Have you decided which items you want FREE with from the Sale-A-Bration catalog yet? Remember that for every (and we mean every) $50 in merchandise, you can choose a FREE item from this catalog. No limits. Ends March 31st. Get shopping today! Click on my SHOP tab above to start shopping!Do you

Stamps: Whelp, can't find which stamp set the greeting is from Papers: Urban Underground 142783 $13.00, gold foil Accessories: Build It Framelits 143230, triple banner punch, gold thread I prefer to call this suite Tool Time or Nailed It, but it is listed in the Occasions 2017 catalog as Urban Underground, pages 46-49.  This card is actually 7" x 5". I needed a bigger card to get all the tools sufficiently spaced out on the front. I used the negative space of the tools and placed gold foil as the first layer on the card. You can see a thin layer of black card stock just under the designer paper. I hollowed out the inside to keep the  gold foil visible through the tool windows.  I have several projects I made using the Urban Underground suite that I will be showing you in the coming weeks.

Above are some of the highlights of the event. I demonstrated the Birthday Bright Project Kit which makes 12 beautiful greeting cards and envelopes and coordinating tags. I showed how easy it is to make shaker boxes or shaker cards. A video and tutorial forthcoming. And coming soon is a video tutorial and tips sheet on the Birthday Bright kit. And congrats to Christine F who joined my team on Saturday!  I am so happy for her, she is going to love our group!  Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Sealed with Love photopolymer 142815 $21 Occasions 2017 Inks: real read, black archival Papers: pink pirouette, real red, whisper white 100730 Accessories: white pom pom trim, sweet and sassy framelits 141707 $35 I was not smart enough to purchase the darling Sending Love designer paper stack 142733 $10 in the Occasions 2017 catalog. So I improvised and made my own paper.  As crazy as this sounds, in my 11 plus years as a demonstrator, and my many years crafting at all, I have never done a one sheet wonder. To explain, if you are unfamiliar, you make your own designer paper, and cut it apart and use that on X number of projects. I used Mae's template I found on Pinterest. There are many templates out there so I thought, why invent an already well made wheel?!  You do not need a lot of supplies either, I like using 3 different stamp images, one ink color and white card stock. You certainly could do your own one sheet wonder using just one stamped

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who stopped by my booth and did the Make & Take (there were 88 of you by my count), took a look at new products, maybe registered to win the prize and purchased items! I feel blessed by the success and fun evening for What A Girl Wants 2017 at Greenhaven Country Club in Anoka!  The prize winners have been notified by mail and have until February 2nd to claim their prize, after that I will draw new names.  Thanks again to those that came. Plan on the third Tuesday of January 2018 for the next What A Girl Wants event!

Stamps: Urban District  143068 $27.00 (wood blocks included) • 143071 $19.00 (suggested clear blocks: b, c, h)  Nailed It 143074 $29.00 (wood blocks included) • 143077 $21.00 (suggested clear blocks: a, b, c, h)  Papers: Urban Underground 142783 $13.00, gold foil, basic gray cardstock, very vanilla card stock, smokey slate card stock, pacific point card stock Accessories: Build It Framelits 143230,  Hexagons Dynamic Embossing Folder 1 43231  $9.00, Triple Banner Punch I prefer to call this suite Tool Time or Nailed It, but it is listed in the Occasions 2017 catalog as Urban Underground, pages 46-49. 

Stamps: Beautiful You page 24 Occasions 2017 item code 143004 wood 143637 clear, Mediterranean Moments page 29 Occasions 2017 item codes  143188 $28.00 (wood blocks included) • 143191 $20.00 Paper: Floral Boutique item code 141663 page 77 annual catalog Accessories: Stitched Shapes, Navy Bakers Twine For a recent Stamp Share for Leaders group meeting (a local upline/downline leadership meeting) I participated in a 49 person swap. I wanted to use the Mediterranean Moments stamp set. Doing some research of what it really looks like there (since I have yet to go there myself) I found a lot of blues and ceramic tile. That inspired me to figure out how to make my own "tile".  I looked through my stash of designer papers to see if I had something that had that Mediterranean feel. The Floral Boutique certainly could pass as some of the tiles.  Next I had to figure out how I was going to use that. Squares were definitely the shape to go. I wanted  the paper

Stamps: Tasty Trucks item code 143300 available during Sale-A-Bration only Papers: Festive Birthday 141630 page 173 Annual Catalog Accessories: Watercolor pencils item code 141709 page 24 Occasions 2017 catalog, aqua painter  Last Tuesday was so busy I didn't get these posted as I had hoped. I was inspired by some of the darling taco Tuesday cards I have been seeing on Pinterest. One of them was by Jari of Card-iology and the other didn't post their information. CASED CARDS I really wish this stamp set - Tasty Trucks, would be available for purchase after March 31st, but it will not be. You can get the set FREE with a $50 purchase during Sale-A-Bration. For the pink and blue card I made my own paper using black ink and 3 stamps on a block and just stamped until I filled the paper. Make sure you have at least one image that overlaps each edge of the paper on all 4 sides.  Making your own paper is incredibly easy and then you will a

You are invited, my followers, to the Inking of You New Catalog and Product Extravaganza this Saturday. Details below. New Catalog and Product Extravaganza Open House Saturday, January 28, 2017 10-1 pm The Lodge & Stage 81 4080 West Broadway, Robbinsdale MN 55422 Live Demonstrations! Prizes! Specials! Samples! Card Contest* More! *Card contest is open to you! Using current or retired Stampin' Up! only products you may enter a card(s) for a chance to win prizes.  Get your catalog if you haven't already received one from me.  Hope to see you there. Be sure to tell them Sandy M invited you when you check in! 

Layout: Design A Card Collection: Heritage Edition Software: Project Life App Scrapbooking 101 Sandy style : Scrapbook the every day, the details around you. It is much easier to go back and do the big holidays later - Christmas, birthdays, even trips, as the description details are likely included in your pictures.  I stopped by a year ago to snap pictures of my mothers final home. This would have been just a few months after her death. Of course while she was there, there was never time to do so, but I wanted to get the pictures while it still looked like it did when she was in residence. Because I had at the pictures, it did take me about 9-10 months for me to actually get it properly documented. I plan on doing more pages on the facility itself and also related to her time and the staff there. The facility is beautiful. If I were of age, I would move in there now.  It is important to remember the places we, or loved ones have lived. My mother was there 24/7 of

Stitched Shape Framelits are back in stock and available for purchase here Item code is 145372 and they are $30 US.  You get 12 framelits that add a stitched look to the edge of the shape. They give a great finishing detail to any project.  Details : Circle: 4 dies, largest image is 2 7/8" Square: 4 dies, largest image is 2 5/8" Ovals: 4 dies, largest image is 3 1/4" x 2 5/16" *Use with Big Shot, Big Shot Platform (new one) and standard cutting pads If you think you will be using them for bulk card making, like swapping, order two. I know now that they are back in stock I will be ordering a second set. Makes paper cutting twice as fast!

In the latest Fixer Upper HGTV home decorating show, they posted this picture recently of the most recent project. I am in love with the stately succulent arrangement by the front door of this home. Did you know you can make your own succulent garden at home that requires no watering at all? Stampin' Up! is so on trend with their new products and kits in the Occasions 2017 catalog! Succulents are everywhere in home decor and more.  You can order your succulent kit today. Item code 143635. Don't forgot to purchase the coordinating greeting stamp set - Vertical Garden, item code 142996. All products are located on page 22 of the Occasions 2017 catalog.  Pages 20-21 has succulent designer papers, more stamp sets and coordinating framelits.  Above are two projects the Inking of You 2016 Achievers got to make at their reward event. Credit to Terri Gaines for the project ideas! She is brilliant at thinking outside the box and also adding in Dollar Sto

Let me explain the history behind this picture/page. My mother-in-law asked us early in November to send some current pictures of us to her. They wanted to compile a family collage for her cousins wife, per her request, because as Judy said, the only ones I every see pictures or hear from is Rory and Sandy's family on Facebook. And getting a group family picture happened just once in 2000. Got that? MIL honoring a request from cousins wife for updated family pictures.  After hearing the request, my mind immediately went to, I can help with that and then some. Trying to gather current photos of family members with busy schedules, who live all over the country and not always the quickest to respond either, I went to Facebook where I am friends with all of them. I grabbed the best photos I could. I also used wedding photos from the previous year of my niece and her hubs. The first grandchild getting married is a momentous occasion, after all.  How to organize the collage  

💖Do what you love...and the rest will follow!  💖 So true. Coming up on my 10 year mark as a demonstrator, and nearing the end of our rewards tracking year, I was encouraged to reach quite a bit. I needed a bit more in sales to end my year and 2 recruits. That would promote me to Sr Supervisor, as was the titling at the time. If I promoted my manager would promote and the level above her would promote. I had less than a month to do it. And Go!!!!! Keep in mind I was in the middle of a major move into a disaster of a house where the kitchen was barely usable, the laundry room barely navigable, a studio that was piled with house stuff. My moms health was declining rapidly. My kids were wrapping up their first year in a new school district. We had a few more items to finish the remodel on the house we were selling before we close at the end of the month. My husbands health was temporarily crap (due to a temporary medicine wrecking havoc with his body). Oh, and lets hav

If you prefer watching your catalog rather than grazing page by page on your own time, this video is for YOU!  I have compiled some of the projects and products from the catalog for you to peruse, maybe while you are working on your own projects. I did not include all the lovely projects and products from the catalog, just some of the project suite highlights. Enjoy! Please comment below if you like this style of video, it will encourage me to make more. Sometimes I prefer the passive videos like this when I want to be hands free. Thank you for stopping by today. Keep being creative, Sandy

For my big annual upcoming event I wanted a banner, or something, to decorate the front of the table. I wanted it easy, inexpensive and quick. In other words, the perfect project! lol, don't we all!!! I dug through my box where I keep my kits and kit pieces. I found a banner kit from I think Occasions 2013 catalog, maybe 2014. Originally it spelled out CELEBRATE, but apparently in my big purge during our move, I tossed it. Oh well. I still had parts of the kit, and with a few additions i whipped out this banner in under an hour. Honestly, it might have been quicker. No matter. The original kit had CELEBRATE as punch out letters, i had 6 pieces of the banner blanks left, what could I spell out in 5-6 letters that seems appropriate? CREATE. Using retired Simple Serif alphabet dies for the Big Shot I cut out the letters in the dazzling diamonds glimmer paper item 135315. I added the target circle of the soon to be released Stitched Framelits dies for a background. I dug and fou

Ladies, it is that time of year! WHAT A GIRL WANTS is happening real soon, 75 plus vendors, food, drinks, live music, canvas painting, eye brow waxing, massages and more.  I will have a darling Male & Take for the first 100 customers! Best to visit right away.  Tuesday, January 24, 2017 4-9 pm Greenhaven Country Club in Anoka,  2800 Greenhaven Road, Anoka MN 55303 $3 and/or food shelf donation and  you get $3 WAGW bucks to spend at booths that night This is my 7th year with this event!   I will have oodles of cards for sale and other darling gift items.  Come see what is new in the Occasions 2017 Catalog. Chance to win beautiful prizes! More! I hope to see you there!

Every super hero needs a red cape!  I used the sunburst die item 140617, for the yellow sunburst. The super-mom and her cape and the comic WOW, are all from the new stamp set Everyday Hero item 143080 on page 49 of the Occasions 2017 catalog. The people parts come in separate stamps. I trimmed the connecting edges just a bit (the stamps are photopolymer) so I could get them stamped as if they are one piece.  The sequins add just enough pop and sparkle to keep the project from looking flat. Remember the rule of odds when adding items, only use an odd number, 1 3 5 7.... Even though I am not a fan of comic books or superhero's I do love this stamp set. Its different enough from all the flower and such that it really caught my eye in the catalog.  I used the new Layering Ovals 141706 and Circles 141705 for the other shapes on the card. They can be found on page 193 of the Annual Catalog. Obviously this is an upcoming swap I have been working on, for ne

My daughter and her love of well, quite silly made up, sayings. She starting quoting this sometime around 5th grade, maybe 6th grade. She has always been a very creative writer, honestly, she should consider a career in fictional writing, but that is not likely to happen.  "One cannot assume for thy clocks, clocks cannot assume for thee." When asked what it means, she just kind of shrugs her shoulders. Only she knows its true origin and meaning. that is fine for her to keep it to herself.  But I thought it was time it was written down, and maybe copyrighted? I think the meaning lies somewhere in her lack of concept of time, she runs purely on artists time. Which if any of you have ever known a true artist, time is a concept of unknown quantity with an artist. If it cannot be rendered on canvas, it does not exist. Therefore, the essence of time is really an object, a clock or watch, which really become more like a decoration or jewelry, in an artists eye.

In my desire to remember the big events in my family's life, I did document our new car purchases of 2016. It is a big deal in our family as we usually drive our cars into the ground, sometimes literally! We lost my beloved 2004 Pontiac Vibe with 230,000 miles, and our 1999 Olds Silhouette van that we inherited from my dad in 2007. It was didn't have many miles on it at all given its age, but it did have a sticky touchy transmission, and numerous other age related problems. It finally wasn't safe to drive when the brakes completely went. And the Vibe met with an ice patch which caused me to collide with another car, going 5-10 miles an hour. Their car was fine. Mine was a mess. Probably saved my life. Turns out when they went to fix the body damage they found that the frame was very bent and not safe at all. I had hit an unavoidable pothole in a narrow road construction zone going 50 mph (the posted speed). The hole was so deep my teeth rattled and the car never

New or re-new watercolor markers from Stampin' Up! They are so easy to use and make coloring like a pro a breeze. Item 141709 on page 24 of the Occasions 2017 Catalog. $16. Most of us Demonstrators are storing the pencils in one of our Stamp Cases 119105 item number, $6 for a 4 pack, page 183 Annual Catalog. Did you know Stampin' Up! is the only place you can get a standard DVD empty case without the annoying bump in the middle? Cool story! Denise, my upline, figured out that not only did the pack of pencils fit in the case, but there is enough room to add a Blender Pen and an Aqua Painter 103954 $17 for a 2 pack - medium and narrow tips. How cool is that? Ready to hit the road packaging. I have seen that a lot of people are cutting apart the pencil packaging and putting it in the case to use as a label.  I didn't cut my package all the way down. I just cut off the top and bottom flaps and one side and it slides right in the sleeve of the case, an

I am so excited to be OnStage bound in April this year! It is in my own backyard, or about 15 miles away. I am staying at a local hotel to make getting there at the crack of dawn easier. Not a morning person here! Plus there is nothing like the late night hotel talks when you are Convention bound!  Plus I will have tips and projects to share with you afterwards. And bonus, this year the big event is back in Salt Lake City. Um, yes please. Already have big plans for that, as it is right around my birthday, and a sidelines birthday.  I have attended 6 big Conventions and 3 local ones in my time as a demo. There was only 1 year where there was no local or big annual convention - 2010. I really do get pumped up going, and come back recharged. I have always felt it is a worthwhile expense. Plus I really do enjoy hanging out with my local demonstrators and meeting new ones.  If you are interested in attending OnStage with me, join today for $99 and we can get you registered

Sale-A-Bration Catalog from Stampin' Up!   (video) Video of products and projects from the Sale-A-Bration 2017 catalog. Items available until March 31, 2017. Get the times FREE with every $50 you purchase. No limit on items earned.  Host a party of $250 or more and earn $25 of products you can add to your order, Join during Sale-A-Bration for $99 and get up to $104 worth of stamp sets - 2 FREE any value stamp sets!!! Occasions 2017 Catalog from Stampin' Up!  (video) Video of products and projects from the 2017 Occasions Catalog from Stampin' Up! Items available until May 31, 2017. My personal reviewal of the 2 catalogs from Stampin' Up! (video) and you get the added bonus of hearing m voice ;-) Thank you for stopping by today. Be sure to LIKE my videos and subscribe to my YouTube channel and my blog. Keep being creative, Sandy

So on trend Stampin' Up! is with the Food Truck stamp set! Honestly, I will be sad when you cannot get this set after March 31, 2017. You can get it for FREE during Sale-A-Bration with a $50 order until that date. When you place your online order you will be prompted when to type in your selection. Use item code 143300 (remember they are photopolymer so you will need to have clear blocks to use the stamp. Use blocks a, c, d). In fact, purchase the blocks, cardstock, ink pad, and bakers twine and you are just about at the $50 mark to get your FREE set already. Or add on the fun new Watercolor Pencils on page 24 of the Occasions 2017 catalog, 141709 $16 What? You do not have your Sale-A-Bration catalog yet (or SAB for short) and need one quickly? email me now and use subject I need a SAB Catalog  in your email. Wanna learn more about how you can save and Sale-A-Brate? Contact me or watch my YouTube video.  Thank you for stopping by today!