They are going, going, going..........soon to be gone

Stampin UP has just announced the retired lists, and hundreds of stamps and accessories from the current 2012 – 2013 Annual Catalog are about to retire.  Please NOTE – Many items are “while supplies last”, so if you have had your eye on something in the lists, don’t delay.

Click here for the Retired Stamps List

Click here for retired Accessories at 25% off

Click here for retired Accessories at 40% off

Click here for Digital Content Discs at 60% off

As you can see below, my stamps took a big hit from the Retiring List. These are all the current stamps I will have left after the Retiring List ends. But have no fear, The new stamps are amazing, and as soon as the catalog is released, I will be refilling my shelves in no time! Now to break the news to the hubby and kids that we won't be eating for the next six months.....Mommy needs new stamps!

My hubby is amazing!

So, you all saw how I've been working on organizing and cleaning my stamp room this past week. Well, after finally finding the floor again, I decided I wanted to rediscover my table! I mean really, what good is having a stamp table if you can't find any room on it.

One of my biggest complaints was that my Ink pad and Marker storage took up an entire side of my table. I looked at storage solutions online, but to be honest, my budget (after paying for convention) just couldn't handle what they were charging.

Guess what happened next? My hubby came riding to the rescue. "Oh, I could make one of those!". So, Sunday afternoon, in about a four hour time frame using scrap wood we had around the house, he built me a storage system for not only my ink pads, but also my makers and refills. It hangs on the wall and works amazingly well. Eventually I will sand and paint it, but I was so excited, I wanted to load it up right away.

What do you think? Considering it was free, and he volunteered his Sunday afternoon for it, I am super happy with it. I couldn't ask for a better storage solution, or a better hubby!

Whew....I'm exhausted

So, I'm part of the group VC Rocks. This is a group of facebook, blog, and yahoo messages that occurs yearly right before, during, and after convention. Anyway, we are getting ready to get started this year and the first challenge was to clean up your stamping area. This challenge was built for me. I've been procrastinating cleaning and organizing my stamp room forever. Since the challenge was issued, I figured now was as good a time as any.

I started last night and worked for about 2 hours. I wish I had taken a picture of what it looked like then.....unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture until this morning, so here is what my stamp room looked like after two hours of cleaning.....

And here is what it looks like now.....

I'm still not done...but it's getting better. Now I think I may have to take a nap! 

Punch Butterflies

So, my Regional posts are over, but I still haven't been crafting much. My stamping room looks like it has been ransacked! I keep saying I'm going to get in there and reorganize, but have I done it? Of course not!

Anyway, luckily I had a downline meeting on Sunday where we all got to stamp. I can't take credit for designing this card, but I absolutely love the way it turned out.

Where did those ink splotches come from you ask? These are the stamps from the first Paper Pumpkin Kit. Don't worry though, since it is the introductory kit, you can order now and still get them. For more information about Paper Pumpkin, please click here.

Another awesome thing about this card? It fits in with the LNS challenge for this week of using punches and stamps on a card. I love it when I can kill two stamping needs with one card!

But wait....There's More

This is just like a bad "As Seen On TV" product ad! I completely forgot one of the most exciting parts of Regional. The sample boards!

Once again, I apologize for the crappy photos.....when you wake up 4 minutes before your ride is to pick you up for Regionals, something will get forgotten. This time it was my camera. At least I had my phone!

To see a closer view (but probably not less blurry) click on the image and it will open in another window so you can get a better look.

Ok, that concludes my coverage of Regionals......with the exception of swap cards which I will show off and on from now until Convention (Can I get a WOOHOO! Can't wait until July!). I hope you enjoyed it, and maybe next time there is a Regional close to you, you will be able to attend as well!

Final Presentations at Regionals

Our final presentation was by Andrea Withers. (She was the one that made the great Hulk Stamp joke that kept me chuckling for days!). She showed us all the amazing things you could do with MDS.

 I own this myself, but haven't spent a whole lot of time playing with it. Well now, with the FREE 30 day trial for you and your customers and the lower price of $19.95 how can you pass it up. Digital crafting is like stamping with no clean up. Need some more encouragement? Well, SU! has put together an entire website devoted to nothing but MDS. And while you are there, they have tons of tutorial videos to help you get started. Still not convinced? Check out all these great samples Andrea showed us...

The final thing we did at the Regional, was participate in a Book-A-Thon! They gave us ten minutes to call or text our customers and book a workshop to show them all the great things we learned. In those ten minutes we managed to book close to 350 workshops. That's pretty amazing. To celebrate we all got this great Make a Wish stamp set!

But just because Regional is over, don't despair. You too can get in on the excitement. Want to learn some of these awesome techniques in person? Just give me a call or send me a message and I would be happy to set up a workshop, or an express workshop, or a private class for you and your friends!

Big Shot Private Class

The final private class that Donna Griffith showed us was one done with the big shot. Personally, if you don't have a big shot yet, I can't begin to image why not? This is the best thing ever invented for crafters (well besides stamps and ink of course). you can do so many awesome things with this.

For example, how about this card using the embossing folders and the big shot?

The next project Donna showed was how to make this cute little box using the two tags die. First you need to cut two tags from the two tags die. Then to put the box together, you just need a piece of cardstock.

Then you need to score the cardstock. Of course, my camera was a big shaky (what do you expect, I was using my phone) but the score marks are at 2" and 4 3/4" then at 1/2" and 2 3/8".

Cut out the little triangles at each side.

Then you fold the box and add the two tags on each side to complete the square. And decorate it how you would like.  It should look something like this:

Donna also showed us how to make it even more interesting by adding a pinwheel to the box. This is made from a 4" square cut diagonally almost all the way through and putting a hole in the center to hold a brad.

She used a coffee stirrer from Starbucks to put the pinwheel on. The cool thing is the 1/16" circle punch will actually punch through the coffee stirrer.

You can also bling out the front of the box by adding a 3D flower by using the punch and punching three pieces and curling the petals with a bone folder and adhering them to each other.

She even stamped her flower to give it even more interest. 

We were sure surprised when they handed out another Make N Take packet so we could all make one of these ourselves. By this point in time though, I was about stamped out....so I spent the time talking instead of stamping. Oh, and of course I also spent it eating the cupcake we were given to celebrate Stampin' Up's! 25th anniversary!

The day is almost over, but we had a couple more things to do....Come back tomorrow to see the final presentations.

Stamp Night with Donna Griffith

Donna told us about this cool night she has at her house for her stamping customers. It's called Stamp Night and the customers come and make four cards, two each of two designs. She also told us how she doesn't require RSVPs, but wait until you see what she does with her leftovers!

Oh, and of course there is a cool technique involved, so I was all ears!

Donna shared the two cards she made at her class. The one used this really cool spritzing technique using the doily sizzlets.

First you place the cut out doilies on the card stock. Then you fill a spritzer with alcohol and reinkers to make whatever color you would like. Donna used Pool Party (this is one of those colors I don't have. Now I wish I had taken the plunge and bought these in colors even though they were going to retire this year. I love this color!)

Once the paper dries, you can stamp it so you end up with a background that looks just like this!

The two cards Donna made for her stamp night were these two. Makes me wish I lived closer so I could go to her Stamp Night!

Oh, and what does Donna do with her leftovers? She passes them out to people she meets on a daily basis with this cute little note tucked inside. This is a great way to "Stamp it Forward" and if you put your name on it, who knows what new people you might introduce to Stampin' Up!

Well, as much as I hate to say it, we are getting close to the end of Regional. But, don't fret, we aren't quite done yet. Come back tomorrow to see the last class Donna shared with all of us.