New toys - and the craft room is open again!

After a couple weeks of house guests, I have my craft room back :-) We have guests coming tonight but with DD#2 gone until Sunday we can use her room for them. The guests are my sister (upline), her husband and son - so we HAVE to have somewhere to stamp :-)

I got some new toys in the last month or so and have not had time to play with them. Loved getting into them this morning and trying my hand at some ideas.

The first is the Technique Tuesday for February - crimped diamond.



Doesn't the crimping make a nice background?
Card Stock: Sahara Sand, Poppy Parade, Very Vanilla, Pear Pizzazz
Stamp Sets: Punch Potpourri, Perfect Punches
Tools: Crimper, Two Step Bird Punch, Large Oval Punch

The next card uses some of the items from the current special offer Filled With Love


Card Stock: Pretty in Pink, Sahara Sand, Wild Wasabi, Designer Series Paper Patterns Love, Very Vanilla
Stamp Sets: Filled With Love, A Word for You
Ink: Wild Wasabi
Tools: Full Heart Punch, Small Heart Punch


Then I opened up some of my pre-order items for the Mini Occasions catalog (starts Jan 4)and played with the Red Glitter Paper.
Stamp Set: Blowing Kisses
Paper: Real Red, Very Vanilla, DSP Patterns Love, Red Glitter Paper
Tools: Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Corner Round Punch, Heart to Heart Punch (Smallest heart only), Small Heart Punch
Ink: Basic Gray



Card Stock: Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla, DSP Patterns Love, Red Glitter Paper
Stamp Set: Filled With Love
Tools: Small Heart Punch, Decorative Label Punch, Modern Label Punch, Ticket Corner Punch

Another new stamp that I have is a personalized trade mark stamp. I love it! Makes the card look professional.

I have more to play with later today but have to run some errands first. Glad it is warmer but the damp makes it feel cold in the house. The snow is almost all gone and looks more like a fall day outside.

2010 in review

Some of my favorite SU activities and projects of 2010.


Of course - the highlight would have to be the Milwaukee Regional with my sister/upline. We really should have had someone take our picture together :-( - next time!

My first club made it through the whole year and almost all are signing up again! This is one of my favorite cards that we made.

I had several workshops here in my home - a favorite was the kids mini-scrapbook workshop. The kids were all so proud of their work!

My favorite workshop was the mirror workshop. Everyone was so creative it is hard to pick my favorite.

Technique Tuesday is a favorite of many of my customers. Again it is hard to choose a favorite - so I have chosen 2 :-)

Above is the Black Magic technique - love it! I really need to use it more. A New Year's resolution??

Below is the Faux Tearing technique - so easy and so versatile! You can have a Designer Series Paper look to match any combination of colors.

And my personal favorite project was the guest book for DD#1's wedding. This is one of my favorite pages.

And my favorite tutorial http://marystutorials.blogspot.com/2010/08/this-is-tutorial-for-my-modification-of.html

It is my own personal take on the popular pinwheel design.

Looking forward to 2011 - two clubs have formed and the Mini-Occasions catalog and Sale-a-bration have so many wonderful things I don't know where to start!

Peace and Happiness to all of you in 2011! Thank you for following my blog and your comments!

A Multitude of Angels

This month I am leading Children's Worship at our church. This is a special 'class' for the 4 year old and Kindergarten children to help them understand how and why we worship. What a great month to do this as it is all Advent related.
Yesterday we talked about angels and their importance in the Christmas story. The snow and disrupted routines (plus DH helping instead of DD) proved for a very active group.

Here are all 4 children (we usually have 6 but a couple did not make it) with their angels. I used Stampin Up Designer Label, 1 3/4 scallop circle and 1 3/8 inch circle punches to make the face and hair. The wings are silver waffle paper and the halo-hanger is the silver tinsel trim. The kids decorated the angel skirts before we assembled them.


Each child has a different personality shining through. Miss Suzy has 2 older live-wire brothers and 2 cousins (who are also in this class) who get her charged up. DH is another energizer for her so she was bubbling yesterday.


Miss Emelia is the rule follower. She informed us she makes hearts much better than she used to because she did not put a point at the bottom before.


Master Ryan was wound tight yesterday. He also was energized by DH and the fact that their routine was disrupted by Daddy coming to church early to shovel the parking lot.


Master Kyle was the creative one. He realized the angel cone skirt made a perfect party hat.

What a joy to spend 20-30 minutes with these children on Sunday morning.

December Club

December Club met today and even though we were small in number we made some great cards and had a lot of fun.

This card is CASEd from a swap I got and I have done it with another club only in Certainly Celery. There wasn't any Melon Mambo ribbon so I had to dye my own - what fun!

Card Stock: Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Whisper White, Vellum Card Stock

Stamp Set: Because I Care

Ink: Basic Black, Pearlized Smooch Accent, Melon Mambo

Tools: Scallop Border punch, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval punch

Ribbon: Organza ribbon dyed using the Melon Mambo ink pad

This is my favorite. It is a pop-up card and the colors just look so good together.
Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green

Stamp Set: Delightful Decorations

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green

Tools: Scallop Corner punch, Ornament Punch

Ribbon: 5/8 inch Satin Very Vanilla, 1/2 inch Seam Binding Cherry Cobbler

Inside:

Stamp Set: Christmas Message

Tools: Decorative Label Punch, Ticket Corner Punch

This one is similar to the Real Red ornaments from the November group. I currently have two clubs running and it does simplify things when I use the same method but I get tired of the same card so usually chnage up the colors, shapes etc.

Card Stock: Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, Vellum Paper

Ink: Whisper White Craft, Not Quite Navy

Stamp Set: Delightful Decorations, After Thought

Tools: Decorative Label punch, Big Shot and Polka Dot Embossing Folder

Ribbon: 3/8 inch taffeta Whisper White

This is the little luminary we made. It uses a battery operated tealight. The hostess used the snowflake punch for hers and some of the guests used the ornament punch. They were all cute!
Card Stock: Poppy Parade, Vellum paper
Tools: Desired Punch (Snowflake, Large Heart, Heart to Heart, Curly Label, Scallop Circle, Scallop Square) - whatever you like.

I'm already looking forward to our January club workshops. Both clubs will meet the end of January and we are all looking forward to Sale-a-bration!