Feelin' Springy?

I sure am...thanks to receiving Stampin' Up!'s Spring/Summer 2008 Idea Book and Catalog last week! The cover is gorgeous...check it out!

You can see the special Stampin' Up! is offering in January by using this link:
http://www.stampinup.com/us/enu/9446.asp

As you may already know, when Stampin' Up! comes out with a new catalog, they first retire some stamp sets and accessories to make room for new items. I am offering all retiring stamp sets for 15% off. However, if you want to order anything you MUST call or email me by 4:00 P.M. on Monday December 31st.

You can see the alphabetical list of retiring sets here:
http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/US_Retired_List_ALPHA_1207.pdf

Here is a link to the list by catalog page number:
http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/US_Retired_List_PGNUM_1207.pdf

The retiring accessories list is being updated daily as things sell out. (List removed)

Tag! You're it!

I thought i'd post a few Christmas tags i've made recently.

This first one uses "Dashing" Designer Series Paper (it's double-sided, which works really well for a hanging tag), Whisper White cardstock, Real Red grosgrain ribbon, the scallop punch, and a 1 1/4 circle punch. I don't know why i used Whisper White on this instead of Very Vanilla (which matches Dashing much better)...i guess i must've had some white scraps lying around that day. The "to: from:" is from a retired set called Tiny Talk.


















The next one is the tag i'm using for all our family presents this year, except the tags i'm using have no green layer. Most of them will be used on kids' gifts, and as we all know, they rip presents open too fast to make a layered tag worth my time! Actually, many adults do that as well...

Anyway, this tag uses Very Vanilla and Garden Green cardstock, and the ink is Garden Green and Real Red. The stamp set is the hostess set called Perfect Presentation. I used my tag corner punch on the top two corners. I like the way these came out, and they were so quick! I made a big pile in about 20 minutes.

Well, i hope i've motivated you to grab some scraps and make some tags! Happy stamping!

Joy to the World!

Last night, i was making gifts for the kids in my class. Every year i make the same thing - an ornament in the same design as my 3rd grade teacher made for all of her students. (Thanks for the idea, Mrs. Sawicki!) I'm a frugal wrapper when i have a whole class to make gifts for, so i get plain white lunch bags and stamp on them to liven them up.

Well, this year i decided to go "traditional" color-wise and use red and green. I was so happy with how they turned out, that i got inspired enough to make a few Christmas cards using the same idea, adding some ribbon and one extra layer of cardstock. Here's what i ended up with:


I don't know if it's the bright colors or the cheeriness of the word "joy", but this card just makes me smile every time i see it!

Stamp set: Ornament Elements (retired)
Cardstock: Garden Green, Whisper White
Ink: Garden Green and Real Red ink pads
Adhesive: Tape runner
Other: Jersey from Ribbon Originals (thanks, Kristin!)

We've been clubbing...and no, i don't mean on Delaware Ave!

Back in the day (we won't talk about what day that was), I had a period in which I used to go into Philly to hit the dance clubs on Delaware Avenue. Thankfully, that time in my life was short lived! These days, the only clubbing I do is stamp clubbing! (Scroll down past the card samples for an explanation about stamp clubs.)

This is pretty old news now, but the stamp club I had going this fall just ended in November. At our last meeting we made the following cards:

For this design, the clubbers could choose which side of the Designer Series Paper to show, like this:This card uses Old Olive, Real Red, and Very Vanilla cardstock. The DSP (Designer Series Paper) is Dashing. We embossed the image (from Greetings Galore) and then shaded it in with Stampin' Pastels.

The next card we made was a snowy "thanks" card:

This one uses Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Purely Pomegranate, and Whisper White cardstock. The inks are Blue Bayou and Whisper White, and the ribbon is white grosgrain. The stamp sets used are Perfect Presentation (hostess set), Itty Bitty Backgrounds, and Everyday Flexible Phrases.

The club, which was my very first one, was a lot of fun! We had a great time meeting every month at each club member's house for some stamping, laughter, yummy food, and of course lots of chatting. A big THANK YOU to Becky, Judi, Nancy, and Ro for making my first club a great time.

But never fear, Stamp Club Member wannabees, there will be new clubs starting in January!

The way a stamp club works is that the members each agree to spend a certain amount (for a 6-person club, it's $25) in Stampin' Up! products each month. Then each member takes a turn collecting the hostess benefits - whether or not she even hosts an actual party! Since everyone has committed to the minimum, each member knows that she will at least get the minimum of hostess benefits. Usually, due to outside orders and non-club members who the hostess invites to her party, club hostesses end up getting quite a bit more than the minimum in free stamp sets and hostess dollars.

This time around, at the request of some of my customers, I will be offering every-other-month clubs. The first 6-person club will begin in January, and the members will commit to spend $25 in January, March, May, July, September, and November 2008. They will each get a FREE Idea Book & Catalog, and a Special Secret Free Gift just for joining the club!

If you have any questions, are interested in joining a stamp club in 2008, or just want to pressure me into telling you what the Special Secret Free Gift is ;) , drop me an email at melissastamps@gmail.com. Hope to hear from you!

In memory

This is a card i made for a colleague/friend/mentor of mine. She had been fighting cancer for awhile, and had taken a turn for the worse. Sadly (for us, not for her!), she went to be with the Lord just a few days later. I miss you, Paula.

Stamp set: Baroque Motifs, All Year Cheer I (retired)

Papers: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, and Sahara Sand cardstock, Fall Flowers Designer Series Paper

Ink: Chocolate Chip and Really Rust ink pads

Tools: Scallop circle punch, 1" and 1 1/4" circle punches, 1/16" hole punch

Adhesive: Tape runner, dimensionals

Other: Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, vintage brad

I'm dreaming of a wasabi Christmas...

So i'm working on possible make-and-take cards for my club workshop this week. For some reason, i had to do a lot of playing around to get this color combination, and now it seems so simple! I gotta say, though, my scanner really doesn't do justice to the Wild Wasabi color. Oh, well. Anyway, here it is:

A friend/co-worker/Stampin' Up! customer recently commented that she would like it if i'd list materials for each of the cards i post here. I have been very lazy in that area! So, Judi, here you go. I'll go back and edit previous posts as i can.


Stamp set: Season of Joy
Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Wild Wasabi ink pad, Real Red marker
Tools: Tag corner punch, q-tips
Adhesive: Tape runner, dimensionals
Other: Wild Wasabi double-stitched ribbon

Feelin' a little rusty...

...and no, i'm not referring to "Really Rust", although there is a teeny bit of that Stampin' Up! color in the following card.

What i'm actually talking about is the fact that i haven't been doing a whole lot of stamping lately. I have apparently done damage to my hip joint and lower back, so i have some pinched nerves. Which is causing me to be unable to sit for longer than 5-10 minutes at a time. Which has made it a little difficult to make any cards over the last month! (I guess you can't make very nice cards while laying down icing your back.)

Anyway, after a couple of weeks of Chiropractic care and a LOT of rest, i was finally able to make a card today! Woo hoo! I was especially excited because i had paper i've hardly used and a brand-new Birthday set to break in. But it's been so long, that after i was done i really wasn't sure whether i like it or not. So, what do you all think? Do i need some oil on my rusty creative mind, thanks to my (slowly recovering) rusty hip joint?


Stamp set: It's Your Birthday
Cardstock: Old Olive, Sahara Sand, textured Soft Sky
Designer Series Paper: Fall Flowers
Ink: Old Olive ink pad
Tools: 1/8" and 1/16" hole punches
Adhesive: Tape runner, dimensionals
Other: Earth Elements eyelets, Old Olive 5/8" wide grosgrain ribbon

Swaps are DONE!

Whelp, i went with the first one. Sorry, Claire. :) You're right, Kristin, it was more work that way but i decided i liked it better so it would be worth the extra work. Alison, the ribbon was a great idea too, but i didn't see your comment 'till today and i finished them up last night. I made 50 of them.

Good thing i got them done, because my Monday workshop got switched to Sunday, and i just found out we're having overnight guests on Saturday into Sunday. I'll be at Regionals all day Saturday, so that pretty much leaves tonight to get all the prep done for Sunday's workshop. So i'm pretty glad that i kept plugging away at it and finished the swaps last night.

In other cardmaking news, here's one i made last night (after the swaps were done) for a coworker who surprised me yesterday with a housewarming gift. It was after 10 and i was pretty wiped, so it's very simple, but i love how it came out:

I am LOVING that scallop punch. The projects i'm working on for Sunday also use it. The hostess requested the Flaky Friends set, and she also suggested that we make a bookmark card of some kind. I've been having fun with it. Once i finish it i'll post it for you all to see!

Finally back!

Wow, i can't believe i haven't posted since JULY. Things have been a little hectic this summer, what with the packing and the painting and the moving and the working and the getting the classroom ready, etc. etc. Plus we had no internet connection for awhile, and then just dialup.

I have managed to squeeze in a little stamping here and there, though, and am thoroughly enjoying my new little stamping room! I still need to paint the room, but it is so great to have my own crafting space.

Today i'm working on a card for swapping at next Saturday's Stampin' Up! regional seminar. I think this is what i'll be doing:

Although i am also thinking about doing it this way instead:

Let me know which one you like better!

Color my world

So, here i am, at the end of Day 2 of painting (at our new house). It has been a lot of work, but very satisfying.


The rooms we're working on started out totally white, so it's been a lot of fun to make a drastic change by adding color. I took "before" photos yesterday, which i will post together with their "after" shots once i take them.


So far we have the living room totally done, and the dining room almost half done. After that we'll do the master bedroom; all of that needs to be finished by Tuesday because the floor guy is coming. I hope to get the kitchen painted next Thursday if it doesn't get done this weekend.


Needless to say, i haven't had time for much cardmaking lately. However, i did make 2 birthday cards earlier this week. Here's one of them, which i made for my sister-in-love Janice and which i may use for an upcoming Stampin' Up! workshop:

And now i must get some sleep in preparation for tomorrow...Day 3 of the paint job!

Materials:

Stamp sets: Greetings Galore, Background Basics

Cardstock: Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Whisper White

Ink: Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink, and Certainly Celery ink pads

Tools: 1/8" and 1/16" Hole punches, paper crimper, bone folder

Adhesive: Tape runner, dimensionals

Other: Pretty in Pink eyelets, Stampin' Pastels, blender pen

Happy Wedding Day!

Yesterday was a very special day around here because our dear friends Wendy and Michael tied the knot. Yes, they were one of the many 7-7-07 couples, although they did not set the date before meeting one another, or get married at one of 7 Walmarts, or any such craziness.

It was a beautiful day for it, the bride was breathtakingly gorgeous, and the groom was proud and handsome. I really am so happy for them...Wendy and i have been very close friends for many years, and I am so glad that God brought Michael into her life. I think they'll be great companions for one another on life's journey.

Anyway, i promised that i would post a scan of their wedding card after i had given it to them, so here it is!

A mini-stamping getaway

The other day, we went out of town. John still went to work, so i was left to my own devices. For the whole day. Away from the distractions of home. So, thanks to my new cool craft tote, i brought some stamping supplies and had a creativity-filled day. (Well, aside from the couple of errands i had to do.)

Beforehand, i had visions of making piles of cards, like my sideline Kristin can do given a few hours to stamp. That didn't happen. However, i did get some sets mounted and did come up with a few new designs. And i made several copies of some designs. One of the cards i made is downright ugly, so i am not posting it. :) Here are the rest!












These two are the result of forcing myself to get out colors i NEVER use. I used mostly Not Quite Navy and Old Olive for them, and boy did i fall in love with that color combination! Fun. Also, i tried a new (to me) technique on these, called direct to paper. Basically, you swipe your ink pad over the paper. I had left my sponges and stippling brushes at home and didn't bring a good background stamp, so i swiped some Old Olive on the base of these cards to add a little more color.














I made both of these cards with a stamp set and wheel i had not yet used. I had a lot of fun with that set and am pretty happy with how these cards turned out.

And now, for my favorite card of the day:

This was the first one i made with the Olive/Navy combination. The scanner doesn't quite do it justice, but i really love this one. I used another new stamp set, a hostess set called In the Spotlight. You can really do a lot with this set! If i had only thought to bring my circle punch i would have been able to do even more. (I love the fact that so many of the new SU! sets coordinate with various punches, especially because i am way too impatient to cut things out with scissors.)

So for any of you who are thinking about turning a weekend getaway or vacation into a stamping retreat, here is my advice:

1. Get yourself a tote or bag that has lots of pockets for your scissors, markers, stamp sets, ink pads, etc.
2. Don't forget your SU! dimensionals. If you do, you might be forced to use random-brand foam squares, and you will be kicking yourself big time.
3. Likewise, don't forget your bone folder. You'll be stuck folding your cards with *gasp* a popsicle stick, and trust the one who knows, it won't work as well and will drive you crazy all day.
4. Limit yourself to just a few colors of ink pads, but make sure you have the matching paper and coordinating embellishments or you'll be frustrated.
5. Expect your first card of the day to be kinda ugly. Once you get on a roll, they'll get better and better.

Happy Stamping!

Packing, packing, and OH! how wonderful! more PACKING!

I just spent the last 3 or 4 hours packing some boxes for our move. And i feel like i hardly made a dent. *sigh* Boy, do i ever dislike the moving process. The worst box so far was the dish box i just did. Those take forever because of all the wrapping. My favorites are the book boxes - they go pretty quickly. As of today, i have almost all our books packed up. Which was quite a feat, considering we have about 5 bookcases full, including cookbooks. Plus the random laying-around-because-someone-is-in-the-middle-of-reading-me books.

I did get to do a little stamping this morning, though. I made a card for an upcoming wedding, which i will post (after i give it!) at some point. I also started a couple more turquoise and white bookmarks to finish up the cardstock i cut for my open house events.

The other day i started working on the design for our "just moved" notes. My first design was very cute (if i do say so myself). It would have been one piece, not folded, with our new address printed on the back:


but then my husband mentioned who he'd like to send them to, and it's a LOT of people! There's NO stinkin' way i'm making 80-90 of the above. It took me an hour and a half to make SIX of them for a swap! So i came up with a simpler design. They'll be something like this:

I chose the yellow because i have yellow envelopes already, and the green because i thought it looked fresh and summery with the yellow. However, my (possibly colorblind?) husband said my color choice was perfect because we're "moving to a green and yellow house". Now, folks, our new house is indeed green, but it's green with creamy off-white trim. NOTHING like the "Yoyo Yellow" on the card. When i informed my hubby of this, he said that at least the green (Garden Green) was the same green as the house. It's not, but he didn't seem to really believe me about that part, and hey, if it makes him think i'm clever, then he can go on believing it, right?!

I chose the Loads of Love stamp set because it's cute, but also because my sweet but misguided husband (who has never moved an entire household) had originally suggested that we save money on a truck rental by using his little Tacoma pickup for the move! I think we have now agreed not to do that (*phew*! close call!) but this stamp set with the stuff piled in the back is a reference to that idea. Oh, if only it were that easy - just pile your chair, lamp, plant, and one box in the back of the truck and go!

Earlier today i cut all the brown cardstock for the base. My "did-some-packing" reward for later tonight will be to stamp the truck & its load. The rest will have to wait until my Stampin' Up! order comes in since i didn't have enough of the green and yellow on hand.

Well, the next box is waiting to be packed, so it's back to work for me!

It's HERE!!!

At long last the new Stampin' Up! Catalog has arrived! I have never in my life been so excited to see a brown-clad UPS man. Perhaps he had already encountered some crazy Stampin' Up! demonstrators today, because he literally dropped the box on the porch and RAN down the street back to his truck. It was quite funny.

Anyway, the new catalog looks great so far. Lots of new stuff and plenty of fresh inspiration. Beginning July 1, you can view the catalog online at the SU! website. (www.stampinup.com) Or, of course, you can contact your friendly local SU! demonstrator (like me!) to find out how to get your own Fall Winter Collection 2007. :-)

Rehearsal invite

Here is the finished invitation i mentioned a few weeks ago. I think they came out pretty good (if i do say so myself). They did take a bit of work, but since they were fun colors and a fun design, i didn't mind. The most time consuming part was punching the holes and attaching the brads! It was hard to hold the vellum straight while punching the holes in the right spot, and opening the brads got a little frustrating. But then i discovered my new favorite use for my bone folder and things went much more smoothly thereafter. You can slip the bone folder in between the brad "prongs" to separate them and press them apart. MUCH easier, quicker (and less dangerous) than doing it with your fingernail, which is what i had been doing!

Father's Day card

I'm finally getting around to posting the card i made for Father's Day. This one went pretty quickly, but that's because it's not a very complicated design. Both my dad and my father-in-love liked it a lot. I was pleased because it's such a challenge to make something "manly" when most of my stamp sets feature flowers!

Pastel grapevine

So here is the card that was one of the projects we made at my Stampin' Up! Kickoff open house events. It featured pastels, using versamark. My guests/customers really seemed to enjoy making this one, which i was happy about because (to me) it's an intermediate project and i had a range of skill levels at my events.

Summer bookmark

This is the other project we made at my open house events. Everyone liked this one for its quickness (especially those who did the grapevine card first!). Even people who had never done any stamping before had this one finished in about 10 minutes. And since most of my customers are teachers, i think they'll get a lot of use out of a summer themed bookmark!

a busy Saturday

Well, the husband is away today, which for some reason inspires me to get a lot of stuff done. Good thing, because i have a list a mile long! I have a pile of things to do for my first SU open house next week, plus a little work for the invitations i got hired to create, plus general house cleaning, topped off with doing a little packing! (we're moving this summer, and i have a huge pile of empty boxes taking up space in my dining room.) *phew*

I've been pretty productive this morning. Hopefully i can keep up my momentum for the whole day and just plow through my list!

Wedding stuff

Thought i'd scan some of the things i made for our wedding and post them up here in case anyone is looking for ideas. I'll add a few things to this post later on as i have time.

Here are the thank you notes. The first one is what i used for shower gifts; the second was used for wedding gifts.

Here is the tag (outside and inside) for the candy, which was part of our favor:

And the bookmark, which was the other part of our favor and was almost completely CASEd from my upline Claire:

Baby card

I made this card for a baby shower a few months ago. I've really been loving the combination of Real Red and Tempting Turquoise lately, so this card was a fun one.

If i were a scrapbooker...

I would definitely scrapbook this cute picture of my sweet nephew!


Unfortunately, i haven't gotten into scrapbooking very much so far. I mostly just make cards. Someday, though, i hope to do a little scrapbooking and when i do, this photo will certainly make it into an album!

Mother's Day card

Well, i set a record last night. I made two identical cards, from design to finish, in about 45 minutes. Here's the finished product:


I used Mellow Moss, Pale Plum, and Pretty In Pink for this card. Stamp sets: Petal Prints (retired '07) and All Year Cheer III (retired '07).