Pictures from Hawaii 2018

How do you like that flower at the top of my blog?  That was taken last year.  It is a huge tree in Ashley's back yard.  We call it the Q-tip tree!  It is just starting to bloom now and I am think the flowers will be fully opened before I leave next week!

Thought I'd share a few more pictures from our trip in no particular order.

This was taken on our hike the first week we were here.  Ashley and I are giving the "shaka" sign.

The shaka sign, sometimes known as "hang loose", is a gesture often associated with Hawaii and surf culture. It consists of extending the thumb and smallest finger while holding the three middle fingers curled, and gesturing in salutation while presenting the front or back of the hand; the hand may be rotated back and forth for emphasis.

 Ashley's cat, Bogart watching the birds!  He loves it when we go out on the lanai so he can go too!  He drives us crazy though walking along the ledge.  I am so afraid he is going to jump from there onto the roof and down.  Her lanai is on her second story.

 This was a beautiful sunset on New Year's Eve at Molokai.  That missile looking thing is actually a torch that wasn't lit yet.  This picture was taken from the pool, bar and restaurant area of our hotel.

Ashley & I at the beach on the Marine Corps base while Sonny was playing golf.

Beautiful panoramic view!

Cool picture!  Me & my shadow!

This was one of the views from our hike.

We had dinner at Waikiki Friday night after enjoying a great show.  This was taken at an open air mall that we walked through.  The statue is the late, great Don Ho.

Aloha!

Aloha from Hawaii!

Well, it has been a while since I wrote on my blog.  We are in Hawaii with only a week left.  I will be sad to leave .... especially since back home the temperature hasn't been out of the 20s I don't think while I am enjoying high 70s and low 80s!!  What an adjustment we'll have to make!

The Occasions AND Sale-A-Bration catalog are ready to go.  There are some great products in there - hope you have had a chance to look through the catalog.  I have placed my first order and hopefully, it will be waiting for me when I return home next week!  I can't wait to play with new goodies.  I had a hard time narrowing down my choices since, of course, I wanted it all!!

We have been busy ever since arriving here on the 24th.  We had a quiet Christmas, just the 3 of us eating, visiting and watching football.  We went on a hike one day during the week and saw some awesome views.  The hike was not steep but was long - think we figured it was over 4 miles round trip.  I was glad to see the end!  For New Year's, we flew to the island of Molokai where the leper colony is.  Our plane was definitely a puddle jumper - only held 9 passengers and we were asked our weight before we boarded!  There are only 8 past patients living at the leper colony now.  I don't know what will happen to the "town" once they are all gone.  The only way to get to the colony is by hiking or riding a mule.  We chose the mule!   The route down to the colony was rocky with puddles of water everywhere (Hawaii set a record a few days before with rainfall!).  It was a trail with 26 switchbacks.  It was a little bit scary!!

Sonny and Ashley on the way back up

View from the top.  You can see the colony below.

Ashley made it safe on our puddle jumper!

Ashley in the saddle!  At the end of the ride, we had mud from our ankles to our knees!

3D Box Card

I can't believe that Christmas is less a week away.  So I imagine many of you are scurrying around getting ready for the Holidays and some are greeting family and friends.  This is always a busy time of year.  Stampin' Up! has released more clearance items.  So grab a cup of coffee I and check out these items.  CLEARANCE

We do have some housekeeping to do before we close for the year.  You have only until December 30th to reserve your Stamparatus.  Remember you do not pay for it until it ships in March.     Here are the product details which should answer all your questions except one.

Product Details:

• Compatible with Stampin’ Up!’s red rubber and photopolymer stamp
• Foam mat to use with photopolymer stamps
• Rulers and gridlines for quick measuring
• 2 open sides so you can stamp on larger paper
• 2 reversible plates: a total of 4 surfaces to work with
• 2 magnets to hold the paper in place
• Magnet storage areas
• Retail Price–$49.00 USD/$65.00 CAD

    ' How do I get my hands on this Stamparatus?   Consider it a Christmas gift to yourself.  It will ship March 19th and will not be charged until it ships.

If you are one of my customers, you should have received your Occasions Catalog AND the Sale-a-Bration catalog.  If you have not, please email me.

I will be leaving town this weekend .... flying away to Hawaii!!  My posts will be probably very sporadic (what else is new???) but I will try and post a few pictures from the beach!  We will be going to the island of Molokai for New Year's.  Ashley has reserved us mules to travel on!  Check it out here and HERE!

I had Stamp Club this week and we made a 3D Box Card and a New Year's card.  Everyone made either a Garden Green or Real Red card with the polka dot paper (non SU).  I gave them several choices for decorating the inside.  

This is the New Year's card we made.  The numbers were die cut from Large Numbers Framelits in silver paper. The silver polka dot vellum is adhered on top of the Whisper White card.

Merry Christmas - FREE Shipping!!

Are you interested in saving yourself some money???  Well, Stampin' Up has you covered!

24 HOURS ONLY!  On Monday, December 11, receive free shipping on all Stampin’ Up! orders.

No minimum or maximum purchase amount!

FREE SHIPPING AGAIN!  YOU BET!  Here’s your chance to stock up on paper crafting basics (card stock, envelopes, adhesive) and/or fill your wish list for the holidays!  It’ perfect for last minute gift giving, too!  

• Order as much or as often as you want ALL DAY.  Shipping is FREE!
• STOCK UP!  Fill your wish list and stock up on basics like card stock, envelopes, stamps and ink! 
• Don’t miss out on additional savings with 10% OFF Bundles and the Stampin’ Up! clearance rack.
• FREE products!  Earn Stampin’ Rewards when you spend $150 or more (total before shipping and tax).
• Year-End Sales Event!  Dec. 1 – Jan. 2:  Retiring holiday product list PLUS discounts on select retiring and surplus items while supplies last.
• Reserve a Stamparatus TODAY.  Learn more about the “Cadillac” of stamp placement tools and how to reserve one. 

If you are not ordering $150 (or more), please use my December Hostess Code when prompted to (on-line ordering). 

DECEMBER HOSTESS CODE:  SNUBBDSH

YEAR END SALES EVENT

Stock up and save on Stampin’ Up! clearance products.  Up to 60% off PLUS many items on the Holiday Catalog Retiring List have been discounted, some up to 40% off.

Discounted products are only available while supplies last so please don’t wait to order your favorites.

TIP!  Need inspiration for sale products?  Use my SEARCH tool on the top right of my blog to find samples I shared previously using discounted stamp sets, tools and more!

SEE EVERYTHING ON SALE HERE!

The 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 & clearance items may be combined on your order with other Stampin’ Up! products.

And, don't forget about the Clearance and Bundles sale items!  Check them out HERE.

 

Order your Stamparatus NOW!!

Hello Again 

Just popping in to let you know that NOW you can reserve your Stamparatus. 

Here are the details from the home office at Stampin'Up! 

The results are in! The first Stamparatus reservation window reached its maximum number of reservations in just 15 minutes, which provided us with some very important information: You will LOVE this new stamping tool! We couldn’t be more thrilled; in fact, your response was so amazing that we’ve decided to make some important adjustments to the reservation process.

As was previously announced, the second reservation window will remain open from December 5–30; however, during this reservation period we will take as many orders as we receive (yay!) and not close the window until December 30. So whether the total number of reservations is 100 or 100,000, the window will stay open!

Please note the following changes:

• Beginning March 19, we will ship Stamparatuses in the order the reservations were received (first in, first out) and continue through the next few months and beyond as product arrives in our warehouse. Because shipment dates are based on manufacturing lead times, not all of the reservations made during the December 5–30 window will ship on March 19 (as was previously announced).
• In order to accommodate demand, limits have changed as follows: one reservation per customer and one per demonstrator.
• Because we are not limiting the maximum number of reservations for the second window, we will not offer a third window. This is the last chance for you and your customers to reserve a Stamparatus before it becomes available in the 2018-2019 annual catalog.

CLICK HERE to reserve your tool 

• ***You will need to sign in into your account just like you place an online order then you will see the Stamparatus reservation. If you do NOT have a account you will need to have an account so just fill out all the info. 
• After you enter all the info you will get notified as soon as it arrives at the warehouse; then you will complete your order and be one of the first to have your hands on it. Plus if you reserve now you should get it during Sale-a-Bration and with just a little add on to that order, you will qualified for a Sale-a-Bration product. Make sure YOU do not remove the Stamparatus from your cart when you get the notification, we can not add it again if you delete from your cart. 
• This tool will be released in the NEW catalog in June 2018 but we can have it before if we choose if you pre-order NOW. 
• Price is $49 USA 
•  Yes, you will enter your credit card but it will NOT be charged until the product to shipped to YOU. 
• You will receive an e-mail when it is ready to be shipped. Complete your order (at that time you can add to your shopping bag)  

Wise Men From Afar for NC Blog Hop

It's the end of the month which means .... NC Blog Hop!  I haven't had time to participate in the blog hops in the last couple of months so I thought I'd make an effort this month!  Our theme is anything Christmas or Hanukkah.

I borrowed this stamp set, Wise Men from Afar, from my downline, Debbie, and made this beautiful card.  Black isn't a color you usually associate with Christmas cards but this one is an exception.  What do you think?

I stamped the kings in Black Archival Ink on Very Vanilla cardstock and using the Big Shot and my favorite, Stitched Shapes framelits cut the oval out.  Next I cut out two of the largest scalloped ovals from Black and Champagne cardstock.  (You really only need half of the black oval.)  I cut a 3" x 5" piece of Vanilla cardstock and layered it onto Champagne Foil paper which was then adhered to the black card.  Stamp the sentiment with Black Archival ink.  The star is punched using the Starlight thinlets dies with a small rhinestone in the middle.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have now changed gears and are sliding into Christmas preparations.  We had a great Thanksgiving with my daughter in town (from Hawaii!) and my family that are local at my house for the Thanksgiving festivities.  Of course, we all ate too much.  But to top it off, yesterday we went to my sister's house where we ate more!  Ashley and I made gumbo and my sister made 2 different chilli's in the crock pot plus another crock pot full of chicken!  After all that, we sat outside around their fire pit and toasted marshmallows for smores!   Ashley leaves on Sunday for DC for work for a week before flying back to Oahu.

If you want to order this great Christmas stamp set or any of the other items Stampin' Up sales, now is the time!  Sunday, Nov. 26 is the last day for the Online Extravaganza special.  BUT Cyper Monday (Nov. 27), SHIPPING will be free for all Stampin' Up! orders.  This is a great offer and gives you another day to check off everything on your wish list with FREE shipping!

Hop along to the rest of the blogs from our NC group.  Sue is the next stop along the hop.

Tamra Davis -

http://www.theCardLadies.com/nc-demos-blog-hop-will-swap-for-art/

Jo Anne Hewins -

http://luv2create.typepad.com/my_blog/2017/11/its-christmas-for-the-nc-demo-blog-hop.html

Tracie Evans Langley -

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/traciesallaboutstamping/blog?directBlogUrl=/blog/86481/entry/nc_demos_november_blog_hop1

Sharon Maranich -

https://inkiefinger.blogspot.com/2017/11/wise-men-from-afar-for-nc-blog-hop.html

Sue Root -

https://stampin-with-sue.blogspot.com/2017/11/nc-stampin-up-demos-november-blog-hop.html

Sue Stapp -

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/suestapp/blog?directBlogUrl=/blog/2152011/entry/n_c_demonstrators_november_blog1

Frances Wagner -

https://wagstamps.blogspot.com/2017/11/nc-demo-november-blog-hop.html

Christina Walker - http://papergears.com/wise-men-traveling/

November Stamp Club

We had Stamp Club last week and made two cards, our December calendar and a Birthday Reminder Box.

Here are the pictures and instructions:

2 pieces of Thick White Cardstock –

·        #1 measures 11” x 7”

·        #2 measures 7.5” x 6”

·        Score Piece #1 on it’s longer side & .5” / 3” / 8” / 10.5”

·        Use the Diagonal Score Plate & score at the 8” mark (see diagram)

·        Flip the page completely over (to the back side).  The first diagonal (@ 8”) should now be in the opposite corner.  Score again at the 8” mark diagonally.

·        Fold & cut off the corners

·        Add strong tape (Red Line or Sookwang tape) to the two 5” flaps on the side.

Piece #2: 

·        Score at .5” and 3” on the longer side. 

·        Turn 90 degrees and score at .5 & 5.5” on the shorter side.

·        Trim ½” flaps as seen in diagram

·        Place strong tape on ½” flaps.

Adhere Designer Paper to box before putting it together.  Side panels are cut 7” x 2 ¼”.  Front panel is 4 ¼” x 4 ¾”

·        Fold the ½” flaps up & align them along the inside back of Piece #1.  Adhere.

·        Fold in the “wings” and adhere them to the base flaps.

·        Fold up the front & adhere to the remaining ½” flaps.

To make the notch, measure in half-way from the sides & make a pencil mark.  Use a Circle Punch & punch a half circle.

You need 6 Dividers cut at 6” x 4 ¾”

DSP for the dividers is cut at 5 ½” x 4 ¾” – scored at 5.5” & 2”

If you want to make additional boxes (nice Christmas present!), here is the link to directions AND a link to printing the calendar inserts.

https://wizardshangout.blogspot.com/2012/06/lucy-birthday-card-keeper.html?m=1

Thanks to Marianne for this card!  She gave me the one on the right for my birthday in October.  I gave the ladies a choice between Wisteria Wonder and Fresh Fig.  This set comes with framelits but I did not use them on the card.  We just stamped directly on the white cardstock.

BEAUTIFUL BOUQUET

Supplies:

Ø  Ink:   (your choice)

·        Card #1 – Garden Green, Daffodil, Fresh Fig, Sugarplum

·        Card #2 – Wisteria, Daffodil, Flirty Flamingo, Garden Green

Ø  Cardstock:  Whisper White, Fig OR Wisteria

Ø  Stamps:  Beautiful Bouquet

Accessories:   

Ø   Twine or Ribbon

Instructions:

·        Stamp stem with green ink.

·        Stamp flowers in your choice of colors.

·        Stamp sentiment of your choice.

·        Make a bow & adhere it with Glue Dots.

·        Adhere white cardstock to purple card.

This card is so much prettier in real life.  I actually got a new club member thanks to this card!  It was a great way to introduce everyone to the new Stampin' Blends!

VINTAGE LEAVES

Supplies:

Ø  Ink:    Black, Cajun Craze

Ø  Cardstock:    Very Vanilla (8 ½” x 5 ½” AND 5 ¼” x 4”), Thick white cardstock

Ø  Stamps:   Vintage Leaves, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Accessories:   

Ø   Stampin’ Up Blends Markers

Ø   Classic Label Punch

Ø  Woodland Embossing Folder

Ø  Leaflets Framelits

Instructions:

·        Run the smaller piece of Very Vanilla cardstock through the Woodlands embossing folder.  Adhere to card.

·        Stamp leaves onto Vanilla cardstock, color with Blends Markers & die cut. 

·        After die cutting leaves, use Blends marker around edges so white is covered up.

·        Adhere leaves to card – use dimensionals on some of them.

·        Stamp sentiment on scrap of Vanilla, punch out & adhere to card.

DECEMBER CALENDAR

Supplies:

Ø  Ink:  Cherry Cobbler

Ø  Cardstock:  Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Be Merry DSP, White

Ø  Stamps:  Be Merry, Wrapped in Warmth (retired)

Ø  Cable Knit embossing folder

Instructions:

·        Run Green cardstock through Big Shot with Cable Knit Embossing Folder.

·        Stamp cup & lid onto Be Merry paper & cut out.

·        Cut a strip of Be Merry paper and wrap around middle of cup. 

·        Adhere cup & lid to green card.

·        Stamp sentiment in Cherry Cobbler; cut and mount with dimensionals

Online EXTRAVAGANZA

Each year, Stampin' Up! hosts a fantastic sale called the Online Extravaganza.  This year it begins on Monday, Nov. 20th and runs through Nov. 26.  Monday (11/20) there will be a special 24 HOUR door buster sale with lots of items for you to purchase.  Don't miss out!!

Click HERE for the list of items on sale!

Have fun shopping!  Please use my HOSTESS CODE when you place your order (located at top left of this blog).