Almost Berry Picking Season

Hello Stamping Friends,

It's Friday, woohoo!!!!!! Who doesn't love a beautiful Friday to start the weekend off right. The weather the past few days has been A-W-E-S-O-M-E. I've been driving around with the top down (on my car, people!) and love the breeze. It's the best time of year after a long, long cold snowy winter. Can you tell I'm loving it?

Another thing I love is berry picking, so this week's theme with the Sisters in Stamping is perfect. I went berry picking as a little girl and I've taken my boys (and visiting family members) to pick strawberries often. It's a lot of work picking those berries, but I love it. A few more weeks and we'll be heading to the strawberry farm to get our buckets of berries, but in the meantime you will have to enjoy a card made with berries instead. Well, who am I kidding, I'll share a photo (or two or three) with you from last year's berry picking excursion before I share today's card.

My berry picking partner, Jonah. His favorite part of going is getting the strawberry smoothie at the end of picking. Guess I can't blame him. 

Almost done. I'll fill this bucket yet.

Okay, you were patient enough with me. It's time for this week's strawberry creation. Hope you enjoy it.

I used the basket stamp to create a tone on tone background for my card. Then I stamped a few baskets on whisper white cardstock and used the blender pen to slightly color them in.  Notice a few of my baskets are empty. It's usually what ends up happening when we go to pick our berries. Someone gets tired and just puts their berries into someone else's container and just calls it quits 

I used washi tape as a ribbon and for something for my baskets to sit on. I used the red thread from the holiday catalog around the rims of my baskets to add a little more color. The basket of wishes stamp set is coming back in the new catalog, so if you didn't get a chance to order it, you will only have to wait until June 1st to order it.

Don't forget to head on over to Sisters in Stamping to see more great strawberry ideas.

Don't Forget the Year-End Closeout Sale

Hello Stamping Friends,

Just wanted to give you a quick reminder of the great sale that is happening now (only a few days left). I know we are all crazy busy just before Christmas and you may have forgotten about the Goodbye 2016 sale Stampin' Up! is holding right now. Many products are on sale.

Many things are up to 60% off. So if there are still a few things you were hoping to get from the Holiday catalog, check out the sale and see if your items are on sale. Remember the sale ends January 3rd and so does the Holiday Catalog. Come January 4th there's a new guy in town, the Occasions Catalog and the Sale-a-bration catalog.

To see all the items on sale, CLICK HERE.

Below is a screen shot of my website of what you will see when you go. Click on the Year-end Closeouts to see all the items and their sale prices.

Thank you for all the love and support this past year. I appreciate each and every one of my stamping friends. See you in 2017!

A Few More Christmas Cards to Share

Hello Stamping Friends,

I'm back with a few more cards to share with you that I received this Christmas season. I have to say, I'm just thrilled that my cards are all finished and out this year. It took me two years to get them done (thanks to life getting in the way last year) but I'm so happy to be able to report they are postal.

This card with a different type of fold was made by Patti H.

This cute little gingerbread house card was made by Maria H.

This shiny reindeer card was made by Barbara B.

And this great ornament card was made by Karen B.

Again, thank you ladies for sharing and thinking of me this Christmas season. I appreciate each and every one of you and thank you for your continued support this past year.  Remember, I only shared first names because these were made by customers.

A few Christmas Cards I Received

Hello Stamping Friends,

I received some great Christmas cards this year and I wanted to share them with you. Of course, I received many other cards/picture cards that were beautiful and well appreciated that each person thought of my family during the holidays but I'm only sharing the ones made with Stampin' Up! stamps with you here.

This first one was made by Ruth D. An elegant card that is simply delightful.

This one is made by Susan T. Who doesn't love a good Christmas cookie?

This one was created by Megan J. I love the embossing with a few little stamps.

And this beauty that sparkle and shines was made by Cindy O.

I'm only sharing first names because some of these were made by customers. Again, thank you each of you for thinking of me this holiday season. Come back for more.

Need a Gift For Christmas?

Hello Stamping Friends,

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at our house. The house is all decorated and there's even some snow outside. We got about an inch or so of the white stuff last night/early this morning which gave Jonah and I an extra bonus, a two hour delay. Woohoo. Love working for the school district and still getting delays at this age. You never outgrow the excitement of a delay. Although, now that I'm older, a snow delay also means I need to go out and shovel that crazy long driveway we have. That's okay, I'll take it.

I'm sharing a great little gift that you can make for Christmas this year. It uses one of our clear mount stamp cases (yes, you can purchase them without the stamps). You just cut your favorite designer series paper to slip in between the plastic sleeve and the case. You can change them out with the season. Why, wouldn't it be an eve better gift if you make a set of them so the recipient can change it with each season?

I used three coordinating pieces of designer series paper. Using one paper pack is so easy because they all work so beautifully together and it takes the guess work out of the equation for you. Then you just need to pick a stamp set for a focal point. I used the Basket of wishes set from the Occasions catalog for this one. I thought the strawberries were wonderful to use with the Pop of Pink Designer Series Paper.

Here's the inside of the case and the little tablet too. The cases are a tad shorter than the junior legal pads but that's not a problem. I take the entire pack to Staples and have them cut the bottom of the pad so that it fits inside. It only costs a couple of bucks.  

See how the inside of the case is all pretty, too? That's all thanks to Stampin' Up!'s awesome designer series papers being double sided. Now you have a great finished project both inside and out.

Product List

Basket Of Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set [142200] $17.00	Pop Of Pink Specialty Designer Series Paper [141648] $13.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $9.00
Melon Mambo 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [115320] $8.00	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad [126948] $6.50	Emerald Envy Classic Stampin' Pad [141396] $6.50
Blender Pens [102845] $10.00	SNAIL Permanent Adhesive [104332] $7.00	Stampin' Trimmer [126889] $30.00
Paper Snips Scissors [103579] $10.00	Tear & Tape Adhesive [138995] $7.00

More Treats for You

Hello Stamping Friends,

Dropping by on this blustery snow covered Monday morning to share one more special little treat with you.  Yes, it is very windy here in NEPA, has been since last night. We even have a 2 hour delay with school. Now that's something I CAN get behind and so can Jonah since he has to catch a bu at 6:40 AM.

This is the final make n take that each attendee made at my all day stamping retreat held last weekend. If you missed it, start planning now to attend the good times in April. The retreat is a lot of fun and you get to work on your stamping/crafting projects with no household interruptions. For me, that alone make it all worthwhile.

The cookie cutter Christmas set is a must have for quick, easy, yet adorable cards and projects. You really don't need to do very much to have an awesome looking finished project. Pair it with the Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper and you are good as gold. I made these little slider gum holders by first measuring the package of gum to get my measurements. Depending on the gum you select, your measurements will be different.

The ribbon is through the top two holes (one on each side) and the gum sits on that. You push it down and then pull up on the ribbon to get to your gum. Adorable!!!!!! As you can see, I decorated it rather simply but it's still adorable.

Don't forget about the  Stitched from the Heart new framelits and some stamps sets that are 25% off. Plus today starts the Online Extravaganza with specials for the next week as well as specials just for today. Don't miss out on the savings.

Product List

Cookie Cutter Christmas Photopolymer Bundle [143493] $35.00	Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper [141981] $11.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $9.00
Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119686] $8.00	Real Red 3/8" (1 Cm) Stitched Satin Ribbon [141693] $9.00	Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102482] $8.00
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad [126949] $6.50	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974] $6.50	SNAIL Permanent Adhesive [104332] $7.00
Stampin' Trimmer [126889] $30.00	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $4.00	Tear & Tape Adhesive [138995] $7.00
2" Circle Punch [133782] $18.00