GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME

Hi All! I can't tell you enough how much appreciate all the love and support I have received from all of you as I travel this very bumpy road. Life has been hard these last two months, but each day things get a little bit easier. I am focusing on my children right now as my son will graduate high school this year, and I want him to remember all the good things about this year, and not what is happening right now. So, I am neck deep in prom plans, graduation night, his 18th birthday, and plans for his future. My daughter is struggling and we are at odds a lot, but I am confident that with the passing of time, she will adjust because she knows I love her and I will always be here for her. I have just had knee surgery to fix the problem that happened a year ago, so I am off my feet for six weeks! So, I have been doing some stamping, and I am hopeful that I will start posting some fun things for you soon. I felt that I had lost all of my mojo, nothing seemed to turn out right and I have lots of card stock in the trash can, lol! BUT, I managed to eek out a few cards and that makes me smile again. I am facing several court dates in the near future, and that is hard, but I am going to push through them, and know that my future will hold something good for me. I never thought I would find myself in this position; I guess none of us do really who go through this. However, I have a strong faith and believe that God must have some other plans for me so I am putting my trust in Him and moving on with my life. I am unbelievably sad right now, but as I am often told, "this too shall pass".  I am reaching deep inside myself to find the courage and the strength that I will need to make it through the next two months with my dignity intact. I will then concentrate on what is next for me and my children. I have not been really doing my business right now, but I hope to start it back up again sometime in the near future because I absolutely love what I do, it makes me so very happy.  Thanks again to all of you wonderful ladies, your comments, emails, and cards have maid me smile on days that I did not think it was possible. I love you all; you have reinforced my belief that crafters have the biggest hearts of anyone!

XOXOXOXOXO

JUST CHECKING IN

Hi all! I wanted to pop in and thank all of you for your kind and encouraging words. Things are really tough right now emotionally so I am taking the time I need with my children to heal.  We are taking it one day at a time, and I am hopeful that in time, things will feel happy around here again. I appreciate the cards, letters, and emails from all of you, and please know that they indeed do help to make me feel less alone! I love you all and hope to be creating again very soon!

A VERY DIFFICULT TIME FOR US

Good morning all! I know it has been a long time since my last post, and it will be a few more days for some crafty things to post.  My husband of 21 years has decided he does not want to be married anymore and moved out and left me and the kids behind. We are all devastated as this came out of the blue.  My kids are my priority, and right now they really need me to be there for them. They are very hurt and angry, and my heart aches for them. It is a sad time for us, so please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers and know that we are going to be okay. Thanks for understanding and I hope to be back up and doing crafty things very soon. Time heals all wounds, and creating makes it go that much faster. This is a deeply painful and personal thing for me, and I need time to come to terms with my new life.

A "MINI" BIT OF LOVE :-)

Good morning stampers!! I hope you are all enjoying a fabulous weekend - I am sitting here drinking coffee in a quiet house! The kids are out doing things with friends, my sweetheart is golfing, and the dogs are snoozing :-) Later on, my friend is coming over so we can plan out the crafty things for her daughter's baby shower - YAY! So, it is a good day here in sunny California (although it is really not too sunny today).  I am going to be prepping things for my next downline meeting, but I thought I would share the project we did at our last downline meeting. I like to have a couple of stamping projects for my team to do using new products, techniques, and ideas so I decided to do a mini page for them this time, and they loved it! Okay, I know I shared the bird yesterday but I just love it so you have to see it again - at least it looks different, right??! Heehee,  I see lots more birdies in my future :-)  This is a 6x6 mini page that will eventually end up in an album, but I need to make the matching page for it and then decide what book, lol! We used a lot of new products on this page, and bright, fun colors from this year's In-Color family. The base of this page is Calypso Coral card stock, which made it easy to choose my designer series paper- Enchanted!! LOVE it, and it is also a FREE pack of paper from the Sale-a-Bration catalog so it makes it that much better :-)  I seem to reach for this paper again and again, sooooo pretty! The wing of the bird is also from this same paper pack, I just love the pretty colors! We also played with three of the Sale-a-Bration stamp sets, which is always fun because they too were FREE :-)
The bird is stamped with an image from the Fresh Vintage Stamp set; we just stamped at an angle all the way across the bottom of the bird to give it some texture. See the frame around the sentiment? Well, that is a stamp from the set called Elementary Elegance, and it is beautiful! We stamped the frame on Poppy Parade card stock in Soft Suede Ink (Yummo) and then trimmed around the frame, which is popped up on dimensionals. This frame is gorgeous and can be used in several different ways - there is even a little crown at the top of the frame so I could totally see a picture (of me, bwahahahaha) in that frame wearing it :-) The sentiment is from the Sprinkled Expressions stamp set - isn't it fun??! The whole stamp set is super cute; it's on page 8 of the SAB catalog which can be found in the sidebar of my blog - just click on it, and it will take you there:-)  The other new product used on this mini layout is the ribbon. The ribbon is also a SAB freebie and actually comes in a two pack of ribbon with matching brads and they are FABULOUS!! The whole pack is called the Everyday Enchantment Ribbon and Brad pack and so of course it coordinates beautifully with the paper! I hope you like this fun little layout - I will have to make the matching page and share that one too, and add some pics too *wink*  If you like the products you see here, all you have to do is place a $50 order for each item you want FREE and you can do that in my online store OR you can email me your order and I will be happy to place your order for you!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend, I am off to get ready to stamp the afternoon away on fun baby items!
Layout Recipe:
Paper - Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede, Poppy Parade card stock, Enchanted Designer Series paper
Inks - Soft Suede, Poppy Parade classic inks
Stamps - Elementary Elegance, Sprinkled Expressions, Fresh Vintage (all SAB sets)
Tools - Big Shot, Elegant Bird die,Crimper, Scallop Ribbon punch, Fancy Label punch, Dimensionals
Accessories - Everyday Enchantment ribbon, Basic Pearls

A LITTLE BIT OF SCRAPPY LOVE

WHOOHOO!! It's Friday!! I love Fridays because that means no homework, no practice, AND lots of stamping :-)  I actually have two workshops in the next two days - one tonight, and one tomorrow! I am excited because that means stamping with new friends and seeing some old friends :-) I just love getting together to make pretty things, it's the best part of my job! Heck, every part of my job is amazing :-) I also hope to get some scrapbooking done this weekend as I have not been able to do much lately and I miss it!  I did get a chance to one layout and I wanted to share it with you today! It is one of my daughter and her very close friend Sam - these two girls are glued at the hips, but they are so much fun together! I have never heard so much laughter, they make me smile every time they are here at the house together :-) I used a lot of new products on this page, and I love the way it turned out! I wanted something soft and pretty, and that is what I got! Not a whole lot of stamping going on with this page, but the sentiment is one that makes me smile every time I see it - "Friend Good" by Frankenstein! LOL - it is part of a set called Smarty Pants, and I hope it never retires, it is one of my all time favorites!!

Oh, but look at that beautiful patterned paper!!! Isn't it just gorgeous??!! It is from the Gorgeous suite of papers called Attic Boutique and is in the Occasions Mini. I just love all the patterns and color combos in this pack, it is all soooo very pretty and definitely has the vintage touches that I love!  The pretty details of each pattern make this an ideal suite to use for all kinds of projects - and I have *giggle*. The strip across the bottom of the page is also from the same suite, it's just the flip side of the pattern used on the main strip. It is mounted on Melon Mambo card stock, which I border punched along the bottom with the Pinking Hearts border punch! I often forget I have this punch, and it is an awesome punch, I just love the little hearts border it makes!

Ooh, and look at that pretty birdie!!  Sorry for the shadow, I had a heck of a time with this close-up, lol! However, you can see enough details to know that his is a gorgeous die, and so much fun to play with! I cut the body out of another piece of the Attic Boutique suite, and the wing is Regal Rose Card Stock. See how the wing has some beautiful texture? That's because I ran it through my crimper and oh, I just love how it looks!!!

I added some pretty ribbon (whisper white) and one of the new buttons from the mini from the Twitterpated suite - I love how super cute they are and you get tons of them in different shapes and designs in two different colors! 48 buttons for $6.95 is a heck of a deal :-) I also used a couple more buttons on the bottom right hand side of the page - aren't they just so pretty??!  Most of my little embellishments on this layout are actually dies for the Big Shot - I use my Big Shot every day and I honestly have no idea what I would do without it! So many fun new dies, and embossing tools - I have lots of fun mixing and matching and just playing around with them!

See the hearts? They are so cute, and I actually used two different embosslits to cut these. One is called Scalloped Heart of Hearts and is actually the bigger hearts at the top of the page - soooo very pretty!  I love the textured look at the pretty finished edges it creates. The smaller hearts are from the brand new embosslit in the Occasions Mini called Fashionable Hearts and it has different sizes and patterns for these hearts. You can see them scattered on the page and the close-up of one in this picture. I actually used that heart to cover up the camera that my daughter is holding since they took that picture while looking in the mirror at themselves - ROFL! Silly girls, right??!

Embosslits are fun and easy to use, and at $11.95, they are a great deal to boot!  I really love that our new embosslit has so many different patterns and sizes to choose from because it gives you an instant variety to your embellishments, especially when you mix and match papers and colors to cut them out with! Super cute! Another one of our new products that I used on this layout is our new frame designs. I used the Labels Framelits for the sentiment pieces and I love them! They all nest together so well, and you can use both the negative pieces (just the outline) or the whole shape like I did here! The great thing about these frames is they also coordinate with one of our new stamp sets called Apothecary Art, and, although I did not use it here, I have played with that as well, and it makes cutting out those shapes quick and easy.  I love this layout and now I have decided I need to make a matching page so that both sides of my book are complete, lol! I like double layouts, it keeps all my books looking pretty :-)  So, hopefully I will have time to do that this weekend and I can share it later on next week! If you like any of the products that you see here, you can buy them in my online store, or you can email me your order and I will be happy to place it for you! Don't forget: with every $50 you spend, you get something FREE from the Sale-a-Bration brochure and you don't want to miss out on that!! I love FREE, don't you??!!  Now, I am off to do the last minute prep for my workshop tonight, and hopefully do a little stamping before it is time to go! The kids both have plans tonight, and Tony is enjoying a golf weekend with his buddies down South so it is just me and the dogs! Enjoy your weekend and don't forget to take some creative time for yourself!!
Layout Recipe:
Paper - Regal Rose, Soft Suede, Melon Mambo card stock, Attic Boutique Designer Series Paper
Inks - Soft Sued classic stamp pad and stampin' write marker
Stamps - Smarty Pants
Tools - Big Shot, Labels Framelits, Fashionable Hearts embosslit, Heart of Hearts embosslit, Elegant Bird Bigz Die, Crimper, Pinking Hearts border punch, Scallop Trim border punch, dimensionals
Accessories - Whisper White thin grosgrain ribbon, Twitterpated buttons, Basic Rhinestones

PSSSSTTTTT...........LOVE YOU! :-)

Happy Thursday stampers!!! It is a beautiful day here in Northern California - I swear, winter is skipping us completely this year! It is like a Spring day out there, full of sunshine and already feeling warm :-) I don't really mind, I happen to not be a huge fan of winter, lol!! So, I am planning on spending at least a little time outdoors today so I can soak up some sun! I will probably take a stamp project out to the patio and enjoy the weather AND some stamping :-) I plan on getting a lot of stamping done over the next five days as my husband is leaving for a long weekend golfing trip with one of his best friends. I will miss him BUT that DOES mean I can hang out in my stamp room for hours and hours without feeling guilty - the kids have their own lives, so that is what I am going to do, lol! Today I want to share another sweet card that I made using the PS I Love You set from the Occasions Mini catalog.

I totally love that little Cupid stamp in this set, and seem to use it a LOT :-) You have to admit, he IS cute, lol! This is a card I actually made for my husband to celebrate a special day of ours in January. Our official anniversary is in May, but we do have one in January that is just ours *wink* so this is what I gave to him. It is simple but pretty without being too frilly. I used some greys and blacks to make it a little more masculine, but I could not resist using a little bit of ribbon too!  I also did a bit of embossing - the hearts were stamped in Calypso Coral ink and then I used my Versamark Pen and clear embossing powder to make them all shiny and purdy :-) I also love this heart image because I can punch them out using the Full Heart Punch - makes is so very easy! The sentiment is also from this same stamp set - in fact, this is one of my favorite stamp sets because it has so many sentiments to choose from!  The little hearts along the bottom of the card are a really fun border stamp, I love the little accent it provides here!

I also used some of the fabulous embossed patterned paper from the Sweet Shop series, also in the Occasions Mini. Such fun papers - not really a traditional Valentines or Anniversary paper, but these hearts are puffy and oh so cute, so I decided that for this card, it would be, heeheee! There are some really cute and fun papers in this set, and a couple of the others patterns are also embossed, making them really fun to use! I see an ice cream social in my future class schedule using this same paper *wink*  Like I said, a pretty simple little card, but he loved it and that is what matters to ME :-) If you like the products you see here, you can purchase them in my online store or email me your order and I will be happy to put it in for you! Don't forget: since it is SALE-A-BRATION time right now, for every $50 order, you get to choose something from the SALE-A-BRATION catalog FREE!! I love FREE, don't you?? *wink* I am off to soak up some sun, drink some more coffee, and STAMP!! Have a fabulous day, and remember to take some time to be creative :-)
Card Recipe:
Paper - Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White card stock, Sweet Shop Designer Series Paper
Inks - Basic Black, Calypso Coral ink pads, Versamark Pen
Stamps - PS I Love You
Tools - Eyelet Border Punch, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Dimensionals
Accessories - Basic Black Taffeta Ribbon

SWEET MINI BOOK

Good afternoon stampers! Sorry I am a little late with this one, but today is my birthday and I spent the morning doing NOTHING but drinking coffee and watching some of my shows that I needed to catch up on, lol! I love being lazy every once in awhile BUT then I get restless and need to get back to it, lol! I am spending the afternoon stamping, and then out to dinner with the fam :-) I am excited because we are going to the Japanese Steakhouse, one of my all-time favorite places to go! But before all that, I wanted to share a sneak peek at my mini of the month! You see, every single month I offer a mini book class of some type - I try and change it up to keep it fresh and exciting! This month we are going to do a paper bag book with with some super fun elements like 3d pages :-) I am hoping that they all love it as much as I loved putting it together! I am going to share just the cover; I will share the whole mini at the end of the month once the class has been held. I want them to see it first*wink*
For this mini, I am using the Enchanted Designer Series Paper that you can receive FREE as a SALE-A-BRATION choice with a $50 order - yep, FREE! It's is BEAUTIFUL - easily my favorite paper right now!! I just love all the colors and patterns in this pack, and I can't believe it's FREE!! There are lots of pretty details in this mini - I love to use my Big Shot and all the fun embellishments and of course the STAMPS!!!

I played with two of my favorite new dies to make things for this cover.  The first one is the XL Designer Rosette Die, which I used to make the fan! I just love the versatility of this die, there is sooo much you can do with this one! I have enjoyed experimenting with this one, and coming up with all kinds of cool projects and elements for my cards, books, and scrapbook pages! Such a wonderful die! It is located in the Occasions Mini, and was one of the first things I ordered, lol!

Here is a close-up of the fan that I made using the die. What I loved about it is I can make it as big or as small as I want just by the paper size that I use. So cool! And, isn't that paper just sooooo yummy??!!! Remember, it's FREE, LOL!!!! I used some super cute Lucky Limeade Ruffled ribbon to the bottom to hold the fan together, and I just think it gives this cover the WOW! factor is deserves :-) Plus, it looks purdy, heehee!!!
The second die that I used is called the Elegant Bird Bigz Die and it is just that - elegant! I love this bird; I actually squealed out load when I first saw it in the Mini, and yes, it was also on my first order, lol! Not only does it dress up ANY project that you make, but there are TONS of different projects you can use this die with as well! It is one of the things I love about the Big Shot - there are limitless creative ways to use all the fun dies and folders you can get! See how cute it turned out??!! I did stamp some on the bird, and I used Lucky Limeade Card stock as well as some more of the Enchanted DSP for the wing. I also added some pretty ribbon and bling because well, I LIKE it :-)  I had such fun putting this mini together - the inside pages are full of all kinds of different techniques and elements that everyone is sure to be happy with! It makes a great gift, OR you can keep it to yourself as I tend to do, lol! I always have good intentions to give them away, but then I fall in love with them and I don't want to part with them....so now, I make two so I have one to keep :-) If you like what you see here and would like to order it for yourself, you can do so in my online store OR you can email me and I will be happy to place your order for you! Remember, the patterned paper you see here can be yours FREE with your order of $50 or more - what a great deal!!! So, now I am off to stamp some and then get ready for my birthday dinner! I am excited to be going out tonight - no cooking for ME, LOL!!! Have a wonderful day and don't forget to make time to be creative, it's good for the heart!!!
Mini Cover Recipe:
Paper - Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede, Naturals Ivory card stock, Enchanted Designer Series Paper(SAB item)
Inks- Lucky Limeade, Pool Party classic inks
Stamps - Elementary Elegance, Fresh Vintage (both sets are Sale-a-Bration sets), Petite Pairs(sentiment)
Tools- Big Shot, Elegant Bird Bigz Die, XL Designer Rosette Die, Pinking Hearts Border Punch, 1 1/4 inch and 1 inch Circle Punches, Scalloped Square Die, Crimping Tool, Dimensionals
Accessories - Victoria Lace Ribbon, Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbon, Whisper White Thin Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Basic Pearls

TAKE IT TO HEART WOW! SWAP

Happy Monday stampers! I hope you all had as fabulous a weekend as I did :-) I spent the weekend hanging out with my husband - first time in a looonnnngggg time we have both had some downtime on a weekend! Saturday we just lazed around and then went out to dinner, and then yesterday we went over to my in-laws for the game and some yummy food! Really had a nice weekend.....but now, it is back to the work week and I have lots to do! However, since I have one of the funnest jobs around, I can't complain too much *wink* Today I want to share with you the card I made for my WOW! swap during Leadership. My group decided to have an organized swap of our own, and I am so very glad I participated because this is one amazingly talented group of stampers - their cards are all BEAUTIFUL! This was my take on a WOW! swap, and I was really happy with how it turned out! Lots of different products on this one, I was having a blast playing with all my stuff, lol!

The stamp set I chose to use is the uber cute set from the Occasions Mini called Take It To Heart. I love this set because the heart images coordinate with our new Framelits Hearts collection making is super easy to cut the hearts out! I love all the detail that you can see on these images, makes them really fun to color in, or you can emboss the image like I did and give it that extra WOW! look. I used  Cherry Cobbler embossing powder and stamped my image on the Naturals White card stock because I like the more natural look of this paper. I did not cut the heart out on the Big Shot until I had done all the stamping and embossing. Soooo easy to just line up the image with one of the framelits, run it through, and BAM! instant heart image for my card :-)  The patterned paper is from the Twitterpated paper pack, also in the Occasions Mini - love this paper!! I cut it out using the other set of framelits we have - have to try them all out, right??! The heart image is mounted on a 3 inch circle that was cut out on the Big Shot and then embossed using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. The background of  this card is actually stamped as well, but might be hard for you to see here since it is Crumb Cake ink stamped on Crumb Cake card stock. I used the Parlor Prints background stamp. The ribbon is some of the new Blushing Bride pleated ribbon and oh, it is so yummy!!! The sentiment is actually from another stamp set in the mini called PS I Love You - I love all the fun sentiments in that set! I hope you like my take on what a WOW! swap is - I sure had fun making it *wink* If you like the products you see here and want to purchase them, you can do so in my online store and remember, SALE-A-BRATION is going on so for every $50 you spend, you get FREE things too!! I love FREE, don't you??!! If you would rather email me your order, I am happy to put it in for you! Now, I am off to the stamp room to get some fun things done for my upcoming classes and workshops. If you would like to take one of my classes, you can check out my class listing on my website - I would love to see you!!! Have a fabulous day and don't forget to take some time out to be creative :-)
Card Recipe:
Paper - Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, Early Espresso, Pool Party, Naturals White card stock, Twitterpated Designer Series paper
Inks - Versamark, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler stampin' inks
Stamps - Take it To Heart, Parlor Prints(background), PS I Love You (sentiment)
Tools - Big Shot, Framelits (hearts and labels collections), Perfect Polka Dots and Square Lattice embossing folders, 3 inch Circle Die, Modern Label punch, Adorning Accents Edgelit Die, Heat Gun, Dimensionals
Accessories - Pool Party Seam Binding Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Blushing Bride pleated ribbon
 

A MIXED BUNCH

Good morning stampers! Life has been very busy here in the Hobson household - we had a couple of family emergencies that have thankfully been resolved and everyone is doing much, much better! I have been able to get some stamping done as well, and have lots to share with you! Today I am sharing a workshop card I made using the fabulous new products from the Occasions Mini! This mini is chock full of amazing products, and I just love playing with them :-) And, to make the deal even sweeter, for every $50 spent on new product, you get FREE stuff from the Sale-a-Bration catalog - AWESOME, right?? 

This card is the one we made in my workshop last night -we had a great time, and everyone enjoyed using the fun new stamps and papers! We made this one using the fun set called Mixed Bunch! It has beautifully detailed flower images and they are all different so layering them all together looks amazing! I also love this set because it comes with a coordinating flower punch that makes cutting out and layering these images a snap!
 We also used the Enchanted Designer Series paper from the SAB catalog and holy cow! this paper is beautiful!! I will honestly say it is my absolute favorite paper to play with right now, and even better, it's FREE!!!!!!!!  Yep, FREE! The colors used on this card are from the 2012-2013 in-colors, and I love them! I never thought I would stamp Valentines cards with these colors, but they really come together and work! It's nice to not always use pink *wink* The flowers are done in Pear Pizazz and Pool Party with Peach Parfait in the centers. Both the flowers and centers are punched out and layered with dimensionals so there is lots of dimension on this card. The ribbon is the yummy Pear Pizazz ruffled ribbon - love, love, love this ribbon! So nice that is is already beautifully pleated, and it really adds the perfect WOW! to all your projects.

The sentiment is actually from another Occasions Mini set called PS I Love You - I love this set because is has so many sentiments in it, which makes it very versatile for many different occasions.  I just love the little cupid too - very sweet :-)  I will be sharing another project tomorrow that is made with this same stamp set - and yes, I used the little cupid, lol! I couldn't help myself!  I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the fun, new products used in my card today! If you would like to have any of these items, they can be purchased in my online store, or you can email me and I will be happy to place your order for you! Remember, with every $50 order, you can receive something FREE - don't miss out on this amazing deal, it won't last forever :-) I am off to stamp and get ready for one my favorite times of the month - my downline meeting!! We will be getting together and doing some fun projects tonight, and enjoying some wonderful girl time! If you would like to be a part of such a fun group, now is the time to join - with the $125 starter kit price and FREE paper pack or Digital Downloads for a year, this is a GREAT time to be a demonstrator  :-) I wish I could sign up again, lol!!! Have a wonderful day, and I hope you take some time to get creative!!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, Whisper White card stock, Enchanted Designer Series Paper
Inks - Pool Party, Pear Pizazz, Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait classic inks
Stamps - Mixed Bunch, PS I Love You
Tools - Blossom Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, 3/4 inch Circle Punch, Modern Label Punch, Dimensionals
Accessories - Basic Rhinestones, Pear Pizazz Ruffled Ribbon

SALE-A-BRATION IS HERE!!!

Good morning all!!! I have just recently returned from Leadership in San Antonio and I am sorting through all my pics so that I can share some of those with you, but today I want to share that fact that SALE-A-BRATION is here!!! What does that mean??!! It means FREE exclusive stamping and scrapbooking sets and accessories that can only be earned with an order of $50 or more! Plus, if you decide that you want to JOIN MY TEAM during this time, you will receive a HOSTESS EXCLUSIVE BUNDLE FREE on top of the wonderful specials Stampin' Up! is currently offering! Here are all the details so check them out:

WHOOHOOO!! IT'S HERE!!   Sale-A-Bration, Stampin' Up!'s biggest promotion of the year, begins today and runs through March 31, 2012. 

FREE SALE-A-BRATION GIFTS!  Now through March 31, 2012, earn a free Sale-A-Bration gift for EVERY $50 you spend on Stampin' Up! products.  Items from the on-line clearance rack can be included in your on-line order and count toward your total!  Spend $150 or more and you will receive both Sale-A-Bration gifts AND earn Hostess Benefits!  (Qualifying totals exclude shipping and tax.)

Click on the catalog pictured above to see all the FABULOUS Sale-A-Bration choices and additional promotion details. Here are some of the highlights:

HUGE SAVINGS WHEN YOU SIGN!!!   Become part of an AMAZING stamping family AND SAVE up to 60% with the Sale-A-Bration Starter Kit Deal! 

• SAVE $50 on the Stampin' Up! Starter Kit (NOW $125).  Includes up to $340 in products and ships FREE.  Choose and customize either the Standard Starter Kit or Digital Starter Kit.
• SALE-A-BRATION STARTER KIT BONUS!  Receive your choice of either FREE Designer Series Paper (you pay for shipping) or a FREE My Digital Studio Download (no shipping charge) EVERY MONTH that you are active, from Feb. through Dec., 2012.  Up to a $120 value!
• HOBBY STAMPERS!  Feed your stamping habit with wonderful demonstrator discounts and benefits plus all the fun specials and promotions that are also available to demonstrators!!!
• Become a member of my BUTTE COUNTY BIG SHOTS team!! Not local?? I have demonstrators all over the United States and they ALL feel part of our stamping family!    I welcome both hobby and business demonstrators to my group. 

QUESTIONS FOR ME?? If you are interested or simply curious about purchasing the Starter Kit and becoming a member of my fabulous family of stampers,please email me (lilstamper@yahoo.com)  I am happy to answer any and all questions you may have!

NEED A FREE COPY of the Occasions Mini and/or Sale-A-Bration Catalogs?  Please email me (lilstamper@yahoo.com) your name and address (U.S. only) and I'll send them right out to you! (If you already have a demonstrator, please go through them for all your stamping needs :-))

I hope to hear from you soon!!! Have a wonderful stampin' day!!!

*STAMPIN HUGS* Alex

LEADERSHIP SWAPPING!

Happy Friday!!! I for one am super glad it is Friday, this has been a loooonnnnngggg week!!! Plus, my daughter's birthday is this Monday so we have the celebrations starting tonight, lol! Movies, bowling, a formal dance tomorrow night, and then snowboarding on her actual birthday, which is Monday - WHEW! She loves to celebrate HER day heehee!! And then, I LEAVE FOR LEADERSHIP WHOOHOOO!!! I am so very excited -there is nothing like a Stampin' UP! event - they are always amazing!!! I am really looking forward to seeing all my friends, going to fabulous classes, and seeing some wonderful inspiration! YAY! In trying to get ready for Leadership, I have been working on some swaps, which I will be sharing with you over the course of the next week! I am really having fun playing with all the new products in the mini; I have been neglecting some of my other faves this week, but I am sure they will be out and inked up again soon, lol!

This card is made with the set Rue Des Fleurs, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE this set! It has 8 gorgeous stamps, and the sentiments are wonderful and a fun play on words to go with the images. And, it's a steal since you can get the clear set for $23.95! I love the vintage look and feel of this set as well, that is RIGHT up my alley - it makes me smile!! I wanted to make a fun thank-you card so I decided on the corset and the fabulous coordinating sentiment. The corset is stamped in Soft Suede and I just added some touches of Marina Mist with my stampin' marker. The two sentiments are easy to line up with the clear stamps, I just put them both on the same block, one right under the other, and it stamped beautifully! And straight, lol! Notice how pretty the base card is? I used our new Edgelit dies and the coordinating embossing folders to make that beautiful design, and I love them! They instantly add an elegant look to your card! I see a lot of potential with these new dies, and I plan on doing a whole lot of playing with these over the next few weeks, heehee! The Designer Series paper comes from the Twitterpated line of paper and I LOVE it!! Twitterpated is a word I have been using for a long time, and I am not quite sure how it started. I DO know that the word originates from the Disney movie Bambi - do you all remember?? Anyway, I fell in love with this paper pack not only for the name, but for the beautiful, fun patterns it has! The colors are fabulous too! See how well it goes with the yummy Riding Hood Red pleated ribbon? Love this ribbon, so many things you can do with it! And of course I had to add some fun pearls - what good is a corset without pearls? *wink* I had a great time making this card, and I hope my swap ladies like it as well! If you want any of the products you see here, you can purchase them in my online store or email me and I am happy to put your order in for you! Now, I am off to stamp the day away since I got all my "chores" done yesterday! I hope you all have a FABULOUS weekend - and stay tuned for a LEADERSHIP SPECIAL I will be having while I am in San Antonio, you DON'T want to miss out :-) Happy Stampin!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Soft Suede, Marina Mist, Riding Hood Red, Blushing Bride card stock, Twitterpated Designer Series Paper
Inks - Soft Suede, Riding Hood Red classic stamp pads, Marina Mist stampin' write marker
Stamps - Rue Des Fleur
Tools - Big Shot, Edgelit Dies, Edgelit embossing folders, 2 1/2 inch Circle Punch, 2 3/8 inch Scallop Circle punch, Scallop Oval punch, Scallop Trim Border punch, Dimensionals
Accessories - Basic Pearls, Riding Hood Red pleated ribbon, Marina Mist narrow grosgrain ribbon

CUPID LOVE

Good morning! It has been a busy week here at the Hobson home - what with soccer games, golf tournaments, my husband's new job, and my schedule, it is a wonder we ever see each other, lol! It thought we were busy when we had little ones, but teens are a different story altogether, lol! I love every minute of it though - it is amazing to watch them develop and grow into their own person! Time sure does fly by though, it seems like yesterday I was finger painting with them, and now I have one driving!  I sure do love them though, with all my heart! They are one of the reasons why Valentines Day is such a big holiday for me - I just love it! I love to spoil them with treats and handmade little gifties....and I think they look forward to it too! And, of course I get to show the love of my life how much I love him as well by spoiling him with little surprises and cards all month long! So, I have stamping up all kinds of heartfelt cards with all the new and fabulous things in the Occasions Mini catalog!

I made this card using the new set called PS I love you - I just love this set, it has TONS of stamped images and sentiments (15 in all) and the clear set is $27.95 for all of them - AMAZING, right??
I just love all these images and the sentiments are awesome, I have already used them on a variety of different cards! And, many of these images can be punched out with the coordinating punch, making them even more fun to use. You can see that I punched out the heart image with the heart punch on this card - it makes it so easy to design a cute card! I also used some of the new Attic Boutique designer series paper, it is sooooo pretty! The colors are some of my favorites and not your traditional Valentines colors, which I am excited about because I don't like to use a lot of pink anyway for the cards I give to my love *wink* I played with some of the new ribbon as well - this Blushing Bride pleated ribbon really adds a BANG to your project, and I love that all the work has been done for me, makes me have more time to stamp, lol! It is hard to see in the picture, but I did actually stamp the background of the base card with the Parlor Prints background stamp. It just gives the card some added texture, and besides, I don't like naked cards, lol!  Also, check out the little pops of the new Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details: it really adds pop, doesn't it??  If you like these products, they can be purchased through my online store or you can email me and I will be happy to place your order for you! I am off to spend some more time stamping today - love my job! Have a wonderful day, and I will be back to share some more fun projects tomorrow!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Poppy Parade, Soft Suede, Whisper White, Pool Party card stock, Attic Boutique Designer Series Paper
Inks - Soft Suede, Poppy Parade classic inks
Stamps - PS I love You, Parlor Prints
Tools- Heart Punch, 1 3/8 and 1 1/4 inch Circle Punches, Small Oval punch, Dimensionals
Accessories - Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details, Basic Pearls, Blushing Bride pleated ribbon

YES, I POSTED - DON'T FAINT :-)

Happy New Year everyone!!! I know it's been awhile....I purposely took some time off because I was working so many hours I was getting burnt out and needed to step away for awhile and spend some time with family doing other things. It was a wonderful holiday - my son and his fiance came to spend the holidays with us, and they also went to Tahoe with us so it was a wonderful couple of weeks! Needless to say, life is slow in returning to normal but this week has been my transition back to the "real" world, lol! I am stamping again after taking a hiatus, and, although I don't feel that my mojo is completely back, I did manage to stamp a card yesterday using the fun new stuff from the Occasions Mini! I am hoping that as I stamp more today, the magic will come back and I will be in my element again, lol! In the meantime, I will share this card that I am okay with showing in public (I have many discarded attempts in the trash can, lol!) The Occasions Mini catalog went live on the 3rd of January, and there are soooo many beautiful things in this catalog that I don't know what to share first. so, I decided that I would play with the Take it To Heart Stamp Set so that I could show you how fabulous the new Hearts Framelits are with the images - there are several different heart shapes that cut the images out or you can just cut out hearts! It works on the Big Shot and they are so much fun to play with! That is how I cut out the image on this card - too fun!

I also knew I wanted to watercolor as I find that to be very relaxing so I picked an image I thought would work well with that technique....and, I was right! I love how this turned out, sooo pretty, right?? I used several different colors here and used my blender pens to apply the shades and coloring. I had such fun with this. I embossed the Pool Party card stock in the background with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder - doesn't it look nice with the image? The patterned paper you see in the back of the image is from the new designer series paper pack called Attic Boutique! I am loving all the pretty, vintage paper that SU! put in this new mini, they are right up my alley :-)

The sentiment piece is also from the Take it to Heart set although the sentiment itself is from the With All My Heart set. I just stamped it, cut it out, and popped it up on dimensionals. The ribbon is Poppy Parade twill and looks gorgeous up against that image. The other ribbon is the Soft Suede Taffeta, which is soft, gorgeous, and perfect for this card! I added a few pearls and then used a little bit of Dazzling Details to the heart in the sentiment itself - I am so glad that item is still available!  It is a carryover from the Holiday Mini!  There were several items that were carried over from that catalog so if you would like to see what they are, click here and it will take you right to them!  It felt good to stamp again; this card made me smile when it was all finished! I plan on playing with lots more of my new goodies today so stay tuned for lots more coming your way! If you like any of the products here (of course you do, lol) you can order them from my online store OR you can email me and I will be happy to place your order for you! Have a wonderful weekend, and I hope you all have time to do something creative!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Soft Suede, Pool Party, Poppy Parade, Very Vanilla card stock, Attic Boutique Designer Series Paper
Inks - Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Pool Party, Poppy Parade, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight classic inks
Stamps - Take it To Heart, With All my Heart(sentiment only)
Tools - Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Big Shot, Hearts Framelits, Dimensionals
Accessories - Poppy Parade Twill ribbon, Soft Suede taffeta ribbon, Basic Pearls, Dazzling Details

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

Good morning stampers!! I have to say, this is my favorite time of year - I just adore Christmas! All the fun decorations, the baking, the presents, the music, the family and friends, I love it ALL!! I especially love to create fun gifts and cards for all the special people in my life! I tend to make sooo much more than I ever could use, but boy, is it FUN!  And, we have such fabulous holiday items in our Holiday mini this year that well, I went a little crazy with it and had to have it all, lol!!! So, I thought I would share a fun little craft that we made during my Santa's workshop classes - it is a box filled with fun Christmas tags to use on all your special gifts! I actually saw this idea somewhere and tweaked it somewhat to make it my own and I love how it turned out!!! The box itself is made of chipboard and then covered in Cherry Cobbler card stock - we also did that with the drawers to this cutie will last for lots of seasons in the future! The top and bottom of the box are 6x6 in size, and then the drawers were cut using the Matchbox die for the Big Shot, lined up with the edges of the box, and sticky taped down. The top of the box has two more layers, one of Old Olive card stock and then another using the Letters to Santa Designer Series paper - looooove it!!! The image is also layered - the base layer is Early Espresso card stock and then the image is stamped on Naturals White card stock. This pretty tree comes from the Christmas Lodge stamp set, available in the Holiday Mini (but only until the 3rd of January so you better get is soon!). I love this tree because it is a nice, big image which makes a great focal point! We used the Old Olive, Early Espresso, and Cherry Cobbler stampin' write markers to color in the tree and then stamped it, making a beautiful watercolor effect that gives this box a wonderful vintage look!

Then, we added some Dazzling Details to make the tree look like it had hundreds of pretty lights on it - check out the close-up here! Doesn't it look fabulous, all sparkly and twinkly??!! I swear, this made the whole box for my stampin' ladies -they just loved it!! We added a pretty Cherry Cobbler button from the Regals designer buttons group, which we threaded with Cherry Cobbler twine. We tied a knot and then distressed the ends to add to that vintage look. The sentiment is also from the Christmas Lodge stamp set, and it is stamped in Early Espresso on some Old Olive card stock, then adhered to the box. And, of course we needed to have a little more bling so we added a rhinestone to the top of the tree and to the sentiment to give it that extra WOW! factor. Now, for the drawers! There are four drawers on this box, one on each side. As you can see from the picture, they can slide in and out, and they are easy to open since each one has a large brad that acts as the drawer pull. Each drawer can hold up to 20 tags and pieces of twine, but we did eight for each drawer, all in different shapes, colors, and styles so there is something for every present that gets wrapped and put under the tree! I am not going to name each and every stamp set we used to make the tags, but if you have a question about any of them, feel free to email me and I am happy to answer you! We had a blast making this Christmas box, and I am sure it will be put to good use over the next few weeks *wink* I know I have used all the tags and made some more :-) If you like any of these products and want some for your very own, you can order them in my online store or contact me and I will be happy to help you place your order! Now, I am off to bake a birthday cake for my sweetheart who turns 44 today - yep, he has finally caught up with me, lol!!! For ten months I am older than him, a fact he never lets me live down :-) I hope you all have a fabulous day and take some time out to be creative!!!
Box Recipe:
Paper - Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Naturals White card stock, Letters to Santa Designer Series Paper
Inks - Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Marina Mist stampin' write markers and classic stampin' pads
Stamps - (image and sentiment) Christmas Lodge
Tools - Matchbox die, Big Shot, Ornament Punch, Designer Label Punch
Accessories - Regals Buttons, Dazzling Details, Cherry Cobbler twine, Basic Rhinestones
 

MAD BUSY BUT STILL CREATING :-)

Good morning stampers! I have been a bad blogger lately, but I cannot seem to find enough hours in the day to get everything done that I need to do!! I have been teaching a lot of holiday classes lately as well as finishing up some of my own Christmas projects so there is a lot of creating going on! I thought I would share another fun project with you today that we made in my Santa's workshop a couple of weeks back.  This is a jar that is filled with all the ingredients you need to make a wonderful mint hot chocolate, something we have each and every year, and that we all look forward to as the weather gets colder! We used some of the holiday fabric called Candy Cane Christmas - the patterns are so fun and festive, they make me smile! We cut a piece out using the Scallop Circle Bigz Die on the Big Shot - it fits perfectly for these little pint jars! We placed it over the inside ring of the lid, pulled it tight, and then screwed the lid back on - super cute, right??!! We then added a punched flower created from the Scallop Circle punch and the 1 3/8 inch Circle punch with a Holly Berry Bouquet Real Red button. To Top it off, we threaded some Whisper White twine through the button and tied a cute little bow - simple but oh so cute!! We then wrapped the lid with some of Baha Breeze Seam Binding ribbon that is attached using Red Sticky Tape - have I told you how much I love this stuff??!! My customers and friends tease me about my obsession with this tape but it is a wonderful adhesive and I keep myself well stocked with it, lol!! The tag is made using the Two Tags die on the Big Shot and Real Red card stock. The sentiment is layered with Baha Breeze card stock punched out with the Designer Label punch and then the sentiment itself is from the Sweet Season stamp set, which has some super cute stamps that are perfect for gift giving. We stamped it in Real Red classic ink on Naturals White card stock, then punched it out with the Wide Oval punch. It is attached to the jar with some twine that is threaded through the ribbon and then tied in a knot, then trimmed close to the knot so it does not show too much. The inside of the tag has the typed out recipe and directions on how to make this yummy chocolatey treat! This little gift item was a huge hit at the workshop - but nobody wants to give them away, lol! They ARE darling, and look great on the kitchen counter :-)  I hope you like this little treat, and find some time to make some of your own handmade gifts this year - they are always the most well received! Who wouldn't want to receive something as totally cuts as this?? *wink* I will be making several more handmade gifts this week as I get things ready for my husband's staff and our friends. If you like the items that were used on this project, you can purchase them in my online store or contact me and I will be happy to take your order! Now, I am off to get my many errands done so I can come home and play in my stamp room - yippee!!! Have a wonderful day and check back tomorrow for another gift idea that you are going to love!!
Jar Recipe:
Paper - Real Red, Baha Breeze, Naturals White card stock
Inks - Real Red classic ink
Stamps - Sweet Season
Tools - Big Shot, Scallop Circle Bigz Die, Two Tags Die, Wide Oval punch, Designer Label punch, Red Sticky Tape, Scallop Circle punch, 1 3/8 inch Circle punch
Accessories - Holly Berry Bouquet buttons, Baha Breeze seam binding ribbon, Whisper White twine, Candy Cane Christmas fabric

HO HO HO WALL DECOR

Good morning Stampers!!! WOW!! Another VERY busy week and weekend as I had five events that I had to prep and teach! It was a whole lot of fun though!!! One of my really big events for the holiday season was this past Saturday when I held my annual Santa's Workshop where we did four great holiday gifts!! We had a BLAST!!! The ladies loved the projects, which of course made ME happy, and I was thrilled to see them enjoying the day! Lots of laughing, holiday snacks, and delicious hot cider! I have the BEST friends - thanks to my good friend Shelly who owns a local nursery in the area, we had a wonderful space to hold our class - it was soooo much fun!!! I want to share the projects with you this week starting with the HO HO HO wall hanging we made! This is sooo super cute and I have mine already hung up with the rest of my Christmas decorations, lol! It was hard to get a good picture of the whole thing so I did the best I could - I will share with you each square separately so you can see how we put this together! We used lots of fun and festive holiday products so everyone got to play and explore fun options! The three squares are made of chipboard and then covered with Letters to Santa Designer series paper, both of which were cut on the Big Shot using the Scallop Square die. We attached all three squares to some Cherry Cobbler wide grosgrain ribbon, making a looped handle at the top, which is secured with an antique brad with a pretty snowflake on top. The snowflake was made using our fabulous silver glitter paper and the Snowflake punch (I will say that punching out the silver glimmer paper with a punch was a challenge - you need to do it slowly and definitely one at a time, but totally worth it as you can see!)

Here is the first square! Sorry for the pic being a bit blurry - I don't know what is wrong with my picture taking abilities lately :-(  Each one of the squares has a solid Old Olive square that is cut out using the Square Die for the Big Shot, rounding the corners with the Corner Rounder punch. We then stamped on this square in Cherry Cobbler ink with the fun stamp set called Merry and Type. Such a cute stamp set, love it! The letters were cut out using the Serif Essentials large letter dies for the Big Shot, using both Chipboard and the Silver Glitter paper. It gives the whole hanging a wonderful dimensional look without adding a ton of bulk to it. I did not want it to be too heavy as it does need to hang up and then fold away nicely to be used again and again! That pretty felt wreath is from our Felt Flurries pack that can be found in the Holiday mini - you get a lot of bang for your buck with this package since you get sooo many of each fun little holiday embellishment!

This is the second square on the hanging, which as the same solid square as the first one, along with the same letters for the sentiment! The stamp set that we used on this one is called Snow Much Fun and I have to say I thoroughly enjoy stamping with this fun set - the two snowman images totally make me smile! There is a short, fat snowman in this set as well, and the sentiments are just as cute as can be! For this square, we used the tall snowman and his birdie friends as well as the little snowball with the birdie on it - aren't they adorable?? They are both stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink as well. The holly leaves and the sweet little mittens are more of the cute felt flurries embellishments from the package - those mittens are just sooooo stinkin' cute! They actually come attached with a piece of string between them, just like we all had when we were little, lol! We just cut them off for this project, but they look just as cute strung together!

This is the third and final square on the hanging, again with the same solid square and the pretty lettering. The stamp is from the Merry and Type stamp set and is actually a pretty large stamp - we could not even get the whole stamp on here, cutting off some of the strings hanging down with the ornaments! I love this stamp, I think it is bold and really catches the eye! It is also stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink. We used even more of the felt flurries embellishments, adding in the really fun snowflake this time - I just love these!!! This was such a fun project to put together, and many of the ladies who attended told me this was their favorite of the four that we did! I have to say, I had a ton of fun designing this one too :-) If you would like to order any of the products you see here, you can order them in my online store or you can contact me directly, and I would be happy to place your order for you! Or, if you would like to book a workshop and make your very own fun projects with your friends, contact me and let's get you all set up! Now I am off to finish prepping for my fun workshop later on this afternoon - I hope all of you can find time to stamp in this busy time of year, I believe it is so good for the soul, and much cheaper than paying for therapy, lol!! Have a wonderful day, and I will be back tomorrow to share some super cute tree ornament gift card holders!

Wall Hanging Recipe:

Paper - Old Olive card stock, Letters to Santa Designer Series paper, Silver Glitter paper

Inks - Cherry Cobbler classic ink

Stamps - Merry and Type, Snow Much Fun

Tools - Big Shot, Serif Essentials Large Letter Dies, Scallop Square Die, Square Die, Sticky Tape

Accessories - Cherry Cobbler wide grosgrain ribbon, Felt Flurries embellishments