Unfrogettable Stamping!

2011 Summer Shoe Box Swap team meeting, part 2

Last Saturday I had my annual Summer Shoe Box Swap meeting with my downline and we had a blast!  Pictured above is from left to right:  Cindy Blekas, Michelle Arthur, Sherri Gough (back row), Debbie Williams, Darlene Crockett (back row) and me.  I had 13 in attendance but I forgot to take a group shot while everyone was still there (sorry to everyone who left before I remembered!). 

For the meeting, everyone prepared a card in advance and then cut card stock and provided supplies for the card in a "shoe box," which we passed around so that everyone got the opporunity to make each of everyone else's cards.  The cards were really good, although I say that every year... I feel so blessed to have such talented stampers on my team!!  Two people - Kris Sennett and Jaime Penney - participated in absentia, providing their completed cards.  We do potluck for the refreshments and had a wonderful variety of yummy food to munch on throughout the day.  There was also a gift exchange which was a lot of fun... there was a $10 amount put on the gift and some chose to purchase fun items for that amount and others hand-crafted their gifts.

I did remember to take photos of everyone holding the card that they designed... I will share some with you today and the others tomorrow along with the hand-made gifts because they were so creative.  I'll also show a close-up of each card - they are the ones I made and may differ slightly from the original due to a boo-boo being covered up or a forgotten step (I tend to talk so much and forget what I'm doing - the stamping, to me, is secondary to the fellowship and good eats!).

Michelle Arthur - Grunge Rock stamp set

  

Debbie Williams - Flower Fest stamp set

Gerin Martin - Floral Fillers stamp set

Sherri Gough - Precious Butterflies hostess set

Gaylyn Pantana - Best Friends Forever stamp set

Wanda Wilson - Fabulous Florets stamp set

Wendy Boothe - Nature's Walk stamp set

That's it for today.. I'll save the rest for tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by!!

Growing Up section of the catalog is simply fabulous!

Even if you don't have kids yourself, there are many wonderful stamp sets to choose from in the Growing Up section (pg. 81-96) of our new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog.  This week's challenge on the Sisters in Stamping blog was to create a project featuring a stamp set from this section - I chose to use the new Best Friends Forever stamp set to create this 12 x 12 scrapbook page.

I had this set on my wish list already anyway, but after my shoe box swap downline meeting last weekend it is now a must-have item thanks to Gaylyn Pantana, who designed this card above with matching envelope.  I used it as inspiration for my scrapbook page.  Isn't it a great set?!  The colors are great, too... crumb cake, melon mambo and the new pool party - wow!

Here is a close-up of the border at the top of the page - I used the large flourish image with pool party ink on pool party card stock (currently my FAVE new In Color!) and then embellished it with a border strip of First Edition specialty DSP and a border of melon mambo card stock cut out with my Big Shot and the Tasteful Trim bigz xl die.  I added a cut out heart stamped with melon mambo ink on very vanilla card stock to the center of the border, which I distressed with soft suede via a stampin' sponge and a tiny rhinestone.

Here is the "BFF" image from the stamp set stamped on pool party card stock with melon mambo ink... I overstamped that image with the foliage image using pool party ink (also used on the very vanilla background piece).  I crumbled and distressed this piece, too, prior to attaching it to my page with stampin' dimensionals.  I did add a few more rhinestones (girls love "bling" after all!).  Each layer was spritzed with a soft suede stampin' write marker and the color spritzer tool for further distressing... I love this tool!

Finally, for my focal photo mat I added a border of First Edition DSP that I had punched with the scallop border punch and distressed with my soft suede stampin' sponge and finished embellishing with a piece of the gorgeous new pool party ruffled ribbon.  The entire page took me about 30 minutes to create - I love when I have an inspiration piece to get me started!  I believe that this page will be one of the projects when my Scrapbook Club starts meeting in  August... would you like to join?  Contact me for more details!

For more inspiration and ideas from the Growing Up section of the IB&C, please visit the Sisters in Stamping blog after Noon EST today... and thank you for visiting me today!  I will be posting the other beautiful cards created at my shoe box swap meeting last weekend over the next two days - I know I promised to share my stamp-a-stack cards yesterday but I ran out of time before we had to head out to a swim meet yesterday afternoon so I apologize.  They'll be coming on Monday, I promise!  Until then, have a wonderful weekend!!!

Products used with today's project include:

July 2011 Demonstrator of the Month - part 2

I hope you had a chance to read all about my Demonstrator of the month, Sherri Gough, in yesterday's post... if you missed it, here is a link.  Today I'll be sharing three beautiful cards she created that feature our versatile Designer Series Paper stacks in last year's In Colors.  Isn't it fabulous that Stampin' Up! decided to carry over the In Colors for two years?!  The card above features concord crush and pear pizzazz with whisper white and the new Precious Butterflies exclusive hostess stamp set along with the Beautiful Butterflies embosslit for the Big Shot.  I love how she embellished with the pearls - aren't they a must-have accessory?!

 

This next card features the Pretty Postage stamp set found in both our current Summer Mini catalog and the new Idea Book & Catalog - hurray that we're going to have this set for at least a full year - along with the scallop square punch  This clean and simple layout could be used with so many different stamps.

Last up is this fun flower card featuring the triple layer blossom bouquet punch found in the Summer Mini catalog as well as our Idea Book & Catalog.  The stamp set used is Bold Blossom from the Summer Mini catalog.

Thanks so much, Sherri, for contributing your projects this month!  If you are inspired by Sherri's designs, please leave her positive feedback by posting a comment.  She could use the nudge to get her to start posting on her own blog again!!

I'll be posting my stamp-a-stack cards from last night's class tomorrow so be sure and come back. Have a wonderful day - thanks for stopping by!

July 2011 Demonstrator of the Month - part 1

Sherri Gough is my Demonstrator of the Month for July.  She is a very dear friend of mine and is usually my Stampin' Up! event buddy - going with me to many Regional events and the last two Leadership Conferences.  In addition, Sherri and I have been holding stamp camps together for a couple of years ever since she joined my Design Team.  I asked her to write up a little something about herself and here is what she shared:

I have been stamping for about 5 years now, and I absolutely love it! I had actually never heard of Stampin' Up! until I met my upline at a local vendor fair in November of 2006. I saw all of the great crafts and thought - I love this!!! I loved scrapbooking, and that really was my passion, but I had no idea that you could do so many great things with paper and just a few accessories!!! I started out by going to a few classes, and a couple of months later in March of 2007 I decided to sign up and ever since my love for Stampin' Up! has grown.

I have a wonderful husband and an amazing 13 year old son who definitely keep me busy most of the time. During the day I am a Project Manager/Marketing Assistant for Mail America Agency. I hold stamping classes when I can, and I try to build my business consistently. My goal now is to make it to Leadership each year, and I have had the opportunity to go to the last 2 Stampin' Up! Leadership Conferences with my fabulous upline and friend Debbie, and they have been wonderful experiences - I would highly encourage anyone to attend!!!

Sherri designed some very beautiful projects for me and I'll share some today and the rest tomorrow.  These today all feature the gorgeous new Flirtatious specialty DSP and coordinating stamp set.  The colors used include the new In Color wisteria wonder, melon mambo, daffodil delight, pumpkin pie, pretty in pink and whisper white.

 

Up first is this beautiful card - she embossed images from the Delicate Doilies stamp set.

This is a box created with the DSP and the Big Shot Box #2 bigz xl die.  Do you see the border strip she punched out with the new Lace Ribbon border punch?

And last is a 12" x 12" scrapbook page - you can certainly tell that scrapbooking is something that Sherri loves to do!  She incorporated several Big Shot dies on this one, too... the scallop square and scallop circle bigz dies.  What a great birthday page.

So what do you think?  Please leave Sherri some nice comments here about her art work and encourage her to start posting on her blog again!  It is called Blissfully Unique Stamping.

Thanks for visiting!  Please come back tomorrow to see some beautiful cards she created.

2011 Summer Shoe Box Swap team meeting

 

 

I am holding my annual Summer Shoe Box Swap meeting with my team today and am so excited about it!  Twice a year (July and December) we get together on a Saturday and do a shoe box swap and gift exchange and we all bring yummy food to share... it is always a fun day and I look forward to seeing everyone that is attending today!  The top card above is the one I created for the swap - it is a CASE of one I saw on the Alaska cruise (see below).  I changed a few things but essentially kept it the same.  I absolutely love this My Friend stamp set - the "hello" image is what I think I like best about it, but then again the foliage image and tear drops are pretty darn cool, too.  The card stock base and panel are naturals ivory card stock and the color combination includes crumb cake, marina mist, certainly celery, early espresso and rich razzleberry.  I love the texture that the crochet trim adds since I didn't have the textured crumb cake card stock.  I spritzed the card with a soft suede stampin' write marker and my color spritzer tool - so fun - and embellished the "hello" with a pearl.  Hope everyone likes this card as much as I do!

 

In addition to the shoe box swap, we also have a secret gift exchange... everyone who wants to participates comes with a wrapped gift (either purchased or hand-crafted) that is around $10 and we pick throughout the meeting.  This is always so much fun and this year I decided to make an altered frame since I had enjoyed making the one for Sarah last week (even though it was for a sad occasion).  Whenever I am in a store I always head to the clearance section to find things that are alterable... I love picture frames and always have some on hand in my gift closet.  It may be hard to tell because it was very difficult photographing it, but this frame is dark blue - very close to Not Quite Navy - and I immediately thought of the recently retired Blueberry Crisp DSP as one to use with it.

I wanted to include a 3-d flower on the outside of the glass - this one was created with 2 each of the 2 smaller flowers from the Fun Flowers Bigz L die with my Big Shot.  I also added texture to each flower with different textured impressions folders and then sponged the edges with pacific point ink to make them pop.  The layers have a stampin' dimensional between each to give it more of a 3-d effect.  It is attached to the glass with mini glue dots.  I like how it turned out!

I also added a butterfly from the recently retired Great Friend stamp set (stamped on the card stock which is underneath the glass) and then stamped again and cut out.  It is attached to the outside of the glass with mini glue dots - I embellished it with a strip of pearls... so pretty!  I also made a small fork bow using the very vanilla seam binding ribbon and attached it to the darker piece of DSP to bring out the very vanilla design in the paper.  I decided to leave spots for 2 photographs on this frame - I hope whoever receives my gift likes it!

If you'd like to join my team so you can attend our next meeting in December be sure and take advantage of the recruiting special this month - $99 gets you started with a Stampin' Up! business that is both flexible and fun!!  Contact me to get started or click here.

$99 Starter Kit + Free Project Kit!

During July, you can join the Stampin' Up! family as a demonstrator for only $99! This limited time Starter Kit—valued at $185—comes with the following high-quality products:

• Easy Events Clear-Mount Set*
• Pennant Parade Wood-Mount Set*
• Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad
• Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad
• Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad
• Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
• Brights 8-1/2" x 11" Assorted Card Stock
• Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper*
• Chocolate Chip 1/2" Scallop Dots Ribbon*
• Note Cards (20)
• Clear-Mount Block C
• Blender Pen (1)
• SNAIL Adhesive
• Business supplies

*Brand new to the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog!

Plus, join in July and get a FREE Christmas Keepsake project kit—a $40 value! Imagine an afternoon spent chatting with friends while creating something beautiful—isn't that what Stampin' Up! is all about? But act now because this special kit is only available as part of this limited-time offer.

Join Stampin' Up! in July and get brand-new products, including an exclusive project kit—all for just $99! Contact me to get started today.

Thanks for visiting!  I'll be sharing the cards we make over the next week so please be sure and come back!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend...

 

Love and Sympathy stamp set is just Fabulous

This week on the Sisters in Stamping blog we are focusing on the "Occasions" section of the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog found on pages 51-80.  I decided to use the Love and Sympathy stamp set - it was one that was a "must-have" for me when I first had an opportunity to look through the catalog when we received it on the Alaska cruise because I L-O-V-E floral stamp sets, especially the ones that look watercolored or painted, and also because my stampers are always asking me to design sympathy cards for my monthly stamp-a-stacks.  This floral image is super-easy to color with stampin' write markers - that way your foliage and flower can be two different colors.  After inking the leaves with old olive and the flower with rich razzleberry I gave a little huff to the stamp to re-moisten the ink and then stamped it on a piece of whisper white card stock.

I don't know how I ever created cards without my Big Shot before we started carrying it!  I used the brand new Set of Designer Frames textured impressions folders (oval) on my whisper white card stock panel and the Framed Tulips textured impressions folder on the rich razzleberry card stock layer.  And here's a great thing to know - the extra large oval punch fits perfectly inside the oval frame!  That way I could stamp the larger flower image and attach it with stampin' dimensionals inside the textured frame.  Cool, huh?!  I wanted to keep this card clean and simple so just embellished it with small pieces of 1/8" early espresso taffeta ribbon which I ran across the corners of the whisper white card stock and taped behind it before attaching it with stampin' dimensionals to the rich razzleberry card stock layer. The base of my card is early espresso card stock, which matches the ink that I used for the sentiment.  I really love this color combination, don't you?!

Don't forget to stamp the inside of your card!  I stamped the flower image lighter by first stamping it full-strength on my grid paper and then huffing on it to re-moisten the ink and using the 2nd generation for the inside of my card.  I stamped the sentiment on top using my stamp-a-ma-jig for alignment with early espresso ink.  I like this card so much that it will be one of the ones I use for my next stamp-a-stack.  Hope you like it, too! 

For more inspiration from the Occasions section of the catalog, be sure and head over to the Sisters in Stamping blog after Noon EST today to see what Jacque, Karla and Rachel came up with this week.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!!

Products used with today's project include the following.  If you'd like to place an order for any of these items, please visit my online store or contact me to place it for you.  Thanks!

 

Convention Bag Tags

Sadly, I was unable to attend the annual Stampin' Up! Convention in Salt Lake City last week due to family obligations; however my downline Gaylyn Pantana and her two downline Kari Vertican (Gaylyn's sister-in-law) and Georgia Vertican (Gaylyn's Mom) all had the opportunity to go.  Boy, did they have F-U-N!  I wanted to make them something to take and decided on bag tags... you see, there are usually over 3,000 demonstrators at Convention who are ALL carrying the same convention bags.  It is very easy to misplace yours or pick up someone else's by mistake. 

I got the idea for this bag tag from my friend and fellow demonstrator Denise Jorgensen.  She made me the cutest bag tag for Leadership a couple of years ago and I loved getting it.  I used the Flower Garden DSP and used my Big Shot to cut out the scallop circles from chip board and the letters to spell out the names.  The first letter of each of the names was cut out with sticky pages and I covered them with brown glitter from our Supernova glitter assortment.  This was a great idea I learned from my friend Rachel Yurkanin at the Baltimore Regional - she was a Workshop Wow presenter and did a fabulous job!  I cut out the butterfly with my punch and embellished it with a strip of rhinestone jewels.

I also included some gum and chocolates in little goodie bags for everyone... I hope they liked them!  Maybe next year I'll be able to go to Convention.

I have to brag a little now because I'm so darned proud of her... Gaylyn was a Top 10 Finalist in the Artisan Award contest this year.  Hurray for Gaylyn!  I'm so glad her talent has been recognized by Stampin' Up! and I hope she will be updating her blog soon to share that talent with everyone (hint, hint!!!).

Please check back tomorrow for my Fabulous Friday project for the Sisters in Stamping Blog.  Until then.... happy stamping!

Tribute to Sugar

My downline Sarah Eller recently lost her beloved dog, Sugar.  When my husband and I went on the Stampin' Up! cruise to Alaska we stayed in Seattle for a few days prior to the cruise and spent some time with Sarah and Sugar (check out my blog post here).  I snapped this photo of Sugar while Sarah and Joe ran into a bakery - little did I know that Sarah was so sweetly picking me up a coconut tart for my birthday (thanks, Sarah - it was DELICIOUS!).

I took the photo and created an altered picture frame and mailed it to Sarah along with a sympathy card and DVD of all the photos I had taken of Sugar.   I wanted to send her something that she could display in her stamp room to remind her of her wonderul dog.

 

Isn't it great that you can take paper, ribbon, an inexpensive picture frame and some imagination and create a gift for a friend.  Here are some close-ups of the  Big Shot Fun Flowers die flower which I put on the outside of the glass and the photo of Sugar which I embellished with my Big Shot and the Go-Go Boots sizzlit dies.  Sarah told me she cried when she opened her package - I'm so glad that this gift had such meaning for her.  Sarah - I hope you know how much I am thinking of you and pray that the ache in your heart subsides in time.  I know Sugar cannot be replaced but at least she'll never be forgotten!

New Perfect Pennants Bigz die is fabulously fun!

This week for Fabulous Friday on the Sisters in Stamping blog we are featuring projects that are created with any new Big Shot item from our new Idea Book & Catalog.  I decided to use the new Perfect Pennants Bigz L die for my card - there are several shapes found on this die including 3 different sized triangle pennants and 2 scalloped circles.  I used the larger of the two cirlces with pacific point card stock - it is the mat behind my little lollipop image.  The stamp set used was the new Sweets for the Sweet that I received on the Alaska cruise (thank you, Stampin' Up!).  It has a lot of fun images!

There are holes die-cut around the scallop circle, so I put a 1-3/4" circle of melon mambo card stock behind it to show through the holes.  The whisper white card stock piece was stamped repeatedly with the swirly candy image stamp using melon mambo ink and the blues for this card include pacific point and tempting turquoise.  I also used the new Lace Ribbon Border punch for the strip of pacific point behind my 5/8" whisper white satin ribbon... I liked the way the edges mimicked the scallops on the die-cut circle.  This is a bright and fun card that I will save for a time that I give something sweet to someone sweet... will it be you?

For other ideas and inspiration for new Big Shot products, please be sure and visit the Sisters in Stamping blog later today... you're going to love this week's projects!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend - thanks for visiting me today!

Posy Punch Hostess Set is Fabulous!

This week on the Sisters in Stamping blog we are featuring Hostess sets from the new catalog.  If you haven't had a chance to check them all out, you're going to be really happy with the wonderful selections for this year. 

And with our new hostess plan, you'll be earning these faster than ever before!!

I decided to use the Posy Punch stamp set - I love that the flower images and other elements in this stamp set all work with our punches so there's no cutting needed (unless you want to!).  You'll notice that I did cut out the flower center after I stamped it with pumpkin pie. 

Don't you love this exclusive hostess set?  You can earn it with your hostess $'s in either wood mount for $12 or clear mount for $9!!

My card is a CASE of one found on page 18 of the Idea Book & Catalog... I love getting layout ideas here!  Isn't it amazing how the whole feel of the card changes just by changing the colors?  I used a combination of melon mambo, pacific point, pumpkin pie and old olive on mine... very fun and vibrant colors found in the Brights collection.  There were a number of punches used on my card (XL fancy flower, scallop border and 1" circle) along with the Big Shot for my polka dot texture on the pacific point card stock.  Stampin' dimensionals and rhinestones helped finish off the card... hope you like it!

For even more ideas, be sure and check out the Sisters in Stamping blog after Noon EST today - I know you're going to want to host a workshop so you, too, can get your hands on these great exclusive products!!  Contact me to book a date for your in-home workshop, schedule a catalog party or to join a club - three fantastic ways to earn hostess items!!

Have a wonderful weekend!