Stamper's Dream Store Closing -- FINAL WEEK - 60% Off

Well, this is it {sniff, sniff} ...

Take an additional 60% Off the lowest marked price on EVERYTHING in stock at Stamper's Dream! Final Week...everything must go! Use coupon code SDClosing60 on the checkout page to receive your discount.

Minimum purchase of $25 BEFORE the discount is required to activate the coupon. Please be aware that there may be a slight delay in shipping due to the volume.

Please note the 60% off code is not yet published on the Stamper's Dream store page, but it DOES work, so be sure to use it at checkout!!

I'll try to be back soon with something crafty to share!

In the meantime, some re-runs using stamps that are currently 60% off in the Stamper's Dream store (as of this post time).

Love Song by Penny Black
Originally posted HERE

Call Me by Webster's Pages/Unity
Originally posted HERE

  Star Noel by Penny Black

Originally posted HERE

Star Noel by Penny Black

Originally posted HERE

Tree Limb by Stampendous 

Originally posted HERE

Speckled Ornaments by Hero Arts

Originally posted HERE

Speckled Ornaments by Hero Arts

Originally posted HERE

 Dare to Dream by JustRite Stamps

Originally posted HERE

Happy Halloween

It's been very, very quiet on the stamping front lately, so I thought I'd share this teacher treat that a few friends and I put together for the PTO to give the teachers and staff at our kids' elementary school (we made nearly seventy of them!). This little guy is a lot worse for the wear, having been transported several times and handled quite a bit by my 4yo (safekeeping efforts, of course), but you'll still get the idea. I used to think, "What did we do before the internet?"; now it's "what did we do before Pinterest?" I seriously love that site for inspiration of all sorts! I found both this skeleton cuppie project (courtesy of Woman's Day magazine) and the tombstone free printable (thank you Elle's Studio) via Pinterest. Because of my compulsive need to stamp anything and everything {grin}, I embellished the tombstone with an oval stamped with "Spooky Treats" (from JustRite's Halloween Mini Sentiments set). The grass along the bottom was die-cut with a grass die from The Cat's Pajamas.

I will say the white fudge-coated pretzel skeletons were a bit more involved than it appeared from the recipe. I thought I'd simply thread the lollipop stick through the pretzels and stick on some broken-pretzel arms. Turns out the holes in the pretzels were too large and the pretzels spun freely and wildly around the sticks. To keep everything nicely in place, I used Wilton candy melts to secure the pretzels to the stick, quite time-consuming for such a large quantity. In the end, it was worth it, though. It always is!

Happy Halloween!

Christmas Birdcage Tag

{Updated to Add: The Stamper's Dream store closing discount has increased to 30% effective immediately! Everything must go! Get while the gettin's good, girls! Use discount code SDClosing30 at checkout. $20 minimum order.}

I was inspired by a plethora of YouTube videos to pull out my Tim Holtz Caged Bird die, a definite favorite, but sadly underused. No longer, though -- I plan to make a bunch of these to have on hand for the holidays. My end result could work as a gift or treat tag, an ornament, or even as a card element. The rosette was something I rescued from my leftovers pile and the flowers were from my stash (Bo Bunny for the rolled-style flower and Prima for the poinsettia). The bird (part of the Tim Holtz die) was cut from My Mind's Eye's Lost & Found Christmas collection. I added a sentiment flag with "From Our Family" using JustRite's Christmas Mini Sentiments set. At the top is a hemp bow topped with two rusted jingle bells. The snowflakes were diecut with MFT's Snowflake trio Dienamics die and topped with glass glitter. Sorry for the not-so-great photo -- I'm working on it! [Nevermind! :grin:]

Thanks for visiting,

Stamper's Dream Blog Hop: You're the Best

Stamper's Dream and friends are joining together for a final Stamper's Dream blog hop. Sadly, Michelle has decided to close her store. As unfortunate as it is to lose one of my very favorite places to shop, I absolutely 100% support Michelle and her decision. She has posted a little bit about it today on her blog.

You know the drill ... everything must go! Save 20% on EVERYTHING with the coupon code Farewell2U. Just enter the code at checkout and you'll receive 20% off the lowest marked price of the items in your shopping cart! $20 minimum purchase to activate the coupon. Sorry, no free shipping during the liquidation. 

A proper farewell hop wouldn't be complete without the Dream Team and some very special Dream Team alumnae:

Michelle Rodgers
Becca Feeken
Tosha Leyendekker
Denise Marzec
Laurie Schmidlin
Carolyn King
Amy Sheffer
Arlene Cuevas
Teresa Kline
Jessica Diedrich
Mariana Grigsby
Lea Lawson
Jo Thompson

I dedicate my card to Michelle. She is the best, and I am so blessed to call her a true friend. I have the utmost love and admiration for her, and know our friendship will remain long after the store's doors have closed! The sentiment I used is from JustRite's Friendship Nested Sentiments, and the yellow oval frame is from JustRite's Song in My Heart. Some of the details include Kaisercraft Aqua Rhinestones and a postage border done with Spellbinders' Classic Postage Stamp Edgeabilities. The beautiful papers are from Prima's Alla Prima Collection. I used various flowers from my stash, but this collection does have coordinating Avon Rose Alla Prima Flowers.

The layout is this month's Sketch For You To Try, sponsored by Waltzingmouse Stamps. You have until the end of the month to play along -- link up your creation HERE!

A few more detail shots ...

I'll continue to post Stamper's Dream projects during the liquidation, so this isn't really a farewell ... yet! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Follow Your Dreams

I don't think it's actually been forever since I last blogged, but it sure feels that way. I had great expectations and a fun stamping to-do list that, unfortunately, remains untouched. But it's been a blessedly full week. One highlight: my first out-of-the-home paid employment in twelve years (woohoo!!), subbing at my youngest son's preschool. Five hours, times two days, with ten two-and-a-half years olds = ten times more worn out than usual, but 100 times blessed. Happy sigh ...

I did have a little stamping time last night. Bits and pieces of Prima's Londonerry collection (available at Stamper's Dream) have been spread out on my craft island from a couple of other cards I've made and posted, so it was an easy place to start. I have two friends who are embarking upon big life changes, both career-related, and so I designed this card with each of them in mind. It can be scary to follow your dreams, especially when it involves leaving a place of comfort and familiarity for the unknown. I want them to know I believe in them! 

The "Follow Your Dreams" sentiment is from JustRite's Dare to Dream set. "Londonerry" has several sheets in it of wonderful reduced-size elements such as the ticket that I stamped the sentiment on and the tilted square framed panel behind it (Finick Finack).

 There are also a couple of word borders that I cut apart to tuck here and there.

 Details include May Arts green velvet crochet-edged ribbon, a crochet trim bow topped with a purple Prima flower, and a crystal flourish. I don't know why, but I had never thought to tie the crochet trim into a bow until I saw it someone's blog a week or two ago. Of course now I can't remember whose blog it was, but a big thanks for the inspiration just the same!

 Thanks so much for stopping by. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!




Stamps: Dare to Dream (JustRite Stamps) 
Paper: Prima Marketing Londonerry, Stampin' Up naturals card stock for card base 
Ink: Ranger Walnut Stain Distress Ink 
Accessories: May Arts crochet trim and velvet crochet-edged ribbon, Prima flower, bling (unknown?), My Favorite Things bracket die, sewing machine, distressing tool, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Stampin' Up vintage trinkets (safety pin), foam adhesive
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Color Throwdown #163 - Snow Buddies

The new Color Throwdown challenge, #163, is up! A fantastic combo inspired by Bo Bunny's Blitzen paper pack (but feel free to use whatever you have!). I thought this combo, and the Blitzen papers, would work perfectly with Fred Bear Snow Bear by My Favorite Things. Here's what I came up with:
 

I stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black, colored with Copics and die-cut with a Spellbinders Wonky Rectangle Nestabilities die. The sentiment is stamped on a Bracket Tab Dienamics diecut by MFT. I also added pearl accents to the falling snow using a Viva Decor pearl pen. You can kind of get an idea of the dimension in this close-up:

I hope you'll give this week's challenge a shot! Head over to the Color Throwdown blog for all of the participation details. And be sure to check out the design team's fantabulous samples:

Broni Holcombe - Splashes of Watercolor
Barbara Anders - Paper Pursuits
Danielle Kennedy - Wild Dragonfly Designs
Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy
Kristin Beuter - Mindless Creativity
Laura Pryor - Lil' Inker Designs
Carole Burrage - Mother's Little Helper
Keva Brown - How Now Brown Kow
Lori Tecler - Inking a Loud
Lynn Put - The Queens Scene
Wanda Cullen - Cullen-ary Creations
Joan Ervin - Stamping With a Passion


 Happy stamping!



Stamps: Fred Bear Snow Bear (My Favorite Things) 
Paper: Stampin' Up Early Espresso and Vintage Cream card stock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White card stock, Bo Bunny Blitzen 
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Old Paper and Walnut Stain Distress 
Accessories: Copic markers, Spellbinders Wonky Rectangles Nestabilities, My Favorite Things Bracket Tab, Snowflake Trio and Open Scallop border Dienamics, Fiskars corner rounder, Papertrey button and baker's twine, Stampin' Up circle punch, sanding block, paper piercer/needle/thread, foam adhesive
Size: 5 1/4" square

Autumn Fun

{Second post today ... don't miss a fun announcement

and the Skipping Stones Design giveaway winner.

Scroll down one post, or click HERE}

What's your favorite season? I'm a Fall girl, all the way! I love the cooler temperatures, curling up with my children under a blanket, coats, boots, scarves -- all of it! This adorable fall image, Autumn Fun, is from Stampavie. I stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on Copic X-Press It Blending card stock and colored with Copic markers. I had so much fun trying to mix colors to create the look of leaves turning their magnificent fall colors. The patterned papers are from My Mind's Eye's Lost & Found Two "Breeze" collection, and the scallop border is Spellbinders' new Classic Scallop Edgeabilities die set. Accents include distressing, ancient Kaisercraft flowers from my stash, a leafy sprig from Spellbinders Foliage Shapeabilities, and a simple circle tag (sentiment from JustRite's Elegant Charms set) strung from some household string.

Thanks for peeking! See you early in the morning as the SFYTT sisters unveil the new October sketch and sponsor!

Glory to God in the Highest

Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend. Our soccer and football games were both rained out, so we had an unusually un-busy Saturday. Nice and relaxing, but if we don't soon get some football played, I'm afraid we'll be getting snowed out instead of rained out! We've had so much rain this fall. The landscape and gardens are so lush and green that it looks more like Spring.

I just received a batch of new Spellbinders dies that I pre-ordered back in the summer. Couldn't wait to play! I thought the large shape in the new Twisted Metal Tags & Accents Shapeabilities would make such a beautiful frame for JustRite's elegant Rejoice stamp set. Here, I've combined them with lovely vintage-inspired papers from the My Mind's Eye's Lost and Lost & Found Christmas 6x6 paper collection.

A closer look at the sentiment and decorative frame ...

I stamped the outer frame in Stampin' Up's Always Artichoke and die-cut with a Spellbinders oval die. The little pearls are dotted on with a Viva Decor cream pearl pen. All but the sentiment from the center stamp was inked with Versamagic Sage ink. I then used a black dye-based marker to ink the sentiment. I trimmed the center by hand to achieve the mat size I was looking for, then distressed the edges to hide my irregular hand-cutting.

The layout is a slightly tweaked version of September's Sketch For You To Try, sponsored by Skipping Stones Design. There's still plenty of time to get your submissions in if you haven't already! Remember, a huge prize package is coming up at the end of the year for one lucky sketch participant who has played along each month!

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit! Hope your week gets off to a fabulous start!!



Stamps: Rejoice (JustRite Stamps)
Paper: Stampin' Up True Thyme, Papertrey Vintage Cream, Lost and Lost & Found Christmas
Ink: black dye marker, Versamagic Sage, Stampin' Up Always Artichoke, Ranger Old Paper, Frayed Burlap, and Vintage Photo Distress Inks
Accessories: Spellbinders Classic Oval Nestabilities and Twisted Metal Tags & Accents Shapeabilities, charm from stash, May Arts burlap string, distressing tool, paper piercer/needle/thread, foam tape, Copic markers
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Be Afraid

My eyes were too big when the time came to stock up on Halloween papers this year, so I have a definite surplus, but I have to say of all of them, the Mischievous line by My Mind's Eye is my fave! I'm also really loving all the adorable sentiments in JustRite's Halloween Mini Sentiments. They're sized perfectly to tuck in here, there, and everywhere. I stamped "Be Afraid" onto one edge of a punched label shape, then tucked it behind the horizontal panel and embellished with two mini banner strips. The doily is from My Favorite Things, the buttons from Papertrey, and the little spider image is something I punched from one of last year's Halloween papers (from Toil & Trouble by Making Memories, I believe).

I used Jen Shults's Deconstructed Sketch #20, without the scallops and a slightly repositioned and downsized bow.

Next up is a card using last week's Deconstructed Sketch, #19:

I kid you not, I started this card over a week ago! It's been a busy and at times difficult week and I just have had no desire to craft at all. Don't you hate when that happens? When I finally ventured into my stamp room last night, I was pleasantly surprised to find this card mostly finished, minus a few finishing touches. Once again, I combined Mischievous (the owl is cut from one of the patterns) and the JustRite Halloween Mini Sentiments. This time I divided the "Trick or Treat" sentiment onto to Maya Road miniature tickets. Pretty straightforward -- lots of pattern on this one!

Here's the sketch I used:

Last, have a peek at JustRite's Halloween Mini Sentiments:

I will soon need to plan out (and make) spooky teacher/staff Halloween treats for my kids' elementary school and have been pinning ideas over on Pinterest. I'm thinking these JustRite sentiments are going to come in handy. Whatever I come up with, I'll be sure to share here!

Have a great weekend, friends. I've missed you this week!

Blizzard Bunch

Chillier temperatures in my neck of the woods were enough to inspire today's card, featuring the adorable new-ish Blizzard Bunch stamp set by JustRite Stamps. This set includes four of these sweet fellas, plus four fun and festive borders. I stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, colored with Copic markers, and die-cut the image and assorted frames with Spellbinders Classic Oval and Lacey Oval dies. For some sparkle, I added some Frosted Lace Stickles to the snow.The larger rose red label shape was done with a Spellbinders Labels Eighteen Nestabilities die. The various papers, mostly scraps, are all from the 12 Days of Christmas 6x6 Paper Pad by My Mind's Eye.

Enjoy today!





Stamps: Blizzard Bunch (JustRite Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Kraft, Stampin' Up Very Vanilla, My Mind's Eye 12 Days of Christmas 6x6 Paper Pad
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Spellbinders Classic Ovals, Lacey Oval and Labels Eighteen Nestabilities, sewing machine, Copic markers, foam tape, Kaisercraft adhesive pearls, hemp twine, My Favorite Things scallop border Die-namics die, Frosted Lace Stickles
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"