Week #2….Deals of the Week

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During the month of October, Stampin' Up! will offer several discounted products as "Deals of the Week." No limits and no minimum purchase required.


Week 2 Deals of the Week

Item

Description

Special Price

115961

Perfect Setting Bigz XL die

$25.99

114515

Flower Burst Embosslits die

$5.99

116760

Pop-Up Three Tier Cake Bigz XL die

$25.49

The Week 2 deals are good from Oct. 12 through Oct. 19 at 9:50 am (MT).


Click HERE to read about all of Stampin' Up!'s current promotions!

Back from Fall in New England

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If you noticed my blog posts lacking it is because my husband and I were on a dream trip to New England to see the fall foliage….and New England!  Even on a ten day trip, there wasn't enough time to see everything and go everywhere.  I would like to think we'll go back someday but we'll see!  Since we don't get much in the way of "fall foliage" here in Houston (until Nov. or Dec.) it was a real treat to see the colored leaves.  Timing is everything and we must have hit it right because if the leaves weren't at peak color, I don't know how much more gorgeous they could be!  The only thing that could have been better was the weather.  It was cloudy and chilly almost the whole time, with a little drizzle thrown in now and then, and maybe bits of sunshine on a few days.  Naturally, the day we had the ocean view room in Bar Harbor, Maine it rained.  Fortunately you can still enjoy colored leaves even in cloudy weather and you could even make the case that it adds to the atmosphere of fall……but a little more sunshine to make the leaves sparkle would have been very nice.

We flew into Manchester, NH and drove straight to Woodstock, Vermont. Right away the leaves looked beautiful, and we couldn't restrain ourselves from saying, "Look at those leaves!"  "Look at that tree!" every few seconds! Woodstock was a really cute place and we stayed in our first B&B, the Ardmore Inn.  We weren't sure how we would like a B&B but it seemed to be the thing to do in this part of the country.  Charlotte was a great hostess and made our first experience a perfect one.  If the delicious breakfasts and afternoon cookies weren't enough, she certainly had me with the fall and Halloween decorations!

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Our first covered bridge:

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Some scenery…..and thank goodness for our new GPS to figure out where we were on this ride and get us back to town!  Amazing!  We had fun with our GPS lady!

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Vermont was everything you would imagine it to be!

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A side trip to Fort Ticonderoga in New York after taking a ferry across Lake Champlain:

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A beautiful "Kodak spot" in Stowe, VT….we saw so many beautiful white steepled churches on this trip.

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More leaves….can't resist!!

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I think you can click on the pictures to enlarge.

I do hope I scrapbook some of these photos now!  I think "My Digital Studio" is calling my name!

Little Boo Ghost Halloween Card

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Yesterday I told you about the Little Boo ghost stamp on the "Under $10" page in the Stampin' Up! catalog.  I decided to stamp my own Halloween Designer Paper for this card using Little Boo!  To make the ghost in the center of the card, I used the Wide Oval Punch and just trimmed with a scissors to make the wavy bottom of his body.  The arms are made from theModern Label Punch, cut in half.  The eyes are punched with the 1/4" circle punch, or you could just color them in with black marker.  I drew in the mouth and sponged the edges of the ghost with More Mustard just to make him show up a little better.  The "Happy Halloween", from All Holidays, is punched with the Modern Label Punch (gotta have it!).  It is separate from the layering under the ghost, I just liked the way it fit right at the bottom of the layered piece.

Time to order your Halloween stamping supplies!  Go to my online store HERE and click the "Show Now" button!

The Clearance Rack at Stampin’ Up!

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Clearance Rack

Stampin' Up! now has a Clearance Rack in the Online Store!!  These will be retired, discontinued items offered at a substantially reduced price.  These items will only be available while supplies last, therefore they are only offered in the online store.  All sales of Clearance Rack items are final.  No returns or exchanges will be accepted, except in the case of defective product.

Click HERE to go to my online store and then click on the Shop Now button.  Then in the left hand column you will see "Clearance Rack" under "Holiday Mini".

Have fun shopping!!

Little Boo

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I think this is the cutest little stamp for Halloween……Little Boo!  And it is only $6.95!  Have you visited the "Under $10" page in the Stampin' Up! 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog?  It is the last page (p. 208) in the catalog.  I made some cute "Little Boo" cards, just 3×3 size!  So fun!  Take a look at those "Under $10" stamps…..you might want to get some for gifts for the holidays….and a few for yourself!

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I stamped Little Boo on Whisper White cardstock and punched out with the 1" circle.  Then a circle punch layers of Green Galore and Black and the fabulous Scallop Circle Punch.  The greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

Shimmery Leaves

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Made another fall card today with the leaves from Lovely As a Tree and decided to make it shimmery!  I stamped the leaf with Basic Brown since it is good to use with watercoloring and colored in with my Aquapainter and some drops of reinker.  To add the shimmer, I just used the new Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint.  Just shake the bottle and whatever is in the cap is probably enough.  I used a small paintbrush I had to apply the shimmer just like paint.  You'll love playing with these new Shimmer Paints!


Order 24/7 in your pajamas on my website HERE!  Click the Shop Now button!  Get your fall items right away!

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See the shimmer?!

Celebrate Fall!

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I've been so busy planning a fall trip, I haven't had time to think about today being the first day of fall!!  Normally in Houston we would still be sweating to death and wearing shorts and running the a/c, but today we were blessed with a rainy day to give us just a little sense of fall!!  I'm still wearing shorts and running the a/c but at least the day shows a little fall spirit!


Here's a card I made to commemorate the day, and it literally only took about five minutes!  I LOVE this stamp set, "Season of Friendship"!  It is so much fun to stamp the leaves on the tree!  Stamping is so easy and fun!  To make it interesting, I decided to use the baby wipe technique.  As you can see in the photo, I just folded up a baby wipe, dropped a few drops of several colors of reinker for fall (Old Olive, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust) and inked up the leaves on that instead of an ink pad. Worked like charm!  It looks like the leaves are just starting to change color!

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What Would We Do Without “Lovely As a Tree”?

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If you don't already own the stamp set "Lovely As a Tree" you should really add it to your collection right away! We all held our breath when Stampin' Up! retired stamp sets this last time because "Lovely As a Tree" has been around for awhile!  But it just is the most versatile, necessary stamp set to have on hand!  It is perfect for making cards for men, which is often a bit of challenge, but it can also be made into a beautiful Christmas card or a sympathy card or used on scrapbook pages and gifts.  Since my husband and I are planning a fall foliage trip to New England, it seemed perfect to make yet another "Lovely As a Tree" card for his birthday yesterday, this time with colored leaves and the new Autumn Traditions Designer Series Paper in the catalog.


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I used an old technique called "thumping" to ink up this stamp of trees.  It is a little hard to describe, but you just hold your Stampin' Write Marker loosely and let it flop up and down onto the stamp!  Kind of a tapping thing I guess.  I used various fall colors, like More Mustard, Old Olive, Ruby Red, to make the leaves.  Then I just kind of colored in the tree trunks and branches with the new Soft Suede marker, just hitting the lines as well as I could…..plus some green marker for grass lines on the stamp.  When I got the trees stamped, I decided to sponge in some blue ink for the sky and some green for the grass.  The card might be a little "busy" with that particular DSP, but too bad, I wanted the one with the colored leaves!


Here is the inside of the card using another stamp in the set.  The greeting is from the Level 3 Hostess Set "Kind & Caring Thoughts".  To color in the leaves I just colored with a marker on the lid of the stamp box and picked up the ink with my Aquapainter.  I love to color that way!

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Shimmery Snowflakes

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Another "copy" of a card in the Holiday Mini……..I just love the picture on page 26 of the Holiday Mini of the "Snow" scrapbook page, a "Season's Greetings" card and a little box.  I wanted to try out the beautiful "Serene Snowflakes" stamp set along with the new Shimmer Paint.  The Shimmer Paint (page 27 Holiday Mini) is easy to use….just shake the bottle and in most cases just use the little bit of paint inside the lid, picking up with a sponge dauber or paintbrush.  You can ink up your stamp, then apply the Shimmer Paint to the stamp right over the ink and then stamp…..OR just apply the Shimmer Paint directly to the stamp and stamp.  There are three colors of Shimmer Paint available and I may have tried them all out on this card!  You can't detect the "shimmer" on the card but I think you can see how the look of the snowflakes change as you move the card.  You should be able to click on the photos to make them larger.  The Shimmer Paint is just something fun to give a subtle, elegant look to your projects!

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Beary Best Friends Card

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BearyBestFriendsboy

Here's a card I made with my new Beary Best Friends stamp set in the Holiday Mini.  I kind of copied the example of the card in the Holiday Mini on page 35……which shows that YOU can do that too when you need an idea!  It was fun to get out my Aquapainter and the Watercolor Crayons to color in the little bear guy!  The Designer Paper is in the mini also, Pawsitively Prints, and is just perfect with all the Build-A-Bear products!  The greeting I used is from Beary Nice Wishes on page 36 of the Mini.  If you want to start working on your creative Build-A-Bear projects, just go to my website and click on the "Shop Now" button or contact me if you need any help or have questions!

My First Bear!

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And here is my first Build-A-Bear card made with the new Stampin' Up! Bigz Dies….Stampin' Up! Bear and Stampin' Up! Beary Essentials for the clothes!

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The flower in her hair is made with the Trio Flower Punch and a brad.  The necklace is made with a half-pearl from the Pretties Kit and some gold elastic cord in the Holiday Mini.  The purse is made with the Round Tab Punch although you can also get a purse from one of the Sizzlit dies in the Build-A-Bear Collection.  To make the face…..the dark eyes and mouth, I just stuck some Chocolate Chip paper behind the head to show through the holes, but for the mouth I stuck in a little piece of red.  You can do it either way.  The designer paper in the background is the new Pawsitivily Prints in the Holiday Mini.

Just go to my online store and start your Stampin' Up! Build-A-Bear Collection of stamps, dies and paper!

What a New Stamper Can Do!

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Over Labor Day weekend my son and his girlfriend came home for a visit. She ASKED me if we could stamp because she wanted to make something for her friend!!  I didn't even have to FORCE her to stamp!!  We stamped the first time she came to visit back in July so I guess she really did like it! (But then, who wouldn't??!)


First she stamped this card using "Season of Friendship" and we added pumpkins from "Pumpkin Patch" in the Holiday Mini  just for fun.  I knew the tree from "Season of Friendship" was SO much fun to stamp with!  I thought she did a great job, even varying a little bit from how I did mine.  Actually hers turned out looking better than mine!

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And then we needed to play with my new Stampin' Up! Bear Big Shot Bigz Die!  We cut out the bear and then dressed it up using the new Pawsitively Prints Designer Series Paper cut out with the Stampin' Up! Beary Essentials Bigz Die.  These are all new products in the Holiday Mini!  Stampin' Up! is partnering with the Build-A-Bear Workshop so we have an exclusive and exciting collection of new products you will enjoy!

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Heather decided to make her bear a Granny Bear and made some little glasses for her out of the retired Stampin' Up! wire we used to carry and added half-pearls on her jacket from the Pretties Kit!  She thought maybe the bear could use a hat, but that wasn't quite right…neither was a bow….so we finally tried a Flower Brad and that seemed to work!

I know it is going to be LOTS of fun playing with all these bears!!

If it is Lightning Outside, Stay Inside and Stamp!

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This past weekend we had several occasions where we had lots of lightning and thunder and yet not a drop of rain at our house.  Some places in Houston did get rain but it was just wherever the storm popped up.  On Sunday afternoon, my husband went out in the backyard to plant some seeds for fall in our pitiful garden.  All of a sudden a little bit of lightning popped up….of course I am the only alarmist in the family who would worry about such a thing!  In a few more minutes there was a very LOUD crack of lightning and I ran to the back door to make sure my husband wasn't sprawled out in the backyard.  He was fine but hurrying to get inside.  That lightning was way too close for comfort even for him!  But it wasn't until later that evening that we discovered that lightning bolt must have hit the chimney on the house a few doors down on the corner! Look at these photos I took this morning of their chimney and roof!


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So when it is lightning outside, STAY INSIDE AND STAMP!