Facebook users:  Did you know you could receive my blog postings (my articles like what you're reading right now) directly to your Facebook Home Page?  Just click the "Like" link over in my left-hand column and follow the directions.  (Btw, if you're reading this posting from an email or RSS feed, you'll need to go to my website to see the column I'm referring to.) 

Anyway, once you've "liked" "Stamping the Rock", that will create a feed direct to your FB Home Page so you'll get these postings right along with your friends' postings and the other stuff you follow - just as soon as I publish them!

But don't forget to come visit here directly every so often, too - 'cuz the specials and other things I add in my sidebar columns will update and change from time-to-time, and you don't want to miss those.

But in the meantime, this FB feed method is pretty slick – and handy!

Here's a piece of what you'll see when you visit us at the Island County Fair this weekend. 

Find us in the Turner (Commercial) building – center row, right behind the ATM.  If you enter from the end opposite Main Stage you'll be able to see our Stampin' Up!® sign as soon as you approach the building.  I'll be in the booth from mid-afternoon to closing, both today (Saturday) and tomorrow.

And since I'm lousy putting names to faces in a people-intense environment like this, please re-introduce yourself when you arrive!

I don't think I have to tell most of you I love what I do.  And here's just part of the reason: an awesome and totally fun company to be associated with!

This welikedemonstrators ("we like demonstrators") video was a gift to us from the Sales & Marketing department at Convention time, about a month ago.  The music was our 2010 Convention theme song, and the fun takes place in the atrium of Stampin' Up!'s headquarters in Salt Lake City.  Make sure the boss isn't within earshot….. then click and enjoy! 

Then check in here to learn about coming on board with one of the happiest companies around!

BTW, if you cannot see the entire frame, try viewing at this address:  www.welikedemonstrators.com

Just checking in before my shift today at the Island County Fair, Whidbey Island, to share the very first project I've ever entered into a fair.  It earned a blue ribbon, but I'm shamelessly soliciting your vote for People's Choice Award if you'll be coming to the fair this weekend.  Just remember #64 in the Arts & Crafts Building (enter on the side closest to the Turner Building).

(BTW, don't forget you can usually click on my images to view them larger, if you'd like.)

And while you're at the fair, be sure to come visit me in our booth after about 3:30 today, tomorrow, and Sunday. We've got more eye candy than ever before – including yet another elaborate 3-tier cake and other treats you'd never imagine could be made with our products!  4 of us have been working for months preparing for this year's booth, and we're pretty proud of what we've got in store for ya!  So come see!!!  We're in the Turner Building – near the end AWAY from Main Stage.  Look for our Stampin' Up! sign up above the top of the center row of booths – backing up to the ATM booth.  (Oh, and we're the official passport-stamping booth, too, if you'll have kids in tow.) 

So by now you may be wondering if I've dropped off the face of the planet altogether.  Or quit Stampin' Up! – or something equally dramatic.  (Perish the thought!) 

But no, I'm still very much around; just haven't had the time to visit the 'net much.  I've had a particularly hectic month with my hostess appreciation party, all the before-during-and-after Convention activities, a couple of workshops (with AWESOME hostesses, btw; thank you, Kevin and Cathy!), my regular monthly Stamp-a-Stacks, a couple of classes I'm taking, some creative planning sessions with my Island County Fair team (hope you'll come visit us next week!), and then our 2010/2011 Stampers 30 Clubs (soon-to-be-known-as Crafters 30 Clubs) – which start up tomorrow!  Whew!  It makes me exhausted just typing all that, lol!

So I really HAVE been moving along…… and I guess it's about time to share one of the projects I've designed recently.  This was one of the cards from my Stamp-a-Stacks last weekend – when I had had a special request to work with Aqua Painters.  This still life stamp set is new in the 2010/2011 Idea Book & Catalog – "Studio Sketches" – and it's stamped with Stazon ink (jet black) onto watercolor paper, and then colored with aqua painters and about half of our markers (yes, LOTS!) scribbled onto an acrylic block and used as a paint palette.  Additional stamps in the background include En Francais, Medallion, and the new stamp Wonderfully Worn.  Cardstock colors are Sahara Sand and Chocolate Chip.

So indeed, there's a lot going on around here!  Why not come "Stamp the Rock" with us soon?!?

Isn't is AWESOME that Stampin' Up! has arranged for all owners of My Digital Studio to get a free upgrade to add new colors to their existing color palette?  Here are the 2 steps towards getting YOUR free colors.  You must do them both – in order:

1. Update your software to the newest version (1.0.4 – or later).  Start by determining your current version at your Help option within your program.  If your version is 1.0.1 (or later), just click on "Check for updates" within the Help option – and your software update will be performed automatically.  However, if you have not yet updated to 1.0.1, go to www.StampinUp.com/MyDigitalStudio and download version 1.0.1 FIRST – before you go any further!  And THEN do the 1.0.4 update via your Help option.
2. AFTER you have updated your software to 1.0.4 (or later), go to www.StampinUp.com/MyDigitalStudio .  Click on the updates page and "one-by-one" download and install the 4 color packages available there for free!  Be sure to choose the files according to whether you have a PC or MAC.  The "patterns" files are quite large, so don't panic if the download seems to take a long time.

If you have My Digital Studio installed on 2 computers in the same household (such as your desktop as well as your laptop), don't forget to perform both of these steps on EACH computer.

Please note that this free upgrade should give you all the current ink and background colors in Stampin' Up! new color palette, but there are still a few cardstock and Designer Series Patterns colors not included in this free color update.  

Also, if you have purchased and downloaded digital textured cardstock at some time in the past, this process will not update those colors, either.  Perhaps there will be a digital download that can be purchased for that at some later date; keep checking back weekly at my online store for the latest digital download options.

Today's video will teach you how to work with your photos within My Digital Studio.  If you're watching this as strictly an informational overview, a single viewing will be fine.  But if you're learning to work with your own copy of My Digital Studio, you may want to view this video more than once.  There's a lot of great information crammed into 8 minutes here! 

Even *I* learned something new!  🙂

I'm going to post a couple of videos about My Digital Studio over the next couple of days.  Today's video will be intruductory in nature.  For those of you "just curious", it'll help you understand what the software is all about …….. and if you're a new user yourself, it'll help you get started with your own copy of My Digital Studio.

My Digital Studio is a versatile digital crafting "solution".  (That's apparently today's tech-speak for "program", I guess – 'cuz I never knew I had a digital crafting "problem" before they came out with this "solution", lol!)  But at any rate, I love, love, LOVE this program, and find myself using it in some form or another in my crafting and business endeavors several times a week.  What I had originally expected to speed up my scrapbooking has actually proven itself useful in a dozen different ways! 

(Wanna see one example?  Get yourself invited to one of my workshops this season and your invitation will likely be a "hybrid" My Digital Studio project!)

Remember that this program comes with roughly 2000 images to get started with.  That's a ton of choices, right there.  But Stampin' Up! is releasing several new images almost weekly these days that will enhance your options even farther!  So when you're ready to expand your library of images, you can purchase the Digital Downloads of your choice from my Online Store ….. many for as little as 95-cents each!  Oh, and another cool thing is that since they're downloaded direct to your computer, there's not even a shipping fee! 

So enjoy this introductory video – and stay tuned for the next one soon!

Watch this video for an overview of Stampin' Up!'s new color collections!  Didn't I tell ya they were dreamy?!?

(BTW, if you're reading this from a feed, you may need to go to my blog to view the video.)

Today I've got a couple random photos to share. 

The first one is one of the piles of new catalogs I was working with last week (btw, there are still a few copies here waiting to be picked up!  Shocking!)…….

and this was the invitation I sent for my annual Hostess Appreciation Party.  This year I used a "tropical" theme which was easy to do with so many perfect coordinating pieces available in the Summer Mini Catalog. 

If you're local, be sure to drop by our booth at the Island County Fair next month and check out the rest of the elements I made for this event; I'll have 'em on display there. 

(Oh, and I'll be working the morning shift on Thursday and the afternoon/evening shifts on Friday – Sunday of that week.)