Santa's On His Way!

Okay, okay, I know - I didn't post at ALL yesterday!
Can I just tell ya', I don't have enough hours in the day right now. There is so much going on in our life - all of it GOOD STUFF, but Oh, so much of it at one time. And I hate dropping the ball on anything, especially YOU guys!

Anyway, thanks for being so patient with me. You wouldn't believe the number of projects I have stored up to share - and I will get to each one of them!

Today I wanted to show you what the Stampin' Fools made last night:

We had such a great time in the studio together! Christmas was definitely in the air, with lots of gifts and goodies being shared, treats to eat and of course - fun stampin' projects! I love these ladies so much!

So, just in time for Christmas, Santa made his appearance in the studio. I'd seen many projects using Santa's suit over the past few months and finally decided to make my own version. Here is the cute tote:

It's an old, old design idea that uses one full sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock for the tote. From there, you can decorate it however you wish. I saw Selene's photo tutorial for it on Stamping 411 yesterday and it all just clicked for me! Make a Santa tote!!
Here's the link to the Stamping 411 tote tutorial for you: Tote or Card Holder Tutorial

For mine, I used Real Red cardstock for the body, Shimmer White for the furry placket, Silver Glimmer Paper for the belt buckle and Basic Black Satin Ribbon for the belt.
The fur was made with the Vintage Wallpaper Folder in my Big Shot and I just tore down both edges. The belt buckle was made with the small size on the Scallop Square Duo Die.
The handle is Basic Black cardstock cut at 3/4" x 11". It's attached with two Silver Jumbo Brads. I made the tag with the Tags Til Christmas stamp set and used my Tag Punches to punch it out plus the layer. It's tied on with Baker's Twine. SO easy!!

Here's the card I designed to go with it:

All the same supplies, just a regular card size of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" folded.

On the inside, I used two Whisper White panels. One for our family photo on the left (no, the Stampin' Fools did NOT use my family photo, even though some of them asked me for it! ha!), the other for the greeting stamp. I used one from Many Merry Messages stamped in Real Red.

Really quick and easy projects to complete, but they are sure to bring a smile to anyone's face!

Ok, so that's it for today. I'm headed out the door to go pick up stuff for Emma's 14th Birthday Party Sleepover. Yep, I'm a crazy woman! 8 teenage girls all in my basement overnight! Aiyiyi!! What was I thinking?!!
I can tell you this - it will be LIGHTS OUT at Midnight! No cranky kid running around here tomorrow! Hmmph!
And Momma needs her beauty sleep!

Have a good one and wish me luck!
~~Robin

I'm Still Here!

Hi stampers!

Just a quick post to let you know that I AM still here!
I've been busy, busy, busy these past few days having too much fun with friends and family. AND, today is my baby girl's birthday!
She is 14 years old!

So we are celebrating by going to her orchestra concert tonight then ice cream and cake afterwards. Party on Friday night!

I have lots of new stamped stuff to show you, so I'll be back tomorrow with a creative post and a personal post to catch you all up.
For now, here's a great picture of Emma just two weeks ago at her synchro competition in Connecticut! If you are my friend on Facebook, I put a bunch of Emma photos on there today - what a walk down memory lane that was!

Happy Birthday Emma!!

~~Robin

Glimmer Valentine Card

Don't tell me! I KNOW what you're thinking!
It's not even Christmas yet and here I am showing you a Valentine!

Well, yes.
Yes, I am.
Mainly because this week has been especially full of fun and craziness and even though I have MANY stamped projects to show you, this is the only one that I had photographed and ready to go this morning. Ha!
BUT, Valentine's IS just around the corner and this is a pretty easy card, so it'd be simple for you to recreate it if you need a lot of them.

My upline, Jan Wakeland, came to Virginia to hold a meeting the weekend before Thanksgiving and the swap theme was Valentines. So this was my swap card.
Do you likey?

I likey it a lot!
It's so my style - clean and simple, but just enough bling to make it pop.
I used Real Red and Pool Party as my color scheme - love those two colors together!

The Pool Party layer was run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots folder to give it texture. What ever did we do without those embossing folders?
I stamped the hearts in Pool Party ink from the I Heart Hearts stamp set on Whisper White, then tied a bit of Real Red Satin Ribbon around the panel.
The sparkly red heart was punched out with the Large Heart Punch from Red Glimmer Paper and I added the greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes. It's punched out with the Modern Label Punch and attached with Tombow. You do have to let it dry completely though - it doesn't like to stick to the glimmer paper.

So, there you have it - a completely simple, good for guy or girl, Valentine card.

Thanks to all of you who wished Mark and I well on our Anniversary - we were overwhelmed with all the sweet comments from so many.
We had a wonderful afternoon and evening - I promise to blog about it, with photos, but I was waiting so I could include our evening out tonight as well. He not only surprised me on Wednesday with wonderful things, but tonight, he is taking me to the Kennedy Center to the symphony and to enjoy a meal at their Terrace Restaurant. I'm so excited!

Have a wonderful day friends, see you tomorrow!
~~Robin

The Day "We" Began

Today, is a very special day in my life - it's the 20th Anniversary of the day I married my very best friend.

I have so many wonderful memories of our wedding day and the days leading up to it, it would take a novel to write them all, because, inevitably, it would lead into the story of our life's journey together. And that, my friends is a story that continues to write itself.

The photo above was taken at the reception hall when the photographer got us away for a few minutes alone. It's one I cherish and Emma keeps a copy of it in a frame in her room.
I don't think we look much like that anymore, but we are still that much in love.

My Mom and I hosted a Bridal Tea for my attendants at Mom and Dad's house two days before the wedding. Here's a photo of me with my Mom and Grandma that day.

I miss my Grandma a lot. She's been with the Lord now for 14 years - she died the year Emma was born, but we figure that she got to meet Emma in Heaven and told her how much she'd be loved when she got here.

This is me with my forever BFF, Missy. We were friends since the day we met in 9th grade. She was the one friend in my life who knew everything about me and loved me anyway! We went through a lot together - another novel - but no matter where we were or what we were doing, we were always friends and that bond was never broken. She was one of my Matrons of Honor for the wedding.
Missy is in Heaven now with my Grandma. She died 4 years ago from cancer and I miss her everyday. God has sent me some wonderful new friends - and I love them - but there will only ever be one Missy.

Ok, so now I'm crying, but they are happy tears - because it was such a beautiful day and I had so many that I loved there with me.
Here's me with my Dad while we were getting ready.
He hated getting dressed up, but never complained once about wearing that tux.

He and my Mom were all smiles. It really was a wonderful day. They loved Mark almost as much as I do, and I know they were thrilled that we were getting married. (Well, they were thrilled that I was FINALLY getting married. Apparently 27 was a little long to wait! Ha!)
This is a great picture of them. I love seeing my Mom's smile so big.

My cousin Tina and my Aunt Theresa are in this photo. Tina was my other Matron of Honor. She holds a special place in my heart as we shared a birthday, just 3 years apart. I'd been her Maid of Honor just a year earlier, so this was a special day for us both.
Tina went to be with the Lord last April after struggling for years with life issues. I'm so glad we had memories of happy times together.

I'm glad to have this photo of my Dad and I re-creating my walk down the aisle for the photographer. Wasn't he handsome in that tux?


I wish I could find the box of photos that our photographer gave us after we chose our album. There are so many other loved ones that I want to share with you, I just can't find the pictures.
We were so fortunate to be surrounded by so many family and friends that day - it was one of the best days of my life!

Here Mark and I are in the back of the limo. Funny story - we had just been served our meal at the reception when our photographer called us away to take some pictures of just the two of us. When we got back, the servers had removed our plates! We didn't get to eat! So, when we left the reception, we had the limo driver go to a convenience store so we could get some snacks. Not many people can say that they had Lays Potato Chips for their wedding meal. Ha!

Mark had this beautiful black velvet cape made for me for the wedding. We figured since it was December it would be cold - not! It was 60 degrees that day! But I was determined to wear it since it was so lovely. He had it lined with fabric that matched my wedding dress. I still have that cape and hope that Emma can wear it one day.

We honeymooned in Camden and Portland, Maine; a place we both loved. Here we are in front of one of the B and B's we stayed in - The Elms in Camden.

And here we are doing what we did the most of on our honeymoon - played Scrabble!
Yes, it's true. I came down with a nasty sinus infection the day we flew to Maine and was sick our whole honeymoon. Never a dull moment with us - still isn't!

We were back in time to celebrate Christmas with my Mom and Dad and my Grandma. My Dad made this sign for us for when we bought our first house.

So, there you have it - a glimpse of one of the best days of my life - ever!
Mark and I have been through a lot these past 20 years, some good, some not so good, but we've done it together and walked the road together and looked to the Lord to guide us. It's been a fantastic adventure and I can't wait to see what the next 20 years has to offer!

Happy Anniversary Mark - I'll love you forever!
~~Robin

Enjoy our wedding song!

Vanilla Sparkle Snowflake

Mornin' folks!
I am so happy to be sitting here in my jammies and typing my post for you, knowing that I don't have to leave the house today until after 4pm! Doesn't mean I'm not working, but I at least get to chill and enjoy my coffee today. I'll be in the studio most of the day getting ready for Stampin' at the Firehouse on Thursday - probably won't get to play today with my box of NEW Stampin' Up! goodies that came yesterday, but at least I'll be creating! That's always good.

I did stop everything yesterday and make two cards with some of the fun new treats that are coming out in the Occasions Mini Catalog in January. So fun!! I can't wait to share them with you!!
But for now, I'm still focused on Christmas. And my 20th Wedding Anniversary. And Emma's 14th Birthday. And our friends Brandon and Ellen's Wedding. Yep, if it sounds like it, it's true. Things are a little extra crazy around here this month. But it's all good, so we're just gonna go with it!

We head out to get our Christmas tree tonight and FINALLY decorate it! A friend posted on Facebook the other day about describing in one word your Christmas decorations. I put "sparse". I literally have a wreath on the door, a flag in the holder and a wreath and cute towels in the studio bathroom. Got my poinsettia yesterday, but it's currently sitting in the middle of the kitchen table waiting for me to place it.
What's that song? "I need a little Christmas, right this very minute.". I don't know the rest of it, but that line describes my home right now.

How 'bout a little Christmas for you today?
Here's a card I designed for my Last Chance Christmas Card classes last week, and I really like this one a lot! It's pretty simple, and I think I'll be making a few more of them.....

I used Very Vanilla cardstock and cut it at 4 1/4" x 11". It's folded in half and I then ran it through the Big Shot with the Northern Flurries Embossing Folder to texturize the front.

The embossed oval is a piece of cardstock that was done with the Oval Folder in the Embosssed Frames set with the Big Shot. It was trimmed out with Paper Snips. I stamped the greeting from the Word Play stamp set in Real Red ink on more scrap cardstock and punched it out with the Extra Large Oval Punch. Those layers were adhered together with Stampin' Dimensionals and to the card front as well.

The snowflake was punched out of the polka dot glitter paper from Holly Berry Bouquet with the Snowflake Punch and adhered to the card front with a Mini Glue Dot.
A Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon bow and some Basic Rhinestones finish off this very simple card.

Here's a couple of the products I used to make this card:

#120902 - Northern Flurry Embossing Folder $7.95

#124004 - Holly Berry Bouquet Designer Paper $12.95 (12 sheet pack)

You can find these products and everything else Stampin' Up! in my Online Stampin' Store. Remember, the Holiday Mini Catalog is winding down - you have until January 4th to purchase your favorites! Most of what's in that awesome catalog will not be available anymore after that date, so don't miss out on something you really, really want!

All Online Orders of $40 or more qualify for my NEW Robin's Rewards Program! Click HERE to read all the details and to download your tracking sheet!

Happy stampin' everyone!
See you tomorrow,
~~Robin

Place your order for Stampin' Up! supplies at this link here: Robin's Online Stampin' Store
Simply click the SHOP NOW button at the top right corner!
Robin's Rewards Program Here

Bright Hopes Card

It feels so good to be home again!
We had a great weekend in NYC and Connecticut for Emma's skating competition, but it was so good to pull into the house last night and sleep in our own beds again. Really, there's no place like home.

Emma's team skated beautifully and out of 13 teams competing, they came in 8th. They skated their personal best and the coaches were giddy, one of them even did a little happy dance in the locker room afterwards. We don't know what those judges see, but sometimes we wonder if they are taking a nap when our girls skate. There were some really good teams there yesterday, no question, but I'm not sure 8th was where our girls deserved to be. Just sayin'.
At least the girls were proud of their performance and could leave holding their heads high. And in the end, that's all that really matters, isn't it?

So, having been gone all weekend, I have a LOT on my stampin' plate today, but I want to at least show you another quick and easy Christmas card idea. It's a card I designed for a new stamper, a sister of one of my clients who has decided to make her own cards this year.
Here's the design:

I do have to apologize for the poor photo quality. My camera was being a booger that day and I was about ready to throw it out the window! These pics are the best of the bunch.

For this card, I went back to the simple "Z" fold design again. It's a great fold that packs a lot of Wow factor, yet is very easy to do. The card is done in all Riding Hood Red and very Vanilla.
All the stamps used in the design are from the Bright Hopes stamp set.
So, not only is this card simple, but it's economical as well.

I used the snowflake stamp and covered the front folded back panel with that image, stamped randomly. The wreath image was stamped on a piece of Very Vanilla and punched out with the 2 1/2" Circle Punch. It's sponged on the edges to make it stand out and then some Dazzling Diamonds glitter was added to the image with some 2 Way Glue.
The ribbon bow is Riding Hood Red Taffeta and is adhered with Mini Glue Dots. I used a few Stampin' Dimensionals to adhere it to the card front.

For the little banner, I simply stamped the greeting on a piece of Very Vanilla scrap and cut it out with my Paper Snips. It's curled with the Bone Folder and added to the wreath with Mini Glue Dots.

Here's the inside view:

Just a simply stamped greeting behind the fold and room to write your message. The stamped Christmas tree has Dazzling Diamonds glitter on it as well for a little finishing bling!

I was so happy with how this card turned out. It was my first time using Bright Hopes this season, but I think now that I've used it, I'll have to find a reason to do it again! Beautiful stamp set!

Don't forget, you can order from my Online Store anytime to get the supplies you need for this card or any other project on my blog. And any order of $40 or more qualifies for my new Robin's Rewards Program too!

Have a wonderful Monday!
Happy Stampin',
~~Robin

Place your order for Stampin' Up! Supplies at this link here: Robin's Online Stampin' Store
Simply click the SHOP NOW button at the top right corner to get started!
Click HERE for details on Robin's Rewards Program!

Christmas Lane Leftovers!

It's the holiday season - everyone likes leftovers, right? HA!
Me too, just not too much turkey, please!

Well, my Christmas Lane Scrapbook project had lots of leftovers - including 4 pieces of 6" x 6" cardstock that were just begging to be made into cards. When my cardstock begs, I just have to answer - don't you??
This size card will fit nicely into our Small Open End Envelopes.

Here's the Early Espresso one:

I love the reindeer stamp from the Winter Post stamp set. He looks so cute stamped in a row, walking across a page or card. Here I just stamped him in Early Espresso and added some Sticky Die Cuts and an Old Olive Button with some Baker's Twine. Simple!

My reindeer friend appears again on the Lucky Limeade cardstock:

I stamped the Dear Santa A La' Carte stamp with Cherry Cobbler on Whisper White and punched it out with the 2 3/8" Scalloped Circle Punch. Using more white scrap, I stamped the reindeer again and added the snowflake from Winter Post in Cherry Cobbler. It's punched out with the 1 3/4" Circle Punch and adhered to the punched scallop. The Sticky Die Cut border was glittered up with Dazzling Diamonds and my 2 Way Glue Pen. I even added some glitter to the scallop punch out before adding the Cherry Cobbler ribbon knot. The background of this card was done with the fun Dec. 25th image from Winter Post in Lucky Limeade Classic Ink.

More glitter on the Cherry Cobbler cardstock:

The background was stamped with the snowflake again in Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink then I added a Sticky Die Cut striped border that I'd glittered up. The cuff of the stocking was coated in glitter as well, then I added a Mini Jingle Bell with some Baker's Twine to finish it off.

Ok, last but not least, the Soft Suede cardstock:

The center of this Sticky Die Cut "ornament" had two Stampin' Dimensionals added to it and before I removed the backing, I added some baby powder to nullify the stickiness on the die cut. I was able to pop it up above the ring for some dimension that way. A piece of Sticky Rik Rak makes the hanging string and I simply added a Lucky Limeade Ruffled Taffeta Ribbon bow and a Cherry Cobbler button with more Baker's Twine.

For an inside panel on each of these cards, cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock at 2 3/4" x 5 3/4". It fits nicely inside and you can stamp your greeting easily along with some images from Winter Post to jazz it up.

So, have you enjoyed the Scrapbook and card projects this week? I know I had a BLAST making them! If you're just coming in on this series of posts, all the scrapbook pages can be found on the last three posts on my blog. You'll also find information on my NEW Robin's Rewards Program! You can also click this link HERE to read more about earning FREE Stampin' Up! product when you order from my Online Store! You're all so good to me, I wanted to give YOU something too!

Happy Saturday everyone! We have a busy day here in Stamford, CT getting ready for Emma's competition tomorrow. She has off-ice with her team this afternoon and an early curfew since we have to be at the rink at 6 AM on Sunday!! Uggh! I think the girls on the team will fare better than the parents......
But anyway - Go National Blades!!! :)

Blessings,
~~Robin

Place your order for Stampin' Up! supplies at this link here: Robin's Online Stampin' Store
Simply Click the SHOP NOW button at the top right to get started!