AFK (Away from Keyboard)

Starting today until Monday, January 30th, I will be without internet access.  If you place an order between now and then, I will mail your shipping rebate on Tuesday, January 31st.  Also if you join my team as a new demonstrator, I will not have notice of that until Monday. 

Now is a great time to start a new career with Stampin’ Up.  The starter kit cost has been reduced to $125 plus new consultants will receive a free package of Designer Series Paper or a free digital download for My Digital Studio each month for the rest of 2012.  Since the paper packs cost $10 this would be valued at $110!  Wow!

Not interested in being a demonstrator, don’t feel left out!  Sale-a-Bration is going strong.  With each $50 order, you’ll earn a free item from the Sale-a-Bration catalog.  Plus your $50 order will qualify you for a free shipping rebate when you shop with me. 

‘Till Monday…Happy Stamping!    

Bordering on Romance

I love floral stamp sets and this one has quickly become a favorite.  The Bordering on Romance set is in the occasions mini catalog.  I paired it with the Twitterpated Designer Series paper & buttons to create this card. 

Then I tried it again with the same elements, but a different color scheme.  I also used one of the Adorning Accents Embossing folder on the edge of this card for a different look. 

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Get Ready: Sale-A-Bration Starts Tomorrow!

Once a year Stampin’ Up has a promotion like none other called Sale-a-Bration.  During this event that runs until March, you can get something for FREE with every $50 purchase.  (I love free, don’t you?)  The exclusive Sale-a-Bration freebies include stamp sets, designer series paper, brads, ribbon, décor elements, and even My Digital Studio add ons.  These freebies make it easy to grow your collection so you can create beautiful paper crafting projects.  Plus remember that I rebate shipping on orders over $50!  That means that when you buy $50 in merchandise, you not only get a free Sale-a-Bration item of your choice, but you also get free shipping.  It just doesn’t get any better than this!     

Wonderful Customers

One of the great things about being a Stampin’ Up demonstrator is the friendships you make along the way.  A while back I received a order from someone living a couple of hours away from me.  Over the past year, that relationship has grown stronger and now we talk about more than just Stampin’ Up products.  It’s something that is unexpected from an online sale.  It would be like if I started talking to someone at Amazon.com on a regular basis and sharing life events.  This week I received a birthday card from my customer & friend, Joyce F.  I felt SO blessed to have this type of relationship with someone I’ve never met.  Thanks Joyce for making me feel special. 

For my card, Joyce used the Elements of Style stamp set.  She colored in all the flowers and then added crystal effects to make it shiny and give it dimension.  I love the detail of the lace ribbon, beautiful wings butterflies, and the square lattice embossing folder.

Love is in the Air

Valentine’s Day will be here in less than a month.  I’ll be honest, I don’t send out cards for Valentine’s Day, but I do make a card for my husband.  I think, however, many stamp sets that could be seen as specifically for Valentine’s Day, can actually be used for many other occasions.  The “Take it to Heart” set is one of those.  I used the heart image with the boy and girl and then used my new heart framelits to cut out the shapes.  I think it makes for a sweet card that could be used for more than just Valentine’s Day.

Wonderful Birthday Week

This week has been awesome.  My husband surprised me with a yummy (and huge!) cake.  Evidently the lady at the bakery suggested this as a good size.  hehe  Since his birthday is next week, we’ve decided to make it “our” cake and share it.  Next week I’ll just pull his half from the freezer and we’ll celebrate all over again. 

I thought I’d share the handcrafted birthday cards I received.  One of the reasons I love to get handmade cards is that I get great design ideas from them!  Maybe they will inspire you too. 

This card was made by Karen.  I think she used either her Cricut or paper punches to create the flowers.  I love the added bling from the rhinestone and the shimmer paper. 

Margaret made this card.  I love the way she did the torn paper as a mat and used the red gems to frame the sentiment.  And I think she used her Stamp-a-ma-jig to make sure the words were even because they look much straighter than the cards I create!   

Kathy knows that my name, Vanessa, means butterfly, so she chose that as her card theme.  I’m not sure if this was designer paper or a stamp, but it’s lovely and having that little bit of shimmer paper added makes the design pop.

I love the dot embossing folder Robin used on this card.  It looks so cute with the little doggie.  I think the dog image came from a Slice cartridge.  I might just need to get that one!

Phyllis created this card which is especially appropriate for a January birthday.  It has embossed and punched snowflakes and the cute punched bird as it’s focal point.  I love how she made a nest out of all those green punched out pieces. 

A week of Birthdays

Many of my friends and family have January birthdays.  This week is particularly a festive week.  My friend, Cinda, will celebrate her birthday tomorrow and my friend, Phyllis, will be celebrating on Tuesday.  Then on Wednesday, I’ll be having my birthday.  I see lots of cake in my future.  lol  I used the Gnome Sweet Gnome set to create a fun birthday card.  I know some people find gnomes creepy (kind of like how I feel about clowns,) but ever since Travelocity had the “Roaming Gnome” commercials, I fell in love with them.  The image I used on this card is my favorite from the set because it has the cute little frog too!

     

I used watercolor paper and colored in my gnome with ink pads and my AquaPainter.  I stamped some flowers from the Itty Bitty Bits and then added some Dazzling Details to add some sparkle.  (Those sparkle dots look MUCH better in person.  I realized when I looked at the photo that they sort of resembled warts instead of sparkle.  lol) 

In with the New: Occasions Mini

The new Occasions Mini Catalog went live on Wednesday.  I love so many of the new things and because of that I spent way too much money and even asked Santa for more.  (Santa said, “You already have stamp sets.”  He just doesn’t understand.  lol) 

One of my favorites in this catalog is the Apothecary Art stamp set with the coordinating framelit die.  (I wish all my stamp sets had coordinating dies or punches so I would never have to use my scissors!)

This was the “starter” card.  I colored the image with pastels, cut it out and layered it onto the card.  Even though it has flowers, I think the blue & brown color scheme would make it good for a masculine birthday.

 

This one was stepped up because I watercolored the image with watercolor crayons and used one of the new Designer Cuts cards.  I added a little tag stamped with an image from Itty Bitty Bits and some ribbon.  I think the laser cut card makes it look much more feminine.   

A Tale of Two Monkeys….

It’s always interesting to me how you can give 2 people the exact same supplies and they create two uniquely different cards.  My friend, Margaret, needed a birthday card for her nephew so we each made a card using the same supplies.  We used the Big Top Birthday paper, the monkey from Fox & Friends, and images from Patterned Party.  I think her card is SO much nicer than mine, but both are really cute.  This is why it’s such a good idea to look at card creations on lots of websites.  Everyone has a different crafting style and it’s nice to get some different ideas for using the same items.  Happy Stamping! 

Margaret’s card is so cute and I loved how she added the Itty Bitty Bits star to the circle with the stamps.  I also loved how she wrapped her designer paper all the way around the card.  That’s something I never would have considered! 

I tried to make my money hang from the birthday greeting, but instead he just looks upside down.  lol  I do like the turquoise with the red.  It’s funny, I’ve had that Tempting Turquoise ink pad about 7 years and I can count on my fingers the number of times I’ve used it.  When I pulled it out it was still just as juicy as the day I bought it.  I’m such a “neutrals” kind of girl, but it was nice to step outside my comfort zone and use bright and fun colors.   

Like Stampin’ Up on Facebook–Get A free digital download

I was excited to see that I could download a free digital download just by “liking” Stampin’ Up on Facebook.  You might have to scroll down a ways to find it.  Here’s a scrapbook page I made for our dog, Baron. It was so easy to make it with My Digital Studio!

“Thank you for being our friends! To show our appreciation for our 100,000 (plus) Facebook fans, we’re giving away a free digital kit to EVERYONE to use with My Digital Studio (or any other design software if My Digital Studio is not available where you live). The Day in the Life kit contains Designer Series Papers, embellishments, a Designer Template, and is valued at $14.95(US)! To download the kit, just follow the link below. And so you (and your friends) have plenty of time to download the kit, we’ll make sure it is available through January 10.”

** Note: I cannot add the link since I already downloaded it. You will need to go to the Stampin' Up Facebook page and click on the link from there. http://www.facebook.com/stampinupfanpage/posts/203957559696733 **

Last chance

Tuesday, January 3rd is your last chance to buy things from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  While we may see some of those items again in future catalogs, Stampin’ Up has confirmed that the Stocking Builder Punch will not be returning.  If it’s something you think you’d like, now is the time to buy it.  It’s item 124095 and costs $16.95. 

Tuesday is also the last day to register for my “Thank You Note” Stamp-a-Stack.  As of today, there is only ONE spot remaining!  Contact me at svzhong@gmail.com today to register.   I have 4 pretty cards prepared and people who come will be making 3 of each.  For only $12, this is one of the best bargains of the year!