For a Special Friend....

....who just joined my Stampin' Up! family, and I'm so happy to have her aboard (welcome, Natalie)! In addition to the wonderful perks offered by Stampin' Up! (see below), all my girls get a monthly project from me, which consists of a completed sample and illustrated instruction sheet (with measurements) for the project, which they can use for classes or workshops, if they want. Some of my "family" aren't local, so I keep them in the loop by sending notes from the monthly team meeting, plus any updates from the home office, in addition to the monthly project.

If you are thinking about becoming a demonstrator, whether as a hobby demo (for the discount), or as a business (to add to the family income), now is the perfect time to join. Not only is the customizable Starter Kit discounted right now, anyone who signs up during Sale-A-Bration can choose either a pack of Designer Series Paper or a Digital Download EVERY MONTH for the rest of 2012! 

I'd love to have you join my team! If you've been thinking about it, please contact me with your phone number, and I'll call you and answer any questions you have. And, there's an added bonus from me if you sign up before February 29th! But I'm not telling, unless I talk to you personally. Heh heh!

Stamps: Up, Up & Away

Cardstock: Whisper White, Marina Mist, Nursery Nest DSP

Ink: Basic Black, Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, Soft Suede, and Bashful Blue Classic Stampin' Pads, plus Old Olive and Pear Pizzazz Stampin' Write Markers

Accessories: Navy Brads (Regals Collection), Scallop Circle Punch, Stampin' Sponges, Stampin' Dimensionals

Just a few of the benefits of becoming a demonstrator:

1. Being the hostess of an order/party anytime you want – you get your discount, commission and hostess benefits.
2. With Stampin’ Up!, personal purchases count towards monthly overrides, quarterly minimums, incentives, contests, promotions and more. 
3. A beautiful full color monthly idea magazine – Stampin’ Success – filled with TONS of samples and ideas. 
4. A free copy of new catalogs when they are released. 
5. Flexibility – you decide what you want your involvement to be. 
6. No commitment – you can decide to quit anytime, and no set number of bookings are required to join. No penalties, nothing to pay back. 
7. A chance to earn free Stamp sets as part of our Stampin’ Start program.
8. Online ordering 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
9. Accept customer credit cards with no fees /costs to the demonstrator.
10. Preorder periods of new and upcoming products.
11. Access to convention, regionals, and other great training venues.
12. Stampin’ Up! handles the sales tax payments to the state. No need for a resale number!

Happy Birthday SUO Challenge #39

As some of you long-time visitors are aware, February is the month for an extraordinary number of birthdays in my family, so this SUO Challenge was really right up my alley!

The color inspiration for this card came by accident.....I had scraps of Blushing Bride paper laying on my very messy desk (left overs from the Birthday card class last week), when I accidentally knocked a dowel holding some spools of ribbon loose, and they all came crashing down on the desk and floor. The Bravo Burgundy 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon (retired) just happened to land on the Blushing Bride paper, and I really liked the combination, so I grabbed some cardstock and got to work. Since that ribbon is retired, and we're encouraged to use current items if we can, I opted for the pleated Blushing Bride ribbon. It's a lot easier to work with, anyway!

Stamps: Fresh Vintage, On Your Birthday
Cardstock: Blushing Bride Textured, Bravo Burgundy, Very Vanilla, Twitterpated DSP
Ink: Bravo Burgundy Classic Stampin' Pad, plus Bravo Burgundy, Blushing Bride, Wild Wasabi, and Early Espresso Stampin' Write Markers
Accessories: Big Shot, Adorning Accents Edgelits Dies, 1" Square Punch, Postage Stamp Punch, Blushing Bride 1/2" Pleated Satin Ribbon, Pearls Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals

Faux Tile, Real Love

The theme this week at SUO Challenges is to try a new technique, or one you haven't done in a while. My friend Jennifer Timko's Faux Tile card inspired me to try this technique. It was easy-peasy with the Simply Scored scoring tool, and most of the elements are things you can get for free when Sale-A-Bration starts!!! How cool is that?!

Using the small end of the stylus, score each "grout" line several times - you want a deep impression. Then stamp your image over it, being careful not to press too hard or you'll get ink in the grout (and we all know what a pain it is to clean grout, lol).

Poppy Parade was used first, then Crumb Cake was ever-so-lightly burnished on the edges of the tiles to really make 'em pop. Not that you'd want tiles popping in real life, but you get the picture.

This also qualifies for Shelli Gardner's Simply Stunning Challenge. Simple? Yes, definitely! Stunning? I think the color combo is stunning, so yes to that, too!

Stamps: Fresh Vintage (SAB), Outlined Occasions (SAB)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB)
Ink: Poppy Parade and Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pads, plus Poppy Parade Stampin' Write Marker
Accessories: Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Decorative Label Punch, Basic Black 5/8" Satin Ribbon, Rhinestones Basic Jewels, Sponge Dauber, Stampin' Dimensionals

Fresh Vintage Birthday

One of the new stamp sets from Sale-A-Bration (starts Jan. 24th!), is called Fresh Vintage, and is an absolutely lovely little set, all by itself. The fact that you can get it for FREE is icing on the cake! This card was inspired by another card I saw on Pinterest. I liked the way the frames were die cut into the layers, and knew it would be perfect for this birthday card.

Coloring is so much fun, whether it's coloring in a stamped image, or coloring on the stamp itself with markers, as was done here. The butterfly is made from Very Vanilla cardstock sprayed with Gold Smooch Spritz and cardstock weight vellum. The layer of vellum between the Very Vanilla layers gives it a somewhat ethereal look, but you can't really see it in the photo.

When using the Labels Collection Framelits dies, I cut both the DSP and the cardstock at the same time with the smaller frame (using Dotto to keep the layers from shifting). That made it easier to center the larger frame on just the DSP layer to make everything line up nicely. Both layers are popped up on dimensionals for extra depth.

Stamps: Fresh Vintage (SAB item), Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Pool Party, Very Vanilla, White Vellum Cardstock, Attic Boutique DSP
Ink: Soft Suede Classic plus Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz and Soft Suede Stampin' Write Markers
Accessories: Gold Smooch Spritz, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Big Shot, Pool Party 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon, Pearls Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

And yes, I know the DSP is upside down. Shhhhh, maybe no one will notice!

SNEAK PEEK - WAHOOOO!

Mr. Brown brought my 2012 Occasions Mini catalog and 2012 Sale-A-Bration preorder last night, and even though I should have been doing other things, I couldn't resist trying out some of the new goodies (yes, I am weak....I admit it), and using as many as I could on this card without letting it totally out of hand.

*Crickets chirping*

Well okay, maybe I could have toned it down a little bit, but I really wanted to show as much as I could on this one card! We Stampin' Up! demonstrators aren't allowed to post the products themselves ahead of time, but we CAN make something with 'em, and share that. (Have I mentioned lately how much I love being a demo? Getting to preorder new things and create with them, before everybody else, is one of the MANY great perks of being a SU demonstrator!)

So, on this one little card, you will see five items from the Occasions Mini and two items from the SAB catalogs. The first thing you may have noticed are all the die-cuts. Yep, Stampin' Up! is coming out with Framelits - something akin to Nestabilities, only they're even better because you can see exactly where the die will cut, making image framing a piece o' cake!  We will also have Edgelits dies to cut fancy edges AND there are embossing folders for the edges to match!  And you might have noticed the two little embossed hearts. That's from the new Fashionable Hearts Embosslit - it's just like the Beautiful Butterflies Embosslit, only hearts! I {heart} hearts.


Stamps: Bordering on Romance, Sweetheart
Cardstock: Whisper White, Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper (FREE SAB item)
Ink: Calypso Coral, Blushing Bride, and Poppy Parade Classic
Accessories: Big Shot, Edgelits Adorning Accents, Framelits Hearts Collection, Embosslits Fashionable Hearts,  Large (8 mm) Pearl Basic Jewels, Pearl Basic Jewels, Calypso Coral Everyday Enchantment 1/8" Organdy Ribbon (FREE SAB item)

In 2012 Occasions Mini catalog, starts 1/4 
In 2012 Sale-A-Bration catalog, starts 1/24