New Occasions Catalogue

On January 6th Stampin Up will release the new items in the 2015 Occasions catalogue and the excitement is running high. As demonstrators we get to pre-order the products one month in advance of the release date and I have ordered some wonderful new products to show you! The stamps and accessories are some of the best I have seen to date. Especially loved this year is the Butterfly Basics set and Framelits. I know it is one of my favourite items.

Spring Occasions Catalogue and Sale-a-bration Brochure

I am hosting a couple of Open Houses at my Studio in Mount Forest and you are welcome to attend if you live in the area. The first one will be Tuesday Jan 6th and the second one will be Saturday afternoon Jan 10th at 1:00pm.

Pictured below is a new image called From the Herd,  it such a fun set! It has all kinds of nice greetings that go along with it. I know it will be a favourite.

Happy New Year to you all!

Banner Blessings Stamp Set

Today I have a new Photopolymer Stamp Set to show you that one of Stampin Up's employees designed. It is a great little set that I am sure all of us can use on our projects. It features four words with a verse in inscribed in the centre. The set is called Banner Blessings and retails for $19.95. I am ordering this set next week and if you would like a copy please let me know and I can get one for you too!

Coming up soon at the studio are the annual Stamp-a-Stacks, this year I am hosting two, one on Monday November 24th and one on Tuesday Dec 2nd both starting at 6:30pm and going till about 9-9:30pm. You will be making 12 cards in total three each of 4 designs, pictured here below. I have room in both class so if you are interested in joining us and you live in the Mount Forest area just drop me a line and I will be happy to include you. Have a wonderful day!

Fall Frenzy Card Harvest Fundraiser

This past weekend my Team and I hosted an event called Fall Frenzy Card Harvest. We invited our customers to come out for a day and make an assortment of cards and the proceeds from the registration would be given to our local hospital's building project. We had such a great time together but rather than me tell you about it I will post a few pictures of our day to give you a better idea.

The girls all enjoyed the Discontinued Stamp Sale we held in the beginning of the day, lots of bargains to be had for everyone. 

Angie is demonstrating how to use the Big Shot in making her card.

 These girls look like they are having lots of fun making cards and enjoying each other's company.

 Elizabeth and guest are looking at our display table to check out the fantastic project ideas.

And here we are from left, demonstrator's Elizabeth, Carolyn, Kayla, Angie, Tammy and Sarah.

Happy Fall! I can hardly believe the season is upon us but as I look outside my window today the sun is shining and the temperatures are warm so hopefully the season stays that way.
I wanted to show you a special Hostess Set that Stampin Up is offering to Hostesses this fall. In addition to the great Hostess Benefits that you already received for having a Stampin Up workshop they will give all qualifying workshops this beautiful new set called Good Greetings. I have used this set in my studio and the images are crisp and clear. If you would like to host a workshop and earn this stamp set please contact me today to arrange a date.

In other news I was fortunate to be away on a trip with my daughter this summer for a trip to England and Scotland. What a great time we had and what incredible things we saw. I am enclosing a picture of the scenery near the city of York in England. I love the stone walls, the cobblestone streets, the old buildings but not so much the narrow roads, driving on the wrong side of the road and amount of rain:)

Today's post is about the upcoming class in August called Summer Stamp Club part 2. The last couple of summers I have offered the new In Colour Collection of Stamp Pads and Paper to my students and when they purchase those they get a free class. Next month, on Tuesday August 2nd they are getting the In Colour Paper Pack and Markers and these are the cards we will be making in the class. If you are interested in taking this class and live in the Mt Forest area, drop me a line and I will get you some supplies.
I am not sure where you live but over here in Mid-Western Ontario we are having a wet summer, the grass is still nice and green and the temperature is a balmy 18C today. I love these temps but not everybody does. Hope the weather is great in your area and that this note finds you well.

Blendabilities

Today I just wanted to tell you about another project I have done using the new Blendabilities Markers from Stampin Up. If you have ordered from me in the past you will know that I like to put thank you tags on my bags when I give them to you. I have made thousands of tags over the years but it is always fun to make up a new one to go on your parcel. Today I made up a bunch in readiness for the launching of the new Stampin Up Catalogue. I anticipate that like me you will "need" a few things from the new Catalogue. So I took one of flower Stamps from the stamp set called Fabulous Florets and coloured it in with the Rich Razzleberry markers in all three shades. Then I took a little Dazzling Diamonds and added just a pop to the centre of the tag. Our new Scalloped Punch did just the trick in making these 2 inch strips look like tags on top. What do you think? Would you like one of these tags on your bags?
If you have not done so already you can register for the Open House workshops on June 17 or 23rd and receive a free Stampin Up Catalogue.

Blendabilties

Stampin Up announced at Leadership in January that they would be coming out with a new marker that would allow shading and highlighting. The new marker collection is called Blendabilities. It comes in 12 colours and each colour has 3 shades to allow shadow and highlighting. I was very excited about this announcement. Having painted for 15 years I love the ability to shade and highlight and to this point Stampin up products have not been able to do this. I have gotten 6 shades of the new markers in and have been playing around with them. Here are a few samples that I am working on.

 The cake plate uses the Coastal Cabana combination and as you can see there are lots of shadow and highlight.

 This fun new stamp set called In This Together also uses several of the new colours and I had lots of fun adding in shadowing here and there.

Finally this ones shows the vividness and shadow/highlight the best. This stunning new stamp called Blended Bloom will be a hit when it comes out as you can really see the colour gradation in the three samples. I am planning to have a try it night here at the studio, anyone can come and make a sample or two and from there decide if you would like to be part of the Blendabilities Club. This club will run for a year with participants getting one colour family each month.

Sad to see it go!

The weather is warming up! As we welcome spring we say goodbye to a few favourite Stampin Up sets and accessories. To browse the items leaving, click here.

Here's a favourite I'm going to miss...

Modern Medley Designer Series Paper

$13.50

I found these cool ideas on Pinterest featuring this paper. Use the "search" feature on Pinterest and type in any Stampin Up set, paper, colour or accessory and browse through the results for some great finds!

The retired supplies are first come, first served this year so be sure to place your orders quickly. 

Enjoy the sunshine!

Two New Stamp Sets

As you know Stampin Up has been introducing us to clear mount Photopolymer stamps this past year and now we have two more stamp sets added to the collection called Sweetie Pies and Sweetie Pie Frames. These stamp sets were designed by an employee at Stampin Up, Cindy Bowden and they are the cutest little sets ever!. Take a look and see some of the ideas using this new little sets. These sets retail for $16.95 each, contact me today if you would like one or both.

Have a wonderful weekend, spring is officially here, although you can't tell outside my window yet, but for all of you with no snow and sunshine send some our way!

Travel Club

While attending the Leadership event in Houston Texas this past January we were challenged to think outside the box and hold a class in an environment that we would normally not do so. After much thought I approached Manny and Rosa of Coffee Culture in Mount Forest and asked if he would host a Stamp night of some avid stampers and he agreed! This is the group on our first night out which I have since named the Travel Club.

There were 15 of us that gathered at Coffee Culture and we made two Valentines Cards with envelopes and then enjoyed Coffee and treats. Our second night out will be held at M&M Meats in Mount Forest with Ruth MacDonald being our hostess. She has a room in her business that she rents out for use for various purposes and we are meeting there on Monday March 24th to make the cards below. If you would like to join our group on Monday please let me know and I will register you and send you a supply list. 

Minions and Birds

Every year I do a Kids (or kids at heart) class at the Hanover Public Library during the March Break and this year is no exception. I was struggling with what to make as I no longer have young children in the house so I e-mailed a fellow demonstrator Tammy Stevenson for ideas. She sent me links to these two adorable cards that she found on Pinterest  and told me that this is where kids are at, Angry Birds and Minions.

So here you are, a couple of ideas for the kids in your life this March Break week. If you would like your children to participate in this class you may register them at the Hanover Public Library, the class will take place Thursday afternoon at 1:30pm.

Hey have you tried Paper Pumpkin yet? Well now is the time to try it! From now to March 31st all subscribers will get a free set of In Colour Markers in the kit as well as the clear block "D" to mount all the great stamps that come in the Paper Pumpkin kit. Watch the video above to see what is all included in the kit. Then simply go to www.mypaperpumpkin.com to subscribe, it's that easy. When it asks for your demonstrator, well that's me! Carolyn Helder, Mount Forest ON, Canada

Daytime Television Appearance

Last week Thursday I received a call from Stampin Up Media Relations and asked to do a TV appearance as a Stampin Up demonstrator for a local TV station in Kitchener ON. When I asked when this event was to take place the girl on the phone said "Tuesday" Not sure if this was something I could prepare for that quickly I asked to have a day to think about it and make arrangements. When she called back on Friday morning I was ready with my answer and said "YES". My friend and upline Joanne McTavish helped me out by making a Valentines Banner and my friend and downline Tammy Stevenson made several cards for me, together we made an awesome display. 

Early on Tuesday morning my friend Norma came and picked me up and we headed down to Kitchener to the studio, about an hour and 15 minute drive.(Where I live nothing is close by) We were invited into the studio to watch the rest of the show as it was being broadcast. The show was live so no there was no chance for error so that sure put the pressure on. It was very cool in the studio and they encouraged us to keep our coats on while we were waiting as they said that the camera equipment needed a cool room.

I was the last segment of the day so we got to watch all the different guests come on and see the hosts Mark and Susan in action. During the commercial break Susan invited me to get behind the counter and put on the mic. Quite exciting really. Then they counted down five, four, three, two, one and we were live! Susan was great in giving me leading questions that I could answer and I had her make a little Valentines favour and then because time was running out she asked me to do the second project and we kept chatting. Then again a silent countdown and BAM we were off the air! It was a great time and I want to thank all of my friends for helping me out with this new experience.

Nothing to do with Stamping

Well sometimes a day comes along that is so perfect you know that you have experienced on of those one in a million times! That day was yesterday for our family. When our kids were young we used to take them tobogganing on a hill just up the road from where we lived at the Matthews Farm. Well life goes on and the kids grew up and we haven't been on the Matthews hill in 12-15 years. I had arranged a day for my four  adult kids and wives and significant others to get together and we went back to our past to visit the Matthews Hill! This time though the boys brought along some vintage snowmobiles to help us all get back up the hill:)

This is our four year old grandson getting ready to go down the hill!

Much nicer to take that toboggan up the hill with a snowmobile!

But it does get cold outside fast for little people.

We took the trail through the woods with the snowmobiles.........

And ended up at a cabin that my husband and our boys used to camp in every winter.

Back to our house for Chili and Hot Chocolate and you have the end of the perfect winter day.

Photopolymer Personalized Stamp

Stampin Up has just announced a new addition to their photo polymer stamp line with this personalized stamp. It is a totally clear stamp and you can personalize it anyway you would like. So you can put your address in it as you would traditionally do but you can also put many other greetings on it as well. Look at the sample above, they have put a thank you image into it. You can put an event image or a special occasion image the ideas are limitless. The cost of the new stamp is $29.95 and the item number is 132852. You will want to use a clear block with this stamp and the one that fits best is Clear Block B (item 117147). If you want to punch it out to attach to your card or gift our 1 3/8 inch circle punch works best. (item 119860). 

On another note I have been asked to appear on Daytime TV in Kitchener on Tuesday morning. I will be demonstrating some Valentines projects and giving tips on some cute Valentines ideas. If you get a chance take a minute to watch the show, it will began at 11:00am. I hope to post a few pictures next week in connection with the presentation on the show.

Texture Boutique Embossing Folder

Hey look at this exciting new product! It is Stampin Up's new Texture Boutique Embossing Machine. This machine makes embossing all of your items a snap. You simply put your embossing folder between the two plates (included) and insert into the machine and turn the handle till it comes out the other end.This item was just released and is available in limited supply till the new Catalogue comes out in June. Watch this blog for more ideas and pictures next week when I get my machine in the studio. If you want to order one now do so while supplies last.  TheTexture Embossing Machine (132657) is only $36.95 Cdn.

More Pop Up Box Cards

Today I want to show you the next couple of Pop Up Box cards I have done! As you can see the ideas are limitless. Just go to your favourite stamps and create away! If you want to know how to make these boxes I am hosting a class in my studio on Friday Feb 28th. Contact me for more details.

Then top box uses the new Sale-a-bration Set called You're Lovely as well as the new Petite Petals Punch and stamp set. The lower box uses a variety of stamps from my studio. 

Pop Up Box Card

Today I have an interesting card for you and it is totally foldable and can be mailed. This type of card seems to be all the rage and I will be holding a class on Friday February 28th at my studio if you would like to try this design. I chose a male themed card for the guys in my family in mind. As far as I am concerned you can never have too many guy type cards, especially in our family as my husband and I only have brothers (10 between the two of us). Add to that three sons and you can see why I gravitate to the male type of card. The Stamp set is one that I've had for years and is now discontinued called Extreme Snowboard, the paper is all Stampin Up DSP. The clouds are cut from the new Stampin Up Framelits called Word Bubbles (132968). The hearts are from the framelits Hearts Collection (125599) and the stars are retired Stampin Up punches. Hope you enjoyed the project, if you would like to make some of these boxes contact me to join the class.

Leadership Conference 2014

Well I am back from Stampin Up's Leadership Conference in Houston Texas and what a great time we had! We started off the event with a General Session on Thursday morning and then attended Share Fair classes on Thursday afternoon for demonstrators by demonstrators. I came away with lots of new ideas. For all the Demonstrators who have the title of Manager or above Stampin Up puts on an event just for them! I was able to attend and we went to the Houston Aquarium. My roommates Jan and Loni (whom I met two years ago in San Antonio, Loni is from Utah, Jan from Kentucky) went with me! 

 The meal that they put on for us was amazing, we were able to eat outside on the upper deck.

There was lots to see and do at the Aquarium, rides, great food, photo ops,  huge aquariums with fish and other sea life, as well as white tigers! Spectacular!

On Friday we again attended classes and learned about some new products coming out this spring. Watch for those announcements here on this blog and at my upcoming Open House Workshops. On Friday night we had a huge stamp event with 1000 women seated at round tables stamping our Make and Takes. All of us got an orange bag with Two Stamps Sets and our Make and Take projects. We spent the evening stamping, watching live presentations, and eating popcorn. Fun fun! 

Loni (on the right) had gotten three matching scarves and we wore them each day in various styles with our various outfits and boy did we ever get a lot of comments on them. We received a t-shirt and stamp set from our evening at the Aquarium so one day we had to model them as well. Doesn't it look like we are having fun? The hardest part was finding someone who could take our picture.

On Saturday the final day we again headed over to the Houston Convention Centre and participated in more classes and live presentations. I am telling you Stampin up sure knows how to make the presentations fun! We had a "Game Show" presentation on Saturday that had us all in stitches.

Jan (on the right whom many of you met here in the studio in the fall of 2012) took along fabric flowers and we wore them on our scarves on the final day. When the last session ended we had a bit of free time and so we explored downtown Houston, it was a very nice day at 73F and look at what they do in Houston for fun......

........in the park where we walked they were skating on one side and directly across from that there was a water fountain area where kids were running through the sprinklers. 

If you would like to join in on all the fun consider joining my team, contact me for more details.

Catching Up!

Happy New Year to all of you! Are you ready to get started stamping again? We have finished a very busy catering season and have had a good rest and now I am ready to start stamping and holding classes again. Take a look at the picture to see these four girls who were so proud of the fact that they were the first group done their 12 cards in my Stamp a Stack in December even though they were beginner stampers:) Congratulations! Great Job!

The new Occasions Catalogue has also come out a few days ago and there are many new and wonderful products for your paper crafting needs. Let me know if you would like a copy and I will do my best to get one out to you, (Canada only).

I am busy preparing for two Open Houses later this month, Friday January 24th at 7:00pm and Saturday Jan 25th at 1:00pm. The Open House is free to all who can safely attend and there will be prizes, card making and refreshments. Please register so I can prepare projects for you. I will be featuring products featured from the Occasions Catalogue (pictured above).

Tomorrow I leave for Houston Texas for Stampin Up's annual Leadership Conference. Stay tuned for pics and updates as I try to battle snowstorms and icy roads in my effort to get to Buffalo Airport to fly to Houston.