Occasions Mini Swap

The Occasions Mini Catalogue will be launching next week on Wednesday and will run April 1st to June 30, 2009.



Some of the ladies from LNS decided to do a swap and exchange some ideas. I took one look at the Great Friend set and decided, I had to have it.



Now that the cards are in the mail back to us I figured it was okay to share my creation. There was one slight change from the card I made for the swap and the one I ended up using as a bday card to a good friend. I have been trying to spice up my cards and so I did this to the inside:

Blog Candy

I don't currently have blog candy, but I've started to see it on blogs I visit. When I can, I'll share links to those blog candies I find.

Last night I came across this blog candy and had to share ... not because it asked me to, but because there was some great stuff in it. :)

You can find it here: http://jennifer-phoenixcrafts.blogspot.com/2009/03/easter-blog-candy.html

Good Luck with her Blog Candy!

The Winner has been chosen! Click here to find out who was the lucky person.

LNS Challenge #12

This week's challenge was "Feeling Sassy!" and was a Stamp A Stack Challenge. I'd been having a creativity block the last couple weeks and so this was the first time I'd participated in a while. There were so many wonderful entries that mine doesn't really stand a chance, but I submitted it anyway.

It was nice to be able to just sit down and stamp again. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this up.

Gift Box

I love boxes, and I love making them. I've got a lot of paper and ribbons from Sale-A-Bration, so I decided to make a box.

Normally the pattern for this box is better made with a 9x9 piece of paper, but I didn't have any 12x12 paper in the shades I needed (on my list for my next order :). Therefore I adjusted the measurements down (took me a couple tries till I got the right numbers).

I believe I ended up with an 8 1/4 x 8 1/4 square and scored at 2.75 and 5.5. You then want to score diagonally in the four corners so that the corner is easy to fold over. I stapled the paper there and covered it with the patterned paper.

The top and the bottom are three layers with the base a 3 3/8 x 3 3/8 square. The 2nd square is is 3 1/4 x 3 1/4 and the 3rd square (using DSP) is 3 1/8 x 3 1/8.

For the lid, I made a 5x5 square, scalloping the edges and scoring at 1 inch on all sides. I folded the sides in and attached it to the top base. I think next time I make this box, I will make the lid slightly smaller, perhaps a 4 7/8 x 7/8 square so it fits a little snugger on the top.

I secured the ribbon between the bottom base and the box and using the horizontal slit punch, made a slot big enough for the ribbon to slip through. This was to secure the lid to the top and also because I think it looks cute. :)


Thanks for letting me share and happy stamping!

Raberta "Berta" Gannon

Perfect Bows

One of the areas that I have the biggest problem with is tying bows. While searching Youtube for some tutorials for distressing paper, I came across this video.

This is a GREAT video with 3 different techniques for tying bows. Definantly going to be using one of these soon. Don't be suprised if you see it show up later this week.

LNS: Challenge #9 Entry

Late Night Stampers, a yahoo group for SU! Enthsiests (we just recently opened ourselves up to non demonstrators) has their weekly Design Team Challenges. This week we were given a sketch to make a card from (See Above).

I actually struggled a little with this. Not because I couldn't come up with any ideas, but because all my ideas required one item I didn't own. Each time I place an order, I generally need specific things and so I can't be as spontaneous as I'd like. Be that as it may, here is the card I came up with.

I sometimes get intimidated by some of the cards that are entered for these challenges, there is a LOT of talent in this group. I keep self-talking myself to not be intimidated but to use it as a means to motivate myself to be better than I am.

To that end, I wanted to change up my card a little and so its not a standard side or bottom opening card.

So I made it open in the center of the card. :)

Mardi Gras and the March of Dimes

You might ask, what does the March of Dimes have to do with Mardi Gras.

Well, I am one the March of Dimes representative at work and tomorrow we are doing a fund raiser for the department using Mardi Gras as the theme.

As the meeting this morning, I offered to make little water bottle hangers to put a "on the go" type drink pouch. This was to see if anyone would be interested in buying. If they went well, I'd make a bunch for next month's Book Sale to try and raise more money.

Here is what I came up with. I tried to use Mardi Gras colors. This piece also happens to fit with Challenge #8 at Late Night Stampers ... Whats Mardi Gras without a party!?

Cute Gift/Candy Bag

To start off the Sale-A-Bration, the group of Demos I belong to created a cute Gift/Candy bag to give out to new customers who showed up to the Stamp Camp. I wasn't able to participate, however during the last team meeting, my Upline shared with me how they made the bag, and she put her own touches to the sample. The following two pictures are the outside and inside of the bag.

Notice that one of the jars doesn't have a flower on top? Thats because I took this to a friend's to show her and her son snagged one of the jars when we weren't looking and tried to get to the M&Ms. :)

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.