2012 Occasions Mini Catalog Blog Hop

You found it! Be ready for an amazing set of projects featuring Stampin' Up's amazing new stamps, papers, accessories, and images in the Occasions Mini Catalog. My stampin' friends at Stampin' Addicts have each chosen one area to focus our creativity.

As you click from blog to blog, you'll see an array of great ideas--so have your wish list handy! If you get lost along the way click on the banner above to go a thread listing all stops.

When I first saw the stamps I am featuring today, I thought, "Oh the possibilities!" These are an economical way of getting a whole bunch of images all at once, like a stamp set in one stamp! Called Packed for Everything, you can buy these four stamps in a bundle or individually. I, of course, seeing a deal, went for the while shabang.

Packed for Dad caught my eye first. I pictured a suitcase full with these items tumbling out. So, I made this:

For the card, I just made a tool belt and added the nails, the hammer, and the handle of the jack knife. I added some details with my Early Espresso Marker, my superb cutting skills, and the denim ribbon. I felt like I was back in art class, making a project for  my own dad. See my suitcase? Here's the inside:

I love this! I used the Matchbox die and my Big Shot. I just trimmed one section of the cover so it would slip inside the top. I carefully placed two glue dots to hold the top on. I used folded sections of window sheet to layer my stuff. I was thrilled with how it turned out. Then, I showed it to my husband Bubba who bursted my bubble. "Why is all that stuff in a suitcase?," he said. Missed the whole point. However, I am sure my stamping friends know why :)

My second set of cards came from the Packed for Baby stamp. I love buying gifts for baby showers, so decided I needed mini gift cards to add to the package instead of large cards. These stamps are perfect for 3x3's!

I made the full image one first. I simply colored using Bashful Blue, So Saffron, and Certainly Celery Markers. I then trimmed and added a bit of matting. Cute and easy. The other one took a bit more time, but was still pretty easy and cute! I used my 1 3/8" Square Punch for the quilt and used my trusty White Signo Pen to hand-draw the stitches. I used my paper snips to trim the images, some dimensionals to make them pop (as always), and I now have a cute set of cards!

Finally, I used the last two stamps--Packed for Mom, and Packed for Birthday for two very different looking cards:

Wisteria Wonder is a color I adore and I thought the polka dots in the purse looked like my Chocolate Chip Polka Dot Ribbon, so I just needed two other colors. I went with Black to make the Wisteria Wonder pop and Pear Parfait to mellow the whole card down. I used my markers to marker just the part of the stamp I wanted and punched out my colored image with the 1 3/8" Square Punch. You have to be careful, but it does work.

The Birthday Card features a bright palette of colors- Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango, Rich Razzleberry, and Daffodil Delight. I wanted to brighten up a dreary Wisconsin winter day with a fiesta attitude. I used the whole image from the stamp on this one. The Celebrate stamp comes from the Sale-a-bration Mini-Catalog that starts towards the end of January. If you bought these stamps as a bundle, with a couple packs of paper, a punch, and some markers, you'd have everything you need to make a variety of cards plus you could earn the  Outlined Occasions stamp set for FREE. Be sure to check with your demonstrator about ordering!

Well my time is up and I hope you've been inspired. Now that you saw my projects, you click onward to the next site by Lisa featuring  at Add Ink and Stamp. Or, you can go backwards and see Carmen's projects featuring Send me Soaring at Stamping Addiction.  Or, you can use these cute buttons:

Happy Stamping!

Best of 2011

Twenty-Eleven has been a great year for me as far as stamping. I have created some fun and amazing cards. Plus, I've been able to be consistent as to my stamping--almost daily. Ahhh. Today's post is a top 12 of this year. Here are my favorite cards and projects from 2011.

#12 Clare's Birthday Invite--One of my goals this year was to stamp and use what I stamped. For this birthday invite, I got to make my neice's first birthday special with everything bright and cheerful I could think of:

#11 Vintage Love Letter Card
This one I am proud of because I combined patterns I wouldn't normally use, plus I used the bird cage image from Nature's walk, not something found outdoors. But, I love the vintage feel:

 #10 Hope and Strength
I love the use of chalkboard on this butterfly, and well, the whole card:

#9 I spy:
I thought I was so creative with this one! What a fun way to add some interaction to a birthday card!

#8 Best Wishes in Browns

I had so many new toys to play with on this one--and it worked!

#7 Quilted Elegance:

I am still in awe of this card--from the stitches I added with the Jumbo Wheel to the colors, I love it.

#6 A tisket, a tasket, a cool homemade basket

#5 Happy Birthday, Mom!
I snuck in three projects with one picture in this one. I just loved using the In Stitches Suite from the 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog. Perfect for my mom:

#4 Robot Rainbow:

I just love the colors on this one. I miss that robot set!

#3: Gingerbread House:
This was spinning in my head for so long, that I was glad to finally have it come out and meet it's amazing-ness. This is my kind of gingerbread--not too messy!

#2: Spice Cake Quilted Card
I was channeling pure Stampin' Up! joy on this one. You know, they designed this Designer Series paper just for me:)

#1 Princess Crown

This is still my favorite project from this year. It's an idea all my own and I really went out of comfort zone to make it--pink!

Just Around the Corner...

I know I wrote this just last week. But January 2012 is just around the corner! How'd that happen? I plan and plan and work and work for Christmas and always forget January. Eeeeeeekkkk! I decided I needed some organization, so I created this yearly calender for my computer tonight. My mojo has been hiding. I've been scrapbooking a belated Christmas present on My Digital Studio and needed a break.

Also, I am working on a set of FABULOUS projects for this weekend's Occasions Mini Catalog Blog Hop Sponsored by Stampin' Addicts. Yesireeee, my FABULOUS set of demonstrator friends are creating AMAZING projects using new products that will be availble in January! WHOO HOO! Be sure to check out my Blog on December 30th after noon, and you'll get to see a whole bunch of FABULOUSITY.

Happy Stamping!

Merry Christmas to You!

My family is the greatest gift in my life. Last night at Mattson Christmas affirmed that. Love surrounded me, Bubba, and Don. Plus, watching the kids open their gifts--I hit a home run with each one! Anyway, here is our Christmas letter.

Hi all! [When you see RED that’s me....Dr. Truth, Bubba.}

2011. Really, what can I say? We’ve had another year of marital bliss around here. Although, “here” has changed to our Shawano house.  Last June, Bubba and Don set up shop at N6684 Chicawatha. The Neenah house is up for sale. Anyone want a great little house?  Living 24/7 with Bubba has been an adjustment by both of us [mostly by me], but we are surviving. I’d say thriving. I love coming home to warm suppers [Warm?  How about AWESOME suppers] and his hugs after a long day of my 13^th year at Menominee Indian Middle School. I’m sure he loves me making coffee each morning [Can “barely” hear her leave--which reminds me quit slamming the door in the morning] at 6 as I leave. Speaking of my job, I still love the kids and teaching math. Middle schoolers can be a challenge, but most of the time I just laugh.

Bubba spent the fall coaching football [it’s a pretty loose definition of coaching] for the Menominee Eagles High School Team. He loved every minute of it, obsessed every night about the kids, and how they could improve. His photography business [again, a loose definition of business here] is booming with weddings and babies and his favorite subject Clare.

Speaking of Clare, I think most of our spare time has been spent with the Kohls family. Nathan and Tim are now taller than me [really not much of an accomplishment] as they hit 8^th and 7^th grades respectively. Conversations with them have transformed into real topics and I enjoyed my time at the Shack with them this Deer Season [from what I heard they had to haul along a grocery store to keep these two fed]. We’ve cheered Tim on in Football [he came out to our HS practice one day and really inspired the team] and Nathan on in Tae Kwon Do [don’t get in his way....I’ve seen him in action and I go wide around him from now on]. Clare, still steals our heart, with her cuteness and smarts [smart enough to know who her favorite Unka is]. She bellows “Bubba!” or “Auntie” when we are out of her sight, but no one gets more love than Don [it’s sickening frankly....dude gets TONS of hugs, kisses, and big love from that kid].

We also lost Ron this year. First, he was too ill to live with us, needing more nursing care. He passed away in early November. We honored him in simple service and burial along with his family. Bubba and I think of him often and still tell Ron stories regularly. We miss him. [More than I ever thought possible.  Thankfully I have a ton of photos of him making goofy faces.  And so many great memories, stories, and laughs.  He was an original and one of the best people I knew]

As 2011 wraps up, we are looking forward to a quiet [insert air quotes here around quiet] 2012 up here in the Northwoods.  Wishing you all love, laughter, and health, [and a RAIDERS Super Bowl run]

Wishing you all love and happiness,

Merry Christmas to us!

One of my favorite things (among many) about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is showing folks how easy and rearding it is be creative. And this year, Bubba and I have been the lucky recipient of some of that creativity this holiday season:

The stocking card is from my cousin Tracy who sewed two die cuts together to make a cute pocket card! The green tag pulls out to give a message from her family--so cool! The green one came from my Aunt Linnea--a simple, yet striking card using some cute DSP! Finally, my mom sent me the blue and red one. She got her inspiration from the Idea Book and Catalog. One day in November, she called for advice on how to make those snowflakes pop! I recommended White Craft Ink and Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder and Voila! her cards look great!

Happy Stamping!

2012 is Just Around the Corner!

As I realized that my next set of lesson plans start January 3rd, 2012, I wondered how it could be 2012 so soon. When I was a kid, that date seemed so far away! Crazy! I'm ahead this month a bit and am posting my January Computer Desktop Calender. I needed to get it done, as it came out of an idea that didn't pan out for a Christmas present (which, yes, I am wayyyyyy behind on!)

I went with the Domestic Goddess Digital Download--thinking of January White sales, the sunny winter days of January here in Wisconsin, and the fact that I'll get to see some Texan sun while at Stampin' Up!'s leadership event! Of course, to complement, those cold winter days outside, we need some hot coffee inside! Happy Stamping!

Stampy Presents are the Best!

I had to share one of the presents I got already this year-- from my cousin and downline Amy:

It's a set of cards using the Big Top Die Cuts! So fun! At convention Sarah Douglass (Shelli's daughter) showed us how to make a whole bunch of cards using this set.

Amy ran with the idea and had a class. I guess I'm the proud recipient of her extra work! So fun!

Happy Stamping!

Tags and Wrapping! Oh my!

Bubba thinks I went overboard, but I whipped up these tags today for my Mattson Family Christmas presents. I think he'd prefer if we just unloaded the gifts in a big pile and let folks pick them! But, I like these:

Stamps: Jolly Bingo Bits Paper: Real Red, Early Espresso, Wild Wasabi, Holly Berry Bouquet Designer Series Paper
Ink: Real Red
Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Two Tags Bigz Die, Big Shot, Dimensionals

After a morning of finishing swaps for the upcoming (and AMAZING) Occasions Mini Catalog and Sale-a-bration, I needed something quick and easy. Hopefully, I can wrap everything up before bed tonight, so I can make sure I have everyone covered!

Happy Stamping!

Shop the Blitz

First of all- It's a Clearance Rack Blitz at Stampin Up! Check out the great deals at my website: www.lilyinkpad.stampinup.net

 Here are some of my favorite products on sale:

1. Stampin' Pastels for 5.99! Chalkboard technique anyone? Remember this card?

I used pastels to make it!

2. OLD Style (black) PUNCHES! for 9.59! This is awesome! They work great, but store a bit differently. Here is one of my favorite punch art projects for this time of year:

3. Big Designer Buttons--Candy Cane Lane and Deck the Halls for $1.79! Such fun! Here is one of my favorite projects using these:

There's more--Designer Series Paper, Big Shot Dies, Rub-on, tools, and ribbon! Oh my!

Happy Shopping!

Let it snow!

I could really use a Snow Day. Until we are lucky enough to get snow, I'll have to dream of snow with this ornament we are making at my December events:

Isn't he cute?  He's cuter in person, but not bad in the photo.
Stamps: Let it Snow
Paper: Medium Window Sheet
Ink: Stazon Black, White Craft Ink, Markers
Accessories: 3" Bigz Circle, Big Shot, Blender pen, Mica Flakes, Assorted Ribbon

I just stamped him on the window sheet and colored with markers. To get the white body, I used a blender pen and my White Craft Ink Pad.

I used some old and some new window sheets on this one. I found out that the old window sheets had issues--the ink would pool up. On the new ones, it worked fine. So, make sure you use quality window sheets on this one!

Happy Stamping!

Tile-o-rama

In the spirit of trying to use up stuff I've stashed, I brought out tiles for my ladies to stamp last week. We made a variety using whatever stamps felt right. Me, I stuck to spring ideas:

These three use my go-to set Elements of Style and a variety of craft ink. Fun and easy. This set uses Nature Walk:

and finally, these use Greenhouse Garden.

Fun, fun, fun! Happy Stamping!

Deck the Halls!

I might just resort to decking the halls this year--not much room for a tree now that we moved up north to the Shawano House. But boy, I love my ornaments when they hang on a tree! It's my favorite part of Christmas. This year, I tried out a new version of glitter ornaments:

In this one, I used Not Quite Navy reinker and Baja Breeze Glass Glitter on this one. The chunks certainly became chunks--almost like ice cubes inside! The snowflake comes from the Northern Lights Decorative Strip Die. I just cut out a White Decor Element Sheet. To make a good cut, make sure the Decor Element side is towards the die, not the acrylic plate. It just cuts nicer and makes a better snowflake.

This one uses Garden Green reinker with Dazzling Diamonds. Love it! I'm sure I'll make more, but these got me going for now!