More Easter!

I had a Easter Stamp-A-Stack class on Saturday that was alot of fun! We made 7 cards in all, of varying degrees of difficulty. I thought I would show you them today and tomorrow. Please note, when I do a class where we make alot of cards, I often dive into my retired stuff so not everything featured on these cards is current product from Stampin'Up! I can usually figure out a substitute if you want to make a card that looks like any of these.

By the way, tomorrow is the end of Sale-A-Bration! It's not too late to get that last order in to take advantage of the freebies. I haven't mentioned it alot, but there's also a discount on a 3 month Paper Pumpkin subscription. You can check it all out on my Stampin'Up! web page! Look over here ===>

I'll be back tomorrow with the rest! Enjoy your Monday!

Happy Stampin'!

Sarah

Hippity Hoppity!

Today is my Easter Card stamp a stack!  I have 7 people coming and am excited to make Easter cards.  I love all the themes, candy, decorations and traditions. When my kids were little, we of course died Easter eggs. Many years were uneventful but none of us will forget the year we used some glitter and the kitchen was a glitter bomb!  We all wore glitter to church the next day, including the parents!  Once my girls grew up and moved out, it was more of a challenge to think of something fun to do with Sam but I scored a home run about 4 years ago and we've now got a new tradition. We go to the gun range and shoot Easter "Peeps" for targets. There's the added bonus of eating a few if you can stand 'em! Sometimes celebrating is all about improvising, right?!

Here's a card to get the season started off right. Slight disclaimer, the bunny stamp IS NOT Stampin'Up!  It's a stamp I've had for years and really like so I still use it!  All the rest of the supplies are from SU!

I hope you are out and about, enjoying our lovely weekend and turning your thoughts towards Easter and spring!

Have a great weekend!

Sarah

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Just a note to Lovely, Amazing You

Sometimes the best time to send a greeting to someone is no specific reason at all, just a "you're in my thoughts and I think you are awesome" kind of time.  I can always use those type of cards and I love that Stampin'Up! has plenty of stamps for fun and not so occasion-specific.  A recent new stamp set is called "Lovely Amazing You". It has a great envelope and feather image as well as some really versatile sentiments!  Here's a card we did at my classes last week featuring this set:

And, here's the stamp set in its entirety:

I have seen some really cute cards on Pinterest with the "love you more than chocolate" sentiment that I want to try to make. That would be one that my husband should be giving me, haha!

I just finished posting a bunch of classes on my calendar which can be found on my Stampin'Up website (click on the right to get to it). I have  a Build a Bouquet class in a couple of weeks, my regular monthly classes in April AND  a Spring Card Buffet! If you've come to these before, you know how fun they are. I'll be talking about it some more as it gets closer!

Happy Hump Day!

Sarah

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Moon Lake

Here's the second card we made this past weekend at my card class. It's a fun card using watercolor paper and aqua painters to apply the ink. It is very reminiscent of water coloring that you might have done in your childhood!  It is relaxing and fun!  Be sure to stamp your image in Stazon Black ink so it doesn't bleed and then water color away!

It's a rainy, drizzly day here, just perfect for losing myself in some ink and paper. This technique makes you feel like a true artist and couldn't be more fun!  Try it out!

Happy Stampin'!

Sarah

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Refresh, Renew, Rejoice!

I have Easter on my brain!  The weather is cooperating nicely and I'm ready to spruce up my house with some spring flowers and decor. We've even been opening our windows lately and boy does the fresh air smell good!  Because of my faith, this is a favorite time of year when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope of resurrection for those who believe. I love the story, the songs, the flowers, the traditions ... all of it. I really miss two cute little girls in Easter dresses that I sewed and Easter bonnets and baskets. Twenty years later, they are not so excited about that whole thing ;)

Here's a card from my class this past weekend, featuring a great Easter stamp set in the Occasions Catalog, "Indescribable Gift."  We heat embossed the gold flower/branch image and then used some Gold Soiree Designer Series Paper. The most stressful thing about this card is ripping the card stock along the bottom so the DSP shows through! It's actually adhered to the inside of the card. Here it is:

If you hurry, you can still make some Easter cards this year too!  All the details are listed below.

This is the last week of Sale-A-Bration!  You've read about it and it's almost over. For every $50 you spend, you get to choose a free item from the Sale-A-Bration items. All the details are on my Stampin'Up! Website, on the right side of this blog. Contact me with any questions or an order and we'll get it in ASAP so you won't miss out!

Happy Stampin'!

Sarah

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Congratulations! for any occasion...

Sometimes you just need a card that says "Bravo", or "Congrats" or "Way to Go"!  There are all kinds of reasons... new job, new house, promotion, reaching a hard-fought goal, staying on track or the obvious, graduation!  It's great fun to encourage those we love and the blessing to them is huge. We should do it more, shouldn't we?  I'm working on that and not necessarily waiting for a biggie occasion, but just congratulating others as a way to show them love and care.   Stampin'Up! has the perfect stamp set, "Bravo". You get alot of bang for your buck with this stamp set and can adapt it to any occasion or use.  Here's the card I made recently:

My goal was a quick and easy card with some fun colors. I used the Work Of Art stamp set for my watercolor background brush strokes and dots.  I added some washi tape because I have a ton and forget to use it and threw in a back paperclip just for added interest. This card took less than 10 minutes to make and I love the results. 

If you are thinking that card making, scrap booking and papercrafting in general looks complicated and difficult, you could be right, depending on what you are looking at. However, more and more, it's become easier, simpler and less cluttered with stuff. That's a good goal for a card and a great goal for life, right?!  Now's a great time to jump in so contact me if you are interested in starting a paper journey of your own. Hobbies feed the soul in a creative way and there is nothing like the satisfaction of making something awesome yourself, no matter what the medium from food to art to music!

Have a great weekend!

Sarah 

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Sheer Perfection

Sheer Perfection sounds like a lofty goal, doesn't it!  Well, it's not a comment on my art or my life, but it IS the name of a new freebie available during Sale-A-Bration!  I was anxious to get my hands on this paper and play with it. It is a preprinted vellum in several different patterns and it was everything I hoped!  You can just use it as is, or color it!  Since it's vellum, I wanted to create a see-through window card. That's easy with framelits and the Big Shot.  Here's my card:

It's a little hard to see in the picture, but the vellum acts like a window. When the card is open, you can see through it. I'm going to experiment some more with this concept, especially to see what I can stamp on the inside of the card that might show through the window for a cool effect. 

If you like what you see, please leave a comment!  I would love some feedback!!  Just a reminder, my classes are this week, Friday at 9:00 a.m. and Saturday at 9:30 a.m.  We will be having a great time playing with paper and related stuff and making 3 cards. The cost is $10. Please RSVP!

By the way, I am so very grateful for you!

Sarah

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Are you a little bit Irish?

I consider myself to be one of the lucky... I'm one-quarter Irish with a maternal grandmother who was 100% Irish. All the rest of my grandparents were 100% Norwegian so I'm a little more partial to that part of my ancestry!  My grandmother spent the majority of her adult life in Big Timber, a strong Norwegian/Scandinavian community. She was fortunate to have beautiful blue eyes and be somewhat fair, so she easily passed for the "correct" nationality.  Her in-laws were soooooooooooo Norwegian that she never told them she wasn't. I don't think she told many people at all and through the years learned to cook like a true Scandinavian. I'm pretty sure she went to her grave at age 96-1/2 with most people thinking she was a proud Norwegian. It never was a big deal to her, but I think of her every year on this day. I have an antique picture of her Irish grandmother and 3 great aunts taken way back when, in the old country ;)  Check it out at the bottom of this post!

Here are some cards to honor the day. These are cards I have made in the past as I didn't make any this year -- my bad!  To celebrate the day and the Irish, I'm wearing a green shirt, I'm going to scrounge up some corned beef for supper (tip of the day:  Arby's serves Ruebens) and I'm not going to Butte, America for the festivities. I don't think I can celebrate that much!

From these four gals and me, have a fun (and safe!) St. Patrick's Day!

Sarah

Playing around with new stuff

Sometimes, my creativity takes the form of meandering playing around, with no specific goal in mind. That happens when I'm not sure what to make, have a bunch of new stuff staring me in the face and just don't know where to start.  I've learned that for me, Designer Series paper is a good place to start when I'm not sure.  It automatically can give me  a color scheme. It can also inspire my choice of stamp (floral, vintage, retro, masculine, childish, etc).  Usually it is a place to start and that's what I need. This card is a random happenstance that came about in that fashion. I wanted to try some new stuff, some neglected stuff and I needed a Thank You card. While it isn't a favorite of mine, it works for me in kinda a quirky way.

I started with the leaf background DSP and knew I wanted to try my new flower stamp set and punch. I can't even remember how I chose my color scheme!  My neglected component is the picture (think old-time Polaroid) framelit!  I haven't used that in a year and kinda forgot I had it.   Anyway, this is a hodgepodge card and I'm okay with those too. It's wonderful when you have a fabulous idea and plan it from start to finish and it's also okay when the elements just sort of end up on the paper. 

Be sure to check out my class schedule! I've added some new ones!

Happy Stampin'!

Sarah

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Wedding Congratulations!

As I try to keep up with blog posting, it has occurred to me you have to keep up with card-making or creating something else to show, or it doesn't work so well!  Then you have to take pictures. Then you have to load them on the computer and fiddle with them a tad. My mojo breaks down in all these steps some days and I get a little behind.

Here's a card I made awhile back and am sharing now. It's a wonderful wedding-themed stamp set from the Occasions Catalog entitled "Your Perfect Day". There are lots of possibilities with this one and the wreath image can be used for anything!  Here's my card!

I have listed the supplies below in case you are interested. I combined Sahara Sand with Island Indigo for a great contrast of bold and neutral. I also added a couple rhinestones to top it off!

Time is flying by and we only have about 2 more weeks of Sale-A-Bration left!  Have you gotten the freebies you had your eyes on?  There's still time. You can order anytime online or just contact me and I'll take care of it. I'm also having more card classes next week and you can order then as well.  Don't miss out!  All the Sale-A-Bration freebies can be seen on my website, as well as our entire product line. 

Happy Stampin'!

Sarah

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

If I know what love is...

It is because of you!

What an awesome sentiment for a special person in your life. It could be your parent, your sibling, your spouse, your child or a close friend. All of them teach us about love in varying degrees and I think a big part of who we are is because of those around us, sometimes for better and sometimes unfortunately for worse.

I originally purchased this stamp set for the flower and leaf images because I wanted to use them on the "Build A Bouquet" kit.  I barely paid any attention to the sentiments. Now that I have the set, the sentiments are my favorite part ;)  Here's a card I came up with as I was experimenting:

I plan to play some more with this set. I like the brush stroke look of the flowers and leaves and adding a butterfly always seems to attract alot of positive attention!

I'm hoping to have some creative time this weekend, but my main task is taxes that I have ignored until now!  Sigh... one of the few certainties in life, right? By the way, thanks to all of you who saw my post yesterday and prayed for little Allistaire!  I know the family greatly appreciates each and every prayer and how wonderful to join together and be of the same mind and purpose. Thank you...

Have a great weekend!

Sarah

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Special girl and a special card

I'm devoting my blog today to a special girl who is fighting for her very life against cancer. She has been at this for almost 4 years now with various remissions and relapses and is very sick at this time. I encourage you to read her mother's powerful, poignant and beautiful blog which documents this journey that no one chooses.   Here's the link for that:

http://conglomerationofjoy.com/

There is a prayer event tomorrow morning at 7:16  mountain time, to celebrate her 5th birthday and ask Almighty God for His mercy, wisdom, healing and peace in her life and her family's life.  You can find the details on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1076466689034021/

All of this inspired me to make a card and get it sent to Seattle Children's Hospital. Although we are not close friends, we do know the family and their plight and story has been on our hearts for a couple of years now.  

Here's my card:

I won't go into too much detail regarding the card as that is completely irrelevant to the reason for the card. I used the "From The Herd" stamp set and a retired SU die  of peek-a-boo windows. I included another stamped image on the inside of the card for her to color. This card was 5 x 7 to incorporate all I wanted to include. It was fun to make and I hope it brings a smile to her face. 

and here's a picture of the sweet and lovely Allistaire....

This perfectly captures what has enthralled me with card making... using a form of art that I can do (I can stamp but I CANNOT draw a thing) to bless others and hopefully make a difference, even if it's just a smile on a bleak day.  Please join the 1000+ people that will be praying tomorrow, and honestly, pray now... you don't even have to wait until tomorrow. This little girl needs a miracle!
Thanks for everything,
Sarah

Thinking of You

Here's my last card from my recent card class!  We used alot of product and made a very traditional card technique-wise. That's always fun to revert to especially when you want to try some new stuff! The main product line featured is "Crazy About You" Stamp set with the "Hello You" thinlit dies. These can be bundled at the time of purchase for a 15% discount, so even better~!

Here's the card and then I'll tell you how I did it!

1) Background stamp in Sahara Sand ink with the dictionary stamp; 2) Green leaves (in Crazy About You stamp set) double stamped (ink only once) in Mossy Meadow; 3) Stamp flowers from Crazy About You stamp set on scrap paper and punch out with coordinating punches in Hello Honey and Tangelo Twist; 4) Stamp "thinking of you" from Crazy About You Stamp set in Blackberry Bliss; 5) Die cut "YOU" with thinlit from "Hello You" set in blackberry bliss; 6) Punch out butterfly  in Lost Lagoon paper; 7) Assemble card and add some washi tape and a mini flower with a brad for some more detail.  I've listed the products below in case you are interested in any of them!

The Crazy About You stamp set is really versatile as there are lots of saying/words to combine:

It also comes in three formats: wood, clear mount and photopolymer!

Tomorrow I will have a very special card for you, for a very special 5 year old!  Don't miss it!

Happy Stampin'!

Sarah

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Making an envelope into a card!

Hi friends!
I never forget there are people on the other end of this blog that are reading it. I just want you to know I appreciate it!  I've been blogging fairly consistently for a few months now and am enjoying the process as I learn more. Any comments or suggestions would be very welcome, to help me improve!

The card I have for you today is born out of an idea I have had for at least  a year, but just never implemented it for a class until this past week.  One awesome product we carry is the Envelope Punch Board (#133774) which allows you to make your own envelopes. Perhaps you are wondering why you would want to do that?  Well, sometimes, things just don't work out to fit the normal sizes, right? Here would be an appropriate time for me to go on and on about clothing sizes, but I won't. Sometimes, we need a custom envelope, or even more often, we want to use a specific paper rather than the boring white envelope. My idea was different than either of those reasons. I wanted to incorporate the envelope as part of the card to create a little "surprise" factor. I'll show you the card so you can see what I mean:

I have several things to point out about the outside of this card. First, it isn't a traditional card, it is just a postcard base. Secondly, I used the Irresistibly Yours paper from Sale-A-Bration and a sponge with Coastal Cabana ink on it to sponge the paper. The ink only sticks to the non-embossed area. If you like this technique, hurry and get this paper!  It's only available with any purchase of $50 and will be unavailable after March 31st!  The next thing I did was cut out the heart border on the top with one of the Mini Treat bag Thinlit pieces. You can see the envelope I made with my punch board and I used ribbon to close the envelope rather than adhesive because I wanted it to be easy to open.  Now, here's the inside!

It's a surprise of sorts! I made mine a thank you card, but you could easily stamp whatever you wanted. Another idea is to make a little paper pocket and put a gift card inside the envelope!  The possibilities are endless!  By the way, the cute little paper bow above the thank you is also a framelit piece from the Mini Treat bag Thinlit set. A bonus of using our Designer Series Paper is that you can see both sides of it when you make an envelope like I did! The envelope punch board is easy to use and includes measurements for 66 different sizes of envelopes! I would say that is a great tool.

It's Tuesday again, so there are some Weekly Specials! This is a good week if you are someone who loves to give treats and gifts to people and need some packing supplies or ideas. Here they are:

http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ItemList.aspx?categoryid=1634

Winter is back in Bozeman at least for today.  Stay warm!
Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Another Best.Day.Ever.

I really like this stamp... gets right to the point!  What are some of your best days ever?  A wedding, the birth of a baby, getting a grade you didn't expect, a promotion, buying a house, scoring some points for the team?  All kinds of things make our days and how fun to celebrate them!  Here's a card that lets you know you are excited about those best.days.ever.!!

This is the first card we made in my card classes this past weekend. It features white ink stamping on vellum with heat embossing and some great paper background from the "Adventure Bound" paper stack. It was a pretty simple card but gets the message across in a bold way!  All the supplies are listed below.

Today is March 1st and that means there are some extra Sale-A-Bration freebies to choose from for every $50 you spend.   Check all that out in the store tab on the right. It's a great time to stock up on the basics like paper and adhesives! How about ink refills?  Let me know if you want to order anything and I'll get it done.

I'll be back tomorrow with more from the recent card class!  Thanks for taking a minute to look at my blog and hopefully you were inspired to create!

Happy Stampin'!

Sarah

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog