Been A Long Time...

Well, hello! Yes, it's been a long time... a very, very long time. Probably the longest stretch I've gone without updating this blog. My loyal readers know how my life has changed in the last year - and today does happen to mark the ONE YEAR anniversary of our move to the mountains! We are loving life out here in Colorado, loving homeschooling, loving being together as a family. As much as I hate that it takes time away from some of my passions (stamping definitely being one of them!), I will never sacrifice my family time for anything. I do believe it says so to the left there under my picture! So, without further ado, let me show you a card I made a few weeks ago... and this post is for you, Liz. (you can all thank her, as it was her persuading that got me on here tonight!)

Now, one of the things that keeps me from blogging is the time it takes to edit the photo, add the watermark, and then track down all the supplies I used to make the cards so I can include it in the post. I'm okay with the editing part, but I wanted to get your thoughts on how horrible it would be if I did NOT include a list of supplies? If you really like a card and can't determine what I used, you can always leave me a comment and as long as you give me a way to contact you, I will ALWAYS respond and answer your specific questions. Would that be okay with you? ...if there's even anyone out there that still reads my blog! :) Let me know your thoughts.

Hugs to you all... I hope you're having a glorious spring!
Michele

(it appears that my signature has been deleted... just something else for me to work on. *sigh*)

Valentine Treat Cups!

I SOOOOOO need to be in bed right now, but I made a couple Valentines for a niece and nephew tonight, and they are just too cute NOT to share RIGHT NOW! Both of them use the new Heart Shaped Treat Cups (you can find out more information on them here), as well as the Tall Tales DSP.

Okay, this first one is for my niece...

Isn't it just adorable?! Here is the inside...

I'll tell you more about that "trap door" in a minute. Next is the one I made for her brother:

Here's the inside of that one:

Now, in order to get the candy out, I have found that the simplest way is to make a little "trap door"... this idea came from my friend, Tiffany Bauer - a very talented stamper. Thanks, Tiff!

It's not hard to do... but it's way too late for me to go into detail. Tiffany has a video that you can watch, and I just slightly modified her idea. If you have specific questions, leave a comment with a way to contact you and I'll get back to you when it's NOT 12:23am. :)

I've got some more Valentine goodies to show you... hopefully I can do that BEFORE Sunday, but my mom is coming to town in a few days, so I'm on full house-cleaning alert at the moment. Can't wait to spend the week with her! I sure do miss her...

Okay... I'm off to bed. Sweet dreams!

Very Vintage

I had a wonderful time playing with the new Vintage Vogue set that is in the new Occasions Mini! Three of my nieces all have birthdays within a week of each other, so I just cranked them all out at once...

The one above is my favorite of the three... it uses an Old Olive and More Mustard color scheme with some Bordering Blue thrown in (I think that was the blue - I don't have the card anymore. Either that or Brocade).

This one (above) wasn't as vibrant as it looks in the photo - it really was nicer looking. It's a Pumpkin Pie, Cameo Coral, and Certainly Celery combo, with some Lovely Lilac (again, I think that was the color... I really must get these posted BEFORE I mail them out!).

Finally, this last one was Pale and Perfect Plum with Old Olive and Rose Red. The wheeled Very Vintage background showed up well on the Pale Plum.

Card Recipe:
Stamp Sets: Vintage Vogue, Very Vintage, Well Scripted
Ink: Colors listed above, plus Versamark
Cardstock: Colors listed above, plus Whisper White
Accessories: Flower Fusion, Rhinestone Brads

I'm Back...

Oh boy, what a holiday!! Yes, it's been over a month since I have posted... but we have been having so much fun! Skiing, Sledding, Snowboarding, Schooling, Swimming in Sulphur Springs... hmmmm, there's a pattern here... so why on earth hasn't there been any Stamping going on?!

Well, I have made a couple of birthday cards for my nieces, and I will show those to you in my next post. In the meantime, I need to catch you up on a few things!

First of all, the new Occasions Mini Catalog is in full swing! If you haven't received your copy, please let me know and I can get one out to you. Stampin' Up! just keeps outdoing themselves... this time, we get CLEAR STAMPS! Yippee!! I have had the opportunity to play with these, and I am hooked. All of my stamps from now on will be clear! Stampin' Up! really did this right... they wanted to be sure their clear stamps would provide the same quality images as the wood blocks, so they used the same foam backed rubber and designed it to stick to clear acrylic blocks! I promise you, the quality has not been sacrificed one bit! As an added option, you can afix a label to the BACK of your rubber stamp so it will show through the acrylic block. And storage... Oh, the storage is a dream!! The boxes are the same size as your typical DVD boxes! And as if that weren't enough reason to entice you to give them a try... how about this? They're CHEAPER than the wood mount! Of course, the wood mount stamps are not going anywhere... you just have a new choice from now on. If you haven't tried our clear stamp sets yet, give me a holler and I can help you pick one out with the appropriate clear blocks. Simply telling you about it can't do it justice...

I also need to let you know that we are smack dab in the middle of Stampin' Up!'s biggest annual promotion - Sale-a-Bration! This is the time of year when you get LOTS of freebies! For every $50 you spend, you get to choose a FREE stamp set! They've made it even better this year, because in addition to the new Sale-a-Bration stamp sets, they've also added a list of over 75 stamp sets from the main catalog of which you can pick and choose as your freebies! To view this list, click on the flyer at left and proceed to page 11. It is also a great time to become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, as you can enjoy a 15% discount on the starter kit and also receive an extra FREE set of your choice (valued up to $47.95) from the Idea Book & Catalog!

Moving right along, Stampin' Up! is doing their part to help the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. For every I {heart} Hearts stamp set they sell through the month of February (either wood OR clear), they will donate $2.00 toward relief efforts. This stamp set is adorable, and perfect for this time of year... and weddings, and anniversaries... so it's good all year round! Click on the flyer at left for more information.

Lastly - and I'm a little late in letting you know about this one, so hurry if you're interested because they are available only while supplies last - for a limited time, you can enjoy these Heart Shape Treat Cups! They coordinate perfectly with the new Sweetheart stamp set (click on the flyer at left to view full size) and the Full Heart Punch. Grab some padded envelopes (require extra postage) and send these out to your dearest Valentines! Look at the darling cards you can make:

Before I forget, I also have one more Ribbon Share available as well as two Accessory Shares. If you are interested, view this post for the details and contact me for payment information.

Okay, I think that's enough news for today... That's what I get for waiting a whole month to post! I hope you all had a tremendous holiday, are looking forward to a great football game next week, and have a chance to check out all of these great deals! Let me know if you have any questions at all.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!!

I want to wish every one of my readers a very Merry Christmas! I wish I had the time to send a card to each and every one of you... but because we're once again making homemade Christmas gifts (see this post for last year's), I'm afraid it would take me til next June to get all the cards out that I wanted! In any case, here is the card I made for our family and closest friends... I think I made around 85 or so:

The snow is our gorgeous Shimmery White cardstock. Can't see the sparkle in the photos, but it's there! As I mentioned before, this stamp is so perfect for our family... take a look:

Michael prefers the more "traditional" colors, so I also made some in Old Olive:

We are enjoying a truly white Christmas... something we rarely, if ever, experienced in Texas. In addition, we all went ice skating on the lake! That was a definite first for us! I hope that you spend the next few days joyfully celebrating our Savior's birth surrounded by those you love.

Card Recipe:
Stamp Sets: The More the Merrier (Level III Hostess), Many Merry Messages, Serene Snowflakes
Ink: Real Red, Bordering Blue, Old Olive, Versamark
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Old Olive, Shimmery White
Accessories: White Organza Ribbon

Share Preview!

I will be posting my Christmas card tomorrow, but I wanted to give everyone a heads up on the Shares I will be offering at the first of the year. For those of you who have had the opportunity to see the new Occasions Mini Catalog, I know you're just as excited as I am about all the FABULOUS things in it! Clear stamps, space saving punches, Easter & Valentine kits... just to name a few!

So let's start sharing! I can't accept money for these yet, but I can certainly take orders and then send an invoice after the new mini catalog goes live on January 5th. Here's what I'll be offering:

Paper Share:
Includes Sending Love Specialty, Shades of Spring, and Sweet Pea... 72 6"x6" sheets total.
$20 including Priority shipping

Ribbon Share:
Includes 3 yards each of all 9 colors of 5/8" Satin Ribbon.
(Basic Black, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla, Old Olive, and Basic Gray)
$25 including Priority shipping

Accessories:
Includes Sending Love Epoxy Brads: 2 each of 2 designs in all three colors (Pretty in Pink, Real Red, and Chocolate Chip) for a total of 12 pieces
Includes Corduroy Buttons: 2 each of 3 styles in both colors (Pretty in Pink and Real Red) for a total of 12 pieces
Includes Sweet Pea Stitched Felt: 2 three-petal flowers, 5 french knot circles, 4 leaves, and 2 six-petal flowers for a total of 13 pieces
$18 including Priority Shipping

If participating in all three, take $5.00 off total price.

If you are interested in participating in any/all of these shares, send me an e-mail indicating which one(s) and I will send a PayPal invoice on January 5th.

Get Well, Uncle Bill!

Oh my WORD! Is December REALLY half over?!! What happened? How come I don't have my Christmas cards in the mail yet?! I'm telling you, there really should be about two more weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas... don't you think?!

Although I've obviously been neglecting my blog, I promise you I have not been sitting on my rump. Somehow, homeschooling the boys, making Christmas presents, keeping up with laundry, cooking meals, getting the kids to swimming, music, juggling, and Scouts, and chasing a three-year old around seems to take up all of my time! Who'd of thought?

Okay, so I did have to put my busy life on pause the other night so I could make a card for my Uncle Bill who had open heart surgery last week. He's doing well and should be released from the hospital on Tuesday. Praise God! Here is the card I whipped up for him.

Nothing fancy... but I did wad up the stripe in back to age it a bit. I like that technique. Okay, I'd stay and chat, but there's about 3 baskets of laundry on the couch that won't fold itself, sticky dried up juice spills on the kitchen floor, a 10-year old wandering around instead of doing his schoolwork, the dog is ringing the bell to be let out, and I have about 50 people coming over this afternoon for a Birds of Prey presentation (no joke... heaven knows where they're all going to park)! :)

Card Recipe:
Stamp Set: Thoughts & Prayers
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Naturals Ivory
Accessories: Vintage brads
Tools: Cutter Kit, Modern Label punch, Designer Label punch

Really Red Christmas!

I apologize, this one was especially hard to photograph. But the basic idea is a "really red" card!

I added some clear rhinestone brads for bling, along with some silky smooth satin ribbon.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! We traveled back to Texas for the week and it was wonderful to visit with our old friends and neighbors... and my family, too! It was the DRIVE that we could've lived without... 15-16 hours straight through with 3 kiddos. Do you feel my pain?!

Card Recipe:
Stamp Set: Snow Swirled, Serene Snowflakes
Ink: Basic Black, Real Red, Versamark
Cardstock: Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: White Satin Ribbon, Clear Rhinestone brads

A Christmas Request

A friend of mine back in Texas asked if I could help her design a Christmas card. What an honor it is to be asked such a thing! I created a few for her - some of which you've seen - but this is the one she liked the best:

As you can see in the picture, the "ornaments" on the tree are done in silver so they sparkle a little bit.

I'm going to be "off the air" for a few days as we're traveling back to Texas for Thanksgiving! It will be my first time back "home" since we moved here in April! I'm excited to see several old friends... Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Card Recipe:
Stamp Set: Snow Swirled
Ink: Mellow Moss, Basic Black, Silver Encore
Cardstock: Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Whisper White Organza ribbon
Tools: Key Tag punch

The Quilts

I normally reserve this blog for Stampin' Up! stuff only... but I thought some of you might be interested to see what has kept me from you for so long! The move up here to the mountains has given me the quilting bug! It's a new hobby for me - and I needed a new hobby like I needed another hole in my head, but I have really enjoyed these projects. I am making quilts for the boys! They are sometimes called "rag quilts", and they consist of two layers of cozy flannel with some batting in between for our chilly nights.

This is the first one I made - it's for Morgan:

This next one is the one I made for Maddox:

I'm still working on Mason's (in my spare time - HA!!), but here is the fabric he and I picked out for it:

Fun, fun, fun! Sorry for you card-only folks... but this just goes to show you that there are so many great hobbies out there! Life's too short to have only one...

Special People...

Everyone has special people in their life whom they want to remember on special days... this is one such day for me. Today marks the birthday of my late high school sweetheart. Every year, I like to send a card to his parents to let them know they are on my mind. Here's the one I made for them this year:

This adorable acorn stamp is fun to layer with circle punches... but be sure to line them up just right so the letters look right - you see that the "g" gets split between the punches:

No more real secrets on this one, so I'll let the recipe speak for itself.

We miss you, Scott...

Card Recipe:
Stamp Sets: The More the Merrier (Hostess Level III), Woodgrain background
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Black StazOn
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Wide Grosgrain ribbon
Tools: 1-3/4" and 1" Circle punches, Horizontal Slot punch (for ribbon)

Even More Christmas!

Here is the card that my guys liked the best... I like it too, but it's not my favorite.

I really like this little snowman scene because there's 5 of them and 5 of us! Michael is the debonair one with the top hat, I get to be the cute one with the earmuffs, Mason looks like his daddy, Morgan has the silly Santa hat on, and Maddox is the chubby one down front! Isn't it perfect?!

The card I think I will use for Christmas actually has this same stamp on it... I'll show that to you soon.

Card Recipe:
Stamp Sets: The More the Merrier (Hostess Level 3), Serene Snowflakes
Ink: Black StazOn, Versamark, Night of Navy
Cardstock: Real Red, Night of Navy, Old Olive, Whisper White
Accessories: Whisper White Organza ribbon (I told you I LOVE this ribbon!)
Tools: Word Window punch

More Christmas Cards!

Here's another idea I came up with for Christmas... I really like it, but it's quite a bit of layering.

The image I used here is from Serene Snowflakes (one of my very favorite holiday sets this year), but it could be almost anything. And, I actually prefer it turned on it's side like this:

But with this snowflake, I think most people would be turning it upright (like the first picture). I'd need to use something that has a definite top and bottom if I wanted to have it sideways like this.

Anyway, I like this one quite a bit, so I'll probably make a few! (...I didn't even ask the guys if they liked it. I'm the one doing all the work, right? I should have the right to veto, shouldn't I?!)

Card Recipe:
Stamp Sets: Serene Snowflakes, Many Merry Messages
Ink: Real Red, Basic Black
Cardstock: Real Red, Basic Black, Naturals White
Accessories: Whisper White Organza Ribbon
Tools: Scallop Edge punch

Christmas Cards!

I've been making a lot of Christmas cards lately, trying to pick the one that I want to use. I'll start showing you the ones I've come up with so far over the next few days.

This was the first one I made, and I really like it, but the guys in my house didn't vote for it. It's actually a CASE of a card in the Holiday Mini - page 26. I love the soft look of it, but I suppose it was too soft for the men in my life!

I think they were leaning toward the more traditional Christmas colors, so I made another version of it in green...

...but they didn't go for this one either. :)

Ah well, I've got more! I'll be back soon...

Card Recipe:
Stamp Set: Serene Snowflakes, Christmas Greetings
Ink: Silver Encore, Versamark, Bordering Blue & Night of Navy (card #1), Mellow Moss & Always Artichoke (card #2)
Cardstock: Kraft, Shimmery White, Bordering Blue (card #1), Mellow Moss (card #2)
Accessories: Whisper White Organza Ribbon, Clear Rhinestone Brads
Tools: Corner Rounder punch