Winter Wishes

Well, it doesn't quite feel like Winter here in Iowa.  We've been having temps in the 40's and 50's which is about 20-30 degrees above normal.  I'm okay with the temp - I'm not okay with the lack of snow....that's right - those of you who know me well, know that I like my snow.  My boys are on Christmas break, and we haven't even been ablt to go sledding....one word.....boooorrrrinnngggg!!!

Today, I'm sharing with you some cocoa packets that I made for a couple of recent craft fairs.  These were a popular item.  This one that I'm showing today was made with some retired DSP and a non-SU stamp set. (I had to pay for that stamp set somehow...so put it to use!)

 I stamped the belly band with images from Winter Post (one of my all time fav stamp sets).  The belly band slips off to reveal a card of cocoa!  I found the template over on Debbie Olson's blog.

Pretty darn cute - huh??  My Stamp Club gals had fun making these also....just a different version.

Okie doke - I probably won't be back until New Years Day!  We've got a football party to go to tonight and Christmas (the last of 6) to go to tomorrow....But, I swear, I'm gonna start the year off right by making a darn good attempt to blog (almost) daily.  Back me up here peeps - I wanna hear some comments from all of you!!!

Have a great New Years - see you in 2012!

Well...I told you I'd be back with some goodies I created with the new DSP out of the Sale-A-Bration catalog that will soon be live.  Here is one of those said goodies!  Oh - I just am in love with the DSP - it's called Everyday Enchantment - and let me tell you, lately, I've been enchanted with it everyday!  It sets on top of my desk, and I'm about to embark on my second package of it already!  :) 

 These are cute little notepads I created to sell at some craft fairs before the holiday.   I have been infatuated with a stamp set by another company that is geared towards notes.  Well, I kind of recreated that stamp set in My Digital Studio, and have printed a couple of sheets out in a couple of different colors.  I'm crossing my fingers that Stampin' Up! will release a similar set soon.  Until then, MDS will fit the bill!

That little bit of organza ribbon that you see - it too is a Sale-A-Bration item.  It comes with 10 yards of Lucky Limeade, 10 yards of Calypso Coral, AND some rocking cool printed brads.  I'm currently hoarding the brads - I just drool on them and put them back on my shelf.  I can't bring myself to use them!!!  :) 

Wanna know something really cool?  During Sale-A-Bration (Jan. 24th - March 31st) if you hold a qualifying workshop, you automatically get the DSP, Ribbon and Brad bundle and a matching stamp set free!  That's in addition to the other benefits that you get anyway!!!  If you'd like to earn tons of free stuff, contact me today and we'll get a workshop for you on my calendar.

That's all for today folks!

Stamping 411's Saturday Sketch Challenge

Hi-dee HO folks!  I know I've been pretty skittish on the ol' blog.  I am planning to resolve that here in the near future.  I've got quite a few new things planned for the New Year, and I'm including "scheduling" some time in each day to blog.  I feel like I've been letting a lot of you down by not being here consistently, and I don't want to feel that way.  So, blogging is making it onto my New Year's Resolutions List!  My hope is to inspire YOU more in the coming year.  I just need to MAKE time to be here.

One of the other things that I would like to accomplish more in the coming year is to participate more regularly in sketch challenges.  I'm starting out this week with a sketch from Stamping 411's Saturday Sketch Challenge:

This is what I've created:

I don't know that it's completely "my style" but I don't dread it - it's just a bit frilly (?) for my taste.  There are a few things I might change if I were to re-do however - this card is dripping with great new products that you will soon be able to get your hands on!  The DSP - a new line called Twitterpated!  The cute little buttons - also from the Twitterpated too.  The focal stamp set - it's a freebie from the upcoming Sale-A-Bration!  There are some AWESOME new products in the Sale-A-Bration catalog - including some paper that I'm currently infatuated with!  Don't worry - I told you my goal (and NY's Resolution) was to blog much more....you'll soon be seeing some great projects made with this paper!

Alrighty - that's all for now.....more to come!

What I've been up to...

I have been BUSY!  To say the least!  Seems like one rollercoaster ride after another these days.  As soon as I feel like things are non-chaotic, they blow up again.  I know we all feel that way, especially this time of year.  I thought the holiday season would be much calmer when I made the move to stay home with the kids a couple of years ago....but really, they aren't! 

Anyway...let's move on.  One of the projects I had to tackle a couple of weeks ago was for a photographer in a nearby town.  She wanted me to "play" with a couple of her pictures and make some cards out of them.  I fell in love with this winter scene  from the town of Woodbine, IA - where she resides.  In these parts Woodbine in known for it's brick main street.  Well, and cowboys and camo too.  The photographer is working to open up Artisan Studio in Woodbine.  It's a co-op of sorts for artists and such.  I will start teaching classes there once a month starting at the end of January.  And I'm super excited about the opportunity!!! 

So, back to this picture.  She had an pre-open house event at the beginning of December and wanted as many cards with this picture as I could do.  The bad part about that was, we met on a Tuesday afternoon, and I had a craft fair coming up on Saturday that I really needed all of my free time for to create for that.  BUT, I pushed that aside and told myself that I would take ONE DAY to create as many cards as I could.  These are three of the 8 designs I did.  Guess how many cards I can make in one day???  (without going bonkers?)  41.  That's right 41 cards in less than 24 hours, using 8 different designs (which were all very similar to each other)  That first one above, I made 20 of it.  I knew because I incorporated 'from Woodbine, IA' on it, it would be a mover and a shaker.

 This one was very popular too.  I simply die cut the holiday from sticky pages and stuck it on the project and glittered it up.  Oh - I did outline the word before I peeled the red liner off and glittered.  It needed that.  Otherwise it was far too blah!

This one I heat embossed the "be still" in Cherry Cobbler EP and die cut the Peace from the Silver glimmer paper. Very striking in person.

So, this was one project that kept me busy for - will a mere 24 hours.

Now, I need to go and design my class for her.

FYI - for those that are local - the photographer is Bracinda Blum.  You can contact her at bracindablum@gmail.com if you would like.  Her Artisan Studio is set to open Jan. 1.  I can't wait~!~!