An Inspired Tag

Happy Wednesday! Only 2 more days to go until the weekend! WooHoo! I have special plans for this weekend, too. :) I am driving to Tallahassee for my foster-grandmother's 90th birthday party! AND...I get to have breakfast with a fellow SU! demo and UDI sister, Jill, on Sunday before we head home! Yippee! Thanks to Stampin' Up! and UDI for introducing us!


Today's project comes to us from Adriana, a fellow Floridian. I have had the pleasure of spending time with her twice...once at Convention and again at Orlando Regionals. Thanks again to SU! and UDI! :)

Here's what Adriana said about her project:

This piece could be used as an oversized tag or as decoration. I will be hanging mine on the door to my office. The base of the project is an oversized laminate chip. I used StazOn black to stamp the silhouette flower image from "Inspired by Nature" onto the chip and the sentiment onto very vanilla cardstock. I roughed up the edges of the sentiment then toned the brightness of the paper down with stampin' pastels (applied with sponge daubers). Linen thread holds it in place and also ties together the olive and black grosgrain loops on the top of the tag. I added the rhinestones just for a little extra shine and shimmer.

What a fabulous idea, Adriana! I need to find some of those chips! Thanks so much for sharing with us!

See you all next week!

Happy Stampin'!

Elizabeth

Happy Wednesday!

Today's projects come from Courtney Carpenter of Kansas!

Here's what she had to say!


The first project is a box to hold a recipe card and some treats for my neighbors. I have cocoa and gingerbread cookies with the recipe for the cocoa included.









paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Holiday Treasures DSP. Ribbon: Alpine and Silver elastic cord. Rub-on: Season of Cheer. Ink: Old Olive and Rose Red. Bags: SU! med. flat cello bags.







I teach scrapbooking classes at the library each month, and these are the pages we created. I hosted Thanksgiving this year so my mother, grandmother and boys all made sugar cookies. Too fun!


Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White, Always Artichoke, Ski Slope DSP. Ribbon: Alpine and Always Artichoke. Rub-on: Hidden Garden bulk-buy. Ink: Mellow Moss and Choc. Chip. Markers: Choc. Chip, Always Artichoke, So Saffron.



Thanks for stopping by today! I'll see you next Wednesday...Christmas Eve!


Happy Stampin'!
Elizabeth

It's Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday! Can you believe that it's the holiday season already? I know my neighborhood Wal-Mart has had Christmas decorations out since the beginning of October, but now it really is the holiday season! LOL Thanksgiving (in the US) is just 3 weeks away! You know what that means! Christmas is just 7 weeks away! Have you started your shopping yet? LOL

Here are 2 ideas to add fun to your tree.

Supplies(all SU!): Square Ornament: Stamps- Deer Friends (Level 2 hostess). Paper- Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, Always Artichoke Patterns DSP (Level 1 hostess). Ink- Chocolate Chip, Real Red. Accessories- On Board Essentials, Very Vanilla taffeta, crop-a-dile. Misc.- lightweight coaster.

Round Ornament: Stamps- Merry & Bright. Paper- Shimmery White, Bashful Blue. Ink- Jet Black Stazon, Bashful Blue, Almost Amethyst, Pumpkin Pie. Accessories- Wrought Iron punch (retired), Whisper White taffeta, Crop-a-dile, Coluzzle, Big Shot, Scallop Circle die.

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Stamping!

~*Elizabeth*~

Saturday in Paris

Today I would like to introduce you to Claire, one of our French Divas. Here is what she wanted to share....

Well, my name's Claire and I live in France, close to Paris. I love crafts and have been practising them since I was a child: sewing, knitting, beads, custumizing school items, all kind of things. I like reading, gardening, walking, shopping. I love Nature: landscape, flowers, trees, animals but I love to live close to Paris! I love to meet people to share my passions. Some people say that I'm a dreamer! I work as an air traffic controller so I need to do something "de-stressing". I'm not married, I've no children, but I have a "little" dog King Charles Cavalier. I went to the U.S.A. 6 or 7 times and loved it. I'll probably go one more time next winter or next spring. My favorite places there are San Francisco and Canyonlands National Park + Bryce Canyon National Park (UT). Oh, I'm a Stampin'Up! demonstrater since February 2008, and I'd like to have the same Catalogue as you: what a choice!!!

Claire created these boxes for a double baby baptismal so guests could place their envelopes in them. If you would like to see more photos of both of these boxes, check out her blog at http://stampingclaire.blogspot.com/
For both boxes, she used the Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Stampin' Write markers and Classic Ink pads. The baby boy box (above), was created using the Wild About You stamp set and the baby girl box, the Unfrogettable stamp set.

Thank you for sharing your creations with us, Claire.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Alicia :)

Tea Time

It is with great pleasure that I am able to share some creations from a very special person. Michelle is such an amazing and talented person and I admire her so much. She has definitely been an inspiration in my life. I am so blessed to be able to call her one of my closest friends. Although I enjoy being a demonstrator, I enjoy the friendships I have made through Stampin' Up! much more. Michelle is one person I know I will be friends with for the rest of my life. Thank you, Michelle, for your friendship and support. I hope you realize how much it means to me. Hugs!!

Hi! My name is Michelle and I live in Minnesota but am originally from Canada. I moved to the States to be with my husband. I have been interested in stamping since I was a child. When I learned about Stampin’ Up!, I jumped at the chance to be a demonstrator. I have been a demonstrator for 3 years and I love every minute of it. I love to create projects that will put a smile on someone’s face and I enjoy teaching others how to do the same. I find a lot of inspiration and many techniques on a variety of crafting web sites and personal blogs. Since I received so much valuable help on-line, I decided to start a blog of my own in order to hopefully help others in return. View my blog at http://mhoffman-atimetostamp.blogspot.com/ If there is a particular technique or project you would like to see, please ask me!

I have been a member of UDI for about 2 years now. I enjoy being part of a group of stampers who are positive and have great ideas and are willing to help one another out. I am the Spiritual Sunday coordinator, Baby Closet coordinator, and Tutorial coordinator for the group. It keeps me busy but I very much enjoy it.

Now, on to the projects...

This first project is a coaster box. I bought the chipboard coasters online at http://www.eclecticpaperie.com/. I adhered “Afternoon Tea” Designer Series Paper from the Occasions mini catalog onto both sides of 5 coasters. I applied a thin coat of ModPodge overtop of the paper to protect it from moisture and oils. Using the crop-a-dile tool, I punched five holes along two sides of 4 coasters, leaving the 5th coaster intact. The 5th coaster is for the bottom of the box and does not require holes in it. Once I had punched all the holes, I took an 18” length of ribbon and laced it through the holes of 2 coasters lying side by side. I repeated this step until all 4 coasters were laced together, then using a strong adhesive, I glued the 5th coaster to the bottom of each of the 4 coasters, creating the completed box. If you’d like to see a tutorial on how to create a coaster box, click on this link for the tutorial posted on Splitcoast Stampers by Taylor VanBruggen.

To create the paper flowers, I followed Sharon Field’s directions on her blog, Created By U. For the center flower, I folded a 1 1/4” circle not quite in half. Then I took one end of the folded circle, and rolled it loosely to get the “bud” look. I snipped off a tiny portion of the bottom of the bud to make it flatter so it would lay straighter when I glued it to the rest of the flower. I used a 1 1/4” circle punch to create the leaves by punching a complete circle and then punching only a portion of the original circle to get an oval type shape for the leaf. I used my paper snips to cut slits on both sides of the leaves to create more interest and dimension.

Paper: Afternoon Tea DSP, Ginger Blossom DSP, Wild Wasabi CS
Accessories: Chipboard coasters, ModPodge, glue dots, Crystal Effects, foam brush, bone folder, crop-a-dile, 1 1/4” circle punch, paper trimmer, scissors, double stitched ribbon- River Rock

This next project is a mini accordion album we created in my last stamp class. The butterfly is two dimensional but it didn’t show up very well in this picture.
To create this 9 page album, I used one 12 x 12 sheet of card stock. Cut a line along the length of the paper at 3 3/4”, 7 1/2” and 11 1/4”. Discard the left over narrow strip. Turn your strip horizontally and score at 3 3/4”, 7 1/2” and 11 1/4”. Score the other two strips identical to the first. Take one of the strips, and cut off the 3/4” portion at the bottom and discard it. Do not cut off this portion on the other two strips. Apply adhesive to the two 3/4” portions. Attach one strip at the 3/4” portion to the first square on the second strip. Then attach the second strip at the 3/4” portion to the first square on the third strip. Fold all 9 squares accordion style on the score lines. You now have the base for your album!

For the front cover, I cut a piece of Groovy Guava 3 1/2” x 3 1/2”, then a piece of Afternoon Tea DSP 3 1/4” x 3 1/4”. I stamped the butterfly from Garden Whimsy twice, and cut both out. I attached one butterfly cut out to the CS layers, using dimensionals. I made a score line in the middle of my second butterfly, folded the left side, then adhered the right side to the first butterfly. To get a 3-D effect, you will want to cut out a total of 3 butterflies and attach them accordingly. Then, I applied Crystal Effects randomly on the top butterfly, creating raised dots for dimension.

For the inside pages, each layer of CS is 3 1/2” x 3 1/2”. The rest is self explanatory, but if you have any questions, please post your questions in the comment area of this post.

Enjoy creating either of these two projects, or both! Happy stampin’ and creatin’!

Stamp set: Garden Whimsy, Warm Words, It’s All Good
Paper: Afternoon Tea Designer Series Paper, Whisper White 12 x 12’, Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White 8.5 x 11” CS
Ink: Groovy Guava, Close to Cocoa, Wild Wasabi Classic Ink
Accessories: Photo corner punch, 1/8”, 1 1/4”, 1 3/4” circle punches, scallop circle punch, tag corner punch, stampin’ dimensionals, Crystal Effects, SNAIL adhesive, scissors, sticky strip, paper cutter, double stitched ribbon- Wild Wasabi, Groovy Guava, button, mini envelope template

Thank you for sharing your works of art with us, Michelle.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Alicia :)

Saturday Samples

Today I would like to introduce you to another creative demonstrator, Barbara. Even though she and her family attended college at my college's (GO HOPE!!) biggest rival school, it was a pleasure to meet her at Convention last summer. :) It was so great to put a face to all of her beautiful projects and listen to her stories. I am so glad to be able to share some of her projects with you today. Here's what Barbara has to say.....
Hi! My name is Barbara and I live in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. We are about 30 minutes out of NYC in a northern NJ suburb. I am the middle child in my family, having both an older and younger brother. I grew up in a Chicago suburb and have always loved art. I may have been the last one picked for sports teams, but if something had to be drawn, I was the one asked to do it. By the time I was in high school, on Sunday afternoons in the summer I would go down to the Art Institute with a friend and explore. I got to know the museum like the back of my hand. I still have a passion for visiting art museums.

By the time I headed off to college, I knew I wanted to major in Art. My dad, being the practical one in our family, told me that was a fine idea but that I should combine it with an education degree so that I could support myself! I could teach during the day and pursue my art interests as well, but at least I would have a steady income. And of course, he was right! I am still teaching and pursuing my art interests.

I went to Calvin College, a small Christian college in western Michigan and met my husband my sophomore year. Our first date was orchestrated by my friends, and it is quite an interesting story! I had been dating a tall, dark, and handsome guy who was very controlling and jealous. He got angry with me, we broke up, and he asked out another girl. We got back together and Ken asked if he should break the date he had made. (I know, I know, we were Ken and Barbie!) I told him he could keep it since she was planning on it. What was I thinking? He decided he would go! My friends thought I was crazy and decided I shouldn’t just sit by and take it, so they planned a date for me. They called around and found someone who was willing to sit in the lobby with me at 11:45, right before our midnight curfew, so my boyfriend would see me there when he brought his date back to her dorm. My husband, David, showed up at 11:45 and we pretended we were coming home from a date. Half of the people in the lobby were in on it! Ken never saw me, but David and I had such a wonderful time together, and the rest is history. We knew within a month that we had found our life’s mate.

We moved around a bit the first few years we were married. We lived in Philadelphia while David was in law school at the University of Pennsylvania. Then we spent a year in Erie, PA while he clerked for a judge on the PA Supreme Court. We then moved to northern New Jersey, where my husband grew up. He has been commuting into NYC all these years, and we’ve had a wonderful life with his family close by.

We had our four children in six years. Our oldest, Rebecca, is also a Diva, and she is the one who introduced me to stamping. She and her husband Mike, as well as her two adorable children, live in Michigan. Our son Chris and his wife Jennifer are about 30 minutes from Becky. They had their first baby, Madeline, in March, and I am so excited to be a grandma again! Our next daughter, Laura, is also in Michigan! (You would think we would have learned what would happen if we kept sending the kids to our alma mater, Calvin College.) She teaches second grade and recently got engaged! Laura and Toby will be getting married in July. Our youngest daughter, Julie, got married last June and is completing her second year of medical school. She is our east coast girl and has stayed here in New Jersey.

Quilting used to be my passion but stamping slowly took over, and now I’m afraid my sewing machine is covered with dust! I am still teaching part time, and I recently decided to take early retirement. Now maybe I will have some time to do some quilting as well as more stamping.

Well, that about wraps it up. I feel very blessed and am thankful for each new day. God is so good!

Now...to her wonderful creations!!

Hi, my name is Barbara, and I am a Dollar Spot Addict! Okay, true confessions time. How many of you can’t pass the Dollar Spot without poking around in those bins? C’mon now, hands up! I must admit I’ve got a stash of things from the Dollar Spot. I usually buy in groups of 10, since that is the maximum class size I ever have. I saw the cutest containers at the Dollar Spot a couple of weeks ago. I passed on them because I wasn’t sure what to do with them, but while poking around on some blogs last week, I saw something I had to case! I’m sorry I can’t remember where I saw it so I could give credit to the designer. Anyway, back to the Dollar Spot it was, and this is the resulting project.


The container is one of the galvanized rectangular tins. I used the crop-a-dile to punch holes in the side and then used our jumbo eyelets. (Almost all supplies are from Stampin’ Up.)

I used the Western Sky DSP with coordinating inks and ribbons, as well as the Bloomin’ Beautiful set (111490) in the Occasions mini collection. So here’s what is in the basket: a votive candle decorated with a rub-on (candles are 12 for $8 at many craft stores), a jar with a rub-on, filled with candy (these are by MM sold as a set of 6 for $10, purchased with a 50% off coupon, I might add!), a set of two glass coasters (left over wedding favors!) featuring the DSP paper, a small framed watercolor (a Dollar Spot find- threeframes for $3), and some bath salts in pretty packaging!

I think you can figure out everything but the bath salts. I got this idea from my adopted up line, Pam Joel, and think it is just the greatest idea. The bath salts are from the dollar spot at Michael’s. When you open the package, they are sealed in a small plastic bag. Now for the packaging. Take a medium confetti white envelope and seal it. Then cut it in half from top to bottom. Crimp one half of the envelope.



Stamp and color the other half. Add your bath sal
ts, tie with ribbon, and make a pretty tag. (This one was in the Designer Label Punch kit.) Put some shredded paper in the tin, add all of your gifts, and voila! The perfect gift for Mother’s Day, your sister, your daughter, your friend!

Thank you so much for sharing with us, Barbara. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Have a great weekend.
Alicia :)

Perfect Timing

Today I am so excited to share some wonderful, timeless treasures created by Christine R. It was so great to be able to meet Christine at Convention last year then see her again at the UDI retreat. She is a very sweet, knowledgeable and talented hippie. I'm so glad I've been able to get to know her and learn from her. Hugs to you, Christine. :) And....Here's...Christine.....

I have been a Demonstrator for almost 7 years and a Diva for 2. I took early retirement from my job (16+ years) as a judge's secretary last July. I still type trial transcripts for the Court at home (I get to work in my pajamas! how cool is that?!) to supplement my pension, and am trying to build my Stampin' business more, plus I'm now madly trying to do all those other things we all tell ourselves we'll do when we retire (y'know, watch all those videos you taped, read all those books you bought, try all those recipes you've been cutting out since high school, scrap 40 years worth of photos, make quilts from a lifetime's stash of fabric, etc. etc.!) Trouble is, there's just not enough time in the day...

Speaking of time, and since we just went back to Daylight Savings Time (yay!), I was thinking of clocks -- and how I enjoy creating decorative clocks with Stampin' Up materials! Here's how:

Buy a relatively inexpensive clock (usually can find very plain ones at Wal-Mart and Target for under $4.00).

Use a dull knife (I actually use my "baby knife" from my childhood flatware set!) to gently pry off the clear cover from the face of the clock.

Next, gently lift the hands to remove them, after taking careful note of the order in which they will be put back on...

At this point, I lift out the paper on which the numbers are printed and use it as a template to trace and then cut out either a circular piece of cardstock or DSP. Be sure to also trace around and cut out the little notched-up part that helps you orient the paper when you put it back in. Also trace and cut out the little circle in the middle where the hands will be attached. Here is where we need that long-reach circle punch back, but I'm getting better at just using my snips to cut a nice little circle!

On the printed clock face, I then draw lines with a heavy marker from 12 to 6, 1 to 7, 2 to 8, etc., (kind of making the clock face look like a pie cut into pieces), and then use those lines to make pencil "tick marks" on my cardstock or DSP circle. (Save this to use on future clocks...) This will help you know where to put the numbers, if you're using them, or to stamp small designs (like the ladybug stamp from "Garden Whimsy") in place of numbers.

Some of our smaller number stamps sets, like "Short Order Numbers" or "Best Friend Numbers" can be used, or you can get metal numbers at your local craft store, or maybe even stick-on numbers at the Home Depot-type store, or rub-on numbers by some other brand. I tend not to use numbers at all, which I realize is a problem for the younger folks who are more used to digital and don't have the same intuitive understanding by just looking at clock hands that we old geezers do...!!!

Next, just decorate your cardstock or DSP circle however you wish! I like using the "Garden Whimsy" set because it has the saying "The time to be happy is now...", and I've also used the big stamp from "It's Your Birthday" that says "Life is not a matter of counting years; it's a matter of making years count" (stamping the first 2 lines above the center hole and the last 2 below).

I am showing you four different ones I've made,
two using stamped cardstock and two using DSP with some stamping as well. Look through your DSP for pretty swirly things and "fussy-cut" your base circle to make the most of the design. Be imaginative and have fun!

My experience so far has been you don't want to get real elaborate with layers or brads, etc., because once re-installed, the clock hands may "hang up" on anything too dimensional.

Once you have the design you like, lay the decorated circle down on the clock base and re-insert the hands mechanism in the same order in which you took it out. Use that notch to orient the paper properly, and then gently ease the plastic cover back over the entire clock face, letting the notch on the cover settle into the opening on the base.

You can use Sticky Strip to lay some ribbon (the double-stitched works nicely) around the outer perimeter of the clock, with a bow somewhere if you'd like.

Put a AA battery in your clock and let the time begin! I actually usually keep an eye on my clocks for at least 12 hours. Once in a while, the hands spazz out and stop, or the minute hand always stops on the 7 or something -- just take the clear face back off and re-set the hands and try again. I want to know if there's going to be a problem before I give the clock to someone as a gift.

Last fall, before the holidays, I made quite a lot of clocks and had my little clock "nursery", where they were being watched over to make sure they were all okay. But I'll tell ya', the ticking in my craft room was really starting to get to me...

Well, I hope you'll try making a clock, and if you do, post a pic to show the rest of us. You might want to incorporate a clock into an upcoming Stamp Camp or as a special project at a Hostess Appreciation Event. I'd think you'all might come up with some nifty new approaches to this if you start experimenting with it, so be sure to share!

Thank you so much for sharing, Christine. I cannot wait to try one of these. You're creations are amazing.

Have a great weekend.

Alicia :)

Terrific Tuesday

I want to introduce you to a talented stamper and fellow UDI member, Brenda Weaver. I haven't had a chance to get to know Brenda yet (we must remedy that!) so I will let her introduce herself to you.


"My name is Brenda Weaver. I’m from Robesonia, Pennsylvania which is about an hour North of Philadelphia. My husband Eric and I have been married almost 12 years and have three precious kiddos- Nathaniel 8, Isaiah 6, and Chloe 2. In addition to stamping and scrapbooking I enjoy antiques, shopping, spending time with my family, reading, and decorating.


I was first introduced to Stampin’ Up! about 6 years ago when my sister invited me to a workshop. I was fascinated by all the fabulous products and beautiful projects I saw in the catalog. A few years later my sister had another workshop and, of course, invited me again. I took a catalog home with me and drooled over it for days until my husband casually mentioned that if I liked it so much maybe I should become a demonstrator. He didn’t have to say it twice! I signed up as a demonstrator a few days later. That was 4 years ago and Stampin’ Up! has been such a wonderful thing for me. I have made so many wonderful friends and have learned so much about paper crafting and about myself and what I could do. Soon after becoming a demonstrator I met another demonstrator who introduced me to Utah Divas. The Divas have been, and continue to be, a source of inspiration and friendship for me.

I love making cards, gifts and home décor items, but my passion is scrapbooking. It is amazing how happy scrapbooking makes me! Nothing gives me greater satisfaction than completing a scrapbook page and placing it in an album knowing that it will be enjoyed for years to come. I love to use Stampin’ Up! Products for my pages because I know the quality of the products is outstanding and I can coordinate my paper, inks, stamps and embellishments."


Here are a few of Brenda's terrific projects:

I got the title inspiration for this page while I was shopping at Gap Kids. I happened to see the phrase "Fun To Be Me" on the front of a little girls shirt. I immediately thought of doing a scrapbook page with that title. I was originally going to do a page about myself, but I couldn't find any pictures I thought were "fun" enough to fit the title so I ended up doing the page for my daughter. My scrapbook inspiration most often comes to me at night just before I fall asleep or when I lay down for a quick mid-afternoon nap. That is what happened with this layout. I was resting one afternoon and this color scheme kept going around in my head. By the time I got up I had this page pretty much planned out.

Supplies used:

Paper: Pretty In Pink, Whisper White, Basic Grey, So Saffron

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink prints designer series paper (hostess pack)

Stamps: Dots are Hot, So Much

Ink: Pretty in Pink Classic ink, black Stazon

Accessories: 1" circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, My way Punch, 1/2" circle punch, 1/4" circle punch. Pretties Kit, On board lots of letters, Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

Acrylic wall hanging

This is not my original idea, but one I thought was super cute! This uses clear acrylic blocks used to mount clear acrylic stamps. I found these at the dollar spot at Michael's. Mine are about two inches square, but I have done this same thing with some that were about 1"x 2 1/2". These are so easy to make. Just cut your patterned paper in a 2" square for each block you are going to use. Attach it to the back of your block using crystal effects or Tombow Multi Purpose adhesive brushed onto the side of the cardstock you want showing through the front. Adhere sticky strip to the edges of your blocks to attach the beads. I used pink Bead Duos for mine using the large pink beads first and filling in with the clear micro beads. Now you can stamp anything you want on the front of your block. Be sure to use Stazon ink since you are stamping on a non porous surface. I chose flowers with a half pearl from the pretties kit for mine, but letters or other images would work well too. Now you can attach your ribbon to the back of the blocks. I used sticky strip to attach the ribbon and I folded the ribbon over on the top and then tied my bow around the loop.

Supplies used:

Berry Bliss Designer paper, Pink Bead Duo, Fabulous Flowers stamp set, white Stazon, Sticky strip, Chocolate satin ribbon (Theater ribbon originals), white half pearls (Pretties Kit), Tombow multi purpose adhesive or Crystal Effects.

Thanks for telling us about yourself, Brenda, and for sharing your artistic projects with us!

Have fun stampin' and creatin'!

It's a Baby Shower!

It’s Tuesday again and I have another very talented stamper to introduce to you. Her name is Adriana Benitez from Florida. I have not had the opportunity to meet Adriana in person yet, but from what I know about her over e-mail and group posts, she is a very sweet, caring and thoughtful woman. And very talented! Here is some more information from Adriana herself:

"I am happily married and have 2 fantastic little boys, aged 7 and 8. We live in Melbourne, FL and really love it here. Aside from taking care of my family, I volunteer at school and in our neighborhood and devote the rest of my time to crafting! I've been a Stampin' Up! demo for about 2 1/2 years now and am really enjoying everything it has brought to my life. The ladies at UDI have made the experience even better. There is such a wonderful spirit here; so helpful not only in business but in our personal lives as well. I find myself learning as much as I can about paper-crafting not only for myself, but so that I can share it with our wonderful ladies and thank them for all the help I've received. I can't wait until convention so that I will get a chance to officially meet some of the Divas! Until then, ((hugs)) to you all and THANK YOU for everything!"

The projects Adriana is sharing with us today are ones she made for a baby shower. What mother-to-be wouldn’t be thrilled to have these projects at her baby shower?!

Shower Invitation - The baby is a girl, but the mama wanted a safari theme - so fun!

Stamps: Zoofari (love the monkey!) and Wild about You!

Paper: Pixie Pink, Gable Green, Whisper White, Apricot Appeal, Bashful Blue and Sage Shadow (on the jars and bags)

Ink Pads: Craft White, Basic Brown

Stampin' Write Markers: Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink, Pixie Pink, Close to Cocoa, Blush Blossom

Other: Circle Punches (1-1/4" and 1-3/8"), Heat Tool, White Embossing Powder, Paper Snips

Baby Food Jar Favors

Stamps: Riveting (retired), Simply Circles

Paper: Whisper White, Pixie Pink, Apricot Appeal, Blush Blossom, Bashful Blue and Sage Shadow

Ink Pads: Sage Shadow, Apricot Appeal, Creamy Caramel, Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink, Pixie Pink

Other: Scallop Punch, Circle Punches (1-1/4" and 1-3/8")

The same colors were used for the party favors. Some additional tools used for the favors: Scallop Punch, Word Window punch- where the purse tab slips in.

The chipboard shapes were painted and adhered to jumbo paper clips.

We also added some altered pens and note cards. The cards were for her friends to write encouraging notes or bits of advice for the new mom.

The template for these purses can be found on Jan Tink’s blog: http://stampspaperscissors.typepad.com/stamps_paper_scissors/

Thanks, Adriana, for sharing these projects with us. I'm going to CASE (Copy And Share Everything) the purses for certain!

Have fun stampin' and creatin', everyone!

Silly Saturday

Today I have the pleasure of introducing Joanne (aka JavaJoanne) to the world. She is definitely one of the funniest people I know. She can make you cry from laughter. I'm so glad to be able to call her my friend. One day....we will meet in person. :) Here is what she has to say:

I am addicted to stamping... I collect FUNNY rubber stamps and COFFEE rubber stamps. I also love "postoids" that you stamp on envelopes (Help stamp out NAKED envelopes!). I have a FABULOUS husband who never complains when I get more stamps and three INCREDIBLE children; Andrew is 14, Jonathan is 12, Jennilyn is 9. They are so fun to raise, they make me smile every day. I also sell Pampered Chef which is a fun part-time job- I love inspiring people to cook and to eat around the kitchen table with their families. We live in Ramona California which is near San Diego. I have lived in San Diego all of my 29 years... ha! ha! ha! Okay, I'm a bit older than 29.I bought my first rubber stamp of a nautilus shell when I was about 12 yrs. old at a huge country fair in San Diego. I still have it! =) I dabbled with stamping over the years and then started hosting DOTS (Dozens of Terrific Stamps) parties when I was in my twenties. I considered signing up with DOTS but just didn't feel like enough people were "into" stamping then. So glad I waited! YEARS later, in 2002, I went to my first Stampin' Up party. I LOVED the stamps! I immediately decided to be a hostess and hosted several parties. I finally decided it was the right time to become a Demonstrator in Sept. 2003. I attended my first National Convention the following year and that was just A BLAST! I really think the first one is the best one, when you see all those sample boards for the first time and get all those fun swaps! I could've pee'd my pants with excitement (or maybe I did, I can't remember). I loved the modern, fun, whimsical style of Stampin' Up stamps and began selling my old, too country-ish DOTS stamps on E-bay, along with other stamps I'd collected and wasn't using anymore. Max was an E-bay customer of mine (I know, traitor... just kidding Max!). She later wrote to me and invited me to be a part of UDI. I still have not met any of you but definitely feel like I "know" several of you! I enjoy reading your posts and love your creativity! I want to thank the academy for voting for me... oh wait, wrong speech. You are all TERRIFIC and I'm glad the internet brought us together. =) Java Joanne

And here are the projects Joanne wanted to share:
Brown Kraft Envelope: Seal the envelope. Cut off the top, 3/4 of an inch. Cut cardstock to fit inside, so about 3/4" sticks out the top. Stamp design across top of cardstock. Stamp up envelope and decorate however you like. I like to wrap ribbon all the way around it. CUTE!!!

White #10 Envelope: Seal the envelope. Stamp it up! I don't stamp the back but you can if you'd like. Take scallop scissors and cut envelope about 3" or just over 3" from top. Crimp just the bottom piece so crimping design will run up and down vertically (very important b/c this "shrinks" the envelope so it fits into the lid). Use rectangle punch or double rectangle punch to punch two holes to hold the ribbon. Feed ribbon down on both sides, cross in back and bring back through. Trim for neatness. The ribbon stops the bottom part of the card from going up too far. VOILA!! Perfect for a gift card!!!

Thanks for sharing your creations with us!! :)

Talent Tuesday

Welcome to another Tuesday! It is my pleasure to introduce you today to a very talented and clever lady, Debi Nicol. I have had the opportunity to meet Debi in person and I must say that she is incredibly sweet and a lot of fun. She amazes me with the things she comes up with for projects and the knowledge she has on so many things. She is the Thursday Tips coordinator for UDI, and she always brings us innovative and useful tips. The project she recently created once again attests to her cleverness and talent.

So without further ado, here is Debi and her great project:

Hello, my name is Debi Nicol and I am a papercrafter. I formally had a hobby of making quilts but I found that I can get more accomplished in a shorter time with the cards and scrapbooking. Then I am able to bless others with the projects. My DH wanted to keep every single quilt I ever made!! A few years ago I had a friend who invited me to a SU! workshop and I had told her, "no, I cannot start another hobby, and I know I would want to." I held out for another year and then was being nice to another hostess and the rest is all piling up since then. I enjoy paper as much as I enjoyed my fabric stash. The good thing is the paper doesn't take as much room, but my fun tools do! I joined SU! under my daughter because I wanted the discount for my ever increasing hobby. It is so much fun to have a hobby that I and my DD and soon to be DIL can enjoy and spend lots of time together.

Perhaps about a year after I began SU!, my DD asked me if I would like to become involved with the UDI Divas which was where she was getting lots of ideas and new friends from across the globe. I wanted in! I have enjoyed my time with UDI and even attended the first annual retreat in Salt Lake City, Utah last fall. It was wonderful to put a face to all those that we had only 'spoken' to over the internet. I am the Thursday tips lady! I try to give new and fresh ideas to use our many products that we so love as well as, what to do to keep our earth green by crafting! Thanks for your time and interest in our blog!

Debi Nicol from St Louis area

I wanted to find something to do with the numerous cd's that my DH was throwing out so I made a photo holder for a tabletop. It has a cd sandwiched between 2 pieces of CS. Using the stem from Refuge and Strength on Garden green, I stamped just the edges. Then I put the verse from Beautiful life in the center. With the same garden green, I sponged the edging of the green on the front and back.

Next I needed my crop-a-dile to punch my hole in the cd with ease. Now the smaller circle with the picture on it is first a patterned napkin that I ran through the Xyron for stickiness and adhered it to the CS. It is really soft to the touch. I did punch it out with a Marvy giga punch since it is 3 sheets of CS to give it stability.

Punching holes in the smaller circle was a challenge since they were on a curved surface. I did use eyelets on them and some old SU! gold cord to have my dangling disks of ShrinkyDink that I hand drew some fun hearts and a flower in lovely lilac to give it more color and movement. The top hole is connected to the frame with a simple knotted lovely lilac grosgrain to allow movement. Then to complete the frame I made a kickstand for the backside and adhered it with red sticky tape.

This does take a little bit of time, but I think it was worth it.

Supply list:

Stamps: Refuge and Strength, Beautiful Life

Ink: Garden Green

Paper: Garden Green, Confetti White CS

Accessories: CD, sponge, Crop-A-Dile, Xyron machine, Marvy giga punch, sticky tape, gold eyelets, non-SU! Patterned napkin, Lovely Lilac grosgrain, retired gold cording, Lovely Lilac marker on the Shrinky Dink

Thank you, Debi, for sharing your project with us! I can't wait to see what you come up with next :)

Scallop Bouquet

Welcome to another Tuesday here on the brand new Utah Divas International blog! I will generally be posting a project by a UDI group member each Tuesday, but for today, here is one of my Valentine's Day projects.

I call this a scallop bouquet since the "flowers" are created with a scallop punch. I first saw this idea on Tracey Roy's blog http://lakeshorestamper.typepad.com as a Halloween decoration. You can use a plastic or glass vase like Tracey did, or a plastic jar like I did for this sample. I had quite a few of these jars without lids for them so I thought this would be a nice way to use the jars :) You can use a variety of items as your filler inside the jar. Any kind of hard candy (but not soft as they will most likely stick and clump together), buttons, pebbles, marbles, and so much more. With a little bit of imagination, the possibilities are endless!

The supplies I used to create this project are as follows:

Stamp Set: Seeing Spots

Paper: Rose Red Designer Prints, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White CS

Ink: Rose Red, Regal Rose, Pretty In Pink Classic Ink

Accessories: Plastic clear jar, Wood dowels (cut in half), White acrylic paint (to paint dowels), Sticky Strip, SNAIL adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, 1 1/4” circle punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, Scallop circle punch, Pretty in Pink 1/4” grosgrain ribbon, Purely Pomegranate double stitched grosgrain ribbon, Light Pink gingham ribbon, Cupid’s Mix M&M’s.

Have fun stampin' and creatin'!

Stampin' Saturday

Hey everyone! I’m so happy you have stopped in. My name is Alicia and I live in St. Charles, Missouri. I am the mama to two beautiful babies--Ian is 2 and Brielle is 1. We also have a third one on the way. He’s due to be welcomed to the world in June. I am a teacher by trade, but am currently babysitting three kiddos, so I am able to stay home with my little ones. My husband also works from home, so it’s pretty crazy around here most days. :) In addition to daycare, I am a high school swim coach and official.

I have been a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator for 2 years and a member of UDI since November, 2006. SU! has given me a great reason to show others my creative side. UDI has been a wealth of information for me and I have made some wonderful friends within the group. I am an assistant manager and the membership coordinator for the group, as well as business swap coordinator. Any referrals for membership or ideas for business swaps….please send them my way.

I have been given the opportunity to post projects each Saturday featuring different members of our group. Today, I am happy to be able to share one of my creations with you. When I got our Spring/Summer catalog, I loved the pinwheels featured on page 67. Stampin’ Up! later posted the template and I was excited to try it…..until I saw that template. :) Once I actually sat down with it, I knew I could handle it. Then the other day I was browsing around the gallery on Splitcoast Stampers and found instructions on how to make a Dahlia Fold. I absolutely loved it and thought it would be great for the center piece of my pinwheel. I love how this turned out and hope you like it as well.

I used the following for my project:

Paper: Berry Bliss Designer Series Paper
Accessories: large clear rhinestone brad from Pretties Kit, 1” Circle Punch, 1/16” Handheld Circle Punch, Paper Snips, Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Pretty in Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, 11 ¾” Lollipop Stick, a small address label

Directions for the Dahlia Fold were created by Judy Headrick and can be found at http://www.cardsandcrafts.freeservers.com/dahlia.html.com/dahlia.html

with love from Down Under!

Well what an absolute thrill it was when Max asked if I'd like to be a regular contributor to this blog and what a great idea to have this blog to share and encourage each other in our creativity and its my pleasure to hopefully inspire you all the way from Sydney Australia!

I will be here every Wednesday (well as long as Max allows me to - although I do believe I have to pay her in Cadbury's chocolate!) to share and get those creative juices flowing. Now for a little about me ... I am Leonie and am a mum to 2 girls & wife to Neil and we live about an hours drive south west of Sydney Australia. I have been with UDI for about 6 months I think and was introduced to it by the lovely Maggie (my Aussie SU Sister!). I have been with Stampin' Up!® now for 17 months and its done nothing but bless me since I've started!

I thought I'd start off with sharing a set of goodies that are easy to make and in time for Valentine's Day which is next week Thursday (girls send the link to this post to your hubbies/boyfriends to remind them!!)

Now Stampin' Up!® has only been in Australia for just under 2 years so we have a lot of catching up to do!

We are currently have a gorgeous Summer (yes its summer here) mini catalogue which I've used papers from the "Loves Me" Designer Series Paper pack - well there was nothing better for Valentine's day! The set consists of a Coaster Gift Box, 'Gluggie' (Sour Cream Container) and a Clip stand Calender which I adapted from several I saw on Split Coast Stampers. You can find the tutorials for the gift box and sour cream container at Split Coast Stampers Projects page.

These items were all easy to make and would make a great workshop for your customers if you're a demo and if you're a customer see your local demo or email me for the instructions.

The supplies I used:
Stamp set: Lots of Thoughts (Sale-a-bration set), Wonderful Words
Paper: Loves Me Designer Series Paper, Chocolate Chip cardstock
Accessories: Coasters, On-board Chipboard, ribbon, silver cord, Pretty in Pink Brads, scissors, scalloped circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, Crop-a-dile, sticky strip, Crystal Effects, Paper Piercing Mat, Anywhere Glue Stick, Large Paper Clip, paper trimmer, sanding block and pencil

Now remember I called the 'sour cream container' a 'Gluggie'?? well I'll tell you why .... when I went to school (surely it wasnt that long ago ... mmm well maybe) we had these frozen ice blocks in containers that exact shape and they were called Glugs (cola flavour), Razz (Raspberry flavour) and Sunny Boys (orange flavour) and these were the things I bought the most from the canteen at school! Hmm ... should I say I started school very early??

Our sour cream here in Australia comes in a round tub or in a small milk carton shaped container. So there you go - thats your cultural lesson for the day!

Have a great Wednesday everyone and dont forget to take some time out for YOU!

Mini Mailbox

Hi there! My name is Michelle Hoffman and I am a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. I joined Utah Divas International almost two years ago, thanks to an invitiation by one of the members, Jaynell. I have never once regretted my decision to join UDI. It is a great group for helping you to grow your business and develop lasting friendships. Each and every member is very creative and talented, and I look forward to participating in showcasing their projects here on this blog.

I will be posting a project each Tuesday. I was asked to post a project today that I created. The item you see on the left is a mini mailbox found at the Dollar Spot at Target. This is the first mailbox I have altered and I had a lot of fun doing it. It really is quite easy and these make fun gifts.

The idea for the flower came from Jennifer Wright at http://stampwithme-jen.blogspot.com

The supplies I used for this project are:
Stamp set: Fabulous Flowers
Paper: Cutie Pie Designer Series Paper
Ink: Rose Red Classic Ink
Accessories: Mini mailbox, ribbon, scissors, scalloped circle punch, 1" circle punch, 1/2” circle punch, chunky glitter, sticky strip, Stampin' Dimensionals, SNAIL adhesive, paper cutter, ruler, pencil

Have fun stampin' and creatin'!