Just a quick video to share with you from Stampin' Up today!  I just got my February Paper Pumpkin on Friday and I'm definitely going to play with it today sometime!  Tell me what you think.  Do you think the quality has improved?


           


Let me know if you want to subscribe to this.  As a bonus, until March 31, you can get a pack of markers free for first time subscribers!

Guest Stamper - Terry Krushel

Some cards need to have some Internet exposure and this is one of them.  Terry Krushel, a fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator, and sort of "adopted side-line", gave this card to me as a thank-you for lending her some DSP and I was so impressed with her work that I asked her if I could feature it on a Guest Stamper spot on my blog. Here's her beautiful Valentine card:

• The thing that impresses me the most is Terry's attention to detail.  Look at the cute sentiment from the Just Sayin' stamp set.  It's heat embossed with gold and I love that she took the time to sponge the center with Blushing Bride ink!  I like that she sponged the edges of the die cut heart with the Encore Gold ink as well.  It defines it so well.
• Don't you love the little burlap heart, and the fact that it is backed with the Baked Brown Sugar Ruffle Stretch Trim?  So cute!
• I really like the combination of the Burlap Ribbon and Crochet Trim.  Great texture!

• Another detail to notice is that Terry slightly unraveled the edge of the burlap trim, which just adds an extra bit of interest to the overall design.
• The stamp set she used for the garland is Banner Blast, each flag embossed in gold Stampin' Emboss Powder and popped up on Dimensionals on the Gold Baker's Twine.

Terry is a Stamper to Watch in the future, and would like to start her own blog when her work schedule allows.  In the meantime, leave her some love here and comment on her gorgeous card!

• Banner Blast Wood-Mount Stamp Set*
• Banner Blast Clear-Mount Stamp Set*
• Just Sayin' [english, wood]
• Just Sayin' [english, clear]
• Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack
• Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum
• Crumb Cake 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Versamark Pad
• Gold Metallic Encore Pad
• Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad
• Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder
• Heat Tool
• Tea Lace Paper Doilies
• 1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon
• 5/8 Inch Crochet Trim Victoria
• Gold Baker's Twine
• Baked Brown Sugar 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim
• Basic Pearls Jewel Accents
• Hearts Collection Framelits Dies
• Banner Punch*

*Available to earn free with every $60 order during Sale-A-Bration, Jan. 28 - Mar. 31, 2014

Yawn!!!

I know I owe you a new post today, and I honestly would do one....

if I had a ready made card, and if I wasn't so darn tired.  It is almost 1 am and I just finished putting through my last huge Sale-A-Bration order after doing a Stamper's Dozen tonight (which was a blast!  Thanks for the fun, ladies!)  I think I'm going to have to go to bed and write a better post later today when I'm awake and can do it the justice that you - my valued readers and customers deserve!


Just want you to know that I put in my orders just after midnight to avoid the cyber jam that will take place tonight as everyone and their dog try to get their SAB (Sale-A-Bration) orders in under the wire.

Just want you to know that if you forgot and still want me to try to place your order today, I will.  I just can't guarantee that it will go through in time due to the high traffic on the Stampin' Up site.  Just call or email.

Now I'm going to take myself off to bed and I will do a better post in the morning!  But let me thank all of you for a very successful Sale-A-Bration 2013!  I can hardly wait for next year's!

Don't Miss Out!

Just a quick post today to remind you about a few important things!

1.  Birthday Stampers Dozen is coming up on Thursday.  If you haven't registered yet you have 4 more days to do it.  We are making an awesome card organizer on the first session so that you can have all your birthday cards made and ready to send out, organized by birthday month.  Find out more here.  Register here.

2.  The first round of product shares wraps up on Feb. 24 in a little over a week.  Don't be disappointed and miss out on these great deals.  Check them out and sign up for them here.


3.  The second in the series of Beginner's Classes is coming up on Tuesday, Feb. 26.  In our second class we will be learning how to die-cut and emboss using a Big Shot. If you didn't catch the first class in the series, you will still be okay signing up for the second, but if you are planning to wait until the third class, I would recommend that you wait until a new series starts, because you would have missed too much.  Get more information here.  Register here.

4.  Sale-A-Bration continues until March 22.  For every $60 you spend in one order you get one of the items in the Sale-A-Bration brochure free.  See the brochure here.

5.  There are many new products and promotions from Stampin' Up.  Check them out here.

6.  Why not sign up to join my team now!  During Sale-A-Bration you get another $40 worth of any Stampin' Up product of your choice for only $125!  That's 25% more than you usually get!  Plus you get a 20% discount on all your orders (even 30% on the first order if it's within 45 days of joining), you get great friends, access to many stamping communitites and a great bi-monthly magazine of tips, tricks and tools of the trade.  What's not to like?  Sign up here, or call me.

Happy Stampin'!

Guest Stampers!

I had a birthday three weeks ago, but I seriously almost forgot about it.  I was down in Orlando, Florida for Leadership Convention, but then my hubby got very ill and was in hospital and in the crisis, I totally forgot about my birthday!  We were supposed to be at home by that time, and hadn't planned on celebrating in Florida.  The best birthday present was that Ken was discharged from the hospital that day!

When we got home, I was so happy to receive a beautiful birthday card from my downline, Doreen Austgarden.  She doesn't have a blog yet, but she certainly has the talent to start one.  Here's the card she gave me:

That's just so clever.  I love the way she used the Word Window Punch to make the striped awning!  Her cupcakes are also punched using the Cupcake Builder punch on some Floral District DSP!  And the beautiful Tangerine Tango Ribbon from the Sycamore Street Ribbon and Button Pack - free with a $60 order during Sale-A-Bration, gives the perfect finishing touch.  I felt very special when I received it!  Here's an angled view so you can see the 3D aspect of this card:

I know Doreen would add her voice to mine in reminding you to check out and sign up for some Product Shares!  She is patiently waiting for them to fill up so she can get hers!
 What are product shares?  Well, it's co-operative buying, but I do all the work for you. (That's COOPER-ative buying! lol - Get it??)  Let's say you love Core'dinations paper, but you would like a variety of colours instead of 12 sheets of Pool Party.  In order to get some Real Red or some Primrose Petals, normally you would have to buy 3 packs of it at $9.95 a pack.  That's almost $30.00.  But with a Product Share, 3 people each buy a different coloured pack and then share the colours equally, so you would end up with 12 sheets, but you would have 4 Pool Party, 4 Real Red and 4 Primrose Petals, getting the variety but spending 1/3 of the money.  Now you don't have to find 2 other people, order and divide it up yourselves, I do that work for you.  All you have to do is decide which Product Share(s) you want to participate in and sign up for it.  Once a share has the required number of people (usually 4), I will send you an email invoice (PayPal, etransfer or cheque) and you can pay me.  I will order and divide it up and get a finished package to you.  (The prices include tax and shipping.)

Follow the link above to order, or click on the Product Share button on the top menu bar, and the rest, as they say, is history!

Join me tomorrow for another guest stamper and a sneak peek at the Birthday Card Organizer you will be making if you join me for Birthday Stamper's Dozen on Feb. 21!

SALE-A-BRATION is HERE!!!

It's finally here!  The time of year that all papercrafters dream about.  Sale-A-Bration, from today, Jan. 22 to Mar. 22, means that for every $60 you spend, you get to choose 1 free item from the Sale-A-Bration brochure.   I'm soooo excited!

How will you party during Stampin’ Up!’s premiere event? There are three ways—choose all that apply!

Have your friends over for a party and earn fantastic Sale-A-Bration freebies with a qualifying order! For a minimum $200 party, you’ll get a FREE pack of Silver Glimmer Paper (silver paper for Stampin’ Up!’s silver anniversary!). Host a $525 party, and you’ll get the free Glimmer Paper PLUS a FREE product bundle—and that’s in addition to the normal hostess benefits (including $90 in FREE products of your choice)!

Let me know if you want to book a workshop!  Best time of the year to do it!

Shopaholics unite! For every $60 you spend, you’ll get a FREE Sale-A-Bration product—there are nearly 20 to choose from!   Call or email me with your order, or shop 24/7 at my online store!

Party all the time when you become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator. Plus, when you join during Sale-A-Bration, you’ll get 25% more products for FREE in your Starter Kit! Click the Join link above to take advantage of this limited-time offer.

Sale-A-Bration is one of the most exciting times of the year at Stampin’ Up! How will you Sale-A-Brate?   Let me in on your plans!!!  Leave me a comment!

Some Days It just Doesn't Pay

Ever have one of those frustrating work-hard-but accomplish-next-to-nothing days?  That's the kind of day it's been around here.  Phone calls, door bells, and things just not working out!  I had a Thank You card commissioned by my pastor for a member of the congregation, and I set to work, all excited about using some more new Spring Mini products, and a technique I saw in the Spring Mini as well.  The technique worked, after a couple of trial runs, but I just didn't like the way the card turned out.  In fact, I made 2 versions of it, and didn't particularly like either.  You be the judge:

This is version 1.  That beautiful butterfly in the background is a new stamp set from the Spring Mini, called Swallowtail.  I stamped with VersaMark on a Crumb Cake background and embossed with Melon Mambo embossing powder.  Then I painted areas with Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint and heat set it.  So far so good.  But the more intense colours on the flags and the circles just don't seem to go with the butterfly, even though I used Melon Mambo card stock.  What a difference in intensity!  Maybe because of the fine lines in the stamped image.   That cute little thank you shape is stamped with a new set called Pretty Petites and punched with a new punch called Petite Curly Label Punch.  Each of these products you will be able to earn free with every $60 of product you order during Sale-A-Bration starting January 22, 2013!  Excited yet?

Well, I thought I would remove the flags with their more saturated colours and then see how that looked.  (By the way, the flags were cut with the Hearts a Flutter Framelit dies, new in the Spring Mini catalogue.  These dies can be bundled with the Hearts a Flutter stamp set, also new.)

Here is the result: 

This one seems a little more balanced, by taking off the flags and adding the butterflies, stamped with the Papillon Potpourri stamp set in VersaMark and embossed using Early Espresso embossing powder.  But still not sure I like it.  Maybe I should have used the lighter Pretty in Pink for the embellishments.  Oh well!  Onwards and Upwards, I always say!  Let me know what you think.

These are the last few days for the Holiday Mini catalogue, which you can order from until Jan. 2, 2013.  Were there some sets or tools or accessories that you have been meaning to order?  I will be putting in my last order of 2012 on Saturday, December 22, so make sure you phone or email me before then!  Enjoy your Christmas celebrations, my friend.  I will be doing one last post before Christmas, on Dec. 23.  See you soon!

Stamps: Swallowtail* (w129213; c129216); Papillon Potpourri (w123757; c123759); Pretty Petites** (w129639; c129642)
Paper:  Pretty in Pink (100459), Early Espresso (119686), Melon Mambo (115320), Crumb Cake (120953) and Pool Party (122924) card stock
Ink: VersaMark (102283)
Accessories:  Stampin' Emboss Powder in Melon Mambo (123223) and Early Espresso (128980 - a product that will carry over from the Holiday Mini, and be available until June), Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter (102023) -mixed with the embossing powder for some more sparkle; Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint (116806)
Tools:  Petite Curly Label punch** (129405), 2 3/8" Scallop Circle punch (119854); 1 3/4" Circle punch (119850), Curly Label punch (119851), Elegant Butterfly punch (127526), Heat tool (129053)
*From the Spring Mini Catalogue, coming into effect Jan.3, 2013
** Fron the Sale-A-Bration brochure, coming into effect Jan. 22, 2013