Convention roommate shoebox swaps

. I made this card and CASED it directly from the idea book and catalog, but turned the layout to horizontal instead of vertical. The flower uses the reinker spread technique.

This was created by Laura from Texas. She has a teenaged son, so provided the "male" card

This card is by Roberta from Texas. It uses the daisies from the bigshot die and lots of sponging.

Audrey from Vermont brought this fun scallop circle card with fish made from the ornament punch.

Peggy from Arizona used vintage vogue with black and daffodil. She added the new 1/8" taffeta ribbon and bitty buttons.

Barbara, also from Texas, created this card using Sense of time and Artistic etchings. This would also be a great male card.

Just believe Card

This is another card we made at club on Sat. It uses stamps from the set Just Believe. The more mustard base was stamped and sponged with more mustard ink. We embossed the main image in white on Play Date DSP that I got for free from convention. It was then sponged and edges distressed. A bravo burgandy panel was cut with the top note die and embossed with the square lattice folder. We used markers to make the sentiment panel which was popped up with dimensionals. A button and ribbon provided the finishing touches.

Wax paper resist technique

This is the technique card we made at club on Sat. I had never done wax paper resist before and it is really very easy and makes quite a nice background. Just crumple up a piece of wax paper slightly larger than the card stock. Smooth it out and sandwich it between 2 pieces of glossy cardstock, then iron with low to med heat, non steam iron. After that apply color with a brayer, sponge, or sponge dauber. I used new in colors concord crush and pear pizazz. The stamp is from a level 1 hostess set- because I care.

Chest of drawers

This pattern is from the immensely talented Jackie Topa. She made a card similar to this as a convention swap. I was not fortunate enough to get one, but found it with the directions on her blog here: www. jackietopa.typepad.com. She has a tutorial on her blog on how to make these all the way to getting the brads evenly on the drawers. Thanks Jackie!!! I got to sit by her on the plane home from convention and enjoyed our visit.

If I were to do this again, I would put the aluminum foil on a sticky sheet then punch out. I just used tombow multiadhesive and it is a bit "bubbly" looking. I found a leftover bear from when we made a different card which was just perfect.

More Convention Pics

A swap from Jackie Topa, I got to sit by her on the plane coming home from convention. She has such fun ideas. If you made the stationery box at stamp camp nearly 2 yrs ago, that was also her creation. She has another card that she made that I am going to recreate, you will love it!!!

This swap is from Lynn Pratt. She also made the template for the one sheet wonder that we used in June.

Definitely over the top, not something I will ever do, but wanted you to see this gorgeous creation. It was made by an "Artisan Award Winner", I'm thinking it may be Jodie Oliver.

My roommate participated in a masculine card swap and this is one she received. I love the crystal effects on the motorcycle. We saw a lot of metal (metal flashing and/or heavy duty foil) used with the bigshot and embossing folders or texture plates.

This is another example of punch art. Love the idea of using 2 punches this way!

I finally have some time today to play with my new goodies from convention, but haven't posted in awhile, so will give you somethings to look at until I post some of my own work

Iowa Floods

I so want to play with some new things, but we have been battling water in our basement. Things are under control now, but I have a lot of cleanup to do. It rained cats and dogs with much thunder and lightening Sun, Mon, and Tues nights. Our daughter found some water in the finished side Mon am. When we got home from work I called every cleanup company in the book and all were busy, so we ripped up the carpet and used the shop vac to cleanup. We then bought a dehumidifier and heavy duty fan thinking that was the end of it. Tues am we had 2 more inches of water. My husband and I both stayed home from work and used the shop vac for 2 1/2 hrs with minimal change in the water level. So we went and bought an 18 gal shop vac with a hose attchment to pump it outdoors. It occurred to us that we hadn't heard the sump pump working, so we bought a new one as well. We got the water out and the sump pump installed, but still had water on Wed am :( I jiggled the pipe connection to the pump and it started working. We quickly used the shop vac and were able to go to work. Wed afternoon we made some minor adjustments to the sump pump and it is working just fine. Thur evening we did some more cleanup in the basement.
Lest I sound like I am complaining, we are blessed to have been able to get most of our items moved before they got ruined, and we still have a home to live in. Many people have it much worse than we do!!! Now we get to paint and recarpet. Might be awhile till we get it all done, but we have our basement back.

Mini Iowa Vacation with the grandchildren

We couldn't fit a week away with the girls, so decided to take a few days and do some things here in Iowa. I asked Taylor, the oldest granddaughter, to help me choose. We went to Adventureland all day Thur. The waterpark area is huge. We spent about 1 1/2 hrs in the lazy river, which was full of people, but it is unlike any lazy river I've ever been to in that it's huge!!! Fri we went to Tanger outlet to shop, then to a Cubs game complete with a win (11-6) and fireworks. Their mom, Angela went shopping with us and then the whole family went to the ball game. The younger crew was more interested in playing in the water fountain than watching the game, but Taylor enjoyed watching. Dylan thought he was going to play ball, not watch someone else play. Today we might do a bit more shopping-tennis shoes for school- then off to America's Incredible Pizza. Little Dylan will spend the night tonight and tomorrow will be church with all the grandkids as usual. Grandpa and I will need a few days to recuperate. I took my camera last night and the battery was dead. Grandpa took his camera to Adventureland, so I will post some pics later.

Hostess Special

Now through the end of August Stampin'Up! is giving an extra $25 for any workshop $350 or more. That means you get $65 instead of $40 FREE. Plus you still get your free hostess only stamp set and I give you the new idea book and catalog for FREE.

What are you waiting for? Get your guest list ready and I'll come to your home or you can come to mine. We all need some "girl time" and who doesn't love a hand stamped card? I can also focus on scrapbooking if you would prefer.

Call or email me to get your date in August!

Multifunctional punches

These two cards use the butterfly punch to make a pansy! I found this idea on the web, can't remember who made it first. I added my own twist to the top card by using the crimper to give the flowers added texture. I used watercolor crayons (more mustard and elegant eggplant) and an aquapainter to make the one on top. The second one was made with reinkers and the aquapainter. The leaves for both are from the two step bird punch.

My friend and July hostess, Alison asked for ideas on how to use punches in a variety of ways. So I made these two cards using the wing from the two step bird punch. It takes 3 wings to make a tulip. You can make it fat or thin depending on which direction you lay out the wings. I think the torn paper really looks like a bed of grass.

I used 12 wings to make the blue flower. The leaf is another wing. And the vase is the ornament punch with the bottom cut off. I ran it through the square lattice embossing folder and sponged with cajun craze ink to make it look like a terra cotta pot.

Watch for more punchy ideas.

Wedding cake

This was another of my convention swaps. I saw a card similar to this with textured cardstock, but I took it a step further and used the bigshot and embossing folders to make different layers. The top layer uses the perfect polka dot folder, the middle layer is the brand NEW elegant lines folder, and the bottom is the wonderfully versatile square lattice folder. I used chocolate chip for the base and pink pirouette for the cake. The sentiment is from Oval All and the flowers are from a NEW level 1 hostess set called punch potpourri. I added a NEW jewel pearl in the center of the flower for the finishing touch. So simple but soooooo elegant if I do say so myself!!

Convention 2010-LONG, but read it all

This was my 7th convention and every year we always say it was the best ever. But hands down this was the best ever. I soooooooooo totally love Stampin'Up! They outdid themselves this year. Where to begin?

We had a flower power party Tues night with a 60's theme. All I had to wear was a tie-dyed shirt, but you'd have had to be there to see some of the great costumes! We played twister (not me), hula hoop (I tried), wore love beads they gave us, got our faces painted, mingled with lots of SU employees, and watched stamping demonstrations. I had a picture taken with Shelli and her husband Sterling.

The extras at lunch were awesome: the first day we had candy stations with salt water taffy, hard candy, friut jellies, and atomic fireballs. Day two we had huge chocolate fountains with fruit, all sorts of cookies, marshmallows, and pretzels. Day three was ice cream sandwiches, drumsticks, crunch bars, choco tacos, etc. And nothing ever ran out. There were also fresh fruit stations everyday.

I got to be a make and take helper, and had a class to make my projects early so I could help a group of about 600 people. We each had about 5-6 tables of demonstrators to work with. I am sworn to secrecy, but got several free stamp sets and embellishments for helping as well as some other perks.

I roomed with some awesome gals. Three were from Texas, 1 from Mass, and 1 from Pheonix (we had a 2 bedroom suite with 4 beds and 2 bathrooms. We had lots of fun sharing our swaps and business tips. The friendships I have made through Stampin'Up! are one of the best parts of being a demonstrator.

Share what you love was the theme this year and all of the classes focused on this. In the class on getting bookings, they actually had us make calls during the class to book workshops. I booked 2 workshops and have 1 more in the works. Usually I get all excited while I am there and make a list of people to call, but never get around to it when I get home, can we say procrastination. Stampin'Up! came up with a great hostess promotion to help us. They will give an extra $25 in hostess credit for all workshops from 7/27-8/31 with $350 or more in sales. That's $65 free plus hostess sets. Call or email me to get in on this great offer.

More convention swaps

I made these shirts for a Bigshot WOW fabric swap. I laundered the cotton fabric and shirts, then ironed the fabric onto wonder under, then cut the flowers out with the bigshot, then ironed them onto the shirts. So cute!! I'm thinking of making one for me!

This card is for a technique swap and is the chalkboard technique. I stamped with white ink on black then colored over with the watercolor pencils.

My convention swaps

I have been so busy making my swaps for convention that I haven't posted lately. I made 70 total of these butterfly cards for a WOW full card swap. Lots of Bigshot time, but just a bit of stamping. So excited about the new Stampin'up! jewels-adhesive backed clear rhinestones and halfback pearls. They really finish off the butterfly nicely. So does the new 1/8" ribbon.

NEW IDEA BOOK AND CATALOG

My shipment arrived yesterday!!! I have had my personal copy for 2 weeks now and have been taking it with me everywhere I go. And may I just say "I love it, I love it, I love it".

So many fun new stamp sets and accessories. New colors in ribbons and brads, there are adhesive backed pearls and rhinestones, more punches in the new fold flat design, lots more choices in the clear mount stamps, ala carte individual stamps priced from 5.95-9.95. But the best part is all the new colors. There are 5 totally new colors, 10 returning colors, and 5 new "In Color" colors. See post from April 11th and buttons on sidebar for more information about that.

Catalogs are free to hostesses and my stamp club members. Otherwise get yours for just $5 and I will give you a coupon for $5 off your next order of $50 or more. Call, email, or leave a comment here to get yours NOW!

June 30th is your last opportunity to order from the current catalog-see last chance lists on sidebar. You may begin ordering from the NEW Idea Book and Catalog July 1st. I will hold an Open House Sat July 17th, watch for more details.

Luau Party, Stamp class

Alison, Dorris, and Sherri
Joy, Tiffani, and Sherri
Marlene and Jackie
Melba "Genell"
These are pics from my stamp class last Sat. 8 ladies came and made 10 cards each. We all had lots of fun, I enjoy my stamping friends.

NEW STAMPS and PAPER

I preordered some things from the new catalog. I used all 4 images from the stamp set "Friends Never Fade" and coordinating Designer Series Paper "Greenhouse Gala". Also NEW Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist, and Returning Tangerine Tango, Baha Breeze, and Wild Wasabi cardstock.

Last Chance Stamps and Accessories

The lists are here. Get your favorite items before they are forever GONE!

See buttons on the sidebar to get lists for each. Some of the accessories are discounted, but are only available while supplies last. Stamps will be available until the end of June.
I will be offering 10% off your entire order June 19th if you order any retiring product.

Another Elements of Style card

Click on picture to enlarge it. I saw a card made with this set using black and red here http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1685922?&cat=18835&sorttime=all&sortby=v&way=desc. I was visiting my sister and she didn't have a black marker, so I tried it with navy and red. I also didn't have the striped ribbon, so used the red. I really like how this turned out.

Island Floral Card

Click on photo to enlarge image.
I totally love everything about this stamp set and designer paper! :) Makes me feel like I'm back in Hawaii!! I used linen thread in the flowers to make it look like a lei.

One sheet wonder-color choices

Both of these use apricot appeal, brocade blue, and mellow moss, one with Vintage vogue stamp set and the other with For all you do. I like the vintage vogue stamps better for this project.



This is pink passion, brocade blue, and gable green with vintage vogue stamp set.

One Sheet Wonder Card Class

I am offering this class at my home Sat June 19th from 10am-4pm. Come and go as your schedule permits. Allow at least 2 hrs, but probably 3 to finish your cards. It took me longer than that, but I have the finished product for you to copy or alter to suit your needs. Make 10 cards with envelopes for only $12.50!! You will never get a class for this price at any of the craft stores. I must have your rsvp by June 10th to prep for the class and food. I have enough cardstock in these colors for 7 or 8. If I have more than that interested, I will need to come up with another color scheme. You absolutely must bring your own adhesive, and it's helpful to bring scissors, bone folder, and a paper cutter.

First, you will stamp this sheet of white cardstock, then run through the printer and cut on lines to make 10 cards. I will give you directions to make each card. You will have the option of many different greetings.

I want to thank Lee Ann Greff for this idea and her templates she so kindly put on SCS. Her blog is flowerbug's Inkspot in my list below.