Category Archives: cards

Just a quick post

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It’s been crazy mad busy around the Stamper household and it doesn’t promise to get much better!  I would hate to be bored, though, so I can’t complain about all the good stuff going on.  There are so many fantastic new goodies to play with in my studio and I just can’t seem to find enough time to play with them all!

This is one more card I made for my secret sister swap at Leadership in San Antonio:

 

Leadershp swap card 2012

It’s very simple and VERY bright – not sure what posessed me to put Poppy Parade and Lucky Limeade together but I did it!  Those tiny little embossed hearts are from the new Adorning Accents Textured Impressions Embossing folders, and they are as easy to use as they are cute.  That Designer Series paper is Everyday Enchantment from the Sale-a-bration catalog, and I haven’t found one design that I couldn’t find a good use for in that assortment —  I’ve ordered a package or two for myself!

And now one more photo from Leadership – I mentioned in my post from San Antonio that my upline Janet Wakeland hosted an event in her hotel room and we gathered for a group photo:

RemARKables Leadership 2012

There is a bed underneath all of those women, and we were certain that it was going to collapse underneath us.  Never mind that it was about 97 degrees in that hotel room!!  Didn’t matter, we were havin’ too much fun to care.  But I’ll confess to being grateful that the photo was done and we could all get just a little bit more personal space!

 

The Maui Stamper’s Computer: DOA or CPR?

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Yes, it’s bad news in the PC department.  The wunderkinds at Q and A Computers are resuscitating my machine as we speak, but they hint of trouble in the monitor as well.  The good news is that most if not all of my files are safe, but improvising while they do their good work is a challenge!!

Life has been VERY busy in the Maui Stamper household, and though I’ll spare you most of the details I do have a little more to share about Stampin’ Up! leadership conference in San Antonio.  It was a lovely work/play balance and a fabulous trip overall.  First some eye-candy:

Leadership Secret Sisters swap gift bag

I participated in a Secret Sisters swap with Janet Wakeland’s Dreambuilders group and this is the bag I gave to Linda Hunt.  I’ll share her gifts to me another time but I have to tell you I had a BLAST with this swap!  Here’s the gift box I made for her:

Leadership Secret Sisters swap gift box

I am CRAZY IN LOVE with the new Sale-a-bration DSP and I hope you are too!  Free PLUS gorgeous – it doesn’t get better than that, friends!!

Linda got a couple of cards too – here’s one:

Leadership Secret Sisters swap Cherry Cobbler card

Our new Framelits and Edgelits are injecting tons of new creative inspiration into my projects – my busy stampin’ fingers can’t keep up with all the ideas running through my brain!

If  you are a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator – or if you are interested in being one – check out the requirements to attend Leadership.  (Senior Supervisor is the minimum title level).  I’m telling you – this is the cream of the crop.  As a company, Stampin’ Up! goes over the top to reward and acknowledge their demonstrators and Leadership was no exception.  The demos who are there are at the top of their game – some of the loveliest, kindest, smartest women – and a few men – you will ever meet in your life!  That in and of itself made the long trip worthwhile.

However, Stampin’ Up! also provides outstanding resources and training.  I spent such valuable time with SU staff developing my business plan, learning about technological resources (that I will use when my pc is reborn!) and seeing and trying new techniques.

I also attended a number of classes that were professionally as well as personally VERY fruitful.  One of my favorites was taught by Ellen Richardson, a dynamic (and gorgeous) woman who led a discussion group around a book called Change Anything by Kerry Patterson et al.  This book is clearly written and offers a step-by-step approach to creating change in your business and your life.  It doesn’t promise any easy answers, but as we discussed the fundamentals of the approach offered, I realized a number of individual steps and tasks I could implement to bring about changes I wanted to see in my life.  And yes, I’ve begun that work!  As I said, Leadership conference really benefited me in my business and personally.

That’s enough soap-box for today!  I’ll be back soon with more photos – thanks to Brett, Ben and the Q&A team!

 

Checking in from San Antonio

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I’m attending my first Stampin’ Up! leadership conference in San Antonio, Texas.  My trip started out with a quick visit with one of the most fun people I know.  I met Karen within a week or so of moving to Maui almost 22 years ago with a 3 year old in tow and a baby due in 8 weeks.  She took one look at me and said “You’re gonna need some help!” and a friendship was born.

She picked me up from the airport and we talked non-stop until she dropped me off at the Convention Center 24 hours later.  I haven’t seen her in probably 8 years but it was as though we’d left off yesterday.  Friends like that are precious gifts indeed.

When she dropped me off I hit the ground running:  first order of business was my convention bag and Make and Takes.  For the uninitiated, M&T is a Stampin’ Up! event tradition – projects and products for the demonstrators to make (and take home!)  I never seem to finish all of mine – too busy gabbing – but I did manage to finish one:

Mixed Bunch Make and Take

Sorry -not such a great photo from my phone!  I also snapped a shot of our special gift from Shelli – a fabric folio that could be used for anything from a junior legal pad to a Kindle – along with a fancy favor box full of white, milk and dark chocolate bark:

Fabric Folio from Leadership

Our leadership tote bags are made from the same fabrics and we have gotten compliments as we have walked all over San Antonio – something tells me we’re going to see more of these cute fabrics 🙂

Last night was the Manager’s Reception – a fabulous performance by Chinese acrobats and a FREE NEW STAMP SET!!  Can’t show you a picture but just as soon as I get home I’ll get some ink to that new rubber and show you what I’ve made!  Those are the rules…

I did get a photo at Managers with Becky Evans, the #2 Rising Star last year and someone I look forward to seeing whenever I can.  She rescued me from meltdown at convention last year – long story, but trust me, she was a true friend:

Anne and Becky at Manager's Reception 2012

This morning Kay and I were up early – first timers at leadership got a set of Polka Dot brads for finding other first timers and checking in together.  Our morning session was full of announcements including a DIAGONAL SCORE BOARD for the Simply Scored tool!  I wasn’t sure what I would need that for, but Pam Morgan quickly answered that question with a whole bunch of projects.  There was yet another NEW FREE STAMP SET – same rules, sorry my friends – and then an SAB give-away of One Big Sale-a-bration MDS plus loads of bling – good thing I filled with suitcase with stuff to give away here, because I’m gonna need that space to get all my goodies home!

After lunch – and at leadership, it’s sit-down – I went to my first session.  Carrie Cudney talked about Why Women Buy – and I learned plenty but we laughed plenty too.  The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to brief but really useful presentations from everything from Express Workshops to using Google Analytics!  Very very cool.

Now, if you’ve stayed with me this far I have a reward:  one of the things I love about a Stampin’ Up! event is seeing all the samples, and I’ve got a few of my favorites to share:

Little spools of Bakers Twine

Look!  Little spools of  Bakers Twine!  So cute!

Twitterpated button heart

The color is off but you get the idea – a heart made from the Twitterpated buttons from the Occasions Mini.

More little buttons

I really love these little buttons, and that stitching is the perfect touch – but that new diagonal plate for Simply Scored would make those diagonal lines in a heartbeat!

Hatpin flags

Little flags made with our new Hatpin Embellishments from – yes – the Occasions Mini!

Fancy Favor box

I loved the Vintage look of this Fancy Favor box…

Poppy favor box

This is brilliant – the Fancy Favor box turned into a gabled box-top!

Kay and I finished the evening at a RemARKable gathering – our upline Janet Wakeland invited 20 or 30 of her nearest and dearest demo friends to her room for pizza and swaps.  I’m surprised the management of the hotel (and I won’t name names but it’s a very nice hotel) didn’t throw us all out on our ears.  We were loud – and we were all sure the bed would crash down 2 or 3 floors when ALL of us piled on  for a group photo.  Don’t have one of those to show you, but here I am with Jan:

Anne and Jan

Leadership has been a great experience and there’s one more day ahead.  I’ll just close by saying if you are a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, this is something well worth striving for.

Sprinkled with hearts

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I like these little sprinkling hearts:

 

Cherry Cobbler Valentines

This is a super simple, quickie card for just about any occasion but it would be a snap if you needed a bunch of Valentines.  It’s a new Sale-a-bration set called Sprinkled Expressions and it’s available on January 24.  If you’re new to Sale-a-bration – or SAB – it’s the promotion we all wait for each year – even the demonstrators!  Spend $50, get free product.  That’s it.

I have a funny feeling Valentines Day is going to sneak up on me this year.  Matter of fact, I have a feeling I’m going to be running behind schedule a LOT.  I think I’d better start doing some long range planning.

On the road again

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When I booked these two trips they didn’t seem that close together, but things change from ground level!  Wouldn’t miss either of them – loved being together with my family in Australia, and now I’m headed to San Antonio to Stampin’ Up! leadership!  I’m hoping to be able to share with you while I’m there, but I have a couple of things set up for you even if I can’t get online.  I’m a little short for time so these will be mostly pictures – I’ll catch you up on the details later.

Mambo easel card

Love this new mini!  This is the Bordering on Romance stamp set and it’s part of the Twitterpated Suite – there’s Designer Series paper and lots of other feminine things to coordinate.

I’m really excited about this trip as it’s my first Leadership conference; last year was Nashville and I couldn’t justify flying that far for 3 days!  I’m also going to see some good friends who live there – one is the first friend I made on Maui, and she is a LOT of fun!  We have lots of memories to share.  The second is my daughter’s bridesmaid and her family, and I’m looking forward to spending time with them and eating lots of good food.  Good times!

A fresh start for a new year

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I love fresh beginnings, and a new year is one of the freshest of them all.  Making plans, setting new goals, dreaming new dreams – all of these things fill me with optimism and energy.  Our new Occasions Mini catalog is full of exciting new images and products that have my mojo doing the happy dance!  One of my favorite new stamp sets is Just My Type:

Just My Type Birthday

  • Just My Type stamp set
  • Basic Black Craft Ink
  • Calypso Coral Classic Ink
  • Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral and Basic Black card stock
  • First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper
  • Big Shot and Framelits Labels
  • Black 1/8 inch taffeta Ribbon
  • Where did that BRAD come from???

Ah, the priveledges of being a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator…hat brad is one of the new Sale-a-bration offerings that will be available the 24th of January – and there’s much, much more!  You’ll notice I stamped the typewriter in craft ink – that’s because I wanted a good, solid, bold black image.  Black Staz-on would work the same way.

My grandfather used a typewriter much like this one – in fact, I have it.  It’s in a travel case, and  he used to take it with him on the train from Redwood City to San Francisco every morning and afternoon….the original laptop, if you will.  I have fond memories of sitting at the station in the afternoon with my grandmother, waiting for Gramps to arrive on the train.  He’d installed a special bell on the driver’s side of the car, and she could press a button with her foot and it would ring – ding, dong! – and he could find her in the crowded parking lot.

You may know that my family spent Christmas and New Year’s in Perth, Australia.  Our oldest daughter and her fiance live there, and so it was a little bit of tourism, a little bit of family celebration, and a whole lot of eating!  We spent a few days in Margaret River between Christmas and New Year’s where the wildlife was abundant.  Margaret River is best known for wineries, breweries, cheese, olive oil and chocolate manufacture – I think that’s the 5 basic food groups, isn’t it?  We were able to get quite close to kangaroos and a variety of birds:

Roos in the field behind our cottage

These roos knew I was there but they didn’t much care.  They were often in the field just behind our little cottage, and we’d see them relaxing in the shade under the trees during the heat of the day.  We even saw a couple of different pairs “boxing” – I guess it’s a guy-roo thing. One morning I was the first one up and went into the kitchen to make coffee.  There was a mama and a joey less than 8 feet from the kitchen window – she looked me in the eye for nearly two minutes before hopping leisurely away.

Another afternoon I went for a walk through the preserve where our cottage was and encountered this mama:

Mama Roo

I’ve gotta tell you, if I had to carry my kids around like this I would be a big fan of early independence.   She was about 8 feet from me, but she stayed a long time.   She must have felt my empathy.

The birds were amazing, and in the mornings I took my coffee on the covered lanai (I know, they probably don’t call it a lanai in Australia but that’s what it was.)  There was a little container of bird seed in our cottage at Bussels Bushland Cottages so that we could encourage visitors.  There were a couple of Port Lincoln Ringneck parrots that were regulars, and they were not at all shy:

Ringneck Parrot

Finally, what trip to Australia would be complete without the Kookaburra?  We heard them most often early and late in the day.  Carol’s fiance said they are territorial, and you could certainly believe that from the discussions they had regarding the trees.  Occupy Eucalyptus, if you ask me!

Kookaburra

 

And in the heavens there rose a star…

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Joy to the World

  • The Sounding Joy stamp set
  • Soft Suede and Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink Pads
  • Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler and Brushed Gold card stock
  • Cherry Cobbler seam binding
  • Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Write marker
  • Color Spritzer tool

 

 

 

 

Test pattern combinations

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I got a couple of swaps at convention that used this fun layout:

Gift box card

This idea is easy to customize to any holiday or occasion.  I had a blast putting patterns together – kind of reminded me of the way my grandmother used to put outfits together as she got older.  We called her “test pattern Grandma”.  (You readers who are younger than dirt will have to ask an old person what a test pattern is.  Since I’m older than dirt, I already know.)

The best part is that this card opens up:

Gift box card opened

Don’t you love it?  And it is SO easy.  The bottom half of the card is a pocket, the top half a sliding panel.  I think you could put some Dotto on the card and attach a gift card.  I started pulling out all of my holiday Designer Series Paper scraps to see what else I could come up with:

Another gift box card!

This is just the size for all those pieces you saved because they were too big to throw away!  (I know – we’ve covered this before.  I’m not trying to make you feel badly, you know – I’m congratulating you for your frugality and helping you find a way to use those crazy pieces!!)

Now go make some test pattern cards of your own – and have fun with it!

Sizzix Edgelits Sneak Peak

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How about another little look at some new Occasions Mini goodies?

Sizzix Edgelits

Actually, this card uses both an Edgelit and an Embosslit – do  you see how perfectly they mirror each other?  The Edgelit cuts a perfect edge every time – I cut both the Garden Green and Whisper White cardstock and offset them.  The Embosslit created that raised line on the Garden Green cardstock, and a new stamp set provided the little dots – they match perfectly too!

Crafting in January is going to be a LOT of fun!

Cheery holiday trees

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This is a case – maybe it was Robin Merriman, maybe not – but honestly, the past week I’ve been goin’ 178 miles an hour in a convertible with my hair on fire (please say that with your bestest deepest Southern accent, because that’s how I first heard it).  Here in the Stamper Household we are T minus 4 days from departure for the land down under.  I haven’t seen my oldest daughter for over a year, and I CAN’T WAIT.  I didn’t think we were ever going to get to this point!

Ah, but I do have a card to share:

Three Holiday Trees

Imagine how many different cards you could make with all of the fabulous holiday Designer Series Paper scraps you have in that scrap box of yours.  Yeah, you know the one.  It’s full of pieces that were too big to throw away, or that you just loved so much you couldn’t bring yourself to use, or that you can’t remember the name of any more and coordinating colors will be a wild guess.  It’s all okay – this is the perfect project!

I used the Perfect Pennants Bigz L die (# 123126 for $32.95, and you know you’ve been so good this year and worked so hard making everything Just Right for everyone else in the family – you deserve it, don’t you??) but you could cut triangles if you really wanted to.  I am terrible at cutting triangles.  Didn’t like geometry all that much anyway.  My triangles always come out catty-wompus (and of course that’s a word, if you read it right here on the World Wide Web, well, you KNOW that makes it a word!!).   Anyway, before I went on that little rant I meant to say that the Perfect Pennants die gives me – yep, you guessed it – perfect pennant shaped triangles every time.  No compass and slide rule required.  Hallelujah for that.

The other product you don’t want to miss on this card is Teeny Tiny Wishes.  (#115370 $36.95).  I’m feelin’ the Mom-thing here…if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times:  You need this stamp set.  Seriously.  And that’s all I have to say about that.

There’s some Smooch and some Glimmer Paper and some ribbon and bling here, too.  This card goes together faster than the reindeer a minute before sunrise and that is some fast my friends!  If you have procrastinated on putting together some cards to send to friends near and far, stack up some DSP on this die and get crankin’.    Just stay out of the convertible when your hair catches on fire.