Monthly Class fun!

Hi Friends,
How is your Wednesday going?  I kind of like Wednesday because I know the end of the week can't be too far away!  The good news here is that the forest fire smoke has cleared out for the last couple of days and we are having some absolutely gorgeous days.  Everything except probably BBQ is better without smoke, right?

I had a class this week for a monthly group of ladies. They are a fun bunch, very seasoned stampers, who cherish the gabbing time as much as the stamping time! It's fun to introduce new products or techniques to them as they are fairly hard to amaze. They have been stamping forever and have pretty much seen it all, but every once in awhile, I succeed.

I want to share the cards we did at that class. The supply list is at the bottom of the post and you can click on anything and it will take you right to the store.  All of these examples feature products from the 2018-2019 Annual Catalog.

The first card features the "Sweet Baby" bundle. I love the bouncy jumpin' thingee as all my kids used that and loved it!  This set has extra stamps to make it specific to a girl or boy baby, but I chose to make a gender neutral card so my class could use it for any baby.  One special note about the embossed layer - I used old fashioned typing paper!  I was cleaning out my father's file cabinet and found a whole tablet. I'll be doing this again! The color scheme focuses on Soft Seafoam Green and Petal Pink.

The next card features the "Broadway Birthday" bundle. It's a fun stamp and framelit set with extra special Designer Series Paper.  It has a lot of pop with a Lovely Lipstick, Black and Lemon Lime Green color scheme.

The last card featured a really lovely set called "Enjoy Life". This is the perfect stamp set for active people that love biking and nature. There are also some great fonts and sentiments included in this set.

With all the excitement of the upcoming Holiday Catalog, it's easy to neglect all the great ideas stemming from the Annual Catalog. The Annual Catalog is also the place to go to get ink and paper and all the staples you need for your project. Be sure to ask me if you have any questions. I love to help and have more ideas than I can possibly use ;)

Have a wonderful, creative day!
Sarah

Only three more days !!!!

Hey friends,
I wanted to remind you that it is almost the end of August and that means only three more days of two special promotions!



BONUS DAYS!!!
For every $50 you spend in August, you will receive a coupon code via email good towards a $5 credit on any order you place in September!  No restrictions on the size of the order or how many coupon codes you collect!  Place an order before the end of August 31st and get some savings in September too!  The Bonus Days coupon will be automatically added to your order once it hits the $50 threshold and then you'll get another one for every $50 increment!



COLOR YOUR SEASON BUNDLE!!!
There is a special bundle available only for three more days that will have you stamping all fall and Christmas!  It's called "Color Your Season" and is especially designed for your favorite coloring method including watercolor pencils, Stampin' Blends alcohol markers, regular markers, Aqua Painters and Blender Pens. You will have a wonderful time exploring your inner creativity with this wonderful set!  Here's a link with ordering information:

Color Your Seasons link

 Take a look at it and see if this is something you could really use!  It is not in the catalog and won't be available after August 31st!

Until next time,
Sarah

Country Home

Hey Stampin' Friends,
How are you today?  As September quickly approaches, I would guess a lot of us are hitting the "reset button" in life. It's the time of back to school, back to work, back to routine. I hope it means you are also back to a favorite hobby, rubber stamping!  I got pretty side tracked May-July but am feeling the mojo come back slowly but surely. If you don't know where to start, just pick up a stamp, grab some ink and paper and start stamping! You won't be sorry!

I thought you would like some more sneak peeks from the upcoming Holiday Catalog, being released on September 5th. There are lots of products to love, including Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving in abundance. I know, I know... you already have a ton of Christmas stuff, right?  Well you won't be sorry if you check out the catalog and update your stash with a few favorites. They designs are fresh, on trend and lovely. Don't forget about the things like embossing folders, ribbons, clips, etc. All of those details add some texture, layer and fun to a project.

I thought I would just share some of my ideas with you. I won't share the specific product details at this time as they are not yet available, but look for them in upcoming posts.  All of these cards were made from the Country Home set, which I absolutely adore!

Isn't that a great set!  I love the spatter wear pitcher ( I own a red one that I use all the time) and I love the milk cans. Stems of cotton are hot right now in decorating and Stampin'Up! did a great job with that stamp.  I used a variety of inks and coloring methods, all of which added to the fun.

No matter where you live in the United States, you can place an order with me and check our full line of paper crafting products. We have color coordinating paper, ink and doo-dads that will make you swoon with glee.   Click on "shop now" and you can start loading up your shopping cart today! I'm available to answer any questions or give you some shopping advice, especially if you are on a limited budget and want help deciding the best use of your funds.   Contact me today!

Meanwhile, enjoy the last bit of summer!
Happy Stampin',
Sarah

More from the Frosted Floral Suite

Hi Friends!
Yesterday, my cards focused on the Designer Series Paper in the Frosted Floral Suite, which is unlike any paper we've ever had. It is gorgeous and at the very least, you will want to touch it!

Today I want to feature the stamps and framelits that are included in the bundle. Stampin'Up! often bundles several of their newest coordinating products and reduces the price by 10% - great savings if you are going to want the bundle anyway!

Here's what I came up with:

The stamps are especially fun to ink up because they have an automatic shading quality to them. I don't know how they do it, but they carve the rubber in different layers so the ink adheres in different densities over the stamp. I love the layered look it creates. It makes me feel so artistic and all I did was stamp!

Don't forget we are in August and that means BONUS DAYS!  For every $50 you spend in August with Stampin'Up!, you'll earn a $5 coupon code good towards any size order in September. We want to share some love with our valuable customers and more product is always a great way to do that!  Contact me for questions or more details. It's so easy to shop online and have everything you want come right to your door.  Go to the "shop now" link on the right and you're there!

Thanks for stopping by!  I would love to hear your thoughts and comments !

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Turning my attention to the Holiday Catalog!

Hi Stampin' Friends,
How are you doing? Ready to kick off another week?  How many of you have "back to school" on the brain?  It's definitely that time of year. I spent some time in both my daughters' classrooms last week and enjoyed every minute. I had to run to the office supply store for a flash drive and drooled over all the school supplies that I don't need. I succumbed to buying some pencils just to feel part of the group! I love this time of year.

Since I became a Stampin'Up! demonstrator, this time of year now means "Holiday Catalog"!  As a demo, you have the opportunity to see the new catalogs about a month early and start ordering from them as well. That's a favorite benefit of mine and as every year, I've taken advantage of it. You will love what's coming!  Stampin'Up! did a fantastic job with Christmas as they always do and didn't neglect Halloween or Thanksgiving. If you love leaves, pumpkins, snowmen, angels, trees and reindeer, well, that is just the start!

I've been playing with some of my preorder product, getting a feel for what it can do. I think my favorite group of products so far is the Designer Series Paper - WOW!  You will be astounded when you see the variety and colors and even textures. Number One on the list is the Frosted Floral DSP. I don't know how they made it but it is a totally different paper that has a wonderful sheen to it on both sides.  You have to see and touch this stuff to believe it!

Would you like to see some sneak peeks?  I'm not able to share the stock numbers and you can't order until September 5th, but I thought it would be fun to show you some early attempts of my creative efforts.

My photography doesn't do this paper justice. I hope you've noticed several new sentiments and stamps as well. This is combined into a whole suite called "Frosted Floral".  Come back tomorrow for my second set of cards featuring this set. I spent some time with the framelits that come in this bundle as well.

Put September 5th on your calendar so you are ready to order from the Holiday Catalog. If you need a paper copy in your mailbox, contact me and I'll get you one. They are free to current and future customers!

Bring on the Holidays!
Sarah

Memories and More

Hi Stampers!
I have a great idea for you today. Do you love the process of making a handmade card?  Do you love to give others the fruits of your creative endeavors?  Do hate to buy "store-bought" cards? Do you wish you had more time to pour into your stamping hobby?  Do you wish you had a solution for a quick, easy, beautiful card that you can make in a couple minutes?  Great!  You are in luck and have come to the right place!

Stampin'Up! has a line of products grouped under "Memories and More". The concept is preserving your memories in a creative and somewhat quick way. We offer albums, album pages, journaling pens and cards and embellishments all coordinated to a particular theme.  Did you know you can use the memory cards as a focal point for a quick card?  I have done this many times when I need something quick and don't have anything on hand.

Here are some examples from the "Delightfully Detailed" memories and more card pack that I whipped up into cards! As you can tell, I added layers, embellishments and sometimes even some stamping to jazz these cards up a bit!

Here are some more ideas from a card pack last spring!  It's a great way to make tons of cards - quick!

I have to tell you, that was a lot of fun and I felt so productive after making all these cards. The use of the Memories and More card pack really helped jump start my creativity and I was especially thrilled to use up some old embellishments and paper scraps to round out my design.

If you're interested in these card packs, check out pages 195-196 in our annual catalog, order one to start playing with and you'll be amazed at how easy and fun this type of creating can be.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about these products or any other ones. I love to help!  Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Blessings,
Sarah

Greetings from Montana

Happy Tuesday Stampin' Friends!
What are you up to this fine morning?  I just got signed up to go to Stampin'Up!'s 30th Anniversary extravaganza, "On Stage" in Orlando in November!  That was a mouthful!  I'm really excited to go with some of my downline and be there for the celebration.  Watch some future posts about getting ready for that and then being there!

Today I'm hosting my first "Greetings From Montana" class. A few words of explanation are in order, in case you aren't from Montana. First, Montana is awesome. Second, Montana is big. Third, Montana has one area code and we all know it and display it even (I just realized how crazy that sounds!). Anyway, we are going to make some cards that incorporate Montana into the card in some fashion, or "406", our very elite area code, haha!  It was a great challenge for me to try and design some cards using current product, that accomplished this!  Want to see?  Here ya go!

This first one features products from the "Best Route" suite in the new Annual Catalog. I purposely didn't use any of the city map/grid paper because I wanted a more rural look to my card. I have a plastic template of the shape of the state of Montana (also very recognizable) and piggy-backed on the color scheme of this Designer Series Paper.  If you like to travel or know people who do, you'll want this set in your stash!

The second card pictured above features the "Peaceful Place" stamp set. The river/trees scene pictured first could be the Gallatin Canyon, Paradise Valley, Hyalite Canyon, etc. We are surrounded by views and places that look just like this!  I used our watercolor pencils to color the scene and Momento black ink to stamp it. Curious about the background paper?  There are some wonderful plaid designs in the Christmas set "Under the Mistletoe" designer series paper, again in the Annual catalog.  I kept going with the stamp set for the inside insert of my card. Cute squirrel, right?

My third card, pictured above, recycles a favorite set from last year that is still in the Annual Catalog - "Nature Sings". I love the elk, deer, trees and pine boughs. Again, we have a ton of all of these in Montana and they never fail to capture our attention when we see them on a hike or on the roadside. To spell out Montana, I carefully placed all the letters on an acrylic block, vertically. I used the "Pick a Pennant" set that includes extras of the most popular letters!  I had 2 N's and 2 A's available so I didn't have to stamp one letter at a time and reuse any letters.  Boy was that slick! I wanted to incorporate a little DSP so I grabbed a beautiful piece from the "Tranquil Textures" set. Isn't that gorgeous?

For my last card, I wanted to feature a different fold. I also love the "Seize the Day" set for the wildlife and hiking vibe!  I made a gate fold card but turned it on it's side with the openings at the top and bottom of the card. Because there was a little more clear space on the bottom "gate", I attached the Happy Birthday to it, with some leaves poking out. It's an unexpected way to open the card, but I really liked it when I was done. I incorporated more designer series paper, this time from the "Nature's Poem" set.  I added some pine trees from the "Rooted In Nature" framelits and used a special order stamp that says "Montana".

What a fun class to dream up and offer. If you're lucky enough to live in Montana, you're lucky enough!  We are blessed to call this place home and it's fun to make some cards focusing on it.

Thanks for stopping by! Let me know if you have any product questions, need help with an order or are even curious about becoming a demonstrator! It's the best $99 you will have spent in a long time!

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Healing Hugs

Hi Stampers!
Today I wanted to share a way to send some love and hugs to someone who isn't feeling their best. It could be a temporary illness or a serious illness, it doesn't really matter. People like to know that they are in your thoughts when they are at their lowest. There's a new stamp set in the Annual Catalog that makes this easy and pretty. I recently played with the set, "Healing Hugs" (page 110 in the 2018-2019 Annual Catalog).  I combined it with a pretty new Designer Series Paper set called "Tea Room Specialty Designer Series Paper".

For this first one, I added a wonderfully detailed framelit that is also new this year, called "Delicate Lace Edgelit". There are three different edgelits to choose from.

Don't you love the rose stamp?  Stampin'Up! is creating more and more of these that stamp at different ink saturations to give a more realistic effect of how a rose would really look.

The next one features some beautiful butterfly thinlits from the "Springtime Expressions" set. 

For the next one, I cut out a circle from my background cardstock and placed the DSP behind it. This would be even more dramatic if I had popped up the background piece with dimensionals to create a shadowbox effect.

Don't forget to stamp on Designer Series Paper!  It isn't just for looking at! The last card features the wonderful new embossing folder "Tufted". I did all my stamping before I embossed and it worked out perfectly!

I hope I've given you some inspiration for some "Get Well" cards. This is a category of card that I tend to overlook and with these new ideas, I'll beef up my supply again.  Thanks #stampinup!

And thanks to you for stopping by and seeing what I'm up to!  I have a slew of new cards coming in the next few days and weeks. I have several ready to photograph and get ready to show you. I'm also doing some classes so check out my calendar if you are in the Bozeman area.  It's on my SU website, link located to the right ===>>

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah