Happy Halloween!

Hi friends,
I thought I would share some Halloween cards I've made over the past few years. It's not a big holiday for me anymore with grown children and no grandchildren in the picture!  It used to be very fun to put together some costumes, brace ourselves for trick or treating in the snow usually and then going through the booty. For awhile, I had them talked into giving me all the Butterfingers but that didn't last, haha!

I hope if you are celebrating this day, it's a fun time for you as well. If you don't "do" Halloween, then I'm sure you're looking forward to a much more important holiday, Thanksgiving!

In the meantime, here are some ideas:

There's some Halloween fun for you!  Enjoy your day!
Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Congratulations ~ on your new home!

Good Monday Morning Stampers!
It's a glorious day today here in Montana and I know that these perfect fall days are very limited as we get ready to move into November. I'll enjoy it while I can! A day like this motivates me to take the dog for a walk or ride my bike in our neighborhood. The concept of "neighborhood" is a great one and can take many forms from urban dwelling to rural abodes.   I like that Stampin'Up! thought about that with one of their new sets in the Annual Catalog called "Home Life". We recently used this set in some classes and really had fun with it. Here's the card:

What's really fun about this stamp is the house stamping. We first cut out the house shape with the house framelit (bundle comes with stamps and framelits for this set).  We also cut out a second house shape in Early Espresso to shadow the house a bit. You stamp the house in 3 steps, allowing you to switch up colors. The 1st stamp is the flower one and I used Cajun Craze ink.  The second stamp is the leaf one and I used Old Olive ink.  The last one is the fill in doodads and I use Crushed Curry ink for that. I added some metallic jewels and some flowers and leaves from the die cut sets to complete the house. If you look closely, you'll see the background was embossed with the Brick Wall embossing folder. This was really a fun card and the sentiments allow you to congratulate or welcome someone on their new home, to the neighborhood, on their new addition, etc.  I am brainstorming some other house ideas including the one below:

I'm guessing there are all kinds of possibilities!  I've listed my supplies below if you are interested in purchasing any of them. It's easy to order online and have your order come directly to you. Contact me if you have any questions!

Thanks for stopping by my neighborhood!
Sarah

Merry Patterns Stamp Set!

Hi friends!
I come from a really long line of Norwegians so anything Nordic designed or themed really catches my eye. I spent a couple years in college knitting my parents and grandparents Norwegian sweaters because I love the look so much! Where am I going with this?  To the special promotional Hostess set "Merry Patterns". It features a lovely reindeer in a gorgeous Nordic sweater motif that I just love!  I've played with this a couple of times now and here are some of my results:

The next thing I want to try is coloring the reindeer with markers and give that sweater some color!  This is a fun set that you can earn with any order over $300. The promotion ends on October 31st, so you only have about a week to take advantage of it. I know $300 is a lot of money, but maybe you can combine an order with a friend or family member and then have joint custody of the stamp set! It could work :)

The stamp set has even more to love, including a wonderful Christmas candle stamp set that is two part stamping so you can color the candles as you wish.   Here's an example:

And, another one featuring the "Tis the Season" sentiment, again a two part stamp so you can fill in the word "season" with any color:

I wanted to remind you about this set and not let it slip away before it is gone!  It will be a favorite of mine for a long time to come.  Contact me for more details.  If you do wish to put together a $300 order to get your own set, the stock # is #144973.

Thanks for stopping by!  It's always good to share what I've been up to and I'd love to hear any comments!

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Stampin' Blends and Babies!

Hi Stampers!
Whew!  I finally feel like a got a handle on the new computer and am able to return to blogging with all the features I'm used to. It's always a learning curve, which is good for me, but sometimes a little painful. Thank goodness for kids that have been Apple fans for years and are willing and able to help, including driving over at night to solve problems with uploading photos!  Thank you Jenny!

I've mentioned our new product a couple of times and today I have some fun cards featuring the new Stampin' Blends! These are new alcohol markers specifically designed to color and blend. There are 12 colors, two shades of each and they will be your favorite coloring tools!  I can't believe how easily they spread the color and saturate the paper with a rich and vibrant color. I have been having a lot of fun trying them out.  Here are a couple of ideas for you, featuring the "A Little Wild" bundle of stamps and framelits.

Aren't these critters adorable!  I stamped the images with black Momento ink for best results with coloring and then colored with the Stampin' Blends pens.  I wanted to also feature the "Bundle of Love" Designer Series Paper for each card, making a blue version and pink version.  I did grab a retired heart framelit because it was the size I was looking for. I adhered the Bundle of Love DSP to my card before I cut out the heart, then glued the heart on the inside of the card. The animals are actually designed to be tags, so they have a back and a front. I just cut off the little tag part from the top and glued the animal over the heart opening so the front is outside the heart and the back of the animal is on the other side of the heart opening.  You can place any sentiment you want on the inside of the card. My mistake with these cards was making them a top fold card. When you open it, the backside of the animals are upside down, which is why I didn't bother photographing the inside. When I do this again, I will make a standard side fold card and then the back of the animals will make more sense.

Anyway, November 1st is right around the corner and the Stampin'Blends will be available to purchase for all customers!  Contact me if you would like more information as I can email you a brochure.  Here are some other coloring samples from my messing around:

I think the blending will take a little practice but it sure is fun!  I'll be sharing this fun new product with customers in my card classes starting today so sign up for a class and check them out!

Hope you are having a great week of creative fun!
Sarah

Last week for Designer Series Paper Sale!

Hi Stampers!
How have you been? What are you up to?  For some reason, I've been in the mood to reorganize my crafting space, figure out my new computer, prep for some classes and watch Netflix. None of that has helped me blog! I'm still struggling with how to load pics from my new computer and will have to trouble shoot this some more.... ugh!

Meanwhile, I want to remind you about our paper sale!  I am guessing you like paper as much as I do!  Nothing inspires creativity more than paper in my opinion. It can give you a color scheme, set a mood or tone, provide a little pop to a project and be the prominent feature. Our Designer Series Paper is especially wonderful. It's 12 x 12 in size and features two sides to every sheet, completely different, but coordinated. Our packs include 12 sheets so you have plenty of paper for so many projects.  Every year, Stampin'Up! features a paper sale and we are in the last week of it. You can buy three packs and get one free!  Go to this link to see what your options are!

Designer Series Paper sale!!

This sale only goes until October 31st so if you like paper, jump on it!

Hopefully I'll be back with some cards soon!  Technology.....
Sarah

Old, Backed up and New!

Hi Stampin' Friends!
I've had an interesting week. We returned from a "bucket list" trip to the Canadian Rockies that was spectacular!  Towards the beginning of the trip, I had a bad fall and ended up with a badly sprained ankle, but all things considered, I got off pretty easy. Along with the T-shirts and other souvenirs I bought, I have a boot on my foot from the Canmore, Alberta Emergency Room!

After getting home, I was spending some time uploading my pictures from the trip and thought, gee, I haven't backed up my pictures or other important stuff in a long time.... I should do that. Luckily, I spent a couple of days backing up stuff that I had neglected, like since 2011.  Would you believe that my computer crashed a couple of days later, like total "hard disk drive failure", unrecoverable, complete toast?!!  I was grateful I had backed up what I did and wish I had done more. I can't live without a computer anymore. Those days are long gone. I decided, for various great reasons, to really go outside my comfort zone and I switched to an Apple desktop from a PC. I've been playing with it for 24 hours now and while I'm not a pro, I'm navigating it really well and feel like I can get back to blogging, working on Stampin'Up! diligently and doing other tasks that I love to do!  Like anyone else, it's sorta a love/hate relationship with technology, but I'm grateful to be back.

For some reason, none of my pictures from 2017 were backed up, even though I got years 2011-2016. Luckily, all 2017 pics are still on my phone so I was able to recover them. I take pics of my cards as I complete them and they are then used for blogging material. I will have to tweak my system a little, so bear with me if I post pics you've already seen. I lost my records for keeping track of that sort of thing and will have to set up a new way of doing it.

Ready to look at some cards?!!  I have a few to show that are just from my random time in my craft room, playing with different things. I hope you enjoy them!  I think you can figure out what I did and if you have any questions, please ask!

I'll try to share more soon. I am having some trouble accessing my pictures through blogger so obviously, more work to do!  Thanks for hanging in there with me!
Sarah

Hearts Come Home

Hey Stampin' Friends,

I'm eager to show you a fun card today that is Christmas-y but not. It's got a Christmas sentiment but not necessarily a Christmas color scheme. I've been continuing to try to experiment with some of the Designer Series Paper from the annual catalog and see what pieces would work for a Christmas card. So far, the "Naturally Eclectic" set is a real favorite!  Here's a couple of cards I've made from it:

In both cases, the Designer Series Paper adds some color and interest in just the right places. I fiddled around with some different stamps that are in the Holiday catalog and also brought back an old favorite, the window framelit! Christmas is a great time to be creative and it's even better when you look beyond the obvious red and green and see what happens!

What can you think of?
Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Remember last year's fabulous Cookie Cutter stamps and punch?

Hi stampers!
I'm back today with an oldie, but still goodie and current!  The Cookie Cutter Builder punch and stamp set was carried over from last year as it was such a hit!  I was excited to see that and wanted to try something for this year, using a few new products. This is what I came up with:

The idea is pretty simple. Stamp and punch some Cookie Critters.  Then, using the wood crate thinlit, cut a wood crate. I used some old birch wood paper from a Stampin'Up! Thanksgiving project, several years ago.  I also add some garland, the wonderful boxwood wreaths. They untwist easily and can be bent in any shape and glue-dotted on your project.  This whole card has more of a 3D look to it than normal as I tried to elevate the crate and the critters. It was fun to experiment with!  I've got the basic supplies listed below if you're interested in these fun tools.

Don't forget about what's lurking in your craft drawers and closets!  There are always some leftover goodies laying around that deserve some attention!

Hope it's a great day,
Sarah

2nd annual Ultimate PINK Blog Hop

Hi Stamping friends!

I'm participating in another blog hop this month. The theme is PINK, to bring awareness, support and some creativity to the fight for cancer. I was really excited to see the "Ribbon of Courage" bundle (#143855) in Stampin'Up!'s annual catalog. I make a lot of get well cards, but with cancer, the standard sentiments don't always work. I'm glad we can still make a card, just with a more appropriate sentiment to show our support for family and friends.

I have three cards for you, all using this special bundle.  On the first card, I used Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper and spritzed it with Powder Pink reinker and alcohol, to color it. That was really fun and it couldn't have coordinated better.

I cut an additional ribbon out of Whisper White card stock to act as a shadow against the pink glimmer paper. It also helped it to stand out a bit. I had enough spritzed glimmer paper to cut the small ribbon and heart out of it as well. 

My second card adds a touch of another color, Dapper Denim. I wanted to incorporate the "Bundle of Love" Designer Series Paper because of the beautiful pinks.

My third card uses the "Whole Lot of Lovely" Designer Series paper and I stamped on my background piece with the ribbon stamp. I used the Smoky Slake ink so it wouldn't be too dark and distracting. I again cut a second ribbon in the Smoky Slate to shadow the pink ribbon. It was fun to incorporate some ribbon and bows on this card as well.

I think you'll see this is a great set to have on hand, especially for those special cards where you really want to encourage and support someone going through one of life's biggest challenges.

Be sure to check out all the blogs in the hop for some more fantastic ideas!
Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

And So Your Story Begins

Happy Friday Friends!
I'm back today with a different use of a holiday stamp set, "Cheers to the Year".  I think it's ingenious that Stampin'Up! included some wedding related stamps to this New Years set. It makes it more versatile and usable for the whole year!  Here's what I did:

I loved the Year of Cheer Specialty Designer Series paper and especially the pattern that looks like fireworks going off.  Fireworks would be a great addition to a wedding, wouldn't they!  I combined the paper with the stamp set and love how this turned out. I kept my color scheme simple with some metallic inks and Night of Navy for an accent color.  I will be using this again!

I hope you like additional ideas for the stamp sets that Stampin'Up! has. I love getting more than just one use out of a stamp set. Makes me feel like I'm getting a better return on my investment, which is always good!

Have a great weekend!
Sarah

Classy Noel

Good morning!
It's so fun to look at my batch of cards each day and decide what to feature on my blog. I don't really have any plan in mind, just what strikes my fancy. Today it's back to Christmas and a card that is notable for no stamping, only die cutting and punching!  Here it is:

This is a very traditional card with a classy feel to it because of my use of the metallic foil paper. This time, I chose our new "champagne" color. It isn't quite as bright as the gold and I just love it. Guess how this card was started?  I had the background Real Red piece of card stock on my desk, already embossed with the Ruffled folder and hadn't used it for another idea. First rule of papercrafting is don't throw anything away!  I knew I was limited to 4 letters or less for a word and chose "NOEL" because it's a common Christmas greeting as well as a 4 letter word.  I used my Large Letters framelits to create the word. The top border piece was cut using the new "Swirly Snowflakes" thinlit die that creates a beautiful edge piece. I love this die, so fun to use. I finished up with the "Holly Berry Builder" punch and some red rhinestones for the holly.

This card would be relatively easy to mass produce and then you could stamp in the inside of the card with whatever sentiment you wanted to use. Is this the year you want to hand-make some Christmas cards? It isn't hard and there are all kinds of ideas to fit any style, level of expertise and budget. Contact me and I'll help you get started!

Hope you have a great Thursday!
Sarah

More Fall cards

Hi Stampers!
Who's with me? Fall is my favorite season as far as the colors, the smells, the landscape, the warmth etc. It is all so nostalgic and heartwarming. It's funny that while a lot of things are fading like the glorious summer flowers, hot temperatures and long days, it's still okay to welcome gorgeous leaves turning colors, pumpkins and apples, crisp and colder air and early evenings.  I feel that often I don't get enough time to just play with my fall themed stamps and wanted to do so last week. I made a couple of cards that are just for fun:

If you've been around with Stampin'Up!, you will recognize a conglomeration of bundles that I used!  My main focus was the "Grown with Love" bundle. I used the big clay pot in the first card and the wagon and veggies in the second card. The sunflowers are from the "Bike Ride" bundle and for fun, I embossed the background with one of our new dynamic texture embossing folders, "Layered Leaves."  On the second card, I used an old favorite, the brick wall embossing folder. This time, I inked up the folder before embossing to color the bricks just a tad with some gray ink. My ribbon and button on retired products! Anyone recognize them?  They are from several years ago!

Most of the time, an upcoming holiday or occasion get us working on a project but every once in awhile, it is fun to just create for fun, no special reason or person in mind. I know these cards will be given out some day, but for now, they were just fun to play with and work on some ideas. I have more ideas than I have time so it's always good to click off a few!

Don't forget about my online party!  I'm hosting an online party from now through the 15th of October. For every online order placed with me, I will send/give you a free stamp set from my retired collection and a goodie bag of stuff to go with it like paper, embellishments, ribbons, etc. It's my way of thanking you for shopping with me. Let me know if you have any questions! Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

My Eclipse technique card - HUGS!

Hi Stampers!
If you spend any time on Pinterest or other crafting/card making sites, you are seeing a lot of samples of the "eclipse" technique!  The idea is to cut out a word from your stamped surface and then adhere it back on with dimensionals, creating a raised look and a bit of the background peaking through. I thought these were pretty cool but hadn't tried one until last week. Here's my idea:

I shared this in a class last week and the ladies loved it. We used the "Gourd Goodness" stamp set and I only realized after the fact that I forgot to stamp the stems on the pumpkins... oh well!  This is a great two-step stamp set. The key is to do all your stamping first, then cut out your word with the fabulous Large Letters Framelits.  I think this technique works best if it isn't too heavily stamped, leaving lots of plain background, in this case, Very Vanilla. If it's too busy, the word that is cut out and raised gets harder and harder to read. Stampin'Up!'s new mini dimensionals make raising the letters a breeze!  This was a fun card and perfect for the beautiful fall season.  Try it!

Don't forget about all the sales, promotions, etc. Every now and then, being a demo allows you to get your hands on a new line of products sooner than customers and now is that time!  Stampin'Up! is introducing a new line of alcohol markers called "Stampin' Blends" that are available until October 15th to demonstrators and will be available to customers sometime before the end of the year.  If you have to have some alcohol markers in the Stampin'Up! color line, talk to me!  I can help!



I've ordered some and can't wait to start playing with them!

Have a great Monday!
Sarah