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So can you figure out what this is? Well, if you are among the swappers in my Sea to Sea Stampers downline group this month you'll be learning pretty soon! But for the rest of you…… well, you'll have to attend one of my June workshops – where I'll be unveiling this project and even demonstrating how to make it. Summer's coming and I think you just might be impressed!
Wanna join us? Call me to RSVP for one of my Whidbey Island workshops!
Quick note:
Stampin' Up!® has just informed us they are already sold out of the 6 x 6 Old Olive Polka Dot albums from the Summer Mini Catalog. Guess they really mean it when they include the note: "Available only while supplies last" in the description!
So you might want to act quick if you still want the Bashful Blue Herringbone album on page 23! Who knows how much longer THAT one might be available?!? At only $10.95 each, both of these albums have been "steals"!
Order at my store for the quickest results! If it's still showing up in my online store, it's still available.
Ding-Dong. Stampin' Up!® calling!
That's right. Every Tuesday except the 2nd Tuesday of the month (which is reserved for Stampers 30 Club), I'm gonna pack up some samples and some of our newest and most popular products, and come visit YOU at your choice of locations! (Um, within reason, of course – keep reading for specifics.)
So if it's been a while since you've hosted or attended a workshop or class with me, here's your chance to get caught up a bit in the World of Stampin' Up! Here's how it works:
Ok, so WHERE and how far will I travel for this? (Guess I'd better clarify this because I know this article will be read 'round the world, lol!) ANSWER: I will travel within the same general area in which I will hold a workshop: that is, *anywhere* on Whidbey Island, as well as in the communities roughly described as between North Seattle and Marysville. However, if your location doesn't exactly fit into that definition, but I've already done a workshop for you in the past, then I consider *your* location included, too!
So I'm ready to get started! Who wants to be first on my Traveling Tuesday list? Just get in touch, and let's make your appointment!
Thought I'd share the flower design my Stampers 30 ladies made this month. The petals of these flowers were made with the Scalloped Oval punch, while the leaves featured the Large Oval.
These flowers, along with some of the other projects I post here from time to time are examples of the variety of projects I offer my Club members every month. Some months we'll focus on a stamping technique or fancy fold while making a card or two, and other times we'll see just how far "outside the box" we can get with Stampin' Up!'s Big Shot and/or their awesome punches. My ladies just never know what awaits them when they show up!
If you may be interested in joining the fun we'd love to have you! Contact me for more information about our group, or come see more of the types of projects we've made this year. We've still got one more month in our current cycle of meetings (June – to which you're welcome to come as a guest!), but I'm also now accepting registrations for our next series, which will begin after that. And when you sign up, be sure to indicate whether you'd prefer to hang out with my Oak Harbor group – or my South Whidbey group.
Happy Stampin'!
A new video from Stampin' Up!® today: Scrapbooking ideas in honor of National Scrapbooking Month.
If you're reading this from a feed, you may need to go to my site to view this video.
Well, Happy Belated Mother's Day! I had a lovely day; even took some time off to hang out and go to dinner with my parents. And best of all both kids called! <smile>
So today I'm back – and with some of the continual chaos of the recent months now behind me, I cautiously declare that I hope to be able to post here more often than my recent track record!
Today I'm going to address Stampin' Up!'s exciting upcoming Color Renovation. I've already had a chance to chat with many of you in person about it, so this won't be news to most of you. But beginning with the new upcoming Idea Book & Catalog (due out about the 1st of July), you'll see a fresh, new (and GORGEOUS) color palette featuring updated and on-trend colors! I am personally in LOVE with the colors I've seen so far (haven't yet seen the to-be-announced "In Colors", but I'm sure I'll enjoy those, too).
But our Color Renovation brings with it a new system of classification of colors at the same time, so that's mostly what I'd like to share with you today.
Beginning with the new Idea Book & Catalog, the term "Color Family" will retire. Does that mean we won't USE the term anymore?!? Well, I for one, think it's pretty unlikely that after having used that term hundreds and hundreds of times since 1997 that I'll be able to drop it overnight, lol! But the new and correct term will be "Color Collection". And we'll have 4 of them. Feel free to give me some jazz whenever I fall back into my habit of saying "Color Families", lol.
So the 4 "Color Collections" will become: Subtles, Brights, Regals, and Neutrals. Yes, I know they "sound" familiar, but we've dropped the extra tongue-twisting alliteration, and you'll note that the classification "Earth Elements" has been retired altogether. Each of these 4 color collections will have 10 colors in it. (Down from the current 12.)
And the colors you'll see in each collection will be different from the current similar-sounding configurations. Come July, you'll notice that some current colors will have jumped from their current color category into an entirely different color collection, some will be retiring, some yummy brand-new colors will be making their debut, and 10 former "In Colors" will be returning to take a well-deserved place as a standard "core color" now! (Per your ongoing popular request.)
We will still introduce "In Colors" each year, but instead of 6 we'll have 5, and each set will be around for 2 years instead of one. So that means that beginning in July 2011, we'll have 10 In Colors running at once - 5 that will be introduced this upcoming July, and 5 more that will be unveiled July 2011. Each group will then retire at the end of its 2nd year – so their terms will overlap. (Geesh. Sounds like Congress, doesn't it?!?)
So once the math is done we'll actually have a little bit fewer colors than we do now. But the ones we have will be where the trends (and sales patterns) are going. Rich colors with depth and warmth. Once you get a chance to work with 'em, you're gonna love 'em as much as I do, I'm sure.
But what does this mean if you've got a project already underway (such as a scrapbook) that's based on one of the colors that will be retiring? Well, it means you'll need to order more of that color right away – and certainly before the end of May. Stampin' Up! thinks they'll be able to fulfill your orders for your inks, refills and markers, but some of the cardstock colors are already selling out. (This, due to an unexpected quadrupling of demand for those colors that have lain in the warehouse largely ignored for several years. Leave it to us females to react with panic about running short of colors we've somehow managed to live without for the past several years, lol!)
Anyway, if you DO have a project already underway that requires a certain color of cardstock to complete - or you'd like to get the refills for the retiring colors so you can keep using your inkpad into the future, my advice is to get those things ordered as quickly as possible. Stampin' Up! has told us that as long as they have textured cardstock in one of those (suddenly) high-demand colors, they will substitute textured for smooth cardstock in the same color (at no extra charge to you) in the event that the regular (smooth) cardstock sells out. But in spite of that, there are likely to be situations where there is nothing left with which to substitute, and those specific individual cardstock colors will simply be unavailable any more. (Hence, my advice to hurry and place your orders if you may be affected by the retirement of a certain color.)
So ok, you wonder, what ARE the colors that will be retiring? Well HERE is a chart that shows the colors we're bidding farewell to. For the most part they're colors that have kind of out-stayed their welcome in the color and design world ("Harvest Gold" refrigerators, anyone?), and sales records indicate they have not enjoyed frequent use in recent years. So take a quick look if you're curious, but then take a longer look at THIS chart – showing the rich and delicious colors we'll SOON get to work with! Note the difference in "lusciousness level" between the two charts?
Don't forget that if there's something on the first chart that you still want, I encourage you to order it right away. And if it appears to be sold out already, please contact me directly; there MAY be something I can work out for you behind-the-scenes.
Check out this video that previews some of the cool new products in the Summer Mini Catalog! (If you're reading this post from a feed you may need to go directly to my blog to view the video.)
You can view the Summer Mini Catalog from the picture link in my left-hand column (PDF file) – or, if you're a customer of mine and haven't already received one, give me shout and just ask! I am featuring some of the new goodies at my workshops and events beginning this month.
Welcome back! I think we left off yesterday with 1/3 of the transfer paper pulled back from the image. A little more pulling and even more was exposed….. until eventually it all was. Once the entire image was applied I ran my finger over each individual letter to make sure it was well anchored to the wall. (Again, 'cuzza my somewhat bumpy walls.)
And then I stood back to admire it. And YES! It was exactly parallel to the ceiling! Hurray!
But there was something odd about the big ol' "hi" right in the middle of the thing; there was no dot over the letter "i", and I thought it looked rather unfinished. But then I decided that perhaps it had been designed that way intentionally – so that WE could figure out something creative to do with it. So here's what I did:
Yep, I made a flower out of Chocolate Chip cardstock and anchored it to the wall with a removeable poster tab! Here's a closeup of the flower before I put it up. (Don't forget you can click on any of these images for a better view.)
So what do think of that? Think it was what Stampin' Up!® had in mind when they didn't dot their "i"? Leave me a comment and share what OTHER kinds of ideas you can come up with for that little missing detail!
BTW, I'll be teaching how to make this flower at my workshops in May. If you'd like to learn how, please plan to attend one – or even better, you can host one yourself! Call me to claim your date asap.
It's been a long time coming, but I finally made some forward movement on our stampin' work space yesterday. (Formerly known as a dining room, but now given over 100% to our stampin' purposes.) I've had this plan in my head for a long, long time – to use this particular wall to hang pertinent stamp-related "stuff" on, but there'd been a piece of furniture that was in the way, and IT had to be moved, causing ANOTHER heavy piece of furniture to need moving……. and, well, YOU know how stuff like that goes. And so basically none of it was getting done. For month after month….
But yesterday my wonderful brother, Eric (from Flat Rock Productions, just in case you or anyone you know might be looking for THE most awesome building design firm in the Northwest, btw) – came over to help me with the muscle work of swapping "Furniture Piece A" with "Furniture Piece B". I'd already unloaded both cabinets, so it didn't take us all that long to get them rearranged.
So after reloading 'em both with their former contents I was finally able to get started on the wall that's mostly still just an idea in my head. (And probably WILL be for a while, lol.) But I did get one thing accomplished; I hung that Decor Elements image (from Stampin' Up!®) that I've had for months, and have been so anxious to put up!
Now, the thing is about 4 feet long, and about 6-1/2 to 7 feet up the wall, so it probably WOULD have been easier with another pair of hands on tap. But by just being careful and taking my time I managed to do it all by myself! (Woo hoo!)
It never occured to me to try to document the process with pictures until the most challenging parts were behind me, wouldn't you know…. but those parts I'll try to explain. Read below to see what happened prior to what you see here……
First of all, I had to decide WHERE on the wall I wanted it. That probably would have been easier, if I already *had* the other things I eventually intend to add to the wall (some shallow ledges, framed artwork, etc.) But lacking any of that yet I figured I'd punt. Initially I temporarily hung it centered in the space…. but quite quickly decided that wasn't gonna do it. So I moved it left…. just to the right of the drapes at the slider. The height off the floor was another guess, too: something "up high", but not all the way up close to the ceiling in case I should eventually decide to put something above it.
To begin, I hung the entire piece (still sandwiched between its two layers of paper) in place with lots of that blue painter's tape. I knew it was critical that it end up perfectly level, so I checked and double-checked, and triple-checked that with both a metal tape as well as a level. Again and again, until I was certain the words were level to about 1/32 of an inch all the way across. Then I ran a strip of blue painters tape exactly along the top edge of the piece.
Once that strip of blue tape was in place I removed the entire piece from the wall and laid it down on my big table to follow the instructions included with it to use the applicator tool to transfer the image from the backing sheet to the transfer sheet. Then I peeled the backing sheet off, pulling it back on itself as explained in the directions. There was one little spot where the backing sheet had some kind of flaw or something, and it would not let loose of the vinyl image and instead began to tear, but I easily remedied that with a little gentle urging with the tip of a stylus. Once the backing sheet was gone my heart started pounding; THIS was now where I was afraid I could really mess it all up if that transfer sheet (which now held the exposed vinyl and is sticky so it acts like a giant piece of masking tape) should accidentally touch the wall before I was ready for it to! But with my heart in my throat, up the ladder I went.
And much to my relief I discovered it wasn't as challenging in real life as my brain had built it up to be. Beginning with the upper left corner, I very carefully placed the top edge of the transfer sheet exactly along the bottom edge of the blue tape. I tried to be careful to only make contact with the wall just along that top edge at this time. So THAT is what you see in the picture up above; the Decor Elements is hanging only from its top edge, but not yet smoothed into place.
The next step was to adhere the entire image (including the transfer paper) firmly to the wall. I began by simply rubbing the applicator tool over the entire image area – stroking outwards from the middle in long, firm strokes with the applicator tool.
After that, I traced over each letter with my finger, pressing it onto the wall, figuring that because my wall has a bit of texture to it, it wouldn't hurt to give it a little extra bit of attention.
Then it was time to begin pulling the transfer paper off the wall, leaving the vinyl images
in place. Again, the technique is to pull the paper completely back on itself – and to work slowly and deliberately. I began at the upper left corner again, and here's what it looked like with about 1/3 of the transfer paper pulled back.
Well, this has gotten long enough for one day, so check back tomorrow for the 2nd half of the story, including pictures of the finished result – and a little custom surprise!
Due to how the calendar falls in May, I am unable to host my usual 3 sessions of Stamp-a-Stack that I normally hold every month. So instead, our May Stamp-a-Stack will be Open House style (9:00 am – 9:00 pm) on Saturday, May 1st ONLY. That's this coming Saturday, so be sure to register asap if you haven't already reserved your spot.
Also, my 2-for-1 Special continues through June's Stamp-a-Stack series: bring an adult friend who has never attended one of my Stamp-a-Stacks and you'll both attend for the price of one!
But remember that RSVP's are always required – and Saturday, May 1st is nearing capacity. Please be sure to RSVP for that one asap, as I'm closing registration on Thursday, April 29th unless it fills up earlier. So hurry and get registered by either email or phone right away!
Read more details about my Stamp-a-Stacks and other upcoming events here.
Annual Catalog & Idea Book. Click to view online.