Northwest Stamper

Tag: leadership 2014

  • Happy Watercolor Leadership Swap Card

    I’m trying to get back in the swing of things and thought I’d share the card I created for a couple swaps I’m in.  I loved this Happy Watercolor stamp set and thought I’d experiment with some different color combinations. 

    What I used:  Summer Starfruit, Pool Party, Early Espresso, Sahara Sand, and Real Red
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    So, what do you think?

    I think they work surprisingly well together!

    For the flower, I did a different type of coloring… I used my sponge dauber!  I just dabbed it in the Real Red ink pad and then swirled it over the flower to color it it in.  It make for an imprecise coloring effect but I think it works great with this particular set.

    Card supplies used

    Stamps – Happy Watercolor
    Ink – Early Espresso, Real Red, Old Olive, Pool Party
    Paper – Summer Starfruit, Pool Party, Early Espresso core’dinations cardstock, Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Real Red
    Accessories – Decorative Label punch, Sanding Block, Rhinestones, Sponge Daubers, Stampin’ Dimensionals

    I had fun making it and think we’ll make it as a group at club this month!  So, I hope my club gals love it too!

    Interested in joining a stamp club?  I am kicking off some new clubs this year including long distance/virtual clubs and local stamp clubs.  Get project instructions and completed cards sent to you each month or get the kit to complete with me or at home!  You just commit to ordering $25 each month you are in the club and have the opportunity to be “hostess” for one month and get the hostess benefits too!

    Email me at jennifer@nwstamper.com for more details if you are interested!

    Did you catch the weekly deals? Yep, they are still going!  See the latest specials here.

     

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  • You Did It! Winning Craft Wars: Paper Pumpkin Card

    If you were reading my recap of Leadership, I mentioned a fun activity they ran over the course of the conference.  They called it “Craft Wars: Paper Pumpkin”!  Now, I’ll admit, I haven’t ever watched Craft Wars but I get the general idea (or at least have a guess).

    You have a pile of miscellaneous crafting supplies.
    You have a project goal to create.
    Make something cool.
    GO!

    And that is pretty much how this worked.  They had all of the stamps from the My Paper Pumpkin kits since March in bags in the center of the tables.  You had access to:

      – Whisper White or Crumb Cake card bases
    – about 6 colors of ink and markers
    – designer paper from the Occasions Catalog (wanna see what we had to work with?)
    – gold or silver bakers twine (maybe white too)
    – Essentials Wooden Elements
    – and um… a couple punches and dimensionals.

    So there was a lot to work from, but you were limited to what was on hand… oh, and did I mention NO cardstock except the cardbases… so we started hacking up extra Whisper White cardbases to get extra cardstock for stamping and cutting.

    I started by looking at the stamps to see what inspired me.  In this case, the “Wahoo” and “You Did It” stamps from September 2013 Kit (the sad part, I never actually put together my kit and wasn’t sure what I thought of the stamps at first.  Um, super fun it turns out!) along with the word bubble stamp from the December 2013 Kit.  Then I grabbed a few more stamps that seem like they could be interesting accents to the card and walked through the rows of paper and see if anything fits the style of the stamps and the completely fuzzy idea of what I should be making.  Turns out I was grabbed by the Bermuda Bay polka dot patterned paper from the Kaleidoscope designer paper.2014-01-10 12.42.15

    Then I started stamping, cutting and layering the elements.  And really I still had no idea how exactly it was going to ultimately come together!2014-01-10 12.55.05

    When I’m in a crunch, I’m a “glue-as-I-go” girl and so I started gluing things down which mostly works, until you decide you want to wrap baker’s twine around some paper that you already glued down.  ; )

    But “thankfully” I had gotten an ink smudge on the front of my card after I had only glued a few pieces of paper down, so I could pull them up, wrap my twine, and then glue everything back down on a new card base.

    In the end, this is what I came up with:

    Paper Pumpkin Craft Wars wahoo card

    This is a bit of a departure from my typical card style, but I LOVE IT!  I’ll be honest, this is completely inspired by a style of scrapbooking I love… so, see – scrapbooking can be a great crossover into card making.

    Well, I took this picture kind of quick and didn’t try to hard to make it super nice because I figured I’d be picking up my card the next day and taking it home where I could photograph it all nice and pretty.

    But to my happy surprise – IT WASN’T IN THE BOX!  Which turned out to mean, I was one of the 20 cards picked as winners of the Craft Wars competition.  Yay!  There were a ton of super great cards that I saw people creating so I’m glad someone on the judging panel liked my non-traditional layout.

    You know, I’m thinking I may have to host my own Craft Wars: Paper Pumpkin edition!

    Who is in!?

    Yeah, I like that idea.

    Ok, so start checking out your Paper Pumpkin kits and start brainstorming cute card ideas!

    If you aren’t subscribed to My Paper Pumpkin yet, hop to it and you’ll get a set of the 2012-2014 In Color markers for FREE!  You just have to sign up by Feb 10th to get the extra perk!  Get going here.

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    Alright, I’m off to upload more pictures over on the Facebook page – display board pictures this time!  Talk about inspiration overload!  But in a good way, of course.  Smile

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  • Stampin’ Up! Leadership 2014–Day 2!

    Day 1 of Leadership was awesome – amazing product announcements, great presentations by top demonstrators, and lots of being just a little bit silly with friends at Manager’s Reception! So, I was excited and ready to go (even on little sleep) to head in for day 2. 

    Here is a taste of what was in store for us on Friday:

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    We started off with a talk from a Keynote speaker.  I wasn’t expecting a Keynote at this event, and especially not from someone who was a psychotherapist!  But it turns out Pat Pearson had some pretty good points to share – both for our business lives and personal lives.

    For example, she talked about the cycles of change and how in every aspect of our life we are at one of these points on the cycle. It is a continuous cycle so you typically rotate through them as you go through life.

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    But it led into a great discussion about handling being told “No”.  I wrote out and then deleted her whole story about the last pumpkin pie slice at thanksgiving and even if you wanted it but were too full, you’d have to say no.  So you weren’t rejecting or saying there was something wrong with the pie, you were just sharing that you were too full to be able to enjoy it.

    Anyway, I swear it really was a great perspective on when someone tells you no, whether it is inviting someone to a card party, to join Stampin’ Up, or just to go out for coffee sometime.  🙂

    If you are interested in the full story, let me now and I’ll share it with you!

    Ok, so that was the kick off for more classes in the morning – this time with corporate team members or Pat.

    2014-01-10 10.32.51And of course there was swapping all over the place before and after each session. Like this card created by Naomi Keeling from MA.

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    Then we got some yummy lunch and headed to the Gathering Place for more fun!

    There was Craft Wars: Paper Pumpkin:

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    Basically we had access to 2 colors of card bases, past Paper Pumpkin stamps, half sheets of designer paper from the Occasions catalog, a few markers and inks, and some of the new accessories from the Occasions catty.  Everyone had the opportunity to pick whatever supplies they wanted and create 1 card.  Then SU would judge all of the cards Friday night and pick 20 winners to receive 2 past Paper Pumpkin kits (I think of their choice).

    Honestly, I just loved the idea of the challenge to create something from a limited and slightly random pile of supplies! 

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    Then it was off to play carnival games for a chance to win tickets to be entered in a drawing for more free stamps.  Games like Plinko, bean bag tosses, etc.

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    We also got to carve another stamp – I knew exactly what I was going to make… sort of.  I knew I really wanted one that said “You Rock” because I constantly want to make cards that say that to send to the awesome girls who are part of my Fun n’ Crafty demo group.  Turns out as I tried to make it look “cooler”, I ended up making it WAY more challenging.

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    Thankfully we had hilarious staffers who didn’t mind hanging out and lending support by taking selfies with our camera! ; )

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    And did I mention that I was so stinkin’ slow that I managed to be the very last demo in the Gathering Place after it shut down and Shannon West and the other staff were super nice and hung out late so I could finish my silly stamp? So sweet, right?

    Ok, moving right along!

    Finally the night ended (after a dinner break) by a set of stamping presentations that were broken up by time to work on make and takes.  It actually worked out really well and was way more relaxing than usual!

    We even got to see sneak peek stamp images….

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    and get another new product announcement!

    Brian Pilling shared with us that the Textured Boutique machine from Sizzix is coming back!  If you remember, this machine was out for a limited time about a year ago as a test run.  I guess it was a hit because it is not only coming back but it is now all black and says Stampin’ Up! on it!

    It is a small light weight embossing machine.  There are no cutting plates to worry about or a long platform that you have to scooch piles of papers and ink around your craft table to fit (or is that just me?) because this machine is just for embossing folders.  You crank your embossing folder through by itself and you are done!  Now,don’t get me wrong, you will never get me to give up my Big Shot… but having a cute little machine that takes up less space when I need it and it most likely going to be only $30ish is pretty compelling to me!

    The Textured Boutique was supposed to be coming out in June with the new catalog, but they got a shipment early so they’ll be selling some starting January 28th!  So if you were sad you missed it the first time around, mark your calendars and start counting down!

    Next up – I’ve got more stuff to share in my Day 3 recap!

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  • Stampin’ Up Leadership Convention 2014–Day 1

    Oh. My. Word.  I just finished the first day of Stampin Up’s Leadership conference and there has been so much great stuff that has been happening that I’m going to have to be super brief so I can try to share it all with you! 

    That and the fact that it is almost 3am here in Houston and I really ought to go to bed soon before my 7:00am wakeup call.  ; )

    If you are looking for lots more pictures – check out the albums on my Facebook page, these are my highlights reel and exciting news scoop!

    Leadership Day 1 Highlights

    This year Leadership is smaller in terms of attendance than last year (no surprise because last year was an anniversary year) but that meant I had an easier time finding friends that I was excited to see and catch up with!  I may not be the best about staying in touch, but everyone is so amazing when you see them again at an event like this!

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    Hanging with the Seattle-based SBStamper crew!  And then quick pictures with two amazing gals I got to hang out with at Founder’s Circle this year – Tamra Davis and Julie Davison!

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    Then session was ready to start.  I had the new snazzy bag they gave us and we waited to hear what new exciting things SU had in store.

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    Let me say, they did NOT disappoint!  First up was Shelli Gardner, CEO of Stampin’ Up!  She was in a horse riding accident last August and was unable to walk due to fractures of her pelvis, clavicle, and wrist!  And check it out, not only is she walking now – but in HEELS!  What a strong and driven woman.

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    After a great message from Shelli, her daughter Sarah took the stage and started sharing some stamping projects with us.  IMG_0020Little did we know we were going to be BOMBARDED with new product announcements! 

    My poor seat neighbors probably go some ringing in the ears from my excited screaming as we saw and heard about new goodies such as:

    Blendabilities – Alcohol based blending markers

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    These markers will come in sets of 3 – with different shades (“light”, “dark”, etc) of the same color that will blend together to allow you to create gorgeously smooth colored images.  And it will only be $11.95 for the set which is a great deal for this type of marker!

    The markers are currently in production right now so we didn’t get to play with them, but we saw them demo’d up close and I CAN’T WAIT to get my hands on some!

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    See all 12 colors that will be released in the first quarter of this year

    New Photopolymer Stamps & Update

    Then she talked about photopolymer stamps – aka “completely clear stamps” – and share how they will be continuing to not only release a new photopolymer stamp set each month, but there will be photopolymer stamps in the June annual catalog!

    Plus, they will start coming in CASES mid-year, yay!  And they will be picking designs for these stamps sets that are most benefited by the completely clear nature of the stamp (like alphas and outlines).

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    Even new photopolymer personalized name stamps!

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    After the initial sessions, we got lunch and a chance to check out the Gathering Place. It was full of great stuff including

    Children’s Hospital Service Project

    We were working to put together 500 Birthday Celebration kits (notebooks, banners, stamp, marker, etc) to give to kids at the hospital.  We all chipped in on assembling the kits and boxing them up.

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    there were lots of resources for business building tips and tool training, but I didn’t get a chance to hit most of the booths on day 1.  So more on the interesting parts another day.

    But there were lots of samples and project displays!

    Like I love this lollipop decorated with the new Spiral Flower die!

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    And of course, display boards!

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    Then it was off to more classes for sharing all kinds of great ideas for projects, classes, ways of meeting new people, better using social media, etc.  Fun stuff!

    We finally got a break, which I TOTALLY needed because my cell phone had died earlier in the afternoon.  But soon it was time to head back to the convention center to catch a bus to Manager’s Reception.

    Stampin’ Up! sets up a special event every year for anyone who has grown their group enough to have earned the title of Manager or above.  They plan a fun activity and some snacks to eat while you are there.

    So, our wild crew got ready and waited in line for our bus.  (Aren’t those sharks adorable?!?  They were our tickets to the event!)

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    We headed to the Houston downtown aquarium and boy was it more than I ever expected!  We got off the bus and were greeted by staff, stilt walkers, and not just fish but amusement rides!

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    Plus there was SO MUCH AMAZING FOOD!  I’m glad I didn’t eat dinner before I came!

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    We rode a huge ferris wheel

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    We had a chance to feed some stingrays. 

    (If you want to check out the hilarious faces we all made when the stingray took the fish from our fingers, click and be ready for a laugh!)

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    And generally wanderd, talked, and had a great time!  It was a full but super fun day and though I’m still up even though it is almost 4 in the morning, I can’t wait to get up and see what is in store for us tomorrow … err… later this morning.  : )

    I’ll be back tomorrow with more details as I get them.

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  • Houston, Here I Come!

    So, I had plans to write a cute blog post about leaving on my trip… then just a plain project post before I left…. and then I was packing and getting everything ready for my husband to be able to get the kids to school and daycare while I’m away and suddenly it was time to go to the airport and no blog post was up and ready!

    But while sitting at the airport and trying to work with unbearably slow internet connections, I managed to photograph a card my mom made for me and gave me right before I left.  Smile 

    So, while I fly to much warmer temperatures in Houston, TX, here is a card for you to enjoy!

    so very grateful sab card

     

    Again, this is the super awesome So Very Grateful stamp set and some sneak peek paper from the upcoming Sale-a-Bration promotion.

    I’ll be back tomorrow with some projects and a blog hop while Leadership kicks off.

    *  Want to stay in the know with the latest announcements from Leadership, make sure to follow my Facebook page

    *  I’ll try to summarize and share the details of the day each night here on the blog, so check back Thursday morning for the full scoop.

    See you on the other side!

     

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