Do I still know how to work this blog?!

 Images copyright Stampin' Up!

Well, I'm back--sort of!  But, I won't make any promises!  Kellan is 9 1/2 months now, so I have a little more time than before to work on this blog.   I still do my monthly stampin' clubs.  I also plan to start back with some classes this fall.   My current Scrappin' Club will end in July.  I have a great bunch of ladies who sure make stampin' fun!  A new Scrap/Card Club will begin in September.  There may be spots available, so let me know if you're interested.

   What is Club?  To be a member of one of my clubs requires that you make a purchase of at least $25 before shipping and tax each month for the duration of the club.  One month, you will be our Hostess and earn the free merchandise from the club orders.  But, the best part is that you don't have to have the party at your house!  Each month we meet in my Miamisburg home and make a 12x12 layout.  We also swap cards or pages.  We made the layout above during the February Club.  The one below was made in April.

 Images copyright Stampin' Up!

Product Shares, New Class, & Clubs!

Images copyright Stampin' Up!

CLASSES:

Lunch Box Notes
Date:  Monday, August 9 at 7:00
Cost:  $10
Details: We will be making 5 special "notes" to put in your child's lunch box or folder for school and swapping notes so that we have a pretty good selection to give our kids the few weeks of school. The picture shows two of the five we will be making.

The notes you will be making here will be a little more than just a note card. I will teach you how to use the Sweet Center Cups, make a pencil worm, Smarties holder, and more.

SWAPPING:  This is an optional part of this class.You will make a special lunch box note for everyone who participates. I truly don't expect more than 10 people to sign up for this swap. Lunch box notes are small little cards or postcards that will fit in a lunch box or folder. The cards don't have to be a full card---they can be any size and be like a post card, if you wish. You can use up a lot of your larger scraps without having to order anything additional.

RSVP for the Swap by (7/30) (sorry for the late notice!)I will email everyone with the total on Friday


PRODUCT SHARES
***RSVP and payment for product shares is due on August 10

Designer Buttons $21
Receive a total of 144 buttons---2 each of 3 designs in 24 colors.

Flower Brads
Half share includes a total of 48 flower brads—2 each of 24 colors $11
Whole share includes a total of 96 flower brads—4 each of 24 colors $21

Vintage Assortment  $11
Brads (10 total—2 each of 5 designs)
Vintage Trinkets (24 total—4 each of 3 colors in 2 designs)


Marker Clubs
$44/month for 4 months

Want all the markers in the case, but can’t shell out all the cash right now? Then join my Marker & Cardstock Club. Each month for 4 months, you will receive a color family of colors and an assorted pack of 12x12 smooth cardstock. One month, you will be the Hostess and earn at least $15 in merchandise and a level 1 hostess set PLUS the case for your markers. I will need 4 people to fill this club.payment will be due on the 15 of each month beginning in August.

Don’t want the cardstock, you can substitute another product each month as long as it’s price is $9.95! Join the Marker & Accessory Club! 
Ideas:  Designer Paper, Jumbo Eyelets,Fleurettes, 1 ¼” grosgrain ribbon


New Scrappin' Clubs
My new round of clubs begins in September. I have 3 spots available in my club that meets on the 2nd Monday of the month. I have 1 or two spots available in my club that meets on the 2nd Tuesday of the month. The Club commitment is $25 order (before shipping and tax) each month for the duration of the club--6-8 months depending on the number of ladies in the club. One month you will get to be "hostess" and receive at least $15 in free merchandise and a level 1 hostess sets. The best part of club is swapping--we swap layouts every other month. RSVP for club by the end of August.

Contact me to sign up for any of these classes, clubs, or product shares asap!

Simple Paper Flowers

This is a page I did for a club swap a couple months ago. I used the fun paper pad that was available in the Occasions Mini. I sure hope SU! comes out with additional packs like this one. Anyway, I used my Inspired by Nature stamp set for the grass along the bottom. My paper flowers were made from various circle punches. After I punched each circle, I crumbled it up to give it some texture. The leaves were made with the circle punches, too.

It is neat the difference color makes. This next picture is the same layout, but with different designer paper. I had run out of Old Olive and Chocolate Chip, so I used what I had left---Certainly Celery and Close to Cocoa.

Shimmer Paint is 2 Cool!

This was my club layout for April. It is so much sparkly in real life! I used my Big Shot to cut my letters out of our Sticky Pages and added our fine glitter to it. I them made a glitter spray using alcohol and the Shimmer Paint that was available in the Holiday Mini.

Tip for using Sticky Pages: The Sticky Pages are just like using out Sticky Strip. When you cut peel both sides off the sticky part, it becomes very flimsy. I had a hard time getting my letters where I wanted them. So, for my club girls, I decided to back the letters in cardstock. Cut your sticky sheet to the size you want and peel off the white backing. Adhere the sticky part to cardstock of your choice and cut to size. Then run through your Big Shot. Peel off the red liner and add glitter. Then use your Snail to adhere the letters to your project.

The Shimmer Paint is still available to order. It comes in Champagne Mist (#116806), Frost White (#116854), and Platinum (#116807). I used the Champagne Mist. I bought a little spray bottle from the travel section of a drug store and filled it a little more than half way with rubbing alcohol. Then I poured some of the shimmer paint into it and shook it up. Maybe a teaspoon or two. Experiment with the amount of paint to get the look you want. The shimmer spray really pops on the dark black background.

March Club Layout

This one was of my recent club layouts. It uses the Things I Love stamp set that I earned for free during Sale-a-Bration as well as the new edge punch. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the punch right now, but if you missed out on earning it for free, it will be available in the new July catalog!

Using the matching corner punch along with the edge punch is a bit tricky, but I have found some tips from other demonstrators that might help you. First off, the paper you use has to be a specific size. Gretchen Barron figured out these measurements:

• 4 3/4" makes a square that has 10 scallops along each side
• 4 1/4" makes a square that has 9 scallops on each side
• 3 13/16" (just a hair bigger than 3 3/4") makes a square that has 8 scallops along each side. This is the size that fits perfectly into the guide that is printed on the Scallop Trim Border Punch and therefore makes this a great size to practice on. Once you get this size down, it will be easier to branch-off and make your squares smaller or larger.
• 3 1/4" makes a square than has 7 scallops along each side.
• 2 7/8" makes a square that has 6 scallops on each side
• 2 3/8" makes a square that has 5 scallops on each side
• And then, the original smallest square that I described above begins with a square that is 1 15/16" and uses only the corner punch.

You should punch all 4 corners first. Then use the punch upside down to line up the scallops. It can be a bit tricky, but I think the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

Club Christmas Gifts #4

Oops. I forgot to show the picture of the gift I won! Michelle made this adorable cocoa set from a photo storage box. Too cute!

Club Christmas Gifts #3

Final round:

Pam made this adorable tray. I just love how she paper pieced the snowmen. So cute! She also added a ceramic snowman candy dish and a big bag of M&M's (peanut, of course)!


Diane made this gorgeous stamped frame. I'm not sure if you can see the gold sparkle on the paper, but she used the shimmer paint mixed with alcohol for that effect. Love it!

I was so excited about the gifts the ladies made this year! They all did a really nice job. Unfortunately, not everyone was able to join us, but I bet next year they'll all try to make it!

Club Christmas Gifts #2

Here is round 2:

Claudia made this fantastic trio of frame starring the cute Dasher stamp. She stamped in white craft ink and embossed with Iridescent Ice ep. I just love it! Sorry about the glare---I couldn't seem to get a good picture.


Heather made this pretty candle holder using the white and silver rub-ons found in the Holiday Mini Catalog--which ends January 4! She also made a cute little box from designer paper that I don't have a picture of and added some great smelling Partylite candles.

Club Christmas Gifts #1

Ok, here are a couple gifts from our Club Christmas Party:

The first example is the gift I made. I used the Dasher Decor Element which is a Level 2 Hostess Only gift. I used the Christmas Cocoa Specialty Designer Paper for the backing and some of the retired ribbon. I used my Big Shot to cut out NOEL from the same designer paper. I popped out the rhinestones from some Fire Circle Rhinestone brads and added them to the top of the glass with Mini Glue Dots.

This next gift was made by Jennifer. She bought the metal tub from Target and used the Big Shot and Decor Elements Vinyl Sheets to decorate it.

Don't forget!---From now until Dec. 22, you can purchase the raw Vinyl at a great discount in over 15 colors (as well as some Big Shot Dies). I am told that the vinyl will go through the Cricut as well as the Big Shot.

Jennifer filled her basket for a fantastic movie night! She even made some cute wraps for her microwave popcorn bags and 2 Liter of pop. So cute!

Club Christmas Party

Oh, we had so much fun on Monday night! I invited my club girls over for a little party where we had a potluck, played the Thief game with our hand-stamped gifts, and made a cute Christmas Project.

This little reindeer bag was my gift to them for coming. Isn't is adorable?! I think I'll make these for Kyle's class. I made the one on the right with the scallop circle thinking it reminded me of the tuft of white fur on the necks of deer, but my aunt decided it looked like he was trying to be Santa Claus with a beard! So, you decide which way to make it.

Supplies Used: Soft Suede, Kraft, Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red cardstock, White gel pen, Basic Black marker, Big Shot Dies----Snowflake (for antlers), Top Note, Punches---Wide Oval (snout), Small Oval (nose and ears), 3/4" circle, 1/2" circle, Small Cello Bags



I bought these photo cubes at the $ spot a while back and thought they'd be perfect for a Christmas Project. I used the Christmas Cocoa Specialty paper for my example. I had a hard time trying to come up with each square until I started looking at them as mini scrapbook pages. I love some of the squares, while others could use some improvement! I had to remind myself to keep it simple--no brads, knots, etc. because the block just wouldn't go back together very well if it's too bulky. Just keep in mind that photos will give the project a whole new look.

Tip: I crumbled up some tissue paper to fill in the cardboard block that I attached the pages to. It needed some stability.

I gave the ladies lots of choices for their block. I had a variety of designer papers, stamp sets, ribbons, etc. for them to use. I loved how different all of them turned out and how many great ideas the ladies came up with themselves.

Here are a couple of Michelle's pages. It seems I only took pictures of her blocks. Sorry girls!


I will post the projects everyone made over the next couple days---I promise!

More Club Swaps

Here are 3 more swaps from Club:


Made by Michelle


Made by Kimberly


Made by Leslie

Club Swaps

Here are a few swaps from our last Scrappin' Club meeting:

Made by Jen


Made by Pam:


Made by Connie:

Pumpkin Treat Boxes

I made these cute little boxes for my clubbers. It was our last meeting of the round, so I wanted to give them something special. A few of the boxes had prize slips in them---free stamp sets, $10 gift certificates, etc.

I saw this idea for the box on another demontrator's blog, but can't find it now. The box was made using the Box #2 XL die for the Big Shot. I used the Wide Oval punch to make the window and covered it with our Medium thickness Window Sheets found on page 158. I used the Small Oval punch to make the pumpkin and the Swirls & Scribbles Sizzlit for the vine. I handcut the sign after stamping on it with the Sanded background stamp.

Scrapbook Swaps

Over the next couple days, I am going to share some of our club swaps with you. One of the best things about being a member of one of my Scrappin' Clubs is swapping with the other members.

Each person designs a layout using only SU! materials and makes one for each person in the club. So, each month the club members go home with 9 two-page layouts (number varies according to number of ladies in the club)--one that I designed for them to make at the club meeting, one that they made, and 7 more from the other members. Swapping makes keeping up with your scrapbooking super easy!

These are the swaps I made for this month. I made a "girl" and "boy" version. I used the Extreme Elements stamp set and the Extreme Guitar stamp. The title was made using the Serif Essentials alphabet and the SU! Simple Letters alphabet dies for the Big Shot.

Made by Jennifer:


Made by Claudia:

Club Layouts

I was just thinking the other day that I never showed my club layouts. This month my club of 12 ends. They're actually two clubs of 6 that meet on the same night. Instead of everyone trying to do the same layout, I had 3 tables with a a different layout on them. Each month, they went to a different table. I try to show my girls a new technique or product with each layout.

The Autumn layout has all kinds of stuff going on. I used the Big Shot to make the leaves and title. I just love the new Simple Letters alphabet dies. I showed the ladies how to do the Poppin' Pastels technique for the stamped leaves on the tree. I also used the Basic Jumbo Grommets and larger eyelets. I LOVE the Autumn Traditions designer paper.

This next layout is my Scrap Map layout. I make up a scrap map and they choose the paper, stamps, and embellishments they want to use for their layout. Although, I think most of them chose to make the "girly" pages using the bright and fun Kaleidoscope Designer Paper. The green pages use the new Greetings. Earthing stamp set and some retired designer paper.

These last two layouts were very simple. My ladies don't like to take too long on their pages, so I've been trying to reign myself in and make simpler pages. I wanted to showcase the new In Colors. I let them choose between the two color schemes. I think, again, the "girly" page was the favorite.

New Round of Clubs!

September is the last month of my current Scrappin' Clubs. We will be taking a "break" from October - December. I will be holding some classes during those months, so you'll still be able to get your stampin' fix! New clubs will begin in January.

I have two nights scheduled and am currently taking sign ups for new members for my 2nd Monday night club and 2nd Tuesday night club. Club begins at 7:00.

ETA: The Tuesday night club is full. I have 3 spots available in the Monday night club. Contact me asap to reserve your spot!

The first meeting for the Monday club is January 11.
The first meeting for the Tuesday club is January 12.

What is a club?

A club is a group of ladies who join me at my Miamisburg home once a month to complete a two-page 12x12 layout. In order to be in club, you commit to making a purchase of $25 or more each month for the duration of the club (usually 6-8 months) . One of the months, you will be "hostess" and receive the hostess benefits---at least $15 to spend and a level 1 hostess-only stamp set.

ETA: I fixed the link to the Club information listed below!

Click here for information about my clubs!

Butterfly Magnets

I made these adorable butterfly magnets for my clubbers that started this past April. I used my Big Shot, Sticky Pages, Fine Glitter, and some Designer Paper to transform ordinary clothes pins into fun and functional magnets. I used Tombow Multi-Adhesive to adhere the designer paper to the clothes pin and added some strip magnet to the back.

Boy, oh boy, do I love swaps!

One of the best things about being a member of one of my Scrappin' Clubs is swapping layouts with the other members! If I had to come up with every layout I need to scrap all of my pictures, I would never get caught up. Swapping gives me a ton of pages with lots of different styles, images, and product. The idea behind swapping is that it is MUCH easier to make 6 (or 8 or 10) of the same layout than to come up with 6 different layouts.

It is so exciting to see what everyone comes up with each month and to figure out which pictures I'll use on each of the layouts. Why am I going on and on about this? Well, because of all the swaps I've received over the years, I was able to get 56 pages completed during the Super Stampin' Weekend. Now, I did create some new layouts for specific pictures and did add some additional details to others. I also had quite a bit of other things to work on during the weekend or I could have finished even more pages!

I am going to share some of my finished layouts with you over the next few weeks. You will notice that not all of them have journaling----yet. Yes, I know that the journaling is very important and I will get to it soon. I did do some journaling on many of the pages, but for layouts that I had a lot to say, I will print that journaling on my computer.

Club Card

Tomorrow is my Mixed Club meeting. This is a group of ladies ( a few relatives, too!) who have been stamping with me for a long while. This is the last meeting of the Club round, and we will be making cards. One of the cards we'll be making is this stair step card. It is a really neat card to make and doll up because it can sit on a shelf as remembrance of the sentiment or occasion.

I had never made one of these and was really surprised at how easy it was to make. This card uses the Big Shot and some dies. I used the "Scallop Circle" (which is my absolute favorite die) and the "Bird w/ Leaves and Flower" die which is my newest die. I am not a bird person, but I have just caught on to the bird trend that Stampin' Up seems to be on. I bought both of the silly bird sets on pages 90 and 91 and now I have the Big Shot die.

This club starts a new session on April 9 and has room for 2 more members. It will be a Scrappin' Club this round. The club meets on the 2nd Mondays of the month at 7:00 pm. We meet at 6:30 for those who want to do dinner. Each month's hostess takes turns picking up dinner (we all pay for our own!). This is an optional part of club. Our club also swaps layouts which makes keeping up with your own scrapbooking so much easier. Please contact me if you have any questions!

Directions for the Stair Step Card:

1. Start with a 5 x 8 1/4" piece of cardstock for the base of your card.
2. Score at 1 1/4, 2 1/2, 4 1/4, 6, 8 1/4.
3. Accordion fold it so that you have 3 stairs of varying heights. Start the fold so that the first small stair is facing down.
4. Cover your stairs with designer paper or cardstock of your choice. Mine measure 1 x 4 3/4", 1 1/2 x 4 3/4", and 2 x 4 3/4".
5. Decorate the 3 stairs with various die cuts or cut-out images. Be sure that when you fold the card, your pieces don't stick out to far to prevent the card from fitting into a standard envelope!

I will share the 2nd card-a spiral pop-up card---tomorrow!

Scrapbooking Club

This is the layout that my club will be making this month. It uses the Love You Much stamp set and the Candy Lane designer paper.

If you are looking to make scrapbooking easier, you will want to join one of my Scrappin' Clubs! Each month, you will meet at my house to make a 12x12 layout like this. You will also swap layouts with your club members each month. This means that each person will make a two-page layout and duplicate it for every member in the group. Each month you will go home with up to 7 two-page layouts that only need your pictures to complete them. It is much easier to replicate a layout 6 times than coming up with 6 different layouts!

I have spots available for a Monday night Scrappin' Club. This club will meet on the 2nd Mondays of the month beginning in April. You will take turns one month to receive the Hostess Benefits---at least $15 to spend and a level 1 Hostess-only stamp set. I am also starting a waiting list for an additional night, but will need 6 people to get it started. Let me know if you are interested!

Stay tuned over the next few days for additional Scrapbooking samples!