Party Pandas

I love these cute, quirky pandas!  We made these cards at the team meeting I attended last weekend.  You can get these cute pandas free with a $50 purchase.

These also use the Tutti Frutti cards and envelopes. Another item you can get free with a $50 purchase!

I added a new link to the top of my blog - it's called Join My Team.  This is a great time to get a Starter Kit.  Click the link or contact me for more information.

On Stage swaps - birthday cards

I had such a fabulous time at On Stage last week. There were 7 of us that traveled together.  I shared some  photos on Facebook of the fun we had.  I also shared some photos of Christmas swap cards I received.  Today I thought I would share some birthday swap cards.  I had to take these photos inside so the lighting isn't great.  I'll try to get photos of more swaps this weekend with some natural light.

Left: No name on this one

Right: Sarah Lythgoe from Gilbert, AZ

Left: Kasey Naue from Miami, FL

Right: Shannon Colon

Left: Geri Thode

Right: My good friend Patience Holt 

Left: Deb DeLillo from Rio Rancho, NM

Right: No name

Left: Tricia Bellingar from Bath, MI

Right: Laura Nigro from Overland Park, KS

Left: Cheryl Spears from Sulphur Springs, TX

Right: Natalie Sepulveda from Centennial, CO

Erica Cerwin

I've had so much fun looking at my swaps over and over again.  I'll share some more this weekend!

Stampin' Blends

Do you like coloring? Then you will love the new Stampin' Blends!  As a demonstrator, I was able to order these alcohol markers a month early.  So I've had a little time to play with them.  They are so fun!  Here are a few projects I made with them:

These will be available for you to purchase on Nov. 1st.  And even better, Stampin' Up is giving away 100 free sets!  Just comment on the Stampin' Up post I shared yesterday.  That will get you in the drawing.   Good luck!!

Merry Patterns

Only about a week left to get your name in the drawing for my extra Merry Patterns!  Here are a few cards I made with this fun set:

I love the deer in this set!  On this card I stamped

him twice - once in Crumb Cake & once in

Garden Green.  Then I cut both pieces out, trimming

off the head & legs on the green one to make a sweater.

I used Garden Green for the candles on this card.

The set comes with 2 different fillers for the 

candles.  That makes it easy to get this two-toned

look. I just stamped one set off and one set full strength.

It doesn't have to be just Christmas!

To get your name in the drawing, place an order of $30 or more by 10/18.  You can place an order online using hostess code VF4S3JZE or place an order at my pizza box class next Monday night.

Designer Series Paper bonanza!

Did you see the special going on right now for Designer Series Paper (DSP)? Buy 3 and get the 4th one free!

Here are the papers that are included in this special:

From the annual catalog - 

Be Merry (144111 - $11.00):

Birthday Memories (144118 - $11.00):

Coffee Break (144155 - $11.00):

Color Theory (144193 - $10.00):

Delightful Daisy (144137 - $11.00):

Just Add Color (144180 - $13.00):

Naturally Eclectic (144185 - $11.00):

Petal Garden (144168 - $10.00):

Pick a Pattern (144163 - $11.00):

Whole Lot of Lovely (144119 0 $11.00):

Wood Textures (144177 - $10.00):

From the Holiday Catalog:
Christmas Around the World (144629 - $11.00):

Painted Autumn (144613 - $11.00):

There are so many beautiful designs - it's hard to pick just 4!

Crafty Weekend

I was lucky enough to go to my upline Kay's retreat this past weekend.  This was the first time I've been able to go.  It was so much fun!  She spoiled us with lots of treats.  We had make and takes, lots of food and a Christmas pajama party Saturday night.

My goal was to get swaps done for On Stage in November.  I didn't get all of them done but I did get some completed. Here are some of the cards I made:

This stamp is from the Every Good Wish set. I love the 

watercolor look. I got 25 made for swaps!

I don't have this bundle yet but got to use Kay's. It's

a beautiful set - I've ordered it now! I only had enough paper

 to make about 12 of these for swaps. 

This card was made with the Snowflake Sentiments

bundle.  Another beautiful set!  I've seen so many

gorgeous examples on Pinterest with it.

I used several different sets on this card.

The sentiment is from the Snowflake Sentiments set,

the mittens are from the Smitten Mittens set and I used

the Winter Wonder embossing folder for the background.

I'm sure you can't see it in the photo, but I added Wink of
Stella to the embossed snowflake.

This is the Hearts Come Home bundle. More

Wink of Stella on the snowdrifts. I added

silver foil paper behind the windows.

I decided this was a little to time

intensive for swaps.

This is using a special stamp set - Merry Patterns.

You can get this stamp set free with a $300 party

or order.  Stay tuned for more info on another

way you can get one.

I wanted to make some swaps for On Stage

that weren't Christmas. This is using the

Oh So Eclectic bundle. I'm not sure this

is my final version. I'd like to try one using

embossing paste in the background instead of the

die cut out.

So that's most of what I made at the retreat.  Next time I'll have my cards planned out better so I can make sure I have everything I need.  But it was a lot of fun to play with stamps and dies that I didn't own!

Embossing Fun

Last night I had an embossing class.  We made cards using both types of embossing.  We had so much fun!  I forgot to take pictures at class but here are the projects we made:

For this card I used the Woodland Textures embossing folder - still one of my favorites.

I adhered it to the crumb cake piece before embossing so it would all match perfectly.

Then I added leaves using the Colorful Seasons bundle. I love those intricate die cuts.

Did\ you notice the little piece of fluff above the leaves? That is the copper ribbon all

 stretched out. f you pull it apart you end up with this really fun netting.

This card uses the Cheers to the Year stamp set. I embossed the circles on the 

background in gold and silver. I added a strip of the gorgeous Year of Cheer specialty 

designer series paper.  All of it has metallic foil - just beautiful!  The piece behind the 

sentiment is one of the foil snowflakes from the holiday catalog. I just punched the 

middle of it out with a 2" circle punch.  I'll  save the outside of it to use as a wreath on 

another card.

The card on the left is the card we made in class. It was made with the emboss resist

technique.  I stamped the snowflakes from the Colorful Seasons set in Versamark

on Shimmery White paper and them embossed them with clear embossing powder.
Then I took my aqua painter and Dapper Denim and applied a wash of color all over

 the card. The embossed areas resist the ink.  After that, I took my aqua painter and 

splattered drops of water on the card and blotted them with a towel. The water 

caused the ink to lift leaving little spots with less color.

The card on the right I sponged with Soft Sky, Marina Mist & Pacific Point. 

Sponging makes the colors a little softer.

Hope you enjoyed this peek at the fun class we had last night. Hope to see you at a class soon!