Being a demo

I just wanted to share a quick word on some of the wonders of being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.  On the weekend I got to share my love of stamping and creating with a wonderful bunch of women that I have met through my business. Not only did I share my ideas with them they shared their ideas with me.  Last Wednesday evening I got together with other demos from the area at Stampin' Up!'s field training which was another wonderful opportunity to share ideas and learn new things.  But the best thing of all, I got a stamp set as a result of paying for the training but on top of that I had a bonus of winning a stamp set as a door prize.  It was the Butterfly prints set which I love and coordinates with the Butterfly punch.  I have won a stamp set at every Stampin' Up! event I have attended so far.  I can't believe the luck of that because I never win anything.  :-D

Mel

The new Summer Mini Starts today!

Well the summer mini is here. Just click on the cover to the left to view the mini online.  There are so many cute new Stamp sets and accessories that it was hard to choose what to get and what to leave out.  I hosted a catalogue launch at my home for this mini on the weekend and every one who came had a great time and the new products were a hit.  The Sweet Treat cups were especially popular.  We made treat bags like the one you can see on the left of the catalogue cover.  When I mentioned that I was going to make them as lolly bags for my daughters birthday party in a few weeks one of my wonderful customers came up with a fantastic idea that I would like to share with you.  Once you have removed the Sweet Treat cup and enjoyed the contents you could then use the card or treat bag as a photo frame by sticking a photo onto the back of the hole where the cup used to be.  I thought that was such a wonderful idea.  I am going to have a go at this and post up some photos of the results when I get a chance.

One of the other samples you can see on the cover, the butterfly box uses another one of my favorite new Stamp Sets and accessories.  The Butterfly Prints set and coordinating punch make wonderful embellisments for cards, scrapbook pages or 3D items.  I am even going to use them to make cupcake pick decorations for my daughters birthday party that I mentioned before.  She loves butterflies and I have been hard pressed to stop her from running off with the ones I have been making.

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy the new mini as much as I do :-)
Mel

Altered tins

I recently bought some tins and altered them.  They are for use in my workshops.  One is for my lucky door prize forms and the other holds a heap of markers.  At some events I offer a free marker to anyone putting in an order of over $100.  These tins show the versatility of Stampin' Up! products and how to think outside just making cards.

This is my lucky door prize tin.  It is a pretty simple one.  I covered the tin in Kiwi Kiss paper from the Urban Garden pack of Designer Series Paper (IBC page 132, $16.95).  I used the Anywhere Glue Stick (IBC page 154, $7.50 for two) on both the paper and the tin, this meant that I had some "lubrication" to enable me to move the paper around and into the right position before the glue started to stick.  I then put some Sticky Strip (IBC page 154, $12.95) on the top overlap to make sure that the paper was securely held down.  The paper on the lid is from the Kiwi Kiss pack of Patterns Designer Series Paper (IBC page 135, $16.95).  These packs of papers are monochrome meaning that they only have one colour, in this case Kiwi Kiss, and white.  They are really handy for coordinating with other DSPs or just jazzing up a plain card.  The ribbon is from the Pigtails Ribbon Originals (IBC page 150, $27.95).  I love this ribbon it is very cute, I am very into polka dots at the moment.  The reverse side of this ribbon, which you can just see on the left tail of the bow, is white with Kiwi Kiss polka dots, rather than Kiwi with white polka dots so you can easily reverse it for a different look.  The white part of the flower is from the Pretties kit (IBC page 149, $55.95).  This kit contains over 300 pieces including 5 differnt sizes/styles of flowers.  They can be dyed with reinkers or coloured with markers but I left this one white to go with the monochrome colour scheme.  In the center of the flower is one of the Kiwi Kiss die cut flowers from the Blooms Again pack of die cuts (IBC page 144, $16.50) and a Kiwi Kiss Corduroy Button from the Spring Mini Catalogue (page 4, $19.50).  I cut out some reinforces for the holes where the handle goes through from Kiwi Kiss cardstock, using punches.  Firstly I punched a hole using the 1/8 inch hand punch.  Then I punched around that using the 1 inch circle punch. I always find that if I want use the punches to cut "ring" shapes like this it is easiest to start with the smallest shape and work upwards. It gives you a much larger piece to hold and is easier to line up correctly in the larger punch.

So that is my little tin.  As I said very simple but I love it.  Not sure how I am going to take it when the Kiwi Kiss retires next September and I have to redo this tin.  Maybe I can keep it for other things and make another one in one of the new In Colors.  I will post pictures of the other tin soon.

thanks for looking and happy stamping
Mel

Wow, I have been neglecting my blog in favour of my Newsletter. As you can see I have given my blog a new look.  It now looks a lot like my Newsletter with the same graphics and colours being used in both.  If you are interested in subscribing to my news letter which comes out at least monthly with details of the latest specials, classes and a new project or technique featured each month, you can get to the subscribe page here or use the mini form in the column to the right.  All your details are kept secure and can only be accessed by me.  I will never ever sell or give anyone else your details.

This is a set of cards that I actually did at convention.  It is a very cute little idea for a gift.  I love the Funky Forest stamp set (IBC page 99, $31.95) it is a very versatile and unisex set that can be used for just about anything.  There are four cards put into one of the large Cello bags (IBC page130, $9.50 for 50).  There is a piece of the Tangerine Tango Designer Series Patterns paper (IBC page 135, $16.95) cut to fit in the bag.  The Word Window punch (IBC page 153, $30.95) was used to punch a hole through both layers of the Cello bag and through the DSP.  Then a piece of the 1" Chocolate Chip Double Stitched Ribbon (IBC page 150, $19.95) is knotted through the hole.

I have been trying to add the individual photos below but they keep turning themselves on the side and then Firefox crashes so I think I will give up on them for the time being.  I will post something more later.

Have a good day and thanks for looking.

Melanie