Loaded Christmas

I'm trying to find an EASY Christmas card to send this year, but I'm having issues. I'm just not liking anything I've made so far - it's either too involved to make large numbers or so easy I feel like it's boring.

Well here's my latest attempt. The embossing as well as the circle and scalloped circle were all done on the cuttlebug. Colors are Always Artichoke, Real Red (JUST opened though I've owned it for over a year now - bad Merr!) and Very Vanilla. I water colored the image using Stampin' Up! markers and a blender pen. I added a little glimmer to some of the gifts and that's it... Boring? You tell me.

I guess I'm headed back to my stamp room to try again. If I come up with anything - good or bad - I'll post it in a while.

Homemade Holidays Stamp Camp

One of my favorite family traditions is to make holiday decorations - doesn't matter which holiday - but the Christmas holiday is the best! As a kid I would come up with some pretty "interesting" decorations and like a trooper my mother would proudly display them for me! With such encouragement how could I help but LOVE this tradition and want to share it with you? Here's my chance!

Join me in my home on Saturday, December 15, from 2pm - 6pm for my Homemade Holidays Stamp Camp. We will be making five ornaments using Stampin' Up! supplies. There will be refreshments, holiday themed games, and door prizes. Attendees will also have the opportunity to sign up for 2008 classes and clubs before anyone else!

Supply fee is $20.00.

Registration deadline is December 10.

Call me today to reserve your space!

Wrapping Up the Holidays!

Wow, when Stampin' Up! gives a promotion you know it's going to be a good one! Just released today: information on their exciting Wrapping Up the Holidays promo!! I am thrilled about this one and plan on placing my order as soon as I've finished posting this to the blog!

Here's a link to see what it's all about! Call me today to place your order!

Paper Crafter's Forum

I'm SO happy to announce the new Paper Crafter's forum! I've been wanting to do this for a while now, and would love it if you would join me there. This is a place for anyone interested in card making, scrapbooks or paper crafting in any way.

In the three days that it has been live we have gained 24 members and I'm hoping that the board becomes more active soon! I feel like yelling: "TALK TO ME", but I'm not sure it would help! LOL. So please come talk with me and others HERE on the Paper Crafter's Forum!

This week I am planning on posting a contest. You won't want to miss it! See you there!!

How Was Your Thanksgiving?

I hope your fall feasting was wonderful! I had a great time surrounded by family and friends and tons of tasty food! Thank you Jeff and Amy for supplying the broccoli bake, scalloped oysters and yummy pie! Thank you to my brother Erik and his lovely girlfriend Amy for supplying the fudge!

I started cooking on Wednesday morning and finally finished just as it was time to serve the food. I really really enjoy this holiday, though it has been a bitter sweet one for my family. I'm sure you'll remember my post earlier this year about my Dad being diagnosed with cancer. Happily he's doing well and recovering from treatment but is still unable to eat food so we could not have our regular Thanksgiving celebration with my entire family gathered at Mom and Dad's house. It just wouldn't have been fair to him! But, we were able to have some friends and family over our house this year, and as far as I can tell it was a lot of fun for everyone - despite the never ending Uno game!

I hope your holiday was a memorable one, filled with family and friends and lots and lots of love!

Back at it Again

I just can't seem to stay away from making Fall/Thanksgiving themed items! As you know, Thanksgiving is only a few short days away and I've still got a list of things to make. This little number is part of my holiday centerpiece and was inspired by a similar project shared by Karen Gibson.

So far I've made just this one, but plan on making another. I would like to have made three, but have run out of jars. I'm also thinking about how to make this same project with Christmas paper and stamps, wouldn't that be cute?! Anyway, here is my supply list!

• Outlaw DSP
• Creamy Caramel CS
• Really Rust CS
• Close to Cocoa CS
• Close to Cocoa Ink
• Glue dots
• Rhinestone brads
• Paper crimper
• Votive Candle
• Small Mason Jar

Now I'm off to stamp up a table cloth! Wish me luck!

Christmas Card

Tonight I have another Stampin' Up! workshop and I am so excited! I just love sharing the Stampin' Up! experience with new people and making new friends in the process. Since my hostess tonight is one of the sweetest people I've met in a long time I'm sure that we'll just have a blast.

I thought I'd go ahead and share the card I've prepared for tonight's Make n' Take. My hostess Patty asked for a Christmas theme for our cards so I'll present this card along with a few variations on it in different themes to show how versatile both these stamp sets are! How fun!!

Anywho... the products used on this card are as follows:

• Always Artichoke CS
• Certainly Celery CS
• Soft Sky CS
• Wintergreen DSP
• Always Artichoke Ink
• Soft Sky Ink
• Word Search Background Stamp
• Circle of Friendship Stamp Set
• Round Metal Edge Tag
• Paper Crimper
• Pencil Eraser

If you have any questions about how to make this card or any other on my blog please feel free to EMAIL me. I'd be happy to help! If you'd like to schedule a workshop so I can teach you a great card like this one you can reach me through email as well.

Glass Charms

As promised - here is a sample of the glass charms I made for my Thanksgiving table. This one is actually Davy's. I made one with a flower for myself and one with leaves & an acorn for my husband.


After stamping and shrinking the plastic I covered them with micro beads so they will glimmer in the candle light!

To attach these to the glass you can put a jump ring through the punched hole and string it on a ribbon. Last year I used gold cord, this year I used our tan gingham ribbon.


If you need instructions, email me and I'll be happy to help you out.

Happy Harvest Card

As promised in my November 2007 Newsletter, here are the instructions on the Happy Harvest Card. This card is simple to make - despite the long supply and instruction lists. If you're not great at water coloring you can substitute markers or colored pencils for the Water Color Wonder Crayons.

Supplies:

• Old Olive Card Stock
• Really Rust Card Stock
• Pumpkin Pie Card Stock
• Very Vanilla Card Stock
• Basic Brown Ink
• Pumpkin Pie Ink
• Really Rust Ink
• Loads of Love Stamp Set
• Canvas Background Stamp
• Tag Corner Punch
• Earth Elements Buttons
• Natural Hemp Twine
• Watercolor Wonder Crayons
• Aqua Painter
• Paper Trimmer
• Adhesive

Instructions:

1. Cut your Old Olive card base.
2. Cut Really Rust Card stock to 5.5" by 2"
3. Using Really Rust ink, stamp canvas on to Really Rust card stock. Rough up one edge with fingernail.
4. Using Basic Brown ink, Stamp image of truck, pumpkins and girl on Very Vanilla card stock. Cut out - I didn't measure, I stamped then cropped as needed to center the image.
5. Mat Very Vanilla with Pumpkin Pie card stock - about .25" wider all the way around.
6. Color in truck, pumpkins and girl using Water Color Wonder Crayons and Aqua Painter.
7. Adhere Really Rust strip (rough edge in) and stamped image to card base as shown.
8. Stamp "Happy Harvest on small scrap of Very Vanilla card stock using Pumpkin Pie ink.
9. Punch two corners with Tag Corner Punch
10. Cut piece of Pumpkin Pie card stock to be .25" wider than scrap Very Vanilla
11. Punch two corners of Pumpkin Pie and adhere to back of "Happy Harvest" tag.
12. Tie a bit Natural Hemp Twine through the button holes, trim ends, and adhere button to the Happy Harvest tag.
13. Adhere tag to card base as shown.

If you like this card and would love some one-on-one instruction for other great holiday cards, contact me today to set up a class or workshop! I look forward to hearing from you, but until then, happy stamping!

Thanks!

Continuing on with the Giving Thanks theme I seem to be stuck on this month, I'd like to show you what I worked on yesterday evening and finally finished this morning. I can hardly wait for Thanksgiving now, with all my cute decorations!

For this project I used:

• Simon Lower Chipboard
• Fall Flowers Designer Paper
• Always Artichoke Grosgrain Ribbon
• Crop-A-Dile

I used Stampin' Up!'s Anywhere Glue Stick to adhere the paper on to the chip board, and cut away the excess with my craft knife. After sanding the edges I punched two holes at the top of each letter with my Crop-A-Dile and then thread the ribbon through.


In the past I've tried different glues and adhesives for attaching paper to chipboard and have found that I really like using Stampin' Up!'s Anywhere glue stick for these projects. Unlike other glues (like YES! Paste or decoupage medium) the Anywhere glue stick dries quickly. If you've not used it lately (or ever), I suggest you try it, it's inexpensive, holds well and these glue sticks last a long time!

Tomorrow I'll be working on stemware charms and maybe even some place cards or napkin rings for the table. I guess you'll just have to check back and see what I come up with, won't ya?

Tumbled Marble Trivets

Ahhh... My husband is off to work, Davy is off to school, and I'm toasty warm in my bathrobe and socks. Even the dogs are cooperating by taking a peaceful snooze behind me. The only thing this morning needs now is a new post on my blog followed by some stamping time in my craft room!

As promised, here are some of the trivets I made yesterday. It is so super simple I thought I'd go ahead and walk you through it one time just for the fun of it.

Supplies:

• Tumbled marble tiles - available at your local home improvement store
• Craft ink pads - various colors
• Stamp set of choice - I used Bud Basics
• Oven - preheat to 250 degrees
• Small felt pads - also available at your local home improvement store

Instructions:

1. WASH your tiles and allow to dry completely. I did this the night before so I would be SURE they were dry and ready to go.
2. Stamp your images using Stampin' Up!'s craft ink pads.
3. Pop in the oven for about half an hour or until it looks like the ink is completely dry. This will heat set the ink so it should not fade or run.

See? How easy is that? These two trivets will grace my Thanksgiving and Christmas table, but I'm thinking about making another set for my mother and sister.

Same supplies and instructions apply if you are making coasters from the smaller tiles. I'd love to see what you make. Email them to me and I will post them here for everyone to see and enjoy!

Getting Ready for Giving Thanks

I am so excited about Stampin' Up!'s Paper Party Promotion. I've gotten four sets of designer series paper for the price of three! One of the sets I got was the Fall Flowers papers, and they are too cute for words. It is SO easy to make great gifts with Stampin' Up!'s Designer Seriese paper that it is almost a no brainer!


Today I'll share the gift set I've made for Davy's teacher Mrs. Lea. I've put together a paper purse, note pad and decorated pen. I'm thinking about adding in a little bit of candy or something like that, maybe I'll get to that tonight after dinner.

For this gift set I used: Fall Flowers Designer Series Paper, Always Artichoke grosgrain ribbon, Natural Hemp Twine, Really Rust eyelets, Old Olive card stock and marker, Sahara Sand Card stock, Really Rust card stock and marker, Shrink Plastic (non-SU! product), Scallop punch, large and small tag punches, and a metal edged tag (retired). I used the Pick a Petal and Tagger's Dozen stamp sets.

Tonight I'm finishing up work on the trivets I'll be using on our table this Thanksgiving. There are some finishing touches to be done there, but I will be sure to share just as soon as they're ready to be photographed. Until then, happy stamping and don't forget to call me with your Paper Party order!