Oh Happy Day ~ You Are Invited

It really is a happy day because I think I have embedded this video correctly into the blog! You see, 'embed' is a new term for me, seriously.

And I really wanted you to watch this video because this is the card kit that I am just getting ready to open and create. It is featured on page 6 of your new annual catalog ~ Oh Happy Day Card Kit. The kit is all inclusive (like an extra large Paper Pumpkin!) ; it includes everything needed to create 20, 20 cards. There are enough chipboard pieces, die-cuts, foil embellishments, doilies, baker's twine plus a stamp spot, an acrylic block, card bases and envelopes. There are Stampin' Dimensionals included, but have your favorite adhesive on hand, too.

AND the stamp set is included ~ 13 photopolymer stamps (the ones you can see through for perfect positioning on your cards).

Look how bold and bright the colors are: Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight (my personal favorite) plus Bermuda Bay  ~  spells summer to me!





This kit is the first in the new catalog that I have purchased, in fact it was on my first order.
The quality of the card stock is superior. The ease is incredible. The value - well, 20 cards for $35?

What a great way to spend some of your summer days, or nights. And at the end of it, you have 20 all occasion cards - congratulations, birthday, hello, thanks ... plus you have a stamp set to keep.

Of course all instructions are included. So, the kit, unassembled, would also make a great gift.

You know I love to stamp, but I really love to stamp with friends. So here's your invitation:

         Come stamp with me and craft this card kit ~ Sunday, July 31  2 PM. 

For your class fee of $45 I will order your kit for you, have everything ready to go 

and have some treats to nibble on as we work. 

I will need reservations before I order the kits: please contact me so I can order by July 8.

And oh, what a happy day we'll have!

Stamp, Baby, Stamp

Maybe it's just a Grandmama thing, but I  love children's clothes and books and toys.  My newest  granddaughter  arrived just a month ago,  and the next one is due in October. I melt over the soft blues and pale yellows and christening whites.

I  have a few favorite Grandmama  hangouts.  I  would like to invite you to one of them on Monday, June 27 ~ The Velveteen Rabbit,  in Harbour View.  Not only is there a sale happening, but I  am also going to be offering a Stampin'Up! class.

We'll create cards for the youngsters in your life. You do not have to be a Grandmother  ~ aunts and cousins and family friends are also very special folks!

Think new baby, thank you, happy birthday,  congratulations, way to go... there are so many reasons to celebrate and to share your love.

I'll have everything you need, but as usual,   bring along your essential adhesive and snips and bone folder if you have them. (You'd better have them!)

The class is only $10 and includes a light lunch ~ and summer clothes are on sale. Please make reservations before all spaces are taken: 757- 483 - 0570.

Follow  The Velveteen Rabbit on Facebook!

I hope to see you there!

My Eyes Are Getting ...

I  love to read,  but it often makes me drowsy.  Books slip right out my hands as my head falls forward.

But tonight for a few minutes I am going to start in on the latest issue of Stampin' Up!'s leadership publication  'Stampin' Success.'

This quarterly magazine is one perk - of many- of being a SU Demonstrator.  

Somehow I don't' think I'll be Up All Night tonight...

Everyone Is An Artist

I have never been terribly artistic, at least with paint and brush or pen and  ink, but I always enjoyed my coloring books and my school art classes. Even as we only went to art class one day a week in elementary school, we always had various art projects in our classrooms.

Oddly, I distinctly remember drawing assignments in Miss Phipp's fourth grade Virginia History class. I am old enough to have been in school when ONLY Virginia History was taught in fourth grade history class. On an oversized piece of manila construction paper I meticulously drew the Capitol Building in Williamsburg, brick by brick. I was pretty talented at shading those bricks ~  smell the Crayolas.

One reason I enjoy Stampin' Up! so is because I can't draw or paint, but I feel like I can when I use stamps to create a pleasing picture or design.

Artist's Palette is one of the first stamp sets I bought from the new catalog -  it was available during the pre-order season for demonstrators (another great reason for joining SU!). The Playful Palette Suite is on pages 118 - 119 in the new catalog. Aside from loving the washi tape and the cool sentiment 'your idea to have a birthday was simply a stroke of genius!' the catalog's props

remind me of The Color Kittens! Please tell me you remember The Color Kittens!!

I played with several card designs and then searched Pinterest. I discovered many pinned and posted designs in which the easel held a framed picture, not just the clever sentiments provided in the set. Somewhere along the way I met Stephanie Fischer (www.thecraftythinker.com.au) and a design that I wanted to try. Not identical, but ...

I have not yet received my set of the new Layering Square Framelits, so I had to experiment a bit to come up with my measurements, and it worked. I did not use as  many layers as I easily could have with the new framelits, but this is good - I like it.

In her instructions, Stephanie even provided a bit of artistic advice for shadowing - a little Soft Suede marker shadowing on the easel stamped in Soft Suede and the use of a white gel pen on the green leaves. All of which I conveyed to my art students in our class yesterday!

It is difficult to detect from my photo (never really had photography lessons), but the small 2 x 2 canvas of flowers ( Number of Years stamp set) is matted on 2 1/8 x 2 1/8 Watermelon Wonder, and that is layered onto the easel with a slightly smaller piece of fun foam for dimension. It is a great finished look.

Watermelon Wonder is one of the predominant colors in the new Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper. I chose the same pattern Stephanie featured in her design, yet, the reverse side of that paper also complements the painting. In class, the students chose their favorite look.

Look through the catalog for small images, or larger ones which can be cropped,  for the subject of your next masterpiece. Think how you can personalize this idea for all of your friends and loved ones: a sailor in your life, a bird lover, a fairy princess ...

Let's stamp!

 

More, more, more please!

It has been called the Ultimate Bundle

The vast majority of Stampin' Up! demonstrators joined the SU family to support

their habit hobby, me included. Sometimes they are referred to as

Hobby Demonstrators. At one point in their stamping adventures they realized,

yeah, I can buy my own great Stampin' Up! product at a demonstrator's price! 

That's exactly how and why I joined Stampin' Up! I WANTED that Big Shot!

I had no intention of offering classes, in fact I still wanted to go to my upline's classes

AND join one of her clubs! And I did, still do ~ she's the best!

To get started, you purchase a Starter Kit for $99, only you get to choose $125

of product to make up that kit. Everyone's kit is different; SU does not dictate what must

be included in that kit. Should you need advice, I am happy to help. And then every once in a while

SU sweetens the pot and offers other incentives to join.

Like now! The Ultimate Bundle ~ You get to choose two additional stamp sets of your choice

(regardless of price) to put in your starter kit. And one more item: SU is adding a

Paper Pumpkin kit to all starter kits. That's a huge bundle made up from your greatest

SU desires and you will have saved more money that I can calculate.

That huge starter kit ships free! I guarantee you will be camped out on the porch

all day until your UPS man arrives.

There are many more perks to joining the SU family, but one that I am pleased to point out is

that you will join my team of SU Demonstrators, Nite Owls. You will be in the great company

of three other hobby demonstrators, plus me!

One reason that I am telling you this is because I have decided, after about a year and a half,

to make a business of my hobby. I am now wanting to have a team to stamp

with and to plan with; I love sharing this joy of creativity in classes

and workshops. I want more, too!

Do talk to me about my experiences with Stampin' Up!

and let's stamp!

BINGO!

I can't believe it! I did not take one single picture at BINGO yesterday!

I was so excited to offer my first Stampin' Up! BINGO! I chose a busy weekend, unknowingly; but I had a full table of six anxious-for-prizes guests as I called out the first number.  Oh, but wait, I am far, far ahead of myself.

After I begging and bribing and refusing to think that I may have to cancel the event, I left much of the preparation till the last minute. In my mind, I was well prepared. I had seen a video by Ronda Wade covering the ins and outs of hosting BINGO parties. I had chatted several times with my upline and colleagues about their BINGO parties (thanks Susan Elise, Monica and Kathy!) and sat in on a party just a couple of days before mine (thanks Kathy!). And at the same time, SU had a huge facebook event centered on planning for parties ~ lots of valuable info.

I designed the day to include four games plus a jackpot game and stamping time to create three make and take cards. As you know, staying up all night is what I do, so I did stay up well, well into the AM cutting paper and preparing for the stamping. I took inspiration from Julie Davison and Tami White as I found their super cards on Pinterest.

I left just a bit to have to finish up Sunday before the gaming stampers arrived.

As I was beginning to feel the heat while bustling around my husband looked at the thermostat and said, 'the temperature is going up instead of down,' and looked at me with a face of dread that I just cannot even describe. I was feeling the heat all right!

Oh, I just did not want to cancel ~ my guests had made their plans, I had prizes from the new catalog and chocolate!

I recognized the caller ID name on the phone. 'Is the Midtown Tunnel closed?' she asked. I swear I read the highway advisory sign to say the tunnel was closed 8 PM - 5 AM Fri - Sun.  I interpreted that to mean it was closed each night, not all weekend! So I gave her alternate directions.

The next name on caller ID was also familiar. She was detouring because of the tunnel.

My cell phone dinged with an IM: accident on interstate - but on the way.

When the next caller ID name appeared I knew what route she was taking so I knew she would be a bit behind, too.

And the temperature slowly rose.

With a couple pitchers of mint iced tea we made the most of it. They came for the prizes! And actually, for the good company they knew they would find.  They just didn't know they would find a house with no air, which did make for some good 'remember when' stories.

Except for the heat, we had a lovely afternoon full of stories and laughter and sweat and stamping and melted chocolate. We played with the new In Color markers and papers and the Painter's Palette stamp set and washi tape. There really is something extra special about stampers ...

As the afternoon was headed into an evening threatened with storms, and the stampers were spent from their excitement, they elected not to create the third card I had planned. So this afternoon I made their cards and will mail them to those stamping guests, who really were and are 'the nicest.' Julie Davison included directions on her site that I will pass along to the stampers so they can re-create this themselves, too.

AND I crafted them in a once again cool house, thanks to my Oh, What A Guy husband! He was at the supply store when they opened this morning and had the AC running in no time!

Color Me Happy

It's here ~ the NEW 2016 - 2017 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog

They're here ~ the NEW 2016 - 20018 In Colors !

Ready for the names that only SU could create?

  Flirty Flamingo    Dapper Denim   Emerald Envy  

Peekaboo Peach   Sweet Sugarplum

Which might you think is my favorite color?

It may be just a little too early to tell, but I can tell you that the colors are amazing. And what I have found very interesting is that I think I prefer, for the most part, a stamped-off version of each color.

The color combos are beautiful, too ~ Dapper Denim and Emerald Envy are gorgeous sea colors when stamped off. Peekaboo Peach and Flirty Flamingo go together like two scoops of chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Actually, the Peekaboo Peach reminds me of Creamsicles!!  These are just In Color with In Color, think how they will pair and combine with our standard color families.

The Color Coordination section in the new catalog begins on page 168. And if you have never noticed, SU 'bundles' together all of the stamp pads in each color collection to sell as one unit, saving you money. The In Color ink pads are $27.50 for the five colors.

Likewise, SU has also conveniently packaged, at a savings, the ink refills. Refills are handy to have when you find that you have been overly enthusiastic with a particular color and the pad is low on ink. It's easy to refill - squeeze the ink from the refill bottle directly onto the ink pad and smooth it over with the back of a plastic knife, as if you are icing a cake. I am borrowing that comparison as we all know the last time I iced a cake! There are also creative coloring and stamping techniques that call for liquid ink ~ I'll show you the shaving cream technique next week.

Are you on page 168 of the catalog yet?  See the Assortments insert at the bottom? (Quick! What color is used for the background?!) Cardstock is available in collection assortments, both 12 x 12 and 8 1/2 x 11. Get a little to start with and then larger packs of your favorite colors. Not that that would work for me, but ... Designer Series Paper Stacks are stuffed with 40 sheets of double sided paper. Plus, SU is also offering Envelope Paper in In Colors ~ turn over to page 176 to get a better look at the colors and designs.

The Stampin' Write Markers are also sold as one unit ~ so convenient! And markers can be used to color on your stamps; great for multi-color images. (My July 11 class will feature coloring and will include a pack of the new In Color markers!)

I hope these colors make you happy! I'll be playing with them at BINGO this weekend and also during the June 13 and July 11 classes; please pan to come!

Still need a catalog? Come to class on June 13, or contact me and I'll get you one!!

It's a New Year at Stampin' Up! Hap - hap - happy new year!

and just one last thing, to help with your Wish List

I want it all ~ REALLY!

Product  / #	Page	Price

What’s first on your list?

In Colors/All Colors  p. 2, 168- 171

Big Shot p. 190 – 195

Stamp Sets & Suites :

   Birthday p. 10

   Christmas p. 26

   Thanks p. 38

   Love & Sympathy p. 44

   Babies & Children p. 56

   Everyday p. 66

   Artistic Expressions p. 92

Designer Series Papers p. 172 – 174

Embellishments p. 177- 179

Project Life p. 162 – 167

 Don’t forget :

   Cutting tools p. 189

   Specialty papers p. 175 – 176

   Coloring tools p. 180 – 181

   Adhesives p. 182

   Stamping Accessories p. 183

 

And when you are ready to order:

Call me : 757-483-9361

Email me : writer714@juno.com

Online store :

   www.upallnightstampin.blogspot.com