Tag, you're IT!

Several weeks ago several hundred demonstrators met in Denver, Colorado, for a regional Stampin' Up! conference.  That's one of the wonderful things about being a demonstrator....the fun places we get to meet with other demonstrators and the amazing, fabulous staff who go to every event. 

I met my dear friend, Barbara Welch, who flew in from Phoenix, a few days early.  We had a wonderful time in Denver, shopping, eating yummy food at local restaurants and staying up until 2:00am....finishing up our swaps!

One of the best parts of any Stampin' Up! event is the swapping.  We all spend weeks designing and creating dozens {or hundreds} of cards and fun little projects, we carefully pack them in our suitcases, and then we walk around oooohhing and aaaahhing over everything, snapping pictures and trading with each other. 

When you're as crazy about swapping as we are, you get to know each other's faces cuz you're all swapping together year after year.  It was fun to see some familiar faces and get to know them a little more.  Here I am with Crystal French and Sandy MacFarlane.  Crystal was a presenter and shared gorgeous projects. 

Here are some of the gorgeous tags we swapped in Barbara's Over the Top Tag Swap.

I used one of the Apothecary Accents framelits for the base of this tag.   After I embossed the Early Espresso Core'dinations cardstock with the elegant Lacy Brocade embossing folder, I sanded it with our new sanding block.

The snowflakes were diecut with the Snow Flurry Bigz die.  The rosette was created with our Designer Rosette die and the gorgeous Candlelight Christmas designer paper.  Although we've had this a few years now, it remains my favorite Christmas greeting stamp from the Bells & Boughs stamp set.  The tulle is so soft and romantic and the rich Cherry Cobbler seam binding adds an elegant touch.

 This is Barbara's tag.  I love the rich colors.  Barbara used the Quintessential Flower stamp for 3 of the  layers on this tag.

 Although you can't see it in the photo, this tag shimmers and glitters!  The champagne glimmer paper is SO gorgeous!

And  now I'm back to the scrap table.  About a year ago, I designed a scrapbook album that served as the guest book for a sweet friend.  After her wedding, I kept the book to "finish it up" and.....here we are, a year later.  I'm hoping to put it in the mail tomorrow, but ONLY if I get back to work!

Holiday Cheer is in the Air!

There's nothing more fun than scrapbooking with friends!  I've been buried in The Studio every single day for over a week, snipping, punching, stamping....sitting silently staring at my project for 20 minutes wondering what it's missing....and then feeling so happy and accomplished when it finally all comes together!  I had the pleasure of my downline and friend Leslie joining me one day this week.  How much fun to spend the day with a friend doing something you both love and enjoy.  The only problem is the hours just slip by and suddenly it's the end of the day! 

Here is a little peek at what I've been so busy designing the past several days.  My Holiday Hoopla classes will start in a few weeks.  One of the classes is a Christmas Album-in-a-Day.  These are snapshots of the pages.  I know you'd like to see all the pages in full view, but for now, this is what you get!  I know, I know....but, it's a class and if I posted the full 2-page spread, nobody would sign up for the class right?  I knew you'd understand.  Enjoy!

We'll be using the Merry Moments Scrappin' Kit available in the Holiday Mini.  The colors are so wonderful; I love Lucky Limeade and Cherry Cobbler.  I would probably not have paired Very Vanilla or Lucky Limeade with Basic Gray, but I love how these colors work together. 

 Cherry Cobbler is such a deep, rich red.  The new 1-1/4" scallop circle punch is SO adorable!  I can't stop using it.

 I'm a matchy-matchy kinda girl; I just love all the coordinating papers in our Scrappin' Kits!

 The new holiday framelits in the Holiday Mini are SO much fun!  This gingerbread man is so stinkin' cute!  I make gingerbread cookies every year, so I will definitely have pictures to add to this cookie page.

 We may not ever get a peek at Santa's sleigh as it speeds through the skies on Christmas Eve, but you can look at this adorable sleigh filled with holiday goodness any time you want!

 The ornaments framelits are so elegant!

 I am in love with the snowflake die in the Holiday mini!  Silver and champagne glitter paper add so much glimmer and bling to this page!

 Stuffing the stocking is one of my favorite Christmas traditions!  I shop all year long for fun little trinkets to put in my six darling nieces and nephews stockings!  Last year the whoopie cushions that showed up in the boys stockings were the biggest hit of the whole day.  Yes, those 4 and 7 year olds had a blast playing with those.  Oh my!

I hope you enjoyed this little sneak peek! Happy stampin' and have a blessed week!

Holiday Planning in Festive Style!

 It doesn't seem quite right to be planning for the holidays just yet, but....if you're anything like me...there is never too much planning!  I am a list maker.  I even make lists of my lists!  Oh my!  Several of my lists are saved in a Word document, including Thanksgiving and Christmas lists.  This year, I decided instead of printing off my lists on boring ol' white paper, I was going to whip up a festive holiday planner.  This will be the first in my series of Christmas classes.  If you're in the Wichita area, you can join me in The Studio to create your own Holiday Planner.

Holiday Planner, Friday, October 26, 6:30-9:00p.m.  $16

I've used the beautiful Candlelight Christmas Designer Series Paper for this project.  The warm, rich colors are so inviting and cozy!  I couldn't resist using a retired snowflakes diecut for the cover; they are so delicate, I just love them.

 

Don't you just love the delicate snowflakes in the Snowflake Soiree stamp set (Holiday Mini, pg. 5).  I used Lucky Limeade, Real Red and Early Espresso cardstock. 
I've used the Labels Collection and Apothecary Accents Framelits; the Large Scallop Edgelit, and a variety of punches. 

The cute little gingerbread man was diecut from the super fun Scentsational Season Framelits.  (There is a coordinating stamp set that is SO much fun!)


 

You will be emailed a Word document with the tables I've created for the planner lists, so you can reprint them year after year.

I hope you've enjoyed this fun project.  Stay tuned for more holiday projects coming up!  Happy stamin'!

Winner of last week's card set!

Hey....if you haven't signed up to be a follower of this {tiny but growing} blog of mine....then you are missing out on the chance to be selected for the weekly drawing of a set of hand-stamped cards designed and created by me! 

Tina Sabin is the winner of the last drawing....for the week ending Friday, October 5.  Tina....send an email to me at mypaperantics@gmail.com with your mailing address so I can get your cards sent to you!

Don't forget, dear readers, when my blog reaches 100 followers, 2 of you will win a FREE stamp set!  Until then, I am hosting a weekly drawing.  So far, NO ONE has contacted me to receive their free card set.  That tells me 2 things....no body wants the cards....or they aren't keeping up with this blog.  I know I've got a long way to go with this blog, but I'm learning as I go and working on new ideas all the time.  I hope you enjoy coming here and I hope I can and will give you something worth coming to look at. 

There is a completely new set of cards this week, although I don't have a photo of them to add here, but they are SO stinkin' cute!  I hope Tina contacts me! 

Happy stampin' ya'll!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

It may be cold outside, but it's sizzling in The Studio!

My inky little fingers have been busy stamping, crimping, punching, sanding....creating a lot of holiday magic.  The annual Holiday Hoopla frenzy has begun and it's been so fun putting ideas to work.  Cards, holiday planners, an entire Christmas album, advent calendards, a winter wreath....all kinds of holiday goodness is happening down here.  Some of the cards aren't finished yet because I'm waiting for a few items to be delivered from Stampin' Up! but as soon as that box arrives you can bet I'll be adding the finishing touches! There will be 3 card classes in the Hoopla series this year, along with a card class for kids.

There are so many fabulous cards already designed by amazing demonstrators, I had to borrow a few of their ideas!  How much fun are these darling cards!  I love our coordinating punches, Big Shot dies and stamps...it's so amazing what  one little piece of paper can do!  Our Holiday Mini is SO full of amazing Christmas products....I've ordered nearly every single thing! 

Oh my goodness!  The temperature dropped this weekend...it was in the 40's on Saturday.  I enjoy the fresh air so much I refused to shut windows and turn the heat on.  It's usually 10 degrees cooler in the basement (where The Studio is) than upstairs and it was FREEZING down there!  So, we  pulled out the space heater and I plugged in a heating pad for my feet, but I was determined to keep that fresh air in the house.  I still haven't shut the bedroom window....thank goodness for an 800 power fill down comforter!


This kind of cool, fall weather makes me want to be in the kitchen more than my stamp room and I spent a lot of time baking and cooking this weekend.  Crispy sugar cookies & gooey chocolate chip cookies and homemade creamy chicken soup was the result.  My mom is an old-fashioned out-of-this-world cook (and baker) and we grew up with everything homemade and from scratch and I've followed in her footsteps. 

I love using my Grandma's old cookie cutters!

Doesn't this look like the perfect way to start off a chilly day?  Now I'm off to The Studio to work on some more projects.  Lots of holiday craftiness to share with you the next few days!

Happy stampin' everyone!  Thanks for reading and I hope you have a blessed day as well as a week filled with stampin' happiness!

Sweet little gifts

My downline and friend, Leslie, went to visit her daughter in Seattle, Washington last week.  Two of Leslie's daughters recently became Stampin' Up! demonstrators, so not only is Leslie a new demonstrator, she now has a small but growing downline.  Leslie and one of her daughters, Michelle, took advantage of her visit to the Pacific Northwest to attend the Stampin' Up! regional event in Tacoma last weekend.  So, I took the opportunity to give them all a little gift and send them with Leslie on her trip. 

I made each of them this elegant pin with the fabulous new tulle...ooooo la la!

I diecut a scallop from the silver glimmer paper with the Perfect Pennants Big Shot die.  There are 6 scallops punched from the Comfort Cafe DSP (Designer Series Paper).  I die-cut a large scallop circle and hot glued the tulle around it, then attached the scalloped flower in the center.  I added 3 rhinestones to the tulle and then spritzed it  generously with Vanilla Shimmer Mist.

Although you can't see the shimmer in the photo...it was so gorgeous!  I cut pennants from the DSP and Soft Suede cardstock and added a little crochet trim.  I attached a pin back to the back so they could wear them in Tacoma. 

The gift tag was die-cut from the Two Tags Big Shot die. I love that die and use it for so many things.  Another scalloped flower was attached to the tag; the scallop punch is designed to coordinate with the scalloped top of the tag die; you can see how the silver scallop nests on the red scalloped tag.  That is one thing I love, love, love about Stampin' Up! products - the coordination!  Not just the colors, but how many of the punches and dies are made to work together, there are stamps designed to coordinate with many of the punches and there are so many dies that have matching stamp sets as well.  Coordination is a very good thing!

Of course, what is a gift if there is not a little chocolate involved?  I love the colors of these Hershey's kisses!  Perhaps I will invite Leslie to guest blog about her experience at the Stampin' Up! regional.  Stay tuned!

Card Set Giveaway - Brenda Riehle

Last week, I was out of town with no internet access to post the winner of the hand-stamped card set giveaway on Friday.  So, although it's a few days late, the winner randomly selected is..................Brenda Riehle!

Thank you for becoming a follower Brenda.  I hope you enjoy your cards.  Just send me an email to mypaperantics@gmail.com with your mailing address.

If you want to be entered into a weekly drawing for a hand-stamped set of cards, designed and created by me, all you need to do is become a follower of my blog AND leave a comment.  There will be a weekly drawing until I reach 100 blog followers.

Share my blog with your friends, encourage them to become blog followers, and maybe they'll win a set of cards.  Who knows, you could even win the Grand Prize when my blog reaches 100 followers - a free stamp set!

 I'm busy in The Studio getting some projects together for a workshop on Thursday evening.  Everything is SO cute!  Would you like a little sneak peak of one of the projects?

This cute little punkin' was created with the large scallop circle die and embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  The leaves were die-cut with the new Autumn Accents die in the Holiday Mini.

This is a direct case (copy and share everything) from a swap I received in Denver last month (oops, I've lost the name of the swapper) but the idea has been around awhile, creating a circle card by folding cardstock in half and keeping the fold inside the circle, so it doesn't cut the complete circle.  It's a fun idea that can create all kinds of fun projects.  In fact, I'll be using this idea to create ornament cards for a Christmas card class, using the big plain circle die. 

Have fun stamping!