Sending our June hostesses some love!

I have some very exciting news to share with you! Between June 1 and July 31, 2012 hostesses who hold a minimum $450 workshop will receive an additional $50 in hostess FREE merchandise dollars--that's in addition to the $65 they already receive for a $450 workshop!

I am booking workshops now! Call me or email me to get your workshop scheduled. I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce a Workshop in a Basket. This is great for those hostesses that need more time than a regular workshop.

How it works: I'll loan you a basket filled with sample cards, a fun and easy make-n-take that you can create with little fuss, catalogs and order forms. 

Take a few days to do a few make-n-takes with family, friends and co-workers. We will set a complete by date for you. You will be delighted with our generous Hostess Program. You can earn all the Stamps and Scrapbook supplies you want!

Call me today to get it scheduled!

Happy Stamping!

The SU Retired list has arrived

It is that time of year when Stampin' Up! announces all of the retiring stamp sets. This year this list is much longer as they are changing the new catalog a bit and they are bringing in some new & fresh stamps! I can't wait :)

Some Details:

• You can download the list HERE
• These products are only available while they last or until May 31st, 2012
• You can order from my online store HERE, call me and place an order, or host a workshop and get some of these products before they disappear forever!

Thanks for stopping by!

New My Digital Studio Releases

There are several new releases in MDS today and oh my goodness I just have to share the cutest stamp set! I just love it! It will make a great stamp set for girls night out invites, bridal showers, or birthdays!! I am excited (can ya tell???)

Here are the rest of the releases for today! You can download any of them off my website HERE. You can also get great inspiration from the project forum! Click the link for a new world :) 

If you would like to order any of these products please visit my online store HERE, email me, call me, or host a girls night out! I am just itchin to create that invite!

Birch Bay 15K Road Race

Well, as I sit here typing this post I find myself getting more and more upset. I am realizing that you really can't take a break from exercise and expect your results be like they were 2 years ago when you were training every day.

I find I am asking myself, Why did you stop working out regularly? Why are you letting yourself get back into a lazy state? You were sponsored for cryin' out loud! and now you're running a 12 minute mile! Why did you stop walking your dog every day? etc...

I am saddened that I let myself fall back into out habits. I am not anywhere near a fit person at this stage. It's amazing how many excuses I used:

• Work was too busy so I couldn't get away
• Oh man, I didn't get off work until 7:00 so I can't work out now. I won't have any downtime
• It's the weekend so I should spend the time with my family or in my craft room.
• I am tired or have a headache and working out will make it worse.

That all ends today, here is the reset button. This is my first race of the season and I am determined to get faster and back to my in shape self. For every hour I want to sit and watch TV, work in my craft room, or just be plain lazy I must exercise 15-20 minutes. No more excuses. As my son would say Suck It Mom!

Here is Jett and I at the start of our race. He was pulling me down that hill saying why are we going so slow???

Here we are at mile 9, can you see the difference? Man oh man I have a lot of work to do!

Thanks for letting me vent today, as the name of the name suggests this was supposed to be a running journey and my craft blog. I am planning on getting much more variety on this blog in 2012 so I hope you enjoy my journey!

Have a wonderful week and smile often you never know who needs it!

Summer Smooches!

Summer Smooches is our April promotion. For the first time our customers are able to pre-order sneek peak new products that will be in the new 2012-2013 catalog! The colors are bright and cheery and I am so excited to get my hands on some more!!!

Sales period: April 1-30, 2012. You won't be able to order these fabulous products until the New Idea Book and Catalog comes out in June!

Item	Description	Price
125495	Bright Blossoms Wood-Mount Set	$16.95
125497	Bright Blossoms Clear-Mount Set	$12.95
125409	Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper	$10.95
125583	Daffodil Delight 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon	$10.95
125411	Summer Smooches Designer Fabric	$9.95
125589	Summer Smooches Fabric Designer Brads*	$6.95
125626	Summer Smooches Décor Stencil*	$7.95
125606	Petite Purse Bigz L Die	$32.95
129919	Summer Smooches Photobook Template	$17.95
129601	Summer Smooches Digital Kit	$9.95

 *Exclusive to the Summer Smooches Special Offer; will not be available in the 2012-2013 catalog

Product Details:

• Designer Series Paper coordinating colors: Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango, Rich Razzleberry.
• Designer Fabric coordinating colors: Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango.
• Fabric Designer Brads: 24 pieces, 8 ea. of 3 designs.
• Summer Smooches Photobook Template and Digital Kit are My Digital Studio downloads.

If you would like to order any of these products please visit my online store HERE, email me, call me, or host a girls night out!

Happy Birthday Abby!

My beautiful niece turned 10 this past weekend and I am so happy that I got to spend it with her. It is her first birthday that I was able to help with! She has always lived too far away but she is now 20 minutes from me and I couldn't be happier!

She decided she wanted a summer surfin theme. I think it was in hopes of bringing some sunshine to Western Washington and I am happy to report that it worked! The sun came out for the day and we were able to enjoy it! The kids also created a mini surfboard as their take home project. We picked up some foam boards and let the kids design them.

Here are a few photos of the party. I will say that the older she gets the less she likes my camera in her face. She used to love it.

I created her birthday invitations in My Digital Studio, printed them onto Whisper White card stock and then adhered it to Pool Party and Early Espresso. Those were the colors she wanted! I also printed the envelope with the surfboards to keep the theme going!

Then I started the task of creating her "real" surfboards for the decorations! Oh my goodness let me tell you have thankful I am for my husband! He cut out all the surfboards for me and he let me invade his "office" for the week so I could get the surfboards completed.

My son and his girlfriend helped me with the wave surfboard and were pretty proud of their work.

Here are few more photos of the fun party favorites that I created for the kids:

It was so much fun to help her celebrate her birthday and so much work! Whew, I needed a really long nap after that week.

If you would like the full directions for any of the super fun projects please leave me a comment and I will email them to you!

Also be sure to check out my online store HERE to get on the fantastic Sale-A-Bration promotion going on now. This promotion ends on March 31st so don't miss out!

Happy Birthday! Who doesn't love cupcakes?

This card is such a bright card. I love the colors together so much! This card would be great to receive at any age. Plus you get to color with glitter and sharpies! who doesn't love that? This is another project that we taught at our Spring Stamp Camp. If you missed out on this camp don't worry we will host another one in the Fall to get you ready for the holidays. Crazy to think about Fall when our area seems to think it is still Winter and not Sspring! Any who...This is the perfect card to make me want to think Summer is just around the corner!!!

 Don't you just love the fold? It is perfect for a great message as well as a gift card. I offer Stampin' Up! gift cards so if you are in search of a perfect gift I think you have found it :)

Supplies:

Stamp Set:

Easy Events

Crazy for Cupcakes

Ink:

Basic Black Craft Ink

Melon Mambo Stampin Write Marker

Pink Pirouette Stampin Write Marker

Rose or Pink Colored sharpies

Punches:

Itty Bitty Punch Pack (small flower)

Paper:

Pink Pirouette Card Stock

Old Olice Card Stock

Melon Mambo Card Stock

Whisper White Card Stock

Brights Patterns DSP Stack

Other

Big Shot

Scallop Square Duo Bigz Die

Rhinestone

Bone Folder

Iridescent Ice Emboss Powder

Glue Pen

If you would like the full directions please leave me a comment and I will email them to you!

Also be sure to check out my online store HERE to get on the fantastic Sale-A-Bration promotion going on now.

Are we in Paris yet?

I am so excited to share this card with you!! I have had this card for such a long time but I couldn't post about it because we taught this at our Spring Stamp Camp. I have some friends that are headed off to Paris in a few short weeks and I will have to duplicate this card for them! It is one of my favorites!

Supplies:

Stamp Set:

Artisitic Etchings

French Foliage

Ink:

Baja Breeze

Crumb Cake

Early Espresso

Other

Big Shot

Framed Tulips Embossing Folder

Designer Frames (Oval) Embossing Folder

Victoria Crochet Trim

Baja Breeze 1/2" Seam Binding

If you would like the full directions please leave me a comment and I will email them to you!

Also be sure to check out my online store HERE to get on the fantastic Sale-A-Bration promotion going on now.

 

Just Because....

Our next project from stamp camp is a gorgeous card using a double embossing technique. I just love this card! The colors pop so well together. This card uses some great products and the technique is so wonderful. This card makes me miss summer terribly! I can't wait to pass this along to someone special very soon!

Supplies:

Stamp Sets

Elementary Elegance

Notably Ornate

Punches:

Modern Label Punch

5-Petal Flower Punch

Large Oval

Boho Blossoms

1/16" Handheld punch

Ink:

Rich Razzelberry

Crumb Cake

Basic Black

Versamark

Other:

Big Shot

Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder

Brayer

Embossing Gun (Heat Tool)

Black Embossing Powder

Sale-A-Bration Ribbon

Brads

Stampin Sponges

If you would like the full directions please leave me a comment and I will email them to you!

Also be sure to check out my online store HERE to get on the fantastic Sale-A-Bration promotion going on now.

You're a Gem!

Take a look at this great video using several of the great products from our current mini! You can create great products from one piece of paper :)

Also be sure to check out my online store HERE to get on the fantastic Sale-A-Bration promotion going on now.

Stamp Camp Project #1

For the next seven days I will be posting all our wonderful Stamp Camp projects. I was so exhausted after camp but I loved seeing the smiles on everyone with their new treasures in hand! We had 121 people at our camp and it was a ton of fun work!

The first project I am sharing with you is the bird house that I designed. I looked online for many project ideas and I fell in love with so many that I combined several great projects into this one!

Supplies:
Big Shot
Milk Carton Die
Bird Builder Punch
Scallop Edged Border punch
Boho Blossom Punch
Calypso Coral Card Stock
Crumb Crake Card Stock
Daffodil Delight Card Stock
Basic Black Card Stock
Old Olive Card Stock
Sale-A-Bration DSP
Sale-A-Bration Ribbon & Brad pack
Chocolate Chip Ink
Pumpkin Pie Stampin Write Marker
White Gel Pen
Rhinestone

If you would like the full directions please leave me a comment and I will email them to you!

Also be sure to check out my online store HERE to get on the fantastic Sale-A-Bration promotion going on now.

New product alert!

Stampin' Up! has released a very cool new tool called the Simply Scored Diagonal Plate! You can now make envelopes to go along with your beautiful cards :-)

Check out this video for some really cool instructions:

There are several ways for you to pick up your new plate:

The Phone: Call me and place your order over the phone!

Online store: Where you can shop for fun items from the comfort of your home. 

Earn it FREE: Host a qualifying workshop and you can earn this (and many others cool products for FREE!

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget that Sale-A-Bration runs through March 31st so don't miss out!

Get you free trail of My Digital Studio

Here is a great video from our home office demo'ing My Digital Studio! You can download a 30 day free trail from my online store HERE!

Once you download it, shoot me an email or give me a call and I can walk you through the program. It is so much fun!!

A Vintage Happy Birthday

Last summer I was able to meet some amazing Stampin Up Demonstrators and one who has so much creative that I am just in awe of her! I received this card from her as a swap during one of regular monthly meetings. I can't take any credit for it but I wanted to share it with you because it is so gorgeous!

As a side note, I no longer have the card as I gave it to my sister for her birthday!

If you would like directions to make this card, please leave me a comment and I will email them to you!

Also be sure to check out my online store HERE to get on the fantastic Sale-A-Bration promotion going on now.

A Valentine's Party!

My sweet niece (and her mom & dad) moved so close to me that I get to craft with her! I am so happy she is here! I was even more excited that I had someone to make Valentine cards with.

Well little did I know that in the few short years that my own children have been out of elementary school that things have changed! She had to make 36 handmade (YEAH!) cards or gifts and she had to write a sweet little one liner about each person she was giving a gift too.

I just loved it, of course I gave her 3 projects varying in difficulty and she picks the hardest one :) Here she is with her great little projects!

This project was made the Big Shot Milk carton die, if you are interested in the directions please leave me a comment and I will email them to you!

Also be sure to check out my online store HERE to get on the fantastic Sale-A-Bration promotion going on now.

Have a great day and happy stampin!