Holiday Gifts #4

My last post with our Holiday Gifts!

This next one was made by Angela and I was lucky enough to get this gift at Mary's party. I immediately brought this home and hung it in my foyer. Isn't it fantastic? I would love to make some more of these as they would be great gifts for next year. The little felt snowflake, wreath and mittens can be found in the current Holiday mini catalog, which means they will be gone as of January 3. So if you want some, be sure to order them right away. They are called "Winter Wishes" and are on page 30 in the mini. I will give you the link at the end of this post. The scallop squares are done with a Big Shot die, as well as the big letters. Other punches and dies are used as well. What a great project!

And I love this picture too! This was made by Stacey. My favorite part of this project is the rosettes, which are done with punches and scoring.

And this is the gift I received at my downline party. These are magnets created by Courtney. Soooo nice! She stamped them on tiles and colored in the flowers. She blinged them up with gloss and glitter and added magnets to the back. Love it!

And finally, here is the gift I made. It's a magnet board, and the 3 snowflakes in the center are magnets made with paper and crystal effects. I bought the painter's canvas, unstapled one end so I could slide a metal piece behind it, then restapled. Then I stamped and sponged with Craft ink and stapled on a ribbon. Pretty easy, and lots of fun.

Okay, don't forget that the Holiday mini catalog ends on January 3. If you want anything from it, let me know and I can order it for you. (email me at Sue@WeLoveToStamp.com). Or you can go to my website at http://suehyer.stampinup.net, and go to Shop Now. You can also view all the catalogs, including the Holiday mini at the same place. Just click on Products and then Catalogs, and it will take you right there. Also, we just found out that Stampin' Up! will be discontinuing the Stocking Builder Punch and the matching Stitched Stockings stamp set, which are in the Holiday mini too. I was quite surprised about that, I never thought they'd retire a punch after just 4 months! So if you were thinking it would be in the big catalog this summer, that's not going to happen. Order those things now before it's too late!

Happy New Year!

Holiday Gifts #3

Another round of Holiday Gifts!

This is gorgeous! How clever to create a wreath using a flower die! The colors are so bright and cheery, you really could display this all year long. Pam I. made this.

Another use of our Flirtatious fabric! Toni is quite a seamstress, and she really wowed us with this adorable dress form. It could be used as a pin cushion, or even to hang jewelry on. I think it's just cute to look at too!

And what can I say about this amazing lamp?! It's beautiful, created by Mary. She used some brand new items that will be found in the Occasions mini catalog next month, including designer paper, a Big Shot die, and the pleated ribbon.

And here is an awesome memo board, complete with magnets, memo pad and even a little basket to hold pens, etc. I love this idea!

One more post tomorrow with the last four projects! See you soon...

Holiday Gifts #2

Time for some more holiday gifts!

This first one was done by my upline, Mary, who is definitely one of the most creative people I've met! This was a much coveted gift, as you can probably tell! I'm sure it took her hours to make and I doubt she'll ever make another one. It involved folding more paper flowers than you'd ever want to count and then attaching them to a styrofoam ball. She then put it all into a vase. Isn't this gorgeous?

The photo above is a really cute and really big ornament! Attached to the ball are tons of buttons and then mica flakes were added for the bling!

And the next gift is an origami folded Christmas tree! How clever! Don't ask me how she did it, I don't have a clue!

And the last one is an Advent calendar. All the flaps open to reveal "How many more days till Christmas"!

There will be more to show you tomorrow!

Holiday Gifts

Every year our Stampin' Up! groups get together for a holiday party and we have a gift exchange. We have to bring a handmade gift and we need to use SU! product to make it. Over the next few posts, I want to show you the gifts that were at both Mary's party (she is my upline) and at my downline party. These girls are VERY creative!!!

The first one I made, and it was really very easy. It's a card or photo display board. You just slip the cards under the ribbons and they stay. I just took a canvas (the kind you'd paint on) that I got at the craft store and attached the fabric and ribbons to that with a staple gun. First I laid some batting onto the front, then laid that and the canvas on top of the fabric. By the way, the fabric is from the "Flirtatious" set. I stretched it so it was tight, then stapled all the way around. To add the ribbon, I just lined it up, pulled it tight, and stapled. And then I just sewed the Bitty Buttons on by hand with the White Baker's Twine. So easy! I plan to make some more of these, including one for myself!

The gift in the photo above is a beautiful serving tray. I'm guessing it was stamped with Stazon and colored with markers. You'd probably have to seal it with something so the images don't rub off.

This next gift took a long time to make, I am sure of it! I didn't make it, but I think she cut all different widths of designer paper, scored them and then stacked them to make a tree. Hopefully she used the Simply Scored tool to make the job a little easier!

And the last one for today is this beautiful handcrafted picture. Lots of punches were used, and I especially like how the lace ribbon punch was turned into a snowflake.

Stay tuned over the next few post to see the other great gifts!

Happy 100th Birthday Grandpa Jack!

Today is my Grandpa's 100th Birthday! He was born on November 25, 1911. He's had quite a remarkable life, living during the Depression, raising 4 children with my grandmother, living in a small town in Minnesota. He still lives on his own in an apartment, his sister lives 2 doors down. He goes a few blocks to the cafe in town to eat everyday, and of course, everyone knows him.

Back in August we had a big birthday party for him with all of his family! His children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were there to help him celebrate. It was fantastic! And I think it was a good lesson for my kids just how important family is.

We all gathered at the cabin at Birch Lake, in Minnesota. As a kid, my family would come here every summer. That was our vacation. Back then the cabin seemed much larger! It was fun telling my kids about the swing that hung from the tree, and that this was where I learned to water ski, and how we'd go horseback riding. (Grandpa loved horses and had quite few of them out at the lake.) It was even fun for me to go into the boat house and just the smell of that brought back memories.

I am thankful for my easy childhood and thankful that I get to share my memories with my kids!

And very thankful for my 100 year old Grandpa Jack! Happy Birthday! By the way, he's having a big party tomorrow and the whole town is invited - all 200 of them!

Just a few cards

Today I want to show you just a few cards that were done by the girls in my downline. We meet once a month to talk a little business, do a card swap, and stamp! It's a lot of fun and I really enjoy getting to see them every month. They are a talented group of ladies!

This first one is the perfect masculine card. The stamp set is "Need for Speed". The background was done using the Houndstooth Embossing Folder, and then sponged with the same color ink. Very striking!

Next is a beautiful autumn card using the Day of Gratitude stamp set. Very simple, and I love the colors!

This card used the Flower Fest stamp set. The images were stamped on tissue paper, and then that was adhered to the underlying card stock. Okay, I know that technique has a name, but I can't think of it right now. Does anyone know?!

And finally, a card using the "For Everything" set. I have resisted buying this one, but every time I see a sample, I start to rethink that! What I love about it is that even though it's a line image set, you really don't have to color it. (I don't like to color...).

So there you go, just a few cards for your enjoyment! See you next time...

My Latest Find!

If you've been reading my blog, you know I am on a quest to get my house organized. Okay, that's progressing very slowly. My best excuse is that we've decided to do a small kitchen renovation (new lighting, granite counterop, new sink, faucet and cooktop, new tile floor and backsplash). This has taken way more time than I ever imagined! Not to mention the fact that I have to keep dismantling my kitchen for each bit of progress. And... the amount of dust being manufactured is unbelieveable! I feel like I am just trying to stay ahead of that.





Anyway, I digress. I am also always on a quest to find the quickest and easiest way to clean something. Recently my aunt was telling me about a company called Norwex and their antibacterial microfiber cloths and polishing cloths. She said they clean windows and glass in a flash, with just water and no streaking or left-behind lint. She was going to a home party, so I told her to order me these cloths. Well, she was right!








They are amazing! The microfiber cleans with just water, picks up the dirt like crazy. And the polishing cloth is even better. Dries so fast and without streaks or lint, unlike paper towels. I was sold. Then after reading a little bit more about these cloths, come to find out they are not just your ordinary microfiber cloths. The microfibers in the cloths are about 1/100th the size of a strand of hair, so the absorbency is amazing, way better than the cloths you can buy at the store. But, there's more! They are also antibacterial. Embedded in the cloth is a silver-based agent that inactivates bacteria. So the cloth will pick up 99.94% of the bacteria on a surface, and then the silver will gradually inactivate the bacteria that is in the cloth. All of this is just done with water as the cleaner.





This really interested me, since who doesn't want less chemicals in their house. And then I realized how great this would be to clean my new granite countertops in the kitchen. I won't have to spray any chemicals on the counter to clean them. I can just use the antibac cloth and then wipe dry with the polish cloth. Easy and bacteria-free! And everyone knows you don't want bacteria on your kitchen counter, where you have food and cooking supplies.





Below are before and after pictures of when I cleaned my sliding glass door. Pretty dirty, especially with the sun coming thru.







And below is the after picture. I swear, it took me no more than 5 mintues to clean all 4 panels of the glass door. I wiped down with the wet microfiber cloth, then polished, and the glass was clear! I didn't have to go back over any streaks, and I wasn't chasing away paper towel lint.


And I have to tell you, I love these cloths on my bathroom mirrors too.








Yes, I sound like a commercial, but I really wanted to share this with everyone. Norwex has lots of other environmental-friendly products and I wanted to try a lot of them out. So guess what, I signed up as a consultant so I can get a discount on the products. They are a bit pricey, so that was the easiest way for me to get what I wanted. I have loved everything I've tried so far, and I will occasionally post about some of the other products and let you know how they work.





In the meantime, if you want to learn more about the products or see the catalog, you can go to http://www.suehyer.norwex.biz/ to view the catalog. And because I am really not interested in starting another business, I would love to give everyone a 15% discount on everything you purchase. There is a flat $4.95 S&H fee, no matter what you order, so the discount would be just on the merchandise (not tax and S&H). Feel free to contact me with any questions or if you want to place an order. This is good stuff!