Stellar Stamps

Early access to the new Occasions Mini Catalog and the Sale-A-Bration brochure NOW!

Today, Stampin' Up offered an early release of the online, downloadable versions of both the Occasions Mini Catalog and the Sale-A-Bration brochure due to a glitch in their being mailed on time. I thought that was nice of them!

Link to the 3 new catalogs (including the hot-off-the-press Definitely Decorative catalog) by clicking on their image at upper right.

If you are a regular customer of mine, you will have received an email newsletter tonight addressing what to do should you not receive yours by a certain date in January. I received my Sale-A-Bration brochure today (12/31) in California. The Occasions still has not shown up yet. You may order from them beginning January 5.

So, no need to wait....access both the Occasions Mini Catalog and the Sale-A-Bration brochures right NOW, right HERE!

The My Digital Studio Christmas card I created this year

Well, with Matt being a senior and Kirsten a sophomore at the University of Alabama, it was time to focus on the university with our gratitude for giving two of our children a free college education! This was this year's Christmas card. Roll tide at the BSC Bowl game January 7!

And the inside.

Garden from the Heart from the Occasions Mini Catalog

I wanted to give my regular readers a head's up on the stamp set I'm using for the Blog Hop that I'm participating in January 1-3. I chose Garden from the Heart which is on page 9 of the new Occasions Mini Catalog (which goes live January 5). This set was a gift from Stampin' Up! this past September when I attended Stampin' Up!s Founder's Circle retreat in Utah with our CEO Shelli Gardner and 124 other US and Canadian demonstrators. I love this set's old fashioned charm and I love gardening!

Be sure to come back to this blog on Friday to see how I took these images and created expressions of myself through cards and 3-D items.

Recap of what's going on right now with Stampin' Up!s promotions

Stampin' Up! promotions are ending and beginning this week and next. Here's a recap:

• Stella's one week "FREE shipping with every $50 order and FREE shipping and FREE tax for a $150 order which also includes all the free hostess items" expires December 31. Email orders only (online orders do not qualify)
• Holiday mini catalog ends January 4.
• Holiday Gift Giving Guide Promotion ends January 4. With every $50 in purchases from the Gift Giving Guide, choose any Decor Element valued at $16.95 for free.
• Last day to purchase items from the Dormant List is January 4th. See list of sets retiring January 4 here.
• Occasions mini catalog begins January 5 (catalog will be online that day).
• Sale-A-Bration (free products with purchase) begins January 5 (brochure will be online that day)
• New Definitely Decorative brochure begins January 5 (brochure will be online that day)
• Simply Adorned jewelry from the Holiday mini catalog will be available January 5 with one exception. Read my earlier blog post here.
• FYI: I am traveling January 5-8 to attend the annual Stampin' Up! Leadership Conference in Phoenix, Arizona followed by my attendance at the Stampin' Up! Phoenix Regional Seminar January 9. I'll be blogging from Phoenix with any fun news to share!

Tick, tick, tick, the eagerly awaited Sale-A-Bration 2010 starts next week

Sale-A-Bration 2010 (the brochure/catalog will be available as a link on the right side of this blog next Tuesday)

Promotion Dates: January 5-March 31, 2010 (3 full months of FREE product!)

Promotion Details: Our Sale-A-Bration promotion gives reason for everyone to celebrate!

Customers: Receive a free Sale-A-Bration product for every $50 purchase (before tax and shipping).

Hostesses: Receive a free Sale-A-Bration product for every $300 in workshop sales*, in addition to our regular hostess benefits. *Note: This benefit only available on qualifying customer, demonstrator, and workshop orders. Online orders do not qualify.

Recruits: Choose any retail stamp set (valued up to $47.95) from the current catalogs when signing up during the promotion. Plus, get 15 percent off your Starter Kit (Standard or Digital+)!

Starter Kit	Regular Price	Sale-A-Bration Price (15% off)
Standard Starter Kit	$199	$169
Digital+ Starter Kit	$185	$157

Come back on New Years Day/Friday to take the Stampin' Addicts blog hop starting with my blog then visiting 22 others

Only a few short days until the start of Stampin’ Addicts (SA) 2010 Occasions Mini Blog Hop. It officially begins 9 AM (PST) this Friday and ends at 12 AM (PST) Monday.

This hop features 23 SA members (including me and I'm the first on the blog hop tour!), each showcasing a different item from SU’s 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog which is effective January 5. You should be receiving this mini in your mailbox any day now (they were mailed 12/15/09 via bulk mail). Stamp sets, designer papers, Sizzix dies, punches.... we will all be having fun sharing ideas for this new collection of products with ideas you can incorporate for zillions of other SU products!

Dedicated to all things Stampin’ Up!, Stampin’ Addicts offers SU-oriented galleries, challenges and special events.  Membership is free of charge, and is open to Stampin’ Up! fans everywhere.

Take a peek at Stampin' Addicts now at www.StampinAddicts.com or link here.

Stampin' Up! announces HEART (SHAPED) TREAT CUPS!

Just in time for Valentine's Day, our new Heart Treat Cups coordinate perfectly with the Sweetheart stamp set and the Full Heart punch. While the new Heart Treat Cups are ideal for Valentine's Day, they are also perfect for many other occasions including Mother's Day, wedding and bridal shower favors, anniversary cards, or just simple projects that show you care.

• Heart Treat Cups (#120435) and the coordinating Sweetheart stamp set (#120415) will be available for purchase on January 5, 2010.
• While this is not a limited-time offer, we are not certain how long the initial inventory (earmarked for Valentine's Day) will remain in stock. It is possible that the Heart Treat Cups may be backordered for a short time prior to Valentine's Day. So, order early and often!
• The coordinating Sweet Treat Padded Envelopes (#116802) and the Full Heart punch (#113693) are available for purchase now.

See flyer here Download HeartFlyer_US

HEARTFELT THANKS CARD

Stamps
Sweetheart stamp set

Paper
Bashful Blue textured card stock
Old Olive textured card stock
Whisper White card stock

Ink
Bashful Blue Classic Stampin' Pad
Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad
Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

Accessories
Heart Treat Cup
Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon
Full Heart punch
Scallop Edge punch
Stampin' Dimensionals

Instructions

1. Punch scallop strip from Old Olive textured card stock with Scallop Edge punch. Adhere to card.
2. Adhere strip of Whisper White card stock to card over scallop strip.
3. Stamp heart image in Real Red ink on square of Whisper White card stock.
4. Punch out center of heart image with Full Heart punch. Insert Heart Treat Cup and fill.
5. Peel off adhesive cover and adhere Heart Treat Cup to card.
6. Stamp Heartfelt Thanks in Bashful Blue on card.
7. Tie Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon around card.
8. Stamp leaves and bird image in Old Olive and Crushed Curry ink on Whisper White card stock. Cut out and adhere to card with Stampin' Dimensionals.

BE MINE CARD

Stamps
Sweetheart stamp set

Paper
Bashful Blue textured card stock
Old Olive textured card stock
Real Red textured card stock
Whisper White card stock

Ink
Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

Accessories
Heart Treat Cup
Crushed Curry polka dot ribbon
Full Heart punch
Scallop Edge punch

Instructions

1. Adhere strip of Bashful Blue textured card stock to center of card.
2. Adhere to Crushed Curry polka dot ribbon to card.
3. Stamp Be Mine in Old olive ink on square of Whisper White card stock.
4. Punch out center of heart image with Full Heart punch. Insert Heart Treat Cup and fill.
5. Peel off adhesive cover and adhere Heart Treat Cup to a second square of Whisper White card stock to seal the cup.
6. Punch scallops from Real Red textured card stock with Scallop Edge punch. Adhere scallops to back of Whisper White square.
7. Adhere Whisper White square to card.

Our Christmas tree is [finally] up

After waiting since December 5 (the first weekend in Dec. when we'd have ordinarily chosen our tree) to have everyone together to choose it, we finally got it yesterday afternoon and the irony is that we had 2 children missing when we got it! A funny and unexpected benefit was that the tree place sold any tree for $43.85 + tax but when we chose ours (maybe because it's so late in the month?) the guy said to Doug "$40 even". Thank you! The tree still needs our silver pine cones that I made about 20 years ago (collected pine cones during a mountain trip and I sprayed them silver and glued looped cord to them) but we can't find them. A project for tomorrow - pine cone hunt in the garage.

Here's Kendall gabbing on the phone to her friend Chloe while shaking one of her gifts. Kendall's last finals were today and she's still lounging about in her uniform.

Stampin' Up! Shimmer Paint will be available after Holiday mini catalog ends

Stampin' Up! just announced today that due to the popularity of our shimmer paint offered in the Mini Catalog, we will continue to offer it as a catalog write-in after the Holiday Mini sales period ends. Starting January 5, 2010, you can order the following products as catalog write-ins:

116806	Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint	$5.95
116854	Frost White Shimmer Paint	$5.95
116807	Platinum Shimmer Paint	$5.95

   

We hope you continue to enjoy using this fun new product!

Today is the cutoff for guaranteed shipping by Christmas for Scentsy candle warmers

Tuesday, December 15 is Scentsy's articulated cutoff to guarantee Christmas delivery. To order Scentsy flameless candle warmers and fragrant candle wax, go to www.Scentsy.us/Stella or click HERE

YES, I can sell to Canadians!

Congrats to son Michael (11), his coach (Dad!) and their team on 3rd place in their first basketball tournament

Doug celebrated his birthday Friday. That afternoon he began "celebrating" (tongue in cheek) with his office holiday party then he raced to a fellow elementary school for a 6th grade basketball tournament where the team he is coaching plays for the very first time then he raced home to shower and change to attend Kendall's first high school Father-Daughter Dance. What a night. He was exhausted when he got home about 11 PM and his birthday flew by with nary a notice. Poor guy :(

But the fruit of his hard work thus far as the new boys 6th grade coach resulted in our team taking 3rd out of 16 teams which is a great finish for us! Here's proud Dad with Michael and trophy which Dad is hand-delivering to school to give to the principal tomorrow. I told him "I get a morning off from driving to school?? that's the best part of your winning that trophy!"

 

And here's father and daughter last Friday on the way to the dance. Ahhhh... how cute!

Had my first of two "Build-A-Bear Workshops Meets Stampin' Up!" events today

Today was the first of two identical Build-A-Bear Workshop events in my home featuring both the new BABW holiday special "Holly & Hal Moose: Our Uplifting Christmas Adventure" and Stampin' Up!s exclusive Build-A-Bear dies and rubber stamps sets. I had a blast and I think my guests did too! I had 12 attend today's event. Here's how it went:

As soon as most of the guests arrived, we began watching the 49-minute video.

 

I had two projects: one more involved than the other. The "main" Make N Take was a darling basket/bag using Merry Moments Designer Series Paper (page 160 of the Idea Book & Catalog/IB&C), the exclusive Bear die, the exclusive Beary Merry die (both dies on pg. 35 & 37 of the Holiday mini catalog which expires January 4), the Scallop Circle die (pg. 199 IB&C), a variety of rhinestone and other brads (I had lots out and everyone could choose the brad they wanted to use - page 179 IB&C) and the Petals-A-Plenty Textured Impressions Folder (pg. 21 of the Holiday mini which, again, expires January 4). I do not take credit for the idea. I tweaked one I found on SCS by member "AimeeG18". I love my Fiesta dishes as they make great receptacles for all the bear "parts". We made the bears in an assembly line order and I think it worked well.

 

I nestled the bear basket in a bed of ribbon we'd be using as my centerpiece.

The second project was super, super basic. I stamped the girl bear from Beary Best Friends (pg. 34 Holiday mini) using StazOn ink and offered the gamut of options for coloring: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Stampin' Write Markers, Watercolor Pencils and Stampin' Pastels - all on page 154 IB&C. Once colored she was inserted into a luggage tag and a ribbon added to use to tie the tag onto a backpack or luggage, etc.

That's it! A lot of fun and I get to do it all again Monday night :)

The list of items on sale through December 22

To shop now, click the button on the upper right of this blog page or click HERE TO SHOP 24/7

Item	Page #	Description	Regular Price	Discounted Price
114515	195	Flower Burst Embosslits die	$11.95	$8.96
114516	195	Cherry Blossom Embosslits die	$11.95	$8.96
115957	195	Thanks Embosslits die	$11.95	$8.96
114513	195	Sweetest Stem Embosslits die	$11.95	$8.96
115952	195	Hi Embosslits die	$11.95	$8.96
115951	197	Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Medium Sizzlits die	$74.95	$59.96
113446	197	Build a Flower #2 Set Sizzlits 4-Pack die	$19.95	$16.96
114509	197	Big Bold Cupcakes Sizzlits 4-Pack die	$21.95	$18.66
113448	197	Hearts Set Sizzlits 4-Pack die	$19.95	$16.96
113457	198	Tulipe Bigz die	$21.95	$16.46
115954	198	Two Tags Bigz die	$21.95	$18.66
114524	199	Fringed Flower Bigz die	$19.95	$15.96
114523	199	Decorative Accents Bigz die	$19.95	$15.96
114534	199	Flower Bigz Clear die	$19.95	$15.96
113473	199	5-Point 3D Star Bigz die	$19.95	$16.96
113472	199	Circle 3D Ornament Bigz die	$19.95	$16.96
113470	199	Flower Layers w/Leaf Bigz die	$19.95	$16.96
113465	199	Bird w/Leaves and Flower Bigz die	$19.95	$16.96
115961	200	Perfect Setting Bigz XL die	$42.95	$32.21
113483	200	Pennant Bigz XL die	$39.95	$29.96
113484	200	Baskets & Blooms Bigz XL die	$39.95	$31.96
116760	201	Pop-Up Three Tier Cake Bigz XL die	$39.95	$29.96
116759	201	Pop-Up 3D Ball Bigz XL die	$39.95	$29.96
114890	201	Matchbox Bigz XL die	$42.95	$36.51
113458	202	Flower Layers Originals die	$15.95	$13.56
114336	158	Kraft Décor Elements sheets 12" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$10.36
114334	158	Dark Gray Décor Elements sheets 12" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$10.36
114337	158	Chocolate Décor Elements sheets 12" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$10.36
114335	158	White Décor Elements sheets 12" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$10.36
118797	n/a	So Saffron Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118798	n/a	Rose Red Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118799	n/a	Taken With Teal Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118800	n/a	Pretty In Pink Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118801	n/a	Bashful Blue Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118802	n/a	Real Red Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118803	n/a	Old Olive Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118804	n/a	Black Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118805	n/a	Night of Navy Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118806	n/a	Certainly Celery Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118807	n/a	Tempting Turquoise Décor Elements Sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118808	n/a	Clear Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118809	n/a	Pumpkin Pie Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118810	n/a	Pixie Pink Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118812	n/a	Sahara Sand Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118813	n/a	Gable Green Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118814	n/a	Basic Gray Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$12.95	$9.71
118815	n/a	Chalkboard Décor Elements sheets 15" x 24" (2)	$14.95	$11.21

FREE Love Sparkles Love Notes Instructions with every $50 order from now through December 16

It’s easy and fast to create these unique love notes using the Love Sparkles Simply Scrappin’ Kit. Beautiful enough for you and simple enough for the kids, this project is perfect for class Valentine’s or for giving to family, friends and neighbors.

 

Using the detailed instructions with color photos I will provide, you will be able to make:

• Thirty 3” x 3” Love Notes
• One Love Notes Box

 Instructions available in Word or a .pdf format. It's your choice.

This project features warm and traditional Valentine’s colors with a bit of a trendy flair. The self-adhesive die cuts make assembly quick and easy. Since the project uses minimal other supplies it is kid and budget friendly! All the inspiration you need to make beautiful and thoughtful love notes for giving this Valentine’s Day or for sharing sweet thoughts left on a pillow or in a lunchbox throughout the year!

 

Place any $50+ online or by email order through me between now and December 16 and you will receive, by email, the instructions for these "lovely" love notes!

Place your qualifying order here now!

12 Days of Holiday Sales Begins Today!

To see all the items on sale go to my shopping site HERE or click on the button on the top right to shop online.