An unexpected surprise!

I was so excited to learn from my upline, Alecia Connelly, that I was awarded one of 15 "Rising Star" awards at the Stampin' Up convention last week! It was completely unexpected, and I was a bit shocked (for a day or two) because I had no idea I was even a contender for such an award! What REALLY blows my mind, is that I'll be heading to St. George, UT to "The Founders Circle" retreat in September to hob-nob with Shelli and the top demos in the company... yikes! I am so nervous! LOL

But, I guess if one thing needs to be said, it's this... "To my husband, my upline (Alecia), my customers and my downline.... THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!!!" I certainly could not have gotten this award without you!!!

((((HUGS)))))!

Recent Card Swaps

In addition to the card we used in this month's club projects, here are two more cards I submitted for a swap with some of my fellow demonstrators!

This card uses the Level 2 hostess set, "Cute by the Inch" as well as the lovely hummingbird in the "Elements of Style" set. There's also a bit of Greenhouse Gala DSP on there!

This next card uses the "Friends Never Fade" set from the new IBC and features several of the new (and retuning) colors: Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi and Pacific Point. The sentiment was so fun to do! I used my sponge daubers to create a blend of all my colors then stamped the image on top in Basic Black. This is a great image to use this technique on!

July Club Projects

Sorry I've been so scarce on the blog lately! I've had a heavy work schedule to contend with lately and am finally getting around to catching my breath!

Here are the club projects we completed this month!

First, we altered this giant clothespin by covering it with the Newsprint DSP and distressing the edges with Crumb Cake and Soft Suede ink:

The tags were all made from the "Artistic Etchings" stamp set in the new IBC. We used the corner rounder punch to round the corners and set eyelets in each one with the Crop-a-dile. We threaded all of them on some 1/8" Basic Black taffeta ribbon and tied it through the inside of the clothespin. It makes a very lovely note or photo holder!

Our second project was a card we made using the "Because I Care" Level 1 hostess set. I also submitted this same card design in a recent swap I participated in:
The card featured two of the new in-colors: Blushing Bride and Pear Pizazz. We used the exclusive Stampin' Up embossing folder: Elegant Bouquet and ran a piece of vellum card stock through the Big Shot. Then, we stamped the hydrangea and it's loose blooms in the un-embossed area. After giving it a few minutes to dry, we turned the vellum over and used markers and blender pens to color in the flowers and stem. We stamped a background on the Blushing Bride card stock before adhering the vellum on top of it. We used the new Smooch Illuminate Top Coat Accent Ink on the raised portion of the embossed image to finish off the card front.

It's a new year...

How exciting! Today marks the begining of a new Stampin' Up! year with the debut of the brand new, gorgeous 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog! I have updated all of my catalog links on the sidebar of my blog to include all new catalog editions. Be sure to check them all out!