Paper Expressions

Seed Organizing, New Hairdo & More!

Hi!

Many changes have happened in the last 6 weeks-

I left my job at Craft Warehouse as manager of the quilting department to work at Janean's Bernina instead.  Better hours, a great boss and coworkers and lots of new quilting/sewing for me to learn.

I have been sorting and organizing my garden seeds-

and today I got a SHORTER haircut.  As I approach my 60th birthday next month its time  to get rid of the long hair that I only keep in a ponytail because my neck gets to hot! lol  also tired of the hair hanging in my eyes- 

Not sure it will  look like that again when I am doing it but its better than it was!  the front is still a work in progress lol-   it's not easy retraining my hair because it has a mind of its own!!

I have not given up Stampin Up in case you are curious-  Its been tough planning classes with my former work schedule and the pandemic stuff-  hoping to get back on track by summer after I get used to this new schedule.

I just placed my New Catalog pre order!!  I am pretty excited with the SUITE I chose and all the new In color inks and cardstock~!!!  We aren't allowed to share the catalog just yet online, but as soon as we get the go ahead, I will post the online pdf link here!

But as you are aware its your LAST CHANCE to order from the Current catalogs- (links in the right column of the page)

The 2021–2022 Annual Catalog will be retiring soon! It’s always bittersweet to see a classic Stampin’ Up! catalog take a trip to retirement. But, I'm looking forward to all the new products on the way—and I hope you are, too!

Stock up on your favorite products before they’re gone for good! Save up to 50% on essential craft supplies. What are you waiting for? Start shopping! After all, this selection of Last Chance Products is only available while supplies last.

Click this link for the pdf list of what is retiring-  Download 2021-2022-Annual-Catalog-Last-Chance-Products_US

I hope you are healthy and having fun with your projects!

Be sure to click on the new catalog links on the right side of this blog! Check out all the gorgeous supplies!

Have a Creative Day!

Please Click on the shopping cart to place your STAMPIN UP! online order. All orders are shipped using UPS directly to YOU!
 

 

Celebrating 18 years with Stampin Up!

 

 

 

 

Tomato Pruning

Hi friends!    I am sharing a great video today about tomato pruning, I have been doing this for years and it really does make a lot of difference!!   Back in the 1990s when I had my 2 acre organic market garden, I had over 400 tomato plants! Yep!  Altho as the years have gone by and my life has made so many changes I no longer have a huge garden. 

Anyhow here is the awesome video and you can follow them as I do on their blog-  they offer great advice for beginning gardeners and great tips for us "seasoned" growers!

I too use straw for mulching under my plants-  photos of that from my personal gardens tomorrow!

 

 

Have a lovely day!~

Gwen

 

Where Have I Been? In the Yard!

Well,  here is part of the reason I haven't posted, it's been quite a long and tedious project!

Here are the first of three raised garden beds ready to fill and plant. We built the "tables" so we wouldn't have to bend over so much. The raised beds are fabric with a PVC frame and came from:
https://www.grassrootsfabricpots.com/raised-beds/

They were easy to assemble and we are really looking forward to seeing how they work overtime. The PVC fittings are ready to accept a trellis when we get around to it. or not, depending on what is growing in the boxes.
this has been quite a project~ started with removing half the rose bed and the dirt, adding the beautiful stone wall, leveling the dirt adding the 20-year landscape fabric, then the gravel and building the tables- sure will be glad next week to have them all up and filled and planted!

There will only be 3 of them, they are 3x6ft.  Each box holds about 1300 lbs of grow mix we will have to get a load at a time and fill each box next week-  My back is aching just thinking about it! lol

Here are my garden stakes-  I am a bit upset, I ordered 2 sets of the tiles off eBay and have only gotten 1- I filed a report both with eBay and with pay pal. I just want the tiles so I can finish my stakes!

Did you start a garden? Maybe even your first one or in containers?  I have several containers with veggies in them on the Patio- onions, spinach, romaine, potatoes, radishes (those have been yummy!!!), and a green bean teepee tower!  I will try to get photos of each next week as for now I was called back in to work on Tuesday - I am surprised the store is open mostly people are after art supplies and fabric to make masks or to just get "out".  We have to wear a mask (frankly they are a pain and really not effective) and people are not really following the 6ft social distancing very well.  This is quite a change for all of us (me included) I would like to just hide at home going out when needed and work on my own home and projects! lol  

It is not right to be scolded for not wearing a mask- that is a personal choice. Or have we been stripped of those as well?  And it's not right to yell and people out the window who are out or outside working.  And I don't think reporting businesses that are open is doing anyone any good either-  not all small businesses are getting any help financially-  and when we lose those small businesses we lose our economy.

I don't think being cranky is helpful to anyone!  and gloves are a total waste of time- and here is why

And, I started a new journal project I will be sharing next week too!  I am sorry I went missing but I knew my time off was limited and we tried to fit in as much as possible during my time off, Kay is still waiting to go back to work could be July now-

hope you are well, safe and making good use of your creative time!  We all wish for more time, and sometimes when we have it we don't know what to do with it! lol  

hugs!

Gwen

Small Business Tips

This would really help out!

Thanks~have a creative weekend!

 

Visit my Facebook Page HERE

Be sure to click on the new catalog links on the right side of this blog! Check out all the gorgeous supplies!

 

 

Please Click on the shopping cart to place your STAMPIN UP! online order. All orders are shipped using UPS directly to YOU!

Celebrating 15 years with Stampin Up!

Let's Salsa!

I want to share the news!  It's Salsa Time at our house!

I am so ready to pull up all the tomato plants in the garden!  My pepper plants aren't producing so well this year, but I do have a LOT of bees, HUGE bees almost on every flower out there and that is great news, but I also have Japanese beetles shredding my plants. Never let anyone tell you that bugs wont eat marigolds because its a lie! There is nothing that those beetles won't touch in the garden. I am using Neem spray on them but I just cannot keep up. They decimated the leaves in one of our trees and now they are driving me nuts on my garden plants. Rant over (for now)

Here are a few photos of my Salsa and if you want the delicious recipe,  you will need to leave a comment below and include your email address.

TRUST me! This recipe is delicious and was given to me by my neighbor Dottie.

And I have 3 more batches that I didn't take a picture of-  Now, if I could just sell the tomatoes I picked this weekend and then pull the plants~!

I hope your canning season is going well too!

hugs

Gwen

Say What?

HI!

My name is Gwen Mangelson and I am a Stampin Up! Demonstrator. I teach people how to make paper craft items like cards, journals, boxes, scrapbook pages, tags, etc. This November will be my 14th year with the company. This IS a business for me, and the income it brings from orders/sales/parties etc... helps us pay our bills and enables me to bring out the creativity in others. (and in myself!)
The reasons I love Stampin Up! are because of the integrity of the company, the quality of the products and THE FUN! I love meeting/making new friends, sharing my love of Stampin Up! and bringing out creativity in people of all ages they didn't realize they have!

I started this blog 10 years ago to share that love and my love/passions for gardening, sewing, quilting, food storage and many other things!  I love all your comments, suggestions and support! I want to say thank you to each of you who come here to see what fun I am up to lately!  I know a lot of other demos only share their stamping projects, I like to share my life with you too- there is way more to me than begging for your business (but I am not above doing that either! lol)  and I know there are many dimensions to each of your lives as well and it's fun to share and learn from each other.

The New Holiday catalog comes out September 1. If you want one I need to know right away so I be sure I order enough of them.

My only request is that you place your order from that free catalog with me on my website .   I have to admit, as demonstrators it makes us sad when people ask for free catalogs and then order from another demonstrator.  This is a business for many of us, not a "hobby".  I know you understand and I appreciate that!

I wanted to tell you today how much fun I have sharing my life with you here, hearing from you and answering your questions!

In case you didn't know I have a Facebook Page - Paper Expressions

Here's a cute project for you to create and share! The Sentiment can be changed to fit the occasion.

Stamps
• Beautiful Bouquet Stamp Set

Paper
• Calypso Coral Cardstock
• Old Olive Cardstock
• Pool Party Cardstock
• Tranquil Tide Cardstock
• Whisper White Cardstock
• Delightful Daisy Designer Series Paper

Ink
• Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin’ Pad®
• Night of Navy Classic Stampin’ Pad
• Pool Party Classic Stampin’ Pad
• Tranquil Tide Classic Stampin' Pad®

Accessories and Tools
• Rhinestone Basic Jewels
• Big Shot™
• Bouquet Bunch Framelits™Dies
• Mini Treat Bag Thinlits™Die

 

Have a wonderful creative day friends! Thanks for stopping by!

 

 Please Click on the shopping cart to place your STAMPIN UP! online order. All orders are shipped using UPS directly to YOU!

Making Fun

Hi everyone! It's great to see you today!

A few changes are occurring here in the Studio- mainly class scheduled days-   I will post classes only on my Stampin Up Website at THIS link

You may have to click to the next month to see what is coming up and when you have a class you want to take you MUST RSVP on the page that pops up. I will then contact you about pre payment for the class and prep your supplies in time.

Here are some photos of this weeks fun  This is Rose and her projects.........

 
And this is Sandy and her projects!

All our other gals were away on vacation but we had fun without them!

Class will now be on Thursdays as I am tending 2 boys ages 6 and 3 for a friend 3 days a week. They are good boys and we are having fun. 

Whatever pays the bills right?

And on the home canning front- these were processed last night- bread and butter pickles

and earlier in the week it was green beans and carrots and dilly beans. I decided to use the avery website to create fun labels for the lids of all my jars this year. That way there is NO arguing about what is inside or how old it is!  I have another set of 2 1/2" lables and 2"labels coming via amazon on Monday.

Its so hot this week, most of my plants are in wilt because I just can't keep it all watered enough. I did pick 2 gallons of blackberries this evening!

I am washing and freezing them on a cookie sheet them putting them in a food saver bag- that way they don't form a  clump in the sack!

I hope your weekend is going great and not as hot as ours!

hugs

Gwen

A Lovely Mother's Day Gift

My sweetheart made me this brick path under the arbor he made last year for me for Mother's day.

I am truly blessed.

Have you ever heard the term: Make hay while the sun shines?  Well that is what I am doing- except it is plant veggies and flowers while the sun shines and craft and clean house when it rains (tomorrow through the weekend).

I have my Stampin Up!  Pre order and the new catalogs (come by to get one) and I will be in that box when it begins to rain this week! Well, after I get the house cleaned, I have ignored it for the last 10 days because of the sunshine!

But for now, I have 11 flats of flowers I grew from seed in my greenhouse to get planted today and I am wondering where to put them?

I love repurposing old bricks that we get for free!  Now we are hunting for free pallets to create a garden patio so I can sit with the neighbor in the shade when it's hot and talk gardening!

Come over in June and check out the garden!!!  Hopefully by then the rain will subside and the garden won't have flooded like 2 years ago and I had to replant! Optimism is my life when it comes to gardening/farming/ranching.

I hope you are having a fabulous week !

Gwen

 

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It's Over!

Hi everyone!

I am not lost, we have flooding in the back of our land but we are not "flooded". Our home is up in the side of a hill and it would take quilt a load of water to get to it. Thank goodness!  This photo was taken just past our driveway on the left- on the right is our neighbors and the water is over the road into our acreage running about 6"deep at 6pm last night. Before the night was over it was double but today it's a lot lower and not even over the road but still running strong.

Yesterday was our Genealogy Seminar that I have been spending so much time working toward.   Set up was Friday and we had a great time learning about family history, genealogy and making new friends all day yesterday. Today my knees, ankles and feet were swollen tho from those concrete floors.  A soak in the tub and good  old Ben Gay and  I hope to be right as rain tomorrow!  Now we have an exit meeting this week and then  4 months off before we meet again! Phew!

This week I "plan" to catch up on all things Stampin Up but today I want to share a few photos at this Facebook page link of our seminar and the Genealogical Display boards I created using Stampin Up Cardstock and my Silhouette.

I am going to have to do some garden rescue tomorrow as the 6 inches in just over 1 day of rain have really made a mess out there.  I did have a lot of the plants under plastic but with that much rain and thin plastic, its not always what I hope for! And I have a FULL greenhouse to get planted this week too- sigh

My Prayers today are for all who are suffering from the massive flooding here in Missouri and anywhere else it's happening. It's a mess. I am sure you have seen some of it on the news or FB posts.

Anyway, I wanted to say hello !~!!!!!

Gwen

 

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Card Class & Rant

HELLO!!

Before I share last weeks cards with you, I want to show you why I am not posting daily lately so, Ranting first -

AND this is after I had already been online for "a few minutes"
Yep, internet problems STILL. (insert really cranky face)   3 years ago our rural dsl worked fine- of course not as fast as in town, but it WAS working- then they began construction of overpasses locally - fiber optic cables were cut at least 2-3 times and I am not sure how they repaired them but OUR service stinks now.  It gets worse each month-  it's to the point now that only 1 person in the house can be on a computer and God forbid Netflix is on because no one in the house  can get on the net!  AND ATT suggests that we "Downgrade" because supposidly it will be "faster"  hahahahahahahah  one tech did that to us and NOTHING would load, we made them put it back to the previous setting and of course we are charged full price for services we DO NOT GET!

Anyhow  I have limited my posts to just about 3 a week until this problem is resolved by ATT.  Because of our Rural Nature, we cannot get any other provider- no thanks to satellite- if there is a storm no one gets anything (why we cancelled dish 9 years ago)  at least with a land line to the house one of us gets "something" part of the time and I prefer not have to use my cell phone data plan "all the time"

Ok rant over- here are the technique cards we made this month at Card Class. I cased a couple cards from some SU friends to use them to teach these techniques to my customers.

This one is absolutely stunning in person, and will make great wedding cards! And that BEE~! I am in love with the BEE!

Tip: You can create this card in the wedding colors to make it special for the couple.

 I have also been working in the gardens. This morning I took 4 ibuprophen to help with my aches, pains and stiffness! lol

Whomever stated that growing old was not for sissies was RIGHT!  UGH -lol   We are adding a raspberry bed this year- FALL GOLD  my absolute favorite type.  So sweet and delish! We are just taking one of the beds we already have and putting them in there instead of constructing a whole new bed. (My idea)  I really dont want new projects this year, I want to finish up the ones we already started! lol

Have a creative day everyone!

Hugs, Gwen