Scrapbook Calendar Class--Dec. 14

This class will be so much fun! You'll leave with a fantastic gift for friends or family members...they can fill with their own photos or you can fill it for them. Each page has one or two spaces for photos and each month is stamped with a seasonally appropriate theme. (I tried to upload more samples of months, but the pictures aren't cooperating tonight.) Plan to make a calendar to give away and one for you to keep! Calendars are $20 each...binding is separate...you can do it yourself at Staples or leave it with me and I'll have it done for you. Binding will cost approximately $4 and must be done when all stamping is complete. Class times are the usual...10 a.m. or anytime after 5 p.m. on Dec. 14. Please RSVP by Dec. 12.

Christmas Gifts--Stationery Boxes

Each stationery set comes in a decorated box that coordinates with the note cards. There are 8 note cards with envelopes in each box. You may choose the color that suits you best...it does not have to be one shown...you can choose any of Stampin' Up!'s 45 colors to stamp your cards and box. Just let me know your color choices when you RSVP. Cost is $8.

Christmas Gifts--Joy Banner

This Joy Banner is such an easy decoration to make! Secured to the wall with a Command Hook, it will make hanging and removing very simple. The background texture is just gorgeous...the picture doesn't do it justice! Cost is $8.

Christmas Gifts--Noel Tile and Come to Bethlehem Ornament

The Noel tile is the perfect blend of cute and whimsy! Colored in with Sharpie markers, this tile is EASY to make! Tile cost is $4. The ornament is SO sparkly in real life...it is stamped in Night of Navy and then heat embossed with Iridescent Ice. The round tab punch is used as the ornament hanger. Cost is $2.

Christmas Gifts--Snowflake Mugs

These beautiful mugs are decorated with the snowflake decor elements. Your choice of Cherry Cobbler or Night of Navy. The mugs are then filled with LOTS of Hershey Nuggets that have the coordinating color of stamped snowflake wrappers on them. Tie it all together with a ribbon in a cello bag and this makes a very nice gift! Cost is $10.

Christmas Gifts--Packaging

Need a special package for your gift? Here's the answer! Ornament and Snowflake bags are $1.50 each. The small envelope in the center is embossed with snowflakes and says "Merry Christmas" on it. Price is $1. It is the perfect size for a gift card. The cello bag contains a variety of self-adhesive tags. The price for the tags is $2.50.

Christmas Gifts--Candy Boxes

Choose from Santa, Rudolph or classy ornaments! Each box is $3. Santa and Rudolph have the choice of Reese's Pieces or Milk Duds. M&Ms must be ornaments. These are the large movie size boxes of candy.

Christmas Card Buffet Card #1

Christmas Card Buffet Card #2

Christmas Card Buffet Card #3

Christmas Card Buffet Card #4

Christmas Card Buffet Card #5

Christmas Card Buffet Card #6

Christmas Card Buffet Card #7

Christmas Card Buffet Card #8

Christmas Card Buffet Card #9

Christmas Card Buffet Card #10

Think Pink Follow Up!

Thanks to everyone who came to our card making fundraising class. We had a great time and Motorola matched the money we donated so it doubled our efforts. Here are the rest of the cards we made that day and a few pictures of Nikki on the walk. We drove over on Sunday morning and met her at a cheering station...it was really moving to see all the people (walkers and supporters) working together for a great cause!

Adventures with Orange Cake!

Have you ever bought an orange cake mix in a grocery store? If so, I need to know which one and how long ago that might have been. I'm guessing it hasn't been in the last ten years...ask me how I know? Yep, I've driven to many grocery stores in Tarrant County and called even more and NONE of them carry orange cake. Who knew orange cake could be so hard to find? This adventure started when my good friend had a birthday and was going to celebrate without his favorite orange cake. I decided I'd make one and take it to him...well, after seaching a few stores I opted to try a recipe I had for strawberry cake, only substitute everything strawberry for orange. That cake turned out to be a DISASTER...it totally fell apart, which didn't really surprise me because when I made it as a strawberry cake it did the same thing. (A sidenote...this did end up being a happy disaster because I turned the hideous cake into orange/dark chocolate cake balls...yes, they were good!!) I wrote on top of the recipe card "this recipe is crap" so I won't make the mistake of making that one again. So, off I went again looking for a box for an orange cake mix...he has assured me they were sold in stores. Still couldn't find it. Chris ended up looking on Amazon.com and found they sold them in sets of six, but now it was too late...I had to use a white cake and orange extract...LOTS of orange extract. But, the good news is, the cake (actually I made cupcakes...I wanted to have a taste test before delivering!) turned out great. It was fun to see my Castleberry friends...hard to believe I was pregnant with Laura when I quit teaching there. And, since this is a stamping blog, I thought I'd show you the tag I put on top of the cupcake box. The stamp is from Crazy for Cupcakes, and I colored it in using a new In Color Peach Parfait, Blush Blossom, and Bashful Blue. Enjoy...and if you know where to find orange cake mixes, let me know...I don't need it now, but am still curious! :)

"Think Pink" Year 2

"Think Pink" was a fundraising class I did last year to support my good friend Nikki's efforts to raise money for her walk in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3 Day. It was so successful that she and I are teaming up again for Think Pink 2. Come to the class and make 6 cards for a variety of occasions all with plenty of PINK! We are also making every guest a gift just as a "thank you" for coming and supporting her. Nikki's providing the snacks and everyone who knows Nikki knows what fabulous treats she makes...you might want to come just for the food! The class is on Monday, Oct. 25 at 10 a.m. or anytime after 5:00. Cost is $30...higher than a normal class because it is a fundraiser! Please RSVP by Saturday, Oct. 23.

10 Minute Cards Class--Thursday, Oct. 21

Finally! I know many of you have been asking if you missed the Fall Schedule of stamping events, but you haven't. I've just been crazy busy with lots of other things going on, but believe it or not, I've finally got a card class together! I love this one because it focuses on the NEW colors that Stampin' Up! introduced in the latest catalog. The colors are rich and vibrant and really fun to stamp. Come to the class and you'll fall in love with these new colors! Details: Thursday, Oct. 21 at 10 a.m. or anytime after 5:00. Cost is $17. Please RSVP by Tuesday, Oct. 19 so I can have all the supplies cut and ready. Looking forward to stamping with you soon!

Baby Elizabeth

I made birth announcements for my sister this summer. We had professional family photos done at Picture People and this one was so perfect of Andrew and Elizabeth it made me redesign the whole card! The front is a very simple design...just a dandelion stamped in the background and the "E" with a taffeta ribbon tied around it. The inside has the photo and all the info with a "sweet baby" scalloped oval on the top. My sister was very pleased with them, and I was happy to make them for her! And, for the record, Elizabeth is a VERY sweet baby!

Summer Fun!

I'm sorry it has been so long since I've posted anything. My goal is to post more often now that th girls are back in school. Here's a quick recap of why I didn't post anything over the summer...we were too busy having FUN! Hope your summer was great too!

More Teacher Gifts--Friday

So, this was my FAVORITE day...it was "bring a flower". I didn't want to send a live flower...who knew if they'd have a place to put it, and I didn't want to send a plant...too hard to know if they even liked plants. Plus, I couldn't really see the girls getting on the bus looking like florists delivering flowers. So, the next best thing is card stock!! I stamped daisies on the fronts of note cards, made matching envelopes, and used floral tape to wrap the flower stem around the base of an ink pen. It's all tied together with matching curly ribbon. It made for a quick and easy gift all the while accomplishing the requirement to "bring a flower"!

More Teacher Gifts--Thursday

Thursday was "bring a drink" day. We fixed the drinks with some salty snacks and tied it all up in a cello bag...except for Mrs. Webster's...her salty snacks (chips) were too big for the cello bags.

More Teacher Gifts--Wednesday

The girls had to draw a picture for the teachers for Wednesday's gifts. You wouldn't believe how many rough drafts it took to get these pictures done.

In another note, notice the girls' hair...ugh! NEVER, EVER go to Great Clips 15 minutes before closing on a Saturday evening. Laura's simply got whacked off about 2 inches shorter than we intended. Ellen's got cut completely lopsided...one side was a full inch and a half longer than the other. The back of Ellen's was supposedly "layered" but it looked more like it was weed-whacked. For the record, it wasn't my idea to get their hair cut at that time...I had said we'd wait until Monday, but they begged. :(

More Teacher Treats--Tuesday

Tuesday was "snack day" for teachers. I loved putting together these gifts. It was like a scavenger hunt to try to find all the different candies that either had chocolate/mint or chocolate/caramel and/or coconut. YUM! And, of course, I had to make special boxes or wrappers or toppers for the packaging. It was lots of fun!

More Teacher Gifts--Monday

In addition to what we did from the PTA for Teacher Appreciation Week, each day was something different for kids to do for their teachers. Here's the card I used for Monday, which was "write a note to your teacher." I wrote all three of the girls' teachers notes...we have the BEST teachers this year. Both Ellen and Laura love school, look forward to going each day, and are learning lots...what more could you ask for?!?!

Teacher Appreciation Week continued

On each day of Teacher Appreciation Week, in addition to the food treats, we also had a hand-stamped gift for the teachers. By the end of the week they had a whole assortment of office supplies that all color coordinated.

Monday--flower paper clips

Tuesday--note pad and matching pen

Wednesday-- binder clips

Thursday--animal crackers in cute box (no office supplies)

Friday--note cards with matching envelopes

Teacher Appreciation Week

As many of you know, Teacher Appreciation Week was a busy time for the Sendera Ranch PTA! Here are a few of the projects we did for the teachers. We started out on the Friday before handing out "suitcases" with itineraries of each of the activities that would be happening. You can see the Creamy Caramel suitcase with the personalized luggage tag in the open and shut view. Then, the other images that are around it are what was in the pocket. Our theme was travel and we sent the teachers on a journey to Hawaii (smoothies), France (croissants for breakfast), Mexico (luncheon with Mexican food), Africa (safari of animal crackers), and Italy (pizza party). I think the teachers loved each and every day!

Challenges!

Just for fun, during National Scrapbooking Month, I thought I'd try posting some challenges to see if anyone wanted to play along! If you make a card or page, be sure to take a picture and email it to me, so I can see what great work you did. Now, of course, I'd LOVE it if you used only Stampin' Up! supplies, but I understand there are other products out there. :)

Week of May 3: Color Challenge: Use a combination of blue and yellow. This can be any shades of blues (Bashful, Brocade, Ballet, Brilliant, etc...) and yellows (Summer Sun, So Saffron, Barely Banana, etc...). These are my two favorite colors, so I'm sure these cards and pages will be beautiful!

Week of May 10: Design Challenge: Scallops are trendy and IN right now! Use scallops somewhere in your design...punches, dies, squares, circles, borders...whatever works!

Week of May 17: Image Challenge: Butterflies are fun! Plan to play along and stamp or die cut a butterfly to place somewhere on your card or page. Stampin' Up! has lots of butterfly images to choose from.

Week of May 24: Sentiment Challenge (for Cards): This is an easy one! Make a birthday card!!
Photo Challenge (for Pages): Make your focal point with a 5" by 7" photo and add extra photos or embellishments around it. This is one of my favorite scrapbooking techniques.

Have fun playing along!

Holiday Blitz 6" by 6" Scrapbook Pages

Holiday Blitz is such a versatile set! There are images for EVERY occasion in this set. I previously used it to make a variety of cards, now I'm using it for scrapbook pages. These 6" by 6" pages cover all sorts of holidays and would be perfect for a small year long memory book. These pages are adorable by themselves or would work great layered onto larger pages. The class is $20 and will be on Thursday, May 13 at 10 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m. Let me know if you need to make more than one set. Please RSVP by Tuesday, May 11.

Happy Bday 2U 6" by 6" Scrapbook Class

Hey Scrapbook Friends! This one's for you! Here are two samples of a 6" by 6" brag book that's all about birthdays! This class will run at the same time as the All About Birthdays card class on May 19--you can do both, if you want! Cost is $20. Please let me know as soon as possible if you can attend. I need to order the kits! These 6" by 6" pages make great brag books for a single event or layer onto a 12" by 12" spread for an easy focal point.

Some of the colors (Brocade Blue and Crushed Curry) in this book are retiring soon so I'm pretty sure this fun kit won't be available in the new catalog. Please let me know if you'd like to attend.

All About Birthdays Samples--Finally!

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get these birthday card class samples done. Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week and I'll begin posting what I've been working on...I think you'll understand why the birthday class took so long to get done!

The All About Birthdays class is on Wednesday, May 19 (morning or evening) and I have to move up the RSVP date to ASAP because I have to order supplies. Some of the cards are done with the Happy Bday 2U Simply Scrappin' kit. I realized that with the major color renovation I wasn't going to be able to use this kit after July, so I thought I better get the class done! The other cards that are part of this class are mini (3 by 3) cards using Bitty Birthday and then there are six fun tags that use Party Hearty and Crazy for Cupcakes. It's a great class to get stocked up on birthday necessities! Cost is $20. Please let me know ASAP if you can attend.

Office Accessories Class--Monday

The fun and trendy office supplies class is Monday, and I still have supplies available for a few more people. Call me or email ASAP if you'd like to attend. It's all this plus extra folders for $30. It would be a great gift or a way to totally redo your desk. I know whenever I get new office supplies it MAKES me want to organize!

Fox and Friends!

It's the last few weeks of the Occasions Mini! Don't miss this fun stamp set with all the cute animals. I got it because Ellen really liked it (yes, my girls stamp with me lots of the time!), but I have really come to love these sweet images too. This set is on page 31 of the mini and is available in wood ($18.95) or clear
$14.95).