Showcase Saturday

Today I would like to introduce you to Gina M. Here's what she has to say.....

Let's see.... a little about myself..... I'm a happily married mom of 3 boys. My oldest - Declan- is 10 and in fifth grade. His favorite subject is recess. I have 5 yo twin boys - Finnbar and Aedan. Finn has red hair, is shy, very adorable smile and nature. Aedan is brunette, outgoing, intelligent, catches on quickly to new things and can be a little devilish. They are in kindergarten. I work fulltime as an RN managing a stress lab. We do all the treadmill testing on heart patients. I love my job! SU is a hobby for me right now. I'd love to do it part time....but not enough hours in a day! I sell my cards to friends and at work to try to pay for my hobby (addiction). My children love to stamp and create cards with me. I give them scraps, stamped images that I don't need and they design their own cards. My husband, Michael is a stay at home dad. He was home with Declan until he was 3 and went to daycare. Then, he worked nights fulltime and took college classes during the day. After the twins were born, we continued working opposite shifts for the first year. Once they became mobile, he quit his job and has stayed home with them since. I am amazed at his energy and patience with the kids. I know that I could never be a stay at home mom. I would miss the adult conversations too much. We live in a 100 yo farmhouse that needs constant renovations, so we are always in the midst of a project or 2 or 3! We have 2 cats- Henry and Tober (13 yo), 2 dogs- Daisy (11 yo pomeranian and Jackson(1 1/2 yo black lab -HYPER, HYPER, HYPER), and the kids each have their own fishtanks. We have a very full house! Declan still tries to convince me that he needs a bird!
I have always enjoyed crafts. Growing up, I did cross stitch, macrame, knitting, crochet, needlepoint, and hand quilting. After Declan was born, I started scrapbooking and then found rubber stamping! I became a demonstrater for the discount and have been for almost 2 years. I went to my first convention this year and stayed at the Diva house. Wow, I am amazed by the wonderful women that are Divas. The support and concern for each and everyone is amazing. Convention, now that was one of the best experiences of my life. Just seeing all the people swapping and cheering and hanging out in lines together and all the classes and workshops, the boards full of stamped items, the give-aways, ......wow...and to see all the happiness and smiling faces everyday....what if the rest of the world could be like that!!!
SU is a great place to be and being part of such a caring and gifted group of people like the Divas just keeps me going each and every day!


Stamp Sets: Window Dressing, Occassions Collection
Paper: Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, More Mustard, Haiku DSP, Watercolor Paper
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Black Stazon
Accessories: So Saffron Brad, Linen thread, Wide Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Blender Pen, Crafter's Tool Kit

Stamp Set: Upsy Daisy
Paper: Pacific Point, Naturals White, Bashful Blue, Bashful Blue DSP
Ink: Bashful Blue, Pacific Point
Accessories: Wide Oval Punch, Crafter's Tool Kit, Bashful Blue striped Grosgrain ribbon, Filigree Designer brads, Boho Blossoms Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals
Rock n roll technigue on stamped image. Sentiment edge sponged in bashful blue and paper pierced under 'you're'. Sentiment and flower attached with dimensionals.

Stamp Set: Live Like You Mean It
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Chocoate Chip and Bella Rose DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Wide Oval Punch
All edges sponged with pink pirouette.

Stamp Set: Pocket Silhouettes
Paper: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Kiwi Kiss (textured and regular), Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum
Accessories: Hodgepodge Hardware-silver, Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon

Stamp Set: Nursery Neccesities
Paper: Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, Kiwi Kiss (textured and regular), Urban Garden DSP, Naturals White
Ink: Baja Breeze, VersaMark
Accessories: Sticky Cut letters, Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon, Fine Cosmo Glitter, Clip Assortment, Big Shot, Naturely Serif die, Stampin' Dimensionals
Sails VersaMarked and cut out. Dimensionals behind sailboat pieces.

Stamp Set: Say it with Scallops
Paper: Old Olive, So Saffron, More Mustard, Whisper White, Haiku DSP
Ink: Tangerine Tango
Accessories: Scallop Rectangle Punch, Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon

Thank you for sharing with us, Gina.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Alicia :)

Showcase Saturday

Today's featured Diva is Stephanie G. Stephanie is also one of our Designing Divas, so look to see more of her creativity on this blog in the future.

Here's what Stephanie has to say.....

I am from Northern Utah. I am married to Steve, my high school sweetheart, and we have three adorable (but very energetic!) little boys: Benjamin (5), Spencer (3), and Daniel (16 months). I am a stay-at-home mom, but I also manage storage units. I've been a demonstrator for almost 4 1/2 years. I signed up because I adored all the products and wanted a discount, but I also needed a way to express my creativity... and a reason to get out of my house once in a while for some adult conversation! I love Stampin' Up! and all the wonderful people it has brought into my life. I also love scrapbooking, following politics, reading, and writing.

Steph first saw the idea here and decided to run with it. Don't you just love her creation?

Paper: Bella Rose DSP, Chocolate Chip & Whisper White cardstock

Stamps: Dreams Du Jour
Inks: Basic Brown, Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss, So Saffron, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red Classic Pads
Accessories: Scallop Border Punch, Blender Pens, Sticky Strip, Stampin' Dimensionals, Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Cropadile, Button Bouquet (these have magnets on the back), galvanized metal

Thanks for sharing with us today, Steph. Looking forward to seeing more of your talent. :)

Have a great weekend! We'll be celebrating another birthday. My baby girl is 2!! Time flies!
Alicia :)

Showcase Saturday

Today I would like to introduce you to Karen H.

I'm a retired secretary who now enjoys watching my two grandchildren, Max (3-1/2) and Emma (9 months) so I can really identify with all the stay-at-home mothers. I jokingly tell everyone I'm a 'stay-at-home' grandmother! I have two other grandchildren Matthew (3-1/2) and Taylor (5 months) who currently live in Cincinnati. I've been happily married to my husband Mike for 22 years and we live south of Indianapolis, Indiana.

I've been a Stampin' Up! demonstrator for almost 5 years. I went to just one stamp camp and was immediately hooked. Since I wanted just about everything in the catalog and am always looking for the best deal, I decided that it was most economical to just get the Starter Kit. I told my upline that I did not want to sell Stampin' Up! but just wanted to stamp for myself. Well, it didn't take long before I was sharing my love of stamping with my friends and started having classes to teach them how to make beautiful cards. Now I hold several stamping parties each month in my home, along with having 3 clubs and teaching specialized stamping classes.

This year at Convention I received the cutest little nugget bag from Melissa in Virginia. I cut it down slightly and here is my take on this little designer bag. I give one to all my guests at my stamping parties as it has a label on the back with my name, email address, SU website and my stamping blog address.


Directions
Cut double-sided designer paper 3” x 4½” as shown below. The next part is the hardest thing you’ll have to do – decide which side of the beautiful paper you want to use for the ‘outside’ of your bag!

After you decide which side of the paper will be the outside of the bag, score and cut the piece according to the diagram. Cut along red lines; fold according to dotted lines. (See diagram below).












Width: Score at 1”, 1½” and 2½”
Length: Score at ½” and 2½”Cut out long sides as shown below (refer to diagram).
With Corner Rounder Punch, round the corners of the narrow end where sides were cut out. This will be the ‘flap’ of your bag. Add ribbon for handle, fold and adhere sides with Sticky Strip. To finish the bag add an embellishment such as a brad on top flap. Add Velcro dots for the fastener.

Aren't these the cutest?! What a great idea to use them as a business card with all of your information on the back. Thank you so much for sharing the directions with us, Karen. These are wonderful. :)

Have a great weekend.

Showcase Saturday

Today's feature Diva is Traci Gentry. Here's a little bit about her.....

I am a Stampin' Up! demonstrator from Woodville, Ohio. I have been married for 6 years to my husband Brian, and we have a Yellow Lab named Colby. I also work full time in a bank. For stamping projects, I like to make mostly cards and 3-D items. I have been a demonstrator for 3 years. I have 3 monthly stamp clubs that meet each month in my home. Between them and a workshop or two I do each month, that keeps me pretty busy! I am doing a workshop next week and we are making these cute Broomstick Treat Bags as one of our projects. They are so simple and fun to make!

What a fun and cute project!! Check out her tutorial here. Thank you so much for sharing with us, Traci.

Showcase Saturday

Today I would like to introduce you to Tammy Fite.

Tammy says...

I am a stay-at-home mom of two wonderful boys--Cameron (13) and Brandon (11). I am a very active volunteer with the boys' school, sports and our youth program at church. I have been married to my wonderful hubbie for almost 19 years!! (Oct 8 is our anniversary!!) We met in the Air Force at Pease AFB in New Hampshire. We've lived in Albuquerque for 16 years now, and love it!!

I have been a Stampin' Up! demonstrator for 9 years, and I love it!! When the boys were younger (read less active), I was able to earn two cruises--one to Bermuda and one to Hawaii. But, now they're very busy with sports, school and church, and business has had to slow down a bit. Isn't that the most wonderful thing about our business--we can make it what we want it to be, depending on our lives at the moment. I am still very active with SU!--offering classes, clubs and workshops. I absolutely love it, and all the GREAT friends I've made through it. The Divas are a big part of that! I "met" Max on another group, and followed her to this one when she started it many years ago! There are some great ladies in this group, and I'm thankful to be a part of it.

For the Cards:
Whisper White Cardstock & Envelopes
Banbury Designer Paper
Bitty Birthday Stamp Set
Word Window Punch

5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon
3/8" Bashful Blue Grosgrain Ribbon

For the outside band--Banbury DP, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White Cardstock. Wide Oval Punch. Non-SU! Scallop Punches

Tammy followed the Paper Pieces template found here for this project.

Thank you for sharing your card set with us, Tammy.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Alicia :)