Shoebox Stampers

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to share a little decoration for our holiday table (though it will probably stay on our counter instead!).  He is just so cute!  What's even better, he is (almost) just what I imagined!!! 

I used chocolate chip, really rust, more mustard, pumpkin pie (for his beak), and riding hood red (for his waddle - is that what it is called?).  I also used the scallop punch, wide, large and small oval punches, 1 inch circle punch, and the boho blossoms punch (for his waddle and beak).  I punched six scallops, and folded them in half.  I attached two sets of three punches and then created the tail feathers.  I then created a turkey sandwich (pun intended!) by putting a set of scallops on top, then the 1 inch circle, then the tail feathers, then the other scallop set.  Finally, since the scallops would not stand on their own, I cut a three inch strip of chocolate chip and folded it in half.  Then I attached it to the middle scallops to provide stability.

I hope this Thanksgiving finds you well and with the best of company!  I know I am thankful for all my stamping friends, my family, my children, and all the blessings in my life.  Take care and enjoy the day!

Wish shoe stampin' fun!

Rebecca

Stampin' Up!'s best sale yet!

So I've seen it, and it is AWESOME!!!  I have almost reached my fifth year as a demonstrator, and I have never seen a sale like this one!  The Holiday Extravaganza Sale includes stamp sets, punches, chipboard, inks...just about everything you'd want to be creative! 

You can download the file below, or you can click on the link to the right to see the sale.  Like I said, it's amazing!  What will you get for a gift?  What will you get for yourself?  What will you get for a gift for yourself that you'll wrap and put under the tree to you from Santa?  (My husband actually did that one year!!!)

Once you've figured out which bundles you'd like, you can use my online ordering button to the right or you can email me! 

Download Nov bundles

I will check my email often in case you choose that route, but don't wait too long!  All I can say is WOW!

Wish shoe stampin' fun!

Rebecca

Real estate riches

The market may be down, but one thing is looking up - that is, if you have my parents for your real estate agents!  Whenever my parents, Chris and Darrell Diel, have a client closing on a home they are buying, they give me the new address and I create 25 "just moved" cards, plus give a little information about what I do!  I generally do three designs, 10 each of two designs and five of another.  Plus I decorate a bag for packaging and create a "thank you" card as well (and they get a bargain at all this for just $25!).  I like to try to mix it up, and this time came up with a new designs.  While Right at home is retired, the Neighborhood jumbo wheel is not, and is just perfect for this! 

This first one uses the Right at home stamp set, with kraft and riding hood red cardstock.  I stamped both the chair and homes images with versamark, but clear embossed the chair.  I used riding hood red ink for the sentiment and added the riding hood red taffeta ribbon.  This is CASE'd from a card I received in a swap using the cardinal from A Cardinal Christmas.

This one uses the houses and is one of my favorite layouts for a card!  It simply uses basic black, real red, and whisper white cardstock and real red and basic black ink.  The red grosgrain ribbon divides the card but also pulls it together!  I have used this design for birthday cards, holiday cards, and more! 

The last one uses the Neighborhood jumbo wheel with a chocolate chip ink cartridge (we don't sell that so I inked an empty cartridge with chocolate chip reinker to make my own).  I used old olive, chocolate chip, bashful blue and kraft cardstock.  Using the inks and a blender pen, I colored just one house since coloring is not my favorite part of stamping which made a focal point in the otherwise plain strip of homes.  Then I finished it off with bashful blue gingham ribbon, since I don't think any of my projects are finished until there's some ribbon!

And I can't forget the bag, though it really is a regurgitation of the previous card (and so is the "thank you" card my parents will use).  

Would you use these?  And if so, when are you moving???  Let me know what you think!

Wish shoe stampin' fun!

Rebecca

Holiday extravaganza SU style!

I don't know about you, but I love the Black Friday shopping!  My sisters (I have four!), my mom and I all get up in the dark of night (usually by 4 am) and go stand in line somewhere (I think it'll be Kohl's this year).  We take a car with a big trunk (this year I think it'll be my Grand Am - you can't believe how much can fit in that thing!) and make a day of it!  We stop mid-morning to get a coffee and donut at QT or Mobil, drop in at Mom's house to unload, then head to the mall around lunch time.  It is so much fun! 

 

 

What I love even more is that Stampin' Up! is getting in on the Black Friday action!  And it must be GREAT because they haven't even let us in on it!  The Holiday Extravaganza sale starts this Wednesday, Nov 26 on bundles that are 20 to 50 percent off!  I will post the flyer with the specials on Wednesday morning by 9 am, or you can go to the promotions tab on my Stampin' Up! website.  (For now you see the flyer I sent out to those who are on my newsletter list.)  Once you have decided (and we've been told the quantities for the bundles are limited) you can order on my site (just click "shop now" in the upper right hand corner) and have it shipped straight to you! 

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what is included.  I've also included a couple pdf files you can download.  One is a gift-giving guide and the other is a great resource for holiday gifts.

Download Gift giving guide

Download Gifts under guide

Hope this helps get some of your holiday shopping finished!  Make sure to check back on Wednesday to see what the hype is all about!  While you're waiting, share with me what you would like to see bundled:  maybe ink pads and a stamp set, or chipboard and rub-ons...what's your wish???

Wish shoe stampin' fun!

Rebecca

Totally bananas!

I kept looking at my browning bananas thinking I needed to make something with them!  So I went online and found this recipe for banana cinnamon muffins.  They are just FABULOUS!  There's a cinnamon/sugar coating on top that just finishes it perfectly, and it doesn't require "strange" ingredients (my favorite kind of recipe). 

And this is what I did with them!  I was thinking along the lines of flowers (I guess it was a little warmer that day!) and so created a "clay pot" with really rust cardstock cut 6x6, then scored on each side at 2 inches.  I cut flaps and adhered them to the sides.  I added the scallop simply by using the scallop punch along a strip of Jersey Designer Series paper and attaching.  Then I used my favorite die cut flowers along with a rhinestone brad to put on top with a glue dot. 

 

I gave these to my children's teachers again!  They are going to wonder whether I am trying to buy grades for my kids, but, really, I'm not!  I hope they enjoy the muffins as much as my kids did. 

 

What do you think? Easy, peasy, right?

Wish shoe stampin' fun!

Rebecca

Purse mania!

This weekend in Bowling Green, MO is the beginning of the holiday season!  Tomorrow, Friday,  and Saturday there will be a holiday fair atmosphere as various stores prepare for a great shopping experience!   And one of the vendors, Diana, will be displaying these adorable paper purses that completely compliment her purses she sells in her store!  I met her at the First Assembly of God event a couple weekends ago, and she saw my sample, then decided she had to have 50 of them for her event this weekend! 

So following her lead, I created these using the Holiday Treasures Designer Series papers, a bit of riding hood red and old olive cardstock, old olive and chocolate chip twill ribbon, and various brads. 

  

 

If you would like your own little purse, make sure to email me for supplies or simply use my online ordering option!  Then download the pattern so you are ready to create.

Download Purse pattern

Wish shoe stampin' fun! 

Rebecca

Holiday decorating - Shelli style!

I ran across this video about decorating for the holidays when I browsed through our publicity tab on the Stampin' Up! demonstrator website!  Shelli stops by KSL-TV in Salt Lake City and shares some ideas for bringing table decor up a notch for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years!  She uses the Top Note die in the Big Shot, our new Curly Label Punch, and the Ski Slope Designer Series papers.  And she comes up with some great ideas - see for yourself!

And when you've had your fill of viewing the video, make sure to place your order for the supplies you'll need to make your table as beautiful as the people enjoying the day with you!  You can use my online ordering or simply send me an email. 

Wish shoe stampin' fun!

Rebecca

What is on the phone?

Yep, I'm wondering that too!  I was prepping for a class Tuesday evening, and could not find two brocade blue brads!  I set supplies like ribbon and brads out as I prepare class kits, so the brads had probably been on my stamping surface for a half hour, so it's no wonder that I could not find them.  But I dutifully searched under papers, around cutters, and within trash piles, but to no avail.  So I promptly took out two new brads and forgot about them.

Last night, we are having snack, and I had the phone from my stamping room on the table when my son asked "Mom, what's that?" 

"What, Ben?"

"That, on the phone, see, that?"

"Oh, my goodness, what good eyes you have, Ben!  I have been looking for those!"

Mystery solved!

Wish shoe stampin' fun!

Rebecca

Diorama

One of the things I really love about what I do is sharing it with my kids! 

My daughter was given a project last week to create a diorama of an environment.  Of the options, Grace chose the ocean.  I thought I had seen ocean animals at Wal-mart or the dollar store, but after an unsuccessful search, we settled on (what else?) but My littlest pet shop.  Grace found a set that included a fish and an octopus, then realized when we returned home that she had others (like two sea horses, a turtle, a sea lion, and two crabs).  Her grandmother had given her a box with a lid (which I was ready to discard because it seemed too big) which was bigger (and better, she says) than the one I had (it was smaller and lidless).  We discussed the parts of the ocean (water, beach) and tried to decide where to put them.  She wanted to put the sea lion and one of the crabs on the beach, but couldn't figure out how to do that if the "sand" were at the top of the box, then she decided she would use the lid!  She also wanted the seahorses to look like they were swimming, so came up with the idea to attach them with rubber bands to the back of the box!  Grace also wanted to create a cave for her octopus so we used some chocolate chip for that (the ocean is ballet blue, the sand is sahara sand, and the sky is bashful blue).  Then she stamped the bottom and the beach with one of the stamps from Itty bitty backgrounds for her sand look.  She also decided the shells would be good.

Grace knows how to use my cricut, so she pulled it out and we cut out some seaweed and coral (from Paper dolls and Happily ever after), then also a swimming turtle (from Animal Kingdom) and an anchor (from Going Places).  Here's her short summary she had to write:

A ocean has many animals, like turtles, fish, crabs, sea lions, seahorses and octopi.  These animals live in salt water.There are plants in the water like seaweed and coral.  There are shells in the ocean.  We think that shells come from crabs and other animals too.  Trash like anchors and wrappers fall into the water.  Ocean animals may eat the trash and die.  Waves bring shells out of the ocean and onto the sand.  People swim in the ocean.  Seaweed is used for food.

Although much of the homework at this age is still my homework, this was a fun one to do together!  And it didn't hurt that I have some great tools and supplies!

Wish shoe stampin' fun!

Rebecca

Wow Wednesday - glitter sticker, faux flannel, spirelli

Here are the cards we'll create tomorrow evening for my monthly technique class.  The first one uses the spirelli technique.  It's so simple!  Using a scalloped circle, wrap a thread or cord around the scallop skipping scallops.  The more you skip, the smaller the center circle will be.

The next one uses glitter sticker.  While this won't be one I'll do often, I do like the sparkly look.  I just stamped on the sticky side of adhesive paper (or apply adhesive with a xyron) and color ONLY with markers.  Then pour glitter over the whole thing and embellish as desired!

Finally, the faux flannel is more challenging because separating the paper from the front and back can take quite some time.  Plus it likes to pull apart.  I just scraped the paper over the edge of a table or other sharp edge, then separated the two layers of paper.

Hope to see you at the class.  You can reserve your class with the paypal link or send me an email.

Wish shoe stampin' fun!

Rebecca