Marvelous Possibilities

Today is my hubbie, Gary's, birthday, and I wanted to make a special card for him. I have had my eye on this cascade or accordian card for a while, and wanted to try making one. I got the idea from Frenchie Martin who has a wonderful video that you can check out here .,along with some great examples.  I have had pinwheels on my mind this week, ever since I saw 3 little boys shopping with their mom at Target last Sunday.  They were each holding a pinwheel, and walking behind there mom like little ducks.  There pinwheels were spinning, and their eyes were focused on them. Mom kept turning around to tell the boys to watch where they were going.  I always loved pinwheels, and remember my parents letting us hold them out the car windows.  It was something special that you got at birthday parties, carnivals or the fair.  Or the dimestore, if you were a good girl while mommy shopped.   I need to buy some pinwheels for my grandkids, 'cause they're special! I used some paper f

I have to show off the card that we will be making at this weekend's Card Buffet that I made with all new Stampin' Up! products.  The stamp set is Betsy's Blossoms, and I do love this blossom.  I stamped the large blossom and cut it out using a little free hand around the edge to follow the crazy little petals.  On the background I inked the stamp and stamped it once on scratch paper, then twice on the card stock to give it some dimension.  I popped the cut flower with dimensionals to set it off, and added a large pearl accent.  The bird was stamped with Midnight Muse, and then I cut it out and popped it up as well, sitting on a branch stamped in Gumball Green.  Backed the card with Gumball Green cardstock, and added a bow with the stitched satin ribbon in Gumball Green. Here is another version using the same stamps and colors, only this time I used a half of a scalloped circle, and cut the end of the white layer with a circle cutter.  It was a little fussier to ma

I actually designed this card in May to be used for Memorial Day.  I have been inspired by some other bloggers to make cards for those who served in the military, and even though every day is a good day to thank them for serving we all seem to think more about this for Veterans Day or Memorial Day, or the Fourth of July.  I guess any day is a good day to thank somebody who serves in the military past or present, or serves as a police or firefighter.  This card may look a little girly, but the girls serve, too.  This would make a fun card for a July birthday, and I have several of those coming in my family, too.  Made this card with Bright Blossoms stamp set, and Summer Smooches DSP.  The border is made with a Martha Steward punch, which is one of my favorites.  Stamped the tulips with Not Quite Navy, added a red brad to each, backed them with Real Red and popped them up with Dimensionals.  Hope you like my version of the patriotic card.  It is one we will be offering at the card bu

Getting new cards ready for the card buffet is always fun.  When we started the card buffets we brought an assortment of samples, and asked our friends to show us the cards they liked best, and would like to see at future card buffets.  The one thing that was unanimous was that they wanted to see masculine type cards.  We all seem to have a number of sons and grandsons that we would like to make cards for.  So I always try to keep that in mind when making my selections for the card buffet.  Since many stamp sets retired in May, and some of mine retired along time ago and I still love them and use them, I have used several retired sets for cards this month, because people requested these cards.  Eventually I will have some new stamp sets for making those masculine cards, but for now I work with what I have got.  This card was made using a retired stamp called Sail Away and DSP called Nautical Expedition.  The sailboat is very special to me.  I used to work in a store that was acros

I am looking forward to another Card Buffet next weekend.  I have not had much time for card making over the last week.  Been so busy with the grandkids, and spending time getting ready for last weekends craft sale that I have not had time for myself. With school out this week, and day camp not yet started, my granddaughter Emily came to spend the day on Wednesday.  She was excited to be with her little cousin, Olivia, and shortly after arriving she had her on her lap.  Emily said that she could feel a tooth in Olivia's mouth while baby was biting on her finger.  Sure enough, Olivia had got her first tooth, and Emily was the one to find it!  That's exciting! Emily is showing off Olivia's first tooth. I did for a bit get the opportunity to get in the craft room on Wednesday with my granddaughter, Emily.  She wanted to make a card for her dad and mom's anniversary.  This is the first card she made that was entirely stamped, and did she stamp.  I put away stamps from

these are three of the cards available at this month's buffet MAKE – A - CARD BUFFET on Friday, June 22 from 6:30 to 9:30 or Sunday, June 24 from 3:00 to 6:00. 101 Willow Pond Trail, Lino Lakes, MN (located 6 miles south of 35W split near CR23) Stampin Up! 's new catalog arrived with new stamps, new colors, new stamp pads, and new paper and trims. We have exciting new ideas for fabulous cards for our card buffet. Come and make 5 creative cards of your choice for $10, and $2 for each additional card . Over 15 original new cards for you to choose from. Never stamped before? We are here to give instructions and inspire you, to help you create beautiful paper crafts. If you have stamped before, we can teach you new techniques. Bring a friend, and you both receive a gift. Check out our blogs to see the cards we will be offering. Please RSVP by June 18. Hope to see you there. Mary Bellis 651-353-4594 www.marvelouspossibilit

I became a demonstrator with Stampin' Up! last January, because they made me an offer I just could not refuse.  I could get my products at a discount, and still not spend any more that what I was already spending on my craft supplies.  Who does not want a discount?  I did!  Since June 1 they have made the offer even sweeter.  For $99 you can become a demonstrator, whether you want to be a hobbyist, and get the discount for yourself, or as an active demonstrator, who wants to make a little income (to fund her craft addiction, like I did.)  My upline director, Kay Kolthoff, tells how she joined just a few years back just for her own discount, but along the way she met friends who also loved the products, and wanted to become demonstrators, too.  She now has more that 30 demonstrators who have joined with her.  I am telling you this, because I never want a friend of mine to say that I never offered them the opportunity to join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator, or that I never told

Ooops!!  I gave the wrong dates for our card buffet.  I must have been looking at last years calendar, or something.  The correct dates for our June Card Buffet is Friday, June 22 from 6:30 to 9:30 pm and Sunday, June 24 from 3:00 to 6:00 pm.  Debby corrected me when I sent her a copy of the flier the first time, and I went in and corrected it on one of the fliers, but not both.  It was probably one of those days when I was trying to type with a baby on my lap, and gave up.  Well, now you know!  I sure hope you can come either day.  We have got some great cards planned for you to make.  I got to go to our trailer in the woods of Wisconsin this weekend.  We had gorgeous weather with temps in the high 70's to low 80's.  Perfect evenings for a campfire, and perfect afternoons for crafting on the porch.  Debby and I both worked on our cards for our demonstrator swap tomorrow night.  I don't want to spoil the surprise for the other demonstrators, because part of the fun is look

I have another new stamp set to reveal today!!  Betsy's Blossoms is so much fun.  I don't have many stamp sets that are florals.  I guess I kind of gravitate toward more cutesy stamps.  It was the bird that attracted me first, but I have found I LOVE the flowers.  I have had so much fun playing with these flowers, and the  NEW STAMP PADS.  The new pads are a firm foam pad that gives such beautiful even coverage, and it only requires a light tap, tap to get a nice coverage.  I love them!!  Oh, and the 5 new In Colors are so sweet, too.  The paper and leaf are Bubblegum Green.  The stitched satin ribbon is Bubblegum Green, too, and comes in all the new In Colors.  The bird is Midnight Muse, and the blossoms are Raspberry Ripple that was stamped off 3 times.  I hand cut the bold blossom and popped it out using Stampin' Dimensionals.  It's a big 2 1/2" blossom, and could be cut with a circle punch, but I wanted to get a little petal detail on this one.  Betsy's

I needed an anniversary card for my son and his wife this week, and I used the Happy You stamp set again to make a fun card.  The Rich Razzelberry color reminds me of the rich colors from their beautiful wedding.  Smita's family is from India, and the wedding looked like a walking rainbow with all the beautiful sarris the women wore.  Smita wore a magenta and gold gown, and the tables and flowers were decorated in shades of magenta, oranges and gold.  Just a feast for the eyes! I added some sparkle to the card using some silver glitter paper for the hearts, and some Dazzling Details on the little butterflies to compliment the sparkling hearts, and a few rhinestone jewels.  The greeting came from the Petite Pairs stamp set which has just the right scale to go with these little stamps. The paper is DSP Summer Smooches.   I hope you like this card, and the Happy You stamp set.  You can check it out along with other new sets in the Stampin' Up! catalog just released June 1. C

I told you I would have something special to show you today.  It's the Stampin' Up! new catalog.  It will be revealed online today at noon.  Just as soon as I can I will have a connection from my blog, but it might now happen before I head out for the weekend.  I am heading up to Wisconsin to our trailer in the woods.  This will be my first weekend up there this year.  My husband has been up to spend a couple weekends already, to get the place opened up and ready for me :)  It should be a lovely mild weathered weekend, and I plan to spend my time on the porch making cards.  I have a swap on Monday, and I have only come up with my design, and have about 20 cards to make.  When I get that done, I have to start cutting paper for our June card buffet, too.  I have to share with you some of the cute little cards I made this week with the Happy You stamp set that I got last week for our preview from the new catalog.  I think the Summer Smooch DSP pairs so well with this stamp

I was so excited to get a couple new stamps sets available to Stampin' Up! demonstrators as part of our sneak peek from our New Catalog.  I was so busy last week getting ready for guests, and having so much fun last weekend with the family.  Then I spent the next couple days recovering from all the activity. Yesterday I finally got a chance to get into my craft room, with it's clean, organized table, and start some creating.  I love this new set called Happy You.  It has all these cute little mini images, and they pair beautiful with the DSP Summer Smooches paper.  I could not wait to make this cute little baby card.  I spent a lot of time playing peek-a-boo with my babies this past weekend, so it seemed very appropriate for my mood. I tried adding some buttons to the card, at first, but they seemed too bulky, so I pulled out my Sizzlets Buttons, and got the embellishments, without the bulk.  I'd love to send this little card to my little grandson, Kol, just to let hi