Heather Neidig Winner of Blog Candy

A big apology to everyone and especially Heather Neidig, the winner of my blog candy.  I have been laid up the past week and not doing much posting, so didn't realize my annoucement on February 14th was sitting in draft on my Edit posts file...................blush I'm embarrassed.  So, Heather if you're reading this, please contact me and I will arrange for your free pass to arrive in your email for the start of the Spring Soiree!!! 

Early Bird Pricing - Only Two Days to Go!!!!

Just a reminder that Dawn's UStamp with Dawn and Friends Spring Soiree 2010 is scheduled to begin on March 19th.  Right now you can get in on the Early Bird Special Pricing of just $19.99 US, but you will need to hurry, because the price will go up to $24.98 on Feb 19th.   Check out Dawn's website for payment options click here.

UStamp with Dawn & Friends!! "Spring Soirée...2010" will deliver all same opportunity to do something REALLY FUN, even if only or a few minutes a day, to check out a project or peak into the chat room to say hello to some friends around the world or be inspired by a challenge or two or three :)

Don't we all deserve a few minutes of fun to help us re-charge and enjoy what we love??!! Of course we do!! One of the many great things about UStamp is that YOU create when YOU are ready. LOVE the projects, but don't have time to make them yourself right away?? No worries!! The website will remain open for many months, ready when you are to create so you won't miss out "Spring Soirée...2010" is going to be a spectacular event so get ready for a ginormous shot of inspiration adrenaline!! Here is what you can expect...

• 40+ Projects all with Step by Step PDF Tutorials with photo's for you to download!!
• Each project is translated in French, German and Spanish and inches are also converted to CM in the English documents.
• Swaps - Both within your country and Internationally
• Designer hosted chats with prizes
• Open Chat Room 24x7
• Gallery to share your re-creations
• A cool blinkie for your website/blog
• Prizes, Prizes and MORE Prizes!!

 **COOL NEW STUFF**

• Weekly Color Challange
• Weekly Inspiration Challenge
• Weekly Master Plan Challenge
• Yep!! You guessed it!! All with Prize Winners!! 
• The Hot Picks Pack is back too!!

Dawn Raspas will be announcing a shopping list for those of you that would like to order your Stampin' Up! supplies to stamp along with us. So I'll be posting that around the 2nd week of March, which will give you plenty of time to get your orders in and delivered to you.  You can order on line directly from me.  See my shop now button.

Valentine's Day Blog Candy Winner

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Also, since today also marks the Lunar New Year have a happy "Year of the Tiger".   Which ever occasion you're celebrating, I hope your day has been just fantastic!

Wow what a great response I've received this time for my Valentine's Day Blog Candy.  20 of you sent me comments and it seems like curiosity is the main feature.  You all want to know what I'm excited about!!!  So, I'm not going to keep the suspense up any longer, as I know some of you are hanging in there waiting for my news and for the winner of the blog candy!

And, here's the news you've been anticipating and that I've been so excited to share with you.  Dawn Raspas is launching another session of UStamp With Dawn and Friends in March 2010 called the Spring Soiree and I've been invited to participate as a Guest Designer.  YAHOOOO.  If you've been following my blog you'll know that I'm truly excited to accept this challenge and stretch my skills even further.  Now I'm busy trying to come up with an absolute WOW project to share with all the fabulous gals who sign up around the world. 

Okay, and now for our winner.  I used a random number generator from Randomorg.com and my lucky winner is #8............Heather Neidig.  Congratulations Heather............ you've won a  free guest pass to join in all the fun of the Spring Soiree!  This prize is worth $24.95 US, and entitles you to participate in all the fun on UStamp's Spring Soiree.  Just so you know there will be at least 40 fun, fabulous tutorials that you'll have access to as well as your very own blog page and access to the photo gallerys.  Please contact me by email at pennyhanuszak@telus.net and I will go through the details with you.  Heather's comment was:
"Hey Penny! Your blog is great... I can't wait to hear your great news... you must meet us at OG for lunch sometime."


Thanks again to everyone who participated and visited my blog this past week.  I love all of you for your encouragement and fantastic comments.  I'm going to be giving away blog candy for my 5000th visitor to my blog so come back and visit again............. who knows you may win my prize.  Stay tuned for a sneak peak picture of that blog candy............... coming soon!!!

Borders and Corner Punches

Punches are a quick and easy way to add interest, dimension, and color to your cards, tags, and scrapbook pages. You can glue punched shapes directly onto your projects or layer a sheet of card stock that has been punched over a coordinating card stock for a reverse effect.

Stampin' Up has added eight new punches to its already great lineup of punches.  These new, sleek punches have a large cutting surface and offer better punching leverage and cutting precision, and the sleeker body makes them easier to store.If you haven't seen them yet, check them out in the new Mini Occasions and Sale-A-Bration catties.  

1. 117191 Extra Large Two-Step Bird $22.95
2. 118073 Extra Large Fancy Flower $22.95
3. 117649 Pinking Hearts Border $22.95
4. 118072 Pinking Hearts Corner $13.95
5. 118870 Scallop Trim Corner* $13.95
6. 117190 Medium Jewelry Tag $15.95
7. 117193 Small Heart $8.50
8. 118402 Scallop Trim Border Punch Free*

Two of the new border punches also have matching corner punches to offer you even more versatility in your stamping creations.    These are the Pinking Hearts Border and Corner Punches (Mini Occasions) and the Scallop Trim Border (Sale-A-Bration). 

Because the addition of corner punching is a whole new concept in punching, there are some tricks you need to learn.  Check out this great video on using the Border and Corner Punches to make your punching experience even better. Video Tutorial click here.  And to assist you even more check out this great tutorial I found by Gretchen Barron.  Gretchen's tutorial called "A Guide for Cutting Squares and Rectangles with the Scallop Trim Border and Corner Punches" will take the mystery out of sizing your squares and rectangles.  

Pinking Hearts Border Punch 117649 Price $22.95  The pinking design in this punch is accented with tiny hearts, creating the perfect border for stamped images, frames and more.  Aligns with Pinking Heart Corner Punch to make perfect frames.

Pinking Hearts Corner Punch 118072  Price: $13.95 The classic pinking style in this punch gets an added bit of love with little hearts in this unique corner punch.  Use to create photo corners with the punched out image.  Aligns with the end of the Pinking Heart Corner punch. 

The Scallop Trim Corner Punch #118870 Price $13.95 coordinates with the Scallop Trim Border Punch #118402, which is available in the Sale-A-Bration cattie. This is the first time that Stampin' Up has ever offered a punch as a free Sale-A-Bration product.   You can earn this new punch for free by purchasing $65.00 in Stampin Up Product(s) between now and March 31st, 2010. 

*  The Scallop Trip Border Punch will be offered at regular punch prices with the release of the 2010/2011 Idea Book and Catalogue in the summer of 2010.  Can you wait that long?????

My Digital Studio........ ENJOY

Here's my latest creations with My Digital Studio. Hope you enjoy them. I know I've enjoyed using the program and I'm looking forward to completing an album from this year's vacation photos. Here are two that I'll be including.  Stampin' Up is continually adding new images for downloading to this program so the possibilities for creating cards, banners, scrapbook pages, invitations, announcements and many more creative applications are endless.  If you haven't discovered My Digital Studio yet, check it out on my Stamping Up Webpage under promotions!  If you have any questions just send me an email, and I'll be happy to respond. 

One Last Valentine Post.............

I totally missed my deadlines this month. Last Tuesday I played golf for the first time in a while, and made this absolutely great shot, right over the fairway.  Anyway on my backswing I felt this pop and not being too smart, I continued to play.  Consequently I've been laid up for a week with a pulled muscle in my back.  I know, I know, it's no excuse, but it's true.  I have been in so much pain I haven't even been able to play with my new corner punches.....  now you know how much pain that I'm in!  
So to all my friends and family who haven't received Valentines wishes yet, here's that familiar refrain ......."they're in the mail"...........soooooo sorry there late!!!!

You'll have to be content with these views for now and next year I promise to be on time.  Love You All and Happy Valentines Day tomorrow!

I Believe - Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games

I Believe!!!! I am so proud to be from Vancouver, British Columbia Canada on the eve of one of the biggest events ever staged in our beautiful city.  Want to see why I am so proud, click here  and watch the amazing and beautiful "I Believe" by Nikki Yanofsky (Vancouver 2010 Music Video: Olympic Torch Relay).  If you're a Canadian and proud pass along this link ..................I'm sure you'll feel overwhelmed like I did and want to share with your friends and family.  Happy Olympics Vancouver............I'll be watching!!!!!

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Logo based on Inuit Inukshuk

The logo and mascot of the future 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics is based on the Canadian Inuit inukshuk. The inukshuk is a stone marker that has been used by the Inuit to help guide through the northern Arctic terrain for centuries. The Inuit inukshuk has also become a symbol of leadership, cooperation, friendship and the human spirit. This contemporary design of an inukshuk by Vancouver based Elena Rivera MacGregor and her team of designers was chosen from 1,600 entries from across Canada by an international panel of nine judges. The mascot will be named Ilanaaq which means ‘friend’ in the native Inuit Inuktitut language. Rivera MacGregor claims that her winning design represents the culture, environment and people of Canada.