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Tomorrow, Tomorrow ...

TOMORROW is approaching and it's a day that you will want to check back to see all of my May 2014 CreativeCrew Design Team Projects!!! I barely managed to meet missed the deadline of midnight last night to submit everything, but that's okay because everything was edited and uploaded by 12:30 ... and considering there are still a number of team members who have not submitted their projects, I will count my 30 minute delay as a success. 

Sooo ... how about a little sneak peak of what is probably my favorite project for May?!? ...and of course now that it's about to retire, I think it's fair to say that I *love* the Retro Fresh DSP!!

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In other exciting news, I attended the 2014 Stampin' Up! Catalog Premier event that was held on Monday evening and not only received the NEW 2014-2015 Annual Catalog and the May/June Stampin' Success magazine (see, being a demo DOES have it's perks *wink*), I won a stamp set (thankyouverymuch prize patrol) in addition to receiving the awesome set we got for simply attending the event!!

 Now that I have dropped those teasers, I am off to run an errand and then I am hoping to be back in my craft room this afternoon to create something yummy using my NEW SCHTUFF!!! 

Speaking of the premier ~ below are the sacks and burlap pen holders that I made for the girls in my downline that attended the event with me (please pardon the POOR lighting quality!).

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I hope you are enjoying this beautiful day ... and if you aren't in Texas, I hope your weather is decent. Many prayers going out to those affected by the recent storms.

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, and Happy Stamping!!
~Hallie
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24

One Word ...

DEADLINES!!!  ...and that my friends sums up my last ten days. I haven't forgotten about you guys, (and likewise, I hope you haven't forgotten about me); however, between life and stamping DEADLINES (ewww - there is that word again), I haven't had the chance nor material to blog about. So, please hang tight and I promise that what I'm working on will eventually make it to a blog near you!!

In the meantime, don't forget about the FREE SHIPPING promotion that Stampin' Up! is offering on absolutely EVERYTHING. That's Right ... EVERYTHING ... so make sure you place your order before April 25th!!

                

 Another awesomely spectacular bit of news from SU! ... Two Words ... PROJECT LIFE!!  That's Right, Stampin' Up! has teamed up with the super talented and creative Becky Higgins to bring us Project Life by Stampin' Up! so make sure you check it out! Demonstrators can pre-order a selection of #PLxSU items now, customers will be able to order the same selection of items starting May 1st, and the entire line goes live on June 1st with the release of the *NEW* 2014-2015 catalog!!   

Finally, the RETIRED LISTS have been released, and with free shipping, what better time to stock up on all of your favorites that will be leaving us on May 31st!!

That's all for now ... I'm back to meeting ... DEADLINES!!!

Smiles, Blessings, Hugs, and Happy Stamping!!

~Hallie
"Be still and know that I am God."  Psalm 46:10

SU! Convention 2014

Event Display Stamper Application Projects

For the relevance of this post, I am only including the application description (as listed on the Stampin' Up! website) and my project entries. 

If you are interested in being an event display stamper for Convention 2014, here's how to apply:

• Create or collect your best of the following hand-stamped items: three card fronts (standard card size), one scrapbook page, and two 3D items. 
• Create a single blog post, Pinterest Board, or DBWS featuring good quality pictures ofyour projects. Then, you will need to fill out this application for consideration.
   
  Three Card Fronts
  
  
  
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  One Scrapbook Page
  
  
  
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  Two 3D Items
  
  
  
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  Thank you, Stampin' Up! for the opportunity to submit these projects as part of the application process to be considered as a Convention 2014 Display Stamper.  I hope you have enjoyed what you've seen.
  
  
  Blessings!
  ~Hallie
  
  
  

Mystery Orders

Dear Mystery Order Placers,

First of all, I want to THANK YOU for placing your online Stampin' Up! orders with me. I am humbled that you would choose me as your demonstrator and I appreciate your business more than you'll ever know! Having said that, I certainly wish I knew who y'all were so that I could mail you a personal Handmade by Me Hallie "Thank You" card.

I hope you can tell by the nature of my blog that I am not here to solicit business (however, I definitely appreciate it), be a high pressure sales girl, or post pictures of my family and four legged children; although I do have the CUTEST white labrador retriever (Chisum) EVER!! Solicitation just isn't my style!! Guilt and bribery on the other hand ... Just Kidding!!  My blog is simply a way for me to express my thoughts and share my creativity with you.

Having said that, if you have placed an order and would like a handmade thank you as a token of my appreciation, please send me your name(s) and address(es) and I will gladly make and mail you a little surprise. Finally, should you decide to place an order, PLEASE share your contact information with me when you checkout - I promise I won't use it for anything other than sending you HAPPY MAIL!!

Thanks again, mystery order placers! YOU are much appreciated!!

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, and Happy Stamping!
~Hallie

Girl vs Grunge!!

Girl vs Grunge?!? I'm so glad the title puzzled you ... let me explain.  The Gorgeous Grunge stamp set is one of those sets in the catalog that I continually gazed right over because it was so "not me". I would occasionally stop and ponder it for a short, and I mean very short, moment and then move right along to something "more me". Now add in this little or big thing called Pinterest and I'm sure you can see where the story is headed. That's right, I started seeing a number of cah-ute cards being made with the Gorgeous Grunge set so I began to think I might need it. This new interest made me study the cards I was seeing and revisit the stamp set in the catalog. After doing this a few times, I took the plunge and bought it ... and then it arrived ... and then it sat neglected in my stamp closet ... and then it happened. I got the urge to mount the set and make something gorgeous but grungy. That lasted all of about a few minutes because in that short time I became overwhelmed when nothing, and I mean nothing, I stamped looked right.  I simply wanted to use the set to make a few cards to put in yesterday's Berry Basket - was that too much to ask?!?  Apparently, YES, it was! The Crumb Cake splatters were all over the place, the Soft Suede splotches were too dark, the Real Red speckles looked like a dying animal was bleeding all over my cardstock, and the splattered grunge look didn't align with my extremely linear OCD brain that has to have everything in order, in line, in shape, in whatever!!  Needless to say, it was terrifying so I ditched the whole idea, put the stamp set back in the closet and got out my favorite go-to Polka Dot Parade DSP to make the notecards I put in the Berry Basket. Unlike Gorgeous Grunge, my Polka Dot DSP never ever fails me! So there - take that Not So Gorgeous Grunge!

Now fast forward to today; I was determined to overcome and win my battle with Gorgeous Grunge. GG won the battle yesterday so today was my turn to be victorious. After spending way too much time and cardstock trying to organize the splotches and splatters (see linear OCD brain comment above) I finally gave up and randomly stamped the images all over my piece of Whisper White cardstock. My victory came when I had a huge mess all over the cardstock and grabbed my oval nestie, placed it over the part that looked the most appealing to me, and ran it through my Big Shot!! Viola! I had a freshly cut grungy oval that I was happy with which meant I was the winner!!

Once all of that drama was behind me, the rest of the card was really simple to put together. I followed the MOJO339 Sketch and in no time at all, I had a finished card that I was pleased with.  -thankyouverymuch-

  

  

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Not gonna lie, Gorgeous Grunge is back in timeout the closet and I hope to drag it out again sometime soon, but I'm not going to make any promises or guarantees. I'd love to read your feedback on both my card and the Gorgeous Grunge set.

That's all for now!

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, and Happy Stamping!
~Hallie

Got Berries ?!?

Why YES, Yes I Do!!! What started off as a typical card making day in my craft room ended up with an adorable Berry Basket with matching notecards and strawberry "boxes". If you haven't noticed, berry boxes are trending and are all the rage right now and honestly, it's no wonder why. They are easy to make and stinkin' adorable when finished. You can also make strawberry "boxes" to coordinate with your berry box, and frankly, it doesn't get any cuter than that!! 

The typical pattern that I found on the internet is for a box that is approximately 3 1/4" x 3 1/8"; however, I wanted something a little bigger so I printed a pattern and enlarged it 135%. By doing that, it gave me a basket that is roughly 3 1/4" tall x 4 1/4" at the base. I mention the base measurement because the basket is flared at the top. This means it is wider at the top than at the base (the top measures approximately 5 1/4" across). I particularly like the size of my basket because it can hold larger objects like ... standard size coordinating notecards! Oh how I *LOVE* all things matchy, matchy (that's what my hubby calls my coordinated items)!! So now that you have an idea of what I made and how I tweaked the measurements to suit my fancy, let me show you my downright adorable ensemble!! Ladies & Gentlemen ... my Berry Basket with coordinating notecards AND strawberry boxes!! Woo Hoo!!! 

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That's all for me today! I am hoping to spend part of my day tomorrow back at my desk working on another project for y'all.  Until next time ...

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, and Happy Stamping!!

~Hallie

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24

Sketched Birthday!!

I did it!!! I made it back with a cute birthday card before the clock struck midnight!! Yippee!! I can't even begin to describe how good it felt to once again spend the afternoon at my desk creating!!! Wow!! Who needs therapy when you've got stamps, ink, and paper ... and did I mention it is a cah-ute stamp set?!? I'm almost afraid to say it, but I do believe Sketched Birthday is now my favorite birthday stamp set; replacing Crazy for Cupcakes. I wasn't a huge fan of the set when I saw it in the catalog but I finally gave in and bought it after seeing several cute cards floating around the blogosphere. Now I am wondering how I lived without it for so long. So.Very.Cute!

My inspiration came from the MOJO Monday blog; Sketch #340. The minute I saw the sketch the piece of cake in the Sketched Birthday set came to mind so I grabbed the box, mounted my stamps, and got busy. Overall, my card is pretty straight forward and is bound to be loved by its recipient because of its clean design and happy colors!!

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Since I don't have anything on my calendar for tomorrow, it should be another creativity filled day so make sure and check back!!  See ya soon ...

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, and Happy Stamping!!

~Hallie

A Quick Update ...

Greetings Friends!!

Life has certainly been challenging lately and balancing life with stamping has been extremely difficult impossible. Although my intentions have been great, my execution has been lousy - and for that I apologize!!! I am hopeful that I will have something posted for you by the end of the day today so please check back.  My house mouse (aka: daily housework) duties are done so I have from now until 4:00pm to be creative. Let's do this!!!

April Design Team Work - Day #4

Greetings Stamping Friends!

I can't believe it's already Thursday again!! The days and weeks seem to be flying by faster than ever, especially when I stop to think that 1/4 of 2014 is already gone!! My parents always said that time flies as you get older and I thought they were nuts! As I've gotten older I've come to realize that they weren't nuts, instead they were speaking words of wisdom! Wow!!

Since you didn't stop by to read a dissertation about flying pigs time, I will go ahead and get to the point of today's post ... the Scrapbook and More Focus challenge.

Theme:  
April seems to open the door and invite us outside! This month let's focus on welcoming spring's attitude back into our hearts.

Scrapbook and More Focus: Show us your take on the layout featured on page 13 of the March/April 2014 Stampin' Success magazine.

Let me just say, I was NOT a huge fan of the layout until I got a little ways into it. Although I knew I wanted my page to focus on the cards that I'd made for this month's challenges, I didn't have a clue of how I was going to make that happen. I was even more perplexed when I realized that I didn't have any of the products that were showcased on the layout in the magazine. Yikes!! After walking away from my desk a few times, my creativity started flowing and before I knew it, I had a bright and cheerful scrapbook page complete with a framed picture with diagonal stripes, a cattywampus background, a film strip full of flowers, some buttons, and an arrow made with the Chevron Punch. After that I threw in a page title, a scripture, and VIOLA! my page was complete!! Happy, Happy, Happy!!!

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This wraps up the April CCrew Design Team Challenges so I will be back on Monday, if not before, with some regular stamping goodness!!

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, and Happy Stamping!
Hallie
"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” Isaiah 40:8

April Design Team Work - Day #3

Greetings Readers,

I'm so excited about today's "card" that I am going to jump right into the details.  

Theme:  
April seems to open the door and invite us outside! This month let's focus on welcoming spring's attitude back into our hearts.

Holiday Focus: Choose one of the following occasions and ahow a card, an ensemble, an SB page, or a decor item! Earth Day, Historic Garden Week, Easter, National Egg Salad Week, Go Fly a Kite Day.


As I was reading the Holiday Focus challenge and saw the words "Historic Garden Week" I knew exactly what I wanted to make!! This challenge was begging for a Flower Pot Pocket Card so I was happy to oblige. Since y'all know how much I LOVE polka dots, I decided to make a cheery Daffodil Delight pot and then embellish it with Bermuda Bay polka dots that I punched out with my 1/4" Circle Punch. I used the Flower Shop stamp set with the coordinating Pansy Punch to make my flowers and then finished them off with Basic Pearls. When my pot was finished it still needed a little "something" so I decided to add the Daffodil Delight Button and some Baker's Twine. I *LOVE* how bright and cheery it turned out!

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If you'd like to make your own flower pot pocket card, you can find the instructions HERE. I'd love to see what you create, so please leave a link to your creation in the comments section below.

That's it for today so I will be back tomorrow with my fourth and final April DT project.

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, and Happy Stampin'!

Hallie

April Design Team Work - Day #2

Howdy, Blog Readers!!

Welcome to Day #2 of my April CCrew Design Team project reveal. Since I am showing you one project per day and there isn't a lot to say about the projects, my posts will be short and sweet. Of course if you have any questions, please leave a comment and I will be happy to provide you with an answer!!

Theme:  
April seems to open the door and invite us outside! This month let's focus on welcoming spring's attitude back into our hearts.

Catalog Focus: Watercoloring! Whether it be with an ink pad aqua painter, markers, watercolor pencils, making a background, or dying something. What can you do with water & color?

I definitely ventured out of my comfort zone for this challenge because I am NOT one to water color.  The most water coloring I've done was when I was a small child at my parent's office. I remember having a glass of water alongside the long container of Crayola water colors and the little yellow paintbrush. Of course the paint always started out new and then the pretty colors inevitably ended up being mixed together which eventually resulted in ALL of the circles of paint being BLACK! It was then that I began scheming of ways to get a hold of my sister's water colors so I could mess them up too have colors that weren't mixed together. Sometimes my schemes worked and sometimes they didn't. Whichever the case, I only have happy memories of my childhood water coloring so I'm guessing the details worked themselves out. 

For this card I used the Triple Time Stamping technique and paired it with stamped, punched, and water colored flowers. I stamped the pansies from the Flower Shop stamp set onto some Stampin' Up! watercolor paper and then water colored them using my Stampin' Write markers and an aqua painter. Once the flowers were finished I punched them out and adhered them to my card using dimensionals. The process was pretty straight forward and easy so without further adieu ...
 

 

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That wraps up today!! Until tomorrow ...

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, & Happy Stampin'!!
Hallie

April Design Team Work!

Happy April Fool's Day!!

April brings to us many things: a new month complete with a day to play jokes on our friends, a day to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, showers that bring May flowers, and the release of this month's Stampin' Up! Creative Crew Design Team projects!! Yippee!!

To be perfectly honest, I was going to play an April Fool's joke on you today; however, since I do not have enough creative juice left to pull it off I'm going to move on and show you the first of my four April CCREW projects. Each day, today through Thursday, I will add a new project to this post so make sure you check back.

Theme:  
April seems to open the door and invite us outside! This month let's focus on welcoming spring's attitude back into our hearts.

Designer Series Paper/Color Focus:
Watercolor Wonder DSP or the colors of Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Island Indigo, Smoky Slate, & Tangerine Tango.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love our Watercolor Wonder DSP; however, I'm becoming a little tired of it since we had to use it last month, this month, and (shhh!) again next month in our Color Focus projects. Nevertheless, after being stuck for a very long time I finally pulled off a bright and cheery spring card that I am pleased with. 

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That's all for today. I will see you back here tomorrow!!

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, & Happy Stamping!

~Hallie