My September 2017 Paper Pumpkin

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SeptPP.0917Are you subscribed to Paper Pumpkin?  You should be!  These kits keep getting better and better.  I LOVE the kit I received earlier this month!  It definitely says Fall.  Fall colors.  Fall leaves.  It’s gorgeous.

Here you can see the projects as I made them according to the provided directions.  So cute!  What you can’t see from the picture is that both the pillow box and the little card are embossed with a swirly wind-like pattern.  After I made these two projects I decided that I really didn’t need pillow boxes or 3″ x 3″ note cards so I tried to figure out how I could make them into regular size cards.

SeptPPalt.0917This is what I came up with.  Didn’t they turn out nice?   I kept the leaves and tag portions as is from the kit since they were so cut.  For the card on the left I cut apart the pillow box and used it as the background for the leaves and just added a border of Whisper White and adhered it to a Cajun Craze card.

For the card on the right I cut apart the 3″ x 3″ card AND the coordinating envelope using both of them as layers for my leaves.  Again I just added a border of Whisper White and adhered everything to a Cajun Craze card.

I’m really looking forward to next month’s kit….actually I’m looking forward to the kits for both October and November.  Why you ask?  Well…Stampin’ Up! has shared with us that these are going to coordinating kits!  Yep.  You heard me correctly.  They are going to be coordinating.  There will cards as well as gift giving items for the upcoming holidays.  I can’t wait to check it out!  If you want to receive your coordinating kits be sure to sign up for Paper Pumpkin prior to October 10th.   For more information about Paper Pumpkin simply go to the Paper Pumpkin website and list me as your demonstrator.  Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

The Clearance Rack and the Candle Border Punch

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Candle Border Punch.0217Do you like a good deal?  Have you checked out Stampin’ Up!’s Clearance Rack?  They’ve added some new items!  One of the items on the Clearance  Rack is the Candle Border Punch.

This is a great punch for birthday cards.  Check out this fun card made with the Candle Border Punch.  Wouldn’t you love to receive it on your birthday?  🙂

There are punches, framelits, ink pads, ribbons….you’ll find tons of stuff on the Clearance Rack.  Be sure to check it out!

If you’re wondering what the fun sentiment is from it’s from the Better Together stamp set.  You can find this stamp on page 51 of the annual catalog or check it out here.  I like this stamp set because you get a sentiment for the front of the card, a coordinating sentiment for the inside of the card AND a small image that coordinates with both sentiments.  How great is that?!

The sentiment on the inside of this card is “Wishing you happiness on your special day” and the coordinating image is a party hat.  Be sure to check it out.  It’s a versatile stamp set.

Now head on over to the Clearance Rack and get some great deals while they’re still available!  Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

An Easy Pick a Pumpkin

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Pick a Pumpkin.0917My Halloween and Fall Card Buffet is coming up next week so I needed to design some easier cards.  Today’s card is what I came up with for the Pick a Pumpkin stamp set.

There are two pumpkin stamp sets in the new Holiday Catalog and it was a tough decision on which one to choose.  The Gourd Goodness has more life-like images and a couple of sentiments in it but the Pick a Pumpkin stamp set has COORDINATING framelits and you know how much I like COORDINATION!  🙂

What I like about this card is that it can you used for many different types of occasions since it doesn’t have a sentiment on it.  It can be a birthday card, a thank you note or even a thinking of you card.

I stamped the large pumpkin directly on the small piece of cardstock and the other two were stamped on scrap paper and die cut.  I stamped each pumpkin in the Tangerine Tango ink and before I stamped the image I colored the stem of the pumpkin on the stamp with an Old Olive marker.  This is so much easier than trying to color the whole are of the pumpkin with a Tangerine Tango marker and then just the stem with the Old Olive marker.

These pumpkins are making me want to put on jeans and a sweatshirt but unfortunately the thermometer isn’t cooperating.  We’re still getting 80+ degrees each day here in Denver!  It looks like that might finally start changing by the end of next week.  I can’t wait!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Pumpkin Spice Latte Season

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Merry Cafe.0917Are you a pumpkin spice latte fan?  Do you anxiously await fall just so you can drink your pumpkin spice latte at your favorite coffee chain?  Well, check out today’s card!

If you’re a coffee fan you’ve probably checked out Stampin’ Up!’s Coffee Cafe stamp set in the annual catalog.  It has fun coffee images with COORDINATING framlits!  So fun!

But have you checked out the brand new Merry Cafe stamp set in Stampin’ Up!’s all new Holiday Catalog?  It’s so stickin’ cute, especially the sentiments!  I’m not a coffee drinker but the sentiment on this card, “Hello Fall! It’s pumpkin spice latte season” is one of my favorites.  There are also sentiments for Halloween, Christmas and even New Years!

The Coffee Cups Framelits set that coordinate with the Coffee Cafe stamp set also coordinate with the Merry Cafe stamp set!  How great is that?!  I can’t wait to create some more cards with these fun products!  Have you ordered yours yet?  🙂

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Definitely Dahlia for Fall

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Definitely Dahlia.0717The mornings are definitely cooler and I think fall is really on it’s way.  Here is a fun and easy fall type card that I made for some parties I had at the end of July and August.  It was a big hit.  I also used it for my Card Buffet class.

Peekaboo Peach and Early Espresso are the colors used on this card.  Don’t you love the Crinkled Seam Binding?  The great thing about this card is that you can use it for almost any occasion.  You just need to change the sentiment.

It’s a little hard to see from the picture but the dahlia is mounted on a piece of Early Espresso card stock before it’s mounted on the card.  Also, I’ve embossed the Early Espresso background piece with my new favorite Layered Leaves Embossing Folder.

This Layered Leaves embossing folder is actually a 3D Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder which means that if you spritz the paper with water then run it through the Big Shot with the embossing folder you will get an almost 3-dimensional look to your paper.  It’s really pretty cool.  A lot of times I don’t bother with the 3D look and you still get a nice impression.

One thing to remember when using these 3D Dynamic Textured Impression Embossing Folders is that your Big Shot “sandwich” will be a little different.  These embossing folders are quite thick so you only need to use one standard cutting pad in your “sandwich” and you want it to be on top of your embossing folder.  Your “sandwich” won’t go through the Big Shot if you try to use two cutting pads.

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

2017 Holiday Catalog Tic Tac Toe

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I love to play games.  Card games, word games, board games….ask me to play a game with you and I’m pretty sure my answer will be yes.  So when I saw that Patty Bennett was offering a Tic Tac Toe game for her customers to win prizes I wanted to play too.

Holiday Bingo CollageWell, I’m not going to play….you are!  Do you like to win prizes?  Do you like to play games?  Do you like Stampin’ Up! products?  Then my 2017 Holiday Catalog Tic Tac Toe game is for you!

You can check out all of the details here but basically you can win a package of the fun new Foil Snowflakes by getting 3 in a row on your Tic Tac Toe card!  There is also a grand prize if you fill in the entire card!

Get that order together, place it here and start playing Tic Tac Toe!  Be sure to contact me if you have any questions.  Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Half Full

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HalfFull1.0817In my last post I introduced you to the new 2017 Holiday Catalog and shared one of my favorite suites with you.  It got me thinking as to my favorite stamp sets.  One of the very first stamp sets that I absolutely had to have was the Half Full stamp set.  It’s so fun and of course, I love wine.  🙂

The Half Full stamp set is one of the stamp sets that was inspired by one of Stampin’ Up!’s million dollar sales achievers.  Yes, you read that correctly…million dollar sales achievers.  It’s crazy but to date there are actually 17 of these achievers!  Wow!  These are people who have achieved $1,000,000 in sales during their careers.  Can I just say WOW again?  Anyway, this stamp set was inspired by Linda Bauwin and I love it!

I designed this birthday card for my sisters.  Yes, they both got the same card but they loved it.  One of my sisters actually wants me to make some for her.  🙂

HalfFull2.0817I’ve started to do more on the inside of my cards.  The inside needs to be decorated as should the envelope if possible, right?

One of my favorite parts of the card, which you can’t really see from the picture is that the wine in the glass as well as the bunch of grapes are shiny to help them stand out as the focal point.  How did I do that you asked?  No….I didn’t emboss them.  I “colored” them with my Fine-Tip Glue Pen!

I call it “coloring” only because you go over the entire image with the Fine-Tip Glue Pen as if you were coloring.  It really makes a difference on the card and makes the image pop.  I designed a Christmas card using this stamp set and technique for I swap I’m participating in.  I’ll be sure to share that with you soon.

Cheers to all of those Million Dollar Achievers and cheers to you!  Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

The 2017 Holiday Catalog is Live!

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20170614_holiday17-cover_en-usOh my!  That’s about all I can say.  Stampin’ Up!’s new Holiday Catalog is fabulous!  There are so many new and wonderful products.  I know you’re going to LOVE them!

If you don’t have the catalog in your little hands yet you can view it here online.  If you’d like to have your very own hard copy though please contact me and I will be happy to mail one to you.  You can email me here.

There are so many fabulous products that it’s hard to decide which one is my favorite.  Stampin’ Up! has divided the Holiday Catalog into suites which makes it easy to coordinate products.  One of my favorite suites in this new catalog is the Year of Cheer Suite.  It’s all about metallics.  From the new Champagne Foil Sheets to the Foil Snowflakes, I’m in love.  You can find these gorgeous products on page 37 of the new Holiday Catalog.

Holiday17_p36-35 (2)I haven’t had a chance to play with these gorgeous new products yet but here is a picture from the catalog with some samples made using these fun new products.  I know you’re going to want to get your hands on them!

Watch the video below to see how well these products coordinate together.  Be sure to add these products to your wish list or order them here right now!  🙂

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Fall Into Savings!

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Shareables-2_PP_Sept_Promo_Aug0817I’m telling you…..Paper Pumpkin just keeps getting better and better!  These all-inclusive kits are fun and easy to make.  I know you’d love them if you gave them a try.

Guess what….now is the perfect time to give them a try!  First time subscribers will  get half off of the price of their first kit if they sign up before September 10th!  Woo Hoo!

aug17ppSeriously….give it a try.  I’m anxiously awaiting the August kit.  It should ship within the next couple of days.  Most of the time what’s inside of these kits is a big surprise but sometimes Paper Pumpkin will give us a hint on their Facebook Page.   The picture at the left is the hint they gave us for this month. Here is what they said: “You don’t want to miss out on finding how these elements work with the rest of August’s coral-hued kit! Think warm CARDS and gifting!”.  Oooo…so much fun!

For more information or to renew or sign up for your Paper Pumpkin subscription just go to www.paperpumpkin.com and please list me, Cindy Russell from Highlands Ranch CO, as your demonstrator.  Give it a try.  I think you’ll like it!

A Popular Dragonfly Dreams

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Dragonfly Dreams.0817Hello!  I hope your day is going well.  In the last few weeks I’ve had 3 stamping parties for people (woo hoo!) and 2 classes here in my home.  All this since I’ve returned from Thailand.  Needless to say things have been a bit busy around here.

This cute little dragonfly card was one of the favorites at the stamping parties.  This card gives newcomers to stamping a chance to play with the Big Shot quite a bit.  They got to use an embossing folder as well as framelits.  They also got to see that a little glitter goes a long way.  We colored the wings of the dragonfly with the Wink of Stella Glitter Pen for the perfect finishing touch.

I really enjoyed these parties and I hope to do more in the future.  It’s a fun way to meet new people.  I love seeing how excited people get when they make their first card.  Do you remember when you made your first card?  I’m trying to remember making mine but I’m pretty sure it was almost 30 years ago!  I actually found a receipt from my very first Stampin’ Up! order and it was from shortly after my oldest son was born.  Yikes!  I really have been doing this for a long time!  I do love it though!  🙂

Well, I’m off to plan for future events and maybe do a little cleaning and organizing!  Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Confetti Celebration

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Confetti Celebration.0817Let’s celebrate!  What are we celebrating?  Anything and everything!  This is the perfect card for any celebration!  With the little “It’s your day” on their it looks more like a birthday card but it could be your day because you got a promotion, or a new haircut, maybe you beat cancer today….Let’s just celebrate for the heck of it!  We made it another day!  🙂

This is actually an older stamp set but as I was flipping through the catalog looking for samples this sample caught my eye.  Yes.  I pretty much copied this card straight out of the catalog but I’m pretty sure that’s why Stampin’ Up! put all of those great samples in the catalog!  Ha!

I had everything on hand to make this card except of course the Starburst Punch.  Luckily I just had to place an order to get it.  🙂

We are making this card in my Card Buffet classes this week.  It’s easy enough that you can make a bunch of them and it also has a masculine vibe to it.  Don’t you love the Silver Mini Sequin Trim?  It’s a bit more versatile than the trim we had in the last catalog with regular size sequins.  I can’t wait to try out the black Mini Sequin Trim on a Halloween card!  Fun!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Basket of Wishes: Strawberries!

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YuBasket of Wishes.0517m!  I LOVE strawberries!  My choice for a birthday cake would be angelfood cake with strawberries….unless I could have cheesecake.  Cheesecake always wins hands down!  🙂

Strawberries are so good this time of year so I thought I should (finally) post this card.  Yes, I said finally….we made it in class back in May!  Yikes!  Yep.  I’m a little behind with my blog posts.

All that aside this is a nice summery card on a not so nice summer day.  Cooler temperatures (yeah!) and rain are in our forecast for the day.  I’m going to run some errands and get ready for two classes and a stamping party.  I guess I have to fit cleaning my house in there sometime too.  Oh, well.

When die cutting stamped images it’s usually best to stamp the images and then die cut them but in this case I die cut the Stitched Shapes Circle first and then stamped.  This way I could make sure everything fit into the circle.  I used Shimmery White cardstock so I could watercolor the image.  If you didn’t know, watercoloring on Stampin’ Up!’s regular Whisper White or Very Vanilla cardstock doesn’t work very well because the paper pills and it’s not thick enough.  Shimmery White cardstock gives your card a little sparkle too.  🙂

Well, it’s time to get the show on the road and get busy.  Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Label Me Pretty

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Label Me Pretty.0617Happy Friday!  This lovely little thank you card has gotten good use.  I used it in my last Card Buffet Class way back in June and I also used it in both workshop/parties I held last week.

This is a fairly easy card to make yet you get to play with the Big Shot and punches.

Isn’t this a great color combination?  Berry Burst and Tranquil Tide.  Both of these are new In-Colors for 2017-2019.  They are probably my favorite new In-Colors although I can’t seem to get enough of that Lemon-Lime Twist!  It’s so bright and fun!  Which new In-Colors do you like the best?  Be sure to leave a comment below and let me know.

Of course the Label Me Pretty stamp set COORDINATES perfectly with the new Pretty Label Punch!  Who doesn’t love COORDINATION?!  It’s great when Stampin’ Up! makes my life as a crafter easy!  🙂

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Carols of Christmas!

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Carols of Christmas.0817Yes.  I know it’s only August but Stampin’ Up! is offering a wonderful holiday stamp set and framelit bundle early just for you!  You’re going to love the new Carols of Christmas Bundle and it will give you a chance to get a head start on those holiday cards!

This is an easy card that I’ve designed for my Card Buffet class next month.  Tranquil Tide and Crumb Cake.  Isn’t that a nice color combination?  You can’t tell from the picture but I used Wink of Stella on the words to give the card a little sparkle.

I didn’t use any of the coordinating framelits on this card but stay tuned as I plan on playing with this bundle later today.

So you can purchase the stamp set, the framelits or the whole bundle during the month of August.  Remember that you save 10% if you buy the bundle!  Don’t forget to use your Bonus Coupons that you earned last month!

Item Description USD CAD
146036 Carols of Christmas Bundle (wood-mount) $52.00 $69.25
146037 Carols of Christmas Bundle (clear-mount) $45.00 $59.25
146038 Lot Cantiques de Noël Bundle (French; clear-mount) $45.00 $59.25
144674 Card Front Builder Thinlits Dies $30.00 $40.00
144801 Carols of Christmas Stamp Set (wood-mount) $28.00 $37.00
144804 Carols of Christmas Stamp Set (clear-mount) $20.00 $26.00
145028 Cantiques de Noël Stamp Set (French; clear-mount) $20.00 $26.00

Here is a video that Stampin’ Up! has made that shows this fun bundle.  Check it out and order your bundle today!  🙂

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

I LOVE Flamingos!

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Enough is enough!  I’ve been home for two weeks and it’s time to get the show on the road!  It’s time to start posting to my blog again!  Sheesh!

The first week I was back I was trying to recover from jetlag (boy does that wipe you out!) and plan for a couple of stamping parties as well as my August card buffet.  Both parties went well and I’m excited for the next one coming up.  This past week was spent doing the stamping parties and designing for my upcoming August Card Buffet Class.

Fabulous Flamingo.0617But you don’t care about all that!  You want to see some fun cards!  Today’s card features the flamingo!  There is something about flamingos that I absolutely LOVE!  It could be because they are PINK!  🙂

This meant the Fabulous Flamingo stamp set was one of the first ones that I had to have from Stampin’ Up!’s new 2017-2018 Annual Catalog!  I designed this card for a swap I participated in and we also made it at my last class.

The body of the flamingo is a 3 stamp process and the legs are another 2 step process.  One of my favorite parts of this card is how the water turned out.  I stamped all of the images on Shimmery White card stock.  The water stamp is just the line image you see but then I took my Aqua Painter and “smeared” the line image a bit.  It really looks nice.  I waited for the water to dry before stamping the grass images so that they wouldn’t smear.

Not only do I like flamingos but I like whales too.  Of course, now that I’ve been to Thailand elephants rate right up there too.  What are some of your favorite animals?  Leave a comment and let me know!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!