A Mellow Christmas

I cased this card from the SU mag for demos. I changed a lot of things but the idea is basically from the magazine. I loved the idea of the tone on tone card. I used Mellow Moss for the card base and then I ran a piece of Mellow Moss through the Big Shot using the Petals A Plenty Textured Impressions Folder and adhered that piece to the card. I also used the " Berry Christmas" stamp set. I changed the size and shape of the card that the stamped image on the ivory card stock. I used the Merry Details Sizzlet and ran it through to get the small red bird and I attached that using a dimensional. The sentiment came from "A Cardinal Christmas" stamp set. I really liked the Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke and Real Red color combination. It creates a very soothing Christmas card. The supplies that I used for this card were:

STAMP SETS: Berry Christmas, A Cardinal Christmas

PAPER: Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Real Red, Very Vanilla

INK: Always Artichoke, Real Red

ACCESSORIES: Big Shot, Petals A Plenty Impression Folder, Red Gingham Ribbon, Scallop Border Punch, Merry Details Sizzlet

Sometimes when you make a Christmas card, it doesn't always have to shout out with bold colors or designs. Sometimes you can make more of a statement and a feeling when you use subtle colors and a simple design. I like the changes that I made to the original. The colors are ones that I would use more. I did use the tone on tone technique which drew me to that card in the first place. I can't wait to try that technique on more of my cards.

The weather here is rainy and gloomy today. I guess that is why my Mellow Christmas Card is the perfect card for today.

Christmas Gift Card Holder

I am always looking for samples and directions for different gift card holders. I found the directions for this Wallet Gift Card Holder on Splitcoast Stampers. The person who had the directions was Lauren. I thought it was very interesting that she made the gift card holder look more like a wallet and that a gift card could be slipped into a pocket. This card holder was made starting with a 6" x 6" piece of cardstock. I still had this stamp set out from my Holiday Stamp A Stack on Saturday and I decided to try to use my leftover scraps. So this is the sample I came up with. I used this 3-D project for a swap on Sunday with my sidelines and my upline at our monthly meeting. The supplies that I used for this project were:

STAMP SET: Berry Christmas, All Holidays

PAPER: Real Red, DSP-Merry Moments, Whisper White

INK: Real Red, Old Olive

ACCESSORIES: Sherbet Buttons, Glue Dots, Corner Rounder Punch, Velcro Circles

I like to give gift cards for various occasions. So I am always on the lookout for a different way to package a gift card. I thought this was really cute. I hope the person that I use this gift card holder this Holiday season likes it too.

For some reason, the last few days I have been having trouble posting. Not everything has been going on my blog. The preview always shows it the right way and then I post and things are cut off. So I am trying again, so please be patient until I can figure out what I am doing wrong and can fix the problem. So please go out and enjoy your day and hopefully today this post goes through the way I want it to.

DeAL OF THE WEEK #4

Here is the last Deal of the Week this month. They are great Party Kits for your little ones. These kits are great for working parents who need to put together a party fast for their children. To get more detailed information on this product, check out pages 74 and 75 of the 2009-2010 Catalog.

Week 4 Deals of the Week

Item	Description	Special Price
116214	Princess Party Kit	$9.99
116213	Pirate Party Kit	$9.99

Contact me by Saturday at 5 o'clock on October 31st in order for me to place the order in before the sale ends.

Oops!!

Okay, the layout and page really look nice. It looked nice when I previewed it. But I goofed again and I don't know what I did that messed this page up. Bear with me until I figure out what I did wrong. Just remember, I am sooo bad with a computer!! I will try to post it again so you can see it the right way.

My Digital Studio Album Page-My First!

This is my first album page that I designed! My daughter went to Las Vegas this fall and I told her to take lots and lots of pictures. I am going to work on making her a full album. My Digital Studio has pages that are already pre-made. I probably should have started with one of those pages first but noooooo, I decide to design my own from the start! And guess what ! It was easy! I know that I could probably change things. And with this program, it will be easy to add those small details or even delete things that I have decided might be too much. But for right now, this computer impaired woman is just thrilled with my first page. There is only one problem. Now that I am getting the hang of this and I am so excited about working with this program, I am just worried I won't have enough pictures to keep me busy! But that is okay! With this program, I can also make cards, calendars, flyers and all kinds of neat things. If you would like more information about this program, you can contact me by phone or email. Just try it, you'll like it!

My First Digital Card

Well, what do you think? Once I was able to sit down and play around with it, I started to feel more comfortable with it. You have to remember that I am technologically impaired and that I get scared when I sit down at a computer. I am always afraid I am going to muck things up. But this program was very easy to use, once I decided that I was not going to get upset using the computer. It really did not take that long to do. I loved how easy you can change colors if you don't like how it looks the first time. The more I played with it, the more comfortable I felt with it. Now I can't wait to try more things with it! I don't think my husband will be too happy with it because I will be spending a lot more time on the computer working on projects. I want to thank Susan for helping me today work on this. Because what I forgot, she remembered. It is always nicer to work with someone else because you can bounce ideas off each other. I think that always helps get the creative juices flowing.

Well, I just finished my Holiday Stamp A Stack and it went well. Now I get to clean up. It is raining and is gloomy looking here today. It was so much fun when we were all together this morning stamping. I enjoy days like today. So you go out and enjoy your day today too!

DEAL OF THE WEEK #3

Week 3 for Stampin' Up's DEAL OF THE WEEK!!! This week's deal is greta for all you stampers who are looking for embellishments to spice up your cards or scrapbook pages.

Week 3 Deals of the Week

Item	Description	Special Price
114348	Basic Jumbo grommets	$4.49
109857	Mini Library clips	$8.99
112571	Circle Designer brads	$3.99
112581	1/2" Library clips	$3.99

If interested, please email me or give me a call by midnight on Sunday October 25. On October 26 the last Deal of the Week will be announced at Noon. Please check my blog for that update.

Scrapbook Crop page

Once a month I try to vendor at a local store which holds crops throughout the month. They ask you to come with a quick Make and Take for the people who are attending the crop that you are a vendor. This is my sample for this month. I wanted to come up with something that is quick but will highlight a few of our new products. I used Bashful Blue for the background. I used the stamp set, "SERENE SNOWFLAKES" and stamped the small snowflakes in Versamark. I stamped on the left side and top of the paper. I used the Ornament Punch for the ornaments. I used the "MERRY AND BRIGHT" Rub-Ons to decorate the ornaments. I used the "ELASTIC CORD" in silver to hang the ornaments. In the bottom corner, I used the "ICICLE" Rub-Ons. I took one snowflake and placed it on the bottom right corner for contrast. All of these supplies are found in the HOLIDAY MINI. I thought this project was a good sample of showing off a number of the new products available in a quick simple page.

The photo is one of my dog, Lucy, that I took last Christmas. She was opening her gifts when I took the photo. Her teeth are showing not because she is mean but I caught her in the middle of chewing on one of her toys. I am now off to continue cutting paper for my Stamp A Stack on Saturday. I hope you can go out and enjoy the rest of the day.

October Technique Class Card 3

This is the last card that we are working on in my October Technique Classes. I learned this technique at Regionals in Cincinnati. This is called "Crystal Effects Glaze" It is a great way to use the Crystal Effects which you have at home but are not quite sure all that you can do with it. It is also a great technique to use all those left over bits of pastels you have laying around. This is the technique I used to create the color on the pumpkin. To get that look this is what you do: First you take small pieces of pastels and shave it so you have very small particles of chalk. Then take a few drops of water just enough to dissolve the chalk. Lastly, take the Crystal Effects and add a few drops to create a glassy transparent glaze. Take an applicator and apply the color to an embossed open line image. It is a wonderful effect to add to your creations.

It took me a while to post this image because I was having some difficulties with the image. So I thank Joel today from the Apple Store who helped me figure out the problem with my imported photos. If he had not helped me today, I still would be figuring out how to get this posted. Thanks and everyone go out and enjoy your day!

Stamp a Stack Card 3

Well here is card number three for the Stamp a Stack. This is a card that looks so much better in person than in a photo. The ornament on this card is 3-D. I CASED this card from a swap I saw at Regionals. I really liked the idea of the ornament being 3-D. My customers also really like the way the ornament is placed on the card. The base of the card is Handsome Hunter with Real Red. The Whisper White was Embossed with the Textured Impressions Folder-Petals A Plenty folder. I really like the textured background. This is another simple card but the 3-D ornament is what sets this card apart and makes it special. If interested in this Stamp A Stack please contact me. It will be held on Oct 24 @9 at my house. Please let me know by Sunday.

Stamp A Stack Card 2

I am having my Holiday Stamp a Stack on Oct. 24. This is one of the three cards that my customers will make. I decided that I wanted to do a non traditional sized card. So I decided to make one of the cards a square card this time for a change. This is a very simple card using the "Berry Christmas" stamp set. Although it is simple, it does use a lot of layers. I think that you can use more layers when your card is simple. If your card is busy and then you have a number of layers, I don't think it makes for a good design. Too many layers and a lot going on in a card can be overwhelming. Your eye doesn't know what to focus on when there is too much going on. So when creating a card, try using the old saying, less can be more!

If you are interested in attending my Stamp A Stack, contact me at dereas4@rcn.com or give me a call for more details.

DEAL OF THE WEEK #2

If you have aBig Shot, this is the deal for you! Stampn' Up is offering 2 XL Dies and an Embosslit Die at an incredible price!

Week 2 Deals of the Week

Item	Description	Special Price
115961	Perfect Setting Bigz XL die	$25.99
114515	Flower Burst Embosslits die	$5.99
116760	Pop-Up Three Tier Cake Bigz XL die	$25.49

If you would like to take advantage of this great deal, email me dereas4@rcn.com to place your order. You can click on the button on the side to see the Dies they are offering.

October Technique Class- Part 2

This is the second card that I will be demonstrating to my customers who will be attending my technique class this month. The technique that is used on this card is "AURA PRINTING". I love the effect that this technique creates. It gives such a soft and fuzzy appearance behind the stamped image. I thought that the wheat from the stamp set "AUTUMN DAYS" was a perfect choice for a Fall all- occasion card. To create the fuzzy effect, you must mist your watercolor paper with water and stamp your image onto the moist paper. It will give you a distorted, fuzzy image. After it dries, then stamp the image on top of the fuzzy image. Since this is a very simple card, I also took the wheat image and stamped it over the bottom of the card using Versamark. I think it is a subtle technique to add texture to the card.

If interested in attending one of my classes please contact me. I am still in Hershey. There is plenty of chocolate here and I am enjoying all the chocolate I am eating! Hope you enjoy your day!

October Technique Class

I know I have been away again for a while, this time I had a root canal done. Yesterday I finally felt good enough to work on this month's samples for my technique class.

This month we are making Autumn themed cards using various techniques. The technique used on this card is called "LAYERED BRAYER". I found it on Flowerbug's Ink Spot blog. You can find a link to her blog on my blog. She has the most amazing things on her blog. I thought that it would be a great technique to do a background for a Fall card. This is one of three cards that we will be making at this month's class. If interested in attending please contact me. The dates for this class are: Saturday 17 @ 9-11:30, Tuesday 20 @ 9:15-11:45 or Wednesday 21 @ 7-9:30 PM. The cost is $10 for three cards/envelopes plus a technique card for each technique introduced. I will be posting the other two cards in the next few days. Enjoy the rest of your day, I know I will. I am in Hershey for the weekend at a car show. But I will be enjoying all the chocolate that I can get my hands on this weekend while I am here!

Sale! Sale! Sale!

Is there anyone who can resist a sale? I know I can't! Well...Stampin' Up is offering surplus items for sale! Stampin' Up is offering retired items up to 80% off. There are Rub-ons, Ribbon, Designer Papers and more. These items are only available while supplies last. To see what items are still available, you can use the link on this blog at the top of my page on the right. Please check out this sight to see if you can take advantage of this opportunity.

Regional Make and Take

Because I have been gone most of September, I have not had a chance to really create new cards or scrapbook pages. Hopefully this week will be better and I can finally sit down and use some of the new supplies I received when I got home.

In the meantime, I want to show you one of the Make and Take projects we did at Regionals in Cincinnati. This card uses "Berry Christmas" and is a more versatile stamp set than what I first thought. You can find it in the new Holiday Mini. This is a very simple card but I really like it.

For this card we used:

STAMP SET: Berry Christmas

PAPER: Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip

INK: Real Red, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip

ACCESSORIES: Stapler, Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals, 1/2 Circle Punch

For those of you who like a more traditional colored card, it would be very, it would be very easy to swap color schemes to a Real Red/Hunter Green/Baroque Burgundy color scheme. Well I am off this morning to an event that Susan and I are doing together. It is our Holiday Sweet Treat Stamp Camp. Everyone today will be making projects that contain some type of treat. Susan and I have started to do a few events together and it seems to be working out. I was going to post a pic of those projects today but I must have deleted the photos I took. I could not find them this morning. I am off to a morning of stamping and loving it. I hope you will enjoy your day also.

Christmas is Coming

Christmas is coming or at least my Holiday Stamp A Stack is coming soon. This is one of the cards from the Stamp A Stack. I don't think that colors are showing up very well on this card. The card is really stamped on Shimmery White card stock. It is a very simple card but I think that is what is so nice about it. The pine cone is from the Autumn Days stamp set. After I stamped the image, I used a white gel pen to make it look snowy. Sometimes those little touches help to make the card.

The Stamp A Stack will be held at my house starting at 9 and going until noon. It will take place on October 24. If you are interested or need more information, please contact me by email or call.

My Digital Studio is Here!!!!

I am sooooo excited!! Today is the first day that you can order my Digital Studio. I saw it at Leadership in January and could not wait until it would be available. You will be amazed at what it is able to do. You can create your own scrapbook pages by using a template from the many that are available or you can create your own from scratch. You are able to create cards and calendars. So much to choose from! You can purchase it for $79.95 OR get it 50% off if you host a workshop of $400 or more OR if you sign up for the Stampin'Up Demonstrator Starter Kit, it is in the kit! Check the button on the side of my blog for more info or you can contact me!