UdderlyAwesome Stamping From The Heart

An Elegant Christmas Card from Gifts of Christmas

Today I am sharing another one of the cards that won the card contest at
 my quarterly meeting last Saturday.

I believe that I heard Dawna Shortt say that this was her first card contest.  I hope that she continues to participate because her card is really beautiful.

Here is what it looks like inside:

The Very Vanilla card stock is 10 1/2"x 5 1/4".

She scored at 2 3/4" and 7 7/8".  The card actually overlaps just a bit when you fold the ends back to the center.

Supplies:

Set:  #115372 Gifts of Christmas page 37 $18.95

Very Vanilla and Soft Suede card stock  and Soft Suede Classic ink page 155

#115679 Story Book Designer Series Paper (Blue) page 163 $9.95

#115479 Bridesmaid Specialty Paper page 158 $13.95 (5 sheets ea in two designs:  12 x 12)

The Soft Suede for the top piece is 3 3/4" x 3". 

This is really a very simple card.  The Designer papers are cut in 2 1/4" x 5" panels. You can get 10 panels out of one 12 x 12 sheet.  So you can get 50 cards out of one pkg of the Bridesmaid paper and if you use both blues and one of the reds out of the Story book Paper, that would be enough for 60 cards!

You could even add a picture to the inside if you wanted to along with your greeting!

Thank you for a beautiful card, Dwana!

Can you resist making this card?

E-mail me if you would like to order the supplies for this card!

Or if you are local, join my Christmas Card Club beginning October 12th!

Click here for details of the Christmas Card Club.

There is a PayPal Link to prepay when you click for details.

Thank you for stopping by!

Tree Trimmings makes a beautiful Christmas Card!

Another winner from last Saturday's meeting is Cheryl LeFore who created this very beautiful Christmas card out of Tree Trimmings.
 Wouldn't you love to be on her Christmas list?

I know that I am really this picture really large, but you need the size to appreciate the detail.

Supplies:
#116722 Tree Trimmings page 29 $14.95
#114916 All Holidays page 43 $34.95 (12 greetings)
Card stocks:  Real Red, Olive, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White page156
Inks:  Real Red, Old Olive, chocolate Chip page 156
#109043 Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon page 183 $4.95
#112091 Long Edge Scallop punch page 187 $15.95
#102023 Dazzling Diamonds glitter page 180 $4.50
#104430 Stampin' Dimensionals (under each ornament)
#116824 Petals a Plenty Embossing Folder page 21 (Holiday mini) $7.95
#109114 Pretties Kit (For the half pearl) page 178 $29.95 for a huge asst of embellishments
Little diamond-  Local craft store

Thank you for the beautiful card, Cheryl!

My Christmas Card Club begins on Monday, October 12th.
Don't miss out on stamping with friends and having your card completed before Thanksgiving!

Click here to see details and picture of the cards we will make the first night.
There is also a PayPal link in this post where you can sign up for the club.

As always, please e-mail me if I can help you in any way!

Thank you for stopping by!

Have You Ever Seen a Crow With This Much Personality?

Even though I haven't had time to stamp recently, I am going to feature some of the demonstrators in my UdderlyAwesome stampers group this week who's cards were chosen in the top five
from our quarterly meeting last Saturday.

Are you ready for some punching fun?
Lela Hopler submitted this Happy Thanksgiving card.

Crow body:   #112082  Wide Oval Punch page 186 $15.95

Crow Wings:  #109043 Circle Scallop Punch page 187 $15.95  She ran these through the Polka Dot Texture Plate #114512 page 195 #11.95 for 3 plates with 6 sides of designs.

Crow Head and beak:  #104403 1 1/4" Circle  Punch page 186 $15.95 (Beak:  More Mustard card stock)

Hat Brim and top of hat:  #3112082 Wide Oval punch page 186 $15.95 and the #115962 Perfect Details Texture Plate page 195 $3.95 Very Vanilla Card Stock  Sponge these pieces in Bravo Burgundy.

The Bravo Burgundy layer to the hat:  #104401 1 3/8" Circle Punch page 186 $15.95

Flower on the brim and the feet:  #110711 Boho Blossoms Punch in Really Rust card stock

Eyes and center of the flower:1/4" Circle Punch We no longer sell this size punch in our catalog.

Legs:  #100982  Natural Hemp Twine dyed black

#112463 Top Note Bigz Die (Use this in the Big Shot) in Really Rust card stock for the background piece.

# 105090 Word Window Punch and # 115370 Teeny Tiny Wishes for the Happy Thanksgiving piece.

#116630 Modern Label Punch for the black piece behind the greeting.

The raffia for the bow can be purchased at a local craft store.

Please e-mail me if you have any questions about this card or

if there is any other way that I can help you.

Thank you for stopping by!

Learning to "Get Closer" with Picture Taking (and 6 additional pointers)

Today we had 117 demonstrators and guests at our September quarterly meeting at the Old Spaghetti Factory meeting here in Duarte CA.  Our speaker, Wendy Randall, who is one of our UdderlyAwesome stampers, gave an extremely effective talk about the benefit of taking pictures, how to take better pictures, and then related the same ideas into how to better build our businesses.

One of the points Wendy made was to "get closer".  She said get ready to take your picture, and then take a step closer!  When everyone went out to the back parking lot, I FORGOT to take my camera.  So I hurried back inside.  As I was going back OUT, everyone else was coming IN, but I decided to try to get at least one good shot.

I asked these three demonstrators to stop so that I could get them into focus.  And then I took another step closer.  I love this picture!  Thank you to Robin, Whitney, and Gabriella for letting me practice on them:)!!

Wendy also said that we need to take more pictures.  She said to think about how many pictures a photographer takes at a wedding.  You have many to choose from to get your favorites!

Wow!  I have two grandsons to practice on, too! 
I may have missed one point, but here are the all of the ones that I wrote down.

1.  Take more Photos.
2.  Get Closer.
3.  Create a focal point.  Wendy said to get your picture focused and then move the camera a little to the right or left or up or down so that you are not centering your picture. It creates a  much more interesting picture.
4.  Rule of thirds.  Wendy said to picture a tic tac toe grid.  You do not have to center your picture.    Try having the point of interest  somewhere that the tic tac toe lines criscross.  Of course, seeing all of her examples of what good pictures look like was the best.  But you can still practice and see what a difference it makes in your pictures.
5.  Turn off the flash.  When you turn off the flash, you get shadows that create character and interest.  You have to look for natural soft light.  Practice is what we have to do!
6.  Beware of distracting objects.  She had taken a picture of friends who were standing in front of a pole, which looked like it was growing of the husband's head. Not a great picture!
7.  Tell a Story.  Take enough pictures so that you can answer the questions who, what, when, where and why about the event.

I'm really excited about beginning to practice taking better pictures!
Who knows what I may come up with!

Thank you for stopping by1
Please e-mail me if I can help you in anyway.

Desk Top Card Holder

This is the project that we are making today at the Stampin' Up! meeting at the Old Spaghetti Factory here in Duarte CA today.

The box has room for 10 quarter cards and 10 envelopes
or
5 full size cards with 5 envelopes.

The quarter cards get their name from the fact that they are one quarter of an 8 1/2"x 11" piece of card stock.  When I want to write a quick but nice note, I love to use the quarter cards.

Supplies:
#115354 Scenic Season page 35  $24.95
#113790 Oval All (Greeting) page 125 $16.95
#100425 2-Way Glue Pen page 192 $3.50 (holds the glitter to the card stock)
#102023 Dazzling Diamonds Glitter page 180  $4.50
#114319 White Organza Ribbon page 183 $5.95 (I actually died the ribbon, but decided later that I like it better just left white.)
#112581 1/2" Library Clips page 179 $4.95
Handsome Hunter and Whisper White Card stocks and Classic Ink pages 156-157
#115672    Merry Moments Designer Series Paper page 160 $9.95
#107305 Large Oval Punch page 186 page $15.95
#114889 Scallop Oval Punch page 187 $15.95

If you are interested in getting the pattern for the box, please e-mail me. 
I had to purchase the pattern.  It is very inexpensive.
The stipulations on the website would keep me from being able to just give it away.
I will be happy to give you the source for the pattern.

How about a Build-a-Bear Desk top gift Box!

Or here is a Desk Top Gift Box made out of the Soft Suede In-Color

The quarter cards are made with the #115730 Dotted Delicates Rub-Ons page 176 for $11.95

Thank you for stopping by!

Autumn Days with a Unique Twist of the Crimper!

My friend, Lee Conrey, shared this amazing idea with me.
My September Stamp Clubs made this card and my hostess last week
also requested that we do it as a hands on project!

Needless to say, everyone loved it and I wanted to share Lee's idea with all of you!

It doesn't look like it would be easy to make, but it really is!

Mark the mid point on all four sides of the 5 1/4"x 4" Very Vanilla card stock.

Score from point to point. (I used a C-Thru ruler and our stylus tool)

Fold on each score line so that the piece of card stock looks like this:

I used a little repositional Dotto under each tip to hold them in place while I was crimping the piece.

Place one of the North/South points into the crimper and run the piece through.

It helps to have a third hand.  You have one hand holder the crimper handle closed tightly.

You have one hand ready to turn the crimper's handle.  Who is going to hold the piece above so that you can get it started through the crimper?  Maybe you could hold it with your lips if you dont' have a third pair of hands!!:):):)

Pull each tip back up and you can turn the opened up piece so that the side with the dotto is down
on the full piece of folded Vanilla card stock. Mount the crimped piece onto the main card with dimensionals.

Then you can create a pattern for the Soft Suede Center piece and the Very Vanilla Layer.
Stamp the pine cone from Autumn Days in Soft Suede Classic Ink.
Notice that the pine cones have been stamped a second time, cut out, and mounted over the first image with dimensionals.
Add the ribbon with Mini Glue Dots.
The Soft Suede center piece is also mounted with dimensionals.

Supplies:
#115452  Autumn Days page 92 $23.95
#101618 Crimper page 188 $19.95
#109065 Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon page 183 $6.95
Very Vanilla and Soft Suede card stock olus the Soft Suede Classic Pad page 155
dimensionals and Mini Glue Dots page 192
#100663 Stylus Tool page 188 $2.50  (or you could just use the scoring blade on your cutter)

This is a beautiful Fall Card.
It could be used for a Thanksgiving Card or a general greeting card!
Great idea, Lee!

E-mail me if you have any questions.
Thank you for stopping by!

The Value of Friends

You've noticed that I have not been posting much in the last several weeks.  We are going through some tough times here in our family.  My husband, who is only 65 is in the advanced stages of Alzheimers.  My dad, who has lived with us for over a year, is almost 92, and has been extremely healthy his entire life, is now dealing with something.  I may be taking him to the hospital today.

Most of you have gone through or are currently going through some very difficult situations also. 
So you really understand.
There are two things that are making a huge difference difference for me
as I take each day a step at a time.

First, and most important is my personal relationship with the Lord.
Philippians 4:13 says"I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who fuses inner strength into me.  (Amplified)  As I continue to trust the Lord, He is certainly fusing inner strength into me.

And second are my friends.
A special hug that says, "I understand."
A dinner.
Fresh flowers for our table.
A little gift.
A kind offer of help even if perhaps there is really nothing that they can do other than care.
A kind offer of help when there is something that they can do.
A note.
Some have noticed something on our property or in our home that needs fixing or reorganizing...totally unrelated to the problem at hand but none the less a great help and encouragement.

God loves to pour out His grace and His love to us if we are willing to receive it.
Not understanding how loved we are by God keeps us from receiving.
Knowing how valuable we are to God and how much he loves us, allows us to receive.
And when we receive, blessings splash out all over the person who did the giving, all over us, the receiver, and then, because our love cup is filling up, blessings splash out from us to others around us.
Real love cannot be contained.

I want you encourage you to allow people to do kind things for you.
Practice receiving.  You are valuable!  Receiving is a lot more difficult than giving sometimes.
I believe that the better we get at receiving, the better we get at giving and loving others.

Thank you for stopping by!
E-mail me if you would like.

Don't miss out on my Christmas Card Club if you are Local to Duarte CA

How many times have you "THOUGHT" that you would complete making your homemade Christmas cards only to abandon the project?

I'm inviting you to come and stamp with me!

My Christmas Card Club meets three times.

• First to stamp three cards of my choice and make a decision about what you would like to make for your card.  (One of my ideas or one you see here or one of your own.)  Some people make more than one design.  (Monday, October 12th)

• Next, we do all the stamping.  (Monday, October 26th)

• The last get together is to assemble them and be finished before Thanksgiving!!  (Monday, November 9th)

Here are the three cards that we will be making on Monday, October 5th:

I designed this card out of #116517 Delightful Decorations page 24 (Holiday Mini)  $21.95
and Merry Moments Designer Series Paper.



This second card I designed out of #115354 Scenic Season page 35 for $24.95
with Handsome Hunter and  Brushed Silver card stock and ink.
Can you see the Dazzling Diamonds Glitter on the trees?



And the third design is  one that I copied from Jill Hillard using #116816 Dasher page 208  $8.95




We have such a great time stamping together each year.
I would love to have you join us:)

You may sign up for the 1:00-3:00 p.m. times or
the 6:30-8:30 p.m. times.

You pay a one time fee of $30 for all three classes.
(Materials that you need for the card of your choice are not included in the $30.).

Sign up today!

Thank you for stopping by!
I hope to see you here to stamp your Christmas Cards!

Build-a-Bear Halloween Card Wins the contest!

Last Saturday I attended a Stampin' up! meeting with some Stampin' Up! demonstrators.
 Here is the card by Sharon Rodriguez that won the card contest!

Supplies:

#117977 Stampin' Up! Bear  page 35 Holiday Mini   $23.95
#117981 Kooky Spooky page 37 Holiday Mini  $18.95
#115951 Stampin' Up! Timeless Type Junior Alphabet (Boo)   Page 197 $197
#113459 Leaves Die #2 page 202 $15.95
#101618 Crimper page 188  $19.95
#114996 Itty Bitty Backgrounds  page 132  $14.95
Card stocks: Pumpkin PIe, Garden Green, Basic Black, Craft, and More Mustard
Pages 156-157

Wouldn't this be fun to make!

 E-mail me if I can help you in anyway.

Thanks for stopping by.

Halloween Build-a-Bear Birthday Invitation

I haven't been stamping...however, my neighbor called and asked me if I would help her design an invitation for her son's 10th birthday party with a Halloween theme.  So before she came over, I quickly pulled out my Build-a-Bear Bigz Dies and started having fun!

My goal was to make it simple and fun!

Here's what I came up with.
I used the new Perfect Details Texturz Plate on the vanilla card stock
and it doesn't show up in the picture.  It adds a lot of interest to the card.



Then inside will look like this:



Alicia loved it and we had so much fun finishing it up together!
She can cut out the pieces here and put it together at home!
Alicia is going to hand deliver them or put them in a larger envelope so that the hat can stick up over the edge.

Supplies:
#117977 Stampin' Up! Bear  page 35 (Holiday Mini) $23.95
#117979  Kooky Spooky page 37 (Holiday Mini) $18.95
#115046 Please Come  page 146 $25.95
#115962 Perfect Details Texturz Plage  page 195   $3.95
Card stocks:  Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black Close to Cocoa, and Very Vanilla pages 155-156

Helping people come up with ideas that they can use is one of the most fun parts
of Stampin' up! for me!

Contact me if I can help you in any way!

Do you love to stamp?
Would you like more information about becoming a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator!

Let me know.
I would love to give you some information to look over!

Thank you for stopping by.