Happy 25th Anniversary Bliss!!

Twenty-five years ago today I married my childhood crush Kevin. Even though we've been down some rocky roads, I can't imagine my life without him. Happy 25th Babe, I love you!!

Thankfully I remembered. Yes, I did say that. In the 25 years we've been married, I am always a day early or a day late. He has never forgotten. When got home from work yesterday, this card was my priority. I put it in his lunch box to surprise him since me remembering our anniversary is a BIG ONE!!

Stamps: Bliss
Ink: Early Espresso
Paper: Basic Black, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla card stock
Accessories: 1 1/4 inch Early Espresso Striped Grosgrain Ribbon and miscellaneous hardware

Be Blessed,

Shannon Willis
www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net

Raffle basket - part II

These are photos of one of the gifts in the raffle basket, shown in my previous post, I made a set of Valentine gift cards and matching envelopes and boxed them all up as one of the treasures inside.

Stamps: Filled with Love
Ink: Real Red
Paper: Sending Love DSP, Pretty in Pink cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Crumb Cake cardstock and Real Red cardstock
Accessories: 1 1/4" circle punch, paper crimper tool, miscellaneous red eyelets and ribbon

Be Blessed,

Shannon Willis
www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net

Come on, you know you want it!!! - BLOG CANDY GIVE-A-WAY

Come on, admit it, you know you do. You could be the lucky receipant of this basket. On Saturday, February 5th, I will be a vendor at Boyette Springs Elementary's 1st Annual Scrapbooking Crop and was asked to provide a gift for raffle. I CAN'T WAIT!!! It has been sometime since I actually attended a crop other than my house. As many of you know, I hold a scrapbooking crop at my house the last Friday of the month. We will be scrapbooking from 9:00 am. until 6:00 pm. There will be the raffle, goodies bags, a boxed lunch from Honey Baked Ham, demonstrations, make n takes, you name it.

I made this basket for a raffle to give away at the crop. It is full of products, gifts I made and some sweet treats. What girl can scrapbook without CHOCOLATE??!! I will share photos of the gifts in the next few days. I hope the lucky winner enjoys it. If you are in the area, it may not be too late to register. This is the link and contact information if you are interested.

Also, I have a special BLOG CANDY GIVE-A-WAY gift to those who will not be able to attend, I will randomly select a name from the first five people that leave a comment on this post giving me your thoughts on my raffle basket. Are you feeling lucky??!!

Be Blessed,

Shannon Willis
www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net

Christmas Tea - Stamp-A-Stack

On Saturday, I hosted my First Annual Christmas Tea/Stamp-A-Stack. It was such a nice and relaxing day. Although the initial plan was to begin at 10:00 and end at 1:00, I was in good company and having a blast. When my guests left, I was surprised to see that it was well past 3:00! I suppose time really does fly when you're having fun. :) I love it when I can get together with friends who share the same passion as I do. It was extra special as two of my newest friends, Eloisa and Leticia were able to attend. Even though it was a smaller crowd, we really enjoyed ourselves.

Today I spent the day in my pj's and cleaned up my studio. I always seem to make the biggest messes and it keeps me from finishing up projects. After reorganizing my paper and scraps, I finished two projects that I will share with you this week in addition to the Stamp-A-Stack projects. I am so excited about the turnout. I am definitely in Christmas mode!

Be Blessed Everyone.

Shannon Willis

www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net

A promise is a promise

As reflected in yesterday's post, I have been working on some things lately. Christmas Cards to be exact.


I have been making my own Christmas cards since my son Kody was born. I remember my first homemade cards and getting that perfect picture of my precious little boy to send out to all my family and friends. That perfect picture turned out to be quite the ordeal. I came up with the idea of wrapping a paper box and putting Kody inside (I know, how original...). The box kept flipping over and he would cry so I tried changing his outfits several times. Remember how difficult it is to change your baby's outfit, much less try when he has been placed in a box and keeps dumping over!!!! Needless to say, after all these years, I still enjoy making my own cards and enclosing photos of my precious little ones (yes, I know, they are grown). If it makes you feel better, they still give me a hard time when it's "Christmas photo-op" time.

Here is this year's card and a blast from the past.

Cards for Troops

Whoops, I forgot to attach this card in my previous post. This is another sample of one of our cards for troops.

Cards for Troops Ideas

Since I have two nephews in the service, my niece-in-law is getting together packages to send overseas. A group of my stamping friends and I are getting together once a month to make cards for the troops. We spend a couple of hours on a Saturday morning, enjoy breakfast together and then dive into card making. The time together is wonderful and just what I need after a long work week. Spending time with my crafting friends is like therapy to me. We have a great time getting together as everyone brings some creative idea or technique to share with the group. It is also helping me use up some of my retired products. Here is a sample of one of the cards we made.

This is one of my favorites and it is sooooo simple to make. The Elegant Bouquet is one of my favorite embossing folders and it makes a beautiful card with very little effort.

Stamps: Well Scripted

Ink: Pixie Pink (retired)

Paper: Whisper White and Pixie Pink (retired)

Accessories: Elegant Bouquet embossing folder and ribbon

Be Blessed,

Shannon Willis

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

Some Cards

Last weekend I was so happy that I spent pretty much all weekend in my scrap room. That doesn't happen very often as there are so many things that need my attention. It was so nice to just play with my stamps and paper and not have anything to prepare for.

I love the elegance of Black and White. I got out one of my favorite stamp sets, Baroque Motifs and used it to create this card I had seen on MoJo Monday Sketch challenge. It was really simple and took only a few minutes to make.

If you would like to order the products used to make this project, you can do so by clicking HERE.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs

Ink: Classic Black

Paper: Whisper White and Basic Black

Accessories: Black polka dot ribbon, 1 3/8" Square Punch, Modern Label Punch and embossing folder

Be Blessed,

Shannon Willis

www.shannonscropstop.stampinup.net

Finally, A Day To Play!!

I finally got a day where the laundry isn't overwhelming, house is pretty clean, kids are tended to and I can just play in my scrap room. I spent last night cleaning it up so I could focus on some projects. I don't know about you, but if my room is a mess, I can't concentrate.

I started my morning with a terrific cup of coffee, reading my blogs and then jumped in. In a previous post, I mentioned that my sister and I have recently re-opened our campground in Murphy, North Carolina. As a personal touch, I like to send our guests a thank you note for staying with us. This is what I came up with. Sorry for the quality of the photos. I am still using the pocket camera since Sara has "the real" one with her in Washington DC.

Stamps: Lovely As A Tree and Thank You Kindly

Ink: Early Espresso, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip (markers)

Paper: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake and Handsome Hunter (retired)

Accessories: Misc. Ribbon

Be Blessed,

Shannon Willis

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

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/
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What A Wonderful Day!

Yesterday, (Saturday, July 18, 2009) I attended a card class at Debbi Acampa's house (a/k/a my new BFF). It was wonderful. She is sooooo talented and beautifully sweet. She spent about an hour with me going over some of the new Stampin' Up! stuff. After looking at the items and actually using some of the items I don't have, I have decided they are a must have. I appreciate her advice and her willingness to share her experiences with me.

Some of her card class buddies stopped by and we worked on our projects. It was a great day of fellowship. Attached is a photo of what we made.

Recipes:

Post-it-note pad

Old Olive Cardstock (my favorite)

Orchid Opulence Cardstock

Cottage Wall Designer Paper (must have it)

Of the Earth stamp set (Level 1 hostess)

Nestabilities dies

Thinking of You card

Elegant Eggplant Cardstock

Kraft Cardstock

Bella Bleu Designer Paper

Medallion background stamp (must have it)

Teeny Tiny Wishes (also a must have - great for all cards)

Build a brad

Word Window Punch

Modern Label Punch (new)

Best Wishes Card

Chocolate Chip Cardstock (my favorite)

Blush Blossom Cardstock

Whisper White Cardstock

Sanded background stamp

Greenhouse Garden stamp set

Oval All stamp set

Large Oval Punch

Scallop Oval Punch

1 1/4 in Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (chocolate chip)