Gift Card Holders

Here are the gift card holders we'll be making tomorrow night. They all are a bit different from each other, but they were so quick and easy!! Plus I think they are really cute. I didn't have a gift card handy, so I just stuck my Sam's Club membership card in there so you can get the idea. I got the inspiration for this holder from Jamie Sears. I love her work.

This next one I found on this blog . I like how the gift card is actually attached to a tag inside the holder.

I just attached my card using glue dots. Don't worry, that's an expired card on there!!

Now for this one, I don't know who to give credit for because I've seen in on a couple different blogs. I think this one is neat because it's more like a card and you can put a greeting inside and sign your name.

The gift card goes inside the little slot you make on the inside of the card. Isn't that cool? Then you tie it shut with the ribbon.

Using my scallop punch for tags, these all came together very quickly. Perfect to a quick little something when you don't know what to get!!

6 x 6 layouts

Hello stampers!! Here are a few of the layouts from the girl scrapbook I finished last week. It's for a lady my mom works with, and she called to say she loves it. I think I may have a workshop to book from the ladies at mom's work now! That would be nice. Anyway, this book is made using the current Simply Scrappin' Kit from Stampin' Up! I can't think of the name of it right now, and I'm too lazy to go get my catalog to look. I didn't use any stamps at all. The extra embellishments are the Button Bouquet and striped ribbon in Pink Pirouette and Kiwi Kiss. Every month of baby's first year has a 6 x 6 two page spread.

On a different note, this Friday I'm having stampin' night at my house. There's no fee for this class. We'll be making a couple different versions of gift card holders. I think it will be fun, and who doesn't at some point give a gift card? We'll start at 6 pm. Please remember to bring your own adhesive and paper trimmer. Also, please let me know by Thursday if you plan to attend. Thank You!!

Summer Fun scrapbook page

Here is another scrapbook page I made using a sketch from Got Sketch? It has really been alot of fun working with these sketches. My pages tend to look very much the same after a while, so these really got me thinking outside the box. I've had these pictures for 2 years, and I just knew that someday I would know what to do with them. When I saw this sketch, I knew. I really like how it turned out.

The title is chipboard letters from Stampin' Up! I colored them with Real Red craft ink, then covered them with Crystal Effects to make them look wet. The journaling is done with my label maker. It says 1. Take my picture underwater! 2. Oops! Lets try again! 3. I think I got it!Today I've been finishing up the Baby Girl scrapbook for my mom's friend, so I'll try to post some of those tomorrow. Mom's coming over to pick it up in a while, so I finished just in the knick of time!

Retired List and a Promotion

It's almost time for a new catalog, and we all know that means retiring stamps! Stampin' Up! is offering 10% off all the retiring sets until Dec. 23. Plus, any order of $70 or more gets free shipping until Dec. 23. Take advantage of both promos at once and save on all those stamps you must have before they are gone forever!

Retired List Pricing
10% Off Dates: December 9‐23, 2008
Item # Description
US Regular
Price 10% OFF
107027 Ahoy, Matey $ 23.95 $ 21.56
109401 Baby Jesus Is Born $ 15.95 $ 14.36
109552 Beautiful Life $ 20.95 $ 18.86
111169 Big Birthday Candle $ 22.95 $ 20.66
109411 Brocade Basics $ 23.95 $ 21.56
109529 Bronc Buster $ 18.95 $ 17.06
109288 Bundled in Love $ 27.95 $ 25.16
110999 Bursting with Joy $ 18.95 $ 17.06
109527 Calendar Cues $ 10.95 $ 9.86
104421 Canvas $ 17.95 $ 16.16
111074 Classic Backgrounds $ 15.95 $ 14.36
108559 Crab & Company $ 27.95 $ 25.16
111076 Dad's Day $ 22.95 $ 20.66
109250 Dots Are Hot $ 23.95 $ 21.56
109365 Elegant Notes $ 20.95 $ 18.86
104383 Everyday Flexible Phrases $ 41.95 $ 37.76
109519 Everything Baby $ 17.95 $ 16.16
109343 Fabulous Flowers $ 22.95 $ 20.66
104769 Floral $ 17.95 $ 16.16
111085 Form & Function $ 17.95 $ 16.16
111339 Fruit Stand $ 18.95 $ 17.06
109240 Ginormous Flowers $ 28.95 $ 26.06
109262 Happiness $ 17.95 $ 16.16
110969 Hattitude $ 24.95 $ 22.46
109284 Haunting Halloween $ 18.95 $ 17.06
111001 Hi & Hello $ 15.95 $ 14.36
109308 It's All Good $ 12.95 $ 11.66
109453 Just Golf $ 12.95 $ 11.66
109451 Just Hockey $ 12.95 $ 11.66
109505 Keep Christmas $ 19.95 $ 17.96
111095 Kind Thoughts $ 25.95 $ 23.36
111341 Light unto My Path, A $ 18.95 $ 17.06
110376 Merry & Bright $ 14.95 $ 13.46
109345 Moose You $ 17.95 $ 16.16
109320 On the Fly $ 19.95 $ 17.96
107192 Paisley $ 17.95 $ 16.16
111103 Perfect Timing $ 12.95 $ 11.66
109393 Pictograms $ 13.95 $ 12.56
109491 Posy $ 17.95 $ 16.16
111119 Pretty Peony $ 36.95 $ 33.26
110972 Riot of Petals $ 17.95 $ 16.16
109292 Seasonal Whimsy $ 23.95 $ 21.56
111056 Seriously Sassy $ 23.95 $ 21.56
109483 Sleigh Bells Ring $ 15.95 $ 14.36
111123 So Cool $ 18.95 $ 17.06
111125 Spring Pictograms $ 13.95 $ 12.56
107173 Starstruck $ 10.95 $ 9.86
111022 Stemming From $ 15.95 $ 14.36
110998 Stitched $ 17.95 $ 16.16
104243 Summer by the Sea $ 28.95 $ 26.06
107133 Take Three $ 17.95 $ 16.16
111060 Text & Texture $ 25.95 $ 23.36
109475 Thanks for Everything $ 17.95 $ 16.16
107383 Thoroughly Thankful $ 22.95 $ 20.66
102744 Tree for All Seasons, A $ 12.95 $ 11.66
111179 Twill $ 17.95 $ 16.16
107123 Warm Words $ 20.95 $ 18.86
107159 Well-Worn Alphabet $ 41.95 $ 37.76
107157 Well-Worn Numbers $ 22.95 $ 20.66
109232 Winds of Grace $ 19.95 $ 17.96
109469 Wishing You Cheer $ 13.95 $ 12.56
109300 With Gratitude $ 22.95 $ 20.66
103875 Wonderful Words $ 20.95 $ 18.86
109467 Wondrous Gift $ 22.95 $ 20.66

Call me to place your order, or shop whenever you want, right from my website, http://www.stampwithcarrie.stampinup.net/ . Orders will be shipped right to your door.

This is just a simple little card I made a while back. I think the flower stamp is from Year After Year, and of course the sentiment is from Define Your Life. It's pretty straightforward, nothing complicated or fancy.That's all for now, I'll see you later.

A Sad Day

Yesterday was a pretty stressful day for us. I'll start from the beginning. On Friday afternoon our whole family was out in the yard along w friends of ours. We were all standing around talking, the dogs and kids were playing, and everything was fine. The dogs ran off barking into the woods, which they do quite often to chase a rabbit or whatever. We live on 5 acres of land, so they have alot of freedom. All of a sudden, we heard this very loud gun, sounded like a canon go off. Well, around here, it's not uncommon to hear guns, people go hunting in the evenings, so I really didn't think a whole lot of it. The next day (Saturday), my son Bubba comes in the house and says Bluto is missing a big hunk of skin. We thought he must have gotten in a fight with another dog. So my DH went to check on him, and he had been shot. The bullet went in near his right back leg and come out through his back. We did what we could to make him comfortable, thinking he would die of his injuries, he didn't seem to be in pain, but was laying down. Well, he kept on living like that all weekend, and we thought his back was broken, plus with a wide open wound we knew it would get infected, so I loaded up the dog and the kids and headed to the vet. The Dr. said he thought he had some damaged vertebrae because he didn't respond much to pain in his back legs, and couldn't walk. He said the best thing would be to put him to sleep, which I was pretty sure already that's what would happen. We had explained this to the kids already, so they said goodbye, and of course we were all crying. Amanda and I stayed with Bluto, but Sammy and Bubba didn't want to, so they went to the waiting room. Afterwards, they wrapped him up and put him in the van for us. We went home to bury him. After we had dug the hole, I backed up the van, because Bluto was probably at least 80 pounds, and I wanted to get close. So when I went to pull the van up, I was stuck in the mud. Sam came home to get the van out, because I had a workshop to go to. I wasn't really in the mood for it, but this workshop had already been rescheduled 3 times, so I didn't want to cancel. Once I got there I was fine, though. The kids seem to be handling it pretty well, Amanda took it the hardest, because he was "her" dog.

This picture was taken last September. Bluto is the one in front. And that's his brother Popeye. Obviously they didn't like the bath very much, and were sitting on the edge of the tub. They are both much bigger than that now. I couldn't find a good recent picture to post.

Here are two of the cards I demonstrated last night. I got inspiration for them off of Splitcoast Stampers. There was one more, but it's not in my bag, I must have left it at the lady's house.

All 3 of my cards last night used the set Snow Burst, so I could show you don't have to have alot of different stamps to get different looks.

This post is really long, so I'm going to go now. Thanks for checking in on us, and I'll talk to you later.

Sugar Cookies

I did this scrapbook page as part of a challenge from Got Sketch? It was so much fun and made me think outside my comfort zone. You may recognize these pictures from a previous post this week. I just had to print them out when I saw the challenge, cause I knew they'd be perfect.

I love how sparkly the title came out. I used chipboard letters and covered them with red chunky glitter and green fine glitter. Isn't it beautiful?

I had too many pitcures for just one page, so I put all the girls on one page with some heart embellishments and ribbon, then put all the boys on the other. I'm not sure about the boy page. What do you think it's missing? I didn't want it to get too "girly" with sparkles, so I'm kind of at a loss as to how to match it up with the first one. Any suggestions?

This is just the title for the second page. What do you think? Is is too much for boys? The whole idea of the glitter was to resemble the sprinkles used on the cookies.

Christmas Cards and Wedding Pictures

Here is the card that my SIL plans on sending out this year. We cased it from page 53 of the catty. I think the colors are different, and we added Dazzling Diamonds on the trees, and as snow on the ground. It's very sparkly in real life. The glitter adds that extra pizzaz. The snow is embossed with white ep. The stamp is from a retired set from last year. The name escapes me now.

Yes, I know the color in this photo is way off, but I couldn't get it right. I don't know what the deal is with my camera. Anyway, here is a shaker card we put together, it's basically the same as this card we did at Technique Class last month. I had some extra pieces laying around, so I just used a snowflake insead of the birds, and Microbeads and Dazzling Diamonds instead of birdseed. The window for the frame is my Scallop Circle Punch. Snowflakes are from Snowburst, which a fellow demo was kind enough to let me borrow. They are stamped in Whisper White Craft ink.
I plan on showing off these 2 cards at my workshop next week. She requested Christmas cards, so this is what I have so far. I still have to plan my demo cards and the make 'n take, but that shouldn't be too hard.

Now if any of my regular readers were wondering how the wedding went last month, here are a couple pictures just for you. My mom made Amanda's dress. I did a few minor things like sew on the trim. That's about it. My mom can sew anything. I'm serious. Here's my mom and Amanda.
Of course, this is me and Amanda.

The little princess herself. Here's a funny story. When I was rolling her hair the night before and the day of the wedding, she was so fidgety and kept asking "are you almost done?" But then when the fun stuff came like her dress, special necklace and earrings, the crown, etc... She said very excitedly, "This is fun!" Later that night as we were relaxing at home, she said, "Momma, I didn't like Sheila's wedding, I LOVED Sheila's wedding!"

Don't they make an adorable little couple? That's exactly what I thought!!

I'm back!!

Well, here it is December. Where has the year gone?? We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with lots and lots of food and family. We had 26 family members stay with us this week, plus the extras who just came during the days to visit. On Thanksgiving Day we served 18 adults and 17 children. It was pretty hectic, but a ton of fun. A week before Thanksgiving, I promised Amanda that when all the cousins were here we would do a craft. So, we mixed up some sugar cookies and let them cut out and decorate sugar cookies. They all loved it and we got some great pictures.

This is also one of those rare times that cousins from all over the country are together, so here is the picture of all 18 Baker Grandchildren!! They range in age from 18 years to 3 weeks. I must say they are quite a group of kids, and I love every one of them! I was so proud of them this week, there were only very minor moments of tattle tales and bickering. Not too bad with this crew!
Well, I suppose I should go for now. It's time to get back to school work-not that I'm really that anxious to get started, but we've had 2 entire weeks off and I really don't want to fall too far behind! And I'm still catching up on laundry and other stuff from the last week. I do have a couple cards to show you that I managed to sneak in this week before it got too hectic. I'll save them for tomorrow. I hope all of you had as wonderful a time as we did this last week. It's nice to have the house to ourselves, though!

I Haven't Been Stamping!

I must confess, I haven't stamped anything all week long! Not a thing since Technique Class last Friday. I have been working in bits and pieces on a baby girl scrapbook for my mom. No, my mom is not having a baby, her friend at work is. So I need to finish that. I'm not sure how good about posting through the month of November I'll be. Amanda is in a wedding on the 15th, so I need to put the finishing touches on her dress that my mom made (I helped a little) and figure out what to do with her hair, etc..... then we have a missions conference at church from the 16th through 20th. Thanksgiving comes not far after that, and we'll have all kinds of family down visiting from all over the country. So I'm gonna be busy. Hopefully I'll have time to stamp some, but we'll see.

If any of you were wondering about the Farmer's Market, I didn't do so hot. I made a whole $12. That's it. There were more people there than I've seen before, but not the crowd I was expecting. I think everyone is just being so frugal with their money. I'm not sure if I'll try again or not. I'll let you know. While I was working on some Thanksgiving cards, Amanda wanted to make her own to sell at the market. She wanted to take pictures of them like I do mine, so here are some of Amanda's creations. I gave her some scraps from what I was using, and she put them all together. She walked all over the market, letting everyone know she made them by herself and did they want to buy any? Do you know that kid sold every card she made?!

She had to have an apple, because she was starving to death!! I'm so glad my kids like to eat fruits and vegetables. There was a guy there selling bean sprouts, and he gave us a sample. The boys went and bought their own bags of bean sprouts! I think that is so funny. Some parents can't get their kids to eat anything healthy, and mine are snacking on bean sprouts! I think if you set the example of trying new and healthy things, they just want to follow suit.About a month ago, my in-laws went to NC to get apples from an orchard. Well, I got a bushel of apples and we ate apples for weeks. I ended up making 4 apple pies, and boy were they good. This is a picture of the first apple pie I ever made. I cheated a bit and used a frozen crust, but I made the crumb topping! Usually I don't do a whole lot of baking, but every now and then it's fun, especially when the kids want to help.

Well, that's all I have for now. Please don't expect a whole lot of blogging for the next couple of weeks, but I'll try. Thanks for looking, and I'll see you later!

A Few Little Projects

Well, it's Friday again, so that means another try at the Farmer's Market. Today is the Fall Festival over there, and they've had ads in the paper, passed out flyers and stuff, so just maybe there will be more people there today. I hope so. I'm trying to get this business off the ground, not just selling stuff, but being able to make some real money being a Stampin Up! Demonstrator, and it's really taking longer than I thought it would. Anyway, here are some projects I've been working on. This is "Snowman Soup." The poetry isn't mine. I got it from Split Coast Stampers. Kind of cute, huh? It says " The days are getting shorter now, winter's almost here. With freezing weather coming fast, you'll need a bit of cheer. So here's a bit of Snowman Soup, complete with stirring stick. Just add hot water, sip it slow. It's sure to do the trick." And yes, those are Hershey's Kisses in the bag. I did manage to package a few before the kids (and myself) got ahold of them. This is what the people who have been good will get in their stocking.

Here's what the bad folks get. It's Snowman Poop. It says "I heard you've been naughty, so listen - here's the scoop.... I'm running low on coal this year so here's some Snowman Poop!" My kids really love that one!!

Sorry this picture is a blur. I can't figure out why my camera doesn't want to focus lately. I hope it's not broken, right now isn't a good time to get a new one!

I've also been working on these little composition books with matching beaded pens. Hopefully they will be a hot item today.
and last but not least, I have a shaker card. There's bird seed for the birds, and the little red tag thingies on the side say "Chirp up" This is a last minute addition for my Technique Class. I have one lady who live in North Carolina and comes all the way here just to come to my class! (Well, maybe she's really coming to visit her sister who just happens to come to class, but I want to think she comes just for my class, cuz it's that good!!) So, last time the subject of shaker cards came up, and she said she'd never done one, but thought they were really neat. So when I found out she was coming, I added it to the class.

That's all for now. I have to go do some housework so that tonight everyone doesn't get scared away by my piles of laundry and dishes!

Update on Farmer's Market

I don't have any pictures to show you right now (I need to charge my camera batteries), but I have been busy making stuff to take to the Farmer's Market this Friday. For the last 2 weeks I have gone, but with not much success. Granted, the weather was yucky both times, and there was a parade on one day, so maybe this week will be different. The Fall Festival is this Friday, and they've sent out flyers and had an ad in the paper, so there should be a decent crowd. At least that's what I'm hoping for. The only things I've sold so far were 2 mini composition books. But, I got a few names and numbers to contact for classes coming up, and one lady placed a small order, so even though it's slow going, maybe I'll get something out of it. Since the holidays are coming up, I've been working on a few little things. Hopefully I'll be able to post those later today.

Wedding Gift

I made this name frame for some friends at church who are getting married on Nov. 15. (I remember that date easily because it was my best friends birthday when I was growing up.) I got the inspiration from Split Coast Stampers, namely here and here. I used Le Jardin DSP (retired from Stampin' Up!) because I think it is very beautiful and elegant. Then I chose the stripe background because the opening is wider than 12" and the stripes hide the seam. You can't find it, can you? I had to look for it myself very closely. I don't have any big alphabet stamps, so I printed the last name on vellum with my computer. Then I cut out each letter and mounted it on different pattern from Le Jardin. Those are then mounted onto Always Arthichoke. I used Chocolate Chip Satin ribbon across the bottom. Then printed out their first names along with the Bible verse on Very Vanilla. Then, cut that out and sponged with So Saffron ink then mounted on Always Artichoke. The mat came with the frame, but it was one of those mats that are divided for (3) 4" x 6" photos. I used my craft blade to cut out the little dividers from the mat and then sponged Always Artichoke around the inside edges. The little flourish in the corners is from the stamp set Friendship Blooms, from the last Sale a Bration. OK, did I miss anything?

Of course, I had to have a coordinating card, so I cased the layout for the card from here. The sentiment is from Full of Life stamp set from the last mini. I used all the same materials for the card as I did for the frame.

And of course, here they are together.

Thanks for looking!

Oct. Technique Class

Here is what I came up with for October's Technique Class. A Double Pocket Bag, matching Beaded Pen and coordinating Bookmark. For class, you are welcome to use any Designer Series Paper I have on hand, and you can choose your stamp set, as well. I love how they all coordinate together. In my sample I used Summer Picnic DSP, Tart and Tangy, All in the Family and So Many Scallops stampsets, Bashful Blue and Striped Real Red ribbon, Bashful Blue, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie ink. I also used an assortment of punches. Here are all three project together.

Here's a close up of the bookmark.
Close up of the Double Pocket Bag and the Beaded pen. The bag is the perfect size for a small gift. A CD or DVD fits perfectly inside. What a great way to send a home DVD or a CD of your family pictures to friends and family! Or you could bake some wonderful homemade cookies and slip a couple in there for someone special. I based the front of the bag on this sketch. It's hard to see the pen very well in the picture, but it really looks neat. I'm going to have to make alot more of these.

The cost for this class is going to be $9. Please RSVP as soon as possible so I can prepare the proper amount of supplies. Thanks!