How did it get to be Monday again?

Shoooooooooey. This weekend FLASHED by!!!! Did you have a good one? It made it into the high 50s here in Middle Tennessee BOTH days! Kenn and I were gone all day yesterday, but Dad said the crocus had bloomed - and been picked by little hands. ::::sigh:::: :D

ANYWAY. Today's sample is from a party at the beginning of the month.



Isn't it CUTE? If you use the new XL 2-step bird punch (just order item #117191 for $15.95), the bird house will sit level, and you could use it as a table favor for a party!

Card stock: Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa, Taken with Teal, Glorious Green, YoYo Yellow, Basic Black

Accessories: Big Shot, SU! Mini Milk Carton die, SU! Beautiful Wings Embosslits die, Scallop Trim Border punch, Bird w/Leaves and Flower die, silver cord, wide oval punch (door frame behind bird!)

I just love him. I think this is an adorable favor, or ornament, or home decor element. :) We all had fun making our little houses! :)

If you have trouble finding oder numbers for any of these, or don't want to place your order on my online business site, please don't hesitate to call or email me! (My contact information's in the right-hand margin.)

OK! I'm off - I have a scrapbooking class to finish designing for! :D Have a WONDERFUL day - and be sure to take the time to STAMP something!

September 1 starts the Holiday Mini season!

I can't TELL you how excited I am about the Holiday Mini!!! There are some FANTASTIC new things to play with - including OUR NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH BUILD-A-BEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Be watching for schedule additions if you attend classes with me - we'll be doing a Mommy & Me Workshop all based on the BAB dies! We have clothing, and costumes, and stamp sets besides the dies - your little ones will LOVE these, and there's lots of ways you can make them reusable, so they can play with a set over and over.

I hope you have a WONDERFUL weekend!! Next week, the weather's supposed to be in the mid-70s here in Middle Tennessee - I SO CANNOT WAIT. :D

Make sure you take the time to stamp something - then bless someone with it! :D

Have I mentioned new toys lately? :D

First, I'd like to say HI! to all you new subscribers - I can't tell you how glad I am that you like what you've seen enough to want to continue with me for a while! :) I'm not the best stamper out there, but I LOVE what I do, I LOVE teaching people that creativity isn't about being able to DRAW, and I love PEOPLE. :)

SO. That said, let me share a new project with you!!!

This is a birthday card for a friend Kenn made when he was working on CAPTURE MUSIC CITY; Nancy Diana is a very gifted photographer, and a very lovely, Godly woman - I've had the privilege of meeting her at the unveiling of the project book.

Sunday night, her husband invited us all to the church where she leads worship to surprise her, and have a party after the evening service. (I'm writing this before the party, so I'm looking forward to it!!!) Kenn decided that I should make her "one of my cards". What does THAT mean?? Oh, well. So, I set out to make a special card for Nancy. I KNOW she'll appreciate anything she receives - which ALWAYS makes me want to do something even more special for a person. :D

So here it is. I'll list the "ingredients", then include a detail photo of the butterfly and the rhinestones - and you'll be able to see a little more detail of the background in both shots. Plus, you can ALWAYS see a bigger photo if you click on one of them. :)

Card stock: Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla, Vellum PAPER (not card stock weight)

Stamp Set(s): Inspired by Nature (INSIDE: Happy Everything, Define Your Life)

Inks: White, Regal Rose, Garden Green, Almost Amethyst; Stampin' Write Markers in Garden Green, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Big Shot :D, Top Note Die, Pretties Kit, sponge, Crafter's Tool Kit (to pierce card stock for rhinestone brads), SU! exclusive Texturz embossing plate, silicone rubber, imressions pad, brayer, butterflies die, dimensionals

Let me know what you think! And tell me (or better yet, SHOW ME!!!) what YOU are stamping! Ummm, you ARE stamping, aren't you???? Don't forget to check out the Sale-A-Bration bruchure over there to the right!!!!

A couple more Big Shot projects!

These are PILLOW BOXES, made with the Big Shot and the pillow box die. Imagine that! :D The one on the left is cut from the Level One Hostess Gift Paper Pack, kraft color. It's got a belly band made of kraft card stock, and Pretty in Pink grosgrain ribbon. The tag is a large circle punch, punched from kraft card stock, layered with the scallop square punch turned on an angle to fit the SINCERE SALUTATIONS greeting on it - I am SO stoked this works with this set!!! - in Pretty in Pink. I stamped and sponged it with Chocolate Chip. SUPER easy, and so cute!

The pillow box on the right is cut from Taken With Teal card stock, and embellished with snowflakes that are diecuts, too. The punched tag is the large oval punch, stamped with a sentiment from HUGS & WISHES and edged with Taken With Teal ink, as well.

These projects are SO EASY with the Big Shot! You could crank out a LOT of party favors, wedding favors, Christmas gifts - literally! :) Contact me today to get your Big Shot!

And for goodness' sake, take time to STAMP something - then bless someone else with your stamped project! :)

Big Shot - really versatile, so much fun, and available from me NOW!!!

Hi, everyone! So, I'm both lazy and busy - not a great combination. :D But I'm here today to give you FIVE samples of things I've done with my new Big Shot.

Stampin' Up! and Sizzix have joined together; not only are we carrying the Big Shot - with the SU! name on it, even! :D - but we have exclusive dies and hard-to-find dies, as well. If you're interested in hearing more about it, please email me!

On with the show. :)

This is a Not Quite Navy card cut with the scallop circle die. I cut the strips for it - Riding Hood Red, the IN COLOR red :), and Whisper White - with the die as well. The stamp is from the level 1 hostess set, PUNCHES THREE; I punched it with the scallop square punch, a NEW punch this fall! There's a square layered behind it that you can BARELY see of Not Quite Navy, then I punched a Riding Hood Red scallop square and put it on the diagonal behind the stamp. I stippled white craft ink onto the card, to give it a little personality. :)

Here's the next sample....

This is the HERITAGE HOLIDAY stamp set, new in this IB&C. I really like it!! :)

The main card is Old Olive; I double-punched the bottom of it with the scallop edge punch, just like we do with the scallop circle. :) The single scallop behind it is another IN COLOR, Kiwi Kiss.

I took a Riding Hood Red scallop diecut and cut it in half, and embossed the greeting on it.

The Santa face is stamped on our Shimmery White card stock, and I used my aquapainter to put the color into his face and hat. He's punched out with the new large circle punch.

On to the next one!

SUPER simple!!! The base card stock is Very Vanilla; I used Creamy Caramel ink in DTP, and used one of the little background stamps from ITTY BITTY BACKGROUNDS. The saying is from SWEET SERENDIPITY. The leaves are diecut from Pumpkin Pie card stock, and I just took a stylus and put the veins in, and ran a little Pumpkin Pie classic ink over them with a sponge. See how easy?!?!??! :)

Next!

You really couldn't get much simpler than this card. I took the other half of the Riding Hood Red scallop circle die and punched 1/8" holes in each scallop - you can tell I only "eyeballed" where to put each one. :D Put it down onto glossy white card stock. Next, I cut another scallop circle out of Bella Rose designer series paper, and did a dahlia fold on it. The bottom green - what IS that little piece of a flower called, anyway?!?!? - is a scallop circle punch cut in half and folded into thirds. The leaf is our large oval punch - again, a brand new punch this fall!!! - that I folded in half. I cut one end into a point, then ran it through my crimper STILL FOLDED. Adhered everything down, and stamped the sentiment from SINCERE SALUTATIONS in Riding Hood Red.

Last one for today!

The last two posts - before the scrapbook layouts, I mean :) - were card to show you how I was using some of the "negatives" of the diecuts. Here's another. :) I LOVE this card - so simple!!

I had obviously cut two snowflakes out of this piece of Whisper White card stock. I put a piece of packing tape over the back, and used our fine blue glitter from the COSMO stack to pour into the openings. Then I adhered that strip onto a Night of Navy strip; the Brocade Blue (looks a little bluer in this scan!!!) I stamped with another stamp from the ITTY BITTY BACKGROUNDS set, to make it look like it was snowing. :) The "warm wishes" sentiment is from HUGS & WISHES, and I embossed it. EASY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, now you've seen what's going on HERE. :) What are YOU up to??? How can you see one of these Big Shots working for you?!?!? :) Call me, email me, leave me a way to contact you - I want to know how I can help you out!! :)

Go STAMP something!!!!

I know I owe you scrapbook layouts...

but I just HAD to share this card. :D I'm trying to use up all the things I've die cut in the last 24 hours, so I'm making cards like you wouldn't believe. LOL!

Well, this is obviously the negative of the pumpkin diecut.

The eyes and nose are pieces from another shape diecut. The mouth is pieces of two different punches.

The background card stock is Tangerine Tango, one of the new IN COLORs. I dragged it with Pumpkin Pie ink. The other colors are Chocolate Chip, Only Orange, and Creamy Caramel. Isn't it FUN!?!?!??!?!?

I'm having another eye procedure done tomorrow, but hopefully in the afternoon, I'll get at least one scrapbook LO up for you. :)

Until then, TAKE THE TIME TO STAMP SOMETHING!!!!

I just HAD to share!!!

Most of you know that Stampin' Up!® has partnered with Sizzix to offer the Big Shot and exclusive dies; they'll be available for you to purchase starting September 2.

Well, I got MINE today, and have just been playing. :D I don't want to show you a LOT, but I did want to show you this card - the only thing STAMPED is the greeting. I used a LOT of ink! The maple leaf is all ink, and I used the reverse mask from cutting the leaf out from some card stock; I just filled in the cutout area with a stipple brush and Ruby Red classic ink. The card base is Sahara Sand - just because I already had it cut. :D

The pumpkin is a die that I cut, and colored the stem with Creamy Caramel, and I lowlighted (Is that a word?!?!) the main part of it with Pumpkin Pie.

The "Happy Thanksgiving" is from HOLIDAYS & WISHES, and I stamped it with Chocolate Chip ink and punched it out with our new LARGE OVAL PUNCH. (Love my punches!!!) :) Edged the punch in Pumpkin Pie, and edged the card with it, too. The pumpkin is on one thickness of dimensionals, and the punch is on two.

It was a LOT of fun to do this card!!! :) I can't wait to continue showing you new things with my new toys! :D