"Country Living Summer Cookout Kit - 40% Off!

"Country Living Summer Cookout Kit - 40% Off!
The Country Living Summer Cookout Kit gives you everything you need to hold a fantastic summer party, including:
Creative invitations
Fun food wrappers
Customizable coasters
And more!
Now only $19.75 (refill $13.95), the Country Living Summer Cookout Kit will ensure your summer party is a hit. Available through August 31, or while supplies last."

Surprise Blog Award

Wow, imagine my surprise when I opened my email today to see that I was nominated to receive a Kreative Blogger Award from Laurie .
You can't believe what an honour this was coming from Laurie, as I absolutely love her blog. Each time I visit it I am so inspired by her stamping creations and fabulous recipe cards, that I can never get enough of her site! Thanks Laurie.

So now to get on with the business at hand. In order to accept this award I have to: 1. Thank the person who nominated me for this award. 2. Copy the logo and place it on my blog. 3. Link the person who nominated me for this award. 4. Name seven things about me that people might find interesting. 5. Nominate seven Kreative Bloggers. 6. Post links to the seven blogs I nominate. 7. Leave comments on all seven blogs letting them know I nominated them. So here goes:

Seven things you may find interesting about me (or not):
1. I've been married to my childhood sweet heart for 40+ years and love him as much as I did when I was a teenager.
2. My second love is my little Bichon Frise/Shih Tzu cross...... he lights up my days!
3. I never end a day without ice cream.
4. I love to blog surf and look at everyone else's creations.
5. A vivid imagination and a desire to be creative has given me many outlets and opportunities.
6. Procrastination is my middle name but organization is my winning game!
7. I love to walk and I usually find pennies along the way - every day.

Here are some of the amazing blogs that inspire me:
1. Paper Bag Create by Sheri
2. A New Ink on Life by Jennifer Picard
3. Stamp With Heather by Heather Summers
4. Layin Rubber Ink by Alysbeth Johnston
5. Treasure Trove by Jenny Adams
6. My Creations by Lainee
7. Learn to Stamp and Scrap by Lynn Larson

These are truly amazing sites I follow and I'm sure you'll enjoy visting them too. Enjoy!

Meet My International Swap Sister

Today I arrived home from vacation full of anticipation. I ran to the mail box to check for a package from Jenny Adams my International Swap Sister. I opened the mail box door and there it was.........I was so excited!

Everything in this package was just delightful, starting with the envie which had writing around the perimeter and flowers stamped on it. Here's a shot of the contents. Jenny included a great little note card on Almost Amethyst card stock with a strip of "Tea Party" designer paper and Almost Amethyst scallop edge.

Just look at this adorable little Flower Pot Card with the beautiful Baja Breeze cordoroy buttons - don't they just make the flowers come alive? Austrailian Stampin Up products are a season behind Canada and the United States, so Jenny says these buttons will be available to customers in Austrailia the beginning of August. Lucky them!
For the flower bouquet, Jenny used the 5-Petal Punch to cut the flowers from the Holiday Treasures DSP. The flower pot is in Ruby Red cardstock and is topped off with a 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon. Using the small Tag Punch, she made a tag out of vanilla cardstock that was distressed with Kiwi ink and stamped with the 3-flower pot set from a Level 3 hostess set called Window Dressing. This little tag was tied to the card with natural hemp twine. The pull out tag was made with vanilla card stock layered onto Ruby Red card stock and stamped with the Window Dressing stamp set. The sentiment says "You Make Me Smile", and trust me I did. I'll definitely be casing this card...... it's a winner!

The next item in the package was a beautiful set of 3 x 3 cards stamped on
Whisper White Card stock and layered with the Holiday Treasures DSP - 2 in Kiwi
Kiss and 2 in Riding Hood Red. For these cards Jenny used an Aussie stamp set
called "Bloom Away". The flower stamp on the Kiwi Kiss cards is the "Waratah"
plant and the stamp on the Red Riding Hood cards is a "Gum Blossom" plant. Both native to Austrailia. I absolutely adored the gift card holder which was made
from a 3 x 5 cellophane bag. Jenny had cut a piece of the Holiday Treasures DSP to 2 3/4 x 4 3/4, inserted it into the bag as a liner and then punched a slot a half inch from the top through both the bag and liner. Once the cards were inserted in the cellophane bag she tied it off with a beautiful Baja Breeze double stitched ribbon. Oh and did I mention she included cute little Stampin Up Mini Square envelopes that had a portion of the Bloom Away stamp in the corners. Chocolate Chip ink was used for all the stamping.

Thank you Jenny for doing such a great job and being such a fabulous swap sister. Make sure you check out Jenny's blog it is just delightful!

Are You Ready For UStamp With Dawn and Friends Fall Session?

August 1st rolled around so quickly and that meant the end of my first session with UStamp with Dawn and Friends. What a fabulous adventure this has been for me. You know I just loved participating in this event and the opportunity to meet so many marvellous women and new friends around the globe. Through their sharing, laughter and friendship, I think my stamping ability has reach a new level and I've learned so much from everyone including Dawn and her fabulous Dream Team and Crew girls. Everyone is saying this has been the best UStamp yet, and they've enjoyed all the projects and opportunities to meet and chat with members of the Dream Team. Now that I'm home from Las Vegas I'll be working away to finish all the projects I wasn't able to complete before my trip and I'll try to post my finished samples over the next week or so.

I'm also super excited to share with you that a new season of UStamp With Dawn and Friends will begin on September 4th and will wrap up October 1st. This session which will focus on the fall mini catalogue with be 28 days long..........that's an extra 4 days of Fun................. can you believe it! If you'd like more information please View article... and sign up now so you won't be disappointed. Admission is $19.95US until August 14th and then ithe price will increase to $25.00 US.

Unexpected Gifts

Today I had something totally unexpected happen that I wanted to share with you. This event absolutely turned my day from a mad hectic rush to a "savor the moment" time. Here's what happened.

Susan Hoare from our Colourful Impressions Group in Langley was looking for some 12 x 12 Textured In Colour from the old cattie. Since I had an unopened package that I wasn't sure I would use, I contacted her and we made arrangements to do a trade. Susan agreed to order me a package of Neutrals cardstock to replace my In Colours one.

Simple right. Well a lot has gone on for both of us in the past few weeks so it wasn't until last night that we were able to connect and arrange the switch. So this morning while I was on business in Langley I drove to Susan's home to pick up the paper but when I arrived, there was no one home and no paper to be found.

A quick call to Susan confirmed that her hubby must have forgotten to leave the package on the front step for me this morning. We talked a bit about alternatives as I wouldn't be able to come in to town again for a while, but Susan who was on her way home from work across the river suggested she come home pick up the Neutrals paper and meet me in Walnut Grove where I was heading for another appointment. How's that for going the extra mile............. man was I impressed.

Susan met me at the appointed time and this bright cheerful gal handed me a Stampin Up' bag with my paper and casually mentioned she had put some "extra's" in the bag for my "inconvenience". We chatted briefly about blogs and stamping and then said our farewells.

As I was dashing off for another appointment I never looked in the bag. So, imagine my surprise and pleasure when I opened the bag tonight and found these two beautiful cards and a fresh package of Delicate Dots 12 x 12 DSP.

I just had to phone her right away and thank her for this beautiful gift and for being there for me. What a thoughtful gal! So Susan here is another thank you as I show off your beautiful handiwork.

Now if I could only figure out how to rotate this card you might be able to see it correctly. It is beautiful

Final Deal of the Week July 27th to Aug 1st, 2009

Well here it is the final week of July................ where has the summer gone? And with that announcement here is the final Stampin' Up Deal of the Week the Heart to Heart Punch.

This is a really great opportunity to add to your punch collection with the Heart to Heart punch. You can purchase this terrific deal for only $15.99....... that's 30% off the regular price of $22.95.

This punch will really come in handy for making quick and simple birthday, anniversary and of course Valentines cards.

If you're interested in purchasing this final Deal of the Week, please go to my online shopping service on my website, and select deal of the week. Happy Punching!

Origami Box and Gift Card - UStamp with Dawn & Friends

Jenny Moors, the United Kingdon Dream Team Member for UStamp with Dawn and Friends designed a fabulous Origami Gift Box and Matching Gift Card for her second project. Her design used Washington Apple DSP and Ruby Red, Bashful Blue, and Pumpkin Pie ink and Card Stock. Petal Pizzazz and Stem Sayings stamps were used for the flower and sentiment. It was gorgeous!

Since I'm still in between orders and didn't have the DSP Jenny used, I decided to use some more of my retired designer paper (DSP). I made mine using Haiku DSP, and Old Olive cardstock for the base of the box and a combination of Tangerine Tango and Old Olive cardstock for the matching gift card.

Now I absolutely love the Petal Pizzazz stamp set, so you can imagine just how thrilled I was when I could use it for this sample. What I love about Petal Pizzazz is that there are so many ink colour combinations and mounting configurations that can be used with this set.

I have made up several sheets (I'll post a sample later) of stamped flower images in various inks and I cut out these images when I've some downtime watching tv or sitting in my garden. That way I have them on hand to make a quick card or embellish a scrapbook page as needed. These are great for making card candy samplers too for door prizes and gifts.

Here is a side view of the origami box I made. Although you can't see it in these pictures I lined the inside squares of the lids with Tangerine Tango DSP paper for contrast (same as the one on the card band). The flower is mounted with dimensionals and a yellow Circle of Fire brad was used for the center of the flower.

The sentiment "Just for You" is from the Oval All stamp set (got to love that one too).

I hope you enjoyed this fun project ........ I know I did. In fact, my friend's granddaughter's eighth birthday is coming up next week and I think I'll make her one of these sets and put a little set of earings in the gift box for her .........shhhhhhhhh don't tell!