Sale ends November 30th to get your Stitched Shapes before the release of the new Annual Catalog in the spring of 2017. promotional information here:  http://www.needsaribbon.com/2016/11/stitched-from-heart-new-stitch-products.html?m=1 As you will see in the video why I have come to love the Stitched with Cheer kit from the 2016 Holiday catalog from Stampin' Up! Seriously, so much in the catalog coordinates with the kit and stamp set, I am not sure what the count on coordinating products are, you will just have to watch the video to find out. And needing tips on this kit? See this post for more information:  http://www.needsaribbon.com/2016/11/stitched-with-cheer-project-kit-help.html?m=1 Thank you for stopping by today! Keep being creative, Sandy

This is one of those stamp sets you do not want to have to need but you know you do. Heartfelt Sympathy on page 51 of the 2016-17 annual catalog with item 138764 in photopolymer.  For some reason I prefer to cut this greeting out with the layering ovals framelits. The background is the new petal burst embossing folder, item 141493. The decorative paper is retired, it was English Garden from the previous years annual catalog, but any matching paper will get you the same look. Thank you for stopping by today. Keep being creative, Sandy

Creating yet another card from the Merry Medley background stamp in the Holiday 2016 catalog. See, I am going to get to you to need to buy this set yet. It is so versatile and easy to use.  I added just a pop of the pumpkin glitter paper from the same catalog. It really gives it a pop and makes the greeting come alive.  The stars background was made using stamp from the Stitched with Cheer stamp set in the same catalog. Thank you for stopping by today. Keep being creative, Sandy

Here is another sample of the cards I created using the cut apart Merry Medley background clear mount stamp from the Stampin' Up! Holiday 2016 catalog. The star strand is from the Tin of Tags stamp set in the same catalog. 142180 is the item number. The simplicity of this card needs no more decoration. This would make a great mass producible Christmas card.  Thank you for stopping by today. Keep being creative, Sandy

P In a previous post I talked about cutting apart the Merry Medley stamp set in clear mount from the Stampin' Up! Holiday 2016 catalog. I colored the Love Joy and Peace new greeting with a marker to get each word a different color. The holly is from the Berry Builder Punch and the stamp set are all products you can find in the Holiday 2016 catalog. The Holly background is from the 2016-17 annual catalog item 141634. Thank you for stopping by today. Keep being creative, Sandy

As I have showed in a previous post my friend Jeny cut apart one of her Merry Medley background stamps in clear mount. I had a chance to play with a few of the now separated greetings. Here is one of the simple but stately cards I created using the Silent Night greeting.  I used the clear Wink of Stella to color each start. They now twinkle brightly in the Night of Navy sky. Thank you for stopping by today. Keep being creative, Sandy

link to video:   I apologize for some of the video being sideways, I didn't want to edit it since I have been trying to post this for more than 15 months. I was tasked with creating a box for gift cards for my nieces wedding in August of 2015. Her wedding was at the base of a mountain in NM and was themed with natural greens and a pop of dark purple and the couple loves the outdoors and camping and cabin life. My problem happened as I was traveling and couldn't find what I wanted locally to make it ahead of time, and i was limited on what tools I could bring because of baggage restrictions. By the time we landed I was getting pretty stressed about this project. I could have done the easy route and just simply decorated a paper mache box, but that is just not Sandy's way of doing things! The night before it was due I was running from store to store looking for a birdhouse. Thats really what the bride wanted. Home Depot to Michaels to every store in betwe

When my friend Jeny was over recently for an epic crafting session, she was playing around with ideas for her Christmas card, and just playing around with the fox stamp and punch from Stampin' up! For the trees she used the Perfect Pines framelits on page 192 of the 2016 Annual Catalog. The pines are item number 139665. I love how the tousling and the brick background help the trees and fox pop! Thank you for stopping by today! Keep being creative, Sandy

My friend Jeny made this cute get well card for a fellow demonstrator. The umbrella is from the My Hero stamp set on page 209 of the 2016 Annual Catalog and support RMHC Ronald McDonald House Charities.  Here are some more samples using that stamp set.  Thank you for stopping by today.  Keep being creative, Sandy

Recently when my friend (and downline) Jeny was over for an epic crafting session, she was working on prototypes for her Christmas card. She knew she wanted to use the fox punch, and she wanted Night of Navy, Mint Macaron and Watermelon Wonder as the colors. Oh, and she wanted to incorporate the Merry Medley background stamp from the Holiday 2016 catalog into her card.  Sounds like a pretty tall order incorporating all those elements, right? Here is one of her versions for her card. The mint behind the cajun really makes Mr Fox pop off the navy background. And his nose is a small pearl colored with a black marker.  This may, or may not, have been the final draft of her card.  Thanks for stopping by today! Keep being creative, Sandy

Recently I have been ruminating over a growing problem. Why don't more males scrapbook or do something with the pictures they take on their phones? Manu of them take just as many photos as their female counterparts, if not more. I do not look at picture taking as a gender thing at all. I am sure there are statistics, but whatever. Last February my husband came home and was rather proud of the photos he had taken during his walk. I asked him, what are you going to do with those photos? He said "don't really know, look at them i guess". Asked "do you like them enough you would like to save them, more than just backed up to a cloud somewhere?" Answer: "yes, I guess i do." And so began the discussion of why and how he could do more than just have them on his phone. He then started to realize the "why" of scrapbooking. Yippeeeee!  I had him download the Project Life app for his iPhone. Let's face it, most men won't haul ou

This card was created by my friend Jeny when she was over in my studio recently. She was playing around with ideas for her Christmas card. I love the gold layered over the Cajun Craze as an alternate to red for a Christmas card. 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jun/11/what-if-you-had-no-family-photographs Very interesting. My own mother wanted nothing to do with the few photos that were available of her pre family life until her last remaining years. She wanted the photos but never looked at them. Certainly never explained them to me. Leaving  me with a lot more questions than answers. This is part of what drives me to scrapbook. So my own children are not left with questions. And they love the retelling of stories. Yes, they do fuss and grumble when I stop for a picture, but when they look at the scrapbook, smiles happen.  I still say if you have no pictures, there are stories to tell. Anything recorded is better than nothing at all. In fact I have a page I did two years ago, had to pull stock photos off the web, but it told a strong summer memory I had that I wanted preserved outside my very own mind. Means nothing to anyone else. But what if I get dementia and those stories help? 

Stand Tall and Wear a Crown! Pineapples are everywhere! Check out this cute card with a pop of pink and the Pineapple background stamp set. 141746 clear mount 141743 wood mount. You can see more of it on page 124 of the 2016-17 annual catalog. Yes I did fussy cut out the pineapple.. They are fairly straight cuts so it goes pretty quick.  Thank you for stopping by today! Keep being creative, Sandy

Item 142152 clear mount $15 Item 142148 wood mount $20 Merry Medley is a very useful stamp set. My friend Jeny ordered her stamp set in clear mount (actually she ordered two and cut one version apart) so that all the different greetings could be separate mounted on a clear block. The way she cut it apart gave her 10 different holiday greetings for the price of the $15 stamp set.  Thank you for stopping by today! Keep being creative, Sandy

I love this kit! Here is a sheet I created to help you with your kit assembly. The link below will provide you with a downloadable .PDF or you can just read the information in this post. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2l8yj0AktWDTDBOOHJYSlktQTg STITCHED WITH CHEER PROJECT KIT 142012 Item Holiday Catalog   ***   Makes 18 cards & envelopes My Tips for You from Sandy McManus www.needsaribbon.com This is a fun and easy to put together kit. It looks like you spent hours and hours assembling. The stitching really is quite quick. You will have lots and lots of leftover pieces to create your own things. Stamper Level: Beginner to Expert Time needed : as a group, plan on 3-4 hours, less for experienced crafters. Short on time? Do a step a day, such as stitch all of one card per day. Stamp one day. Envelopes one day. Stamp Set: Stitched with Cheer 142182 item Holiday Catalog Supply Items: add scotch tape Greeting

Monday November 28th Only  a sale so good  you just can't pass on these deals.  I know I will be taking advantage of them!  Shop at  http://www.needsaribbon.com   or  http://www.needsaribbon.stampinup.net   both get you to the same place!

S tarting Monday November 21st  a sale so good  you just can't pass on these deals.  I know I will be taking advantage of them!  Shop at  http://www.needsaribbon.com   or  http://www.needsaribbon.stampinup.net   both get you to the same place!

I am returning to making videos for you. It is something I do enjoy. I think part of it is learning new software (iMovie) and it is another creative outlet. It is also another way for me to share, in this case, a large number of projects with you without you having to view a verrrrry long blog post. Enjoy the movie! I explain in the description on YouTube the learning process and problems I do know exist with this video. I used this one as more of a test to learn the process. If you want more information on supplies used, please comment below. Can you imagine how long a blog post this would be if I posted all the supplies used? It would be a never to be read novel! Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and subscribe to my blog to stay up on the most recent craftiness happening at home. Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate you! Happy creating, Sandy

For the month of November Stampin' Up! is early releasing their new Stitched framelits. The Stitched framelits come in 3 shapes each in 4 sizes - circles, squares and ovals. These framelits add a stitched look to your project giving it the perfect finish touch. The Stitched Shapes framelits are available at their regular price. But the coordinating stamp sets are available at 25% off! But wait - there's more! To continue the stitching trend Stampin' Up! has several more products that coordinate with the Stitched Shapes, creating endless possibilities of creative ideas. ITEM DESCRIPTION RETAIL PRICE SALE PRICE 145372 Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies-Set Of 12 Dies Which Includes Four Circles, Ovals, And Squares $30 USD/$40 CAD No Discount 142069 (HC P. 11) Greetings From Santa Wood-Mount Stamp Set $27 USD/$35 CAD $20.25 USD/$26.25 CAD 143269 (HC P. 11) Greetings From Santa Clear-Mount Stamp Set $19 USD/$25 CAD $14.25 USD/$18.75 CAD 142114 (HC P. 15) Hang