakes. I just love the snowflakes in The Snowflake Spot. This is one of the cards I made on when I was on my one-layer card blitz. I love it. It's so easy and so striking, don't you think?

Recipe
Stamps: The Snowflake Spot
Ink: Night of Navy
Paper: Whisper White
Accessories: Double Circle Punch, Black gingham ribbon

Surf's Up 4-ever

I had a little time to scrapbook today. I should've been cleaning. I'm waiting for a big SU! order to arrive on Thursday which holds a bunch of stuff for my San Diego scrapbook, so I wasn't sure if I could get a page done. I was looking through my pictures from the trip and found these two. I knew I could complete this page without all my fun new toys as this page is about the pictures. This page is dedicated to my late brother-in-law, Josh. I wanted it to be simple and to focus on the moment.

I mounted the pictures on a piece of Night of Navy, slightly off-center. I added a piece of So Saffron that had been stamped with Sanded in So Saffron underneath. I added a piece of HPH and tied some hemp twine to it and wrapped it under the side of the page. I then stamped my title using Short Order Alphabet and Numbers with Night of Navy on my Really Rust base. I also stamped Josh under the hemp twine with Versamark as well as RIP in the bottom corner of the Night of Navy piece using Rough Edges Alphabet. I love how simple the page is and I really love how the colors of the cardstock pick up the colors in the photos from the sunset and the water.




Now, I'm back in scrapbooking mode, which is a good thing, since I'm having a PMS night on Friday. Check out my calendar for the details.

New Things Happening

I'm working on updating my blog to include new and exciting features. I don't know how long it will take to implement, but in the meantime I will continue to post. Today, I do have some news, though. I want to introduce Stampin' Heather's Store. Right now there are a few retired stamp sets available for purchase. I will be adding more items for sale, such as more retired stamp sets and accessories as well as altered items and projects. Head on over to the store and take a look.

Wrapping Up The Holidays

November 23-December 15, 2007

We're wrapping up the year with great holiday wrapping projects! These projects are the perfect way to give your gifts a one-of-a kind look and style. The spirit of the season isn't just about the gift¬-it's also the care that goes into the wrapping of it!

Contact me today to learn more about these holiday projects, or to place your orders*, because it's not just about the present-it's about the presentation!

*while supplies last

Flyer

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm heading out of town. I'll be back Sunday. In the meantime I want to share with you my Black Friday specials. Check 'em out!

Black Friday Specials

Who doesn’t love a great Black Friday deal? That’s what I thought! Well I’ve got a few deals for you. Email me your order at stampin.heather@yahoo.com between 5 am and 10 pm on Friday, November 23^rd to take advantage of these great offers. Please include the item number, description, quantity and price of the items in your email. I will email you back with your total by Sunday and payment is due by Tuesday, November 27^th.

Spend $25 – get a free pack of Anywhere Glue Sticks

Spend $50 – get a free Classic Stampin’ Pad in your choice of color

Spend $75 – get a free $6.95 punch

Spend $100 – get a free pack of Blender Pens

Spend $125 – get a free $12.95 stamp set of your choice

Spend $150 – get a free Level 1 Hostess set and $15 in free product as well as Customer Direct shipping.

Heather Hawkins – Stampin’ Up!® Demonstrator – stampin.heather@yahoo.com

Thank You

OK, I've been so busy that I haven't had time to post. I hate to blame it on the holidays, but I have to get half of my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving so that I can take it back home with me since I only go there for one holiday. So, I've been working on that. Oh, and I love wrapping presents, so I take my sweet time prettying up those presents.

But now I want to share another one of the projects I created while I was without a computer. This is another one of those cards that I made with supplies I don't use very often. When Tagger's Dozen was in the mini catalog I had to have it. I think it was the only set I bought out of that mini. Since then I haven't used it much. I don't know why, but I just never reach for it. So when I got it out I wanted to do something different with it, so I didn't use the tag punches (hmmm....I haven't used those punches in a while either). I stamped the flower in Pixie Pink all over the top portion of the card base. I found two scraps of Very Vanilla that I thought would be cute across the lower half. I like the way the pink peaks out between the two strips. I then stamped the image in Pixie Pink on Very Vanilla and punched it out with my 1" circle punch. I then punched my layers. Barely Banana with 1 1/4" circle, Pixie Pink with 1 3/8" circle punch, and Barely Banana with Scallop circle. I then mounted my circles on my card and called it a day. Sweet and simple.

I love getting the details

One of the best parts of being a Stampin' Up! demo is finding out about upcoming promotions and seeing new products before everyone else. SU! has posted the preview brochure on the website on the demo side and I've already looked at it about a dozen (or more) times. There is some great new DSP, Bali Breeze (bright and cheery) and Ginger Blossom (soft and elegant). There's a great set called Celebrate Everything that is along the same line as Happy Everything, but a different style. Oh, and a cute little set called A Little Birdie Told Me. And with this preview brochure comes the reveal of Rub-Ons. Oh, and a January special. I'm planning my new catty party (in my head) already.

I'm also going to share with you another quick card I made with the new Level 3 Hostess Set, Time Well Spent.
Recipe
Stamps: Time Well Spent
Ink: Rose Red, So Saffron, More Mustard, Old Olive
Paper: Rose Red, So Saffron, Very Vanilla, Rose Red Prints DSP
Accessories: Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon, Blender Pens
Technique: Watercoloring

Time Well Spent

SU! is so great. They are sending all active demonstrators a free set called Time Well Spent. It will be a Level 3 Hostess Set in the upcoming catalog. Well I got my set yesterday and I had a little time this afternoon to play with it. So here is a sneak peak. I used this weeks Sketch Challenge from SCS.
Recipe
Stamps: Time Well Spent
Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Pale Plum, Barely Banana, Sage Shadow
Paper: Whisper White, Pale Plum, Barely Banana, Sage Shadow
Accessories: Double Circle Punch, 1/4"Whisper White Grosgrain Ribbon

I'm Back!!!!!

After 6 long days I now have an AC adapter for my computer and I immediately plugged it in. I realized just how much I use (need) my computer. I have documents on my computer that I needed this week and I couldn't get to them. It was so frustrating. I couldn't download any photos. It was Mini VSN (Virtual Stamping Night) on SCS and I couldn't upload. And the worst is that I DVR all my TV shows on my computer so I wasn't able to watch Days of Our Lives all week. Ahhh!!! Well I just wanted to check in and let you know that I was back and that I'll get back to my regular posting. I'll leave you with this.
I spent some time in my stampin' studio this week trying to use stamp sets or colors that I don't normally use. I did this mostly because I ran out of Chocolate Chip cardstock and I realized just how much I rely on that color. So I decided to work outside of my comfort zone. I started with Yo-Yo Yellow. I have had an entire pack of Yo-Yo Yellow for a year without using a piece of it. I thought black polka dots would look great on yellow (remember how I knew it would look great on pink, too?). So I stamped Polka Dot BG in Basic Black on Yo-Yo Yellow and adhered it to my Very Vanilla card base. I stamped my birthday sentiment from Hugs & Wishes in Basic Black on Very Vanilla and adhered that to my Yo-Yo Yellow layer. I stamped my flower from Polka Dots & Petals in Yo-Yo Yellow on Very Vanilla and punched it with my 1 1/4" circle punch. I layered that on a 1 3/8" circle which was layered on a piece of Basic Black that was punch with the Scallop Circle Punch. I added that to my card using dimensionals to pop it up. I then took some silver Stickles and added it to some random polka dots as well as to the center of my flower and on all my scallops. Isn't it pretty for being Yo-Yo Yellow?

Bear with me

My laptop's AC adapter has a short. Therefore my computer will not stay charged. None of the local stores sell the type of adapter I need (of course I have a super-special expensive cord for mine) so I had to order it online. So, until I get my new power cord, you likely will not see any new blog posts. I'm sorry. Hopefully I can make some really cute stuff since I won't be surfing SCS all the time and I'll have plenty to post when I can use my laptop again.

I'm so happy

This card is so appropriate for today. Today I am happy as my sister had a baby today!! I'm an aunt again!!! Mom and baby are doing great!!! I just wish I lived a little closer so I could visit.

Back to the card. I started this card knowing that I really wanted to see what the Polka Dot BG would look like on Pretty in Pink. I love polka dots and I love black and pink, so I thought they'd be a great combination.

I stamped the Pretty in Pink with Basic Black and the Polka Dot BG. I wrapped a piece of Basic Black grosgrain ribbon around the back of that piece (using the ribbon saving technique) and mounted it to the Very Vanilla Base. I stamped the flower from Polka Dots and Paisley on Very Vanilla in Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery. I added a black brad to the base of the flower. I mounted that on a piece of Certainly Celery that had been punched with the slit punch. To finish off the card I stamped "happy" from Polka Dots and Paisley in Basic Black on the Certainly Celery layer. I'm "happy" with how this turned out and it fits my mood right now.

Stamped Candle Tutorial

Stamped candles are as hard to make as one might think. It's important to realize that you aren't actually stamping on the candle. Here are a few items you will need to stamp a candle. A candle (duh), tissue paper, wax paper, stamps, ink, and markers. I prefer StazOn and Sharpies when stamping candles as they don't bleed like dye ink can.

So once you've picked your candle and your image, stamp onto a piece of tissue paper with the StazOn.



Next color your image. Here I'm using Sharpies. I'm sure we all stamp on scratch paper , but just a reminder that the ink from the StazOn and Sharpies will go all the way through your tissue paper, so please, no stamping on a permanent surface. I will not be held responsible for ruined tables ;o)
Cut out your image. You don't have to get really close to your image as you will not see the edges of the tissue paper. I usually don't like to leave too much excess, though, as it makes the next two steps easier.

Line up your image on your candle. Make sure it's straight. Then snuggly wrap a piece of wax paper around your calendar. It is best to cut your wax paper a lot larger than the candle so that you can hold the back of it. Because your next step is to heat it and you don't want to burn yourself.

Continue holding the wax paper taught and gently heat your image. You will see the image melt into the candle. Don't heat too long or you will melt your candle. I find it is best to wait a few seconds for your candle to cool before peeling the wax paper off to prevent wrinkling (you can also roll your candle on your table with the wax paper still on and while the candle is still hot to ensure a smooth candle). And there you have it, a stamped candle.




And, the blog candy winner is.........Brenda H. Congrats!!!
Brenda, I don't have your email, so please get in touch and I will send the Magic Mesh and Stampin' Spots your way!

Quick Check In

Just a reminder that I'll be drawing for blog candy tomorrow. If you haven't already done so check out my Oct. 31 post to enter.

I also wanted to let you know that I will be posting a candle tutorial tomorrow, so be on the look out for that.

Right now, I'm going to bed. I had a busy day with a workshop with 20 guests!!!!

Candles

I've got a holiday bazaar coming up so I've been working on a few items to sell. The ladies loved the fall candle I did and requested some Christmas candles for the bazaar, so I used the set Season of Joy from the current mini catalog to stamp on some candles. For the first candle I stamped the large image with Jet Black StazOn and added Bravo Burgundy poinsettias all around. For the second candle I stamped the Tree with Green StazOn and added the star with So Saffron. I also added some So Saffron swirls around the rest of the candle (hard to see in the photo). I picked these two candles up pretty cheap at the dollar store. They're vanilla scented. Hopefully the ladies will like them.

Paper Party!!

November 1 - while supplies last

Stock up for all your upcoming projects with Stampin' Up!'s exclusive double-sided Designer Series Paper. We've got so many pretty papers to choose from; you'll be sure to find the perfect pattern to help you show off your unique crafting style. Best of all, you'll get a FREE pack of double-sided Designer Series paper ($9.95 value) for every three packs you buy - no limits, no restrictions! Visit pages 170-173 of the Fall/Winter Collection 2007 to view our beautiful double-sided Designer Series paper.

Contact me with any questions or to place your order.

Happy Halloween!! (Blog Candy Here)

I love Halloween!!! I love candy. I love giving. I love giving candy. And I love costumes! I didn't dress up, but Oscar did. He was so cute in his devil costume. I'll post a pic later as blogger isn't cooperating right now. Anywho, back to the candy. I passed out candy to the kiddos last night and to my co-workers today. This is what my co-workers got. I made these delicious chocolate pretzel candies and put them in a medium cello bag. And I made bag toppers. I used the set Batty for You and punched the images out with the 1 1/4" circle punch, mounted on a piece of cardstock cut with the 1 3/8" circle punch. I then mounted those on a piece of cardstock cut with the Scallop punch. I mounted these on a folded piece of cardstock that I adhered to the cello bag. I used an assortment of ink and cardstock (Old Olive, Only Orange, Perfect Plum, Basic Black, Whisper White). I also added Stickles to the scallops. The gals (and one guy) loved them.

Now, I have some candy for you. Post a comment here about anything stamping related. I will pick a winner on Monday, Nov. 5th around noon using a random number generator. The winner will receive a package of retired Bold Brights Magic Mesh and a Ruby Red and Bordering Blue Classic Stampin' Spot.

Peek-a-boo II

I told you I had fun with these boxes. Here's another one I made last Monday. I just love this stamp set, You Make Me Happy, and I was so sad that it didn't make it into the Fall/Winter Collection. I traced the template onto a piece of Certainly Celery cardstock and cut it out. I also scored where indicated on the template. I sponged Certainly Celery on the edges of the box (hard to see in the photo). I stamped the sentiment in the inside of the box in Rose Red. I stamped the flower in Tempting Turquoise on Whisper White and cut it out. I stamped the center of the flower in Rose Red on Whisper White and cut it out. I mounted the center on the flower with a dimensional. I stamped the leaves in Certainly Celery and placed the flower over them with a dimensional. I punched the square out of the inside and adhered a piece of acetate on the inside. I put the box together and wrapped a piece of Tempting Turquoise grosgrain ribbon around it. I love it!!!!!

Peek-a-boo Boxes

I love these boxes. They are so darn cute. I made these earlier in the week for the Technique Challenge on SCS. I had so much fun with them that I made 3 in one morning. I was all settled in my stamping studio (still in my pajamas). I was so sore from the half marathon that I couldn't move, so once I got a movie in the DVD player and I was at my stamping desk I was down for the count. This was the second box I made. I used the retired set Simply the Best. I printed the template and cut it out. I traced in onto a piece of Certainly Celery cardstock and cut it out and scored where indicated. I stamped all over the box with the leaf stamp from Simply the Best. I punched out the square using my 1 1/4" square punch and adhered an acetate sheet on the inside. I stamped the saying on the inside of the box with Certainly Celery. I stamped the For You image on Very Vanilla in Certainly Celery. I cut it out and mounted it on the box with dimensionals. I then added the Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon around the outside of the box to finish it off.

Ain't it cute????

Sketches

I have a whole file of sketches that I came up with. I've never shared these sketches with anyone until now. Here is my first sketch. It's simple, but I like it that way. I made this card for a friend of mine who recently broke her foot. I was so excited to use my new Polka Dot BG stamp. It is stamped in Bashful Blue on a piece of Bashful Blue. I stamped the elephant from Wild About You in Bashful Blue on Very Vanilla. I also stamped the flower from Wild About You in Gable Green and Pale Plum onto the Very Vanilla. I mounted that piece on Pale Plum and adhered the Bashful Blue and Pale Plum pieces on Gable Green. I stamped the sentiment in Pale Plum and Gable Green directly onto my card base. Sorry for the poor picture. I snapped it really quick before heading out the door. Feel free to make a card or scrapbook page with this sketch and post a comment with a link to your project

Loads of Love

Well, here is the last page of the baby book. I thought the Loads of Love set was the best way to end the book. I started with a Bravo Burgundy base, added a piece of Night of Navy and a Very Vanilla Photo Corner for the photo mat. I added a strip of Very Vanilla across the bottom with a bit of hemp twine. I stamped the truck on a piece of Very Vanilla and colored in the wheels using my Watercolor Pencils and blender pen. I added the hearts and colored them in with my Bravo Burgundy ink pad and blender pen. I stamped the truck again on Night of Navy and cut the body of it out as well as the window. I popped it up on dimensionals and lined it up over the truck that was stamped on Very Vanilla. I mounted the Very Vanilla piece on Night of Navy. I stamped Loads of Love! on a piece of Bravo Burgundy and punched it with the Round Tab punch.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Since the baby is going to be born at the end of October or the beginning of November I figured there would be some winter pictures.

The All Bundled Up page can hold either two square pictures or a 4x6 in the middle of the two mats. I stamped the snowflakes from The Snowflake Spot in Orchid Opulence on Very Vanilla. Some of the snowflakes are lighter as I stamped off before stamping them on my title. I stamped the title in Brilliant Blue using Short Order Alphabet. A little hint: there is no exclamation point in this set, but all you have to do is use the lower case i upside down. I adhered the title on a piece of Orchid Opulence that was larger in width, but not height. I also added a piece of Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon with a piece of pewter HPH.

On the second page I stamped Baby, It's cold outside using Rough Edges Alphabet and the mittens from Flaky Friends. I colored the mittens in with my ink pads and blender pens. The mittens were "attached" with a black pen. There are two photo mats and another piece of Very Vanilla ribbon with a piece of pewter HPH. The pieces of ribbon on each page line up.

Baby's First Christmas

Oh, I love these pages. They're so sparkly and pretty. These are for Baby's First Christmas. On the first page I used the Direct to Paper method with Versamark along the edge of the green photo mat. I then sprinkled it with Gold embossing powder and embossed. I loved the sparkly look. The Very Vanilla strip with snowflakes was also heat embossed in gold. I stamped the tree from Season of Joy in Old Olive and matted on a piece of Old Olive. I also added a little gold Stickles to the star on the tree.

For the second page I again gold embossed around the Very Vanilla photo mat. I also embossed Christmas in gold on Very Vanilla and added that to the Real Read strip across the bottom. I stamped 1st in Real Red and punched with the 1 1/4" circle punch and matted it on a piece of Real Red that had been punched with the 1 3/8" circle punch, which was also embossed in gold. Now in this picture it shows the "ornament" adhered with Basic Black grosgrain, but I changed it to gold elastic cord before giving the book to my sister (but I didn't retake the photo).

Everything Baby Pages

These two pages focused on the stamp set Everything Baby. I also liked the monotone-ish feel. I used Not Quite Navy and Sage Shadow. I was also going with a tearing theme on this two-page spread. I used the Photo Corner punch on the first page and tied a piece of hemp twine around it. The corner punch was also popped up with dimensionals. I stamped baby boy with Not Quite Navy.

The happy baby page also uses Wild About You with a Not Quite Navy penguin. I punched him out with the 1 1/4" circle punch. Again there is a little tearing on the page and I stapled some hemp twine to the photo mat.

So Very pages

It's a good thing I typed this blog earlier. I ran the Columbus Half Marathon today and I'm exhausted. But, for you, more baby book pages.

Although, as a demonstrator, I cannot use retired product for workshops, there are some sets that I can't bear to part with because they are great for scrapbooking. This is one of those sets. It is So Very, which was a Sell-a-bration set this year. I think that the words are perfect for accenting scrapbook pages, just like on the first page which says so very cute. I also love the Tempting Turquoise and Basic Black combo. Cute was punched with the 1 1/4" circle punch and mounted on a Very Vanilla circle punched from the 1 3/8" circle punch.

On the second page I used some scraps to accent the left side of my page. I added the grosgrain ribbon to the last strip just cause I though it needed a little something. Sweet was punched out with the Word Window punch.

Froggy pages

I love how these pages turned out. OK, I keep saying that about all the pages. I just love this stamp set, so I was so happy to make a two page spread with it. The first pages is a Bravo Burgundy base with Daisy Field wheeled across a strip of Very Vanilla along the bottom. I also added an Old Olive strip across the side. I stapled a piece of Very Vanilla with the saying stamped in Old Olive in the corner. I also added the frog in Jet Black StazOn and mounted on a strip of Old Olive. The frog and daisy field were watercolored with Old Olive and Bravo Burgundy.

The second page is an Old Olive base with two strips of cardstock along the side, one Bravo Burgundy and the other Old Olive. The Old Olive strip was punched with the Crop-a-dile. I added a Very Vanilla mat for the picture and slid it under the Old Olive strip to draw attention to the holes. I stamped the frog and colored the eyes with my white Signo pen. I added the saying
"you're unfrogettable" which was punched out with the large oval punch. I attached it with hemp twine.

Bath Time pages

What baby book doesn't have bath time pictures, right? So here is a two page spread for baby's naked pictures!! The first page is pretty simple with a Barely Banana base and Very Vanilla mat for the picture. I added some Brilliant Blue using the Direct to Paper method to the edges of the mat. I stamped BATH TIME using Short Order Alphabet with Brilliant Blue on Very Vanilla. I punched the letters out with the 1 1/4" punch and layered them on Brilliant Blue punched with the 1 3/8" punch.

For the second page I kept with the circle theme and on a Brilliant Blue base I added a strip of Barely Banana that had been stamped with Dotted in Brilliant Blue. I only stamped part of the strip as the vertical picture will go over it and I wanted one side to have dots and the other not to. I also cut out a circle of Very Vanilla and stamped my title with Brilliant Blue, again with Short Order Alphabet.



Do you ever find that there was a stamp or stamp set you had to have and then just couldn't seem to work with it? After I made this page I finally gave up on Dotted. I just have to have this background stamp and I've never liked anything I've done with it, well, with the exception of a card I made with the ladybug from Very Punny. After making this page I traded my Dotted BG stamp. We just weren't getting along.