Your Next Stamp

It's Time for our YNS FUN Friday!!!

2012-01-27T03:00:00.003-05:00

Welcome to an AWESOME YNS FUN Friday post!!! We have a whole bunch of amazing projects paired up with some fabulous tips so be sure to grab a snack and a beverage and then sit yourself down to some yummy Fun Friday eye candy!!!

Jen del Muro created this super CUTE card featuring Anika from Holland!

Be sure to visit her blog for more info on adding texture to your cards and projects!

Kerri created an adorable Valentine project using the super CUTE Apple Cutie!

Be sure to visit her blog for info on thinking outside the box when stamping!

LOVE IT!!!

Amy went over the top with 2 super cool CAS cards!!!

Here is the first card featuring the Mixed Bag of Sentiments! FUN!!!

Here is Amy's next CAS card featuring the adorable Special Delivery elephant stamp set!!!

Amy's Tip is...look for ways extend your stamps to other occasions. I made ellie/elliot into a Valentine's Day elephant by adding a heart shooting from his trunk.

Peggy created an super SWEET card featuring Hope Your Day is Delicious! YUMMY!!!

Jen Roach made this amazing card featuring Yippee Fhiona - CUTE!!!

Be sure to visit her blog to learn more about using different colours of ink. FUN!

Diana's card features the adorable Curly Cutie Fhiona and she has an awesome picture tutorial on her blog on how to make hat pins! FUN!!! Be sure to visit her blog for all the details.

Veronica created a super sweet card featuring Sugar Cone! Yummy!!!
Her tip is...“Don’t be afraid to try mixing different colors.” Be sure to visit her blog for more details!!!

Maureen made this adorable dry erase board featuring Little Helper Fhinn!

Be sure to check out her blog for more info about how to make a dry erase board!

I hope you LOVED all the fabulous FUN Friday projects and tips! Thanks for joining us!!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

CCC #6 Winner

2012-01-25T00:21:00.001-05:00

Thank you for reading and commenting on Carole's CCC post this month! I love her CCC posts and always look forward to a good laugh on the 18th of every month!

As you know every month we pick one CCC comment at random to win a YNS stamp prize! YAY!

Congrats goes to....

Kelly S. who said...

awesome story, Carol, and such adorable cards to boot. Love your personalized donkey dp, hee! I gots to go with the poster above...there will be no stamped clown car pulling up at my house letting 15 little stamped clown images out into my papercrafting space! No. clowns.

Please email me to claim your CCC prize pack!!!

Remember to mark your calendars and join us on the 18th of February for another fabulous CCC post!

Happy Stamping!

It's time for a jam packed FUN Friday Post!!!!

2012-01-20T03:00:00.003-05:00

Click this link for Carole's Awesome CCC Post!!!

YIPPEE!!! I'm really enjoying these Fun Friday posts! So much inspiration and fun tid bits of info! Every week I ask the YNS DT to share some fun tips that either are random fun facts or tips that go along with there project. If you haven't noticed already my wonderful team of ladies are not only talented but quite a humorous bunch sooooo with that said...

It's freezing here in Ontario and snow is everywhere so I thought it would be appropriate to start off this Fun Friday post with Jenny Peterson's lovely snowy day tip...she emails me and says..."don't eat yellow snow" LOL I know we've all heard that one before but you can't tell me you didn't just laugh or smirk at the comment...FUN! that's what today is all about!

My tip for you today...be sure to visit all of the DT blogs for additional information regarding their fabulous projects and amazing stamping tips!!!

Alrightly, let's get started!!!!

I'd like to make a very special announcement!!!!

We have a new DT member!!!! Woot! Woot!

Please help me welcome Veronica Zalis to the YNS family!!! So glad to have you joining us Veronica! She made this super sweet valentine card featuring the stamp You Make My Heart Soar! Be sure to visit her blog to give her a warm welcome to the YNS DT!!!

Jen del Muro has used the adorable stamp Apple Cutie and her tip is about working with sketches - be sure to click HERE to visit her blog to read about her sketch tip!

Jenny Peterson created this sweet card featuring Flower Fhiona and her hot tip is about paper piecing! She is the paper piecing QUEEN and she even gave me some info to share with you...

'Paper-piecing is a great way to add personality to your stamped image. You can use this technique to tie in your designer paper used on the card, to assist with staying in the same colour palette if your collection of markers, pencils, etc is limited, or if you aren't confident in your colouring skills but like to use the kinds of stamps that require colouring! You can even take stamps that aren't specific to certain occasions and just through paper-piecing you can turn a regular stamp into a seasonal image (ie. use Christmas DP for the clothes of a non-seasonal YNS Ellie or Fhiona, and viola- a Christmas girl!). And paper-piecing isn't just limited to clothes or accessories- Push the norms and try using it on different elements of the image! For my card, not only did I piece her dress (typical), I paper-pieced Fhiona's hair with a wood grain DP! And check out the leaves- they are pieced too! Give paper-piecing a try...the possibilities are endless!!'

Be sure to stop by her blog for more tips on paper piecing!!!

Dana Joy's project features the oh so sweet Cookie Fhiona! Be sure to stop by her blog to learn more about colouring ribbon using Copic markers!!! COOL!

Kerri Michaud has whipped up some adorable Valentine tags featuring the new stamp set Basket Animals - CUTE!!! Her tip is...

"Adding a handmade tag makes your gift packaging unique and special. Tags definitely create a WOW factor!"

Be sure to visit her blog to learn more about creating handmade tags!!!

Woweeee! I hope you enjoyed this weeks FUN Friday post! Thanks for joining us!!!

FYI - if you live in the area and are looking for some FUN this weekend be sure to stop by the Scrapping Turtle in St. Jacobs Sunday afternoon! I'll be there doing make and takes plus they have lots of fun events going on so come on by and join in all the crafting excitement!

Have a fabulous and creative weekend!!!

CCC # 6: The Politics of Stamping

2012-01-18T06:54:00.006-05:00

Last month, I received a package of YNS stamps from Karen. I had no idea what was in the package. I vaguely remembered a message in the design team forum about signing up for stamps for an upcoming release, but I was a$$ deep in alligators at that moment with finals, the holidays, etc., so I blew it off. After all, I figured, I'm not full-time on the design team. With YNS, I am the stamping equivalent of permanent guest star on a television show; I write my monthly CCC posts, and do a little designing here and there, as time permits. It's an awfully sweet gig, I've gotta say.

So, anyway, I get this package of stamps, and of course, it's full of wonderful purple rubber and dies. Manna from heaven! Upon closer inspection, though, I spy an image for which I have gone on record MULTIPLE times regarding my ambivalence. Yes, my friends, I see an... elephant. Karen had sent me the Special Delivery set from Jenny Suchin's new line of stamps.

Now, ordinarily, I'm thrilled with any new YNS stamps I receive because - let's face it - they're all adorable. And it's not that Special Delivery isn't cute. It's just that in the U.S., elephants are a symbol of the Republican party, and I am a Democrat with a capital "D." Seriously. My children are named Truman and Carter (after the 33rd and 39th Presidents, both Democrats), and my husband is the minority leader (and thus a Democrat) of the Oklahoma State Senate. In other words, we are more political than your average bears, and thus, I generally eschew anything with an elephant motif.

That doesn't mean I avoid having anything to do with Republicans, mind you. After all, I live in the reddest of red states. Oklahoma is the only state in the union in which the majority of people in every single county voted for John McCain, the Republican candidate, in the the 2008 Presidential election. If I refused to be friends with people based on their political views, I'd be a pretty lonely gal. Really and truly, some of my best friends are Republicans. Bless their hearts... ;)

I realize most stampers are able to overlook the whole elephant/donkey thing. (Donkeys are the symbol of the Democratic party, by the way. I could tell you the whole story behind the animal symbolism of the U.S. political party system, but frankly, it's not that interesting; here's a link that explains it, if you really want to know.) Then again, most stampers haven't had to knock on strangers' doors in 100+ degree heat and beg them to vote for their husbands. To get into my head on this issue, look at it this way: think of where you went to high school or college. Now, think about your alma mater's main rival. Would you ever wear a tee-shirt emblazoned with your rival's mascot? Of course not. The only way an Oklahoma Sooner would be caught dead wearing the orange and black logo of Oklahoma State University is if he or she lost a bet.

Being a Canadian, I'm sure Karen didn't have a clue about my elephant idiosyncrasy until the moment she read this post. I actually considered mailing the stamp set back to her and explaining why it wasn't for me, but that seemed a bit silly, and I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to support the launch of Jenny's line. So last week, when I sat down to stamp something for the YNS/Jenny Suchin blog hop, I had a dilemma on my hands. Should I just make a baby card and ignore the political implications I imbued the stamp with, or should I stamp it like I saw it? Well, you know me: if there's an elephant in the room, I have to acknowledge it...

I figure I will send this card to one of my favorite Republicans, our longtime babysitter, Larami, who just went back to college after taking a semester off to recover from back surgery. She is absolutely dear to my family, and we think of her as one of our own. Even though she's a political science major and a proud member of the University of Arkansas College Republicans. Larami will love this card, precisely because she will know how conflicted I must have felt making it. I will definitely recommend she frame it. I know all handmade cards are one-of-a-kind, but this one really is. I can guarantee the likes of it will never be seen again.

You Republicans in the audience don't have it as bad as us Democrats. For whatever reason, elephant images are everywhere, and have some how become associated with babies. Elephant stamps are inexplicably ubiquitous. Donkey stamps, on the other hand, are as rare as hen's teeth. Fortunately, though, Karen and YNS happen to have a donkey in their catalog, so I was able to give equal time to the Ds:
I used the So Sorry Donkey image to create this Yankee Doodle Dandy, and colored him in with Copic markers. I created the donkey logo background paper by copy-and-pasting the logo into a Word document, reducing it, and then copy and pasting the reduced size over and over again. I printed the document out with a color printer onto white card stock - easy peasy!

Here's a close-up of Mr. Donkey, so you can see the coloring a little better:
You can see where I added some strokes with a gray colored pencil to give his fur a bristle-y look, and to give him a spiky forelock. Isn't he a cutie?

What about you? Are there any images you stay away from? What's your reason? We all have our biases, and I'd like to feel like I'm not the only weirdo around here. Leave me a comment and let me know, and you just might be able to do a little bi-partisan stamping of your own for FREE! Everyone (regardless of political affiliation ;) ) who comments on this post by 12:00 a.m. EST of January 25th will be entered into a random drawing to win the Special Delivery and So Sorry Donkey sets!

You know one of the things I love about stamping? It transcends politics. Get two stampers in a room together, and the last thing they're going to talk about is an election. THANK GOODNESS!

See you next month on the 18th!

xo - Carole

January Hop Winner

2012-01-17T03:00:00.002-05:00

Thank you for joining us for our January New Release Blog Hop and for giving Jenny Suchin Designs a warm welcome to YNS!!!

I used the online random number generator to pick one random winner from the hop and our winner is...

LIZ who said...

Wow! That was a WONDERFUL hop! I really enjoyed checking out everyones different take on this wonderful sets. Thanks for the giveaway and the discount code! Can't wait for payday so I can get my YNS!!!

Congrats Liz! Please email me to claim your JSD stamp set of choice!!!

Be sure to stop by tomorrow (Jan 18th) for Carole's awesome and hilarious CCC post!!! YIPPEE!

Have a wonderful day!

YNS Fun Friday - Inspiration and Cool Tips!

2012-01-13T03:00:00.002-05:00

**Click this link for our Jenny Suchin Designs New Release Blog Hop**

Welcome to our YNS Fun Friday Post!!!

Today Amy, Dana and Jen R. have some uber CUTE creations to share with you plus some fun tips!

**WARNING** before you continue to read this post please put down all hot drinks as you might just drop everything once you get a glimpse of these amazing DT projects!!!

First up is Amy's jaw dropping adorable Winter Fun Bingo Card featuring Ellie Loves to Skate, Ellie Loves to Ski and Tobogganing Ellie...are you ready?

CUTE! CUTE! CUTE!

Amy has some great tips for you that apply to the process she follows when making multi layered bingo card projects...

When making my bingo card collages I usually try and recreate parts/pieces of other bingo cards I've made before, or I've seen others do. Stamp out images and visualize or place them in general areas to get feel for what you want for the background, then work out your background. Also I force myself to NOT adhere anything in place until everything is colored, cut and sewn because I find that I usually end up pulling something apart! LOL In general, don't start from scratch-recreate what you've seen before and love. :)
Use foam boosters to give your project dimension
I used the sled image furthest back since its a bit smaller and the ski and skate images more front bc they're a bit larger for a more realistic perspective

Up next is Dana's adorable card featuring the new release stamp set called Love is in the Air - super sweet!!!

Check out that adorable little heart on her bum! CUTE!

Up next is Jen R.s super adorable Valentine Card featuring the new stamp set Basket Animals...

Awwww! This card makes me smile!

Here is a fun tip from Jen R. that applies to her adorable card...

Always check your die cuts that come with the designer paper packages to see how you can creatively add them to your stamped images. The heart bullseye in the balloon is a die cut that fits PERFECTLY inside the stamp image. It's a great way to use up all those tiny die cuts that come in packages.

Thanks ladies for all the inspiration and fun tips!!!

That wraps up our Fun Friday for this week! Thanks for joining us and be sure to stop by on Jan 18th for Carole's CCC post!!! FUN!

Before you go I'd like to remind you about our new release celebration SALE!!!

You get 15% off your entire order!!!

Online Code is YNSJAN2012

Sale ends January 17th

Have a great weekend!

YNS January New Release Blog Hop!

2012-01-11T03:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome to our January New Release Blog Hop!!!

Blog Hop Starts: Wednesday, January 11th

Blog Hop Ends: Monday, January 16th at midnight

Today is the official release day of our brand spankin' new Jenny Suchin Designs stamp sets!!! YIPPEE!!!

Jenny has designed these 4 adorable sets for YNS!

The YNS Design Team and YNS guests have put together an amazing hop for you filled with inspiration and adorable designs!!!

I'm your last stop on the hop so unless you arrived here from Veronica's Blog then you to need head on over to your first stop on the hop which is Jenny's Blog - be sure to let her know how much you LOVE her new designs!!!

Here is the entire hop list just in case you get lost along the way...

Jenny S. - http://suchins.blogspot.com

Peggy- http://cardcrazy.wordpress.com

Kerri - http://cardsbykerri.blogspot.com

Maylee - http://mayleescreativecorner.blogspot.com {YNS Guest}

Jen R. - http://www.tennisgirl27.blogspot.com

Dana - http://gotjoycreations.blogspot.com

Carole - http://motherslittlehelper.typepad.com

Jenny P. - http://mylittlestampinspot.blogspot.com

Amy - http://inkaboutme.blogspot.com

Jen D. - http://iheart2stamp.com

Diana - http://doodledeedesigns.blogspot.com

Maureen - http://mycasestudies.blogspot.com

Veronica - http://lk2thestarz.blogspot.com {YNS Guest}

Karen - http://yournextstamp.blogspot.com

Interested in winning one of the new stamp sets???

Of course you are! Be sure to leave a comment on all the hop blogs for your best chance to win! I'll pick a random winner from one of the DT blogs and I'll announce the winner on January 17th.

All the new stamps are now available over at the YNS Store and the best news is...

You get 15% off your entire order!!!

Online Code is YNSJAN2012

Sale ends January 17th

Thanks for joining us!!!

Happy Stamping!

Sneak Peek Day #5 - Jenny Suchin Designs

2012-01-10T03:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to our final day of Jenny Suchin Design Sneak Peeks!!! I can't wait for our new release blog hop tomorrow!!! I have one word for you - FUN!!!

Click here to see what Maureen has in store for you today...

See you tomorrow!!!!

Hugs

Sneak Peek Day #4 - Jenny Suchin Designs

2012-01-09T03:00:00.000-05:00

Today is another awesome day of sneak peeks at the ADORABLE new stamps designed by my super sweet friend Jenny Suchin!!!

I've been loving all the FABULOUS sneak peek DT projects we've been sharing with you these past few days and we've got lots more for you today!!!

Click on the images below to visit the DT Blogs who have some super sweet projects to share with you today!!!

Click here for Jenny S's Sneak Peek

Click here for Amy's Sneak Peek

Click here for Maylee's Sneak Peek

Click here for Jen d.'s Sneak Peek

I'll see you again tomorrow for our final day of sneak peeks!!!

Happy Stamping!

Sneak Peek Day #3 - Jenny Suchin Designs

2012-01-08T03:00:00.010-05:00

Welcome to Day #3 of our Jenny Suchin Designs sneak peeks!!!

We've got 3 awesome peeks for you today! Just click on the images below to visit the DT blogs for loads of cuteness and inspiration!

Jen R's Sneak Peek

Jenny P's Sneak Peek

Veronica's Sneak Peek

Be sure to mark your calendars and join us for the new release blog hop on January 11th!!! YIPPEE!!!

Today is also Sunday which means...a new YNS Deal of the Week has been posted!!! This weeks awesome deal is...

Eat Cake and Be Merry

I'll be back tomorrow with more DT sneak peeks!!!

Sneak Peek day #2 - Jenny Suchin Designs

2012-01-07T03:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Day #2 of our super CUTE new stamps designed by Jenny Suchin Designs!!!

Today Peggy has an adorable card over on her blog to share with you so be sure to hop on over to check it out!!!

See you tomorrow with some more peeks!

Hugs

YNS Fun Friday - Sneak Peek, Cool Cards and a Fun Susie Q-Tip!

2012-01-06T03:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to our very first YNS Fun Friday!

Every Friday I'll be sharing awesome DT projects with you plus I just may throw in some fun facts, tips, techniques, prizes (yes, I said prizes) etc... so sit back, grab a yummy beverage and mark a reminder on your calendar to stop by here every Friday!

First up is Peggy's adorable card featuring the stamp Just Sitting Here. I love this funny little lady bug and that grass leaf is so fun to colour!!!

Next up is a Sneak Peek of the adorable stamp set called Basket Animals designed by Jenny Suchin Designs!!!

Official Release day is January 11th so be sure to stop by for the DT Blog Hop filled with inspiration, fun and prizes!!!

Visit Kerri's Blog to check out her super adorable sneak peek!!!

Last but certainly not least I have a little something fun to share with you...

I absolutely love Susan Liles fun little Susie Q-Tips she adds to her blog posts so I asked her if I could share this tip featuring Hula Hoop Fhiona with you for our Fun Friday! Enjoy!

SUSIE Q-TIP: To make hand-drawn grassy footing for some of my stamped images, I just take a few colors of my green Copics (3 here), and starting at the bottom where the "ground" would be, just make a few light swooshes upward with the brush-tip, picking up the pen as you go up. I do this lightly a few times with a lighter color first, then add a litle depth with a couple of darker shades. I like mine to look kind of uneven, and make the blades of grass a little shorter and sticking out on each side where the grass ends. Fhiona may need a lawnmower.

I hope you enjoyed YNS Fun Friday! I'll be back tomorrow with some more sneak peeks!!! YAY!

Happy Stamping!

YNS Challenge #57 Winner and FUN Changes for 2012

2012-01-04T00:00:00.002-05:00

It's freezing cold here!!! I walked out of the the house this morning and instantly felt my ears and nose freeze! I hope it's warmer where you are and if not let's try and stay inside where it's warm and stamp our little hearts out! YAY!

Today I get to announce the final YNS Challenge Winner! I'm not sad that our challenges are ending because we've got lots of FUN and INSPIRATION planned for 2012 and I just know you are going to love it all!!!

Here is just a peek at some of the new things to look forward to...get your calendars ready as you will want to mark these dates or subscribe to this blog so you don't miss a thing!

Sneak Peeks for new releases - first peek starts this Friday January 6th
Up and Coming release dates - Jan 11, Feb 8 and March 7 just to name a few :o)
YNS Fun Fridays!!! Every Friday look for a fun post filled with DT inspiration, surprise giveaways and Fun Facts!!! YAY!!!
Guest DT contest - look for more info on that soon! Hint - if you want to be a monthly guest designer for YNS be sure to have some YNS stamps handy and create some fabulous projects to share with me :o))
Be sure to check out Carole's AWESOME CCC posts on the 18th of every month!!!

Alrighty, let's see who our challenge winner is...

Congrats to Lisa J. with this adorable card featuring Penguin Cheers! Be sure to email me to claim your prize!

I'll see you all on Friday for our first YNS Fun Friday and our first sneak peek for 2012!

Hugs

Double Surprise Matchbox Kit Release Day!!!

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I thought it would be fun to ring in 2012 with a super fun YNS Kit release!!! Maureen designed this awesome Double Surprise Matchbox kit for CHA 2011 and I've decided to finally release it on the YNS Website!!! YAY!!!

This fun double surprise matchbox has a pop up to hold a gift card PLUS a little compartment to hold another little gift...Maureen put cookies in this sample she made using the stamps that come with this kit.

Do you want the stamps and instructions to make this awesome little box? Wait no longer! It's available now in the YNS Store!!!

PLUS you still have 1 more day to take advantage of our 25% off!!! YIPPEE!!!

I'll be back later in the week with more details on some awesome events we have planned for 2012!!!

Have a wonderful day!!!

Gatefold Card Tutorial

2011-12-30T20:02:00.000-05:00

Here is an amazing tutorial by Maureen!!! She has created a beautiful Christmas gatefold card which could easily be altered for any occasion!!! Thank you Maureen!!!

There were some requests for a tutorial for my combo
gatefold card with gift card pull-out so here it is!

Materials needed:

4 1/4" x 11" piece of cardstock, scored and folded at 2 3/4" from each short end
2 pieces of patterned paper - 4" x 2 5/8" (I just took a piece that was 4" x 5 1/4"
and cut it in half so that the patterns would line up in the middle)(I used My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Christmas 6x6 paper pad)
1/8" hole punch
String/Twine of some sort (I used 2 18" strands of Timeless
Twine
Strong adhesive of choice
And whatever you want to use to decorate. I used the Happy
Holidays Stamp and Die Set from Your Next Stamp

Instructions:
1) Take the piece of cardstock and put adhesive as shown using the gift card as a guide. Make sure to leave the right side open!

2) Decorate as desired. For the trees, I stamped the tree image in dark chocolate ink 6 times: twice on cardstock and 4 times on different patterned papers. Next I cut the cardstock trees with the matching die.
Finally, I cut the tree tops out as shown below:

I adhered all the pieces together (the first small tree is mounted with
foam tape) and here's what the decorated card looks like:

3) Punch 1/8" hole near the middle of the bottom right edge of the card
and pull the twine through.

4) Insert the gift card into the pocket. As you push the card in, the
twine should be going inside the pocket as well. It may be a little
tight, so push carefully to not damage the card.

5) When the gift card is hidden completely in the pocket, tie a bow with
your twine.

6) Here's what the finished card looks like with the gift card pulled out:

You can also see that the top lifts up for you to write a message to the
recipient.

I hope you like this card and if you do make one, please link it up in
the comments so we can see it - thanks! ~Maureen

Did you know...

2011-12-28T20:52:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to share this adorable winter card with you made by Carole - CUTE!!! I just love this little World Kid Tootega!!!

Our current challenge is a Winter/Holiday challenge and you have until January 3rd to enter your project.

Did you know that this is our final YNS challenge??? Yep, that's right! I've decided to start something new and exciting in 2012 so stay tuned for more information on this super FUN weekly event!

In the meantime we would LOVE to see all your fabulous YNS projects plus the prize is extra special!!! We've got a fabulous YNS stamp up for grabs along with some YNS bucks to spend on anything you want at the YNS Store!!!

Be sure to check out all the details and awesome YNS DT projects HERE!

Plus before you go...I just wanted to remind everyone about the super amazing special YNS Deal of the Week going on now until January 1st!!!

25% off your entire order!!!

Click this link for your special online code!!!

Happy Stamping!!!

Karen

CCC Winner

2011-12-26T03:00:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I know we had a wonderful holiday filled with laughs and good times just like Carole's CCC post!

Here is our random winner picked by my husband...

Scrapalajen aka Jennyfer said...

Simple & Serene Sarah would be my hubby and I'm the complete opposite. I would be the one like you running around like crazy and making sure that everything is working perfectly. But I still love him the way he is coz he cares for me. I wouldn't change him for anything.

Congrats Jennyfer! Be sure to email me to claim your prize!

Thank you to everyone who commented! I look forward to reading Carole's next CCC post on January 18th!

Hugs

Karen

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T00:00:00.020-05:00

Merry Christmas!!!

Here is a cute picture of Brandon decorating his own mini Christmas tree!!!

I hope your day is filled with family and friends creating many special holiday memories!

Love and Hugs!

Karen

Fancy Frame Cards

2011-12-22T09:29:00.000-05:00

Today I've got a few fabulous cards our December guest designer Veronica created using the new Fancy Frame stamp set and die. I love how versatile this set is, you can use it for cards, tags, scrapbook pages, gift bags and so much more!!!

As a little holiday gift to you I'm offering 25% off all orders until Jan 1st - be sure to check out the YNS Deal of the Week for your discount code!!! YAY!!!

Plus you've got lots of time to still enter our Holiday Winter YNS Challenge PLUS you still have time to comment on Carole's amazing and funny CCC post for your chance to win some YNS stamps!

I hope you find some time to relax and get some stamping in during this busy time of year!

Enjoy your day!

Karen

CCC # 5: Christmas Is The Time to Say...

2011-12-18T16:54:00.010-05:00

One of my favorite contemporary Christmas carols is Billy Squier (of 'The Stroke' fame - holla to all youths of the '80's in the hizzle)'s "Christmas Is the Time to Say 'I Love You'." Here's a fun fact to know and tell: that song 'dropped' in 1981, during the heyday of MTV, when Martha Quinn, J.J. Jackson and the rest of the original vee-jays showed music videos and nothing but music videos, 'round the clock. The Good Old Days, if you will. In December of 1981, I was twelve years old and in seventh grade. That was thirty years ago. I'll let you do math.

These days, when I sing (as I often do, to the chagrin of my children, the dog, and anyone within hearing distance) that song, I tend to change the lyrics to whatever I'm feeling or thinking at the moment. For example:

Christmas Is the Time to Say... I'm Tired
Christmas Is the Time to Say... Clean Your Room
Christmas Is the Time to Say... You're Naughty
Christmas Is the Time to Say... It's Bedtime

and so on. For the last couple of days, however, I've been observing my actions, gyrations, behaviors and what not. The tune that keeps popping into my head? "Christmas Is the Time to Say... I'm Crazy."

I don't know about you, but this time of the year brings out both the best and worst in me. The best because I honestly love the holiday season and truly endeavor to make it merry and bright. I decorate my house to the hilt, I try to select thoughtful gifts each recipient will love, I play Christmas music non-stop, I take in all the Christmas movies and TV specials with my boys (pretty much just my 7 year old, now, because my 15 year old is too cool), and so on. I want to create idyllic holiday memories that my family will cherish forever.

Alas, I must admit: it also brings out the worst. I could go into excruciating detail on this point, but in the interest of brevity, I'll leave it at this: I try to cram way too much into way too narrow of a time frame. Inevitably, I end up over-extended, exhausted, and disappointed.

Have you ever seen the movie, "Christmas Vacation"? I swear, I am Clark Griswold with a va-jay-jay. Reality can never match those romanticized visions of sugarplums, dancing in our heads.

To liken my Christmas fervor with fine literature, let me remind you of a classic:

For those of you who don't know the gist of this story, there's a boy and this mouse. The boy gives the mouse a cookie, which makes the mouse thirsty, so the boy must get him a glass of milk. Then, the mouse wants to look in the mirror to make sure he doesn't have a milk mustache, and when he looks in the mirror, he decides his fur needs a trim, so the boy needs to get him a pair of scissors, and so on. In every given moment, the mouse gets distracted and moves on to his next 'need' before wrapping up the previous endeavor. (SPOILER ALERT!) It eventually ends where it starts, with the mouse wanting a cookie, and then a glass of milk... And in the mouse's wake? An utterly torn-up house and an oh-so-exhausted little boy.

In my case, I'm both the boy and the mouse. Let me give you one example:

This past Friday night was basketball homecoming at my son, Truman's, high school. Truman is a freshman, and through a lot of hard work and dedication, he made the JV and varsity teams. He was also asked to be the male freshman homecoming attendant. My in-laws (mother, father, brother & his wife and kids) decided to come in for the game and spend the night.

My in-laws live several hours away from us and have not come up to our home in well over a year. They haven't stayed the night in probably 3 years or so. (They think it's much easier for the four of us to come down and see them. Don't get me started...)

Anyway, with it being the holidays, I felt like my home needed to be not only immaculate, but beautifully decorated. We were going to be leaving Saturday morning for our Christmas with DH's extended family, so I also needed to have all of the shopping for that side of the family done, and the gifts needed to be beautifully wrapped, with my signature big-fluffy-bows (each one takes at least 15 minutes to make. Don't pretend you paper crafters don't know what I'm talking about).

I had the upstairs interior of the house painted a few months ago (okay, so maybe it was about 24 months ago...), and I'd been a bit of a slacker about getting all of the pictures re-hung, and in the meantime, Truman had changed bedrooms. During that time, the 'new' guest room had become a bit of a junk room. Why? Because no one ever comes up to stay with us! So, I had to get the guest room all cleaned up, pictures hung on the walls, etc.

On Thursday afternoon, I went to a department store to find a couple of extra gifts for my Mother- and Sister-in-law (because I hated for them to open just one from us, even though their main gift was nice enough on its own). While there, I spied a couple of lamps that I thought would look great in the guest room (the old ones looked dated and cheap, I'd decided when I had set the room back up the day before). Then, what to my wondering eyes should appear? A chair that would be PERFECT for the guest room! And so on...

I get home and place the lamps and chairs in the guest room, when I notice a couple of stains on the carpet. They're curiously yellow. I bend down to sniff... and no, no, no!!! The unmistakeable stench of dog urine. Too busy to decide whether it was the work of Gretel (RIP, I had to put her to sleep a couple of weeks ago - that's a terrible, horrible, no-good story for another time) or Sweet Pea (or should it be 'Sweet Pee'?), I immediately think, "I've got to clean these carpets!" So I go to the local hardware store and rent a carpet cleaner at 6 p.m. at night, hoping and praying the carpet will be dry before the company arrives the next day.

As I'm cleaning the guest bedroom carpet, I think "Well, as long as I have the carpet cleaner, I should clean all of the carpet in the house..." and later, "Well, the upholstery of the living room furniture looks a little dirty, too..." You see where this is going, don't you?

Now that it's Sunday, the 18th, here's what I know: the gifts were plenty as they were, no one but me would have given a second thought to the lamps or the lack of a chair in the guest room, I could have probably done a good enough job on the carpet with a little spray carpet cleaner and a rag, and no one cared about my big-fluffy-bows as they tore into their presents.

One of these days, I'll learn my lesson. In fact, I think I'm going to start today. Instead of working myself into a lather trying to create a new card or item for today's CCC post (our 5th!), I'm going to show you a couple of early projects I made with Your Next Stamp images, which helped me fall in love with YNS.

This is the very first card I created with a YNS image. I did it for a JiFFy (Just For Fun) Challenge I do with a few of my stampy girlfriends monthly-ish, and one of them selected the adorable little monkey from the Monkey Gone Bananas set. I decided to make mine a Japanese Snow Monkey, a la

Next is one of my very favorite YNS images, ever. So much so, it's the image I selected for my YNS watermark: Happy Days Mermaid.

So, talk to me. Are you a Harried Holiday Hannah like me, or a Serene & Simple Sarah? Do you want to be different, or do you have any advice for the rest of us crazies? Leave a comment and let me know. One randomly-selected, lucky commenter will get her choice of either the Monkey Gone Bananas or Happy Days Mermaid. You have between now and midnight on Christmas Day (Dec. 25th) to post your comment, and Karen will announce the winner on the 26th.

Just for old time's sake...

Did you see all the original MTV vee-jays?! And Billy's sweater... oy!

I leave you with my best wishes for this season for you and yours, and for a New Year filled with peace, prosperity, and people you love. See you on January 18th, 2012, friends!

XO - Carole

PS - Can you think of another single blog post in which both terms 'vee-jay' and 'va-jay-jay' have been used?! SCORE!!! :)

Shaker Card Tutorial

2011-12-15T01:09:00.000-05:00

Hi there! Jenny P, here. Today I have a fun tutorial to share with you! Our last release featured the cutest little set, Holiday Snow Globe, and it is absolutely perfect for making Shaker Cards! Shaker Cards basically have a 'window' and contain something behind the window that moves and shakes around!
There are a few different ways to make these kinds of cards, depending on what look you are trying to achieve. I am going to show you how to make a interactive snow globe to adhere to the front of a card.

Step 1: Gather your supplies.
You will need:
~Acetate (or overhead transparencies, clear plastic packaging material, window sheets, etc.)
~Cardstock to frame your window
~foam tape
~dies (as used in my example, but you can also free cut or use punches)
~filler (micro beads, glitter, buttons, sequins...whatever you want! Think outside the box! Basically anything that is small enough to move around in your window)
~premade cardbase

Step 2:
Choose dies to fit the size of your image and the window size that you would like. Here, I stamped the village from the snowglobe set and the base of the snowglobe. I am only using the base in this card, rather than the whole snow globe image. The larger die will be the overall size of the framed shaker and the smaller circle will be the inside window.

Step 3: Line up both sizes of dies, nesting them together, onto your cardstock window frame. Cut out.(Notice my lovely cutting plate?! lol! Dear Santa, Jenny desperately needs a new cutting plate in her stocking;)

Step 4: Cut out your stamped image using the largest of the circle dies. Remember that the outer edges of the image will be covered by the CS frame.

Step 5: Cut out a peice of acetate using the larger of the two circle dies. Colour image and decorate with glitter, rhinestones, etc. Apply glue (or double sided tape) to the backside of the CS frame. Adhere acetate circle to the back of the frame. *Remember that if you are using transparencies, one side is slightly 'tacky' and will show fingerprints, etc, so put that side facing the inside of the shaker and the shiny side towards the outside*. Colour and cut out globe base.

Step 6: Apply foam tape to the acetate, following along the path of the frame so that you won't see the tape behind the CS frame. I used Stampin' Ups shaker frame circles, but you can use any foam tape roll. Check out the YNS store foam tape (currently on sale!)

Step 7: Add your filler. I used clear micro beads. You need to be fairly conservative with this, as you don't want the image to be completely covered when the shaker is upright.

Step 8: Peel off the tape backing and adhere to the stamped image circle, keeping both the acetate circle and the stamped circle alined as perfectly as you can. Turn over and you have your shaker!

Step 9: Adhere shaker and globe base to decorated card front!

Here is another example of a shaker card that I made using Ellie Loves to Ski. I wanted this card to have an acetate front and back so that you could see nothing but air behind her;) This was also achieved better using an easel card design.

And another shaker card, using the same Holiday Snow Globe set, only fussy cutting the inside of the stamped globe out, rather than using circle dies.

I hope that you've enjoyed my photo tutorial and are inspired to have a go at making these fun little cards!

YNS Challenge #57 - Winter/Christmas

2011-12-13T03:00:00.006-05:00

Before we get started we just want to announce the winner of YNS challenge #56 - Die Cuts! And the lucky winner chosen by random is ....

Ashley with her adorable card featuring Penguin Greetings!!!

Congrats Ashley! Please email me (Karen) to claim your prize and get your winners blinkie!

Alrighty let's get started! Welcome to YNS Challenge #57- Winter/Christmas! Karen here, I'm assisting our fabulous hostess Jen del Muro with the challenge post today. I'm pleased to bring you this awesome and easy peasy holiday fun challenge!!! All you need to do is create a winter or holiday themed card or project featuring YNS stamps and/or dies.

Submit your entry below and your name will go into the draw for this awesome YNS Stamp PLUS a $10 YNS Gift Certificate!!!!

Merry Mouse Wreath

Before we get started I just thought I would go over the new rules, they're really easy to follow...

1. You must use a YNS Rubber or Digi Stamp or YNS Die Cut to play along
2. You may enter as many times as you like
3. You are welcome to combine your entry with other challenges
4. Have FUN! We want to see your awesome YNS creations!!!

One lucky winner will be chosen by random.org to win the adorable Merry Mouse Wreath cling stamp and the Winner Blinkie to proudly display on their blog! YIPPEE!!!

Please note that die to the holiday season this challenge will run the entire month of December so you've got lots of time to enter all your fabulous winter/holiday cards and projects!!!

Here is my card, using the new stamp Jolly Good Santa.....

Jen D, using the new Holiday Snow Globe stamp set....

Kerri, using the new Holiday Snow Globe stamp set and the new Fancy Frame stamp and die set...

Maureen, using the new Holiday Snow Globe stamp set...

Amy, using the new Holiday Snow Globe stamp set.....

Jen R, using the new Holiday Snow Globe stamp set......

And our YNS Guest this month, Veronica Zalis using Ellie Loves to Knit YNS stamp....

Peggy using the new Holiday Snow Globe stamp set

Diana using the new Fancy Frame stamp and die set

Dana using the new Holiday Snow Globe stamp set

Jenny P. using the new Holiday Snow Globe stamp set and the new Crisscross Border stamp and die

Wendy using the new Holiday Snow Globe stamp set

Special Decemeber Guest - Nicole using Cozy Fireplace

We'd love to see your creations! Link up here for your chance to win a YNS Stamp PLUS a $10 YNS Gift Certificate!!!!

Winter Fun Blog Hop Winners

2011-12-13T00:34:00.001-05:00

Thank you for taking time from your busy holiday schedule to hop along and join in all our new release winter hop FUN!!! I LOVED all the wonderful DT projects and from your comments I can see that you also loved all the new stamps and projects! YAY!

We had 3 prizes of $10 YNS Bucks hidden amongst the DT blogs and Kerri was kind enough to pick our random winners so let's see who won!!!

Kerri's Blog - MaryAnn-Created by MaryAnn http://createdbymaryann.blogspot.com/

Jenny P’s Blog – Patty-The Crafty Kitten http://craftykitten1.blogspot.com/

Amy’s Blog- Linda Carson- Ink-Stamp-Color http://inkstampcolor.blogspot.com/

Congrats everyone!!! Please email me to claim your prize!!!

Hugs

Deal of the Week

2011-12-11T18:11:00.000-05:00

Happy Sunday!!!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend! If you haven't had a chance to hop along our new release winter fun blog hop please feel free to click HERE to join in all the FUN!!!

I've uploaded some awesome new deals so be sure to check out the YNS website and grab a deal plus I'll include a special gift with all orders from now until Dec 25th! YAY!

Here are some fabulous DT creations featuring this weeks deals...

Flutterbug Wishes

Rainbows and Happiness

Celebration Cake

Jumbo Ginger the Giraffe

Have a wonderful day!

YNS Winter FUN New Release Blog Hop!!!

2011-12-07T03:00:00.003-05:00

Hello YNS Friends!!!

I'm excited to bring you some awesome YNS New Releases today!!! YIPPEE!!! Before I get to all the awesome hop details I just wanted to let you know that I'll be posting all the YNS Challenge info early next week once the hop is over so look for all the YNS Challenge #57 details and our YNS Challenge #56 winner post on Tuesday December 13th.

Before we start the hop let me tell you that I LOVE LOVE LOVE this awesome release. We've got a super sweet Snow Globe set designed by Fhiona Galloway along with some awesome stamp and die sets designed by Heather Rolin! Be sure to check out the super cool fancy frame die that has a peek a boo door!!! AWESOME!!!!

The DT has made some beautiful projects featuring all these stunning new YNS sets so be sure to hop along for some jaw dropping projects PLUS be sure to comment on all the blogs for a chance to win 1 of 3 YNS Gift Certificates!!!! That's right! There are 3 secret bloggers so I recommend commenting on all the DT blogs to better your chances at winning! I'll announce the winners on Tuesday December 13th.

Alrighty, I did say this was a hop so unless you arrived here from the blog that belongs to the super sweet and talented Peggy than you'll want to start off by visiting the wonderful and talented Kerri so why don't you hop on over to her blog and then I'll see you here a little later :o))

I'm the last stop on the hop! I loved all the fabulous DT projects and I'm sure you are wiping up all the drool as you read this final hop post! Be sure to leave me a comment to let me know how much you loved the hop and all the DT inspiration and be sure to share your favorite stamp from the release today! I always love reading your fabulous comments!

Blog Hop Starts: Wednesday, December 7th at 3:00AM (EST)
Blog Hop Ends: Monday, December 12th at midnight (EST)

Here a little something cute and simple I made featuring Jolly Good Santa :o) I started off with good intentions to make a matching card set featuring all 3 of the Holiday Trio stamps but I only got to finish one so I promise to share the others once I get a chance to finish them :o)) I'll be sending these holiday cards to Bela for the Kards for Kids program! YAY!

Thank you so much for joining us today! Be sure to visit the YNS Store for some Winter FUN shopping! I've got some awesome deals, special bundles and as an extra special bonus I'll include a special little gift in every order placed today until Dec 31st! YIPPEE!!!

Remember to leave me a comment before you hop over the YNS Store as I just might be one of the secret bloggers!!!

Happy Stamping!!!

We had to make a few last minute hopper changes so here is the entire hop list just in case you get lost along the way...

Kerri - http://cardsbykerri.blogspot.com

Veronica - http://lk2thestarz.blogspot.com {YNS December Guest}

Jen R. - http://www.tennisgirl27.blogspot.com

Dana http://gotjoycreations.blogspot.com

Maureen - http://mycasestudies.blogspot.com

Jenny P. - http://mylittlestampinspot.blogspot.com

Jen D. http://iheart2stamp.com

Amy - http://inkaboutme.blogspot.com

Wendy - http://sugarpea-designs.blogspot.com

Diana - http://doodledeedesigns.blogspot.com

Peggy- http://cardcrazy.wordpress.com

Karen (YNS) - http://yournextstamp.blogspot.com

New YNS Deal of the Week is here and New Stamps Coming Soon!

2011-12-05T19:22:00.000-05:00

Hello YNS Friends!

Have you seen all the fabulous deals this week?!?! Be sure to stop by the YNS Store to see what's on sale this week!

Here are just a few DT samples featuring this weeks YNS Deal of the Week stamps!

Super Hero Ellie

Sun-Sational

Chit Chat

Be sure to stop by here on Wednesday for our December New Release Hop!!! We're got some AWESOME new stamps and dies and the DT have prepared some stunning projects just for you!!!

Here is a little peeky at what's to come!!!

See you Wednesday for an awesome DT hop filled with FUN, INSPIRATION and PRIZES!!!!

Check this out!!!!

2011-12-02T03:00:00.002-05:00

I'm thrilled to share this fabulous magazine ad with you!!! Awhile back Kathy from Staedtler contacted me and asked if I would assist her in creating some projects for their up and coming winter magazine ads. Of course I say YES and then immediately contacted Wendy to see if she wanted to work on this super fun project. Wendy got to work and created these amazing projects featuring the adorable YNS stamp Tobogganing Ellie - CUTE!!!

Big thanks to Staedtler for featuring YNS stamps in their ad and to Wendy for all her hard work!!!

Enjoy your day!

December Guest Designer and a Special Sneak Peek!!!

2011-12-01T01:00:00.001-05:00

It's December already!!!! I can't believe it!!! Are you stamping away and getting all your holiday cards and crafts ready?! I know I'm way behind so hopefully I'll be able to find some FUN crafting time soon to get some more tags, cards and gifts made! YAY!

I'm pleased to introduce to you our fabulous December guest designer...Veronica Zalis!!! I instantly fell in love with Veronica's clean, simple and elegant creations and I knew all of you would love her amazing talent too!

Here are a few words from Veronica...

First let me say how excited I am to be the YNS Guest Designer for the month of December. I am a 35 year old Mother of two boys ages 1 and 4. They keep me busy but I try to make time everyday to play in my craft room. Eight years ago this month I was invited to a neighborhood card swap and I have been making cards every since! I love the world of paper crafting and I'm looking forward to sharing my work with you!

I'm so excited to share with you a little sneak peek today!!! Veronica made this adorable card featuring one of the new stamp sets by Jenny Suchin!!!! Yep, that's right! Jenny has created some super adorable stamps for YNS and we are all busting at the seams to share them with you!!! Check out this cutie patootie elephant!!!

We've got lots of FUN and ADORABLE new stamps and dies for December so keep your eyes on this blog for more info!!!!

Have an awesome day!

Football Fun

2011-11-30T11:32:00.000-05:00

Just sharing a super fun football card Jodi, our November guest, created using the YNS stamp Football Dude. I love this stamp because not only is it super cool and on sale for a crazy good deal but it can be colored any team color to match the recipients favorite team!!!

When Jodi shared this card with me I emailed her and said it's PERFECT! How did you know my husbands favorite team is Miami (green, orange and white)? She emailed me back and said "those are actual football team colors?! I just colored it to match the designer paper" LOL she had no idea she had designed the perfect Miami Dolphins football card! She totally cracks me up!

I'd like to send a special thank you to Jodi for joining us for the month of November! We hope to have you join us again sometime soon!

Also just a reminder about out current YNS challenge...Die Cuts! We would love to have more YNS fans joining in all the challenge fun! You can check out all the details HERE.

I'll be back to tomorrow with our wonderful and talented December guest.

Enjoy your day!

YNS Deal of the Week Plus a SALE!

2011-11-27T09:06:00.000-05:00

New stamps have been put into the YNS Next Deal of the Week bin plus tons of fabulous YNS stamps are in the YNS Bargain Bin which means they are currently 65-75% off - that's what I call a CRAZY SALE!!!

Here are a few card samples from the DT displaying some of the stamps that are on sale...

Birthday Surprise Fhiona

Big Tall Grass

Best Buds

Dixie Daisy

Plus I've extended the YNS Special SALE!!!

20% of your entire order!!!! Including sale items!!!

Online Code - THANKYOU2011

Sale now ends Monday November 28th at midnight EST

Visit www.yournextstamp.com today!!!

Enjoy your day!!!

Karen

CCC Winner and a SALE!!!

2011-11-24T00:05:00.003-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you celebrating today! Have some yummy turkey and sweet potatoes for me please :o)

Carole's CCC #4 post - Thankful touched my heart and I would like to thank everyone who took the time to comment on her post. If you haven't read it you can find it HERE and her next post is on December 18th so mark your calenders and join us for CCC #5.

Our winner of the Life is Great Stamp is...

Cathy P. who said...

What a beautiful tribute to your mom, Carole! We all have interesting relationships with our moms and as moms, sometimes with our daughters too! I am thankful my children and grandson are happy, healthy and we have a good relationship. Our family Thanksgiving tradition - a huge family gathering and potluck at my sister's house and a crazy white elephant gift exchange with the whole family. It's so much fun and truly kicks off the countdown to Christmas! :)

Congrats Cathy! Email me to claim your prize.

I would like to thank all of you for loving and supporting YNS by offering you...

20% off your entire order!!!

Online Code is THANKYOU2011

Sale ends Sunday November 27th at midnight EST

Have a wonderful day!

Karen

YNSC #56

2011-11-23T01:00:00.003-05:00

Before we get started we just want to announce the winner of YNS challenge #55 - Friends! And the lucky winner choosen by random is ....

#6 - Nicole with her sweet pair of cards using Cupcake Cutie Fhiona!

Congrats Nicole! Please email Karen to claim your prize and get your winners blinkie!

Hi there! Jenny here, hostessing this weeks YNS Challenge #56- Use die cuts on your project!

Before we get started I just thought I would go over the new rules, they're really easy to follow...

1. You must use a YNS Rubber or Digi Stamp to play along
2. You may enter as many times as you like
3. You are welcome to combine your entry with other challenges
4. Have FUN! We want to see your awesome YNS creations!!!

One lucky winner will be chosen by random.org to win the adorable Ellie Loves to Ski cling stamp and the Winner Blinkie to proudly display on their blog!

Here is my card, using Ellie Loves Art.....

Jen D, using Light Up The Holidays die set and Light Me Up stamp set....

Kerri, using Snowman Delight stamp, Happy Holidays die set and Light Up The Holidays stamp and die set.....

Maureen, using Happy Holidays die set.....

Amy, using Happy Holidays die set.....

Jen R, using Happy Holidays die set......

And our YNS Guest this month, Jodi Collins, using Fairy Fhiona....

Peggy - Light Up the Holidays and Happy Holidays

We'd love to see your creations! Link up here for your chance to win some new rubbah!

CCC # 4 - Thankful

2011-11-18T01:43:00.005-05:00

Hi, YNS Friends -

Happy November! This is one of my favorite times of the year: the calm before the hustle & bustle of the holiday season; the anticipation of good things to come, without the pressure of needing to get things done yet. Next week, we in the U.S. will be celebrating Thanksgiving.

To be perfectly honest with you, I don't have a plethora of Thanksgiving traditions. I've tried a few times to start some; inviting extended family and friends, setting the table with the good china, serving the traditional dinner of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc., going around the table and having each person tell one thing they're grateful for, and so on. All that Norman Rockwell stuff.

None of those traditions I tried on for size ever fit. On those occasions when I attempted to implement the formula for an all-American Thanksgiving, I always felt a bit like a phony; like I was playing 'dress up.' That could be because I didn't have a whole lot of experience in the holiday rituals department.

After all, Thanksgiving in the home where I grew up? Not a terribly big deal. My parents divorced by the time I was three, so on the holidays it was always just my mom, sister, and me. My sister is ten years older than I am, and by the time I was 10, she was married and lived across the country. From that point forward, Mom and I were on our own.

God bless her, Mom was not much of a cook. She taught at a community college, and often had evening classes. Thus, I ate a lot of my meals with Chef Boyardee and Mama Celeste.

Our Thanksgivings looked something like this: we would watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade together on the TV in the den. I sat there in my p.j.s and Mom worked on whatever project she was sewing at her machine. Then, once the parade was over, Mom would settle in for a full day of watching football. It didn't matter who was playing; she'd watch all the teams, though the Dallas Cowboys and the University of Oklahoma Sooners were the only teams she truly rooted for. Not much for football, I'd go back to her bedroom and lounge on her big bed while taking in the annual Twilight Zone marathon on one of the cable channels.

Eventually, Mom would holler back to me and ask me what I wanted to eat for Thanksgiving, as if it had just occurred to her that some sort of meal was in order. At least one year, and possibly more, we went through the drive-thru of Del Taco. More often than not, though, I'd yell back, "Chicken and dumplings," and within a few hours I'd be rolling and slicing biscuit dough, then dropping the strips into a simmering pot of chicken broth.

Last month, my mother died unexpectedly. For the past seven years, she lived within a mile of me and we spoke or saw each other daily. We had a complicated relationship, and when I complained about her, friends whose mothers had passed away would often say something like, "You're lucky -- I wish my mom was here for me to argue with." My response would often be "You might not say that if you'd had my mom..."

Now, I get it. There's very little I wouldn't give to have my mom here for Thanksgiving. I wish I had the opportunity for one last conversation. What would I say? Of course, I would tell her that I love her, but more importantly, I would say, from the bottom of my heart, "Thank you." I know she knew that I loved her, but I wonder if she knew or could feel how profoundly grateful I am to her for all that she did for me, and later, for my boys.

So, Mom, if you're watching, this one is for you:
This little Thanksgiving number was created using the adorable Life Is Great image. Here's a close up of this cute little gal in her paper-pieced teal turtleneck:
As I've gone through some of the things at Mom's house, I was surprised to find she'd kept every card I've ever made for her. Even though she never acted like they were anything out of the ordinary, I think she must have liked them, and I think she'd like this one, too.

This Thanksgiving, we'll be heading out for lunch at one of my husband's aunts. His grandmother is 101 years old, so we can't not have Thanksgiving with Granny. But when we get home, I think I've figured out what I'll make for dinner for Sean and the boys: chicken and dumplings, in honor of Mom. Maybe it will even become a tradition.

For those of you celebrating Thanksgiving next week, what is one of your favorite traditions? If you aren't celebrating Thanksgiving or don't have any traditions, tell me something or someone for whom you're grateful. You have until midnight next Thursday (aka Thanksgiving) to be eligible for Karen's random selection of one lucky commenter to win the Life Is Great set.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with one of my favorite blessings. If you like it, feel free to adopt it as your own.

Lord, for food in a world where many walk hungry,
For faith in a world where many walk in fear,
And for family and friends in a world where many walk alone,
We give you our thanks.

Amen

XO - Carole

Winner from Jen d's Blog Post

2011-11-16T13:50:00.000-05:00

I hope you are enjoying your week!

Last week we officially welcomed Jen del Muro to the YNS Design Team! Woot! Woot! She had a giveaway on her blog post and for a chance to win theYNS stamp Ellie Loves to Knit you had to answer her secret question...

What {kinda specifically} do I have in common with YNS? And, no, I was not made in Canada!

The answer is Ellie!

Here is our random winner...

Comment by Ivette E — November 9, 2011 @ 12:01 pm

That your daughter’s name is Ellie, same as their stamps’ name?!

Congrats Ivette! Please email me to claim your prize!!!

Be sure to check our Friendship challenge! We would LOVE to have more YNS fans join in all the challenge FUN!

Hugs

Your Next Deal of the Week

2011-11-13T08:52:00.001-05:00

I've put some AWESOME YNS Stamps in the Your Next Deal of the Week bin!!!

Monkey Gone Bananas - Wendy Ramlakhan

Jumbo Ginger Giraffe - Peggy Toole

Soccer Cutie - Kerri Michaud

Penguin Greetings - Wendy Ramlakhan

I even added a few more stamps to the YNS Stamp Bargin Bin...

Shirley Temple Ellie - Maureen Wong

Celebrate Set - Linda Cummings

Be sure to stop the YNS Store and check out all the fantastic deals!!!

====

Special BONUS!!!

Use the code YNSBONUS and get an additional 10% of your entire order!!!!
----
Offer valid until November 20th 2011 at midnight EST

Enjoy your day!

Kards for Kids

2011-11-12T12:56:00.004-05:00

Recently I met a wonderful lady Bela and her daughter Rebecca at ScrapFest in Oshawa. They introduced me to this wonderful program called Kards for Kids. This program is dedicated to helping make children smile...really can't get much better than that! Cards donated to this program are sent to kids staying at the Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto and I don't think I could explain this program better then the founder herself so here are a few words from Bela...

I started KKHSC about 4 years ago. Every month I would deliver cards to the hospital for the kids. The nurses and doctors would then deliver them to the kids on their birthday. Also, if a child wished to have a blank or thank you card, they would be welcome to have some.

Last year's Holiday card drive was successful and so was this past month's Halloween card drive. It resulted in over 230 cards being delivered to the kids for Halloween. Lots of smiles happened for sure.

I have a group of ladies that mail cards to me and I deliver them quarterly or whenever I go to Toronto. I take a photograph for the blog and then the Women's Auxiliary will hold the cards until my rep comes. At times I get a chance to photograph with the rep too. The Rep will then e-mail me and let me know that the cards have been delivered to the nurse's station. Presently our cards are being sent to the Oncology/Hematology wing at Sick Kids. Our little neighbour Connor Fox passed away just before Christmas last year and in his memory we send the cards to the wing in which he spent most of his third and fourth year of life in. His mom was honoured and the nurses were so happy to host the cards for the kids.

Our Christmas/Holiday card drive is on now. I am personally giving away 3 stamping related gift certificates and I am hoping that these incentives with get people to see the blog and have them join in on the fun. Last year there many winners and I am hoping that the drive is more successful this year.

This is such a wonderful cause and very dear to my heart. I dedicate a lot of time and money to this cause and to have more people join me in creating cards would be a goal that I would love to reach. I have walked through the halls of Sick Kids so many times and I have always seen children smile. These are children with life-threatening illnesses and they smile when they receive these cute little cards. We make cards that gear to new born and up to 19 years of age. All year long we send blank, birthday,thinking of you and thank you cards to the card box. We also make notebooks for the parents. Parents get the notebooks so that they can record medical information about their child. The hospital rep asked me to put out word to create these notebooks for the kids.

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I know that Bela's story has touched my heart and I hope it has done the same for you. I would love for you to visit her Kards for Kids blog and be sure to contact Bela (her email link is in her side bar) to donate handmade cards to this wonderful cause.

Thank you in advance for supporting such a wonderful program! I know I'll be sending some handmade YNS cards to the Kards for Kids!!!

Hugs

YNSC #55 ~ Friends

2011-11-09T03:00:00.002-05:00

Peggy here and I am helping fill in for this week's Hostess Diana!

Thank you to all who played along with YNS Challenge #54 ~Anything but a card. We loved checking out all your lovely projects.

We are changing things up a little bit and will be announcing the last challenge winner before we get started with the current challenge, we just don't want to forget anyone! So without further ado, the winner of our ABC challenge is ....

#3 - Cindy Haffner with this adorable ornament/tag!

We are also VERY excited to announce that Jen del Muro has joined the YNS family as a full time member of our design team! YAY! Please hop on over to her blog to give her a warm YNS welcome and to find the question in her post to win a special prize!!!

Here is a little about Jen...

Hi! It's me...Jen del Muro. I am a fan of all things paper crafting and stamping. I started stamping several years ago just as a little hobby. I'm pretty sure you already know how that story turns out, as we have all become masters of procurement in this industry!

I live in North Texas with my husband, daughter and son. We share our home with a couple of loony dogs and a fat black cat. When I am not running around like crazy with any or all of them, I like to find a little peace and quiet in my stamp room. I have been {seriously} stamping and paper crafting for more than 5 years. I design/have designed for several companies and I enjoy getting my work published when I have the time. I love to share my work on my blog, www.iheart2stamp.com. I also teach Copic and card for my local scrapbook store, Scrapper's Boutique.

Karen knows that I absolutely **ADORE** all things YNS and I am thrilled to be a guest designer this month! Thank you!

Okay, now onto this week's challenge which is all about FRIENDS!

Before we get started I just thought I would go over the new rules, they're really easy to follow...1. You must use a YNS Rubber or Digi Stamp to play along
2. You may enter as many times as you like
3. You are welcome to combine your entry with other challenges
4. Have FUN! We want to see your awesome YNS creations!!!

One lucky winner will be chosen by random.org to win the adorable Fhiona and Her Best Buddy Fhinn cling stamp and the Winner Blinkie to proudly display on their blog!

And now a little inspiration from the DT!

Amy - Marble the Mouse

Dana - Light Me Up & Light Up the Holidays

Diana - Super Hero Ellie

Jen D - Ellie Loves to Knit

Jen R - Super Hero Ellie

Jodi - October Guest - Rock Star Fhinn

Kerri - IPod Teen Girl

Peggy - Flower Pot Fairies

Wendy - Apple Cutie

Remember you MUST use a YNS stamp (digi or rubber) on your challenge card/creation and you can enter as many times as you like, just be sure to enter a new YNS card/creation for every entry. You have until Tuesday, November 22nd at midnight EST to enter!

Thanks for joining us! We look forward to seeing your fabulous YNS Friend creations!!!

Day 14 Holiday Winner and Challenge Sponsor

2011-11-08T00:34:00.001-05:00

Hello friends!

Well I must say I kind of miss the 14 Days of YNS Holiday Fun! I quite enjoyed posting all those fabulous DT projects and new stamps on a daily basis! If you miss it too don't worry because I LOVE holiday stamps so I have a little something up my sleeve jsut for you! Now you need to keep this hush hush cause the YNS DT doesn't even know what it is! Their secret surprise is on the way so they can create some yummy samples just for you!!! YIPPEE!!!

Here is a little peek...

I don't want to spoil it so I won't show too much...you'll have to wait a few weeks to see the reveal - EEK!!! I'm so excited!!!

Alright, I need to get on with the show...our Day 14 Winner!!! I used random.org and it spit out the #3!!!

That's you Trish!!! You are the winner of the $25 YNS Bucks to spend on YNS Stamps!!! YAY!!!

Congrats! Email me to claim your prize!!

Now before you go be sure to...

Make something for YNS Challenge #54 - Anything But a Card - you have until midnight EST tonight to enter
Visit The Ribbon Carousel Challenge Blog - YNS is sponsoring their challenge this week! YAY!
Pop by the YNS Store (www.yournextstamp.com) and check out all the fabulous deals and shop your little heart out!

Thanks for stopping by today! Peggy will be by tomorrow with all the awesome YNS DT Challenge #55 projects PLUS another chance to win some YNS stamps!!! Be sure to stop by for a visit!!

Hugs

Holiday Frame

2011-11-06T13:34:00.003-05:00

**Click this link for Day 14 of our holiday fun and enter to win $25 YNS Bucks**

Happy Sunday Everyone!

I've been working on a little holiday project this past week and I finally got a chance to finish it up yesterday. My fabulous friend Jenny Suchin has been making these fun little frames recently and I loved them so much that it inspired me to make my own! Thanks Jenny!

I really wanted to use the new Happy Holidays Stamp and Die Set so I started off painting my frame holiday green and then applied a layer of green sparkle paint on top to give it a pretty shimmer - I LOVE IT!!!

Then I cut out some green felt using the tree die and gave it some snow tops using the no mess glitter paper and then added the brown velvet tree stems along with some YNS sparkly flat backs to bling it up a bit! The felt holly in the corner is something I picked up from my LSS - The Scrapping Turtle.

The best part is...the middle is a magnet board!!! I got the sheet of magnet from SU and then I made little holiday magnets to dress it up. The photo is showing Mini Santa Fhinn and one of the mugs from the Happy Holidays Stamp and Die set. I see me making lots and lots of little magnets for this board!!! FUN!

I couldn't help myself...to finish it off I just had to add YNS Glittered Skittles around the entire frame...like the green shimmer and sparkly flat backs weren't enough! LOL

I hope you enjoyed my little project and that it inspired you to do something
creative today!

Be sure to check out our YNS ABC Challenge and share your fabulous projects with us for your chance to win some YNS Stamps!!! YAY!

Hugs

November Guest Designer

2011-11-04T03:00:00.002-04:00

**Click this link for Day 14 of our holiday fun and enter to win $25 YNS Bucks**

Please help me give a warm YNS welcome to our November Guest Designer...

Jodi Collins

Hip Hip Horray! Welcome Jodi!!! We are all excited to have you join us this month!!! Welcome to the YNS family!!!

Here is some info about Jodi in her own words...

"Hi everyone! I am SO very excited to be a Guest Stamper for Your Next Stamp this month! I live on Long Island, New York with my very supportive husband and two beautiful girls, ages 5 and 1! Aside from being a wife and mom, I work full time as a paralegal. I love all things stampy and paper craft related, and I am an unashamed Twilighter! I am so excited to be here this month sharing the fabulousness of YNS stamps!"

Check out this adorable card she made featuring the YNS stamp Happy Snow Day!

Have a wonderful day!

Day 14 of our YNS Holiday Release is HERE!!!

2011-11-03T00:00:00.002-04:00

Click this link if you missed Day 1 and want to know more about this awesome holiday release!

Welcome to DAY 14 of our 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!!!!

This is the last day! Can you believe it?! This holiday release has been so much FUN and all these new adorable stamps and amazing DT inspiration has definitely put me in the mood to create lots of holiday projects! How about you?
=

Day 14
==
Fhiona Galloway Designs brings us 2 super CUTE Holiday Reindeer!!!

Diana Genario - Holiday Joy Reindeer

I LOVE this super fun skiing reindeer!!! I see some yummy red swirl glittered skittles on this card!!!

Here's a close up of all the sparkle and fun embellies!!!

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Amy Rohl - Holiday Joy Reindeer

CUTE! Love the fun winter colors Amy used on this adorable card!

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Susan Liles - Winter Fun Reindeer

This is so CUTE! Check out that popped up red nose!!! Love it!!!

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===Be sure to visit the DT Blogs for more details on these awesome DT projects!!!

All of the stamps that have been released during the 14 days of holiday fun are now available to purchase at the YNS Store!!!

Be sure to check out all the amazing holiday bundle deals!!! These are only available until November 30th or while quantities last!
===
Click this link to check out Your Next Deal of the Week!
+++

Also don't forget about YNS Challenge #54 - Anything But a Card!

We would love for you to join in all the YNS FUN!

Click HERE for all the details!!!
======
Thank You so much for participating in our 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!!! I had blast and I hope you did too!!!

Today is a PRIZE DAY!!!
What's up for grabs???
$25 YNS Bucks to spend on stamps at the YNS Store!!! Woot! Woot!
Leave me a comment and let me know which of the YNS 14 Day Holiday Releases is your favorite!!!
You have 5 days to enter to win!!!
I'll post the random winner on Nov 8 2011!!!
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Be sure to leave me a comment and then head on over the YNS Store and start your holiday shopping!!! FUN!!!

===

Have a fun and creative day!

Day 13 - 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!!!

2011-11-02T00:00:00.001-04:00

Click this link if you missed Day 1 and want to know more about this awesome holiday release!

Welcome to DAY 13 of our 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!

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Day 13
==
More super CUTE Fhiona and Franfou Designs!!! YIPPEE!!!

Peggy Toole - Cookie Fhiona

How CUTE is this Cookie Fhiona!!! She's perfect for all different occasions!!!

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Kerri Michaud - Snow COOL!

Check out this snow boarding duck!!! He is SNOW COOL!!!

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Susan Liles - Merry Mouse Shining Star

This card is so cheery! This little mouse cracks me up! I love it!!!

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I decided to ink up the adorable Fhiona Galloway Design - Christmas Cutie! Don't laugh but this little cutie totally reminds me of myself as a little girl! I had (still have) crazy curls and I was a little round at the belly and short too. I preferred my comfy cozy outfits but my mom always tried to dress me up cute for the holidays. I think I'll give this card to my mom, she'll love it!!!

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Here's a close up of all the sparkle - I decided to stamp the image onto cryogen white shimmer cardstock and then added some stickles to glitz this cutie up. The red velvet paper is one of my favorites that I've had stashed away for a few years now!!! You know what I'm talking about...we all have these crafting supply favorites that we tuck away and pull out when the time is right.

===Be sure to visit the DT Blogs for more details on these awesome DT projects!!!

All of the stamps that have been released during the 14 days of holiday fun are available now to purchase at the YNS Store!!!
===
Click this link to check out Your Next Deal of the Week!
==

Today is the last day to take advantage of these specials...

FREE gift with EVERY purchase
==
PLUS

FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $30 to Canada and the US
(enter code YNSHolidays)

====

(the above specials are valid from Oct 21st - Nov 2nd)
=
PLUS
=
Snowflake Border Stamp is only $2 - while quantities last!!!

Also don't forget about YNS Challenge #54 - Anything But a Card!

We would love for you to join in all the YNS FUN!

Click HERE for all the details!!!
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I'll see you tomorrow for Day 14! I can't believe that tomorrow is the last day!!! I think Day 14 just might be a prize day!!!

===

Have a wonderful day!

Day 12 - 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!!!

2011-11-01T00:00:00.032-04:00

Click this link if you missed Day 1 and want to know more about this awesome holiday release!

Welcome to DAY 12 of our 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!
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First off let's see who our Day 11 winner is...

LISA who said All the cards featured are fabulous and that owl is too cute for words!
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Congrats Lisa! Please email me to claim your prize!

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Also I would like to give a huge thank you hug to our special October guests Susan Liles and Jen del Muro!!! Thanks ladies! Susan will be back with one more holiday project - YIPPEE and I have a little surprise for everyone next Wednesday involving Jen so stay tuned for that plus I'll announce our special November guest on Nov 4th! YIPPEE!!!

Ok one more thing before I get to the Day 12 projects...I totally forgot to announce the winner of YNS Challenge #53 - I'm SO SORRY!!!! Thank you to everyone who participated!!! We loved all your Halloween projects! Speaking of Halloween. I hope everyone had a super fun day yesterday!!!

Our random winner is...

#7 - Andrea who made a cute spider project!!!

Congrats Andrea! Please email me to claim your prize!

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Ok now let's see what Day 12 brings us!!!
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Day 12
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Light Me Up by Fhiona Galloway Designs and Merry Mouse Stocking by Franfou Designs!!!

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Light Me Up - Wendy Ramlahkan

Check out those sparkly lights!!! That string of lights is the Light Up the Holidays stamp and die!!
Plus that adorable tree in the background is Fhiona's Christmas Tree - CUTE!
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Merry Mouse Stocking - Kerri Michaud

How sweet is this project?! This is so stinkin' CUTE!!! Love it!!!
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Light Me Up - Jenny Peterson

Looks like Jenny paired this cutie with the Light Up the Holidays die! Adorable!!!
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Be sure to visit the DT blogs for all the project details!!!
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All of the stamps that have been released during the 14 days of holiday fun are available now to purchase at the YNS Store!!!
===
Click this link to check out Your Next Deal of the Week!
==

Here are the current specials...

FREE gift with EVERY purchase
==
PLUS

FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $30 to Canada and the US
(enter code YNSHolidays)

====

(the above specials are valid from Oct 21st - Nov 2nd)
=
PLUS
=
Snowflake Border Stamp is only $2 - while quantities last!!!

Also don't forget about YNS Challenge #54 - Anything But a Card!

We would love for you to join in all the YNS FUN!

Click HERE for all the details!!!

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I'll see you tomorrow for Day 13! Only 2 days remaining!!! WOW! Time flies when you're having FUN!!!

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Have a fabulous day!

Day 11 - 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!!!

2011-10-31T00:00:00.005-04:00

Click this link if you missed Day 1 and want to know more about this awesome holiday release!

Welcome to DAY 11 of our 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!

===

Day 11
==
An oh so CUTE Dale Design and 'Snoozer' by Franfou Designs!!!

Dale's holiday owl sure got a lot of attention here at YNS - we LOVE him!!! Check out these amazing DT projects!!!

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Kerri Michaud - Holiday Owl

Love these fun bright colors Kerri used on this card! CUTE!!!

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Amy Rohl - Holiday Owl

I LOVE this adorable frame Amy made! Check out all the felt shapes she made using the new Happy Holidays Die set and looks like I see some yummy YNS Snowflake Glittered Skittles too!!!

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Jenny Suchin - Holiday Owl

CUTE! Love how Jenny put a twine border around the outside!!!

And here is Jenny's super cute Chalkboard message frame featuring the Holiday Owl :)

Isn't this adorable? You can find the instructions on her blog! :)

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Really, what's better than cupcakes and naps! LOL Check out this adorable little bear Snoozer and his super funny, and oh so true, sentiment!!!

Jenny Peterson - Snoozer

Love the blue, black and grey on the card! Beautiful!!!

====

All of the stamps that have been released during the 14 days of holiday fun are available now to purchase at the YNS Store!!!
===
Click this link to check out Your Next Deal of the Week!
==

Here are the current specials...

FREE gift with EVERY purchase
==
PLUS

FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $30 to Canada and the US
(enter code YNSHolidays)

====

(the above specials are valid from Oct 21st - Nov 2nd)
=
PLUS
=
Snowflake Border Stamp is only $2 - while quantities last!!!

Also don't forget about YNS Challenge #54 - Anything But a Card!

We would love for you to join in all the YNS FUN!

Click HERE for all the details!!!
===

Today is a PRIZE DAY!!! Here is your prize hint...
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It's a secret 'OWL' blogger!!!
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All you have to do is leave comments on ALL the blogs and YNS Facebook Page that are featuring the Holiday Owl!!! I wonder who the secret blogger is???

Not on Facebook but want to participate? No worries, just comment on all the blogs and let me know that you don't have a FB account.

You'll find out tomorrow who the secret blogger is along with the winner of the secret YNS prize!!!

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I'll see you tomorrow for Day 12!

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Have a fabulous day!

Day 10 - 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!!!

2011-10-30T00:00:00.003-04:00

Click this link if you missed Day 1 and want to know more about this awesome holiday release!

Welcome to DAY 10 of our 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!

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Day 10
==
More awesome Dale Designs and Snow Fun Franfou Design!!!

This 14 day holiday fun release has been SNOW FUN and apparently this adorable little bear designed by Franfou feels the same way!!!!

Dana Joy - Snow Fun

Weeeeeeee! Looks like that bear is having way to much FUN!!!!

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After a little fun outside sledding there's nothing like getting all cozy by the fire with a cup of hot cocoa! Check out this beautiful Cozy Fireplace.

And here's Jenny's cute project using the Fireplace stamp and matching sentiment :) :)

This stamp is great to color or paper piece!!

Dale also designed some beautiful shaped sentiments for the holidays that are perfect addition to so many of the YNS stamps including the cozy fireplace...

I decided to pair up the circle warm wishes sentiment with a 2010 Holiday YNS release Merry Mouse Candle. I found this bag in my stash of goodies and decided to use parts of the snowflake border stamp to dress it up and then added the warm wishes tag and cute mouse.

Close up of Merry Mouse Candle and check out those yummy YNS Glittered Skittles!!!

Close up of the Warm Wishes Tag - Circle is exactly 1 3/4"

All of the stamps that have been released during the 14 days of holiday fun are available now to purchase at the YNS Store!!!
===
Click this link to check out Your Next Deal of the Week!
==

Here are the current specials...

FREE gift with EVERY purchase
==
PLUS

FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $30 to Canada and the US
(enter code YNSHolidays)

====

(the above specials are valid from Oct 21st - Nov 2nd)
=
PLUS
=
Snowflake Border Stamp is only $2 - while quantities last!!!

Also don't forget about YNS Challenge #54 - Anything But a Card!

We would love for you to join in all the YNS FUN!

Click HERE for all the details!!!

===

I'll see you tomorrow for Day 11! YAY! I sense another PRIZE DAY coming really soon!!!!

===

Have a fabulous day!

Day 9 - 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!!!

2011-10-29T00:00:00.004-04:00

Click this link if you missed Day 1 and want to know more about this awesome holiday release!

Welcome to DAY 9 of our 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!

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Day 9
==
2 adorable new World Kid designs by Fhiona Galloway!!!

Canada has arrived! Check out these cutie patootie World Kids from Canada!!! I'm pleased to introduce you to Jenny and Darius!!! CUTE!!!

Peggy Toole - Darius from Canada

This little guy was named after Peggy's son Darius who just happens to be named after a hockey player! Sweet! Isn't he adorable?! You can color this cutie up any color to match your favorite hockey team!!! I suggested blue and white and her son said NO WAY! LOL They obviously don't cheer for the Toronto Maple Leafs!!!

Beth Ranney-Thomas - Jenny from Canada

How sweet is this gift set?!

Be sure to visit our special guest Beth for all the details and show her some YNS love!!

Jenny Peterson - Darius from Canada

CUTE! These hockey players are so adorable!!!

Thanks for joining us today! I'll see you tomorrow for Day 10! YIPPEE!!!

Have a wonderful day!

Day 8 - 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!!!

2011-10-28T00:02:00.002-04:00

Click this link if you missed Day 1 and want to know more about this awesome holiday release!

Welcome to DAY 8 of our 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!

Thank you for hopping along yesterday and for all your wonderful comments!
=
The DT projects were amazing and so inspiring!!!

The new Happy Holidays Stamp and Die set is so much FUN!!!

Let's see who are lucky winner is...
===

Melissa who said "What a great set with coordinating dies - the DT did a FANTASTIC job with them! I got lots of great ideas for my *to do* list... THANKS!!!"
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Congrats Melissa! Please email me to claim your prize!

Day 8 - Holiday Designs by Fhiona Galloway and Dale Designs!!!

Check out these fabulous projects by Peggy Toole, Kerri Michaud, Maureen Wong and Jen Roach featuring Fhiona's adorable Winter Home and some fabulous new mini stamps and Dale's beautiful Winter Scene!!!

Peggy Toole - Winter Home

This winter home makes the sweetest holiday card!

Maureen Wong - Winter Scene

How adorable is this!? I love this beautiful book and the new winter scene stamp is perfect for this project!

Jen Roach - Winter Home

Check out all that sparkly snow!!! Love it!!! What a great shaker card!

Close Up

Kerri Michaud - Mini Stamps

(Fhiona and Friend Penguin, Skating Fun Fhiona, Tobogganing Ellie, Santa Fhinn)

These mini stamps totally pull at my heart strings!!! I LOVE these little tags!!!

All of the stamps that have been released during the 14 days of holiday fun are available now to purchase at the YNS Store!!!

Here are the current specials...

FREE gift with EVERY purchase

PLUS

FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $30 to Canada and the US
(enter code YNSHolidays)

===

(the above specials are valid from Oct 21st - Nov 2nd)

PLUS

Snowflake Border Stamp is only $2 - while quantities last!!!

Also don't forget about YNS Challenge #54 - Anything But a Card!

We would love for you to join in all the YNS FUN!

Click HERE for all the details!!!

===

I'll see you tomorrow for Day 9! YAY!

Have a super awesome day!

Day 7 - 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!!!

2011-10-27T00:00:00.003-04:00

Click this link if you missed Day 1 and want to know more about this awesome holiday release!

Welcome to DAY 7 of our 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!

Day 7 - Your Next Die is HERE!!!
===
Heather Rolin Holiday Designs
==
Happy Holidays Stamp and Die set plus a fabulous new Seasonal Icon set!!!

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Today brings some fabulous Heather Rolin Designs!!! We've got an awesome YNS Happy Holidays Stamp and Die set along with a super adorable Seasonal Icon set!!!

Today you need to visit the DT blogs (details below) to see all the AWESOME projects!!!!

Today is a special PRIZE DAY!!!!

This is what's up for grabs...

The YNS Happy Holidays Stamp and Die release - retail value is over $30!!!

I know you all want to win this awesome prize so here is what you need to do...

Visit all of the DT blogs listed below and leave them all sweet comments plus you need to leave a message on this blog. I'll draw 1 random winner and post it tomorrow on the DAY 8 post so that gives you only 24 hours to comment so you better hop to it and check out all the amazing Day 7 Projects!!!

YNS Blog (feel free to come back and let me what you thought of the DT projects today!!!)

Jen del Muro

Wendy Ramlahkan

(It's Wendy's birthday today so be sure to say Happy Birthday)

Peggy Toole

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Here is a fun little project I made using one of the mugs, Kerri inspired me to make this project and this is what we made in Oshawa at ScrapFest for our make and take! These little tags are so easy and fun to make!!!

Be sure to check out all the new releases (we've released so far) over at the YNS Store and take advantage of these 'early bird' specials!!!

===

Specials Recap...you may just want to take advantage of these amazing deals today since you automatically qualify for *free shipping* with the new stamp and die purchase!!! Be sure to enter the special code YNSHolidays and POOF your shipping fees are gone!

FREE gift with EVERY purchase

PLUS

FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $30 to Canada and the US
(enter code YNSHolidays)

(the above specials are valid from Oct 21st - Nov 2nd)

PLUS

Snowflake Border Stamp is only $2 - while quantities last!!!

See you tomorrow for DAY 8!!! YIPPEE!!!

Day 6 - 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!!!

2011-10-26T00:02:00.001-04:00

Click this link if you missed Day 1 and want to know more about this awesome holiday release!

Specials Recap...

FREE gift with EVERY purchase

PLUS

FREE SHIPPING on all orders to Canada and the US over $30
(enter code YNSHolidays)

(the above specials are valid from Oct 21st - Nov 2nd)

Welcome to DAY 6 of our 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!

Thank you for all your sweet comments yesterday! I had a wonderful birthday!!!

I have a few winners to post today! YIPPEE!
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All winners are selected by an online random number generator...
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First up, the winner of our CCC #3 post - Carole and I had so much FUN reading your awesome holiday light comments!!! Thank you for participating! Be sure to mark your calendars for November 18th to stop by the YNS blog to see what Carole has to say!!!
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The winner of the Light Up the Holidays stamp and die set is...
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'G' who said - what a fun post! i love your tree! we love lots of multi colored lights too & whimsical ornaments! i LOVE this sweet stamp set & die- thanks for the chance to win it! i'm still stamping Halloween but am also getting out the Christmas craft goodies & have started 'collecting' new papers
==

Congrats! Please email me to claim your prize!
==
Next up, the winner from our Day 5 Holiday FUN post - Thank you again for all your fabulous and fun comments!!!
==
The winner of the SURPRISE stamp package is...

Shari Green
==

Congrats! Please email me to claim your prize!

==
Day 6 - Ho Ho Ho Santa by Dale Designs and another sweet Merry Mouse design by Franfou!!!

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Today brings an adorable Dale Design called Ho Ho Ho Santa and a super CUTE Franfou Design called Merry Mouse Ornament!

DT members Diana Genario, Dana Joy and Jenny Suchin have some adorable projects to share...check out this sweet tag and card!!!

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Merry Mouse Ornament - Jenny Suchin

What a CUTE project and fab idea to put this sweet stamped image inside the holiday ornament!!! This mouse totally cracks me up! Love him!!!

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Ho Ho Ho Santa - Diana Genario

How cute are these Santa tags!? I see some more yummu YNS Glittered Skittles!!!

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Merry Mouse Ornament - Dana Joy

Love the shiny gold ornament and little gift bag! FUN!

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I hope you are enjoying the 14 Days of Holiday FUN as much as I am!!! I'm in CUTE overload over here at YNS and can't wait to share the remaining projects with you!!!! EEK!!!

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See you tomorrow for Day 7 - NEW STAMP AND DIE RELEASE!!!!!

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Have a super fabulous day!

YNS Challenge #54 - Anything But a Card (ABC)

2011-10-26T00:00:00.005-04:00

Thank you to everyone who played along with Challenge #53, we loved all of your Halloween creations, come back Friday to see who the lucky winner is!
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Karen here and I am helping out your fabulous hostess this week Dana with a super fun ABC themed challenge! What's ABC mean??? Anything But a Card of course! FUN!!! You can make tags, gift bags, scrapbook pages, decorate ornaments...anythings goes as long as it's not a card!

Before we get started I just thought I would go over our new rules, they're really easy to follow...

1. You must use a YNS Rubber or Digi Stamp to play along
2. You may enter as many times as you like
3. You are welcome to combine your entry with other challenges
4. Have FUN! We want to see your awesome YNS creations!!!

One lucky winner will be chosen by random.org to win the adorable Ellie Loves to Skate cling stamp and the Winner Blinkie to proudly display on their blog! Already own this adorable stamp? No worries, if your name gets picked I'll give you YNS bucks instead!

Check out these amazing ABC projects the YNS DT have prepared for you!!! -----

Amy - Seasonal Icons Set Three

Dana - Merry Mouse Ornament

Diana - Ho Ho Santa

Jen del Muro October Guest - Seasonal Icons Set Three and Spread the Cheer

Jen R - Happy Holidays Stamp and Die Set

Jenny P. - Rockin' Christmas Tree

Close Up

Kerri - New Holiday Mini Stamps

Maureen - Happy Holidays Stamp and Die set

Peggy - Freezy the Snowman

Susan (October Guest) - Holly Jolly Presents

Wendy - Happy Holidays Stamp and Die Set

Thanks for joining us! We look forward to seeing your fabulous ABC creations!!!
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Happy Stamping!

Day 5 - 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!!!

2011-10-25T00:00:00.002-04:00

Click this link if you missed Day 1 and want to know more about this awesome holiday release!

Welcome to DAY 5 of our 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!

You still have 24 hours remaining to join our YNS Challenge and to comment on CCC #3 - both of these are wonderful opportunities to WIN some YNS Goodies!!!

Day 5 - A Fabulous Holiday Design by Fhiona Galloway and some super FUN Franfou Designs!!!

Today brings snother super adorable design by Fhiona Galloway!!! We all found out yesterday that Ellie Loves to Knit and today she's letting us know that she loves to ski too!!!

DT member Jenny Peterson and super amazing guest Jen del Muro has some amazing and adorable projects featuring Ellie Loves to Ski!!!

Ellie Loves to Ski - Jen del Muro

How CUTE is this?! Looks like Ellie is having a blast on the ski slopes! Check out those cool ski goggles!
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Ellie Loves to Ski - Jenny Peterson

Ellie really is a sweetie! Jenny told me that she loves to ski too! I haven't hit the slopes in years but I'm thinking this year my hubby and I just might have to get out for a little skiing fun! I wonder if it's possible to look as cute at Ellie in all her ski gear!? Oh, and do you see all those yummy YNS glittered skittles on this cute card?

Now let's check out these amazing Holiday Franfou stamps!!! Some of you may be saying these look familiar! Well, due to popular demand I decided to bring them back !!! They are bigger than the original release from 2 years ago and 3 of them now come with a bonus sentiment! FUN!

Check out these fabulous projects by some of our talented YNS DT members...

Happy as a Reindeer - Jen Roach

This super cute reindeer always makes me smile! Love him!!! Check out his sparkly red nose! CUTE!!!

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Very Merry Wisemen - Wendy Ramlahkan

Check out these very merry wisemen! I know, I know they're funny - right? and maybe they look like they've been burning a bit too much incense but that's what makes them so cool!

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Very Merry Wisemen - Jenny Peterson

How can you not smile or giggle when you look at these wisemen...come on, I know you love them as much as I do! LOL

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Rockin' Christmas Tree - Dana Joy

Did you catch yourself humming this awesome holiday song while checking out this fabby project!?

Rockin' around the Christmas tree
at the Christmas party hop.
Mistletoe hung where you can see
ev'ry couple tries to stop.

Rockin' around the Christmas tree,
let the Christmas spirit ring.
Latter we'll have some pumpkin pie
and we'll do some caroling.

You will get a sentimental feeling
when you hear voices singing
"Let's be jolly,
Deck the halls with boughs of holly."

Rockin' around the Christmas Tree.
Have a happy holiday.
Ev'ryone dancing merrily
in the new old fashioned way.

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Freezy the Snowman - Peggy Toole

I love these sweet tags! I can see me making a TON of these for all my holiday gifts! Simple, yet so awesome!!!

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PRIZE HINT - Today (Day 5) is my BIRTHDAY!!! Yep, I'm 21 years old today! LOL Actually I really don't want to be in my twenties again! Don't get me wrong, my twenties were awesome but I'm enjoying my thirties even more! Today I'm 35 years old - YAY! so let's celebrate with a PRIZE DAY!!! Leave me a sweet comment and I'll draw a random winner to win a special SURPRISE stamp package!!! I'll announce the winner tomorrow on Day 6. YIPPEE!!!

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Have a wonderful day! I'll see you again tomorrow!!! So much FUN to be had!!!

Day 4 - 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!!!

2011-10-24T00:00:00.006-04:00

Click this link if you missed Day 1 and want to know more about this awesome holiday release!

Welcome to DAY 4 of our 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!

You still have time to join our YNS Challenge and to comment on CCC #3 - both of these are wonderful opportunities to WIN som YNS Goodies!!!

Day 4 - Holiday Designs by Fhiona Galloway!!!

Today brings 2 super adorable designs by Fhiona Galloway!!! Check out these cuties...Family Photo and Ellie Loves to Knit!!!

DT members Jen Roach and Jenny Suchin and our super awesome guest Susan Liles have created some adorable projects for you today...

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Family Photo - Jen Roach

How sweet is this family?! Looks like they're posing for a family photo to put in their holiday cards they are sending out to friends and family! CUTE!!!
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Ellie Loves to Knit - Susan Liles

Ellie is such a sweetie! Looks like she's knitting someone a wonderful scarf for the holidays!!!

Jenny Suchin

Jenny did this super cute Family picture frame with the "Family Photo" stamp! Fitting! You can also find instructions on her blog! :)

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PRIZE HINT - Tomorrow (Day 5) is my birthday!!! I'm sensing some great prizes up for grabs!!! YIPPEE!!!

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Have a wonderful day! I'll see you tomorrow!!!

Day 3 - 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!!!

2011-10-23T00:00:00.013-04:00

Click this link if you missed Day 1 and want to know more about this awesome holiday release!

Welcome to DAY 3 of our 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!

Thank you for all your wonderful comments yesterday!

I drew a random winner from the YNS Facebook Page so let's see you won Hello Birdie, Snowman and the Holiday Joy set!

JoAnn who said "I love that cardinal!"

Congrats JoAnn! Please email me to claim your prize!

Day 3 - Holiday Designs by Dale Designs and Franfou!!!

Today brings an adorable Dale Design called Little Birdie Sign and a super CUTE Franfou Design called Merry Mouse Present for You!

DT members Dana and Diana have some adorable projects to share...check out this sweet tag and card!!!

Merry Mouse Gift for You - Diana Genario

How cute is this tag?! I wonder what's in the box!!! LOL Check out those yummy YNS glittered skittles Diana used on the tag too!!!

Here's a close up view...

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Little Birdie Sign - Dana Joy

This little sign is so CUTE and I can see it being used for other occasions - just don't stamp the words and you can add whatever you want to the sign - FUN! Dana has used some yummy red swirl glittered skittles on her card too!!

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I'm having so much FUN posting these Holiday Fun projects and blog posts for you!!! Tomorrow I'll give you a little peek at some of the new Fhiona Galloway Designs!!!! EEK! Total CUTENESS!!!

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PRIZE HINT - Have you read Carole's CCC #3 post yet? It's FABULOUS and if you comment your name goes into a draw for the Light Up the Holidays stamp set and die!!!! AWESOME!!! You only have a few more days to comment so be sure to check it out!!!

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Also it's Sunday so the Your Next Deal of the week section in the YNS Store has been updated! Be sure to check out the fabulous deals this week!

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Have a fabulous Sunday! I'll see you tomorrow for Day 4!

Day 2 - 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!!!

2011-10-22T00:00:00.001-04:00

Click this link if you missed Day 1 and want to know more about this awesome holiday release!

Welcome to DAY 2 of our 14 Days of YNS Holiday FUN!

Thank you for all your wonderful comments yesterday!

Holly Jolly Presents and Snowman Delight are adorable!!!

Let's see who are lucky winner is...

Trina who said "Fabulous projects, ladies!"

Congrats Trina! Please email me to claim your prize!

Day 2 - Holiday Designs by Dale Designs!!!

Check out these fabulous projects by Jen del Muro and Jen Roach featuring Dale's adorable Hello Birdie Snowman and Holiday Joy set!!!

Hello Birdie, Snowman - Jen del Muro

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I love Jen del Muro's tree ornament! I think that little birdie is telling the snowman that this ornament is on the way to the Dedman's house to decorate our tree this year!!! Thanks Jen! xo
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Holiday Joy - Jen Roach

I love this fabulous card by Jen Roach! The JOY comes with a fun little tree too! Perfect for cards, tags, matching gift sets, scrapbooking...so much FUN!!!

Here's a recap of the specials...

FREE gift with EVERY purchase

PLUS

FREE SHIPPING on all orders to Canada and the US over $30
(enter code YNSHolidays)

(the above specials are valid from Oct 21st - Nov 2nd)

PRIZE HINT - Check out our YNS Facebook Page today!!!!

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Are you having FUN yet?! Be sure to join us tomorrow for Day 3!!! YIPPEE!!!

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Have a super awesome day!