by Susan Itell | Jan 24, 2016 | Step it up Sunday!, Uncategorized |
WOWZERS…We have never ever had this much snow before and to be honest with you….I would be “just fine” if it doesn’t happen again! It snowed ALL day yesterday (and actually it is still snowing as I type this at 7 p.m.) At the end of the post I will share with you some pictures of the snow….my fur babies. We were to get high winds last night so I am hoping and praying that the power behaves itself!
Make sure that you read to the end of the post as I am offering a personal special for you today….it is good for JUST TODAY!
Let’s get to it….I made some minor….minor changes that are a cinch to do and it is amazing how just a change up in (3) things makes a difference. Some may like it, some may not and that is just fine…my goal is to try to share and inspire you to try different things!
The (3) changes were:
- I cut the DSP into (4) 1″ strips X 3″
- I added 1/4″ strips of blushing bride to the edges.
- I used Stampin’ Dimensionals to POP up the sentiment and the heart.
The other thing that I forgot to mention yesterday that I did on both cards was to use the White Fun Foam to back the layer up! Several weeks ago I blogged about doing this and I am really liking it. I purchased it from Amazon and you can click here to see what it is…I am amazed at how substantial the card feels in your hand as by having the solid piece – it makes a very solid card.
It is best to adhere this with a tape runner or I used fast fuse I (as I am not addicted to it) If you use the good old green glue, it soaks right in the foam…not a good choice! If you happen to have some craft foam, try it – you might like it! This is something that is could to try when you have a larger, solid piece like this one….also it works great on die cuts….this is what I used to POP up the numbers on the 50th birthday card I did last Thursday!
On today’s card, I did use stampin’ dimensionals to pop up both the heart and the sentiment…yesterday they were adhered flat! Either way works…just comes down to preference!
Let’s chat about the strips…yesterdays dimension for the DSP was 4 1/2″ X 3 1/2″ but today I just made the DSP into (4) X 3 1/2″ strips. You still cn do both the card and the lined envelope with just (1) sheet of DSP.
Because I did the card with the 1/4″ strip with the DSP I thought, WHY NOT??? Just continue to make this theme work on the card! I highly reccomend that you use the RIGHT hand side of your stampin’ trimmer to make small (thin) cuts…..it is much easier to see and do! There really is no science about how I added them.
This method is a fun one to do and also you can see that if you did not get it perfectly straight, no worries…the strips of paper are your friends and they will go over top of the DSP strips!
I do think that this is a super sweet and cute card! YEP, it can certainly be used for Valentines Day but it could also be sent as a thank you for a special friend. These prints on this stack “grows on you” after you look at them over and over. I can remember when I first saw this paper stack, I thought it was JUST VALENTINES….it certainly is not at all – it is a great collection of fun and rich papers!
Well – there you go….another 2 day post that will show you that there are 2 ways to make a simple card work! I hope that if you are affected by this unbelievable snow storm that you are safe and staying in and letting nature do its thing….and then letting the road crews that are working sooooo are do their thing.
The way I look at it is = IT ALLOWS UP TO DO OUR THING….MAKE CARDS!
Please remember to use the hostess code of 3RPTW7MB (the current hostess code will always be in the upper corner of my blog) and you can click here and see the goodies that I will send your way!
Here is a SPECIAL for you JUST FOR TODAY –
Sunday, January 24th…
Because many of us are “snowed in”.…let’s go shopping! Place an order with my TODAY and I WILL PAY FOR YOUR SHIPPING……I can calculate what you had to incur with your order and I will send you a check for your shipping expenses when I send you the card and/or the Wink of Stella Pen…..
Be smart with your ordering so you can get some freebies from the SAB catalog
If you order is anywhere near $99 – than do the smart thing and get the kit... you will get $155 worth of products for just $99….Because this automatically ships for free…You can email me (3) Sale-a-Bration items that you want and I will be happy to send them your way!
I adore and welcome Hobby Stampers…
I consider myself a hobbiest just “stepped up a bit” – please feel free to email me if you have any questions! I think that many of you think there is a big commitment etc, there is NOT…trust me, I just want you to be able to take advantage of the best opportunity!
Enjoy the below pictures….it was a crazy day yesterday and I am sure that the digging out will be one for the record books – I am still dealing with one MISERABLE pig (I need to get a picture of her)
“Oscar and Colin”, the horses and “Jack”, one of our Rotten Russell’s are missing from the camera….trust me, I will have lots of time to get pictures over the next several days! YIKES – CALGON, take me away!
by Susan Itell | Jan 23, 2016 | Uncategorized |
Welcome to a Simple Saturday post! For those of you that are new to my blog let me fill you in what I do on the weekends! Saturdays post is called Simple Saturday and then pop back tomorrow and you will see Step it Up Sunday – the same card…just “stepped” up a bit! We all know that there are so many ways to create…I just like to share and show you how YOU can do it!
Please do not forget to subscribe to my blog so you will not miss a post! You can do so to the right of the posting. I know that many of you are still having troubles since I have switched from Typepad to Word Press, my address IS the same…www.simplestampin.com (Please let me know if you are still having issues – I do not want you to miss you my simple stampin fun)!
We are SUPER LUCKY to have so many FUN PAPERS with us right now in the Stampin’ Up! liine…I personally adore these paper stacks, WHY? = EASY…I love the size, 6″ X 6″ and I love the fact that you get (4) sheets of each pattern. This one is called Love Blossoms and it is just beautiful! I love it especially since it has so many small prints, they are super easy to work with and can make a simple card look fabulous in no time! I LOVE THAT EASY BUTTON!
You can see that for today’s card I totally let this yummy paper be the star. WHY NOT – sometimes I think that we are afraid to use the DSP in a big fashion but try it – you will be super happy as it is a H U G E time saver and guess what – it is a super simple yet very effective.
Be EASY on yourself…SIMPLE works just fine!!!
The card base is a Notecard size and then I just went down 1/4″ on both the white and also the DSP. The sentiment is from the super fun and popular set from the annual catalog called Sheltering Tree….please do not forget about these wonderful sentiments in this stamp set – they are perfect as I have shown you today but they are also perfect for an inside message.
I hope that this card brought a Saturday smile to your face! Simple, Fun & DONE! The Sweetheart Punch was a quick POP and then of course I could not resist…..little dots around to make it special!
Please do not be afraid to cut out a sentiment like this….just stamp it and then cut around – I like this when I do not want to think about being straight or looking for a framelit that might work. WOW – that sounds lazy but this does work and this is a fun and effective way to showcase a sentiment!
I need to say a HUGE and HEARTFELT THANK YOU for all of the sweet comments and emails I have received over the loss of sweet Norman. My heart was full and my eyes were wet reading them and I appreciate each and everyone of them. Again, thank you for being you.
Most of you know that we live in Maryland and if you have seen the news you know that we are right in the middle of this snow storm. I waited for this post to go off a bit later to share with you what we woke up to this morning!
The below picture is the beautiful sky I was able to “take in” yesterday morning when going down to the barn and then the next picture is what I woke up to today. We have a balcony off of our bedroom look – we are at 20″ now and still going!
I am hitting the send button to you all and then “SUITING UP” – to make the trek to the barn…all of the horses are in the barn and from what it looks like – they will be there for many days! I am crazy to do what I do but I love it! The dogs LOVE the snow but they cannot go out to play until we make a path as it is too deep – trust me, that will not stop a Jack Russell from having fun!
Poor Daisy is MISERABLE – pigs do not like to be cold and they definitely do not like SNOW….she’ll be fine ….just make a path for her she does her business and then grunts and groans the whole way back to warmth – she is ONE LUCKY PIG!
Be safe…have fun today and I am being SUPER careful as I want this to be a healthy year for me! After this barn thing – you bet I’ll be doing what we all love – STAMPING UP A STORM!
I look forward to seeing you tomorrow…..
p.s. = SNOW UPDATE….2 hours after the above picture…26″ = We are coming in from round #1 – horses are happy – Daisey is miserable …..but we have power!!!!
by Susan Itell | Jan 21, 2016 | Uncategorized |
This challenge really had me thinking…..actually scratching my head is a better statement! I hope that you will pop over to the Pals Paper Art Website and “take in” what all of the amazing designers came up with! They are wonderful!
The sketch was created by a fellow PAL, Maggie Mata…she rocked the sketch this week to make us really work out of our comfort zone….you know me, Miss Clean and Simple and I was STUMPED but then I think I made it work!
This was the card that I gave to my friend for her 50th that a bunch of us celebrated 2 weekends ago! I think that this layout can be adapted for many occasions with many different stamps!
This is one that I would definitely say – BUY THE BUNDLE!!!! The automatic 15% off is worth it but this stamp set and die are AMAZING and they are super HOT….so much that they are running low on inventory but have no fear – there are more in the horizon!
The left folded piece was fun to do. I scored the paper but then also scored it to hold it against the white embossed piece and adhering it with the Fast Fuse was really fast! I did a super quick fussy cut around the words and matted them in the Mint Macaroon.
Darn I adore that white gel pen…does the trick every time! For the letters I used the white craft foam that I shared with you last week. It works great with dies and I love the height that it gives….super easy!
The other reason that you need this Bundle is that the sentiment for the inside is BINGO! I loved that Stampin’ Up! gave us a perfect sentiment but that “swoosh” – LOVE IT.….the perfect touch!
Are you smiling? This is a fun card and with this new Paper Stack, It’s My Party….is a PERFECT pack of paper that you will use ALL YEAR LONG! Fun, Fresh and Festive! I adore that they are in the 12 x 12 size as you can use it in many ways….even with the basket die….wouldn’t that be super cute!
Below you will see the goodies that I used for this card! The colors are FUN…the textures are FUN…..it is just a FUN CARD! Please CASE this card…it was a stretch for me but I know that YOU CAN DO IT!
by Susan Itell | Jan 20, 2016 | Uncategorized |
Hello my friends and I hope that you do not click me off as I do not have a post for you today….unfortunately I have some sad news that happened yesterday afternoon and it is hard for me to write about a card right now….As you know if you follow my blog regularly, I use my blog not only for my love of paper crafting and my Stampin’ Up! business but also as a forum for you to get to know me!
I was doing a “Kind and Great” thing yesterday by going to help a friend to do grocery, errands and to just PERK UP as her husband is out of town at a horse show ( Hannah’s trainer and this is his full time job) and she is very “down” with having a severe riding injury that required extensive surgery 3 weeks ago. I know, I know….living and breathing animals is a full time job but one that I adore and is part of my life and I just love my “horse friends” and I know she needed me to perk her up!
We had a fabulous time….laughed…complained….did the grocery store….bank….made a “plan” for the big snow storm that we are to have potentially on the East Coast this weekend….(she will be coming to our home if it hits) and then as I was driving home I had a call on my cell from a number that I did not recognize. I took the call and on the other end was a man that was so upset….it was the Fed X driver and he said that he was making a delivery to our home and hit a dog.
Naturally my heart dropped….I knew that all of the dogs except Norman were in the house as he prefers to be out…..he is the Beagle that we rescued from Gulf Port Mississippi 4 years ago when we were at a Horse Show….then my heart sank lower as I had had a text from James at lunch saying that he popped home and got his ski clothes to take some students to go snowboarding last night and I thought that he might have left the dogs out as he knew that I was on my way home.
My dogs are a HUGE part of my life and darn, it has taken the loss of several dogs to try to get a grip and understand why it is that they embrace our lives and then leave us way to soon. It was my dear, sweet Norman that had a terrible life before Hannah and I brought him home 4 years ago from Mississippi.
He had issues of distrust but he never, ever would have hurt a teeny little flea. It literally took us years to get him to know that he was safe and “ok”, that his life was good – I called him the “Mayor of our Farm”….be preferred to be outside and then when it was on “Norman’s time”….you would hear a scratch on the door and one of would say, “Norman wants in”
I know that many of you must think we are NUTS to have so many animals but we are fortunate to have a place where we can have them. We know that this will not be forever as we really, really want to down size as the kids are all grown but I truly believe that our animals have taught us some of the greatest life lessons to us and our children.
Sorry I am rambling but I will leave you with a story that is one for the record books…..John truly thinks that I need to write a book as he feels that the “life lessons” that I adore and embrace are ones that need to be written down. I do this for my children but I would be afraid that if people really read some of the things that “happen” – they would say. “YOU SIMPLY CANNOT MAKE THAT UP”
Most Horse people are crazy people (I do not think that as I am one of them) but I will say that we do very strange things for our horses. Hannah and I were in Gulf Port at a show. This show is a five week one so I was camped out there for the whole time and Hannah would come over on weekends from college to ride. On Mondays, the show is very quite and many of the people that come to the show circuit would go to the local Humane Shelter and volunteer time with dogs and cats.
This area was hit VERY hard from Katrina and there was still very visible damage to the area. The Humane Shelter was amazing, totally rebuilt and doing great but it was terrible with the amount of stray animals they pick up. There was Norman. No one wanted Norman as he was boring to most people that wanted to adopt a dog.
Norman just sat there. Norman wasn’t even in a caged, rather he was in a play yard as he just hung out. As I went there on Monday’s I said to a volunteer, “What’s his deal” – she said that he was picked up as a stray but no one wants him because he just sits there!
Well I think you know me well enough by now, my heart was open and ready to bring Norman back to Maryland to meet his playmates! While we we making the 21 hour trek home we had a blow out (major one) on the trailer in Birmingham Alabama during their rush hour and I was on an over pass (I told you …there are things that you just cannot make up)
Here it was….. myself, Hannah, her boyfriend Aidan (poor guy – he must think we are nuts)….3 dogs….2 horses stuck on an overpass in a sketchy section of town and blocking traffic – all I could think of is WHY ME????
I policeman finally made his way up to us as the traffic was backed up for miles and I burst into tears….he was super sweet and meanwhile I have John on the phone and AAA will not do road side with animals in the trailer and I said there is no way that I am unloading my precious horses on a major highway to fix a blow out!
The policeman called some friends and they jacked the trailer up with the horses and fixed it enough to get me off the overpass and then plan B went onto effect (darn, I learned a lot this trip)….we ended up loosing 4+ hours over this whole ordeal and Hannah and I knew that we would not be able to drive straight through….
Believe it or not there is a website called horse motels…..I could not believe that I would be looking at this but I was exhausted and desperate! We found something that I thought would work in Tennessee and I felt bad as when I called the owners of the “BBB” – …ready for this…“Bed, Breakfast and Barn” I told them that I could care less where I sleep but I was picky about my horses….
We got there around 11 p.m. and it was great – they had our stalls ready…the owners were very nice and then they said some dreadful words…I forgot to ask you….from experience we have learned that most horse people also have dogs….do you have dogs? I had a HUGE lump in my throat as of course I have dogs….and Norman, by precious rescue that was so challenged….
They asked me if it was ok if they stayed in the barn and I said, “I am sorry….my dogs are used to being inside and I guess that we will have to continue to drive” Well I think she felt sorry for us and I wish that you could have seen Aidans face – poor guy – he has no idea what he is getting himself into (they are STILL together)….the 3 of us….and the dogs….all went to a SINGLE room and had a slumber party and after we were settled in, we laughed and laughed……
There was NO WAY that I was going to let my new rescue dog that was just neutered stay in a strange barn over night…..I swear you can not make this stuff up! It all worked out (as it does when you are positive and have faith) and we were able to make lemonade out of lemons….
I thank you for letting me express myself to you today! I still am in shock and I treasure my buddies….we do not know what will be thrown to us every day. Please take each day, embrace it, be kind, try to make a difference as we all have “stuff” that we all are dealing with!
I will blog tomorrow as it is a PPA day and I have it ready to go but I am going to take Friday off….and will be back for the 2 day weekend blog post! I thank you if you have read through this long post but at the same time it was a comfort to me to be able to share with you something that is so near and dear to me heart!
by Susan Itell | Jan 19, 2016 | Paper Pumpkin, Uncategorized |
I admit that a huge smile is on my face when I see that little red box with the NEW Paper Pumpkin in it. I think the element of the surprise is always what make me smile when I see the box. (sounds like a little kid when they get a new toy)
One thing that I am guaranteed each and every month is:
- I will have a FUN project for some “me time” as everything is included in the box!
- I will get a new “Stampin’ Spot” (that is a small cube of ink) – This month it is Watermelon Wonder
- I will get a new Stamp Set – This month it is a true Valentines classic one that will be used for years and years
- I know that I can count on having extra left overs as Stampin’ Up! is always generous to make sure you have ample. (Many times I switch it up so I can use the embellishments for a future project. (that is what I did this month)
- Because I subscribe to the Paper Pumpkin Program, I have the opportunity to purchase additional kit refills if they become available.
- All of this for just $19.95 a month and that includes shipping
I know that some of you are reluctant to make a purchase without seeing the months offering but to me that is part of it that makes it super fun….the element of a surprise and you just need to trust me on this one – they are great kits…they are always a fun time for yourself to create. Even if a kit on month might not be my style 100%, I always find a way to use it.
With us being in the Sale-a-bration mode, you can get a 3 month subscription to the Paper Pumpkin program for $55.00 and that will allow you to pick a FREE SALE-A-BRATION ITEM….tell me, how can you go wrong?
Grab a “Cup of Joe” and enjoy seeing this months kit
(I adore Stampin’ Ups! Videos they are doing with this program…super short and fun!)
When I saw this kit I immediately knew that these goodies would go to my son that is a teacher in the Boston area! I called him and he was excited for me to do this for his class – I made each of them a heart with a fun sentiment and then asked my son about what candies he wanted me to send to him – I loved his response….
“Mom, I want to make them something myself” – wow…I think it is wonderful that he loves to cook…and WOWZERS, he has become quite the baker (one trait that I do not have) but when I asked him what was he going to make he said – “GRANOLA” – “I make great homemade granola and put it in a little bags, it will be perfect for them on their yogurt” I just had laugh as I was totally thinking a great chewy and decadent Chocolate Chip Cookie! (He’s my super fit runner)
If you are interested in a great deal – I would say go for the (3) Month subscription as not only is it on sale ($55.00) and also you will be able to get a FREE Sale-a-bration item…. you will be set for (3) months of FUN kits that come delivered right to your door! You can click here to go to the direct link.
Friday I am going to share with you another way that I S T R E T C H E D this stamp set for a SUPER CUTE treat for Valentines…trust me, you are going to want to POP back and no worries if you do not have this kit – the idea that I am going to share on Friday can be used with MANY stamp sets….it’s a KEEPER!
- If you want a PRODUCT SHARE, today is the last day that I will be offering them for the Occasions Catalog, CLICK HERE to see the offerings I have and then if you want something, please email me and put in the subject line – PRODUCT SHARE so I can spot it!
- It is Tuesday and you know what that means, time for NEW Weekly Deals – CLICK HERE to see the offerings this week – my pick….WOW – there are 2 that I would go for….the Party Punch Pack (perfect little and quick accents) and also the Berry Basket (I know that these Dies are super $$$$ and this is exactly why I would go for it – 25% off YES!!!!!) Click here to see some adorable baskets I made….this is a GREAT die…a true and timeless classic!
Enjoy the day….stay warm and make someone smile!
