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I've been obsessing over these Foil Snowflakes lately.  Use them whole.  Use them in half.  Anyway, they are beautiful on a card.  I will take the snowflakes on a card rather than outside my window any day.  

Did you notice this punch has two stamp sets that go along with it?  Just another way Stampin' Up gives us more options.  I only hope there will be another stamp set in the new Occassions catalog that is coming out next month.  I can't wait!  And there is Sale-A-Bration coming up too.  Both start in January, but the catalogs will come out in December.  It'll give us something new to look at instead of all the Christmas cards we are making.  

This is going to be a short post tonight.  It's almost bedtime for this girl.  Another busy work day tomorrow.  Bummer.

Click on the picture above for the dimensions and instructions.

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

Stampin' Up has not forgotten that tomorrow is Cyber Monday.  They are offering free shipping on all orders!  All orders qualify for this deal.  Because this is only one day, please be patient with the website.  I expect a lot of people will be ordering so the process might take a little bit longer than normal.  

No coupon code needed.

No mininum purchase necessary. 

No products excluded.  

We all know how expensive shipping can be.  This is a great way to stock up on some of those items you keep putting off ordering.  I love this deal because everything is included!  It's almost better than a sale.  And this girl does love a sale. 

This is the only restriction: The orders have to be placed on Monday, Dec. 27 between 12:00 am and 11:59 pm Mountain time.  

As a bonus, if you place an order with me, I'll send you a card designed by myself. 

Happy Cyber  Monday Shopping!

Sunday night football.  Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers.  The Packers are definately playing a little bit better than last week, but the game is still in the first half.  I have relatives who live in Pittsburgh, so it would be great if we would win tonight.  

I really like this stamp set.  The Carols of Christmas has been my go-to for cards this season.  If I would put a hook on top of the circle, it would look like a Christmas tree ornament!  The bow is what gave me that thought.  Unfortunately, the flowers had to be hand-cut since the flowers in the Card Front Builder framelit set don't match up.  And trust me, I tried every way I could think of.  The small leaves do have a framelit so no fussy-cutting needed there.  

The card is simple so I thought it needed it needed a little bling, but not much.  I opted for the 3 pearls and Wink of Stella on the flowers.  Sorry, it doesn't show up on the picture, but looks gorgeous in person.  Don't ever forget about those little touches.  They can really take an ordinary card and turn it into a something special.    

                                                                                      

Don't the flowers and leaves make the card inside look fabulous?  Never forget about the inside.  Your card will definately look more professional with this on the inside.  My color combo is pretty simple tonight.  

                                                                                                                               

The Packers have just scored their 3rd touchdown.  Wow.  This is a different team than who played last week.  We have a chance of winning!  Go Packers!!

Click on the picture above for the dimensionals and instructions.  

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

I am so glad that work is done for the weekend.  It was a long shift working Thursday evening, but I actually had several customers who thanked us for working.  Now, I really didn't have much choice to work, but  hearing customers thank me made it more tolerable being away from my family.  Speaking of family, mine did happen to stop by to see how things were going.  And to see how crazy busy it was.  

Now for this card, I put it all together and was getting it ready to sell.  That's when I noticed it was larger than my envelope!  What the heck?  It was an inch longer than normal and I didn't even notice it.  So I'm not posting any dimensions for this one.  I'm sure you can figure it out on your own. 

Many times when putting 2 pieces against each other, they don't always line up correctly.  It can be disguised by either a piece or ribbon or a trim of paper.  In this case, I used a piece of paper from the pack I was already using, the Be Merry dsp.  The trees were just the size I needed to hide the seam.  

Now the stamp set I used was the Carol of Christmas.  For the ornaments I used my markers, not the stamp pads.  I used Garden Green and Real Red markers and colored the actual stamp and Basic Black for the hangers.  Color, Stamp, and repeat.  You do have to do this after every stamp otherwise it will be very faded.  I also did this on the inside of the card for some fun.  It's more time consuming, but I think the recipient would love it.  Doesn't it really dress up the inside?   A little Wink of Stella would also be very pretty on the ornaments.  

                                                                                                     

The sentiment is from a retired stamp set, but I refuse to part with it.  I'm forever hopeful that Stampin' Up will come out with something comparable.  

This is all for tonight.  It's been a long holiday weekend.  Tomorrow I'll be back in my stamp room work on other cards.  I have to work on Christmas presents for my club members too.  I haven't come up with any ideas so far.  I do have 2 weeks to come up with an idea.  Sometimes working under pressure is when I get the most work done.  

 

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

Who loves a good deal?  Or should I put it...Who doesn't love a good deal? 

Since it's Black Friday week, Stampin' Up came up with their own deals!  Wahoo!  There are select stamp sets on sale for 20% off for the first 24 hours.  That's right now.  It ends at 11:59 pm tonight!  Order early.  Some sales are while supplies last and you know some will sell out.   Keep checking back.  Stampin' Up will be changing things up during the week.  This will depend upon the quantities available.  

There are tons of other items that are also on sale that end 11/26 at 11:59 pm.   They also have framelits,  embossing folders, watercolor pencils, markers, and a lot of embellishments.  Some items are 40% off!  How cool is that?  The sale is sure not to disappoint anyone.  

Check back later in the week.  They are having another 24 hour sale on the 27th.   We have to wait to see what will be on that sale.    

Click on the image above and it will take you to the sale list.  

Have fun shopping!

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

 

Ready for another Christmas card?  I've got plenty, ready to be put on my blog!  Here is one I designed for my club.  I didn't know if we were going to have visitors, so I made the card pretty simple.  One stamp for the Christmas tree and another for the saying.  Oh, and another tree for the card inside.  Add a glimmer star and that always blings up a card.  Simple.  No fuss on this one.  

The Vintage Crochet trim when used with Halloween stamps looks like a spider web.  Now, on a Christmas card, it is just a simple crochet design.  Doesn't look like Halloween at all.  Stampin' Up makes products so they have multiple purposes.  Great isn't it?  Now look at the inside.  Always keep in mind that the entire stamp doesn't have to be completely on the card.  Here you see the Christmas tree, but it doens't take up the entire inside.

                                                                                          

With this Merry Music designer dsp, you get 24 sheets of paper! That is more than what is in the normal pack of dsp.   It's also lighter weight than the regular card stock.  I wrapped some chocolates in my scraps from this paper and the lighter weight was great.  It was easier to wrap with and stayed together. I also really like the music patterns on the paper.  The black and white paper is so easy to match with anyother color cardstock.  It would be really beautiful sponged with color too.

Here is my color combo for the card.  It's a very traditional Christmas combo.  

                                                                                                   

Click on the card picture for the dimensions and instructions.

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

Gosh, I can't believe that I haven't blogged since last Thursday.  It has been a super crazy weekend and continuing into the work week.  Working retail is very challenging this time of year.  We have so much in the store, I sometimes wonder where all the products will go when they unload the trucks lately.  Personally, I can't wait for the hype of Black Friday to be over with.

Are you one to go out as soon as the store open?  What deals do you look for?  I'll be ordering online Thursday morning.  Sometimes I'll have my family run somewhere on Friday if necessary.  They will stop by Thursday night while I'm working to say Hi.  And to rub it in that I'm working and they aren't.  Gotta love family.

Christmas means cookies in my household.  Do you remember the Windmill Cookies as a kid? This recipe was definately better than the store bought ones. I surprised my daughter for her graduation party and had a cookie bar.  These were one that she really liked.  The recipe is a slice and bake cookie.  

Dutch Windmill Cookie

1 lb. butter or margarine

1/2 cup sour cream

4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

5 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup sliced almonds

Mix butter, sugar and sour cream.  Add dry ingredients.  Mix well and form into rolls and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate overnight.  Slice 1/4 inch thickness or a little more.  Place on greased cookie sheet.

Bake 375 for 10-15 minutes.

They are definally a plain and simple cookie but packed with flavor.  Great to have with your coffee in the morning.  Or dunking in your milk.  Now that I've posted this recipe, I'm wanting to make it again.  Maybe this weekend.

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

  

I really like pork chops, but my husband doesn't.  Usually the leftover ones get dried up and then I really don't like them so I usually end up throwing them away.  This is the perfect way to use up those leftover, dried pork chops.  Pork Fried Rice.  The other bonus is that it's super easy and fast to make. 

Pork Fried Rice

leftover pork chops, cut into tiny pieces

3 cups cooked white rice (leftover works best)

3 Tablespoon Sesame oil 

1 cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed

1 small onion, chopped

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 eggs, slighten beaten

1/4 cup soy sauce

On medium high heat, heat the oil in large skillet or wok.  Add the peas and carrots mix, onion and garlic.  Stir fry until tender.  Lower the heat to medium low and push mixture off to the side.  Pour the eggs in the other side of skillet and fry until scrambled.  Add the rice, soy sauce and pork, mix all together.  Stir fry until thoroughly heated.  

I will sometimes add green onion when it's just my husband and myself.  I have also added the small baby ears of corn for something different.  When I think about it, I will make the rice in the morning before work and refrigerate it, making my leftover rice.  It's not necessary to use leftover rice, but it is drier than freshly made and easier to stir the ingredients together.  

 This recipe my entire family really likes this recipe.  Shocker right?  I so wish that would happen more often.  

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper