Stamping, Women and Food! OH MY!!

What do you get when you combine 18 enthusiastic stampers, 5 energetic creative coaches, 4 too-cute-for-words projects, more food than I can list and an absolutely beautiful day?  One thing: FUN!

Last Saturday I attended my first Stamp Camp.  Since it is something that I would like to do in South Austin at some point, I decided to go and be a fly on the wall to see how it's done.

These were the projects.  You'll have to trust me when I say that pictures simply don't do them justice.  Pictures never do.  Handmade items are treasures that must be witnessed up close and personal to really get how special they are.

That sweet lady on the right is Meg.  She was one of two very talented women who designed the projects and pulled this day together.  She's a wonder and we all love her.

Diana was Meg's cohort for the day.  This event was very well organized and flowed beautifully not in small part because of this lady right here.  The woman is a dynamo.  Saturday was the first chance I had to meet Diana.  I'm glad it won't be the last.  Please notice what is on the table.  That's right, there were PEEPS involved in that project.  Lots and lots of PEEPS.  We all went home with a sugar rush.

This is Susan.  Between Susan, Susan, Susie and Susana, we almost had everybody else convinced they needed to change their names. 

And this is Sherry.  She rounded out our demonstrator crew.  The beauty of being the one with the camera is that no pictures exist of me.  If you visit my previous post, you'll know why that's a good thing.

You see those faces?  Those faces are having a great time.  The two on the far left were a mother/daughter team.  They were so cute I wanted to take them home.

There was also a table set up for the demonstrators to display their creations.  It was a table FULL of inspiration to be sure.

The whole day was more fun than I can translate into words.  If you didn't make it to this one, do yourself a huge favor and get to the next one!

Girl Time!!

I have a couple of friends that I get together with to scrapbook.  We're all moms.  We're all busy.  And none of us seems to be able to make the time to get things done on our own.  Can you relate?  I thought so.

Seriously.  My oldest son is 23 years old and I'm still working on his toddler years in his baby book.  It's bad.  It's very, very bad.

We try to do this every month but, honestly, we only seem to manage it about once a quarter.  Something we vow to fix every time we get together.  We have more fun sitting, scrapping, talking, laughing, eating and just sharing life.  You know, the kind of afternoons that keep you going when life gets really stressful as it is for so many of us right now. 

This month we got together at Amber's house.  She has an awesome craft room.  I got a couple pictures of a few of her walls.  I'll share them with you sometime.  It's a great room.  In the mean time, here are a few pictures of our afternoon together.

That's Amber.  Isn't she cute?  She's gonna kill me for posting that picture, but I think she's adorable.  Besides, the picture of me is worse...much worse.

See!  And I was the one who brought the camera.  You'd think I would have done SOMETHING with my hair.  Michelle is the photogenic one in our bunch.  She's always ready. 

We make a huge mess.  You should see the floor.  Poor Amber's craft room didn't know what hit it.

The point of all this is to say that getting together with the girls really is something that should happen at least once a month.  Whether it's scrapping, stamping, sewing, stitching or just sitting in a room together watching a chick flick and laughing, do your stress level a favor and schedule some girl time.  It's what gets us through.

Assignment: Grab your calendar and pick three or four of your best girlfriends and schedule some fun!!

Happy Valentines Day! and the flu stinks

If ever there was an oxymoron of a post title, that has got to be it!  Unfortunately, I have been laid flat by the flu since Friday and I'm still battling a monumental headache.  I solemnly swear that I will never again let a year go by without my flu shot.  WOW!

BUT, it is Valentine's Day.  That wonderful day of love and romance and kids bringing home shoe boxes decorated like mail boxes full of the latest/greatest Disney characters and so many M&Ms.  Needless to say, there are alternatives.  Adorable alternatives that are not only easier on the budget but also bring the added bonus of special time and memories made with our little ones.  

Since I wasn't able to stand upright for the last several days, I decided to surf the stampin' blogosphere and see what other wonderfully creative minds have come up with.  

Q-Tips Gone Wilds (how stinkin' cute is that name) was created by Lena over at Scrap Butterfly.  Go ahead and click the link.  I'll wait. . . I don't think there's a kid out there who wouldn't rather open their shoe box to find this instead of Buzz Lightyear M&M's.   Very cute, Lena!

These are what my Peanut gave away this afternoon.  Well, these are samples of what my friend Amber came up with.  Peanut didn't put dog biscuits in hers, I promise.  Although, I bet there's a certain dog in our home that wouldn't have minded.

Cute stuff! Now I've got an idea kicking around my brain to re-purpose this big ol' Whitman's Sampler box from my husband.  I'll let you know what I come up with.





 

A New Beginning - WELCOME!

Welcome to The Paper Horse and thank you to my wonderful friend / team member Amber for helping me come up with the perfect name.  It really does suit me. I have been around the stampin'/craftin' world for a while but this is the first time I've done a dedicated blog.  This is the first of what I hope to be weekly postings.  I will be posting project ideas, instructions, specials & promotions, videos, club & class updates and anything else that happens to be rocking my world at the moment.  

To start things off and because Valentines Day is but one itty bitty week away, Personalized Chocolate seems to be the perfect launching point. 

Here's what you'll need:

• A sheet of white mailing labels (1" x 2-5/8")
• A bag (or 5) of Chocolate. 
• Ink of your choice.
• Stamps that scream Valentine's Day (or the holiday/occasion of your choice).  I'm using I {Heart} Hearts by Stampin' Up!
• Acrylic blocks if you're using clear stamps.  We can't leave out the obvious in stuff like this.

a note about the stamps: This is a classic project that has been around for a long time.  You can use (and most do) a stamp wheel and the project will go quite a bit quicker, but this is just as simple if you don't happen to have a wheel.

Ready?  Here we go:

 Stamp the image on the labels.

 

 

Keep stamping until you've filled as many labels as you like.  I would also like to point out right here how my hand suddenly looks about 30 years younger.  Amazing, isn't it?  I'll share my instant youth skin care technique another time. 

Because I used a stamp set instead of a wheel, I had a lot of empty space left on my labels.  To remedy this, I used a tiny stamp in the same set to fill in the blank spots.

 

This is what I ended up with.

Now, go get your chocolates.  

 

 Peel the label.

 

 Stick the label.

Wrap the label.  Those last few steps can get a little tiring.  I find it helpful if I keep myself fueled up by eating every other chocolate.

TA-DA!!

A cellophane bag and a red ribbon and you're everybody's favorite co-worker.

This project is the perfect example of why everyone should have simple, basic crafting supplies on hand.  The whole project, including pictures, took me less than five minutes.  Quick, easy, inexpensive and leaves the recipient smiling for the rest of the day.  It doesn't get any better than that. 

Come back next Monday to see what's new.