abracadabra!

Gourmet Rubber Stamps just previewed the February Diners Club stamp set that we've designed for them.. it's called Abracadabra! One of the things I love about this set is that it's a good one for man cards. The cards I made above have a very masculine feel. I love Houdini poster... isn't it fun?! Lots of things you can do with the "magic" theme. Meridith and I have also always wanted to design a Leprechaun for our Little People line... so he's in there as well (perfect for St. Patty's Day!)

All the Diners Club sets we design for GRS can be bought without a club membership for $17.99. If you sign up for the club though, you get a big discount. Our February set, "Sealed With a Kiss" is shipping through the end of January, and I think its one of our best love-themed sets. So if you want it for a discount, sign up for the club soon!

So many of our friends are about to head off to the CHA Winter Show in Anaheim this weekend... I am jealous! I could not take the time off to attend this year, but Gourmet Rubber Stamps will have a booth in the New Exhibitors section, and they will be representing the Lizzie Anne Designs line. So if any of you are going to the show, stop by and say hi!

snowpocalypse

A few days ago, I was poking fun at the rumor that a "Snowpocalypse" was about to hit the Seattle area, a rumor started by our news / weathermen. I grew up in Utah and am no stranger to snow, so I tend to always chuckle a little when people freak out here in Seattle when a little snow falls.

The rumor continued to spread on facebook with this funny little picture that everyone was "liking" and laughing at...



Ha ha, funny right?

Well, nature sure had the last laugh this week. (It always does!) We had over a foot of snow in one night, it kept snowing, and the ice buildup on the trees was so thick (see photo above) that it caused our trees to start breaking. I was sitting in my chair by a window when I heard a crack and looked outside to see one of sidewalk trees break in half. And then the power went out (which always follows breaking trees.) It was out for four days. Luckily we have extremely kind neighbors who let us share their generator so we had heat and didn't freeze. To top things off, my car got smashed on the freeway. I was in the car with my family trying to find a city with some power so we could buy a hot meal when a car lost control on the ice in front of us and started spinning. We couldn't get out of the way. Luckily, nobody (other than our car) was seriously hurt.





This is my favorite little red maple tree. I was so afraid that it too would crack under the pressure, but it survived! It's a strong little thing. Beautiful in the snow too.

This week was a reminder that you never know what life has in store. So be prepared. And buy a generator.

I'm looking forward to summer.

kissing tag

The Gourmet Rubber Stamps design team is doing a "Kissing Tag" challenge today, and I decided to play (because who doesn't want to play a game of kissing tag? ;) My tag was inspired by this card I posted a few days ago.

Here is what the back of the card looks like... this is material-paper. I covered the backside of the pin so it's not poking out the back. I'm planning on using this with a box of pineapple truffles from See's for my husband on Valentine's Day (his favorite.)



Check out the other design team kissing tags on the GRS blog today!

dreaming of Maui

If you are at home FREEZING like I am, maybe this scrapbooking page will make you feel better. Or worse. I'm undecided how it makes me feel. :) I had a scrap night with some friends last night and I finished up scrapbooking the Maui trip I took with my husband last year... sigh! I guess if I can't be in Maui right now, at least I can scrapbook about it. ;)

cuckoo for you

A few more card samples using stamps from "Sealed With a Kiss."











Which shall I give my hubby on Valentine's Day?

An equally important question is "what cupcake am I going to buy today for my birthday??" I'll be heading to the cupcake store soon! :)

a new year...

This is a Valentine I made with the new GRS Diners Club Set "Sealed With a Kiss." You can't see this in the photo, but I used red Fun Flock on the heart so it's a little fuzzy. I love the simplicity of this card.

One of my new years resolutions is to SEND more cards. Not just make them but actually send them. ;) I know how appreciated they are and I don't know why I don't do this more often. Tomorrow I plan on heading to the post office to buy a big book of stamps so I have no excuse (not having a stamp is an excuse I often use.)

There are a lot of things I'm looking forward to in 2012. To name a few...

Designing more stamps for Gourmet Rubber Stamps
Designing more websites for Pixel Remodel
Trip to St. George / Disneyland over Spring Break
*Hopefully a trip to Hawaii with my husband??* --we're working on it
Seeing my daughter go on the school bus for the first time in the Fall, and Kindergarten
Having more ME time with two kids in school!
Having my brother visit me in Seattle (he hasn't been here for a few years)
Working out at the YMCA that just opened down the street from me (no more excuses!)
Eating more cupcakes (after I visit the YMCA ;)
Getting caught up on my scrapbooking! Have already planned a scrap night with friends.

We'll see how it goes!

wonderful world

Hi everyone, I hope you are enjoying the Holidays! I've been playing with the new Sealed With a Kiss stamp set that Meridith and I designed for Gourmet Rubber Stamps... samples to come soon!

I'm feeling very grateful for a lot of things in my life this year. I have great friends, a wonderful, supportive husband, the cutest kids ever, and a great career. I feel fortunate that I get to do what I love for living... so glad that I went into Graphic Design. Every year has it's ups and downs and this year was no exception... but everyone I love is happy and healthy, and you can't really ask for more than that. Overall 2011 has been a good one. Here's to 2012 being a great year as well for all of us!

Some exciting news that really ended my year on a high note... Cath from Paper Crafts Magazine - Moxie Fab World has nominated a stamp set I designed, Wonderful World, as one of the top 10 "trendiest" stamp sets of the year! I am honored and excited. Cath has a poll on her blog today where you can vote for your favorite set out of the 10. I would love it if you would cast a vote for Wonderful World!

Here's a sample I made back when we released this set. It's one of my favorites, I had a hard time giving this card away (but I did. I remember! :)



This stamp set is available at Gourmet Rubber Stamps... and it's 40% off right now too through the end of the year. Just use the discount code 40IN2011 on checkout!

peppermint cake pops

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a thing for cupcakes. Well, cake pops have made an appearance on my favorites list recently. Really it's just about any cake and frosting combination that I love, and cake pops are just that on a stick. Brilliant!

My friend gave me a Christmas cake pop kit from Starbucks, and I have to say, these cake pops are GOOOOOD! Sammy and I had a really good time making these together-- they are an easy treat for kids to help make with a grown-up. Sammy is just as addicted to cake as I am. After making these I spent about 30 minutes in my office doing some work, and when I returned, three of them had already been devoured by you-know-who. At least she has good taste.








Starbucks is brilliant, I have to say. I highly recommend this cake pop kit if you haven't made cake pops before. Of course, the cake pop became popular because of Bakerella's awesome blog, so if you are ready to move on to more advanced cake-popping, go check out the ideas there! They are amazing.

let heaven and nature sing

I'm taking my daughter to see the Nutcracker for the first time this weekend. She is so excited. I've been playing the music to the Nutcracker Suite so she'll be familiar with it when we go. Christmas music is the inspiration for the card I'm sharing with you today. Simple and beautiful, using the sentiment and holly leaf from the GRS Season's Greetings stamp set, and some musical Christmas paper... a scrap I found left over from a scrapbooking page I designed last year. Perfect. Enjoy!

auld lang syne

I'm going to shake things up a little this year and mail out a few New Years cards out to my friends instead of Christmas Cards. The December Diner's Club set we designed for Gourmet Rubber Stamps has a few New Years stamps in it. It's called Let's Celebrate. Here's a sample featuring the star bell, champagne glass, and Auld Lang Syne sentiment. I embossed the bell in silver embossing powder on blue cardstock... it turned out really pretty, the photo does not do it justice.





I love the song Auld Lang Syne. It's kind of funny because nobody really knows how to sing this song on New Years Eve. :) But it's a great song about old friends.

The Let's Celebrate stamp set is being previewed today. You can see the whole set HERE! I think this is a fun one. We haven't designed a lot of New Years stamps in the past, so it's fun to add these to my collection. There are some fun birthday stamps in there as well.

If you are looking for Black Friday deals today, Gourmet Rubber Stamps has a 25% off sale going on through the end of November!