A Gift Bag for the New Mr. & Mrs.

Is your refrigerator covered with wedding invitations like mine? 

You need to make a few of these to have on hand: Just drop in a gift and go! 

Click for Gift Bag Tutorial!

I'm kind of in love with the new Mint Macaron In-Color for 2015-2016: It's so elegant! Paired with the new Tip-Top Taupe (another new In-Color) it's a perfect marriage of color (pun intended). The gorgeous Dotted Lace trim comes in all 5 of the new hues, too. I picked up the handled-bag at the dollar store, but everything else can be found in my online store.

And if you don't have the Bow Builder Punch, order it immediately. Seriously.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Serendipity that this coincides with the #TGIFC08 challenge and co-ordinates with their colors, too:

Thanks for checking in and wishing you wonderful weddings!

Season of Love

Should love be in season all year long? I think so! Especially since my last name is SpendLOVE (I'm pretty lucky in the name department...and he thinks I only married him for his car, pshaw...)

So this LOVE-ly card could be a Valentine, a bright Springtime wedding or just because you need to spread the love and was created with one of Stampin' Up!'s new Photopolymer stamp sets called Snuggles and Smooches and the 2013-2015 In-Colors. Click on the photo for a printable .pdf tutorial!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Did you know that for each $50 product you purchase from my Stampin' Store you can choose a Sale-a-Bration product FREE? And one of the choices is the Blendabitilies Markers from the catalog! Since I used the Coastal Cabana Markers to color the glimmer heart on this card, you could choose those as your Sale-a-Bration reward when you place your order: Use code 139923 to get them free.

Tuesday Tutorial: Embossing Resist with Corner Garden

The Embossing Resist technique is one of my favorites, and this beautiful card showcases it monochromatically with one of my new go-to colors: Lost Lagoon (one of the new Stampin' Up! 2014-2016 In-Colors) Download this printable tutorial for the card below and try it at home.

Original card created by Kelly Acheson

Hello There Card

Bloomin' Marvelous In-Color Kit for Sale-a-Bration

Who doesn't love FREE STAMPS? Sale-a-Bration is the most anticipated sale of the year at Stampin' Up! because you can choose a stamp set (or other selected products) FREE with every $50 purchase!

Today I wanted to share a "kit" you could purchase to make (at least) 80 cards with...and get the Bloomin' Marvelous Stamp Set (shown below) FREE!

Here is what the kit contains:

2012-2014 In-Color Kit* (5 Ink Pads & 20 sheets of coordinating card stock)   $29.95

Very Vanilla card stock                                                                         $8.50

Stitched Satin Ribbon (choose from the same 5 colors* above)                        $8.95

Bitty Butterfly Punch                                                                          $15.95

TOTAL (before s&h and tax): $63.35

+ get the Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set free!       

That's less than $1 per card! And here are some of the cards you could make with your Bloomin' Marvelous Kit (which is both the title AND the description!) :

(This last card is an idea borrowed from Mary Fish over at Stampin' Pretty, with my own spin on it)

* FYI: The 2012-2014 In-Colors are: Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals, Gumball Green and Raspberry Ripple and are the colors used on the cards above. 

Surely you'll be able to come up with MORE ideas using the Bloomin' Marvelous Sale-A-Bration stamp set and you can order this kit (and more!) in my online store here. To see more S-A-B products, click on the brochure in the right column!

If you would like make any of these cards, I'd be happy to use the one you like best for a free make-n-take project at a class you host in your home! I only have a few dates left before S-A-B ends on March 22, so contact me ASAP: 801-376-8685

Satin Rosette & Ribbon Roll Control (Blog Candy!)

Today's card features a rosette created with the Stitched Satin Ribbon (Summer Starfruit #126846). To create this flower, I used a Jumbo Sticky Round (#127852) and started on the outside of the circle with the end of my ribbon, gathering (or "scrunching") the ribbon as I went around the circle, spiraling into the center and finishing it with a Midnight Muse Dahlia (#127556).  Since it's "Back to Spool" time, you can get your ribbon FREE....

My *favorite* way to store my ribbon is with the Ribbon Roll Control system, shown here wearing all the In-Color Stitched Satin Ribbon:

And THANKS to Trish of RRC who has kindly donated one of these cool acrylic stands to be given to one lucky visitor (no ribbon included)! Leave a comment below by September 30th and you could be the winner. If you don't win, head on over to Ribbon Roll Control and order a few of these to hang on your wall and keep your ribbons corralled!

Wait...that would be TWO chances to win, because someone will also receive the card I created, too!

UPDATED: The winners are Heather B~Ribbon Roll Control and Kathy Mc~Card! Thanks for visiting and commenting. We bloggers love to hear from our readers, it means so much!  Kathy Mc: I need your snail addy to send this card to...email me :)

Ribbonista

If you love embellishing with ribbon as much as I do, you are sure to enjoy the "Back to Spool" promotion in September: A FREE spool of  Stitched Satin ribbon with each $40 purchase (a choice of 5 In-Colors for 2012). Of course, a $200 purchase would get you all 5 colors shown here: Raspberry Ripple (126845), Primrose Petals (126844), Summer Starfruit (126846), Gumball Green (126848) & Midnight Muse (126847). 

...and what's not to love about this new Elegant Butterfly punch (127526)? I want to use it on everything!

Why wait? Get your ribbon today!

Last Chance at Free Stamps for Sale-a-Bration

I wish I could remember who shared these fun card ideas at Stampin' Up! Leadership, but THANKS to whomever it was!

With 2 days of Sale-a-Bration left, I just wanted to share a few more card samples with you: When you purchase the products needed to create these cards you can get the stamp set (Elementary Elegance) used to create all these cards FREE! AND you can make over 40 cards with the supplies you purchase!
WOW!!

In case you can't read it, the supplies are these:
 

124329            2011-2013 In-Color Card Stock, $6.95

100730            Whisper White Card Stock (40), $8.50    

119851            Curly Label Punch, $16.95

104430            Stampin’ Dimensionals, $3.95

112937            Island Indigo Classic Stamp Pad, $5.95

122935            Lucky Limeade Classic Stamp Pad, $5.95

122935            Pool Party Classic Stamp Pad, $5.95

Elementary Elegance Stamp Set   FREE! 125120 (Wood Mounted) or 125122 (Clear Mounted)

Total          $54.20 +shipping & tax            

REMEMBER: Sale-a-Bration ends tomorrow, March 31st!! SHOP NOW!

Fruits & Flowers (Digitally) for You

If you haven't had a chance to play with My Digital Studio from Stampin' Up, make it your summer creative goal!

A Free Designer Template As a "hurray" to the new catalog and beginning of a Stampin' Up! year, we're offering customers a FREE greeting card designer template! Download this adorable Fruit & Flowers 5-1/2" x 4-1/4" template for a quick glance at some mixing and matching of the new catalog content and the new 2011-2013 In Colors! Your free download will be available immediately if you already have an online ordering account, or within 24 hours when you create a new account.

Already an MDS user? Update Your MDS Color Palette with 2011-2013 In Colors FREE!

You can update your My Digital Studio color palette by downloading the latest 1.0.7 update to the software by going to "Check for Updates" in the Help menu of your My Digital Studio software or by installing from the Updates section of MyDigitalStudio.net. Once installed, the color palette in your software will be updated with this year's In Colors: Calypso Coral, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, and Wisteria Wonder. And be sure to check out the July 5 downloads for additional In Color downloads for purchase!

Did you know...the new Idea Book & Catalog has 26 NEW My Digital Studio downloads! The new downloads coordinate with your favorite traditional stamps, embellishments, and Designer Series Paper from the catalog. You can purchase all of this content as individual downloads or as four large DVD collections, priced at over a 10 percent discount from the individual download prices.

I'm That Friend...

It won't come as any surprise that my favorite set from the new Occasions Mini Catalog is "Eat Chocolate" and here is the card I created for the Stitched Stampers Occasions Mini Swap (inspired by a Mojo Monday sketch):

I added a little Crystal Effects on the chocolate and now it looks good enough to eat!

Now if you are a local (Utah County)...have you tried "The Chocolate" (a dessert cafe) in Orem? We just discovered it a few months ago and I can definitely recommend skipping dinner and just going for dessert...

And since we are chatting about chocolate, may I recommend a good book?

This is a wonderful new cookbook by Annette Lyon (who also writes LDS Fiction) and I can say that she really makes chocolate fun! I got to visit with her when she came to sign books a few months ago in our Deseret Book Store (where I have worked for 5 years) and I was so excited when this came out!

My Great-Grandmother Charlotte Jane Cole Grey's biography was titled "I'd Rather Read a Recipe Than A Book".  I think the fact that I like to read recipes AND books comes from both Charlotte and Montrue,  her daughter (my Grandma) who worked for years at the Dixie College bookstore... the love of books & cooking run in the family!

Since "I'm That Friend (Who Has Chocolate)" here's a chance to win some BLOG CANDY CHOCOLATE! Leave a comment (or a recipe!) about your favorite chocolate indulgence and YOU COULD WIN a delicious chocolate treat AND the "It's All Good" stamp set (retired). Comment by midnight, February 8th and I'll announce the winner on the 9th!

Royal Blog Tour

Welcome to Utah, blog travelers! I am delighted to introduce you to the new Stampin' Up! set On a Pedestal! The 2009-10 In-Color palette seemed to compliment the "party" feeling, so I used Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry and Crushed Curry for these cards:

For this pull-up card, I added a sentiment from the Chit Chat rub-ons...isn't it cute? Below is the surprise you find when you pull it up :)As another SWEET treat for stopping by, leave a comment along with your e-mail address and you can be entered to win my BLOG CANDY: the Spring Solitude stamp set and co-ordinating Solitude wheel (retired but brand new). I appreciate comments from everyone, but the drawing will be open to non-SU demos only and only to U.S. visitors but if you are a sister demonstrator or from another country feel free to comment anyway and indicate SU Demo/or country!

Happy stamping and visit anytime you need a shot of creative juice!

In-Color Spotlight: Melon Mambo

The last 2009-2010 In-Color spotlight is Melon Mambo: BRIGHT and cheery!
And this darling stamp set is On A Pedestal, which is the stamp set I'll be showcasing for the Royal Blog Tour! So mark your calendar and come by to see more samples on July 26-28!

In-Color Spotlight: Soft Suede

This "Soft Suede" card was crafted for me by my friend Vivian......and includes the Soft Suede polka-dot grosgrain ribbon! It was stamped with a new hostess level 3 set, Kind and Caring Thoughts. Thanks for sharing, Vivian!

In Color Spotlight: Bermuda Bay

Ahhh, Bermuda Bay is the essential color of summer and I LOVE both the color AND this new stamp, Medallion. I tried putting a greeting on it, but it just doesn't need it :) The Bermuda Bay patterned paper is found in the "Thoroughly Modern" Designer Series Paper package. Simple? Yes. Beautiful? Definitely.

In-Color Spotlight: Crushed Curry

Flashback to the colors of the 70's: Crushed Curry brings back happy memories of Tupperware parties, the music of the Carpenters and shag carpeting! Paired with black, it felt like my great-grandma's kitchen:Paint with a little bleach and it will wash out the color, then pull out the sewing machine for the detail on the side! I'm off to see Harry Potter! See you tomorrow...

Edit: Sorry I forgot to say that this set is a new Hostess Level 1 set, Country Morning!

In-Color Spotlight: Rich Razzleberry

I pulled out the Big Shot to make this card to showcase the Rich Razzleberry In-Color: the flowers are created using the Manhattan Impressions Folder. These flowers definitely make a great "impression"! The grosgrain ribbon is actually polka-dotted on one side this year, but I felt like the elegance of the flowers needed just the plain side of the ribbon. Add a saying from the Sincere Salutations set and it is simply beautiful.
I wish I could send out a card to everyone who has been supportive and loving recently...for now, enjoy the "virtual" card and my deep gratitude. Friends are truly the flowers in the garden of life!

Spotlight on NEW In-Colors: DUSTY DURANGO

Being a girl originally from Dixie and with the rich sandstone dirt of my home firmly stuck between my toes, I always need a little of this color in my life. I painted my basement family room this color as an homage to "home" and all the kids know that I'd love a car in this same hue. I'd call it "Rusty Pumpkin", but Stampin' Up! has named it DUSTY DURANGO and it's one of the new '09-'10 In Colors! This card was created with the new Animal Stories set...isn't that an adorable giraffe?
I'm planning on posting a mono-chromatic card each day this week showcasing our new In-Color line, so come on back to visit!