Framed!

Last month I participated in a charity Scrapbooking Crop.  I always provide at least one prize to be included in a draw and thought it would be fun to have something purely Christmas.  A few days after making that decision, I came across some cute little frames in a store and my idea took flight.

The frame was simple.  All white, it was divided into four little frames within an outer frame.  The perfect background for some fun Christmas images, I decided.  After playing around with some images and trying to decide what four might work best together, I finally wound up with this.

I love the beautiful blues, silver and white in the Winter Frost Specialty Designer Paper and, last week, decided that I would have to make up another little frame.  This time I decided to spotlight the gorgeous Festive Flurry stamps and framelits and snow.  It seemed especially appropriate since we've had an incredible amount of snow so far.  Yes, I know it's not officially Winter yet.  That makes me rather nervous.

The frame is the same but what a difference using these cooler colours makes, don't you agree?

I'm not sure which one I like best.  Let me know what your pick would be.

ADDED DECEMBER 8th

I finished another frame and wanted to share it as well.  Now I'm hoping that I can find more of these frames because I have some more ideas and no more frames to hold them.

These frames have been a fun project and would make a great class---or a great stocking stuffer for someone special.

Once the Ornament is gone...

That Festive Flurry Pop 'n Cut WOW card looks gorgeous with the removable ornament on the front, doesn't it?  You're probably wondering why a person would put so much work into the 3-D inside only to have an empty card front once the ornament is removed.  Well, it's not as if I'm going to leave my card like that.  Surely you didn't expect me to, did you?

So this is the card that some lucky person receives.

It looks great with that big ornament, right?  You can see from the portions of the card that are showing that the front has some Festive Flurry Specialty Designer paper on one side while the other side is simply the Soft Sky.  Just seeing the "Peace on Earth" heat embossed in silver on the fancy Island Indigo label at the bottom isn't going to make anyone look at that card twice once the ornament is on the tree.  Right?  Wrong!  I thought ahead and had a plan.

That cute little penguin has a fuzzy snowball in its flipper, ready to throw at some unsuspecting passer-by.   The fuzzy portion of the velcro sticker is a perfect snowball.  This is so much more cute in person!  The ornament also looks gorgeous on its own, doesn't it?  So instead of having a "ruined" card front once the ornament is removed, you have an adorable little penguin.  How sweet is that?

'Tis the Season for WOW cards!

Another season of WOW cards and I have so many from which people can choose.  The most popular by far to date has been the Festive Flurry Pop 'n Cut card and I don't expect that to change anytime soon.  What could be more fun to give than a card that invites an involuntary "wow!" from the recipient as well as gives the recipient a brand new ornament for the tree?  This card has it all!

Yes, the gorgeous snowflake ornament that crowns the front of the card is hanging on by means of a stick-on velcro fastener.   The 4-layer snowflake comes from the Festive Flurry Ornament Kit.  There is sufficient product to assemble 10 of these wonderful ornaments (all you need is a glue-gun) at the low cost of only $17.95.  These are available only while the supplies last.

Don't you just love the front of the card?  The inside doesn't disappoint.  The Pop 'n Cut dies make 3-D cards a cinch.  For this one I had a flurry of snowflakes coming out of the centre of the card.  With the help of a strip of the Window Sheets, two of the snowflakes are suspended in the air.  The glare of the light makes them visible in this photo, but in real life, they are invisible and the illusion of suspension is very real.

So you've fallen in love with this card but don't want to buy all the products necessary to make it.  Fair enough.  Going into paper crafting is like a lot of hobbies---there seems to be an endless list of products you need.  That's where I come in.  If you live in the area, you get to use my products and tools.  

There are another eight cards to choose from for my WOW class.  If you're in the area and are interested in taking a class, check out the details at the top of this page.

Change of Name? Savings just the same!

Everyone always looks forward to Stampin' Up!'s huge Extravaganza Sale this time of the year.  The savings are always phenomenal.  Well, this year that Extravaganza has been changed into a Holiday Sale.  You know what they say about a rose by any other name, right?  In this case, no matter what the name, the fantastic savings are just the same.

Today is opening day and, of course, there is the usual DOORBUSTER.  For today only, three of our most popular items are being heavily discounted.

After midnight tonight, the doorbuster turns into a pumpkin.  Whoa!  No, I mean it ceases to be effective.  Time to do some fast thinking, right?

The rest of the Holiday Sale continues right through to (and including) December 2nd.  Of course if an item sells out, procrastinators will be unhappy.  But that's what happens when you go downtown, too, right?  You snooze, you lose.

There is a list of all the sale items for you to click right here that you can either download or read online.  The page numbers in the catalogues are in the far left column for your convenience so that you can easily see the product in full colour right there in front of you.  Sweet!

You have a choice in making your order, too.  Either you can use my online store (just check it out in the right column of this blog) or you can contact me and I'll add your products to my current orders.  

With the huge amounts of snow we've had around here, this is an awesome way to do some shopping without leaving the warmth of your home.  

A Real Time Saver---and so handy!

This time of the year time seems to shrink, doesn't it?  I look at all the things I want to do and the time in which I want to get them all done and I feel as if I should clone myself.  That way I might have a chance.

Sometimes it's the little things that can mean a lot.  I plan to make quite a number of cards in the next few weeks (big surprise?) and since some of those cards will be the ones I send out to "my people", I'm glad that Stampin' Up! is actually trying to help me out.  How?  This year they're offering some Cut & Ready Card Bases.  You get 20 already cut and scored pieces of cardstock in the perfect size to make 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" cards.  Sweet!  That's 20 sheets I don't have to cut or score.  That's 20 card bases that I know won't be slightly off because I accidentally moved my cardstock.  If you make your own Christmas cards you know how huge a deal this is.

Below you can see the colours and prices for these card bases.

Description	Item Number	Price
Whisper White Cut & Ready Card Bases	135804	$5.95
Very Vanilla Cut & Ready Card Bases	135805	$5.95
Crumb Cake Cut & Ready Card Bases	135806	$5.95
Smoky Slate Cut & Ready Card Bases	135807	$5.95
Cherry Cobbler Cut & Ready Card Bases	135808	$5.95
Old Olive Cut & Ready Card Bases	135809	$5.95
Pool Party Cut & Ready Card Bases	135810	$5.95

These are actually the colours that I would be using.  Cherry Cobbler is one of my go-to colours for Christmas Cards. 

 I'm using a lot of Crumb Cake and Whisper White this year, too. 

For me, it's a time-saver and this time of the year I need to save as much time as I can.  For everyone else, however, it's a money-saver.  A lot of you don't need a whole package of, say Cherry Cobbler or Crumb Cake.  That's what these pre-cut and pre-scored card bases are for: people who want those colours for their bases but in moderation, so that they don't wind up with a lot of one colour of cardstock that will take them a long time to use up.

Let me know if you're interested in adding some of these Cut & Ready Card Bases to my next order.

The Wacky Watercooler 2013 Year End Blog Hop

Welcome to the Hop from Blackfalds, Alberta, Canada.  That's quite a leap if you just left the talented Jeanne Kupsch who is stationed over in Germany right now.  Wasn't her post wonderful?

* * * * * * * * * *

For my first project, I'm featuring Christmas and that wonderful Pop 'n Cuts Card Base die and matching Dress Form die designed by Karen Burniston exclusively for Stampin' Up!  The dress-form has undergone a bit of a transformation in my card, but the bones are there and they provided a wonderful base for my design.

I chose to use Basic Black as my base cardstock because I had plans to decorate the card using my favourite Designer Paper from the Annual Catalog(ue), Modern Medley.  I love the designs in that pack!  Because I had plans to make the inside of the card look like a living room, I used two of the designs: one for the "wallpaper" and one for the "floor".  The dress form quickly disappeared and became a fireplace with the top portion of the cut-out covered by a feature picture stamped with the Wetlands stamp set.  The logs and fire were made using my Word Window punch and the wing from the Bird Builder punch.  Love what a little embossing or sponging will do, don't you?  I free-handed the little stockings from some Modern Medley paper and coloured in the heels, toes and tops and then sponged the rest with Cherry Cobbler ink.

The final touch to the inside was to stamp the sentiment from the Joyful Christmas stamp set onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and then cut it out using my Apothecary Accents framelits.  With a bit of Basic Black sponging, it looks just like an area rug, doesn't it?

Since my base was Basic Black, I decided to layer the front of the card with some Cherry Cobbler and a piece of the Modern Medley, this time the music notes.  I used another of the Apothecary Accents framelits to cut out the Greeting which I had heat embossed in silver.  Then I tied a pretty bow using the Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding ribbon.  But the card still needed a focal point.

For the focal point on the front of the card, I decided to use the Joyful Christmas stamp set.  I simply can't get enough of that wonderful Poinsettia!  This time, however, I only used the centre portion of the flower because otherwise it would have taken over the entire front of the card and I had other plans.

I heat embossed the flower using Silver embossing powder and cut out the centre, smaller flower.  Then I heat embossed two leaves using the Wild Wasabi embossing powder on the new Silver Foil sheets.  I love how that turned out!  

This is definitely a card that is fun both inside and out!

* * * * * * * * * *

Since Stampin' Up! carried over that beautiful Jewish Celebrations stamp set from last year, I decided I would try my hand at a Hanukkah card using the new Thinlits Circle flip flop card die.  For my base, I used Pacific Point cardstock, which is one of my favourite deep blues.  Even though it's not one of the colours in the Winter Frost Specialty Designer Paper, the colours compliment each other beautifully.  The card has the extra fold that I explained back in this post.

This is the front of the card with a strip of the foil pattern from the Designer Paper.  The other foil pattern is on the inside flap that you can see.  I stamped the design using Pacific Point ink on Shimmery White cardstock and then heat embossed the Star of David on a Silver Foil sheet using Pool Party embossing powder and punched it out using my 1" circle punch.

For the inside I cut a strip of the Designer Paper and adhered it to a piece of Whisper White.  On the reverse of the circle flip-flop, I stamped the Menorah using the new Metallic Silver Encore ink and then heat embossed the sentiment on the Pacific Point using silver embossing powder.  The folded star below the sentiment can hold money or a chocolate coin.

And that's my interpretation of a Hanukkah card.  

* * * * * * * * * *

My final project is geared for the man in my life.  My husband loves fishing and so I decided to use one of the wonderful new Wood-Mount Cases that Stampin' Up! introduced in the Annual Catalogue.  Those cases are so nice and strong and will hold all sorts of goodies.  I plan to fill this one up with some little things that he's been muttering about needing.  The way I see it, a fly-fisherman who ties his own flies "needs" about as much as a paper crafter.

We used to see a lot of wildlife when we lived in British Columbia so I decided to use the Walk in the Wild stamp set and the Lovely as a Tree stamp set for this project.  I masked off the grass on the ground so that I could give the illusion of a snowy landscape.  Then I used my Aqua Painter and watercoloured the scene, adding some Dazzling Details on the tree and on the ground.

Then I made a starburst using embossed pieces of Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso Core'dinations, and Marina Mist, mounting it on a piece of the Marina Mist Polka Dot Parade Designer paper.  The finished piece slipped under the plastic window of the Wood-Mount Case perfectly.

This is the way my husband will probably use the case, but to dress it up for Christmas I had to add a little bit of extra.  For that I created a "girdle" using the 1 1/4" Burlap Ribbon.  I attached one of the brown buttons from the Designer Naturals with a brad and safety pin from the Vintage Trinkets.  That provided me with the perfect way to attach my snowflake (from the Festive Flurries bundle) and tag (from the Very Merry Tags).

I know he's going to love this.  Wouldn't the man in your life be happy to receive something like this, too?  It's easy to make and so handy.

* * * * * * * * * *

Well that's it for my blog hop post.  I hope you've enjoyed my projects.  I'd love to hear what you thought about them if you have a moment.  Your next stop will be Terri Antoniw's inspiring blog.  I'm sure she'll have some amazing projects to share with you.   Thanks so much.

Making Cardinals AWO5

I've been preparing for a WOW class and one of the cards I had in mind used the Backyard Basics framelits to cut bird shapes along one side of the musical note patterned DSP from the Modern Medley's pack.  Underneath I planned to have Cherry Cobbler cardstock which would show the cut-outs as red birds.  A little cut with my craft knife and voila, a row of cardinals.  I just had to colour their faces with my black marker and add a tiny pearl and they were almost perfect.

I hate the word almost.  It means you got close but didn't quite make it.  My little row of cardinals just wasn't quite there and I wasn't sure what to do about it.  And then inspiration hit.  I love it when that happens, don't you?  I got my Bird Builder punch out of my drawer, barely breathing because I was sure it was going to be the wrong size.  But it wasn't!  The size was absolutely perfect and so I punched three little wings out of Cherry Cobbler, sponged them with a bit of Basic Black, and added them with Dimensionals.

I love how they turned out and how the card looks.  Inside and out, it's a WOW card.

Check my times in the heading of my blog to see if you can attend a class that I've scheduled.

Snowflakes for Christmas!

This year's wonderful new snowflake stamps and matching framelits bundle is hard to pass up.  The Festive Flurry stamp set seems to be cropping up in a lot of the Christmas cards.  There have been some terrific ornaments posted on Pinterest as well, using the set.  Too much work?  If you're strapped for time but want that home-made glamour, Stampin' Up! has created the perfect kit for you.

Beginning today and only while their limited quantities last, Stampin' Up! is offering a kit that provides more than enough product to make ten wonderful ornaments.  Yes, the pieces are pre-stamped and die-cut for your convenience.  Yes, all the ribbon and glitz is already included.  And the price is an affordable $17.95.

Heard enough?  I wouldn't wait to order these from my online store (or contact me to include a few kits in my order).

Always remember!

We can...

because they di(e)d.

Guess what! There's another blog hop next week!

Exciting news!  There's another blog hop coming up next Thursday, November 14th.  Isn't that exciting?  There are going to be some new blogs to visit and some awesome projects to ooh and ahh over.  Tell a friend!  There will be some wonderful ideas to share.

Remembrance Day is coming up---an owl remembers.

I borrowed an image from the internet and combined it with a little soldier owl, made using my wonderful owl builder punch.  I've used Always Artichoke, Soft Suede, Crushed Curry and Crumb Cake for the base and the layers.  I love the way the colours all work together so very well with the borrowed image.

The poppy is from the Simply Sketched stamp set.  I've stamped it on watercolour paper and used my aqua pen to colour it in with shades of Real Red.

Let's all remember---and be thankful for those who gave everything for us.

Ready for more transformed owls?

I love using the new Circle Cards Thinlits Die.  Using it the way it's designed is great, but usually I slip the end over the cutting edge and get an extended card.  I've explained the process in another post.  I think it adds more interest to the card since you wind up with an additional fold.

I decided to make another Hallowe'en card, complete with altered owls, using the extended Circle Flip Flop card.  Basic Grey seemed like the perfect colour as my base cardstock.  Using the right colours, in this case Summer Starfruit, Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie, the Basic Grey is a perfect backdrop and also adds a hint of the spooky feeling of Hallowe'en.

From the front, the card appears to be primarily Basic Grey and Summer Starfruit because I used that colour of Designer Paper as my second layer on the front fold as well as the back of the extension.  This is how it looks all folded up (before I dressed it up, of course).

As my second layer on the inside, I used Pumpkin Pie Designer Paper.  Just a note here:  the designer papers are all the retired style, although the colours are current, and the stamp set for the bare tree that I heat embossed in Basic Black in the centre is the retired Season of Friendship set.   Just as a matter of interest, I added one additional limb to the top left branch.  I needed it for the owl.  Call it artistic license.

One of the things I love about the extended Flip Flop card is that there are so many areas to decorate.   There is the front, the extended inside and the fold-over back.  But the real "star" of the show is the circle which "flip-flops" as you open the card.  For the front, I decided to use a circle punched from Summer Starfruit cardstock, which I stamped in Basic Black ink using the black cat from the new Bite Me photopolymer stamp set.  First, however, I stamped a portion of the huge spider web from that stamp set across my circle using Smoky Slate ink.  After stamping the cat, I stamped the BOO! from the stamp set under it, giving the illusion that the cat was resting on top of it.   I used a sponge to shade the edges of the circle with some Basic Grey ink.

It looked a bit bare with just the one owl and the tree so I had to add another owl.  With the black cat on the front of the card, a witch seemed like the right choice.

The Flip Flop circle on the inside of the card looked pretty bare by this time so I punched a 2 1/2" circle from the Pumpkin Pie Designer Paper and covered it with a spider's web and a spider.  The Trick or Treat sentiment was perfect in Basic Black.

To add a bit more interest to the inside of the card, I punched out some ovals from the Pumpkin Pie Designer Paper as well as a few tiny punched flowers which I cut in half.  A bit of adhesive and some squiggles with my Always Artichoke marker and a pumpkin was born.

Finishing up, I just loved the way the black cat takes over the front of the card and didn't want to distract any attention away from it, so I just added a bit of Basic Grey shading around the DSP and a couple of spiders, also from the Bite Me stamp set.  The back fold-over was perfect with the addition of the spider web from the same stamp set...and, of course, another spider or two.  And that finished the front which you can see all folded up here.

Even with the vampire owl, the witch and the pumpkin, the inside of the card was missing something so I stamped some more spiders' webs, some spatters, some spiders and loved the effect.  Time to stop.  So this is what I wound up with for the inside.

Does the witch look a bit down in the dumps?  Wouldn't you if you couldn't remember where you left your broomstick?

Hope you like the card.  It was such fun playing around with the owl builder punch.

The Owl Builder Punch---May it always be with us!

From the first day that I was introduced to Stampin' Up! two years ago, the Owl Builder Punch has been part of my life.  You can say that I fell in love when I first saw it and it wouldn't be a lie.  That one punch is so versatile and so much fun to use!  It would be a ghastly mistake if Stampin' Up! chose to retire it.  Fingers crossed that it never happens!

Talking about ghastly, I decided to use the Owl Builder Punch for some of my Hallowe'en cards this year.  With all the available stamps, and I have some nice Hallowe'en ones, I still find myself drawn to "my owl".  This time, however, that theatrical little guy became a vampire bat for my card.

Don't you just love the way the Always Artichoke and the Red Glimmer paper make his eyes so compelling? Cutting the tops off the circles and then adhering them at an angle makes for eyes with an attitude.  Just what my little vampire bat needs!

I have to admit to using a couple of retired products.  The moon, for example, was cut out of retired Pumpkin Pie Brights DSP but has been upgraded to almost current with the Orange glitter that's squiggled all over it.  The embossing folder, too, has been retired but the Spider Web was too much of a temptation for me to ignore, so I've used it.

For the inside of the card I stayed very current.  The cardstock which I've mounted on the base of Basic Black is the new Smoky Slate.  White just seemed a bit too clean and bright for a Halloween card.  The spiders, web, and sentiment are all from the newly released Photopolymer stamp set, Bite Me.  I am loving this set!

Finally, you get to see the front of my card!  As I mentioned, the base cardstock is Basic Black.  The next layer which I emblossed with the Spider Web embossing folder is Always Artichoke.  The little vampire bat is Basic Black (oh, forgot, his wings are cut with the retired bat punch), the moon is Pumpkin Pie with Orange glitter, and the heat embossed "Boo" at the top is Basic Black embossing powder.

I'll be posting more Owl Builder Punch creations.  Stay tuned...

Playing with the Pop n Cut Die

For a lot of people the Pop n Cut Dies are old news.  For me, this is a brand new toy.  Yes, I held out against getting it because "ouch"! it is expensive.  But then a lot of things are and now that I have it I can't believe I didn't get it sooner.

The outside of the Pop n Cut card is really not all that much different from a normal 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card.  Yes, it has little slots at the bottom of the back where the rounded tabs at the top of the front slip in.  If that was all, it really wouldn't be worth the investment.

Since I was just trying out the die, I used some of my retired papers.  Really, any papers could be used to just as good effect.  I love the way the Apothecary Framelit make it appear as if you're peeking at the haunted mansion through a keyhole, don't you?  And the spider from the new Bite Me Photopolymer stamp set is very realistic, isn't it?

It's the inside of the Pop n Cut card that makes the entire investment worthwhile and gives the card such a WOW effect.  I used the spider web from the Bite Me Photopolymer stamp set across the gravestones as well as another spider from the set and some blood spatters, also from the set.  I also used the retired bat punch (so sorry about that---it was such a terrific punch) and the 1 3/4" circle punch for the moon.  The rest of the bats are part of that wonderful Witch's Brew Designer Series Paper.  Don't you just love it?  

The skeleton is from the Toil and Trouble stamp set and hand cut out.  I made a little "v" cut at the elbow to allow his arm to bend.  The whole scene in the centre is pushed out like a stage.  There is a real 3-D effect and it is so easy using the Pop n Cut Die.  

And there you have it.  My new discovery about a year after everyone else discovered it.  Oh well, better late than never, right?

I'd rather be crafting...

My refrigerator began freezing everything.  I'm not talking about the freezing compartment, either.  I'm talking about my refrigerator.

I've discovered a few things since the problem began last Friday.  Tomatoes, peppers, onions, cucumbers and a whole lot of other fruits and vegetables turn to mush when they freeze solid and then thaw.  Since I had just filled my refrigerator with fresh produce, this was a very unhappy discovery.

Wanting a glass of milk or water and discovering it won't pour because it's solidly frozen in its container isn't much fun, either.  I could keep on about what isn't fun about a refrigerator that freezes everything, but you get the idea.

Checking out the internet over the weekend, I found out what the problem is:  the thermostat is broken.  I also found some excellent diagrams showing exactly where the thermostat is located, how it is taken out and how the new one would be installed.  I do a lot of trouble-shooting and repair work so it really didn't look all that hard.

Yesterday I located a store in nearby Red Deer which carried the part and bought it.  Today I emptied my refrigerator, flipped the breaker in the electrical panel to ensure that being electrocuted wasn't a possibility and proceeded to disassemble the control box area of my refrigerator.

After about an hour of trying various different ways, I gave up trying to disconnect the main harness plus and the light fixture plug.  There has to be some sort of trick to taking those plugs apart and the diagram doesn't hint towards a solution.  So I gave up and left the kitchen and drowned my frustration in some heavy duty heat embossing.  I had to make some cards for an upcoming WOW class anyway and the detailed work took my mind off the refrigerator.

Then my daughter came over, responding to my call for help (I had sent her a text message on her phone).  Apparently with an extra set of hands, it was possible to take the plugs apart.  Hard with just the one set since the housing had to be held up until it was unplugged.

So...I now have a working fridge.  The thermostat allows me to turn off the fridge (didn't before) and, I'm assuming, allows temperature control.  Apparently it takes 24 hours for the temperature in a fridge to right itself.

All in all---I'd rather be crafting.

25 Stamp Sets now on sale at 25% off!

Stampin' Up! has gone all out in celebrating their 25th Anniversary!  Just think about it, this week they are offering 25 stamp sets, each at 25% off the regular price.  Amazing?  Yes, it is!  I wish some of these stamp sets had been on sale when I bought them.  There are, however, some that I don't have and will definitely be buying at this terrific discount.

How about you?  Just come over to my Online Store and see which stamps are included.  You can either place your order while you're there or contact me and I'll include your stamps in this week's order.

Remember, this offer is only good until October 28th.

There's just something about boxes...

I love all the boxes that Stampin' Up! offers.  They're fun to decorate and fun to fill with a little (or not so little) surprise for someone special in your life.  The Tag a Bag gift boxes are especially fun!  Not only are they a generous 6 7/8" x 2 1/8" x 2 1/2", they come with an acetate sleeve.

You've seen the one I made for the Wacky Watercooler Holiday Catalog(ue) Blog Hop.  For that one I ran the acetate sleeve through my Big Shot using the Northern Flurry embossing folder.  I loved having it decorated as well as the paper box.  The ones my daughter, Shera-Lee, and I made for Hallowe'en also had embossed acetate sleeves.  For them, however, we used that wonderful retired folder, the Spider Web.  That is one embossing folder that I wish hadn't been retired.

As for the rest, we used our new Witches' Brew Designer Series Paper as well as stamps from the Toil and Trouble stamp set.  Shading the edges of the paper and the boxes with a sponge and some Basic Black ink also added to the final effect.

We both loved the way our boxes turned out.  We filled them with shredded paper that we spritzed with a black ink mixture and let dry and then added some chocolates before slipping the sleeves over the boxes. Who wouldn't want to receive one of these as a treat?

Playing with ideas

You've all been there, I'm sure.  You want to make a card and your mind goes blank.  There are countless possibilities, especially considering all the products that surround you---but your mind remains blank.  That's when you begin to scour Pinterest for an idea, right?  Well, I usually go to the Stampin' Connection which is a "demonstrators-only" type of Pinterest.  With thousands upon thousands of samples, all using Stampin' Up! products, the place is a gold mine for ideas.

Usually I look through several pages and something in my brain "creaks" as it opens up.  I don't copy any of the samples directly but, like in cooking, a little bit of this, a dab of that and a pinch of this other thing and suddenly it all comes together in an inspiration.  I love moments like that.

Hallowe'en is one of those holidays where so many of the stamps are cutesy and/or predictable.  What if, however, we don't think about bats, monsters and pumpkins?  What if we think about something right in front of us?  I don't know about you, but I have a penchant towards take-out teas or lattes.  I often come home still nursing one of those take-out cups.  That's actually what convinced me to buy the Perfect Blend stamp set.  It was like bringing an old friend home.

What does this stamp set have to do with Hallowe'en except perhaps as a reminder that a cup of something hot might keep your fingers from freezing as you herd your own ghosts and goblins and space-creatures from door to door?  Well, I found an idea on the Stampin' Connection that I adapted and played with to make the following:

 What a difference a few scrap strips of paper can make, huh?   I had some very thin strips of Very Vanilla lying beside the paper cutter and lightly sponged the edges using my Basic Black ink.  Then I just cut and glued strips willy-nilly across the cut-out cup and, afterwards, trimmed the excess from the sides.  A couple of eyes using my small circle punches, a dab of white using my White uni-ball Signo pen for highlights, and a mummy-cup was born.  Just to make the greeting I chose relevant, I added a silver "crown" adorned with a rhinestone, and this cup thinks it is the Queen of the Nile.

My finished card is perfect for one of my fellow-take-out-cup lovers.  

Big things come in small packages!

In this case, the big thing is getting a chance to try out being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.  The small package is, of course, the incredibly low price for that privilege.  This is the first time in Stampin' Up!'s history that becoming a Demonstrator has been made available for only $25.  If you've always wondered about it and thought about trying it, this would be the right time to do it.

There are basically two kinds of Demonstrators:  the business Demonstrator and the hobby Demonstrator.  Stampin' Up! embraces both and supports a person's decision to become either.  As a business demo there really is no ceiling as to how high you can reach on the Stampin' Up! ladder.  And it's not only about how successful you can become.  It's also about how successful you want to become.  It all depends on staying within one's own comfort level.  As a hobby demo you can relax and enjoy the products as well as the discount with every order.  As long as you reach your quarterly minimum, you can enjoy all the "perks" of being a demo without having to work at it.

Which type of Demonstrator might you be?  This would be the time to try.  It will never be more affordable.  For that $25 you get to choose product(s) up to and no higher than a ceiling of $26.95 (still at a cost of $25).  You will have to pay taxes on the $25 but no shipping charges.  How sweet is that?

What additional perks come with the package?  Me!  Yes, I will be there, in your corner, guiding you every step of the way.  And there is no price tag on that.  Sweet?  You bet!

Think about it.  But don't think too long.  This incredibly low offer will last only until Monday, October 21st.  Contact me now.