Stampin' Up! meets Minecraft!

My youngest son, Callum, is obsessed with Minecraft, know any kids like this? I have to admit I absolutely don't get it! To me it looks really old fashioned and boxy but (if I let him) he would spend HOURS in front of the computer screen building weird and wonderful landscapes, baking cakes, farming pigs and avoiding creepers. This summer he showed me a Papercraft App on his iPod that allows you to design your own "skin" and then print it out and build these cool 3D sculptures. As it involved paper and not the computer screen I was happy to let him do it (although, not so happy, when he and his friend decided they needed to print out 90 lime green wool blocks and used up all my color cartridges!) 

Then he dug into my Stampin' Up! supplies, apparently you need those nice pointy Paper Snips to get into all the corners...

 And the Simply Scored and Stylus are exactly what you need to score all the crease lines...

He and his friend are listening to Minecraft songs on their iPod, while wearing Minecraft t-shirts and creating Minecraft sculptures - I told you, it's an obsession!

Here he is with one of his creations, aren't they cool? He entered this one 'Steve' into the State fair and got a blue ribbon and a $2 prize! Go Callum!

Beautiful Watercoloring using Stampin' Up markers!

Don't you love the soft coloring on this card? It took a while but I have been practicing using our fabulous Stampin' Up markers and getting the look of alcohol markers... the secret is to use a tiny amount and place it where you want the darkest colors (the centers, edges and shadows) Then take a blender pen to soften and move the color. Then at the end you take a white water color crayon and use it to highlight the centers and blend again...

I cut the top note die out of Whisper White card stock and sponged it with Crumb Cake ink to get the aged look. We stamped the flowers onto water color paper using black staz on ink. That means you can wet the lines without them bleeding.

To make the base use the Simply Scored tool to make the lines. I used a brayer to add the Perfect Plum ink. It's a quick and easy technique that give a great effect. I drew my flower stems freehand using a Stampin' Write marker and then used the blender pen to draw a little color out, bleeding the lines to soften them.

• Stamp set: Fabulous Florets, Many Thanks (retired)
• Card stock: Whisper White, watercolor paper
• Ink: Perfect Plum, Crumb Cake
• Stampin' Write Markers: Perfect Plum, Old Olive, More Mustard
• Tools: Simply Scored, Brayer, Big Shot, Top Note Die, Sponge

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments - have a great week! Brenda

Big Sale in person, by phone or online! Yippee!

That's right ~ the Holiday Extravaganza is HERE!

And, it all starts TODAY!

Click here to download Flyer.

 The Online Extravaganza promotion is Stampin' Up!'s biggest online sale of the year!  So, during 10 days only, you can get incredible discounts ~ up to 50 percent-on some of your favorite products!  Download the flyer for all the information ~ all three pages of it!

In addition, there will be three products 20 percent off for 24-hours only on both the first and last days of Online Extravaganza ~ our very own doorbusters! Be sure to check your Christmas gift list, and your Wish List, to take advantage of this sale. Visit my online store today!! Discounted prices show up on the checkout page. Remember, if you hit $150+ in sales you'll get hostess benefits (free stuff!) And if you hit $450 you will get hostess benefits PLUS a free color family of ten firm foam ink pads (value $49.95)

Today only:

Page Item Description Retail Price 24-Hour Sale Price 181 125586 Simply Scored Diagonal Plate $11.95 $9.56 186 113439 Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine $99.95 $79.96 186 113474 Big Shot Doctor's Bag $69.95 $55.96 Wednesday, November 28, Midnight - 11:50 PM (MT) Page Item Description Retail Price 24-Hour Sale Price 7 118941 Clear Block Bundle (Blocks A-I) $66.95 $53.56 7 120279 Clear Block Storage Caddy $16.95 $13.56 175 109127 Stack & Store Caddy $34.95 $27.96  The Fine Print ~ Discounts range between 20 and 50 percent ~ Awesome! Discounted products are available on all order types (customer, workshop, and online.) You can order online or call/email me with your orders! There's no minimum purchase required to participate in this promotion. Sale on! For product bundles, you need to use the bundle item numbers provided. If you use individual item numbers, you won't get the discount ~ Bummer! You can buy additional products from any of our current catalogs on the same order.  So be sure to make your list, check it twice ~ call me for advice (I would love to help you shop) ~970-884-7333  Happy Shopping & Happy Thanksgiving! Brenda