Jewelry making meets the stamping world is NOT new but maybe this is to you.  Back in 2010, I attended the Stampin' Up! Regional Seminar in Baltimore, Maryland, with my friend Sue Hyer and her team.  While we were there I saw some amazing jewelry that a woman made with soft drink cans (and some not so soft drink cans if you know what I mean) and the Big Shot.  Here is what she was wearing.

This was made with our Beautiful Butterfly Die #114507 and the Stampin' Up! Big Shot #113474. 

Click on my website if you'd like to order these.

 This one was made with our Daisies #2 Die #114520 and our Antique Brads #117273. 

Click on my website if you'd like to order these. 

You can also click on the Clearance Rack on my Demonstrator Website and we have some awesome embellishments that you will love to add to these pins.  REMEMBER the more you order this month (up until March 31st), you will get free stuff from Sale-a-Bration if you order $50 or more so HURRY!

So for Big Shot class this month we made some of these amazing pins which can also be used on a card or project.

Here are three that I made.  One is made with the Arizona Tea can; one is with the Arnold Palmer can and the yellow one is done with a Country Time Lemonade can.  It's so much fun going to the grocery store (well it's not fun going TO the grocery store but it's fun looking and picking out all different types of cans to make pins with and  with our dies).  Like I said, we made these at Big Shot Class and put felt and pinbacks on them.  Everyone's came out absolutely gorgeous!  I have mine on my Spring jacket.

Oh yes….I added some tule and I think feathers might be added now that I look at it. 

The possibilities are endless.

OH and guess what….one of my Saratoga Continuing Ed class members (who follows my blog) BROUGHT ME A FRESCA!!!!  They really DO make it!!!!  Thank you Janet!!!!  mmmmmmm it tastes just like I thought it would! 

So then we got talking about other things that "used" to be around. 

Do you remember Jiffy Pop? 

Fizzies (oh how I loved Fizzies)? 

Tab? 

S & H Green Stamps? 

How about Double Mint Gum (and their commercials)?  and what about

Teaberry Gum and …..

BLACKJACK Gum?!!!!  Did you ever eat BlackJack Gum and stick it to one of your front teeth so that it looked like you were missing a tooth….Oh my gosh, I'm cracking myself up! 

We had so much fun at all my Continuing Ed classes, we all laughed about these things WHILE stamping! 

Hope you enjoyed my post.  Thank you for stopping by and I'll be back.  Remember if you want to put in an order before Sale-A-Bration is over (Sale-a-Bration ends March 31st), just go to my website and get all that you want/need and you will get FREE Sale-a-Bration rewards for each $50 you spend.  YOU NEED TO HAVE THE ORDER IN NO LATER THAN MARCH 31st.  So hurry, make your list, check it twice then hit ENTER!!!!  :0)  Have a great day.

So have you seen the new Occasions Mini Catalog?  I just love the Mini Catalog program.  I was so ready to be over the Holidays and all the trimmings and now I'm onto beautiful cards and snowmen!  :0)  I love my snowmen. 

So here is another tip I have for you…it has to do with the new Edgelits Adorning Accents Dies.  These very thin and very fragile metal dies are the exact same width as our Standard Cutting Pads which makes it a little tricky when running them through the Big Shot.  BUT NOT TO WORRY…I have the solution for you.

Here is what the die looks like – the very thin silver piece. The die is #125595 and can be found on page 7 of the Occasions Mini Catalog. 

If you lay these on your cutting pads, they are very likely to move so I'm going to suggest this tip.  Purchase two extra sets of the Standard Cutting Pads #113475 that will be dedicated to ONLY these two dies.  It is going to save you LOTS of time and and you won't get frustrated with them but even more important, you won't end up BENDING them. 

1.  Take one of the dies and put a row of sticky strip on the "flat" side of the die.  Line it up and stick it to the bottom of one of the new cutting pads.  It is now permanently adhered to this pad.  The side with the "edge" or cutter is now sticking up.  That one is done.

2.  Do the same thing to this one.  Now you've used two of your cutting pads.  These are permanently adhered to these two pads.

3.  This is pad # 3.   What you are going to do with this one is add a piece of our grid paper to the back.  I cut a piece of grid paper the size of the clear pad (make sure you have it EVEN on both sides – meaning the lines are the same on one side as the other).  This is going to be used as a guide for your cardstock.  THEN, what I did so the paper didn't get worn, I cut a piece of our Window Sheets  (these can be found on page 216 of the big catalog) I cut these the same size as the clear pad also and put that over the grid paper to preserve it.  Both of these were put on the back of the pad with Sticky Strip.  Now you have three pads that are dedicated to these dies.  Read on to learn how to use them…

4.  In this picture, I'm placing the card on the "grid pad" with the grid on the bottom of the pad and the clear plastic on the top.  Do you see that the card is even on both sides.  That is very important.  If you don't make it even on both sides, the curves on the left will not match the curves on the right.  I did put a little dotto on the back of the card to hold it in place while I cut.  Then I used my Adhesive Remover to get that little bit of sticky off the card when I was done.  Okay, we've got our dies all glued on, we got our grid pad all set and our paper is glued to the top of the grid pad.  Now what?

5.  For your layers, you are going to put your Multi Purpose Platform down (close the whole thing so that tab 2 is on top), then your pad that has the grid sheet (with the plastic side up and the grid on the bottom), then you line up your cardstock (here I used Blushing Bride), then you put your cutting pad on where you want it.  That's one of the beauties for this set up, you can place that cutting edge anywhere on the paper.  I've placed it pretty far up on this one but it can be right along the bottom edge – it's totally up to you.  It's that easy.  Run it through the Big Shot.

6.  Now to store the pads and dies.  This is another amazing feature.  Put the two pads with the dies on them together so that the dies are on opposite ends.  Then put the grid pad on the bottom.  Take two rubber bands and put one on the top and one on the bottom and store with your other dies.  AND, you now have the empty plastic envelope that the dies came in so you can store the three coordinating Adorning Accents Textured Impressions Embossing Folders in.  I love it when things work out!

Isn't this card just beautiful? Do you see the scallop on the bottom? That is one of two dies you get when you purchase this amazing new die for the Big Shot and it was so easy with the "permanent mounted dies".  If you have ANY questions, just post to my blog.  I'd love to have you leave me a comment and get a discussion going on these amazing new products. 

Now for my Special.  If you place a $75 on-line order from my website during the month of January, I will give you this online class free.  Remember if you wait until January 24th, you will also get to pick a free Sale-a-Bration set free.  It will have all the directions and measurements for five of these cards (and if you think these two are pretty, wait until you see the other three).  These are only two of the cards included in this very elegant class. If you would rather I put the order in, just email me and I will put it in for you.

Thank you for stopping by.

I worked most of the day cutting for my Calendar Class Saturday and for my pre-ordered kits.  I'm so pleased with the my new calendar.  Here are a few pics…

I did the calendar in My Digital Studio and printed it off on my computer.  It really came out so nice.  You can purchase the My Digital Studio for $79.95 from my On-line Store.  It's an amazing program, I use it all the time.  It's a great gift to ask SANTA for!

I worked with a lot of techniques in this class also.  Here is one of them…

November had a new twist on the Babywipe Technique.  I used a babywipe and put three colors of reinker on it.

ewwww, it looks yucky.  I PICKED IT UP and started to "dab" my cardstock with it.  Just dab, do not rub.

Dab, Dab, Dab

Then take your stamp and stamp over the background and cut out your images.

and here is what it looks like.

Here's another technique I used on May.  I used our white handmade, crocheted flowers and dyed them with our aqua pen and reinkers.  They came out beautiful.  They do lighten up a lot after the dry. 

Well that's it for tonight.  I hope you liked my post.  If you'd like to order a calendar kit, email me and I'll get one right out to you.  You DO need to own the stamp set because I cannot pre-stamp images for kits.  The set that I used is called Every Little Bit #120558 Clear Mount).  It's an adorable set that I love to use. 

What a busy time of the year.  I love what I do and I love being busy.  Today was oooober busy.  I started off with a Team Training in the morning at our local library.  We had so many demonstrators that signed up during this last special, I thought I would open up a team training for anyone that wanted to come.  We had a great turnout with a great range of demonstrators …

 - here we are waiting for the rest to come…

They each received one of these little booklets…

I took cards and put the information inside…

This is everything they need to get started in a nutshell (or a cardshell) and it will be used as a reference tool for them. 

I got home from my team training just in time to eat a little lunch and start my 40 card class.  Oh what fun that is…we worked for 2 1/2 hours but finshed 40 cards and envelopes.  These cards were all made from one of our Simply Scrappin Kits(they only used half of the Simply Scrappin Kit, 1/2 package of Whisper White Cardstock, one roll of our Whisper White Satin Ribbon and one package of envelopes. I love doing this class before Thanksgiving so they can take the weekend and address them, send them out and cross that off their "list"!  YIPPEEE we all love to cross things off our list.  Here is the information for the Simply Scrappin Kit.  Go to my website to order… http://stampladee.stampinup.net  and click on SHOP NOW.

Christmas Lane Simply Scrappin' Kit 124007 Price: $21.95

Preserve and embellish your holiday photos in a snap with this festive kit. Great for making holiday cards as well! Enjoy easy coordination with other Stampin’ Up! products, such as the Cherry Trim Designer 6" x 6" Album.

Thank you for stopping by! 

I thought I'd take a day off from showing you my amazing trip and show you some of the things that have been happening around here that actually have to do with stamping…

This is one of the cards that was on the "share table" at my monthly downline get together.  Isn't it the cutest thing?  It's all done with punches.

And here is the winner of my creative challenge at my get together. 

This is even more gorgeous  in person.  Congratulations Barb, you did it again.

Here is one of the projects we did in Big Shot Class. 

These boots are done with the Holiday Stocking Die.

Here is the rest of the class.  We had so much fun.

And here is a gift I received from a very dear friend.  She, her husband and her dad are all going through cancer treatments at the same times.  Please keep them in your prayers.  She is so sweet, she thought I needed one of these mufflers because it's so cold here in New York.  I just love it!

and here is a close up of it.  I really love it a lot!

Friends are the best.  Lori thought I needed a new sign (and I really did) for my front door.  So she stamped and laminated it.  She is the BESTEST friend!  :0)  Thank you Lori.

Thank you for stopping by.  Hope to see you at Stamp Camp or after you sign up!

I really miss my old UPS driver…he was so on time…every day I would be in my stamp room and just like clockwork at 10:20 (not 10:19, not 10:21) right at 10:20 the little brown truck would drive in the driveway and deliver my Stampin' Up! boxes.  But nooooooo, I have a new driver and he comes anywhere from 11:30 to 5:00….argh!!!  Today he flew in here at 4:30.  So it was a little better when I saw what he delivered…not only did he deliver one of my orders but he delivered THIS….

Okay okay so it is a little beat up…my other driver would have handed it to me.  I think it ended up this way because the driver came in the driveway so fast!!!!…do you think he thought the "Express" meant he had to drive FAST?  hmmmmmm

Anyway…it was FUN mail…I was so excited because it came from Morris Meetings which is Stampin' Up's Travel Agency…Look at what was inside!!!!!

 Is this the most stinken cute thing you've ever seen?!!!!!  Look it matches the purses we got at Convention!

Oh my gosh…..how awesome is that….and inside….

were my travel documents for Founder's Circle and for the Advisory Board Retreat coming up in September.  I'm so stinken excited!!!!  I've already started my swaps (I know I know…who would have thought I would have started them already but I had a vision in the middle of the night and got up and put it on paper!!!!)eeeeeeek I 'm so excited I just can't wait!

Anyway…now for today's card pick…this is a card that I'm doing tomorrow at my VIP stamping day.  Some very special ladies are coming over to stamp and this is one of the cards I created for them.  I hope they like doing it.  It's done with my new favorite stamp called Field Flowers.  LOVE LOVE LOVE the set.  How about you?

Don't forget to stock up on our Designer Series Paper, time is running out to get that great special – buy three get one free.  Contact me if you have any questioons but HURRY!!!!  it's almost over.  Also if you'd like one of our Ribbon Samplers, let me know and I will add your name to the list!  Take care.

Okay thank you for stopping by…I'm working on a video so make sure you check back…I hope to have it up on my blog soon. 

Chow baby! :0)

Well today (Wednesday) was sooooooo much fun.  I had two classes today and we just had a ball playing with the stamp set called Field Flowers.  Here is one of the cards we created…

It's so pretty…the card was inspired by another stamper (Vicki Birdick).  The gals that took the class really were a lot of fun.  After our first class a couple of us went out to lunch.  Good stamping, good food and best of all…good friends!

In this class I taught them how to use their Stamp-a-majig (that really IS a thing and that is really it's name)!  They learned how to make a fork bow and a twisted bow, and another thing that I think that really wowed them was how simple it is to die our Baker's Twine to match any card you are doing. 

I hope you liked my card, if you are interested in taking any of my classes here at the house or virtually, let me know.  Thank you for stopping by.

The new all occasion stamp set called Easy Events (#116958 wood mount or #123225 clear mount) found on page 57 of the Idea Book and Catalog is a lot of fun to work with.  We were given a "Workshop in a Bag" while at convention and I've been playing with the cards.  They are so stinken cute.  It's one stop shopping with this set, it has a little of everything.  What do you think?

Isn't this cute.  It is a note-sized card #107311 found on page 182 of the Idea Book and Catalog. 

The envelope was sealed, 1" was cut off the top and I used the 2 1/2" circle punch to make the dip in the envelope.  Everything was stamped with Jet Black Stazon Ink.  The Happy Birthday sentiment was put on the outside as well as adding it to a banner on the inside.  The cupcake was colored with our Stampin' Write Markers then I added Two-Way Glue and Dazzling Diamonds glitter.  The last embellishment was the a Melon Mambo flower with a rhinestone in the center.  It is even cuter in person!

and here is a little LOVE card made from the same stamp set.

Well that's it for today.  Thank you for stopping by.

Today was filled with all kinds of awesome news on the Stampin' Up! wbsite.  One of the new things of course is our highly anticipated Idea Book and Catalog.  If you haven't received your copy yet, click the catalog to view online!

If you still need your own copy, let me know and I can get it to you.  So grab your coffee, sit on your favorite beach chair and just drift through the catalog.  It's GORGEOUS!!!  We have a NEW hostess plan, you get even MORE free stuff, so make sure you check that out also.  WOO HOOO!

This month we have a demonstrator special.  That's right….for only $99 you get this amazing stamping kit.  I'd like to welcome aboard Denise Davine, she came over this afternoon and signed up (I think she was Stampin' Up's very first recruit for the new stamping year)!  YEAH Denise, she is so excited.

If you are viewing this blog post from your email, you may need to go to my blog to see all the pictures and perks!

And now for my 40 card class.  We had a BLAST!  The gals did 40 cards with envelopes in less than 2 hours, you heard me, it took them less than TWO hours.  Here's a sampling of just how cute the cards were…

Aren't they so stinken cute.  We used the Simply Scrappin Kit from the Summer Mini #122346 Playful Polka Dots and the Fabulous Florets stamp set #123025 (wood mount) or #123027 (clear mount).  They did the 40 cards with envelopes and went home with more of the kit so they can continue to make cards from this same kit.  All the gals that attended this class received Sizzling Summer VIP status.

Okay, it's been a long day…thank you for stopping by.

I'm doing the Strength and Hope class.  I just love this stamp set and all it represents!  Stampin' Up is giving $2.00 to research for each set sold.  My goal is to sell 100!!   Anyway, here is one of the cards I'm doing in my class.

Isn't this pretty.  You get all the directions with the class.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I hope your day is going well.