More Fabric with Shelli & Sara

This is Shelli and her daughter, Sara. Do you see their skirts? Well they are actually Christmas Tree Skirts. Sara took hers off and added it to the small tree. They are both made from the Christmas fabric that will be in the Holiday Mini. They will be sold as "super" fat quarters, so larger than normal. If you click on the photos you can see their skirts better. Oh and Sara did have some shorts on under her skirt.

Shelli was in a "Sassy" mood while doing their presentation (her words, not mine) and wanted to start off the demo first, but Sara wanted to start too. So she sat in Sara's lap for a while. They were so funny. They even had some of our new pearls and rhinestones on their faces.

One of the many highlights of convention is when Shelli and her daughter Sara, demoed all things made with fabric. This cute little box has the fabric flower on it. All she did was start with a piece of Sticky Pages die cut out from the Circles #2 die (page 213) and a long piece of fabric. She attached the fabric to the Sticky Circle and twisted the fabric around in a circular pattern. Pretty impressive, isn't it?

This next piece was done with the 5-Point Star die (page 206). She adhered the star pieces on pieces of card board from our dsp packages that were also cut out with the Star die. I'm going to have to try this one out. I can't remember if she told us how she did the medallion. Anyone remember?

Then they took a regular box and stenciled on it and added a long piece of fabric that was torn on each side and tied it off with some of our lace ribbon (page 190). What a way to make a plain box look beautiful with no wrapping paper.

Fabric Bundles, Oh My!

Here are a couple of cards made at convention using fabric (which will be in the next mini. Demos can pre-order on August 1st. A perk for being a demonstrator).

Here is one of our albums with a cupcake that is made from fabric. There was an issue with this album on the binding. Notice how she covered it up with one of our Scallop Squares (die) on the left. I can hardly wait to get my hands on this fabric and ALL the great items in the Holiday Mini catalog, which will go live on September 1st. After they did this demo, SU announced that we (demos) will be able to purchase the two fabric bundles at 25% off. Of course this is a perk of going to convention. Yeah Stampin' Up! They are sooooo good to us!

Convention Gifts

Check out this bracelet Steph made for all of us. She used the Brights Buttons and some really, really small elastic thread and black beads. The thread goes through the holes on the button. Such a cool idea. Thanks Steph!

Then Paula made this yummy bag full of treats, wipes, Advil & more. Topped it off with a Top Note die cut from the Island Oasis dsp. Another great idea, thanks Paula!

Convention Gift

Look what Patty gave to her downline while at convention. We each got a Simply Adorned Charm (page 189) and chain. She even made up the inside piece. She used the Charming stamp set, (page 130) and a small piece of the Newsprint dsp, (page 175). How cool is that? She really does spoil us.

This is the back side.

This is How Much Stampin' Up! Loves Their Demonstrators!

Check out the video that was made at Stampin' Up's! Home Office.

http://www.welikedemonstrators.com/

Every year at convention they have a new Theme Song. Thats what they are dancing to. Stampin' Up! is a great company to work for, don't you think?

Medallion Stamp & Stampin' Mist

While at convention Diana Gibbs show us all how to make this Medallion, (page 142). She first covered her entire piece of card stock with ink. I used a sponge to color the whole Top Note (page 207) in Cherry Cobbler. I know this looks pink, but it really is Cherry Cobbler. Then you ink up your Medallion stamp in Versamark. Spritz the stamp with Stampin' Mist (page 198) and stamp on your card stock. Then magically the Medallion starts appearing. This was a real WOW! for me.

So then I tried it with Pear Pazzazz, not bad. Hard to see it in the photo, but its there.

Next came Concord Grape. Now this one is really pretty in person.

Last one is Daffodil Delight. Again hard to see in the photo.

I then spritzed each one with shimmer paint and alcohol, but you can't really see it in the photo. The Thanks, is from Perfect Punches, (page 131). This seems to be my "go to" stamp set for Thank You's and Birthday.

Thanks Diana for this FABULOUS technique.

Jocelyn's First Day of Kindergarden!

This is Jocelyn, my oldest granddaughter. She started Kindergarden yesterday. She is holding one of the flowers from convention. She is all dressed and ready to go.

Here she is with her Mom (my daughter) on the left, and her teacher on the right. Right before the bell rang she found a new friend. She came up to me and whispered, "Grandma, I'm not scared any more". Then she was off and running. She told my daughter the same thing.

After school I called her to see how her day went. How was school? fine. Did you have a good time? yes. So she gave me pretty much one word replies. Brings back memories when my kids were in school (Jen is 29 & Michael is 25). Always have to drag everything out of them. Jocelyn reminds me so much of my daughter, same build, (BIG) and personality. Where does the time go?

I'm Back From Convention! Can I Just Say, WOW?

This was the theme for this year's Stampin' Up! Convention!

They had these big stamp blocks and tag in the Gathering Place (where we have lunch and see all the amazing samples). So Steph, Kim and I (where was Paula and Patty?)decided to have our photos taken. They also had these on Main Stage. Stampin' Up! always goes above and beyond what I expected.

I took over 600 photos, (no I won't be sharing all of them). Patty Bennett ranked #2 out of 100 demos this year. Still can't believe she is my upline. Then I also met, Kimberly VanDiepen (#1 demo, she hugged me, OMG), Tami White (#2 demo), Angie Juda, (#7 demo), Ann Clemmer, (#4 demo) & Dawn Griffith, (#10 demo) she had sales over $170,000. I was star struck. And getting to walk around with Patty, is like being with a Rock Star, (well she is my Rock Star anyway). It was an awesome 5 days that I will never forget.

Last Tuesday we left the house (on our way to the airport) picked up Patty, got through security, flew into Salt Lake, got our luggage, got to the hotel, put our luggage in our room to unpack later. When I realized I had someone else's luggage. Thank God it belonged to another demonstrator. I called Tammy Johnson and explained what I did. Southwest confirmed I had her luggage and Tammy brought me my bag and I gave her, her bag. I was so relieved that she was still at the airport and would bring me my bag. I paid for her taxi , gave her a bunch of swaps and a mini loaf of zucchini bread (I had brought several for my roommates). She was so nice to me. So what could have turned out really BAD, turned out so GREAT! Thank you so much Tammy.

I'm leaving on a Jet Plane Tomorrow! Convention Here We Come!

Here is what my friends will get from me at convention. I made mini Zucchini Bread for everyone. To dress them up I added a belly band and different flowers. The dsp I used was Sunny Garden, (page 174). I've got them packed in the boxes that my catalogs came in, because I know they won't let me take them in my carryon luggage.

I won't be posting while at convention since I will be on a different computer and no way to upload my photos. I am writing this on my Mac and I have a PC that I'm taking with me. All my photos are in IPhoto. I will be back Sunday afternoon.

I Cased Myself!

Remember this card? I wanted to duplicate it, but we don't have this color of card stock any longer.

I hadn't used Concord Crush yet (new In Color) but didn't know what other color to put with it.

So I got out my "Color Coach"(page 165) and looked to see what would be a good color to go with the Concord Crush. First I tried the Peach Parfait, that looked good if I wanted a Halloween look, next came Pear Pizzazz, hummmm, liked this one, even asked my husband, "what do you think", he agreed, Pear Pizzazz.

So this is the final card (swap). As I was getting ready to do the Whisper White, I noticed I had several Top Notes already cut out, Sweet! I think I'll use those. Then after I stamped the swirly image from Elements of Style (page 133), I used the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder instead of the Square Lattice embossing folder, (Page 214). The rest is the same as the original card. So what do you think? Its similar, but different at the same time!

More Swaps!

I'm really loving this Sunny Garden dsp from Stampin' Up! Started with a card base of Peach Parfait and added a strip of dsp to the left side and punched each side with the Scallop Trim punch, (page 200) then added a strip of Pear Pazzazz using the Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch (page 200). Next I used my Builder Wheels, Bees & Blossoms, Thoughtful Friend & Posy Party in, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz & peach Parfait on Whisper White card stock. You can see all the Builder Wheels on page 219. I punched that out with the 1 3/4" circle punch and used the Big 2 3/8" Scallop Punch (page 201) in Poppy Parade for the scallop. Added a bit of Peach Parfait ribbon, (Page 190)and finished it off with a Itty Bitty Button (page 186), I punched out the shape of the button with some scraps of the dsp.

Note: When using the Builder Wheels you will need a triple cell cartridge found on page 193 and ink it up in 3 different colors. So far I have inked up two cartridges. These wheels are so much fun and the possibilities are endless.

Look What I Made Today!

Remember when I made the Coffee Collars for Leadership? Last time I used some of the Sweet Pea Stitched Felt Pieces. We don't have those any more, so I used my Sizzix Dies & Sizzlets. Some of them have buttons, some have brads of different sizes. I just got all of the new buttons. OMG, they are so yummy! Its hard to use them, but they look so cute on these flowers. These are so easy to make using Felted Wool. I had bought a bunch of the Felted Wool squares and hadn't used them, so this was perfect. I had everything I needed, Yeah! So I will have 9 to swap at convention.

One of my Swap Cards

Here is my first swap card. Base is Cherry Cobbler, matted with Crumb Cake. The cup is from the Single stamps on page 20 called, Tiny Teacup. I first stamped the cup in Early Espresso, then I masked it and stamped with Cherry Cobbler. Added the steam with a stamp from Priceless, (page 134, the smaller swirly stamp). Then I cut it out using our new Scallop Rectangle Clearlits (page 211). This die is really cool because you can see through it and die cut exactly where you want. This was layered on a Cherry Cobbler & Early Espresso mat. Before I used the Polka Dots embossing folder, (page 214) I used the Thoughtful Friend Builder Wheel (page 219) on the bottom in Early Espresso. Finally added a bit of the new 1/8" Taffeta ribbon in Early Espresso.

Elegant Lines Wedding Card

Isn't this card stunning? It was so simple to make. Started with a base of Baja Breeze cut at 4 1/4 x 11 and scored at 5 1/2. Used the Elegant Lines embossing folder, (page 214) for the front of the card. Added some of our new Pearls, (page 188) these are my all time favorite new item in the catalog. I tied a piece of our new Crochet Trim ribbon, (page 190) around the top of the card. I used the Scalloped Heart of Hearts embosslit die to cut the bottom heart out in Vanilla, (page 215)and then stamped the sentiment from Word Play (page 147, got this one free from SU) and punched it with the Full Heart punch, (page 202), layered it on top of the Heart of Heart embosslit. And then to give it a shimmer, I sprayed it with shimmer paint mixed with alcohol. It really shimmers IRL.

Belly Bands for my Zucchini Bread!

This is another item I had on display for my Open House. I made some mini zucchini bread and wanted to dress them up a bit for gifts. I'm practicing for Christmas! So I made belly bands and used a bit of Elegant Soiree dsp, (page 175) and the Scallop Trim Border punch (page 201, why can't I ever remember the name of this punch??), then I dyed 2 of our Paper Flowers, (page 188) Baja Breeze and the smaller one Soft Suede, and used one of our new Antique Brads, (page 187, you have to have these!). To dye the flowers I spritzed them with water and used my Aqua Painter (page 195) and re-inker. Just put a small amount of the re-inker on your Aqua Painter and start painting the flower. Too dark? Just squeeze more water out of the Aqua Painter. Then I printed up the Zucchini Bread on my computer and punched out with the 1 3/4" circle punch and added our new 2 3/8" scallop punch behind that.

For this belly band, I used the Stampin' Up! Island Floral die (page 27 in the summer mini) and ran each flower through the Big Shot with the Square Square Lattice embossing folder, (page 214). Isn't the texture nice on these flowers? The inside of the flower is from Blossom Party die (page 213). Topped it off with a button and some linen thread. Simple and fast!

Embossed Napkins! Who Would of Thought!

Who would of thought that you can emboss on napkins? No, this wasn't my original idea, but for the life of me, can't remember who's blog I saw it on. So if it's you, please let me know so I can link your blog to mine. Aren't these gorgeous? And so simple. Just put your napkin in the embossing folder of your choice and run it through the Big Shot. It is sure to get a WOW!

Edited to add: I saw this idea on Monica's blog. Thanks for letting me know. Check out her blog, she has some fabulous projects.

The first napkin is the Perfect Polka Dots and you can find all the folders on page 214 in the 2010/2011 Idea Book and Catalog. Make sure you click on each photo to see it better.

Next up is the Square Lattice & Vintage Wallpaper folders.

Here is Petals-a-Plenty. I did the same folder in white & red. I'm thinking these would be fabulous for Christmas.

This one is Finial Press & Elegant Bouquet.

And my all time favorite Elegant Lines & Manhattan Flower.

I used Beverage Napkins to emboss on. They fit perfect in the embossing folders. Now, go emboss some napkins for your next party, event or just because they are so elegant!

Open House Make n Takes

Here is Tammy, Karyn & Clarice working on their make n takes.

This is my display table showing mostly new stuff from the catalog. Click on the photos to see them better.

And here is the food that I served. Strawberries, grapes (in the close up of the grapes they like really funny, but, really they were good), Zucchini bread & Peanut butter cups. I even made the cute cupcake holders from the Perfect Setting die (page 209) using the Elegant Soiree dsp.

Tomorrow I will show you how I decorated my mini zucchini breads. So cute & easy. What did we ever do before the BIG SHOT and ALL THE GREAT SU PUNCHES?

Open House Make n Takes

Yesterday I had my "new catalog" open house. I had about 10 people come. They shopped and bought some retired stamps, ink, paper then they made 2 make n takes & then shopped some more in the new catalog. We had such a good time, and they loved my displays. I will be showing more photos in the next couple of days.

This is the first card we did. Base is Blushing Bride (cut at 4 1/4 x 11, scored at 5 1/2) then we embossed with the Elegant Lines Embossing folder (page 214). Isn't this beautiful? Then added a few pearls (one of my new favorite accessories) and the Happy Birthday is from Perfect Punches (page 131.) Super simple.

Then they got to choose one of these cards. Base is Soft Suede (cut at 4 x 8 and scored at 4). This new dsp is Elegant Soiree (page 175) and one of my favorites as well. And since I forgot to order ribbon (how could that happen??) we used the new Ribbon Punch (page 201). And the greetings are from Perfect Punches, (page 131). Love that new punch too! Oh what's not to love about the new catalog?

Punched Posies

Here is the last card for our Purse Tote. Started with a base of Daffodil Delight and added a strip from the Greenhouse Gala dsp and used the Scallop Trim Border punch on both sides. The flower is from the Level 2 hostess set, Punched Posies (page 5 of the Summer Mini). We stamped the flower in Real Red and the leaves in Certainly Celery, cut out the leaves and punched the flower using the 5 Petal Flower punch (page 201). Then sponged in Real Red and mounted the Whisper White onto Real Red cardstock. The HB is from Perfect Punches, (page 131). We also added a button with Linen Thread to the center of the flower. These colors for me are way out of my "box".

Because I Care

Here is another card for our Purse Tote. Base is Pear Pizzazz, and we used the Greenhouse Gala dsp for the border on the left and also stamped the flower onto the dsp and cut it out. Looks like we shaded the flower, doesn't it? We did the same thing for the leaves. This set is a level 1 hostess set (page 11). Then we stamped the flower and leaves (all one stamp) directly on the card and used dimensionals to pop them up. The Happy Birthday is from Perfect Punches (page 131). This stamp set seems to be one of my favorite new stamp sets. The HB nests perfectly inside the Lots of Tags Sizzlit, (page 211) another favorite. So another simple card!