Tired!

Well, I didn't get to stamp much yesterday, but I did get my room under control a bit by working through the evening and this morning.   I had friends over yesterday and when we went in my room for a minute, I was super embarrassed.   It looked like a scene from Hoarders!    I worked on purging much of my unused supplies and now it looks much, much better.   Here's my uncluttered desk!  Yay.   My ink pads and old-style punches are close at hand.   The baskets hold my adhesives and paper scraps.   And best of all, I have lots of room!

Here's my little cubby shelf (from Target of course).    I love it and it holds all the miscellaneous stuff like coloring tools, supplies for 3-D items, etc.   The top is a great place for me to stash the completed and in progress projects for the local store I sell in.  

Stamps!  I put both my current and retired ones here.   I love being able to go to one shelf and browse for inspiration.  :)   I tucked my Village of Cuteness among them to add a little fun.

Finally, here's my Big Shot station.    I love having my dies handy and ready to go.   Other miscellaneous tools and card samples are homed here as well.  

I'll have some card pictures to share tomorrow.  I didn't stamp until late tonight, so there's no sunlight for pictures.  :)   

Happy Labor Day!

PP61 Sketch

Well, I decided to take my own advice and go stamp something rather than cry.  :)    I have to say, I just be more creative when I'm near tears because I am LOVING this card!   I wanted to try two of my new toys out and thankfully they worked well together.    The new Fancy Fan letterpress plate is awesome and I owe Ann a big thank you for inspiring me to get it.    It is going to be a favorite for sure!   I also just got the Fun Flowers die after hearing how much everyone LOVED it.   It has been sitting there for a few weeks now staring at me, but I was clueless what to do with it!    Well, I think it is great now that I pulled it out and used it!    (and seriously, Tempting Turquoise and Basic Gray are super terrific together; I LOVE that combo!)

Stamps:  Tiny Tags
Ink:   Basic Gray, Versamark
Paper:  Tempting Turquoise, Basic Gray, Brights DSP stack
Accessories:  Brights buttons, White Baker's Twine, Basic Gray Taffeta ribbon (retired I think....)
Tools:  Big Shot, Fancy Fan letterpress plate, Fun Flowers die, Jewelry Tag punch

Button Buddies Tutorial

I'm in a bit of a stampin' funk, so I haven't been very motivated to go make anything today.  I can usually tell if I'm struggling a bit with sadness when I am not participating in challenges.   So, time to work on turning that frown upside down!    I think I'll go clean up my room in a bit; maybe a nice clean space will get my mojo going.   :)   

Anyway, I just wanted to share a set of the cards from my Button Buddies tutorial.   This was one of my favorites because it shows how a bit of embossing and a punch can make a huge difference in the look of your card.   It also shows that the set works great without putting buttons on the images.   The tutorial contains all the instructions for these cards and ten others.    

Happy Labor Day Weekend!   

Happy Holiday Mini Day!

The Holiday Mini is LIVE!    Woo Hoo!    It is packed with so many awesome goodies for the upcoming holidays.   The best?   SIMPLY SCORED!!!    If you start to notice more 3-D items and/or cards with scoring on here, it's because I love using this great new tool.   I think you will as well, so contact me today to order yours or to set up a time to come try it out!   

There are so many other great products as well.    Halloween, yummy fall fabric and designer paper, and of course, TONS of Christmas including stamps, paper, Big Shot items, and my favorite?  STOCKINGS!    I knew the stocking die was a hit when my husband asked me to make a garland for our fireplace AND offered to help!   :o)    

So go check it out!  I'll be ordering later today, so call me if you need anything!  Remember you can order 24/7 on my website as well.  

Miscellaneous

I finally decided to redo and update my space at a local shop and I thought these candles might be a nice gift to add to my display.   Maybe they could give a teacher a break from receiving yet another apple thingy.   :)  

My next project was to add a few more packets to my Kids Card Kits. I made up three new ones with some old favorites, including my adorable sock monkey and crab.

Finally, I had a custom order for some bag tags.   I love making these so much.   They are quick and easy, but oh so adorable!  

Jason was nice and worked on making me a display to show off my bag tag samples.   I love it and can't wait to go hang them on there tomorrow!

Finally, be sure to check your orders very carefully.   I found a huge surprise in my last one!   :o)

Gotta love Bandit and his silly antics.  

It's time for club!

Thursday is such an exciting day!  Not only do I get to spend time with some of my great customers, but it is also the first day of the Holiday Mini catalog!  Are you excited??!!   I'm excited to show off some of the new products that Stampin' Up! is featuring in this fun new catalog!

Aren't those score lines lovely?    How exciting is it that in just 2 days, you can order your very own Simply Scored and make this card!?!   Score lines can add so much detail to a card while allowing it to remain flat and easy to stick in the mail with a regular stamp.  I did some sponging and color spritzing on my card to give it a more vintage, distressed look; Nature Walk is such a perfect set to show off that style. 

Even though it is still over one hundred degrees every day here in Texas, I think it is time to get started on some ideas for fall and the holidays we have coming up.   I love this card by Connie Babbert and was inspired to make my own pumpkins and ghost.   CUTE!   My husband always comments that I gravitate towards "cute" Halloween things rather than scary ones, but I'm okay with that.  Who doesn't like cute?  :o)

Now for the hard one...  The card is not hard, but coming up with Christmas ideas while wiping sweat from my brow sure was!    If anyone has cooler weather, please send it this way.   Last night I was so excited to see 88 as a high for later this week but it was back up to 92 today.   *sigh*   Between the heat and water restrictions, I think this is the worst summer ever.  Anyway, back to Christmas.   This card shows off yet another new product from the Holiday Mini.  Who doesn't LOVE stockings?!  And did you see the mini jingle bell?   Love, love, LOVE it!   I'm not a big fan of gifts, but I love filling stockings and grabbing mine off the fireplace on Christmas morning to see what goodies Jason has picked out for me.   There's just something about sticking your hand down in there to see what is next!  

I hope my club ladies will enjoy making these projects this month.   I do have a few spots open in my clubs, so let me know if you are interested and would like more details.  

Hot & Lazy

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  I've worked on some cards for my design team and then totally got caught up in a book!   I love my Nook, but it can steal away much of my stamping time.   :)   I started reading The Lincoln Lawyer and couldn't put it down last night.   I think the battery finally died around 1:30am, so I had to come scramble to find the charger so that it would be ready to go when I woke up this morning.   After DH left for work at about 6:45, I started reading again and finished it.   I needed a nap after that of course. :)

Here are some of my bag tag samples that I made up this week.  I thought I'd add in a few designs and see if that would help my sales a bit.   I also did a couple custom sports ones and really liked them as well.  

With the temperature predicted to be 107 degrees today, there is not much going on here.   The kitties are all enjoying some good naps and I'm working on some ideas for next week's club cards.   I think I'm going to search for another book to read and then relax until DH gets home from work.  We have The Lincoln Lawyer here at home to watch, so that will be our together time later tonight.  I can't WAIT to watch it and hope it is as good as the book!

Bandit is enjoying some Stampin' Up! time today, as is his sister, Bella.   (They love to flatten out the brown packing paper and then nap on it).

Bailey likes to show off her petite figure by laying in the window.   She's the only one who actually fits there without a lot of extra hanging over the side.  :)

Hope all you folks on the East coast are staying safe!   

Stamps for Sale

My room is getting a bit crowded, so I need to find a new home for some stamps.   I had no idea that I had so many!   Where did they all come from?!     If you see something you like, feel free to make me an offer.   I will ship the cheapest way possible unless you want priority mail of course.  :)    Email me if interested.

Really Rust ink pad:  New in Package $5
In Color Hostess Pack (2011) $12

$3 sets:
Little Hellos (used, sentiments mounted on the side)
Beyond the Basics gently used

$4 sets:
Polka Dot Punches (new, unmounted)
Love Ya Bunches (gently used)
Best Blossoms (excellent)
Itty Backgrounds (have 2 of these, some staining)
Merci (excellent)

$5 sets:
Friendship Blooms (new, unmounted)
Yummy (new, unmounted)
Too Terrific Tags (excellent)
Botanical Blooms (new, unmounted)
Tag Time (slight staining, some unused)
Birthday Whimsy (new, unmounted)
So Many Thanks (excellent)
For a Friend (excellent)
Lots of Thoughts (new, unmounted)

$6 sets:
Wellness Wishes (excellent)

$7 sets:
I Did It (excellent)
Punches Three (new, unmounted)
So Many Scallops (new, unmounted)

$8 sets:
Greetings Galore (very good)
Print Pattern Background (good, some staining)
Occasions Collection (excellent, only 4 are mounted)
Itty Bitty Buds (good, staining on one block)
Congats (new, unmounted)

$10 sets:
Afterthoughts (clear, new)
Silhouette Sentiments (clear, excellent, some unused)
So Many Sayings (excellent, only 1 mounted)
Forest Friends (excellent)
Trimtastic (very good)
From the Garden (new, unmounted)
Best Friends Alphabet Upper (good, most unused)

$12 sets:
Basket Full of Fun (excellent)
Because I Care (clear, excellent)

$15 sets:
Birthday Bakery (clear, new)
Sanded (excellent)