Proud of myself

Pin It Now! Being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator has numerous perks but the one I really enjoy is being able to see the new catalogs a month or so before customers do :) I got my first look at the Holiday Catalog back in June & to be honest I only glanced at the ornament pictured on the front cover & was intimidated; where would I start to even attempt to figure out how to do it? Oh a part of me wanted to, no doubt, but a bigger part said it was too hard. Well thanks to another perk of being a demo, I was surfing the demo-only Stampin' Connection last week & a fellow demo Linda Heller had a video with amazing step-by-step instructions; a HUGE help for someone who is a visual learner (me) :) She made it look sooooo easy & I was inspired to go ahead & try one for myself. Here's my first ornament:

I love it! And I have to admit I am quite proud of myself considering I was extremely intimidated by it back in June. I hardly attempt 3-D projects; thinking about it the only time I made any was at a fellow demo's monthly stamp club back in Texas...so this was kinda a big deal for me :)  In fact I no more than got this one finished & my mind started thinking about gifts for teachers. So I'm going to make two for my youngest's teachers; not to mention a few other people ;) I didn't take a picture but on the back is a greeting & a place for our signature created using the Labels Collection framelits. This was so easy with the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set & coordinating Holiday Ornaments die. What's even better is purchasing the Ornament Keepsakes Bundle & saving 15% :) 

Let me know if you have any questions or want to place an order to get started on your Christmas ornaments :) 

Supply List:

Stamp Sets: Ornament Keepsakes; More Merry Messages (greeting I stamped on the back; not pictured)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler; Gumball Green
Cardstock: Very Vanilla
Accessories: Big Shot; Holiday Ornaments framelits; Labels Collection framelits; Be of Good Cheer designer series paper; Linen thread; 1/8" Taffeta ribbon in Very Vanilla (for hanging); 3-1/2S" Scalloped Tulle ribbon in Early Espresso; Vintage Faceted designer button; Large pearl; Silicone craft sheet; hot glue gun (non-Stampin' Up!)

Please email me today to request a catalog.

My Digital Studio to the rescue

Pin It Now! Today is my good friends' birthday & I didn't mail her card out in time; she live in Hawaii & I should have mailed it out a couple of weeks ago  :( Instead of beating myself up about it I decided to send her a card via email. I did something I haven't done before: I created a card using My Digital Studio 2. I've had MDS for quite awhile now (a couple of years) but just haven't spent time playing around with it; the most I've done was create my blog signature with it. Anyway, here is my very first email-able card using MDS2:

                                                                            Front:

Inside:

It was a lot of fun playing around with everything. What I like about MDS2 is you can re-do things as many times as you need to with out wasting paper ;) I may have "thought" I wanted to use certain colors but once I saw the results I wondered what other color combos would work; I didn't have to waste time cleaning, re-inking, & stamping over & over until I liked it. I just hit the "undo" or "delete" button until I got it right. I didn't have to fuss with the stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect alignment, either. There are so many reasons to fall in love with My Digital Studio; I will be making time to play around with it more :) It will be my go-to for if/when I don't get cards mailed out in time; instead of just not sending one at all I have no excuse not to email them one on the same day :) 

If you don't already have MDS & would like more information or have any questions about anything you've seen please email me. I look forward to hearing from you! Have a wonderful day!

Super quick today

Pin It Now! We have been taking turns having nasty colds at our house since last week; one downside to the weather change :( Yesterday was the worst for me plus our 5 year old was home sick as well; I didn't get much accomplished it seemed like. With him out of the house today it was time to get back at it :) I needed a birthday card for a friend back in Texas who's favorite colors are red & blue. Here's what I accomplished today:

There was hardly any stamping done for this one. I used the Floral Frames framelits on the layer of River Rock before putting it over the card base. I didn't adhere it right away but used some removable tape to hold it in place while I lightly traced the outlines. After I removed the top layer I applied some sticky strip to the traced images. Then I cut strips of ribbon & put them on the sticky strips. I saw somewhere (sorry but I don't remember who I originally saw this tip from) you can used the new jumbo sticky rounds from Stampin' Up!; I wanted to try this out & didn't have any of them (I'm impatient lol) so I used the sticky strip I had on hand. I used sponges to add some color to the cut-out images before running it through the Big Shot with the Fancy Fan embossing folder. The sentiment is popped up with dimensionals. It wasn't a time consuming project but I hope she likes it :)

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope y'all stay healthy :) Signing off until next time!

Supply List:
Stamp Sets: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Midnight Muse; Real Red
Cardstock: Whisper White; River Rock; Read Red
Accessories: Big Shot; Fancy Fan embossing folder; Floral Frames framelits; sponges; Modern Label punch;  Word Window punch; Midnight Muse 3/8" stitched satin ribbon; Real Red 1/4" stitched grosgrain ribbon

Please email me to request a catalog or if you have any questions.

This type of card is always difficult to make

Pin It Now! The project I'm sharing today is a sympathy card. I never have any of these on hand & every time I have to make one I tell myself I need to make several at once so I have them. Well I never do; I guess I just can't make myself sit still long enough to "force" myself to get more than one done at a time. They are difficult to do: I don't want them to be all dreary & dull yet I don't want them to be all flowery & happy looking either. Do ya get what I mean? After trying to come up with something appropriate on my own (& struggling)  I went looking for inspiration & found a fantastic card on splitcoast stampers by Lisa Curcio. I fell in love with the simple yet elegant monochromatic card & decided to case it for my sympathy card.

I kept everything the same as Lisa's original card but changed the sentiment & I used a different ribbon. I even made a second one so I have one on hand. You could use this idea for a male birthday, thinking of you, thank you, or anything just by changing the sentiment. You can't really see it in the picture but the image is popped up on dimensionals. A simple but wow card. Sometimes it's the simple things in life, isn't it?

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope y'all have a great day.

Supply List:
Stamp sets: En Francais; Wonderfall; Petite Pairs
Ink: Crumb Cake; Early Espresso
Cardstock: Crumb Cake; Very Vanilla; Early Espresso Core'dinations; Early Espresso
Accessories: Big Shot; Woodgrain embossing folder; VersaMark; embossing buddy; white emboss powder;  Heat Tool; dauber; Soft Suede 3/8" taffeta ribbon

Please email me today if you'd like a catalog mailed directly to you.

Fall is definitely here

Pin It Now! Happy Friday! Another week is done & the weather has continued to cool off; I actually had to wear a scarf to the bus stop the past two mornings ;)  I've been inspired to create a few Christmas cards, after drinking a hot cup of coffee when I get back from the walk to the bus stop :) The card I'm sharing today makes me want to snuggle up with a cup of hot chocolate & watch a Christmas movie. Is it too early to start watching those...? ;)

I wanted to the steaming cup to be the main attraction & to help show it off so to speak I pulled out the Perfect Pennants Bigs L die to create the green background piece. The mug & steam were stamped first & then cut out using the Holiday Collection framelits. After stamping the sentiment I used the large oval punch to punch it out. I used the same punch on a scrap piece of Cherry Cobbler & off set the two ovals to give it just a touch of color behind the sentiment. This card was super quick & easy to put together thanks to the work out I gave my Big Shot :)

Hope you like the card today. Is it chilly enough where you are to snuggle up with a cup of hot chocolate, cider, coffee, or tea? Whatever your choice of beverage I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend. See ya next time!

Supply List:
Stamp sets: Scentsational Season; More Merry Messages
Ink: Cherry Cobbler; Gumball Green; Early Espresso
Cardstock: Early Espresso; Gumball Green; Very Vanilla; Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Big Shot; Argyle embossing folder; Perfect Pennants Bigz L die; Holiday Collection framelits; Large oval punch; sponge; basic rhinestones

Please email me today if you'd like a catalog mailed to you.

I like a challenge

Pin It Now! Today I realized it's been a long time since I've done any creative challenges so I went looking online & came across this week's challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches. Oh how I've missed participating in these; they get ya thinkin that's for sure ;)  I had fun with this one  & am planning on making another card or two using this sketch to see what other ideas pop into my head.

Here is what I came up with:

I have always liked this color combo; I first found it in the Color Coach. It was a bit of a pain working with that ribbon getting it straight & lined up "just right". It still isn't perfect but I like it; adds character ;)  Once again I used the Big Shot for everything except snipping all the ribbon pieces. I don't know what I ever did with out my Big Shot! I can't remember when I've gone a full 24 hours without using it :)
Go on & head over to Freshly Made Sketches & try the challenge this week or take a look at their past challenges. I think I'm going to do that myself since I've been out of it for awhile :)

Hope everyone has a terrific Thursday!

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Supply List:
Stamp sets: Daydream Medallions; Itty Bitty Banners
Ink: Pool Party; Rich Razzleberry; Island Indigo
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry; Pool Party; Whisper White
Accessories: Big Shot; Fancy Fan embossing folder; Floral Frames framelits; Bitty Banners framelits; Brights designer buttons; Island Indigo 3/8" ruffled ribbon; Pool Party 3/8" ruffled ribbon

Please email me today if you'd like a catalog mailed to you. 

The first Christmas card of the year

Pin It Now! I knew it wasn't going to take very long before I posted a Christmas card using the triple mat technique. See? I warned ya they're addicting! :)  I promise this will be the last triple mat card I'll post for awhile; I really do need to move on & turn off the part of my brain that keeps wanting to see different things using this technique. Now, how super cute is this?

And it smells yummy, too. Yes, I said smells. In case you haven't heard yet Stampin' Up! has scented emboss powder (Vanilla, Melon, & Cherry, all found in the Annual catalog) & came out with two new scents in the Holiday catalog; I used the Sugar & Spice powder on the gingerbread men. I used two different stamp sets: the mitten, sentiment, & candy cane are all in the same set. The gingerbread man is in a separate set that does have a candy cane as well (that candy cane is facing the opposite way as the one on my card & doesn't have as many stripes). I just wanted to clear that up so I don't have people emailing asking me why their candy cane doesn't look like mine :)

So have you started your Christmas cards yet? Please email me if you don't have a Holiday catalog or the Annual catalog & I will gladly mail it to you. :)

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Supply List:
Stamp sets: Chock-Full of Cheer; Scentsational Season
Ink: Cherry Cobbler; Gumball Green; Early Espresso
Cardstock: Very Vanilla; Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Black StazOn; Embossing Buddy; Stamp-a-ma-jig; heat tool; VersaMark; Sugar & Spice scented emboss  powder

Please email me today if you'd like a catalog mailed directly to you.