Stampin' Up's 25th Anniversary convention is in the proverbial books.

I suspected that Stampin' Up would pull out all the stops for their 25th anniversary convention and I wasn't disappointed!  It was a fabulous convention, there was so much information shared, projects created, milestones marked and prizes given!  Besides the fact that EVERYONE got a door prize (with values between $25 and $30 for the most part), we also got 2 other stamp sets each and a free Paper Pumpkin Kit.  More on Paper Pumpkin next week.  My head is so full of ideas that it might just explode all over my pillow if I lay down and relax!  It is nearly midnight after a long week of midnights so I reckon I should go to bed  but I wanted to share a couple of things first.  I thought I would have more time to blog this week but it has been a very full week. 

The green bicycle picture shows how a large city like Salt Lake City can help with transportation as well as keep the smog down.  I remember the past years it has been very hazy and I think smog was a bad problem here.  It didn't seem so bad this year.  I'm sure they have done more than the bikes to keep pollution down but I thought it was cleaver to have the bikes available to rent. 

This card is a card I made for a swap.  The Stampin' Sisters, mostly from the Nashville area and some other demonstrators from Wisconsin got together for supper Wednesday night before the convention officially started.  We had a swap with the 30 of us and this is the card I made for it.  I can't remember where I saw the idea for the band aid but I thought is was cleaver for a get well card.

Next is a card I made in a 3-D shoebox swap at the pre-convention events.  I love this step card, the DSP is called Venetian Romance, isn't it pretty?  The flower stamps are from a set called Stippled Blossoms, aren't they pretty!  The leaves are from the Secret Garden Framelits die set and a rhinestone is added to the center of each flower.  I wish I had written down the name of the swapper who created this for us to make so I could give her proper credit for this beautiful card.

I remember that this fun cookie card was in a shoebox kit that Kelly Mayou brought.  It features the fun Yippee-Skippee set for the sentiment.  That happens to be one of the sets that Stampin' Up gave all of the demonstrators today as a "party favor".  Isn't that fun!

Kelly's card is an easel card made with the scalloped circle framelit and a few punches.  The word "cookie" on the front of the card was made with one of our new polymer clear sets that has the small alphabets in it.  It is great to be able to spell out a word or name on your block and them stamp as many of them as you need to.  Wouldn't this card be fun for a birthday party invitation?

And last, a picture of our convention bag from this year, since it is our 25th anniversary then it stands to reason that the bag would have silver designs on it.  Isn't it pretty, cool, adorable, functional and just plain amazing???  I really like it!  The back compartment is padded so you can carry your laptop in it and one of the pockets has lots of dividers for papers and pens and things.  It is a great bag.

It's late and I reckon I better get to bed.  It's been a long week and I'm tired.  Happy but tired!

Stampin' Up Convention starts Tomorrow!!!

I am here in Salt Lake City anxiously waiting for the Stampin' Up 25th Anniversary convention to start.  I have been to a stamp camp on Monday and Tuesday as well as a shoebox swap both of those days.  I was able to make some amazing projects and will be ready for a year of great classes!

Tonight I'm going to post some of the projects from the shoebox swap yesterday.  First is a fun candy bar holder.  We just took a strip of Whisper White cardstock and put washi tape on it and punched a hole with the wide oval punch.  Then we used a smaller strip of white to adhere to the card front and attached a mini candy bar on that and tucked it in the hole.  A little tricky but easy and fun!

This one is a fun idea for children or grandchildren, whether you are taking them somewhere in your car or are taking them to church or a dr appt where they may need to wait quietly for a while, this cute kit will help.  The little box will hold 6 colored pencils or 5 crayons.  Just stamp a bunch of outline type stamps that kids will enjoy onto cardstock that  has been cut out with the Top Not die, make a cover and adhere the crayon box onto it.  This would keep either one of my granddaughters busy for quite a while.

I was going to post more pictures but my computer isn't cooperating.  I reckon it knows the connection isn't what it is used to.  I'll be taking lots more pictures tomorrow and should be able to post many of them this week.  I know I'm going to be seeing a ton of great projects on display at the convention and get lots of wonderful swap cards.  I only got 100 cards made so far, I might have a little time to make 10 or 20 more in the morning before I go to the convention.  I might have trouble sleeping tonight but I doubt it.  I'm tired from all the fun!  I'm thinking I'll wake up about 5AM and not be able to fall back asleep though.  Maybe I can make it till 6AM!

2 last cards from the retreat, I'll try to feature my favorite swap cards before I start having lots of new ideas to post from the convention.  I am on my way there, I made it into Utah this afternoon.  I'm at a friend's house in Monticello, Utah.  It is another 5 hours up to Salt Lake City so I will be able to easily make that trip tomorrow.  Not that easily, really.  I get so tired after 3 hours that it is going to be hard the last couple of hours.  Now on to what you came here for!

 

This cheerful card features the Gingham DSP and the Kind and Cozy stamp set.  I love the yellow and blue together.  It would certainly cheer me up!

 Again, Gingham Garden DSP and Kind and Cozy stamp set on this card.  It also has a few strips of Washi tape on it.  Washi tape is great stuff!  I love how it takes an ordinary card and steps it up without using extra products that make it hard to mail your cards.

I'll "see" you at convention next week!  I'll post some of my favorite projects hopefully every day.  I know I'll be tired but it will be so much fun! 

2 Cards Featuring Washi Tape

I am loving the new Washi Tape that I bought from Stampin' Up.  The colors and designs are bright and fun, perfect to embellish a card that needs just a little something.  These cards are cards we made at the Spring Retreat in June.  I've been so busy getting ready for a trip to visit my new grand baby in Colorado and then from my daughter's house to the Stampin' Up convention in UT that I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. 

 

The first card not only has Gingham Garden Washi Tape across the bottom but also behind the stamped circle like little tabs.  I love that fun touch!   The stamp set we stamped the gingham circle with is called Kind and Cozy.  I love how it looks like a plate with a checkered rim.  We also used A Round Array and Label Love stamp sets for this card.

 For the second card we covered a square of Whisper White cardstock with Gingham Garden Washi Tape going diagonally and then cut it out with the Beautiful Butterflies Bigs die.  The fun butterfly body is made with the new Candy Dots adhesive backed embellishments.  They can be used alone as in this project or you can get brad bases and stick them to the brad before adhering to your project.  I love these new Candy Dots!  The sentiment also comes from the Kind and Cozy stamp set.

More Washi Tape was placed along the bottom of the square of Gingham Garden Designer Series Paper for a great finish to the card.  Wouldn't you love to get such a cheerful card to remind you that someone was thinking of you?  I reckon I would love it too!

I'll be in Salt Lake City for the Stampin' Up convention next week.  It will be a crazy-busy week but I'll try to be better about posting, I will be taking so many pictures of great projects you will want to see so I won't have the excuse I sometimes use that I didn't have time to stamp!  I'm working on swaps for the convention too.  I have 130 that are pretty much finished and 50 others partially done, waiting for me to get a new stamp from the Holiday Mini Catalog to stamp them up.  Time will tell if I will get all of those done!

 

By the way, my new grandson is adorable and is a very good baby.  I am also getting to see 3 of my grandchildren I haven't seen in a year, they have grown so much! 

Tag a Bag

There is a new product in the new 2013/14 catalog that I really like, and the price is great!  It is called Tag a Bag Gift Boxes.  There are  8 kraft boxes PLUS clear acetate sleeves in a package for only $6.95.  That is less than a buck each!  We used one of these boxes for a project Saturday and I love how it turned out. 

The boxes don't come with dividers but it was simple to take a strip of Crumb Cake cardstock and score it and adhere to the bottom of the box to make the dividers.  The filling is shredded packing paper so that part was free. 

We decorated a tag which we clipped onto the new 3/4" Chevron Ribbon with the adorable mini clothes pins that came in the Tag a Bag Accessory Kit.  The pieces for the outside tag came in that accessory kit too. 

The cute little tags inside were punched from the new In-Colors.  Adding the acetate sleeve finishes it off so nicely.  What a great size box for many gifts, cookies, jewelry, lotions, etc would be perfect in these. 

There are also cute little kraft bags with chevrons in white that are so cute too.  10 in a pack for $3.95.  These will be fun to decorate and present also.  They look great with some of the popular Baker's Twine wrapped around them too.  You can save a bit if you get the bags or boxes combined with the accessory kit and they go so well together!

 

I have my monthly Bunco game coming up, I need to come up with something fabulous to fill a box with for my gift.  Sometimes I end up taking something in a plastic grocery bag - is that any way for a Stampin' Up demonstrator to treat a gift???  You know what they say about presentation.  Needless to say, the months when my gift is "wrapped" in a plastic bag it isn't the first one chosen!

 

Spring (Summer???) Retreat!

Today was a wonderful day at the Stampin' Sisters Spring Retreat.  We did 3 beautiful projects in the morning, ate a nice catered lunch and did 4 cards in the afternoon.  Every project was so nice and I loved the stamps, paper and colors we used.

The DSP we used on all the projects is called Gingham Garden.  It is a bright, pretty set of papers and they made the projects cheery.  The colors we used to match the paper are Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo Melon Mambo, Night of Navy and Pear Pizzaz.  I love the combination!

The first project we did was this beautiful paper wreath.  1 1/2 X 12 inch strips of paper were clipped in v shape at the ends and then we put them around a Styrofoam wreath.  It didn't take very long to complete each wreath, including the flowers.  When I showed it to my husband he was very impressed and we decided to hang it on the front door.  It sure cheers up the living room!

Another project we did this morning was this sampler.  It used lots of scraps of the Gingham Garden paper and stamps from the Wildflower Garden large stamp and the Kind & Cozy stamp set that we got today with our class kit.  I love this stamp set!  We had fun creating with it today.  I need to get a nice frame to put this cute sampler in.

One last thing, here is my swap card.  I ordered the Tape It stamp set on my last order and had fun playing with it to make a background for the sentiment.  It is like having a supply of washi tape that never runs out! 

I have been neglecting my blog lately, I need to post more but I stay so busy that when I actually manage to find some stamp time I don't seem to get things posted.  I have a good supply of things to post now with the rest of the projects and all the wonderful swaps I got today, I reckon

 I'll see you again Monday if I manage to squeeze in a little blog time then!  I'm getting ready to drive to Colorado to see the new grandbaby and then on to Utah for the Stampin' Up convention in the middle of July, then back to see the new grandbaby a little bit longer before heading back home.   It will be a long drive but very worth it!

Scrapbook Page!

The new Stampin' Up catalog is live!  I love the new catalog, so many new stamps, dies, products and ideas for cards and gift giving.  I'm going to place another order next week so let me know if you want something.  You can view the new catalog here!

I haven't done a scrapbook page in so long!  I am kind of excited that I created this one, it seems like a huge accomplishment after so long.  I really should get back into scrapbooking regularly again.  Actually, I should get back into blogging again.  I have really slacked off the last couple of months. 

For the layout I used the new, and very cool This and That paper and Washi Tape.  I really like this paper, I had a hard time deciding which papers from the pack to use.  I might just make a whole scrapbook with it!  I like the Washi Tape and plan to use it all up.  It is a great design element and a flat option to ribbon.  Much more manly in case I decide to put pictures of  my husband, sons or grandsons on the page.  Speaking of grandsons, I got a brand new grandson Tuesday!  I'm excited about little Caleb and am looking forward to going and visiting him on my way to the Stampin' Up convention.  And on the way home from convention too.  He is adorable and I'm so thankful he and my daughter are doing well.  Caleb's 5 year old sister wants to hold him all the time.  She might do a pretty good job of getting him spoiled before I even get there to start spoiling him! 

OK, back to the layout.  I feel like my brain is playing ping pong tonight!  I love the paper but I was uncertain how I would like the colors together.  For some reason that I can't explain, I can't stand to look at things that are the oh so popular colors of red and light teal.  That color combination seems to be everywhere and it drives me nuts.  To my eyes, they just DON'T MATCH!  Anyway, I was afraid that the Pool Party and Calypso  would have the same effect on my eyes but they didn't.  I found myself wanting to add more of the Calypso Coral.  That was one of the 2011-2013 In Colors.  Most of the In Colors from that collection were added into the colors so only Lucky Limeade is gone from Stampin' Up's colors now.

I used Crumb Cake ink to stamp the new Wildflower Meadow onto the Very Vanilla 12X12 background paper.  I also used the Mixed Bunch stamp set to stamp the flower onto the same color cardstock for a tone-on-tone look and punched them out with the Blossom stamp.  On this layout I inked all of the Very Vanilla cardstocks on the whole page and the mats.  I'm going to teach a class on this layout on June 18th at 6:30 if you are interested.  I'm going to do another layout without the inking and with a different piece of the DSP for people who don't like the distressed, ink around the edges of everything look.  It will be interesting to see the difference between the 2 pages.

It's time for bed!  I've had a long day and I'm starting to have trouble keeping my eyes open.  I'm not going to absolutely promise that I am going to post more often but I reckon I'll sure try!  Hopefully I'll see you online again soon!

Last Week of May, Card Class Friday!

May is nearly over.  The last couple of nights have been a bit chilly so I'm STILL snuggling down under several blankets at night.  The forecast is for mid 60's at night and 80's during the day so I can finally enjoy sweating when I go outside.  I'm really not a cold weather girl!

I have a card class featuring the Moving On stamp set Friday, May 31 at 11AM.  The class will be held in the Sango area at The Trading Post, 3551 Hwy 41A South.  Let me know if you would like to come to the class and I'll send you all the information.  We will make 6 cards, 2 each of the 3 cards pictured.  These bright, fun cards are perfect for these beautiful Summer days we have been having, although the picture is pretty crummy and doesn't show how bright the colors are.  The class is $15 or FREE with a $25 Stampin' Up order.  Reserve your spot now!

The old catalog is on it's way out and the new 2013/2014 catalog will be live on Saturday!  The Moving On stamp set is one that is being retired.  Or maybe replaced is a better word for it.  Moving On is the set designated to support the Ronald McDonald house the past year.   $3 was donated to the Ronald McDonald house for every set sold.  The new set is another great set called "Tag It" and I can't wait to buy it on June 1st! Should I add that there are matching Sizzlet dies for some of them?  You know how I love easy!  And, again, $3 from each of these sets sold will go to help the Ronald McDonald house, sounds like a win/win to me.

One more thing, May 30th is the deadline! $155 in product (including new pre-order options) for $99 plus tax and no shipping fees!  Sign up to become a Stampin' Up demonstrator by!  I love being a Stampin Up demonstrator, I love the events, the people I meet and sharing creativity.  Let me know if you want to join me in all this fun!

Another Wildflower Meadow card

I am really loving this new big stamp.  It comes with an embossing folder so that gives a whole new dimension to the fun you can have with it! 

It took a while to color all the flowers in with Stampin' Up markers but I think it was worth the time.  I stamped it in More Mustard ink and then took off ink on some of the flowers and leaves and used markers to apply different colors.  After I got it all colored and stamped I ran it through the Big Shot with the Wildflower Meadows embossing folder.  I thought about adding some ribbon but it really didn't need it.  I stamped a sentiment from the new Label Love stamp set and punched it out with the new Artisan Label punch and adhered it with Stampin' Dimensionals.  At least that part was quick and easy!  I love it when we have stamps and punches or dies that coordinate so I don't have to spend a lot of time cutting.  I seem to always manage to cut part of something wrong so it doesn't look right.

I also want to share great news, you can get a lot more hostess rewards if you book a workshop before May 30.  You would normally get $65 in hostess dollars with a $350 workshop but for the next few weeks you will get an additional $30 in hostess dollars to make it $95 FREE product!!!  Dude, that is nearly a hundred bucks!  What a great time to book a workshop and invite your friends over for a little girl time and create something fun! 

And if you really love Stampin' Up, did you read all the small print?  You can get an extra $30 worth of product if you join Stampin' Up as a demonstrator by May 30th.  If you have been thinking about it, this is a great time, just let me know and I'll take care of the paperwork.  Not only can you join for just $99, you will get even more supplies to get started with.  You can choose your favorite stamps and colors for your kit, it isn't prepackaged the same for everyone.  Then you will not only earn extra cash and get a discount on the great Stampin' Up products, you will have so much fun when you go to "work" at fun workshops with your friends (and lots of great new friends you will meet as a demonstrator) and have the support of a great upline and the online resources available to Stampin' Up demonstrators.  It is a wonderful company to be a part of.  I love my job!!!

 

I reckon you would like to have all this fun too.  Remember $30 extra Stampin' Up product whether you host a workshop or join me as a demonstrator.  Is this your time to jump in?

New Products!

There are some fun new products in the new Stampin' Up! catalog that will be available on June 1st.  I was excited to play with the Simply Pressed Clay and the Buttons and Blossoms Simply Pressed Clay Molds.  The clay feels so good, nice and soft but not sticky.  On this project I added 3 drops of Tempting Turquoise reinker to a piece of clay, maybe a tablespoon or so in size.  It made about 10 of these flowers in 3 sizes.  I'm excited to play with the clay some more and experiment with other ways to color it.  The stamp used on this card is called Wildflower Meadow, a large, background sized stamp.  I only inked up 1 stem of the stamp on this card with the Gumball Green marker, but I didn't ink up the flowers.  Then I added the clay flowers to where the flowers on the stamp would be.  This clay is so interesting when it dries, it is kind of like foam; very light-weight, not like clay usually is.  It is an air-dry clay so you will want to make the flowers or buttons ahead of time to be ready to add them to your projects.

The stamp has a pin-dot background and I tried not to ink up the dots with the marker but several of them ended up getting inked anyway.  Solution?  I just got out my handy Color Spritzer Tool and placed the marker in it and speckled the whole background!  It looks better that way anyway.  The Color Spritzer Tool is one of the things that is going to be discontinued in the new catalog so be sure to order yours soon, before they run out! 

 

I reckon I'll be making lots of these flowers and the buttons too for future projects!  It's very cool stuff.