Monday, February 28, 2011

Sale-a-Bration Fun and Create a Bookmark

During last year's Sale-a-Bration, Stampin' Up! put a cute saying on the outside of the boxes they shipped to customers, hostesses, and demonstrators. This year they have about three different sayings. I got such a kick out of this when I saw this box that I just had to share it with you! I can't wait to see what my next box says...
And here is what Webster thought about the box. It's pretty much the same as any other box - it's there for HIM. He loves the packing paper too. Believe it or not, he curled up in the box and took a cat nap. Of course, when I tried to take a picture of him napping, his head popped right up. Cats don't always cooperate, you know. Smiley from millan.netHere's an adorable project that a friend of mine came up with. It's a magnetic bookmark! I just love this idea.
Side view:
Close up:
This project uses the Two Tags die (pg. 206 IB&C), Punch Bunch SAB stamp set, Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, 1-3/4" Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Large Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Large Punch, 1/8" Basic Black Taffeta Ribbon. The colors are Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, and Basic Black.

Above is card that I got from Deb Snyder. She made the card so the bookmark was attached. This makes it a card and a gift all in one! The bookmark is held closed by 1" squares cut from Magnet Sheets. Did you know that Stampin' Up! had magnetic sheets? Look at your IB&C on page 205. It's easy to overlook them because they're on a page with other Base Materials that can be cut into shapes using your Big Shot or into squares for a project like this. Now that you know we have them, what other things do you think you could use them for?

This was such an adorable project! Thanks for the idea, Deb. Until next time...

Jayne Stenstrom
jayne@jaynestamps.com

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Ice Storm Aftermath

I'm back home! We have power, and heat, and electricity, and INTERNET CONNECTION!!!!! Woo-hoo!Smiley from millan.net

I wanted to try to show you some of what we've been experiencing this week. This first picture is taken in our back yard. The pine trees are covered with at least 1/2" of ice and many of the branches are either broken off, or bent over with so much weight that they are dragging on the ground. Normally we have about 3 to 4 feet under the trees with no branches.Then we got some snow in addition to the ice. Here's a close up that Jerry took outside his mom's place. We stayed with her because our power was out for about three days and it got COLD in our house! Plus without power we have no running water here either. It felt sooo good to get a hot shower at Mom's place and sleep in a warm bed. Smiley from millan.net

When we got home, I took a few more pictures of the tree damage. I guess it might be hard to appreciate if you don't know what the trees look like normally, but those open-looking spots in the top are usually very full looking. Any branches lying on the ground aren't usually there - they're usually up in the trees.



Close-up of some of the downed branches.
This picture shows the beauty that comes even with the destructive power of ice. My friend Becky K. took this picture. It's really hard to capture how the ice looks covering the trees, but when the sun comes out, it really does look like a fairyland. Thanks for letting me share this picture, Becky!
All-in-all though, we survived with only the damage to the pine trees, and while it was inconvenient to be without power for those days, we weren't in any life-threatening danger. My brother-in-law works as a lineman for the power company, and I know that he's been extremely busy this whole week working to get everyone's power back on. (Better him than me!) Thanks, Dave, for all your hard work - we really appreciate it!

So until next time, may your power keep running and your storms be few!Smiley from millan.net

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Ice, Ice Baby

I may be gone for a few days from posting. Our power at home is out with the local ice storm we had on Sunday. It was very deceptive and crept in s-l-o-w-l-y. The last estimate we had on getting our power restored was for Wednesday in the middle of the night. But there have been more outages since then from the ice bringing down more tree limbs and power lines, so that may be pushed back.

I'll try to post some pics, but most all of my pictures are on my other computer at home. I'm working on my laptop at my MIL's right now, and I don't have any recent card pics to share. I promise I'll be back when I can!

In the meantime, I hope wherever YOU are that you are safe, warm, and powerFUL!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

More free stamps to chose from!

I have a lot of cards in my stash from different swaps - some through the mail, some from Convention and other Stampin' Up! gatherings, some from meetings, etc. When the stamps are retired, I let my customers go through my card fronts. I had a friend come over Tuesday morning (hi Val!) to do just that, and as she was going through my "retired" card stash, I thought it would be a good time for me to go through my current card stash, organize them, and maybe pull out a few that feature some of the additional Sale-a-Bration stamps you can choose from the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog.

And here is my "assistant" Webster, guarding the cards that I hadn't gotten to yet. He's so much help... Well, maybe not much help, but he likes to think he is!
Back on my January 25th post there were images of all of the different stamps from the IB&C that you could choose as your FREE Sale-a-bration item with your $50 purchase in addition to the regular SAB items. Stamping' Up! gives you more choices! Gotta love it! You can view that post HERE. I came across some samples that use a few of those stamp sets that I thought I would share with you.

Card on the left uses "Forest Friends" by Deb Snyder. On the right shows "Dasher" created by me.
Top card uses "Engraved Greetings" by Carol Hickman. Bottom card uses "Ribbon of Hope" by Sara Bolz.

Card on left uses "Tiny Teacup" by Deb Snyder and card on the right uses "Extreme Skateboard" by Judy DiScipio.Card on the left uses "Ornate Blossom" by Noreen Bierman (from swapping at Convention). Card on the right uses "For You Flower" by Kathy Hilden (also from Convention).

Both cards use "Elizabeth". Top one is by Sandy Appelhans (from Convention) and the bottom one is by Nancy ? (no last name).
There are still lots more stamps that I haven't shown you, so be sure to go check out that list again. I love free stuff, don't you?

One last parting look from Webster... (If you look closely, you can see his tongue sticking out. Nothing personal - he just does that from time to time. Goofy cat.)

Until next time...

Jayne Stenstrom
jayne@jaynestamps.com

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

A little Valentine's sweetness

My sweetie gave me a box of Shari's Berries for Valentine's Day. I have never seen such HUGE strawberries before! And they were every bit as delicious as they were beautiful. This could be a yearly tradition and I wouldn't complain a bit! (hint, hint).

Here is a close up of one of the strawberries with a quarter beside it to give you an idea of the size (and this wasn't even the largest strawberry in the box)!
If you get a chance, you have to try these strawberries. They are a meal in themselves!

Of course, I have to show you a card. This one was made by Deb Snyder. Hearts aren't just for Valentine's Day, you know. They can be used on lots of different types of cards. The sentiment on this card is from You're a Gem out of the 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog. Then Deb's wonderful use of colors, punches, and placement on the card really make it a stand-out!Also used on this card: First Edition DSP, Neutrals DSP Stack, Very Vanilla, Rose Red, Certainly Celery, and Pretty in Pink card stock, Sweet Buttons and Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslits, Two-Step Bird Punch, Full Heart Extra-Large Punch, Pinking Hearts Border Punch, 3/4" X 15/16" Medium Oval Punch, Chantilly Crochet Trim, Linen Thread.

I also want to show you a little kitty love from the 14th. Here are my "boys", Snickers and Webster curled up on the couch together. They look quite comfy, don't they? So sweet... at least for the moment! So until next time...

Jayne Stenstrom
jayne@jaynestamps.com

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Single Coaster Calendars

Remember I teased you with a partial picture of what I was making for my open house attendees? Well, here's the completed project - they are desktop calendars made with various kinds of Designer Series Paper!

These are different than the one I posted about a month or so ago. They are each made with one coaster and the calendar is attached to the top. They stand on a large binder clip that is also covered with DSP.


Here is the entire batch. I had so much fun making these and I think everyone enjoyed picking one out for themselves as a little thank you from me!

Until next time...

Jayne Stenstrom
jayne@jaynestamps.com

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Sale-a-Bration Open House Projects

Now that my open house is over, I can show you the projects that we did. Everyone had a good time and it was a blast to stamp together, laugh, and have fun. I love my stamping friends!

The first project is a candy wrapper. Isn't this a cute way to present a little gift to someone? This is sooooo easy to do - it's a 6" x 6" piece of DSP with an added punched edge, wrapped around the candy (we used Giant Chewy SweeTarts), and fastened together with some ribbon. You can see the pattern with instructions HERE.

This card uses three of our Sale-a-Bration items - the Punch Bunch stamp set, the Ribbon & Button Pack, and the Ice Cream Parlor DSP & Quick Accents Pack. I just love the bright, fun colors! This card was based on one from the Stampin' Success magazine that demonstrators get each month. It's another one of those perks I get for being a SU! demonstrator!This card probably looks familiar, right? It's pretty much the same as the one I made the other night with Pam & Judy. The elements are basically the same, but it has a little different layout than the other one. Hmmm.... I need a Valentine's Day card for Jerry on Monday. Do you think I could just cover up this sentiment with one for Valentine's Day and get away with using this one? Don't tell him if I do! Smiley from millan.netHere's how the room looked before everyone got there. Notice Webster in the picture? He had to keep a close eye on everything...

So thanks to everyone who came - I had a great time and enjoyed seeing you all again! If I don't get to "talk" to you before Monday, have a wonderful Valentine's Day. I hope you get all the chocolate you can eat and then some!

Smiley from millan.net

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Stamping with Friends - our creations

Stamping and friends - two of my favorite things put together. Can it get any better than that? My friends Pam and Judy came over on Tuesday night for some much-needed girl time! We usually try to get together at least once a month to stamp, talk, laugh, share, snack (on chocolate of course!), and just generally have a good time. But with my shoulder surgery and then the holidays, it's been a couple of months since we've been able to get together.

I took pictures of our completed projects to show you. We had a lot of fun making them! Here are Judy's completed creations:

And here are Pam's:
I took close-up pictures of the ones I made so you could see a little more of the detail. This first one is a CASE from Connie Babbert at Inkspired Treasures. She created this adorable card that uses our Red Glitter Paper from the 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog. This card is SO much prettier in real life! You can see Connie's original card with instructions on how she made this card HERE. (P.S. I think this is going to be one of our Make-n-Take projects at Saturday's open house because it's just so darn cute!)
I had purchased some test tubes from a bulk buy stamping group I belong to and have been wanting to make something with them. There are a lot of different patterns available out there, but we used this one from Marie Shaughnessy at StampingInspiration. She notes that the original template was by Lisa Somerville. That's one of the things I love about stamping - everyone is so willing to share their creations openly! (By the way, those are peanut butter M&M's inside the test tube. We had to sample them while we were filling the test tubes, just to be sure they were fresh. Do you believe me?)
I have had these pillow box owls marked as something I wanted to make since I saw the original post. Mine have a snack-size Snickers bar inside, which just makes it all the more sweet, right? I saw them on Kay Sha's blog Creations on Paper, but she got the idea from Teri from Hawaii who said she saw them on someone else's blog... Well, you get the idea. See? We stampers are great share-ers. You can see Kay's creation on her blog HERE.
Don't these projects just make you want to create something? We had so much fun and I can't wait to get together and stamp with my friends again! If you want to have fun stamping with YOUR friends, give me a call. We can set up a party - I'll bring all the supplies, you just have to supply the friends and a light snack. We can even have it here at my house so you don't have to clean. Now how great is that? Contact me at jayne@jaynestamps.com and we can set a date! Maybe I'll be stamping with you soon!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Sneak Peak - Gifts for Open House

I have a little peak at what I'm making for gifts for my Sale-a-Bration Open House attendees - at least the first 10 to RSVP that they are attending. I'm having so much fun making these I don't want to stop!
There's still time to RSVP. The open house is this Saturday, February 12 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. It's helpful to me if you RSVP so I can have enough cardstock and supplies ready for the Make-n-Take projects. I hope you can make it - I'm looking forward to a fun, stamp-filled day!

If you can't make the open house but would still like to have some fun stamping, give me a call and we can set up a time to have a workshop during Sale-a-Bration. It's a terrific time to have a party - you earn extra merchandise as a hostess for a party of at least $300 and every guest gets to choose a free SAB item for every $50 spent! You don't want to miss out - so contact me today!