Botanical Blooms Birthday

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Now that the hustle & bustle of the holidays are behind us, I finally had a chance to get down in my rubber room and play with new goodies! I created this birthday card using several favorite new products that will be available in the upcoming Occasions and Sale-a-Bration catalogs.

The Botanical Blooms stamp set has an amazing set of framelits that coordinate. I just LOVE the tropical feel of the flowers and foliage! I have so many vacation photos that I plan to scrap using these! Another favorite from the Occasions catalog is a really cool set of images that help to create background texture called Timeless Textures. I used two of those images on my card. For the sentiment I used a great new set that will be perfect for creating masculine cards called Sky is the Limit. This one will only be available for a short time during Sale-a-Bration.

Here's a look at the stamps sets and the Botanical Builder Framelits...there are 14 dies in this set! I cut a piece of magnetic sheet to fit inside the envelope the dies come in to help keep track of them.
TIP: Buy magnetic vent covers from Home Depot or Lowes. There are three 8 x 15" sheets in a package for under $5.

The colors I used here are: Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler and Tangelo Twist all mounted on Whisper White Thick card stock.

The Occasions and Sale-a-Bration Catalogs will both go live on January 5th!

Have Yourself a MERRY Little Christmas

What a busy time of year! I figured today I would take a break from my baking and share the Christmas cards I sent this year. I didn't make nearly as many as I normally do because we had all new windows installed in our house and that all happened the first week of December...kind of bad timing! At least it was fairly warm, so that could have made things much worse. Getting everything back in order and painting all the new woodwork around each window (3 coats each!) was a much bigger job than I thought it would be. I've decided painting trim ranks right up there with painting ceilings...not much fun! I would rather have been stamping for sure!

I made a variety of cards using the Delicate Ornament Framelits. These are Blackberry Bliss and Silver. It was such a gloomy day I couldn't capture the true color, they looked so much more elegant in person.

These cards were inspired by a card I previously share here.

The ornaments look so pretty cut from Foil Paper and layered on Shimmer Paper. I didn't have a lot of the Mossy Meadow pattern of DSP left from the Home For Christmas pack, so I went though my huge stack of patterned paper to find an alternate print that would work, and made several that look like this card...

I sure wish I had the new Die Brush Tool that will be available in the upcoming Occasions Catalog when I cut all these ornaments out! I received my pre-order a few days ago and tested out this tool and it works fantastic! It helps remove all the little unwanted bits from intricate die cuts.

Last but not least, I made a half dozen of these little cuties...

I absolutely LOVE that little Bambi look alike! After fussy cutting each one I covered with a layer of Crystal Effects. This one was a little time consuming, so I mainly sent out variations of the Delicate Ornament cards showed above.

This will probably be my last posting until after Christmas, so I want to wish you all a very MERRY Christmas filled with LOVE, family, laughter, wonderful food & PEACE. To those that will be traveling...be safe!

Year End Sale

Details:

• Promotion Dates: December 10, 2015-January 4, 2016. 
• No minimum purchase required. 
• No refunds or exchanges on Year-End Sale items. 
• Items offered during the Year-End Sale are while supplies last. 
• Year-End Sale orders are eligible for Stampin' Rewards with qualifying orders.

There are a few items I used in my Bohemian Autumn Blessings Album included in this sale...such as the Into the Woods Elements for only $4.55! I love those things, so I'll be sure to pick up another pack (or two!) at that price!

Visit my website to see all the items on sale and get yours before they are gone! There are also some great buys included in the Weekly Deals this week.

Home For Christmas & Autumn Blessings Pocket Album Tutorial

I'm so excited to finally be able to share these great new albums I've created to hold holiday memories. I have also written a step by step tutorial if yo are interested in creating these albums for yourself.

After making one, I am sure you are going to want to create several of these versatile mini albums! They go together quickly with coin envelope pages that create pockets to hold tags, photos, journaling or memorabilia. The cover is made of chip board wrapped with DSP for a professional, finished look. The hinge style binding allows enough spacing for heavily embellished pages, and also enables the album to close flat. The two albums shown in this tutorial are the adorable Home for Christmas Album and the Bohemian Autumn Blessings Album. By simply changing your papers and embellishments you can create an album for any occasion.

The page sizes are staggered to really show off the the Designer Series papers and embellishments right when you open the cover and make you want to flip from page to page to take in the whole album. Here's a peek inside of the Christmas album. Wouldn't this make a darling Baby's 1st Christmas album.

The Autumn Blessings album uses the Bohemian papers, Vintage Leaves and Feel Goods sets, but you can change it up using the stamps you have to fit any occasion. Here's a peek inside...

Each album has 6 pocket pages...that's a total of 12 pages with front and back, plus 6 tags...front and back. That's a lot of area for photos and journaling! Here's a closer look at a few elements on three different pages inside the album...ready to add photos!

The Home for Christmas album uses Home for Christmas DSP along with the Cozy Christmas stamp set and Sleigh Ride Edgelits. Here's a closer look at a few elements on three different pages inside the album, ready to fill with your Christmas memories.

My 25 page tutorial, packed with quality photos, will take you step by step to create both of these albums. Once you learn how the wrapped chipboard cover and binding goes together you will be able to make albums for any occasion. Recreate the pages exactly as shown, or put your own spin on them using supplies you have on hand. I encourage you to personalize your album the way you would like. I think you will have fun creating this keepsake album!  Don’t be afraid to use some old favorite stamps sets and embellishments that may have retired. I used a few favorite retired sentiment stamps as well as a few embellishments in my albums.

I've had a few questions regarding the coin envelopes I used for this project. Here is a photo of what they look like before I cut them down...

They are No. 7 Coin Envelopes measuring 3- 1/2 x 6- 1/2". the weight is 28 lb Kraft. I've seen them in lots of other colors as well. I have a good sized box of the coin envelopes, so if you need those I am offering that as an option as well. Unfortunately I don't want to deal with variable pricing to mail them outside the United States...sorry. 

The finished size of the album is 4x7"

Coin Envelope Pocket Album Tutorial

The full 25 page, step by step tutorial outlining how to create both the albums shown above, emailed to you for $7.99.

After receiving payment, I will send the PDF file to the email provided with your PayPal payment. I usually check my email a few times daily, but please allow up to 24 hours for delivery to your inbox.

Coin Envelope Pocket Album Tutorial + Envelopes

In addition to the 25 page, step by step PDF tutorial emailed to your inbox as described above, I will mail you 12 coin envelopes which will allow you to create two albums using your additional supplies, for $10.99. (This option is for inside the United States only.)

After receiving payment, I will send the PDF file to the email provided with your PayPal payment. I usually check my email a few times daily, but please allow up to 24 hours for delivery to your inbox. I will do my best to put envelopes in the mail to you the same day, but please allow up to a week for the envelopes to arrive to your home and be sure to include your ship to address.

If you have any questions regarding supplies needed to complete this project, please don't hesitate to contact me.

If you have yet to purchase one of my tutorials, below are a few comments others have said after receiving one of my previous tutorials:

Kathy: "Thank you so much for the wonderful tutorial. Your work is stunning."

Barbara: "I have ‘stumbled’ upon your blog and it is truly amazing!!!! You are an amazingly talented and creative woman. I am grateful for your ideas and inspiration!"

Isobel: "Thank you so much for a speedy delivery of your tutorial. It looks fantastic and very detailed."

Dianna: "These cards are great!! I have bought tutorials from you before & you do beautiful work :) Thanks so much."

Kim: "Lynn, I made the cards with your tutorial and just love them...I enjoyed learning new techniques."

Thank you to all those who have purchased tutorials from me in the past and an extra THANKS! to those who have taken the time to share their feedback...I really do appreciate it! I hope you all love this project as well!

Home for Cozy Christmas

The paper printed with the adorable fawns in the Home for Christmas DSP is my favorite! I only wish these images were also available as a stamp set with framelits! Oh well...I got busy and fussy cut a bunch of these guys and here is one little cutie hanging out in the snowy forest.

I inked up my Woodland Embossing Folder with Soft Sky ink before running it through my Big Shot. The little snowflakes are one of the accessory dies included with the Square Pillow Box die set. I cut them from Dazzling Diamonds Shimmer Paper...another favorite of mine! Just love the beautiful sparkle this paper adds to any project.

The sentiment is from the Cozy Christmas set. I matted it onto a square piece cut using another one of the pieces from the Square Pillow Box die set...I sure have been getting a lot of use out of those little accessories!

If you like the Home for Christmas DSP I think you are going to absolutely love the project I've been working on! I cannot wait to share it with you...hopefully on Wednesday.

Don't forget...SU!'s Online Extravaganza Sale ends today with a 24 hour flash sale.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Thanks to You Pillow Box

Love the size of the boxes created with the Square Pillow Box Thinlits Die!

Perfect for an autumn gift or favor...this one is filled with chocolate. I just stamped some Vintage Leaves randomly over the Cajun Craze die cuts. Embossed the beautiful oak leaves in gold and cut using the Leaflets Framelits and the thank you sentiment is from the Happy Notes set...this is available as a bundle with the Lots of Labels Dies.

This bundle along with the Vintage Leaves Bundle were on my very first new catalog order this year. I highly recommend both of these die sets...I have gotten a LOT of use out of both.

If you have been contemplating getting the Square Pillow Box Framelits...they are on the Holiday Retiring List, which are now available while supply lasts.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Are You Ready?!

Tomorrow is the start of Stampin' Up!'s Online Extravaganza Sale!

I love a good bargain and this sale does not disappoint! Shop from the comfort of your home anytime, but don't miss out on the Online Extravaganza!

Place your order with me during this week long sale and possibly win the chance to select one of my tutorials for FREE. I'll notify the lucky winner(s) on December 1st.

Awesomely Eleanor

Awesomely Artistic...Everything Eleanor...or maybe Butterfly Basics? Oh, what the heck, I have them all out now... may as well use them all! So that's exactly what I did!

To create my watercolor look background I used my largest acrylic block and inked it up with So Saffron, Bermuda Bay and Perfect Plum. Gave it a few spritzes of water and pressed in onto my Thick Whisper White Card stock. I love how these colors blended together! If you want a more detailed description of this fun technique, I shared a tutorial here a while back.

I added some paint splatters using the splatter stamp from Awesomely Artistic while my paper was still damp, but I waited until it was thoroughly dried to stamp the other elements. To finish the card I die cut two butterfly shapes using the Bold Butterflies and Butterfly Framelits. The solid one was cut from White Vellum card stock  and the detailed butterfly was cut from Silver Foil.

For those of you who still have items on your wishlists from the Holiday Catalog, Stampin' Up! has released a list of those items (most of the catalog) that will be retiring. Check it out here and get those items before they are gone!

Recently I have received a few online orders from customers who selected "no contact" on their order. Normally I send out a thank you card for all the online orders I receive, but in this case I don't know who the order is from...so THANK YOU in case it was one of my blog readers. :-)

Have a GREAT day!

Lovely Cozy Christmas

Old stamps meet new and some sparkle adds a magical touch to this peaceful, monochromatic winter scene.

"The old"...is of course Lovely as a Tree and "the new" is Cozy Christmas which is available in this years Holiday Catalog. I just LOVE the Santa and reindeer image from that set, don't you? "The sparkle" is Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper for the snow drift and Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder used with the Gorgeous Grunge splatter image to create the falling snow. I embossed the wooden Snowflake Element with it as well.

Happy Friday (the 13th!) Have a GREAT weekend!

Wild About Flowers Trio

This set of cards created using the Wild About Flowers stamp set would be perfect for any occasion. I changed up the look simply by changing the background stamp and the color of the main panel.

The flowers and leaves on all three cards use the same color of inks: Tangerine Tango, Blackberry Bliss, Wild Wasabi and Mossy Meadow. I created the card in the center first and actually shared it a while back in this post. I used that card for my inspiration when I needed some cards with more of an autumn feel to them.

I swapped out the Hardwood background used on my first card and used the crosshatch texture stamp from the You've Got This stamp set inked in Sahara Sand in it's place.

I love Blackberry Bliss paired up with Sahara Sand. It also looks good here with Tangerine Tango.

Thanks for stopping by.

Trick or Treat!

It's almost time to have your treats ready to pass out to the little ghosts and goblins! We live out in the country with houses quite far apart, so we don't get any trick or treaters at our house. But, that doesn't stop me from making up some cute little treats...

I used the Square Pillow Box Die and the Witches' Night stamp set to create this Halloween treat box. Happy Haunting Washi Tape is adhered all around the box as well...love the cute little bat print! This box is actually quite a good size, check out how much candy it holds...

We had our annual Halloween party this past weekend...it was our 25th! We had a really good turnout...over 70 people, so during the month of October getting ready for our party has been taking up all my spare time. We go crazy decorating our barn & yard for the event. Here's a pic of hubby & I in our costumes.

I bought black clothing from the thrift store and cut and painted it for my costume. I even had matching shoes...but unfortunately no photos to show my entire costume. My entire costume cost me about $20. The most expensive part was the $8 spiderweb stockings.

I put together some prize baskets to award those with the best costumes. Here's one of them...

The cups were decorated with vinyl that I designed and then cut using my Silhouette machine.

I also made a sign to hang over our bar where we serve up my witches' brew during the party...

I didn't get a photo of it at the party...it looked much cooler in it's "natural habitat" over the cauldron and among all the potion bottles, etc...I have displayed in my witches' kitchen area of our haunted barn. I bought the string of lights inside at the Dollar Tree..on the box it said 5 feet...well that five feet included over 2 foot of cord :-( so it didn't go around the entire frame. Since I bought it last minute didn't have time to go out looking for longer strand of lights...next year!

Here's a few more photos of our decorations...

The entryway to our graveyard...

 and a closer look at our pumpkins...

If you are like me and love to carve unique looking pumpkins, the past few years I've been downloading some faboolous designs from Zombie Pumpkins. Check him out...he's got so many great designs it will be hard to choose!

Hope you have a SPOOKTACULAR Halloween!

Happy Notes Thanks

Beautiful gold foil leaves and embossed trees make this thank you card quite elegant.

The tiny leaves were cut from one of the dies included with the Square Pillow Box Dies. The thanks to you sentiment is from the Happy Notes set and coordinates with the Lots of Labels Framelits. I embossed it with Gold Embossing Powder and layered it on top of 1 1/4" Burlap Ribbon and Gold Sequin Trim.

Do You Have Stamp Sets on Your Wishlist?

If so, right now is the perfect time to order from Stampin' Up!

When you order stamps through Friday the 23rd you will receive a 15% discount!



Details:

• Dates: October 19-23, 2015
• Host stamp sets & rotary stamps are not eligible for the 15% discount on stamps.
• Bundles are not eligible for this promotional discount, but they will retain their current 15 percent Bundle & Save discount. The stamp set from the bundle may still be purchased ala carte with the 15 percent promotional discount.
• Stamps purchased using a 50 percent Stampin' Rewards discount will not be available for this 15 percent promotional discount. Stamps purchased using Stampin' Rewards discounts will still be 50 percent off retail value of the stamp set.
• All order types qualify for this promotion.
• There is no limit to how many discounted stamp sets can be placed on an order.
• There is no minimum purchase required for this promotion.

Shop Now

Witches' Night Candles

Most longtime readers of my blog probably know that I just love Halloween! Each year we have a big Halloween Party in our barn which we spend most of October decorating...which is why I have not posted much lately. Each year I try to add several new handcrafted items to my holiday decor, and today I have a pair of candle wraps I have created using the Witches' Night stamp set along with several other items which are available in the Holiday Catalog.

I try to make candle wraps to decorate my battery operated candles for each season. It really dresses up an otherwise plain candle, don't you think? The Spider Web Doilies really look spooky as they glow at night against the light background of the candle. Here's a look at the candles in better light to see all the detail...

The Halloween labels are attached to strips of the sparkly Black Glimmer Paper and wrapped around the candles. Here's a view of the side...

I also used Happy Haunting Washi Tape adhered to a strip of Tangelo Twist card stock. I colored the center of an Iced Rhinestone Embellishment orange for some extra bling...

If you like the idea of creating candle wraps for your candles, you may like my Golden Vintage Leaves Set. Included in this tutorial is an autumn leaf candle wrap. Anyone who purchases my tutorial during the month of October will also receive all the details on how to create this Halloween candle wrap as well.