Welcome to the Grand Vacation Achievers Blog Hop for August. The theme for the hop this month is Holiday Sneak Peek and we are all excited to share some projects using new products from the soon-to-be-live Holiday Catalog.

You may be starting from here at my blog, Lori Mueller - Stampin' Dreams, or you may have come here from the previous person to me on the list. Please be sure to click the person after me to move along the blog hop. If you get off track at any time, the full line up below will help you move along from blog to blog.  So, here is my 'sneak peek'!

So, what do you think?  Pretty cute (and not very spooky), right?!!  I have been having fun playing along with the MOJO Monday Card Sketch Challenges lately and I thought this layout (MOJO412) was a perfect fit to show off lots of new products I had in mind.

The sentiment comes from a stamp set that was a Prize Patrol win during Stampin' Up!'s Annual convention in July 2015.  This set is full of sentiments to cover all the holidays from Halloween through Valentines Day.  When I saw this particular sentiment, the first thing that came to mind was the Italian version of saying "Fabulouso"! (mimicking fingers to lips and throwing a kiss to audience).  Since this Grand Vacation cruise will land us in Italy, I just had to giggle.  So, you definitely want to Host a stamping event with your girlfriends so that you can earn this set and purchase with your Hostess rewards.  SUPER cute!  But, enough of my silliness...you are probably getting antsy and want to see the WHOLE card, right?  Teehehehe

Isn't it FaBOOlous?!!  This card is chocked full of brand new products available in the new Holiday catalog that goes LIVE on Tuesday, September 1, 2015.

• Outside of the "FaBOOlous" Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper (I love every single pattern!), but, the Black Glimmer Paper...OMGOSH!!  I am soooo excited that we have Black.Glimmer.Paper!

• If you were enjoying the Thick Baker's Twine that Stampin' Up! started offering, you might like to know that you *can* thread it through the larger Designer Series buttons. YAY!! I love adding fun embellishments...they really help fill an area where you may scratch your head wondering 'this area needs something, but what?'

• MAILING WITH EMBELLISHMENTS TIP:  If you wish to mail a card that includes an embellishment that is bulky, I would recommend 1 of 2 options:  Take it to the post office and ask for the envelope to be 'Hand Stamped", which means that you will pay a little bit more for the postage, but this ensures that your recipient will receive your handmade creation in one piece. Otherwise, it could come back to YOUR mailbox indicating it needs more postage, or by luck, your recipient will receive it and wonder what kind of fight the card had with the post office machinery.  haha

• The other option (which is what I do many, many times) is to take a piece of small cardboard (like the cardboard that your favorite snack crackers comes in) and cut a piece that will fit over top of the embellishment inside the envelope.  That lightweight cardboard will act as a buffer and form a gradual 'hump' versus an abrupt bump in the road for the postal equipment to fight with.

Thanks for taking part in our blog hop. With so many amazing and "FaBOOlous" ideas and inspiration throughout the hop, you won't want to miss a single one! Remember you are currently at (Lori Mueller's -- Stampin' Dreams blog), so please check the blog hop line up below and be sure to click the next blog participant's name on the list.

THE HOLIDAY CATALOGS ARE HERE!  IF YOU NEED A STAMPIN’ UP! HOLIDAY CATALOG and plan to place your next order through me, click HERE for your free copy.

PLEASE NOTE:  If you shop through another demonstrator,
please contact them directly for your holiday catalog.  Thank you!

CATALOGS FOR MY CUSTOMERS!  If you have placed at least one order through me (via my online store or emailed your wish list to me for entering) in the past year and have continuously placed orders through me (without changing demonstrators), I already have ordered a holiday catalog for you.  It should arrive by September 1 (if not, please contact me ASAP)!  You are welcome to email me if you want to make sure one has been ordered for you!

Thank you for Shopping with Lori

• SHOP | VIEW: Stampin' Up! Annual 2015-16 Catalog online
• Subscribe to a Paper Pumpkin
  
• Lori's Catalog Product Shares: to review your options Download CatalogProductShares-2015-2016
• Don't forget to check out this weeks 25% off Weekly Deals
• Visit the Clearance Rack - up to 80% off
• Orders of $30 or more receive Dreamers Loyalty Rewards Points, accumulate and redeem for free stamps...print your copy!
• Use Hostess Code Q96V7UC6 to get a FREE GIFT from me when you order $50 or more.

WANNA HAVE IT ALL?  Please click on the Stampin’ Up! product images below for more details and easy, on-line shopping.  A printable supply list is available as well!

Good morning stampers & paper crafters!

YAY!!  You have arrived for another inspirational ride along our Stamp It Blog Hop.  You may have just arrived here from Siara Acdal's blog or this may be your very first stop.  If so, thank you soooo much!  I am excited you are here. Our August hops are featuring some Sneak Peek creations using products from the upcoming Holiday catalog.  Let me tell you...EVERYTHING in the new Holiday catalog is super cute and fun that I struggled what to start creating with to show you....I wanted to play with ALL of my new products.   :) 

Have you ever needed a kick-start getting your creative juices started?  Or, you have so many ideas rolling through your head, but don't know where to start?  I have the same problem.  That's when I go searching for a "sketch", which is like a 'floor plan' for you to follow.  Just fill in the areas with stamped images, designer series paper, and embellishments, and you've got it made.  VOILA!  To tone down my long list of projects that I want to start, I recruited a little help from a MOJO Monday 411 sketch.  I am so excited to show you....let's take a PEEK!

• Along with using a "sketch" to get me started, I like to look for Color Challenges to help me narrow down my choice of colors to use.  I love ALL of Stampin' Up!'s color choices...40 regular family colors (Subtles, Regals, Brights, and Neutrals), plus, the luscious In Colors...5 newly introduced colors each year.  I chose Pool Party, Lost Lagoon and Tangerine Tango.

• There is a new embossing folder...Woodland that gives a beautiful texture of old trees in the woods.  LOVE it!!  I decided to pair it up with a brand new stamp set called Happy Scenes.  There are multiple 'scenes', but I chose the Fall-ish image and create a non-traditional Halloween card.  To me, a traditional Halloween creation uses Black, Orange and a neutral (White or Vanilla).  The Designer Series Paper comes from the Schoolhouse paper pack in the Annual Catalog.  It was the only Series that had Tangerine Tango patterns.

• I re-discovered a few weeks ago the beauty of some specialty cardstock papers that Stampin' Up! has offered for a very long time...Shimmery White cardstock.  OMGosh!!  It is sooo much fun to watercolor images and backgrounds.  I smooshed ink into the lids of my Pool Party and Tangerine Tango ink pads to add ink to the 'skyline' and pumpkins using my Aqua Painter.

• NOTE:  When you want to watercolor any stamped image, you should be certain to use a Permanent ink, such as, Stampin' Up!'s Jet Black StazOn ink.  I have discovered that our new Archival Black ink (available in the new Holiday Catalog) will also resist 'bleeding' or 'smearing' with the presence of water/liquid.  I inked my main image with Early Espresso ink, so I had to watercolor my Pool Party skyline first, then, stamped the Fall tree and pumpkin image after the watercolored area dried.  Soooo pretty!

• The last steps on my creations is all about the little touches of 'WOW'.  The Happy Scenes stamp set has a bountiful selection of sentiments, but the one I wanted was a long 'phrase', so I only inked up the words 'Happy Halloween' in Lost Lagoon and stamped onto some scraps of Shimmery White cardstock.  I hand-trimmed the words and popped them up using Stampin' Dimensionals.  I get sooo much mileage with my 1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon because I LOVE to cut off the stitched side and pull fibers to use as 'ribbon'.  That little bow just melts it all together to create a lovely country-style Halloween card.

 
Creating Halloween projects with traditional colors is fun, but I hope you will try making a non-traditional Halloween project.  The Holiday catalog goes live on September 1st...only a week and a couple days away.  **squeal!**  While the card ingredients are listed at the bottom of this post, you'll want to head on over to Liz Miller's blog to check out her amazing and cute sneak peeks.  Just click on the 'next' button and you'll be on your way.

1. Tami White
2. Elizabeth Jeanne Thatcher
3. Kim Quade
4. Siara Acdal
5. Lori Mueller  <= (You are here!)
6. Liz Miller
7. Mary Bush
8. Stephanie Kolker

Thank you for Shopping with Lori

• SHOP | VIEW: Stampin' Up! Annual 2015-16 Catalog online
• Subscribe to a Paper Pumpkin
  
• Lori's Catalog Product Shares: to review your options Download CatalogProductShares-2015-2016
• Don't forget to check out this weeks 25% off Weekly Deals
• Visit the Clearance Rack - up to 80% off
• Orders of $30 or more receive Dreamers Loyalty Rewards Points, accumulate and redeem for free stamps...print your copy!
• Use Hostess Code Q96V7UC6 to get a FREE GIFT from me when you order $50 or more.

WANNA HAVE IT ALL?  Please click on the Stampin’ Up! product images below for more details and easy, on-line shopping.  A printable supply list is available as well!

Hello and welcome to my first appearance on the Creative Inking Blog Hop!  I am sooo excited and honored to have been invited to join a wonderful group of creative crafters.  All the team members around the world have been working hard to inspire you as usual, so make yourself comfy and let's start hopping!

This month's theme is "Birthday Bash", which means that we create and share anything related to a birthday celebration. I am busting at the seams to share my "Work of Art" with you.  I originally designed this card for an organized card swap held during Stampin' Up!'s Annual Convention in July; and it fits the bill for a couple of summer birthday celebrations within my family and friends.  In the beginning, I thought it was a SUPER idea to use this card for a large swap exchange, but I (obviously) wasn't thinking about the mass production size of things.  Eeeeek!  Soooo, let me share my treasure of a tale with you.  haha

Isn't this the cutest watermelon you've ever seen?!!  **squeal**  I took the large scalloped Circle framelit to die cut the watermelon rind.  Then I stamped across it using the long 'swoosh' stamp image from the Work of Art stamp set and inked tone on tone (meaning, I inked the stamp with Cucumber Crush and stamped onto the Cucumber Crush scallop die).  Looks yummy, don't you think?

I really love the patterns of our 12 x 12 Designer Series Paper Stacks this year.  These polka dots in Watermelon Wonder (from the In Color 12x12 Designer Series Paper Stack) really adds some cuteness...along with the Flower ensemble to enhance the festivities.

Now, the tale of this card is a lengthy adventure.  When I designed this card I immediately was WOW'd and wanted to share that with my card swappers, so I ventured to get everything cut, embossed, and ready for assembling.  You see those seeds? All 8 seeds?  Well, they are really raindrops punched from the Tree Builder Punch, but...we stampers never use a tool exactly as intended.  haha  Back to my story...do you know how many seeds you need to create 54 swap cards?  FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO (432)!! YIKES!  I decided to punch a bunch of extra seeds 'just in case' I should happen to spill the seeds...or, if some large wind blasted me...or, whatever sort of bad luck might have come my way.  Want to know a shortcut on how I punched soooo many seeds using the Tree Builder punch?  Check out the picture

I hope you enjoyed my cutsey Watermelon card that will make any birthday celebration a sweet one.  Now, you will want to check out Colleen's adorable creation.  Just click on the 'Next' button and you'll be hoppin'.  Have fun getting your fill of wonderful inspiration...don't forget to come back real soon.  :)

1. Sue Lehrer
2. Diane Evans
3. Susan Campfield
4. BJ Peters
5. Amber Swift
6. Lisa Bowell
7. Lori Mueller <-- (You are here)
8. Colleen Vassos
9. Lynn Streifert
10. Phyllis Shepherd
11. Lisa Curcio

Thank you for Shopping with Lori

• SHOP | VIEW: Stampin' Up! Annual 2015-16 Catalog online
• Subscribe to a Paper Pumpkin
  
• Lori's Catalog Product Shares: to review your options Download CatalogProductShares-2015-2016
• Don't forget to check out this weeks 25% off Weekly Deals
• Visit the Clearance Rack - up to 80% off
• Orders of $30 or more receive Dreamers Loyalty Rewards Points, accumulate and redeem for free stamps...print your copy!
• Use Hostess Code Q96V7UC6 to get a FREE GIFT from me when you order $50 or more.

Welcome to the One Stamp At a Time Blog Hop for August.  This month is the beginning of a new school year across the States and we are excited to show off our creations related to "Back To School".  Man, that was hard typing those words.  Where did the summer months fly off to?  We hope you find great inspiration from the projects....there are 17 hops to fill your inspiration pool.

You may just be starting the blog hop or you may have come from Kim Smith's Blog, number 7 on the OSAT Hop.  If you get off track at any time, the full lineup below will help you move along from blog to blog so you see all the projects.

First thing I think of every year when it is "back to school" time is the dreaded yellow bus that I had to ride every morning....and every night after school was over for the day.  I grew up on a farm, so the only means of transportation was the school bus.  Over the years, I had 3 devoted bus drivers that drove this particular route, but I would have to say that my first bus driver, Wally, was my favorite.  He laid down the law as far as discipline, but he was a really nice man to visit with when I would sit in the front seat waiting to be the last one dropped off.  Lots of fun conversations.  Ahhhh, the good old days!

I love the color of Hello Honey, a member of the 2014-2016 In Color family, and it is the perfect color for a school bus.  I started out with a 6" x 6-1/2" piece and folded it so that the card measures 3" x 6-1/2".  Once I added the wheels, created by a variety of Stampin' Up! Circle punches, the final card measures 3-1/2" x 6-1/2".  I'll use my Envelope Punch Board to create a custom envelope.

I think the windows turned out pretty cool.  I took some Silver Foil Paper and Vellum Cardstock and used Multipurpose Liquid Glue to glue them together.  You can see the dried glue around the edges, but to me, it looks like windows that are a little dirty around the edges.  Haha

The traditional school bus stop sign is created by cutting some Real Red cardstock with the Hexagon Hives Thinlits die.  I stamped one of the sentiments from the Banner Banter stamp set using White ink and heat embossing with Whisper White embossing powder.  I wanted to make sure that it was bold enough to read on the darker cardstock.

Of course, if I were giving the school bus card to a driver, I would have to give him (or her) a little treat, too.  I created the little box using a strip of Schoolhouse Designer Series Paper and followed the instructions I found through Pinterest (Spotty Magnet Bag Tutorial).  Love that place!  I filled it with some Nebraska Meltaway Chocolates.  YUM!

The next stop is Megan Thompson, number 9 on the OSAT Blog Hop!  Thank you so much for visiting; I hope to see you on next month’s One Stamp At a Time Hop!

Enjoy the day....have fun hopping around and checking out all of the awesome creations done up by some very talented paper crafters.  I hope that you will hop back again to see me! Please feel free to email me or leave a comment....enjoy the hop!

• James Weber
• Holly Stene
• Ginger Pelfrey
• Elizabeth Jeanne
• Wynne Grob
• Marisa Gunn
• Kim Smith
• Lori Mueller (You Are HERE)
• Megan Thompson
• Tina Riddle
• Andrea Pancrazio
• Andrea Tracy-Tucker
• Martie Pollard
• Diane Squires
• Maggie Mata
• Eva Bussom
• Justin Krieger

Thank you for Shopping with Lori

• SHOP | VIEW: Stampin' Up! Annual 2015-16 Catalog online
• Subscribe to a Paper Pumpkin
  
• Lori's Catalog Product Shares: to review your options Download CatalogProductShares-2015-2016
• Don't forget to check out this weeks 25% off Weekly Deals
• Visit the Clearance Rack - up to 80% off
• Orders of $30 or more receive Dreamers Loyalty Rewards Points, accumulate and redeem for free stamps...print your copy!
• Use Hostess Code Q96V7UC6 to get a FREE GIFT from me when you order $50 or more.

ENABLER ALERT!  You know you gotta have it, right?  Please click on the Stampin’ Up! product images below for more details and easy, on-line shopping.  A printable supply list is available as well!