Love You Much Promotion

Stampin' Up is currently offering a Love You Much promotion. Check this out:

Description	Retail Value
Love You Much stamp set	$25.95
Candy Lane Designer Series paper	$9.95
Heart to Heart punch	$15.95
Bundle Retail Value	$51.85
Love You Much Bundle (20% off retail value; item 115405)	$41.48

I took advantage of this & (as a demonstrator) picked it up early & I just LOVE it!! I especially love the Candy Lane designer series paper. It's just so pretty. And, it can be used for Valentine's cards & projects, Anniversary cards & projects & Wedding cards & projects.

Here's a sample of this set being used (click on the picture for a larger image):

By the way, my camera software has been found & installed so I'll be able to post my own pictures soon. Stay tuned!

Merry Merry!

I'm still alive....

I swear... it was just yesterday that I posted on here. Okay, it seems like it was yesterday, but believe it or not, nearly a month has gone by.

I've been quite busy working on a couple of different things - a couple stamp camps, a vendor fair, my Christmas cards. And, of course, I don't want to post a picture of my Christmas cards until after they've gone out. I don't want to spoil the surprise... I do think you'll like it, though. I know I do!

My computer also crashed over the long, holiday weekend & so I actually don't even have my camera software installed on my new hard drive to upload any pictures. Soon. Soon, I'll get that fixed & some new pictures uploaded.

In the meantime, please enjoy a very pretty card from one of my favorite retired stamp sets: Solemn Stillness:

Lovely as a Tree

I found this card online & thought I'd try it myself. It's SO pretty, simple & easy to make (though, I have to admit, my first attempt has glitter on it... Now, I have glitter ALL OVER my stamp room).

This card uses the non-traditional Night of Navy, Baja Breeze & Shimmery White cardstock. I'm waiting to receive my newly ordered Many Merry Messages before stamping a greeting on the front.

A Waterfall Card

I was asked to make a Waterfall Card for someone to give to their friend who is having a baby boy any day now. This is the card I came up with. If you've never seen a waterfall card before, they are incredibly awesome. They're not too difficult to put together, but can be a little time consuming.

Basically, what happens is when you pull the ribbon (at the bottom of the card), the little pictures flip up & your greeting appears on the long cardstock as you pull it out. Click on any picture to enlarge it.

This card would be great as a unique birth announcement (with pictures of the newborn on the squares & the birth information on the long piece) or congratulations on your new little bundle of joy (like this sample). Using different stamps, it would make a fun happy birthday card as well.

This card uses Brilliant Blue, Bashful Blue & Very Vanilla
cardstock & ink along with a variety of retired Stampin' Up! stamps.

Giftcard Holder

I was asked to do some "generic" giftcard holders (no specific occasion) & this is what I came up with. I have some designer series paper that would be perfect (there's stripes & polka dots, paisley & mini-flowers, also a variety of colors - pretty in pink, real read, bashful blue, apricot appeal, always artichoke).

SUPER CUTE!! I just love these little guys.

Another New Favorite?

I decided 1. that I needed a few more "masculine" cards & 2. that Happiness Always just might be my new favorite stamp set & 3. my camera still sucks for getting good pictures.

In this one, I used Always Artichoke for the background cardstock, Old Olive for the solid leaf print & then Always Artichoke for the top leaf layer. While I did do the two step stamping technique, I did not use my stamp-a-ma-jig & I like the way it turned out.

I also just added "FOR YOU" instead of a "Happy Birthday" greeting in case I need something other than birthday. I feel like this card could be used for sympathy, good luck or congrats.

Lastly, I used my new spritzer tool. If you click on the picture, you'll see little black "sprays".

I like it (even though it's a bit distorted because of the camera).

O Christmas Tree

Last night, while laying in bed, I was thinking about my stamp-a-ma-jig & what can I do with it. Then, I remembered this retired stamp set from (about 2 or 3 years ago) called Trim the Tree.

I remember liking this set but had such a hard time lining up the garland or ornaments on the tree that I didn't use it much. Tonight, I tried it with the stamp-a-ma-jig. No more issues with it not lining up because the stamp-a-ma-jig is pure awesome, allowing me to line it all up with ease.

Yay!!

Open Stamp Day - What a success!

I had my first ever Open Stamp Day yesterday & I have to say it was quite a success. Even though only 3 people came, they all seemed eager to come to something like this again.

If many more had come I would have had to re-organize some things. As it was, the 4 of us sat around the one table without any troubles, but I could totally see it being much more crowded with more people & their things taking up space.

So, this is the Thanksgiving card I had been hoping to make for a couple of weeks now. It uses all punches (except the eyes which are drawn on & the hat which I just cut out of scrap). I thought it would be a cute card to do at one of my upcoming stamp camps, but as it turns out, those punches are far too difficult/time-consuming to fold to do at a camp. It's a cute card, though.


Stay tuned for the next Open Stamp Day.

Deer Friends

I was getting several cards ready to go out today & realized that I didn't have much in the way of masculine birthday cards. I still don't, but I was able to do a little (by little, I mean only 2 cards-worth of) stamping tonight.

If you click on the picture, you might be able to tell a little bit better that this card has "FOR YOU" on the right side & also a scalloped edge over there. And I'm pretty sure you won't be able to see if you clicked on the picture, but the scallop circle in the center is raised up with a few demonsionals.

This card was totally inspired & well, pretty much copied from another card I had made over the past weekend at a stamp camp I had gone to. I did use some retired Designer Series Paper on this. I just LOVED last year's holiday DSP & am not in such a rush to buy this year's stuff.

Happiness Always

I was looking on my shelf of stamps this afternoon & found one title I didn't recognize by the name called Happiness Always. It was on the bottom of one of my stacks of stamps & so I pulled it out to see. It's a level 3 hostess set that I was able to purchase prior to Convention & I haven't done anything with it.

So, I went to my trusty website to take a look at what other demonstrators have done (no need to re-invent the wheel) & here are two of the samples that I thought were just incredible! Click on the picture to enlarge it.

The butterfly card also uses two of the In Colors for this year - Pink Pirouette & Riding Hood Red. This is also the first time I've used these colors since receiving them a couple months back.

It's A Soup Party

I was asked to make some invitations for a Soup Party. I knew immediately what I wanted to do. I used this bowl of soup & steam from a retired stamp set, Under the Weather.

It's kinda hard to tell, but the green is raised up with some double sided foam tape & there's a window sheet keeping the alphabet pasta from falling out.

So, so cute!!

One more

I couldn't resist. I found a GORGEOUS card that was a bit similar to this one & had to try it out. I love the technique, but need a little bit more practice to perfect my cards.

By the way, I LOVE my Upsy Daisy stamp set!!

As promised...

As promised, I got out my paper, ink & Upsy Daisy stamp set.

I fought with the two top cards just a little bit before getting an image I was happy with. I'm happy that paper has two sides to it! I wanted to try the Rock n' Roll technique, but I really don't think you can with this particular stamp. At least not too easily. So, I ended up coloring the whole thing in Apricot Appeal & then using a Blender Pen to take the ink off the stems (a technique I learned at Convention) & then using the Certainly Celery marker to color the stems green.

On the third card, I used my stamp-a-ma-jig (Seriously. How did I ever survive without the darn thing?? I LOVE this tool!) & did a little shadow effect using the retired Soft Sky & retired Blue Bayou. If you click on the picture, you may be able to see the shadow effect a bit better.

New post with pictures coming soon, I promise!!

Ugh!

That pretty much describes how I've been feeling the past week or so. I've been fighting some sort of sinus something-or-other. Not fun, let me tell you.

But, over the past week, I've finished up my company's Autumn Extraordinaire invitations (in the dark no less - my house lost power last Thursday & without a television to keep me occupied, I put on the headlamp & finished assembling the invites). I'm thrilled with the way they turned out. I can't wait for everyone to receive them & give feedback once they learn I made them.

I went to the Vendor Fair two Sundays ago. It was more successful than I thought it would be (these things aren't typically very successful for me as people say they already know someone who does stamps or they're not the 'crafty' type of person). But, I met some really cool people there, had a couple sales, and a few were interested in Stamp Camps. Yee!! I'm really excited to really meet with these gals & show them how they can be crafty too. So much fun!!

I'm blogging here at work (on my lunch break) & so I don't have any pictures of my own to post, but since this sinus thing is seemingly going away, I feel like I'll be doing some stamping tonight. I'm super excited about that (except I'm slightly limited because some of my products are packed for a stamp camp I'm doing this wknd... I just have to be careful to remember to put it back in the box & not away).

One thing that I want to stamp for sure tonight is a Thanksgiving Day card that I recently saw (not exactly like this one, but similar). It used punches to make a turkey & it was SO incredibly cute!! Guess what's going to be part of my November stamp camps???

Happy Halloween

Isn't it cute? It's a lil pumpkin made out of a bunch of punches. And a ribbon stem. So cute & so easy to make!! (Other) Stampin' Up! demonstrators are so darn creative!!

Sock Monkey

I needed to make a birthday card tonight to give to someone tomorrow. I'm LOVIN' my Sock Monkey stampset & accessories. I think it works really well for masculine birthday cards.

Halloween Cards

I made these two cards tonight at a Stamp Club that I belong to. Neither of them used any stamps (just cardstock, punches & ink). Aren't they super cute? They were so easy to make, too! If you book (or attend) a stamp camp before Halloween, Frankenstein & The Mummy will be on the agenda.

Snow Swirled Christmas

I want to have my Stamp-a-Stack cards ready to go by Saturday, my Vendor Fair day, so that passersby will see what's upcoming. I already knew I wanted to use my new Snow Swirled stamp set & this is what I came up with. It's simple (you don't want a complicated card when you're making so many).

For this card, I actually mixed some silver embossing powder with gold embossing powder & then threw in a little dazzling diamonds. When you look at it in certain light, you can see the 'rainbow-y-ness' of the dazzling diamonds without it being too over-glittery (I don't know that you can tell in the photo, but in real life, it's very pretty).

I also thought it needed a little something-something on the background, so I used the small snowflake from the same set & stamped it with VersaMark on the left side of the Bravo Burgundy cardstock.

Flight of the Butterfly

Here's another set that we got for FREE at Convention this year - Flight of the Butterfly. To be honest, I kinda forgot that I even had it... until I was searching online for some ideas on what to do for my next stamp camp. I saw a really cute card using this stamp set & thought to myself, "oh yeah!" So, then I went searching for other samples using this set & found a ton that I love.

You can click on the picture for a bigger view since it's kinda hard to tell, but I used some clear embossing powder on flowers on the white background piece.

I've also been using the heck out of my Stamp-a-ma-jig, which helps to line up the images. I used it to center the brown flowers against the pink wings & also to line up the words in the center of the butterfly. This tool is amazing!! I wonder how I lived so long without it...

Getting ready for Christmas already?

Leave it to me to wait til the very last minute to work on some sort of project. Next Saturday, I'm participating in a vendor fair in the Bothell/Mill Creek area with other direct sales & crafty folks (Tastefully Simple, Partylite, Southern Living at Home, hand-crafted jewelry, hand-crafted quilted items, etc).

Here is a picture (er, two) of a gift card holder that I'm making. I love the simplicity & the colors of this gift card holder. I'm just a hair sad that I used almost the end of my retired Blue Bayou cardstock. Once it's gone, it's gone for good. But, it was just too pretty not to use with the Real Red & Whisper White.

If you're interested in some custom-made gift card holders, for any occasion (birthday, anniversary, thank you, shower), send me an email & I will do all the creating. I am selling them for $2 each or 3 for $5.

If at first you don't succeed....

I came across a really pretty card recently with this image:

And then I tried to copy it:

And I was so unhappy w/how dark the middle turned out, so I tried a different method (using the pastels instead of the classic inkpad & this is the end result:

And I'm really not happy with this result either as you really can't see the scallop square in the center of the card (like you can on the first picture.

So I went back & read the tutorial on how to create the center & my problem was I am using the wrong color (I used Mellow Moss instead of Sahara Sand).

But since I don't have Sahara Sand, I sought out the next best thing - River Rock. And, I just put one flower in color vs. 3 across the whole square scalloped background.

For the most part, I'm pleased with the way it turned out. I think for my 'next time opportunity', I would use my stamp-a-ma-jig to center the colored flowers a little more evenly against the square scalloped background.

Happy Birthday

I like the new In Colors that Stampin' Up is offering for the '08-'09 catalog year, but I can't help but use the leftovers I have from the '07-'08 catalog year. I used (once again) retired Blue Bayou & Soft Sky on this birthday card for a co-worker. I also used (for the first time), my new square scallop punch, Heard from the Heart stamp set & Pocket Silhouette stamp set. You can't tell in the pictures, but the scallop squares are raised with dimensionals. Too cute!!

Jill & Justin's Wedding

Two nights ago, I was invited to a wedding which is happening tonight in Olympia. I love weddings (even if they're last minute invites) & I love my new stamp set that I got today - It's a Stretch.

I put this card together in just a few moments. It was SO incredibly easy & I love the colors - retired Soft Sky & Blue Bayou, plus retired DSP & ribbon. BUT, I also used (for the first time) my new scallop edge punch. I can't say thank you enough to Stampin' Up for creating a scallop edge punch.

Autumn Extraordinaire, part 2

A few posts back, I posted about me making my company's holiday invitations. This is the final product. Originally, when I had the idea, I showed Shannon a version of this using Real Red cardstock because I had quite a few leftovers from my Convention Swap. She thought the red screamed winter & since our holiday dinner is in the fall (not winter), she wanted more autumn-y colors. The final choice was Bravo Burgundy for the background, Baroque Motif stamped in Creamy Caramel on the Very Vanilla with the information printed on vellum. I died the organdy ribbon with the Creamy Caramel ink pad. A slightly messy process, but I LOVE the way this card turned out. Great choice in colors, Shannon!

Last night I had a dream (er, nightmare) that I went out to Enumclaw to do a stamp camp & the only thing I brought with me was my catalog (not even catties for the girls; just mine) & order forms. Not much of a stamp camp... So, then I hurried & went home to get supplies, but nothing was prepped. Oy!! It seems that I often forget at least one thing when I go do a camp, but this was rediculous. I hope this never happens in real life.

This isn't a card that I made, but I would have loved to create it. Isn't it gorgeous? I think I'll take out some paper, ink & my Upsy Daisy stampset tonight & put my own spin on it (probably just a different color as I don't have this particular color yet).

2009 Calendar Class

I was searching online how to make a calendar into a scrapbook page & found this layout. Don't you think it would be a perfect layout for a December page? I need to figure out the logistics of a class (pricing, paper, etc), but the more I think about it, the more I want to do it. If for nobody else, I'll do one for myself. Everyone needs a calendar & I'm no exception. SU! sells some desktop calendars for $9.95 that would be perfect for my desk at work.

2009 Already?

I came across some of these coaster calendars from another demonstrator's blog. I thought the idea was SO stinkin' cute (not to mention, I had almost a bajillion spare coasters sitting on my shelf), I thought I'd try making one. Except for the ribbon which is sitting pretty wonky, I LOVE the way it turned out.

'

I just might see an upcoming Calendar Class in my near future. Would you be interested in such a class? Leave me a comment (or shoot me an email) & let me know if it's something I should explore further.

'

By the way, I probably wouldn't base a Calendar Class solely on this one calendar. It wouldn't take very long to complete. Instead, I was thinking of a calendar that can be transformed into a 6" x 6" (or greater) scrapbook once the month has passed. I've seen some AWESOME samples & am a bit eager to try it out.

I was inspired!!

One of the perks of going to Convention is we get FREE stuff. This year, among our 4 FREE stamp sets was one of my new favorite sets: Inspired by Nature.

'

This afternoon, while looking at a gallery of other demonstrator's photos, I came across something similar to this one. One look & I knew I had to CASE (Copy And Steal Everything) it. The only difference was the ribbon. She had used a taffeta ribbon & I don't have that particular one so I dyed what I had (white Organdy) with my Chocolate Chip inkpad. Not 'quite' the same, but I still love it.

'

I think I mostly love the Poppin' Pastels technique. I don't think I've ever used this technique. SO easy! SO cute! SO versatile! I can easily see this card being used as a thank you, get well soon, thinking of you or good luck card.

'

As always, clicking on the picture will enlarge it for you for a better view.

I'm So Sad!!

When I was at Convention, one of the things that was demonstrated was this awesome cookie jar with a new Décor Element of a 'spooky spider'. I, like most other ladies at Convention, wanted to recreate that same jar, except I didn't want to use the Décor Element. I wanted to try the new Halloween rub ons that are in the new Fall-Winter Idea Book & Catalog.

So, why am I so sad? Well, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way my jar turned out, but I HATE HATE HATE how the pictures turned out. You're just going to have to see my jar in person (by booking a Stamp Camp before Sept 20th - at which point, my jar will be raffled off at a vendor fair I'm participating in). You can also see a slightly better, up close version simply by clicking on any of the pictures above.

A couple things about the jar: I put a placemat inside the jar so that it would photograph slightly better. It is a gallon size cookie jar (with a lid, but the lid didn't photograph nearly as well as the jar itself). It will make a wonderful storage container for Halloween candy to the winner of the jar.

Loads of Love

There are several stamp sets that I own (many retired) that I can't bring myself to get rid of. But, I need to keep (start!!) using them, otherwise I really can't justify holding onto them.

Tonight I thought I'd use my Loads of Love stamp set & the accessories set that goes along with it (for the pumpkins). I'm quite pleased with how this simple card turned out.

I'm pretty sure the recipient of this card doesn't read my blog much & so it'll be a nice surprise for her to receive it when I give it to her in October.

Sock Monkey

I recently picked up the Sock Monkey stamp set & have not done anything with it... Until now. I think it's the cutest darn thing, but was having troubles figuring out how I was going to color it. Other than piecing it together with different colors of paper (a LOT of work because you have to cut out each piece & then put it together like a mozaic puzzle), I think I've found the best way to color him - with the pastels. I LOVE the way this monkey turned out!

Autumn Extraordinaire

One of the gals on our Social Committee knows that I like making cards & other crafts. She had asked me to make the invitations to our "holiday party" (that's actually held in the fall & this year, will be called, "Autumn Extraordinaire").

I found a bunch of samples of really cute invitations, but thought better of making 140 difficult, time-consuming invites. I came up with this card & I LOVED it. I still do. I think it's just so 'elegant'. And, what's more is I have a ton of red ribbon & several pieces of red cardstock already cut from my swaps that I ended up not using for my trip to Convention.

One of the gals who was approving the design loved it too, but thought it screamed "winter" & since the Autumn Extraordinaire is in November, something a little more muted in colors (browns & yellows) might be more suited for this particular occasion.

We've come up with a great invitation & I'm just waiting on approval on the verbage before I post the real deal.


Here's an update on the stamp sets that are left for sale:


Too Terrific Tags - $4
So Many Scallops - $3
Oh How We Danced - $4 - SOLD
Holiday Blocks - $6
Kid Prints - $8
Little Shapes - $2
Around the Block - $2
Send a Celebration - $2 - SOLD
Watercolor Minis - $4
So Many Sayings - $4
Hip Hip Hooray - $8 - SOLD
Reverse Prints - $2

Retired Stamps for Sale

I'm finally saying good bye to some of my beloved retired stamp sets. I've had some of them for 8+ years! I've definitely made some beautiful projects with my sets, but it's time to say goodbye for good so that I can make more room for some more current sets.

Let me know via a comment if you're interested in any of the following retired Stampin' Up stamp sets (they are available on a first come, first serve basis):

Around the Block - $2
Best Blossoms - $4 - SOLD
Birthday Whimsy - $4 - SOLD
Burst into Bloom - $2 - SOLD
Celebrate the Season - $8 - SOLD
Fresh Flowers - $6 - SOLD
Friendship Blooms - $3 - SOLD
Hip Hip Hooray - $8 - SOLD
Holiday Blocks - $6
Kid Prints - $8
Little Shapes - $2
Made From Scratch - $2 - SOLD
Merci - $4 - SOLD
Oh How We Danced - $4 - SOLD
Peace on Earth - $6 - SOLD
Reverse Prints - $2
Send a Celebration - $2
Sidekick Sayings - $2 - SOLD
Small Script - $2 - SOLD
So Many Sayings - $4
So Many Scallops - $3
Something to Celebrate - $6 - SOLD
Stippled Stencils - $2 - SOLD
Tags & More - $6 - SOLD
The Art of Life - $2 - SOLD
Timeworn Trim - $2 - SOLD
Too Terrific Tags - $4
Watercolor Minis - $4
Word Search - $6 - SOLD

Where do I begin?

I just got back from my first Convention. I have no idea where to begin... I had SO much fun. I can't wait to go back.

Convention-goers got a sneak peek at the new Fall-Winter Idea Book & Catalog while at Convention & there, of course, were SO many stamp sets & accessories that I'm excited about. I remember last year at this time thinking that there just wasn't a whole lot that was new & that I wanted to buy. That is absolutely NOT the case this year. I can't wait for August 11th to roll around so that I can place my order.

One of the big announcements at Convention was their new partnership with Sizzix. Stampin' Up will now offer a die-cut machine called the Big Shot that works with cardstock, paper, cardboard, fabric, leather. The possibilities seem almost endless. Using the Big Shot, we were shown an apron that the CEO & Co-Founder, Shelli, had made (too cute!!), some fun masks & even Christmas ornaments (Santa & Rudolph). I have pictures on my Flickr account & will gladly forward them to you if you'd like to see.

During Convention, many demonstrators make "swaps" which are cardfronts that they swap with other demonstrators. It's just another way for us to get inspiration for our camps & classes. I, apparently, made a swap that turned out to be too much. It's a fun card, but after making card after card after card, your mind gets tired, your hands get cramped & then you just don't make as many as you had planned on. I originally planned around 150 or so, but then I got tired, cramped hand & then just lazy. I forced myself to complete 100 swaps. This, as it turns out, is not enough (in my opinion). After I had swapped my last card with another demonstrator, I was sad & thought to myself, "Aw, that's it? I want to keep going..." But, I had nothing to keep going with. Next year, I will have more.

My roommates both have Convention (build-a-) Bears & so they got me one too for my first Convention. They even bought matching pink bathrobes & bunny slippers for my bear. From here on out, for every Convention I go to, Stamperella, my Convention Bear will go with me too. And, if anyone chooses to join in all the fun I have & come to Convention as part of my 'downline', they too will get a Convention Bear.

After attending Convention, I've decided that I 'really' want to work my SU business into more of a business (compared to hobby) & take it more seriously. There were people who've just really been an inspiration (with their sales & recruiting efforts) & it was amazing. Who knew that one person could sell $130k worth of stuff in one year? It can happen.

I'm off to go stamp something with my new / free stamp sets (demonstrators got at least 4 freebies just for attending Convention).