Big SHot

Nature Walk with Saffron and Espresso

Well, it is another freezing cold day here in VA again! I am so ready for spring, I could just scream. If you know me at all, then you probably know I am a sun lover. If it is the least bit warm and sunny out, I will run outside and try to soak some of it up. I am going into withdrawals now because it has been so many months of cold, dreary weather. Please God, bring me some sunshine and 70's soon. Well, enough complaining about the weather…..

Don't you just love the names of our Stampin Up colors? This card uses so saffron and early espresso. It seems that many of our colors are named after food items. I wonder if that is why I am always hungry??  My good friend Michelle gave me the inspiration for this card. SHe made one kind of similar for a swap I was in.  The trick to making this card super easy is putting all of the stamps on one clear block and then you only have to stamp once or twice! Pretty clever huh! The piece that I stamped on is from the Botanical Gazette designer paper pack and I used the piece that had little honeycombs on it. I also used the new tulip frame embossing folder.

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February Stamp Camp projects

Well, I just finished watching the movie Unstoppable with Denzel Washington about the runaway train in Pennsylvania…..WOW! What a great movie. The problem is it is 11:00pm and I am so stressed out from watching it that it might be a while before I can get to sleep. It is a hang on to the edge of your seat movie. I am surprised I have any fingernails left. I highly recommend it. It is based on a true story too.  So, I decided that maybe if I worked on my blog for a little while it might relax me. Here are a few projects I have been working on lately.

This past weekend I had my February Stamp Camp and we made this cute box purse and set of 4 cards.  For most of the projects I used the Nature Walk set from the Occasions mini along with the Botanical Gazette designer paper also in the Occasions mini.

Here is a close up of the front of the box. I used the 2 1/2 in circle punch and the 2 3/8 scallop circle punch for these.

Here is a pic of all the cards and the box. All of the cards except for one are made with the Nature Walk set and the one with the butterfly on the front is made with the Bliss set which you can get for free from the Sale-a-bration mini with a $50 purchase. I will post more pics of the individual cards this week.

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Ghirardelli treats!

My awesome friend Kimberly Van Diepen showed these adorable treats on her blog a couple of  months ago and I knew I had to copy them. She does amazing work so I do have to copy her a lot! LOL!  Anyway, these are super easy to make. You just need the Stampin Up table setting die that goes in the Big Shot and that creates the piece that holds the candy. I then stamped it with the Bliss stamp set which is FREE when you order $50 or more right now!!! I put a little adhesive inside to keep the candy  from falling out. Then I wrapped it with our gorgeous striped grosgrain and used the Eat Chocolate stamp set to make the front piece.

Lastly, add a little bling with rhinestones and the button. Some of the buttons are from our retired holiday mini but the night of navy one and the melon mambo one are from the Occasions mini.Thanks Kimberly for this awesome idea!

Another Nature Walk Sample….

This one is similar to the one I posted a couple of days ago but I changed the colors and background paper and changed it from portrait to landscape. Pretty much everything else stayed the same.  It is the Nature Walk stamp set and the Botanical Gazette designer paper. I love this set and it looks so pretty in almost any color. I love this ribbon technique that my friend Kimberly taught me. It gives such a pretty vintage look to any card. 

Here is another close up of the ribbon and button too. I love Stampin Up's buttons and ribbons! I would say I am a ribbon-a-holic.

Nature Walk….my new favorite set

Sorry I have been so bad about posting lately. Life has been hectic and I have been so overwhelmed with 5 million things to do. I am sure most of you can relate. Hopefully things will calm down and I can have more time to stamp soon!

This is a card I did for a recent swap. I used the new Nature Walk set from the Stampin Up Occasions mini. I LOOOOOOOVE this stamp set. I love any kind of nature sets that look realistic. I am not into the cartoony (is that a word?) ones. I love the vintage style of stamping right now and this ribbon technique and the button really add a nice touch to this card. The background piece is the vintage wallpaper embossing folder and I sponged that with crumb cake. The designer paper is from the Botanical Gazette (also in the Occasions mini) and if you spend $50 or more this month, you can get a free item from our Sale-a-bration mini too! What a deal!

Here is a close up of that ribbon and the button. I love Stampin Up ribbon. It is hard to find a better deal anywhere!

Leadership Pics!

I finally got a minute to download some pics from Leadership! I have been trying to catch up from being gone and I am pooped!

This year's Leadership conference was in Nashville and it was so much fun. I love going to see all the great things that Stampin Up has planned for us but more than anything else,  I love spending time with my friends from all over the country that I don't get to see very often.

This is a pic from inside the Gaylord Opryland hotel where we stayed. It was GORGEOUS! and so big. I think it was by far the biggest hotel I have ever been in.

Our first night out was Manager's Reception at the Wild Horse Saloon. It was really fun. Stampin Up reserved the whole place for us and we had dinner, line dancing and socializing. I am best at the socializing and eating. I am definitely not a dancer. These are just a few pics of me and some friends (BJ, Cheryl and Leasa).

That is me and BJ.

This is Leasa, me and Cheryl. I had to keep my hat on since I wore it long enough to get hat head…no taking it off after that. Stampin Up gave everyone the cowboy hats.  They even decorated them with our ribbon and antique brads. You can't see them because my head is not tilted down enough.

This is all of us at the Leadership conference. Tami's flight was delayed because of snow in Boston and she had just joined us.

This is us at dinner at the Irish Pub on our last night. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone.

This is all of us with some of our downline too. My downwline is Debbie in the back row, 2nd from left. This was her first leadership and she had a great time.

Ok, so I had to throw in something that had to do with stamping so here is a really cute bag that someone had made using the Stampin Up designer fabric collection. I just loved it! I wish I could make something this pretty but I am just not that talented in the sewing dept.

Gorgeous Nature Walk set

I think this is definitely my favorite new stamp set from the Stampin Up Occasions mini! It is called Nature Walk and can be found on pg 27. I love nature sets and this one is absolutely gorgeous! My good friend Mary Anne Grimmer made this card for a swap I just hosted. She is one fantastic stamper. I wished she lived closer so we could stamp together more. She lives in Charlotte, NC so if any of you live close to her and need a demonstrator, let me know and I will hook you up with her. THere are so many neat components to this card.

Check out this trinket key and mini tag. We now sell these cool keys on pg 24 of the Occasions mini! There are also some other cute things on that page so go check them out!

Fabulous Sew Suite Card!

Well, I am off to Nashville for the Stampin Up Leadership conference (that is if my flight gets out of here today) . THere is a lot of nasty weather on the east coast and a lot of people are having trouble getting there. I hope and pray that I make it.

So, I am leaving you with an awesome card made by my friend Lorrie. She is an amazing stamper and this card was A LOT of work and has a lot of intricate details. She used the stamp set Sew Suite from the Occasions mini (pg 33).

Here is a close up of the sewing machine. She even put thread around the spool and down the front. Hope you enjoy this creative card and I hope you have a great week. See you all when I get back.

Jolly Holiday Christmas Ornament

I made a bunch of these ornaments this month with my clubs and downline and they are so easy. You need the long board chipboard ( pg 205) and the clear circle die (pg 207) to make these. I cut out all of the circles from the chipboard sheets and then covered the back in another old olive cardstock circle. The front is made with scraps of Jolly Holiday designer paper (pg 174) and also scraps of cherry cobbler and old olive cardstock. This is a great way to use up your scraps. THe designer pieces were all 1 inch by 4 inch and the solid colors are 2×4 inches.  I used the border punches to jazz them up a little. You lay all of the pieces across the top how you want them, glue them down and then flip it over and trim around the circle. The hanger is the Decorative Label punch folded over the top. That can be found in the holiday mini or the new Occasions mini.

Here is a close up of the button and the sentiment that I topped with the rhinestone. THere is a little bit of a glare in the photo so I am sorry that it is kind of hard to see.