New Craft Room!

My plans for a new craft room started last year when I sent my oldest son off to college.  I thought in a couple of years I could turn his bedroom into my craft room. We decided to turn that room into the (video) game room.  That meant I get the whole finished basement as my craft room!  The first thing I wanted to do was the paint the walls.  They were a deep burgandy color. Very pretty but also way too dark for crafting! You didn't really even notice the woodwork at the bottom.

As most basements, ours had accumulated lots of stuff.  It was time to start cleaning it up so I could get to the walls to paint.

I picked up samples of 2 possible colors at Home Depot.

It's hard to tell in this picture but the color on the right is a little darker than the left. That's the one I picked out - it's called Stonewash.

It's amazing what a difference it makes - it's so much brighter now! My husband teases me and says you need sunglasses now.

Before I show you the finished (for now) room - I thought I'd show you the tiny space I used to work in:

Not only was this a tiny room - it was cold in the winter and damp when it rained.

Now it's time for the big reveal. I decided that I didn't want to spend a lot of money so the only thing I purchased was the paint. So it is not a beautiful, everything matches room. I'm hoping to chalk paint some of the furniture in the future.  What I love about it is that it's big & open. I have room to put up a couple tables and hold class down there.

I'm sure as I use the room, I'll make some changes.  But I am so glad to have most of the work done!

Would you like to see my craft room in person?  I'm planning to host a World Card Making Day event on Saturday afternoon.  Stay tuned for more details!

Keep stamping!

Cindy

More swaps!

Just a quick post to share a few more pictures of the swaps I received. These are all using the Paisleys and Poseys stamp set - it was the first one I ordered out of the new Holiday Catalog.

This beautiful card is from Michele Salchow. I love

how she used the Cable Knit embossing folder for texture!

Lots of beautiful colors and coloring on this card from Miriam Permur!

I love the color combination of this card.

The doily was dyed to match! There

wasn't a name in this card so I can't

give the designer credit.

And this was my swap. I just had to use

this gorgeous set!

Still lot of Christmas swap cards to share!

Keep stamping,

Cindy

Swaps!

I recently participated in a swap with a business group I'm in. I thought I would share just a few of the cards I received. In this swap we were supposed to highlight items from the new Holiday Catalog.

This cute vampire is by Marcia Gay in Ohio.

This is from my very own upline - Kay Cogbill. 

Love the sparkly bow tie!

Love this colorful card from Keri Blake!

It uses the new Totally Trees stamp set.

This also uses the Totally Trees stamp set. It's one 

of my new favorites! This was made by

Terri Meehan in Ohio.

Stay tuned for more cards from the swap.  I have a bunch of Christmas ones and some using the Paisley set.  It was so much fun to open the package and look through all the different cards!

Keep stamping!

Cindy

Happy Birthday Kay!

I just have to tell you about a very special stamper - she's my upline (the person who recruited me) - Kay Cogbill (http://www.papermadeprettier.com/)  Today is her birthday so it seemed like a perfect time to celebrate her! I don't know how she does everything she does - I don't think she sleeps. She has an amazing meeting for us every month.  She shares business tips with us and of course we stamp.   This is what we made at our meeting last Saturday:

Don't you just love these cookie cutter sets? I just got mine this week and can't wait to play them them!

She is always there to encourage us or help in any way she can.  She even includes our team members in her meetings. This is so helpful for those of us that are new to having our own team! This past Saturday she gave all her Silver & Bronze Elite team members something special.  I won't post what it was because I'm not sure everyone has received theirs yet.  It was so thoughtful and generous! I think she has to be the best team leader out there!  

I'll end with pictures of some of the swaps from the meeting:

We have some talented stampers on our team!

I recently participated in another swap with about 20 other people. I should be getting those back soon. Can't wait to see what all I get!  I'll be sure to share them with you too.

Keep stamping!

Cindy

One Sheet Wonder

One Sheet Wonder has been around for awhile.  I've seen a couple variations of it: one uses an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper that is stamped all over and the other uses a 12 x 12 piece of patterned paper.  I've recently been playing around with the stamped version.  Here are 3 cards that I made out my stamped paper:

I made 4 other ones too but I don't want to give away all my secrets yet.  Think this looks like fun?  Stacy & I are having a One Sheet Wonder class on 9/19.  Send me an email or watch for the Facebook event coming soon.  We will have a blast!

This might be a sneak peek...

This has been fun to try and there are so many cutting templates available. I think I'll have to try cutting up a piece of Designer Series Paper next. Might be a good way to make a bunch of Christmas cards quickly!

Hope to see you in a class soon!

Keep stamping,

Cindy

Birthday stamping

What better way to celebrate a birthday than with stamping!  My friend and fellow demonstrator Elizabeth Hart (check her blog out - http://spreadjoystamping.blogspot.com/) decided to invite some friends over for an evening of stamping to celebrate her birthday.  She had yummy food, cake & homemade ice cream for us too! We had so much fun!  Here's all the wonderful creations we made:

This was the first thing we made - a party hat using the Birthday Fiesta stamp set. Love the llama!  We all wore our hats for awhile - fun!

And because we weren't done with our fiesta...

I'm going to have to get this bundle now - these musical cacti are too cute!

Love this sweet cupcake! It's a bundle too - no need to fussy cut!

This has to be one of the cutest bundles in the annual catalog. It is bundled with a punch - makes it so much easier!

Then it was time for Halloween. Some made skeletons or vampires, I decided on the mummy. I thought he needed a bow tie.  There's a punch for this too and it's bundled with the Christmas set you'll see below.

This was a quick project using the new clear boxes.  You can't see it it in the picture but there's a piece of chocolate in the box!  These are great for little gifts or favors.

And finally it was time for Christmas. This is using the new popcorn box thinlit. We had to watch the Stampin' Up video to be sure we put the bottom of it together correctly.  It's like magic!

We crafted for almost 4 hours!  We did stop to have cake, ice cream & champagne!  It was so much fun - Elizabeth knows how to throw a party!

New Holiday Catalog!

Guess what today is?  It's the official launch of the brand new Holiday Catalog!!  Just like last year there are tons of wonderful stamps, bundles & accessories.  I had to restrain myself from ordering too much.  I'll share just a few cards I made or received in a swap.

Ready for Halloween? Does this shape look familiar? This set coordinates with the Everyday Jars framelits!

The stamp set is Jar of Haunts - $17.00

The background stamps from the first card are from Ghoulish Grunge - $20.00

Maybe you prefer Christmas? This Cookie Cutter Christmas bundle (stamps & punch) is so cute! I got these cards in a swap but I'm ordering this set next!  And there is a Cookie Cutter Halloween set that also coordinates with the same punch!

Cookie Cutter Christmas bundle - $35.00

Cookie Cutter Halloween stamps - $17.00

One more card to share that I received in a swap.  This new embossing folder is so textured - you really have to feel it!

Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder - $10.00

I participated in a Holiday Catalog swap.  I should be getting those cards back in the mail in a couple weeks.  When I do I'll share them - I should have 20 new cards!