Wild About You

Happy Tuesday Stampers!

We are down to the final week before Christmas!  My preparations have been a little lighter this year for various reasons and I have to say, I've enjoyed it!  I'm even hosting a couple card classes this last week and people are coming!  I guess we all need a small creative break in the midst of the hubbub...

I've been checking my photos for some cards I've made but not blogged yet, kinda a sweeping out of 2017 in getting ready for 2018.  I make so many cards that never quite make the blog for one reason or another, but some just get overlooked. Here's one today:

This card features some current products and some retired favorites. The elk stamp is from the "Nature Sings" set, featured in the Annual catalog, pg 115.  I will use the elk and tree stamps all year round, especially for masculine themed cards. After all, I live in Montana!  The "Wild About You" stamp is from the "Pieces and Patterns" stamp set featured on pg 41 of the Annual Catalog.  I also used the new punch from the Holiday Catalog for my sentiment, pg 12.    This card exemplifies one of my favorite creating techniques, combining completely random products that seem to go together for one creative moment.

I want to remind you of all the specials that are going on right now, however, it is Christmas and being realistic, I know you are in gift-giving mode for others and not necessarily yourself. Don't forget you can give or receive gift certificates for Stampin'Up! product through me. Just contact me and we'll get one set up!

Meanwhile, if you are so inclined, check out the:

CLEARANCE RACK

YEAR END SALES EVENT

HOLIDAY CATALOG- The Holiday Catalog goes away after January 2nd so be sure to not delay if there is still something on your wishlist!

Meanwhile, I hope your days are indeed merry and bright!
Sarah

Easy and Quick party favor, just in time for Christmas!

Hi friends,
I have a quick post for you today!  I recently needed to come up with some little party favors for some special ladies in my classes. I knew Stampin'Up! carried just what I needed.  My goal was simple, quick to make and sweet to receive. Here's what I did:

I used Stampin'Up! cute little clear treat boxes to start with. After assembling the boxes, I wrapped some washi tape around the sides. I then used a cute wooden embellishment from the "Around the World" suite and then filled the boxes with some sweet treats and added some ribbon!  These were cute, easy and not too huge. Sometimes, I've embarked on a party favor that ended up being too large and required tooooo much candy to fill!  While that's good to eat, it got too expensive to make a large volume of favors. This size box is perfect.

I plan to make some more!  You get 16 boxes in a pack (#141699) and that's quite a few!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!
Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

TBT Christmas Edition!

Hi Stampers!

Does this sound like you?  You get so excited to see all the wonderful ideas and products in the Holiday catalog in AUGUST!  You have dreams and visions of everything you want to make and you succeed in much of it. You add all kinds of new stamps, embellishments and lovely paper to your already substantial pile o' stuff. Then you blink and it's 10 days away from Christmas and you've barely scratched the surface!  UGH!!!

That's what I'm feeling today. Plus, I have the added UGH of absolutely loving so much of what I've accumulated in the past and not getting the chance to play with it some more!  I should probably spend a day or two on Christmas related ideas all year, just to feel like I've nailed it!

I recently gave some retired stamps and paper some extra lovin' as I wanted to make some cards to sell locally in the shops that carry my cards.  It's so fun to go back, switch things up a bit and see what happens.  Since it's Thursday, I'll make it Throw Back Thursday and show you some real treasures from prior years!  I hope they inspire you to check your stash and see what you have laying around!

That was fun!  I still have more ideas, but they may be put on the back burner until next year.  It's time to savor and enjoy Christmas and stop the frenzied preparations!

Have a lovely day this blessed season!
Sarah

Waterfront

Hi Friends,
I'm slowly checking out some new products that are coming up in the Occasions catalog on January 3rd. I hope you are excited!  I'll be able to feature a link to the catalog and the Sale-A-Brations brochure soon, so stay tuned!  For now, I've ordered a few things in the preorder period, one of the many perks of being a Stampin'Up! demonstrator!

One stamp set caught my eye right away, mostly because I felt it would lend itself to making Montana-related cards. It had mountains, lakes and pine trees!  It's called "Waterfront" and it is versatile in that the stamps can be used in several different ways. Here are a couple of examples:

On these two cards, I basically stuck with a similar color scheme but changed up my technique.  On the top card,  I stamped my images on Whisper White paper and tried to keep a clean look with plenty of white left over.  I added some sentiments that are included in this stamp set. On the second card, I stamped many of the same stamps but used watercolor paper instead. After I was completely done stamping, I spritzed the entire piece with water.  I used my heat tool to dry the water quickly and keep the ink bleeding to a minimum. As you can see, I got a blurrier effect that I really like, true watercolor!  I decided to not use any sentiments on this card as I felt the stamped piece could be a focal item all alone.  This was a fun technique that I hadn't tried before. I have inked up a stamp, then spritzed the stamp before stamping, but never spritzed the watercolor paper after stamping. I really liked the effect.

All sorts of goodies are awaiting us in the new year!  Meanwhile, many products from the 2017 Holiday catalog are on their way out!  Don't miss out if there's something you still wanted to get. There is plenty of time to still order. Think about some gift giving also for your crafty friends!  Many items are discounted to help you with your holiday budget.  Check out the store at the "shop now" link just to the right.

Hope you have a wonderful, creative day!
Sarah

Happy Birthday with Style!

Hi Stampin' Friends,
I have some really cute and fun ideas today for birthday cards with some tongue-in-cheek style. Perhaps you know someone that resembles these ladies, or perhaps you are these ladies!  Either way, they are charming for their joy of life, no matter what age!  Here they are:

I didn't buy this set at first because there were so many others I wanted but I knew eventually I would get them!  These stamped images are from the "You've Got Style" stamp set and I just love them.  They remind me a little bit of my grandma and her friends. They were an amazing, energetic, adventurous and little bit sassy group of widows from small town Montana that traveled the world in their later years. They were such an inspiration to me as I watched them enjoy life together and find silver linings after losing their husbands at early ages.

I want to point out that on the first card, I used the new alcohol markers, Sampin' Blends!  I especially like the ivory one for skin tones. I was skeptical because the skin colors always look off to me but this one really worked!  How fun was that!

Stampin' Up! has such a wide range of styles and themes for stamps. There is always something that is the perfect concept for anyone in your life. I love the variety and especially the freshness when new catalogs are released. Speaking of which, the new Occasions catalog is going to launch on January 3rd!  If you would like a copy  and live outside Gallatin Valley, contact me and I'll get one to you. Our annual promotion Sale-A-Bration is coming up too and that is the perfect time to buy and earn free products at the same time. More info is coming on that!

Meanwhile, I hope your day is full of style!
Happy Stampin',
Sarah

One Page Wonder

Hi Stampin' Friends!
I am back after a couple of weeks of not blogging. I don't have any great excuses, just some fun road trips and all the usual "Deck the Halls" fun that my family and I like to engage in. We decorate for Christmas... a lot! It's so fun to bring out treasures we have had for years and acquire a few new things almost every year. I also took a small box to the thrift shop of things I felt I could part with.

Anyway, I'm still here!  I've focused so heavily on Thanksgiving and Christmas cards that I thought you would enjoy something completely different today.  There is a technique called "One Sheet Wonder" cards where you try to make as many cards as possible from one 12 x 12 sheet of paper. I was thinking of a particular sheet of paper as the perfect choice to try this.  Here it is:

This whimsical and fun piece of Designer Series Paper is from the "Birthday Memories" pack. It would be fun to frame as a background, make into a shadow box, etc. I decided to try some fussy cutting and see what I could do with it. I used everything except a few small pieces of grass that I didn't need.  Here are the results!

As you can see, I added in some extras with more bits and pieces of the Birthday Memories paper, some Brights colored DSP and a balloon punch, some other punches and some stamping, mostly with the "Vertical Greetings" set. This stamp set is a MUST HAVE as it is basically the only stamp set we have with vertical sentiments and some times, that is the only thing that will work!

This was a fun idea and a way to challenge my creativity by trying to get as much use as I could out of a sheet of paper. I'll be thinking about trying this again some day!

You can purchase the "Birthday Memories" paper and all the supplies I used in the online store. Simply click "Shop Now" or use the convenient supply list at the bottom of the post and click on any item that you are interested in.

BY THE WAY, today only, Stampin'Up! is offering free shipping on all orders. That means you could order one pack of dimensionals and have them sent directly to you with no shipping!  You can't beat that but the savings are even better if you have a bigger order!  Don't miss out!



I hope you are enjoying December so far!  Don't forget to craft!  I've already made several party favors and have more planned for my holiday table!  It's pretty easy to come up with another project that gets you stamping, isn't it?!

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah