Monthly August Swaps

I missed getting these out last week since I had just got home from vacation and there was more to do at home then expected! So I'll have a bit more and this post will be a bit long! Sorry!

If you haven't been following my blog, I participate with a group of very talented Stampin' Up! Demonstrators and we do a monthly swap. We each take turns being the host and swapping out the cards. Whoever is host gets to pick the theme! Last month (July) I was host. This month (August) was Gayle. She picked a color combo, Crumb Cake, Dapper Denim, and Peekaboo Peach. The swaps are due to the host at the end of the month. So by the time I get them, it's usually the next month. So for September, I'll be getting them at the end of this month and will post them in October. I'm going to try and do these posts on each Wednesday to spread it all out!

This first card made me think of summer. Technically it's still summer, but with the outside temps starting to cool, it sure doesn't feel like it! Debbie made this card and has recently moved to Hilton Head. I'm guessing these are the views she gets to see now! She used So Many Shells stamp set. She also used the 3 colors only for the ink and card stock of  Dapper Denim, Peekaboo Peach and Crumb Cake. Debbie made a watercolor background with the inks and aqua painter on watercolor card stock. Then she used the Dapper Denim marker to give it a hint of splatter. You have to look close to see it.

This next card was made by Pat. She used Colorful Seasons stamp set. She also used the same colors. Everything was done on a piece of Whisper White card stock. To get the "sand" look, she used a terry cloth and patted it into the Crumb Cake, then the Peekaboo Peach. Pat also did the splatter technique with the Dapper Denim marker. The ribbon is the burlap ribbon. For that she just used a couple of strands. I do this sometimes when I want a bit more then what I could get by using the Linen Thread. This sure does look like you're at the beach!

Vicki made this next card. She used the ever popular Daisy Delight and it's coordinating punch! I don't think they're having anymore backorder issues with this stamp set and punch! Vicki used just the color combo on her card. The center is embossed with the Petal Burst Embossing Folder and the center of the daisy has the new Faceted Gems in gold. This is a quick and easy card.

This last card was made by Lilly. She also used the Daisy Delight stamp set and punch. Lilly also used all the colors in the combo along with Whisper White. The sentiment is from Cool Treats and has 3 Rhinestones below it. The center of the daisy was punched out of Peekaboo Peach using a 1/2" circle punch. The 3 pieces on the card front are embossed with Fluttering, Petal Burst, and Oh My Stars embossing folders. Another nice and simple card!

I hope you enjoyed these cards. I'll have another group of them next week so stay tuned!
If you'd like to get any of the products to make these cards, you can find it on my STORE. If you need help with anything please contact me.

More Product of the Month!

A little late with today's post! I've again been playing catch up!

In case you didn't see last week's initial post, you can find it HERE. Each month I pick a product from one of our current catalogs and feature it each Monday. You can find the Spooky Cat Bundle on page 52-53 in the Holiday Mini. This bundle is part of a suite that have coordinating Designer Series paper, trim, and treat tubes. There are some other items in the Holiday Mini and Annual catalog that also would work great with this suite. In the Mini Catalog, they show, the Mini Pizza Box, along with items from the Annual Catalog - the clear tiny treat boxes, gusseted cellophane bags, Popcorn Box Thinlits, Wood Crate Framelits, the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits, and the Window Box Thinlits.

So how did you like last week's ideas? I really enjoy the fall but as far as Halloween goes, I don't really do much. When the kids were growing up, I would decorate, make their costumes, etc, but now that they're grown, I'd rather just decorate for the fall. I live in the country and have a VERY LONG driveway so I don't get trick or treaters either. I guess if I lived in an area where they would come around, it would be different. I also don't send out Halloween cards, so it can be a struggle to think of ideas. It is fun making treat items and giving them to my customers! That's the best part! This week I have a couple of cards for you. Next week will be treats!

So for this first card I wanted to do a shaker card. I did have to get my mojo going by scanning Pinterest and a demonstrator Facebook group and saw something like this, but did change it up to make it my own. I used Crumb Cake for the base and die cut a window from the Layered Square Framelits. The stamp images are from the Spooky Cat set, although the cat and pumpkins are from the Spooky Night Designer Series Paper. The cat images on the paper fit perfectly with the cat punch! How great is that! I used the Window Sheet and the Adhesive Foam Strips to give it the space it needs to "shake". I did rub my embossing buddy along the foam strips and acetate but the Metallic Sequins are still sticking to the window! I stamped the sentiment on a strip of Very Vanilla in Cajon Craze ink and punched it out with the new Everyday Label. Gives it a totally different look! I can see using this punch A LOT! The sentiment is layered on one of the Corrugated Elements cut in half. I then looked through all my dies for a matching die to give this piece a layer and couldn't find anything! So I looked through my scraps and was going to cut a piece and had a black heart I had and that worked perfect! I just had to cut off the rest of the heart! I think the Pretty Label punch might work as well. It has those semi circle parts to it. Sometimes you just need to be creative in how you use your stuff!

This next card, I wanted to do something other then Halloween. I saw a card and loved the idea of putting the owl on one of the branches from the Woodland Embossing Folder. So here's my take on this card. It needed some color, so I used some of the Spooky Night Designer Series Paper. The sentiment is from the set Here for You. This could easily be changed for any occasion and would also make a great masculine card too! The above card could also be used for a birthday card by changing the sentiment and using plain pumpkins. The colors I used on this card were: base is Very Vanilla with a layer of Chocolate Chip. The owl was first stamped in Chocolate Chip onto Crumb Cake and the embossed with the Woodland Embossing folder. I then sponged some Crumb Cake onto the trees. The sentiment is stamped in Chocolate Chip and punched with the Classic Label, so is the layer under it.

I hope you enjoyed this late post! I'm already working on next week so that should be out MUCH earlier! Thank you for stopping by and please leave comments on how you liked these cards. If you don't have a US Demonstrator, I'd love to be yours! To purchase any of these items you can find them ALL in my STORE. Don't forget to use this month's VIP Host Code to get your FREE Item of the month and card kit!

Have a great day!

September Product of the Month

I hope you're enjoying the new Holiday Mini! Isn't it wonderful? It can be so hard to pin down just a few items to purchase, so have a party! Stampin' Up! has a great special for hosts this month thru October! Last month I gave you a jump start on your holiday cards and this month I'll have samples of things you can make for the fall or your trick or treaters! As I did last month, I'll post every Monday some samples using the Product of the Month. So for the month of September I chose the Spooky Cat Bundle. I really love getting stamp sets that coordinate with a punch for thinlit/framelit. Even though some of the images are geared toward Halloween, I can see using this bundle for those Harry Potter enthusiasts, themed parties, cat lovers and more!

This stamp set is a photopolymer set, which is great for doing 2 step stamping. There's a face to put on the cat, you can give the buckle on the hat a different color, the owl has a couple of extra pieces to add as do the bottles and you can add the Trick or Treat or the Happy Halloween to the piece with the cobweb.

I did case all the projects for this week. The second 2 I did change up a bit to make them my own. Sometimes I find I don't want or need to tweak anything!

 This first card I cased exactly from one of our fabulous Artisians. I think it was Mindy. After looking at it some more I thought you could easily step it up a bit by adding some black metallic thread and put behind the square. I love these potion bottles. The bottles are all three together but each bottle has it's own stamp to fill in! That made it so easy to give each bottle a different color! To know where to place the images I die cut a square from the Stitched Framelits. This helped to know how close to stamp both images. I first stamped the bottles onto a post it and cut it out then I stamped my first image then used the mask I just made to stamp the 2nd image. This way it looks like it's behind the other bottles! I used the Pick a Pattern Washi Tape and a piece of Lemon Lime Twist 1/4" Ombre Ribbon behind the squares. You could also make this a great invitation by changing out the "Happy Halloween" with a "You're Invited". I love the clean look of this card.

This next card I tweaked a bit. Not sure the color of the moon they used but I used Crushed Curry and sponged some Crushed Curry ink around the outside edges of the moon. To make this cat in the moon I first punched the cat out of a piece of cardstock then took the circle die and lined up the bottom edge of the cat so it would cut off the bottom. I thought this was a super cute idea! I felt just the "Happy Holloween" just sat there on the strip so I added a piece of the new Vintage Crochet Trim in the Holiday Mini along the bottom of the sentiment piece and a couple of Black Rhinestones also in the new Holiday Mini. I really like how these two extra steps added just a bit to the card. I hope you like it as well!

This next project is great to just hand out, party favors, or give out for Halloween! These are so simple to make. The cats with the writing on them, I stamped first then punched it out. You will need two punched cats for these treat holders and a piece of matching cardstock 3/4" x 2 1/2" scored at 3/4" from each end. You want to use a strong adhesive to hold them together. I used our Tombo liquid glue but the Fast Fuze would work just as well. You adhere the strip of cardstock to the back of one cat and the front of the other, trying to make sure they are right behind each other. Once that's done adhere the tops of their heads together, again making sure they're aligned. Using the liquid glue helps in case it's not exact, you have a little "wiggle" time! I tied Baker's Twine around two of the cats, the other I used the new Black Mini Sequin Trim and glue dots. The Hershey kisses will bit in here and I think the Hershey nuggets would too, but don't have any to try. Use a glue dot to attach the kiss inside of the cats. I'm away right now and thought it would look great to stamp the face of the black cat with emboss it with White Embossing Powder, but don't have any with me :(

I hope you enjoyed these first few projects using this month's product focus. Thanks for stopping by, please leave a comment and tell me how you liked these projects and what else you'd like to see. To purchase any of these products, you can find them at my STORE, make sure you use this month's VIP Host Code. I appreciate all your business. Don't forget I have my own Vacation special going on until September 6 and this month's new VIP Gift.

New VIP Host Special!

Opps! Here's another post of thought I posted! That's what happens when I go on vacation and don't get this all done ahead of time and I'm on limited data!

New Month, new VIP Host Code! You can check out all the details HERE! It's something new in the Holiday Mini catalog and will add some extra bling to your projects!

Happy shopping!

Holiday Mini Starts Today!

Just a quick post today! The Holiday Mini Catalog is Now LIVE! 

Have you seen this fabulous new catalog! You'll have a hard time just selecting a few items! Want to have a party? Stampin' Up! has a great Host Special for September & October. Contact me to schedule your party today! Start shopping HERE! Don't forget to use this month's new VIP Host Code!

Product of the Month Last Week

Here's another post I thought published! 

So anyway. I've been working on samples for today and next week. I hope you enjoy them. Just to review what the product of the month is, it's the Carols of Christmas Bundle. It's in the new Holiday Mini Catalog and available to customers for purchase so they can get a jump start on their holiday cards! If you'd like to look at the other posts click HERE, HERE, and HERE.

This first card I cased and love how it turned out! Inside the circle is a piece of Designer Series Paper from the Daisy pack! The border die is just used on the top. I also used the Layering Circle and Stitched framelits for the opening and the snowy hills. The trees in the front were die cut using the Thick Whisper White card stock and then water colored them slightly with Pool Party. The other tree and card base I used the new Tranquil Tide cardstock, along with the ink for the flowers and "Peace". I used Crumb Cake for the deer.

This second card, I used the Merry Music Designer Series Paper. The card base is Cherry Cobbler as well as the scallop circle layer. I also used Cherry Cobbler ink for half of the "Peace on Earth" and the flower. When I inked the "Peace on Earth", I first inked the Garden Green on the bottom half and then inked the Cherry Cobbler for the "Peace". The inks overlapped in the middle. I used the Stitched framelits here again to die cut this piece after stamping it. I also layered the burlap ribbon with the 1/4" Double Stitched ribbon.  This did have a lot of die cutting but think it was so worth it! This will go to someone special!

I hope you enjoyed these last cards for the Product of the Month. I will be posting more in the coming months because this is such a great bundle, but wanted to give you some ideas on different uses for this bundle. I thank you for stopping by and would love to hear from you! If you don't have a demonstrator in the US, I'd love to have you and be your Creative Coach! To purchase any of these items, you can go to my store HERE.

Vacation Special for August

Well I'm just seeing I didn't publish this Post!!! LOL! I guess I'm really on vacation! This special is until September 6, so don't worry! If you placed an order from August 22 until September 6, you're still in! The special is, for ANY orders placed, you'll receive a sampling of Year of Cheer Embellishments! How great is that! When your order reaches $50 you'll also receive my monthly card kit along with a PDF on how to assemble. Make sure you use this month's VIP Host Code 3DSR7NFJ. To get this month's VIP Host Special you'll need to place a $60 order.

These are just a few thank you's for shopping with me. I appreciate all of your support!