Category Archives: Scrapbooking

Make a December Project Life by Stampin’ Up! Album Now

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December will be here before we know it, so be prepared to document your December days or even the holidays with a Project Life album all ready to go!  Nothing could be easier or cuter! Watch how Donna Griffith from the Stampin’ Up! Home Office goes about making hers with the Project Life Hello December 2016 Card Collection and Accessory Pack. If you want to keep it super simple, just use the cards and your photos.  You can always go back and get fancy with embellishments later, just get the photos and some journaling into an album right away. However, the Accessory Pack is a cute bag of goodies, you just might want it on hand regardless! This is the album that Donna refers to in the video, the Emerald Envy 6″ x 8″ Project Life Album.

Here is a link to the template she shares:  Project LIfe Template

Watch the video below by Holly at the Home Office and find out more about the Project Life Hello December 2016 Card Collection and Accessory Pack.  They are so much fun!

To order any of these Project Life products and others, please visit the Project Life section in my Stampin’ Up! Online Store!

Stampin’ Up! Offers Galore!

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Special Offers September 15-21 2016

Here are the new Stampin’ Up! Special Offers good today, September 15-21. This is the last group of Special Offers for now so check them out!

There are a few other versions available in French, too.

Whether you are doing any Project Life memory-keeping with the cards and accessory packs, they are just so cute and fun to own! You can use them to make cards or even framed art and other projects!

The Hello Lovely cards are ESPECIALLY beautiful!  You should get these just to have and maybe sometime in the future you will try Project Life memory-keeping or other papercrafting projects!!Project Life Hello Lovely Cards

You can see these cards and the Hello Lovely Accessory Pack on this video and see how you can use them in the pocket pages for scrapbooking or memory-keeping, or the new way Pam Morgan from the Stampin’ Up! Home Office uses these products as “mail art”!

Shop Stampin’ Up! Special Offers

Shop Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack

Bargains!! Stampin’ Up! Bargains on the Clearance Rack!

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Stampin' Up! Clearance Rack Banner 2016

Wow! This is how to start off your day!! Tons of Stampin’ Up! products added to the Clearance Rack today!

RUN, don’t walk to check them out and don’t hesitate to order if you see things you want! Products only available while supplies last. Lots of ribbon! Designer Papers! The Black Spider Web Doilies from last year! Punches! Lots of things!

Shop the Clearance Rack NOW!  Don’t delay!

Also:  Special Offers available today and tomorrow!

Thoughtful Branches still available, too!

Try Project Life by Stampin’ Up! for Memory-Keeping

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Project Life Banner 2016

One of the really fun and cute products, I think, in the Stampin’ Up! Product Line is Project Life by Stampin’ Up! You can choose from cards like you see in the photo above that decorate your pocket pages or give you a place to do some journaling.  I think it is SO important to do some journaling IN YOUR OWN HANDWRITING, I don’t care how bad you think your handwriting is!! (Getting on my soap box here!) When I see someone’s personal handwriting, I see the person. This is all the more relevant when looking at old letters, scrapbooks, memorabilia, etc. But back to Project Life! Besides the cards that come in a cute box, you can use the coordinating stamps and the oh so fun Accessory Pack of the cutest little embellishments to use, if you want, on your pocket cards. You can even buy just the Accessory Pack if you want some extra embellishments for your regular card-making or projects!  Lots of choose from!  And be sure to get the Journaling Pens!

Try Project Life for your Memory Keeping today!

You’ve Got This 12×12 Scrapbook Page

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You've Got This 12x12 Scrapbook Page

This stamp set, You’ve Got This Stamp Set, can be used to make a beautiful 12″ x 12″ scrapbook page. You don’t even need designer paper, just make your own background. Start with a piece of Whisper White card stock and stamp with the cross-hatch stamp in the set.  You can stamp and then stamp again without reinking to give it that varied shading. Just stamp around randomly.

After the background is finished, stamp the flower in the set with Stazon Ink so that you can color in without smearing the ink. Just use Stampin’ Write Markers if they are not too dark or use ink refills and the Aqua Painter. Lots of options for watercoloring!

Since this will be a scrapbook page, you will be adding photos and their layers so you don’t necessarily need to add all the stems to the flowers, but it just depends on your layout.

When you don’t know what to make, use the Stampin’ Up! Catalog for ideas! I got the idea for this scrapbook page when I loved the Popcorn Box on page 51.  Check it out!

Don’t forget to page through the catalog for inspiration. You can choose any element of any project that you like and apply that to what you are making!

Bonus Days Banner July 2016

July 7th begins Bonus Days!! Spend $50 and get a $5 coupon to spend in August! You must have an email address and keep track of the coupon codes they send you.  Don’t lose them! You can’t have them resent!  Click the banner above to shop!

Project Life for a Child’s Summer Vacation Activity

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Project Life by Stampin' Up! Banner

Stampin’ Up! has partnered with Becky Higgins to bring you Project Life products in exclusive Stampin’ Up! colors. It makes a simple way to get your photos into albums by just slipping them in the pocket pages and adding Project Life cards. Add a bit of journaling and maybe some embellishments if you like, but it’s much easier and simpler than traditional scrapbooking.

On their blog today, Stampin’ Up! has an article about getting your kids off their devices during the summer and having them work on a Project Life album, perhaps chronicling their school year or whatever they like.  Project Life is simple enough even for kids! Surely the rest of us could do it as well!!

Watch the appearance of a mom from Stampin’ Up! and her daughter on a local Utah TV show encouraging parents to give their children some alternative ideas for summer fun besides being in the digital world constantly. Click HERE to watch the show segment!

Shop Project Life at Stampin’ Up!

Make a Cute Mini Album For A Friend

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Mini Album Cover

I thought you would enjoy seeing this cute mini album a friend sent me recently that she made! You can use it for inspiration to make an album of your own!  I think mini albums are one of the cutest things we can make with all our stamping supplies!

I’ve often said one of the best things about being a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator is the people you meet. It was just chance that another Demonstrator saw my name on an email group I was part of and noticed I lived in Houston.  She invited me to come join a group of them for stamping, swapping and lunch out! What could be more fun than that?! We all got together once a month for a few years. It was great because most of us would never have met any other way. Most of us are still in touch one way or another even though some have dropped as Demonstrators or moved away. We just enjoy talking about stamping and Stampin’ Up! and having lots of laughs together. I wouldn’t have met these people without being a part of Stampin’ Up!Mini Album Inside1

When you open the album completely, this is what the inside looks like. So fun to discover all the cute tags and sayings my friend slipped inside!

Mini Album Inside2

In the photo below, if you fold the right portion back to the center, you see another pocket and cute little tag and envelope.

Mini Album Inside3

Such cute little things in the small envelope, not to mention a unique clasp for the envelope flap, tucking it behind the punched flower!Mini Album Inside4

And even on the back of the album is one more surprise!Mini Album Back

You can make something like this and put photos inside of your family or whatever occasion you are making the album for. You will find many ways to make mini albums online. This one is the same size as a regular card.

Just as I was thrilled to receive this from my friend and know how much thought and love she put into it, imagine how much one you make will make to someone special!

Join the Stampin’ Up! family and make new friends!

Tomorrow is the last day for Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals as we have known them! After tomorrow we will have occasional “Special Offers” instead.  Lots of deals to choose from!  Be sure to check it out!

Tomorrow also begins the transition to the new Stampin’ Up! Catalog!  Demonstrators who attended the OnStage convention in Salt Lake City the past few days already received theirs and get extra-early ordering opportunities! Demonstrators who did not attend will be able to view the catalog online tomorrow and we’ll all be able to see projects made with new products. Customers will start receiving catalogs about mid-May and the new catalog goes into effect June 1. That means the Retiring List will be released tomorrow afternoon, 1:00 pm MT! If there are things you want, you can get a jump on ordering today or be ready to order as soon as the list is released. Some things will sell out most likely, you never know. More details will be released tomorrow about the Retiring List.

Join my Mailing List to keep up with all the news coming out from Stampin’ Up!

Try your hand at making a mini album for someone.  You’ll have fun making it and they will appreciate it!

Cyber Monday! Stampin’ Up! Flash Sale & Online Extravaganza Last Day!

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Stampin' Up! Flash Sale Nov 30 2015

It’s Cyber Monday and today is the last day for the full Stampin’ Up! Online Extravaganza, plus a Flash Sale all day today (while supplies last!)!

Be sure to use the Bundle numbers to order.

Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza 50% Off

C’Mon, You Gotta Click HERE!

Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza 40% Off

Click ME!

Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza 30% Off

No, Click Here!!

Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza 20% Off

Click Here!

See the whole PDF list of the sale HERE!

My Recommendations (hard to choose!): 

Shop the Stampin’ Up! Online Extravaganza HERE now all day,

while supplies last!

Veteran’s Day Patriotic Scrapbook Page

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Veteran's Day Patriotic Scrapbook Page

Today is Veteran’s Day, a day we honor our military for their service and patriotism to our country and here is an example of a patriotic scrapbook page any of us could make.  Chances are every single one of us knows someone who is in the military now or has a family member who has served, whether recently or long ago. If we looked in some old boxes of photos, we can all probably pull out some vintage photos of our relatives and ancestors from their military service. Why not take some of those out of the box and put them on some quick and easy scrapbook pages and either tuck in an album or even frame and put on the wall as decor.

In case you would be interested, the genealogy website Ancestry.com is allowing anyone to look up military records free through today.  I was slow in reading my email and only noticed it yesterday but it has been going on for a few days. You may have to register in some way, but they occasionally have these opportunities to look up certain family records.  I find it fascinating to see actual records right on my computer screen and perhaps a real signature and handwriting by that person. I found records for my father, both my grandfathers, and a few other relatives.

Take a moment today to think about the veterans who have served our country in peace and in war and active military who are serving us right now around the world. If you would like to read more about the history of Veteran’s Day, just visit this link.

Layered Letters Father’s Day Card

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Layered Letters Father's Day Card

Father’s Day is tomorrow, Sunday June 21, so if you haven’t already, you better find some time today to make a card for the father in your life, whether it’s your own father, husband, uncle, grandfather, whomever!

I had fun playing with the new stamp set Layered Letters Alphabet. I liked this set from the moment I saw it and I think it will be a great set to use even for cards and projects and certainly for scrapbooking. Can you have too many alphabet sets?!  Probably not! One thing I like about it is the rectangle shape and the circle that you can stamp first and then put the letter inside of it! Of course you can just use the letters plain as well. I guess I just like the font. There’s something very comfortable to me about the letters.

To make this Father’s Day card, I used the new Cucumber Crush green for the card base, layered with Whisper White. I just “eyeballed” the stamping using my Grid Paper and centering the card on the grid, but you could also use the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig if you wanted to be precise. I stamped the rectangles but “stamped off” lightly one time before stamping on the card to make them lighter. Then I stamped each letter with our Tuxedo Black Memento Ink. The Father’s Day words come from the Crazy About You Stamp Set. This stamp set is a little pricey but comes with a lot of useful stamps.  And if you like, there is a Bundle with some Thinlits to choose from and save 15%.

Then for just a little more somethin’-somethin’ I added the top and bottom border from the Tin of Cards Photopolymer Stamp Set. Don’t think this stamp set is only for the Tin of Cards!  I have used it a lot, separately, and you will too!

So there you have it, one idea for a Father’s Day card for tomorrow!

Get your Layered Letters Alphabet Stamp Set at the Stampin’ Up! Online Store HERE!

Jump Into Project Life By Stampin’ Up! With Moments Like These

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Project Life Moments Like These Cards

Stampin’ Up!, as you know, has partnered with Becky Higgins and Project Life to provide us with these wonderful kits for memory-keeping! These special kits coordinate with our Stampin’ Up! colors and come with an optional accessory pack plus coordinating stamp set. When you buy the Bundle (the card collection, the accessory pack and the stamp set) you save 15%!

The Project Life by Stampin’ Up! system is easy!  Just gather your photos, insert them into the pocket pages, add some of the cards to decorate or explain, write in some journaling, and you are done!  Now if you like, add some stamping and add some embellishments with any of your stamping supplies or use the too cute accessory pack that coordinates with each card collection. Do as little or as much as you like.

Stampin’ Up! and Becky Higgins featured the new Moments Like These set on their blogs! Check out Becky’s post HERE.

Star Wars in Golden Canyon in Death Valley

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Golden Canyon Star Wars MDS

Made in Stampin’ Up! My Digital Studio

May the 4th Be With You!  Apparently to Star Wars lovers everywhere May 4th has become Star Wars Day (#StarWarsDay).  Who knew? And now that I am on the mailing list for Furnace Creek Resort in Death Valley, I received an email the other day highlighting May 4th as a good date to visit Death Valley where some scenes from the original Star Wars movies were shot. The email describes the scenery in Death Valley as “otherworldly”  which is a perfect description. At times you look out and think you are on another planet or the moon or who knows where! While my family thought some of the sites we visited looked like locations for Star Wars, we didn’t know the movie makers had actually shot many scenes there!

Just this past March we took a trip to Death Valley, CA with two of our children. Although I was not enthused about the trip in the first place, Death Valley National Park turned out to be magnificent (as all national parks we have visited have been)! The scenery is awesome and majestic, to say the least, and the setting so isolated and different than most of us ever see. You would certainly want to check the temperatures and weather before you plan a trip as it was hot enough when we were there in mid-March! The wildflowers were in bloom, and of course at higher elevations the temperature was just about perfect!

Any trip with my husband has to involve hiking, nothing major, but just easy hiking. In Death Valley there are plenty of canyons to explore. We went to the ones we could easily reach with our rental car and one of the best is Golden Canyon. It IS “golden” inside and around every corner is another incredible view. Now we wish we had known about the Star Wars filming there so we could have looked for the exact spots. As I looked through my photos again to see if anything matched one particular view we saw online, I thought of making a page in My Digital Studio with this photo of my son and seeing if I could give him a Star Wars light saber! This Stampin’ Up! software is easy to learn and use and with a few punches filled in with color and grouped together, I had a light saber! Then I added a text box and happened to have a Star Wars font I could use for the title! I didn’t attempt the proper clothing, but I’m happy with what I made! I can have this printed out into an 8 1/2″ x 11″ scrapbook page or frame it as a picture.

Stampin’ Up! will no longer be carrying My Digital Studio in about a month, but you can still purchase the software and/or any of the downloads just to have and use yourself. Just because Stampin’ Up! will no longer sell it or support it doesn’t mean we can’t use it!  The software comes with a ton of content plus you can add any downloads that you particularly like from the vast selection. You can even use just the downloads on your computer. It’s not just for scrapbooking so you can get a lot of use out of My Digital Studio in many ways, such as cards, flyers, photo books, party favors, calendars and more. Print projects yourself or take them to any print shop after Stampin’ Up! stops offering printing services.

To check out My Digital Studio, just click HERE.

Only $13.97!!

Extra My Digital Studio Downloads!

All discounted 30%! No shipping!

Realize the Importance of What We Do In Our Personal Communications

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At the Stampin’ Up! Leadership Conference this year, the keynote speaker was Jason F. Wright., an author and speaker. He spoke to the demonstrators about our Stampin’ Up! Statement of the Heart and how we make a difference with our handmade cards, handwritten letters and personal communication. This is something I feel very strongly about, that I worry our society is losing, because when I find a box of old letters, written in ink on paper, hand-addressed envelopes, I recognize and feel the person who wrote it. This is true with traditional scrapbooking, too.  When I hear someone say they don’t like to do the journaling because their handwriting is terrible, I think they are selfishly keeping something of themselves from the people ultimately looking at that scrapbook. Nothing typed or emailed can compare to the handwritten note or letter! I’m just as guilty, being in too much a rush to sit down and write a real letter. Think about how you used to feel when you went to the mailbox and found a letter from a friend. My mother wrote me letters almost everyday when I was away at college (everyone did think I got the most mail!).

Anyway, please take some time to sit down and watch and listen to this video of Jason Wright’s talk at Leadership. I guarantee you he is very funny and also very emotional describing some letters in his life.  Have a box of tissue handy! You’ll enjoy his stamping experiences also! And it will make you realize how important that paper and ink you are working with just might be to someone who receives your card or letter.

Hope you enjoy! Then go write a letter or send a card to someone! If you have a story about a special letter or card, please leave a comment. Here is the link to view the video if you need it:   https://youtu.be/iURdgEYuoso

“To love what we do and share what we love, as we help others enjoy creativity and worthwhile accomplishments…in this we make a difference!”

Stampin’ Up! Statement of the Heart

Make a Cute and Easy Album from a Kit

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Stampin' Up! So You Project Kit

So You Project Kit Images (c) Stampin’ Up! 2015

I saw this new So You Project Kit in the Occasions Catalog on page 48 but honestly it wasn’t on top of my wish list – until I saw Sara Douglass on stage at the Stampin’ Up! Leadership Conference last week show the album she made of her daughter and her friends out on a special date. I think they were going to make one for each of the friends! Then I watched the video shown below by Stampin’ Up! talking about this So You Project Kit album and saw how many things that are included, not to mention examples for each page IN COLOR that you could use – but certainly do not have to. The album holds 4″ x 4″ photos so you could get your Instagram photos printed to keep in this album! It’s the perfect size for a trip or a party or a shower or a new baby or graduation, certainly any occasion or holiday. Or just start it in a generic way and when you get a special photo, just stick it in there! On the catalog page, be sure to check out the extra supplies you might want to have on hand and the coordinating stamp set you could use. Of course, depending on your use, you might already have stamp sets you can use with it. Even if your photos are 4 x 6, they can be cropped to fit, most likely. I think it looks like a fun album and I’m putting it on my order!

Don’t forget, you will also get Sale-A-Bration FREE products with every $50 purchase! No limit! And at $150 you ALSO get Hostess Benefits! Talk to your friends and see if there is anything they would like to add to your order!

This kit would also make a great gift for any stampers, scrapbookers, or potential papercrafters!

Watch this fun video by Holly Linford from the Stampin’ Up! Home Office talk about the So You Project Kit.

To order your kit, just go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store and place your order! I appreciate your business!

Finishing a Houston Marathon Squash Book Photo Album

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Houston Marathon Squash Book Cover

Back in January 2004 (uh, yes, that would be almost 11 years ago! ) my son Eric ran in the Houston Marathon. I immediately made this “squash book” photo album as it was called, very popular back in my earlier days of Stampin’ Up! I made the album, put the photos in it, and I see now never did any journaling in it!  There’s not one date in it! Very bad! I also never got a cover made. But for 11 years, “any minute now” I was going to finish that album by making a cover (and presumably doing some journaling inside!). So it laid around here all these years, probably got dusted a few times, and finally landed who knows where. But this Christmas it resurfaced and by golly, I was going to decorate the cover! I didn’t know exactly what I would use, but immediately I spied a new Sale-A-Bration stamp set, coming January 6, called, appropriately, Best Day Ever. I thought that saying was so right for this project and stamped that on the top layer. As I’ve always said, stars are great for so many occasions, so I used the Many Merry Stars Stamp Set, which is still available in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Supplement on page 8 and is discounted on the Year-End Closeouts Clearance Rack (while supplies last!).  (If you missed out on the Many Merry Stars Simply Created Kit that was so popular, at this moment it is available too at a discount!  You can still make the kit and save the stars for next Christmas – or use them for another occasion with different greetings.)  I also used Glimmer Paper and the Star Framelits Dies to decorate the cover of the squash book.

I don’t have any directions at my fingertips for making the squash book, but I did use 12 x 12 card stock. You can make it as long as you want.  I put photos on both sides. The trick is getting it to fold correctly, but once you do that, you’ve got it made.  I’m sure you can google “Squash book” and find some details if you need them. Here are some photos of the inside so you can get an idea of how it is assembled and folded. I see I should add some dates and journaling before I let him take it home!

Here are some photos of the inside so you can get an idea of how the squash book folds and looks.
Houston Marathon Squash Book Inside

Houston Marathon Squash Book Folding

Usually I finish all my stamping projects I start, which I consider one of the advantages of the rubber stamping craft, but this project just didn’t quite make it!  I’m glad I finally was able to finish this Houston Marathon Squash Book Photo Album for a Christmas gift, even if it was about eleven years overdue! Try your hand at making a small album for a special occasion!

Don’t forget, the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog is coming to an end January 5th! Even though we are excited about the new Occasions Catalog and Sale-A-Bration event  coming up, don’t miss out on anything you wanted from the Holiday Catalog or Holiday Supplement before they end! Lots of items are on the Year-End Closeouts as well, so you might get a bargain!