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This is big news. 

Starting tomorrow, for the First Time Ever, stamp sets will be included on the Clearance Rack!  They have never done this before, and Stampin' Up! doesn't know if they will ever do this again.  

Sale starts tonight at 12:01 AM (MT).  

Click here for the list of stamp sets that will be included.  There are no prices listed, so we will have to wait until tomorrow for them.  As usual, the sets are while supplies last, so I wouldn't wait too long if you need one.  There are a lot of holiday stamp sets on this list.  It would be a great way to get ahead on those Holiday cards that we all wait to the last minute to make!

Here's  more news:

Available starting Thursday, July 27, trimmer blades will be available!  We received in a shipment and the quantity will be a order limit of 3 blades per order.  Sales will start at 10:00 MT, so for us, that is 11:00 CT.  If the quantity runs low, you will received this message: "This item has been discontinued and cannot be added to your order (126995).”  Hopefully, this won't be the last shipment to be received but you never know, so plan accordingly.

So, mark your calendar: 

• tomorrow starts the updated Clearance Rack
•  Thursday trimmer blades go on sale​

Until next time...Stampin' Always,

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

 

 

Sorry, I haven't been around for several days.  Today, I am officially out of a job.  My store closed last night and it was so very sad.  The once bustling and happy store is now empty and desserted.  Punching out for the last time in 19 years was hard.  I walked the store with two people that I will miss dearly.  We laughed and we cried.  Tears were shed remembering how the store looked when the shelves were full, and people wandered around with their carts.  

Today it seems surreal while the rest of my family went off to work and I could stay home.  I felt kind of lost, like I was missing something.  My work family was what I was missing.  I gave myself today to mourn what was, and now trying to move into the future. 

I haven't had time to get into my stamp room lately, so I have another swap card to show.   

This card just want me to visit the ocean.  I am not sure who designed this card, but I like the simplicity.  The seahorse is my favorite of all the stamps.  

The stamp set is Seaside Notions Cling Set.  This would be a great stamp set to own if you scrapbook and vacation at the beach frequently.  I can just picture scrapbook pages being made with it.

Product List

 

Seaside Notions Cling Stamp Set

 

I like how the card is split into three horizontal spaces and then one vertical.  I'm thinking that I may have to case this layout and try it myself.  

Until next time...Stampin' Always, 

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

 

Isn't this cow just oh so cute?  He's from the Over the Moon Cling Stamp Set.  He isn't one that I usually gravitate towards, but that doesn't mean I don't like to swap cards with him either!  

Product List

 

Over The Moon Cling Stamp Set

 

 

As you know, I live in a small town in Wisconsin, but grew up in the city of Milwaukee.  My cousins from Pittsburgh PA would come every year to visit.  When I moved away from Milwaukee, they noticed more of the countryside and...cows.  They dubbed the area "Cow Country".  They can say all they want, but when we go and visit, I always have to bring cheese curds.  So, of course, when I saw this stamp set, I immediately thought of them. Heidi, the card designer, was super nice and let me stamp another cow image just for them.  I'll post it when I eventually get around to making it.  

The flowers around the cow are done by using the Stamparatus.  She had a template so we knew how to rotate the paper to get the perfect effect.  I don't remember when she purchased it from, but I love the effect.  

We colored the cow and around him with watercolor pencils.  He did need just a touch of color.  Don't you love the pink boots?

Until next time...Stampin' Always,

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

 

Last week at my demo meeting we did a shoebox swap.  Everything to make for a card should fit inside a shoebox.  The theme:  New Catalog.  I'll be showing these sporatically over the next week or so.  Here is the first one, and they are in no special order.

Butterflies are going monochromatic in this card.  Balmy Blue and Whisper White. 

I do believe that I am one of the few demonstrators that do not own this stamp set!  It is sooo popular and I always have other stamps that I want to get first.  Crazy right?  I do like them though.

This is the Butterfly Gala Stamp Set and coordinating punch.  What is really nice is that both butterfly images are on the same stamp.  They match up perfectly for the punch.  Brillant!  

I'll share another card tomorrow.

Until next time...Stampin' Always,

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers.  We are just having  a calm day around here.  My In-laws's are coming over for dinner tonight.  Nothing exciting happening here.  

This flower was fun to color with the Stampin' Blends!  The majority of the colors I used were Petal Pink and Old Olive.  Light Calypso Coral was in the center of the flower and Light  Crumb Cake was the stem.  

Here's a helpful hint.  When doing a larger space, such as the flower, color the petals one at a time with both blends. Some people do the entire image with one blend and go back with the other.  I don't think the colors blend as well when done that way.  The first color has time to "dry" too much, therefore not blending as well.  I know it is kind of a pain to do it this way, but I highly suggest it for the best results.

I used the Shimmery White paper for the flower.  Wow, does that stand out!  Take a closer look.

 

Another tip I have is to cut out the image with the dies and Big Shot before you color.  This way, if the dies move in the Big Shot, you can just stamp and cut again.  You didn't waste your time coloring for nothing.  That is the worst!  I got lucky on this one. 

I don't be doing this exact card during my Stamp in the New Catalog event, but this is the stamp set I will be featuring.  The coloring is time consuming so I'm thinking about doing a variation of this card.  

Click on the above picture for dimensions and instructions.

Until next time...Stampin' Always,

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

Product List

 

Magnolia Lane Suite Bundle	Good Morning Magnolia Cling Stamp Set	Magnolia Memory Dies	Good Morning Magnolia Bundle	Magnolia Lane Designer Series Paper
Petal Pink 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock	Shimmery White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
Light Petal Pink Stampin' Blends Marker	Dark Petal Pink Stampin' Blends Marker	Petal Pink Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack	Old Olive Light Stampin' Blends Marker	Old Olive Dark Stampin' Blends Marker
Old Olive Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack	Crumb Cake Dark Stampin' Blends Marker	Calypso Coral Light Stampin' Blends Marker	Big Shot	Stampin' Dimensionals

 

 

 

Today I was in a mood.  A mood to make cookies for my family.  They have been complaining that I only make cookies at Christmastime.  That's because I make so many, I don't want to do them the rest of the year.  Well, today they came home work and were estatic to see Chocolate Chip Cookies fresh on the counter.  And, amazingly, there are some left tonight.  

I made this card for club this week.  Take a look at that DSP!  I am so in love with it.   The flowers almost look like they are floating in a pond.  

The first thing to do with this card is to stamp on the vellum.  It does take a few minutes to dry, or you can use the heat tool to speed up the process.  After they are dry, you are free to punch out the images.  If you get too much ink on the image, dab off the excess with a tissue or stamp off before you stamp the next image.  I had to do this with my Old Olive and it looked just fine.

Did you notice the leaf image in the stamp set works in the current leaf punch?  Yay!  I love it when products are able to be used multiple ways.  I do love my punches.

Click on the above picture for dimensions and instructions.

Until next time...Stampin' Always,

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

tams# 34281

Product List

 

Floral Essence Photopolymer Stamp Set	Perennial Flower Punch	Floral Essence Bundle	Perennial Essence Designer Series Paper	Perennial Essence 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Vellum Cardstock
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock	Leaf Punch	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad	Petal Pink Classic Stampin' Pad	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies
Big Shot	Fine-Tip Glue Pen	Stampin' Dimensionals	Gold Faceted Gems

 

I was glutton for punishment and stopped in at work.  But...on the positive side, someone told me about this recipe.  I know, having the honey and lime together in a recipe threw me off a bit.  Never would have thought to put those two together.  

It's shrimp and of course, Alyssa doesn't like seafood.  So, for her, I cut up a chicken breast and cooked that first and then added it back into the final dish.

Honey-Lime Shrimp

1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

2 teaspoons garlic, minced (separate in half)

¼ cup honey

1 lime, juiced

1 pound asparagus, sliced (I used green beans)

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Add shrimp, salt, pepper, 1 teaspoon of garlic, honey and lime juice. Mix well. Cook for 2 minutes, or until bottom of shrimp turns pink and opaque.

3. Flip the shrimp and cook an additional 2 minutes or until shrimp are fully pink and there are no gray bits. Remove shrimp from skillet and set aside.

4. In a fresh skillet (or you can clean out the same one), add oil and sauté the asparagus and bell pepper with salt, pepper, and the remaining garlic.

5. When the asparagus and bell pepper have reached your desired doneness, add the shrimp back into the skillet and combine.

6. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Another ingredients none of us likes is asparagus.  Yuck!  In my defense, I have tried it again several year ago, and nope.  I still don't like it.  So, instead I substituted fresh green beans.  They cooked in the juices for just about 5 minutes and they were perfect.  Still crunchy.  Alyssa said the red pepper was perfect too.  I added that about 2 minutes after the green beans.  

One of my favorite spice stores is Penzey's Spices.  Awesome!  Looking at the recipe, I thought it needed some seasonings so I added their Sate seasoning.  It's a blend all of their own and we love it.  It did add some flavor, but could have used more.  

Megan thought this should be served over rice.  She loves to have the juice soaked up by the rice.  Next time I will definately try it.  

This recipe was super fast to cook too.  I think it took about 15 minutes to make.  Maybe.

Overall, my family liked this recipe and would not mind having it again.  It's a great recipe for the girls while at college.  For the most part, you can always have the ingredients on hand.  That is besides the shrimp and green beans.

You can find the original recipe here - Honey Lime Shrimp  

Until next time...Stampin' Always,

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

 

It's Hump Day!  And I don't work for two days so I'm happy.  Only 12 more days and my store will be closed.  It's sooo depressing watching the store get emptier by the day.  At this point, we are on survival mode.  We try to get through day by day, sometimes even hour by hour.  I'm ready for it to be done.  I'll just miss my work family something fierce.

With everything happening at work, I'm even more thankful for my club family.  We met last night and this is one card we made.  

The more I use this Perennial Essence DSP, the more I love it.  It's more of the abstract florals and it is gorgeous. It reminds me of some Monet paintings.  Until I saw this paper, I would never thought to pair Blackberry Bliss with Balmy Blue.  But they work great together.

Unfortunately, Floral Essence stamp set doesn't come with dies for the flowers.  So, the flower is fussy cut.  It wasn't too bad and it's only one flower.  I used mini dimensionals to adhere it to the circle, and used the mini dimensionals again to adhere the circle to the card front.  So, it's double mini dimensionals on the flower.  

Looking through my stash, I found this Nature's Twine pack and it included Blackberry Bliss twine!  SCORE!!  I tied the bow and adhere it with a rolled up glue dot.  

The saying from Floral Essence didn't fit right with this card, so this one actually is from Good Morning Magnolia.  This one fits perfectly in the space and you can't go wrong with a general sentiment like this one.

Click on the above picture for dimensions and instructions.

Until next time...Stampin' Always,

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

tams# 34226

Product List

 

Floral Essence Photopolymer Stamp Set	Good Morning Magnolia Cling Stamp Set	Perennial Essence Designer Series Paper	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock	Blackberry Bliss 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
Balmy Blue 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock	Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies	Big Shot	Nature's Twine
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals	Glue Dots	Paper Snips Scissors