• I got to throw together an "emergency workshop" yesterday. One of my team members woke up sick (feel better soon Karen!!) and had a party scheduled for today. She didn’t want to cancel – after all Sale-A-Bration ends Monday and she wanted her hostess to earn the great benefits! So I told her I’d be happy to go do the workshop for her! I was thrilled because I didn’t get to do any "Easter" workshops this year, I did a few Easter cards at the last stamp camp – but workshops are ALWAYS more fun!! So I pulled together a couple of card ideas from earlier in the month, then I came up with a new project idea for the workshop Make ‘n Take.

    Remember those fun Photo and card holder clips we made at Christmas Time? I though how much fun would it be to have a cute Photo Holder for the Easter Bunny Photos. This is what I came up with…

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    I used A Good Egg Stamp Set. I covered the clip with Certainly Celery Prints Designer Series Paper. I used Almost Amethyst, Soft Sky, and Whisper White card stock. The chick is colored with So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie for the beak. I used a Pretty in Pink Stampin’ Write marker to color the small flower from the Pretties Kit. I used Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the eggs. I love the way this photo turned out, you can really see the sparkle!! Now I’m waiting patiently for one of my friends to send me their kiddo’s Picture with the Easter Bunny this year (hint hint)

    Happy Stampin’
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  • We held our Monthly Create, Ink! meeting earlier this week at the Pizza Hut in Eureka, MO as usual. Our swap ideas this month were AMAZING! Of course our team swaps always blow me away, my girls are SO talented!! 🙂 Our theme for the month was Weddings – It’s almost spring and that always seems to mean love is in the air! There will be spring Showers and Weddings coming up soon and we wanted to be prepared with ideas! I had two swap cards this month – I had a new team member coming to her first meeting and I always try to make a swap card for them if I have time. It’s always nice to come to your first meeting and leave full of ideas without having to come up with an idea yourself! 🙂 So here’s a look at my two cards – don’t forget you can click on the picture to view it larger…

    Both cards were made with the To Have and To Hold stamp set.

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    Recipe for this card:

    Card Stock: Soft Sky, Basic Gray, Whisper White
    Ink: Basic Gray, Blue Bayou Reinker with Blender Pen
    Ribbon: Soft Sky Double Stitched Ribbon

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  • I’m so excited to announce that my Inkredible Stamping Tutorial Program is finally here! Many of you have enjoyed my stamp camps and instruction sheets for years! I love my time with all of you stamping each month. But in today’s busy life many of you can’t make it to as many of the Stamp Camps as you’d like and I often find we don’t have enough time at a stamp camp to work on some of the "bigger" projects that I would love to share. I’ve been working on my solution to these challenges for a while and was just waiting for the right project to present itself…

    I’ve had SO many request from all of you for directions to create the cute little swap totes I gave as downline gifts for Tulsa, OK regionals! I decided this was the perfect opportunity to launch the new tutorial program!

    I’m thrilled with the way this tutorial came out, and I hope all of you enjoy it and many more to come in the future!

    If you want to check out all the details visit the new Tutorial page.

    As always I look forward to hearing your feedback!

    Happy Stampin’
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  • Julie'sTutorialProgramWiste
    Tutorial Program

    Many of you have enjoyed my stamp camps and instruction sheets for years! I love my time with all of you stamping each month. But in today’s busy life many of you can’t make it to as many of the Stamp Camps as you’d like and I often find we don’t have enough time at a stamp camp to work on some of the “bigger” projects that I love to share, so I came up with this e-mail Tutorial Program.

    From time to time I’ll create a tutorial that you can purchase on line. Sometimes the tutorials will feature a bigger project or home decor item. Sometimes the tutorial will showcase a technique that I want to share. The tutorials cost just $4.95 and most tutorial will include:

    • Full Color, Step by Step Photos and/or Step by Step Detailed Instructions
    • A Supplies List
    • Dimensions for Cutting Card Stock and Paper
    • Tips and Suggestions to Help You succeed
    • Alternative Project Ideas

    I hope you enjoy learning and creating, in your Pajamas (always a plus), with these “Inkredible Stamping Tutorials”

    After Purchasing a Tutorial You Will be E-mailed a link to download the file. Be sure you use the correct e-mail address when you purchase so you receive your tutorial.

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    IMG_6382 copy

    Die-Cut Chalkboard
    Bag Tag Tutorial

    $4.95

    Click for Details

     

     

     

     

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    Owl Bag Tutorial
    My Digital Studio

    $4.95

    Click for Details

    IMG_1464

    Wool Big Shot
    Flowers Tutorial

    $4.95

    Click for Details

      6a00d8341d773253ef0133f3086aa1970b-320wi

    Pencil Shaped Card
    Template & Tutorial

    $2.00

    Click for Details

     

    GardenCover

    Punch Art:
    Garden Tutorial

    $4.95

    Click For Details

     JuliesPunchArtBook


    Punch Art:
    Animals
    Tutorial

    $4.95

    Click For Details

     

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    The Little Swap
    Tote Tutorial

    $4.95

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    Felt Flower
    Fun Pens Tutorial

    $4.95

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    Eight Petal Pinweel
    Tutorial

    $4.95

     

  • I’m back home from Tulsa Regionals and I had a blast! I picked up a lot of little tips and fun new techniques that I can’t wait to share at my events, stamp camps, and on this blog! I loved experiencing regionals with my team members, we had the biggest group of us ever all at the same session of an event! There was a lot of gift sharing which is always fun! Debbie filled a clear paint can with snacks for everyone in the group. I’m looking forward to altering my can and also to seeing what everyone else does with their cans.

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    Crista and Sue surprised me with a beautiful flower basket when I arrived at the hotel! It was so fun to have a bright cheery flower arrangement in my room! My downline always treats me so well at Stampin’ Events!! Thanks to all of you!! They even signed the card with my trademark Happy Stampin’! 🙂

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    Lisa gave me a cute pair of pink and purple bunny socks to keep my feet warm. Sorry, no pictures of the socks, they went right on my feet and now they’re in the washer so I can wear them again tonight! 🙂

    I took so many pictures of fun ideas on the display boards at regionals. Here’s just a few of the ideas I loved!

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    This fun notes cork board was created with the On Board Ginormous Pieces chipboard.

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    One of my favorite new techniques, using stamps as tools. We were given lots of fun ideas for ways to use our stamps as a template or tool instead of as a stamp. This "postage" stamp look was created by stamping one of our label stamps on the back of the card stock and using it as a template for punching and cutting. I’m sure we’ll try this technique out at an upcoming stamp camp!

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    Dragon, Dream, Giggle, and Wish dust. Cute party favor ideas for your kids. These cello bags were filled with our pretty Glitters and then topped with card stock. A cute poem is attached to each.

    Dragon Dust: Sprinkle a pinch when a bit of extra bravery is needed for a hero’s quest.

    Giggle Dust: Just sprinkle a pinch to promote all things curious and silly

    Dream Dust: Sprinkle a pinch to guard against nightmares and to help make dreams come true.

    Wishing Dust (not pictured, but Dazzling Diamonds Glitter was used): Because in every life a little magic must fall.

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    My favorite tip of the day! You all know I love that we mount our own stamps because it allows us to look at the stamp sets and cut them apart to use the way we want! Sometimes you can get several stamps out of 1, but finding the extra wood blocks for our stamps is always a challenge. Here they showed us how to use Dominoes to mount our stamps! In the example, they took the "A Little Bit of Happiness" Level 1 hostess set or 4, and cut all the little pieces out to create a lot of fun little images (22 to be exact) that can be used individually. They mounted each stamp on a domino and added the cut apart index stickers. 

    There many more ideas floating around in my head! If you want to know how you can join out group next time we travel to a Stampin’ Up! event, contact me!

    Happy Stampin’
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  • As I promised yesterday, here’s a look at the gifts I created for my team members who are joining me at the Tulsa Regionals. I created Stylish Little Swap or Supply totes.

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    I used Afternoon Tea Designer Series Paper for the totes. I used all the papers from the package so each tote has a little different look. If you want to see what all the different totes look like check out the Wow Projects Photo Album.

    Do you want to learn how to make one of these totes?? E-mail me and let me know your interested in the Swap Tote Class. I’ll put you on my list and send out a message when I set up my Mini Tote Class!

    Update: I’ve had SO many request for instructions for this tote! I’ve completed a step by step tutorial, check out the Inkredible Stamping Tutorial Page for all the details.

    The totes felt a little empty for gift giving, so I filled a few medium cello bags with some treats: Trail Mix (Yum), Plantain Chips (Even More Yummy), and Chocolate Eggs (The Yummiest). I attached a tag with each a name on the tote and tucked a note inside. I also attached a "Dream" Italian charm for them to add to their bracelets. I give out a charm each time we go to a regionals since SU does not have regional charms.

    Here’s the finished product full of goodies and ready for packing!

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    Happy Stampin’

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  • It was snowy and slippery outside yesterday, so I kept warm inside and spent a few hours working on my swaps for this weekend’s Stampin’ Up! regional training in Tulsa, OK. Here’s the card I’ll be swapping.

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    The orange has a little glitter on it for some sparkle, though it isn’t showing up well in the photograph.

    Stamp Sets Used: Tart & Tangy, One Smart Cookie

    Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Whisper White, and Summer Picnic Designer Series Paper

    Inks: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black

    Accessories: Old Olive Poly-Twill Ribbon, 1-3/8" and 1-1/4" Circle Punches, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 2-Way Glue, Staples

    Happy Stampin’
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  • The Create, Ink! team is heading to Regionals in Tulsa, OK this weekend! I wanted to come up with a fun gift for my car pooling buddies and with this gloomy weather I decided I wanted something bright and fun!! A couple of weeks ago I picked up some Create-Your-Own Tumbler Travel Mugs at Starbucks. They only had 3 left in the store when I was there, the perfect number for my traveling buddies gift! I’m riding to Tulsa with 2 other team members (Crista and Sue). Of course when we get into Tulsa I’ll have downline gifts for everyone, which I’ll be posting here for you all to see soon, but I wanted a little something extra as a Thank You to my traveling buddies.

    Img_7444_3I opened the mugs up and pulled out the inserts. I used those as a template to trace onto the Designer Series Paper. I used a high quality Ink Jet Paper for my white paper to keep the insert very thin. There is not a lot of room inside the tumbler for thick papers.

    I used the Summer Picnic Designer Series Paper from the Occasions Mini for the tumblers. It’s so bright and fun which is just what I wanted. The stamp set is the Level 3 Hostess set Time Well Spent.

    I used my Cricut to Die Cut our names out of the red polka dot paper from the Summer Picnic pack. Since all the cups are basically the same I wanted a way for us to tell them apart.

    Below is a look at the insert for my cup before I put it in the tumbler. You can see the whole mug much better when it’s still flat! 🙂

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    Happy Stampin’
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  • Shelli_2 Have you ever wanted to know more about how Stampin’ Up! got started?? Here’s a great opportunity to find out more. Alison Lee from Craftcast (a Crafting Podcast) had a wonderful interview with Shelli Gardner (Pictured at the left), Co-Founder and CEO of Stampin’ Up! Visit Alison’s blog for more information and to listen to the interview!

    Happy Stampin’

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  • A Little late, but worth the wait! Our team meeting this month was rescheduled because of snow but we finally worked it in and made some FABULOUS projects. Both cards we made featured some new twists on watercoloring.

    The first technique was shared by Crista. She showed us a fun new technique I’m calling "Reverse Watercoloring with Markers" a great way to get beautiful shading on your images. Don’t be scared by the name, this is just about the simplest watercolor technique I’ve ever learned!! I will be teaching this technique at a stamp camp very soon! I just have to come up with a card that’ll come close to being as pretty as Crista’s Card is, take a look at the card I stamped…

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    and a close up look at the "Watercolored" flower

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    The next technique was shared by Lisa. She gave us a lesson on how to add a little shimmer to your watercoloring. She took some of her white Twinkling H2O’s from LuminArt Inc. (Club Members you’ll remember Twinkling H2O’s from your club gift in December) and mixed it with Stampin’ Up! Re-inkers. Oyster or Icicles are both great colors of H2O’s for this technique. Then we just watercolored as usual with our Aqua Painters. The end result is full of sparkle. Here’s a look…

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    and a close up of the sparkle, though this photo does not do the real card justice!

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    We also swapped cards as usual. If you want to see some of the ideas we came up with for this year’s Sale-A-Bration sets check out the Sale-A-Bration Photo Album.

    Happy Stampin’
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