grand opening

September 19, 2018 By Mary Haugen

Last weekend was the Grand Opening of the new Stamp-n-Storage retail store! It was quite a whirlwind, but a lot of fun. We had a balloon arch, official ribbon cutting, a make & take, food and a LOT of people. We are so excited for this new space!

I taught a Creative Class Friday and Saturday to help kick things off. We had a lot of fun creating this 12×12 canvas home decor piece.

Thanks to the great gals who joined me for the classes! Didn’t their projects turn out great!

Thanks for stopping by. Join me again to put a spotlight on creativity!

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happy birthday to my hubby

September 7, 2018 By Mary Haugen

We are one week away from Stamp-n-Storage’s annual warehouse sale and Grand Opening of our new retail space. It is crunch time to get everything done. It hasn’t left much time for stamping this week. But I did have to pop on to say Happy Birthday to my amazing husband, Brett.

He is hip deep in all of the details with moving SnS to the new location and the Grand Opening. I will be taking him out for supper at Buffalo Wild Wings so he can enjoy his favorite Big jack Daddy burger. Hopefully he will get some time to enjoy his day. He constantly amazes me with his abilities to run this business and keep it growing. I am super blessed to have him by my side. Happy Birthday, Brett! I love you so very much!

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a lifetime of love

July 30, 2018 By Mary Haugen

My daughter Jessica and her husband Tyler celebrated their first wedding anniversary on July 22.

We spent this past weekend in Fargo, ND moving them into their first house! I was able to hand deliver the card I made for them.

I thought Dandelion Wishes was perfect for this occasion. I was able to capture the rustic style that was the wedding decor. I love the Wood Texture dsp. I stamped the trio of dandelions in petal Pink on the lower right corner. I did w water color wash of Petal Pink on a piece of water color paper. Once it was dry, I stamped the dandelion in Gray Granite Ink. I layered it with a bit of Gray Granite striped paper from the Neutrals Designer Series Paper stack. The sentiment is stamped in gray granite ink on Petal Pink card stock and cut out with an oval from the Stitched Shaped Framelits. The Linen Thread and wooden hearts tie everything together.

I hope Jess and Tyler have fun settling into their house. I’m excited to see what is in store for year two!

-Mary

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studio makeover update

July 18, 2018 By Mary Haugen

I thought I’d pop on and give you a quick update on my studio remodel. Progress is slow, but there is progress. There is a definite trade off when you tackle remodel projects yourself. You save money, but it often take longer because you have to find the time in the midst of everyday life happenings to work on it. My darling husband is so awesome for taking this on. I truly appreciate all he does for me.

This past week he got the walls taped, mudded and painted.

and over the past two nights he installed the new flooring!

I just LOVE that floor! Lights are back up, too. We are adding more of the track lighting and that still needs to be installed. Plans are for my desk to be installed this weekend! I am getting so excited to move in, organize my supplies and to decorate the space! Stay tuned…

-Mary

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25 years

June 27, 2018 By Mary Haugen

Yesterday Brett and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. A quarter of a century – has it really been that long?

Ok, yeah, I guess the added weight and loss of hair proves that it has. Now our kids are grown. One is married, the other two are in college. We are entering a new stage of life. Seems fitting for it to happen at this milestone.

I wanted to share the card I made for Brett. I know that the 25th traditionally calls for silver, but I decided to make a card that represents us.

Wood has always been an important part of our life. Brett was into wood working as a hobby when we were first married. He has built benches, entertainment centers, and more for our home. (And it plays an even bigger part since we started Stamp-n-Storage!) So naturally I pulled out the Wood Textures designer paper. (my favorite!) I used the retired Large Numbers thinlits to cut out the 25. I placed a bit of retired floral dsp behind and mounted the panel with dimensionals for added depth.

Happy Anniversary, Brett. Here’s to 25 more! I love you.

-Mary

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we interrupt the regularly scheduled program

June 18, 2018 By Mary Haugen

Summer means construction season, right? So why not a little studio remodel? After some not so subtle hinting, my husband finally agreed that it is time! My posting last week was pre-empted due to Brett giving the green light for things to get started. So, we boxed up everything in my studio

and I moved out to the small desk in our kitchen for the time being.

It is a bit difficult to create in such a confined space, but it will be so worth it!

Now that I am situated in my temporary space, I hope to have some new projects to share soon.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

-Mary

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mediterranean adventures

June 8, 2018 By Mary Haugen

From Amsterdam, we flew to Rome for a couple of days before leaving on a week long Mediterranean Cruise with stops in Pisa and Florence, Italy, Cannes, France, Mallorca and Barcelona, Spain and Naples, Italy (with an excursion to Pompeii). What struck me most on this trip is the history we saw. In America, we really don’t have a grasp on this kind of timeline. Things here are really ‘new’ in comparison. To see things that have been standing since sometime B.C. WOW! We also had some great food. One of my favorites was gelato, eaten by the Trevi Fountain! Here are just a few highlights:

This truly was a trip of a lifetime. So thankful we were able to have these amazing experiences. But, it is good to be back home. I have a bunch of new goodies from the new Stampin’ Up! catalog waiting for me to start creating. I’ll have some new projects to share soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Mary

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remember

June 6, 2018 By Mary Haugen

Next on our trip was a brief stop in Amsterdam for Brett and I to each cross something off our bucket lists. For Brett it was to rent a car and drive on the autobahn. For me, it was to visit the Anne Frank House. Two years ago I was in a production of “The Diary of Anne Frank” in the role of Anne’s mother. It was one of the most powerful stage experiences I have ever had. It was amazing to actually stand in the place where it all took place.

I do not have the words to truly express how much this meant to me. Simply put – we must NEVER FORGET.

-Mary

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trip of a lifetime

June 4, 2018 By Mary Haugen

Brett and I are back from an absolutely amazing trip – we spent two weeks in Europe to celebrate our 25th Anniversary! We started off with three days in London: Westminster Abbey, Tea at Fortnum and Mason, The Play That Goes Wrong, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Agatha Christie’s Mousetrap, Sherlock Holmes Museum, The British Museum and a Dinner Cruise on the Thames.

I love London! I visited London with my oldest daughter last year and am really glad I got to go back again. There is still so much I want to see. Hopefully I get to go back again someday.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Mary

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display samples – part 8

April 23, 2018 By Mary Haugen

It was a crazy weekend with performances for my high school play-“All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”. The cast did a great job. I am very proud of those kids. It was bittersweet to see it end as it was my last play as director for HHS. I will miss my theatre kids immensely.

Here are my last two projects from my display samples – 2 scrapbook pages. I think these are my favorite of the 21 items I created. I usually struggle with scrapbook pages, but these came together pretty quick. As soon as I saw this leaf print in the Nature’s Poem Designer Series Paper, I knew the picture I had to use. The colors reminded me of my daughter’s wedding last summer. I thought I would be perfect to show off my two beautiful girls – bride and maid of honor.

I added a piece of Wood Textures designer series paper under the picture. It echoed the rustic theme of the wedding decor. The sentiment from Rooted in Nature was a perfect message for my girls – Be Strong, Be Happy, Be You.

This next page features one of Rachel’s Senior pictures. She LOVES books, so this shot of her with a stack of her favorites was perfect.

I used some old and new on this project. I used sentiments from both NEW Rooted in Nature and Sea of Textures sets. The old is the current Naturally Eclectic Designer Series Paper. I typed the words on the white panel and added the leaf stamp behind. I think this page really show my daughter’s love of reading. There are a lot of little fun elements that add to the interest of the page. It was a lot of fun to put together.

That is it for my display samples form On Stage Milwaukee. I hope you enjoyed them. I certainly enjoyed creating them and sharing them with you.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

-Mary

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