The Stampin' Grounds

Come Tomorrow to My Sale-a-Bration/Mini Catalog Open House!

2012-01-27T10:14:38-08:00

I'm so excited! I've been busy in my basement, crafting up a storm to share with all of you tomorrow! It's time for one of my FAVOURITE open houses of the year - my annual Sale-a-bration Showcase! I'm going to be showing off the amazing new products in the new mini Occasions catalog (oh yeah, can you say 'framelits'?!), Valentine's Day ideas for your friends and loved ones, a NEW club offering (announced the first time TOMORROW!), make n' takes, door prizes and more!

Be sure you plan to attend - we are going to have a blast! Come for the quieter morning session and relax your way into crafting with a coffee (provided) at 9:30am, or come to the energetic afternoon session (starting at 1) and get that craftin' groove on! Either way, RSVP so there is a make n' take ready for you and see you here!!!

Click here to learn more and to register!!

It's Time to Sale-a-Brate!!

2012-01-24T16:00:19-08:00

Woo hoo! Today starts Sale-a-bration - Stampin' Up!'s annual promotion that is looked for with SO much excitement by everyone!

Here's how it works if you haven't seen it before:

First - Download the Sale-a-Bration Mini Catalog here

Then, for EVERY $60 you purchase, you get a FREE gift - anything in that SAB catalog to the left! EVERY TIME! No limits! Now you know why everyone gets so excited, eh?!

Next - Sale-a-bration is a GREAT time to share your love of stamping with yourr friends and family, and I'm SO excited to offer a new event for you and your friends to try out - my new Party Express! If you are interested in your family/friends getting exposed to stamping, and want a really fun evening to do that, you can try my express evening out! From beginning to end, I'll be there (or come to my studio) for ONE HOUR - your friends and family will see how to stamp, have an opportunity to try their own hand at it, and all the orders that occur that evening will create hostess benefits (a SHOPPING SPREE) for YOU!

As of the first day of Sale-a-bration (TODAY!) I'm opening my calendar up - email me to book your event NOW and try my new express party!!

And of course, my very favourite part of Sale-a-bration - this is when I get to welcome so many new members to my Sea to Sky Stampers team! If you follow my blog, you know how much fun we have at family picnics, stamping events, promotions and awards weekends and dinners, conventions and so much more! We love to stamp and the community we have built is very strong - whether you are interested as a hobbiest (i.e. you LOVE discounts!), a business builder (you'd like a little extra spending money!), or a career demonstrator (drop the bonds of the full time job and create for a living!) - I have a place for you on my team!

I am so excited about my team growing - you will love getting to know us - email me to learn more and to get a FREE guest pass to our next meeting on MONDAY night! :)

So - welcome to the biggest PARTY of the year, and I hope to see you on Saturday at my Open House where I will be showcasing all the incredible things you can do with the new product lines in the mini and the SAB brochure - see you then!! :)

The Swaps Were Wonderful!

2012-01-20T19:38:33-08:00

Last night at Leadership tonight - what a whirlwind! I can honestly say this has been the BEST Leadership I've ever attended - so exciting and amazing, and so much to share with you guys! Today I thought I'd share some of the neat swaps and samples I saw on display!

LOVED how they had us display our swaps! We all grabbed a clothespin and hung up our swaps for everyone to take pics of, organized by stampset in the new mini catalog. What a fun way to see these puppies!

folks put up some beautiful swaps! (I didn't catch the names on them, so if you know who's they are, please comment below so we can give proper credit!!)

and of course Stampin' Up! had some great samples for us to check out too!

more soon!!

Manager's Reception at Leadership 2012

2012-01-19T18:38:13-08:00

Manager's Recption last night was AWESOME!! If you don't know what this is, everyone who has a title of manager or more in Stampin' Up! gets a free evening where Stampin' Up! puts on some sort of neat show that is totally unique. This year was no different, and the theme was China!

As always, the decor was incredible and themed!

pretty little drinks were served to everyone while we waited to take our seats..

Three of my good friends that I always prioritize catching up with! (Angie Juda, Me, and Heather Summers)

The first sight of Shelli as she introduces the Peking act with a gong!

Gotta say - I think that this 'Chinese Fighting Dog' act was even better than I've seen in Vancouver's China Town at Chinese New Year!

Incredible dancers...

And yes, the chair act - I can't handle this one myself - had to snap a pic between my eyes being clenched shut!

Our gifts - a stampset and chopstix!

And this gift we will be using throughout the weekend...

A Chinese fan! :)

Check Out The Loot!

2012-01-19T05:30:00-08:00

I've had so much fun already -yesterday I picked up my bag and make n' take items - it always amazes me how much we get in product, on top of our Leadership experience - it's really amazing, as Stampin' Up! really spoiles us! Check out what day one brought us!

We also each got a fun bonus at the make n' take sessions - a cute little organizer that matches our new bags!

More is coming so stay tuned! Manager's Reception was fabulous and I'll be sharing pics about that next!

Swaps, swaps everywhere!

2012-01-18T05:51:41-08:00

Well, if you know me, you won't be surprised at this at all - I'm famously a last-minute swap preparer, but this year even more so, due to an unexpected last minute trip to Vegas with some good friends. You can imagine the scene at every airport... no? You can't? Well, it looks something like this at every terminal:

Yup - colouring like crazy tryinig to catch up! This is my card this year:

I don't know why I pick the most complex cards to bring with me, although it does make me really happy to know that I've put lots of work into a card to share with people. :) Can't wait to get some amazing cards back! (Leadership swaps are one of my favourites, but as of this minute I only have 7 swaps done! LOL

Check Out My New Ink Organizers!

2012-01-16T07:16:00-08:00

For Christmas this year, my mom and stepdad made me possibly the coolest gift ever - an organizer for my inks and related accoutrements by colour! Check it out!!

Each cabinet holds my inkpad, the matching marker, my craft stampin' spots and/or a sponge wedge, my sponge dauber, and then a classic and craft reinker!

I'm in LOVE! Aren't they FABULOUS???!

From My Upline

2012-01-15T19:14:00-08:00

I thought I'd share with you a card I received from my upline in Alberta - she's so great about sending out cards for our achievements, and I get a new card from her each month with a special message inside. That's one of the things I love about this company - everyone cares SO much, and it gives us all an opportunity to be our best people with each other! Here's the card - thanks Ann, and everyone else - enjoy!

How to make a 'button' for your blog or website using MDS

2012-01-14T07:02:00-08:00

I thought I'd share a quick video on how I made my button for 200,000 viewes for my blog, and show you how to make your own digital buttons using MDS for your own digital needs - enjoy!

200,000 visits!

2012-01-13T11:56:21-08:00

Today is a big day - today I slipped past 200,000 visits to my blog, and I want to thank all of you for commenting, watching, reading, and generally participating in my life through crafting!

To celebrate, what's a day like this without BLOG CANDY! It's nothing I tell you, so comment below, or on my Facebook page here and tell me in your comment what projects, tutorials or things you would like to see me write about in 2012 - I'll draw a winner on SATURDAY and send them a free stampset in the mail!

And of course, I thought I'd leave you with one of the many Christmas projects I made this year - this one was for my boys and it was possibly one of their favourite gifts (they LOVE getting snuggly in these every night!)..

Tyler's (on the right), needed to be hemmed up about 6" of course, but he'll have loads of room to grow into it. I used Simplicity Pattern 4388 for these, and I have to say, it wasn't the best pattern in terms of the written instructions - I know that a lot of reviewers loved this pattern and I did as well, but I would say that some of the actual instructions were vague - like the pockets - if you had never made them before, I have seen MUCH better tutorials than this one. But overall, I recommend this pattern because the robes turned out GORGEOUS and are so soft and nice!!