Song of My Heart Stampers

Free Holiday Stocking Banner Offer TODAY ONLY

It’s the very last day of Stampin’ Up’s mega special, with awesome items from 20-60% off! I am just $100 short of my goal and would like the express my appreciation to anyone who places an order today to help me hit my mark!

Order online at www.lyssa.stampinup.net any time today, whether it’s sale items or not, and get a free Holiday Stocking Banner from me as a thank you!

These are fully completed and embellished banners with six stockings each, perfect for your mantle or bookshelf, a doorway, or even your cubicle. The stockings also make adorable ornaments, if you remove them from the ribbon and add a hanger. They have heat embossing, Big Shot embossing, punches, DSP, buttons, mica flakes and glitter—and no two are alike! Get yours today!

Mini Photo Tutorial: side-opening "Book Box"

Ready for a quick project? This one's a total no-brainer, so easy that I only need two photos to explain it. Hardly worthy of the name "photo tutorial," huh? But I really like the great size and easy style of this side-opening, book-shaped box, and I wanted to share it with you.

You'll need just two pieces of paper--one full sheet of cardstock for the base, and one 5.5x6 inch piece of either double-sided DSP or cardstock for the lid. I used Poppy Parade cardstock and the Holly Berry Specialty DSP that's in the 2011 Holiday Mini Catalog. Did you know it has four glittered sheets that come with it? Yeah, baby! If it needs to hold up for a while, or be reused, though, either use cardstock for the lid or back the DSP with cardstock.

Score the full sheet of cardstock on your handy-dandy Simply Scored board on the long side at 4.75 and 6.25 inches. Turn it 90 degrees to the short side and score at 1.25 and 7.25. Snip up to the folds and use Sticky Strip to assemble the open-ended box.

Use the Wide Oval punch to notch out a little of the top side (open end to the left) for ease of getting the gift or cards or whatever in and out, as shown below.

Easy, huh? Doesn't get much simpler than that! The lid is even easier. Score it on the shorter side at 2 and 3.5 inches. If you want, you can use a border punch like I did here, the Scallop Edge punch. You can use velcro dots to close, or a ribbon like I did (Poppy Parade, attached with Sticky Strip).

Attach the lid with Sticky Strip as well, and then embellish to your heart's content! This box holds a LOT--what you see in the photo is a full pack of 40 envelopes. So you could stuff a lot of cards and envelopes in here, or there's plenty of room for a bunch of Sweet Pressed Cookies, or a homemade s'mores kit. Oh yum, does that ever sound good! Now I need s'mores. Or fudge. Fudge would definitely do.

Portrait Gallery scrapbook page

I have the new Peek A Boo Frames die for the Big Shot, and I couldn't wait to dig in and find some other uses for it besides the Christmas Cues Advent Calendar (view it here). I love how this scrapbook page for Scrap A Stack Club turned out! How fun it will be to fill with little random pictures of the kids, cousins, school friends, or even those tiny little vintage photos that were taken from too far away and all the people look like ants.

Ours was a birthday page, with a little cupcake from Easy Events, and I kept the coordinating second page to complete the spread SUPER simple, since this one was so busy. I enjoyed the unusual color scheme of So Saffron, Elegant Eggplant, Daffodil Delight, Wisteria Wonder and Very Vanilla.

Don't know if you can see it in this photo or not, but I added texture to the headline after I cut it out on the Big Shot, with an embossing folder. Just another way to help a headline pop and change things up a bit! And the long scallop trim is from the Tasteful Trims XL die.

If you're local to me and want to start scrapping with our existing group, or start a new group with you and your friends, I'm totally ready and willing to help you get that going! We can set it up either with a flat fee per person, or as a hostess club where each person purchases a minimum order per month. I take requests for the pages, for stamp sets and techniques, and I give lots of Big Shot training along the way. Let's do it!

Stampin' Up and the Today Show Toy Drive

One of the things I appreciate most about Stampin' Up is that they believe in making a difference in the lives of others--whether they're demonstrators, employees, the people who use our products, or children in need of a way to express their creativity. And Stampin' Up puts their money where their mouth is! It's not just a pretty saying on the wall of the home office.

Since 2005, Stampin' Up! has been honored to participate in the TODAY Show's Holiday Toy Drive. This year, Stampin' Up! will be donating over $500,000 worth of stamping and paper crafting products. In conjunction with the donation, Stampin' Up!'s Shelli Gardner will make an appearance on NBC's TODAY Show on Tuesday, December 6. Be sure to tune in and watch Shelli with Hoda and Kathie Lee--it's always very short and she hardly gets a word in edgewise, but its fun to see!

Shelli will be blogging about this fun (and somewhat nerve-wracking) experience in New York City. If you haven't been to her blog yet, it's a MUST! www.soshelli.com There are even challenges you can enter and win free stamp sets from her personally, whether you are a demonstrator or not!

 

visit lyssa.stampinup.net for up to 60% off!

Don’t forget that Stampin’ Up’s awesome Thanksgiving week/Black Friday/Small Biz Saturday/Cyber Monday special is still going on through the 30^th!

  Download Online_X_flyer_US

Here's the PDF file with the list of everything that is on sale for you to view and/or print out. You still have a chance to get these very COOL items at a very HOT price. You can either order online at my shopping site  OR you can order through me via phone or email, for the first time, and still take advantage of the online prices!

 As always, I offer full wrapping service at no extra charge, and gift certificates in any amount—this is a great gift for friends, secret pals, co-workers, family members and even your kids! Not to mention YOU—be sure to let those looking for a great gift for you this year know my contact info!

Red Front Door Christmas cards for the neighbors

I was practically giddy when this card turned out exactly as I had envisioned it! That doesn't happen terribly often, you know! While messing around Saturday in preparation for my Try It Tuesday: Simply Scored Edition class tomorrow night, I came up with this cute little red door Christmas card and thought how perfect it would be to give to the neighbors along with a little MDS calendar postcard for their fridge or purse that I am making up this year using the cool new "insert calendar" feature in My Digital Studio.

It wasn't hard to do at all, thanks to the Simply Scored tool, and it fits in a regular envelope, to boot. I'll post a tutorial on it after the class--those of you who didn't RSVP for it will just have to wait, but I will indeed share. It's easier than it looks, I promise! How's that for a big tease? Make sure you check my newsletter, local ladies, for my event schedule--or better yet, schedule a workshop, and we'll make this card there, appropriate for any upcoming holiday or season.

Wet Leaves--spritzed adaptation of the faux silk coffee filter technique

Unfortunately I have the sad occasion to make two sympathy cards this week. I'd been playing around trying to develop this technique, and I think the look of wet November leaves catches some of the nostalgia for summers spent as those who remain behind face their season of sadness. I love fall and am always sad to see it end, even while getting excited for Christmas ahead, so I thought I'd share this one last fall-themed project today.

I liked the look of the leaf piece so much that I almost didn't even put a saying on the front, but in the end went with this understated sentiment from Blessings From Heaven. The spritzed adaptation of the Faux Silk technique a beautiful look, and fairly easy to do. Grab those coffee filters and give it a try! Click here to see the original Faux Silk with Coffee Filters photo tutorial. I used the Gently Falling stamp set's solid images, with More Mustard, Cajun Craze, and Early Espresso inks, to stamp on the tissue paper before doing the technique. After the Faux Silk was all completed, I added some additional steps.

First, I spritzed the whole thing with plain water. This caused the leaves to spot and run, and gives you a lot of blurred edges and different color gradients--greens, blues, almost purples. If your spritz didn't turn out quite like you were hoping, you can go back in with an Aquapainter to add water in more precise areas. But casual and messy is the key here (as with so many of my favorite techniques!) so don't let yourself get too caught up in it.

Then I stamped the coordinating outline images over the leaves in the same color, to retain some of the idea of the form of the leaves, as some of them no longer looked terribly much like themselves. It's not a super precise technique either, due to the wrinkles in the faux silk.

This card will never turn out the same way twice--I love the individual artistry of each "canvas." I hope you'll take a moment to try this technique some time soon, maybe for a masculine birthday card.

An unusual Christmas color combo

How's this for an unusual Christmas color combination? Riding Hood Red, Pear Pizzazz and Blushing Bride all come together to make this Vintage-Nouveau Christmas card with my beloved Christmas Lodge stamp set.I was inspired by the now-retired Holiday Treasures double-sided papers I bought on the Clearance Rack. Click here to go straight to my shopping website and see the Clearance Rack and the Online Holiday Extravaganza!

I tell ya, I've been having more fun with that set! between the mica flakes, the new embossing powders, and the yummy seam binding ribbons we have, I can't remember EVER being this inspired by a Christmas set before. The ideas just keep tumbling out. Be sure to pick up your set before the mini catalog ends on January 3rd--and if you want to use it for cards yet this year, feel free to swipe any of my designs to give yourself a head start. There's still plenty of time to make and send your own cards this year, and save money and have fun! Ok well maybe not necessarily save money... but definitely have fun! : )

Try It Tuesday: Simply Scored & Card Keeper Box

Super excited for the final installment of "Try It Tuesdays" for 2011, where we'll be making this adorable Scallop Square Lidded Tall Box amongst other cute and clever scored items! Stay tuned for the new schedule of Try It Tuesday classes coming up at the end of December. I cannot WAIT for you all to get your 2012 Occasions Mini Catalogs in the mail from me, so you can see for yourself the fabulous four products I have decided to concentrate on this spring for the Try It series! But for right now, I can't even HINT at what they are--you'll just have to wait until my pre-order comes for a peek. And the best part of all? The Occasions Mini Catalog runs during SALE A BRATION--whoo hoo!!

This coming Tuesday night's class is at 6:30 at my house and features the Simply Scored board and the Card Keeper (on pages 7 & 35 of the Holiday Mini Catalog, respectively). My Try It Tuesday classes are just $10, or free if you decide to purchase the desired item--a total STEAL for you guys, because this week's lucky participants are going home with a decorated Card Keeper box of their very own. I am SO impressed with the sturdy construction and ease of decorating these boxes and divider panels, that I wanted everyone to get their hands on one!

Wanna join us? I have enough boxes for ONE more person to come! Early bird gets the worm--call me ASAP at (920) 261-3962.

My Digital Studio photo Christmas Cards in a flash!

I just created and ordered my family Christmas cards for 2011 using My Digital Studio in less than an hour. It took me longer than it should have for several reasons--first, I had a little design "helper" (re: critic) next to me; secondly, I got distracted looking through our files to select just the right photos of my cute kids; and thirdly, I had not been very good about organizing said photos this past year, so had to search hither and yon for them!

Anyway, here's the front cover. I used the adorable "Home for the Holidays" download, so it was super easy to pull together a little village of houses, trees and snowmen. When the card comes (I always order mine from Stampin' Up's professional print services, so the colors are guaranteed and I know I'll get excellent customer service, should there be an issue) I am planning to add some Dazzlin' Details to the snowflakes, and maybe a knot of ribbon in the corner, since I like hybrid cards best. For those of you not familiar with digital scrapbooking, the term "hybrid" refers to any project that is part computer and part traditional papercrafting techniques.

Then there's the inside front cover, which just says Merry Christmas & Happy New Year on it, and here's the inside of the card. After I selected the (cute kids, eh?) photos, it was a snap to do the cropping, resizing and recoloring to sepia right there in MDS--there's no need to open another software and edit your pictures! Love that! I chose a stamp from the Wishes & Greetings set (which comes with My Digital Studio, along with over $500 worth of brush sets, papers, embellishments and punches). If you're trying to chose between the original MDS and the new Express version, let me encourage you to go for the big one! You won't regret it.

It feels so good to have this accomplished! and don't worry, I'm still planning to send traditional cards to all my customers--assuming I get all 200 done in time : ) But for friends and family who really just want to see the photos anyway, I am loving My Digital Studio as yet another time-saving solution to the issues a modern mom faces around the holidays! And don't forget we have bulk pricing, to boot. Now if only Stampin' Up had an adressing service... hee hee!

I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year, so I may not get to post tomorrow (wish me luck on that turkey--I can count on one finger the number of times I have attempted a turkey before). So I'll say it right now, because gratitude is always appropriate. I'm so thankful for you! Thanks for your encouraging comments, your return visits, the sharing of links, the word of mouth, the in-person squeal "I know you! I visit your blog!", and of course, your business. Stampin' Up is one of the things I am most grateful for in my life, and YOUR friendships are the main reason. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!