Sep 1, 2011 | Christmas, Demonstrator, Holiday Mini catalog 2011 |
I’m so excited that the Holiday Mini Catalog starts today and everyone can order! Have you seen it yet? It is packed full of great products!
Some of my favorites are the new Simply Scored scoring tool (yipee!), the 1″ x8″ skinny cello bags, the Spice Cake product suite, the Holiday Stocking die for the Big Shot, personalized address stamps for the holidays, the Stitched Stocking stamp set with a matching PUNCH (yeah!), the Peekaboo Frames die for the Big Shot and the 25 & Counting stamp set and more. This may be my favorite mini catalog yet. And if you open up the first page of the mini (US version) you see this:
That’s me in the bottom corner! I was so excited to see this at convention! I didn’t think they would actually pick me when I got an email months earlier and then didn’t hear anything back. I don’t consider myself to be good with words, in fact I think I am a terrible writer, so I thought for a long time about how to answer the questions they asked trying to make it sound good. And when I didn’t hear back I figured they picked someone else. Thanks so much Stampin’ Up! you really (I mean really) made me feel special! I love this company!
So online ordering is up and ready for you to order any time day or night – just go here to my website.
Aug 31, 2011 | Big Shot, Holiday Mini catalog 2011, Mini - Love Notes, Smooch Spritz techniques |
Last week I had my monthly Hands-On class and we made Mini Cards – little 3×3 cards with envelopes. I wanted a box to hold them all in and found the perfect box in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Mini Catalog. It is the new Kraft Gift Box. This one decorated in a very vintage style because I wanted to stick with neutral colors since I had an assortment of various colors and styles of cards that we were making in the class. The box is the perfect size to fit 3×3 mini cards and envelopes but it is also a food safe box so you can fill it with cookies, candies or a muffin or cupcake – yum yum!
This is the side view of the box. I stamped directly on the box using Early Espresso ink. I used two different stamp sets – Best Friends Forever and French Foliage. I also sponged the edges of the box on all corners with Early Espresso ink. Around the base of the box is a strip of Early Espresso Patterns Designer Series paper – you need two strips punched with the Lace Ribbon Border punch. You need a strip that has 12 full flowers – three for each side of the box. So match up the ends of the two strips and glue together – I use a 2-way glue pen. Then punch out 1″ circles in Very Vanilla card stock and glue to the back of the strip behind each flower. It will look like this:
Then glue the strip around the base of the box – I used the Multipurpose Liquid glue in the green bottle to do this. Just put a tiny bit on the back of each circle and then glue three on each side of the box meeting in the back.
Here is a view of the top of the box –
I created a 3d flower for the top of the box. I used the First Edition Specialty Designer Series paper. I cut 3 of each layer – 3″ Circle die, 2-3/8″ Scallop Circle punch, 1-3/4″ Scallop Circle punch, and 1″ Circle punch. Crumple up all the circles and then flatten out a bit and stack them. They are not perfectly lined up on top of each other you want them to be a little off center from one another. Once they are all stacked poke a hole through with the paper piercer and then stick in an Antique Brad. Also poke a hole in the center of the box lid – push the brad through to secure the flower to the top of the box. Take a Stampin’ Sponge and Early Espresso ink and sponge the petals of the flowers.
To finish I stamped “hand crafted” from Tiny Tags on Crumb Cake card stock and punched with the Jewelry Tag punch, sponge the edges, poke a hole and tie to the brad with a piece of Early Espresso Baker’s Twine. Tie a piece of Crumb Cake Seam Binding around the base of the flower.
Now close the lid and take the whole box and put it inside the color catcher. Spritz it all over with the Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz. On all sides and the top. Let dry and you are done! A beautiful gift box to give to someone special.
Over the next few days I’ll be sharing all the 3×3 mini cards that we made along with some instructions for each one. So please come back to see them.
And here are a couple of other pictures I wanted to share with you from the class. Aspen and Magnolia love my stamp classes because they get lots of attention from all of my stampers. And they like to sit with us too. So most everyone is willing to share a chair with the dogs – especially Aspen. Here he is sharing a chair with Jeannette.
The chairs are just the perfect little head rest for the dogs. Usually they sit on the other side of the table because then they can look out the window and see the chipmunks, squirrels, and birds out there.
A couple more things – it’s the LAST DAY for the Summer Mini Catalog on the Buy 3 Get 1 Free Designer Series paper sale. Hurry and order today Wednesday, August 31st by midnight. You can order online through my website store – click here.
Aug 30, 2011 | Big Shot, Cards, Flight of the Butterfly, Holiday Mini catalog 2011, UDI Color Challenge |
Happy Tuesday and welcome to a new color challenge for the week. It’s the Utah Diva’s Color Challenge and we are on week #51. Here is the inspiration picture for this week –
This week we are starting to see some of our new In-Colors – Lucky Limeade and Island Indigo along with Pacific Point and Always Artichoke. Some pretty glass beads are in this week’s inspiration picture. I was looking at trying to make some paper beads but didn’t have papers in the right colors so I’ll have to do that another time.
Instead I went with a card and wanted to use a stamp set that I haven’t used before.
This is what I came up with. It is a long card 6×3 that fits in the long open-end envelopes. The base is Lucky Limeade, then a layer of Always Artichoke with scallops at one end. The Whisper White panel is stamped with the mushrooms from the stamp set Funky Four. It is hard to tell in the picture but I inked the stamp in Lucky Limeade and then took the Always Artichoke Stampin’ Write Marker and went around the outline of each mushroom. I had in my mind that the mushrooms needed a little butterfly sitting on top so I pulled out the set Flight of the Butterfly and my Beautiful Wings Embosslet. The stamped butterfly is done the same as the mushrooms – inked in Pacific Point and then outlined with the Stampin’ Write marker in Island Indigo before I stamped it on my card stock. The words are Pacific Point. I added two little die cut butterflies and some Island Indigo Ruffled Ribbon. Then at the very end I decided to pull out the new Dazzling Details that will be in the new Holiday Mini Catalog and add little touches of it on the dots on the butterfly and mushrooms and also on the tiny die-cut butterfly. Here is a close up picture of that.
Oh yeah one more final thing – the mushrooms looked like they were just floating around and so i used the marker to add some scribbles underneath to ground them. Here on this close up picture you can see the two colors on the mushrooms better. Hope you like it.
Click on this link to go to the Utah Diva’s Color Challenge blog. There you can see the creations from the entire design team and add a link to your creation if you decide to play along.
Stampin’ Up! Supplies:
- Card stock: Lucky Limeade, Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Pacific Point
- Ink: Lucky Limeade, Always Artichoke, Pacific Point, island Indigo, Stampin’ Write Markers – Always Artichoke, Island Indigo
- Stamp sets: Funky Four, Flight of the Butterfly
- Accessories: Big Shot Die Cut Machine, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Island Indigo Ruffled Ribbon, Scallop edge punch, Dazzling Details.
To order Stampin’ Up! Supplies to make this project click here.
Aug 29, 2011 | Cards, Create with Connie & Mary, family, Holiday Mini catalog 2011, Masculine |
Today my Tyler is 18 years old! Happy Birthday Tyler! Everyone was home this weekend and we ate dinner at the Kani house Sunday night and then came home for cake (we didn’t eat much of it though because we were stuffed from dinner). Afterwards Greg took Kyle back to GT and Tyler went back to KSU.
Today I wanted to share the card I made for Tyler for his birthday. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do exactly. I decided to look for some sketch ideas and ended up with the sketch at Create with Connie & Mary. I pulled some scraps that were sitting on my craft table from a card I made last week for my KSU class and created this:
And here is the CCMC164 sketch –
My card is turned. The base is Cajun Craze and then I have a Not Quite Navy panel. A strip of Designer Series Paper from the Well Worn collection (works great for boys), and a piece of River Rock card stock punched with the Scallop Ribbon Border punch. Then I wrapped Linen Thread around.
I used the Bring on the Cake stamp set for the happy birthday.Then did you notice the “eighteen” on the side. That comes from a new stamp set called 
25 and Counting – it is a Christmas set that will be out in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Mini catalog on Sept. 1st. It is stamped in Cajun Craze ink on River Rock card stock and then cut out by hand.
Finally I added two Cajun Craze brads on the side.
I thought it made a nice teen boy card. I hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by today.
Aug 24, 2011 | Christmas, Designer Series Paper, Holiday Mini catalog 2011, uStamp |
Hi all! I am so excited about this project. It was something that I started thinking about more than a year ago. What I started with then was not coming together so I set it aside. I described the project to my stamp club and they wanted to make one so I tried to order more of the kit online – out of stock – every place I looked in the US was out of stock – for almost a year! So we never made the project. Then this year rolled around and Dawn asked me to be a designer for the Ustamp with Dawn & Friends I heart the Holidays class. And I remembered this project and proposed it to Dawn as one of my class projects – she said yes. So now I was committed to getting this project done.
But most of a year had passed so the Designer Paper I was using was retired. My 3d tree using the Big Shot die was also retired. So I started from square one. And the frames were now in stock again – things were looking up. I ordered the Letters from Santa Designer Paper and Quick Accents and got to work. For the shadow box center I decided I wanted it to look like the inside of a home at Christmas – I made a cross-stitch stocking (actually I’ve made 5) and it had a scene with a fire place, mantel with stockings, a tree, a window, etc. So this was my “model” for my project. Then convention came and they showed us the new Holiday Mini catalog – oh my gosh! There was a stocking stamp set and a matching punch! I had to have it for this project so I begged Dawn to let me finish my project after the deadline so I could order, receive and create my project and include these new products from the Holiday Mini catalog – she said yes! And by the way if you are in the US – check out page 3 of the Holiday Mini – that’s me!
So are you ready to see it? My stamp club will be making these – luckily the frames were in stock and I ordered a bunch. They may run out soon since all the Ustamp subscribers are ordering them up right now so they can make this project. If you are a member of the class you can get a full step-by-step tutorial for my project – plus about 40 others – there are some awesome projects on there – visit the site here to join.
Ok – so now are you ready?
I wish you could see it in person – it is one of my all time favorite projects (I still love my Build a Bear Sleeping Bags!). The tree turned out so well. I went through several different attempts at creating a 3-d tree and finally settled on this one and I love it!
The little tiny jingle bells are in the new Holiday Mini and so are the Mica Flakes which are the snow in the window. And I was so surprised at how big the jar of Mica Flakes was – I thought it would be small like our embossing powders – but no this guy is huge – about the size of 3 button containers.
This was my first project for the class and I have one more that will post later.
And now for some more Ustamp class news – I will be designing for the next class too!
I am super super excited to announce that Early Bird Registration is now open for UStamp with Dawn & Friends!! Paper Parade – Early Fall 2011!!
WOOHOO!!!!!!!
UStamp with Dawn and Friends!! has implemented a new FAST AND EASY way for everyone to join as a member and you no longer need to wait for Opening Day to receive and invite!!
BIG YAY on that one!!
What do you think of the new banner…I LOVE IT of course…hope you do too!!
Are YOU a Paper LOVER?? Who isn’t, right??!!
Paper Parade will be focusing on showcasing Stampin’ Up! Paper from the USA/Canada 2011 – 2012 Idea Book & Catalog as well as the 2011 Holiday Mini Catalog!!
This is a HUGE Challenge to cover all the papers in 40+ projects…but all the Designers are way excited and are more than up for the challenge!! Keeping in mind that the most important element is the AWESOMENESS of the project, each Designer is working MAGIC with the Stampin’ Up! Papers!!
Since our focus this round is PAPER and not just the upcoming Holiday Season, we have a VAST VARIETY of FANTASTIC Projects!!
Come join us and take advantage of the Early Bird Savings!! ONLY $19.99
Click the blinkie below to start the payment/signup process….it’s E*A*S*Y*!!
The Paper Parade website is OPEN NOW,
so you will not need to wait for an invite on Opening Day!!
Remember, with the implementation of the new payment process allows YOU to enter the website as soon as you make your payment!! Woohoo!!
Hope you join us…I will “see” you over at the Paper Parade Website!!
Jul 28, 2011 | Holiday Mini catalog 2011, Stampin' Up! Convention |
The theme for the Stampin’ Up! convention this year was GROW.
The theme was everywhere – on the main stage, throughout the convention center, in our classes, in the gathering place, memento mall, and the product showcase. I love the theme this year. I want my business to grow, my team to grow and my circle of friends to grow! Let’s grow, grow, grow.
I wanted to share some more pictures of convention with you – hopefully I’m not repeating myself…..
One of the best parts about convention is meeting new friends, seeing friends in person that you have only “talked to” by using the computer or the phone, and seeing old friends that live so far away.
Mindy, Michele, Dawn, Patty, Monika, Cindy
Here I am with Connie & Mary from Create with Connie & Mary classes
Our gang at lunch on the last day - Linda, Cindy, Brenda, Tammy and Carol joined us
Another favorite thing to do is visit the Stampin’ Up! Corporate Office in Riverton, Utah – we get to tour the Legacy Room which is full of more displays, see the warehouse where the orders are picked, go through the idea room, Demonstrator Support and visit the Rock.
Stampin' Up! Home Office
During convention we get a mixture on Main Stage presentations and then smaller group classes. This year we had to divide and conquer in the the smaller classes – there were more offered than what we could fit into our schedules. Here are some of the fun presentations from main stage –
We had a visit from Santa while Shannon West was presenting.
The Stampin' Up! band performed for us on Saturday!
Willy Wonka and his kids sang for us too!
And there was lots more fun on main stage! I think I have way too many pictures to share. Here is one more from Product Park (I’ll have more another day) –
Starter Kit Options
It’s the Stampin’ Up! Starter Kit and in July you can get a special Mini Kit for $99 plus a bonus Christmas Keepsake Box project – but HURRY – time is running out. You can sign up online through my website until Sunday night if you want this special price and project kit. Plus I’m going to have a special stamping day for us all to get together and make this box. Visit my website here – www.monika.stampinup.net – and click on JOIN THE FUN to learn more. Or email me and I’ll answer any questions that you have.
Oh – one more last picture for today –
Do you know what that is? It is the new Holiday Mini catalog that starts in September. And do you know why I am so excited about it?
Well not only are there some really great new products inside but do you see that little picture in the corner – that is ME! Yes I am in the mini catalog! This is the US version. I think I heard that the Canadian version has someone else in theirs – I didn’t get to see it though so I don’t know who it is. I even got mine autographed by Shelli – ok well not really – I have a fake autograph from one of her daughters – I didn’t get in line fast enough to actually see Shelli this year. Shelli is the owner of Stampin’ Up! and a very popular lady. I have had the pleasure of meeting her several other times though and she is a really nice person.
Ok enough from me today. Thanks for stopping by!
Some of my favorites are the new Simply Scored scoring tool (yipee!), the 1″ x8″ skinny cello bags, the Spice Cake product suite, the Holiday Stocking die for the Big Shot, personalized address stamps for the holidays, the Stitched Stocking stamp set with a matching PUNCH (yeah!), the Peekaboo Frames die for the Big Shot and the 25 & Counting stamp set and more. This may be my favorite mini catalog yet. And if you open up the first page of the mini (US version) you see this:
