Presents from a friend….

Last week was my friend Michelle's birthday so I took her to lunch and gave her one of the rag quilt purses I made with a couple goodies inside and she handed me a bag full of stamped goodies too! It felt like it was my birthday. Here are just a couple of the things she gave me. The first one is a tissue holder that is so adorable!

Here is the side view so you can see how it is wrapped about the travel size pack of tissues. She used the Wellness Wishes set on pg 60.

Here is another item she gave me. It is big card (like a whole sheet folded in half). You can use it for a card or a bag topper. It fits perfectly over the kraft bags you get with the white handles. You just cut a big slit in the top to go over the handles. For this card, Michelle used the new bird punch and the Big shot scallop square die. I am so lucky to have such sweet friends!

Mojo Monday Challenge

Here is this week's Mojo Monday challenge. I thought this would be a super easy one but what I had in my mind didn't end up working so I had to start over. I like how it came out though.

I used the " To the Nines" designer paper from Stampin Up. I love this paper and it  goes so well with almost any stamp set. I also used the hostess set  "Of the Earth" for the center circle. I sponged one of our gorgeous pretties kit flowers too. Why don't you give the Mojo Monday challenge a try?

Another Garden From the Heart…

This is a gorgeous card that my friend Deb Valder made for a swap I hosted. As you can tell, she is much better at watercoloring than me! LOL! This was one of my favorite cards from that swap. This was another card that I found while cleaning out some stuff. It is amazing what happens when you do that. Maybe I should try it more often! Ha ha…

Blog candy time!

Hey stampers,

It is time for another Blog candy giveaway….this week's prize is the Echoes of Kindness stamp set and a pack of District Ribbon. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on my blog by Friday. I will pick the winner on Saturday. Thanks for stopping by.

Garden from the Heart

I had forgotten about this card and I just found it while cleaning out some stuff so I thought I would post it. I made this one with the Garden From the Heart set on pg 9 of the Stampin Up Occasions mini catalog. I stamped the background with the Sanded stamp in chocolate chip. I used the watercolor crayons to color in the hat. Pretty easy card if you like to color. I am not that great at watercoloring so I don't do it very often.

How would you like to get a free class and stamp set?

When I was at Leadership, I saw this gorgeous box that Vita Padalino had created and I took her box idea and created a whole new class with it. I posted this photo a while back and said that I was doing it for my February stamp camp. I had a bunch of people ask me for the directions so I finally have the tutorial done for this class thanks to my wonderful friend Rebecca. She knows I am computer challenged when it comes to doing PDF type things so she helped me do this one. I am offering it to you for FREE with a $50 online order. I also have other class kits to choose from. Just click on the "Free Card Kits" button at the top of my page. Since it is Sale-abration, you also get a free stamp set or punch with your order. There are lots of things to choose from in the Sale-abration catalog.  I am also selling the tutorial for $4.95 if you are interested.

Shoebox swap sample

Every other Wednesday I have a group of  8 demo friends that come over to my house and we do a shoebox swap. I started this group about 8 years ago and it has changed slightly over the years but we always have a great time no matter who is there. My only rule is you have to have fun. It is a great way to share ideas with each other and to socialize. We are all great friends now. After a couple power hours of stamping, we all go to lunch and socialize some more. I really look forward to these get togethers and I would encourage demos in any area to try something like this.

 So, here is a card that my good friend Sam Woodruff made at one of our recent get togethers. She is such a sweetheart and I am so glad I got to know her better this past year. She is the one who taught me how to make my quilt purses! She created this card using one of our Stampin Up stencils and we sponged the colors over it using the sponge daubers. Really cool technique.

Mini Easter Basket

Check out this adorable little Easter basket I made out of the Big Shot Square scallop die. Isn't it just precious? I did this project in all of my clubs this past month and everyone loved it.  All you have to do is punch out a scallop square using your favorite DSP and then score it between  every 3 scallops on all 4 sides. There are 9 scallops across each side so that splits it evenly into thirds. Then cut the ends up to the first crease on oppsite sides and fold up to make your box. The handles are just left over scraps from the DSP. THey are 6 inches by 3/4 of an inch.  I cut the squares at 5×5 so you have a big strip left over on each piece. I attached those with brads for extra support.  Then add your favite candy and decorate the front.

Here is the front view.

Featured Demonstrator of the month part 2

Last week I showcased one of my downline as a featured demonstrator of the month. I showed several of the projects she made and this week is part 2 of that post. Here are some more awesome samples created by Sandy Alexander, one of my very talented downline.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

This is a beautiful framed art project she made. I had to put a piece of cardstock behind it so you wouldn't see the mess on my stamp table.

This piece was made from our new Stampin Up chipboard albums. I love how she made this look so shabby chic.

This card uses the Abundant Hope set from the Stampin Up Occasions mini. It is such a gorgeous stamp set and Sandy did an awesome job on this card. I love the Pretties kit hat pin and pearl accent.

This card idea is so creative. I love how she wove the ribbon in and out of the scallop border.

Here is an adorable Easter bucket Sandy made using the Eggcoutrements set from the Occasions mini and the Chocolate Bunny also in the Occasions mini. I am so impressed with all of Sandy's projects. I think she did an awesome job being my first featured demo of the month. Please leave a comment and let her know what you think.

Here is a close up of the chocolate bunny (it looks so real in person) and the Easter tag with the silver hodgepodge hardware piece. What a great gift this would be for someone.

Mojo Monday a couple days late….

What a week! (and it is only Wednesday!) I have been running around crazy the last couple of days but I finally had time to sit down and do the Mojo Monday challenge.

Here was the sketch….you could pick the round one or the square one and I did the square one.

and here is my card….

I used the Stampin Up "To the Nines" specialty designer paper on pg 163 for my background piece and then I added some chocolate chip and sage shadow also. The leaves are from the Le Jardin Botanique set on pg 110. I stamped those in sage shadow and stamped the sentiment in chocolate chip. The ribbon is that luscious striped chocolate chip grosgrain. It is so soft and really makes a gorgeous bow. Oh, I also did the sage piece with the new scallop trim border and corner punches. I hope you like it!