Beary Best Valentine

Happy Sunday from snowy Virginia! We enjoyed another snowfall this weekend and when it was all done we ended up with over 7" of snow. We loved staying inside and watching the snow fall and after digging out we enjoyed playing in the snow (Aidan made is first snow angel and had a blast). After a week break I'm back to valentine's and today's creation for the Stamping 411 challenge uses the stamp sets from the Build a Bear Collection.

The card starts with a base of Ballet Blue cardstock. Then I took a piece Real Red Cardstock and ran it through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder (love the texture!). Then I wrapped a piece of Brocade Blue 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon around the Real Red cardstock before placing 2 Vintage brads through the ribbon.

The stamped images are from the Beary Best Friends stamp set that are stamped in Basic Black in and the greating is from the Beary Best Wishes set and was colored in with Stampin' Write markers before stamping. I just took the plunge and got some of the SU! watercolor crayons so this was my first time using them along with a blender pen.

I used the Bearly Lovely Sizzlit die to cut out the pieces for the love heart that the 2 bears are sharing.

This is going to be Aidan's valentine this year and I think he'll love it. He's just getting introduced to build-a-bears and today he and I spent time decorating some of the die cut bears so stay tuned, I'll be posting pictures of our beary great creations later this week.

Enjoy!

It's Time for Another Sketch Challenge

What a crazy weekend! After spending Saturday driving up to NJ for a birthday party and then driving home it was nice to just relax today and hang out. For this weeks Stamping 411 challenge I wanted to take a break from Valentine's which have been my theme lately and loved the cute little characters in the in new Picinic Parade Hostess set and decided to try them out. The great thing about the new clear mount stamps is that I was able to place all the stamps to make the main stamped image on one clear block and ink and stamp them all at once (how easy it that??)

The card base is Soft Suede and I used the Welcome Neighbor DSP mounted on Old Olive cardstock along the left hand side. I used a blender pen and Stampin' Pastels to color in the stamped images before matting them on Ballet Blue cardstock. The greeting is punched out with the Oval Punch and then matted on a Crushed Curry Oval Scallop punch piece. Finally, I tied a nice big bow with Crushed Curry Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon and mounted to the card with glue dots.


Niced and light! This stamp set so cute and fun to make different scenes with all the available images. Have a great week and enjoy!

Aidan's Class Valentine's

As soon as I saw the Sweet Centers stamp set and Treat Cups in the Holiday Mini catalog I knew exactly what I wanted to do for Aidan's class valentines. Aidan loves to make special gifts for his friends and loves lollipops so I decided to create a heart version with our treat cups. I used Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette from last years In Colors since they're perfect for Valentine's (and I need to use up some of my retired stash).


After stamping the image I cut each heart out with Paper Snips and used the 1 3/4" circle punch to punch the center. I created a template for the larger heart to add to the back and cut them out as well. Unfortunately after I did this I found that the treat cups weren't completely hidden by the front heart so I had to do a little trimming before filling the cups with Valentine's M&M's. You can't tell from the picture but I also took the heart stamp from the Sprinkles Stamp set and stamped the back since you can never have too many hearts on a valentine! I took a lollipop stick and used Sticky Strip to attach the hearts to the stick before tying a bow with the great striped grosgrain ribbon.

These took much longer than I originally thought (especially since I had to make 20 of them) but Aidan loves them and is soo excited to give them to his friends.

Enjoy and have a great day!

Haitian Disaster Relief

On January 12, 2010 a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti, leaving in its wake devastation so overwhelming that the Haitian people and their leaders can only look for help from the outside to cope. Stampin' Up! has just announced a special opportunity to help make a difference in the lives of those who continue to suffer from the effects of this earthquake. From now until February 28, 2010, $2 from every I {Heart} Hearts stamp set sold will be donated to the American Red Cross' Haiti Relif and Dvelopment Fund. The Red Cross is already well-established in Haiti, and this money will be used to provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need.

I {Heart} Hearts - clear-mount (block D recommended), Item #118571, $18.95
I {Heart} Hearts - wood-mount , Item #117010 , $26.95

This is just one small thing you can do to make a difference in the lives of people who are suffering.

Please contact me if you would like participate in this worthwhile cause.

Feeling the Love

What a crazy week! I feel like I have not had a chance to catch my breath since the holidays. I've been busy all week making valentines with the new heart sweet treat cups for an order for my mom and her friends (mom loves to order custom cards to give as gifts and has now gotten her friends hooked, which I love!) For this weeks Stamping 411 challenge I decided to take a break from the treat cups but still wanted to make another card perfect for valentine's day.

This weeks entry starts with a cardbase of Real Red. I used the Sending Love Speciality Designer Paper for the diagonal pieces and flipped the cut from the challenge (I think it was my left sided brain kicking in) which is mounted on a piece of Pretty in Pink Cardstock. The main image is a piece of Very Vanilla Cardstock mounted on Chocolate Chip. I stamped the dotted outline heart from the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set in Chocolate Chip and then the floral heart in Pretty in Pink around the edges (I love all the different hearts available in this stamp set). The greeting is from the Whimsical Words stamp set (one of the free SAB sets this year) in Real Red.

The card is finished with Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon.

Nice and simple, Gotta love it!

I'm continuing to use the clear mounted stamps and so far I'm really like them, in fact there were sets from the mini I purchase with wood blocks that I wish I had purchased in clear mount. The blocks are so nice to work with and still stamp nice clean images that we've come to expect from Stampin' Up! If you haven't had a chance to try them out make sure to come to an upcoming event so you can try them for your self.

Have a great week!

SAS Projects

Just wanted to post some of the projects from last weekends Stamp-a-Stack. We loved the new SAB items and the clear mounted stamps were definately a hit!


Stamp Set: Three Little Words
Other: Sweet Pea DSP, Scallop Trim Border Punch (SAB Item)


Stamp Set: Vintage Labels (SAB Item)
Other: Thoroughly Modern DSP

Stamp Sets: Sweetheart, Love You Much, Sprinkles
Other: Heart Treat Cups, Heart Punch

Hope you enjoyed these fun projects and stay tuned to what's coming up for next months SAS.

New Stampin' Up! Punch Design

As part of Stampin' Up!'s commitment to providing customers with the very best crafting tools, starting with the new 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog and continuing with all new punch designs going forward, Stampin' Up! has adopted a fabulous new body style for our punches!

A few features of the new punch style:

* Low-profile, rectangular punch body allows for easier stacking and storing
* Punches lock shut for easier storage and transport
* Dual labels on top and end allow for easy identification and selection when stored
* Available in three sizes: small, medium, and extra-large
* New punches allow for larger punched images and more intricate designs while providing greater ease of use.
* Extra -large punch images also allow for two-step designs like the Two-Step Bird punch in the Occasions Mini Catalog - CUTE, CUTE, CUTE!!!
* Corner punches allow you to punch a corner design along the inside edges of a page, not just corners
* Larger, whole-hand handle design provides better leverage for easier use

While new punch designs will be in the new body style, existing designs will remain in the existing body style for now.

Want to learn all about our FABULOUS new punches??? Come check them at our next stamp-a-stack or schedule and in-home workshop and I can personally show you and your friends these great new tools.

Please contact me with any questions.

Sending a Little Love Your Way

With the holiday break rapidly approaching and end I'm starting to feel the excitement for the release of the new Occassions Mini Catalog. I've loved playing with a sampling of of products from the new catalog and know that you'll love them as well. For this weeks Stamping 411 Challenge I was definately feeling in a mood for Valentines.

I started with a base of Chocolate Chip Cardstock and then topped that with a Very Vanilla Cardstock followed up with the new Sending Love Speciality Designer Paper. I love that one side of each piece of designer paper has glitter on it, the funny thing is that I love the pattern I used, which doesn't have glitter, and it makes me feel a little bad about covering it up so I'll just have to use the other side for another project. Anyways, then I took one of the heart stamps from the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set and
stamped on Very Vanilla, once with Pretty in Pink Ink and again with Chocolate Chip Ink. Each of the hearts were cut out with the Paper Snips. The middle heart uses the new Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit Die (love that the raised designs are mini hearts) and is cut out of Pretty in Pink cardstock. I wrapped a piece of the new Pretty in Pink 5/8" Satin Ribbon around the middle of the designer paper and tied a knot. The three large hearts are adhered in a line along the left hand side and I added a small heart (also from the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set and punched out with the new Small Heart Punch (you have to try out the new design of our punches, love it!) and popped up with a dimensional.

Finally, the greating is from the Well Scripted stamp set and is stamped with Chocolate Chip ink and then punched out with the Curly Label Punch.


I really liked how this card turn out, in fact if you like this card this will be one of the cards we make at Stamp-a-stack next week on January 10 so make sure to RSVP to reserve your space.

Hope you have a great week!

Sale-a-Bration and the Occassions Mini Catalog are Here!

I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday and start to the new year!

With the new year comes Stampin' UP!s most exciting sale of the year....SALE-A-BRATION!! Starting Tuesday, and running through March 31, 2009 this is your opportunity to year stamping goodies for free. Every $50 spent earns you one free item and there is no limit to how much you can year. Want to earn even more, host a qualifying workshop during this promotion and you can year additional items for free (on top of our great hostess benefits). Thinking of becoming a demonstrator...you can earn a free stamp set (any value) for free on top of all the great items in the starter kit...contact me for all the details.

Tuesday also marks the release of this years Occassions Mini Catalog. There are so many great new items, you have to check it out. Some highlights are clear mounted stamps, a new punch design, and a new Big Shot die, just to name a few.

There have been some delays in the mailings of these catalogs so if you want to start browsing now, just click on the links to the right. Can't wait to play with the new items, make sure to RSVP for this months Stamp-a-Stack, to be held on January 10 at 2:00 PM so you can be one of the first to try them out.

Please e-mail with any questions!