Saturday, October 31, 2009

Trick or Treat!




Back from Trick or Treating with my little fireman. Did you trick or treat? We did a big loop and the little guy had enough candy for the next year!

We had an Aussie customer email us that she was throwing a halloween party. Do you trick or treat where in the world you live? Would love to hear...and I think our readers would too!
Luv
Heidi

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Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween From Simon Says Stamp & our Design Team!

My hubby threw his back out and can barely stand up, so I am off to take our little 2 year old "fireman" trick or treating. Hope I can get some good pictures to show him!

Much luv,
Heidi








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Friday, October 30, 2009

The OH SO SWEET Winners!!!


Thanks to ALL who commented last week on the "What's On Your Mind" blog!! We received great feedback from all of you and appreciate all of the wonderful ideas on how to make our blog better for YOU! It looks like a lot of you want to see more tutorials and technique ideas. Well, ask and you SHALL receive!! We also got many requests to see more cards and inspiration from the Design Team. Those ladies are very talented and I am sure they are flattered to know that all of you enjoy seeing their hard work. We also had some suggestions on how to use "old stuff" to make new beautiful projects. Sally B from our blog was interested about ideas for stocking stuffers and Santa goody bags. I love these suggestions and will hopefully have something really fun to share with you for this holiday season!

I LOVE hearing from all of you and your comments and suggestions do not go unnoticed!!! So again, THANK YOU for participating and sharing what's on your mind. :)

OK! Now that I have gone on and on, I know what you are all thinking. WHO WON!?! Well, although you are all winners in my book, I could only choose 2 for the prize. They are, drum roll please....

Blogger #1: Judie Ryman who said...

"I get SO many good ideas from your card examples! They are awesome, they show how to use products, and begin my MOJO working!!!!! Please keep them coming, and gotta tell ya that last year I "stole" one of your ideas for my 140 Christams cards that I made...how wonderful to have this blog!
Thanks."

Blogger #2: Sharon Rotem who said...

"What I like ......
Free stuff for sure. (Who doesn't ;-))
I also love that you expose and introduce new products.

What I would like to see more is techniques tutorials - preferably videos. (These are always more effective than written procedures).

Another thing I'd love to see more is project ideas other than cards.
Could be canvases, Album pages, altered objects, Fabric based projects, containers preparation etc.

Love following your blog and thanks for being so attentive to our wishes.

Best
Sharon Rotem"

So CONGRATS to you two lucky ladies!!! Please email me your information so you can claim your sweet prize.

****The free candy is not over yet!! I just did the drawing for the Basic Grey Nook & Pantry giveaway. The lucky lady is Charlene who was comment #31!! *****

Blogger Charlene said...

Do I have to just pick one?? ;) I love this whole line, but I suppose I love the build-a-cupcake stamps. Those look really fun and I already have some ideas for birthdays coming up!!

Charlene, I look forward to hearing from you so I can get your information and send out your Basic Grey goodies.


Have a beautiful day!!

Amber

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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Simon Has a Fun Little Game for You!


One of our Simon Says Stamp Design Team members has made this awesome card!
She used the awesome new Basic Grey Paper Collection Eskimo Kisses!

Do you know whose blog this is on? Check out the Designers on our Challenge blog. When you find the posting on our designer's blog (hint - she posted October 17), just leave a comment on the post! Heck, if you like things sparkly! Enter in our challenge this week - you could just win a $25 shopping spree to our store ( AND we will pay the shipping!)

The winner gets a huge fabulous prize kit of papers, stickers, woolies, brads, rub ons, buttons, and stamps from the ESKIMO KISSES COLLECTION! What a great prize kit!! The value is over $50!

We will do the drawing Friday, so Hurry on over to ?'s blog!

Much luv
Heidi

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Holiday Wishes in a Snap!


Holiday Sayings


Poinsettia Circle

The holiday season is quickly approaching and I have found a tutorial on how to make a card quickly that still looks beautiful! You can use this technique not only for cards, but invitations, place cards, and more!





Simon Says Stamp can be your one stop shop! Check out all you need to make this beauty!


10 Notecards & Envelopes Crimson


8 Kraft Cards with Envelopes


Versamark Emboss Pad


Precision Heat & Embossing Tool


Gold Embossing Powder


Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circle Large


Tonic Craft Scissors


Glue Dots


Colorbox Christmas Ink Pads



Heidi Swapp Ribbon


I would love to SEE your beautiful creations, or let us know what your holiday card making tricks of the trade are!

Happy stamping...let's get in the holiday spirit...FALALALALA LALALALA :)
Steph

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

It was an Artful Voyage!



IT was an artful voyage for me and Terra! Ok, the yellow name tags aren't too pretty, but they kept our tour guide from losing us in Mazatlan. Thank you to our fellow Ohioan - NANCY - who we met on the trip and posted this pic of me and Terra. She has some details on her Blog too.

Please stay posted if you want to see more pics and work of what we made on the voyage. The store has me running crazy catching up on emails and we upgraded our servers, not to mention we have our annual meeting I have been prepping - so it has been all work no play for miss heidi these days. I do hope to post more pics in the next few days.

In the meantime, did you hear about our Wendy Vecchi Giveaway? Stop by HERE to see how you could win! Her BLOG is HERE and I think she may have something for you later this week too!

Stay tuned ;) Better late than never? There is just so much to post!

Much luv
Heidi

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Monday, October 26, 2009

The Nook & Pantry Collection is IN STOCK!!!


6 x 6 Paper Pad

You have waited and it has finally arrived!! The Nook & Pantry collection from Basic Grey is now in stock and all of the delicious items are waiting for you to find them a new home in your stamping collection!

This is by far my favorite line from Basic Grey. The strawberries, cupcakes, cherries, pears and kiwi look so yummy on paper. The charming paper patterns of Nook & Pantry will bring back fond memories of days gone by. Brimming with timeless detail,k this sentimental assortment of classic designs and delicate patterns come in a wistful array of nostalgic colors.

Brads

Buttons

Cakes Bitsy Acrylic Stamp Set

They have amazing clear stamp sets available which of course coordinate perfectly with the paper and other embellishments from the collection. The other clear stamp sets to look for are Crumpets and Cup of Tea Bitsy.



Stitched brads


12 x 12 Collection Pack

I found some GREAT inspiration on the Basic Grey website and wanted to share it will all of you! I can't take credit for the work but found the names of some very talented ladies who have their designs under Basic Grey's gallery page!!

Check out this Favorite Recipes Box made by Amy Tara Koeppel. She made this box using paper from the new Nook & Pantry collection. I could use a box like this for all of my favorite family recipes!!!!

I just fell in love with this scrapbook page when I laid my eyes on it! Made by Carole Maurin, you can see she put a lot of love into this layout. I like how she cut out images from the paper and used them as individual pieces! Great idea!!


Another great look designed by Jennifer Findlay. Kudos to these talented ladies!!!

So I hope you all ENJOY the new goodies from Basic Grey!! YAHOO!!

WANT BLOG CANDY!??? Comment here what you like about the Nook Line and we will pick a winner on Friday. The winner will receive a collection of paper and other nook and pantry goodies for your paper art projects!

Amber

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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Wendy Vecchi Inspires Us To MAKE ART!!!

I don't have the best picture....but here is Wendy Vecchi (in the middle), with Heidi (left) and I (right) on the Artful Voyage cruise. I know the picture is out of focus, but...trust me, we are all good looking....(hee, hee)! Wendy is holding the super cool Inspiration Board she made, it was one of our classes on the boat! As you can tell, we had a BLAST in her class!

You all have heard about the Artful Voyage with Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi (pronounced like "Becky" but with a "V"), right? I know you all know who Tim Holtz is, right? But...we'll talk about him some other time!

Today I want to talk about the very talented and creative Wendy Vecchi (whom I also believe is the sweetest person on the face of the earth!).

Wendy has been in the industry for a while now. In addition to designing her own line of stamps (The Studio 490 Collection), she does design work for Maya Road, Tim Holtz, Idea-ology, and Ranger. She is also an exclusive demo artist for Ranger and teaches classes for Stampers Anonymous.

**All examples shown here are courtesy of Wendy Vecchi via her BLOG or the Stampers Anonymous (Gallery) website.

I tell you what - the GIRL LOVES GRUNGE! The things she can do with Grungepaper, Grungeboard, and Maya Road Chipboard are absolutely phenomenal! She uses colors that are warm and inviting. Her specialty, Grungepaper Flowers, are stunning and add texture and dimension to all of her projects.

We learned how to make the flowers on the cruise. You can stamp the image on Grungepaper and then cut them out. Then ink both sides with Tim Holtz Distress Ink and stamp with a background stamp. Curl the petals up - since they are made on grungepaper, the shape will hold! Layer different sizes and styles on top of each other to make a fabulous 3-dimensional flowers! Don't forget to embellish the centers!

Want to cover yours in your favorite paper? Just stamp the image on Grungepaper, cut it out, then glue it upside-down to the back of your favorite paper. Jenni Bowlin Mini Papers work great because they have small designs on them. Then, cut around the grungepaper again and sand the edges. You can leave them like that, or ink them up! Curl them, layer them, embellish them and voila!

Here's a fabulous picture of "Mr. Rick" (Wendy's trusty assistant and husband) rolling up his sleeves and getting ready to work hard. It's out of focus as well, but I just thought it was cute and wanted to include this picture too! He was such a nice and helpful man!

Wendy has a creative eye that allows her to "think outside the box" when it comes to use of embellishments. Tim Holtz's Game Spinners come to life in her art by becoming bodies for butterflies or flower stems. The center of flowers "pop" by using Buttons, Vintage Ephemera, Gemstones, Tim Holtz's Foliage, and especially, Tim Holtz's Snaps (she's a "snapaholic" - she buys them by the hundreds!). I know, I know, I could go on all day! Did I mention how sweet of a person she is too?!?!

So if you haven't seen Wendy's Art by now.....please squeeze out of that great big rock you've been living under and check her out!!!! HERE is a link to her blog. I know you will be inspired and you will fall in love, too!

We carry all of Wendy's Unmounted Stamp Sets, her book Make Art, Studio 490 Style, her Acrylic Storage Binder for the Unmounted Stamp Sets (as well as the refill pages), and most of her wood mounted stamps.

******BLOG CANDY ALERT*******You knew it was coming didn't you! I can't help giving stuff away. It is just so much fun! Here's the deal - and it is HUGE! Just become a follower of our blog (if you aren't already) and comment on you favorite Wendy Vecchi Stamp Set, Mounted Rubber Stamp, or even one of her techniques! At the end of the week, I will draw ONE lucky winner at random. That person will receive ONE WENDY VECCHI UNMOUNTED STAMP SET of their choice AND a copy of Wendy's Book, MAKE ART, STUDIO 490 STYLE. Whew, I just hope that person is sitting down when they receive the news so they don't faint! hee hee:)


My favorite, you ask? Well, I love the flowers in the Lower Case Art Stamp Set. The round flower is the one she turned into a pumpkin for the Halloween project she did to the left. I know, pretty creative, huh! It is so cute!

I also really like the Berry Tree stamp (it is also available unmounted in the Mail Art set).

But, my favorites are her sayings. I love "Always Move". It says "always move in the direction of your dreams". This one really inspires me everyday to be grateful for what I have and to work towards my goals in life. I am a big believer in dreams! Here it is in a piece Wendy made. So cool...did you notice the Sprocket Gear in the flower center?

Well, I guess it really isn't that easy to pick a favorite, is it? I hope that this has inspired you to "Make Art" (in Wendy's words).

Until then, happy shopping and good luck in the Blog Candy drawing!

~TERRA

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Saturday, October 24, 2009

Blended Beauty!


24 piece watercolor pencils

The beautiful full color Stampin' Up! inspiration sheet is filled with ideas for rubber stamping and scrapbooking! Our customers LOVE these full color stamping idea sheets!

The set of watercolor pencils is made with brilliant pigment. The 24 pencils come in a storage case. Only unsealed to take the photo.

Pencils can be used to give that amazing watercolor look to your stamped art. Use them dry and then wet with an applicator or use them wet. A smaller 12 pencil set is also available.


Check out the video below to get great techniques and ideas!





Check out this video for great HOLIDAY techniques and ideas!




Have fun!


Steph


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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Magnolia Halloween SO SPOOKY Stamps ARE IN STOCK NOW!


GREAT NEWS! The Halloween Magnolia stamps are here now! OH I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!

We are shipping preorders today and tomorrow and will fill new orders for this great collection now! The listings still say PREORDER, but we are taking that wording out after we get these babies shipped:)

Get it before it's gone because we all know that Magnolia Halloween stamps are HARD TO FIND! Besides, these designs are great for so much more than Halloween :)

We also received a very limited number of Halloween papers and will be listing them too ;)




Seriously, does anyone else think Devil Tilda is the best stamp evah!?

Luv,
Heidi

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