Saturday, June 18, 2011

Big Shot Club Coming in September!



Would you like to own a Big Shot and a lot of Stampin' Up! merchandise, but don't want to pay for it all at once?  I am very excited to announce that beginning in September, I will be hosting a Big Shot Club!  See all of the details below:

The club will meet twice a month, and the cost will be $40 for the first meeting and $35 for the second meeting.  At the first meeting of the month, club members will select $50 worth of Stampin' Up! merchandise and make two to three Big Shot projects, depending on the details of the projects.  There will also be two hostesses at the first meeting of every month who will get to select $33 of free hostess merchandise. (Beginning on July 1st, Hostess Dollars are good on special reduced priced merchandise and/or any products in the catalog.)

At the second meeting of the month, club members will receive their Stampin' Up! merchandise, create more Big Shot projects, and the hostesses will receive their free merchandise.

Finally at the last club meeting in December, all club members will receive their Big Shot.  This meeting will be before Christmas.  Won't this be a nice gift for you!

In summary, this is what you get for a total of $300:
  • A Big Shot including standard cutting pads and the multipurpose platform valued at $99.95
  • $50 of Stampin' Up! merchandise every month totaling $200
  • $33 of Hostess merchandise
  • free shipping and tax totaling $53.10
  • 8 classes valued at $96
  • a free 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog (as soon as you sign up) valued at $9.95
The total value of this club is $492.00!!!

If you would like to participate in this club but already have a Big Shot, there are other products that can be selected in place of the Big Shot. (I will work out the details with you.)

Please email me if you would like to participate.  There is only room for 8 club members!  Hostesses' months will be determined by the order people sign up for the club.  Dates will be posted in August; they will be decided after discussing the availability with club members.

See some projects below that were created using the Big Shot.







The Catalogs Are Coming, the Catalogs Are Coming!

"Hello" card featuring the new In Colors: Wisteria Wonder, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, and Pool Party.  This card also features a new punch called Pettite Pennants Builder.


Wait until you see the new catalog - it's B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!!

I will be placing my order for more catalogs soon and would like to know how many people would like a new 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog.  The cost of the catalog is $9.95, but you can get it for free or get a coupon for $5 off merchandise with the purchase of a catalog.  See details below:

How can you get a FREE catalog?
  • Host a workshop
  • Join my Big Shot Club (see details on this blog)
  • Make a $50 purchase during the month of July

How can you get a coupon?
  • Purchase a catalog for $9.95 (Shipping and tax is included if you place your order during the months of June and July.) and get a coupon for $5 off your next Stampin' Up! merchandise that you purchase through me.  (The purchase cannot be made online, I must make the purchase for you.)

In Color Birthday



Last Friday, we celebrated my mom's birthday.  I thought I would use some of the In Colors, especially since she loves purple and one of the new colors, Wisteria Wonder, is a purple!

I stamped all of the images using classic ink pads and colored using a variation of pastels and water coloring.  See below for the supplies:

Stamp sets - Flower Fest, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card stock - Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White
Ink pads - Wisteria Wonder, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Poppy Parade (for water coloring inside the Calypso Coral flowers)
Pastels - Elegant Eggplant, Garden Green
Punches - Fancy Flower, Build a Blossom, Oval Large (This punch will be called Large Oval in the new catalog.), Small Oval (This one is retiring on the 30th!)
Accessories - Stampin' Dimensionals

Have You Ever Needed a Card and Didn't Have a Stamp Set?


Ok...So this morning my son informs me that he needs a card for an Eagle Scout ceremony that he is going to TODAY!    Well I don't have a stamp that will work.  What can I do?  In situations like this, I take a picture from the Internet and print it on Whisper White card stock.  So if you are ever in a bind and need a card without having the perfect stamp, this is always an option.

Workshop Cards

Last night I did a workshop at a friend's house.  Below are the demonstrations and the cards that the customers made.  I think everyone had a great time!

This was the first workshop card.  Versa Mark was used to create the background image.  Once again I used Flower Fest for the stamp set.  To make it easy, we punched the petals using the Build a Blossom punch.  The leaf is much bigger, but we hid the extra behind the flower.

This was the second workshop card.  The top was stamped with a Vintage Vogue stamp, and the sentiment was stamped with the Short and Sweet set.  Baja Breeze was used for the ribbon and ink.  To get the effect with the ribbon, sticky strip tape was used.  The final touch was adding the rhinestones.

This is another version, but Cherry Cobbler was used for the ink and ribbon and the top was stamped with a stamp from Elements of Style.

This is the gift that the hostess received.  All of the note cards were in a  Fancy Favor box.  I showed everyone how you can stamp off to create three different shades of the same color.

This was my second demonstration card.  I used three different techniques to color the birthday bags.  The first bag was colored with Stampin' Markers.  The second bad was colored using a Versa Mark marker and pastels.  Finally, the third bag was colored using an Aqua Painter and Classic Stampin' Pads.



Tuesday, June 7, 2011

On the Grow Mini Card



This is a miniature version of my On the Grow card.  I love making mini cards.  All you need is a piece of 3" x 6" card stock for the base of the card and a piece of 2 3/4" x 2 3/4" or 2 7/8" x 2 7/8" card stock for the top layer.

Stamp sets - On the Grow
Card stock - Naturals White, Concord Crush, Baha Breeze, watercolor paper
Markers - Concord Crush, Baha Breeze, Pear Pizzaz, Old Olive
Punches - 2 1/2" Circle Punch
Tools - Blender Pen

These cards are great to give with a gift. (The United States Postal Service will not allow these cards to be mailed in the 3" x 3" envelopes.  If you would like to mail them, you need to put them in a bigger envelope.)

On The Grow


I fell in love with this set when I saw it in the Summer Mini because it is the perfect set to watercolor.  I used markers and a blender pen to color the image.  In order to get a watercolor effect, you should use your marker first.  Start with a small part of the image and make sure to leave a lot of white.  Use the blender pen to blend color into the white area.  Don't fill in the entire area - leave some areas white.  (My mom and I took a watercolor class last year, and one thing we learned was to leave white showing!)

Stamp sets - On the Grow
Card stock - Naturals White, Concord Crush, Baha Breeze
Ink pads - Concord Crush (just for the sentiment)
Markers - Concord Crush, Baha Breeze, Pear Pizzaz, Old Olive
Punches - Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, 2 1/2" Circle Punch
Big Shot -  Scallop Circles die
Tools - Blender Pen

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Thinking of You


This is a card I recently made for my husband's Aunt who is in the hospital in Florida.  Hopefully this homemade card will cheer her up!

Stamp sets - Thoughts and Prayers, Swirls & Curls Verses
Card stock - Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive
Ink pads - Old Olive
Markers - Rich Razzleberry
Accessories - Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain
Tools - Blender Pen

Saturday, June 4, 2011

My Parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary!

This is the card I made for my parent's anniversary. It is a very simple, but elegant card. Except for the cutting, it didn't take much time to put together. The supplies I used to make the card are listed below.

Stamp set - Elements of Style (one of my favorite sets)
Ink pads - Black and Old Olive
Markers - Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, and Daffodil Delight
Blender Pen
Card stock - Very Vanillia and Old Olive
Watercolor paper
Framed Tulips embossing folder
Word Window punch
Color Spritzer Tool

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The New Catalog

On July 1st the new catalog will be available.  As a demonstrator, I have the opportunity to see a "sneek peek" of some of the new items.  I am also able to purchase the "Sneek Peek" items. 

Well, this morning I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to place my order!  It should be arriving by next Friday.  As soon as I get my order, I will make a few cards for you to see.  (We are not allowed to show the products, but we are allowed to show cards created using the new products.)  I will definitely be using the new In-Colors on my cards so you can see them!  Check back on Sunday, June 12th (or sooner) to see a couple cards that I created using the new products! 

Have a great week!
Charlene

My Favorite Stamp Set is NOT Retiring!

I had to post these cards again to express my joy over the fact that Lovely as a Tree is not retiring!  I am soooo happy!

This card was created by my sister-in-law, Dawn.

Water Color Wonder Crayons were used to color the trees.


The trees were stamped on glossy paper, then stamped on Window Sheets and "smushed" onto the glossy paper.  The blue colors were applied with a sponge.





Heart Boxes

My older brother recently got married, and my mother and I made these cute little heart boxes as favors for the rehearsal dinner.  I have to give credit to Kay Sha who designed the boxes.  The two main tools used to create the boxes were the Full Heart Punch and the Scalloped Heart Of Hearts Stampin' Up! Embosslits Die.


Customer Appreciation

Recently, several customers spent a fun night stamping at my mom's house.  Below are the three cards they made.
Thank you Mary Fish for sharing your cards!  This is a modified CASE of a card created by Mary Fish.






3x3 Note Cards and an XL Fancy Favor Box

I have been having a lot of fun making note cards and gifts for friends using 12x12 card stock, the XL Fancy Favor Sizzix die, and mini square envelopes.  You can easily fit ten note cards and envelopes in the box.  If you cut the 12x12 card stock in half, then cut 3"x6" pieces, you can get eight cards out of one piece of paper!


Greenhouse Gala Thank You

Below are some Top Note boxes I made using the Greenhouse Gala designer series paper.  I gave them to teachers at my school who worked so hard on the first edition of a yearbook for our students.  I would like to say "thank you" again because I know one of those teachers will be viewing this page!



Bold Blossom Easter Card

This is the card that I gave my husband for Easter.  It isn't a very "manly" card, but I loved it and wanted to keep it.  Whenever I want to keep a card, I always give it to my husband!



The card features the Bold Blossom stamp set and the Bold Blossom punch.  I love when punches can be used with stamp sets.  It saves so much time!

Punch Bunch Baby Card

This is a simple baby card using DSP and a stamp from the Sale-A-Bration Punch Bunch set.  I made several of these cards since several of my friends and co-workers are (were) pregnant.  Guess what?  Everyone had a boy!  I'm glad I used Bashful Blue as the main color!



Brayering

Back in March, my mom treated me to a Michelle Zindorff brayering class.  (If you haven't heard of her, she is the Queen of Brayering!)  We drove close to five hours to attend her class in Syracuse, NY.  It was well worth the drive!  We learned a lot of great tips to help with our brayering skills.  I'm still practicing, but will be having a brayering class over the summer.  It is such a unique technique - one that will enhance your card making skills!

Below is a card my mom made me for Mother's Day using the brayering technique.  Thank you Mom! 


Regionals Are So Much Fun!

One of the benefits of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is all of the training that is available.  I was fortunate to be able to attend two regionals this year.  The first regional I attended was in Baltimore with my mom.  We had such a great time!


We had such a fun day stamping, especially since my upline and other Stampin' Up! friends were there!


In March, I attended another regional in Hartford, Connecticut with my mom, my sister-in-law, Dawn (We were allowed to bring a guest to this regional!), and Dora.  Dora was one of the presenters and did such a great job!  It was so exciting seeing her on stage, and it was a lot of fun sharing the event for the first time with both Dora and Dawn!  

Dawn ~ I hope you don't mind that I'm sharing this picture!