Sally's Ponderings

ohhhhh we are FIGHTING FOR JAMIE!!

     Donnie's cousin's wife, Jamie McMillan has been diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer; so the family did what families do! They chose to fight with her and put on a benefit to raise lots of money that will go directly to her treatment costs.

Tomorrow, Saturday, May 23rd, we are headed down to Bay City to play at her benefit. We are not only excited to be able to perform for such a wonderful cause, but we are excited to share this with everyone!! We want to get the word out, that you, too can fight along with us.

First off...pray with us for her complete healing. God's Word says "By His stripes, WE are healed!!" Let's all agree that Jamie IS healed!!

Second, go to Jamie's donation page on my BLOG to click on the paypal donation button and donate! If you are near the Bay City area tomorrow, you can come on down, hear some great music, eat some awesome brisket, and bid on some fabulous silent auction items!! and in the evening, we are going dancin'!! oh yeah, baby!! I'll be wearing my FAT BABies!! (a kind of Ariat boot, for those of you NOT in Texas...*gasp*)

For more about Jamie and the benefit, go to her donation page on my BLOG! and thanks!!

3 things you can learn in a jiffy!! trendy tuesdays (on wednesday!!) heehee!!

 Ohhhhh I hope you have had a good week so far!! I have had a busy, yet fun week! And I'm getting ready for a really fun week next week...for next week is Stamp Club, my monthly workshop!! Yay!!!

If you are in the Houston area, you are more than welcome to join us for a FREE night of stamping, no purchase necessary!!! Thursday, May 28th at 7:30pm at my home! We will be doing three wonderful projects that you will LOVE!! yay!!

So...let's get to the three things you can learn in a jiffy~

1. Scrapbooking is easy! Especially with Stampin' Up! products!!

 

I bought this Simply Scrappin' kit called "Sweet Nothings". It's packed full of GORGEOUS patterned paper, solid textured paper, and really beautiful self-adhered die cuts!!! For $19.95, you have a wonderful kit to create many fun easy projects!! Here is a close-up of the die cuts:

 

It also comes with ideas of pages you can create quickly! LOVE that!!

I actually used this kit to create this page of my dear sweet little girlie (pics from July 1997!!), Cora! This was my own design... (click to see it bigger!!)

 

Here are some closeups...

 

2. Hostess sets are awesome!!!! and they are FREE!!!!

Here is a little set that I have been using on a gob of cards lately!! It just says exactly what I want to say!! "Sweet Little Sentiments" You can get this stamp set for free by hosting a workshop, catalog party, or even just placing an order for $150 (before S/H and tax).

 

How can you use this awesome set? well, let me show you a couple of examples!!

 

 

 

and a new one!!

 

3. You only need three tools to create a good card...one more to make it great!!! :)

a. an outline stamp set
b. a set of pastels
c. blender pens
and d. add a stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect stamp placement!

To create the card above, I used a fun new stamp set from the Occasions mini-catty called Scene in a Garden and the hostess set, Sweet Little Sentiments (of course!). I used my set of Stampin' Pastels and my blender pens...let me show ya!

 

I stamped several images on a piece of Whisper White cardstock.

 

I used my blender pen on my pastels to "color" in the images...

 

...just like a marker...

 

To clean off the pen, I just wiped it on my scratch paper! Amazing how many colors you can use on one blender pen!! perfection!!

 

LOVE this!!

-->Now, the next step I took was to stamp my sentiment on my Garden Green cardstock, BUT I had some issues! Sometimes I don't put my rubber stamp on the wood block so well...so sometimes my words aren't so straight. I stamped this phrase 3 times before I brought out the piece de resistance!!

the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig!!

 

I stamped the words on the plastic card first using the SAMJ...

 

...then I placed the plastic card on my card exactly where I wanted the words!

 

I placed the SAMJ on the plastic card and then removed the card, not moving the SAMJ one iota!...

 

I inked my stamp and then stamped...perfection!! It's straight!! yay!!! You can use this fantastic tool while placing the fun accessories in this stamp set (Scene in a Garden) on or under the bench!!

Here's that card again...

Three easy things to learn to enhance your fantastic crafting!! :)

If you need to get any of these awesome products, feel free to email me or order directly online on my web site!

Sign up for my weekly newsletter to get other tips and inspiration!! (top right column!!) yay!!!

5 ways to relax...and regenerate...

1. Love

2. Pray

3. Sleep

4. Give your burdens to the LORD!!

5. and my fave...GO CAMPING!!!

Last week's trendy tuesday was replaced with CAMPING preparations!! I took my four children down to a state park last Thursday with my wonderful sister-in-law (a gem!!) and her kids and 18 other close friends!!! we had 5 different sites all close together and just enjoyed each other all weekend. Mr Gorgeous came down on Friday night after flying home from California. It was relaxing, restful, and most importantly, regenerating! Even setting up and breaking down the tent was good solid exercise that I needed. The weather was perfect...even sweating was fab...because the breeze was fantastic! I can't wait to scrap all 300 pictures that we took.

So now that you know my excuses for not posting last week, I'll give you a quick LOAD share...and let you know that tomorrow I will have another wonderful post for my trendy tuesdays!! stay tuned!!!

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of these LOs feature products by Audrey Neal...and that's my exciting news for today! I was featured on her blog today!! yay me...yay Audrey!! :)

Let me know what your favorite LO is!! I love them all!!!

some fun LO pics and a card! yay!!

These pics are featured in my weekly newsletter this week!! Click on the pics to see them larger!! :)

 

Happy Birthday, MOM!! hope your day is the best!! :)

 

two cuttlebug folders I used today!!

 

supplies for my LO!!

 

today's LO of the DAY!! yay!!

 

closeup of Jodie's wa!! yay!!

 

SU!'s build a brad...and my journaling! yay!!

 

And here is what I did with the extra piece of embossed paper!! love the swirlies!! using a cuttlebug folder and everything else is stampin' up!

OHhhhhh Jodie McNally has come out with some new word art and some awesome papers!!

 

and her papers!!

 

Go HERE to purchase these!!!

and for anything else that you need to get from Stampin' Up!! go and shop here!!

trendy thursdays!!! 3 ways to impress your mom!!

Ohhhhh you know sometimes life is so fun to live, huh? I am hanging on and enjoying every moment of it!! that's for sure! This week is my mom's birthday week, so we are having fun with all of her parties!! yup, in the Keller house, you don't just celebrate once...every birthday is a "fest"!! I'll explain more about that in August when "SALLYFEST" commences!! :) yes, there will be art projects involved!

So today I want to share three really easy projects that you can do to impress YOUR mom!! (mom, i hope I'm impressing you, too!! LOL!!)

Stampin' UP! has their really cool embossing folder out for sale!! You need this Embossing folder!! It's called a Texture Impressions Die (page 204 in the Catty!) - the Manhattan Flower!! Check out what it can do!!!

 

and the inside...

 

I love this Parisian Breeze paper!!! And the stamp sets I used here are Sweet Sentiments (hostess FREE set) and the Note of Thanks (on the 10$ or less page!!! Love that!!)

So if you are used to using Cuttlebug folders, this little folder is perfect for your Cuttlebug or your BIG SHOT!! and if you need a Big Shot, I've got one for sale!! Well..I have a bunch for sale!! Check out my web site to order from your home!! :)

Okay...how about using your Big Shot or Cuttlebug with a die cut as cute as the cupcake in the Sizzix Big BOLD cupcakes die available from SU! We used that die for our cupcake sweetie envelope a couple of weeks ago at stamp club! But today, I used that same die to create my favorite animal!! a SHEEP!! heehee...

 

isn't that sooo fun??? Even Mr Gorgeous had the idea to use the heart as the head! I love this creative family!!

Here's the LO I did with it...

 

(that's cora...isn't she a doll?????) Everything on this LO is SU! except the Thickers letter and the I heart you stamp that I just picked up at a LSS. I know!! isn't it cute??? and that sheep???? Ohhhh I love my BIG SHOT!!!

and IDEA no.3...

While at my LSS, I picked up this really fun crackle paint!! I am such a sucker for a good crackle finish and this is for paper!! and acid free...sooo cool!!

 

so here's what you do...the thicker you paint it on, the bigger the cracks...but this is just paint and dry! You can heat it with a heat gun to make it crackle faster. I did...

 

So I was thinking it was a bit more opaque than this, but it works great, just showing a little bit of that gorgeous Parisian Breeze paper...just enough for the hint of baja breeze to show through. And this Antique Linen color matches So Saffron from SU! how cool is that??

So here's what I did with that...I added a piece of Texturz plate embossed So Saffron paper, a gorgeous picture of my two favorite men, striped so saffron ribbon + a brad, some neat Thickers stickers (addicted to those!!) and a stamp (yay!) and my fave...my sewing machine!! I love this...why do I wait to do this???

 

and here's a close-up...

Art is such a wonderful way to express ourselves! AND these fun tools are there to help you express yourself and create lasting memories for your family and you to enjoy forever and ever!!!!

I'm not sure if you noticed, but I am LOVING the Designer Series papers from SU! right now! And here's the really cool thing...This month, in honor of National Scrapbooking Month, Stampin' Up! is offering a free pack of DSP with the purchase of three other packs!! And here's the real deal - If you join my stamp club, you will receive a FREE pack of DSP with no other purchase necessary! And you will receive a free somethin somethin every month that the club runs!! yay!! :)

E-mail me today to let me know if you would like to join my stamp club!! :)

Sign up for my newsletter for more fun ideas and information on the top right of my BLOG!!!>>>

And to all who played in our BLOG hop last weekend, welcome to my BLOG and thanks for all the fun comments!! I hope to see some vellum embossed soon!! Link me here! :)

Cuttlebug Challenge...Relax, Rejuvenate, Be Inspired!

Welcome to my little spot of relaxation this weekend!! I'm sooo excited to be a part of the Cuttlebug Challenge Blogspot Spa Retreat!! {to start the BLog Hop, go to the Cuttlebug Challenge BLOG!!} I have a couple of inspirational things to share...but let's start with the most important!! RELAXATION!!!

For me, I love to scrap and create. I can sit in my craft room for hours and at the end of the day, my creations give me such a relaxed pleasure, all that can top it is to sit in my hot tub with Mr Gorgeous and just be happy!! :) Let me show you what I mean! Here is a digital page I did about my "perfect day". The digital kit I used for this, "Spring Bees" is free with purchase at OScraps this weekend!! yay!! (click on the LO to read the journaling!)

 

and I just have to share what my sweet 14 yo would do to rest and relax!! Play with her new TOUCH IPOD!!! :) here's a gander at her right after the FedEx guy delivered it to her!! :)

 

She's such a wonderful Techno kiddo!! :)

Okay...so down to business!! I LOVE Roses!! I love my roses!! These roses in this LO are my wonderful wild antique roses we purchased in the heart of the Hill Country in Texas...and they LOVE SPRING!! 

Enjoy them!! 

 

Be sure to write down that I LOVE ROSES!! :)

I also wanted to let you all know that Hearthstone Media has its new site up!! If you want to hear gorgeous music and poetry to REST, RELAX, and REJUVENATE with, check us out HERE!!!

Now...please sign up for my crafting newsletter to hear updates on what's going on in my crafting world weekly!! You can also add me to your typepad list and sign up to follow my BLOG (bottom right column!! - get notified every time i update! yay!!)

Before I give you the next stop on this fun hop, let me show you what I created today with one of my Cuttlebug folders!! I embossed vellum!! yummmy!!

 

flowers from my stash...everything else is from Club Scrap! except the stamp (hostess FREE set from SU!) and word window punch from SU! some close-ups...

 

 

Thanks soo much for stopping by my little place of Ponderings!!

***to be eligible for the blog hop prizes, you need to: 
 
-- Visit each blog in order
-- "Follow" each blog (sign up in the lower left column for updates!)
-- Leave a comment on each blog (tell me what you love about roses, scrapping, or anything!)
-- Grab the name of the blogger (I'm sally :) )
-- Grab the name of the blogger's flower (don't forget - roses!!)
-- Email CBC with the name of the bloggers and flowers at the end of the weekend (to cuttlebugchallenge@gmail. com)

I can't wait to read your comments!!

and on to your next stop, which is ROE's BLOG, Creative Liberties! Enjoy your trip!!! :) and don't forget to relax!!

trendy tuesday!!! Stamp CLUB fun!

Have you ever wanted FREE stuff? Have you ever wanted to get hostess benefits without the hassle of having a party at your house? Have you ever wanted to get everything from your wishlist, but knew you couldn't spend thousands of dollars right then?

I have a solution for you that will help you reach all of those goals!!

Join my monthly stamp club! For a mere 25$ a month, you can join up and receive hostess benefits one month out of the run of the club! You can budget your wishlist to reach all of the financial goals you have + you can receive all of those FREE items you've been craving!! AND I have two other FREE gifties to give away to you if you join me!!

1. You will receive a FREE new Fall/Winter Idea book in July when it comes out, a $9.95 value!!

2. For the month of May, you will receive one package of Designer Series paper in honor of National Scrapbooking Month!

***to receive these free gifties, you must sign up prior to May 4th! (these free gifties are eligible for current club members, too! yay!!!)

...but wait...there's more...

~If you sign up for this run of our stamp club and you live out of town, I will get your products to you with no "extra" shipping charge! (you still pay regular shipping charges.)

~if you sign up for this run of our stamp club, you will receive a little perk each month! (like the paper in May, and i'll give you a hint for June...it has to do with FREE-ness and Shipping-ness!!!)

So...what about our Club workshops? well, even if you are NOT a club member, you can attend our workshops for free! If you ARE a club member and live out of town, you will receive the cut pieces of each project with your order for that month! wow!!! (you might have to substitute the stamp sets used if you don't own the ones we use that month...of course, you can just order the sets...it won't hurt my feelings!! LOL!!)

Here is an example of a Club workshop...

We did three projects this last Thursday using some fun stamp sets, ribbons, and die cuts!! of course!!

Here's our first project...a sweet card!

 

I used the Jumbo Grommets that are in the Occassions Mini Catalog. Inside the grommet I threaded a "ribbon rose". I got the instructions and tutorial for making these from this BLOG here:

Kirsten's Stampin Corner

Isn't that video fun? I love the baby teaching too!! LOL!! I also put Crystal Effects on the flowers from the Upsy Daisy stamp set. And that Parisian Breeze Designer Paper? *sigh* love it!!

Here's our second project:

 

ohhhh this stamp set is called Branch Out! LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! and I used the designer hardware for the tire swing!! just darling!! the Jumbo eyelets work perfectly, too!! and I also used the regular silver eyelets...

 

Even the little ones look very cute!!!

And for our last project, I made a little sweet envelope with a tag and a little treat inside!!

 

and the tag...

 

so I used the Big Shot!!! How awesome is this??? I cut the scalloped circles, the petal envie and the cupcake all very quickly! :) then I stamped the tag and added the gorgeous Kiwi Kiss/Vanilla ribbon (yum!!!!) to the tag and used sticky strip (lots of it if you use little candies) and that AWESOME stamp set, Crazy for cupcakes!! yay!!

okay...so send me an e-mail at sallykeller@gmail.com to let me know you are in this time. We will run for as many months as we have members! I'm sooo looking forward to this run of Stamp Club!!

GO and check out other projects on my Stampin' UP! site!

and even more importantly >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> sign up for my newsletter!! get all the news that's fit to print! sales, goodies, tips and my calendar! yay!!

a quick share of current LOs!! yay!!

I'm going strong on my LOAD or Layout a Day!! :) Here are some of my recent beauties!! LOL!!

 

Cora and Paloma in Galveston!! I love this LO...most everything is Stampin' Up! love that new Parisian Breeze Designer Series Paper...

 

Ohhh my daily thoughts prompted this LO! I used a sketch from the Scrapbooks Etc web site!

everything but the "thickers" stickers is from SU! Love my new Buc-ee's mug! only $0.89 to refill! :) I'll have to walk there tomorrow! ahahahah

 

I took pics one after the other of these sweeties today!
Everything from Shaui's kit, Make it count V2 from FeiFei's stuff Design
and Sweet Genevieve designs Antique Paper Overlays

 

okay...so this title comes from a graffiti-ed phrase my friend read in Australia a long time ago! I kept thinking of that when I had the kids pose like this today! LOL!! they are such camera hams!! LOL!!
everything from Ashalee Wall's Anthem kit and Jodie McNally's Date with Dotty date stamps!

 

Enjoy!! and let me know which ones you like best!! heehee!!

trendy tuesdays!! Learning to use what you have...

Sooooo I'm really excited to have accomplished a LOT this past weekend!! I completely tore out my craft room carpet, organizing everything in its wake!! and in so doing, i knew what I had in my STASH!!!! how fun is that???  (I'll post an after picture later this week!!)

So Friday, I sat down (after Cora and I had ripped out all of the carpet tackboard!!!) and crafted all afternoon into the evening and then some more on Saturday!! I got 2 scrapbook pages and 12 sets of cards!! wow!!! Here is a sample of one set...

 

this is using Three Little Words stamp set, Fresh Cuts cards, pretties bead, and Parisian Breeze Designer paper!! yummmy!!

I am part of a yahoo group called Scrap From Your Stash, and the whole goal is to use what you have!! Don't go out and spend a lot of money (that I don't have!!) and shop in your own craft room. So that's what I did with these LOs...just used what I had!! *warning* There are non-SU! products on these LOs, but the beauty of SU! products is that they go with YOUR STASH!!!

 

This LO is about my graduation from college with my Masters. My mom gave me a party and those tulips (that I pressed and framed) and that card...so cute!! I used a little memorabilia envie to put the tulip petals in. That paper on the left is that Parisian Breeze Deco paper...you gotta get it!! it's cardstock...heavy, textured, GORGEOUS!!!

 

this LO i LOVE because of the thickers alpha and the Basic Grey paper!! and of course, I love my teenager, too! ;) I painted the Doodle This stamp using these watercolor shiny paints that I got in CA when I was there last year...really pretty!! stamps are sooo awesome to use when scrapping!

On this LO, I used the Texturz plate from SU! in my Big Shot. (on the Blue paper) and I grabbed stuff out of my stash to finish it up! Bazzil flower, metal title plate, and the brad and ribbon are both SU! i LOVE pink!! :) and these girlies in the bluebonnets!

 

this is probably my fave from the weekend. The challenge was to use border stickers...who uses stickers anymore??? okay, we all do, but we don't admit it! LOL!! so I found this awesome sticker and picked my pics accordingly...Click on the pic to see it bigger, and you will see the alligator in the little slide frame! yikes!! :) love the crimper and my Always Artichoke paper...my fave color!! and the random bottle cap...ohhh my stash is the best to go shopping in!! :)

 

and last but not least, I did this LO!!! this one is crazy!! the challenge was to use a 5x7 pic. I didn't have any 8.5x11 photo paper, so I used a transparency to print the big pic. But since I haev an ink jet, it will NEVER dry...so I rubbed it onto the Whisper White paper...isn't the effect cool???? It's a pic of a statue down in Galveston. Then Quentin had to act just like it!! so they are twins!! I thought they looked a bit angelic, so I went with the angel theme, using a retired SU! angel set, with micro beads on her wings...and a metal embellie that says "we" and i wrote "are angels" under the metal! Love the grey and black and white in this one!! kinda artsy, huh?

Sooooooo, those are some tips on using your stash. I'll add to this later...still spring cleaning! yikes~ :)

But I wanted to show these LOs to ya to inspire you to shop in your stash!! If you've bought a bunch of stamps and paper, use them!! you will LOVE every minute of it (and your husband will love your CC bill!!)

btw, if you want more tips or information, feel free to sign up for my weekly newsletter!!

========> top right

and HAPPY STAMPING and SCRAPPING!!!

Quick LO share!!!

Jodie McNally is still in the spotlight!! I wanted to take a quick sec and show off my challenge #3 (yike!!) LO and my Challenge #4 LO!!! Don't forget to come on over and play with us. (click her name for her blog...very very very cool stuff!!)

Challenge #3 What was I thinking?

 

Challenge #4 - the good Old days!!

 

enjoy!! (and go play!!)

5 TAX-FREE reasons to... {trendy tuesday} on tax day!! :)

5 Tax-FREE reasons to become a Stampin' Up Demonstrator right now!! yay!!!

I am looking to expand my group right now, so I thought I would take today to share with you 5 reasons you cannot pass up this opportunity to become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator!! Remember, you don't have to live down the street to join my group; with the internet as wonderful as it is, (and of course, the telephone! yes, i have a working cell phone after losing mine for three weeks!! *sigh*) You can live in Idaho and I'll sponsor you right to success!! :) So, without further ado, here are my 5 TAX-FREE reasons to become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator right now!! :)

1. MONEY!!! Well, the best reason...your tax is basically FREE and so is your shipping!! Now, don't think this is false advertising! Basically, as an SU! demonstrator, you receive 20% off of everything you and your customers order. So that 20% can be instantly awarded to you. Since shipping is 10%, and where I live, my tax is 6.25%, I get those for free on my orders!! Plus a little more!! And with my wonderful customers, I can afford, with my 20% instant income, a fun stamp set like this one I just got:

 

Crazy for Cupcakes...sooooo cute!! :) I can't wait to stamp away with this set!! Sign up for my weekly newsletter to get updates to this blog so you don't miss the fun projects I do with this set!! :)

2. Rebates!!!! Okay in this economy, (cora's fave phrase right now) we all LOVE rebates; we love coupons; we love saving, saving, saving! Right now, when you sign up and get going with your FAB business, you can earn 2% of everything you've sold or bought almost right away!! omgosh!! What if your neighbor wants to have a party and buys everything in the WHOLE catalog??? (HINT: if she did, you'd make more than just your 2% rebate...it'd go up a bit!!! :) ) Even if you are just joining to get a disount, you will still earn a rebate with a minumum sales amount! (e-mail me for exact figures!! I have a fun brochure with more details! yay!!) And of course, with that rebate, you could get these really fun flowers for FREE!!! and more, of course!!

 

3. Ohhhhhh can you say...pay in THREE EASY PAYMENTS? Until April 30th, you can make 3 easy payments to sign up right now!! So in April, you pay 66$ and change instead of the full $199 that the starting kit costs (total bargain at that!!). Then in May and June, your CC is charged 66$ and change also. How cool is that!!! Once again, SU! is looking out for your spending!! And here's the cool thing!! If you already have the cool sets that come in the starter kit, you can substitute with other sets you adore...like this one:

 

Just Jawin'! :) (remember, i got this circle cutter for free!! :) )

4. Stampin' Up! Web Site Demonstrator Access!! Once you become a demonstrator, you get complete access to all of the tools that the successful Stampin' Up! demos use to build their business! Not only does the SU! web site have many tools to help you, there are inspirational stamper ideas, workshop templates, insider tips, and ohhhh that order button!! I love that one!! (here's a sneak peek at the demo web site!! :) )

 

and last but not least...

5. PARTYING!!!! Ohhh you can have parties, soirees, workshops, or just open houses, like this one that everyone is invited to at my home this Saturday!!!

 

How can you say no to this??? You know you love to stamp...like me, you are probably addicted! So to pay for my addiction, I demonstrate how to stamp. And I get my stamps for free! yay!!! There is no better time to join the SU! family...my family...than right now!!

If you are in the Houston area and want to see close up what I'm talking about, e-mail me for directions to my own "Girls Night Out" open house this saturday night! I'd love to show you more reasons to join this awesome family!! :)

Even if you are not interested at this time in becoming a demonstrator now, but you LOVE the products, come on over and PLAY, PLAY, PLAY with me Sat night!! And if you are NOT in the Houston area, sign up (top right ----------------->) for my weekly newsletter!! :) you can play vicariously with us here!! :)

******lastly, I wanted to give KUDOS out to Bev, a fun girlie on my team, who has a new FAB BLOG!! I'm gonna tell you a secret!! Check out her Bella Rose Gift Bag, then come on over on Saturday and make one for yourself!! yay!!!!!*********

Thanks for joining me for my trendy tuesday *special tax-FREE version*! Be sure and sign up for my weekly newsletter to get more information. Also, if you are interested in becoming a demonstrator, now is your time! E-mail me at sallykeller814 AT gmail DOT com!! :) yay!!!!