Nature Walk Bird & A Cool Fold

Did you notice how this card opens? Instead of just folding the card stock in half, there's an extra fold 1 1/4" in that makes the card open like a bound book. And that leaves a 4 1/4" square to be the canvas of the card. Way cool! Thanks to Kim P. for swapping with me and sharing this card! The stamp set used is Nature Walk, which was in a previous mini catalog and is now on page 100 of the Idea Book & Catalog. The images are stamped in Early Espresso on Very Vanilla, then embossed with the Elegant Lines Embossing Folder (page 219). The Tempting Turquoise piece is embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder (page 219). The card base and the Scallop Trim Border (punch is on page 211) are Early Espresso. The greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes (LOVE that set, page 157) is stamped in Early Espresso on Very Vanilla, punched with the Modern Label Punch (page 209), embellished with Tempting Turquoise brads (page 199) and attached with dimensionals. This was the fifth card at last Saturday's Stamp-A-Stack. I hope you have enjoyed seeing all the cards this week!

I invite you to join us for a Stamp-A-Stack or Stamping Weekend @ the Building (the next one is August 6th & 7th)! Check my Calendar of Events for dates and more info.

Have a great weekend & Happy Stamping!

Button Buddies & Island Indigo

Lots of new stuff on this card! This was the fourth card from last Saturday's Stamp-A-Stack. I saw a card like this that another demonstrator, Sandy, had done and really liked it. The image is from Button Buddies (page 71 of the Idea Book & Catalog). It's colored with markers (Melon Mambo, Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard, Old Olive & Island Indigo) and then I attached it to the white layer and ran them both thru the Big Shot in the new Stripes Embossing Folder (page 218 of the IB&C). After separating the pieces, I layered everything and added a bow made with the new 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon (page 194 of the IB&C). The vase is stamped again on another piece of card stock, cut out, and attached with dimensionals.

I'll be back tomorrow with the last card from the Stamp-A-Stack. I hope you'll join us for a class sometime if you're in my area! If not, you can purchase the cards we make and I'll mail them to you. Contact me for more info!

Organizing Your Ink Refills

Here is the July article...and it's still July! I'm caught up and have the August article ready to post next week! :)

Have you purchased the Ink Refills for all of your Stampin’ Pads? You should! In addition to refilling your ink pads, you can use refills for Stampin’ Around Wheel Cartridges, to dye ribbon and embellishments so they match your projects, to watercolor with, and more! You can buy them individually or in Color Collections.

Now that you have all these little ink bottles, how do you store them? If you have the Color Caddy from Stampin’ Up!, 48 ink refills will fit in the tray on top. I used to keep my refills in a small box, but quickly outgrew that. I have 38 Classic Ink Refills (there is no white or vanilla Classic Ink), 40 Craft Ink Refills, 10 In Color Refills, refills for Versamark, black and white Staz On, plus a few others that are discontinued. That’s a lot of little bottles! Luckily the containers that I store my stamps in have drawers that are just the right height for refills.

To keep the bottles from moving around, I made dividers out of thin cardboard. I made cuts about halfway down in the pieces that run front to back, then made cuts about half way up on the pieces that go left to right and put them together to make the framework you see. They’re all measured so the bottles just fit. I have them arranged so that a Color Collection fits in each row from front to back. The Classic Inks are on the left, the Craft Inks on the right. In the center I have the In Colors in the front and Staz On in the back. It makes it very easy to find the refill I need when an ink pad is getting dry or I need a certain color for a project. There’s room for more in case I decide to keep anything that retires.

Next Month: Wheels

Designer Series Paper Presents

Isn't this cute? And what a great way to use up small pieces of Designer Series Paper! This was CASE'd (Copy And Share Everything!) from a swap I received at Convention from Penny G. Thanks for the great idea Penny! I decided to use the small pieces of DSP from the sampler I bought from SU! 2 years ago, so this is old paper! But you can use whatever you have on hand. Try to find designs that have at least 2 colors so you can match the card stock. My sample has Pretty In Pink, So Saffron and Whisper White. The layers are 4 x 5 1/4" and 3 3/4 x 5". The DSP is punched with the 1 1/4" Square, the layer of card stock with the 1 3/8" Square (both are on page 212 of the Idea Book & Catalog). The "bow" is actually from the Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch (page 211 of the IB&C). Stamp a greeting (this one is from Happiest Birthday Wishes, page 10 of the IB&C) and add some Basic Rhinestones (page 198 of the IB&C) for bling!

If you'ever thought about starting your own business, check out the $99 Starter Kit from Stampin' Up! that is available for the month of July! There are only a few days left for this incredible offer! I'd love to have you join my team!

Organizing Your Big Shot Dies

It's been a crazy summer and unfortunately that means I haven't been spending as much time on my blog as I should. I've been doing an article each month about organizing your stamping supplies, but didn't get the June article on Big Shot Dies done until now. Better late than never!

I LOVE my Big Shot! I use it the most with the embossing folders, but it gets used a lot with the dies as well. I would have to say my favorite is the Top Note Die, followed by the scalloped squares. Did you know you can use basically any die in any machine? It’s just a matter of finding a “sandwich” that works. So even if you don’t own a Big Shot (gasp!) you can use the dies that are in the Stampin’ Up! catalog in whatever machine you do own.

The dies are different sizes, so finding a way to store them can be challenging. Stampin’ Up! has storage boxes on page 226 of the Idea Book & Catalog. There are three different sizes that hold various sizes of dies. Each comes with a plastic insert that organizes the dies like file folders. And they have covers! Nice and neat and everything inside stays clean!

I need something to store my dies in that is portable, since I take them to the Building with me when we have Stamping Weekends. What works for me right now is a canvas bag that originally came with plastic boxes in it to store fishing tackle. Don’t laugh when you see it! Remember, my husband and his parents used to be beer distributors!

I have all of my dies standing up so I can read the labels on the sides. Big ones are together in the back, smaller ones are in rows in the front. And the Movers & Shapers are stacked in the corner. I have one Decorative Strip Die and the plates and spacer for it- those sit right on top and are easy enough to move to get to the others.

The Timeless Type Junior Alphabet (page 224 of the Idea Book & Catalog) comes in it’s own little storage box.

There’s room for all 12 dies of the alphabet, plus a few other Sizzlits.

I’m sure there are lots of other ways to store dies, but the main thing is to keep them together and where you can see them or get to them easily. You don’t want to have to move a bunch of stuff to get them when you want to use them. You’ll decide it’s too much work or forget you have them!

Happy Stamping!

Next up: Ink Refills

Best Friends Forever & The Stampers 10 Group

I rec'd a swap card like this at Convention from Pam S. but she used a different stamp set that I don't have. I used the vine image from Best Friends Forever (page 90 of the Idea Book & Catalog) which was one of the stamp sets we received at Convention. The greeting is from It's Your Day (page 192 of the IB&C), another set from Convention. Colors are Pool Party and Wisteria Wonder (NEW In Colors!), Blushing Bride (2010-2012 In Color) and Whisper White. The Framed Tulips Embossing Folder (page 218 of the IB&C) was used to create the frame on both the front and inside of the card. Fold your cardstock in half and run it thru the Big Shot folded, rather than just running the front thru. Also used 5/8" Organza Ribbon (page 195 of the IB&C) and Basic Pearls (page 198 of the IB&C). This was the 2nd card we made at the Stamp-A-Stack.

 Check back tomorrow for the next card!

Would you like to receive Hostess Benefits without hosting a workshop?

Join the “Stampers 10”!

Here’s how it works:

10 people agree to work together so everyone receives hostess benefits.

For 10 months, each person takes a turn “hosting”.

Each person agrees to buy a minimum of $15 each month, which brings the workshop total to $150.

The person hosting receives $25 in FREE merchandise.

The hostess could order more or collect outside orders to increase the workshop total and receive more benefits. See the Hostess Plan in the Idea Book & Catalog for details.

Then it’s the next person’s turn to host, and so on, until all 10 people have been a hostess.

By doing this, everyone has the opportunity to receive the benefits of a workshop without actually hosting one (unless they choose to) and are able to buy $150 worth of merchandise and spread out the cost.

Each Stamper would receive:

● the merchandise they order each month

● $25 in FREE merchandise

● a FREE Idea Book & Catalog

Contact me for more information or to sign up!

I have a group that will be starting on August 1st and have 2 spots left!

Convention Swap & Card 1 From the July Stamp-A-Stack

These are the cards (51!) I made for a swap I was in at Convention. They use the new Designer Frames Embossing Folders Set (page 218 of the Idea Book & Catalog) and Lace Ribbon Border Punch (page 211 of the IB&C). The Happy Birthday is from Perfect Punches (page 140 of the IB&C).

I did my swaps in various colors (this one is Pear Pizzazz) and with various Designer Series Papers (this is from the 2010-2012 In Color Paper Stack, page 186 of the IB&C).

This was the first card I made, using Pretty In Pink and Rose Red and the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder (page 219 of the IB&C) instead of DSP. The dots made it too hard to attach the Lace Ribbon Border and I didn't like the 2 colors. I also decided it would be easier to cut out the frame rather than the oval. I have to see if the Oval Die is the right size so I could use the Big Shot to cut these out.

Here's a 3x3 card I made with some of hte pieces I was experimenting with. This is Rose Red and some discontinued DSP. The Thanks is from Thank You Kindly (page 168 of the IB&C).

For the Stamp-A-Stack, we used Pear Pizzazz and Poppy Parade. I'll be showing the rest of the cards each day this week- come back to check them out! And if you would like to join us for a Stamp-A-Stack, I have one each month, usually the 3rd Saturday. Check my calendar for exact dates and sign up info! 

Convention Was AWESOME!!

I've been to Stampin' Up! Conventions before, but it's been awhile. They used to move them around and I went to the ones in Kansas City, Las Vegas & Orlando. Then they decided to always have them in Salt Lake City, Utah since it's close to home for them. I haven't been able to go the last few years because summer is John's busiest time so it's hard to get away. But next month is my 10 year Anniversary with Stampin' Up! and I really wanted to go. I applied to be a Make & Take Helper to see what happened and I was chosen! So I HAD to go to Convention this year! My Mom dropped me off at the airport and then dropped Chase off at my sister's and I dropped Sydne off at a doggie daycare before we left so everyone was taken care of!

I've never been to Salt Lake City before. It was cool flying over the lake- it is so barren! There is absolutely no vegetation around it at all. The only thing that can live in it is brine shrimp. Some day I would like to see it up close. I would also really like to see the copper mine. Wow! That is huge! It's so big you can see it from space! It makes the granite quarries around here look like little holes in the ground!

This was the view out of my hotel room the first morning. It was dark out by the time I got into Salt Lake City Tuesday night. The mountains in the background are the smaller ones to the West. My room was on the 11th floor of the Hilton.

The mountains to the East are much larger/higher but of course there were buildings in the way!

The theme for Convention this year was "Grow" so everything looked like a garden.

I'm still getting unpacked an caught up, plus I have a Stamp-A-Stack AND my New Catalog Open House this Saturday!

Lots to do!

 

It's Here! The New Catalog Starts Today!

If you haven't seen it yet, this is what the new catalog looks like! I think this is the best catalog we've ever had!

I think that every year, but this time I mean it! :)

Besides the fresh new look, the pages are like art work with lots of great samples and ideas! And check out the little flower pot in the bottom right hand corner of each page- flip through them and watch the flower grow! There are lots of great new stamp sets along with favorites from past mini catalogs. 5 new In Colors have joined the 5 that were introduced last year. They will be around for 2 years now, with 5 new ones introduced each year. I LOVE the Designer Printed Brads and 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon that come in the new colors- can't wait to order them! And the new embossing folders- wow! You know how I love using them! Also, the Decor Elements are now in the main catalog, rather than a separate brochure. Make sure you check them out!

 Do you love Stampin' Up! products? Are you looking to start your own business? Joining Stampin' Up! is the next natural step! Enjoy the great perks of becoming a demonstrator, like

• A 20 percent product discount!

• A free monthly issue of Stampin' Success, Stampin' Up!'s demonstrator-only magazine!

• Sneak peeks at brand-new products!

• Invitations to exclusive Stampin' Up! events!

• Regular get-togethers to stamp!

• Free access to a community of 30,000+ crafters/stampers and creative artists, as well as 160,000+ project samples!

In addition, you will be eligible for TWO FREE months of Demonstrator Business Web Services (DBWS)--including your own business website and Online Store, access to a blog, calendar, a monthly e-newsletter, project gallery, and e-cards--if you signs up within 21 days of becoming a demonstrator.

BECOME A STAMPIN' UP! DEMONSTRATOR TODAY!

Click on the "Join My Team" tab at the top of my blog for more info or to sign up online!

I'd LOVE to have you on my team!