A “Work of Art” Explosion

Earlier this year Stampin’ Up! held a Catalog Launch Party for their demonstrators.  Unfortunately I was not able to attend and I missed out on a whole lot of fun.

One of the giveaways at the party was a new stamp set — Work of Art.

Work of Art

As you can imagine, there were a LOT of swaps at Convention using this stamp set and I was blown away with the beauty and variety of the cards made using this one stamp set and I thought I would share them with you all today.

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Designed by Jocelyn Rehbock

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Designed by Donna Clark / Oklahoma City, OK

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Designed by Candee Smith

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Designed by Faye Colwell / Rantoul, IL

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Designed by Sue Dyas / Plymouth, MN

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Designed by Kim Ryden

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Designed by Melinda Brown

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Designed by Melanie Henry / Edmond, OK

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Designed by Unknown

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Designed by Judy Goodyear / Rochester, NY (also uses Everything Eleanor stamp set)

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Designed by Liz Thayer

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Designed by Suzanne Taylor

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Designed by Debbie Wright / Pacific, MO

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Designed by Linda Hanks

No matter what your design style may be, this stamp set is a must have.  So much so, I bought the set for myself once I returned home.  I can’t wait to ink up the stamps and create something all my own.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you leave inspired to create something.  Until next time, stamp on my friends,

Linda

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Big Shot Bundles — Oh My!

BigShot Bundles

If you’re anything like me, you absolutely love when BIG opportunities come your way.  And because the Big Shot is a big deal, Stampin’ Up! has an amazing offer you don’t want to miss — an exclusive Big Shot opportunity that lasts for the entire month of August!

Purchase a Big Shot in August and you will receive one of five stamp set/framelits bundles as shown below for FREE — your choice!

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Do you already own a Big Shot?  No problem — you can still purchase these designated bundles at an amazing 15% off!

Do you have no idea what a “Big Shot” is or can do?  Then check out this video from Stampin’ Up!

 

This is one deal you will not want to miss out on (trust me, I have seen the new Holiday Catalog!).  Don’t wait too long — these  bundles are one-time only exclusives and only available from August 1-31.

If you have any questions about this promotion or any of the products available for purchase from Stampin’ Up!, I would love to hear from you.

Thanks for taking the time to drop by for a visit.  Until next time, stamp on my friends,

Linda

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3-D Convention Swaps

The are a variety of items that are swapped at Convention each year — the most common are full cards or card fronts, but you will also see people wanting to swap scrapbook pages and three-dimensional (3-D) items.

I am fortunate to have some really terrific uplines (and uplines of uplines) who give their members little “thank you” gifts each year.  They are usually filled with candies or Stampin’ Up! products and are always greatly anticipated.  Amy Storrie and Jann McCollom are part of my upline and below are the gifts I received from them this year.

Amy Storrie (cello bag is filled with candies):

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Jann McCollom (muslin bag is filled with lavender):

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Below are some other 3-D items I swapped in exchange for one of my Bird Seed Favors from my wedding.

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DSC06735 DSC06736I got some really great ideas from these swaps.  How about you?

Thanks again for dropping by.  Come back tomorrow to see what I have to share with you.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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Blendabilities UNLEASHED

SU Blendabilities

The wait is over!  Stampin’ Up! officially released one of their most exciting new products, Stampin’ Blendabilities Markers!  These exclusive, alcohol-based marker sets come in a 3-pack of light, medium and dark shades (of the same color), and provide your projects a more saturated look with blended colors.  Stampin’ Up! recommends using Stampin’ Up! Whisper White Cardstock with your Stampin’ Up! Blendabilities, but choosing any one of our cardstocks will add a unique look to your project.  (You will also want to use the Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad when stamping your image to be colored.)

Because traditional alcohol markers require a bit of training, Stampin’ Up! developed a few videos to ensure that Blendabilities are easy-to-use for everyone!  You can check them out below or by visiting the Stampin’ Up! Channel on YouTube.

Blendabilities Basic Techniques:

How to Blend a Floral Image with Blendabilities:

How to Blend with the Blendabilities Color Lifter:

How to Blend an Ombre Look with Blendabilities:

The following products are available now for purchase:

The following products are to be released at a future date:

  • Night of Navy  (Item 131001 – $11.95 )
  • Wisteria Wonder (Item 131002 – $11.95 )
  • Calypso Coral   (Item 130996 – $11.95 )
  • Melon Mambo   (Item 130994 – $11.95 )
  • Crumb Cake  (Item 131004 – $11.95 )
  • Smokey Slate  (Item 131005 – $11.95 )

What sets Blendabilities apart from other alcohol-based markers?

  • The Stampin’ Up! rectangular barrel keeps your markers from rolling away!
  • Flat storage helps to maintain the life of each marker.
  • Each marker comes with a tip on each end: brush and fine.
  • Marker tips are made of nylon, which is superior to polyester which can fray.
  • Color coded caps.
  • Stampin’ Up! markers coordinate wonderfully with our cardstock, and can be used with transparent sheets.

If you loved to color as a kid, you will love these new markers.  Trust me, I do!

Thanks again for visiting my blog.  Until next time, stamp (and color) on, my friends,

Linda

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Paper Pumpkin Subscriber Promotion – 50% Off!

PP Promotion

If you haven’t tried Paper Pumpkin, now is a great time to sign up.  If you sign up before September 10, 2014 you will get 50% off your first two months!  With a deal like this, you’ll want to invite everyone you know to give it a try too!

Offer Dates: July 16, 2014 — September 10, 2014

Offer Details: Use the code HALFOFF2 to join Paper Pumpkin before September 10, 2014, and get 50% off the first two months!  After that, keep the creativity coming for only $19.95 + tax per month (shipping included).

The Fine Print:

  • This offer is for new subscribers only.
  • Available for month-to-month subscriptions, not prepaid subscriptions.
  • Discount applied to one kit per month for the first two months of a new subscription.  After the first two months, the price for each month’s kit will go to the regular price: $19.95.
  • You will need to visit MyPaperPumpkin.com to join (and don’t forget to choose me as your Demonstrator 🙂 !)
  • Enter the Promo Code HALFOFF2 when you sign up.
  • New subscribers must join by Wednesday, September 10, 2014; 11:50 PM (MT).

PP Past KitsAnd, as a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, you will have the ability to purchase past kits.  Each month, Stampin’ Up! will add the most recent kit as a refill (without the stamp and ink).  How cool is that?!

Could you use a 30-minute break to yourself?  Sweep away the mundane and try Paper Pumpkin — each month a fully designed project kit will arrive in a delightful box filled with stamps, ink and paper — everything cut and ready to go so you can skip to the fun.  Just think of it as creativity in a box!

Thanks for dropping by.  Until next time, stamp on my friends,
Linda

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Inspire.Create.Share. 2014 & My Convention Swaps

In years past Stampin’ Up! has given the annual gathering of US and Canadian demonstrators (a/k/a Convention) a theme name.  My first Convention in 2010 was “Share What You Love,” 2011 was “Grow,” 2012 was “I Am,” and 2013 was “Be the Difference.”  For 2014 they opted to return to the basics of what Stampin’ Up! is really all about — to Inspire.Create.Share. with others our love of Stampin’ Up!

I return home from Convention full of energy and the desire to share with others the new techniques I have learned and wait with anticipation for the release of the wondrous new products that are revealed on Main Stage and in the Demonstrator Resource Center so that I can show you and tell you all about them.  This year is no different, with one exception — I REALLY want to follow through and I am asking for your help to keep me on my path.  Who is with me here?  Anyone?

Did you know that Stampin’ Up! has a “Statement of the Heart”?  They do and it reads as follows:

SU SoH

My first step in sharing with you what I love is to show you the two cards I made and took with me to Convention to swap with other demonstrators.  I usually make four to six different designs, but after working on my wedding stuff for so many months, I was a little fried mentally and waited until two weeks before I needed to leave for Convention to even begin thinking about what I wanted to create (procrastination is not a good thing when getting ready for Convention!).

While designing my wedding invitations I had cut all my layers for the folder that I put them in to mail but realized I had to scale down the folder to fit in the envelopes — but I forgot to resize my layers BEFORE I adhered them together — OOPS.  So I had about 75 matted Pool Party and Whisper White pieces just laying around and was determined to use them in at least one of my swaps.  Thankfully it worked out nicely …

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Each mat was originally 6.5″ x 4.75″ and I simply cut them in half and added a strip of Real Red cardstock punched with the Dotted Ribbon punch on the cut edge and no one is the wiser!  One example of how there are no “mistakes” in paper crafting … just opportunities to embellish.

My second card slowly evolved from me knowing I wanted to use my new Blendabilities markers and one of the  flower stamps from the Bloom with Hope hostess stamp set from the new Annual Catalog.

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I originally was just going to use the label in Old Olive under the greeting but then realized it would be cool to use the negative from the die cut framelit to make a window (good thing I am a stickler for centering my framelits when I run them through my Big Shot!).  So don’t throw the “remnants” away crafters, they could also have been used as a mask to stamp an image or sponge a shading (like I did on my first card, above).

I hope you have enjoyed my post and that you learned something new that you can’t wait to try out for yourself.  If you have any questions about how I created the above cards, do not hesitate to send me a message or email me at lrtolson@tx.rr.com.  And in case you want to give these card designs a try, here are the supplies that you will need:

Swap #1:
Stamp Set:  Groovy Love (clear-mount) (wood-mount)
Card Stock:  Pool Party, Whisper White, Real Red, Basic Black, Sahara Sand
Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Pool Party Classic Stampin’ Pad
Tools:  Artisan Label Punch, Extra-Large Oval Punch, Sweetheart Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch
Other Supplies:  Stampin’ Dimensionals, Snail Adhesive, Crystal Effects, Sponge Dauber

Swap #2:
Stamp Set:  Bloom with Hope (clear-mount) (wood-mount)
Card Stock:  Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Inks:  Old Olive Classic Stampin’ Pad, Memento Tuxedo Black, Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities and Old Olive Blendabilities
Tools:  Big Shot, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Lovely Lace Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack
Other Supplies:  Stampin’ Dimensionals, Snail Adhesive, Jewels Basic Pearls, Crystal Effects

Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, stamp on my friends,
Linda

 

 

 

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Buy 3, Get 1 FREE – Designer Series Paper!

Buy3DSP-2

Are you IN LOVE with the Designer Series Papers from Stampin’ Up!?  This may sound silly to those people in the world who do not papercraft or make memory books (f/k/a scrapbooking), but for those of us who love to make things out of paper these 12 x 12 sheets of paper are a must have.

Good news is that through July 31 Stampin’ Up! is offering a “Buy 3, Get 1 Free” promotion on their Designer Series Papers.  That’s like getting $10.95 off your purchase!  There is no limit to the number of free Designer Series Paper packs you can receive. For each three purchased, you will receive one free.

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There are some exceptions.  These items do not qualify for the offer:

  • Designer Series Paper Stacks
  • Specialty Designer Series Paper
  • Designer Series Paper from the holiday catalog preorder
  • Designer Series Paper ordered through hostess benefits

To get your free DSP, enter it in your order separately from the three packs you’re paying for. For example, if you want four packs of the same type of paper, put in the three you’re paying for and enter the fourth as a separate item.

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Don’t wait.  Get your FREE paper before time runs out!

Until next time, stamp on my friends,
Linda

 

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I AM BACK!

I am embarrassed to see that it has been something like nine months since I last posted to my blog.

As some of you may recall, I got engaged last October — my wedding took place on May 10, 2014 and it was fabulous day.  Below is our wedding party — the lovely ladies are my nieces Heather and Kendall and the handsome men are Chase, Chad and Jayson, my husband’s two sons and grandson (Jayson).

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So what have I been doing since November of 2013 (the last time I posted to my blog)?  Well, I undertook the task of making ALL of my wedding invitations, favors and centerpieces using all Stampin’ Up! products.  It was a labor of love,  although very time consuming.

Below are pictures of one of the centerpieces and the wedding favors (bird seed bags).  All of the flowers in the centerpieces were made of paper and various punches and Big Shot dies, again all products available from Stampin’ Up!, which were attached to twigs from my trees using a hot glue gun.

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BirdSeed Favor

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I had so many of the bird seed favors left over, I ended up taking them to this year’s Stampin’ Up! Convention last week and gave them away as 3-D swaps!

Speaking of Convention, it was a blast this year as usual and I will be sharing some card designs and techniques with you over the next few weeks or more – because guess what — I AM BACK!

Until next time, stamp on my friends!

Linda

 

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Weekly Deals & New Digital Downloads for MDS

Weekly Deals

This week’s Weekly Deals are available while supplies last.  Don’t miss your chance to save on these gems.  My favorites:  Cherry Cobbler 1″ Grosgrain Stitched Ribbon and the Large Rhinestones Basic Jewels.  What are your favorites?

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 MDS Newest Downloads Pic

It’s Tuesday and Stampin’ Up! has a great selection of new digital downloads for My Digital Studio.

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You haven’t tried MDS yet?  Why not? — it’s FREE for 30 days!
Learn more about the 30-day FREE trial HERE.

MDSHolidayPromotion

Now is the perfect time to give it a try — Stampin’ Up! is offering select digital downloads at 30% off.  Click on the image above to see the savings!

Thanks for stopping by today.  Come back again soon.

Until next time, stamp on my friends,
Linda

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Everyday Occasions Cardmaking Kit Bundle

Kits

Stampin’ Up! originally released the Everyday Occasions Cardmaking Kit with everything you would need to make cards of just about any occasion except for scissors and adhesives.

Starting today, the Everyday Occasions Cardmaking Kit Bundle includes everything from the Everyday Occasions Cardmaking Kit PLUS our top-of-the-line Paper Snips, Mini Glue Dots, and SNAIL Adhesive!

Everyday Occasions Kit Bundle

Everyday Occasions Cardmaking Kit Bundle
Item # 135877 / $50.00 (preferred price)

Below is a gallery of sample cards that you can create from this kit.

EDO Birthday EDO Congratulations EDO Love EDO Thank YouEDO For You

Why go to the store when a birthday, graduation, wedding, or even a time for expressing gratitude comes up? The Everyday Occasions Cardmaking Kit puts cards for all of those events right at your fingertips. And best of all, they’ll be handmade!

Thanks for stopping by today.  Come back again soon.

Until next time, stamp on my friends,
Linda

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