Change to Catalogues...

Change in Catalog Program Announced
February 20, 2009

During Shelli's teleconference Wednesday night, it was announced that we will be moving back to an annual catalog. We have been evaluating our catalog strategy for some time to determine what is most effective for you, and based on what we've learned and the feedback you have provided, we have decided to return to an annual catalog.

Because of the lead times involved in creating a catalog and the products that go into it, we had originally planned to make this change in July 2010. However, after considering the current economic situation and the effect it is having on your businesses, we have re-evaluated the timeline for this change and decided to launch the annual Idea Book & Catalog this coming July 2009.

What does this change mean to you?

• Beginning in July 2009, we will go back to an annual catalog.
• The US Hispanic supplement will also become an annual catalog.
• The Décor Elements catalog will continue to be separate from the Idea Book & Catalog, and will come out twice a year.
• The mini catalog program will change to include three mini catalogs a year, each lasting for four months.

In addition to the changes mentioned above, we will be introducing a small selection of hostess sets in each mini catalog. This will give your customers even more reason to host multiple workshops throughout the year.

We know that you will have lots of questions about these changes, and we will be providing more details in the coming months. Look for even more information to come as we get closer to the release of our new annual catalog in July.

We are excited about these changes and the benefits your businesses will see from them. Going back to an annual Idea Book & Catalog will decrease your cost of doing business and will simplify the catalog program--allowing you to focus on doing and sharing what you love.

At long last...

As promised, here is something I've worked on recently! A few months after I became a demonstrator (so like a month or so ago :)) I joined a group of other demonstrators who share ideas both on card-making and running their SU! business. With Sale-A-Bration having just started on February 1st, one of the ladies on the list decided to run a swap using only new stamp sets from either the catalogue or from the Sale-A-Bration brochure.

The above card is what I submitted to the swap!

The card actually started out as a birthday card for a co-worker. After finishing it, I loved it so much, I made 20 more and sent them off. I'm excited and can't wait to see what the other ladies in the swap make.

Under Construction

Check back Monday, February 9th!

I became a demonstrator for Stampin' Up in September of 2008 and decided to start this blog. I probably shouldn't have jumped in so quickly and gave myself some time to make sure I had content to share.

We moved nearly a year ago and our new place has a lot less cabinette space. Therefore, a lot of my crafting supplies are still in boxes. The problem with working out of boxes is that you tend to misplace tools, or forget which boxes they are stored in. This causes you to purchase replacement tools, only to later find the original one. As a demonstrator having duplicate tools is not always a bad idea, however when not completely needed, they take away from purchases of new tools that are needed. :)

So, in order to remedy this situation, I've decided to spend the next week and a half organizing the craft supplies already unpacked and to get some more boxes unpacked. At the same time, I will be catching up on taking photos of projects I've wanted to share and writing directions for others I've posted images of and never shared the reciepes.

After that, I hope to start making at least once post a week, sharing a technique or such. I'm a part of some great communities and I have a great upline so I plan on having a lot of content to share in the weeks to come.

My Valentine's "Bard"

What's a "Bard" you ask ... aside from a keeper of lore and signer of songs?

Well, it could be a cross between a bag and a card, or in the case of this post, a cross between a box and a card.

One of the groups I'm in as a Stampin' Up Demonstrator gave us a challenge this week. We were to make a card with candy in it ... and the card had to be heart shaped.

I struggled with this all week. The first idea that popped into my head required a diecut that I just haven't had the chance to buy yet (I've only been a demo for about 4 months now and I'm building up my supply. :)) I started to make a pattern for what I wanted, keeping the idea of the diecut in mind. However, someone from the design team who gave us the challenge posted a very nice sample (and she's where I got the "bard" word from), and I decided, that wasn't the route for me. I wanted my submission to be different.

So in effect,  I made a box. I used:

Paper: Red Riding Hood Cardstock, Candy Lane DSP

Ink: Red Riding Hood, Close to Cocoa

Punches: 1-1/4 Circle Punch, 1-3/8 Circle, Word Window

Accessories: Gold Brads

Here it is! The picture of what it looks like inside is a bit blurry because, well, its nearly 3am and I really should be in bed. :)

SU/Sizzix: Texturz Plates

I have to admit, when I first saw the texturz plates in the SU Catalogue (page 203), I was skeptical. I had previously purchased texture plates from fiskars and for some reason, I just couldn't get them to work right. They got tossed in a box somewhere and never used again (and after the move, I still haven't located the box they got tossed into).

Today I went looking for sizzix diecuts that could work on my Big Shot, but that wasn't offered in the SU Catalogue. JoAnns had a sell on a texturz started kit for a set not offered in the catalogue, so I purchased it to try it out. 

One look at the result and I'm hooked. Not only was it the missing link to help me finally finish my valentine's day cards (I kept feeling like something was missing), but I can see so many other uses for them!

I'm finishing up my vday cards now and will post shortly.

Valentine's Day Cards

12x12 Gift Bag

I'm currently working on writing a toutorial on making one of these bags. I've got it nearly done in a word document, however I was thinking of acutally making another and taking pictures.

Materials used:
2 Sheets of 12x12 paper (Frosty Day Designer Series Paper used)
White Velum Paper
Chocolate Chip Cardstock
36 inches of ribbon (used 5/8 inch Grosgrain Ribbon in Brocade Blue)
4 Jumbo eyelets
3 brads (used Old Olive from the Earth Elements set)
Ink: Black
Stamp Set: To You & Yours

Tools used:
Big Shot Top Note Die Cut
Eyelet Setter
Sticky Strip
SNAIL Adhesive

A Christmas Wish

Materials Used:
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Whisper White, Shimmery White
Silver Elastic Cord
Ink: Black
Markers: Close to Cocoa, Going Gray, Mellow Moss, Real Red, Sahara Sand, YoYo Yellow
Stamp Set: Home for Christmas

Tools Used:
SNAIL Adhesive

Holiday Lineup

Materials Used:
Cardstock: Whisper White and Real Red
Prestwick Designer Series Paper
Raised Dot Oval Holder & 2 3/16 inch brads (from the Styled Silver hodgepodge hardware set)
Crystal Effects
Red Glitter
Ink: Black, Silver
Markers: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Real Red
Stamp Sets: Holiday Lineup, Merry & Bright (snowflake background), To You & Yours (Sentiment)

Tools Used:
SNAIL Adhesive
Small Oval Punch

Monday Mojo #60

I finally did it, I made a card for Monday Mojo on Poetic Artistry. This one was a little difficult for me at first, but I think this isn't bad for my first attempt.

The Stamp Sets used were both Stampin Up and both are retired. They were Something to Celebrate and Big Celebrations.

I didn't really do anything special with this card. The scallop was made using one of the die cuts for the new Big Shot that Sizzix made for Stampin Up. The three presents at the bottom are slightly raised from the card with stampin' demonsionals. I had originally wanted to bring out the ribbon on the large present with some crystal effects. However, there are still a few boxes unpacked since our move and so I could not locate it last night. I bet its in the last box I didn't look in last night.

More Butterflies

And here is the birthday card to go along with the vase I posted about in the previous post. I think its obvious by now I really like the Flight of the Butterflies stamp set and the Big Shot. :) I had actually wanted to use the circle scallop die-cut, but it was a little too big for the card. Turns out it will probably work for the Monday Mojo #60 .

Birthday Project - Glass Vase

Today is both my mother’s and a co-worker’s birthday. My co-worker is a super nice woman who is always doing things for others. In fact, I happen to pass her cubicle one day and on her lunch break she was trying to start a crochet project. I stopped and chatted with her and showed her a trick I use to start a chain. We were talking about knit vs. crochet and I shared that I couldn’t knit very well, so I started using knitting looms. I told her about some projects I finished using looms and how much my friends loved the things I’d made them.

My birthday was a few days after that discussion and that morning I found a gift bag on my desk. Inside was a book full of some really neat patterns using looms. That’s the kind of thoughtful person she is.

Another co-worker and I were discussing how our co-worker always does things for people on Christmas and we wanted to do something for her. I shared some ideas of Christmas presents we could make, but then later learned that her birthday was coming up. So I shared this info and we purchased a very nice glass vase and using a set of rub-ons I received from a stampin up mini-catalogue last year, I put together this:



I actually really like how this came out and I’m considering doing something similar for my sister-in-law for Christmas. I also found some clear ornaments and I’m thinking of doing the same to them for a few people.

Happy Bird-day!

We're having another birthday celebration tomorrow at work for my boss. I was so excited to finally be able to use my Big Shot! I used the Top Note die cut and two retired stamp sets. The first was Sweet Songbirds, which is where the cute birdies came from. The "happy bird-day to you!" in the cute curvy style is from the "Love Ya Bunches" set. Pretty much everthing else was either purchased at JoAnn's or from a great little store near me named "Beverly's Unique Scrapbooking". The flowers are those pretty paper ones I'm sure you've seen around that come in bottles. I attached them to the paper simply with brads. I had considered using demonsionals or pop up glue dots, however these cards get passed around a lot and I didn't want to chance something getting snagged and/or falling off.