Downline Gifts

At Convention each year I like to have a little something to give to my downline, and this year was no different!  In fact, I think this year was my favorite downline gifts!

I found some really pretty fabric at one of my local fabric stores.  It had Costal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar and Early Espresso colors in it and I fell in love!!!!  So, I designed and stamped a note book around the fabric and also made everyone a lanyard for their name tags.

And, I had a cup made for each member of my downline attending convention.  It had an ink splatter with our team name and then their names on the back.  Everyone's ink splatter was in a different color.  It was so fun to give them out!

You can't tell in the picture, but the black that the names were done in had some sparkle to it!

And, I will leave you with some photos of convention this year.  It was almost 6000 demonstrators around the world under one roof celebrating Stampin' Up!'s 25th anniversary, making friends, catching up with old friends and learning about stamping.  It was a blast...and exhausting...but super fun!

Some of the highlights were:

• being part of an official world record
• participating in the service project...making birthday kits for sick kids who spend their birthday in the hospital
• the thought bubbles in the recognition room (I could have played with those all day!)
• talking with Shelli (and she commented on my cute shoes that day!)
• sliding down the railing after my team's group picture...cause that's how we roll!
• dropping off dozens of cards in the RMHC basket to donate to families staying at Ronald McDonald Houses in Canada and the US...and meeting Ronald!
• seeing my stamping friends
• my travel buddies (we had a blast on our road trip and laughed so hard I cried waaay too many times).
• walking across the stage for being a demonstrator for 10 years
• seeing not 1, but 2 of my cards on the display boards

It was an inspiring, rewarding and fun week.  Join my team and you can come with us to Convention next year!  I can't wait to go to Leadership conference in Houston in January!

That's all for today.  I will be back tomorrow with some stamping to share.  Have an inspired day!

Soda Pop Tops....Squished

At first I wasn't sure about the Soda Pop Tops in the Spring catalog.  But, now that I have played around with them, I can say with confidence that I LOVE them!!!!  I do find them a little bulky, so I like to squish 'em for my projects!  This is a project I made for all my downline who attended the Calgary Regional last weekend.

I started with MDS and made the part that was going to go in the squished soda pop top.  I sized a circle punch to 1", filled it with some DSP and then added some hearts and a name.  Then I copied and pasted a bunch of times to get enough for all my downline that was attending the Calgary Regional last weekend.  After printing on whisper white cardstock, I punched them all out with my 1" punch and stuck them into the squished soda pop tops.  The next step is to fill the soda pop top with crystal effects and let it sit for a looooooooong time to dry...like 24 hours!  After they were dry, I punched a hole in them with my retired crop-a-dile and fed a chain through (I found the chain at my local craft store).  The final little touch was to tie a strip of the More Amore Designer Fabric on it.

These make perfect scissor charms......

They also are cute on a bag (in a room of hundreds or thousands of demonstrators with the same bag it's important to make yours a little different than the others!).  Some of my downline even put them on their lanyards along with their name tags for the day.

And, here's a little video showing you how to squish your Soda Pop Tops...it's easier than you think!

Go forth and squish your soda pop tops people...it's loads of fun!

Have an inspired day!

Jam Session

I want to thank each and every one of you who left a comment or sent an email or called with words of encouragement.  It truly has touched my heart.  I will admit that I'm not dealing with this tragedy very well...I think I'm experiencing all the stages of grief at the same time.  And, of the 5 people we have said good bye to forever in the last 9 months, this is by far the most difficult...at least it is for me.  Each day gets a little better than the last, one step at a time, but the shock of everything has still not worn off.  Now, I'm bracing myself for a really hard day on Monday when we attend the funeral which we have been asked to play a role in...that is going to be a tough day.

Let's get on with some happy stuff.  I had Taylor choose a number for me to determine the winner from my first celebration post (here) and he chose 2, which is Angela!  Congratulations Angela!  I will have your prize for you once the celebration is over next week.

Are you wondering about my title today?  It has nothing to do with music!  Today is all about jam!!!  Kevin and I had a jam making day a couple weeks ago and we made about 80 jars of jam...I know, that will last us for about 5 years!!!!!  But we do plan to give some away as gifts and today I will show you how I've decorated some of them up, but first check this out...

It's like a jam highway!!!!!

And, here they are all lined up on my breakfast bar!!!  I had to stand way back to get them all in the picture!!!  You can kind of see the different colors...we made Mixed Berry, Nectarine, Blueberry, Apricot, Raspberry, Cherry, Strawberry and Nectarine Pear (which is my favorite!).  Some people have a wine cellar...we have a JAM cellar...LOL!!!  YUM!!!!

Here are a few all decorated up.

 

I cut some Scallop Circles out of the Spice Cake Designer Fabric, placed them over the sealed part of the lid and then put the other part of the lid back on.  I tied a piece of coordinating ribbon around each of the lids and finished it off with a fun little tag.

The tags were done with the Best of Everything set.  I colored the stamp with Stampin' Write Markers (More Mustard, Soft Suede & Cherry Cobbler), stamped on Naturals White cardstock and punched them out with the Curly Label punch.  I punched a small hole in the corner and attached it to the ribbon bow with some Linen Thread.  On the backs of the tags I wrote what kind of jam it is.

Ok, I have a decorated jar of Mixed Berry jam up for grabs today.  To win be the first to correctly answer the following questions.

What charity does Stampin' Up! support, what is the stamp set to support said charity this year and how much has Stampin' Up! donated to date to said charity?

Remember, you have to correctly answer ALL of the questions to win.  Good luck!

Have an inspired day!

Embossed Fabric

Hello!  Today I'm going to share my favorite of the three cards my club girls made this month.  We embossed fabric!!!!!

This card has a lot going on!  It's an Early Espresso card with an Early Espresso Lattice cut with the Big shot.  The Lattice die is one that I definitely do not use enough!  Over top that is a strip of Old Olive which was stamped with the leaf image from Just Believe.  And, on top of that, is the fabulous focal point flower!

I used the new Fun Flower die in the Occasions Mini to cut my flower.  To get the look, I glued my fabric to a scrap of cardstock (I used the gluestick, but the Fabric Adhesive would work well too...with your glue stick you don't have to get the iron out though!) and then ran it through the Big Shot (fabric side down on the die).  After you have the flower cut out, you run it through the Big Shot again, this time with an Embossing Folder.  I used the Finial Press Embossing Folder and to accentuate the embossing, I gently rubbed my Early Espresso sponge over the flower.

It's finished off with a punched Rose Red flower and a flower ribbon slide from the Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware set which has a piece of Early Espresso Taffeta ribbon through it.

So, what do you think?  Which one of the fabric cards was your favorite?

Have an inspired day!

A Fabric Flower

What do you think of the fabric Stampin' Up! is offering?  Did you even notice it in the mini...LOL!!!  I was a little scared of it at first.  I mean...I paper craft and do not consider myself a sewer.  But, after going to Leadership in Nashville, I am a changed woman!  Stampin' Up! encouraged us to add just one thing to our business or lives (they're calling it +one).  Well, I have a lot of +ones and one of them was to incorporate the embellishments and fun stuff in the minis into my projects rather than be scared of it or hoard it!!!  And, they showed us some fabulous ideas to incorporate fabric into paper projects!!

So, I decided to show my club girls how fun and easy it is to incorporate fabric into their cards and projects!  It adds a fun dimension and texture to any project.  For the card I have today, I, again, used the Springtime Vintage Fabric (the Sweet Stitches one kinda creeps me out...only the orange fabric though!) and made it into a flower.

The card is Pear Pizzazz with a layer of Crumb Cake on the bottom.  The Crumb Cake layer is stamped with the En Francais stamp (which I sponged with ink before stamping to get a light, imperfect image...almost like a watermark).  There's a piece of Baja Breeze Seam Binding along the top of the Crumb Cake layer.  The flower is put on a Night of Navy tag which was cut with the Two Tags die.

It looks a bit familiar doesn't it?  That's because I used the same layout as this card I shared yesterday.  You can see how you can take the same layout and make it look completely different by just changing a few elements on the card!

The flower is made from 3 strips of fabric that are 1/2" x 6".  You lay the strips (right side down...the most vibrant side is the "right" side) in a star shape and glue them together in the middles.  Then you start folding the ends in, gluing them as you go.  It's finished off with a fabulous Springtime Vintage Button.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for my favorite of the fabric cards my clubs did this month.  Have an inspired day!

Playing with Fabric

Hello!  I hope everyone who had a long weekend this past weekend had a good one!  We had a quiet weekend hoping that Taylor will start to get better!  He managed to get the flu last week and is having a hard time fighting it off.  He's been sick for a week and a half and is now complaining that his ear hurts and sounds like he's getting a cold.  He's been sick for a week and a half now.  I'm glad there's no school this week, so he can just rest and get better!

My stamp clubs played with fabric this month and we had loads of fun!  Over the next few days I will show you the three cards they did!

I *heart* this card!  It's so simple, but so eye catching!  It reminds me of my Grandma and is the perfect card for her birthday.  Both my Grandma's have birthdays in June, so I will definitely be saving it for her (and making another for my other grandma!).

I started with a Not Quite Navy card base which I stamped with the Wonderfully Worn stamp.  This is such a great background set to add just a little something to a card!  I layered on a piece of Baja Breeze which has a piece of Rose Red Seam Binding around it and some paper piercing.  Both the Not Quite Navy and Baja Breeze pieces are sponged around the edge with Not Quite Navy ink.

The fabric is from the Springtime Vintage set.  You can see I layered a Rose Red tag (cut with the Lots of Tags dies) and an oval which I stamped with the rose from the Baby Blossoms set.  The Happy Birthday is from the Fabulous Phrases set.  I just put both stamps on the block in the position I wanted them and stamped away!  That's one of the perks of Clear Mount stamps!  There's a lot of dimension in this card!  The Rose Red tag is put on the card with dimensionals and so is the oval. 

A little tip...I have found that the SU Glue Sticks are great for sticking fabric to your cards!  One more little tip...I remember learning in Home Ec (a long time ago!!) that fabric always tears straight.  So, don't be afraid to tear your fabric into the size pieces you want ladies!  Not only does it tear straight, you also get a fabulous frayed edge!

And, one more thing....

Penny sits so good for pictures (Ollie always tries to eat the camera and doesn't stay still long enough!), so I get all kinds of great shots of Penny!  Sadly, I think I take more pictures of Penny and Ollie than the kids.  There's something about this one that just makes me laugh!!!  Maybe it's her ears...or the angle...I don't know, it just makes me laugh!  I wonder what she was thinking as I took this picture?!?

Have an inspired day!

Countdown to Christmas-Week 10

Good morning!  For today's countdown project I have a super simple, but cute, fabric ornament to share.  Remember this ornament?  Well, my Candy Cane fabric was feeling left out, so I had to make an ornament with it too.  I changed it up a but and made it more "fun" than the Deck the Halls ornament.

I started with the Scallop Circles (the one with the two scallop circles) and cut out two pieces of the large polka dot fabric with some batting sandwiched in between the fabric layers.  I love how easy the Big Shot can cut all those layers in one pass!  Then I sewed the layers together, making sure to add the ribbon hanger between the layers before sewing!

Then I took the Circles die and cut two of one of the circles.  I think I used the third biggest one!  I wanted the circles to be roughed up a bit, so I frayed the edges and stretched the circles a bit to loosen the fibers in the fabric.  These layers were puckered a bit and then tacked on by hand.  I just tacked them to hold the little pucker.  The button really holds them on.

The ornament is finished off with a Garden Green button from the Candy Cane Buttons pack.  I actually fed the red ribbon through the button holes before sewing the button on and when I was done sewing, I tied the ribbon in a bow...it kind of hides my not so good button sewing!!!

The ribbon used for the loop to hang the ornament is Real Red 5/8" Grosgrain and the ribbon in the middle of the button is Real Red 1/8" Taffeta.

Are you looking for more fabulous handmade ornament ideas?  Sherri is doing 12 Days of Christmas Projects on her blog.  And, I happen to know she's going to be posting some GREAT and very creative little ornaments!  You'll want to click on over to her blog to check them out!

Have an inspired day!

Countdown to Christmas-Week 7

I have a sewing project for this week's Countdown project.  When I was making my rag bag from this post, my brain was swimming with ideas for the rest of my fabric.  I did use the Deck the Halls fabric for some little ornaments here, but like my Candy Cane fabric, it was just sitting on my desk.  So, when I finished my bag, I started on a tree skirt for my mini Christmas tree!

I used the Pennant die for this project and cut out 8 of the large pennants (4 of each of the green fabric).  Then I simply sewed them together with the scallops out so that they would fray over time and look vintagey (is that even a word?!?...it is now!!!) and worn.  After they were sewen together, I cut the tips off the pennants to create a space for them to go around the tree.

Where each of the pennants meets, I stuck a scallop circle (also cut with the Pennant die) on with an Antique Brad...nothing fancy, just pushed the brad through the fabric the same way we use them on paper.

Did you notice all the fun little ornaments on the tree?  It's decorated for the Craft Sale my friend Sherri and I will be at this Saturday.  Come get check out the ornaments and the rest of our display between 9 and 3 at the Fritz Sick Memorial Center.  We are decorating our table half Candy Cane and half Deck the Halls...right down to our new Simply Adorned Jewellery!!!  We would love to see you so come on down.

That's all for today.  Have an inspired day!

Sew Cute

I've been sewing!  I decided that I should use my Candy Cane fabric before the mini ends and it's still sitting in the package on my desk.  So, I made a cute little bag!

I used two pairs of Carter's old jeans, some of my Candy Cane fabric, and some Big Shot dies.  I'm thrilled with how it turned out!

Here's my pattern...

I was inspired by a similar bag my friend Susan showed at the September event I've talked about many times.  Each of the squares was cut with the Scallop Square die.  They are doubled and an X is sewen on each one to keep the pieces together.  I layed out all my pieces that were sewen with the X's according to my pattern and then started sewing them together.  The best part is that you don't have to be super careful when sewing them together because you want the edges to be sticking out so they fray and get all worn looking.

My strap was two strips of the small polka dot Candy Cane fabric sewen together like a tube and then after being flipped right sides out the edges are hemmed a bit so that the handle would stay flat.  The handle was attached to either side of the bag and then a small scallop circle (cut from denim) was sewen on over the end of the handle.  I finished it off with a Candy Cane button (a pink one!) in the middles of the scallop circles.

Here's a closer look at the embellishment on the front flap.

This was cut with the Scallop Circles die and the Circles die.  The pieces are layered together and finished off with a button and some Pretty In Pink 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon.  I did heat the ends of the ribbon with a lighter to melt them a bit so they wouldn't fray in the wash.

My pictures don't do this project justice!  It's so cute in real life!

That's all for today.  Have an inspired day!

Fabric Baby!

Have you seen the new Holiday Mini?  If you haven't, you need to check it out online and then contact me to get your very own copy.  I guarantee it will become your best friend for the next 4 months and will become dog eared and very loved.  You will GASP everytime you turn the page...I will admit, I did!!!

So, I was most surprised by the fabric in the mini.  Surprised and delighted actually!  This fabric is FABULOUS.  You get three designs per package and quite a bit of each design.  There's also an instruction booklet that comes with it, which is also FABULOUS!!!

Ok, so I'm not a huge sewer, but I do know how thanks to my mom and three years of Home Ec in junior high!   But, since we have fabric now, I decided to dust off my sewing machine before Halloween this year (it usually gets used once a year to make Halloween costumes!), and make a Christmas Ornament.  And, have my girls who attended my downline meeting the other night make one too!

The instructions for this little beauty are included in the instruction booklet when you purchase this pack of fabric.  However, I used different dies for my decoration!  I know, big surprise...Lisa didn't exactly follow the directions!!!  I'm totally an "instructions are just a guideline" kind of girl!!!

I used the new Scallop Squares die for both the background and the tree on my ornament.  The ribbon is Early Espresso wide Grosgrain.  Did you notice the button?  Ok, here's a closer look...

I absolutely LOVE the huge buttons that coordinate with the fabric.  Goosebumps!  The button is Crumb Cake (which makes me even happier!!) and is just hand sewen on with some Linen Thread and then the Linen Thread is tied in a bow.

LOVE IT!!!   I think I will be making more of these for our Christmas tree this year!

Well, I really need to go to bed...it's way past late!  Have an inspired day!