Cindy's Valentine Projects

My good friend, Cindy, has been VERY busy making projects for a local craft store in her town. And having a BLAST!!! Here are some of the projects she's come up with for Valentine's Day.

These are Coaster Post-It Note Holders - they are magnetic to stick on the fridge!

















And here we have candy bar holders.

















Here are some candy boxes.

















These are candy holder purses.

And here's the Purse Tree that her wonderful hubby made for displaying!!! Isn't he GREAT???

Stampin' Up! Gives Away 85 Cruises!!!!

Shelli Gardner, co-founder of Stampin' Up!, surprised members of the Utah National Guard with a special gift--a cruise to Bermuda! 85 members of the Utah National Guard and their guests will be joining many of our Stampin' Up! demonstrators on our annual cruise this year, as a thank you for the service they render to our country.

For more information check out these two stories.
Utah company surprises National Guard members with cruise

National Guard Members get Free Cruise

Sketch Challenge #2

Happy Sunday!!! Here's the sketch for Technostamper's weekly sketch challenge:

Here's the card I came up with!!!

Stamps: So Many Scallops; Birthday Whimsy (....and many more!)

Ink: Lovely Lilac; Regal Rose Craft Ink

Cardstock: Lovely Lilac; Whisper White; Flowers for You Designer Series Paper

Accessories: Scallop Punch; Quick Kutz Nesting Flowers Die Cut; Cuddlebug; Color Coach; Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder

This is so weird...I don't know why everything is double spaced here...it's making me mad. Anyhow, I used the Color Coach to trace the turquoise designer paper circle...isn't that funny!!! That Color Coach is worth it's weight in gold!!!! The scallop is stamped with Regal Rose Craft Ink and embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder for that BLING effect!

Again this was SUPER fun!!! I started with the balloons from the Birthday Whimsey stamp set, stamped and embossed them with Iridescent Ice embossing powder too - I cut them all out and tried like crazy to make my sketch challenge card with them...it just didn't work for me....soooooooo I finished the card above for the challenge and then couldn't toss those beautiful balloons I painstakingly cut out.....and the result was the card I posted just before this post! These challenges really make me think outside the box and I LIKE that!

Here's a link to look at other cards made with this same sketch. They will be posted at Noon on Mondays:

http://technostamper.blogspot.com/

Thanks for looking!

Havin' a BLAST!

I've been having a blast with my Sale-A-Bration stamp sets!!!! Today was a VERY productive day for me....even if I did have to get up at 6:45 on a Saturday - ARHGHhhhhhhhhh. Big basketball tournament this weekend...unfortunately, we lost both games, but the girls gave it their best....and my kid got hurt.... alot...huge rug burn all the way up the side of her calf and another one that's still swollen on the same knee and another one on the other knee...that one's not as bad. YES - I did say rug burn! We played at a small parochial school and their gym doubles as their church service area.....so the entire gym floor is carpeted!!!! It's terrible. My darling daughter also hit the floor and smacked the back of her head REALLY REALLY HARD! She's a brutal player. After all that, my hubby says "this is the 3rd time she's been crying on this court.....THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T PLAY BASKETBALL IN THE LIVING ROOM!!!!" Isn't he funny??? We were at this school last week for a regular game and she smacked her head that time too....maybe she's confusing this basketball thing with wrestling...or maybe it's the concussion??? NO - just messin' with you! By the way....she's not a cry baby....I've seen her get kicked in the mouth during a soccer game and she's taken a knee to the stomach too...without tears....she's a tough kid. That's why I knew all three of these times is was REALLY REALLY bad. Ok - off track.....

Back to business......I can't share everything with you that I made tonight...not enough time....it's 1:55 in the morning and remember I HAD TO GET UP EARLY TODAY!!!! And I don't want to spoil the element of surprise for my Stamp-A-Stackers....but I will share this card with you:

This is made with the Sale-A-Bration stamp set - Birthday Whimsy!!! I stamped the balloons with Craft Inks (Lovely Lilac, Tempting Turquoise & Regal Rose) and embossed them with Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder - I LOVE that stuff - BLING BLING!!! I also used the Flowers for You Designer Series paper and drew the strings for the balloons with a black marker.

That's all I can give you for today! I hate to tease.....watch for my Technostamper Sketch Challenge card tomorrow!

Anniversary Card

Happy FRIDAY!!!! I had to share this gorgeous card I made for my mom and dad for their anniversary.......it's almost completely cased....so I don't get any credit. I do know beauty when I see it though!!! LOL!

I used my new FABULOUS FLOWERS stamp set...for the 1st time! It's been starring at me for almost 2 weeks now - I could hear it saying "CUT ME, MOUNT ME"....whoa, now that's getting a little obscene...this is a CLEAN blog people! LOL

You have to click on the picture to get a better view - I stamped and cut out the flowers and then I smooshed them in VersaMark ink and embossed them with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. Don't ya just love it???? I also used the Cuddlebug for the Artichoke background behind the flower. I think my mom is gonna be really impressed....my dad...well he acts like he's impressed, but I don't think he really "gets" it!!! LOL Bless his heart! He tries and I'll give him an A+ for effort!

I also used my new WONDERFUL FAVORITES word set - YES - that was screaming obscene things at me too!

Rachael's Elephant Card!

Isn't this the cutest card ever???? I LOVE the new big Star Punch!!!! This cutie is another of Rachael's cards.

I'VE LOST MY MIND!

Like the crazy person I am....I've gotten myself in WAY over my head!!! LOL I joined a bunch of swaps right away last fall for the March Stampin' Up! cruise to Bermuda. One of the swaps is a 12" x 12" double page layout....that sounds pretty cool, I think.....but I have to make 26 sets of the 12" x 12" double page layouts!!!! I told you....I've lost my mind!!!!!!!!!!!! Here's the GREAT part - I will be coming home with 25 double page layouts - this will fill 2 scrapbooks!!!!! Once I get my photos developed...you know, some time in May.....I can just pop them into all my completed pages!

So - I figure that since I have all this work to do and SAB is coming up - which has me booked to the hilt (not complaining - very happy about this) - I better get my butt going. That's kind of my New Year's resolution.....to try and get things done before the last possible minute! I know Cindy will be proud of me! (that's a little inside joke) LOL

Soooooooooooo, last night I came up with the pages below for my Bermuda scrapbook swap! I wanted to use colors that were fresh and bright - that's what I figured a tropical vacation page should be!

You can click on any of the pictures to blow them up and get a better view.

Here's both pages together:
















Here's a closer view of the left page:
















Here's a view of the right page.....now you might ask....what is that vellum doing there? I plan to blow one of my photos up to 5"x7" and place it directly under the vellum.....which I'm going to run through my printer with my journaling on it!!!!! How cool is that???? I did this for a layout with my daughter and her puppy (Rudy). Those pages are on my blog someplace last year. It's a really cool technique and I can't wait to show you the pages loaded with photos!

















Page Details
Stamps: Three for You Punch Box; Be Happy
Ink: So Saffron; Regal Rose; Certainly Celery
Cardstock: So Saffron; Very Vanilla; Regal Rose; Certainly Celery; Vellum (not cardstock)
Accessories: Scallop Punch; 1 1/4 & 1 3/8 Circle Punch; Photo Corner Punch; Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware Kit; Linen Thread; Celery Ribbon; Dimensionals

Wish me luck!!!!!

January Scrapbook Pages!!!

Here are the pages my scrapbooking group made for our January class!!! The strip of soft sky that runs across both pages is where the photos should be placed. It is meant for vertical photos....now for me this would be a problem! I don't take many of those...and I wanted this page to be a theme - a bunch of photos of the same event. I get my photos printed at Walgreens - I just download them to my computer from my camera and upload them to the Walgreens Photo website. It's SUPER user-friendly. On their website - I can crop my photos - which allowed me to make them all vertical! PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!! Walgreens Photo is great....my photos are usually ready for pick up in 20 minutes!!!!

Stamps: Priceless; So Swirly Jumbo Wheel

Ink: Blue Bayou

Cardstock: Blue Bayou; Soft Sky; Whisper White

Accessories: 1 3/8" Circle Punch; Scallop Punch; Jumbo Eyelets; Rhinestone Brads; Dimensionals; Crop-A-Dile

The background pages are Blue Bayou. I took a piece of 12" x 12" Soft Sky cardstock and cut it in half so I would have 2 pieces 6" x 12" - that is what I used for the photo layer. I then cut strips of Blue Bayou for my journaling and stamped the little flower on some of them from the Priceless stamp set. My scallop layers flowers are raised up with dimensionals.

The white strips were stamped with the Swirly Jumbo wheel and a Blue Bayou ink cartridge. They are 12" x 1" and 3"x 1" - two of each. We inserted the Jumbo Eyelets with the FABULOUS Crop-A-Dile!!!

On my finished product....I finally got to try out the NEW Rub-Ons!!! This is a close-up of the Rub-On I chose for my page:

RUB-ON'S:

I have never used Rub-On's before.....but I've been getting some feedback from my customers about how the rub-on's from the stores are kind of cranky to use...they don't rub-on very well and most of them tear....... Stampin' Up's new Rub-On's are of SUPERIOR quality - I didn't have any of that nonsense going on at all!!!! They were simple and I LOVE the elegant look they give to my page!

You can use these on just about anything! Cell phones, buttons, ribbon, glass coffee mugs (not sure about putting them through the dishwasher...), plastic - ANYTHING!

Below is the finished product....that's my baby (yea...I know...she's 13!) with her new snowboard! She's getting really good with it - at her last adventure at Nordic Mountain a couple weeks ago she came home saying she was "getting some serious air" going over the jumps!!! We have double checked that our health insurance is in GOOD standing!!! LOL

NOW - I have to go get my butt stamping - need more money to pay for those expensive lift tickets!!!!

P.S. It's below zero, temperature wise, here today and for the last several days. My dungeon of a basement serves as my "stampin' paradise." I have mulitple layers of clothing on to prepare me for this adventure today....long johns, wool socks, heavy slippers. The dungeon has no heat source....wish me well!

Rachael's Awesome Card!

My demo - Rachael was able to come over for a little while on Saturday to play with some SAB sets and this is what she came up with!






















Here's the inside of the card:

















I just love cards that have a window in them to reveal MORE inside!!!! Way to go Rachael!

A Stamp Above

Sketch Challenge

Happy SUNDAY!!!! I joined a Sketch Challenge group and had a blast coming up with a card!!! This was challenging, but I loved it. Here's the sketch that I received via email:

Here's the card I came up with:

Stamps: Friendship Blooms
Ink: Blue Bayou; Versamark
Cardstock: Soft Sky; Not Quite Navy
Accessories: White Embossing Powder; Ticket Corner Punch; Dimensionals; Blue Bayou Designer Print paper; Rhinestone from Pretties Kit; White Brads (dipped in VersaMark & embossed with white embossing powder)

I stamped the flower with VersaMark on the Blue Bayou Designer Print paper and embossed it with white embossing powder and cut it out. I love stamping on our gorgeous designer paper!!!

To see more cards made with this sketch challenge go to Mary Jo's blog on MONDAY after noon:

http://technostamper.blogspot.com/

Cracked Glass

Here's a card I made using the Cracked Glass Technique - I'll be demonstrating this for my upcoming workshops!

It's All About LOVE Class

These are the cards that we'll be making at my next Hobby Lobby class on Jan 30th - It's All About LOVE!

On the last card on the right - I used the Nesting Hearts - die cuts from Qwik Kutz in my Cuddlebug - LOVE THEM!

I still have a few openings in this class if you're interested - it's in Oshkosh.

Sale-A-Bration is coming!!!

I just uploaded some cards from some VERY talented stampers into the slide show on the top right of the screen!!!! With Sale-A-Bration coming on Februrary 1st - I just couldn't resist showing you some of the cards made with the FREE stamp sets featured in this fabulous promotion!!!!

In past years, Stampin' Up! has added a Simply Scrappin' Kit to the choices you get free when you place a $50 order....this year they've replaced that with a set of Rub Ons!!!! I can't wait to show these to you!!! You use Rub-Ons on paper and most nonpourous surfaces, including glass, photos, clipboards, candles and more! The eye-catching images coordinate with the Friendship Blooms set (also FREE) and are available in White, Black, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip!!! You get all 4 colored sheets in a package, absolutely FREE!!! Here is the Old Olive sheet:

Here's a coffee cup with the Flower Rub On!!!

How fun is that????

Sale-A-Bration is over on March 17th this year....don't miss your opportunity to take advantage of FREE STAMPS!!!! Your full-color flyers will be mailed out on January 15th!!!

New Demonstrator Gift!!!

Anyone interested in joining my TEAM???? I just received a confirmation on my lastest TEAM member - Karen D. from Arizona!!!! Here's what Karen is receiving from me as a "Thank you" and "Welcome to my TEAM" gift!!!
















From now until the end of April - all new TEAM members will receive a gift like this from ME!!!!
Have you ever thought about taking the plunge and getting that fabulous starter kit??? Here's my story:

About 4 years ago.....things changed a little bit for me....I lost 5 daycare kids in the month of December, for various reasons...temporary job ended, lost their job, moved away. Now, don't get too excited here....many of these kids were not full-time! WOW - this was not going to be good for my income, not to mention, I would have to cut back on my stamping purchases!!! LOL You know...we need to keep our priorities straight! My SU demonstrator, Ann, had mentioned the benefits of getting the Starter Kit, the GREAT value of the kit and the fact that I could save alot of money by receiving the discount that she got! So how does someone buy a starter kit when a big part of her income had just blown up in her face????

AH HA.....TAX RETURN!!! That was the key....I called Ann and told her I needed to make some changes in my life and I wanted the business forms for the kit. Now this might have been a little scarey....except for the fact that I kept my current daycare job - still had a few kids left and the money was coming from an unexpected source (taxes) - we were all good!

I thought....hummmmmm.....I'll invite my friends over and we'll stamp once a month and they will, OF COURSE have to order some of the stuff that they were using at my house - who could resist???? I got my Starter Kit in Feburary (I think) and booked my 1st workshop with my friend Debbie in March. I was very nervous....but I knew that I LOVED stamping and I wanted to project that passion to anyone and everyone! This was it - I had found my niche! I started out slowly......workshop bookings don't just drop out of the sky. I talked to everyone I could and had my first Stamp Camp. I think there were 8 stampers there. I LOVED IT!

I decided then and there that I wanted this to be my full-time job. How many people have a job that they LOVE????? Some do, and I wanted to be one of those people!!!!

I went to Orlando for my first Stampin' Up! convention in July. I was hooked!!!! The next year I went to Salt Lake City to the Stampin' Up! convention - I received 3 awards!!!!! I was given an award for the Rising Star category, Achievers Club and sales!!!!! I've received various awards at each convention since then.

Almost 4 years later.....I am doing 10-15 stamping events per month. I took my family on an all expense paid (for 2) cruise to Aruba and Pamana last spring on the Stampin' Up! cruise. This March, my daughter and I are going to have a blast while cruising to Bermuda with Stampin' Up! - all expenses paid!!!!!

But more importantly.....I've made some life-long friends....I value this more than anything. I have so many stamping friends that share a common passion!!!!! I love sharing my ideas and projects with those that share that passion. It's the best of all worlds!

I have a GREAT TEAM of demonstrators - some are close, some are 1000's of miles away. Most of my demo's joined me to get the discount, some to make money to pay for their habit and share their passion of stamping with others. Some just bought the kit for it's incredible value and left it at that. I love having TEAM meetings with my downline and I love it when they bring the projects that they've been making to share with the group! That's what it's all about - sharing!

How is my goal working out for me? Well - I'm almost there! I'm still working hard - still loving it! I'm almost there - you know - making this my full-time job!

Is it time to make a change in your life?

January Class Projects!

Aren't these adorable??? These are my January projects for my stamping groups!























If you're nearby and you'd like to come make these projects with me - just pop me an email!!! The class is free - you need to place a minimum order of $15 to participate! Come have some fun!!!!

2-5-7-10 Box Inside:





















Ingredients:
Stamp Sets: Happy Heart Day; Whimsy Jumbo Wheel
Ink: Real Red; Basic Black
Cardstock (CS): Real Red; Whisper White
Accessories: 1/8" Circle Punch; Red Grosgrain Ribbon; Watercolor Crayons (Lilac & Charcoal); Aqua Painter; Double Circle Punch; Sticky Strip; Small & Large Tag Punch; Real Red Marker

Desk Top Calendar
























Ingredients:
Stamps: Priceless; So Swirly Jumbo Wheel
Ink: Purely Pomegranate; Old Olive
Cardstock: Basic Black; Whisper White; Old Olive; Purely Pomegranate
Accessories: Mini Glue Dots; Photo Corner Punch; Double Stitched Ribbon; Calendar

The Calendars were purchased from: http://www.vippies.com/html%20s-z/selfstickcalendar.htm


Heart Shaped Card

This card fits in our Medium Square Envelopes!!!

Ingredients:
Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks; Holidays & Wishes
Ink: Basic Black; More Mustard
Cardstock: Whisper White; Rose Red; Designer Prints – Rose Red
Accessories: Olive & Rose Red Marker; Crop-A-Dile; Black Eyelets; Artichoke Ribbon; 2 Way Glue Pen; Dazzling Diamonds; Tag Corner Punch

Valentine Bundle!!!!

Stampin' Up!'s promotion for the month of January is the Valentine Bundle....check my website for full details!!! Here are a bunch of cards and some treat holders I've made recently with the stamp set that's included in the promotion (Happy Heart Day)!

The red box is a 2-5-7-10 box - we'll be making these at my FREE stamping classes in January. The smaller white box is a 2-4-6-8 box - that's the one I started with - I like the red one, which is bigger - much better!!!

Cracked Glass Technique

I've been crazy trying to get my life back in order after the holidays.....as I'm sure you all have been too!

As I was looking at the Resources Page on Splitcoaststampers.com, I ran across the Cracked Glass Technique and wanted to share it with you. I think this is a GREAT technique to use to give cards a vintage look and I LOVE vintage Valentine cards!

I've copied the link to a full tutorial for the Cracked Glass Technique here:


http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/crackedglass.php

Here are some fabulous cards that I hijacked from the Cracked Glass gallery on SCS too (you can click on each picture to see all the detail):

2009 Contract

After serious & cautious consideration . . .

Your contract of friendship has been renewed for the New Year 2009!?

It was a very hard decision to make. So try not to screw it up!!!?

My Wish for You in 2009:

May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts.

May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet of $100 bills.

May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!

May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires and may happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy.

May the problems you had forget your home address!

In simple words . . . May 2009 be the best year of your life!!!

Happy New Year!