A cute acorn for fall!

Here is a cute card using a new stamp set & coordinating punch!!  What a fun fall card this is.  And I also used the Softly Falling Textured Embossing Folder again.  I just love the gradual placement of the dots on it, adding additional dimension to this card. 

stamp set: NEW 'Cheer All Year'
card stock:  Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake
ink:  Chocolate Chip
other:  Big Shot, NEW Softy Falling Textured Embossing Folder, NEW Acorn Builder Punch, Banner Triple Punch, Neutrals Candy Dots, Burlap Ribbon (shredded to give me just the threads), 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Dimensionals, Glue Dots

You can see in this photo that I stamped the whole acorn image onto Very Vanilla card stock using Chocolate Chip ink.  I decided I didn't like the looks of it & wanted a different colored top to my  acorn.  So I stamped the top part of the acorn stamp onto a piece of Crumb Cake card stock & used the new Acorn Builder Punch top piece.  I then layered that onto my original punched out acorn.  This new Acorn Builder Punch has both of these punches (2) all on one punch.  It has the full acorn you can punch out & also just the top part of the acorn, which you can punch it out separately too.  Thus this gives you more options & possibilities with colors & layering!  Cool huh!

Also-  There is another stamp set in the New Holiday Catalog that also coordinates with the Acorn Builder Punch.  It is called- 'Acorny Thank You'.  It is set of 6 photopolymer stamps with more acorns & a few words in it.  So be watching for me to use this set sometime soon too.  

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I had a fun day yesterday, but a busy one with the boys.  We enjoyed the beautiful weather & played outside some.  Nathan, Sarah & Masen stopped by to visit yesterday morning for a few minutes, so we enjoyed getting to see them.  Last night Deke worked late on the farm & I burnt the midnight oil stamping!

 

This morning we are up bright & early again to chore & Deke will be gone again today to another meeting.  I'll spend my day with the boys again.  We'll play outside (maybe this will wear them down & they'll take good afternoon naps). 

 

Tonight Nathan races in Columbus Junction.  My whole family (including Masen) will be headed there.  We will see how my day goes.  I want to go with them really bad, but I have a team meeting here at our home all day tomorrow & still have alot I have to get done & ready for that.

 

I hope you have a FABULOUS Friday!!

Happy Stamping!
Hugs-

SUSIE

A peek at more 'Lighthearted Leaves'

Here is a fun card that I made real quick yesterday afternoon with some left over pieces of a card that I'll share within the next week.  This card is very pretty in person & just really striking!

I must admit- I honestly wasn't thrilled about this stamp set when I saw it in the Holiday Catalog.  My first thought was that it was going to have to be colored & it was going to take too much time to do.  And can you believe that I just about didn't order it with my pre-order.  But I have already used it on 3 cards that I've made.  And so far I haven't done much coloring when I've used it.  I am really liking the modern look of the leaves within this stamp set. 

Check out the bling here on this card with the Basic Rhinestones in the petals of the flower at the leaf base/stem.

And I don't know if you can see it in the photo or not, but along the outside edge of the card I used the NEW Softly Falling Embossing Folder- just to add some dimension & texture to the card.  

So what do you think of this card?  Now I would call this a simple elegance style.  Check out the cool NEW corner punch I've used here.  Wait until you see it & use this new corner punch in person!  You are going to LOVE IT!  It is called Curvy Corner Trio Punch.  Yep- that means that it has 3 different shapes all in one punch!  I do believe that this corner punch that I used here is my favorite though.  I thought it highlighted the leaf just perfectly!

stamp set:  NEW 'Lighthearted Leaf'
card stock:  Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
marker:  Chocolate Chip
ink: Chocolate Chip
other:  Big Shot, NEW Softly Falling Embossing Folder, Basic Rhinestones, Thick Very Vanilla Twine, NEW Curvy Corner Trio Punch, Dimensionals, Glue Dot

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I burnt the midnight oil stamping again last night.  And I have more to do tonight after work!

We are up bright & early this morning to get chores done- as Deke has a meeting again today, so will be gone most of the day.  And I have all 3 of the Seeley boys all day today!  

I don't know about you, but we had a cool front go through yesterday.  WOW- it reminded me of fall & I loved the cooler temps.  I'd much rather wear a sweatshirt & a pair of jeans to help keep myself warm verses sweating to death from the heat.  I know our dog sure enjoyed the cooler temps too.  

Ok....I've gotta run.....

I hope you have a very special Thursday!
Happy Stamping!
Hugs-

SUSIE

A little pumpkin!

Here is a fun card I made with some more new Holiday Catalog products. 

Note:  There isn't a framelit or a punch for the pumpkin so I fussy cut it out with my Paper Snips.

stamp set:  NEW 'Haunt Ya Later' (pumpkin) & 'NEW A Little Something' (Trick or Treat words)
card stock:  Basic Black, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive
designer paper:  Neutrals Designer Series Paper Stack (12x12)- Basic Black
ink:  NEW Archival Basic Black
supplies:  Perfect White Accents, Banner Triple Punch, Dimensionals, Paper Snips
other:  black sharpie marker

Here is how I colored the Perfect White Accents to make them black!!  It works great!  But you have to be patient & let it dry awhile before you try to touch them.  

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Masen, Nathan & Sarah stopped out last night to visit for a bit.  He is changing to much already.  He is such a good little baby.  He reminds me more & more of Nathan as a baby every day when I see him.

 

I was a stamping fool last night & burnt the midnight oil.  I had some swaps I needed to get done for my team meeting I am having here at our home this Saturday!!  We'll be sharing lots of New Holiday Catalog products with each other that we could pre-order early as Stampin' Up! demonstrators.  

If you'd like to join my team you can CLICK HERE! OR  CONTACT ME for more information!

I'd love to have you join my Iowa Inkers Team!

 

Deke is off early this morning to chore & then he'll go to the office.  Can you believe it....I have the day off work today! (Or should I say I don't have to help on the farm or keep any boys- so I'll be working on stamping stuff all day!)   I am off now to clear a shelf for my new holiday things & unpacking boxes from classes I had last week!  I literally have a path in our attached garage (room) that I keep my stamp stuff in & I hope I can at least tell tonight when I go to bed that I've worked out there all day, although I know it won't be all cleaned up, but hope I make some noticeable progress.  Wish me luck!!

 

I hope you have a WONDERFUL Wednesday!!

Happy Stamping!
Hugs-
SUSIE

This weeks= WEEKLY DEALS! August 18-24, 2015

A "spooky" sneak peek!

Here is another card using NEW Holiday Catalog products!

Check out the stamp sets, the thinlit words, the black glitter paper & the stripped designer paper!!  It is all new!

stamp set:  NEW 'Witches Nights' (spider web), NEW 'Howl-o-ween Treat' (spider)
card stock:  Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Tangelo Twist
designer paper:  NEW Black Glimmer & NEW Happy Haunting Designer Paper- both 12x12 paper
ink:  NEW Black Archival ink
other:  Big Shot, NEW Precision Plate, Seasonal Frame Thinlits (spooky), Vanilla Thick Twine, 1" Circle Punch, Hexagon Punch, Dimensionals, NEW Fine-Tip Glue Pen

I love Fall & Halloween.....and both are approaching!!  I've got so many ideas....now to find the time to get to stamp!

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We were shocked with some very sad news.  A dear friend (Jay Bauwin) had a massive heart attach yesterday afternoon & passed away.  He was a rock to so many people in so many ways!  He will be greatly missed by lots & lots of people.  Would you please keep Jay's wife (& best friend) Linda & their son Jason in your prayers.  Linda is also a Stampin' Up! demonstrator.  Linda & Jay have been dear friends of Deke & mine for years.  There wasn't a SU! event that Jay didn't attend with Linda.  And he always had such big, warm hugs to give.  We throughly enjoyed our time spent with them & will treasure it now forever.  Linda has a long road ahead of her & I will pray hard for her to find strength to get through this sad journey in her life. 

Yesterday was a long day.  I worked outside most of the day.  Bradyen was here for awhile to help us.  I made supper (some of Nathan's favorites- ham balls, scalloped potatoes, corn/maracroni & Manda mad the grapenut muffins) last night & ran it into Nathan & Sarah's.  I then came home & went back out to help Deke sort hogs.  I had hoped to find a burst of energy to stamp all night, but that didn't happen.  I was just beat. 

We are up bright & early again this morning & off to work outside again.  We sell hogs this morning, so I'm a farmer again.

I think we are home tonight.  I plan to get caught up on my piles from last week!  

I hope you have a  TERRIFIC Tuesday!!
Happy Stamping!
Hugs-
SUSIE

Check out this months My Paper Pumpkin kit! SUPER CUTE!

If you are interest in getting a surprise kit in the mail each month- now is the perfect time to sign up!!  Stampin' Up! has a deal going on right now for new subscribers!  You can read more about that from a previous blog post I had BY CLICKING HERE!

I love My Paper Pumpkin kits!

A stained glass window leaf with 'Lighthearted Leaves'!

Check out this pretty stained glass card that I created.  It is another sneak peek!  I used a NEW Holiday Catalog set called- 'Lighthearted Leaves'.  This new leaf set does coordinate with the current Leaflets framelits on pg. 172 in the big catalog. 

Here is a close up photo of the leaf.  Isn't it pretty!  Don't you think it looks like a stained glass window?

Are you wondering how I created the stained glass windwo look?

• I inked the leaf stamp into Crumb Cake ink.
• I thumped onto the inked leaf using different colors of markers- Cajun Craze, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip & Tangelo Twist
• I breathed onto the inked leaf image & pressed it onto my 2 3/4 x 2 3/4" Very Vanilla card stock.
• I colored the outside lined image around the leaf using the fat end tip of the Cajun Craze marker.

ALSO- be sure to check out the pretty new jewel in the center of the leaf.  It is also a NEW Holiday Catalog product called-  Iced Stone Embellishments.  They come in 2 different sizes.  This is the smaller size that I used here & measures 5/16". 

stamp set:  NEW 'Lighthearted Leaves' & NEW 'A Little Something'
card stock:  Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze & Very Vanilla
ink:  Crumb Cake & Cajun Craze
markers:  Cajun Craze, Chocolate Chip, Tangelo Twist, Old Olive
other:  Big Shot, NEW Softly Falling Embossing Folder, NEW Iced Stone Embellishment, Dimensionals, Banner Triple Punch

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Yesterday I spent my morning with the 3 boys.  Masen & Sarah were discharged from the hospital & they got home around noon, so I went to their home & helped do a few things for awhile.  I came back home & did a little stamping.  And then Deke & I went back into their home last night to help out some more.  

Deke is off to the office today for a meeting.  I hope to get lots of stamping done today.  I will go in to help Nathan & Sarah for awhile later too.  And of course that means I'll get to hold & spoil Masen some more too.  

I hope you have a MARVELOUS Monday!

Happy Stamping!
Hugs-

SUSIE

A pretty fall card!

I LOVE this card!  I might end up doing one similar to it for my September monthly classes!  This NEW Woodland embossing folder is just awesome!  It just has so many possibilities!  Stayed tuned for other ideas I'll be sharing with you using it over the next 4 months!  It is available to purchase September 1, 2015 through January 4, 2016.

stamp set: NEW 'Among the Branches' & 'Teeny Tiny Wishes'
card stock:  Crumb Cake, Tangelo Twist
ink:  Early Espresso, Tangelo Twist, Cajun Craze & Hello Honey
other:  Big Shot, NEW Woodland Embossing Folder, 2" Circle Punch, Paper Snips, Thick Very Vanilla Twine, Into the Woods Elements (wooden leaf), Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Sponge Dauber

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We had a busy day yesterday!!  We went to the hospital in the morning & early afternoon to see Masen, Nathan & Sarah.  Then in the late afternoon we went to the Seeley's home to swim.  After that the boys all jumped on the trampoline.  And then we had a pizza picnic on their patio.  When we left their house we drove up to the square in Sigourney & sat around the fountain enjoying the beautiful night.  We are blessed to have such an awesome lighted fountain in our town square.  

The 3 bigger boys all ended up coming home with us & we had a slumber party on our family room floor again last night.

 

Drake, Brody & Brayden

They are checking out the light show at the fountain.

Who knows what today will bring!  Our week has been totally crazy & I haven't gotten anything done that I had planned to do.  I don't have a stamp class today- so will just be here to help my family.  We'll have the boys here for part or the full day & from there it will just be whatever happens will happen.  Sarah & Masen are suppose to get released from the hospital this morning too!  So I'm just going to go with the flow for whatever our day brings will be.

I hope you have a SUPER Sunday!
Happy Stamping!

Hugs-
SUSIE

Our new hog shed update! It is DONE!

Many of you have asked about how things are coming along on our farm after our fire.

Well- the hog shed is done & there are piggies now living in it.

We haven't decided yet what we are doing for replacing the bale shed.....

Yesterday I ran up so that I could take these pictures to share with you for my update on things.

 This is west end of the building.

This is the east end of the building.

Notice that there is now a rock driveway here where our old bale shed sat.

If we end up building a new one we will not be putting it back in the exact same spot.

This is the front side of the building.

And here are the piggies playing in the water sprinklers we have on 

to help keep them cool on a hot day!  

The piggies are happy in the new home!  

Our hog shed was actually finished a couple of weeks ago 

& the piggies were moved into it right away!

This new hog shed is exactly like the old one, except it is just about 50 years newer. 

We used the same foundations, cement walls & gates.  

Thank you for all of your prayers & concerns.

We are lucky that none of the piggies got hurt.

And we are happy that this hog shed is rebuilt!

More.......

Here are some more....I'm sharing some more photos!  

I took my mom, my aunt & Deke's mom, with Brayden & me to the hospital this morning so that they could meet Masen!

Brayden was feeding Masen.

Brayden was burping Masen & he was sucking on his cheek!

My mom (Great-Grandma Sharon) holding Masen.

My Aunt (Great) Virginia holding Masen.

Deke's mom (Great- Grandma Betsy) holding Masen.

Masen is precious!!

Christmas Shaker cards!

Here is another sneak peek!  Check out this cool Christmas card kit in the New Holiday Catalog!

It is called- 'To You & Yours' Shaker Cards Project Kit.  You get 18 cards (6 each of 3 designs) for $24.00 including envelopes & all of the supplies you'll need to complete them.
 
We are off to the hospital this morning to see Masen, Sarah & Nathan.
 
I hope you have a SENSATIONAL Saturday!!
Happy Stamping!
Hugs-
SUSIE

Our family!

Our family grew today......

We are proud to announce the arrival of Masen John Wood.  

He was born at 1:44 pm today (8/14/15) to Nathan & Sarah.

He weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces & is 21 inches long. 

He is just perfect!

Here is Masen & his big brother Brayden!

Love this smile!

And here they are- ALL 5 of our boys!

Drake, Trey, Brayden, Brody & Masen

How blessed we are!

A Minion birthday invite!

Here is the birthday invites Manda & I made for Brody & Drake's upcoming 4th birthday party that is the end of this month!  I (G'ma) wanted to do dinosaurs as their theme & Manda thought they might want to do some super heros- but they wanted Minions.  So that is what they got.  This is my Minion punch art guy!  I think he turned out pretty cute!  The boys were pleased.....so guess that is all that counts. 

I will post the supplies I used sometime soon.  This card was created all with Stampin' Up! punches & framelits.  It is pretty cool huh!

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We had a full day on the farm yesterday with our new baby piggies!  It was a very long day!  We came in to get supper last night, ate, showered & off to Brayden's football practice we went.  We stopped for ice cream on the way home from there.  We were all beat when we finally got home!  I should have stamped....but we all called it a day & went to bed.  This heat just drains you when you are out in it all day long.  

The 3 Seeley boys will be here here soon to spend the day.  Brayden is going to Aunt Kathy's for awhile. Then tonight the guys will be head to Columbus Junction to the races.  As bad as I want to go racing with them, I have got to stay home & get caught up on my things.  My piles have gotten bigger this week instead of smaller.  

I hope you have a FABULOUS Friday!!
Happy Stamping!
hugs-
SUSIE

A black cat with some witches brooms!

Here is another Holiday Catalog Sneak Peek!  

I am a huge cat lover (especially black cats) & I just love this cat stamp & coordinating framelit.  The cat is actually from the set- 'Festive Fireplace'.....but I just thought it was fitting to have a black cat with brooms- don't you? 

Growing up we had a black house cat named Midnight.  And when Manda was in high school she brought a black cat in the house from the farm & named him Lucky.  He lived with them until Trey was born & he now lives at our house again. 

stamp set:  'If the Broom Fits' & 'Festive Fireplace'
card stock:  Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip & Whisper White
ink:  NEW Archival Basic Black pad
markers:  Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip
supplies:  Big Shot, Festive Fireplace Framelits, Banner Triple Punch, Dimensionals

Note:  I tried to stamp this cat using the NEW Archival Basic Black Ink onto Basic Black card stock- but is all just blended in & you couldn't see the definite outline of the card....so I then stamped it using the NEW Archival Basic Black onto the Whisper White card stock & then cut it out with the coordinating framelit.  I then used my Basic Black marker & colored the cat in.  

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Yesterday was a busy day with the boys.  Manda & I also created bridal shower invites for Sarah & Nathan.  I got 90 bridal shower invites all made last night.  I will share this cute invite sometime after we get them mailed out. 

Brayden came about 9 last night & stayed all night with us.  We are headed out this morning to help Papa again on the farm, as we get baby piggies delivered soon.  So need I say that I have a very excited little farm boy!  He is the only one that will be here today to help us.  And he is thrilled that the piggies arrived before he had to start back to school so that he didn't miss out. 

Tonight I will be burning the midnight oil again, as I have tons of projects to get created.  Hopefully things will go as I have planned & I pray that I have good mojo.  

I hope you have a very special Thursday!!  

Happy Stamping!
Hugs-

SUSIE

A Halloween Sneak Peek!!

Woo Hoo!  Oh my......I just couldn't resist making this card last night right before I went to bed so that I had another New Holiday Catalog sneak peek to share with you.  My pre-oder of some of the NEW Holiday Catalog products arrived last week & I finally made the time to pick out a few things to create with.  This is a clean & simple card- BUT look at the cool NEW products from the Holiday Catalog that I used when creating it. 

Those of you that know me- know that I LOVE Halloween!!  I even have a special Halloween Treats class each year....just so that I can create lots of Halloween projects & share them!  There are tons of new Halloween products in the new Holiday Catalog.  I'm going to have soooooo much fun creating projects with them for my upcoming Halloween Treats class.  You can check out my calendar for dates & times of these upcoming classes @ www.susiewood.stampinup.net 

Does this look like a spooky card to you?  Those little black eyes & the darkened trees are really cute huh!  And what about this AWESOME new embossing folder called- Woodland!  It is perfect for any occasion....fall, winter, guy cards, etc. 

stamp set:  NEW 'Among the Branches'
card stock:  Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, Basic Black
designer paper: NEW Happy Hauntings
ink:  NEW Archival Basic Black ink pad, Tangelo Twist 
other supplies:  NEW Spider Web Doilies, 2" Circle Punch, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Triple Banner Punch, Dimensionals, Sponge

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We had a busy day yesterday on the farm with the boys & getting new baby piggies here.  I love hearing the squeal of the boys & piggies!  We definitely have some true little farmers.  They love getting to help Papa on the farm & we love that they can!!  It is surely an experience that they will never forget & neither will we.  We are truly blessed!  And we had an added bonus yesterday too, as Manda got to come out to be on the farm also, so that was neat!

Last night Susie's Hair Hut was open for business & I got Deke's hair cut!  Now I need to find time in my schedule (& theirs) to get Steve & Nathan's hair cut sometime soon too.

Deke & I are both up bright & early this morning.  Deke headed out to chore & I worked on stamping stuff.  Deke will be gone all day to meetings today in Sigourney & then Mount Pleasant.  And all 4 boys will be here with me.   Plus Manda is coming too & we are going to design & create Nathan & Sarah's bridal shower invitations.  We have an idea in mind, so I hope it works out & Sarah likes them!  I also hope the boys cooperate & we can get alot done today- which is a bigger task to accomplish than making the invites. 

I hope you have a WONDERFUL Wednesday!!

Happy Stamping!
Hugs-
SUSIE