So…. I’m back.  Fall break over. Halloween almost here…  We are on the fast track to the count down till Christmas… (eeek…did that actually come out???)  Yes. Blink and Christmas will be here.

Anyway. My last post was from the hospital. I had all these plans to be super, awesome, blogger/card maker…. but in reality… I was doing good to get my teeth brushed.

But… I did make a couple of things… for club… that I thought I’d share….  they are super easy and will make great little favors for Halloween…

These little bags are from the googly ghouls stamp set and bundle.  The bundle comes with 10 bags, 20 tags, string for tying, and STICKY BACK GOOGLY EYES.  Why hasn’t this been thought of sooner….  I made this bag by running it through the chevron embossing folder and put some black crinkle paper inside. Then I put a battery tea light inside.  These would make cute centerpieces for a party or cute gifts for office desks… of course, you can put candy inside too.  The bag kit is only $7.95…. add the clear stamps and the whole bundle is only $16.95…

Here’s another little Halloween favor idea….  I must admit, I copied it from Anne… (check thou her blog…  she just did a blog hop and has tons of great ideas)

This uses the petite pocket die.  And my favorite…the howlstooth and scaringbone paper. The great thing about the paper is that it isn’t specifically Halloween… so it can be used for other fall projects.  This little pocket will fit things like a heath bar or pixie sticks… and, I LOVE the striped satin ribbon. Though it doesn’t appear it here…. it can be extremely elegant…

I also wanted to share a picture that one of my customers shared.  She called me frantic (Okay, I’m adding emotion to make it more interesting), looking for the decor elements spider web that we had awhile ago.  Of course, I didn’t have… but, my mom told me that you can use elmer’s glue to make window cling decals.  So… she made some…

WAY COOL, HUH??  She made the web and spider by adding sparkly glitter and black glitter for the spider.  Think of the spooky decor.  And, for that matter, Christmas, New Years (fireworks???), and wow… if only I had more time in the day.

So… I’m creating a late October New Year’s Resolution… to blog better.  More.  Consistent.  Whatever.  Stampin’ Up has given me a 6 months trial business developer (someone who calls me and helps me create, set, and accomplish goals, etc).  and blogging better is one of my goals.  So, hopefully we can make good on this resolution.  And, to help this along… I’m going to be part of a blog hop!!  Yay!! My first one!

Of course, I’m hoping to have more posts before Nov 11, but just want to start promoting it.  There will be 20 of us, and we will all feature the same stamp set.  It should be very inspiring!!

Well… gotta go…

So… most of you know that I’ve had a short stay at Hotel Maui Memorial.  Not exactly the most exciting resort, but I got good care and am getting better. Hopefully I will have a new and improved back.

Anyway… a couple of the Maui Stampers dropped by just to bring some cheer and well wishes… it was very exciting.  You need to see what they made…

The box of Junior Mints was banded with some nice dsp and a tag. And Cheryl brought some great lilikoi jam that she made… from her own vine!! And the cute little get well doggy has a tea bag on the inside.  And, I love the keep calm card. The layering of each element of the stamps with the buttons really makes the sentiment stand out.  Here is another picture that shows the inside of the tea bag…

I must say, this wasn’t the extent of the visitors and gift giving. I am so blessed to have my mom here to help out and my husband’s parent have been a lifeline (literally…by bringing non-hospital food).  And not to mention aunties, cousins, etc.  And desserts and plants. I’m so thankful for everyone and the extent to which they went to make sure I felt loved. Its been wonderful.  And, one last picture…. since I knew I was gonna be sitting here…for a while… I brought some composition book covers I made… to sew on the closure buttons:

These will be available at my craft show (yeah… you read right… more details to come)   so.   This opportunity to get them finished up was good…  anyway… hopefully I can break out of here tomorrow.  I finished the buttons.  And I’ve almost finished 2 mds scrapbook albums… (but the husband needed the computer tonight so he took it…)  don’t forget… mds sale is extended til Sept 14!!  Anyway…  thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.  And thanks to everyone who came to visit and send well wishes.  I am well loved!

Okay, I have to embarrassingly admit…  I had the My Digital Studio software for nearly 3 years before I did anything with it. (well, at least I think it was 3….)  Who knows.  And, I busted the package on it this past summer when I was trying to earn enough points for the trip to Hilton Head (which, btw, I did!!!  Thanks to all who helped…).  And, this was before the release of MDS 2.  ANYWAY…

I made an 8×8 scrapbook and my new business card.  Both made me want to scream.
THEN….
I went to convention where I learned about the LOVELY MDS2.

And it’s lovely.  And, during the month of August (AND NOW EXTENDED TILL SEPTEMBER 14), select digital downloads and printing services are 31% off.  And, you can download MDS2 for a 30 day free trial…ANYTIME…
I’ve been frantically trying to scrap, create, and whatever you can do in MDS before the end of the promotion.  Just took Isaac’s Christmas picture today…  (gonna print on the special, so someone please remind me to get them mailed before December 25…no excuses this year)
Anyway, a friend’s daughter is getting married and I made some wedding invites.  This is the one she liked.  I removed the names and the changed the date of the wedding just not to spill the beans…cause I’m not sure they’ve been sent out.  But, I love how they turned out…

I made matching RSVP cars too.  And, I can print on the back as well… I just put a designer series paper, but it still made the entire project seem quite finished.  And, the quality of the paper is wonderful.  Quite substantial.  It is a very nice wedding invite, I think… More people need to get married so I can make some more.  It was fun…

I will post some other projects later!  I’m having tons of fun!!

And, just a reminder, you only have a few days left (until Friday, at 7:50 Hawaii time) to purchase the starter kit to be able to get that awesome Halloween Printer’s Tray.  I’ve seen ideas on pinterest of how people are using with ‘removable’ decor so it can be used for other seasons.  Now, you don’t wanna miss out, do you???  You can get it by going to my website and signing up for the starter kit…

Spooktacular Offer

Talk to you soon!!  And happy digital stamping!!

I just love this stamp set. I actually like all the Ronald McDonald sets. They are alway very versitile.

So… here are some more cards I have made with it:

The daffodile delight paper is just so bright and cheery. And the new 1/4″ stitched grosgrain is so much fun.  Yellow and black are a great combo for anyone who needs a little pick-me-up…

And here:

This frog makes a great boy’s birthday card. The little curly-q stamp just exudes energy.

And this one we made at our Maui Stampers Team Meeting.  It was a case of a swap we got at convention…. hey… if it is good… might as well just go with it!

Makes you wanna b a Maui Stamper doesn’t it.  Weeelllllll….  whatcha waiting for??

Finally…. things have settled enough to get a post made.  School is in full swing and it’s shaping up to be a busy year.

This coming weekend both of my stamp clubs are meeting… and I’ve been working hard to get projects made and samples made!!  I was thinking, to start the year, we might play with the Moving Forward stamp set.  This is the Ronald McDonald set for this year. $3 of every set purchased goers to the Ronald McDonald house charities. This set was also a freebie at convention. And I love it.  Super cute for children’s cards or tags on packages.  Speaking of tags… look at these 3×3 cards: (and totally cased from Monika Davis… thanks Monika!! )

I just love how cute the images are. And the new firm foam ink pads make stamping the solid blimp image a breeze!!  (I absolutely love the new stamp pads. Had to convert my whole collection.)  Here is another card that I completely cased.  This one came from this month’s Stampin’
Success.

Would YOU want to get a magazine every month with tons of cute stamp ideas just begging to be made?  Well..  it’s easy!  Just pick up the starter kit. And, in addition, for the month of August, you get ALL the items necessary to make this spooky printers tray:

Also… in August, MDS2 was released!!  Now, you are able to download a 30 day free trial of MDS 2 to see how you like it.  I’ve already played with it.  And, I LOVE it.  A gigantic improvement over MDS 1.  I have some projects I will post next time that I made with it.  I’m currently working on a friend’s wedding (invites, favor tags, signs, table numbers…) Lots of fun stuff.  And, as a way to promote MDS 2, Stampin’ UP is giving 31% off select MDS downloads and ALL the print products ordered through them (not including bulk pricing, but this is cheaper anyway, so you don’t need the bulk pricing).

I was thinking, to celebrate this promotion, I will give free design services to anyone who orders through me and prints (through SU) their Christmas Cards.  Now, I realize it is WAY early, but if you have pictures that you want to use, or don’t think your children will change too much between now and Christmas, you might as well get your cards on sale, get something WAY more exciting than Costco offers, and have them all ready to go before the holiday rush.  Then when all your friends are stressing out, you can sit back and sip a cup of hot chocolate.  These cards come on a super thick card stock and the printing is superb.  I have samples of cards printed through these print services if you want to see.  Hurry though, if you want me to design it in time to get in on the August sale, you better let me know ASAP.    (Or, use the free trial and make some for yourself!!)  One thing I want (and WILL) do this year is to make a bunch of Christmas TAGS.  Just 3×3 tags that can be tied on all the neighbor gifts, and whatever other gifts that we give from our family.  Cute, easy…  I will post samples of that too..  I will run the design special through the holidays, but any printing done after August 31 will be back to regular (or bulk) pricing…

Anyway, it is past my bedtime.  I will post again… post my MDS project…post a couple more pics of Moving Forward (Did I mention I love this stamp set)  But, I have a feeling I am rambling…which I do when it is past my bedtime… way past…

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:

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:

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:

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….

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).

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:

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:

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!!