Glad to be Home

What a crazy couple of weeks I have had! Two weeks ago, my dad had "routine" knee replacement surgery that almost killed him. He suffered Atypical Malignant Hyperthermia which prevented him from waking after the surgery, sent his body temperature soaring and caused stroke-like symptoms. I rushed to North Bay (about 4 hours north of where I live) to be with my mom and was there until just this past weekend. Dad spent 7 days in ICU followed by several more days in the surgical ward before being cleared to head home. We had some very scary moments in that time, but I am thrilled to say he is home and doing great!

Just like him, I am very glad to be back home and to my regular routine. There are lots of pieces to pick up that got dropped while I was away...not the least of which is my Stampin' Up!® business! I had to cancel my Fall Fling Retreat weekend, which was very disappointing for all, but I was where I needed to be to support my family. I've also neglected this blog and my social media accounts and will be making up for lost time this week!
The last time I posted was a cute Halloween card that I created using the Making Every Day Bright stamp set. I had planned to feature it in my Tuesday Live @ Five video the day of dad's surgery. I never got to do that video, so I am picking up where I left off and featuring that project, as well as today's cutie, in tomorrow's live video on my Facebook page. Check out this adorable Christmas card...

Are those penguins not just the cutest?? I made this as an off-centre gatefold. Here is a look at the inside...

Both of the sentiments on this card are from the Snowflake Sentiments stamp set. I stamped both the sentiments and the penguins in Memento Tuxedo black ink and coloured the little toques using the Balmy Blue Stampin' Write maker. The card base is cut from Balmy Blue card stock, which, ironically is a great icy blue for winter-themed cards! Now, can you guess where the DSP on the left front panel came from? Here's a hint...it's in the Annual Catalogue. If you guessed Tranquil Textures, you're right! I knew way back in June when I first saw that pattern it would be perfect for winter cards! I used the Softly Falling TIEF for the panel on the front right panel.
I will give all of the measurements for this project in tomorrow's video. If you miss it live it will also be posted on my YouTube channel this weekend. You'll find a link to it on the Video Tutorials tab above.

Thanks for stopping by this week...it's so good to be back!

Product List

Making Every Day Bright Photopolymer Stamp Set [148813] $20.00	Snowflake Sentiments Clear-Mount Stamp Set [144820] $30.00	Balmy Blue 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146982] $11.50	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $13.25
Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102482] $11.50	Tranquil Textures Designer Series Paper [146331] $15.00	Sparkle Glimmer Paper [146957] $6.75	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] $8.25
Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' Pad [147105] $10.25	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers [147156] $40.00	Big Shot [143263] $150.00	Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [139672] $11.50
Christmas Bulb Builder Punch [148013] $24.00	Banner Triple Punch [138292] $31.00	Cookie Cutter Builder Punch [140396] $24.00	Silver Baker’S Twine [145569] $5.50

A Halloween Blog Hop

Whew...what a whirlwind weekend! It went waaaay too fast! Saturday morning I held my quarterly team training day for my Stamping Symphony. It is always so good to get together with my stamping friends and celebrate our successes, set goals for the new stamping year and, of course, stamp together. Then, in the afternoon I held my Stamping Symphony Promotion Commotion, celebrating the accomplishments of those on my team who earned title promotions this year. We had a catered lunch and then participated in a private wood sign making workshop with DIY Workshops. It was so much fun to try another craft and the results were amazing! Here's a picture of all of us with our finished signs...

Unfortunately some members who qualified to attend weren't able to join us...we sure did miss them! It was such a fun afternoon.

Today is the 15th of the month, which means it is time for another Stamping Symphony Blog Hop. We took couple of months off during the summer and we're back today with some fun Halloween projects to share with you.

This project is one I will be featuring during my Tuesday Live @ Five video over on my Facebook page this week. It uses this week's Product of The Week: the Making Every Day Bright stamp set. 

I absolutely LOVE this set because it makes the Christmas Bulb Builder punch carry throughout the entire year. Check out this Halloween card...

I used DSP from the Toil & Trouble pack...I love the Gorgeous Grape, Lemon Lime Twist and Pumpkin Pie colour scheme. I'm not a big Halloween fan...not crazy about the gore and horror side, but I sure do love fun and cute! This is definitely my kind of Halloween card :)

In addition to the Making Every Day Bright stamp set, I also used the Warm Hearted Host set for the sentiment. It is a two-step image that creates the cool shadow effect. The banner is die-cut using the Farmhouse Framelits. I used the Subtle TIEF to emboss the background layer.

I'm not going to go into too much detail of how I made this one for now...be sure to check out the video on my Facebook page Tuesday at 5:00 pm ET and later in the week on my YouTube channel for all the specific info.

Till then, be sure to visit the next blog in the hop...I have some super-talented stamping friends!

1. Leena (You are here)

2. Sandy

3. Barb

4. Jennifer

5. Steph

Product List

Making Every Day Bright Photopolymer Stamp Set [148813] $20.00	Warm Hearted Photopolymer Stamp Set [147777] $13.50	Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad [147145] $10.25	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] $8.25
Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad [147086] $10.25	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $13.25	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045] $11.50	Lemon Lime Twist 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [144245] $11.50
Gorgeous Grape 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146987] $11.50	Toil & Trouble 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [147531] $15.00	Black Foil Sheets [147898] $5.50	Big Shot [143263] $150.00
Subtle Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [143706] $14.00	Farmhouse Framelits Dies [147922] $44.00	Christmas Bulb Builder Punch [148013] $24.00	Black 5/8" (1.6 Cm) Glittered Organdy Ribbon [147897] $11.50
Spider Trinkets [147896] $8.25	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [141897] $11.00

Harvest of Thanks

Happy Tuesday! I'm a day late posting this week because of our Thanksgiving long weekend yesterday. We had a great time with family enjoying turkey and all the trimmings as well as visiting our local fall fair. Although the weather was dreary, it was anything but around our house.  Today also marks my husband's and my 14th wedding anniversary! I can't believe it's been that long already, though when I look in the mirror I sure do look that much older ;) I am so very thankful for the many, many blessings we receive each and every day. We truly are blessed beyond measure.

In the spirit of fall and the season of thanks, I have a pretty card to share with you today...

Don't you just love the rich colours of fall? I was inspired by the beauty all around me when I created this one! It features this week's Product of the Week: the Falling For Leaves bundle. I soooo love the images and sentiments in the stamp set and the dies are...well...to DIE FOR! (sorry(;)

I especially love the ghosted images of the detailed leaf in the colourful background. I'll be demonstrating the how-to for this technique this afternoon in my Tuesday Live @ Five video over on my Facebook Page. If you're reading this after the fact, you can check out the video on my YouTube channel. I won't take the time to go into detail here, but let me just say, it is an easy technique to do and doesn't require any special tools. The Early Espresso background is embossed using the Pinewood Planks TIEF (still a favourite of mine!) I die cut two of the leaves from the Detailed Leaves thinlits from copper foil...so yummy!

The sentiment is stamped in Early Espresso ink on a 3/4" wide strip of Whisper White card stock which I then trimmed using my Everyday Label punch. I love using that punch to create labels of all sizes. I added a little Braided Linen bow and a few copper sequins for some sparkle.

On the inside I added a Whisper White panel on which I stamped the detailed leaf image in Crushed Curry (stamped off once) and another sentiment from the Falling for Leaves set in Early Espresso ink.

I hope you'll join me live at 5:00 pm ET today for my weekly Facebook Live, but if you can't be sure to look for the video later this week on my YouTube channel.

Thanks for stopping by today...have a great week!

Product List

Falling For Leaves Photopolymer Bundle [149938] $58.50	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad [147083] $10.25	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad [147086] $10.25	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad [131173] $8.50
Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [147114] $10.25	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $13.25	Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119686] $11.50	Copper Foil Sheets [142020] $5.50
3/16" (1 Cm) Braided Linen Trim [147808] $9.50	Metallics Sequin Assortment [144214] $6.75	Big Shot [143263] $150.00	Pinewood Planks Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [143708] $14.00
Everyday Label Punch [144668] $24.00	Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets [144106] $13.50