Boots 2 Stamps Inspiration Challenge #2

So, who wants to join me for my 2nd Inspiration Challenge?!?! Remember that this month, the prize for one lucky participant is a free stamp set!!! In January, because I just started the challenge last week, there will only be 2 challenges this month so the odds of winning are even better!

Here's the picture that I chose when I was browsing the website Traditional Home (click on the image to view it larger):
How do you enter? First, use the picture to inspire you. Perhaps you see a certain pattern in the image, or the colors, or textures or even shapes that get your creative juices flowing. Whatever it is that inspires you from the photo, run with it and get stamping! After your project is done, simply leave a comment here telling me that you uploaded your creation over at Stampin’ Addicts. It’s FREE to be a member, and if you’re not already a member of this FABULOUS community dedicated to all things Stampin’ Up!, then click HERE to sign up (remember, it’s free!!) to get a username, and then you can upload to the gallery! Stampin’ Addicts has Forums where you can chat with other stampers, a Buy-Sell-Trade section, and a Gallery where you can upload your pictures for others to see. A fun feature of their gallery is that on the home page, the recent uploads get a huge spotlight – you will see your own uploads appear there from time to time, and that is fun.

For my challenges, when you upload to an online gallery like Stampin’ Addicts, please use the “keyword” for that week’s challenge so that the projects are easy to find. The keyword will always be B2S## (which stands for Boots 2 Stamps, and the number sign represents the number of the challenge).

This week’s keyword is B2S02.

Another note of importance about Stampin’ Addicts – it is a SU! oriented website, so your cards/projects will need to be made with SU! items. If they’re not, then don’t post over there, but post it somewhere (your blog, photobucket, etc.) so that I can see it and you can still be in the drawing. Of course – I can’t make you use SU! items, but that is what I love and that is what Stampin’ Addicts is for – but it won’t disqualify you from a chance to win – Random.org draws numbers randomly, not based on product used Posting your project to your blog as well, even if you upload to Stampin’ Addicts is PERFECTLY fine. Please just include reference and a link to my post (in your blog post and in your picture upload at Stampin’ Addicts, etc.).

So – after you’ve stamped, go upload at Stampin’ Addicts and be sure to use the keyword “B2S02″ (no quotation marks needed) and include a link to this post, and then come back here and tell me that you’ve posted using Mr. Linky and include a link to your posted project so I can keep track of who has played along for the monthly drawing!!! Easy peasy!!

Boots 2 Stamps Inspiration Challenge #1 Reveal

Before I post this week's challenge, I want to share with you the card I made for last week's challenge, which you can see here. The challenge is starting off slowly, but as long as there are people that want to play along, I'm happy to continue it! Here's my card for B2S01:

I used the colors in the challenge to make my card, and I wanted to play around with the fabulous new stamp set, Vintage Vogue, and the new Scallop Trim border punch that I earned FOR FREE by spending $50 on SU! merchandise this month. I love Sale-a-Bration, because every $50 you spend gets you 1 free item from the SAB brochure!!

Those of you who are a Stampin' Addict, like me, may recognize that this LO was inspired by Sketch #39 over on the Stampin' Addicts website. You can see the sketch here. I did turn the card/sketch on it's side. It was a fun sketch to use as a starting point. You should check it out!

Thank you so much to those of you that played along with me this week. I hope that you will stay tuned for my week #2 B2S Inspiration Challenge!!! I will post it shortly. :)

Stamps: Vintage Vogue (clear-mount; Occasions Mini Catalog item) Paper: Sweet Pea DSP Stack (Occasions Mini Catalog item), Chocolate Chip and Whisper White CS, Dusty Durango Textured CS Ink: So Saffron, Chocolate Chip and Dusty Durango classic ink Accessories: Scallop Trim Border punch, Vintage brad, Chocolate Chip 5/8" Satin Ribbon (Occasions Mini Catalog item), Latte button, Stampin' Dimensionals

Stay Tuned....

Very long story short, but after a trip to the ER for my little one and my hubby being delayed on returning to us from his latest Air Force trip overseas, my card for this week's Boots 2 Stamps Challenge (see the challenge HERE - I would love to have more of you join me!!) will be posted when I post next week's challenge on Saturday.  This actually might be how I do it from now on anyway - show my card when the new challenge is posted (and once a month the winner will also be revealed on the day a new challenge is posted) on Saturday's.  Please join us - you could win a free stamp set!!

Have a great day!

Know Life...Love Many Things

Third time's a charm!!  By the time I was done making this card - another CASE (original by Laura, aka scrapnextras @ SCS) - I was so inspired and motivated that I signed up for the Occasions Blog Tour over at Stampin' Addicts and had one day to make my projects before the Blog Tour began!!  If you missed out on the Tour, you can check it out by starting at my post HERE.

Stamps: Dreams du Jour  Paper: Whisper White Orchid Opulence and Old Olive CS, Cottage Wall DSP  Ink: Rich Razzleberry classic ink, Old Olive and Orchid Opulence markers  Accessories: Mini Library Clip (pewter), Piercing Tool, Template and Pad, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Do you like to stamp too?  Do you like to be inspired?  Do you like to play along in challenges?  Do you want to win a FREE stamp set?  Well, check out my blog post HERE about my Inspiration Challenge!!!  :)

Boots 2 Stamps Inspiration Challenge #1

Well, I know that I have lost many of my followers/readers by switching my blog over, but hopefully they will find me again (remember to change your subscriptions/links/bookmarks, etc. to my blog please!!).

I decided I need a little inspiration to get stamping and I was browsing/playing around on the Behr paint website and I was just so inspired by this picture that I thought it would make a great Inspiration Challenge. There is just something about this room and its style that really makes me happy. I love the colors, the furniture, the patterns and textures.....It is from their "Get Inspired" section, with the sub-section of "Our Galleries - Browse Interior Images" I can't link directly to the picture, so HERE is as close as I can get you to the picture within the Behr website and the picture you see is the one I am speaking of. Please see below for how to play along and win a PRIZE!!!I am going to give away a small prize to one lucky participant each month, and the participants in the challenges each week will be given a number based on their time/date of comment, and then I will use Random.org to draw a winner. It might be a fabulous SU! stamp set, or other accessory, or some Designer Series Paper...who knows, but I know you will enjoy it, plus all you did to win it was stamp - and we all love to do that anyway, right?!?! I will post my own creation on the Thursday following the challenge posting on Saturday.

How do you enter? First, use the picture to inspire you. Perhaps you see a certain pattern in the image, or the colors, or textures or even shapes that get your creative juices flowing. Whatever it is that inspires you from the photo, run with it and get stamping! After your project is done, simply leave a comment here telling me that you uploaded your creation over at Stampin' Addicts. It's FREE to be a member, and if you're not already a member of this FABULOUS community dedicated to all things Stampin' Up!, then click HERE to sign up (remember, it's free!!) to get a username, and then you can upload to the gallery! Stampin' Addicts has Forums where you can chat with other stampers, a Buy-Sell-Trade section, and a Gallery where you can upload your pictures for others to see. A fun feature of their gallery is that on the home page, the recent uploads get a huge spotlight - you will see your own uploads appear there from time to time, and that is fun.

For my challenges, when you upload to an online gallery like Stampin' Addicts, please use the "keyword" for that week's challenge so that the projects are easy to find. The keyword will always be B2S## (which stands for Boots 2 Stamps, and the number sign represents the number of the challenge).

This week's keyword is B2S01.

Another note of importance about Stampin' Addicts - it is a SU! oriented website, so your cards/projects will need to be made with SU! items. If they're not, then don't post over there, but post it somewhere (your blog, photobucket, etc.) so that I can see it and you can still be in the drawing. Of course - I can't make you use SU! items, but that is what I love and that is what Stampin' Addicts is for - but it won't disqualify you from a chance to win - Random.org draws numbers randomly, not based on product used ;) Posting your project to your blog as well, even if you upload to Stampin' Addicts is PERFECTLY fine. Please just include reference and a link to my post (in your blog post and in your picture upload at Stampin' Addicts, etc.).

So - after you've stamped, go upload at Stampin' Addicts and be sure to use the keyword "B2S01" (no quotation marks needed) and include a link to this post, and then come back here and tell me that you've posted using Mr. Linky and include a link to your posted project so I can keep track of who has played along for the monthly drawing!!! Easy peasy!!

PS - The prize for January (hey, there will only be 2 challenges this month, so the odds of winning are even better!) will be a STAMP SET!!!

PPS - This is the first time I'm using Mr. Linky, so please let me know if it's not functioning properly for you and we can go back to the old fashioned way of leaving your link in you comment. This just gets confusing when you have to go through the comments and only count the ones with links :)

Haitian Disaster Relief via I {Heart} Hearts

From now until February 28, 2010, $2 from every I {Heart} Hearts stamp that is purchased will be donated American Red Cross’ Haiti Relief and Development Fund. The Red Cross is already well-established in Haiti, and this money will be used to provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need. In addition to SU! giving this $2 per stamp set donation, I will be sending the Red Cross any and all commissions that I make in the sales of this stamp set as well.

If you're like me, and you already have the set - doesn't it make a great gift?!?!? I'm sure you know someone who stamps that you could give it to.

I look forward to working to make this a successful effort by SU! to give to the devastated people of Haiti. Will you help?

Contact me at mariemc01@gmail.com to place your order, or go to my Stampin' Up! website and click "Shop Now" in the top right-hand corner of your screen, and place it from the convenience of your own home.

Details, details, details....

As I promised you, here are some of the tips/details/photos/etc. on the projects I made for the Stampin' Addicts Sale-a-Bration Blog Tour. If you haven't checked it out yet, you can check it out by starting either with my post here and completing the circuit, or going to Stampin' Addicts here. Oh, and if you join Stampin' Addicts (it's free, and if you love stamping then it's the perfect site for you!!) come back to this post and follow this link so they know I referred ya! I don't get anything for it other than warm fuzzies, but who doesn't like warm fuzzies?!?! ;)

On the Blog Tour, it's appreciated if we don't get too wordy or show more than a certain number of pictures, so here is Part II of all of my projects.

Now, on to Part II of my Stampin' Addicts Sale-a-Bration Blog Tour posts....

You probably remember this card. This card has a nice detail of a shorter front so that the sentiment peeks out from the inside. I was going to add some paper piercing to the bottom below the sentiment and stretching across to the left side of the card. BUT - I've gotten better at knowing when enough is enough. It is a talent I have yet to master, but in this case, I do think that the paper piercing would have been too much. I just love paper piercing though and can hardly keep myself from doing it all over!! :) I did do it around the butterfly, but that's it.

It has one of the darling new Chocolate Chip 1/4" Sending Love Epoxy Brads on the ribbon treatment. I don't know if it was very noticeable in the shot, but being that I had to stand the card up a funny way to get it to stand up since the bottom doesn't touch - it was taken at an odd angle.

So - maybe the details make you see the card a little differently? The color combo of a pink and a brown are a fave of mine for Valentine's day, so I think I had it stuck in my head when I made this card - even though it's totally unrelated to Valentine's day and I've yet to make any Valentine's cards. I guess I've just been seeing them everywhere :)

Now...on to the pictures I think you've anticipated seeing the most. The butterfly framed art (which is shown above at a fun angle). I must say, I am always looking for low-priced items to alter. I love to look at the frames on clearance at my local stores with thoughts and dreams for what they might hold, or what they might look like altered completely from top to bottom someday in the future. When I came up with the idea of the butterflies, I must admit that I looked through my small stash in hopes that I had a shadowbox type of frame, but I didn't have one. So - something I've done in the past so that I don't have to make my project more 2-D than 3-D, is to take the glass out of the frame and put it back in behind the stamped/hand-crafted art that I'm putting inside. That way it's still thick enough for the back to go on correctly, and it gives the cardstock art some support from behind since it doesn't have it from the front.

But, on to what I did. I recommend having some Dotto on hand - or some other re-positionable, non-permanent adhesive on hand. Mine was held with my fingers, and it got old - it slipped every now and then and I had to make sure to re-position it.

Tah-dah!! I used my Stampin' Up! Light Table, some SU! Grid Paper, and that's it! I've heard of people using windows, or glass coffee tables with lights beneath them instead of a light table, but for the times that I have needed it to emboss or now to line something up, it has been so much better than trying to make-do. That's just my opinion. Anyway - as I mentioned in my original Blog Tour post, you have to be using Whisper White CS because I don't think any other CS (except for Vellum CS, of course) will allow light to pass through both the grid paper AND the CS.

I centered my CS base on the grid paper and because it was 8" x 10" to fit my frame, it went from 3" to 13" from left to right, and 2" to 10" from bottom to top on the grid paper. If you have a piece in front of you, it will make more sense. I would suggest just using the center of your grid paper (it has an x and y "axis" that are more bold that run right through the grid paper in the middle of it both ways) to center your project, whatever the size (as long as it's not bigger than the grid paper of course). This is how I was able to evenly space my butterflies. I didn't even make marks on the CS! I placed the middle of the butterflies on the grid lines that I had chosen for the spacing that I desired in-between each butterfly. Every butterfly's wings touched the same line on the top and bottom of the wings as the butterfly next to it. They also were centered in the same column of squares going vertically down the page. My butterflies had a half an inch between them from the bottom of one butterfly to the top of the one below it, and a quarter of an inch between them (this was a little harder since my 1/4" consisted of two halves of two squares (2 - 1/8" segments). You can see this the best with the Melon Mambo Polka Dot (Patterns DSP) butterfly 2 down from the top right, the one to it's left (Bermuda Bay Stripes from Patterns DSP), and the one immediately below that one (Melon Mambo also from Patterns DSP). I used a little piece of Stampin' Dimensional under each wing to pop them up. I started mounting them at the top left and went to the right and then down to the 2nd row and went from left to right again, and so on.

I hope that this answers any and all questions you might have had about my projects. My third card, the one you see above, was fairly simple and really doesn't have much to it. I used my Tabletop Trimmer to cut 1-1/2" squares out of the Sweet Pea DSP and then just eye-balled placing them on my card. That's about it!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll keep visiting me. I appreciate each and every visit, and especially each and every comment. I'm getting ready to start working on my Master's Degree, so I don't have time like I used to to reply to every comment, but know that each one makes my day a little brighter. Thank you!! :)

Cottage Wall Squares

So this is another CASE'd card.  I changed up some of the details, but I loved the basic LO of the original, made by Stampin'_Kiwi over at SCS.  I've made many cards that have a central panel with four squares, but I liked the pop of having the stamped image right in the middle of them.  I added the detail of the brads and used a wider ribbon.  If you'll look at the picture to the right, you'll see that I added a touch of glitter to the flower.  It was a fun card to make!

Stamps: Dreams du Jour  Paper: Whisper White and Rich Razzleberry CS, Cottage Wall DSP  Ink: Basic Black classic ink, Old Olive and Rich Razzleberry markers  Accessories: 1/2" Rich Razzleberry Polka-Dot Grosgrain ribbon, Silver Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals

Stampin' Addicts Sale-a-Bration Blog Hop Stop #7

Hi there!  Some of you may be joining me because you've been hoppin' around the internet checking in with different Stampin' Addicts to see some fantabulous projects created with Sale-a-Bration items.  I think that the ladies have outdone themselves once again!  The Blog Tour "officially" starts at 12:00 pm EST but most of the stops should be live at 10:00 am EST.  So, if you're hitting some bumps, check back a little later and it should all work perfectly!!  :)

If you're following the Blog Tour, you just came here from stop #6 which was Sharon's blog Created By You, where she featured Whimsical Words.  Don't you just love her projects?!?!

My projects will be featuring Whimsical Words as well.  That's right, you're supposed to be seeing double - it's featured twice on the tour!!.  This set is one of the exclusive Sale-a-Bration 2010 stamp sets that will never be seen in an Idea Book & Catalog.  That's part of what makes Sale-a-Bration stamp sets so special.  That, and they're FREE!!!  LOL

On Thursday I will tell you some more details about my projects below, and I will also show some additional pictures to explain them a little more thoroughly.  Make sure to check back on Thursday to see how I lined up my butterflies - it's a really handy trick (as long as you're using Whisper White CS as your base!!)

The picture you see to the left was my inspiration.  I wanted to make something for my daughter and I used her bedspread for the colors.  She loves what I made her, and of course my other daughter really wants one now too.  I love my girls :)  Now I just need a dinosaur punch to make one for my little man!  ;)

As I mentioned before, check back on Thursday to see what I did to get my butterflies perfectly lined up.

Stamps: Whimsical Words (Sale-a-Bration 2010)   Paper: Whisper White CS, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay and Rich Razzleberry Patterns DSP, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, Sweet Pea DSP (2010 Occasions Mini Catalog)   Ink: Bermuda Bay Classic Ink   Accessories: Fire Circle Rhinestone Brad, Butterfly Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Wooden Frame

Stamps: Whimsical Words (Sale-a-Bration 2010)   Paper: Kraft, Whisper White and Melon Mambo CS,  Sweet Pea DSP (2010 Occasions Mini Catalog), and Melon Mambo Patterns DSP, Sending Love Notes - Kisses (2010 Occasions Mini Catalog) Ink: Chocolate Chip Classic Ink   Accessories: Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die (2010 Occasions Mini Catalog), Big Shot, Scallop Edge punch, Corner Rounder punch   Chocolate Chip 5/8" Satin Ribbon (2010 Occasions Mini Catalog), Sending Love Chocolate Chip 1/4" Epoxy Brads (2010 Occasions Mini Catalog), Vintage Brads - Antique Brass, Paper Piercing Tool, Template and Pad, Stampin' Dimensionals




And my last project -  a masculine card.  It is my first in a while and I am planning on sending it to my hubby during one of his "trips" overseas for the Air Force:



Stamps: Whimsical Words (2010 Sale-a-Bration)   Paper: Bashful Blue CS, Sending Love Notes - Kisses (2010 Occasions Mini Catalog), Sweet Pea DSP (2010 Occasions Mini Catalog)   Ink: Chocolate Chip Classic Ink   Accessories: Paper Piercing Tool, Template and Pad, 5/16" Neutrals Jumbo Brad - Chocolate Chip, Stampin' Dimensionals



If my count is right, there are EIGHTY THREE stamp sets or other items that you get to choose from for this year's Sale-a-Bration promotion!!!  Never before has SU! offered so many choices for your free item that you earn with every $50 spent.  There's not even a limit!!  If you spend $150 you get the regular free merchandise and stamp sets as a "hostess" - whether you hold a workshop or not - but you would also get THREE more free items from the SAB brochure!!!!

Now, to see another fabulous array of products made with one of these 83 items, go to stop #8, Cindy's blog Heart's Delight Cards, where she will be featuring the super cute Scallop Trim punch that you can earn for FREE!!!  You will love the different ways she has used the punch!  :)

Enjoy the rest of the Blog Tour and have a GREAT weekend!!!

If you're a SU! Demonstrator, and if You're Not

To my fellow demonstrators - I would love to find you on Stampin' Connections (SU!'s new site for demos to share and inspire each other on).  My name is my username there:  Marie McClellan. I would love to be your friend - it's a great way for me to get to know those of you that stop by my blog and don't have one of your own, or just to connect with all of you even if you do have a blog.

To everyone - I wanted to let you know that there's another Stampin' Addicts Blog Hop brewing....feels like Halloween after I say that, huh?  Well, actually, the hop is going to spotlight Sale-a-Bration items and I would love to see you back here when my post goes up for it!  I know it will be another fabulous showcasing of Stampin' Up! product by some really fantastic gals!!

Sometimes....

it takes a little CASE'ing to get you going...or at least I have found that it is just what I need sometimes to get my creative juices flowing again.  I've been in a bit of  a creative slump lately.  Mostly because I have no time to stamp, but also because I am tired even if I do have the time.  I think it's just the cold, dreary weather.  Anyway....I had to come up with some items for my latest round of SIM, so I turned to trusty old SCS to find some cards that inspired me because I figured if I CASE'd them then they would hopefully inspire my participants as wel as myselfl.  I told them who made each original card and I created a basic sketch of the card for them to keep in My Digital Studio.  This was the first card I made and it was a CASE of Stacey's (slschaf771) card used the same stamp set but a different and very fabulous color combo.  I hope you like it!

Stamps:  Dreams du Jour
Paper:  Cottage Wall DSP, Old Olive CS (card base), Orchid Opulence and Whisper White CS
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry and Basic Black classic ink, Orchid Opulence and Old Olive markers
Accessories:  Scallop Edge punch, 2-Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Clear Rhinestone Brad, 5/8" Old Olive Grosgrain ribbon, Linen Thread, Stampin Dimensionals

I've Decided....

After much conversation with the hubby, speaking with my brother-in-law (a partner in an accounting firm), thought and prayer, I am going to remain a demonstrator through the end of December...at least.  I'll re-evaluate in December 2010 for 2011.   I've told all of my customers and my downline, so now I'm posting this here.

I have many reasons why stopping might be the right thing (one of the main ones being the PAIN that it is that I do our taxes and being in the military and adding SU! to the mix really complicates them), but I also have many reasons why I really don't want to quit.  I'll spare you the details.  I am going to continue to hope for and try to create situations where I might finally (after almost a year and a half!) get a local customer that doesn't already "belong" to another demonstrator who was already in the area before we moved here.  We will be moving from Dover in 2011/2012 anyway (not sure yet exactly when) so if I can just hang on, maybe where the Air Force sends us next will be better for me and I'll be able to have events again.  Workshops are really what makes me happy as a demo - I LOVE to teach and share stamping.

I just thought I would let you all know :)  Have a great weekend!

I Promised

Here are the close-ups I promised in my post for the Occasions Mini Blog Tour that you can find HERE.  Did you check out the Tour?  There were some really beautiful projects featured by the ladies, and even some blog candy giveaways.  I hope you all enjoyed it, and if you missed it, it's never too late to go through the stops!

Here's the close-up of me card that had a small detail from the images in the Tiny Tags stamp set in the bottom-right corner of the card:

This next picture is another view of my masked-heart card.  It is with the card completely shut as the recipient will see it, and then there is a view of the inside of the card where the heart is sponged/stamped.

Well, that's all for today.  I just wanted you to see some more details on my cards but we were only to have 4 pictures in our Blog Tour post so I couldn't squeeze these in ;)

Baby Gift Card Holder

I made this gift card after seeing one on SCS.  I don't have any instructions and I didn't have any when I made it.  I just tried to "eyeball" it.  Hope you like it!  It had a nice gift card in it for my daughter's teacher who is expecting a baby over the holiday break.  It will be her first and since she didn't have a registry we could find to buy her a big-ticket item, we gave her a Visa gift card to buy whatever she wants for the baby, wherever she wants.  You won't be able to see it very well, but the little moon is stamped on Certainly Celery in Certainly Celery and then covered with the fabulous Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint from SU!.  That is Very Vanilla CS - just so you know - it's not bad lighting ;)

I wanted to use my Nursery Necessities stamp set originally, but then I remembered I let a friend borrow it, and I don't have any other current baby sets, so I ended up using this retired set called So Many Scallops.  I'm sure many of you remember it.

Anyway, hope you're having a lovely day.  I'm sorry that at my best right now I can only post once a week, but it's better than nothing, right???  :)  Take care!!!!

Occasions Mini Catalog Blog Tour - Stop #16

Hi there!  If you've been making your way around the Stampin' Addicts Occasions Mini Catalog Tour, then you might have just come to my blog from Joyce's blog Stampin' Central, where she used the FABULOUS new stamp set Vintage Vogue.  If you didn't come from the previous stop, click HERE to see Joyce's creations at stop #15.  I just love this stamp set - it was one of the ones that I made sure to pre-order (a demonstrator perk!!) and I have really enjoyed using it so far.  Don't you just love her projects?!?!?  You can order your very own Mini Occasions Catalog products beginning January 5th - so get crackin' on your Wish List!! :)

Well, I'm excited to share mine with you now.  I signed up a little late for this Tour (hush, hush).  Actually, I signed up on Wednesday afternoon, but I was super happy to see that no one had reserved the new stamp set Tiny Tags for use in the Tour.  It is a super cute stamp set and I am a sentiment hoarder, so I love it!  What I am most excited about is that on all three of my projects I think that the alignment of the sentiments turned out pretty darn good, and I DIDN'T use my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig!!!  I am very OCD about my stamping being even and lined up, and while it's not 100% perfect (I'm not telling you where!! ;)  LOL) it's pretty close and it's good enough for me!  I really like these new clear-mount stamps.  It's the same BEST IN THE INDUSTRY deeply etched rubber images with the ease of a clear block to help see where you're stamping and to really save on storage space needed.  I hope you enjoy my projects!!

Occasions Mini Catalog item featured on this stop:  TINY TAGS stamp set

This card was made using my Movers & Shapers Bigz die along with the Heart movable die you can purchase separately.  I reverse masked my heart on the inside of the card and sponged some Rose Red in there, along with stamping the little damask image from Tiny Tags inside the heart as well.  I paper pierced all the way around the heart and you can't see it, but underneath the ribbon too.  I used my scalloped edge punch to add a layer of Pretty in Pink CS beneath the distressed layer of Sweet Pea DSP STACK (in the Occasions Mini!!).  The sentiment is from the Tiny Tags stamp set, and the ribbon is the 5/8" Whisper White Satin ribbon.  Have you seen that in the Occasions Mini there are NINE new colors of this GORGEOUS satin ribbon?!?!?

This second card was made using some more of the yummy Sweet Pea DSP Stack but I gave the DSP a totally different twist with my color combo.  In a few days I will share some up-close images of today's projects so you can see the little image I stamped on this card a little more closely, but if you click on the picture it should give you a nice HUGE picture to look at ;)  It's hard to tell but I did use my Scallop Edge punch again on the DSP, and that is another small layer of Pumpkin Pie colored DSP beneath that 5/8" Old Olive Grosgrain ribbon.  I did some more paper piercing along the bottom right corner near the stamped image, and again I stamped my image without a Stamp-a-Ma-Jig!

This last project once again features the stamp set Tiny Tags and some scallops.  I'm loving scallops right now.  The envelope is made with the Scallop Envelope Bigz die, and I made a little flower using some of my smaller circle punches and then crinkling the CS and tearing around the edge of the circles.  Layered on top of one another, the circles are held together nicely with one of the Whisper White 5/16" Jumbo brads.  That beautiful ribbon is the Chocolate Chip Taffeta ribbon.  Again, the DSP used is some of the Sweet Pea DSP Stack paper - isn't it so pretty?!?!  Well, open up this cute little envelope, and this is what you get:

More paper piercing, some stamped images from Tiny Tags, and did you notice that the paper piercing is "reversed"?  I had the rough side of the holes on the top and I even did it right through my image.  I thought it made it more "interesting".  What do you think?

Well, I hope you enjoyed my samples, and I hope that you'll continue on your way to discover some really fabulous creations made with the fantastic new stamps and accessories available in the Occasions Mini Catalog!!!   I haven't even told you my FAVORITE part about this Tiny Tags stamp set.....IT HAS A COORDINATING PUNCH!!!  I just didn't use it on any of my projects because I always try to use my Blog Tour items in a way rather than the most expected.  The punch is called the Medium Jewelry Tag punch, and it's ADORABLE!!!  You'll have to check it out in the Mini Catalog, or check back here for some samples using it in the near future ;)

Moving on....please click HERE to go to stop #17 on the Tour - Lyssa's blog, Song of My Heart Stampers where she is going to show you the set everyone will want to have - Messages for Mom.  We've all got a mom or someone who is in our life that fills that motherly role, and we all love to stamp, so it's a must have!!! :) 

Thanks so much for joining me on this Stampin' Addicts Occasions Mini Catalog Blog Tour!!!!!!!  Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

PS - Some of the participants on the Tour will have some Blog Candy for you to win!!! :)