Stellar Stamps

A Purse out of our SU Designer Series Paper

Just read this post from fellow SU demo, Colleen, and she created this awesome handbag and filled it with notes that she hand-made for end-of-the-year teacher's gifts. So cool!

Download designer_paper_handbag.pdf

Thank you Colleen!!!!!!!!!

Fresh Cut Sneak Peek Promotion - June

Fresh Cut Sneak Peek Promotion

               

Dates: June 1-30, 2008

Promotion details:

From June 1-30, Stampin' Up! is providing an advance purchase opportunity for the Fresh Cut stamp set (#111634) and coordinating Fresh-Cut Notes (#111882). These two products will be included in the Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog.

Customers: Purchase the sneak peek Fresh Cut stamp set and add on the coordinating Fresh-Cut Notes for just $5.

Hostesses: Hold a $400 workshop, and receive the Fresh Cut stamp set and coordinating Fresh-Cut Notes FREE.

Download FreshCuts_0508_US.pdf

Do ya remember the "Dormant List"?

Here are the sets that are not in the catalog yet available until August 10, 2008: Download US_dormantlist_2008.pdf

Stampin' Up!s eScape Promotion - June

eScape 2008

               

Break free from the 'e'!

Plan now to join Stampin' Up! during the entire month of June in breaking free from the 'e'! Stampin' Up! has designated June 25, 2008 as eScape day--a day to put away your cell phones and laptops and focus on reconnecting with your "wireless network."

Throughout all of June, we're offering a terrific eScape Bundle with products at 25 percent off, including a few of the essentials to create your own cards!

eScape Bundle (item 113700):

Description	Page Number	Price
Love Notes assortment	p. 167	$8.95
Circle of Friendship stamp set	p. 143	$17.95
Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad	p. 165	$5.25
Very Vanilla 5/8" grosgrain ribbon	p. 191	$7.95
Total (non-bundled)		$40.10
eScape Bundle price		$30.00

See the flyer: Download eScape_0508_US.pdf

A Father's Day card idea

Happiness card
Stamps: FOR FATHER STAMP SET	Paper: CARD STOCK RUBY RED 8 1/2X11 CARD STOCK CHOCOLATE CHIP 8 1/2X11 WATERCOLOR PAPER 3.75 INCHES X 5 INCHES CARD STOCK BLUE BAYOU 8 1/2 X 11
Ink CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD CHOCOLATE CHIP STAZON PAD JET BLACK CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD RUBY RED CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD CLOSE TO COCOA CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD BLUE BAYOU CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD BASIC GRAY	Accessories: PUNCH HANDHELD 1/16 INCH CIRCLE AQUA PAINTERS BRADS SILVER STAMPIN DIMENSIONALS
Instructions 1. Stamp image in Jet Black Stazon ink on Watercolor Paper (2-7/8” X 2-5/8”). Color image using Aqua Painter and Basic Grey, Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, and Ruby Red inks. Distress edges of Watercolor Paper. 2. Stamp greeting in Chocolate Chip ink on Ruby Red card stock (2-5/8” X 3/8”). Attach to Watercolor Paper with Stampin’ Dimensionals. 3. Punch three circles on Chocolate Chip card stock. Attach silver brads. Adhere watercolor paper to Chocolate Chip card stock. Adhere to card.

My elder daughter, Kirsten, graduates

Last night, Kirsten graduated with honors from St. Francis High School in Sacramento (a college preparatory high school for young women). She will be attending the University of Alabama (where her brother Matt is) in the fall on a Presidential Scholarship. She gets all 4 years of tuition paid plus one semester in Europe as part of her scholarship. Thank God! They'll be together 2 years and I bet it'll be some of the best two years of their lives. Kirsten departs Sunday for Europe where she'll meet Matt in Amsterdam on Monday. At this moment, Matt is in Poland (with his high school buddy Brian) staying with our family there.

Hooray for Kirsten!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Two down (to college), two more to go.....

Where in the heck have I been???

I have not blogged in 10 days. These past 10 days have been some of THE busiest I've had in a year. Here's the scoop on what's going on:

• May 16-18 Doug and I were partners with another couple to organize a portion of the elementary school's Country Fair. If you know us, you would not be surprised to learn that it's the "Adult Games" area which is the Blackjack, Little Reno, Wine Wheel and the Texas Hold 'Em games. Another family (our first friends up here in Sacramento) had the lock on that area for over 15 years. They turned it over to us (sort of like inheriting something!) after the event last May so this was our first year in charge of that area. So cool! We get to keep it until Michael leaves the school which is 4 more years. As we have to perform service hours at our Catholic school, this is huge and gives us a nice cushion since this area takes a lot of man (or woman) hours.
• In the meantime, on the SAME weekend, I was sort of co-chairing a benefit for Sacramento Child Advocates (www.SacChildAdv.org) for about 250. We netted about $60k. Before my partner and me, last year, they netted under $20k. Yes, we worked our tails off! That was the #1 focus of my time since late January. But now it's over......
• Kirsten graduated from high school last night (see photo & post above). SO fun, so exciting but we had SO many events related to it. Four events just in the last 48 hours. Last night we got home just before 11 PM from her graduation, we simply HAD to watch the American Idol finale (hooray for David Cook who we all fell in love with - I voted 34 times!), went to bed at 12:45 AM then up at 5:30 AM to be at Kirsten's school at 6 AM to pick her up from her Grad Night event (a water park with mini golf, hypnotist, etc...). She came home by 6:45 AM and slept until 3 PM!
• Kirsten flies to Amsterdam to meet Matt this Sunday at 8:50 AM out of San Francisco (100 miles from us). Lots of "things to do" and things to buy and "do you need this or that?" and me running to a store to be sure it's covered. I think I'm done then Matt emails and asks "can you have Kirsten bring me a new toothbrush and deodorant?" What - they don't have those things in Europe? He also asked for one of the khaki shorts we have in his closet as he has patched the ones he took when he left for Europe in February and they are apparently patched with lime green thread and sort of hobo-esque. Lots of ventilation from how he describes them!
• I'm so nervous about Kirsten forgetting something, I have her passport sitting out "just in case". Mama mia! She is taking 24 days worth of clothes and shoving it into 1 framed backpack to wear. Got her some Birkenstocks rather than the "cute" sandals she wanted to walk in (I said one day of that and you'll have blisters for the other 23 days so forget the "cute" sandals and let's buy "less than cute" Birkenstocks!), she will carry her belongings on her back and we hope she can still walk by the time she gets back if she takes too much. The plus is that Kirsten has gone to a summer camp since she was 7 so she knows how to consolidate. The minus is that she is a fashion maven so her ability to be a light packer is fighting with the vein in her that forces her to have awesome coordinates and a very strong fashion sense. I think the camping sense will win since her space is limited! Matt was so funny when he told me she HAD to bring her things in one backpack because if she brings a traditional rolling suitcase, he just figured he'd end up being her valet through Europe and rolling it for her.  Forget that! Four years of Catholic high school at $30k total has paid off once again - smart boy! See, we are getting our money's worth, LOL! If nothing else, he has the brains to avoid being a man-servant to his sister!
• Next Friday we drive 400 miles (yes, at $4 per gallon, gulp) to one of our dearest friends (she's like a sister) family funerals who lost her mother and 32-year old brother within the past month or so. My God her story is heart-wrenching. Doug and I both met her (Diane) in law school. She knew us both but we didn't know one another. I think she helped put us together but not in the blind-date sense but in that we were both her friends but from different new friend groups. Diane was our common bond. So whether she deserves it or not, I say that Diane is responsible for our meeting in 1984. Anyway, we all graduated from law school in 1987 and in 1989 Diane's dad, who worked for the FBI, was murdered (case still unsolved). Fast forward to this year (with her 2nd wonderful husband and with a house full of 5 kids), last Christmas she learned that her baby brother (who I met in law school when he was 9) and was then 31 at the time of going to the doctor, found out he had cancer. Totally out of the blue. Felt a lump on his neck at Thanksgiving. Had it checked out at Christmas and was told it was cancer and without treatment it was terminal and he had weeks to live. Oh my God. Brother Scott flew to UCLA for a 2nd opinion, was told it may not be that bad, had surgery then treatment but it came back fast. He declined further treatment and decided to die naturally, etc... Meanwhile he and their mom lived together in Vegas and mom was in a wheelchair. So wheelchair-bound mom and terminally ill son are caring for one another. Huge gathering at Easter to fulfill Scott's wish to be a family together has them taking up a whole floor at a swanky Vegas hotel with family flying in from all over the US. Diane, her hubby and 5 kids fly back to Sacramento. She turns her cell phone on when she gets to the airport here at home to find a frantic message from her bro (it's only a 90 minute flight at most) saying he was taking their mom to dialysis when she collapsed in the car. Remember, he is terminally ill driving invalid mom to the dialysis center a mile from home. He swerves into a fire station, they try to revive her, they can't and she dies. Diane flies back to Vegas, takes care of what needs to be taken care of and moves Scott to California near her. He rents a house, they furnish it, he is happy as a clam then he dies holding Diane's hand on May 5. In the middle of ALL that, 2 days before brother dies, Diane's hubby, a reservist, is shipped to Afghanistan until September. No, I am not making this up. Soooo......... on May 30 we drive south about 400 miles to spend the weekend at the funeral for Diane's mom and bro where they bury their ashes with their dad. Please pray for her!
• On May 30 as well, my second-half during college Penne who is also Matt's godmother  (I am her first born's godmother too) and the matron of honor at our wedding is having surgery for breast cancer. As luck would have it, she's halfway to So Cal so on the way home we take an alternate route to say hello to her after her surgery. Scary stuff but I know she'll be OK. Penne is one incredibly awesome and tough cookie!

Those are just the big things going on in our family this May. In a family of six, there are always lots more and, seriously, I've only touched on the important events! I've been here and there but not on my blog or with my SU customers. Every now and then I sort of, poof, disappear... I'm back... almost! Once Kir leaves for Europe this Sunday, I "only" have 2 kids at home til June 17 when Matt and Kir come home. We have a big bash on June 22 to welcome them home. Parties are my "thang" so that's easy. What will I do with all my free time in early June? Stamp, I hope!

Family is calling to start a movie together. This "together time" is so precious so I shall sign off. I think we're watching the original Indiana Jones movie (we have all of them taped on DVR) to get us ready for the new one.

Matt is in Poland right now and I think he saw it there today. I asked my cousin's son if they dub American films and he said there was a riot years ago when Polish theaters tried to do that because the Poles wanted to hear the sound of the famous American movie stars voices such as Harrison Ford's. Cool! I am still waiting to hear from Matt to see how they handled this movie.

Ciao... off to the home theater... Doug's now yellling!

P.S. Here I am on Monday night with Kirsten at a special dinner for all 9 of the girls who studied Italian for all 4 years.

Technique: Crystal Effects

Shared tips:

· No More Bubbles – Place the bottle upside down (in a coffee cup or other object). This makes it so that the air bubbles to the top, which is really the bottom of the bottle. Remember do not shake the bottle!

· Keep the tip on the area that you are working on…completely covering the area until done. If you get a bubble…keep a pin handy to pop any bubbles that form.

· Some people keep a pin…a straight pin in the top of their Crystal Effects to prevent it from clogging. Wipe the bottle tip so the pin does not affix permanently.

· Do not use a heat gun to speed up the drying time. The effect will not look good & will be very bubbly.

 

Using Crystal Effects:

1. Straight from the bottle. Slowly squeeze the bottle & fill in an area that you would like to appear raised & shiny.
2. Painting it on with a paintbrush for a smooth glass-like finish.
3. Apply Dazzling Diamonds for a little added glitz. You can put it on top or add glitter & CE onto a non-porous surface…swirling the glitter into the CE with a toothpick. Using a paintbrush…paint      this glossy glitter onto your stamped work.
4. Add color by adding a drop or 2 from a dye-based reinker.
5. Use it as a glue (bows, pin backs, glass beads, wire, charms, etc.)

SUs catalog name is changing back to the original name!

From the home office as of May 9 

               

Based on your feedback, we are changing the name of the Collection back to Idea Book & Catalog. We are pleased to return to this name because Idea Book & Catalog reinforces the reason so many people love this publication--for the ideas!

The name change will begin with the Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog. This change will not affect the content of the catalog or the semiannual catalog schedule.

Hodgepodge Hardware Finishes Retiring

 Directly from Stampin' Up! as of May 5, 2008

               

The Hodgepodge Recruiting Promotion Download Hodgepodge_0408_US.pdf features the Aged Copper, Antique Brass, and Pewter finishes of the Hodgepodge Hardware. Please note, however, that when the new Fall-Winter catalog debuts, these finishes will no longer be available; they will be retiring with the Spring-Summer Collection 2008.

Technique: Kissing (no, not THAT kind!)

Ink up a background stamp...making sure that it is inked up well. Take another stamp, a bold/solid stamp, place it on top of the background stamp...effectively using the background stamp as the inkpad. For example, in our current catalog, you could choose the  big flower in Office Accoutrement (page 124) and the  Polka Dot background stamp (page 136). You'd ink up the Polka Dot really well then  stamp the flower into that, lift the flower then stamp onto your card stock. You'd then have a dotted flower! It's super easy and it brings a new dimension to a solid image stamp. I invite you to try it!

Sorry this post is partially bold. I could not un-bold it. Ugh.

Hodgepodge Recruiting Promotion for May

Stampin' Up! announced this today:

Dates: May 1-31, 2008

Promotion Details: For the month of May, Join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator and get 20 percent off the Starter Kit, PLUS a free tin of Hodgepodge Hardware (a $27.95 value).

Hodgepodge Hardware assortment choices include:

Item	Description
105532	Aged Copper
105531	Antique Brass
105515	Pewter

Link to a flyer here Download Hodgepodge_0408_US.pdf