I just LOVE it!!

In my last post, I mentioned a new item that Stampin' Up has introduced for the new catalog year - Decor Elements.

There are several images to choose from (from letters, words & phrases to decorative images & flowers). The one I bought was the definition of 'create' to put in my stamp room.

One really cool thing about these is that they won't damage your walls if you decide you no longer want the image posted (if you move or change your room's decor, for example).

You can view the Decore Elements brochure here. And pictures of the process here.

Yeee!

I had my Advanced Techniques class a couple weeks ago. I swear, it was the hottest day of the year! There was just a small crowd & we all just pretty much just sat there in our pools of sweat. Quite gross, really. BUT, we survived & some really super cute projects were made as well.

If you weren't able to attend my Advanced Techniques class last month, I still have some supplies cut for an Advanced Techniques class if you would like to host one in your home with your friends &/or family.

I'm really excited about a couple of things:

1. Stampin' Up has rotated their calendar just a tad. It used to be that one catalog was issued once a year (in July). Then, more recently, they went to two catalogs - a Fall/Winter Collection & a Spring/Summer Collection (issued in July & January). NOW, the new Fall/Winter Idea Book & Catalog will be issued near the beginning of August. I've had a chance to get a sneak peek at a few things & I can hardly wait for August to arrive! One thing I know already in the catalog (& I'm able to buy early - yay!!) is a Sock Monkey stamp set. It is so incredibly cute!!

2. Stampin' Up has started a new product line called Decor Elements. Decor Elements are like a "rub on" you can put on your wall as art. What's really cool is that it's not permanent. If you live in an apartment (or if you like change), you can take it down without damaging the walls. I bought one & hope to get it up really soon. It's the definition of "create" & it's going in my stamp room, of course. I love it! As soon as I get it up, I will take pictures for sure.

3. I'm having my Adios Amigos stamp camp at the end of the month - July 26th - at 11am. We'll be using all retiring stamp sets. I'll also have my retiring sets that I'm selling at my Adios Amigos camp. You'll definitely want to come & check out my goodies. Stay tuned for an Adios Amigos evite.

By the way, I've decided after my last stamp camp that if July 26th is insanely hot, we'll be stamping in the garage with the fans going. It's just a little bit cooler out there than inside the house.

As Promised...

I swear... I really ought to get a new camera... Or, learn how to operate the one I have just a tad bit better!



Here are two of the five cards we'll be making at my Advanced Techniques Camp on Sunday:


This one uses the Cracked Glass technique. It has a really neat appearance when done. I'm not sure you can really see the awesome effect in this picture (with the camera flash). If you click on the picture, you can see it up close, but it still doesn't capture the cracked glass all that well. You can really see it in person. You'll also get to use pieces from the HodgePodge Hardware Kit on this card.





This one shows a different way to fold your cardstock to get a different look. It's called a Criss Cross card & as you can see, the card crosses in the front & is held together with a belly band. On this card, you'll get to use the Build-a-Brads, which you can see up close on the belly band if you click on the picture. The Build-a-Brads are SO cool & really easy to make. This is one of my favorite cards (I especially love love love the pink/brown combo).

And the winner is...

Kelle! Of her 50 guesses, 17 stamp sets are retiring. As the winner, Kelle will be receiving $10 in free Stampin' Up product. Carrie came in a close 2nd with 13 guessed correctly. As the 2nd place winner, Carrie will receive $5 in free Stampin' Up products. Yay!! Thanks for playing...

Now on to the bad news (for me)... of the 68 retired sets on the list that Stampin' Up has provided, I'm losing 14 of them. The good news is, however, that I will be selling several of them at my retired stamp camp at the end of July so that I can make room for some new stamps.

If you would like to purchase any of the retiring stamp sets from Stampin' Up, you have through August 10th to place your order. Click here for a peek at the retired list.

Advanced Technique Class

Yeee!! I'm so excited. I have 3 of the 5 cards we'll be doing at my Advanced Techniques Class completed. My darn camera has run out of 'oomph', otherwise I'd post a picture or two... But I'm so happy with the way all 3 have turned out so far.

So far, I've got the Cracked Glass, Criss Cross & a Diorama card ready to go. If you scroll down a bit, you can see samples of the Cracked Glass & Criss Cross cards I made a couple months back.

Here's a sneak peak of a sample diorama card that I pulled from online. It's hard to really see the full scope of this card, but it is 3-D and more "boxy" than it looks in the picture (click on the picture for a more up close image). It's really fun & easy to make!

Next on the agenda: Design an Acetate card that will WOW! you as much as the one I made a couple months ago WOW'd me. The only thing I don't have for the Acetate card I made back then is some jumbo eyelets. I *may* pick some up before the camp, but probably not.

Also, I need to choose what I want to do for the 5th technique. I've got some ideas in my head, but I just need to narrow it down.

One last thing, I will most likely have a sneak peak of what I will be selling at my Advance Techniques stamp camp on the 29th. These items won't be available for sale until my Adios Amigos Stamp Camp (stamp camp using only retired stamps) at the end of July. Stay tuned for more info on date/time, etc.


***DON'T FORGET*** to send me your guesses as to what's going to be on the retired list. All entries must be received via jenstamps@hotmail.com before 11:59pm on Saturday, June 14th. Remember, the person who has the most correct guesses will win $10 off their next order.

$10 in Free Stampin Up Product!

Yes, it's another FREEBIE GIVEAWAY, but this time, you'll have to work for it.

On June 15th, the 2008 retired list will be available. Send me your list of what stamp sets you think (or hope) will be retiring & the person who has the most correct guesses will receive $10 off their next order (no minimum order required).

Here's a couple hints -

1. There's usually at least 50 stampsets that retire.

2. Hostess sets do NOT count towards guesses.

3. Accessories, In Color products, Designer Series Papers do NOT count towards guesses.

4. Email all guess to me at jenstamps@hotmail.com

*Received guesses must be rec'd by 11:59pm, June 14th.

*Redemption must be placed before the new catalog comes out (in August).

And yes, as the image above suggests.... I will be selling some of my old sets, projects & supplies to make room for some new ones. Stay tuned for more details.

It has been far too long!

It's been too long since I've posted anything. I'm really excited about 3 name frames I've recently completed. I hope the recipients love them as much as I do. It's kinda nice having the creative freedom to do as you wish in making them, but at the same time it can be challenging to not have 100% guided instruction.

Ryan, from what I gather, is 100% all boy. He is into computers, sports & tools. Ryan's name frame is out of the frame because I'm still in the process of painting it. I also chose just a plain green background because of all the different items on it; I felt if there was patterned paper as a background, the tools & sports equip. would get 'lost'.


Malia is a "girly-girl". She loves the color pink. She also loves flower & ballerina-type stuff - the same things I loved when I was a little girl. Oh heck, who am I kidding? I STILL love that kind of stuff.




James loves anything that moves - cars, planes, scooters, bikes, etc. His frame was a little more challenging because, believe it or not, it was really hard finding some decorations that were "mobile". I ended up using a few more "hardware" pieces on James' frame. I also like the red accent that is on the letters.



As always, you can view the frames closer by clicking on the pictures.

Advanced Technique Projects

As requested, here are the 5 advanced technique cards I made last weekend. I (will) have most of the materials to make these cards.

Leave me a comment & let me know what you think.

A very pretty Acetate card we made for Mother's Day. I made one quite similar as a birthday card for a co-worker using the new She's All That stampset from the new Occasions Mini Catalog.

I also thought this Brayered Sky card turned out SO pretty... except for the middle of the big tree that didn't get inked up enough. D'oh!

This picture turned out better than I thought it would. You can REALLY see the cracked glass by clicking on the picture.

I don't really care for the colors used in this Criss Cross card, but I do like the concept of it. I've already purchased materials to make a card like this using the Berry Bliss Designer Series Paper. If you click on the picture, you'll see an up close image of the Build-a-Brads that we carry. I've never used 'em before so it was fun being able to try 'em out. I also bought some of these to demonstrate in future camps.

This card is such a beautiful card demonstrating the Faux Silk technique. Even though by clicking on the card to enlarge it, I feel you need to see it in person to really see the true beauty of it.

Advanced Techniques Class

Yesterday, I hosted a stamp camp here at my home. Originally, I was going to have it on a Sunday (last weekend), but several gals couldn't make it due to prior commitments but some could make it. So, I had this brilliant idea... I'll have one on Sunday & then one the following Saturday. I have a big house, but not a huge stamping space & so I thought having it broken up into two days would fix that issue...

Well, it would have worked out that way if everyone from Sunday's camp hadn't cancelled to come to Saturday's camp. I had 10 people stamping at my house yesterday afternoon for 3 hours.

I love these gals who came over. I don't get to see some of them all too often & so it's fun to catch up on what's going on in each other's lives.


After my camp, I went to a camp to do a little stampin myself. We learned 5 'advanced techniques' & they turned out beautiful:

1. Acetate Card
2. Criss-Cross Card
3. Cracked Glass Card
4. Brayered Sky Card
5. Faux Silk Card

I wouldn't incorporate all of them into one camp (unless I did *JUST* an advanced technique class), but maybe throw one in every now and again to demonstrate something new.

You're a blast!

I got a bunch of new stamp sets this week (8 - yes 8!! - to be exact). Some of them were regular stamp sets out of the Spring/Summer Collection, some were Sale-a-Bration sets & 1 was from pre-ordered from the upcoming Occasions catalog.

One *REALLY* cool thing is that several of the sets are die-cut, which means instead of having to get out the scissors & manually trim around the rubbah to mount it on the wood block, you just sorta 'punch' it out of the excess rubber. This makes mounting your rubbah SO easy & VERY quick.

I'm participating in a demo swap on Saturday at my upline's meeting. Each demo was asked to create a card & bring all the supplies so that everyone can make it too. It's kinda like a Stamp Camp for demonstrators, but instead of designing 6-8 projects for everyone to do, everyone does just 1 & in the end, we all get a bunch of cards (one from each demo).

This card is from the Spring/Summer Collection & features the stamp set Pun Fun. I was inspired by a few other demonstrators who used similar color combos. I'm pretty sure I've never used these colors together before; I kinda like it. I think it would make a great birthday card for a young boy.

Leave me a comment & let me know what you think.

Snowflake & Flower Punches

Michelle - Here's the flower & snowflake punch I have. I'm not quite sure what happend to the bottom flower out of the paper... it's like a big ol' chunk came out of it. Hmm... I put a nickel, dime & penny next to the flower so you can kinda tell how big they are. And, a card next to the others. Just for size comparisons. Ummmm... The flowers can be used as either the punch out or in the solid paper. The snowflake is just a bunch of little specs of paper once punched; you can only use it on solid paper (does that make sense??). Let me know if you like what you see & they're all yours to borrow. By the way, by clicking on the image, it'll open up into a bigger image & you can see the detail better.

Where DOES the time go?

The holidays are officially over & I'm officially done with being on the slightly lazy side; I'm ready to get back into things. I've had to take a moment (or two!) to organize my stamp room. It was quite atrocious for awhile with many things being stuffed in there that didn't quite belong (Christmas decorations, wrapping paper, gifts that I didn't want my husband to see nor my kitties to get into). But, that's all put away now. I've got my retired sets labeled with a big red "R". I also created a binder of my sets (I stamped all my current stamp sets on a blank page so that if I'm looking for a specific image, I just have to pull out the binder & flip through the pages rather than pull out each individual set; next is to stamp all my retired sets).

I've got my first stamp camp scheduled for my good friend Kat for mid March. That leaves me plenty of time to come up with some fabulous projects.

BUT, my goal is to have at least one more camp around the end of Feb and at least one more before Kat's camp in March. If you would like to help me reach my goal by hosting a camp, YOU will stamp for free. Also, this is a wonderful time to host a camp because we're quickly approaching Sale-A-Brations - for every $50 you spend, you get an exclusive stamp set for free!

One last thing to mention... I recently signed up to have a stampin up website. I'm still figuring out how to get everything set up on it (pictures, editing the default text, etc), but check me out at: www.jennifermccarthy.stampinup.net

Happy Holidays!

Wow! I feel like I should have posted something a week or two ago. But, I'm sure you all understand how busy it can get around the holidays. We tried not to "do" Christmas this year, but really, can one "NOT" do Christmas?

We had some decorating & some baking & as much as we tried to limit ourselves, we still had shopping to do.

I'm thankful for all my friends, family & customers (who feel like new friends to me) who make the holiday season a wonderful time of the year.

I am thrilled to announce that I received my new catalog about week ago. I've already got my covers laminated & the spine spiral bounded. The lamination just protects the covers & the spiral binding makes it so easy to flip through the pages & the catalog will stay open. If you're ever interested in spiral bounding your catalog, I'd be happy to take one to Fed Ex/Kinko's for you (across the street from my work). The cost would be about $12.

In addition to the new Spring-Summer Collection catalog, February1st marks the first day of Sale-a-Brations, a 6-week annual sales event that Stampin Up offers to it's customers, hostesses & new recruits. During Sale-a-Brations, for every $50 you spend as a customer, you get a free limited edition Sale-a-Bration stamp set (there are 5 to choose from). As a hostess, you receive a free Sale-a-Bration stamp set for each $300 increment your camp totals. And, as a new demonstrator recruit, you get to select any stamp set from the Spring-Summer Collection catalog, a $47.95 value!

I signed up to be a demonstrator 3 years ago, during Sale-a-Brations & chose the most expensive stamp set - an alphabet stamp set - simply because I had a hard time justifying the purchase on my own. It was such a nice 'bonus' to receive a new stamp set at such a high value, for free.

If you'd like to book your stamp camp with me (or place an order) & earn your free stamp sets, please get in touch with me; my calendar is filling up fast!

A Freebie Giveaway

I'm curious who reads this blog... Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

To the first 3 people who post a comment, I will give you $5 off your next Stampin Up! purchase of at least $30.

From time to time, I will post a freebie giveaway like this. Stay tuned!

As Promised

I love it when Brown (a.k.a. Mr. UPS) delivers some goodies on my doorstep. Two days ago, I received my box of goodies which consisted of a couple stamp sets, some designer series paper, some ink refills & some markers that I never got around to buying until now. I also got a couple random things like sanding blocks & the scallop punch. I'm really not quite sure if I need the sanding blocks, but I have them now. They may come in handy when doing my chipboard ornaments.

So anyways, as promised, I was going to post a couple pictures of ornaments we'll be making at the next camp I do. The pictures never do the actual item justice, but here are 2 more of my samples (the scallop ornament & the peppermint patty ornament); click on the picture for a closer picture:

I love 3D stuff!!

Two weekends ago, I did a Christmas Card Stamp-a-Stack for a gal who won my raffle drawing at a vendor fair I did back in July in Mill Creek. I didn't really think that particular vendor fair was much successful as I didn't feel confident that I had gotten any new customers out of it. But, then out of the blue, this particular gal called & I'm glad she did.

Her stamp-a-stack was small (only 3 stamped), but I had a great time stamping with & getting to know the 3 who were there. One gal even asked if I could do a camp for her making christmas ornaments.

I had to think about it, but after doing just a little bit of research, I do have several ornaments we will make. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of everything because I don't have all my supplies just yet (I ordered what I needed today).

Here's a picture of one of the ornaments & the inside of it. It was a bit challenging to get a "decent" picture of the ornament (lighting, shadows, movement - all problems), but you can see the jist of it.

Ornaments to make:
- chipboard ornaments
- peppermint patty ornaments
- acetate ornaments
- reinker ornaments
- scallop ornaments
- strips o' paper ornaments

It's finally done!

I finally was able to finish my FALL/NOEL CD's that I first fell in love with at Regionals. Well, I'm not 100% done, but will be momentarily. I didn't color in the stocking that's on the "N" of NOEL.

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I apparently didn't plan it entirely enough when I was putting it together. You see, I had painted most of the letters black, exept for the N & the E. I had originally intended for at least one of those letters to go on the blue background (the O is on). But, when I put together the FALL side first, I wasnt paying attention to what order the colors were going together. I also should have painted one L white to go on the black/web background for FALL. Instead, I put the black letter on white paper & put that on the black/web background.

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Overall, I'm pretty thrilled with the way it turned out. I just know for the next couple I put together what I need to look out for.

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In the picture, I have it hanging on a towel bar purchased from the local home improvement store. It's just sitting on top of the fireplace (not bolted down). The little brown piece in between the A/L & the O/E is a decorative piece on our fireplace.

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As always, for a better, close up image, simply click the picture(s).

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By the way, I am selling these at a craft fair this weekend for $25 (towel bar not included) & would be happy to make one for you too. Either leave a message in the comments section or shoot me an email. Even if you don't want me to make you one, leave me a comment & let me know what you think.

I woke up at 5am for this!

This morning, I *woke up* at 5am with the thought of what to do with my blank CD cases. And, I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep as long as I kept thinking about these CD cases. So, I got out of bed, got ready for work, & since I had an extra hour before I had to leave the house, I made my creation.

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What is it? Well, it could be any number of "greeting cards" but this particular greeting card is a baby announcement. On the outside front, is a bunny that was watercolored. The inside left side has the announcement stuff (date, weight, length, etc). The inside right is where a picture of the newborn baby would go. The picture is a little fuzzy, but that black/white little circle says "welcome little one". Click on any of the pictures for a better, close up view.

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What's great about these?

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-They stand up on their own; I had this one displayed on my desk today at work so I could show it off to my co-workers.

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-They can be customized for any occasion. This one is a baby announcement. Before the weekend is up, I want to make an "I love you" (great for an anniversary or valentine) & perhaps a Christmas one. Stay tuned for more pics.

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-They make great, one-of-a-kind gifts.

My New Toy

So, there's this thing & it's called a Crop-a-Dile. I sell it through my Stampin' Up! business, but I've never used it personally & had no idea what it even did... Until I went to Portland Regionals a few weeks back. In a nutshell, it's the best hand-held hole punch ever. It's really 'strong' & so easy to use. Tonight, to try it out, I punched through 3 chip boards (all at the same time) and I punched the holes for my NOEL/FALL CD decorations. Try doing that with an ordinary hand-held hole punch. I love my new toy.

Halloween - It's coming!

Picture it: A tin that you might find a band-aid in. Alter it with a little black paper, some stamped Halloween images & some ribbon. What have you got? The Halloween gift I'm giving to my co-workers on Wednesday. I had fun making these cute little tins that I bought from The Oriental Trading Co. Now, I just gotta figure out what fun treat to put into them.

For a better view, simply click on the picture.