Winter Post Banner

Isn't this banner great? My daughter saw it on this blog (http://www.flutterbyatomicbutterfly.blogspot.com) and pointed it out to me. I love the Winter Post set, and this banner was just beautiful. I have been planning my Christmas gifts class and this is one of the gifts we will make. Although if I give it away, I'll have to make another for myself!

I know I haven't been posting much lately. I have been so busy with other things that are demanding my time right now. I am trying to get ready for Thanksgiving next week, as I know most people are, but it will also be Christmas at our house. Everyone will be here for Thanksgiving, so we will also be opening Christmas gifts as well. So I have not only been getting ready for Thanksgiving, but Christmas too! I'm still trying to figure out when I will have time to wrap the gifts for our grandchildren. I'm trying to look at the bright side...My December should be nice and quiet which will give me time to work on making my Christmas cards!

Blessings,
Barbara

San Antonio Sights

Here are some highlights from Market Square, the large market filled with Mexican crafts. The colors were incredible! I took a trolley from my hotel to get there. The trolley fare was $1 and included a transfer I could use for the return trip. You don't find those kind of prices in New York City!

San Antonio Regionals

Greetings from beautiful San Antonio, Texas! I have been here since Friday, October 24 so I could attend the Stampin' Up Regionals on Saturday. I've had a little time to explore this beautiful city. The weather has been perfect, and everyone is so friendly. Of course I've been to the River Walk, which is just amazing. I went with some friends on Saturday night. We had margaritas and Mexican food in a restaurant on the River walk. Here's a daytime shot.



Here are some of our Regionals projects. I'm not going to list all of the details. If you'd like to know anything in particular, feel free to email me! The stamp set we received was Best Wishes & More, and we also used Scandinavian Season.

I hope you enjoy seeing them! The photos are not the best since I had to work with what I had in my hotel room, but you should get the idea.







Well, it's off to the Botanical Gardens today. I'll try to post again soon!
Blessings,
Barbara

Divas Sketch Challenge #3

This card is for the weekly Divas sketch challenge. I really enjoyed participating in this. It helps you to stretch your thinking! Here's the recipe.

Stamps: Winter post, Sanded BG, Many Merry Messages
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Ski Slope DSP
Inks: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Baja Breeze
Accessories: blender pen, white gel pen, markers, felt flurries, circle ice rhinestone brads.

Anna's Sock Monkey

You know how sometimes, just before you fall asleep, your mind wanders? Once in a while, you get an idea and think, "I should turn on the light and write that down!" On Monday, night, I had one of those ideas.

I fell in love with the Sock Monkey set as soon as I saw it in July. At the Stampin' Up convention at the end of the month, there were demonstrators who actually had sock monkeys with them. After poking around on the Internet, I found some sock monkeys that I liked so I ordered them for our grandchildren, a traditional sock monkey for Henry and a ballerina sock monkey for Anna. Anyway, I was thinking about the sock monkey stamp set and thought, "Wouldn't it be cute to make a sock monkey ballerina?"

So here she is, the tutu sock monkey!



Supplies used (All Stampin' Up)
Stamp Set: Sock Monkey
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Bella Rose DSP
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Pretty in Pink 1/4" Grosgrain, Pink Pirouette striped grosgrain, Hodge Podge Hardware, silver brads, sticky strip, glue dots, needle and thread

To achieve the look of her tutu, I just used a needle and thread to do a running stitch through the edge of the ribbon and pulled it to gather it. Isn't she the cutest?

Blessings,
Barbara

Customer Thank You

I had to deliver some orders today, and I wanted to include a little thank you for my customers! They had attended my Upsy Daisy class and placed orders, so I wanted to give them an idea for another way to use the stamp set. This is a post it note holder design that I came across about a year ago, and I updated it with some new designer paper and in colors. The base is a piece of paper that is 3 1/2 inches by 11 inches. It gets scored at 5", 5 1/2" and 6" and the bottom folds make a "v" shape.




Here are the supplies (all Stampin' Up) that I used:
Stamp sets: Upsy Daisy, Taking Care of Business
Paper: Confetti White, Not Quite Navy, Basic Grey, Kiwi Kiss, Urban Garden DSP
Inks: Not Quite Navy, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon, Word Window, 1 3/8" Circle, Large Oval and Designer Label punches

These make great little thank you gifts! And they'd be adorable stocking stuffers done in some Christmas colors and Designer Series papers.

A new name, and a new look

I've been kicking around the idea of changing my blog title for quite some time now, and a little nudge yesterday was just what I needed. "Blessings" was the title that had come to mind about a month ago. My life is filled with them! My faith, my family, the gift of creativity... Sometimes I feel that God is standing over me with a giant watering can, showering blessings on me! I am very richly blessed, and I know it. God is so good!



Anyway, yesterday I ran to Kohl's early in the morning, looking for new throw rugs for the kitchen. Walking over to the housewares department, I saw this sign, and I couldn't pass it up. It is a distressed tin sign that says "Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way." I feel that it expresses perfectly what my attitude should be each day. I hope you get used to the new name and the new look!

Let me know what you think!

Blessings,
Barbara

More Decor Elements

Since this sample was shown at the Stampin' Up Convention this summer, I have been wanting to make it. It is another one of the new Decor Elements line, Season of Thanks (#114883, $14.95). These are so easy to work with and produce stunning results!

Next I'd like to share my page for a 6x6 calendar swap. I made one of these several years ago and really enjoyed the photos every month. I just mailed off my swaps and can't wait to see what I get in return.





Here's the recipe:

Stamp Set: A Good Egg (#111018, $20.95)
Paper: Close to Cocoa, More Mustard, Sage Shadow, DSP More Mustard, Very Vanilla
Inks: Close to Cocoa, More Mustard, Sage Shadow, Vanilla Craft,
Markers: Barely Banana, Summer Sun, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: gold brads, large oval punch, stampin' dimensionals, photo corners punch

Decor Elements and a Bella card

Yeah, yeah, Carol, I know! Well, I'm finally back and I hope to get back in the habit of posting at least twice a week.

Today I'd like to share what I did with the Decor Elements. This is a wall in our family room. I have had these Decor Elements in the house over a month. I had them taped up with painter's tape, they fell down, I went away for a week, I put them back up, they fell down again...and today I decided I would just take the plunge! I'm really happy with how the wall turned out, and I was amazed how easy it was to do. There are a couple of tricks I learned in the process (like have the paper with the grid lines on top when you peel it off the images) which made everything go more smoothly. I used the chocolate Family (small) and the Organic Outline set. What do you think? I'm very happy with the results.



Next I'd like to share a card I did for a prize swap I'm in. I cased it from Splitcoaststampers. I knew I wanted to do a card with Bella Toile and Bella Blossoms. I also had to use hardware, brads or buttons. So I searched until I found something I liked and tweaked it to make it my own. Here's what I used:
Stamps: Bella Blossoms & Bella Toile (BG)
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss
Papers: Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White
Accessories: stampin' dimensionals, sponge daubers, blender pens, styled vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware

I hope you like it!

No longer "Missing in Action"

I can't believe it is a month since I last posted! Lots of things have kept me away from my blog, most notably the end of the school year and a trip to Michigan to visit my children and grandchildren. Since I've been home, I've had a hard time getting my act together! Anyway, I think I'm back on the right track now, and have had some fun playing with my new stamps and in colors from Stampin' Up! Convention is quickly approaching, and I've got to get moving and get some swaps ready! Here is what I've done with Sock Monkey.

I used the following: Sock Monkey and Spunky spots wheel, Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red, and Pirouette Pink papers, Chocolate Chip ink, and an aqua painter with Close to Cocoa and Sahara Sand for the monkey. I think he is just the cutest!

More Fresh Cuts

I can't believe how busy I have been! Over a week with no stamping. This is not good! It felt so good to play with my stamps yesterday. I am so impressed with this stamp set, which is our sneak peak from the new catalog. Did you know that two of our other stamps coordinate with it? One is a background stamp, Riot of Petals (#110972, $17.95), and the other is Kind Thoughts (#111095, $25.95). Be sure to check out the June special on Fresh Cuts. I'll be posting the details for the card later today.

Fresh Cuts Sneak Peak

Hello! Thanks for stopping by. We're almost to the weekend, and that usually means more time for stamping!

Today I'd like to share this stamp set, a sneak peak set from the new SU catalog which will be released in early August. During the month of May, demonstrators can pre-order the set. Customers can start to order the set at the beginning of June. Besides the stamp set, Fresh Cuts (# 111634), there are lovely die cut notes to match.

I've been dying to make a sample since the new stamp set arrived, but I have been so busy I didn't get a chance to play with it until Tuesday. I chose Blue Bayou and Certainly Celery for the color combination. Certainly Celery ink was "smooshed" over the die cut card to add some background color. The main image is stamped in Blue Bayou ink. A corner rounder punch was used to scallop the edge of the card, and I lined the card with a 3"x3" square of paper so a small piece of the Blue Bayou DSP would peek out from the scallops. I stamped the long leaf image inside the card with Certainly Celery, added my double-stitched Blue Bayou ribbon, stamped some matching images on the envelop, and I was done. I have to go to a bridal shower on Saturday, and this will be the gift card. (I hope you like it, Lou!)

Color Inspiration

While shopping at Target, I came across these note cards. I loved the color combination, and immediately the dials started spinning. Hmmm, Tempting Turquoise, Taken with Teal, Chocolate Chip and Green Galore. Of course, since stamping is my business, I would never purchase cards in a store (wink, wink, Dianne!). I went home without them. A week later, I was in Target with my non-stamping daughter, and since she really needed note cards, we bought them. She was nice enough to give me one to use as inspiration. That's what family does...



Anyway, here's the card I came up with. After admiring Just B (111093, $27.95) since the catalog came out in January, I finally got it with hostess dollars. I used Very Vanilla, Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise, Taken With Teal, and Chocolate Chip inks and paper. On the Green Galore paper, I used one of my favorite techniques. I call it "smooshing," for lack of a better term. It is a direct to paper technique. I take my ink pad (matching ink and paper colors) turn it upside down and "smoosh" it across the paper, twisting the pad from side to side over the surface of the paper until I am pleased with the look. It almost looks like suede. I hope you can picture it in your head. Take a piece of paper and matching ink and give it a try. I think you will be pleased with the results.



Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy this long holiday weekend!

Salt Lake City, here I come!!

Along with lots of other Stampin' Up! demonstrators, I am anticipating the annual convention in Salt Lake City. This year will be really special because it is SU's twentieth anniversary. Registration was last week, and there was lots of buzz about it. I even received a post about stamp sets that will be continued in the new catalog so that people could start preparing swaps! Speaking of swapping, that is the reason for today's post. Swapping is a huge part of the excitement of the convention, and of course, you need to plan ahead. You need to come with lost of swaps, and of course, you need a great bag to carry all of your swaps in! Well, I found mine last week, and here it is. I happen to love fabric almost as much as stamps, papers and ink. (I was a quilter for over 25 years and then stamping entered my life!) Anyway, the bag,from K & Company, is by a young designer, Amy Butler, and my daughter and I are crazy about her fabric. Can you keep a secret? Don't tell, but I bought a bag for my daughter and my down line to take to convention. Shhh.....

Masculine Card Swap

I am in two monthly card swaps. One swap has no rules or guidelines and the other has a theme, color combination or sketch that we need to follow. For our June swap, I needed to come up with a masculine card that had metal on it. I don't have too many stamp sets that I would describe as masculine, so I used one of the classics, Lovely As a Tree. Once I had my sample worked up, I decided to use it for both of my monthly swaps. Here is the recipe: STAMPS: Lovely As a Tree, All in a Row PAPER: Western Sky, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, River Rock, Whisper White INKS: Old Olive, Soft Sky, River Rock, Close to Cocoa ACCESSORIES: Crop-o-dile, Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelets. I hope you like it! I know I will really miss Soft Sky and River Rock when they are retired.

Mother's Day Storm

Today is Mother's Day. I woke up this morning, came downstairs to make a cup of coffee, and saw the most amazing thing on our deck. We have a beautiful flowering tree, some kind of cherry, that has been in full bloom. The blossoms are past their peak and are starting to drop their petals. We had a stiff breeze this morning, and the petals were coming down like rain. I took some photos to try and share just how pretty it was.

Mother's Day Gift

Hi, my name is Barbara, and I am a Dollar Spot Addict! Okay, true confessions time. How many of you can’t pass the Dollar Spot without poking around in those bins? C’mon now, hands up! I must admit I’ve got a stash of things from the Dollar Spot. I usually buy in groups of 10, since that is the maximum class size I ever have.

I saw the cutest containers at the Dollar Spot a couple of weeks ago. I passed on them because I wasn’t sure what to do with them, but while poking around on some blogs last week, I saw something I had to case! I’m sorry I can’t remember where I saw it so I could give credit to the designer. Anyway, back to the Dollar Spot it was, and this is the resulting project.


The container is one of the galvanized rectangular tins. I used the crop-a-dile to punch holes in the side and then used our jumbo eyelets. (All supplies are from Stampin’ Up.)

I used the Western Sky DSP with coordinating inks and ribbons, as well as the Bloomin’ Beautiful set (111490) in the Occasions mini collection. So here’s what is in the basket: a votive candle decorated with a rub-on (candles are 12 for $8 at many craft stores), a jar with a rub-on, filled with candy (these are by MM sold as a set of 6 for $10, purchased with a 50% off coupon, I might add!), a set of two glass coasters (left over wedding favors!) featuring the DSP paper, a small framed watercolor (a Dollar Spot find- three frames for $3), and some bath salts in pretty packaging!

I think you can figure out everything but the bath salts. I got this idea from my adopted up line, Pam Joel, and think it is just the greatest idea. The bath salts are from the dollar spot at Michael’s. When you open the package, they are sealed in a small plastic bag. Now for the packaging. Take a medium confetti white envelope and seal it. Then cut it in half from top to bottom. Crimp one half of the envelope.

















Stamp and color the other half. Add your bath salts, tie with ribbon, and make a pretty tag.
(This one was in the Designer Label Punch kit.) Put some shredded paper in the tin, add all of your gifts, and voila! The perfect gift for Mother’s Day, your sister, your daughter, your friend!