Birdseed Wedding Favors and Bridal Shower Invitations

Two more fabulous projects from the Wedding Project Idea swap that I held with my LovenStampfuls demonstrator team!

This first is by Mary Ellen Stites, and she free-handed the wedding dress, then used her Big Shot and her Textures Plates to add the gorgeous dry embossing, and completed the dress with the Scallop Border Punch at the top and the bottom.

Oh, and the waistline? **Very clever tip: She added a flat strip of the White Organza Ribbon and then tied another little piece of the ribbon into a knot and added the knot on top of the strip with a Mini Glue Dot. That way the ribbon stays nice and flat on the bottom, but she still has the knot as an accent!!


Oh, and the stamp set is the "Please Come" stamp set, and includes both the "you're invited" words and the words for the inside of the card.

These are the cutest little birdseed pouches, created by Laurie Stiegelmeier! She used Almost Amethyst cardstock (a popular wedding color) and the Scallop Envelope Big Shot Die to make the envelopes--so simple!! The stamping on the outside of the envelope is the Together Forever stamp set, and the ribbon is White Taffeta, attached with a Mini Glue Dot.

Check out more of my recent wedding ideas...

Ed Emberley Fingerprint Drawings

Ever stamp without any stamps? Today my daughter Abby and a friend had fun playing with a fabulous book: Ed Emberley's Fingerprint Drawings. Some things never go away--I remember playing with this book when *I* was a kid!

The idea is to make a fingerprint (using Stampin' Up! Classic Pads, of course ;-) and then use a pen to add feet, eyes, etc. to turn the print into something fun. Here's a little froggie that one of the kids created.

But of course when you're 5 or 6, inking your fingers quickly degenerates into inking your whole hand, and then to mixing as many colors on your hands as possible...


And this is AFTER the hand washing and the rubbing alcohol!! Good thing art projects are a perfectly acceptable reason for messy stained hands. It's just the mark of a good stamper in the making!

If you're a pristine stamper (one who hates to mess up the wood block on a stamp or the sides of an ink pad) then LOOK AWAY--you won't like the condition of my pads after this art adventure :-) Hey, at least I have my reinkers handy--it will be easy to add some ink to these and get them back to their "true" colors in short order.

LovenStampfuls Wedding Ideas Swap

I had SO much fun this evening! This was the night my LovenStampfuls demonstrator group gathered for the "WOW" Wedding Idea Swap. I can't wait to share these ideas with you!! The projects were fabulous. Some were what I'd call "over the top" and would make for very special occasions, and some were projects perfect for creating "en masse" if you needed to have, say, 200 wedding favors to pass out.

This first card was designed by Liz Orr, and uses the Big Shot Texturz plates to add design to the bridal gown. And see the bodice for the dress? The shape is cut from a 5-Petal Flower Punch piece! So clever! Just use 2-Way Glue Pen to add the Dazzling Diamonds Glitter.


This next project was shared by Shirley Casey, and is a set of really cute favor boxes. They're based on the 2-4-6-8 box idea, where you score a piece of 5.5x8.5" cardstock at 2, 4, 6 and 8", and the other direction at 2". Trim up the 2" on all 4 score lines and fold into a box shape, creasing the sides in like paper bags. If you haven't made these before, you'll want to give them a try!


Keep an eye out--I'll have more Wedding Ideas to share in the next few days!

Why A Stampin' Up! Demonstrator?

That's a good question... and although I don't remember this at all, my mom and my husband both say that I agonized over whether or not to sign up to be a demonstrator. Of course that was 7 years ago, and looking back I can easily say that I made the RIGHT choice to go ahead and do it!

What has Stampin' Up! done for me over the past 7 years? Wow...so much that I can barely touch on everything, but I'll give it a try :-)

• Friends... I can't believe how many wonderful people I've met through Stampin' Up! Of course there are my customers (friends!) and my demonstrator family (upline, sidelines and downline members), plus all the demonstrators I've met all over the country. These are women (no offense--I'd be happy to have men in my downline, too!!) who share my passion for stamping and my love of sharing stamping with others. I often say, "You're never a stranger when you're with stampers!"
• Creativity... If you're reading this Blog, you know you love to stamp! I absolutely love that I get paid to be creative and share my projects and ideas. And I love that being a demonstrator gives me an endless stream of ideas to copy! ;-) I see so many cool projects at events like my monthly LovenStampfuls Stamp N Share demonstrator event, or our recent Spring Into Stamping demonstrator event, or once a year at Stampin' Up!'s Convention or Leadership events--I just wish I could skip sleeping entirely and stamp 24 hours a day!
  
• Vacations... I never imagined when I signed up, my husband and I have had the chance to go on 7 FREE cruises, courtesy of the Stampin' Up! incentive trip program... Alaska, the Western Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Panama Canal, Bermuda, Hawaii and next year is the Southern Caribbean. We're talking 7 or 8 day cruises, with paid airfare, fabulous veranda suite cabins and gratuities included! Let me just point out that we wouldn't vacation this good without Stampin' Up! ;-)
  
• Recognition... How often do we hear, "wow Mom, you really did a great job picking up my Barbies today," or a rousing, "Way to empty that dishwasher!" I love my family and feel very appreciated at home, but there is something cool about the congrats that go along with having my card posted on the Demonstrator Stamper's Showcase (on the demo website), or an email from a downline member that says I really helped to inspire them. Stampin' Up! is great at recognizing us, from the pin that comes from selling our first $1000, to the march across the stage at Convention for reaching the $200,000 sales milestone, to the chance to be called up on stage at Convention and receive a dozen roses and be asked to serve on the prestigious Stampin' Up! Advisory Board.
  
• Income for our family... Vacations and recognition are nice, but the income from my business that pays our monthly mortgage, well, that's pretty important too. Lots of non-stampers think that we get paid in free stamps. And I do get lots of free stamps (yay!) but being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is a viable business opportunity. And since I've been around and tried different ways to build my business, I absolutely love coaching my downline members and helping them to use my experiences to benefit them, too.
  

So why talk about all this now? And yes, it does sound a little cheesy, but seriously, everything I've said is 100% true :-)

The point is that I'd love to share the opportunity to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator with you, too. I love how much Stampin' Up! has done for me, and I know being part of Stampin' Up! can do great things for you, too--whether you choose to focus on ordering your own supplies at a discount for the next 6 months or decide to pay a monthly household bill with your income. Or hey, being a demonstrator can at least support your stamping addiction! No matter what you want to get out of being a demonstrator, my job is to help you get just that.

It's ALWAYS a good time to become a demonstrator :-) The regular Demo Starter Kit is $199 and has product at a fabulous discount--more than $335 in value, so that's a heck of a discount. Oh, and don't forget that you get FREE shipping on your kit, no matter which one you choose!

Either way, you'll love being part of the group--stamps at a discount, more ideas than you can use in a lifetime, friendly fellow stampers, a chance to build a business on your own terms--let me know if you have questions!

And of course if you're ready to sign up, you can do that on my website (password: lovenstamps):
http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/megloven/join

Oh, and did I mention that you can watch a video to learn more about Stampin' Up! and being a demonstrator? Be sure to check it out!

Fifth Avenue Floral Wedding Invitation Ideas

This month I'm holding a special swap for the demonstrators in my group who have reached certain sales or recruiting goals during the last quarter. I do this every 3 months for my LovenStampfuls group, and I'm REALLY excited about this round! Usually we don't do a specific theme, but with so many people asking for wedding ideas lately, I decided to go with a wedding theme this time.

These are my swaps--I decided to do a wedding invitation set, so both the invitation and the response card are shown. The top layer of the invite is Stampin' Up!'s Cardstock Vellum, and I stamped the background Whisper White layer using the fabulous Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set in Basic Gray and Pink Pirouette.

The Pink Pirouette cardstock layer in between the vellum and the white cardstock was dry embossed with my Big Shot and the Manhattan Flower embossing folder. It's really hard to see in the picture, but trust me, it looks great in person :-) The layers are finished off at the top using matching Pink Pirouette Striped Grosgrain Ribbon.

My favorite things about this wedding set? This would be a simple invite to finish if you needed to make even 200 or 250 of them, and the cardstock and supplies would be easy to purchase in small or large quantities.

Be sure to check some of my other wedding idea posts...

Designer Series Paper Flowers by Becky

My friend Becky did these fabulous paper flowers, similar to the ones on page 9 of the Occasions Mini Catalog.

For the fringe flowers: to begin, she started with four strips of 2" x 12" Designer Series Paper (good thing the DSP is on sale in May!) Becky cut the strips along one side for the 'petals', then rolled each one around a bamboo skewer with Sticky Strip to adhere them. She folded back the fringe from the last 2 strips to create the outside petals.

For the petal flowers: she cut Designer Series Paper into freehand petal shapes, and attached after 2 strips of the 2" x 12" fringed paper.

Shown here are flowers created with the Washington Apple and Bella Rose Designer Series Paper.

And the best part?
They never need watering! :-)

Decor Elements on Ceramic Plates

Maybe you noticed the little ceramic plate on my end table in the Fair Booth that I had recently... So I wanted to give you a close-up view.


I picked up the plate at Kohl's on sale (gotta love clearance!) and added the Manhattan Flower Decor Element in Kraft, then added the "L" monogram in Chocolate Chip.

The plate is washable by hand, so I can use it, but I don't plan to put it in my dishwasher

Baby Boy Flip Album

I have been LOVING this Flip Album design lately! This is a Flip Album that I did for someone for her soon-to-be first baby. She received the Flip Album empty, and she'll have a chance to put baby's first pictures in the ready-to-use book. Because we all know how busy new moms are when the first baby comes home!


The Simply Scrappin' Kit I used here is a retired one from last year, so it's no longer available. But you can apply the design to ANY Simply Scrappin' Kit--they're so easy. This book took me about 45 minutes to put together (don't tell Sara--she thinks it took hours ;-)

If you'd like to make your own flip album, I have kits still available for the Sunshine Garden Simply Scrappin' Kit. You can see details or purchase a kit online at http://flipalbumkit.eventbrite.com

And you can even see a video of how this album works.

Mahomet Get Up & Go Family Expo

This past weekend I had a booth at a community business event in Mahomet, Illinois, where I live. We were only there a few hours, but I felt like I talked to a lot of excited potential stampers!

Most people were excited about either the Stamp & Scrap Staycation that I'm offering in July, or the Summer Scrap Camp for Kids that begins in June.

Registration for the Staycation is open now, and you can see details and sign up online, or you can download the registration and details.

To just be a little bit different, I took in a small rug, the rocking chair from my living room and a little end table for display. You might be able to see the Decor Element plate that I put together as my "portable wall" to show how much fun the Decor Elements can be! But since you're visiting my blog, you can find out through several of the Decor Elements posts I've put up here recently :-)

And in the KIDS area, I had a table set up where kids (of all ages!) could use a Stampin' Around Wheel to create a custom lunch sack. They even got to use the Crimper to add a crinkled touch. School's nearly out--have to use those lunchbags soon!

Stamp & Scrap Summer Staycation

• Looking for an excuse to get away for a day?
• Want to have some space to just spread out your supplies, relax and stamp?

Then you'll want to join me for my Stamp & Scrap Summer Staycation!!

Definition: Staycation: a relaxing time spent near or at home, having a great summer without a traditional "vacation"

Saturday, July 25th
9 am til 9 pm
Middle Fork Forest Preserve
Penfield, IL (near Rantoul, IL)
Cost: $40, includes meals, goody bag, space to work, snacks & fun!

You won’t want to miss out on this chance to stamp and scrap the day away!

Registration is extremely limited, so send your $40 registration check in or register online to reserve your workspace for the retreat.

Bring projects to work on in this beautiful environment—this is the perfect time to work on cards or scrapbook pages! Bring your supplies and work on whatever you’d like, or sign up for one or more of the Bonus Classes offered during the day.

(and no, there won't be 6 people at each of those tables... You'll have plenty of space to work!)

Maybe you're vacationing this summer anyway, or maybe you're looking for a way to take a day at home for yourself--either way, you'll love being part of this fun event!

There are 3 ways to participate:

• Attend the Staycation
• Attend just for one of the 2 Staycation Classes
• Make the most of the day and Do It All! (both Staycation AND 1 or more classes at a discount!)
  

Details and registration are available online at: http://staycation09.eventbrite.com

Pretties Kit Ideas with Embossing Powder

Looking for more Pretties Kit ideas? I posted several in the last couple of weeks, but I wanted to add this project. I've been having so much fun with Pacific Point lately... I think I may have called it my favorite color a week or two back!


Here I've used the Pacific Point Textured Cardstock (on special in May!) for the base of my card.

A CARDSTOCK CUTTING TIP: Instead of making a 'normal' sized card, which is 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" closed, I tweak the size to make the most of my 12x12" cardstock. So I cut my 12x12" sheet into 3 pieces that are 4" x 11"... that way I can get 3 cards out of a sheet, rather than just 2 if I cut 'normal' sized cards.

I also used the Good Morning Sunshine Designer Series Paper, both for the Big Shot Top Note frame around the edge, and the Scallop Edge punched strip across the middle. Yes, this is the same paper that I used for the little owl Jelly Bean Box.


For the technique... just press your Pretties Kit flower directly into a Craft Pad (Summer Sun used here). Then pour Clear Embossing Powder over the flower and heat with your Heat Tool. If things start to get smoky, don't panic--it's actually steam coming up from the silk flower.

Supplies:
Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Inks: Pacific Point Classic Pad, Summer Sun Craft Pad
Papers: Good Morning Sunshine Designer Series Paper, Kiwi Kiss and Pacific Point Textured Cardstock, Whisper White,
Accessories: Round Fire Rhinestone Brads, Boho Flower Punch, Big Shot, Top Note Die, Little Leaves Sizzlit, Scallop Edge Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Pop-Up Glue Dots, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Pacific Point Striped Grosgrain Ribbon

This card is one that I demonstrated on the 'Main Stage' at our Spring Into Stamping demonstrator meeting 2 weeks ago. You can still join my group if you're interested! The Demo Starter Kit is always a great deal, and with the $75 Special Kit in May, it's too good to pass up!

Fifth Avenue Floral Mother's Day Cards

Can I just say now that I love this technique? It's so easy and produces gorgeous results every time! These are a set of Mother's Day cards that I actually got mailed and delivered BY Mother's Day! :-)

For the technique, I used the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set (from the Manhattan Stylewatch) and heat-embossed the rose using White Embossing Powder. Then I placed drops of reinker inside the lids of my ink pads (here were Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette and Apricot Appeal) and used my Aquapainter to color in my flowers.

Of course I had to add a little bit of Dazzing Diamonds with my 2-Way Glue Pen, and the Big Shot came in handy for cutting out the Little Leaves diecuts in Kiwi Kiss cardstock, and of course the fabulous SU-exclusive Top Note die, which I dry embossed with my Big Shot, too.

Oh, and you might have noticed the fun alphabet letters on two of these cards... yup, that's the NEW Jumble Alphabet, hot off the presses! It's coming in the 2009/2010 Stampin' Up! Catalog that comes out July 1st, but you can get it early during May, AND at a 20% discount! (Check out the May specials if you haven't already). The Designer Series Paper I used (Bella Rose) is also on the May special--buy 3 DSP and get 1 free!).

And one last little touch... on the insides of the cards I used a Scallop Circle diecut (Big Shot again) so that I didn't have to write on the Riding Hood Red cardstock.

Little Trees Circle Pop-Up Card for Stamp Club

I promised another circle pop-up card, and here it is! This is the Trendy Trees stamp set version that my Stamp Club members will be making this week during Club.


If you've never joined me for my Stamp Club with Meg, feel free to try it out this week! You can come any time as a guest and either pay a $10 supply fee or it's free with a $19.95 minimum order placed that night.

In May we meet the 11th, 12th and 14th, and it's from 6:30 to 8:30 in my Stamping Studio in Mahomet, Illinois. Contact me for directions and to let me know which night you're planning to join us!
For this card we're using the Raspberry Tart Designer Series Paper, plus Classic ink in Kiwi Kiss and Rose Red. The circles were cut with the Circle Scissor Plus (love it!). The greetings are from the Garden Greetings stamp set that I received for free at the Stampin' Up! Manager's Reception back at Leadership in Orlando last January. Need I point out that I LOVE being a demonstrator and that you could join the fun? ;-)