Wild West Train Robbery

I don't know about you guys, but I have the hardest time thinking of something for my husband for gifts..... he does like to watch old westerns and stuff so I found that we had a local train ride from Horseshoe Bend to Smith's Ferry. There are lots of different "types" of trips; but I found the "Wild West Train Robbery". I told my husband that we were going somewhere on the 26th, but I wouldn't tell him where... he doesn't like NOT KNOWING where he is going and he was a little grumpy about the whole thing. Anyway, I drove, which he also doesn't like and I took him to Horseshoe Bend, which is about 30 miles away from home. I turned off the main road, and he could see the trains ahead...... I think at that moment he was getting sort of excited.

When we getting ready to board the train, there was someone sitting on benches outside the train playing an instrument

Then once we got inside there was an open car with benches where we sat for the first half of the trip. There are several other cars that are all different from the others... One car has seats like on a regular train, then there is one that is like a dining car with tables and chairs, the one we first walked through which is off to the side sold trinkets, engineer hats, popcorn, etc.

Then once we started moving they acted out the Hatfields and McCoys; however, they called them the Hatcoys and McFields ha ha ha

Can you believe they came through the train and robbed us!!!!!!????

When we stopped at the half way point, they had it out between the families but then the son and daughter from each family decided they wanted to be married and the son proposed. So the fight was over and on the way back the couple were married........... Instead of saying "til death do us part" they said "and I will never tell anyone about your pappy's still".
We had such a really fun time; the weather was great, the actors were good and this was something really different from what we usually do.
My grumpy husband, not liking to be surprised, now has plans to take friends and "surprise" them ha ha ha...... as the world turns!!!

Have a nice day.

Build a Bear.....

I received my Beary Best Friends and Beary Nice Wishes the other day so I had time to play today. These stamps are so Darling... I'm going to have fun with them.

The first card with the little Girl Bear, I used Chocolate Chip cardstock and mounted Regal Rose cardstock ontop with some Tall Tales Designer Series Paper at the bottom. I took a 1" strip of Close to Cocoa cardstock and ran it through my Big Shot using the Finial Press Textured Impressions and and tied some Close to Cocoa ribbon around it and attached it to the card base at the top of the DSP; then I took a smaller piece of ribbon and tied around the existing ribbon and tied it into a knot. I stamped my missy bear image on a piece of watercolor paper and colored her in using Close to Cocoa, Regal Rose and Rose Red Classic Inks using my Aqua Painter. Using some Bordering Blue classic ink, I also colored around her giving her some dimension. I stamped the string from the balloon onto her hand. Then on another piece of watercolor paper, I stamped the balloon and cut it out attaching it to the top of the string using dimensionals. The greeting is from the Beary Nice Wishes set, which I stamped on Whisper White cardstock and punched out using the Modern Label Punch. I also punched another piece using the Modern Label Punch and Close to Cocoa cardstock, which I cut in half and adhered to the back of each end.

The second card, I used To The Nines Designer Series Paper as the card base. I also used the backside of this same paper and cut a 2" strip and another strip of Ruby Red cardstock, punching one side out using the Scallop Edge Punch. I tied some red taffeta ribbon around it before adhering it to the card base. I stamped the Mr. Bear on some watercolor paper using StazOn and watercolored using Close to Cocoa, Night of Navy, Not Quite Navy and Ruby Red classic inks. I stamped the bear on some designer series paper from the Christmas Cocoa package and cut out the shirt portion and glued it onto the bear. Again, using Bordering Blue, I colored around the bear giving it some dimension. I then stamped the birthday hat and the gift sack on some watercolor paper, coloring them in using classic inks and my Aqua Painter. The hat was cut out and attached to the bear with dimensionals. I cut around the bear's paw and cut out the inside of the handle from the gift sack; then I slipped the sack over the bear's paw. I adhered the watercolor paper to a piece of Ruby Red cardstock then attached to the card base using dimensionals. The greeting "Happy Bearthday" is from the Beary Nice Wishes. Instead of stamping in a line like the stamp is, I used my Basic Black marker and colored each word separately, cleaning between stamps so I could stamp on a smaller area. I punched out the words using the large Oval Punch, then I punched out a Scalloped Oval from the Ruby Red Cardstock, cut it in half and adhered the greeting over the scalloped oval piece, attaching it to the card base.

Yesterday I treated my husband (surprised him) with a train ride that had a western theme. Tomorrow I will show you some photos of that really fun trip.

Phones for You!!

I'm a little delinquent posting card swaps I received at Convention. This is one of the cutest things I've seen in a long time; how creative some people are. This particular card was made with the "demonstrator" in mind, as the outside says "Phone Me to Place an Order", then the inside had the demonstrators business card attached. This layout can be used for lots off reasons to get in touch with friends and family.

The phone base is a half circle cut with the Circle Scissors Plus, then the dial is made with various circle punches and stamps all layered. You can see the number holes have been punched using the Crop-a-dile and the finger stop is using one of the new accessories from the Clips Assortment. The receiver piece is made from Big Shot Top Note Die, folded in half and the handle portion cut out with the Wide Oval Punch. How cute is the cord? She used the Crushed Curry Polka-Dot grosgrain ribbon and twisted it before attaching under the two card pieces. The phone base is using the new Melon Mambo cardstock and the receiver is using the new Raspberry Lemonade Designer Series Paper. These are all new in-colors..... don't they all work together well?

Things I LOVE

We made this cute little bag at Convention using the Things I Love stamp set. These are 4"X4" note cards in a cellophane bag with a topper. Each of the note cards has a different image (a shoe, a shopping bag and a piece of chocolate.
When my Club group started their new session this month, I asked them to all bring me a card and I would give them a special treat. Well, these are what I made for them. Don't you love the new in-colors? These are made using the Melon Mambo and Bermuda Bay card stocks, inks and ribbons. Have I mentioned that this year for the first time Stampin' Up! came out with Stampin' Write Markers for the in-colors??? This is such an awesome product. We've been asking for them for years. It makes coloring the images so much easier and bright than using the blender pens for coloring. The girls that received these loved them.

Halloween Treat Box

I saw several blogs today making these really cute Treat Boxes. They are so fun and simple to make. One really cute box made as a witches hat was made by Carrie Rhoades http://www.carriestamps.com/ Check out her site as she has a tutorial showing how it's put together. My box is a different size than hers, which for me was easier as I decided to make these special treats for my Stamping Class tomorrow night. My measurements are 4" X 8" and then the rest was the same as Carrie's instructions. By using the size I chose, you can get 4 boxes from one sheet of 12" X 12" cardstock or designer series paper. I think they turned out cute; I hope my girls like them tomorrow!!!!

Now I'm thinking about making some of these for the people in my office; they should get a kick out of them.

I decorated mine with the Frog Stamp from "Halloween Hoot" (111582). I colored in the frog with an Old Olive Marker and colored in the star on his hit with a Summer Sun marker. I stamped the "Free Kisses" next to the Frog which is also from the Halloween Hoot Stamp Set. I punched out the frog using my 1 1/4" Circle Punch, then I layered it on an Old Olive Scallop Circle. When I tied the ribbon at the top of the box, I stamped out the words "Trick or Treat, Scary & Sweet" and punched it out using the Scallop Square Punch. The Stamp is from the new Grateful Greeting stamp set (116511) in the Holiday Mini Catalog. I love this set; it's so versatile for all the holidays as there are greetings for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentines Day. I know this set is going to get a lot of use from me.

Halloween Hoot

I really loved this layout..... I copied it from somewhere where the card was pretty elegent; but I put my witch on instead. I used the "Cast A Spell" Designer Series Paper and a couple of the new sets from the Mini Catalog "Halloween Hoot and Grateful Greetings " to complete this card. Even though it's a Christmas "designed" ribbon, I used the Mistletoe satin ribbon on this card. The Witch was stamped in Basic Black and her face was colored in with Old Olive using a blender pen. I also used the Crushed Curry Stampin' Write marker to color in the broom.

The square scalloped punch was used to cut out the saying from the Grateful Greeting stamp set.

We made this card in my Stamp Club and they loved it!!

Sweet Centers Cards

I absolutely LOVE the Sweet Centers stamp set and the little Sweet Treat Cups used with it. One of the cards I'm going to show you I found on another blog; I wish I had paid attention so I could link it back to her.

I would NEVER thought of using water in these cups, and when I tried it I had some issues getting it full enough. What you do is put some Dazzling Diamonds in the cup and fill it with water; then take off the adhesive back from the cup and attach it to a Window sheet. When you "think" it's full, it isn't. I had to do this several times, but the last time I decided to poke a little hole in the window sheet (after it was attached to the cup with water in it) and held it under the faucet to fill it. I didn't want to put two holes in it which would probably have filled faster so it actuqlly took a while to fill totally. Then I used a piece of sticky strip to put over the hole I had punched to seal it. The picture you are looking at is using the ornament piece from the Sweet Centers Stamp Set, which I versamarked, embossed with Gold Embossing Powder, cut out and attached to the top of the cup after I adhered it to the card. I also punched a hole at the top where the hook would go and attached some gold cord and hid the edges behind the cardstock. This picture is after I shook up the card... like a show globe. The second photo is shown after the Dazzling Diamonds settled down at the bottom. Isn't this the coolist thing ever??????

We made this second card at our club night last night and we put Jelly Bellys in the cup. I wish I had thought in time to get only black and orange ones, but I didn't......... The circle attached with the hemp is the piece we cut out of the center using the 1 3/4" Circle punch. We just punched a hole at the top of the circle and attached to the Old Olive grosgrain ribbon with a piece of hemp tied into a bow.

This third card is the Hot Air Balloon stamp and for fun I put Fruit Loops in the cup. Didn't it turn out cute? I made a card like this for my grandson and used the Fish Crackers in the cup. He thought that was really fun.

Have you ever thought of all the things you can put in the cups???? At our club night someone mentioned they thought a silver dollar would fit and don't you know one of the girls had one and lo and behold, it did fit. I think it would probably hold 3 silver dollars comfortably.... a little heavy maybe, but the recipient wouldn't care :) You can use any kind of small candy. I thought for Valentines day you can put in the Conversation Hearts or Red Hots. Someone at work said you could put in a flower from a wedding using the colors of the wedding as a keepsake, you can put in "confetti" type items... and a small Peppermint Patty fits perfectly. There is just no end.... AND you don't HAVE to use the cups. You can leave the centers in or even add some other stamp or accessory to decorate where the cups would go. I REALLY hope this is one of the stamp sets that come out in the next Annual Catalog; it's just too cute to let go.

Great Cards by Club Stampers

I had my first stamp club night of this fall session and I had asked that the girls bring me a "beautiful" card and I would have a special gift for them. What I gave them was a little packet of 3X3 notecards using the Things I Love stamp set that we got at convention; it was the same sample we made there as well. I forget to take a picture to show you, maybe later.... anyway two of the girls brought me really gorgeous cards.....This first one was made by Lisa Harp from a past hostess stamp set. I really love how she did the butterfly. She stamped the butterfly in the blue color, cut it out, then stamped again in the pink color and cut out the wings smaller than the original image, then attached the wings with dimensionals so you can see both colors. the little flowers on the greeting are also stamped in the pink color, cut out and attached with dimensionals.

This second card is equally gorgeous and stamped by Linda Hutchison. She used little rhinestones to add bling and appeal around the stamped flower. Did you happen to notice that she also provided me with an envelope decorated as well?

I'm so lucky to have such creative stampers in my group... I can't tell you how much fun we have and even how much we learn (including me) from each other. My clubbers should be demonstrators as they are so imaginative; but like lots of you they deny having the time to do it... and just want to come and play for a night out.......lol.

I hope you enjoy the cards as much as I did.

Autumn Days

Isn't this so cool? I have been thinking about this project for a long time. We have several River Birch trees in our back yard and the bark peels off. For several weeks, well maybe a month, I have been peeling off some of the large pieces of bark that are just hanging on... you know the ones that look large enough to stamp on.
I've been looking for fun things for my stamp club and thought maybe this is the time to try the bark stamping. I found I had a nice piece that would be big enough for the pheasant in the Autumn Days stamp set.
I stamped the pheasant in Soft Suede onto the bark, then colored in the blank spots with Dusty Durango. When I tore around the edges of the bark, I discovered the bark as several layers, so then I peeled the pieces up a bit and tore them separately to give dimension to the stamped image. When I tried to use my snail on the back of the bark it just peeled off, so I used my Tombow glue to attach the bark to the black cardstock. then I cut a piece of Soft Suede cardstock to fit around the bark and stamped one of the images in the Autumn Days stamp set around the edges and attached the bark and black cardstock to that. Then I attached that to a little larger piece of Dusty Durango cardstock and then that onto the basic card base of basic black. I cut a small slit at the top of the fold and inserted the new 1/2" polka dot Dusty Durango ribbon through and tied in a knot.
I thought the card needed a sentiment, so I found the Thanks So Much sentiment from the Pocket Silhouettes and stamped onto Very Vanilla using the Dusty Durango classic ink pad. I punched it out using the word window punch and then "tried" to cut a piece of bark using the Modern Label Punch, as you can see I had trouble pulling it into the punch, but I got most of it. Actually I like that not all of it was in the punch. I used snail on the back of the word window piece to attach to the bark, then used dimensionals to attach to the card.
SO.......WHAT DO YOU THINK?
I like it so well, I'm thinking I'm going to have to find enough bark to pull off my trees for my stamp club next week. I think the ladies will have fun with it... do you???

Holiday Mini Catalog is UNVEILED

WOH, can you believe it's been a month since I've blogged???? Now I have lots of things I want to share, clear back to Convention!!!! We all had such a blast and I had such great roomies... three of us shared a room so I shared a bed with one of the other girls. It was so hot in the room on the first night (well I thought it was), so I slept outside the covers most of the night, but in the morning I got cold; I'm sure lots of you know what I'm talking about, so I reached over for the covers and my gosh, I had a really hard time getting them unstuck...... but FINALLY I had them under control and started to warm up again. Well, in the morning my roomie said I reached clear across her and was pulling the covers off of her. She said she hung on to them the best she could but decided that if I wanted them that badly, she was going to let me have them!!!! Of course that's when I got warm. We laughed about that the whole time we were at convention and I'm sure she was worried every night after that I would do it again. I don't think I did; anyway she didn't say I did.

One of the first things I want to share with you is that the new HOLIDAY MINI CATALOG is out and I'm sure most of you have received your copy by now, but if you didn't I put it at the top of my blog and you can click on the catalog to open it up. Oh my gosh, you will be so excited

about all the new fun things unveiled..... The Sweet Centers Stamp set is so much fun and the Sweet Treat Cups to use with the set is so fun. I have already made several birthday cards with the Hot Air Balloon stamp and it has been a hit!! My club is going to get to make a fun Halloween card with this set next week. Stampin' Up! is also selling the Sweet Treat Padded Envelopes to send these cards in the mail. You need to also check out the gorgeous Designer Series Papers; the Christmas Cocoa Specialty paper on page 21 has several pages that are flocked (the top 2 shown on page), they are so gorgeous and feel so soft and exotic. The really cute Delightful Decorations stamp set matches the "NEW" Ornament punch. You don't need to cut them out, just punch them - Yay! Also, you can punch out the shape and put on the special rub-ons, shown on pagef 25, for a different look or saying. For those of you with Big Shots or if you don't have them yet, you will want to get one because not only is the new Christmas Tree die fun, but Stampin' Up! has partnered with BUILD A BEAR and there are dies for the bear and clothes... You can see all of these dies on pages 35 & 37. Your kids and grandkids will think you are the best if you present them with a card or scrapbook page designed with these bears; aren't they cute???? Of course the stamp sets shown on pages 34 and 36 are also really cute and fun to color. One of the BIGGEST new products is the "MY DIGITAL STUDIO" presented on pages 38 and 39. Even though these are shown in the new catalog, they won't be available for purchase until 10-1-09. The really exciting thing about this is that you can download Stampin' Up! stamps, accessories, papers, etc. to put on your scrapbook pages and cards. We watched the demonstrators at convention present this product and it's so exciting. The other really good thing is that after you purchase this product there updates available as they are presented to the rest of us in "stamps". There were a number of demonstrators sitting around me at convention that commented they have digital software for cards and scrapbooking, but they are difficult to manage and use; but they said after watching the demonstration that this product was so easy to get around in compared to what they already had. If you have any questions about this product, let me know.

Would you like to see a couple of the swap cards I made to share with others at convention? It's more fun that reading, huh?

This card is made from the KIND AND CARING THOUGHTS which is a Level 3 Hostess Set and I also used the CIRCLE CIRCUS stamp set for the background on the Rich Razzleberry cardstock. I used the Soft Suede and the Rich Razzleberry cardstock; the rich Razzleberry ink and the Rich Razzleberry 1/2" polka dot grograin ribbon. This is actually the first card I made. The ones I took to Convention, I dry embossed the Soft Suede cardstock with one of the Texture Plates and my Big Shot.

This next card was really fun to make. The stamp set is the new LOTS OF BOTS. On this card, I used the new Crushed Curry Cardstock, some 1/2" Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon and some Designer Series Paper from the Razzleberry Lemonade set. I used my new Scallop Square punch and new Modern Label Punch as well as the Scallop Edge and Word Window Punches..

I have lots more to share with you so keep checking my blog ..........