Good morning stampers!

I'm sitting at my desk waiting for little snowflakes to fall from the sky.  They say it's in the forecast today.  We'll see if the weather guy gets it right today.

Wanted to give a quick update on how we're doing on the home front and then share my little card I have for you.  Some of you have asked how the transition is going and if the Prince was doing okay.  I'm happy to report our little family is doing very well.  There have been many bumps in the road but the big picture is GOOD.  Brandon and Russ are still trying to mend a few wounds from his absence but I can see it's coming along quite well.  Russ jumped in with both feet helping Brandon in Cub Scouts and school activities and it's just what Brandon needed.  You can still see the angry face on Brandon at times but that will soon heal and the one thing that never changed is the unconditional love from both of us.  Both of the kids made it into the school Spelling B last week.  Russ was able to take off work to see the kids in action.  We were so excited to tell the kids that Russ was able to get the time off.  When I told Brandon that he was coming he started to cry.  I didn't understand at first and then he said, "Mama, if he comes and I misspell the first word Daddy will have wasted his time.  This prompted a quick family discussion on EXPECTATIONS. I quickly lowered the bar and it seemed to take a ton of pressure off both of the kids.  Who knew? Russ and I were just over the moon they had MADE it into the Spelling B and we drove this point home to both of them.   Both of the kids did great. Brandon took 4th place in his age group and Alexis took 3rd place.  Needless to say, our cheeks hurt from smiling that day.   Russ has also been busy having tea parties with Alexis and is helping her build and craft together "stuff" for her American Girl Doll.  I love it. The time he spends with the kids gives me time to step away and let them be with just him.  It's been harder than I thought keeping my nose out of their business because I've been the one parent in control for so long.  I know that the time they spend together alone and without my 2 cents is good and the kids see that DADDY is BACK. Again, thank you for asking about my little family. 

Now, let's chat about stamps!

Boy oh Boy I love how this stamp set, Fresh Vintage compliments the Everyday Enchantment Designer Paper.  It's so beautiful and the Poppy Parade cardstock is what made this card POP.  I used the pretty Everyday Enchantment Ribbon & Brad pack as well on this card and of course I HAD to throw in a little First Edition DSP.  It's clearly an addiction.  The Ribbon and Brad pack is a FREEBIE item from the Sale-a-bration catalog. The brads are super cute and the ribbon is pretty and delicate. The sentiment Inspire, Create, and Dream comes from the Loving Thoughts stamp set. GREAT set if you like to make banners.  It's a perfect fit. 

Lastly, here is a little MDS news!

There are new beautiful My Digital Studio downloads for you to see.  Click HERE to view them. Download your FREE copy of My Digital Studio today. Click HERE to get it. I'm getting ready to work on Valentines using My Digital Studio.  I will share once the design is complete.  There are MANY great downloads to use for Valentines Day.  If you are local to the Northern VA area I just put an MDS class on my schedule.  You can check out my class schedule at the top of my blog.  It's finally been updated and more classes are coming.  I can officially say… "She's back!" 

XOXOXO

I see a few snowflakes falling.  Looks like a peaceful day. 

Have a FANTASTIC day!

Will you Sale-a-Brate with me? I love all the new stamp sets you will find in the Sale-a-bration catalog!  Fresh Vintage is one of my fav's.  It gets even better when you add the Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper.  Holy Cow! It really gives you the feeling of CELEBRATING! Every single sheet is beautiful.  This paper will go down in my Stampin' Up! history books as my most FAVORITE ever! 

This card was my swap at Leadership.  I loved putting the color Poppy Parade, Blushing Bride, Soft Suede and Crumb Cake together.  They are soft and feminine.  The Poppy Parade really adds the pop to the card.  The sentiment comes from the Apothecary Art stamp set in the Mini Occasions.  {{LOVE IT}}.  Another favorite product I have is the Blushing Bride Smooch Spray.

I hope this card inspires you to Celebrate your stamping and take a moment to peek inside the Sale-a-Bration catalog.  There is something to please everyone in that catalog and the best part is it's FREE with your $50 purchase.  Order through my ONLINE store and you will receive a handmade gift from. 

Don't forget to download your FREE 30 Day Trial of our Digital Design program, My Digital Studio.  This program is amazing and super user friendly and easy to use.

Enjoy your Tuesday and stamp something pretty!

Today I have a sweet Tea Party card to share.  My favorite part of this card was the scented embossed tea cups.  I used the Vanilla Embossing Powder on them and they smelled beautiful.  The kids think this is the coolest thing ever. 

You can find all these lovely's in my Online Store.  Sale-a-Bration is in full swing as well.  Check out the loot you can receive with your $50 order.  GREAT stuff. 
If you place a $50 order through Sale-a-Bration I will be sending my customers a special handmade gift as a Thank You.   

Are you ready to have a Tea Party? They're not just for little girls.  This fun tea set called Tea Shoppe is perfect to use for a Tea Party invitation.

You can find all the pretties to make this card in the Occasions Mini Catalog. 

Have a FANTASTIC week!

Good morning Stamping friends! It feels like a Monday to me.  It was great to have that long weekend.  Now I'm sitting at an airport waiting on my NEW flight.  Yes, had a little flight change because I missed my original flight this morning due to the GREAT traffic on 95 this morning.  I just love the traffic here.  

Now I'm sitting in the USO at the airport and must say this is a GREAT place for military members.  I have a comfy seat, free wifi, all kinds of great food and drinks as well as a nice big TV!  No wonder Russ always likes to visit these when he fly's.  

I'm trying to head to San Antonio for the week for the big Leadership Conference.  I am really excited to see all my friends.  I hope to keep you informed of some of the fun things we are doing.  I even brought cards to work on in my hotel room.  I haven't done that in YEARS.   

Let me share this Valentine I made.  

I'm still enjoying the P.S. I Love You stamp set.  I love all the sentiments so much that I decided to use more than one on this card.  I decided to make a mini banner by stamping each of the sentiments onto a 1/2 strip of Naturals Ivory CS.  I used the cute mini clothes pins and connected the mini banners onto the Linen Thread so they would hang across.  I used the Heart Framelits to cut the large heart and placed the First Edition DSP onto the inside piece of the card base.  I feel like I cannot make a card without using that DSP.  It's so fun to use.  I also stamped the Netting Background stamp onto the Real Red cardstock.  You can barely see it but I like that it's lightly seen.  I think he will enjoy this card.  I'm getting them all stacked up and  ready to swarm him with love. 

You can find all these fun products on my website HERE.  Go browse awhile and look at the pretties in there.  Lots and Lots of fun stuff.  

Have a GREAT week.  

XOXOXO

I jumped onto my blog because I couldn't remember if I had shared it with you.  Come to find out I had NOT.  Way back in September (seems like forever ago) when my sweet friend Cathy was here we had stamped our hearts out.  This was one of the cards that we made together.  It's a mish mosh of all kinds of products.  We even used a few different stamp sets and a sewing machine.  As you can tell I cannot sew a straight line.  Thankfully I just sew on cards and not clothing.  

Anyhoo, the card uses the stamp set Established Elegance and Notes & Details.  We used the Just Add Cake DSP and I loved how the numbers and lined paper went so well with the Typewriter image.  

I have more Valentines to share soon.  You can find these products in my Online Store.  Lots of great toys there and make sure to check out the Clearance Rack.  

Have a FABULOUS week!

Who said Valentines had to be red and pink? Why not PURPLE? Seriously this is WAY WAY outside of my comfort zone.  I'm not super into the color purple. I hardly use it on any of my cards.  However, I thought that these two colors looked pretty good together.  I used Wisteria Wonder and Pool Party  and away I went.  I used the same set as yesterday, P.S. I love you.  The sentiments that you see on the little banners is actually ONE stamp.  I just used my Black Marker and pieced the sentiment onto three pieces of cardstock.  The Heart was die cut using the Sweet Shop DSP and Heart Framelits.  So easy and fun to use.  

I'm off to work on a few swaps for Leadership.  I'm getting excited to see so many of my friends.  I love Stampin' Up! events.  

Have a GREAT Friday the 13th.  

P.S. I love Ya! 

XOXOXO

Over the next few days I'm going to share the start of my blitz.  I'm going to try and start working on a few kid Valentine projects this weekend, too.  It's always best to come up with these things early.  Not that I am one to talk about being on time.  I am just now getting my Christmas cards out.  I like to spread the Christmas cheer a little longer than others.  

This card uses a fun stamp set called P.S. I love You.  Love the name, Love the set.  This set has 15 stamps in it.  You can get the clear set for just  $27.95! Heck of a deal if you ask me.  Besides, who can put a price tag on something when you are making it for your lover? Check it out:

Anyways, I started this card with a Very Vanilla card base.  I then adhered the First Edition DSP to the front of the card and used my snazzy Edgelits Die and cut the bottom.  Then I added a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock to the backside of the front panel and embossed with the Adorning Accents Embossing Folder.  WOW! Just a little snazzy texture embossing packs a HARD punch on this card.  I love it.  

I cut my cool hearts using the Hearts Collection Framelits Die.  LOVE it.  I did a little sewing down the middle on two of the hearts.  I liked how that turned out.  Lastly I added my Cherry Cobbler buttons and a little Blushing Bride Smooch Spray. WOW, love that spray.  It's beautiful.  

Even though it had a little sewing machine action on the card it was still pretty simple.  Wanna know my FAVORITE thing about this stamp set? The fonts! You will love the fonts of the sentiments.  No worries, I pushed the limits on this set last night.  More ideas coming your way with this set.  

If you want this set for yourself, click HERE!  I think it's a must have this Love Season! If you want to check out more of the Occasions Mini, Click HERE!

Should be a great round.  If you would like more information on Stamps in the Mail, check out my SPECIALS page with ALL the details.  Email me at mkkimber@yahoo.com if you still have questions or would like to register. Registration ends on January 15th. 

Have a GREAT Wednesday!

XOXOXO

We celebrated her day ALL day yesterday.  She really was treated with royalty.  Brandon wanted to start her day off right by serving her breakfast in bed.  I couldn't believe this was his idea.  The kids are going through the "stop looking at me" stage.  I was relieved to still hear kindness from there mouths. 

Here is the start of her day!

Brandon was wearing the Justin Bieber hat when he woke Alexis up.  He told her it was cold and maybe she should wear it.  Again, I wanted to faint from all the *LOVE* I was seeing. 

Russ and I had lunch with the Princess at school.  She really wanted to go to the American Girl Doll store in DC but the only thing I could think about was the traffic getting there.  I compromised with her and said we will go this weekend. Instead I took her to have a Pedicure.  Of course I enjoyed one too. <smile>

Extremely relaxing!  We both enjoyed.  We came home to pick up the boys and then we were off to her "spot" for dinner.  After dinner we topped the evening off with a fun birthday cake and 9 spankings and a pinch to grow an inch!

It was a GREAT day!!

Here is the card I made for my princess. 

I used all kinds of new products on this card.  The stamp set is called Sweet Cake.  Super cute and the BEST thing I love about this card is something you cannot really SEE or SMELL! I added the Vanilla Scented Stampin' Emboss Powder to the swirls on the cupcake.  LOVE that we have these embossing powders. We also carry Melon and Cherry.  How fun is that? I used a VersaMarker so that I could emboss in that tiny area.  She could smell the Vanilla as soon as she opened it. 

Other fun products on this card that I used would be the Sweet Shop DSP.  I love that this DSP can be used for so many occasions.  From Birthday, Valentines or just a Candy kind of card.  Very fun.  I used the new pleated ribbon along with some new Lucky Limeade Bakers Twine.  I even used some Seam Binding ribbon.  Lots of fun things. 

As always, you can find all these fun products in my Online Store. 

This weekend Alexis has her birthday party with friends.  I'll share her birthday invitation soon.  She is having a Doll & Me Tea with her friends at a special tea shop.  I'm not sure who is more excited, her or myself. 

Have a fabulous week!

Today is the first day I've felt HUMAN! Today I fee FANTASTIC! Over the weekend I thought I was dying from a sinus infection.  The bottom line is I figured out I cannot cure myself.  Grr! I had to drag myself into the Doctor's office over the weekend because I just felt terrible.  It's amazing what a good antibiotic can do. 

Today I jumped into my stamp room and stamped away.  YIPPIE! I couldn't stop with this card above.  I just kept adding new fun things.  Holy COW the products are fantastic to work with from the new Occasions Mini.  I did add a little sneak peek of a Sale-a-Bration set. 

I used the Attic Boutique Designer Paper with the Attic Boutique Side Notes (MUST HAVE!) and the new Pool Party Seam Binding Ribbon.  It's all so pretty.  Very feminine.  The crown comes from an oldie but a goodie stamp set called Artistic Etchings.  This is a stamp set I have always adored.  I stamped the crown with VersaMark and then embossed the image using the Cherry Cobbler embossing powder.  What a rich looking powder.  I used it again on the sentiment.  The sentiment comes from the set Loving Thoughts.  Beautiful sentiments in this set.  I added a few pearls, ribbon and buttons just because we can! Overall, this card made me happy.   You can find all these beautiful products in my online store.  I hope you'll visit soon. 

Tomorrow is my little girls 9th Birthday.  I can't wait to share her Birthday Card with you! We have a big day planned for her.

XOXOXO