Sweet Treat Flowers

So I promised this morning that I'd be back with more info on this fun bouquet!
I created it for one of my party hostesses this month with the Mixed Bunch Stamp Set and the Blossom Punch. They were so easy - and delicious - you'll love them as much as she did!

Because my tin bucket was pink polka dot, I chose my colors for stamping the flowers from the Brights Collection. Rich Razzleberry and Melon Mambo, but I picked the Marina Mist from the Subtles to round them out. I love how easy it is to cross colors from different collections with Stampin' Up!

I stamped the flowers on Whisper White cardstock and punched them out, using Tombow Multi-Adhesive to glue them to popsicle sticks. For the "leaves", I punched more flowers with the Blossom Punch out of Wild Wasabi cardstock and simply glued them on the back of the popsicle stick. For the fun centers, I used Easter wrapped Rolo candies and simply adhered them with a couple of Stampin' Dimensionals.

A little green paper Easter grass in the bucket was the perfect setting for my flowers to grow - dontcha think?

So, if you are lucky enough to be part of my Stampin' Fools, you'll be making a "garden" of your own this Thursday night. And I have another one for my final Sale-A-Bration Hostess on Saturday evening.

Yep, don't forget, Sale-A-Bration is ending on Saturday. It's your LAST chance to get the fantastic exclusive product FREE for any $50 purchase! Plus, it's the LAST chance to purchase our Demonstrator Starter Kit for just $125.00. It's an amazing special on the kit and comes with a wonderfully generous bonus of a pack of Designer Paper of YOUR choice each month for the rest of the year!
Have you thought about giving Stampin' Up! a try? Well, there's no better time and you can enjoy all the benefits of being a demonstrator until July 30 without having to turn in ANY orders at all. You could even go to Convention if you like - plus get an amazing one time only 30% off your Pre-Order of items from the new Catalog that appears on June 1st.
Yeah, it's a pretty good deal, but not if you wait too long. You can visit my website at www.robinstamps4u.stampinup.net to find out more details or to simply sign up. It's that easy!
Don't let this be you:
I've already welcomed several new members to my team during Sale-A-Bration who are just "trying it out". You can too, so contact me, ok?

Have a great evening!
~~Robin

Just a Peek!

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?"

I don't know about you, but I'd love my garden to grow like this!
Here's just a quick sneak peek of a project I made at the beginning of March for one of my party hostesses. She loved it and I know you will too!
I'll be back later this afternoon to show you the rest and share details!

XOXO!
~~Robin

Not Missing, Just Busy!

Hey Stampin' friends,

Just a quick post to let you know that I've not gone missing, I've just been super, super busy with family stuff this week. I have stamped goodies to show you, but I have to get them photographed so I can post them. I'm hoping to get some of it done this weekend, but we have a full family plate both days, so most likely it will be Monday before I get to share again.
Thanks for understanding and thanks for hanging in there with me!

~~Robin

A Lucky Day

Happy Monday stampers!
Did you have a fun weekend? I'm sure a lot of you celebrated the Irish in you on Saturday. To the best of my knowledge, there's not a bit of Irish in me at all, but I still wore green this year.

On Saturday afternoon, our local Chick-Fil-A sponsored a Conquer Kids Cancer Event for the St. Baldrick's Foundation. If you're not familiar with St. Baldrick's, it's an organization devoted to funding research that will find cures for Children's Cancers.
Groups all over the United States gather to raise funds through many different activities, possibly the most well known being the Head Shaving events. Volunteers take pledges and then have their heads shaved in a very visible show of support for those kids who lose their hair due to their Cancer treatments.
One of Emma's friends at school, Emily, is a four year Brain Cancer Survivor and is the spokesperson for the Chick-Fil-A event. It's through Emily and her family that we first found out about the St. Baldrick's Foundation. At last year's event, every member of Emily's family had their heads shaved, a truly beautiful tribute.
Each event has other activities and ways to donate to support St. Baldrick's and that's how I got involved.

We set up a Stampin' Up! table where anyone could stop by and make a donation to St. Baldrick's. Then they were able to create a card that will be hand-delivered to a patient at the St. Jude's Children's Hospital. It was so fun to have folks of all ages - truly from 3 to 80 - making a card that they knew would bring a smile to a child's face. They all learned that a card is a "hug with a fold in the middle", something stampers have known for ages.

Here's a quick poster I put together in My Digital Studio with the only photos I had from the day:

I used the "Lucky Me" printable subway art as my background and simply removed the words across the top and added my title box. It prints out in 8 1/2" x 11" so it's easy to create and print at home on a piece of cardstock. To add the photos, I just added photo boxes where I wanted them, matted them with a black border and then dragged my photos over to the box and cropped with the easy tool. It was very simple to do and I really enjoyed seeing it all come together.

The photos clockwise from the very top are: me with one of my student helpers at our table; our youngest stamper with her Mom as they create her card; me with Shannon (my downline) and our two student helpers; my daughter Emma with two of her best friends - they all volunteered - Kayla is the president of the Marsteller Middle School Ruri-teens and raised over $1000 herself, Hunter is a second year shavee and you can see his newly bald head in the next photo. Next is a photo of our stampin' table with Shannon helping two more young stampers make their cards; then we have former Miss Virginia Tara Wheeler proudly showing off her creation - her first stamped card!; and lastly a photo of me and Shannon.
Another member of my downline, April Sinclair, volunteered her time for part of the day as well, although we were so busy when she was there, we didn't get a photo!

Here's a photo of the two cards they could choose to create:


And here's a photo of their wonderful creations:

In just 3 hours, 34 cards were created by donors and the entire event so far has raised over $8000 for St. Baldrick's. Their goal is $15,000 for this year and I know that donations are still coming in as well as what was raised at the tables on Saturday.
YOU can still donate too! Simply visit this link: Chick-Fil-A Bristow St. Baldrick's Event
Donations will be accepted up until March 31st so it's not too late to help this awesome cause!

Thanks for stopping by today and checking out the fun we had at our event, maybe this gives you some ideas on how you can get involved with bringing some stamped joy to your community too! This was truly a great day and I'm already looking forward to next year!

Stamped blessings,
~~Robin

At Rainbow's End

Happy Friday stampers!

I know it's kind of late to be sharing St. Patrick's Day ideas with you, but since I'd designed them last month for my Stampin' Fools, I thought I should at least pass them on!

Besides, you might have these supplies laying around just begging to be used!
First, here's the card:

I used Wild Wasabi for my 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" square card base. It's layered with a piece of 4 1/8" x 4 1/8" piece of Basic Black cardstock and the top layer is Glossy cardstock cut at 4" square.

I used the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set with Wild Wasabi and Lucky Limeade ink to stamp the grassy border along the base. I love that the classic ink AND markers dry on contact with Glossy cardstock. It's so easy to use!

The rainbow was so simple - I used these five Stampin' Write markers: Rich Razzleberry, Pacific Point, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight and Real Red. I used the side of the brush tip and just stroked a "swoosh" of color in an arc pattern from where the pot of gold would be to the card's top edge. Once that was done, I used my 2 Way Glue Pen and Dazzling Diamonds Glitter to add the bling!

Next, I constructed my pot of gold:

For the pot, I used the 1 3/4" Circle Punch and trimmed off the top to be flat. I punched two pieces with the Word Window punch. One was glued across the top of the "pot" and the other was cut in half and adhered to the back of the "pot" to make the feet. I used my White Signo Gel Pen to draw a couple of accents on the pot, but of course, it needed one last thing - GOLD!
So I took my Circle punch from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack and punched out a bunch of gold pieces from a scrap of Brushed Gold cardstock. They were layered on another piece of Brushed Gold cardstock that was punched out with the Scallop Circle Punch.
The whole pot was popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals on the card front.
Here's the inside panel:

Just simply stamped with the Happy St. Patrick's Day A La Carte stamp from the Occasions Mini. Cute and easy!

Next, here's an easy treat you can make up for the little leprechauns in your life:

I used the Small Cello Bags and filled them with Lucky Charms Breakfast Cereal and a Gold covered Chocolate coin. The topper was made with some Rainbow striped DSP from the Just Add Cake package. I cut out a top note shape and simply folded it over the top of the bag and closed it with SNAIL adhesive.
The medallion was made in My Digital Studio and I printed out multiples on a sheet of Whisper White cardstock. Each was punched out with the 1 3/8" Circle Punch and layered on a piece of Wild Wasabi that was punched out with the 1 3/4" Circle Punch. A little Dazzling Diamonds glitter was added and I attached it to the treat bag with some Stampin' Dimensionals.

So, there you have it, nothing too hard, pretty generic supplies and you can whip up these fun treats in no time. But here's a warning - it's hard to not eat the Lucky Charms cereal once you've opened the box. Just sayin'.

Have a fun St. Patrick's Day tomorrow!
If you live in my area, stop by the Bristow Chick-Fil-A on Rt. 28 by the Super Target. From 11am - 2 pm, I'm participating in a fundraiser for the St. Baldricks's Association. It's an organization that raises money to find a cure for children's cancers.
There will be lots of opportunities to donate at the event tomorrow - a portion of your food purchase goes back to St. Baldricks, there are items available for a Silent Auction and I'll have a card table set up where you can donate any amount over $1.00 and make a card to send to a kid with cancer at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. When you donate and make a card, you'll get a coupon for a FREE Mini Card Class from me as a Thank YOU for participating!
Hope to see you there!
~~Robin

Here's One for the Guys

Hello everyone!
I know it's been real quiet around here this week. I had stamp camp on Monday and with everything else on my agenda that day, I ran out of time to post. Then, I had a little outpatient surgery scheduled for Tuesday, so I've spent the past 3 days trying to rest and recuperate. The good news is that the surgery went as planned, I am well, and I'm feeling better this afternoon than I have since Tuesday. I don't sit still for long very well, so to say that I'm getting restless is an understatement! But I know I still have to take it easy and I promise I'm doing my best!

I've got a bunch of new projects to share with you, but I need to get them photographed. For now, I found this card in my archives that I made last December for my card classes. It's a case of my own card that I made for my wedding anniversary. It's in this post HERE.

For this card, I used Crumb Cake cardstock and stamped the Sunflower background with Cajun Craze ink. A piece of Well Worn Designer Paper was added across the front with SNAIL adhesive.
Next, I took a scrap piece of the First Edition Specialty Designer Paper and crumpled it up creating the wrinkles. I rubbed it with a bit of Crumb Cake ink on a Stamping Sponge. It's adhered to the card front with some Stampin' Dimensionals.

The heart accent was punched out of Cherry Cobbler cardstock with the Full Heart punch and adhered with a dimensional. Next, I took a length of the Denim Jean Ribbon and tied it in a knot around the card front. The birthday greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes was stamped on Crumb Cake scrap then punched out with the Modern Label Punch. I used my 1/2" circle punch and the retired 1/8" handheld punch to create the reinforcement out of Cajun Craze cardstock.
This element was tied around the Denim Jean knot with some Linen Thread. As a last rustic touch, I spritzed the whole card front with some Log Cabin Smooch Spray.

We all need great masculine card designs and for some reason, we don't come naturally to them. Watch my events calendar in the next few months, I'm planning an all masculine card class to help you fill that side of your card box.
In the meantime, I hope you get to stamp something fun today!

Blessings,
~~Robin

Sunday Share

Hello stamping friends,
this morning I was listening to some worship music on my iPod and one of my very favorite songs came up and I was inspired to create this page in My Digital Studio. It's a pre-designed 8" x 8" layout that I just changed up for my idea.
The song is "Face Down" by Casting Crowns.

The photo is one that I took of the Tracy Arm Fjord glacier on our trip to Alaska last year. I remember being so overwhelmed by the quiet majesty of those mountains, the glacier and the floating ice. It was so ethereal, like being in another world altogether.

My quote of the song lyrics begins with the second verse that says "I stand amazed, see the work of your hands" and it just so fit how I felt in this beautiful place that was carved out by the finger of our almighty God.

Here are the complete lyrics in a video format with this beautiful song playing for you:



The words of this song speak directly to my heart as I consider all that my Savior has done for me - and all that he has done for you. I pray that they speak to you as well.
My very favorite lines are:
"Face down
Where I know that I belong
And I pray with grace that this world sees in me
Someone humbled and broken at Your feet."

All that I have in life and all that I hope to be is wrapped up in Christ alone. I am nothing without Him and I pray with all my heart that when the world looks at me, they see Jesus and His love for all. As the song reminds us "After all, this life's for YOU(Jesus) and not for me."
I know that God has a purpose and a plan for my life, and He has one for yours as well. This time here on earth is just a pass through, we are just traveling here - our real home is Heaven - but while we are here, we are called to affect as many lives as we can for Christ and I don't take that assignment lightly.

So friend, if no one else has told you today - Jesus loves you. He loves you very much, and so do I.
Blessings,
~~Robin

Key to my Heart

Well, this post is kind of long and truly LONG overdue!

Waaay back in December - the 7th to be exact - was my 20th Wedding Anniversary. Per usual, we were doing something involving Emma's skating that night AND it was pouring down rain. Not just a little downpour, but literally raining buckets!
So, after dropping her off at the rink, Mark and I went to Carraba's Italian for a nice meal - at least we could sneak away and do that!
Once we got there and dried off, we had a lovely evening and exchanged gifts. My post today is sharing the card and gift box that I made for Mark. I actually have been meaning to share it since the week after our anniversary, but something else always popped up instead.

Anyway, here is the card and envelope (no, you can't see the mushy message I wrote inside!):

And here is the card with the gift box I decorated to hold his present:

I used one of the Kraft Gift Boxes that are still available to order. They are the perfect size for many gifts and so easy to decorate and personalize.

Mark really loved his card and gift. It's kind of funny, we gave each other rings! Neither of us knew the other was buying a ring, so it was really cool to "exchange rings" again at 20 years! Here's a photo we took at the restaurant with my phone - it's not very good, but you can see my blingy anniversary band (he did REALLY good!) and his sterling silver ring. His ring is inscribed with part of a verse from Joshua and says "Be Strong and Courageous". Mark's not a jewelry guy, but he wears this ring all the time now.

So, after we picked up Emma from the rink, Mark had a huge surprise for me. He had arranged with the current pastor of the church we'd been married in for us to come in that evening and renew our vows.
Oh yes, he did!
And it gets better - he printed out vows for us to exchange and put them in a card that he gave to me when we got to the church.
So, with Emma as our witness, we went up to the altar where we'd stood 20 years before and promised to love, honor and cherish all over again. Pretty cool, huh? I'd say I married the right guy!

When we got home he'd bought me roses and a small chocolate cake:

And as if that wasn't enough, it gets better!

On Friday night after our anniversary, Mark took me to the Kennedy Center. We got dressed up - which we never do - and went to see the Canadian Tenors.
Well, Mark has a friend who works at the Kennedy Center and lets just say that he made sure we were taken care of very well. We were given a window seat at the Roof Top Restaurant for our meal and they brought us dessert and champagne as a gift. Then, Mark's friend took our tickets and seated us in the Chairman of the Board's box which is right next to the President's Box - yes, the President of the United States! We truly had the best seats in the house!

Well, it gets better!

After the concert, there were several White House staffers taking photos in the President's Box and we offered to take a photo of them together. Then they invited us OVER TO THEIR BOX to see it and to take some more photos.
Well, you didn't have to ask us twice!

Let me just say it was an amazing experience to stand where so many of our nation's leaders had spent relaxing evenings being entertained by some of the best. So cool!
Here's a photo of us taken from the President's Box overlooking the stage:

So as if that wasn't enough - it gets better!

Yep, as we were leaving, Mark's friend met us and asked us if we wanted to get in the front of the line to meet the Canadian Tenors. As much as I wanted to, I saw how long that line was and knew that it would be really rude for us to just cut completely to the front, so I said no. BUT, Mark's friend said he understood and had a better idea.
He took us past the box doors again and through a side door that led BACKSTAGE! Yep! And just about that time, here come the Canadian Tenors, walking out to meet their fans. So they stopped to talk, just for a minute and we were able to tell them how very much we'd enjoyed their peformance. It was awesome! And as if that wasn't enough - one of them turned around as he was leaving and said to me "And I really like your coat!".
Ok, sounds funny, but I have a really pretty dress coat that I bought at a local boutique - on sale - last year. It's not something I can wear everyday, so I was very excited to be able to dress up and wear it! And then to have one of the Canadian Tenors compliment me - well, there you go! I need to be finding ways to wear it all the time! HaHa!

I know this was a long post, but I've been wanting to share this story and the card I'd made Mark for a while now, so I hope you've gotten a smile or two from it.
My husband is really a wonderful man and like his card to me said "I'd Marry You All Over Again". And I would.

Stamped blessings everyone,
~~Robin

An Exciting Day!

First - here's a quiz:

What do all of these things have in common???

Fiji Water

Old Spice Fiji

A Vintage Fiji Travel Pennant I found in an antique store

A photo of a beautiful Fiji beach

The Stampin' Up! Fiji Incentive Trip Logo

Any guesses??

Well, if you guessed FIJI - you would be right! AND.......

If you guessed that I have earned the Stampin' Up! Incentive Trip to FIJI - you would also be right!!

Yes, it's true, at 9:47 pm on March 5th, I entered the client order that put me over the top for this AMAZING trip! I was a little stunned at first that it had happened, and waited until yesterday morning to see it appear on my morning stats report.
But, when I read the words "Congratulations! You have earned the Grand Vacation", I was doing the Fiji happy dance! It's much like the stampers happy dance, but with a little more stomping. Sorry, no video! Ha!

I just have to say that I am humbled and blessed to have been given this gift. It's all because of my amazing downline team and my fantastic, loyal clients - without them, I'd still be dreaming of crossing this off my bucket list.
We serve an awesome God, don't we?? He loves to give us good gifts and to see us smile and I give Him all the glory!

Have a wonderful day friends - thanks for letting me celebrate a bit with you!
~~Robin

Sprinkled Stars Card

Happy Monday Stampers!

I'm finally getting on here today to share this card with you - it's kind of been a whirlwind today, my hours just melted away like the little bit of snow we got this morning. Very happy about that, by the way.

I actually designed this card in January. It was for my GoDivas Leadership swap and we also made this at my February card classes.
Here, take a look:

This one uses the Sprinkled Expressions stamp set that is one of your FREE choices with a $50 order during Sale-A-Bration. I love this star image and knew right away that I wanted to pair it with the star paper from Big Top Birthday.
The Whisper White, Real Red and Tempting Turquoise color combo has long been a favorite of mine - I remember when I was a new demonstrator, I taught a paper bag scrapbook class designed around those colors. Too cute!
I stamped the star image in Versamark and then embossed it with Tempting Turquoise Embossing Powder.
The strip of DSP was added and then edged with my 2 Way Glue Pen and Dazzling Diamonds. The 1/4" Turquoise Grosgrain ribbon and bow was added to finish it off.

This is such a bright, fun card - perfect to send to anyone who's had an accomplishment they are proud of. Everyone deserves to be a star sometimes!

Don't forget - Sale-A-Bration only runs through March 31st, so don't wait too long to place your $50 order and pick your FREE stamp set or accessory!
FREE is a good thing, dontcha think??

Have a great evening and go stamp something fun if you can!
~~Robin

SU! Demos Know What's Important!

Hey stampin' peeps!
Here's something funny for Friday.

For each Stampin' Up! convention, demos are encouraged to send in "commercials" about SU! events for a contest. This one was the winner for the SU! South Pacific Division (Australia/New Zealand) and was so hilarious I had to share it with you.

Enjoy!
~~Robin