Experimenting with new technique

I found a fabulous technique called Herringbone that was featured on fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator Dawn Olchefske's blog and couldn't wait to try it out! It's a great way to use up scraps of designer series paper. I used the Christmas Cocoa DSP from the Holiday Mini Catalog for the technique and LOVE how it turned out! This is definitely a technique I'll be using a lot!

Thanks for stopping by !

~~Marilyn~~

Stamps: Berry Christmas
Cardstock: Real Red, Soft Suede, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Soft Suede
Accessories: stamp-a-ma-jig, Christmas Cocoa designer series paper, sponges, wide oval punch, stampin' dimensionals

Personal challenge

I had some leftover pre-cut cardstock from a class I did last month, so I challenged myself to create something new using the same pieces. Another clean and simple design that helps to showcase this new Patterned Pine stamp set. While the original card was designed as a thank you card, I thought the colors translated perfectly into a Christmas card. If you find yourself with leftovers, I challenge you to try to re-purpose them into a new card!

I'd like to leave you with a fabulous fall photo I shot over the weekend in my backyard. I LOVE Autumn - it's hands-down my favorite season. Watching the leaves change color is such a wonderful reminder of the beauty of nature. This is one of our maple trees and I love its transitional colors.



Thanks for stopping by!

~~Marilyn~~


Stamps: Patterned Pines
Cardstock: Real Red, Summer Sun, Whisper White
Ink: Garden Green, Real Red
Accessories: red gingham ribbon, stampin' dimensionals

Last Deal of the Week

Today starts the last week of Stampin' Up!'s Deal of the Week. Until Saturday, you can purchase the following items at a discount:

• Princess Party Kit (#116214), regularly $15.95, now only $9.99
• Pirate Party Kit (#116213), regularly $15.95, now only $9.99

New in this year's Idea Book & Catalog, these kits include everything to create the perfect party for your princess or pirate! You receive supplies to create 8 invitations and a variety of party treats. To see the kit contents, refer to pages 174 and 175 in the catalog. Please note that assembly is required, and adhesive is not included.

You can place your order online at my website or you can call or email to place an order.

~~Marilyn~~

Just the facts...

I'm back with another clean and simple design. I'm heading out to spend the day with my mother-in-law, so just the basics on this one. This gorgeous Bella Bleu designer series paper adds such elegance! I sponged the edges to soften it up a bit, mounted onto cardstock and then onto the cardbase with stampin' dimensionals. Then I added a little ribbon, a simple stamped image with a layer, again with some dimensionals. How simple is that??

Have a great day!

~~Marilyn~~

Stamps: Dreams du Jour
Cardstock: Kraft, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla
Ink: Not Quite Navy
Accessories: Bella Bleu designer series paper, Kraft taffeta ribbon, sponges, stampin' dimensionals

Deal of the Week!

This week's deals of the week include items that are perfect accessories to any card or scrapbooking project!

Mini Library Clips (#109857) regularly $12.95 are only $8.99 this week! They include 48 pieces (12 of black, silver, antique brass, and pewter).

Basic Jumbo Grommets (#114348) regularly $6.95 are only $4.49 this week! They include 20 pieces (5 of Basic Black, Silver, Very Vanilla, and Whisper White).

1/2" Library Clips (#112581) regularly $6.95 are only $3.99 this week! They include 24 pieces (8 of Chocolate Chip, Old Olive and Whisper White).

Circle Designer Brads (#112571) regularly $5.95 are only $3.99 this week! They include 16 pieces (8 of 2 sizes).

Take advantage of this awesome sale and order these items directly through my Stampin' Up! website.

~~Marilyn~~

Craft show preparations

I'm going to be at a craft show at the local American Legion Hall benefiting the VFW Women's Auxiliary on Saturday, November 7th and have been working on some of my projects. I've seen such cute punched creatures and adapted them for Christmas tags. And they can also double as a tree ornament. The first one is a version of a Christmas card I designed for a stamp camp.


Then I saw several cute penguins and had to try it out as well!

And finally a cute Rudolph! I embossed his nose to make it shiny (or is it "glow"?) and used the snowflake punch to create his antlers.


Craft shows are always trial-and-error as far as what projects sell. Even with the same event, it can change from year to year. And this is my first time at this particular craft show, so I'm trying to make a wide variety of projects and a wide variety of price-points. I guess I'll see how these go over! Keep your fingers crossed for me! :-)

My first MDS project!

What is MDS? Only Stampin' Up!'s fabulous new product, My Digital Studio! It's more than just for digital scrapbooking...it's for all kinds of digital paper crafting projects. My first project was a baby announcement, but you can use MDS to make scrapbook pages, cards (think of photo holiday cards!), customized stationery, calendars, blog headers (I'll be trying that out in the coming days!!), and so much more!

MDS gives you access to Stampin' Up! exclusive colors and images with the flexibility to customize them to your liking. For example, the text above and the flourish behind the text were both created using Chocolate Chip ink color, but I was able to reduce the opacity of the flourish so that it was more of a watermark. And I shrank down the flourish from its original size.

Once you've created your personalized project, Stampin' Up! offers printing services through a high-quality print facility that has machines calibrated to accurately print Stampin' Up!'s exclusive colors. This is a fabulous benefit if you want to create a "hybrid" project where you accessorize the digital project with 3-d elements (ribbon, buttons, etc.). Plus, it's delivered straight to your door. How easy is that??

If you'd like to get your own My Digital Studio, just visit my website and place your online order today!

~~Marilyn~~

Fun with shimmer paints!

Thank you to all you wonderful stampers who graced my family with so many prayers when my father-in-law passed away last week! I'm anxious to get back to stamping and blogging - 2 great escapes for me during all this stress. Hopefully you'll see more frequent posts!

My next round of stamp club started tonight with 7 repeat members and 2 new members (shout out to Barb and Stacy!). After seeing all the wonderful things you can do with the new shimmer paints at the demonstrator regional conference in Cincinnati last month, I knew it would be the perfect product to feature tonight! I showed 2 ways of using the paints: as a layer over a stamped image and as a shimmer mist.


The first card was Thanksgiving-themed and features the delicate new Autumn Splendor stamp set from the Holiday Mini Catalog. We stamped the leaf with Always Artichoke and then again with Champagne Mist shimmer paint (using a stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect placement). It's hard to tell in the picture, but the leaf is so beautifully shimmery!


The second card features shimmer mist. To create the mist, you combine Isopropyl Alcohol (I used 91%) and drops of Frost White shimmer paint. Mix it well and then spray your cardstock. We used a heat tool to speed up the drying process before embossing and punching. Oooh, what a gorgeous effect! Lots of shimmer but no mess like glitter can make!

I hope you like the projects as much as my stamp club members did! Thanks for stopping by!

~Marilyn~


{{thanksgiving}}
Stamps: Autumn Splendor, Falling Leaves
Cardstock: Always Artichoke, Soft Suede, Very Vanila
Ink: Soft Suede, Always Artichoke
Accessories: stamp-a-ma-jig, Champagne Mist shimmer paint, sponge dauber, Kraft taffeta ribbon, mini glue dots, sponges, stampin' dimensionals

{{christmas}}
Stamps: Berry Christmas
Cardstock: Garden Green, Real Red, Very Vanilla
Ink: Garden Green
Accessories: ornament punch, Big Shot, Finial Press embossing folder, Frost shimmer paint, stampin' dimensionals, heat tool, Isopropyl Alcohol

Taking a leave of absence

I will not be posting on my blog until next week. My dear father-in-law passed away yesterday and we're heading out of town for the rest of the week. I knew John for almost 20 years and he treated me as his own daughter, so it's like losing my own father, not just a father-in-law. It's been a rough year - he was diagnosed in February with lung cancer, fought it with chemo and test medication, went into remission, only to be plagued all summer by the devastation caused from his treatment. We watched him go from ICU to a specialty hospital to a nursing home back to the hospital into an extremely risky surgery back to ICU stepped down to a progressive care unit where he seemed to be holding his own. He finally took a turn Sunday night and was gone by the evening on Monday. He was a strong (and sometimes stubborn) man which is why he put up such a big fight battling everything thrown at him. It's a comfort to know that he's no longer in pain and in a better place. But for those of us left here without him, it's devastating. And my mother-in-law just lost her mother only a month ago. I can't imagine the sadness that she feels. If you're the praying type, please keep my family in your thoughts.

Last August, when John retired, he used part of his retirement package to take us all on a 12-day vacation through California, from San Francisco where we visited the military base he was stationed at as a young man and Muir Woods to visit his sister in Nipomo and then to Los Angeles where we treated my son to a day at Legoland and a day at Disneyland. Little did we know that would be the last trip we would take together. Here's a picture of him and my mother-in-law among the beautiful redwoods:

May you rest in peace John Granville Goodrich.