Meet Cookie

After running some errands this morning, my daughter asked me to take some photos while she rode her horse Khandi Bey (aka Cookie, KhanKhan, Beymare, Beygirl, CookieMonster, Cookieface... Monster Mare on the bad days ;-D). I thought I would share some of my favorites with you. While watching her ride, I remember when I was a teen and rode my horse Lady. I was so carefree. It is amazing to see that in my daughter.

This is Cookie (she loves treats.)

This is the two of them jamming (I can tell by the smile on Sara's face). BTW, that is not my barn in the background!

This is after their ride. Cookie doesn't really like the water, but Sara had carrots so she tolerated it. I can't wait to scrap these.

On another note, I am almost done with my gift project for a very special friend and upline Jeannie. I will share it with you tomorrow after I put the finishing touches on it.

Be Blessed and have a great weekend.

Shannon Willis

www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net

Order Online 24/7

Little Did I Know ...

I should know by now that "my" Fridays are never really "mine". I had big hopes and dreams that this Friday would be different. I was going to work on some unfinished projects, get ready for my scrapbooking crop, catch up on the laundry, but little did I know, my beautiful Sara and equally beautiful adopted daughter Hayley had other plans for me. I should have seen the RED FLAGS when my child offered to stay at home and clean up. Nope, I was basking in the moment, savoring the thought of shopping for groceries while Sara picked up. NOT!!! She and BFF Hayley were planning "our" day. Actually we had a terrific time at the movies watching Charlie St. Cloud. Yeap, just us girls, or as Sara says ..."seestahs". I was more like the debit card toting, taxi cab driver, MUCH OLDER SEESTAH. It was fun. I really love being around my girls.

They are such goofs!!

I did however get a project started. Started being the key word. I am taking the advice of one of my fellow demonstrators Sherrill Graff and made these business card holders. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I just have more I need to make.

Stamps: Vintage Vogue

Ink: Bravo Burgandy, Mellow Moss, Close to Cocoa

Paper: Kraft, Old Olive and Whisper White

Hopefully I will be able to finish them up over the weekend. I should probably check and see what my families' agenda is for ME :)

Be Blessed

Shannon Willis
http://www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net/
Order Online 24/7

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge # 79

Okay, I thought I was out of my slump, but apparently not. Actually I believe I had a bit of a bug as I just haven't been feeling that well. We had a pretty busy week, and I am thankful my work week is over.

I realized after working today that I hadn't started my Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge for this week and decided to spend some time in my scrap room. I loved the sketch this week and the other samples are sooo cute. I am trying to use up scraps and other papers that I have been saving for something (for what I don't know) and decided to use some of the vintage looking DSP Recollection paper. I remember purchasing it to start a scrapbook for my grandmother that passed away a few years ago, but I am not quite ready to tackle that project. My card however, did not turn out quite as I had hoped. Oh well, there is always next week as I am too tired to start over.

Here is this weeks terrific sketch

and here is my take

Stamps: Vintage Vogue

Ink: Bravo Burgandy

Paper: Bravo Burgandy, Kraft and DSP Recollection

Accessories: Snaps and Eyelets

I am planning to spend most of tomorrow in my scrap room organizing and getting some projects out of the way.

Be Blessed Everyone!

Shannon Willis

www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net

My Recruit Password: Scrap Shack

August 2010 Monthly Card Class

Thankfully I am a little more organized for my August 2010 card class. Last month I didn't have my act together and set out notifications late. I am pleased I am a little ahead of the ball this month.

For our August 2010 card class, we will be making two (2) cards with matching envelopes and one (1) memo cube with matching pen. Since we will be learning a new technique, you will also receive a page for your technique booklet. The cost of the card class is $23.00 and includes everything mentioned above, PLUS one (1) package of DSP Blueberry Crisp paper (12) sheets and one (1) Not Quite Navy Stampin' Write Marker, door prizes, refreshments/light snack, and TONS OF FUN!!! If you are in my area and would like to participate, please let me know or you can shop online in the comforts of your home by clicking HERE.

I love the new Level 1 hostess stamp set Because I Care. It is so beautiful. This stamp set is sooooo easy to get. Call me today to schedule your workshop (at your house or mine), invite some friends over to create beautiful cards and have an qualifying sales of at least $150.00 (easy peasy).

Stamps: Because I Care, All Holidays

Ink: Night of Navy, Old Olive

Paper: Sahara Sand, Watercolor paper, Night of Navy, Whisper White and DSP

Accessories: Big Shot - Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, Beautiful Wings embosslit, Photo Corner punch, Clips Assortment, Old Olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon

Techniques: Watercoloring

Be blessed everyone and have a wonderful Sunday.

Shannon Willis

http://www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net/

Stampin' Fun Last Night

I've been in a little slump this week since Stampin' Up! convention started. I sooooo wanted to go. I am thankful to ALL the demonstrators that shared photos while the event was going on. What an awesome time they had. No worries, I AM UTAH BOUND NEXT YEAR. I am planning my trip early because NOTHING IS KEEPING ME FROM CONVENTION!!!!

Last night was our monthly card class. I was fortunate to have two new BFFs join me to stamp. My new friend Cindy just moved here from New Hampshire. Her sister in law Teresa. We had an awesome time and they helped me get back in the swing of things again. Since neither one was accustomed to Stampin' Up!, it was awesome to teach them some new techniques. Teresa even stated, "... I'm not very crafty", but I do believe that she's hooked! Cindy and I are in cahoots with each other to get her equally hooked on scrapbooking. I can't wait for next Friday which is our monthly crop night.

To make the girls feel special, I made these cute little totes that were filled with chocolate. I dressed up the packaging by stamping the tissue paper with Petal Pizzazz. The totes coordinated nicely with our projects.

Stamps: Petal Pizzazz

Ink: Tempting Turquoise

Paper: Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White

Accessories: Scalloped Circle Punch, Tempting Turquoise 1/4" grosgrain ribbon and Tags, Bags Boxes and More Cricut cartridge

Blessings,

Shannon Willis

www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net

Order Online 24/7

My Stampin' Story

In an earlier post, I explained "My Why" (why I want to grow my Stampin' Up! business) as part of our Recruit Crew Challenge. Today I would like to share "My Stampin' Story." I hope you enjoy it.

Since becoming certified with My Digital Studio, I am enjoying playing around with new techniques and options MDS has. For those of you who haven't been to one of my crops, I have MDS available for you to try out. It is an awesome program to add to your crafting needs. If you are in my area and would like to stop by and try it out, give me a call or email me. You can also click HERE to purchase your very own copy.

Be Blessed Everyone!

Shannon Willis

www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net

Card Club

Since changing the format of my card classes a bit, everyone is very excited about the new projects we will be working on. Each month we will create two cards and one 3-D/Scrapbook layout using new products and featuring a new technique. In preparation, I made each of my friends this cute little book to put the sample technique featured at that class. I made these little books using the Top Note die.

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 78

Oh my!! I am actually early or right on time I should say. I think this is the first time I have submitted my card on Sunday. I must say, Karen did a great job on our sketch for this week. I really enjoyed working on my card for the challenge.

Here is the terrific sketch

and here is my card

I was finally able to get my scraproom cleaned up from my mess last week. It is amazing how much better you can work when things are organized around you. Hopefully I can keep it clean. I spent most of the day in my room working on my card club project. In an earlier post, I am changing the format of our classes a bit and have a nice little gift for my girls on Friday. I will share it with you later.

If you would like to order any of the products shown, click HERE to visit my website where you can shop online 24/7 or you can email me at shannon.willis10@verizon.net.

Stamps: Awash with Flowers

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Old Oliver and Daffodil Delight

Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White card stock, DSP Sweet Pea

Accessories: Tempting Turqouise grosgrain ribbon and Big Shot, Beautiful Wings embossit die

Blessings everyone. Have a great week.

Shannon Willis

http://www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net/

My Why

I am participating in a Recruit Crew Challenge through Stampin' Up! One of my assignments was to create a "My Why" statement listing the reasons why my Stampin' Up! business is important to me and what I would like to do to improve my business. I completed my challenge and made this visual reminder with My Digital Studio. I am soooo loving this program.

Be Blessed and Happy Friday

Shannon

www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net

You can shop online 24/7 by clicking HERE.

Last Minute Annie!

As usual, I am running and not covering much ground. This week has flown by and I still have a huge list of things to do. At least I am not having too much anxiety over it. I have really been trying to let things fly.

Since I look forward to Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch challenges, my submission was my main focus when I got home from work today. I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Here is the sketch

and here is my card

Remember when I said I have been letting things fly ... here is a picture of my scraproom after making this card. For those of you that know me personally, I do have a bit of ADD and am very easily distracted. Try as I might, I don't multi-task very well. When I was pulling out my stamps to choose which one I would use for my card, I started re-labeling them to make room for my new stamps. I didn't realize what I was doing until I saw the terrible mess I made. I have ABSOLUTELY no flat work space. Oh well!!!




If you would like to order any of these awesome products, just click HERE.

Stamps: Lovely As A Tree
Ink: Stampin' Write Markers - Old Olive, Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip
Paper: Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla card stock
Accessories: 1 3/4 Oval punch, Scallop Oval punch, Threading Water punch, Cricut cartridge Plantin Schoolbook and Chocolate Chip Taffeta ribbon



Be Blessed,

Shannon Willis
http://www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net/

Blog Candy Alert!!

My cyber friend, Shari over at Shari's Creation with the Cricut is having an awesome give away. She makes these beautiful flowers and is sharing some to the lucky follower. Check it out.

Christmas 1993 Part II

This is the second part of the four page Christmas layout I worked on over the weekend. I just realized that I am so close to having ALL of 1993 scrapped. Woo Hoo!!! I have been working on a pile of photos for months and it is almost complete. After I am done, I can put the photos in one of our new Linen or Designer Printed Albums shown here. If you are interested in any Stampin' Up! products, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I am here to help you with your paper crafting needs.

On a lighter note, my beautiful daughter Sara and adopted daughter Hayley spent the afternoon at the beach yesterday. I had to share some of the photos Sara took. I hope you like them.

Be Blessed,

Shannon Willis
www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net

Christmas in July

I know, funny title huh? I am actually starting to thinking about Christmas and the shopping I must do. This year should be pretty easy as I already have some things planned out.

As I stated in my earlier post, I was able to scrap this weekend. I have been modifying my schedule to allow time for my hobbies. Scrapbooking is really therapy to me. So the more time I spend, the happier I am. What's that saying "... if momma ain't happy then nobody's happy." I think my family has FINALLY realized that and they leave me alone when I am in my room.

Here is a layout from Christmas 1993. I know, I know, I'm a little behind.

I will share more tomorrow.

Be Blessed,

Shannon

http://www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net

Beautiful Things

I so badly wanted to sleep in this morning, but my husband was getting ready to play golf and my brother in law got the time messed up so he was here very early (5:15 am.) I thought maybe I could go back to sleep, but I decided to get my coffee and read a bit. As I went outside to let our dogs out, this is what greeted me at the front door....

In my busyness, I hadn't noticed my beautiful gardenia bush is full of buds. This bloom immediately caught my eye. I have been trying to work on my photography skills and had to grab my camera to get a picture of my prize flower (not too much a green thumb either.) I had written earlier about wanting to slow down and recognize all the beautiful things around me.

After enjoying a wonderful cup of coffee, I spent the most amazing day in my scraproom. I finished four pages and started my fifth. I will share these with you this week.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Be Blessed,

Shannon
www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net

It Can't Get Any Better Than This!!!

Today there was an auction in our neighborhood. Our neighbors sold their house and since their children are grown, decided to auction off the contents of their home. They did not have room in the new house (also wrong decor.) Since I have never been to an auction, I talked my son Kody into attending with me. I am not a bartering person and don't do well in situations where I have to negotiate anything, but I played a good poker face. I registered for my number and walked around like I knew what I was doing. There were a few items I wanted to bid on but when the moment of truth came, I CHICKENED OUT!!!

The whole process was exciting but so intimidating. I was afraid that I would be bidding against MYSELF. Kody on the other hand takes after his Uncle Bum and bid on some sort of lens assembly for his truck. Personally, I had no idea what it was, but he knew the value and told me to give him my number. I gave him the "be careful" speech and he gave me the "look" (you know, the one where you are actually getting the hand ... I know what I am doing look.) Thankfully he does not take after his mom and didn't choke last minute. He won the bid for $25.00. As we were walking back to the car, he casually mentioned the parts are worth about $200.00. I am a proud momma of a NEGOTIATOR.

The best part of the day was after we returned home. I layed down to cool off and relax a bit (excitement wears me out) and actually took a nap. Yep you heard, a nap!! It was wonderful. The cherry on the top was when I woke up, my husband told me that my darling daughter went and fed the horses too.

Life is good.

Be Blessed,

Shannon Willis

http://www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net/

Snaggle Tooth

This is another layout I finished up over the 4th of July weekend. It is a layout of my daughter Sara when she lost a tooth. Since it was SUCH a big deal in our house (she always had to have her dad pull them out) I kept it very simple as I used one of our Sweet Treat cups and wanted to keep the focus on her teeny little tooth.




Stamps: None
Ink: None
Paper: Pixie Pink, So Saffron, Orchid Opulence and Patterns Pack II DSP
Accessories: Sweet Treat Cup, Threading Water Punch and Big Circle Die

Blessings,

Shannon Willis
www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net
www.shannonscropstop.blogspot.com

TGIF!!

I had such a wonderful day. Because I am self-employed as a bookkeeper, I set Fridays aside to get groceries, pay bills, catch up on laundry and clean my house. The last few Fridays, I have booked myself up and then resent everything around me. I always have big dreams, that I will get everything on my list done and then have lots of time to spend working on my scrapbooks, prepare for classes, etc. IT NEVER HAPPENS. I know a lot of you probably feel the same way that there is never enough time to get everything done. I mentioned something to my cousin and she recommended I read "When Women Long for Rest" by Cindi McMenamin. It is such a good book as it explains what the world calls rest is superficial and DOES NOT last. I have been doing the exercises and finding time to relax and seek God for guidance. Even though I am not "there", I know turning my "junk" over to God and letting him handle my burdens will allow me to spend quality time with the people I love so much and be able to find time to do the hobbies I enjoy. That being said, my "To Do List" today still has a bunch of stuff on it, but my daughter and son enjoyed a terrific "homemade" lunch and found time to laugh about our day. I also found time to make my oldest son Jeffrey's birthday card (early I might add) using My Digital Studio.

God is so good!

Blessings,

Shannon Willis

www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge # 76

I am so excited to finally submit something for Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. I really enjoy these challenges, but lately things have gotten in the way and I haven't been able to submit anything.

Here is this week's challenge



and here is my take on it



I love the new Hostess Stamp Set Because I Care and have seen so many beautiful cards created with it. I also like the fact that it is simple and elegant, just like this week's challenge. For this challenge, I attempted the watercolor technique. It is one of my favorite techniques, however I have such a hard time with it. When I use my Aqua Painter, my hand shakes terribly and I sometimes have to re-do my card. Does this happen to anyone else? At least this one turned out pretty good. I hope you enjoy it.

Stamps: Because I Care
Ink: Old Olive, Night of Navy and Bashful Blue
Paper: Kraft, Night of Navy card stock, Watercolor Paper and Patterned Pack II DSP
Accessories: Clips Assortment and Old Olive Ribbon

July Card Club Sneak Peak

Since Stampin' Up! has just released their new catalog, I felt the need to freshen things up a bit with our monthly card classes. I can't wait until our July class where we will learn new techniques and create beautiful cards using the new items in the catalog. Here is a peak of our class projects. I hope you enjoy them. Please be sure to RSVP and submit your payment.

Stamps: Petal Pizzazz and Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: So Saffron, Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive
Paper: Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise and So Saffron
Accessories: Designer Buttons, Tempting Turquoise Ribbon, So Saffron Ribbon and Small Tag Punch

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Program

Well, just as I expected, the camera problem was an operator error. I think I am getting the hang of it. Sad to say, it is an older camera that I never took the time to learn and lately my daughter has been talking about upgrading to a better (more expensive) camera. Figures!! ;-)

As I stated in an earlier post, I was able to spend some much needed time in my scraproom and work on some unfinished projects. My cyber blog friend Okie just mentioned something about that today. I am pretty happy with my progress, but there is so much more I need to do. For the moment, I am going to bask in the satisfaction of enjoying a finished project. I hope you enjoy them!

Stamps: None

Ink: None

Paper: Ballet Blue, Green Galore and Sumer Sun card stock

Accessories: Miscellaneous flowers and brad

Blessings,

Shannon Willis
www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net
www.shannonscropstop.blogspot.com

I'm Still Here!!!

Sorry for not posting lately. I actually spent much of the July 4th weekend scrapbooking. Actually it was more like ALL day on Sunday!!! I stayed in my pajamas and in my scraproom and completed 4 layouts. I am really proud of them and want to show them to you, however my camera and I don't agree sometimes and I am having a bit of a problem with it. ALL operator error I assure you!! I will post some of my creations just as soon as I get my camera under control.

In the meantime, for those of you that are new to following my blog, I am posting photos my cousin took of my campground in Hanging Dog, North Carolina. LOVE THE NAME huh??? My cousin Trisha is a wonderful photographer (I did not get ANY of those genes) and was camping for a week with their good friends. I hope you enjoy them. If you are ever in the Murphy, North Carolina area, we would love for you to come for a visit. Please visit Hanging Dog Creek Campground and check us out.

Blessings,

Shannon Willis
www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net
www.shannonscropstop.blogspot.com