Monthly Archives: July 2012

Jul23

Jiggity jiggity…..

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When I was young, my parents always had this saying when we got back to the house after a time away… “home again, home again, jiggity jig.”  Well…. Isaac forgets to say the home again part and just does jiggity jiggity…  all that to say… “I’M HOME!”

AND boy… I’m tired and the craft room/office has vomited stamp stuff. This is bad news for me, but good for you cause most of it is the stuff that is going to be in my “rubber garage sale”.  Love that term… heard it at convention…

Anyway, Anne and I met 2 wonderful new friends from Tacoma, Washington.  Shannon and Tara… I wanted to share the swaps they did cause they are just beautiful:

Here is Shannon’s:

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That fence is hand pieced on… strips of c crumb cake cs stamped with the Woodgrain stamp and layered over the images. The result is that the vine looks like it is growing on the fence. She chose beautiful, saturated corps to give the late summer feel. But it could easily be recreated in more subtle colors for a more serene feel.  Wonderful…

And here is Tara’s:

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This is what is called card candy. It’s artwork or embellishment that can be added to a card. It has a wonderful vintage vibe with the old postage stamps and the monochromatic color makes it appear very expensive.  Just beautiful.

Here is the last card for today:

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Chris Talbot designed this one. I didn’t actually meet her (something unique to the swapping phenomenon) but must have swapped in order to get this fantastic card. I chose to show it because It gives ideas of how we can taylor cards to specific people even when we may not have an exact stamp for the occasion.  By using alphabet and number sets we can make anything. Chris went the extra mile by embossing gold the edges on the front plannel. It really needs time be seen in person….

Anyway, tomorrow is the first day teachers report….officially… so I gotta go to bed.  See you Saturday at 9:00….

Jul21

Oops

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So… that candle pic didn’t come through… here is try 2:

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And here is a treat bag made from the googly ghouls and the favor kit in the new mini:

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This bag was embossed with the new chevron folder that was inked with versamark and embossed with black embossing powder mixed with dazzling diamonds glitter.

And look how cute:

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These poor ladies are probably tired of me asking to take pictures of their wardrobes… oh well.. 
More later…

Jul20

My brain is full…

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Okay. My first disclaimer is that I am blogging from my phone. And as noted by the comments, it sounds like I must be drinking. Though modern technology has advanced at incredible rates, blogging from a phone still does not have all the amenities a computer.  I apologize. Professional bloggers may refute me…. but remember: I am still new at this. And will try to correct everything when I am back actually at a computer…  🙂

Okay. As titled, my brain is so full that I feel as if it may burst.  So many stamps and so little time. This day actually started with Anne and I climbing into our beds. We were up till 2 am working on this years annual ACCE (Anne and Crystal’s Christmas Extravaganza). We are getting tons of ideas and our plans change with each new stamping demonstration we see.  You will be Wowed.  Make plans to attend. It will be in October and the exact date will be given soon…

So… once we woke, we attended 3 classes today… I am a leader with Brian Pilling, I am earning an I incentive trip with Karen Hauley, and I am having fun with Shannon West.  The classes at stampin’ up! Convention 2012 really aim to pull all the aspects of demonstratorship together. It is completely evident they are willing to provide the support it takes to be successful.

At today’s general sessions we had demos by Shannon West. She previewed some of the fall and Halloween items from the upcoming mini…. here are some:

This candle is actually STAMPED right on the wax with staz-on. Then she used the fall leaves to decorate it. This makes a great centerpiece for a Thanksgiving meal. And check out that gorgeous champagne shimmer paper!!

This card was one I got in a swap. It uses “Googly Ghouls” stamp set (holiday mini).

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It also uses the new Howlstooth and Scaringbone dsp. This paper is wonderful because there is nothing inherently Halloween… so it can be used with other things.  And, my favorite, adhesive backed googly eyes. And a designer kit that coordinates with the googly ghouls stamp set that contains items to help you create your Halloween favors.

While we are on Halloween, SU! is having a promotion. Anyone who decides to purchase the starter kit in the month of August will get all the supplies necessary, including the shadow box, to make this:

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Contact me and I can help you get that FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE kit.

I need to go to sleep now because it is now Saturday am…and I can’t stay up till 2 again but I have to introduce you to Kat:

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We met her in line for coffee and Anne noticed these beautiful bracelets….made with OUR buttons.  On that stretchy elastic
worth beads in between. Way cute!!

Okay. Goodnight. Goodmorning? Whatever.
And check back cause SU has a BIG announcement for us tomorrow!!

Jul19

Thursday part 2

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Wow!  One thing I failed to mention this morning at our general sessions was how electric it was. When we got into the main stage area, I think EVERY employee of SU! was there to greet us with applause, hi-fives, cheers… very exciting tired be welcomed in such an enthusiastic way.

I ha’ve lots more to share… and will…. but as you can see it is now Friday when I am posting this… so clearly I didn’t get it finished…. stay tuned…

We had some great sessions with different presenters. Jason Ryan Dorsey and Emily Montoya both stressed the importance of social media (I am reaching out). So… after many years of no facebook…. I am now on. So… friend me if you wish!! This is all very new to me so be patient…. 🙂  but hey, both my mom and grandma are on facebook before me… so, as Anne would say, I finally put on my big girl panties.

As I said earlier… I would share a couple of swaps I received from the wow swap. Very interesting experience…
Here is one:

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It’s made worth the new comfort cafe paper and the quint-essential flower. This flower is AWESOME. It is only 1 stamp for $8.95 and every layer fits a punch we have. So it’s like having 6 stamps at once.

Jul19

Morning session!

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Wow.  Being here is an experience!  Lots of excitement and enthusiasm. I learned I am not as prolific of a stamper as I thought.  I pale in comparison…. but it’s not about comparing…

Anyway… wanted to share some pictures… this is what it looked likeeper whend we entered the contention center… all these ladies… waiting for the auditorium doors to open.  All swapping.  Anyone overhearing these conversations unfamiliar with this concept would think we are crazy (weeeeeelllll….)  all you here is … “wanna swap” or “you swapping”  and no other words. It’s funny.

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And, I really likes this group. Teams (downlines) try to do something to make themselves recognizable to their other members… I liked this one in particular. I want a poster for my stamp room:

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I have the WOW swap I am part of is today. Anne told me to sign up for this one because it is organized and has rules…. so yo uh make cometh g good and you are guaranteed to get it back… I’m a little nervous because the organizer must approve the card before I can participate.  Anyway, I made 120 of this:

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And, it’s hard to see in the picture but that flower is a “closure” for the card. Nothing  fancy… the fronth is just cut shorter than the back and scalloped. Then the flower is glued down just on the exposed inside of the card thend the front tucks behind.  Hopefully this clarifies:

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It’s fast, easy, and a way just o make something different.  With the exception of the enjoy word from the fabulous phrases stamp set, there is no stamping. Big shot embossing, punching… its an excellent way to use up scrap pieces of paper….  I will try to post more this evening… of the exciting wow swaps I get!!

Jul18

I Am…. HERE!

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So. After 9 years and 4 time zones in the past 5 days… I finally made it to contention.  And I’m a bit nutty from all the lack of sleep so I apologize if I sound incoherent.

Anyway, we got in yesterday around noonish but since the hotel wasn’t ready, Anne and I decided to shop. And it was a blast.

Today was the first official start day of convention…. but kind of a “slow” start. Not slow in that we didn’t have stuff to do… but slow in that there wasn’t scheduled class sessions…. except we decided to schedule our make and takes all in one fell swoop….  then we had the I Am Inspired (this year’s theme is I Am….)

It’s unbelievable, the atmosphere in this place. And I thought I was a die-hard…  mot even close.  Anyway, general swapping can happen anywhere and everywhere so you gotta be prepared.  Here is what I brought for general swapping….

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And

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And

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I am too tired to list product right now so if you have a question just email me.  I want to show a picture of the I am inspired project too… it’s a super cute pinboard that has 3 different interchangeable displays. They gave US a perpetual… (okay… we gotta break…. I’m typing this post on my phone as Anne is giving me a running dialog of how she is trying to upload photos from her camera… it is hilarious…and when I start laughing she changes her voice to a whisper and it gradually gets louder until I start laughing again…)  okay what was I saying… oh… perpetual calendar. Though it would be great just as a picture board….  here it is….

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I will try to get better pictures of my make and takes but the lighting in our room is terrible. Or… come to my open house July 28 and you can see it in person!!

Check out Anne’s blog for more pictures. She’s better at all that than me. And she’s uploading from a computer and not a phone…. 

Okay… tomorrow is the WOW swap and awards night!!  I will keep you posted!!

Jul16

NOTES

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Okay… in T-minus 3 hours and 51 minutes Anne is picking me up to go to the airport so we will be on our way to Stampin Up! Convention!  I am so excited. This is my first convention. So, in honor if this occasion, I designed died to make us some notebooks.  These are fabric covered composition books.  I used the comfort cafe and floral district fabric sets. And I used an elastic ponytail holder to make the closure. The flowers are die cut from the fabric that I fused with a stiff interfacing so they would not be too floppy. And I used the neutrals buttons, linen thread, twine, to sew it all on…  these were lots of fun to make. And probably my first sewing project that I accomplished mostly on my own. I’m not gonna tell you how much seam-ripping I did…. but here is the comfort cafe:

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And here is the floral district:

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This one also has my school planner for next year.  Bronwyn and I had this great idea to have our students make and sell planners for the staff at our school. Proceeds will go to benefit the Teen Parent Support Club. I’m happy it worked out that I made my planner from the floral district paper…. so now I can also use my notebook at school and everything will match!  I will be updating from convention so check back.  The rumor is that they have a big announcement. So big that they are streaming it live on the internet for the demos who cannot make it….  I’m excited….