My glass is half full!

Hello Stampers and welcome to a new week!

Did you have a nice relaxing weekend?  Whatever you did, I hope it was enjoyable.  We had a "working weekend" around here.  We had planned to work on reorganizing some of the storage cupboards in our garage and unpacking 5 large boxes of framed family photos.  Our plans didn't include taking all of my stamping supplies out of a large storage cabinet in the garage, but when three of the shelves collapsed, all of the items spilled out onto the garage floor.  What a mess!  It's all been put back now, but what a job that was! I'm glad the weekend is over so I can now relax a bit.

Today's card was made with the Half Full stamp set on page 42 of the holiday catalog.  If you are a wine enthusiast, you will love this set!  Check out all of the fun coordinating images... a wine bottle, a large wine glass, and several fun sayings.

The colors I used are Whisper White, Old Olive and Berry Burst.  I stamped the sentiment in Berry Burst, cut it out with my trusty paper snips, and then colored the grapes with ink from the stamp pads and a blender pen.  I used the new 5/8 inch Seam Binding in Berry Burst. You will love this new ribbon for its silky texture, light weight, and lustrous color.  The little crinkles make it look like silk and it ties like a dream!  I give it my highest rating! You can find it on page 199 of the annual catalog.

Are you a glass-half-full type of person, or do you often see your glass as half empty?   One of my favorite quotes is this... "I don't care if my glass is half empty or half full. I'm just happy to have a glass!"  

If you aren't a fan of wine, check out the cute hot chocolate stamp set on the same page (page 42) of the holiday catalog.  You can accessorize your mug of hot chocolate with a candy cane, a spoon, whipped cream, a cinnamon stick, or some steam wafting up from the mug... lots of fun options!

It won't be long now until I leave for the big Stampin'Up! OnStage event in Salt Lake City. I leave on November 8th.  I've made 40 cards to swap with other demonstrators and I'm planning to make at least 10 more.  I will take my laptop and hopefully I can send you some photos of all of the fun.  I won't be able to show you actual merchandise, but I think I'll be able to show some of the displays.

Demonstrators at this event will get a copy of the new Occasions catalog that will begin January 3rd, 2018 and we'll also get to see the new Sale-a-bration brochure.  I can't wait!   

Today, Monday October 30th is the last day to order using the October host code: KTNP764Q  I will be closing out the order at noon today.  If you place an online order of $35 or more, I will add your name to my October host code drawing for a free host set of your choice! Of course if you place an order of $150 or more, please don't use the host code.... then YOU will get the host rewards.

May the week ahead be a good one for you and your family!  I'm sending love and happy thoughts your way!

Susan

Merry Little Labels

Hey there, stampers!

The month of October is going by just like every other month... way too quickly!  As we are now approaching the end of October, I'm going to be concentrating on Christmas cards for a while, although I might be throwing in another Thanksgiving card or two.

I hope the past week was a good one for you and that you also had a fun weekend.  If your weekend wasn't exactly fun, perhaps you were very productive and accomplished a lot of things on your "to-do" list.   We managed to complete a task that had been put off for far too long, and what a good feeling that was! 

Here's my card for today and after you check it out, I'll tell you what I used to make it...

                                Here's the view from above

and here's another view that shows more of the golden shimmer.

I started with a base of Very Vanilla, cut to make a square 4  1/4 inch card.   No worries about paying extra postage for a square card such as this, as it will fit just fine in a regular envelope.  Square envelopes do cost more to mail, so I don't use them.

The gorgeous gold designer paper can be found on page 103 of the annual catalog.  It is part of the Bundle of Love Suite.  The fun little tag that says Let it Snow is found in the Merry Little Labels stamp set on page 12 of the holiday catalog.  I stamped it in Versamark ink (p. 200) and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder (p. 201).  I punched it out with the coordinating

Everyday Label punch, also found on page 12 of the holiday catalog.That lovely gold foil snowflake is found on page 37 of the holiday catalog. I think these are quite a bargain, as you get 24 of them (12 gold and 12 silver) for 6.00.   To add the finishing touch, I tied a small bow with the 1/8 inch gold ribbon at the top of page 198 in the annual catalog and adhered it with a mini glue dot.  

If you are making cards in quantity for Christmas, this could be quite quick to make and it's sure to impress your friends and relatives with its golden elegance.  With all the snow and ice you Portlanders had last year, I'm not sure that you are going to want to use a "Let it Snow" sentiment, though. Sadly, it's never going to snow here, but the exciting news is that we did have rain last Sunday night.  It was wonderful to hear the raindrops and smell that great "wet earth" fragrance.  The forecast for the week ahead is temps in the high 80's... today 86, Tuesday 87... and it goes on like that.  We're still in sandals and capris mode here, if you can believe it.

There's not much time left to take advantage of the "Buy 3, get one free" offer on DSP as the promotion ends on October 31st.  Unfortunately, that offer doesn't apply to the Bundle of Love Specialty DSP that I used on this card.    The October host code is KTNP764Q.  If you place an online order of at least $35 in October, I will put your name into the October Host Code Drawing for a host stamp set of your choice.  I will be closing out the October Host Code on October 30th, so please place your online order by noon on October 30th.

Hugs and happy thoughts are coming your way!

Susan

Merry Mistletoe

Hello friends!

Another week has come and gone and what a week it was!  I awoke last Monday to the news that major fires were devastating my hometown of Santa Rosa.  It is hard to see the devastation and hear the news of so many homes destroyed and lives lost.  It is heartbreaking that so many families lost everything.  It is heartbreaking to hear the stories of those who weren't able to get out of their homes in time. I have to wonder what the upcoming holidays will be like for those families. No home to gather in, no special ornaments made by the kids when they were small, Christmas stockings gone. Everything gone. It's going to be a rough holiday season for so many this year.  

That's why I feel a little strange about showing you a Christmas card today, but Christmas will come regardless of what's happening in our lives.   I show it to you not in the spirit of merriment, but in the spirit of hope for better times ahead for so many people, from Puerto Rico to Santa Rosa. 

  

Just a reminder.... not all the new Christmas stamp sets are in the holiday catalog.  This one... Merry Mistletoe... is in the big catalog on page 113.  It's part of a suite of products called the Be Merry Suite.  The designer paper, stamp set, and that fun ribbon are all found right on page 113 of the annual catalog.  I needed a small sentiment to fit on the two-inch wide tag and I found "Merry Wishes" in the Oh What Fun stamp set on page 115 of the annual catalog.  

The card base is Garden Green and I embossed it with the Sparkle embossing folder on page 210 of the annual catalog.  The Designer Series Paper is called Be Merry and it's part of the big "Buy Three, Get One Free promotion that is going on now through October 31st. Now is definitely the time to stock up on pretty paper to last you through Christmas and on into the new year.  The deer is stamped in Soft Suede, the trees in Garden Green, and the sentiment is in Cherry Cobbler.  I used the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch on page 206 of the annual catalog to create the tag.

Why not host a stamping party through my Party-in-a-Box program?  This fun card could be one of the ones you'll create.  Once I get my new Blends alcohol markers, this guy will morph into Rudolph, with a Cherry Cobbler colored pearl for his nose!

The host code for October is KTNP764Q.  Please use the code when placing online orders of less than $150 (before shipping). If your online order is $35 or more I will add your name to my October Host Code drawing that I will do at the end of the month.

You could be the winner of a host stamp set of your choice!  Of course if your order is $50 or more, I'll put your name on my 50-50 Board for each $50 you spend.  The winner of that drawing will win a $50 gift certificate from me!

That's all for now, dear friends!  I hope all is right in your world today.  I think of you often and smile when I remember all of the fun times we had!  Thank you for being my customers!  I'm very grateful.

Love and hugs,

Susan

Count my Blessings

Helloooo!  Are you there?  I really hope someone will be reading my post today!

We've been having some very blustery winds the last few days, so much so that all the leaves have been torn off my pretty sweet potato vines that are planted in pots in the back yard.  I love those vines for their lime green leaves, which add such a summery look to a pot of flowering annuals.  Well, they are pretty no more.  I guess it's time to look for some new plants for those pots... something sturdy that can stand up to 25-30 mile-an-hour winds for a couple of days in a row.  Ugh!  We had winds like this last week too and I thought they were gone, but this morning we woke up to blowing dirt that made this area look like the Dust Bowl.

OK... time for the card!  I made several cards this past weekend and could have made more except I wasn't feeling very creative.  Have you ever been in a creative slump?  I think most of us have been there at one time or another.  I've begun working on Christmas cards and even selected one of my Christmas stations on Pandora to help me get into the mood.  Too bad that didn't work!  I will try again later and hopefully the creativity will start to percolate in my brain. Since it is early October, I'm going to be focusing on fall cards for a little longer.  Then toward the end of the month I'll get serious about Christmas cards.

This stamp set, Count My Blessings, in the Holiday catalog caught my eye right away because of the font.  I liked the images too, but the swirly font really makes this set something special.  I stamped the leaf and acorn clusters in Pear Pizzazz ink on Very Vanilla card stock.  The sentiment is stamped in Early Espresso and the Early Espresso is repeated again in one of the mats.  I'm sorry you can't see how sparkly the ribbon is.  It is the new 3/8 inch Shimmer Ribbon in Pear Pizzazz.  

Yes, I probably could have added the sentiment on a separate layer and perhaps I could have used some Designer Paper to add another design element, but sometimes clean and simple is the way to go.  That clean and classic look is what I try for 90% of the time.  Cards with torn edges, distressed paper, doilies, staples, lace trims, and an abundance of pearls, rhinestones, and sequins just look like someone tried too hard and the end result is usually pretty sad.  I think that look is called "Shabby Chic" but to me it looks just plain shabby.

Here's a quick list of what I used:

Count My Blessings stamp set, annual catalog, page 50, 144790, 20.00

Pear Pizzazz Shimmer Ribbon, annual catalog, page 199, 144153$7.00

Card Stock:  Very Vanilla, 144237, $7.00

                      Pear Pizzazz, 131201, $8.00

                      Early Espresso, 119686, $8.00

Ink:  Pear Pizzazz, 131180, 6.50

         Early Espresso, 126974, $6.50

The host code for October is KTNP764Q

Thank you, dear customers!   Your business, your friendship, and you are greatly appreciated by a very grateful me.

Hugs to all,

Susan

Please use this code before checking out when placing an online order of less than $150 (before shipping and tax).  If your order is over $150, please DON'T use the code.  Then you will get the host rewards.  For the month of October, I will add your name to my Host Code Drawing when you place an order of at least $35 before shipping and tax.  You could be the winner of the host stamp set of your choice!

Welcome, October!

Hello friends!  

I guess we have to admit that summer is really over and we've officially entered into Pumpkin Spice Season.  Here's one of my  favorite quotes about October...

   

          "Listen, the wind is rising and the air is wild with leaves.  We have had our summer

            evenings, now for October eves!  

                                                                      Humbert Wolfe

I'm ready for some cool, windy, October eves and I wouldn't mind if some rain was thrown into the mix as well.  Fall seems to be a super-windy time in Woodland, CA.  I thought we were going to blow away yesterday!  Still no rain, though.  The forecast for this week is temps in the low 80's and lots of sunshine.  Hopefully we'll get some much-needed rain by the end of the month.

In celebration of October's arrival, I've got a "Hello Fall" card for you today!  I made this for a color challenge that my upline posted on Facebook.  She asked us to use Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango, and Crushed Curry... all great colors for this season of rich colors and falling leaves.

I used the Color Theory Designer Series Paper Stack that's on page 187 of the annual catalog for the background.  This particular piece is shaded from dark to light in Crushed Curry.  Then I simply stamped some leaves from the Colorful Seasons and Merry Café stamp sets in Rich Razzleberry and Tangerine Tango.  The Adirondack chair was cut from the Wood Textures Designer Paper Stack (also on page 187 of the annual catalog).  

The sentiment comes from the Merry Café stamp set that's on page 46 of the Holiday catalog.  

Be sure to check your email inbox for my October Update.  There are a couple of great sales that started yesterday on October 1st.  The first is a sale of selected stamp sets, note cards and envelopes, and Fast Fuse adhesive. The second is a Buy Three, Get One Free promotion on Designer Series Paper.  

Also on the horizon are new, improved alcohol markers that will not evaporate like the first models did. They are not available for ordering by customers yet.  I have ordered a selection of these markers and I will try them out before I decide to recommend them to you.  Let me be the guinea pig here.  I'll give you my honest opinion once I get my hands on them.

Here is the host code for October  KTNP764Q

Please use this code when placing an online order.  I will add your name to my October Host Code Drawing if your order is $35 or more.  Remember, if you have a larger order of $150 or more before shipping and tax, please don't use the code.  Then YOU will get the host rewards.

One last thing before I go... This coming Saturday, October 7th, is World Card-Making Day.  Why not gather a few friends for a little stamping fun?  It is always more fun to stamp together.  And while you're stamping, be thinking of the creative people all around the globe who are stamping too.  This world can use all of the peace-loving, community-creating, and people-loving stampers it can get.

Stamping and creating can make you happier, but it can also make a difference in a world in need of more people who have love and human kindness as their top priorities.

Stamp on!

Susan