October 29th: Sell-A-Stamp Spooktacular!!!!!

On October 29th, Stampin' Up! is having an amazing event!!!!!  Almost all stamps will be 15% off!!!!!  Here are the details:

• Starting at 12:00 AM (MT) and ending at 11:50 PM (MT), almost every stamp we sell will be 15 percent off.

This means all stamps in the current catalogs including

• Background stamps
• Personalized name stamps
• Incentive stamp sets from the supply list
• Cookie press stamps
• Single-image stamps

This DOES NOT include

• Hostess sets
• Bundled stamp sets
• Digital stamp brush sets

There is no minimum purchase, and no limit to the number of stamps you can order

Start making your wish list today!  Please let me know if you have any questions!!!!!  You can place your order HERE on October 29th!

Thanks-Giving Tree Centerpiece

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Stop And Acknowledge That Which You Have To Be Grateful For
With November right around the corner and Thanksgiving making its way towards us, I wanted to create a centerpiece for my dining room table that would honor the spirit of giving thanks.  I thought long and hard about it and came up with the idea of making a gratitude tree.  The original post that led me down the path to making my tree with designer series paper leaves was HERE.  I then thought how nice it would be to have some die cut leaves - using the Autumn Accents Bigs die - that people could write on when they came for dinner.  Each of the die cut leaves is stamped on one side with the word "gratitude" (from Fabulous Phrases) or "thanks" (from Kindness Matters).  The reverse side is left blank so that one thing you are grateful for can be written on the back and then added to the tree :)  The leaves were added to the tree with green floral wire (24 gauge).  You can purchase twigs at your local hobby/craft store or go gather some in your yard or a local park.  I love that this tree encourages me to stop and acknowledge that which I have to be grateful for :)  I hope you like it!!!  Wishing you a wonderful, creative weekend, filled with love, laughter and light :)

I'll Be Back Tomorrow...

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  It's Okay To Not Have Anything To Say
I am project-less and pretty much word-less tonight.  I was going to run around the craft room and find something to take a picture of and have decided instead that some days I just don't have much to say or much to share...and that's okay.  (My inner critic is chiming in right now - asking if it really is okay to not have much to say or to share.  My response?  Yes, it is absolutely okay).  I was in the craft room most of the day working on a Thanksgiving centerpiece - I am going to hold a class here in November to create the centerpiece and a few cards for Thanksgiving.  If I get it done, maybe I'll share it with you tomorrow in place of Friday Folds.  We'll see.  For someone who didn't have anything to say I sure did manage to come up with a few lines :)  Hope you have a beautiful day!!!!

Out On A Whim Wednesday: Felt Baby Sign

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Try A New Stitch :)
I woke up with the idea for this baby sign in my mind.  I had originally thought I was going to do something with squares, but circles were on my mind when I woke up so I went with it!  I used my Circles #2 die and another Circles die to cut the felt.  I used my Typeset Alphabet dies to cut the navy blue felt letters.  The felt was adhered together using a felt glue and then came the stitching :)  I don't do a lot of hand sewing, but I figured how dangerous could I be with a needle and thread?!  So I went out on a whim and began by stitching around the center circles with white embroidery thread.  I really like how it came out...even with my lack of experience :)  Then I decided I wanted to try a new stitch - a blanket stitch - that I had seen on some pillow appliques.  I took out one of my sewing books (I think it had been opened once before), but I could not follow the directions or the photo well enough to get the stitch started.  I went back to my bookshelf and smiled when I saw another book staring at me - this one entitled Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches.  The book had come out of an estate sale that Michael had gone to.  The woman who had passed away had quite a few sewing books and sewing notions and I couldn't resist!  This book was copyright in 1935 and still had the price tag on it...$1.98!  And it's no small book mind you!  It is a hard cover book with over 200 pages of stitches!!!!  The hand-drawn pictures and the accompanying instructions were easy to follow and had me doing a blanket stitch in no time!!!!!  Here's an up close photo...don't be too critical - it was my first time :)

I am so excited about playing with a new stitch that I am already thinking about what my next project might be!!!!!  I glued all the of the stitched felt pieces together with felt glue and then used hot glue to adhere them all to a long piece of wood (actually a very large paint stir stick from the hardware store).  I then nailed in a few hangers so that it can be hung on the wall with a few nails.  So my lesson from today?  Try a new stitch!!!!  And don't forget about what an amazing resource old books can be!!!!!!  Stitching, here I come!!!!!!

Two Ways Tuesday: Priority Mail

For this week's Two Ways Tuesday I decided to ink up the Priority Mail stamp set.

I kept things clean and simple for the first card and decided to get out the stamp-a-ma-jig.  The Happy Birthday stamp was stamped onto Very Vanilla card stock and then punched out with the Curly Label punch.  I then used the stamp-a-ma-jig to help create the wavy line of "celebrate" across the bottom of the card.  I first stamped in the center and then worked my way out on both ends.  I can imagine creating this card over again, but instead of adding the label, using the "celebrate" as waves for a punch art boat :)

For this second card I challenged myself to use the same celebrate stamp in a new way.  I decided that I could make the stamped image look like a faux ribbon :)  I embossed the card base with the Holiday Frame embossing folder and then stamped the snowman image a number of times.  I cut out the hat and decorated it with dazzling details in two colors (plain dazzling details and silver).  The sentiment was cut out of another one of the stamps in the set.  Here is a close up of the bottom of the card:

I hope you've enjoyed this week's Two Ways Tuesday and I hope it inspires you to play with your stamps to see how many different ways you can create with them!!!!

Summer Silhouettes Thank You Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  It's Good To Feel Love Coming My Way :)
Yesterday was my birthday and I have to say it was like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a chilly day - the love that came my way in the for of emails, phone calls, cards and facebook posts was incredibly special.  Yes, it is definitely good to feel love coming my way - I am so grateful for this most precious gift :)
Today's cards are simple and easy to make!  Just one layer of stamping using the images from Summer Silhouettes and greetings from different stamp sets (Loving Thoughts and Just Believe).  I love how you can create such different looks with a change in color and sentiment!  I hope you like them :)