The More the Merrier!

I absolutely love this new hostess set! Can those snowmen get any more adorable????? While away on vacation I was limited to which stamp sets I could use as I only had the ones that arrived in my Holiday Mini Preorder. Had my little brother not been able to grab my order you would have only been seeing Trendy Trees samples as that is the only stamp set that I managed to forget at our rec property the last time I was up. Much as I love that stamp set, I was going to be hard pressed to use it with the new Christmas Cocoa DSP. Hey, now that I think of it... I could have made some cool Christmas cards using those trees! This will be one of the cards that we will be making in my Christmas Stamp-a-Stack on September 28th!

Christmas Stamp-A-Stack
Monday September 28th
7-10pm
$15 for 15 cards
6 different designs to choose from
*you will choose 3 designs and make 5 of each

**This class is limited to 8 spaces so RSVP early to avoid disappointment
or
Call me to book a private Stamp-a-Stack for you and your friends!

Children at Play

When my plane arrived from Salt Lake City, at the Vancouver airport on Sunday, my hubby was already packed with the kids and dogs in the car to take our family away on a vacation. I had no problem with the fact that I wasn't even going to get a chance to go home until I found out that my Holiday Mini pre-order wasn't going to arrive in time for Sean to bring it along. The order was expected to be delivered on Monday:( So when I found out that my brother's arrival was being delayed by a day to our family vacation I wasn't at all disappointed considering he lives a block away from my house:) I must have called him 25 times to ensure that he would get my message to go and grab the boxes from my front door.

Every year on our family vacation we celebrate my dad's birthday. I thought that this was a great opportunity to see children in action with my new Build-a-Bear Workshop dies. My 5 year old niece created her bear and this adorable card for her Grandpa. The only thing that I helped with was stamping the balloon images on the background of her card. She had so much fun making it and has since made a bunch of new bears and clothing for them:)

Mojo Monday #98 Challenge

I decided to pull out some of my new stuff and play using the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge. When I first looked at this sketch all I could think was, "what in the world am I supposed to do with that?" But when I looked at the new Christmas Cocoa DSP I started to see a card coming to life. I made a bit of a "boo-b00" as I was doing the faux stitching in bottom right hand side of the card so I used a couple of the new Merry & Bright rub-ons to cover it up:) I decided to make a little adaptation in that I used DSP instead of a ribbon in the center of the card, and if you slide up the little ribbon the sentiment comes out to read, "Make Merry". I used the new Merry Details Sizzlit to do the snowflakes in Whisper White and Soft Suede. I love the shadow effect you can get by putting the darker colour just slightly offset from the lighter. I finished it off with one of my Circle Fire Rhinestone brads.

First Build a Bear Meets Stampin' Up Sample

A few weeks ago, I earned a new title with Stampin' Up. As I've promoted higher in the company, my new titles have come with some fabulous perks. This particular promotion earned me a $200 product bonus! I decided right away to spend it on something that I would not have made a priority before. I have two little boys, so although I found the Build-a-Bear products to be adorable, I wasn't really seeing a lot of use for them. I decided to order ALL of the BABW (Build a Bear Workshop) products!

I was sadly mistaken in my assumption that my boys would not be interested. Between them and my niece and nephew, I have not even got to touch the die cuts. They love making the bears and dressing them. This particular card was one that I did for my boys to give to their grandpa for his birthday yesterday. It started off being just a practice go with the stamp and then as the bear became cuter and cuter I decided to utilize for a card front. By clicking on the image you'll see that I used the balloon stamp as well as my Colour Spritzer to do my card front. I know that it's difficult to tell from the photo, but his little had is actually stamped and coloured separately and then popped up on dimensionals.

I can't wait to do a children's birthday party now using these products! Just wait until I show you the card that my niece made for grandpa with the die cut bear!

Make-n-Take #3!

Here is yet another lovely sample from Convention! This was done using the Bigz Two Tags Die. I was so thrilled when I completed this make-n-take as I learnt something new about the die. I had bought this die purely based on the longer tag. I loved the shape of it, but I still wasn't sure what exactly I was going to do with it. I never realized that the scallop circle punch fit so perfectly into the end section of it. Nor did I realize that the other tag, the adorable one that folds in half, was going to end up being my favourite! I think that this is one of the things that has definitely made me appreciate being a demonstrator more and more. Not only have I had the opportunity to go to Convention etc. and learn about the new products, but on a very regular basis, Stampin' Up releases tutorials to their demos as well as class samples that make me view products in a whole new light. The stamp set used in this particular make-n-take was Sweet Season from page 29 of the new catty.

Make-n-Take #2!

Here's another one of the cards that we did at the make-n-take session at Convention. I absolutely love this stamp set and I was dying to get it. It definitely would have been in my first order after the catty came out, but as I knew that I would be receiving it at Convention I decided to exercise some patience. I loved the simplicity of this Christmas card that Stampin' Up designed for us to make. The only change that I made was to change up the ribbon for one of the new ones from the Holiday Mini being released on September 1st. I must admit that it was awfully fun to come home from that amazing Convention to multiple boxes of new stamping supplies. Especially after seeing many of them demonstrated on the Main Stage.

Make-n-Take time!

While we're at Convention we get an awesome Make-n-Take session using products from the new catty! The give us the most fabulous ideas... the only problem is that the wish list that we all seem to have grows exponentially! This particular card was done using the Hello Again stamp set from pg 114 of the catty. I will admit that these new In Colours are REALLY growing on me, particularly the Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry and Soft Suede! If they're growing on you too check out how you can get them for free by clicking on the Recruiting Promotion in the right side bar!

My dog's uncle!

Okay, this post could be a little confusing so make sure to follow closely. This is a bit of those stories that starts with, "my aunt's, cousin's, dog's friend:). This was a photo that we had taken while at Convention of the Colourful Impressions group that I am part of. Kristina Koch, who is in the far right of the back row, is the leader of our group; I am in her third level downline! Major talent here! She was 6th top demonstrator in Canada this year! Now that I've got you oohing and aahing... check this out, in the front row on the far right is my direct upline Kari Metzger... she was the 7th top demonstrator in Canada this year and the third place Rising Star last year! The best part of the whole process is that by joining my little group you get to part of the West Coast Creators, my group, Sea to Sky Stampers, Kari's group, Created by Design, Ann's group, and Colourful Impressions, Kristina's group. I hope that you all noticed Shelli standing in the middle of all of us! It may as well be Brad Pitt as far as I'm concerned... she is absolutely AMAZING and so real it makes your head spin. If being part of this fabulous team is something that interests you at all, whether for the discount, the business opportunity of the just the friendships, then make sure to contact me and don't forget to check out the fabulous promotion in my right side bar! From August 12th-16th, any people who sign up as part of my West Coast Creators group will receive the stamp set of their choice from the current catty! This is in addition to the fabulous extras that Stampin' Up is offering you!

Build-a-Bear meets Stampin' Up

While at Convention, Stampin' Up has what is called "Memento Mall". It contains a variety of items that we would not normally be able to purchase. This year, with the introduction of Build-a-Bear in the new Holiday Mini, we were able to purchase one of these Special Edition Stampin' Up Build-a-Bears. Check out the bottom of her foot and the adorable apron! The Build-a-Bear products were far more impressive in person than I ever imagined! I can't wait for mine to arrive. You'll be able to check them out when your Holiday Mini arrives this month!

Founder's Circle Bag and Rising Star Necklace

Here's some photos of the beautiful necklace that I received lastnight as well as the adorable backpack that we got for Founder's Circle. The inside of the bag coordinates with my new favourite DSP, Cottage Wall!