Tuesday, March 18, 2008

"Special" News...


Click here to view the flyer!

From March 18th to April 30th, you can earn an EXTRA $25 IN HOSTESS BENEFITS when you host a workshop totaling at least $350 in net sales (before shipping + tax). When you qualify for this special, you receive at least $65 to spend on FREE STAMP STUFF from the catalog! This is in addition to the exclusive Hostess Level sets you can earn.

This is such an incredible deal...and your guests will be able to take advantage of two other Stampin' Up!® specials during the same time, which will help you to boost sales for your workshop: the Wild Wasabi Card Pack special, and the Free Wheelin' special. The Occasions Collection Mini Catalog also offers some fresh, bright new product choices.

CONTACT ME as soon as possible to reserve a date for your party! We can have it at your house, at my house, or you can do a "book party" and just pass around the catalog (and the link to the Online Catalog) to gather orders. The only thing better than stamping, is stamping with FREE stampin' stuff!!

Free Wheelin' Special!


Click here to see the flyer!

From March 18th through April 30th, order any of the following bundles to get the stamp set at regular price, and a coordinating Jumbo Stampin' Around® Wheel** absolutely FREE - an $8.50 value. Page numbers for items in Spring/Summer Collection Catalog are listed in parentheses.

112848 - Wonderful You bundle $33.95
Includes Wonderful You stamp set and free Stems & Silhouettes jumbo wheel. (page 91)

112851 - Life’s a Breeze bundle $29.95
Includes Life’s a Breeze stamp set and free Something Fishy jumbo wheel. (page 80)

112850 - Pun Fun bundle $30.95
Includes Pun Fun stamp set and free Sweet Stars jumbo wheel. (page 66)

112847 - Year after Year bundle $30.95
Includes Year after Year stamp set and free See You Around jumbo wheel. (page 60)

112849 - Stitched Exotics bundle $33.95
Includes Stitched Exotics stamp set and free It’s Beautiful jumbo wheel. (pages 82 & 83)

112853 - Enjoy Every Moment bundle $29.95
Includes Enjoy Every Moment stamp set and free Daisy Dash jumbo wheel. (page51)

CONTACT ME TODAY to place your order, or book your FREE Stamping Party (Colorado Springs area only, please).

**Remember, you'll want to have a Jumbo Stampin' Around® Handle for your wheel, and a coordinating ink cartridge!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Today's Workshop

Leona (Nana) had her workshop today, and she has a few online friends she wanted to share the projects with. If I'd had a digital camcorder, I'd have filmed it for them, but I am still in the process of deciding what type and model to purchase! So, for now, I will post the projects we did, and try to give a little description and some tips to help her guests with their shopping. I demonstrated two cards, and a 6"x6" scrapbook page layout. Leona got this scrapbook as a Hostess Gift, in addition to keeping one of each of the stamped items I created at her workshop!


As you go through this workshop, please remember that you can click on any picture to see it enlarged. The first project was the sweet little 3"x3" card shown below:


Stampin' Supplies: Tart & Tangy stamp set, Sweet Shapes stamp set, Bashful Blue Textured card stock (Soft Subtles Asst.), Whisper White card stock, Old Olive card stock, Summer Picnic Designer Series Paper (DSP), Real Red ink pad (or use Real Red and Old Olive markers to color in cherries and stems separately), Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, SNAIL.

Directions: Cut Bashful Blue Textured card stock to 6" x 3", then score in half to make 3" x 3" foldover card. Holding card folded in half, stamp the word 'sweet' (from Sweet Shapes set) repeatedly on the front of the card at an angle in the background, in Bashful Blue ink. (HINTS: diagonal stamping is better for words, as they don't have to be square with the edges to look nice! Try a bricklaying pattern, as I've used, to get the background images evenly distributed, and remember to stamp off the edges of the card so that it doesn't look "boxed in".

Next, cut a piece of Summer Picnic DSP to 2-3/4" x 1-3/8", and adhere it to the bottom front of the card. Stamp cherries on Whisper White card stock in Real Red, punch out with 1-3/8" Circle Punch, and layer onto Old Olive which has been punched out with the Scallop Circle. Adhere the cherry "medallion" to the front of the card as shown. [Note: envelopes are available in the catalog for 3" square cards, but they can't be sent by mail as they are too small.]

I brought supplies for everyone to make the sweet little cherries card, but they all wanted to see more of my demonstration first, so I moved on to show this pocket card:


Stampin' Supplies: Sweet Shapes stamp set, Wild Wasabi Textured card stock (Wild Wasabi Card Pack)and ink pad, So Saffron card stock and ink pad, Whisper White card stock, Die Cut Blooms (Bashful Blue flower), Bashful Blue ink pad, Bashful Blue marker (optional: for dots on scallop edges), White Gel Pen (optional: for highlights on flower), Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch (optional: to punch out flower on front--you could also trim out the flower with Paper Snips), SNAIL, Stampin' Dimensionals®, Bashful Blue Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Pencil & Vinyl eraser.

Directions: The first thing to do will be to trim about 1-5/8" from the non-scored end of the Wild Wasabi Card Pack sheet (for starting dimensions and score mark measurements, see this post). The scored flap will fold inside, as the card folds over it, creating a sleeve of sorts. You will adhere this across the bottom and the foldover flap, leaving one side open, like a pocket. You want to punch a half circle in the top of the pocket, but you will not be able to punch through two sheets of card stock at the same time. So, you will use the 1-3/8" Circle Punch on only ONE layer of the card stock first, at the top center of the pocket, to create a half circle. Part of the punch will sit partway inside the pocket when you punch this first side. Then, with the pocket lying flat, line up the punch with the half circle you already created, and punch the same size half circle through the other layer of the pocket.

Ink up the Sweet Shapes dotted stamp in Wild Wasabi, and stamp along the right side of the folded pocket. Choose a large Bashful Blue flower from the Die-Cut Blooms package, and use the White Gel Pen to create highlights along the petals. Punch a Scallop Circle from Whisper White card stock, and use the Bashful Blue marker writing tip to place small dots at the center of each scallop. Punch a piece of So Saffron with the 1-3/8" Circle Punch, and layer it onto the scallop circle. Stamp the flower from the Sweet Shapes set in Bashful Blue onto Whisper White card stock, and punch out with 1" Circle Punch. Adhere this circle atop the So Saffron circle. This piece will be called the "flower medallion".

Turn the "flower medallion" over, and place one Stampin' Dimensional® on the back at the top, and one at the bottom. This will keep the medallion raised off the surface of the front of your pocket, with space to string ribbon under it, from left to right. Adhere the "flower medallion" as shown, and run about 16" of Bashful Blue Striped Grosgrain Ribbon under it, tying the ribbon in a square knot to the left of the medallion. (TIP: to keep your ribbon from sliding around, consider placing a Mini Glue Dot® under the knot.) The pocket also looks great with a saying from a white Rub-Ons sheet added to the front left bottom, but I did not place one on this particular sample.

You will now complete the notecard which goes inside the pocket. Cut sheet of Whisper White card stock to 4-1/4" x 10", and fold in half to 4-1/4" x 5". Using the Corner Round, round each of the bottom corners of the card, one at a time. Insert the folded card into the pocket, and center it, then lightly trace the half circle mark with a pencil, and remove the card. Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig, line up the 'hello' image to appear in the center, and stamp in Bashful Blue. Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig again, line up the solid circle to be centered on top of the word 'hello', and stamp in So Saffron ink. [Note: in the sample, the circle was stamped off first onto scratch paper, so that the circle would be lighter than full-strength ink.] After the ink is dry, carefully erase the light pencil marks, and stamp the flower randomly over the front of the card. Then take the asterisk-looking stamp from Sweet Shapes and ink it up in Wild Wasabi ink. Stamp off the full-strength Wild Wasabi onto scratch paper, then stamp randomly on card front. If you choose, pick one flower to highlight with the circle stamp (with the full-strength ink stamped off onto scratch paper first). Another option is to stamp the swirl from the Sweet Shapes set in Bashful Blue across the bottom inside of the card.


That's it--when the card is put into the pocket, it should measure roughly 4-1/4" x 5-1/2", and will fit in a standard size envelope for mailing. However, if your envelope is more than 1/4" thick with the card inside, be prepared to pay extra postage.

The last project I demonstrated was a 2-page 6" x 6" scrapbook page layout. This one was quite easy, and went together quickly.


Stampin' Supplies: Sweet Shapes stamp set, Jumbo So Swirly wheel, Jumbo Dotted Wheel, Pretty in Pink jumbo ink cartridge, Purely Pomegranate card stock and ink pad, Close to Cocoa card stock and ink pad, Berry Bliss Designer Series Paper (DSP), Whisper White card stock, Small Oval punch, SNAIL.

Directions: Cut two sheets of 6" x 6" Purely Pomegranate card stock. If you choose, you can wheel these with the So Swirly Jumbo wheel in Pretty in Pink ink--it makes a pretty background (I forgot to do that on the samples above). Cut 2 strips of 2" x 6" Berry Bliss DSP, and adhere onto edges of 6" x 6" pages as shown. Cut two photo mats, approximately 3-1/2" x 5" and wheel over them with the So Swirly Jumbo wheel in Pretty in Pink ink.

Take a scrap sheet of Whisper White card stock, at least 6" x 2" and wheel over it with the Dotted Jumbo wheel in Pretty in Pink ink. Trim out two sections of the lines to fit on your pages as shown, for journaling space. Take a small scrap of Whisper White and stamp the word 'sweet' in Purely Pomegranate, then punch it out with the Small Oval punch and adhere it at the top left of the left page. Ink up the solid heart from the Sweet Shapes set in Purely Pomegranate ink, and stamp off the full-strength ink onto scratch paper, then stamp the heart on Whisper White card stock. Stamp the heart outline in Close to Cocoa ink (full-strength) over the outside of the solid heart. Punch the heart out with the 1" Circle Punch, and adhere to bottom right of right page.

This layout also looks great with the photo mats tilted at slight angles (as if they would form a house gable angle if set next to each other) instead of aligning them square to the pages, and both journaling rectangles below each respective photo mat.

That's the end of the workshop--I hope I didn't lose you all on this post! Thanks for sticking with me through all these directions, and please contact me if you have any questions or if you noticed a boo-boo somewhere in this stamping novel!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Lucky Leprechaun :-)

I saw a pin similar to this on another blog, and that stamper had copied from another stamper, so I have no idea who originally came up with it, but I just HAD to share! It's so cute!!!


There were no instructions for the one I saw, so I kind of created my own...here's what I did: I first punched out a Scallop Circle in Ruby Red. The hat is a Tag Punch in Wild Wasabi, trimmed down a little bit off the squared end, with another Tag Punch in Basic Black, and using just a bit of the squared end. The buckle is a 1/4" square punched bit of Summer Sun. The hat brim was first punched with the Large Oval punch, with a bite taken out of the top of it and the bottom of it afterwards with the Small Oval punch.

The face is a 1-3/8" punched circle, with a 1/2" punched nose, both out of Blush Blossom. I also sponged both pieces with Blush Blossom, using a sponge with just a little tiny hint of Ruby Red (leftover from another project when I didn't rinse out the sponge!), which gave the skin an awesome ruddy look. The eyes were stamped on Whisper White in StazOn Black ink--they are cucumber slices from the new One Smart Cookie set...with the center colored in with an Old Olive marker. (That was a design original I came up with myself, the one I saw had glued-on googly eyes.)

The smile was created by using the punched template left from a 1" circle punch. I just followed the curve of the punched out circle, and then put edges on the smile, and dotted a few freckles on the face. That's it, just put a pin back on it, and you're PINCH PROOF!

Birthday Card Class Sneak Peek


This is a little sneak peek of what you can make at my Birthday Card Class, on March 27th.

IMPORTANT: I need your registration and payment for this class by March 17th so that I can order your supplies.

Essentially, you will complete 18 6"x3" cards, using the Confetti Simply Scrappin'® Kit (and just a few extras I'll give you at the class!). You will also get 18 envelopes, and you will make 2 pouches (not pictured above) for storing your cards and envelopes--9 cards & envelopes will fit in each pouch! So, you can keep one set of cards, and give one away, if you'd like. [Note: many of the cards will easily lend themselves to occasions other than birthdays, so please let me know if you anticipate the need for design adjustments.]

The class fee is only $35, which includes the envelopes, and you will only be using half of the Simply Scrappin'® Kit...you'll get to take home the other half, which is still enough to create 16 double-sided 6"x6" scrapbook pages, or 8 12"x12" double-sided scrapbook pages. All my class attendees receive electronic copies of class instructions, so if you choose to use the rest of your Simply Scrappin'® Kit to recreate another set of the cards we make at the class, that will give you 36 cards, at a cost of less than a dollar each!

Check your schedule and contact me by March 17th if you'd like to register. If you will be unavailable due to Spring Break, but don't want to miss this class, I can make arrangements for you to get the supplies, and I can email you the detailed instructions for the $35 fee, plus postage. HOWEVER, you must meet the March 17th registration & payment deadline, to get this Class in the Mail.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Classy Pictures

Just wanted to post a picture of all the goodies we made at the Spring Celebration Class. We also wheeled envelopes which match the scallop note cards, but those are not shown. And you also can't tell from this picture, but a (green) package of Orbit gum slides inside the Pinch Proof container. The class attendees will be receiving email instructions for all the projects so they can recreate them at home.
You won't want to miss the next class, it is a Birthday Card Class--to be held on March 27th from 6-9pm. RSVP and payment must be received no later than March 17th, so I can order supplies for everyone. Stay tuned for some sneak peeks at the 18 cards we'll be making at that class!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Occasions Collection Mini Catalog Ordering Period Begins

The Occasions Collection Mini Catalog ordering period runs from March 1st through May 31st, 2008. Be sure to check out the fresh and fruity new designs and accessories Stampin' Up!® has introduced! And remember, through March 17th, you can get FREE Sale-A-Bration sets for every $50 you purchase. So, stock up for the season and cash in on FREE rewards while buying your favorite stamping product.

Don't forget to check out my Events Page, for class projects made using these hot new designs. My Tote of Note Cards project will feature the new Summer Picnic Designer Series Paper, and the Tart and Tangy stamp set!

For specific design instruction, consider booking a Workshop with me (Colorado Springs area only), or becoming a member of my Stampin' Up!® group. As a member of my team you will receive FREE stamping training, either in person, or through my private training site if you are not local (or if you prefer using web access). See the right sidebar for details on how to sign up online to become a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator with me!

Get Wild...Wild Wasabi, that is...

From March 1st through April 30th, or while supplies last, you can purchase a package of 16 sheets of precut and prescored Wild Wasabi card stock for only $3.95. The pack includes 16 sheets of 4-1/2" x 11-1/2" Wild Wasabi Textured Card Stock that has been scored at 1-1/8" and 5-5/8". Currently, Textured Card Stock is only available in an assorted package, so it's a great convenience to have a single color, and an extra bonus to have it cut and scored.

Download Wild Wasabi Card Pack project ideas HERE.

I will also be teaching a couple of my own projects using this special product package, at my Spring Celebration Class on March 6th. The Wild Wasabi Card Pack is a great add-on to use with your FREE die-cut Sale-A-Bration sets!

I *DO* have class!

In fact, my next one is on March 6th...the theme is Spring Celebration, which I think we're all ready for out here in Colorado (she says, as snow continues to drift down outside her window). You can pop over to my Events Page to get more information on upcoming classes, but here is a little sneak peek at the awesome things you'll get to make at my Spring Celebration:




Two of these projects feature the Wild Wasabi Card Pack for supplies. The RSVP date for this class has been extended to March 5th, because I was unable to post the samples until today, but I must have your firm commitment by 5pm on the 5th so I can cut and package your class materials.

Scrapbooking, anyone?


I've been pretty busy creating new stuff and taking pictures for you :-) I generally try very hard to use only current Stampin' Up! merchandise so that you can buy the products you may need to copy one of my projects for yourself. However, after I made this mini album, I realized you could follow my simple pattern with any Simply Scrappin' Kit® (SS Kit) of your choice--whether you have one that has been retired, or you choose to buy a new one just for this project!

The SS Kit I used for my sample is called Creative License, and I actually got it free during the 2007 Fall/Winter Collection period. Some of you may have this same Kit hanging around, just begging to be used. The album I made is 14 pages, though you could make it 16 pages, if you aren't as particular as I was...and it only used 1/2 the SS Kit. I essentially took 4 of the 12x12 sheets of card stock and cut them in half, to 6x12. Then I folded each in half to get a 6x6 folded over piece. I stacked them on top of each other, like a pile of greeting cards, and glued the back of the first one to the front of the next one, and so on, until they were all stuck together. (For mine, I actually pulled out one folded over "card" to reserve for layering on the front and back cover--which is why my mini album is only 14 pages.) Here is a view of the spine, so you can get a better idea of how the assembly works:


You'll find the rest of the pages below. (Don't forget, you can always click on any picture to see it enlarged!) I purposefully split the SS Kit in half before I started, and limited myself to those supplies. There were tons of die-cuts and quite a bit of patterned paper left, so you could still add plenty in while inserting your pictures and journaling. If you make one of these as a gift, I recommend being a little conservative on the embellishments, and simply offering the leftover pieces to the recipient, for her own personalization (or to use on other scrapbook pages of her own).









Stampin' Supplies: Creative License Simply Scrappin'® Kit (any SS Kit will work), Star Punch (on front cover, punched from a scrap leftover after trimming down Blue Bayou card stock I used for layering on front and back cover), Blue Bayou Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, SNAIL (used to adhere all the pages together).