I am back…well, kind of!!!

by Susan Itell | Dec 26, 2016 | Uncategorized | 16 comments

Merry…Merry the day after!

I just “had to” grab my computer and sneak a post in! I truly hope that everyone had a blessed day yesterday and that this whole holiday has been filled with joy, happiness, family & friends!

I need to share with you…I have been in my glory, nothing less than SHEER GLORY as I have (and still am) taking in every second of having all 3 peeps home. All is quiet right now as John and I are up while they are still sleeping….we are getting ready for ROUND #3….having 24+ for an afternoon of family fun on Johns side of the family!

I also want to say, “I have missed you all” as my blog, my readers, the comments are all such a great part of ME….and I have missed posting but I admit, family is first and I have so much to share because we have been having a blast!

I know that many of you like my animal stories…the fun in’s and out’s of my life and trust me, I will share/journal some highlights for you in another post but for today….I just needed to grab my computer friend and shoot this out because we need to see who won from the last post…..so here you go – Kathy….get ready…..do that dance….work it Kathy – work it Kathy!!!!

Kathy…please email me you address and I will send you the gold and copper embossing powder!

That’s it for me today….I just wanted you to know that I am missing you all…..I am in my family glory….and I hope that you are having a great holiday! I know that my blog is to be posts of Stampin’ Up! inspiration, but my blog is an extension of ME…..and you all know me well enough….you will ALWAYS get great inspirations of cards etc….but right now, I am in my family glory!

Ho-Ho-Ho ~ clarifications for YOU!

by Susan Itell | Dec 21, 2016 | Uncategorized | 44 comments

Ho-ho-ho….and I think that today I am going to address and hopefully shed some LIGHT to you all about the heat embossing tip from Monday’s Post! Again, I adored all of your comments and we do have a winner….I just love being Santa……drum roll….drum roll…. it is Jennifer Newell….woot-woot….go Jennifer, go Jennifer and do that dance!!! I think I have a correct address for you but just in case, please email me and let me know!!!!

I encourage you to read the comments because there are some great ideas and also some common questions that were asked over and over again! One thing that is apparent is, there are many that just adore heat embossing. To me, my heat embossing is an instant smile maker each and every time because it is rewarding and people are always amazed at the result!

For today, leave a comment and today’s winner will receive a container of the GOLD & COPPER Embossing Powders!

Here is the “low down” in the best that I can give it to you in words! I agree – I need to do a video to show you but that is just going to have to wait until after the holidays! I think that these points will help you. Please chime in with your comments….this is how we learn!

(these are in random order….everything is rather random with the holidays!!!!!) 🙄

Here are 2 pictures that I hope will help!

• I always use a coffee filter to add the embossing powder over the stamped image. They are sooooooo easy to bend to put the powder back into your container. 🙂

• I also take a swifter cloth to wipe off my area “just in case” some leftovers were there….this powder is very fine and these cloths are perfect for cleaning your area – just keep it in a baggie! 🙂

• Always use the Stampin’ Buddy on your paper before you stamp. I know that if you are stampin’ with one of our inks it is hard to remember to do this but try to as it does make a difference! After I heat emboss I take a clean swifter cloth over top of it and  wipe off any residue that might be there from the Stampin’ Buddy! 🙂

• Go to the dollar store and purchase a super inexpensive paint brush – I find having a ling thin one is great to “flick off” and strays that are hanging out! 🙂

• When I clear heat emboss….I DO NOT USE VERSAMARK….(trust me, I was silly Susan and ruined a versamark pad)….after you stamp it with the color (say Real Red) then add the CLEAR EMBOSSING POWDER OVER TOP! 🙂 There is enough moisture from the ink that the embossing powder will hold~ just be prepared to have all of the products ready to rumble! 🙂

• I do have a VERSAMRK Pen and I have tried to use it but I will say that I do not have the best of luck with it….(maybe it’s me) 😕

• In the comments, some asked about getting a clear impression ~ this is one that you are just going to have to play with. I hope that this makes sense but we all know that there are times that some stamps require double stamping to get that perfect stamp (maybe it is just me being type A) but trust me, I get it. IF you need to double stamp, I would make sure that you are using a stamp-a-ma-jig or if you have a MISTI…you are good to go! 🙂

• I would make sure that your ink pads are well inked…..again, you will need to play with this because sometimes I OVER INK mine and then that’s a mess…..(if you do this just take a piece of card stock and it will soak in) 🙂

• If you are using the White, Gold, Silver or Copper Embossing Powder than YOU NEED TO STAMP WITH VERSA MARK and then put the powder over top and then heat set it. 🙂

• Make sure that your Heat Tool is GOOD AND HOT BEFORE you bring your stamped image to be set. I have found this to be a GAME CHANGER! 🙂

WHEW…..I hope that this SHED some light! It is really hard to put into words and I appreciate you hanging in there with me! Please leave a comment and hopefully you will be the WINNER-WINNER and be able to do that dance!!!!

I have so many other fun blog tips and tricks that I want to share and trust me, my head is swimming with ideas – it is just the TIME thing right now with the holidays!!!! I think you all “get it” – I thank you for popping in and having some “me time” for yourself!!!!

Stampin’ hugs….enjoy the day!

Another TIP and GIVEAWAY!

by Susan Itell | Dec 18, 2016 | Uncategorized | 38 comments

Good Morning…well one week from today it is the BIG DAY to celebrate this beautiful and special season! How is everyone doing? I think that there are times that the holidays bring us “speed bumps” in life but I encourage you to look at them and try to find some humor in them…just say to yourself, “you just can’t make this stuff up”

Here is the latest and greatest on our end…..WE HAVE INTERNET!!!! The cyber gods have opened up and made me happy BUT the weather yesterday……CRAZY – it was to get warm….but oh no, it was an ICY mess and it truly did not get better as the day went on. After John and I left McDonald’s yesterday (for me to finish my post) and then to the gym…..IT WAS CLOSED!!!!! (due to weather)

Last night I asked John where the mail was and he said, it never came….I could not believe it as it really wasn’t THAT bad….so I texted on of my friends that works at our local post office as John and I had a bet….JOHN WON…..she said – YEP, they told the mail carriers not to go back your road!

I am LOVIN’ being SANTA and wowzers….it looks like there was LOTS of great discussion about the Absorbers. I am glad that so many of you use this method and for those of you that are still unclear, let me say a couple of things before we get to today’s topic.

We need ANOTHER WINNER……so here you go – the lucky winner today is #4 – Carol ~ WOOT-WOOT.….do that dance and then send  email me  with your address!

Quickly to the absorber….

It is just a basic car drying chamois that all I do is cut into “workable” sizes for my hand. (I personally thing that if it is too big….it is super frustrating). I will be a post with the links to many ideas on non Stampin’ Up! this week but for those of you that are unclear about the product – here is a link and then here is another link. You can clearly see that the prices are different and the reason is the size…you are going to “cut it” so take that into consideration.

I will say….I think that the “absorber” brand is the best – it seems to hold up great through many hard uses and washings! You can buy this at any auto store (maybe in your own garage)…Walmart etc….I just find it SUPER handy to use and it works great for me!

O.k. – now to day! We all take soooo much pride and joy in making things and also in picking out the “special something” for gift giving – today is all about making them look their best as after all…when someone sees a beautiful presentation…now matter what the value of it is – THEY FEEL SPECIAL!

Below you will see a couple of pictures of packing that I do. I ADORE wrapping gifts, even so much that I would love to have a service to fru-fru and wrap peoples gifts! I find it fun and rewarding but trust me, I AM SUPER SAVVY!

Here are tips for you….now I know one thing that we all have in common is HOARDING paper and ribbon so 1st I say USE IT. I will then say that there are some ribbons that are TIMELESS and SUPER CLASSIC that are just tooooooo darn good of a deal to not STOCK PILE – yes, you heard me….I am saying BUY MORE AND HOARD it because it is going to be useful in many time ahead!

The “key” to doing this is to purchase wisely. When we buy wrapping paper you are almost always guaranteed that white or ivory will work. YEP – click here and then click here. I ask you, how can you go wrong for $2.80 a roll…it is simple – YOU CAN’T~

Here is another type of ribbon that I SWOOPED up on because it ties BEAUTIFUL in the simple knot….(works for me as it lays flat and always looks great) – are the 5/8″ Striped Cotton Ribbon. These are also $2.80 per roll – they are fantastic ~ (I seem to use the Hello Honey and the Blackberry Bliss the most)

Now you might be surprised on this one….this is what I have on one of the packages you see in the picture! It is the Wild Wasabi Seam Binding Ribbon – this is another keeper for many papers! Here is another sleeper for many of you….the Craft Rope Trim. This was from the holiday catalog and it just gives a great homey feel to a package and I trend to use it for things that I pull together tissue paper around.

Here is a FUNNY FOR YOU…..when I was taking down the cornstalks from our front porch I found a surprise (remember….John did the decorating)….I went to cut them off of the pillars and guess what he used – THE CRAFT ROPE TRIM!!!!! Here is goes, you just can’t make this stuff up! I asked him about it when he came home that night and I loved his answer….the baling twine on the hay bales at the barn were blue so I went upstairs to your stash and thought that was perfect! 😀

Here is the last ribbon I will share today as I think by now “you get it” where I am going with this post. It is the Real Red 3/4″ Stitched Ribbon. It is beautiful and I have used it a bunch this season. It is now $5.10 and I do not mean to sound cheap etc…but I have been on the fence waiting to see if it would go lower in price so I haven’t gone “too overboard” on this one…..I do love it and it made decorating Mason Jars a breeze! (this would be great for Valentines Day as well!)

Let’s chat about paper…do you know where I love to get super cute paper for just $1.00 a roll. Michael’s Arts! If you go to the section in the store that has the $1.00 bins…you can always find fun and different paper patterns. That is always the 2st place I go when I go to Michael’s as those bins are great!

The other great place that I find FUN tissue is Hobby Lobby. When they have a sale….they have a great sale! This fun polka dot tissue is 50% off and I bet it will be 75% off soon….I will SWOOP that up as it works for Valentines as well plus I always give my product shares lots of love on making them look pretty for you!

We all cannot forget the dollar store…..here is a great one that I love to do for a little “giftie” for my mail carrier. He loves to go to the movies…I buy him (2) movie tickets that he can use whenever and purchase a popcorn box form the dollar store….put some $1.00 boxes of candy, a cute card….BAM!!!!

Here is another GREAT GIFT that anyone would love to receive. I did this for my brother that is a single dad. I bought him a bunch of different wrapping paper like I talked about….a bunch of our ribbons, a “good” scotch tape dispenser with refills and a great pair of scissors….this is such a practical and useful gift that would nake someone happy not to have to do the “guess work”

There you go…another post that hopefully has brought some insight to you! Now here is the FUN…..leave us a comment and give us some feedback of the products I highlighted and also some tips and tricks that you do.

One person will win several rolls of ribbon that I know will make you smile!

I highlighted the specific product for you rather than showing the scrolling store like I normally do with my blog posts because “at a glance”, they do not show the discounted price……but remember, clicking on the highlighted link will take you directly to my on line store….and also click here as well!

There are LOTS of deals and remember….YOU can GO TO THE VAULT! Ho-Ho-Ho! I like to make sure that I have the “basics” so stocking up on great Year End Deals is a win-win….and then toss in some staples like paper, envelopes, adhesives…..I know getting to $75.00 is not too hard…then you can PICK A FREE STAMP from ME!

New TIP for you – GAME CHANGER!

by Susan Itell | Dec 17, 2016 | Uncategorized | 56 comments

Good morning! Once again, I adored and appreciated reading your comments from yesterday’s post! I am thrilled that you all are enjoying the break from normal post to have good old fashion fun and letting me play SANTA to YOU!

Back at McDonald’s but this time John is with me and then we are going to the gym…..this weather is crazy as we had freezing rain but then tomorrow we are to be in the upper 50’S….PEEP from Boston was heading home today but he called at 8:30 last night saying he just hit the road because Boston was to get bad weather…..I heard him come in around 4 this morning and I am thrilled that he is here safe and sound.

Update on living in the boonies….I was coming home from getting shavings for the barn and I spotted the Cable Truck……I think I PUSHED ON THAT GAS PEDAL  in excitement to see if he was there for “our problem”….are you ready for this…..I pulled up beside him (Milo was with me in his dear little red plaid coat) and I put the passenger side window down…. and kinda yelled “hello”…NO RESPONSE….

Next I tapped the horn of the truck (I really hated to do this but I did) and the guy JUMPED in his seat – HE WAS ASLEEP!!! I burst out laughing and then I thought – you just cannot make this up….I then said – by any chance are you here for a repair call for 15002? He first apologized (heck it was around 1 p.m. ~ maybe he was in a food coma from his lunch) and then he said also 15004 & 15007.

When I heard that there were (2) other cases I was SOOOOOOO HAPPY because I believe in the POWER OF NUMBERS…..because we all know when there are more people having the same issues….things happen! I really wish you would have seen my face as I was just ecstatic that other people had issues! (that’s kind of mean if me…..I know, shame on me)

I then said, by any chance do you know what the problem is? He said he thought it was because of the drastic drop in temperature and that he needed to go back to a transformer on a road that is probably 2 miles from my house. (I again thought to myself, how silly is that that we would be hooked up to that box way down the road…but I didn’t say a word!!!!)

I went home, unloaded the shavings – came up to the house and decided to head back out with a secret weapon….Homemade Cookies and Hot Chocolate (thank you Christmas time with having cookies around)….his truck wasn’t there where I saw him coming home earlier…..I went down to the end of the next road, no truck (at this point I was thinking….did he ditch our job ~ and if he did…..hmmmmmmm)

I went down another small road and THERE HE WAS…….I pulled up to his truck and this time he was out working (guess that cold air was going to keep him awake) and said, I thought that this would taste good to you as you can see…..I am hoping….really hoping that you are going to get to the bottom of this and have our internet back because I am going through computer withdraw (and that makes me grumpy)

He laughed and thanked me and said that he was still working on figuring out what area it is and what the issue was etc….I went back home….told the dogs my story (aren’t animals the best to talk to – they kind of tilt their heads back and forth like, YES MOM….I GET IT! ~deep down they probably know what I am saying and are thinking – you are nuts)

Back out again I went to go to an appointment and when I came home there was a note taped on the front door from my “new friend” – he said…I found the problem and we will be back out tomorrow. There came the happy dance (again, the poor dogs thought I had lost it)

Ok – ENOUGH about the “story time with Susan” (I am thankful that I can use WORD and just save it) we have a winner from yesterday….it is…..Gracie Harrell.…WOOT-WOOT to YOU – please email me your address and your pens will be in the mail to you! I know that you are going to love them ~ they are great! (thanks for popping in)

For today…this is THE KEEPER OF ALL KEEPERS! I know that I am sharing a bunch of great tips but even if you do not win today...YOU NEED TO DO THIS as it is the best! (One day next week I will be doing a post on my top 10’s of different things and I will feature this with the links etc…so keep watching)

I can hear you right now….THIS LOOKS LIKE ONE HOT MESS…well, let me tell you – it does look icky but it is THE BEST and one of YOU will be a lucky person to win the container and I will cut you (4) little squares!

All you have to do is leave me a comment and let us know if you use this method and if so…how do you like it…..or just leave a comment and let us know something that works for you.

I just find this to be SUPER fast and easy to keep my stamps clean and then I throw them in the wash machine every so often. They always looked stained (I call that well loved) and they are great as it is the perfect amount of moisture to clean and then they dry super quick!

Again, next week I am going to be doing (3) in a row of posts of MUST HAVES (in my opinion) and I will share with you the links for them! Remember, shopping in jammies is not only FUN but ON TREND…..(just saying) 🙂

Please do not forget about the Product Share…I will send out confirmations by next Tuesday so if you have not heard from me, please do not think that I did not get your share request…..and also, DO NOT FORGET THE VAULT…….for those of you that I have been IN THE VAULT – you know that there is a TON of FUN!

See you tomorrow….another GREAT tip and fun give away! (FINGERS & TOES crossed that we get the internet back)