Good intentions

What is it they say about good intentions? I'm hoping it's not accurate. I have SUCH good intentions, however my body thinks otherwise......I'm dealing with a back injury and I've not been able to do a whole lot of anything the past couple of weeks. I'll be fine, just have to get over this rough patch first.
I did have a couple of things done to show you, so here goes.
I made this gift card holder a few weeks back. I really need to make a few more for Christmas gifts. Luckily for me, they are super fast and easy to turn out. I'm hoping to be able to do a few this week. This is not my idea at all.......saw it on some one's blog somewhere. The key point here is, FAST and EASY! This is the outside:

Here is the inside:

This next little item I also saw on someones blog. Geesh I really have to get better at documenting where I see these things.......so sorry about that. It's the cutest little box to hold a mini loaf of bread. Again, super easy and quick to do. I had such grand plans for these little boxes. I envisioned making bunches of them and filling them with some homemade quick breads or coffee cakes to hand out to neighbors, friends and even my UPS guy. I'm not sure if that will still happen, but it's not looking like it at this point. Good intentions.........

Hopefully I'll be back to near full speed soon. This is not a good time of year to be laid up with a back problem!

An Experiment

I know there are lots of people that don't like to purchase Holiday stamp sets. They don't like to spend the money on stamps that will get used maybe once or twice a year. They are stronger willed than I am.....I love Holiday sets! So I thought I would challenge myself to create a Holiday card without using a Holiday set.
This is a card I made at a demonstrator training function. I didn't design the card, but absolutely love the colors and the design. It uses the Pocket Silhouette stamp set. Then I wondered, just by changing the sentiment and colors, could this be a Christmas card?

Here is the result. The only things I changed were the colors and the sentiment. The sentiment comes from Heard From the Heart, which is not a Holiday set. It just has the one stamp with the Holiday sentiment on it. I really like how it came out. Let me know your thoughts on it. I think a card like this would be great for someone who is going through a tough time at the holidays. It's still festive without being over the top.

More open house projects

I thought I would show you a few more of my open house samples.
The first one is called a bag in a box. It is super easy to make, and makes a nice little gift bag. You could even make it a taller bag and put a bottle of wine in it to give as a gift.


Here are some paper pumpkins. I first stamped a sheet of cardstock, and then cut the cardstock into strips of paper. The leaves are hand cut and crimped with my paper crimper.


This is another gift card holder. The scallop punch is attached to a belly band that slips off the card.

A few posts back, I showed you a card and promised to show you the complete set once it was finished. This is a set of 4 mini note cards that all go inside this mini pizza box.

And last but not least, here is a pillow box made from acetate. I love this pillow box die. These would make great place setting favors for your holiday table. The key to making these with acetate is to use heavy acetate. Standard overhead projector sheets are too flimsy.

Thanks for looking!

Samples

The past few weeks I've been busy creating samples for my Open House I had this past Saturday. I thought you might like to see some close ups of a few of the items on display.

Here is a gift card holder made from the Top Note die. This is really pretty in person.

A Rudolph bag topper made from the Top Note die and his antlers are from the Scribbles Swirls die.

This is a Frosty bag topper made from the Top Note die. He is too adorable!

There is SO much you can do with that Top Note die! Those were just a few examples.

This is a peppermint patty tin, well actually a "nugget" tin, but I covered York Peppermint Pattys with the scallop punch and used the Deer Friends hostess set. It came out so cute!

I hope you liked the pictures. I have lots more to show you in the coming days, so be sure to check back soon!

My Open House

I had an Open House on Saturday. It was disappointing in the respect that I had no turn out based on the flyers I distributed throughout my neighborhood. But I consider it a great success because some of my friends came and we had so much fun stamping together. They were pretty much non-stampers/crafters, and it was so satisfying to me to see how happy they were when they made something pretty that they could actually use. And they did great with both projects, you never would have known they weren't stampers at all. One of my friends brought her 10 year old daughter and she kept right up with them and did great! Here are the 2 projects they made:
First, a birthday card

Then a Christmas gift tag

This is a picture of my main display for my open house on Saturday.

Overall, it was a great day and I learned alot from it. I'm so glad I decided to do it.

Mountain time

I'm currently out in Boone, NC visiting my son who is a student at Appalachian State University. It snowed here Tuesday, but lucky for me it all melted by the time I got here yesterday. I'm sitting here in a hotel room on this COLD morning, all by myself. What a strange sensation that is! I don't travel by myself very often, but it was kinda nice having some total "me" time with no distractions last night. Dan had to work, so after seeing him for a brief time, I hit the local mall and then came back to my hotel room. I put on my fuzzy socks and jammies and did absolutely nothing. I caught up on some blog reading and emails and talked to a couple friends on the phone. I'll be returning home either late tonight or tomorrow, so my little break is a short one, but nice none the less.
Once I get back home, I'll be kicking into high gear with my SU Open House preparations. This is a new thing for me and I'm a bit nervous about it. The Open House is November 8th from 1 pm - 4 pm. I'll be having some Fall and Christmas samples and make and takes. There will be door prizes too, and light refreshments. If you're local, I'd love to have you drop by. Email or call me for details.
I think I'm going to go out and brave the cold weather in town. I haven't worn this many layers in a LONG time. I don't own a "winter" coat ......it just doesn't get that cold at the beach to really need one. I may have to go by the University bookstore and get a sweatshirt.

A New Gadget

I just added a new gadget to my sidebar. If you regularly read my blog, you can sign up to be a "follower". Just go over to my sidebar and click on the "Followers" link. It will be fun to see who keeps up with my blog.

A Happy Witch

This past weekend I attended our NC Demonstrator's group Quarterly meeting in Goldsboro, NC. It was great getting to know several of the demonstrators that usually I only "see" online. It's so interesting to hear every one's stories of how they became demonstrators and just how much we have in common. I had a great time, and made some fantastic projects. And I was surprised when my entry into the 3-D competition won first place! I still can't believe that.
Onto my happy witch. I finished assembling all my Halloween pillow boxes for the trick or treaters. I had a bunch of leftover scraps and candy. So I started wrapping the Hershey's minis with the scraps. Then I needed a way to contain them. So I pulled this jar off my shelf and started constructing a punched witch. I wanted her to be a happy witch versus a scary witch. I sure don't think I'd be that happy if I had that big ole wart on the end of my nose! Maybe it's the chocolate that keeps her happy! And if you can't tell, she also has a hairy wart on her chin. I used the new large oval punch,various circle punches and the a tip from the large star punch (for her nose). I crimped some black paper and cut it into long strips to create her hair. Her hat is from the Eat, Drink and be Scary stamp set.

This is a set of mini cards I'm in the process of making. There will be a set of 4 cards in a mini pizza box. I haven't finished it yet, but when I do, I'll post a picture of the completed set.

The weather has turned a bit cool this week. I actually had to put on long pants yesterday! I'm putting off going on my bike ride this morning till it warms up a bit. I hope it doesn't take too much longer........or that bike ride just might not happen!

Crazy!

For Cupcakes!
This is the set I won at the Stampin'Up! convention. I love this set and would have bought it, so I was very happy I won it! It came with the coordinating wheel and a roll of the new 1" chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon. I didn't use the wheel or the ribbon on these cards, but I will soon. I made these cards for a fellow friend/demonstrator who doesn't have the set. She's promoting the Birthday specials this month and needed some samples. I was very happy to help her out. That's one of the best things about SU demonstrators.....everyone jumps in and helps each other out.
First card is Bella Rose papers and Riding Hood Red satin ribbon. I paper pieced the cupcake.

I watercolored the main image with my blender pens, and then applied dazzling diamonds to the cupcake frosting and crystal effects to the cherries to make them shiny. I used a small piece of Parisian Summer paper to mat the main image. I also used the small cupcake image from the Short and Sweet set in the scallop circle.

The balloons are also in the Crazy for Cupcakes set. I paper pieced them with Maine Blueberry papers and popped a couple of them up on dimensionals.


I did also stamp the insides of the cards, but didn't take pictures of that.
Thanks for looking!

A different kind of post

First of all, let me apologize for the poor pictures. I realized after downloading these that my camera had a smudge on the lens.

Did you know that October is Disability Awareness Month? Probably not.....but yes it is. Those of you that know me personally, know my youngest son David is profoundly disabled, both physically and cognitively. He is 21 years old, but basically functions at the level of a 1 year old. I don't tell you this to ask for sympathy or pity. David is a huge blessing in our lives and we are so thankful he is part of our family. He's a wonderful young man with a sweet personality. Yes, there are many limitations to what he can do. But as you can see, there are lots of things he can do as well. Here he is participating in a wonderful program known as Top Soccer. It is a national program that facilitates people with disabilities participating in soccer. Chances are, you have a similar program in your city. It is so much fun to see these kids out on the soccer field enjoying an activity that otherwise would be unavailable to them. This program relies heavily on volunteers. The program wouldn't exist without them.

We are so lucky to have a thriving Top Soccer program here where we live. They always need volunteers, so if you have spare time on a weekend, consider seeking out a program in your city and volunteering. You'll be making a huge difference to these kids, and I just bet you will get alot out of it too.

Sometimes all we see when we look at disabled people are their disability. Look past the wheelchairs, walkers or other adapted devices and really see the person inside. I think you'll find that they are just like you and me. They love to have fun, feel safe and feel love. Just like us.

This is what I'm giving out for Halloween this year. I'm making TONS of them for all the little ghosts and goblins that come to my door. The pillow box is filled with candy corn and Hershey's minis. The Designer Series Paper is Ghostly Greetings and I used the Eat, Drink and Be Scary stamp set from the Holiday mini.


Another Owl......Owl's are hot for some reason I guess. I don't quite "get it" myself, but this little guy is cute! He's punched from the Tab punch, assorted cirlce punches, scallop punch and the Boho punch for his feet. It really amazes me how versatile the punches are.




This is a small note pad holder. The note pad itself measures approx. 3" x 5". The holder is re-fillable, which is great! I wanted something small to keep by my laptop to jot down ideas or notes that I need to keep track of. I've been doing alot of notepad holders lately. This one has a little pocket on the inside cover too. Quick and easy to make.

These are some cute mini scrapbooks. They measure 3" x 3", so pretty small! The perfect size for carrying in your purse.

That's all I have for today. I think I'm off to play with my Big Shot. I have an idea for the Join in the Cheer decorative strip die, I wonder if it will turn out like I have it pictured in my head?

If it does, I'll be sure to post it next time.

Latest samples

Here are a few things I've been working on. Some of them I stamped with Peggy (my upline). She is SO good to me and we always have fun when we get together. I was at her house last week for a couple of hours and we stamped our little hearts out! I think we did about 6 cards and 2 3-D items.

The turkey card I cased from Peggy's upline (Jeria). She cased it from the Stampin Success magazine this month. I just fell in love with that little punched turkey.......too cute!

The Upsy Daisy card was one I did at Peggy's stamp camp a few weeks ago. Love that one too.

I have a few more things to photograph. I'm so bad at doing that, and my photography skills are not up to par. So sorry you have to suffer through my bad photography skills.

I finally got my Big Shot last week. However, the dies didn't come till today. They were all on backorder. Now I need to find time to play with all the cool toys. I hope to do that real soon.

Things I've been working on

I thought I would post a few pictures of the projects I've been making. The first picture is a card I made for a swap with some online friends. So girls, if you want to be surprised, scroll past the first one ;)
I used the new Ronald McDonald set called Say It With Scallops. A portion of the proceeds from purchasing this stamp set is donated to the Ronald McDonald House charities. It's a great set! And it coordinates with our new square scallop punch. I also used the new Maine Blueberry Designer series paper, along with a small piece of printed paper from the level 1 hostess prints pack. I used the canvas background stamp stamped in Versamark on the card base. I LOVE that stamp! It adds so much texture and interest to the background. Ink and cardstock colors I used are: Not Quite Navy and Old Olive. I used some Dazzling Diamonds on the focal image to add a little bling. And the white gel pen on the scallop square. Finished it off with a little bit of the now retired Old Olive 1/4" poly twill ribbon.
This is a 5"x8" notepad folio. I used another new set called Eastern Blooms for the flowers and one of the sentiment stamps from Inspired By Nature. Cardstock colors are Bravo Burgundy, Sahara Sand and Whisper White. I used Parisian Summer Designer Series Paper. Ink colors are: Bravo Burgundy and Pink Pirouette. Of course there are Dazzling Diamonds in the center of the flowers. Ribbon is Light Pink Gingham Ribbon.

Inside the folio is a pocket to hold notecards or anything you need.

I made a bookmark calendar to tuck inside the pocket to look up dates when I'm jotting down notes.

This is an altered note pad. I purchased the notepad from Target. It already had the pen attached at the bottom. I covered it in Bella Rose Designer Series Paper. I used the new scallop border punch to punch a strip of paper across the front. I used the Big Flowers stamp to stamp the focal image in Riding Hood Red. Added some white gel pen dots on the scallop circle, and some faux stitching on the Riding Hood Red panel. I added some Light Pink Gingham Ribbon and Old Olive Twill Ribbon to the top spiral.

That's all for now. I need to clean up my stamp room so I can get to the rest of my new sets!

Online ordering is here!

Today is the first day that customers can place orders online. What this means is, if you're up stamping in the middle of the night, and suddenly have an urge to shop, you can! All you need to do is go to my demonstrator business website and click on the shop now button. There is a link to my demonstrator business website on the right sidebar. You can shop 24/7/365 from the privacy and convenience of your own home, or your favorite coffee shop!

Of course, I am always available to place your orders too.

A cool site

I came across this blog a few days ago. I emailed the gal who runs it and asked to have my blog and demo website added to the list. So I'm there! There are lots of really cool blogs to explore.
http://demosites.blogspot.com/
I could literally spend hours surfing all the blogs on this list. Lots of inspiration to be found!
And here's a link to Kathleen's personal blog: www.stampjourney.com
In other news, I'm getting my demo pre-order together for the Holiday Mini. Demo's can place pre-oders begining Monday....there are way too many things I want! I spent a good portion of today reorganizing my stamp room. I got one of those Closet Maid 9 hole cubbies to put my ever growing collection of stamps on. I've already outgrown the space I had for those! I'm hoping to spend some time in my stamp room actually stamping tomorrow.

Baby card

Here is the baby card I was working on. I don't know why that smudgey looking thing is showing up on the picture. It's not on the card I can assure you. I used Whisper White and Bashful Blue cardstock. As well as a strip of Bashful Blue from the retired Prints Pack (Hostess). I used my Crop-a-Dile to set black eyelets for the wheels of the baby buggy. Stamp sets are: Fun & Fast Notes and Short & Sweet.

I realized that I never showed you my main swap card for Convention. Well, here it is! I made 30 of these and they were very labor intensive. Lots of sponging, scoring and layering. I love these colors together.
I cased the basic design from the gallery of MicheleTx at Splitcoast. I did make several changes such as scoring the background, using dazzling diamonds on the bird and lots of layers. I got the sweetest email from a fellow convention goer that I had swapped with. She wrote to tell me that she swapped in excess of 500 cards at convention, and she placed my card in her top 25! Wow! I was blown away that she took the time to email me. I was so unsure of my swaps, thinking they weren't up to par. She definitely made me feel better! The stamp set is Always. The cardstock and ink colors are Chocolate Chip, Real Red and Creamy Caramel.

Dahlia fold

This card was cased from Angie Kennedy-Juda http://chicnscratch.typepad.com/chic_n_scratch/

I love the simplicity of this design.

I'm working on a baby card for one of Don's employees who just had their first baby. I don't do many baby cards, so this one is a stretch for me. I'll try to post it later.

Back from Vacation

On Friday, which was our anniversary, Don and I went hiking to a place called The Cascades. It's a really beautiful waterfall off the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's a nice hike and great scenery.


We took David to Linville Caverns one day. He loved being inside the cave where it was a cool 52 degrees (year round). It is so great that the cave was wheelchair accessible!

Spelunking at Worley's Cave

This picture was taken in a room known as the Bridal Suite. Legend has it that an actual wedding took place there years ago. I sure hope the bride didn't wear white!

The last day of our vacation we went spelunking at a cave called Worley's Cave in Eastern Tennessee. It was incredible!! We hiked 2 miles in, over rocks, under rocks, through an underground river and saw some really fantastic things. That is me under the rock, which was actually a "crawl" to another room of the cave. We all turned off our headlamps and did it in complete darkness......I have never "seen" darkness like that. The cave is 7 miles long, so we only saw a small portion of it. I would love to go back and see the rest sometime.

We also did some white water rafting on Tuesday, but I have to drop the camera off for developing. I used one of those disposable waterproof ones so mine wouldn't get wet.

We had a great vacation. But I'm glad it's over......I'm tired!