SUO Challenge 4

Hey Everyone-
  I'm back with today's Stampin' Up Only Challenge #4.  Have you checked us out yet?  If not--you can do that here.  We'd love if you played along with us!  Today's challenge is fabric or waffle paper.  Don't have any of the fabulous Stampin' Up fabric yet?  That's ok....ribbon counts as a fabric, too.
  For today's challenge I am showing you a page that was inspired by a blog I like to read.  Aly-thanks for the inspiration.
  This is an 8x8 scrapbook page that I am going to frame in a shadowbox frame.  Two weekends ago my husband and two boys and I went to Hartley Nature Center.  (For those of you in the Duluth/Superior area, if you haven't checked it out--you have to go)  My older son was our tour guide as he's taken quite a few of their camps in the summer so he was thrilled to show us all his favorite places.   I love this picture of my boys, all three of them.
  For the base I used Early Espresso textured card stock.  The layers are Crumb Cake, and Cajun Craze.  The accents are a Top Note die cut out with the Big Shot in So Saffron, a 1" strip of the new Autumn Spice Designer Series Paper and some buttons in Fall colors from my stash.  The ribbon is the wide grosgrain striped ribbon in Old Olive.  I gathered it along a strip of Sticky Strip because it's a heavy ribbon and I wanted it to hold.   Hope you like it!
  Thanks for stopping in--I'd love to see what you create--I'll be checking out all the entries at SUO Challenges.

Happy Stampin!
Amy

The Holidays Are Soon Upon Us....

Hi Everyone!!
  I have a workshop coming up on Friday, and this is the card we are going to make.  I'm not sure of the experience level of the stampers that are coming, so I went with a clean and simple card.  I saw something similar to this card on Stampin Connection--a site especially for us demonstrators from Stampin' Up.  It's a great resource--there are so many talented demos out there.  If you who created this card happen to be reading my blog--thanks for the idea!!  I changed it up by using a different snowflake, and instead of Craft Ink in white for the snowflakes (because I don't have any) I used Soft Suede and added just a few rhinestones for some sparkle here and there on the card.  The snowflake is from A Friend for All Seasons, and the greeting is from Gifted--it also doubles as a tag for presents--2 sets in one!  Love that!!  I finished it off with some Real Red satin ribbon folded over on itself, and then I v-cut the edges.  Quick and easy card with a real pretty effect.  You could make a bunch of these in not a lot of time.
  Thanks for stopping in--wish me luck for my workshop.  :)

Happy Stampin!
Amy

Fundraising Season Part 2

Hey Everyone--

  As promised, here I am back with the 2nd card I featured in a pack of cards going in to the Stampin' Up basket I am donating to the Silent Auction at my son's school this month.  Thank you cards and just every day note cards are the kind I find myself reaching for the most.  This card is almost a CASE out of a Stampin' Success magazine we receive as demos--it was in one of the summer ones.  The feature color in it was Daffodil Delight and Staz On Black--I don't find myself reaching for yellow much, but I really like the color combo offered here.  Instead of just a patterned yellow strip behind the card as is featured in the magazine, I used a strip of the Greenhouse Gala designer series paper, and I added some of the rhinestones to the flower both on the bird and on the flower on the top.  I hope that these cards will help my basket earn some money for the kids.  :)  

  Thanks for checking in--short post today, I'm prepping for a workshop I have on Friday--so I gotta scoot.  Have a great day!!

Happy Stampin!

Amy

Fundraising Season

Hi Everyone--
  Fundraising season is in full swing both at school and for activities.  I have a 3rd grader who is in sports and Scouts--his ski hill is doing a silent auction and I am donating for that, and his school is doing a silent auction for things like field trips, and extra tutors, and fun programs for the kids, so I always like to help out there, too.  If I can't always donate my time, at least I can donate my talents.  :)
  So..that being said, here is one of the cards in the card pack I am donating (along with an Idea Book/Catalog, mini catalog, and decorative catalog, plus a $25 gift certificate).   I always find that I need thank you cards laying around, and I thought this one turned out well and is in season.  I used some Confetti Naturals as the background, and then a piece of the Autumn Spice designer series paper (LOVE). I tied some Always Artichoke seam binding around the card, and added Thanks from Thank You Kindly punched out with the Designer Label punch.  The buttons are just some I had in my stash, but they seemed to go nicely with this paper.  What do you think?  I'll be back tomorrow with the other card I featured in this package for the school.  :)
  Thanks for stopping in~oh...and before I go--I just want to say congratulations to my friend Kim and her husband Steve on their beautiful little girl that was born yesterday!!

Happy Stampin!
Amy

Such a beautiful Fall-and a recipe

Hi Everyone-
  The weather as been SO gorgeous here this Fall.  It's been so nice to be able to continue to enjoy being outside.  It's one of my boys favorite places to be.  Yesterday I took my oldest to the Farmers' Market early in the morning.  We got some great vegetables, some coffee that was roasted yesterday, and some artisan chocolates--along with a great foccacia bread and some homemade jam.  With that I made some delicious broccoli cheese soup for us to have for dinner last night.  It is my Mom's recipe, and it totally makes me think of a crisp fall day when I was growing up.  After my youngest son woke up from his nap, we headed out for a family hike at our nearest nature preserve.  Alex has had summer camp there the last three summers, and loves it.  He was a great tour guide, and Jack sure loved running after his brother on the trails.  It was a beautiful day, and so nice to be together as a family.
  Tonight I'm continuing to work on some of my items for our holiday vendor fair coming up at the end of the month, as well as prep for my workshops I have at the end of the week, and my next couple challenges for the design team.  I'll be taking pictures and posting soon.  :)  Have you guys tried out our challenge yet?  It's Holiday Mini this week over at SUO Challenges--come check us out!!!  In the mean time, how about that delicious hearty soup recipe?  Thanks Mom for sharing!!

Linda's Broccoli Cheese Soup
1 1/2 qts. water
1 c. chopped carrots
1 c. chopped celery
1 med. chopped onion (any color--I like yellow in this soup)
Simmer the above vegetables in the water until slightly tender (about 10 minutes) then add:
1lb. chopped broccoli
1lb. chopped cauliflower
Continue to simmer--add 1/4 c. (1 stick) butter and one lb. Velveeta cheese cubed.  Turn heat to low.
In another bowl combine 1 1/2 c. milk and 2/3 cup flour.  Whisk together until there are no lumps in the flour mixture and add slowly to the soup--stir constantly until well blended.  (This will help thicken the soup)
Cook on low, stirring frequently, until ready to serve.

Enjoy!!

Happy Stampin!
Amy

PS--as promised, some pictures from our Grand Marais trip last weekend:

My sister, Em, and me in the Grand Marais Harbor

Me by the pier in Grand Marais

Me, my Mom, and Em in the Grand Marais Harbor--happy belated birthday present, Mom!

All Hallows Eve.......

Hey Everyone!

  Sorry for the stretch between posts--but here I am, back and with our third design challenge over at SUO Challenges.  :)  Play along with us as we all share things from the Holiday Mini Catalog....have you checked this out yet?????? If not, you need to.  This catalog is jam packed full of all kinds of fantastic items for your holiday decor, cardmaking, and gift giving necessities!!  

  Today I am featuring a few things from the mini.  The Spooky Things Decor Elements in black are what you see for the bat in the upper left hand corner of this picture frame.  (I also have used a few more from this set of elements on my Trick or Treat tray I featured here)  The other products used are the Nite Owl Designer Series Paper (The spooky tree in the right hand corner is on a 12x12 sheet of paper, and the fence is part of it, too) as well as the Dark and Dreary stamp set.  Other stamp sets used are Halloween Haunts and Wicked Cool from the IB&C.

  I loved the framed piece of decor in the mini catalog, so I took my inspiration from that. What I did was buy a frame on sale (I bought a few...) from a big box store.  I love buying these frames to use to make personalized holiday decor.  I took the mat out of it and used that as my template for cutting out my DSP.  With the tree in my bottom right hand corner, I used our 1 3/4 circle punch and punched it out of a scrap piece of paper so I had a mask for the moon.  I then started with More Mustard ink and sponged it all around the circle.  I then took Pumpkin Pie ink and sponged that around the outside of the moon to give it a bit more depth.  I used my sponge in Night of Navy and Elegant Eggplant to get my spooky night sky and made sure to sponge some over the moon.  I also sponged along the fence and base of the tree, as well as the haunted mansion with Pear Pizazz, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, and Daffodil Delight so that it looked a bit like misty ground.  I used my Daffodil Delight marker to color in the windows of the haunted mansion as well as the street post.  In the tree I stamped the raven from Dark and Dreary, and I used the bats from Wicked Cool to fill the night sky.  

  What do you think?  I can't wait to see what you all come up with.  :)  I'll be back a couple more times this week with items from our holiday mini--I'm doing a vendor fair at the end of the month, so I have some more decor items to share with you.

  Thanks for stopping in--hope you all had a great weekend!

Happy Stampin!

Amy

Season of Gratitude....

Hi Everyone!
  I'm back!  I just spent a great long weekend on the North Shore with my sister, and my parents.  It started out as my Mom's belated birthday gift.  She wanted a weekend to spend with her girls, as we don't get those very often anymore.  My sister and I are both grown now, and I have a family with little kids.  So, my sister and I rented a great house up the shore and planned to have a girls' weekend.  We planned our menu, and places we wanted to stop in Grand Marais on Sunday.  My Dad got wind, and he wanted to come along, too--so he did.  It was really nice to have some time just the 4 of us again.  Although, we all agreed, next time we need to get a bigger house so my boys and husband, and my sister's boyfriend can join us, too.  More fun memories to make.  :)  I'll share some pictures later this week--the weather was absolutely beautiful, and I got some gorgeous pictures of the sunrise over Lake Superior.
  Anyways--the reason you are here...a card.  :)

I used the Autumn Spice designer series paper over a layer of Old Olive layered on a piece of Naturals Confetti.  I love this designer series paper because it can truly stand all on its own, or it looks nice with layers.  This is just a quick and simple thank you card tied together with the Modern Label punch as well as a sentiment from Thank You Kindly.  I was reading on one of the blogs I follow, about how she is sending a card a day for a week to people she is truly thankful for in her life to celebrate Thanksgiving.  I thought this was a great idea, I know I certainly don't tell the people in my life that I care about them enough--what a nice day brightener this could be.  Wouldn't you love to get a card in the mail for no reason telling you how much you are appreciated?  Anyone care to join me???
  Thank you for stopping!  I'm thankful for all of you who stop in here!

Happy Stampin,
Amy