This takes the cake

Posted on July 23, 2010 by mauistamper

7/24/10 ETA: The artist is Elizabeth Price from San Jose, CA. Well done, Elizabeth!

It’s late here in Salt Lake and although I’ve had a fabulous time I need some sleep, I’ve downloaded some of the photos from my point-and-shoot. They won’t win any Fabulous Photographer prizes but they’re better than the phone pix. The lighting in the Convention Center isn’t exactly flattering.

I’m only sharing one now, but it knocked my socks off. This cake is made entirely from paper. I am horrified to say that every photo I took of it cut off the name of the incredibly talented woman who made it, and I will go back tomorrow to get the information to share with you. In the meantime, feast your eyes:

Just a couple more

Posted on July 23, 2010 by mauistamper

A few more Artisan boards…

A Little More Amazingness

Posted on July 23, 2010 by mauistamper

I had a chance to see some of the Artisan Award winners work today and sharing the photos with your understanding that I’m using a camera phone to facilitate the upload. What that means is that the quality is, well, camera phone quality, ok?

I thought you might forgive me.

Jewel bird

Posted on July 23, 2010 by mauistamper

I love these deep, rich colors – Elegant Eggplant, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo – colors to dream in. This last swap was the most fun just because the largest Simply Adorned charm holds a 1 1/2″ x 2″ insert so there’s more room to work. I love all the new floral stamps we have in the 2010-2011 Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Catalog, and I’m especially fond of that hummingbird. It made me really happy to bring them all together in one creation:

This is the style I really enjoy. I’m not sure what to call it, but I like all of the layers and the jewel tones. It almost became a contest with myself to see how many different stamp sets I could incorporate! If you really want to know what I used, leave a comment. I’ll do my best to update these after I get home, but it could be a little while.

Amazing Inspiration

Posted on July 22, 2010 by mauistamper

Don’t know how but I think I just deleted my last convention post. If you saw something different a while ago you’re not crazy!

We are having a great time. The day is full of fun, learning and inspiration. There are so many things to tell but I have just a couple of minutes to share some of the incredible product sample boards. I’ll try to add more later. No fancy formatting just the pix, ok?

Sparkling Simply Adorned

Posted on July 22, 2010 by mauistamper

These inserts are for the 1″ x 1 1/4″ Simply Adorned charms. I designed these straight from a card I found in the catalog and cased here on this blog. They should really have rhinestone gems on each of the flowers, but I used up most of the small ones on another swap and had to stretch out the ones I had! I can’t wait to see the swaps I get in return for these – that’s really the fun of participating. (And here you thought I loved pulling out my hair until all hours of the night finishing these things.)

The flowers are punched with our new Bitty Punches and sprayed with Smooch Spritz – and I challenge you to say that five times as quickly as you can! You get a beautiful shine on something small with the Spritz. I’m pretty sure it’s not intended for skin, but it’s awfully tempting. (I’m sure that statement should be accompanied by all sorts of legal caveats and “DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME” kinds of statements. So don’t try it, ok??)

This was our time

Posted on July 21, 2010 by mauistamper

We went to a 70’s party tonite at convention. We didn’t have the best costume but we were pretty fine. There were a lot of far out women having a groovy time and we were right there. The music was awesome. We knew every song, and yes, we sang along.

Check out this attitude:

One Square Inch

Posted on July 21, 2010 by mauistamper

I can start to show you some swaps now, because I’ve started swappin’ them. Oh yeah, I love the auto-post feature! Not a lot of info here, just some fun stuff to see. I’ll have more details for you next week (that is, if I don’t end up being selected for the Jury Pool. That would be a fine welcome home from convention!)

These are inserts for the 1″ x 1″ Simply Adorned charms. They are so much fun – since they’re small, you can spend a little more time coloring stamps and cutting things out. I love that kind of detail and it’s easy to do in such a tiny format. The butterfly image is meant to be worn on the back side of the charm but you could wear them either way. I just love that goofy owl!

A Really Big Deal

Posted on July 19, 2010 by mauistamper

I have been cranking in the stamp room the past week or two. I had a new catalog Open House last weekend, two classes this week, and a sack full of swaps to get ready for the Stampin’ Up! convention this week in Salt Lake City. Imagine throngs of stampers, mostly women but accompanied by a few brave men, sharing inspiration, laughter, and swaps – for four days! I leave tonight on the red-eye and I am pumped up. Packed? Well, no, not yet…

Isn’t this fabulous?? My dear friend Kellie made it for me. Since I’m not packed, you’ll have to forgive me but the list of supplies will have to be an addendum later on.

Better than wallpaper

Posted on July 15, 2010 by mauistamper

We built our home 11 years ago, and when it was time to paint we chose a gorgeous, soothing shade called Antique Linen. We have a lot of windows and beautiful tropical light and we wanted a wall color that would allow our environment to take center stage. My husband and I loved it, but our children complained that it was boring. One of my daughters gave me a cartoon of a sad little man saying “Beige sucks the life out of you”. A couple of years ago, we finally painted one wall in the master bedroom and the kids applauded. We even did a wall in the living room, but I have to admit that I still love Antique Linen.

There’s a tiny little powder room on the first floor that I kept thinking about. I considered wallpaper, but my husband and I have wallpapered in the past. (Translation: I chose the paper and he put it up. He’s an engineer and if things like that aren’t done well, it drives him crazy.) Wallpapering is not Life Giving in terms of our relationship, if you get my drift. I thought about paint but couldn’t settle on a color. Then I got the new Stampin’ Up! Decor Elements catalog.

This is the largest size of Wildflower Bouquet. To say I love it would be an understatement. It’s nearly four feet tall and it fits this space so perfectly you would think it was a custom design. This Chocolate Chip vinyl is a deep, rich tone and it has the perfect amount of sheen. My photo doesn’t do it justice!

I will admit that this largest size takes some patience to install. It comes in four pieces, and there are very clear and specific installation instructions. One of the instructions is to take your time, and I took that to heart. You do have to be patient when you are matching up all the pieces, but the application went smoothly and I am very pleased with the final result.

These vinyl pieces are designed to stay securely on the wall until you are ready to remove them. When it’s time for a change of scenery, so to speak, you just peel them off and your wall is ready for the next adventure. If you’ve ever peeled wallpaper from a wall (and scraped, and scrubbed, and washed, and said naughty words) you’ll appreciate the way Decor Elements come right off without leaving any marks. They’re perfect for a rental or a dorm room too.

Time to go shopping! Visit my Online Store and click on Shop Now to view the complete line of Home Decor items.