By Jove ~ I think I've got it!

The new name for my craft space... wait for it, wait for it... "My Happy Place!" What do ya think?! It IS my happy place! It's where I do so many things that I love; craft, create, teach, look at my computer, talk on the phone, hide from my kids...oops you didn't read that last part. Ha! ;)

I feel so blessed to finally have a room of my own to create in. Being able to spread out and work on multiple projects at a time, it's awesome!

This week I'll be posting some new journals and cards (hopefully) on my Etsy site. And here on my blog I'll be sharing pics of the Blessings On Paper January class cards we'll be making. All with fun new product from the new Occasions Mini that is just starting on January 4th!

Also there are only a couple more days to still order from the Holiday Mini Catalog! So if you've been waiting for your Christmas money to buy something special ~ don't wait any longer! ;) You can check that out on my Stampin Up! website at ABCandE.stampinup.net. Just click on Shop Now in the top right hand corner and then Holiday Mini on the left hand column. So many fun and beautiful things! Also don't forget about the Filled with Love promotion. You can read more about that in the post below.

Hope you all had a VERY BLESSED CHRISTMAS!! I know I did. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family to share the holidays with. Blessings to you and don't forget to check back with me this week for more pics and updates!

Are you ready to start thinking about Valentine's Day? You better just for a minute, so you don't miss this great promotion. Valentine's Day is the second highest card-giving holiday next to Christmas and Stampin' Up! has a new promotion for us! Starting tomorrow, from December 17, 2010, through January 24, 2011, receive a FREE package of Bitty Buttons (a $4.95 value) when you purchase the Stampin' Up! Filled with Love Bundle.

The Filled with Love Bundle contains the Filled with Love Stamp Set (in wood-mount or clear-mount) and the exclusive Love Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack. The Bitty Buttons are a great addition to the bundle. So many cute things you can make with using them!









To order the Filled With Love Valentine's Bundle or any other products, please visit my online store HERE.

My New Craft Space

Okay, now keep in mind that this is a transformation of a garage! ;)

Originally my desk and shelves had been built into my entryway closet. So we (hubby and I) took those out and put them in the garage. I got the Jetmax storage cubes at Michael's on the Black Friday sale for my desk legs. and then it is just mounted on the wall in the back. I am going to put up some more of the Ikea towel bars above my desk to keep my tools handy.

Here is my table for all my ladies to come over and have stamp clubs. I had 6 ladies at a time this weekend and no space problems. Yeah!

Behind this curtain hides my furnace and hot water heater. Who wants to have to look at that! ;)

This may be my favorite part of the room. I picked up both of these cabinets off of craigslist.com. I love how I have space to display all my Stampin' Up! catalogs on the white cabinet and then I have the whole brown cabinet set up as a cutting station. All my cutting, scoring, embossing and punching supplies are here. And on the side I mounted an Ikea magazine rack for all of my card base papers. Love it!
And last but NOT least! Here is my Cricut and mailing station. And this is the entry into the room. I am so happy with my new space and love how it functions and allows space for me to share with others.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a blessed day!

You are Invited...

I am so excited!! And I want you to join me!

This Sunday, December 12th from 2 pm - 4 pm I am having an Open House!

Please come and enjoy a free make and take, look at my new Stampin' Up product, drink some yummy cocoa or apple cider and see my new craft room!!

You can also sign up for a Stampin' Club, if you haven't already. I have just a couple spots left in the second Friday of the month club and am mostly open in my second Wednesday of the month club.

These clubs are awesome! Each month you get to come to my house and learn a new technique or project for FREE! Then as a club member you will have the opportunity to order new products (just a minimum of $25 is required) and build your supplies gradually. Everyone gets their chance to be 'hostess'. That means on your month to be hostess you will get at least one stamp set plus $15 in FREE product! It's a lot of fun, so don't wait! You can even call me and sign up today!

December's Blessings On Paper Class

Friday night was so much fun! We had an awesome turn out, everyone was literally blowing in! lol! We made these super fun 4 piece chocolate boxes and a bunch of gift tags.

Today my family and I are home SICK!! I hate being SICK! Argh! So if you have a few extra minutes I'd appreciate your prayers. I have so much on my mind right now, with Christmas card orders, journal orders and my Open House and Craft Room Debut on the 12th! I NEED to get better ASAP! ;)

Blessings to you all! Thanks for checking in today!

Supplies for 4 piece chocolate box: Deck the Halls Designer series paper, Crumb Cake card stock, Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke Seam Binding, Tags til Christmas Clear Stamps, Extra Large Decorative Label punch, Medium Oval Punch. And Hershey's Milk Chocolate Nuggets. All supplies available to purchase on my Stampin' Up website (except the chocolate!!;))

This is hilarious! You have to watch this video for a good laugh! I love Retro! ;)

http://www.scrapbook.com/pages/sunny.php?utm_source=bronto&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Image+-+It%27s+Always+Sunny+in+Here!+-+A+Scrapbook.com+Music+Video&utm_content=kowalkermemories%40msn.com&utm_campaign=DAY+2+-+2010

First Day on the Job!!

Would you like today to be your first day on the job? It could be!

Stampin' Up! is offering a Simply Amazing promotion.

Can you believe it?... you can join the Stampin' Up! family and my team for only $87.50. That is half price folks!!!! You can purchase either the Standard or Digital + Starter Kit at 50 % off the regular price..... plus free shipping! And the kit is worth over $300 in product! And you can totally customize your kit with what you want!

This is a great time to get a new business started. With the upcoming holidays, the stamping and sharing opportunities are everywhere!

Here are a few details:

Available Nov. 15 thru Nov. 30!

Take 30% off your first $150 Stampin' Up! product order (placed w/in 45 days).

Save 20% on all other orders

Pre-order from the 2011 Occasions Mini and Sale-A-Bration catalogs starting Dec. 1. Sale-A-Bration is around the corner and free stamp set opportunities multiply!

Enjoy tons of learning tools, including video tutorials on the Stampin' Up! demo site.

IT'S GOOD TO KNOW: There's no penalty to drop and you keep the kit and everything you purchased at a discount! You'll enjoy full demonstrator privileges thru March 31, 2011. To remain active beyond March 31, 2011, $300 in product sales is required.

What are you waiting for? You don't want to be late for your first day on the job! Ü

Online Spectacular Event Stampin' Up Sale

ONE WEEK ONLY!!

This morning Stampin' Up! announced an online spectacular event for one week only. From now until November 30th!!

During this one week only, YOU can get incredible discounts--up to 50 %-- saving BIG on your favorite products, as well as qualifying for FREE SHIPPING with orders of $150 or more!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LIST OF DISCOUNTED PRODUCTS

Then call me at 503-484-4278 to place your orders! Whoo hoo! If you need to see a catalog let me know and I can bring one to you or you can come over for a visit! ;)

Mt.View Community Church's Girls Night Out

I am so excited to have been invited to teach a couple classes on Christmas cards at the Mt. View Girl's Night Out! This is the card we will be doing. I have two classes at 35 minutes each, so we'll just be doing one card. This is a great one to start with, it is simple but has that fun 'WOW' factor! I used all Close To My Heart products, except for the Christmas Red Stickles and the Stampin' Up Dimentionals.

And can I just take a moment to say that not all dimentionals are created equal! Now I have been one to use whatever 'cheap' adhesives I could find, Dollar Tree is just fine to me. However, since I have now experienced the Stampin' Up Dimentionals ~ I WAS WRONG!! These are superior! They come off their sheet so easy and they aren't too thick and then their backing is so easy to remove too. Just thought I'd let you know that! lol!

I'm taking a month off from making ACES

Hello Ladies!!

Well SO much has been going on this month already! So I have some big news to share with you...(drum roll please) ...I am going to be a Stampin' Up demonstrator!! Yeah! I am so excited to start sharing all their fun goodies with all of you! My personal favorite is how many of their stamps coordinate with their punches!! Our Christmas projects this year are gonna be such a delight! ;)

I plan on starting classes at my home in January and in preparation for that we are transforming our garage into a classroom/office! Erik and I have painted all weekend and I got some carpet and it's just coming together so beautifully. I can't wait to share it with you so... here are a couple pics for ya! ha!


This is obviously a BEFORE picture. Now prepare yourself for a bit of shocking color!



And that's all I'm gonna show you for now! I wanna keep you in a bit of suspense! lol!

So needless to say, I am taking the month off from creating my ACES. I will be teaching this Saturday night at Mt. View Community Church for their girls night out and we will be creating a Christmas card. Just one...I only have 35 minutes! ;)

Then next Saturday, November 27th, I will be back at Mt. View for a Christmas Bazaar! Fun, fun!

Novembers' Blessings On Paper Class

So...Are you impressed yet?! lol! This month we are going to make these darling 12x12 plaques with a matching candle holder. I have made mine to coordinate with my living room. I am providing you with a shopping list at the end of this post for the supplies you will need so that you can make your plaque and candle holder to coordinate with either a room in your house or a holiday.

I stamped my images with versa mark and then embossed them to really make them 'pop' when illuminated. Think how adorable these would be with scripture stamps or holiday images and colors. The class supply fee includes a flameless candle too!


For embellishments, I noticed this paper had some circles within the design so I added some glittery brads to give it a little more 'pop'. Not that you can tell from my pictures! ha! I plan on hanging this in my living room with a collage of our family pictures around it.

Blessings On Paper November class will be held on Friday, November 5th at 6:30 pm. Cost for supplies is $6.00. Sign ups will begin this weekend at church OR if you know you're not going to be at church this weekend you can email or call me and I'll get you signed up. We are only getting one weekend of sign ups this time.

Your shopping list:
2-3 12 x 12 designed papers
1 sheet of either 8 1/2 x 11 OR 12 x 12 card stock for candle holder base
coordinating paint that will adhere to canvas
1 yard ribbon
Your choice of embellishments, ie; buttons, brads, glitter, ribbons, etc.
We will be providing brown and black embossing powder, if you need another color you will need to pick that up as well.

I will also have some important news to share with you this month at class. Please be preparing your hearts for that new update.

I still need a couple more ladies to share hand made Christmas gift ideas, if you have one you'd like to share please let me know ASAP!


Thanks for checking in today. Now leave me some LOVE in the form of a comment! Hugs!

Taylored Expressions October Blast From The Past Blog Hop

Whoo hoo! I am so excited to be included in this blog hop! My very first ever! And what fun it is with Taylored Expressions! I have been getting her Key Ingredients Kits for about the last 4 months and have SO enjoyed them. They are awesome and such fun to get in the mail! I am totally a fan! lol! Then when I saw her blog post about this blog hop I jumped right in on it! Yippee! I am using the CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS set and it's just beautiful. It's all about my Jesus so how could it not be right!!?? ;)

Here is the full view of my card. I love the 'Simply Jesus' sentiment. All I did was stamp the image on card stock and gave it a little Smooch. I think it has a rustic elegance about it. Hence the twine tied to the wide grosgrain. ;) I also dry embossed a frame about a 1/4" all around the card. Kinda hard to see that in the picture but it really adds something to the card.


This is my first experience using Smooch and I have to say, I like it! It has a really fine tip applicator and just gives your work that extra touch.

In this shot you get a closer look at the dry embossing I did around the edges of the card and a bit more of the Smooch!

Well I hope you liked my card and my first submission in a blog hop. I hope it's the first of many! Make sure you check out the rest of the fun examples and share some love with your comments!

HOPE is here!! New ACES October Release!!

Whew another month is flowing by already! This month I have created a beautiful set of cards focusing on our HOPE in God and His promises. My hope with these cards is that they will be an encouragement and comfort to those you send them to to keep our perspectives in a heavenly focus.

* Due to the handmade nature of these cards, buttons and ribbons may vary. Also I do reserve the right to make minor changes of equal or higher value.

HOPE Sets

1 Set $12.00 2 Sets $24.00 3 Sets $36.00

If you need more than 3 sets at a time, please send me an email and I will send you an invoice with the correct shipping costs! Thank you!

If you'd like to see more ACES click the links on the top right hand side of my site. Thanks!

Changes for my Amanda's Christian Encouragement Series

Whew! These last two months since I released my first two sets of ACES has been a whirlwind! Creating the cards, receiving orders, ordering more paper, buying new ink cartridges, receiving more orders, ordering more paper (again!), then creating more cards and well you get the picture! lol! Now, I am NOT complaining! Please be sure of that. ;) However, some of you may not know, that I also teach a paper crafting class on the first Friday of every month. So what I just didn't realize before was how busy the last week of the month would be with preparations for both my ACES and my class!

Not wanting to lower my quality in either case, I have decided to change my release dates for my ACES to the 15th of the month. This will allow me to stretch out my prep times a bit more. Also instead of 2 sets of cards every month, I will just release one set of cards. I hope this isn't too disappointing to anyone. I am thinking that it will allow me to put more focus and details into my work and make them even more beautiful for you!

Well those are my changes...new release date and one set of cards at a time. Any questions or comments are always appreciated. Thank you so much for your encouragement and your business!

~Amanda

September's Taylored Expressions Key Ingredient's Kit

Just wanted to share some of the fun cards I've been creating with this month's TE Key Ingredient's kit. Have I mentioned lately how much I love getting this kit every month!!?? They are so much fun!

Within the last 6 weeks or so Erik and I have had several friends and relatives experiencing some serious tragedy's, illnesses and losses. So needless to say the 'thinking of you', 'praying for you' and 'sympathy' cards have been heavy on my heart lately.

Our prayers go out to Marissa who was in a terrible car accident within her first week to college as a Freshman; Gary who has been diagnosed with Lymphoma Cancer, and my sweet young cousin Connie whose best friend of 16 years died after falling off a horse just days before they both were to leave for their Freshman years in college. Though we know not why God allows these things to happen, we take comfort that they did not come by surprise to Him and that He is always with us through them. We trust that in each situation God's glory will shine.

Purse-onally Perfect for Blessings On Paper

For our next Blessings On Paper (BOP) class, October 1st we will be making these adorable purses with Becky Roberts tutorial! Love this! And to go inside our purses, I have designed 4 (super simple) cards that are made with just the scraps from our purse papers!

Sign ups begin this weekend at church! And I have made up a shopping list for each attendee so you can make it with your own choice of papers and embellishments!

My Shop Space

Today I thought I'd share what I think is a pretty great idea for my little shop space at home. On the wall behind our front door I hung up a vinyl window cling as my shop 'sign' and then I used some IKEA towel racks, the same ones many of us use for our punches. With the help of some hooks and the coordinating baskets, I can hang all my cards and display my journals and card sets. All of it is so reasonably priced as well, the towel racks are $1.99, the hooks are .99 for a pack of 10 and then the baskets I think are $3 or 4. Right now I have about 50 cards hanging plus the 3 baskets, and everything is easily accessible.

Now I have a sweet little wall that serves as my 'shop'! I have a couple neighbors, friends and family that do come here to look at my inventory and buy right off my rack! Stay tuned...later this month I will share with you my crafting space. ;)

Heart 2 Heart Challenge and a little family update

Wowzers! It's been way too long since my last post! I just can't seem to keep up! When you have a husband and 3 little one's life just seems to fly by in a whirlwind! Can I hear an AMEN out there!?

I really just want to get in on another Heart 2 Heart challenge though. I am inspired by everyone else on there every week, so I should be sharing too, right!? ;) This is a card I did a while back, but it fits right in with this weeks theme; 'sentiments'.

For those of you who'd like a personal note ~ both of the boys started school last week. Carson, 1st grade; 'Mom, that is a really LONG day!' ;) And Benjamin, 4 year old preschool class. They are both so cute and love to go to school this year. Ya know, Carson wasn't too keen on kindergarten. But now he gets to have lunch everyday at school and two recesses, so it's cool. ha!

Dalaina is having Monday morning play dates with Aunt Rosie and Uncle Terry and loves that too. Here are a couple pics to update ya! Thanks for checking in with us! Hugs!