Happy Fall !

 Hello and welcome! I'm back!  It seems I say this often, but I do apologize for not posting since June. A lot has happened in the past few months. I retired from my job in Arizona, and my husband sold his store and retired as well.  We sold our home and bought a darling home in Jefferson City, Missouri.  It's been a whirlwind, to say the least, but I'm back on track and ready to share more with you, now that I'm a free agent.  😄  

We moved in here the middle of August, and we met our new neighbors from 4 houses immediately. Everyone here is so friendly! Our families are happy, since they live in Illinois, so now we live much closer and we've had company twice already. We are still settling in and unpacking, but I did manage to make two cards so far. I'm sharing those with you today.

First, Apple Harvest is a delightful stamp set, that now has matching dies. The dies are ONLY available through the end of September, so if you like these, get them now.  The stamp set is item # 159944 and the Apple Blossom Dies is item # 160255. If you do not already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like to order, just click the order button at the top of this page, or at the right-side bar. You can see our online catalog as well. If you would like a hard copy, please contact me and I'll mail one out to you.  During this month only, I am giving away a free pack of dimensionals or rhinestones (your preference) with an online order of any amount. All you need to do is email me and tell me your preference, and I'll mail them out to you in October.  My card is called a Hinge Card and I found this idea from Lynn Dunn at Stampastic Designs. She has a great video with measurements, so be sure to check it out.

I used Basic White thick cardstock as my base and a strip of Gingham Cottage DSP for the right side. The hinge has a piece of Poppy Parade and Black cardstock, and on the Poppy Parage piece, I embossed it with our Gingham embossing folder. You can find those in our annual catalog.

See how the hinge slightly opens on the right-hand side?  I thought this was a nice fun fold.

I colored the apples, leaves, branch and flowers with our Stampin' Blends.  I used Dark and Light Poppy Parade, Dark and Light Granny Apple Green, Dark and Light Flirty Flamingo and Light Soft Suede for the branch.  A touch of Wink of Stella on the blossoms and the apples added just the softest glow. They're easy to cut out with the matching dies. I also used Black Matte Dots for some interest. 

My Halloween card was made using the Scary Cute bundle (# 159852). The bundle includes the Scary Cute stamp set (#159850) and the Scary Silhouettes Dies (#159851).  If you order the bundle, you save 10% over the cost of the stamps and dies if purchased alone. Here's my card:

Basic Black cardstock for the base, and a piece of Black & White Designs DSP (#159861) on the front. I cut a strip of Grapefruit Grove Foil (retired) for the middle. The bat punch is also retired, and I used a white gel pen for the eyes. I cut the window with the trees out of black and I cut a piece of white cardstock for the background. There's a die in the set that fits this window piece perfectly, so it's easy to make a background like this.  I used our Blending Brushes (# 153611) to color. Starting from the bottom, Mango Melody, Rich Razzleberry and Starry Sky inks.

I had fun being able to finally create something.  I have missed this. Back in Arizona, I held monthly workshops in my home and 3 ladies from my team are now hosting those.  I'm working on learning videos too, so stay tuned.  If you don't already have a demonstrator, I'd love to be yours. Feel free to contact me for information. And if you'd like to place an order, please click on my "shop" button at the top of this page.

Happy Stamping, and have a beautiful day.  😍