The Curiosity of a Three Year Old

As every parent will know, when one of your kids is being a little too quiet, you don’t walk, you run to see what they’re up to.  More often than not, it usually means they’re doing something they shouldn’t.  That was the case for me this afternoon.  Our three year old had disappeared and was just a little too quiet.  We found him chilling out in my office...along with this….

and this…

oh, and this…

Um, yaaa..all those white little confetti looking bits...all stuck to my hardwood floor....those are all Stampin’ Dimentionals.  If you’re not familiar with Dimentionals, they’re double sided sticky foam dots that Stampin’ Up! sells to use on projects to pop paper layers and embellishments up off the page for a little dimension.  Yes, every.single.white.dot is stuck to my floor.  *sigh*.  Kids...you gotta love them. ;)

Cristina

Fun Florals

One of the many perks of being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is the opportunity I have to attend various events specifically for demonstrators.  One of those events is a local get-together organized by a couple Vancouver Island demonstrators.  We meet twice a year for some business chit chat, great food, and of course STAMPING!!!  (Watch for an upcoming post showcasing some of the amazing projects I got to stamp!) We also sign up for card swaps which is a great way for me to obtain a collection of card and project samples for my display board - to show YOU of course!!!  We also have a "show & tell" table set up for various projects that we've come up with and would like to share.  One of the cards I saw was so cute that I knew I just had to come home and recreate it with products I had here.  SO, here it is!

 

Isn't it adorable?  It's a gate fold card and has three little 3-D flowers which add just the right amount of dimension!  Here's a closer view of the flowers:

I absolutely love this!  It's so simple too!  This is one of the projects I'm going to be doing with my Stampers 6 Club tomorrow evening.  I'd love to show you and some friends how to make this adorable card!  Call me to book a workshop and I would be happy to demonstrate it for you!

Happy Stamping!

 

Mini Products Still Available

Stampin' Up! has chosen to carryover several products from the Holiday Mini Catalogue. This list of products (shown below) is available for purchase through me and Online Ordering. In addition, these products will be available in the next Idea Book & Catalogue.  

Item #	Description	Price
116794	Ornament punch	$22.95
116806	Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint	$8.95
116854	Frost White Shimmer Paint	$8.95
116807	Platinum Shimmer Paint	$8.95
116829	Décor Elements Blocks	$13.95
116824	Stampin' Up! Textured Impressions Folder Petals-A-Plenty	$10.95
116821	Stampin' Up! Holiday Windows Magnetic Movers & Shapers	$39.95
116819	Stampin' Up! Table Setting Bigz XL die	$57.95
116820	Stampin' Up! Embosslits Merry die	$15.95
116823	Stampin' Up! Sizzlits Merry Details die	$7.50
116822	Stampin' Up! O Christmas Tree Pop-Up Bigz XL die	$57.95
118140	Stampin' Up! Tree Decorations Sizzlits die	$7.50
118108	My Digital Studio	$106.95
116519	Charming stamp set	$26.95

My crazy throught process...

Have you ever started a project with a result in mind only to finish the project and have it completely different than you thought?  This happens to me a lot, and I thought I would share my most recent project that this happened to.  My daughter was sleeping and my two boys were actually playing well together and not fighting for once, so I sat down at my computer and thought I'd try to design a card in My Digital Studio for an upcoming "Spring" card swap I'd joined. (wow, can you say run on sentence???)  ANYWAY, I needed to keep an eye on the boys while creating, so I wasn't able to head into my stamping "workshop".  I knew what products I currently had on hand, so I tried to stick with using only those in my design.  I had an idea in mind and couldn't wait to see it come to life.

This is the card I came up with.  The circle over the ribbon is just a reference for me for a knot.  My Digital Studio has the option of adding a knot with two small "tails" which I knew I didn't want, so I just used a circle for the general idea. ;)

  

Cute right?  Um, ya, I didn't really like it either.  It didn't look anything like I'd envisioned!  So what's a girl to do?  Change the layout and colors of course! ;)  

This was my second attempt:

 

I flipped the layout, tossed the yellow and added a vellum circle to the bottom and a blue background to simulate sponging (which I planned to add to the real card).  Hum...better, but still not right.  I think part of the problem is that the only butterflies I have is the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die for my Big Shot and I knew they were just going to be too big for this card.

SO, moving on....this was my third attempt.  Keep in mind that up to this point, it's all been digital design, so I haven't had to cut or toss a single piece of real cardstock yet.  ;)

I flipped the layout back to my original design, tossed the butterflies, changed the stamp set, layered it on Melen Mambo (one of our current In Colors) which I also punched the heart out of.  So much better!  Now, would it look ok stamped and created with real products???  

Here it is!

 

My finished card is still a bit different than my digital one, but I'm happy with the results.  Instead of a knot, I tied a piece of linen thread around a piece of our new Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon.  I've sponged the background behind the bird with a faux sky technique, stamped & cut out the bird in a different color, embossed & sponged the punched heart accent, used my new Scallop Trim Border punch (which you can earn FREE right now through Sale-a-Bration) and of course sponged almost every edge shown. :)

What do you think?  So much better than my first attempt, right?

Happy Stamping!

Fabulous Video of our New Punches

You've probably seen our new edge and corner punches in the Occasions Mini & Sale-a-Bration catalouges and wondered how they work. 

Take a peek at this great video Stampin' Up!has released showcasing these new punches!!!

Happy Stamping!

There's Never Too Much Chocolate...

There's nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with CHOCOLATE.

-- Linda Grayson

I like that quote.  If you know me, you know I LOVE chocolate! I'm addicted to chocolate!  In our home, it's rare we don't have some form of chocolate stashed away. ;)

A huge thank you to the great group of ladies that came out Monday evening for my Chicks & Chocolate night!  We had a blast! Below are the projects each of us made - all involving Chocolate of course! ;)

The card used our new Heart shaped treat cups and Sweetheart stamp set.  The card was designed with a small trap door that slides open so the recepiant can easily access the chocolate without tearing the card to pieces.  To decorate the inside a little more, we punched out the trio of hearts with our Heart to Heart punch and sponged the edges.

The next two projects both used the Big Shot.  This little pillow box was so quick and simple to put together and was finished off by filling it with some Hershey Kisses, wrapping the box in our Whisper White Organza ribbon and adding a cute little punched label.

 

The third project was a box wrap using the Top Note die.  Again, so simple with the Big Shot! 

 

The small interior box was made with our Match Box die, filled with small Hershey Chocolate bars, and wrapped in a strip of our Sending Love Specialty Designer Paper!  This paper is SO adorable.  This is a newer product and is currently available in our Occasions Mini catalogue and actually has glitter all over it!  So sweet!

 

I've already had a couple requests about offering another class similar to this around Easter.  If you would be interested in attending a class like that, left me know!

Happy Stamping!

 

FREE Sweet Pea Reusable Shopping Bag

January has come and gone which means there are only two more months left to take advantage of Sale-a-Bration and the free product that comes with it!

On top of the excitment of SAB, I am offering my hostesses a FREE Stampin' Up! reusable shopping bag for every* qualifying workshop** held before the end of Sale-a-Bration.

 
This versatile resuable bag--featuring designs from our Sweet Pea Designer Series paper--is perfect as a beach bag, grocery bag, or even for transporting supplies to and from stamping nights out with friends.  These bags were only available to demonstrators for a short time and are now sold out!

I've only got a few bags left, so call me today to book your in-home party!!!

*while supplies last
**qualifying workshop is minimum $200 in sales - does not apply to stamp clubs or classes.


Happy Stamping!