Celebrate Good Times...and Great Stamping!

January was a crazy busy month for me! From Stampin' Up! Leadership in San Antonio to Inventory at the Bookstore...I paddled non-stop to keep my head above water (but it was all fun!). I've been doing a little better at updating my Facebook Page ("Creative Juice by Loni Spendlove") because I can do that from my phone, so follow me there and I've shared samples and events and photos because it's easy.

SO I'm a little late, but Sale-a-Bration began last week! You can click on the link to the left to download the SAB brochure...and you'll notice there are no prices in it because you can only get the products in this catalog FREE!!!

Here are a few fun samples using the Everyday Enchantment products...you can earn ALL of the Everyday Enchantment products FREE (Stamps, Designer Series Paper, Buttons and Brads) when you host a qualifying workshop ~or~ earn them separately free with each $50 order :)

 

This last one is a gift bag project I showed at my January workshops! One of the best ways to earn FREE products during Sale-a-Bration is to host a workshop and my calendar is filling fast, so if you'd like to invite friends over to be creative together, call me and we can plan a fun party together: 801-376-8685!

Sale-a-Bration lasts through March, and online orders (and My Digital Studio orders!) can also qualify for SAB benefits, so feel free to click the "Shop Now" button which will take you to my website, where you can get the preferred pricing and all the benefits with your qualifying order!

Paper Doily Die Video

Thought this would be helpful when you order your Paper Doily Die from the Occasions Mini Catalog!

Tin Cans and Tasty Treats

 I had started this post a few weeks ago, but have been so busy at the bookstore I wasn't able to post before now...but don't fret! You can can gifts ANYTIME of the year :) This is just a sample of one way to decorate a tin can that contains an unexpected surprise...and read the whole post for a tasty treat that you can make quickly to put inside if you don't happen to have pearls or diamonds to put into the can (which happen to fit nicely, or gift cards, or other small gifts)

The easiest way to make these is to use a clean-edge can opener and open the bottom of the can, clean it out and take off the wrapper (so you can add your own). Once the can is dry, put your gift in and use a thin line of Crystal Effects (from Stampin' Up! of course!) around the edge of the lid you removed and press down to re-seal can. Add a decorative cover and voila! A canned gift!

Interestingly, the gals over at Our Best Bites were sharing the same idea this week and if you want to just print off a label, click on the picture below for a link to their post and a free printable :)

Now ONE MORE TREAT for you...this is my favorite Christmas Candy, but be WARNED! It is EXTREMELY ADDICTING:

 Caramel Snowman Poop!

2 cups Butter

1 cup Honey

4 cups Sugar

1 cup Cream (I used whipping cream)

Combine all ingredients and cook, stirring frequently to soft ball stage. Pour over 2 large Tupperware bowls of popcorn, Chex or ~my favorite~ a large bag of puffed corn cereal (they sell it this time of year in a big bag at the grocery story, which reminds me to make some and then give it all away or else I would eat it all myself).

Friends & Family at Deseret Book

Clearance Rack Blitz at Stampin' Up!: December 15-January 5th

The Stockings Were Hung...

If you are stuffing your stockings for the Christmas Season, a MUST HAVE item is the new Holiday Stocking Die for the Big Shot (Item 120498, $32.95). Look at the adorable quilt (shown at Jill Olsen's St. George stamp day in September) made with some of our exclusive fabric and the above mentioned die:

 

And the creative possibilities are endless with paper and fabric:

Jill even got creative and turned the stocking into a Witch Boot for this quilt (yes, I'm backtracking to Halloween for a moment...)

 But wait! There are more fun ideas! Check out this adorable Rudolph treat holder we made at our Holiday Stamp Camp! Just turn the stocking over and use the heel and toe for his ears (his antlers are created from the Snowflake Die and he is embossed with the Elegant Lines Embossing Folder):

 It's not too late to order for Christmas! Place an order on my website by December 14 for Christmas delivery!

Shop in your Pajamas!

 Online X Flyer US

Oh, Canada!

Finally have a few moments to share what I did with my bonus when I reached my Stampin' Up! Milestone in March!

For months, I pondered what to do...get a new dining room set? Put it toward Baby Step #3 that we are working on? New clothes? Food storage? Finally, about July, it came to me! Why not use it to begin working on my Bucket List? And at the top of the list (since I was 11 years old and my mother brought me Anne of Green Gables) was to visit Prince Edward Island! Hello Green Gables:

So, in September, that is what I did! I took my husband and we flew into Boston, MA, rented a car and drove up through Massachusetts, Maine, New Brunswick, across the Confederation Bridge to the Gentle Island and then back through Nova Scotia and back to Boston, where we flew home. It was a dream come true!

While I wish I could journal all of it here, I am going to create a scrapbook of the trip (using My Digital Studio, of course) and transfer the wonderful journal entries Cody kept along the way, too. Meanwhile, I want to share some of the highlights with you and thank you again for helping me reach that goal! My only regret is that I didn't lose 20 pounds and hit the tanning bed before taking any pictures :(

Did you know that the blueberry capital of the U.S. is in Cherryville, Maine?

 On the north shore of P.E.I...warm Atlantic waters!

 In the schoolroom where Lucy Maud Montgomery attended school:

 Some of the most beautiful beaches in the world!

 World-famous COWS ice cream, yummy even on a rainy day.

The ship Hector in Nova Scotia...made me grateful for my own Pilgrim ancestors and the sacrifices they made.

Rounding out my "literary tour" was Walden Pond and the Concord, MA home of Louisa May Alcott:

 On the bridge in Concord where the Revolutionary War began:

It was a wonderful vacation (the first one we've been on together alone that wasn't work-related since our honeymoon!) and we made many marvelous memories. The only downside is that my kids say that now we can't sing "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" song because we *have* been to Boston in the fall! I guess it is a sacrifice we had to make :)

Doing the Belly-(band) Dance

Sometimes all it takes to go from boring to WOW!  is a little belly(band) dance!

For instance, take a kraft box and wrap a strip of Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper (DSP) around it and voila! A simply elegant gift without wrapping paper! A perfectly placed stamped tag always covers the seam perfectly, too.

By the way, this little box (from the Holiday Mini catalog) is the perfect size for giving a stack of cookies made with the new Cookie Press Stamps).

Consider the elegance of the belly-band as it dresses up a jar of homemade Apple Pie Filling:

And of course, a gate-fold card kept closed with the versatile and stylish belly-band wrap just piques interest as to what holiday message could be hiding within:

So if you find yourself needing a little "dancing" this holiday season, try the Belly-Band Dance...and then share a link in the comments showing off your own!