Just got word that the "Love Patterns" (Real Red & Pretty in Pink) Designer Series Paper Pack has been extended through Feb. 14!  You get 12 double-sided sheets in your pack – 6 of each color. 

#124156 – $9.95

Even if you don't use your pack for Valentines, who couldn't use some extra printed papers in these popular colors anyway?!?  I know I'll be stocking up!

So write down the number (#124156) and don't forget to add it to your next order – whether placed directly with me or on your online order by February 14th!

It's been a long-time coming, but it's finally on the calendar and ready to accept reservations!

 
Come make this absolutely adorable 4-car train, complete with locomotive with smokestack, cow-catcher, headlights and even heart-shaped windows! 

What's included?  A whole bunch of stuff, really!  Here's some of it:

You'll get not only the supplies to make this project (everything shown here except the candies inside the cello bags), but enough cardstock, 2 kinds of brads, 2 kinds of ribbon, SNAIL adhesive refill, and glue…….. to take home and use on future projects. You'll also get a new 3/4" circle punch – AND a free Sale-a-Bration award of your choice, average value $14.95! 

And of course a pre-prepared kit for your convenience, and ME – to guide you through making your very own train!

All this for only $66.00! ($59.97 in products ordered through Stampin' Up! – which may be put on a credit card at time of registration…….. and the balance covers your misc. supplies.)

When:  Saturday, Feb. 12  – Open House Style…….. I'll be available from 3 – 9 pm

Where:  Langley, WA (directions provided upon registration)

Space is strictly limited, however, so registration will be on a first-paid, first served basis.  Payment must be made in full by no later than Saturday, Feb. 5th so I can order your supplies.  Contact me by email, or at the phone number shown above.  (Note: if you're reading this from a feed you'll need to visit my site to see that.)

Remember to register right now while you're thinking of it, and I'll see you on the 12th!

I'm working on my January newsletter, and in honor of the popularity of the smaller format cards we often make and send at Valentines time, I will be including instructions for making an envelope for a 4" x 4" card. 

 If you don't already have another Stampin' Up! demonstrator you work with, make sure you're on my mailing list.  You can subscribe over at the top of the column just to the right of here.  (If you're reading this by subscription, you'll need to go to my site to see that: www.StamptheRock.com )

I'll also be teaching this idea at my upcoming workshops….. so give serious consideration to hosting one soon, or at least getting yourself INVITED to one! 

 
Woo Hoo!  It has finally arrived…… that super-fun season we've been waiting so long for:  Sale-a-Bration!

And during Stampin' Up!'s popular Sale-a-Bration season there's something FREE for everyone:  Customers, hostesses, and demonstrators both brand-new and long-time! So check out the details and don't miss out.

Active customers who shop with me regularly should have already received their brochures in the mail – oh, about a month ago.  But if you never received yours, you can check it out in PDF form  (along with any of our other catalogs) - or ask for another next time we're together.

Oh, and if you don't have your own Sale-a-Bration workshop scheduled, what are we waiting for?  Even though I'm already booked for most of the next month,we can still get you and your friends set up for late February - provided we reserve your date soon!

I recently stumbled across these pictures – still in my camera.  (Which obviously, I haven't used very much this month, lol.)  But even though they're kinda late, they capture a few moments of the stampin' fun we had 'round the table here on New Year's Day, so I've just gotta share 'em!

But there was one particularly funny element to that day: at some point we realized that there seemed to be several variations on the "uniform of the day"…… and the ladies had even arranged themselves around the table by color!  Check out how it all worked out….

First there were the Bermuda Bay stampers……

And then the Pretty in Pink team…..

And on the other side of the table, the Basic Black Tops! 

Now how funny was that?!?

Want to join us?  We'll do it again at Card Class (3 sessions to choose from) on Feb. 4th and 5th.  Check out the details here, and then make your reservation to come play with us! (And no, you don't REALLY have to wear a certain color, lol.)

Well, I did it again, didn't I?  Fell off the wagon with my blogging. 

Just have had so much going on with the business otherwise, I think I was too overwhelmed to figure out which ONE thing to write about! We had a fabulous New Years Day Stamp-a-Stack, and of course my January Clubs have now met (last night was the make-up night for the last week's Tuesday group that was postponed due to snow.)  And I've been in planning with my upcoming Sale-a-Bration hostesses regarding their workshops (btw, I still have openings for late February and March SAB workshops), and I've been asked to do a 6-week enrichment class for an elementary school beginning in a couple weeks, and I'm taking several classes myself, and working up future classes to offer (stay tuned for the debut of those, btw)……

But I obviously haven't been blogging.

Until today.  And TODAY's topic is a no-brainer…… it's something I simply MUST share with you – TODAY!!!

You see, 15 years ago this very day was the first day I ever saw rubber stamping in action!  Prior to that evening I'd never even heard of rubber stamping for creative purposes; the only thing I knew about a rubber stamp was that businesses and elementary school teachers used them – and the images were usually words like "overdue", or "paid", or "good job!"  Oh yeah, and I guess I knew ink pads came in red, lol!

But even THAT's not really where my story starts.  It actually begins earlier that same week when I'd received a phone call from a good friend who'd quickly whispered something like this into the phone, "Hi, Lynda?  I'm calling from work, so I can't talk long.  But I'm having a stamp party this Friday night at 7:00 at my dad's house (I know you know where that is), and I really hope you can be there. OK?  Gotta go!  Bye!"

Well.  As I sat there trying to comprehend what I'd just heard, I kept wondering about what in the world could possibly be so exciting about postage stamps that someone would choose to host a party around such a theme….. and more to the point, actually expect anyone to SHOW UP?!?  But in those days it seemed like everyone was selling almost everything in party-plan format, so I supposed it wasn't all that unusual that the post office would eventually jump on the bandwagon and start selling stamps that way too.  It certainly sounded boring, but this was a good friend, and I had nothing else on my calendar for Friday night, and I figured I could always buy a few extra postage stamps to have on hand.

So imagine my surprise when no one from the post office showed up, but instead, a Stampin' Up! demonstrator…….. who pulled out a small white note card, a couple stamps and an ink pad or two, some scissors and some markers…  and proceeded to do absolutely magical things with those few simple tools!  Oh my gosh, I was HOOKED!!!

Now in those days, the concept of make and takes had not yet become part of a typical Stampin' Up! workshop format.  So while I never even got to touch a stamp myself that night, I left there knowing that I, too, was now a "rubber stamper", and I couldn't wait for my first order to arrive!

Four months later I was already signed up as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, and it's been an awesome 15-year ride! Who KNEW my little 6-month experiment would turn into a decade and a half?!?

If you've ever wondered about becoming a demonstrator yourself, I invite you to explore some of the benefits here.  And then during our upcoming Sale-a-Bration, watch for a discount on your starter kit, plus an additional bonus products bundle (up to $50 value)…  all beginning next Tuesday, January 25th!  Contact me right away for more details!

There's still a little room at the first Stamp-a-Stack of the New Year!  New Year's Day….. Open House Style….. come any time between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm.  But I still need your RSVP, so contact me right away!

Here's one of the cards on tap:

Some more samples of your Christmas stamping!

First from Leslie W…….

And then from Carlene L……

And then from Dora, over on the other coast……

Thank you all, ladies!

Some of you may remember that every year I take a "family favorite" recipe contributed by a member of my extended family and design a 2-page 6" x 6" layout featuring that recipe…….  then stamp multiple copies to give as Christmas gifts to those same families – to add to a recipe album I started for them several years ago.  This year's recipe submission was from my youngest brother Eric and his wife Karen.

This layout is one of my "plainer" designs, but ironically the most challenging design I've done for this collection so far – because of the limitations of not having appropriate supplies on hand.  Of course I always try to reflect the dish when designing the art; but this one just wasn't all that easy, and I had to take a little artistic license – especially with the vegetable images from the "Homegrown" stamp set.  I just didn't have the precise images I wished I had – and I have to admit that frustrated me.  But at least I was grateful to discover I still had some of this VERY old Stampin' Up!® Designer Series Paper…… from back before we began carrying the heavy-weight, double-sided paper we have now-a-days. It seemed to fit reasonably close to where I was going with the overall idea. I would have preferred a torn edge, but unfortunately the torn edge on this paper was bright white – which was entirely inappropriate.

So anyway, here's what I eventually came up with for our 2010 "Family Favorites" recipe – first the left page, then the right.  Are you gettin' hungry yet?

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.

This is a hybrid card:  The main part was designed (and printed) with "My Digital Studio", then the greeting was stamped & embossed onto Sahara Sand, which was mounted onto Real Red cardstock.  Then the whole thing was mounted to a 4" x 4" Real Red card.