Say Cheese!!

Yipee! It's the New Catalog!!!

Yep, it's in my hot little Mexican hands! It's the new catalog! It's gorgeous and chocked full of incredible new product! Wait until you see the new Cheers to You stamp set, it has a martini glass & olive, a beer mug, champagne glasses and more. It even has a matching wheel with a salt shaker and lime slices. It's adorable! And the Under the Stars set will make you squeal with delight. I have to have this set just for the skeeter image!

 It's so exciting to be here. As usual, SU! has outdone themselves in presentation and organization. And the Memento Mall was filled with the most beautiful items designed exclusively for SU! and the 20th year celebration. Just look at this fun stuff! Did I mention the front of the catalog is beautiful?!

These are new craft Carry-Alls that are designed in Not Quite Navy color and matching Maine Blueberry Designer Series Paper. And there is a matching Camera Case that I just had to have. Nevermind the fact that I have 3-4 cameral cases already! I NEEDED this one because it matches the new paper!

There is always new Logo clothing that is available to demonstrators and this year was no different. There is a new apron in our Bella Rose DPS and some beautiful posters with our images and quotations. Just look at these! Did I mention the front of the catalog has a new scallop edge to match our new scallop punch?

A nice cozy sweater perfect for cuddling up with someone special and ton's of chapstick with our designer paper on it. There is so much available I could have spent $300 in here! The catalog cover has a beautiful home decor frame on it and shows off some of the ribbon colors. Have you seen the new cover yet?

 

It's the NEW CATALOG!!! See it and drool!!

Convention, Here I come!!!

Wow! less than 24 hours before I leave for Stampin' Up!'s 20th year Convention Celebration. It's going to be in Salt Lake City this year which is sure to be cooler that the over 100 degrees we've had here for the last 3 weeks!

Wherever stampers are gathered you can be sure there will be swapping going on. So, of course I have to make cards to participate in the swapping. I only made 100 this year. Some years, I can churn out about 200 but, I ran out of time this summer. Too much traveling on my agenda.

 Here is one of my swaps using the Seriously Sassy stamp set in the current catalog. The card is made from a clear transparency sheet (like the kind you use for overhead projectors) and stamped with white StazOn. The image is embossed on our new Tangerine Tango In-Color CS and highlighted with bleach. And see that scallop edge on the back inside panel? That is using our new scallop punch that will be coming out with the new catalog.  Did I mention that we get our new catalogs tomorrow when we sign in at convention? Yippee! I can't wait!

The other swap is made with the So Coolstamp set also, from the current catalog. It's stamped black on a clear transparency sheet with embellishments on the back panel. I really wanted to do something with these two stamp sets because I think they are perfect for those 'tween birthdays and such. You know, where the child isn't a teenager yet but, they're not a kid anymore? I was really glad these didn't retire because I was able to get these sets free as part of my Sale-A-Bration rewards. As a matter-of-fact, I earned 7 free stamp sets!

This year I'm taking my camera and lap-top with me to convention and if the blogging gods are with me, I'll post convention highlights and sneak peaks of products and of course lots and lots of samples. Be sure to check back every day to see what's going on in the city of the Great Salt Lake.

On-Line Ordering

 

On-Line Ordering is Coming Our Way!

For years--at every convention, and at every event--demonstrators have asked, "When will my customers be able to order from me online?" Finally, SU! is able to answer your question.

Coming this fall, my customers can order from me any time, day or night, through my Demonstrator Business Web Site (DBWS). Whether you wake up in the middle of the night with the perfect plan for the perfect project, decided to finally buy those great products you saw at your last workshop, or just need to make party invitations with no time for a workshop, it's no problem. You can simply order from me online.

Stay tuned for more details as they become available!

SU! Decor Elements

If you haven't visited the SU! website recently, here's something new!

 

We are thrilled to announce a new Stampin’ Up! product line: Décor Elements.

Our Décor Elements product line is self-adhesive vinyl art for walls, mirrors, windows, or other hard, smooth surfaces. It is an extension of our Definitely Decorative home décor line, which is another way to express your creativity--just on a larger canvas than a card or scrapbook page! Décor Elements takes that same idea and uses a different medium to accomplish the same mission, making your home a beautiful representation of your style. And it’s inexpensive compared to painting, framing art, or buying new furniture!

This natural extension of our products is also right on trend, and our artwork converts from stamp sets to vinyl art images with ease. You’ll love the unique experience of Stampin’ Up!’s Décor Elements vinyl art. Décor Elements images and techniques available also coordinate with our existing products. We brought you Two-Step Stampin’, so why not two-step and three-step vinyl art that will really catch your attention? For example, apply a vinyl frame to a wall or window, and then apply a letter inside it.

Vinyl art is a hot trend that will continue to become even more popular than it currently is, and this is only our initial offering. By starting with a carefully-chosen sampling of products, we’ll be able to expand and adapt to what’s popular and what customers like best. We’ll be able to evaluate and change the product offering quickly and efficiently.

Whether you want to spice up the walls of your home or frame a home décor piece for display, Décor Elements is easy to apply, easy to love, and easy to remove.

Whew! This summer stuff is tough!

I love having the kids home for summer but, MAN! I'm worn out! Between all our trips, they still want to be entertained everyday. Not to mention the revolving door at my house, I've got neighborhood kids coming in and out all day!

So, what's going on with SU! Very exciting stuff. The year is winding down and the new Fall & Winter Catalog is getting ready to come out. We'll be able to start ordering from this on August 11th. This will be after I get back from the SU! convention in Salt Lake City. Yep, I'm getting so excited to go on my trip. I don't know what's more thrilling, the convention or the fact that I have a hotel room all to myself! No children, no husband, just me and myself! Ahhhhhh.....

The retiring Accessory List is out. If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check it out on the left side of the screen to see the most recent update. Note: when items sell out, they're gone. Can't order them anymore. If you see anything you want, order it now.

There is also a promotion for 25% off some of the retiring accessories.  Check out the flyer on the left hand side too!  Look for both flyers under the PROMOTIONS heading

Must make room on the card...

Have you seen that funny commercial on TV that has a bunch of random people standing in a big white room together. They're all crowded in there, shoulder to shoulder. Little by little more people are added to the overly crowded room. Then you hear a beeping noise and they all start to panic in their places. Someone is going to get deleted. It's a commercial advertising Walgreens (CVS?) Photo developing and how you should clean up your camera's memory card to make room for more photos. This commercial cracks me up every time I see it. I don't usually let my memory cards fill up because I take too many photos and I'd be out of room in a few days but, I did remember that I hadn't unloaded photos in a long while so I thought I should probably do it tonight.

Back in early May we had our annual Crawfish Boil. Now, before you ask why I don't have something like a Pinto Bean Cook Off or a Tamale Wrapping Party, since I'm obviously not from Louisiana and I'm not Cajun, we do it because it started as a craving for crawfish by me and our friend Rick S. (who is a true-blue Cajun from LA). We normally host it on Easter Sunday (go, figure. Do you think Jesus wanted crawfish when he stepped out of the cave?) but, since Easter came so early this year we pushed it back a bit for warmer weather and the opportunity to eat outside. So I found some great photos on my memory card from this party. I love it when I find surprises like this. You can see we're having a great time. My neighbors joined us this time and we had over 65 lbs of crawfish to cook and eat. And we ate every last one!

Ahhhh yes, the kids are swimming, the chef is cooking, the guests are sitting around having a beer (okay, maybe more than a one). Life is good right? It's, how do you say, a "Kodak moment". Or rather, a "Scrapbook moment" in my world. Good times, good friends, good food...but, wait a minute! Where's my dog, Chelsea? I see my friend's dog, Brie, running around but, where is Chelsea and why does the crawfish pot seem just a teensy bit lighter?  What the?  Seems my baby girl loves the taste of fresh mud-bugs as much as we do. Every now and then she'd sneak in and steal a live one from the ice chest and run to the other end of the yard to eat it. This is DEFINITLEY a scrapbook moment!

One last thing in the spirit of scrapbooking and photography. Along with always trying to get the perfect photo to include in a card or scrapbook album. I sometimes (okay, often) like to play with my photos to get some cool looks. This is a sketch technique that got from a great blog site called Kimi Kreations and she got it from someone named Anita (westiemom). It was an assignment that I stumbled upon a while back and I enjoy playing with it when I have an fun photo.