FAST FUSE SALE is back!

Posted on February 6, 2018 by mauistamper

The sale is on beginning Thursday February 8th (could be Wednesday February 7th for Hawaii folks – check the time zone!) Buy one Fast Fuse Adhesive #129026 and Stampin’ Up! will send you two refills for FREE. This deal is scheduled to run through February 12th but it is WHILE SUPPLIES LAST and it sold out early the last time it was offered!

Mark your calendars, set your alerts, and don’t miss out. Use Host Code QEYJPXAN at my Online Store. Order 5 Fast Fuse and you can select a FREE Sale-a-bration product as well!

You might consider adding in a one month (#137858, $20) or three month (#137859, $59) Paper Pumpkin subscription. Stampin’ Up! has just announced that Paper Pumpkin will celebrate 5 years of Crafting Goodness with a very special March box. Purchase multiples and gather your friends for a no-muss, no-fuss evening of crafting with Paper Pumpkin and Fast Fuse!

With deepest sympathy

Posted on February 6, 2018 by mauistamper

It’s the card no one wants to make, but the one that means so very much to receive. Mr. Maui Stamper and I needed a card for dear friends who lost a beloved mother, grandmother, friend.

Stamps: Hello Friend, Loving Thoughts (retired)
Color Palette: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Big Shot, Layering Circles framelits, Black Diamond Jewels (retired Holiday 2017), Layered Leaves Dynamic TIEF, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I was pleased with the color palette because it was light enough to be hopeful, but subdued enough to convey the depth of our feelings. Color speaks volumes.

I stocked up on those tiny black rhinestone jewels from the Holiday 2017 catalog, and they were the perfect touch.

I hope you don’t need a card like this, but if you do, I hope you’ll be inspired to make and send one. Don’t worry about what to put inside. Simple things are best, things like “I’m thinking of you” or “I’m available to pick up your kids from school all month”. Don’t try to fix it or make it better. Grief takes its own course. Just be present.

Panda Panda Panda! Sale-a-bratin’ in February

Posted on February 1, 2018 by mauistamper

February is going to be fabulous – look at what I’ll have on my desk all month!!

Stamps: Party Pandas (SAB 2018), Tabs for Everything
Color Palette: Whisper White, Basic Black, Berry Burst
Accessories: Stamparatus, Wink of Stella, Stampin’ Write markers

I just love their little bellies.

The hearts are from Tabs for Everything and there’s one more large heart that is a solid image. That set is a bit of a sleeper!

Stamparatus has become my GO-TO, who-knew-I-needed-this, favorite tool ever! Well, maybe it’s in a first place tie with the Big Shot, because I don’t like to fussy cut. Getting a perfect, solid image when you mask can be tricky, but not with Stamparatus! Lining up images in a straight line can be tricky, but not with Stamparatus! If you’re not in the reservation queue, put this at the top of your list for the 2018-2019 catalog. I promise, you’ll fall in love!

Crystal and Cheryl have more to share – check out what they’ve done. If you’d like to share your calendar creations with us on Pinterest, please put your Pinterest user name in the comments and I’ll add you to our board.

Beautiful Peakcock in My Favorite Colors

Posted on January 29, 2018 by mauistamper

Blues and greens are my favorite colors and my favorite color combination. It’s what I see outside my window: blue skies and ocean, green plants and trees. They’re restful colors to me, but with the right intensity, they are vibrant as well. And they’re the colors of peacocks!

Stamps: Beautiful Peacock (SAB 2018), Tabs for Everything
Color Palette: Whisper White, Dapper Denim, Pool Party, Lemon Lime Twist
Accessories: Big Shot, Garden Trellis TIEF, Lemon Lime Twist Ombre Ribbon, Rhinestone Jewels, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I inked the “tail” of the peacock with Lemon Lime Twist on the top and Pool Party on the bottom. I reversed the process on the tail feathers – this set is so much fun!

You might be surprised to learn that we have a little peacock flock here on Maui. They live at Yee’s Orchard, home of some of the sweetest, juiciest mango you’ll ever sink a tooth into. Their piercing cry (it’s a screech, really) will make you sit up and listen if you happen to be shopping nearby at Longs!

Shelli and Sterling visit Maui

Posted on January 25, 2018 by mauistamper

Last Saturday, while I was on Oahu with Mr. Maui Stamper, my phone blew up with messages from my downline Cheryl and my upline Crystal. Shelli and Sterling Gardner were on Maui and wanted to meet with Maui demonstrators!! You can imagine our excitement – and tonight, the magic really happened:

This is our family tree: Crystal (left) is my upline, with Sterling, Shelli, yours truly, and Cheryl, my downline. Cheryl is the real celebrity in the group as she’s earned the Alaska Incentive trip this year – we are all really proud of her! Shelli joked that I was the Momma and Crystal was the Grandma. If only she knew…

Cheryl worked really hard to make the evening a wonderful event for her team, the Maui Big Shots. Crystal and I felt so honored to be included! Sterling and Shelli are such genuine and warm people, and it was a lovely evening of conversation and great food.

There was a gift bag of Maui goodies for the Gardners, and we’re all wondering how they’re going to get it home – it ended up kind of heavy! They were so gracious about spending their vacation time with us, and let us pepper them with questions (Why do you retire things we love? What is Sterling’s Stampin’ Up! story? Tell us about the 30th anniversary celebration in Orlando!!)

It was a lovely evening, one we’ll all remember and treasure as a highlight of our Stampin’ Up! careers. A hui hou, Shelli and Sterling – until we meet again.

Partying with the Pandas

Posted on January 24, 2018 by mauistamper

I may be a little biased here, but in my humble opinion, you really NEED Party Pandas. Tell me, how is it possible to resist?

Stamps: Party Panda (SAB 2018), Watercolor Wings
Color Palette: Whisper White, Basic Black, Pool Party, Bermuda Bay
Accessories: Stamparatus (coming soon!), Whole Lot of Lovely DSP, Lots of Labels Framelits, Layering Circles Framelits, Balloon Bouquet Punch, Basic Black Metallic Thread, Tutti Fruiti Cards and Envelopes, Stampin’ Dimensionals

This guy is juicy and solid because I stamped him with Stamparatus. You know how hard it is to get a perfect impression with solid stamps? Not any more!!! You can layer perfectly in line with your image to cover those annoying spots that just won’t take the first time around. Stamparatus is the bomb dot com and it will be available again when the new annual catalog debuts in June. Make a note!

This little Panda is holding a balloon, but I wanted some sparkle. The Balloon Bouquet punch is a tad larger than the stamped image, so it’s easy to place on top. He needed something to sit on, and why not sit on bubbles?

I am in love with the Tutti Fruiti Cards and Envelopes. They are ready to roll – envelopes lined and card bases scored – and come in four gorgeous prints. The card bases are quite substantial and give your projects a very professional feeling. They’re one of my top SAB picks!

I love these little chubsters, and a few quick snips of a sticky note yielded a mask so they could create a little love-fest. I used Stampin’ Write markers on the sentiment and the tiny heart to add a little extra Calypso Coral to this fundamentally black and white focal point.

Look at those eyes! How could you not fall in love?

I like the Crumb Cake lining on the Pool Party card and envelope, but I LOVE the Basic Black liner on this Calypso Coral pair! It’s perfect with the Pandas, and it works well with the Pick a Pattern Washi from the Annual Catalog, too.

The Party Pandas are free with your $50 merchandise purchase during Sale-a-bration. You can choose either clear mount red rubber or wood block red rubber (same price – FREE!) but the Stamparatus is designed to work with clear mount stamps. Get started shopping HERE!

Brusho and Sheltering Tree

Posted on January 20, 2018 by mauistamper

My favorite Stampin’ Partner in Crime escaped her responsibilities earlier this week and came over to create. We were eager to give Brusho a try after seeing what so many others had done. I was a little apprehensive at first, but discovered pretty quickly that the best approach was to dive in headfirst! (If you take this literally, you are going to have an interestingly-colored head. Brusho is intense color.)

I grabbed some watercolor paper and embossed the Sheltering Tree. I sprinkled on some random bits o’ Brusho and unleashed the water spritzer.

Stamps: Sheltering Tree, Climbing Orchid
Color Palette: Very Vanilla, Pear Pizazz, Brusho Brilliant Red, Brusho Gamboge, Brusho Yellow
Accessories: Watercolor paper, Copper Embossing Powder, Versamark Ink, Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy, Paper Snips, Stampin’ Dimensionals

This version used the Brusho Yellow and Brusho Moss Green, which devolved most interestingly into yellows and purples. It’s a much more subtle look, but it’s more like what we see in the fall here in the islands.

I used a pretty light hand when I dropped my Brusho Crystals, as I didn’t want dramatic color. You can really see how the individual crystals maintain their character if you don’t add a lot of water. I barely damped my watercolor paper before I added the Brusho, then lightly misted to blend.

There are a lot of great techniques out there and we barely scratched the surface. I’d love to know what you think of this result! I have more “Brusho Bases” – cards with Brusho color and nothing else – so as I am inspired I’ll gladly share. In the meantime, if you like to play, come and play with Brusho!

CASE away!

Posted on January 8, 2018 by mauistamper

I had a good time with this CASE (Copy And Share with Everyone) and I hope you’ll give it a try! Crystal and I did some Power Stamping in the Stampin’ Garage at her house and THIS CARD was our inspiration. We loved everything about it, but the only product Lou used that we had on hand were the square framelits. Never fear: creative juices were near!

Stamps: Happiest of Days
Color Palette: Whisper White, Tranquil Tide
Accessories: Whole Lot of Lovely DSP, Big Shot, Squares Framelits, Petals and More Thinlits dies, Foam Adhesive Strips, Linen Thread

Lou used the Foam Adhesive Strips to elevate the DSP panel, and we agreed that it created lovely shadows. They’re a little thicker than Stampin’ Dimensionals, so the lift is greater. Each of these cards feature linen thread because I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

Same concept, different sentiment – this message is from the Soft Sayings Card Kit. I debated on adding some additional images around it, but decided I liked the clean look. If I were to make this card again, I’d choose a slightly smaller opening. The additional card stock is Pear Pizazz and Crushed Curry.

We discovered that you could layer two Square Framelits in one pass through the Big Shot to cut out a perfect frame. We then laid the smaller framelit over the opening in the frame, the DSP, and the white card base to make alignment perfect for the opening.

Our last version used a different Thinlit from the same set. The tiny flower is from the Tree Builder punch, and the sentiment is from Happy Birthday Gorgeous.

The frame and ink are Tangerine Tango, the leaves are Pear Pizazz, and the tiny flowers are Pool Party.

It was a lot of fun playing with the different sentiments we had available, and mixing and matching the color schemes for this gorgeous paper.

I hope you’re inspired to CASE this versatile design. If you didn’t see Lou’s original, you really must – it’s a completely different feeling and is a stunning card.

…and a New Year begins

Posted on January 1, 2018 by mauistamper

New beginnings are filled with emotions – anticipation, excitement, even apprehension or doubt. I’ve learned to be grateful for all of those feelings, because they mean I’m alive. To quote my dad when I ask how he is: “I’m on the right side of the grass!”

Stamps: Amazing You (SAB 2018)
Color Palette: Whisper White, Basic Black, Lemon Lime Twist, Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay
Accessories: Big Shot, Celebrate You Thinlits (SAB 2018)

Sale-a-bration 2018 begins on January 3rd, and the January 2018 DIY Easel Calendar features a coordinating stamp set and thinlit set that are each available for free with qualifying purchases.

What could be a better way to begin the year but with a celebration? I hope yours is joyful.

Cheryl and Crystal are joining me again to share their DIY Calendar ideas, so pop on over to see what they’ve done. I’m also delighted to introduce a Pinterest Board for YOUR creations too! Just let me know you’d like to be included and I’ll add you to the board – I’ll need your Pinterest user id. Let’s have some fun with this!

Want your own DIY calendar kit? I have just a few left for 2018. Click HERE for the details.

When you need a tag: Day Eight

Posted on December 22, 2017 by mauistamper

You might have noticed that I use a lot of Pool Party. This is actually Soft Sky, but we all know they’re basically the same color (sorry Home Office, but you know it’s true). This is the color of my walls in my craft room, and it’s well-represented in my closet as well. It was the natural choice for this tag:

Stamps: Merry Little Labels
Color Palette: Soft Sky, Basic Black, Dazzling Diamonds, Champagne
Accessories: Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Stampin’ Write markers, Big Shot, Softly Falling TIEF, Seasonal Chums Thinlits, Black Rhinestone Jewels, Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals

There are a lot of snowflake framelits and thinlits in this year’s Holiday catalog, so feel free to mix, match, combine and substitute what you have and love. And if you haven’t stocked up on the Black Rhinestone Jewels, I recommend you do that.

All right, it’s time to make your voice heard! What tag was your favorite, and why? I’d love to know what you think.

The Maui Stamper

papercrafts, my stories, and the occasional insight

FAST FUSE SALE is back!

With deepest sympathy

Panda Panda Panda! Sale-a-bratin’ in February

Beautiful Peakcock in My Favorite Colors

Shelli and Sterling visit Maui

Partying with the Pandas

Brusho and Sheltering Tree

CASE away!

…and a New Year begins

When you need a tag: Day Eight

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