Holiday Mix Décor Elements

One of the fabulous products in the Holiday Mini Catalog is this Holiday Mix Décor Elements.

It comes in your choice of four different colors — Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Black, and White. Stampin’ Up advertises it as containing the letters for “Joy,” “Snow,” and “Noel.” But surely there are other things that can be spelled with those letters… My friends over at Stampin’ Addicts and I put our heads together and came up with the following list of 65 (yes 65!) other words and phrases you can spell with one sheet of the Holiday Mix Décor Elements.

eon
eons
Joe
Joel
Jon
Jones
Jonny
Jose
Jowl
Jowls
Len
Lenny
Leno
lens
Leo
Leon
Lew
lone
Lonny
loon
loose
lose
low
lows
new
news
no
no lo (as in no lo contendere, but only a lawyer would love that one. . . .)
no se (Spanish for I don’t know. . . )
noose
nose
now
ol’
Ole (Old English)
Ole (Spanish)
oleo
one
Only
only one
ow
owe
owes
owl
owls
own
owns
Oy
sew
sewn
slow
sole
son
soon
sow
sown
soy
swoon
wen
woe
woes
won
Ye
yes
yo
yon

A big thank you to Holly for her amazing contributions to the list! Imagine what you could do with more than one sheet! Oh, and don’t forget these great wood blocks to put the letters on!

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Stampin’ Up Growth Chart

How cute is this growth chart?  I wish I could show you mine, but unfortunately it is still in its cardboard tube, as I have not had time to put it up yet.  I will be putting it on a full-length mirror, so that it can move with us!

This fabulous Decor Elements Growth Chart is only available until September 30, 2009. The colors are Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, and Taken with Teal. It is $24.95 and comes with a free Decor Elements applicator. Contact me to order yours today, or shop online 24/7!

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Putting Up Another Tree

I love this tree! Have I mentioned that I love this tree? It is a fabulous tree, and I was so excited when Paula wanted to put one up at her house! It looks so great on her wall. Actually, I’ve never seen a wall that it looks bad on! Here are some of the highlights as we put it up:

And the final out come! It looks so gorgeous in real life!

So, when are you getting YOUR tree?

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August Specials!

Stampin’ Up has three great August specials that start today!

The first one is this fabulous Decor Elements Growth Chart (on the left)  that is only available until September 30, 2009. The colors are Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, and Taken with Teal. It is $24.95 and comes with a free Decor Elements applicator. I will be ordering mine very soon, and will be sure to show you the finished project. Since we are moving around a bit, I’ll be looking for a full-length mirror to put it on.

The second special is for free buttons! Whoo-hoo! Free is good, and buttons are fabulous! Spend $35 on stamp sets from the Growing Up section of the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog (pages 74-90) and receive a FREE package of Designer buttons–a $7.95 value! Eligible buttons are Playground Designer Buttons, Sherbet Designer Buttons, and Button Latte Designer Buttons. They can be seen on page 181 of the Idea Book & Catalog.

Important note:

• Growing Up section stamps include the Pirate and Princess Personalized Name stamps from the party kits but not the kits themselves.
• Stampin’ Around wheels do not qualify as a stamp set.
• There is no limit to the number of free buttons you may earn! For every $35 you spend on Growing Up stamp sets, you will receive a free package of Designer buttons.
• Spanish and French equivalent Growing Up stamp sets are also eligible for this promotion. In addition, the Quinceañera stamp set (item 113820) from Celebrando Creatividad is also eligible.

You can download the flyer for more information on these specials.

But wait! There’s more!

The Country Living Cookout Kit and the In Color Demonstrator Sign Up special are still available as well. You know, if you were a demonstrator you could start pre-ordering from the Holiday Mini Catalog today as well…

You can always check the Promotions Page on my Stampin’ Up website for the latest news and specials. Contact me to place your order, or visit my website to shop at your convenience.

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Another Tree Goes Up!

Every since I showed my mom the Definitely Decorative catalog with the beautiful Thoughts & Prayers Tree, she had been tossing around the idea of putting it up in the dining room. But it wasn’t until she saw the tree up on the wall in my library that she knew she had to get it! My mom custom designs Judaic needlepoint and has many beautiful pieces on her own walls. She decided that the tree would look beautiful in the dining room behind this piece:

But we didn’t want to just put the picture on top of the tree, so we decided to leave a blank spot on the wall where the picture would go, with the trunk below it and the branches above. This was easy to do, since the tree comes in six pieces. The first thing we did was to mark off the corners of the pictures with Post-It notes.

Then we removed the picture and began to put up the branches of the tree.

Eve was my handy dandy helper throughout!

Finally, we re-hung the picture.

When we were satisfied with where it was hung, we added the trunk below it.

Here is the end result.

Don’t you love it? My parents were so happy with how their dining room wall came out! And it took less than hour to put up! You can download the new Definitely Decorative brochure and see all of the amazing Decor Elements available.

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Father’s Day Family Tree

My dad is big-time into family history and genealogy. It is his passion, and find relatives and connecting them is so much more than a hobby to him. When I saw this project on my Stampin’ Up demonstrator website, I knew that I just had to make one for him for Father’s Day. He was adamant that we take a family picture when we were all there for Passover. I’m so glad that he did, because it gave me the perfect family picture to use! I am so impressed with how this came out, and it took me less than an hour to make! I can’t wait to give it to him!

Stamps: Lovely Letters, Simple Serif Alphabet & Numbers
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Urban Garden Designer Series Paper, Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Small Chocolate Thoughts & Prayers Tree (Decor Elements), Stamp-a-ma-Jig, 14″x 18″ frame

To create the background, I used both 12″ x 12″ sheets of the same Kiwi Kiss pattern from the Urban Garden Designer Series Paper pack. I used the 14″ x 18″ paper insert in the frame as my guide, and glued the patterened paper to it. I left one sheet 12″ x 12″. I cut three pieces off of the  second sheet — one 6″ x 12″, one 2″ x 12″, and one 2″ x 6″. I pieced these together, and you can’t really see seams unless you get relly close to it!

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Video Night!

I’m busy getting ready for Stampin’ Addicts Parade of Papers blog hop that starts Friday morning, so I thought you might enjoy watching a video! This fabulous video from Stampin’ Up features three great scrapbooking ideas:

Want to see some more videos? Try these:

Don’t forget to check back Friday morning at 8am for the blog hop! It will be more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

(Thank you to Michelle Laycock for making these buttons available to Stampin’ Up demonstrators for free!)

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A Tree Grows in the Library

I have loved this tree since I saw the latest Decor Elements brochure! It is graceful and oh so beautiful! I have been searching for a place to put it, and when we had to repaint the walls after the library flooded when the sprinklers burst after the ice storm (long story), I knew exactly where it could go! As you may know, I am the head librarian at Applewild School in Fitchburg, MA. This beautiful tree now graces the wall above our reference collection in the 4th – 9th grade library.

It was a multi-step process, but all in all it took less than an hour from start to finish. And of course I took pictures of each step along the way!

The tree comes in two sheets that need to be cut into separate pieces. It looked like this when I pulled them out of the tube.

Next, I carefully cut apart the individual pieces, making sure to keep their identifying numbers with them, as written in the instructions. I laid them out on the floor to make sure I had it all right.

I started by putting up the trunk.

Then branch number 2.

Then the rest of the branches, one by one.

This one was tricky!

The final branch!

But we weren’t done yet! We also purchased the Thoreau quote. Sean had the great idea of cutting it apart. We put the quote under the branches, and the birds above the tree. The quote says, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.”

Et Voila! The finished wall! I love the way it came out!

Love the tree but don’t have enough space? It comes in three sizes, and is also a part of the Thoughts and Prayers stamp set. Let me know if you have any questions about this. If you live close enough (or want to fly me out), I’m more than happy to help you put one up!

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Decor Elements Video

I love Stampin’ Up’s line of Decor Elements. They are beautiful vinyl wall art, but they are for more than just walls. I have them up on the walls, of course, mostly in Eve’s room, but also in the living room. I have some on my car. I have one on my plan book at work. I’ve put them on vases. (We’ll be putting the big tree up in the library after spring break! Watch for pictures of that!)

Here is a great little video with Stampin’ Up’s Jaron Winder showing how he used  Decor Elements on a shower curtain! So fun!

You can download the complete Decor Elements brochure.

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Just Flitting By

My daughter Eve shows remarkable patience for a 5 year old. When we moved to our new home in August, I told her that she could choose which of the Décor Elements she wanted to put up on her new walls. And I suggested that since we saw such cool sneak peeks of what was coming in Phase II, that she might want to wait until they were announced on September 15. So she waited for SIX WEEKS to see what was coming. But it was worth it, because she found these wonderful butterflies from the Flitting By set. Except that the butterflies weren’t available in the demonstrator pre-order, so she had to wait even longer to actually order them. But she knew what she wanted and waited patiently to get them! They look fabulous on her walls! (Much better than what is showing up in the picture.)  She even put up some of the flowers and the single-layer butterfly herself.

I love the Décor Elements line! It is such an easy way to add classy decorations!

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