Spring Fling

I'm lovin' these bright, wintery days we're having and making the most of them. And I'm also lovin' all the new Occasions and Sale-A-Bration stamps and accessories!! Woo Hoo! Stampin'Up! really outdid themselves coming up these new products. When I planned this card for class, I didn't think the new Beautiful Wings Embosslit would be here in time. The card looked a bit plain to me, but couldn't be helped. Lo and behold, my order came on Monday afternoon, so I promptly added a couple of embossed butterflies to the card. Oh, so much better! I couldn't believe how quick and easy it is to emboss and cut out those darling little butterflies all at once! It works just like magic!! Anything that enhances your paper-crafting experience is a good thing as far as I'm concerned. Here's what you need to make one of your own...

Stamps: Well Scripted (new!), and Very Vintage Jumbo Wheel (new!)

Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Apricot Appeal, and Whisper White cardstock with Bashful Blue Patterns Designer Paper 3 (Hostess Level 1)

Ink: Certainly Celery

Accessories: Big Shot with Beautiful Butterflies Embosslit, Jumbo Handle, Scallop Oval Punch, Wide Oval Punch, Butterfly Punch, Buttons Latte', Soft Subtle Mini Brads, Bashful Blue Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Sponge Dauber, Distressing Tool, Mini Glue Dots, and Dimensionals

Isn't this a fun, little card with a real feel of spring. (for those of us that are having trouble waiting for spring!) I love all the extra texture that's added with the little embossed butterflies. Can you tell I'm just in love with this new product? lol

Just a little note for bookkeeping purposes. For those of you who placed an order through me in December and are wondering who won the drawing for that month, well wait no more. Roni picked a name for the drawing and the winner is Lynda Jones! Congratulations, Lynda!! Your sister will be bringing the stamp set to you! (missed you at class - hope you're feeling better!)

I'll be having a drawing again after the end of January. If you want to be part of the drawing, just place an order with me during the month of January either on line or give me a call. This is my way of thanking you, my wonderful customers and friends.

Enjoy the day and make sure you find time to stamp!

Sharon

Another Class Project

Good morning to one and all! What a beautiful day it is here with the sun shining like crazy and reflecting off the newest dusting of snow. I just love winter days like today. But that doesn't mean I don't miss summer, because I do. And when I was working on class projects for this month, it was gray and ugly outside. So, that meant I went overboard on summery-looking projects! lol This one is a bookmark and card combo. I'm using a bookmark like this right now and it's doing a great job of keeping my place in the book. Why not give this a try for yourself or one of your friends? Just change the sentiment to 'thinking of you' and start passing them out! I'm sure they'd love something bright and summery like this to perk up their winter days!

Stamps: On Your Birthday

Cardstock: Gable Green, Green Galore, Glorious Green, Pink Passion, Pixie Pink, Yo Yo Yellow, and Whisper White

Ink: Basic Black and Pixie Pink

Accessories: Big Shot with Petals A Plenty Impressions Folder, Two Tags Die, Scallop Circle Punch, 5-Petal Flower Punch, Daisy Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Fire Round Rhinestone Brad, Sponge Dauber, Piercing Tool and Mat Pack, Dimensionals, Paper Snips, and Personal Cutter (whew, hope I remembered everything!)

I love so many things about this card. First of all, the size of the tag die is perfect for a bookmark. Next, adding just a smidgeon of ink onto the embossed background really enhances the overall look. Otherwise, it really looks too white. Sometimes lots of white space is great, but not on this one. It needed the touch of color.

Lastly, isn't the layered flower fun? I just love the added texture of the curled petals so it looks so much more dimensional instead of laying there flat and boring. But I guess it'd be hard to be boring with all these colors, right? LOL

That's it for today. I've got so much to do so there's no more time for chit chat. Have a great day!

Sharon

Leadership was awesome!

Hey there blogging buddies! Yes, Leadership Training in Phoenix was really wonderful and worth all the hassles at the airport to finally get there! Have you flown recently? Do the airlines always overbook and cancel flights on a daily basis? Wow! When it takes over 11 hours of sitting at the airport before you can actually get airborne, something is seriously wrong. My original flight was cancelled over 2 hours after it's original departure time. Then it takes another 1 1/2 hours to stand in line to get rebooked on another flight. Then you sit and wait and wait some more. Then the next flight is delayed for several different reasons and you finally lift off over 2 hours later than posted. Do they have any idea what they're doing, or is it just a case of 'whatever goes'? The only redeeming factor is running into other stampers also waiting and getting to know them! Ok, enough of my ranting on that particular subject.

Back to Leadership - how much fun and learning can you cram into 3 days? When you're Stampin' Up!, quite a bit actually! The demonstrations were very enlightening. I can't wait to try out some of the ideas I saw demonstrated. The presenters and classes were all helpfu and gave me ideas on how to work on some of my problem areas. Shelli's ideas were fabulous as you would expect. She never fails to inspire my creativity. And the Manager's Reception was really exceptional! The amount of detail that goes into the plannning of each aspect of your time there is really incredible. And now I'm all charged up and ready to go!

Coming back home, I had classes scheduled for this week. So that's what I'll be sharing with you until I can get some new samples stamped. I have some quilters in my classes and have been asked to make some samples of quilt blocks using DSP as fabric. Since I don't quilt yet, this was a little challenging, but fun to accomplish. One of the ladies stamping here last night is a quilter and she loved the card. They decided that the embossed background looked like stitching also. What do you think?

Stamps: You & Moi, and Always
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Whisper White cardstock with Real Red Designer Series Paper from Patterns Pack 3 (Hostess Level 1)
Ink: Real Red
Accessories: Big Shot with Petals A Plenty Impressions Folder, Build-A-Brad, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch







As you can see, there was very little stamping, but a really cute card anyway! I love how the cardstock changes texture after using the impressions folder. It almost feels like fabric, so it was the perfect technique as a background for this card.

The ladies had fun choosing which side of the DSP 'fabric' to use to get the look they wanted. And the Build-A-Brad was a good focal point in the middle of the 'square'. We made this card as a Valentine, but I think with a little sentiment change, it could fit so many different occasions. All in all, this was lots of fun to make and I enjoyed the challenge immensely. Give it a try yourself and let me know what you've come up with.

Now I need to think up another quilt-square type card. (Along with all the other stuff I need to do!) Happy stamping, and I'll be back tomorrow with another class project.
Sharon

One More Swap

Thought today I would share another swap card I made for Leadership. You know I'm there just having a ball spending time with friends and learning lots of new ideas. I'll be coming home with my mind in a whirl and totally overwhelmed by all the wonderful ideas I saw. There's just so much creativity floating around there that it's difficult to take it all in and remember it. But I'll be doing the best I can! (smiling)



Again I used bright, warm colors to create these swaps. I colored the little birdie as a robin to remind us that spring will be coming soon. (wishful thinking on my part here!).

Stamps: Fun & Fast Notes, Teeny Tiny Wishes, and Friendly Words Jumbo Wheel
Cardstock: Dusty Durango, Close To Cocoa, and Very Vanilla cardstock with Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Series Paper
Ink: Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Old Olive, Close To Cocoa, and Basic Brown
Accessories: Jumbo Handle, AquaPainter, Scallop Trim Punch, Dusty Durango Polka Dot Ribbon, Sponge quarters, and Dimensionals

I really like this jumbo wheel with all the wonderful sentiments on it. Why do I forget it for months at a time? Maybe I just have too many stamps to choose from. Oops, I'm sure that comment just slipped out and I really couldn't have meant that at all!!! (Rick, if you read this, I really didn't mean it!)

Well, I need to get back to packing if I'm ever going to get out of here and to the airport on time tomorrow! lol

I'll be back on Sunday if I get any awesome swaps back to share with you. Have a great week. Keep on stamping....
Sharon

Leadership Swaps

Good afternoon to you. Hope you're sitting all snuggled up surfing all your blogs. Since I should be in the air and on my way to Leadership in Phoenix (I sure hope it's warmer there than in Detroit!), I figured it was the right time to be sharing some of my swaps with you. Since it's been sort of gray and wintry here (of course it's January! What else would you expect!), I've been stamping in the other direction - warm and bright colors. And with Valentine's Day right around the proverbial corner, it really needed hearts on it. Don'cha think? So here are some ideas....

This is just a cute little 3"x3 1/2" card to tuck in with a gift. Or it could be used for swapping Valentines in school. Isn't just the cutest little thing? I'm so enamored of the little 3x3 cards lately, and this is just a bit different. Below is another version 'cuz you know I can't do too many of one idea before I get bored silly! They all have a little slit on the side to hold them closed. I debated about a rhinestone on each slit, but thought that might be 'too girlie'. But now that I look at the cards, with all the pink and hearts, who am I kidding. They really are 'girlie'!!

Stamps: Short and Sweet, and You and Moi

Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Rich Razzleberry (on one version) with Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Series Paper

Ink: Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: Slit Punch, Full Heart Punch, Heart to Heart Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, Scalloped Square Punch, Word Window Punch, Triple Flower Punch, Soft Subtle Mini Brads, Frost Shimmer Paint (mixed with Alcohol in a spritzer bottle)

Remember that not everything was used on each little note. As you can see, the different print designs from the DSP were used. And the focal images were changed around a bit. But that just makes them more fun to make!

Have fun with this idea and show me what you've made!

Have a great week! I'll be learning lots of fun, new things at Leadership this week. So that means I should have lots to show you when I get back! Stay warm and keep stamping...

Sharon

Great News!

Hi there! I'm just so excited about some great news and I just had to share it with you right away! Stampin' Up! is holding some items over from the Holiday Mini Catalog!! I can confirm the continued availability of the following Holiday Mini Products beyond Jan. 4.

• Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint (116806)
• Frost White Shimmer Paint (116854)
• Platinum Shimmer Paint (116807)
  

Stampin' Up! is pleased to announce the availability dates of the following Simply Adorned jewelry products:
Item Description Date Available
116798 Simply Adorned Charm 1" x 1-1/4" January 5, 2010
116797 Simply Adorned Charm 1" x 1" January 5, 2010
116800 Simply Adorned Chain 24" January 5, 2010
116853 Simply Adorned Chain 34" January 5, 2010
116799 Simply Adorned Charm 1-1/2" x 2" TBD

• Charming Stamp Set (Holiday Mini Catalog, p. 32, 116519) will be available for the duration of the Occasions Mini (4/30).
• Build-A-Bear: Beary Best Friends Stamp Set (118052) and Stampin' Up! Bear Bigz Die were continued into the Occasions Mini from the Holiday Mini.

I hope all this information will be of help to you when you are placing your order for new products from the Occasions Mini and earning free Sale-A-Bration sets and products!! Remember for each $50 order (before tax and shipping), you can choose one of the Sale-A-Bration items for free!! How great is that?! It's like extending Christmas another 3 months!! Woo Hoo! You can order online starting January 5th, or I'd be happy to help you place an order when I return from Leadership training in Phoenix on January 10th. Either way, now is a great time to shop Stampin' Up!

Last of the Christmas Cards

Sorry I've been incommunicado for the last few days. Oh my goodness! I just looked at my calendar and didn't realize it's been almost a whole week!! So sorry. But that doesn't mean I haven't been creating and stamping. While cleaning up some of the extra cut cardstock sitting around on my work table, I ended up working on a card that had been kicking around in my brain for awhile. I just hadn't had time to work it out. So therefore, the plan was to do it NOW. After much finagling and changing my mind, getting Rick's input, then changing my mind some more, this is the final product...

I wanted something simple with the image being the real center of attention. I think this card is even better than I envisioned in the beginning.

Stamps: Holy Triptych and Many Merry Messages
Cardstock: Garden Green, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Gold Encore' Pad
Accessories: Big Shot with Petals A Plenty Impressions Folder, Heat Tool with Gold Embossing Powder, Small Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Nestabilities (non-SU!), Sponge Dauber, Real Red 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Gold Mini Brad, and Dimensionals

Ok, so now I'm ahead of the game, because I have another 3 cards made for next Christmas! How funny! A whole evening spent making 3 cards for next Christmas! I must be daft. But they are finished and for that I'm very thankful!

Hope you like the idea. I know it's not what you're expecting this time of year. But it really is lovely in person and I felt the need to share.

Ok, enough explaining myself. Time to get back to my swap cards for Leadership. I can hardly wait to see my friends again! It's really fun getting together twice a year at SU! functions. If you read my blog and are going to Leadership, I'd love to meet you too and make another friend. You can never have too many friends, you know!

Have a great day!

Sharon