Downline Project

This was our project at the downline meeting this past Saturday - it's a cute little pouch made from SU's petal cone die - it would be perfect to fill with treats for Easter. The glare in the picture is from the irridescent shred we put in it - wow! I originally saw this on Becky Roberts site here - http://inkingidaho.blogspot.com/2011/02/petal-cone-carrots.html and then made it my own. Then I wanted to share this goodie with you. I didn't get a picture of all the wonderful food we had at the meeting courtesy of Virginia, Annette and Lisa - thank you ladies!! But I had to take a picture of this yummy Angel Food Blueberry cake from Virginia - she said it is a 2 pt per serving treat (for those of us on WW's).

Anyway - all you do is mix an Angel Food cake mix and a can of pie filling and then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (I think that's what she said) - so moist and delish!!

Happy Birthday to Makai...

Today is our wonderful little Makai's birthday - here she is when she entered the world three years ago today - after a long drawn out labor for Heidi - but she was worth the wait.

Here she is just a bit later in Gramma's arms - nothing better than holding that brand-new little baby.And here is our beauty today - just look at those big brown eyes. She has soooo much personality and character; and an super inquisitive mind. She just wants to know how everything works - so anything that gets in her hands will probably be taken apart. But you can just see the gears in her head working as she figures things out. Her favorite thing to say (or at least my favorite to hear) "Gramma, I love you ALL the time." What a sweetie!!

Double the FUN!

Today we're celebrating two of our grandchildren's birthdays - Makai turns "3" tomorrow and Zavian turns "1" on the 26th - so Heidi combined their party this year while she still could without either of them complaining :)

Zavian is having a "Pirate" theme and Makai "Hello Kitty" - I'll share some more pictures and thoughts on their actual birth-dates, but I wanted to show my cards for them today -
First, here is Makai's gift wrapped up with her official "Birthday" pin. I found these cute pins at the Dollar Tree and got them for all the grandkids this year.
Next is her card - I actually just used two cards for the kids from my stash - but I had to take them apart a bit and relayer to fit on the "recordable" cards from Stampin' Up! If you remember from Zamarah's birthday previously I am recording me singing "Happy Birthday to You" in each of their cards this year. This is the outside of the card -and here is the inside. The insides are popped up on dimensionals, so you can hear the song better.Here's Zavian's gift with his birthday pin -
I didn't have any Hello Kitty cards in my stash - but I did have this cute pirate card we made a few years ago - perfect for the theme of Zav's party - and here is the inside - the "x" marks the spot to push for the music :) Thanks for stopping by!!

March Downline Challenge

Today was our Quarterly "Calling ALL Crazy Stamping Ladies" downline meeting - and what a fun time it was. Each month we do a card challenge - and this month's was to make your best card using Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist and River Rock - they could also use any or all of Whisper White, Basic Black, and Very Vanilla. There were not a lot of entries - but the ones that did enter were AMAZING - it was very difficult to pick just one winner. But we did it. This first card is Annette's entry - it was so lovely and she did just a wonderful job on using the embossing folder frame and reducing the size for the inside layer - really nice work. The second entry was from Julie and really ROCKS - look at the great way she used all the colors - lots of dimension and movement in this card - what TEEN wouldn't love to get this. You can check out more of Julie's work at - http://simistamper.blogspot.com/

Third was this beautiful and soft SPRINGTIME version of the challenge by Kathy - I love the way she used beveled frame - and if you look closely you'll see the beautiful clouds that were sponged on the background layer.

Here is the winning card from Sandy - CONGRATULATIONS! I have to apologize - for some reason I think my flash failed and so her card came out dark. This card was so beautiful - that the picture even clearer probably would not have done it justice. Hopefully she'll post it on her blog and you can see it here - http://shadeeladee.blogspot.com/

February Christmas Cards

I'm doing it - my New Year's resolution was to make Christmas cards each month to be ready by November with all my cards - so today was our first Christmas card class of the year. Ten of us got together for an afternoon of chatting, eating and stamping - it was great!!

Here are the two cards we made (5 of each of 2 designs) - Heidi (www.stampingking.blogspot.com) and myself came up with the designs - let me know if you like them. Card one has a vintagey look using this adorable Santa from Jolly Old St. Nick - The second one is a cute, crisp look using the snowflake embossing folder and the "Big on Christmas" set -

And here is my stash for the day - such a great feeling and I love the cards.

Our next Christmas Cards camp is Sunday, March 27th - plan to come join us!

Congrats to my Downline -

Here are the cards I sent out to my downline for Top Sales in January - I used this great Simply Sent kit, Medallion Medley - it is rich and lovely. I just added the sentiment -And some bling - rhinestones on the medallions and under the celebrate - and off they went in the mail!! How fun and easy is that. Congrats ladies!!

Wanna be a Crazy Stamping Lady??

Sale A Bration time!

Woohoo - it's here! Stampin' Up!'s annual Sale-a-Bration promotion! FREE products for every $50 you spend! Plus - hostesses get additional benefits too! Gotta love it!

This years’ Sale-A-Bration products include 4 exclusive stamp sets, a Designer Series Paper & Quick Accents pack, a Ribbon & Button pack, a Digital Content CD for My Digital Studio, and Chalkboard Decor Elements. And if those don’t suit your fancy there are more than 50 stamp sets that you can choose from the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog! Click on icon to the right to view the brochure.

Sale-a-bration is the best time ever to be a hostess, and there are a few ways to be a hostess: gather some of your friends and family members to see the latest Stampin’ Up! products and make a few cute projects; have a catalog party and take orders from your friends, relatives and co-workers, or place your own qualifying order and have it shipped directly to you!

THREE EASY WAYS TO EARN FREE PRODUCTS!

SPEND! $50 (before shipping/tax) and earn one FREE Sale-A-Bration product of your choice. Spend $100, receive two SAB products (and so on)!

HOST! a workshop of at least $300 (before shipping/tax) and earn one FREE Sale-A-Bration product of your choice. That's in addition to Stampin' Up!'s already generous hostess benefits! For bookings in March I'm offering a "Party in a Bag" - You'll get a cute decorated gift bag and tag filled with all the goodies for your party including a brownie mix, soft drink mix and microwave popcorn - you'll LOVE IT! Schedule your party now!

JOIN! Stampin' Up! by becoming a demonstrator during Sale-A-Bration and get your starter kit for 15% off (only $148.75 for over $310 of SU product) AND receive a bonus bundle filled with over $50 in FREE products - that brings it to $360 in product for $148.75.

Here are just a few more reasons to join:
Fill your Wish List! Imagine this! Save 30% on your first product order of $150 or more (placed within 45 days), plus earn hostess rewards & receive a minimum of three Sale-A-Bration gifts (1 for every $50 in product purchased). Yes, we demo's get the same perks as our hostesses, plus more!

Take a Demo Test Drive! Enjoy Stampin' Up! Demonstrator discounts and benefits through June 30, 2011 with NO further need to sell or purchase any products beyond the starter kit. No pressure - just fun!
There's NO penalty to drop! If you wish to extend your demonstrator status for the following quarter (July through September), you would be required to have $300 in product sales (including your own orders).

Starter Kit ships FREE! Yes, that's free shipping!
Become a member of my team. You'll have access to all the perks I offer my downline - contact me now for full details or to ask any questions you might have - mrauchfuss@aol.com!

Cards for a Cause...

This last week a group of ladies I work with got together to make Cards for actually two causes. First we made cards that will be sent to Operation Write Home to support our troops - And second we made birthday cards for our Sunshine Committee at the College I work for to give to Classified Employees -

They did such a great job and were done in no time - next month I plan to bring at least twice as much stuff.

Here are the cards we completed. I've accumulated so much product over the 13 years that I've done this, that donating everything for the completion of these cards is a way for me to give back and share what I love. If you live in the Simi Valley area of Southern California, and have a non-profit group that would like to participate in Cards for a Cause - contact me - I'll be happy to try and work with you to set up a time for your group to make the cards and I will donate materials. Subject, of course to my approval of your group and the cause.

Stampers Club Challenge

Each month our club does a challenge where we make our best card using the past month's technique. This month we made our cards using the embedded embossing technique. I try do do the challenge even though I can't win - just to challenge myself - and here is my card. I love the new Fun Flowers Bigz die - and look how great it looks with this technique - I am soooo happy about how it turned out. And here is our winning card from Karen - I'm so glad she participated in the challenge. Her card is so bright and ready for Spring and she used the buttons currently available through SAB FREE - how cool is that. Congratulations Karen!

Zamarah's First Birthday!

Zamarah is "1" Year OLD!!!

I can't believe our little Zamarah is one year old - seems like just yesterday I was at the hospital with Jenee and holding this brand new baby in my arms. Here she is 2/15/10 -
She had a cute little Elmo party - as Elmo is her favorite right now.
This is the card I made her - and it is one of the recordable cards from Stampin' Up! So she can press a button on the inside and hear Gramma singing "Happy Birthday to You!" - I can't sing well -but it is definately sung with love. I plan to do a singing card for each of the grandkids this year - so watch for more :) Inside the card was a BIG "1" that I used to camoflage the recording holes - I popped it up on dimensionals so you can hear the recording better - really did make a difference.. Also added the scallop to cover the print at the bottom of the card.And here's our little sweetie at the end of the day - she was exhausted!! I pray for a long, healthy, wonderful life for you little one! Happy Birthday!