Several Craft Ideas

Alright so I have been working on some crafts which is why you have not heard from me in a while.

The first one is a super simple last minute gift idea that you could do for really inexpensive. It is a water bottle with a gift tag pocket that holds a powder drink mix.
Supplies:
Cardstock: Old Olive, pumpkin pie
Designer Print: Summer picnic
Tools: crop-a-dile, scallop punch, circle punch
Stamp set: tart & tangy...but you could use any stamp set you have.
Accessories; Pumpkin pie snaps to hold the pocket closed.

Next Is a gift that I made for Madeline's best friend. It is a stationary box.
White box: is from Micheals...if I was giving to an adult I would of covered with paper but for a kid the paper would not of held up so I just used ribbon secured to the box with the super tacky tape. The bow is hot glued on. The initial hang tag is Pretty in Pink scallop, with whisper white circle. I stamped and then embossed using the best friends alphabet.
Inside: I put 20 envelopes and 30 pre-folded cards. (I used plain cardstock from wal-mart for this because of the fact that I am giving to a child) I then took only scraps of designer print paper and punched a ton of scallop circles and scallop ovals. I then stamped letter "E" on white circles (the girls name is Emma) and then stamped her name on white ovals and then other fun stamps that I had that would fit on circles and ovals. The child can then back the stamped images herself and then mount them to a card to make her own personalized stationary. I put the photo splits on the back of each piece so that all she has to do is pull the back off and stick it where she wants it. I used all kinds of colors and I even embossed and then glittered some E's to make them fancier. I covered cardboard with designer print paper to make dividers in the box to seperate the envelopes and the cards and then put all the stamped images in jewelry bags to keep them organized and tucked them into the little giftcard tins from Micheals. I also got some gel pens from the $1 section at Target to tuck inside. I think it turned out cute and I hope she likes it.

Last is not a last minute craft idea, to be honest it is not a craft that should of been done on the scale that I did it but I was already knee deep in it and could not turn back so I just keeped moving forward. These have nothing to do with stamping but cute just the same. They are called I-spy bags. Inside each bag is rice and several "trinkets". My trinkets consist of a penny, beads, shaped buttons, dry pasta, paper clip etc. The deal is the child is to sift through the rice while trying to find the trinkets inside. I will attach a list of activities that can be played with the I-spy bag and this will be both my girls classroom gifts. This is where I went wrong. :( This is way to much for me to of taken on for 30+ kids. The 3 pink ones with the heart shaped window those are for a cousin, and 2 other friends of Madeline and Allison and they got extra attention. I had the back monogrammed with their names and there is about 30 items in their bags where as there is only 10-15 items in the other bags. Definitely a cute and useful idea but just a bit much work and $ for it to be the classroom gift.

Friday Idea!

I know I am early for the Friday Idea but there are a few things that I wanted to let you know.

***The retired list is out, and the stamps on it are 10% off. Check my blog to download the list.***

***Any order or orders $70 or more get free shipping. This means you could get with a friend get a few things each and you both get free shipping, this could be an individual order or a group of orders as long as the total is $70 you get free shipping.***

For our friday Idea I have attached two projects that my friend Kelly just completed for this Christmas. One is an ABC photo album where she used the outline alphabet to highlight each letter, and the other is teacher gifts that she made. Very cute stuff.

Keep warm!

Friday Idea!

WOOHOO! I did it I finally got rid of my "Stampers Block"! For the longest time I would sit down to do some stampin' and I would end up just sittin' no stampin'. I would search my favorite inspiration site and nothing I was just feeling blah about everything I saw and could not get inspired to stamp, so I would not. I guess the pressure of Christmas a month away, or maybe the extra free time to let my mind wonder while my husband has been away helped me get passed it. I don't know, not sure...I am just glad the stamping drought is over.

I will attempt to send all 4 (woohoo! 4) card ideas via email but they may get rejected due to file size so you may have to check them out on my blog.

Idea 1: White card snowman and tree on front
Card stock: Plain white card stock from walmart for the base (I know it sounds cheap but if I have to make a bunch as Christmas cards I have got to cut cost somewhere), Whisper white for where I stamped the snow man, bashful blue designer print.
Stamps: Mr. Twigster (love this set), warmest regards (retired)
Ink: Basic black, Riding hood red
Techniques: I colored the scarf, nose and ornaments with my water color pencils. Ready for a totally fun, super cool new technique? The whole piece of whisper white I embossed with my iridescent embossing powder. This technique is suppose to be called "cracked glass". You emboss the entire surface 3 to 4 times and then you can literally crack it and it looks like cracked glass. Since I did not have the same embossing powder mine did not crack but it does look like snow, don't you think? If you want more on this technique send me an email and I will explain more.

Idea 2:White card snowman and lights
Card stock: Same cheap card stock from walmart for base, whisper white to stamp on, bashful blue designer print.
Stamps: Mr. Twigster, Hugs and wishes
Ink: Basic black, Riding hood red
Techniques: Watercolor pencils, cracked glass embossing technique which again mine is not cracked just the illusion of snow.

Love both of these. Super simple would be totally easy and inexpensive to make a bunch of. Now for something a bit more "formal" I guess you would say.

Idea 3:Old olive card with polka dots
Card stock: Old Olive, River rock (last years incolors), whisper white (now that I am looking at it, it should of been very vanilla-oh well)
Designer print: Dashing (retired, again cutting cost by forcing myself to use what I have on hand)
Ribbon: Red grosgrain that I got for $0.10 for the entire spool!
Ink: River rock
Tools: CM square punch
Stamps: Mr. Twigster, The snowflake spot for the word Joy which you can barely see.
Technique: dragging of the edges of the squares

Idea 4: Old olive card with Christmas ball ornament
Card stock: Old olive, real read, river rock(last years in color) very vanilla
Designer prints: Dashing (last years Christmas)
Stamps: Mr. Twigster, The snowflake spot
Tools: CM circle cutter, Tag punch, crop-a-dile
Ribbon: just what I had laying around

Just a side note on this card, you could make just the ornament portion of this card decorate one side and on the other side do the whole To: From: thing and it would be super cute gift tag on presents.


I thought it was fun to see this stamp set used in both a cutsie and more formal card. I hope you enjoyed. Be sure to check out my blog to view the holiday mini catalog, it is not too late to order your Christmas card supplies.

Fun Halloween Cards

These Halloween cards my friend Robyn made using all CM products. I think they turned out pretty cute, don't you?

Friday Idea!

I hope all is well and everyone is preparing for the hussel and bussel of the holiday season. Before we get started in the fun stuff let me take a moment to remind you that during the holidays it is especially important to be alert of your suroundings and to just be extra safe walking to and from the stores. I found out today of a lady getting her purse snatched at the shopping center near my house and I never would of thought it would of happened so close to home, so just be alert out there.

Not much going on in the stamping world right now. I will start working on my Christmas cards this weekend and start planning my class favors, if all goes well next Friday you will see the fruits of my labor. Right now there are two promotions going on. There is a hostess promo that if you host a show and the sales are $350 or more you can choose an additional stamp set from a select group for free. The other promo is for the rub-on decor items. You can see a flier with complete details on my blog. If you have not been to my blog in awhile you need to check it out, I just found the cutest free backgrounds to spruce it up. If you are hoping for fun stamping stuff for christmas I will be placing an order every friday until 2 weeks before christmas.

Today's Friday Idea is a card that I did for the card swap a while back. The card that the other woman got was much cuter than this one but I ran out of ribbon so I had to alter mine just a bit. I love this stamp set, I think that the bird could be used for a lot of different occasions. Also on my blog I will be posting some Halloween cards that a friend of mine made as invitations to her Halloween party and I never had time to post them last month, so stop by and check them out.

Stamp set: Always
Ink: Riding hood red, Kiwi kiss
Cardstock: Whisper white, riding hood red, kiwi kiss.

Watch for details real soon for the Valentines day promotion...they are releasing it early so that we can get a head start on the next holiday. Did I actually just mention Valentines day and we are not even past Thanksgiving. Oh well, my sister called this week and she already has her Christmas tree up and decorated. I just now pulled up the Halloween stuff out of my yard.

Friday Idea!

Did you miss me last Friday? I promise I did not forget you I just never really found the time last Friday do sit down and do my Friday Idea. Not sure which is better, forgetting you or not having time for you? Anyways my deepest apologies for not brightening your mailbox with a happy Friday Idea last week. School is in full swing and I got exactly what I asked for, which was to volunteer in Madeline's classroom. This is one of those be careful what you ask for because you may just get it in 10 fold. Honestly could not be more thrilled to have the chance to be apart of the Kindergarten experience, but it is a ton of work. Ok enough about me already.
Today's Friday idea is a name plate I made for a friend of mine who's friend's baby was going to have an extended stay in the NICU and they wanted to personalize the baby's bed just a bit. My thoughts that were when they got home from the hospital it could be added to an album or framed in the babies room, so we did it in the colors and style of the babies nursery at home.

Cardstock: Pretty in pink, so saffron, certainly celery
Designer print paper: Spring fling
Ink: pretty in pink, so saffron, certainly celery, sage shadow
Stamps: ginormous flowers, jumbo outline alphabet.
techniques: The baby's room at home is a beach theme so I distressed the edges of the paper using my distressing tool from stampin up. I thought that would give you a worn beach feel. Yes I cut out each of the flowers after I stamped them so that I could mount some on pop dots and others flat to the paper to add dimension. I then bent the petals so that they would not appear to be so flat.

Halloween: Ike has me all screwed up with my classroom favors. By now I would already have my Halloween favors done and be ready to work on Christmas. Needless to say I am just now starting on my Halloween stuff. Very simple this year because I am later than normal. Chances are my favors will be next weeks Friday Idea. If you need help with ideas for your classroom favors or even favors to hand out to trick-or-treaters, just send me an email and I will see what I can do for you.

Christmas: We absolutely must get started on our Christmas cards. I have several Christmas stamp sets already. We decided that everyone would prefer to just do a free for all crop where you just pay for what you use or bring your own stuff. I would like to do that on a Friday November 14th, we will start at 5pm but you can come whenever and last until you can't hold your eyes open any longer. I will do drinks and soup for dinner or you can bring your own food. RSVP by November 7th to let me know if you are coming. Want something special for this crop then you will need to order it by November 5th to insure that it is here and ready for you to use on crop night. I will also have my embossing stuff out at this crop if you want to learn to emboss, since it is free I will not have a set of cards for you to make using embossing but I will show you how to do it and if you want to incorporate it in your Christmas cards you can at a small cost to cover the supplies used. Not sure how I will figure that out but I will and I always try to be fair.

Promotions: Spend $20 and get 20% off the following stamp sets. Big bold b-day, party hearty, bitty birthday, crazy for cupcakes, simple b-day thanks, time to party, crab & company. There is also a hostess promo going on right now.

let me help you: Do you really want to have handmade stamped Christmas cards or cards for other occasions and you just don't have the time to make them. I would love to make them for you. If you already have the idea of what you want them to look like I can use that to figure the cost or if you know what stamp set you would like to use I can come up with the idea and then get a cost for each card. I can do this for any occasion, baby shower and wedding shower invitations, thank you cards, all occasion cards, you name it I can do it.

Friday Idea!

Is everyone feeling like they are getting back to normal after Ike visited us last month? My kids are definitely happy to be back to school, and we are trying to make a conscience effort to continue our outside play that Ike 're-invented' for us.

Today's Friday idea is a set of cards I made for a friend who was going back to work after being a stay at home mom.
Card stock: (All the new in colors) Riding hood red, pink pirouette, pacific point, kiwi kiss, tangerine tango, baja breeze and Very vanilla, black
Stamp set: Pretty petals (this is a background stamp), whimsical alphabet, lots of thoughts
Ink: Riding hood red, pink pirouette, pacific point, kiwi kiss, tangerine tango, baja breeze, versa mark
Tools: scallop punch
Technique: Pretty petals was applied to the background using my versa mark ink pad and then embossed using embossing powder.
Ribbon: Black sheer ribbon that was in my stash so long that I have no idea where I got it. :)

There are a few different promos going on right now and you can check my blog for the details. I am going to reschedule my technique Tuesday class on embossing that was canceled due to our good friend Ike.

Individual pictures of each of the cards can also be found on my website.

Did you stamp anything cool lately? Come on you know you did! Send me a picture so we can share it with all our stampin friends.

Friday Idea!

I hope everyone is enjoying this cooler weather. I know it is not COOL enough yet but it is a step in the right direction.

Technique Tuesday Class: Sept. 16th 9:30-11:00 $5 we will make 5 cards and we will learn to heat emboss. I still have 2 spots left so find a friend and sign-up!

Holiday Mini: holiday mini is posted on my blog tons of cute stuff and the Big shot details are in there. I can start placing orders from the mini on October 1st.

Christmas Cards: From the response that I had it sounds like everyone would like to do a crop style christmas card session. I will work out the details and get back to you with a date next Friday.

I need your help: I have posted my Stampin' Up! business on Mamasource and would love to get a review from you. Please visit my me here and review me. It does not have to be just the stampin' up products, it could be a crop you attended, a swap you participated in, the friday ideas, just whatever. For your time I will give you a 20% discount on your next order.

Wanna Host?: looking to earn some new stampin' stuff? wanna host a party, a crop, or a 10 for $10? Just let me know I will be happy to set-up a date with you.

Friday Idea:
This is the card I made for the card swap.
Ink: Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip, Very vanilla
Ribbon: Target $1 bin
Stamp sets: Pretty petals, Always

Friday Idea!

WOOHOO! I did it I survived the first week of public kindergarten. To tell you the truth it was way less stressful than I had thought it would be. Madeline jumped right in to class and was as happy as could be. We got a great teacher and I am feeling good about the year. I hope that everyone else had a very positive start to school also.

Today's Friday Idea is coming from Robyn in cy-fair. She was one of the participants in our recent card swap. Thanks for the great card Robyn!

Paper: White, brilliant blue, only orange
Ink: Brilliant blue
Designer Print paper: Jersey shore
Tools: Scallop punch, CM 1.5 circle punch, CM 2.5 circle template (inside cut with green blade)
Stamp sets: Crab & Company, Lots of thoughts
Accessories: SU Brilliant blue accessory tag
Ribbon: Sage ribbon local craft store

Placing order: I am placing an order today and it is not too late to get it in, I will be placing the order around 5 this afternoon. I will also place an order next friday, this will allow you to order from the holiday mini which you can see on my blog.

Technique Tuesday: This class will be on Sept. 16 at 9:30. We will learn how to use embossing powders and the heat and stick powders with our stamping. Cost is $5 and you will make 5 cards. I have 2 spots left for this class so let me know ASAP if you want to attend.

Chirstmas: I know you don't want to think about it but we have too. In October I want to get started on our christmas cards. Last year I came up with several designs and then you choose the design that you wanted and created however many of that design that you needed. Do we want to do that again or would you rather a christmas card crop where you bring your own supplies and everyone makes what they want? I could offer my inks and christmas stamp sets and paper to sell by the piece but it be more of design your own thing. Last year I had everything cut and ready for you but you were locked into the design that you had choosen. Just let me know your preference and I will start planing the workshop.

Friday Idea!

Today's Friday idea comes from Jill in cy-fair. Thanks Jill for the great card and for participating in the cardswap.

Stamp set: Love ya bunches
Cardstock: choc. chip, Naturals ivory, bashful blue
Inks: brillant blue, bashful blue, apricot appeal, wild wasabi, choc. chip
Ribbon: hobby lobby
Tools: blender pen, word window punch

Jill used her blender pen with her ink pads to create the watercolor effect that is used to color the image.
Great Job!

Technique Class: We will learn to do heat embossing, make 5 cards using the technique. Cost $5, Date: Sept. 16 RSVP by sept 9th Time: 9:30 -11

Order: August 29th I will be placing an order, remember right now there is 15% off select stamp sets see my blog for details under 'never before seen' promo.

Holiday Mini: The holiday mini is out, I have it posted on my blog. I have been having trouble getting it to load all the way. Great Christmas sets in the mini. I know you don't want to but it is time to start thinking about Christmas cards and teacher gifts.

Ready to host? : want to host a party so that you can earn your wish list stuff for free? let me know I will be happy to book a party for you.

Personal note: alright I put my woes about starting school at the end just in case you were tired of hearing about it. :) Tonight is meet the teacher, and I have been having positive thoughts about Kindergarten so I am hoping that it goes well. Who knew this would be so hard? ACKKKK!

Blog Bonus!

Ok so this has nothing to do with stamping or scrapbooking and I guess it eventually will be crafty but honestly just something funny that occured.

So we are in the van Maddie 5, Allison 2 and myself and we are heading to my aunt's house. Maddie askes "why are we going to aunt Lorena's house today?" I explain that I am going to teach aunt Lorena how to use her computer. Maddie's reply "how come she doesn't already know how to use a computer?" I simply say that she just doesn't know so we are going to teach her. Again the little genius in the backseat thinks some more and states "Why did she not learn to use the computer when she was a kid?" I reply "Well there were not household computers when she was a kid, nor when mommy and daddy were kids." Maddie a little puzzled now simply says "oh!" Conversation over right? No not at all she just needed a few minutes to digest what she just heard and then out comes "Well how did you look stuff up?" I reply with "we had to go to the library or in books." Maddie then asks "Well how did you share pictures?" I reply with "well we printed them at walgreens and mailed them to each other" And that ended the conversation for the time being.

But think about it how many times do you see something on tv and think "I am going to look that up!" Would we look up as much stuff if we had to go the library every time, doesn't the convenience of the internet allow us to learn about so much? Simply things like planning a trip we don't have bulky maps anymore we print out just the section of the map that we need and we are ready to go. Shopping for a hotel, tickets to our destination, all found on the internet. Want a new recipe to use with chicken? we head to the internet. Want to know how other people handle situations with their kids? the internet. It is all there and so easy to do now.

Ok so let me tie this in to being crafty so it is not out of place on my blog. So as you know Maddie starts kindergarten on MONDAY! ACK, gulp it is going to be ok. RIGHT? So my number 5 rule for going places is our hair has to be pulled back and a bow in place. I try really hard to get hair do-da's when I buy outfits so that I know that it matches but sometimes it just does not work. I gathered all the items that still needed hair do-da's in my bag and I am headed out to the boutique bow shop. You know the one, $7 for this bow...$9 for that bow. "Oh I just spent $100 on bows that will be a good one to explain to my husband!" Anyways my mom calls as I am about to head out the door and I explain to here what the mission for the day is and she stats "Trisha can't you make your own bow?" I reply with "Well no I can't!" Ladies I have tried and everytime there is one loop way too big, very cock-eyed looking would not put it on my worst enemies kid. My bow making skills are terrible. My mom then tells me to buy a book at Micheal's on how to make bows. I explain that I am not buying a $19.95 how to make hairbow book when the information is probably free on the internet. And then I start thinking. I google "how to make hairbows". You guessed it the absolute perfect website on how to make hairbows. Given I have tons of ribbon that I use for card making so I pulled some out that would be appropriate and I give it a try and low and behold I did it! I was very impressed. I headed to Joann's with my sack of clothes and gathered up all the ribbon I needed. Spent $28 and made 11 or so hairbows.

So the point of the story you can learn to do anything on the Internet. Now let's see who is reading my blog. Leave a comment on what you have learned to do on the internet or what you frequently look up or use the internet for.

Friday Idea!

10 days till school starts for us...I don't know if I am more scared or excited. This will be my first year to send one of my babies off to cared for by complete strangers. I think I will need a cocktail or two or maybe drop the cocktail give me the hard stuff to get me through the first day of school. Wouldn't that make a good impression? Truth be told just thinking about the hard stuff I already have a headache and I think I may have to lay down. Maybe just a caffeine beverage will do. Enough about that lets move on to the fun stuff.

The new catalog is beautiful, I know I said that last Friday but I mean really it is great! Use to you could look at the catalog online and you still can but they turned it into a PDF file and it takes forever to download and by forever I mean I have yet to get it to download. Stampin' Up is trying to pair their online catalog with their new online ordering and well guess what? There are some kinks to be worked out. I do still have 2 copies left if you want one for yourself. New this time is a spanish supplement where they have taken some of the "wordy" stamp sets and translated them to Spanish for our Spanish speaking customers. I have a copy of that if you are interested I can let you borrow, but I don't have any for sale.

I will turn in my first order for the New catalog on August 29th, if there is something that you want or need just let me know.

Technique Tuesdays: As we get ready to send our babies back to school, I thought it would be fun if we went back to school too. So starting in September I will start teaching a technique class each month. If there is a technique that you have seen that you would like to learn how to do let me know and I will be happy to put it on my list of technique classes. The first technique class will be on embossing and it will be held on Tuesday Sept. 16th at 9:30-11:00. We will learn how to use embossing powders with our stamp sets, each person will make 5 cards and the cost will be $5. Please RSVP by Sept. 9th.

Friday Idea! Today's friday idea from Valerie this is the card that she submitted for our card swap.
Cardstock: Old Olive, Chocolate chip, very vanilla
Ink: Chocolate chip, Ruby Red, versamark
Stamp sets: Priceless
Ribbon: Local craft store
Extras: Crystal effects, dimensional
Great job Valerie.

Friday Idea and More!

Remember last Friday when I had nothing to write you about? This Friday is way different.

Before we get started. I am thinking that I want to order one more thing off the retired accessories list so I have to do it this weekend. I will place my order on Saturday at 5. If you were having second thoughts about anything retiring and you want to get it before it is too late, this order will be your last chance.

The new catalog is due out on Monday and I have been stalking the UPS man since Wednesday in hopes that my order of catalogs will arrive before the August 11th deadline. I am telling you it is like Christmas when the new catty comes out. I sit patiently watching the clock until 1:00 and then I hurry up and put Allison to nap and set Madeline up with an activity that I know will take at least an hour to do and then I sit and look at all the new stuff Stampin up has to offer...and this time there will be a lot of new stuff. I finally got my catalogs Thursday evening. A few spoilers to get you excited, look away now if you want to see them for yourself. 1) All the new stamp sets in the catalog are die cut, no more cutting out your own stamp sets. 2) There is a new square scallop punch. 3) There is a scallop edge maker. 4) TONS AND TONS of super cute stamps and don't get me started on the designer papers. I am loving this new catalog.

Two new product lines will be out with the catalog. Stampin up will start offering home decor items. These are rub-ons for the walls. They coordinate with our stamp sets. The other product line is Stampin up will be offering our own Sizzix machine called the Big Shot. This is a personal die-cut machine that works with all other sizzix dies. It is also time for new IN COLORS. I got my new in color paper and inks last week and they are great. Those that participated in the card swap got a sampling of two of the new in colors.

Along with new stuff there are tons of promotions to help you aquire all the fun new stuff.
1) Ever thought of becoming a demo but have almost everything out of the demo kit so you can't see buying it? Stampin up is offering 3 different 'mini' kits that include all the business supplies but a limited amount of 'fun' supplies for $99.
2) Or maybe you want to become a demo and you want the full kit ($199) you get to choose a free stamp out of the catalog sampler.
3) Maybe being a demo is not for you and just want to party. In that case host a party sometime during Oct 1 - Nov. 30 and you could earn an additional free stamp set as a hostess reward.
4) For those who are too busy to party but have found a stamp set that you just have to have. Stampin up is offering 15% off select new die cut stamps.

I know this is a ton of information and I just covered half of the promos. Just take your time and check out my blog to find out more details and see the other half of the promotions.

We are now ready for the Friday idea!

Todays friday idea comes from our card swap that we completed yesterday. This is Kelly's card that she made for everyone. All the cards came out so nice and I hope everyone had fun and will enjoy the cards they recieved. Thanks again to all who played.

Stamp set: Voila
Ink: basic black
Cardstock: Whisper white, black, red
Accessories: black ribbon, crystal effects, watercolor pencils, black thread.

Technique: The birthday cake and platter lid are both stamped on a circle. The two circles are then affixed together making sure to put the black thread in the between the two circles leaving a tails of string out the top and bottom. Then cut a circle in the card slightly larger than the circles that you stamped the cake and platter lid. Now attach the tails of the string to the card front and layer on your colored mat paper and then the white that you can stamp the chef onto. The birthday cake and platter lid should now spin around to create the effect of platter open platter closed.
Great Job Kelly!

PROMOS! PROMOS! PROMOS!

There are a ton of Promotions coming out with the new catalog. I have posted the information for all the promotions to the right. I want to highlight some of them for you right now.

$99 Starter Kits: These kits are for those that want to become a demonstrator and already have most of the products in the full kit. There are 3 different ones to choose from.

New Recruits: If you become a demonstrator and purchase the full kit at $199 you get to choose a free set out of the sampler.

15% off select NEW stamps: The new stamps in the catalog this time will all be die cut stamps...no more cutting them out yourself. A select few of the stamp sets are 15% off from Aug 11 to Sept 30. These include some holiday sets.

Friday Idea!

Today's friday idea comes to us from my friend Paula. She is unsure of the color cardstock that she used and if I had to guess this is what I would think it is:

Cardstock: black, Pixie pink, green galore, whisper white
Printed paper: I am unsure of
Ink: Pixie pink
Stamps: Rough edges mini alphabet

Very cute design, thanks Paula for sharing with us.

Not much going on except for the retirement list. Tons of the accessories are already gone so you may want to check it out. New catalogs will be in soon I have 2 left if you want one for the $4 price.

Want to plan a party for the new catalog or maybe a workshop? Let me know now so I can get you on my calendar.

Friday Idea!

Can you believe we are about a month away from school starting? Where did the summer go?

Today's Friday idea is the cards that were made at the e-Scape workshop last Friday. We had a great time. If you purchased the kit and decided to make the cards at home I would love to see the what you made send me pictures and I will share them with everyone else.

With the e-Scape workshop we used the circle of friendship stamp set and the love notes. Some choose to switch out the stamp set while sticking to the same design and the results were fantastic. Due to the number of pictures you will have to check out my blog to see them all.

Reminders:
I am placing my order on July 22nd (Tuesday) you get 20% off all retired stamp sets. Remember I can take credit cards now so it is not too late to turn in your order.

Hodgepodge hardware is on sale for 25% off and I will order that on July 22nd also.

I can pre-order you a new catalog for $4 but you need to let me know that you want one. I should get them August 11th and I will collect the $ when I deliver them.

Retired accessories list is coming out on Monday I will send that out ASAP.

Don't forget to check out the blog to see the Card Ideas for this week.

Friday Idea!

I hope everyone had a great week. My family and I got to go to San Antonio this week we visited the riverwalk, seaworld and the Natural bridge Safari. A great time was had by all.

Today's Friday idea is a card that I made for a friend.

Cardstock: Certainly celery, so saffron
Designer Print: Cutie Pie
Stamps: Ginormous flowers, circle of friends
Ink: bashful blue, certainly celery, so saffron
tools: label punch
ribbon: micheals
technique: I did a false stitch around some of the pieces of dp paper. There are several ways to do it, I took my ruler and lined it up where I wanted the stitch and then took my black pen and made short little lines along the ruler.

Placing order on July 22nd don't forget that the retire list is out and the in colors will be gone by the the 10 of august so if you want to get the refill for your incolors now is the time.

I have 4 people ready to do the swap I would like at least 1 more to make it a go.

Have a great weekend!

Friday Idea!

Happy 4th of July! I hope everything is going well for you today.

Our Friday Idea is another very cute card from my friend Jill in cy-fair.
Stamp set: Hi & Hello
Ink: Whisper white, brillant blue, bashful blue, blue bayou
Paper: Chocolate chip, very vanilla
Tools: Circle punch, scallop punch
Ribbon: Hobby Lobby

Thanks Jill for another fabulous card! Have you stamped something lately that you would like to share. Send me a digital pic and the 'recipe' and you too can be the friday Idea!

I had one person interested in the card swap. Anyone else out there want to swap?

Sale-Sale-Sale
1) All retired stamp sets are 20% this month. I will place my order on July 22nd
Don't forget the incolors are retiring so if you love your incolors you might want to grab the refill for your ink pad.
2) Aged copper, Antique brass & Pewter hodgepodge sets are on sale for 25% off reg price was 27.95 now only $20.96 this sale last till august 10th. These are the little metal pieces that can be attached to scrapbooks and cards. There are 138 pieces of hardware and 100 matching brads in each kit.
3) New Catalog is coming out! I can pre-order them now at $4 each or you can earn one free by hosting a party or stamp camp. After the pre-order they will cost $10 each. If you would like to get one now for the $4 price let me know I will be placing my order on July 22nd.

Friday Idea!

WOW...Just finished up VBS this week and anyone who has ever volunteered knows it is a lot of work and come Friday you are exhausted. The kids had a great time and I would have been sad if I had not participated. If you have never done it you should try it...tons of fun and the rewards are great! There is a volunteer spot for all kinds of interests and talents for me this may come as a shocker I picked to help out in crafts!

Friday Idea comes from Jill in Cy-Fair. She has made the cutest Hi & Hello card, thanks for sharing it with us.
Card stock: Bravo Burgundy
Printed Paper: Hobby Lobby
Tools: Circle punch
Techniques: Torn paper on the edge of the printed paper.
Stamp set: Hi & Hello
Ink: Basic Black


SALE-SALE-SALE!
All retired stamp sets will be 20% off this month. I will place my order on July 22nd you will want to have your order and money to me by then.

Who is ready for another cardswap? I had a lot of fun last summer with the card swap and would like to do another one. Remember how it works? If 10 people sign up then you make 10 identical cards and provide the 'recipe' for the card and then we swap so at the end of the swap you get 10 different cards to mail out as your own. If you are interested please send me an email...if there is enough interest then we will do it if not we will wait till there are more people who want to play.

Late Night Friday Idea!

This is a super sweet and simple friday idea. It comes to us from my friend Melissa, she made this cute little gift box to wrap some jewelry that she gave my daughter for her birthday. The little white box can be found at most $1 stores or walmart or target. She decorated it with...

Stamp set: Big Bold Birthday, Scallop SAB set
Ink: YoYo yellow, Pink passion, Elegant eggplant, real red and tempting turquoise
Tools: Scallop punch

Very cute and simple way to jazz up a plain white box and make it perfect for any occasion.


The Retired list is out! You can check it out right here. There are few that I will be very sad to see go but I know that it will be ok. After August 10th you will no longer be able to get the stamps on the list, so check it out and make sure that there is not something that you will be missing out on.

If you want to participate in the 'e-scape' promotion you need to RSVP and pay by MONDAY. Remember because this is a stampin' up promo and not just something I am doing then you can use your credit card to pay for the class. This class for $30 you get a stamp set, ink pad, ribbon, and note cards with their envelopes plus several ideas to create cards with the supplies.

Ready to host your own party? Want to be the first to host a party on your block with the new Catalog in September? Want to host a class this summer? Contact me today? Next month I will be doing a class on using heat guns, embossing powders, heat and stick and other serious bling.

Friday Idea!

So I hope everyone's first week of summer vacation went well. As always I underestimated the amount of sun that my skin can take and I have ended up with those fantastic burn lines in the most odd places (farmer tan!) You know what I mean? I am very proud to report that after 3 years of swim lessons my oldest FINALLY can swim! Did not have much time to stamp this week and what I did stamp should of arrived in your mailbox or should be arriving soon.

On to the Friday Idea!
This card is being shared with us from a friend of mine in Cy-fair, Jill Taylor. Thanks for sharing this super cute card with us.

Birthday Card using stamp sets:

Monkey Business

Short & Sweet (used the cupcakes and wish big)

Inks: Choc. Chip, Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Brilliant Blue

Paper: Very Vanilla, Mustard, Wild Wasabi

Ribbon: Hobby Lobby

Couple of things to note. This is the last month to order from the occasions mini. You can see it on my blog, look on the right hand side for the link. Retired stamp set list is coming out next week so if there was something you were saving up for then you might want to make sure you check the list out. With the upcoming new catalog all the In Colors will be retiring and most of the time the designer print paper will be too.

I am asking that if you want to participate in the E-scape that you please RSVP and pay by June 23rd. If you did not get your invitation in the mail with the details please check my blog for the info or just email me and I will let you know what is going on. You can pay by credit card for this event since it is a Stampin' up promo and not just something I put together.

e-Scape with me!

Are you ready to e-Scape? On July 11th we will be escaping the world of online communication and going back to when we took time to send a card to our friends and family.

When: July 11^th 9:30 –11:00am or 7:30- 9:00pm

RSVP and Pay by June 23^rd

taverkiades@hotmail.com

Where: Trisha’s house

What: Let’s escape the email world and re-connect with our friends and family through cards.

Cost: $30: You get- Circle of friendship stamp set, 30 love notes and envelopes, rose red ink pad, and 15 yds of 5/8” very vanilla grosgrain ribbon & 6 design ideas

Just can’t “escape” on July 11^th? Let me know you can still order the bundle and get the ideas sent to your home.

Friday Idea!

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!

How many of you have kids that just finished the school year? If you're like me you already have lined up at least 1 or 2 activities a week and have checked out when the story time at the local library is, I know when the pool is open during the cool part of the day all in hopes of combating the 'I am bored' or 'What are we going to do today?'. I figure that I will make it through at least June before I will be ready 'escape'. If you fear the day when your kids say at 7:00am no less...'I am bored' I want you to 'escape' with me. In July we will be 'e-Scaping' the world around us. We will escape the high gas prices, the constant need to entertain our kids, the continual moping of our floor only to find that the cutest kid in the world just spilled milk or juice and most of all we will 'e-Scape' communication with our friends and family through e-mail. Start watching your mailbox, yes your actual mailbox you know the one, it's normally full of just junk and bills, for more information on how you can 'e-Scape' with me. So get your passports and itty bitty tinny tiny yellow polka dot bikini out of the drawer... ok so maybe it won't be that kind of escape but none the less get ready ladies for in July we will all 'e-scape'. I do not have everyone's address so if you do not get a card in the mail, please check my blog for "e-Scape" details and then send me your address so that next time you can experience the joy of something fun in your mailbox.

Now for our friday Idea! Thank you Kathy M. for our friday idea today.
Card stock: Bashful blue, chocolate chip, whisper white
Ink: Bashful blue, chocolate chip
Stamps: The footprints came from Micheal's, SU use to have a set like this but it is now retired, "sweet" was done with the Rough Edges Mini Alphabets, Spring Pictograms
Printed paper from local scrapbooking store.

This is a baby shower invite that Kathy made for a friend of hers at work. Because she had to make so many of them and they did use quite a bit of paper she opted to do only the card front. So that instead of opening up to see the information details you just flipped it over. That allowed Kathy to get 4 cards per sheet of card stock instead of just 2...Way to save materials and money Kathy!

Friday Idea!

I made this using leftover materials from my chipboard coaster album workshop. I had leftover pictures so I made a small album for my niece for Kindergarten graduation. On the side shown I stamped her name, on the other side are pictures of different events from Kindergarten. To see pictures of the other side you will need to visit my blog.

Ribbon: Green with turquoise stitching from Micheals
Chipboard: Chipboard coasters from stamp on this
Tools: Crop-a-dile to punch the holes so that i could tie all the coasters together
Stamps: Ginormous flowers, big deal alphabet
Paper: Designer print Jersey shore
Solids: wild wasabi, bashful blue, pumpkin pie
Ink: wild wasabi, bashful blue, brillant blue, pumpkin pie,

I think it turned out cute, considering when I ordered the jersey shore print paper I was not all that thrilled I got it because one of the ladies coming to the workshop had a son so I wanted a boyish option for her. Once I opened the paper I feel in love with it, the pictures in the catalog do not do the paper justice at all. I made her teacher one that has pictures on both sides and I made a matching card for her to give to her teacher using the more of the scraps left over from this project. All together I made 2 five page coaster albums and a card and I only used 3 sheets of DP paper and 2 sheets of solid paper and 1 sheet of whisper white. I think that is pretty good use of materials.

Saturday is the last day for the chipboard sale. 25% off all chipboard with $35 purchase. and Sunday starts our new promotion. See my blog for a flyer with the details.

Have you stamped something lately? send me pictures and the recipe and I will share it with everyone for our friday idea.

chipboard coaster workshop

We had a great time working on our albums and talking. Thanks again to all who came and send me pics of your finished projects and I will add them. I have some supplies left over if you would like to purchased the chipboard coasters to make one for yourself just send me an email. This is the album that my friend Melissa was working on. She is going to add quotes and photos and give it to her mother.

Friday Idea!

Today's Friday Idea is courtesy of Kelly Powell.

Ok – here is your next Friday idea. My in-laws bought a beach house. I wanted to get them a house warming gift. I had already picked up a little Adirondack chair votive holder in the target spot for 2.50,but I also wanted to get them a ‘guest book’. So, I went to HL, used my coupon and got a 5X8 blank ‘composition/journal) for 1.40! Yes,that’s right! So, I came home, glued a little ribbon to the spine for a book mark, glued a larger ribbon to the spine to cover it (I used Crystal effects for both and let one side dry, flipped and repeated). I used my ‘welcome’ from my warm words set and my close to cocoa, and some scraps of old printed paper, ribbon and buttons. I also wrote a little poem for the inside and covered the back as well. I assembled the cover separately and taped on after the ribbon was dry!

Hope you like it! Overall, a very personal, sweet and CHEAP gift!

Very cute...Thanks a ton. If you have stamped something this week send me a pic and you can be the Friday Idea. I would like to thank everyone you participated in the teacher gift workshop everyone's projects were looking really cute, don't forget to send me pics when you are done. Check my blog to see the coaster albums that were made at the workshop.