Join for $25 and this week's 'weekly deals'

Hello!  I am excited to share that Stampin' Up! has extended their Join for $25 promotion for one more day, ending tonight at 11:50 pm mountain standard time.  Sign up here.  Wondering why you should sign up with Stampin' Up! ?  Let me give you a ton of great reasons:

You will have access to an exclusive online community for demonstrators only, where you can share and view millions of stamping ideas, techniques, videos, and chat with other demonstrators.

You get a magazine 6 times a year filled with stamping ideas, crafts, projects, and tools for improving and expanding your business (should you choose to sign up for a business opportunity).

You get a 20% discount the entire life of your demonstratorship!

Place a $150 or more demonstrator order within 45 days and get a one-time 30% discount.  Earn hostess rewards based on the product total BEFORE your discount.

Place a $150 or more demonstrator order within 30 days and earn a FREE stamp set of your choice from the Annual Catalog.  Your FREE stamp set is redeemable on your first demonstrator order in December. 

 Place a $250 or more demonstrator order in October and earn $25 in ADDITIONAL hostess rewards (free product).  For example, with a $250 product order you would get $65 in in Hostess Rewards (vs. $40).

Purchase the kit for just $25 today and thru October 28, Stampin' Up! will be offering 25 stamp sets at 25% off.  Place a demonstrator order during the stamp sale and you'll get your demonstrator discount IN ADDITION TO the 25% savings.

Also, check out other deals going on at Stampin' Up! right now:

WEEKLY DEALS!

Move over Friday, Tuesday is quickly becoming our favorite day (we hope yours as well)! Here are this weeks Weekly Deals!

 

	Dress Up Framelits Die Item # 130101 Regular Price: $24.95 US/$30.95 CAN Discounted Price: $18.71 US/$23.21 CAN
	Sweet Press Cookie Handle Item # 132290 Regular Price: $5.95 US/$7.95 CAN Discounted Price: $4.46 US/$5.96 CAN
	Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps Holiday Item # 132292 Regular Price: $10.95 US/$13.95 CAN Discounted Price: $8.21 US/$10.46 CAN
	Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps Special Events Item #132291 Regular Price: $10.95 US/$13.95 CAN Discounted Price: $8.21 US/$10.46 CAN
	This and That Rotary Stamp Item # 130133 Regular Price: $5.95 US/$7.95 CAN Discounted Price: $4.46 US/$5.96 CAN
	Wicked Fun Digital Download Item # 127609 Regular Price: $9.95 US/ $10.95 CAN Discounted Price: $4.98 US/ $5.48 CAN

Now let's review all the great reasons to sign up, if you haven't discovered why you should:

1. The $25 kit includes up to $26.95 of your choice of Stampin' Up! products (value of the products you choose must be more than $25, but not more than $26.95 before tax), a supply of annual and holiday catalogs and it all ships FREE. Our regular $99 Starter Kit will not be available for purchase during this two-week period.
2. Test drive Stampin' Up! exclusive resources and discounts through April 30, 2014, with no obligation to purchase anything further.
3. Save! Receive a 20% discount on every demonstrator order you place.
4. Receive 30% off your first demonstrator order of $150 or more (before shipping and tax). Must be placed within 45 days of purchasing your kit.
5. BONUS! Earn a FREE stamp set of your choice from the 2013-2014 Annual Catalog if you place a workshop OR demonstrator order of at least $150 (before shipping and tax) within 30 days of purchasing your kit. Free set is redeemable with your first demonstrator order in December.
6. Be first to know about new products and pre-order from new catalogs!
7. Reach $300 in sales by March 31, 2014 and renew an additional quarter (through June 30, 2014). There's NO penalty to drop.
8. April is a pending month . . . a grace period to remain active and do a little catch up and reach the $300 sales needed to renew!
9. It's up to you! Purchase the kit just for yourself and/or have fun and share Stampin' Up! with friends while making a little extra money.  Do it just for the discount, or do it for the discount and to make money.  The choice is yours!  Stampin' Up! doesn't mind either way, they will give you the resources you need if you choose to go the business route.
10. You'll get support and training from me if you choose.  I will help you with whatever you need to succeed.  I want you to be happy as a demonstrator!
11. It's a deal too good to pass up!  You get $26.95 worth of products for only $25, plus 8 catalogs,  8 holiday catalogs, and all the business forms for free!

If you've realized what a great deal this is and what a great opportunity this can be for you, sign up here.  Feel free to contact me if you're still hesitant and need a little encouragement or coaching, or if you have any questions.  Don't delay, it ends today!

The Open Sea stamp set and a masculine card

Don't forget-Today is the last day of Stampin' Up!'s join for $25 promotion!  If you're interested in becoming a demonstrator for Stampin' Up!, contact me today so you can take advantage of the deal!  You can be as involved as much or as little as you'd like, whether that means you are just doing for the discount and feeding your hobby, or you want to earn money while sharing your love of crafting with others.  There's something here for everyone.  Don't miss out on this never-before-seen great deal!  Sign up at:  http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/williamsali/jointhefun

Hello!  Today I wanted to share a card that helps with what a lot of stampers struggle with: masculine cards.  This is a card I received from Stampin' Up! demonstrator Carla Spradling. This card has lots of elements to it, but not are terribly feminine, making this card suitable for a man.  I know I rarely make cards for men, but when I do, sometimes I find myself having a hard time making it exciting, without being able to use glitter, bows and flowers.    This card simply uses stamps, embossing and baker's twine.  The stamps used are from the set The Open Sea, and the wood grain paper is from the Natural Composition Specialty designer series paper pack, and the 'frame' around the card is dry embossed with the framed tulips embossing folder.  The colors are always artichoke, crumb cake, early espresso (ink), sahara sand (ink), and naturals ivory card stock.

I hope that this will give you ideas next time you need to make a card for any of the men you know.  Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back tomorrow!

Blooming with kindness stamp set

Hello!  Today's post is another card I received at Stampin' Up!'s convention this summer.  I loved so many of the cards I got from other demonstrators and still have tons to share with you over the next 9 months until the next convention.  This card was made by Corinne Burckhart, and I think it's simple but pretty, and it's a nice card for someone in need of some comfort.  It's amazing how many cards of this kind I've needed in the past two months.  It's always great to make some up to have on hand for anyone.  For this card, she used the blooming with kindness set, whisper white card stock, basic gray ink and card stock , pink pirouette ink and card stock , pear pizazz ink, melon mambo ink, the pearls basic jewels, and dazzling diamonds to add sparkle to the flower.

I love how she stamped the flower in pink pirouette and then just brushed on a few streaks of melon mambo ink over the top to add variegated color to the flower.  What a nice touch.  I think this is a beautiful card.  I hope you enjoyed today's card, and thank you to Corinne Burckhart for the beautiful card swap!

Have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow!

New-Endless Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set!

Hi!  I am excited to share with you some exciting stuff today.  First of all, I can't wait for October 22, and here's why:  Stampin' Up! We're celebrating Stampin' Up!'s 25th anniversary all year long, but on the actual date (October 25 to be exact) we thought we should pump up the party even more. So what better way than a sale on the very products that started it all: Get 25 percent off 25 stamp sets from October 22-28.  Check back on October 22 to get the scoop on the sale!

Also, don't forget, Monday is the last day to sign up with Stampin' Up! for $25.  You won't want to miss a deal like that!  It's unheard of!

And then there's the new photopolymer stamp set from Stampin' Up!  They released it this week, and I'll be ordering it very soon!  I'm excited for Christmas, and this set will be perfect for my cards, crafts, gifts, and scrapbooking.  It can be elegant, whimsical, or whatever you need it to be.  It's pretty versatile for a winter stamp set.  Take a look for yourself:

I’m excited to share our newest photopolymer set—Endless Wishes!  Item # 133455   $13.95
Every year I make my own Christmas cards and I’m always looking for stamps to help simplify my card making. I’ve always wanted to design a stamp set, and this was my first opportunity.

My intent when I began designing this set was to offer a variety of greetings that could be “built” in numerous ways. They can be stamped in so many different ways and with different colors. The possibilities are endless, which is where the name came from.

And to help make the set versatile and functional, I drew three whimsical snowflakes. For a simple card, they look great clustered with a greeting. I also really like how easy it is to stamp a snowy background on a card or gift bag.

Hope this set helps you spread a little dash of joy this coming holiday season!

How's that for exciting stuff?

I hope you're looking forward to the holidays.  I certainly am!  I'll be back with another stamped project tomorrow!

Gingham Garden Mini Thank You Cards

Hello!  I wanted to make a thank you card and treat for some friends of mine and this is what I came up with.  I made Chex Muddy Buddies and put them in a jar for each of my friends, covered the jars with Stampin' Up!'s gingham garden designer series paper, stamped some 'Thank You's' with the new 'Another Thank You' photopolymer stamp set, and then made some matching mini 3 x 3 thank you cards to go with the muddy buddies.

Sorry the lighting in the pictures is not great.  I was in a hurry to deliver the treats that same day and couldn't wait to take pictures later, since I was giving them all away.  See you tomorrow!

Eastern Elegance Journals

Hello!  Today I wanted to share some journals that I made for my cousin.  She's on a mission for our church right now, and she wanted something to take notes in.  I bought some composition notebooks on sale during back to school season, so I covered those with some Designer Series Paper and added a few extra embellishments to dress them up.

For this journal, I added white satin ribbon to the edge, cut a little label out with the apothecary accents framelits, cut a C out of Silver Glimmer paper with retired Serif Essentials Dies, added two basic jewel rhinestones, and I was happy with the way it turned out.

On the inside, I put a piece of Lucky Limeade card stock over the front and back cover that usually has room for you to write your class schedule and has measurements and conversion tables.  I put a picture of a temple and a quote on the inside and left the rest for her to fill up!  I liked the inside cover, because it kind of reminded me of a cork board after I put the picture and quote inside, so I left the rest empty and thought it would be fun if she wanted to add more to her little mini board!

This journal was made with the Eastern Elegance Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up! I lined the edge with a piece of smoky slate card stock and used a retired punch to make the notebook edge. (I thought this was a perfect 'edge' for the journal, since it's supposed to be a notebook :)  )  I added some retired Basic Gray satin ribbon, punched a flower out of Whisper White card stock with the blossom flower punch, stamped a flower center from the mixed bunch stamp set, punched it out, and layered it on top of another circle, and then added that to the notebook next to the little 'notes' label.  The inside is almost the exact same as the green notebook.

I thought these notebooks would have been great to give to friends and people I visit teach, for them to take notes during General Conference earlier this month, but I didn't think about that in time.  Next year!!!

Hope this post inspired you to make something.  See you tomorrow!

Birthday Card and Wrapped Candy Bar

Hello!  Here's another project I made with the bows I showed yesterday cut from the Gift Bow Bigz Die from Stampin' Up!  It was my Aunt's birthday earlier this month, and I made a card and wrapped a candy bar using two bows cut out from the Birthday Basics Designer Series Paper.  I copied a card that Shelli Gardner displayed at convention that was a moving card.  I made another one at my friend Mayra's house a few weeks ago and decided I could make another one easily.  I was wrong!  This card is quite tricky, so I don't have instructions to post today.  Sorry about that!  I think this card requires more time to make than I like to spend on one card, so chances are I probably won't be making more of it.  It's definitely a card with a huge 'WOW' factor, but I don't have that much time with an 18 month old, so my Aunt was lucky to be the recipient of a one and only card!

The inside of the card is supposed to slide out when you lift the 'lid' of the present, but I had a lot of trouble getting my card to slide easily, and I cut, cut again, glued, ripped and re glued, and still wasn't happy with the result of the sliding.  The white inside isn't supposed to come out all the way, but I think mine had to to be able to read anything I wrote on the inside.  Note-this card is great for someone who hates to fill up an entire inside of a greeting card!  Me, on the other hand, I like to write long messages to friends and family, but this card was cut short because of the slide feature.  You can tell I had tons of trouble getting the sliding to work just right because you can see the ripped crumb cake under the whisper white on the inside flap!  :)  My aunt is sweet and probably (hopefully) didn't care.

Here's the matching cover I made for a Hershey's bar that I sent with her card:  This project was super easy compared to the card!

The bow on this candy bar was made from the 'extra' loop that you can add to the center of the bow (which I chose not to use), and then I cut two little ribbon ends from scraps and made this bow.

Hope you liked the projects today.  Stop by again tomorrow for some more gift ideas!

Gift Bow Bigz Die and Halloween Treats

Hello!  I got to play around with Stampin' Up!'s Gift Bow Bigz L Die (#129977  $32.95), and I must say, I love it!  When I first saw it in the holiday catalog, I wasn't sold on it and honestly thought it was ugly and straight from the late 80's/early 90's, and that I was never going to use it!  But then I saw something made with it at my friend Mayra's house, and I realized it didn't have to look so dated.  I cut out some bows from various designer series paper packs from Stampin' Up! and was actually excited to use my new bows.  They can be really cute!

Note: I didn't use the extra piece that cuts out to make the center loop.  I left that off my bows because I felt it made my bows too frilly and too big for what I wanted to do with them.

As I looked at the bows, I wanted to do something with them, and here's what I did with the Halloween bow:

I made a thank you treat for my friend Sue, to give to her when I delivered an order to her.  

I have more projects to share with you using these bows, so come back tomorrow to see them!

Patio Party Card Box and Cards

Hello!  I made a card box a while back that held a few matching cards, and I wanted to share a different version I came up with later on.  I showed some friends the original cards and box, and then when I showed them this box and cards, they said it gave them some more ideas for boxes and cards, because the original set made in gray and yellow was hard to draw inspiration from.  This project is made using retired Patio Party Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up!, the Make a Cake stamp set, the retired set Best Dad Ever (for the Happy Birthday greeting), the modern label punch (#119849 $16.95), Apothecary Accents Framelits (#127003  $24.95), 3/8'' stitched satin ribbon in Summer Starfruit, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, and Midnight Muse, Stampin' Dimensionals, sticky strip, and the jewel basic rhinestones.

Hope this project inspires you to make something!  Enjoy, and I'll be back tomorrow!

Halloween Treat Pails

Hello! Today's post is a little treat I made for two of my friends.  I tutor a little girl in 5th grade, and for the first day of October, I wanted to give her and her mom a little something because I'm excited it's October!  I bought these cute little pails at Target a year or two ago in the dollar section and have wanted to use them for something for a while.  I filled them with little tissues I found in the dollar section last week at Target, some little fun size snickers bars covered in Stampin' Up!'s Witches' Brew designer series paper (#132185 $10.95), and some candy corn stashed in cello bag from the Pumpkin Pie Goodie Gear Simply Created Kit (#132792 $4.95) tied off with a tag stamped from the Tags 4 You stamp set (Wood 131820 $19.95  Clear 131823 $15.95) and punched out with the matching Label Bracket Punch (#132153 $15.95).

I couldn't wait for tutoring that day because I was so excited to give them their little treats!  Hope you're having fun getting excited for Halloween!

Witches' Brew Halloween treat jar

Hello!  Today's project was a little something I whipped up last night.  I am really excited for Halloween, and I wanted a cute way to display candy corn that I bought, but I needed a way to keep it safe from my sneaky little toddler.  In the past, I've just put candy on little candy plates or in bowls on my end tables, but now that I have a little boy walking and climbing around, the candy can't just sit out on a plate for his long arms to reach!  I love to reuse things like jars and containers, and a friend saved me some of her jars, so I just covered this old guacamole jar with some Stampin' Up! Witches' Brew designer series paper (#132185 $10.95), and it became a cute display for my now safe candy corn.  All I used was some small strips from the paper pack, some sticky strip (#104294 $6.95), stampin' dimensionals (#104430 $3.95), and that was it! An inexpensive and quick little treat!

Enjoy!  What little Halloween treats and gifts are you making?  See you tomorrow!

Simply Stars and Itty Bitty Banners Birthday Card

Hello!  Today's card comes from my good friend and very creative Mayra.  I always love her work!  Whenever I see things she's made, I think 'my goodness, I would never have come up with that!'  or 'Where on earth does she get such great ideas?'  She's awesome.  This card was made with the Tag a Bag Accessory Kit (#130153, $7.95), Simply Stars stamp set (#130889, $13.95 Wood, and #130892 $10.95 clear), Itty Bitty Banners Stamp set (#132022, $15.95 Wood, and #126257, $11.95 Clear), Bitty Banners Framelits (#129267, $14.95), the chevron embossing folder  (#127749, $7.95), Gumball Green 3/8'' stitched satin ribbon (#126848, $8.95), Bermuda Bay 1/8'' Taffeta ribbon (#131206, $5.95)  and the star punch from the itty bitty shapes holiday punch pack (Sorry, I don't have the item number right now).

 I love this card because it's bright and colorful, and it can be given to a kid, an adult (girl or guy), and can also be used for something like graduation, or with a different color scheme, as a baby card or a cute christmas card!  See, another very versatile card made with the Simply Stars stamp set, which is very versatile as well.  Hope you liked Mayra's card.  For more projects from her, check out her blog at www.mayrastamps.blogspot.com

See you tomorrow!

Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper Sale!!!!

Hi!  Today I wanted to share a great sale Stampin' Up! is having for their 'Thankful Thursdays' during October.  Today's sale is on select Designer series paper, which we at Stampin' Up! call DSP.  Take a look for yourself which ones are on sale:

It’s time again to say thank you with another discount on a fabulous Stampin’ Up! product! This week I wanted to say thanks with a little bit of Designer Series Paper, or “DSP” as we like to call it! So head over to the online store and grab this paper before the deal runs out!

As always, the discount will be applied at check-out!

	This And That Epic Day DSP: 130814 Regular Price: $10.95 US/$13.50 CAN Discounted Price: $8.21 US/$10.12 CAN
	Soho Subway DSP: 130140 Regular Price: $10.95 US/$13.50 CAN Discounted Price: $8.21 US/$10.12 CAN
	I Am Me DSP: 130138 Regular Price: $10.95 US/$13.50 CAN Discounted Price: $8.21 US/$10.12 CAN
	Etcetera DSP: 130129 Regular Price: $10.95 US/$13.50 CAN Discounted Price: $8.21 US/$10.12 CAN Personally, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the 'I am me' paper.  I've purchased 3 packs of that paper already and will probably purchase another 2-3 before it retires next year.  Great for all kinds of paper crafts!  I've had fun scrapbooking with it and also making cards and gifts.  Whatever paper you fall in love with, don't miss out on this one day only sale!!!!  Purchase your favorite paper directly from my online store at www.williamsali.stampinup.net  See you tomorrow!

Oh, Hello Lace Card

Hello.  This is a card I absolutely love!  This is a swap I received from demonstrator Kandi Phillips while at Stampin' Up!'s convention over the summer, and I just love the colors and the design of this card.  I love the use of the gorgeous grunge stamp set in the background, the doily, the little flags, and the tag.  

Here you can see she used the stampin' mister all over the card for a splatter/sprayed effect.  It's subtle, but it really adds detail to the card.  I think the color scheme was a good choice.  It's elegant but at the same time could be used on a more manly card, minus the doily of course!

Other stamps used on this card were Oh, Hello and Really Good Greetings.  Colors used were daffodil delight, pool party, basic gray, basic black, and whisper white, and one of Stampin' Up!'s tea lace doilies.

The basic gray chevron design was part of the stamp from the Oh, Hello set, colored with marker to make the rectangle shape rather than the whole image, which is an oval stamp originally.

Hope you enjoyed today's card!  See you again tomorrow!