Project in the Spotlight

Thank goodness it's a tiny bit cooler! Today is the first day in about 2 weeks that I was able to sit outside and enjoy the morning birdsongs. It won't be long though, and I'll be able to do that every day again. This has been a hot end-of-the-summer! One of the things I've enjoyed the most working on while looking out at the blistering sun, has been some fabulous Christmas cards using the new stamp and die set, Frosted Pinecones. This set isn't available to the general p

Jeff sometimes likes to wait in a dark room and jump out at me in the hallway at night, but thankfully, he's not so great at hiding anymore! Now that we have a 2 story house with wood floors, I can usually hear where he went to. When our grandkids visit, he threatens to scare them, but doesn't really do it. They can get those kinds of scares at home, from their Dad, not their grandpa, please! When they were visiting us this summer, we all had a great time with this wonderf

Today was so cool, I had to change out of a skort and into jeans, after Jeff and I got home from our Coffee and Scones run this morning. Then I sat out on the back deck and soaked it all in, until I literally started to get a bit soaked from the drizzle that started up around 10. It was around 70 degrees, and beautiful. This is the first weather we've had that wasn't 90 plus, and humid, in about a week, so I was determined to enjoy all of it that I could, because the heat

Every time I do a fun fold for videos, they always seem so much more complicated than they really are! I don't feel nervous, but I guess I must be since there almost always is some glitch. But this week's fun fold really is a fun one! I think the finished card turned out exactly the way I'd hoped it would. I hope you have fun with this one too. Fragrant Layers Stamps and Dies

Jeff is pretty good about not teasing me when he hears the words, "That is SO CUTE!" over and over again. I just can't help it after finishing a new card with all the stamps and dies. It always surprises me how much fun making cards is. We didn't used to share my crafting space, but since I moved all my stuff down to the TV room, we both spend a lot more time together. He does tease me about displacing his stuff, but the reality is, his only hobby playing card games on th

Today was not a great day for the internet at my house I guess. It took three tries to finally get the whole Facebook Live video completed, and then quite a bit longer to get it onto YouTube, and finally, to this website. Whew! It's finally done! Yay! I was persistent, because I enjoyed this project so much and wanted to share it with you. I love how everyone's cards inspire all of us to try new (and old) 'recipes' to make something wonderful to share with people. This i

I love being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator because I get to buy the products early and get a good discount on everything I buy. Plus, I get so many great ideas for all kinds of different things to make through the tutorials from different artists we have access to. If you are buying anything to stamp and color with, then you would definitely be better off by just joining our team. The new Starter Kit offer is good for this month only. Spend $99, and get $125 worth of prod

It's a great weekend to be getting together with your friends, whether you are doing it in person, or online at the Virtual Retreat happening at Stampin' Up! right now! For me, I'm just spending a lot of time right now thinking up new ways to use up all the wonderful characters from the Sweet Old Friends set that is new at Stampin' Up! There are SO many things you can do with all the products from this suite, and I've just barely scratched the surface. One of the things I h

No one Barbecue's in our house anymore, since Jeff and I will just eat out for good BBQ. In Missouri, there's great barbecue on just about every street, if you go far enough! So this stamp set is going to be used for our kids, who still barbecue, and for our small group host, Mike. Mike is definitely the BBQ Master. The steak is from a retired set, but everything else is featured in the new stamp set, BBQ Master from Stampin' Up!

I love being able to use this wonderful new little camera for cardmaking. It's much easier to use than our old Stampin' Up! camera. https://youtube.com/live/1_7d4wiTjNE

Jars a great for adding in the old stamps from your collection. This one was gone for a bit, but it should be back in stock by now. Get the dies with the stamps, so you can make jar shaped cards like this with toppers that lift up. Pair this with your Nothing's Better Than" stamps and dies or anything that can fill the jar. So many possibilities!

I love multi use dies, and these Scalloped Wishes dies fill that niche nicely. Plus, the stamps are sweet and easy to fill in areas that just need a little bit more of 'something'. Whether you are looking for an extra embellishment, a leaf, a plant, or a dragonfly, these stamps hit the spot!

Ready, Set, Go! All the guys love this set. I'm trying it with embossed gears and gold powder embossing. It's a winner!

Make a Wish Stamps but no dies. You won't need them. Easy stamping, and a quick cut out if you like. I tried the new Online Exclusive Make a Wish with the retired Cozy Cottage Hostess set from years and years ago. Then, I mirror stamped the geese and cut them out. So cute!

I had to edit this post to get the link to work. Click on the photo to see the YouTube video I made with this stamp and die bundle a couple of weeks ago. I'm making different cards, but using the same Capturing Smiles set. Thank you! I'm thinking a whole lot of us like to be the one to take the photos, so we don't have to be IN them. I really regret thinking that way. When you get older, it may be hard to find family photos that you are even in! I think that's one of the

The title of our new Stampin' Up! stamp and die set, 'Blessed Beginnings' caught my attention right away, because I figured this was a novel new way to sell an Easter Stamp set. I would have never thought about turning my old Easter stamp sets into Wedding or Shower cards if they had titled this anything else! They are so smart. Thank you Stampin' Up! for giving me some new ideas! Don't forget to take advantage of join offer that gives you the opportunity to get our new St

Every year I make a card for Jeff for Valentine's Day, but because we have been married so long it is a challenge to be creative, thinking up new ways to write an interesting note to him. I wish the poetic part of my brain was at least slightly interesting. But I know he'll like the design of this one, at least. It's nice and simple. In this card, I'm using the new dies on Basic Beige cardstock, and words from the new stamp set Layered Thoughts. You'll love the stamp set '

Many of us (across the USA) are enjoying one of the biggest crafting weekends of our year, and it has very little to do with new Stampin' Up! releases or classes. This is what we do when we are stuck inside for long periods of time in the snow. Craft! This picture below was after the snow had been falling about 6 hours, but it going to get a LOT worse. The cold even kept Jeff inside this weekend! I hope it's warmer where you are, but Springfield won't get back to 'normal'

I've been cleaning out the google photo drive, and realized I have some fantastic pictures of our old garden in Washington state, that I just can't get rid of. I had forgotten how much work went into keeping that garden beautiful. But wow! The garden views from the benches I had placed in strategic places were amazing. When I landscaped our yard here in Missouri, I tried to stick with shrubbery, and limited the space to just 3 benches. But we have this huge old oak tree i

I think that some of the best memories we've had here in Missouri are the times we've spent at Silver Dollar City. It's best NOT to have those memories in the rain, but even that can't really ruin it too much. Long cold winters are easier to get through when I can look back through the years' pictures at the kids' happy faces on some of those rides. Making cards often jogs my memory of times our family has spent together. Boardwalk Fun helps me recall old memories of Di