A Cardinal Christmas

I've spent 5 hours today stamping cards to get ready for my 8 Cards for $10 stamp camp tomorrow night.......I'm amazed how the time flies when I'm working (smile) and how long I can stamp without EVER getting tired of it. This is the first time since my kids started school this fall that I actually spent the whole day in my craft room, and I hope that there are many more! After doing many multi-occassion cards for my Camp I thought that I would pull out one of the stamp sets that I pre-ordered (one of the many perks of being a Stampin' Up! Demo!) and get busy. "A Cardinal Christmas" is another set that fufills my current need to watercolor. I can't believe how beautiful it is and how easily card ideas just started to pop into my head. I'm normally a person who works from a sketch, but this layout was inspired by the stamp set. The colors were pulled from the new "Ski Slope" DSP (another mini-catalog pre-order....don't worry, you'll all be able to order from the mini catty too starting on Oct. 1st!), and they remind me of the 1950's. Love them!

Recipe: Stamp Set: A Cardinal Christmas; Ink: Black Craft, Riding Hood Red - Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Blue, Summer Sun Re-Inkers; Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Baja Blue, Whisper White; Accessories: Black Embossing Powder, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, Blender Pen

Boo!

I never used to make Halloween cards....not until I saw how much my kids enjoyed getting them from other people! I know it's only September, but I just got this Autumn Harvest Stamp Set and I had to give it a try. I have been on a real watercoloring kick and it seems like every stamp set that I get now-a-days is one that is dying to be watercolored. It's the very first thing I learned to do as a SU! customer, and now it's one of my favorite things to show my customers. I'm not the greatest watercolor artist, but really, who can mess up watercolors? It's so relaxing and it makes me feel like a kid, just playing with paints and a paintbrush.....gotta love that, right? The little pumpkin on the right is cut out and popped up, and so is the oval greeting. Easy Peasy!

Recipe: Stamp sets: Autumn Harvest, Everyday Flexible Phrases; Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Creamy Caramel, Bashful Blue; Cardstock: Confetti White, Basic Gray; Accessories: Oval Punches - Large and Small, Aquapainter, Ghostly Greetings DSP, Black Brads, dimensionals, scallop punch - edge.

Finally.....time to stamp!

I have barely had time to think lately, much less stamp! My family (all 19 of them) left yesterday after a 4 day family reunion at my house. We had two occassions to celebrate, my brother's return from Germany (where he was stationed in the Army), and my 40th birthday! It was a rockin' good time, but I'm exhausted! After a solid week of cleaning, list making, grocery shopping, and house child proofing (my brother with 3 year old triplets and an 18 month old stayed with us), I am ready to drop. It couldn't have gone better, other than a small trip to the emergency room for my 3 year old nephew Mason to get stitches! We had a family kick ball game, where we had a few pulled muscles and a little cheating went on, but it was all good. Since all of my immediate family (I have 4 brothers and 1 sister and then my parents, nieces and nephews) all live out of state, I don't get to see them as often as I would like. I will miss them all!

I did spend 2 hours in my stamp room today and made 8 cards! They are for an upcoming class, so I'll share them after my class gets to make theirs. I do have a really fun mini-scrapbook that my stamp club made last week. It's made with 2 cardboard coasters held together with Natural Hemp. The paper was Bella Rose DSP, Kiwi Kiss, Red Riding Hood, and Whisper White, Stamp Set - Dream Du Jour, and Kiwi Kiss Ink. The holes were punched with the Crop-a-dile, and then I used the 1 1/4, 1 3/8 circle punches, and the scallop circle. It was such a quick and fun project and the ladies loved them!

When in doubt CASE

I had swap cards to make, and as usual had little or no time to come up with something. I love the fact that the ladies in the stampin' world share their work and give me something to CASE! This cutie card was copied from Dawn, another Stampin' Up! Demonstrator with an AMAZING blog. She not only shares her work, but makes HOW TO videos to show you exactly what to do!! I don't know how she finds the time, but I'm sure glad that she does. In this case I took the card and just switched stamp sets and added some ribbon instead of paper piercing to make the card even easier. I just love the new SU! Pirouette Pink! Paired with Basic Black or Basic Gray it's just FABULOUS! I used the Dreams Du Jour which is a new favorite set of mine. I just love the butterfly in this set! The accessories I used were the Scallop Edge Punch and Pretty in Pink Taffeta ribbon.

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Sock Monkey

Sock Monkey is addictive! I just love this little guy. The fact that he looks best watercolored is very appealing to me......I'm loving getting back to some of the basics like using watercolors and chalks. And that new Baja Breeze paper...Love It! It looks so good with Not Quite Navy (which is a very under used paper color in my stash)

Stamp Set: Sock Monkey; Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze CS; Watercolor Wonder Crayons; DSP Bella Rose; Pewter Brads; Chocolate Taffeta; Basic Brown Ink; Scallop Edge Punch

Stampin' Up! Fall/Winter Catalog Ordering!

I just love this time of the year! The Stampin' Up! Catalog is officially open for business! I'm taking orders as we speak so start your wish list now by going to my website and clicking on Products to pull up a copy of this gem of a catalog!

A new Stampin' Up! Catalog is at the top of my list of favorite things......even above icecream and chocolate! When the new one comes out I look at all of the new stamp sets and accessories on my first run through. My second run through is all about the artwork and projects. I just can't get enough of it! It comes with me everywhere, from dance classes to the park, I can hardly put it down for almost a month. Then comes the list, or many lists depending upon what I have handy to write on at the time. I make lists of stamps sets that I love, and then I break that down into the practical ones that will be used the most and bought first, and the 2nd part of the list has the ones that I don't know what I'm going to do with but I want them "just because". The accessories come next and I break them down the same way, but I usually fudge a little with this list because you can ALWAYS find a project to use the accessories on. The Designer Series Paper makes my mouth water (told you, better than chocolate), and I'll get all of it at some point or another. Like I said, this is one of the best times of the year. I'm busy working on projects to post, so hopefully in the next few days I can show you some really fun projects! Check back soon!

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

I'm back and ready to STAMP!!

I can hardly believe that our vacation is over! We had such a fabulous time and AMAZING weather. We fished, swam, ate, went tubing, read, paddleboated, eagle watched, visited with family, fed baby cows, turtle raced, and so much more! I think that the lakes in West Central Minnesota are one of the most beautiful places I've visited. Lush and green, with water around every turn. I highly recommend it for a vacation spot. We're so fortunate that my parents have a cabin there because it's truly the most relaxing spot on the planet to be. Not to mention the fact that I get to spend a lot of time with my Mom and Dad which makes it that much more special.

Onto some exciting SU! stuff.............NEW SPIRAL BOUND CATALOGS, NEW BIG SHOT SIZZIX MACHINE WITH EXCLUSIVE SU! ARTWORK DIES (and I've seen the dies and they are unbelievable.....WAY better than anything I've ever seen for sale in stores), NEW DECOR ELEMENTS (you HAVE to get some of these.....I can't believe how cool they look!), and on top of that all of the NEW STAMP SETS AND PAPERS! This has to be the greatest catalog EVER!

To give you a peek at some of the products I made a few cards while on vacation......I had VERY limited supplies.....only items from the new catalog (and a little ribbon) and I just love the way these cards turned out. I used ONLY the new IN COLORS and they are exquisite! My favorites are the Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, and Riding Hood Red. The other three colors are amazing too, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze (they are two different blue colors) and Tangerine Tango. LOVE THEM! The stamps that were used are 2 new sets.....the first is Dream Du Jour and the 2nd is Sock Monkey. Both are amazing with our new Bella Rose Designer Series Paper. I just can't wait for you all to see this stuff in the catalog!! So here are the 3 cards that I made!

Happy Stampin!

Judy