New Catalog Llama Hop!

It's that time again when llamas start hopping and you get to join us. Did you just come from my friend Martha's page? She and I met at last year's Convention and let me tell you, she is awesome! If you didn't get a chance to check out her post, you can use this beautiful button (designed in My Digital Studio by another awesome llama, Stephanie) to visit Martha. Just be sure to come back, please!





I'll be honest, the thought of a smaller, more streamlined catalog made me a bit nervous at first. Would there be enough for me to love? Hahaha, oh me of little faith in Stampin' Up! Of course my wish list is miles long. During my first breeze through the catalog (yes, this takes many many viewings to feel like I've really seen it all), my heart stopped on Papillon Potpourri. I just love butterflies and this set has both realistic and whimsical images to fit all tastes. And the matching new punch.... Love it!

This first card is a case of a sample from the catalog. In fact, if you are the first person to leave a comment with the page number of where it is in the catalog, I will mail this card to you!





You will see I changed it up just a bit to make it my own. First I embossed the base with the Lattice Embossing Folder and I used the new Adorning Accents Edgelits die on either side of the butterflies. I featured our new In Colors on the butterflies and since they are so detailed, the new foam stamp pads created gorgeous crisp images. The new Elegant Butterfly punch means no fussy-cutting that Gumball Green butterfly and he pops right out with a dimensional and threaded button. I'd love to see your version of this card. How will you make it your own?

This second card features the Daydream Medallions stamp set. It wasn't till I saw the matching Floral Frames Framelits Die that this one popped to the top of my must-have list.





Again, I featured the new In Colors and added a new In Color Dahlias to the center. I just love how easy Stampin' Up! makes it to put everything together. Talk about coordination.

For my final project, I made a small purse box to hold love notes (3x3 cards) in. I love to give these as Hostess Gifts and then let my hostess choose her 3 favorite love notes from my excessive stash to put in it.





I chose Tempting Turquoise, Calypso Coral and Wild Wasabi for this project and featured the new Serene Silhouettes stamp set. The center image is actually set back from the front of the box with Dimensionals and adds a unique prospective. Sorry, the picture doesn't do it justice. I need to work on my photography skills.

Well that's it for me and you've reached the end of our hop. If you didn't get a chance to see all the other great designers and their projects, you can go to our homepage where we are all listed, or hop back to the start with Buffy (click next) and hop around again. Thanks for joining us, leave me a comment and come back again soon!












Heather

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Going, going, gone!

It's the most wonderful time of the Stampin' Up! year. There are only two weeks left before the 2011-2012 catalog retires to make way for the new 2012-2013 catalog release.


Make sure you view the list of Retiring Stamp Sets and Retiring Accessories here and order them before they are gone for good.
I have received my shipment of those brand new catalogs and they are ready and waiting for my Open House on June 1. Stop by between 6-10pm to get one in your hot little hands and be the first to see all the amazing new products. Check out my calendar of events to register and a full listing of all upcoming classes.


And the new standard Starter Kit is here too! Now you can customize your creativity. The price is lower, now only $99 and each kit contains a business supplies pack (valued at $65)-things that you need to start your business. After that, the choice is yours to put together a kit with any of our high-quality products. You can choose $125 worth of any traditional or digital supplies to create a kit valued at over $190 that still ships for free!
I am now booking new catalog workshops so if you would like to reserve a date, let me know ASAP. If you have questions about classes, products or the new Starter Kit, feel free to leave a comment or email me.

Heather
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New friends

This week I had the opportunity to join some new friends to celebrate the birthday of a sweet friend, Krista. Between us moms and the kiddos I think we were a party of 15 enjoying good TexMex food at Chuys. I have to admit I'm still learning the difference between all the dishes and I am regretting not taking Spanish in high school but it was fun nonetheless.

I wanted to give her something special and since we brought several bottles of NYS Finger Lakes wine with us, I decided to give one to her. Of course I needed to work on the 'presentation' so I made a matching card and wine tag.


Cute huh? I'm still in love with the 2011-2013 In Colors and glad they will still be around for another year. For this one I used Wisteria Wonder, Island Indigo, and Calypso Coral. I added the Lucky Limeade to the flower on the tag as well. So simple but so cute.
Enjoy!
Heather
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Settling In

We have finally arrived and are getting settled in here in Austin, Texas. The move went quite smoothly, everything arrived on time and in one piece and the kids are adjusting well and making new friends at school.

I have been busy unpacking and working to make our new house a home. Last weekend I finally got to work on my new stamping studio! I finally have a whole room devoted just to my business and I love how it came out. It is the only room I've painted so far. It was painted a very dark gray-green since it was the former owner's media room. Obviously I needed to lighten it up. I knew I wanted a classy but fun feel to the room so I decided my color scheme would be gray, black and hot pink. Hey, its my girly room so I needed to have some pink somewhere in my house! I painted the walls a light gray and all my bookshelves and my desk are black which compliment nicely. Then I added pops of pink all over with baskets, accents and flowers. This is the view of one half of the room.


I plan to get or make some cute pink valences for the windows and this little black table will soon be replaced with a big one that seats 8 as soon as my new kitchen table arrives! Sorry it's so dark but if I opened the blinds the bright sunshine made glares.


For Christmas my parents bought me this storage unit for all my ink pads and reinkers. Right now it's on my Big Shot table but as soon as I get some heavy duty anchors it will be up on the wall. Don't you just love it?


So now I am ready and open for business! I've scheduled a few classes and hope to start booking workshops as well. If you are in the Austin area, please check my calendar to see what classes are coming up or contact me to book your own workshop. I've got lots of ideas to inspire you!


Heather
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Llama Occasions Hop

The llamas are hopping again! This time we are showcasing our favorite products from the Occasions Mini as well as the Sale-a-Bration brochure. If this is your first stop, no worries. You can follow the links at the end of this post on to the next stop and loop through all the stops or use the button to hop back to start at the beginning. Just be sure you don't skip any of these amazingly talented and fun ladies!


When I first saw the intricate flower image from Punch Bunch in the Occasions Mini my mind traveled back to sign I remember seeing at my grandparents house when I was a child. Now I haven't seen this sign in about 20 years so the memory was foggy but the connection was there. I remembered the colors were bright against a black background and there was a chicken or some strange bird on it. I started searching online for similar images and soon discovered that what I was remembering was a traditional Dutch hex sign like these.





These signs were used to decorate the homes and barns of early Pennsylvania Dutch settlers and being of Dutch heritage, my grandparents hung one in their home with pride. That 'chicken' I was remembering is actually called a distelfink and was a sign of luck and happiness. You can read more about these beautiful hex signs and their meanings here. The first card inspired by these designs was a 3x3 love note.



I love the symmetrical patterns and swirls of this image. I simply inked the stamp image with Black, Garden Green, Real Red, Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie and remoistened the ink with the "breath of life" before stamping it on white. The coordinating punch was a real time saver! The Daffodil card stock was embossed with the Dots Embossing folder for a little added dimension.
For my second card I decided to take things a bit further but I'll be honest, I had no idea where this card was going till it was done. I knew I wanted to attempt to recreate the distelfink using our bird punch but after that there were numerous changes and "do-overs". I was very pleased with the final result though.


The tail of the bird used the new Blossom Punch and those tear drop shapes came from the Triple Layer Punch. I probably had enough of those on my craft room floor to use but I was too lazy to pick them all up so I punched more! And did you notice the new Doily Die?? That is quickly becoming my favorite product of the mini.
This card went out in the mail today to my grandparents. I wanted to thank them for the Christmas money they gave us and remind them that even with our upcoming long distance move, they won't be far from our hearts and minds.
I hope you will leave me a comment and then hop on over to Kathe's blog. I think she's creating with that adorable kite stamp set.  I have a feeling whatever it is is going to make resisting the urge to purchase that set pointless! Happy hopping!

Heather

Hostess with the Most-ess!

Be the Host with the Most free stuff! From now through December 15, if you host a qualifying workshop, you can earn an additional $35 in Free Hostess Credit! That means, a $350 workshop earns you $85 in FREE product!


Now is the perfect time to gather with friends and family to create beautiful handmade and heartfelt cards and gifts. Book your workshop with me today to ensure your choice of open dates. I have tons of great, easy and inexpensive gift-giving ideas that I would love to share with you and your friends.
And if you thought you missed out on the chance to get a FREE Big Shot, it's not too late. That promotion has been extended till November 11. Join the Stampin' Up! family now and choose either a free Big Shot or $100 in extra product. That's like getting over $450 of products for only $175!


I look forward to hearing from you and helping you enjoy a creative and fun holiday season!

Heather

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Llama Hop

Hello! If you've just migrated over here from Diane's wonderful blog you've arrived at the right pasture. This is the next stop on the Stampin' Llamas Holiday Blog Hop! If this is your first stop, no worries, you can continue on the Hop from here or use the link below to hop back to the beginning and start from there. Either way, make sure you check out all these very talented ladies.




My projects today all feature the Pines & Poinsettias stamp set from the Holiday Mini. I got this set free from Stampin' Up! and yes, free stamps do stamp better. I've created a card, a bookmark and a gift box for you.








This would make a great gift ensemble for the avid reader on your Christmas list. Put the bookmark and a gift card to a bookstore in the box and you've got a great gift set. The card base is Very Vanilla card stock. I ran a piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock though the Big Shot with the Petals-a-Plenty Embossing Folder and then distressed the edges. Using the 2 3/8" scallop punch I punched a piece of Wild Wasabi. If you crumple it repeatedly and break up the fibers you can actually peel it into two pieces; which is what I did. The pinecone image was colored using Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip and Cherry Cobbler markers and stamped onto Vanilla. I punched the image out with the 2 1/2" circle punch and layered it onto a same size circle of Cherry Cobbler after a bit more distressing. (notice all the de-stressing?) Add some Stampin' Dimensionals and some 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon and you've got a nice card with lots of texture. This card also happens to be the one my fellow Llamas will be receiving as their swap this season! (They are all now running out to their mailboxes!)








For the bookmark I started with a 24 inch piece of Chocolate Chip Scallop Dots Ribbon which I folded in half so I had dots on both sides and held together with Sticky Strip. I used a scallop square piece from the On Board Merry Medley chipboard and covered it with Wild Wasabi. I hand cut the flower images and stitched on the buttons with Linen Thread to finish off the bookmark.









For my final project I made the gift box. First I covered a piece of Wasabi card stock with the Holly Berry Bouquet fabric using our Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets. Then I ran the whole thing through the Big Shot and was able to die cut the box using the Box #2 die. Easy peesy! For the embellishment on the front, I used the Scallop Circle punch, the 5 Petal Flower punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch, some Basic Pearls, Bakers Twine and the last image in the Pines & Poinsettias set.









I hope you enjoyed your stop here and I encourage you to keep hopping on over to Holly Denghel's blog. I know she'll have some great projects for you to see. Besides, she's going to be my new neighbor when I get to Texas! Llamas in the hood! Feel free to stop by here again and I hope you'll leave a comment if there was something you liked. Happy Blog Hopping!









Heather
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