Make a Difference

Bright and early tomorrow morning I am flying out to Southern California to hang out with some really cool chicks at the 4th annual SoCal Stamp Mania hosted by Jami Sibley, Emily Gunnell and Joy Kennedy, each a paper genius. I cannot wait to meet up with my girlfriends in the California sun.

 Here is my shoebox swap that I prepared for the main event on Saturday afternoon. It sure is intimidating to plan a shoebox swap for members of the SCS Dirty Dozen and alumni. I chose a favorite, can’t mess it up, Roses in Winter.

The colors are Cameo Coral, Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery and Chocolate Chip on Shimmery White cardstock. I have used a few of my favorite accents to kick this up a notch. First off, there is piercing in the chocolate strip along the bottom, it’s hard to see in the photo. Second, I just <heart> the chocolate crinkle ribbon from the SU! Winter Mini - Flirty Collection. I usually cut off an inch - inch & a half and tuck it into my grosgrain knot. Gives it just a touch of punch. And, finally, I touched up the smallest petal detail on the roses with a hint of stickles - Star Dust to give it a little extra glimmer.

Well, I haven’t packed my bag, and I need to head out early! Enjoy your weekend, and I’ll have some fun photos to share when I get back to reality next week!

Recently, I was reading some discussion about what a good upline for a direct marketing company, like Stampin’ UP! should or should not do. I thought I would take a minute and introduce reader’s to my upline, Mrs. Phyllis Shepperd from Newnan, GA.

This is Phyllis and myself at the 2007 Leadership Conference in Houston, TX. What a blast! I invited Phyllis back to our room for a little R&R before the Manager’s Reception and it turns out that my roomie, Jenn Balcer and I are BOTH in her group, The Stampin’ Flock! Good times!

Anyway ~ just wanted to comment that Phyllis is the perfect upline for me. She’s actually my 2nd level because my friend and direct, dropped several years ago. Phyllis is informative, touches base with me quarterly through a newsletter to all of her downline (we are almost 1000 stamper’s strong) and most importantly, she is AVAILABLE when I need to discuss something with her. Honestly, it’s only about twice a year that I touch base with her for business, but she always gets me the info or answer’s I need. She’s been with Stampin’ UP! for so long (her demo # is only 3 digits, ladies!) that she is a wealth of information, and she knows enough about the intricate ins and outs of the SU! business that she is always positive about changes that take place. It really helps me to keep things in perspective, and I need that!

Anywho ~ she’s su-pah sweet, and she goes to church with a mutual friend so I can keep tabs on her all the way down south. So, if you get emails from a lady yapping about the Stampin’ Flock, meet Phyllis. She’s a doll! Leave me a comment, too ~ since we’re family and all! <wink>

….that heaven cannot heal.

My Bible study group needed a sympathy card this week for a dear woman who does childcare for our church during Women’s Bible study time. She also watches my girls, on occassion. Ms. Margaret has a true servants heart, so it broke mine when she lost her sister after a short battle with cancer.

This is a layout I have used over and over again. One of the biggest stumbling box to creativity for me can be thinking I need to re-create the wheel everytime I stamp. Sometimes it’s more important to get the thing in the mail or in the hands of the one who inspired the card than it is to be stumped about the layout, KWIM?

The base of the card, So Saffron, is stamped with same color of ink using the Paisley BG stamp. The bird from Natural Beauty is stamped on watercolor paper with Timber Brown StazOn and watercolored with re-inkers and an aquapainter. The sentiment is from a wonderful sympathy set by Stampin’ UP! called Close as a Memory.  Scalloped punch from Marvy Uchida and ribbon from StarLitStudio. 

Of course, no card is complete without a decorated envelope. It just lets the recipent know that there is something special inside for them.

WowZa! What a week!

I had several happy mail days in the last week! Just thought I would share.

First off, I have a beautiful card from Nancy over at Nancy’s Creative Mess! This card arrived well over a week ago and got mixed in with a stack of papers that I set aside to revisit after my taxes were done! (Taxes are done! Taxes are done!) So, my apologies to her for not acknowledging this beauty much quicker. Please check out her blog and let her know what you think about her beautiful cards!

 The base is Morning Marigold and it’s layered with Rose Red and Artichoke. The Thinking of You is from an extremely versatile Stampin’ UP! set called Take Three. Very classic, warm look. I just love this card! Notice how her flowers are 3 different colors. Nancy has colored directly on the stamp with 3 different colors of marker. This technique is called “Omitting” because it allows you to ‘omit’ parts of the stamped image that you don’t want to show in your final project. Thanks for thinking of me, Nancy!

Then just 2 days ago, this gem showed up! Jeanine Eckert sent me this beautiful Bloggers RAK. You can see her blog by clicking here: Stamping With Jeanine! Give her a quick (or long) visit and take a look at her loot. I know she’d love to have you stop by.

This beautiful card is with the raging popular, Doodle This, from the Stampin’ UP! Spring Mini catalog. The colors are Cranberry Crisp and Cool Caribbean. (Oh, how I will cry when Cool Caribbean leaves the Stampin’ UP! color line in July!) The doodles are colored in, covered with bit of Crystal Effects for depth and texture, cut out and mounted on to the white base. There is also a row of Crystal Effects dots around the Cool Caribbean layer for an extra punch. Very pretty card! Thanks for thinking of me, Jeanine!

 Lastly, I got an envelope on Thursday from my upline, Phyllis Shepherd. It seems I was in her top 25 for sales in January and February. She is so gracious to send out awards every quarter to women in her group who excel.  Phyllis, thank you for your continued support of my business. Who can ever have enough SNAIL adhesive, and you were speaking my love language with the Accents and Elements tin, Little Reminders. These adhesive die-cuts are awesome for quick, cute projects…check with your demo to order before the Spring Mini goes away!

My youngest daughter, Courtenay, has a friend in her pre-school and Sunday school class named Grant. His mom, a friend through church, has been dating a wonderful young man for quite a while, and this weekend Wes, myself & the girls had the pleasure of attending the wedding that united this family. It was such a special time, and it gave me a fresh hope as Todd made it very clear that he was marrying Falon and Grant!

I thought I would share what has become my standard wedding gift with you! I am big on functional, useful gifts that don’t get put in a garage sale 5 years down the road. (You know what I am talking about!) So, last year, I started getting a basket and filling it with those special laundry needs that everyone hates to shell out $5 for when they need them for a one-time thing: Shout Wipes, Shout Color Catchers - these rock! but that’s another story! - Woolite, clothes pins, etc.

I put them all in the basket. Hold them in the place I want them with glue dots, wrap them with a shrink wrap basket bag and tie it all up with ribbon. Then I use my Stampin’ UP! Chipboard accents to create a monogram and tags for the basket. Falon is a scrapbooker, so maybe these accents will do double duty on some future project of hers.

The wedding was a wonderful part of our Easter weekend, and what better way to celebrate hope and new beginnings than with a wedding!

One of the cool things about the internet is the wonderful people who I have been able to connect with. Amazing paper crafters, sweet friends, cool chicks! Well, this morning, I want to give a ’shout out’ to my friend, Jami Sibley, paper genius! She and I are moderators together over at Splitcoaststampers so I have gotten to know her better. At the end of the month, I am going to California for an event that she and some girlfriends have planned so I get to meet her ‘live and in person’! Happy Dance!!

Go check out Jami’s blog: More is More! She has some COOL candy up for today, and make sure to check out her Easter post: The Grinch Who Stole Easter! Easter is my favorite holiday, actually the Lenten season: very personal, very special when you think about the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross for each of us. I know you’ll enjoy this cute poem that doesn’t let go of the real reason for Easter.

 Remember last month when I sent you to check on Kurtis Amundson’s blog? Well, he has had several great tips and tutorials in the last few weeks, but I can’t toot his horn to often now, can I? Tonight I stumbled onto his blog, and my jaw dropped. Go check out his blog tutorial that teaches you how to make your own custom watermark. His presentation is awesome! Folks, he hasn’t even graduated from high school yet!!?

Watermarking your card creations is all the rage for people who upload their creations in cardmaking and paper craft forums.  The main purpose is to protect your cards from image theft, but some of the watermarks are getting pretty fancy. My watermarks are basic and serve the purpose, but I just might have to invest in some new photo software.

I promise some card uploads tomorrow, but this tip was just too cool not to share! Have a good night!