Happy Birthday, Sport!

Running late, as usual.  Ha, I said "running".  Using Mojo Monday #386, I made a quickie birthday card for my niece, who is in her first year at the University of Buffalo and on the cross-country & track team.  I guess it runs in the family.  :)  Although she is way faster than me!

Stamps: Simply Sports; Paper: Night of Navy, Very Vanilla; Ink: Night of Navy; Accessories: Night of Navy striped grosgrain ribbon, 1-3/4" Circle punch, Bitty Banner framelits, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

Tuesday News

Here's a look at the new Sale-a-bration item Sheer Perfection Printed Vellum.

Check out these neat samples!

Need some packaging that you can quickly embellish?  Check out this week's Weekly Deals.

A Little Sumthin’ Sumthin’ Gift Box Kit Price: $13.95 $10.46	Decorative Window Gift Box Price: $4.95 $3.71	Extra Large Gift Boxes Price: $3.95 $2.96	Gusseted Cellophane Bags Price: $4.50 $3.38
Lucky You Ensemble - Digital Download Price: $7.95 $4.77	Natural Filter Paper Price: $2.95 $2.21	Polka Dot Tag A Bag Gift Bags Price: $3.95 $2.96	Sweet Treat Embellishment Cups Price: $2.95 $2.21

MDSM103 Road Less Traveled

Yapha is host for this week's MDS Monday, and her sketch has us focusing on our photo block.

I would love to have the Adventure Awaits stamp set from the Occasions catalog in download form, but alas, it is not available.  I had to create my own text box overlay.  I filled in the background with some subtle stuff to keep the focus on the photos.

This page is a collection of sights seen on daily bike rides when my daughter started up school full-time.

Here's this week's sketch.

MDS Elements: Madison Avenue, This And That Make Note, File It Fun - label 2, Game Day - splatter 2, Natural Composition Overlays, Glimmer DSP - red; Font: KG Eyes Wide Open, The Skinny Bold.

The Stamp Review Crew: Sheltering Tree

Welcome to another Stamp Crew Review Blog Hop!  We share our take on a selected stamp set every first and third Monday.  This time we are hopping along with a popular set from the Occasions catalog, Sheltering Tree.  If you are hopping around in a circle, you have just come from Nancy Smith's blog.  She always has such fun projects!

Focusing on the bike image, I came up with this card.

I created a stencil with a window sheet on my e-cutter and sponged the background.  I may have gotten a little carried away with the splattering.

Stamps: Sheltering Tree; Paper: Whisper White, Stacked with Love DSP; Ink: Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar, Basic Gray, Memento Tuxedo Black; Accessories: Basic Black baker's twine, Window sheet, Aquapainter, Sponges, e-cutter.

Now make sure you check out the next stop to see what beauties Yapha Mason has put together for us with this week's stamp set. 

 

In case you missed it, here's a card I made in the past with Sheltering Tree.

New Sale-A-Bration Product!

There's exciting news!  Starting today, Stampin' Up! has released NEW Sale-a-bration product, available March 1 - 31.  How fun it is to earn new FREE goodies for the last month of Sale-a-bration.  For each $50 you spend, you can choose a free Sale-a-bration item, including one of these!  New accessories and printed vellum -- NEED!

(Click to see new SAB products brochure)

Here's a quick glance at the NEW Sale-a-bration product you can earn March 1 - 31:

For Being You In Color Accessory Pack Nature's Perfection Sheer Perfection Printed Vellum

Here's the rest of the Sale-a-bration offerings:

(Click to view PDF)

Make sure you grab yours before they are gone!

FM199 Faux Patina

Tara has a challenge for us this week, using the embossed embossing technique, on the Friday Mashup.

I took the technique a little bit further, using acrylic distress and sponge distress, to create a really vintage-looking background piece.  By adding various colors to age the piece, and then adding gold embossing, it gives a faux patina look.

Here you can see the nice gold embossing on the raised areas.

This week's Mashup Challenge:

• Create a project with an "Antique Style, element or theme".
• Create a project using the "Embossed Embossing technique" (tutorial) .
• or Mash it Up! and create an "Antique project using the Embossed Embossing Technique".

Stamps: Feeling Sentimental, Dude, You're Welcome; Paper: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Thoroughly Modern DSP; Ink: Pool Party, Soft Suede, Versamark, Bermuda Bay reinker; Accessories: Gold embossing powder, 2-1/2 Circle punch, Sanding block, Sponges, Circle Scissors Plus, Vintage Wallpaper EF, Square Lattice EF, Big Shot, White acrylic paint, Dimensionals.

Introducing Paper Pumpkin Club & Giveaway

Stampin' Up has been coming out with some great stamps in the Paper Pumpkin kits lately.  Have you seen the ikat-styled stamps in February's kit?  I can't wait to play with those!  But, before that, I wanted to play along with the My Pumpkin Challenge.  This month's challenge is Love is in the Air.

This box isn't necessarily for Valentine's.  Who doesn't love a cute, tiny box filled with chocolates anytime?  I took Poodles triangular box and altered the dimensions to make it a little smaller.

And I've got news!  I'm starting a Paper Pumpkin Club.  Keep reading for all the details...

What is Paper Pumpkin? It is a monthly kit subscription with a fun surprise in the mail every month! $14.95 plus $5 shipping gets you a cute project, stamps, ink, embellishments, and instructions. You only need to add adhesive.

These kits are just as fun for experienced stampers, but are absolutely perfect for new and young stampers! If you don't have a lot of supplies, this is a great way to start.

What are the benefits of a Paper Pumpkin subscription?

• Monthly fun in a box! No designing or measuring; just a fun project ready to go. Instant satisfaction... like video games for the crafting world.
• Exclusive stamps you can only get by being a subscriber.
• Through March 31, save $5 and earn a free Sale-a-Bration item with a 3-month prepaid subscription (see prepaid subscription table below). 
• A subscriber also has the opportunity to purchase offered past kits.

Item	Paper Pumpkin Prepaid Subscription	Price (Shipping Included)
137858	1 month	$19.95
137859	3 months	$59.85 $54.85 (through March 31)
137860	6 months	$113.70 -- save $1 per month
137861	12 months	$215.40 -- save $2 per month

You will receive a subscription code which you will redeem at www.mypaperpumpkin.com.

What is Paper Pumpkin Club? For all my Paper Pumpkin subscribers, I will provide additional perks and resources: 

• An additional project PDF, including color photos and directions, using current or past Paper Pumpkin supplies, to help make your investment go further.
• After you've been with us a couple months, I'll send you a stamp case like the one shown above, to help you organize your Paper Pumpkin stamp collection. 
• Additional Paper Pumpkin ideas, like this organizing solution, which keeps all your stamps easily visible and accessible once your collection starts to grow.
• If you are local, come over for girls' night out while assembling your Paper Pumpkin kits. The kick-off event is Thursday, March 5 at 6:30pm.  Thereafter, we will meet the last Thursday of each month.  Please contact me for more information.  
• Not a Paper Pumpkin subscriber yet? No problem! Come over to try a Paper Pumpkin kit and additional project for a small $5 class fee. 
• And a GIVEAWAY!!  I have one past Paper Pumpkin kit waiting to be sent out to a random winner who either signs up for a subscription or purchases any prepaid subscription through me through March 31, 2015.