STAMPING BLISS

Check It Out--My New Blog!

2009-05-31T22:49:00.000-07:00

It is up and running! Although still a bit under construction but check out my new blog and even better--the Retired List is out! Go there to find out if your favorite set is sticking around!

Where Have I Been?

2009-05-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

I have been extremely busy! We just had my parent's wedding/vow renewal this past weekend (pictures of decorations are forthcoming, I promise) so as you can imagine that has had me extremely busy. I have also been steadily working on a new and improved blog. But as with all things technical and remotely related to computers--it is not working like I want it too! With the wedding I have had to take a break from fixing all the bugs. I am hoping to have the new blog up and running by the first of June!! So keep your eyes peeled for the new debut and address!!

6X6 Scrapbook Page

2009-05-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

I love this layout! Isn't it adorable? The colors are great. I am going to put a picture on this page and put it into a frame, it is just too cute to hide in a scrapbook. Thank you to Christie, my fellow demonstrator for sharing it with me. For those of you who scrapbook look for information on my upcoming Scrapbook University that starts next month!!

Lemonade Stand Award

2009-05-10T21:56:00.000-07:00

I just received my first Blog Award--The Lemonade Stand Award. This was given for showing great attitude and gratitude. From a dear blogging friend and fellow demonstrator, Aimee. Her blog is full of wonderful ideas and her scrapbooks inspire me. So check her out. Now I get to pick some blogs that inspire me: Becca, is my upline and a new blogger; Barbara, is my first recruit and incredible stamper; Lee, is a fellow demonstrator who I met through one of my groups and work is stunning; Laurel, is another demonstrator from one of my groups and I love how she uses colors in her projects; and this last award goes to Linda, who is a former trainer from Stampin' Up!, she has inspired creativity in my work in so many ways. I still remember the first time I saw her at a Regional Event and she used Crystal Effects to glue the heel back onto her shoe. Each one of these ladies are incredible stampers who have influenced my own personal style in one way or another. Enjoy your little bloggy award, you deserve it!!

The rules of the award (To pick up the Lemonade Stand Award):- Comment on this blog.- Cut and paste the award logo and use it in your own blog.- Nominate 5 to 10 blogs you feel show great attitude and gratitude.- Link to your nominees within your blog post.- Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award.- Link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation.

New Technique

2009-05-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Here is another card I made on Saturday...

It is using the brand new "Re-Inker Spread" Technique--more about this technique to come. For my Stamp Club members-this is May's monthly technique!!

Quarterly Shoebox Swap

2009-05-09T21:57:00.000-07:00

This morning was my Quarterly Shoebox Swap and Brunch where I meet with other local demonstrators and get ideas and inspiration. So I will be sharing a few of the things we made today with you over the next few days..

This cute little book was made with the Scallop Envelope Die for the Big Shot. This is an exclusive SU! die. You might think you can only use this die to make envelopes--WRONG! I have seen baskets, boxes, and so much more made out of it. Michele came across this idea online and decided to share it with us. The DSP used is Bella Rose.

Coming Up Roses

2009-05-08T21:56:00.000-07:00

I love the Manhattan Flowers Texturz Plate but I must admit, once it was in my hands I was stumped. This tends to happen to me a lot. I fall in love with a stamp set or accessory so I buy it. Than once it arrives I am creatively stumped. This is a card that slowly evolved.

I knew I wanted to use Regal Rose cardstock and Cardstock Vellum. So I ran the plate through my Big Shot and embossed the flowers onto the Vellum. That created a beautiful, frosted looking rose. I than stamped more roses onto the pink cardstock in Regal Rose ink. Although I think that using the VersaMark Pad and clear embossing powder would of given a very pretty look as well. I attached the cut out roses to the front of the card with 2-Way Glue Pen. Than I added Dazzling Diamonds to the embossed lines using the 2-Way Glue Pen. I really like this card. I think it would make an elegant wedding card.

A Walk In the Park With Mom

2009-05-07T21:47:00.000-07:00

This was the card we made at my Stamp Club for April. Since Mother's Day is just around the corner I knew this would be a perfect card. It features a fun way to use the Texturz Plates for the Big Shot as well.

Brayered Texture:
1. Ink up your Brayer in the coordinating ink as your cardstock or a darker shade.
2. Roll Brayer all over the Texturz Plate.
3. Build your "sandwich" carefully laying your cardstock over the Texturz plate.
4. Roll "sandwich" through the Big Shot.
5. Pull out cardstock. Thoroughly clean Texturz plate.
6. Your cardstock will now be dry embossed in the color of the paper and the rest of the paper will be covered in ink.

RECIPE: Stamps-A Bunch of Love; Ink-Old Olive, Baja Breeze, Regal Rose, Basic Gray & Black; DSP-A Walk in the Park; CS-Baja Breeze, Whisper White & Basic Gray; and Ribbon-Regal Rose.

May Promotions

2009-05-05T21:37:00.000-07:00

In celebration of National Scrapbooking Month, Stampin' Up! is having 3 fabulous promotions...

1.) Buy three packs of Designer Series paper--including Specialty Designer Series paper--or 12" x 12" textured card stock and get one FREE!* Who doesn't need paper? Go to my website and place your order today!!

2.) Become a demonstrator for only $75 with the limited-time Scrapbooking Starter Kit! Already have a Stampin' Up! stash in your stamp room? Want to earn some extra money? This is a fabulous opportunity to become a demonstrator. Click here to learn more about becoming a demonstrator.

3.) Buy the new Jumble Alphabet stamp set--a sneak peek from the upcoming 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog--at 20% off!

Call me, e-mail me or visit my website to take advantage of these great deals!!

Follow Me!

2009-05-03T22:21:00.000-07:00

I wanted to let you know that I have added two fun new ways for you to keep up with me (and my stamping addiction). Go to my sidebar and you will see a link to networked blogs through Facebook. I am now updating with Twitter, so even if I am not posting regularly (the kids have been sick again) I will be updating Twitter as much as possible. So follow along!!

Holland Happenings Booth

2009-04-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

I had a fabulous time this past weekend at Holland Happening Street Fair. The mornings were a bit cold but eventually the sun came out and warmed us up (I even got sunburned, a miracle in Washington). There was good entertainment, carnival food, and people watching. I met lots of people who were so excited to see a Stampin' Up! booth at the fair. I handed out nifty bookmarks with all of my information to over a hundred potential stampers too.

Here are some pictures of our booth...

Upcoming class information and catalogs...

Our Prize Table!! We gave away a card kit and basket both full of goodies. We had our customer information sheets available for people to fill out to enter our drawing.

Our product display...yes, that is my Circle Scissors still in the package. Unbelievable I know!! It will be out of the box this weekend for sure!

Here are some of our product samples...

Here are the card display boards we made. We had cards that Becca and I have made. We also took some of our favorite swaps received at Regionals and put them on the boards to share. We had a few ladies come through with cameras (diehard stampers to be sure) so they could take home some new ideas.

It was a wonderful weekend! I can't wait for all the other events we were invited to have a booth at over the summer. I am so excited to have my downline join me at these events!!

Manhatten Rose Class

2009-04-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

If you wanted to take this class last Thursday and couldn't, don't worry!! I had to cancel the class due to the three county-wide power outage. It is kind of hard to stamp when you don't have any power!!

So I have rescheduled this class for May 7th at 6:00PM. If you want to make this class but are unable to attend, please let me know and we can set up a new time. The fee for the class is $25 ($20 for Stamp Club members) and we will be making the adorable gift box and eight cards (two cards of each design). You will also receive the instructions so you can make this project again later. So call me today to reserve your kit and place at my stamping table!

If you don't live here you can purchase a card kit, e-mail me to learn how!!!

Holland Happenings!!

2009-04-24T15:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, I will be at the Holland Happening Festival in downtown Oak Harbor, WA. I will have a booth at the street fair with my upline, Becca. So stop by and see what incredible deals we have going on this weekend. We will have cards, memory cans, and so much more for sale. You can also enter a drawing for Stampin' Up! Goodies (who doesn't love that!). You can sign up for classes and stamp club. We also have a fabulous deal if you have ever thought about becoming a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator so be sure to ask about that.

Also if you stop in and say "hi!" and mention my blog you will get a special little gift!

See You at Holland Happening!!!

Make N' Takes Part 3!

2009-04-22T21:35:00.000-07:00

Here is the last Make N' Take from Regionals I have to share with you. (I actually have one more MnT but I haven't started it yet!) This is an adorable Love Note Holder using the scallop notes. Way too cute!

Make N' Takes Part 2!

2009-04-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

Here are two more cards I made at Regionals. Both cards use the Mini Occasions "Soft Summer" stamp set. I must admit that this stamp set caught my attention but "Fifth Avenue Florals" won out. But after using this set it is back on my "must have" list. =)

Regional Make n' Takes!

2009-04-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

Today I am going to share with you some of the incredible Make n' Takes we made at Regionals. We had so much fun! I love the projects that Stampin' Up! comes up with for their events (plus it is one of the rare times that I don't have to prep anything, I can just stamp!). I am not going to post the recipes but if you want to know about a certain project or product leave a comment and I will answer your questions.

This project got me hooked onto our chipboard letters. They were so much fun to work with and they look fabulous on this scrapbook page. Now I just have to find the perfect picture!

This is a little treat pouch. The flower is embossed, using the Big Shot, and I sanded the embossed parts of the flower to turn them white. So sweet!

Look for some more pictures tomorrow and the next day!!

Seattle Regionals

2009-04-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

(Jane, Becca, Barb, Debby, Lynette & Michelle)

Saturday, myself and five other ladies went to the Stampin' Up! Regionals in Seattle. We had a fabulous time!! We laughed, stamped, learned some incredible techniques, joked around, stamped, learned more, ate and laughed some more. We all left with so many new ideas and concepts that I am sure it will take the rest of April go figure out how we are going to implement all these great new techniques into our businesses (be watching Stamp Club, awesome new techniques are coming your way!!).

If you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and have never been to a SU! event, I highly recommend it. You will leave feeling very blessed. SU! makes a point of taking care of their demos and the training we receive from the company is incredible. Also, if you have ever thought about joining SU! talk to me! You can receive $50 off of your starter kit if you sign up with me by May 1st!! I am looking for people to join the Blissful Stampers team and would love to have you join us!!

So here are some pictures of us hanging out at Regionals:
Rebecca--My awesome upline & fellow stamping addict!!

Lynette--My mom & newest member of the Blissful Stampers Team!

Here is the presentation stage:

Here is the mass entrance of over 500 SU! demos and their guests trying to find the perfect seats. (We ran and got a table right up front)!!

Here we are all getting settled at our table. We couldn't wait to mount our new stamp set and get started!

Here's Barb and Debby going through their packets so they could see the fabulous projects we would be making that day (pictures of those projects tomorrow).

Here is my mom filling out her Demonstrator paperwork!

Becca and her guest Jane!!

Here is Shellie Gardner, the CEO and co-founder of Stampin' Up!, talking with us and presenting.

Here we are stamping our little hearts out!

Here is the table at the end of the day!

Here is my mom, Shellie and myself...

Becca, Jane, Shellie, me and my mom!

As you can see we all had a fabulous time. Here is the swap I made to share at Regionals. I received some wonderful cards in exchange and can't wait to share a few of my favorites with you!

RECIPE: Stamps-Fifth Avenue Floral; Ink-Mellow Moss, Pale Plum, & Perfect Plum; CS-Chocolate Chip, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum & Whisper White; and Ribbon-Mellow Moss Grosgrain.

Hello!

2009-04-16T21:17:00.000-07:00

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. =) Unfortunately the day after we returned from our family vacation we all came down with the stomach flu, one after the other. So it has taken us longer to get back into the swing of things than I expected. But I haven't forgotten all of you out there in blog land!! I have also been busy creating and putting all the ideas floating around on my head on paper. So I will have some great pictures to post this weekend of my upcoming Mother's Day Class, other projects, my swaps for Seattle Regionals and all the great make n' takes I will make at Regionals. Right now I need to get busy stamping so I will be ready for Saturday. Have a great Friday!!

Train Trip & Vacation!

2009-03-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

I am off on my train trip and vacation so I won't be posting for a week or two. I tried to smuggle stamps, ink, cardstock, etc. into my luggage but I just couldn't make it fit. We already had too much stuff with us (the joys of traveling with kids). So alas, I am going through stamping withdrawal as I am writing this. Sigh. If you want to see more of our journey on the train than click here and in I will see you in a couple of weeks!

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-03-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

This was a fun and easy Easter Card we also made at Stamp Club. The eggs are made using the Wide Oval Punch. We stamped the designs onto the eggs using the "A Good Egg" stamp set and than sponged the edges of the "eggs". To make the sky we sponged over a scallop circle to get the clouds.

RECIPE: Stamps-A Good Egg; Ink-Bashful Blue, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, So Saffron, Apricot Appeal, & Chocolate Chip; CS-Mellow Moss, Chocolate Chip, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum & Whisper White.

Thank you Meaghan for the picture!!

Faux Alligator

2009-03-23T07:27:00.000-07:00

Okay before I get into the "Faux Alligator" technique, I wanted to let you all know that we got a camera. Apparently my whining about not having a camera to take pictures with and update my blogs (yes that is plural, I have a couple of bogs) and our upcoming vacation, paid off. Saturday my husband took me off of the Island to get my dream camera. I am so excited!

I was a photographer in high school and took quite a few photography classes in college. Unfortunately with the innovation of digital photography came the demise of my old, film SLR camera. I was heart broken but at the time could not see investing thousands of dollars into a new digital SLR. So I bought a few cheaper digital cameras until we could afford another SLR. Well I finally got it. Yippee!! I am so excited. But since I am having to get familiar once again with aperture, shutter speed, program mode, light meters, etc. I am going to borrow a few pictures from one of my best customers!

So for this months technique for Stamp Club we learned "Faux Alligator". This may look complicated but it is so simple. I first saw this technique on Jackie Topa's blog. Here is a PDF file of hers that you can download or just scroll down below the picture for directions. For my Stamp Club members you will receive your instructions and sample with your orders this month.

We made very cute little purses using Chocolate Chip Cardstock. These are so fun. You can make this same purse a "manly" briefcase by adding some hodgepodge hardware to give it a masculine appeal. Or add a flower or some of our decorative brads to dress it up.

Technique:
1. Cover area with versamark.
2. Cover versamark with embossing powder (we used clear).
3. Use your bone folder to draw lines diagonally across the cardstock through the embossing powder. Don't worry about keeping them straight. If they are crooked they look more realistic.
4. Emboss with the heat tool.
5. Voila! Faux alligator skin!

Perfect Princess

2009-03-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

I know of a precious little girl who just turned 5, today! She is a special little princess and I had to come up with the perfect card for her. So of course I used "Perfect Princess". This is such an adorable set. I CASED the idea for this card from here. It was such a cute idea. So here is my take on the card...

RECIPE: Stamps-Perfect Princess; Ink-VersaMark & Pale Plum; CS-Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Pink Pirouette & Brushed Silver; EP-Silver; Embellishments-Round Fire Rhinestone Brads; Ribbon-White Taffeta; and Punches-1 3/8" Circle, Scallop Edge & Scallop Circle.

Classy & Fabulous

2009-03-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

I have only purchased one new stamp set this year (I know, hard to believe) but I am trying to be good! Plus I have been purchasing lots of paper, embellishments, tools and other goodies. But this stamp set, I knew I had to have -- "Classy & Fabulous" on page 51 of the S/S Catalog. It is just too much fun. I love stamps that have a bit of a sassy streak, just like me! This was the first time I got to use this set. I wanted to showcase it in some fun girly colors. This is a new color combination for me but I just love it!!

Both of these cards were made at my March Stamp Club. Here is a 3"X3" Love Note we made to go with our Chocolate Chip Alligator purses we also made (I will share those later).

RECIPE: Stamps-Classy & Fabulous; Inks-Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss & Perfect Plum; CS-Pale Plum, Very Vanilla, & Chocolate Chip; and Ribbon-Mellow Moss 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon.

Here is the second, standard-size, card we made. I know the perfect person to give this card too!! =)

RECIPE: Stamps-Classy & Fabulous; Inks-Pale Plum, Chocolate Chip, Perfect Plum, Blush Blossom & Mellow Moss; CS-Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla & Mellow Moss; Ribbon-Chocolate Chip 5/8" Grosgrain.

Shadow Effect With Bleach

2009-03-20T14:49:00.001-07:00

After trying to get pictures off of the camera all day, I finally got a few to download.

We learned about stamping with bleach at my January Stamp Club. It is a fun technique but the smell can be a bit much. I recommend doing this either outside or in a well ventilated room. I used the "Upsy Daisy" stamp set for this card. I wanted to bleach out the flowers but have a bit of a shadow effect to give some detail. This is very easy to do...

Shadow Effect with Bleach:
1. This works better with lighter colored cardstock. Stamp the image with the same colored ink as the paper (So Saffron in this instance).
2. Make a stamp "pad" with a plate or bowl. Place paper towel in the bottom damp towel with bleach. ***Note: Bleach is only really active within the first 20 minutes of pouring it. So don't make your bleach pad until right before you go to stamp.
3. Press stamp into the bleach and stamp it onto the paper slightly off of the first image. This will give the "shadow". It will take a couple of minutes for the paper to bleach out.
4. Finish card. ***Be careful: The bleached cardstock is still active for 20-30 minutes after you bleach it. Meaning, if you lay it on another piece of cardstock, it will bleach it out.

Once again my picture isn't great quality. The shadow is a bit hard to see but it is there.

RECIPE: Stamps-Upsy Daisy; Ink-So Saffron, Ruby Red, & Bleach; CS-Ruby Red, So Saffron, Mellow Moss, Baja Breeze & Chocolate Chip (scrap); Ribbon-Baja Breeze Striped Grosgrain; and Punch-Heart to Heart.

Camera Issues

2009-03-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

I am sure you are wondering why I haven't posted any projects lately. My camera is completely on the fritz. It is so frustrating. I am having a hard time taking decent pictures and getting them uploaded before the camera dies on me. We are going to go camera shopping soon but until I get a new camera, new projects and photo posts may be few and far between! I am so sorry.

Anyone have any camera suggestions? =)