Goodbye to the Holiday Catalog in just 5 more days!

Happy New Year Stampers!
I'm hopping on my blog for a quick post today to remind you that  many good things must come to an end and that includes our fabulous 2019 Holiday Catalog!  The Holiday Catalog officially goes away on Friday, January 3rd, so if there's anything you still want, you should order before then!  I'll be placing a last minute order on January 2nd around 9 p.m. so let me know if there's anything you still want and I'll get it taken care of.  You can view the catalog by clicking on the catalog image on the right margin of the blog or go to the online store by clicking on "shop now". We've had so much fun with the holiday designs this year and I wanted to share some of my favorites with you!  It's always good to look back and at where you've been and soak in the fun memories!

If you've been around Stampin'Up! for more than a couple of months, you now know that whenever a catalog retires, another one takes its place!  The new Jan-June Mini Catalog and Sale-A-Bration promotion start on January 3rd!  I'm having a fun open house/class to celebrate so watch for more details about that tomorrow. It will be on Friday, January 3rd and I would love to see you pop on by!

Here's wishing you a blessed, peaceful and fun 2020!
Sarah

Memories of Home

Hi Stampers!
It's good to be back with you today!  I've been busy behind the blog scenes with some personal Christmas gifts that I needed to complete. I'm having a great time finishing up some long term projects that were definitely hanging over my head. That always feels so good.

Christmas is certainly a nostalgic time of year, isn't it?  As much as we revel in the companionship of family of friends, it's hard not to think about those who are no longer with us, the ones we used to celebrate with. I always think of my parents of course, and grandparents. It's quite strange to now be the oldest one in my family. I miss that generation that went before me so much, especially at Christmas. I think about my mom and grandma's cookies, their decoration, how they loved the Christmas Eve service at church and my dad's horrible singing always brings a smile to my face. Now it's up to my husband and me to "produce" Christmas so our children have some wonderful "Memories of Home".

I'm still going back through my projects and trying to identify what I haven't shared on my blog yet. I have a list but cannot guarantee it's completely accurate. I loved this simple stamp set in the Holiday Catalog for a couple of reasons. First, the tree is gorgeous and can be colored or left alone. Second, there are two more ornament designs that coordinate with the smallest ornament punch. Third, the fonts are lovely and the sentiments are sweet. Here are some ideas:

For my first go at it, I decided to color the tree and did so with Stampin' Blends alcohol markers. I used Bermuda Bay and Real Red as my predominant colors and then filled in with some accents.

I had a feeling that the tree stamp would be a great stamp to use heat embossing on and I wasn't disappointed!  The silver embossing powder really stands out on the Merry Merlot cardstock. I used some of the Mercury Glass Acetate paper to punch out an ornament as an accent. My background is some retired vellum that I've almost run out of ;)

This project features the two ornament punch stamps which I colored with Stampin'Blends. The copper accents in this card are really pretty. I used a touch of Wink of Stella shimmer paint on top of the ornaments as well.

This was a fun set... great to color and really decorate or simply stamp as a background piece as well.

I hope you're looking forward to the new Jan-June Mini Catalog that launches on January 3rd, along with our Sale-A-Bration promotion. I will be talking about both until there are no words left to say, soon, but for now, I'm still enjoying Christmas and all that means to me. There's still a few days to make something handmade for the ones you love. I'll be finishing up the things I've started!

Have a lovely day and enjoy this special time of year!
Sarah

Wrapped in Plaid Suite

Hi Stampers!
I'm having a hard time keeping up with what I've already shared and what I forgot to share on my blog!  I started my Christmas crafting in August and that seems like a long time ago now. Now that it is finally the Christmas season, it's easy to revel in all of it and not be able to sort out what's what!  I also decided that it's okay if I accidentally share something more than once!

Once of my favorite bundles from the Holiday catalog has been the Wrapped in Plaid suite. It has a perfect little pine tree punch with some gorgeous plaid paper that is to die for. You can do so many things with the elements of this set! It is classic Christmas at its best!  Here are some samples I made while playing with some of the products:

This card features one of the Designer Series Papers with the pine trees drawn to scale to fit into the punch. I also love the bit of prancing deer paper on the bottom of the card.  My background was a fun technique. I used our Shimmer White embossing paste with a tree mask, also found in the Holiday Catalog. I wanted to create a forest look for my background.

For this card, I reached back into my retired product stash for the window die. I paired it with the "Night Before Christmas" Designer Series Paper to create the perfect Santa scene. I stamped and punched some festive Christmas trees for the inside of the "house".

Here is an example of how this suite got its name - PLAID!  I love the trees and punch as they are so easy to use to whip up something quick! I used the Winter Knit 3D embossing folder for my background because Christmas is sweater weather, right?!!

My final card has some of the Wrapped In Plaid DSP for a background as well as another tree. I added some Snowfall Accents Puff Paint for a little bit of snow on my tree.

This set is so fun to play with!  There's still time to order some products for Christmas this year and you can always order something to have in your stash for future Christmas crafting projects. I've loved every minute of this holiday season and it's been fun to share my work with you, hopefully inspiring you along the way.

If you live in the area (Bozeman, MT), you're invited to my Christmas Open House, tomorrow, Friday, Dec 13th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.  It's free and full of fun and stamping, my way to thank all of you who supported my Stampin'Up! business this past year. Contact me for directions to my house. It should be a lot of fun!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek!
Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Free Shipping and a Podcast!

Hi Stampin' Friends!
Today I have a couple of random news tidbits to share with you.... I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Jenny Thuen, a local business woman and friend, who hosts the "Femoires" Podcast. It was so fun to chat about my card making, career turns and twists and life. It's available to listen to here:



The Femoires Podcast - Episode 30 with Sarah Cade

And, in Stampin'Up! news, there is a flash sale on Wednesday, December 11th, that consists of free shipping on all orders over $50!  That's really helpful this time of year so load up on what you need to restock such as paper, ink or adhesives and then go shopping off your wish list or buy a gift for your favorite stamper!



You can submit an order to me or shop online!  Here's the link:

Stampin'Up! Online store - Big Sky Stampin'

I hope you are having a fabulous start to your week! There's still time to make something in time for Christmas and still time to order from SU and receive it before Christmas!  Don't delay!

Happy Stampin',
Sarah

Light and Peace

Hi blog friends!
It's good to be back today with more to share from the 2019 Holiday Catalog. This catalog has been one of the most diverse in themes and styles so I've had a lot of fun designing different projects for different purposes. I'm trying to do more non-card creating too as there are any more things you can do with ink, paper and stamps besides make a card. That is still my favorite, however!

If you like to create for Christmas with a faith-filled theme, you will love the "Light and Peace" set. I thought it would be especially fun to color and I wasn't wrong!  I have a couple of creations here for you that are subtle in color palette but "wow" in effect.

Don't you just love our new In-Color, Seaside Spray?  It is the softest, most gorgeous grayish blue and I knew I wanted to use it for the angel. I colored all of this with the Stampin'Blends alcohol markers and just kept working the gray background to look like fused glass. I loved it!  I used the frames from the Woven Heirlooms bundle in the Annual Catalog to really draw attention to this pretty angel.

The second stamp image in this set is a shepherd tending his flock and seeing the star that came out that night. I really loved coloring this with the Stampin' Blends as well. My background is of gold foil paper that was embossed with the Scripty 3D folder.

My final card is a hodgepodge of products. The sentiment comes from my featured set, "Light and Peace".  The stained glass frames are from the Stained Glass dies in the Annual Catalog and the boughs are from the "Peaceful Boughs" dies that are also in the Holiday Catalog. I really love the color combo of Merry Merlot and silver.

If you like stamps that reflect the reason for the season, "Light and Peace" may be your next favorite stamp set. You can get this as well as any of the other products Stampin' Up! sells by clicking on one of the supply items in my list below. It will take you straight to the online store for easy shopping. You can also contact me if you'd like to put in an order.

I hope you have a festive weekend ahead of you!  We are going to be partaking in some time with family and a children's choir concert that we are really looking forward to. 'Tis the season!

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Toile Tidings Christmas

Hi Stampers!
I'm having a lot of fun going back to the Holiday preorder time of August and catch up on all the samples I made but haven't blogged about yet! I've used them for class ideas as well as show-n-tell at some of my events but forgot to share them with you. One of those sets is the first bundle I wanted, the "Toile Tidings" collection of products. I love toile anything!  I don't know what it is about it but I have dishes, bedding and even pajamas that were a toile design!  Stampin'Up! paired a gorgeous cardinal stamp with the toile idea for perfect results.  Here are some ideas:

This card features a lot of the products including the Toile Designer Series Paper, the cardinal and branch stamps and dies and the Garden Green ribbon. What is so wonderful about this paper is that all the designs are Garden Green on one side and Real Red on the other. I colored the bird and branch with my Stampin'Blends alcohol markers.

This designs is a little more muted version of the above card with no coloring for a monochromatic effect. I also used a gingham pattern out of the Toil Tidings DSP.  If you look closely, you'll see I used the Crackle Paint background stamp with just a light bit of Soft Seafoam green ink. This card also shows off the enamel dots that come in this suite.

And, here's a red version of the DSP, alone with more sentiments and sprigs/branches. It's so fun to just layer bits and pieces on a card and see what happens!

This is a beautiful, classic look that will evoke lots of nostalgia and sentimental warmth when you use it to create your projects. I've listed all the products below and a click on any of them will take you to the online store where you can purchase your own "toile" products and start creating!

I also want to share some designs created by the Stampin'Up! concept artists - they are amazing!

I think playing in the Stampin'Up! creative zone would be a dream job, don't you!  I hope you've enjoyed my post about toile, in its many forms!  Get some for yourself today!

Don't forget the Year End Closeout sale is currently going on!  You can also access that in the Online Store. It's the last month to shop in the Holiday Catalog so don't miss out on something you really wanted. Be sure to call me if you have any questions or need help with an order.

Blessings,
Sarah

Seasonal Wreaths

Hi Stampin' Friends!
It feels good to try and get back to a regular week with no travel or holidays - even though that is a ton of fun!  I ended up being gone 15 nights in November and I'm usually a homebody so that was a whole lot of different for me.

Today launches our annual Year End Closeout sale, a way to say a fond goodbye to the Holiday catalog and its many wonderful products. I am going to try and finish out the month with all the cards I've made and haven't yet blogged about in hopes of inspiring you!  There are a few items offered at a discount now but who knows, they may drop the price on some others later in the month. All items are "while supplies last" so don't wait if there's something you have to have!

Today I'm featuring the "Seasonal Wreaths" stamp set. It coordinates with the "All Around Wreath" dies so you can cut your wreath out as well. I had fun using the different stamps to create some seasonal cards.

My first card is Christmas themed. I used my Stampin'Blends markers to color the wreath and used the "Buffalo Check" background stamp for my Old Olive Background. The center sentiment is perfectly cut out with a 1-3/4" circle punch.  I added some random sequins from my Paper Pumpkin leftovers stash and made a wood mantel from some retired Designer Series Paper to hang the wreath from.

My second wreath project is a fall theme.  I used a fun technique to color the wreath. I stamped the wreath in Early Esspresso and then using sponge daubers, I rubbed different colors of ink on top of the wreath. I knew I was going to cut out the wreath so it didn't matter if I was sloppy with my daubing. Notice the background?  I used the "Birch" background stamp with Soft Suede ink on top of Crumb Cake cardstock - so cool!  I added some burlap ribbon and twine to complete the card.

For my final try, I made  more of a spring wreath project. I used Petal Pink ink and cardstock to create the wreath and then used Stampin'Blends to color the separate floral/leaf piece. I did have to fussy cut that (darn!). I added some Magnolia Lane Designer Series Paper for the background and also a small piece from the Pressed Petals DSP. I also used some of the Petal Pink ribbon we have in the Annual Catalog.

These wreaths were fun to play with and there are even more things you can do with a bird and snowflake stamp included!  Here's a look at the stamp set so you can see what all you get:



This set is in the Year End Clearance so it's only available while supplies last. Don't forget to get the All Around Wreath dies too if you order the stamp set so you have a way to cut out your wreaths!

It feels good to be back with you. I'd love to hear any comments or questions you might have, just leave one and I'll respond quickly!  Meanwhile, here's a link to the Year End Closeout section in the online store:

Year End Closeout!!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are looking forward to all the magic and fun of Christmas!
Blessings,
Sarah

Happy Thanksgiving and Blessings to you!

Hi there Blog Friends,
I've been a little quiet lately. Nothing is out of sorts, I'm just trying to savor my days a bit more and go a little bit slower, enjoy the season. Life has a tendency to come at us pretty fast and it's nice to take some time off of the busy stuff, be present in the moments before us and breathe. It occurred to me this morning that a great way for me to do that would be to remember some past Thanksgiving creations, as a way to celebrate this season of thanks.  These are in completely random order but I hope they inspire you to an attitude of thankfulness in the midst of your busy life!

May you have a very Happy Thanksgiving!
With gratitude,
Sarah