Author Archives: mauistamper

Pillow Gifts from Hilton Head

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The Stampin’ Up! Hilton Head Incentive Trip was last month.  Although I earned the trip, I didn’t attend as it conflicted with my God-daughter’s wedding in California.  (It was a FABULOUS weekend and I absolutely made the right decision!!)  Stampin’ Up! is generous, though, and I received a lovely cash bonus.  I’d forgotten that I would also be getting the pillow gifts until an unexpected box arrived last week:

Yes, it’s a Lands’ End bag!  It’s big, too – it will hold my 15″ laptop!  Gorgeous, isn’t it?  And that’s our Polka Dot fabric too – can’t wait to make a few more of these myself.

How sweet is that logo?  Yeah, it’s our red rubbah…and look what else was inside the box:

It’s like Christmas in October!

Watch for new projects with Fan Fair Designer Series paper and the Postage Due stamp set!

If you’re on Maui, there are a couple of spots left for tomorrow’s classes at the Masonic Lodge in Kahului.  Everything is ready for you at the table:

We’re making cards in the morning from 9 til noon, and owl themed crafts after lunch.  Hope you can join us!

The Holly and the Pines

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At hostess club last week we made a card with an extra surprise inside:

Well, that isn’t the inside now, is it?  It’s actually pretty simple, and if I were to do it again I would give it the Maui Stamper More Is More treatment, but I wanted to have time for the inside:

  • Ornament Keepsakes, Watercolor Winter and More Merry Messages stamp sets
  • Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla card stock
  • Be of Good Cheer Designer Series paper
  • Champagne Glimmer Paper
  • Lucky Limeade and Cherry Cobbler FFIP
  • Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbon
  • Big Shot and Labels Collections  and Holiday CollectionFramelits
  • Adorning Accents Edgelits
  • Festive Paper Piercing Pack
  • Stampin’ Pierce Mat
  • Paper Piercing Tool, aka Pokey Doodle
  • Aquapainter
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals
  • Sticky Strip

It’s a simple but pretty way to add an extra page for a Christmas message!

Moving Forward with love

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Hello, dear friend – who wouldn’t like to hear those words?  Or read them, for that matter:

  • Moving Forward stamp set
  • Pacific Point Classic FFIP
  • Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Write marker
  • Whisper White and Cherry Cobbler card stock
  • Pacific Point Prints Pack Designer Series paper
  • Big Shot and Perfect Polka Dots TIEF
  • Blender pen
  • 3 inch Bigz Circle
  • 2 1/2 inch Circle Punch
  • Rhinestone Jewels

I took this project to the high school my kids attended as a thank you to the hard-working staff.  They had such a good time, we’ll do it again!

Stampin’ by…AppLight??

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The Maui Stampers decided to try something new for our team meeting, and last night we met at Queen Ka’ahumanu Shopping center.  It provided a central location, plenty of tables, and a variety of “nutritional options”.  However, what we had failed to realize was that it was VERY short on light.

Nevertheless, once the business part was done we persevered with our project.  We were having a hard time seeing what we were doing when Crystal, being the brilliant girl she is, whipped out her phone and said “I’ve got an app for that!”

It did a good job, wouldn’t you say?

It clearly didn’t stop us from having a good time!!

Crystal spotted an electrical outlet and said next time she’ll bring her craft lamp.

A little Core’dination

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I realize I’m a Stampin’ Up! dork.  Someone asked me today to imagine how I would respond to something if I weren’t a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator and I couldn’t do it.  Couldn’t imagine NOT being a demo.  Couldn’t imagine NOT having access to the SU website, NOT going to convention and all the other great events, not being part of the “demonstrator club”.  So it should come as no surprise What So Ever that I am doing the Happy Dance about yet another new Holiday catalog product!

  • Gently Falling and Kindness Matters stamp sets
  • Very Vanilla, More Mustard and Cajun Craze card stock
  • Early Espresso Core’dination card stock
  • Early Espresso, Canjun Craze and More Mustard Classic ink pads
  • Big Shot
  • Woodgrain TIEF
  • Window Frames Framelits
  • Regals Designer Buttons
  • Linen Thread
  • Stampin’ Sandin’ System

Oh my goodness.  LOVE this Core’dinations paper!!   LOVE that Woodgrain TIEF!!  Love the Stampin’ Sandin’ System!!  (OK, maybe I don’t love the name, but the product – yeah, baby!)  And if Stampin’ Up! ever retires the Linen Thread, I will buy up every last package in the warehouse.

The Core’dinations paper does amazing things with a TIEF.  It’s thicker than regular cardstock and has a tone-on-tone interior.  Run it through the Big Shot and you’ll see the core peep through, but hit it with that new sanding block and fabulous things take place.  This is not your grandmother’s sanding block, crafters; this is a sanding block on steroids!  And the sandy goodness attaches with velcro so you can switch out the yucky old paper for fresh, growly, chew-up-that-core’dinations paper!

Are you a Stampin’ Up! dork?  Isn’t it time you gave yourself the gift of becoming a demonstrator?  $99 for $125 worth of product PLUS a heap of business supplies…you’re worth it!   Visit www.AnneMatasci.StampinUp.net to learn all about it.

It’s not just for Halloween

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Crystal brought me a fabulous present a couple of weeks ago.  The gift itself was awesome – The Best Bag Hook Ever!!  The wrapping was pretty doggone sweet too:

Howlstooth and Scaringbone Designer Series paper Stampin' Up!Tell me, does that look like Halloween paper to you???  Love, love love it!!!

Howlstooth and Scaringbone Designer Series paper Stampin' Up!Here’s the side view – she layered solid Blossom punch flowers with the DSP on top and cut through the petals for extra fullness.

Now that’s thinking outside the box!!!
(I know, it’s sick, but I couldn’t resist.)

An Annual Christmas Extravaganza!

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It’s time for Anne and Crystal’s Christmas Extravaganza!!  Yep – ACCE is here!

We’re offering two classes on Saturday, October 27th at the Maui Masonic Lodge.  As always, your paid reservation holds your spot at the craft table.

First up:  Christmas Cards!

Cards class runs from 9am until noon.  You’ll make 2 of each card plus the Petite Pocket and two very sparkly tags.  Cost is $20 and includes envelopes and specialty adhesives, but you’ll need to bring your own Tombo or SNAIL to assemble the cards.  We will also have Tombo available for purchase on Saturday.

After lunch:  the Owl Suite!!

From 1 to 4pm we’ll make projects based on the Owl Occasions stamp set from the Holiday Catalog.  You’ll craft a gift bag, two cards, an 8oz jelly-type jar, a covered Fancy Favor bag (not pictured) and another Petite Pocket with two more bling-bling tags!  Cost is $25 and includes all supplies except Tombo or SNAIL.

If you’re an All-Day kind of stamper, we’ll save you a couple of dollars – register for BOTH classes for $42.  Bring a friend and share the fun, or come by yourself and make new friends!  We have some great door prizes in store as well as chocolate and maybe even a Christmas song or two – hope to see you there!

A RemARKable Ending to World Card Making Day

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Well, my blog-hopping friends, we’ve reached the last moments of World Card Making Day – at least on the East Coast.  Here in Hawaii, it’s time for pupu and a glass of wine, and Mr. Maui Stamper and I are heading over to the beach with our picnic basket for the sunset.  I’m sure to lift my glass to all of you!!  Thanks for sharing this day with all of us.

I left the neutrals for last because after my favorite blue + green combo, I love a neutral card.  Granted, I often use an neutral palette to set of a pop! of color – Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist – but by themselves I find the neutrals very elegant.  Tell me what you think:

Have you tried our new Core’dinations card stock yet?  Hie thee off to thine own Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and order thyself some of this paper of the kings!!  It is royally fabulous!  And that tulle is pretty sweet too, and it sticketh to sticky strip quite welleth!  (OK.  Enough of that nonsense.)

There’s a little 3/4 inch circle of Early Espresso cardstock behind that Vintage Faceted Button to give it depth.

Black and white is classic, but black with Very Vanilla is just splendid – like deep, dark chocolate hot fudge with rich vanilla bean ice cream (did I send you off to the freezer there?  Sorry ’bout that!)  Our First Edition Specialty paper is one of my stamp room staples; it’s flexible enough for nearly any card-making situation.

Although the Neutral color family lends itself well to luxurious, elaborate cards, it certainly works well with other styles.  This is about as close as I get to a Clean and Simple card, and I’m pretty sure that sparkly star at the top disqualifies me from the genre.

That’s my last card for this hop – or as Mr Maui Stamper called it the other day, the Blog Parade.  We are all very grateful for each of you taking the time to hop, skip, jump and parade through our posts.  If we’ve done our job well, you are inspired; perhaps you’ve left a comment or two, or pinned a few samples to your Pinterest board for later study.   I’ll be reviewing some of these projects over the next couple of weeks with a little more detail – if there’s one you’d especially like to see featured, just leave a comment.

A hui hou…until we meet again.

Next Stop on the World Card Making Day RemARKable Blog Tour

Sweetly RemARKable – it’s a Subtles World Card Making Day

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E como mai!  Come on in!  Welcome to the Subtles Color Family!

If you’re like me, you are captivated by color.  It evokes moods and flights of memory.  I’m fascinated by a neurological phenomenon call Synesthesia where individuals have extraordinary sensory connections – for example, certain music will exhibit a color characteristic – they’ll “hear” red – or a color will immediately call to mind a certain symbol such as a letter or number.  Whether or not you “hear” colors, I’m sure you have favorites – as do I.  And the entire Stampin’ Up! product line is meant just for people like us, because color is consistent throughout the line which means everything MATCHES.

I’m pleased with the way all the different Pirouette Pink Products (P-3) work together in this card. Honestly?  Pink isn’t one of my favorites.  I like it, it’s soft and feminine, but it’s not a color I reach for. I don’t have any objection to it, I just like other colors better.  Like blue.  Blue, and green.  ESPECIALLY blue and green!

Now this is what I cal color:  Daydream Medallions, paper flowers, Vintage faceted buttons, pleated ribbon…in blue and green!

If I could only have two colors to stamp with, it would be blue and green.  I’m not exactly sure WHICH blue and green I would choose if I could only have two, but I know it would be blue and green.  They’re colors that are abundant in nature.  My stamp room (the Room Formerly Know As Sara’s Bedroom, and yes, I still hear about that) has a window that looks out over our backyard from the second floor of the house.  We have a beautiful back yard full of all sorts of green plants (and bugs, but you can’t see them from this far away).  The sky is a brilliant blue, and I am constantly inspired by my view.

This is a different blue – Marina Mist! – and a different green – Wild Wasabi!  I TRIED to use Perfect Plum but it had an attitude.  That’s my story and I’m sticking by it 🙂

I’ve used the Traditional Touches single stamp, and it’s really versatile.  It’s perfectly sized for a gift tag, and lined up it would make a great border or accent, but here – at least in my opinion – it makes a really cute card.  I love that the lines hanging the ornaments are little tiny dots to coordinate with a little bit of piercing on the framelit.

Making a card can be as simple or as complex as you like.  Some of the most beautiful cards I’ve seen are in the Clean and Simple style – just an image, perhaps an embellishment, and a lot of white space.  I love it, but I have a difficult time executing it.  I’m what you might call a “More is More” stamper. Either way, card making is not  about your style, it’s about making something with someone else in mind and then sharing with them. How simple is that?

Next simple task:  click the button and share with Ri Ri!

Next Stop on the World Card Making Day RemARKable Blog Tour

RemARKably Luxurious: A Regal World Card Making Day

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So glad you’ve come back for a little more WCMD RemARKable blogging goodness!  A hand made card is a very special gift, and although today I’m featuring cards for birthdays, thank yous and Christmas, the best card is the one that arrives “just because”.  It’s a simple act but it means a lot.

This third round on the hop is full of rich, royal colors: the Stampin’ Up! Regal Color Family

If you know me at all, you know that I run late.  I’m not proud of that, and I have developed a variety of habits designed to get me out the door on time, but the sad truth is that I run on Maui Stamper time.  Fortunately, Maui time and Maui Stamper time are similar concepts!

This little mollusk has a good excuse for being tardy – he had to wait for the Crystal Effects to dry!  (don’t tell, but I did a Maui Stamper No-No.  I broke out the Dazzling Diamonds.  Mr. Maui Stamper DOES NOT LIKE GLITTER.  It has to do with an incident at least 10 years ago involving a teenager’s glittered tee shirt and a pair of cycling shorts in the same load of laundry.  I almost never use DD, but I just couldn’t resist!)

This card might take that extra bit of postage, but that lumpy knot on the Cherry Cobbler tulle is worth every penny!  The tulle is luxurious and soft, and ties easily and gracefully.  It can be pleated – I use sticky strip because hot glue, while it is somewhat more effective, has an unnatural affinity for my fingers.  And it burns.

I am an ENORMOUS fan of Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing folders (TIEF).  Give a piece of cardstock a quick run through the Big Shot and it goes from hum to HUM BABY!  (I am also an enormous fan of caps, because I talk with my hands – caps are not shouting to me, they are gestures.)   This oval is my new holiday fave.  As far as snowflakes go, we see them about once every 10 years at the summit of Haleakala – but this one looks like a design for a traditional Hawaiian quilt, and that suits me.

Having fun?  Full to the brim with ideas?  Fingers weary from all that Pinning?  Get some rest, because there are two more posts to come before the day is through!  In the meantime, let’s check out what Maria has up her sleeve…

Next Stop on the World Card Making Day RemARKable Blog Tour