Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - greeting card style!

Hi friends,
Today I will be few on words and big on pictures!  I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and have time to do all the things that make it special with the people you love. I'm flooding my blog with some of my favorite cards over the years!

I'll be back sometime next week! Thank you to all of you who support me by reading my blog, checking out my website, shopping and "liking" what I do!  It means a lot to me!

Blessings at Christmas and throughout the year!
Sarah

Under the Sea fun!

Hi Stampers,
Today I'm taking a little break from the Holiday themes and showcasing a really out of the box set for me. You probably already know this, but I live in Bozeman, Montana. If you don't know where Montana is, we are that really big state in the Northern Rocky Mountains that is almost Canada. We are landlocked and there are no oceans in site. in fact, it's a long day's drive to the Pacific coast and a several day journey to the Atlantic Coast. We have lots of amazing wildlife in Montana but you will never see an octopus unless it is on a plate at some fancy restaurant!

Stampin'Up!'s Sea of Textures stamp bundle has been out since last spring. I thought it was cute, but ignored it for months because it wasn't relevant to me or the people I hang out with and those that buy my cards.  A month or so ago, I reconsidered and after using some hostess reward dollars, I decided to get it. I have no idea what motivated me other than it was really different from anything else in my craft stash.  Yesterday I finally took it out and played with it and had a blast!  I still don't like octopus anything and would probably die right on the spot if I encountered one in the ocean, but these paper ones were fun and harmless. Here's what I came up with:

On all of these, I used the "Tranquil Textures" Designer Series Paper as my background. That is part of the Sea of Textures Suite so it was a natural choice. I think any octopus is a yucky grey in real life, but mine are quite colorful and cute. I even used some small black rhinestones on a couple of them for eyes. The framelits and stamps were fun to play with and easily inspired me even though I don't have an ounce of ocean "vibe" in my soul. I have lived in the mountains or on the prairie my whole life so I had no idea what I was doing but loved what I ended up with. I can only imagine how appealing this bundle would be to those of you closer to a coast!

That's one of the fun things about creativity. You can go in a direction that you normally wouldn't have the opportunity to explore and see what happens. This cost me very little compared to a trip to an ocean and I had a super fun afternoon playing with this bundle.  I've included a list of my supplies in case you want to copy my design and have your own fun with an octopus (and not get creeped out by a real one!).

Cooking and baking are on the calendar today. We have a last (that I know of) holiday event tonite, a quick 2 hour trip east of us to see our daughter's Christmas programs (elementary music school teacher) and then a weekend push to get ready for Christmas.  I love this time of year!

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Some Hodge-podge Holiday "Thank You" cards

Hey Stampers!
Can you believe a week from now, Christmas will be all over?  I sure can't!  I still have plenty I want to get done including some last minute cards I need.  I thought I would share some quick cards today that I did for various purposes.  Awhile back, my husband needed a thank you card for a friend who hosted a hunting weekend in November.  They hunted deer and elk and I took a little grief for my design because obviously, this animal is a caribou (??!!)

I used the Nature Sings stamp set and Winter Woods stamp set to create a wonderful woodland scene.

For my next card, I needed some cards for thank you's for some customers. I recently "discovered" the Bokeh Dots stamp set in the Annual Catalog and I'm in love!  There are so many options for using this fabulous background stamp.  I used Stampin'Up!'s note cards for this project.

 For my last set of cards, we needed three larger than normal Thank You cards. These are cards for retiring board members on a local charity my husband serves with. He wanted large cards so everyone could sign the inside and add a personal comment if they desired. I used some 5 x 7 cards that I had from a local craft store, for this very purpose. I haven't used the "Under the Mistletoe" paper enough so grabbed it for these eye-grabbing cards!  I like the cut out thank you on some wood paper background, very trendy right now!

It's fun to be able to make some specific cards for specific reasons and if you're an avid crafter, you often have all you need right in our own stash!

I'm gearing up for a really fun Occasions and Sale-A-Bration period!  I'm making lots of samples to share and plan to host several events to get you going on your upcoming holidays and special occasions!  Stay tuned!

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Occasions Sneak Peek - Butterfly Gala!

Hi Stampers!
There is so much going on right now that it's hard to keep it all straight and I'm not even talking about Christmas!  Stampin'Up is cleaning out the warehouse in more ways than one. There is an "Inventory Closeout" featuring many of the 2018 Holiday catalog products which are going away after January 2nd.  Today, they added a ton of stuff to the "Clearance Rack" which is made up of already-retired product. There are some fabulous discounts on paper, framelits, ink and more.  To see either one of these online, click on the "shop now" link to the right ====>>>>,  You'll be able to easily set up a shopping profile and then load up your cart. Best of all, your order comes straight to your door. Be sure to check them out for some real deals!

I have some more sneak peeks today, featuring one of the butterfly themed products. This one features a suite of stamps, a punch, some adorable gingham patterned paper and awesome sequins. This suite won't be available until January 3rd so I'll post again in the new year with specific details about the products I used for these cards. I had fun!

The first quarter of the new year will add even more fun to the mix with Sale-A-Bration. This is a first quarter promotion that has been running for years now and it's everyone's favorite. For every $50 you spend, ( any product, any catalog, any sale) you are entitled to a free item from the SAB brochure. They are some really great choices this year as always and I can't wait to feature it all on January 3rd.  There will be no shortage of great products to make your own.

I have one more class to prep for and then it's going to be a week of some baking, finally!  What are your favorite holiday cookies and treats?  My family loves the recipes I've been cooking that go back for decades with my mom and grandma. You know, those good ones with plenty of butter, Crisco, lard, tons of sugar, nuts and chocolate. I know it's possible to make much healthier cookies but sometimes you just want to be transported back to your grandma's kitchen. My grandma's best loved cookie were cut out sugar cookies. She never frosted them, just sprinkled a little sugar on top and then she filled a huge soup pot or turkey roaster with them and told us grandkids we could eat as many as we wanted and our parents had to stay out of them ;).  What a great memory. It is so heartwarming to me to make these recipes that have been handed down to me and I honestly don't care about the healthy part, haha!

Happy Holidays and Stampin'!
Sarah

Peaceful Poinsettia

Hi Friends!
We are getting closer and closer to Christmas!  How are your plans and preparations going?  I fear I've left too much until now so the next couple of weeks will be very busy! I may have to make some tough decisions about what does and what does not get done this year, but so far, I'm optimistic that I can get it done.

I spent a little time browsing the list of the Inventory Closeout sale that Stampin'Up! is having. It's a last chance to get some of the Holiday catalog products that will be retiring soon. On an impulse I purchased the "Peaceful Pointsettia" bundle and boy am I glad I did!  This was really fun to play with and gave a little different vibe than what I already had. It is elegant and fun to work with. Here's a few ideas I came up with the other afternoon.

The framelits create some fun cut outs on your background that are really sweet. I used those in the first and third card. For the second one, I did some stamping, coloring with Blends and then used a framelit die cut.  It's always fun to incorporate other products like Designer Series paper, punches, gems and embellishments, etc.

Take a look at the Inventory Closeout specials here and see if there's something you still need to get while you can!

YEAR END CLOSEOUT - STAMPIN'UP!

It's not too late and maybe there is something you really like that can be used for Christmas 2019!  If you live in the United States and don't already have a Stampin'Up! demonstrator, I would love to help you. One of my specialities is getting a new stamper started in a friendly and non-overwhelming way. I have lots of ideas that will make rubber stamping your new favorite hobby!  Please contact me and I'll get back to you promptly!

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what I'm up too. Share this blog with your crafty friends and spread the word about how much fun you can have with ink, paper and stamps!

Happy Friday!
Sarah

Still Night

Hi Stampin' Friends!
I am coming out of my busiest week in December so it looks like clear sailing from now on (I hope!). Most years, I've accompanied for a children's theater Madrigal Dinner in December and it's always fun, chaotic and magical. Those songs will be running in my head as I finish out the Christmas season but my focus is back on my art and my house.  We are also wrapping up our remodel and am so happy to have running water in the kitchen again. I've used the new oven a few times and am trying to figure out where to put things in new cupboards. It's exciting to switch up such a major part of the home, the kitchen.

I'm also back stamping some and seeing what I need to do before Christmas arrives. I'm hosting a fun open house style class tomorrow featuring tags, gift bags and gift card holders. All of those can be extremely useful as you wrap up your Christmas shopping and if you get to craft to do so, it's a win/win!  Please feel free to drop by my house tomorrow if you can make it. I have times at 9 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.  Contact me for more details.

How many of you are fans of owls?  I am not sure what I think. There's something cool about them but I never want to get to close to a bird. Give me a puppy any day!!!  I had some extra hostess dollars to use recently so I chose the "Still Night" bundle. I was intrigued by the tree branch but also thought the owl was kinda cool.  I finally got around to playing with it a few days ago and here's what happened!

I did several different techniques with this first card.  I used the birch tree stamp from the "Winter Woods" stamp set to stamp up some Whisper White card stock. I then cut the branch out of it. It isn't perfect as the branch grows different ways and the birch stamp was all vertical, but I decided I kind of liked it.   My owl is heat embossed with some Early Espresso embossing powder. I added some of the pine boughs that come with this set.  After I stamped the evergreen trees, again from the "Winter Woods" set, I embossed the whole background piece with the "Softly Falling" embossing folder to create the look of snow.

For this card, I decided to use a Night of Navy cardstock background and some white craft ink to stamp some snowflakes, part of the "Still Night" stamp set.  I am thinking the owl doesn't stand out enough so I would emboss him like I did above, next time. 

I wanted to try my hand at a non- seasonal, non- night time card so I used the owl die included in the "Still Night" set and cut three different owls out of bright colors, Poppy Parade, Mango Melody and Daffodil Delight.  As I was putting this together, I realized this could be a great graduation card by fashioning a graduation cap and tassel and putting it on top of the owl.

This last card is included as an example of a "meh" card!  Sometimes you think you have a great idea and then it turns out kinda boring, kinda underwhelming. I used Soft Suede card stock for the owl and it's just too dark to see the stamping very well. I think my background is okay, but too boring.  The reason I posted this is to show you that it's okay to try things, fail and try again. I learn a lot about art by figuring out what I should have done differently to get a different result. I guess that mirrors life, right?!

I hope you are enjoying the season, taking in all the sights, scents and sounds. It's a wonderful time of year!
Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Year-End Closeout sale! Get your Holiday products now!

Hi Stamping friends!
After a very successful run, most of the 2018 Holiday catalog is retiring, starting today!  You can still get most products but they are only available while supplies last. Some even have discounts!  It's best to put together an order and act quickly so you won't be disappointed.  I've had so much fun with this catalog. It was pretty easy to see my visions and dreams become reality as Stampin'Up! products are full of inspiration. It's not too late to start a Christmas project for this year and then there's always next year, right?

If you need something in a quick hurry, might I suggest the Timeless Tidings kit. It's absolutely gorgeous with it's lovely paper and stamps. You will have 20 cards put together in no time and on their way to your friends and family. Here's a quick video telling you all about it!

Here are some project samples as well:


I'm sorry to see many products go. My favorite suite was the "Farmhouse Christmas" suite. One of the most fun sets to play with is the "Making Christmas Bright" set which includes stamps and a Christmas light bulb punch. There is elegance and whimsy throughout the Holiday catalog, enough to satisfy every taste and style. 

Here's a link to see what products are in this Year-End Closeout:

2018 Holiday Catalog Year End Closeout sale

Have fun shopping and I'll see you tomorrow with more fun and ideas.

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

More Sneak Peeks! Geared Up Garage bundle ;)

Hi Stampers,
Christmas is a time of fun, surprises, memories with family and friends and all the things we love. I have a wonderful sneak peek today for you featuring what a lot of guys love - tools and cars!  This new suite will absolutely delight you as you use it to make fun projects for the men in your life. It was one of the first things I ordered while I was attending OnStage in Orlando. It is almost impossible to say what my favorite part is... the paper, the framelits, the stamps, the trinkets?  It is all PERFECT! I recently had some fun with this suite and here's what I came up with for my first go-round!

There are a whole lot of "gear" framelits and they are all unique. Here I cut them out of our galvanized silver foil paper. See the smudges on the background?  That is actually a stamp and not my dirty, inky fingerprints!

The Designer Series Paper is in an awesome 6 x 6 pack and includes images that are suitable for fussy cutting, like the car in this project. Notice the wrench and key... wonderful trinkets!

The framelit set also includes a set of gears all hooked together, which I used in this card with some black foil paper. Isn't this a great color scheme?

Here's a look at the stamped car image which I colored with my Stampin' Blends before I cut it out with the framelit. There is so much to love about this suite that I can't wait to share it after January 2nd when I can give you all the details and purchase information.  Until then......

Check back tomorrow!  There is an Inventory Clearance sale which means they will update the Clearance Rack and you can get some of your favorites for less money. Who doesn't like that?!!

I'm off to play some more while I wait for the next phase of our kitchen remodel. Countertops are coming today and I can't wait because that means a working water faucet is not far behind!

Have a fabulous day!
Sarah

Christmas and more with "Nothing Sweeter"

Hi Stamper friends!
And just like that, it's Friday!  Some weeks really sail by don't they?  I've been making Christmas projects since August so it actually seems like it is taking a long time for December to finally get here, but then it will go fast as always.  I thought I was done with my purchases from the 2018 Holiday catalog, but then I saw a few more things that seemed irresistible. at least that's what I told myself.   I didn't realize until very recently that the framelits with the "Nothing Sweeter" bundle actually had stitching on them... whoa... really??!!  Then I decided they would be really fun to have for all sorts of ideas. The tree image can be for any thing with a tree and we have tons of trees in Montana so I can always use that. The present image can be used for birthday, wedding, etc. The heart image can be used for Valentine's Day, weddings, baby cards, etc. See where I'm going with this?  This set is wonderfully and deceptively versatile. I stuck to Christmas because I wanted to combine it with some of the "Under the Mistletoe" Designer Series Paper that I hadn't really used yet. If you spend much time on Pinterest, you see what others are doing with Stampin'Up! products and notice things you had overlooked, especially paper!

Here's what I did:

Aren't those little framelits adorable?  The presents die has a regular stitching line, the tree has a cross hatch style stitch and the hearts have little cross stitches.  I really thought these were cute. There are some additional stamps and sentiments included but really the framelits are what sold me.

I'm hearing there will be an inventory clearance sale in December. That usually means it is products from the Holiday catalog that will not carry over past January 3rd. I'll keep you posted but this would be a great bundle to pick up, especially on sale!

I hope you have a fabulous weekend as you welcome in December and all the festivities that usually means. First on our list of events is a Handel's Messiah performance with my son-in-law singing the bass/baritone solos. I look forward to this every year and it's a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season!

Have a great weekend!
Sarah

Who's ready to see some Sneak Peeks from upcoming Sale-A-Bration??!!

Hi Friends,
I'm getting increasingly antsy to move on from all things Christmas in my crafting world and dive into the new Occasions and Sale-A-Bration catalogs and products!  I recently attended OnStage in Orland, FL and received quite a few freebies as well as the opportunity to order a limited number of new products. They have all arrived and I've been ooohhing and aaahhing ever since. I feel like it's time to start sharing the goodness and get you excited for what's coming up.  As usual, there are many things I like, a few things that don't really speak to me and a few that scream "BUY ME"!  In my opinion, they really gave us some great masculine themed stamp sets which will help so many of my customers create those kind of projects. Enough of the flowers and butterflies, right?  Although, wait until you see the new butterfly set... oh boy, is it awesome!

The first set I won is called "Lovely Lattice" and is really pretty. This is a Sale-A-Bration stamp set that you can only get for free with an order of at least $50.  I'll be talking about Sale-A-Bration a lot in the coming weeks. It goes from January 3rd through March 31st and offers free product for every $50 increment on an order. It's an awesome way to expand your stash of stuff. Want to see some ideas?  Here they are:

For this card, I used some Designer Series Paper from the Nature's Poem set for my background. I stamped the image with Momento Black and then colored it with the Stampin' Blends alcohol markers. I purposely chose a calm, soft palette of colors but they are vivid enough to be interesting.

 
For my next card, I was curious how this image would looked with heat embossing. I used my silver embossing powder and then also stamped with Mint Macaron ink on Mint Macaron card stock. I like the elegance and slightly formal look of this card. This would make a great wedding or anniversary card (with a different sentiment) wouldn't it?

For my last one, I tried a monochrome effect with lots and lots of Grapefruit Grove!  The new Gingham paper is coming, in 5 shades, in the new Occasions catalog and you won't be able to get enough of that.  This was the first card I made and I'm wondering if you see where I goofed. When you look at the direction the flower buds are growing, you will conclude that this image is on the card upside down. I didn't see it until I was all done and so I left it alone just to show you that 1) we all make mistakes, 2) many times we are the only ones that see our goof ups, 3) I could easily take that piece off and flip it around and 4) it's still really pretty!  I didn't try it, but in the brochure, they have a sample that has the stamped image on it's side, with the lace to the right. That looks really good too!

I'm excited to show you more so come back as I sprinkle the new stuff all throughout my blog in December!  It's the season of cheer and new stuff makes me cheer alot!

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

#simplestamping with Flourish Filigree

Hi Stampers!
I'm so glad you stop by and check out what I'm up to. Believe it or not, I'm thinking of you when I experiment with some of the new products with each catalog roll out. I purchase what I really like but also am thinking about how this would appeal to a wider audience and especially my own customers. Some have been with me now for 7 years and I have a hunch which stamps and products they will be excited about.

I had a customer purchase the"Flourish Filigree" set early on this fall and it caught my attention because I was surprised!  I hadn't really noticed it and thought it was kinda "meh". I forgot about it and then a couple weeks later I took another look at it and noticed that the sentiments are perfect for several punches, which always is an attractive feature. Anyway, I decided to get it and then had some fun playing with it. The filigree stamp makes a perfect background on card stock or even Designer Series Paper and the sentiments are great. Here's what I ended up with:

On this first card, I used the "Tranquil Textures" Designer Series Paper. If you haven't gotten this paper pack yet, you really should! I can't tell you how many cards I've used it in and stamped on the paper multiple times. It is the perfect addition of paper to a card.  It helped me create a vintage effect on this card, which I really like.

For this second card, I again used the "Tranquil Textures" DSP, but a busier pattern. As long as your ink is dark enough, busy paper works okay most of the time. I pulled the Tranquil Tide color out of the paper for my stamping, both the filigree stamp and the sentiment. I also pulled out some pink with the rose glimmer paper and rose metallic thread. This sentiment is made to coordinate with the "Pretty Label" punch.

For this card, I wanted to play with the lightest shade of green we have, the Soft Sea Foam. I used the "Tranquil Textures" DSP AGAIN and used Soft Sea Foam ink on top of it. The snowflakes are from the "Snow Is Glistening" stamp set.  The rest of the stamping is from the "Merry Christmas to You" bundle, as well as the "Christmas" die cut.  I wasn't sure if this shade of green would work for Christmas, but I think it does. It wasn't toooo overpowered by the red.

For my last card, I went back to the "First Frost" stamp set and alternately stamped the garland with using the full stamp and then only part of it and stamping off on grid paper.  I thought that was a unique way to use this set.

It's always fun to just play. I think sometimes we are afraid we will mess up so we are hesitant to try something out of the box or not familiar to us. I'm such a big fan of trying something even if the end product isn't as wonderful as the image you had in your head. You can always "fix" what you don't like and if all fails, you can throw it away or turn the paper over and make something else!  Paper and ink are relatively inexpensive so it's okay to try something, even if you're not sure!

Today, I have a swap to prepare for among my team of demonstrators and a free for all card/tag class for my daughter and her friends (20-30 year olds). She told me that either 3 people or about 10 are coming so I'm hoping she gives me a closer number later today, haha! Just as an aside, reach out to people that aren't in your age demographic. These are often the people that you don't normally hang out with but I can safely say that every generation includes people who love to craft and make things that are handmade and DIY.  I always tell people that what I like best about this hobby is getting together with some friends and strangers (sometimes!) to create. It feels like what it must have felt to be part of a quilting bee back in the pioneer days.  Women (and sometimes men) love to create and socialize and if you can combine them, it's really a popular activity!  Throw in some food and you've got their attention as well!

Have a great Wednesday....
Sarah