Card Candy. Mmmm.

No it is not candy you eat, but it is still eye catching!  "How did I get so much of this card candy?" you ask.  I joined a swap!  "What is a swap?" you ask.  It is an organized group of people, who all make a certain amount of somethings, send it to one person who separates all the somethings out and mail back an assortments of somethings for you.  Do you get it now?  Well whether you did or did not, here is what I got!

I signed up, along with 12 other people, which meant that whatever I made, I had to make 13 of the same exact thing.  It was card candy, so we were told to make 6 items that could be peeled off the backing and attached to any birthday card design.  13 sets of 6 items. Yes, that did take me a long time!  I know, it is amazing that I can read your mind!

My package with my 13 sets of 6 items, all different on the return, came back to me on Saturday.  Perfect!  I had to make a birthday card for my sister-in-law!  Now the decision was hard.  Which card candy should I use first.  I went though them all over and over until finally I chose.  

Tada!  Here is the card I made:

All I did was cut a base for the card, add a strip of early expresso brown and then I used some of the card candy pieces.  Easiest card I have ever made!  

My THANKS goes out to Tracey Roy, fellow Mainer and Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, who actually MADE these Card Candy pieces.  It was a pleasure using your work.

To see more of Tracey's work, visit her blog at

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/traceyroy/blog

Weekly Deals you do not want to miss!

Glimmer Paper!  Designer Series Patterned Paper!  Core'dinations Paper (that you can sand!)  Oh My!

Take a look at the Weekly Deals and Order through my link below.

Click Here to Shop this Week's Deals!

Also, now until March 31st, for every $50 order, you can choose an item FREE, that's right FREE, from our Sale-a-bration Catalog.  You can find those items in a link to the left.

Happy Shopping!

Male + Birthday Card = Challenging

I always find it hard to design a handmade birthday card for a male, especially if I am not using a specific stamp, like a deer, a four wheeler, a campfire.  Until I found this stamp set...Gorgeous Grunge.

I had so many ideas for this!  Backgrounds galore in so many colors.  

The dirtier the background looks, the more male-ish right?

Blue, Green, Orange, Yellow.  So many colors!

Oh wait, in Stampin' Up! language, it is not quite navy, garden green, tangerine tango, daffodil delight!

I had a lot of practice making this card too, since my husband has 3 male siblings all with birthdays within 1 week in March.  Aaron on the 10th.  Toby and Matthew on the 17th.  Oh but don't forget his sister also has her birthday on March 17th. (and no, there are no twins or triplets!  Just happen to like that day to be born!)  My brother's wife's birthday is also on March 16th and then their daughter just turned 1 on March 20th.  Wow, what a busy week.  Here is the highlight:

I know...she is the cutest thing you have ever seen.

Happy First Birthday Charlotte!  Your Auntie loves you!

Thanks for Visiting!

Winter? Spring? ah let's see some flowers.

Spring is here...at least that is what it says on the calendar.  Here in Maine, if you look outside, you think differently.  More snow coming on Wednesday too, so winter is still holding us hostage.  Thank goodness my family likes to snowboard because we are still thankful for the snow!  You have to find the positives in everything to make life joyful, right?  So find a reason to enjoy all this snow!

Now onto something Spring-y!  Flowers made from paper.  Yes, from paper.  A friend of mine, Pam, who is also in my Downline, made these beautiful flowers.  One of her customers found some similar in the catalog and asked to make them at a party.  As in true Demonstrator style, Pam said "Of course we can!" and then she went to work on how to make them.  When we all got together for our Downline meeting earlier this month, Pam showed them to us.  I am so impressed with how beautiful they are!  Thanks for sharing them Pam!

Thanks for Visiting!  Spread your Joy!

Bleach Stamping Technique

At our monthly downline meeting, Jean showed us all how to stamp with bleach.  I had done this technique before, but was pleased to help teach others.  It is amazing how the bleach removes the color from the paper and how beautiful it becomes!  Whenever Jean teaches a technique, she always makes a card for us to have for our records. It describes the technique and we add the image above.  Wonderful for future use!

And here is the card!  Use a 2 step stamp set (meaning the inside image is stamped in bleach and the outline image is stamped in ink around it.)  Beautiful!

Thanks for visiting!

Upline/Downline Meeting

I look forward to the 2nd Sunday of each month.  It is a time to connect with other Stampin' Up! Demonstrators to share ideas, inspire each other and laugh as friends.  We have a wonderful group, including Jeannine Tarrio, with all of her downline, myself and my downline and any members of our downline's downline.  Sound confusing?  It really isn't, just fun!

Thank you Jean for hosting our monthly get togethers.  I look forward to the next one!

In the following days, I will share a few highlights from the day:  Flowers made by Pam Parker and the bleach stamping technique, taught by Jean.

Thanks for visiting!

Faux Watercolor Flower Technique

Are you're like me - you go onto Pinterest and hours later you realize hours went by?  lol

It is well worth it!  In my hours a few days ago, I found this technique, faux watercolor flower, posted by fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, Patty Bennett.  Patty is amazing - she is a top Demonstrator for Stampin' Up! and always has great ideas!

 I followed her directions:  I chose a piece of DSP from the Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper pack. I stamped on it using a stamp from the Happy Watercolor stamp set and daffodil ink.  I stamped the flower onto the DSP with basic black ink and cut out the flower.  Voila!  Beautiful!

Close up!

Click here to see Patty's complete directions

Thanks for Visiting!

Remembering Those We Love

I have a very dear friend who is spending the day remembering one of her dear friends, Sandi.  I did not know Sandi, but feel as if I do.  She is mom, as am I, and that bounds us all together.  My heart aches for her children, family and friends.  If you feel led to give toward her families expenses, you may do so through www.youcaring.com.      To Support Sandi's Family Click Here

My friend asked that I make 12 sympathy cards for her to send out in Sandi's memory.  I wanted a simple design and found one that a fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, Leonie Schroder, had on her blog.  Simple, but elegant.  Here are the cards as Leonie had made them:

So I started the making process.  I used the words "May Your Memories Bring You Peace" from the Blessings from Heaven stamp set and the flower/stem from the Happy Watercolor stamp set.  I stamped out all 12 of those at the same time.  This saves on time, if you are making in bulk, to do things in steps.

I used another stamp from the Happy Watercolor stamp set to add color over the flowers/stems.  I chose to use pool party and pink pirouette ink, to keep them subtle.

The 12 cards are finished and when my friend returns home from celebrating Sandi's life, she will have these to send out to those who loved her just as much.  Let Sandi's loss of life remind us all that we only have a short time on this Earth.  Cherish every moment.

Visit Leonie Schoder's blog to see her Happy Watercolor card post

Punches - Old and New

If you are like me, you collect punches.  At my house, my children use them more than I do, so I like to have a lot of them on hand.  For shapes, such as stars. For layering. For Framing.  The cool thing about our Stampin' Up! punches, is that they lock closed for easy storage.  I am an organizing, storage, everything has it's own place freak.  And I am proud of it!  I know there are others like me out there...

See!  Pop open to use.  Close up to store away.

Now I used to have the black, bulky punches.  The best way I found to store them was to put them into a shoe storage unit that hung on my door.  See -

It worked.

But now look at this!  So neat and clean.

On the left top shelf I have my Big Shot embossing folders and thinlit dies.

The bottom shelf is all clear mount stamps.

How nice is this??

Does this make you want a new punch?

Click Here to Order the Punch you Want

Happy Shopping! Oh and if you order $50 or more, you also earn a free product of your choice from our Sale-a-bration Catalog.  The link to that catalog is on the left side of my blog.

Again, Happy Shopping!