What is Red and Black and White All Over?

This year I decided to make my mom and my sister rag bags for Christmas.  It was a rather last minute decision, but I thought rather than going out and buying a gift bag for their gifts, why not pull out the big shot and make something they can keep and use throughout the year. 

 

My sister, Laurie LOVES red and black.  She likes bright, bold and flashy. I knew when I started looking at material for her, I wanted the reddest red that I could find. After finding that red it was on to get some black material.  The black was...well boring.  I just didn't think that plain ol' black suited her. Then I found this BOLD black and white floral fabric. I was a little scared of it.  I am a pink girl w/ a love for polka dots and daisies, this was definitely outside my comfort zone.   Here's how Laurie's bag turned out.  Is it bright enough?  Did I make the right choice on the fabric?

 

 

 

 

My mom likes red and black too.  She is not quite as outgoing and bold as my sister though so I went with a little less bold print when I chose her fabric.  I really liked my mom's bag.  While it isn't pink, it is still pretty.  :)

 

 

For Christmas, Santa brought Evan some 'dot markers'.... they are like those used to mark your bingo card.  He absolutely loves them.  Good job, Santa!  *wink wink*  I save all the brown paper that comes in my Stampin Up! orders---it comes in REALLY handy when Evan is creating. And yes, he is sitting on my island in the kitchen.  I figured out that I can catch him before he gets down and runs off w/ the markers this way.  We only create on  paper....  no walls, floors or furniture.  LOL

Oh My...What a Shiny Nose You Have

Tis' the season to be creating.  I really do love this time of year when I can escape down to my stampin' room and turn on some Christmas music and create. 

 This year, we have many new people to be thankful for and that really need a little something to let them know how much we appreciate them.  Evan has 5 therapists that come into our home each week.  We also have several ladies that work on keeping his therapy running smoothly at the WEAP (Wisconsin Early Autism Project) clinic.  Plus we also have a couple ladies that work w/ him in our local school district.  You know the saying, "It takes a community to raise a child" ?  I really feel that Evan has his own little community now and he is THRIVING!  It is truly exciting to watch him progress and I'm sure I will gush on my blog often about him.  Ohhh what?  I already do?  Yes, I do--I'm his mom!  :) 

Evan loves music.  Right now I am trying to teach him to sing "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer".  I am hoping he has it down before Christmas.   He's a pretty quick little guy--I bet he'll be singing it for Christmas.  

 I thought these little boxes would be perfect for his teachers and therapists.  

I  {HEART} THEIR LITTLE FACES!!! 

I finished 6 boxes today-- a couple more days in the stampin' room and I should have an entire herd of reindeer!  :) 

I was also asked to make a rag bag.  This bag will be given away in a holiday gift exchange. It took me a long time to pick out the fabric.  I must have done okay, because I had a hard time parting w/ it--I love to red!  I hope whoever receives it likes it too.  <3 p="p">

The Final Tally

My goal for this year was to can 100 pints of salsa.  Yep, just 100 pints.  :)  I final count for 2012 was 108 pints.  I don't think I have ever made that much in one year, but I am sure glad to have it done.  I love being able to make cute gifts for clubs and workshops. 

 

For this workshop, I gave my hostess a jar.

 

 

 

Then I decided that it would be a good door prize too. 

 

The jars were made by cutting a piece of Stampin Up! designer fabric w/ the scallop circle die and screwing the canning ring down to hold it in place.  Then I stamped and cut out a little mason jar using the Perfectly Perserved stamp set and Cannery framelits from the Holiday Mini Catalog (page 29).  I attached the jar w/ baker's twine and looped it through my bow to secure it to the jar.

 

 

 

Evan has decided he LOVES showers although removing his clothes seems to be optional sometimes.  I spent a lot of time fetching him out of the shower while trying to can salsa.  It is really hard to be upset with him.  He is so sweet---and really really clean!  :)

Truffle Box

My mother-in-law recently hosted a workshop in her home.   I know she LOVES truffles and I knew that I wanted to give her a little something for allowing me to come in and stamp w/ her and her friends. 

I made a little box to house her truffles...  (I will work on writing up a little tutorial and posting it for you on how to make the box). 

I used the Leaves #2 die to cut out some leaves and then picked my woodgrain and argyle embossing folders to emboss the individual leaves.  I loved the texture on them.   

I never would have thought of more mustard, midnight muse, very vanilla, and early espresso, but I really do like the end result.

I used the sentiment from Apothecary Art stamp set in the Idea Book and Catalog.  This is one of my faves!  :)

It's Been Awhile...

I know it's been a long while.  The good news is that after several attempt to access my blog, I finally was able to get back on.  I don't know what the problem was, but it made my stomach knot.  I have missed stamping and blogging.

My focus has been on my 4 year old son, Evan.  He is autistic. He has started intensive ABA therapy in our home--which means that 5-6 days a week we have a handful of therapists in and out of our home. It is a strange feeling, but I am so happy that Evan can receive this therapy.  Between his therapy, social skills class, school, my daughters, husband and house--things seem a little overwhelming some days.  I am grateful for all that I have, but somedays it is a little chaotic. 

I did do a lot of canning this fall.  My sister has 2 beautiful pear trees that despite the drought were loaded w/ some of the biggest pears I had ever seen.  I brought home buckets of pears and canned just over 50 quarts.  Every couple of days, I would have enough pears ripe to can about 13-15 quarts plus  have a few to eat. 

 

I also tried out  new recipe after my sister gave me a bucket of jalapeno and green/red sweet peppers.  I made jalapeno jelly. I had never heard of it until I asked my Facebook friends what to do w/ all these peppers. My uncle suggested jalapeno jelly.  After my first bite, I knew I was hooked.  It is really good on Club crackers spread w/ cream cheese.  Yummm! 

 

 

 

I did a workshop and I thought I would dress up one of the little jelly jars and give it as a door prize.  The lady who won had never had jalapeno jelly either and was a little nervous about trying it. I was so happy when I met up with her again and she wanted to buy a jar from me.  :)  That must mean it is good!  LOL

 

 

I use the Friendship Preserves stamp set from the holiday mini catalog (pg. 30) along w/ the Window Frames Collection framelits on the same page to create the tag. 

Here's a better picture of the jalapeno jelly.  I think it's pretty especially for the holidays.

Matt & Erin's Wedding Thank Yous

I have been working on making Matt & Erin's (my brother in law & future sister in law)  wedding thank you cards for a gift for their wedding coming up on Saturday.  I have made 60 invites so far and contemplating making a few more for them.

Their wedding colors are pink and brown so I used chocolate chip and melon mambo on a vanilla base.  ♥ I would like to send out a special thank you to Diane Scuito for the 5/8" chocolate chip ribbon she gifted me for wedding projects. ♥ 

My favorite part was deciding where and how many butterflies to put on each one.  I love this embosslit.  :)

Other than stamping, kids, sports, therapy, scheduling.....well you get the idea.  LOL  I have 72 pints of salsa canned.  I'm hoping to get at least 100 pints done this year so I'm getting there. 

A couple of you asked for my salsa recipe so I thought I would share it here:

9 cups chopped tomatoes

3 cups chopped onions

2 cups green peppers

8 small jalapeno peppers (med. salsa) 

1/4 cup canning salt

1 cup celery

1 cup vinegar

12 oz can tomato paste

1 HEAPING TBSP minced garlic

2 TBSP cilantro

Optional: 2 cups whole kernel corn

Yield: 10-12 pints

Here's a picture of my little guy, Evan .  I often push him in the stroller when I go walking.  Evidently mom isn't very entertaining.  :) 

 BUT Mom is down -89# from the first of January and is enjoying chasing a VERY active 3 year old a lot more now.  Weight loss has slowed down--I have been spending more time canning and less time walking.  I need to get Evan in that stroller and go..... 

Sweet & Spicy

I found this cute little candy bar wrapper idea on the Seeing Ink Spots blog.  I have had a lot of ladies ask me what they can do w/ the larger framelits in the Labels Collection set.  Well here it is!  This is a great option for those of you who do not scrapbook, but would like an alternative option for using the framelits.  It's cute isn't it?! 

I used the Easy Events stamp set and the aqua painter plus a little baker twine and taffeta ribbon. They go together in a flash. 

Sweet!

Yesterday, I made my first batch of salsa in 2012.  It was much needed, we were completely out and panic had set in. I love cheese and salsa on my eggs in the morning for breakfast.  I eat it A LOT!  We have plenty of fresh eggs thanks to my daughter's chickens--they have been laying like crazy lately.  Plus I like lots of protein in the morning and to be able to tell everyone that I'm so healthy I eat veggies for breakfast! LOL  This batch was a little 'warm'--in fact, it was hot. I got a little carried away w/ the peppers!

Spicy!

For those of you that are wondering about my weight loss, I am down -86.4# since January 1, 2012.  I'm getting closer to that 112# goal for the year.  :)  I'm feeling good!

So Many Stamps....So Little Room!

My Shelves are FULL!!

Retired Stamp Sets For Sale

Please email me if interested: stampiepoo@gmail.com

**pictures available on request (please be patient)

shipping not included in prices and available to those in the U.S. only

Funky Four (trimmed one stamp) clear $4.00

Sweet Scoops (trimmed stamps) clear $5.00

Ornate Blossom New wood $3.00

So Many Thanks (a la carte) New wood $2.00

Happy Grad (a la carte) New wood $2.00

Love Bandit (trimmed one stamp) clear $5.00

Friends Never Fade clear $7.00 SOLD

Fresh Vintage (sale a bration) clear $7.00

Flower Fancy NEW wood $18.00

Butterfly Prints NEW clear $6.00  SOLD

Fifth Avenue Floral (partially mounted) wood $14.00 SOLD

Holy Triptych (mounted) wood $12.00

Silhouette Sentiments--hostess set clear new $8.00

Tagtastic--hostess set clear new $8.00 SOLD

It's the Thought--hostess clear new $7.00

So Happy for You--sale-a-bration clear new $7.00

Sweet Summer--sale-a-bration clear new $7.00

Turtle & Co. clear $7.00

Flight of the Butterfly wood mounted $14.00 SOLD

Sprinkled Expressions wood new $10.00

Pocket Silhouettes wood new $12.00 SOLD

Every Moment clear $8.00 SOLD

Loads of Love wood $12.00 SOLD

Loads of Fun wood $12.00 SOLD

Party Hearty wood $13.00

Bear Hugs (build a bear) wood $5.00

Baroque Motifs wood $14.00 SOLD

Twitterpated Trifold Card

Here's a little card that I made for Hostess Club.  I hope the ladies liked it.  I wanted to use some of my new products. I love the Adorning Accents Edgelits and the coordinating embossing folders.  The have been sitting down in my room unused long enough.  Don't you hate it when life gets in the way of stamping?

I like the baja breeze and riding hood red together.  What a great color combination!  It really catches the eye... 

Here's the flap... a piece of the pretty floral paper from the Twitterpated dsp.

And the inside of the card...  the sentiment is from the Bring on the Cake set and stamped in Riding Hood Red.

Daffodil Bargello

So I have become a little obsessed w/ the bargello technique.  It is so easy and it's fun to experiment with different widths and patterns of dsp. I cut the pieces for this card 3/4" wide and then I did varying widths when I cut them apart. 

Then I decided this card needed a bright daffodil delight bow. Making the bow, in my opinion, was the hardest thing about this card. LOL I am more of a knot girl. :)

And if you have a little extra piece leftover, why not decorate the inside of your card w/ it? 

Comfort Cafe Hostess Gift

A couple weeks ago, I had a workshop for one of my customers.  I wanted to give her a little something for having me do her party.

I made her a little stationary set with one of SU!'s empty stamp cases. I used the Comfort Cafe dsp and I couldn't help myself--I had to use the beautiful Blooming w/ Kindness set.   Then I added a sentiment from Pursuit of Happiness set.  Inside is a notepad and an envelope made using the scallop envelope die (sorry I forgot to take a picture).

Celebrate Today

This morning I had a chance to stamp.  I was so happy to head downstairs and take a few minutes to stamp. 

I have been a Technique Junkie for years. I absolutely love the techniques, but I rarely take the time to try them. Well today, I tried the bargello technique.  It's so easy especially with all the beautiful dsp from Stampin' Up!.

I chose the Summer Smooches dsp for this card.  Omgosh it's bright!  I like it--it's a happy card. It looked like a celebration card to me so I added the Celebrate Today from the Perfectly Penned stamp set.

Blooming with Kindness

Here's a simple card I made for a recent workout using some brand new products from Stampin Up! 

First of all, check out this amazing flower and sentiment from the Blooming With Kindness set.  This was the very first set that I ordered from the new catalog.  The flower is perfect and I {heart} the sentiments.

Second, check out the new in-colors I used!  The blue is called Midnight Muse and the yellow is called Summer Starfruit.

Last, I used some new wild dsp.  You would never believe what pack of paper includes this paper.   It is Comfort Cafe!  I didn't notice it when I ordered the pack--all I was looking at was the beautiful floral printed paper. I think it's kinda neat.  How about you?

Wisconsin is so dry!  I was excited to see clouds in the sky.  Unfortunately this clouds didn't produce any rain for us.  If you have some rain and could spare some, please send it to me!

Do You Want a Reason to Smile?

Stampin Up! has a great promotion during the month of July.

 It is a Reason to Smile!

You can get this sweet stamp set called "A Reason to Smile"  for just $5.00 if you place an order for $50 (before shipping and tax).

You can place your order w/ me right now using my online store, yes this very minute--another reason to smile!  :)

Don't forget to add your $5.00 set for orders over $50.00!
131274 (wood)
131275 (clear)

Purse Obsession?

Are obsesed with purses?  I know some ladies who have more purses than I have fingers and toes.  Me---I had one!    BUT then I preordered the new die from Stampin' Up!  Now my tabletop if full of cute little purses.  

Starting on June 1st, you can order this cute little purse die HERE. 

I used silver brads from the metallic pack (119741) to attach the handle.

 Designer printed brads (122940) along with some retiring brads for the front of the purse.

I also used the Boho Blossoms punch (119858) and the 1/2 circle punch (119869) beneath the brad. 

Here's something else that is really cute and so much fun to play with....

My daughter, Riley Kate's lambs. Fawna is on the left. Dusty is on the right. They were about 5-6 days old in this picture. I love there big ears. :)  We have spaced out the feedings so I am getting about 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep now.  I am functioning much better.  LOL

I am still losing weight at a good pace.   I have lost 62.6# since 1/1/12.  I'm plugging away on it.  Now that I have lost weight, I need to color my hair--the gray is more noticeable.  LOL

It's Graduation Time (AGAIN)

Seriously, where did the last year go?  It seems like just yesterday I was full panic mode trying to get eveything prepared for Dani's graduation open house.  Now she has officially completed her first year of college.  She is home again for the summer and has went back to work.  It is so good to have her home.

However I don't know if we'll ever have an empty nest.  We have 3 new babies at our house.  Granted, they aren't human babies. Aunt Laurie gave my 14 year old, Riley Kate two little orphaned lambs for her birthday and they arrived last night. They are super cute and I will have to post some pictures of them soon.

Our other new baby is Max. He is our new bullmatian (bull dog and dalmatian mix) puppy.  He's so sweet and he still has that new puppy smell. 

All the babies require some night time and early morning attention.  I think summer may be alittle  crazy.....here's what my night and morning has been like.  I was up at  midnight w/ Max, 2am with the lambs and 4 am w/ Max.  I decided that at 6am just to get up.... I'm so tired. I definitely know I'm too old for any more human babies. LOL

This weekend starts the graduation 'season'.  We have several to attend this year.  I can't believe these kids are already finishing high school.  The time goes so fast.

I made some 4 x 4 criss cross cards and changed the belly band to coordinate w/ the graduate's school colors.  I absolutely fell in love w/ the CURLY CUTE stamp set--WHY oh WHY did I wait so long to get it?  LOL

Scrunched Scalloped Circle Flower

I had several questions about how I made my scrunched scalloped circle flowers in my last post.  I thought I would give you a little step by step on how to make this cute and VERY EASY 3D flowers.

You will need:
Enough cardstock or dsp to punch out 6 scallop circles
1 brad
Paper piercer and mat
Scallop Circle Punch

***Shocking image***
Look away if you can't stand the sight of scrunched cardstock.  :) 

Scrunch up all 6 scallop circles like you would a gum wrapper --being careful not to rip them.

Carefully flatten out your circles.  See all the crinkles and wrinkles--that's perfect!

Stack up all 6 circles and poke a hole down through the center of them w/ your paper piercer.  Bore out the hole a little to make it a little bigger.

Using a brad attach the 6 circles together.

One layer at a time, scrunch up the circles again.  I like to REALLY scrunch the center circle so it is tight and you can't see the brad.

Continue Scrunching....

Then I take the flower in my hand and I scrunch it some more...

Here's what it look like after all the that....

Shape your flower by pulling down some of the petals a bit.  No worries--it you don't like the shape or something isn't just so--scrunch it again.  :)

HAPPY SCRUNCHING!