The Wonderful World of Swaps...pt 2

Here we go again more great swaps!!!  If you didn't check out yesterday's swaps make sure you do, they're great!!! Here's the rest of them!

 Michelle C's did this one.  I'm not sure if it's supposed to go horizontal or vertical.  I prefer it vertical. I love the greeting on side and the flower in the center.  So this is how I'm using it :)

 Nichole did this one.  I love this one!  Simple with just a splash of color!  Beautiful!

 Liz L did this one.  I love the embossing on it.  I think that as seasoned demos we tend to take the little things for granted, to new stampers embossing is magic and just about the coolest thing ever-so go emboss something!

 Emily did this card.  I love how she made the dresser and I love all the detail she put into it.

Erin did this swap, I think it was a hit with everyone.  The card is so pretty, the flower is just amazing and the dimension on this card is pretty awesome!! 

 Kay did this swap, another example of how beautiful our new Sale a Bration DSP is!!!

 Kim Madrid did this swap, simple, pretty and elegant.  I love it!!! Kim also has a blog, if you have time check it out. 

Finally lastly is LaRee's card.  She used the new rosette die in the mini to make her lolli, ps that die is on my wishlist!!! Great card!!!

So that's our swaps, I'll be back tomorrow with some new projects!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

The Wonderful World of Swaps....Pt 1

Our meeting last week was FANTASTIC!  Like they always are!!!  We had a HUGE crowd and there were a total of 16 swaps!!!  So I've split it up into two posts, the cards were wonderful, lots of fun ideas and lots of cards to copy :)  Our theme this month was Sale a Bration or Occasions Mini. 

 This one was Carmelita's, I love that butterfly, it's actually very similar to the card I did for my demo at the meeting :)

 This one is Stephanie's.  I wasn't convinced I needed the bird die until I saw it used at Leadership and now this card-LOVE IT!!!  It's going on my wishlist!!!

 This is Amber's 1st swap, she did 2 this month.  I love the black and white, looks so striking!

 This is Amber's 2nd swap.  This one just made me smile!  When we were at Leadership, looking over swaps from our roommate Pat, Amber commented on how much she loved a card that was very similar to this one.   The next night when we went through Pats swaps again she again commented on how much she loved that card :) 

 This one is Michelle's.  I love it.  It's simple, cute and fun! 

 This was probably my favorite swap, it's Liz K's swap.  She did a great job, I love all the detail she put into it.  And don't know if you can tell, it's sewn, like on a sewing machine!  FUN!!

Lastly for tonight is Mindy's.  It's funny how I wasn't drawn to the Elementary Elegance set in the SAB catalog but so many of our swaps were made with it and now I LOVE IT!!!  Guess I know what will be on my next order...thanks ladies!

I'll have the rest of the swaps tomorrow. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Double Uses!

One of our make and takes at Leadership used the Scallop Border punch to make ric rack.  Well you know me I'm a punch lover and whenever you can use a punch for more that it's intended use well I'm sold!!!!!  (Not like I wasn't already sold on the border punch :)  So making ric rack is what I demoed last night at our meeting, and it's so easy!!!!  To make it you punch a strip of 1/2 inch-1 inch piece of paper, depending on how thick you want your ric rack.  Then you flip it over so the scallops are at the top, line up one of the humps from the scallop paper with the point of the punch.  So you're punching it the same way just off slightly.  I hope that makes sense.  Play with it.  I'm a big believer of once you start playing with your products you'll learn so many more things! 

There's a lot going on with the rest of the card.  I mounted the DSP on some thin cardboard then ran it through my butterfly die.  This makes the butterfly more stable on the card.  I used more DSP to make a tiny lolli then added a brad on there.  I love this card because it uses lots of our Sale a Bration products-the 3 you get in your hostess bundle!!!!  The Fresh Vintage set, the ribbon and brads, and the DSP!  It's hard to tell in the picture but I used Versa Mark and Iridecent Ice DSP to add some sparkle to my ric rack.  This card is so fun in person AND if that weren't enough-check out the ribbon!!!  You can curl it just like you would if you were wrapping a gift!  FUN!!!!!!!  Just remember to be more gentle with SU ribbon :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Swapping Flowers

I'm finally back.  Thursdays are always busy for me, so clearly Thursdays are not the day that I should miss posting :)  But here I am!  This is my swap for our meeting tonight.  It was inspired by one of our make and takes that I showed you yesterday.  I used the same layout, changed the flowers and some of the other elements but it's a very similar card and I actually LOVE it.  The DSP is our new DSP from Sale a Bration.  It's so fun, you'll need to get a package!!!  Each flower is made from 3 of the largest flower from the Boho Blossom punch.  I crumpled them up and used a brad to hold them together. 

I'm so excited about our meeting tonight, we should have a large crowd and we have LOTS to share from Leadership so it will be fun!!!!!  I can't wait.  I'll have highlights from the meeting to show you next week. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

*Added 1/27:

I've had a couple questions on the card so I thought I'd post here to clarify a little more.  The card isn't folded in any special way, the scalloped border is simply another piece of cardstock that has been glued down on the card base and the scalloped edges roughed up a little. But you could certainly modify the card to have it fold under that flap.

Thanks so much for your comments!!!!!

Playing Catch Up

I'm still trying to catch up on things while I was gone, plus I added about 40 things that need to get done :)  I had inteded to show you my card swap for our meeting tonight but by the time I got home last it was too dark to take picutres.  I'm running out the door early this morning but as soon as I get home this afternoon I'll have it posted.  Stick with me, I'm almost back to 'normal' whatever that is :)
Thanks!!!!!

Make and Takes

One of the highlights of any Stampin' Up! event is the make and takes.  This year's make and takes were fantastic!  I only had a chance to make a couple of them but I love them!  This first one is my favorite.  I love everything about it.  The flowers and buttons especially.  It's fun and so simple.  I used this card to inspire my card swap for our meeting tomorrow. 

This is another one of my favorites.  I love the bright colors and the fun rick rack!  There's actually 2 flowers layered on top of each other, hard to see in the picture, but I love the dimension on this card.  So that's it for me today.  I've been doing lots of reorganizing, cleaning and unpacking the last couple of days.  I've also been trying to catch up on sleep, 5 days with little sleep is catching up with me.  I think I'm finally getting back into the swing of things and starting to think clearly again :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!!

Step Up To Sale A Bration!!!!!

Today is a very exciting day in the Stampin' Up! world.  Today is the first day of Sale a Bration!!!!  Yay!!!!  I love this time of year!  I love everything about it!!!  I love that customers can earn a free product just for ordering, I love that hostesses can earn free products just for inviting friends over and most of all I love the many benefits that demonstrators receive and are rewarded for during Sale a Bration!!!!!!  Until the end of March there's 3 ways you can benefit from SAB:

• Buy some stuff, get some free!!!!  Customers will enjoy picking free SAB products with every $50 they spend (b/f tax and shipping).  There's no limit!!!!  And with everything from stamps to fabric, Decor Elements to My Digital Studio there's something for everyone!
• Get free stuff and have a great time!!!  Host a workshop or class-we'll work together and customize it to what you want, and get free SAB products!!  With workshop sales of only $150 you'll receive a free SU tote bag!  When your workshop reaches $400 you'll get a whole bundle of products that include a stamp set, brads, ribbon, and DSP!!!!!
• Join the Stampin' Up! family!!!!!  Not only is now the BEST time to sign up but when you do, you'll celebrate all year long, sign up during SAB and for every month, for the rest of the year you'll get a free package of DSP or a free digital download!!!!!!  Plus if that's not exciting enough the kit has been discounted to $125!!!  You get almost $400 in product and material in the kit.  This is a GREAT deal!!!!!  Not to mention all the other demonstrator perks you'll get just for signing up!!!!! 

So are you excited for Sale A Bration, need another exciting event to really get you pumped up!!!?!  Come to my Step Up To Sale A Bration class and get to use the products and see them in person! The class is only $20 you must sign up online.  At the class you'll make 8 cards!!!  The class is  February 4 at 10 am.  I'm so excited for this class, it's an event like never before!!!! I'm partnering with another demonstrator to bring you this class. We're very excited to KICK OFF Sale a Bration at this class and I hope you can join us. To attend you must sign up online. Come make 8 cards with Stampin' Up!'s exclusive Sale a Bration products. You'll make 8 cards, 4 simple but beautiful, easy to make and easy to reproduce cards and 4 stepped up cards that involve a little more time. You'll get to use all new Sale a Bration products and new products from the Occasions Mini Catalog.  Make sure you bring a friend who has never attended my classes or workshops before and you and your friend will make another special card JUST FOR YOU!!!!  Whew!  That's alot of information!!!  Believe me I know that's alot so if you have questions on any of it let me know. 

Ok now I'm sure you stopped by to see a card or two, maybe.......Today's cards are 2 of the cards you'll get to make at the Step Up To Sale a Bration class.  The one on the left is beautiful and easy to make a ton of, the one on the right is just stepped up a little!  It's the same basic card but with more detail and more time put into it.  I love them both, not sure which one I love the most!!!!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Leadership Highlights!

What an amazing time I had at Stampin' Up!'s Leadership conference.  This post is a little long, so you might want to grab some coffee or tea, go ahead I'll wait.......got it OK!  It was so much fun, there were so many ideas and lots of big announcements!  I'm excited to add some fun changes to my business! Some you'll see right away, others will be rolled out in the upcoming months. There's also some BIG changes coming to the catalogs, the first being the catalog will now be released in JUNE instead of July. As the changes happen I'll let you know, they're exciting and I think you'll be thrilled with them!!!!!

One change that I'll be implementing right away is rewarding my customers more! How will do that? My business is all about gaining new customers. YOUR recommendation goes a long way! So when you bring a friend to a class of mine, one (or more!) who has NEVER attend one of my classes or workshop, you AND your friend(s) will get to make an exclusive card JUST for YOU!! So I hope you're thinking of a friend or two or more to bring with you to your next class, just make sure to let me know so I can prepare. But the rewards don't stop there, you'll get free products if that friend hosts a workshop, you'll get even more if that friend joins the Stampin' Up! family!!!! So don't wait, invite your friends today! And if you haven't signed up for my upcoming classes yet make sure you do!!!!! We are putting so much thought and special details into the February class and I hope you leave feeling appreciated and creative! So sign up today!!!!
February 4-Step Up to Sale-a-Bration!!!
I'm so excited for this class, it's an event like never before!!!! I'm partnering with another demonstrator to bring you this class. We're very excited to KICK OFF Sale a Bration at this class and I hope you can join us. To attend you must sign up online.  Come make 8 cards with Stampin' Up!'s exclusive Sale a Bration products. You'll make 8 cards, 4 simple but beautiful, easy to make and easy to reproduce cards and 4 stepped up cards that involve a little more time. You'll get to use all new Sale a Bration products and new products from the Occasions Mini Catalog.

Would you like to see some highlights from Leadership now? 

 I love this picture, this is where we picked up our Make and Take supplies.  One table is for wood mounted sets, the other for clear.  Isn't is just a beautiful sight!!!!!?

 These were our drinks at Managers Reception.  So fun, and even though it got smooshed a little I did bring home my umbrella!

 Amber, my fantastic upline, and myself at Managers.

 I was thrilled beyond words when I got to spend a few minutes talking to Heather Summers.  If you follow my blog you know I'm a HUGE fan of hers.  So this was a memorable moment :)

 Michelle and I waiting for Day 1 to start! 

 Amber and the Kims.  We were so lucky to have some of our group there with us!

 Shelli is the sweetest person ever!  I was so lucky to be able to chat with her for a few moments!

 Breakfast of champions.  Our hotel had Texas shaped waffles for breakfast-FUN and only in TX!!

 Never have I been so entertained while listening to a financial report.  Scott SU's CFO made if fun Mr. Rogers style!  LOVED IT!!!! 

 I love watching Shelli's stamping time.  She gets just as excited as we do and it's so fun to see her projects!!!!

 This is all the new stuff I came home with.  SU sure knows how to treat us well!!!  I do have another stamp set coming.  I was part of a focus group and get to choose a free stamp set for that.  More FREE STUFF!!!!

Here's my desk today, or at least after I unpacked.  Perhaps I can make a little corner to stamp on :)  I have many more pictures on my Stampin' Facebook page!  Head over there to see examples and many more pictures.   While you're there make sure to 'like' my page for more updates from me and Stampin' Up!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Fun With My Digital Studio

Today's post is a little strange.  I'll explain it the best that I can.  While I was gone, I left little gifts for Dan, Logan and Megan to open.  One each day.  The kids got toys and fun stuff like that, Logan got a couple paint sets and other crafty things.  Megan got some bath toys, etc.  Well the kids are easy, Dan was a little more complicated but I didn't want to leave him out, then I remembered these really cute gifts that I saw on Heather Summers blog.  She was doing a bunch of these gifts for her husband and I thought that would be perfect!!!  I link will take you to one of them but make sure to check her whole blog the other ideas are there too, they're so cute!!!  So one day in MDS I opened a scrapbook page and created with punches 5 tags, one for each day that I'll be gone.  I picked the 5 snacks that Dan would enjoy the most.  I printed it at home and cut them out and stuck them to the snacks.  I forgot to take a picture of the snacks, but I'll let you know what each of them was attached to.  From the top, clockwise there's "You O'FISHally have my heart" attached to a package of goldfish crackers.  Next is "I'm NUTS about you" put on a package of peanuts.  I printed another elephant on the bottom to cut out the peanut so that the elephant would be blue and the peanut would be brown.  Below that is "I SODA think you're cute" I think you can figure out what that was on.  Next on the bottom is "I'm so glad we can be CHEESY together"  I put that on a bag of Cheetos, which I'm sure Logan enjoyed too. Finally above that is "You stole a PIECE of my heart" attached to a box of reeces pieces (Dan's favorite candy).  

Things should be getting back to normal here today.  I'm so glad to be home!  I'm so excited to share what I learned.  

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Gifts!

Today, finally I will show you the gift I made for roommates and friends at Leadership.  I made one for each of my roommates and a few more for a few more friends that I met up with there.  I hope everyone liked them.  I was going to do something completely different, then had this idea and I'm so glad I went with this idea!!!  I made them using a variety of SU fabric.  After I made some with the Spice Cake fabric I was filled with panic!  It was in the mini catalog, it's not current anymore!!!!  But fortunately for me, it's on the carry over flyer and so it's still current-whew!!!!

I'm sure you're looking at them going, cute but what are they?  The flowers are little pins that you can stick to your clothes, a bag, an apron, etc.  The little frames are pin cushions!  Aren't they cute!!!!!?!  These little frame pin cushions are everywhere and catching on quick.  They're so easy to make!  I used the cardboard that came with the frame, trimmed it slightly. Stuck batting on the front, covered it with fabric and secured it on the back with a glue gun.  Just stick it back in the frame, stick the back of the frame on and you're done!  EASY!!! 

I have to say that my favorite is either the one with the Beau Chateau fabric or the ones with the Spice Cake fabric.  I love those fabrics, I love the other ones too, but I just love the patterns on the Beau Chateau and Spice Cake.  Each flower is finished off with either a button or Antique Brad. 

They're so cute!!  I wish I could have left them lined up on my desk forever.  They were so fun to look at!!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Celebrate With Chocolate!

At leadership I also signed up for a 'wrapper' swap.  Meaning that you disguise candy in some fun way.  Things that can be recreated at classes or workshop.  Or gifts that could easily be made to give away.  I'm always looking for fun candy wrapper ideas so this was the perfect swap for me.  I haven't mentioned it in a while BUT I still love my little Ghiradelli squares of chocolate.  So what else would I do for this swap!  If you're a LONG time viewer of my blog you might remember these boxes from way back in February of 2009.  So I recreated those boxes for my swap.

I used the Under The Big Top stamp set.  I colored the elephant with blender pens, and I made sure to put some shading under the ball.  This is really important so that your image isn't 'floating'.  After I colored the ball I covered the ball with Crystal Effects to make it pop out a little.  Now you may be thinking, 'that's cute but it's not SU ribbon', well good news this ribbon is a Sale-a-Bration item.  It comes with another roll of ribbon in Calypso Coral and fun brads.  What a great free item! 

For these boxes I only had to make 10 of them, and to prove that there really is chocolate inside, here you go :)  I only assembled one before Leadership, the other 9 were assembled in the hotel room.  I didn't want the boxes to be crushed during travel.  I've always loved this little box, and even more so now :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Leadership Day 1.....

Here we are in San Antonio!  We are having so much fun.  We've been down to the river walk, we've enjoyed some stamp time, some amazing stamp samples and even fit in some time for some free wine tasting and mango wine smoothies-which are YUMMY!!!!!!!  The only disappointment has come when I tried to use my laptop, my laptop for whatever reason will not connect to the hotel wireless.  So my AMAZING roommate and upline has let me use her computer-what a great friend!  But I won't be able to share photos, but look forward to them when I return home.  Today we got our bags-they are sooooooo adorable!!  I just love them!!!!  We were also so pleasantly surprised when we went to make and takes we were given notepad holders (or perhaps mini catalog holders)! Either way they're fantastic and they're both made with new fabric from the next catalog!  FUN!!!!  We finished the day with Managers Reception, my first!  It was a lovely gathering where we enjoyed a light dinner and a lovely show in the theater.  I'm so looking forward to tomorrow!!!
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Birds of Thanks

I signed up for a card swap at Leadership.  I love doing the organized swaps because the work is usually great so I'm really excited to see what I'll get back.  The swap was big too, I had to make 43 of these.  I love them so I hope that the demonstrators that received them love them too.  I love how they came out and I'll say something I never thought I'd say, ready.... I love Riding Hood Red.....there I said it!  I'll be honest with you.  I JUST got the ink pad 2 months ago.  I never thought I'd like this red, I'm not generally a big 'red' fan....but after making 43 of these, I think Riding Hood Red has grown on me :)

I love this card but I got the inspiration for this card from Renee's blog.  She does phenomenal work.  Her blog is one that I check all the time and I just love her work!  This card was from way back in July but I saw it and saved it and knew one day I would make it, I just loved it! Other elements on this card.  I have a strip of Crumb Cake cardstock embossed and sponged behind the bird, and on the smaller Riding Hood Red cardstock I embossed the birdcage in clear embossing powder and then stamped the eggs in Riding Hood Red ink.  It's a nice tone on tone look, subtle but pretty and really adds to the card.

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Packed For Baby!!!

Last week I showed you the Packed for Birthday stamp set and I promised you that after you saw today's card you'll want to get the all four of the Packed for ____ stamps.  Well here it is!!!!  SO CUTE!!!!  Now I will say, that there was a LOT of cutting involved and they're tiny pieces, BUT it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  The pieces though small were quite easy to cut out.  A big surprise to me.  I stamped them with versa mark and embossed them with black embossing powder.  I colored them all with markers, of course this card would be for a girl but you can color them in shades of blue for a boy or shades of yellows and greens for either gender.   

SO CUTE!!!  Ok so tell me you don't want the Packed for ____ stamps.  I'm so glad that I was given them, I'm pretty sure I would never have bought them but they make such cute cards!!!  I just love this card!!!  Ok I'll stop going on and on about it.  I'm on my way to San Antonio today!!!  I can't wait!!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Be Mine!

I leave tomorrow! So excited!!!  Today will be filled with all the last minute prep that needs to be done, but I think I'm ready!  Hope I don't forget anything!  Today's card is another one that I LOVE.  It took a while to get all the hearts done but in the end I'm so glad I took the time to do it.  I stamped about a million hearts from the Candy Conversations stamp.  Then I used the small punch and punched them all out.  That was the easy part.  The hard part was lining them all up in color order, each row had an order.  And I was really picky and didn't want the same phrase next to each other in any direction.  So it turned into a huge puzzle and sat on my desk for a while until I finally got them glued down.

I just love it though!!!!!  for the greeting I stamped it and cut it out and instead of mounting it on cardstock I stuck it to some ribbon.  Well 2 pieces of ribbon, one for the top and one for the bottom.  To finish it I used one of our trinket safety pins and one of the pieces from the Trinket Hearts.  The whole trinket line is so fun to use.  The safety pins, the crowns, the keys, and now the hearts from the mini catalog they're all so fun!!!!  I just adore this card to pieces!!!! I have post scheduled for the rest of the week but I'm still hoping to update every night from Leadership, so make sure to check every day!!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Packed For Birthday!!!

I'll be the first to admit that when I saw the Packed for ____ stamps I was not excited.  I was sure I would never use them, they just weren't for me.  Lucky for me I was wrong!!!  I got all four of the Packed for stamps free from SU so I thought I better use them.  I'm so glad I did, I LOVE THEM!!!  I hope that if you're on the edge about them I can convince you that they really are fun sets to have! Today's card I love and I'll show you another one next week that is just perfect and my favorite card that I've made in a while, stay tuned :)

Over all the card is very simple, it was stamped twice to cover the cardstock.  I did use my stamp a ma jig for perfect placement.  I colored everything with my markers, I used Pear Pizzazz, Tempting Turquoise, Rich Razzleberrry, Crumb Cake and Daffodil Delight.  Once the coloring was done, the hard part was done.  Once that was done it was just a quick run through the big shot to emboss the cardstock, tie some ribbon and you're done!  Easy peasy and so cute!!  How fun is this card???!!!  This would work for any of the Packed for ____ sets.  Still not convinced come back next week for my baby card!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!