Stamping with Karen

"Disappearing St. Louis"...My Daughter's Book about Old North St. Louis

My daughter Amy, always the writer, has just self-published her first book!  Actually, this is a book of photographs she has taken of  old neighborhoods in St. Louis, of buildings in disrepair from age and neglect.

This is what she has written about her book:

"My first book, Disappearing St. Louis,is finally complete!

Disappearing St. Louis presents 55 colored images, captured over a three-year period.  They depict the poor conditions of homes, churches, and commercial buildings across the city in historic neighborhoods such as Old North St. Louis, Vandeventer, Fountain Park, Academy, JeffVanderLou, and Hyde Park."

Amy has graciously donated the profits from the sale of Disappearing St. Louis to the non-profit organization Old North St. Louis Restoration Group which is successfully rebuilding a historic north side neighborhood one building at a time.

Amy and her book were mentioned in the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group blog on Friday.  Scroll down partway on this post to read about her book:

http://newoldnorth.blogspot.com/2008/11/christmas-shopping-season-begins-in-old.html

At the juried craft show that is mentioned, the 5th annual Rock 'n' Roll Craft Show,  Amy sold all 11 copies that she had cautiously published and sent to St. Louis to be displayed, not knowing what the response would be. 

We're all SO proud of you, Amy!!!

Amy spent almost the first eighteen years of her life going to St. Louis at least twice a year to visit grandparents as her father and I both grew up in St. Louis.  Little did we know then that she would ultimately take such an interest in old buildings in St. Louis and combine that with her interest and talent in writing and photography.  Even while going to college in St. Louis, this interest took awhile to develop and since then she has enjoyed making trips back to St. Louis to visit friends and take photographs.  Who knew this would all evolve into publishing a book?!

If you want to read more about Amy, you can visit her website at www.amyfontinelle.com or visit her blog at www.twopenniesearned.blogspot.com.

 

Holiday Extravaganza Sale is Up!!

Here it is!  The after-Thanksgiving "Black Friday" sale comes to Stampin' Up! early!  Here are the promised "bundles" on sale.  You can click HERE for my Stampin' Up! website to order 24/7 from today through Dec. 1st.  Remember, supplies are limited.  Only the bundles are eligible for these prices.  If you want just a single item it will be the regular price.

If you have any difficulty with ordering online or have any questions, please email me at KSFontinelle@Gmail.com.  When you go to my website, look for the Shopping Cart ad or the "Holiday Sale" words.  Don't forget about the "20% Off Rub Ons" Promotion" also going on.  If your order reaches $150 you will receive your usual Hostess Benefits, called Hostess Rewards, I believe, online.

Also, the Well-Worn Alphabet and Numbers stamp sets as well as the Starstruck Stamp Set will be on the 2008 Fall-Winter retired stamp set list.

Have fun shopping!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Stampin’ Up! Spreading Holiday Cheer With Thought

Need ideas for cute little gifts for the holidays?  Just contact me and I will be happy to help!  Often just the presentation through special wrapping or a tag or a card makes a simple gift an extra-special one!  Here are some holiday thoughts and ideas for gift-giving from Stampin' Up! 

With recent economic strains and a possible recession looming in the minds of many, holiday shoppers are transforming from a shop-till-you-drop mentality back to the pace of simpler times.  In fact, based on an annual survey, the National Retail Federation recently forecast the lowest increase in holiday spending by consumers in at least six years, and for the first time in the survey’s history, those surveyed said they plan to spend less on family gifts than the previous year.  With this in mind, this year’s budget-conscious shoppers need suggestions for spreading holiday cheer with thought—not debt!

Two for One Giving

Charitable gifts are an emerging trend in holiday gift giving. In fact, many corporations are embracing the holiday spirit by teaming up with non-profit organizations to donate  proceeds from the sale of exclusive products, allow individuals to make donations to particular charities on behalf of others as presents, and some corporations will even match donations during the holiday season. If you decide to go this route with your holiday shopping, try to choose an organization that is near and dear to the recipient’s heart. For instance, the Ronald McDonald House Charity has a variety of corporate donors who match donations or donate proceeds from the sale of special products back to their charity. Giving a Two-for-One gift this holiday season is a financially smart choice and one that will help according to GuideStar.com, many non-profit organizations that expect a drop in donations this holiday season when most donations are normally made.

Volunteer Your Time

If you can’t afford to give a monetary donation this holiday season, give your gently used unwanted belongings or volunteer your time or professional services.  Non-profit organizations are always in need of helping hands and hearts as well as supplies to help supplement their holiday activities. For instance, your entire family could get involved and share a heartwarming experience of cleaning out their closets and delivering clothes to the homeless shelter or delivering meals to the elderly or serving soup at a soup kitchen. The act of service will be a gift you can give to yourself and your family that will last a lot longer than the expensive gifts of years past.

Give Handmade

This season, shoppers will find that making handmade gifts, packaging, holiday décor and baked goods are a great alternative for stretching the holiday budget. The value of a handmade gift is priceless, and for many budget-conscious holiday shoppers, much less expensive.

One company helping shoppers do more with less is Stampin' Up!®.  The company will host a Holiday Extravaganza sale with up to 50% off select product bundles Nov. 26-Dec. 1, 2008 only online at www.stampinup.com/holiday.  “I love to give handcrafted gifts. It is often less expensive, plus the people I give the gift to usually appreciate them more,” says Shelli Gardner, CEO and Co-founder of Stampin’ Up!  “Creating and giving handcrafted gifts also provides and opportunity to appreciate the spirit of the holiday season by spending more time at home with the ones we love, sharing our talents and spreading holiday cheer the old-fashioned, handmade way.”

To learn more about exciting offers during the Holiday Extravaganza sale or unique handmade gift ideas contact Karen Fontinelle, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator at www.KarenFontinelle.stampinup.net.

If you have any problems ordering through my online website, please contact me at KSFontinelle@gmail.com and I will be glad to help you.

 

Fun Diorama Card for a Boy

So maybe he's not a "boy" anymore at age 23, but he will always be MY little boy!  Here's a card I made for Eric for his birthday.  Sometimes it is difficult to think of a card to make for any male.  Some stampers even do swaps for male cards just to get a selection of ideas.  I forget how it came to mind, but somehow I came up with the idea of making a card with a Yellowstone National Park theme after our memorable trip there this summer.  I had even tracked down the retired set "DD Pines" to use for those Yellowstone scrapbook pages I still plan to make! (we'll see!)  Long ago I had learned to make a diorama card, which actually folds down flat for mailing, and while they look impressive and are decorative, they are actually easy to make.  So here is the Diorama card I made with the retired DD Pines, plus the ever-useful "Lovely As a Tree" stamp set....talk about a great "male" set!

 

It's difficult to tell from this angle, but that is a moose in the foreground and a bear in the background!  You can see some of the "Lovely As a Tree" trees stamps on the inside layers of the card and the "Pines" tree stamped, embossed, and cut out adhered to the front with dimensionals.

Here is a view of the inside:

 

You can see how I cut out both the moose and the bear and attached them to the middle part and the back part with dimensionals.

And here is just another view of the front, maybe with better lighting.

 

If you want directions on making this easy diorama card, which you can adapt to any theme, just email me!

 

Christmas Made Fun and Easy...Try the Country Living Holiday Kit!

 

Stampin' Up! has partnered with Country Living Magazine to provide you with this beautiful Country Living Holiday Collection Stampin' Kit!  Click on that link to read all about it! 

The kit comes with:

• Holiday Collection stamp set
• Die-cut chipboard and Designer Series paper
• Card stock
• Ribbon and cord
• Pretties Kit brads
• Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter
• Adhesives
• Classic Stampin' Spots

Purchase this kit and you will be able to make ornaments and decorations with family and friends for the holidays!

Watch Shelli Gardner make an ornament from the kit in this video:

Country Living Kit Video

This offer is good while supplies last!  Don't miss out on getting yours!

Shop online 24/7 at your convenience!  Click HERE and then on the "Shop Now" button in the upper right-hand corner to order your kit today!

Item #114447    Country Living Holiday Collection Stampin’ Kit $49.95

Make these little projects and use them for ornaments, decorations,  package tie-ons, gift bag accents, cards, and gifts.

Contact me if you have any questions or want to order!

SUBSCRIBE to Country Living Magazine for $12 and receive a mini-Stampin' Up! Kit FREE!  Click HERE for more information!

See more photos of the kit:

http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/resources/holiday-stamp-kit-1208

A Happy Birthday Pyramid Card

Halloween has always been extra special at our house because our youngest son was born the night before Halloween, just missing being a pumpkin or goblin by about 45 minutes.  I remember when I was pregnant with him seeing the cutest little Halloween t-shirt in one of the store windows at the Galleria and thinking if he had actually been born on Halloween I should really have that shirt for my Halloween baby.  Didn't happen, which probably was a good thing for him, because he doesn't have to exactly share his birthday with a holiday.  But of course his birthday parties were always Halloween-themed, which made them extra fun.  I just wish I was into Stampin' Up! back when my kids were little because of SO many opportunities for gifts, party favors, invitations, note cards, etc.  If you have little ones, you really should get into stamping because you will have many opportunities to be creative!

I love this Pun Fun stamp set, but especially loved this rocket for my son.  When I started looking for ideas for this card, I came across this Pyramid card made by Trina on Splitcoast.  You can find different pyramid template lots of places on the internet, but I loved the colors Trina used on her card.  I added a Jumbo Eyelet for the window on the rocket and some stars, punched with the large and small star punches.....all found in the Stampin' Up! catalog, of course.... and also added a velcro dot just under that front flap to hold it closed.  The pattern I used showed a slit but I couldn't figure that out.  The card had to be mailed so it had to be flat.  I hope he can figure out how to assemble when he receives it!