Stampin' Up! Open House

Here are pictures from my SU! Open House on Thursday. I hope that everyone that was able to make it had a great time. I enjoyed seeing you all. Lots of cards were made, stamp sets (and other stuff) was sold and door prizes given out. If you weren't able to make it to this time, maybe you can make it to some of my upcoming events!



This was our make and take card with a matching envelope. Do you decorate your envelopes to match your cards? It is a great idea and adds that little extra to your handmade cards. Give it a try!!



The holder that I made for candy! Yum!!








All of these pictures are the door prizes! The Grand Prize (which I forgot to take a picture of) was a box of goodies, including a stamp set, note cards, a punch, a blender pen, a sample of the new button assortment, cardstock including the new In Colors and a variety of whites, and I can't remember what else!! It was a great gift. Congratulations to Diana M. who was the winner of the Grand Prize!!

Have a great day!! Thanks for stopping by!

~Amy

Fripp Island, South Carolina

Here are some beach pictures finally!! We had a great time, but I just got the pictures on my computer. I was too busy getting ready for my Stampin' Up! (r) Open House this week to think about these pictures. (I'll upload some pictures from that soon!)

The first picture is of my 3 girls, plus a friend that we took to the beach with us. My youngest daughter found that cute little starfish in a tide pool. She always finds the coolest things. A couple of years ago in around the same place, she found a live sea urchin!! And we often find sand dollars---sometimes alive, sometimes dead, but often whole.

And the last picture is just a beach shot. It was taken our last morning at the beach. It was a little overcast that day, however we were already packed and ready to head home, so we weren't playing in the ocean anyway.

If you are looking for a great, quiet family beach getaway, I would recommend Fripp Island, South Carolina (near Beaufort). It is small and peaceful, but if you are looking for lots of activities, then this is not the place for you!! ;0)

Have a great day!! I'll try to get back quicker next time. I just seem to need about 36 hours per day right now!

~Amy

Big Shot samples

Well, I am away on vacation but I decided to show you some pictures today. I need to upload my beach pictures and show you where I am, but maybe tomorrow! The pictures for today are made using the new BIG SHOT that Stampin' Up! will start selling Sept 1st. (As a demo, I was able to preorder, so hopefully it will arrive at my house late next week or early the following week so that I can play a little bit!!) Anyway, the Big Shot is a die cutting machine. You can use so many different materials with it---of course, card stock, scrapbooking paper, but also things like fabric (check out the last picture!). In this first picture, the die is used to make the bag topper. Cute!!
And how about these little pillow boxes!! I ordered this die, so I'll probably make about a million little boxes to make my purchase worthwhile!! :0) The flowers on the card below are die cut---they look like foil to me....it is definitely a material on the list.
The "G" here seems to be die cut out of chipboard---also on the list of materials that can be die cut! Pretty card and super easy.

And, lastly, here is the fabric!!! Isn't this an awesome matching set?!? I only wish now that I could sew. :0) Maybe I'll have to learn---I do have a machine, but it has seen rare action.

The last thing for today is leaving you with a list of the approved materials that can be used with the Big Shot dies. Have a blessed day!!! It's a rainy beach day here----aka, a shopping day!! And it is my middle daughter Meredith's birthday today---12 yrs old!!! That will involve eating cake, of course!

~Amy

Cut through the following 50 materials using steel rule dies and your Big Shot machine. Please note the maximum thickness of several materials.
Brass (.055)
Light weight steel
Aluminum (.016)
Tin (.008)
Aircraft plywood (1/64")
Basswood (1/16")
Balsa (3/32")
Paperwood
Mat board (adhesive or none)
Chipboard
Fabric
Silicone
Foam with chipboard (.1)
Corrugated pad
Adhesive-backed cork
Fine sandpaper (.00)
Strene
Extra thick template plastic
Template plastic
Plastic canvas (7 mesh)
Bubble wrap
Sheet foam
Friendly (jewelry) plastic
100% pure beeswax (cut with parchment paper on top & bottom of beeswax)
Adhesive and non-adhesive rubber
Ruffleboard
Static cling vinyl
Warm & natural batting
Fusible fleece
Quilt batting
Adhesive and non-adhesive flexible magnet
Heat n' shrink plastic
Adhesive and non-adhesive felt
Pop-up sponge
Shiny self-adhesive and non-adhesive paper
Iron-on fabric
Poly foam adhesive and non adhesive
3-D illusionary plastic
Glow in the dark adhesive and non adhesive
Suede paper
Funky fur
Personal Embossing Plastic (PEP)
Shaggy plush felt
Canvas
Vinyl flooring
Shelf lining
Placement
Embossing rubber
Thin leather
Gasket material

(Wow! I don't even know what some of this stuff is!!)

New card making stuff

It is almost time for the unveiling of the new catalog---on August 11th you will be able to find it online. Then you can get your hard copy of the catalog at my OPEN HOUSE on Thursday, August 21st (from noon to 8pm)!!! I've got my demo copy in my hot little hands and I am loving it!!! And have you heard that a Big Shot diecut machine is coming to SU!? Whoo-hoo!!

I was able to preorder some of the new catalog items (that is just one of the perks of being a Stampin' Up! demo!!!) and I will share a few pictures with you today. By the way, speaking of being an SU! demo----have you heard that there is a new $99 Starter Kit Special? Ask me about the details. There is no better time to sign up---$99 to start and only $300 in sales per quarter will keep you active and receiving your discount (usually 20% off, but sometimes more)!!!

Now on to the cards---

These cards use a new Simply Sent Card Elements Kit. The kit I used is called Flower Power Card Elements and costs $15.95 which includes all the supplies to make 9 cards (3 of each kind that I will show you). You can also get the coordinating stamp set called Wow Flowers that costs $12.95 or you can just use whatever words you happen to have on hand. I used my own medium Whisper White envelopes and stamped them to match the cards. I love making matching envelopes----it gives my cards a real designer look!! Have you tried doing that?

This Simply Sent Card Elements Kit includes cardstock, double sided paper, die cut stickers, ribbon, buttons, and brads. The kit also includes instructions for you so that you can easily create these beautiful cards!!

Here is card #3. I love these bright, cheery cards. I made all of my cards as "Thank You" cards because that is what I needed. You can easily use whatever words you need.

The new catalog has 3 different Simply Sent Card Elements Kits which do not include the coordinating stamp set. There are also 2 Simply Sent Card Kits which include the coordinating stamp set and the elements to create the cards (10 cards in each kit).

One of the SS Card Elements Kits is called Handmade Holiday Card Elements and you can use it to make 18 Christmas cards!!! It only costs $17.95 for the kit and $18.95 if you would like the coordinating stamp set. But remember, you may have your own stamps that will work with the kit.

The final picture shows all three cards with one envelope and a couple of the stamps from the Wow Flowers set. How do you like these cards? I thought that they were simple beautiful.

I will be headed to the beach in only two days!! I am so excited. Does anyone out there reading this live near Fripp Island. If so drop me a note and maybe we can stamp together next week!! I will definitely be stopping by the Carolina Stamper---great stamping/scrapbooking/jewelry making store in Beaufort, SC!! If you ever get a chance, stop by and see them.

~Amy

I can blog again!

For some stange reason, my blog was mis-identified as a "spam blog" and I was locked out for a couple of days!!! Now prior to that, I just didn't get around to showing you anything new.

So here goes:






These cute little gift bags are called a bag in a box or box in a bag or something like that. Aren't they great?!? The green one uses some retired scrapbooking paper, but that beautiful red one uses the new Bella Rose paper and the Riding Hood Red and Kiwi Kiss papers. And check out that scallop edge paper around the bottom!!! It is made using SU!'s new scallop edge punch. Love it!!! I hear that there are more new punches coming in less than two weeks when the new Fall/Winter Stampin' Up! catalog debuts. I'm excited about it, are you?






This Treat Box is made with one sheet of 12"x12" textured card stock (chocolate chip for this box) and a little scrapbooking paper (Berry Bliss in this case). All you do is fold the card stock and thread ribbon through holes that you punch. Lastly you just pull the sides up with the ribbon. I filled mine with lots of different candies and have it on my stamping tables. Want to come to my house and stamp? :0)



Have a great day!! Now go and stamp something!

New stuff and Connie's cards

Today I want to show you some new things and some beautiful cards that I received from my downline, Connie D. First the new In Colors for this year:

Colors left to right and top to bottom are: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Tangerine Tango and Kiwi Kiss. I am excited to be playing with them, but I will definitely miss this year's In colors----especially Groovy Guava!! Don't forget to stock up on the colors that you love before they are gone.

Here is the new Bella Rose designer series paper. This is Stampin' Up!'s double sided paper, so I made this sheet to show you what each side of the paper looks like. It also shows which SU! colors coordinate with this paper. Absolutely gorgeous!!! I've already made a cute little gift bag with this. You'll see that soon!

This card was made by Connie. She used the current Level 2 hostess stamp set called Spring Solitude and Solitude wheel. I believe this is just the wheel with some of the flowers colored in. Her sentiment is from Sincere Salutations. So pretty!

Connie's second card uses an old set called Pocket Fun. Her card is glued together on the top and bottom with the cute little card sliding in and out of the side of the card. The sliding card says "Friends are like pockets...you can never have too many!" I love it!! Thank you, Connie!!



I hope that you have a wonderful Saturday. I'll see you again soon.

~Amy

Check out my Walls!

Okay, I told you a while back that Stampin' Up! (r) has a new item called Decor Elements. These are vinyl things that you can apply to walls, mirrors, plaques or other wooden items....really all sorts of places. They are kind of like super strong stickers--for lack of a better way to describe them to you. All you need to apply them is a little tool that reminds me of the Pampered Chef tool used to clean their stoneware. So, of course, I had to order them and finally got around to applying them last night. The whole process---including me actually reading the directions! and deciding just how to arrange them---took only about an hour. I just love how these look, so now I want to order more!! Check out my new wall over the fireplace/mantel in my basement stamping room:

So what do YOU think of these great flowers? If you want to see all of the different decor elements that SU! is offering right now, check out the brochure HERE. And this is just the first of these Decor Elements that will be offered. Stampin' Up! plans to roll out more of these great decorative accessories in the future!! I can't wait to see what else will be offered.

Since these are so wonderful and I want you to try them out, I am offering this SPECIAL: Order any of the Decor Elements and I will throw in a FREE applicator for you!! (This offer will apply to only your first order of Decor Elements because (#1) after you have an applicator, you won't need another one and (#2) you will definitely want more Decor Elements once you have used them!!)

Remember that I have a stamp camp coming up next Thursday, July 24th. This month will feature Fantastic Folds---I will be teaching you a variety of ways to make your cards new and fresh by folding differently! Sign up by Tuesday the 22nd.

Have a blessed day!

~Amy