Category Archives: Houston TX

Houston, We’ve Got Ice!

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Houston Winter Storm Ice in Garden

The weather forecasters were right! This is the Houston Winter Storm of 2014!  We had rain all day yesterday and last night.  When the temperatures dropped from 60 down to freezing, that rain turned to ice. That’s ICE on the little plant in the garden! Further north of Houston, they really have snow on the ground!  Nothing like that at my house!  But if you squint, you can see some icicles and the car is covered in ice. It’s a “snow day” for all the school kids (and husbands who decided not to take a chance especially on a short day anyway). As cars are getting out on the roads more, the accidents are piling up. Maybe here in Houston we have more high overpasses and ramps that certainly freeze over in weather like this that make driving worse than you might expect. So it’s a good day to stay in and share some of my Stampin’ Up! Leadership swap cards with you!  I picked out the ones appropriate for today!

Best of Snow Card

Here’s the perfect card to show you from my Leadership swaps! The snowflakes and sentiment are from the Stampin’ Up! 25th Anniversary Best of Snow stamp set! This card is made by Nancy and here is the inside:

Snowflake Card Inside

On a cold icy day like this, how about a cup of coffee with the Perfect Blend Stamp Set? This is a swap from Jo.

Perfect Blend Coffee Cup Card

Here’s a Stampin’ Up! Sale-A-Bration swap from Valerie. And certainly skies are gray here in Houston! But this cute card will cheer us up! Sale-A-Bration begins Tuesday, January 28! With a $50 purchase in any current Stampin’ Up! products, you will earn a FREE product from the Sale-A-Bration brochure.  You might choose the cute Decorative Dots Embossing Folder you see on this card, the cute Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper, or the stamp set See Ya Later used in the greeting!

See Ya Later SAB Card

And here are a few more photos from my house!

Houston Winter Storm Icicles on Garage

Icicles from the garage roof and the leaf guard on the gutter.

Houston Winter Storm Ice on Bushes

Icicles on the bushes!

Houston Winter Storm Ice on Car

Ice covering the car!

This is a good weekend to curl up with your Stampin’ Up! Catalogs and also look online at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store (check the categories in the left sidebar at my store – lots of products to see not listed anywhere else!). Start planning your list so you’ll be ready for Sale-A-Bration on Tuesday!

Giant Stamping Party at Stampin’ Up! Leadership!

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It was a giant stamping party last night at the Stampin’ Up! Leadership Conference!  This was after a full day of a speaker and various classes plus a most delicious dessert at lunch!

The Stampin’ Up! employees greeted us as we walked in the room! After we picked up one of our stamp sets we found a place to sit at the lovely tables decorated with little Stampin’ Up! bags with our Make & Takes and another stamp set. Some of our favorite Stampin’ Up! people did stamping demonstrations on stage.  Love that part!!  And there’s a new product coming if you don’t have the Big Shot but want to do some embossing! Not to mention the new Blendabilities alcohol markers. And there’s a new Paper Pumpkin special for signing up!

And if you are in the Houston area today, come to the George R. Brown Convention Center this afternoon to preview Stampin’ Up! and you probably get to stamp something too!  It’s from 2:00 – 7:00 and open to everybody. Dad and the kids can go see the Train Show there and Mom can go stamp!

Blurry but cute being greeted as we walked in! We love the Stampin' Up! staff!

Blurry but cute being greeted as we walked in! We love the Stampin’ Up! staff!

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Stampin’ Up! Leadership Conference 2014 in Houston

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It was a fun day at the Stampin’ Up! Leadership Conference yesterday in downtown Houston! After some drizzle in the morning I saw two sides of a rainbow on the way to downtown so I knew it was going to be a good day! And I’m sure I found the pot of gold just being at the Leadership Conference!

Shelli Gardner came on stage and I don’t think even said a word when she got emotional after we gave her a standing ovation Everyone was thrilled to see her because, well, it’s Shelli, and because she was in a terrible horse-back riding accident a few months ago and yet she recovered so quickly and looks great!

Stampin' Up! Leadership 2014 Shelli Gardner

Shelli’s daughter, Sara Douglass, is full of personality like her mother and always does a fun presentation on stage! That’s Tom the cameraman who films everything for the big screens.

Stampin' Up! Leadership 2014 Sara Douglass on stage

Sara used the Blessed Easter stamp from the Occasions Catalog to show us masking off the greeting and demonstrated some new alcohol markers! that will be coming out.

Blessed Easter

Images copyright Stampin’ Up! 2014

Sara also showed us a new photopolymer stamp set on a card. Stampin’ Up! will start manufacturing their own photopolymer stamps and packaging them in a case like the clear-mount stamps.

New photopolymer stamp set

Images copyright Stampin’ Up! 2014

Got to try the new Fringe Scissors in the Occasions Catalog.  They are regular size scissors, larger than I expected.  They are not little toy scissors, very nice! You can make flowers and all kinds of designs with them!

Using Fringe Scissors

 

It’s fun to see the props and projects from the catalogs in person! You may remember seeing this table in the Occasions Catalog. Everything was really cute!

Table decorations

 

Here’s a Peachy Keen sample up on the display boards.

Peachy Keen

Images copyright Stampin’ Up! 2014

And now I’m off to a second day of Leadership! Can’t wait to hear if they have more exciting announcements for us!

Free Stampin’ Up! Open House in Houston Saturday, Jan. 11th!

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Houston Stampin' Up! Open House

 From the Stampin’ Up! Facebook Page!

“In the Houston area? Join the folks from the Stampin’ Up! home office on January 11 from 2:00-7:00 PM for a FREE open house at the George R. Brown Convention Center. We’re planning a lot of demonstrations and giving away some great prizes. No need for tickets or registration—just show up and have fun!”

The Stampin’ Up! Leadership Conference is next week January 9-11 so I guess while they are in town, they decided to have an extra event, a free Open House for anyone to come and get acquainted with Stampin’ Up!  Let me know if you think you might go!  Sounds like fun!!

Learn more about Stampin’ Up! product lines HERE, if you are not familiar with all that Stampin’ Up! has to offer!

And for more about the Stampin’ Up! Business Opportunity, HERE is some information. You’re always welcome to ask me for more information or to answer your questions, too!

Surprises Galore for My Milestone Birthday

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What a weekend and what a birthday! I went from not having anything special planned at all for my birthday except probably my husband and I going to a nice restaurant for dinner, well not probably, for sure!!

My one son emailed and said he and his brother were coming home for the weekend (they live about 3 hours away). On Friday he emailed again that he and his girlfriend were coming that night but Steven would come on Saturday, and Eric was staying over Monday and Tuesday, but Steven and Heather would drive back on Sunday. Ok.

Everybody arrived Friday night and Saturday at the designated times.  Steven’s car needed to go in the shop for a new battery and oil. Since my back had been acting up for two weeks as well as our new refrigerator, I hadn’t done any grocery shopping and didn’t. But Steven is sticking to his food allergy diet right now which means Mom needs to cook food at home so he doesn’t get any offending substance. Since my back was doing better I made a quick trip to the grocery store and bought some very nice beef tenderloin steaks and other stuff for a nice dinner. When I got the groceries put away, Eric told me he and his girlfriend were meeting a high school friend at 6:30. I thought that was a bit early and wondered how I was going to get this expensive dinner I’d just bought prepared very quickly so they could leave and besides, Steven’s car needed to be picked up at the shop.  But I’m pretty good at that so I got dinner made fairly quickly and as soon as they were finished eating they left, ignoring my suggestion to let their friend know they were going to be a little late rather than rushing through dinner. But moms are used to being ignored with advice.

When Eric and Heather came back home, a little earlier than I expected, I looked up, and here was my daughter Amy who had flown in from California for my birthday!!  Eric had gone to get her at the airport, not visiting his friend! I haven’t had a surprise like that since my bridal shower! I was completely stunned! She usually isn’t home except at Christmas. And that was just the day before my birthday!

Fontinelle Family

On Sunday besides birthday phone calls from friends and family, I got red and white roses from my husband, large fancy chocolate bars from Eric, fancy brownies Steven had baked himself, and and a beautiful chocolate birthday cake Amy had ordered from a really good bakery here.

Birthday Roses

 

Chocolate Bars

 

Birthday Cake

Cooking class photos are still on Amy’s camera so I don’t have them yet!

This was a birthday I’ll never forget and what could be better than spending it with all three children (plus my son’s lovely girlfriend!)! I would never have dreamed this big birthday was going to be so wonderful and memorable and fun!

 

 

Get a Few Stampin’ Up! Products During the Texas Tax Holiday This Weekend!

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If you need Stampin’ Up! adhesives, markers, scissors and a couple other things, check the list below and see if they are tax exempt this weekend in Texas!  Just click on each item to see it in the Stampin’ Up! Online Store.  You can order online or contact me with your order.

The state of Texas is having a sales tax holiday for school supplies up to $100 per item from August 9-11. Because school supply items are included in this sales tax holiday, the list of items below will be state tax-free during the holiday period. Please note that you must place your order with Stampin’ Up!® during the tax holiday period in order to receive these items tax-free. Also, keep in mind that this is a state sales tax holiday and may not apply to additional city, jurisdiction, or county taxes.

The following items are tax-exempt during the Texas sales tax holiday:

Let me know if you have any questions about the Texas sales tax holiday.

New Stampin’ Up! Catalog Day is Here!

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The NEW STAMPIN’ UP! ANNUAL CATALOG BEGINS TODAY AT NOON MT!!

Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog 2013-14

View the Catalog online (Flash)

View the Catalog PDF

View the Stampin’ Supplies

This is the day we’ve all been looking forward to!  Stampin’ Up! will be transitioning the website over to the new catalog until noon MT today You can also order any retiring items, as well as from the Spring Catalog, while supplies last!  People are calling it the “trifecta of ordering” because you can order from all three catalogs at once…the old, the new, and the Spring Catalog!  Have patience because there will be a LOT of people ordering and sometimes there are glitches when everything is new!

Stampin’ Up! New Catalog goes live at:

  • 11:00 am Pacific Time
  • Noon Mountain Time (Stampin’ Up! Home Office Time)
  • 1:00 pm Central Time
  • 2:00 pm Eastern TIme

I always like the see the time written in my own time zone so I don’t have to keep figuring it out!

And that’s not all!!!!

Grab-Your-Greetings sale

Three greeting stamp sets are on sale for 25% off starting today and going through June 30!  We always need another greeting set!  This is an easy add-on to your order!

Grab Your Greetings Chart

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The Bracket Stamp personalized name stamp with 5 lines (item 131138) will not be available in time for the May 31 catalog launch, but we anticipate that it will be available soon. However, the other versions of Bracket Stamp, with 1-4 lines, will be available to order once the catalog is live.

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Remember……Ordering begins today at Noon MT (Stampin’ Up! Time!)

Current Catalog          NEW CATALOG           Spring Catalog

The Spring Catalog will END tonight at 11:50 pm MT!!!!!!!!!!!

Just go to my Online Store after Noon MT today and you can start placing your order!  If you have any questions, please contact me at Karen@KarenStamps.com or call at 713-981-7662.

If you plan to shop for your Stampin’ Up! supplies with me and want a brand new catalog to hold in your hands (even though it is online!) please email me or call with your contact information and phone number.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

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Celebrando Creatividad 2012-13

Did you know Stampin' Up! has a special Spanish-language supplement to the Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog?  It's called Celebrando Creatividad! You can find many of the same stamp sets, but with the greetings in Spanish. There are even a few unique stamp sets in this catalog.

After looking through the samples and projects in this catalog, here are the list of supplies you need for the projects:  Materiales para estampar Celebrando Creatividad

If you would like to order any products from Celebrando Creatividad, please visit my Stampin' Up! Online Store here!

 

Scallop Square Spring Sampler Card

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Spring Sampler Scallop Card
One of the many things that is on the Stampin' Up! Retirement List is the Scallop Square Bigz Clear Die, so when I found one already die-cut in my stash, I decided to make a spring card with it!  I attached a 4" x 8" card base (folded in half) to the back of the scallop square. The scallop square is Melon Mambo with a Daffodil Delight layer. The Spring Sampler Stamp Set seemed like the perfect set to use for this card. So many cute little images to choose from!
Since it is snowing in some parts of the country, raining and flooding in others, and here we have a cold front on its way to drop the temperature from near 80 this morning down to 44 by tomorrow morning, I thought a card that reminds us of spring was a good idea! Although I will be miserable in the cold the next two days, I'm hoping it will cool down the upcoming summer!!  Any cooler weather we can get here in Houston, especially from this month on, I am all in favor of it!
A card like this with nine little stamped squares is a little tedious to make, but once I colored on the stamps with markers and stamped on Whisper White card stock, it was easy to punch them out with the 1" Square Punch and then the layers with the Postage Stamp Punch.

You'll find the Spring Sampler Stamp Set in the Spring Catalog…and by the way, that catalog is only good until May 31st so don't forget to order what you want out of it this month!
If you have nasty weather where you live, why not make a card to cheer yourself up!

Happy Easter to You!

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Easter Cross Card

Here’s an Easter card that just popped into my head to make.  I know years and years and years ago someone made these little individual wooden crosses to stand on wooden bases for our family with an artificial flower stuck on the middle. Perhaps one had little white flowers all over the cross, I don’t quite remember, but it is the image I had in my mind when I made this card. I just punched out some white flowers with the Itty Bitty Punch Pack, poked them with my bone folder to get them to curl up a bit, and put a rhinestone in the middle.

I hope you are spending a wonderful Easter Sunday with your family; and if you have little ones, really treasure this time!

Here are some Texas Bluebonnets in our yard that always make me think of Easter time!

Bluebonnets

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And some of the last of the azaleas for the season!

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Springtime in Houston….Azaleas Bursting in Bloom!

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White Azalea in Pink

I know from the weather map this morning that half the country is covered in snow! While I can easily wish we had some of that snow here in Houston, just for the novelty of it, I really don’t know if I could adjust to the cold weather anymore! After all, when it gets below 50 here in the morning, we think it is miserable just going from the house to the car! I told my husband this morning, “Think of August! Think of August! Think of August!” when we will be drenched in sweat in those few steps from the house to the car!  In July and August we would be on our knees praying for cool weather like we have today!

To help you over the winter weather, if that’s what you have when you look out your window, here are some photos of our beautiful azaleas in full bloom the other day. The only thing snowy here is the one wild white bloom on the otherwise pink group of bushes!

White Azalea Flower

Pink Azalea closeup

Pink Azaleas

Dark Pink Azalea Bush

So with this inspiration, get your stamps, ink and paper, or your punches, and make yourself some flowers!

Or get out some fabric and make fabric flowers!  Stampin’ Up! has fabric on sale this week until Sunday, 50% off, so don’t miss it!  Go check it out here at my Online Store, and don’t forget to check the Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack for more great bargains!

A Turkey Tag — It’s All in the Presentation (Almost!)!

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Turkey Tag Pecan Pie Presentation

They say "It's all in the presentation" or "Presentation is everything!" but I do have to say "almost" because the pie inside this presentation is beautiful! Notice all the individual leaves on the crust around the edge (and the crust is my favorite part of any pie!). 

This year we are doing Thanksgiving a little differently. My friend Dixie and her friend Sherrie have a cooking/catering company so I ordered a Cajun fried turkey from them as well as some chicken and sausage gumbo, a pecan pie and some chocolate Whoopie Pies! No cooking a turkey for me!!!  Oh my gosh, when I saw how they had decorated the pecan pie package and whoopie pies with this cute turkey tag and ribbon I just went crazy!  See how such a simple thing can make such a great impression?!!  Paper, ink, and stamps!  Aren't we part of such an impressive craft?!

Turkey Tag Whoopie Pies Presentation

And a peek inside the foil covering the cajun fried turkey! I don't know how I restrained myself from taking just a little taste from this turkey!

Peek at Turkey

Are you hungry now? If you live in the southwest Houston/Richmond area, email me and I'll give you Dixie's contact information.

If you're taking a pie or some plate of food to someone's house for Thanksgiving, consider taking a few minutes to make some kind of cute little tag or card just for a little something special! I know it will be appreciated!  And make the food look even more inviting!

Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza going on now until November 28th! Select products discounted 20% – 50%!  More Doorbusters the last day! Check the list right now!

Toxic Treats Halloween Card with Champagne Glimmer Paper

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 Toxic Treat Halloween Card with Champagne Glimmer Paper

It was fun to play around with the Toxic Treats stamp set and the Champagne Glimmer Paper….and all the other elements on this card!  First I used the Spider Web Embossing Folder for the front of the card and then lightly rubbed the new Illuminate Glimmer Watermark Stampin' Pad over the web to give it some shimmer.

I stamped the witch image on Glossy White Card Stock and then sponged the Daffodil Delight moon in the background using a Post-it Note for a stencil.  Then I covered the moon with the punched out circle from the Post-it Note to mask it while I sponged some More Mustard ink around the moon…and then around the rest of it I sponged Cajun Craze. I also used the Labels Collection Framelits to cut out the Toxic Treats image, the Cajun Craze layer and the Champagne Glimmer Paper.  LOVE the glimmer paper!!!  I HAD to put a little spider in the web, although I'm not sure he matches…but oh well, it's Halloween!

Oops, almost forgot to show you the inside of the card, since the card base is black. I just added a layer of Whisper White card stock that I stamped with some images from Toxic Treats stamp set.

  Toxic Treat Halloween Card with Champagne Glimmer Paper _Inside

I hope you will make some fun Halloween cards or projects for your family and friends or maybe neighbors.  It is 90 degrees here today in Houston so anything I can do to make me think it is actually fall here makes me happy!

If you need any Halloween stamping supplies you can find plenty in the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog AND the Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog!  Find everything you need in my Stampin' Up! Online Store!

Texas Sales Tax Holiday Starts Today August 17 thru Sunday, August 19

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Here is the list again of Stampin' Up! products that fulfill the requirements for tax-exempt status during this weekend's Texas state sales tax holiday!  Any Texas customers can take advantage of this savings during those dates only: Aug. 17-19th. Have some extra school supplies on hand for those projects for the kids or for the moms when the kids go back to school!  :) Might as well save that 8.25%!

You can order online with any other purchases you would like to make at my Stampin' Up! Online Store here or email me your order and I can put it in for you.

Number Description  Price
100425 2-Way Glue Pen  $4.50 (new price)
104332 Snail® Adhesive  $6.95
104331 Snail Refill  $4.50
104294 Sticky Strip  $6.95
104430 Stampin' Dimensionals®  $3.95
103683 Mini Glue Dots  $4.95
103579 Paper Snips  $9.95
103179 Craft & Rubber Scissors  $19.95
108360 Craft & Paper Scissors  $29.95
101879 Watercolor Pencils  $19.95
105021 uni-ball Signo® Gel Pen  $3.95
102845 Blender Pens  $9.95
various Stampin' Write® Markers  $3.50
119700 Subtles (10) Markers  $28.95
119701 Regals (10) Markers      $28.95
119702 Brights (10) Markers  $28.95
119703 Neutrals (8) Markers  $22.95
119802 Subtles (10) Watercolor Crayons  $16.95
119803 Regals (10) Watercolor Crayons  $16.95
119804 Brights (10) Watercolor Crayons  $16.95
119805 Neutrals (10) Watercolor Crayons  $16.95
110755 Multipurpose Liquid Glue  $3.95
104045 Anywhere Glue Sticks  $3.95
123002 2011-2013 In Color Stampin' Write Markers  $14.95
128978 Silver Stampin' Dazzle Marker  $3.50
128979 Gold Stampin' Dazzle Marker  $3.50

 

 

Cinco de Mayo Guacamole Recipe in My Digital Studio

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My Digital Studio Guacamole Recipe Page

Images copyright Stampin' Up! 2012

The holiday of Cinco De Mayo, The 5th Of May, commemorates the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. But it's also an opportunity to eat a lot of Mexican food! Of course in Houston we eat a lot of Mexican food all the time!  This is my favorite guacamole recipe (even better than what some restaurants serve, I think!) and I made a page in My Digital Studio for the recipe. I just started with a template (already designed page), took off some elements, and added the flowers, the title and the text box with the recipe.

Would you think about making a recipe album in My Digital Studio? You can, and what a great idea to collect your relatives' favorite recipes or even just your own in one place and make a fun digital album with My Digital Studio!

Try the My Digital Studio Express FREE 30-Day Trial today!

If you are looking for Spanish stamps, Stampin' Up! has them in their Celebrando Creatividad Catalog! This catalog is good until May 31st and then there will be a new catalog available June 1st. Let me knows if you need one.

Check the list of retiring Spanish stamps HERE.  These will make room for NEW stamps in June!