Wishing You a Doggone Happy New Year!

Hi there and Happy New Year!  Hope you had a good time ringing in the New Year...nothing too crazy, though.  My granddog, Rocky, was freaking out with the fireworks.  Whenever he heard them, he'd stand by the front door and bark.  Such a good dog protecting me!  Speaking of dog, I have a dog card for you today.  (How about that segue?)  A similar card was given to me by a fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and friend, Diane Mikles.  The Top Note die was used as a backdrop, which was layered onto a background stamped with the bone image from Hot Diggity Dog.  His head and ears were made using the Decorative Label punch.  A combination of circle and heart punches were used for his face.  The final touch was a sentiment from the Lovely Amazing You set. 

That's it for today.  Have a great weekend and thank you so much for stopping in for a visit!

Bright and Beautiful & More

Hi there!  Sorry that I've been absent the last couple of days.  Been busy with other things called life.  Today I'm sharing samples from the Christmas Card Workshop our team hosted on two different days and locations.  The above card was designed by team member, Cheryl Renth.  She used the Bright and Beautiful stamp set from the Stampin' Up! 2014 Holiday Catalog.  Cheryl chose a rich color palette of Blackberry Bliss and Hello Honey. 

The next card is by Jayne Singleton.  She used a retired set, Come to Bethlehem, in Night of Navy.

Just the right amount of pizzazz was added with the Silver Glimmer banner and a rhinestone in the center of the star.  A stunning card in real life.

Punched out circles make up the tree for Kim Coulter's card.  She also added some bling by using Champagne Glimmer paper for some of the circles and the star.

The "Merry Christmas" stamp can be found in the Sassy Salutations set, which contains sentiments for several occasions in this same whimsical font. 

Who doesn't love snowmen?  Mary Taylor created this darling guy! 

Mary used the Top Note Bigz die for this adorable guy.  The Soft Sky background was textured with the Decorative Dots embossing folder, whereas, the Delicate Designs and Fancy Fan embossing folders were used on the hat. 

Sally Nusbaum's card was erroneously left out of my samples.  She used the Endless Wishes set.  I'll post her card whenever I receive it.  My card was in an earlier post that can be seen here.

That does it for this week.  Hope you have a great weekend and thanks so much for stopping in today!

Num - Num

Hi there!  Ready for a new week?  Hope you had a good weekend.  Mine was busy with our Card Buffet and having the granddaughter for the weekend.  A big thank you to all the ladies who came to our Card Buffet!  Mary Taylor and I appreciate your support!
My card share today is another swap from the Stampin' Up! Convention that Sally Nusbaum attended.  Sally was kind enough to bring them to the crop we attended after her return.  Sorry for the glare on all of her swaps.  I didn't want to remove from the protective cello envelope on the off chance of getting the card dirty.  Love this version of the Cookie Monster which pairs up perfectly with the Num-Num stamp set.  (You can find this set on page 17 of the 2014-15 Annual Catalog.)  It is a great set to dress up those packaged goodies, especially with the holidays just around the corner!  It appears that the 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch was used for Cookie's head and folded down part of the way after adhering a black semi-circle.  Circles were punched out for his eyes.  His "hands" were punched out from the Boho Blossoms Punch.  The sentiment was stamped, then punched out with the Decorative Label Punch.  The Topnote Die was used to cut out the black background, which is adhered to a Pacific Point card base.
Must get busy now to work on my swaps for the Demo Shoebox Swap that Sally has organized for us on Sunday.  Looking forward to the fun!  Thank you so much for stopping in today!

Mr Owl

Hi there!  Hope you had a wonderful weekend and stayed cool!  It's been so hot!  Good reason to stay inside and stamp, don't ya think?  Today I have some punch art for you - another Card Buffet sample.  Dawn Griffith posted the cutest owl on May 30, 2014 so I just had to CASE it!  Click on the link to watch her video here.  The only difference is the owl's eye color.  Thank you, Dawn, for the inspiration!

Must cut this short since I have tons to do!  The weekend was a busy one with our granddaughter here for the weekend, Club meeting on Saturday, and we still have the granddog for a week.  Thank you so much for visiting today!

Stamps: Inside sentiment = Stampers choice

Paper: Crumb Cake, So Saffron, Pistachio Pudding, Soft Suede, Black, White, Pumpkin Pie

Ink: Crumb Cake, White gel pen

Tools:  Heart Framelits, Top Note die, Bird Builder punch, 1” circle punch, 1-1/4” circle punch,

 1-3/8” circle punch, 1-3/4” Scalloped circle punch, 2-1/2” circle punch

Other:  Tombo liquid glue, foam brush, Dazzling Diamonds, sponges, Dimensionals

 

Top Note Grinch and Treats

Hi there!  Are ready to ring in the New Year?  Where did the year go????  Well, I'm gonna wrap up the year with one last Christmas card.  For several years I've wanted to make a Grinch card and this year it finally came to fruition.  My inspiration came from Chris Twing.  You can view her video here.

Thought I'd also share the treats received from the Christmas party that Sally Nusbaum organized but was cancelled because of snow.  Kim Coulter made these cute treat holders.  The Santa is a container of Tic Tacs and the other little goodie is a lip balm holder.  Aren't they adorable?! 

The last treat, one of which was given to our granddaughter, is a cello bag of cookies sporting some elf legs.  Grandma's cookies are even better when they're presented in a cute way don't ya think?

That's it for this year!  Have a safe and Happy New Year and as always, thanks for stopping in today!

Sally's Fall Regional

Hi there!  Hope you had a great weekend!  I sure did!  Saturday was an all day Demo event.  Stampin' Up! announced they were no longer having Fall Regionals.  Soooo...Sally Nusbaum being the organizer of previous local events for us Demonstrators, stepped up to the plate to plan a St Louis "Fall Regional".  It was FABULOUS!!!  The projects were awesome!  Of course, she had help from Cheyrl Renth, Jayne Singleton, and Kim Coulter designing projects and others helping with various tasks.  You know - it takes a village.  There was kind of an an owl theme with the decor, so Sally's team of helpers was affectionaly known as the "Hooter" girls.  lol  Everyone received the cute little owl bag above packed with treats.  Sally ordered them from Current found here.  This event was run a bit differently than those in the past.  The attendees signed up to bring a food item to share with the group, rather than have it catered.  Wow, we have some great cooks - lunch was the best and so much of it!  Yum!  OK, now for a look at some of the projects we made:

Cheryl had "Fall" so her projects were designed around that season.  The stamp set Truly Grateful used on this card can be found in the Holiday catalog.  Next we have a treat bag. The scarecrow is made from the Top Note die and Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper.

Isn't this adorable?  Love it!  This is what we had to put inside.  Cheryl already had this packaged for us.  The cello bag contains packaged apple cider mix, a cinnamon stick, and some candy corn to fix a warm drink on a chilly night.  (Click on the photo if you want to read the poem.)

See what I mean about the projects?  That's it for today.  Come back tomorrow for "Halloween" by Kim Coulter.  Thanks for stopping in today!

Neutral Note

Hi there! Another quick post.  I played in my stamp room over the Memorial holiday weekend. There were different components sitting on my desk so this kinda just came together.  You can't really see in the photo, but the card base has been stamped in Early Espresso with the same stamp as the focal piece.  Something just seemed to be lacking until I added the lines around the Top Note.  What a difference such a simple thing like that makes!

Stamp: Mixed Bunch
Paper: Early Espresso, White, Crumb Cake
Ink: Early Espresso
Other: Top Note die, Blossom punch, Boho Blossom punch, Itty Bitty punch pack, standard hole punch, Crumb Cake seam binding, 

That's all for now.  Thank you for coming by today!

Masculine Autumn Days

Hi there!  Probably by the time you read this, I'll be on the road to join my friends for our quarterly Girls Getaway retreat!!!!  We have such a good time!  Thought I'd better post a card today, just in case it doesn't happen the rest of the week.  lol  The card below was sent to my brother, who's birthday is on the 12th.  (No fear of him checking my blog.)  This was actually a swap received from Becky Whittemore and it's perfect for my brother.  He's very much an outdoorsy and sportsman type.  Colorado suits him. 

 

Stamps:  Autumn Days, Sincere Salutations
Paper: Soft Suede, Rich Razzelberry, Very Vanilla
Ink: Soft Suede, Rich Razzelberry, Versamark
Other: Top Note Die, Square Lattice embossing folder, clear embossing powder

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by today!
 

Creative Elements

Hi there!  I'm back...  Sorry for my absence.  It's been crazy and not looking like things will let up until after the holidays.  Today I hung out with my stampin' peeps so I'll share a card with you.  Hopefully, that will make up for my neglected blog!  lol  This will be short and sweet so I can get to bed.

I used the flourish from the Creative Elements set and stamped the Very Vanilla Top Note piece in Early Espresso.  Added some color with Stampin' Write markers (Old Olive, Cajun Craze, and Calypso Coral).  Sponged in some Soft Suede and Calypso Coral. The flowers have some Cajun Craze daubed in the ceters and penwork, too.  The flowers were cut out and popped up with dimensionals. The leaves are from the Bird punch.  The focal piece is adhered to a distressed Calypso Coral panel and  the card base is Old Olive.  OK, I'm off to bed.  Thank you so much or stopping in today.  Have a great weekend.!

August Stamp Camp Cards

Happy Monday to you!  Hope you had a great weekend.  I certainly did.
Took the trash out earlier and oh my gosh, what a gorgeous day!  Hope you get the chance to enjoy it.

Saturday I had a great group of Stampers and want to take this opportunity to thank everyone again for coming!  You gals are the best!
There were a few "situations" that had to be dealt with but everything worked out in the end.  Whew!

This first card is made from two sets that will no longer be available after Wed - Fabulous Florets and Swirls & Curls Verses.  So if you want these sets, order them now!  If you need a Demonstrator, please contact me at the information on the right side bar.

My friend, Laurie, suggested this card.  I thought it was a nice card... but after making my prototype, I LOVED it!  It ended up being my favorite.  Plus it will fit just about any occasion and it's relatively quick to assemble.  Thanks again, Laurie!

All Stampin' Up! supplies used unless otherwise noted.

Stamps: Fabulous Florets, Swirls & Curls Verses (Both sets only avail until Aug 31, 2011)

Paper: Black, White, Baja Breeze

Ink: Black, Baja Breeze

Tools: Top Note die, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, scissors

Other:  1/4” Black ribbon (non-SU), sponges/daubers, dimensionals, glue dots

Inspiration: Debbie Henderson  http://debbiesdesignsblog.blogspot.com  posted Jun 8, 2011

 

Moving on, the next card also showcases a set that will only be available until August 31st. This is Strength & Hope and SU! is donating $2 from the sale of each set to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  Not only is this for a worthy cause, it is also a beautiful set!

Dawn Griffith was the inspiration behind my card with a little tweaking of the layout.  Love the color combination she used!   

Stamps: Strength & Hope

Paper: White, Pacific Point, Old Olive

Ink: Pacific Point, Old Olive

Tools: Circle punches = 1-1/4” & 1-3/8”

Other:  Rhinestones

Inspiration: Dawn Griffith on www.dawnsstampingthoughts.typepad.com  posted May 4, 2011 

The third card is a birthday card made from the Petal Cone die.  I trimmed off the tab, then cut the cone in half.  The score line of the flap was placed at the 2" mark on the trimmer and the bottom sliced off to make a cupcake liner!  A separate piece of Crumb Cake card stock was run through the Big Shot to make the "frosting".

Stamps: Create a Cupcake, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper: White, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler

Ink: Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler

Tools: Petal Cone Die, crimper, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Dotted Ribbon Scallop border punch, 5/8” circle punch

Other:  Crystal Effects, dimensionals, Black marker, Signo white gel pen, acrylic block

Inspiration:  Diane J Ouellette on “Stampin Connection” April 28, 2011 (Sorry, this is a Demo only web site)

Don't forget to stock up on Designer Series Paper!  The DSP promotion - buy 3 packs, get 1 free also ends on the 31st.

Hope you enjoyed the little tour today.  I'll have the remaining cards tomorrow.  Take care and thanks for peeking in today!