A Sunny Monday Thank You

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Hey y'all! I hope this Monday finds you warm, dry and well rested from the long Holiday weekend. Here in the DMV the sun is weakly trying to shine and it's relatively warm compared to where it has been. (It's in the 50's and expected to be in the 60's) In fact I only had to wear one jacket and no gloves or scarve today and the space heaters are not even on yet in my office so I'm a happy girl!

Now, if I was only somewhere with the sun warmly shining on my face and the water either lapping at my feet or gently rocking me, that would be Amazing! What?!? A girl has to have dreams....

Did you have a good weekend? I got to spend Saturday afternoon stamping with my buddy April. We were working on swaps for our upcoming Regional type meeting with Janet Wakeland. We're so excited! I got to work on them some more yesterday while I watched football and they are almost done. YEA! Sometimes the simple looking cards are not simple at all!!!!!!

Sadly though, it is Monday and you know what that means, (besides being back at work) yep the Sunday Football recap. I'm a southern girl, what can I say. College ball had a big  Huge weekend. FSU beat Miami, S. Carolina beat Florida, VT beat out GT, but when it came to the following, they were just blow-outs. Alabama over Miss. State, UGA over Auburn and LSU over W. Kentucky. These opponents just failed to show-up....SMH.

Sunday Football, now that made me a Happy Girl! I was def doing the Happy Girl Dance around the house. Cowbows were in the house. Dolphins tore it up in Miami, and of course by default that means that the Redskins lost in a fabulous fashion! (Double Score!) Then to cap it all off, the Pats soundly beat the Jets! Oh such a good day! It's making my Monday, just thinking about it.

Now, that Sunday's all caught up let's get on to today's card.

Today's card is a little bit of a departure for me. I don't usually do lots of layers, but I did for this card. I wanted to try something different and I have to say I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. I actually made this card about two months ago and have been waiting to post it and today seemed like a good day. Even though there are lots of layers it still has a Clean feel about it.

I used a base of Daffodil Delight cardstock. I wish it showed up a little better here. Such a sunny, cheery color for a Monday morning. I layered it with Whisper White and some DSP from the Brights Pack that I got with my starter kit.

I used the stamp set For All You Do, which I also got as part of my starter kit. Such a versatile set, and Ilove that I got to pick it out instead of having someone pick out the sets for me.

I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the solid image of flowers in the center. That thing is AMAZING! I will say that it takes a little bit of time and practice to get the hang of, but once you master it, it will become a staple and a favorite tool in your line-up.

For the inside, I kept it simple and clean as well.

I simply stamped the sentiment and the little butterfly from the same stamp set and my card was done.

If you're wondering if your eyes are deceiving you, nope, they're not... not a hint of glimmer or shimmer to be found on this card. (This was before Tink took up permanent residence in the studio)

So there you have it, today's simple Sunny Thank You Card. This one would be fairly easy to make multiples of and have on hand or to give as a gift.

While we're talking about Thank-you's, let me once again say Thanks, for taking the time out of your busy day to take a moment and stop by here. I really appreciate you!

As always, if you need supplies to recreate this card or make others, you can shop in my online store 24/7. Just click HERE and get everything you need. Now's a great time to get all your Holiday shopping done and if you book a workshop or are a hostess you can get even more benefits. Contact me for more info.

I hope you enjoyed today's card. If you liked it, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)

I hope you'll come back soon to see what else I have for you.

Till the next time,

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

A Veteran's Day Thank You

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Hey y'all. I hope everyone is enjoying an amazing day off courtesy of all the Brave Men and Women who have so valiantly served over the years to help give us the freedoms that we have today.

Today's post will be a short one. I can see the eye's rolling of my regulars, and hear the "uh-huh's" as they read that line.

"When does Shan ever have a short post?" you might be asking. Fair enough question actually. Today, would be the answer but mainly because it's a repost.

I originally posted this card on 9/11, as a tribute to those who served and to my friend James' son who had just graduated Army Bootcamp. I guess I could have done a Thank-You card today but it just didn't seem like it would have been enough. I haven't got this stamp set yet (I had borrowed it before) or the other one in the series, although they are definitely on my to buy list.

For those of you that are new here, hopefully it's new to you, for those of you that have been with me, it's a personal favorite of mine and I hope you don't mind revisiting it quite so soon-

I would like to say Thanks today to everyone who has ever served. I truly believe that Freedom isn't Free and I am thankful for all the freedoms that I have today and I realise that they are there because of the brave men and women who have so selflessly served in my place.

I hope that if you get the chance to say thanks to someone in uniform today you will, not just for the day off that we are enjoying but for everything that their sacrifices have given us.

God Bless Us All,

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you'll stop in next week when I'll have new stuff to show you.

Have a blessed weekend. Till then,

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

End of the Week Technique # 7 Fall Pumpkins

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Hey y'all! I hope everything's going good for you today and you are getting a moment to just sit down and relax while you take a quick peek in here.
Do you have the day off tomorrow? I hope you do and you get to sleep in! How nice would that be! I get the day off, and just have to work a few hours tomorrow night, so I can't complain too much.

The sun is trying to shine here in the DMV, although the weatherman says the rain is coming and worse, oh so much worse than that, he says the cold is coming too! It should be in the 40's tomorrow! *GASP* *SHIVER*

As much as I would like to deny it, I think I finally have to admit it.... Fall is Here.

With that in mind, today's technique is a project we did at last weekend's Fall Stamp Camp. We made some sweet little pumpkins. They are not the original idea I had for a project, but I was very pleased with how they turned out, my stampers loved them and in the end I think it was a much friendlier beginner project.

I made two. One ahead of time and one with my ladies. (Actually, I made about 5, trying different techniques, but these are the only 2 anyone is ever likely to see. LOL)

Here's a picture of them on my kitchen table. Aren't they cute?

 I used Pumpkin Pie for one and Cajun Craze for the other.

Here's a closer view-

You can't really tell from this angle, but the one in the front is a little squatter. I was experimenting with strip lengths. You definitely need at least 6 inches for this project. While cute, this one just isn't as full and round, and it was definitely harder to assemble.

I combined ideas from a couple of different sites and people for these to make them my own.
You'll need the following-
2 - 6 x 6 inch sections of cardstock. You will cut this down later into 12 - 6 x 1 inch strips
2 brads
Whatever stamp set you would like to use for the leaves and
1/4 inch strip of green cardstock (I used Old Olive) to make the vine
Embossing Folder (This is optional and you can use the embossing folder of your choice)

Tip- If you want to use an embossing folder you have 2 options. I tried using a 5 1/2 inch strip to fit the dimensions of the folder and it's really to short. Perhaps if you had less strips it might work, I'm not sure, I didn't have time to make more. Sorry.

Option 1- Put the cardstock in your desired folder and run in through your Big Shot. Once it comes out, shift the cardstock down and realign the cardstock with the embossed images. It should be fairly easy to see and align, at least it was with the dots. Run it through your Big Shot again. Do this until your cardstock is completely covered with your image.
I did this the first time, and it was fairly quick and painless. The difficulty comes when you cut your cardstock. It takes a little more effort to cut through the texturized paper. I found it doesn't cut as quickly
and cleanly.

Option 2- Cut your cardstock into 1inch strips, place them in your embossing folder and run them through your Big Shot. I preferred this method and laid 4 strips in the folder at a time so it took 3 passes to emboss the strips.

Experiment and see what works best for you.

1- Once you have your strips embossed and cut out, or just cut out if you don't want to emboss, line them up and place them in the small punch side of your Crop-A-Dile tool. It will punch through all layers at once. Flip it around to the other end and do the same.

2- Take one of your brads and insert it into the strips and open it up. The head will be on the outside of your pumpkin, the flanges on the inside.

3- Fan out your strips. Take your second brad and hold it flanges up this time. One by one start bringing your strips up and sliding the punched hole over the upright ends of your brad.

4- As you do this you will fan the strips you have brought up into a circle and you will see your pumpkin taking shape. You may have to shift your fingers around a little as you near the last of your strips. Just be sure to keep one finger on the inside of your pumpkin at all times holding the brad upright.

5- Once you have all your strips on the brad, open it up. It's okay that the flanges are on the outside. This will be the bottom of your pumpkin. Move your strips around until they are evenly spaced and you are happy with how they look. You may have to gently mold your pumpkin here to get the shape just right, but it should be pretty close to just right.

6- For my vine I just gently curled my 1/4 inch strip of Old Olive cardstock around a ballpoint pen and slid the pen out.You can make this as long or short as you would like. I adhered it to my pumpkin with a Mini-Glue Dot directly on top of my brad head.

7- Stamp and cut out your leaves. I used the leaves from the Day of Gratitude set. (One of my all-time favorites) I used Cajun Craze and More Mustard and for the More Mustard one I used the Rock and Roll technique where I stamped first in More Mustard and then rolled the edges of the stamp on the Cajun Craze pad. This gave me a two-toned leave. I adhered them with more Mini-Glue Dots and that's all it took. The most time consuming part was the embossing and cutting.

Here's some closer pictures- Here's the Pumpkin Pie one-

This is the Cajun Craze one-

You can see a little here that it looks like the paper is bent out a little more and it's not as full. This one was done with the 5 1/2 inch strips instead of the 6 inch strips. Still cute, just not as fat and sassy! You can really see the stamping on the leaf in this one though.

Well, I hope you liked today's offering. These would look super cute on a Thanksgiving table, or anywhere for a nice Fall accent. In fact one of my ladies was taking hers to her office.

I hope they inspire you to try something different today. As always, if something here inspires you, I would love to see it, please feel free to send me a pic! If you liked today's project, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)

You can shop in my online store HERE 24/7 to get the supplies you need to recreate these little cuties or many other projects.

Don't forget our FREE Big Shot offer has been extended, but only until tomorrow. You can get a FREE Big Shot or $100 in FREE merchandise, but you have to hurry!

I hope you have a wonderful day and a Safe Holiday! Hope to see you back here real soon for more ideas and projects.

Till then,

Be Safe,
Shan



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Gently Falling for Fall....Ha! Not Bloody Likely, but it sure does make for a Beautiful Birthday Card! :-)

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Hey y'all! How're you doing today? It's a beautiful day here in the DMV! Am I the only one who heard Mister Rodgers just then singing "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, would you be my, could you be my, won't you be my neighbor?" No? Me neither then!

Did you get the title of today's blog? For those of you that know me, you know if it's below 72 it's too cold, so I'm not likely to be "Falling for Fall", be it "Gently" or any other way! LOL!

I had the morning off, got to sleep in an extra hour, had an interview for a part-time position at a Med-Spa (Botox has made me happy Very Happy, so why shouldn't I want to share some of that happiness with others? Do you know they are doing clinical trials for depression with Botox? I kid you not! Anyways, then I got to go have lunch with one of my Besties with DEA who I get to see way tooo little of, (Shout out here to Jessica if she's checking in on my little blog here), and got to spend a little time with some of my All-Time Favorite Heroes, some Very Special Agents with the U.S.'s Finest Law Enforcement Division, the D.E.A., Drug Enforcement Administration (not Agency we're very particular about that distinction, it's a sticking point actually). These men and women put their lives on the line everyday and this special group I met with today holds a very special place in my heart, and Jessica, well she's like the mother hen that keeps them all in line, God Bless her! After seeing some of my favorite guys, Jess and I got to have lunch together (score!) So....the morning was amazing and now here I am with time to blog and then do a little schoolwork before chillaxing and finishing up preparations for this weekends "Just Christmas Cards StampCamp", try saying that 3 times real fast. WOW! I really hope your day is going half as good!

Today's card is one that we did at last weekend's StampCamp. It was a Fall themed camp so I wanted to use my new Gently Falling set. I loved all the cards I've been seeing with it. Well, I finally had to break down and get it. One thing I like about it is, it's a Two-Step Stamp set but I've seen and done projects now with  each of the stamps sets individually and together so I feel like I have 3 sets for the price of 1. Hard to beat that! One of the girls that was coming to my camp said she had a friend with a birthday coming up, so I told her we could make a card for that, and here's what I came up with. I got the idea for this from France Martin. I just changed a few things to make it mine.

I have to say, I wasn't sure about the Spice Cake DSP when I first saw it, it just didn't scream "Fall" to me, but I am really loving it now. I used a base of Pool Party (who would have thought of this as a Fall color , but it makes such a pretty combination), and randomly stamped ( yeah, yeah, random) just the outline portion of the leave in Soft Suede. I then made a banner by using my Scalloped Border Punch on the edge of a strip of More Mustard and then layered another strip of Spice Cake DSP on top of that. I Tombowed them together. (You could SNAIL it if you wanted to) I cut the "V" in the bottom of the banner freehand although if you're good with using the edge of your square punch, you could use that too. I just knew that I, personally, could get a truer point freehanded. I then used some Soft Suede and lightly sponged the edges to give some depth. I Tombowed this to my cardfront just a little off-center.

I used the Petite Pairs Sentiments and chose the Happy Birthday one for this card. I like Love that set! So many options. Someone could make a Birthday card, a Thank-You card, even a Sympathy card or more from this one card and that sentiment set. So versatile, So fabulous, So easy on my pocket! (YEA!!!!!!) So I stamped the sentiment in Soft Suede on Very Vanilla cardstock and used my Designer Label Punch to Punch it out. A little sponging around the edges, a few dimensionals to pop it up off the banner and we're almost done.

Next I stamped the same leaf image from the card base on Very Vanilla Cardstock and then using my Aqua-Painters and my Pool Party Classic Ink Pad water colored in the leaves. Quick and Easy but So Striking! I then stamped the little acorn and colored it in with Soft Suede. I know it looks like I used two different colors on it, but it's just a matter of how concentrated the ink was when I picked it up from the tray and laid it down on the paper. I tell you what, my first-time stampers this weekend did this technique and did a Fabulous job!

Tip- #1-When watercoloring on regular cardstock it's best to use Staz-on ink whenever possible, because it won't bleed and the color won't muddy.
#2 - When using regular cardstock use as little water as possible, to preserve the integrity of your paper and your image.

The cutting out of the leaves and the acorn was the hardest part of this whole card. (Well you know, me & bow-tying are not the best of friends but this was still, if not the hardest at least the most time consuming.) We adhered the leaves with dimensionals and used the little side pieces around the edge of the pack, to pop up the little acorn. It's hard to see, but there's a little bow made from linen thread adhered at the top of the acorn. I stuck it on with a little Mini Glue Dot.

Tip- When you're using Mini-Glue Dots for something really tiny like this little bow, take it off the paper and roll it into a little ball and then stick your item onto it and then adhere it to your project. If you just stick your little tiny bow to the dot, there's still going to be glue dot showing on both sides that can then stick to other things, like your envelope or other cards..... Ask me how I know.

For the inside of this card, I kept it pretty simple. I just stamped the second half of my birthday sentiment and another leaf from the set and I was done.

Did you notice anything missing today? That's right! Tink did not make an appearance for this card. Not even a stray glimmer, or shimmer. And, you know what? For this card, I'm ok with that. I'm so happy with how it turned out and my girls were too. I really hope this set ends up in the full catalog next year, it's just so beautiful.

Well, that's it for now...gotta go study and then stamping time :-) I hope you enjoyed today's card and I hope you are enjoying your day. If you liked today's card, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)

If you need supplies to make this card or other like it, you can shop in my online store 24/7, HERE.

Don't forget, Stampin' Up has extended their FREE Big Shot giveaway until Nov 11. You can get a FREE Big Shot or $100.00 in Free merchandise just for signing up. No strings attached. Contact me for more information.

Also don't forget this weekends Just Christmas Cards StampCamp. Saturday 10-2. Make 5 cards for $15.00. Choose one of those or one from last week's class to be your Christmas card for this year and place your order from me and I will cut all your cardstock for you. All you will have to do is assemble them. We can even get together and have an assembly party one evening. It doesn't get any easier than this.

If you get a chance and you see a Law enforcement officer, Fire Fighter, EMT, or Military Member, think about taking just a moment to tell them "Thanks". They are truly Every Day Heroes and they rarely get the thanks they deserve.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you'll come back later this week for the End of the Week Technique. I've got something cute that's quick and easy, from last weekend's camp to show you.
Till then....

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

StampCamp Success

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Hey y'all! I hope you had as good of a weekend as I did! There's too much too tell in one post, so I'm going to do an extra post tomorrow or Wednesday with a card from this weekends camp.

Did you have a good weekend? I hope so! 
Mine was AMAZING!!!!!

Well, first off, Friday night started off questionable, but then quickly turned around. I left the office late but ended up not having to go to my second job (Score!), so I had the evening off and was able to do some "spring cleaning" and had my house looking all spiffy for  my Saturday StampCamp.

Saturday's StampCamp arrived and though it didn't have the turnout I had expected (I had a pregnant lady no show, (legitimate no show), and another no-show that had surgery, (I'll give her that one too), and the last no show totally flaked on the timing,( ehhh ok). But my girls that came, had a great time! More to follow on that.

Sunday came and we went to the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show. We walked around and sampled all sorts of good tatsting food and sauces. I dogsit for my good friend Sharon sometimes and you know what she did for me? She bought my ticket for me to the event. Yep! How sweet was that? She got a special deal on Groupon. Have you used that yet? I haven't, but it's pretty cool. Oh, I forgot to mention the BEST part of the ticket.....It was for Paula Deen's Cooking Show Y'ALL! OMG!!!!!! She's My Favorite! So Cool! I got her New Cookbook and it's signed and everything. I can't wait to try out some new recipes. Now, because it was sunday you know we have to have a quick recap so here it is....
If you follow football, and let's face it, y'all are all Fabulous, so I know most of you do, if for no other reason than to see the amazing men and to know what's going on with your men (but I digress), The Skins lost Again!, The Cowboys won Again, The Pats lost sadly (actually it's "Sadly the Pats lost" but since it made me so sad I think I'll leave it that way), but in a early holiday Miracle the Dolphins had a Resounding Victory, so all in all a good Football day.
So, was your weekend as good as mine? I sure hope so, because mine was AMAZING!!!!

This weekend's StampCamp was a success! We did a Thanksgiving card, 2 Fall-Themed all purpose cards, a Christmas card and a Pumpkin Project. I think I challenged them a little for first time stampers but they rose to the challenge and created amazing cards and projects. They learned to watercolor, to color on stamps, and to use the Simply Score Tool. They used wood mount and clear mount stamps, they stamped directly on to card stock and they cut out and mounted images. Looking back, it may have been more than a beginners class, good thing they didn't know that!

Here's Miss Marie using the Simply Scored Tool. I may have to get a second one of these. I told them how much I love to use it for folding my cards and let me tell you they folded everyone of theirs that way too. It makes such clean fold lines that way.

Here's Miss Sharon getting ready to put some Dazzling Diamonds on one of her cards. Tink was not needed in the Studio Saturday. Let me tell you, these girls Love themselves some shine! Ooooh! I knew I picked the right group for my first StampCamp!

Look at the smiles on their faces and the beautiful cards and pumpkins they made! Too bad you can't see the smile on my face too! They should be smiling, don't you think? They made some Beautiful cards, and the pumpkins are sooo cute, I'll be showing those on this Thursday's EWT.

The good news is they had a great time, and they will be coming back for more StampCamps. How about you? I have A Just Christmas Cards Camp this weekend. Since Friday is a holiday I have opened up a class from 10-2 and I have another one Saturday from 11-3. If you order the supplies to make your Christmas cards from me I will cut all of your stock so all you have to do is assemble it. You can even come over to the studio and we can have a assembly party. Contact me HERE for more details.

Well that's all for today. I'll be back tomorrow with a beautiful card from this weekend to show you. I hope you have a great day. Stay warm.

As always, if you need to get supplies for cards or projects, you can shop 24/7 in my online store HERE.

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

End of the Week Technique #6 - Coordinating Designer Series Paper (DSP)

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Hey y'all. I started to switch it up and say Good Morning and then I thought "What if it's not morning when you read this?" So I decided to just stick with Hey y'all, lol. What can I say? I'm a Southern girl and a creature of habit.

I hope this day finds you warm and happy. Here in the DMV it's cold but I didn't have to wait too long in the slug line (for those of you unfamiliar with that, it's basically sanctioned hitchhiking. We get in cars with strangers to carpool so we can get then all qualify for the High Occupancy Lanes and bypass all the traffic sitting in the rush hour congestion. Slugging is a phenomenon know only to our area.) and the car I got in was actually warm, and the driver was actually a good driver! (Some times they are horrible drivers) Double Score!!! I was actually so toasty I got a little nap on the way in. So Sweet! On top of that I have a Fall Workshop this weekend and a early-bird for it that's coming over tonight so, it looks to be a good day. Wow, I hope your day is looking as good as mine is.

It's also a great day, because before I started this post I checked my stats and I'm at 299 visits! Thanks to everyone who has taken time out of their busy days to stop by and take a look at my little site. A huge thanks to those of you too that have taken the time to leave comments. You are ALL appreciated more than you can possibly imagine!

I can hardly believe we're on week 6 already of End of the Week Technique (EWT). I have to tell you, I had my doubts, that I was going to be able to keep them coming, but so far, so good.

This weeks technique is Making Your Own Coordinating DSP.
How many times have you been looking for just the right paper for the card you had in mind/ were in the middle of making/ really wanted to make and couldn't find it or didn't want to wait for your order to come in to complete your card?

That happened to me over the summer. I was making a card for my friend's daughter Alexandra, (Great Girl!) who happens to love Chocolate (like I said Great Girl!). She was supposed to be here for the entire summer but had to cut her stay short, so I decided to make her a card before she left. What better set to use than the Just Eat Chocolate set? I LOVE that set! I got it for free last year when I became a demonstrator, and I wish it was available to everyone because I bet it would sell like crazy, but at the same time, I love having something so special.

The card is pretty simple. Chocolate Chip cardstock for the base with a layer of Very Vanilla and then another layer of Chocolate Chip. I then stamped the little bon-bon and the sentiment in Chocolate Chip on Very Vanilla, punched it out with my Designer Label Punch and added just a touch of Dazzling Diamonds to the top of the bon-bon. I then popped this up with dimensionals and placed it on the front of the card. So pretty, so clean and simple, so really Not my style.

And then I was stuck. What was I going to with the inside?

Disclaimer- I was in a bit of a different place stamping wise at the beginning of the summer - ( hard to believe, but true) Now, I would go totally Clean and Simple and simply stamp the sentiment and an image in the corner but I felt the need for DSP then and truthfully, there's nothing wrong with that, and there are plenty of  other cards that I will still use DSP on the inside liner as well.

My inner Pooh Bear came out....Think...Think...Think...Think...Think... (you know you can hear him)

Wish I had some paper to put inside here other than plain ole Very Vanilla (I hadn't been a demonstrator very long and didn't have a large cache of supplies)...(still not huge come to think of it, although steadily growing)...

It's a shame they didn't make any coordinating paper to go with this Super Cute Stamp set...

Wait... I have Paper & this Super Cute Stamp set... and the wheels on the bus go round and round as the little hamsters in my mind started running.... Frantically! Now, of course I had used stamps in the past on the front of cards as a "random accent" (don't get me started on random) or as a background pattern, but why not as a planned pattern?... Could it be done?... Would it work?

Why, Yes, as a matter of fact it could be done and it would work.

Now-For some helpful tips-

1-Please Remember the name of my blog. Thank-You. Remember also that this was a first attempt so don't judge too harshly. It's a jumping off point. A creative launching pad, a diving board so to speak. As always, take it and make it your own. You will definitely see me using this in the future on the front of a card. Just wait, you'll see.
2- Use a Stamp-a-ma-jig! I can not stress this enough. If you are wanting a random pattern, go for it, but if you have a set pattern in mind, buy it and use it. I did not have one when I made this card. I'm surprised by how relatively straight it came out, but it still bugs me that it's not just right. I'm sure it didn't bother Alexandra but still...
3- Patience is the name of the game. See that one chocolate bar above the bon-bons that's darker than the others? I didn't stamp off enough times. I think I was supposed to stamp off 2 times and I only stamped off 1 time. Patience.
4- I think the pattern looks better on the diagonal than straight across for this stamp but play around with your pattern and find out what works best for you.

To finish my card I stamped my sentiment and the cute little bon-bons in the lower corner both in Chocolate Chip. A little Dazzling Diamonds frosted the noms and made them even more delectable than they already were and my pretty little card was ready for my gorgeous girl! Did I mention that I slipped the card in with a couple dozen of my famous mini brownie bites with mini Reece's cups in them. Yep- She loved them both! Gorgeous and Smart to boot. Doubly Dangerous. Her poor Daddy! *SMH*

Well, that's it for this week's edition of End of the Week Technique. I hope it's given you something to try. As always, if you do, I hope you let me know. I would love to see what you come up with. If you liked today's card, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)

If you need supplies to create cards like today's card you can shop in my online store 24/7 HERE.

Remember our FREE Big Shot giveaway has been extended through November 11. Contact me to find out how to receive yours.

Have you done your Holiday Cards yet. I have classes coming up. Also, if you buy supplies to make your Holiday cards from one of the ones I am doing in my Holiday classes I will cut them for you for FREE. That's right. You buy, I cut and prep, all you have to do is assemble. You can even come over to my house if you want and we can have an assembly party hour or two. Contact me to find out more. Click Here to see a Complete list of my upcoming classes.

I hope you have a great weekend with plenty of time for friends and family and of course Stamping!

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

A Happy Harvest - Trick or Treat Surprise

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Hey y'all, how are you this morning? Did you survive the onslaught of little ghouls and goblins yesterday? At work we have 2 daycare centers and they did a Halloween Parade and let me tell you they were so Stinkin Cute I just wanted to get out my BB and take pictures!!!!! But, you know the thing is so slow they would have been gone and I would have looked like a creepy perv. *sigh* But they were so precious!!!!

My lights were out on my porch so none of the sweet little ones came by my house last night, good thing since I didn't have any candy. (Didn't want that stuff hanging around taunting me!) Did however have a couple of the older monsters come by after hours looking for handouts. How do I know they were monster and not sweet little ghouls and goblins who had not yet matured into monsters you might ask....Well let me tell you. It was after 8:30, almost 9. No sweet little ghoul or goblin is going to be out that late.

Did you know Va. has age limits on Trick-or-Treating? Yep-12, and time restrictions, 8:30. Let me tell you, I didn't even get up when the doorbell rang and they pounded on the door. (Another sure sign it was monsters) I was just getting around to eating dinner, still had laundry to do and a card for this weekend's stamp camp  to do. Are you coming? I hope so!

Well Sunday night I was in the studio working on a Fall card and Shere Khan, my friendly ghost, yes I know it doesn't have quite the same ring as Casper but it is his name, decided to play a little early Halloween Trick or Treat prank on me. Unfortunately, his was a Trick, luckily, I think it still ended up being a Treat. Want to see what I mean?

I actually sat down to make a card to put on here for yesterday's post. I was going to keep my sweetie's card just for him. So I decided to  make some pumpkins, thought maybe I would draw some faces, but then I thought they were cute enough like they were, so I decided to just leave as they were. What do you think?

I took a base of Basic Black cardstock 4 1/4 x 8 1/2 scored at 4 1/4 and layer a 4 x 4 piece of Frightful Sight DSP over that. I just love the Fall colors! I took a 1" strip of Simply Celery and sponged it with the same color and placed it down the left side with some Tombow. I wish I had my measurements for the center piece with me, I think it's about 1 3/4 x 2 3/4 Whisper White that I sponged lightly with Cajun Craze and about 2 x 3 piece of Cajun Craze that I also sponged with Cajun Craze. I adhered them together with Tombow. I really love using Tombow up here, because I know that my cards are going to stay together. I can make a card today, and if I don't give it away today, I know it will stay together. Sometimes, depending on the humidity in your area, this may not be the case if you use other adhesives.

For my Pumpkins I used my small oval, and 1 3/4" circle punch. Each pumpkin got 3 circles of Pumpkin Pie card stock and then got lightly sponged with Pumpkin Pie ink for a little added depth. I stuck them together with Tombow and then added the stem which I cut out of Early Espresso cardstock freehand. (To be honest with you, I had started on some green vines, but I made them too thin to curl and by the time I figured that out I was simply too tired to make more. Maybe they'll get added later. *tear*) I put these little cuties on with dimensionals. For the two on the outside, I doubled up the dimensionals on the outer edges so they would stand up a little higher since the inner edges were adhered to the edge of the center pumpkin.

I then mounted this whole center piece on my card with dimensionals and was feeling pretty good about my little card. I thought, "Hey, that's kinda cute! Tink hasn't hit it yet, but it's cute. Let me get the inside going and then we can add the finishing touches." So I go to open my card and find out that Khan has flipped it at some point and instead of sitting like you see it above it actually sits like this-

ROTFL!!!!!!!!!

Well Now! It just doesn't have quite the same impact does it? LOL! Do you have any idea how hard I am LOL'ing as I am writing this post right now? So Hard, would be the correct answer Alec!
Well, in the words of Tim Gunn, "Make it Work" came to mind, because darn it , it was just to cute to not! So, this is what I did-

I used my Journaler to write Surprise and punched it out with my Word Window Punch (I'm telling you it's my all-time favorite punch) , SNAIL'ed it and then covered it with Dazzling Diamonds.

Take That, Shere Khan! Your Trick turned into a Treat!

Ok, so most of you will say, "Shan, you just turned the cardstock and forgot to check it."
Could be. But, as long as the worse tricks he pulls are cute ones like this, well I won't be too mad at him!

Happy Fall Y'all!
Here's some Great News- Our Big Shot Promotion has been extended! You can get a FREE Big Shot or $100.00 in Free Merchandise just for signing up with Stampin'Up, through November 11, 2011. No Tricks just Treats, No Strings, Just Free! Contact me to learn more.

If you'd like to get the materials to make this card or cards like it, you can shop in my online store 24/7 HERE.

As always, if you like this card or it inspires you to make one of your own, send me a picture. I would love to see them! If you liked today's card, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)

Hope you'll check back in soon!

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It