Stamp with Steph: 2011

Loop a strip the long way so the short ends meet, making sure not to flatten it. Pin the looped strip (where the ends meet) to the cone, making sure that the bottom of the loop is even with the bottom of the cone.

Repeat, pinning loops to the cone all around until the row is complete.

Start the next row, pinning the loops so they overlap the row below.

When you reach the top, form a circle ribbon that is big enough to sit at the top of the cone, overlapping the top row of loops. Pin the ribbon to the top of the cone at the top of the ribbon, leaving the bottom loose.

Cut 10 stars from the So Saffron paper using the die.

Score the stars down the middle - starting at a tip and ending in a valley- and fold in half.

Usng Tombow adhesive, glue stars together to create 3D effect.

Insert skewer into top of cone.

Dab Tombow along top of skewer and slide star onto it.

Tada! You have a sweet little holiday tree.

It would be cute to decorate the tree with ribbon, jewels, etc...

Making one of these trees?

Please send me a picture!

Online Extravaganza!

There are great deals going on right now at Stampin' Up!

This week you can get up to 60% off selected items!

And you'll get $40 of free digital downloads when you buy My Digital Studio!

And

Today only

you can get two of our newest products:

Simply Scored

and

Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps

for 20%off!!!

Click here to go to my online store and see the deals!

Contact me 24/7 with any questions

aestril@gmail.com

Thank you's

This is the time of year when we spend a lot of time thinking about the things we are grateful for.

Today I read a timely article about the importance of sending thank you notes,

and was totally inspired to make these:

I love that embossing folder from the Holiday Mini Catalog!

...And, Hey! Did you know its my birthday? Click here!

I LOVE November!

I love it when the weather turns cool, when people go out of their way to show gratitude,

and the crunchy sound I make when I walk on fallen leaves.

Oh, one more reason I love November...

Yep, my birthday is in November!

To celebrate, I want you to host a craft night for me!

We can make cookies with the new Sweet Pressed cookie stamps and cute-ify them up for gift-giving!

We can make simple but great holiday cards!

We can make holiday decor!

The choice is yours.

If you host your card class before December 15th, you can earn $35 more in free stuff!

That's on top of the already great Hostess benefits.

If you want to share in the celebration of me

click on the tab at the top of the page that says "Host a class" and pick a date.

I can hardly wait!

What's that? Did someone ask if I'll bring to your class an early preview copy

of the new Occasions Mini catalog

that you can't get a copy of or order from until January?

Why, yes. Yes I will.

MDS Tuesday!

Look at this cute digi-scrapping kit you can now get!

I love those papers!

I know its not for everyone, but I am a big fan of blue being a Christmas color. :)

More free Stampin' stuff!

Bonus goodies for hosting a card class!

If you've hosted a card class, you know how much fun it is.

Girls night!

Yummy munchies!

Earning free stuff!

Well, now through December 15th, hosting a card class can earn you

$35 more in free Stampin' Up! merchandise!

Click here for details.

Hosting is easy. All you do is provide a place and some munchies (the simpler the better).

I do all of the work.

Don't feel like providing munchies? Even better!

Host a "Cookies and Cards" class.

We'll make cookies using the new Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps,

and make a card or simple home decor item while they bake!

It doesn't get any easier than this!

And hey, if you feel like starting your own Stampin' Up Business

(or just getting a lot of stuff for not very much money - gotta support that hobby!)

Stampin' Up! has extended the

free Big Shot promotion through Nov. 11th!

If you sign up to be a demonstrator (or a "hobby demonstrator")

you get a

FREE BIG SHOT!

Already have a Big Shot?

You can choose $100 in free product instead!

Click here for details.

What are you waiting for? :)

Today there's a new version of My digital Studio available! If you own MDS, you can upgrade for free. Simply open MDS, choose Help at the top of the screen, then Check for Updates.

Halloween Advent Calendars

Last night I got together with Jami, Shelleece, Missy, Beth and my mom to make the CUTEST EVER mini muffin tin advent calendars!

You make squares with magnets on the back to cover each cup in a muffin tin, then you can put a treat in the cups for your little goblins to find.

We did some of our squares the same, but we all also just went with the creative flow and made unique squares.

Here are Jami's squares

Here are Shelleece's

Here are Missy's

Here are Beth's (helped by my mom. Thanks mom!)

And here is my advent calendar

Then (of course) my little guy needed to get in on it. We decided to make these Halloween counting magnets.

One Frankie, two spiders, three ghosts, four punkins, five clouds over the moon, and six bats equal one fun Halloween!

Halloween is almost here!

Stampin' Up! has so many fun Halloween treats that I just HAD to share some!

In the new Holiday Mini catalog you'll find a trio of the cutest monsters...

The Howl-o-ween Creeps. I love them!

Another Holiday Mini Catalog treat is the Pick Your Poison Quick Accents.

These stickers would look FANTASTIC on bottles of brew at your Halloween party!

There are so many more Halloween goodies from Stampin' Up! Which one is your favorite?

Need to get your hands on a Holiday Mini Catalog? Email me!

I took some pictures of my newest nephew Emmett recently, and just had to make up a page for him!

The background paper is from the Celebrations Kit.

The pennants are from the 2011 Pennant Desktop Calendar Kit.

The letters are the Summer Home Letters embellishments which come with MDS.

Another of my sisters had a baby recently.

All these new babies in my family sure make things sweet!

I turned this beautiful scrapbook page made by Erica Shaw into a birth announcement for my new niece.

I LOVE working with My Digital Studio!

I am SO ready for fall!

I spent some time recently drinking my favorite hot punch making this new fall-ish blog background.

Here are the MDS elements I used;

Background: Baja Breeze Script DSP

Tree stamp: from the Thoughts and Prayers set, done in Chocolate Chip

Leaves: made with the Two Step Bird Wing punch, filled with various DSP

Oh, and right now you can enter to win $400 in free MDS downloads!!!

Clicky-clicky for details.

My Digital Studio is a really fun and easy way to get your craft on!

Its perfect for all levels of crafters, with pre-made templates for beginners (you can even just tell it which folder the pictures you want to use are in and it adds them to your project for you!) to completely DIY.

And Stampin' Up is constantly coming out with new embellishments, stamps, papers, accessories, kits and templates!

I'm an instant gratification person, and I love that I can get that new punch or stamp I need for my project instantly!

Contact me today to learn more.

And, because I love you, here's the recipe for that hot punch;

In a 2qt. saucepan, combine 2c. sugar and 2c. water. Bring to a boil. Boil 5 mins.

Add;

2c. orange juice

3/4c. lemon juice

1 tsp. almond extract

2qt. water

Heat through, serve warm.

I usually make a double batch and keep it warm all day in my crockpot.

Enjoy!

The Holiday Mini catalog is here!

There's some super cute stuff in it.

Combine the 25 and Counting stamp set

25 & Counting Clear-Mount Stamp Set - by Stampin' Up!

with the Peekaboo Frames die for a homemade countdown calendar!

Look at these new Holly Berry Bouquet buttons

Holly Berry Bouquet Designer Buttons - by Stampin' Up!

And the new Simply Scored tool is so awesome!

(Click on the product names for details.)

I'm so excited to demonstrate these new products! Ready to host a Holiday Mini Workshop and earn some of this stuff for free? Click the link on the right to email me!

My daughter was baptized yesterday.

We had a family dinner afterward, and I made these toppers for the cupcakes.

The corrugated paper is Melon Mambo and Regal rose Designer Series Paper. The fronts are Whisper White card stock with the H from the Broadsheet Alphabet stamp set stamped in Melon Mambo.

I added a little bling with the Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents.

I woke up this morning wanting to fiddle in My Digital Studio, and then remembered...

It's Tuesday!

New digital downloads are one of my favorite things.

Just look at these chubby little guys!

You can find all of the latest digital downloads for My Digital Studio here.

My sister just had a baby boy!

Of course I had to make her a gift.

She had mentioned wanting some thank you notes to give for dinners brought to them and other kindnesses, so I set to work and made these;

Just a simple little note to say thanks...

in the brightest of primary colors, with a cute little monkey

because new baby Emmett is a cute little monkey.

The colors are Real Red, Daffodil Delight and Pacific Point (all from the Brights collection) and the ink is Chocolate Chip.

The striped and polka-dotted papers are Designer Series Paper - did I mention there's a GREAT deal on DSP right now? Buy 3 packs, get 1 FREE!

Oh my goodness! I totally forgot to share my big MDS project with you! It was actually very easy to do, but I wanted to wait until they'd been mailed to family members before I posted it here.

My baby is getting baptised! I made these invitations with MDS, and I couldn't be happier with them!

Its Tuesday again, and that means new My Digital Studio downloads!

This week's batch has a lot of Autumn themed stamps, and a whole set of stamps with

sentiments of gratitude.

Perfect for Thanksgiving! (Its only 14 weeks away, you know...)

My favorite this week is Bright Blessings. Its perfect for thank you cards, which are some of my favorites to make.

Click here to see the latest MDS downloads.

Here's a fun birthday card I recently made:

I used yarn (because I had it on hand), but I think Baker's Twine would look better!

I put Crystal Effects on the balloons to give them some shine and depth.

The clouds are the cupcake top from the Create a Cupcake stamp set.

Remember the mystery MDS project I mentioned yesterday? Well, I'm going to show it to you on Tuesday! Yay! I'm so excited to share it with you!

I love how easy MDS makes it to make amazing things!

We're pretending its Tuesday, just for a minute.

...and Tuedsday means new MDS downloads!

here's my favorite for the week

I love the Digital Kits because they're such a good deal! You get stamps, paper, punches, embellishments - all for a very reasonable price!

I'm sorry this is late - I was absorbed all day yesterday in taking some adorable pics of my beautiful daughter and making them into some amazing MDS projects (I'll share these another time.)

I have a few openings left in my new crafting club, starting in October.

This club will be held on the 3rd Thursday evening of the month at my home.

For details on how the card clubs work, click on the 'My Clubs' tab above.

If you'd like to have a guaranteed night out, share some munchies, and earn free stuff send me an email!

A great new promotion!

During August, get a FREE package of Stampin’ Up!’s exclusive Designer Series Paper when you buy three!

This is a great time to get together with your friends and buy a whole lot of paper to split with each-other!

Yesterday was my mother-in-law's birthday. My kids and I spent the afternoon making cards for her.

This one was thought up and made by my 5 year-old son (with a little help from mom to get the placement of the stamps just right).

He loves that monkey stamp!

This one was made by my 7 year-old daughter, with only cutting and tying of bows done by mom.

I love the diamonds on the ribbon!

And, here's the one I made.

I love the Build a Cupcake set!

Say hello to Fox and Friends!

I used this super cutie stamp set to make invites to a baby shower I'm throwing for 2 of my sisters.

One of them is having a boy, the other is having a girl so I went with neutral colors. I just love these adorable little animals for baby things!

There are only a few more days to join the Stampin’ Up! family as a demonstrator for only $99! And I mean only a few - this deal ends on Sunday!

This limited time Starter Kit—valued at $185—comes with the following high-quality products:

~Easy Events Clear-Mount Set*
~Pennant Parade Wood-Mount Set*
~Basic Black Classic Stampin’ Pad
~Old Olive Classic Stampin’ Pad
~Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin’ Pad
~Real Red Classic Stampin’ Pad
~Brights 8-1/2″ x 11″ Assorted Card Stock
~Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper*
~Chocolate Chip 1/2″ Scallop Dots Ribbon*
~Note Cards (20)
~Clear-Mount Block C
~Blender Pen (1)
~SNAIL Adhesive
~Business supplies

*Brand new to the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog!

And with this kit, you also get a free kit to make this Christmas Keepsake box!
(a $40 value by itself!)

How adorable is that?!?

Contact me today to take advantage of this AMAZING deal.

Its Tuesday again, and I'm sure you know what that means!

New My Digital Studio Downloads!!!

Here's my favorite for this week:

LIMITED EDITION EMBELLISHMENTS

There is more that's new this week. Click here to see the full list.

Its Tuesday!

(Well, technically its Wednesday, but let's pretend.)

You know what Tuesday means, right?

New My Digital Studio downloads!

Here's some of the new loveliness you can get as of today!

The adorable new Scallop Dots Ribbon

Sun Garden Designer Series Paper

And, My favorite for this week:

The Perfect Label Punch

There is more that's new this week. Click here to see the full list.

And here's my latest MDS creation:

Job charts for my kiddos

I used the following to make it:

Sunny Day Labels 1, 8 and 9
Sunny Day Elements Bird Body and Bird Beak

Label 1 goes at the top, with Bird Body and Bird Beak positioned on it.
Alternate Labels 8 and 9, positioning according to how many jobs your kids have.
Print and laminate if desired.

I laminated mine and punched a hole in the top and tied a ribbon loop through it. They hang on thumbtacks in my kids rooms. When they've done their jobs, they turn the chart over, where there is a list of extra jobs they can do to earn extra allowance. (help in the yard, help cook dinner, etc...)

I have so much fun using My digital Studio, and I know you will too!

Look at this ADORABLE free template download from My Digital Studio!

(I mentioned that its FREE, right?)

MDS is such a fun tool and so easy to use! I'm sure those of you who already have it agree. I use it a LOT, and even used it to make the background to the ol' blog here.

AND there are new digital downloads to add to it every Tuesday!

Click here to download the free template.

Click here to learn about My Digital Studio and Stampin' Up's digital designing options.

Class dates still open in July!

I still have class dates open in July!

Click the calendar link to the right to see my open class dates.

At your class, you can choose whether to make a card, scrapbook page, or small home decor element.

Hostess benefits have changed! Contact me to see how its even easier to earn free stuff just for having fun with a few friends.

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