Merry Christmas and I'll see ya next year

Well, it's Christmas today and I have a few minutes on my hands to give you an update. I have not yet received the free stamp set that Shelli sent all the demos. If it doesn't come tomorrow then I won't get to see it for 10 days. As soon as I get it (and have time to use it) I will whip something up so you can see this great set. It will be available for purchase in the Spring Mini. I won't be posting for awhile as we're (my sister, the kids and my mom) leaving for San Diego on Thursday and will be back on the 7th of January. That means no stamping for over 10 days. How am I going to survive? Oh, wait, I'll be in San Diego. I'm really excited about the trip and I know we'll have a great time. So, I'm signing off and I'll see ya in the new year!!

Had some fun today

I wanted to make something for the gals on my bowling team, so I thought I'd do some etching. I got each of them a votive holder and I picked a different flower for each of them. These are really easy to do (but very hard to photograph). Emboss your image on the glass (any color embossing powder is fine) just like you would on paper. It will take longer to heat the glass than paper, so be patient. After your embossing powder is set you're ready to etch. If you aren't going to put the cream over the entire surface of the glass than you'll want to mask off the areas you don't want etching cream on. Put a decent amount of etching cream on the surface and let it sit for about 7-10 minutes. After the time is up you can scrape the excess etching cream back into the container (you'll want to do this as the etching cream isn't cheap). Then rinse your glass and rub off the embossing to reveal your image.

Open House

You’re Invited to a Stampin’ Up! Open House!



Come learn an easy craft!
See the versatility of rubber stamping!

" Scrapbooking " Cards " Gifts " Much More . . .

Come join us!
Refreshments, Snacks & Fun Provided!

Hosted by Heather Hawkins
Independent Demonstrator

Date: Thursday, January 11, 2007
Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Location: My house
RSVP by January 9th
stampin.heather@yahoo.com


Bring a Friend!

10% off orders placed during the event.
Free limited edition stamp sets with qualifying purchases.
Demonstrations
Beginner? Learn the basics
Old Hat? Learn a new trick

Make-N-Take
Take home a project you make yourself!

Book a Party Today!
Book your own workshop and receive a
2006-2007 Stampin’ Up! Idea Book & Catalog! FREE !

I tried a new technique

This technique is called Foxi Oxi. You use OxiClean to bleach your ink. Here's what I came up with. I took a piece of Whisper White cardstock and dabbed Yo-Yo Yellow ink on it. I then sprinkled OxiClean on the cardstock and sprayed it with water. I'm impatient, so I used my heat tool to dry the paper. I then wiped off the excess OxiClean. I then stamped the leaves with Gable Green Ink and as you can see the OxiClean kept on bleaching and only left bits of Gable Green and lightened the rest of it to a more yellow-ish color. Then on my card I stamped the 3 bars in Gable Green and stamped the saying in Basic Black. I then layered my bleached paper on top. All the stamps are from the set "All the Best." If you'd like to learn this technique contact me and we can set up a class or workshop.

Quickies

I about killed myself taking my huge SU! box down to the basement, but I made it. I only smacked myself in the face causing me to bite my lip while trying to adjust the box to one arm so I could open the door and turn on the light. I unpacked everything and tried to decide how I'm going to organize it. Well, I didn't do much. Most of it is still on the floor. However I did get a few minutes to whip up two cards really quick.
This card was made with a Sell-a-bration set. This is one of the stamp sets that will be available for free in January and February with a purchase of $50. These sets cannot be purchased, only earned.

I also had a chance to play with Heartfelt Thanks that came with my starter kit. I was eager to use my new stamp sets and ink, but a little afraid of using my SU! cardstock. I only have two Bold Brights assortment packs and one Whisper White pack and I feel I need to save it for my open house and workshop in January. The ribbon is from Michael's.

I hope you like my quickies. Let me know if you want to learn more about Sell-a-bration.

Sorry for the lack of blogging

I had a pretty busy weekend last weekend and I have some commissioned mosaics I have to finish by Monday. I did get my 33 lb. box of Stampin' Up! stuff on Tuesday. I already mounted all the stamp sets and have looked at everything else. I have yet to actually do anything with the though. Hubby's out of town until tomorrow and the dog is demanding so hopefully I'll have something to show you soon.

Stampin' Up! special

Just announced this morning, Stampin' Up! is having a Holidays at half off promotion. They have selected 6 stamp sets that you can receive at 50% with a $30 purchase of non-promotional merchandise. This offer is from Dec. 1 to Dec. 31. The stamps sets are:

Love Ya Bunches p. 80
$17.95 reg.
$8.98 promo price

Rough Edges Alphabets p. 197
$19.95 reg.
$9.98 promo price

Merry p. 49
$22.95 reg.
$11.48 promo price

Tag Time p. 24
$26.95 reg.
$13.48 promo price

Mini Mates p. 62
$29.95 reg.
$14.98 promo price

Sketch It p. 25
$34.95 reg
$17.48 promo price

Let me know if you want to take advantage of this great offer. Also, Sell-a-bration is coming in January, where all customers can earn free limited edition stamp sets.

It's official!!!!

I am now a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. I just got my confirmation today and I've already logged on to the demo side of the site and I'm so excited. I just can't wait to get my starter kit. If it comes before Friday I'll be thrilled since it's my day off. Oh, I can't wait to get started planning an Open House and my first workshop. It kind of stinks that it's the holiday season (and then I'm going to San Diego for a week and a half) since no one has free time. I have to wait until January to get the show on the road. But, if anyone lives in the Dayton, OH area and needs a demo let me know.

I didn't make this one today, but...

I want to post it today. I actually made it yesterday after my shaker card. However, today I'm going to share it with you. This is the first card I made with designer paper. The paper is from Making Memories and the "friend" stamp is from the Stampin' Up! set Noteworthy. I can't think of what set the leaf stamp is from. I also used some raffia around the lower square. I like the way it turned out. Simple, but stunning, I think. I think I might have to get some more designer paper. This was fun.

My post-Thanksgiving post

I survived the holiday and am back home. Somehow I managed to find time to stamp today even though I had 7 loads of laundry and it was so nice out so we had to put our Christmas lights up and all the other unpacking. I decided that even though it's over a month away I would make my mom a birthday card. I knocked out two new techniques in one. I made it a shaker card and did some faux stitching. I ran into two snags, though. My beads were a little fat for the thickness of my mounting tape, so they don't flow very well. They kind of get stuck. I also don't have a template for paper piercing, so it took two attempts to get the piercing sort of straight. All in all I'm happy with it. Oh, and I didn't have any acetate or transparency sheets so I used a piece of clear window from a pizza box. I'm environmentally conscious and cheap ;o) Well, take a look and let me know what you think.

My pre-Thanksgiving post

I ran out of glue dots. I was making good progress on my Christmas cards, but I'm stalled. We're heading out of town for the holiday early tomorrow morning, so they'll just have to wait longer. I guess I'll get to the craft store on Monday. I was hoping that I wouldn't need to buy anything like that until I got my SU! demo started so that I wouldn't have to buy things I couldn't use in workshops, but I'm going to have to give in.

Well, I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and let you know that now that my classes are over until January and I've ordered my SU! starter kit I hope to have more stamping to share.

I need help with my Christmas cards

Help! What else does this card need? This is my first attempt at making my own Christmas cards, so I don't want to get too fancy (I'm already piecing the trucks and watercoloring) but I think this needs something more.


Here's the new card. I think it's a winner. Adding the strip didn't add too much time to the card, but I think it adds some interest.

Stampin' Up!

Today's the big day. It's the day I'm ordering my Stampin' Up! starter kit. I'm so excited. I've been looking at it over and over trying to convince myself that I'm ordering the right stamp sets and wondering if I should pic different colors of ink and paper. I've also been making a list of things to order for my first order to make sure I have enough to do my first workshops. Oh, this is exciting, but I'm still pretty nervous about establishing a customer base. I guess I'll never know if I can make it work if I don't try.

My success story

Well, I participated in a craft bazaar last night. It was for my sorority alumni chapter. I took some mosaics, cards, paper purses with matching cards and wrapped nuggets, and the domino ornaments. Everyone loved the ornaments. AND........I have an interested party for booking a workshop. I'm not even ordering my starter kit until Sunday!!!! I'm so excited!!!!!!!! When I decided to sign up as a Stampin' Up! demo I knew I had one customer, but also knew that she wouldn't be planning a ton of workshops or making huge orders, so I've been nervous about whether or not I'll be able to make this work. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come.

Dominos

Here's a pic of some of the ornaments I made.....I still need to put ribbon on the rest of them. I made 16 total. I hope you like them.

Crafting weekend

Well, my hubby is out of town, so it's just me and the dog. After work yesterday I went by Marco's Paper to get clear envelopes, but they were all out of the A-2 size. So, I got some dominos instead. I had read a tutorial before going to work about altered dominos and thought these would be great for the craft bazaar next week. So as not to leave the dog by himself I brought the stamping supplies I would need upstairs and started working on my dominos. I think they turned out cute and I had so much fun doing them. I really wish I could show how great they turned out, but hubby took the camera with him. I know we have an older digital camera around here somewhere, so I'll have to go hunting to find it. I'll post pics as soon as I can.

I must be crazy

As if I wasn't busy enough, I've started a blog. I recently found SplitCoastStampers and that has been eating up much of my time, in addition to all the other crafts I do. But this blog will be focased on stamping. I'm signing up to become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, so that will occupy some time, but I'm hoping it will also fuel my stamping skills and help me to add to my blog.

Well, I apoligize that this blog isn't very exciting, but I hope you'll stay tuned for future posts.