GulfcoastStamper

Hey Chick

Good morning Blog peeps!  It is a beautiful and sunny but windy day here in Naples although I hear some nasty storms are on the way.  That is fine by me, it just gives me an excuse to hide away in my new craft room!  

The last few weeks have been spent sorting, organizing, purging and labeling everything in my new space so not much creating has been happening yet but that is about to change!  I managed to unpack the last few boxes that were in the garage this weekend so I think now everything has a home.  I'm sure there will be some fine tuning once I start working again but all in all I am super excited with how everything turned out.   It is so much more functional than my last space so hopefully the mojo will start flowing now that all the hard work is done!

I have a large box of new Occasions and Sale-a-Bration products that have been neglected since they arrived a few weeks ago.  I did take out a few items to play with prior to my Open House and the very first set I grabbed to ink up was the Hey Chick SAB set. I am in love with these fun little chicks and the best part is that they were FREE!  

 

 

Who doesn't love Free, right?  We all only have so much in our crafting budgets so it's always nice to have that money go a little further.  My favorite image is the chick who is having the bad hair day but for today's card I went a little more traditional.  My new Cupcakes and Carousels 6x6 Designer Series Paper Stack was out on my table and I loved the combination of Early Espresso, So Saffron and Bermuda Bay for my chick.  

 

The edges of my Designer Series Paper were all inked with a sponge dauber and some Early Espresso ink.  I used my Layering Circles Framelits Dies for the chick image and my Tags & Labels Framelits for the greeting.   Who wouldn't love to get this happy card in the mail?  

That's all for today, thanks for sticking with me during my move and stampin' hiatus.  I hope to be sharing much more in the very near future including a tour of my new craft room!  Have a creative day and thanks for stoppin' by!  

 

 

Hey Chick Clear Mount Stamp Set

$0.00

Cupcakes & Carousels Designer Series Paper Stack

$10.00

So Saffron 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$8.00

Bermuda Bay 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$8.00

Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$8.00

Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$9.00

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

Blender Pens

$10.00

Layering Circle Framelits Dies

$35.00

Tags & Labels Framelits Dies

$27.00

Sponge Daubers

$5.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

$4.00

Project Life Corner Punch

$8.00

 

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

 

 

Happy New Year with the Blogging Friends!

What better way to start the New Year than with a Blog Hop with my Blogging Friends and all new products from the new Occasions and Sale-a-Bration catalogs!  How about a Blog Hop with my Bloggin Friends and a special Guest Blogger hopping along with us! Stampin' Up! Demonstrator extraordinaire Janet Wakeland is joining us this month!  I have been an avid follower of Janet's blog for years and I'm sure you won't want to miss whatever she has in store for us today. Just keep following the links at the bottom of this post (or if the suspense is just too much to handle you can jump ahead to Janet's blog and continue on the hop from there)  

As demonstrators, we have had the opportunity to pre-order and play with all these wonderful new products from both the Occasions and Sale-a-Brations catalogs since the first of December but you can start ordering in just 3 short days!  Yeah!   Both catalogs go live on the 4th of January, Please let me know if you would like a copy of your very own and I will pop them in the mail to you!  

Now, without further adieu, lets get on with the good stuff!  

Most of you know that my husband and I recently became empty nesters and have down-sized considerably.  We sold our 4 bedroom/3 bath Florida pool home and have moved into a golf course condo with much less space.  My only requirement for giving up my house was that I still have a dedicated craft room.  I figured if my husband gets an entire golf course, I should at least get my own (happy) space, right?  I will share pics as soon as it is completely unpacked and organized but my point is that I have not had the time or the room to stamp much lately.  I need a clean, organized space to create and that is just not what I have at the moment, although it is slowly coming together.  But, I have an entire box of new stamps, dies and papers waiting to be played with and it was just not fair to deprive them of some quality play time any longer.  

As I mentioned, I have a pretty large box that was patiently waiting to be broken into.  But what should I play with first?  I had planned on giving you a little preview of all of my favorites but after an almost 2 month hiatis from stamping the mojo just wasn't flowing.  So, I pulled out the brightest and cheeriest collection and hoped that would jump start the stampin' mojo. Not so much.  But I did manage to come up with a few projects that I thought might make the cut.  

I chose the Cool Treats Suite which is full of fun, bright colors and everyone's favorite treat...Ice Cream!  First up is a shaker card using our new Sprinkles Embellishments.  (I will apologize in advance for the lousy photos.  I am still working on better lighting and photographing options for my new space) 

That yummy Designer Series Paper is from the Tasty Treats DSP pack, a must have with this collection of products.  The colors of Peekaboo Peach, Watremelon Wonder, Pool Party and Wild Wasabi are so cool and inviting you will want to lick the page or run to your freezer and see what kind of cool treats you may have hidden in there.  (okay, maybe not for those of you that got a foot of snow this weekend but it was 82 degrees here in SWFL today and ice cream is always a good idea) 

I wanted to add a little treat to go with my card so I broke out my severely neglectd Bakers Box Die and created this cute little treat box.  The Big Shot makes creating boxes and bags to match your theme super quick and easy.  

This one started out as a catalog CASE (Create and Share Everything) but quickly morphed into something totally different.  I love the way it came out but I'm not gonna lie, the sprinkles were a challenge to glue down even with our fine tip glue. They are tiny little buggers!  

That's it for me today.   Please be sure to continue on the Hop and see what my other Blogging Friends have been up to.  Next up is Jenny at  Crafting with Jenny.  Thanks for stoppin by!  

 

 Next up on the Hop is Jenny at Crafty with Jenny.  Thanks for stoppin' by!  

 

Rick Adkins	Rickinsmonstudio
Janet Wakeland	Remarkably Created
Crystal Komara	Super Stamp Girl
Anna Conetta Masciovecchio	Stamp with Anna
Libby Fens	Libby Stamps
Anne Power	Stamps, Paper, Ink, Create!
Mary Blocher	Mary Blocher Stamping
Danica Ferrante	My Beauty Scraps
Deborah Smart	Stamp & Create with Deborah
Jodi Skrip Horsley	A Mom Having Fun
Leanne Dillon Johnson	Literally My Joy
Michele Clarke	Stampin’ Up!
Lorene Yoshimura-Tanigawa	Stampin’ Up!
Mary Ann Kay Rossiter	Stampin Mak
Tammy Hibbit Gill	Stamp Inkspired
Lisa Harvey-Reber	Gulfcoast Stamper
Jenny Lane Gauthier	Crafting With Jenny

Lovely as a Tree with the Blogging Friends

Welcome to the November edition of the Blogging Friends Blog Hop!  We are a group of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators who, before we started hopping together a little over a year ago, had never met in person.  Many of us have still not met each other (yet!), but we all share a love of stamps, paper, ink and of course Stampin' Up!  Please be sure to follow along in the hop so you don't miss any of the awesome projects my fellow Blogging Friends have in store for you today!  

Our theme this month is the tried and true favorite Lovely as a Tree. If you do not yet own this stamp set it really does need to go on your wish list.  It is such a beautiful and versatile stamp set and can be used for just about any occasion.   Since my brand new Glitter Embossing Powders were sitting unopened (eeek!) on my work space I decided to go with a Christmas theme. Just so I could break open those babies and play with my new glitter.  Because everyone knows that everything is better with glitter.  Especially at Christmas.  

My first attempt was an epic fail.  I had envisioned a Christmas tree as seen through the window at night with the house lights off.  Unfortunately, with the black background the tree is barely visible through my window in real life. (sigh)  You have to hold the card at just the right angle to even be able to see my glitter tree....

 

It was a great idea but one that just did not translate well. I needed a redo.  Fortunately, I loved the layout, I just needed to brighten it up a bit.  

 

Much better don't you think?  For both cards I stamped my tree image with Versamark ink and heat embossed with the new Emerald Envy Glitter Stampin' Emboss Powder.  Beautiful!  Then I ran my embossing buddy over the entire image and stamped the holly berries right over the top of the Emerald Envy layer  and heat embossed again after applying the new Real Red Glitter Embossing Powder, being very careful not to overheat or "burn" the first layer.  

I love the deer from the Santa's Sleigh Bundle peeking in the window to enjoy the tree.  

Please be sure to keep hopping along, next stop is our fearless leader Crystal at Super Stamp Girl. (Jenny is sitting this month out but will be back with us in December)  If you get lost along the way, the links to all the stops on the Hop are below.  Enjoy the Hop and thanks for stoppin' by!  

 

Crystal Komara	Super Stamp Girl
Anna Conetta Masciovecchio	Stamp with Anna
Libby Fens	Libby Stamps
Anne Power	Stamps, Paper, Ink, Create!
Mary Blocher	Mary Blocher Stamping
Danica Ferrante	My Beauty Scraps
Deborah Smart	Stamp & Create with Deborah
Jessica Mink	The Crazy Chaotic House
Jodi Skrip Horsley	A Mom Having Fun
Leanne Dillon Johnson	Literally My Joy
Michele Clarke	Stampin’ Up!
Lorene Yoshimura-Tanigawa	Stampin’ Up!
Mary Ann Kay Rossiter	Stampin Mak
Tammy Hibbit Gill	Stamp Inkspired
Rick Adkins	Rickinsmon Studio
Lisa Harvey-Reber	Gulfcoast Stamper
Jenny Lane Gauthier	Jenny will be back next month!

 

World Card Making Day Part 2

Wow, what a weekend!  It took me a full day to recover, lol!  We had a blast at my WCMD event this past Saturday but I was wiped out from lack of sleep leading up to the event and running around the day of.  On Saturday, I shared 3 of the 5 cards we made that day. Today I thought I would share the last two plus some pics from the actual event.  

Since we are finally in October, which means full speed ahead on Halloween, I used Halloween as our theme for the day.  We started out with a Halloween Candy Buffet to keep everyone on a sugar high all day with plenty of energy to get all 20 of their Cards plus Make & Takes done!  

At 12:30 we took a break for lunch which consisted of homemade Turkey, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Chili and all the fixin's, Sweet Corn Spoonbread, Corn, Black Bean & Avocado Salsa with tortilla chips and Fluffy Pumpkin Pie Dip (served with Biscoff cookies).  I am fortunate to live in a gated community and have a clubhouse at my disposal with a complete kitchen and lots of counter space!  

The cute little Bat place cards were made with my Silhouette.  They were quick and easy and I even used the sketch pen feature to spell out the name of each dish plus the black edge around the label. After sketching, I changed the pen to a blade and let the machine do its thing and cut out the label.  (have I mentioned how much I LOVE my Silhouette?)   

I had 10 wonderful women spend the day stamping, laughing, socializing, eating and grumbling about the amount of die cutting I made them do, lol!  (in their defense, there were a lot of little pieces to poke out!)  We were all a little tired and punch drunk by the end of the day but I think a good time was had by all!  But, the best part is they all went home with 20 completed cards and matching envelopes ready to be mailed to some lucky recipients.  Here are the last two cards we made on Saturday:

Jar of Haunts & Ghoulish Grunge Halloween Card

 

Santa's Sleigh in Sugarplum and Silver Foil

I love the Thinlits Sleigh Die...so detailed and elegant and I love the combination of the Sugarplum and Silver Foil together.  In addition to 5 cards I also had 2 Make & Take Projects...one in the morning and one in the afternoon that they could work on between their card projects.  Both Make & Take projects were treat packages...one for Halloween and one for Christmas.  

Halloween Treat Bag

Gift Box Cocoa Pod

 How did you celebrate World Cardmaking Day?  That's all for today, thanks for stoppin' by!

Blogging Friends Blog Hop & World Card Making Day!

Welcome to another Blogging Friends Blog Hop!  If you are new to the HOP, we are a group of Stampin' Up demonstrators from all over the USA and Canada who share a love of paper crafting. Our Blog Hop happens on the 1st of every month and my fellow Blogging Friends are sure to WOW you with lots of great projects and inspiration.  If you are unfamiliar with Blog Hops, here's how they work:  At the bottom of my post, you will see an image to continue on to the next blog which will take you directly there.  There is also a list of all the participants and their blog links if you get lost along the way.

If this is your first visit to my site - Welcome!  Be sure to subscribe using the box on the right side of your screen. You can subscribe by email and you will get an email notification every time I have a new post.  If you have a moment, I'd love for you to leave a comment below.  I love hearing from you!  

Our theme this month is ideas and inspiration from the new Holiday Catalog and I just know my fellow Blogging Friends have some beautiful projects to share today.  Please be sure to work your way through the entire Hop and leave them some "Comment Love" along the way!  Okay, enough chatting, lets get on with some Fall and Holiday inspiration!  

By the time most of you are up and enjoying your first cup of coffee on this beautiful Fall Saturday, I will be running around like a crazy person getting ready for my 1st Annual World Card Making Day Event!  I have a full day of Card Making, Make & Takes, New Product Demonstrations, and Product Give-a-Ways!  For today's Blogging Friends Blog Hop I thought I would share a few of the cards and treats we will be making today.    

the highlight of my WCMD event is a Stamp-a-Stack featuring one Halloween, one Fall and three Christmas themed cards (x 4 of each) for a total of 20 cards.  I also have three Make & Takes planned throughout the day as well as lots of card and projects samples, several chances to win some awesome Stampin' Up! prizes and lunch too!  Today I am sharing 3 of the 5 Stamp-a-Stack cards my WCMD guests will be making!   

 

 

Rich Razzleberry Fall Tree in Copper

 

Detailed Santa Thinlits Die in Cherry Cobbler

 

Shameless CASE from Dawn Griffith

Please stop in again tomorrow when I will be sharing some photos of the actual event!  Thanks for stoppin' by today and please continue on the Hop by clicking on the picture below or on any one of the links to my fellow Blogging Friends!  Have a great weekend!

 

Crystal Komara  Super Stamp Girl Anna Conetta Masciovecchio    Stamp with Anna Libby Fens           Libby Stamps     Anne Power Stamps, Paper, Ink, Create! Mary Blocher     Mary Blocher Stamping Danica Ferrante               My Beauty Scraps Deborah Smart Stamp & Create with Deborah Jessica Mink       The Crazy Chaotic House Jodi Skrip Horsley A Mom Having Fun Leanne Dillon Johnson   Literally My Joy Michele Clarke                 Stampin’ Up! Lorene Yoshimura-Tanigawa      Stampin’ Up! Mary Ann Kay Rossiter                 Stampin Mak Tammy Hibbit Gill            Stamp Inkspired Rick Adkins                        Rickinsmon Studio Lisa Harvey-Reber           Gulfcoast Stamper (That's me!)  Jenny Lane Gauthier Crafting With Jenny

 

Cookie Cutter Scarecrow Meets Pumpkin Spice Latte

I really do own other stamp sets from the new 2016 Holiday Catalog but I just can't seem to stop playing with this one, lol!  I think we will just designate this week Cookie Cutter Week and finish out this week with the Cookie Cutter Halloween and Cookie Cutter Christmas stamp sets.  Then I'll give them a rest for just a bit.  This is one more project that I featured at my Cookie Cutter Halloween Class this past weekend.  As much as I love the little Halloween images in this set, I'm so glad there is a fall option as well.  This little scarecrow was the perfect addition to my cute little Pumpkin Spice Latte gift package:

If you are not familiar with the Starbucks Lattes they are a substantially larger package than the regular Via packages.  I created the little gift pouch using some leftover 12 x 12 Rich Razzleberry Textured Card Stock that I had been hoarding.  (I really miss Stampin' Up's 12 x 12 textured Card stock...I hope they are reading this today!)  

The pouch is super simple and quick to make.  The 12 x 12 CS is cut at   2 3/4" x 12" and scored at  4 1/4" and 4 1/2".  The top of the back panel was created by attaching a piece of 2 3/4" x 6" Designer Series Paper to the top half of my card stock and then inserting that end from the outside of the Lots of Labels Framelits Die to the inside,  aligning the top of the die with the top of my card stock.  I ran it through my Big Shot just enough to cut through the top only creating the scalloped edge.  The bottom front panel is     2 3/4" x 4 1/4".  Of course we had to make a card to go with it!

The card is a combination of Rich Razzleberry Card Stock, the new Petals & Paisleys Specialty Designer Series Paper and our new Copper Foil Sheets.  Can I just say these Copper Foil Sheets are beautiful and the new Cable Knit Dynamic Texture Impressions Embossing Folder....stunning.  My scarecrow was heat embossed with our new Copper Embossing Powder and colored with Aqua Painters.  

I was experimenting one night and heat embossed the sentiment in Copper Embossing Powder on the Copper Foil sheets.  I wasn't sure how it was going to come out but it actually looks etched or engraved in person. Beautiful.  You will definitely be seeing this technique again although I will say that you do need to use the Embossing Buddy first.  The foil tends to pick up every little smudge and fingerprint and the Embossing Buddy will eliminate the embossing powder from sticking where you don't want it to.  

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of my Pumpkin Spice Latte project!  And please come back tomorrow for the last installment in Cookie Cutter Week!  Thanks for stoppin' by!

Cookie Cutter Halloween Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$17.00

Cookie Cutter Builder Punch

$18.00

Rich Razzleberry 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$8.00

Petals & Paisleys Specialty Designer Series Paper

$13.00

Copper Foil Sheets

$4.00

Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder

$5.00

Aqua Painters

$17.00

Rich Razzlebberry Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

Brights Enamel Shapes

$9.00

5/8" (1.6 Cm) Burlap Ribbon

$7.00

Halloween Scenes Edgelits Dies

$25.00

Layering Circle Framelits Dies

$35.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

$4.00

Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

$10.00

Stampin' Spritzer

$3.00

 

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

 

Collier County Honor Flight

This past week I was asked to make 22 Thank You cards for the gentlemen heading from Naples to Washington D.C. on the Collier County Honor Flight, Mission 11. If you are not familiar with the Honor Flight Network I urge you to visit their website:  

The Honor Flight Network is "a non-profit organization dedicated to providing veterans with honor and closure".  

Our Mission: To transport America’s Veterans to Washington, DC to visit those memorials dedicated to honor the service and sacrifices of themselves and their friends.

Honor Flight Network is a non-profit organization created solely to honor America’s veterans for all their sacrifices. We transport our heroes to Washington, D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top priority is given to the senior veterans – World War II survivors, along with those other veterans who may be terminally ill.

Of all of the wars in recent memory, it was World War II that truly threatened our very existence as a nation—and as a culturally diverse, free society. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, an estimated 640 WWII veterans die each day. Our time to express our thanks to these brave men and women is running out.

****************************************************************

I was truly honored to be able to provide cards for this group but I am severely lacking in the ownership of military or patriotic stamps, something I plan to remedy very soon.  A huge thanks goes out to two of my club members, Diana and Susan, for generously allowing us to use the stamps you will see shortly.  I also need to thank some of my Holiday Kick Off participants for helping me get the job done.  Thank you Lynn, Kari, Sandi and Patricia for your help! Today I want to share some of the cards we had the honor of sending along on Mission 11:

To the brave men and women who were aboard that flight, I want to personally thank you.  I don't think we will ever fully appreciate all they went through and the sacrifices they made to allow us the freedoms we enjoy today.  Even with the current political debacle we are calling a Presidential election and the unrest and unease that is making daily headlines, we are so much more fortunate than most. Although you have the right and the FREEDOM to voice your opinion, show some respect to the men and woman who gave their lives to give it to you.  So, I will continue to STAND FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM with my hand over my heart in their honor and in thanks for the country we are so very Blessed to live in, even with our faults.  Because they deserve at least that much.  I will leave you today with a quote from Will Rogers:

 "We can't all be heroes.  Some of us have to stand on the curb and clap as they walk by".  

Well done gentlemen, well done.  

Collier County Honor Flight Mission 11:  Frank Bailey, August Brune, Richard Cantania, Francis Ciminelli, Henry Colon, Robert Daly, John DeCaro, Olin Downing, Carl Gallagher, Charles Herbst, Harlan Hummel, Richard Knur, Robert Leeks, Patsy Maiorano, Melvin Maxey, Walter Redden, Norman Regnaud, Delmont Renneke, Robert Rice, Milton Rosenberg, Frederick Schultz, Raymond Urfer


  

 

Tropical Santa

I'm a Florida girl.  Although I grew up in New England (and that is where my heart will always be), it has taken me 12+ years but I have come to embrace my Floridian status  What I will never learn to embrace is Christmas shopping in shorts and a T-shirt and heading to the beach on Christmas day.  Although I love the traditional Santa we all grew up on, Santa is more likely to show up at my house sporting board shorts and Ray Bans.  Hence the inspiration for today's card....

I almost traded in Santa's traditional red hat for a straw one but I didn't want you to mistake him for Willie Nelson.  (come on, I know you were thinking Willie too!)   With the Soft Sky background his curly beard can double for beach waves if you use your imagination.  A little sun, a pink flamingo, some lush foliage and a warm greeting and my tropical take on this beautifully detailed Santa was born.  

This is not at all what I had planned when I pulled out my new Detailed Santa Thinlits Die for the first time but that's one of the things I love about stamping.  Sometimes the mojo takes over and the result is a surprisingly happy ending.  I love the way my Santa turned out and I may actually be recreating a few more to send to some of my friends up north.

I'd love to hear what you think of my Tropical Santa and thanks for stoppin' by!  

Detailed Santa Thinlits Dies

$25.00

Cookie Cutter Christmas Photopolymer Stamp Set

$21.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$9.00

Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$8.00

Soft Sky 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$8.00

So Saffron 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$8.00

Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$8.00

Layering Circle Framelits Dies

$35.00

 

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

 

Cookie Cutter Halloween for PPA316

It has been raining for days here in SW Florida which makes all Floridians grumpy and miserable.  Not kidding, the entire state is in a foul mood.  We quite literally need our sunshine.  As much as I miss the sun, I don't miss the humidity that usually goes with it.  Our typically white sand beach and crystal blue-green water was grey and angry this evening. The good news is that miserable rainy days make for really good stamping weather.

I have been diligently working on my upcoming Holiday Catty Kick-Off Party and my Cookie Cutter Halloween Class. As luck would have it I had these three little guys sitting out on my work table and they just happened to fit in perfectly with this weeks sketch from the Paper Pals Arts Blog.

I did switch up the sketch just a little.  I changed orientation of the sketch and changed the circles to squares using my new Squares Framelits Dies.  I love the brick patterned paper from the Halloween Night specialty Designer Series Paper and I thought it made the perfect backdrop, although a touch of colored graffiti from my Gorgeous Grunge set made all the difference.  

The background colors are Perfect Plum, Pumpkin Pie and Pear Pizzazz on a Basic Grey base.  My frames were cut by nesting two of the Square Framelits dies, cropping my little ghoul images with the same die and lining up the corners.  Their bodies are flat against the background square while their little heads are popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals.  Don't they look like they are jumping out to frighten you?  

You are also getting a little sneak peek of another Holiday Catty Halloween Set.  The spider web, spider and sentiment are all from the new set."Spooky Fun".   The little enamel dot on my spider is also new from the Holiday Catalog and comes in Perfect Plum (like I used on my spider), Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive.  

The Cookie Cutter Halloween & Cookie Cutter Christmas stamp sets and matching Punch are a must-have from the new cattty and are quickly becoming one of my favorites.  I have a feeling you will be seeing a lot of these two sets in the next few months!  

Remember, the Holiday Catalog is now live for everyone!  You can view it online HERE or if you would rather have a hard copy please contact me and I will get one right out to you. 

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Celebrating One Year - September Blogging Friends Blog Hop!

Even though I have only been with the Blogging Friends for a few months, the majority of my Blogging Friends are celebrating their one year Blogaversary today!  Whoop, Whoop!  We have so many surprises in store for you today, the first of which is our...DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

Special Guest Blogger

Stampin' Up! Co-founder and Board Chair

SHELLI GARDNER!!!!!!

We are all so excited that Shelli has taken time out of her busy schedule to join us this month. You will find Shelli immediately following Crystal (Super Stamp Girl) on the Hop but I know you will want to visit all of my Blogging Friends this month! Several of us have planned Blog Candy give-a-ways to commemorate this one year milestone. Please make sure you continue on and visit all the Blogs on the hop to win and please show them all some love by leaving a comment...it really does make our day! I have some Blog Candy to give away this month as well but first let's get to my project:

Our theme this month in honor of our one year Blogaversay is Celebrations.  We all have so many things to Celebrate...birthdays, weddings, new babies, graduations, anniversary's, a new job, a much anticipated retirement, the first day of school, a stellar report card, or even a successful day of potty training. Whatever your reason to celebrate I hope you do it with gusto!  And ice cream. Because ice cream should be part of every celebration IMO. 

I think it's true that everything old becomes new again and my card this month certainly proves that point.  I have not made a pop-up card in years but a recent purge of my stamps had me reminiscing and remembering a pop-up card I made long ago with the Chef from Bon Apetite.  (still one of my all time favorite stamp sets!)  As you can see from the side view, when opened my card is free standing to be admired by all that pass by the recipient's desk or mantle.  Because every hand-stamped card should be revered and admired by all.  

I did do a little re-sizing of my original design to make my card fit inside a standard envelope and as you can see it folds flat for mailing.  The base was made using my favorite new In Color Sweet Sugarplum and the coordinating paper stack Playful Palette. (both available in the 20116/2017 Annual Catalog)  

I had so much fun creating my Celebration  pop-up card that I had to try one using some of my new stamps from the brand new Holiday Catalog which is being released TODAY!  (click HERE to view the Holiday Catty on line)  I love all four of the little images in the Cookie Cutter Halloween set and the companion Christmas set is equally as cute. AND, there is a coordinating punch which makes me very happy.  

How cute is that?  I do have an upcoming class featuring the Cookie Cutter Halloween stamp set which will also feature a bonus project using the Cookie Cutter Christmas set.  All the details for that class can be found HERE.  

I did promise some Blog Candy if you managed to make it all the way through this post so let's keep it all about candy, shall we?   Just leave me a comment below and tell me what kind of candy you are most likely to raid your kids (or grand kids) Halloween haul for.  (mine is Almond Joy's...lucky for me all three of my boys hate coconut)  I will pick one lucky winner on Saturday evening using Random.org.  ("Blogging Friends" excluded) Here's what's up for grabs:

Next up on the Hop is our newest member Jenny Lane.  Please click on the picture below to head over to Jenny's Blog and give her a warm welcome!  (If you lose your place along the way I have also listed  the links to each one of our bloggers in the Hop) 

A HUGE thanks to Shelli Gardner for joining us today and thanks for stoppin' by!  

 

 

Crystal Komara

Shelli Gardner

Anna Conetta Masciovecchio

Libby Fens

Anne Power

Mary Blocher

Danica Ferrante

Deborah Smart

Jessica Mink

Jodi Skrip Horsley

Leanne Dillon Johnson

Michelle Clarke

Lorene Yoshimura-Tanigawa

Mary Ann Rossiter

Tammy Hibbit Gill

Rick Adkins

Lisa Harvey-Reber  (you are here) 

Jenny Lane