A large selection of my retired stamps & supplies became available for last year's hostesses to choose from last weekend at my Hostess Appreciation Party, and since then several other people have come to pick, too.  But I've still got 60-some stamp sets, and dozens and dozens of individual stamps left (individuals are priced from $1 to $6)….. along with a selection of papers & a few other items as well. 

I will keep these out on display and available through this upcoming weekend before they go back into storage in the garage.  If you would like to come take a look before that happens, call for an appointment!

Hurray!  GREAT NEWS!  Turns out my computer issue was nothing more than a dead power supply!  Not that that's really so wonderful, but oh, how much worse it could have been; my stomach nearly hit the floor when the guy proposed the possibility of it being the motherboard!  (Translation:  new computer.)  So by comparison I was happy to shell out the $60-some bucks for a new power supply and bring the 'puter home on only the 2nd day.  Somehow my desktop icons got themselves all scrambled up, but I've just spent the past couple of hours rearranging that, and after downloading almost 100 emails I think I'm ready to get back to work!

So first order of business is to get the Deal of the Week #4 published – in case there's anyone left who hasn't dug around and uncovered it elsewhere.  And it's another GREAT deal this week:  Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware – for almost $11.00 off its regular price!  If you haven't yet sprung for this fun set of embellishments, now is definitely the time to do it.  But make sure you get your order in by Sunday, July 26th, though!

Well last week it was my printer giving me grief; this morning the computer won't turn on.  So methinks I see a trip down to the computer doctor in my daily plans.  But in the meantime I just wanted to ask y'all to please "call" me (vs. email me) if you need to reach me these next few days.  I *will* still try to look at emails once or twice a day, but it's a pretty agonzing process with my antique laptop that THOUGHT it had been released out to pasture.  Consequently, I expect to probably be very selective about which messages I open, and I wouldn't want to accidentally miss YOURS!  So please call instead; my phone # is in the banner at the top of the page.  (If you're reading this by email subscription, you'll need to actually go to my blog to view that.)

And please wish my computer a speedy recovery; I had a real heavy week of computer work scheduled! 

Every summer I host a party exclusively to honor my workshop hostesses of the past year. It begins with a hand-stamped invitation in the mail - usually something a little out of the ordinary……. and hopefully an idea that most of 'em haven't yet seen.  The invitation provides the first clue to the color scheme I've chosen for the event; this year's festivities were centered around my favorite new In Color, Rich Razzleberry.

One of the elements I always enjoy most about this special party is the presentation of awards.  I generally have 2 categories:  Olympic Circle honors and "Top 3 in total workshop sales".  A hostess qualifies for my Olympic Circle by hosting a workshop of $500 or more in sales.  A $500 workshop is a bronze workshop, $750 in sales gets a silver, and a workshop of $1000 or more in sales qualifies for gold!   

The 3 awards on the far right are bronze awards, while the larger award to their left is ready for this year's gold hostess.  (Somewhat surprisingly, there were no silver workshops this year.)

These awards to the left are ready for the 3 hostesses with Top Total Workshop Sales.  This category takes into consideration a hostess's total workshop sales during the year, so that if she hosts more than one workshop during the year (July 1 through the following June 30), the sales from all of them can be combined to qualify for this award. 

I'll announce the winners' names in an upcoming posting, but in the meantime don't forget that this upcoming fall season is going to be a fabulous time to host a workshop!  If you know anyone with young kids (or grandkids), August will be an awesome time to have a workshop……. and all the months after that (through December), will have the Holiday Mini Catalog available, too!  Email me right now and let's reserve a date for you and your friends so you can join us at NEXT year's hostess party! 

Stampin' Up!® has announced the availability of refill kits for the Summer Cookout Kit featured in the Country Living Magazine – (and here).  This new refill kit contains the same paper goods as the original kit (again, for 8 people), but does not include the ink spots or the Dig It stamp set.  So now you can go ahead and throw a BIG party!  You don't have to stop with just 8 guests anymore! 

The Country Living Summer Cookout Refill (item 119193) is only $9.95. 

Contact me or order your kit(s) online.

If you subscribe to my updates via email delivery, please be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of each message to make sure you're actually viewing each article.  Sometimes I post more than one article in a 24-hour timeframe, and then when your email message delivers, the most recent post will be at the top, but the older ones (but still within the same 24-hour timeframe) are appended below it.  I have become aware that some of you didn't realize that, and some email subscribers have missed some of my posts by not scrolling all the way through the incoming email message.

BTW, if you're not yet a subscriber to my blog and it would be convenient to have my articles delivered to you automatically, there are 2 ways to sign up for that service over in my left-hand column.  And both methods are free!

Beginning today and running through August 31st, Stampin' Up! is offering a special Mini Starter Kit for new demonstrators – for only $85!  This kit includes a stamp set, the 6 new In Colors (ink pads & cardstock assortment), and a package of Whisper White cardstock (all of which are substituable if you prefer), along with the same business supplies that come in the regular $199 Demonstrator Starter Kit.

This Mini Starter Kit would be perfect for a former demonstrator who has decided to return, as well as for long-time SU fans who already have sizeable collections of current products.

If you prefer, however, the $199 Demonstrator Starter Kit will still be available during this time, and it has a special bonus gift included, too:  all 6 In Color Classic pads, along with 8-1/2 x 11 assorted In Color cardstock.

So if now's the time to transition your papercrafting passion into an income-producing opportunity, click here for more information, including a guide at the bottom of the page for what to do next!

Oops!  In yesterday's "busyness" of prepping for this weekend's activities (Hostess Appreciation Party & Retired Stamps sale) I totally forgot to post week #3's Deal of the Week.  (Although you already know, I hope, that you can always click the "Special Offers" link up at the top of this page…. and catch "the latest", posted direct by Stampin' Up!)  Anyway, the Square Fire Rhinestone Brads are being featured this week – at more than 35% off, meaning $6.99, instead of their regular $10.95. Check 'em out here and add a couple sets to your order this week.  Save almost $4 each!

I'm excited that tonight we're beginning another round of Stamp Clubs….. and I think you're gonna like what I've got lined up!

But I've still got some openings in both groups (one meets on South Whidbey; one is up north).  So if you've got a large wishlist (which I can pretty much guarantee you'll have after viewing all our brand-new catalogs as well as the upcoming mini!), click here to see how my Stampers 30 Clubs work, as well as the perks of belonging!  Even if the opening meetings this week are too last-minute for you, I'll still be able to accept sign-ups afterwards and hold a membership spot for you for our next meeting, which will be in September.

Not SURE if you'd like to commit to joining?  Come join us for a free "test drive" evening!

Well, I can thank Stampin' Up!® for yet another much-too-short night last night. 

As you know, I had already been super-busy all throughout the day and evening yesterday (well, if you read my last post from only hours ago you knew that, anyway), so just as I was closing up shop and thinking about heading off towards bed last night I figured I'd pop on over to the demonstrator website and possibly catch an announcement or two that I thought might show up (preprogrammed to appear when it officially turned "Monday" in Utah). Well was THAT ever a mistake!!!!

OH MY GOSH! 

Not only was the August issue of our monthly demonstrator magazine, Stampin' Success, posted online, but SO WAS THE HOLIDAY MINI CATALOG!  (OK, now, wait!  Before I accidentally cause any stampin' heart attacks with that statement, this "posting" to which I refer is a preview for demonstrator eyes only, so no point clickin' all around my websites trying to find it yourself!  But no worries; if you're in my just-starting-up-this-week Stampers 30 Clubs, or a frequent customer or class attendee around here, you'll be getting your very own copy delivered to your snail mail box probably late in August…… and the rest of you will be able to view it online come launch day, September 1st.)

But be warned; this puppy is HUGE!  40 pages long, it hardly even qualifies for a "mini", I think!  And inside it is the most awesome……

Oh, come on now!  You KNOW I'm not supposed to tell you, and I'm surely not gonna risk my 13-year career as a demonstrator by breakin' the rules in my excitement!  But I WILL tell you that it's got 3, count 'em, THREE – brand-spankin'-new product lines in there!  Of course there are tons of to-die-for gorgeous holiday goodies in the lines we know and love: stamps, papers, ribbons, punches, and dies for our Big Shots; we've come to expect that from Stampin' Up!, right?!?  But I'm talkin' BRAND NEW PRODUCT LINES here! 

Now, if you've hung around me much these past 6 months or so, you've probably heard me drop a teaser or two about *one* of these particular lines, and this mini will be its first public unveil.  But the OTHER two lines were complete surprises to me!  Now I REALLY can't wait to get to Convention to see and learn about them!

So anyway, of course all this excitement took me a couple of hours to read all about, and so by the time I dropped into bed it was only 4-1/2 hours before the alarm would go off and get me up again.  So I'm movin' kinda slow this morning.  Gee, THANKS, Stampin' Up!!!  Wonder what life would be like if it were simply boring day after boring day……..?