Some cards to share

As I announced in my August Newsletter, I was doing a raffle for some glitter. One draw ticket was given to each person who made a card by Aug. 31st.

I just did the draw and the winner is: Pei Pei

Congrats! I hope you will find many creative uses for your glitter!

Here are a couple of pictures of some cards she made this month:

Isn't that an amazing card using the open sea stamp set?

Here's one using the vintage vogue stamp set.

I love how the paper piercing gives the extra detail and interest. As well, she has mixed some shimmer paint and rubbing alcohol to spray some all over shine on the card.

Thank you everyone for entering and inspiring me with your creations! Keep creating!

An Afternoon of Framping

Here's a sneak peek of something I made using the holiday mini products. This is another card that I made at a demonstrator team meeting. This gently falling stamp set is so beautiful and is perfect for fall. The co-ordinating spice cake designer series paper is a perfect match, of course.

If you want to see more beautiful projects and make some beautiful projects, make sure you sign up to come to my Holiday Showcase: An Afternoon of Framping Class. I will jam as many demonstrations, make n takes and product highlights as I can into an afternoon.

Date: Sunday September 11, 2:00pm

Cost: $10 or free with $40 purchase

or

Free if you bring a friend new to my business

What is "framping" you ask? It's short form for stamping with friends. :-)

E-mail me now to save your spot!

Simple summer

Just thought I would share a simple card that I made at a team meeting. It uses a stamp set that I had never noticed before. That's the great thing about going to these meetings. I always discover something new. This set is called Summer Solstice (pg. 114 in the catalogue in case you had never noticed it before either...)

I love how the beautiful images speak for themselves. No extra embellishment necessary. The colours here are cherry cobbler, not quite navy and garden green.

Ribbons Anyone?

Now is the time to join in for my in-colour ruffled ribbon share.

You will recieve 10 yards total, 2 yards each of the 5 new in colours: lucky limeade, wisteria wonder, pool party, calypso coral, island indigo. I will fill the shares as people email me and I will order in groups of 5 people. I will email you and let you know if you are in or on a waiting list until the group fills.

The beuty of a share is that I just simply divide the ribbon and divide the price and you get great variety!!

Great News

Earlier this summer I had received the official letter on custom letterhead congratulating me on earning the incentive trip to Disney world.

I was most excited to receive the letter but I felt I couldn't get truly excited until I knew if my husband could get time off work to come with me. I felt he really needed to come because in a way he earned the trip as well since he is so instrumental in the business as well. He helps me deliver orders, he takes the kids out when I've taken over the house for stamping parties, he listens to me ramble on and on about what new and exciting class idea is forming in my mind...

I also wanted him to come because I thought it was really important for him to see and hear first hand how cool the Stampin' Up! corporate team is and that Stampin' Up! really is a profitable and reputable business. It's not all fluff and stamps.

Of course, the trip wouldn't be the same without my husband/best friend.

We just heard this week that he is able to come. Hooray! Now I have already started researching about all the great restaurants I want to eat at when I get to Disney. They have so many fine restaurants...I can't wait!

I hope you do not feel that I share my excitment with you in order to boast. Truly I view this great prize as a miracle and gift. If there is anything in your life that you feel is impossible, have faith, I have seen firsthand that the impossible can become possible.


DO NOT HESITATE to talk to me if you even have a tiny inkling of interest in being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. I am having a night on September 29th where anyone can come and learn more about the demonstrator opportunity. Even without an incentive trip prize, I am so glad to be a demonstrator. It really is fun.

Buy 3 get 1 FREE

These are the last few weeks to take advantage of the buy 3 designer series paper (dsp) packs, get one free promotion. Make sure you check my website under the promotions page to read all the details. There are so many beautiful dsp's in the new catalogue. Grab them now while the price is right! This promotion is only available until August 31st.

Hostess benefits

I know I've been talking a lot about workshops lately and I realized I should share one of the newest, greatest things about workshops: the new hostess benefits!

The new hostess program is more flexible, allowing you to pick whatever you want with your hostess dollars. You can choose the special priced hostess sets or if you have your eye on something else, you can use your hostess dollars for that instead. I also love that you can earn half price products! Just imagine owning the big shot for half price!!! Yeah! I love it. Contact me now to get signed up for a club or to set a date for your own crafting party with friends.

You did that with an envelope?

I just thought I'd share the instructions for how to make this little bag using one of Stampin' Up!'s medium sized envelopes. I showed this at a couple of workshops and people were amazed at how simple it was. Even though they watched the magic unfold in front of their eyes, they wanted written directions. It is really easier to demonstrate rather than follow the instructions but here I go.

Step 1: take a medium sized envelope (found on page 182 of the current catalogue) and seal it.

Step 2: Score at 1" along both long edges and one short edge.

Step 3: On the non-scored short edge, use one of Stampin' Up!'s fabulous border punches to create a decorative edge. (scallop edge punch used here)

Step 4: Bend along score lines to deepen the score lines then open the envelope with your hand inside the open end.

Step 5: Press the long edges of the envelope in while simultaneously letting the scored edges flare out.

Step 6: You will be left with two points at the bottom which you can fold under and adhere to the bottom with glue dots.

That's all there is to it. Decorate as desired. (posy punch hostess stamp used here along with the sentiment from easy events.) Fill the bag as desired. (I always fill it with candy but with back to school around the corner, decorative erasers and pencil sharpeners might be more appropriate.)

It's always more fun to see it in action so make sure you book a date with me so I can show you and your friends more crafting magic tricks!

Baja Breeze: take two

I'm enjoying the relaxed pace of the summer. I've had lots of time to play in my basement craft cave while the kids run screaming around the house. Grin.
Here's a couple of cards I made using some of the new catalogue stamp sets. Of course, why make one card, when you can make two.
This card uses the button buddies stamp set. I love the colour combo which I got from the colour coach. Cherry Cobbler, More mustard and Baja Breeze.

I was all excited when I found this stamp set: Cherish Friendship when I was sorting through my clear mount sets. I can't believe that I forgot I pre-ordered this set waaa...yyyy back in June. The line image is so detailed and is perfect for watercoloring but of course I cheated and just used the markers instead. I discovered that if just coloured where there were shadow lines on the image and left some spots uncoloured, it looks kind of like watercolouring...but not. I think I'll name my lazy technique "faux watercolouring"

Don't get me wrong. It's not that watercolouring is harder or any more work than colouring with markers. It's just that I have my markers right beside me and my watercolouring things are under the desk behind my stack of envelopes. This would require me to bend down and search around. Pathetic that I am so lazy, I know. Between my potato chip eating and inactivity, the heart and stroke foundation should be knocking on my door any day now to lecture me on healthy lifestyle strategies.

The fun embellishment

I had a hilarious day yesterday. First, hubby went to work so I decided that today was the day to take the children on an adventure. We went to Burd's Fishing. I don't know what posessed me to do this because I don't know how to fish and the children have never been fishing. However, I read the website and it looked like a very family friendly place where experience was not necessary. The staff were very helpful and suggested that we fish from the "medium" pond because the small fish pond was pretty low in stock and we probably wouldn't catch anything. We learned how to put the worm on the hook (gross) and learned how to cast. We got one hook in the water and I gave the rod to my daughter to hold so I could get another one ready for my son. In that time, a fish had already started tugging on my daughter's rod. Luckily she held on to the rod and with my help and the staff at the establishment, we brought in a large fish. My daughter was at first pleased at her contribution to the catch but then quickly became disgusted by the fish flapping in the water and then seeing the staff member grab it with a net and flop the bleeding, slippery fish onto the ground. She refused to go near the water again. My son was jealous that he hadn't caught a fish yet but that didn't last long. Soon we had another huge fish added to our basket. Did I mention that we are obligated to keep everything we catch? My eldest son was having a blast catching fish and promptly caught another one but he also was disgusted by the flopping, slippery mess. After 3 huge fish in just a short span of time, I told them that they needed to stop catching fish because I knew I had to pay by weight for each fish.

Here he is reeling in a big one.

After the fishing adventure, I became a woman on a mission. What was I going to do with the fish? I don't know how to cook fresh fish!!!! My children don't eat fish!!!!

I went home and told the children not to bother me. (as a side note, I overheard my daughter telling my youngest that when she grows up to be a mommy, she will NEVER take her children fishing.) I then "studied" on the internet. I watched You Tube videos on deboning and cooking fish, I saw grown men kissing raw fish, (and they think stampers are strange...) I googled recipes on cooking fish...

All this studying was pretty pointless. There was no way I could learn to be a fish cooking expert plus I had to have the food ready before I headed out to a workshop that evening.

I decided to steam one fish chinese style and bbq the other one western style. I was pretty pleased with how it looked considering I didn't know what i was doing. My dad assumed someone else had prepared the fish for me it looked so official. Here's one fish ready to go on the grill.

This just goes to show that a little embellishment goes a long way.

Speaking of embellishment...(yes, this post does get to stamping...) here is a card that I demo'd at the workshop last night.

It uses the new Easy Events stamp set. I was so proud of myself that I thought of the idea to put a glimmer brad on the top of the cupcake. I love embellishments and buy them all because frankly they are just beautiful to look at. I am well aware that a perfectly placed embellishment on a card can make the difference between nice and wow but most of the time I can't figure out where that perfect place is. Anyway, I was so happy that this poppy parade glimmer brad found a perfect home. The workshop was so fun. One lady who had never stamped before was so happy with her make n take creation that she kissed it. TWICE! I absolutely love the workshop fun and magic. The hostess walked away with three free stamp sets too!

Such cute buttons!

In case you couldn't make it out to my open house last month, I wanted to show off these cute little 3X3 cards I had on display. I copied the ideas from the pictures in the new idea book. This stamp set called Button Buddies is so versatile because it can be used for so many occasions and when paired with the Petite Pairs sentiment stamp set, it's just so cute! I am happy just looking at these cards. Of course, I love embellishments and the button buddies set makes it so easy to use my beautiful buttons.

Do you want to earn free, cute stamps and embellishments? Make sure to join a club or set a workshop date with me. I always have things I want to share and we always have fun!