Holiday Banners and Blog Candy

As promised, here are the holiday banners I've been working on. I took the pictures this afternoon just before leaving for work. The ribbon arrived, and when I got home tonight I ran the ribbon through the letters. But the photos here show no ribbons.

Noel is going to hang vertically. I used the 5/8" Celery Grosgrain ribbon from Stampin' Up! I love the extra width, it adds more body and proportionately balances the look. Maybe I'll photograph it again hanging during the holidays ... who knows? Noel is made using the Designer Wintergreen paper.

Joy is going to stand ... at least I hope it's going to stand! I ran ribbon behind the chipboard to tie it together, but not to hang. I'm not sure I like it that way ... I may have to re-do the ribbon so Joy can hang like the other banners. Joy is made using the Designer papers from the Simply Scrappin' Christmas kit (and I'm diggin' the pink).

Anyway, as I said in my last post, I was able to make Thankful, Noel and Joy from the chipboard package ... and I still have bunches of letters, shapes and cool things to play with.
Both of these banners have lots of glitter. Holidays should sparkle, right? The glitter doesn't really show up in the pictures, but just imagine ...





This is a sideways, close up shot of the O in NOEL made from a snowflake. There was an alphabet O available, but I thought the snowflake would add a nice touch ... plus I could bling it up with a rhinestone brad.

This is what I'm talking about ... now you can see some of the glitter in this picture. This is a close up of the O in JOY. I loved the berries and holly leaves. I just smooshed them in an ink pad for color and then glittered them up. The O was put through a xyron machine and then glitter added. Having a xyron makes things a lot simpler sometimes!

Finally, this is the snowflake at the end of JOY. You can see the letter Y is also very sparkly. The green cardstock is adhered to the back of the chipboard, so I just ran it through my xyron as well which allowed me to not only stick it to the chipboard, but sprinkle just the right amount of glitter all over it.


Well, that's all I have for today ... except a surprise Blog Candy package! It's stamp stuff ... but I think I'll keep it a secret for a few days. To enter all you have to do is refer a friend to my blog and post a comment by Sunday night letting me know that you recommended my blog to someone else. Easy-peasy. And, maybe, just maybe, I'll post a hint later about what the blog candy is. Stay tuned!

happy stampin'

Susan

Thankful share

I had hoped to have this banner completed before I shared here ... however, I am still
{im}patiently waiting on my ribbon order to arrive before I have to sprint off to work. So it looks like I need to share what I have, rather than wait for it to look all nicey-nicey.

This is the first banner I made from Stampin' Up's new On Board Holiday Greetings. There is so much chipboard in this pack!! I'm really excited over the different ways I can use up all the pieces. And, ahem, there is no stamping on this banner at all.

My plan is to run ribbon from the two top corners of each letter and let it hang over my fireplace or hutch. The papers are Designer Apple Cider {in the holiday mini} and are just delicious! The colors are yummie and I love the bolder designs.



Here is the first letter close-up so you can see the dimension of the leaf and button. I adhered the button with a mini glue dot and the leaf with dimensionals for height. I used my xyron 500 to adhere the papers to the chipboard.



The letters were simple to cut out. I used my craft knife and just went around the edges. It was actually painless ... and I'm not a big craft knife user either!

Tomorrow I hope to share the holiday banners I made. I just love them because they are ALL glittery and sparkly!!

happy stampin,
Susan

ps - watch for blog candy coming soon ... like maybe this weekend!

Holiday Card Kits

all images © SU! 1990-2007

{click here to see a better image of the cards}

This is a pretty cool offer from Stampin' Up! There is no limit to how many card sets you can order which makes it easy to plan your Christmas cards ... not to mention get a head start on making them.

Holiday Glitz Promotion
October 1 until supplies run out!
You can take advantage of this fantastic kit two different ways:

• Purchase one of holiday stamp sets (below) and get the Holiday Glitz card kit (110286) for the special price of $24.95 each, or


• Purchase the Holiday Glitz card kit (110286) for $28.95 each with no additional purchase required.

Each Holiday Glitz card kit makes 15 cards and includes:
Precut card stock and Designer Series paper (15)
Whisper White Envelopes (15)
Rhinestone brads (15)
Real Red pre-cut zigzag ribbon (15)
Full-color instruction sheet (1)



The qualifying stamp sets are:


109234 pg. 45 Snowfall $23.95



106786 pg. 36 The Snowflake Spot $20.95



109266 pg. 35 Big on Christmas $18.95



110359 pg. 5 {holiday mini} Love & Joy $23.95





Since this promotion is limited quantity, supplies could run out quickly. Please let me know if you're interested so we can order asap.

happy stampin'
Susan

my next project

all images © SU! 1990-2007

Aren't these ornaments adorable? This is going to be my next project. I have been working this weekend on a Thanksgiving banner from the Holiday mini catalog. As soon as the ribbon I ordered arrives {hopefully Wednesday}, it will be finished and ready for posting. Once I have those two under my belt, I am going to make the Joy banner - also in the mini - I may try to squeeze a few more letters out and actually make the banner read "Joyful." I think that would be a nice sentiment, and allow for a longer banner.

Both the Thanksgiving banner and these ornaments are made from On Board Garland Greetings chipboard available on pg. 9 of the current mini catalog. I love working with chipboard. It's very versatile and easy to dress up for "wow" projects.

happy stampin'
Susan

Card Makers Unite!

October 6 is officially World Cardmaking Day - did you know that? You can check out the official website by clicking HERE. If I read correctly, PaperCrafts magazine started this holiday to celebrate Cardmaking all over the world. This is the first year -- so many have not heard about it yet, but give it time, news travels fast in the papercrafting world.

The website is filled with ideas and samples by many different companies. I believe there is also a gallery you can upload your creations to share. Here are two samples posted by Stampin' Up! There are several more on the site. The first one uses Punch Pals stamp set and the awesome scallop punch.

The second card uses Big Deal alphabet and chipboard - cute, huh? Who wouldn't like to receive this for a baby congratulations card?

Do you have any special plans to celebrate World Cardmaking day? If not, call a few friends and get together. It should be a great time! I am considering calling a few of mine!!

happy stampin'

Susan

Doodlely-doo

all images © SU! 1990-2007

Card by Ann Walker

Isn't this a great card? I love the doodle line sets, probably because they are outside of my comfort zone so I can whip up a quick card that isn't my typical fare with ease. Most of the samples I have seen of cards with doodle art are bright, trendy, contemporary ... this one caught my eye because of the subdued colors. I really like the paisley design in the background, don't you? Ann did a great job.

happy stampin'

Susan

It's Thursday!!!

It's 2:30 on Thursday, do you know where your children are?
I know where mine are ... and it's not here!!!
Yep, every Thursday I have a couple of hours all ALONE.
Can you believe that?

For the very first time in my life I have a weekly break: Thursdays 2:30 - 5:30-ish.

Whatever should I do?

Friday Stamp Night

all images ©SU! 1990-2007

Yes, we are stamping @ my house on Friday. Come one, come all! We're making All Occasion Cutie Pie cards -- using, of course, the Cutie Pie Designer Paper from Stampin' Up! The cards above are taken from SCS'er jennstampin and are not the cards we will be making ... but I thought they were cute and showed off the designer paper well -- just so you could get a look at the colors, and jenn's fab work, etc.


We are going to learn how to make this trendy Criss Cross card by Beate. Her card uses Christmas papers, but ours will be Cutie Pie. It's a fun, simple card to make.

Here is a Criss Cross card made with Cutie Pie designer paper by the always awesome Cambria:

And here are more examples of Cutie Pie Cards -- all from SCS -- where my mojo resides. Another card by Jennstampin.

This one by KerryJoyBlack:

And finally, this one by Peanutbee:

So - do you want to come stamp now? I sure hope so. It will be a great night out for just the girls. Relax, make a few cards, eat chocolate and enjoy each other's company. Email me at the link to the right, if you can come.

happy stampin'

Susan

The Big Tour

Today's theme for photos is The Big Tour @ Snapfish.com - photos of your home. This is my offering -- I had to choose something I could crop real close so you can't see the huge mess in my house. For those of you who know I'm not a Suzy Homemaker - let me assure you, it's really, really, really a mess. Being sick for 4 days does nothing for your house when you have 3 teenagers and their friends trampling around with disregard. What I should do is take pictures of all the messes - ha! That would be one for scrapbooking, huh?

Now, I want to share a tin I altered to hold the pieces for the Just Rite Monogram Stamper. I'm going to start calling this my Super Stamper because it's so clever and versatile. I found this tin somewhere, probably Michael's on sale and thought it would be perfect to hold all those letters and numbers that I would probably lose if not contained. Here is the tin and stamper:

Now, the tin open:

And finally, just the tin:

All I did was add ribbon with red line tape around the tin and across the top. Then I stamped my monogram, punched it with the Marvy Scallop punch, and layered on top of a larger Marvy Scallop punch.

Easy peasy, and the monogram on top reminds me what is inside the tin, a definite plus these days! There is a cool video on CraftTvWeekly.com using the Super Stamper - click on over and view it. I think the Stamper now comes with a case, but when I bought mine it wasn't included so I just made my own. I think I like mine just as well.

happy stampin,

Susan

Challenge ... are you up to it?

This could be a really fun challenge and fodder for a mini-album, which is my preferred method of scrapping as of late. Snapfish has a photo contest for this week titled America at Home. Each day has a different theme for photographs such as Morning Rush, or Dinnertime Routines, etc. I'm going to try and take at least one photo every day. If you participate and post photos, let me know and I'll include a link to your blog here.

... and, yes, I am feeling better. I'm not close to 100% yet, but today is the first day I actually got out of bed and dressed myself like a "normal" person!

Happy stampin,
Susan

time for a station break ...

I'm out of commission. I've been yucky since Wednesday ... today is Saturday and not looking much better. I've self-diagnosed myself with a sinus infection. Stay tuned ....

abc page

This layout is actually online at Scrapbooking.com. I wanted to share since school has just started and I know many of us took at least one back to school photo ... right?

all images © SU! 1990-2007

There is a PROJECT CARD available for this layout listing all the supplies, etc. The stamp set showcased is actually on sale this month during Stampin' Up! Fall Frenzy promotion. Email me for all the details!

Happy Stampin,
Susan

Peony in Love

Where, oh where have I been? I've been neglecting my blog ... that's for sure! I'll blame my blog absence on reading. I just finished reading the most wonderful book. It's titled Peony in Love. The story takes place in China circa 1650-1700. Peony is a love sick daughter, set to marry out but fate takes it's course. The story is told from Peony's perspective, which is sometimes accurate, and sometimes tinged by her lovesickness. I enjoyed reading about the cultural mores, traditions and rituals.

This is the second novel by Lisa See that I have read. The first was Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, another book set in ancient China. I suppose I am intrigued by the rituals and traditions that are so foreign to our culture. Foot binding and proper education in the arts are major aspects of every girls life in these two books.

If you enjoy reading, I would suggest you consider reading something by Lisa See. If you do, be sure to let me know if you enjoy it.

Next post -- stamping!!

Susan

Simply Scrappin'

This is the first layout I've made with the new Creative License Simply Scrappin' Hostess kit from Stampin' Up! A group of 4 youth from our church worked on staff this summer with a missions organization. They spent 2 weeks working with the children in the mountains of Mexico. These photos were taken at the airport before they left ... believe me, they looked a lot more tired when they returned!

all images © SU! 1990-2007

All supplies are SU! Creative License kit. I cut the stars with my Cricut. The layout is cased from the kit's cover sheet. I added the circles at the bottom and the Certified sticker on the left. My dd is the tall one {in case you wanted to know}.

happy stampin'
Susan

duh!!!

Ever have one of those duh! moments? If you said yes, then get ready for another one. I found a tip today that would have never crossed my mind in millions of years! It's so simple ... yet so amazing.

At stamp club, I'll have ribbon for the ladies to use on their cards. We are forever using a craft knife to cut a little slit, or an anywhere punch ... just anything to make an entry for the ribbon to wrap around the card front. Well, obviously I'm no genius because Patty has come up with the best way to wrap those ribbons w/out stressing out over cutting a hole. CHECK THIS OUT.

Did ya go read it? Did ya? What do you think? Was it a complete duh! moment for you too? Thanks to Patty for sharing her wisdom. I'm going to go order that punch right now ... oh wait, maybe I have it ... guess I should check my stash first, huh?

happy stampin'
Susan

I'm a slow scrapper sometimes!

Sometimes it takes me forever to finish a layout. This layout has been a long time coming. I finished the basic layout waaay back in the winter, but I couldn't decide how to title it. Everything I could think of sounded so silly ... does that even happen to you? That is why I am a terrible journaler on my pages - because everything I write down sounds dumb. I guess that means I am very self-conscious about my ability to journal. Anyhoo ... Here is the final version of the layout - after several revisions and much stressing over how to title it.

Supplies: Club Scrap Farmer's Market kit, rub-on stitches, Cricut {woot!}

The next stamping event @ my house will be on Friday, Sept. 21. We are making a set of Cutie Pie All Occasion cards. If you want to come, just email me at the link in the right margin. I'd love to have you here!!

happy stampin'
Susan

Baroque background

I am a sucker for background stamps. I love them! They add so much to a card, or scrapbook page, even if you can't see the entire image. My most frequently used backgrounds are more about texture than image. For example, I love the Aida cloth stamp and the Canvas stamp -- it just adds a bit more to whatever project I am making.

My new fav background, however, does not fall into the above category. I love the Baroque stamp because the image is so large! I think it is a gorgeous stamp all by itself. Below is a card we made last month during stamp club ... and I'm sure I cased it from someone off SCS - but I dont' know who! It's simple, two layers and a short piece of taffeta ribbon, but it's classically elegant as well.

all images ©SU! 1990-2007

Supplies: Baroque background stamp; Blue Bayou, Artichoke, Vanilla cardstock; tag corner punch, key tag punch; vanilla taffeta ribbon; Blue Bayou classic ink.

Happy Stampin'
Susan

Mexico Mission Trip 2007

Sharing a few photos from Ellen's recent mission trip. She was in Mexico for two weeks this summer working with children in Dr. Arroyo and surrounding communities.

Stamping Friday night

We're stamping Friday night - yes, Stamp Club is tomorrow - if you are in the area and want to come play with us, please feel free! My motto is the more the merrier! My email address is in the right margin. It's always LOTS of fun. If I had my projects ready, I'd post a sample for you ... but as usual, I'm procrastinating.

BIG day today!

First day of college classes for dear daughter ...

she was in a hurry leaving, so we may have to take "first day photos" again tomorrow! I know she will be thrilled about that prospect.

In other Breaking news...

it's HOT! Real hot. All my plants are dead. Real dead. It's been so hot and dry that almost nothing could help. We went on a short trip to visit my sister, and here is the result:

Those pots used to contain trailing ivy and beautiful red geraniums. I don't know what to call it now, except maybe just call it over! We are more than 12 inches below normal rainfall for this year. I googled drought conditions for my state and here is what I found:

...EXTREME HEAT AND VERY LITTLE RAIN HAS CAUSED MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS TO INTENSIFY ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER BASIN IN GEORGIA...INTENSE HEAT WITH TEMPERATURES TOPPING OUT ABOVE 100 DEGREES ALMOST EVERY DAY SINCE AUGUST 6

So, let's all pray for rain. Long, slow soaking rains for the southeast. We desperately need it!

have a great day!

Susan

The Who!

In March, my husband, daughter, oldest son and brother-in-law went to see THE WHO. They said it was an awesome concert. Since cameras weren't allowed in the venue, we didn't have a single photo to mark the occasion {much less to scrapbook}, so I got on the internet and found a few concert photos that I could print. The layout below is the result:



And, yes again, it is blurry. I took all the photos on the same day and only one really turned out ok. Maybe I need a photography class! Sorry for the poor quality - but at least you get the idea.

Supplies are: Club Scrap Kit: Chapter One, crystal effects {on the title}.

Rock on ...
Susan

Musical Moments ...

Eldest son and his best friend recording their music. I love the larger photo - they took it themselves. That's one good thing about myspace and facebook, my kids now love taking pictures of themselves! It gives me lots of great photos highlighting their personalities. Visit them here to listen.

The supplies are all Club Scrap Musical Interlude kit. The title, "{to be} NOTED" was printed in my printer. The word noted is a font called Stamp Act - one of my favs.

Again - not a wonderful photo {sorry} - and you can see the clipboard clippie thing at the top, but maybe you can imagine the layout without all the blurriness!

ttfn,
Susan

more layouts

Here is another layout share. The first photo shows the 2 page layout. I apologize for the quality of the photo ... note to self: work on that! The title reads, Touring the District. However, we really weren't touring, in a touristy sense. This is a very familiar place to us, only a few blocks from my sister's house on Capitol Hill. I just liked the way the title sounded, lol! {I cut it with my Cricut, btw!!}

We visited my sister back in March for a concert and spent Saturday at a local market. Such a cool place. There's nothing like that in our small town. It's like a combination farmer's market / flea market / restaurant. People can rent spaces to sell their products. Many are farmers who come into the city with their crops - yummie. But there are artists selling paintings, jewelry, hand-crafted items such as purses, etc. It's really cool to walk around and see/shop. Inside there are permanent business: a butcher, restaurant and bake shop, plus I think a florist.

Here is a closer shot of page 1. This shows the farmer's apples and the bake shop goodies. I also included a photo of homes we passed on the way, and a photo of my dh, me and oldest son at the street corner and a tag that reads, "LOOK". It was sort of cold that morning.

The second page show my dd with her coffee creamy-something, younger son at the National Portrait Gallery in front of an "awesome" painting, a picture from the Folk Art exhibit, and another shot of the city. The tags read "SEE Everything" and "ENJOY". Again, no stamping on the layouts ... note to self: work on that!

A quick listing of supplies: Club Scrap Kit: Color in Black & White, Cricut: George cartridge, Making Memories: brads.

See you next time!

Susan

First layout

If you receive updates via feedblitz you will now only receive a partial post from my blog. I've been playing around to see what works best and how to avoid sending really long posts through to those who subscribe. So, if it works better this way, great! If not, I'll change it around again -- let me hear some feedback, ok?

Now, I did get to photograph the layouts I made yesterday - using a different camera {still looking for that darn cord for mine!} Anyway ... some of the photos turned out better than others. I should really take some time and figure out the best place / time / lighting to photographs these things.

All the layouts are on a clipboard, so you can see the metal edge at the top of each photo - it is not a part of the page ... but I was seeing how the photos worked if the paper was vertical. The verdict is ok, but not great. This is one of the best ones ... you'll get to see the other blurry ones too - I know you can't wait for that, lol!!!

all images © SU! 1990-2007

This is my dd ... same photo as in the last post, I know. But I like the photo. It's made using SU! Simply Scrappin' kit, Prima flowers, Heidi chipboard letters, misc brads and buttons but the large clear button is SU. The journaling on the "notes" is Marcella by K & Co. rub-ons.

No stamping. I have trouble getting stamping into my scrapbooks. Isn't that odd for a SU! demo? The most I can muster is to drag the ink pad over the edges of cardstock for distressing. Now - I'm REAL good at distressing! I must have some sort of mental block when it comes to stamping on my layouts, or mental something ... hahaha.

happy stampin'
Susan

last ... but definitely not least

You know how it is ... you can't talk about one without including the others, right? This is our daughter ... middle child ... and she is artistic in her own way too. She's awesome with photography, computers and graphics. At this point, she is considering going into graphic design - how cool would that be? If she doesn't change her mind, maybe she can teach ol' mom a few tricks!

I've been scrapbooking like crazy. Did anyone spend most of the previous 24 hours glued to QVC like me? Seriously, I tried to watch as much of the Craft Day as I possibly could and not be deemed a failure as a mother and wife. I didn't buy anything ... yet ... might visit QVC online today, but I love watching for the product ideas. Such cool stuff. It inspires me to use up my stash {ok - maybe that's not possible} and I completed 5 pages yesterday while watching. As soon as I find my camera charger {oops} I'll photograph the layouts and post them here.

Also ... while on the subject of using my stash and being creative ... did you know that Stampin' Up! has a promotion going on now for new demos? When you sign up during the designated time - Aug & a portion of Sept - you get an additional gift of 12 ink pads! Wow! If you're interested in knowing more, shoot me an email. My addy is listed in the right hand margin.

happy stampin'

Susan

this little piggie ...

Ha ha ha -- love this piggie! If you're feeling under the weather, I think this is just the piggie to perk you up. Who wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of this card, hmmm?

all images © SU! 1990-2007

card by Dianna Gibbs

back to sharing

Finally, back to sharing crafty things! This is a clear album by Audrey Gonzales -- adorable, right? Clear albums are very popular right now in the scrapping world. Last year my stamp club made a clear card for Christmas -- ahead of the trend -- but it didn't go over so well. Most of the stampers didn't like the openness of the card. However, I thought it was totally cute, and modern.

Anywho ... you don't have to leave clear albums so open that you can see completely through them. That's the cool thing. Some pages will be open to the next page's photo, other pages will be covered with paper, or whatever.

For example, hop on over to Ali's blog and see the clear album she posted. This is the cover ... but there is more on her blog:

Melissa posted this HERE:

If you do a search at 2ps for Clear Album you get a lot of results. Here are two that I especially like:

This lovely one:

And this funky one:

So, you see, there are many styles that work with clear albums. If you make one, or a clear card, I'd love to see a picture. And, if you give me permission, I'll even post it here. How's that??

happy stampin'

Susan

another creative child o' mine

I can't tell you about only one child now can I? This is our oldest, and probably MOST creative child. He loves music. But I think he can do almost anything he puts his mind to doing.

Ok - more stamping soon - promise!

We have a winner!

Jessica Meyer won the latest round of blog candy. Here is her gorgeous card:

all images ©SU! 1990-2007

Jessica used the new Pretties kit from SU! Did you recognize it? Maybe not since she dyed the flowers a beautiful deep shade of Rose Red. Jessica used 3 flower shapes and the bling brads for the flower center. I also recognize the printed paper from the new printed paper packs which are packs of one shade - WONDERFUL!

But - remember - the drawing was completely random! I feel like I have to say that because I loved all the submissions and they will begin showing up here very soon. Stay tuned!

the artist

Our youngest son is an artist. He loves to draw. He frequently writes stories and illustrates them. Right now he is back on his comic book kick. He's definitely a serious comic collector, but he also comes up with story lines and characters. The other day I caught him inking a drawing in his room and snapped a few pictures.

Here is a close up of his bulletin board. Lots of drawings and ideas are stored there.

Pretty cool. Nothing to do with stamping or scrapping {at least not until I get these photos in an album}, but something I wanted to share.

Susan

this time last year {almost}

This time last year our oldest son was starting college. That was a big adjustment for all of us. We homeschool, so not only was he our first to graduate and attend college ... but it was the first time he left home for his education! I am happy to report we both adjusted well.

The layout was just completed but the photos were made on the first morning of second semester {Jan. '07}. Will and his friend, Erin were able to car pool and save on gas, which was a very good thing with gas hitting $3 a gallon. She was also homeschooled so they have lots in common. She's a tiny little thing, and my son is not as you can tell from the pictures! They've been friends since forever. Erin's mom is my best friend for going on 22 years. The supplies are all Foof-a-la, if I remember correctly.

This year our second child will begin college. Now we will have 2 in college, and one left home to finish up. Another year of adjustments for all of us. Maybe I'll have more time to scrapbook??

happy stampin'

Susan