Stamp With Marilyn

Simply Scrapping Card Boxes

 

I know it may sound hard to believe BUT I found TIME this weekend to play in my scrapbook room!!  You know, we had a cold front blow in, and both my kids had been invited to spend the weekend at a friend's house, my husband had mechanical work to do, and I was HOME ALONE on Saturday!  I can't remember how long its been since I've been able to stay home and not have to cook, clean, run errands!! So I got to play Saturday with the wind howling outside like the dickens, and I drank hot tea and stayed in my jammies, and played!  Woohoo!! It was awesome.  Anyway, in typical "me" fashion, I have to organize my desk before I can get started.  So while organizing, I was overwhelmed with the fact that I have TOO much stuff!  I mean, I have enough paper to reach to China I think!  So I decided to work on using some of it up.  So I chose one of my FAVORITE retired Simply Scrapping Kits - Secret Garden.  Now this goes to show you just how far this kits will go.  I had already made a scrapbook album out of this kit, and still had gobs of it left over.  So I decided to absolutely try and use up this kit.  I made FOUR card boxes, and 24 cards out of what was already "leftover" and despite all my efforts, still had paper and stickers left over! Whew!  What a deal it is to buy one of these scrapping kits!! They are amazing!! Just look at what I've done below - and I didn't take pictures of every card - because that is just too much, but a few that I did are below...

 

 

 

   

   

 

Like I said, these are just a few of the many cards I created!  And I still had paper and stickers left over!!  I also used a lot of my rub-ons too, they worked great for some of the sentiments and embellishments.  I also used the hostess level 1 set "Best Yet" for some of the sentiments - this set is awesome!!

If you want the directions on how to make this card box, check out this website. http://www.stampingpro.com/ Her website is CHOCK FULL of awesome ideas and tutorials!! 

Award

I received this awesome award from my wonderful friend Tiffany. I LOVE Tiffany's work, and we have become great blogging friends over the past year.  SHe was the #1 Rising Star in Stampin Up this past year, and her talents and projects are second to none! Thanks so much Tiffany for the award!! Love those fall colors!!  Now I am to pass this award on to five other bloggers whose blogs I visit and enjoy.  That is so hard because I have about 50-60 bloggers on my google reader that I try to keep up with and I love each and every one of them - so it was really hard to narrow down - and since blogging awards go around quite frequently, I tried to find ones that I hadn't nominated before.  So here goes to some really awesome ladies in no particular order...

1.    Makeesha Byl This is one AMAZING woman - I don't think she ever sleeps!  She is from Australia, and I think it is almost summer there, LOL!! So this fall award may be a little "out of season" for her!  I LOVE her creative style, and she has the most awesome tutorials too!  Do stop by her site and say hello!

2.  Sarah Anthony Another wonderful stamper - she always has the cutest projects, and her stamping room is so awesome too! I always love stopping by to see what she has been up to.

3.Mary Fish This lady is such a WOW demo! All of her projects are awesome, and her tutorials always make it so much easier.  I am a visual person, and it is nice to see pictures of how it is done.  Check out her site - you will be SO glad you did!

4.  Angie Tieman  Thinking OUT of the box, that is how I best describe Angie's work - she is amazing, her color combos, accents and embellishments - she amazes me everday with all her creations each one more unique and awesome than the last.  She has become a wonderful blogging friend of mine, and I am always inspired by her work.  

5. Jill Hilliard This lady is dripping with talent, always has the cutest ideas!  You ought to see her Christmas tree card made with trianges and scallop punch - so cute! 

So go and stop by these amazing ladies' blogs!!! You will be so glad you did and I know you'll be inspired to STAMP SOMETHING TODAY!

 

Acetate Pillow Boxes

 

Trying out my new pillow box die that finally arrived!!  It is really quite easy to put together!! One strip of sticky tape along one edge holds it together, and then you fold all the creases, add the candy or whatever you want to put inside, and then tie with a ribbon. This picture is not so great with too much glare on the scallop, but it is a strawberry from Tart N Tangy. 

 

Here is a better picture of some more of these pillow boxes decorated up.  They are so cute and so much fun to boot!!  I am thinking these would make adorable Thanksgiving treat bags too for my son's class.  Wouldn't they look cute filled with candy corn and a cute little turkey tag.  I'm going to work on that next...

But I did want to show you the little helpers I had today.  Remember when we went to the coast back in October? Well, we came back with a couple of hermit crabs - my kids just thought they had to have them.  Sigh... so, the kids have pretty much forgotten about the poor little things, and so being the mommie that I am, I have been taking care of these little fellas, which means they need some exercise every day. 

 

Here they are on my desk.  I let them get out and walk around on my desk while I work.  They are little monkeys, they get into everything!!  I can't take my eye off them for a minute...

 

They are not happy with stamping, so it's time to go find more exciting things to do... like climb...

 

He wanted to play with my ribbon! He tried for several minutes to get into the ribbon, and finally got up here.  They are very persistent little creatures.  I tried to redirect him several times to something easier to climb, but he kept coming straight back to my ribbon containers until he got it. Pretty amazing little creatures actually. Taught me a lesson, if it doesn't work the first time, back up and try again. He actually got up this ribbon container climbing backwards!!

Sorry for the diversion from stamping, but I couldn't help sharing some pictures of these cute little fellas!!  Hope you have a wonderful day today!!

On Board Trinkets Ornaments

 

When I ordered the On Board Trinkets Ornaments from the Winter Mini, I had no idea how pretty they were going to turn out!  It was a little time consuming punching out all the pieces, but once I got that done, the fun began!!  Here are some closeup pictures of some of the ornaments I created.

 

 

 

 

 

These are just a few of the ornaments that you can create with this kit!  I used my Big Shot to cut out some extra scallops but other than that, everything I used was in the kit and I still have a ton of chipboard stars left over, as well as all the chipboard words that include love, hope, peace, joy and believe which I plan on using on some Christmas cards.  Check out the On Board Ornaments on page 14 of the Winter Mini Catalog to see how easily you can decorate your tree this season!  Now I know Thanksgiving still hasn't gotten here, but the season seems to fly by so quickly that now is a good time to start thinking about getting ready for the Christmas holiday.  And by the way - I love Thanksgiving - probably even more than Christmas, because it is so absent of materialism.  It is so nice getting together with friends and family with no stress of buying just the right present!  So I am going to be working on some Thanksgiving projects in the next few days in anticipation of this great holiday!

Check out the Big Shot and Vinyl!

While we were at the San Antonio Regionals, one of the ladies gave a demonstration using the Big Shot and vinyl.  Did you know that SU sells vinyl now - in white, chocolate and kraft?  I had no idea. It is nowhere in any of the catalogs and so I didn't realize you could buy it from SU.  After this lady mentioned you could buy it from SU, I had to call demo support to ask them where to find it.  It is in the demo part of the SU website under Products and Promotions and then Big Shot and then Raw Materials for the Big Shot!

Raw Materials for the Big Shot

Whether you want to create a vinyl die cut for your wall or a chipboard cut out for a special project, you can now do it using Stampin' Up! products! Stampin' Up! is now offering four colors of Décor Elements Sheets (Dark Gray, White, Kraft, and Chocolate) as well as specially-shaped chipboard to fit into your Big Shot without any trimming!

Décor Elements Sheets
Each package comes with two (2) 12" x 24" sheets of vinyl in specified color, along with two (2) 12" x 24" sheets of transfer tape to make using your vinyl pieces easy to use. Instructions for use are included in the package.

Item	Product Name	Price
114334	Dark Gray Décor Elements Sheets	$12.95
114335	White Décor Elements Sheets	$12.95
114336	Kraft Décor Elements Sheets	$12.95
114337	Chocolate Décor Elements Sheets	$12.95

On Board Long Board
Each package contains six (6) sheets of natural colored chipboard (5-3/4" x 13-3/4"). This size is perfect for sliding into the Big Shot without needing to trim or cut pieces. Use with rule-based dies (Originals, Bigz, and Bigz XL dies).

Item	Product Name	Price
114320	On Board Long Board	$6.95

 

 

Anyway, as soon as I could place an order after the Regionals, I ordered some of the vinyl, and also the on board long board.  Apparently this long board, is easier for the Big Shot to cut than the regular sizes of onboard, and also can be used with the longer dies! Did anyone else know this - or was I totally in the dark? Anyway, I was so excited to get this vinyl and wanted to start playing with it.  Here is what I came up with.

 

First I painted this box.  Another one of my purchases at a local hobby store.  I used chocolate brown acrylic paint, and then touched over it with some metallic paint to give it some more shine.

 

Here is the Tulipe die cut out.  I used the negative part of the die cut.  It wouldn't all fit on my box, so I reaarranged the pieces on the transfer paper.  The vinyl comes with two sheets, the vinyl, and then the transfer paper.  I actually found this much easier to work with than the Decor Elements, and maybe it was because you had more control over the design. 

 

Okay, here you see I've pulled the backing off of the vinyl.  The vinyl is now sticky on top and the transfer sheet is sticky also, holding the vinyl in place.  The backing off the vinyl came off very easily too. Now for the fun part!

 

Here is the end result!  It transferred like a dream, no problems at all!  I was so excited to see how easily this vinyl works with the Big Shot!!

 

Here is the finished box with all of my square dies in it.  I wanted to have a storage place for all the dies so that I could see them at a glance.  This box was just the perfect size to hold all of the dies I have so far, and room for more!  Now when I get ready to use my Big Shot (which is quite often LOL!) I've got all the square dies right at my fingertips!

 

Rub On Fun

Since this is the month to get excited about rub ons with the promotion SU has running - 20% off rub ons after any $20.00 purchase - I decided I wanted to play around a little bit with the rub ons and see how I could use them on something else other than paper.  Since I've moved closer to some hobby stores, I've had the chance to browse through their wood selection, and I purchased this wooden caddy.  I thought it would be perfect on my desk to hold my scissors, pens and my cropadile to be within easier reach.  It swivels completely around, and I think it turned out cute. I decorated both sides the same.  This particular caddy cost $4.99 and I painted it with some brown acrylic paint - several coats, and then applied the rub ons.  I then sprayed a clear glaze sealer over all of it.

 

Here is another cute glass container with some rub ons.  The circle reads "Do what you have to to make the world a cuter place"  Love that! 

So don't forget to take advantage of SU's promotion this month...

Rub-Ons Promotion

Dates: November 10-30, 2008

Promotion Details:
Spend $20 and qualify to purchase any Rub-Ons assortment at 20 percent off ($8.76 per package; regularly $10.95):

Item #	Page #	Rub-Ons Description
111416	178	Chateau Bella
111417	178	Word Flurries
111414	178	Hidden Garden
111277	178	A Perfect Day
110283	179	Take Note
111806	179	Chills & Thrills
111804	179	Chit Chat
111415	179	Greatest Moments
111805	179	School Days
110282	179	Anchored
112844	11*	Old Saint Nick
112843	17*	Season of Cheer
112735	39**	Hidden Garden Blossoms

*From Holiday 2008 Mini Catalog

**From Celebrando Creatividad

 

San Antonio Regional Swaps

   

This was my swap card for the regionals.  I only had time to make 20 of them, and really wished I could have made more, but time didn't allow. 

 I am going to post below the swaps I received.  Some of the swaps I got didn't have their name on the back of them and so while I would have liked to give credit to the ladies who made these cards, without a name there's not much I can do!  I'll post the ladies' name if I have it.  Enjoy looking at some of the swaps I received...

Made by Patti Pennock

 

Made by Debby Schumacher

Made by Kathy Hendrey

Made by Laurie Wessner from Plano, Texas

Made by Rita Randall from Hutto, TX.

 

Made by Kimberly Williams, Austin, TX

Made by Velma Iris Garza, McAllen, TX

 

Made by Becky Gregory, Taylor, TX

 

 

 

  This card was made by Sue Brown and Mary Thoe

Made by Dawn Salyer

San Antonio Regional Seminar

 

I am finally just now getting around to sharing pictures of the projects that we made at the Regional Seminar in San Antonio.  It was a blast!  It was so nice making all six projects with every single piece of paper, brad, ribbon etc. provided!! 

 

This is a Treat Pouch, although you can't really tell in the picture.

 

This was a fun card to make.  The flower is made out of ribbon!  You stamp a snowflake from the set we received at Regionals, Best Wishes & More on the back side of the red c/s and then punch out six middle holes and six outside holes nad thread the ribbon through those holes to make this beautiful flower!!

 

This is an 8x8 scrapbook page made using Pacific Point and needs a picture added to it - but I live in Texas - no snow here! LOL!!

 

This is a Gift Card Holder - so cute - and my favorite out of all the projects! Here is a picture of the inside!

 

What a wonderful little gift this would make!  Along with each project came instructions and paper dimensions, so would be very easy to recreate each one of these projects.

   

This was one of the projects we made with the Big Shot - the ever popular Baskets and Blooms Basket. 

Thanks to all of you with kind wishes for my son - they worked!  His hives have finally started to disappear and although we'll probably not figure out what caused them, so glad they are better!  I did manage to finish up all the costumes for our drama Sunday night - they weren't fancy but very basic - but just very glad that I have those done.  My son wanted his own costume for Halloween so since I already had the sewing machine out, I made him a metallic blue cape for his Halloween costume. He wanted to be a Jedi. Like I said, very basic but he was so happy with the end result, so that's all that matters right! He kept hugging me after he had tried it on and was so proud of it.  Well at least I have my own little fan club and put a smile on my face for the day! 

 

I've stashed away a few Kit Kat bars for myself out of the candy bucket - shh!! Don't tell my kids! LOL!

 

These are the treat bags Ryan helped me make for his class. Simple but cute!

 

These are the treat containers for his teachers and bus driver.  We have the most special bus driver ever and Ryan wanted to be sure and give something to him too.  Ryan also wanted to give one to all of his teachers, and helped me make these cute little treat boxes using retired Halloween paper from last year. 

Well that is it for today folks - have a very HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Medallion Snowflake

 

Sorry for the short post today - it has been a crazy week - it started off with my son getting sent home from school with a funny looking rash.  Doctor thinks it is allergic related, but it still has not gone away. We are trying to figure out what could be causing it. 

I did want to quickly share this card with you though.  I made this card last week, and haven't had a chance to post it yet.  I tried the technique out using the scallop edge punch and a 2-3/4 inch square piece of paper.  I then layered the snowflake on top of the punched out medallion.  Some paper piercing, brads, and hodgepodge hardware topped this card off - fun and easy! 

I had taken on another project about a month ago - our church is having a drama and I got involved in helping with the costumes.  So this week we have been also busily sewing costumes for the drama that will take place this Sunday night.  So there hasn't been much time left over for stamping! 

I know I promised pictures of the projects we did at the regional seminar, and I will get around to it, but it won't be this week!  I also want to share some of the swap cards I received as well.  I feel very inspired and motivated after having attended the seminar, but this week I haven't had any time to stamp! So hopefully next week after the drama is over maybe I'll get time to share those pictures with you.  Hope YOU are having a fabulous day - I keep telling myself - I'm too blessed to be stressed :) 

Stampin Up Regional Seminar

This past weekend Stampin Up! held one of their regional seminars in San Antonio and I got to go! This was my first Stampin Up! event to attend, and it was so exciting and so much fun! Shelli Gardner was there, and I actually got to meet and talk with her in person for a few minutes - WOW! She is such a sweet person, and what a genuinely caring and inspirational lady she is!  I did get to ask her about split shipping - this is one of my biggest issues on my wish list right now with Stampin Up.  Just having moved, I left most of my customer base behind, and even though we've continued with the 150 club, I still have to drive over an hour to deliver their orders each month.  While it does give me a chance to still connect with my ladies, it is not cost effective for my business with the high gas prices - even though now thankfully the prices are coming down.  Anyway, so I managed to ask Shelli about split shipping - which would help all demos out tremendously - then you could combine orders from around the US and have them shipped separately, but all orders would still count towards a workshop order.  Right now, you can't do that.  Guess what she said.... it is on the table, and in the works, and it IS going to happen, but it could be several months before we see that take place because of the programming issues involved.  But I was so excited to know that it is on their list too!! Woohoo!! 

 

Okay so this is a terrible picture of me! Isn't it a great picture of Shelli though!

 

Here is a picture of Jaron with the Coca-Cola ornaments that he created using the Big Shot. 

 

And a picture of me with Jaron.  He had a lot of great tips on his presentation, and talked about getting inspiration for your projects by just looking at colors and designs around you. 

 

Two of my downline came with me to the Regionals, Kandi and Sandra - they are a hoot and so much fun! 

 

We met a new friend just as we were walking into the Convention Center - Rachel!  She was so sweet, she had come to the Regionals by herself, and we just adopted her!  She is a new demo, signing up just a month ago, and I loved her energy and excitement about Stampin Up! 

We also had two other ladies join us at their table, Stacey and Carol, and we had a wonderful time visiting with them too!!  That's what I love so much about Stampin Up!  You get to meet the greatest people ever!

 

Here I am with my first completed project - a scrapbook page about SNOW!  Woohoo - lets hope we get some snow this winter so I have a picture to put on it LOL!! 

 

Here is Shelli at the Convention Center welcoming us.  I loved every minute of the Regionals, and it really  makes me want to go to Convention next year in Utah!!

    

I made Kandi, Sandra and I covered notebooks to take notes in during all the presentations.  I used Hawaii Papaya DSP to cover the journals, and some flowers from the Big Shot die to make this little books. 

I took TONS of pictures of all the card displays and 3D projects and I have copied them into a Microsoft Word file because there were so many, I didn't want to upload them one by one.  You can click here to download this file and see some of the great samples that we got to see! 

It was very inspiring and just what I needed to get my creative juices flowing again!! However, I just received a call from the school nurse, that my son has a "rash" that could be contagious and I have to pick him up and take him to the doctor, so hoping that it is nothing serious or contagious - hopefully just something he ate, but I must run to go pick him up and find out what this rash is all about.  Anyway - have a wonderful day everyone! Tomorrow I may try to post the projects that we got to make at the Regionals - they were wonderful!