Fun and Mental Changes

Guess what I got in the mail!!!  The Stampin Up 2014 Holiday Catalog!!!!  And to celebrate the pre-holiday ordering season, my demonstrator gave me some stamped images to play with.  Of all of them, the Happy Hanukkah stamp JUMPED OUT AT ME!   I'll give you three guesses why.... isn't this SPOOKILY DELICIOUS?!? I IMMEDIATELY thought of Halloween when I saw this GORGEOUS candelabra and requested it be stamped without the "Happy Hanukkah" sentiment as it is all one stamp.  The Hanukkah example in the catalog is really very beautiful, but this sort of SCREAMS Halloween to me.  I'll give you two more guesses what will be on my next Stampin Up order.... LOL! And so it begins!  This is my first Halloween project this year and my blood is boiling with excitement for the upcoming Halloween season. Gonna have to brew some coffee.... I'm gonna be inking up some more Halloween fun!  MAN!  I need to get...

  It's sad really that I have to wait until a stamp set is retired to really start to play with it, but here I am with a birthday gift card holder I made using Stampin Up's Postage Collection.  I believe this was a hostess set, but please don't quote me.  The background is Stampin Up's Dictionary background stamp.  I used burlap for the banners and a brown baker's twine from Teresa Collins World Traveler line (yes, it too is retired) for this really fun gift card holder.... you heard that right, this is not a card but a gift card holder!!!  Its finished measurements are 4 3/8" x 4 1/4" and it was made using a standard A2 envelope!   Inside I used Stampin Up's Memorable Moments to create the Happy Birthday greeting.  I also used Tim Holtz distress inks to create the worn paper background with a couple of circle punches to notch out a spot for the gift card.  And the area stamped again with the Dictionary and Postage Collection sta...

WHEW!!!  I cannot believe that I did it!!!  I told someone the other day that I was surprised that I'm not burnt out on this owl punch, and I'm not!  I could go on with a cow using this punch, moose using this punch.... that Stampin Up Owl Punch is AWESOME!!!!  But instead of doing something different, I revisited the little girl I did using the owl punch but this time I made her into Snow White.... don't you just love the sentiment?  Perfect, right?!?  The sentiment is from Technique Tuesday's Sweet Somethings!  I made the flowers using Sizzix 3D Flowers die with the background frame being Spellbinder's Labels 20 and the decorative frame Spellbinder's Fancy Tags 3.  The top and bottom of the card was scored using my MS score board and the black decorative strip was found in my "die cut pieces" box.  I believe it is a border punch from EK Success.  I finished this off with a little bling and there you have it CARD 20!!!! Really...

I have done sooooo many different images using this amazing owl punch, to add a flower to the lineup doesn't surprise me at all.  I used Stampin Up's Teeny Tiny Wishes set for the sentiment and the Window dies for the frame.  I WISH I could tell you what embossing folder I used for this card, but I pulled it out of my scrap bin and I honestly can't find the folder that made it.  I think it might be a Stampin Up folder, but don't quote me.  The pearls are from recollections.  How sweet is this sympathy card? As I've said over and over.... SOMEONE'S going to get this card and 19 others that I've made and featured here on my blog.  To get your hands on these babies, simply place an order on my Stampin Up July Card Club party using my hostess code (highlighted below).  The person who places the largest order will receive all 20 owl punch-themed cards.  How cool is that???  And it doesn't matter if you're an out of state buyer because your or...

Welp gang... the bummer of all bummers happened yesterday.  It is something that happens to EVERY crafter.  I grabbed a white-based card to move it out of the way and when I let go of the card I saw that I SMEARED INK ON IT!!!!  I completely ruined an entire night's work in a split second.  As it turns out though, this accident is actually a happy accident because I got the opportunity to redo the card and I think I like the second version SOOOOOOO much more!!!   The second version still uses Stampin Up's retired Simply Stars and a current Gorgeous Grunge.  But to this one I added the little stars using Stampin Up's Banner punch and Banner Blast Stamp set.  Instead of the Chalk Talk die, I used EK Success' Notebook Border punch.  And finally, instead of hand writing the sentiment, I printed it out on the computer and punched it out with a 3/4" circle.  Oh Man.... this version turned out WAY BETTER!!!!! Here is the original card I ru...

Sorry about the lighting on this one gang.... it is REALLY late, or should I say really early!!!!  I had some friends over tonight and time definitely got away from me.  But that is sort of a good thing because I needed to throw a card together and quick.  Did I mention that is another good thing about this punch... that you can throw a 10 minute card together and it look AMAZING! And I figured a baby card would be a good thing to add to the 20 card pack someone's gonna be receiving. So, as I said, the lighting is HORRIBLE!!!  This card is actually white and not grey.  The sentiment is from Kraftin Kimmie Everyday Sentiments and the embossed frame is from the retired Stampin Up Decorative Frames.  The Stampin Up candy dots were used to decorate and that's really about it. The person receiving all 20 of the cards I've posted here is the person who places the largest order on my July Stampin Up Card Club party order using my hostess code, just go ...

Ok.... we're approaching the end fast!!!  Only 3 more to go.  This one was so stinkin fun to make.  That layered hair is HYSTERICAL!!!  You can make it all out a little better by clicking on the pic to enlarge.  For this one I used an old, old, really old grid background stamp from Stampin Up along with their Simply Stars, I Am and FYI sets.  Along with that I used Tim Holtz Alterations Stacked Stars dies and the Tim Holtz Stamper's Anonymous Odd and Ends.  And ALL the glitter you see is Elizabeth Craft Glitter Ritz.... this has opened up a whole new can of worms!!!  For those who don't know, Glitter Ritz is paper punch's best friend!!!  I think I will shut up about that before I suck anyone else in to THAT addiction!!!  Just suffice it to say that I'm going to be losing sleep. So for those who don't know (I'm suddenly a broken record), I am giving away the card featured here along with 19 others to the person with the highest ...