Challenge Day!

Today is challenge day at DCRU DT Blog!!! Head over to read about ht echallenge and jump in!!!

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HIYA!

ust wanted to say a quick hi to all the new followers and readers! Also, remember that if you ask me a question in the comments sections, please check the little box that asks youif you want to be notified of follow up comments! This way you will get my response :) Got some pics for you in a little bit! Also- don't forget to check out the Saturday Spotlight Giveaway in the post before this!

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Saturday Spotlight & 3 Giveaways!!!

Saturaday Spotlight: Sweet Sally Soaps

Name: Sarah Wagner-Ranes

Where are you from: I live in a small college town in central Pennsylvania with my husband, my soon to be 16 year old son, and our husky dog Sitka.

What do specialize in: I make handmade cold process soaps using natural ingredients that are beautiful to look at as well as wonderful for your skin. I also make lotions, bath salts, bath teas, lip balms, and salt scrubs.

Name & URL of store: Sweet Sally’s Soaps http://www.sweetsallyssoaps.etsy.com/

Where did the name come from: My husband actually came up with the name Sweet Sally’s Soaps. We were trying to come up with a name with three S’s. I go by the name Sarah; Sally is a nickname for Sarah, which I went by when I was a little girl. Sweet Sally’s Soaps sounded so much better than anything we tried with Sarah.

How did you get started on etsy?: I started on Etsy a little over a year ago with only a couple of products for sale. I did very little to promote it until the beginning of this year. I had no sales for a long time because I really had no idea how big Etsy was and how much completion there is, particularly in certain categories, Bath and Body being one with very high competition. It took a while to get started but sales are coming fairly regularly now.
Any advice for new etsy sellers that you have learned?: My advice to new sellers would be to get your name out there. Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs do help tremendously in getting you seen.

What do you want customers to know about you and/or your product: What I want customers to know about my products is that I make high quality soaps and lotion using the finest ingredients available. My soaps are excellent for your skin. Sometimes people look at my soaps and assume that because they are pretty that they just smell good and are decorative. People seem to have in their minds that natural products must be tan or brown, I say natural products can also be beautiful.

Shameless addictions (retail therapy, etc): I would say my only addiction is that I tend to become obsessed with whatever I am doing.Anything else interesting you'd like to share with us? Besides making soap I have been a fine art photographer for over 20 years, I am a III Degree Black Belt in Tai Kwon Do, and I have homeschooled my son since second grade.

GIVEAWAY! Now to win you must 1- Be a follower of my blog 2- Visit Sarah's store and come back here and comment with your favorite product! 3- If you make a purchase, let me know and I will give you 2 more entries!

There are 3 bars of soap up for grabs!!!!! How awesome is that!!

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go SHAWTY it's MY birthday :)

YEP. The BIG 2-8. Today. Yep. Just shy of that other number with a zero in it. (No need to remind me!) LOL. Just kidding. I really don't mind getting older. It's just a number. I still feel about 12 most days! I really believe life is what you make of it! I am so blessed and that little boy over there in the picture reminds me of it everytime I look at him! SO, you KNOW I have to celelbrate! LIKE IN 28 WAYS :) So, be a follower by clicking the button on the right, comment on this post, and if you post a link o rblog about my 28th BIRTHDAY BLOG CANDY giiveaway on your blog, then guess what- leave me another comment with the link. I PROMISE when you see what I have in store, you WILL NOT be sorry you played along!!!!!!!!! OHHHH! I forgot to tell you what I want for my birthday.!!!! Ready- UK to Beat UofL Saturday! GO KENTUCKY!!!! Seriously, if anyone can arrange that already, I'll be one happy camper. (I am a HUGE Big Blue fan!! Hubby is a UofL fan, house divided with the score of 1 to 1. As for Matthew, well, I have chocolate, the kid will say whatever I want:) lol) Go shawty, it's my birthday :)!!! (Below my BFF Ashleigh and I at a UK football game last season. I even got Dustin to wear a KY shirt. lol. I even have pictures to prove it. He wasn't happy about it, but I begged since we were in the Cats Endzone!!! :) (yes, the hair was dark this time last year. I like change :)

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Task List :)

WHat I am knee deep into this afternoon: (I have Bible Study at my church on Thursday mornings while Matthew is in the Preschool downstairs :)

--Finishing my PIF gifts from the post I did last month.One is already mailed.
--Finishing my new album kits I have been working on so I can get them to my guest designers. WHEW- they have been a lot more work than I was ready for.
--Trying to shake this upper respiratory crap I can't get to go away.
--Pakcing mailing orders.
--Finishing cards for soldiers.
--Finishing new cards for swap.
--Working on some fab new cards and going to try to sneak a LO in tonight!
SHWEW. Makes me need a nap just looking at it!

REMEBER: There are some great links on the top of my blog to blog candy and details on the stamped image swap if you still want to join in to get some free stamped images. Please know you can send all the same images or different if you'd like. We'd just like you to join!

So, whatcha doin today???

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Jasmine is Having a....

SO I am totally excited to show you this super cute stamp from Rubber Romance Stamps. This is Jasmine is Having A Baby. I stamped the image with my black Momento Ink, coming soon to Die Cuts R Us, and colored with my copics from DCRU. Mind you, I AM NOT a copic pro in any way, so be kind, lol. I am just learning with them and I am slowing building my set a few here and there! After I colored her in, I cut her out and popped her on the front! How adorable is she really! LOVE IT! Head over to Rubber Romance Stamps to pick up her or one of her Non Preggo friends :) Also check out the blog! A sketch challenge is coming soon on there!!!

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My embellies in a new kit club release!

I am so excited to finally be able to tell you guys about a new kit club that I was asked to design and make embellishments for! JuJuBee's! Read about it HERE! The firts month's kit is on it's way to me and I can't wait to show you what I make with it! It's full of yummy goodness! You can see my embellies right in the middle of this picture! Wait until you see what they had me do for October & November! If you buy this kit, let me know and I will post your pics or a link to you on my blog too! Can't wait to what everyone makes!

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DT Call at ABC Challenge Blog!

There is a DT Call over at ABC Challenge's Blog. They ask that you post 3 of your favorite cards, but you know me, I have more fav's than just 3! So, here ya go!

Birthday Set!

I really love this new stamp set I got from SU. PP is from Making Memories and I used my QuicKutz embossing folder I got from DCRU on the blue. I added googly eyes to the animals for fun! Can't wait to put this set of 3 in my etsy shop! Why might I showcase a birthday set??? Maybe because Friday is MY birthday! WOO HOO!

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Cutting Above

HSN/Provo Craft Gypsy launch on September 24th starting at 12 AM. Be sure to DVR or TIVO the show if you will not be home to check out all the coolness. Also check out the new blog Cutting Above.

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Personal Request

I am posting tonight to request prayers of strength from those of you who would care to do so. September is a hard month for me. Not because my birthday or anything, but because 4 years ago the 28th I lost my little brother and I am having a really hard night tonight. Just hit me as I was putting my little guy to bed. All of a sudden I start remembering every detail of the night in the hospital after his wreck when I got to go in after he already passed and hold his hand and say goodbye. I have cried for about 2 hours straight tonight b/c I felt like I needed too. Over the next week or so, you will probably get a few more of these requests as the devil loves to remind me of all the reasons I should be mad, upset, and angry with God for taking a wonderful 18 year old from this earth, from me. I know God has a plan and I HAVE to have FAITh in Him. Without my faith, I don't know if I would have gotten out of bed on the 29th, or 30th, or 1st. or ever. Some of you may not be a believer and I am sure you have your reasons, and I respect everyone's beliefs, but for me, I HAVE to have faith. I don't have Matt, aka Bubba, so Faith is all I have. Faith, memories, pictures, and his namesake, my Matthew. PLEASE say a special prayer of protection from the enemy and STRENGTH for me. Blessings. - SJ

Win an Album Kit!!!

I am sposoring this week over at Midnight Madness! Click HERE!

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For a Gracious Hostess!

I love little gifts! I made this to give to my aunt who had the family over for a Labor Day Cookout. It's also my work for the Tuesday challenge at Die Cuts R Us. Check out the challenge HERE! Join In!

I added chocolates in the box which is an old Stampin Up Stamp box that one stamp came in! Add some paper, embossing, pretty ribbon, tag, and stars and WAH LAH! Anyone have any great suggestions for hostess gifts? I love new quirky ideas! Maybe it's something you have given or have received! (Mind you that I come from a country family and I never knew you took hostess gifts until I moved to the "city" lol. Our form of hostess gifts was a side of hash brown casserole, potato salad, or macaroni and tomato to go with dinner!

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Housekeeping and Birthday Card!

Couple of housekeeping items first. Spots still available for stamped image swap. I will be taking signups until the postmark date of Sept 30th. See the top of my blog for details. Card swap girls- be sure and postmark cards by the 30th as well. If you are particpating in both, you can mail them together!

2- SaraBeth. You are amazing. I received my PIF gift from her, and it is crazy cool. I will post pics soon! You are awesome! (On that note, I have been working on miue one at a time, so if you were on my PIF list- I am working on it and have sent one out already!)

3. Just wanted to share this little card I made. I realized on the way to giving it the other day that I hadn't taken a picture to share! AH!.loo . So yes, at a redlight, I put it on my dash and took one! Papers and chipboard are Sassafras and I am IN LOVE with them more than life itself right now. The stamped image is SU and I got it in a stamped image swap! I colored it using my Copics from Die Cuts R Us. Enjoy!!!




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Recycle!

Who doesn't love fun new embellies? Try some cardboard, die, spray paint, crimper, and brad and you have : WAH LAH! I use priority mail boxes that I have received product in to make these. I hate throwing the boxes in the trash!! Don't forget to check the top of the blog for the links to the blog candy, freebies, and swaps!!!!

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***Don't forget to enter the free giveaways listed at the top of my blog!!!
Proud Member of:
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Tutorials

Hi all! I have gotten several comments wanting to know about the fabric and felt flowers I used on the card I posted earlier today. I used my Cuttlebug with Sizzix Dies to cut them! Anyone want a video tutorial ?? I am thinking about maybe doing video tutorials on things like this. So, if you are interested in some video tutorials, leave a comment with different things you'd like to see, know, me to show, etc! If I don't know how to do, I'll try it for the both of us!

FYI- If you are tkaing part in a swap, I have the links posted on the top of my blog to make it easy to find the details. Once I get your package- you will see it marked! Stamped images swap is still open!

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FREE FUN!

So let's just say you might want to go to A Giveaway Everyday and check out MY giveaway :) 3 great prizes from yours truly!!!


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Quick Card and Reminder

A fun lil card. A little wild, but so what! I wanted to use my new QuicKutz Embossing folder I got from Die Cuts R Us. I also made the felt/fabric flower and sewed a button on the middle. After I embossed the cardstock I turned my Chlak Ink pad over and hit the circles, then inked the edges and then held it in front of my room heater to set it! Add a ribbon, the feltie, and done!

DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR THE STAMPED IMAGE SWAP!!!! Read yesterday's post for more details!!!!

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Swappy McSwaperson :) UPDATEDTuesday 9/16

Stacie said it best: "What a great way to get a bunch of new images without having to buy them all!!!" JOIN US! (Read more: HERE)

Here is an updated list of who I have in for the Stamped Image Swap so far: LIST OF THOSE WHO ARE IN SO FAR:
Yvette
Dana - Got them!
Mary - Got them!
Ms. Cheryl

Karen
Sheryl
Amanda - Got them!
SJ - Got them!
Jana
Stacie

Nicole

Tanya

Raegan

Crystal

WHO'S NEXT?

Spread the word on your blogs too!!!

Just liink to my post HERE for details!!!

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Earth Love- What do You Do?

How cute are these birds. Seriously! I took a couple minutes the other night to make this pair from the new Earth Love by Cosmo Cricket. I got my paper and my chipboard accents at Die Cuts R Us. Seriously, the line is adorable. Full of birds, butterflies, mushrooms, flourishes, flowers, and more. You should check it out. Sp, sspeaking of the Earth, tell me what you have done to Go Green. I really haven't met one person who hasn't changed something! Share!

Want to join the stamped image swap and get 20 new images to play with??? READ HERE!!!!!

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Stamped Image Swap! **UPDATED 9/10!!

I know I already posted today, scroll down for that, but someoen emailed me with a fab idea and I wanted to pass it on! A stamped image swap! If you are already a part of my card swap, you can combine the two and send them together and get yours back together. If you aren't in the card swap, you can just do this one! Here is how it works- you stamp **USING STAZ ON OR MOMENTO TYPE INKS (this prevents smearing best for watercoloring or copics)20 of your favorite stamps- quotes (avoid simple quotes everyone has like Happy Birthday and such) , pictures, whatever stamp or stamps you have that YOU LOVE onto white cardstock squares or rectangles, **LEAVE AT LEAST AN INCH BORDER AROUND IMAGE FOR CROPPING**. Place them all in an envelope (include a stamped selff addressed envelope inside) and mail them to me, you will get 20 stamped images from others back! I know a lot of us have so many stamps out there, what agreat way to share your favs or soem you don't use much and get some cool ones back. I am SO going to use some of the new stamps from the SU mini catalog for my set!!! And to make this deal a bit sweeter- I will randomly draw one participant of this swap to get a FREE stamp when their package comes back to them! So, cut some squares, stamp and let's swap! Comment if you are interested in joining in!!! **PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU IMAGES ARRIVE SMEARED YOU WILL GET THOSE IMAGES BACK AS PART OF YOUR 20. Please only send images you would want to receive and make the quality of your stamping fab! Email me with questions and I will respond with my shipping address!!!!

LIST OF THOSE WHO ARE IN:

Yvette

Dana

Mary

CraftPrincess

Karen

Sheryl

Amanda

SJ

Jana

Stacie

WHO'S NEXT? Spread the word on your blogs too!!!

A Lil Something Inside & Out :)

A card makin fool the past few days :) Nothing fancy here. Just some Lime Rickey by BG and some SU cardstock I embossed with one of the new QuicKutz embossing folders I got from Die Cuts R Us. I layered my paper like usual and then used my punch to punch through all the layers! Takes a couple hard squeezes to get through all the layers, but it will work! Add a super cool handmade felt flower with a button sewn in the middle and wah lah, a notecard with a lil something inside and out :)

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A "Sweet" Card...no really....

Just wanted to share this little Halloween card I made using the new SU! Sweet Centers Stamps and Treat Cups! It's a hostess set in the new Holiday Mini. It was fun to make, but it took me a second to figure it out! And yes, the red Skittles are no where to be found. I ate them as I made it. It took all the willpower in the world not to eat the purple ones as they are my fav, but I needed them for color:) The sacrifices we make :) I think Matthew will give these to his preschool friends since there are only 7 or 8! I am going to make some to sell in the shop too! Have a happy day!


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Operation Nice Giveaway Winners!

Giveaway ONE: 29 comments: True Random Number Generator Min: 1Max: 29 Result: 8 Powered by RANDOM.ORG
WINNER IS: Amy Croley


Giveaway TWO: 19 Comments: True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 13 Powered by RANDOM.ORG
WINNER IS: GINNY

Thanks to everyoen who commentes! Remember the more post you comment on the more chances you have for my monthly comment giveaway! And a VERY big welcome to all the new followers!!!! Amy & Ginny- Email me your mailing address! sammyejo@62cards.com



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Swap Peeps- I need your info!

Would the following peopel please email me at sammyejo@62cards.com so I can send you the details of the card swap? Rembmer, I have one spot left if you want it! You make or pick from your stash 10 cards, mail them to me, then you get 10 new in return. They can be any theme, style, etc. I do ask that you keep them to an A2 size 4.25x5.5 so shipping should be close to the same across the board. If you want the one spot left, email me! I have almost everyone's email address except: Terria & Sherry C.! Look for an email from me this week!!


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It Was So Much Fun! LO (from scraps :)

I am not totally happy with this LO, but my goal was to use mostly scraps on it and still make it cute. (Diane did a great post on the DCRU DT blog last week talking about scraps.) So, I punched circles out of all my small scraps. The Patterened paper was left over from his birthday banner I made, and the felt brackets wereleftover from something! I cut the letters out of a PP (Patterned paper) sheet I had. The Jenni Bowlin Bingo Card was new and I circled the 11 spot b/c he was 11 months old in the pics! I can't believe summer is almost over. You can smell fall in the the air for sure! What was your favorite part of summer? We didn't get to really do a lot since Dustin had a couple surgeries and such, but we made the best we could! Baseball outside, picnics on the porch, and lots of crafting time!!!!

Check back tonight for the winners of the Operation Nice Blog Hop Giveaways!

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Update

SO sorry about the no post yesterday. Dustin's grandma passed away on Saturday and I left Dustin for the first time for more than 30 minutes Saturday to pick up Matthew from my mom and eat lunch at my aunt's house. So, we will be traveling to Etown, about 45 mins away today for family visitation. Pray for us as it will be Dustin's first trip out of the house and he is feeling horrible still from the surgery. I am so afraid he is going to be out of it all week long. He will not be going to the funeral tomorrow. (Let me just tell you that the relationship that the grandparents had with the grandchildren is not a typical one. Much different than the relationship my grandparents and I have and I think a lot different than most. They were not close, didn't do birthdays and holidays, and I can count on one hand the times they have seen Matthew. Just different. Dustin's dad though was close with his mom, so we are going to support him. Our sorrow is for his loss. My Father-In-Law is a wonderful man who I love and respect so very much.) Anyways- Just wanted to give you guys a heads up to my whereabouts :) I will post a "normal" post for today in a few. Thanks for being fab :)

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Operation Nice- Day 2- Giveaway 2

Happy Day 2 of Operation Nice Blog Hop ALL!!!!!!
If you are just landing on my blog, make sure you start at the beginning HERE! Tomorrow, I will have another nice deed listed and another giveaway. This hop is all about being Nice. To celebrate, I am offering some fab BLOG CANDY! To be eligible, become a follower (Because you are nice :), and leave a comment! Check back on the 7th, the day after this hop ends for the winner(s)!EACH DAY DURING THE HOP THAT YOU COME BACK, DON'T FORGET TO COMMENT B/C THERE IS GOING TO BE A WINNER EACH DAY! :) (if you missed yesterday, scroll down to comment and be eligible for the prize!

Now on to tell you about one NICE deed.

I got a GREAT monogram stamp set from Die Cuts R Us and I couldn't wait to try it out. SO, I made my sister, my friend Lindsey & my friend Lee a set of monogrammed notecards. They all loved them! I even stamped a few monogrammed circles for my friend Reagan too. It's so much fun seeing someone smile with something so little!!!

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