This was stamped using the Level 2 Hostess
Set, "In the Spotlight".  I loved making this
card, the random stamping just felt good!
The organdy ribbon is retired but the
Gingham is available.

Easy one-layer card with "Pick a Petal".
Mount your petal stamps with the point
close to the bottom of your block
and you can see where to place your
petal.

Finally I am going to post some new things I have stamped!  A week ago I went to Peggy’s stamp camp (another Demo) and made these cards.  It was fun, relaxing, and felt good to stamp!

Stamped with Baroque Motifs.      

Stamped with Doodle This.  The flower on top was cut out and adhered to the stamped flower beneath it.

Another Baroque Motifs card!  Love this set!

Remember to click on any photo to enlarge it.

Here are more photos of my first order.  I ran out of space on my previous post and then out of time!  Click on the photo for a close up.

Now I think I should go stamp something!

Here are a few things!  Click on the photo to make it larger.

LOVE the new Stampin’ Stack & Store to hold containers of brads, buttons, beads, you name it!  It came fully assembled out of the box except to screw on the top handle and spins nicely!  So cute!!  You can see photos on pages 163 and 193 of the catalog when you click on the link above.

The Outlaw Designer Paper is scrumptious, even if you are not interested in a western theme.  Lots of great uses for this paper!  I know I’ll be ordering more.

The Pretties Kit on page 188 looks very interesting!  Some of the beads are flat on one side so they can be applied easily to a flat surface.  Can’t wait to see what kinds of great projects can be made with all these little beads, flowers and hat pins!

The Scallop Circle Punch will be lots of fun!  Lots of possibilities there for cards, scrapbook pages and other projects!  You can see the actual punch on page 183 of the catalog.

Ribbon!! If you like ribbon, you will love the new Stampin’ Up!(R) offerings on pages 190-191.  I chose "Fairy Tale" for this order but it was an agonizing choice!

Simply Scrappin’ Kits!  They all look great in the catalog.  For my first order I chose Round-Up and Winter Bright.  Don’t for a minute think these are only for scrapbooking!  They ARE great for scrapbooking but also cards and lots of projects.

Here is the other side of the double-sided Outlaw Designer Paper.

I could probably have used one of my own “Survival Kits” in deciding on my first order from the Fall-Winter Collection 2007.  So many wonderful new stamp sets and great new accessories to choose from!  You can see the new catalog online if you click on the above link.  I chose some of the stamp sets they will use for Make and Takes at the Stampin’ Up!(R) Convention later this month in Denver because I know they will come up with fabulous samples and then I’ll have to buy those sets anyway!  Demonstrators attending the convention will get those sets FREE when they check-in!  One of those sets is called Wanted….naturally they have created beautiful samples in the new catalog so even though I don’t know how much I can use a western theme, I thought I better get it!  Of course we did go on two trips to dude ranches in the Texas Hill Country so that might work for some scrapbook pages!  I also needed some of the Designer paper to match.  The new Scallop Punch was a must as was one of the new clipboards just begging to be altered.  Had to get the new Pretties kit with the flowers, hat pins and other goodies plus the new Stack and Store Caddy as well as a tiny bit of new ribbon.  Now to be patient until it all comes!

I’m a day late but here is a card I sent my son for the 4th of July.  I used the recently retired "Sketch It" set to make the fireworks plus some Versamark and Hologram Highlights and a little Dazzling Diamonds.  Might not exactly  be fireworks, but it looks festive just the same!

Other Demos are so clever to come up with these things!

UPS Memo

To: Drivers and Security
Date: June 20th , 2007
Subject: Crazy Stampin’ Up! Ladies

This time of the year has come around once again. Stampin’ Up! is releasing the New Idea Book and Catalog. Please be extremely cautious of Stampin’ Up! demonstrators (SUDs) for the next two weeks.

Watch out for the following:

1. At the distribution centers, please be on the lookout for SUDs. In the past they have been known to cut fences and sneak inside covered with Close to Cocoa ink in hopes of blending in with the trucks.

2. The ladies have been known to run after your trucks. If they catch you and ask if you have a "package" for them, be careful with your answer. They do not take "no" for an answer. If you do not have it, just say " I will double check in the back" and turn and run as fast as you can to your truck and drive away. Do not turn back and look, just keep going until you are a safe distance away.

3. They have also been know to drive up next to you at a stop light in their mini vans and SUVs and ask if you have a package for them. Turn up your radio and pretend you cannot hear them. Do not let them approach your delivery truck at an intersection. SUDs have been know to stop traffic and throw all your packages off the trucks until they find their new Idea Book and catalog.

How to Deliver the New Idea Book and Catalog

1. Be sure you have fixed your squeaky brakes, If not – park your truck two blocks away so the SUD can not hear you coming.

2. Put in your earplugs and secure your safety glasses.

3. If you see children looking out the window, put your finger up to your lips and say "SHHHH".. They are on a "lookout" for you and are being paid to "alert" their mothers (SUDs) when they see you coming to the door.

4. Approach the front door and very quietly, set the package down in front of the door (Make sure you place it in FRONT so when she opens the door, the box will be in the way and give you a little more time to escape).

5. Back up as far as you can and reach for the doorbell, (BE READY TO RUN !!!). Ring the doorbell and make a mad dash back to your truck and drive away….DO NOT LOOK BACK !!!

The UPS corporation is informing you of this because in the past years, SUDs have been known to scream at the top of their lungs with excitement and try to tackle you with hugs for delivering their catalogs. After you have been smothered with appreciation for getting them their catalogs on time, watch out for flying packaging material as they will open up the box before you have had a chance to leave , or they have gone inside. Best of luck to you with this mission, and remember

Let’s Be Safe Out There!!!!

Someone gave me a box of tins and this is what I decided to do with them for a recent stamp camp.  Amazingly I just used our SU Anywhere Glue Stick on the tin and on the Au Chocolat Designer Series Double-Sided Paper in the Spring Mini and it has really worked!  The ribbon around the middle is from the Winter Mini and is no longer available.  For the centerpiece I stamped my initial, but you could also use some other small design.  The Au Chocolat paper it is layered on is punched on all four corners with the Square Steps Punch and then each corner is folded down….a very unusual and fun way to use that punch, an idea shared by another demo Cambria.  If you want more details, just contact me.

If you haven’t played around with the online Stampin’ Up!(R) catalogs, you really should!  Just go to www.stampinup.com and click on "Our Online Catalog".  Select the Idea Book and Catalog or the Spring Mini Catalog.  Open the catalog either by doing the Quick Flip at the top or moving the bar at the bottom to the page you want.  At the top you can also select whether you want the double-page layout or a single page.  You can even get thumbnails of several pages at once!  There is a zoom tool (the plus sign) and next to it a Magnifier!  Click on that and then place your cursor over what you want to magnify in the catalog!  Really neat!  You can move it around, too, on the page.  If you notice the "Tools" next at the top,  you can bookmark a page….a little tab comes up on the side of the catalog page and then you can always click on that tab and go back to that page.  You can write yourself a note with the Checkmark box or you can Circle an item.  There is also "Help" if you need it with the Question Mark box or you can print a page.

Another neat feature is if you put your cursor on any project in the catalogs, including the covers, it will say to click and then a zoomed view of the project will come up plus a list of stamping supplies!   You can even zoom in closer if you want.  Try it!

Now you’ll be all set to look at the new Fall-Winter Collection 2007 when it is available July 1st! Contact me with any questions or additional information.

Many years ago I saw this idea somewhere and actually remembered it when my children were older.  The idea was to keep a journal of their senior year, just a diary really.  It was supposed to be all positive, which we all know is a little bit difficult that senior year!  But it is possible to do!  I kept the notebook on my nightstand and was pretty good at keeping up with it.  Then before graduation I decorated the cover with stamping.  I am under no illusion that they appreciate this book now, but I’ve told them that someday when they are 40 or 50 and find it in a box, hopefully they will really appreciate and enjoy it then, a glimpse into their life when they were 17 or 18.

We have a new high school graduate in our house!  And the last one!  In the fall we will be empty-nesters.  I don’t know yet if that will be good or bad or a little of both.  Among other things, I have been busy stamping a few graduation cards.  Here are a few, again mostly copied from other stampers.

This is the card I made for our son mostly using the Office Accoutrements set, inspired by Pam S on SCS.  The circle is from Riveting, and the graduation cap is from a retired set called Sketch an Event.  That set was so great; fortunately a new set is coming with a graduation cap!  The greeting comes from All Year Cheer III.  This set is on the Retirement List as is Riveting since it is a Hostess Set.

Here are some other cards I made, CASEd from dawnsing, imastampin, and brodonbaby.  My alphabet stamps came in handy on these cards!

Is this a great idea for a gift for a first wedding anniversary or what?!  The traditional gift for the first year is paper.  One of my customers asked me to make a large assortment of cards for occasions throughout the year and a box to keep them in for her dear friends who were celebrating their first anniversary.  I thought it was a wonderful idea for a gift, not to mention enjoying having the opportunity to stamp a lot!  It was more difficult than I thought to find the right size box.  Regular photo storage boxes were just the tiniest bit too small.  Someone suggested a DVD box and I found this plain one at Target.  I then covered it with the Au Chocolat papers and did a little stamping along the edge. I also used some grosgrain ribbon around the edges of the top.  It still needed a little something and finally I came up with using the chipboard hearts from the On Board Accents package.  I just used a gluestick to adhere the paper to the heard, used my Paper Snips to cut off the excess paper close to the chipboard and then used the Sanding Block to finish it off neatly.  I like how it turned out!

Here’s a fun card I made for my nephew for his birthday from a stamp set called "Cowboy Kid" that appeared in the 2006 Summer Mini.  I used the White Craft Ink for the paisley background, colored in the cowboy with markers, and used a piece of natural hemp for the rope.

I opened my door last night and this is the delivery person I found on my front porch!!  Is she not the cutest thing??!  This is Elsie, my tiniest little future stamper!   She was bringing me a Peeps Jar that she and her mom (my customer) had made me for Easter!  I couldn’t have been more excited!  I knew it was a Kodak moment so I had to run for my camera before inviting them in for a visit!

The Peeps Jar has Peeps inside along with M&Ms, graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar to which you add butter and vanilla.  While I am sure this would make a yummy(?) dessert, the design inside the jar with the Peeps looking out is really too cute to mess up….not to mention the memory of Elsie delivering it to me!  If you want the recipe, just email me.

I found these tins in the dollar bins at Michael’s and had seen how a couple of other people online had decorated them.  But then I saw on SCS how "Stamper K" had decorated some for Easter for gifts and I was inspired!  Of course I had to make another trip to Michael’s to get more tins to keep for myself because they are nice even plain.

To make these, I just stamped a narrow strip of paper to go around the side of the tin.  I used my punches to make the punched bunny on top, tied some ribbon around the lid (adhering with a couple glue dots) and put candy and goodies inside the tins.  Since I was rushed for time I just wrote names on paper that I slipped into the metal label holder, but it would have been cuter to stamp their names or use the computer and the SU fonts.