With just a little more than a month left to order from the Occasions Mini Catalog, it's high time for me to show you a super embellishment kit for cards and scrapbook pages alike. Blossom Builders (#125410) located on page 18, is a simple way to dimension to your project.  Here's a description:

Making beautiful flower embellishments for a card or page has never been easier! Double-sided, printed, die-cut flowers on textured paper make it easy to mix, match, and layer one-of-a-kind flowers. Also includes half-back pink rhinestones (exclusive to this kit) to dress up your unique flowers. 2 sheets of printed flowers. 12" x 12". 1 sheet rhinestones (30 ea. in 2 sizes: 7 mm and 2 mm). Very Vanilla, Lucky Limeade, Blushing Bride, So Saffron, Baja Breeze, Rich Razzleberry, Poppy Parade, and Daffodil Delight.

There are dozens of flowers to choose from, making it a lot of fun to create multi-layered flowers.  Each flower is so cute there really is no right or wrong when stacking them. Here's my version on a thank you card I made:

The pink rhinestones included with the kit are a great way to add bling to an otherwise bling-less project.  Bring on the bling! 

Interested in your own Blossom Builder Kit?  Shop my On-line store now and get it while you can!

I am very excited to welcome another wonderful woman to my Ink Happens team.  Sheila G. officially became a member of Stampin' Up! on Thursday and is anxiously waiting for her starter kit to arrive.  Sheila, welcome to Stampin' Up! and welcome to my team!  You are going to LOVE it!

I have a small package going out to Sheila today and in will be this card:

With just less than a week of Sale-a-bration left, I wanted to incorporate some of the beautiful Everyday Enchantment designer series paper.  The colors in this paper are just GOJUS!  The butterflies were created using the Beautiful Butterflies die cut (#114507) which makes it so easy to make four different sized butterflies.  The wording came from the set, Friendly Phrases (#126151C).  I used the omitting technique and my marker to ink only the words I was wanting, in this case, congratulations and friend.  And of course, no card would be complete without some bling.  In addition to the rhinestones, I added a Trinket Crown (#121891) in hopes of Sheila knowing how special she is.

Are YOU interested in joining my Ink Happens Team?  Now is the best time to join - the starter kit is ONLY $125!!  And, if that wasn't good enough, anyone who joins Stampin' Up! by next Saturday will receive either a pack of designer series paper each month for the remainder of 2012 OR a free digital download!  Are you ready?  Click here to join my team now before this extraordinary offer comes to an end!

Welcome aboard, Sheila!

Back pain and the inability to sit for too long has kept me from enjoying my stamp room and all the fun things in it.  I get the results of a CT scan tomorrow so I am hopeful that whatever is causing me grief can be resolved quickly (and painlessly). I would like to resume my relationship with my crafting supplies sooner rather than later :)

I made a series of cards using the Bright Blossoms stamp set which will explain why today's card looks so much like this card.  This stamp set will be available in just a few short weeks to the public - April 1st, to be exact.  With 8 really great images the possibilities to create with this set is endless.  I can promise you will be seeing more of this set from me in the near future.

 In addition to the Bright Blossoms stamp set, Stampin' Up! will be releasing some really fantastic coordinating products.  Check out this flier for greater detail.  It's two pages of simply awesome product.  You want new embellishments?  Got it!  You want new fabric options?  Got it! Are you looking for new digital kits?  We've got that too!  Talk about a one-stop shop!  Mark April 1st on your calendar.  You will definitely want to add these to your stamping arsenal.

Just as a reminder, there are only 10 days left of Sale-a-bration!  Don't let the biggest promotion of the stamping year pass you by.  Get your FREE product while you can.  Visit my online store today and don't forget to check out the Clearance Rack!

I've had a few questions from my local customers about the Designer Rosette Die.  This die is used in conjunction with the Big Shot and can make various sized rosettes (also referred to as "lollies").  These are a great embellishment to cards, scrapbooks  or 3-D project and their even easier to make with this die!

Take a look at this video from Stampin' Up! and then look for additional tips from me below:

Video Re-cap:

• The fuller you want your rosette/lollie to be, the more strips of paper you will use.  For example, the largest lollie in the video used 4 strips and the medium sized lollie used 3 strips. 
• The larger in width your lollie is, the more strips of paper you will use.
• There are two styles of edges on the die - a scallop and pinking edge.  But, you can also cut of the edges and have a straight edge.
• When connecting the edges of your lollies, adhere a valley fold to a mountain fold so you have consistent folds througout.
• The sandwich you will use is: Acrylic plate, die, then crease pad.

Tip - I did not need a shim when using designer series paper, but more often than not I did need one for card stock.  Each Big Shot is different so practice on a scrap piece of paper to find out if you need a shim.

Have additional questions about this die?  Contact me and I will be happy to help.

Thanks for stopping by.

After a brief hiatus, I'm back with a sneak peek of another fantastic stamp set from Stampin' Up! - Bright Blossoms.  This set is only available to demonstrators at the present time, but on April 1st, you can own it too!  This is such a sweet set and has so much versatility.  It also has coordinating designer series paper that is a must have.

The tulip image was a perfect fit for the smallest size Labels Framelit. All of the images in this set are small to medium in size so you won't have any problem finding a Framelit to fit.

There are a lot of great products available to you on April 1st, but don't forget that Sale-a-bration is only in effect for a few more weeks.  All products are great, but they're even better when they are FREE.  Don't miss out on your opportunity to get your Sale-a-bration items today.

SHOP NOWin my on-line store.  Remember, for every $50 in product you buy, you receive one Sale-a-bration item for free!

Part of the order that arrived on my doorstep last night was my demonstrator pre-order products.  Woo Hoo!  Can I just tell you how much I love new crafting products?  Stampin' Up! never lets me down. 

Available to the public on April 1st, one of my favorite new products is a Big Shot die called Petite Purse.  It's adorable!  Perfect size for a table favor or as a little surprise for someone special. 

Also new in my crafting stash is new designer paper called Summer Smooches.  The colors are fantastic!  Bright, bold and fresh...just in time for Spring.  The mini purse pictured above showcases some of the new paper.

I have a few more new products to show you over the next few days.  Really cute stuff! 

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your weekend!

I finally received the orders from my workshop last weekend.  Even after all these years as a demonstrator,  I still get giddy when the UPS man delivers an order.  I'm not sure what it is but when I open those boxes and see all of those stamps, inks and paper I can't wait to get back into my stamp room.

See that box on the bottom?  My hostess, Sarah, earned herself a Big Shot at 1/2 off! Now it's time to get sorting!

To accompany all the orders, I made 3x3 thank you notes using the Elementary Elegance Stamp set.  Sarah's favorite color is purple so it was a no brain-er to me as to what color they would be.  The curly label punch (#119851)is a perfect fit to punch out the center section of the card.  Popping the center up with dimensionals gives it that added pop than an otherwise ordinary card wouldn't have.  I also added some bling with a rhinestone (#119246) on the crown.

Interested in owning the Elementary Elegance set for FREE?  This set and MORE can be yours for free duringSale-a-bration.  There are just a few more weeks left of this fabulous promotion.  Don't miss out on the opportunity to get your free items! 

Contact me to book your Sale-a-bration workshop before it's too late!

This project took longer than I expected to complete.  It had nothing to do with the level of difficulty but rather my shortage of time.  There are times when I wish I could sit in my craft room ALL day and just create, but that isn't my reality.  But when I do have long stretches of time available, I pack as much in as possible. Yesterday I was finally able to complete my Domestic Goddess Recipe Book!

The impetus for this project came as the result of a conversation I had with my friend, Kelley.   Kelley recently demonstrated the Double Pocket Card in Phoenix, AZ at the Stampin' Up! Regional Seminar.  It's been years since I've made one so when she told me about it, I was inspired to give it another try.  As soon as the first one was assembled, it was then that I realized what a cute recipe holder these would make!  What a great gift for a wedding shower or as a way to pass down treasured family recipes.

In my book, each pocket holds one recipe card, although two in each pocket (for a total of 4 per card) fit with no problem at all.  Another idea is to have the recipe on the front and a photo of the dish on the back.  There are numerous ways these pockets can be utilized. 

Here are photos of the individual inserts/pocket cards:

The Domestic Goddess Designer Series Paper (#122355) was perfect for this project!  This paper just screams recipe book!  And how about those Framelit Labels (#125598)?  Perfect for the recipe label on each card.

The size of the recipe book is completely dependent on the size of the book rings you use.  I could have easily added another 2 or 3 pocket cards to this book and not have any problem opening it.  The more recipes you have the more pockets you add!

Because I know someone will ask, those adorable utensils on the cover?  Those are not from Stampin' Up!  I have had these for at least three years and got them from a store that was going out of business.

Interested in making your own double pocket card?  Click here for a FREE tutorial.  It's a bit antiquated because I drew it years ago, but it's pretty simple to follow.  If you have questions, contact me and I'll do my best to walk you through it.

I hope you enjoyed today's project! I'm interested in hearing your ideas!  Leave me a comment and let me know what other ideas you have for the Double Pocket Card!

Have a GREAT day!

A dear friend/customer of mine recently ordered the Tea Shoppe stamp set.  I don't own it so as a favor she let me borrow it.  Without even thinking, I found myself going back to my favorite color, pink!  I couldn't help it - I think of tea cups and I think of antique, shabby chic, feminine, etc.

I left the sentiment off knowing that I could use this for a number of different occasions.

I also used Beau Chateau designer paper as an accent.  This paper was perfect for the look I was trying to achieve.

Thank you, Lynn for letting me borrow your set!

Be sure to come back tomorrow because I FINALLY finished the recipe book that I have been working on.  I am SO happy with how it turned out!  You've got to see it for yourself!

See you then!

At Sarah's workshop on Saturday we had several new stampers.  So as not to overwhelm her guests, I decided to showcase the extremely versatile stamp set Easy Events (#123225C/#116958W).  Coupled with the new Twitterpated designer paper and some ink and blender pens, this card came together quickly and easily.

Blender pens (#102845) are a great way to add color to your stamped image.  Easy to clean and even easier to use! With 3 dual-tipped pens in each pack these are a great value and a must-have in your stamping tool box. 

Are you ready to share stamping with your friends? Let's get your workshop on my calendar and let's plan the projects you would like to showcase.  Have a favorite stamp set or technique? Let me know so we can incorporate it.  We can customize your workshop to YOUR liking. Contact me today!