Unfrogettable Stamping!

It's a fabulous day to be thankful!

Happy Veteran's Day!  Thank you to all the men and women serving in the United States Military, both past and present, for your sacrifice and commitment to protect our freedom!  I will never take it for granted!

 

Along that theme, our Fabulous Friday projects this week on the Sisters in Stamping blog are projects celebrating Thanksgiving.  This is a great time of year to reflect on what we are truly thankful for and I know I count being an American as one of my many blessings.  I am thankful, too, for the wonderful stamping inspiration I receive each week from my "Sisters" - Karla, Jacque and Rachel.  I am truly blessed to call them my friends and without Stampin' Up! I never would have met them.  I also am thankful to my ever-supportive family, without whom I would not be able to work my Stampin' Up! business - a "job" I love!  These last few weeks have been super busy with classes and events (I cut 408 Christmas cards for 3 stamp-a-stack classes last week alone!), swim team and school obligations and I have been quite a wreck emotionally with all the stress... I've had to give up something to keep my sanity and it was my blog that was sadly neglected.  I'm back now and hope to begin posting again more regularly!  So thank you to all who come and visit me here!!

The project shown above is a chocolate nugget candy holder that I saw demonstrated at the Charlotte Regional by Jackie Ross and I loved it so much I decided to make one myself.   It features the gorgeous Spice Cake Designer Series Paper along with a strip of fabric from the matching Designer Fabric series.  The project was created using the Top Note bigz die with my Big Shot.  Did you know that if you sign up as a demonstrator by midnight tonight you can get one for FREE?!  Ask me how... but time is running out so act quickly!  I also used the It's a Wrap Holidays stamp set for my tags.  This set isn't just for wrapping candy... and the sentiment is one I love from the Always Thankful stamp set, also found in the Holiday Mini catalog.

To go along with my candy favor I wanted to create a matching card.  I pulled my colors from the DSP - more mustard, very vanilla, soft suede and pool party.  Love it!!  The ruffled ribbon adds such a nice texture, doesn't it?!  Well, we're off to a swim meet... hug the ones you love and be thankful for all the blessings in your life.  I know I am grateful!  Be sure and visit the Sisters in Stamping blog after Noon EST today to check out even more Thanksgiving inspiration.

Last day of Charlotte Regional sharing... I promise!

I hope you have enjoyed all of the photos I've shared from the Charlotte Regional so far - if you get the opportunity to attend one of these this fall, either as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator or the guest of one, I HIGHLY recommend it!  We were fortunate enough to have our CEO Shelli Gardner in attendance - she opened the morning session and presented a really cute Halloween project that she's making for all of her grandchildren.

This project features diecuts from the Big Shot Petal Cone and Perfect Pennants Bigz L dies as well as the Spiderweb impressions texturz folder and several punches.  Isn't it the cutest?

We also got to see presentations by Carrie Cudney, Donna Griffith and Shannon West and then all three came back out to present a demonstration on making Creativity Journals.  What you see above is a page from Shannon's journal.  The challenge was to put a photo of your favorite celebrity with a speech bubble telling you how creative you are...she happened to choose Shelli Gardner.  It was too funny, especially since Shelli was there at the Regional!

And last, but not least, I wanted to share this display board with you.... do you recognize the stamp set?  You shouldn't, because it's a never-before-seen stamp set that will be debuting in the Occasions Mini catalog in January, 2012!!!  Why am I showing you these projects?  Because you have the opportunity to get this set for FREE if you sign up as a new demonstrator on my team by September 2nd.  How great is that?!  I would love to share the opportunity with you - contact me to find out how fun it is to be a demonstrator... own your stamping business and name your hours!  Or sign up as a hobbyist and earn a discount on all of your Stampin' Up! purchases while getting the full support of being a demonstrator, including monthly issues of the Stampin' Success magazine, training through video tutorials, my monthly team meetings and more!!  You can choose from two different starter kits...

Want to learn more?  Be sure and check out my demonstrator website here.  Remember, in order to earn this set for FREE you have to join my team by September 2nd!!  Don't delay, contact me today...

Thanks for visiting!  I'll be back tomorrow with a sneak peek from the Holiday Mini for Fabulous Friday!!!

Rockin' my world!

We got a big surprise yesterday afternoon - an earthquake!  They are almost unheard of in Virginia, but the epicenter of the 5.8 magnitude earthquake was about 100 miles away from where we live.  When I lived in Japan as a child we had them frequently enough that we had earthquake drills at school but it has been a long time since I felt one!  I know for those of you who are on the West coast that they are not a big deal unless they are of a much higher magnitude, but it seriously put a hurting on the East coast for a while.  I heard from friends on Facebook as far away as Connecticut and South Carolina that they felt it, too!!

I have to tell you, the samples at the Charlotte Regional Workshop Wow demonstration booths featuring the new Simply Scored Scoring Tool that will be debuting in the Holiday Mini on September 1st were rockin' my world!  Aren't they amazing?!

I wanted to share some of the display boards with you, too, that were displayed  - here are the ones that feature our new In Colors.... enjoy!

Wisteria Wonder

Calypso Coral

Pool Party

Lucky Limeade

Island Indigo

 

More swaps from the Charlotte Regional

Here are a few more of the swaps that I received, including this super-cute Halloween candy holder designed by Gwen Howard.  I love all the detail on this one, including the "lolly" behind the spider made using our new scoring tool and the Frightful Sight DSP (have you taken advantage of our "buy 3, get 1 free" special yet?!).  She used her Big Shot to make the petite pocket (holds a small chocolate bar) and added texture with the spiderweb impressions folder.  The spider and "eek" are from the Spooky Bingo Bits stamp set. 

These cards all have the designer's name below the photo, unless the swap didn't include a name.  Please, if you ever decide to swap at an event, put your name on the back!!

Amanda Shumate, featuring Friends Never Fade and Curly Cute

Colleen Magness, featuring Awash with Flowers and Petite Pairs

Karel Standish, featuring Teeny Tiny Wishes and the Mostly Vintage stencil

Marie Shaugnessy, featuring Jack of All Trades

 
This purse that holds a Hershey nugget did not have a name on it.  Isn't it cute?  If it is yours, please let me know so I can give you credit!!

I'll be back tomorrow with some photos of the displays... until then, happy stamping!

Swap cards from the Charlotte Regional and the first day of school!!!!

Well I promised to share some of the swap cards I received this past weekend at the Charlotte Regional event but I wanted to share some first-day-of-school pictures with you... hope you don't mind!  I like to take serious photos, but then I like to get the goofy ones, too.   Kelsey (7th grade) and Amanda (8th grade) posed so nicely above, but then their silliness took over!  An hour later, Brandon (4th grade) patiently sat for me...

I remember the first time I saw him walking to the bus when he was in Kindergarten I was so overcome with emotion - today it was joy!  My kids were ready for school to start up again and so was I!!  Can you relate?

Okay, now on to the cards that I promised you...

This card was created by my downline Delores Wilson... it is a pocket card featuring many of our punches and the ever-versatile Sincere Salutations stamp set.  Great idea, Delores!

This card was designed by my downline Kris Sennett... she used the colors from the Flirtatious Specialty DSP for her inspiration along with the Delicate Doilies stamp set.  I like the idea of threading ribbon through the lace ribbon border punch!

And here are a few of my favorites - the rest of my faves I'll share with you tomorrow.  Below each card I have listed the stamper's name and stamp set featured.  Enjoy!

Faith Clark, featuring Creative Elements

Kristin Hauser, featuring Zoo Review

Robin Atilano, featuring Raining Flowers

Tracey Grippando, featuring House & Home

 

Fun with Friends at the Charlotte Regional!

Well, I must say that the new format that Stampin' Up! has adopted for their Regional seminars was a huge hit in my book!  For the first time that I can think of I actually got my make-n-takes completed (loved them, too!) and had time to chat with friends that I had not seen in a long time as well as spend time with my downline members who attended.

A large group of us drove down to Charlotte on Friday night and had the opportunity to go to a barbecue restaurant that was quite yummy and then spent some time walking around and shopping at Concord Mills Mall.  Pictured above are (from left to right) Jen Phillips, Wendy Boothe, Wanda Wilson, me, Sherri Gough, Heather Palm and Angie Kinzie.

On Saturday morning we all met up at the Charlotte Convention Center and our group took up almost two rows of seats in our section - 15 strong!  Here's a group shot that we took at the end of the day... the lighting wasn't ideal for pictures so it's kind of dark.  But we are (from left to right) - front row:  Gaylyn Pantana, Gwen Goulder, Gwen's Mom (sorry, I didn't get her name - she was Gwen's guest), Jennifer Rawlings, Jen Phillips, Delores Wilson, Darlene Crockett, Kris Sennett, Angie Kinzie and Wanda Wilson.  On the back row:  me, Sherri Gough, Heather Palm, Wendy Boothe and Lesley Stec (guest of Gwen).

As I was walking around taking photos of the displays I ran into my uplline (6 levels up) Faith Clark, also from Virginia.  We always take a picture together whenever we end up at the same Stampin' Up! events because she lives in Portsmouth so I don't get the chance to see her very often.

And then I had to take a picture with Colleen Magness, a sideline of mine whom I met at Founder's Circle a couple of years ago and who is always so kind.  We had seen each other at breakfast in the hotel earlier in the morning - so glad she drove down for the event, too, because she is also from the Tidewater area of Virginia.

Here we are during the afternoon ice cream break - (left to right) Jennifer Rawlings, Heather Palm, Kris Sennett and me.

Throughout the event Stampin' Up! gives away free product during their "Prize Patrol" to a few lucky attendees.  Sometime during the afternoon session my downline Jen Phillips won!  The key to winning is that you have to get up and dance and act excited when you see your name on the display - here she is dancing and laughing!  Congratulations, Jen!!!

And I'll end with this last photo and give a little explanation because every time I see it I crack up... these are my downline and very good friends Sherri Gough and Darlene Crockett.  Both work full-time and just didn't have the time to create swaps.  Swapping is HUGE at these events and after so many people approached them to ask if they had any swaps they just started holding up this sign that says "No, because we suck" - enough said, right?!  Darlene and Sherri stayed with me in Charlotte last night and we had so much fun!

Thanks for a great weekend, Ladies, and thank you Stampin' Up! for the awesome Regional!  I'll be posting photos of some of the display boards over the next few days to share the inspiration!!

 

Stampin' Up! Regional event in Charlotte, NC

I am sooooo excited!  Today I am at the Stampin' Up! Regional event in Charlotte, North Carolina.  It is only a 3-1/2 hour drive from Lynchburg and I am thrilled to have 13 of my downline members plus several guests attending, too.  These events are so much fun - there are tons of great ideas shared on stage by the Stampin' Up! staff as well as awesome display boards to inspire you, "Wow" ideas shared by demonstrators and fabulous make-n-takes.  My favorite part of attending these events, though, is the swapping of card fronts with other demonstrators. There is no easier and better way to get tons of ideas to share with my customers than by swapping.  Pictured above are the 60 card fronts that my daughter Amanda and I cranked out this week.  We had quite the assembly line going!  The two cards are essentially the same, just with different card stock backgrounds to match the two different pieces of DSP from the Spice Cake package that will be debuting on September 1st in the upcoming Holiday Mini catalog.  The leaves are from the Gently Falling stamp set (I am so thrilled to have earned both for FREE as a perk of being a Senior Manager) and the sentiment "Grateful" is from the Always Thankful stamp set - all are new products that you'll be able to purchase beginning on September 1st.  If you're a customer of mine, be on the lookout for this catalog to arrive in your mailboxes next week!!

Here are close-ups of the two cards - I hope people like my cards.. I tend to favor the clean and simple style that is easily duplicatable for my stampers and great for workshops.

These cards feature several of our punches (scallop trim border punch along with the scallop and large oval punches) as well as ribbon (pool party ruffled and more mustard dotted scallop) and the always fun color spritzer tool.  I also used my stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the leaves and matching detail stamp for the two-step stamping technique.  Isn't this a great color combination?  It's one I never would have put together on my own... I love taking colors from DSP!

I will be sharing photos and ideas over the next few days that I learn today... so be sure and stop back by!!