It's tonight!

Christmas and Pizza, that is. I hope you're hungry! I've ordered several pizzas, including my favorite gourmet vegetarian. My mouth is watering already.

My granddaughter Leah has been watching me make examples for tonight. She keeps asking me if it is Christmas yet and is hoping several of them are for her. One of them, however, she thinks is "gross." And her 2 year old cousin Wyatt wrinkles his nose and says "Ewwww" about it. What cute Christmas gift would a four year old think is gross? You'll have to be there tonight to find out!

Congratulations to Stefanie, who won the RSVP door prize drawing. There are lots more door prizes available, I hope you win one too.

Simple is Good Too

I 've been busily Stampin' away getting ready for Christmas and Pizza, so I haven't had much chance to post. I'm getting excited about it, and hope you are too. I mailed invitations on Monday, so if you are on my mailing list you should receive one of these cute postcards any day now, if you haven't already. If you aren't on my mailing list but would like to be, please let me know.

Since this is a postcard it could only have one layer, and no embellishments. That was a challenge for me, but I like how this turned out. I used Confetti Cream cardstock for the base, the Delightful Decorations stampset from the Holiday Mini, Garden Green, Ruby Red, Not Quite Navy and Gold Encore ink. The ornament hangers were hand drawn with the help of a ruler using my Basic Black Stamp and Write Marker.

There will be several other items done with this stamp set on display at Christmas and Pizza. I hope to see you there! Lots of door prizes, gifts with every order and the pizza is on me.

I Was Wrong

I couldn't finish 20 cards in one evening, especially an evening that involved running errands on the way home, a dinner disaster and transportation complications. I was only able to finish 10 of them. Here is one of them, the other nine use the same stamps and colors but all of them are different. You'll be able to see all ten of them, and a similar set in different colors at my Christmas and Pizza event on October 15th. These cards will be available in a new mini-class/workshop, watch for details!

Here are the ingredients. Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Bravo Burgundy and Brushed Gold. Stamps: Tree Trimmings and Many Merry Messages. Ink: Encore Gold; Bravo Burgundy and Handsome Hunder Classic Inks. Accessories: Bravo Burgundy 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Tag Punch, Small Tag Punch.

Happy Birthday Miss Daisy!!!

September was a big month for birthday's at work. This card was for "Miss Daisy", our head secretary. It is my first attempt with the Brayered Sky technique. I love how it turned out, and will be using it a lot in the future! I'd love to show you and your friends how to do it, let me know when you are interested and we'll get together for a workshop!

Stampin' Up may need another punch for the oval series. "Birthday Celebrations" wouldn't fit in any of the smaller ovals, so I punched both the words and the black matting with the Wide Oval Punch, then used the edges of the black oval to mark the curve to trim the white oval.

Here is the recipe: Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie and Dusty Durango. Ink: Basic Black Craft Ink; Barely Banana, Pumkin Pie and Dusty Durango Classic Inks. Stamps: Upsy Daisy. Accessories: Brayer, Wide Oval Punch, Dusty Durango Dotted Grosgrain, Black Embossing Powder, Black Stampin' Write Marker and a Flower Designer Brad.

Tonight I'm going to make 20 cards to display at Christmas and Pizza. Does that sound a bit over ambitious? I think I can do it! I'll let you know tomorrow. And, I hope to see you at Round Table on October 15th!

Introducing Snow Bear

This sweet little girl is named Snow Bear. My granddaughter Leah (even sweeter than Snow Bear) made her in a few minutes this morning out of scraps. If you haven't seen the Holiday Mini yet, Stampin' Up has partnered with Build a Bear Workshop and is carrying Build a Bear licensed stamps and Big Shot dies. We made this using Stampin' Up Bear and Beary Essentials Bigz dies, with some Bravo Burgundy cardstock and a few scraps of retired designer series paper. These bears are so much fun to make, for kids and adults, both, and there are many things you can do with them. I'll be displaying magnet bear paper dolls at my Christmas and Pizza event (October 15th, mark your calendars). Hope to see you there!

If you haven't seen the Holiday Mini yet let me know and I'll get one to you. If you'd like, you can pick one up at the Mostly Mystery Hostess Workshop on Thursday the 24th of September. It will be the last Mystery Hostess Workshop of the year, so you won't want to miss it. I have several samples of cards from the new mini to show you, as well as some cute projects planned. See you soon!

Did you ever have on of THOSE weeks?

Well, I've been having one and I'm hoping it's almost over. I'm working on a demonstrator Christmas Card swap so I will have many beautiful cards to display at my Christmas and Pizza event next month. It needs to be mailed no later than tomorrow. I had Saturday set aside to work on it, a little time on Sunday and Monday. So, I got started Saturday, designed the card (and like it!), cut out the cardstock and started doing the die cuts. Half way through my Big Shot tipped off the surface I was using and my acrylic sheets and sizzlet slipped away. The acrylic sheets were right there, the sizzlet was no where to be found. I dumped my purse. I moved boxes and furniture. My daughter looked under my bed for fifteen minutes. We looked the same places all over again, and again. I even dug through my yarn bag. No sizzlet. After several hours I started to try to redesign the card in my bed and went to bed sad. Woke up in the morning to the thought that maybe I digging through my yarn bag wasn't enough and I should dump it. And there was my sizzlet. Big sigh of relief and my world is good again. So now I have all the dies cut out, did the stamping and stuff last night and all I have to do is rush through the assembly of all forty cards with their 10 die cuts a piece tonight. I may not get much sleep, but the swap may be done. Now, though, I'm running low on adhesives. I have enough to finish the swap, but we may be using Stampin' Up Anywhere Glue sticks at this month's Monstly Monthly Mystery Hostess Workshop on the 24th. They are great glue sticks, though, so don't worry.

Not only have I been working on the swap, I have two coworkers with birthdays this week, one Monday and one tomorrow. Here is the first card. It was supposed to be black and silver, but have you noticed that Classic Black ink has a purple tint to it? When you apply it to silver cardstock, purple is all you see. It's actually a perfect match for Elegant Eggplant cardstock, so that's what I used. I made the background by brayering the diamonds from Stampin' Up Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plates with Classic Black ink, then ran it through the Big Shot on silver cardstock. (The ink rinses off the brayer and Texturz plate in seconds with just water.) The greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes, stamped with black ink and punched out with the Word Window Punch. That is mounted on a piece of Elegant Eggplant punched with the new Modern Label punch and accented with Silver Brads. I hand wrote Ozzy on a piece of Whisper White, punched with the Small Tag Punch and mounted it on an Elegant Eggplant Tag. I used the silver elastic cord from the Holiday Mini to make it look like a gift, and there it is.

It's a Pink Elephant!

Animal Story is one of the irresistably cute new stamp sets in this year's Idea Book and Catalog. It consists of an owl, a whale, a giraffe and this adorable elephant. I don't use a lot of solid stamps, so it took some practice to get good images, but I did find a very helpful suggestion - before using the stamp lightly sand it with a sanding block. It worked very well! I've also found that cleaning it with Stampin' Mist and Stampin' Scrub just before using it helps. Stampin' Mist not only cleans your stamps, it conditions them as well.

Have I mentioned how much I like this year's In Colors? I used three of them here, the card base and two of the elephants are Melon Mambo, the third elephant, mat and ribbon are Soft Suede, and the saying (from the Smarty Pants stamp set) is matted on Crushed Curry and Melon Mambo. I embossed the large Soft Suede mat with my Big Shot and the Stampin' Up Perfect Detail Texturz Plate. It is also new in this catalog, and is going to be one of my favorites.

You are invited...

to see Hannah's wedding invitation. I'd invite you to the actual wedding, but it was ten days ago. The bride was a beautiful as could be, the groom was incredibly handsome, the sun was shining, and the ring bearer (their two year old son) stole the show. He wanted to throw the ring pillow into the river. Is it any wonder we call him Dennis the Menace?

The invitation is one of the simples and easiest cards I've ever made, but it certainly garnered a lot of oohs and ahs. The main part of the card is Shimmery White cardstock, stamped with To Have and To Hold (retired) in Bashful Blue and embossed with the Big Shot and the Stampin' Up Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder. That is mounted on Bashful Blue cardstock and then on a Whisper White cardstock base. I entered the invitation information in Excel and laser printed it on the cardstock before cutting and folding it. I used my Stamp A Ma Jig to line up the words and the frame. That must be one of my favorite tools!

When you do a project like this, it's a good idea to stamp the image before embossing. It helps to position the embossing on the cardstock, and it's really difficult to line the Stamp a Ma Jig and stamps up over an embossed image. (Yes, I tried.)

If you haven't seen one of our embossing folders in use yet, I'll have my Big Shot set up so you can try your hand at it at the Mostly Monthly Mystery Hostess Workshop on the 24th. Hope to see you there! If you can't make it, how about having a workshop of your own? Stampin' Up has an amazing hostess special right now! Host a $250 workshop and in addition to the regular hostess benefits you can buy any one item from the Holiday Mini for just $10. Let me know if you need more information!

I'm Back!!!

Summer has been hectic to say the least. And just when it started to calm down my computer equipment decided not to cooperate. First my printer refused to turn on. I can live without a printer, but my printer is also my scanner and card reader, so without it I can't post pictures. I really wanted to stomp my feet and scream like a two year old, but instead I spent this weekend reorganizing and decluttering my desk area so the power strip everything is plugged into could be on the top of the desk. (It was under the desk in a very awkward corner that was totally inaccessible to me and my knees.) Fortunately, the printer is fine, the problem was one outlet in the power strip. Whew! So I can scan, and I can read pictures I took. Can't take any new ones until I get camera batteries though. Did you ever feel like the world was out to get you? The camera batteries died at Hannah's wedding. I'm glad mine was not the only camera!

My baby sister's birthday was this weekend. She's starting to catch up to me, I think we both may be "plenty-nine". She loved the birthday cake cards I made my grandchildren and requested a pretty card too. Her birthday was Sunday, this will go in the mail tomorrow ... not bad for me! It comes complete with a popup birthday cake just for her, with a question mark for the candle. She's several years younger than I am, but still a grandmother.

The background is embossed with the Stampin' Up Perfect Details Texturz Plate. I brayered the texturz plate with Pretty in Pink classic ink then ran it through the Big Shot with whisper white cardstock. I love the way it makes the embossing stand out with out being overpowering. The embossed piece is mounted on Pretty in Pink cardstock. The image uses the Upsy Daisy stamp set inked with Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery Stampin' Write Markers. It's stamped on a piece of Whisper White cut with the Top Note Die with the border cut off, and mounted on a Certainly Celery Top Note piece. It's finished off with Pretty in Pink Taffeta ribbon, and a little glitter on the edges and tips of the flowers to make it special (I used our 2 Way Glue Pen). It was a lot of fun to make.

Mark your calendar for the Mostly Monthly Mystery Hostess Workshop on the 24th. (Date changed due to a scheduling conflict.) This will be the last one of the year, as October will be Pizza and Christmas and November and December we will all be busy with holiday preparations. I hpe to see you there!

Sometimes You Just Need a Simple Card...

This one is super simple and still cute. And I didn't think it was that crooked in real life. Would you believe it has personality?

I love the new In Colors! This card uses Soft Suede Cardstock, Ribbon and Ink, with a touch of Bordering Blue added in for contrast. The stamp set is Totally Tool, a great stamp for masculine cards and scrapping, or for anyone who likes to build things. The words and images share a stamp, but it is easy to separate them and mount them separately. I sponged the edges of the Whisper White cardstock because it "just needed something". Those sponges do come in handy!

Congratulations to Stefanie and Terry who shared the hostess benefits from this months Mostly Month Mystery Hostess Workshop. Mark your calendar for next months, it will be August 20th at 7:00 pm and will feature ideas for the young and the young at heart - pretty much everyone. I hope to see you there!

Perfect for a Little Braggin'

This is a small gift for my niece who's getting married this weekend. I wanted to make them something, and it had to be small since they don't have much living space. So, I made them a little brag book for some of their pictures from the wedding. The page protectors are clear envelopes and it works great for either just photos or for small scrapbook pages.

These are incredibly easy to make, and make a gift. Splitcoaststampers has an excellent tutorial here. The example is made with 5 envelopes, I put 10 in this and I've seen them with more than that. Stock on some clear envelopes and make a few yourself, you can get a head start on the holidays!

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose and Very Vanilla. Timeless Type On Board Chipboard daubed with Regal Rose Craft Ink, sprinkled with Iridescent Ice Embossing Powderdered and embossed. The Regal Rose cover is stamped with a stamp for Bojo Backgrounds with Versamark Ink. Accessories: Regal Rose 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Large Eyelets, Cropadile, SU! exclusive Top Note Bigz Die. The back is embossed with the small dots Texturz Plate in the Big Shot, but the embossing doesn't scan well on dark cardstock so I didn't scan it. The corners of the envelopes are stamped with the heart stamp from To Have and To Hold (just retired). Here's a small picture of the inside to give you an idea of what it looks like.

A Simple Wedding Card

My niece is getting married next weekend, a perfect excuse to play with cardstock and ink.

I was looking at my Big Shot dies and realized I'd never actually made a card with the Scalloped Envelope Bigz die, I'm sure the poor thing was feeling neglected. The invitation to the wedding is brown and vanilla with a little pink ribbon, so I'm guessing those are their wedding colors and chose my designer paper from those colors. This is Candy Lane, which just retired as it uses last years In Colors.

The card base is Pink Pirouette (retired), with VeryVanilla mounted on Close to Cocoa. It doesn't show in the picture, but I ran the vanilla through the Big Shot with the Stampin' Up Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plates dotted backround. The little card in the envelope is stamped in Chocolate Chip with a stamp from the Only Ovals Stamp Set, I rounded the card to match the shape of the stamp so the scallops and Designer Paper would show behind it. I tied a piece of Very Vanilla Taffeta ribbon around the envelope to make it a little fancier. It's a pretty simple card, but sometimes those are the best.

The inside of the card has a pop-up wedding cake in it made from the same DSP, but I didn't want you to get bored with pop-up cakes, so I didn't take a picture of it.

Check back for more ways to use the Big Shot later this week, and mark your calendar for Mostly Monthly Mystery Hostess Workshop on the 16th. You could walk away with free stamps!

Poppin' Granddaughter Birthday

May and June are busy in our family. My four daughters, three of my grandchildren, several nieces and nephews and my mother-in-law have birthdays between April 30th and June 28th. I kept getting pulled away from my stamps so not everyone got handmade cards, but I did manage to make special cards for all the grandbabies. This was for the last birthday of the season, Leah turned 4 last weekend. She's a little monkey, so it only seemed fitting to use Sock Monkey for her card.

This was a super simple card to make on the outside. I stamped the monkey on Whisper White Cardstock with Jet Black Stazon, then colored him with Watercolor Wonder Crayons. I stamped the balloons and party hat on some of the Designer Paper in the Petal Party Simply Stampin' Kit, cut them out and adhered them to the card. I drew the balloon strings with a black Stampin' Write Marker. By the way, if you need a short straight edge in a pinch, bone folders work quite well. I mounted the white cardstock and image on Pumpkin Pie Cardstock, and used a piece of textured Pixie Pink Cardstock as the card base. The little strip of hearts at the bottom of the page is also from the Petal Party Simply Stampin' Kit.

The inside of the card is what makes this one special. It's a popup birthday cake. It's made with the Big Shot Pop-up Three Tier Cake Bigz XL die for the Big Shot. And, it's a lot easier to make than it looks like it would be. Run the die through the Big Shot with some cardstock (Pixie Pink here, with a few small pieces of Pumpkin Pie for the candles) to make the pop-up pieces; cut some strips of designer paper; put together with sticky strip and you have a cake. Super cute, and everyone loves them.

I'll be featuring the Big Shot at our July Mostly Monthly Mystery Hostess Workshop. I hope you can come! You'll get a chance to make some simple projects with the Big Shot, and see the brand new (and very awesome!) Idea Book and Catalog. Not to mention, you could walk away with some great hostess gifts.

Hinged Cupcakes

I love Splitcoast Stampers. It is full of swaps, ideas, examples and instructions (not to mention talk about books, tv and current events). It's especially good for inspiration. Lately when I've sat down at my stamp desk my mind has gone completely blank. Lucky for me, Splitcoast has daily challenges.

Today's card is a hinge card, which is Technique Challenge 222, for May 25th. It's actually a very simple technique, I was able to make mine just by looking at the examples and using the measurements in the original post. If you'd like more detailed instructions, though, Wendy Weixler has posted a video here.

Everything in this card is from Stampin' Up. Here is what I used: Paper - Bella Birds Designer Series Paper, Bordering Blue, So Saffron and

Whisper White cardstock. Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes and Boho Backgrounds. Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Bordering Blue, So Saffron, Real Red and Pink Pirouette. Accessories: Blender Pen, Eyelet Border Punch, Flower Designer Brads.

The colors for this card were drawn from the designer paper. I love how perfectly Stampin' Up colors work together. Since May is National Scrapbooking month, Stampin' Up is having a special on Designer Series Paper and 12x12 textured cardstock. It's mix and match, by 3 get 1 free. Contact me for more information, or you can click on one of the links on the right. This promotion runs through May 31 and is valid for workshops, individual orders and web orders. Don't miss out!

Mark your calendar for the Mystery Hostess Workshop on June 18th! It will be a lot of fun, with two projects featuring retiring stamp sets and good company. There will be several door prizes in addition to the hostess credit. And, I just found out that Stampin' Up is having a hostess promotion in June, so if the workshop goes over $250 in sales the lucky winner will get extra hostess benefits! Of course, if you'd like to be sure you get those benefits, you can hostess a workshop yourself. Or, if you need lots of goodies, place an order through my website for more than $250 and you'll also get the extra credit. The promotion runs from June 1 through 30th.

Snow, snow, snow, snow!

Tax season really wore me out, and then as soon it was over I got sick. What a way to celebrate! I'm starting to remember who I am and other little things like that, and I'm ready to stamp again!

To celebrate the end of tax season I went to Stampin' Up's Seattle Regional seminar, a great activity for demonstrators. We got free stamps, made 6 projects, got to say hi to Shelli and watched some inspiring presentations with all kinds of ideas. I printed the pictures I took the other day and am really looking forward to sharing some of the ideas with you. Check back often for ideas.

One of the projects we did was a cute 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 scrapbook page for a snow picture. We had some pretty memorable snow last year so I had the perfect picture for it, but I don't have an 8 1/2 inch album. I do have a 6x6 book just of grandbaby pages, though. So, I adapted the page to 6x6. The cutie in the picture is my 3 year old granddaughter Leah.

The page uses Pacific Point, Bashful Blue and Riding Hood Red cardstock, Pacific Point classic ink, Old Olive and Whisper White craft ink, a Basic Black Stampin' Write journaler and a VersaMarker. Accessories: On Board Timeless Type chipboard, Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, a Mini Library Clip, clear rhinestone brad (from the Pretties kit), a 2" white circle metal edge tag, 1/2" circle punch and 1 3/4" circle punch. I'm still a little intimidated by chipboard, so it was great to have an example to work with. I will be using it a lot more!

May is National Scrapbooking Month and Stampin' Up has two great specials to celebrate. Our beautiful Designer Series Paper and Textured Cardstock is buy three get one free, and you can get as many as you want. (If you are like me, you want them all.) And, there's a sneak peak stamp set from the upcoming 2009/2010 Idea Book and Catalog, the new Jumble Alphabet at 20% off. Contact me for more information.

The first Mostly Monthly Mystery Hostess Workshop is coming up in just a few weeks. Mark your calendars for May 28th at 7:00 pm. There will be snacks, two projects to make, and great company, as well as a chance to win hostess benefits. I hope to see you there!

Tag Punch Starburst

It's been one of those weeks, and I just haven't managed to stamp. But, I did get to enjoy my one day weekend and make a few things. This is not a ten or fifteen minute card, but it actually very simple. It's called a Tag Punch Starburst, you can find several examples in the gallery at Splitcoast, and the directions here. The starburst is made with a piece of paper (designer or vellum), and 16 punch outlines made by first punching the small tag punch and then punching the regular tag punch around the punch out. It takes a little while to punch and glue all those little pieces, but is pretty simple, and the results are stunning.

Here's what I used. Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Kraft, Whisper White, Delightful Dots Designer Series Paper (the Sale-a-bration set). Stamps: So Many Sayings, a retired hostess set. Ink: Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker. Accessories: Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon, Flower Brads, Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, Small Oval Punch, Small Tag Punch, Tag Punch, dimensionals.

Where's the Chocolate?

I guess I'm going to have to try again tomorrow to make my simple card for my personal challenge, this one isn't that complicated, and I could probably duplicate it in 15 minutes, but start to finish is another story. As I've been looking at cards in the Spring and Summer Idea Book and Catalog I've seen several cards with combinations of Chocolate Chip and Baja Breeze, occasionally with some Kiwi Kiss thrown in. I love the color combination, and really wanted to try it. It didn't quite work out though. First, I left my catalog at work and couldn't come up with a simple layout idea on my own, so I went to the Sketch Challenge thread on Splitcoast and picked this one. Then I needed some contrasting paper for the card, picked the Sale-a-Bration designer paper, and the So Saffron in the paper kind of took over. The card base is Chocolate Chip, as is the flower branch, but other than that... I'll just have to try again tomorrow. How sad. (Not!)

Stamps: Embrace Life. Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White, Delicate Dots Designer Series Paper. Ink: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip and So Saffron. Accessories: Rich Regal brads, sponge wedge, Blender Pen. I also textured the small strip of paper that runs vertically down the card with the Sizzix Texture Plates. This is my first time trying it. The texture is great, but not as deep as I would like it to be, I think I need to play around a little with the sandwich for the texture plates. Not tonight though, if I'm going to do taxes tomorrow I need some sleep.

Lovin' the new Cattie!!

I've been having a lot of fun at lunch browsing through my Spring and Summer Idea Book and Catalog, not to look at the stamp sets but at the cards and other items themselves. There are some great ideas in there! I've been marking a lot of layouts that I like and other ideas that I want to use. There's more than enough there to keep me busy until the next catalog comes out! Stampin' Up and I are giving away free catalogs right now, so if you'd like to browse through some of those great ideas, please let me know.

This particular layout is copied from a card using the Friends 24-7 set on page 81 of the catalog. It's simple and elegant and can be used with many different images. I wanted to show you some more of the Sale-a-Bration goodies, this features designer paper from the Delicate Designer Series Paper, and the So Saffron grosgrain ribbon from the ribbon bundle. I didn't have a birthday greeting stamp that would fit the tag punches, so I inked a couple of words from a stamp in the That's Funny stamp set separately with my Basic Black marker to make one. The whole stamp says "a candle for every year might not be such a good idea...happy birthday!" and features the image of a cake weighed down by many birthday candles. The cake on this card though is from Crazy for Cupcakes. It's difficult to tell in the scan, but the candle flame and pink sprinkles on the cake have Dazzling Diamond glitter on them. Cardstock: Whisper White, Certainly Celery and So Saffron. Ink: Black Stazon. Accessories: markers, both tag punches, 1/16" handheld punch, linen thread, Stamp-a-ma-jig, 2-way glue pen and glitter.

Challenging Myself

I issued myself a challenge today. For at least the next month I want to post 3 or more simple cards every week. Here is the first one, using several Sale-a-Bration sets and a brand new punch from Stampin' Up. The scanner didn't do well on the colors, unfortunately. If I were to make it again I would stamp the sentiments in a different color, probably Old Olive, but possibly Basic Black.

Stamps: Congrats, Polka Dot Punches (both SAB sets). Cardstock: Whisper White, Blush Blossom and Certainly Celery. Inks: Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst and Blush Blossom. Accessories: Certainly Celery Twill Ribbon (SAB ribbon bundle), 5 Petal Flower punch, Eyelet Border punch, markers, blender pen, dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by! Check back often for more simple cards. If you need a quick card idea these are guaranteed to go together fast.

Stamps ... not just for cards anymore

I've been missing for awhile, and I apologize. I've been stamping, but I've been forgetting to scan and post. I'm hoping to start posting at least a couple of times a week from now on, although tax season may get the best of me.

This is a gift for an online friend, a silver and pink necklace. I really like the way it turned out and hope she likes it too. It's made with a piece of Stylized Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, a flower from the Pretties Kit painted with Burgundy Shimmerz, pink pirouette cardstock, and rose red grosgrain ribbon. The cardstock was cut to fit the frame as I don't have that punch (yet) and stamped and embossed with silver ink and embossing powder using one of the stamps from Itty Bitty Backgrounds. The brad was from my collection, I think it's a Stampin' Up ice brad, but I'm not sure.

Have you seen the new catalog yet? There is dreamy stuff in it! And, right now, Stampin' Up will give you one for free. Just place an online order through my website anytime between now and April 1st. Don't want to order online? That's okay too. If you place a Sale-a-Bration qualifying order directly through me (does not apply to workshop orders) I'll give you one with your order.

Speaking of Sale-a-Bration - Stampin' Up is giving away stamps, designer paper and ribbon. Have you seen the flyer yet? It's great! It's jampacked with ideas for things to do with the Sale-a-Bration gifts, and the gifts themselves are great. I'm making a few birthday cards with some of them and will post them as soon as I can. In the meantime, if you didn't receive a flyer in the mail you can look at it here.