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

Cambridge Carols - Who doesn't love the nostalgia of a traditional Christmas image!

Hi Friends,
I'm back today!  I've been organizing and sorting some more Christmas card samples that I've made and trying to catch up on some I neglected to feature in a blog. The stamp set I'm featuring today is one of those sets that probably didn't hit your wish list the first time around. It maybe even hasn't been noticed by you. I noticed it, primarily because I loved the art work and particularly loved the style of font and the sentiment itself. I waited until I had a larger order and could order this with hostess dollars. I like to use my hostess dollars for "free" stuff that I sorta like but would rather not spend a lot of money on, haha!

Did you notice the set "Cambridge Carols" in the Holiday catalog, page 40?  It's pretty charming and will evoke the winter whimsy in you, if only for the ice skates!  Here are some ideas I tried:

The sharp observer will note that I didn't tackle coloring the whole image. I would like to do that and probably will, just haven't yet. It would be some ambitious coloring but very pretty. There is a good sample of a colored image in the catalog. For the most part, I just stamped the entire images in ink and then worked with them from there. I did add a lacy edgelit to the second card and the last card I popped up my frame to create a shadow box effect.   Any of these would be pretty quick to do if you needed a bunch, especially the last card.

At this point, I'm almost done with Christmas crafting and moving on to the next season of Stampin'Up!, the Occasions catalog. I'll will be featuring sneak peeks all of December and eagerly look forward to the launch of this new catalog and Sale-A-Bration on January 3, 2019. There are some incredible stamps and more coming that you will be really excited about. You will especially like some of the products that work for masculine themed projects - REALLY!

Today and tomorrow are the last days of the Online Extravaganza. Tools and Ink are on sale today so grab what you need in the online store before it's gone!

Until next time!
Sarah

Illuminated Christmas

Hi Stamper Friends!
Recovering from a fun and busy Thanksgiving holiday?  My daughter and I went to one store for Black Friday and that was enough! We got some good deals, felt we had experienced the whole thing to a degree and decided it would be a good idea to head home, curl up and watch a movie.  I don't have young children to buy for so the latest/greatest/hottest toys and electronics aren't an attraction for me. I enjoyed people watching those who did fall into that category!

I have made so many Christmas cards this season with our lovely new stamp sets from the Holiday catalog. I'm taking some time to go back and share what I might have missed. Today I have a faith-based set to share that I really like.  The "mixed fonts" style is particularly appealing and I love the sentiments. Here are a few samples:

For this first card I combined the "Illuminated Christmas" and stained glass framelits.  I used blue Brusho for my background (watercolor paper) and after it had dried, I spritzed it with gold shimmer paint and alcohol in a spritzer.  I also used Brusho for the angels, but a much lighter color (not as much Brusho).  I used gold embossing powder for the angels as well. Did you realize the butterfly framelit in the stained glass framelit set was used for the angels? I love when Stampin'Up! combines their products for a new use.

I continued to experiment with the gold shimmer paint and alcohol mixture on this card. I was curious what it would look like on black cardstock. It took the shimmer paint really well and was easy to spritz on in varying saturations.   I added some gold embossed stars, a few rhinestone diamonds and a foil snowflake from last year's catelog. 

This was a popular card at my last buffet. I combined the stained glass framelits for the frame with the Illuminated Christmas stamp set.   Did you notice the background paper?  It's from the "All Is Bright" Designer Series Paper pack. I even found a spot for some gold sequin trim.

My last card was actually the first one I made with this set. I was drawn to the stained glass vellum paper and wanted to try to create a church window effect. I used the Stampin'Blends and colored on the back side of the vellum paper.

I imagine I will hang on to this set for a long time as the sentiments are so perfect for the holidays. How would you use this set?  Here's a picture of the stamp set to get your ideas started....


I hope you have time to take another look at the Holiday Catalog and order anything you would still like to have. The catalog period ends January 2 and as we start approaching that date, supplies will run low on popular items. It's not too late to do a little Christmas crafting either. Your project could be simple or complicated, depending on your style and time available. I have more ideas than I can use for myself so contact me and I'll share some good ones!

Just a reminder that Online Extravaganza is still going on!  Today is the last day for stamps and kits to be on sale and Tuesday and Wednesday is the sale for Tools and ink.  Order early, especially if you want ink, as I'm guessing their quantity set aside for this sale will be gone quickly! You can go to the online store by clicking on "shop now" at the right =====>>>>

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

#simplestamping Sunday

Hi folks!
I have a quick post for you today. One of the focuses of OnStage in Orlando was the concept of simple stamping, getting back to the basics before we added all the hoopla!  It's easy to forget that stamping is at the core of what we do and while we do love our embellishments and tools, we wouldn't have much of a project without stamping.

I've been thinking about this concept in terms of sharing stamping with new friends. In fact, my UPS delivery driver is super interested in learning about stamping!  We have plans to connect tomorrow and I'm going to start by stamping. She is new to the craft, but loves to craft in general. I don't want to overwhelm her right off the bat with every trick and feature of the Big Shot or the wonder of a fun fold card. That can wait until she is comfortable stamping and ready for the next step.

I had some fun playing with just stamping the other day and wanted to share what I came up with. You should try it!  Something about "simple" works in our busy lives and still provides the creative outlet your soul needs. You'll notice I did use several different shades of ink and I snuck in a punch for my sentiment on two of the cards. Overall, it was really fun and a bit challenging to limit yourself to stamping.

What do you think? Which is your favorite card?  Anything you would do differently, take away or add? If you were a new stamper, do you think you would be drawn to these cards or would they seem to difficult?

I would love to see some of your #simplestamping !  Post some ideas in the comments and we can learn from each other!

Have a wonderful Sunday. Don't forget the Online Extravaganza is still going on. Today and tomorrow stamps and kits from the annual catalog are on sale for 10% off.  You can order online or get an order to me and I'll take care of it. All the info is a click away on the right sidebar!

Happy Stampin'!

Sarah

A Montana/Country Christmas

Hi Friends!
Have you recovered from any Black Friday shopping you did?  I used to really get into it when my kids were smaller and I had a lot of gifts to buy. Now we are all grown up and seem to prefer one "big thing" that they pick out themselves!  I'm also diverting my money to experiences rather than things when I can, especially with family. We have so much fun together and don't really need more "stuff" so it feels good to plan an adventure for all of us to do. I have several in mind, but shhhhhhh.... they are a secret!

I'm having a themed-card class this Tuesday, a "Montana/Country Christmas" card class!  My goal was to design some cards using current Stampin'Up! product that shows off Montana in some way. We are famous for scenery, wildlife, mountains, rivers and lakes and of course, our Big Sky.  It actually wasn't too difficult to come up with some great cards that I think my class will really like. I thought you would like a preview!

This first card uses one of my very favorite stamp sets, "Waterfront". It's a scene-builder stamp set and it never gets old. I keep going back to it repeatedly.  I combined it with the
Merry Christmas to All" bundle.

The Farmhouse bundle is a natural for cozy, sentimental Christmas themes. I worked in a lot of trees with the "Winter Woods" set as well. Isn't that fence just about the cutest thing ever?

This stamp set, "Peaceful Place" was a must buy when I saw it. It looks like the Gallatin Canyon, or Hyalite Canyon, or the Boulder River, or the Yellowstone River .... all places surrounding me in Bozeman and woven into the fabric of everyone's life that lives here. You could ask anyone in our valley where this stamp is a picture of and they would tell you what I just did!  It's a little hard to see but I actually cut my oval opening out of the Merry Merlot cardstock, then embossed it with the Simple Stripes folder and then put it on top of my stamped image with dimensionals. It gives it a nice 3D framed effect.

 

My last card needed to feature wildlife so I reached back to last year's popular set, still available, "Nature Sings". That is a gorgeous looking moose. We see them frequently all over our state and they love Montana as much as we do. I wanted to create some snow, so I used the Shimmering White embossing paste and just free-hand spread it on with an embossing knife.  I stamped the word "MONTANA" using the "Pick a Pennant" set. When you are trying to line something up like small letters, either horizontally or vertically, use your grid paper to help you and mount all the letters on an acrylic block at once and stamp the word. You will be frustrated if you try to stamp each letter individually. You can also use the Stamparatus for even better results!

I still have some room in my class on Tuesday. I have a 1:30 session and 6:30 session so let me know if you are interested. We always have fun and the classes are open to anyone, no matter your crafting experience!

I hope your Thanksgiving was truly blessed!
Until next time,
Sarah

Thankful and Grateful

Happy Thanksgiving friends!
I don't know anyone that doesn't love the Thanksgiving holiday. I do know a few people who aren't crazy about the turkey dinner with all the trimmings as they would rather have a pizza!  It's a wonderfully American tradition to purposely take at least a day and ponder our blessings. By any measuring stick, they are abundant for most of us.  Our family tradition has kept us in Montana for all but a couple of years. That means cold weather, often snow, and usually not with extended family. Years ago, my husband started inviting Thanksgiving "orphans" to our table and we've tended to do that most years.  Very often, I didn't even meet the people until that day. It was often college students who had too tight of school and work schedule to head home. A few times, it was delivery guys from the retail store my husband worked at who knew they only had Thursday off because of all the Black Friday craziness the next day.  Some times it's been elderly people from our church congregation who were long past the days when they cooked a meal. It's always been fun and it reminded my husband and I to seek out those who could use some kindness in our lives. It spoke volumes to our three children, who as adults, continue to welcome people to their homes and tables.  This year is the first year we are remodeling our kitchen during this holiday!  We are not doing a turkey but we are doing a special soup we had in Norway this summer and my husband insists we are using the china (because we never use it, haha).  My oven works and I have a fridge but no water or counters in the kitchen so it's a little interesting. We will be washing china in the bath tub later today I suppose.

Anyway, it's a wonderful time to be reminded of all God has brought into our lives, good and bad. The good blesses us and the bad has a way of growing us closer to Him which is still a blessing. I thought I would spread some Thanksgiving cheer on my blog today with some cards that I've made over the years celebrating this special holiday.

Wishing you and the people you love a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Blessings,
Sarah

Snowflake Showcase, a pretty bow and a sale!

Hi Stampin' Friends!
I hope one of those words in my title today caught your attention!  Don't you just love this time of year!  It's early this morning as I write this and I'm hoping to be one of the first ones at the grocery store to get a few things I need for tomorrow. Our new range came in a few days ago so I'm going to test it out with some pie baking. I still don't have water in the kitchen or countertops but I think I can make due. We shall see!

I did have a card class yesterday that meets monthly with a group of friends at a friend's house. They have been meeting for years, predating my entry into Stampin'Up! I think I'm their 3rd or 4th demo to be in charge of the projects. They are fun to work with and for the most part are avid stampers. I wanted to remind them about the "Snowflake Showcase" suite as it is only available in November.  It's a pretty versatile set with framelits that can cut snowflakes and flowers!  Here are our cards:

This first card is a classic "Snowflake Showcase" isn't it!  We made shimmer paper by using the Marbled background stamp with some Pool Party ink. After that, we spritzed it with rubbing alcohol and some White Frost shimmer pain in a Spritzer. I filled the spritzer about 80% with rubbing alcohol and added a good sized glob of the shimmer paint. You need to shake it really well to mix it up. It should be opaque in appearance, not clear. If not, add more shimmer paint.  The snowflakes were fun to make as well. We used the white Velvet paper offered with this suite. Unfortunately, the paper has sold out so you won't be able to buy that for the time being. I'm hoping they bring it back someday!  The snowflake trinket on the largest snowflake is also part of this suite. All stamps were found in the "Snow Is Glistening" stamp set, part of the suite.

I wanted to also use the companion stamp set, "Happiness Surrounds". We didn't use any framelits for this card, but there are some floral and leaf pieces that coordinate nicely with the stamp set. This ended up being a bright and cheery card because of the Designer Series Paper featured on it. I often use DSP to help me with my color scheme - easy peasey!

Since we are still technically pre-Thanksgiving, I wanted to remind them about a fun Christmas set they may have overlooked. It's called "Bring on the Presents" and it features a really sweet bow that lends itself to coloring. The framelits have an additional bow not included in the stamps that is amazing as well as some straight trim pieces, which I used for "ribbon" on my card. Here it is:

We left this card intentionally blank on the inside so it could be used for a birthday, wedding, Christmas or almost any occasion.  This is a monochromatic card featuring the lovely "Highland Heather" ink, card stock and Stampin' Blends alcohol markers.

Just for fun, I'll show you a couple more cards I've designed with this bundle:

It's hard to tell in this picture, but behind my green ribbon, I actually glued some red ribbon that was of the exact same width!  It helps to clean your craft room once in awhile and remind yourself of what you have stashed away, haha!

So, as a friendly reminder, if you would like any of the "Snowflake Showcase" products, you need to order them before November is over and that leads right into my next topic!

ONLINE EXTRAVAGANZA! is happening again this year!  It's a little different as well. Instead of certain products being discounted over the week after Thanksgiving, Stampin'Up! is placing almost everything on sale for 10% off, with different things on sale different days.  Here's a quick outline of what the sale is all about and when it happens:

November 23–24

PAPER & EMBELLISHMENTS

November 25–26

STAMPS & KITS

November 27–28

TOOLS & INK

That covers all our categories of products. There are some exclusions such as the Big Shot, Stamparatus and bundles but this is a great time to get those things on your "wish list" as well as stock up on adhesives, card stock, ink refills, etc.  Do you need some rhinestones or pearls?  How about some dimensionals? White or black cardstock?  Check your stash and then shop for what you need.  You can go straight to my online store and place an order or you can get an order to me and I'll take care of it. Just remember the different categories are date specific for the sale. In other words, you won't get a 10% discount on stamps if you place an order on November 23rd.

Thanks for stopping by today! It was fun to share with you what I'm up to. I'm usually working on something and it's fun to share the end product here. Hopefully you're inspired to make something handmade, a true gift of love!

Blessings,
Sarah 

What kind of stamper are you? Find out here!

Hi Friends!
Can you even believe that Thanksgiving is this week?  I sure can't!  I love the "being thankful" part, but the meal prep can get a little crazy, right?  We are doing something very different this year so read to end of this blog post to hear about that!

As you may know, I recently returned from Stampin'Up! Onstage in Orlando. It was a fun, busy 3 days of all things Stampin'Up!  Several presentations made a big impact on me but one in particular has stuck with me. We spent some time hearing about the different types of stampers. In a "lightbulb" and kinda "duh" moment, I was reminded that not all of us are the same and don't share the same level of excitement or passion about crafting, specifically stamping. In general, there are three types of us, but I think we move between types depending on life.  Type 1 are the new stampers or those who maybe have never tried it. They don't own any supplies but are somewhat crafty minded and enjoy giving it a try. The projects need to be focused on stamping with little else added to the process. Does this describe you?  Here's a card I made which a typical "new" stamper could easily do with a couple of ink colors, a stamp set, paper and one punch. The punch of course is optional as you could always cut out the greeting or stamp it on the background paper as well.

This is an easy card to make and gives a newbie some practice time with stamping. It still creates a very lovely card that is all ready to send out to someone special.

The second type of stamper is "casual". These people own some supplies, stamp around once a month, like stamping but also leave time for other crafts or hobbies.  This stamper has a collection of some stamps, some inks and some paper, maybe even some punches, but most likely does not have a Big Shot die cutting machine due to the investment required ($110). The like to come to classes and parties and always love a sale or promotion!  Here's a card I designed for a casual stamper:

So what I did is start with the simple card above and stepped it up with some ribbon, twine and a button. I also added some Wink of Stella sparkle here and there and used a framelit to cut out my sentiment with my Big Shot. There is more involved with this card, but it is still not overly complicated. I think another feature of a casual stamper card is that usually a person can figure out what someone did to create the card. In other words, the techniques or processes used are fairly obvious by just looking at the end product.

The third type of stamper is the "avid stamper". These people love stamping more than just about any other activity! It is their primary hobby, their artistic medium  and their fun time passion. They love to talk about it, share it and stamp as much as possible. These people frequently stamp every day and are constantly eager to see and hear all the latest news about new products or techniques. They have moved from owning a few supplies to collecting everything they like! They have all the tools and know how to use them and aren't afraid to try new things.  Personally, I went from being a new stamper to a avid stamper in about 6 months. I guess I caught a fever or something!  Here's a card appropriate for an avid stamper:

Again, this has everything the other two cards had but I stepped it up more with an additional die cut layer under my sentiment, a punched sprig of silver foil and an intricate background piece from using some framelits to cut a design in a small piece of background paper. This card adds more dimension and texture by adding more elements to it. It also takes more supplies and more time, but that will never slow an "avid" stamper down!

I am curious where you see yourself? Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts!  As I said above, life can intervene in a hurry and take you from an avid stamper to a non-stamper for a season but then you can come back. Your supplies will wait for you to return and be happy to see you again.

And now, about Thanksgiving.... we don't have a fully functional kitchen so we are going to try something we experienced in Norway this summer, a very traditional but special dish from the Trondelag area, specifically at the Undlin farm in Asen, Norway. It's called "sodd" and is a special soup for special occasions. The traditional recipe calls for mutton but we are using venison (of course) and the experiment part will be the tiny meatballs. I make Norwegian meatballs every year for Christmas and these taste very similar but are TINY.  My daughter and I feel we are up for the task. Here's what we had in Norway and we are hoping our Thanksgiving meal looks something like this!

Until next time, happy Stampin'!
Sarah