Sales Tax Holiday in TN Aug 3-5, Convention Pictures

The state of Tennessee is having a sales tax holiday for school supplies up to $100.00 per item from August 3-5. Because school supply items are included in this sales tax holiday, the list of items below will be state tax-free during the holiday period. Please note that you must place your order with Stampin’ Up!^® during the tax holiday period in order to receive these items tax-free. Also, keep in mind that this is a state sales tax holiday and may not apply to additional city, jurisdiction, or county taxes.  I love saving on sales taxes or taxes of any kind!

The following items are tax-exempt during the Tennessee sales tax holiday:

Number	Description	Price
100425	2-Way Glue Pen	$3.50
104332	Snail® Adhesive	$6.95
104331	Snail Refill	$4.50
104294	Sticky Strip	$6.95
104430	Stampin' Dimensionals®	$3.95
103683	Mini Glue Dots	$4.95
103579	Paper Snips	$9.95
103179	Craft & Rubber Scissors	$19.95
108360	Craft & Paper Scissors	$29.95
101879	Watercolor Pencils	$19.95
105021	uni-ball Signo® Gel Pen	$3.95
102845	Blender Pens	$9.95
various	Stampin' Write® Markers	$3.50
119700	Subtles (10)	$28.95
119701	Regals (10)	$28.95
119702	Brights (10)	$28.95
119703	Neutrals (8)	$22.95
various	Watercolor Wonder Crayons
119802	Subtles (10)	$16.95
119803	Regals (10)	$16.95
119804	Brights (10)	$16.95
119805	Neutrals (10)	$16.95
110755	Multipurpose Liquid Glue	$3.95
104045	Anywhere Glue Sticks	$3.95
123002	2011-2013 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	$14.95
128978	Silver Stampin' Dazzle Marker	$3.50
128979	Gold Stampin' Dazzle Marker	$3.50
Since our sales tax is 9.75% that is like getting a 10% discount.  I'm thinking I need to buy some extra adhesives and at least 2 sets of Watercolor Wonder Crayons.  And I need to try out the new Silver and Gold Dazzle Markers.  They are new products featured on page 19 of the Holiday Mini Catalog and they are great.  I got to try them at the convention and I love them!   Remember the last card I shared last Monday with the origami butterfly?  The center is made with the gold marker.  It adds a great blingy touch to your projects, don't you think?  You can either place an online order on my Demonstrator Business Website (if you live in TN) or email your order to me and I'll place it to you.  Hurry though to get your order without having to pay sales tax! I need to replenish my supply of adhesives so I'm definitely going to take advantage of getting the additional discount this weekend! I'm off to GA for my grandson's birthday party but I reckon I should post a picture from the convention too.  I love the tags in the frame idea, very cute.  An the photo block tower is wonderful as well.  I'm pretty sure I'll find some time once my life settles down to make one of them.  These are from some of the display boards, did I mention there were thousands of ideas posted on all these boards?  I should have counted them!

Beautiful Paper Flowers

The displays at the Stampin' Up convention were amazing!  There were lots of beautiful flower arrangements made out of  paper.  Some people can do wonderful things with paper!  Here are a few arrangements that I really liked.

With 3 vases, a picket fence and a butterfly, this pastel arrangement screams Spring, doesn't it?  I love her attention to detail and the embossing on the pots too.

 This little patriotic bouquet is just adorable. The white embossed doilies on the box really caught my attention.  I wish they had photographed better.

I love these stacked boxes that are reminiscent of a wedding cake.  The color scheme is a great one too.  Wouldn't it be fun to put different presents in each of the boxes!

This beautiful wreath had hundreds, possibly thousands of tiny punched flowers.  The creator did a great job of putting them together in this unusual wreath.  I wonder how her carpal tunnel is doing . . .

No, these picture weren't taken in 2003.  My camera was acting up and kept changing the date. I wonder if I will ever get around to making a similar flower arrangement.  I would love to but I've been so busy lately I don't reckon it will happen soon.  I'm leaving Monday to go to GA for my grandson's birthday.  He is going to be turning 7 and has the cutest freckles ever!  He wants to have a campout on the trampoline for his party.  I reserve the right to go inside in the middle of the night if necessary to sleep in a bed. 

Don't forget if you live in TN that next weekend (Aug 5-7) is the tax free weekend.  You can get all of Stampin' Up's adhesives and 3 different pairs of scissors tax free that weekend.  The markers and watercolor pencils and crayons are included.  It is a great time to stock up on White Signo pens and blender pens.  Since our tax rate is nearly 10% it is like getting a 10% discount on your order of necessities!  I'll post again before the weekend with a complete list of the tax-free items.

More Convention Fun

One of my best friends' birthday was last week while I was at the Stampin' Up Convention.  I wish I could have been home to take her out for lunch or something.  I called her and sang Happy Birthday to her.  My daughter thinks that is cruel and unusual punishment but she seemed to enjoy knowing that I was thinking of her on her birthday.  I wish I had made her a card like this one from one of the shoebox swaps and mailed it to her.  Wouldn't that have been lots better than me singing???

The front of the card is nice but pretty normal looking.  It is the same size of most cards, A2.  Open it up a little and you notice that it is a bit different inside but the best is yet to come . . . 

It has an accordion fold in the middle that lets it fold out into this fun greeting.  See, wouldn't it make you feel special if someone sent you a card like this one?

Here is another shoebox swap that was nice.  There were 3 of the little battery operated tea lights in this and they glowed through the stamped vellum windows of the box.  Very nice.  The Open Sea stamp set is great for so many projects and I'd say it was perfect for this one!

Last is a picture of Sherrill Graff and I in front of the Late Night Stampers owl tree.  She is the one who organizes the pre-convention activities.  She also gives lots of prizes, I won a few, yay!

I need to get the pictures from convention more organized. These were from my cell phone, I'm always surprised at how decent the pictures are that I take with it.  My camera has been causing me problems so it is nice to have the cell phone to back me up.  I reckon my best bet is to buy a new camera though.

Heading Home from Convention

Hey everyone, guess where I am.  Nope, not Salt Lake City.  Nope, not home - yet.  I'm in Dallas.  I have a 2 hour 40 minute layover so I am trying to take advantage of the time and post again.  Although last week was wonderful in every way I was so busy I didn't get a chance to post as often as I planned to and I was soooo tired from going all day and not getting to bed until after midnight many nights.

I am posting a few of the projects we did at stamp camp.  Ignore the dates on the pictures, my camera was acting up and kept changing the date on me.  I'm thinking it needs to be replaced VERY soon!  It did manage to get me through the convention though so I won't talk too bad about it.  First is a bright, cheerful card with a clever fold that will be featured in one of my classes soon, it is so cool!  This one uses the Mixed Bunch stamp set which has a matching punch (I love when they do that!)  called Blossom.  You can see the pattern in the background, it is a little tricky but worth figuring it out. 

The next card is made the same way and uses the same punch but instead of stamping it they embossed it.  Add some butterflies, Antique brads and Basic Pearls and it will be a much easier card to make than it looks like.  Either way, the person who gets this card will feel so special that you took the time to make them a great card, won't they.  It is one of the cards on a display board at the convention.  There were so many great ideas there, I took over 500 pictures!

 This is another stamp camp project, a beautiful explosion box.  I don't know if you can tell from the picture but the butterfly in the middle is "floating" above the lattice die.  He is actually attached to a Window Sheet strip that is looped through the middle of the die.  It is a great idea.

Last, let me share a shoebox swap card with you.  I should have written down everyone's name and what project they did so I would know who to credit for these projects.  If you know, let me know so I can give them credit for their great work.  I love the bright Summer Smooches paper that is used on this card.  She showed us how to fold the oragami butterfly and cut the diagonal front, both combine to make this a great card.  It is easier to make than it looks too! 

Well, I reckon I better pack my computer away and get ready to board the plane for the final part of my trip.  It has been a wonderful trip in every way but it will be good to be home!  I'll see yall in a couple of days.  I have a room to paint and grandchildren to visit when I get home.  Oh, and my husband says it has rained a lot and he hasn't done much weeding in the garden.  I am trying not to imagine how badly it is overgrown after 10 days!

Stampin' Up Convention - wish you were here!

I'm sooo tired!  I'm having a great time and learning a lot but no naps, late nights and early mornings are starting to catch up with me!   I've been meaning to post every day but there has just been too much going on.  This will be a quick post.  I've taken 384 pictures so I'm sure there will be more coming very soon.

If you have never been to  the Stampin' Up convention, just imagine 3500 demonstrators swapping, visiting and screaming excitedly at all of the new ideas.  Then there are the convention boards.  Wow, hundreds, no- thousands of great card and craft ideas!  Here is a picture of the rows of boards.  It is just amazing to see all these beautiful samples all together! 

Before the convention officially started on Wednesday I went to some pre-convention events.  Monday and Tuesday I helped teach at a stamp camp.  Here I am with Shelly and Jennie holding the little boxes we taught.  I will put up a tutorial next week so you can see how to make these cute boxes. 


Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I also participated in some shoe box swaps.  We divided into groups of 7 because we had prepared kits for 6 people (and we didn't have to make our own project).  They gave prizes each day for their favorite projects.  Monday and Wednesday we had to do a 3-D project and Tuesday we were to do a 3-D card.  I saw a easel card on Stampin' Connection (the board for Stampin' Up demonstrators) using the 2-tags die so I came up with a card using that idea.  It was small, cute but not much so I wasn't even looking toward the front of the room when she was announcing the winners.  Then the ladies at my table started yelling, "Elaine, that's yours!"  Sure enough, my little card won!  There were 7 winners I think, out of about 70 projects each day.  Tuesday 3 of the projects at the table I was sitting at won so I took a picture of all 3.  Mine is the Pacific Point blue baby card.  The other baby card is so cute, I have to make some more of these to have on hand when new babies are born!  I have several friends and nieces who are expecting now so I know I'll be needing baby cards soon.

Well, it is late so I reckon I need to hit the hay so I can stay awake for the convention classes tomorrow.  I'm participating in a Wow presentation tomorrow night so it will be another long day.  I know it will be a lot of fun though!  I wish I could have all my friends with me to enjoy the convention, it is just great.  Think about it for next year, it will be Stampin' Up's 25th anniversary next year so I'm sure they will be doing some extra special things then.

Convention!

Guess where I am.  Nope!  I am in the Dallas Airport on a 4 hour layover on my way to Salt Lake City for the Stampin' Up convention that is next week.  Gotta love wifi and a charging island!  The trip has been very smooth so far.  No mad dashes through the airport with them calling my name over the intercom like happened a couple of years ago!  There was an adorable 2 year old in the seat in front of me who was so excited about the take off that it reminded me of how wonderful flying is.  He was VERY enthusiastic about looking down at the trees and houses and cars.  Totally cracked me up.  He was very good on the flight too.  They are flying to Alaska to visit his uncle, he will get plenty more opportunities for those wonderful take offs today!

I have a couple of swaps from the Spring Retreat to share with you before I go to the convention where I'll get lots more fun projects to share.

I love the rustic colors and distressing on this card.  It uses a new set called Blooming with Kindness.  It has that beautiful flower and 5 sentiments, a very nice set, maybe I should get it!

This card uses a new stamp set and a new embossing folder.  The stamp set is called Forever With You and is a 4 stamp set.  The embossing folder is the Chevron folder.  It adds a nice touch to the card.

I have joined several convention swaps plus I have 100 swap cards underway.  They are cut I just have to stamp them and adhere it all together.  I brought everything (except the clear blocks) in my carry on bag.  Unfortunately, without the blocks I can't stamp them.  Oh well, I brought a good book to read too.  I'll have a few days before convention starts to finish the cards.

Here is another one of the projects we made at the retreat.  It is a fun card that folds to the middle like flaps of a box and opens up to show the message you want to send.  I think I will be making more cards like this, it is so cute and unexpected.  The double sided DSP makes it pop with fun and color.  Maybe I'll do a little tutorial for you when I get back home in case you want measurements and details.

Summertime!

Summertime certainly can get busy!  Not only have I been spending time in my garden and enjoying fresh veggies, I have been getting those fresh veggies in the freezer.  On July 4th I got up early (5:30) and went out to pick the corn before the squirrels got any more of it.  They had knocked down 5 stalks and nibbled on the corn so I was determined to beat them to the rest!  I picked 127 ears of corn before going to a flag ceremony/pancake breakfast at church.  After we got home we spent a couple of hours getting the corn cooked, cut off the cob and into freezer bags.  I saw on Pinterest where you could cook the corn in the oven with the husks and silks on and cut off the bottom instead of the top and shake the cob out without any silks so we did it that way.  We must have let it cool down too much because it wasn't completely silk free but it tastes so good being cooked in the husks that I will probably always cook it like that now.

But I'm pretty sure you didn't come here to read about my corn crop.  I'm finally getting around to posting some of the cards we made at the Spring Retreat last month.  These cards all use a great set called  Embellished Events.  They also use the new In Colors. 

The set has 11 stamps in it, 6 drawings and 5 sentiments.  It is quite a versatile set.

This one also uses some of the Polka Dot Designer Series Paper in the In Colors.  I love it!

We used the cute little flowers on this card and the owl punch for a vase.  Notice the pierced holes along the scalloped edge?  We have a template for that now!  I love when things coordinate.