Independent Stampin'Up! Demonstrator!

Hey friends!
I've been a demonstrator with Stampin'Up! since 2011. I'm located in Bozeman, Montana, but have customers all over the country. I have a very fun and active downline called "Big Sky Stamper Stars" and we get together in person and online to share what we love. My blog posts feature what I'm up to recently and I try to share new product information, tips and tricks and creative inspiration. You can shop from this site or find out more information about our products and becoming a demonstrator! Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, November 19, 2018

What kind of stamper are you? Find out here!

Hi Friends!
Can you even believe that Thanksgiving is this week?  I sure can't!  I love the "being thankful" part, but the meal prep can get a little crazy, right?  We are doing something very different this year so read to end of this blog post to hear about that!

As you may know, I recently returned from Stampin'Up! Onstage in Orlando. It was a fun, busy 3 days of all things Stampin'Up!  Several presentations made a big impact on me but one in particular has stuck with me. We spent some time hearing about the different types of stampers. In a "lightbulb" and kinda "duh" moment, I was reminded that not all of us are the same and don't share the same level of excitement or passion about crafting, specifically stamping. In general, there are three types of us, but I think we move between types depending on life.  Type 1 are the new stampers or those who maybe have never tried it. They don't own any supplies but are somewhat crafty minded and enjoy giving it a try. The projects need to be focused on stamping with little else added to the process. Does this describe you?  Here's a card I made which a typical "new" stamper could easily do with a couple of ink colors, a stamp set, paper and one punch. The punch of course is optional as you could always cut out the greeting or stamp it on the background paper as well.


This is an easy card to make and gives a newbie some practice time with stamping. It still creates a very lovely card that is all ready to send out to someone special.

The second type of stamper is "casual". These people own some supplies, stamp around once a month, like stamping but also leave time for other crafts or hobbies.  This stamper has a collection of some stamps, some inks and some paper, maybe even some punches, but most likely does not have a Big Shot die cutting machine due to the investment required ($110). The like to come to classes and parties and always love a sale or promotion!  Here's a card I designed for a casual stamper:


So what I did is start with the simple card above and stepped it up with some ribbon, twine and a button. I also added some Wink of Stella sparkle here and there and used a framelit to cut out my sentiment with my Big Shot. There is more involved with this card, but it is still not overly complicated. I think another feature of a casual stamper card is that usually a person can figure out what someone did to create the card. In other words, the techniques or processes used are fairly obvious by just looking at the end product.

The third type of stamper is the "avid stamper". These people love stamping more than just about any other activity! It is their primary hobby, their artistic medium  and their fun time passion. They love to talk about it, share it and stamp as much as possible. These people frequently stamp every day and are constantly eager to see and hear all the latest news about new products or techniques. They have moved from owning a few supplies to collecting everything they like! They have all the tools and know how to use them and aren't afraid to try new things.  Personally, I went from being a new stamper to a avid stamper in about 6 months. I guess I caught a fever or something!  Here's a card appropriate for an avid stamper:


Again, this has everything the other two cards had but I stepped it up more with an additional die cut layer under my sentiment, a punched sprig of silver foil and an intricate background piece from using some framelits to cut a design in a small piece of background paper. This card adds more dimension and texture by adding more elements to it. It also takes more supplies and more time, but that will never slow an "avid" stamper down!

I am curious where you see yourself? Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts!  As I said above, life can intervene in a hurry and take you from an avid stamper to a non-stamper for a season but then you can come back. Your supplies will wait for you to return and be happy to see you again.

And now, about Thanksgiving.... we don't have a fully functional kitchen so we are going to try something we experienced in Norway this summer, a very traditional but special dish from the Trondelag area, specifically at the Undlin farm in Asen, Norway. It's called "sodd" and is a special soup for special occasions. The traditional recipe calls for mutton but we are using venison (of course) and the experiment part will be the tiny meatballs. I make Norwegian meatballs every year for Christmas and these taste very similar but are TINY.  My daughter and I feel we are up for the task. Here's what we had in Norway and we are hoping our Thanksgiving meal looks something like this!


Until next time, happy Stampin'!
Sarah

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