Archive for August, 2008:
Happy 8th Birthday, Quin!
Today our grandson, Quintin Gaither, is 8 years old! Wow, where has the time gone?? I got to visit Quin last month, and even bought him a great birthday present from me and his Grandpa Harry. What is it? I can’t tell right now because Quin’s birthday party isn’t until Saturday. So it will have to be a surprise until then.
Of course, I made this card exclusively with Stampin’ Up! papers and ribbon and stamps. When I first saw the Sock Monkey stamp set, I couldn’t imagine how I’d use it. But then I remembered we have 3 (soon to be 4) grandchildren. What’s not to like about making all kinds of Sock Monkey cards throughout the year. He has lots of accessory stamps that will help fit every occasion that will come up for awhile!
If you see Quin today, wish him a Happy Birthday! If you like the Sock Monkey stamp,or would like to learn more about Stampin’ Up’s new 2008 Fall/Winter Idea Book and Catalog, just call or e-mail me!
Subscribe to the comments for this postOn a Roll With My Stampin’ Up! Sizzix
Before I became a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, I used my Sizzix Big Shot machine a LOT. Now–finally!–I can use my brand new Stampin Up Big Shot to show off all my great Stampin’ Up! products!
I made this card with some of the Stampin’ Up! exclusive dies, including the "Top Note Bigz Die" and the flowers and leaves from the "Birds and Blooms Sizzlits Die 4-Pack," all of which you will be able to buy from Stampin’ Up! this fall.
The Top Note die features a dotted line just inside the cut line. It looks nice as an embellishment, but it can also be used as a cut line. In this card, I cut two pieces of Cardstock–Lovely Lilac and Elegant Eggplant. I trimmed the Lovely Lilac piece and layered it over the Elegant Eggplant. Finally, I added some flowers and Old Olive leaves, a bit of Old Olive 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon (new in our new catalog!), some Old Olive brads, and voilà a sweet card to send to a friend!
I’ll be demonstrating the Big Shot at all my events this fall, including at the FCE R&R (see yesterday’s post) and at my New Catalog/Mini Catalog party in late September. If you’d like me to demonstrate this at an event you’d like to host, let me know! Or just come to my September party!
Family and Community Education (FCE) Weekend at KMC
We all need a little R&R on occasion, and my FCE club is no exception. September 5th, Puna Wahine FCE Club will retreat with other local East Hawaii FCE clubs to Volcanoes National Park for a weekend of "R&R with Pampering." As part of the "pampering" group, I will be hosting a Greeting Card Make & Take on Saturday morning. These are two of the cards that I have chosen for those who are interested in some relaxing paper crafting. The cards are so simple to make, and use lots of items that are new in the 2008 Fall/Winter Idea Book and Catalog:
Holiday Treasures Designer Series Paper; Scallop Edge Punch, Heartfelt Thanks Stamp Set, and Taffeta Ribbon. Just love that Riding Hood Red with Old Olive and Chocolate Chip for a Christmas Color Combo!
Those who aren’t ready for making Christmas cards in September will have choices of other Design Series Papers and embellishments.
Don’t you wish you belonged to FCE???!!
But, of course, you don’t have to for me to bring projects like these to YOUR home! Host a class or workshop and I’ll design something made to order for you and your guests! Just call or e-mail me any time!
A Class for the Younger Generation
My first event since returning from all my summer travels was with eight young women (seven "tweens" and one about-to-be-first-grader — sister of one of the others).
Boy, did they have a good time! (Me, too!) The project was to decorate the cover of a composition book. I had hoped to use some new materials to show off to their moms; but August 17th was just too close to August 11th (the first day to order from the new catalog) for me to get the materials on time. While I did have a good supply of the preview set of "Simply Sent Elements," there just did not seem to be enough stickers for 8 youngsters. For me, fine! For them, no.
So I tore into an unopened pack of Summer Days Simply Scrappin’ from the Spring/Summer catalog, and had a winner on my hands. I put the basic cover on the front and back of all the books ahead of time so all the kids had to do was decorate. And decorate they did!
The favorite: well, stickers, of course!! And punches. In the sample I made for them, I had a photo of my son and grandson. To help them with some ideas for adding photos to their books, I brought along a tween magazine with plenty of photos of the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus and other assorted current favorites. I had them in the palm of my hands when I said that I wished the Jonas Brothers had been around when I was THEIR age! A little research for this age group goes a long way.
Here is a collage of the finished projects. They all posed with their books for the hostess’s photographer husband, and I’ll be keeping a copy of that photo in my own albums. (You might notice that one of the books is covered with Riding Hood Red instead of Real Red. I was expecting only 7, and had to make a quick 8th book. All I had with me at my hostess’s home was RR Red! Can you spot the lone RR Red Book?)
And they all wrote a thank you note to me, too!
Nia is my hostess’s granddaughter. What a sweetheart! And they all were.
Oh, and the moms/grandmoms made some cards using Bella Rose and Riding Hood Red papers. Kept them out of the kids hair, and they had lots of fun, too!
So–I can do events with kids, too! If you’d like to have a party for the young people in your life, just call or e-mail me to set up a planning date.
Sisters
One of the best things I’ve done in the past couple of years was to convince my sister, Andrea, to go have a portrait session with me. We went to one of those mall photographers who specialize in children. We told them we felt like kids, and said they should just pose us down on the floor like they did any other kids! (I’m on the left and Andrea is on the right in all the photos.)
At one point, we started rummaging through the little costumes that they had for little girls to use as dress ups. We just had to try the hats. By that time the photographers (yes, they all came in to share this photo session) were laughing as hard as we were.
At this tough time for our family, I’m so glad to have these pictures. I bought the CD so that I could share as many copies of the photos as I wanted.
And thank you all for your good words and thoughts and prayers for all of us.
The Perfect Time to Become a Demonstrator!
There is simply not a better time to choose to be a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator. From now until October 11, you have FOUR CHOICES of Starter Kits.
- Of course, there’s the Traditional Starter Kit which, at $199, is always a great bargain. But during this promotion, you will also be able to choose an EXTRA stamp set of YOUR CHOICE from the catalog to enhance your starter package.
- Then there are THREE DIFFERENT STARTER KITS for $99! There are a great opportunity, especially for those of you who have lots of Stampin’ Up! products already. One of the kits is for those of you who would like to begin your focus with Card Making. Another is for the Scrapbookers among us. And finally, there is the perfect kit for those of you who really want to make a Stampin’ Up! statement with its Décor Elements and coordinating stamping products for Home Decorating.
For complete details, call or e-mail me, and I will get this full-color flyer out to you right away!
Or you can check out the details of what’s included in the $99 starter kits on the Stampin’ Up! Website.
Back to Work!
I returned home from Maryland to a stack of boxes from Stampin’ Up! Several of them were loaded with the new Stampin’ Up! Fall/Winter 2008 Idea Book and Catalog. I still cannot believe how much fun I’m having going through this book! Of course I took it with me because I knew I was going to need time for some creative thinking while on my long airplane rides.
So I’m madly trying to make sure that I have the Craft Room all spiffy before I bring all my new "stuff" into it. Spiffy means stacking up in one place all the retired stamp sets. I will have most of them available for purchase at my delayed New Catalog Open House. I’ll be scheduling that to coincide with the introduction of the Holiday Mini-Catalog early in October. Check back in a week or so for the scheduled date.
Part of the clean-up process is organizing the wonderful swaps that I brought back from Convention. This photo shows off some of the great 3-D projects made by my talented co-Demonstrators, all of whom I met at convention. I have instructions for making these, and will be happy to share them with you. You don’t have to wait for a class or workshop, either! Just call or e-mail me to let me know you’re interested in a one-on-one tutoring session. They’re my favorite because we both get to have fun together and make design modifications as we go along.
Below is a photo of some more cards from organized and one-on-one swaps. Many of the cards at the top of the photo are "no layer" cards. I love how so many of us chose dry embossing and window punching to spiff up these simple–but elegant!–cards! And the new scallop edge punch helps make them even prettier.
A Double Rainbow to Brighten My Day
I am back from visiting my sister, Andrea, who is still in hospital in Maryland. My brothers are hoping that they will be able to move her to a rehabilitation center soon. We are still not sure what kind of recovery Andrea will have, but we are hoping that it will be sufficient that we can enjoy her humor and laughter once again before too very long. As I heard at the Stampin’ Up! Convention, "Hope is not a plan." So we are trying to plan for the best facility for her, where she will have friends and relatives who will help her in her recovery.
As I was getting ready to leave for Maryland last week, our Hawaii skies treated me to a rainbow in my husband’s garden (yes, it is truly HIS garden–I just get to enjoy it!). That gave me some more hope for my sister’s recovery.
On a More Sobering Note…
I just now received a phone call that my sister has had a stroke and is in intensive care in Maryland. So I will likely be out of commission for quite awhile. Please keep Andrea and our family in your thoughts and prayers.
Cards, Cards and More Cards!
Ah, I’m feeling much less stressed now that I’ve started to unpack all my Convention 2008 goodies. This morning I thought I’d share the wonderful cards that I received at the Split Coast Stampers Dinner Swap on Wednesday night of Convention.
Many, many of these cards use brand new stamp sets, and I can hardly wait to show them off at my New Catalog Open House this Saturday, August 9th. Be sure to come on over if you’re in the area!!
