March 25, 2014

Weekly Deals!


Every project starts with....PAPER and this week, there are many deals from which to choose. Whether you want to sparkle, core'dinate or coordinate, there's something for everyone.


Remember, through March 31st, for every $50 you spend, you can choose one item from the Sale-A-Bration catalog for FREE!.

You can place your order on my online store; just click here!

Until next time, take gentle care,

March 23, 2014

No DSP? Make your own!

Often times I'm working away at my craft table, become inspired with a layout that needs some DSP and search through my stash to no avail. What's a girl to do?? Make your own, which is what I did with this card I cased from Dawn Olchefske using Sale-A-Bration products. 



You can get your FREE Sale-A-Bration item with a $50 purchase through March 31st. For your convenience, you can shop my on line store, just click here.

There is still room in my upcoming Saturday workshop. Click here to learn more. I would love to have you come play with me, learn something new, check out the latest SU! products and have some fun!

Until next time, take gentle care,


Card ingredients:

Paper: Pool Party, Pacific Point, Crisp Cantalope Whisper White
Ink: Pool Party, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango
Stamps:  Petal Parade - Free with a $50 purchase
Accessories: Crisp Cantalope twine - Free with a $50 purchase

March 18, 2014

Have I got a deal for you!

Weekly Deals for March 18-24, 2014

If you're someone who is all about the accessories, there will be something in this week's deals just for you!


To order any of these fabulous Stampin' Up! products, shop my online store. Just click here!


The Paper Pumpkin is here!


Looking to get a start into stamping and not sure where to begin? The Paper Pumpkin is delivered to your doorstep each month with everything you need to complete a great project. It may be cards, it be a 3D item. Half the fun is the surprise of opening the box each month!


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NEW Paper Pumpkin subscribers who sign up at My Paper Pumpkin before March 31, 2014, will receive a FREE set of 2012-2014 In Color Stampin' Write Markers -a $14.95  value.  I got a sneak peek of the February and March kits and ABSOLUTELY love them.  Better quality and better value!
  • This special offer is only valid for new subscribers.
  • Customers must sign up at My Paper Pumpkin
  • The markers will be sent with the subscriber's Welcome Kit.  No coupon code is required. Anyone who signs up for a Paper Pumpkin membership during the promotion dates will get a set of 2012-2014 In Color Stampin' Write Markers.

Be sure to check this out!

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The clearance rack offers SU! products at up to 80% off! Click here to check it out.

As always, thanks for stopping!

Take gentle care,




March 17, 2014

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Top of the mornin' to ye! 

The card I'm sharing today was sent to my great-nephew who is one month old. I'm certain he won't appreciate it, but hopefully his mommy and daddy will. 



The inside of the card reads, 'At the end of the rainbow, I found you'. I've yet to meet this little guy; he lives in Louisiana, but I love him from afar!

Wishing you find all your dreams at the rainbows end.

Take gentle care,




March 16, 2014

Sale-a-Bration

There is still time to take advantage of Sale-a-Bration and earn FREE Stampin' Up products. For each $50 you spend in my online store you can choose an item from the Sale-a-Bration catalog.  I made a variety of cards using items from this catalog. I'll be sharing them with you over the next few days. 



This card makes me think of spring and the ability to hang my sheets outside on the wash line. I LOVE the smell when climbing into a bed with fresh from the line linens. The Sweet Sorbet DSP, Summer Starfruit twine from the Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack, Banner Blast stamp set and Banner punch are all Sale-a-Bration items.

Check our the Sale-a-Bration catalog here.

If you'd like to see this sample or any of the others I'll be posting, sign up for my FREE workshop on March 29th. See my March 13th post for photos of the make & takes we'll be doing that day.


Until next time, take gentle care,

March 13, 2014

March 29th Workshop

JOIN ME!!

Saturday, March 29th
9:30 am
5625 Hilldale Drive, Slinger

Over the years, many of you have talked about coming to my house for a play date - well let's do it! There will be lots of fun in store:

     **Two Make & Takes


     **Door Prizes
     **Spend $50, choose a FREE item from the Sale-a-Bration flyer
     **Special gift for anyone who schedules a workshop in my home or yours
     **See what's new at Stampin' Up!
     **Learn about upcoming workshops
     **Enjoy a cuppa jo
     **HAVE FUN!

I only have space for ten people, so reserve your spot now by clicking here and telling me you're coming. Bring a friend! 

Until I see you, take gentle care,



March 12, 2014

Weekly Deals March 11-17


Break out your Big Shot and be sure to take advantage of these great deals! 



All you need to do is click on the 'Shop Now' tab. Know that I am happy to answer any of your stamping questions.

Thanks for stopping and take gentle care,


March 11, 2014

Pal's Spring Blog Hop





Welcome to the Pals March Blog Hop. This month we are excited to kick-off Spring with our creative projects. We hope enjoy these creations and we hope Spring finds your soon! 

You may just be starting the blog hop or may have come from Christie Crosby at Stampin' Creativity  on the Pals Hop. If you get off track at any time, the full lineup below will help you move along from blog to blog so you see all of the amazing creations. Thanks to the talented Nicole Watt for creating our blog hop badge and buttons! 

Nothing says spring like flowers. My very first Stampin' Up! stamp set was flowers. If you would look through my collection  of stamp sets, the majority of them would be flowers or nature related - don't know why, they just call to me and I usually answer.

The Products

Looking for elegant and easy? Look no further than the People Like You stamp. This individual stamp is available in the Occasions Mini for a mere $12.95. The great thing about this stamp is that the design truly does all of the work for you. The line drawing, when embossed is amazing to behold. A photo isn't a true reflection of the beauty of this project.





The card stock used in this project is Rose Red, Daffodil Delight - are you seeing the theme here - and topped off with Wild Wasabi for a bit of spring green. On the Rose Red used for the base of the card, I stamped the floral image around the edge of the card stock with Versamark ink.

The Technique

I started by inking my stamp with Versamark and stamping onto a piece of Whisper White card stock that had been given a good rub down by the embossing buddy. I covered my image with white embossing powder and hit it with the heat gun - wow, that's pretty. Next, out came my blender pen and giving my ink pad a little squeeze - I do love those little guys- I picked up the ink from my ink pad lid and colored my image. Another wonderful thing about this stamp design is that it builds in the shaded and accented areas which is a great thing for those who are not yet comfortable with coloring.

I restamped the sentiment on Wild Wasabi card stock, embossed it, trimmed it by using the decorative label punch and popped that sweet saying onto the main panel with dimensionals.

The last thing to do was to layer the card stock and tah-dahhh, a beautiful, quick and easy spring flower ready to be delivered to a recipient in need.

To purchase the products used in this project, click on the photo below and you'll be off to my online store. To go straight to my online store, click here.

Now it’s time to hop on over to the next stopRae Harper at Wild West Paper Arts#27 on the Pals Blog Hop to see what she’s got in store for you. Thanks for visiting. See you next month!

Take gentle care,




  1. Jackie Diediker at Stampin' Jackie
  2. Susan Itell at Simple Stampin
  3. Peggy Noe at prettypapercards
  4. Debra Simonis at Deb's Stampin' Grounds
  5. Martie Pollard at Crafty Bandit
  6. Goldie Shaul at Punch and Stamp with Goldie
  7. Dawn Tidd at Tiddbits from Dawn
  8. Debbie Mageed at Secret Stamper 
  9. Natalie Bradley at Natalie Bradley Events
  10. Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations
  11. Debbie Crowley at expressivelydeb...
  12. Christine Winslow at Grandma's Stamping Corner
  13. Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty
  14. Michelle Quinno at Shell's Life
  15. Linda Callahan at Stampin' Seasons
  16. Michelle Gleeson at StampinMojo
  17. Shannon Hokanson at Paper Works by Shannon
  18. Diane Roberts at Score at Four and a Quarter
  19. Kerry Willard Bray at Peonies and Paper Chains
  20. Kalyn Shubnell at The Stamping Chronicles
  21. Colleen Mollema at Uncanny Crafting
  22. Amy Lazzell at Just A Thought...Cards by Amy
  23. Maria Flores at Maria's Sandbox
  24. Katy McGloin at Just Fun Stamping
  25. Christie Crosby at Stampin' Creativity
  26. Sue Becker at RnR Stamping
  27. Rae Harper at Wild West Paper Arts
  28. Lynn Kolcun at Stamping with Avery's Owlery
  29. Maggie Mata at Maggie Made Cards
  30. Nicole Watt  at Pixel Maven's Retreat
  31. Sherrie Gross at Stampin' Sunshine

March 8, 2014

Pals Paper Arts Challenge



That's what I did today when I completed my first Pals Paper Arts challenge and what fun it was! Check out the beautiful color scheme.



I'm still thinking spring and with spring comes butterflies. I just love this Swallowtail stamp! After seeing my last group of cards using the Swallowtail stamp, my friend told me that the stamp totally creeps her out - reminds her of 'Silence of the Lambs'. I never saw the movie, so I'm not sure how the butterfly fits in, but I know I won't be sending her a card using this stamp!

The card for this week's challenge was CASEd from DeAnn Rauzi. The moment I saw this color scheme, I knew what I was going to create.



I started with Smokey Slate DSP from the Watercolor Wonder pack. Using the retired French Foliage stamp set and Wisteria Wonder ink, I stamped off the image and added it to the DSP. The Gorgeous Grunge set would work well with this design too.

The Swallowtail was stamped with Versamark onto Wisteria Wonder paper and embossed with silver embossing powder. With sponge dauber in hand, I added Night of Navy to the outside of the image. Moving toward the center I sponged Wisteria Wonder and left the inner edge unsponged. I lightly sponged the body with Night of Navy. From there I fussy cut my little beauty and adhered it to the DSP with my mulitpurpose glue. Before adhering the panel to the Wisteria Wonder CS, I distressed the edges of both the DSP and WW. Finally, I attached the matted panel to the Night of Navy base. 

I was happy with the results and even happier that I met the challenge! If you've never done a color or layout challenge, stretch you creativity and play along.

Be sure to stop back on Tuesday for the Pals Blog Hop. The theme this month is Spring Has Sprung. There is so much talent in this Pals group, I know you'll find some great inspiration as you hop along.

Until next time, take gentle care,










March 4, 2014

Spring into Savings!


Here in Wisconsin the snow is still falling and spring fever is rampant. Lower the temperature on your level of impatience with these wonderful spring products on sale through Monday of next week. 


To order these or any other great SU! products, click here.



What says spring better than a butterfly? 



Using the Swallowtail stamp and VersaMark ink, I embossed onto beautiful spring colored card stock using white embossing powder. I then added depth to the butterfly with the emboss resist technique. Using a stamp pad that matched the card stock and a sponge dauber, I 'colored' the butterfly. It's okay if you go outside the lines - it's art! After filling in the butterfly with color, I wiped over the embossed image with a clean cloth to remove any ink residue. I added a simple stamped greeting and used a stamp from the Papillion Potpourri set on the inside of the card and on the envelope.

There may be snow outside, but spring is budding in my stamping room! 

Thanks for stopping in and until next time, take gentle care,




March 3, 2014

Picture this!

Step by step, I'm getting my blog into shape. Today's new addition is my photo. Many thanks to Amber Bingen, who is a fabulous photographer and who allows me to be Grandma #3 to her two beautiful children, Lucas and Lauren!

As a thank you to Amber for taking time from her busy day for my photo shoot (and for allowing time to smooch on the kids!), I made this card.




I found a camera punch art template on Stampin' Connection, modified it a bit, started with crisp cantelope, a little brushed silver and basic black card stock, topped with a perfect print from the Sweet Sorbet DSP and a bit of rhinestone bling to top it off.

The best part about making hand crafted cards is knowing it's appreciated by the recipient. Amber, thanks for the smiles, the hug and for making me look good!

Take gentle care,

March 1, 2014

Stampin' Up! Texture Boutique Embossing Machine Getting a Tune-Up!


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I wanted to let you know that Stampin' Up! has been receiving feedback (including my own) that the Texture Boutique Embossing Machine is giving uneven results for some customers.  They are in contact with the Texture Boutique manufacturer and are actively working with them on a permanent fix for this issue, which will result in a more even emboss with our high definition folders. In the meantime, Stampin' Up! is turning off this item code on March 8 so it will no longer be available for purchase until the debut of the new annual catalog (June 1).
I'll announce on my blog (and notify my customers personally) when Stampin' Up! has finalized a permanent solution with the manufacturer, including what steps need to be taken for a remedy or replacement.  Current "boutique" owners can keep using the machine with less detailed folders until a more permanent solution is available.
I'm sorry for any inconvenience and want you to know that Stampin' Up! is committed to making this right!
Take gentle care,