PHEW! I survived Christmas!

It was a lot of fun but I have to say I'm glad it's over! Can you believe I am re-entering my blog with EVEN MORE NAME FRAMES! You would think I would be sick of them now but my kid's friends came over today and announced that they would like to do "some Stampin' Up!" they had seen the frames I've been making and wanted to do one of their own. Of course I have tons of supplies over so I pulled them out and let them play and just take a look at the great job they did!

They got out the Big Shot and cut out their letters and then they chose the images and colors they wanted to use. Quite often they'll look at what I'm doing and ask if they can make one and I'm ashamed to say I usually say "not today" because I'm busy working or prepping. It was fun today to be able to say "sure!" for once and we all had such a good time I'm determined to make time to do it again (we'll see how long that resolution lasts!)

Well, one of my other resolutions is to post more often, I haven't done very well with that lately either! Happy New Year to you and I hope to see you soon. Have a lovely week,

Brenda

Shop from the new Gift Giving Guide and get Free Decor Elements!

Click the picture above to go to the new Stampin' Up! Holiday Gift-Giving Guide. You'll find some great ideas for gifts to buy or make... If you spend $50 on anything pictured in the guide you can get any Decor Element valued $16.95 or less! Too much fun. Shop now through my online store: www.brendamarshall.stampinup.com

To assist you in shopping from the Holiday Gift Giving Guide, here is a link to a Product List for Download, which lists all the items, their prices, where you can find them in catalogs, and some helpful notes on each product including coordinating colors.

I am super busy getting ideas from all over the place that I can copy with cards, favors and gifts, I am more than happy to share what I find so please let me know if you'd like some suggestions for your cards or presents. I'm happy to help your loved ones pick out presents for you too - let me know if you'd like me to whisper some suggestions to them ;-) If they buy from me I'll wrap the gift for them too...

Have a great week, Brenda

What a Winner!

I had an open house play date last week where we got together to work on our Holiday cards. Our friend Theresa, (who has recently moved to Phoenix) stopped in with her daughter, Brittany, her Mom, and her Grandson, Bronson. Brittany made her first card ever and was the winner of the stamp set I gave away, The More The Merrier, which is a level 3 hostess set! Here is Brittany's first card, didn't she do great? Theresa is holding her card.

Several people dropped by during the day to design their cards, it feels great getting this far when it's still October! Definitely a first for me, usually it's mid December when I'm working on these!

I am doing another open house this Monday (November 2nd) This is a free open house play date, bring along your Holiday ideas/projects and feel free to use any of my stamp sets or non-consumables. We'll just be playing and having fun. Let me know if you'd like more info!

Happy Halloween, Brenda

Field Trip to Arboles

I have been invited to Arboles to introduce a group of ladies to stamping. Many of them are quilters so I tried to incorporate some materials they may already have on hand into the designs. Here are a couple of the cards they'll be making: This one is pretty simple, the skaters are from the Stampin' Up! stamp set Winter Post and I cut a scrap of fabric using the Top Note die and my Big Shot. My lovely neighbor Tiffany gave me this cute polka dot fabric. I ran over there to beg from her, I knew she'd have something adorable, which she did, and she's so nice she just gave it to me! Thank you Tiff! You should all go check out her blog to say thank you: http://www.thechildrensnest.blogspot.com/

This card uses the Autumn designer series paper from the Holiday mini, I LOVE this paper, it's actually a bit painful to me to cut it up and use it I'm really tempted to hoard it. We will be using a sewing machine to stitch the paper to the card, easy peasy but looks hard, my favorite kind of card!

I'll let you know how we get on, have a great week, Brenda

Are you sick of seeing frames yet?!

Last night Susanne, Cayli & Wendy came over and made frames. This is Susanne with her finished picture, Sooz is the person who introduced me to Stamping - she was my babysitter (10 years ago now!) and a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. She used to invite me to her events and try to get me into stamping with her but I was adamant I didn't want to. I told her that I liked scrapbooking and had no time for a new hobby. Also, I didn't even like the look of stamping, it just wasn't my cup of tea. Ha ha, little did I know! As time went by she kept GIVING me things, an adorable birthday card, a tea-towel with my baby's handprints on (a dirty trick you have to admit, what mum could resist that?!), more super cute cards. a "watch me grow" wall hanging. Then I would see all the cute things her kids were making for their classmates and the gifts Sooz was making for her kid's teachers. I kept hearing myself say: "I don't like stamping but I LOVE this ONE thing..." Eventually I agreed to host a workshop for her and I was like Paul on the road to Damascus - I LOVED everything, was totally blown away by all the lovely stuff and wanted just about everything in the catalog (that hasn't changed). Eventually Susanne left Stampin' Up! to work at central dispatch and I signed up to be a demonstrator - she kindly had me sign up under Tara instead of her which was really generous of her - being a direct of Tara's has been a total blessing to me. So I am forever grateful to Susanne in lots of ways. Cayli is one of her daughters and when I met her I believe she was five, look at her now! Can you believe how cute she is? And if you were one of her grandparents wouldn't you just love to get this picture made by her? Here's a close up:

Cayli's on the Bayfield High School cheer leading team so she made little glittery purple pom poms for her person, they don't really show on the picture but they were SO CUTE!

I promise I'll start posting other things instead of frames, I'm just loving how everybody's are coming out so different and how lovely! Here's one final image for you, Wendy made 4 frames and they're all different, this one is for her parents, isn't it so lovely?

Have a wonderful day, Brenda

Finlay's Name Picture

Now I've started making these I can't stop! Here's one I made for Finlay, I'm saving it for his birthday though so don't tell... Poor kid is completely obsessed with surfing, which would be great, if only we lived a teeny bit closer to the ocean! Finlay loves the whole surfer dude scene, the clothing, the music, the movies, you name it... but he's never surfed in his life, shame! Still, I'm confident that when he DOES get the chance, he'll know exactly what to do! Have a wonderful week, Brenda

Look What We Made!

This week I started our personalized name frame class, OH MY! This was SO much fun and everybody came up with SUCH cool pictures! Two ladies made three pictures! And I stayed up until 1 a.m. last night making my own I got so inspired... So here are a few examples for you to peek at. I am doing this class again next Tuesday at 10am or 6pm, both sessions are close to full already so please let me know ASAP if you'd like to come along and how many pictures you'd like to do... The cost is $20 for one or $17.50 for two or more, including frames.

Some are framed already and the bottom couple aren't mounted or colored yet. I did the bottom picture as a Christmas gift for my 2nd grader's teacher, it took ages to do all the little people but I love how it came out!

Please let me know if you have any questions, have a wonderful week, Brenda

Two Similar Cards

I've had this stamp set for a while and haven't really played with it much, this month I pulled it out for a couple of specific cards I needed, a get well card for a man, and a congratulations card - I love these old fashioned images! They're not my usual style but I the little pun expressions that go with them lighten them up. They come with the words right below the image but I cut the words off and mount them on the end of the wooden block so I can stamp the picture separately from the words when I wish.

I sized these cards to fit in the open end envelopes, it's fun to use a different shape sometimes. I added felt flowers and the new wide stripy ribbon, I like it so much I keep hoarding it so I'm proud of myself for opening the roll :-)

Have a wonderful day!

Brenda

My Digital Studio

As demo's we were able to order this a little early and I've been playing with mine this week. It's my Dad's 70th birthday next month, he's in England so I won't be there and I wanted to send a special present - I decided to make him an album about his life so far... it's a secret so don't tell...

Here is a sneak peek ;-) I don't think I'm done with this page yet - I think I'll grow the picture a bit bigger and I need to add the date - I am having so much fun with the program! The hardest part has been gathering the pictures and a lot of them are old so I've had to scan them but my Mum scanned and sent me some and I have a big batch of originals my Uncle Ian sent me so I have plenty to play with. I love how you don't have to get all your stuff out, it's so convenient! And they've made it super easy to change the size of your pictures and crop them etc. That's the kind of thing that usually takes me AGES to figure out on the computer - this seems very user friendly to me so far...

You can purchase the program for 1/2 price during October or November if you host a qualifying workshop - please let me know if you are interested...

Have a great week, Brenda

Framed Name Class

I'm starting a new series of classes called "Make a Gift Monday".

Every year I say I'm going to make more home made gifts and then, around December 9th, I start, get in a panic and have to rush out and buy something expensive instead!

So, this year, I'm starting early, and I'm inviting you to join me!

I'm going to do a different class every two weeks offering a variety of different gift ideas.

I'm starting on Monday, September 28, with a name frame class. Above is a sample.

You have lots of choices when it comes to making these frames, some suggestions might be:

• Baby's Name
• Child's Name
• Family Name
• Brothers
• Family
• Cousins
• Sisters
• Friends
• etc. etc.

The word can't be longer than 12 letters or you'll run out of space.

You have your choice of background paper, colors, people, accessories and embellishments.

Make one picture for $20 or 2 or more for $17.50 each, frames included.

This class will be held Monday, September 28 at 10 a.m. or 6:30 p.m. Please RSVP right away so I know how many frames to buy!

Have a GREAT weekend, Brenda

Just Mail It!

One of my new resolutions is to actually SEND some of the cards I make, I'm TERRIBLE at just hoarding them. Case in point is the adorable framed baby name I made for my friend Becki - the baby in question is now a toddler and they have never even SEEN the picture! My bad. It's got to the point now where I'm too embarrassed to give it to them... now I'm writing it down I feel REALLY bad - I'm going to face up to my faults and deliver it! You can check back and see if I did...

OK - so I made this lovely card for my Sister In Law, Janet, who turns 40 tomorrow! She's in England so I probably should have mailed it already but I figure if it's postmarked on the big day that should still count, what do you think? At this rate if it actually hits the mailbox it will be a major achievement! I'm so sad I won't be there to hang out with my nieces and play on the bouncy castle with the rest of my family :-(

Shame

Yay! Convention!

We had SO MUCH FUN! This was the first time I went without the kids (they went camping with Marsh instead) and I had a lot of fun, here are a few pictures of us BLISS girls at convention (L to R - Linda, me, Shoni, Carrie & Tammy)

Tara (my lovely upline) and I - Tara has had a GREAT year, she earned Founder's Circle and we just found out she's going to serve on the Senior Advisory Board this year, she has really earned this so well done Tara.

A sneak peek of the customizable jewelry we'll be carrying, can't wait to get my hands on that!

These were my swaps, easy Halloween treats on glossy card stock - it was fun trading with other 3D items, I got some wonderful things in return (some even had candy, they were my favorites OBVIOUSLY!

All the BLISS attendees together (Julie, Paula, Linda, Carrie, Shoni, Tammy and I - we missed you Julie, Sharon, Caron and Teresa)

Well, the last couple of weeks have been CRAZY! Trying to fit everything in before the boys went back to school, groan. Now I'm trying to get up to speed so I plan to be posting more regularly, ha! Let's see how that resolution goes :-) A new season of stamp club starts this week - it's fun to have lots of new stuff to share!

Have a great week! Brenda

Welcome to the Royal Blog Tour!

Hello and welcome to the Royal Blog Tour, I'm so glad you made time to stop by and see me! I am offering the chance to win BLOG CANDY to anybody!!! (including fellow demo's) Please leave a comment and be sure to include an email address or way for me to contact you so I can let you know if you win! I will draw a winner on Wednesday.

I have had fun playing with the new Beware Pirates stamp set. After 6 straight years of Thomas the Tank Engine birthday parties I'm now on my 4th consecutive Pirate birthday party so I was happy to see a new pirate stamp set! This is a cool one, I love the images and the feel of it. I can't wait to get the Extreme Elements stamp set to pair it with...

Above is my son, Callum's, birthday party invitation. I stamped the ship in Versamark and embossed in black. Then I gave Callum a sponge and a Crushed Curry ink pad and his big brother two sponges and Night of Navy and Bermuda Bay ink pads, then let them at it! Didn't they do a great job?
We printed the insides on the computer and stamped on a couple of pirate images.

Then we used the stamp set again for the cupcakes, Callum stamped lots of images and then we cut them to make little flags and used Sticky Strip to attach them to toothpicks, they were a big hit with the pirates!

Deal Of The Week!

Check this out! The SU! deal of the week is the Vanilla Styled Hodgepodge hardware for only $18.99 instead of $29.99! This special ends on Monday at 9:00 a.m. - I'll be away over the weekend so if you're interested please email me or leave a message on my voicemail and I'll place an order Sunday night - of course you can always order direct via my website at: http://www.brendamarshall.stampinup.net/ Have a great week-end! Brenda

I got the cruise!

You can only imagine how excited I am! And it's thanks to my lovely customers and friends who come, play and shop, THANK YOU!

This card is made using the sneak peek in colors and my new Razzle Dazzle stamp set from the upcoming catty! Scroll down for another sneak peek card!

Here are a selection of cards made with stamp sets that are retiring on Tuesday - waah! I'll be out of town until June 5th so if you need anything please go to my SU website: http://www.brendamarshall.stampinup.net/ and click on the Shop Now button in the top right hand corner. There are still some sale priced retiring accessories available, click on the Specials button once your in the shopping section.

Love this lady, and it's so true!

I'll miss this varnished Rockabilly paper - we stamped the greeting onto glossy white card stock to match.

Don't you love how this cat's eyes are bugging out to see all those birds! Good Morning Sunshine DSP and Zoofari stamp set, I'll miss the monkey the most!

This is a new level 3 hostess set, Kind and Caring thoughts. I used the Rock and Roll technique on the flowers. I inked to whole stamp in Melon Mamba and then rolled the edges in the Rich Razzleberry. I always wonder who gets paid to think up the names of the colors at SU?! What a great job!

That's all for now! Have a great 4th of July and I'll be in touch when I get back! Brenda

Happy Father's Day!

Here is a card we made at Brenda H's Father's Day workshop this week, we also decorated candles which was so easy and SO FUN! I'll try and get some pictures and instruction up over the weekend. We used the, soon to be retired, Parisian Breeze DSP, punched with the spiral punch. Then we stamped the image from the Tools of the Trade stamp set and colored it with pastels. Quick and easy, just my kind of card!

Then we made this wallet, isn't it great? Inside there are places to tuck money, gift cards, messages or pictures...

Have a great Father's Day! I'll put the candles on soon :-)

Brenda

Mommy & Me Scrapbook Class

Today the boys and I worked on prepping a couple of albums for my upcoming Mommy & Me scrapbook classes. Callum chose this cute scrapbook kit and we made this album in just a couple of hours. I am offering two types of class, one for you and your child/grandchild and another for you and your older or adult family member. You get to choose one of many different scrapbook kits ahead of time and can use my stamps etc. to embellish. You will leave with a finished, decorated 10 page chipboard album for only $40! Sign up ASAP to reserve your spot. Click here for available dates. If you can get enough friends together I'd be happy to bring this class to your home if you prefer. Callum let me do the girly Sunshine Garden album which came out pretty cute too but I don't have the toothless grin to show it to it's full advantage!
Brenda

Blog Candy Winner!

I'm running out the door to go to my Farmington Stamp Club this morning but before I go I wanted to post the winner for my blog candy! I used a random number generator and it picked comment # 4 - Michele Redding! Congratulations Michele! Have a great day everybody, thanks for playing, Brenda

Happy Monday! It's Blog Candy Day ;-)

This is the first week my boys are out of school so we're trying to settle into a new routine - the sun is shining and we got back from our first weekend camping, la la la!


I have a fun thank you card to share with you plus I have a little package of blog candy to give away so put a comment with a way to contact you and I'll add you into the drawing! I will draw Tuesday night.

I had to make a couple of cards that lots of people could sign so I made this one out of a sheet of 12" x 12" card stock folded in half. This one was for Finlay's teacher and I used the school colors, purple and gold, yuck. I feel badly that they're going to have these ugly colors follow them through their school lives but what can you do?! I did the same card using Blue and Gold for the Cub Scout leaders, much nicer colors, but my picture didn't turn out well so I'm stuck with this one! I used the cute bear and raccoon from the Great Outdoors set and our new Jumble Alphabet (that's on special this month only!) to stamp the words.

I can't post my stamp club projects until after Wednesday (which is the final stamp club day) so check back then!

Have a great week, Brenda

Welcome to the May 15th & 16th Blog Tour!

The tour is over now but you can still see my projects below... I will be doing another tour in July...

Featured stamp set: Owl Together Now from Stampin' Up!

Don’t forget to bookmark your favorite blogs as the links that make up this tour will disappear at midnight on May 16th. Please come back after the weekend, I really have some fun things to show you next week! I am holding them until after my final stamp club group this Wednesday, I don't want to spoil the surprise! Plus you can enter for Blog Candy on Monday!

I chose the stamp set Owl Together Now from Stampin' Up! This set appealed to me the first time I saw it and it has grown on me even more now I've had chance to play with it. This is a gatefold card, the message inside reads "something for you from owl of us". We made this card at one of my stamp clubs when we were learning about water color crayons and the aquapainter. You need to become "one" with your Stamp-a-ma-jig to get the owls on the branch and line up their party accessories!

Whoo la la! I created a mini (3" x 3") card using the Pink Pirouette textured card stock (on sale!) and punched out an opening in the front using my scallop punch. Then I centred the peeking owl on a Basic Gray Scallop Circle and colored him in using the ink pads and a blender pen. Super easy!

I colored this little owl using markers. Then I placed him in front of a little forest stamped with the Forest Friends tree. The greeting is from the Great Friends set. The strip at the bottom is punched from a piece of Walk in the Park Designer Series Paper (also on sale!)
This final card is a Valentine's card, I used the Curly Label punch and layered 2 pieces, one horizontally and one vertically to make the border.