You won't want to miss this!

I admit it. I'm a hoarder. There really ought to be 12-step programs for people like me. And, well since I just admitted it, I've only 11 more steps to go, right?


Since I started stamping like 8 years ago, I've been stockpiling my stamps & other accessories. It's relatively organized (I know where all my stuff is), but it's still a bit out of control (I just have too much). And so, after much consideration, I'm just going to do it. I'm going to sell a bunch of my stamps, inks, papers & other accessories.


I already have a list of stamp sets that I'm willing to part with - so far I have 54 sets to sell. Next on the agenda: figure out the pricing. They will be discounted, but how much exactly, I'm not quite sure yet. My goal is to sell enough to pay for my trip to Convention next year (upwards of $1,000).


Right now, I'm thinking about doing an Open House in August for a few reasons:

• The new catalog will be out
• I'll have time to get some new product for a make & take
• This gives me plenty of time to get my items ready for sale
• This gives you plenty of time to save your pennies for all that you'll want to buy :o)
  

So, stay tuned for the date. An evite will go out in the upcoming weeks.

Yeah, Baby!!

Here's a super quick card I made tonight. I didn't have a whole heckuva lot of time to spend on it, but needed a quick *something* to get out in the mail tomorrow. If you haven't guessed, a couple friends of mine are expecting. And since it's still way early on, they don't know (& they're not finding out) the gender until he/she is born.

Yeah, baby!!

Huge Apologies

First of all, I gotta send out huge apologies to anyone who has been coming back to this blog for any updates. No excuses, I've been slacking on getting anything posted. I'm back, though. And, I hope you enjoy!

Earlier this year, I was asked by my employer to do the invitations for this year's "holiday party". The information I was given was it was going to be at a Beach Club & there was going to be a "casino". First, I looked for "beach-y" themed cards at their request, but those are almost always too "summer-y". So, another suggestion from the Social Committee was to make the invitations more classy. This is the almost final product (click the picture for a bigger image):

The final product had the following changes (sorry, no photos of the final invite):

• Name changed from Autumn Extraordinaire to Autumn Royale
• The font on the bottom (date/time/place, etc) matched the font on top
  
• The RSVP card had the red stamped image in the lower left corner instead

Unfortunately, the event has been canceled for this year (everyone is tightening their spending habits & this was one area my employer has cut back, but I'm SO incredibly thankful that I am still employed).

Oh where does the time go?

This is a new stamp set (available from the occasions mini catalog beginning April 1st) called Scene in a Garden.  I just loved it immediately & had to buy it. And then, I signed up to participate in a swap with a few (8 to be exact) other demonstrators, each taking a different stamp set & creating a card with it.  This is mine.  Click on the picture for a bigger view & then leave me a message & tell me what you think.

Happy 1st Birthday!!

First things first, click the picture & see how beautiful it is bigger. If only I had one that you could check out in person, it's SO STINKIN' CUTE (if I do say so myself)!!

This is a card (I actually made two) that I had made last week for 2 little girls turning one year old. Isn't it darling? I just love the bunny from the (retired) stamp set A New Little Someone. The more & more I watercolor, the more & more I'm enjoying it. It was a little bit challenging cutting out around the bunny, but I think it just looks so sweet this way. And, I cut around the front paws (arms?) so it looks like it's holding the scalloped saying.

So cute! I just might have to make another one...

Just Buzzin' By...

Just a quick post to show you another picture from one of my favorite new stamp sets - Just Buzzin' By. This was one of the cards at my last stamp camp. So easy & so cute!

I love it!!

Thank You!!

I know I say I've been saying this on more than one occasion, but I REALLY ought to post more pictures & posts on this blog.

This is a card I made for a friend who recently adopted her baby girl. I love this (retired) stamp set - By Ones & By Twos. I just love the onesie. It's so cute, easy to stamp on some Designer Series Paper, cut out & adhere to your card with a dimensional. So stinkin' cute!! Click on the image for an enlarged image.

I also love when someone else finds some value in what I do & wants to help support my business, my craft & my creativity. A HUGE thank you to those who've supported me in either coming to my stamp camps & open houses, hosting a stamp camp for your friends, purchasing cards from me & telling your friends about what I do. Virtual hugs to you!!

Eastern Blooms Birthday

I needed a quick birthday card for a male co-worker & I saw this & thought, "perfect!!" It uses the Eastern Blooms stamp set, which I just love & don't use nearly enough. I think it can easily be one of the 'go-to' stamp sets for almost any occasion.

Oh, and I'm not sure if there's a name for the technique I used on this one, but it is WAY awesome. So, I took the stamp & inked it up in my classic Night of Navy inkpad. Then, I took the blender pen & took away the Night of Navy ink from the branches - leaving them essentially un-inked. Then, I took the Close to Cocoa marker & colored in the branches. Gave it a huff w/my warm breath & voila! A beautifully stamped image.

As always, for a closer image, click on the picture.

Love You Much

Stampin' Up has this Valentine's promotion right now (through January 31st) where in the bundle, you get the Love You Much stamp set, Candy Lane Designer Series Paper & the Heart to Heart punch. If purchased individually, it would cost $51.85. The promotion has it on sale for 20% off or $41.48. This is the first card I've made that I've taken a picture of, but let me tell you... I am LOVIN' this set!

My picture turned out a little bit on the dark side, but the colors I used are (retired) Blue Bayou & Wild Wasabi.

Happy New Year!

How cute are these little guys? This is a new stamp set (Just Buzzin' By) that will be in the new catalog. I'm so thrilled that I was able to get it early & start playing with it. My first thought was, "Oh boy! What am I getting myself into with all that needs to be colored?" But, I just used the blender pens & ink pads on regular Very Vanilla cardstock & it was SO easy & it turned out very nice! I tried making like a honeycomb background by using bubblewrap. It didn't turn out quite the way I imagined it would. Overall, I'm very pleased with the way the two cards turned out. Click on the pictures if you'd like a more close up image.

Love You Much Promotion

Stampin' Up is currently offering a Love You Much promotion. Check this out:

Description	Retail Value
Love You Much stamp set	$25.95
Candy Lane Designer Series paper	$9.95
Heart to Heart punch	$15.95
Bundle Retail Value	$51.85
Love You Much Bundle (20% off retail value; item 115405)	$41.48

I took advantage of this & (as a demonstrator) picked it up early & I just LOVE it!! I especially love the Candy Lane designer series paper. It's just so pretty. And, it can be used for Valentine's cards & projects, Anniversary cards & projects & Wedding cards & projects.

Here's a sample of this set being used (click on the picture for a larger image):

By the way, my camera software has been found & installed so I'll be able to post my own pictures soon. Stay tuned!

Merry Merry!

I'm still alive....

I swear... it was just yesterday that I posted on here. Okay, it seems like it was yesterday, but believe it or not, nearly a month has gone by.

I've been quite busy working on a couple of different things - a couple stamp camps, a vendor fair, my Christmas cards. And, of course, I don't want to post a picture of my Christmas cards until after they've gone out. I don't want to spoil the surprise... I do think you'll like it, though. I know I do!

My computer also crashed over the long, holiday weekend & so I actually don't even have my camera software installed on my new hard drive to upload any pictures. Soon. Soon, I'll get that fixed & some new pictures uploaded.

In the meantime, please enjoy a very pretty card from one of my favorite retired stamp sets: Solemn Stillness:

Lovely as a Tree

I found this card online & thought I'd try it myself. It's SO pretty, simple & easy to make (though, I have to admit, my first attempt has glitter on it... Now, I have glitter ALL OVER my stamp room).

This card uses the non-traditional Night of Navy, Baja Breeze & Shimmery White cardstock. I'm waiting to receive my newly ordered Many Merry Messages before stamping a greeting on the front.

A Waterfall Card

I was asked to make a Waterfall Card for someone to give to their friend who is having a baby boy any day now. This is the card I came up with. If you've never seen a waterfall card before, they are incredibly awesome. They're not too difficult to put together, but can be a little time consuming.

Basically, what happens is when you pull the ribbon (at the bottom of the card), the little pictures flip up & your greeting appears on the long cardstock as you pull it out. Click on any picture to enlarge it.

This card would be great as a unique birth announcement (with pictures of the newborn on the squares & the birth information on the long piece) or congratulations on your new little bundle of joy (like this sample). Using different stamps, it would make a fun happy birthday card as well.

This card uses Brilliant Blue, Bashful Blue & Very Vanilla
cardstock & ink along with a variety of retired Stampin' Up! stamps.

Giftcard Holder

I was asked to do some "generic" giftcard holders (no specific occasion) & this is what I came up with. I have some designer series paper that would be perfect (there's stripes & polka dots, paisley & mini-flowers, also a variety of colors - pretty in pink, real read, bashful blue, apricot appeal, always artichoke).

SUPER CUTE!! I just love these little guys.

Another New Favorite?

I decided 1. that I needed a few more "masculine" cards & 2. that Happiness Always just might be my new favorite stamp set & 3. my camera still sucks for getting good pictures.

In this one, I used Always Artichoke for the background cardstock, Old Olive for the solid leaf print & then Always Artichoke for the top leaf layer. While I did do the two step stamping technique, I did not use my stamp-a-ma-jig & I like the way it turned out.

I also just added "FOR YOU" instead of a "Happy Birthday" greeting in case I need something other than birthday. I feel like this card could be used for sympathy, good luck or congrats.

Lastly, I used my new spritzer tool. If you click on the picture, you'll see little black "sprays".

I like it (even though it's a bit distorted because of the camera).

O Christmas Tree

Last night, while laying in bed, I was thinking about my stamp-a-ma-jig & what can I do with it. Then, I remembered this retired stamp set from (about 2 or 3 years ago) called Trim the Tree.

I remember liking this set but had such a hard time lining up the garland or ornaments on the tree that I didn't use it much. Tonight, I tried it with the stamp-a-ma-jig. No more issues with it not lining up because the stamp-a-ma-jig is pure awesome, allowing me to line it all up with ease.

Yay!!

Open Stamp Day - What a success!

I had my first ever Open Stamp Day yesterday & I have to say it was quite a success. Even though only 3 people came, they all seemed eager to come to something like this again.

If many more had come I would have had to re-organize some things. As it was, the 4 of us sat around the one table without any troubles, but I could totally see it being much more crowded with more people & their things taking up space.

So, this is the Thanksgiving card I had been hoping to make for a couple of weeks now. It uses all punches (except the eyes which are drawn on & the hat which I just cut out of scrap). I thought it would be a cute card to do at one of my upcoming stamp camps, but as it turns out, those punches are far too difficult/time-consuming to fold to do at a camp. It's a cute card, though.


Stay tuned for the next Open Stamp Day.

Deer Friends

I was getting several cards ready to go out today & realized that I didn't have much in the way of masculine birthday cards. I still don't, but I was able to do a little (by little, I mean only 2 cards-worth of) stamping tonight.

If you click on the picture, you might be able to tell a little bit better that this card has "FOR YOU" on the right side & also a scalloped edge over there. And I'm pretty sure you won't be able to see if you clicked on the picture, but the scallop circle in the center is raised up with a few demonsionals.

This card was totally inspired & well, pretty much copied from another card I had made over the past weekend at a stamp camp I had gone to. I did use some retired Designer Series Paper on this. I just LOVED last year's holiday DSP & am not in such a rush to buy this year's stuff.