A Holiday "Peep-Pimp"

If you have been a reader for a while then you know... I loves to pimp my peeps. My lifelong pal Shannon has a wonderful Etsy shop; Boogiebead... and since you are ALL buying all handmade items this season (right?!?) you MUST check her out.

My favorite Boogiebead items are the holiday bracelets; they are so cute, the beads she uses are adorable! You can trust that the items are well made and that Shannon ALWAYS stands behind her work. This bracelet sells for just $14.95


But now Shannon also has a swanky line that is very sophisticated and "high-end". She uses Hill Tribe Silver, so the purchase of her work helps support Thai Artisans. How pretty is this necklace... and for UNDER $30!


Please help support artists and buy handmade items this Christmas!

Pimpin' My Peeps... and a Contest!

You remember my friend Shannon the Jewelry Artist right? Well I thought it'd be fun if we could all help her out with a little contest. She needs a new name for her growing, successful jewelry business. She used to specialize in adorable holiday bracelets... and personalized name bracelets... and she will still be making those. Here a couple pics from her current Etsy Shop... Aren't they adorable! Buy then now so you are ready for Halloween! :)



but now look at her NEW work! Isn't it gorgeous! So soft and pretty... just beautiful!



So Shannon needs us to help her with a new name! This new jewelry is made with Hill Tribe Silver from Thailand. You can read more about what that means HERE.

Words Shannon likes include; Organic, Natural, Simple, Nature, Raw, Earth... but feel free to think beyond this.

Post your ideas here... I will keep the contest open until this Wednesday at midnight CST... we will announce a winner next week. IF Shannon uses your idea she will have a special prize for you. I will take ALL the entries and enter them into a random drawing (one entry per suggestion). The winner will receive a free Papercrafting Kit similar to those I will be posting in MY new Etsy Shop being revealed later this week (don't look for it YET... it's not ready!)

So start thinking... and thanks for helping out Shannon!

It's Not Too Late!

Feel free to forward this post to your hubby.

Mom's day is right around the corner, and you may just want one of these cool mommy bracelets. This is also a great gift for a mommy-to-be! Made with love by my BFF Shannon at Booggiebead... She really makes a quality product and you will not be disappointed...

She has a ton of other cool stuff too... You may have seen some of the other stuff I have shown that was created by Shannon... Just check out her website for more... or her Etsy Shop.

Look Ma! No Stamps!

If you are like me you have a BIG jar of miscellaneous buttons sitting around. I have actually MOVED with buttons; extras sewn onto dress tags, buttons that fall off a shirt I later give to charity rather than mend... and buttons that just appear seemingly from nowhere! Who the heck is leaving these buttons all over my house? Button Pixies???

Well some of them are just so pretty... so I made them into a button bracelet! I used Stampin' Up Linen Thread to string it up... and it's surprisingly quite sturdy. I have worn this bracelet several times already and I love how the thread gets a bit more frayed and worn each time I wear it. It was quick and simple to make too.


If I didn't just get a HUGE stamp order I would have more time to make other crafts like these! I also have some projects I am working on for www.sideshowstamps.com. They have some amazingly quirky stuff; and I am making some VERY special things to show off to all of you retro lovers. I am going to start to switch things up a bit more here at Sarah and the Stampstars... more of what I love to create and less of what I think my customers and readers want to see... I hope you all stick with me! I truly LOVE blogging for you all... I am just feeling a need to create more for me and the love of creation; not just the love of Stampin' Up!... you follow?

I also want to welcome the newest member of the Stampstars team; Creative Katie! She is a total stamp addict who lost her "dealer" and decided she would rather be a pusher than a junkie! She OFFICIALLY became a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator on Wednesday, and she is so excited! Be sure to visit her blog Katemade Designs and say howdy and welcome to SU! I am so happy to have her on my team and look forward to getting to know her better!

Oh and another bit of unrelated info... several of you asked me who WON the Googley eye challenge... You can see the winners HERE. They're ok I guess... not as cute as my little tomato trapped in a box... the tomato is still "alive" by the way; I am letting him age so I can get an "old man tomato" picture of him... stay tuned!

Well I better get to bed; it's 2:00 AM here. The sky is an odd color of pink and it's windy "as all get out" here in Elgin, IL. If I had a hatch to "batten down" I would batten it... whatever that means. Off to lie in bed and watch the Weather Channel.

Help! They plan to make me into salsa!

Hey! That's Not Stamped!

This has absolutely NOTHING to do with paper or stamping... so what! It has EVERYTHING to do with an adorable bracelet my friend Shannon from Boogiebead sent me! I don't know where she gets these beads! I mean come on... MONKEY beads!?! I am so in love!

Is this not the cutest thing in the world or what? Just visit Shannon's website and take a look. She does personalized stuff too... great for gifts! Tell her you're my blogging buddy!

A Very Crafty Birthday Bash!

I had the GREAT pleasure of doing a Craft themed Birthday Party for a group of 8 year old girls last weekend. These are some of my favorite events. Adults are fine; don't get me wrong... but 8 year old girls; AWESOME! Talk about EXCITED! They were super cute, and VERY well behaved! I was also pretty darn impressed with their stamping abilities.

We made these Shrinky Dink Charm Bracelets, which are QUICK and easy. I buy a pre-sanded Shrink Plastic at my local Hobby Lobby... but it's also sold at Frantic Stamper; it's called Pre-Sanded Frost White Shrink Plastic. And as long as I am linking out to Frantic Stamper... check out their BLOG. They have some cool CHA Sneak Peeks. More of which you can see by the way at www.craftcritique.com. Tell all your friends about Craft Critique would ya? Today we're talking Die Cut Systems. And contact me of you'd like to be a participant or contributor!

Back to the subject at hand; creating these bracelets was a snap. The girls stamped their names and some cute images with Staz-on Ink, and colored the images in with colorful Sharpie Markers. Then we punched out the letters with a 1 3/8" Circle Punch; being careful to leave room for the 1/4" round hole we needed at the top of the "charm". With the image stamps we punched a hole to hang the charm with FIRST... then we cut all around the images using straight lines. We found that if you tried to curve around the image with your cutting that the plastic could crack very easy.

Then you just bake the Shrink Plastic according to the package directions... SO SIMPLE! The girls made the bracelets; Plastic Pony Beads Strung on simple plastic stretchy cord like Stretch Magic. Then I attached the charms with jump rings. Aren't they cute!


And of course no Birthday is complete without a gift for the birthday girl! I made this Altered Paint Tin for Kaya. It contains a simple paper covered notebook and some colored pens. A perfect place for all Kaya's notes and all those little things that pre-teens save! The paper is from Stampin' Up!'s "Playhouse" Collection.


Below you will see a closer look at the can. I used Heat and Stick Powder and Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter to get this "Super-Duper-Glittery" look. The flowers are from the beautiful and versatile "Bodacious Bouquet". The letters were die cut with my Cuttlebug and the "Red Tag" alphabet... except the "K"... that's an "On Board Simon Lower" from Stampin' Up!


Here is a closer look at the method I used to cover the can. I took a 12"X12" piece of paper and cut it into two 12"X 5 1/2" lengths. Then I cut two 3/4" X 12" strips from a second piece. I ran the paper through my Xyron and then I affixed it to the can... starting with the back side. The paper is practically seamless; and I like how the tin shows a bit... It's funkier! Plus with this method you don't have to worry about cutting holes for the handles. After you apply the paper; embellish the can, tie some cute ribbons on and your done! I find that Glue dots worked well to hold on the heavy embellishments like the chipboard.

Tip of the day: If you need to hold something REALLY heavy; use Glue dots and heat up the dot with your heat tool for a few seconds... this will help create a better bond.

Buy Yourself Something Pretty!

In honor of the super fun box of goodies I received from my very adorable friend Shannon of Boogiebead, I thought I'd tell you all about her beaded stuff and why you need to buy something from her!

Shannon lives in St. Petersburg Florida, where everything is always warm, sunny and laid back. In my imagination she just lies around tanning, sipping fruity umbrella drinks out of pineapples and beading... but she does have a 9-5 job, so I suppose she must change out of her bikini on occasion.

Her stuff is so cute. I have no Idea where she finds these amazing glass beads, but I love them! Be sure to check out her "Peeper Keepers"... beaded eye/sunglass holders. They make great gifts for teachers and well... anyone who wears peepers! You can also visit her wonderful shop at Etsy. Buy Shannon's jewelry with confidence! She is a top notch artist, and you will not be disappointed with the quality of her work. Here is a picture of the funky Valentine bracelet Shannon sent me!