Join the Stampin' Up! family: Become a Demonstrator!

I had my Stampin' Up! family night last night.  I try to offer this free class every now and again to share my Stampin' Up! story with the friends I stamp with.  It also allows me to talk more fully about the demonstrator opportunity and why it may be a great choice...whether you want to be a hobby demonstrator or a business builder.  Here's the card we stamped.  Everything on this card comes as a part of the standard starter kit.  The starter kit itself is a fabulous deal.  It contains more than $400 worth of products for only $215 NO TAX OR SHIPPING.  You are able to customize this kit! Plus, when you purchase the starter kit you get loads of benefits immediately such as access to the demonstrator website full of ideas, a monthly full colour magazine, a 30% discount on your first order over $200 and the opportunity to earn free stamps and earn and income.   There are many more benefits but the list would be too long if I kept on going. 

Do you like the card?  I got the old olive and certainly celery colour combo from the colour coach (included in the standard starter kit) and I used the Best Friends Forever Stamp set I got free at convention. 

I also wanted to share these cute paper flowers that one of the Team S.T.I.C girls, Brenda shared with us at our last team meeting.  She taught us how easy it was to make these cute flowers and she had them on headbands and broaches.  Too cute!

If you want to take advantage of the starter kit and demonstrator opportunity.  Just go to my website HERE and click join now.  I would love to have you join the fun.  If you want to talk further, make sure to contact me.

Clean and Simple cards

For me, the magic of stamping comes from being able to create something lovely in just a few steps and just a few minutes. Here's a couple of cards that you can easily reproduce. Just take out your supplies and go for it.

Here's my first Christmas card using the new Sounding Joy stamp set in the holiday mini catalogue. The holly berry bouquet designer series paper told me that wild wasabi, chocolate chip and real red work well together. So, that's the colour scheme I used here. I used vanilla smooch spritz to glimmer up the whisper white cardstock. (for those faint of heart who don't like spraying, use shimmery white paper instead). Some real red ribbon finishes it off.

Here's another super simple card using the Elements of Style stamp set. I just stamped the flower image on some very vanilla cardstock and matted it with soft suede cardstock. I quickly coloured the flower using the blushing bride marker and river rock marker. The card base is river rock with the flourish image stamped on the background and a sentiment from the Heard from the Heart set on the bottom. See? So easy, so fast. Way faster than going to the store to buy a card. I love stamping.

A card matters

So, it was my husband's 40th birthday this past Saturday. I had made sure my day was clear way in advance because I wasn't sure what we were going to do. I had seriously considered a big birthday party with a caterer but it actually turned out to be more expensive than I thought so in talking with Kevin, we decided he would go up north with some guy friends and hang out and do guy things: go karting, eating chips, playing video games etc.

I was sooo busy with back to work, back to school and stampin' workshops that I decided to put off making his birthday card. I put it off not only because I was busy but frankly, I didn't think he would care if he got a handmade card or not. I mean, when I put my mind to doing something, I can usually get it done so if I had really wanted to get his card done in time, I could have. I just would've had to stay up a little later one night or something but truthfully, I figured I was the one who cared about handmade cards, not him. I figured he wouldn't really notice the omission.

I was wrong. He definitely noticed that he didn't get a card on the day of his birthday. Sigh. I tried to explain that I could've given him a stock handmade card from my stash but I really wanted to make one special for him and I had in my mind what I wanted to make but just didn't get around to it. (Basically, I was trying to explain that he was definitely special even though he didn't get a card from me.) Yes, it sounds as pathetic an excuse as it was.

Anyway, here's the card I made...a few days late. A very simple gift card holder using two colours: soft suede and more mustard. The dsp is the new spice cake pattern in the holiday mini. The stamp set is called "daring adventure".

My husband had bought a new bike over the summer so I figured the mountain equipment co-op gift card would be perfect so he could buy bike accessories.

So, the morale of the story is: even when you think your handmade gifts are not valued by someone else, maybe those gifts mean more than you think!

Fun with Friends

Oh My! The days are flying by! I am busy but happy. Here's a couple of pictures of what I've been up to. Here is my friend Linda and I posing in front of the hubby's pick up truck. We did a double date to the Keith Urban concert last week. I 'm wearing the cowboy hat I got from managers reception last year but I ended up not wearing it at the concert because I scoped out the crowd as we were driving by the ACC and not EVERYONE was wearing a cowboy hat so I decided to opt out. I knew I would be hot and sweaty from all the people and dancing that I figured I wouldn't wear it.

I know I mentioned before about the fun we had at our team S.T.I.C meeting but I'm still happy from it and just wanted to share some of the cards I got from our team swap.

This one is from Grace. Is it not awesome??!! The extra work she put into cutting out the images makes it stand out for sure!

I am happily using the spice cake designer series paper and fabric and gently falling stamp set all the time. It's so perfect for the season. I guess other team members felt the same because in our team swap we got about 3 cards using these elements. Here's one. Sadly I can't remember who on the team made it but it's gorgeous!

The sentiment is from the day of gratitude set.
Sorry I'm not posting as often as I would like but don't hesitate to contact me anytime.

Join the Fun!

Just wanted to share some pictures from our Team S.T.I.C meeting tonight. We had a blast! I am so glad I opened my mind to the concept of having people sign up as demonstrators with me. It is so fun! It is only in our team meetings that we can talk openly about how we LOVE our stampin' experiences.

We tried to have a tropical theme in honour of the new incentive trip being to Fiji. Wouldn't you love to go to Fiji! Well, by being a demonstrator, you could get to go for free!

Here's a gift I made for the girls who met a specific team challenge I had placed out earlier in the summer. It uses the daring adventure stamp set and the border lines stamp set and the beautiful spice cake dsp and co-ordinating fabric.



Here's a close up of the beautiful new pewter embossing in the holiday mini.

I would love to have you join the fun. All you have to do to join the fun is purchase the starter kit. This kit is $215 no tax or shipping. Check out all the info HERE Come out to my Stampin' Up! family night on September 29th to learn how being a stampin' up demonstrator is really more fun! RSVP

Sweet!

Sweet can describe so many things. It can describe my youngest baby going off to kindergarten

Or it can describe "the pleasure or delights found in something" such as my happiness in making this card using the new Christmas Lodge stamp set. I think the sponging around the card makes it feel more rustic and I LOVE the glitter on the roof. Dazzling diamonds and a two way glue pen are a stampers best friend. I'm not sure if you can see it but it adds some bling to the card. I used the colours always artichoke and cherry cobbler and chocolate chip on this card. At the bottom I've got cherry cobbler seam binding and an antique brad.

Or..sweet can describe these cookies made with Stampin' Up!'s soon to be released cookie stamps. It has a wooden handle with three interchangeable designs (heart, jack-o-lantern, or snowflake). I just announced this new product at my holiday showcase today and everyone got a taste of cookies that I made using the recipe included with the product instructions. Pre-order your cookie stamps today. They are only $20.95 and they are available for purchase on October 1st so I will plan to put in an order on October 1st so let me know beforehand if you want to be one of the first to enjoy this great new product.

My son and I stamped our cookies (no ink required!!) but he refused to be in the picture so here I am!

If you missed my holiday showcase class, contact me to book your own private class with your friends. It's always a time of fun, laughter and stamping.

Long time no post

Wow! Sorry I haven't blogged in ages. I have started many times but failed to complete anything because I have been stressed out. Yes. I do get stressed out. I don't get stressed about doing back to back stamping workshops. I don't get stressed about meeting new people or going new places (like convention) but my kids going back to school is enough to send me loopy. Fortunately I've been doing this back to school thing for a couple of years so at least I know my crabby stress is only short lived. Once the nightmares about forgetting to pick up a child or worrying which day is what extracurricular class stop, I'll be just fine. Sigh. My poor husband does not remember this happens to me every year and therefore is always stunned that he can not do anything right. For example yesterday he went grocery shopping and brought home a cantalope. I snapped at him and said "you are the buyer of the cantalope and I am always the cutter of the cantalope". Can you tell I'm feeling a little overburdened right now? Yes, the thought of cutting fruit as an additional thing on my to do list just seemed too much.

Well, I don't have any cards to share today (because I want to save some of the surprises for my Holiday Showcase class on Sunday). I really want to share about my family vacation that we went on at the end of August. We went to Disneyworld. I love Disneyworld. One day I will share some of the adventures we had but for now here are a couple of pictures.

Since I discovered the amazing Disney Dining plan on our trip last year, I have been obsessed about eating food at Disney. I understand that people go to disney for the world class attractions. I love the world class rides and attractions but I love the food too. Doesn't this look great? Plus I didn't have to bake it (not that I would know how anyway)

Here's the kids pumped up after watching a 3D movie with Michael Jackson!?

And then here's one with Tigger and Kevin.

Finally...convention make n take!

So, Stampin' Up! convention was in July. They had very fancy and detailed make n takes. I suppose when there are 3000 experienced crafters in one place, they felt they had to make the make n takes impossibly long and detailed.

Anyway, since I couldn't get anywhere near finished at convention, I brought all the supplies home and today was the day I finished them! It was so satisfying. I love the outcome. Here is a banner/card display.

Here's a close up of some of the elements:

I love the timeless portrait dsp and co-ordinating fabric. I also wouldn't have thought of the color combo that the cards use: more mustard, lucky limeade, island indigo and cherry cobbler.

I was so desperate to stamp today. I have so many holiday projects and class ideas floating in my mind I can not stand it! I think I need 4 days straight of crafting to get through everything I want to try. Alas, I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon but I was thankful the kids played well today so I could get some crafting done. (the basement is a gigantic mess of toys but that's beside the point)

Finally cracked open a holiday mini catalogue set called: Stitched Stockings. It's got a co-ordinating punch so I had to buy it (of course)

Doesn't the silver glimmer paper pack a punch!? This card is going to stand out on anybody's mantle!

Please please come to my holiday showcase class. I have so many things to show you! Make sure you RSVP so I have supplies for you.