Christmas and Valentine's Day this weekend!

Hello friend!

This year for Christmas, one of the gifts I gave Tim was a gift certificate to Olive Garden (his favorite) and a note that said I thought we should make the time to go “on a date” every month. Quite a lofty goal, actually, because he and I went out last night and couldn’t remember the last time we had dinner & a movie all by ourselves. It was wonderful to get away for a couple of hours! (And I recommend the new Mel Gibson movie--though I must admit I jumped practically out of my seat multiple times and had to look away from blood more than once.)
This weekend I also made time for sewing… and I have my first wall hanging done for my dining room!  I cut the hearts with the Petal Card die, and trimmed off two of the petals to create the hearts.  (this would also work on card stock if you are looking to make hearts for Valentine's Day)
 

It is not a blurry photo, or an optical illusion, the edges are not straight.  The hearts were sewn to the quilt top and then I snipped around the edges so that when it was washed it "ragged".   Gives it kinda of a fuzzy look.
It isn’t perfect—I know where all the flaws are and what I’d change if I were doing it again--but I’m still quite happy with the results. In fact, I’m thinking I should be planning a Big Shot Quilt class, or club…. Gotta think about that, but if you have any suggestions or would be interested, let me know!

Happy Stamping!
Wendy

Sale-A-Bration Fun!

Hello friend!

As you know, Sale-A-Bration is happening, and I just quickly wanted to show you something fun.  Not only has Stampin' Up added the Sale-A-Bration logo to the sides of our packing boxes, but look at this:

This should have been on our boxes all along!

Happy Stamping!
Wendy

Happy January 19th!

Hello friend!

There is so much going on right now... where do I start?  Well, I got back last week from Phoenix, Arizona.  I spent four fun-filled days there for Leadership Conference!  It is so great to spend that time sharing with demonstrators from all over the country... I wish I could take everyone with me!  (actually, I can, so if you are interested, just let me know!) 

The first night of Leadership I was thrilled with our stamping and training.  There were several great demonstrations, but the one that caught my attention was given by a demonstrator named Jill Olsen, and it was all about using the Big Shot to make quilts.  Some of you know that I used to quilt... a long time ago, before three kids!  Quilting has been a thing of the past--until now.  I've been bitten by the bug again.  In fact, after that first night, if someone had told me I had to go home I would still have been happy with what I learned in Jill's demonstration!  I took a ton of photos of her display, but this is one of my favorites:

Dont' you just love this quilt?

On Friday, our co-founder, Shelli Gardner was on stage.  It was nearing the end of the conference, and she had just given an award to Jill for her sharing her quilting ideas & expertise.  Shelli made a comment like, "we wished we could send a quilt block home with everyone."  I just laughed... how could they provide quilt blocks to 1,000 demonstrators?  What am I thinking?  Of course they did it!  Out came the Stampin' Up! employees with stacks of quilt blocks--one for everyone!  Turns out, they asked factory employees to bring their own sewing machines in to the factory, and they made enough blocks for everyone!  Thank you Stampin' Up!

This is one of the blocks made into a pot holder:

Here is another made into a pillow:

Mine is a different color scheme, and it is absolutely beautiful in my dining room.  I need to figure out exactly what to make with it.  I've also bought some more fabrics, and I'm going to make a Valentine wall-hanging for the dining room.  I'll let you know how that goes!

What else is happening?  My clubs all met last week, so that was fun.  (I hope my club members enjoy club as much as I do!)
Last Thursday night our Card Group met at church.  There were three of us, and I brought Natalie.  We had a very unexpected guest.... a bat!  Ugh!  Our first hour was not spent in stamping Valentines for the Baskets of Love next month.... instead it was spent in containing the bat.  Luckily, Tim came in and took care of it for us.  None of us wanted to get anywhere near it!  We'll meet again in March, and hopefully will only have human guests!
This Friday night is the Scrapbooking Fundraiser at Trinity.  We'll be there from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, so join us if you like.  Go to http://www.trinityashland.org/ for a registration form.

And how could I forget?  Sale-A-Bration is going on now.  Can you say, "FREE STAMPS?"  (some of my favorite words!)

Last, but certainly not least, the Overnight Stamp & Scrap is a little over a month away.  I'm planning my gift packages, projects, and such.  I think the soups were a big enough hit that we'll be having a soup & bread lunch again on Saturday.  I'm always up for suggestions on anything--and while I can't promise to put your idea in action, I'm certainly willing to look into it!  Keep those registrations rolling in!

Happy Stamping!  (and Quilting!)
Wendy

Happy New Year!

Hello again!  I usually take most of December off for Christmas... but this year I went a little bit overboard...  thanks for your patience!

There's lots to talk about now, because Sale-A-Bration and a new Occasions Mini are coming on the 5th. 

Stampin' Up! has added something new to Sale-A-Bration, and I'm anxious to see how you respond.  Not only are there 6 great Sale-A-Bration gifts you can receive for FREE when you purchase $50 in products, but this year there is also a long list of regular-line items from our main catalog that are also an option--for free!  Your dilemna will be whether to choose that limited edition item you'd like to have, or one of those stamp sets you've been thinking about but just have not purchased yet....  Decisions, decisions.

Another choice you need to make in both the SAB catalog and the Occasions Mini is whether to purchase our stamps to be mounted on our wooden blocks, or stamps that are clear-mounted!  If you need to play with them to decide, let me know and you can come on over.

This week I'll be attending Leadership Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, and I'm hoping to learn more so I can help you with your "wood-mount or clear-mount" decision.  Honestly, I'm still coming to terms with it myself, and don't have an answer yet. Luckily for us, if your decision is the clear-mount and mine is the wood-mount, we can both be happy, because Stampin' Up! is giving us a choice.  Whew.

While I'm in Phoenix, I'll have classes and can't wait to see what I learn--and can share with you!

See you soon!
Wendy

(By the way, if you wondered after that November post what I did with my dining room, the answer is red.  It was perfect for Christmas... and now that the decorations are coming down I am anxious to decorate it again!)