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!

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!

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

Our Christmas was extra special with Russ home and being in Florida with all my family.  The kids had a blast and seemed pretty happy with everything Santa and family had given them.  They played non stop with their cousins and I'm always grateful for how well they get along. Here are a few photos of the kids and my mom while we were in Florida. 

We are unpacked and all the Christmas decorations are put away until next year.  Sometimes I think Christmas is just a blur.  I hate that.  I want the spirit and season of Christmas to last forever.  The only thing I could do without is the sweets that come with it.

With all the craziness that has been going on in our little world the one thing that has been lacking is the stamping.  Today is the first day in three weeks that I came down into my stamp room and was ready to put a few stamps and ink together.  I felt the creative block coming on pretty strong but I finally pushed forward and just started grabbing new products from the Occasions Mini to play with.  This new mini is one of the best in my book.  Lots of great products.  The excitement of playing with the new stuff brought back all my warm fuzzies I have for Stampin' Up! products and the company.  I'm working on a plan to get back to my normal business schedule and start putting classes/workshops together again.  It's been a long time but I wouldn't change a thing. It's just time to get busy again!

I'm excited to show you what happened in my stamp room today.  Let me share!

As I was playing with all the new products in my room the one thing I kept saying over and over was WOW, I love this paper.  Stampin' Up! really tickled me pink with all the new DSP they have in the Occasions Mini.  It's just girlie and pretty. The base of the card is where the FUN begins.  I folded a piece of pool party cardstock in half and used my new Edgelits Die called Adorning Accents and the new Adorning Accents Embossing Folders. WOW WEE what a difference these little things can make to a card.  This card became elegant in a matter of seconds!  I think you have to have one!!  I used the new stamp set Apothecary Art.  Lucky for you I don't have to pronounce this set.  My tongue does not like to say Apothecary!  The beauty of this stamp set is how it coordinates with the Framelits Labels Collection on page 6 of your mini.  WOW. Love this label and love these dies.  I stamped the image with VersaMark onto Naturals White cardstock and then embossed the image with Pewter powder.  I colored in the small flowers with a blender pen and made this very simple. I used the Attic Boutique DSP which is stunning and pared it with the Pleated Satin Ribbon that makes me smile every time I touch it.  Gone are the days of pleating my own ribbon while I have this beautiful ribbon on hand.  I used the Pear Pizzazz ribbon. If you look closely enough you will notice that I used the scallop edge from Adorning Accents Edgelits  under my pretty Designer Series Paper too.  I dazzled the card with a few tiny pearls and a few of the new biggie ones too.  Last thing I added was a little shimmer and my Spritzer tool with Early Espresso and Pool Party markers.  Viola! Kimberly STAMPED!!

Hopefully by seeing all of these exciting new products you are ready for a few yourself.  You can find them all HERE! I like to call this my little Vintage Shop.  Boy is it filled with lots of things I love.  

I'm getting ready to turn the lights out for a few hours and then I'm coming back tonight to play a little more.  That's HOW excited I am!! 

XOXOXO

Here is the card for the day-

Yes, another Gently Falling stamp set card.  Good news… I've put the stamp set to rest for a little while.  We need to move forward to a few other holidays.  LOL! This is a  simple layout.  I added one fun product on this card to add texture to the focal point of the card.  My favorite wheel, Music Notes.  I wheeled lightly over the leaves using More Mustard ink.  I really like how that looks.  Hopefully those dang music notes are going the right way.  I can be silly like that. 

You can find Fall pretties like these above in my Online Store. 

Have a FABULOUS day.  I'm off to stamp like a crazy woman. 

XOXOXO

I told you this is a week of FALL inspiration.  First I want to share a couple fast My Digital Studio pages. While these have nothing to do with Fall, I just had to share.  I'm no where even close to being a pro with this program but I love it.  It's so simple and every time I do a project or a layout I learn something new.  Let's just say I have many "A-Ha" moments.  It's a great day to share these because there are NEW Digital Downloads today too.  Click HERE to view them.  Love the new digital kit. 

After writing about the "Trinity" fiasco I wanted to do a scrapbook page to capture this memory FOREVER.  I am sure to hold this over his sweet little head one day.

Almost every day I get the pleasure of seeing this sweet face below on my computer screen.  The other day our big light bulb moment was when we both figured out how to take a screen shot of the two of us on skype.  Kinda stupid but it's amazing the little things that make us smile. Notice how clear this picture of him is? It's usually just a beige blog that moves on my computer screen.  I miss this great man!!

Lastly, let me share my Fall card:

This is a super simple card.  It uses two of my favorite tools.  Let me share.  First the stamp sets…The stamp set I used for the main focus of the card was Autumn Splendor #116503. 

I also used this A la Carte stamp set called Just Thank You #122911

My two favorite tools used on this card are the Spritzer Tool and the Gold Glow Smooch Spritz (118770). Right now there is not a project that can escape either of theses tools.  I love the Glow that the Gold Smooch Spritz adds to a project.  It's just beautiful. The inks used for the Leaf images was Soft Suede and Crumb Cake. 

There you have it.  That was a lot to take in today but I hope you enjoyed these projects.  You can find all these fun products in my Super Duper Cool Online Store. 

Time for me to get my stampin' groove on.  It's raining outside and I have lots to stamp!

Make it a fantastic Tuesday!

Big SUPER HUGE….XOXOXOXO

Did you know before I sold Stampin' Up! I was a Pampered Chef demonstrator.  I'm not sure how that happened?  They have great products but again I'm not into the cooking gig and I for sure do not like cleaning it up.  So how in the world does this tie into my project today? Let me tell ya…

I love the new set in the catalog called House & Home (#122577) and Now You're Cookin' (#121327).  I love the vintage style of the House & Home set and then the Domestic Goddess DSP (#122355) is just super cute.  Besides being so cute, the name of the DSP makes me want it.  The million dollar question was how I was going to use the stamp set.  ???  I have a few ideas planned for friends over the holidays.  You can make very cute tags attached to kitchen ware gifts using both of these sets.  I thought I would start with a card.  I made this card for a new friend in town that just moved here.  She really has it all together and has her house unpacked and put together.  She really inspires me to get off my duff and get busy.  She also sews and just overly domesticated.  I think she secretly wears a superwoman cape at night….

Here is my card I am bringing tomorrow for her with a little gift to welcome her. 

I really love the designer paper.  I took two different patterns and sewed a random pattern over the two pieces.  I wanted it to look quilted.  The base of the card is Poppy Red.  You can see the Pool Party in the DSP and my stamped image. Can you see how VERSATILE Pool Party is? It's a must new color this year.  I also added a Vintage Brad near my Modern Label punch.

I may not be crazy domesticated in the cooking department but this card will even spice up a wrapped box of Mac n Cheese!. <smile> 

I think we will need this set for Christmas/Holiday gifts this year.  What do you think? You can see all the coordinating products in my Online Store. 

Have a GREAT weekend.

This card uses the Forever Young stamp set. 

One of my favorites about this set is the coordinating products that go with it.  Beautiful Timeless Portrait Fabric and Designer Paper. Check this out!

Hang on! I'm not done.  There is more to coordinate.  WOW! How about even the Digital Download??? Yep!

The best part is that you have all these options above or you can do what I did and coordinate the products on your own with other great products from the catalog.  LOL!

For this particular card I used the Mocha Morning Specialty Paper.  I stamped the tree and sweet girlie using Whisper White Craft ink onto my favorite Crumb Cake.  I also added a little taffeta ribbon just because I can and topped off the card with a sentiment set that is one of my fav's right now-Friendly Phrases.  I really like the font of this greeting/sentiment set.  You can find all these lovely products in my Online Store or click the direct links provided. 

One last project to show you from the creators at Stampin' Up!-

Isn't this super cute? You can see more of the projects like this one on page 78 of the Idea Book & Catalog.  Really a great wall decoration for your home.

Make this a GREAT Friday!

XOXOXO