November Stampaganza!

We still don't have a little grandbaby...maybe tonight?! Nah...I want another good night's sleep! Okay, that's incredibly selfish since I'm not the one who is 9 months pregnant. We are all anxiously awaiting this little guy's arrival and I'm pretty sure it will be very soon. Tomorrow is my daughter's due date. I figure I'm pretty much out of time for getting things caught up before his arrival. Ah well...it's all good.

Speaking of tomorrow, it's November 3rd and we have a new special you'll definately want to take advantage of. Our Stampaganza is amazing! Purchase 2 My Acrylic stamp sets at regular price and get one free. How's that for a great bargain to kick off the holiday season? Do your shopping from the catalog or online. Be sure to e-mail me with any questions, too.



















D1377, Around The Block is a hefty set of 26 stamps. Piece by piece you can build your dream gingerbread card! Or, design a simple "Welcome Neighbor" card and add a set of gift tags if someone is just moving into your neighborhood this holiday season.

One more reminder...be sure to order your favorite products in order to take advantage of the Stampaganza special!

Until next time...when we really have a new grandbaby!

Christmas Spirit

So... ya know how I signal the beginning of the holiday season? I start listening to Christmas music music NOW! In case you didn't notice, it's October 31st... Yeah, it's early - some might say insanely early - but I say why not? Time flies way too fast and before you know it, Christmas arrives and I haven't watched my favorite holiday movies (Grinch, Polar Express, The Santa Clause, among the many) nor have I listened to all of my favorite Christmas music. To be totally honest, I put in a Christmas CD yesterday so this year, hey, I'm ahead of the game.

This beautiful cardinal card is one my ladies made in a recent card workshop. I've always loved cardinals so I couldn't resist creating something festive with Season of Splendor (item # D1326). It's a two-step stamping set meaning you stamp the outline image with first generation ink then fill in with the matching solid image in a lighter ink which we in the stamping world call "second generation." In case you're not sure about the whole "generation" stamping technique, let me explain...

To stamp with first generation ink, simply ink your image and stamp directly onto your cardstock. To stamp with second generation ink, simply ink your stamp, stamp once on scratch paper then, without reinking, stamp onto cardstock. With second generation ink, the image is lighter, therefore, it acts sort of like a "coloring in" of your image. Cool, huh?

The paper I used for this card is X7115C Jingle. The plaid is created by inking and stamping the edge of a long acrylic block. (That's one of my favorite methods for creating plaids.) The red striped paper is folded accordian-style, without any particular method to my madness. (Ribbon candy inspired that type of folding:)

Any day now I will be a grandma......whoa, holy cow, that sounds......hmmm......I'm not sure how that sounds! I figured I don't feel like a grandma because I still have a 15 (almost 16) year old. But, we are so excited for our little guy to enter the world. He's sure taking his sweet little time in arriving and he's making his mommy very uncomfortable. His Auntie Jessica is growing a bit impatient, too!

I get an extra hour of sleep tonight so I'm off to enjoy that. See you next time.

How To Live Life

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather than to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand, chocolate covered strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming WOO-HOO - What a Ride!"
~Unknown


What a way to live!

October Stamp of the Month

Have you seen our stamp sets for the upcoming holidays yet? If not, you're missing out on some crazy-cute sets! For example, take the October Stamp of the Month set, as shown below. It's whimsical and just plain crazy-cute!




There's another great set on pg. 52 of the Fall/Winter 09 Idea Book...the one I'm talking about is item # C1378 Heartfelt Christmas. But don't stop there...browse through the holiday stamp sets and let your mind go creative on you!

Until next time~

Fall...Welcome Fall!

You've probably heard me say it before but I LOVE AUTUMN! I love the cool, crisp mornings that turn into warm, toasty days then again into cool, quiet evenings. The circle keeps going until the temperatures get so extreme that I start whining that I'm cold all of the time! I quit walking early in the mornings but instead, I sit by the cozy, warm fire. I discuss amongst myself (self-talk??) "do ya wanna go out for a walk now or later?" "Later" usually means I sit by the fire quite a bit longer until I find something else needing to be done. Oh well...it's all good and I still love Autumn!

Here's a fun card I wanted to share. The paper pack is Twitterpated,, X7118B for $12.95 and the tree stamp comes from Four Seasons, B1319 for $13.95. Colors used are Sweet Leaf, Sorbet, and Chocolate. The card pattern came from one of our magical recipe books, Wishes, #9033 for $29.95. If you'd like to order any of these items, just jot down the item numbers and enter them in the Shop Online area of my http://www.laurie.mycth.com/ website. It's all easy ordering over there!

Until next time~

You Are My Sunshine

Do you know the song, You Are My Sunshine? It goes something like this...

You are my sunshine
My only sunshine,
You make me happy
When skies are grey,
You'll never know, dear
How much I love you,
Please don't take
My sunshine away.

It was one of my childhood favorites...I suppose that dates me but who cares! So, whenever I see the word sunshine, it reminds me of this song and brings a smile to my face. The song is stuck in my head so I suppose that means my head is filled with cheerful thoughts! Good thing cuz we all need to fill our hearts and minds with good things.

The stamp set I used for this card is from the September Stamp of the Month, Treasures. I love the designs in the set because many of them bring sweet thoughts to mind. You never grow too old to blow a dandilion or take an extra second to tell someone "thank you." It's never too late to sprinkle a little sunshine on someone by sending a handstamped card or sharing a smile. I'm thinking that this set is quite appropriately named.

The paper pack I used for this cute card is Twitterpated...personally, I think that's such a cute word! (It's fun to say, too.) You can find the paper pack on page 22 of the Fall/Winter Idea Book or on my laurie.myctmh.com website. It's perfect for fall but the theme goes far beyond any particular season. Be sure to check it out in the catalog or enter item # X7118B in the Quick Add search bar on my laurie.myctmh.com website.

Hope you enjoy! Until next time~

The Dash

I was watching a webinar last week and the speaker had a terrific ending to his presentation. He called it "The Dash". My first thought was speed...how far could I run in how short amount of time? After all, isn't that the name of a race in track and field? Oh yeah, in track and field, they insert something like "500 yard"! Not for me...I'm not a runner:) Well anyway, the point he made really hit home with me. You see, "The Dash" in his context referred to the time between being born and dying. What is it that we do with our "dash", that little hyphen between the year born and the year of passing? Have any of us really thought much about it? Seems a bit morbid but I think if I, personally, spent more time considering how to live my own "Dash", I might enjoy a more fulfilled life, rather than living my "Dash" by scurrying here or there and missing many opportunities to touch the life of someone else or be inspired by someone myself. There's lots to it, for sure. So, maybe today you'll want to consider how you're living your own "Dash".

So, last night at one of my monthly workshops, I pulled out this remarkable little tool kit called the new Soft Set Eyelet Tool. People! If you hear one thing while reading this, hear me yelling "this is the most awesome improvement on a product ever!!!" Followed by..."ya gotta have one!" Love the ease with which I can set eyelets now...and it's s..i..l..e..n..t..!! Ah, the hush of setting an eyelet is unlike any other eyelet setting I've done before. Those were always rough, narly, and above, obnoxiously loud! No more...you'll love this one. Item number Z1208 for $14.95. It's the best buy all this year! You can order it on my http://www.laurie.myctmh.com/ website.

Until next time ~ so long!