New Idea Book & Catalog!!

I hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend spent with the things that matter most.... family, friends and the NEW 2010-2001 IDEA BOOK & CATALOG!!




The moment I saw it, I was in love. SO many great new things...my wish list is a mile long!! Remember to bring your wish list later this week for Stamp Club. I have some new supplies for us to play with and some new techniques to share, too, so it's going to be an exciting session.

See you soon!

crafts melt away the crazies

crazy crazy (did i mention crazy?) day at the ol' day job .... thank goodness for crafty fun with friends to help melt all that away!

oh yes and the NEW 25% and 50% off goodies help me smile, too!

You Scream, I Scream...

...say it with me now... we all scream for ICE CREAM!!

Confession: It doesn't matter how much I'm trying to *watch my figure* ... ice cream will always have a place in my heart.. and my stomach. So, when I saw this:


in the Summer Mini, I knew I had to have it.

What's up with the weird wood-like grainy image and the spotted dashed line like image? No, those are not there by mistake... those are so you can make cute little images that look just about cute enough to eat.

Check this out:




How did I get that awesomely realistic ice cream texture, you may be asking... and beginning to figure out. Well, it's your lucky day because I'm going to tell you:

1. Ink up the scoop with Chocolate Chip ink
2. Ink up the wood-like image with Very Vanilla craft ink
3. Stamp the wood-like image right onto your Chocolate scoop
4. Then stamp the scoop image on lovely Whisper White cardstock and LOOK! You've made realistic looking hard ice cream good enough to eat... or at least drool over.

This is an example of what it looks like without the texture:




And here's an example of using the technique I described above, except with the spotted dashed line like stamp in Chocolate Chip onto a Certainly Celery scoop of ice cream to make a delicious Mint Chocolate Chip scoop.



They all came together to make this simple & sweet little number that I gave Jeanne (one of my lovely Stamp Club members) for her birthday.



Yum yum yum... must go search through the freezer now for something :)

NEW items 25-50% off!!

If you haven't taken a look yet, you are definitely going to want to check out the current *last chance* items that are now 25 & 50% off asap!

Awesome Designer Series Paper, a variety of ribbons & accessories, adorable Princess & Pirate Party Kits & more are on sale WHILE SUPPLIES LAST only.

While you're looking around online, I also suggest checking out the Clearance Rack. There are some killer deals on there with Designer Series Paper packs, Rub-On sheets and Corduroy Button containers for only about $4.

Good luck with your treasure hunting... I hope you find new toys you love!

Extra extra... read all about it!

The "Last Chance" list is up!! These items are only available through the end of this month (or while supplies last) and will all *retire* on June 30th to make way for the new Idea Book & Catalog goodies.

Check it out now & start making your list for next Stamp Club of what you can't live without... as the name implies, this is the LAST CHANCE to get these items, so if you've had your eye on something, now is the time to grab it before it's gone!

i like YOU

Look how fancy I'm getting! You can now "like" my updates & projects just by clicking the little Facebook thumbs up button at the bottom of each post.


Hugs, thumbs ups & happy Saturday to you all!

get your hands on THESE bugs!

At our last Stamp Club there was a request from Miss Ryan (hi, Ryan!) to make "bug" cards in celebration of summer... Such a great idea that provided inspiration for a variety of projects!

Everyone got similar base kits & it was so fun to see how people switched things around to make the designs their own. Here are a few examples of our first card using Bugs & Kisses:


So cute!! I'm so proud of my Stamp Club friends :)

Bugs don't have to just be "cute" though, they can actually be quite pretty.
Pretty bugs?!? Oh yes.

Check out these dazzling beauties:


Here's a simple twist on the above design that I think would be perfect as a wedding card thanks to the elegant Basic Black & Whisper White combo and Whisper White Organza Ribbon:


And here's another cute bug card that you might get a kick out of:

I made the picnic blanket by punching out squares in Real Red & Whisper White. The Inspired by Nature grass image stamped in Glorious Green on Glorious Green cardstock provided a subtle background.

So, how did I do those cool 3D ants? And make the bugs & creatures 3D in the first card? Crystal Effects is amazing. SO quick & easy to use and it really provides a neat dimension to a project. A pretty good size bottle of it is about $6 and will last for many many many cards. You just squeeze it out of the small tip where you want it to go, give it about an hour to dry, and you're done!

Don't have that wait time to allow for drying but want a WOW?? Try the Dazzling Diamonds with a Two-Way Glue Pen like we did for the dragonfly cards above. This stuff is amazing and for about $4 is a steal that will also last a long long time.

It's a 3-day weekend, so ditch any yardwork plans you may have and get your hands on these bugs instead!!