Happy New Year!

So, I have been on sabbatical for the month of December.  My life gets extremely crazy during that month between birthdays, Hanukkah and Christmas.  So with a new year here, I am happy to get back to a slower pace and blogging more often.  My first post is a little gift I made for my new neighbors who moved in across the street this past fall.  A little tradition I picked up from my Southern friends is to welcome a new neighbor by baking a little something for them.  This was an apple bread, a recipe I acquired from a former co-worker (yum!).  Of course, all  baked goods given as a gift need to be dressed up!  This little dress up took me a matter of seconds to complete!

Here are all the details:
Stamps: Flower Shop, Happy Day
Paper: Whisper White, Sahara Sand, So Saffron
Ink: Calypso Coral, Pool Party
Accessories: Calypso Coral 3/4" Chevron Ribbon, Pansy Punch, Chalk Talk Framelits

25 Year Celebration with 25% Off Stamps

We're celebrating Stampin' Up!'s 25th anniversary all year long, but during the week of the actual date (October 25th to be exact) we thought we should pump up the party even more. So what better way than a sale on the very products that started it all: stamps, of course!

Dates: October 22-28, 2013
Offer: Get 25 percent off 25 stamp sets

The following are the sets being offered.  Note W=wood mount and C=clear mount.  Use Hostess Code : MCEQMBY6 
If you use this code when ordering from my online store, you will be entered in a special drawing for a free stamp set!
 

	Page	Item #	Stamp Description	Original Price	Sale Price
1	59	131056	A Dozen Thoughts (W)	$26.95	$20.21
		131059	A Dozen Thoughts (C)	$18.95	$14.21
2	54	130453	Zoo Babies (W)	$27.95	$20.96
		130456	Zoo Babies (C)	$19.95	$14.96
3	29	129687	Lots of Thanks (W)	$22.95	$17.21
		129690	Lots of Thanks (C)	$16.95	$12.71
4	112	130294	Happy Day (W)	$21.95	$16.46
		130297	Happy Day (C)	$16.95	$12.71
5	83	130441	Gifts of Kindness (W)	$25.95	$19.46
		130444	Gifts of Kindness (C)	$18.95	$14.21
6	124	131922	Hearts a Flutter (W)	$25.95	$19.46
		129252	Hearts a Flutter (C)	$18.95	$14.21
7	22	130240	Hello, Lovely (W)	$32.95	$24.71
		130243	Hello, Lovely (C)	$24.95	$18.71
8	30	131068	Crazy, Mixed-Up Love (W)	$19.95	$14.96
		131071	Crazy, Mixed-Up Love (C)	$14.95	$11.21
9	89	128424	Bright Blossoms (W)	$16.95	$12.71
		125497	Bright Blossoms (C)	$12.95	$9.71
10	30	132022	Itty Bitty Banners (W)	$15.95	$11.96
		126257	Itty Bitty Banners (C)	$11.95	$8.96
11	37	131341	Yippee-Skippee (W)	$18.95	$14.21
		131344	Yippee-Skippee (C)	$14.95	$11.21
12	109	130514	Gorgeous Grunge (W)	$24.95	$18.71
		130517	Gorgeous Grunge (C)	$17.95	$13.46
13	Online	128048	Ornament Keepsakes (W)	$34.95	$26.21
		128051	Ornament Keepsakes (C)	$25.95	$19.46
14	107	128415	Apothecary Art (W)	$34.95	$26.21
		125527	Apothecary Art (C)	$27.95	$20.96
15	56	131913	Cuddles & Kisses (W)	$25.95	$19.46
		127314	Cuddles & Kisses (C)	$18.95	$14.21
16	34	131931	Oh, Hello (W)	$25.95	$19.46
		130733	Oh, Hello (C)	$18.95	$14.21
17	33	130619	Label Love (W)	$24.95	$18.71
		130622	Label Love (C)	$17.95	$13.46
18	Online	134813	Christmas Star Single	$9.95	$7.46
19	Online	134765	A Gift for You	$4.95	$3.71
20	87	131955	Betsy's Blossom (W)	$28.95	$21.71
		126006	Betsy's Blossom (C)	$21.95	$16.46
21	131	132042	Morning Post (W)	$46.95	$35.21
		126592	Morning Post (C)	$34.95	$26.21
22	65	128430	Gently Falling (W)	$39.95	$29.96
		123804	Gently Falling (C)	$28.95	$21.71
23	Online	127922	Snowflake Soiree (W)	$29.95	$22.46
		127925	Snowflake Soiree (C)	$21.95	$16.46
24	Online	128042	Jewish Celebrations (W)	$25.95	$19.46
		128045	Jewish Celebrations (C)	$18.95	$14.21
25	33	131946	That's the Ticket (W)	$22.95	$17.21
		128075	That's the Ticket (C)	$16.95	$12.71

Thank You Thursday

It's Thursday and guess what that means?  Another great Thank You for making our Stampin' Up! blog what it is today.  This week we say thanks with a little bit of Designer Series Paper, or “DSP” as we like to call it! So head over to the online store and grab this paper before the deal runs out!
As always, the discount will be applied at check-out!

	This And That Epic Day DSP: 130814 Regular Price: $10.95 US/$13.50 CAN Discounted Price: $8.21 US/$10.12 CAN
	Soho Subway DSP: 130140 Regular Price: $10.95 US/$13.50 CAN Discounted Price: $8.21 US/$10.12 CAN
	I Am Me DSP: 130138 Regular Price: $10.95 US/$13.50 CAN Discounted Price: $8.21 US/$10.12 CAN
	Etcetera DSP: 130129 Regular Price: $10.95 US/$13.50 CAN Discounted Price: $8.21 US/$10.12 CAN

Become a Demo for Only $25

For two weeks only—October 7-21—join the Stampin’ Up! family for just $25! It’s an amazing opportunity to do what you already love doing anyway—and make a little money doing it (that never hurts!).
When you join Stampin’ Up! during this limited-time offer, you’ll get

• $25 worth of products, plus business supplies!
• A 30 percent discount on your first order!*
• A 20 percent demonstrator discount everyday!

Plus, the friendships you’ll make with other demonstrators, customers, and hostesses, will be lifelong. Enjoy the benefits of fun, friends, and creativity!
In our 25^th year, celebrate with us with the $25 starter kit.  Contact me by clicking my email link on the left hand side of my blog to find out how to join my team!

Halloween with Some Dimension

Happy October!  What a great way to kick off the month--A Halloween Card!  I was visiting one of my "Stamping Buddies", as my kids tend to refer to my friends who stamp.  I snuck a peak at one of the cards she had is the works and it gave me inspiration for this fun Halloween card that will probably make it in my niece and nephew's mailbox.

I am hoping to put together a picture tutorial for this card sometime in the future, but you may have to hold me to it!  For now, I will just share the ingredients:
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Polka Dot Parade DSP, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive
Accessories:  Simply Scored, Corner Rounder Punch, 2-1/2" Circle Punch, Word Window Punch

Don't forget to join me on the Late Night Stamper Fall Treasure Hunt!  See my two posts from 8/24 for details how you can win a Stampin' Up! shopping spree.  New blogs to visit are being added weekly!

A Peek Into Winter

You are probably saying "What!  Summer just ended!"  While this is definitely true, it is never too early to start thinking about holiday cards.  I got this set over the summer and have just started playing with it.  I am getting into the Holiday mood as I prepare for my Christmas Stamp-A-Stack this coming Friday, September 27 at 7pm.  While this card will not be featured, it was fun and supper easy to make.  That is my Golden Rule for Christmas cards, keep it simple!  When you are mass producing anything, you want to go simple.

For this card, I used last week's Fab Friday sketch, always a great place to go for inspiration!

Here are the ingredients for today's card:
Stamps: Snow Day
Paper: Whisper White, Island Indigo, Crumb Cake, Winter Frost DSP Stack
Ink: Island Indigo, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Pool Party
Accessories: 1-1/4" Square Punch, 1-3/8" Square Punch

Don't forget to join me on the Late Night Stamper Fall Treasure Hunt!  See my two posts from 8/24 for details how you can win a Stampin' Up! shopping spree.  New blogs to visit are being added weekly!

Experimenting With Starburst

So, I am doing a little better this week!  I never posted it here (maybe I did not want you to hold me accountable :) ), but after Convention, I set a goal for myself to post three times a week.  I knew once the school year started, this would become more of a challenge since I am a major overcommitter!  Between kids activities, my role as a Cub Scout Den Leader and PTO secretary, life gets a little hairy!  Yesterday, my hubby and I took a little break to go up to Newport for the day which was nice with all the crazy September stuff going on.  So this week, I am a little later than planned, but getting my second post in for the week.

Today's card uses the Starburst technique.  I have been playing with this for my stamp club next week.  While this is not one of the cards we will be making, it is a great example of the technique.  I also got a chance to use another set I won at Convention!

Here are the ingredients of this card:
Stamps: Oh Goodie!
Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Season of Style DSP Pack
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Cherry Cobbler 1/2" Seam Binding

Don't forget to join me on the Late Night Stamper Fall Treasure Hunt!  See my two posts from 8/24 for details how you can win a Stampin' Up! shopping spree.  New blogs to visit are being added weekly!

A Little Clean Out for the Fab Friday 26 Challenge

I must first apologize for my absence at the latter part of last week.  I was under the delusion, with my kids back in school, I would have all this free time that I would not know what to do.  Boy have I been wrong!  I found myself volunteering at their school, cleaning up the house, running errands and finally getting to work on cleaning my bonus room.  I kept waiting for free time to stamp and it never came.

In my bonus room clean up, I decided to reorganize my color family scraps that I had been putting off since this summer's color renovation.  You don't want to know how much scrap paper I have!  Let's just say it took several hours to reorganize colors (due to some color family changes) and pull out all the retired colors.   I will say that today's card is a result of this paper clean out.  I found I have so many thin strips of paper that end up at the bottom of my scrap bins and never used.  I decided to pull out all these small strips for easier access.  A great way to use these is as I did in this card as banners.

Today's card is another Fab Friday challenge.  This week's challenge was to use the following color combination:

I swapped out Early Espresso for the Chocolate Chip, only because I was going from memory when I created the card.  Never trust my memory in September!  I seem to have large memory lapses in June and September.  I think it is due to severe schedule changes during those months that throw me all off!

So without further adieu, here are the card details:
Stamps: Hello Lovely, Happy Day
Ink: Early Espresso, Tangerine Tango
Paper: Sweater Weather DSP, Soft Sky, Sahara Sand, Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry, Early Espresso
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals

Don't forget to join me on the Late Night Stamper Fall Treasure Hunt!  See my two posts from 8/24 for details how you can win a Stampin' Up! shopping spree.  New blogs to visit are being added weekly!

Clean and Simple FTL256 Birthday Card

Last week, we worked with our Simply Pressed Clay during stamp club.  We had extra colored clay so I made a bunch of extra flowers.  I used them on the card my kids gave to their great-grandmother this weekend for her birthday.  This card was inspired by the sketch on Clean and Simple Stamping.

When I saw this sketch, I knew immediately that I needed to take out my bubble wrap for a "bubbly" background.  If you have never tried it, all you need is a piece of bubble wrap and a stamp pad.  Use your bubble wrap as a stamp for an interesting background.  To create the sparkly strip on the side, I covered a piece of Cool Caribbean cardstock with Versamark ink and Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder and heated it to create my own shimmery specialty paper!  In the end, I had a super fun birthday card!

Here are all the ingredients:
Stamps: Bring on the Cake
Paper: Cool Caribbean, Whisper White
Ink: Cool Caribbean, Daffodil Delight, Versamark
Accessories: Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Simply Pressed Clay, Buttons and Blossoms Clay Molds, Melon Mambo Reinker, Bubble Wrap

New Envelope Punch Board is Finally Here!!

 Envelope Punch Board (#133774) $19.95

I am so excited to announce the arrival of our new Envelope Punch Board!  We got to see this item in action at Convention and everyone went crazy!  Now you can make your own envelopes in 66 different sizes!

Check out this video to see it in action!