The New Silicone Craft Sheet - WOW!!!!

I mean really... WOW! Have you had a chance to play with the Silicone Craft Sheet yet? WOW!

School begins tomorrow morning, and as you saw from my earlier post just a couple of days ago (here), I'm working on several projects at this moment. So, the boy mentioned tonight that he'd like me to cover his composition books with his Yoda paper (BIG Star Wars fan). You know, like I did for him LAST year (here's that post). I literally had TWO pieces left. JUST enough for two notebooks for him!  :)

And because he likes to have his name on things, I used my new Typeset Alphabet Bigz Dies. FYI - these are the PERFECT size for names on notebooks! (And, if you have a $400 workshop, you can get this beauty for 50% off!)

Well, if you've ever played with alphabet die cuts, they are little! They don't seem like they are, but when you go to put the adhesive on it, they seem really small! I usually get the adhesive on my grid paper in addition to the die cut!

SO, because I was waiting for the brownies to come out of the oven (gotta have chocolate to pack for the first day of school lunch!), I took the extra minute to pull out my Silicone Craft Sheet. Again, WOW! This thing made putting adhesive on those alphabet die cuts SO STINKIN' EASY! I have no idea why I haven't used it before now - but I'm keeping this thing CLOSE from now on!

No adhesive stuck to my grid paper, the table, anything. It just didn't stick - except to where it was supposed to stick! If you haven't used yours yet, or if you don't have one yet, get one! That $5.95 price is such a deal! You can see right through this thing! And it is SO worth not having the aggravation of the adhesive sticking to my grid paper!

If you are coming to my workshop on Saturday (August 25th) at 1pm, make sure you try the Silicone Craft Sheet - you will LOVE it!

Here's a picture of the Silicone Craft Sheet on top of the boy's notebook with one of the die cuts. See how you can see right through it?! This thing is just wonderful. I may have to order a couple of extras - since they are only in the Holiday Catalog.
Dawn Stock Stamping Stampin
The boy's notebook for school

Hope you enjoy the notebook I made for the boy. He's fast asleep now and will be so pleased when he loads his backpack tomorrow with these notebooks.


Parents hold their children's hands for a while, their hearts forever...
(Author Unknown)

Happy Birthday America!

Crafters -

Today is Independence Day! Happy Birthday America!

I was fortunate enough last night to be able to watch the Columbus fireworks on TV with my family. This is Columbus' 200th year, so they really did it BIG! HUGE, as a matter of fact!

Red, White, and Boom 2012 was "BOOMing" as the news reported. If you missed the show, or are looking for something really good on TV tonight at 7pm, here's what one of the local stations wrote on their website: "If you missed the fireworks, don't worry! NBC4 will rebroadcast the biggest Independence fireworks display in the Midwest, Red, White & BOOM!, on Wednesday, July 4 at 7 p.m." and here's the article. Hope you enjoy the show as much as I did!

I loved watching the entire time (it was about 30 minutes or so), but I have to tell you - the last 10 minutes were FABULOUS! The colors, the coordination, the display, and the presentation were WOW! Isn't that neat? We plan our cards using the same thought-process - the colors, the coordination (of those colors), the display of the card, and finally, the presentation to the card recipient. Two totally different things - fireworks and cards - and yet, the behind the scenes thought-process is very similar is some ways...

Later this week, I'll be prepping for my downline meeting at the end of the month. Yes, I'm a bit of a planner...  :)  And the theme for my downline's shoebox swap is the "10-minute card." I may have to listen to the soundtrack from the Red, White and Boom show while I put together my shoebox swap card!

And if you'd like to stroll down Amnesia Lane with me for a minute... Here's me, about 25 years ago...
Me - from many, MANY, years ago...

And my kid brother and me together at our Grandma's...
Although he's my kid brother, he's WAY taller than me!
(don't you just LOVE my 80s hair!)

And our Grandpa from many more years ago...
My uncle and his boys look a LOT like my Grandpa!

When you see our military today, both current and veteran, please thank them. Our many freedoms come at such a price and at great sacrifice to them, yet they do so willingly. I thank God that we have a volunteer military in this country and I thank the many men and women and their families for blessing OUR lives so that we may continue to enjoy those freedoms.

Thank you! And Happy Birthday America!

Flores Suaves

Flores Suaves is another one of my "go-to" stamp sets. I'll bet you don't recall seeing this stamp set - unless you have been to one of my downline meetings, come to one of my card classes, or have the Spanish Supplement. Yes Virginia, the Celebrando Creatividad Hispanic catalog (some refer to it as the Spanish Supplement) also retires tonight at midnight. The good news is that there is also an MDS/Digital Download available here!

So using the retiring InColors markers, I began with this card.
Flores Suaves Stamp Set
Just used Poppy Parade and Pear Pizzazz markers on Blushing Bride cardstock.
Don't forget to decorate the envelope too!

Then, because I hadn't used the Peach Parfait color yet (I did stamp the butterfly inside using Concord Crush), I added the script in Peach Parfait - I wanted to use ALL FIVE retiring colors on this card. So, this bumped the card up just a bit with the masking technique (let me know if you want this technique demonstrated at YOUR workshop!).
Added the script stamp in Flores Suaves using Peach Parfait.
Really steps it up, huh?

And finally, because I did want to add some of the Concord Crush to the front of the card, I added some Concord Crush Stitched Poly ribbon, to really amp it up!
Added just a little bit of the Concord Crush Stitched Poly Ribbon.
REALLY amps up the card!
AND I used all five of the retiring InColors on this card!

And here are the cards, side-by-side. I like all of them!
Left was the starting card, using only two markers and one stamp.
Middle adds another marker and stamp.
Right adds a bit of ribbon.
Three cards.
You decide which YOU like the best and then make it yours!

If you wish to recreate this card, here are the supplies you will need - AND you'd better hurry - They retire tonight! Some of them are even REDUCED! Oh - the MDS download will still be available...
Blushing Bride Cardstock - individual package is now sold out!
  (or the InColor Assorted Cardstock, if you want all of the colors - available in 8.5"x11" size ONLY)


Let me know if you have any questions!


Change to Stampin'Up!'s Policy

Crafters -

As many of you know, I just rejoined Stampin'Up! after waiting six months (their rules, not mine). Believe me, every time I called them, emailed them or had contact with them, I let them know that I thought six months was a little long. Everyone does things for different reasons, and I won't get into all of that right now, but sometimes changes need to be made.

Well, Stampin'Up! listens to their demonstrators (I'm confident I'm not the only one who contacted them about this). They are changing the 6-month waiting period to just 90-days! While this didn't help me, because it was not effective until this month, it may help someone else.

There is not a card or creative post today. We worked on 5-yards of mulch this evening. Team Stock completed it within 6 hours! And I'm a little tired...  :)  But in a good way. I'll be back at crafting tomorrow - remember the old catalog ends on the 31st. You have but a week to order from the retired lists. Here's what five-yards of mulch looks like in the driveway in the early afternoon.
Five cubic yards of mulch.
When it was delivered, I thought... that doesn't seem like very much.
My body is now telling me that it WAS very much!  :)
And here's what it looks like after dark! But it is DONE!!!! Thanks so much to my wonderful husband for all the help with it. Isn't it nice to have help?
And it is all gone!
YEAH TEAM STOCK!!!!

Jobs and chores just seem to go faster when you are working WITH someone, huh? Crafting time just SPEEDS by when I'm with my friends. How about you?


Then the Lord God said,
“It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a helper who is just right for him.”
- Genesis 2:18 (New Living Translation)


Alrighty then, onto the statement from Stampin'Up! If you are a former demonstrator or thinking about changing your upline for whatever reason, here's what Stampin'Up! listed:
********************

Change to Rejoin Policy

May 22, 2012
We regularly evaluate our demonstrator policies, and review your feedback on how they impact you and your businesses. We have recently reviewed several policies based on feedback, and would like to announce a change to our rejoin policy that became effective May 1, 2012 

The previous rejoin policy states that, once a demonstrator drops, she can either sign up again immediately under the same upline (if that upline is active), or wait six months and sign up under a new upline. The change, effective May 1, is that now a demonstrator must only wait 90 days from her effective drop date before signing up under a new upline. The effective drop date is the last day of the month in which she resigns, or the last day of the pending month if she fails to meet her quarterly minimum.

The purpose of this change is to reduce a barrier to returning to Stampin' Up! once a demonstrator has dropped. We recognize that many circumstances can contribute to a demonstrator deciding to drop or resign her business with Stampin' Up!, and there may be legitimate reasons for a demonstrator to join a new downline group. While we want to accommodate these demonstrators' needs, we still need to protect the stability of an upline's business, therefore in addition to the 90-day waiting period, sales history, downline, and title cannot be restored when a demonstrator is dropped and rejoins, and she will be considered a brand new demonstrator.

Over the next couple of months, we will announce a few more changes in policy designed to make your business a little easier, so stay tuned!
********************

Happy Mother's Day!

Crafters -

Today is May 13th and it is Mother's Day. This morning, our son woke up and gave me his store-bought card. He picked out a wonderful card. Then I was served Cinnabon cereal, complete with him pouring the milk for me, I made my cup of coffee and we enjoyed breakfast together - WITHOUT THE TV SET ON!!!!   :)  The boy even read me the comics - wasn't that sweet?

Then the best part happened. He said "mom, why don't we make a Mother's Day card for you?" Well... what could I say? Of course! He told me that he was going to use his own stamps (he has several!).

SO, this is what his work area looked like while he was crafting.
The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree, huh?
And here is the final result
Front of card - in English and Spanish (thanks to Google Translate!)

Inside of the card - in multiple colors!

And the back of the card!


Let me assure you, THIS card will be treasured for years to come.

...his mother treasured all these things in her heart. - Luke 2:51b


AND, he had ink on his fingers - as the saying goes "If there is ink on my fingers, there's a smile on my face." When I told him that, he smiled. What a wonderful gift...

Enjoy your day with family and friends.

OH - he also wanted to make a Mother's Day card for a friend of mine, Donna. She doesn't have children, but she and the boy have a running count of how many more hugs she has than I do (last count was around 700 or so but I'M NOT COUNTING!!!!). Anyway, he told me "she's like a mom to me, so I'm going to make her a card too." We're hoping to see her at church so he can give it to her. Hope she likes it!

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