Mom & Child Class

Hi All,

I have had a number of request for a Mom. & Child Christmas class.  You asked for it, you got it!

Space is limited to 8 Mom & Child teams so RSVP as soon as possible to reserve your spot.   **PLEASE RSVP BY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8TH AS I SUSPECT THESE KITS WILL BE ON BACKORDER IF I WAIT TO ORDER THEM CLOSER TO THE CLASS DATE**

Date:  Sunday, November 21, 2010

Time:  1:00 - 2:30 p.m.  (If there is enough demand I will open a second session from 10:00 - 11:30)

Place:  My House - 10623 - 181 Ave

Age:  This project is easy enough for a 4 year old to do with a little help from mom (or Grandma or Auntie) - as long as they have the attention span to work on it for an hour or so. 

Fee:  $35 for 1 child; $65 for 2 - the fee is non-refundable as I have to pre-order the supplies.  If it turns out that you have booked a spot and cannot attend you will receive all supplies (excluding adhesive) to complete the project at home.

Project:

Candy Countdown Calendar Kit:

You and your children will enjoy this fun countdown advent calendar!  It is the perfect decor item for the holidays.  Simply fill each box with your favourite goodies, trinkets, or holiday treasures and clip them in order along the twine rope to keep everyone in the house excited for the countdown to Christmas.  You receive 25 fast-fold boxes, printed die cuts, and enough ribbon and clothespins to clip the boxes to the rope - so easy to put together!  The boxes also make cute ornaments or favours.  Box approximately 1 1/2" x 1 7/8", widening to 2 1/8" x 2 5/8" at the top.

You can find a picture of the project on page 34 of the Holiday Mini Catalogue

I hope you and your child(ren) can come!  It is a great project and will create a really special "mommy" time for you both to remember every year when you bring out and set up the Countdown Calendar.  What a great keepsake!


 

Tamara

Halloween!

Phew!  It's been a CRAZY busy few days.  Every time I headed downstairs to work on what HAD to be done Alicia railroaded me into working on her Halloween Treat bags.  I managed to finish the 40 (!!!) for her class.  I have a few bags left over for Rebecca's class but have another idea brewing so she'll have half of this design and half of another design ... stay tuned for that!

I also found an hour to crack off some special "thank you" treats for the ladies who attended my "Introduction to Stamping" class last night.  They have peppermint patties inside.  They are so quick and easy (and cute!) that I might make another 27 for the teachers and support staff at school:

This would be a fun project for you to make at my upcoming Craft Night this Wednesday night.  RSVP if you would like to come.

Hope you're enjoying the beautiful fall weather!

Tam

Ladybug, Ladybug ...

OK - so I was supposed to have this project done Monday ... I'm only 4 days behind!  No matter - My plan was to have Alicia's party invitations in the Friday envelopes by tomorrow and they are packed and ready to go!  They really were surprisingly quick and easy to put together.  I made 8 of them in about 2 hours ... ok, maybe 3.  Here is the final project:

Now I'm off to find the floor in my craft room and set up for my class tomorrow night!

Hope you had a productive day!


Tam

Yeah, Baby!

Heidi Ho Stampers!  No, I haven't left the country ... still here ... still crafting ... I actually STARTED quite a few projects over the last week but "anyone who knows me" knows that I'm great at starting projects, I'm just not always great at actually finishing projects!  As my boss in Germany used to say "Tam, you're great 'til the last hurdle".  Yep - that pretty much sums me up!  Having said that, I actually started a large project Thursday and finished it Friday - problem is I didn't take a picture of it!!  I made 45 gift card holders for a fundraiser being done by Zumba Fitness - they are raising money for the Cross Cancer Institute's Volunteer Services Program.  They asked me to donate some sort of casing for gift certificates.  I cracked out 45 of them in a few hours.  They were sooo pretty!  I used retired card stock Bermuda Bay with retired Designer Series Paper in Soft Sky.  Here's a picture of the card in a different color scheme:

So that was Friday's entertainment.  Today I made 42 Baby Thank You cards - yes, cut the bases yesterday and finished them today - I'm getting better!



I love this card!  It is so quick and easy - I used the retired Barely Banana card stock for the base and the Ronald McDonald House set "Tags Along".

So why is it that I work on projects that either a) have NO deadline or b) have a deadline months in the future rather than working on projects and classes I have in four days??!!  I still have to make Alicia's birthday invitations that have to be handed out Friday.  I also have my "Introduction to Stamping" class Friday that I haven't finished prepping for.  I have Alicia's loot bags to make, finish the Halloween Treat bags (although they are 90% done) and what did I do today?  I went to Fabricland to buy fabric for the blankets I am making the girls for CHRISTMAS!!  Please tell me I'm not the only one who seems to work backwards!!  I suppose I work better under pressure ... either that or I'm just whacked!  You be the judge .....

Have a good night!   ... maybe I'll go work on some Valentine gifts now :)  

I'm Still Here ....

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!

Sorry I've been MIA a few days this week.  Alicia has had a really tough time adjusting to the new routine.  It has thrown my schedule completely out of whack and I just haven't made it down to the craft room!  I'm hoping today will be more productive - I have SO many projects to crack off this weekend!  Until then, here is my latest favorite Christmas card.  It uses my new favorite color "Cherry Cobbler", the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, the scallop circles punches and "Perfect Punches" (page 131 of the IBC). 

Hope you have a fun weekend! 

My Very First Card

Wow!  Flash from the past!  I was snooping through my "Pictures" folder trying to find a project to post for today (since I haven't had a chance to create anything new in the last two days!) and I came across this picture of my VERY FIRST CARD!  Hee hee.  I was so proud of it!  It's fun to see how my style has changed over the years ... of course my stash of embellishments has grown significantly so my cards NOW are slightly more ... how shall we say ... "busy".

I hope you have a happy Wednesday!



Something Unexpected!

So today didn't go as planned AT ALL!  The PLAN was to walk the kids to the bus stop then saunter home, make a nice cup of coffee and drink it in total peace and quiet while petting Charlie the Cat.  That was the plan.  I got up at 6:15 (to a screaming back ache) following a night of non-sleep thanks to 1) Craig tossing and turning then eventually giving up and heading to the couch to try to sleep 2) Rebecca then crawling into bed with me around midnight complaining of a sore knee (growing pains) 3) Alicia crawling into bed with me and Rebecca around 2:00 complaining about a bad dream 4) being elbowed in the eye by Rebecca 5) being whacked in the throat by Alicia and then 6) being jumped on by Charlie when I DID finally manage to doze off for 5 minutes.  SOOOO the day didn't start off as refreshing as I would have hoped.  On the bright side, the girls weren't QUITE as grumpy as usual when I finally managed to wake them.  That changed about 5 minutes later when Alicia said "I don't want to go to school".  Anyone who knows the hell I went through last spring when she decided she didn't want to go to playschool might understand the sheer terror those words can inflict on me!!!  To make a long story short, Rebecca got on the bus - Alicia didn't.  I drove Alicia to school.  She clung to me like I was about to send her to her death.  I walked her to her classroom.  Then it was time for her to go in ... that's when the fun times REALLY began!  Just like last spring the teacher had to pry my daughter's little fingers from my sweater and take her against her will into the classroom.  Naturally she was screaming, crying and begging me not to go.  I'm sure the entire school stopped and wondered who was being tortured!  I hung out in the hall way - unsuccessfully fighting back the leaking eyes.  The teacher came out about 30 seconds later and said she was fine.  Great.  How nice for her.  I'm now an emotional train wreck - again.  Good thing I had no makeup on (again - anyone who knows me knows I've gone out in public without makeup approximately 3 times in the past 12 years and this was NOT a pretty picture!)  Soooo - instead of my nice relaxing morning I ended up makeupless (?!) and emotional in public - AND I didn't have my coffee yet!  My plan to stamp the morning away wasn't going so well.  I WAS working on my Halloween treat bags for the kids' friends (yes, I KNOW it's only mid-Sept ... AGAIN - anyone who knows me knows I like to plan ahead!).  I went upstairs to check the Stampin' Up! website - around 3:00 a.m. I had remembered they were running a contest for the Disney World Incentive Trip that I am currently working towards.  I thought the deadline was Sept 30th but found out it is actually Sept 15th!  Soooooo - out with the Halloween Treats and in with the Disney projects!  I've only made 2 projects so far - not sure if I can get my other one done in time.  (Well, I COULD but it would likely mean not feeding the kids ...) so here are the two I've posted for the contest.  The first is a Photo Album - the second is a luggage tag.  I'd go into more detail but the kids refuse to let Craig put them to bed so I guess I'm it.  Sigh.  Ever had one of these kind'a days?  Thanks for peeking in - hope your day was less emotional than mine!

It's All About Alicia!

Well, Alicia constantly THINKS "it's all about her" 90% of the time ... today it is!  Her 5th birthday is coming up and the countdown is on ... quite literally.  She keeps asking "how many more sleeps" so I decided instead of using the new "Decor Accents Date Keeper" (page 170 of the Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue) to start the countdown until Halloween or Christmas we'd use it first to count down the days until her birthday.  This took me 5 minutes to put together - all I had to do was put a picture of her in the 3" x 3" window, stamp "Look Who's Turning 5" with Black Staz On ink on vellum paper and "wa-low" (as she says) - we have a countdown calendar.  This would make a great gift for a teacher or friend and at $13.95 very affordable!

My next project is her party invitation.  She wanted to go with a ladybug theme for her party so naturally we had to make a ladybug invitation. I saw a cute card designed by Lori Hennig (fellow SU Demonstrator) and tweeked it so the actual invitation slides into a little pouch in the back.  I used the large Scallop Circle Die for the Big Shot and various circle punches for the head and dots as well as the large oval punch for the antennae.

Have a fun day!

Tam

Christmas Stamp-A-Stack

Just a quick one before my Technique Class that's due to start in 45 minutes.

Here are the five cards we will be making at my upcoming Stamp-A-Stack which is Sunday, October 17th at 9:00 am.  There are only 4 spots left in the morning session.  If there is enough interest I will open a second session from 1:00 - 4:00.  RSVP to reserve your spot.  You make 15, 20 or 25 cards (with envelopes) for $35, $45 or $55

Have a Happy Friday!

Tam

Halloween is Comin'!

Woo Hoo!  Halloween is on the way!!  As a kid I never got too excited about it - I was always scrambling for a costume and would generally come up with something lame the morning of.  You remember - a cat, a mouse, a dad, a "mom" - my personal favorite - I dressed in dad's old housecoat with a pillow stuck under the belt to make me look fat - hair in rollers - cold cream on the face, rolled up newspaper under the arm and carrying a coffee cup.  Hmmm - is that REALLY how I saw moms???  Is that how kids TODAY see moms??!!  Great.  (Maybe I should skip the blog post and head straight to the gym and/or beauty salon!)  But I digress ...

Craig and the girls are the ones who have me excited about Halloween these days.  Craig spends MONTHS planning his Halloween garage display and days setting it up.  This summer he made a coffin - this week he bought the disgustingly ugly skeleton / zombie (complete with half eaten flesh and glowing eye) to go in it.  The girls of course LIVE for Halloween and all the free candy.  Each year they can't wait to see what treat packs we will be making for their friends.  Since October is CRAZY busy I have already started them and this year went for VERY simple ... but seriously CUTE, don't you think??!!

I LOVE this guy!  So quick and it holds lots of "stuff".  This year the kids will get Halloween Bubbles (from Zellers), a mini Play-doh, a mini deck of cards (both from Costco) and mini candy bar.  This is definately a project you could make at my Craft Night - it's just punchin' and gluin'.  (Oh - the bags are from "that other craft place".  $5'ish for 16 bags)

I'm off to take 'becca to the orthodontist this afternoon ... in Heritage ... I've already set up the DVD player in the SUV for the trek!  Hope you have a fun day!

Tam

Grrrrr ....

OK - just when I thought I was getting good at this blogging business ... I thought I was doing a preview of today's post but apparently I wasn't and managed to delete my 30 minutes of work.  Hmph.  Guess I was getting too cocky.  Well - that set ME straight, didn't it?!

Today's cards are the projects we will be making at my Technique Class this Friday night:

Spotlighting Technique:

Wheeling, using the new "Builder Wheel" system:

And one just for fun - this "Just Believe" is my new favorite set!  It is SOOOO versatile!  I have used it for Thank You, Birthday, Thinking of You, and Sympathy ... and I've only owned it since July!  We will also be using the Smooch Spritz to give the card that great gold shimmer.

I hope you can come to my class!

Tam

Back to School!

Anyone else ready for a vacation?  Today was Rebecca's fourth day and Alicia's third and I already feel like I'm drowning in a sea of forms to sign, newsletters to read, classes to join, registration fees to pay and uneaten lunches to find!  On the bright side we ARE starting to get back into a routine.  It's 7:52 pm and Alicia has already been asleep for 5 minutes - THAT hasn't happened in at least three months!  Hope you are all finding your "groove" and settling in for the long haul until Christmas!  Speaking of Christmas, I am working on all kinds of gift giving ideas - keep checking back for those posts!

Today I want to show you the card I made for Alicia for her first day of school.  It came together SO quickly -good thing because I made it while she was AT school her first day :)   Nothing like planning ahead!  It occurred to me that when Rebecca started Kindergarten I made her a really special card and ... well ... fair is fair, right?  What you do for one you have to do for the other, right? 

To make the butterflies I stuck a piece of Sticky Strip (from the sheets of sticky strip) to a piece of card stock and then ran it through my Big Shot with the Butterfly Die.  I peeled off the top layer of the sticky strip, applied glitter in two (of the five) of Alicia's favorite colors, popped them up with dimensionals and "wa-low" (as Alicia would say) - three pretty butterflies.  I used the retired "Happy Everything" set as well as the swirl from "Priceless" and the retired "First Day" set.  A few pearls finished it off.  Alicia absolutely LOVED it.  Of course Rebecca wondered where HER card was.  Umm.  I didn't make one?  Bad Mommy.  Maybe I can make her a "Happy 5th day of School" card ....

Testing 1, 2, 3

OK - so I haven't a CLUE what I'm doing!!! I've spent an hour trying to figure out HOW to post what I want to post ... and I don't even know WHAT I want to post yet!!!

I'm hoping to provide you with photos of cards and projects at least once a week (of course assuming I master this new domain within the next month!) Stay tuned and check back often for new posts.

Since this Blog is essentially stamping-related I think I'll start the ball rolling with a picture of me and Shelli Gardner (CEO and Co-Founder of Stampin' Up!) taken August 21, 2010 at our AMAZING Extravaganza Event. Tamye Dunbar (the mighty leader of our stamping team) won the "Workshop of a Lifetime" contest - the prize she won was to have Shelli come to her home and hold a workshop for new stampers! After that event Shelli spent 6 hours with 100 of us at our Extravaganza. It was the most amazing, inspiring, memorable day!

Happy Stamping!

Tamara