Unfrogettable Stamping!

Wings-n-Things swap for August

  Each month my downline gets together for a team meeting and some of us participate in a themed swap.  Tonight we got together and our theme for the August swap was "wings-n-things" - so we had to incorporate anything with wings into the swap... it is amazing how many stamp sets in the catalog qualify - from bats to birds to butterflies!

  Since I totally love my Big Shot, I knew I wanted to use the Beautiful Butterflies SU! exclusive bigz die instead of a stamp set... it's one of Shelli's signature pieces and I really like it.  I went with colors that I pulled from my favorite Halloween swap received at Convention pictured below.  Normally I shy away from sage shadow, opting for mellow moss or old olive instead, but I just loved how the elegant eggplant looked paired with the sage shadow so went with that color combination, adding in a bit of almost amethyst and basic gray.  I used two background stamps - En Francais for the butterfly and French Filligree for the card base - and finished off the card with a sentiment from the Warm Words stamp set, which was punched out and layered with the 2 oval punches.  I received a swap at Convention where a butterfly punch was wrapped with black grosgrain ribbon and I CASE'd that idea for my butterfly, opting to use the gray taffeta ribbon which is just gorgeous.  I hope everyone liked my swap - I'm pretty proud of it!!

 

  This super-cute card above features the Twick or Tweet stamp set that is in our Holiday Mini which debuts on September 1st.  I love it!!

  Thanks for stopping by~ if you'd like to place an order to get any of the items needed for either card above, please contact me directly or place your order online 24/7 via my SU! website.  Until next time, hoppy stamping!

A new blog with my friends

  The most fantastic part about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator (aside from the discount, extra income and pre-order opportunities) is the many friendships I have made while attending Stampin' Up! events such as Founder's Circle, Leadership and most recently Convention.

  While at Convention, my friends Karla Anders of Wisconsin and Jacque Craig of Hawaii (pictured with me above) and my new friend Rachel Yurkanin of Pennsylvania (see photo below) and I decided to form a blog together where we could showcase projects that are Stampin' Up! only and inspire each other as well as our customers.  We got that blog up and running this weekend and will be posting our bio's over the next few days.  Our plans for now are to post a Fab Friday project every Friday featuring a specific product or type of products.  During the month of September we'll be concentrating on bringing you great ideas from the Holiday Mini catalog which debuts on September 1st.  I hope you'll hop on over and visit us there - the blog is called Sisters in Stamping and you can find it here.  I have a link on my sidebar that you can use, too.  The very first week I'll be hosting Fab Friday and I have chosen to put the focus on the new Build-a-Bear Workshop line that is in the mini catalog.  Please be sure and stop by and leave us a comment so we know you came!

Check out my jazzed-up laptop!

  Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a  Clutter Queen.  I'm really bad about organizing my stamping room and when I go to events I usually come home and just put things on the shelf.  Equally distressing is when a big box arrives from Stampin' Up! with new goodies, but I have no where to put them. 

  Now that my kids are all back in school, I've been on a quest to get organized so have been going through packages and boxes and was thrilled with my find earlier this week:  a decor elements piece that we received in Hawaii on the incentive trip that says "Stampin' Up! Island Girl" with a beautiful hibiscus flower in the center.  Guess where I put it?  On my new laptop! Isn't it beautiful?  It is very hard to photograph a mirrored surface like my laptop cover so I apologize but wanted to give others the idea, too. 

  If you haven't had a chance to check out the awesome new Decor Elements offerings from Stampin' Up! you really  must do so!!  There is a link on  my sidebar to view our Definitively Decorative line catalog - go ahead, give it a click!  These are strong enough to stay put when you want them to, but can be easily removed from any surface since they are made of vinyl.  It only took me a few minutes to apply mine to my laptop and now it is super-fab!  Home decor couldn't be easier - especially for college kids in dorms, those living in apartments, anyone who wants to add a quick touch to a wall or mirror and people who have kids like my daughters who want to change the look of their rooms every couple of months.  Call me to place your order today!  If your Decor Elements order is $50 or greater, I'll even give you the applicator for FREE and you'll earn a spot on my $50-50 board.  Now that's a winning combination!

  I do intend to seriously go through all the hundreds of retired stamp sets, Designer Papers and other accessories I have acquired in my 4 years as a demonstrator and hold a huge retirement sale this fall.  I will post more details on that as soon as I get them finalized so stay tuned!  Please help me make room to put all my new catalog goodies away!!!

  Thanks for stopping by and have an unfrogettable weekend!

August techniques club - are they faux real???

  I have a techniques club that meets once a month and they get to learn 3 different techniques.  Each member makes a card using the technique and I type up directions that they put on a 6x6 page along with a sample of the technique that they can go home and put into a 6x6 album for future reference.  I try to keep things fun by having all the projects each month have a common theme.. this month I featured 3 different "faux" techniques.  Oddly enough, all 3 techniques also featured heat embossing.  The one pictured above is faux bleach.  I love the look of bleach for cards, but absolutely hate the smell... this technique is one I'll definitely be doing again.  This card was my favorite, but it didn't photograph very well - it is beautiful (IMHO) in real life!  The Holy Triptych stamp set is such an elegant Christmas set - I just love it!

  The technique used on this card is faux alligator - I believe Jackie Topa originally came up with this one.  I CASE'd this card that I found on splitcoast stampers' site by user "McPenner."  I adhered only the bottom and sides of my purse and positioned it toward the bottom of the card so that a gift card could be slid behind it - the purse acts as a pocket.  What an easy way to give gift cards... hmmm - this may be a good one for my kids' teachers at Christmas!

  This last technique is called faux cloissone and features the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set.  I had to keep the colors of the card very neutral since everyone's rose would turn out differently.  What a fun technique this turned out to be!  I am an avid beader and had some really colorful bead company catalogs that we used for this technique... I couldn't bear the thought of cutting up my SU! catalogs or magazines!

  Thanks for stopping by... I hope you're inspired to try a new technique!  If you're interested in joining my techniques club, please contact me today!  We'll have a new club begin in October if you're interested in meeting during the day or I can put you on a waiting list if you'd like a night-time meeting.

We have a winner!!!

  When I was at Leadership in Orlando last January, I learned about a customer incentive that I came home and implemented into my own Stampin' Up! business - it is the $50-50 board.  Unfortunately, I cannot remember who first shared this idea with me.  The program works like this -  I have 50 spots on my board and every time one of my customers spends a qualifying $50 on her merchandise order, she gets her name assigned to a number.  When the entire board is assigned, I have one of my kids draw a number from a pot and the winner is awarded a $50 credit toward Stampin' Up! merchandise.  So far I've given away $250 in free merchandise!!

  Last weekend at my Christmas Card stamp-a-stack I had several people place orders which completed the board.  My daughter Amanda drew winning #18, which belonged to Julia Miller.  I'm happy to announce that Julia was thrilled to win (she claims she never wins anything) and she quickly spent her winnings, getting several things from her wish list!

  I've begun filling out my board again.. do you want a chance to win the next $50?  You can only do so by playing... place a qualifying order and you'll get a number - it's really that easy.  I do also assign numbers for online orders so don't let the fact that you don't live close by keep you from playing along!  Call or email me with your order or use the online ordering function on my demonstrator site to play.

  We were going to spend this weekend in Williamsburg for one last hurrah at Busch Gardens and Water Country USA, enjoying our last weekend without swim practice until next August, but Tropical Storm Danny has put a damper on those plans unfortunately.  Looks like I'll be staying in and stamping!  How about you - how will you spend this wet weekend?

  As always, thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a chance to enjoy summer with your loved ones this weekend!!

August Big Shot club project

  This cute little purse is something I have seen a lot lately on different blogs and I'm sorry to say I don't know who the original designer is to give proper credit.  I decided that for my August Big Shot club project we would create one using the Merry Moments DSP pack since I'm already getting into Christmas mode.  The colors were all pulled from the paper - chocolate chip, real red, old olive and garden green.  I love this paper!!

  The base of the purse is created using the box #2 bigz xl die as well as 2 of the top note die cuts.  The cover of the purse was created using the scallop and clear circle bigz dies.  I also had my club members run the old olive top note pieces through the Big Shot using the SU! Background I texturz plates to give it more interest.  It was all put together with sticky strip tape and finished off with a kraft corduroy button (how cute are these?!) and jumbo eyelets which were set with a crop-a-dile.  The handle is just 5/8" chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon which is knotted on the underside of the purse top.  The lid is held shut with a small piece of velcro.  Easy-peasy, but oh so cute!

  To finish off the little purse, I came up with some super-quick 3x3 gift cards embellished with the snowflake stamp from the Sweet Season set that I received at Convention this year and several punches along with a small strip of the DSP used on the purse lid.

  If you are local to the Lynchburg, Virginia area and like this project and want to join a club to make similar types of projects each month while earning hostess benefits one month of your membership, please contact me!  I have several waiting lists going for clubs that can get started as soon as I have enough members.  Currently there are openings for a scrapbook club (day and night groups), card-of-the-month and techniques.

  Thanks for stopping by!  I will be posting my August techniques club projects after we meet tomorrow so be sure and come back!!

Swapping with my downline...

  Every month I hold a downline meeting and we have a swap that is due.  Whoever wants to participate signs up from month-to-month and we all take turns coming up with the theme.  During the month of June our swap theme was "Getting Kraft-y" and required that we use Stampin' Up! Kraft cardstock on the project.  This project could be anything - a cardfront, scrapbook page or 3-d item.  I chose to use the new In Colors items that I had preordered that month to cover mini composition notebooks for my swap, which is pictured above.

  The cover and back of the notebook were covered with Kraft cardstock which I stamped on with Sahara Sand ink using my For All You Do stamp set that I received for FREE on the incentive trip to Hawaii.  I created the binding using bermuda bay cardstock - in order to make it more pliable, I first ran it through my crimper.. as a bonus it gave it nice texture, don't you think?  The ribbon is the melon mambo polka-dotted grosgrain and I stamped the main image with bermuda bay ink.  The butterfly was stamped with melon mambo and then I cut it out and adhered only the body of the image to the completed project so the wings would stand up... do you like it?  Everything was adhered down using sticky strip, a great strong adhesive that will keep the notebook covered until you've filled in all the pages.  I love altering these mini composition notebooks and they're the perfect item to pop in your purse.  I had several extras left over that were perfect as door prizes during my new catalog kick-off and open house in July.

 

  

  This For All You Do stamp set is the one that is included in our $85 mini starter kit along with the new In Color ink pads and cardstock.  You can make this project, too, if you purchase the kit and become a demonstrator ~ I'd love to have you join my team... but hurry, the $85 opportunity ends on August 31st!!  Or place an order to get all the items that you need to duplicate this project!  Call me for more details and I'll be happy to assist you!!

  Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be posting my August swap after we meet next week... don't want to spoil the surprise for everyone...

Welcome, Jen!!!

  If you haven't heard, Stampin' Up! is offering a fantastic deal this month on a Mini Starter kit for just $85!!!  It's a great opportunity for anyone looking to start their own business, make a little extra income, purchase their favorite crafting products at a discount or maybe a little of all 3!!

  Jen Phillips took advantage of this offer and became the newest member of my team of demonstrators last night - congratulations and welcome, Jen!!!  You will love your fellow demonstrators - we have such a good time!

  As a member of my team, Jen will have access to my exclusive downline yahoo group, SU Little Debbies,  with which we communicate, share project ideas and keep in touch.  We have monthly meetings with a make-n-take, two large shoe-box gatherings in July and December, monthly themed swaps (great for inspiration), and enjoy the company of one another at different stamping events like Regionals and hopefully Convention next year!  Downline members receive a discount on my stamping classes and are encouraged to attend my Open Houses and other stamping events.  I am here to mentor, coach and support all of my team members in any way that they require... would you love to join us? I invite you to check out the opportunity!!  Stampin' Up! demonstrators receive a free monthly magazine full of great ideas, have access to a large library of video tutorials as well as audio training, receive our annual catalog and mini catalogs for free, have opportunities to preorder product before it hits the public, purchase our awesome products at a discount all the time AND best of all, when placing a $150+ order WE get hostess benefits!  How great is that?!

  The full starter kit package is a fantastic deal at $199 - for those of you just getting started you will receive EVERYTHING you need to hit the ground running if you want to start your own business or have all you need to further your papercrafting hobby.  If you'd rather take advantage of the Mini Starter kit that is available through August 31st, it is a great way to become a demonstrator if you already have many of the items that are offered in our full kit.  Either way, you will save because they are both valued much higher than the price AND you get free shipping on the kits!  Becoming a demonstrator is so easy using my demonstrator business website - just click on the link here and select "join now" from the sidebar menu.  All you need is my password debstamps to get started... you can customize your kits to get exactly what you want!  Just select "edit" on the order screen.  I will be happy to meet with you and help you every step of the way... give me a call and we can set up a date and time.  But hurry, the $85 kit is only available through August 31st!!!!

Our full starter kit, which is customizable, includes the following -

• Five complete stamp sets
• A Stampin' Around wheel, handle, and ink cartridge 
• Stampin' Pastels 
• Card stock 
• Eastern Blooms Décor Elements and applicator tool 
• Five Classic Stampin' Pads 
• VersaMark Pad 
• Stampin' Scrub and Mist 
• Blender pens 
• Business forms and tools 

Our Mini starter kit (pictured at the top of this post) includes the following -

• $28.95 stamp set
• Card stock (one package of a neutral and one color family assortment)
• Six Classic Stampin' Pads 
• Business forms and tools 

  And did you know that when you place your first $150+ qualifying order within 45 days of becoming a demonstrator, Stampin' Up! will give you an additional 10% savings to help you kick-start your business!!!  So not only will you save even more money, but you can earn hostess benefits at the same time... what a great opportunity to get all those items on your wish list!!

  Whether you'd like to earn money to pay for your stamping supplies, create a full or part-time career, or simply get a discount on your stamping supplies, Stampin' Up! will help you do it. And if that isn't enough, here are 10 great reasons for you to become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator.

1. Get ideas for handmade cards, scrapbook pages, and home decor projects.
2. Learn new, artistic stamping techniques on a monthly basis.
3. Gain first access to popular product lines and exclusive, award-winning designs.
4. Get a 20 percent discount on Stampin' Up! products.
5. Be your own boss, and establish a flexible business that meets your goals.
6. Spend more time with family when you work from home with a schedule that fits you and your family.
7. Be eligible to attend Stampin' Up!'s fabulous conferences and events.
8. Earn free exotic trips and other recognition (like free rubber stamps, cash awards, and other valuable prizes).
9. Meet new friends and enrich lives while sharing what you love.
10. Receive support and training from Stampin' Up!

Are you interested?  Contact me today and we can get you started on this fabulous adventure right away!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I hold monthly stamp-a-stack classes so that my customers have a chance to replenish their card supply (they go home with 16 cards) and from August through October I focus on Christmas cards each session so that they can start thinking ahead to their own cards and have enough time to order supplies and hand-stamp them all.  I had a full class last night and everyone loved the cards and had a good time!  I took 4 Convention swaps that I received and really liked and tweaked them to fit my style... essentially CASE'ing them so it was easy prep!  I hope you like them - I am showing you below my card and also what I received so you can get double the inspiration!!

My card:

Convention swap:

 This first card is a CASE of one I received from my new friend Rachel Yurkanin... she used bravo burgundy and handsome hunter as her colors, but since I was already using those in another card I changed it to real red with ballet blue... kind of an unusual combination for Christmas but I thought it worked well with my cute little snow guys.  I also didn't put the whisper white layer between my real red and ballet blue cardstock layers, opting to add some white grosgrain ribbon as an embellishment on the side.  And since I was already using my Many Merry Messages on another card, I decided to use the Heard from the Heart stamp set for the sentiment.  I really love snowmen and love how this card turned out, although it was kind of time-intensive coloring 4!!

stamp sets:  Holiday Lineup and Heard from the Heart

colors: real red, ballet blue, whisper white, dusty durango (carrots), jet black StazOn (image and words)

accessories:  1/4" whisper white grosgrain ribbon, blender pen

* * * *

My card:

 

Convention swap:

This card is based on a swap I received from Rachel Durtschi from Wisconsin, a downline of my friend Karla Anders who was my roomie.  I changed the orientation of the card to landscape versus portrait and used the polka-dotted real red ribbon instead of the 5/8" wide red grosgrain that she had on hers and I also backed the card with real red (the whisper white is cut slightly smaller and is the card that opens - it is attached to the real red back mat).  I really love this new Elegant Bouquet impressions folder for my Big Shot - what a quick and simple way to add texture to the whisper white card!!  And for an added pop of color, I used the modern label punch to create the mat for the sentiment, which was punched out with the word window punch... these two punches work so well together, don't you think?  It also takes the pressure off stamping directly onto your cardfront :-)

stamp sets:  Teeny Tiny Wishes

colors:  real red and whisper white

accessories:  SU! Elegant Bouquet impressions folder, Big Shot, modern label and word window punches, real red polka-dot grosgrain ribbon, mini glue dots

* * * *

My card:

 

Convention swap:

This card is a CASE of one I received from June Dunn.  I love our new "Under $10" stamps - did you know that this Dasher stamp costs less than $10?!  The original card had a stamp that I don't own so I made the chocolate chip strip narrower and took away the stars, putting my sentiment at that spot instead.  I also made the entire reindeer chocolate chip.  I added some glitz to the card by using my 2-way glue pen and adding Dazzling Diamonds to Dasher's antlers.  The real red mat is popped up off the card using stampin' dimensionals... my go-to accessory and one I could not live without.  I love the new Christmas DSP in the Merry Moments pack - the piece along the bottom got the pretty scallop using the scallop edge punch.  The sentiment comes from the Christmas Punch hostess level 2 stamp set and was punched out using the wide oval punch.

stamp sets:  Dasher and Christmas Punch (hostess level 2)

colors:  real red, old olive, chocolate chip, whisper white

accessories:  Merry Moments DSP, scallop edge and wide oval punches, stampin' dimensionals, 2-way glue pen, dazzling diamonds

* * * *

My card:

Convention swap:

This last card is my favorite - it is a CASE of one I received from Michelle Haney (hers originally was only handsome hunter, I cut it down and attached it to a white card base... also, the original had a bow which I took off and made into a knot since some of my customers struggle with bow-tying - of course, that includes me LOL!).  The original was stamped on whisper white cardstock, but I changed it to naturals ivory on mine.  I *love* this cardstock for realistic nature stamps... I sponged around the edges with creamy caramel to really draw your eye into the stamped image and highlighted the pinecones with dazzling diamonds using the 2-way glue pen.  What is a Christmas card without some bling?  The texture on the handsome hunter mat was achieved using the SU! Backgrounds I texturz plate on my Big Shot.  Did you know that if you spray your cardstock with a fine mist of rubbing alcohol before running it through your Big Shot that the impression will be much deeper?!  And with rubbing alcohol, it is dry almost immediately and will not change the color.  I tried it with water, but the color seemed different after it dried and it warped the paper.  I just can't imagine how I ever papercrafted before I got my Big Shot... I really love using it on all my stamped projects!

stamp sets:  Autumn Days and Many Merry Messages

colors:  naturals ivory, handsome hunter, bravo burgundy, creamy caramel (sponging) and Encore! silver ink (sentiment)

accessories:  SU! Backgrounds I texturz plate, Big Shot, bravo burgundy 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, stampin' sponge, 2-way glue pen, dazzling diamonds, mini glue dots

* * * *

I hope you found some inspiration from these Christmas cards and will think about hand-stamping your own this year.  There's still plenty of time!  If you'd like to place an order with me you can do so online via my demonstrator website (just click on the link in the sidebar) or give me a call or send me an email and I will be happy to help you get everything you need to make some fantastic cards for your friends and family!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you back soon!!

Design Team challenge - August

 My Design Team meeting for August was tonight and we decided to feature a Stampin' Around wheel (standard or jumbo) in our cards for our challenge this month.  Again, we were aiming for quick and simple cards to be able to use in workshops.  Here is what each of us came up with:

For my card I used the Retro Remix standard wheel along with the matching Hello Again stamp set that we received at Convention.  I love Melon Mambo with Bermuda Bay and added in a tiny bit of Rich Razzleberry - the 3 different colors were achieved on the solid image stamp using our new In Color stampin' write markers.  The scallop edge on the Melon Mambo cardstock piece was created with the scallop edge punch and I pierced the holes with my new piercing tool and mat pack.  I also added Bermuda Bay polka-dotted ribbon for some interest.

This card was created by Sherri Gough and features the Bold Snowflakes jumbo wheel along with the Serene Snowflakes stamp set that will be in our upcoming Holiday mini catalog.  The colors used are Brilliant Blue, Silver Encore! and Basic Gray.  Very pretty!

 

Lori Subosits created this cute Halloween card using the Haunting jumbo wheel - I love her use of sponging to create the night-time effect.  I believe the colors she used are Summer Sun, More Mustard, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie and Elegant Eggplant.  She also did some paper piercing with the piercing tool and mat pack and punched out the sentiment using the scallop oval punch.

This last card was created by Gwen Goulder and she featured the Baroque Border standard wheel on the ornaments that were punched out with the new ornament punch coming out next month in the Holiday Mini catalog.  She used Real Red ink on Real Red cardstock for a more subtle effect.  The "Merry Christmas" sentiment is from the hostess level one stamp set Holiday Best and it matches the wheel really well as well as fitting perfectly in the ornament punch.  The ornaments are "hung" with hemp twine.  The colors used are Real Red, Chocolate Chip and Old Olive along with Whisper White and Whisper White 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.  I really like this color combination for Christmas!

I hope you draw some inspiration from our cards!  If you'd like to host a workshop and want any of these cards as your make-n-take, please let me know and I'll be happy to book a date with you.