Beth Daniels, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

A Quiet Evening

Written by Beth on June 7, 2013 · 1 Comment

One of the nice things about being retired is that for the most part you don’t have a day to day schedule and you can go do fun things. There are several people who have retired from the hospital lab where I worked for 34 years and we get together once a month for lunch out. The restaurants vary and not everyone can come every month so there are usually 6-8 who show up. Today we met at a family owned Italian place where you can get the biggest single slice of pizza for $2.00 that I have ever seen anywhere. My friend Alice came over after lunch so we could catch up – we don’t get to see each other nearly enough. I also spent part of today setting up my new iPad. I love Apple products and it’s so magical the way they all interact with that iCloud thingy. I spent a couple of hours just setting up apps and bookmarking websites on it and now I’m going to sit down with a cup of ginger peach tea, a biscotti, and read. For those of you to like to read, I am loving this book, The Postmistress, by Sarah Blake. It is a novel that takes place in 1940 just as the Nazi’s are invading England and how that war affected ordinary people in a small Massachusetts town.

Thanks for stopping by and have a super Saturday!

Boho Blossoms Flowers

Written by Beth on June 6, 2013 · 3 Comments

This card was so easy to make using the Boho Blossoms Punch and with all of Stampin’ Up’s colors there are so many different color combinations you can use to make the flowers. The inspiration for my card came from demonstrator Diane Malcor. You can see her card here.

The leaves are from Fabulous Florets stamped in three different directions. There is actually a flower in the middle of that stamp so after you stamp all three the center of the card stock looks a bit messy but the punched flowers do a great job of hiding it. After stamping this the card stock was embossed.

Stamps: Fabulous Florets, Banner Greetings

Ink: Old Olive

Paper: Old Olive, Pear Pizzaz, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, So Saffron, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo, Strawberry Slush, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, White

Misc: Boho Blossoms Punch, Pearls, Square Lattice Embossing Folder

Fabulous Florets
Clear, #128574 $123027 Wood, #128574 $23.95

Thunderstorm Andrea really showered us today! I woke up this morning to a pretty hard rain and I sat on the back porch just watching and listening to it. I like a good storm. It brings back memories of a childhood vacation to Lake Okoboji in Iowa. My mother worked part time in the church office and the minister had a cabin at the Methodist Camp. Several summers we vacationed there staying in his cabin along with the family of the other secretary at the church. One evening there was a bad storm with thunder and lightning and pounding rain. When the lights went out candles were lit and we played games. Every time there is a hard rain or storm I am transported to that night over fifty years ago when I was a little girl and we played games by candlelight.

Hugs,

Serene Silhouette Sympathy Card

Written by Beth on June 5, 2013 · 2 Comments

I saw a card online by a woman named Dolly Watts and just had to CASE it for this weeks class. I did make a few changes and came up with this sympathy card:

The center piece was made by using a mask cut out of card stock and inking over it with a sponge dauber. The sentiment on the inside of the card is “With Sympathy”. Cheryl suggested using this idea for a Christmas card, stamping a deer and using a snow flake in place of the circular image. It does sound like it would be a beautiful card.

Stamps: Serene Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Night of Navy

Paper: Night of Navy, White

Misc: Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Little Leaves Sizzlits, Circle Punch, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Dimensionals

Tonight was Joye’s last stamp class with us. She recently retired from NASA at Kennedy Space Center and will be moving to Alabama. Wishing you all the best Joye. It’s been fun having you stamp with us. Enjoy your retirement and keep on stamping.

Mosaic Madness

Written by Beth on June 4, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Another very popular stamp set from the new catalog is Mosaic Madness and we used it to make this card at open house. It has a matching embossing folder, punch, and Designer Series Paper. Stamping is easy peasy when there are things that coordinate with each other. That what Stampin’ Up! does so well.

Stamps: Mosaic Madness

Ink: Strawberry Slush, Costal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar

Paper: Strawberry Slush, Baked Brown Sugar, Vanilla

Misc: Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder, Mosaic Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch, Dimensionals, Pearls

Mosaic Madness
Clear, #130249 $18.95
Wood, #130246 $26.95

Mosaic Punch
#131267 $15.95

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Have you noticed there are no Christmas stamp sets in the new catalog? There are a few that have been carried over and available to order. You can see them here. I will be anxious to see the Holiday catalog that will be out August 1st.

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So today my good friend Jim came over and put shelves in my stamp room closet. I am beyond thrilled with them and as soon as I get everything organized I will post some photos. This is what came out of the closet for him to be able to install the shelves. And this is just from one side because there was already shelving in half of the closet. So you see I have a job sorting through it all and reorganizing it.

Hugs,

Gingham Garden Floral

Written by Beth on June 3, 2013 · Leave a Comment

This is one of the make and takes from my open house on Saturday. I am in love with the Gingham Garden Suite in the new catalog. I used the Designer Series Paper with red card stock. Even though that is not one of the listed colors in the package of paper it worked because I used the prints that only have Daffodil Delight and Island Indigo on them. The flower is made from the three sized scallop circle punches. They are cut in between the petals and curled slightly with the edge of the bone folder. The yellow flower in the middle is the new Simply Pressed Clay which I colored with re-inker and pre-made before the open house so that they would be dry and ready to attach. An easy way to color the clay is to put some of it in a plastic storage bag and knead in the color. It does stick a little to the bag. Since this was such a light color I actually put a little re-inker in the middle of the clay I was coloring and gently folded it over with my bare hands and continued doing this until it was mixed. My fingers were a little yellow but I seem to have ink on my hands most of the time anyway. The clay is not hard like a button is when it dries so it will mail easily but is sturdy enough to hold up and keep it’s shape. I also used the new Gingham Garden Washi Tape which I love and it was a big hit with my stampers. The sentiment is from the hostess set Banner Greetings.

Stamps: Banner Greetings

Ink: Daffodil Delight

Paper: Real Red, Daffodil Delight, White, Gingham Garden DSP

Misc: Simply Pressed Clay, Buttons & Blossoms Simply Pressed Clay Mold, Rhinestones, Gingham Garden Designer Washi Tape, Scallop Circle Punches

I worked tonight on projects for this weeks classes and time got away from me so I’m very late writing this post (11:50PM). It’s time to go hit the hay! Zzzzzz

Thanks for stopping by

Fun Open House

Written by Beth on June 1, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Today was my new catalog open house. It is also a customer appreciation event and something my customers and I look forward to. I had been working on getting things ready for days and the one thing I forgot to do was take any pictures today. I had intended on getting several during the day so when I remembered after everyone had gone home I tried to get a few with what was left. Everyone gets a gift bag that I attach a card front to the front of the bag. It’s a great way to use some of those swaps I get at convention and a quick way to create a fancy gift bag.These are the remaining bags at the end of the day.

One of the things in the gift bags was this cute little Hershey nugget treat box designed by demonstrator Pam Strobel. You can see her directions on here blog here.

Each gift bag also had this color chart the I made with the help of my friend and down line Betty Herring. Thanks Betty, I would not have finished them without your help. The chart was designed by demonstrator Jean Fitch and just the perfect size for using the Itty Bitty Shapes flower punch to punch out the different card stock colors.

There was also a wish list adhered to card stock and then each bag had some product inside (card stock, ribbon, stamps, etc.) They were not allowed to look in the bag until after they selected one. Who doesn’t like the surprise of a grab bag!

There was quite a varied array of food. Most of it had been put away so this is just a small sampling of the goodies. I used retired DSP to wrap the water bottles. What’s fun is that if I have leftovers I have fancy bottles of water. The veggie shots idea came from my friend and stamper Cheryl White. You put a little Ranch dressing in the bottom of the little shot cups, put in some sliced veggies and a couple of olives on a pick and you have a healthy treat.

I also had drawings for Door Prizes. The winners are Leah Andrews, Pat Cook, Nancy Centreto, and Barbara Pariso. I will contact you each to let you know what you won.

We did a couple of make and takes. I will post those photos tomorrow.

Have a blessed Sunday

Busy, Busy, Busy

Written by Beth on May 30, 2013 · Leave a Comment

No time for a card tonight. I have been working all day on things for the open house on Saturday. I hope you can come. Drop by anytime between 2:00 and 5:00 PM. Lots of goodies, sales, make and takes, prizes, etc. And remember that I will be putting in an order on Monday afternoon. If you would like put in an online order please enter the hostess code STKR3PSJ.

Have an awesome Friday.

My Digital Studio

Written by Beth on May 29, 2013 · Leave a Comment

My Digital Studio is a digital design software featuring Stampin’ Up!’s exclusive artwork, colors, and templates. Use it to create photobooks, cards, calendars, and more–which you can then print using Stampin’ Up!’s print services, or save to DVD, e-mail, or upload to the Internet. Learn more about My Digital Studio here or ask me about it. I use it to create flyers for special classes and have done some photo books. My first book was about the Stampin’ Up! cruise I was so fortunate to go on a few years ago. It was so easy to do because I used one of the available book designer templates. Below is the cover of the book and a couple of the pages from the book. It was so much fun to make.

Cruise Book Cover

With Shelli Gardner
Co-founder & CEO

Happiness is …..

Elegant Bird

Written by Beth on May 28, 2013 · Leave a Comment

The die for this bird and the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder are both on the retirement list so I decided to make one more card using them before they’re gone.

Stamps: Bring on the Cake

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Baja Breeze

Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Baja Breeze, Daffodil Delight, White, Floral District DSP

Misc: Elegant Bird Die, Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Black Brad, Pearl, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch, Pearls, Twitterpated Buttons (On the Clearance Rack)

Quick post tonight because I have been busy getting things ready for stamp class Wednesday night and for the open house on Saturday. I also spent some time this afternoon at Lowe’s and Home Depot with a friend who is going to build some shelves in the closet in my stamp room. I am so excited about that! I have shelves in half of the closet that were there when I bought the house but the other half of the closet was hanging space which over time has become a mess with plastic bins and boxes stacked on top of each other. How many times I would find that I would need something that is in a bin at the bottom of the stack!

Say Goodbye to Perfectly Preserved

Written by Beth on May 27, 2013 · Leave a Comment

There are just a few days left to get this stamp set and the coordinating framelets.

The thing that said “buy me” when I first saw this stamp set was the cute ear of corn (see below). Growing up in Iowa it was all about corn. But for this card I wanted to emboss the jar on vellum and put flowers in it. I used the coordinating framelet to cut out a jar in Pool Party card stock. I laid it on the white card stock and stamped my flower stems extending them into the jar. If you look closely one of the Saffron flowers doesn’t have a stem and I just noticed it. Ha! That’s where a marker will come in handy and I’ll fix it later. I also stamped the jar on vellum card stock with Versamark. To attach it to the Pool Party jar use a little adhesive in the area that will be covered up with the happy birthday greeting. I found it was so much easier to wrap the twine around the jar and tie the bow after the jar is attached to the card with dimensionals.

Stamps: Perfectly Penned, Make a Wish, Itty Bitty Banners

Ink: Wisteria Wonder, So Saffron, Lucky Limeade, Versamark

Paper: White, So Saffon, Pool Party

Misc: Cannery Set Framelets, Bitty Banners Framelets, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Wisteria Wonder Bakers Twine, Dimensionals

Perfectly Preserved
Clear, #126692 $20.95 Wood, #126690 $28.95
Cannery Set Framelets Die, #127822 $24.95

Make a Wish
Clear, #129222 $17.95 Wood, #129219 $23.95

Itty Bitty Banners
Clear, #126257 $11.95 Wood, #125255 $15.95

Memorial Day, I time for us to remember and thank those who serve or have served in our armed forces. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to them.

My father served in the Navy in WWII in the South Pacific.