Find Your Inspiration

Happy New Catalog Day! It's June 1st and the awesome new and inspiring Stampin' Up! catalog is now live! Last week I had a "New Catalog Pick Up Party" where my local stampin' friends had the opportunity to stop by and pick up the new catalog and do some make & takes.

Everyone who attended received the above goodies created using the new In Colors. One make & take used all the new In Colors and the Thoughtful Banners & Flower Shop stamp sets. More info is here. The other make & take was created using the Sitting Here stamp set and I'll share more on that in my next blog posting.

This years In Color bookmark uses the Bitty Butterfly Punch and the Work of Art and Butterfly Basics stamp sets.

The bookmarks have magnets to keep them in place...I like to keep mine at the beginning of the Color Collection pages because I am always flipping to those pages the most.

To help mark favorite items in the catalog I made these post-it flag covers using the Thoughtful Banners set. The words Inspiring, Amazing & Fabulous describe so many of the new products found inside the pages if the new catalog!

I packaged up the bookmarks and post-it flags along with a 1/2 sheet each of the new In Color cardstock in a Large Cello Bag with toppers stamped using the Timelesss Textures stamp set.

No party is complete without treats and prizes! I made these Ghirardelli square covers using Flower Shop and Thoughtful Banners in the five new In Colors. I invited each of my guests to chose one in their favorite color. After everyone had picked one I brought out my prize basket. Each item in the basket had a butterfly punched out from the five different In Colors. Each person could choose from the items marked with the color they choose. Here's my friend Amy looking super excited about her prize and make & takes.

Here are some of the rest of the ladies at my first session. (sorry I did not get pictures of everyone)

I tried a new recipe I found on Pinterest for these Salted Caramel Buttery Crumb Bars. Oh my!...they were rich, ooey gooey buttery caramely goodness!

It was so great to see everyone and share the new catalog excitement with you all!  If you were not able to make it my event but would like a copy of the new catalog, please contact me and I'll make sure to get one to you.

Enjoy finding your inspiration as you flip through the new catalog!

Framed Snow Swirled

I told you I've been getting a lot of use out of my Snow Swirled set! This is a little something I made for my upline & downline this year. We had our little stampin' Christmas get together last night, so I can show you without ruining the surprise.
The white frame was decorated with Ski Slope paper and a small Felt Flurry with a Build-a-Brad center. The tree was embossed with glittery white embossing powder...and really sparkles in real life.
I made the gift bags out of a catalog sized envelope. They each have a snowflake cut out of a 4" coaster using the Big Shot and the large Snowflake die. They are embossed and then added a Snow Flurry and rhinestone brad to the center.
I also put a little sampler pack of some embellishments together and tied it with a cute little punched reindeer tag. I'll tell you how I made him tomorrow. For now I need to run...so many more Christmas projects I need to get done...so little time! Have a great day!

Swapping Cards is Time Well Spent

At our SU! group Christmas party on Sunday we did a card swap using the new hostess set Time Well Spent. All the cards turned out so darn cute! I really like this set, and can't wait to have more time to do some scrapbook pages with it.

This first card was made by Karman. I love the colors she used and the textured background! She said she ran her white Craft pad over the background to really highlight it more and soften the color of the Wild Wasabi card stock. I've been trying to resist getting a Cuttlebug...but seeing cute cards like this one makes it even more tempting!

This card was made by Bea. I love how she used the wire for the butterfly's antenna and the way she popped up the center of the flower with the rhinestone brad.

This adorable bookmark was made by Jodie. I said she must really like us to have done so much cutting...she stamped and cut the big flower twice and layered it with the leaves. Then she even shared some of her Pretties with us. The center flower and pearl are from the pretties kit. She said she dyed the flower with her red Craft ink pad and carefully dried it with her heat tool.

This next one is a post it note pad cover made by Kelly. Isn't it cute?! I just love the Fall Flowers designer paper she used.
This last card was made by me. I water colored the big flower with the inks from the coordinating card stock I used: Pomegranate, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky & Guava. Then finished it with a pearl from the Pretties kit and glitter pen on the dots on the flower...which doesn't really show in the photo.

Like Jodie said after our get together...Spending time stamping with friends is Time Well Spent! I agree! Thanks for doing such an awesome job on the swaps ladies!

Stampin' Up! Christmas Party

I sure had a busy stampin' weekend! After holding my last hostess club meeting for the year on Friday night, I spent Saturday getting ready for a Christmas party for my SU! demo group. Five out of six of us were able to get together, have lunch, visit, talk a little business, swap some cards and do some stamping. We had such a nice afternoon!

My upline and I made these peek-a-boo boxes filled with M&M's for everyone...they turned out so cute! Directions for the peek-a-boo boxes can be found here where I posted a Halloween version. We also gave the group a Pretties sampler kit which we packaged in these little gift bags I made for everyone. They are just like the ones I made here, only I used the Horizontal Slot punch at the top and added some wired ribbon for handles. Both the boxes and bags were made using the Mistletoe wheel & Punch Pals. Colors used are Mellow Moss & Ruby Red.After we swapped our cards using the new Level 3 Hostess set ~ Time Well Spent, we had lunch and then we made the coaster calendars that I posted here on Saturday for our make & take project. This is my upline Karman showing the cute swap card she made for everyone, while Beth Anne looks on.
This is my downline ~ Jodie & Bea showing their coaster calendars. Sorry you're a bit out of focas Bea...I'm still getting the hang of using my new camera!
Jodie made Karman and I this beautiful holiday journal using the Holiday Harmony Double-sided Designer Papers and Theater Ribbon Originals. I just love it! Now I'm kicking myself for not purchasing that paper pack while it was still available! Thanks again for such a thoughtful gift Jodie!
Tomorrow I will share the wonderful swap cards we exchanged. Everyone did such nice work...can't wait to show you! For now I need to go and finish my Christmas cards!