Stamping for a Cause

Stampin′ Up! demonstrators have a long history of making a difference in the lives of others–especially when disaster strikes and the need is greatest.  Many demonstrators contacted Stampin’ Up! And asked how they could help with the Haitian disaster.

Here is the plan:

From now until February 28, 2010, for every” I {Heart} Hearts stamp set” you purchase Stampin’ Up! will donate $2.00 to the American Red Cross’ Haiti Relief and Development 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.

This is a great way to reach out and help those in need. Contact me if you would like to purchase this stamp set. I will post some samples made with this set soon. It is a good all around set, not just for Valentine’s Day.

It has been a super busy start to the New Year. We spent a wonderful holiday break visiting our children and grandchildren in Denver but since we got home things have been going 100 miles per hour. It is amazing how fast time flies.

Yesterday I held  a workshop and we made paper bag scrapbooks using our Christmas pictures. How fun! It was interesting to see the variety of holiday pictures. I laughed when I saw that a lot of us had the same picture of our “gingerbread houses.” The scrapbooks came out nice and glitzy, just to my liking. Glitter and bling make me very happy. I’ll try to post some  pictures soon.

Today I have a new stamp set to share with you: Vintage Vogue. This is a stamp that is in the new mini-catalog. I am wild about vintage images but never seem to make a card I like. That is not the issue with this stamp set. It is so easy to create a great card with little effort. That’s my kind of card making!

Thanks for stopping by today.  Contact me if you would like to place an order or hold a workshop. I would love to share my love of stamping with you and your friends.

Lost in my craft room

I have been stamping away in my craft room and I can honestly say I could crawl under some paper and you wouldn’t find me for at least  week. It is so easy to make a mess and I am very good at it!

I just created a page for all my classes and workshops. Just click on the  Workshops and Class Schedule and you can see the offerings for November. If you are interested in a class just give me a call. November is a great time to consider hosting a workshop. SU has some wonderful promotions for you as you prepare for the holidays. One promotion going on right now is the Sweet Rewards Promotion. Host a workshop totaling $250 or more and choose any one item* from the 2009 Holiday Mini Catalogfor only $10! * Offer excludes hostess sets and My Digital Studio. This would be a super way to earn some new stamp sets or Christmas gifts.

The newest promotion started yesterday- Holiday Extravaganza You visit my SU! website for more information.  If you don’t think you have time to host a workshop you might consider a virtual workshop. Get your catalog out and share it with your friends.

Last week I hosted a group of stampers and we made a royal mess but we sure had fun. Here are our creations. Not the best pictures but you get the idea.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Good Grief – an entire month of no blogging!

I have no idea where my days go. I promise I am stamping like crazy, but I just can’t seem to get the pictures taken and posted to the old blog. I think I need to make a to do list every day so I won’t put off blogging. I have also been busy setting up my own crafting room! We took out the bedroom furniture, went to Ikea and bought shelves- now my room is much more functional. I love working in such a large space where I can find my supplies. I am still working on organizing things but it will get better soon.

Tomorrow is our church yard sale which is usually pretty big event. I am sure I will find something I just “have to have” for my crafting. Oh – I almot forgot – I bought a new sewing machine. My 38 year old Singer died. I looked at several machines and finally settled on a Baby Lock. My first project is going to be new cushions for our kitchen chairs. Then I am going to try my hand at making an apron. There are so many cute apron patterns at my local quilt store.

Tomorrow is World Card Making Day. Our local group is sponsoring an event to make 1000 cards for soldiers. I cut so much paper this week my hands were worn out. I will miss the event because of the yard sale but I am sure it will be tons of fun.

Enough gabbing. Here is a card I made for a friend who just celebrated her 84^th birthday.

I promise to be better at posting….I know I have said that before

Do you love Stampin’ UP punches? I do!

The Deal of the Week has returned for the month of October. Check out this first deal below:

You can get these punches by shopping online at my store or you can e-mail me your order.

Sponsored by the Letters S&U

Well, I finally made a commitment. I signed up to be a Stampin’ Up Demonstrator. I have wanted to do this for about 3 years but just didn’t think it was the right time. But now that I am “really” retired I thought I would take the plunge. Of course with the economy in the tank …..I know it will all work out though. It seems like all the magazines and newspapers are focusing on “Homemade Holidays” and back to basics this year and stamping is a great way to make handmade gifts as well as cards. Stamping is also a good way to relieve stress…. Stamp, pound, tear paper, and make a mess.

If you would like to host a workshop just give me a call or send me an e-mail. I would love to come visit you. I love to travel so invite me to far away places – I might just take you up on the invite.

The new Holiday Mini-Catalog was released yesterday. It has some fun stamp sets and cool goodies. If you like what you see host a work shop and get some freebies. Read below for details.

Click here to download the new Mini-Catalog.

The Holiday Mini catalog is here!  There are so many great stamp sets and paper and embellishments and….I’d love to have one of everything!   Ordering begins today thru January 4th.

You can shop online at my Stampin’ Up! website anytime! Just click on the Shop With Me link on the side of my blog.

Here’s what the Hostess Special is all about (Sept. 1-Nov. 30):

• Host a workshop totaling $250 or more and choose any one item* from the 2009 Holiday Mini Catalog for only $10!
  *Offer excludes hostess sets and My Digital Studio.
• **This offer is valid for workshop orders only, and does not apply to online orders.

On October 1, when My Digital Studio is released to customers, this offer will become even sweeter:

• Host a workshop of at least $400 and get My Digital Studio for 50 percent off the retail price (retail price: $79.95; promotional price: $39.97)!

Make your wish list and give me a call!  Host a workshop and get part of your wish list for free!

Thanks for stopping by today. I will post some cards soon. It has been raining like cats and dogs and I have not been able to get outside to take pictures. I like to take pictures outside because of the lighting. Maybe I need to get one of those light tents if it keeps on raining.

Wish me luck on this new venture.

Mixed Bag

We have returned from a quick trip to Kentucky. We visited Mammoth Cave, Abraham Lincoln’s birth place, and the Sunsphere along the way. Mammoth Cave was awesome. None of my pictures came out though. I had the camera set on the wrong setting and it was too dark inside the cave for me to see the dial settings. You’ll just have to go and see it yourself! Oh, we also visited Mayfield Dairy and had some yummy ice cream.

I have a strange mix of cards to share today. I am trying to play catch-up.

First I have a tag and box to share. I created this for the Timeless Tuesday challenge. I love this Basic Gray Marrakesh paper. The gift tag will go with the wooden box. I will fill it with some goodies and use it as a gift.

The two cat cards are from a challenge several weeks ago. I had them made for the “beach & water” challenge but never got around to posting them.

Now I am off to stamp some images so I can color and watch The Closer.

Thanks for stopping by today.

A double challenge met

I have been trying to participate in some challenges. I start out the week thinking I will get a lot of them done and then I get sidetracked. I am afraid I might be ADHD! Anyway here are some cards I made for the Flourishes Wounded Warrior Project. I will be mailing them to Flourishes so they can be sent to our service men and women. Read the information below and see if you can help them out with some of your cards.  I can’t think of a better project.

Flourishes stamps have a challenge to help send cards to the troops AND offer up some goodies to YOU for participating?

To break it down, all you need to do is make a card with our Patriotism on Parade set, send them a few cards to send to the troops and you could walk away with a $50 gift certificate if you are the lucky winner drawn! They will also be drawing two additional names for a $25 gift certificate! Three ways to win! You could call this a WIN-WIN-WIN!

Each purchase of the Patriotism on Parade set goes to benefit wounded soldiers through the Wounded Warrior Project.

Use this set to send in cards to share with the troops shows our support to those men and women who are risking their lives for us. You can also send cards made with other stamps if you like.

Sharing your talent and your cards could make you a winner for FREE goodies!

See? WIN-WIN-WIN!! You have until August 1st to get your cards sent in to Flourishes home base!

Here are a few more cards I made for another Flourishes challenge. This one was to pop your images and give them dimension. We have a “junk” store near us and I scored two boxes of cards and envelopes for $4.00 a box. That is 100 cards for $10.00! The cards have a triple embossed edge and are very simple yet elegant. I made a set of greeting cards with some of these cards.. They will be the perfect little gift for someone. They fit just right in a little basket I bought at the church yard sale. I love a bargain!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Home again, home again

What a wonderful vacation we had in Nova Scotia! We visited Peggy’s Cove, Prince Edward’s Island, Bay of Fundy, and a ton of other places. Thanks to Delta we had an extra day to visit Boston. Our plane arrived late in Boston so they put us up in a nice hotel right on the harbor. We made the most of our time and spent the day taking a bus tour and eating at Cheers. It made for a very long day but we wanted to see as much as we could. Then it was home to wash clothes and grocery shop.

Here are a few shots of Green Gables. Have you read Anne of Green Gables? I think you will recognize the Haunted Woods and Lover’s Lane. So much fun to see all Anne’s favorite places!

Happy 4^th of July!

These cards were made with Flourishes “Patriotism on Parade.”

Enjoy your 4^th. I am looking forward to fireworks and potato salad – Weight Watchers of course

Thanks for stopping by today.

Breaking a record

Can you believe it? Blogging two days in a row! I must be on a roll. Actually I think I am back to getting things done and not wasting so much time. I can really waste time just goofing off.

It was a good Father’s Day. Busy with activities at church but I did manage to get some cards made along with a little bit of rest.

For Mother’s Day we went to Calloway Gardens and  I just got around to downloading my pictures. I am very happy with most of them. Even thought I only have a point and shoot camera the pictures came out pretty good. Maybe those two photography classes have helped after all!

I am in love with this new stamp set from Flourishes. It is going to be one of my favorites. Hope you don’t get tired of seeing it.

Thanks for stopping by today.

This time last year

This time last year I had just retired. I wasn’t sure I was making the right decision and knew I wanted to work part time if I could find a job. Well I did find a part time job and really enjoyed it. Now the local school system is saying no part time jobs will be available so it looks like I will be really retired. That is fine with me. I am really looking forward to it this year. I can spend more time exercising, reading and crafting. I may not have much extra money but I know I have made the right decision. I want to enjoy my “old age” before I get too old to enjoy it!

Now for a few cards – Here are some of the Father’s Day cards I made this year.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bad Blogger

I have no idea what has happened. It seems like my time has been eaten up by a monster. It has been a busy month and today is just May8th! I guess that’s life. I had jury duty this week and that made for some very looooog days of sitting. I did get called for two cases but didn’t get picked. They were both cases of “people acting badly.” Nothing very interesting as far as I could tell.

I made several Mother’s Day cards and I will post a few of my favorites at the end of this post.

I have also been bitten by the quilt bug. I have always loved looking at quilts but have never thought I could complete one. I still don’t think I can do an entire quilt but I have been enjoying stitching up some bags/purses. They are quick, pretty easy and choosing the fabric is so much fun. It is sort of like picking the perfect paper for greeting cards. Here is my second purse. I forgot to take a picture of my first one

I used two vintage buttons for the bag. Both were in my mother’s button box that I have had for many years. I love old buttons. Actually I love all buttons both old and new.  I used to play with my mom’s buttons for hours on end when I was a little girl. I still enjoy digging through the boxes, baskets and jars of buttons I own. Do you remember playing Button, Button who’s got the Button? I wonder if children still play that game.

Have a great  Mother’s Day. Take some time to celebrate with all the wonderful mothers in your life.

We are off to Callaway Gardens for the weekend. We wanted to go on a longer trip but jury duty got in the way. The gardens will be beautiful though and we can get some exercise riding bikes and walking.