Cycle Celebration scrapbook page

Hello!  Today I wanted to share a scrapbook page that I made with my friend Mayra.  She came up with the design for the first page of the layout, and I turned it into a full page spread by coming up with a second page.  She chose the cycle celebration stamp set, birthday basics designer series paper, and very vanilla card stock, raspberry ripple card stock, and the modern label punch to do the page.  I added  summer starfruit and gumball green to my page.  I am excited to use it for my son's birthday pictures.  The pages came together really fast, thanks to Stampin' Up's coordinating paper, inks, and embellishments.  Once you pick your paper and stamps, the coordinating takes all the guess work out of creating.  I love that!  I used to waste so much time trying to match patterned paper with card stock that I'd buy from local craft stores.  Now I can actually get two and three times as much work done since I don't have to do all that any more.  More time to scrapbook makes for a very happy me!

Thanks for the layout Mayra!  See you all tomorrow!

Free Project Kit from Stampin' Up!

I wanted to share this deal with you before the month is over.  If you join Stampin' Up! by August 31, 2013, you can pick a free project kit in addition to the kit that you get to customize with your favorite Stampin' Up! products!  Have questions?  Not sure where to start?  Head on over to my website, www.williamsali.stampinup.net and click JOIN NOW to sign up under me, and become a part of one of the best crafting companies out there!  You can be as involved as you want, or you can do it just for yourself if you just want the discount and the exclusive magazines full of ideas just for demonstrators.  I can offer training for you if you want to make money doing what you love, or if you don't want me sending you emails, that's fine too.  It's what you want-you can get out of it as little or as much as you want.  It's great!  Contact me if you have questions or need help getting started.  I can guide you through it and would love to welcome you to my downline!  I'm happy to share what I love with you!  Read on below for all the details.

                    WANT A FREE PROJECT KIT?

You’ll get to pick a FREE project kit in addition to your starter kit when you join Stampin’ Up! between July 15 and August 31. Check out the amazing kit options packed with brand-new products below. But before you do, here are just a few of the awesome things to love when you become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator:

• When you sign up you’ll get $175 US/$215 CAN worth of products and business supplies all for just $99 US/$125 CAN!
• You’ll have a 20 percent permanent discount on EVERYTHING.
• You’ll have a chance to meet tons of other creative women at Stampin’ Up! events and in our online communities.
• If you want to make money, you can sell to your friends (old and new) and do it all on your terms—your schedule, your way.
• You’ll get to be in business with a solid company—it’s our 25th anniversary this year!

PLUS, you’ll get to choose one of these kits for FREE if you sign up by the end of August:

Join us today.

Paper Pumpkin

Hello!  I wanted to post today about Stampin' Up!'s Paper Pumpkin kit.  It's $19.95 a month, and it comes to you as a kit, with everything you need to create an entire project in 30 minutes or less.  All you need to do is add your own adhesive!  It's a great deal for moms out there who are busy but still want to make hand made gifts or cards to give to others, for those of you out there who want to start crafting, but don't know where to start or how to, or for those who just don't have any supplies yet.  You will get a different project each month-anything from cards, to journals, to a mini scrapbook kit, to party decorations.  The fun of it is the surprise!  It'll show up on your doorstep each month, and you have the option to opt out for a month if you need to.  And if you sign up now until August 31, 2013, you can get your first two months for half price-two months for $10 each instead of $19.95!  That's a great deal!  Just sign up at www.mypaperpumpkin.com  and select me, Alisha Williams as your demonstrator, and use the promo code PUMPKINDEAL to get your first two months for $10 each.  Make sure you scroll all the way down the page after you enter the number of kits you want to order-that's where you add the promo code.  But if you forget, you can call Stampin' Up! right after you sign up and give them the code and ask them to apply it to your order.  But sign up by August 31 to get in on the deal!  I'll be posting some of my projects here, so be sure to check back and see what I've done with my paper pumpkin kit!
                                                                    See you tomorrow!

Dress Up stamp set

Hello!  Today I just had to share a card with you that I got in the mail from a friend.  Her daughter's birthday was a couple Saturday's ago, and she sent our family this card.  I thought it was simply adorable, and very fancy!  My friend and downline Debbie is so talented!  I always love getting cards from her.

She used the dress up stamp set, lots of thanks stamp set, chalk talk framelits, very vanilla 1/8'' taffeta ribbon, dazzling details, and designer series paper stack in costal cabana.  I think it turned out cute!

Thank you for the sweet card Debbie!

See you tomorrow!

One In A Million stamp set

Hello!  Today I wanted to share a little mini 3 x 3 card I made for some of my sweet customers who placed orders with me.  I like to slip these in their bags when I deliver the order, just to let them know I really appreciate them and their business.

This card was so easy.  I cut a piece of 8 1/2 x 11'' costal cabana card stock (131297  $6.95) down to 6 x 9'', and then cut again at 3'', folded, and had 3 little 3 x 3 cards.  I embossed the bottom of each card with the adorning accents embossing folder (125601  $8.95), cut a 1 x 3'' strip from the eastern elegance designer series paper (130131 $10.95), adhered it to my card, stamped ''thanks so much'' in basic gray ink (126981  $5.95) from the One In A Million stamp set (132052  $26.95 for wood, 126382   $18.95 for clear), punched it out with my modern label punch (119849  $16.95), adhered it, then punched out a itty bitty flower in basic gray card stock (121044 $6.95) from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (118309  $16.95), glued it to my card, attached a pearl from the pearls basic pack (119247 $.95), spritzed it with my vanilla shimmer smooch spritz (118772  $4.95), and I was done!  I think it was easy and gives a nice look!

Baby Card

Hello!  This weekend I had fun stamping with my aunt.  She is a labor and delivery nurse, and wanted to make some cards for her patients.  Of course she chose a baby theme!  She came up with this card all by herself, and I just was lucky to help her assemble them.  When we were all done, she said I could take one for me.  I felt bad taking one, but it was sooooo cute, I accepted her sweet offer.  And she was so nervous about making something!  She said she has such low self confidence when it comes to stamping, but look what she came up with!!!!  I told her she's way too hard on herself.  People will love this card.  It's so adorable!

Now I'm off to tidy up my house, after neglecting it all week.  I'll see you tomorrow!

Congratulations Banner

I promised I'd come back and share a banner I'd been working on, and now it's done, so I can share!  I made this banner for my husband who will be done with his masters program next month.  I wanted to let him know that we are all so proud of him and how hard he's worked, and that getting a masters is hard work, and something worth celebrating!

I used the Build A Banner Simply Created Kit (133507  $19.95) from Stampin' Up!'s holiday catalog and spelled out Congratulations.  The colors I used were Island Indigo, Old Olive, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Gray, and Crushed Curry.  I used the stampin' spritzer that comes with the kit and also purchased a few extras for all my colors.  I filled the spritzers with 50 drops of re inker and the rest with water.  This gave me a very vibrant color, as opposed to a softer toned color.  NOTE: The instructions in the kit tell you to use rubbing alcohol in the spritzer, but I didn't have rubbing alcohol when I made my first banner, and water worked great!  When I made my second banner, I used rubbing alcohol, and when I sprayed the pennants, the ink bled and ran, and it was one big mess.  I decided to ignore the instructions that called for alcohol, and went back to using water.  The instructions tell you to use alcohol because it will dry faster, but the water doesn't take that much longer to dry, especially if you're spelling out a long word with your banner.  By the time you're done spelling out all your letters, it's usually pretty dry.

A few things to keep in mind: fill the spritzer with re-inker first, then add the water.  Count how many drops of re-inker you use, so that if you use a whole bottle of spritzer half way through your project, you can make another bottle with the same color concentration.  When using the circle stencil, some of the circles will match up perfectly with the grommets on the pennant, giving you a perfect placement on that pennant.  Once you have spritzed your pennant, before picking up the stencil, throw a napkin or paper towel on top of the stencil and pennant to pick up any pooled up ink on the stencil, so that it will not roll off or drip onto the pennant when you remove your stencil.  Otherwise, the design on your pennant will get messed up.

After all my pennants were dry, I strung them on the twine and added little pieces of cut ribbon and made knots to add a little more  decoration.  I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.  I love the bright colors and think the color combination is fun.  It's gender neutral, so the banner can be used over and over again for lots of events and people!

Hope  you enjoyed the banner.  See you tomorrow!

Travel Log Stamp Set

I made this card for a friend who came to visit a while back, and sent it after she traveled back home.  I used the Travel Log stamp set which is retired, but this would work great with the new Around The World stamp set as well, which I just got today!  I can't wait to use that one, and I will be using it!!!!  The colors I used were Island Indigo, Basic Gray, Real Red, and Whisper White.  Again, I colored the images with Basic Gray, Island Indigo, Real Red and Crumb Cake markers before stamping them, to give some of them a more fun look than just one solid color.  I used the 1/4'' stitched grosgrain ribbon in Whisper White, some stampin' dimensionals, and I was done!  So easy!

I'll see you tomorrow!

Tag It stamp set

I was thinking about how I could use some tissue packs I bought a few weeks ago, and I came up with what I think is kind of clever and pretty cute.  I received the Tag It stamp set at convention and had yet to use it, until today.  I love this stamp set for a variety of reasons.  This is a great go to stamp set, because you can color the images with markers for a quick, fun image, (and they coordinate with the chalk talk framelits; another great set to have-and when you buy the coordinating framelits, they work with two sets!), and the set can be used for almost every event. It covers birthdays, Christmas, Retirement/Graduation/New Job/Promotion/special achievement, etc, friend/love, and sickness, plus it has a to/from stamp.  It covers just about every thing!  The other (and probably more important reason) that I love it so much is that when you purchase the stamp set, you're supporting the Ronald McDonald House Charities.  Stampin' Up! donates $3 to Ronald McDonald House Charities when you purchase the stamp set.  If you aren't familiar with the Ronald McDonald House Charities, they help families who have children undergoing treatment for serious illnesses.  I think that's a great cause to support, don't you?  You can also donate time to help Ronald McDonald House Charities.  Visit stampinup.com/giving to learn more.

Back to the project. I colored the stamp with Basic Gray and Real Red, huffed on it before stamping to remoisten the inks, and then stamped on Whisper White card stock.  I punched out the image with the modern label punch, but you could also use the chalk talk framelits (I didn't only because I don't have them. Yet.).  I mounted the modern label punch on Real Red card stock, and then mounted it on my Basic Gray card stock that I cut to wrap around the tissue pack.  The gray piece measures 2'' x 7'' and I scored on the long side/ (7" side) at 1 5/8, 2 1/2, 4 3/4 and 5 5/8, and folded all the score lines.  I placed a small piece of sticky strip on the top back flap so that the belly band stays closed, but will still slip off when you need to get a tissue.  I hope the picture is helpful in showing how to make the belly band.

I think it would be cute to carry these around during cold season, and when someone sneezes, say 'Bless you!', and hand them a cute little package of tissues!  :)  Or deliver them to a friend with some home made chicken noodle soup!  What do you think?  Cute?  I thought so.  :)

Sorry my pictures are not the greatest.  I'm working on making them better.  I just learned from my friend today how to take great pictures, but now I'm working on collecting a few things to help me do just such.  Bear with me as I work on improving the lighting in my pictures!

Happy stamping, and I'll be back tomorrow with another project!

Mixed Bunch Stamp Set

Good morning!  Today's post is of a card I made a little while ago, but I just took a picture of it before I gave it away.  Do you ever do that?  I find myself doing that all the time.  I made the card, have all the supplies to make it again, but just can't let go of it if I'm really proud of it.  Weird.  Not like card ideas aren't constantly changing... or with interest I couldn't find a million other ideas for a new card, but still the same, I almost always take a picture of the card.  This card was made with the colors raspberry ripple, primrose petals, gumball green, soft suede, summer starfruit, and whisper white.  I made two variations because I just loved both of the colors.  I also used the In colors Designer series paper stack,  (sorry-the ones in the pictures are from last year's catalog-but you can still get patterned paper in these colors, just the pattern will be different- better, in my opinion!) the blossom flower punch, mixed bunch stamp set, basic pearls, stampin' dimensionals, 1'' circle punch and the stamp set pursuit of happiness.  (Sorry-retired).  I show samples of things with retired products for two reasons: 1-to help you continue to get ideas of how to use stamps and products you already own, and 2-because you can always substitute something you see here with something you have at home already.  My grandma used to say "Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without!"  I love that saying, but find it hard to live by as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator.  Always having the latest catalog,  getting ideas on the website for demonstrators and from their exclusive for demonstrators magazine makes it hard to use what I have, because I'm always wanting the latest stamps and products.  That's one of the many reasons I sell Stampin' Up!-to support my habit!  But don't think I buy everything from the catalog that I want, because I don't!  I have a family to help support when my business permits, and that keeps me from buying everything.  I do substitute things out when making a card and find I don't have everything like the one I'm copying.  So, do what you can-that's the main point of my tangent.....

Here's the two pictures of the cards.  I just love them, and they were really easy to make and came together quite quickly.

The pictures aren't the greatest quality-sorry.  In a pinch, I took them with my phone.  See you tomorrow!

Baby Cards

Hello!  I'm late in posting today. It's been a really busy day, but I did want to post a little something I made this week.  More baby stuff!  My cousin is having a baby and due next month, and I needed a baby card for her shower, so I made up a bunch of cards to keep on hand and one for her.  The stamp sets I used for the card are baby prints, nursery necessities (retired), and One in a million.  I stamped directly on the card base in versamark for a water like image and then added a greeting and some ribbon.  Sorry I don't have more time to give specific details, but here are three different cards I made.  I made ten cards, and I don't think a single one came out the same as any of the others, but that's what makes each card special-it's a one of a kind, made special for each person I give them away to.

See you tomorrow!  And I promise it won't be baby themed!

Baby Banner

Hello!  Today I wanted to share a banner I made for a baby shower a couple of weeks ago.  The lady I made it for is having twins, so I made it say "Welcome Little Ones".  The pictures are out of order.  Sorry!  I love making banners for people for all sorts of occasions.  I'll share another banner later on this week after I finish it.  This banner was made with the Baby Prints stamp set from Stampin' Up!'s annual catalog.  I stamped on the colored card stock with the versamark pad, and then used crumb cake ink on the whisper white card stock.  I was wishing I'd had the circle framelits to cut out the whisper white and the color behind it, but those are still on my list of things to order, so I just found two jars and traced around them to get my circle shapes. The banner flags are hand cut as well.  I usually use 12" x 12" patterned paper and cut them into 4" x 6" strips so that I can get six flags from one piece of 12" x 12" paper, but for this banner, I just used 8 1/2" x 11" card stock (sorry, the colors are all retired) and cut it into 4" x 6" strips, and then I cut the bottom triangle out by hand as well.  I used the serif essentials bigz alphabet (also retired, sorry!) for the letters, which are done in soft suede card stock.  Then I glued the letters on with Tombo mono multi liquid glue, punched a hole in the corner of each flag with a single hole punch, and strung it on some retired very vanilla grosgrain ribbon, and I was done!  The banners I make are usually time consuming, but I'm always so pleased with the end result that I hate to give them away!  But that makes me feel good about what I'm giving away!