Nothing’s Better Than

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When a demonstrator reaches a million dollars in sales one of the many perks they get is to work with Stampin’ Up’s artists to create a stamp set which is then posted in the catalog with the demonstrators name and with a special 1,000,000 emblem. Demonstrator Connie Stewart recently reached this milestone and I knew right away I wanted to purchase her fun stamp set, Nothing’s Better Than. It’s on page 91 in the catalog.

There’s not much better than coffee, cookies, chocolate, and cocktails, right?  Especially lately with Covid, with staying home, having vacations canceled,  and so much more.

I have been making some cards this past week with this set and having fun with it.

The coffee cup and the top cookie are popped up with dimensionals. The & sign is part of the Playful Alphabet dies.

 

This card started with the red cardstock that was on my desk and it just evolved. I didn’t really have a plan. The base is actually white cardstock with just a 1-1/2″ flap on the left side. I embossed a 1-1/4″ real red piece and attached it to the left flap. Then I wrapped the polka dot ribbon around and tied in a bow. Next I attached the embossed real red cardstock to the back side of the flap. It covers the ribbon on the inside of the card.

The coffee cup, chocolates, and cookie are all popped up with dimensionals and have a bit of Wink of Stella on them. Another one of my new stamp sets is A Grand Kid and it had the perfect sentiments to turn this card into a birthday card for my granddaughter.

 

This is my sweet Sofia who will be getting this card for her birthday.   Her birthday isn’t until November (she’ll be 18!) so now all I have to do is remember that I have already made it. I’m not one to be ahead of the game, rather I find myself last minute getting a special card done. I have friends who already have their Christmas                 cards done for this year. You know who you are! 

 

One last note about Stampin’ Up’s Million Dollar Achievers. In addition to inspiring a new stamp set they also receive a trip to the home office in Utah where they are welcomed and celebrated by staff,  go out to dinner with some of the administrative staff, have special tours, and often have time to stamp with CEO, Sara, or Co-Founder, Shelli. And they get a big check for $10,000. There have been about 35 or so who have achieved this milestone and just this week one demonstrator reached 3 Million in career sales. Just for fun I have wondered what kind of stamp set I would want to inspire if I were to reach a million in sales!  But not to worry. It took me about 10 years to reach $100,000 in career sales. I’ve been a demonstrator now for 17 years and am over $200,000 in sales. But even that comes with perks. Each of these milestones earns you $1000. If you would like to see photo’s and read about Connie’s celebration click here.
 

Blessings

This Little Piggy . . .

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. . . wears a mask!

I made a few of these cards last month to send to my grandkids. Watching the news and seeing the rise in numbers of people getting Covid is heartbreaking and scary. I try to stay safe and always wear a mask when I go anywhere. And I don’t go out often.  I’m thankful that I don’t mind staying home and don’t really get bored. I have been stamping, reading and even took up a new craft thanks to my neighbor telling me about Diamond Painting. It’s a bit like paint by number only with little multi faceted beads so when the project is complete it really sparkles. This is one of the several I have done. Of course you can’t see the sparkle which is what makes these amazing. If you decide you want to try this my recommendation is to order 5D (the number of facets which create the sparkle), Round Drill (the beads are called drills and round are easier to work with as opposed to square) and Full Drill (which means the entire canvas is covered with drills).

Have a Blessed Sunday

 

It’s In The Bag!

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Stampin’ Up stopped including bags with workshop orders and instead sell a thicker, sturdier bag. I decided to do something different for my regular customers. I ordered bags from Amazon and created a personalized tag for each one which includes their initials. When an order comes in I will put it in their bag. When they come to the next event and place an order they bring the bag back and leave it for me to use when that order comes in. If they forget the bag the order goes in a plastic grocery store bag.

I used the Forever Greenery DSP and Forever Flourishing Dies along with the butterfly from Butterfly Gala stamp set for this tag. The other tags do use some retired product as I was trying to match the tag to the color of the bag.

For those people who ordered last month from me I included two card kits for them to assemble at home. Because part of the demonstrator guidelines states that stamped images cannot be included in a kit I did all of the embossing, die cutting, and punching and they just needed to stamp one of their sentiments and put the card together. These were the two cards:

Embossing Folder, DSP, and Forever Flourishing Dies from the new annual catalog were used for this card.

This card used the Medium Daisy Punch, the Small Bloom Punch, and the Sprig Punch in addition to some retired punches. The card was inspired by demonstrator Angela Meiritz-Reid.

 

Someone posted this video on Facebook recently and I fell in love with it. Such amazing talent and to have put all of these voices together when each one was performed independently at home during the Covid pandemic is incredible. Enjoy . . .

 

One Voice Children’s Choir began in 2002 when the Winter Olympic Games were held in Salt Lake City, UT. From those humble beginnings, OVCC has grown into a force in the entertainment world: Quarter-finalist on NBC’s America’s Got Talent Season 9, singing at the White House, touring in many countries and across the USA, and now, and even approaching 3 million subscribers on YouTube. One Voice Children’s Choir has become a household name on a mission to spread hope, joy and love through their original arrangements of popular music.

Hello July, Hello Bonus Days and More

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Happy 4th Stampers!

This CD Calendar page was fun and easy to make using the balloon punch.

 

Bonus Days are Back!

For every $50 you spend July 1st – August 3rd (before shipping and tax), you’ll get a $5 Bonus Days coupon code that can be used  August  4th – 31st.

Here’s the scoop on the deal.

  • Earning Period – July 1 – August 3, 2020
  • Redemption Period – August 4 – August 31, 2020
  • An email address is required to participate; Bonus Days coupon codes can be delivered only via email.
  • If you earn multiple codes from a single order, you will receive one email with multiple codes. If you earn multiple codes from multiple orders, you will receive separate emails for each code earned.
  • There is no limit to the number of coupon codes you can earn per order or throughout the duration of the Bonus Days earning period. 

 

Paper Pumpkin Add On Kit

 

Celebrate the magic of summer nights with the Summer Nights Paper Pumpkin Kit! In this exclusive fun-filled kit, you’ll unbox enough supplies to create nine postcard-style cards, coordinating envelopes, and die-cut tealight bags. What’s even more spectacular about July’s kit is the add-on you can purchase along with it! The Summer Nights Add-On includes 24 card bases and envelopes in coordinating Summer Nights designs. This add-on is perfect for helping you expand the Summer Nights creative experience beyond the Paper Pumpkin kit. Between the add-on and the leftover supplies from your Summer Nights kit, you will be crafting a summer night worth celebrating all month long!

Item 154973 | $10.00 USD

Summer Nights Add-On

Contains 24 preprinted card bases and coordinating envelopes.

The Summer Nights Add-On is not required to complete the Paper Pumpkin kit projects. Even if you are not a Paper Pumpkin subscriber you can still get this kit of card bases and envelopes and create your own cards.

How Paper Pumpkin Works

Paper Pumpkin by Stampin’ Up! is a crafting subscription kit that delivers creativity to your door every month. Each box includes everything you need to make a stunning project.

We’ll surprise you with projects like cards, gift packaging, home décor, and more for just $22.00 a month (shipping included). Talk about happy mail!  Subscribe by the 10th of any month to receive that month’s kit. Supplies may be limited toward the end of the subscription period. 

Subscribe to Paper Pumpkin here.

 

New Catalog Coming Soon

I’ve had some catalogs mailed directly from Stampin’ Up! and I will have catalogs available in a few weeks. I received mine and have already put in an order for some great new stamp sets and products. That’s one of the perks of being a demonstrator. Early ordering. Now off to play with all of my new goodies.

 

Be Safe Everyone and thanks for dropping by.

A Little This and That …

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Do you have trouble deciding what colors to combine on a card? I often start with a piece of Designer Series Paper on my card and that makes it easy. Just choose colors that are in the paper. Did you know that all colors used in a pack of DSP are printed on the back of the package? But what about when you are using DSP on your card? Here are some color combinations for the new 2020-2021 In Colors.

 

 

 

 

 

The following items are not yet available for purchase, although they are included in the 2020–2021 Annual Catalog:

  • Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine (item 149653)
  • Mini Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine (item 150673)
  • Base Plate & Die Plate Pack (item 149657)
  • Specialty Plate (item 154711)
  • Mini Base Plate & Mini Embossing Plates Pack (item 151003)
  • Mini Cutting Plates (item 151004)
  • Magnetic Cutting Plate (item 149656)
  • Mini Magnetic Cutting Plate (item 151005)
  • Impression Mats (item 149660)

There is good news though as we’ve been told they will be available soon. Even though I do own Big Shots I plan on getting the new machine. I am most excited about the magnetic cutting plate which is entirely magnetized. The previous plate with the Big Shot only had strips of magnets which is why, on occasion, the dies jumped around. It is also a self healing plate and replaces one of the cutting plates in the sandwich. You simply place the dies directly on the magnetic plate.

 

Open House Dilemma

I usually have my new catalog open house event in July along with my BOGO sale of retired stamps. But this Covid pandemic has caused me to rethink that. As many of you, I have not been going out much and when I do I always wear a mask. I had initially decided I would try to do the open house mid July but with numbers of positive cases in Florida rising again and with the number of people who usually come to my open house I don’t think it’s a good idea right now to have the open house. I am hoping August will look better. I may post photos of my retired stamp sets allowing you to pick what you might want to buy with that purchase amount then available in free new product. Be watching for more information on that. And I will keep you updated with decisions on an open house and upcoming specials.

Have a good day and be safe.

 

Special Birthday Card for a Special Friend

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I needed a special birthday card for a dear friend and grabbed my new Arrange a Wreath stamp set and coordinating dies which I had not used yet. There is very little stamping on this card. Just a whole lot of die cutting. I knew immediately I wanted to own this set because of the versatility of the stamp images and sentiments.  There are hearts, pears, eggs, flowers, leaves, and even a partridge! With greetings for giving thanks, best wishes, a happy Easter, a merry Christmas and a happy heart day you can easily make cards for all occasions.

The happy birthday die cut sentiment on the inside is from the Well Written dies.

I used the Stitched Lace dies to create the white lace background

Thanks for stopping by

 

 

Beautiful World

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My first card using new stamps! I loved this stamp set when I first saw it and knew it would be great for all different kinds of cards including masculine cards. I confess I do have a lot of stamp sets with flowers but there are just occasions when flowers just won’t do.

 

I have used this card template before and it has become one of my favorites. It’s a bit of a surprise and doesn’t use quite as much cardstock and specialty paper. With the exception of the vanilla and black cardstock, everything used on this card is new product. The World of Good Designer Series Paper on the front panel is a map that has been printed with brass foil. It is truly spectacular. Adding the brass foil as a mat makes it really stand out. To create the mat I first die cut the globe from the middle of it saving paper. You could also just cut two strips of foil and attach to the two sides. The brass globe is attached with dimensionals. The Old World Paper 3D embossing folder was used to create the texture on the black cardstock.

Check out this video from Stampini’ Up!

 

Thanks for looking and have a great day!
 

2020-2021 Annual Catalog is Live!

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Today’s the day we can finally order from the new annual catalog. If you don’t have the catalog yet let me know and I will make arrangements for you to get one. In the meantime you can see the catalog online by clicking the link on the right sidebar. As a demonstrator I could order early from a short list of some of the stamp sets and other products. Of course I did that and this morning put in another order. My wish list is quite long.

 

I already love the new In Colors and the names are always fun.

 

EXTRA $25 in REWARDS!

Stampin’ Up is giving an EXTRA $25 free in host rewards
during June for any order of $250!

I will be placing an order on June 15th. Send me your order and if  the combined  total from those who did is $250 or more you will be entered into a drawing for that $25 in host rewards.  I will pay the shipping on those orders sent to me before June 15th. When the order comes in I will add a card kit to your order.

 

Have you seen the new cut and emboss machines (yes, there are 2!) in the new catalog?  They are not available just yet but hopefully soon.

Here is a peek at them:

 

 

Lunaria Flower Farm

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A couple of years ago my nephew, Kevin, moved from California to France to be with his girlfriend. He met Pauline when she was living in California more than 10 years ago but due to visa restrictions and family she returned to France. They kept up their relationship with visits back and forth and finally Kevin made the move. He is a free lance sound production specialist and has worked with several movies and TV shows. He was unable to get a work visa in France so he would fly back to the US when he had work. Pauline’s background is in floral design. With a lot of planning and hard work Lunaria, Ferme Florale (or in English, Lunaria, Flower Farm) was started. They live in Montaban, France. I’m so proud of these two.

 

France was on a very strict lock-down the past few months and have just opened up farmer’s markets where Kevin and Pauline said they sold out of all their flowers.

And they just got married!

I was suppose to go visit them last year. I was scheduled to cruise from here to Spain and then take a train to France. That cruise ship was the one the crane fell into and the trip was canceled. I didn’t mind missing the cruise so much but I sure hated not getting to France and seeing them. Hopefully another time.