Stamp-A-Ma-Jigs ROCK!!

Well, my once irrational loathing of the infamous Stamp-A-Ma-Jig (SAMJ) has turned into a love to end all others! It never made sense to me to try to systematically and methodically line up the images in a 2-Step Stampin' set - I just always eyeballed it and got close enough to look good, if whimsical at times. But since I got the Flight of the Butterfly set, I have faithfully used my SAMJ to perfectly place the details on the butterflies' wings and it is AMAZING!! Such a simple trick that makes a HUGE difference in the finished project! I found this card on SCS (crazy, huh?!?) and fell in love with it so I made it for a friend who is having surgery next week. It turned out PERFECTLY! There is a bit of a learning curve with the SAMJ, but I'm well past that now ;) And I take back every single snide remark about that precious piece of purple plastic. It ROCKS!!

Reindeer Food

If you blog-stalk at all, I know you've seen all the cute little test tube projects that are on the web. I didn't find the Martha Stewart ones, but I did find a close second at Hobby Lobby that works very well (they're with the beads). I put raw oatmeal mixed with red glitter in this one and voila! Reindeer food! Bailey got a bag of this at church several years ago and we sprinkled it in the front yard so Santa's reindeer would have a snack. On Christmas morning, it was gone! Cool, huh?!? Bailey LOVED it! Have a great weekend!

Rebekah's Super-Awesome Gift Class

These pictures are the projects that my friend, and fellow SU! demonstrator, Rebekah Ellis made in her gift class. I was so lucky to get to make them, too, at our recent Design & Dine. The Haiku paper from SU! is BEAUTIFUL and all of Rebekah's projects are completely amazing. I think my favorite is the memo cube and matching pen. I am feverishly trying to find those plain memo cubes locally so I don't have to order them. I think all the teachers at Shannondale need one, don't you?!? The gift with the bow on it is a giant candy bar and, believe it or not, I haven't eaten it yet! I'm saving it for an especially gruesome day! The pocket calendar is another favorite. It's amazing what you can do with a 99 cent calendar and some designer paper!

Urban Garden Beauty

I found (and CASEd) this card created by Momscrzr on SCS and I think it is so lovely! I used the fabulous Urban Garden Designer Paper and the butterfly from Dreams du Jour. There's only a little stamping because of the pattern in the paper. I made a few of these to use as sympathy cards. Thanks for looking and have a great week!!!

Here's Frankie . . .

I have seen so many cute Frankenstein projects on the blogs I stalk, but this one is the best! I found it on Angie Juda's blog, Chic 'n' Scratch, and she does an easy-to-follow tutorial as well. How cool is that?!?! I can't believe how well these little Frankie boxes turned out. They are a little time-consuming but not hard to do. Since I didn't have decorative scissors or a die to cut out Frank's hair, I used my new Martha Stewart Goo Punch and I really like how it looks. I hope my stampin' buddies like these little cuties! Have a great weekend!

Spooky Jars - they're all the rage!!

I finally got the cool new Decor Elements spider (medium)from SU! and the giant 2-gallon jar from Target and LOOK HOW COOL THIS IS!! I knew I would need $100 worth of candy to fill up this monster, so instead, I spent $1.99 on bright green tissue paper and VOILA! The coolest jar in town that was a cinch to make!! I put up a bunch of Halloween decorations yesterday and I just love them! This is the best time of year! The colors, sights, sounds, tastes, smells - everything about Fall makes me happy!! Have a great day!!

We interrupt this blog for a public service announcement . . .

I know that Stampin' Up! demonstrators are always looking for great ideas to demonstrate so when I stumble upon something worth passing on, I like to do just that so HERE IS TODAY'S SUPER SMART IDEA which I actually figured out on my own (I know, right!?!)! I totally love the Christmas box that my dear, sweet friend, Cele, made for me, but the base is a 6" x 9" piece of cardstock which means you can only cut one out of a piece of 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock. Not a big deal if you're making one or two, but if you want to use it as a make-n-take, that's a lot of waste. So, here are the measurements if you use a half-sheet of cardstock. No applause necessary!

***Score your piece of 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" cardstock at 3/4" and 4 3/4" on the 5 1/2" side, then score at 3 7/8" and 4 5/8" on the 8 1/2" side. This will create 2 little squares that you will cut from the edge to the score line making 2 little tabs. Fold on all the score lines and assemble with sticky strip and you have a cute little box perfect for demonstrating at your next workshop!!***

I'm also demonstrating this beautiful Chrismtas card at my workshp on Sunday that is so easy, but uses so many of Stampin' Up!'s wonderful products that will impress your customers (and mine, too, I hope!!). This will be my second m-n-t. I think this might be my best workshop ever!

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Ownby!!!

Today is my daughter's teacher's birthday, so I decided to introduce her to the wonderful world of Stampin' Up! through her birthday gift! I had seen this card on Mary Jo Albright's amazing blog and just had to CASE it. I just got a package of Urban Garden paper and it is really pretty, but I think Green Tea is still my favorite of the new papers this season. So, Mrs. Ownby's gift is a handmade box with four all-occasions cards. Also, her favorite bagel at Panera is Cinnamon Crunch, so I hope to zip over there in the morning to pick one up for her (and a Pink Ribbon bagel for me - YUMMY!!!) I hope she loves receiving it as much as I loved making it!!

Have a great week!

Weekly Sketch Challenge 6

I can't believe I haven't posted all week!! Time flies when you're having fun! This is a super simple card using Cheers to You that I made for my Bunco buddy who hosted our game last Friday night. We had so much fun!! I used my beautiful green fine Cosmo glitter on the rim of the glass and it is so pretty! Hope you all have a great week. I promise to do better this week about posting!

World Alzheimer's Day

This is the card I'm sending to the staff of the Artman Home in Ambler, Pennsylvania, who care for people with Alzheimer's as part of a cool blog candy promotion. You can check out all the details of this AMAZING blog candy on Carolyn King's blog.

If you have a moment in the next few days, send a card to someone you know who cares for a person with Alzheimer's or send one to the Artman Home. You thoughtfulness will be greatly appreciated!!

Spooky Goopy Box

I saw this project on Taylor Vanbruggen's blog and went completely CRAZY!!! It is so amazingly cute - she is super talented! I FINALLY found the Martha Stewart "Goop" punch at Michael's and it was the last one they had (I also got the Halloween Fence punch but I haven't used it yet). I just love the new SU! Halloween rub-ons! This box will hold several full sized cards and their envelopes and would make a FANTASTIC gift. I hope to have more Halloween projects on my blog soon, so check back!

Weekly Sketch Challenge 5

I am so sorry, blog-hoppers, that this post is so late!! I was gone all weekend and then I subbed today - I totally dropped the ball. This is a super simple card made with last year's SU! stuff, but I really like it - I made it for my upline's husband who moved to Dallas to pursue his dream job and is anxiously awaiting his sweet family to join him. Have a great week!

Color Inspiration

OK, I don't mind telling you that this color challenge is so far out of my comfort zone that I can't even SEE my comfort zone - it's THAT FAR AWAY!!! I tried one idea with Fabulous Flowers and it was U-G-L-Y! So then I turned to my favorite Bella Toile. Seriously, can you ever go wrong with toile? I think not! I randomly inked the stamp with Regal Rose and Rose Red and then I added Bravo Burgundy around the edges and a little in the middle. Then, in a stroke of GENIUS, I used my aquapainter and watercolored the background with Soft Sky ink. It's hard to see in the picture, but it is very striking in person. I hope I make the cut this week!

Itty Bitty Treat Box

Oh, what a wonderful treat box this is! And I am so completely in love with the new SU! Halloween paper (Ghostly Greetings) that I want to put it on everything - hubby and DD better keep moving! Ha! Ha! And the Chills & Thrills rub-ons are too, too cute, and so easy to use! There is a great tutorial for this box on SCS for those of you who, like me, see a project and have to make it immediately!!! Have a great day!!

ETA: I forgot to mention that I used a 6x6 piece of cardstock instead of 12x12 since I rarely have 12x12 SU! cardstock - simply score at 2" and 4".

Today must be CASE day!!

Halloween is one of my very favorite holidays! The colors, the smells, the yummy treats, the beautiful decorations, and the precious children in their costumes . . . ahhh, total bliss!! I am completely in love with so many of the adorable Halloween projects I've seen on the blogs I stalk so today, I decided to make a couple for me! The first card is by the supremely talented Mary Jo Albright. I just love SU!'s Tasty Sweet set and when you add a little glitter to the pieces, it's AMAZING! My other CASE is Leigh Ann Baird's awesome Jack-o-Lantern card! I think it's so clever that she inked her embossing folder to add a little color to Jack's face. Clever, clever, clever!! And it's so easy to do - this will likely be my go-to card this Halloween. Have a great day and thanks for checking out my blog today!!

Race for the Cure Thank You!

I am walking in the Komen Knoxville Race for the Cure on October 11 with a group from church called Circle of Friends in honor of our friend, Ashley, who has breast cancer. She is a young mother who has been hit very hard by this diagnosis. But we know that God is an awesome God and we pray for her and her family every day - we pray that a cure will be found for this horrendous disease. I am raising money for the local Komen affiliate and this is the thank you card you'll receive if you make a donation! It's another CASE of TreasureOiler's awesome card on SCS. It is THE BEST layout if you're putting together a challenging color combination and I ALWAYS have a hard time with using only one color. Thanks for looking and have a great week!!

Weekly Sketch Challenge 3

When I saw Annie B's sketch for this week, this is the very first project I thought of! Oh, the sweet little triangle box . . . it's one of the first boxes I learned to make as a Stampin' Up! enthusiast - an oldie but goodie! The sentiment is from Haunting Halloween and the spider is from Batty for You (one of my favorites). Have a great week!

Color Inspiration

I LOVE this color combo!! And what an AMAZING picture by Kristina!! My card was inspired by this card on SCS by TreasureOiler. I think this is a GREAT design when you want to use a color combination that might be out of your comfort zone. I've been making so many cards with Baja Blue and Kiwi Kiss lately that all the other colors are out of my comfort zone! Did you notice how "celebrate" is perfectly multicolored? I used the In-Color "markers" I created by loading the tips of new blender pens with ink from my ink refills. Oh, so easy and oh, so cool!!