Elf Feet!

I attend the T.O.P.I.C.S. annual weekend

retreat in Texas every year.  

It is a blast and reason enough

 be become a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

I was so inspired by all the lovely women there and 

what they made.

I thought these two versions of Santa's elves' feet 

were so adorable.

The top one is a 3 x 3 card and used the 

Curly Label Punch to fashion the shoes.

Below it is the same idea using the 

Top Note Die. 

When I see them I hear jingle bells!

Top Note Santa Tag

This is yet another way to use the

Top Note Die with the Big Shot.

What a cute little tag to include with a

Christmas gift.

Plenty of room to add a little note,

or a 

Ho Ho Ho!

(Inspired by Deanna Fioresi.)

Christmas Paper Towel Basket

This little basket is perfect for 

a little bag of chocolate Kisses or

M & M's.  

It's made from a paper towel

or toilet paper roll.

Cute!

Winter Sampler

 

I am completely addicted to the 1 3/8" sampler

that my sister, Penny Thomas,

introduced to me before Halloween.

(Check out three examples 

on this blog September 23, 24 and 25.)

I was really excited to participate in a

'Winter' sampler with the 

T.O.P.I.C.S. team.  

I think it turned out so pretty and 

'wintery'.

 

My swap is the lower right corner.

I'm already thinking of a 

Valentine Sampler!

Snowman Tea Light

A few punches, card stock, a

battery operated tea light,

and voila'

a snowman appears!

He looks so cozy!

(Inspired by Becky Roberts)

No-Sew Paper Snips Holder

While spending last weekend in St. Louis, I attended a Demonstrator event put together by Sally Nusbaum.  

(I am a HUGE fan of Sally.  She is an amazing person.)

Most of us participated in a swap.

The No-Sew Paper Snips Holder, seen below, was my swap. 

The fabric used is retired, but can be found on the 

Stampin' Up! Clearance Rack for $.99!

I used the Petal Cone Die to cut my fabric

and the Big Shot Fabric Adhesive Roll and my iron.

Putting it together was a snap!

I added a little button and slipped in my 

snips.

No-Sew!

Quality time with the Pieces of Heart Team

Last weekend I was able to spend lots of time with some of my favorite people 

in St. Louis, my Pieces of Heart Team members.  

I was invited to Jayne Singleton's house to visit while they were

making Valentine cards for the troops.  

That is a cause that is very near and dear to Jayne's heart and I so enjoyed being there with them. 

While I was there, Jayne pulled out a luscious birthday cake for me!

I wish I had remembered to take a picture while I was there, 

but take it from me, the cake was awesome.

The next day, Jayne, Judy Sumner and Mary Taylor were hosting 

a customer appreciation open house that I attended too.  

They are so good their customers.   

They had three make and take projects for them to do while filling up 

on all kinds of goodies.  

I was so busy visiting that I only made one of the projects.

It was offered by Mary Taylor and can be seen below.

I just love it and have already CASed it!

Mary gave me the little cocoa envelope, seen below, before I left. 

It is just adorable and even included a little chocolate-covered

peppermint stick!

What a cute little holiday gift.

Thanks, Jayne, Judy and Mary!

You guys are the best, and I miss 

being with you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Recently, I celebrated a birthday.

It was my 39th.....

Anyway, I received so many pretty cards

that I wanted to show them off.

 

This was made by my friend,

and talented stamper,

Phyllis Phegley.

This pretty card is from Mary Ellen Cope.

I loved all the elements Kathy Boxdorfer added to this card

Wow, this card is so elegant.

Fellow T.O.P.I.C.S. member,

Vicki Myford, sent this.

Cute birthday banner made by

fellow T.O.P.I.C.S. member,

Benedicte Richard.

I just love this card.  

It reminds me of LEGOS!

Made by Patty Schnell.

This is a darling card just by itself!

But it has an 'interactive' element to it!

The front panel raises up to reveal 

a velum window.  Behind the window

you can place a little battery operated

tea light!  

Adorable!

Made by the very talented

Judy Sumner!

Thank you all so very much 

for remembering my birthday. 

Receiving your cards made it

that much more special.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope you all have a great 

Thanksgiving!

 

Inspired by Kristin Moore.

Memories

I just learned that a friend's

mother recently 

passed away.  

This card, 

most effectively,

portrayed my 

condolences for her loss. 

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

My mom and dad are about to celebrate their

62nd wedding anniversary!

I won't be able to be with them,

so I wanted their card to be 

very special.  

I ran 1 1/4" punched squares

of Very Vanilla through various

embossing folders. 

I feel the result is elegant.

Happy Anniversary,

Mom and Dad!

Wedding CASE

I have said so many times

that I am the queen of CASE,

(Copy And Share Everything).

When I saw this card in the current

Stampin' Up! Catalog,

page 39,

I knew I had to try to reproduce it

since I will be attending a wedding soon.   

It is an odd square size,

 so I will pull out my

Simply Scored Scoring Tool,

and my Simply Scored Diagonal Plate

to make an envelope.

It was raining outside, but I was 

having stamping bliss 

inside! 

Another Promotion in the Pieces of Heart Team!

I am so proud of our team.

We have yet another promotion to cheer about!

Mary Ellen Cope has promoted to 

Sr Associate!

Atta Girl, Mary Ellen!

You are going places with your stamping business!

The sky's the limit!

If you would like to be a part of our great team,

contact me.

I will be happy to talk to you about 

Stampin' Up! 

and how much fun 

YOU 

can have being a part of it!

stamppad@sbcglobal.net

Love - Squared

We received an invitation to a wedding reception

for my daughter's best friend.

It was so pretty with a sepia look. 

I had just made the 

Halloween themed frame,

(posted on my blog September 23)

with 1 3/8" squares

and my first thought was to use 

that same idea using parts of the invitation.  

I completely copied some of the

squares from the frame made by my sister, 

Penny Thomas. 

 (Posted on my blog September 24.)

I think the result is breath-taking 

if I do say so myself!
I hope the bride and groom will enjoy it
for many years to come.

A Touch of Fall

I used the masking technique with the

French Foliage Stamp Set.

Makes me feel a crispness of 

Fall in the air!

(Inspired by Jen Mitchell)

Halloween 1 3/8" Square Punch Sampler Swap

I participated in a 

1 3/8" Square Punch Swap

with my fellow

T.O.P.I.C.S Team 

members.  

I received some fantastic

swaps and wanted to put them in a frame as soon as possible.

There were enough of us who participated that I had 

enough to make another insert for that frame.

I think there might be a Thanksgiving theme in my future!

Penny's 1 3/8 Square Sampler

This has to be one of the most beautiful gifts 

I have ever received.

My sister, 

Penny Thomas,

is so talented.  

I was just tickled to get this beautiful

sampler from her.

She used all kinds of punches and dies

to make each little square

unique.

(Click on the picture to get a better view.)

I am going to be using this idea

to make more samplers for different 

seasons and occasions.

Check back to see a 

Halloween

and

Wedding

version!

I'm addicted!

Shoebox Swap - Me!

My shoebox swap was made using the 

Two Tags Bigz Die.

I made two and adhered them together to form 

 a container for nuggets,

which is tied together with the

3 1/2" Scalloped Tulle Ribbon,

and

Color-Twisted Baker's Twine.

The stamp set is

 Mixed Medley,

which can be coordinated with our 

Circle Punches.

The designer paper is

Be of Good Cheer.

It just needed a little sparkle

so I added a

Rhinestone Basic Jewel. 

Shoebox Swap - Deana Schultz

Deana Schultz 

is one of our adopted 

Pieces of Hearts members.

She couldn't be with us at our retreat,

but sent these adorable

Holiday Critters to us.  

We were delighted to get them.

She made them using the 

Petal Card Double Punch.

There is a bat, a turkey and

Rudolph with his red nose!

Thank you, Deana.

We missed you!

Shoebox Swap - Jayne Singleton

The stamp set,

Winter Memories,

is pretty enough.

But,

Jayne Singleton 

added a beautiful card stock

background called

Core'dinations

that can be antiqued or distressed

with the 

Stampin' Sanding System.

The result is a rich-looking card with real depth. 

Awesome!