Happy new year 2024!

 

Can't believe it's now 2024!   Hope you had a great holiday season!  My online Stampin' Up store is still open so you can see the new catalogs and products, and order items too.  https://marynoble.stampinup.net/

Currently I am still recovering from my left hip surgery with complications in my left leg all the way down to my foot - the surgery aggravated my back and left side so don't have full recovery yet - yuck, so not able to do everything yet.  Slowly working back into being "normal" and getting back to dance, doing stuff around the house, driving, and walking the dogs.  Not been able to do much crafting other than reading about it and continuing to collect crafting stuff.  Didn't get to make any christmas cards or yearly mini-calendars to send out.  But I have been doing low-key exercises most every day in a chair, etc.  I missed going to the east coast to see my mom, and two sons also.  Glad to be able to interact with our 2 dogs but the oldest dog, Tootsi, who is a 14 yr old mini aussie is having issues with her back and hips (severe arthritis) and cognitive dysfunction.  So she had to take meds several times daily that make her sleep a lot but she still eats well and can go in and out of the doggie door most of the time.  I think she appreciates the other dog, maybe thinks she is her puppy, and follows her around quite a bit when she is awake.  

The other thing I have been doing is getting into audible books (really fun) and watching streaming movies and shows.  I did do quite a bit of physical therapy in and out of the pool - but now it's a little too cool to go into the poor, even though it is heated.   I don't like the cool air once I get out of the pool...But at least we don't have snow here in Mesa, AZ.

Hope you have been able to do some crafting and other fun things!

 https://marynoble.stampinup.net/

P.S.  Not sure why my posts on the right side aren't showing but I will look into it.  In the meantime, you can check out all Stampin' Up's events, sales, products, and catalogs in the online store.

New Stampin' Up catalog and addition to our family!

 

The newest Stampin' Up catalog is available!  https://www.stampinup.com/categories/whats-new/january-april-2023-mini-catalog    I really love the cover and color of it - purple is my fave color.  And what's inside is great; I already bought quite a few of the products!!  You can order from it in my online store:  https://www.stampinup.com/categories/whats-new/january-april-2023-mini-catalog

And don't forget when you place a $50 order, you get to select an item from the Sale-a-bration catalog too!  It's even more fun to get free stuff, right?! Here is where you can take a peek in this catalog: 

https://www.stampinup.com/categories/sales-specials/sale-a-bration

You will want to place an order by the end of February to take advantage of choosing a free product from the Sale-a-bration catalog....but if you place a $100 order, you can pick 2 items (or one of the items that take a $100 order because they are even more special).

And one more announcement....remember that I posted in Oct. that my first dog Inu, passed (still missing her....:-(      But now we have a new "Inu" who's been named Inuko!  When I saw her, I just had to get her as she looks like a mini version of Inukosan - take a look at these pics and you will see what I mean:

Old Inu (she was 14 yrs old):

And here is the new Inu, who is 10 yrs old and 10 lbs:

She's currently in a cone because she had surgery before we got her from the humane society of AZ (my other Inu was from the humane society of Georgia!) and there are so many things that we are seeing similar between the two of them - I swear Inu #1 is reincarnated in Inu #2!!  Our other dog Tootsi seems to like her as well - since Inu #2 is so little, I think Tootsi is watching out for her as a puppy so she has something to keep her occupied now as well!

I am so glad to have Inu as a part of the family and it gives me something to do while I have to stay home and rest a lot right now since my left hip hurts so bad - just found out that I have severe osteoarthritis in it as well as a labral tear from the front to the back....maybe I might be getting a new hip too....will find out after I meet with my doctor this week.  

Hope your new year is starting out fine!  Let me know if I can help you out with anything related to Stampin' Up, OK?

Tip for tying those bows on gifts!

 

Hope you had a great thanksgiving holiday, and I bet you are now getting ready for the Christmas holiday....and then New Years, etc.   I saw a video of how you can get a nice, tight bow tied onto a gift or card, which I'm sure we all struggle with doing sometimes by ourselves....Anna Helman posted a video at the link below that demonstrates how you can use the reverse tweezers that come with the embossing kit by Stampin' up, item #159971 ($27).  The tweezers are the item in the photo above that is to the left of the embossing powder collector.  Here is the link where she shows how to do this:

https://youtu.be/X3ZZgdyK7io

This embossing additions tool kit also makes embossing easier and includes an Embossing Buddy, Powder Pal, and Crafting Brush. The Embossing Buddy is a small bag of powder. Rub it over your paper before inking and embossing. This ensures the embossing powder stays only where you want it. The Powder Pal is an easy way to catch and funnel excess embossing powder back into its container. Use the Crafting Tweezers to hold items while embossing them. And the Crafting Brush is handy for brushing powder for keeping your paper and work area clean. Keep this kit on hand, and you'll what you need to keep your embossing neat and tidy.  Plus the tweezers can be used to hold a piece of paper that you might be heat embossing so you don't burn your fingers!!

You can purchase one of these kits in my online store - https://marynoble.stampinup.net.  And you can also check out the other specials and clearance or look at the current catalogs or newest products:

https://www.stampinup.com/categories/sales-specials/last-chance-products

https://www.stampinup.com/categories/sales-specials/clearance

https://www.stampinup.com/catalogs/digital-catalogues

https://www.stampinup.com/categories/whats-new/new-arrivals

If you feel like I do and have to have it all and save money by becoming a demonstrator just for yourself, so you can save money, etc., become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator and for just $99, you’ll get your own customized Starter Kit with $125 worth of products. And that includes all the business supplies you need to help you get started, plus free shipping. take a look at the Join page:  

https://www.stampinup.com/community/join-stampin-up

By making your own cards and other papercraft items, you save money yourself, even if you don't sell them, because then you don't have to buy them at the store since you make them yourself, get them at a discounted price, and have fun too!  That's what I do, make my own cards to give for occasions to friends and family, as well as scrapbooking pages and other papercraft products for party favors and gifts.  

It's super easy to start if you are a newbie, do it with a friend/family by purchasing a kit where everything you need is included, step-by-step instructions, precut pieces, and more. Choose the kit that’s right for you from an assortment of options designed for a variety of occasions and styles. Kit selection based on availability with new kits added regularly.  See the kits here:  https://www.stampinup.com/categories/shop-products/other-products/kits-collection

 Or you can get the monthly Paper Pumpkin kit that is mailed to your house directly if you want it:  

 https://www.paperpumpkin.com/en-us/sign-up/?demoid=2103050

Paper Pumpkin by Stampin’ Up! is a crafting subscription kit that delivers creativity to your door every month. Each box includes everything you need to make a stunning project. We’ll surprise you with projects like cards, gift packaging, home décor, and more for just $23.50 a month (shipping included). Or you can buy prepaid subscriptions which allow you to pay ahead or give as a gift. Prepaids can be purchased at Stampin’ Up!, our parent company's website, stampinup.com. After you purchase a subscription, we’ll email you a prepaid code to redeem here at www.paperpumpkin.com to set up your subscription to start receiving your kits.  It's better than a boxful of puppies; really!!

Subscribe by the 10th of any month to receive that month's kit. Supplies may be limited toward the end of the subscription period.

Have a safe and enjoyable holiday season; I am hoping we get another dog by the end of the year...:-) What plans do you have coming up?

Here are a few of the pretty Stampin' Up cards made by other demonstrators - I can help you to make them if you want!

No more Inu...a sad story

Yesterday our beloved furbaby Inu wasn't doing well...coughing, gagging, spitting up stuff, trouble breathing, couldn't walk....took her to emergency vets at 3:30 in morning since she couldn't catch her breath.....they put her in an oxygen tank with meds and she finally stopped the severe gagging. It had been 1.5 hrs of this gagging.  Lots of thick mucus had come up and very phelgmy breathing still and we left her for an hour - told her we would be back but she didn't seem to really be with it. They told us she had high liver values, cushings disease, pneumonia and didn't think she could pull thru....we got a call an hour later and she had a cardiac arrest but they did CPR and got her breathing again and wouldn't do anything else till we came back.

Five min. later we were there but it was obvious the machine was breathing for her and was told she wasn't there any longer and when they take the respiratory machine off her she would not be able to breath on her own.  The pneumonia together with the high risk factors she had and a little overweight and then the 2 breathing attacks and phelgm were just too much for her.  So we had to let her go....can't believe she's gone - since she was 14 yrs old, things like this are harder for an older dog to recover from....can't help but wonder if we had taken her in when she started coughing right off if they would have been able to help her....

Miserable day and night for hubby, me and our other dog, Tootsi, who keeps going around looking for her and goes outside the puppy door to look for Inu and wait for her to come back....Inu was such a sweet, gentle, loving dog, smart, picked up stuff quickly, and also hardy and well most of her life.  But maybe it's a lesson that with older dogs you need to pay attention to their health and take them in to be checked out more often so you can catch anything that might develop as senior dogs are more likely to develop something, pick up something, recover slower, etc.  

We love you Inu and miss you terribly - had you since you were a puppy we got from the Humane Society in Ga. and took her with us when we moved to Arizona.  We know having a dog for 14 yrs is a long time but eventually it comes to an end as dogs aren't like people.  We had a lot of wonderful experiences with her - got lots of pics and videos thank goodness....and will look for you at the Rainbow Bridge!  Bye bye Inu my baby girl.
 

Customized mermaid card and box for birthday-from Basic to Something Special!

 

I really love mermaids and collect mermaid stamps, embellishments, papers, etc. so when a friend asked me to make a special birthday card to give to her sister who liked the beach, I thought a mermaid card would be perfect - and she agreed!  I already had a basic mermaid card I had made for a card swap, so I pulled it out for inspiration - here is what I started with for this mermaid birthday card - pretty as it is here, but I wanted to make it super special...

But then I colored it up, like this:

Next I took off the ribbon and since I had a little mermaid dangle, I put on different blue ribbon in velvet (blue is her fave color) and tied it on with that, and also put the card on a light blue backing:

 

 

I was told the birthday girl also liked seashells so I put some of them on the front of the card with pearls and sequins, as well as "40" in gold metallic paper, since it was going to be her 40th birthday:

    

  

I then embossed a seashell background on the inside of the card

 

  

 along with more seashells on the other side with the greeting:

 

For the envelope I used a gold-edged envelope and also put mermaid paper on the inside flap:
 

Here's what the card and envelope looked like after I customized them:

 

But I discovered I had a really pretty stamp of a mermaid castle, so wanted to use that too....I stamped it on the back of a newly available Delicate Details Treat Box and colored it and decorated it to match: (you can either put treats in the box, or one of those little tealights!!)

   

So this is what the entire birthday ensemble now looked like:

  

 

The final touch was to wrap them all up with one of the cellophane bags that Stampin' Up has:

And that's how you can take a basic card and turn it into something special!  

I've used Stampin' Up products (both current and retired) along with other mermaid items I have collected from other companies - Stampin' Up items are great for mixing up with other craft items!  Give it a try :-)  

 

The pretty treat box can be purchased in my online Stampin' Up store as well as the pearls, sequins, coloring pens, seashell stamps, diecuts, embossing folder, and paper:   https://marynoble.stampinup.net/
 

Christmas is coming! Stampin' Up's Paper Pumpkin kit to get you started with Xmas cards!!

 

                                   

‘Tis the season to make your own Christmas cards with the Ho Ho Ho Paper Pumpkin Kit! 

This kit contains whimsical designs of Santa and his reindeer in a classic Christmas color palette which is sure to match various styles of holiday décor and look great on mantles everywhere.  Each kit contains enough supplies to create 9 festive cards—3 each of 3 designs—and 9 coordinating envelopes. 

These cards are sure to bring the warm holiday spirit…And word from the North Pole is that this kit coordinates with next month’s Paper Pumpkin tag kit and the special add-on product! With so much coordination between products, you’ll have a breeze at creating a cohesive look for all your holiday gifting needs. Make this season the most wonderful time of the year for your loved ones—and for yourself!

I love these monthly kits so much that I have an automatic subscription to make sure I get one - super convenient and fun to put together!!

Check it out in my online store at:  https://marynoble.stampinup.net/ 

And you can also explore the holiday catalog for more holiday items!  It will be Christmas season before you know it so get a jump on seasonal projects now while you can!!

 

 

 https://marynoble.stampinup.net/