Moving On

 Hello everyone,

If you read my other blog, "Time to get Crafty", you will read what happened and why I'm late with posting.  

I've decided to move on from Stampin' Up! as it has been a year.  It's been fun being a hobbyist with no demands on meeting sales goals, although I did move up a step in status based on my orders and I did meet the April sales goal challenge.

My upline never recognized me as part of the team.  I was never privy to team meetings but I did get invited to view the Facebook pages and she did include me on email she sent to customers for specials.  She's trying to meet a 3M dollar sales goal this year and I'm sure she'll make it.  I've gone to her live videos and she's got quite a number of people under her.  

The above cards were with - oh dear, I'm not in my craft room so I can't look and see what dsp I used nor the die set's name.  But it's a cool set.

I enjoyed my experience and feel good about the goals I met. I think I stamp just a little bit better now.

Happy Stamping!

The Big Card Swap with Julie Davison

 Hello everyone,

I entered another challenge with Julie Davison and made two masculine cards.  I'm not a fan of male cards but made myself take a chance and enter this challenge.

I used the sailboat punch, some twin and bling with sentiment from a kit (the anchor charm is from my stash).  The designer series papers are perfect for the sailboat, don't you think?

I made this one for in the same theme but using different dsp and bling that went well with the papers.

I have to admit, this was kind of fun to play around with.

Happy Stamping.

I Won an April Sales Challenge 2024

 Hello everyone,

Earlier this year, I was notified that I had won the April Sales Challenge.  I vaguely remember reading about this challenge but because I'm not a demonstrator in the sales gathering way, I never set a goal for  myself for it.

Lo and behold, I met the challenge.  So there were, I think, about 10k other demonstrators that met the challenge and we were given the "Country Rose" designer paper as a gift and had a fun card/bag making treat via Zoom where hundreds gathered to make what you see below:

Look at the pretty paper.  I even purchased the cardstock and a few stamp pads so that it would all coordinate together.  Aren't they fabulous?

Stay tuned as I will remake these using other SU! DSP.

Happy Stamping!

Monochromatic - Julie Davison's Great Big Card Swap

 Hello everyone,

I have a few favorite YouTube videos that I watch and one is Julie Davison, who uploads on the regular and you are bound to be inspired.  She also does videos with her mom, Susan LaCroix, who is also a Stampin' Up! demonstrator - how fun is that?

I made two cards for the August card swap for the "monochromatic" theme; one card is for her to keep.  She gets over 100 cards a month for the swap, which is a lot to coordinate.

The florals are die cut from the Painted Lavender die set.  This set was shown, originally, in the lavender paper it came with in the bundle but I saw someone use it in different colors and thought I'd do the same.  I think both cards are so cute!

I hope whoever gets mine will like their card.  Julie will do a Pt. 2 for this month soon and you'll see mine.  Here's a link to Part 1 of the Great Big Card Swap for August.

Happy Stamping!

Fun Kits to Make

Hello everyone,

I enjoy making cards with fun folds but it's hard to do this when your goal is to make a total of 30 cards a month that are sent elsewhere for enjoyment.  But, I'm thrilled that Stampin' Up! has a myriad of card kits that I can use when I am stumped with creative ideas.  Check out these cards that were made from various kits from SU!:

Aren't these cute little pet cards that you can send to anyone for any occasion? Especially if they happen to be a pet lover.

I love that you get so many die cuts of the pets and 2 different backgrounds for the cards.

I like the color combination here.  You also get stamps (sentiment and paw prints and more), so they make a great addition to these cuddly cards.

You get enough blanks to make 8 cards and there are usually 2 different styles.  I am not a make of many slimline cards, so it was nice to see it with the pandas.  You get instructions on how to do the layout but I did my own thing.

These are the greetings that came along with that Panda kit.  As you can see, more than half are in a different language, which is a big disappointment for me.

This is the "Hollyhock" kit and it has so many beautiful colors.  I love what was packaged together to make these cards.

The flowers were die cut so that you could easily place them wherever you wanted.

This is the last set that I made and I forget the title but they are both so beautiful.  It's hard to give them away; however, I can always order another kit.  The one on the right had stamping on the space between flowers and a design on the flower itself (so did the one on the  left).  It came with a little ink pad and stamp set - so cute.

I really enjoy making these cards and so glad to have them available at SU!

Happy Stamping!

Good Intentions

 Hello everyone,

Have you ever started out making a fabulous card you found from watching a YouTube video and things went awry? This happens to me quite a bit, especially when it's a new fold and I look at it and see that there's an easier way to make it.

I've wanted to use this designer paper for the longest and found a card that I just adored.  At the same time, I found an easier way to create that flip.  Well, the craziest thing I did was adhere my papers upside down.  I didn't see that until I'd finished, so I had to start over.  It was at that time, I found an even easier way to make that flip.

There you have it - I made a total of six cards to add to my monthly count that I send to Cards for Kindness, a cool charity that sends to oodles of other charities that help others (e.g., those in hospitals, meals on wheels, etc.).

Looks like I need to make more cards so that I can send for August.

Happy Stamping!

Ice Cream, Ice Cream, We All Scream for Ice Cream

Hello everyone,

When I saw this stamp and die set, I knew I had to have it to use for summer cards that I send each month to the charity.  I did watch a few videos that featured this set from Stampin' Up! and was so thrilled to get inspiration to complete them.

How cute is this pink swirl on top of the designer series paper and cardstock from Stampin' Up!.  I used my computer to make the sentiment.

I used glitter paper from my stash to make this contrast ice cream for this cone.  

This swirl uses the Pretty in Pink card stock for the swirl and the base because it goes so well with the designer series paper.

I have to introduce the watermelon, which I've used only once (still wishing the oval punch would return so that I can use it to make a perfect cut of the whole watermelon).  You'll have to stay tuned to see those cards.

Happy Stamping!

Tweet, Tweet

Hello everyone,

I've been using a lot of the stamps and dies that I had purchased from Stampin' Up! with creativity buzzing like a busy bee.  I saw a video using their "Country Birdhouse" stamp and die set.  Here's what I made:

The cardstock and designer series paper go so well together and I used markers from my stash to color the bird so that it matches.  I haven't had the chance to get the markers that would totally go well with the papers yet.

Here's what the back looks like.  Oh, did I mention that the top has an opening so that you could fit candy inside? Isn't that such an awesome idea? I love it!

Happy Stamping!

Cards, cards, and even more of those cuties to share

Hey y'all,

I've been making cards to beat thinking about how hot it is.  I'm sick of all the heat advisories - just say that July was oven month and call it a day.

Is this paper the cutest?  It is SU!'s designer series paper: Wildly Flowering and Pecan Pie card stock.  I couldn't find the name of the ribbon.

I used the same designer series paper but the stamp is from my stash. I made a total of 6 of these using different sides of the paper - same style but different patterns.

Yes, card making is a good way to not think about how hot it is.

Happy Stamping!

Attention Shoppers

 Howdy folks,

This stamp set was so much fun that I had to make more than one. 

The stamp set is titled, "Attention Shoppers" and it comes with all sorts of yummies that can be cut out using the dies.

You can tell the stamp set is celebratory with the shopping bag that already has tissue paper inside, the bouquet of flowers and the bottle of champagne.  The potted plant...not sure  how it fits it but it's cute, right?

I used the new colors in the designer series papers which easily matched my own cardstock stash.

I even used the new color in the ink pad for my sentiments (Go to Greetings).  Cutting out the shopping cart in silver cardstock was fun.  I did a few in blue and red (for Ross and Target store shopping).

This was fun.

Happy Stamping!

A few New Cards for Swaps

 Hello everyone,

It's funny that I write this because no one has subscribed to this blog. <lol>  But I use it as reference for swaps so that others can see what my crafting style is.

Check out what I've made for swaps and sent to partners, who rated me at the highest rating and commented how much they liked what I sent.

I used SU!'s bird punch and the designer paper from that stash.  I did use my Cricut to cut out the nest because I didn't purchase the stamp set.  I thought the butterfly was cute.

This SU!'s Sending Love stamp set.  This corresponded to a swap with the task of making a card that shows your favorite past time - mine is writing letters.

Stay tuned - I've been using a lot more of my SU! stash.

Happy Stamping!

New Colors

 Hello everyone,

I haven't been crafting as of late but I do have a few things to share - the new Stampin' Up! "In Colors" (I think that's what they are called).

This is a gift box I made watching a video from Septeria18 - she had a short one and a longer one, which I opted for.  Isn't it fabulous?

I used Summer Splash cardstock and designer paper (Unbounded Beauty, I think) that coordinated with the cardstock.  The ribbon is from Stampin' Up! and I made two bows that are on the ends of the box in the back.

I love this designer paper series!

Happy Stamping!

Something Else

Hello everyone,

I saw a video on YouTube and was inspired to create some paper yummies.  Here's what I made using Stampin' Up's Latte Love designer paper (on the right).  I added some die cuts I had made using images found on Google Images.

The left shows beautiful blue designer paper from Stampin' Up! that I picked up when I first started in November last year as a Hobbyist.  The die cuts used are birds, something I received in a swap from Swap-bot.com.

These little pocket folios and mini folder are from Septeria18 on YouTube.  I love the pocket folios that can be filled with goodies like stickers, other papers, etc.

Happy Stamping!