Folding Flower Die....with FABRIC!

For those of you following my blog since convention, you will notice that I keep referring back to previous posts. This one is no different. During Shelli's presentation on gift giving she showed us the gorgeous flower brooches. My upline, Sara, during her Founder's circle retreat saw several people wearing them. In order to give them a little more definition they used batting to make the fabric stand up a bit more. I finally got around to trying one of these. I used three different fabrics, and 4 flowers with batting to make this cute bloom. Myself, Sara, and one of my sidelines, Emily, will be using them as bag tags during the upcoming European convention in November. I don't think we will have any problem spotting our bags....what do you think?

Convention Flashback

You know, all this talk the past couple days about convention made me a bit nostalgic, so I went back through my convention photos. It just happened to dawn on me that I never even showed you the swap card I took with me. It is made using the embossing folder and a brayer. You brayer the flat side of the folder and then put the card stock inside and emboss. It leaves the raised parts white while the background is colored. The butterfly is punched using the butterfly punch from the new catalog. I didn't think it was all that special, but other people sure seemed to like it.

See What's been keeping me busy?

Remember this card? It was one of my favorite swaps during convention, and it ended up being my Mom's favorite too. She asked me to create 25 of these for her to send out for Christmas. I did alter it just a tad. I left off the bow since she would be mailing these out. These actually went together a bit faster than I expected, and after just two days of working on them I was done. I really enjoyed using the stencils on the card front. And I wish you could see the Shimmery white cardstock. It is absolutely amazing! Now maybe I can start working on my own Christmas cards for this year!

Now for something completely different

Those of you that followed along during convention probably saw this cute little boob and butt bookmark that was designed by Denise Jorgensen. I thought it was one of the cutest little things I have ever seen. So, when my neighbor asked me to make him a bookmark, I thought nothing could be more perfect. Here is my version! (Notice she even has a tramp stamp!)

Card for Customer Appreciation

As a SU! demo I have access to tons of card ideas through the SU! website. As a customer you have some of those same samples through my DBWS . This card was drawn from one of those sample. I made it a 3x3 and only included 1 pumpkin from the pumpkin patch stamp set, but I really like it. This is the card my customers will be making along with the pumpkin box during my customer appreciation day on October 3rd. Want to come make one too? Just let me know and I would love to have you!

Time for another Pumpkin!

I'll be honest, I'm not sure why I am so drawn to all these pumpkin projects.
First it was the little box, then a basket, now a sweet treat cup and tomorrow a card. Maybe it has something to do with my love of the color orange! Anyway, this pumpkin is my own idea. No CASEing on this one folks. I decided that I would make the sweet treat cups (found in our amazing Holiday Mini) into little jack-o-lanterns. I really wanted to fill them with Reese's cups, but they wouldn't fit! Oh well, guess I'll just have to eat those. I ended up filling them with candy corn and covering the back with Only Orange paper. The faces are cut using the Pumpkin Faces sizzlit. I really like him, and am planning on making a bunch of these for Jay's Kindergarten class. I think I could probably kick them up a notch, but for my first try, I don't think this one is too bad. What do you think I should add to him?

My Story

Today I'm going to share something a little bit different. I'm currently enrolled in the Late Night Stampers Boot Camp. While we don't have to go out on marches at an ungodly morning hour, or face crawl through the mud, there are some assignments that make me wish we did. For example, the assignment I am doing today. Share your SU! story in your group or on your blog. For some people this is easy. They have some amazing stories about how the income from Stampin' Up! saved their family. My story isn't quite as dramatic. In the interest of not being labeled a quitter, I figured I better do it. So.....here is my story.

My Story
I am an impatient person. It has always been a part of my character. Maybe it has something to do with my career choice. For the past several years I have worked with Substance Abusers and risk takers. As with any job dealing with humanity and change, progress proceeds at a snail’s pace. My impatience coupled with this type of atmosphere causes me stress. Maybe not the same level of stress as Wall street, but stress none the less. In order to combat this stress, I needed a hobby.

In my quest for a hobby to provide stress relief, I think I may have tried them all. First it was cross-stitch. That sure didn’t go fast enough. I still have a picture I haven’t finished….and I started it in 1998! Then it was pottery, toll painting, scrapbooking, and gardening. None of them provided that quick burst of fun I was in search of. It seemed I was doomed to forever have projects only half finished.
Fast forward to Memorial Day weekend, 2008. One of my friends invited me to a Stampin’ Up! workshop. She had recently become a demonstrator and wanted to fill the seats with people she knew. I agreed to go. Little did I know that this was about to become an obsession.

I had never stamped before. What an eye opening experience. During that one and a half hour workshop I made 2 cards and a 3D project! This was awesome! It didn’t take months to finish a project and it wasn’t rocket science either. I could make mistakes and it still ended up looking good. I was totally hooked. I sat down at that first workshop and wrote out my order. It totaled over $700 dollars! My friend said, “why don’t you have your own workshop?” Sounded good to me.

Over the next couple of months I had several workshops. My wish list seemed to be getting bigger, not smaller, so my demo friend suggested signing up to be a demonstrator. I already had a job, but why not. I could definitively use that 20% discount. In August of 2008 I signed the demo agreement and became the proud owner of a hobby business.

As I began sharing this new found passion with my friends and co-workers my hobby business took on a life of its own. From January to June 2009 I managed to accumulate almost 17K dollars worth of sales. The amazing part? Most of it wasn’t from me. Not only was I enjoying the stress relief this new hobby provides, I was making money! I haven’t had to pay for a single Stampin’ Up! item out of my own pocket since May and I have bought a lot. I spend most of my weekends with friends either at classes, workshops, or just hanging out in my stamp room. I’m happy, I’m relaxed, and I’m having a blast. Stampin’ Up! has done all of this for me, and I am so grateful.

Stampin' Up! has really been an amazing part of my life. I love what I am doing, and I am doing what I love. It really doesn't get much better than that. My goal for this year is to grow my business into something that is not only self-supporting, but also capable of supporting my family. Burn out in my line of work is high, I want to make sure that when that time comes I have a secure and fun business to fall back on. If you are looking for a way to support your family full time, or just a way to give yourself a break now and then, leave me a comment. I would love to share the Stampin' Up! opportunity with you!

My Digital Studio is HERE!!!

Remember way back when, during convention, when I showed you all the amazing new program Stampin' Up! was releasing for digital scrapbooking and paper crafting? Well, I finally got my hands on a copy. This is absolutely amazing! As I've mentioned before I am not a scrapbooker, at least I wasn't until now. These two pages of my kids first day at school literally took me about 15 minutes. And that was while I was brand new to the program. Now I can whip out a page in less than that, and they are even more amazing. It used to take me more than 15 minutes to just clean up my mess after doing a page. MDS will be available to order in just 8 short days, on October first. To make it even better, SU! will be giving you the opportunity to order it for 50% off. Want to know how to get your hands on it for half price? Drop me a line!

Another Pumpkin Treat Holder

What is it with me and pumpkins lately? This one was so easy to make, I am going to use it at my October workshops. I always like to have a card and some 3D project as a make n take. This may also be my son's treat holder for his Kindergarten class. I wonder if my daughter will want some too? Do fifth graders still do treats at school for holidays? Anyway, on to the box. (Yes this is a box. I realize the picture doesn't show it, but it holds a couple small candy bars or a mini Reese's peanut butter cup.) I first saw this on Late Night Stampers. Of course I forgot to write down the creator...AGAIN! At least I was able to share the creator yesterday. I did save the tutorial though, so if your interested leave me a comment. This little thing went together in less than 3 minutes. I did decide to forgo the flat stem for a twisted 3D one. I think the whole thing looks pretty amazing for just a little cutting, scoring, punching, sponging and twisting!

It's My Birthday nah nana na nuhna

Ok, yes I admit it. I'm a big kid at heart. And I LOVE presents. Needless to say, today is a good day. First off, I'm going to do something totally indulgent. I have a cat and a dog and a hamster at my house. You won't see them on my blog. I don't post their pictures, I don't talk about them in my posts, and I don't let them stamp. I have no problem with other people who have their pets on their blogs, but for me, I have too much to say about stamping (Please no one get mad at me here, it IS my birthday :) ). Anyway, I am going to break that rule today. My cat, Dia, has decided that she may be somewhat artsy. She has taken to sleeping in my stamping room. Now, first she slept on my chair, then she slept on my cutter, but now it has gone a bit too far. She is now sleeping in my workshop bag. I do have to say it was pretty cute, and that is why I thought I would show you all.

Ok, now that my self indulgence is over...lets move on to a couple of cards. Last week I needed two birthday cards for a couple of teenage boys. I pulled out the Extreme Elements stamp set and basically just played. This set is super cool. You just layer and layer until you get what you like. Usually when I have to make cards for Teen boys, I spend a better part of an hour trying to come up with the idea. These cards literally took me 10 minutes, and half of that was looking for my supplies. I do wish I had one of the other Extreme stamps, like the Extreme Rocker, but I guess I'll just have to get those later. Ok, now I'm going back to my birthday. Hope your day is as wonderful as mine!

Pocket Silhouettes- yet another use

I love when my stamps, punches, or dies can serve double duty. For example, when I was shown how my ornament punch could also be a fish or a vase I was ecstatic. So, when I found this amazing adaptation using Pocket Silhouettes to make a wreath for Christmas I had to run out and try it. This was posted by Allison Island Stamper on Inlovewithstamping.com I have to admit that I had never heard of that group until I started looking around for organized swap information for the European convention (WooHoo! I'm still so excited!). ILWS is the European version of SplitCoastStampers, and they have some wonderful artists on there. You really should go check it out.

This card was pretty simple to make. I just punched a 1" circle out of scrap paper and used it to mask the center of the wreath. I then stamped with the Pocket silhouettes until my wreath was as full as I wanted. Voila! Thats all it took. I of course had to stamp with the Champagne Mist Shimmer paint from the new mini, because it wouldn't be me without it! Oh, that reminds me. I am including a close up of the bow on this post as well. Did you know that you can paint your ribbon with that stuff too? I wanted a shimmery ribbon so I just sponged some shimmer paint over a piece of very vanilla ribbon before I tied it. It's hard to see in the picture, but trust me, It looks super cool!

Happy Talk like a pirate day!

Yes, believe it or not, today is National Talk Like a Pirate Day. To celebrate I thought I would show you something my daughter put together for her report on North Carolina. Since North Carolina is famous for Blackbeard the Pirate, she decided to create important people from the state and dress them like Pirates. She used the retired stamp set Ahoy Matey, and we printed their faces and hats. I do have to say not only are they super cute, but they also earned her an A on her project!

A tisket it a taskit an orange and black pumpkin basket

Ok, I admit it, it doesn't really fit the poem well, but it is an orange and black pumpkin basket. I found this adorable little guy on Tales from the Stamp Room. Since I am always looking for new ways to use my big shot dies and punches, you know I just had to give him a try. He is created from 3 only orange pillow box die cuts and the bottom is the scallop circle die. His face is all punches as well. The bottom is kind of tricky to put on, but he holds up pretty well. We used him to pull names out of during the Open House I had. If you give this a try, please let me know. I would love to see all the other types of faces that he can sport!

Kindergarten

Jay started Kindergarten this month. WooHoo! He is so excited and so am I. Not only does it mean that my baby is getting super big, but I now have two new teachers to create gifts for. I showed you the little gift tins that I am sending to school with him, but I thought you might like to see the cards that go with them. I got this great idea from Andrea Walford. I do have to admit that it was a lot more work than I am used to doing. I had to enlist the help of my upline, Sara, to make both of them. We were having another Stupid Hour stamp-a-thon. Did I mention that Sara's daughter, Anna, is in the same class as Jay? Not that I'm competing or anything, but Sara had already sent in a first week of school project, so I'm a little behind :) These poor teachers, they won't know what hit them with both Sara and I creating for them!

Help! I'm being overrun by Altoids!!!!

Ok, a few months ago, in a fit of shopping craze, I purchased an entire shipping box full of Altoid tins. I finally found some time to play with ways to use them. These are a couple of little hostess boxes that I will be using for my upcoming workshops. I'm also planning on giving two of them (along with a card I'll show you tomorrow) to Jay's Kindergarten teachers. Unfortunately this paper is retired, but I am trying to use up some of my stash. Even though it isn't current, you have to admit they are still cute! Oh, in case your wondering.....One incentive stamp will fit in an Altoid tin as long as it is unmounted. Just place the wood block, with the sticker attached, and the punched rubber inside the box. When you get to the workshop you can mount the stamp for your hostess and that way demo what your customers will need to do when their stamp sets come in!

Speaking of Birthdays......

My son Jay's birthday is coming up on October 14th, and so not only do I need to get stuff ready for Katie's party this weekend, I have been thinking up something for his as well. He, of course, couldn't make it easy for me. His birthday theme is Batman. Last time I checked, Stampin' Up! didn't have any Batman stamp sets. Upline Sara came to the rescue once again. She sat and fiddled with punches until she figured out how to create a batman symbol out of our great Stampin' Up! punches. I never would have thought of this. Not only did she make all the symbols for Jay's invites, but she also made me a punch page so I could share it with all of you. I'm sure there has to be at least one mother of a six year old out there who will think this is as wonderful as I do!

More Build A Bear

Well, now that Katie's birthday party is less than a week away, I needed to find a way to to utilize my Build-A-Bear stamp set so I could justify it's expense as well. My Upline Sara came over and we created these cute little bags for the Build A Bears to hold. (In case I didn't mention it before, each child will get to choose and stuff her own Buddy during the party). I had these paper mache tiny gift bags lying around, and thought they would be perfect to put a little candy in as favors for the party. We used the leftover DSP scraps from the sleeping bags, and used just a small piece to frame them. I think they are cute, and my stamp set has been justified! I also have to admit, since I'm such a kid at heart, I loved coloring all the bears. Now, my upline Sara may have to disagree! While coloring wasn't her favorite part, I do have to commend her for sticking with it. It would have taken me ages to finish these without her help. Thanks a ton Sara!

My Open House

I finally got to have my open house this past Saturday, and boy was it fun! We made three projects: a Halloween card, a fall scrapbook page, and a couple of build-a-bears (I couldn't leave them out!). I thought you may want to see a few pictures of the festivities! My sideline Emily co-hosted with me and between the two of us we gave away over $150 in Stampin' Up! merchandise. If you didn't get a chance to make it to this event, you need to make sure to make time for the next one!

2-4-6-8...

Who do we appreciate? My upline Sara for showing me how to make this adorable little bag. It only takes half a sheet of cardstock, and it is perfect for that little something for someone special. We used the Greenhouse Garden stamp set to stamp all over the paper and then folded it to make the treat box. Can you believe that I bought this set during my first new catalog order in July, but never used it. I absolutely love it. I have so many flower stamps, I always say I don't need any more. Then, I find yet another one I can't live without. One of the best parts of this particular two step stamp set is that they don't have to be lined up perfectly to still work. Even crooked they look good, which is great news for someone like me! The flowers are stamped with all the new incolors and the second step of the two step stamping our done with bold brights. I absolutely love how these two are coordinated. You definitely need to get your inks out and experiment. Well what are you waiting for? Go NOW!!! I'll still be here when you get back. :)

Build A Bear Fever

Ok, maybe after all those birthday invitations I should be tired of the Build-A-Bear dies, but I'm not. Here is a project that was demonstrated at my last downline meeting. One of my sidelines showed us how to create this cute pocket card. I will admit, I didn't follow the directions exactly like I was suppose to, but you can see it is still cute. If you haven't played with these adorable dies, you have to get your hands on them. Just leave a comment, I would love to let you come over and play.

Katie's Build A Bear Birthday Invites

Ok, I admit it. I use my children to feed my addiction. Last year I managed to convince Jay he wanted to have a bug birthday party, just so I could have a reason to buy the Bugs and Kisses stamp set. This year, when my soon to be 11 year old daughter was undecided about her birthday theme, I not so subtly pointed her in the Build-A-Bear direction. I know, I'm horrible aren't I? These die cuts are super easy to use and go together so quickly. I actually showed Katie how to put these together and she did all of the work. The sleeping bag idea came from my Late Night Stamper's group. I tell you, I get some of the best ideas from there. Now if I could just remember to write down whose idea it was! Once again, if this was your idea, please let me know so I can give you credit. Now, on to the invites. The DSP used is new in the holiday mini. It's called Pawsitively Prints and was created to look like the fabric used in Build-A-Bear clothing. I have to say I really like it. I think it is perfect for a kids birthday card. I'm sure there are several other ways to use it. Any ideas you would like to share?

****UPDATE****
I have been informed that this great idea came from Monika Davis. If you would like to see the original design that I CASEd you can visit her blog here.