Make and Takes for Chilcotin Road Elementary School CROP

I'm posting these up a little late, but I really want to get some recent stuff up here, and I don't know where the cord for my camera is at the moment. :P  I lent my camera to one of my best friends (because she went to PARIS - I'm soooo jealous!), and I got the cords back from her, but my pregnancy brain isn't letting me remember what I did with it.  Poo.  (Could be that it IS 11.30pm as well... ;) )

I was recently a vendor at a school crop locally 2 weeks ago, something I've never done before.  I've been to a couple crops, as a CROPPER, but never as a vendor.  Part of my responsibility as a vendor was to provide 2 make-and-takes for the croppers - each make-and-take was to be for up to 10 people, one on Saturday, and one on Sunday.  I did a card for Saturday, and an 8x8 layout on Sunday.  

I do a great deal of CASE'ing... maybe not ALL of my work, but I often draw, at the very least, inspiration from other people's work.  I like taking someone's idea, putting my own spin on it, and making it my own.  (For those of you not familiar with the term CASE - it means Copy And Share Everything.)

 

 C/S: Daffodil delight, Basic Black, Concord Crush (textured), Pear Pizazz, Basic Grey
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Basic Black
Marker: Pear Pizazz
Accessories: Ticket Corner Punch, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder

Card sketch layout - it was so long ago, but I THINK it was a combo of about 5 different cards that I'd seen on SplitCoast.

C/S: Dusty Durango (retired), Rich Razzleberry, Sahara Sand, Basic Black, Old Olive
Ink: Cajun Craze, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Basic Black
Accessories: Round Tab Punch, Decorative Label Punch, Curly Label Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Spider Web Embossing Folder

Layout CASE'd from Stampin' Success Magazine, October

I used the Dusty Durango C/S because I really wanted to (and I still have a bit left to use up)... and it is so similar to Cajun Craze - they work so well together.  I have to admit that when Dusty was a new InColour, I didn't like it at first, but I was pretty disappointed that it wasn't one of the carryover colours with the new Colour Renovation.  Don't get me wrong - I LOOOOOOVE our colour families now, absolutely adore them, but I really liked Dusty Durango.  (And of course, the name is just TOO COOL. ;) )

For being 36 weeks pregnant, I'm feeling kinda busy -- I am running a card swap through our Demonstrator Forum, that I'm really excited about, and have started receiving packages for, as well as did my first Christmas Stamp-A-Stack of the season this week... So I will try and maybe get a pic or two posted this weekend of my Stamp-A-Stack cards.  I ALSO had my first PMP Night - Pizza, Music and Papercrafting - and we had a blast!  There were only 3 of us, but we had fun, and got some pages finished up (ALWAYS a bonus in my books!).

It's Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend, so to all my fellow Canucks: enjoy the bird, your family, and the holiday, and my best from our house to yours.

Hugs,

Dinnae :)

Time to get back at it!

I have to get on here to tell you guys about the Stampin' Up! Clearance Rack!  (<-- This link is to my site, click on Products > Shop Now, and then when it brings up the shopping window, click on "Clearance Rack" on the left menu.)  

Today, Head Office added an INSANE amount of DELISH items to it, at CRAZY CRAZY prices.  I'll be putting in my next order next week, and I really think about $100 of it will be on clearance rack goodies.  There are PUNCHES, DIES, PAPER, RIBBON, INK, EMBELLIES... the list goes on.  There literally is something there for everyone!

Okay, I guess now that I got that most important reason for FINALLY posting on there... I should explain myself.  ;)

Dealing with pregnancy is obviously something I don't do well. :P  Seriously, I don't mind it, because I love my boys, I love babies, and the miracle of pregnancy makes me giddy...  But because I make big, VERY strong babies, I get tired very easily.  That and having 2 boys running amuk in our house, makes it hard to pin down some time to a) be creative for myself (OR my business!) and b) post to my blog(s).

Baby is set to arrive in T minus 4 weeks and 5 days, so roughly anywhere in the 2 1/2 to 6 1/2 week range. ;)  I have a suspicion that he will arrive quickly - I'm just praying he won't arrive so fast that the $200 birth pool we've ordered won't be full yet!  ;)

My plan is to post once a week between now and roughly the beginning of December... And in those posts, at least one bit of creativity from me.  Not a huge order, and maybe not as prolific as I'd like, but it's do-able.

Happy Stampin'!

D.

Colour Renovation - don't be scared! ;)

Well, I realise it's been awhile, and I have to apologise for that.  It's safe to announce to the blogging world that I am 12 weeks pregnant today, so have been.... a bit... under the weather, to say the least.  ;)  Baby #3 is due 7 November, so I have 6 1/2 months to go.  And thankfully, this time around, I'm feeling not too bad at this stage of the game, so THAT is very exciting!  (With both of my boys, I had all-day sickness to the halfway mark.)  Thus, I have LOTS of time to get more stampin' posts in before life changes (again!) forever.  ;)

Anyway, I've known about the new Colour Renovation for awhile, but because I haven't been posting, haven't had a chance to mention it.

Now, some die hards will probably cringe at this announcement... that said, most die hards will already KNOW about it!  And, I have to be honest - I almost cried when I read the news.  But, now that I've had a couple of weeks to digest everything, I am SO STINKIN' EXCITED!!!!  In the 8 years that Stampin' Up! has been in Canada, this is our 2nd Colour Reno.

On 1 July (first day of the Stampin' Up! calendar year), when we switch to the new catalogue, Stampin' Up! is doing a Colour Renovation.  :)  It's a scary thought, but believe me, you will LOVE the new colour families!  I already can't wait to add the new colours to my collection!  (Unfortunately, I have to wait another 2 months!!!!)

Stampin' Up! is saying a FOND FAREWELL to THIRTY (30) of the current colours, and ALL the current colour FAMILIES.  They are bringing in FIVE (5) BRAND-NEW colours, and bringing BACK TEN (10) InColours (from this year, AND the last 2 years!).  They are also rearranging the colour families, to bring us FOUR (4) gorgeous new families, each containing some new colours, and some old favourites, that will bring about some breath-taking combinations that I'm excited to see.

The retiring colours are:
Pink Passion                Pixie Pink
Pale Plum                    Orchid Opulence
Lovely Lilac                 Lavender Lace
Almost Amethyst          Bordering Blue
Brocade Blue               Ballet Blue
Brilliant Blue                 Taken with Teal
Glorious Green             Handsome Hunter
Sage Shadow              Mellow Moss
Green Galore              Gable Green
Barely Banana             Yoyo Yellow
Ruby Red                    Cameo Coral
Blush Blossom             Creamy Caramel
Close to Cocoa            Going Gray

The brand-new colours are:
Cherry Cobbler           Cajun Craze
Early Espresso             Marina Mist
Daffodil Delight

The returning InColours are:
Melon Mambo            Rich Razzleberry
Soft Suede                  Pacific Point
Tangerine Tango          River Rock
Riding Hood Red        Pink Pirouette
Baja Breeze                 Wild Wasabi

AS WELL, because one of the new main families will be our Neutrals (which will expand greatly!), they are bringing the Kraft cardstock OVER to that family, creating an ink for it too, and re-naming it to Crumb Cake. 

As part of the reno, all CRAFT INKS will be RETIRED.  BUT, refills will be available for ALL the new and remaining colours, as well as a blank pad for purchase to create your own craft pad from whichever colour you want.  (YES!!)

On this note of retiring colours, PLEASE be advised that if ANY of our Fond Farewell colours are your faves, make sure you purchase cardstock and refills (including Craft inks if you need them!) before 30 June 2010.  A refill (or 2, for your ABSOLUTE FAVES!) will last you a fair while (as in, a decade or two!), and they are pretty cheap! ($3.95)  Just go to my site at http://dinnae.stampinup.net, or give me a buzz on 250.392.9644, to place your order.

Now, one LAST point, and this is regarding the InColours.  Stampin' Up! had MANY requests to carry over InColours, because, let's be honest, one year just isn't long enough!  So, with that in mind, each InColour group of 6 will be around for TWO SU! calendar years, overlapping each other.  That means that this July, we will be introduced to a new group of InColours (as always), but, they will stick around until June 2012.  Then, in July 2011, we will be introduced to another group of 6 InColours, that will stick around until June 2013, and so on. This new family system will give us 60 colours at all times to play with (same as before!!), just in a different format than what we currently have.

For the PDF of the retiring colours, please click here and then download the file.  (Sorry, I don't have file hosting set up at the moment, so it adds an extra step. :P Once the colour reno goes live on the SU! site, I will be able to directly link to these docs via the main SU! site.)

For the PDF of the NEW colour families, please click here.

Enjoy!

Dinnae :)

Adrenalin, what a thing...

That's what I was running on the day of my Workshop of a Lifetime.  :)

I got sick the day after with a headcold, which is why I haven't posted, or put any new creations up.  I haven't even been creative since that day!  :)  I'm hoping this week will herald a cure to my cold... meaning some increased creativity!  I've been itching to play with my brand new Big Shot, but it's kind of hard to when you can't breathe.  LOL!

Better, more creative posts coming soon. ;)

Workshop of a Lifetime - WHAT A DAY!

Seriously.

What.

A.

Day.

;)

Now, just a warning, this will be a LONG post - as there is SO MUCH to tell... and pictures, and just a gooood time.  There will probably be more pictures added soon - as I only have a couple at the moment.  Jesse will be getting more to me in the coming days, and I will post those!

It was crazy from the get-go, not only because of the group meeting, and the workshop, but also because we have 2 sick boys, one of which (of COURSE, that darn Murphy) had to go for a quick visit to the dr's that morning.

Shelli and Sara arrived here in Williams Lake, on Tuesday evening, so I actually gave them a buzz at their hotel around 8.30pm, to invite them to breakie.  As it turned out, Shelli had TWO (not just one, but two!) conference calls in the morning, so that wasn't gonna happen.  (But, I needed that time anyway to take a sick boy to the dr!)  I was seriously a headless chook (aussie slang for chicken with its' head cut off) for the majority of the day.  The only times I wasn't?  During our group meeting, and the workshop - both of which were AWESOME!

The group meeting started at 1pm and went until 4pm, and we discussed stuff like bookings, workshops, supporting your downline, retired sets we missed, and whole bunches of stuff!  It was so phenomenal to have some personal, relatively quiet time with Shelli and Sara, with just the 10 of us.  Sara was taking notes like lightning - they genuinely care what their demos say, and that was just awesome.  We all enjoyed it immensely.  After the discussion part of things, we went on to do a make-and-take, with a watercolouring technique I love - that I'd learned while watching the Regional training DVD with my upline Cary - called the re-inker spread technique.  Shelli and Sara had both seen the technique demo-ed... but had never done it!  How special did I feel that Shelli and Sara tried a technique for the first time at MY HOUSE?????  Oh my gosh, I was giddy!

Sadly, that meant that the end of the group meeting was there - that 3 hours had totally FLOWN!  And it was time to get ready for the workshop.  Shelli and Sara said goodbye to the girls, and headed off to relax for a bit, grab a bite to eat.

 

Back: Trish, Susan, Cary, Teena, Sarah, Jesse, Heleen

Front: Sara, Me, Shelli

 

 Our make-and-take for the group meeting - card was designed by Cary

Fastforward to 6.30pm, and Shelli and Sara arrived for the workshop.  I greeted them at the door in my pj's... ;)  When everyone had left in the afternoon, I had just needed to relax, get comfy, and give my sick son some mummy-cuddle time... so I did!  I had to get spiffy, and Shelli and Sara just got their stuff out while I changed and got ready.  (If you don't know me yet - I'm really low-maintenance - getting ready takes me all of 10 minutes.)  The ladies started arriving not long after!

I ended up having 18 attendees, so the living room was PACKED!  :) Sara started out with the arrivals by helping them with a quick and easy make-and-take, a cute little tag on a pen.  Then, once everyone was here, we got going.  I introduced myself (as I had quite a few people come that I'd never met before - through flyers and brought by existing customers), and Shelli and Sara - and then handed the floor over to them. 

 

See? Easy Peasy and too cute!

At this point, if it wasn't enough that the CEO and Co-founder of Stampin' Up! was coming to my HOUSE, to do a workshop for me... I got goodies!  Shelli thanked me for hostessing, and I got this cute little favour box with a spool of Soft Suede polka dot ribbon.  Kellene, Shelli's assistant, had also sent out 2 boxes of catalogues sent to me to GIVE AWAY to my guests (no small thing - they're worth $100 to me when I order them!)... AND I also got a personalised stamp (oh yay, I had wanted one SO BAD, but it just wasn't a priority item!)... but to me, the favour box means the most I think - because it's handmade of course!  :)

Favour box made in Old Olive with Very Vintage wheel, 

hodgepodge hardware, and the Beautiful Butterflies die.

Watching Shelli do the demo, and then demo the 2nd make-and-take, was just awesome.  She used the Big Shot, the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Sweet Pea Stitched Felt, Sweet Pea DSP, Choc chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Kraft cardstock, and our EXCLUSIVE Top Note die... (mmmmm, I love that die, and just got mine this week!)  She demo-ed an easy peasy technique that looks just fantastic - called paper piecing - and it took her so little time!  It felt great when she asked me to chime in whenever I chose, because although she's the CEO, she doesn't have the catalogue memorised like us demos!  ;)  (Well, I do often take mine to bed with me... and I have a few friends who take theirs in the bath!)

Gorgeous Friends Card.

The 2nd make and take was a cute little card and envelope, using the Sale-A-Bration set Vintage Labels, The Scallop Circle Punch, the 5/8" Satin Ribbon, the classic Note Cards, and the Designer Series Patterns Paper.  They chose Bermuda Bay, Whisper White and Basic Black, and it just looked SO sharp!  Shelli even stamped the envelope, because she "hates to have a naked envelope!"  It was hilarious, and I've never thought of it that way... I'll probably stamp ALL my envelopes now!

Too cute note card!

After all the make-and-takes, we had picture time.  Everyone got out their cameras, and my dear friend Jesse played photographer for us.  She got an amazing pic of Shelli, Sara and I... and Shelli asked Jesse to send Kellene her pics, because she wanted them for her blog. :)   And I have to say, this picture is getting enlarged to an 11x14, getting framed, and put up in my stampin' space!  ;)

 

Sara, Me, Shelli

 

Our group - none too small!

 
Then, it was time to get serious - while everyone was placing their orders, we had some munchies of COURSE... Nanaimo bars - which Shelli and everyone loved!, fruit and chocolate dip, veggies and dip, yummy ginger cookies; oh, it was a FEAST!  And a fantastic way to end the evening.

And I'd like to insert here that my 2 little men, and my 1 big man, were so amazing and supportive during this crazy time.  My boys were so cute, stampin and punching stuff with Sara while the guests were first arriving and so well-behaved, and then Todd took the boys up to have a bath when we started, and then put them to bed.  My hubby just ROCKS, and I couldn't POSSIBLY have pulled this off had he not been 110% on board.  He just retired to his office to surf the net while we were all watching Shelli and Sara do their "thang."

After everyone had left, I had the privilege of having about 15 minutes with Shelli and Sara and Todd, just chatting about life and stuff... and it was awesome.  I really felt as though I connected with BOTH Sara and Shelli - Shelli because she's my hero ;) and Sara was just amazing, and we actually have a bit in common, being busy mums and all.  The selfish part of me would have loved to have had the day be JUST THAT - chatting and hanging out!  I even told them I'd prefer if we just hung out in my scrap space for the rest of the night. ;)  But, they had Ida's workshop in Vancouver today, so another busy day for them... plus Regionals in Calgary on the weekend - too busy, and they needed their rest.

I was buzzing when they left... just BUZZING.  I got to bed about 11.30, but it took me at LEAST an hour and a half to fall asleep, as my brain just wouldn't shut off! 

What.

A.

Day.

Besides the days I met and then consequently married my husband, and the days my boys were born... this was one of the best days of my life... and DEFINITELY of my papercrafting life!!!

Thanks for reading my novel...  Hope you enjoyed it.  I certainly did.  ;)

Much love,
d. <3

"For You" card - using Sale-A-Bration set Vintage Labels

Did some creating last night, to do an invite to my Workshop of a Lifetime with Shelli. This invite was for our mayor.

As I'm getting ready to do my invite, I went through all my sets - current and retired. And you know what I found? I do not have a SINGLE stamp that says ANYTHING about invites. :P Now I know I don't have a lot of sets compared to some people, but still, you'd think that in FORTY some odd sets, I'd have SOMETHING? Nope. LOL

Anyway, it gave me the opportunity to use the GORGEOUS Sale-A-Bration set, Vintage Labels, and use the "For You" sentiment to improvise.

If you like the Vintage Labels set, you can EARN IT FOR FREE during Sale-A-Bration! Curious about Sale-A-Bration? You get FREE stamps for ordering Stampin' Up! merchandise during the promotion! Spend $65 and get a set; host a $395 workshop and get a set; join my team and get a set! It's THAT easy.

Supplies:
Cardstock - Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ink - Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Versamark
Stamps - Eastern Blooms, Vintage Labels (SAB), Sweet Serenity (wheel)
Other - Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Scallop Trim Border Punch (SAB), Stampin' Pastels, Ribbon (non-SU!)

Marker Club

Have you been drooling over the set of Many Marvelous Markers (#105541)?  Is that $179.95 price tag a bit much to you all at once?  What if you had the opportunity to spread it out - kind of like a payment plan?  Well, now you do!

Buying the complete set with all 48 markers has many advantages:
- you save $3.85 extra from when you buy the 4 family 12-packs, and you save a CRAZY $36.05 from buying each one individually!
- you get a handy case that stores the markers horizontally, which is how they are supposed to be stored - they are double-tipped, and in order for one tip not to dry out, they need to be horizontal.  *YOU CANNOT GET THE CASE ANY OTHER WAY - YOU CAN'T BUY IT SEPARATELY.*
- and let's not forget you get ALL the colours in our families for doodling, journaling, colouring, stamp-colouring (more on that technique later!), and whatever else you put your mind to!

I'm setting up a Marker Club to help you get those markers, with those advantages, but at a more palatable price tag!  You still end up paying the same, but you get many more benefits doing it as part of a club.  There are only a few spots left, so give me a call, or send me an email if you want one!

Here's how it works:
- 5 spots, for 5 months.
- products you get across the 5 months:
          --> Many Marvelous Markers (#105541) -- 179.95
          --> Neutrals Stampin' Write Markers (#109126) -- 15.95
          --> In Colour Stampin' Write Markers (#116329) -- 25.95
          --> Hostess Benefits -- $20 free merchandise of your choice, and a Level 1 hostess set! :)
- Cost is $54.66 per month per spot.

We'll be getting together, at my stampin' space, and have "free time"... we'll work on projects you want to - if you want to bring something you're working on, great... if you want to request a specific technique or project, we can do that too. 

I only have TWO spots left, so grab yours now!

Another way to enter...

Since this is a brand-spankin' new blog... I thought it'd be a good way to get followers by giving folks an extra entry into the draw by following this blog.

"Ok Dinnae, so I'm game, how do I "follow" your blog???"

In the right hand column, there is a box that has the title "Followers", along with a button that says "follow."  Click on that, and follow the steps you need to in order to complete the process.  If you already have a google account, it'll be easy-peasy!  And even if you don't, it's not that tough using other services.

Workshop of a Lifetime!!! WOW!

Imagine going to a Stampin' Up! workshop...

...doing a Make-And-Take (or two!)...

...seeing a couple of "WOW" projects demonstrated that are easy to do...

...checking out the latest products in Stampin' Up!'s 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalogue...

...having fun with a bunch of like-minded, crafty, scrappy, stampy ladies.

NOW.

Imagine that the workshop was demonstrated by the CEO & Founder of Stampin' Up!, Shelli Gardner!

Stampin' Up! is having their biggest promotion of the year - Sale-A-Bration.  It means *FREE* stamps, fun times, and celebrations.  As part of this year's Sale-A-Bration, Shelli is coming to Williams Lake on Wednesday, 3 March, 2010, to put on a Workshop of a Lifetime, and YOU COULD BE THERE!!  Shelli is only doing FIVE Workshops of a Lifetime in Canada, and Williams Lake is one of them!  There are only a limited number of spots, and I am holding a random draw to choose the lucky attendees.

The only requirement to be entered in the draw is to go to my Stampin' Up! site at www.dinnae.com and request my newsletter, so go now to my site, and do it to get into the draw!

Hope to see you soon!

:)

Important stuff:

-- There will be 20 attendees chosen by random drawing.

-- The deadline to enter is MIDNIGHT (pst), Saturday, 27 February, 2010. 

-- Winners will be notified by phone on Sunday, 28 February, 2010.

-- Please, only Canadian entrants qualify.

-- Sorry, no Stampin' Up! demonstrators allowed - this workshop is STRICTLY for customers only.

-- If you do NOT have email or internet, you can also subscribe to my paper newsletter by simply giving me a call on 250.392.9644

How Cool is this...

That my FIRST post on my new blog (my all Stampin' Up! blog, I might add), is to tell the whole wide world that I won a Stampin' Up! recruiting challenge!??!!?

I have been ITCHING, literally ITCHING, to tell everyone and their dog that I won this challenge... that I am one of 24 very lucky Demonstrators who will be having the CEO and CoFounder of Stampin' Up! Shelli Gardner come to MY TOWN, and put on a workshop WITH ME.  

I found out on Thursday... well, let me rephrase that.  I'd been basically on pins and needles since the end of the competition period (31 Jan) to see if I'd qualified.  But, it said on the site that they'd notify demos on the 5th, and post winners on the 9th.  I got a call from SU! on the 3rd, but when I called back, the guy who called had already gone home, and they had no notes on my file as to what he was calling about.  :P  GRRRR.  LOL  I KNEW it had to do with the challenge, but I wasn't 100%... ack, more waiting!!!!

I called Lynden back at 6.45am PST (my time) on the morning of the 4th (Thursday) which was about 15 minutes after he got into the office.  And guess what he told me????  Yep, that I'd won one of the 3 spots in my category - one of only FOUR in Canada.  SWEEEEEEET!!!!!!  Okay, but I was still half-asleep, I'd just woken up, and so I didn't freak out like I would normally have... I just was really stoked.  :P

Seriously though.

I'm so excited that I earned this challenge, because I've never really done anything like that before.  I'm excited at the prospect of ongoing business as a result, I'm SUPER excited at the prospect of seeing Shelli in action (oh, so wicked!), and I'm so proud of the fact that it wasn't that I was pushy and "selling" the Starter Kit... it was (as was told to me by one of my "new team," JM) that it's my genuine excitement for the Stampin' Up! products that is contagious... and thus why "my" products sell themselves.  Hee hee... yay!

I'm having a Valentine's Card Class this Thursday, here at the new abode, the new SPACE.  :D  *BTW: This new space is going to be painted now... LOL*

Please head over to my Stampin' Up! Demo site to get the details on the class:

http://dinnae.stampinup.net

Much love,

D. :)