Here are a couple samples from my August ’07 workshops featuring the "Tapestry" style trend.  The card, featuring "Baroque Motifs", "Brocade Basics", and "Brocade Background" Designer Series Paper was the guests’ Make & Take project, while I demo’d the Tiny Take-out Box.  The latter is adorned with little flowers punched with the Three for You punch (box) – part of the August customer special.

One of the tools I find myself reaching for most often these days is my homemade Pick-a-Punch Guide!  And as long as I’ve figured out how to make it (and to teach how to make ’em), I’ll be offering a couple of sessions to guide you through making your own Pick-a-Punch Guide (all materials supplied) on Friday, August 31st.

So what in the world is a "Pick-a-Punch Guide", you ask?!?  Well, it’s a ring of templates of all 36 punches currently in Stampin’ Up!(r)’s product line. It’s purpose is to not only help you track and inventory the punches you may already own, but more importantly, to help you select the appropriate shape & size to use with a stamped image you may have in mind.  Simply experiment with different punch templates by holding them over your stamped image – or even over an image that’s shown in the catalog.

All the materials for this class will be included in the price, and there are two sessions from which to choose.  Registration will close on Tuesday, August 28th, tho, so please register soon.  Click here for a convenient way to register and pay online! 

….. that I’m calling a "Mini workshop" – perfect for stampers already familiar with Stampin’ Up!(r), who simply want to know "what’s new?", and check out some of the goodies in the Fall/Winter Collection 2007!  At your Mini Workshop, we’ll streamline the pace by skipping my usual games, drawings, extra hostess gifties, introduction to Stampin’ Up!, catalog tour, and piles of samples to peruse.  But we’ll still leave in the all-important and fun complimentary Make & Take, of course!  And I’ll also demo a couple of current tools or techniques, but probably not in the context of an entire project. 

So with this slimmed-down, speeded-up workshop format, you’ll be able to assure your guests they’ll probably be in and out within 90 minutes or less, unless you wish to combine your workshop with another social event before or after.  Come to think of it, this format might even fit into an extended office lunch break! 

I’ll be launching this new workshop format in just a couple of days – with a marathon of 5 small practice sessions on Friday and Saturday of this week (Aug. 24 & 25), and YOU’RE ALL INVITED! 

Come on over by yourself, or bring along a handful of friends.  Since I’m hosting these events myself, I get to decide what to do with any earned hostess benefits, so I’m choosing to give a bunch of ’em away!  Anyone with a personal order of $150 or more will receive hostess benefits accordingly, and anyone bringing a group of friends whose *combined* orders come to $150 or more, will get to claim the hostess benefits generated by those combined orders!  How cool is that?!?  It’s basically "hosting" a workshop without having to clean the house, make any refreshments, or dislodge your hubby from in front of his favorite TV!

To register for your choice of any of these 5 sessions, jump on over to my list of upcoming events, and you can even RSVP right there online!  But don’t waste any time; my Mini Workshop Marathon series is coming up quick, quick, quick!  Hope to see you there!

A big thank you to all of you who stopped by our booth at the Island County Fair!  It’s always so much fun to look up and see a familiar face, and I appreciate all of my friends who make that special effort to come and say ‘hi’, and give us feedback on our booth design.

And speaking of booth design – well, another year we tried for a ribbon; and another year we didn’t get it.  Funny how we placed "2nd" two years ago – back when we didn’t even know there *was* judging among the Commercial booths, lol, and therefore weren’t even trying to win!  (Wow!  Were we ever surprised when they brought us that gorgeous lavender rosette and ribbon!)  But they told us at the time that we’d increase our chances of winning again in future years too, by incorporating the theme of the fair into our booth decor.  So we did that last year, but when no ribbon appeared, we figured we’d probably been a bit too subtle and sophisticated in our approach, and the judges probably never even noticed.  So this year we were more deliberate and blatant.  But still nothing.  And very few booths, if any, in our building ever even try to incorporate the theme into their design at all, so apparently it doesn’t really make all that much difference afterall.

Anyway, considering all the extra hours, money, and effort it takes to work the fair theme into our design, this’ll probably be the last year we try. But never fear, there’ll *always* be plenty of pretty stuff to examine in our little corner of the world!  And I suppose we could even make our OWN ribbon, lol!

So – most of you who stopped by when I was there probably got one of the little candy favors I was making.  Well I have just finished a similar design (shown here) for our Sea to Sea Stampers’ monthly swap.  Our swap theme this month is chipboard, so I have used a chipboard piece from the On Board Blossoms & Basics set as the frame for the candy…. but the rest of it is just like the favors I was making at the fair. 

Oh!  And if you’d like to learn more about working with our On Board Chipboard, keep an eye out for my hands-on chipboard class coming in September!  I’ve got some really fun projects in mind for y’all!

I often enjoy the challenge of figuring out new things – especially when it comes to figuring out computer stuff.  (Whether or not that may be connected to the programming I once did in my former life is unknown.)  But this past week has certainly offered up its share of "figurin’ " challenges.

It all started with my recent acquisition of PhotoShop Elements 5.0.  There were really only a couple of things I had in mind to use it for when I bought it, but both desires went back a long, long time.  So I finally bit the bullet and bought the silly software.  And after many, many hours of messin’ around in totally unfamiliar territory, I finally produced a watermark for the photos I post.  More amazin’ yet, I even eventually figured out how to get it ONTO a photo!  Probably not a big deal at all for someone who understands this kind of stuff, but certainly a very big deal to ME, lol!  So the photo in my post of August 10th (or thereabouts) includes the debut of my very first watermark.

Since then, I confess to having "lost" and recreated that watermark file nearly a half-dozen times.  I don’t know where it keeps going, but I think I have finally nailed it down so I can find it when I need it.  I hope.  And in the meantime, I even got so good at recreating it I decided to make one with dark letters, too.  *Its* debut is shown here in a card inspired by one on page 150 of the Fall/Winter Collection 2007.   Not only did that card grab my attention the very first trip through the new catalog last month, but it also features those darling little punched flowers made with the "Three for You" Punch Box (which even includes free Love Note cards this month!). 

So one goal down, and one more to go with PhotoShop Elements.  THAT challenge will be to learn to stitch 2 or more parts of a scan together – such as when scanning a 12 x 12 scrapbook page.  I’ve always wanted to be able to post such scans, but of course the scanner’s not big enough to shoot it all at once. So maybe someday….

But in the meantime there’s an Island County Fair booth awaiting my attention. 

Come see me at the fair, btw!

Come see me at the Island County Fair (Commercial Building) and see these in real life! I’m working Thursday late afternoon to evening, and Saturday & Sunday morning to early afternoon.

Edited 8-12-07 to modify photo.

Just posted!  A very special (limited-time) offer for joining Stampin’ Up!  (U.S. only.) If you’ve been thinking about it for a while, this just might help you decide!  Check here for details or download and print a flyer here.  And then contact me and we’ll get you set up!

Here’s a quickie 3" x 3" card that features some of the supplies included in the Punch a Bunch promotion this month.  I also used the Cutie Pie Designer Series Paper, our white gel pen, and mini glue dots, along with scraps of Bashful Blue, Rose Red, and Certainly Celery cardstock.  Note that this sample features the Whisper White mini square envelope, rather than the Very Vanilla one that comes with the 30 free Love Notes cards in this month’s special. (Yes, that really *is* an envelope behind the card.)

The scan tended to flatten out the darling little flowers, but the petals were originally curled up to add some dimension.  To do that, I placed a punched flower in the palm of my hand, right side up, then pressed the back end of the gel pen down into the center of it, forming a cup shape.  It’s then easy to attach with the mini glue dot.  I just ADORE these sweet little Love Notes, and the extra-special textured ones that are included in the Punch a Bunch promotion are even more darling!

If you’re a regular customer, hostess, or Club member of mine, be looking for your copy of the Holiday Mini Catalog due to arrive sometime around early September!  VERY fun stuff in it, and the hot news is that every stamp set in this and all future mini catalogs will be die-cut for super-speedy mounting!   

I promised this would be a good month to get your "Three for You" Punch Box – and here’s why:  You’ll get 30 exclusive, FREE Love Notes and envelopes with your Punch Box purchase! ($12.95 value)

Download the flyer here, and then call me to place your order!  I’ll have it direct-shipped to you for no extra cost.