New Hostess Clubs Now Forming!

I am excited to announce that new Hostess Clubs are now forming! These clubs will begin in either October or November. However, to prepare for the class - please reserve your spot by September 1!

What is a Hostess Club?
A Hostess Club is a group of stampers or scrapbookers that meet one night every other month in my home to create projects featuring Stampin’ Up! products. Each member of the Club commits to a specified number of meetings with a minimum order amount.

What do I get for joining a Hostess Club?
You will receive a Stampin’ Up! Idea Book & Catalog for FREE. You will receive any Mini Catalogs released during the club for FREE. You will have the opportunity to be the Hostess once during the Club. You will receive at least a Level 1 Hostess Set, and at least $15 in FREE Stampin’ Up! merchandise. You will create 3-4 projects every other month using current Stampin’ Up! merchandise. You will have fun with other ladies who love to create!

What is the cost to join a Hostess Club?
Each Club must meet a minimum of $150 for every class. So, if your Club has 5 members, you will be committed to the club for 10 months, and agree to purchase $30 in merchandise every other month! If your Club has 6, you are committed for 12 months, and agree to purchase $25 in merchandise every other month. And so on. Minimum order does not include tax or shipping.

Do I have to attend every class to be part of a Hostess Club?
No. You do not have to attend any – but you will be expected to place your order and pay before the class. This way the Hostess will be able to select her gifts before she leaves the class!

How do I join a Hostess Club?
Contact me!

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

When I saw Carolyn King's house keychain, I was floored! How cute? Then it hit me. The Neighborhood Jumbo Wheel! Carolyn used cardboard and Mod Podge. I wanted something a little more sturdy. Then I was struck again! Shrinky Dinks!! I had so much fun doing this project as did my kids!

Here's a quick tutorial on how I did it...


You'll need a strip of Shrinky Dink material, Staz-On, 1/4" circle punch, corner rounder, tweezers or something to hold the Shrinky Dink down, Sharpie Markers, a piece of Parchment paper, a heat tool, and of course the wheel.


Wheel the image onto the rough side of the Shrinky Dink.


Color your image in with the Sharpies on the rough side. I left the sky and windows uncolored. Cut your piece of Shrinky Dink (about the size of a credit card). Round the corners and add a 1/4" hole in one end.

Now's the fun part! Start shrinking! Use the heat gun 3-4 inches above the Shrinky Dink and watch it crinkle.


And crinkle some more!

It will start to flatten out. Keep heating. Until it gets really flat. You may need to flip the Shrinky Dink over to get it to flatten out.

Careful not to get too close with the heat gun. You can see here that my big building looks like it is on fire! Oops! It has character! :) It will look and feel like a gel. Let is sit for a few minutes to harden. If you touch it too soon you risk burning yourself, and causing it to lose it's shape.

And here you go! Add a ring and your key, and you are ready to go! If you want to use more SU! items - you can use a piece of Hodgepodge Hardware in lieu of the ring!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Or maybe it's just all the glitter all over my craft room!

The tree is from the set Lovely as A Tree. The "welcome Christmas into your heart" stamp is from a NEW set called Heard from the Heart. You can order the new set August 11.

I stamped the tree in Old Olive craft ink, and then sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds on it. I used my heat gun to set the ink. Then I used a brush to dust off the excess Diamond dust. Two silver brads give the Old Olive and Night of Navy card stock just the right touch.

Manhattan Flowers

Here are a couple of pictures showing the Manhattan Flowers in Chocolate and Kraft on my olive/avocado bathroom wall! I love how it turned out. Still looking for that shower curtain!!

Isn't she lovely?

This is a set that will be coming in the Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog! It's called Sock Monkey! I think it is way cute!!

I had some tulle like ribbon laying around and thought I'd dress up the monkey! I can see lots of dress up with this set! I'm thinking a baseball monkey, or maybe a chef monkey! Too fun!!

Did you notice the edge of the Regal Rose paper??? I made the scallop border with a new SCALLOP BORDER PUNCH!! Woo hoo! No more making individual scallops with the slit punch! You can order your own scallop border punch on August 11!!

I used Lavender Lace, Regal Rose, Pink Passion, Very Vanilla, and Chocolate Chip paper. I paper pieced the brown onto the monkey and used a technique called faux suede. I think I needed to rub a little harder on the paper to get a little more texture - but it works for now!

Good things come in cute boxes!

Hey! How do you like my cute box?

How do you like it now?

What's that? You can't see what's inside the cute box?

Is this better?

Oh ya!

Here is the inside of the box. In case you were wondering what was under the cupcake!

This is a BIG cupcake. We found them at Costco and had them at my son's 10th birthday party this past weekend. I happened to have one left over - so I decided to put it to good use and make a cute cupcake box for it! I used the Bali Breeze Designer Series Paper (which will soon retire so get yours while you still can), and some Pumpkin Pie grosgrain ribbon. Mmm, Pumpkin Pie and cupcakes! Who knew! :)

Now, before you give me a big head... telling me that I'm the next Martha, or wondering what I did to deserve all this talent... let me just tell you that I didn't come up with this idea! *Gasp* I know. But I'll tell you where I found the idea, if you will leave me a comment and Jody a nice comment too! Click on over to Jody Morrow's blog and check out her adorable cupcake box and get the directions so you can try one too! Here's the link to the instructions on her blog : confessionsofaribbonaddict.blogspot.com Now go ahead... leave a comment and then get yourself a yummy cupcake!

I have an excuse!

No, not really. I've just not posted in a few days. Bad blogger, I know! But I do have some pictures to share with you!

I finally hung my Decor Elements canvas! Woo hoo! I used a chocolate satin, and an ivory satin ribbon around both ends of the canvas, and then a chocolate piece to hang the canvas on the wall. I love it!

And here is the other project I have been working on for the past couple of days... I painted the boys' bathroom an olive green color! Maybe it's more avocado green. I actually like it! I was a little scared at first - because I'm a tan and brown kind of girl - but once I got it up on the wall, it quickly grew on me! The boys say it's Army green. We'll see what they call it once I get it finished.

So I'm sure you are wondering why I am showing you a picture of the bathroom. Well, I wanted to paint the bathroom so that I could put the Manhattan Flowers Decor Elements in there! I need to let the paint set for a little bit longer, and then I can apply the flowers - so check back later this week! I'll be shopping this weekend for the shower curtain and rugs. If you happen to see a great deal on a striped, or plaid shower curtain with tan, and olive in it - let me know! :)