Hello Stamping Friends and a happy Cyber Monday to you! This is supposed to be the biggest online shopping day of the year. Today is also the last day of Stampin'Up!'s Online Extravaganza, so take advantage of the savings while you can. It all ends at 10:59 pm tonight! Click on the "shop now" button at the top of this blog and then choose Online Extravaganza from the list on the left. Well, Thanksgiving is officially O.V. E. R. If you still have a few leftovers hanging around, today's probably the last day you should be eating them. I'm happy to say that we had a good trip to Seattle, enjoyed Grandparents' Day at Concordia Lutheran School, had an early Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday, and then drove home on Thanksgiving with an incredible amount of other southbound travelers. Here we are at Grandparents' Day with Emma, 9, and Luke and Ben, age 6.
I'm pretty sure you didn't come here to see a photo of our family. Yes, I know you want to see a card, but I have another idea for today. I'm going to show you a photo of all of the cute projects we're going to make this coming Saturday, Dec. 5th at my Santa's Workshop class. I still have one open spot, so if you'd like to attend, email me quickly and I'll add your name to the list. Here's the class board for next Saturday...
We're making 5 projects: a gift card holder, a Baker's Box, a Takeout Box, 3 gift tags, and a cafe bag. The cost is $20, or free with a $40 purchase. OK, I hear you complaining about the lack of a card, so here's one for you...
I would have a big smile on my face, just like this snowman, if we got some snow for Christmas! Thankfully, this stamp set, Snow Place" and coordinating dies are going to be on the "carryover" list but that fabulous Woodland embossing folder used for the background is not. So order it soon! This fun card was stamped by Jill Gates of Republic, Washington. I received it as a swap at the recent Stampin'Up! OnStage event. That's it for today, my friends! Please come back on Wednesday for more stamping inspiration! Hugs and happiness, Susan
Hello stamping friends! Happy Black Friday! Are you one of those crazy people who get up at o' dark thirty to shop the Black Friday sales? I certainly hope not! I think the best part of Black Friday isn't the sales, but the leftovers. Why does everything taste better the day after Thanksgiving? My post-Thanksgiving plans for the morning include drinking coffee, eating a healthy breakfast of Greek yogurt and organic blueberries, and reading the newspaper. Then, if it's not raining, we may get out the outside lights and prepare to string them along the eaves. I really hate traffic and crowds, so I'll stay home and shop online for most of the gifts I need to buy. I love shopping in my jammies, so any Black Friday shopping I need to do will be done in the warmth and comfort of my own home. Speaking of online shopping... Don't forget, Stampin'Up!'s Online Extravaganza continues until Monday the 30th, so be sure to check it out. Click on the "shop now" button at the top of this blog, then choose "Online Extravaganza" from the list that appears on the left-hand side. Well, I suppose you'd like to see a card, wouldn't you? Hmmm, which one should I pick? How about this one?
Yes, it's another swap card. This one is by Suzi Armstrong and uses the Happy Scenes stamp set (the set that goes with the window frame). The "peace" sentiment is from the same set. Again, this is one of the sets that's on the discontinued list, so now's the time to purchase it!
I hope your Thanksgiving Day was a wonderful one! We all have tons to be thankful for. I'm thankful for you, my wonderful customers and blog readers! Hugs and happiness, Susan
Hey there, stampers! How are the Thanksgiving preparations going? Hope you've got everything under control and that your turkey is ready to go. Once upon a time I ordered a fresh turkey from a fancy market in Lake Oswego. I was having company for dinner and I wanted the turkey to be perfect. I picked up the turkey the day before Thanksgiving and it seemed to be just what I ordered... a fresh, not frozen, turkey. When I was preparing to put it in the oven on Thanksgiving morning and was removing the packet of giblets from the cavity, I discovered that the darn thing was frozen inside. What could I do but put it in the oven? When I checked it a couple of hours later, the turkey was floating in several inches of water! I drained it off and continued roasting, but that turkey was more boiled than roasted and of course the gravy was pale and sickly looking...definitely not the way I had planned for things to turn out! OK, I'm sure some of you have some holiday disasters of your own to relate. We'll have to trade stories sometime. Meanwhile, let's talk stamping for a minute or two before I have to run. Here's another card I received as a swap last weekend. It uses the extremely popular Wonderland stamp set that's on page 23 of the holiday catalog. This is one of the stamp sets that's on the discontinued list, so if you'd like to add this beauty to your collection, now is the time!
This card is by a stamper who chose to remain anonymous, as there was no name attached. I love how she added a lot of sparkle to the card with Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper, Basic Pearls, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, and a while gel pen. I'm sorry all that sparkle and shine didn't show up so well in the photo. Is your tablecloth ironed? Your flowers arranged? Maybe you'd better go check that turkey and see if he's fully thawed. Don't be like me! Have a great day tomorrow, but don't "gobble til you wobble!" That's never a good idea! Hugs, Susan
Hello Stampers! I'm sure that for most of us, stamping has taken a back seat to Thanksgiving as we prepare for Thursday's holiday meal. Even if you're not responsible for the whole feast, you probably have some part to play, even if it's just bringing the rolls or the green bean casserole, or maybe the yams.
I hope you understand that the posts this week are going to be short and hopefully sweet, as I'm preparing for the big day. Today's card is by one of my wonderful downline members, Mary Peterson. Check out this lovely card that is the perfect way to say Happy Thanksgiving...
I received this card as a swap at the big Stampin'Up! OnStage event that I attended on November 14th. Mary says she "cased" this card from Amy Koenders, a Stampin'Up! demonstrator in Alpharetta, Georgia (stampwithamyk.com). That beautiful fall tree image is from the Sheltering Tree stamp set on page 89 of the annual catalog, as is the "thankful for you" sentiment, which was stamped on vellum. The colors Mary used are Chocolate Chip for the tree, Cajun Craze and Crushed Curry for the leaves, and Old Olive for the grass beneath the tree. The small leaves fluttering over the background panel are from the Among the Branches stamp set on page 39 of the Holiday catalog, also stamped in Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze, and Old Olive. You still have a couple of days to stamp a beautiful card like this to give to the special people in your life on Thanksgiving Day. If you haven't shopped the fabulous Online Extravaganza Sale that started last night at midnight, be sure to check it out today. There are some great bargains and quantities are limited, so if there's something you'd really like to get, shop early. I'll meet you back here on Wednesday if you're not too busy and show you another classic card. I'm off to chop celery and onions for my stuffing (or do you call it dressing?). Hugs, Susan
Hi there, stampers! It's Friday and I'm excited for my Great Giftables class tomorrow! I've been working on getting everything cut and scored so that the projects will go together smoothly and easily. When holding classes, organization is the key to success and of course I want everyone to be successful and go home happy and relaxed and inspired. I'm also excited to show you a wonderful card that I received last Saturday at the Stampin'Up! OnStage event in Vancouver. This fun card is the work of Connie Ingram of Littleton Colorado, who in turn cased it from Wendy Lee. Here it is, for all my "cat people..."
I seem to have a lot of customers who love cats, so this card is for them! Connie used the Brick Wall embossing folder to emboss some Basic Gray card stock for her wall. This photo doesn't show it very well, but there's Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the snowy scene just outside the window. The window ledge is cut from Cherry Cobbler card stock and the sweet little black kitty has a bow around her neck made from Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine. The good news is that the Hearth and Home Framelit Dies (the window frame and window box) are being carried over into the new Occasions catalog that begins on January 5th. The bad news is that the Festive Fireplace stamp set and the coordinating Festive Fireside Framelit Dies, which includes the cat (both on page 10 of the holiday catalog) are being discontinued. Also being discontinued is the set called Happy Scenes (page 11) that was used for the scene outside the window. So if you'd like to add that cute kitty or the snowy scene to your collection, you'll need to get them before January 4th. Thank you, Connie, for letting me show off your great card. It's a keeper! Thanks for paying me a visit today. Hope your Friday will go by quickly, so that you can relax and enjoy the weekend. It's supposed to be sunny, so that will be a welcome change! I'll be back on Monday with more stamping inspiration! Hugs and happiness, Susan
Wednesday is here, and that means it's time for another Classic Card. Are you ready? I'm so happy with the way this card turned out! Did you ever have a card idea in mind, only to have it end up looking kind of dull and boring? Or worse than dull--- downright ugly? I'm sure that happens to all card-makers at times. Sometimes we can fall into a funk, where we just lose our creative spark, our "mojo," or whatever you'd like to call it. The best thing you can do in that situation is stop and change gears. Go for a walk, call a friend, do a load of laundry, and allow your creative brain time to re-charge. Then when you return to your stamping space, pull out a different stamp set, some designer paper, and some stamp pads to inspire yourself to go in a different direction. Well, that's probably enough chatter about the creative process. Let's get to the card, OK?
This was one of the cards we made at Coffee and Cards on November 11th. The folded base of the card is Soft Sky, with a panel of Whisper White layered over it. I used the very popular Softly Falling embossing folder (p.24 of the holiday catalog, #139672, $8.50) to emboss the white panel after I stamped "Merry Wishes" in Mossy Meadow ink. The sentiment is from the OWhat Fun stamp set (p. 5 of the holiday catalog, #140386, $21.00). This set has tons of great holiday sayings. The trees from the Festival of Trees set (p. 71 of the annual catalog, #135059, $16.00) were stamped in Mossy Meadow after the Whisper White circle was sponged with Soft Sky ink. I used the Tree Punch (p. 167, #135859, $18.00) to punch out a tree, then topped it with a little gold star, punched from Gold Glimmer Paper with the tiny star from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack, (p. 166, #133787, $17.00) Some of the pretty gold 1/8 inch ribbon (p. 159, #134583, $5.00) repeats the gold of the star. Do you like this card as much as I do? Please let me know what you think. And of course if you'd like to order any of the supplies I listed so you can make a card like this, please email me at sjrstamps@gmail.com. I'd love to place an order for you! Have a great Wednesday, stampers! Susan
Hello to all of my stamping friends! It's Monday and I'm back from a fabulous time at Stampin'Up!'s OnStage event in Vancouver. The fun started on Friday night, with a lovely catered dinner for leaders, complete with a beautiful table setting, and gorgeous fresh flowers. I kicked myself for forgetting my camera. Stampin'Up! really knows how to spoil their demonstrators! On Saturday our day started bright and early at 8:30 am with a live feed from the OnStage Live event in Brussels. The morning was filled with stamping demonstrations featuring new stamp sets and products from the new Occasions catalog which begins in January. There were lots of give-aways during the day and I came home with 3 new stamp sets and a paper stack, plus a great journal, a nice water bottle, and a great canvas tote bag... not to mention some great swap cards as well! It was fun to reconnect with demonstrators that I seldom see. We got to get our hands on some fun new stamps and products that you are going to LOVE. This new catalog will be one of your favorites... they just keep getting better and better! Today I'm going to take a break from showing you Christmas cards and let you have a look at a Valentine card that I made to swap the event. I just couldn't face making a bunch of Christmas cards. After all, I've been making them since sometime in September, so I though I deserved a change of pace. Here's the card I swapped...
The red foil heart really caught the light in this photo, didn't it? The stamp set I used for the sentiment is called Timeless Love and it's in the annual catalog on page 29 (#139408, $17.00) I punched the big hearts with the Sweetheart Punch (page 166, # 133786, $16.00) The black and white DSP is from the Everyday Chic collection (p. 142, 138445, $11.00) and the ribbon is the beautiful Stitched Satin in Basic Black (p. 159,#138430, $9.00). That cute tiny heart is from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack (p. 166, #133787, $17.00). Of course the Basic Black and Whisper White ovals were cut with the Oval Framelit Dies (p. 173, #129381, $27.00). If you'd like to have some of that shiny red foil paper to give your Valentines a "pop" you'd better order some from the Holiday catalog while you can. It's on page 26, #139607, $4.00 for two 12x12 sheets. I hope your Monday and your week are off to a great start. On Wednesday, I'll get back to Christmas cards again. I received some fun swap cards at the Stampin'Up! event and I want you to see them! Hugs and happiness! Susan
Friday is finally here and I'm excited! Let me explain why. Later today I'll be driving up to a Stampin'Up! event that's being held at the Clark County Events Center. It's called OnStage and we were lucky enough to get an OnStage event in the Portland/Vancouver area. There are local events like this one being held in many locations around the US, but the OnStage Live event is in Brussels Belgium. Since I really didn't want to travel to Brussels, I'm happy that our area was chosen for one of the "local" events. We probably won't be having another such gathering in our area for 5 or more years.
I'm going to attend a dinner and special training tonight and then on Saturday, the OnStage event happens. Gatherings like this are always so much fun, and to add to the excitement, attendees get the new Occasions Catalog AND the Sale-a-bration brochure. While that might not sound exciting to you, demonstrators are super excited to see the new products and stamp sets that are coming up in January. We'll also be receiving one of the new stamp sets in our bag and there will be prizes given out as well... things like designer paper, punches, and other products. I'm hoping I'll be lucky enough to win something fun! OK... enough about that! Let's get to today's card.
This pretty card was made using the Triple Time stamping technique. Notice how the leaf images are stamped across all the layers of the card. If you'd like the measurements for each stamped layer and its corresponding mat, please email me at sjrstamps@gmail.com and I'll send you the directions. I used the Lighthearted Leaves stamp set from the holiday catalog and stamped on Very Vanilla card stock with Old Olive, Hello Honey, and Cajun Craze ink. The sentiment comes from the same stamp set and was punched out with the 2 inch circle punch. The ribbon is the 5/8 inch Chevron ribbon on page 158 of the annual catalog. I just turned it over so the solid side shows. The chevron side was a little too busy for this card, which already has a lot going on. It's time for me to finish packing for my overnight trip, so I'll say goodbye for now. I will have some fun new cards to show you when I return, as I'll be swapping at this event. Have a great weekend, everyone! Hugs, Susan
A Wednesday welcome to you, my stamping friends! Today I've got another Thanksgiving card for you. As I mentioned on Monday, this week is all about the cards we made at the Give Thanks class this past weekend. This might have been everyone's favorite card...
Let me give you a quick list of what I used... Stamps: Acorny Thank You stamp set (acorn), Six Sayings stamp set ("thankful"), Honeycomb Hello stamp set ("for you"). Ink: Early Espresso and Soft Suede Paper: Into the Woods DSP, Soft Suede card stock, Delightful Dijon card stock, and Whisper White card stock. Accessories: Acorn Punch, 1 inch and 3/4 inch circle punches. Please note that you can make a perfectly handsome card like this without any ribbon, buttons, pom-poms, glitter, rhinestones, sequins, or embossing folders. Sometimes simple is better!
I hope you feel inspired to pull out some autumn stamps and make some Thanksgiving cards of your own. Oh, and please come back on Friday for the third card that we made at the class. It's a fun one! Happy Wednesday, everyone! Susan
Rainy days and Mondays always make me smile! OK... I know that 's not how the song goes, but we need the rain and Mondays are nice! Especially when you are retired and you don't have to jump out of bed and into the shower, then into the car! I had a stamp-y good weekend, how about you? Did you get to do one or two things that you enjoy? I certainly hope so! This week I'm going to be sharing the cards we made at my Give Thanks class on Saturday. So if you attended the class, my apologies for not having new cards for you. But I thought the rest of my readers needed to see the cards we made. Here's the first one... a quick and easy card, but with a fun little twist.
I will be the first to admit that I didn't come up with this idea on my own. I saw a similar card on the internet, then decided that it was something I'd like to try. I used the Leaflet Framelit dies to make a couple of stencils from the heavier kraft paper that's on page 148 of the annual catalog. I stamped two of the leaf images from Lighthearted leaves in black ink, then lined up the stencils over the stamped image and daubed on some Delightful Dijon and Cajun Craze ink with sponge daubers. The saying is from the Acorny Thank You stamp set that's in the holiday catalog on page 45. After the stamping was done, it took just a couple of minutes to layer the stamped panel onto the Basic Black and Cajun Craze panels. The result is a quick and easy card that's perfect to send to friends and family for Thanksgiving. I'm off to Curves now to do my Monday workout. I sometimes have a hard time making myself go on Mondays, but once I'm there I'm always happy to get it out of the way, so I can move on to more pleasant things, like stamping! Make your Monday a good one! Susan
Friday already??? If the rest of the month goes by as quickly as this past week has, we are all in trouble! I'm going to have to sit down with my calendar and a pad of paper and map out the rest of the month so I can have a chance to accomplish all that needs to be done before Thanksgiving. Are you in that same boat with me? A little planning now can save your sanity later! In case you didn't attend my Countdown to Christmas #1 class, I'm going to share two cards today that use the Embellished Ornaments stamp set and the coordinating Delicate Ornaments Thinlet Dies, both shown on page 15 of the holiday catalog. Here's the first card...
Notice that there's not one bit of stamping on this card... it's all done with the Big Shot, the Softly Falling embossing folder (p. 24) the Delicate Ornaments Thinlit dies (p, 15), and the Christmas Greetings Thinlits Dies (p. 34). The colors I used are my favorite Christmas combo... Mossy Meadow and Cherry Cobbler. And when the gold foil paper is added, the festive factor is over the top! Here's the second card...
This one uses one of the greetings from the Embellished Ornaments stamp set, but most of the color and design comes from the Merry Moments DSP that you can find on page 143 of the annual catalog. This type of card is called a Double Gatefold Card. It isn't difficult to make. It just involves a little scoring and cutting. I'd be happy to email you the instructions, so please let me know if you'd like me to send them along. The sentiment was stamped in Cherry Cobbler, then cut out with one of the Lots of Labels Framelits (p. 173, annual catalog). Then a mat was cut from Cherry Cobbler card stock, using the framelit that was one size larger. The Thick Baker's Twine bow is adhered with a glue dot. Of course only the left side of the label is adhered to the card. Otherwise the card couldn't be opened! That's all for today, stampers! I hope you are looking forward to a relaxing weekend ahead! I won't be relaxing, but I WILL be stamping, stamping, stamping, and that's my kind of fun! Hugs and happiness! Susan
Hello my friends! Happy Hump Day! After today you are "over the hump" and coasting toward the weekend. However, there's no coasting going on over here. I'm busily working on getting everything ready for Friday Night's Paper Pumpkin Pizza Party and Saturday's Give Thanks class. I hope you are signed up for one or the other, or maybe both. It's going to be a "stampendous" weekend, with Nicole's party on Sunday too. I'll be quick about today's post because my "to-do" list is threatening to take over my life. I just loved this card design the minute I saw it on Janine Tinklenberg's Stamps Paper Scissors blog. Of course I changed a few things like some of the colors, the ribbon, and the sentiment, but the basic design is Jan's. Here's a peek...
I used the Lighthearted Leaves stamp set from the holiday catalog (page 44) and stamped them in Tangerine Tango, Blackberry Bliss, and Island Indigo. I stamped the sentiment (from the set For All Things on page 87 of the annual catalog) in Island Indigo and then tied on some Island Indigo cotton ribbon. This makes a great Thanksgiving card that has a fresh and clean look. It's quite a departure from my usual Thanksgiving colors of Cajun Craze, Delightful Dijon, Cherry Cobbler, and Early Espresso. Why not pick out a ribbon color that you like, then use that color for your sentiment and some of the leaves, along with a couple of coordinating colors to make a card like this? If you're going to mail the card, you could substitute some Linen Thread for the ribbon. That way, you won't have a lumpy knot to cause postal problems. May the rest of your Wednesday go just the way you want it to! Hugs to all, Susan
Did you nearly wash away on Halloween? I can't remember a wetter Halloween, can you? The grandchildren were troopers, though, and braved the rain, as did their parents. John and I stayed warm and dry and handed out candy to other brave little souls who ventured out. Now November has arrived, and you know what that means! The holidays will soon be upon us, so we'd better get our Big Shots in gear and get going on some cards for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you'd like to be inspired to make some great Thanksgiving cards to send to those far-away friends and relatives that you won't be seeing on Thanksgiving, I've got two open spots for my Give Thanks class next Saturday, November 7th. It's a Soup-er Saturday, which means I'll be serving a soup and salad lunch at 11:30. After lunch we'll get started on the five projects. Of course we'll end the afternoon with dessert and door prizes. Please send me a quick email if you'd like to attend. The cost is $20 or the class is free with a $40 purchase. Let me show you the card for today...
This design was inspired by a card I received at a recent demonstrator shoe box swap from Marcy Daniels, and I've also seen a similar card on the internet. This is the version we made recently at the October Stamp Out Stress gathering. The card base is Mossy Meadow and it measures 7 1/2 in. by 4 1/4 in. It is scored at 3 3/4. The white panel for the front of the card is 4 inches by 3 1/2 inches. This panel is embossed with the Boughs and Berries embossing folder that's on page 30 of the holiday catalog. The sentiment comes from the very versatile stamp set called Holly Jolly Greetings on page 34 of the holiday catalog. The words in this set can be combined to create all sorts of greetings, which makes this set a keeper. The circles were cut with the Circle Collection Framelits and of course the cardinal comes from the Joyful Season stamp set on page 29 of the holiday catalog. The cardinal outline and branch were stamped in Early Espresso, then the cardinal body was stamped in Cherry Cobbler. I colored his beak with my Hello Honey marker. I used the snowflakes from Snow Place stamped in Pool Party to give a nice frosty look to the background. If you're a fan of glitter, you could add some to the snowflakes for an even frostier look. Some of that great Thick Baker's Twin in Cherry Cobbler provides the finishing touch. I hope your November and your week are off to a great, if soggy, start and I hope I've inspired you to get out your stamps and stamp something pretty today! Hugs to all, Susan
