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

TIME FOR THE CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN!

Happy Hump Day stampers!!! Yes, I know it has been awhile, but I had some personal family health issues to focus on as my family is always my priority! Although we still are dealing with what lies ahead, and know it is going to be a VERY long and bumpy road, we are going to walk it together!!! So, I though it was time to get back into some semblance of a normal routine (do we EVER have that??) and share something crafty!! I want to share with you the Christmas Advent Wreath I made and then turned into a class - I did three sessions and each session was really fun!! And, we all left with a great decoration too!  I did all the cutting and the sticky tape ahead of time so they could put it together and decorate it - the fun parts, lol! We started out with a flat wooden circle that I ordered from an online supply store as I wanted the wreath to have a really sturdy base. We wrapped that in Cherry Cobbler wide striped ribbon, leaving enough to make the hanger you see in the picture. So, from the back side, you don't see ugly wood, you see pretty ribbon :-) We then cut out a circle that fit the back side of wreath - we used the cardboard from the paper packs since you can't see it. Then, we covered that with the Cherry Cobbler card stock circle you see in the center - both are attached using hot glue since we never want it to come off, lol!!  The 24 boxes you see are made with the matchbox die for the Big Shot and the base is made of Cherry Cobbler card stock to ensure they are nice and sturdy for many years to come! The lids are made of patterned paper from the Letters to Santa Designer Series paper pack - such beautiful paper!! The bottom twelve boxes are sticky taped to the circle first, creating the base for the top ones. They are placed out diagonally around the circle in order to keep the circle shape since as you go around the circle, the angles change quite a bit - this was tricky, but everyone got it :-) The top boxes then were staggered in between every two of the top boxes, creating that awesome wreath look! Each of the top boxes have an Old Olive Ornament that was punched out with the Ornament punch and adhered to the box. The numbers on the box were cut out using the Medium Sizzlets alphabet for the Big Shot, and were cut using the Silver Glimmer Paper - looks amazing, all sparkly!!! Then, the ornaments were each adorned with tiny bows using some of the yummy Cherry Cobbler Quilted ribbon.  The numbers for the bottom boxes are on the inside of the wreath and correspond with each box, making sure 13 started to the right of box 12, keeping the sequence going. In the very center of the wreath, there is a Scalloped Circle of the Letters to Santa DSP that was cut on the Big Shot. A Whisper White circle was also die cut and nested in the center after it was stamped using the Christmas Postcard A la Carte stamp. It was stamped in Stazon, then colored in with Stampin' Write markers. For some fun accents, we added a snowflake and some of the holly leaves out of the super cute Stitched Felt package you can find in the Holiday Mini, along with the Holly Berry Bunch button we used in the center of the snowflake! To finish it off, we put Rhinestones on every other scallop, and added some Dazzling Details to the stamped image, making the whole project sparkle!! Everyone loved how it turned out - including me!! I am thrilled with this wreath and can't wait to start using it tomorrow :-)

Here are some closer shots of the wreath as well as showing how the drawers open to put the treat inside!  I hope you enjoyed seeing this as much as I enjoyed designing it! I think made from the heart decor is the best kind, don't you?? I have made several home decor items this year that I will share with you over the next few weeks as we count down the days until Santa comes!! Christmas is my very favorite time of year, and I am so very excited as my oldest son will be coming home for the holidays as he transfers to Southern California for his first Marine Corps duty station. Yes, my baby is all grown up!! I still can't wait to hug his neck though, lol!!! I will be back tomorrow with some other super fun and cute projects to share, but until then, take some time to be creative, it makes for a better day!!  Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Wreath Recipe:
Paper -  Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Whisper White cardstock, Letters to Santa Designer Series paper, Silver Glimmer Paper
Inks - Black Stazon, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Marina Mist, River Rock Stampin' Write markers
Stamps - Christmas Postcard
Tools - Medium Sizzlets Alphabet, Scalloped Circle die, Clear Circle die, Matchbox die, Big Shot,  Ornament Punch, Sticky Tape, hot glue gun
Accessories - Basic Rhinestones, Cherry Cobbler Wide Striped Ribbon and Quilted Ribbon, Stitched Felt, Hollyberry buttons, Dazzling Details

FAMILY EMERGENCIES MAKE FOR NO BLOG TIME

Hello my stamping friends!! I realize it has been three long weeks since I have blogged, but our family has been double and triple whammied with some serious medical and personal tragedies that have had all my focus and energies. It is always hard to know that someone is hurting, but when they are your family, it makes it even harder. I hope that all of you will keep us in your prayers and thoughts because we will need them!!! We have quite the road ahead of us. Out of respect for my family members, I don't want to go into too much detail, just know we are working through all of this at a very difficult time. Thanks for sticking by me - I hope to share something fun tomorrow as I have several things I have not had time to share with you that I would like to over the next few days!

HOSTESS APPRECIATION PARTY - FUN!!!

Happy Tuesday stampin' friends!!! WHEW! It was a hugely busy weekend since I had my Hostess Appreciation Event on Saturday!! It was a lot of work, but it was really worth it because I think everyone had a good time!! I wanted to share the make n' takes with you today as well as some pics of the decorations and such! So, grab a cup of coffee, and enjoy!! This first card is one of two make 'n takes that we did! The theme throughout the whole event was the Big Top Suite using all the fun papers in that collection and the Sweets for the Sweet stamp set as well as the Up, Up, and Away stamp set.  This one features the former and is just too too fun!  Sorry for the bad pic - not sure what is going on there, but my camera has been acting wonky lately!! The background of the card is embossed using the Polka Dots embossing folder, and I just love how it looks with those bold, bright colors! The pinwheels are stamped twice - once on the card, and then once on another piece of card stock, then cut out and popped up on dimensionals.  The two candy pieces are also up on dimensionals and all four items have the liquid diamonds on them so they are nice and glittery IRL!

This second card is a gate fold card, again using the Big Top Suite, although the sentiment is from the Happy Greetings Stamp set.  The small candy was stamped and punched out using the 1 inch circle punch, and the sentiment was stamped on Whisper White card stock, and then punched out with the 2 3/8 inch Scallop Circle punch, then layered on a 2 1/2 inch circle of Real Red card stock.  We added some rhinestones underneath the sentiment and again added some Liquid Diamonds to the candy piece so there is lots of glittery fun on the front of this card!

The inside of this card is really fun, with the balloons from the Up, Up, and Away stamp set floating away into the clouds!  I was not sure I was
 going to use this stamp set much, but I find myself using it for lots of different occasions, it really is very versatile and definitely fun to play with, lol! It's a great card that can be used for all kinds of occasions, so I made a couple for my card stash - you never know when you are going to need that quick card, right?? *wink*  These next pictures are just some of the fun decorations I made to spruce up the room we were using since it was at the back of the local pizzeria and has tons of sports decor - nice, but not really what I was going for, lol! I kept true to the theme, using the Big Top Suite! I am not going to address each and every decoration so if you have any questions about anything, you can just email me and I will be happy to answer them :-)

This was the food and drink table - it didn't look so empty once the pizzas were brought in, lol! I made a cute banner that says thank you, and then each water bottle had some flavor of Crystal Light to add. I also made some fun cupcakes because I think every party should have cupcakes, don't you??  Here are some better shots of each of these items so you have a better idea of the decorations and how they were put together! I tried to make it personal and fun since these special ladies hostessed for me all last year

and introduced me to lots of local ladies who have since become my friends and fellow stampers!!! Which is why I totally love my job - I get to meet wonderful people like these ladies!! Out of the 27 ladies I invited, 15 of them came, so I was thrilled to see them! I wish they all could have been there, but that just does not seem to happen with everyone's busy schedules these days!! They all know how much I appreciate them though - I make sure of it!! Aren't the little pennants cute on the cupcakes? I had such fun making those!! And, the water bottle holders were perfect to keep the little Crystal Light packets in and they brightened up the room as well! Many of the ladies actually kept the holders so I know they enjoyed them as well. There were lots of different flavors to choose from but I discovered that I really like the Green Tea Raspberry something I never thought I would drink - who knew??  LOL - it's very rare I try something new *wink*  I also made each of them a little goodie bag full of different embellishments as well as some 3x3 cards and envies and their own sponges!! For some reason, these silly things are so popular with them that I thought it would be fun to give them each their own and the loved them - a couple of the ladies actually squealed - over a sponge - I know, right??!! In addition to the goodie bags, I also made them each a treat box filled with an assortment of Hershey's kisses - they even have cookies and cream now! Aren't they cute with those pinwheels?  I had the best time making those although by box 20 I was done, lol!

Here are some fun pics of the ladies eating, doing their make n' takes and playing some of the games - we had bingo, word search, stamping scavenger hunt, and stamping unscramble, and they all competed for prizes of current product! 

It was funny to watch them get all competitive in bingo, and then frustrated over the word unscramble - they had a hard time with Crop-a-Dile, lol!! There was a lot of laughter too though, and that made me smile - I really wanted them all to have a good time, after all, it was for them!!

Dawn was one of my very first hostesses after moving to Northren California and we have become great friends! Her group of friends actually formed a scrap club that lasted a year, and it was a really fun time! She is super talented and creative, and enjoys stamping! Here she is holding up her make 'n take - what a ham, lol! Katie is also a real sweetie, and I had the added pleasure of also having her mom Kim there as well - I love to stamp with these ladies, they are amazing! I adore them, as well as the regulars that stamp with them - I always leave a workshop with them feeling really good and happy because they are some of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure to meet! Here is a pic of Katie with her new sister in law to be Barushka - I am sure I butchered the spelling of her name, but hey, I tried, lol!!! She is a sweetie, and just discovered the joys of stamping, and, judging from all the wedding favors they have been making, she is quite the natural!

Katie is also quite the competitor, you can see here how hard she is concentrating at bingo, lol! She was one of the finalists in the three rounds, so she got to go home with some fun goodies!!  All in all, I thought it was a really fun day and I thoroughly enjoyed spoiling them because without them, my business would not be a business at all!! I hope to see many of them again this stamping year as hostesses and again next year at the Diva Event!!! I will leave the recipe for the cards so that you can know the products used, and again, if you have any questions, just let me know!!! If this looks fun to you, and you would like to come to my next Hostess Appreciation Event, contact me and let's get your workshop set up! I promise you it will be a lot of fun, and your friends will really enjoy the creating, the products, and ME :-) Plus, I would love to come and stamp with you - I am always up for a girls' night out *wink* Have a wonderful day and I will be back tomorrow (hopefully with clearer pics if I can figure out what is wrong with my camera) with another couple of fun projects I made this past week! Until then, take some time to be creative!!

Card One Recipe:

Paper - Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight card stock, Big Top Birthday designer series paper

Inks - Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Peach Parfait classic inks

Stamps - Sweets for the Sweet 

Tools - Big Shot, Polka Dots embossing folder, Modern Label punch, 1 inch circle punch, dimensionals, sponge

Accessories - Dazzling Details liquid

Card Two Recipe:

Paper - Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Whisper White card stock, Big Top Birthday designer series paper

Inks - Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Peach Parfait, Bashful Blue, Real Red classic inks and stampin' write markers
Stamps - Sweets for the Sweet, Up, Up, and Away, Happy Greetings
Tools - 2 1/2 inch circle punch, 2 3/8 Scallop circle punch, 1 inch circle punch
Accessories - Basic Rhinestones, Dazzling Details liquid

A LITTLE BIT OF FALL

Happy Friday all!!! Man, this has been one busy week and I am not done yet, lol! Tomorrow is my big Hostess Appreciation Event so I am madly stamping fun goodies and creating goodies bags for all the special ladies who hosted a workshop for me last stamping year!!! I am so excited to see them all tomorrow - I am going to spoil them rotten, lol! I will share all the fun things I made on Monday, but today I am going to share another workshop card that really has fall written all over it! We used one of my favorite fall sets for this card called Day of Gratitude - it truly is beautiful! I just love the big Medallion, and all the fall leaves and acorns and such are wonderful accent stamps that make this set so versatile!  We paired this set with the yummy Spice Cake Designer Series paper and I think I can truly say that I have gotten my money's worth from this set, lol! It is such pretty paper, and the colors are fabulous!! I would NEVER have thought Pool Party was a fall color, but here it is as the base and accent color and it looks great!!! We stamped the base with the leaf stamp in Pool Party ink as well to add some texture. The patterned paper is punched using the Eyelet Border punch on both sides and then layered on some Soft Suede card stock. The main image is stamped in Soft Suede ink on Very Vanilla card stock, then softly sponged with More Mustard ink and mounted on More Mustard card stock.  And of course, we had to add a cute little button right in the center - I love those little flower buttons, they give just the right touch to almost every project! See that pretty ribbon? That is the fabulous Soft Suede taffeta ribbon - I love EVERY color of this ribbon, I swear it's the prettiest ribbon we have, I just love it!!! The sentiment is stamped in More Mustard, punched out with the Large Oval Punch, and then mounted on some Soft Suede card stock that is punched out with the Designer Label punch.  Then, the whole thing is popped up on dimensionals!! Isn't it a pretty card?  I love the colors, and the images - this card must makes me happy! We had tons of fun making this, and the ladies at the workshop were also amazed at how well these colors blend together for a great fall look!  If you love these products and want some of your own, you can order them all in my online store, or you can contact me and I will be happy to take your order for you! I am going to spend the rest of the day madly stamping in my studio getting ready for tomorrow's event! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend, and try and take some time to be creative!!!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Pool Party, Soft Suede, More Mustard, Very Vanilla card stock, Spice Cake Designer Series Paper
Inks - More Mustard, Soft Suede, Pool Party classic inks
Stamps - Day of Gratitude Stamp set
Tools - Eyelet Border punch, Designer Label punch, Large Oval punch, dimensionals, sponge
Accessories - Designer buttons, Soft Suede Taffeta ribbon

THE FRAME THAT WASN'T

Hi all! Well, I promised you all yesterday that I would show you the frame I made for Tony's Grandma BUT I got it all finished, proudly showed it to my husband, and promptly packaged it all up in the shipping box and FORGOT TO TAKE THE PICTURE!!! LOL - sometimes I wonder where my head is :-) So, instead of the frame, I have a workshop card to share that I did with my workshop gals last week! It was quite the crowd with 16 of them all packed around three tables - I could have used more of ME, heeehee! We had a great time though, there was lots of laughing, and everyone enjoyed the projects which is ALWAYS my goal! I have been doing so much stamping of holiday stuff that I decided to make a project that had nothing to do with the season, lol!  This card uses two separate stamp sets:  one is a hostess set called Precious Butterflies and I absolutely love it! The other is the Creative Elements stamp set, which we used to stamp on the patterned paper itself. The base of this card is Poppy Parade card stock, and the patterned paper comes from the First Edition Specialty Collection - Yummy! We punched along the edge using the Eyelet Border punch, and then sponged the edges with Early Espresso ink. The images are stamped on Naturals Ivory in Poppy Parade and Daffodil Delight inks, then backed with some Not Quite Navy card stock. The sentiment is stamped on Daffodil Delight card stock in Not Quite Navy ink, then punched out using the Large Oval punch, and popped up on dimensionals. We tore the edge of the patterned paper (some of them had a tough time with this, they thought it was too pretty, lol) then added a small Navy designer button. Last, we used some of the Daffodil Delight Taffeta ribbon across the top of the card, and it looks so pretty!! Love that ribbon, and in every color too :-) A simple but pretty card that is perfect for workshops! I hope you like it too!! If you like the products you see here, you can purchase them in my online store OR contact me and I am happy to take your order! Don't forget the Precious Butterflies set is a hostess only purchase so if you are in love with this one (I am!) then give me a call and let's get your workshop booked! I will leave you the recipe, and then I am off to make some more pretties for my Hostess Appreciation event this weekend - can't wait to spoil those ladies :-) I hope your day is fabulous and you take some time to create something!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Poppy Parade, Not Quite Navy, Naturals Ivory, Daffodil Delight card stock, First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper
Inks - Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Not Quite Navy classic inks
Stamps - Precious Butterflies (hostess set), Creative Elements
Tools - Eyelet Border punch, Large Oval punch, sponge, dimensionals
Accessories - Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon, Designer Buttons

SUPER CUTE MINI BOOK

Hi stampers!! I hope someone is reading this, I know I took quite the hiatus!! I was battling quite a bad sinus infection which ended up going into my chest and caused me all kinds of grief! And, just when I was getting over that, I caught a bad head cold that I am currently at the end of  - sheesh!!! So, I am back on track and have TONS to show you this week!!! Today I want to share a cute mini book I made for one of my husband's staff that is leaving for a new job. He wanted something they could all sign and then add pictures to from her going away party so this is what I came up with! I got to attend the party as well and she loved the book, which made me happy :-) I have several pages to show you so what I will do is list  the main products that I used as I show you the pages. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to email me, and I will do my very best to answer them! This first pic is of the cover - it's an accordion album so it is held together by the Daffodil Delight wide striped grosgrain ribbon on the side. I used Pacific Point card stock as my base for the whole album, and the patterned paper is all from the Beyond the Garden Designer Series paper collection.  I used several stamp sets in this album; the ones on the front cover come from the BFF stamp set, and the Friends Never Fade stamp set. Although you can't tell from the pic, I sprayed the accordion flower with Frost White Shimmerz - looks so pretty IRL!

In this mini I tried to keep a similar theme going for all the pages as there are some on the front AND back pages of this book. So, I am going to show you the front pages as I repeated the themes from the front onto the back. These first two pages show how I did the pockets and tags for them all to sign and leave little notes, and then there are places for pictures as well! I used the Kindness Matters stamp set, and the Just Believe stamp set for the images and the borders on these pages.  I also used the Triple Layer flower punch, I just love that! The ribbon is the yummy Tangerine Tango Scalloped Polka Dot ribbon, which you will see throughout the book. The border on the pocket was made with the Eyelet Border punch, one of my favorites that I tend to reach for over and over. There are some blingy items on this page as well - I used some of the Antique brads as well as some rhinestones and pearls - a girl has got to have bling, right??

These two pages have lots of room for journaling and also for pictures. I used my Scallop Circle die on my Big Shot to create the pull-out from the right page, which can hold two pics all on it's own. The stamp sets on the right hand page are from the Vintage Vogue stamp set.  As you can see, the pocket on the left side is a repeat pocket - I did these all the same throughout the mini and it looks great! It gave a lot of continuity to the book, and the other pages really added the pop to the book with all their different elements!

These two pages are once again showing two pocket pages, one of which should look familiar *wink* The right side is another pocket similar to the last one, but with different images. These come from the Friends Never Fade stamp set, a great set that can be used for many, many different occasions! The Eyelet Border punch was used along the diagonal of the pocket as it was on the last page I showed you!

These are the last two pages of the book, and they are primarily for placing pictures. Lots of stamping going on here as well! The butterflies are from the Kindness Matters stamp set - I just stamped them on Whisper White card stock, cut them out, and then placed some rhinestones down the center of them. I also used the Just Believe stamp set on the left page, adding some cute little pink flowers punched out with my Bitty punch.  And of course, I added some pearls :-) The outline of the Scalloped Square shape is left from the Scalloped Square you see on the front of the album cover - I hate to let it go to waste so I used it here. Another stamp set used on the right page is called My Friend, and it is one of the first stamp sets I purchased from this catalog, I just love it! Lots of fun images to play with :-)  So, there you have all the pages (some I did not show as they are duplicates of ones you see here) of the cute mini I made for a going away gift! This is the best part of being a scrapper and stamper, that I get the chance to make these handmade gift items for people - I just love how much they appreciate them - much better than a sweater, don't you think??!! Although, I tend to give both, lol!  If you like any of these items you see here, you can purchase them in my online store, or contact me and I will be happy to take your order. I hope the pictures are clear enough for you to see, there was not the best light when I took them, and well, I don't have the book anymore to get better ones, lol! I will be back tomorrow with a frame that I made for my husband's grandma who turned 86 yesterday! Yep, another handmade gift item :-) Until then, I hope you have a wonderful Monday, and take time to stamp something!