Taking Short Blog Break

Dear Stampers,

It is moving week for our family.  My family is living out of suitcases and hotels right now.  Anyone who has done this with small children knows it can be stressful.  Thank you for your patience and understanding while we finish the last few days in Lawton, Oklahoma and begin our first few days in Honolulu, Hawaii.  I will get back to blogging as soon as I possibly can.  It should only be a week or so.

Happy Stampin'
Kathleen

Odd Job for the Big Shot

This one is not a paper crafting projects, but still a really great use of my Stampin' Up! tools.  My daughters teacher asked the other day if I could cut her some foam circles.  The kids use them in class for their math lessons.  (Don't ask me how.  I am not sure).  I of course replied that I have something that could easily cut her a bunch of circles.

I went home and pulled out my Big Shot.  The foam she gave me was about 1/8" thick.  It came in small sheets.  I cut the foam into strips with my scissors then used the Circles #2 Original Die to cut them with the big shot.  So easy and saved her a ton of money over buying the ones at the teacher supply store.  The die will cut 4 circles of different sizes.  I used the second smallest one.  I did them in 4 different colors so the kids can do different values for each color.

It's A Party Blog Hop

Sorry my post is so late today.  We are down to the last few days before the big move.  Since I have nothing of mine to show you today, I thought I would tell you what my friends at Stampin' Addicts are doing.

This is the 3rd Anniversary of the Stampin' Addicts website.  To celebrate they are hosting a Party Themed Blog Hop.  Simply go to STOP # 1 at Yapha's blog to start the hop, then follow the links at the bottom of each post to go to the next stop.  If you get lost along the way or want to chat about the hop go to the Stampin' Addicts Chat Thread.
Have fun hopping.    

Stampin' Up! on YouTube

Did you know that Stampin' Up! has their own YouTube channel?  Well, they do.  The official Stampin' Up! YouTube channel has video demonstrations from the SU! home office and several Demonstrators of the Year.

They have videos for PRODUCTS...such as the NEW Doily Framelit Die.

Videos for TECHNIQUES.....like Dying the Bakers Twine.

They even have some of the FUNNY COMMERCIALS that other demonstrators have submitted about SU! for contests.

Be sure to check out the Stampin' Up! YouTube Channel today.  

Thank you Lawton

My family is getting ready to move to Hawaii next week.  Three weeks ago I had an appreciation party for my customers from the past year.  We had a great time.  There was not an empty seat in the house.

I want to take this time to say THANK YOU to all of my SW Oklahoma customers.  I have enjoyed the time together with all of you.  Thank you for allowing me to share my love of Stampin' Up! with you.  Many of you have become life long friends through stamping.
Special thanks go to Carol.  It means so much to me that you gave me a card.  You did a wonderful job.  I will certainly use the Lei idea in workshops with my new customers.  (For more on Carol's birds check out this post)

I hope you all keep stamping.

Stampin' Addicts

I like to think that I have a creative side.  There are times though that I need a little inspiration or idea from other stampers.  That is when I turn to Stampin' Addicts.   

Stampin' Addicts is a FREE online forum of stampers who are "Positively Creative!  Positively Stampin' Up!"  The website was started by a few demonstrators who needed a positive place to show their projects and trade ideas.  The website is open to anyone (not just demonstrators) who loves Stampin' Up!

There are FORUMS where you can get ideas and how to's for techniques, ask about product uses or just chat about life.  There is even a forum for demonstrators to discuss ideas for classes and workshops, even the upcoming promotion or Stampin' Up! event.

Need something to get you motivated or inspired for a place to start.  Check out the CHALLENGES.  Each day of the week is designated for a particular challenge.  Things like Color, Sketch, Technique and Scrapbooking are a few of the challenge categories.  You can then post your projects for everyone to see or check out what they have done for further inspiration.

One of my favorite places on Stampin' Addicts to check out is the GALLERY.  The gallery is filled with projects other stampers have posted.  You can search by a particular Stampin' Up! Stamp Set, product, technique, or Occasion.  We all love positive feedback, so post your Stampin' Up! projects and others can leave you comments.

The next time you are looking for some inspiration or have a question, consider Stampin' Addicts for the answer.

Mixed Bunch Birthday

I sat down the other day to make birthday cards for the ladies in my church group.  I didn't have much time and 95% of my stamping supplies are in huge crates heading to our new home.  I kept back the demonstrator starter kit done My Way (theme for Stampin' Up! in 2012) to use for the next two months.  Here is what I came up with.

I went with a monochromatic color scheme using soft subtles.  The above card is in Certainly Celery.  There are others below in Pretty in Pink and Marina Mist.  The Mixed Bunch Stamp Set from the Occasions Mini Catalog are perfect for simple fast cards.  They work for everything ....birthdays, sympathy, thank you, get well, even baby.  The stamp set comes with three large flowers and 3 small circle designs you can use for further embellishing your flowers or cards.  There is also a coordinating punch for all the images.

The Designer Paper is from the Paper Patterns Stacks.  You get 40 sheets of 12x12 double sided paper.  There are 4 sheets of each color in the color family.  The sentiment is from my favorite word stamp set Sincere Salutations.  It is a go to for any occasion.

Products Used:

Stamps: Mixed Bunch (wm#125535, cm#125537), Sincere Salutations (#115068)

Colors: Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Marina Mist, Soft Subtles Paper Patterns Stack (#117152), Basic Black Classic Ink (#101179)

Accessories:  Dimensionals (#104430), Blossom Punch (#125603)

ORDER ONLINE 24/7 at My Demonstrator Website.  Order $50 in Product (before tax and shipping) and receive a Sale-A-Bration item for FREE! and a Frequent Stamper Miles Token from me.

Mixed Bunch (wm#125535, cm#125537)

Sincere Salutations (wm#115608)