"Pop Rockz" Reminder

Don't forget the "Pop Rockz" special ends February 29th! The colors used in this paper collection is wonderful for your SPRING papercrafting projects. You will get BOTH the Pop Rockz 12x12 paper collection (retails at $19.95) AND the "Happy Everything" (retails at $15.95) 10-piece rubber stamp set for only $25.95! See samples below.

The other February special The Angel Company is having is when you have your $250 Funshop, you will get the "Happy Everything" stamp set FREE in addition to your usual FREE level A Hostess Set and your FREE level B Hostess set for a $250 funshop! Pretty generous, huh? You may shop my online store at your convenience for "Pop Rockz" item #FEB08, BUT when you email me with your order, you can qualify for these specials. Have a great day!

Blessings From Norway!

Look at what I received last week from my friend Tonje who lives in Norway! She sent me a package that included this beautiful card AND all of these goodies just to bless me...aren't they wonderful? Isn't SHE wonderful for doing that? She sent me lots of stamp/scrap embellishments and she even stamped out images of Tilda for my use! How thoughtful of her, right?

So did I meet Tonje on one of my trips to Norway you say? Nope, I've never been there although it would be neat to visit. I met Tonje thru her blog. She left a comment on my blog and asked if it was okay to link up to mine. I really do appreciate other papercrafting bloggers linking up here...that's how we get to know each other and we get to share our ideas and learn from one another. Well, when I went to her blog I was blown away...she had a "write-up" on me! Whoa...what? In essence, she shared how we appreciate each other's artwork and how we enjoy sharing with others what we've learned.

Tonje is very talented and she recently had a 6-page magazine spread on a national Norwegian magazine! Her attention to "detail" is one of my favorite features of her artwork along with her incredibly intense watercoloring technique! I'm believing some of that talent rubs off on me!haha!

Well, I'm certain you enjoyed meeting my friend, Tonje Almnes. Give her a visit and get blessed with her artwork. Also keep her in your prayers, her family was about to go on vacation and her little girl Maia is ill. I'm believing 3John 2 for her- "beloved I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prosperth." Thanks for dropping by.

And the winner is......

JoanT!! Congratulations, Joan. She has won this mailbox and inspirational cards as part of my "giveaway" (see two posts below) on having 10,000 hits on my blog. Sorry, I didn't notice we hit that amount 131 hits ago or I would have posted sooner.

Joan, please email me privately with your address so I can mail this out to you.

I want to thank all of you for visiting me and giving me the encouragement and support to do this. I will have another giveaway in March, so drop back to see what I've made for you all...and let's continue to thank God for His daily blessings upon all of our lives! I'll continue to pray for what was written on your posts remembering that God is our sufficiency in all things (2 Corinthians 9:8) and that there is power in believing His Word! Good nite for now.

"Love With All Your Heart" Treat Bags

For "newbies," here's a quick treat bag to make for special occasions. I made these for our people in our Fellowship and I do believe they were blessed by them. Although, I have to admit I think they enjoyed my husband's surprise treat for them as well...we had chocolate covered grapes after fellowship!! You think we had enuff chocolates??!

I designed it so they could use the heart as a bookmark later... I used a verse from Matthew 22:37 since my husband was teaching on the subject of The Power to Love that evening.

Here's all you do: Fill a cellophane bag (you can usually find these in the candy-making section of craft stores) with candy, cut a heart shape, stamp your favorite saying on white cardstock. Adhere this to some patterned paper and then to the heart. I dry-embossed the heart with the swirls background first. I added a teeny rhinestone below the focal point. Punch a hole on the side top of the heart, thread a ribbon thru it and tie it around the treat bag! That's it...so quick and such a sweet treat, huh?

And as we all know, it's all in the "presentation"...I tucked a red napkin in my white basket and placed the treats inside to display them. Thanks for visiting me. Have an awesome evening!!

"Bookoo Blessings" Mailbox Giveaway

"Bookoo" is defined as having an abundance of something according to the urban dictionary. Well, I have certainly been blessed with "bookoo" wonderful visitors to my blog and I have made some wonderful friends because of it too! Thank you for that opportunity. I am getting close to 10,000 hits...can you believe that?... and I would like to celebrate by giving something to my friends that visit me!

I would like to send this "Bookoo Blessings" mailbox and the six notecards with envelopes to one of YOU! Just leave a comment or count your blessings & share how God's been blessing your life...then when I get to 10,000 hits I will draw a name and send it to the winner! Looking forward to hearing from you!

FYI, I used "Bookoo Blessings" and "Curls and Swirls" stamp sets, "Amberley Grace" paper collection, Palette Cognac & Noir inkpads and flowers all from The Angel Company.

Craft Critique at CHA

Isn't this ribbon neat? Click here to view it.

It's just one of the "goodies" listed at Craft Critique where they are giving us some "sneak peeks" of their favorite products from CHA...can't wait to see some of these at our local stores!!

Playing with "Scraps"

Did some rubber stamping with some friends today and used up some of my scraps of paper. Don't you just love the "chunky-cheeked" twins? Too cute! Click on picture for larger view.

Thanks ladies for the fellowship & fun and thanks Velda for your hospitality today!!

Godly Inspiration

"Amberley Grace" Card Slider

As I mentioned in a prior post, I would show you one of The Angel Company's new paper collections...and here it is....Amberley Grace! Isn't it lovely? I love it's gentle and elegant look. These pictures don't really do it justice. But my next project shows this paper off much better so come back and check that one out!

Amberley Grace V840 paper collection goes extremely well with the "Forever" T2811 valentine's stamp set. I love this set since they're solid stamps and I didn't have to color anything in...this was definitely quickie stamping! Since I wanted to use non-traditional valentine's colors, I used Cognac TT217 and Cote d' Azure TT206 Palette hybrid inkpads. Did you know?...Palette hybrid inkpads are a combination of dye and pigment inks? Very cool to use!

Here's how to make the tag-like card slider... I've included two different versions...the first is using the Cricut Expressions:

-Use Plantin School Book cartridge

-press Italic

-press Fit to Length

-set Tagright at 8"

Not to fret, if you don't have a Cricut I've measured the card slider and you can cut it out by hand as follows:

-cut a 2-1/2" x 8" sheet of paper
-punch 1/4" hole on either end
-wrap card slider around cards

-slide ribbon thru holes and tie a ribbon knot (see first picture).

That's it! How quick and easy, huh? Makes a wonderful gift set.

Thanks for dropping by, believing you enjoyed this quick tutorial. God bless you!

Tutorial - Faux Swiss Dotted Ribbon & Flowers

Tutorial - Faux Swiss Dotted Ribbon & Flowers

I love using swiss dotted ribbon (or is it dotted swiss?) on my cards but I didn't have the color I needed! Goodness, what to do? Well, I guess I can try to make my own....what else, huh?




Here's a quick tutorial on making your own swiss dotted ribbon and flowers using Stickles glitter glue.

Supplies used:
Stickles Glitter Glue F516, F522
Bitty Blossoms flowers D437
Dark pink ribbon "Mimi"B211
"Curls & Swirls" T2773 stamp set
"Love Doodles" T2709 stamp set

Can you tell I'm really having fun using the "Love Doodles" set??! I just noticed I've used it on the last few posts! The "red hearts" are GWP's (Did you know? GWP's are Gift With Purchse FREE stamps that you receive with your $30 order...I know, pretty neato of TAC to do that, huh?....please email me if you want more info on this. Here's the tutorial:
Oops, you need to look at the post up above....don't know what happened here! I hope I corrected this!

Now it's your turn to give this a try...come back and show us what you've done..don't forget to link up so we can see your work! Thanks for looking.

"Mimi" meets the Cricut!

Our first class of the year will be heart-themed and it is certain to be a lot of fun! Yes, "Mimi" (our wonderful paper) meets the Cricut!! You can see it in the picture...the pink mini purse. Isn't it cute?

We will be using my new Cricut Expressions electronic die cutter (my holiday gift - yeah!) to make the following projects:

-Heart Photo Book

-2 cards with matching card holder

-Treat Box or Small Purse

The Cricut Expressions recipes (how-to instructions) will be included for your future use.

If you live locally, we'd love for you to join us and enjoy the fun!!! Bring your favorite adhesive, glue pen. Please RSVP me at myleeson@netscape.net to RESERVE your seat! Thanks for dropping by!

"Amor" Card

Once I receive the new paper collections, stamps, etc. mentioned in the post below, I will post some samples for you. BUT until then...here's how to make your first "Happy Hearts" card. Ok, I know it's a real jump from the holidays but I'm ready for hearts and here's a quick card to get you started! (Excuse the scan...my camera isn't cooperating this a.m., thus, the scan instead. You can click on image to enlarge it.)

-Using red inkpad, stamp "love" rectangle (from "Love Doodles" t2709 stampset) on 2-1/2" x3" white cs & then stamp "Speckle" F-19 over it. Ink edges.
-Adhere this to center of red cardfront.
-Stamp "ornate" design (from discontinued "Partridge" stampset) on 2"x2" heart shape and ink edges.
-Adhere to right side of love background with mounting "Pop-It" popdots.
-Stamp "tic-tac-toe" (from "Love Doodles" t2709 stampset) on white cs, trim, & ink edges. Attach with jump ring to bottom of heart.

To make photo corner, stamp design on 1"x1" white cs square, cut in half diagonally. Trim w/scissors to shape into photo corner.

With white pen add dots to top left of cs and hand write the word "Amor" at lower right of cardfront.

And here you have your first FUN Happy Hearts card!

January TAC News!

The new The Angel Company (TAC)SPRING/SUMMER Inspiration Book & Catalogue has been released and it is just WONDERFUL!! See for yourself here.

It is filled with beautiful new paper collections, double-sided Matchbook Kits, great new stamp sets and accessories. I especially love the new faithbooking and inspirational stamp sets for scrapbooking! There are new GWP (gift with purchase are free stamps you receive with a $30 purchase!) and Hostess Stamp sets. We have scalloped punches, Scor-pal, Bind-it-All, etc., etc.!! (Remember you can get these at half price with your $100 funshops-what a benefit!!)

I had the honor of designing for this catalogue...so excited! My samples are on pages 94 and 95 if you want to take a look...these are in the Amelia Papers and christmas stamp sets section.

Contact me so I can mail you your catalogue today and you can start ordering on January 2 either thru me (to get the free rewards)you can order direct thru my online store at www.myleeson.ismyangel.net.

January FUNSHOPS are now being scheduled also so phone me with your date so I can mail you your catalogue and get you started. Did you know? Even if you're out-of-state, you can take catalog orders and receive all the freebies of a Funshop for yourself!!

Organizational Stamp Sets:

CLICK ON IMAGES TO SEE A CLOSE UP.

TAC has designed four Organizational stamps sets to help us stay organized giving us more time to stamp and scrap!!
-Studio Organizer stamp set
-Papercrafting Products Organizer stamp set
-Office Organizer stamp set
-Sorting by Seasons Organizer stamp set

When you sign up as a Demonstrator this month, you receive ALL 4 SETS along with your Start-up recruiter stamp sets!! Can you say "OH YEAH"!!

January Stamp of the Month:
Artful Objects is a 5-stamp set that is available for $5.95 with your $30 purchase!

Click here for the Stamp of the Month Set.

Vintage Set:
The Portfolio Collection is a 11-stamp set for $13.95 with your $30.00 purchase. These "realistic" stamps are shown at 70%.

New Years Belief

Thank you for visiting my blog this past year...well, it'll be a year in a few months. Thanks for your encouraging and positive comments...greatly appreciated!

My belief, for those of you reading this, is summarized in the verse of scripture on this card from 3 John 2 "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth!! Happy New Year!

Perky Penguin

Love this little guy - this card design was one I received in a stamping swap. Thanks Avis for the instructions! The scan is not the best as you can't see how it pops out when opened. Love the wording in this card "Abundance is....unexpected blessings!" May you all receive many unexpected blessings during the holiday season and an abundance in every category of life for the new 2008 year!! God bless you and your families and thanks for dropping by!

Secret Sister Swap Gifts

I just wanted to show you what I received in the mail this week from Julie Griffith, my secret sister/santa! I belong to a TAC stamping group and we had a sister/santa swap...never having done one before with them, I thought it would be fun to try it out. Well, as you can see by the pictures below, I was blown away by Julie's generosity and talent (well, talent, I already knew she was a very talented stamp artist!). I didn't want to open up some of the gifts because her wrapping was so pretty. She sent me lotsa hand-crafted items (the personalized notecards and the calendar with verses of scripture were some of my favorites!), some TAC products and a cd from their WHAG stamping seminar. Needless to say, I was totally BLESSED! Thanks again, Julie, for your big heart of giving!!

Holiday Carnival!!

If you haven't done so yet, please visit Craft Critique's Holiday Carnival. They had three days full of different BLOGS featuring holiday cards, decorations (see me here!), sb layouts, altered items, gift ideas, gift boxes, recipes --- anything to help you with ideas for the upcoming holidays and then some. I participated this year and was overwhelmed with the talent out there and the great hearts of these crafters to share with us. So go visit and enjoy your time there! Go on!

Simply Rudy - Embossing a Background

Don't you just love this little guy? He's from Tis the Season stamp set. You could easily use this set with the Merry Wishes paper that is so festive looking! Scroll down to see my post where I used this paper to make ornaments and to take advantage of this paper special until November 30th!!

First, I made my own fern background by heat embossing the fern from Bold Flourishes stamp set. For newbie stampers, that means I stamped my fern image with embossing ink and then sprinkled embossing powder over it. Then we heat emboss it with a heat gun until the powder melts and you see a shiny surface. A very cool technique. Er, or should that be a very hot technique??!) I used a scrap piece of Rustic Chic paper behind Rudy (you know how I can't throw away these small scraps of TAC paper!) I then embellished it with a ribbon and paper flower. That's it - simply Rudy! Hope you enjoy him.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

May you and your families be blessed with a wonderful and peaceful Thanksgiving day! Every day is a day to be thankful if we just take the time to THINK about how God has blessed us TODAY!

Here's a card I made using Ephesians 3:20 as the central focus of the card. This verse is our ministry's "theme" verse for the year. I'm so THANKFUL for that! Ephesians 3:20 is one of my all time favorite verses. If you'll look at the column on the right hand side you'll see it there, under my picture. Yep, that's where you've seen it before. This verse is one I always bring my mind back to when I'm challenged in life. God can do ABOVE AND BEYOND what we can ask or think!! Wow, how awesome and comforting is that?? All we have to do is BELIEVE His Word and claim His promises. Oh yes, I forgot to tell you, our theme for the year is "Your Power for Abundant Living." What a great theme to work & study this year, huh?

Again HAPPY THANKSGIVING today and tomorrow and tomorrow and...!! God bless!