Big News from Stampin' Up!

So by now you may have heard about the changes Stampin' Up! is planning for the upcoming catalog in July. Beginning with the release of the Idea Book and Catalog in July 2009 the catalog will be an annual publication once more! That's right we are going back to just one catalog per year!! There will also be 3 mini catalogs each having order dates of 4 months! The mini catalogs will include new hostess sets as well as awesome seasonal stamp sets and new accessories. The Decor Elements catalog will come out twice a year.


I'm very pleased with Stampin' Up!. I like that they are constantly trying new things, but that they are reflective with everything they do and if it's just not working out, they have no problems changing it again or going back to the "old" way. I like that they listen to demonstrator and customer comments as well. So many times they "hear" what we're saying, whether we're emailing in or giving input via surveys, or speaking to them at events.



I'll be excited to hear more details on this change as the summer draws nearer, and I'll be sure to post updates as I get them!






This is a cute swap I got at convention this summer. The kids in stamp club love to use this fun stamp set called Bugs and Kisses. It is currently on the Dormant List but is still available to order. It is just not featured in the current catalog.

Hope you have a good day! If you live in the Northeast part of the country you may want to get your errands done early today as the weatherman is calling for heavy snow later today. Where I live we are expecting periods of snow with accumulations of 2-3 inches per hour!! Perfect weather for a fire in the fireplace and lots of stamping!!

Thursday Thoughts

This week has been all about Valentines. A handmade valentine is such a terrific way to let your family and friends know just how much you love them! I have a few more samples to show you.

These two use a stamp set called Happy Heart Day. It is a fun stamp set to color and is great for kids to use for making their valentines. There are also images of a mouse and butterfly, a tag and two word stamps as well.

I have been doing Valentines with my stamp club kids for the last few weeks. They have made some really great cards! Come back tomorrow and check out some of the great cards made by the 6,7 and 8 year olds in my stamp club!

Keep creating!

Leslie

Valentines again!

Good Wednesday morning!

I told you I would be back! I know you have heard that before and then nothing new for days!! I am trying hard to be better about that! So as promised a couple more Valentine samples.

I like that these two samples are not your typical valentines but they convey the sentiment so nicely! Baroque Motifs is a very versatile stamp set. I have seen it used on cards for many different occasions and though I am not sure the creators of these cards had valentines Day in mind the colors and sentiments worked for me!

This one is by Irina O'Brien, one of my stampin' cousins! We attend the same downline meetings and she is a very talented stamper!

This next one is by Lorna Deloach and I am pretty sure I got it at convention. I like the added scallop for the focal point. Another slightly non-traditional kind of card but it expresses the appropriate feelings so well!

Let me know what you think about these pretty cards by leaving me a comment.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Valentines Day is almost here!

So, it is only a few short days until Valentines Day...have created something from the heart for those people who are important in your life? It does not have to be fancy or elaborate but it should convey the feelings of caring and love you have for that person. I tell my darling husband, Rich, that I sometimes wish everyday could be Valentines Day. I really do try to let him know often how very important he is in my life.

So here are a couple Valentine samples to jump start your creativity.

This one is a swap I got at Convention this year from Erin Lopez. It uses the One of a Kind stamp set. The Basic Gray and Pretty in Pink look great together!

This next one is one that I created for a swap with some of the demonstrators in our group. This stamp set called A Happy heart was originally seen in the Holiday Mini Catalog and is now in the Spring/Summer Idea Book and Catalog.

I will share a few more valentine ideas each day this week. Please leave a comment and let me know which ones you like best. Also feel free to leave a link to your creations in your comment!

Have a happy day!

It has been a long time!

Well it has been quite awhile since I last posted. One reason is that my computer died. Well perhaps it didn't die but it was really sick and had to be repaired. It was gone to the repair shop for almost two weeks! The happy thing is that I now have it back and I didn't lose any files!!! I will be creating a back-up system though as this has taught me a valuable lesson!!

This darling chick was one of the cards we made at the last punch class. It is so cute and easy! Just 3 circles 1 3/8", 1 1/4" and 1". We did use the small star punch and cut off one point for the beak and the horizontal slot punch makes the legs.

I will try to get pictures of the other cards as well as the ones we did at the open house.

Have a happy day...it is a choice we all get to make at the start of each day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Spring/Summer Idea Book and Catalog!!

Yipee!! Today is the day! We can order from the brand new Spring/Summer Idea Book and Catalog!! I showed it off to several customers yesterday at my New Catalog Open House and it was a big hit! There were lots of new stamp sets that got noticed including the Animal Crackers, Hoppy For You and Thoughts & Prayers.

I will be back later with a couple of samples from yesterdays open house.

Remember that today is a day for remembering the great effort and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His dream is coming true through continued work by lots of caring people!!!
Thanks for stopping by.

Happy New Year - a bit late

Wow...It seems like forever since I posted last. We had some very lovely days between Christmas and New Years. Rich was home and the four of us were able to just be together in a very relaxed way!

Then we were back at school and I was preparing for my new session of stamp club. I offer an after school stamp club for first and second grade students. I have 8 students for 4 weeks and then start a new session with 8 more students. I will photograph some of our projects and share them with you. The kids really seem to enjoy it and I have received lots of positive comments from the teachers at school as well.

Another exciting event of the past couple of weeks is there is a new baby on our street! We had a baby shower for the mommy at the beginning of December. I chose to make her 30 thank you notes as one of my gifts. I found these notes at Michaels for $1.00 per package of 10 notes! Such a deal!! Combine with that the colors they chose are red, black and white and they were a have to buy item!! I liked the size and the shiny red stripe at the bottom but hated the presents in the middle! So it was off to my Stampin' Up! suppies to figure out how to "fix them up". I found Basic Black and Whisper White card stock and my Zoofari stamp set. My daughter helped me color the zebras and then I found the smallest red bows I could and put one on just the center zebra. This is what we ended up with. I was very pleased with the results and so was the mom-to-be! I received a thank you note from her (which I had told her was unnecessary) and so I used the note to create a scrapbook page for her. I did not tape down the bottom edge of the note so that a list of the gifts she received can be centered on the red paper. Shannon got into the scrabooking mood as well and created this cute page for some of the many pictures they have of the new baby sleeping...remember those days?!

I am off to my New Catalog Open House. I will post pictures of the make and take projects soon. Remember that today is the last day to order from the Fall/Winter Idea Book and Catalog! Tomorrow at Noon Mountain Time the Spring/Summer Catalog goes live!! It is lovely and FILLED with Terrific stuff! The accessories section is HUGE because they have added all the Sizzix dies and added some great new ones as well as showing of a selection of the Decor Elements in lots of great shapes and colors!

Sale-A-Bration starts in just a couple short weeks!

Here are the details:
Sale-A-Bration runs from Sunday, February 1st to Tuesday, March 31st.
Customers: Choose 1 FREE Sale-A-Bration product for EVERY $50 you spend on Stampin' Up!® products!
Hostesses: Choose 1 FREE Sale-A-Bration product for hostessing a $300 or more workshop, in addition to the normal hostess benefits!
If you are interested in signing up to become a Stampin' Up!® demonstrator this would be a great time to do it! Recruits get to choose any retail stamp set (a value up to $47.95) from the current catalog when signing up during the promotion!

Happy Sunday! Enjoy this great stamping day...we are getting snow here in the northeast so not much else to do besides watch the NFL Divisional Championship games and stamp!!!