Nutty or Nice for Freshly Made Sketches

When I saw Freshly Made Sketches' Challenge sketch for this week, I knew that I wanted to use my newly ordered Santa Stache stamp set along with the Mustache Framelit. I think I ordered that set mostly because of the sentiments - 'staching' through the snow' and this one - 'nutty or nice!

This time of year always bring to mind The Nutcracker Ballet. When my youngest daughter was in ballet, she always danced in the local production of The Nutcracker, and I and my husband worked backstage. I can still tell you what prop we are moving according to the music playing at the time. I miss those days because it was always so exciting to be a part of it.

We still have a large collection of Nutcrackers at our house, because we usually got a different one each year for Jaimie as recognition for her part in the production.

• I went with a military colour scheme of Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy and Whisper White, with a little Smoky Slate, mostly for the mustache! It was time to play with my Blendies again! Very therapeutic!
• The DSP you see is from Trim the Tree Designer Series Paper Stack, an excellent bargain with 48 sheets of 4-1/2" x 6-1/2" double sided designed paper for $8.50!
• The little stars at the side are some wooden embellishments from the Hello December Project Life Accessory Pack! Are they not the cutest things?! I coloured them with my Night of Navy Blendies!
• I stamped the Nutcracker's mustache on Smoky Slate cardstock in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and die cut it with the Mustache Framelit.
• A couple of turns of Basic Gray Baker's Twine and the card is complete.  I'll bet you would have a lot of fun with this stamp set.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Ellison Christmas Fair on Saturday! I had a blast and it was so busy the whole day. I met lots of new and experienced stampers. Some stamped for the first time at my table! This coming Saturday, I will have a table set up at the George Pringle Elementary Winter Craft and Shop Fair! Come and visit me there.

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

Santa Stache Wood-Mount Stamp Set [135032]	Santa Stache Clear-Mount Stamp Set [135035]	Trim The Tree Designer Series Paper Stack [135824]	Night Of Navy 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [100867]	Cherry Cobbler 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [119685]
Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [100730]	Smoky Slate 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [131202]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Night Of Navy Assortment [131001]	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Cherry Cobbler Assortment [130995]
Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Smoky Slate Assortment [131005]	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Skin Tone Assortment [129370]	Hello December Project Life Accessory Pack [135833]	Basic Gray Baker's Twine [134587]	Mustache Framelits Die [133741]
Big Shot Die-Cut Machine [113439]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]

Round Up Time! Yee Haw!

 There is just so much going on right now with Stampin' Up and Playing with Papercrafting, that I thought it would be good to just do a round up of all the news in one spot, so that you can be informed and take advantage of all the deals and offers.  Take a deep breath and here we go:

1. Blendabilities are available NOW!  About half of the colour assortments are available for you to purchase now and the rest will be available August 1!  You are going to love them!  I've heard many alcohol marker experts say that Blendabilities are better than anything else out there.  Learn which colours are available here. There is a good way to be able to get ALL the markers right away and that is to become a demonstrator by purchasing the Stampin' Up! Starter Kit.  Demonstrators are able to order all the sets right now.

2. Stampin' Up! is offering a DSP Special during July! During the month of July, if you buy three packages of the 12 x 12 Designer Series Paper, you get a fourth package totally free! Read more about this offer here.

3. Weekly Deals Continue! Check here or my Facebook page every Tuesday morning for the Weekly Deals, where you can save from 25% to 40% off selected products.

4. Announcing another round of Product Shares! If you missed out on my first round of product shares from the new 2014/15 Annual Catalogue, I'm offering another round now.  Get a variety of new paper, ribbon and embellishments for less by sharing packages with other stampers. Check out what is being offered here.  Deadline is Monday, July 21st.

5. A New Kind of Mystery Hostess Contest! During July and August, my Stamp Club continues to run, but I have no hostesses for those two months.  Normally, I use the Hostess Rewards myself, but this year, I have decided to run a contest for those Hostess Benefits.  Everyone who books a party with me for a confirmed date before August 31, 2014 will have their name added to a draw for Hostess Rewards for one of the two summer months.  To be eligible for the first drawing, you must call me by Friday, July 4th, and confirm a date for your party.  You can hold your party at your place or mine and we can do the kind of projects you would like.  Call me today at 250-768-7379 or email me at hcooper52@gmail.com!

6. A Reminder About My On-Line Stamp of the Month Club! Each month I will mail you the clear Stamp Set that I have selected (or a substitute set), three completed cards using that set and three photo tutorials telling you step-by-step instructions for creating the three cards.  See more information here.   Deadline for July is Monday, July 7.

                                    

7. Don't forget about Project Life!  Stampin' Up's full line of Project Life materials is ready for order now, and the Love Story Project Life Card Collection (135308), Love Story Project Life Accessory Pack (135310) and the Black Faux Leather 12 x 12 Project Life Album (135292), which were not supposed to be available until August, will be able to be ordered starting July 15!  Check out more about Project Life here.

Well, they say that 7 is the perfect number, and here I have 7 offers for you to take advantage of.  If there is one or more that you would be interested in, just call me (250-768-7379) or email/message me and I will be more than happy to help you.  Please read carefully for the details and deadlines.

Day Two of Stampin' Up! Leadership 2014

Well, Day 2 of Stampin' Up!'s Leadership 2014 is under my belt now and it was a learning day.  We heard a great key note speech from Pat Pearson on the cycles of emotion that we go through in our lives and businesses and how to deal with them.  Very useful information.  We enjoyed a sit down lunch of lasagna and the best peach tart ever!  In the evening we had a Stampin' Night Out after we all enjoyed dinner at Mia Bella, a great Italian restaurant. Then we had some stamping presentations and did some make and takes and won some free product!  Yeah!!!!


  Some of my peeps!

Some of the loot we won:

Okay, here is the big reveal:
Coming sometime in the first quarter this year, Stampin' Up! is introducing a line of alcohol markers called Blendabilities!  These will be available in 12 Stampin' Up colours, a light, medium and dark tone of each.  There will also be some Memento Ink to use to stamp images to colour in, a colour lifter pen for corrections and a skin tone collection!!  SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!

They also announced last night that they will be bringing back the Texture Boutique - the small mini version of the Big Shot that just embosses, no die cutting.  Also a new line of personalized stamps that are really cute.  You'll have to take my word for it, cause I can't show you the products, just projects using them!

Seriously, things look great ahead!  Let me know what you're interested in!