Simple Gift Idea

The new Holiday Mini began this month and I am a BIG fan of paisley!!! So the first thing I ordered was this cute stamp set called Paisley Prints. It's a set of 5 with a leaf, a pumpkin, two different size hearts and a little Christmas tree! :) You can look at the mini on my website click HERE to download your own .pdf copy.
I guess I was inspired by the image in the mini, because the first project I did was a candle using 3 leaves in different colors, and that's exactly how they featured it. I honestly didn't remember the catalog version when I created mine...it must have been buried in my subconscious LOL. My club members really enjoyed making their "gift sets!"

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Paisley Prints, Day of Gratitude

PAPER - Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Confetti Cream (inside card)
INK - River Rock, Pear Pizzazz, Gold, Cajan Craze

OTHER - Hemp, 5/8" Crochet Trim, Gold Embossing Powder, Word Window Punch, Green Satin Ribbon

SU! Regional

Saturday was the SU! Regional Event at the Fort Worth Convention Center. I just had my 5th anniversary as a demo and amazingly I've never attended a regional event before. Well, let me tell you, you'll have to lock me up to keep me from attending another one. That was AWESOME! It was like an intimate version of convention, which I couldn't attend this year, so I'm not feeling as sad about it now. :)

We had 6 make-n-take projects to complete and there were lots of inspiring presentations to watch throughout the day. Business ideas, and fellow demonstrators that went on stage to show us their "workshop wows." I really love being part of the Stampin' Up! family!!!

Twila, her mom, Sally, Laura, Sherry, Barbara, Mary, Jena

After the Regional was over we went to Twila Mooneyham's house for an after party. She was MORE than generous with BBQ, treats, and even THREE projects for us to do while we sat around her kitchen table chatting. As we were finishing the bird (pictured below) I was floored when she said there were two more projects for us to do. WOW Twila, really? We had a GREAT time, but were truly exhausted driving back after a full day of fun. Thanks again Twila, you ROCK!!!

The paper bird we made is somewhat similar to one in our Catalog on p.173, although I honestly think this is a cuter version with the beak, eye, and ribbon detail. The one in the IB&C is more rounded and I checked the corporate website to see if there were instructions for their version, and they have a bird, but it's a little different. It's really cute too, so I'm sharing...see below. Twila found her template on another blogger's site that was her inspiration. We affectionately referred to our birds as Twila Bird while we were making them! lol Here's a link to her blog post about it. She doesn't give instructions, but she gave us each a template to take home, so I'll probably do one for a Future Ladies Night. I really like my "Twila Bird!" :D

Paper Bird (July 2010 Art Show)

(These are the instructions on the SU! Corporate Website)

1. Cut out bird body, tail, and chest from Very Vanilla card stock using this pattern (Other Pattern #13 from Pattern Library). If the link isn't working, email me and I'll send it to you!
2. Repeatedly stamp artistic circle image in Baja Breeze ink on bird body. Apply Crumb Cake ink to bird body using sponge dauber.
3. Pierce holes along edge of bird pieces using paper-piercing tool and Mat Pack. Sew bird pieces together using needle and thread. Spritz bird using  Color Spritzer Tool and Soft Suede marker.
4. Cut flowers from Baja Breeze textured card stock and Newsprint Designer Series paper using Big Shot and Island Floral Bigz die. Punch hole in center of each flower using 1/16" Circle punch. Layer  flowers, and secure with Antique brad. Adhere flower to bird.

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Celebrations Par-tay!

I've been working hard on the invites for one of my little birthday princesses. Two of my three daughters have a birthday this month, so I'm up to my eyeballs in party planning! I ordered the super cute coordinating Celebrations Party Banner, and Party Hats for the first event and also the Quick Accents and matching Designer Series Paper to scrap the whole thing after the party is over. You should see the cute photos on page 52 in the catalog, there is so much you can do with these!


The first thing I did was punch out the party hats so I could use the leftover card stock on my invites. Who could let this super cute paper go to waste?

I had lots of leftover card stock after punching out the banner pieces too. In the catalog it simply says you get over 100 letters etc. with multiples of popular letters. I decided to take invetory and give you the specifics here.
The set includes 30 white brads for assembly and the following letters/numbers:
4 letter "A," 3 letter "B," 3 letter "C," 3 letter "D," 4 letter "E," 4 letter "F," 3 letter "G," 3 letter "H," 4 letter "I," 3 letter "J," 3 letter "K," 3 letter "L," 3 letter "M," 4 letter "N," 4 letter "O," 3 letter "P," 2 letter "Q," 3 letter "R," 4 letter "S," 3 letter "T," 3 letter "U," 2 letter "V," 3 letter "W," 2 letter "X," 3 letter "Y," 2 letter "Z,"and 2 party hats and 2 stars. It also has 2 of each number 1 - 9 and 1 zero.

After punching it all out I'm amazed by how much excess patterned card stock I have to play with, so I punched some stars from the various patterns to use on the insides of the invites too. Her birthday is Sunday and the party will be on the 25th. All I need to do now is finish typing up the details for the insides and put them together. My goal is to make sure they'll be ready to pass out on Monday when I bring cupcakes to share with her classmates. What 'cha think? I'm lovin' them!!! :)

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Party This Way, Short Order Numbers

PAPER - Real Red, Whisper White, Pacific Point, Bashful Blue
INK - Real Red, Pacific Point, Pear Pizzazz

OTHER - Star Extra-Large Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, White Gel Pen, White Thread