Stampin' Up! 35th Anniversary Demonstrator Tea

Welcome Friends! Today I am going to share with you about a HUGE event I co-chaired here in Aiken, SC over the weekend. For the last four months I have been heavily involved in the planning of our Stampin' Up! 35th Anniversary Demonstrator Tea Party! Stampin' Up! is celebrating thirty-five fabulous years as a company and as part of their celebration, they haves selected thirty-five Demonstrator events world wide to attend. And yes, our Tea Party was one of the 35 events selected. We were blessed to be joined by the fabulous Brian Pilling from Stampin' Up!



So much went into the planning and execution of this event: creating a theme, venue search, event details, menus, coordination of products, creating kits, etc, You just cannot image. I say this rates up with planning a wedding! Also, we had attendees from South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Maryland, Indiana, Arkansas, Utah, and Calgary Canada!

The highlights of our weekend include a Friday night Showbox Swap at The Reserve Club at Woodside.



Saturday's Tea Party at the Aiken County Historical Museum.











I forgot to mention that I was the event caterer, with an assist from Publix. I made the tea sandwiches, the Victoria Sponge cakes, the decorated cookies, the yeast rolls, the lemon tarts, and the beverages. It was so much work!





Saturday Stampin' Kits and Product Showcases 

Each of the five of us who organized the event created a Make & Take kit for the attendees, except me. I made two M&T kits for everyone. Before the tea everyone made their six projects. After the tea, each of the five of us presented out Product Showcase, each featuring a different suite of products from the catalog. These are my M&T kits and my product showcase.


The card above was a "throw back" project, featuring an older Stampin' Up! stamp set. I chose this set because 1. TEA! and 2. This set is part of the founder, Shelli's Signature Collection.





I will feature some of the projects from my product showcase in the coming weeks.


Saturday evening dinner at Aiken's Pizza Joint.



Sunday morning brunch at the Cracker Barrel.


This weekend was so much fun, and so exhausting! But I would do it again!

Join Me For a Spring Tea Party and Catalog Launch

 


Welcome Friends! Today I am sharing an invitation to my Spring Tea and Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog Launch Party in Aiken, SC. The event is being held at a STUNNING recently remodeled Winter Colony Home in Aiken, The Constantine House. 

This three hour event will include a look at this stunning home, a lovely tea, Stampin' Up! card make n takes, my annual Buy One Get One (BOGO) sale with slightly used merchandise, and adorable goodie bags with gifts and NEW Stampin' Up! products. 
If the weather permits we will also visit the veranda and rear garden.

The cost of the event is $50 and includes all of the above. Reservation and payment is due by APRIL 25, via PayPal, Credit Card, or Cash. We still have a few openings. 

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this event. And more importantly, I am excited to share this event with YOU!

Contact me via email if you have any questions. I hope to see you there. 




Introducing Waves of Inspiration

 


Welcome Stampin' Friends! Today I would like to introduce you to a new suite of products released March 1st by Stampin' Up!, Waves of Inspiration. Each spring Stampin' Up! releases one new suite of products from the upcoming Annual Catalog. The annual catalog will be available in May, but this early release provides you with a little foretaste of the goodies to come.



I used this suite to create my March Class To Go. I created four cards (three are pictured here) using the suite. Anyone who orders either the stamp set and die bundle, or the entire suite (pictured below), will receive a kit in the mail to create the Class To GO cards.



I will be featuring this suite on my Instagram page in the coming days/weeks. I will try to add more projects to the blog feed as well. 



Stamp set above
Suite of products below



 
Product List

Simply Sketchin' Saturday Facebook Challenge

 

Welcome Stampin' Friends! Today I am going to share another sketch challenge from the Simply Sketchin' Saturday Facebook Group (click here to ask to join). This week's challenge sketch is pictured below. As you can see, I have taken a few liberties in interpreting the sketch.


I seem to have three stampin' focuses in my life right now, Waves of Inspiration, an early release suite from the upcoming Annual catalog, preparing for my upcoming March classes, and the Ukraine. I feel such sadness, sympathy, and outrage for the people of Ukraine. With that third focus constantly on my mind, I used today's Simply Sketchin' Saturday (because it is Saturday in Australia) to express my thoughts for Ukraine. 


I used a palate of Pacific Point blue, Daffodil Delight yellow, and Early Espresso, with touches of gold. I stamped the sunflower in Black Memento Ink, then colored it with Daffodil Delight light and dark Stampin' Blend Markers. I used two small rectangles of gold dot vellum and some gold leaves (both of which are leftovers from an older Paper Pumpkin kit), as well as a die cut circular mat and a scrap of gold and white designer series paper.


For my sentiment, I did not use a stamp. I created my own sentiment in a Word document and printed it onto white cardstock. I based my sentiment on the scripture in Isiah. I confess that I never truly appreciated that sentiment before. I generally think of a river as a peaceful, gently moving body of water. What I have failed to grasp previously is that a mighty river flows with such force that it clears obstacles and moves land (think of the mighty Mississippi River carving out the land of Louisiana, ever widening and changing). That is the type of peace movement I would like for the people of the Ukraine.


I am going to share one more quick Ukraine themed project I made this week (above). Straight from my Instagram page, my Ukrainian relief fund money box. A nice place to collect extra $1 dollar bills and change to donate to a relief fund.

Before I go, as luck would have have it (it truly was a coincidence), the Celebrating Sunflowers stamp and die bundle is currently on sale for 20% off, as well as 12 other bundles and our mini die cut machine. Check out the sale HERE at my online store. Select Shop Now, Savings and Promotions, and then select Savings Are In Bloom.

Thank you for stopping by today. The products used on my Simply Sketchin' Saturday card are listed below (but remember, the Sunflower Bundle is on sale for $45.50).


Product List

SIMPLY SKETCHIN' SATURDAY FACEBOOK GROUP


Welcome Stampin' Friends! Today I am going to share another sketch challenge from the Simply Sketchin' Saturday Facebook Group (click here to ask to join). This week's challenge sketch is pictured below. As you can see, I have taken a few liberties in interpreting the sketch.

 

For today's card I chose to step up the background of the sketch a bit using both Stampin' Up! DSP (designer series paper) Expressions In Ink (available in our annual catalog and in my online store) and one of the dies from the Blossoms In Bloom Bundle (also available in the annual catalog and online). I have been using so many new products recently that it was lovely to spend some time with an old friend, which is how I think of the Blossoms in Bloom bundle.


The DSP is so pretty and vibrant that I chose Melon Mambo cardstock to use as my base card. My happy birthday sentiment is stamped onto basic white cardstock in Melon Mambo ink using the Best Year stamp set. I added a layer of vellum behind the sentiment in order to help the sentiment stand out. I found the the Polished Pink ribbon blended close enough to use with the Melon Mambo.


The card element measurements are:
  • Base card 11 x 4.25 inches, scored at 5.5 inches
  • DSP layer 4 x 5.25 inches
  • Vellum strip 4 x 1.5 inches


If you are a Facebook user I hope that you will join the group and view the other participants cards. We would love to see your card creation using this sketch also.


Product List