Chatting Over Coffee

Just about the only coffee I drink is the coffee my husband brews in the morning. The coffee is really just flavoring for my sweet milk, anyway.

I am a tea drinker - all day and all night, hot or iced.

I wish Stampin' Up! realized how important tea is to me and would have a teacup or teapot stamp set like Lovely As A Tree that never retires.  Perhaps we need another Tea Party Revolution ~ tea drinkers unite!

Nonetheless, I have just ordered the Coffee Break Suite (pages 30 & 31 in the new catalog).

It's not that I don't love the stamps and framelits and ..... I Do!

I like browns,  and I think they go with so many colors. In addition to the British Burberry pink and tan combo, I  like browns and reds together and browns and blues and I like browns and black even though my stylish daughters frown at it.

The Coffee Break Suite DSP features Pear  Pizzazz and Garden Green in combination with Early Espresso,  Soft Suede and Crumb Cake ~ delicious! (Seriously,  coffee and cake!)

I also ordered the Burlap Background Stamp (page 165) - another source of texture. I have burlap ribbon, plus I ordered the new 3/8" Classic Weave Ribbon in Crumb Cake. Oh, and the Corrugated Elements. I love texture!

I am anxious now to start designing.  The tall coffee cup stamp could be an iced tea glass - add a few stripes for a vintage look, or do a little paper piecing ( remember those aluminum iced tea glasses?)

  

My youngsters grew up with Slurpees from 7-11 in times when it was fairly safe enough to walk five blocks and cross at the light. Banana flavor,  lemon lime, berry ~ add a domed lid and straw .

Truthfully, these shapes would not be hard at all to fussy cut, but I will happily use the framelits. Bundles save you 10% ~ join my team of Nite Owl Demonstrators and save 20%!

I know I will certainly use this suite in upcoming classes ~ Hot & Cold?

And I think I will also begin a Cards and Coffee event in an area coffee shop. Will you come and join me if I do ~ sip a cup of your favorite brew and craft a card or two? Stay tuned.

I know you're going to want this suite, too. I will be happy to place an order for you ~ place an order in June, my birth month,  and I will send you a free pack of Basic Pearls, my birthstone! Let me know how I can help.

And keep drinking tea!

Let's stamp!

I am planning to love my LOVE TODAY planner

Seriously, how many planners does one need? Well, maybe need is not quite the word ...

Okay, I know there are many, many folks out there as addicted to their planners as I am to paper. Paper is the common denominator. Pens, markers, stickers ~ it all harks back to those childhood punch out sticker books. I get it. But for a planner?

I have tried to cutesy up - or decorate, I don't mean to offend anyone - but those squares are too little. I can't write and doodle and decorate in one tiny square. I need big squares.

I bought the biggest planner in the universe, with fair sized squares, with the intention of just playing with it - journaling, stamping, stickering ...  guess how far I got.

I am also a creature of habit, sometimes. I have had a a planner for three years that I really do use, and very frequently, until I go away on vacation and don't need it to tell me what's on the agenda for the week. There is one small issue I have with it, but it works pretty well for me.

So ~ here comes Stampin' Up!'s new Love Today Planner, plus refill!!

Guess what I ordered on June 1? Yeah, the planner.

The planner is beautiful - it's pretty paper, after all. The cover of the binder, the divider pages, the inserts - they are all SU gorgeous. They are undated so I can begin using it July 1, although I will be away, so maybe a little later. Really, I do not have my plan for it yet.

But what is somewhat amusing to me is the photo in the catalog. The person has very small and precise lettering, perhaps an architect. She obviously has no trouble fitting a seven item to-do list in a small space. My handwriting is not so small, nor precise and a lot of times I just don't write within the lines ...

And the most amusing thing to me about the catalog photo is what is on the gal's nicely bulleted to-do list: vacuum, sink & counters, toilets, mirrors. I am not an artistic director, but I would not have shot pages with those to-dos. And, they are not the kind of lists I make ~ "Crafting forever, housework whenever."

Let's stamp!

I am sure that I will be ordering many of these for my stamping friends and I would love to order one for you , too! Need a Demonstrator? I volunteer!

Making progress with paper addiction

I don't usually invite folks to check out my trash can, although honestly,  my stampers always get a kick out of our can that automatically opens when you get within inches of the top!

Still, I don't encourage it.  But today,  take a look:

Those are scraps, scraps of Designer Series Paper and cardstock. Recognize any patterns? And I deliberately, but lovingly, tossed them out.

This is a big moment for me. Now it's not that I don't have any scraps left, I have two boxes of them. But I am becoming a bit more discriminatory about how much I keep. And then just this evening I saw neat posts of how demonstrators were using the leftover bits of the new colors to create most interesting cards to show off at upcoming new catalog open houses.

Ha! When I began taking stamping classes with my upline, she kept two cabinet drawers filled with scraps - one filled with DSP scraps and one with white and vanilla. When I  first opened that drawer filled with DSP scraps,  I  thought I had died and gone to Stampin' Up! heaven. I think I spent half of the afternoon rifling through those scraps, turning them over to see the reverse designs, probably drooling. And when she suggested I take some if I wanted, well... and now I have a scrap box all my own!

Meanwhile, now that Stampin' Up! has just released the new 2017 - 18 Annual Catalog along with five new InColors, I need to make some room for all the new papers, which will yield new scraps. I have not completely finished clearing and sorting and organizing  (in reality I probably never will), but I am making progress, depending on how you define progress!

Let's stamp!

Do you need a catalog, a Demonstrator, stamp classes ~ I am here for you!

It's here ~ the new Stampin'Up! Annual Catalog

I love the idea that SHARING IS CARING, don't you?

There is soooo much that is new, even the carry over stamp sets look new in the new catalog. So, how do you see everything in the new catalog?

You can view the catalog on line directly from my blog/website: www.upallnightstampin.blogspot.com.  

I also have hard copies of the catalogs that I will be giving away at my upcoming classes and at my STAY & PLAY CATALOG LAUNCH on June 17.

So, brew a cup of tea or coffee, or pour yourself a cold one and look through the latest and greatest. Have a notepad close at hand and a very sharp pencil to keep track of your shopping list.

If you have any questions, need advice (or a personal shopper) - please ask!

Would you like to receive some of those items on your wish list for a little less than the stated price in the catalog? I have a couple of ideas!

I am ready to stamp from the new catalog - are you?

Let's stamp!

Shop till you drop

Stampin' Up! has just released the Retiring List, including not just stamp sets, but inks, embellishments,  accessories and Designer Series Paper.

As I am addicted to paper, I think it is important to always have a good supply of DSP on hand. Sometimes it's that little sliver or square of DSP that makes the card. All current DSP is on the retiring list. Some of it is on sale. But truthfully, SU DSP is always a great buy - quality paper, double sided, strong, smooth colorful with a capital C, and occasionally with a glint of foil.

Stampin' Up! just really makes the best papers. Buy it and use it!

Do you know where to find the Retiring List? From my website  www.upallnightstampin.blogspot.com, select Shop Now and then Retiring. But hurry, product is going fast. 

Shopping is one of my least favorite activities, chores,  actually.  Clothes shopping is the worst. I  need a personal shopper to help me with color and separates and sizes. Sometimes my daughters will help, thankfully.  They are usually brutally honest, and they are a good influence coaxing me to spend money on myself. 

But how frustrating to find skirts and no suitable tops. Or need a medium and all left are XS and XL. I just hate it!

I will, however,  shop for the grandchildren's clothes. Money is no object then and the sweeter the outfit the better. Even boy's clothes are fun to shop for ~ plaids and sweaters, sun hats and swim suits. Love it!

Give me an antique shop or a bookstore and I am in heaven ~ or used books in the antique shop or antique mall. Seriously, are there two more alluring words than antique mall?! Perhaps tea room, but it's  close. 

I can say that I  have absolutely no difficulty shopping in the Stampin' Up! catalog. Do you? Didn't think so!

You only have until May 31 to shop from the Annual and Occasions catalogs, along with the retiring list and the clearance rack.  I would find it hard to believe that you have bought everything from your wish list. Do check your list against the retiring list first. If an item is retiring,  jump on it! Please don't wait to see if it will be discounted.

IF you do indeed have all that you need,  great, because there will be one pre-release from the new annual catalog coming in May!! I will have all the details soon.

In the meantime, check your supply of DSP.  Don't  have any? Choose a package and begin to use it. Your card bases are usually 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. Cut a piece of DSP  4 X 5 1/4 room layer on the base. Then design and stamp on a piece of Whisper White cut to 3 3/4 x 5 ... layer it. Add some twine or ribbon or a few sequins... let that gorgeous DSP  shine!

Now, if you need a personal shopper for Stampin' Up!, I have got you covered! Allow me to get you started with stamps, inks and PAPER! And now before everything is gone!

Oh, Happy Day!

One of the perks of being an Independent Demonstrator with Stampin' Up! is that several times during the year I  am allowed to order new, exciting products before friends and customers.

When I  first saw and then worked with the new Watercolor  Pencils,  I  knew they would be at the top of my wish list. Indeed, it was one of the first products that I ordered from the Spring Occasions Catalog.

I certainly was not alone in my excitement! I  also knew that you would love these pencils.

I  was also lucky enough to be given this new Beautiful You stamp set at a SU event for demonstrators. (Wouldn't you like to join my team of SU Independent Demonstrators?!)

Put Watercolor Pencils together with Beautiful You ~ such fun! Add Blender Pens and you can dress the beautiful gals anyway you wish! I outlined the dancing gal's dress in Bermuda Bay.  A Blender Pen fills in and shades the dress. (Inspired by and CASEd from klompenstampers.com)

One of the beauties of the Watercolor Pencils is that the package contains 13 pencils in Stampin' Up! colors.

There are just so many possibilities with the gals in Beautiful You, and as you must know by now how I still love paper dolls, paper piecing is just like playing with paper dolls.

Did you notice the umbrella on the second card?

There are lots of great stamp sets available just begging to be used with the Watercolor Pencils. AND with the special products offered during the Sale-A-Bration promotion, there is yet one more exciting opportunity - Inside The Lines Designer Series Paper. Think coloring books! Papers are printed in just black and white, ready to be colored with your choice of colors from the Watercolor Pencils.

Of course, you can also 'color' with Stampin' Write Markers, sponges, brayers, Aqua Painters...

So, let's color; let's paint; let's stamp!

Don't Be Scared

It has dawned on me that perhaps the word 'subscription ' scares you.

Are you afraid that you will want to cancel and won't get the cancellation notice in on time?

Are you afraid that you won't be able to find cancellation information?

Of course,  I am talking about Paper Pumpkin,  Stampin' Up!s monthly craft kit.

Right now I am working on January's Paper Pumpkin kit. It's a kit containing materials to create 24 - 24 mini Valentine's treat bags, complete with Cupid's arrows!

The bags are covered with gold foil hearts, lovely. Banners, pre-cut, are white cardstock and pink vellum! The included stamp set contains 8 individual stamps, among them are the sentiments I adore you,  love,  happy Valentine's Day  ...

There is just no way that these bags can turn out any way except gorgeous. You will be so pleased with yourself and the recipients will be over the moon!

So, back to the subscription... you may purchase one kit, or one month of Paper Pumpkin.  You can also purchase a three-month Paper Pumpkin,  for three consecutive months you will receive a different kit in your mailbox.

I have a month to month subscription ~ I gave SU my billing info and every month like clockwork,  I  get a notice that my Paper Pumpkin is on its way; it arrives around the 17th of the month and my bill is automatically paid with my bank card.

More than two years of Paper Pumpkin and I  have never missed a delivery and never had a payment problem.

Please don't let the idea of a 'subscription' scare you!

So, ready to give it a try?  Call me and I will get you started!