Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper

There are many people who contribute to my growth and success as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, and one who has made a big impact is Janet Wakeland. I met her a year ago at convention and was encouraged and inspired by her energy and strong business. After convention this year, she encouraged us to start saving for next year right away – a brilliant idea. She suggested a change jar, and I came up with this:

I used Paisley Petals Designer Series papers on the jar (on sale, buy 3 get one free!) and a bunch of new stamps from the 2011-2012 Idea Book and catalog to collage a couple of tags. I LOVE the font on my new Alphabet – the Spencerian Alphabet Lower – and the fact that it’s a Clear Mount set made stamping the words a breeze even WITHOUT the Stamp-a-ma-jig! I’ll confess that I did each letter twice on two separate tags just in case, but using the Clear Mount stamps was so easy that I ended up with two sets of tags 🙂

A Trinket Key, a Clear Bauble and some ribbon finished up my jar and it’s ready to be fed. This one is designed to coordinate with the colors in my bedroom, but I’m going to make another one for the laundry room. It’s my opinion that any and all cash (coin or bills) found in the laundry belongs to She-Who-Washes-The-Clothes. I consider it tip money.

At a minimum, I’ll need it to be able to pay the second-checked-bag fee next year.

There’s a little taste of good things to come this month from Stampin’ Up! From April 1 to 30, when you spend $20 on Stampin’ Up! products (I KNOW. Who are they kidding? $20??) you can purchase the Four Frames stamp set and the Petals Designer Series paper that will be included in the 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog.

I have mixed feelings about these sneak peaks. Part of me gets really excited and wants to jump right in, and part of me feels disappointed because when I come to that page in the new catalog I’ll see that set and say “oh, I’ve already got this”. Weird, I know.

So let’s check in with the excited part of me, ok?

Four Frames Stamp Set
Not Quite Navy, Bravo Burgundy, Certainly Celery and Whisper White card stock
Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper
Not Quite Navy, Bravo Burgundy and Peach Parfait Classic ink pads
Decorative Label and Eyelet Trim punches
Marina Mist 3/8 inch taffeta ribbon
Big Shot and Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder
Aquapainter
Stampin’ Dimensionals

This is a pretty simple card, and I love how the frame on the stamp finishes off the edge of the punch so I don’t feel compelled to mess around with matting it. That Certainly Celery trim was an inspiration that shocked me a little, but I’ve come around to it and like the way it looks. (Honestly? There was a narrow piece of Certainly Celery card stock sitting on the craft table right in front of me as I was making the card. I have no idea how it got there.)

The papers the Paisley Petals group are gorgeous. I’m not a big Paisley fan, and these papers are a stylized paisley on one side and stunning florals on the other. I broke down and ordered both the stamps and the papers, reasoning that I loved them both and by spending the money now, I would have more to spend in July when the full IBC comes out. How’s that for creative financing??

Here are the details on the offer: