Good Morning!

(Well… it’s morning for me…) and Happy Veteran’s Day.  I wanted to take pause and just mention how deeply thankful I am for the veterans that serve our country.  I am humbled by their sacrifice and by how little I reflect on the importance of it.  Thank you.

I just wanted to share a sneak peak of some of the items I will have for sale
at the FIRST EVER MAUI STAMPERS CRAFT FAIR!  Now.. you may be thinking it’s only gonna be stamped stuff…. though the name would lead you to believe that, it isn’t.  We will have a very wide variety of all things hand made and I promise, you will enjoy. We will have Christmas tunes playing and coffee…. you gotta come on over. And bring a friend!!  Sunday. November 18… 9-2.  At the Kahului Masonic Lodge (190 Kamehameha Ave).  Now to the sneak peek:

This set of items uses some of my favorite things…. the blossom punch, the beautiful (and retired) Sale-A-Bration paper from last year… the elegant lines embossing folder…  I have a set of 5 cards that comes boxed with a post-it note and pen. They all fit in a cute canvas bag. And then a tablet with a pen.  These coordinate together for your gift-giving pleasure. 

Stay tuned… for another sneak peek. And I will see you Sunday!!

Hello!!  Glad you are joining me today!!  I’m part of the RemARKable Blog Tour… and this is your next stop!!

This month we are featuring the stamp set.. Winter Memories.  And, I gotta say, it was one I initially ‘didn’t register’ when I ripped open my copy of the Holiday Catalog.  So.  I’m very glad for this stamp of the month opportunity cause it is helping me to experience stamps that are outside my comfort zone…

When I saw this one, I immediately had flashbacks to the movie A Christmas Story.  No idea why…  I think it is because when I see the images, it makes me wanna see them ‘in my memory’ with the fuzzy, blurred, edges…warm, brilliant colors, etc…  So, here is how I tried to make that happen on paper:

Looking at the sled and wreath, I knew… I needed to get out the color pencils.  I used the SU watercolor pencils (item #101879; 24 pencil sfor $19.95).  These are my go-to coloring pencil.  Even without using water.  I love them cause they are, how shall we say, creamy??  It’s easy to build color and add depth with the pencils.    The wreath used ALL of the greens included in the set.  I love coloring… The image is actually stamped with black ink on white paper, (which I wanted to keep the pencil colors true) but the white was way too stark.  So, I added layers of ink with the sponge daubers (crumb cake and soft suede).

I did the same sponging treatment on the sentiment.  And, of course, I had to work in my favorite Brushed Bronze Buttons…  and the core’dinations paper (see previous post about my love affair with these items).  And, the tulle…  Boy, SU got this Holiday Catalog right…  Anyway… I’m sure you’re excited to see where you go next…  thanks for stopping by!!  (click on the button to take you to your next stop.)

So…

Anne was over one day while I was on my, ehem… back reconstructing… providing therapeutic intervention… STAMPING.  We were working on the cards for our annual ACCE class (Anne and Crystal’s Christmas Extravaganza).  We were messing around with lots of product from the Holiday catalog as well as with the Merry and Type stamp Set.  I love this stamp set.  It’s the right blend of vintage with a tudge of modern style…  well… that makes no sense at all. You just gotta see:

I love the sentiment stamps.  And, I love the Core’dinations paper!!  That’s what is on the background behind the main images.  I’m also in love with the tone-on-tone textured stuff.  Here is what I mean…  The card is early espresso base.  Then I have a panel of early espresso core’dinations that was embossed with the Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder (Also in the Holiday Catalog).  Then sanded to reveal the light core to the paper.  Oh… another thing I love about the core’dinations paper… It’s TEXTURED.  So, you could just use it without sanding to see the core.  And, it’s only $6.95 for 12 SHEETS!!  (Comes in espresso, cherry cobbler, and gumball green).    I used the Be of Good Cheer DSP and the glimmer paper and LOVELY tulle.  That tulle is so amazing… It’s SOFT. Not stiff so really easy to work with. And, it has a beautiful scalloped edge…  It’s only 6.95 for 10 yds (early espresso, cherry cobbler or crumb cake).  This would make excellent package embellishments.

Anyway, I digress…  I think my most FAVORITE item from the holiday catalog is:  THE BRUSHED BRONZE DESIGNER BUTTONS!!  I was sure to include one on this card.  They are just the perfect amount of extra for any card without going over the top…

Here’s another card, same stamp set, same idea, different colors:

This last card, uses the Merry and Type stamp set, but takes advantage of a stamp that may not have much use. There is a stamp in the set that has the number 25.  This uses that stamp (the 25 is nestled in between two flourishes) and then we stamped Thank You on a strip of paper to cover up the number.  This makes the stamp set so versatile.  I wish I could take credit for this awesome Thank You card but Anne is the one who designed it.  We made it at our team meeting last month.  She used the set called Everything Eleanor to make the background.  Not at all Christmas, but perfect for the Christmas Thank Yous…

OH.  I also wanted to share the specials that SU is offering this month…  ANY HOSTESS (between now and Dec 14) who has a workshop that totals $450 or more will receive a FREE SET of the new Firm Foam Ink Pads.   (Brights, Subtles,  Regals).  OR… If you take the plunge and decide to sign up as a demo, you get to add that free set to your starter kit!!  I must say, I absolutely LOVE the new FFIPs.     The ink is even and solid without any effort.  And you barely have to press on the stamp to get the ink on!  

Well, that’s all for today.  A couple of things to leave you with.  First…  If you are gonna be on Maui Nov 18, come check out my craft fair!!  A couple of ladies from my downline along with myself are creating our own Maui Stampers Craft Fair!!  There will be way more things than just cards, so it will totally be worth your time…  It will be at the Kahului Masonic Lodge on 190 W. Wakea…

And, Check back here on Sunday (11/11).  I will be a stop on a very cool BLOG HOP featuring a stamp set called Winter Memories.  This is fun.  I probably wouldn’t have even noticed this stamp set, except that it was the one chosen for the hop…  Makes me expand my skills….

Well… I’m a day late on my October New Year’s Resolution… But, hey… better than a couple of months.

I just gotta show you… last night we took the boy to the Carnival at our church for Halloween.  He went as Larry the Cucumber from Veggie Tales.  This is my first attempt at making a costume…

It was extremely difficult to get him to hold still to take a picture, but you get the idea… I love the veggie tales… He didn’t have a choice.  🙂

Now that Halloween is over, it’s full speed ahead to Christmas.  I cannot believe it is November 1.  Unreal.  I wanted to share with you my club projects we made this past meeting.  They are “thankfully” inspired…

This uses the Perfectly Preserved stamp set and the (one of my favorites) Orchard DSP.  I just LOVE it.  And the framelits dies are just wonderful for cutting out the mason jar and all it’s pieces.  I forget the extra dimension that is added when the time is taken to cut things out.  And, framelits decrease that time significantly (remember when we actually had to use scissors???)

This next item is a little gratitude journal:

This is it with it all closed up, and  here it is with it open…

I thought this would be a good way during this upcoming season to reflect on for what we are thankful.  When I think about it, I’m overwhelmed.  A couple of members in my family have recently had some health scares and I’ve been overwhelmed at the thought of how fortunate I am that my son is so healthy.  I’m VERY thankful for that.

These little journals come together very quickly and are great for jotting down ideas, thoughts, pasting pictures…  Because they are made so fast, you could easily make one for your thanksgiving guests.  And, then have them jot in it the things they are thankful for.  They’re good to have around when we get to thinking we are overwhelmed…  we can remember all the things we are thankful for.

Anyway, just a quick note about SU promotion:  All Digital Kits are 50% off and there are 3 free digital downloads available until 11/5/12.  Check out my website  and my online store.  Through this, you can get your free downloads!!  If SU has 18000 Downloads, we can all get another one for FREE!!

And, don’t foreget…the blog HOP I’m going to be part of… Coming SOON!!

So…. I’m back.  Fall break over. Halloween almost here…  We are on the fast track to the count down till Christmas… (eeek…did that actually come out???)  Yes. Blink and Christmas will be here.

Anyway. My last post was from the hospital. I had all these plans to be super, awesome, blogger/card maker…. but in reality… I was doing good to get my teeth brushed.

But… I did make a couple of things… for club… that I thought I’d share….  they are super easy and will make great little favors for Halloween…

These little bags are from the googly ghouls stamp set and bundle.  The bundle comes with 10 bags, 20 tags, string for tying, and STICKY BACK GOOGLY EYES.  Why hasn’t this been thought of sooner….  I made this bag by running it through the chevron embossing folder and put some black crinkle paper inside. Then I put a battery tea light inside.  These would make cute centerpieces for a party or cute gifts for office desks… of course, you can put candy inside too.  The bag kit is only $7.95…. add the clear stamps and the whole bundle is only $16.95…

Here’s another little Halloween favor idea….  I must admit, I copied it from Anne… (check thou her blog…  she just did a blog hop and has tons of great ideas)

This uses the petite pocket die.  And my favorite…the howlstooth and scaringbone paper. The great thing about the paper is that it isn’t specifically Halloween… so it can be used for other fall projects.  This little pocket will fit things like a heath bar or pixie sticks… and, I LOVE the striped satin ribbon. Though it doesn’t appear it here…. it can be extremely elegant…

I also wanted to share a picture that one of my customers shared.  She called me frantic (Okay, I’m adding emotion to make it more interesting), looking for the decor elements spider web that we had awhile ago.  Of course, I didn’t have… but, my mom told me that you can use elmer’s glue to make window cling decals.  So… she made some…

WAY COOL, HUH??  She made the web and spider by adding sparkly glitter and black glitter for the spider.  Think of the spooky decor.  And, for that matter, Christmas, New Years (fireworks???), and wow… if only I had more time in the day.

So… I’m creating a late October New Year’s Resolution… to blog better.  More.  Consistent.  Whatever.  Stampin’ Up has given me a 6 months trial business developer (someone who calls me and helps me create, set, and accomplish goals, etc).  and blogging better is one of my goals.  So, hopefully we can make good on this resolution.  And, to help this along… I’m going to be part of a blog hop!!  Yay!! My first one!

Of course, I’m hoping to have more posts before Nov 11, but just want to start promoting it.  There will be 20 of us, and we will all feature the same stamp set.  It should be very inspiring!!

Well… gotta go…

So… most of you know that I’ve had a short stay at Hotel Maui Memorial.  Not exactly the most exciting resort, but I got good care and am getting better. Hopefully I will have a new and improved back.

Anyway… a couple of the Maui Stampers dropped by just to bring some cheer and well wishes… it was very exciting.  You need to see what they made…

The box of Junior Mints was banded with some nice dsp and a tag. And Cheryl brought some great lilikoi jam that she made… from her own vine!! And the cute little get well doggy has a tea bag on the inside.  And, I love the keep calm card. The layering of each element of the stamps with the buttons really makes the sentiment stand out.  Here is another picture that shows the inside of the tea bag…

I must say, this wasn’t the extent of the visitors and gift giving. I am so blessed to have my mom here to help out and my husband’s parent have been a lifeline (literally…by bringing non-hospital food).  And not to mention aunties, cousins, etc.  And desserts and plants. I’m so thankful for everyone and the extent to which they went to make sure I felt loved. Its been wonderful.  And, one last picture…. since I knew I was gonna be sitting here…for a while… I brought some composition book covers I made… to sew on the closure buttons:

These will be available at my craft show (yeah… you read right… more details to come)   so.   This opportunity to get them finished up was good…  anyway… hopefully I can break out of here tomorrow.  I finished the buttons.  And I’ve almost finished 2 mds scrapbook albums… (but the husband needed the computer tonight so he took it…)  don’t forget… mds sale is extended til Sept 14!!  Anyway…  thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.  And thanks to everyone who came to visit and send well wishes.  I am well loved!

Okay, I have to embarrassingly admit…  I had the My Digital Studio software for nearly 3 years before I did anything with it. (well, at least I think it was 3….)  Who knows.  And, I busted the package on it this past summer when I was trying to earn enough points for the trip to Hilton Head (which, btw, I did!!!  Thanks to all who helped…).  And, this was before the release of MDS 2.  ANYWAY…

I made an 8×8 scrapbook and my new business card.  Both made me want to scream.
THEN….
I went to convention where I learned about the LOVELY MDS2.

And it’s lovely.  And, during the month of August (AND NOW EXTENDED TILL SEPTEMBER 14), select digital downloads and printing services are 31% off.  And, you can download MDS2 for a 30 day free trial…ANYTIME…
I’ve been frantically trying to scrap, create, and whatever you can do in MDS before the end of the promotion.  Just took Isaac’s Christmas picture today…  (gonna print on the special, so someone please remind me to get them mailed before December 25…no excuses this year)
Anyway, a friend’s daughter is getting married and I made some wedding invites.  This is the one she liked.  I removed the names and the changed the date of the wedding just not to spill the beans…cause I’m not sure they’ve been sent out.  But, I love how they turned out…

I made matching RSVP cars too.  And, I can print on the back as well… I just put a designer series paper, but it still made the entire project seem quite finished.  And, the quality of the paper is wonderful.  Quite substantial.  It is a very nice wedding invite, I think… More people need to get married so I can make some more.  It was fun…

I will post some other projects later!  I’m having tons of fun!!

And, just a reminder, you only have a few days left (until Friday, at 7:50 Hawaii time) to purchase the starter kit to be able to get that awesome Halloween Printer’s Tray.  I’ve seen ideas on pinterest of how people are using with ‘removable’ decor so it can be used for other seasons.  Now, you don’t wanna miss out, do you???  You can get it by going to my website and signing up for the starter kit…

Spooktacular Offer

Talk to you soon!!  And happy digital stamping!!