Having Fun With New Products!

My order came yesterday - Catherine came out this morning and we "unveiled" my new products including the BIG SHOT and new papers, ribbon, embellishments. Whew!! So much to do and SO little time!!

Here's a few cards I made using the Big Shot

Top Note Card #1



Stamp Set: Bloomin' Beautiful
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Bella Rosa Designer Paper
Ink: Kiwi Kiss
Embellishments: 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Real Red Brad
Punch: Scallop Circle
Big Shot Die: Birds & Blooms Sizzlets, Top Note Bigz Die

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Top Note Card #2



Stamp Set: Eastern Blooms, Heard from the Heart
Cardstock: Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White
Ink: Kisi Kiss, Pacific Point
Embellishments: Gold Brads
Big Shot Dies: Top Note

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Top Note Card #3



Stamp Set: Upsy Daisy
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Whisper White
Ink: Baja Breeze, Pacific Point
Embellishments: Baja Breeze 5/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
Big Shot Dies: Top Note

I stamped the Upsy Daisy stamp with Baja Breeze and then sponged Pacific Point over the tops of the flowers to give them some depth

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Top Note Card #4



Stamp Set: Curly Label Stamp, All Holidays
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Bella Rosa Designer Papers
Ink: Riding Hood Red
Punch: Curly Label Punch
Big Shot: Birds and Blooms Sizzlets

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Bella Rosa Designer Paper



Stamp Set: Dreams du Jour
Cardstock: Kisi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Bella Rosa Designer Paper
Ink: Riding Hood Red
Punches: Scallop Punch, Ticket Corner Punch

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Inspired by Nature Stamp Set



Stamp Set: Inspired by Nature
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red

I can see this set being a real favorite. I stamped the grass in Kiwi Kiss and then stamped off to give it a lighter touch. I stamped the flowers in Pink Pirouette and then dabbed Riding Hood Red on the tops with a sponge dauber. LOVE the soft effect.

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Scallop Card

Dannie Graves did a wonderful tutorial for this darling little scallop card made with the Big Shot Die Cut!! You can see her tutorial here. So I had to take her challenge and made one tonight!! What fun!!



Stamp Set: Pocket Silhouettes
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Bella Rosa Designer Paper
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red
Embellishments: Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon
Punch: 1 3/4" Circle Punch (NEW)
Big Shot: Scallop Circle #2

As per Dannie's tutorial, I used the Big Shot Scallop Circle #2 and made my card with a fold in the top. Added the ribbon - such a sweet little card. This card is 3 3/8" in diameter.

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Technique Tuesday K & L

Tuesday, August 12th, we had our Technique Tuesday. This week we featured K for Kissing and L for Leather Faux.

Kissing Make and Take Card



Stamp Set: Stitched Exotics, Fabulous Flowers, Canvas Background
Cardstock: Summer Sun, Real Red, Pixie Pink Whisper White, Summer Picnic Designer Paper
Ink: Summer Sun, Real Red, Pixie Pink
Embellishments: Build a Brad,
Punches: Ticket Corner Punch, 1/2" Circle

Kissing Technique:

Ink a solid image stamp with the lightest color ink
Ink a background stamp with the darkest color ink
Press the solid stamp onto the background stamp

Variations
Instead of using a background stamp, ink up a small stamp with dark ink and stamp it directly on your solid stamp

I inked up the flower from Stitched Exotics in Summer Sun and the Canvas Background stamp. I inked the stamp on the canvas background and then stamped it twice on Whisper White. I cut out the flower. I then used my 1/2" circle punch and punched out a piece from the Summer Picnic Designer Paper. I mounted this piece with a mini glue dot on the brad and then covered it with the page pebble. I then mounted these on the front of the card.

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Kissing Card #2



Stamp Set: Fabulous Flowers, It's Your Birthday (retired), Paisley Background
Cardstock: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze (both NEW In-Colors). Whsiper White
Ink: Pacific Point, Pretty in Pink
Embellishments: White 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon, Rhinestone Brad
Punches: 1/8" Handheld Circle Punch, Double Rectangle Punch

Kissing Technique: I inked up the flower stamp with the Pretty in Pink and the Paisley background in Pacific Point.

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Kissing Card #3



Stamp Set: Hattitude, Paisley Background
Cardstock: Lovely Lilac, Real Red Designer Prints (retired), Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Lovely Lilacm Summer Sun
Embellishments: Real Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon
Punches: Round Tab Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Ticket Corner Punch

Kissing Technique: I kissed the hat by inking up the hat with Sumemr Sun and "kissing" it to the Paisley Background that was inked in Real Red

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Leather Faux (Faux Leather) Technique Card #1



Stamp Set: Wanted
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel
Punches: 3/4" & 1" Circle, Ticket Corner

Leather Faux Technique

Cover a piece of cardstock with small pieces of masking tape. Make sure that the entire piece is covered with masking tape and no cardstock shows.
Use your first color of ink and rub your pad all over the masking tape card.
You can then sponge another color over the first to get the desired look you want

Cover the entire piece of masking tape cardstock with clear embossing powder. (The powder should adhere to the texture of the tape so no embossing ink/Versamark© is needed)

Heat the embossing powder until it is melted.

Finish your card

I used Chocolate Chip to cover the masking tape and then sponged Creamy Caramel over it. I then embossed with clear embossing powder.

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Leather Faux Card #2



Stamp Set: Wanted, All Holidays
Cardstock: Really Rust, Very Vanilla
Ink: Close to Cocoa Chocolate Chip
Embellishments: Silver Hodgepodge Hardware Brad and Oval frame
Punch: Small Oval Punch

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Leather Faux Card #3



Stamp Sets: Lovely as a Tree
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Ink: Close to Cocoa
Punch: Ticket Corner Punch

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Leather Faux Card #4



Stamp Set: Flight of the Butterfly
Cardstock: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Gable Green
Ink: Pacific Point
Embellishments: Tempting Turquoise

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Leather Faux Card #5



Stamp Set: Heartfelt Thanks
Cardstock: More Mustard, Rose Red, Whisper White
Ink: More Mustard, Always Artichoke, Rose Red
Punches: Ticket Corner Punch

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Retirement Party August 2008

We had a retirement party at Catherine's on Friday evening August 8th.

We highlighted some retiring sets and had fun making some cards.

Catherine made this beautiful card wi the Daisy Field Stampin' Around Wheel.



Stamp Set: Daisy Field Stampin' Around Wheel (retired)
Cardstock: So Saffron, Old Olive, Whisper White, Old Olive Designer Prints (retired), So Saffron Designer Prints (retired)
Ink: Old Olive
Embellishments: White half-pearl from Pretties Kit
Punches: Scallop Circle, 1" Circle

Catherine punched out the So Saffron Designer Prints with the scallop circle punch. She then used her snips and snipped each petal to make the 3D flower. Beautiful, eh?

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Blossoms Abound (Retired)



Stamp Set: Blossoms Abound
Cardstock: Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Whisper White
Ink: Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Mellow Moss
Embellishments: 1/4" Elegant Eggplant Grosgrain Ribbon
Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" Circle
Crimper

I did my stamping with the flowers using the 2-Step Stamping method, using the perfect plum and then the pale plum on whisper white cardstock. I then ran it through the crimper. I rubbed the crimped piece over the perfect plum stamp pad to give it an "antique" look.

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I did a demo at the retirment party using the Big Pieces and Little Pieces retiring sets and the One Sheet Wonder idea. I stamped an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of Whisper White and then cut it into pieces - I had made a similar set before the party, but gave them away and didn't get pictures of them!! Here are a few more cards made with the Big Pieces and Little Pieces stamp sets.

Big Pieces Card #1



Stamp Set: Big Pieces, Little Pieces, It's Your Birthday
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Lovely Lilac, Barely Bana, Whisper White
Ink: Lovely Lilac, Pretty in Pink
Embellishments: Pretty In Pink, Certainly Celery 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon
Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" Circle, 1/2" Circle

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Big Pieces Card #2



Stamp Sets: Big Pieces, Little Pieces, Short & Sweet
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Tempting Turquoise, Mellow Moss, Lovely Lilac
Embellishments: Tempting Turquoise 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon
Punches: Large and Small Oval

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Big Pieces Card #3



Stamp Sets: Big Pieces, Little Pieces, It's Your Birthday
Cardstock: Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Regla Rose, Chocolate Whip
Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" Circle, NEW Scallop Punch

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Big Pieces Card #4



Stamp Sets: Big Pieces, Little Pieces, All Holidays
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Ship
Embellishments: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon
PUnches: 1 3/8" Circle, Large and Small Oval

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Big Pieces Card #5



Stamp Sets: Big Pieces, Little Pieces, All Holidays
Cardstock: Real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Olive Olive

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Stampin' Up Convention 2008 Salt Lake City, Utah

I need to report a little about my trip to the Stampin' Up Convention in Salt Lake City. It was five days of pure adrenline rush!! We heard about the introduction of the BIG Shot to the Stampin' Up line. That was SUCH a wonderful surprise!! There were two things I always felt SU was behind in and that is ONLINE ORDERING and carrying a DIECUT MACHINE. Did they hear me or what!! LOL

Anyway, I have ordered my BIG SHOT and it will be here on Monday, August 18th. Mark your calendars, as I will be having a OPEN HOUSE on Saturday, September 20th at the Outback Pizzeria in Prineville from 11:00 to 3:00. Come and pick up your new catalog, see a lot of new products and try out the Big Shot. You can have some pizza and do a couple of Make 'n Takes!! So mark those calendars, because you don't want to miss the fun!! I will also have fall class sign-ups. I have SO much planned!!

THE BIG SHOT

I'm so thrilled to be able to introduce you to the Big Shot. Stampin' Up has teamed up with the company who came out with the Sizzix, The Ellison Company. The Big Shot has been on the market for a while, and they sell many die cuts for the machine. The beauty of this machine is that is will take ANY die cut from ANY machine on the market. So if you have other die cuts, the Big Shot will cut them. And.....Stampin' Up will have exclusive die cuts to coordinate with their line of stamps.



The machine will cut almost ANYTHING you need!! I'm not kidding.

Here is a list of Big Shot Approved Materials

Cut through the following 50 materials using steel rule dies and your Big Shot machine. Please note the maximum thickness of several materials.

Brass (.055)
Light weight steel
Aluminum (.016)
Tin (.008)
Aircraft plywood (1/64")
Basswood (1/16")
Balsa (3/32")
Paperwood
Mat board (adhesive or none)
Chipboard
Fabric
Silicone
Foam with chipboard (.1)
Corrugated pad
Adhesive-backed cork
Fine sandpaper (.00)
Strene
Extra thick template plastic
Template plastic
Plastic canvas (7 mesh)
Bubble wrap
Sheet foam
Friendly (jewelry) plastic
100% pure beeswax (cut with parchment paper on top & bottom of beeswax)
Adhesive and non-adhesive rubber
Ruffleboard
Static cling vinyl
Warm & natural batting
Fusible fleece
Quilt batting
Adhesive and non-adhesive flexible magnet
Heat n' shrink plastic
Adhesive and non-adhesive felt
Pop-up sponge
Shiny self-adhesive and non-adhesive paper
Iron-on fabric
Poly foam adhesive and non adhesive
3-D illusionary plastic
Glow in the dark adhesive and non adhesive
Suede paper
Funky fur
Personal Embossing Plastic (PEP)
Shaggy plush felt
Canvas
Vinyl flooring
Shelf lining
Placement
Embossing rubber
Thin leather
Gasket material

So you can see what this little machine can do. Mine is coming on Monday, August 18th and I can hardly wait (did I already say that??)!!

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The other exciting news which was actually unveiled just before convention is that we will soon have On-line Ordering. This will be a wonderful tool for every customer! When you want something, you can order it through my web site, and it will be delivered directly to you. I will still be here for you with my classes and any kind of help you need, but if you need something and I'm not placing an order, you can go ahead and order through my Demonstrator Website. If you have never checked out my website, you can see it here. This is my "company" website and always has my class schedule. I am determined to keep it up, so that you can use it as a resource for anything you want/need!!

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More Convention Notes

I went to convention with my upline (and sister-in-law) Lana and HER upline Kathy. We had SUCH a great time - now we can't wait until next year. I took 175 card fronts to swap (thanks Lana for helping me swap them!!) and also did a swap for mini albums. You will be able to view these swaps at my Open House on the 20th of September.

We had four FULL days. We arrived on Wednesday morning, July 30th - waited for Kathy to arrive and then took a taxi to the Raddison (just 100 feet from the door of the Salt Lake City Convention Center). We left our luggage as it was too early to check in and then headed over to the convention center. Our first "job" was to pick up our bags - the new catalogs were in there. While I waited in line for my "special prize" (I was awarded a pin, a stamp set and walked across the stage) in honor of my sales for the year, Lana and Kathy got in line for Memento Mall. Well, that was a BIG mistake (although we did a lot of swapping while in line). We were in line for about 2 + hours. We finally were able to shop in the mall - that was a blast. Project Totes, Camera Bags, Chap Stick, to name a few of the things we purchased!

At 6:00 we loaded into a bus and were taken to the Stampin' Up Headquarters outside of Salt Lake City.



We came back and spent the rest of the evening (pretty late actually) checking out our catalogs!!





Thursday morning we had a general session and you should have heard the roar when Shelli Gardner, The CEO and founder of Stampin' Up, announced SU was partnering with Sizzix to sell the Big Shot. WOW - 6000 demonstrators going crazy!!

Lana was honored with a trip across the stage for being a demonstrator for five years. Congratulations Lana!!

In the afternoon we had classes and did our make and takes.

Friday was the same with each general session bringing more fun times. We saw those who had earned the trip to Hawaii and all those who earned honors for sales, recruiting and much, much more!!

Saturday, we had classes in the morning and then the general session in the late afternoon. Things started to wind down, when a "doorbell" rang and a UPS man came in carrying a box!! Also a UPS TRUCK drove onto the floor of the convention center.



Shelli asked the UPS man if she could help him. He said he had a package - she asked for whom, and he said EVERYONE. Everyone in the audience received a FREE stamp set - the Ronald McDonald set, "Say It with Scallops". For every set that SU sells, they donate $2 to the Ronald McDonald Foundation. And.....UPS purchased a set for every demonstrator who attended convention!! What a surprise. The crowd went crazy!!



Here is a Stampin' Up employee handing out the Stamp Sets



And here are Kathy, Lana and I with our FREE stamp sets



We flew home Sunday morning and for two weeks after, I was good for nothing. But I'm hopefully back in the routine and ready to share all I learned and saw!!

Ribbon Tying

We had a club meeting in July and practiced ribbon tying. Here are two cards with ribbons

Touch of Nature




Stamp Set: Touch of Nature
Card Stock: Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Flowers For You Designer Paper (retired)
Ink: Tempting Turquoise
Embellishments: Tempting Turquoise 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon

Very simple card with the ribbon tied in the classic knot.

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More Ribbon Tying



Stamp Set: Blossoms Abound (retired)
Card Stock: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip
Embellishments: 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon and 1" Taffeta Ribbon Originals

Ribbon tied in a "tiered bow."

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More Bella Rosa - Cards This Time

I just can't stay away from this new designer paper. So, I'm sharing five cards I made. I received inspiration for this first card from mudflapmamma on Splitcoast Stampers here. Of course, I changed it, but essentially it's similiar

Bella Rosa Card #1



Stamp Set: Heard from the Heart (NEW in the Fall/Winter 2008 Catalog)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette (NEW In-Color), Bella Rosa Designer Paper (NEW), Kiwi Kiss
Ink: Kiwi Kiss Classic Ink
Embellishments: Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Hat Pen and baubles from the Pretties Kit
Punches: Scallop (NEW)

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Bella Rosa Card #2



Stamp Set: Wow Flowers
Cardstock: Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette, Bella Rosa Designer Paper, Whisper White
Ink: Regal Rose
Embellishments: Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, Rhinestone Brad
Punches: Scallop Circle, 1" Circle Punch, Scallop

I punched the Scallop Circle in the Pink Pirouette Textured Paper and then applied the 1" square I had stamped. I then used my snips and snipped each petal and folded them out - neat flower!

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Bella Rosa Card #3



Stamp Set: Wow Flowers
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Bella Rose Designer Paper, Riding Hood Red
Ink: Riding Hood Red
Embellishments: Chocolate Chip Twill Ribbon
Punches: Scallop, Corner Rounder

This was a fun card - trying out the new Scallop Punch to see what it will do!!

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Bella Rosa Card #4



Stamp Set: Wow Flowers
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, Bella Rosa Designer Paper, Whisper White
Ink: Riding Hood Red, White Gel Pen
Embellishments: Rhinestone Brad
Punches: Scallop Circle, Scallop, 1", 1 1/4", 1 3/8" Circle Punches

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Bella Rosa Card #5



Stamp Set: Wow Flowers
Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Bella Rosa Designer Paper
Ink: Riding Hood Red, White Gel Pen
Embellishments: Old Olive Brad
Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Circle, Scallop

Do you like the look of the "rick rack" - I did this with the NEW Scallop Punch. I punch one side, turned it over slightly off-set the punch and punched it again!!

Interestingly enough all these different combinations in are ONE designer paper pack!! Lots of combinations!!

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Bag in a Box with Bella Rosa Designer Prints

I have had some more fun using my new Bella Rosa Designer Prints and the new "In Colors". I saw a tutorial from Paula Goff's Blog here on how to make these bags in a box. They are easy and fun!!



#1 Bag in a Box




Cardstock: Red Hood Riding, Bella Rosa Designer Prints
Embellishments: Real Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Real Red Brads
Punches: NEW Scallop Punch, 1/4" Circle punch, Round Tab Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Boho Punch

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#2 Bag in a Box



Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Belle Rosa Designer Prints
Embellishments: 1/4" Pretty in Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, Pretty in Pink Brads
Punches: NEW Scallop Punch, Round Tab Punch, 1/4" Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Boho Punch

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