Leadership Day 1

Oh, what to blog that you guys find interesting? There is so much to see in this town, plus the weather is just beautiful, but I don't want you to hate me back in snowland!

Cactus wreath -

Making & taking with Stamper Kay -

The bag! The outside sleeve is reversible/removable. I got to have dinner with the head seamstress who designed this baby. ;)

Some extra special gifts at our make & take seats. The left item is a fabric notebook holder thingy that has pockets, and includes a little tag signed by Shelli. The right item is a fancy favor box holding chocolates homemade by one of the Stampin' Up employees.

Don't recognize the fabric pattern? Well, I haven't heard yet, but I bet it is a preview of things to come in the future.

And a couple of the decorations to the entrance to the theater where they are holding the Manager's Reception. Darn it, I don't get to go inside!

I'm hoping for lots of exciting things tomorrow. Of course, I'll keep you posted! Thanks for stopping by!

San Antonio Sightseeing

We are here, but Leadership doesn't officially start until tomorrow. Many of us came out a day early for some sightseeing.

Riverwalk -

Remember the Alamo -

San Fernando Cathedral -

We had dinner with friends at a Mexican restaurant. There were a bunch of us. I'm in there somewhere.

And musicians played for us!

Thanks for stopping by!

On My Way to Leadership... And a Web Special!

Today's I'm flying to San Antonio for my first ever Leadership Conference. I've been following all the happenings at Leadership for three years now, and I've finally built a downline, and I get to go! Can you tell I'm excited?

This year's Leadership is entitled "My Way". I'm sure we will learn more about how flexible a Stampin' Up business can be, working it into your life in your own way. Stay tuned for daily updates on what's going on.

Unfortunately, I won't be available for personalized service, so instead, a special! Place an online order through my demonstrator website and receive free shipping (10% of merchandise total), only through Sunday, January 22! I cannot reduce your order cost directly, so the free shipping will come in the form of a rebate.

Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned!

FM41 Patterned Thanks

What a perfect time for a "thank you" challenge. My daughter and I spent some time making some post-holiday thank you cards. Little Missy's were so cute, and she colored and designed them herself. I can't believe I only got a picture of a couple of them. Ack!

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a "Thank You" themed Project.
2. Or Make a project "Using Designer/Patterned Paper".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Thank You project with Designer/Patterned Paper".

Here is one of the ones I whipped off, inspired by the Clean&Simple layout website. Love how easy these CAS cards come together.

Stamps: Kind & Caring Thoughts; Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Urban Oasis DSP; Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Accessories: Circle punches.

And here's one of Little Missy's.

She's 4-years-old, so I'm impressed with how many layers she uses. She used a cute stamp set called Nursery Times.

Thanks for stopping by!

Simple Love Swap

For a second Leadership swap card, I wanted a clean and elegant card, focusing on the beautiful couple biking image from Take It To Heart.

It uses some fun stuff from the Occasions mini, but where's the embellishment?

It'd be the stitching. Since most people don't stitch on cards, especially for swaps, I didn't think they would mind.

Stamps: Take It To Heart; Paper: Baja Breeze, Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP; Ink: Riding Hood Red, Black Stazon; Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Hearts framelits, Tasteful Trim die, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mother Goose Time

The Nursery Times stamp set is so cute, and I have to think of a brilliant project for it... but in the meantime, a straight-forward swap card for Leadership. I made a couple versions.

I remember the Real Mother Goose nursery rhyme book when I was a kid, with the black & white pattern on the back. What it square- or harlequin-pattern? This led me to use the harlequin pattern from Backgrounds I Texturz Plates.

I added some clouds, because of course Mother Goose needs to fly. I can't get enough of these Itty Bitty flowers with pearls. I love making them!

If it's not a new stamp set and I'm not be clever with the image, then I'll beat down the swaps with cute details, right?

Stamps: Nursery Times, Petite Pairs; Paper: Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride, Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Just Eat Cake DSP, First Edition DSP; Ink: Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride, Pumpkin Pie, Blush Blossom, Basic Gray, Black Stazon; Accessories: Pearl Jewels, Aquapainter, Sponges, Itty Bitty punch pack, Circle punches, Cupcake builder punch, Square Lattice embossing folder, Backgrounds I Texturz Plates, 3" Circle die, Scallop Circle #2 die, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread.

Thanks for stopping by!

SUOC36 Try a New Technique

It's a new year, so why not try a new technique? That's today's challenge at Stampin' Up Only Challenges. With all my playing with ATCs, I'm a bit of a technique junkie. It is not so easy to find a technique I haven't tried.

I was inspired by Rhonda's post on the recent Stampin' Addicts Occasions Mini Blog Hop to try turning the flowers from Bordering on Romance into dogwood flowers.

Here's I used a dedicated aquapainter to paint bleach onto the flower. From there, the new part... I went back into the bleached areas and painted them again with Classic ink.

I found the bleached card stock absorbed much more water, as well as had more bleeding, than expected. I colored the flower petals with Sahara Sand, but it isn't as crisp as I would like. On the positive side, it does give soft and subtle coloring without much effort.

Stamps: Bordering on Romance; Paper: Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Island Indigo, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP; Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze, Sahara Sand, Black Stazon; Accessories: Baja Breeze button, Pearl Jewels, White baker's twine, Scallop edge punch, Aquapainter, Bleach, 3" Circle die, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread.

Thanks for stopping by!