FROGS & FLIES & MY "PRE-HISTORIC" TALENT

Since we're all in the midst of the holiday rush, I thought I'd share a non-holiday card today. One of the first Stampin' Up! stamp sets that I fell in love with--and I mean that I REALLY loved--was "Frogs & Flies." This set had retired by the time I first heard of SU, but I saw some projects created with it and had to have it. And so began my quest to find it. In the five or so years that I've been a SU addict, this is one of the most expensive stamp sets that I've ever purchased since I was determined to snipe it from other ebayers who were trying to win it. Actually, it was my husband who had to do the sniping since I just couldn't take the stress--again. I had already lost a couple of auctions for this set and, since they don't come along every day, I had to confess to my husband that the sky was almost the limit and that we MUST win this auction! While digging in my stamp room (in the process of cleaning out and re-arranging things), I unearthed this card that I made a couple of years ago. Isn't this the cutest image with the most appropriate quote? If I were making this card today, I would definitely add more color to the stamped image and try to make the water look more like a pond than a wet mountain. LOL! BTW, the photo corners were created from a square of card stock that had been punched with one of the square punches and then cut in half. It's so much easier now to just use SU's Photo Corner punch! Sometimes I think it would be awesome if SU would release a catalog--if only for a short period of time--filled with some of the BEST stamp sets that have long been retired.

BIRD SILHOUETTE

This is a card that I made for another demonstrator. I used Sizzix dies to cut all of the shapes except for the "curly label" shape (which was created with a punch) that is stamped and embossed with "thank you." I apologize for the quality of the picture.

NEW CATALOG "SNEAK PEEK"

For this card, I used a brand new stamp set, "Just Buzzin' By." This set will be in SU's new (Spring/Summer) catalog. Do you remember when I showed you sometime ago (on my blog) how to use the leftover rubber from the die cut stamps as a window template for shading? Well, that's what I used to create the shading around the hive. Afterward, I sponged the edges of the card stock with More Mustard and Chocolate Chip ink. I stamped the hive image twice--once on the Vanilla card stock and again on More Mustard card stock so I could cut out "Hive Sweet Hive" so it would stand out on the finished card. My plan was to tie the honey pot on (as a tag), but I decided to just use Stampin' Dimensionals, which worked perfectly! Notice how the honey drips look wet? I used Crystal Effects for that! I started to not order this set, but I'm glad I did because the images are really easy to use!! Also, as I was making this card--not knowing exactly where I was going with the design--this stamp set just seemed to have the perfect choice of images. You can't say that about every stamp set, but it's definitely true for this one!

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

Still need to crank out some Christmas cards? This is a very easy design, and all you need are some scraps of designer paper and ribbon! I should have taken the time to make the tag more narrow and shorter, but it is what it is. ;-)

BIRTHDAY ENSEMBLE

How cute is this???? I went to a demo meeting in Concord last night, and my upline, Cassy, presented me with this birthday ensemble. It's a box of cake mix and a can of frosting! What a great idea--and a useful gift if I can make myself undecorate it!

"12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS"

As children get older, their "wants" get bigger and more pricey. This year, my son and my nephew got their "BIG" Christmas gift on Black Friday, which kind of spoils the surprise of getting it at Christmas. We had no choice, really, as Chadrick needed to choose his guitar. He's a lot like his mother in that he knows what he wants! He's quite particular, though, because he wouldn't play a guitar if it wasn't what he wanted. Yes, he has us dancing in the palm of his hand! Ha! But . . . if we're going to spend the $$$, we might as well get what he wants, right? To add some fun to Christmas, my sister and I decided that we'd put together a basket of gifts that our sons could open during the last twelve days before Christmas, and this is Chadrick's basket. I still have four gifts to wrap (gotta get 'em first), but the basket is nearly complete. Each gift has a number tag tied to it, and the number indicates the date that the gift is to be opened. There's no stamping involved . . . just gift wrap and the tags created with the Cricut. It's been my experience that no matter how old you get, there's still excitement at Christmas. Sometimes we have to get a little more creative to keep that excitement, but it's all worth it!

HOLIDAY STAMP CAMP BONUS PROJECTS

These are the two bonus projects that attendees at my Holiday Stamp Camp got to make! The triangle "Santa" is actually a box--a nice size, too--that can also be hung on the tree as a decoration! The other project shown here is a money holder. I would like to get a LOT of these! Hee! Hee!

GLITTERED ORNAMENT

The fur on this ornament reminds me of a troll. When my nieces were little, it seemed that they had trolls everywhere--white hair, pink hair, every color of hair--and LOTS of hair! The idea to adorn glittered ornaments with fur came from my downline, Michelle. She had some GORGEOUS glittered ornaments, which inspired me to make my own! I also used some rub-ons on this ornament, but most of mine just have the troll hair.

A COOL CHRISTMAS WISH

Recently, my demo friends and I had a "Wow" Christmas card swap. Judy shared a card--and a technique--that looked pretty much like this sample, only she did a better job of gradating the blues--mine looks like one shade of blue. When I decided to copy her design, I added the sentiment, which is adhered w/Stampin' Dimensionals, and my club members got to make this card last month. I don't know that I would have reached for the Pacific Point color for a holiday card, but I love the bright white moon and the glitter! Of course, you can NEVER go wrong with "Lovely as a Tree!" I can remember someone telling me a few years ago what an awesome stamp set that was, but it didn't look all that awesome to me . . . it was just a stamp set with trees! How wrong I was! Since I've been a SU customer and demo, I cannot recall a more classic and useful stamp set than this one!

A HANDY HOLIDAY CARD LIST

Here's a useful item . . . a holiday card list! There are even some verses that you may wish to use on your cards!