Enjoy your birthday

Here's a birthday card I made for my son Christopher's birthday.  The new Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper Stack is the bomb!  It's great for masculine and feminine projects, as well as card making and scrapbooking.  So versatile!

I chose my color scheme from the fabulous piece of striped designer paper in this packet — Sahara Sand, Pumpkin Pie and Tempting Turquoise.  The orange print is the reverse side of the striped paper, making it really easy to coordinate!  I used the same colors in 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbons.  The sentiment doubles for the focal point of the card and is from Enjoy Every Moment stamp set.  I picked up the star image from Wanted stamp set.  The coordinating button is from Sherbet Designer Buttons pack.  "Every moment" is stamped and punched out with the Scallop Oval Punch.  Don't forget to order Mini Glue Dots to make adhering your buttons a snap, and some Linen Thread for the centers.

THINGS YOU'LL NEED:
Item No. 113622 Enjoy Every Moment   $31.95
Item No. 115106 Wanted   $23.95
Item No. 117161 Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper Stack   $24.95
Item No. 114889 Scallop Oval Punch   $15.95
Item No. 103683 Mini Glue Dots   $4.95
Item No. 104199 Linen Thread   $4.50
Item No. 109030 Pumpkin Pie 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon   $4.95
Item No. 109038 Tempting Turquoise 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon   $4.95
Item No. Sherbet Designer Buttons   $7.95

Don't Forget!

* To Sign Up for our Spring Stamping Retreat Weekend! Click HERE for more details!
* To sign up for the Spring Card Class!  Click HERE for more details and to register.

Life’s Natural Rhythm

A couple of days ago, I got sad news that a good friend and fellow stamper had lost her mother-in-law.  On that very same day, I received the joyous news that another friend and stamper had given birth to her very first child–a little girl.  I'm reminded again of the rhythm of life – one life gone, a new life begins.

Today I'm honoring a life well lived by Kathleen “Peg” Christensen, who had a remarkable 93 years with her friends and family.  Here's a special card for her son Alan and daughter-in-law Judy.

Because it was Alan's mom, I wanted a decidedly masculine card and Splitcoast's color challenge offered just the right pallette.  I used Bravo Burgundy, Basic Gray and Whisper White, with just a touch of Crushed Curry.  Lovely as a Tree stamp set seems my "go-to" stamp set for masculine cards.  I never get tired of it!  The sentiment is from Thoughts and Prayers stamp set; it's stamped in Basic Gray Classic Ink, as are the trees, and punched out with the Large Oval Punch, layered with Bravo Burgundy card stock punched with a Scallop Oval Punch.  A piece of Bravo Burgundy 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon knotted and wrapped around the Basic Gray card stock completes this simple card.

I'll get to work on a special card for that darling baby girl and share it with you soon!

THINGS YOU'LL NEED:

Item No. 115026 Lovely as a Tree   $27.95
Item No. 113252 Thoughts & Prayers   $25.95
Item No. 114889 Scallop Oval Punch   $15.95
Item No. 107305 Large Oval Punch   $15.95
Item No. 109053 Bravo Burgundy 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon   $7.95

Injured Cowboy in AZ

At each Leadership Conference, those with the Stampin' Up! title Manager and above are treated to an all-out event during one of the evenings we're there.  This year was no exception!  It was a wonderful evening at a nearby Mexican ranch featuring lots of wonderful food, authentic costumes, traditional dancers and a rodeo!  it was certainly a night to remember!  Especially when one of the cowboys was injured badly while performing a stunt for us.  In true Stampin' Up! form, there was an immediate call to action.  Several of the demonstrators there began taking up a collection for his family.  There were around 500 people in attendance, and if everyone gave just $1, we could help the family out during a very rough time.  And then, of course, someone got the injured cowboy's name and address, and well, you guessed it, we're all sending our get well wishes Stampin' Up! style!  Below is the card I made for him:

I knew that to get both a masculine and a Western feel, I needed to use Wanted stamp set.  I knew the horse in motion would appeal to this cowboy who makes his living by galloping his horse around an arena and jumping onto the back of another unsaddled horse!  Sounds crazy, I know!  I began the card with Soft Suede card stock and stamped tone-on-tone using Sanded background stamp.  Next came a layer of Dusty Durango card stock–this color name just conjures up images of cowboys, doesn't it?  I added a layer of Creamy Caramel card stock and stamped my main image on Very Vanilla card stock.  The image in the right corner is made by stamping that image found in Wanted twice — once in Dusty Durango Classic Ink (then punched out with the Scallop Circle Punch) and another time in Creamy Caramel Classic Ink (punched out with 1-3/8" Circle Punch).  I added a Designer Circle Brad to the center and a luscious piece of Dusty Durango 1/2" Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon to finish it off.  Get Well Soon, Poly!

THINGS YOU'LL NEED:
Item No. 115106 Wanted   $23.95
Item No. 115609 Dusty Durango 1/2" Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon   $9.95
Item No. 112571 Designer Circle Brad   $5.95
Item No. 109043 Scallop Circle Punch   $15.95
Item No. 104401 1-3/8" Circle Punch   $15.95

Want to see some of the fun we had at Manager's Reception?  Here are just a few pictures:

Here's my upline and daughter, Aly, and me by the fountain.  Such beautiful grounds!

We were welcomed by some wonderful musicians!

Here's Aly and her upline, Missy Shipman, enjoying root beer and the rodeo.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get good pictures of anything going on in the arena.

These two women were making salsa fast and furiously — how fresh and tasty!

Stampin' Up! provided us with beautiful wraps for the chilly evening.

Here's the fabulous table settings at dinner.  The colors were spectacular!  Notice the little gifts wrapped up in brightly colored tea towels at each place.  They contained a brand new stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalog – Love Bandit!

Don't Forget!   

• To register for the Valentines (and more!) Class — click HERE!  Registration is due by January 22nd.

Register for the Valentines (and More!) Class Today

The deadline to register for the Valentines (and More!) Class that will be held on January 30th is approaching quickly!  You must be registered by no later than FRIDAY, JANUARY 22nd, to be able to attend.

There are TWO time slots and TWO locations being offered -

Saturday, January 30th
10AM to 1PM, Webster United Methodist Church, Webster, NY

OR

6PM to 9PM, 5225 Knapp Rd., Middlesex, NY

Here's a second picture of one of the 5 projects we'll be making.  To see the first project I posted and for more details, click HERE.

Nouveau Chic Birthday

I spent some time yesterday making a special birthday card for a very special son-in-law.  I discovered I didn't have many masculine stamp sets to choose from, but Brad's the "outdoors-y" kinda guy, and I thought this beautiful tree image from Branch Out stamp set might make him smile.

I absolutely love the new designer series paper called Nouveau Chic.  It's a very unusual paper with an interesting color scheme — Basic Black, Basic Gray, Sage Shadow and Apricot Appeal.  For some added interest, I paper pierced the edges of the Apricot Appeal card stock and added a couple of black brads to the corners of the triangles that overlap the main image.

Here's a close-up.  After stamping the tree in Basic Gray, I discovered it needed a little "grounding".  I used my Aqua Painter and some Sage Shadow Classic Ink to paint in a little "grass".  The final touch was to stamp "happy birthday" from Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set in basic black ink, then punch it out with the Curly Label Punch and tuck about 2/3 of the tag up under the main image.

Hope he likes his birthday card this year!

THINGS YOU'LL NEED:
Item No. 113200 Branch Out stamp set (on dormant list; not in catalog)   $22.95
Item No. 115370 Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set   $36.95
Item No. 115670 Nouveau Chic Designer Series Paper   $9.95
Item No. 112208 Curly Label Punch   $15.95
Item No. 103954 Aqua Painter   2/$16.95