Halloween Tubes

Ok, now...how CUTE are these? VERY!

I can't take credit for these. These adorable goodie tubes were made by none other than Shelli Gardner, the Co-Founder and CEO of Stampin' Up!

There are lots of fun new products on here...like the new bat punch, and the new Halloween Paper from the Catalog. I love the black waffle paper coming out of the top of the tube...and the Raven Black Lace she used for the handle. Those items can be found in the new Holiday Mini Catalog.

Who would have thought you could make such cute decorations from an empty TP tube? LOL.

I will be saving mine now so I can make these cute decorations, and fill them with yummy treats for Jacob's classmates.

Sorry for the short post today. We are having a whirlwind weekend! Today was Jacob's birthday party with his friends. We had 18 kids here, and some siblings too. We rented the backyard movie theatre (from my pal Ray at One Tent Co. here in Farmington). It was awesome, and the weather was perfect.

We had pizza, then a pinata, then cake and presents, and then the movie and popcorn (we rented the popcorn machine too!). The kids were WILD...too much sugar. I think next time I would omit the pinata. LOL. But then they did settle down, and watched the movie. We bought them all glow sticks (hoop earrings for the girls).

Jacob had a GREAT time. He has been anxiously waiting for this day all month. We had a special cake made for him (he is a Star Wars freak!) by my friend Terri Brophy over at Silver City Cakes . I asked her to make a Boba Fett cake - and did she ever. It was amazing and Jacob LOVED it. Not only was it amazing to look at...but super delicious! The cake was a surprise, and the smile on his face was priceless. I am too tired to off load the pictures in my camera at the moment but I will share next week.

If you need a cake, give Terri a call at Silver City. She does amazing work and her cakes are so yummy!

Off to bed...tomorrow is the Unionville Festival in town, and I will be there! Come stop by my Scentsy booth and say hello and enter my drawing for a free warmer and wax!

Have a super weekend!

Dasher Returns!

I adore this little stamp in the catalog...Dasher. It's a single stamp, and costs about $10. But he is just awesome. I use him ALL the time during the holidays.

Here is a cute, quick and easy card I whipped up for a workshop.

The base of the card is Always Artichoke, with a layer of Cherry Cobbler. I don't know if you can tell, but the Cherry Cobbler was run through the Big Shot with the Northern Flurry Embossing Folder...so it has all these pretty embossed snowflakes. Love it!

There is a 1" strip of Deck The Halls Designer Series Paper across the bottom. The tag was cut from the Stampin' Up! Exclusive Die Two Tags. I then scalloped the right edge with a punch.

I stamped my little reindeer friend in Early Espresso Ink, and the greeting is in Cherry Cobbler.

I tied a gorgeous piece of Early Espresso Stripped Ribbon through the tag, and a small piece of Cherry Cobbler Seem Binding Ribbon ties it all together. :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend! It's going to be a mad-house over here. LOL. My dear son is turning 9 and we are having his party on Saturday. We rented one of those outdoor theaters. It's SO cool. It's just like going to the drive in (but no car). We also got a popcorn machine.

They are going to watch Marmaduke. Cute, eh? He is SO excited I think he might throw up. LOL. He has been talking about this birthday since April (no, not kidding).

Then on Sunday I am going to be at the Unionville Festival here in town. I will have a Scentsy Booth - and lots of warmers and YUMMY scents for sale (Baked Apple Pie, Hazlenut Latte, Central Park Pralines)...the autumn scents are SO awesome! I love them all. And what a great, safe way to add warm, inviting scents to your home! No flame, no soot, no worry!

Stop by and say hello if you are down there! It's going to be a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Designer Fabric by Stampin' Up!

REPOST - RIBBON SHARES

It's that time again....New Catalog, New Ribbons!

This is a post from July - but I am reposting, as recently, more people wanted to participate in the Ribbon Shares. If you are interested, please email me - Stamp4joy@comcast.net

If you are anything like me, you will want ALL of the fabulous ribbon in the new Stampin' Up! Catalog. However, with so many wonderful selections, it's just too hard to pick a few!

Joining my ribbon share is a GREAT way to get several yards of each color and type of ribbon at an affordable price!

Check out the ribbon shares available:

RIBBON GROUP 1 - 3/8” Taffeta Ribbon $22.00

13 Colors, 2 yards of each color. 26 yards total

Whisper white, very vanilla, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in pink, Real Red, Rich razzleberry, Night of Navy, Marina Mist, Celery, Old Olive, Early Expresso and Basic Black

RIBBON GROUP 2 - 5/8” Satin Ribbon $28.00

13 Colors, 3 yards of each color. 39 yards total

Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, Marina Mist, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Early Espresso and Basic Black

RIBBON GROUP 3 - 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon $22.00

13 Colors, 3 yards of each color. 39 yards total

Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, Marina Mist, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Early Espresso and Basic Black

RIBBON GROUP 4 - Poly Stitched Ribbon $11.50

All 5 of the NEW IN COLORS, 3 yards of each color, 15 yards total.

Blushing Bride, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, Concord Crush, Pear Pizzaz

RIBBON GROUP 5 - 1/8” Tafetta Ribbon $19.00

13 Colors, 3 yards of each color. 39 yards total

Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, Marina Mist, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Early Espresso and Basic Black

RIBBON GROUP 6 - 1-1/4” Striped Grosgrain Ribbon $26.50

11 Colors, 2 yards of each color. 22 yards total

Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, Marina Mist, Celery, Old Olive, Early Espresso and Basic Black

Each group needs 5 people. Please email me your selections and to arrange payment.

Thanks so much!

Tags Till Christmas

Have you seen this new set, Tags Till Christmas? It's in the new Holiday Mini. It is SO CUTE!

And the best part is (of course) Stampin' Up! has all these wonderful punches to coordinate with each image. Making Holiday Tags will be easy-peasy lemon-squeezy this year!

Here is a project I made to give to one of my workshop hostesses.

How cute is that?

So here's how you make this...

Take a 6x6 scrapbook page protector and carefully trim the edge with the holes (we don't need that part). Then I cut a piece of Always Artichoke Cardstock to 6 1/4" x 8 1/2".

Using Sticky Strip, I adhered the page protector to the Artichoke Cardstock. I then folded over the top piece and gave it a pretty edge with the Scallop Punch. I then punched another piece of Brushed Gold Cardstock( 6 1/4" x 2") with the scallop punch, and adhered it under the flap - so you have a double layer of scallops on the flap. Pretty!

Here is an open view. You can see that I used a Velcro Dot under the flap. That is how it stays closed.

Now the sticky strip is visible through the Page Protector...SO, I cut a 6x6 piece of Deck the Halls Designer Paper and slipped that inside the page protector. You can see the design of hollys and berries behind the tags. And since all of Stampin' Up! products coordinate, it really matches well and ties is all together.

I inked the stamps in Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke and punched with our coordinating punches. I tied them up with gold cord and some of our 1/8" ribbon.

Now the bow on the flap is our new Cherry Cobbler Seem Binding Ribbon in the Holiday Mini.

I punched 2 holes in the flap, and threaded it through. I then simply tied a bow.

There is a little tag on there...and that uses the Tiny Tags stamp set and the coordinating Jewelry Tag Punch. So tiny, so cute!

Here is a close up of the bow and tag:

I am trying to see if I can squeeze a date onto my calendar to make this a class. Wouldn't that be fun to come make this? Stay tuned, as I am trying to get a few more classes in before the end of November.

Have a great day! It is gorgeous out today!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Golden Serene Snowflakes

Hello Stampers!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! It's been so warm the last few days, it seems odd to be making a card with SNOWFLAKES on it. But, I am prepping for upcoming workshops and holiday classes - and everyone loves making Christmas Cards!

Here is a card that uses Heat Embossing - which is such a simple technique, but still is such a WOW - even if you've done it a million times. I love to see new stampers get all excited when they watch the embossing powder melt into a shiny raised image. Magic!

The stamp set is called Serene Snowflakes, and the greeting is from the Many Merry Messages Stamp Set.

The base of the card is Early Espresso Cardstock. The layer is Very Vanilla, and the snowflakes were stamped in Versamark ink. Then I sprinked Gold Glory Embossing Powder, and embossed with my heat tool. The strip across the center uses the same color cardstock, and the Seasons Greeting is stamped in Early Espresso.

Now the snowflakes are very cool. We have this NEW EXCLUSIVE die cut for the Big Shot called Northern Frost. It's AWESOME. It is 12" long x 2" wide....and it cuts a TON of snowflakes at once. I cut snowflakes from Brushed Gold and Very Vanilla Cardstock. They are all different sizes and designs (cause after all, no two snowflakes are the same, right?). I layered two snowflakes together, and inserted a Rhinestone Brad in the center. Then I attached it to the strip across the center with Stampin' Dimensionls. Easy Peasy! :)

Well, I am off to finally take a shower (it's only 3:30 in the afternoon...LOL). I get caught up in my own little stamping world, and before I know it - the afternoon is almost gone! LOL

I guess that is the beauty of loving what you do for work - - - it doesn't FEEL like work. And how time sure flies when you are doing something you LOVE.

Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

Thankful For You

I am trying not to skip ahead of the awesome Autumn Season that we are entering. It's my favorite time of the year, and we have this amazing new French Foliage Set in the Holiday Mini. But I have actually started my Holiday Card Classes, so I have been stamping holiday cards already.

But today is a gorgeous day, and I am in my stamp room getting prepped for upcoming workshops. I just love this French Foliage set. It looks great no matter what you do with it.

Here is a card we are making at a workshop this weekend:

The Card Base is Early Espresso. There is a 4" x 3" layer of Cajun Craze on the front, and I used the Square Lattice Embossing Folder on it. I wanted to give some texture to this card, and the embossing folders are such an easy way to do just that.

The leaves are stamped in Cajun Craze, More Mustard and Old Olive The splatters (which I love) are stamped in Early Espresso. There is a double wrap of Linen Thread tied in a bow around the leaves.

The greeting is from the Grateful Greeting Stamp Set, and is stamped in Cajun Craze. It was punched out with the Large Oval Punch, and layered on a Scallop Oval that was punched from Early Espresso.

I hope the guests attending my workshop will enjoy making this card. I had a blast designing it!

It's so beautiful out today...I hope you are having a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by,

Stamp Camp Sneak Peek!

Hello Stampers!

First of all, I apologize for the lack of posts this week. It's been the infirmary over here at Casa Mongeon. Colds, Stomach Bugs...lucky me, I got both! LOL.

But, we are once again healthy, everyone is back to school, and I am back in my stamp room preparing for Fridays Stamp Camp!

Here is one of the cards that my attendees will be making. It's from the new Tags Till Christmas Stamp Set in the Holiday Mini. I love that the images in this set all coordinate with our Stampin' Up! Punches.

Hmmm....the image looks a little yellowish to me on my computer screen. I hope it looks ok on yours!

In any case, the Card is Crumb Cake, with Deck the Halls Designer Paper, and Cherry Cobbler Cardstock. The ribbon is the Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon in the Holiday Mini and boy oh boy, is it yummy and easy to work with!

The sentiment is stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink. And a Clear Rhinestone Brad in the center of the ornament adds just a touch of bling. :)

Sorry for the short post today! I will be posting some of the other projects next week!

Enjoy your day and stay healthy!

Greeting Card Kids Christmas

Have you seen the new Greeting Card Kids Stamp Set in the Catalog?

I call it the "Campbells Soup Kids" Set- because they have that vintage look to them.

Remember those cute kids from the 50's and 60's on the soup cans? Looks just like them!

They are super cute!

I love all the images, but my favorite is the little girl with her sled and the tree.

My dear talented stampin' sister, Diana Gibbs, had made this card that just made me squeal! I loved what she did with it. So, since I am SUCH a good copier (LOL) I had to make one too.

The card base is Crumb Cake, with a layer of Whisper White and Marina Mist. The layers were stamped with a snowflake in Whisper White Ink.

I stamped the main image in Stazon jet black, and colored her in using blender pens and classic ink. The color inks are Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist, So Saffron, Old Olive (tree). And I used Blush Blossom for her face.

The ribbon is Marina Mist 1/4" grosgrain ribbon. And of course, the greeting was punched out with the Modern Label Punch and popped up on dimensionals.

I think it needs something more...like a little glitter on the ground to look like sparkly snow.

I think I will go back and add it. Everything is better with glitter. :0)

Well, maybe not everything...like food...that would be bad.

But papercrafting wise, glitter is good. :)

It's another perfect New England Day! I am in love with the cooler temps...perfect for walking, and great for my Bella girl....since she isn't panting now from the humidity.

Have a great weekend and thank you for stopping by!

French Foliage

Autumn is my MOST favorite time of the year. Cooler weather, beautiful foliage, apple picking, Halloween and Thanksgiving...LOVE it all!

So it's no surprise that I had to have the new French Foliage Stamp Set in the Holiday Mini Catalog. I just got it yesterday and couldn't wait to ink this baby up!

Here is the first card I made with it:

The card base is Early Espresso. The layer is Cherry Cobbler (big surprise, eh? LOL...I have an addiction to this color!). I ran the Cherry Cobbler through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. Love it! It give such wonderful texture to the project.

The top layer is Very Vanilla cardstock. I sponged some Crumb Cake Ink in the center of the cardstock, then stamped the leaves in Early Espresso and Cherry Cobbler.

HINT: When stamping a piece of cardstock with many images (such as the leaves) - I always start with the largest image - in this case it was the largest leaf that is stamped in Early Espresso. I stamped the largest leaf in each corner, then filled in the empty spots with the smaller leaf (in Cherry Cobbler). If you start with the smallest image, you run the risk of not leaving enough room for the largest ones. So, start big, and work down. You will have a well balanced and even card. :0)

I punched a slot on the left side of the card, and threaded the Early Espresso Stripped Ribbon through it. The greeting is actually from an old retired set (sorry) - but it's all I had to work with at the time. And the finishing touch is a Cherry Cobbler button (from the mini catalog) threaded with 1/8" Very Vanilla Ribbon.

I hope you are enjoying the gorgeous weather today. Bella and I had a great walk this morning.

I just love the cooler weather...but I hate it when it's too cold.

I guess I have a very narrow comfort range. LOL.

Too hot - no good. Too cold - no good.

75 is perfect! :0)

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your afternoon!

To place your Stampin 'Up! Order, CLICK HERE and select SHOP NOW in the upper right corner.

Tags Till Christmas - Pocket Card

It's not too early for Holiday Cards is it? LOL

Oh good!

Because here is another one of my favorite cards from the Holiday Mini Swap.

This one uses the set Tags Till Christmas. What a great set for not only holiday tags, but cards, too! This was made by fellow demonstrator, Becky Roberts.

I love the clever fold on the front of this card. The inside piece is PERFECT for a greeting, or a holiday photo of your family.

The designer paper is gaw-jus! It's called Deck the Halls. It's a vintage, antique style paper for the holidays and it's just beautiful. Did you know Stampin' Up! also has coordinating fabric in the same prints? Awesome!

The side of this card is punched and threaded with 1/8" vanilla ribbon. It's the little touches on this card that make it extra-special.

Did you notice the new punch? It's the new Decorative Label Punch (also in the Holiday Mini) and coordinates perfectly with this stamp set. I love how Stampin' Up! coordinates products to make paper crafting easy!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Click HERE to place your Stampin' Up! order online - 24/7 (even at 2 AM in your jammies!)

Click the SHOP NOW link in the upper right corner.

This OWL loves you MUCH!

Here is an awesome card with the Owl Punch! I am having such FUN with this little guy!

Ok, now if this doesn't make you want this punch....I don't know what will! How CUTE is this?

The Card Base is Very Vanilla. The layer is More Mustard, sponged with Cajun Craze ink. The bottom half is a strip of Early Espresso hand torn along the edge.

I punched a 1 1/4" circle from Very Vanilla for the moon, and sponged it lightly with Early Espresso.

The pumpkins are made from punches...the 1 1/4" circle punch, and the large oval punch. The circle pumpkin was punched from More Mustard Cardstock, and the Oval pumpkin was made from Pumpkin Pie Cardstock.

I sponged the pumpkin edges lightly with Early Espresso ink. The stems coming off the pumpkins were made using the BIRD XL Punch (branch) in Old Olive Cardstock.

Now the fence is simply 1/4" strips of Very Vanilla Cardstock sponged with Early Espresso.

I glued them together, the punched a small hole for the brads.

The sign on the fence (Love You Much) is from the Family Phrases Set. I simply cut it out free hand, and layered it with Early Espresso. The hand cutting gives it sort of a whimsical look.

I threaded it with linen thread, and looped it around one of the fence posts.

The Owl is made from Early Espresso, More Mustard and Very Vanilla cardstock. His tummy is a piece of designer paper from the Greenhouse Gala Paper Pack.

This was a really FUN card to make! :0)

I hope you enjoyed this little guy today!

He loved you very much! :-)

Thanks for stopping by ~

Awesome Halloween Card!

I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was participating in a demonstrator swap for the Holiday Mini Catalog. Well, I sent my cards off to the hostess of the swap, and I got back an awesome assortment of cards! WOW! I was amazed at the talent of the group of ladies that participated! I will be selecting some of the swaps to share with you over the next few weeks.

This first one is totally over the top! I can't imaging the work that went into this one! Kudos to Barbara Pirk, a fellow demonstrator who is the creator behind this beauty.

Check it out:

This is using the stamp set Dark and Dreary. It's an accordion fold card of sorts. I photographed it on an angle so that you could get a good view of the folds. She did heat embossing on the owl and raven and the Happy Halloween on the back panel. She then sponged ink over it, to create the spooky colors behind the embossing. The designer paper she used is in the main catalog, and it is called Wicked Fun. It's awesome paper!

Now, don't ask me how to make this (yet!). I am on a mission to figure it out, so bear with me.

LOL.

I hope you all had a great Labor Day Weekend. What amazing weather we had here on the East Coast! I hope wherever you are, you had great weather too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Another clever use for that Owl Punch...

Oh my goodness....

I am having such FUN with this punch! Who knew you could make so many awesome cards with it?

Here is the latest....adorable, and perfect for Halloween!

I used the Owl Punch to make these cute little ghosts! It's the owl upside down and with the feet snipped off. Cute, eh? I just love this card. :0)

The pumpkin is the Wide Oval Punch - 3 of them punched out of Pumpkin Pie Cardstock. I sponged the edges with Soft Suede Cardstock. The leaves were punched out of Old Olive using the XL Bird Punch (it's also got a branch on it). The stem is just a small piece of Crumb Cake that I free hand cut, and sponged. The background uses the new Spider Web Embossing folder found in the Holiday Mini Catalog.

Easy Peasy, and super cute!

Hope you are having a great weekend! We are off to go Apple Picking! I love this time of year, and the weather today is perfect!

Enjoy!

September Warmer of the Month - Montpellier

As many of your know, I also am a Scentsy Consultant. What?

You don't know what Scentsy is?

Well, let me tell you!

Scentsy is a SAFE alternative to traditional candles. These beautiful warmers release delicious, intoxicating scents into the air by warming the wax with a low watt light bulb! Ingenious!

If you have small children, or if you are just so busy and forget to blow out the candles (we've all done that) then you owe it to yourself and your family to consider a SAFER way.

On average there are over 18,000 house fires every year from Candles alone! WOW!

No soot, no black walls, no mess, no flame. But all the yummy benefits....like the delicious scents!

Every month we have a Warmer of the Month that is 10% OFF, and a coordinating scent.

Autumn is my MOST favorite season of the year, and I am in LOVE with this months warmer.

Isn't that beautiful? I can't wait to get mine!

And don't forget the coordinating Scent:

Maple Butter Scentsy Bar

Lightly sweetened Vermont maple syrup swirled with whipped butter, earthy pumpkin and warm, autumnal spices.

Ok, can I just say YUM? I am drooling on my keyboard just reading the description!

To check out the full line of warmers (we have LOTS to choose from) and the NEW Fall/Winter Catalog with all the YUMMY scents for Fall...please visit my web site!

And if you want to do a basket party or have the girls over for a night out - then give me a shout. Everyone has a blast smelling all these wonderful scents, and you will earn FREE products! Cool!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Thanks for stopping by!

Peek-A-Boo Owl

Here is the cutest card using the new Stampin' Up! XL Owl Punch. I am not a huge owl fan per se, but I just love this little guy. He is adorable!

The owl is on the inside of the card and he is peeking through the punched out window.

The paper I used is Crumb Cake for the card base, then the Woodland Walk Designer Series Paper for the layer (woodgrain pattern). I punched the circle with the 1 3/4" circle punch, and the scallop around it was made using the new jumbo scallop circle punch. Easy Peasy and so cute!

Here is the inside of the card:

Aha! you didn't know he had a friend, did you? Everyone needs a little lift now and then. ;-)

The owls are punched from Soft Suede Cardstock. I used patterned Poppy Parade Designer Paper for the belly. The branches are punched from Garden Green Cardstock and uses the XL Bird Punch.

I adore these punches. The owl can be used for so many other things - like penguins and ghosts! Stay tuned as I will be sharing more clever uses for this punch.

We survived the first week of school. I am so proud of my kiddo's. Emily is doing amazingly well in High School. I still can't believe my little sweet baby is in High School. It's truly shocking how fast it goes by. But she is handling it well and is loving life.

Enjoy the long weekend everyone! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Just Believe Sympathy

This past week I have had to make 3 sympathy cards. Why is that it seems it always comes in 3's? Such a sad week. I prey this is the end of it for a good long time.

In any case, I reached for my Just Believe set. I know, I know...you are probably ready to see something else by now. I promise something from a different set this week.

It's amazing how the feel of a card changes based on the colors that you select. I have used this set with neutrals, brights and pastels. Now I am using Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso...two of my most favorite new colors.

The card base is Early Espresso. I used the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder on the Cherry Cobbler piece...and sponged the edges with Early Espresso ink.

I inked the image with Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso Markers, and then misted it 4-5 times with a spray bottle of water. Then I stamped it on Watercolor Paper. It honestly looks like a watercolor painting. When using a spray bottle, you definitely want to use Watercolor Paper. It's thicker, and can absorb the excess water without buckling the paper.

The ribbon is Early Espresso stripped grosgrain. It is so awesome! The quality of Stampin' Up! ribbon is second to none.

So, it's been busy around here since the kiddo's are back to school. It's just back to me and Bella girl. Poor thing is wondering where everyone is. But boy does she get excited when it's time to pick the kids up from school. I swear, she understands me when I say it's time to go get them. She runs to the door and waits. She is such a great dog. :0)

Thanks for stopping by today! Stay cool!

TOTE-ally AWESOME OPPORTUNITY!

I've got a TOTE-ALLY awesome opportunity for YOU!!! From now until October 18th, receive a FREE craft tote (a $39.95 value) when you join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator!

The fall and winter holidays create some of the BEST stamping opportunities...it's a great time to earn some extra money!

Imagine... sharing your ♥ of Stampin’ Up! with this stylish and practical tote, patterned after our Greenhouse Gala Designer Series paper and large enough to carry 12” x 12” card stock and a Paper Cutter, as well as punches, ink pads, and accessories.

And with two Starter Kits to choose from-Standard and Digital-at a brand new lower kit price, there’s never been a better time to join the Stampin’Up! family!

Contact me for your password to join and you could be a demonstrator today!