Big News, Baby!

Posted on July 27, 2015 by mauistamper

They say babies like bright colors – I certainly hope so!

This was another card I brought to convention as a general swap. I confess that I struggled with the colors a bit, and when they were all completed I wished I’d stamped the lamb in Watermelon Wonder – but it is what it is.

Stamps: Big News, Barnyard Babies
Color Palette: Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Watermelon Wonder, Early Espresso
Accessories: Hearts Border punch, Blushing Bride cotton ribbon, Two-way Glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds, the Big Shot and Large Polka Dot TIEF

The embossed background just doesn’t show up in this photo, and I’m sorry. It makes a difference.But I made a special tool to position those hearts:

It’s a strip of card stock – I must throw out a hundred of these a month – with holes punched in it. And it just so happens that those holes line up perfectly with those hearts:

I decided where I wanted the hearts on the first card and made a template. I placed the template across the bottom of the sentiment and made tiny dots with the tip of a sharp pencil. Remove the template, put a dab of Tombo (the Wonder Adhesive) on each pencil mark, and drop in the punched hearts. As Mr. Maui Stamper and I like to say when we’re working on a project, it’s CUSTOM.

Speaking of Mr. Maui Stamper, I tried to be as clandestine as possible with the Dazzling Diamonds. He was traveling a bit around the time I made these, so I had a little extra time to try and cover my tracks. My observation when all was said and done is that there is no hiding Dazzling Diamonds. You either do it or you don’t. And for now, I think I won’t.

I mentioned that I struggled with the colors…This was how I began. But I didn’t have a Watermelon Wonder ribbon that I could put in the corner, and using markers to get two colors on the Big News stamp wasn’t something I wanted to do 25 times over. Sometimes these decisions make themselves.

Inspire.Create.Share.2015 – Day Three

Posted on July 26, 2015 by mauistamper

I fully intended to post this Saturday evening after our closing session and the afternoon Leadership training, but Matt’s surprise arrival meant a change in plans – I’m hoping you’ll understand!

The home office staff was AMAZING. They shared lots of new product including tips and tricks so that we would be prepared for YOU. These cards are all made from two coordinating bundles that span all the winter holidays, and I see tons of potential for creative exploration.

There’s a strong trend towards products that have long term use – this wreath kit (and it is beautiful!!) has Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas embellishments that are interchangeable.

Our last session of the day featured new products and some alternative ways to use them beyond the holidays. Shannon West always has very creative ideas!
And this is our new, large pillow box frame lit! It’s BIG, my friends. We are going to have fun with this!

Pam Morgan really spoke to my sense of humor looking for ways to use these antlers.

I had certainly planned to attend the Leadership enrichment scheduled for Saturday afternoon but when a chance like this comes up there’s no question about changing plans! I took Matt to Red Iguana. We missed a bunch of the Maui Stampers there – you know who you are!

Then it was out to the great Salt Lake to put our feet into the brine.

We took a little road trip to Antelope Island where we spotted these buffalo, some deer and antelope, lots of birds, and even some stink bugs (hey, we don’t have those on Maui!).

We also took a hike, although the trail was poorly marked and we ended up enjoying more of a cross-country ramble. Kinda 4 wheel drive style.

Our final stop on the island was Buffalo Point for the sunset.

Thanks, Matt, for a fabulous surprise! And to all you crafters out there, stay tuned – I’m currently sitting in San Francisco waiting for a delayed plane, but I’ll be home soon!

Inspire.Create.Share.2015 Day Two

Posted on July 24, 2015 by mauistamper

What an amazing day! Convention was awesome, and then THIS HAPPENED:

My roomie (she-who-must-not-be-named) and I had just arrived at the local grocery store to pick up some goodies when I was tapped on the shoulder. I turned around and saw the face of my son – grinning broadly – and had one of those moments of absolute confusion. I’m pretty sure I shouted “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE???” four or five times while he laughed. He’s in Boise for the summer and decided to drive over to surprise me. It worked!

Ok, let’s back-track to the first man in my day. I began with an early morning swap – Manly Cards – and look who was in line in front of me! A MAN! There were 4 groups of swappers in this swap and there were actually TWO MEN:

These guys are happy to be here! And we were happy to swap with them.

Sara Douglass, our interim CEO, gave a heartfelt and very honest presentation this morning about how she views Stampin’ Up! I am continually impressed with the integrity of this company and the many individuals who make up the home office staff.

We had great presentations and training throughout the day, and of course plenty of stamping:

Every presentation included holiday catalog products, and often included non-holiday uses. This is a great catalog and it’s going to be tough to choose what to add to my first order!

Birds. Need I say more? (Three little birds…don’t you worry.)

Walking down the corridor I bumped into Wendy, my very first convention roomie. Somehow we manage to find each other every year and it’s always a delight to see her!

And if the day wasn’t glorious enough, I won a prize patrol! Everyone in attendance also received our new Basic Black archival ink. I stamped with it during make-and-takes, and this is the black ink we’ve all been waiting for.

What a great day. I can hardly wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Inspire.Create.Share.2015 Day One

Posted on July 23, 2015 by mauistamper

It was a very FULL day today!

Entering the Convention Hall on the first day is always such a high energy experience – everyone is anticipating a great event, and the entry is lined with Stampin’ Up! employees who cheer for us, give us high fives, and greet us as we enter.

They took FOREVER to get us to the point where we saw this cover!!! We saw lots of project samples and new products, but this cover includes them all. As they completed each project, they would add a card to the little wooden tree sitting on the stage – when it was complete, they revealed that it was the cover image!

This was one of my favorite project samples – there’s a new stamp set and a TIEF featured here. I can’t show you photos of the actual products, but I can show you the projects! LOVE these branches…and just so you know, there’s a bird in the stamp set too.

The sweet little retro deer is actually fussy cut out of one of the new holiday DSP collections. The stamps and embellishments are new too!

This is a little hard to see, but check out these new edgelits! There’s a coordinating stamp set too…love this.

There was lots more to the day, but we finished off with sweets at the after party. The cupcake pops were delicious, and lots of people were dressed in Roaring Twenties style to fit the theme. There was a great band teaching dancing too:

It was such a fun evening! I have to apologize for the lack of details here, but I know what you really want are the images…and it’s late and I need to get to sleep. There’s more coming tomorrow!

One last image and then good night:

Inspire.Create.Share.2015 – the Anticipation

Posted on July 22, 2015 by mauistamper

We’re here and we are ready to rummmmbllle!!

My companion and I are settled into our hotel – if you know the person I am traveling with, please don’t mention the name – there’s a little witness-protection-program-action going on. Message me if you absolutely have to know the details! But we began the day with a favorite routine:

We wear the same size Birks and we favor the same style. And we each got a new pair this summer!

We did a little shopping (ok, we did some shopping) and were ready for lunch. Lunch at the Wasatch Brewery was delicious but it was this brownie – made with Polygamy Porter (and yes, it’s a thing) – that was the highlight of the meal.

We’d been given some shopping tips and decided we would do some walking. Big dark clouds threatened our new Birks, but we managed to avoid the worst of it. This was the first time we’ve ventured out to Sugarhouse, and we loved the neighborhood. Charming architecture, shady streets, and lots of cute shops and restaurants. We were pretty sure we’d walked off that brownie, so we grabbed an Uber to our favorite restaurant:

We were willing to eat at the counter and were seated within 10 minutes – a Red Iguana Record! Amazing food and drink as always. (Are you noticing a theme to the day?)

We got back to the hotel and hustled over to a RemARKable Stampers event. We arrived in time for a little socializing and some swapping, but failed to take any photos. Our stamping relationships live in the virtual world for most of the year, so when we get to see each other in real life it’s a special thing!

Pretty good, considering we had 2 Uber rides in there!

Our swaps and bag vouchers are laid out and we are ready for an early start tomorrow!

Sweet treats, Maui Stamper Style

Posted on July 18, 2015 by mauistamper

I’m on the road, having survived PACKING. I should be better at it, but I’m not. Weather always messes with my packing because I hate to be cold. That’s a problem, because if it’s cold, I get cranky buying extra cold weather clothing that I won’t use at home. First World Problems, as my son says.

First stop is a visit to my parents – I’ve discovered it’s an entirely different experience to spend time with just the two of them. No Mr. Maui Stamper, no beloved grandchildren, not even my siblings – just me, Mom and Dad. Oh, and Henry the Love Bug – he’s the cat that managed to work his way into the family after my Mom said No More Cats. So it’s me, Mom, Dad and Henry, just hanging out, and it’s pretty nice.

Next stop is Salt Lake City and Inspire.Create.Share.2015! Will you be there? Come and see me – I have treats!

Stamps: Sweet Stack
Color Palette: Mint Macaron, Lost Lagoon, Soft Sky
Accessories: Boho Chic TIEF, Banner Triple Punch, Rhinestone Jewels, Handheld Stapler

I DID NOT WANT THAT PUNCH. Oh no, I did not, Sam-I-Am. But I was wrong. WRONG!! That punch is the BOMB. Can you imagine making these using your paper snips to cut each of those little banner flags? I Think Not.

Crystal is a rock star. She figured out that that the Banner Triple punch was just the right size to work with these little clear treat bags she found, and the Hershey Macnut Kisses were just the thing to go inside. This was a simple project to put together – I think selecting the colors was the hardest part. And I know I could have gone with colors that matched the Kisses a little more, but I chose what I chose. So there, Sam-I-Am.

And when you see me at Convention and say “I follow the Maui Stamper” we will both know that what you’re really after is the chocolate. And that is perfectly fine.