WARM MY HEART SHELTERING TREE SWAPS...

Today I have the third swap card I made for the OnStage Local Baltimore event last November to show you.  I wanted to wait until a bit closer to Valentine's Day to share.  Since I had already done a masculine swap and a fancy fold sway, I went for a more feminine look this time with one suitable for Valentines, Anniversaries and more!  I used one of my favorite stamp sets, Sheltering Tree.  I hope you love it as much as I do!

A closeup of the focal piece:

I loved the Venetian Crochet Trim around the oval, but I ended up omitting it from my swaps.  I underestimated the amount of time it would take to glue all the little hearts (the different size hearts in the Confetti Heart Punch are perfect for this!) and glitter each tree and I did have to make 30 of them to swap!  Although I have to say that the Fine-Tip Glue Pen is AMAZING and certainly makes the job easier!  Here is a video on it:


WARM MY HEART SHELTERING TREE CARD SUPPLIES:

• Stamp Sets – Sheltering Tree (P#137163, $25.00)
• Card Stock – Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Very Vanilla
• Ink – Soft Suede, Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo
• Ribbon – Very Vanilla Thick Baker's Twine (#138411, $3.50), Venetian Crochet Trim (#134581, $7.00)
• Punches – Confetti Hearts Border (#137415, $22.00)
• Accessories – Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter (#133751, $5.00), Silver Mini Staples (#135847, $4.00), Fine-Tip Glue Pen (#138309, $7.00), Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430, $4.00)
• Tools – Big Shot, Happy Heart Embossing Folder (#137364, $7.50), Oval Collection Framelits (#129381, $27.00), Handheld Stapler (#139083, $10.00)

LOYALTY REWARDS - When you purchase $50 or more, you qualify for my Loyalty Rewards program!  This Frequent Stamper program is my way of saying "thank you" to my returning customers in appreciation of their business and is in addition to other Stampin' Rewards.  Earn FREE stamps with MarieStamps.com!

CHRISTMAS TREAT: CHRISTMAS CRACK WITH SNOWY PINES TAG...

Time to make some tasty Christmas treats for my Bunco group again!  This time I am trying out a new recipe I've been seeing everywhere this Christmas, so I've decided to see what the fuss is about.  Hopefully, it's as good as it looks!  There wasn't enough for me to sample even after making two batches as I needed 12 bags!  The recipe is at the end of the post.

I am really loving the new Lots of Labels Framelits!  They have become my go-to for large tags.  And I am so happy that these two stamp sets,  Peaceful Pines and Snow Place are being carried over to the Occasions Catalog!  The snowman is paper-pieced so I could keep him white.  The tree stamp was cut out by hand and then layered on a Peaceful Pines framelit die piece so that there were no pesky white borders.

Here's a close-up of the tag and a shot of the basket ready to go to my Christmas Bunco:

SNOWY PINES CHRISTMAS TREAT TAG SUPPLIES:

• Stamp Sets – Peaceful Pines (P#139728 $26.00), Snow Place (P#139738 $26.00)
• Card Stock – Real Red, Crumb Cake, Cucumber Crush, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White
• Ink – Real Red, Cucumber Crush, Chocolate Chip, Tuxedo Black Memento, White Craft Ink, Tangelo Twist Marker
• Ribbon – Real Red Pompom Trim (#139617, $6.00), Cucumber Crush 1" Dotted Lace Trim (#138423, $6.00)
• Punches – l" Circle Punch (#119868, $13.00), 1-3/4" Scallop Circle Punch (#119854, $18.00)
• Accessories – Gusseted Cellophane Bags (#133770, $4.50), Fine-Tip Glue Pen (#138309, $7.00), Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430, $4.00)
• Tools – Big Shot, Peaceful Pines Framelits (#139665, $27.00), Lots of Labels Framelits (#138281, $27.00), Sponge Daubers

Christmas Crack Recipe

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray 
• 35 to 40 saltine crackers 
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter 
• 1 cup light brown sugar 
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (about 1 1/3 cups) 
• Christmas M&M's (my addition) 

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.   Line 1 large or 2 small jelly-roll pans with aluminum foil, spray with nonstick spray and arrange the saltines salt-side down in a single layer.  In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together and boil until it turns a caramel color, a few minutes. Remove from the heat and pour over the crackers, covering them evenly.

Put the jelly-roll pan into the oven and bake for 3 to 5 minutes, or until just bubbly, watching carefully.  Remove from the oven and pour the chocolate chips over the crackers.   As the chips melt a bit (I find it helps if you cover the pan with tin foil for 3 minutes to help the chips to melt), spread them over the crackers with a knife.  If adding M&M's, sprinkle over the chocolate.   Transfer the pan to the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until completely cold.  They will form one big sheet.  Break up into pieces.  Store in an airtight container.

Recipe adapted from Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood (c) Clarkson Potter 2010

LOYALTY REWARDS - When you purchase $50 or more, you qualify for my Loyalty Rewards program!  This Frequent Stamper program is my way of saying "thank you" to my returning customers in appreciation of their business and is in addition to other Stampin' Rewards.  Earn FREE stamps with MarieStamps.com!

YEAR-END SALE EVENT--SAVE UP TO 60%...

Visit my Online Store now through January 4, 2016 and you’ll see that we’ve put more products on clearance for our Year-End Sale!  With discounts up to 60% on select products, it’s easy to get a few extra gifts for your friends, your family, or even yourself!   PLUS products on the Holiday Retiring List are now discounted up to 40%--woohoo!!!

 Year-End Sale Event

There is one catch though: items offered during the Year-End Sale are WHILE SUPPLIES LAST ONLY.  So, even though this sale goes into the new year, you’ll want to hurry to grab the items you love before they are gone, gone, GONE!!!

LOYALTY REWARDS - When you purchase $50 or more, you qualify for my Loyalty Rewards program!  This Frequent Stamper program is my way of saying "thank you" to my returning customers in appreciation of their business and is in addition to other Stampin' Rewards.  Earn FREE stamps with MarieStamps.com!

ONLINE EXTRAVAGANZA: FLASH SALE TODAY ONLY...

November 23-30, save up to 50% on select products during our week-long Online Extravaganza! To make it even better, there will be flash sales that last 24 hours today,  November 23 and next Monday, November 30, the first and last days of Online Extravaganza.  Please note: Online Extravaganza savings are only available while supplies last only, so get them while you can!

Don't miss out on the 24-Hour Flash Sale!!!  They have the totally awesome and oh, so useful Envelope and Gift Box Punch Boards.  These tools are *da bomb*!  There are also eight yummy choices of Designer Series Paper that are Buy Three, Get One Free!!!   While you are there, check out all the other FABULOUS savings.  There really are some amazing deals all week!

See the Savings Now:

• Online Extravaganza Deals (PDF Download) 
• Online Extravaganza Deals (in my online store)
• 24-Hour Flash Sale products
• Weekly Deals
• Clearance Rack 
• Holiday Retirement List

The Fine Print:

• Dates: November 23-30, 2015
• Two 24-hour flash sales for specific products will happen during this promotion: one on November 23 and one on November 30.  They will each end at 11:50 PM (MT) on their respective days.
• Past Paper Pumpkin kits and kit refills in Online Extravaganza are available for purchase by subscribers and non-subscribers.
• You must use bundle item codes provided for Online Extravaganza.  Discounts will not be applied if individual component item numbers are entered separately.  Bundles featured in Online Extravaganza will exist only during Online Extravaganza.
• There is no minimum purchase necessary for Online Extravaganza.  Discounts will range from 20-50%.
• Additional products from current catalogs may be purchased on the same order.
• All order types (customer, workshop, and online) qualify for the Online Extravaganza discounted items and bundles.
• Deadlines:  Orders must be placed by Monday, November 30, 2015 at 11:50 PM (MT)

LOYALTY REWARDS - When you purchase $50 or more, you qualify for my Loyalty Rewards program!  This Frequent Stamper program is my way of saying "thank you" to my returning customers in appreciation of their business and is in addition to other Stampin' Rewards.  Earn FREE stamps with MarieStamps.com!

EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING CORNER FLIP FOLD...

Saturday, I have my downline meeting and I will be doing a demonstration of the Corner Flip Fancy Fold.  Originally, I had planned to use my Sprinkles of Spring card for the presentation and my swap card.  However, one of my sidelines stole my original card right off the swap boards at the OnStage event (bad, Sarah!), so I came up with this version to keep her from having a duplicate.  Aren't I nice???  I used the same sketch/template though, so not too much reinvention.

For this version, I made it more of a generic card that could be used for several occasions: Get Well, Thinking of You, Encouragement, etc.  It is difficult to see in the photo, but I did sponge Pool Party on the background of the Whisper White for the sky.  I needed a bit of whimsy though with my rainbow colored raindrops!  Enjoy!

EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING CORNER FLIP CARD SUPPLIES:

• Stamp Sets – Sprinkles of Life (P#139971, $21.00), Over the Rainbow (P#138770, $21.00)
• Card Stock – Watermelon Wonder, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Pool Party, Whisper White, Cherry on Top Designer Series Paper Stack (#138443, $8.00)
• Ink – Crushed Curry, Pool Party
• Ribbon – Bermuda Bay Thick Baker's Twine (#138413, $3.50),
• Punches – Tree Builder (#138295, $18.00), Banner Triple (#138292, $23.00)
• Accessories – Silver Embossing Powder (#109131, $5.00),  Fine-Tip Glue Pen (#138309, $7.00), Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430, $4.00), Mini Glue Dots (#103683, $5.25)
• Tools – Stampin' Trimmer (#126889, $30.00), Sponge Daubers (#133773, $5.00)

LOYALTY REWARDS - When you purchase $50 or more, you qualify for my Loyalty Rewards program!  This Frequent Stamper program is my way of saying "thank you" to my returning customers in appreciation of their business and is in addition to other Stampin' Rewards.  Earn FREE stamps with MarieStamps.com!

STAMPIN' UP! ONSTAGE LOCAL BALTIMORE 2015...

This past weekend, my friends and fellow demos, Sarah Williams and Kelly Fidler, and I went on a road trip to Baltimore to attend Stampin' Up!'s OnStage Local event.  My stalwart hubby drove us crazy stamping ladies there and gave us door-to-door service to the event.  Thanks, babe!  Here is a pic of our road trip crew:

 

We had a great time there!  Of course, the event was FABULOUS!!!  We got to see all the new products coming out in the Occasions and Sale-A-Brations catalogs next January.  And we got to play with some of the them, too -- BEST PART!   So many amazing new stamp sets, framelits and an awesome new tool for the Big Shot!!!  Can't wait to share with you when we are allowed to!  Stamping with friends is always one of the highlights these events.  We didn't make full projects, so I will have to get busy turning our samples into actual cards, etc., to share with you soon.  

We did get to visit with our mama/upline Melody Rollins and our sidelines Monica Giberti, Kathy Winters, and Lyn Carroll which is always fun.  Our upline lives in the DC area, so we don't get to see her often.  Lyn and Kathy came to dinner with us Saturday night as well.  Here is a shot of our group along with one of the Stampin' Up! event people who was so nice to take photos of all of us with our many phones and cameras.  He was awesome!

This was our third trip to Baltimore for Stampin' Up! and this time we stayed right by Little Italy, so that we could take advantage of the delicious restaurants there.  We love Italian food and the restaurants we went to (Sabatino's and Dalesio's) were only a few blocks from the hotel.  It was so nice to be able to take a short walk through Little Italy to our dinner and back to work off some of the calories!  Can't wait until we come back again!

Update:  Couldn't share this pic until the catalogs came out, but here are all the wonderful things we received at the event!  So much fun!

LOYALTY REWARDS - When you purchase $50 or more, you qualify for my Loyalty Rewards program!  This Frequent Stamper program is my way of saying "thank you" to my returning customers in appreciation of their business and is in addition to other Stampin' Rewards.  Earn FREE stamps with MarieStamps.com!

HOLIDAY CATALOG RETIREMENT LIST...

We're saying goodbye to retiring products from the holiday catalog, but before we do, we're giving you an opportunity to order your favorites!!!  Retiring products will only be available until January 4, or while supplies last, so now's a great time to order them before they're gone!

There are some really great accessories retiring, but some of my favorites are:  Square Pillow Box Thinlets Die, Woodland Embossing Folder,  Black Glimmer Paper and Real Red Pom Pom Trim.  That doesn't include stamp sets, since there is still a little time to order those.

Holiday Catalog Retiring List:
These lists are updated daily to show the availability of all retiring products. Download the PDF for a quick reference, or use the Excel file to sort the list.

• PDF
• Sortable Excel File

Things to Remember:

• Orders can be placed as a customer, workshop, or online order.
• Retiring products are only available while supplies last. The lists of retiring products will be updated every business day.
• NA Note: Due to high demand for retiring stamps, we'll keep producing retiring stamps until December 28 (not accessories--accessories are only while supplies last).

LOYALTY REWARDS - When you purchase $50 or more, you qualify for my Loyalty Rewards program!  This Frequent Stamper program is my way of saying "thank you" to my returning customers in appreciation of their business and is in addition to other Stampin' Rewards.  Earn FREE stamps with MarieStamps.com!

SPRINKLES OF SPRING CORNER FLIP CARD...

I'm headed off to Baltimore in the morning for the OnStage Local Event!  I'm so excited!!!  Before I head out, I wanted to share the second of my swap cards I did--this time for a SUDSOL group swap at the event.  For this swap, we try to step it up a bit, so I wanted to do a fancy fold.  I chose the Corner Flip Fold.  No time to do a picture tutorial since I'm leaving, but there are general directions following the card supplies list.

I wanted to use a Thinking of You theme as I will use this swap for my downline meeting next week as well, but there wasn't an appropriate sentiment in the Sprinkles of Life stamp set, so I borrowed one from the Sheltering Tree set.  I decided to use some *happy* colors - looking forward to the Spring already!  Too soon???  Here is a view as you open it and then the inside:

 

  
SPRINKLES OF SPRING CORNER FLIP CARD SUPPLIES:

• Stamp Sets – Sprinkles of Life (P#139971, $21.00), Sheltering Tree (P#137163, $25.00)
• Card Stock – Watermelon Wonder, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Cherry on Top Designer Series Paper Stack (#138443, $8.00)
• Ink – Watermelon Wonder, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Cucumber Crush, Chocolate Chip, Basic Black
• Ribbon – Bermuda Bay Thick Baker's Twine (#138413, $3.50),
• Punches – Tree Builder (#138295, $18.00), Banner Triple (#138292, $23.00)
• Accessories – Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter (#133751, $5.00), Fine-Tip Glue Pen (#138309, $7.00), Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430, $4.00)
• Tools – Stampin' Trimmer (#126889, $30.00)

CORNER FLIP FUN/FANCY FOLD DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut card stock for regular A2 card base (4-1/4” x 5-1/2”).   Score in the landscape position at 4-1/4”. 
2. Place the card base in the Stampin’ Trimmer in the landscape position, aligning the left edge at 3”. 
3. Cut FROM 2-1/2” to 4-7/8” (using the numbers on the slider). 
4. Rotate your card stock 90 degrees (to the right). 
5. Again align the left edge of the card stock at 3”.  Cut FROM 3” (should meet the previous cut) to 5/8”. 
6. Fold your card base on the score line. 
7. Push the lower left corner of the cut square inward while pulling the upper right hand corner towards you -- down and towards the opposite corner.  Gently ease the folds so that everything lines up square.  Use your bone folder to sharpen the crease. 
8. Dress up the front square with a 2-3/4” square mat and a 2-1/2” square focal piece. 
9. For the inside use a complimentary color mat (this will show from the card front) of 4” x 5-1/4”.  For your inside sentiment focal piece, you want to use a small enough piece that it will not show from the front.  I use 2-7/8” x 4-1/8” or less.

LOYALTY REWARDS - When you purchase $50 or more, you qualify for my Loyalty Rewards program!  This Frequent Stamper program is my way of saying "thank you" to my returning customers in appreciation of their business and is in addition to other Stampin' Rewards.  Earn FREE stamps with MarieStamps.com!

NAUTICAL YOU'RE MY ANCHOR SWAP CARD...

This is one of the swap cards I made for the OnStage Local event I am attending next weekend in Baltimore.  I really wanted to make at least one of my swaps a masculine one - not too difficult since I was making 30 of them!  And I was trying to use only supplies from the Annual Catalog.  Being a Navy family for over 30 years, I decided on this nautical card with hubby in mind.  So I ended up using stamps from lots of different nautical stamp sets to achieve my simple vision.  Hope you enjoy it!

NAUTICAL YOU ARE MY ANCHOR CARD SUPPLIES:

• Stamp Sets – World Map (W#130342 $20.00, C#130345 $15.00), The Open Sea (W#128454 $27.00, C#123032 $19.00), From Land to Sea (W#138720 $27.00, C#139361 $19.00), Guy Greetings (W#138825 $52.00, C#138828 $39.00, P#137178 $26.00)
• Card Stock –Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White
• Ink – Night of Navy, Real Red
• Ribbon – Night of Navy 1/2" Seam Binding (#134571, $7.00), Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon (#134563, $6.00)
• Accessories – Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430, $4.00) 

LOYALTY REWARDS - When you purchase $50 or more, you qualify for my Loyalty Rewards program!  This Frequent Stamper program is my way of saying "thank you" to my returning customers in appreciation of their business and is in addition to other Stampin' Rewards.  Earn FREE stamps with MarieStamps.com!