My New Stampin' Up Technique

I love finding new uses for Stampin' Up! products. Not only are they great to craft with, but many of them have so many other uses (Would you believe I repaired my favorite Crocs with Crystal Effects?). Well the other night I discovered yet another one. Every couple of weeks I go get a French manicure. For those of you who don't know, in Europe this is not a cheap practice. I may have been able to put one of my kids through college on what I have spent on my nails. Not any longer though! Stampin' Up! has come to the rescue once again. Just check out what sponging with a little white craft ink can do.
This is my neighbor Emily's unmanicured finger. It looks just as good as mine! Ok, of course I am kidding, but we chuckled quite a bit over Emily's nail make-over. Just another selling point for the versatility and value provided care of Stampin' Up! :)

Emily's Shoebox Swap

Remember I told you that my neighbor and sideline Emily came over to make her shoebox swap and that is what got me kick started again on stamping? Well I thought you might want to see the project that started it all. This little treat bag uses a simple 4x4 square a wheel and a couple of punches. I have to admit that I had to provide the Reese's Pieces and it about killed me. They are my absolute favorite. Oh well, I guess for a project as cute as this I'm willing to make the sacrifice!

Cool Flower Fold and Bitty Box

While I was at convention they showed us this cute little idea. The flower fold die fits perfectly inside of the bitty box. Ever since I saw it, I have been trying to find the time to put one together. Finally, this weekend, I had the chance. I have to admit, it isn't very decorative on the outside of the box, but I managed to tie a bow that doesn't look half bad, so I was too scared to untie it and have it come out lopsided. Eventually I will get the rest of it decorated, but I was so excited to show you how well they work together I couldn't wait. I used Green Galore and Pretty in Pink. I don't know why, but this color combination reminds me of when we used to wear two polo shirts and flip the collars up. It wasn't cool unless it had that little alligator on it though. Come on admit it, you remember it too!

Your not going to believe this!!!!

Today I did something extraordinary. You aren't going to believe it. Are you sitting down? I actually stamped! Yes! I know its amazing isn't it? I decided that tonight was my night. My side-line and neighbor Emily came over under the pretense that we needed to create a shoebox swap for her to show at our monthly meeting tomorrow, and we ended up stamping for almost 5 hours. I can't wait to show you all the great things I did. I made Christmas cards, a couple 3D items and even learned a brand new way to use SU! products. Unfortunately, after all this stamping I am too tired to show you all of it tonight. So, I will show you what I will be demoing at our shoe box swap tomorrow and you will just have to wait for the rest. I'm exhausted!

Remember all those adorable punch pages that I received during convention? Well, I just think they are too cute not to share. I wanted to use one of them to demo tomorrow to all my sidelines and upline. It was hard to choose just one, but this one just screamed at me to re create him. I have to admit, he isn't nearly as cute as the one that Sharon Fisher did, but I still think he is pretty adorable. Sorry about the slightly blurry picture. I think after all those convention pics my camera may be on strike. Hope he is clear enough so you can get the idea! Ok gang. I'm off to bed. I will see you tomorrow with another project. Have a great night and keep on stamping!

I know, I'm a bad poster

Here it's been almost 9 months, and I haven't missed a day of posting yet. Then I get back from convention and everything falls apart! I'm so sorry I haven't been posting. I promise I will start to do better. I did spend the past three days cleaning out my stamping room. Yes, it took three full days. I had to make room for the new. Some of my neighbors became the proud owners of everything in there that wasn't SU! Also, I just got some exciting news today. SU! has finally cut through all the red tape and figured out a way to let military demonstrators located in Germany go to the First Ever European Convention in Frankfurt in November. I am so excited. There will be demos from several countries there as well as about 10 military demonstrators. I keep being told that it won't be anything like the convention in SLC, but I say whenever you get a bunch of stampers together in the same room it's bound to be fun! Ok, I better get back upstairs to my creating space. I just got in two huge boxes of SU! supplies and I need to get my fingers inky. I'll be back soon with some new creations!

Preparing for my Open House

Way back in July, when the new catalog came out, I had planned an open house. Well, thanks to a nasty bug I picked up on the way back from Dublin, I had to cancel. Now that I'm back from convention, I decided to plan one to share some of the cool stuff I learned there. My side-line Emily and I are having it on September 12. With all the upcoming holidays, we choose to do a halloween card as one of our projects. This is a slightly altered CASE from the new catalog. I have always loved the saying from the Smarty Pants stamp set, but this is the first time I have found a use for it. If you would like to come to our open house, just drop me a line. We would love to have you. Ok, I have even more stuff to create. I'll talk to you all soon.

One of my SAS Cards

I have so many classes and workshops and open houses coming up, I decided while I was playing I would actually make something useful. This card is one of my Christmas SAS cards. I used the new ornament punch as well as the new Holiday Lounge paper. I admit it, I used retired ribbon (I know, my bad!). I have decided that I am going to try and use up some of the tons of retired paper and accessories I have in my stamp room before I buy anything else. So, you may be seeing a few bits and pieces of retired items sneaking their way into my projects. I promise I will try and keep it to a minimum. The greeting (yes, I know it's crooked. If there wasn't something slightly askew it wouldn't be my project!) is from the new Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set. Ok, I'm off to do some more crafting!

I finally got to play!!!

Ok gang. I admit it, between convention and my work conference, it has been almost a month since I got the opportunity to stamp. Well, this weekend, mostly thanks to jet-lag, I have had plenty of time to hang out in my stamping room. My first box (yes, after convention I had to order a second and then a third box) of stamping supplies showed up and I just had to get my hands dirty by trying them out. This first item I want to show you is my O Christmas Tree Die Cut. This can be used to pop up out of a card, a box, or as I've done it here, just used on it's own. I have all kinds of great ideas of ways to use it this coming Holiday season. I also got to play with the new shimmer paint. I used it to lightly sponge the tree branches and skirt. I also sponged the paint onto the Christmas stamp from All Holidays. I love the way it looks stamped. Oh, one final thing. See that cute tiny little bow on the bottom of the Christmas greeting? Well, believe it or not I made that! Yep, I finally got over my bow phobia thanks to Virginia Killmore. During our LNS WOW event at convention Virginia showed us how to use a little plastic do-hickey called a Bow-Easy to tie bows of all sizes. Let me just tell you it is a life saver! I love this thing, and now you may see lots more bows on my projects. Ok, hope you enjoy my tree. I'm off to create some more!

Stampin' Up!, RMHC, and Sherrill Graf

Most of you have heard me talk about Sherrill Graf before. She is the list mom for the LNS group. One of Sherrill's callings is to be lead at the Ronald McDonald House in Las Vegas, NV. Sherrill has asked us to post the following three links on our blogs to increase awareness of the RMHC and to hopefully drum up more interest and volunteers for this great organization. Since I currently live in Germany, I do not have a RMH to support. Luckily I have been able to find other ways to volunteer with those who do. Please take a moment of your time to see what this great partnership between SU! and RMHC is all about.
http://latenightstamper-stampandscrap.blogspot.com/

http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4995

http://rmhc.org/how-you-can-help/volunteer/30-ways-in-30-days/spread-the-word-by-sharing-your-story/#PageComments_holder

I'm Home!!!

For those of you following my convention travels, I just wanted to share that I finally returned home yesterday. After 24 hours of traveling my plane landed safely in Munich. I spent most of the day yesterday, unpacking and cleaning my stamp room so I can get busy. I have so many ideas running through my head I'm not sure what to do first. Almost all my pre ordered mini catalog items are here and I just can't wait to get started. So....that being said, I just wanted to let you know that my blog may be a little quiet for a couple days as I readjust to German time and get my stamping butt in gear. Hopefully though, I will have a million wonderful things to show you! See you soon.

Here are some more display boards!

I have to give credit where credit is due. There was no way I could take pictures of every single display board at convention, but I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything so my wonderful roomie, Linda Lamont took pics of half of the boards and shared them with me. Thanks Linda! If you happen to see a board that I have already posted, please forgive me. There are so many, and since we used two cameras, it is possible that we may have duplicated some. Just look at it again. I am sure there is something on it you missed the first time around. I just want to make sure I don't forget any. Enjoy!

Decor Elements

Remember my favorite swap the other day? Well it was made using the decor elements stencils. I have to admit, I've never used those. I also don't have any decor elements in my home. Well, let me tell you something, that is about to change. Have you seen the amazing new decor elements catalog? If not, you definitely need to check it out. There is something for everyone in there. I know that I will be buying quite a few. If the catalog isn't enough inspiration for you though, take a look at these SU! supplied display boards at convention. How in the world can you look at these and not put a few of the ideas into practice in your own home?

Scrapbook Samples

As anyone who knows me can attest to, I am not a scrapbooker. I the way they look, I truly admire anyone who creates them, but I never seem to have the time. That is one of the reasons I am so excited to get my hands on MY DIGITAL STUDIO from Stampin' Up! I am hoping that is the answer for unmotivated scrapbookers like me. For the rest of you though, I thought you might enjoy some great scrap layouts and samples from convention. Don't forget, to see a bigger picture you can just click on the image. I hope you enjoy.