Over considered digital crafting? Now you can give My Digital Studio a try for free! My friend loves digital scrapbooking because she can do it on her laptop during the many hours of waiting at her kids' various practices and games. When she's done, just close the computer - no mess to clean up! You can download or purchase other Stampin Up products in my online store at www.kwilliams.stampinup.net. Just click SHOP NOW. Here are some FAQ's about the Trial Offer: Q: How long can we take advantage of the My Digital Studio Express trial? A: This is an ongoing offer. We want all our customers to be able to try My Digital Studio. Q: What digital content comes with the My Digital Studio Express Trial? A: My Digital Studio Express includes one stamp brush set, 12 Designer Series Paper patterns, 81 embellishments, 26 punches, and 5 designer templates. Q: What's the difference between My Digital Studio and My Digital Studio Express? A: My Digital Studio Express is My Digital Studio software that you can download directly to your computer without having to wait for discs to be shipped to you. The program functionality is exactly the same as the disc version of the software with less digital content. Q: Do I have to have access to the Internet to use the trial? A: Yes. You need access to the Internet both to place your order (as an online order for customers) and to download the program. Q: Can I get the My Digital Studio Express Trial on a disc? A: No. The My Digital Studio Express Trial is only available as a download over the Internet. However, the file is not large, so even if you have a dial-up internet connection, you will still be able to download the program. Q: How do I order the My Digital Studio Express Trial? A: As a demonstrator you can add the free My Digital Studio Express trial (item 129600) to your online shopping cart. You do not need to purchase any other items with the My Digital Studio Express trial, but you can add it to an order with stamping supplies or other digital downloads.

And onto the other 2 swaps I took to Leadership. This first one is the my Group 2 swap for Lyssa's Convention Quality Swap.

You never know where you'll find inspiration, this card was inspired by my shampoo bottle :) I was going to add the pic of it, but apparently they've changed the design. So my lovely little leaves are double stamped. First in Pear Pizazz, then in White Craft. I'm sure there's a name for this technique, but I just wanted to soften the look and add a subtle white.

Supplies: French Foliage and Occassions Alphabet stamp sets, Pear Pizazz, Basic Black and Whisper White cardstocks, Basic Black and Pear Pizazz Classic Inks, White Craft Ink, Black Taffeta Ribbon, Stampin Dimensionals.

I decided to go for a fun bright card for my general swapping. I only took about 20 of these since I was already involved in the organized swap.

The Wish Big sentiment is framed by a pennant starburst. Easy and quick, but a great fun punch of color and pattern.

Supplies: Word Play stamp set, Poppy Parade and Whisper White cardstocks, Just Add Cake Designer Paper, Poppy Parade, Baja Breeze and Wild Wasabi markers, Scallop Circle and Pennant Punches, Stampin Dimensionals, Simply Rhinestones.

Hello Friends! My poor blog has taken a back seat to volunteer work I've been doing. I'm a volunteer for Kids with Food Allergies Foundation. KFA has an amazing online community with a variety of support forums, recipe database, and a ton of resources to help families navigate their journey of food allergies.  If you or anyone you know is dealing with food allergies, I encourage you to check it out.

My newest goal is to get back on track with my blogging and daily stamping work schedule. I was fortunate enough to go to Leadership a couple of weeks ago. Despite some travel drama (tornado weather, running in airports, missed flights and a flooded hotel room!), it was an amazing trip! San Antonio is a wonderful city and Stampin Up absolutely spoiled us, again. The bag we received is so cute - I immediately switched all my purse stuff to it.

You can see my adorable bag tag made by my friend and roomie Lyssa. The bag features a fun bright new design that will appear in the next catalog. I love these great summery colors.

I joined 2 groups in Lyssa's organized Convention Quality Swap and brought 1 more design for general swapping. All of my swaps were gorgeous! I didn't have a dud in the bunch. Such talented stampers out there. And I got to meet up with some friends and meet new ones, including a friend I went to high school with and hadn't seen in 18 years. It was worth all the drama.

Wanna look at one of my CQS Swaps?

Be kind - this is actually my sample and not one of the swaps. I used my StampA Ma Jig for the swaps so they were straight ;) I like how it turned out, but I'm not much for fussy stamping, thus why I rarely use the All in the Family set.

Supplies: All in the Family and Baroque Motifs stamp sets, Basic Black and Very Vanilla cardstock, Designer Frames embossing folder, Wide Oval Punch, Stazon Black and Classic Black inks, Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon

 

 

Stampin Up has announced the Stocking Punch will not be carried over to next year's catalog. It's currently featured in the Holiday Mini, so if you haven't purchased it yet you have until January 3 to get it. Don't think that it only makes stockings - think baby socks and stick horses. 

There's also a Clearance Rack Blitz going on! Punches, papers, accessories, so many things! The punch shapes are still current, just the retired body style. Did you love the Birthday Suite? Sew Suite? Valentine collection from last year? It's all there, and more, at a great discount. Also available until Januray 3. Check out the Clearance Rack items in my Online Store. You can also purchase your Stocking Punch or any other Stampin Up product. 

I know I am! We're spending this weekend with my husband's family and I haven't finished wrapping it all up yet. So a little inspiration for gift tags. 

This tag features Dasher. I {heart} Dasher. He's adorned with a Cheery Cobbler baker's twine bow and Jingle Bell. Dazzling Details adds some bling to his antlers and the snowflake.

The best part about this tag is using my new favorite adhesive - Sizzix Adhesive Sheets. You can make a sticker out of nearly anything. I cut a small amount of Adhesive sheet, adhered Cherry Cobbler cardstock, then punched with the Triple Blossom Punch. Just peel off the backing and stick! You can use this with the Big Shot or many of your punches.  

Supplies: Dasher stamp, Early Espresso in, Early Espresso, Confetti White and CHerry Cobbler cardstocks, Triple Blossom Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Top Note Die, Big Shot, CropADile, Dazzling Details, Jingle Bells, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Mini Glue Dots, 

My Bunco groups does an ornament exchange at our December gathering. This year I ordered a very cute personalized glass ornament. It had all of our names engraved on it, plus BUNCO across the center in little ornaments. Everyone loved it. And of course I had to wrap it in an adorable little gift box

The gift box is our Kraft Box available in the Holiday Mini Catalog. It's decorated with some leftover bits of retired Christmas paper, Simply Scrapping die cuts, and ribbon. 

Christmas is only 10 days away. My daughter asks every morning when she wakes up :) My gifts are bought and wrapped. But my cards. Oh my cards. With the help of my daughter, we got a bunch of cards made over the weekend. She was rockin the Simply Scored! About half of my cards will finally go in the mail tomorrow. I've decided that most of our family members are getting hand delivered cards with the family photo since we'll see them in person before the mail would get there. Hopefully I can get the rest of them in the mail before Christmas is actually here. If not, well, I'm confident our friends will still enjoy the sentiment and photo. 

I really love the Designer Paper from last year, but can't quite remember the name of it. Gorgeous luscious colors though. Dasher is blinged up with a little Dazzling Details on his antlers. The penguin card is cased from another stamper, but I can't remember that either. My brain is muddled in the holiday craziness I suppose. I'm also preoccupied with kids activities and my own - I'm doing physical therapy 3x week for my shoulder. 

Stampin Up has created a very special promotion just for leadership attendees. That's me!! I'm so excited to be going again this year. I've never been to San Antonio, so I'm really looking forward to it. If you are considering signing up with Stampin' Up, you don't have to wait for Sale-A-Bration to begin to take advantage of the reduced price and extras. To join with this offer, simply go to my website tomorrow or Wednesday at www.kwilliams.stampinup.net and click Join Now.

Over a month before Sale-A-Bration begins, and for two days only, you can offer your new recruits the Sale-A-Bration joining benefit! Yes, you read that right! On December 13-14 only, your new recruits will be eligible for the exclusive Sale-A-Bration recruiting offer, including

• A $125 Starter Kit (standard or Digital+)—$50 off the regular price of $175!
• A FREE package of Designer Series Paper OR a FREE digital download every month in 2012 (excluding January)—a total value of up to $120!

 

A lot of behind the scenes stuff has been happening around here the past couple of weeks. We hosted my family for Thanksgiving - around 20 people. So I spent that entire week cooking and cleaning. It sure did beat traveling though! The next day was my anniversary. We had a lovely family day. The house was clean, we had plenty of leftovers, and gorgeous weather. A really great day. We celebrated with champagne and sparkling grape juice with supper. The kids loved it. 

This week I'm also going to be starting some physical therapy. I have tendonitis in my right shoulder from an injury a few years ago. Hopefully the PT will help me regain the motion and strength I've lost in the arm due to limited movement and pain. I have a few other personal things in the works that are taking up time, so sorry for my lack of attentiveness to my blog. 

So how about a Christmas card? There's only 19 days left you know ;) Have you started shopping? Finished? I like to shop year round, keeping my eye out for sales and shopping when I travel. What I have not done, however, is start my cards <blush> That is on the agenda for this week. We were late getting our family photos done thanks to uncooperative weather, so I didn't want to start the cards until I got those done. 

Supplies: Pennant Parade stamp set, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip ink, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler and Chocolate Chip cardstocks, 2 1/2'' Scallop Circle Punch, Pennant Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribon Chocolate Chip, Stampin Dimensionals, Simple Rhinestones, Sizzix Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing folder

 

I had a workshop this week with some brand new stampers. I wanted to show them how easy it is to make a beautiful card without tons of tools. I was actually stumped for a bit. I went to my swap cards and they all had Big Shot or punched elements on them. So I hit the Catalog. I finally found some inspiration there. 

Supplies: Kind Thanks and Gently Falling stamp sets, More Mustard and Soft Suede ink, Cajun Craze marker, Soft Suede and Naturals Vanilla cardstock, Spice cake Designer Series Paper, Stampin Sponge, Chantilly Lace Ribbon, Sticky Strip, Cutter Tool. 

The only real tool used on this card was the Cutter Tool. I love how you can distress paper edges without endangering your fingers! The edges were then lightly sponged with More Mustard ink. And my favorite ribbon treatment is the ruched ribbon attached to Sticky Strip. Using the lace adds a nice textural element to the card. Plus it will lay flat for mailing, always a plus. 

The leaf image is stamped with the marker thumping technique. This is an easy way to get multiple colors on an image. Simply ink up your image with your lighter colored ink, then tap over desired area with your darker color marker. In this case I inked with More Mustard, then thumped with Cajun Craze. Since it's a 2 Step Stamping set, there is an outline to add more detail to your image.  

Gently Falling stamp set can be found in the Holiday Mini Catalog. You can view it by clicking on the image to your right. If you'd like to order any of these or other Stampin Up products, visit my online store at www.kwilliams.stampinup.net.