Christmas Trio

Well today its chilly here again - its just 44°F as I type - well thats outside and I'm glad some kind person invented the heater!

When I think of Christmas I think hot sweltering sun with soaring temperatures as our Christmas is in the middle of our summer - so as you can imagine its a rather lazy day doing as little as possible.

We traditionally have cold meats and salads for Christmas lunch and something quick and easy for Christmas Dinner. I cant imagine having the oven on for hours to cook Turkey, Pork or Hams with all the trimmings on Christmas Day.

I know when its Christmas in USA and Canada you are in your winter and rugging up as warm as possible and having lots of yummy warm foods and drinks. I love the thought of gathering around the fire to keep warm and give Christmas gifts. I suppose you dont want to know that Christmas is just 19 weeks away?

If youre anything like me you leave things like Christmas Cards and such to the last moment. Well this year I'm making a big effort to get a heap of cards done before December hits so I thought I'd share some cards with you that we will be making at Stamp A Stacks between now and December.

This trio is done using Festive Favourites - a set thats been around for a while but one I've just bought.

I love the natural/earthy feel the Kraft Cardstock gives these cards and they are easy & fun to make.

This is another quick and simple card using the greeting from Many Merry Messages and the Snow Flurries set.

You could make a number of these and just change the colours used and do one in the blue like here and others in red, green, purple and any other colour you choose.

Now would be the perfect time for you to contact or local demonstrator and book your Stamp A Stack in. The Stamp A Stack is a lot of fun and its great to just sit, relax, stamp and spend some time with friends and take home a selection of cards to put aside for December.


This is the last card I'll share today and is a favourite of my customers. It too is very easy to make and the results are just wonderful.

Just use some trees from Lovely as a Tree, a greeting from Many Merry Messages and a sponge and you're done. Now you might wonder how I got the moon in there?

Just take your 1 1/4" circle punch and punch a circle from a post it note - but make sure you punch where the sticky part is so it stays on your card while sponging over the top to create the sky.

Have a great day and hope you liked these cards and can get your local demonstrator to do a Stamp A Stack for you - if not email me and I'll do it for you!!

You might just need to fly me to your house to do it though!

Has your VersaMarker not been used in a while?

While you were spring cleaning your drawers, did you come across your VersaMarker and say "Hey, I forgot I have this"? Well, here is a great project that will get you running to your drawer. While you are dishing it out - get your heat tool and Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder ready also.

Elizabeth Harris, one of our Designer Divas, submitted this darling card she made for her niece's 16th birthday. She stated it's made with the Polka Dot background and the new stamp set she received at Convention, Flight of the Butterfly. She took her inspiration from the dotted butterfly in the set. She loves Chocolate Chip and Pretty in Pink together, so she went with that color combo. The butterfly is stamped twice (OK 4 times ... it's a 2-step stamp. LOL), and cut out once. She used her Versamarker on the top butterfly's spots and covered them with Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder. It is so very sparkly!

Supplies(all SU!): Stamps- Flight of the Butterfly, Polka Dot. Paper- Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White. Ink- Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink. Accessories- Pretty in Pink Taffeta ribbon, Versamarker, Iridescent Ice EP, mini glue dot.

Thanks Elizabeth for sharing. Just love it and would love to hear your niece's response when she opens this darling card.

Stacy P.

Artisan Award Winner

I'm so excited and proud to be able to post the wonderful creations of Artisan Award Winner, Brenda Weaver. How exciting to be picked as a winner of such a wonderful award. Congratulations to Brenda! Once you see her creations, you'll know why she was choosen.

"Imagine" page: Spring Break DSP; Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Soft Sky, Old Olive, Certainly Celery card stock; Vellum card stock; Classic Stars jumbo wheel; So Much stamp set; Not Quite Navy ink; Large star punch; star punch; Anchored and Eastern Elegance rub-ons.

"Wanted" page: Western Sky DSP; Blue Bayou, Soft Sky & River Rock card stock; Chocolate Chip, Blue Bayou, River Rock & Ruby Red ink; Wanted, Bronc Buster &Rough Edges mini Alphabet stamp sets; Scallop circle punch; star punch; Jumbo Eyelets; vintage brads; Sewing machine and thread; Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write marker



"Sweet" page: Kraft, Pink Passion, Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Green Galore & whisper White card stock; Tart & Tangy & Big Deal Alphabet stamp sets; Dotted lines jumbo wheel; Creamy Caramel, Real Red & Wild Wasabi ink; Black Stampin' Write journaler; Note: The pink eyelets were taken off of this page for my Artisan Award entry because they are retired.



Altoid tin purse: Berry Bliss DSP; Whisper White card stock; One of a Kind stamp set; Purely Pomegranate, Pretty In pink, Close to Cocoa ink; Boho blossoms punch, Purely Pomegranate double-stitched ribbon; Jumbo eyelets; Fine Cosmo glitter; Pretties kit; hair bands; Earth Element & Neutrals buttons; micro beads











"MY Girl" record album: Crew Kids Girl Simply Scrappin' Kit; Amazing to Zany & Jumbo Outline Alphabet stamp sets; Basic Black ink; Versamarker; Wild Wasabi double stitched ribbon; Whisper White 1/4" grosgrain ribbon; Pink Taffeta ribbon; Scallop Circle punch; Spiral punch; Black Stampin' Write journaler; Crop-a-dile; Carousel Notes




**Shown are the cover and last page. To view all pages, please check out Brenda's blog.






"Mr. & Mrs." card: Basic Gray, Soft Sky, Whisper White card stock; So Saffron Prints DSP; One of a Kind, All Holidays & paisley background stamp sets; Basic Gray, So Saffron, Soft Sky classic ink; Whisper White craft ink; Versamark pad; clear embossing powder; Build-a-brad; Whisper White 1/4" grosgrain; Silver Hodge Podge hardware



"Love" card; Groovy Guava, Whisper White & Basic Black card stock; From the Garden & Wonderful Words stamp sets; Basic Black ink; Watercolor markers; orange bead duos; half pearls from pretties kit; crystal effects





"Bug Day" card: Really Rust, Whisper White, Bordering Blue, Close To Cocoa & Certainly Celery card stock; Bugs and Wishes & Dots Are Hot stamp sets; Basic Black, Close To Cocoa, Bordering Blue, Really Rust ink; Scallop Circle punch; 1 3/8" circle punch; 1 1/4" circle punch; black stampin' write marker





"Baroque Motifs" card: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Not Quite Navy, Purely Pomegranate & Whisper White card stock; Baroque Motifs stamp set; Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Not Quite Navy & Purely Pomegranate ink; white gel pen; clear rhinestone brads








Gate fold card: Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip & Very Vanilla card stock; Baroque Motifs & Floral background stamp sets; Dotted lines jumbo wheel; Soft Sky & Chocolate Chip ink; Jumbo eyelets; Corner rounder punch; Chocolate chip Satin ribbon; 1 3/8" circle punch; 1 1/4" circle punch; Coluzzle



I asked Brenda to tell us a little bit of what it was like to enter the contest. Here's what she had to say....

What was it like to enter the contest? Well, it was a lot of hard work! In January as soon as the new catalog came out I placed my order for all the supplies I would need. I got pretty busy with other things for a few months such as helping out at my sons' school, etc. and I didn't get to work on my projects as much as I would have liked. At the beginning of March I still had a lot to do and it was due by the end of the month. I was determined to get it done in time to not have to express mail it so I figured I'd need to get it done about two weeks prior to the deadline to get it there on time.I almost gave up. There were times when I'd look at all I had to do yet and think "Is it really worth it when I might not even win anyway?". I knew I was up against a whole lot of talented people but when I'd catch myself thinking those thoughts I'd remind myself that I would never know whether I could win or not if I didn't try and I knew I would have let myself down if I would have given up.Once my work was submitted all I could do then was wait. During the waiting time I would often doubt whether my projects really were good enough, but then I would sit down and look at the photos I took of all my projects and I would know in my heart that I did my very best and that was all I could do. My husband, wonderful guy that he is, told me from the start that he knew I would win. He's such an encouragement to me! He never doubted my abilities at all.The day finally came when the calls were to be made. I kept myself busy and tried not to think about it too much. Then the phone rang. I don't even remember what the sweet girl's name was that called. I forgot everything when she said she was calling from Stampin' Up! because I immediately knew why she was calling, even before she told me!!! I was sooo excited!!! It was one of the best feelings in the whole world! All my hard work had paid off. Of course the first person I told was my husband who happened to be at home at the time I got the call. Then I told everyone else who I thought would listen. LOL! For some time I had been questioning what God wanted me to do with the talents he had given me. Was this the way he wanted me to use them? To me this was a confirmation that I was where He wanted me to be and that is another reason it felt so good. It was like God was telling me that His blessing was on this and I was doing the right thing.I hope you all enjoy the projects I created and I hope that my story inspires some more of you to enter contests. Do the best work you can and give it your best shot. After all you never know if you don't try and the rewards are so worth it!

Thank you so much for sharing with us, Brenda. I'm so happy for you!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful, restful weekend.

Alicia :)

Inspiration Challenge Thursday!!!!

Are you ready to rUmBle (with an inspiration challenge) ?!?! This week is Diva Inspiration Challenge #3. I found this picture on a Martha Stewart website. Some possible colors I pull from it are: Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue, Creamy Caramel, Garden Green, and Only Orange. Not only are all these colors so appealing, but the layout as well just begs to be used.
So that's what I ran with!
I really like the four squares in the background! I cut out the bird and popped him up on dimensionals. The word "EVERYTHING" at the bottom was heat embossed with white embossing powder. I also stamped the "you mean everything to me" stamp all around the blue border of the card.


Stamps: Always
Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green, Creamy Caramel, Only Orange
Ink: Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green, Creamy Caramel, Only Orange, VersaMark
Accessories: Soft Subtles Brads, White Embossing Powder, Square Punches ~ 1- 1/4", 1- 3/8", Ticket Corner Punch, Dimensionals

To see what my creative team came up with, just click on their name :
Bev
Charmaine

To view the submissions on SCS click here.

Now it's your turn! Post a link in the comments section with your blog entry or SCS gallery showing us what creation you were inspired to come up with!! If you upload to SCS be sure to put DivaIC3 (no spaces) as the keyword. Have fun!!

Inspire Stampin' happiness wherever you go!! :)
~~Maria~~

Always ..........

Welcome to another wintery Wednesday!


As I mentioned the last couple of weeks our Mini Spring Catalogue started on August 1.

I just love this new Mini as it has so many lovely new sets to choose from and ones that will appeal to all tastes and styles.

This card here is one I made using a lot of new things from the Mini - stamps, ribbon and wheel!

The background is the Its Beautiful jumbo wheel on Old Olive cardstock - a definite must for all collections! That wheel is amazing as it just brings any cardstock to life!

I stamped the bird in Close to Cocoa and embossed it in clear embossing powder. Then I coloured the pretty flowers & leaves using my Stampin Write markers and cut the birdie out.

The flower is from the pretties kit.

Which I've coloured using the Bashful Blue Classic Ink pad and aqua painter.

Once dry I've attached a half pearl from the Pretties kit.

I finished off the card using some very lovely Pomegranate wide Satin ribbon.

I do hope you like this card - I enjoyed making and sharing it with you and hope you take some time for yourself today and stamp - or just take some time and do what makes your heart smile!

Have a great day

It's just another Manic Monday!

Hello Everyone,

WOW!!! What an absolutely awesome convention! I am just so thrilled with how things worked out. Stampin' Up! really outdid themselves with this one. It was amazing. We had so much fun, with so many sleepless nights that our Divas have not had chance to upload many pics yet to our UDI site.

I rented a house for 20 of us and it was wonderful to get to spend time with friends. Although we didn't spend much time there, we really did have a lot of fun. We did manage to have a shoebox swap and a BBQ on Friday Evening.

Sara C, Carol M, Max C, Ruthie B

Jennifer T, Linda B, Christine R, Pat W

Jean T, Terry J, Ursula, Charmaine C, Janine K

Sue E, Christy T, Sara C

Most of our Divas got to go to the Riverton Facility to tour it. I received all kinds of cute notes and treats on my desk when I got to work today. :)

Next Monday I will be posting pictures of our 3 D swap. One of our Divas, Cindy from WA, coordinated this swap and it was amazing. Everyone did such a wonderful job making an awesome project.

This group has the most amazing women and friends in it. I am so proud of all of our Divas. What a fabulous group. I walked across the stage for sales, recruiting and earning the incentive trip to Hawaii. It was so awesome to hear my friends clap and shout for me.

And..............the star of our group........ "MICHAEL PAXTON". What an amazing guy. Michael is one of those guys that you meet and INSTANTLY like. He is the husband of one amazing Diva, Kellie. I am so impressed with Michael who held up our banner and proudly too. Selene Kempton created our UDI logo and Lisa Stout made the banner. Michael has been asked to create another banner for our ever growing group and I can barely wait to see what he comes up with. :)

I cannot wait until Leadership and Regionals in Orlando FL in January! WOOHOO!

See ya next week

Max

Friendships

Once I became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I began making new friends. I was asked to join this AMAZING group of demonstrators and continued to make more friendships, many that are very strong. Although I wasn't able to attend Convention this year, I was still able to swap with my fellow Divas. This year there was a Friendship Swap for Diva members to participate in. Although I won't have my swaps for a while and cannot tell you about them, I know they are going to be wonderful. I thought I would share with you my swap creation. The rules were that it had to be friendship related and in shades of purple. I can't wait to see what wonderful samples I will get back.

Stamp Set: Simply Said
Cardstock: Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Pale Plum
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensional, Elegant Eggplant Grosgrain Ribbon

Looking forward to more Stampin' Up! news during the last day of Convention!! I'm excited about the other announcements made with the release of phase 2 of the Decor Elements and a partnership with Sizzix allowing SU! to carry the Big Shot and exclusive Stampin' Up! dies. I so wish I could have been there with everyone! Have a wonderful weekend and for those of you traveling home from Convention...be safe. I'm looking forward to hearing more once everyone returns home and has had time to rest.

Alicia :)