Have you Seen IT?!

Folks, I'm telling you, this new Holiday Catalog is sooooo good!  My bank account is already feeling the sting! =-)  If you don't have a copy you need to let me know so I can get one to you!!

There are so many cool things in it that I can't even pick a favorite.  However, I know you are going to want one of these:

               

It's the new Take Your Pick tool found on page 30 in the Holiday Catalog and oh my goodness--this picture does not do it justice!  If you have trouble picking up small items then this tool is for you--but wait!  There's more!  Check out this video......

Pretty impressive isn't it?  I know I won't have to pack as many tools when I travel and craft now!  It's one of the first items I bought from the catalog.....along with just  a few other things....Ha!
If you want this tool let me know--it's item #144107 and the cost is $10.  Let me know and I can add it to an order!  Until next time!  Happy stamping!
                                                            

Summer Truths

It's been a tough summer......
As a teacher I always make this humongous "to do" list in May--then life happens.  This summer was no different, but life happened in a bigger way than expected.  First my dad became gravely ill and I spent half of June in Indiana (he's recovering nicely). Here he is with my youngest son and grandson.

Then we moved my father in law into an assisted living apartment for memory care which was super tough and continues to be so.  Finally in August, right before the school year started up again, my dearly loved sister in law died post surgery (a liver & kidney transplant).

A week later my 4th grandchild was born--Avery Ellen.  What a joy in the midst of sorrow!

Needless to say--I haven't had a lot of time to stamp, but for me, when I do have the time to create it brings me such satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment!

Here are a couple of cards that I demonstrated during the summer:

Welcome back Poppy Parade--and even though I initially thought I could live without this stamp set I am really loving Abstract Impressions found on page 129 in the Annual Catalog.

Of course I had to demonstrate some of the cool things you can do with the Stamparatus!  Loving my rainbow heart wreath that I made using the heart from Wood Words fun on page 162 in the Annual Catalog.  Hopefully as things settle I'll be back to share more.....

                                                           Keep stamping my friends!   Dawn

Quick Note....

Wow--I was on a roll in mid-April and then my uncle died and we were out of town for a long weekend, followed by being gone for birthdays and suddenly it was May and May is the crazy month for me with the end of the school year and all of the extra work that entails.  Anyway--I thought I'd share some of the stuff that I have created between my last post and now to tide me over until I have time to create again!

Our public library was generous enough to invite all the teachers in McPherson to come and get any books we wanted from their All School's Day Book Sale--for free.  I got a big stack of great books!
This card is sort of what I looked like carrying all my books out to the car!  It uses a new hostess set from the upcoming catalog called "Hand Delivered."  I colored it with my Blends which made it easy peasy to create!

Have a great day!    Dawn

A Fond Farewell...

Pieces and Patterns from the annual catalog was one of the first sets I purchased along with its matching designer paper.....and I never got one thing stamped with it until now when it's close to retiring.  I hate when I do that!

I started my first card and realized when I was done that I didn't even use a stamp from the set....I got the sentiment from No Bones About It.  Another retiring set.  This card took a lot of fussy cutting!

Then I started the next card and realized I still didn't use the stamps from the set!  I guess I was into fussy cutting tonight!

Then I tried to use the stamps....

This is somewhat cased from the catalog and Lilybet's Papers (found it on Pinterest).

The last card involved some embossing and for the life of me I couldn't get it to look right....

All in all....meh.  Not really impressed with my stamping tonight, but tomorrow's another day!  =-)

Have some stamping fun!  Dawn 

Farewell Tour--Day 1!

So...it’s been a loooooong time since I’ve done a blog post...no excuses.  There are only so many hours in a day and something had to give.  However, I’m going to give it a go again (I’m always more motivated after OnStage) along with posting to my FB business page too.  If you haven’t liked my page yet –and I don’t blame you if you haven’t but please head over to Facebook and give it a like so you can see what’s happening in my stamping world! 

The new catalog is coming in June.  June 1, 2018 to be exact and I hate to admit it, but I have a ton of stamps that are retiring without getting to experience that sweet smell of ink (I really don’t know if the ink has a smell, but it sounded good).  In an effort to rectify that situation I am having an “Hasta la Vista” tour starting today with the stamp set "Grown with Love" found on page 22  of Stampin' Up's annual catalog.  This is also available as a bundle and has some really cute framelits to go with the stamp set.

•Who doesn’t love this little red wagon?  And how cute is that little heart sign?

This is on a note card.  I colored the veggie and wagon stamps with my markers.  Cut them out and layered them on a black stitched square framelit on a square of lemon lime twist.

•The next card is also notecard sized and features the watering can with flowers.

I shaded it a bit with my smokey slate blends and added wink of Stella which you can't tell in the picture.  The flowers are sweet sugarplum a retiring color.  I couldn't resist adding that cute little heart tag from the Basket of Flowers that was a recent SAB set. 

•The last card I made featuring this set is full sized and uses the pot with the other bouquet of flowers in the set.  I used dapper denim--another retiring in-color.

This is a great set and if you want it and/or the bundle you'd better snatch it up asap!  I'll be back soon with my next retiring set.  

Happy Stamping!

                Dawn

August Crafting....

August is typically a crazy time for me....getting my classroom ready and planning for the first days of school after returning from our lake vacation (usually).  I totally cased all the cards for my August parties--but then again, I usually case a lot anyway. Ha!  I do so appreciate the creativity of others!

Here are the cards we made:

This was cased from Erica Cerwin and uses the framelits and stamps from the Colorful Season bundle fount on page 147 in the Annual Catalog.

These 4 cards were a sample of what you can make with the Label Me Pretty bundle on pg. 27 of the annual catalog and the Petal Garden designer series paper found on pg. 187 of the annual catalog.  I totally cased all of these to a certain degree from klompenstampers.com.

The daisy punch is finally back in stock so I can demo it!!  The bundle can be found on page 127 of the annual catalog.  You know when I first saw this set in the catalog I was pretty ho hum about it, but oh my have I seen some gorgeous stuff made with it!  The coordinating designer series paper is one of the prettiest in the catalog in my honest opinion.  This was cased from Janet Wakeland I believe.  The thanks greeting is from All Things Thanks found on page 129 in the annual catalog.

Now I'm heading to my stamp room to prepare for my upcoming September parties and get things cut out for a women's retreat that I'm helping with.  Fun, fun, fun! (I mean that with NO sarcasm)--I really do love having time to create!

Let me know if I can help you in any way or if you'd like to host a party!  

Keep stamping!   Dawn

The School Year begins...

My summer plans were to clean out my basement, stamp and blog....and that was it....until June 15 when I got a call to inform me that I was going to have to move my classroom.  Yep---my classroom filled with 26 years worth of "stuff." When I was asked to move I got very quiet on the phone....and was asked if I was there.  I just had to take a pause as I was watching my summer plans fly out the window.  I spent the rest of the summer doing a little vacationing and a lot of packing and unpacking and organizing.

I did to a bit of stamping for my 2 groups that meet monthly....here is one of the cards that I shared (most were totally cased and I'll try and give credit!)

This card was inspired by one that I saw on Chic 'n Scratch.

Really to love the "This Little Piggy" set and can't wait to do more with it!

Happy New Year--Stampin' Up Style!

Today is the first day of our new catalog and oh my, I can't tell you how excited I was to have it finally go live!  I sent in an order the minute I could today because I couldn't wait to get my hands on this adorable pig set called This Little Piggy-(and maybe a few other items!)

I held 2 Open Houses on May 30 and 31 to try and get the catalog in the hands of those who were really dying to get it!

Click Here to See the catalog online!

If you don't have one yet--let me know and I'll try and get one in your hands!!

At the Open House, I had a little goody bag for each person attending, plus a drawing for some extra Sale-A-Bration stamp sets and items that I had from last year along with 3 of the new in-color stamp pads.  We also had a make and take featuring the 5 new in-colors which I think are pretty awesome this year!  The card also used the new Happy Birthday thinlit.  This was totally cased from Rachel Brumley.  Loved it and how it showcased the new in-colors!

Sorry for the shadows and poor picture quality...it's late and I'm ready for bed.  I have 2 grandkids staying with me for a few days and they are keeping me hopping!

Happy Stamping!!     Dawn

  

April Fun

So much stamping fun has happened this month!  In early April I drove to OnStage in Shreveport, Louisiana with Molly (a demo friend from Wichita).

I had a fabulous time and came home with a lot of stampin' goodies!  I took a ton of pictures....what fun seeing all the gorgeous samples made by such talented stampers.

This is just 1 section of the "Swap Board" which happens to include my 2 swaps.  

 This card uses the Dragonfly Dreams set and was inspired by a card made by Michelle Last.  My next card was supposed to be my swap, but I only got a couple of them made....here's what it looked like...with all those pieces already cut out I'm guessing it might become a make and take in the near future!  Ha!

Oh my goodness, my friends....wait until you see the new catalog!!

 I'm just going to tell you-- I can't wait to get my hands on so much stuff!  It is awesome!

After a full day of Stamping' Up fun a few of us (90) joined Erica Cerwin (Pink Buckaroo Stamping) and Kay Cogbill for and "After Party" of stamping using the Cool Treats stamp set.  Such fun!  Kay came around giving out door prizes and thought I was sitting by my sister.....

...but we'd just met that night!  I guess you could say we were stampin' sisters!

I love being a Stampin' Up demonstrator!  You meet the greatest people (while having fun) and you get a discount on all the great stuff in the catalog!  WIN-WIN in my book!

My Poor Neglected Blog

I had a friend and fellow demonstrator ask me in November if I was still a demonstrator...."uh, yes, " I replied, "why do you ask?"  She responded with, "Well, I've been checking your blog and you haven't posted in so long I wondered..."

Uh-oh--better get on it I thought (and yet here it is 2 months later).  It's not like I haven't been stamping--I just haven't been stamping regularly due to my busy-ness with school this year. So here's a quick catch up of some of my holiday cards that I have made with my stamping groups over the last few months--at least the ones that I took pictures of before I sent off in the mail!  Ha!

I loved this sweet angel....if you like her maybe she'll be on the clearance rack soon!  =-)

The goal is to be a bit more "bloggy" so I'm going to try!  I have a lot of pictures that I took  before Christmas that I can post while I'm playing with my new Occasions goodies!

Fruit Crate Fun!

Today I'd like to share a cute project that we did at a recent stamping party. It has a lot of steps, but the end result is worth it!
If you look closely at the Fruit Stand Suite as introduced on page 148 you'll see the adorable little paper fruit crates that were created!

Here's my version:

I went on YouTube and watched a couple of tutorials and then adapted them to what I wanted to do--create a little card carrier!  I narrowed mine from the tutorials and widened it just a touch so my cards would fit inside it.
•I cut my Kraft cardstock (#133674) to 2 1/2  by 7 1/2 and scored with the long side up at 1 7/8--flipped it and scored the other side also.  This created the sides of the crate.
•I cut 4 slats at 3/4 by  4 1/4 and scored each of those at 1/4 inch on both sides to create little flaps to attach them.
•I then stamped the crate sides and slats using my Hardwood stamp (#133035) and Soft Suede ink.  I sponged the edges to age it and make it look a little more "woody."
•Punch your handles in the sides- I used the retired small oval punch --the word window (also retired) or the new Classic Label punches were too wide to look good when I narrowed the box.  **If you attach the slats you may not be able to punch out the handles.
•Fold on your scoreline and add Tear and Tape (#138995) to the 1/4 inch scored parts on the slat pieces.  Fit them into the crate and attach to the sides starting at the bottom (matching up the sides and not leaving much of a space on the bottom of the crate) then add the top slat matching it up to the top of the box.  Do the other side.
•Add your doily and a piece of Fruit Stand DSP cut at 2 1/4  by 2 1/4.  The doily and DSP are folded in half and glued on the front of the crate.

I reinterpreted an idea presented at the last SU convention that used the note cards (#131527) cut in half.  Here's what I did:
•I folded the card on the scoreline and cut it in half at 2 1/2" and then keeping each folded trimmed off about 1/8" from the bottom of each card.
•I then cut the envelope in half, sealed the flap and punched a 1/2 oval with my retired small oval punch on the opening side so the card can easily get in and out of the envelope.
•I stamped and decorated the cards with the Fresh Fruit stamp set (#141770).  I stamped 3 strawberries/tops using Watermelon Wonder and Cucumber Crush ink on a scrap of whisper white cardstock and cut them out and also stamped one strawberry & top on each card.
•I used my Wink of Stella (#141897) to jazz the strawberries up a bit, added some strips of Fruit Stand DSP (#141660), a cute bow out of Whisper White Baker's twine (#124262), curled the ends with my scissors and BAM!  You have 2 cute little cards to tuck into a present or slip into someone's mailbox at work.
•I just attached an extra strawberry or 2 onto toothpicks with glue dots and added a sign- the words "For You" are from the Jar of Love set.

If you'd like to order any of the supplies needed to create this project you can go here and get started!

Summer + Stamping = Much Needed Therapy

Imagine my surprise dear friend (s)--I hesitate to think that there may be only 1, perhaps 2 followers, who will be reading this since I've been such a pitiful poster.  No excuses....just the fact that when life is busy something has to give--and my blog was it!

I'm anxious to start creating and posting projects with the awesome products from our new 2016 - 17 catalog.  My upline and I hosted a "New Catalog" party this past week--here's the make and take that I had for my stamping friends--a little 3 x 3 card using the "Pop of Paradise" stamp set....so cute!  The little pineapple is adorable--and really trendy right now!

The pineapple is stamped in one of our new in-colors--Flirty Flamingo.  Gotta love the names of the colors don't you?  Ha!  What a fun job it would be coming up with them!

I'm trying to determine a regular blogging schedule to get into this summer and hopefully maintain....so you'll be hearing from me again sooner than 4 months!

New Year....New Start

Every year I find myself making a resolution that I will do a better job at posting to my blog on a more regular basis....only to get caught up in work and a busy schedule....forgetting to take photos and post here.  Perhaps this year will be better....

Ha!  I wrote this post in January and I'm now getting ready to finally post it....in late February.  How can I be so busy??  My husband says I need to put "no" in my vocabulary more often.  Ha!
So here's to catching up!!

Here are the cards that I started off the year with for my January Cards and Cake Party......

We started with a concertina card---I believe I had some posts about those about a year and a half ago--they really make special cards, but take awhile to create!

This is the card open.  Go back to this post to get my links to a tutorial and site where you can put in your dimensions and make your own "box envelope" for this card.

Our second project was a fancy fold called a 6 fold card.  I got the tutorial for it here from Dawn Griffith.  The card I made was for my granddaughter's 3rd birthday.

I used a lot of retired paper and the stamp set with the owls--but also used the set  "Number of Years" from the Occasions catalog with it's matching framelits.  There was actually a 3rd project--a triangle box, but most people didn't get to it since the 2 cards were a bit time consuming!  I'll post the box and direction link next time!

The cake was yummy --and Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cake---so moist and tasty--even though I messed up the frosting, leaving out the evaporated milk and vanilla.  Here's a link to the recipe I used if you want to try it!

                                                   Happy Stamping!    Dawn

Fall and Christmas Card Time!

I met with our fun group of Hillsboro Stampers a week ago and we did a little bit of fall and a little bit of Christmas!  I showed a quick Christmas card using Wondrous Wreath that I saw on a youtube video by Brandy.  I love this set and its matching framelits.  Then I showed how to make your own stamp pad with a baby wipe and ink refills to make a gorgeous fall card with this set--it is so versatile!  See this post for a link to a video showing this technique and similar card.

Oops...it looks like my dazzling details got a bit smushed in my travels....=-)

I stamped the greeting a bit crooked....just makes it homemade--right?

The make and takes that we did included the card above which uses the crumb cake notecards and this quick and easy card in lost lagoon that uses Flurry of Wishes.

What I loved most about this make and take was the individual style that each person added to their card.  Some turned it to landscape position, others added rhinestones and no snowflake element....I loved them all!  I got this card design/idea from Sandi McIver.

Our last project is a gift card/money holder made out of a standard envelope.  We used the "Oh What Fun" stamp set and a tutorial that I received from Chic'nScratch in a e-mail.  I believe she has a tutorial for it online also if you search on youtube.

Happy Stamping!   Dawn