HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sorry no recent posts, everyone! I am in snowy Greer, celebrating the New Year with my family. Will be back the end of the week. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Santa's Sleigh Parked Here Today!

Santa's sleigh must have been parked outside our house today!! Look at all the goodies that arrived!!

This first batch of YUMMY treats came from my most recent downline, Cheryl. She is quite the cook! She made a darling card to go along with my Christmas treats. LOVE the colors in it, pink and red. (Hey this would make an awesome Valentine's Card, too!!) What a sweetheart, THANK YOU CHERYL!! I have already been into these treats, they are SO GOOD!! My family is thankful, too!

This tasty treat is from another downline, Jessica. She is a really great cook! These pretzel sticks not only have chocolate on them, but there is a layer of caramel underneath! I already begged Jessica for lessons on how to make these.

Isn't this card cute and creative? There is a funny story behind it, too. We were at convention and a gal was there making cards like this. We all stood around her and REALLY wanted to swap with her! She was in the middle of her production line, and wasn't able to swap (I think they were for an organized swap so she didn't have extra) so we were snapping pictures left and right. Then we couldn't figure out what FLOWER stamp she used to make her gingerbread out of. It is from the set Fabulous Flowers. The little Santa gift tag is SO CUTE, made out of punches.

UPDATE! I got an email from the gal I just described above!! She noticed the card on my blog and sent me a note. Her name is: Jan McGowan and her blog can be found HERE. She had the original gingerbread idea.

The next drop off came from my friend, Jenn. She packaged her goodies up SO CUTE, with an ornament plate filled with all kinds of my favorite goodies! (Oh that's right, I need to SHARE these with my family!!) Mmmm..... Check out the embossed medallion sticker that has the snowflake on it, with their family's name on it! CUTE!!! She and I have kids a couple years apart, so we are always calling each other with more paper crafting KID IDEAS!
THANK YOU everyone, for your kindness, and your SWEET gifts (no pun intended....)

Merry CHRISTmas everyone!

This was our Christmas card this year. It is hard to see the Cuttlebug dry embossing on this card, but the burgundy paper has the "ornaments background" dry embossed on it.

Merry Christmas to everyone! ENJOY the time with your family celebrating Christ's birth!

Recipe:
Stamp Set: All Holidays
Paper: Handsome Hunter, Bravo Burgundy, Brushed Gold
Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Gold (Inside Sentiment)
Accessories: 1 3/4" Punch, Non SU Punch and Rhinestones, Gold Elastic Cording

RAK From Barbara Welch!

Look at what my upline, Barbara Welch brought me today! (Her blog can be found HERE.) She is ONE CREATIVE stamper, and really, is part of my heritage doing what I'm doing! I can still remember the day Barbara came over to explain to me what it meant to be a Stampin' Up demonstrator.....and the rest is history!! :)


Isn't this just beautiful???? It is a clear glass plate with an INTERCHANGABLE center part. In the picture below, you can see the other centers I can CHANGE with the seasons! They have velcro on the back so you easily change the the centers out. HOW CLEVER! I absolultely LOVE this. THANK YOU BARBARA!! What a sweetheart!

ANOTHER Gingerbread Post!

SImple little 3x3 gift card tag made with Deer Friends. Are you tired of GINGERBREAD posts from me? I love those littel guys this year, and the brown and red together make it impossible for me to quit using this stamp set!

I coordinated the 3x3 envelope to match by stamping polka dots all over it.

Recipe:
Stamp Set: Deer Friends, Polka Dot Background Stamp

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Bella DP, Whisper White

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red

Accessories: Scallop/1 3/8"/1 1/4"/1" Punches

Starbucks Christmas Tree Gift

This is the project that has been hanging over my head the past couple of weeks. I finally finished it today! It has been so much fun to make! This is what I am giving to my sister for Christmas. She is SO HARD to buy for!

This is my "Starbucks" themed Christmas tree. The tree stands about 2 feet tall, and is decorating with Starbucks themed ornaments and garland. Starbucks comes out with a few new ornaments every year. If she doesn't collect them already, i will have to start the collection for her. They would be cute filled on this tree.


I wanted to simulate a "hugger" like you get at Starbucks for the base, so this is what I came up with. My sweet DH made a pattern for me to go around the bucket. The tag was actually my daugher, Brittany's idea. It is supposed to look like the side of a Starbucks cup where they check the box according to what you order. I also added coffee beans to fill up the bucket, which you can see below. This Starbucks tree LITERALLY SMELLS like coffee! :)


The tree was kind of bare and I couldn't afford to fill it with Starbucks gift cards and Starbucks ornaments, so I did a couple of them on my own. This is a tiny plastic MINI cup that Starbucks uses to give samples in. The gals laughed at me when I saved it, but I KNEW someday it would come in handy! Voila! I added brown and white krinkle paper shreds to imitate coffee and foam.


This simple ornament is simply brown felt attached to twine. Then I just added the logo to the heart! SIMPLE!

The MOST TIME CONSUMING part of this project was making the coffee bean garland, which you can see in this picture. I tried every different glue in our house to find the one that stuck the best. I glued real coffee beans onto fishing line.


I sure hope my sister likes this! She is such a Starbucks Freak, and I always am giving her Starbucks cards, so I hope this twist to it is fun for her. (I also hope she doesn't read my blog....LOL I need to write to Starbucks and tell them to come out with some sort of coffee bean garland!

RAK from Nancy Riley!

Isn't this one of the most beautiful cards you've ever seen? I think it is pretty AMAZING! I think I better frame this one! Nancy Riley sent me this the other day. You can find out details on how she made this on her blog at iSTAMP. THANKS NANCY!!

Jumping on the Bandwagon!

Jumping on the candy cane bandwagon!! Brady and I went to my friend's house and we made these for our kid's school friends. They were SO FUN! Here are some pictures of what I had left. (Ok, so the kids didn't help too much, they were doing their own crafting. See post below for Brady's project.)

I know there have been a lot on SCS with this idea, but my favorite was Nancy Riley's at iSTAMP. Hers can be found HERE.

Recipe:

Stamp Set: Deer Friends

Paper: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Ink: Real Red, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Scallop/1 3/8"/1 1/4"/Slit/Corner Rounder Punches, Non SU Pom Poms, Pipe Cleaners, and googly eyes

I think this is so precious!! Brady made this necklace for me. When he was done, he asked me, "Do you think your 'ladies' from your classes would like to make one?"

What do you think ladies? Ohhhhhh he keeps melting my heart! Love that kid....

Altered Christmas Giftables

This is what I gave my friend, Nancy Riley (iSTAMP) , for our little Christmas get-together. I found the picture at Joann's Etc. and then altered it. It is made out of metal and the paint is distressed.

Recipe:
Paper: Holiday Wishes DP, "I Wish" Simply Scrappin' Kit, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Cricut Machine (thanks Rachele, for your help with this!) Dew Drops, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon


This is an altered Gold Canyon Pomegranite scented candle included with her gift. Candles are easy and fun to alter! (My sister is a demonstrator and her website can be found HERE.)


Recipe:
Stamp Set: Punch Pals
Paper: Ski Slope DP, Real Red
Ink: Real Red
Accessories: Snow Flake/Round Tab Punches, Coluzzle, Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Baja Breeze Striped Ribbon, Silver Elastic Cording, Non SU Rhinestone

Look What Santa (aka: Nancy) Brought Me!

Tonight was a very special night! My friend, Nancy Riley, and her daughter Allie, came over for a little Christmas celebration! (She brought DINNER along with, so we had a nice YUMMY MEAL together, too!) It was quite the effort because if you have been following Nancy's blog, you know she had foot surgery and it isn't the easiest thing for her to get around. She is doing a lot better, but still has a ways to go before she is back to normal.

I am SO EXCITED to share with you an early Christmas gift I received from Nancy. (In case you haven't seen her blog, it is AMAZING, and can be found HERE.) Be SURE and go to her blog because you will see even MORE pictures (up close and personal, plus side views) and details on how she created this BEAUTIFUL Advent Calendar. I knew she'd be posting this project on her blog, and I laughed as I thought HOW IN THE HECK IS SHE GOING TO PUT THE RECIPE TO THIS PROJECT?????

I'm not kidding, I feel like I won the lottery when I received this!!! My adrenaline was going as I pulled the gift out of the bag. It is GORGEOUS! I wish you could see it in person, the DETAILS on this are amazing!!! The tins can be filled with candy and then each day you get a treat as you count down how many days left until Christmas (and more than likely gain POUNDS! LOL)

Nancy is such an amzing stamper, and I am BLESSED by her friendship. She is truly one of a kind. I know many of you follow her blog and are also inspired by her work. I wish you could all meet her in person because she is one of the sweetest, most genuine and humble gals I know. This gift means so much to me because I know it took many, many HOURS of her time. THANK YOU NANCY!!!!!!! (I'm kind of sheepish to post what I made for you after a gift like that! ...I will do like you and post it tomorrow.)

Birthday Celebration

Our little Brady turned 5 years old this week!! He had a fun birthday, and as you can see, he is in a HALLOWEEN costume for his December birthday! He wanted a super hero party, so we told him he and his friends could wear super hero costumes.



I wanted to share some hand-made cards that were given to him this week!! I appreciate the time any mom or child takes to make a hand made card!!! Thanks so much, they are BEAUTIFUL!

This one was made by Nancy Riley, who is the infamous blogger over at iSTAMP. You can probably see the RIP in the card...that wasn't Nancy getting creative, that was from an ANXIOUS 5-year old TEARING into the mail because his name was on the envelope and ripping not only the envelope but the card inside!!! @#$#$^$%^@#%#@ I could have died. LOL


This card was given to Brady from Michelle's son's:



This card was from Adriana's son and daughter:


This card was from Jessica's son:

AWESOME CARDS!

RETIRED LIST IS POSTED, AND ON SALE!!!

Hi Stampers,

I just wanted to share with you the retired list is posted! You can actually go to my demonstrator website and see pictures of them all listed. Click HERE to view them. These sets will be GONE after January 18th. Stampin’ Up is offering the retired sets 10% off now through Dec. 23rd!! Click HERE to see the 10% off price reflected.

Another promotion Stampin’ Up is having is FREE SHIPPING!!!
From December 9 through December 23, all orders of $70 or more will receive free shipping. Order by 12/16 to insure delivery by Christmas.

Last but not least, remember that December is my “customer appreciation month”. I am offering 10% off your total order (before tax and shipping). Sooooooooo, if you are ordering a retired set at 10% off, it would be an ADDITIONAL 10% off!! Save 20% off some items!

Let me know if I can help you in any way!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

weSTAMP Christmas Party

We had our annual weSTAMP Christmas Party last night. What a FUN time we had! Here is a picture of all who attended:
Back Row: Ginny, Pam, Lorri, Diana, Terri, Linda, Adriana, Tara, Jessica, Rachele
Front Row: Leah, Nancy, Cheryl

What an AWESOME BUNCH OF GALS!!!!


Besides all the great FOOD and visiting with FRIENDS, we decided to do a Shoebox Swap for the bulk of the evening. In case you aren't familiar with this type of swap, this is how it works. 5 gals volunteered to create and prepare supplies for each gal in attendance (like a make and take). They put all the supplies needed for their project in a "shoebox" container, hence the name, Shoebox Swap.

Here are the projects that we made.


Tara:
Note the "LOVE" part of this card. There is an acetate sheet behind the punched out hearts. CLEVER!

Ginny:

Ginny actually provided a CHOICE for us! This is the treat box (filled with homemade toffee!) the other one was an altered box from Pier One and has a hot chocolate treat inside.

Pam:

Leah:

The rubber stamp image was "spritzed" with water before stamping to give it a water color look to it. This technique was featured in our Stampin' Success magazine this month! WHO KNEW?

Lorri:

This is a refrigerator magnet made out of a coaster. I was inspired by Susie B on SCS. I will post her link as soon as I find it! #@#$^$%^#%# I hate that when that happens!!

Here is a picture of the door prize. Rachele made it. It is an advent calendar, which counts down the days before Christmas. Isn't this beautiful? It is made out of a muffin tin!! The decorated circles that cover the holes are magnetic and that is how they adhere to the metal muffin tin. VERY CUTE! Nancy won this door prize. LUCKY HER!!

Nancy and I provided gifts for all who attended. Here is what each gal received.

Recipe:

Stamp Set: Deer Friends

Paper: Riding Hood Red, Bella DP

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red

Accessories: Scalloped Envelope Die (used with the Big Shot), Scallop Circle, 1 3/8", 1 1/4", 1" Circle Punches, White Gel Pen, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, Alpine Ribbon (Handle)

You can find the tutorial on how to make these envelope boxes on one of my favorite bloggers, Dannie Graves. Her blog and tutorial can be found HERE.

The little "treat" that is inside was inspired by a candy treat found at Crate and Barrell. I saw it as an acorn with chocolate inside and immediately thought of the gingerbread gift we were putting together.

All you do is melt that candy chocolate that you find at Michael's or JoAnn's. Pour it into the cookie cutter (found the cutter at Michael's) and make sure there is wax paper underneath it. Then i sprinkled some decorations on the hands and feet before it cooled. It only takes a few minutes before the candy hardens, then just peel it off the wax paper! Voila!

Last but not least, I promised I would post my recipe for the "Pumpkin Mousse" that I served. Here it is gals. It is a great fall/winter treat!

Pumpkin Mousse

1 medium container Cool Whip (Lite)
1/2 can pumpkin (15 oz can)
1/2 bag powdered sugar
1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t. cinnamon

Combine Cool Whip and pumpkin with mixer. Add in rest of ingredients. Regrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with thin ginger wafers/cookies. (I found the cookies at Fry's. They are SUPER thin Ginger Cookies, found in the fancy cracker section, not in the cookie section.)