Blowing kisses your way in the New Year

 

 

I just noticed I'm almost to 1,800 blog posts! I started my blog in June 2007, so that's an average of 27 posts a month. I would've hit 1,800 posts earlier, but I did some housekeeping on my blog and deleted some insignificant posts. No regrets! It is how it's meant to be. I've got more people visiting my blog every day than ever before - so Welcome! And thanks for visiting me. I'm happy you're here!

I love the colors in the More Amore Specialty dsp pack - a 2013 Spring Catalog item. When I saw those hearts on the paper and read "blowing kisses your way" on a new stamp label it made me think of a pinwheel, so I made one! The sentiment is from another Spring Catalog item - Wishes Your Way stamp set. And the ribbon? It's part of a ribbon/button package you can get for free during Sale-a-Bration 2013, which starts January 22.

A New Year feels like a fresh start. I believe in learning from the past, living in the present, and looking forward to the future! My 2012 highlights include getting back in touch with a college roommate, meeting many new friends, and - most important of all - finding out that my nephew had a clear check-up after having a tennis-ball-sized malignant brain tumor last spring. I was overjoyed to hear that news! I hope you learn something new in 2013, love deeply and enjoy great health.

This Stampin' Royalty challenge is For the Birds, as well as a Sneak Peek for YOU!

 

Something about going into the New Year makes me think of little birdies. I paper-pieced these two from the For the Birds stamp set with new designer paper.

 

 

I made this card for Stampin' Royalty Challenge #156 and my father-in-law's birthday. It starts with a Bashful Blue card base, with layers of Tea for Two dsp (Spring Catalog) and Early Espresso card stock.

 





Did you notice the Petite Curly Label punch out of the Tea for Two paper to the left side of the birds? It's just one of the many freebies you may select with every $50 you order during our Sale-a-Bration Event starting January 22.

 

I used a piece of natural trim under the top two layers, as well as the new Honeycomb embossing folder on a piece of Bashful Blue card stock. Both the trim and folder are new items that will be available in the Spring Catalog as of January 3!

 

 

The last thing I'll share on this post is a mason jar soap dispenser I made for our bathroom. The idea came off of Pinterest. We go through a lot of hand soap and I was constantly refilling those smaller containers. I used a pump from a lotion bottle (because it was longer than the regular hand soap pump), drilled a hole in the lid, and glued it down. Hopefully it'll be a very long time before I need to refill this jar! lol

 

Happy Stampin'!



It's almost time to say Ciao, Baby! to another year

 

Today I'm saying Ciao, Baby! because that's the name of a cute new stamp set in the Spring Catalog that features images that fit perfectly into new, smaller scallop circle and curly label punches.

 



I made this card for color challenge #232 at Create with Connie and Mary,

and sketch challenge #273 at Mojo Monday. It uses new products from the 2013 Spring Catalog - an oval framelit, the oval chevron stamp from a new set called Oh, Hello, the 7/8" scallop circle punch, and a silver basics designer button. You're also getting a peek at one of the three satin ribbons that comes in a free pack with coordinating buttons for our Sale-a-Bration Event, which starts January 22.

 

 

The Whisper White, Pool Party and Silver Glimmer Paper made me think of a baby boy, so that's where my idea came from. I hope you like it!

 

The card measures 4-1/4" x 8-1/2" (folding in half). You might also notice I used the Chevron Embossing Folder to coordinate with the stamp.

 

Happy Stampin'!



Print Poetry pack perks up Seasonal Sayings card

 

Are you ready to see more products coming soon in the Spring Catalog? This shows you a heart clip from the Elements Cute Clips package, as well as natural 7/16" trim ribbon that looks like burlap (I LOVE burlap!).

 

 

I started with a Crumb Cake card and added a Top Note diecut and flower layer - both from the Print Poetry dsp pack in the Spring Catalog. The sentiment is from Seasonal Sayings, which is carrying over from the Holiday Catalog. I used the new Distress Tool to rough up the edges of the banner.

 

  I stamped a heart from the Itty Bitties set in Crumb Cake ink, punched it out with an Itty Bitty punch and layered it on a 1/2-inch circle, which fits nicely in the smallest Soda Pop top.

 

 

I created this card for the retro sketches Challenge #43. I think I'll be giving this to my hubby for Valentine's Day!

 



 

Happy Stampin'!

 

Stamps: Seasonal Sayings, Itty Bitties;

Ink: Midnight Muse, Crumb Cake;

Paper: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Print Poetry dsp pack;

Accessories: Natural 7/16" trim ribbon, Soda Pop top, distress tool, Elements Cute Clips (all 2013 Spring Catalog), mini glue dot.

 

 

Here's a Sneak Peek of Spring products: stamp, folder and button

 

Happy Thursday! I finally got a card made after boxing up all of my Holiday Catalog stuff to make room for the Spring Catalog and Sale-a-Bration stuff I was able to get for Christmas. Of course there was a game of Clue with the family in there too. That was lots of fun!

 

 



This card features a new single stamp called Just Thinking from the Spring Catalog, as well as a Designer Silver Basics button, and the Needlepoint Border embossing folder. You'll be able to get the Sycamore Street dsp and/or satin ribbon (this one is Tangerine Tango and it comes with two other colors) for FREE when our Sale-a-Bration event starts January 22. That's when you get to pick a FREE item from the SAB Catalog for every $50 you order. As a demonstrator, I get to take advantage of this deal almost two months early.

 

This designer silver basics button actually feels like a coin! This one is about the size of a quarter, and the other size in the package is like a dime.

 

 

I love Pool Party, Island Indigo and Tangerine Tango colors together. I cut out the circle with the words. It's much larger than our 2-1/2" circle punch, but I wanted two colors and didn't want to use markers. The middle is adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals. Happy Stampin'!





Merry Christmas to you!

Just stopping in to wish you a very Merry Christmas filled with much love, joy and peace. I'm happy to be spending today with my family. I feel so blessed by having the people I love the most around me today and every day! And, we are enjoying a White Christmas for the first time in years. It's beautiful!

The photo is of a milk box decoration my daughter and I made for a contest by the company that delivers fresh milk and eggs to us every week. My neighbor brought me huge pinecones she got from a forester who brought them from an old growth forest. I added Tombow liquid adhesive and mica flakes (both Stampin' Up! products) for snow, and I made a banner that says "Moo-ry Christmas to All!!!" because we made cows pulling Santa's sleigh (which my daughter made out of a couple of Top Note diecuts and candy canes). Santa is an older ornament we had, and we tied some tinsel ribbon (retired SU! product) around him and the cows' necks. More mica flakes were sprinkled into glue for the snowy ground cover.

Wish I had an Open Sleigh for a fun Christmas ride

 

This Open Sleigh card is so beautiful in person. I tried taking a quick shot of it on my range tonight. It's hard to register the sparkle of the silver glimmer scallop trim border, and the warmth of the colors chosen. My friend and downline, Julie, sent this to me and my family. Thanks so much, Julie. I love it!

 

 

Speaking of family, my twin sister (Tiffany) and her hubby (Bob), came for a nice, long visit today. They'd driven over from Idaho yesterday and were staying with Taylor. My nephew, Billy, and his sister, Taylor, are shown below. It was so good to see them. They're officially both adults now and making headway with their jobs, where they live, etc. I'm so proud of them both.

 



We had a full turkey meal today, then played Old Maid (while laughing hysterically), and Yahtzee, and ending with a 9-piece shell puzzle that took us awhile since everyone was moving the pieces around at the same time!

 

I hope you enjoy your family as much as I'm enjoying mine! We might actually get a white Christmas too! That would be a bonus. We haven't had snow for Christmas since 2008.

 



Merry Minis Punch Pack for quick and cute Christmas cards

 

The little tree, star and ornament shapes from the Merry Minis Punch Pack pop out with the help of dimensionals on these white on white flags.

 

 

This was one of the designs I used for a 10-card Christmas class. I CASE'd it from Deb Currier, one of my favorite stampers for cute and quick cards. I used Raspberry Ripple ink and ribbon. The "christmas cheer" is from the Sweet Essentials stamp set. And speaking of sweet, my family got into making and decorating sugar cookies recently:

 

I told my son he couldn't eat any cookies until he frosted some. He basically frosted one, then ate it! I love these little squeezy containers with tips I got from Pampered Chef.

 



It was my daughter's idea to make the cookies. I made the dough, but she did all of the rolling out and cutting out. I never realized I've collected so many cookie cutters over the years. She only picked a handful of shapes to use.

 

And can you believe my hubby has never decorated sugar cookies for Christmas? He tried to get out of it, but our daughter wouldn't let him - and he can't say "no" to her. He had some pretty fun designs - especially with the bear-shaped cookies! lol

An ornate Christmas Deer and our pets in lights

 

This Christmas Deer looks so regal with its ornate antlers. It's all Marina Mist and Early Espresso. I CASE'd a card I saw on Pinterest for one of my designs at my last 10-card Christmas class. I thought I'd saved the name, but can't find it. If you know whose card this is, please let me know so I can add it to this post. Here's her card:

 

I've also seen several photos of pets and Christmas strings of lights on Pinterest that I thought looked really cute. So I tried it with our furry family members. Here's our cat, Frito:

 

 

And our loving mutt, Isabelle:





 

I have to say the animals were very accommodating. They let my daughter move and decorate them without complaint! We actually put up stockings for  the dog and cat too. Have a wonderful day!

Evergreen trees are beautiful on cards and in the house

 

There's something special about trees, especially Christmas trees. I'm not sure if it's the fresh smell or the large addition of green INSIDE the house. I do know you can't go wrong with a Christmas card that has a tree on it - especially one as pretty as these Evergreen stamps, which can layer over each other. This tree was stamped on a Very Vanilla Apothecary Accent framelit, then layered on a piece of patterned paper from the Merry Moments Simply Scrappin' kit with a scallop border punched strip of Cherry Cobbler card stock. It was another design from my last 10-card Christmas class.

 

 

My kids were a little disappointed to learn they have school today. My son was hoping for at least a 2-hour delay due to icy roads, but it's warmed up and is 38 degrees right now. Both of my kids have tests today, and it is their last full day of school for the year, so we'll have reason to celebrate tonight! I'm happy to say that I finished baking - and delivering - all of my neighbor gifts. I do plan on baking another couple of Chocolate Chip Pumpkin bread loaves for my twin sister and her family who are visiting us this weekend.

 



Winter Memories are being made here today

 

Whoo hoo! We've got snow today - lots of it! I got an early morning call with a recording from the school district announcing school was delayed two hours. I grabbed my daughter and we went down the hill to shop with the Lions Club for holiday food baskets for needy families in our community at 7 a.m. When we got back, my hubby (still waiting for his co-worker, who had to drive his wife to work) said we'd lost power for a few minutes. Then we received another call saying all schools in our area were closed for the day! My kids are happy!!! And my hubby stayed home too. Here's a peek from our front yard:

 

 

I'm so happy we are getting snow before Christmas! It may not be here by Tuesday, but it's nice to have some white stuff now.

 

So on to stamping (finally!) - I CASE'd the card at the top of this post from Mercedes Weber for my last Christmas 10-card class of the year. I love the Winter Memories stamp set in the Holiday Catalog. It's not going to carry over, so if you want a gorgeous sled and ice skate stamp set, order it by January 2. You can do that and get any Clearance Rack item or digital download too. My Online Store is always open at http://therubberroom.stampinup.net.

 

This skating card reminds me of a cool, old case my BFF Kim and I came across yesterday while thrift shopping. It contained an old pair of roller skates with wooden wheels and a case for $79.99. I mean they were neat, and probably from the 1950s (before my time)... but for that much? It makes me crazy when things are donated to stores that jack up the price that much. We're looking for deals and would like to support stores that support local charities. But when you can find these kinds of roller skates online for $35, you know the store price is ridiculous.

 

So no roller skates for me. I'm sticking to making my Christmas gifts or buying local. Since we're all home today, I think I'll bake some Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread today. If you want a fabulous recipe, try this one (with photo!). And enjoy your day!



Hundreds of items added to Clearance Rack!

Beginning today, December 14, 2012, Stampin' Up! has added nearly 300 products to the Clearance Rack in the Online Store-with some discounted up to 80 percent! You can order through my website - http://therubberroom.stampinup.net to take advantage of these huge savings.  For the first time ever, some stamps are included at 40% off!

Giggles and gifts - part deux

Kim's mason jar centerpiece with tulle bows

 

This photo doesn't do these painted mason jars justice. Doily diecuts were used as stencils, so that when the candles are lit inside, you see the beautiful design and warm light. The jars are sitting in a basket surrounded by fresh cedar and Crumb Cake tulle bows. This is the gift I chose and I love it! It looks gorgeous on my dining room table.

 

Tori holds Sherry's memo board

Today I'm sharing the rest of the handmade gifts from my American Ink team's gift exchange at our annual Christmas party Saturday. There are more than just a few ideas you may make for your friends and family. The memo board above is cushioned in the middle and Sherry provided straight pins to hold photos and notes.

 

Puddin's ornaments and doily-decorated mason jar

Ginette opened up Mary Ann's button tree framed art

 

Kim opened Michelle's magnetic Dress Up board (Spring Catalog sneak peek)



Barb opened Tori's card organizer

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gifts, giggles and good friends

Barb's ornaments and case

Fabulous food, fun and handmade gifts! It's everything every party should have, and we had it in spades at my American Ink team Christmas party Saturday. Thanks to everyone who came and made it a December to remember!

 

I'm only showing half of the gifts in this post because Blogger is giving me issues about uploading more! I hope you have a fabulous week ahead. I'll post the other gifts tomorrow.

Brandy's stackable tree and paper cone filled with tags



Cheryl's Santa-embellished charger plate

Frankie's paper bag scrapbook

Mary Ann holding Ginette's holiday ornament-decorated wreath