Wow - it's Thursday again!

Just this morning, I said, "I can't believe it's already Wednesday..." then was oh so gently told I'm a day late and a dollar short. Thankfully, Marilynn is in charge of the Thursday make-and-takes, so everything is ready for you to stop in and make this adorable card (including the weather!) This card features the "Let it Snow" set from Gina K. The smoke wafting from the chimneys in the background seems just perfect on a day like today!

Fall for this Make and Take Card

You can tell by the weather that fall has arrived! We are celebrating the season with this FREE card make and take all day Thursday, Oct. 23. We created the card's unique shape by using the Accu-Cut machine. Feel free to purchase some paper and use our machine to make as many cards as you like in whatever colors you choose! The possibilities are endless!

Tuesday's Demo

This Tuesday's FREE Learn at Lunch demo features "hanging" punches from Ecstasy Crafts. Our dear Jean called today and said she couldn't be with us tomorrow as her hip is really bothering her, so she asked me to come pick up the supplies and lead the demo in her absence. You can see from this sample that Jean made that she is one classy lady. Look how cute the stockings are hanging from the garland!


Of course, I took one look at the stocking punch, and my mind went in a totally different direction. I clearly need to take some "classy" lessons from Jean. Here's my take on the stocking punch....


Stop in tomorrow (Oct. 21) between 12 and 2 and see where your mind takes you! We'll be playing with the stocking punch and the shirt punch. Ecstacy also makes an ornament punch (so cute on large Christmas Tree stamps) and an apple punch (great for fall and for teachers!).

It doesn't look easy....

...and yet it is! The peg stamps by Rubber Stamp Tapestry stamp beautifully and are an easy way to add lots of color to your projects! Use them to create frames, borders and even design elements like the one around the letter "O". And, simply by changing the ink colors, you can achieve an entirely different look. Give peg stamping a try for yourself during our free make and take today. Just stop in any time between 10 and 9 to make this card....but know you may find it a bit addictive.

Wall of Fame Challenge

OK, I'm a little intimidated to post a sample after our "guest" bloggers' cards below. Holy cow! First, a shout out to our Wall of Fame winner for September - congratulations Kathy Cummins! Our theme for October is "Sweet" cards. I took some of the Imaginisce Rub-ons to create this card. I made a little pocket, then attached a paper handle to the top with brads. I put the rub-on candy on the back of the card to look like it was sticking out of the bag, but it leaves the pocket free for a gift card or some other goodie. When you pull out the gift card or note, the candy appears. I had so many left over rub-ons that I just kept going. So far, I've created 4 additional cards, and I'm not done yet. So, that got me thinking...how many cards could a person make with just the two sets of Imaginisce Halloween rub-ons and some paper? Are you interested in taking the challenge? This month, in addition to our regular Wall of Fame contest (in which you can use any stamps, paper or rub-ons), there will be an additional contest for those who wish to participate. Simply make as many cards as you can with the two sets of rub-ons (you'll have to purchase them, but we have lots). Bring one card in for the Wall of Fame but also bring a picture of all the others you made along with the total count. The winner of the rub-on contest will receive this cool "Boo" lace paper and Bling brads from Creative Imaginations. The Boo paper is missing a tiny piece in the corner - I brought it home from the trade show and the airplane "ate" part of it. So, let's see what you can do!

Halloween Ideas

Guest blogger Laura here. I thought I would share with you some ideas for Halloween in case you are still trying to come up with something. For the most part, I sat around with my two new sets from My Favorite Things and my pack of Sparkle paper from Memory Box to create a bunch of Halloween cards.

The first card uses a candy apple stamp from Impression Obsession and a saying from a My Favorite Things clear set. I stamped the apples with black Memento ink and colored them with Copic markers. I then added some Diamond Glaze to the top of the apples to make them look like they have a candy coating.







The second card uses some images from a My Favorite Things set. I stamped all my images with black Memento ink and colored the "ingredients" with Copic markers. Again, I added some Diamond Glaze to the cauldron and the ingredients to add interest. You can't tell from the photo, but I added some clear Spica pen to the cobwebs and some green Spica to the cauldron steam to make them shimmer.












For the trick or treaters, I once again stamped them with black Memento ink and colored them with Copic markers. I added a saying and layered them onto some of my Memory Box paper.










For the witch card, I stamped the witches onto some cream paper and then onto several pieces of my Memory Box paper. I cut out the dresses and added them to the image on the cream paper. If you have never tried the "paper piecing" technique, you should give it a try. It is an excellent way to use up your scraps!













The final sample was actually made by Marilynn. She stamped the candy corn tree by Impression Obsession onto white paper using black Memento ink and colored the image with Copic markers. Hey! Isn't that my gig?

I hope you have been inspired by this post! Angela has both My Favorite Things sets in stock as well as the candy apple and candy corn tree images by Impression Obsession.

Let It Snow?

It was odd to return from Florida to find this "splash of snow". It jerked me right back to the reality that Christmas is only 11 weeks away. How did that happen? Our Free Thursday make and take features stamps by Hero Arts. I hadn't thought of using the Joy stamp in blue ink - I was thinking reds and greens - but I really like it! Another job well done, Marilynn!

Congratulations Blog Candy Winners!

The following poster each won a cool prize: Linda S., Sharon C., and Tiffaney in VA. The prizes include a crafty bumper sticker, a Magenta idea book and some rub-ons for each of you! Please email me at angela@ahappystamper.com to claim your prizes! I will be posting my Star Ornaments class tonight on the web site. We'll be making two different sizes - approximately 10 inches and approximately 7 inches. The class will be on Tuesday, Oct. 28. Hope to see you there!

I'm Pooped :-)

Tonight's three hour marathon class was with My Sentiments Exactly. They thought we might be tired of making cards by now, so they came up with a bunch of different projects using home decor items. Really??? Is it even possible to be tired of card making? And, how am I supposed to get all this cute 3-D stuff home in my suitcase? I'm thinking about leaving my dirty clothes and toothbrush here in Florida. That stuff can be replaced :-) Anyway, this project is a wooden letter H (for Ho and Holiday and Happy Stamper and HELP!) covered with Tinkering Ink paper, ribbon and stamps. The cool bird in the upper right hand corner is a Heidi Swapp clear bird that we stamped with white acrylic paint - waited and waited and waited until it was dry - then sponged on some green acrylic paint and waited and waited and waited. You get the idea. Waiting this late at night leads to some nap taking....and too many people around here have cameras. Let me know as you surf the Internet if you see any pictures of me snoring or drooling.

New from Sassafras Lass

I don't have a photo of this because they are releasing it at this show, and I didn't want to "scoop" them on the Internet. The exciting thing is that we are the first group of folks to get to order, so we should be the first ones to get the new product as well! They've come out with 6 double-sided papers with the scalloped bottom edge called "Life at the Pole", but it's definitely not your traditional Christmas paper! The papers feature an almost atumnal color palette (they're stunning) and an interesting cast of characters like Rudolph, "gumdrop boy" (my name for this character) and others. I also ordered 3 of the 4 of the new stamp sets - one is the Life at the Pole companion set and the other two are more Woodland Creature-type sets like owls, acorns, mushrooms turtles and more. They did not come out with a 6x6 pack for this release. I'll bring the flyer back with me, so if you are really, really anxious to see, I'll have it in the shop for your examination by Tuesday morning :-) I'm off to keep shopping! This evening I have a 3 hour class with My Sentiments Exactly and tomorrow I have a 6 hour class with Creative Imaginations. Thankfully there is a Starbucks in the hotel :-) I finally went outside for a few minutes yesterday and touched a palm tree and stuck my big toe in the pool. I can now safely say I've had a Floridian experience!

Another great one!

This card features flowers and ribbons from Creative Impressions. I love the more traditional/heritage colors. The ribbon block on the right is sandwiched in between two cut out rectangles (made by the Accu-cut), so you can see the ribbon block from both sides after you've opened the card. It's a great way to use up your little pieces of scrap ribbon, and it's lovely. Now, I'm headed off to my 4th class of the day - OUTLINES! You know I've been waiting for this one!

Hero Arts Rocks!

My first class this morning was with Hero Arts. That is a most excellent way to start the day! I've never made a Christmas card with a frog on it before! And, I loved the really different size of the card and the things hanging off of it. Really fun and unusual! I also got a couple of ideas for two totally different classes from this class...a gift card holder class and a bookmark class. I've done a bookmark card class before (I think it was last year???), but I have several new ideas that need to be shared.

My crafty twin

In my fifth class of the day, I finally got to meet my twin. I'd been hearing all day "Have you met the Happy Scrapper?" We ended up sitting next to each other in this class and I said, "Oh, it's YOU!" We each had pictures made (it looks a little like a mug shot with us holding up our nametags....not that I would know anything about that). So, if you ever get to Florida, look up Teri of the Happy Scrapper. Tell her the twin says "hello".

For the do-gooders!

I posted earlier about a shop that had major roof damage during the hurricane. Well, I just had lunch with one of my friends, a shop owner from Rhode Island. I had seen her at the show at the very end of March, and about a week after that show, her shop (part of a strip mall) burned down! I hadn't heard! So, she's been closed all of this time, trying to find another location that would work for her. She's finally going to be re-opening later this month. That's a long time for folks to have been without their LSS! I was thinking that it would be a ton of work to replace all the product, but then it dawned on me that the bigger problem would be replacing all the SAMPLES! Holy cow - can you even imagine? She's been open almost exactly the same amount of time I have, and I know how many samples we have. (Well, actually I don't know how many samples we have - but I know it's a lot)! I think it would be fun to make some card samples to send to her with some "well wishes" greetings inside. She carries a lot of the same stamp companies that I do - Hero Arts, Memory Box, A Muse, Impression Obsession, etc. If you'd like to make a card sample for Maryann at Bella Art in Rhode Island and bring it into the shop, I'll send them off to her on Oct. 10. I know she'll be very touched that her "stamping sisters" are thinking of her!

Blog Candy Contest

Three classes down - 3 more to go! It's a full, full day! Isn't this star amazing? It's actually very easy, and a great way to use your decorative paper. This is about 9x9"! I'm definitely going to bring this back to teach - it's great bang for the buck - easy and it doesn't require much precision. Wahoo!

I'm also having my first every blog candy contest. I got some fun little goodies I want to share, so all you have to do is post a comment to the blog sometime this weekend. (Actually through 11:59 PM Monday night). I'll choose 3 winners randomly from those who left comments to win some little goodies. Easy as that!

I'm Here!

On my trip from the airport to the hotel, I shared a van with some scrapbook shop owners from Texas. One of them has been closed for over 3 weeks now because her shop roof was damaged during the hurricane. She's going to do some serious shopping this weekend to replace all of her damaged inventory. Wow! I'm very grateful that the hurricane just rained on my birthday but didn't cause us any serious damage. Tomorrow begins my marathon class sessions. I'll be taking classes with Sonburn, Custer's Last Stamp, Bo Bunny, The Robin's Nest, and I will get my Fiskars certification (presumably) tomorrow night. I'll be posting more tomorrow after classes with photos of projects or new product that I'm too excited to wait to share until I get back, so please stay tuned!