Blogger's Challenge #71 - Halloween

Happy Friday everyone! We are having just glorious fall weather here in Virginia - I love it when the air turns crisp and cool. Time to break out the sweaters and jackets again and enjoy the beauty of God's paintbrush all around us. The colors are truly amazing, I never tire of looking at them.

This week it was very hard to stamp as I not only have dear family friends visiting for a week, but I'm still trying to put the house back together from all the new floors! So, my Blogger's Challenge card is one that I designed for stamp camp earlier this month.

Today's theme is for Halloween. Well, because we don't celebrate this event in our home, (hey, I'm all for the chocolate, but not at all for the scary stuff) I made this card as a harvest card instead. At camp, anyone who wanted to turn it into a Halloween card was able to add the jack o' lantern face from the Autumn Harvest stamp set to the pumpkin and use the Happy Halloween greeting from the All Holidays stamp set.

For my card base, I started with Old Olive cardstock and overstamped it with the Canvas background. I purposely left it looking mottled and spotty so it would look worn. The next layer is More Mustard cardstock stamped with the leaf from the Autumn Harvest stamp set. I stamped it in Chocolate Chip using graduated stamping for a tri-tone effect. This layer was deliberately cut short on the sides so that gorgeous Chocolate Chip Stitched Ribbon would wrap around it nicely and not stick out.

For my focal point, I stamped the tall pumpkin, also from Autumn Harvest, in Chocolate Chip on to Very Vanilla Cardstock. I also stamped it again on the Tangerine paper from the Frosty Days Designer Series Paper. This was cut out and layered on the Vanilla piece. The stem and grass was colored in using my Aqua Painter and the Old Olive ink refill.

I layered the pumpkin onto Tangerine Tango cardstock and stamped, colored and cut out the little leaf accent. This was mounted on a dimensional and placed just so on the front of the card. Locating a rarely used stamp set in my studio, Loads of Love Accessories, I stamped the Happy Harvest greeting at the bottom right with Chocolate Chip ink.

This was a fun card for me to make and I hope fun for you to look at! Be sure to check out all the other Blogger's Challenge players by using the link on my sidebar. There are some really talented stampers there and I know they will wow you!
After you do that, go buy yourself a bag of chocolate and lock the front door - you need it worse than the kids do!
Stamped blessings,
~~Robin

Fabulous Fall - My Favorite Season!

Hello stampers! Just checking in real quick with a pretty fall card. I am enjoying the season with some good family friends who have come to visit us for the week from North Carolina. They will be here through Sunday, so I'll only be posting a couple of projects this week.

If you were at Just Cards camp this month, you will recognize this card as one of our projects. I actually wanted to do a version of my Blogger's Challenge card from earlier this month, but it ended up taking a whole different direction, well, mostly! LOL!

I stamped the large bloom from Fabulous Flowers in the corner of Naturals Ivory cardstock with Really Rust ink. The little flowers are stamped and graduated with More Mustard ink and then the little 'weeds' are stamped in Old Olive. The greeting, which is from the Fresh Cuts stamp set, is stamped in Old Olive as well, as are the flowers on the card base itself. That too is Old Olive cardstock. I even sponged the edges of the main panel with Old Olive ink! Nooooo, I didn't get carried away, did I?

The center of the main flower is done with More Mustard ink on a small piece of Naturals Ivory and trimmed out with my Paper Snips. I added the Old Olive center and a pretty Gold Brad then popped it up on dimensionals.

That whole front panel is mounted a square of Really Rust cardstock and it overlays two strips of More Mustard 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon. Simple, yet elegant. And very easy to create!

It's supposed to be gorgeous this weekend in Virginia, so if you are able, get out there and enjoy all the fall colors before they blow away this season. We'll be headed back up to the mountains to the orchard for apples, apple donuts and fresh cider! Yumm!
Happy Fall Ya'll!
~~Robin

Blogger's Challenge #70 - Gift Giving

Hey there stampers! I know I'm TWO days late with my Blogger's Challenge post. Don't worry, I've not been AWOL - I have been crazy with classes this weekend, not to mention the TWO birthday parties my daughter had to attend. I love being a work at home Mom, but somedays, I can't change hats fast enough, kwim? LOL!

Our Blogger's Challenge this week was to create something you'd give as a gift. At first I was going the Christmas route in my head, kind of thinking ahead, but I'd seen an example of this treat pouch on another blog last week (forgive me, but I really don't remember which one and I forgot to bookmark it. Just know that the original idea is not my own). Believe it or not, I actually made this bag on Tuesday, I was just so busy with classes, etc. I couldn't get the blog post done!

The Candy Corn Treat Pouch is created with the Big Shot Pennant Die, Basic Black cardstock and felt pieces in three colors.

I cut two large pennants from the die and used Sticky Strip to adhere them together. Then I cut the felt pieces in roughly 2 inch strips, folded them in half and ran them through the Big Shot with the same pennant die. I adhered the felt pieces to the cardstock with the Tombow Multi Adhesive.


For the hanger, I simply used my Crop-a-Dile and added two Jumbo Eyelets in Pewter to the top. The ribbon hanger is Basic Black Narrow Grosgrain, threaded through and double knotted.

Inside the pouch, I added some Candy Corn flavored Hershey's Kisses (yuk, really! Way too sweet for me and GASP-NO Chocolate!). They are in a Medium Cello Bag and tied up pretty with some Pumpkin Pie Striped Grosgrain ribbon.

I thought this would be a cute gift for Emma's teacher - she has been great and Emma loves her - just hope she likes those candy kisses - I may have to make it up to her! haha

Even though it's Sunday - please take a minute to check out all the other Blogger's Challenge players creations. I've been itching to see them all weekend, so I'll be doing that tomorrow during office time.
Ciao for now - happy Sunday!
~~Robin

Top Note Cardinal - Easy and Elegant

Hi everyone! Yes, I know I've been neglecting you this week, but I promise, I have good reasons. Not only have we had new carpet installed this week in our bedroom, stairs and hallway, but yesterday, we had wood floors and tile installed on the entire main level of our house.

So, my house looks like we are just moving in (my refrigerator is still sitting in my foyer and my half-bath toilet is sitting on the deck! LOL, I wonder what the neighbors think!), I have not one, but TWO big classes this weekend, but Emma stayed home with the flu yesterday! We were both miserable locked up in the basement together - not a pretty picture is it?

Since that is not pretty to think about, I've given you a pretty card to look at instead. In a twist on using my Big Shot Top Note die for this card, I folded my Real Red cardstock first and then opened it up, laid it on the die and ran it thru the machine, effectively creating a window card.

The cardinal from "A Cardinal Christmas" is stamped on a Very Vanilla panel and watercolored with re-inkers and my Aqua-Painter. It's attached to the inside cover of the card. Before I attached the panel, I did two things to jazz up this card.

First, I used the berries stamp from that stamp set and embossed it in Clear EP with Versamark ink. Second, I cut an oval paper mask with my Coluzzle, placed it over the bird image and sponged around it with Creamy Caramel ink.

The beautiful ribbon is from the Holiday Mini Catalog. I used the striped grosgrain from the Alpine Ribbon set. It is tied around the front of the card by punching a tiny slit in the fold edge with my Horizontal Slot punch. The ribbon slips through and then knots on the front. Cool, huh?

Lastly, the sentiment is also from A Cardinal Christmas. It's stamped in Creamy Caramel and edged with the same ink. I punched it out with the Wide Oval Punch and created a background for it by using the same punch twice more with Old Olive cardstock. The three pieces are layered together and attached with dimensionals!

So, there ya go! I hope you like it enough to forgive me for slacking on my posts this week! See ya soon!
Inky hugs,
~~Robin

Baja Breeze Snowflakes!

Happy Monday everyone! It seems like an appropriate day to show you a snowflake card. Here in Virginia this morning it is below 40 degrees and to me that is COLD!

When I was at Founder's Circle last month, I recieved a really pretty swap card from fellow Demo Laurie Krauss. Hers was done in shades of green - Handsome Hunter and Sage Shadow with Whisper White embossing and a white card base.

I knew I had to CASE her card for one of my 30 card classes this season, but I wanted to put my own spin on it, so I changed the color scheme to Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy and Basic Gray with Whisper White embossing. AND, I got to use that fun, NEW striped grosgrain ribbon in Baja Breeze too.

The stamp set we used for the card is Snow Swirled and I have to say, it's been one of the MOST popular stamp sets of this season. So easy to work with and it really makes beautiful cards effortlessly. The gals at my 1st 30 card class created 10 of these beauties along with 20 others in 2 different designs. They used the Seasons Greetings stamp that comes in the Snow Swirled stamp set for their card front.

Now, if you follow my blog, you know that I always go behind and make up the leftover cards from classes and camps so I have cards to fill my card box. So, when I sat down to make these, I substituted the Warm Wishes stamp from the Hugs and Wishes stamp set for my greeting. I wanted to have wintry cards that I could send for any occasion, not just for Christmas. Don't you just love that as a stamper, we can customize any card we make for any occasion? We don't have to depend on Hallm*** to send the very best! :)

Here's a quick shout out to my Trinity Design Stampers group! We had our meeting last night and it was so fun! Did you know that our group welcomed 9 new stampers to our team during the $99 Starter Kit special? That is so cool! More friends to stamp with! Love you gals!

Chat with you again tomorrow!
~~Robin

Blogger's Challenge #69 - Color Combo

Well, stampers, here we are at another Blogger's Challenge Friday. Our challenge mom, Lisa, had us work with the color combination of Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, Really Rust and a neutral if needed.

Here's how I usually approach a color challenge - I pull out one sheet each of the colors, plus a couple of different neutrals. Then I pull out the matching ink pads and lay it all out on the table in front of me. I shuffle the cardstock, trying different colors on top, middle and bottom until I see what I like best.

Next, I peruse (that's a 50 cent word for you today) my stamp sets and choose one that will display the colors to their best advantage - or I just pick the one I like best, whichever comes first! Anyway, today, I chose to work with Fabulous Flowers, one of my all time favs - "Dare to be Fabulous" is the sentiment in that set - love it!

My top layer is Naturals Ivory cardstock and I stamped it with that gorgeous Mum like flower first in Really Rust ink. Then I chose the two smaller flowers and stamped them also in Really Rust, but stamping off first on my Grid Paper to dilute the color. The little weed flower is stamped in Old Olive ink. This layer was just screaming to be distressed, so I complied and really beat it up with my Bone Folder. It still needed something, so I added Old Olive ink to all the edges with my Stampin' Sponge.

Well, as you can see, once I had the sponge in my hand, I just couldn't stop at one layer, so A La Patti Chesky (may she live forever) I sponged EVERYTHING! You are so in my head this week Patti - can you now convince me to stop eating junk food?

Oh, you want to know how I finished this card, ok, let's get back to it.

I stamped some more flowers on the Riding Hood Red cardstock layer in Riding Hood Red ink, but just in two of the corners - didn't want to overdo it! Then came the three Gold Brads in the bottom left corner which I added with my Mat Pack and Paper Piercer so I could line them up correctly.

Then, I stamped one more flower in Riding Hood Red on Naturals Ivory Cardstock and trimmed it out with my Paper Snips. I curled the petals with the side of my Bone Folder and added a Gold Brad to the center. To really make it pop, I took a page from Selene Kempton's book and painted the flower with Crystal Effects. Yeah, really! It was attached to the center of the Big flower with a dimensional.

The greeting is from Best Yet (Level 1 hostess set) stamped in Riding Hood Red, sponged in Old Olive, punched out with the 1 1/4" Circle Punch and layered on a Really Rust 1 3/8" Circle. Yes, you guessed it, I popped it up on dimensionals. Now, I intended to place the greeting higher on the card, but truth be told, I got it too close to the cardstock while I was talking to my daughter and it stuck where it is. Thank goodness it's straight! And actually, I kind of like it there.

I really hope you like this card and I really hope you like reading my blog. Some of you have told me how much you laugh as you read my posts - thanks for that! I just hope you are laughing at my crazy life and not my cards - because then I would cry, and that would get my all cardstock wet, and then I couldn't stamp anything, and then you would be sad too. So you see, you need to like my card so I can keep stamping for you! I don't want you to be sad!

Love you guys! Be sure to check out the other Blogger's Challenge players artwork too - just click on the link in my sidebar.
Happy Friday,
~~Robin

Monkey See - Monkey Do!

As you can see, this post has NOTHING to do with Monkeys! Well, not really. You see, I was cruising my favorite blogs yesterday when I saw this post here on Patti Chesky's blog. And when Patti posts something this cute, I just have to eat a banana and climb a tree! LOL! I just loved the idea of her little purse and it inspired me to create this box.

The 2, 5, 7, 10 box is the basis for this project and a tutorial can be found here for the basic box. My box is done with Kiwi Kiss cardstock and I covered all four panels with smaller pieces of Frosty Day Designer Series Paper from the Holiday Mini catalog. I used Sticky Strip to form the box so it would be sturdy and I used the Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive to glue on the paper panels. This is actually the first time I've used that adhesive for paper on cardstock and it worked great! There is definitely a learning curve, but I was very pleased with the results.

I took Patti's idea of using the Top Note Die from the Big Shot to jazz up my top flap a bit. The Top Note was cut twice once in Kiwi Kiss and once in the Frosty Day paper. I just used the opposite side of the same piece this time then I trimmed off the perforated edge so the Kiwi Kiss would outline it.

After folding the Top Note pieces in half and adhering them with more Tombow, I used Sticky Strip to attach the Top Note to the box flap. I cut a piece of Chocolate Chip Wide Grosgrain ribbon and used Sticky Strip to attach that as well.

As you can see from the photos (I hope) I used a velcro dot as my fastener but gave it some extra security with two Gold Brads.

The little medallion/greeting was created with the 1 3/4" Circle punch on Chocolate Chip, the Scallop Circle punch on Kiwi Kiss and the 1 3/8" Circle punch on Very Vanilla.

I stamped the sentiment from the Best Yet stamp set (Level 1 hostess set) and stamped two flowers from the Live Like You Mean It stamp set (also Level 1 hostess) in Tangerine Tango ink. The flowers were inked up and stamped off one time on Grid Paper.

Lastly, I edged the Vanilla piece in Tangerine Tango ink and snailed them all together and attached the whole thing to the box with Sticky Strip.

I was so pleased with how this turned out that we will be making these boxes at my Trinity Design Stampers group meeting this Sunday! Maybe, just maybe, if you are really nice to me and leave lots of comments, we will do this at a Stamp Camp this fall as well........

Happy Stamping everyone!
~~Robin

Big Shot Box - So Fun!

Hey everybody, check this out! It's a box made with the Scallop Envelope Die from the Big Shot. How cool is that?

I first saw this idea while at Founder's Circle and since then, I've seen it on many other blogs and websites so I thought I'd try my hand at making one of them.

It was so super easy - first I cut four envelopes out of Tangerine Tango Textured Cardstock with my Big Shot and the die.

Then I used Sticky Strip and attached the side flaps of the envelopes together to form the square of the box. I used some more Sticky Strip to fold the flaps down inside the box so they wouldn't stick out.

The bottom was formed by folding the four bottom flaps of the envelopes up and flapping them one over the other. I then attached a square of matching cardstock to the bottom to make it sturdy. While constructing my box, I put the textured side of the cardstock on
the inside so when the top flaps were folded down, the texture would show.

To embellish the box, I used a strip of Hawaii Papaya Designer Series Paper and wrapped it around. Since 12" is not long enough to meet in the middle, I punted and rounded the two bottom corners of the paper and placed a multi circle embellishment over it to meet the gap.

The Circles were created with the NEW 1 3/4" Circle Punch, the 1 1/4" Circle Punch and the 1" Circle Punch. I stamped the flower in Tangerine Tango on Very Vanilla cardstock. The flower comes from Eastern Blooms and is one of the flowers on the block of 3. Chocolate Chip and Kiwi Kiss Cardstock formed the layers and I added a piece of that YUMMY Kiwi Kiss Satin Ribbon.

To make this box EXTRA yummy, I used a Small Cello Bag to hold some White Chocolate Truffles and tied it with some Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon. All in all, a very fun, quick gift project.

If you are in my Big Shots Club or in my Downline, YOU will be making this project. My Trinity Design Stampers Group meeting is this Sunday at 4 pm. We always have so much fun at our meetings. I'd love to have you join us someday!

Paper Pumpkins!

Happy Saturday stampers! Just a quick project idea for you today - it's my take on the paper pumpkin that Stampin' Up! has on their website this month. True to Robin form, I just altered it a bit to make it EASY for me!

I started with a full sheet of Pumpkin Pie cardstock and cut it in 2 pieces - 5 x 8 1/2 and 6 x 8 1/2. Next I used my Whimsy Jumbo Wheel and rolled the cardstock with Pumpkin Pie Ink. Then I cut the cardstock into 1 x 8 1/2 strips.

Stacking the cardstock strips together on top of each other, I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch a hole through each end of the stack. Then I threaded Always Artichoke Narrow Grosgrain ribbon through the bottom hole, knotting it on the outside.

I threaded the other end through the top hole from what becomes the inside of the pumpkin and pushed the cardstock strips down to form a "C". The ribbon then was knotted on top of the "C". I then separated all 11 pieces of cardstock strips and formed the pumpkin shape you see in the picture.

Using a 16" piece of the Always Artichoke ribbon, I tied a bow around the knot on top and then trimmed the top piece into a stem for the pumpkin.

The leaves were stamped with Always Artichoke ink onto Kiwi Kiss cardstock for contrast. I used one of the open leaves from the Fall Flair stamp set (level 2 hostess gift!). They were then cut out with my Paper Snips and curled under with my Bone Folder. I put a little crease in the middle of each one with my fingernail and attached them to the top with a dimensional.

The little tag was made with Short Order Alphabet and the thank you from All Holidays because this was a little gift for my hostess last night, Alisa! I simply punched the tag out with the Key Tag punch and tied it to the pumpkin with some Linen Thread. All in all this project took about 15 minutes, start to finish.

If you like it, this is our Bonus Project for Just Cards class this month. You can still RSVP - the date is Tuesday, October 21st. 10 am or 7 pm. The Bonus Project is your FREE when you register and pre-pay the $15 class fee. Contact me quick before the class fills up - I don't want you to be pumpkinless!

Don't forget, you can now shop 24/7 from my website for all the products I've used in any of my blog projects. Simply click on this link: http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx
Your online order will be shipped directly to you!

~~Robin

Blogger's Challenge #68 - Inspiration Piece

Being a stamper and scrapbooker, I find inspiration in many places; magazines, store displays and sometimes even a piece of clothing on a rack. Catalogs have often inspired me to create a piece of art either by it's pattern, or by it's colors.

This week's Blogger's Challenge fit, for me, both pattern and color scheme. Our challenge mom, Lisa, posted this photo of a bedroom ensemble (lingerie not included!) and had us create our challenge piece by what inspired us in the photo. Since my husband was not in the photo as well, I went with my second thought and created this card.

I went to one of my all time favorite stamp sets, Baroque Motifs (if you don't own this one yet, go immediately to my website and ORDER it! It's a must have in your stamp wardrobe!). Using one image from this set, I stamped all over a piece of Real Red cardstock with Whisper White Craft Ink.

Then I heat embosed all the images using White Embossing Powder. The focal image was done the same way.

I layered the red background piece onto a folded Basic Black card base and then took a piece of Vellum cardstock, tearing both top and bottom edges and adhered it to the background.

The ribbon accent is Whisper White Taffeta ribbon just wrapped around these two layers. I added a little bling with some self-adhesive cell phone rhinestones that I picked up at Wal-mart a few years ago. Yes, I really do keep everything! Sheesh - I'm a stamper ya know!

Anyway, I layered up the focal image with Basic Black and Whisper White to make it pop and added a large half pearl from the Pretties kit with a Mini-Glue Dot. The entire focal image is popped up on dimensionals and there ya go - finished card! I hope you like it - please leave me a comment and tell me what you think. And while you are at it, check out the other Blogger's Challenge players by clicking on the link in my sidebar. I'm sure they have some fabulous takes on our inspiration piece too!

Oh, yeah, don't forget to go order Baroque Motifs! Just click on the link to my website and click SHOP NOW to place your order!

Happy Friday!
~~Robin

Something I Believe In - Let Me Share it with You

WHAT CAN SU DO FOR YOU?

If you are a regular Blog reader of mine (love you!) you know how very much I love being a part of Stampin' Up! I believe in this company for many reasons and I'd love for you to let me share what SU! can DO FOR YOU.

There is a $99 Join SU! special that expires in just under 72 hours. Take a minute and read through this list of reasons to give it a try.

Since this month marks our 20th Birthday – here are 20 great reasons to consider being part of this wonderful organization:

As a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator You Get:

1. To enjoy 20% instant income on all purchases (that's an instant 20% savings)

2. To earn up to 40% commission on personal purchases and customer sales

3. To enjoy a 20% discount on Demonstrator only preorders of stamps (that means a 40% savings with your 20% instant income) - Next preorder will be for the 2009 Spring Catalog and Sale-A-Bration Stamps

4. To receive our full color Stampin' Success monthly - great tips, techniques, samples

5. To host a Demonstrator only website that allows your stamping friends to shop online from you 24 hours a day

6. To attend Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Only events - Convention, Regionals, Local team events

7. To know -before the public does - specials, retiring items, company announcements

8. To earn extra income for holidays or to help out in these economic tough times

9. To earn extra income to support your habit

10. To enjoy the perks on your terms - as little or as much as you like - what days of the week, how many days of the week - what types of events

11. Credit for your personal purchases - anything we purchase as Stampin' Up! demonstrators counts toward our low quarterly minimum, great rewards perks program, career milestones, monthly overrides, promotions, free mini catalog mailing program

12. To receive the catalog and minis FREE throughout the year

13. To enjoy hostess benefits and income - as Stampin’ Up! demonstrators we are allowed to be our own best customer and receive all the perks of being a hostess AND a demonstrator.

14. To enjoy tax benefits of owning your own business - wouldn't you love to write off photo developing, travel for business, ALL your own stamping supplies, the BIG SHOT, and more?

15. To be recognized for your efforts of sales, recruiting and promoting

16. Flexibility in how you generate sales - home parties, catalog shows, clubs, classes, direct orders, personal orders, craft fairs, sales of finished product - Stampin' Up! provides multiple streams of income - there is no one way to generate income from sales of product - find the way that works best for you or enjoy several avenues.

17. To see the 2009 Catalog First!

18. To see the 2009 Sale-A-Bration promotion first!

19. To take advantage of Demonstrator Only bulk buy items

20. My support - With 3 years experience in Stampin’ Up! and 13 previously in direct sales, I have worked with demonstrators at all levels and know I can help you reach whatever personal goals you set for yourself - whether you want to just enjoy the discount, dabble as little or as much as your time allows month to month or go for greatness. I have supported demonstrators in each of these phases.

I know that you will have fun, make new friends and never pay full price again as a demonstrator. I also know that anything is possible for you.

Let me help you on the path to making SU! be what YOU want it to be. At $99 it's an incredible opportunity to be in business for yourself but not by yourself.

JOIN TODAY - http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/robinstamps4u/
Click “Join Now” and ENTER – trinitydesigns

The Trinity Design Stampers team and I would love to have you join us! We've already welcomed 6 New demonstrators in just the past few weeks - won't you come have fun with us too?

Here is the link to the full color information flyer: http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/US_99_Start_Kit_promo.pdf
Please contact me right away if you have any questions – I’m here to help!

~~Robin

Cute Comes in Many Forms

Cute is when you can take a plain ol' candy bar and jazz it up with some pretty paper, ribbon and a tag and make it fun like this!

I am part of an online stamp group and about a week or so ago, one of the members, Toni Tessler, posted directions on how to make these cute candy packages. She did hers in Halloween design, but I wanted to make mine more Fall generic, so I went with this combo. I used the Always Artichoke Patterns DSP from the Level 1 Hostess pack of paper for my cover. It is already cut at 6" x 6" so it was the perfect size. I simply used some SNAIL adhesive to stick it to the candy wrapper on the backside, adding a bit of adhesive to each end as well. Then I stuck the ends, one at a time into my Crimper and rolled it up to the candy. Releasing the handle allowed the package to slip out and, Voila, it looks like it came from the store this way!

The ribbon I used is the new Wide Chocolate Chip stitched grosgrain. I cut out the Tangerine Tango pumpkin with my Big Shot and edged it with a bit of Chocolate Chip ink as well as the greeting that is stamped on Very Vanilla and punched out with the 1" circle punch. It's simply tied around the ribbon with some Linen Thread. Now, how cute is that? Thanks Toni for sharing the idea!

Cute is also when you get to take a picture of your daughter stamping away and creating her own fun projects. Emma really enjoys stamping and spending time with me in the studio. I am very blessed because she hasn't outgrown me yet!

When I was making some of these candy packages, she was creating her own flip calendar for 2009 using my Mark the Date stamp set and her Hello Kitty craft book. I promised her that if she ever finishes it, I'd post it here so you all can see her cute idea!

Happy Thursday everyone!
Now, go stamp something - that's where I'm headed!
~~Robin

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas!

Sing along with me now - "just like the ones I used to know."


Actually, I'm writing this post as I'm on terminal hold trying to finalize my reservations for the Stampin' Up! Hawaii trip next March. Now how ironic is that? But, they have Christmas in Hawaii too, and apparently they have snow as well! I've been reading up on the Big Island of Hawaii where we will be staying and did you know that they actualy snow ski there? Who knew! Not that I'd get my husband on skis, but, hey, it's there if ya wanna go!

The card today is my swap entry to the swap I host called the "Go-Divas". I had seen an all white Christmas card in a non-Stampin' Up! publication and thought that it was so elegant. I had to do a version of my own.

I used Shimmer White cardstock and Brushed Silver cardstock so it has plenty of shine and shimmer in real life. The photo just does not do the bling justice! The large oval on the main panel is dry embossed using a cardboard template that I cut with my Coluzzle. After I dry embossed the oval, I masked it from the front with a matching oval paper mask and stamped the snowflakes with Versamark ink.

Then I embossed the snowflakes with Heat and Stick powder making them sticky. Next I applied a healthy dose of Dazzling Diamonds glitter and heat set it with the embossing gun.

The ribbon is the simple Real Red wide grosgrain wrapped around with an extra piece tied in the front for a neat bow. I then stamped the greeting in Real Red on Shimmer White cardstock, punching it out with the Wide Oval punch. After edging the oval greeting with Real Red ink, I popped it up on dimensionals and voila - finished card! Are you blinded by the "white"? haha, oh, I crack myself up!

Happy Monday, peeps!
~~Robin

Falling for You - Bloggers Challenge #67

I have a confession to make - I did not make this card ahead of time. I just realized that it is Friday and my Blogger's Challenge is due TODAY! And, since I've been AWOL for the past two weeks, I figured I'd better get on the ball, kwim?

So, I remembered the challenge was "Falling for You" and I at first thought - Fall, leaves, autumn colors; but I just couldn't get into it, even after pulling out my Fall Flair stamp set. Hmmm. What's a girl to do?

I glanced over at my work table and saw a snowflake card I'd been working on last night and said "Hey, snowflakes fall!" And that was pretty much it for my creative inspiration! Sometimes it pays not to clean up your stamp room!

I took a piece of Bashful Blue cardstock as my base and layered on a Big Whisper White snowflake cut with my BIG SHOT! Then I used a scrap of Brushed Silver cardstock and used my BIG SHOT again to cut the small snowflake. It's hard to see in this photo, but I popped the jewel out of a pale blue Rhinestone Brad (love these!) and glued it to the center of the silver snowflake. The white snowflake has Dazzling Diamonds Glitter on it for pizzazz!

The cardstock layers are Night of Navy, edged with Dazzling Diamonds as well - never too much glitter!, and Whisper White which I wheeled with the Bold Snowflakes Jumbo wheel in Bashful Blue. The ribbon accent is Bashful Blue Taffeta and I created my greeting with the Hugs and Wishes stamp set and a snowflake from the Season of Joy stamp set. The greeting was punched out with the new Wide Oval Punch and I also added another oval of Night of Navy to make it stand out.

I know you'll find it hard to believe, but NO dimensionals were harmed in the creation of this card! I, GASP!, forgot to use them! Also, I have to mention that this challenge was SUPPOSED to be some kind of Love/Anniversary card - but, rule breaker that I am, (no, not really!) I forgot about that part. I guess it could be an anniversary card for a Winter celebration - my anniversary is December 7th - so, yeah, this counts! At least that's my story and I'm stickin' with it!

Warm Wishes to you all! Be sure to check out all the other great Blogger's Challenge creations by using the link on my sidebar.
I'll be back with more pictures from Founder's tomorrow!
~~Robin

Yet Another Reason to LOVE Stampin' Up!

I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating - Stampin' Up! is a Class Act!

Most of you know that I spent 13 years with another sales company (which has now closed their doors) and as much as I enjoyed some aspects of what I did, I can honestly say that I was never made to feel as special as Stampin' Up! has made me feel.

Every time we turned around - or went back to our rooms it seemed - we were receiving gifts while at Founder's Circle. The first night we all returned to our rooms after a fabulous meal; served most elegantly on gorgeous Black and White damask table linens; to find this adorable Toiletry Bag hanging from our showers! As you can see, it was filled up with some of our favorite things - stamps, ink and RIBBON!

The next day was our Business Share Pajama Party and we all received this beautiful matching journal and pen set.


And look how elegant everything looks! That pink ribbon is the new Pink Pirouette Wide Grosgrain!

When we returned back to our rooms, we found a pink leather wallet that matches the beautiful pink bags we all received at convention!

I love how everything had a little note attached to it. Shelli even had a little pink note at each of our placesettings at the first night dinner.





The next day, we returned to our rooms only to find these fabulous necklaces on our beds! Shelli had been wearing one the previous day and we were all commenting on how cool it was! I bet she was having a hard time keeping the secret! Each necklace was hand made for us in Utah and has our initial in glitter under a big jewel on one side and the other side has animal print.

Look at the initial on the ribbon! It is a piece of On Board chipboard, painted in White Craft Ink and coated with glitter too! Love it!


And last, but truly not least, was this comfy, fluffy, cozy pink blanket that was waiting on our chairs at the outdoor dinner and movie night for our final night celebration!

SU! drove us out to a private golf club near St. George, Utah and guess what? It's where High School Musical 2 was filmed! How cool is that? Of course, I had to call home to tell Emma and she thought I was the coolest Mom in the world - well she already does, but now it's better!
I'll post some pictures of the scenery tomorrow, but if you just can't wait, go to my friend Tiffany's blog on my sidebar - My Crafty World. She has some very funny pictures of me doing Zac Efron dance moves on the golf course and enjoying all the free movie candy and popcorn!
Happy Saturday!
~~Robin

Are you tired..........

yet of all the pictures from Founder's Circle? I sure hope not, because I love sharing it with you!

Part of this trip every year is a tour of the Stampin' Up! manufacturing facility where ALL of our fabulous stamps that you love are made. I just had to take a picture of the sign on the front door - because it means so much. The craftsmen who work for Stampin' Up! are experts at their jobs and each one is important to us. We really do have the finest rubber stamps in the world and everyone who works at Kanab is responsible for it!



This next picture is of me in front of the Kanab, UT building. It doesn't look like a manufacturing plant, does it? It is a beautiful facility with large open spaces and much natural lighting.

Did you know that the very latest in energy efficient technology was used it the construction of this plant? Stampin' Up! is very committed to the environment and protecting it as well as making the best use of our natural resources. Yet another reason for me to LOVE this company!

They have a fitness program in place for all the employees and have recently instituted a flexible work schedule for everyone so they can best meet the needs of their families. It makes me proud to part of SU! when they so obviously make an effort to help all of us put our families first.


Here is a picture of me with Ms. Kellee Sue. She is the guru behind the "FABULOUSNESS" of our Founder's Circle trip! We all love Kellee Sue and appreciate all she does to make us feel loved and pampered. She chooses our gifts and even the awards we recieve from Stampin' Up! on awards night at convention. Did I tell you that I was gifted with a Tiffany bracelet this year? How cool is that! Tiffany is definately not in our family budget, but what a nice treat from SU! just for doing my job!

I'll show you pictures tomorrow of some of the gifts we all received on the trip this year. I had to buy another suitcase just to get it all home! Yes, really!

During our tour of the plant we saw firsthand all the improvements and upgrades (they even showed us how the stamps are prepped for being die-cut.) Did you know that each stamp set has to have the die-cut map drawn by hand? It is such time-consuming work, but the ONE employee who does this for us is an expert! Once he creates the map, it is sent to another location in Utah where the actual boards are made for the cutting. Each die-cut board is hand made and the cutting "knives" are all individually hand shaped so each stamp set that is cut with it comes out perfect!

Once we left the plant, we headed over to the park in Kanab for an out of doors lunch and photos on the city playground. This is a playground like no other - the ground is acutally recycled rubber bits from Stampin' Up! No waste here - all the extra rubber and rejected stamps are ground up for mulch and you literally bounce around the playground as you walk! So fun! I brought a piece of it home last year as a memento for my scrapbook.

This picture is of me with Shelli Gardner and Stella Mackay on the slide. We had so much fun posing for pictures here and pretending we could actually "play" on the equipement. I did not, however, cross the monkey bars - I think this old body just could not have taken that much fun!
Happy Wednesday, everyone - see you tomorrow!
~~Robin