Stamping Around NH12!

Calling all New England stampers!!  It's almost time for Stamping Around NH and I'd love to see all my stampy friends there!  Happening October 26 & 27 at the beautiful Sise Inn in downtown Portsmouth, NH, we are planning for an amazing weekend of crafty goodness!  It's time for Mom to take a break and re-energize!!

Check out our instructor roster:

• Cindy Lawrence has been a SA instructor several times and each time she gets rave reviews - people just love Cindy and her fabulous classes!! Cindy has most recently become a regional instructor for Copic. We've asked Cindy to put together a very Copic-intensive class - something we get asked for all the time!! Get ready to COLOR!
• Laura Pryor is the owner of Lil' Inker Designs which makes some of the sweetest stamps and has their own line of steel dies that are so fun to use! Laura has such a fun class planned for us incorporating her fabulous line!
• Debbie Carriere comes to us as a Design Team member for My Favorite Things! Our recent customer survey revealed that MFT stamps are some of your absolute favorites!! We agree and so asked Debbie to come share her talent and love of MFT with us!
• Donna Marie Cerece was an instructor at Stamping Around CT a few years ago. She also teaches regularly at a LSS in New England. Her classes are very popular which isn't surprising when you see her amazing talent!! Every single detail has been thought out in Donna Marie's projects, you will be impressed and will definitely learn something! 

There's one more class planned that I'll share about later . . .it's another thing that's been requested by you, our attendees and I know it'll be fabulous!  Of course if you've attended before you know that we always have lots of giveaways and goodies, that's for sure! The chance to hang-out with other crafty women, to meet blog friends, or new friends or come with a group of {old} friends -- it's an event NOT to be missed!

Click over to Stamping Around today and register now - I'd love to see you there!

Stamping Around 2011

We've got another snow storm going on here in New England, perfect weather for some stamping! hee hee!! :)

I'm jumping in with a quick "commercial" . . . .  Kim and I have been hard at work planning the 2011 schedule for Stamping Around AND we recently announced our first 2 locations!!  You can check the Stamping Around website for all the details, but here's a quick run down.

Event 1 - Stamping Around NH 2011 will be March 4 & 5th at Wholly Scrap in N. Hampton, NH.  We had such a great time last year at this event - it's really the best of both worlds!  Tons of fun stamping with great teachers and lots of fun people, and shopping at "the seacoast's premier scrapbook store!"

Our teacher line-up is Cindy Lawrence, Erika Martin, Jodi Collins, Julie Masse (that's me!) and Melissa Bickford - how's that for fun?!?  Just a few of the sponsors (we'll be announcing them all on our website in the coming weeks) are Wholly Scrap of course, The Cat's Pajamas, and Taylored Expressions!

Event 2 - Stamping Around OHIO will be June 17 & 18 at Toyrifix in Smithville, Ohio.  The ever fabulous Tammy Hershberger, who taught a great class for us at Stamping Around PA in 2009 has been after us to come to Ohio ever since then!  We took a look and thought it would make a great location so Ohio, here we come!  Tammy manages a great stamp store located inside Toyrifix (take a look here at the stamp section, and here at the Toyrifix blog).  They carry TONS of your favorite brands of stamps - many of which will be sponsoring classes at our event!

The teacher line-up for Ohio is Christina Fischer, Barbara Anders, Tammy Hershberger, Julie Masse (yep, me again!) and Maria Colosimo.  The class sponsors include My Favorite Things, Flourishes, The Cat's Pajamas, Kitchen Sink Stamps and Hero Arts. WOWEEEEEE, right?!   We also have been working on a special little "event inside the event" that we're almost ready to reveal so hold on  . . . detail coming SOON and you won't want to miss this!!!

There you have it friends!!  I hope we're coming someplace close to YOU - I'd love to meet you!!  Again, more details can be found at Stamping Around or by clicking above on the locations.  Sign up now - space is limited!

Stamping Around News

Phew! It's been pretty busy on the 'ole blog so I haven't gotten a chance to let you in on a few happening over at Stamping Around.

First, we've announced our first weekend of the year.  Stamping Around New Hampshire will take place April 16 & 17th at Wholly Scrap, a fabulous local scrapbook store in N. Hampton, NH.  We changed up a few things time, mostly due to the location, and have added some extra fun things to the schedule!  We have 5 amazing teachers, Julia Aston, Donna Marie Cecere, Monika Davis, Cindy Lawrence and Lauren Meader who each bring their abundant talents and fresh, beautiful products to work with!  Head over to our website to download the brochure and read more about it - you will NOT want to miss this amazing event!  Register early to secure your spot!

Second, I finally found a moment to make a card for our new challenge at Stamping Around.  For the whole month of March the challenges are being sponsored and brought to us by Waltzingmouse Stamps!  I'm so excited to be working with Claire and her team of crafty mice (aka her wonderful design team!).  The first challenge, which is going on right now, is from the super amazing Bonnie Sharp and it's a color challenge.  If you'd like to play along, please head over to THIS POST and leave a link to your card using Bonnie's pretty color palette.  You have until Sunday night 3/14 and there will be a prize for one lucky winner - a Waltzingmouse prize!

So even though I can't win (booo hooo!), I still wanted to play along.  Sadly, the only WMS stamps I have right now (until my order arrives) are Christmas stamps.  So I found this cute little stamp in an old Unity KOTM set (I think it was Feb '09).  I also combined this with the CAS challenge on SCS today - to use 2 different shapes on a CAS card (that's Clean And Simple if you didn't know).  It's pretty basic, but that's pretty much my style these days! LOL!  And have you noticed I've been rounding corners all over the place these days? Not sure why that is, but I sure do love the curves! hee hee!

Thanks for hanging in through my link-filled, chatty post!  I appreciate your visits so much and hope you will join us for some fun over at Stamping Around - whether it's in person at Stamping Around NH or in spirit by participating in our Waltzingmouse Stamps color challenge!! Have a great day!

Cardstock: Kraft, White, Lemon Tart (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: Papertrey Ink, Stamps: Unity KOTM, sentiment from Tiny Treats Valentine (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Berry Sorbet, Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink), Accessories: Nestabilities, water pen, rhinestones (Kaiser), paper piercer, corner rounder punch, foam adhesive

New Stamping Around Challenge

Hello my friends!  We have a new Inspiration Challenge posted on the Stamping Around website.  I'd love for you to head over there and play along!  There's even a nice prize for one random winner!

Here's a peek at my card . . .go take a look and thanks so much for visiting!!

Stamping Around Challenge Take 2

You might remember that over at Stamping Around we are currently enjoying a month of challenges sponsored by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.  It's time for our second challenge from SNSS dt member Lorie Souther and it's something I'm sure we can all do - make a card using a snowman!! Even if you don't have a snowman stamp it'd be super easy to make one with circle punches or Nesties - just be creative!!  You have until Tues, January 12 to send us a link to your creation (add the link in the comments section of this post) and we'll randomly choose a name to win the not-yet-released Sweet 'n Sassy set, Love You This Much!  FUN!!

For my card I played along with CAS46 challenge on SCS - it was a sketch from a great card by Lori Tecler.  The snowman stamp is called Nestfull of Love and is from Paper Pretties.  It's such a sweet image and lots of fun to color - not your run-of-the mill snowman! :)   I colored the image with Copic markers, added a bit of Distress Stickles to the trees, and some chunky glitter to the snow (which is difficult to see but it's there!).

Now it's your turn - show us your snowmen and don't forget to leave us a link at Stamping Around!! I'd love for you to win!  Have a Happy and Safe New Year's Eve my friends! I'm looking forward to sharing another fun and creative year with you!

Cardstock:  Green (Bazzill), Ivory (Gina K Designs), Patterned Paper:  Jolly By Golly (Cosmo Cricket), Stamps:  Nestfull of Love (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories:  Copic Markers, Nestabilities, Distress Stickles (Ranger), Glitter (Martha Stewart), Snowflake (??)

New Challenge at Stamping Around

I'm popping in to let you know about a brand new feature we have at Stamping Around!  Check out the website for all the details about our new monthly sponsor challenges.  Each month we will have 2 challenge sponsored by some great companies - this month it's Sweet 'n Sassy!!  I'm working on my project for the challenge and hope to share that soon but in the meantime head over, get the details and show us what you've got - there are PRIZES involved!! :)

Updates

I just wanted to pop in with a few updates!  First, I'm off tomorrow to attend Stamping Around PA and I'm so excited!! We have so many wonderful people coming, the teachers are amazing, we have wonderful Sponsors and I know we'll have tons of fun!  If you're interested, we'll try and post pics at some point - either on our website, or our Stamping Around Facebook page.

Then I just thought I'd post a more recent picture of Owen. He'll be 4 weeks old tomorrow - amazing!! Can someone please tell me how to stop time, it's going waaaaaaay to fast!  I love this picture of big sister Emma holding him, she just loves holding him upright like this.

I'm sorry I've been more sporadic with posting lately . . . creative time is a bit more scarce these days but I do appreciate your visits so much and hope that you'll keep coming - I promise I'll get better at posting soon! :)  Have a great weekend!

WCMD

Tomorrow is World Card Making Day - which I'm sure you know about since it's everywhere!! What a fun time to clear your calendar and devote some time to card-making . . . and hey, here's an idea, card sending!! I'm soooo bad about that, but I think I'll try extra hard tomorrow to not only make my cards but send them to some people who need encouragement or thanks!

It'd even be a great time to spend with the family - my children love to make cards!! In fact, today is hubby's b-day and that's what they all did this morning, make him a card! It was so cute to see my 7 yr old helping the 2 yr old make a card for Daddy - complete with Daddy's favorite animal, a deer! Daddy's so blessed that every year either on his birthday or very near it is the opening of the regular bowhunting season - how's that for a present?! :)

So, back to WCMD. I just wanted to pop in and say that I'll have links to a couple challenges for you tomorrow! First, Paper Pretties will be posting 3 challenges for you on The Paper Clip. 1 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon and 1 in the evening. You can pick 1 to do (or all 3 if you like). On the 5th at 11:00 pm we'll draw a winner from the entry's in the Paper Pretties Challenge Gallery (please use keyword WCMD when you upload your card) to receive a Season of Joy stamp set - one of our new releases. You can use any products you like the but main image must be one from Paper Pretties. The winner will be posted on The Paper Clip on the 6th!

Also, don't forget that ALL day on the 3rd you can get 15% off your entire order - even clearance merch! Just enter the coupon code wcmd (case sensitive, no spaces) when you check out!

Second, Stamping Around is hosting a challenge on the Paper Craft Planet site. Just head over to our Stamping Around Group - join up if you're not a member, it's free!! - and play along with the challenge that Kim will post! You could win a fun prize package for your participation - there's stamps, embellies, rub-ons - oh just a bunch of fun card making supplies! :) If you haven't already, check out our website for details on our upcoming Stamping Around PA - we are so excited about the great things happening at this event- brand new things!!

See you tomorrow!! :)

New Kitchen Sink Stamps Project of the Month

Good morning my friends! I'm excited to share my KSS Project of the Month with you today - on Kitchen Sink Stamps Monday! This was also my class project at Stamping Around Vermont and I had so much fun putting it all together.

First, if you remember I had a POM in July - these fun berry blocks. The next week I designed a clear Box for My Blocks and to use for gift giving. I thought the box could be used for so many different things so I tweaked it a bit and came up with this project. Inside the box this time is a class votive holder with a white votive and 2 pumpkin tarts that I found in Ugly Duckling Designs' Etsy Shop. Let me just say too that the owner was awesome to work with! She made and mailed me 80 tarts within about 2-3 days of contacting her! And they smell so yummy!!

Ok, so here's how I made my box. Please click on the collage picture to enlarge the images.

(Note: this box will not hold the 2" blocks that I used for my July project - you would have to change the score lines slightly in order to accomodate the blocks)

• 
• Supplies: Clear Cardstock: 7" x 11", Patterned Paper: 12" x 2" (cut 1), 6" x 2" (cut 2), White Cardstock: 1 1/2" x 11" (cut 2 pieces), Ribbon: 12" (cut 2 pieces)
  Brads (2)
• I used Clear Cardstock from Papertrey Ink and cut it to 7" x 11". (For the first few steps I used white cardstock since it was easier to photograph).
• You then score the cardstock 2 1/2" from each edge on all 4 sides. I found that it was easiest to fold all the score marks before you do any cutting. See Image 1
  
• Using the template as a guide, cut on all the solid lines. (the dashed lines are scored but you should have already done this. See Image 2
  
• Fold your box, adding red-line tape or Scor-tape on the diagnonal line of the flap which goes inside the box. See Images 3 & 4
  
• I used a piece of patterned paper cut 2" x 12" and simple centered it over my box, folding at each corner (this is much easier than trying to get precise measurements and scoring the pp). See Images 5 & 6
• Cut another piece of patterned paper 2" x 6" and adhere. See Image 7
• I punched a hole with my Crop-A-Dile on each end of the box, put a piece of ribbon through each hole and added a brad to hold the ribbon together. See Image 8
• I cut 2 pieces of white cardstock 1 1/2" x 11" for the stamped bands around the box and after stamping them, adhered them the same way as the patterned paper.
  

Ok, now for the stamping. First of all, I used a brand new KSS set - it has not even been released yet!! Isn't that fun that our Stamping Around VT attendees got to play with unreleased stamps?! :) This set will be released (along with 4 other sets) on Friday, September 25. Stop back later in the week for more details about the release! Here are the colors we used along with the order they were stamped: (NOTE: the images were stamped "out of order" e.g., stamp using Step 3 first, then Step 2, etc. By doing this, it seems to be a bit easier to line up each step. ) Oh, and you can see that I did a bit of masking my pumpkins . . .

Pumpkins: All inks are Memento

Step 3 - Tangelo
Step 2 - Tangelo (stamped off 1x)
Step 1 - Cantelope
Step 4 - Potters Clay (stamped off 1x - do this twice)
Step 5 - Potters Clay

Stems:
Step 2 - Bamboo Leaves
Step 1 - Desert Sand (stamp 2x)

Vines:
Step 3 - Olympia Green (stamped off 1x)
Step 2 - Bamboo Leaves
Step 1 - Bamboo Leaves (stamped off 1x)
Step 4 - Olympia Green

Sentiment:
Rich Cocoa

Phew . . . are you still with me?? There are quite a few steps here, but it actually goes together pretty quickly. Wouldn't this box be cute with cupcakes or whoopie pies or cookies in there? Or for Christmas ornaments? How about some cute little stamping supplies, brads, ribbons, fun embellies and little stamps - love it!! I'd love to see what you make with it so send me a pic or link!! Thanks for sticking with the long post - have a wonderful Monday!! Oh, and don't forget to visit the rest of the KSS Crew today!! :)

Maria, Dee, Lynn, Lori, Angela, Makiko, Connie, Lisa

TGI[Bella]Friday!

Good morning - it's a Bellarific Friday too! :) It's been a while since I had a chance to play along. Ever since Joanne's class at Stamping Around Vermont last weekend, I've had the urge to play with my Huggabugs - seriously, they are just so cute and I loved the sweet Appley Bowl huggabug we used for the class! I don't have her yet though, so I pulled out Cupcake with a Huggabug on Top and some fun new paper from Bo Bunny. The sketch this week was a great, basic sketch that I can see being useful time and time again!

I just love the colors on this card - so soft and pretty with a touch of Kraft! hee hee! I used some glitter to accent the cupcake and of course some bling for the end of the curlies (they're antennae, right?). The corner is embellished with some Bella glittery dots that we got in our cruise goodie bag!

That's all for now . . . I'm hoping to have some stamping time today since I worked hard yesterday!! Hubby was home for the morning so we dug all the baby clothes and gear out of the attic and started getting ready for our new bundle of joy - coming in just 3 weeks now!! WOW! So much to do, but it feels good (and smells good too!) to have some clothes and blankets washed! Have a great day!

Cardstock: Kraft, Sweet Blush (Papertrey Ink), White (Gina K Designs), Patterned Paper: Kitchen Spice Nutmeg (Bo Bunny), Stamps: Cupcake with a Huggabugg on top, Happy Birthday (Stamping Bella), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Copic markers, Nestabilities, Foam adhesive, Bella Dots Glittery Sky (Stamping Bella), Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Glitter (Martha Stewart)

Weekend Recap

I thought you might be interested in seeing a few pictures of our fun Stamping Around weekend in Vermont! Kim did a fabulous wrap-up on the Stamping Around website, so check that out or me pics but here are a few of mine.

Welcome to Stamping Around Vermont! By the end of the day the sides of the sign had started to relax - lol!

This is the teacher's table (this was when Cindy was teaching her class sponsored by Our Craft Lounge and eclectic Paperie - cardstock was provided by Gina K Designs)

Jenn Shurkus taught a wonderful class sponsored by AMuse!

Our stampers are hard at work.

Our first class Friday night was so much fun! Erika Martin had us complete an 8x8 canvas board using paint and patterned paper scraps! Each person's came out so unique and beautiful! See the Stamping Around site for a picture of several of them lined up together. My canvas turned out very bright and colorful as I used lots of fun scraps from October Afternoon.

The first class on Saturday morning was taught by Joanne Basile and sponsored by Stamping Bella (patterned paper provided by eclectic Paperie, cardstock by Gina K Designs and die cut box by Jody Morrow). Seriously, how cute are those cards??!!

The second class was taught by Cindy Lawrence and sponsored by Our Craft Lounge (again, patterned paper was from eclectic Paperie and cardstock from Gina K Designs). Cindy made these adorable, uniquely-sized cards with a wonderful box to put them in an envelopes with patterned paper flaps! We had lots of great coloring therapy with these first two classes! :)

Next up, Jenn Shurkus and her wonderful AMuse halloween cards - 5 in all! Yes, 5!! Jenn was ultra organized and the nice, clean style of AMuse made them quick and fun to complete!

Finally, it was my turn! It had been a long, busy day of stamping but we needed to complete this cute, clear box filled with wax pumpkin tarts and a votive candle. My class was sponsored by Kitchen Sink Stamps and we used a brand new set that will be released on September 25 (how fun that we got a sneak peek!!). This project will also be my Project of the Month for KSS so watch my blog for complete details and instructions next week!

I hope you've enjoyed the quick review and pics . . . if are anywhere close to Allentown, PA check out the details or our next event, Stamping Around Philly, taking place Nov. 6 & 7!

Registration for Stamping Around Philly OPEN!

I'm thrilled to let you know that Stamping Around Philly Registrations are OPEN!!

We're so excited to tell you about the amazing location we've secured for our Stamping Around PA event! A beautiful little inn, just an hour's drive from Philadelphia and the airport, in Fogelsville, PA. Our event will be held on November 6-7, 2009...just in time to get those creative juices working for holiday projects!

Visit Stamping Around to get all the details on this fabulous event! We've had a lot of interest for this location so register soon!! :)

Stamping Around CT!

Be sure to see my post immediately below this one for a NEW Kitchen Sink Stamps Project of the Month (which was also my project at Stamping Around CT!)

Just wanted to pop in and share a few pics from SA CT!! We had the best time with our group of fabulous stampers at the Centennial Inn in Farmington! The weather was gorgeous and ALL of the projects for the weekend were top notch!

Here's a picture of the teachers for the weekend: Debbie Corbari, Donna Marie Cecere, Kim Schofield, me (and yes, in case you were wondering, I am pregnant again!), Julia Aston. Each teacher's project was unique and fun!! Check out pictures of all the projects on our NEW Stamping Around website! We all had such a great time stamping and crafting the day away!

And here is a group shot of all the attendees - such a FUN group of ladies!! :)

We had the BEST sponsors for this event and most of them are sponsors for all of our upcoming events! We are so appreciative of their generous support! Each class was sponsored, mine by Kitchen Sink Stamps, Julia's by Papertrey Ink, Debbie's by eclectic Paperie (who is also Stamping Around's Official Supplier!) and Our Craft Lounge, Donna Marie's by Wholly Scraps and Kim's by Unity Stamps.

Thank you all, supporters, attendees and teachers for making our event such a smashing success!! If you'd like to join us for some stamping fun, please check out the website for details on upcoming events - VT in September and Philly area in November!

We're Off!

Well today is the day - Stamping Around CT begins this afternoon so I'm off to stamp the weekend away with many friends old & new!! :) I'll be back with lots of pictures and beautiful projects next week. Sorry I don't have anything pretty for you today but I ran out of time!! :)

Have a great weekend everyone - I know I will!

Prettie Pet Wednesday

Happy Prettie Wednesday!! This week we are showing the cards from my challenge - I challenged the Prettie Girls to do my daughter Emma's challenge, to make a card with an animal on it.

This week was easy for me because, if you remember, last week I did the wrong challenge! So my card has been made for a week - woo hoo!! :)

I used the cute little dog from Rainy Day Friends from Paper Pretties and even though she's a bit bigger than this I colored her like our Golden Retriever, Ruby. The colors for the card were taken from last week's color challenge on SCS. I stamped the clouds using Fresh Snow (PTI) ink and the rain with Baja Breeze. I think I like the color combo - it's different!

Take a few minutes to visit the other
and see what kind of wild animal cards they've come up with!

Have you been checking out the Stamping Around site lately?! We've been spotlighting the teacher for Stamping Around Connecticut - I cannot wait to see them!! Hope you're signed up and ready to stamp!! :) And if you interested in Vermont - registration is open for that as well! If you live in New England you know Vermont is THE place to be in the Fall so I know the Inn will fill up fast! Don't miss out - we'll start spotlighting the teachers for VT next week - prepare to be AMazed!! :) Have a great day!

Believe

Good morning!! I have a quick and fun card today to share. Remember I shared my Peter Pan card a couple of weeks ago from The Greeting Farm? Well, here is Wendy. The Greeting Farm's blog put out a challenge to create a no layer card so I played along. These images are so much fun to color - great practice with the Copics (and I need lots more!). The set is called Never Ever.

I've been noticing lots of purple in my blurfing this week so when I sat down to color purple was the first color I reached for! I added a scored box 1/4" from the edge all around the card - except where Wendy was in the way. After coloring Wendy, I stamped the book again on a separate piece of paper, cut it out and popped it up with foam adhesive. I added some glossy accents to Wendy's glasses and her "patent leather" shoes (if you click on the close-up picture you can get a better look at the shine!). Finally, I added some purple Swarovski crystals to the corners. I think I like no layers- it's simple but clean.

Lots of fun going on around here! I hope you've checked out the (temporary) Stamping Around blog and seen the information about Stamping Around Connecticut and Stamping Around Vermont!!! Registration for CT must be in by June 23 so don't miss out - I'd love to meet you there! :) We've been so encouraged by the support of many friends and leading companies in the industry - stampers really are the BEST! Tune in tomorrow for a fun little suprise! :)

Cardstock: White (Gina K Designs), Stamps: Never Ever (The Greeting Farm), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Dimensionals, Scor-Pal, Copic Markers, Crystal Effects, Swarovski crystals