Easel Boxes

Happy Saturday All!

First and foremost, this is the LAST month for Sale-A-Bration. It's been fun and full of amazing products and I'll be sad to see it go, but good things all must come to an end (well, at least temporarily).

If you've always wanted to join and become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, Sale-A-Bration is the BEST time. The regular $215 starter kit is only $150

Not only is it ONLY $150 to join, but for every month in your first year, you get a FREE digital download or package of Designer Series paper. That's a pretty sweet gift!

Plus you have a choice. You can choose the Standard Starter kit, full of stamp sets, inks, craft and business supplies, or if digital is more your style, you can have the Digital Starter kit with My Digital Studio software, embellishments for hybrid projects and business supplies. Each kit is retailed at no less than $400.

You add onto this the ability to set your own hours, work from your own home and control the amount you earn, topped with instant income and commission bonuses, a team of experts mentoring you and you have nothing to lose! Inspiring others and unlocking their creative potential is the best 'job' I could have ever asked for and signing up LAST Sale-A-Bration was the best desicion I have ever made, not to mention super fun!

Speaking of fun! I had a blast making easel card boxes. The card can be a bit hard trying to figure out using different shapes instead of the traditional easel card. I used some different shapes from another die cutting system, but I also used the Labels Collections from the Framelits Dies from Stampin' Ups! Occasions Mini #125598. I wanted to make boxes bigger so I used those instead of the Top Note Die. I made these for my cousin who I was babysitting for, but she decided to quit to stay home with her kids. She always commented on my work and had mentioned wanting keepsake boxes for their baby things- like the baby bracelet when the baby is born and card on their bassinet ect. So these measured in at 5x4. It's just a basic nugget box, widthwise instead of lengthwise.

Not all supplies are from Stampin' Up as I made these as gifts as opposed to SU! samples, but Stampin' Up DOES have Scalloped Square Dies and a variety of Alphabet Stamps in different fonts- very well worth it as you can personalize anything from gifts like these boxes, to baby onesies, to scrapbook pages. I've also a tutorial on how to embellish Stampin' Up!'s Paper Daisies so you can create them to match any colour or design you have going on.

Here's each box close up:

These were a lot of fun to make, and the Pretty in Pink and Wisteria Wonder Box fit that child's personality perfectly - and I was able to highlight the Labels Collection. I love how they layer together. Check out Stampin' Up!'s Apothecary Stamp Set that coordinates with the dies, item #125525 w 125527 c. It's beautiful and very versatile.

That's it for me for today- thanks so much for swinging by!

~Brandie~

Creating Backgrounds

Hi guys!

One of my favourite things to do when I am crafting is creating my own background. There are some Designer Series Papers out there that I adore, but more often than not I like using my own stamp sets and colours and creating something unique that blends in with a particular project.

I made a few envelope pockets cards, and the tutorial can be found here on Splitcoast Stampers: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/crimpedenvelope/

They are pretty addictive I tell ya! I made a couple for the tradeshow last weekend as I wanted to donate a few Gift Certificates, but alas I had run out of the Stampin' Up! ones. I figured, being as they can't be used online, why not just make my own?

I made a crimped envelope card and gift box (tutorial found on Splitcoast Stampers as well, under Maria's Treat Box). I added some goodies from the Sale-A-Bration Flyer (on until March 31st), some pre-cut cardstock to make mini note cards out of, and some demonstrator incentive stamps with an ink spot. I love the colour combo, as it's out of my element. I am definetly a girly girl and enjoy using a lot of pinks and purples. For this I used Poppy Parade, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade and Pumpkin Pie. I thoroughly enjoyed the new ribbon from SAB by the way! It's thin and sheer and I am hoping SU! comes out with more of them in the new catalogue!

Anyways, custom backgrounds are so simple. I tend to use a trio of colours that compliment each other, you can also go monochromatic in your colour scheme, or even use as many colours as you want!

A few different ways to have a base (and I'd use a lighter colour for the base so it's not very over powering), is to use a Stampin' Around wheel, a background stamp, or a large image. I stamp on neutral backgrounds- like Very Vanilla or Whisper White. You could use a different colour, but keep in mind that it may alter different colours of inks if you are using different colour families.

Then I add a medium sized image in a bold colour. In the above image I used one of my older hostess stamp sets, from when I was a hostess years ago (before becoming a Stampin' Up! demo). Then I find a smaller image to stamp in a complimentary colour that will fill in larger holes and bring unity to the design.

You can do so much more with it, like adding more colours like I stated above, adding 3D elements, sparatically add bling with Rhinestones or dots of Dazzling Details etc. Make it your own!

So like I said, I got pretty addicted to making backgrounds, so I went out of my element a few times and tried different colour concepts with these other designs:

YAY Monkeys :) lol, I love me some monkeys- espeically trying to get away from all the darned girly flowers! Here's the Fox and Friend's Stamp Set from the 2011/2012 Idea Book and Catalogue. Item #117020 w 118565 c. Colours: Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue (retired Stamp sets: Hostess Stamp set from 2009, Seeing Spots Stampin' Around Jumbo Wheel)

Of course a birthday card was in order :) I liked the colours more in my hand than I did on the card, I am on the fence about this one, but I DID enjoy adding and dangley element. This was Rich Razzleberry, Blushing Bride and Bashful Blue, using yet another retired Hostess Stamp Set (I'm getting more stamps that are current- no worries!) But it was fun using my Stampin' Write markers to colour n some different images, and then creating a tag for a sentiment instead of your basic way of doing it.

Then finally I had some fun doing this one. I used Flight of the Butterfly (a personal favourite set) 111564 in the Idea Book and Catalogue. And the sentiments are: Hello- Pennant Parade 122740 w 122742 c and "baby welcome to the world" from A Word for You 117032 w 120528 c. I used Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight for my colour scheme here. Dot Dot Dot made the base of my background,115332 in the Idea Book and Catalogue. I especially loved using very thin ribbon and dangling some buttons for dimennsion. A lot of fun making these cards.

Well that's it for me- I hope I inspired you!

~Brandie~

Flower Cards

Hey folks! I know, it's been a while again. But since talking to various demonstrators I really want to put an effort in my blog. Part of that is keeping new items and ideas going so that just means crafting more, not that I am complaining. I have more time for that now so I am pretty stoked.The first thing I wanted to show is what I did at my Stampers 10 group this past week. I love flowers and all things bling, and I haven't seen very much Paper Daisy (Stampin' Up!) altering. They are pretty as-is, but they are a blank slate and have SO much potential!

So this is what I have come up with:

I think that they make a really pretty focal point on a card, or they could be used to embellish a scrapbook layout or using the smaller size, a card. I used the biggest size available for these cards here, so they take up quite a bit of space on the card. They are super quick and simple to make and the ladies at Stampers 10 had a blast whipping them up and using them on their projects.

Step 1:

Stamp a background on your flower. It doesn't really matter what sort of background you use. I used Dot Dot Dot here, but using a Stampin' Around wheel or creating your own background from blending together different clear stamps on one acrylic block works too.

Step 2:

Ink the edges of the flower using a sponge. I used Tempting Turquois to stamp and ink the larger flower and Bashful Blue to just ink the smaller one. You can blend ink colours together and make either a monochromatic or colourful mixture (I used Pumpkin Pie and Melon Mambo in one of these cards- I thought it looked very Hawaiian sunset-y).

Step 3:

Add bling (if you'd like). In the Turquois ones I spritzed them with Smooch Spritz. You could line and 'paint' the edges with Dazzling Details or paint using Shimmer Paint, or even mix some Fine Clear Embossing Powder with Glitter and adhere by inking the edges with Versamark. The options are really limitless, and that's if you even want to add sparkle!

Step 4: Assemble. For some of these flowers, I used the same size and just inked the bottom flower in a different colour. In the Turquois one I layerd a smaller flower to give some different dimension. If you decide to add Smooch Spritz or something else wet, you can slowly fold the petals in slightly to make it more 3D. I used Glue Dots to adhere my flowers together. Then you can add a centre, by using either a button or a brad. Here I used Stampin' Up!'s buttons from their Subtle and Brights collection. I used the largest ones as they worked better for the size of the flower, but smaller flowers can use the brads or smaller buttons. Or you could use a rhinestone or pearl.

Step 5:

adhere to your project- and voila DONE!

Here's a few more that I whipped up using different colour schemes:

Thanks so much for stopping by!

~Brandie~

Items:

Turquois Card:

Paper Daisies 119243

Vanilla Smooch Spritz 118772

Tempting Turquois 102067 (CS) 100814 (ink)

Bashful Blue 105120 (CS) 105209 (ink) 105111 (Stampin' Write Marker)

Designer Buttons Brights 119747

Designer Series Paper Pack - Subtles 117152

Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder 117335

Builder Wheel: Posy Party 118615

Pink and Orange:

Stampin' Around Wheel: It's Beautiful (retired)

Dazzling Details White 124117

Melon Mambo 115320 (CS) 115656 (ink)

Pumpkin Pie 111349 (CS) 111934 (ink)

Designer Buttons- Subtles 119745

Stamp Set: A Word For You 120528 (clear)

Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder 115964

Pink:

Stampin' Around Jumbo Wheel: So Swirly (retired)

Top Note Die Cut 113463

Classes

Welcome all!
This June is a busy month for me. I am hoping to host my very first classes AND that they will be successful.
My first of the two is slated for this Saturday and I had the brainstorm to do a mother and kiddo Father's Day workshop. I wanted to do one back in mother's day- but I didn't have enough time to order the materials. (my shipping takes about a week- still pretty good considering I live in Northern Alberta and it's coming from Utah I think!)
We'll be making this:


materials
* Best Dad Ever Stamp Set
* Fox and Friends Stamp Set
* Whisper White 1/4 inch ribbon
Colors:
* Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip
*Bashful Blue, Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake

So I tried my hand again at making Maria's Treat Box found under Resources at www.splitcoaststampers.com website. It fits quite a bit of home made Bits and Bites in there! I thought each 'mom' can make 2 A2 sized cards, and then each 'kiddo' can make 2 mini cards- like moms, but quicker and less elaborate (as children have such small attention spans sometimes (especially when it comes to cleaning their rooms! lol))

The next class I am doing is the very next week and I am whipping up these little cuties for teacher's thank yous. In Canada (as it seems that Americans are done late May/early June) we keep 'em in school until the end of July-ish. So this is perfect for last minute teachers gifts- and has the added benefit of being homemade (cuz, who doesn't love little homemade stationary sets?)


materials:
* sticky tape
* scalloped edge border punch
* Pawsitivly Prints II (retiring soon! :(
* Builder Wheel- For Teacher, School Colors, Elementary Alphabet (these are SO CUTE!!)
* Swirls and Curls verses (Hostess benefits level 1 set- Summer Mini 2011)

Colors:
* So Saffron, Tempting Turquois, Poppy Parade

So I made a mini magazine holder (details on www.inkingidaho.blogspot.com ) and added 4 3x4 mini cards and a 3x3 post it note holder. The ones I made for my daughter's kindergarten teacher's were a BIG hit!

So wish me luck on my classes! I hope I get a turnout AND new customers ;) I made flyers to put up around town (I am the ONLY demo in my tiny town- WOOT!) and stapled some business cards on them- hopefully that helps too!

That's it for me- have an awesome night,
~Brandie~

Birthday Box

Hey crafters- happy Tuesday!
SO this is the SECOND time I have to write this- lol! I have to use a different browser for my blogging aaaaaaaaand I forgot this time :/
SO anyways, my daughter went to a 'spa' birthday party this past weekend and I went to Wal Mart to get a few mini spa items for a birthday gift. They were cute, but with my realitivly small budget and the items themselves being small, I wanted to make something to put them in to really make it special.
So I scoured the files of www.splitcoaststampers.com and found the perfect tutorial for this box (resources>>Maria's Treat Box). It was simple, only took 1 sheet of 11x8.5 (cut to size) cardstock and some embellishments and DSP.

There was actually 3 packs of face masks as well- but I wanted to showcase the back of the box, also 3 mini nailpolishes that are too small to be seen :) I wasn't THAT cheap- lol! The box was actually a good size- it fit a nice bunch of goodies inside without being overwhelmed. The great thing about Stampin' Up! cardstock is that it is SO sturdy, yet easy to work with. So you can fold it and it's not resistant, at the same time it can go from making cards to doing 3D projects that are made to last a while. So not only does my daughter's friend have a cute little package for her gift, she has a keep sake for trinkets after the party is done.
So I used Chocolate Chip CS for the base of the card and the box (directions are on splitcoaststampers under Maria's Treat box - video tutorial and everything- WOOT!) I used the pink DSP found in my subtles DSP pack (I LOVE it! I need to replace very soon!)
I also used Flight of the Butterfly Stamp set and XL Butterfly Punch ( I WILL be getting more stamps in the future- and using some of the other ones I have- I promise! lol!) As well as the LIVE LAUGH LOVE stamp set and On Your Birthday set.
For any followers of my blog, you know that I LOVE bling and have been avoiding it as I want to only use Stampin' Up stuff exclusivly for the most part- but not to fear- I do plan on getting their Glitter (I heard it was AWESOME!) and embossing powder and such and I'll be back to being a glitter fiend in no time ;) to fill my need for all things sparkley, I used their Pearl Basics embellishments. They are actually really pretty in person and have a variety of sizes in 1 package.
So that's it for me for today- I hope I inspired you :)
~Brandie~

First Workshop

Well... first NON friend workshop. I already threw a party with a friend of mine for Stampin' Up and Arbonne together. But as we both were showcasing different things, I didn't wind up doing a workshop for times sake. Also- it showed me that I SUCK at just demoing things if I don't have something to make. SO workshops it is in the future.
So I had a non-friend wanting to host a workshop (a person I have never met before), so hopefully this networking will work out and I'll get more non-friends as customers and then they will become friends :) I do love the social aspect of being a SU! demonstrator. I can see why they want to focus on workshops and classes- get to give people a hands on experience while being friendly and social. AND (this is just me) but I lure them in with some Brandie-cupcakes ;) give me a chance to bake (which I LOVE!) and then I can get rid of them instead of keeping them here. Temping me....
ANYWAYS! I placed an order and got the stuff in time for the party- I used my color coach to find the color combination and this one just SCREAMED summer fun. Then, of course, using my On Your Birthday and Flight of the Butterfly stamp set (the ones that came with my kit- def. need to save up for more stamps! lol) but these are very versatile so they worked well :) and who doesn't need a birthday card everytime they turn around?

The first card used panels for color contrast- plus it gave me an excuse to use my versamark ink which I never used before and have to admit, am abit addicted to. I got to showcase the rock and roll technique (again- how have I NOT heard about it before becoming a demo?)
The second card I tried something different. I punched 2 butteflies on tempting turquoise and then used it as a window over the Daffodil delight and then used my Stamp a Majig to stamp an image behind it.
My next card is a tent card and I tried some color blocking- fun fun!
Lastly I made a Gate Fold card- by folding the A2 flap back over itself and got to play with my Stampin' Around wheel. I bought the handle and a BUNCH of wheels a couple of years ago- but unfortunatly most of them are retired :( (oh well- that just means I get to buy more :D right???)
So I have NEVER been this addicted to card making before. I have always loved it, but would wait until I had a reason (and even then- it was usually late so I'd forget about it). Now I don't even bother with a reason and just go hard :) who knows? maybe I can even fullfill my long time resolution of having cards on hand for anyone's celebration ;) That would be awesome!
So thanks for stopping by and checking out my samples- until next time:
~Brandie~

FINALLY!

My gosh. I have actually written 2 blog posts prior to this one, a few weeks between each and ago, but they would not post! Thankfully having a computer tech for a hubby allows me (when I can convince him to do so! lol) the ability to fix any gliches. SO fingers crossed- I already posted on a different blog- this will work.
So for about the past 2 months I have been a Stampin' Up demonstrator. It is amazing. The support I have from various demonstrators and the site itself is overwhelming. The kindness and generosity from the demos is great. There is so much I want to do with this business. I want to start a Stampers group and I want to do workshops and classes. I want it all NOW (including replacing all my older tools and embellishments with Stampin' Up products- I already replaced all my cardstock and retired inks!) but it may be too much too soon. I've only been doing this for two months, made my quarterly so that's good, but I want to really succeed. But I guess that is the key :) Don't give up, keep determined, do the work and the rest will fall into place. I haven't had success at the one trade show I did- but I passed out alot of flyers. I also got some helpful hints for the next one I am doing. I also got some hints from other Direct Sellers, other Demos AND my upline. Some info contradicts others as some things work for some people and not others. Some other information confirms others and those are things I will definately implement. I guess I just need to keep working hard and not give up just because it's not all going as well as I want to right away and just remember to take things slow.
I've already done my first workshop, plus a few others. I've converted a friend into a stamper, met a couple of new people while networking, and some of those people will network for me. Schools' end is coming soon as is father's day so I hope that doing workshops/classes for those will bring in new clients as well as give me the opportunity to advertise the new catalogue coming out July 1st. So wish me luck!
First thing I did when I got my Demo kit was samples. My gosh I have NOT crafted this much in years! I've always loved it, but Stampin' Up really has made it more exciting, especially the pay off of having samples to show other people and using them to entice them to buying ;)
So here's some of what I made using my kit (I customized it to my wishlist AND added on the Scrapbook add on kit! So here we go!)


Each of my samples were used using the Color Coach. I love that little thing! I was seriously stuck in a color rut- and this beauty helped a LOT! The first sample, the tri-shutter card- used Marina Mist, Certainly Celery and Whisper White. I also used the Fox and Friends stamp set and the Nursery Suite scrapbook stickers. I used the same color combo for my scrapbook page featuring my beautiful baby boy. I got the On Your Birthday stamp set and used that for the tent card- Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi and Pretty In Pink- I dyed my Paper Daisies with Pretty in Pink and topped it off with Whisper White satin ribbon. I also made my first easle card EVER (SO much fun!) and used a combo that I would have NEVER thought of. It's not my style- but I love how it worked out! I used some In Color color with that (and didn't use the color coach!) Daffodil Delight, Peach Parfait and Pear Pizzazz and the For all you Do stamp set. The last one is yet another Free Standing Pop Up card (I love those darned things!) using Blushing Bride, Peach Parfait and some paper from my Subtles paper pack.
I found doing all these very fun and inspiring and I hope to inspire you all too! And now that my blog is working (WOO HOO!) you can bet I have even more samples to share!

~Brandie~