Stamp Some Smiles

Demo Swaps and more cards to share

Last night I went to my demo meeting at my friend Jan's house.  She is my upline and has many members of her downline, along with some adoptee's that attend the meeting at her home.  We go over upcoming events and all things Stampin' Up!  We laugh, we share, we stamp, we swap card fronts, we eat yummy food and we have fun, once a month.  I am so lucky to be a part of this group.  Here are the swaps from last night.

Aren't they yummy?  Dianne made her own texture plate using paper clips stuck down to paper and wrapped in saran wrap, she made the best bark for her tree!  It was awesome!  There were also many other techniques in the cards above and I will have them out on the windowsill to share at my next stamp camp.  It is so nice to go and make a project at these meetings.  Everyone takes turns coming up with an idea and bringing the supplies cut and ready.  So I show up, and I am the student, and all the work is done, and I just have fun with it.  At this month's stamp camp I had more left over kits then I have ever had before.  From cancelations, no shows, and kits I cut thinking I would see people who ended up not able to come.  I used those leftover kits from two of the cards I designed to make two of my swaps with, but I still have many more kits left.  I am going to start in June with a pre-pay only policy.  I love being a demonstrator.  I love sharing at least one Saturday a month with my stamping friends.  The excitement I feel when designing cards that I know these ladies will love thrills me!  I can't WAIT to share with them.  I look forward to many more years of being in my stampin' studio doing the prep work for stamp camps.  Starting in June I will know how many people I am cutting for and that will be so helpful to me both from a business point of view and a staying up late cutting kits point of view.  I hope this doesn't hold anyone back from attending.  Please email me personally and we can discuss it further.

These are the cards we made at March's stamp camp.  This is the project:

   We have so much fun and learn lots of new techniques every month at my Stamp Camps.  I hope to hear from you within the next two weeks letting me know that you will be attending my March Stamp Camp!
  

Last card to share from April's Stamp Camp

Here it is, the last card I have to share from April's Stamp camp:

  isn't it pretty?  We used watercolor paper and markers with water color paint brushes.  I love to water color and it was so much fun making this card.  If you enjoyed using this set, remember ... it is in the occasions mini which ends in just a few more Days.  May 1st starts the Summer mini, and there is nothing else like this set in the big catalog or the Summer mini that is starting in May.  Here is a review of the cards we made:

and a few of the insides:

 

If you missed out on all the fun, and didn't get to bring home five beautiful cards for just $15, you wont want that to happen again in May!  So pre-register by emailing me ASAP, and sending your payment.  I will then make sure I have the kits cut for you to be able to attend our May stamp camp.  We learned about water coloring with markers, a faux shaving cream technique, used our big shot die and an embossing folder, and learned about making a pop up card with acetate...along with some other fun and interesting tips and hints.  I hope you can Join us on May 15th for my next fun event!
 
 
 

Jake is out of the dog house and I have another card to share

Okay, honestly...how could you stay upset with this face:

Isn't he just the most hansome dog ever?  Click on him for a close up view and I bet you will want to hug him.   I do love my pup, and if you read my mama duck story you will remember that Jake was on my "list" and in the dog house.  Well, he is too sweet to stay mad at, and after a bath that day he was just so soft and clean and cuddly and well, he melted my heart as usual.  Today Rob and I brought him to Harkness.  I took some awesome pictures of the water, the sky, the sand, the seaweed...but I wanted to show you this one of Jake.  We brought our lunch and this is him watching me eat.  No manners.  LOL  We walked all around the property, sat and ate a picnic lunch, enjoyed the sounds of the ocean and each other's company.  I am so glad Rob is home!  It was truely a beautiful day.

I also wanted to share yet another card that we made at April's stamp camp.  These ladies get to make five cards and I have shown you three already...the butterfly WOW card, the turtle card with the second choice, and the Partridge family card.

Here is card number four:

This one actually had a second choice as well, it was a cheese grater that said "Grateful for you!"  I am making a demo swap that will be along these same lines, I will show it to you soon.  Tomorrow I will share the 5th card along with a photo of all five cards together.   I hope you are having a great weekend! 

April Stamp Camp Mama, and a duck story

I wasn't sure what card to share from stamp camp.  Then I had an exciting...in a not so good way...experience with a mama duck and I knew I would show this one.  Here is the card, then comes the story.

The words on the front say " Life doesn't always happen just as we planned, but I plan to be there for you Always."    Being a mother of three I have seen my children through lots of experiences that didn't go quite they way they had hoped or planned for them to go, and so I really love this sentiment.  The pretty sparkle paper is called Sending Love specialty paper and it is in the Occasions mini.  Time is running out on the great items in this catalog so if there is something you would like, buy it soon!

Okay, This is a story about a very good mama duck, and a very bad boy named Jake.  My sweet dog Jake (who was not a sweet boy and didn't listen to his mama at all today) is still hanging his head in shame over this one, he knows he was wrong to give me a heart attack and cause such stress...but I am getting ahead of myself here.

Tonight when I got home from work I felt sorry for little Jake who had been home and lonely today.  So I took him out back to run around in the yard, play fetch, go for a little dip in the stream...live the life.  I did this not realizing that the mama duck that has been sitting, day after day, without fail, on her nest of eggs perched high on top of a boulder...was no longer on the nest.  The babies hatched today and she had them for their first swim in the stream.  I didn't know this, but Jake caught wiff of them and BOLTED like a streak of lightning in the sky.  I am not even sure if his feet were touching the ground as he sprang into action because he was just a blurr.  Natural instinct kicked in for him before I knew what was happening and he shot into the stream and was after the mama and her babies!  Oh the Horor!  The mama duck acted quickly and lured Jake away from her group of peeping panicking babies...she stayed just out of Jakes reach, flapping her wings and almost flying but dragging her feet in the water in a "get me ...come on get me" taunting kind of way, and I was afraid he would get her but she was so quick, and she kept moving out of his reach down the stream, around the corner...I called and called out to him, yelled at him, waved my arms, ran away hoping he would follow...(looking like a nut and sounding like someone was killing me I am sure) nothing.  He had one thing and one thing only on his little brain...getting that mama duck.  Away they went.  Down the stream, around two bends, down ...down....down...until I couldn't see Jake anymore!  By this time all my freaking out and yelling brought Bobby out of the house white as a Ghost yelling "MOM?  YOU OK?  MOM?" I pointed down the road and told him Jake followed the duck and was gone.  He ran down the street to School house road where he caught up with Jake, unable to get out of the stream because of the current, the duck was flying back to her babies, but he couldn't turn around now.  Bobby went ankle deep in the mud and pulled the wet dog out of the steam, carring him all the way back home.  UGH.  Jake got to stay out on the dog run until he dried off.  The mama duck quacked and quacked over and over...but no babies came.  I was worried.  Finally she started quacking differently.  Then out came six babies.  Where were the rest?  Mama duck was flippin' out and then the daddy duck came and helped her.  She looked in the woods where they had hidden and out came two more.  After about 40 minutes she left with all 10 of her babies finally trailing behind her, and they went up the pond far away from our house.  NOT the best first day of life a baby duck could have...NOT the way they had planned I am sure, but she was there for them....and she did a wonderful job keeping them safe, and they did a great job too.  Jake, well....he did a great impersonation of a hunting dog today.  Binders on, Deaf to the world around him, just the Duck in his sights...the duck...I bet he will dream about it tonight. 

Another Stamp Camp Card to share!

I like to give choices.  This set is part of the Ronald McDonald Charity ... Stampin' Up! gives a portion of the proceeds from this set to the Ronald McDonald House Charity.  Stampin' Up! designs an exclusive stamp set every year to help raise money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities.  With our help nearly $800,000 has been raised to date!  When you purchase this Very Thankful set SU will donate a portion of the proceeds to the RMDH and help make a difference.  See page 209 in the Big Idea Book and Catalog for more information.

 
 

Here is the card we made:

Here was the second choice:

I love giving choices, and I think almost everyone made the first card, but the one or two people who picked the plain thank you were happy that they had a second choice...
 I hope you choose to join me at my next stamp camp!  Let me know you are coming so that I have a kit ready for you.
  

First card to share from April's Stamp Camp

I have cards to share with you!  We made these at April's Stamp camp.  I loved every card this month,  and my stamp camp friends were all happy getting the opportunity to make them and learn new techniques.  We even had two new guests this month, that was wonderful!   I think this card was my favorite, and although I did hear moans and groans when I said this would be our challenging card, there were high fives and sighs of relief as I heard over and over again that "it isn't hard, not as bad as it looked!"  They easily were able to recreate this card and it didn't take that much time.  This card is a real WOW, but isn't as hard as it looks.

Here comes the WOW, it is on the inside:

 
It is a pop up card~isn't it beautiful?!  The butterflies flutter on acetate strips, I used a "Faux Shaving Cream" technique which was fun and easy to do.  I love this card so much I am making a bunch of them and plan to use them for every type of card, get well...thinking of you...happy birthday...sympathy...Easter...Mother's Day...friend, you name it, these will be used up fast!
 

New Color Renovation, Stampin' Up! Announcement

I have an AWESOME new announcement from Stampin' Up!  They are releasing FIVE brand new yummy colors AND bringing back TEN of the retired "In Colors"!  Can you believe it?!  It's TRUE!!!!  As of July (with the new catalog) we will also have New color collections ~ and here is what they will be:

Click on it for a view in a new window.

 

These wonderful new color collections will be available to everyone with a new Stampin' Up! catalog in July (I will do a Pre-sale and order by the case in June, so $5 in June will get a catalog reserved for you in July!) For me the Stampin' Up! color coordination has always been what gets me going...having papers/inks/and designer papers that all go together so nicely makes it easy to design and create, so the thought of getting new colors to play with excites me.  It always amazes me how they are right on target with their color choices, we talked about this at my last stamp camp.  How do they know the In colors are going to be In?  Sure enough, the cover of the Target flyer will have towels in Rich Razzleberry, Wild Wasabi, Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo and Pacific Point!  I don't know how they do it, but they are right every time!

Don't forget, I said we will be getting Five New Colors, they are called Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze and Early Espresso. 

 

The ten returning "In Colors" are Baja Breeze, Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette, Rich Razzleberry, Riding Hood Red, River Rock, Soft Suede, Tangerine Tango and Wild Wasabi

 

We will bid a fond farewell to: (Current Colors that will Retire in June)

 

glorious green
green galore
gable green
yoyo yellow
only orange
pink passion
pixie pink
orchid opulence
lovely lilac
brilliant blue
close to cocoa
creamy caramel
really rust
ruby red
cameo coral
summer sun
bordering blue
brocade blue
ballet blue
taken with teal
handsome hunter
pale plum
blush blossom
apricot appeal
barely banana
mellow moss
sage shadow
almost amethyst
lavender lace
basic brown
going gray

If you need to stock up on any of the current colors that will be retiring soon,  just check in with me and I can walk you through ordering online.  Or wait for stamp camp, place and order with me by phone, or email it to me.  I'll admit it, there are some colors I am not sure how I am going to do without, so I am making sure I stock up now before they are gone for good.   I am  glad that Stampin' Up! has updated it's color palette to keep it on trend, this color change is going to give us so many color options to play with!  Starting in July I can teach you all about the new offerings and demonstrate projects using the new colors.  Wouldn't you love to be one of the first to schedule a class for you and your friends and earn some of the new color products?  Start planning now to get on the calendar for some fresh new colors and fun!  New Colors?  Woooo Whooooo!

Two - Step into Spring

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/loristevenson/promotions

 

Special Sneak Peek & 20% off savings Two-Step into Spring Stampin’ Up!’s® Two-Step Stampin’® sets allow you to quickly and easily take your creativity to the next level. And now, from April 1-30 only, you can purchase the brand-new Awash with Flowers Two-Step Stampin’ set, or get it free. Two Step into Spring! LEARN MORE

Are you enjoying this beautiful weather?  One great thing this weather brings is  flowers!  This month Stampin' Up! is introducing a sneak peek from the upcoming 2010-2010 Idea Book and Catalog - Flowers Awash!  Anyone may buy this stamp set, but hostesses can earn it for free!  Several other flower stamp sets are also on sale for 20% off this month.  Click here for the details. 

 

 

April 1st - April 30th

Customers
Be the first to add this brand new stamp set to your collection for as little as $27.95.  Several other stamp sets are also on sale fro 20% off this month:

Greenhouse Garden - $20.76

Fifth Avenue Floral - $19.96

Flower Fancy - $36.95

Trendy Trees - $14.36

Plus, get 20% off a selection of springy Two-Step Stampin' sets:
Fifth Avenue Floral   Flower Fancy   Greenhouse Garden   Trendy Trees

Host
When you host a workshop of at least $350 (before tax and shipping), you may also receive the new Flowers Awash Stamp Set absolutely FREE!

Special Sneak Peek & 20% off savings

Two-Step into Spring

Stampin’ Up!’s® Two-Step Stampin’® sets allow you to quickly and easily take your creativity to the next level. And now, from April 1-30 only, you can purchase the brand-new Awash with Flowers Two-Step Stampin’ set, or get it free.

LEARN MORE: http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/loristevenson/promotions