Cards in the Mail--Out on a Limb!

Out on a Limb is such a cute stamp set from the Holiday Mini! I'm using it for my Cards in the Mail card kit for the rest of Sept and early Oct. You order the stamp set and for an extra $10, I will provide all the consumable ingredients to make 8 cards (four of each of two designs). I will have your card stock cut to the right size and textured if necessary (you can see the web design behind the owl and the dots under the witch). You need to own just a few basic stamping supplies. If you are a beginning stamper, this is a great way to get started on owning some basic supplies and being able to complete a project right away! Please let me know if you need more information.

10 Minute Cards Class--Wednesday, Oct. 12

Create 10 cards, each taking 10 minutes or less to recreate! These are a variety of occasion cards, with a fall theme. If you'd like more than one set of cards, just let me know when you RSVP. This class is on Wed., Oct. 12 at 10 a.m. or anytime after 5 p.m. The cost is $20 for 10 cards. The RSVP date is Oct. 10.

Halloween Class--Oct. 4

No tricks, only treats at this class! Create four Halloween-themed cards, three treat containers, one double page 12" by 12" scrapbook layout and a 12" by 12" home decor item. (The frame is not included.) Cost is $20 and the class date is Tuesday, Oct. 4 at either 10 a.m. or anytime after 5 p.m. Please RSVP prior by Sunday, Oct. 2 so I can have all your supplies cut and ready for you! I'd love for you to join me for some Happy Halloween stamping!

Designer Paper Wreath

Stampin' Up! has a new product called the Simply Scored Scoring Tool! It is AWESOME! It is marked every 1/8" for easy scoring and comes with three place markers and a stylus. It is $29.95. I used the new scoring tool to make these rosettes to put on this wreath. I have to give my good friend Paula credit for the design...didn't she do a beautiful job?!?! I have plans to make more of these wreaths for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Once you get them scored with the new scoring tool, they go together so quickly! It does take a lot of hot glue, though...see post below. :) My wreath is not entirely finished...I still need to add the bow and two more 5/8" Very Vanilla brads. I was so excited about having made it that I wanted to post it right away. I'll have another post when my order comes in and it is truly complete!

Crafting Tip of the Day

Here's some free advice: When you are crafting and you have covered all table space, take some time to clean up! No matter how tempted you are, DO NOT (I repeat DO NOT) use your knee as a surface to hot glue on. :) Yep, ask me how I know!!

Whoopie Pies!

We always do a fun treat for the teachers at the girls' school for the end of the first week. This year for something new and different we tried Whoopie Pies. They were a hit! We made five different kinds. I believe the red velvet with cream cheese filling was the favorite at the school. My personal favorite was the lemon cream!! I made the sign so everyone would know the flavors. It was fun to use the Bright colors with my Simple Letters alphabet dies and to make the border with my Tasteful Trim die cut for the Big Shot. If I had to take only one die cut to a desert island, it would be Tasteful Trim...I love it! It can take the place of most ribbons or can be a whole border on a 12" by 12" page. Thankfully I don't think I will be doing any desert island stamping anytime soon, but at least you know what I'd pack if I had to. Oh, and it would be nice to have a lemon cream whoopie pie on the island too. :)

Summer Scrapbook Pages

Here are some pages from a recent scrapbook class. I used stamps from the Summer Mini. I love to design pages and then find photos later to fill in. I actually have already filled these in, and it is very rewarding to just trim a few photos and have a full layout done! I'll post the finished pages soon...they look so cute with photos on them!

Back to School

It's been awhile since I've posted! I always have good intentions of posting daily, but I always fall short! The girls are back in school and I'm back to having quiet days around the house to craft. I've been busy...I've gotten lots of projects done lately...I'll go ahead and say that I'll post them on my blog and then I probably won't...ha ha!! Trust me, time passes so quickly that when I go to the blog and see that the last time I posted was several MONTHS back, I just can't believe it!





Enough about my shortcomings. Let's talk about these awesome photos from my good friend Mary Morris. She came up with the chalkboard/speech bubble idea. I made them, and then she took the photos. I got the best end of that deal! And, she's the ONLY one who can make Ellen smile like that! LOVE these photos!!

Strength and Hope Card Class--For a Good Cause!

Here are a couple more samples of cards that use the Strength and Hope stamp set. Strength and Hope is a stamp set that Stampin' Up! is donating $2 from every sale to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. I am having a class on July 26 using the set and all the profits from my class go to my good friend Nicole Young's fundraising efforts for her 3-Day Walk for the Cure. If you'd like to come to the class, please contact me immediately so I can get your stamp set ordered and here in time for the class!

45 Years Together continued

Here's the final gift all framed and ready to be given to my parents. (They loved it, by the way!) And here's a photo of Elizabeth...it was NOT her idea to hold the letter still and look at the camera. If you look very closely at her photo in the frame, you can see her dad's finger at the very bottom holding it straight and still. And, thank goodness for rapid burst photography...why didn't I have a camera that did that when my girls were little? Regardless of how she holds the "E" she is absolutely adorable!!

45 Years Together

My parents celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary in June. For a gift, I covered the letters that spell LOVE in Stampin' Up! bright designer series papers and took an individual photo of each of the kids. See the next post for the final gift (and why I had to take individual photos) ha ha!!

You Make Me Feel...

Here's a photo of my sister and me with our birthday cards (see previous post for details). I have countless funny stories about us, but this photo reminded me of one of my favorite memories. Please notice that Julie is quite a bit taller than I am...this is KEY to this story! One time, Julie came up and stood next to me and said, "You make me feel so tall." and I responded with "You make me feel so pretty!" I'm certain I understand now why she picked the card that she did.

Julie's Birthday Card

So, way back in December, I got this birthday card from my sister. I decided at that moment that I was going to send her the same card, only I was going to make it...because...of course, I make cards! So, after three hours of intense cutting, here is my birthday card for her. She didn't remember the card she had sent, but thankfully I remembered to bring it with me to remind her. By the way, the inside of the card reads: "Sisters teach us that." Yes, you CAN still love them. :)

Andrew's Birthday Card

My sweet nephew turned 5 this summer. I made him this card with the cute Fox and Friends stamp set. I love these monkeys, and of course, the Big Shot #5 helps make this card super simple!

Church Welcome Bags

I'm a sucker for flower stamps...always have been! These are all old Stampin' Up! stamps that have been retired for years, but are still beautiful! I really enjoyed making these bags for the bread ministry at my church. When you visit St. Paul, sometime during the following week a church member brings fresh baked bread to you in one of these bags. There's also some info about the church. We really like for people to feel welcome. If you'd like one of these bags, I know how you can get one. :) My favorite one is the hydrangeas...followed closely by the daisies...and that Tasteful Trim die cut just finishes them off perfectly!

Summer Mini Open House!

This is the "open and closed" version of a twist card we are making Tuesday evening at my Summer Mini Open House! This stamp set is called Touch of Kindness and when I saw these super sweet and whimsical images, I knew I'd have to have it! This Summer Mini is FULL of fun products...come over and check them out! The Open House is Tuesday, June 21 anytime after 5. I DO need you to RSVP as soon as possible so I have plenty of supplies cut and ready. This event is FREE! (And, BONUS...I do have the new 2011-2012 new catalogs...however, this IS NOT a NEW CATALOG Open House, but of course I will share!!) Come stamp with me! Hope to see you Tuesday evening!

Happy Flag Day!

Good Morning! It's Flag Day...and that is my FAVORITE holiday! Why Flag Day, you ask? It's because it is a totally low maintenance holiday...you don't have to prepare a meal, wrap a gift, or send a card...but...if you see a flag flying, it looks nice and you can enjoy it! Now, don't get me wrong, I do LOVE lots of other holidays!! This year, we actually did work at celebrating Flag Day...we finally have a flag flying outside! I couldn't be happier! And, thanks to the wonderful Summer Mini, I made a flag card! Maybe later today I'll make one of those flag cakes...you know the ones with blueberries in one corner and strawberries making the stripes. It's going to be a great day! I hope you have a wonderful Flag Day too!

Strength and Hope Card Class--For a Good Cause!

Strength and Hope Card Class: Tentative Dates of Tuesday, July 19 or Tuesday, July 26...it will only be ONE or the OTHER; I'll let you know as soon as I know. Strength and Hope is a beautiful new stamp set that Stampin' Up! is donating $2 from the purchase of to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. I will donate 100% of my commission and the profit from the class to my good friend Nicole Young's 3 Day Walk for the Cure fundraising efforts. This is a great way to support a great cause in multiple ways! Here's how the class will work: You purchase the set and come over to make 6 cards with your stamp set. The set is yours to keep! Please RSVP prior to July 5 so I have plenty of time to get the order placed.

Choose one of the following:
• wood mounted set plus class fee is $31.38
• clear mounted set* (no block) plus class fee is $26.62
• clear mounted set* plus clear block "D" plus class fee is $36.74

*If you order the clear mounted set, you will need a block to make your set work.

Nicole and I would love for you to join us. It's fun to stamp for a cause!

Playful Polka Dots Card Class

Playful Polka Dots is a new Simply Scrappin' Kit in the Summer Mini! It has such bright and fun colors that it just called out to me to make cards with it! Someday I should actually make a scrapbook with one of these kits. :) The card class is offered Tuesday, July 12 anytime after 5; however I need RSVPs prior to June 28 so I have time to get the order in. Cost is $20. Plan to come...I'd love to have you stamp with me!

I'm STILL here!

I can't believe that 6 months slipped by and I haven't posted a single thing! Believe me, I've been creating...probably even more than usual. The last posts show Christmas events...well, Christmas wore me out and then I took January off from "business stuff" to concentrate on Ellen's birthday and get ready to start new classes in the spring. Our spring turned out to have some unexpected happenings and things just didn't get back on track. All of a sudden I had all sorts of stamping obligations for school, church, personal friends, etc and classes took a backseat to life in general! Thankfully everything is better now and I have a few events planned for the summer. And, I promise I will have a full line up of fun classes in the fall. In the meantime, plan to come over and stamp this summer. And, I will be posting ideas and projects from the last 6 months over the next few weeks. :)