Unfrogettable Stamping!

Woooo hoooo! New team member added today!!

I want to send a shout-out to Tammy Russell, who became the newest member of my team today!  Wooo hooooo!!  Welcome to the wonderful world of Stampin' Up!

Tammy took the plunge and became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator today... she knew she loved our products and had the Big Shot on her wish list.  What better way to be able to purchase all of her Stampin' Up! goodies at a discount, but most importantly her Big Shot, at a one-time savings of 30%!?!?!  And by joining during Sale-a-Bration, Tammy was able to save $30 on the starter kit AND add one additional stamp set of ANY price to her kit.  The shipping is free on the starter kit, an additional 10% savings, and she got to pick and choose her stamp sets, ink pad colors and cardstock.  How great is that?!

My team is getting together for our monthly gathering later this week - if you are considering the possibility of joining Stampin' Up! and would like to attend as my guest, please give me a call.  I'd love to have you join us!  Or, if you are like Tammy and see the opportunity to save $ on all of your Stampin' Up! purchases, make some extra $ and become a member of a fun team of stampers then join us!  My password for signing up via my demonstrator website is "debstamps" - just click the link "start your own business" on the upper right-hand side of the page.  Please note that if you sign up online, the default stamp set for your additional FREE one is Define Your Life - a value of $47.95.  You may substitute this set for another of any price!!  The beauty of signing up online is that you'll have your demonstrator ID # assigned as soon as the process is completed and can get onto the Stampin' Up! demonstrator-only website immediately!  I have a member-only yahoo group set up for my group and we get together on a monthly basis to share ideas, stamp a make-n-take, swap cards and enjoy the fellowship of one another.  If you are long distance, I will support you via the phone, email, etc.  You just let me know how you need me!!  You will feel connected to the group via our Yahoo group - I promise!

Thanks for letting me share my news about Tammy!  I'm always so excited and thrilled when a new demonstrator joins my team... it reinvigorates me and reaffirms my decision to join 5 years ago!

There are currently two options for the starter kits - our original kit and the Digital + kit - both of which are on sale for 15% off!!!

Original starter kit - regularly priced at $199, on sale now for $169 (value of over $355!):

The Starter Kit (click here to view the application), created exclusively for new demonstrators, contains Stampin' Up! essentials you'll need to get started in your new business, including

• Five pre-selected complete stamp sets (you can choose these or substitute one of equal or lesser value) PLUS one additional complete stamp set of ANY price during SAB (through March 31st)
• A Stampin' Around wheel, handle, and ink cartridge  (you can substitute the wheel and color of ink cartridge)
• Stampin' Pastels 
• Card stock  (choose one color family plus one neutral)
• Eastern Blooms Décor Elements and applicator tool 
• Five Classic Stampin' Pads  (choose your colors!)
• VersaMark Pad 
• Stampin' Scrub and Mist 
• Blender pens 
• Business forms and tools 

Digital+ Starter kit, regularly priced at $185 on sale now for $157:

With the introduction of My Digital Studio, Stampin' Up! is now offering an all-new business opportunity with the Digital+ Starter Kit (click here to view the application). The Digital+ Starter Kit contains the following, but you can substitute the stamp sets, ink pads, cardstock, ribbon and markers for others that may appeal to you more!

• My Digital Studio software
• Party Hearty and Petal Pizzazz stamp sets PLUS one additional complete stamp set of ANY price during SAB (through March 31st)
• Whisper White card stock (8-1/2" x 11")
• Earth Elements assorted card stock (8-1/2" x 11")
• Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, and Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin' Pads^®
• Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, and Real Red Stampin' Write^® markers
• Chocolate Chip 1/4" grosgrain ribbon
• Real Red 1" double-stitched grosgrain ribbon
• Button Latte Designer buttons
• Stampin' Dimensionals^®
• Mini Glue Dots
• SNAIL Adhesive^®
• Business supplies (product catalogs, order forms, training DVD, and other supplies)

Combining My Digital Studio with traditional embellishments and other Stampin' Up!^® products allows you to not only effectively showcase hybrid projects, but also demonstrate projects using non-digital elements.

 

If you are even remotely considering the possibility of joining Stampin' Up!, don't delay - give me a call today... I will be happy to go over any questions you may have!  In order to take advantage of the extra free stamp set and 15% savings, please make sure you sign up by March 31st.  You will be given a FULL quarter to meet your $300 sales quota... that means you have until June 30th to hit it... a piece of cake!  Either place the orders for yourself, get your friends and family to order with you or a little of both.  It's really that easy!!!  And, when you place your orders, you'll be able to take advantage of earning hostess benefits to make your $ stretch even further.  Not all direct sales companies allow that and I am so thankful that Stampin' Up! rewards its demonstrators with this perk.  And don't forget - you'll get a one-time opportunity to achieve 30% savings on your first $150+ order placed within 45 days of becoming a demonstrator.  Earn SAB goodies on that order, too!!  Want help setting up an Open House to kick off your new business venture - I'll be happy to help you plan and execute it!  Wow, it's really a win-win situation and the reason why I joined during February 2005.  I love these perks as much as you will!!  Give me a call or drop me an email... you have nothing to lose!

Snowy day stamping

Because of the snow yesterday, I had to cancel/reschedule two events this weekend... it was a great opportunity to do some stamping just for fun!  I pulled out my Kind & Caring Thoughts and used just a few Earth Elements colors and came up with several different cards.  This stamp set is a hostess level 3 set, one you can earn with a $500+ workshop.  Now is a great time to host a workshop - with Sale-a-Bration going on most people that are placing orders at workshops are spending $50-$100 so they can earn the FREE SAB items.  It is much easier to attain a hostess level 3 set now!  Call me if you want to book a workshop... my hostesses receive quite a few perks including input on the workshop projects and an invitation to my Hostess Appreciation event in early July.

Okay, on to the cards... all the cards have a base layer of very vanilla (11" x 4-1/4")  and a mat of old olive (5-1/4" " x 4"), which was run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots textured impressions folder - I LOVE this folder that is available in the Occasions mini catalog!  All the stamps were colored with various stampin' write markers from the Earth Elements color family and stamped on very vanilla panels which were then sponged with creamy caramel.  From that point, each card is slightly different as you will see.

I really needed some thank you cards so created several of this one.  It's a simple card, but thank you cards don't need to be elaborate.  The flower was inked with pumpkin pie and then "thumped" with really rust for color variation and the stem was colored with old olive.  I stamped the image twice, offsetting the second for a nice effect.  The mat for the flower is chocolate chip and the mat for the thanks sentiment, stamped with chocolate chip, is done in pumpkin pie and popped up with stampin' dimensionals.

This next card uses the smallest flower image and I inked it with ruby red and old olive.  I stamped it twice full-strength and once in the center as a second generation image to give it some interest.  The stem looked funny, so I hid it with a vanilla taffeta knot of ribbon.

This last card is actuallly the first one I made... I was at my Mom's house for dinner on Friday night and she asked me to help her make some Thank You cards.  I pulled out this set and whipped up 6 of this card (minus the sentiment).  I liked it so much I decided to replicate it yesterday.  I used my old olive ink pad to ink up the entire leaf image, but then went over the berries with a pumpkin pie marker (wiping off the old olive on scratch paper from the end of my brush tip) and the stems with a close to cocoa marker.  I added depth  to each leaf with a garden green marker.  I stamped this image once at full-strength on some panels and second generation (breathing moist air on the image to dampen the remaining ink) on others.  I stamped the "thinking of you" sentiment at the bottom of the panel with chocolate chip ink.  This is a very easy card to make several of in one sitting and the colors worked with it being a sympathy card, a masculine card or just a card for a friend.

So as you can see, simple stamping just for the pleasure of stamping can be productive!  I now have 12 cards in my supply box that I can pull out in an instant that didn't take me very long to make at all.  I cut for all of them at one time and then had fun putting them together.  I try and always cut my panel to match the size of my woodblock for the main focal image and then create a mat that is 1/4" larger.  If I know that I am going to use a stamp a lot, I'll even write the measurements of it on the woodblock itself with a permanent marker to save myself some time.  I've even started doing that with my Big Shot dies that I use a lot also.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend - the snow has finally stopped here but I have a feeling school is going to be out for a few days as we don't do well with snow here in our part of Virginia.  I look forward to some more quality stamping time and will be sure and share my creations with you!  Thanks for stopping by!!

Clean and Simple Stamping, sketch FTL76

I consider myself a simple stamper and am always on the lookout for simple sketches.  I came across the Clean and Simple Stamping blog site and really liked the sketch they released this week, FTL76, seen below.  This is not my style at all but it's good to try new things, isn't it?!

I decided to use my favorite Sending Love specialty DSP from the Occasions mini catalog. I have a lot of scraps so used a 1-1/4" square punch to create my card.  I pulled the colors from the paper - real red (1/4" grosgrain ribbon), very vanilla (card base) and pretty in pink (mat).  The "love you" sentiment from the Short & Sweet set is stamped in chocolate chip ink, pulling the last color into the card.  I punched out the little heart from another scrap of DSP from this paper pack using the small heart punch also available from the Occasions mini catalog.

What do you think?  I think I like it!  And what a great way to use up scraps of DSP!!

It is snowing like crazy here in Central Virginia and the Lynchburg Womens' Show that I was supposed to be participating in today at Liberty University got postponed until March 13th... it's a great reason to stay in, stay warm and stamp!! 

I have to share these funny pictures of my dogs playing in the snow... the first is of Beau, our Beagle.  The snow is about 9-10 inches deep so he's struggling.  Mika, our Golden Retriever, is loving it!  I can't let her stay out in it too long, though, remember the snowballs she picked up on her fur in December?

 

I don't have any pictures of my kids because they have gone down the street to play with some friends who have a better hill for sledding.  Maybe I can get some when they come home...

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and find some time to stamp!

Something Sweet for Fabulous Friday!!

This week on the Sisters in Stamping blog our Fabulous Friday product focus is the Something Sweet stamp set available in the Occasions mini catalog.  It works perfectly with the Sweet Treats cup, also available in the mini.  I was very fortunate to receive this stamp set for FREE when I attended the Founder's Circle event last fall.  We were treated to a sneak peek of all the stamp sets in the Occasions mini and then were totally thrilled when we could each choose one stamp set to take home.  What a fabulous company Stampin' Up! is and Shelli Gardner is so generous and amazing!!

This set is pretty versatile, as you will see when you view the projects created by my fellow Sisters here.  Instead of a card, I decided to create a simple 12" x 12" scrapbook page with the gumball machine since my daughter Kelsey received one for Christmas this year.  I don't know about your kids, but my kids LOVE gum!  They've all been saving their dimes to put in her machine to get gumballs out... can you believe the price of bubble gum has gone up to a dime?  When did that happen?!

What do you think?  Isn't it a cute set?  I haven't used my bold brights colors other than real red since summer time, so it was refreshing to pull these bright colors out and use them... especially since they're calling for a major snowstorm here in Central Virginia this weekend.  Now if I only had my pictures developed so I could put them on my page... that's a project for next week ;-)  I created my own background paper using whisper white cardstock and various bold bright ink pads with the gumball stamp and the title was stamped with the Schoolbook Serif alphabet set.  Recognize the heart?  It's the Scalloped Heart of Hearts embosslit from the Occasions mini catalog - I cut it out with my Big Shot.

If you'd like to purchase this stamp set or any other materials that I used to create my project please send me an email or you can shop 24 hours a day online via my store on my demonstrator website here... just click on "Shop Now."  If you spend $50 you'll get to choose a FREE Sale-a-Bration item as well as get a spot on my $50-50 board.  I am half-way through my board again so should be able to pick a winner soon!

Thanks for stopping by... be sure and head over to the Sisters in Stamping blog to see other great stamping projects using this stamp set! 

Big Shot 101 class

Last night I held my Big Shot 101 class... this is a class for anyone who wants to learn the basics about the Big Shot.  I offer it free to anyone who has purchased a Big Shot from me once a quarter, but anyone can come for a nominal supply fee.  I like to go over the different types of dies available as well as cover all the different materials you can use with the Big Shot and end by having a couple of fun and easy projects using a variety of accessories.

This 3-D project is a cute little dresser made with 3 of the Matchbox dies held together with sticky strip and covered with a strip of the designer paper from the Sending Love specialty pack.  Because it is double-sided, my stampers could choose one of 2 looks for their dressers. 

Here is a photo of one of the "drawers" opened... just the right size for dropping in fun-size candy and even a little note.  Sandy suggested that these drawers would be great for holding brads and other tiny little embellishments!

This is the card that everyone got to make.  It is a CASE of this card made by Sherri Gough at our last Design Team meeting.  I changed it so that everyone could see how easy it is to use the clear scallop square die to make a card.  We ended up using 3 different types of dies with the Big Shot for this card - a bigz steel-ruled die, a texture plate and an embosslit which required the use of the multi-purpose platform.  Did you know that the Scalloped Heart of Hearts embosslit available in the Occasions mini is perfectly sized to mat the full heart punch?   A blender pen and soft suede ink were used to color the raccoon image from Love Bandit that was inked with jet black Stazon and stamped on a strip of whisper white and punched out with the full heart punch.  I cut the words from this image off and mounted them on the side of my stamp so that I would have more versatility with this stamp set... isn't it great that our stamps come unmounted so you can do that?!  The heart was colored with a melon mambo stampin' write marker and blinged up with dazzling diamonds glitter and a 2-way glue pen.  The strip of designer paper is from the Sale-a-Bration pack called Welcome Neighbor (FREE with an eligible $50 order).  I also used the SAB scallop border trim punch on the bermuda bay piece.  The texture on the kraft cardstock was achieved using the Perfect Details texturz plate and I showed how by misting your cardstock with a fine spray of rubbing alcohol prior to running it through the Big Shot you can get a more defined texture.  The alcohol dries immediately so doesn't warp or discolor your cardstock!  Plus I love the smell of rubbing alcohol... it reminds me of when I was a little girl and my Mom had to clean my newly pierced ears with it.  Weird, huh?!

To make it easier on myself, I drew a line on my clear scallop square die with my white gel pen and a ruler so it would be a piece of cake to line up the fold of the cardstock so that it wouldn't get cut, but be even.  You can do this with any of the dies to cut out cards of different shapes - just make sure the fold of your cardstock is inside one of the cutting lines.

Thank you for stopping by.. I will be posting my Fabulous Friday project in a couple of hours.  There was some miscommunication amongst the "Sisters" so I have to re-do my project this morning.  It will be live by Noon EST today, I promise!!

Color play

I love playing around with color - it really can change the feel of a project.  Here are two cards, almost identical, but one is stamped in soft suede and the other in rich razzleberry.  Don't they have a much different feel?  Both cards use the Circle Circus stamp set and a piece of solid cardstock with polka-dotted grosgrain ribbon...

Which do you like better?

Here are some more... these cards all feature the Elegant Bouquet textured impression folder along with our In Colors (soft suede, crushed curry, dusty durango and bermuda bay), basic black cardstock and the Sincere Salutations stamp set.

This is fun, isn't it?  Here are just a couple more, featuring the Manhattan Flowers textured impressions folder with our gorgeous vellum cardstock... these are a CASE of ones Patty Bennett shared on her blog about a year ago (ballet blue, lavender lace and apricot appeal):

Thanks for stopping by... I'll be sharing my class projects from tonight's Big Shot 101 class with you tomorrow for Fabulous Friday since they fit our theme this week!!!

Happy Birthday, Debbie!!

No, I'm not wishing myself a Happy Birthday... my friend Debbie Dance celebrated her birthday on Monday but I wasn't able to go to lunch with her until today so I didn't want to spoil her surprise by posting her card earlier this week.

This is the birthday card I made for her using the Build-a-Roo stamp set.  My sister Cindy thinks I should have put Happy Birthday to "Roo" instead of "you" on it... the birthday sentiment actually comes from the Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set.  I love melon mambo with very vanilla and soft suede... inside is a gift certificate but I'm not revealing to where in case she sees this post before lunch today via her cell phone since she's at work.  My aqua painter made coloring this kangaroo so quick and easy... gotta love it!  The polka-dot texture was added with the Big Shot and my current favorite textured impression folder - Perfect Polka dots - found in the Occasions mini catalog.  The brads are from the Vintage brads collection and match the soft suede so well, don't you think?  I finished the card by rounding the corners using my corner rounder punch... I like how this one turned out and hope she does, too.  I'm looking forward to my yummy and relaxing lunch with her and some friends after a crazy week.

Thanks for stopping by, sorry for the short post, but check back tomorrow when I post my projects for my Big Shot 101 class tomorrow evening.

Birthday Bonanza stamp-a-stack tonight

I have my monthly stamp-a-stack class tonight and we are focusing on birthday cards... I saw a posting by my friend Dawn Olchefske and she called her class a birthday bonanza and I loved the name and borrowed it from her... hope she doesn't mind!!

My stampers will be making 4 each of the following cards for a total of 16.  I have been cutting all day to have everything ready for the 128 cards they'll be making tonight... they should be set with birthday cards for a while!  I like to keep my stamp-a-stack cards fairly simple and not too bulky so they are easily mailed without having to pay extra postage.

Here is the first card - it is a cute card that you could give to a child.  I CASE'd the idea from my fellow "Sister" Karla Anders - she made a similar card a few months ago for one of our Fabulous Fridays but used texture and her Big Shot... I decided to go with a background stamp instead - Woodgrain.  The cute little owl peeking out from the tree is from my favorite Fox & Friends stamp set and the Happy Birthday sentiment is from Well-Scripted - both are sets found in the Occasions mini catalog right now.  The colors on this card are close to cocoa, old olive, very vanilla, more mustard and chocolate chip.

This second card is one that would be great for those special women in your life.  I love this gorgeous butterfly from Simple Friendship - this is a stamp set that we were given at Founder's Circle back in 2008 and I still love it!  The colors used are kraft, bordering blue and pretty in pink.  The small strip of pretty in pink satin ribbon lends this card a richness without adding bulk.

This card is great for the men in your life - horses are pretty masculine, aren't they?  I pulled out my naturals ivory which I haven't used in a while and stamped on it with soft suede for the horse image.  I don't know what this technique is called, but you start on one side of your cardstock and re-stamp across your panel without reinking... this gives the feeling of movement on your card and I really like it.  The mat on this card is kraft and I stamped the paisley image with sahara sand and sponged the outer edges with soft suede to distress it.  The pop of color comes from night of navy and the Happy Birthday sentiment is a simple one from A Little Birthday Cheer.

Here is the final card for the day - I shared it the other day when I highlighted the Happy Moments stamp set.  You can find the details here.

Thanks for stopping by... I'm off to clear my table and clean my stamping studio before class tonight!!

Card of the Month Club cards for tonight's meeting

My new Card of the Month club is meeting for the first time tonight and will be running through June.  We will meet once a month on the 2nd Tuesday (except for this month) and these club members will get to make 3 different cards using a variety of stamp sets and accessories while incorporating some fun techniques.  As members of a club with me, they get to take a turn once during the six months to be the hostess and earn the hostess benefits of the order.  Plus, they'll get to take my classes for a discounted class fee and be invited to my Hostess Appreciation event in early July.  If you're interested in joining a club please give me a call or email me!  I have some interest in a night-time techniques club as well as a daytime club.

This first card is a CASE of a card that my friend Karla traded at Leadership - I only took a photo of the cardfront so do not know to whom I should give credit... I'm sorry!  It is so cute, isn't it?!  I did change the color of the "scarf" to match the heart - it is from the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set because this is the designated stamp set for Haiti Relief.  Although the heart looks like melon mambo, it is actually pink passion craft ink stamped on pretty in pink cardstock and embossed with clear powder.  There were a variety of punches used on this card including the large oval, smal oval, full heart, curly label and 3/4" circle.

This second card utilizes the faux lace technique that was shown at the Phoenix Regionals.  I used the pinking hearts border punch and crimper to get the effect and then sponged with soft suede to age it once it was attached to the cardstock.  The colors used on the card include blush blossom, soft suede and very vanilla.  Blush blossom is one of those colors that I have a hard time with and my friend Lori Subosits suggested this color combination and I thought it had a very vintage feel to it.. I did add a pop of cameo coral also.  The stamp sets featured are Vintage Vogue and En Francais.

The last card that they'll be making tonight is this one featuring a strip of DSP from the Sweet Pea ginormous pack in the Occasions mini catalog.  I pulled the colors from it - chocolate chip, so saffron and dusty durango.  The stamp set used is Three Little Words - I chose it because it is one of the stamp sets you can choose as a Sale-a-Bration item (see the last page of the SAB brochure for others - please note the item numbers are different from the big catalog numbers to indicate it is a SAB item). 

If you look at the inside of the card below you'll see that I added the Butterfly Accent stamp in so saffron and stamped my sentiment on top with chocolate chip ink.  I like stamping on the inside of my cards as well as on the envelopes... why stick to just your cardfront?  The so saffron border piece was created using the scallop trim border punch - also a Sale-a-Bration choice.  The polka dotted texture on the card was achieved using the Perfect Polka Dots textured impressions folder found in our Occasions mini catalog and the card was further embellished using the new chocolate satin ribbon.  This ribbon is so luxurious - I love it!!

Thanks for stopping by and I am looking forward to my club meeting tonight!!!  Tomorrow is my Birthday Bonanza stamp-a-stack and I'll be sharing those cards with you so be sure and come back mid-day tomorrow!!

Fabrics and the Big Shot... WOW!

If I had to pick one thing that I took away from Leadership that had the biggest impact on me I would have to say by far it was Jill Olson's Big Shot fabric display.  I was awestruck by the beauty and versatility of using the Big Shot with fabric - it is a match made in Heaven!!  I wanted to share some more photos with you so that you can see what a wonderful crafting tool the Big Shot truly is!!

Aren't these spectacular?  I have never quilted before but do know how to sew and did manage to put a purse together a couple of weeks ago.  I will be attempting to put together some projects this week in between classes and club meetings for a display at the Lynchburg Women's Show this coming Saturday - January 30th - at Liberty University's Schilling Center.  If you are local to the Lynchburg area I invite you to come out to the show!  It will be from 10 am - 2 pm and there is a $5 admission fee which will be fully donated to the Family Alliance.  There will be free gifts to the first 500 women who come so be sure and come early!!

Thanks for stopping by - I hope I have inspired you Big Shot owners to pull out your dies and some fabric and create a quilted project of our own.  It is a lot of fun!!  If you don't own a Big Shot, I hope I have convinced you that this is a must-have tool for all crafters!  If you purchase your Big Shot from me, I give you a Big Shot 101 class for free and you will be able to take my I'm a Big Shot class each month for half-off - just my way of saying thank you for buying it from me.  AND if you purchase the Big Shot and a few basic dies and accessories during Sale-a-Bration, you can easily reach the $150 benchmark for achieving $15 in FREE hostess dollars to spend in the catalog, a FREE hostess level 1 item AND 3 separate FREE Sale-a-Bration selections PLUS 3 spots on my $50-50 board!  Have I enticed you yet? 

Want to purchase the Big Shot at a savings of 30%?  How?  By purchasing the starter kit and joining my team of demonstrators!   When you join Stampin' Up! during Sale-a-Bration (Jan - Mar 31st) you can purchase the starter kit at a savings of $30 for just $169 AND choose one additional stamp set of ANY price from the current catalogs for FREE.  Plus, when you place your first qualifying $150+ order within 45 days of signing up you'll receive a savings of 30% - if you hold an Open  House to kick off your new business and get orders from your friends and family, you'll EARN 30%.  Now how great is that?!  And even better - YOU get the hostess benefits.  If this sounds like an exciting way to earn extra income or support your hobby (that's how I got started!), please contact me today!  I'd love to have you become a Little Debbie (my team's name).  We meet monthly and swap on a regular basis plus have a yahoo group to keep in touch on a daily basis, sharing business and stamping ideas and chatting.  You can join easily online - just go to my demonstrator website and click on "Start Your Own Business" in the upper right-hand corner.  My password is "debstamps" - fill out the starter kit options (you can pick and choose your stamp sets, how cool is that?!) and put in your personal information and within minutes you'll be up and running as a demonstrator with full access to the demonstrator only portion of Stampin' Up!'s website.  You'll receive a monthly magazine full of great ideas each month and have the ability to join the online community known as Stampin' Connection which will connect you to thousands of demonstrators around the world!  What are you watiting for?  Contact me today!!!  The sooner you join, the sooner you get all the benefits of being a demonstrator - I couldn't be happier because I LOVE WHAT I DO!!!  Don't you want to, too?????