Christmas page

This is the page spread we will be making in my scrapbook club next week. I really like the filmstrip look I have seen others create with the spiral punch so I incorporated that on the page. I take so many photos at Christmas from far away so I end up with pictures that aren't that interesting. When you crop them close like this I think they have more impact.

Supplies:
Stamps: Big Pieces, Snow flurries, Headline Alphabet
Ink: Old Olive, Real Red Craft ink
Paper: Dashing designer paper, Old Olive, Real Red, River Rock
Other: Circle scallop punch, 1 3/8 circle punch, 1 1/4 circle punch, 3/4 circle punch, spiral punch

Blog Candy celebration

To celebrate the milestone of 10,000 visitors to my site I am giving away some blog candy! Included is a Delight in Life Stamp set, white magic mesh, orange and pink circle stickers, 3 pieces of printed chipboard from We R Memory Keepers, Scrapbookworks Tailored tabs, and some silk flowers. The last time I gave away blog candy I gave a separate one to customers and blog visitors. This time anyone can enter this one! In order to qualify for a chance to win this blog candy just leave me a comment about what your favorite Stampin' Up! product is. I'm such a Stampin' Up! gal, this will be fun for me to hear. All comments need to be received by 5 p.m. on Sunday, Dec.2. It's my husband's birthday that day. Woohoo! I will randomly draw a winner Monday morning. Good luck!

Blog candy is coming

It looks like I reached 10,000 hits on my blog counter when I wasn't looking! It's time to celebrate! I'll be posting blog candy in a bit. I need to get some together. Check back soon for your chance to win some!

Sam's Interview

A few years back I started interviewing my kids about their favorite colors, foods, sports, etc. I also ask them what they want to be when they grow up. My goal is to do this each year until they grow up and scrap a page about it. This is Sam's interview from last year. The page is definitely out of my comfort zone. I wanted to try something different so I kind of did a patchwork look with combining different shapes and patterns to cover the page. I'm pleased with how it turned out!

Recipe:
Stamps: Well Worn Alphabet, best friend alphabet, headline numbers
Ink: Chocolate Chip craft
Paper: Various patterned paper I had on hand, photo matted in Ballet Blue.

Wrapping Up the Holidays Special

Stampin' Up! is running a special right now called Wrapping Up the Holidays. From November 23-December 15, 2007, you can give your holiday gift giving a Stampin' Up! touch with our special offers.

Details:

* This offer includes a variety of products designed to help simplify preparation for holiday gift giving with a number of timely offers. These are:











Item Number Description Price
112409 Holiday Tag Bundle $4.95
110380 Tags for All Stamp Set* (20% off) $24.76
110264 Designer Gift cards* (30% off) $4.55
109862 Chocolate Chip satin ribbon* Buy 1, get 1 free!
109863 Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon* Buy 1, get 1 free!
108333 Tin 3-Pack $9.95
110147 Celebration wrapping paper* $17.95
110228 Hand Selected Accents & Elements (25% off) $8.21

*This item is from the current Holiday Mini Collection. Only this and other items indicated will be extended through the campaign period while supplies last. All other Holiday Mini items will be available until November 30.

* There is no limit to the number of items you may purchase, but Holiday Mini items are available only while supplies last.
* The Holiday Tag Bundle includes 15 of each of the following pieces:

-Whisper White card stock
-Real Red textured card stock
-Soft Sky Prints Designer Series Paper (Dotted Diamond pattern)
-Real Red twill tape

The pieces for this bundle make 15 cellophane bag toppers that are perfect for neighbor or teacher gifts. These pieces are from the Holiday Glitz card kit and will come shrink-wrapped individually (for example, all 15 pieces of Real Red twill tape will be shrink-wrapped as one package).

The satin ribbon offer (buy one, get one free) is good on both the Purely Pomegranate and Chocolate Chip ribbon. You may select any combination of ribbon for their free ribbon. For example, you can buy one Chocolate Chip and choose a second Chocolate Chip or a Purely Pomegranate ribbon for the free ribbon.

* The Tin 3-Pack contains three empty Accents & Elements tins. These tins have never been available for purchase separately.

Click here to see a full color flyer regarding the promotion.

Check out these wonderful ideas and recipes on fun projects and gift packaging you can make with this special: project ideas and recipes

Birthday card

My nephew's birthday party is today so I needed a card. This has become my go to stamp set for birthdays. I love the big cupcake!

My shopping experience was great on Friday. My daughter and I shopped from 6:30 in the morning to 2:30 in the afternoon. We got everything except one thing that we set out to find! Whoohoo! I figured out why my daughter likes to go out shopping with me on the day after Thanksgiving. I layed out all of the clothes we bought for her and even she was surprised. I told her to pick a few things for now but the rest will be for Christmas.

I finished up the day scrapbooking with some friends at Archivers Friday night. I can't believe I had enough energy left to scrap but I did!

Have a great Sunday!

Happy Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving morning in Minnesota and there is snow on the ground. This card is pretty fitting then. I created it for Gabby's challenge. The challenge was to use her sketch, make a winter themed card using baby blue and brown.

Recipe:
Stamps: It's Snow Time, Let it Snow jumbo wheel
Paper: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, patterned paper is from the Cutie Pie paper pack.
Ink: Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Craft white
Other: I used a combination of watercolor crayons and markers to color in the imgages. 1 1/4 circle punch, 1 3/8 circle punch, circle scallop punch, stampin' dimensionals, bashful blue taffeta ribbon, hodgepodge hardware, paper crimper

I hope your Thanksgiving is wonderful. We are staying in town and driving just down the road to my brother-in-law's house and then finishing up the day with some friends. Tomorrow morning I will battling other shoppers for the deals. Call me crazy but I love a good bargain!

A Good Thing

This card is a variation of a card posted on the Stampin' Up! demonstrator website. The base is Kraft cardstock. I stamped the outline flower in versamark. The big flower is stamped in basic black ink on Ruby Red cardstock and cut out. I punched holes with the 1/8 circle punch and punched out the middle with the 3/4 circle punch. I stamped the flower again on Apricot Appeal. I punched that out with the circle scallop punch and lined it up so that the holes lined up with the punched out holes. I then stamped the flower one more time on Apricot Appeal and punched the middle out with the 1/2 circle punch. I then placed that on the build-a-brad and layered that in the middle. The build-a-brads are a lot of fun! You can place any 1/2 punched out piece inside and then layer the clear dome over it. All stamped images are from the Time Well Spent stamp set. The old olive cardstock is scalloped with the slit punch.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow US readers!

Encouraging Blogger

Alexandra nominated me for the Encouraging Blogger award. Alexandra has been so very encouraging to me in this whole blogging experience so right back at ya' Alex! I am supposed to nominate 5 others who have been encouraging to me.

1) I'll start with my downline and friend, Kristina. I probably wouldn't have started blogging if not for her. She started a blog before me and figured everything out. Then she help me set mine up in no time flat!
2) Rose Ann has been so faithful and encouraging to me. She visits my blog often and leaves such sweet comments. She is so very talented. Go check her out!
3) Corie! She is such a sweetheart and a talented stamper too. I don't know how she found me but I'm so very glad she did.
4)Theresa stops into my blog on a fairly regular basis. I love seeing her smiling face on her nice comments. Stop in on her blog and say hi. Check out her assembly line of Christmas cards. She can really crank them out!
5) You all are my inspiration and encouragement for doing this. If you visit my blog but don't leave a comment I encourage you to. You're the reason that I do this. Sometimes I question the time and effort that goes into this. The only way I know you have been here is if you leave a comment. Give me a shout out!

Free new stamp set!

Last week Shelli, our CEO from Stampin' Up!, sent all demonstrators a free new stamp set called Time Well Spent. It's a Level 3 hostess stamp set that will be in the new Spring/Summer Stampin' Up! catalogue. Stampin' Up! is very good to us demos! I had a chance to play with this set a little bit yesterday. I colored in with an aquapainter and inks on the heart one and blender pen and inks on the flower one. I have seen some samples with straight markers. I'm going to try that next. This set is bold to enough to handle bold color.

Girly Girl box

As long as I'm dabbling on the dark side I thought I might as well continue on. LOL! Seriously, I have this whole slab of Amy Butler paper I have been waiting to use. This was one of the patterns I liked least in the bunch so I thought it would be a good one to practice this box on. The pattern and instructions come from Lauren Meader. You can check it out on her blog here. This project was so easy. It went together in no time! You should try it out. I used the key tag punch from Stampin' Up! or as I think of it- the dog tag punch. I used a prima flower under the saying and the saying was from a box of embellies I had lying around. I think it is from K & Company.

I find myself with some spare stamping time on my hands. No classes or clubs or parties to prep for in the imminent future. It may just give me a chance to try out some challenges and projects I have been wanting to for awhile. Stay tuned to my blog as I will share all of my efforts with you.

Have a great day!

I've been compromised

Usually I am faithful to my Stampin' Up! stamps. But there is something about these Elzybells that made me want to stray. I mean, who can resist this little cutie pie?!
I didn't actually purchase her(yet!). I borrowed her from a friend to complete an ATC swap for Taylor's swap. I had lots of fun coloring her! I used my Stampin' Up! markers. I colored her hair Really Rust, her dress Certainly Celery, with the holly leaves Old Olive with Ruby Red berries. I highlighted her with So Saffron ink and my blender pen. Then I pulled out my stardust pen to give her a few subtle touches of sparkle. I also borrowed my friends oval punch and scallop oval punch to punch her out. I punched out the sentiment with my small Stampin' Up! oval punch and popped both the sentiment and image up on stampin' dimensionals. I ticket cornered the corners and put some gems I picked up at the dollar tree last year in each corner. The designer paper is by Rusty Pickle and the base is Old Olive cardstock. I tied some retired yellow organdy Stampin' Up! ribbon around the middle and that was that.

I found the tutorial for the ATC holder on Maria's blog. She has so many amazing things going on on her blog. I modified it a bit by adding more length to the holder and scoring an extra few lines in it to account for the bulk of 10 ATC's fitted in there.

Sisterhood of the Blogging Sisters

I just joined a group of bloggers called the Sisterhood of the Blogging Sisters or SBS2. It's a group of fellow bloggers who will support each other, comment on each other's blogs and get to know each other better. Sometimes it gets lonely here in blogland and this sisterhood may be just the ticket!

I am a SAHM(Stamp at home mom), a wife of 17 years, and a Stampin' Up! demonstrator for over 5 years. Stamping is such a big part of my life! I love the joy it brings me and others. My very favorite part of being a demonstrator is teaching others this wonderful art form. I love to see my customer's eyes light up when they learn a new technique or a new stamper's realization that they can do this! My stamp clubs are my favorite demonstrator event because I get to teach more in depth projects than at a party and I get to know a group of ladies over the course of the club. One thing I have come to realize is that stamping is so much more than the end product. It can be a source or entertainment, connection, or stress relief for so many. I have had many of my customers comment that they so needed a night out, a break from reality, or just want to be around other stampers. That really touches me that I can provide that for them. Ok. I'm getting a bit carried away with this but that is how I feel.

I'm really looking forward to getting to know my fellow stamping sisters in SBS2. Thanks for stopping by!

ATC swap

This is an ATC I made for Taylor's swap. She has several categories and this one is for the Stampin' Up! one. These were fun to make! I used the cupcake from the Simply Sent kit, Happy Day. I just LOVE this cupcake! I colored it in with my aquapainter and ink from the lid of my inkpad. I highlighted around the cupcake with Soft Sky ink and a blender pen. I punched out the image with the 1 1/4 circle punch and bordered it with a 1 3/8 circle punch in Rose Red. I then punched out a scallop circle in Chocolate Chip. The patterned paper is Soft Sky in the monochromatic paper pack. The corners have been notched out with the ticket corner punch and I put So Saffron brads from the Rich Regals set in each corner. I wrapped Purely Pomengranate stitched ribbon around the middle. I stamped "eat cake" from the Eat Cake stamp set and punched it out with 3/4 circle punch. I sponged around it and pierced a hole at the top. I then strung it up through the ribbon with the silver cording from the HOliday mini catalogue.

For those of you who don't know what an ATC is it's an Artist Trading Card. It measures 3 1/2 x 2 1/2. You trade them with other artists and keep theirs. It's a way to hold onto a piece of their art.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Friday!

Tags and More Class

This is for my upcoming class, Tags and More. You will be making 15 tags and a matching case out of the Punch Pals stamp set. This makes a great gift but you may want to keep this for yourself! I am offering this class to local customers on Wednesday, Nov.28. If you can't make it or aren't local I am offering this class to go. The cost is $10 plus shipping. If you do the class to go I will hand stamp the items that get stamped. You would color it in and assemble as needed. Color copies of each project will be provided. Contact me at krhopperstad@juno.com for more information.

Have a great Tuesday!

Trick-or-Treat

This is the page my scrapbook club will be doing this month. I used the Creepy Crawly designer paper. I selected my colors from there. The base of the pages is Pumpkin Pie cardstock. I matted the photos on basic black. On the right page I cut a strip of Creepy Crawly designer paper and then a wider strip of Basic Black cardstock. I spiral punched one edge of the Basic Black and then tied a Pumpkin pie grosgrain ribbon around it. That's my favorite part of Stampin' Up! Designer paper - you can color coordinate all of the elements of your page! And better still - All of Stampin' Up! Designer paper packs are on sale this month! Buy three Designer paper packs and get the fourth one for free!!! I'm loving it!

mini scrapbooks

These mini envelope scrapbooks were made out of Stampin' Up!s Simply Scrappin' kits. I used Secret Garden and Winter Brights. I just LOVE these Simply Scrappin' kits! You get so much in a kit and they are adorable!!! The idea for these mini albums came from Jody Morrow at Confessions of a Ribbon Addict.

Have a super Monday!

Holiday trio

This trio of cards was inspired by Cambria at Stamp a Little Love Baby I used the designer paper Holiday Harmony from the Hoiday mini catalogue. This paper will no longer be available after this month so buy it while you can! The color combo in the paper pack is River Rock, Purely Pomengranate, and Always Artichoke so I went with that color combo. I demonstrated this at a party recently but forgot my tab punch to show them how to get a circle punched out of the River Rock cardstock. I had to think on my feet so I changed the design up a bit. It's the card in the middle. The stepped up version is with paper piercing. It's not difficult only it takes just a little bit more time. All versions of the card had the Purely Pomengranate double stitched ribbon tied around the middle. This gives it just the pop it needed!

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great day!

Quick Holiday card

I demonstrated this card at a recent party. I used Old Olive textured cardstock for my base. The texture adds some interest to an otherwise plain card base. Next I added the two strips of Dashing Designer paper. I tied the Real Red ribbon around that. I stamped the words for All Spruced Up on some scratch paper and then punched out with the Word Window punch. I tied that around the ribbon with the stretchy silver cord in the holiday mini catalogue.

The main image I watercolored and paper pieced. See this link for my tutorial on paper piecing: paper piecing
Then I paper pierced the corner and mounted it on stampin' dimensionals. Paper piecing is a great way to use up those designer paper scraps! Done. A quick card for the holidays!

Thankful

I made this place card as a make-n-take at a recent party. I saw some examples on SCS and took my inspiration from there. I like how this came together. The acorn was stamped in the River Rock and the top colored in with a Close to Cocoa marker. I wanted the acorn to be light enough so that you could see the lettering of the name through it. The leaf is stamped in Really Rust. I used my trusty scallop circle punch to frame the acorn at the top and tied some of the yummy chocolate chip taffeta ribbon around it. This ribbon ties so nicely!

I wont be using place cards at my Thanksgiving with my family. There are so many of us it's more a free-for-all then a civilized feast. I am one of 10 children. My mom will gather us in a church hall(because we don't fit well in a house) and we all bring something for the feast. We've done it this way for awhile. We'll bring our spouses and kids so that brings us up to about 40 some people. It's a crowd! The grandkids range in age from 29 to in utero! There are even 3 great grandchildren now.

Some of you with a smaller crowd may sit down to a more civilized dinner. For those of you, the place cards may work well for you.

What is your Thanksgiving like? I'd love to hear how you celebrate! Leave me a comment and let me know.

Vendor Fair projects

I did a vendor fair today that was a fundraiser for a local Wrestling program. Each vendor gave a percentage of the profit to the Wrestling program. These are some of the items I made for the fair. The frames are covered with Stampin' Up Designer paper and embellished. These were a fun project. The Bunko tins are made from a lunchbox tin by provocraft. I covered them with Stampin' Up! Designer paper and ribbon. I stamped the chipboard "b" in craft ink and then embossed it in irridescent ice embossing powder to give it that sparkle. I didn't sell either of these items at the craft fair but I sold other things. I sold individual cards, sets of holiday cards, Christmas planners, Christmas tags, tooth fairy tins, snowflake ornament frames, and some used stamp sets.
It was a beautiful day in Minnesota so we didn't get as much traffic as we were hoping for. Too many people were out enjoying one of the last really nice days until Winter hits.

Coaster Calendars

I saw these coaster calendars on Jantink's blog and knew I had to try them. They were so much fun to make but time consuming! The first one I made I pretty much CASE'd JanTink's design. Then I created my own. I'm going to be selling these at an upcoming craft fair. I was thinking about offering a class on these. Customers, let me know if you want me to offer a class.