More new stuff...

I've been playing again... actually this is a card I made Monday night in my first play session! I got on a roll!

Used lots of new things on this card too including the Well Scripted stamp set and the Sending Love Specialty paper (it is pre-glittered!). I also used the Polka Dot Textured Impressions folder for the Big Shot again. This time I sent a piece of clear transparency through the big shot to add those polka dots.

I also used the new Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die to make all those butterflies... it not only cuts out the butterflies, but also emobsses them at the same time. Very cool! Lots of different sizes, too.

I'm off to get to work on my Leadership swaps... I'm amazed at how quickly this trip is sneaking up on me! Yikes!

Happy Wednesday!

Another Sneak Peek...

I realized today that I am only one week away from taking my first plane trip all by myself! That also means that I am waaayyy behind in making my card swaps for my first Stampin' Up Leadership event!

I have to be honest I'm very nervous about this adventure, which includes catching connecting flights both to and from Phoenix! -- but I am so excited about attending Leadership... it should be very inspiring and motivating...

I still haven't decided what I want to do for my swaps... but I'm hoping to play some more tonight and I guess I'll have to be a little more focused on creating a card that is easily mass-produced.

Anyway, on to my next sneak peek card... This card uses the Sending Love Designer Series Paper featured in the new Occasions Mini Ccatalog. It also used the our new Sending Love Epoxy Brads (the 1/4" Chocolate Chip version... there are also 1/2 inch versions in Pretty in Pink and Real Red). I made the flower using my full heart punch and arranging them in the form of a flower. Then I stamped the center flower using the new "With All My Heart" stamp set and used the epoxy brad as the center. The sentiment comes from the new "Well Scripted" stamp set that features words for a variety of occasions including Mother's Day, Father's Day, Easter, Congratulations and love.

I'm having a hard time refraining from buying MORE stuff from the new mini catalog -- there is so much in there that I want... I hope you find the new products as exciting as I do! The new catalog goes live on my website on Jan. 5 -- be sure to check it out!

Sneak Peek

Ok... so I've FINALLY had a few minutes to sit down and play with some of my new goodies from the Occasions Mini Catalog set to be released on January 5. (Those of you on my mailing list should be receiving it in your mailbox sometime this week if you don't have it already!)

The best part about this new catalog is that it is being released in conjunction with the fabulous Sale-A-Bration promotion offered by Stampin' Up! So for every $50 you spend from the new catalog (or the big catalog) you receive a free Sale-A-Bration item or, new this year, you can choose one of numerous stamp sets tagged in the 2009-2010 Idea Book and Catalog as part of the Sale-A-Bration promotion ... very fun!

Anyway, this card features four new items from the Occasions Mini Catalog including the "With all My Heart" stamp set, the fine flourish stamp (the background on the white cardstock), the new glitter Designer Series Paper called Sending Love (very pretty) and the new Polka Dot Textured Impressions folder -- I love those things! So easy and fast!

Anyway, I've got a few other cards up my sleeve from today's crafty session -- and hopefully I'll get some time to play some more -- so I'll have lots of sneak peeks for you this week -- so be sure to check back often. Feel free to leave me a comment or two about what you like, too -- I'm curious what all of you think of some of the new product....

Thanks for stopping by!

Winding down

So it's the end of my five days off for Christmas and although I had big plans to spend today in my craft room creating up a storm, I decided to go out and spend some of my Christmas gift cards!

I went to New York and Company, Kohl's and Barnes and Noble and got some great after-Christmas deals. Fun, fun, fun! I love guilt-free shopping!

Speaking of things I love... I love this picture of two of my nephews. The intensity is just too cute! They were playing with the web cam on Michael's (the nephew on the right) new Gateway Netbook (a mini-laptop). I only wish that basket wasn't in Willy's face... oh well... it was real life at the moment -- there really wasn't much space in the house after you load in 18 people and all the coordinating gifts for and from those 18 people! Yikes! lol!

Life is now getting back to normal... which means back to work tomorrow. Bummer! But the good news is I'm hoping to start playing with some of my new stamps and accessories this week so be sure to check back soon for some sneak peeks. The new Occasions Mini Catalog will be available in just over a week... and you are definitely going to want to check it out... lots of fun stuff! I'll share some projects later this week!

I hope you had a great holiday and thanks for stopping by!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a fabulous New Year!

And I want to take a quick moment to thank all of you who have been regularly visiting my blog over the last year! It really means a lot to me (especially when you comment!). It's great to know someone is listening! lol!

Here is our tree this year -- It got brought in the house last weekend (just before the big snowstorm) but didn't get decorated until Wednesday! It's a cute little tree -- even with Matt's tacky red garland (wink, wink).

Have a fabulous holiday ... and be sure to check back soon!

Winter Wonderland

This was the view from my scrapbook room today, which is where I was from the wee hours of the morning until 10 p.m. (minus a fab-u-lous nap during the late morning -- is that not the best - a nap on a cold and snowy day!!).

I was in my stamp room finishing my Christmas cards and getting them set to mail... I still have quite a bit of work to do -- so if you are expecting a card from me -- it may be a little later than usual!

I have to get through two more days of work before I can completely focus on preparing for the holiday -- still have Christmas cards to finish, baking to do, LOTS of cleaning to do, LOTS of shopping to do and of course tons of wrapping! Whew... I'm tired just thinking about it!

Nighty-Night!

On Santa's naughty list...

Ok, so I am a very bad blogger this week. Does anyone find themselves buried in holiday preparations? Every year I say I'm going to stop procrastinating and I DON'T DO IT! What is wrong with me? lol!
Anyway, we have 18 people coming to the house for Christmas so there's lots of cleaning on tap, many, many more holiday cards to make, some gathering with friends and family, a few remaining Stampin' Up events and of course, some holiday parties to tend to... so the blog has kind of taken a back seat! Sorry about that...
Anyway, today is the beginning of the 12 days or Christmas Sale for Stampin' Up. If you own the Big Shot or any Sizzix machine or compatible die-cutting machine you'll definitely want to check it out. Lots of deep discounts on various dies and embossing products. Plus, there are a lot of different colored vinyl sheets available for use in your Big Shot. So imagine your favorite die in chalkboard vinyl for your wall... I'm definitely going to be buying some of that... I think it is so cool. And just a little sneaky-peeky -- the new decor elements coming out in January include some images that have chalkboard elements. Very cool!

And some other news... I've started my own Etsy shop. For those of you who are not aware of Etsy.com, it's a great buy and sell website featuring all handmade items. So some of my cards and pre-made scrapbook pages are up there for your perusal...

Sorry about the lame, no picture blog post... I promise I'll have some more entertaining entries after the craziness of the holiday.

Best of 2009 challenge....

I never do enough reflecting, or writing about me and my life in my scrapbooks, journals or otherwise. So I've decided to participate in Gwen Bell's The Best of 2009 Challenge.

The idea is to reflect on the best aspects of 2009... best trip, best meal, best album, best inspiration... etc. Some of the prompts speak to me more than others -- particularly the first one, which is why I couldn't resist participating!

You should try it, too -- even if you don't have a blog -- write it down somewhere -- in a journal or to keep for journaling in your scrapbook later -- it's good to sometimes think about yourself once in a while!

Anyway the first prompt is best trip. And hands down I have to say the impromptu trip Matt and I took to Hampton Beach, N.H. in September was my favorite trip. That is the first time we've ever just got in the car and started driving, not knowing where we'd end up.

It was also the first time I've ever seen a sunrise (see above) -- I'm a night owl, so mornings are not my thing, but we got up early and watched the sunrise over Hampton Beach from our top floor hotel room. Gorgeous.

Matt tricked me, though, and wouldn't let me go back to bed afterwards! But it was O.K. because we got up and had a leisurely breakfast, wandered around the stores for a bit and then beached it for about 6 hours! The best part was the whole time we were on the beach we didn't know what our next move was. We didn't have a hotel for the night, our clothes and belongings were just packed up in the car and we just sat. on the beach. for hours. Fabulous.

We wandered away for some lunch and returned with some ice cream and continued to watch the people in front of us have a mini-concert with a guitar and three singers. The group beside us had a softball game with about 20 people. And dozens of Moms and Dads wandered around the beach with little tykes in tow. I love people watching.

What was really amazing to me, too, was that this is the first and only trip that had the same feel to me as our honeymoon. I've always said that our honeymoon had a special feeling to it -- unlike other vacations... it was somehow different. I don't know if it was because it was such a relief after nine months of planning a wedding, or the excitement of actually being married and starting our life together, or just the newness of experiencing California for the first time --- something was just special about that trip. And for some reason, the trip to Hampton Beach had the same feeling and I loved it!

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I'm not sure if I will participate with all of the Best of 2009 Challenges, but I do like the idea a lot and some of the prompts really do speak to me... so I'm sure you'll hear a little more about what I loved about 2009! I hope you don't mind (wink, wink)!

In the meantime, I just placed my pre-order for the new Stampin' Up Occasions mini-catalog product -- and oh my gosh am I excited.... I had a really hard time (and I know I say this every time, but I mean a REALLY hard time) deciding what to order...

There are so many great things to choose and as a demonstrator we got an EXTRA 10% off stamps in this mini (for a total of 30%) so it was hard NOT to order some of the insanely cute sets....

Stay tuned to the blog for some sneak peeks towards the end of the month... I'm planning a little countdown before the release on Jan. 5.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Friday (almost)!