Valentine-making coming soon!

Here's a sneak peek of what we'll be making at my Valentine-making party this Saturday. If you live nearby, i hope you can make it!

All supplies from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise indicated. All rubber stamped images copyright Stampin' Up!

Sets: Love You Much, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Short and Sweet
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Riding Hood Red
Ink: Versamark, Riding Hood Red, Regal Rose
Tools: Bone folder, embossing buddy, heat tool, sponges, paper snips, craft & paper scissors
Adhesive: SNAIL, dimensionals
Other: Clear embossing powder, Pretty in Pink 1/4" grosgrain


Set: Love You Much
Cardstock: Whisper White, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum
Ink: Versamark, Perfect Plum
Tools: Bone folder, embossing buddy, heat tool, scallop edge punch, heart to heart punch, craft & rubber scissors
Adhesive: SNAIL, dimensionals
Other: White embossing powder

All kinds of new things going on!

So i bet you're wondering if i just dropped off the blog-earth, or what. Well, i do have a semi-good excuse for my frequent absence...i have some happy news! They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here goes:
Obviously, this is not exactly NEW news (a belly like that doesn't usually show up overnight!), but it'll be new to most of you, so there ya go! I'm due in April, and needless to say being pregnant has kind of consumed my world for awhile now. I've managed to (on top of you know, teaching full time) keep up with some stamping, for fun and for business, but haven't had much leftover time and energy to document my efforts here.

The other new things are not quite as exciting as the baby news, but i still want to keep my stampin' people posted. First of all, there are all kinds of things happening at Stampin' Up! these days. Here are the highlights:

1. Retiring stamp set list is up: http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/itemlist.aspx?categoryID=381

2. Retiring accessories list is up, but i am WAY too tired right now to paste it in here. Hopefully my friend and fellow demonstrator Kristin won't mind if i send you over to her blog to see it: http://kristinstamps.typepad.com/elmerstamper/2009/01/retired-accessories-list.html
(these items will only be available as long as supplies last, and some items are already sold out!)

3. Inventory Blowout sale: http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/itemlist.aspx?categoryID=385
Includes some In-Color items from the last catalog!

4. Love You Much Bundle is 20% off: http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/itemlist.aspx?categoryID=383

5. Sampler Promotion is still going on: http://www.stampinup.com/us/enu/11743.asp

You can also just go to my Stampin' Up! site and navigate around the promotions page to check out whatever you might be interested in. http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/melissav/promotions

You can see all the above specials and even order directly through my site (http://melissav.stampinup.net) by clicking the "order now" button on the top right corner of the page. (Of course you can always give me a call or email to place an order directly through me.)

And lastly, i can't neglect to mention that i have just finished putting some stamping events on my calendar. You can check out my January/February calendar by going to my Stampin' Up! website "Event" page at http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/melissav/events.

Oh, and feel free to participate in my boy-or-girl poll over to the left there. :)

Happy stamping!

Happy Fall Wedding!

Yesterday was my friend Michele's wedding day. Everything was beautiful! The bride was breathtaking (of course), the reception place was gorgeous, and everything was just lovely in spite of the rain. They even got to take a few pictures outside when the rain let up, and from what i saw on the photographer's laptop (don't you love it when a wedding photographer does that? you get to see wedding pictures DURING the wedding! nothin' like instant gratification), their photos are gonna be perfect.

I loved the colors Michele picked; brown, orange, and green. (Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, and Old Olive, to be exact.) Perfect for a fall wedding. Michele & DJ had a twiggy "tree" set up near the entrance with cardstock leaves (in their 3 colors) hanging all over it. Each guest's name and table number was on a leaf. They had to be the most unique and creative placecards i've ever seen!

A few weeks ago a group of stampers got together to make some things for Michele and DJ's special day. Here are some of the handstamped items we created.

The program, made of Very Vanilla and Chocolate Chip, stamped with the Baroque Motifs stamp set:
The tables were beautiful. They each had a table number which had also been stamped with Baroque Motifs (using the Rock n' Roll technique). They all had a Chocolate Chip base and a Very Vanilla top layer. The other layer was either Old Olive or Pumpkin Pie.


And then at each place setting was a menu card. Again, some with Pumpkin Pie and some with Old Olive, all tucked into chocolate brown cloth napkins. Put all that together with beautiful floral centerpieces which used a pumpkin instead of a vase and a tablecloth which inspired me to stamp something gorgeous, and the tables were so pretty.


So of course, when i sat down to make a card for Michele & DJ, i HAD to use their three colors again. If you've read my blog for awhile, you've seen a card a bit like this one before, but to me it looks completely different in these colors. The hearts & swirls, and the sentiment, are embossed in Classy Copper. I also did something for this card that i had never done before. I wanted my brads to match perfectly, but they were gold, not copper. So i pushed their tops into my Versamark pad, and then into the embossing powder. Holding each brad with needlenose pliers, i heated them with my embossing gun. And voila, copper brads!

Michele and DJ, may God bless you richly as you begin your new lives together! Thanks for including me in your beautiful wedding day.

This is really quite terrible!

I have been gone so long from blogging world that i hardly know where to begin! Well, when in doubt, post a card. Right? So here ya go:


All supplies from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise indicated.
Stamp Sets: Cause for Celebration (retired hostess set), Short & Sweet
Cardstock: Whisper White, Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip
Papers: Prints Designer Series Paper in Real Red
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow
Markers: So Saffron, Chocolate Chip
Adhesive: 2-Way Glue Pen, Tape runner, Dimensionals
Tools: Corner Rounder, Paper Snips
Other: Real Red 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds glitter

Another store added

Sorry i've continued to be so non-existant in the Blogging World this summer. I have been so busy, between having lots of stamping events, doing things around the house, and oh yeah, working my summer jobs too. *Phew*! I feel busier now than i am during the school year!

Anyway, i've recently started selling some of my cards in another local shop. This one is a horse-themed store called Pegasus Closet. So, of course all the cards i made for them are horse or western-themed. Check out this little collage for a sampling:

Be sure to stop in to Pegasus Closet the next time you need a gift & card for your favorite horseback rider, stable owner, or just plain horse lover!

Great news!

Just this week, Stampin' Up! announced that they will soon (this fall!) have online ordering available! This means that our customers will be able to order directly online through our business websites (mine is: http://melissav.stampinup.net).

Use this link for more information:
http://www.stampinup.com/us/enu/11319.asp

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Well, sorry i've been a little, well, absent lately. Things were a little hectic because of the end of the school year. It is one of the most insane parts of my year! I feel like i barely have time to breathe, never mind blog. The only reason there were posts up last week is because i had scheduled them the weekend before!

But this past weekend i basically collapsed, and am still recovering. Well, that plus having overnight company for 2 nights, and getting ready for a church yard sale this Saturday where i'm selling some things, etc.

ANYway, i did make something new tonight, with a brand new stamp set! This is made with Fresh Cuts, which is part of a promotion running this month. Check out this flyer for more details:
I got the Fresh Cuts set last week but only tonight had time to play with it. Let me tell you, this set is so much fun because it's so easy to work with. You really can't make it look bad! This card only took me about 15 minutes. Here's what i came up with.

All supplies from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise indicated.
Stamp Set: Fresh Cuts
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Mellow Moss, Close to Cocoa
Ink: Close to Cocoa
Adhesive: Tape runner, Dimensionals
Other: Very Vanilla 5/8" grosgrain ribbon