Cool Cat

I received this great birthday card from my friend, Wanda. Isn't it cute??? This is a retired set - Cool Cat - but I've always loved it. This is a tag card & I just may use it for a bookmark.

Thanks, Wanda! You're a great friend!

Scandinavian Season

Just wanted to share this card with you that I received from my Monday Mailer partner this week. I have seen some wonderful card with this set from the Mini catty - Scandinavian Season. When I first saw it in the catalog, it didn't really do much for me, but wow, have I seen some great cards using it! Like this one -

My Lifetime Goal

For those of you who follow my blog, you know that I have been doing Weight Watchers for a while now. My goal was to reach Lifetime status (again) by my birthday next Wednesday. Well, as of last week, I DID IT!! I now only have to go once a month to weigh in. If I stay within 2 pounds of my goal weight, I don't have to pay. I weighed in last week for October because I knew with my party coming up and other things I have planned in the month, my best time to weigh less would be early in the month. Now, I just have to go weigh in BEFORE Thanksgiving!! And then again, BEFORE, Christmas - parties, goodies, baking, etc!! This is the hardest time of the year to be doing this, but if I can do it now, I should be "good to go"!!

Apple Pickin' Time

Just want to share the Monday Mailer card I mailed to Nikki this week. Our theme this month is Fall, Halloween or Birthday (guess whose!!) So I did apples because it is apple pickin' time!! I found a template with these 4 rectangles so I sponged green chalk in the openings and stamped and embossed the apples. It's pretty simple, but sometimes, simple is good!!

Full House

Another quick post! Today was my Mahjong day. Why is it everything happens at once? Last week, I didn't have one thing scheduled to do and this week, every day is full! I have a meeting in the morning and then a little free time until we go to the airport to pick up our first wave of friends that are coming for my party. Don and Sharon are really good friends of ours from our Texas days. It is so special that they are flying here for my party since they were just here in July for my Mom's birthday party!! How great is that??!! I just found out tonight that some of our good Texas pals are coming on Friday. Margaret and Graham actually get to visit us on a pretty regular basis since he is a retired American Airlines pilot and they have a daughter that lives near Concord. We will have a full house when Ashley arrives on Friday night! But that will be so much fun! I can't wait! We will all be going to Stamper's Alley bright and early (too early, really!) Saturday morning for the Great Impressions Stamp of the Month class. My new NC good friend, Robin, teaches the class every month and it is so much fun! Robin just makes it so enjoyable. I probably go as much for the fellowship as for the card making!! My sister, Marianne, also takes the class with me each month. This time, she also will have company - her girlfriend, Sharon, is coming up from Florida (for my party!) and will take the class with us. I hope Robin is prepared for the 6 of us!!

The Big Winner!!

Ok - I have been super busy this week!! I have been working on making Halloween treat bags for my daughter to take back to DC with her. She's coming down for the weekend and throwing a birthday (#60!!) party for me!! So I've been getting ready for that - more details later! Yesterday was my bridge day. Today, I was up bright & early to work in the Mooresville Soup Kitchen. Then I had a little shopping to do. And tonight, I played bunco in my neighborhood. We get together once a month for Bunco & I have only gone once since last winter! I used to go every month, but it seems like lately, there's always a conflict or I forget!! So tonight, I made an effort to go & am I ever glad I did - it made me $83 richer!!! I won Most Games (8 out of 12). Plus, we pass a hat around whenever you roll a Bunco. Whoever has the hat on at the end of the night, gets a prize. So, I only had 1 Bunco but, you guessed it, it was the one that counted!! My family knows how much I love hats, so it was appropriate I should have won. Plus, the Halloween hat matched my orange Halloween shirt!! Then after we played Bunco, we played a Left-Right-Center game that was a lot of fun. If you've never played it, it's really simple. There are 3 dice with "L"; "R"; "C"; and a dot on them. Each person starts out with $3. You roll the dice and if you get the "L" you pass $1 to the Left; "R", $1 to the Right; and "C" $1 goes in the Center (the pot). If you roll a Dot, you get a free pass. Whoever is left at the end with her dollar, gets the pot!! That was ME!!!! What a great game!! I should have won anyway since it is almost my birthday!!!

Bazaar Boxes

Just wanted to share a couple more card boxes I made for my Mom's Christian Women's Group Fall Bazaar.

This one is my favorite card box. I have made so many of these over the years because they are so easy and there is so much you can do with them. I usually try to personalize them for the recipient by putting an initial on them. They make great gifts with a few cards and envie's inside. If you want to make them, here are the basic directions and then you can play around and "make it your own".

Take a 8 1/2" x 11 cardstock and score it.
1) Score along the 11” side at 3 ¼”, 3 ¾”, 8 ¼” and 8 ¾”
2) Score along the 8 ½” side at ¾”, 1 ¼”, 7 ¼” and 7 ¾”
3) Cut out flaps.
4) (optional) Use small corner rounder on outer flaps
5) Fold along all score lines.
6) The 3 ¼” flap is the lower flap. Use sticky strip to adhere this to both ¾” side flaps.
7) The 2 ¼” flap is the top flap of this box. Use half of Velcro dot as closure – or wrap ribbon around.


This card box is an acetate box that my a friend gave me. I just made a "belly band" around the box in red and decorated a panel for the front. I used Eastern Blooms stamp set in Elegant Eggplant and Real Red (SU). On the back of the box, I stamped letters using my Just Rite Monogram stamp set and my 1" circle punch. Easy, peasy!!

Season of Friendship Box & Cards

I've been busy this week making card boxes for my Mom. Her Christian Women's Group is having a little bazaar next week at their monthly meeting. She told me she had a bunch of cards I'd given her over the years to use and she thought she'd just take some of them. I said "Whoa .... let me look at them first!" A lot of them were from my early card making days and they looked it too!! Way back then, I didn't do much stamping. I started out taking a card class at our local Senior Center where we did a lot of dry embossing and punches .... you know, punch a few flowers and glue them on a card!! (attaching a few of them!) So, needless to say, those cards are going in the trash!! I made a box using a pattern from Scor Pal. I just did something wrong and my top became my bottom and my bottom became my top. My plan was to use patterned paper for the top and solid for the bottom, but .... things don't always work out the way you plan it! Anyway, I ended up putting the tree from Season of Friendship (Holiday mini catalog) on the top of the box and coordinated it with the patterned bottom. I then made 4 cards using the same stamp set for the box.

This fall card I embossed the tree with Copper Embossing Powder and the background (retired background stamp - Stripes). The leaves are stamped in Tangerine Tango and Kiwi Kiss. I used my Nestabilities to cut the ovals.

This winter card I stamped the tree twice and used Crystal Effects on the darker tree. I stamped snowflakes all over. I used Stickles on the tree branches. The patterned paper at the bottom is from Hostess Patterns Pack with a strip of Kiwi and strip of Baja Breeze. The three dots at the bottom are covered with Crystal Effects.

The spring card uses Green Galore cardstock and Riding Hood Red. The tree is stamped in Basic Gray ink with Green Galore leaves and Pink Pirouette flowers. The saying "friend to friend" is from Pocket Silouettes.

This winter card base is Night of Navy wheeled with a retired Snowflake wheel in Whisper White. I used the Top Note Die (in my Cuttlebug) to cut a white and a Pacific Point die. I stamped snowflakes all around the tree and stickled the bottom of the card and put Star Dust stickles on the tree.

Jelly Bean Jar

Supplies:
Happy Birthday jelly bean jar
Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set*
Paper Confetti White; Rose Red card stock; and Kiwi Kiss textured card stock
Ink: Chocolate Chip; Close to Cocoa; Kiwi Kiss; Pacific Point; Pumpkin Pie; Rose Red;Jet Black StazOn pad
Accessories: Kiwi Kiss; 5/8" striped grosgrain ribbon; Chit Chat Rub-Ons; Stampin' Dimensionals; Aqua Painter; Coluzzle Cutting System; 1/8" Circle punch


*Want to make a Halloween treat instead? Substitute one of Stampin' Up's brand-new Halloween stamp sets from the 2008 Holiday Mini Catalog (pages 4-5) for the cupcake on the tag!

Come on down .... join SU!!

This is a great time to become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. There are some great specials being offered right now by Stampin' Up! and there's no better time to sign up! Click Here for more information. For a limited time only, you can sign on as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator for as little as $99. At that level, there are three Starter Kit options to choose from. Or, for an even better deal with more stamp sets and products, you can sign on for just $199. With this option, you receive an additional FREE stamp set of your choice, bringing the value of the Starter Kit to more than $400. Both these offers are only available until October 11th. Whichever way you choose to join, you become a member of my team and will receive regular inspiration, advise and encouragement from me and have the benefit of Stampin' Up! publications and web resources that are available only to active Demonstrators. It is possible to be part of my team, even if you don't live locally. We will communicate via e-mail and phone and you will have the same access to inspiration, support and encouragement. Have you decided that you want to be a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator? E-mail me to get started! I would love to welcome YOU to the my Stampin' Up team.

Here are a few great reasons to be a SU demonstrator:

• Never pay full price again. You'll get a 20% discount on everything you purchase.
• Your favorite hobby becomes your business and then it becomes a GREAT tax deduction!
• Earn extra money for your family or just enough to support your stamping. You can earn 20-32% commission.
• You will make lots of great stamping buddies. You'll become friends with your hostesses, customers, and lot of other demonstrators.
• Stampin' Up! demonstrators receive monthly and quarterly magazines with tons of samples and great business ideas.
• Demonstrators have access to the Stampin' Up! web site which is filled with samples, ideas, and business tips. You can even have your own personal web site!