Stampin'Up!'s Online Extravaganza is HERE!

Happy Monday, blog friends! Stampin'Up!'s Online Extravaganza is here! Not only can you save up to 40% off on select products, but there are super special 24 hr deals on Nov 21 and Nov 28. Here's a quick glance on TODAY's items:

And for next Monday, Nov 28:

You can take a look at the full list here.

It's a great time to scoop up the Gift Bag and Gift Box punch boards, or the very on-trend Ombre Pads bundle for your favorite crafter...or if that favorite crafter happens to be yourself, then so be it! ;)  There are a lot of other punches, stamps and embellies to take a gander at, too!  Enjoy!

Spooky fun Halloween scene!

Hey there Friends! Happy October! I was so excited to make my first Halloween card of the season since I got to play with some fun new goodies from the Stampin'Up! Holiday Catalog.  It all started with the Cookie Cutter Builder punch and the Cookie Cutter Halloween stamp set that I used for the cute little mummy. The Spooky Fun Photopolymer Bundle gave me the spooky scene I was looking for with the pumpkins, tree and the witch!

Here's some other close ups for you:

For my gray sky background, I used the Lucky Stars embossing folder.  Hope you like it!  Thanks for coming by - hope you're inspired to do some Halloween crafting! :)

Have you seen the new 2016-2017 Stampin'Up! Catalog?

Hey there friends! The new catty is here! Click on the image above to check it out.  I have to say one of my favorite new stamps sets is the Foxy Friends photopolymer stamps and the super cute coordinating punch! The new Sweet Cupcake photopolymer bundle is super cute, too. There really are so many things to fall in love with...I'll let you take a look for yourself so you can be the judge! 

Enjoy!

Sneak Peek of some new Stampin'Up! goodies

Hi all! My box of new sneak peek goodies from Stampin'Up!'s new catalog came yesterday! Woot woot!  So of course, I had to open up the box and play! Seriously, this time of year, I feel like a kid in a candy store. :) These new stamps and products will be available in June, so just a few more weeks til you can order them! Here's a quick post with some simple and easy cards I made (time is of the essence for me these days!).  How do you like these new 2015-2017 In Colors? They are so fun! Well, my dear blog friends, hope you like the peek and I will have more posts to come soon!  Have a great day!

Stampin'Up!'s retiring product list is here...

Hi all!  Can you believe it's that time of year already? Stampin'Up!'s list of retiring products is here, so it is almost time to say goodbye to some favorites.  The good news is, you still have the chance to get them while they're still available! You can check out the full list here.  

There's also this week's Weekly Deals to share with you, too!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Lots of awesome things on sale this week!  If you've been eying the tag punches, the Ornate Tag is an awesome one to add to your arsenal! I love me the framelits, so I would definitely recommend those to you as well. Be sure to check out if your faves are on sale!

Yesterday, I got this month's Paper Pumpkin in the mail! Woot woot! It's been so crazy busy for me though that I didn't even get a chance to open it, so I brought it to work so I could open it there. Do you want a spoiler alert?  Scroll down quickly if you don't want to see what this month's kit looks like! I personally can't wait to create these cute projects!

Being the Bruin that I am, I was very excited to see the blue and gold colors for this month's project, which is perfect for the upcoming Mother's Day and Father's day. I will definitely get good use of all these goodies!  I'll share some pics of the projects once I make a few of them! :)

Well dear friends, I'm going to say toodles for now. But, be on the lookout for a special giveaway soon!  I just passed a BIG milestone while I wasn't even looking.  Over 500K visits to my blog - woot woot woot!!!

There will be more pomp and circumstance for that post, so stay tuned!  Bye for now :)

Birthday Bonanza!

Happy Saturday!  How are you all?  Hope you're enjoying your weekend so far.  Birthday season is starting in our family, so I've got a couple birthday cards to share!  I think I'll need to build up my stash, so get ready for more bday cards coming soon :) I can't quite tell you who I created these for since the cards are still in transit, but nonetheless, aren't they so fun and festive? I had a great time playing with the Celebrate Today stamp set and the Balloon Framelit dies that coordinate so perfectly.  I dressed up the envies with the Balloon Bash stamp set. I also love that both the stamp sets I used are photopolymer, too!  Here's a closer look.

The balloon framelits come with the cutest little accent dies, like the banner, bow and tassles that I die cut in the silver glitter paper.

I'm also loving the embossing folders, which add such a nice texture to the cards!

Here's a list of all the products I used!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Thanks for popping by today and enjoy your weekend!

Weekly Deals {Nov 11} and a new photopolymer stamp set!

Hello blog friends and Happy Wednesday!  Just wanted to pop in and share Stampin'Up!'s Weekly Deals this week from Nov 11 to Nov 17.  And, I also wanted to share the new photopolymer stamp set called Banner Blessings.  It's such a sweet set of sentiments and I love the whimsical handwriting font:

What do you think?  Super cute set, right?  Well, dear blog friends, if photopolymer stamps are your cup of tea then you'll want to check out Stampin'Up!'s collection of photopolymer stamps here! I personally love the photopolymer stamps, too, for many of the same reasons you do, I'm sure.  It's great to be able to see exact placement of your stamp image, and I love how they adhere so nicely to the acrylic blocks.  Lots of reasons to love these!

Hope you all have a great day! 

Don't forget! I have a November Blog Candy Giveaway to celebrate my Stampin'Up! Anniversary!  Leave me a comment here to play!

Stampin'Up's weekly deals {week of Feb 4} + new personalized stamps!

Hi all!  Did you know Stampin'Up has weekly deals available? These cool deals are announced in my online store every Tuesday and are available while supplies last, so if you see something you like AND you like the price, better scoop it up while you can!  

I'm also excited to share the new personalized circle stamp, available in photopolymer! 

Here's a closer look at the stamp detail and format:

With this personalized stamp you can create a fun address label or use it for a bunch of things like from labeling books or other belongings to having a super cute way to give a personal touch to gifts and goodies.  Pretty nifty, huh?  This cool photopolymer personalized stamp is priced at $23.95 and it can be matched up with the clear block "B".  I can't wait to order one myself…though I'm actually thinking I may need to get a few with different personalized sentiments!  Very exciting stuff, indeed!

Thanks for taking a peek!  Have a great one!

{Tech Tip Tuesday}: #3 - Stamping on Muslin bags

Hi there blog friends!  Welcome to another week of {Tech Tip Tuesday}!  This week, I'm gonna share how easy it is to stamp on Muslin using Stampin'Up!'s Photopolymer stamps.  Aren't the bags above so cute?  I have to admit that I had to get over my own fears of stamping on Muslin - i.e. "Will the image come out ok?" or "Are the inks going to look dark enough?"  among other musings of mine that were preventing me from experimenting on these fun little bags sooner.  I'm pleased to share that it's really super easy to stamp on the bags and get a nice image.  Are you ready to get started?  I've got 4 easy steps for you.

1. To get started, here are the items I used: Muslin bag, Stampin'Up! Classic Ink pads in Smokey Slate and Daffodil Delight, Eye-catching Ikat Photopolymer Stamp Set, Acrylic Block.

2. For this Ikat pattern, I used 2 stamps from the Eye-Catching Ikat stamp set - the 2 diamond shaped stamps.  Place the 2 stamps on your acrylic block to create your repeating pattern.  Stamp the first row in Smokey Slate.  The beauty of the photopolymer stamp sets are that you can see the exact placement on the acrylic block and the actual stamped image on your Muslin bag.  Tip - be sure you evenly ink the stamps to ensure your full image stamps onto the Muslin.  Press the acrylic block firmly onto the bag and be sure not to rock the block back and forth for a clear and crisp image. 

3. Continue making your pattern and clean your stamps between colors. For the second row, I used Daffodil Delight.  You can stamp as many rows as you'd like to continue and repeat your pattern on the bag. For this sample, I create 3 rows.

4.  The finished bag!  As you can see, creating a pattern is a snap with the photopolymer stamps!

Here's a closer look at the trio of bags I stamped {notice the use of my rosette embellishments? - SOO fun!}:

For the rosette embellishment, I doubled up and used 2 flower dies rolled together to create a bigger bloom.

I just love this Ikat pattern and color palette! This pretty polka dot rosette was created using the Polka Dot Parade DSP.

For this stamped patter, I did a two-step stamp technique to create the yellow sunflowers.  Then, I topped it off with a happy orange felt rosette.  These Muslin bags are perfectly sized for cute little goodies or trinkets.  Hope you're inspired to create your own little gift bags. :)

Here are the supplies I used:

{Muslin Bag Trio}
Stamps: Eye-catching Ikat Photopolymer stamps
Inks: Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Pumplin Pie, Smokey Slate Classic Stampin'Up! Ink Pads
Accessories: Spiral Flower Originals Die, Mini Metallic Clothespins, Smokey Slate Chevron Ribbon, Secret Garden Framelits, Muslin Bags, Polka Dot Parade DSP 

Product recommendations for this project:

You can check these products out on my online store here.  And, don't forget - Sale-a-bration starts today!  So, what that means is, for every $50 you spend, you can choose Free product from the Sale-a-bration catalog.  Woot woot :)

Happy stamping and thanks for visiting!

New Photopolymer stamps!

Hi there blog friends!  Happy Friday!  How are you all? Hope you're doing well.  I know I've been quiet for a little while and I can't believe it's already almost mid-March!  I did want to pop in here real quick to share Stampin'Up!'s new Photopolymer stamps.  It's an awesome clear stamp option for those of you that like to see EXACTLY where you're stamping!  I am very excited that Stampin'Up! is offering this new stamp option.  I'd encourage you guys to try and give me some feedback of what you think.  I'm hoping to post some samples by next week, when I get my hands on my own set! :)

So now, I wanted to leave you with a fun little tidbit from my day.  On the start of my yucky commute  home from work, I got the best serendipitous surprise on the 405 Fwy.  Can you guess what it was?  No, it's not even traffic related!  I actually got to see a Double Rainbow!  Let me just say that it's not very common over here.  For one, it doesn't rain that often, so when it does, it's rare that you see a rainbow, let alone 2!  So, I'm taking this little sighting of mine as a sign for good things to come :)  Here's a snapshot I took.  I wasn't "technically" driving at the time since my car was stopped in traffic.  Heehee.