My Sweet Stampin Spot

Stocking Punch and Clearance Rack

Stampin Up has announced the Stocking Punch will not be carried over to next year's catalog. It's currently featured in the Holiday Mini, so if you haven't purchased it yet you have until January 3 to get it. Don't think that it only makes stockings - think baby socks and stick horses. 

There's also a Clearance Rack Blitz going on! Punches, papers, accessories, so many things! The punch shapes are still current, just the retired body style. Did you love the Birthday Suite? Sew Suite? Valentine collection from last year? It's all there, and more, at a great discount. Also available until Januray 3. Check out the Clearance Rack items in my Online Store. You can also purchase your Stocking Punch or any other Stampin Up product. 

Still wrapping presents?

I know I am! We're spending this weekend with my husband's family and I haven't finished wrapping it all up yet. So a little inspiration for gift tags. 

This tag features Dasher. I {heart} Dasher. He's adorned with a Cheery Cobbler baker's twine bow and Jingle Bell. Dazzling Details adds some bling to his antlers and the snowflake.

The best part about this tag is using my new favorite adhesive - Sizzix Adhesive Sheets. You can make a sticker out of nearly anything. I cut a small amount of Adhesive sheet, adhered Cherry Cobbler cardstock, then punched with the Triple Blossom Punch. Just peel off the backing and stick! You can use this with the Big Shot or many of your punches.  

Supplies: Dasher stamp, Early Espresso in, Early Espresso, Confetti White and CHerry Cobbler cardstocks, Triple Blossom Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Top Note Die, Big Shot, CropADile, Dazzling Details, Jingle Bells, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Mini Glue Dots, 

Ornament box

My Bunco groups does an ornament exchange at our December gathering. This year I ordered a very cute personalized glass ornament. It had all of our names engraved on it, plus BUNCO across the center in little ornaments. Everyone loved it. And of course I had to wrap it in an adorable little gift box

The gift box is our Kraft Box available in the Holiday Mini Catalog. It's decorated with some leftover bits of retired Christmas paper, Simply Scrapping die cuts, and ribbon. 

This year's Christmas cards

Christmas is only 10 days away. My daughter asks every morning when she wakes up :) My gifts are bought and wrapped. But my cards. Oh my cards. With the help of my daughter, we got a bunch of cards made over the weekend. She was rockin the Simply Scored! About half of my cards will finally go in the mail tomorrow. I've decided that most of our family members are getting hand delivered cards with the family photo since we'll see them in person before the mail would get there. Hopefully I can get the rest of them in the mail before Christmas is actually here. If not, well, I'm confident our friends will still enjoy the sentiment and photo. 

I really love the Designer Paper from last year, but can't quite remember the name of it. Gorgeous luscious colors though. Dasher is blinged up with a little Dazzling Details on his antlers. The penguin card is cased from another stamper, but I can't remember that either. My brain is muddled in the holiday craziness I suppose. I'm also preoccupied with kids activities and my own - I'm doing physical therapy 3x week for my shoulder. 

Starter Kit Special - 2 days Only

Stampin Up has created a very special promotion just for leadership attendees. That's me!! I'm so excited to be going again this year. I've never been to San Antonio, so I'm really looking forward to it. If you are considering signing up with Stampin' Up, you don't have to wait for Sale-A-Bration to begin to take advantage of the reduced price and extras. To join with this offer, simply go to my website tomorrow or Wednesday at www.kwilliams.stampinup.net and click Join Now.

Over a month before Sale-A-Bration begins, and for two days only, you can offer your new recruits the Sale-A-Bration joining benefit! Yes, you read that right! On December 13-14 only, your new recruits will be eligible for the exclusive Sale-A-Bration recruiting offer, including

• A $125 Starter Kit (standard or Digital+)—$50 off the regular price of $175!
• A FREE package of Designer Series Paper OR a FREE digital download every month in 2012 (excluding January)—a total value of up to $120!

 

It's beginning to look a lot Iike Christmas

A lot of behind the scenes stuff has been happening around here the past couple of weeks. We hosted my family for Thanksgiving - around 20 people. So I spent that entire week cooking and cleaning. It sure did beat traveling though! The next day was my anniversary. We had a lovely family day. The house was clean, we had plenty of leftovers, and gorgeous weather. A really great day. We celebrated with champagne and sparkling grape juice with supper. The kids loved it. 

This week I'm also going to be starting some physical therapy. I have tendonitis in my right shoulder from an injury a few years ago. Hopefully the PT will help me regain the motion and strength I've lost in the arm due to limited movement and pain. I have a few other personal things in the works that are taking up time, so sorry for my lack of attentiveness to my blog. 

So how about a Christmas card? There's only 19 days left you know ;) Have you started shopping? Finished? I like to shop year round, keeping my eye out for sales and shopping when I travel. What I have not done, however, is start my cards <blush> That is on the agenda for this week. We were late getting our family photos done thanks to uncooperative weather, so I didn't want to start the cards until I got those done. 

Supplies: Pennant Parade stamp set, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip ink, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler and Chocolate Chip cardstocks, 2 1/2'' Scallop Circle Punch, Pennant Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribon Chocolate Chip, Stampin Dimensionals, Simple Rhinestones, Sizzix Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing folder

 

Simply Stamping

I had a workshop this week with some brand new stampers. I wanted to show them how easy it is to make a beautiful card without tons of tools. I was actually stumped for a bit. I went to my swap cards and they all had Big Shot or punched elements on them. So I hit the Catalog. I finally found some inspiration there. 

Supplies: Kind Thanks and Gently Falling stamp sets, More Mustard and Soft Suede ink, Cajun Craze marker, Soft Suede and Naturals Vanilla cardstock, Spice cake Designer Series Paper, Stampin Sponge, Chantilly Lace Ribbon, Sticky Strip, Cutter Tool. 

The only real tool used on this card was the Cutter Tool. I love how you can distress paper edges without endangering your fingers! The edges were then lightly sponged with More Mustard ink. And my favorite ribbon treatment is the ruched ribbon attached to Sticky Strip. Using the lace adds a nice textural element to the card. Plus it will lay flat for mailing, always a plus. 

The leaf image is stamped with the marker thumping technique. This is an easy way to get multiple colors on an image. Simply ink up your image with your lighter colored ink, then tap over desired area with your darker color marker. In this case I inked with More Mustard, then thumped with Cajun Craze. Since it's a 2 Step Stamping set, there is an outline to add more detail to your image.  

Gently Falling stamp set can be found in the Holiday Mini Catalog. You can view it by clicking on the image to your right. If you'd like to order any of these or other Stampin Up products, visit my online store at www.kwilliams.stampinup.net. 

Extreme Swap and Pink for the Cause

Finally coming up for air! We had a birthday party for both of my kids on Saturday and it ended up taking a lot more time and energy than I expected. Add on a couple extra workshops this week as part of Worldwide Week of Workshops, and I'm finally able to sit down and breathe :) 

I promised my other Louisville Regional swap so here it is. Another use of my new Extreme Elements stamp set.  

Supplies: Extreme Elements Stamp set, Island Indigo ink and cardstock, Confetti White cardstock, Pennant Punch, Regals buttons, glue dots. 

I felt so guilty getting the Island Indigo out of my paper box - it was still in the shrink wrap! I can't believe I let a new BLUE go so long without any attention. Shame on me. It's a great color and works so well with this set. A great masculine, kid or any card color. I plan on using the rest very soon.

I also love the new Pennant Punch for created the pennant edges to cards strips. Much easier and more symmetrical than using my scissors!

As I was planning for a Susan G Komen fundraiser workshop I held last week, I decided to CASE this card. Changing it up to pink for the cause. 

Instead of the button I added the 1/8" Pink Taffeta ribbon and a little rhinestone bling. 

Regional Meeting - Swaps and a Promotion

The Stampin' Up! Regional in Louisville was so much fun!! I met several new friends and got to visit with some older ones. And besides, when you're in a room with 500 other stampers, there are no strangers. We got some great freebies, cute make n takes and some lovely demonstrations by fellow demos. Definitely a great day.

The other fun surprise is the recruiting special for Regional attendees. Anyone who signs up with us in the next 2 weeks (before November 13) will receive a sneak peak stamp set from the upcoming Occassions Mini Catalog called Sweet Talk. PLUSSSSSSS - Stampin Up has extended their FREE BIG SHOT promotion. So if you've been considering joining Stampin Up - consider joining My Sweet Spot Stampers group. Sign up by November 11 and you'll get a Big Shot and the Sweet Talk stamp set in addition to your amazing Starter Kit. Holy Cow!! Joining is so easy. Just go to my website at www.kwilliams.stampinup.net and Click Join Now. 

Now onto the swaps I made for Regionals. I wanted to break in my Extreme Elements stamp set. It's been on my wish list for a while. I chose it as one of my free stamp sets that I earned during SaleABration and it's been sitting there calling my name.

Supplies: Extreme Elements and Bring on the Cake stamp sets, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Poppy Parade and Daffodil Delight cardstocks, Cake Designer Series Paper, Poppy Parade and Daffodil Delight ink, Wide Oval and Build a Cupcake punches, Sizzix Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Stampin Dimensionals

I hope you'll come back tomorrow to see my other swap. 

It's called the IDEA Book and Catalog for a reason

Stumped for a layout? Color combo? 3-D project idea? Home decor? Stampin' Up! calls their catalog the IDEA Book & Catalog for a reason. Nearly every page is filled with gorgeous creations in full color. So next time you're looking for inspiration, just turn to your catalog. 

This card was inspired by a layout on page 181. I wanted an autumn look, so I used a leaf image from Gently Falling stamp set instead of the layered flower. The Color Spritzer tool is an easy way to add a fine spray of ink for added texture. 

Supplies: Gently Falling and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Certainly Celery and Tangerine Tango inks and cardstocks, Certainly Celery and Early Espresso markers, Color Spritzer, 2 1/2" Scallop Circle Punch, Modern Label Punch, Wide Oval punch, Stampin Dimensionals.