Craft Night

It's always fun to get together with friends and craft. Monday night was no exception. The ladies decided wreaths were the craft of the month so we searched thru Pinterest to get inspiration and found lots of ideas. I chose this hydrangea one.....I just love hydrangeas! I had a grapevine wreath just hanging around in the attic....waiting to be used (poor dusty thing!). JoAnne's has a 50% off Fall silk flower sale going on so I picked up some Fall colored hydrangeas and a little berry bush. I spent about an hour hot gluing the leaves and then the flowers on the grapevine wreath. I finished it up with an organza ribbon and bow to hang the lovely wreath on top. Here's how it turned out....

What do ya think? I love it. I am ready for Fall and Fall decorating. I had a great time with my girlfriends and made a lovely wreath to hang on my door.....time well spent!
For those of you who follow my blog, I wanted to let you know that changes are coming soon. I am thinking of redesigning my blog to include more about me and my other crafts, my family, and the little piece of property that we are trying to make into a little ranch. I am not sure how yet, but I wanted to let you know. I hope to be posting a bit more often as well.
Thanks for letting me share with you, and thanks for stopping by!
Smiles,
T

Free Ribbon Promotion!!!!

Promotion Details: While the kids are heading back to school, Stampin' Up! is going back to 'spool'! For the month of September, get a FREE package of 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon-an $8.95 value-for every $40 you spend!

Choose from the following ribbons:

Item

Description

Retail Value

126848

Gumball Green 3/8"
Stitched Satin Ribbon

$ 8.95

126847

Midnight Muse 3/8"
Stitched Satin Ribbon

$ 8.95

126844

Primrose Petals 3/8"
Stitched Satin Ribbon

$ 8.95

126845

Raspberry Ripple 3/8"
Stitched Satin Ribbon

$ 8.95

126846

Summer Starfruit 3/8"
Stitched Satin Ribbon

$ 8.95

Woo Hoo! Who can say NO to FREE stuff??? This promotion lasts till the end of the month, September 30, 2012 so you have plenty of time to get more than one spool of ribbon. Colors available while quantities last so get yours today!

Saturday stamping with a friend...

Last Saturday, I spent the day with my friend Flossie stamping and catching up. We didn't plan what we were going to do so I pulled up some pics off the internet and we picked something to make, then made it. It was so much fun. Here are the cards we made....

 The inspiration for this card was found on SU Stampin' Connection. Catherine Stockley made a version with different colors and I thought it was adorable. The jar stamp is from the Holdiay Catalog- Perfectly Preserved #126690).We used brighter colors and layered the butterflies. I like how it turned out so "Summery".

Lynn Pratt on Stampin' Connection created one like this. I thought it was adorable and a great use of the Owl Builder punch #118074. I've seen it made into little dresses as well. Do you notice the clouds made with the Cupcake Builder punch #121807? I love how people can come up with different uses for these punches, don't you?

Here's another one full of summer color! Patty Bennet posted one like this on her blog here. I made a few small changes to her design. I made one similar to this for my last card buffet as well. I like the shwoopies (Flowering Flourishes #126356) as the stem of the flower (Quintessential Flower #1126790). It's layered and blinged up a bit. I even shimmer sprayed....not hard to believe for those of you who know me.

 Here's another CASE from Brandyscards.com. You can see it here. She used the Language of Friendship  (#122750) stamp set and the Flowering Flourishes (#126356). I didn't have the same punches for the words so I improvised. I love the colors of this and the punches really made it easy to layer all of the elements.

This spring like card was made using the new stamp set Bootiful Occasions (#126595). The idea was CASED from Melissa Davies on Stampin' Connection. This set is adorable and I couldn't help but make several cards using it as you will see in the next few photos...

Allison Okamitsu from Nice people stamp! created this one. So cute and clever. You can see her original  here. Crystal Effects#101055 was used to create the puddle.

This is a Christmas cutie! Annette E. Martin displayed her design on Stampin' Connection and we adjusted the design to accommodate the stamps I had. It's glittered and shimmered. Too cute with the little fuzzy balls on the shoe strings.

And last, but not least....the cowboy boot.....This one was CASED from Stampin'Connection as well, by Anne Marie Hile. Too cute not to copy and share! What a fun day! Well, I will be planning my upcoming Card Buffet and Holiday projects soon and will post them as soon as I can. If you enjoyed these designs, please leave me some comment love....
Happy Stamping!

Artisan Design Team Entries

Stampin'Up! has an Artisan Design Team Contest annually to pick people to design projects using Stampin'Up! projects. I decided to enter this year but was not selected as a finalist so I thought I'd share my entries here with you all. I enjoyed making these samples. My goal was not to be so spectacular that no one would ever copy them, but to make simple but doable items that could/would be copied. This is what I ended up with.

The first one here is a banded gate fold card using the Sale-a-Bration Everyday Enchantment DSP. I loved this paper and wished I'd stocked up on it now that its gone. Love the colors. I used the You are loved stamp set to match on the inside and Loving Thoughts for the saying.

Here's the inside view. Fun and simple. Lovely colors...

Another one using the same paper, different pattern, Beautiful Wings and Butterflies Die, lace border punch and Bird Builder punch for leaves.

I used stamped a little on the inside as well. Oh, and I added shimmer mist to almost everything you will see if not glitter because I love to sparkle!

You are Loved is a fun set.  Beautiful wings, and decorative label punch were used on this one. It is sparkled but not visible in the pics.

Mixed Bunch is one of my favorite sets! I liked this one that looks like snowflakes and the next one that are bright and sunny flowers. Very versatile!

Four Frames added just the right frame for the Birthday wishes which came from the Create a Cupcake set.

My 8x8 scrapbook page centered around my oldest daughter Alex. Beautiful wings accent the stamped butterflies from last years hostess set Precious Butterflies.

My daughter made this lovely prom dress in Fashion Design class and I wanted to show it off using vibrant colors. It's all glittered up and the flowers sparkle too.

This was Nicole my other daughter's favorite one. Of course, she is the main subject! This was done around a horse show she participated in last year. Out West stamp set, along with Letter it MDS letters were used. Love the blue and red.

This little favor box was made using the Fancy Favor box, the scalloped envelope die, and the blossom flower punch. I embossed them all with the Vintage Wallpaper folder and watercolored the flowers using an ink pad and water brush. I shimmered it as well. I thought it was lovely.

My last 3-D project was a shopping bag. Pretty standard bag using the Fancy Favor die, Label Framelits, and again Blossom punch. A fun treat holder.
So, since it was my first time entering, I didn't have high hopes of getting chosen as a finalist. I will check out this year's winners who were no doubt FABULOUS and guage my projects to enter for next year. Thanks for letting me share. Hope you enjoyed these projects.
Smiles,
T

Dates: June 1 - July 31, 2012

Details: During June and July, hostesses who hold a minimum $450 workshop (excluding shipping/tax) will receive an additional $50 in hostess FREE merchandise dollars--that's in addition to the $65 they already receive for a $450 workshop!

Here's an example:

If You have Party Sales of $450

You'll receive:

•Regular Hostess Benefits $65

•Bonus Hostess Benefit $50

•Total Benefits = $115, PLUS 1 item at 50% off

Why would you NOT want to take advantage of this?  It's just FANTASTIC!

Who doesn't like FREE STUFF?? This is a hostess program for workshops only, online orders are not eligible.

Contact me today at jtdowty89@gmail.com  - let's stamp together!

TAKE THE CAKE Promotion!

Stampin' Up!'s totally customizable starter kit is at it's new permanent low price of $99! Look what else you can get for FREE this month only!

You also get products from the brand-new Patio Party Suite absolutely FREE, including the Make a Cake Stamp Set, Patio Party Designer Series Paper, and the Patio Party Digital Collection DVD!

 Choose  Make a Cake Stamp Set in clear or Wood Mount

126740 Make a Cake Set (wood-mount) Retail Price $14.95
126742 Make a Cake Set (clear-mount) Retail Price $11.95
plus
126916 Patio Party Designer Series Paper Retail Price $10.95
plus
127215 Patio Party Digital Collection DVD Retail Price $22.95


That is up to $48 in additional FREE product! 

See more by downloading the flyer

Flyer

It's a great time to join Stampin'Up! You can sign up on my SU website here, I would love to have you as part of my team.

New Catalog & a Play Day!

IT'S HERE! The 2012-2013 SU Catalog is here! It went live on June 1st and is filled with wonderful new stamps, accessories, and In Colors. Get yours today! Host a workshop,  call me, email me, or attend my next Card Buffet on June 22, 2012. I look forward to sharing all of the NEW goodies with you.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Cathy @ScrappinCat'sCreativeEndeavors and I got together and made a variety of cards. We got to play for almost a whole day! I so look forward to the time we get to spend together crafting, we really have a good time. We decided to CASE cards on Pinterest. Copy and Share Everything is what CASE stands for, in case you didn't know that already. :o) Here are the cards we made:

The idea for this first one was found here. It's from Becky Roberts . I just love her stuff. Her design had a flower on it and I decided to switch it up an make it a butterfly and added it to this month's card buffet. I really like to textures and colors of this one. We used the Everyday Enchantment DSP from this year's Sale-a-Bration. I wish I had bought more of this paper! We also used the fairly new Labels Framelits. I am really starting to like them. They can be used for frames, labels, even a cool way to enhance a saying. Cathy dressed the inside of her's with a framelit, you can see her's here.

Cathy found this one here. It was made using the New Bright Blossoms set. I loved the simplicity. This is becoming a favorite set of mine. 

Cathy found this card here. It's made with the Mixed Bunch stamp set. This one flower is my favorite. We liked it so much we did it in red as well!

 It's simple and fancy. I made another card like this that looks like snowflakes. I will post it another day. These ones have pearls added, but they also look great with glitter, what doesn't???

This is another design found on Pinterest. It's from Becky Roberts again. I just love her style. I changed mine up a bit by turning it, but that's all. We used the same colors and paper. Mixed Bunch is such a fun set. 

Cathy found this fantastic card on Pinerest. It's a gate card. I just love the way it criss crosses to close. You can see the video tutorial here. Frenchie's designs are wonderful and fun to make. 

Here's another Becky Robert's design. Isn't the cut out adorable. I've been seeing a lot of this kind of design. This one also has Blossom punches punched out and embossed. then glued to the top of the card to add some texture. You can see the inspiration card here.

Well, thanks for letting me share with you this fun day of stamping. Lot's more to come with new stamp designs and such so check back often. 

I love to know your thoughts so let me know what you think by sharing a comment. 

Until next time....

Happy Stamping!