Placed my first order!

I just placed my first order as a demonstrator! It was absolutely nerve-wracking! lol

What made it nerve-wracking is that your first order as a demonstrator, you get an extra 10% instant income off your first workshop order. Kind of makes you want to make it really worth it! With orders I received, then calculating how much I was willing to spend, then looking at all the discount possibilities both as hostess and demonstrator... It took forever comparing the different things and what would work best. Once I determined what amount I was going to spend, then the tough part was figuring out the free hostess items!

Now the tough part is going to be to wait. :D I will share about my delightful items once they come in! It's a good mix of things:

• 4 things from the Online Extravaganza
• things for the Big Shot
• ink pads
• paper
• some stamp sets
• some embellishments
• some punches
• the paper-piercing materials for brads
• a few gifts for people
• Frost White Shimmer Paint and sponge daubers (this lets you shimmer up your ink so that when you stamp, the image is colour mixed with shimmer/glitter!)
• heart-shaped treat cups--with Valentine's Day coming up, these will be particularly fun!

I will take a picture when it gets in!

Angel Policy

As I progress through this Stampin' Up adventure of mine, I find myself wanting to make all kinds of cards, but won't necessarily have many people I can give them to.

This has led to the natural thought, "Well, what if I tried to sell them?" I could see doing this. Maybe you have, too. If so, there's something you should know about.

Stampin' Up images are copyrighted. This means there are certain restrictions in place in terms of how people can use them. You CAN sell cards or other projects you've made with Stampin' Up images, but somewhere on the project, there needs to be a stamp that satisfies the Angel Policy.

What is the Angel Policy? You can read the full details here, and should read them if you plan on selling items using Stampin' Up images. One of the aspects of the Angel Policy is that you need a copyrighted indication on your project. This is available in the Digital Studio, but there are also stamps you can purchase. I'm about to purchase this set:

(Image borrowed from Stampin' Up site. Copyright belongs to Stampin' Up.)

Three stamps in this set, the Creatively Yours set on page 162, satisfy the Angel Policy. The others are neat stamps to have when giving away home made gifts, especially treats. :D There is another option in the form of the personalized "hand stamped by" stamps on p. 172. If you are going to be making a LOT of cards, having your name ready to stamp, instead of writing it all the time, could be a good thing!

Last Day! The little things :)

Last day of the Virtual Party! You do have tomorrow and Tuesday to get your order in on this party. :) (Well, you can always order from me, but if you live in the Edmonton area, it will likely save you shipping if you order for the party!) And don't forget: The Online Extravaganza ends on the 30th and the Holiday Mini ends January 3rd!


Let's talk today about all the extras that are needed. Stamps are glorious, ink and card stock a clear necessity. But what else do you need?

• Well, you need to think of things like envelopes. You'll be making your cards, right? What are you going to put the final product in? Check out page 182 for the variety of envelopes you can purchase. The medium envelopes are the standard envelopes for cards made by cutting an 8.5x11" sheet of card stock horizontally. Just a note that using one of the stamps used in your card, or something similar, and putting the image on the corner of the envelope can really add something special. :) 

• What about how you are going to get everything stuck together? I used to use glue sticks and the typical tape dispensers of double-sided tape. Then I discovered the Recollections version of the "snail" and was in heaven--until I tried the Stampin' Up SNAIL (p. 206).
  Now I can't stand my Recollections "snail" and can't wait until it runs out. While you are on that page, you might check out the other items and see what you might like. I really like the Stampin' Dimensionals; such an easy way to add some dimension to a card. I just made a card for my niece for her birthday (and forgot to take a picture for here! bah!) and put a cupcake from the Cupcake Punch on the front of it, using Dimensionals. My husband, of all people, looked at the card and was really impressed by the fact that this cupcake was like ones you see in cards from the store, all 3D. Dimensionals can really make a difference to a card! As for other adhesives, the 2-Way Glue Pen is a very easy way to get glitter to stick.

 

(All images taken from Stampin' Up online store)

• Speaking of glitter... On p. 201, you will find Dazzling Diamonds glitter. This is all I have used up until now for my cards. I use the 2-Way Glue pen where I want the glitter to be added, then you can use a big Ziploc hard container to hold the card over while you sprinkle some glitter onto the card, then shake off the excess glitter. If you want less mess, go for the Dazzling Details glitter glue available in the Holiday Mini. It will not be available to order after Jan. 3! Personally, I'm buying a couple of bottles and hoping it will make a reappearance later next year or even in next year's Idea Book and Catalogue.

• On  p. 207 in the Idea Book and Catalogue are some really great tools. If you have decided to buy brads, you will need a way to poke the hole without damaging the card, right? That's where the Paper-Piercing Tool and the Mat Pack come in. You need both--the Mat Pack protects things so the Paper-Piercing Tool doesn't poke holes into the surface you are working on. The Grid Paper can be very helpful to line things up when preparing a card.

• And, let's face it, you need a way to safely and effectively clean your stamps, which is where the Stampin' Mist Stamp Cleaner comes in, along with the Stampin' Scrub. The Stampin' Mist helps condition the stamps and keep them in good shape so they have the longest life possible. The Stampin' Scrub, now that I have one, is truly something you will love. You can get by with just the Stampin' Mist and a cloth or some paper towel, but with the Stampin' Scrub, it makes life that much easier--and the stamps clean better.

 
Well, I think I've covered a lot this past week. If you have any questions, post a comment, send me an email, anything! :) Thank you for visiting during this party!

If you have figured out an order, let me know!

Hostess Benefits

It's Day 6 and I'm trying to think of things that would be covered in a workshop! So today, let's cover a bit of "shop talk", shall we?


Let's talk Hostess Benefits.


Hostess Benefits start at as little as $200 in orders (before shipping and taxes). All it takes is to find a few friends who are willing to add onto your order and you could qualify for hostess benefits!

What kinds of benefits?

First of all, with a workshop order (whether you have held an in-person workshop or whether you are adding friends' orders onto your own; any kind of group order counts as a workshop order) of $200 or more, you get exclusive access to certain stamp sets. You will see in the catalogues pages with little titles that say, "Hostess." Even the mini has hostess items.

These are not products that you can buy; these are products you can get for free. Yes, for free.

With an order of $200, you earn 35 hostess dollars, which is the same as $35. You can choose the hostess dollars from the hostess sections of any active catalogue (be it the Idea Book and Catalogue, Holiday Mini or whichever catalogue is current) or non-hostess items from the rest of the active catalogues. You can use those $35 toward embellishments, paper, Big Shot plates, stamps, whatever you wish. As the workshop order reaches different levels in sales, your free earnings go up. Here are the different levels:

At $200 in workshop sales, you earn 35 hostess dollars.
At $265 in workshop sales, you earn 40 hostess dollars.
At $330 in workshop sales, you earn 55 hostess dollars.
At $400 in workshop sales, you earn 70 hostess dollars.

Until December 15th,  the rest of the level are extra special: at $450 in sales, you start earning an additional $45 in free product at each sales level!

I can do in-person workshops in and near Edmonton. If you don't live in Edmonton or if you would prefer to not do an in-person workshop and would just like to place an order in which you earn hostess benefits, contact me!

It's Day 5!

Day 5 of our week-long Virtual Party! What shall we have a look at today?

Let's talk about punches!

I love the punches. I wish I had many of them. They make life SO easy.  Not only that, but the cut-out shapes look so much nicer with the punch than by cutting them out with scissors. Okay, well, at least in my case.

There are so many projects in the catalogues and that I find online where there are nice circles, squares, other shapes, so clearly punched and perfect, that I sometimes think I should scrap everything else I think about ordering just to get more punches. Especially since I only have one right now. lol.

If you follow the link, it will take you to Stampin' Up's current punches. They are really so easy to use. I only have the Stampin' Up Cupcake Punch at the moment:

I will, however, be getting this one with my next order:

Both of these punches, as well as other punches, coordinate with a stamp set (or several!). The Cupcake Punch can punch some of the stamped images from the Create a Cupcake set:

If you look in the catalogue on p. 68, you will see that 3 of the images in this set have light outlines around them. Anytime you see that in the catalogue, it means that there is a punch that you can use to have a cut-out of the shape rather than just the stamp! (Also note that in the bar with the price and name, there will be a little note about where to find the coordinating punch or punches.) Of course, you don't have to stamp to use the punch--you might just want to use the punch with coloured card stock or a specific paper. You can see how to use a punch through many YouTube videos. Here is one about the Cupcake Punch. As you can tell, the potential combinations are ENDLESS.

You can see all the shapes you can make with the punches starting on p. 209. If you are looking at the catalogue online, keep in mind that the actual catalogue, the one you can hold in your hands, has the images at the size they will punch out. Online, keep in mind that the actual catalogue pages are 8.5" x 11". If you can get the catalogue to show up that large on your screen, you will have an idea of how big the punches are.

It's getting close to the time to order! What I will need you to email me (those who know my personal email or know me in Facebook can contact me that way, or even just phone me!) are:
*the item code (the little number that goes with the item),
*the name of the item, 
*your phone number and address (so I can make arrangements to drop the items off when they come in!) 
*and how you intend to pay. I can accept PayPal, I can take your credit card information or for people I know personally, I am willing to get payment by cash or cheque when I drop off the order. If you are placing an individual order online, you can just go through my site.

Not All Card Stock Is Created Equal

First time at the Virtual Party? Please have a look at the posts from Nov. 20 up to yesterday to get the low-down!

I'm going to take a bit of a different track today. I would like to talk about Stampin' Up's card stock.

That might seem like a strange thing to do, but it's very well worth it.

I have a lot of card stock that I've purchased in recent years for scrapbooking (which I only ever did one big project for and kind of stopped), for occasional card embellishments and just for crafty stuff. After I bought Stampin' Up stamps earlier this year, I just used my old card stock and even bought more things from a popular craft store (I think I'll keep it nameless).

I now somewhat regret the many card-making-related purchases from that craft store, as well as other stores, over the years.

Why? First of all, the quality of most of the card stock available there. Having used the Stampin' Up card stock more recently and being able to compare as I try to make some family birthday cards with my old materials, I am somewhat put out by the cheapness of the materials obtained from that and other stores--and I'm not talking the price. Some of the fancier paper and card stock is really good, I admit. But a lot of it, the stuff you see most... It just can't compare. The feel, the thickness, the way the ink sets on it... I wish all of my base card stock were Stampin' Up card stock.

Another thing that really hit me when I went to this craft store recently and went down the scrapbooking aisles to compare a bit, was that their base card stock collections are not nearly as varied as Stampin' Up's. If you have a look at pages 2 and 3 in the Idea Book and Catalogue, you will see all the lovely colours you can get through Stampin' Up. The collections are organized so that you can get a pack of a single colour or you can buy packs with all of the colours available from that collection, 10 colours per collection (5 colours for each of the In Color series). Now that's variety! In 50 different colours! The card stock colours are the same ones used in other Stampin' Up products, such as the ink pads, the Patterns Designer Series papers, Stampin' Write markers, watercolour crayons and all kinds of embellishments, like buttons, ribbons and more (see pages 176-180; the link will take you to 176-177). This kind of colour coordination at your fingertips is just wonderful. There are also Specialty and Designer Series Paper packs which match with the Stampin' Up colours. You can find those on pages 183-186.

When I first looked at the Stampin' Up designer stacks, I thought, "Oh, they're too expensive." Looking at the prices recently, I realize that I must not have paid too much attention to the price in the store: it's pretty pricey no matter where you go! I'm not sure why I've had in my mind that Stampin' Up was more expensive, but it's not always. It really is designed for just the average person who wants to make cards, scrapbook or do related crafts. Sure, their basic card stock is slightly more expensive than the basic brand at the craft store, but the basic brand, I have discovered, is really crummy in comparison! I don't want to buy that card stock anymore.

I feel like I'm on a soapbox here, but really, it's just my testimonial. I am a cheapskate, I admit it. I don't usually easily spend money on myself. My husband might not think twice about dropping down $60 for a new PS3 game he wants, even though he might have bought another one a few weeks earlier, and I agonize over whether or not I can justify a $60 stamp purchase--even though it's been months since I last purchased something. (Don't even ask me about my agonizing over which new cell phone and plan to get...)

Enough of that. Just think about it, go have a look at your popular craft store and see what I'm talking about. Of course, you can't feel the paper there and compare it to the Stampin' Up while you're there, nor can you see the difference once stamped. Or can you? Let me see if I can get photos on here that show the difference between using, for example, Whisper White and the white card stock from the local craft store:

 I want you to take a look at the quality of the stamped image.

Now take a look at this one:

Do you see the difference??

The second image is done on the Whisper White from Stampin' Up. While I had noticed a bit of a difference when making cards recently, I did not notice just how much of a difference the paper makes until I did this up for you all. I did nothing different for each one: I inked the stamp as usual, put the same amount of pressure, I actually tried repeatedly with the first paper (on the other side and even another piece) to try to get the image to stamp as nicely, putting more pressure, trying to dab on the ink pad longer before stamping. It would not do any better than what you see.

If you visit the particular store I keep talking about (I know at least some of you will know which one I'm talking about), you can see what's available for colours there in their basic card stock packs. Then I would encourage you to go back to the Stampin' Up catalogue and have a look at all the lovely colours available. And truly, they are lovely! I now have some card stock from "the" store that I didn't want in the first place because I don't find it a nice colour, but it came in a multi-pack with other colours I did want. I think all of the Stampin' Up colours are definitely usable.

All right, enough of that for today. See you tomorrow!

As always with this Virtual Party, keep looking through the catalogues, writing down what you are interested in--item code and name--and get closer and closer to making your final order decision! You are welcome to send in your order anytime and I will confirm it with you a day or two before I actually send it in.

The Big Shot

Yes, today, the third day of the Virtual Party (please check out previous days if you don't know what I'm talking about :D), the focal topic will be the Big Shot. Before we get started, I just want to remind everybody of the Online Extravaganza: http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/daisys/promotions . I finally got a chance yesterday to really look through everything and see the savings on some items that I really like and, well, gosh darn it, it's having me replan my own order for next week! There are some items that just seem too good to pass up, like the On Your Birthday stamp set (both in English and French) for 50% off, the Many Merry Messages, also for 50% off, and the Joyful Season Letterpress--after the 50% off, it's only $3.48. WOW!

Of course, you mustn't forget to keep looking at the Holiday Mini and Idea Book and Catalogue. :)


For today's "workshop presentation" part, I am going to talk about a product I love: the Big Shot.

I love the Big Shot. (Yes, I realize I'm repeating myself, but doesn't that say something?) I first used it earlier this year when I went to a friend's workshop. There is just something so cool about it. lol.  And yes, I took part of a promotion in October where you got one free if you signed up as a demonstrator. (Alas, that promotion is no longer available.) How could I pass that up? Or, in my 14-year old daughter's words: "What's there to think about?" As you can see in the link above, there is so much you can do with the Big Shot. You can:

• cut shapes in a variety of materials: paper, Stampin' Up wood sheets, cork sheets, magnets and even fabric!
• cut out shapes while embossing them at the same time (see the Embosslits Dies on p. 216 of the Idea Book and Catalogue)
• have ink *debossed* effects (see p. 217 for the Letterpress Plates)
• there are all kinds of embossing folders available (see p. 218-219 for those)
• the Texturz Plates are fantastic--they give a very subtle embossing
• just cut a variety of shapes with the Originals Dies (p. 220) or with the Bigz Dies (p. 222) or the Sizzlits Dies
• use dies and folders from other companies! Yes! You can use your Cuttlebug accessories with the Big Shot!
• do even more, like dies that help you make little gift boxes (no, not joking!) but I will stop linking the pages now. ;). Check out pages 216-225 (yes, that is 10 pages of Big Shot accessories!) for all the details.

The Big Shot is really easy to use and, really, just a lot of fun for some reason. My 14-year old daughter loves the Big Shot, too, and my 11-year old son likes to be the one to "build the sandwich" and turn the handle. I just showed it to my 6-year old niece this week and she is not only able to use it on her own for texture plates, but wants to keep going and going and going! It's just a fantastic product and so easy to use. Here are some videos for you to check out to see it in action, but do check out others:

• The Big Shot with Letterpress Plates http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJpeQ7fL5mw  (Don't pay attention to her mention of what's in the catalogue--the video is a year old!)
• The Big Shot with Texturz Plates http://youtu.be/JNFQq6opMpg
• Make a box template with the Big Shot http://youtu.be/2mpGfN0aqZM
• Setting up the Big Shot (for the dog! lol; so cute) and using it with dies http://youtu.be/llWG4nhS52E

If you decide to get the Big Shot and some dies, folders or plates, do make sure to see the description of the dies, folders or plates in the catalogue to find out what else you need to get. While the Big Shot comes with two plates, some of the dies, folders and plates require special platforms or pads to work properly. I will check your order and ask you if you have the required items, but it's always best for you to know ahead of time just what you need to buy to be able to use a product!


So, how about a project to share for today? Since Christmas is so close, how about another Christmas card?

(Not sure why my phone is leaving a smudge on the right-hand side. 

It did that to another photo. Hm... 

In any case, I believe this card was designed by Tamara Bertram. 

I made it at her house, anyhow.)

Another nice, simple Christmas card. The standard Whisper White for the card itself (you just take an 8.5" x 11" sheet, cut it in half horizontally, then fold each half; voilà! two cards!). For the purply colour, it's all done with Elegant Eggplant from the Regals Collection, both the card stock and the ink. The decorations image is a stamp from Merry & Type and the sentiment comes from the Word Play set. Use a 2-Way Glue Pen and some Dazzling Diamonds glitter and that's it! Very easy to do, yet just lovely.

As previously mentioned for Edmonton and area residents participating in next week's group order, when putting together your order list, write down the item, the item code and how many you want! I can take your order anytime, but I won't be sending it in until Nov. 30.