Merry Christmas!

Here is a project I made up last spring for the annual Stampin' Up! Artisan Award contest. I earned a place as a finalist for this award so I was thrilled. I love Christmas and thought these Santa pants would be a fun party favor or little gift bag. I used the Stampin' Up! "Baskets & Blooms" XL Bigz die for the main part of this project.

I also wanted to remind you that many of the stamp sets currently on our dormant list have been available for a year and now it is time to be discontinued. The following stamp sets will be discontinued on January 4, 2010. If they are on your wish list you will want to order before Jan. 4.
Item Number Stamp Set
113407 Back Woods
114492 Beautiful Baby
114486 Birthday Wish
113200 Branch Out
114496 Celebrations
113732 Central Park
113206 Classic Sketches
113226 Classy & Fabulous
114498 Flowers in Silhouette
113405 Font of You
113216 For the Bride
114494 Forever
109425 Friend by Definition
114488 Fun Flowers
113716 Garden Greetings
114490 Glad Friends
111580 Grand Soiree
113242 Hit the Road
113710 Lexicon of Leaves
113236 Man's Best Friend
114423 Ocean Commotion
113728 Playful Petals
109276 Polka Dot
111544 Putt Putt
113240 Quilt Quips
113754 Really Retro
113403 Sip by Sip
113726 Sweet Stems
113250 That's Funny
113688 Wonderful Watercolors
114028 Para la novia
114032 Acuarelas Maravillosas

Hope you all are enjoying the snow, cold and getting ready for Christmas!
Jennifer

Potter Stamp Class - November 10th

Here's the samples of the projects we will be making at the card making class in Potter on November 10.
Class will be at 6:30 p.m., back meeting room at Bags' Bar, material fee $10.
All patterns will be supplied for these fun folded cards.
Please contact me for more information or if you would like to sign up for this class.

Build-a-Bear Girls Workshop

Here are some photos from a recent Build-a-Bear workshop for a bunch of little girls. My niece Audrey was the hostess for this event. We had a great time and these girls, ages 4+, enjoyed creating the 4 bear projects: favor box complete with a candy necklace, a stamped bear card, a bear cut die card and and a decorative lunch bag to carry all our goodies & extra bear parts and clothes home.

I would love to do more of these workshops so please let me know if there are any Build-a-Bear creations we can make with you and your group of friends or children!
Jennifer

Swap basket contents

Here's a closer look at the contents of the swap basket mentioned in the last post. Many of these favorites will be inspiration for cards to make at future stamp classes this fall. Hope to see you at a stamping class this fall,
Jennifer

Monthly card projects

Here's a picture of my swap basket full of goodies ready to go to card classes and workshops this month. The samples inside the basket are swaps from Stampin' Up! convention this past August. Many of you haven't seen these so bring your cameras when you come to class this next month and feel free to photograph your favorites. The projects sitting outside the basket are the projects at stamp classes this month. I have to tell you that my adult stampers are having just as much fun with the Build a Bear items as my younger stampers are. I'll have more about a little girls bear workshop in a future post. So if you haven't joined a class yet this month there is still time. I'll travel to Chappell, NE on Sept. 22 and of course would set a workshop up for you and your friends, just let me know.
Happy stamping,
Jennifer Thomas

Holiday Mini Catalog.....starts today!

The Stampin' Up! Holiday mini catalog sales period starts today! If you are attending a stamping class with me in the next 2 weeks you will get your mini catalog at class. If you want a mini mailed to you please let me know.

I have been with Stampin' Up! for almost 13 years now and this mini catalog is the best one yet! It is full of adorable stamps, Big Shot die cuts, jewelry, embellishments, treat cups & DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING SOFTWARE!!!!! You just have to see it. We will be using alot of the new items from this mini in our upcoming stamp and scrapbook classes this fall.

Let me know if you need a mini catalog,
Jennifer

Build-a Bear Workshop

On Sept. 12 I'll be presenting my first Build-a-Bear Workshop. Instead of going to the Build-a-Bear store and making your own stuffed animal the attendees get to create several fun papercraft products. I'm still busy working on my projects but here is a sample I from convention which is a great inspiration. I will post my projects when I get them completed. There will be a $5 fee for each attendee and this first class is hosted by my 9 1/2 year old niece Audrey. We hope to have a room full of giggly little girls! Keep this in mind for birthday parties, scout meetings, daycare projects and whatever else you think will work with these fun new products.

College Kitchen

Here's a picture of the canisters Alexis and I made for her college apartment kitchen. The vinyl art work is the hostess level one set in the Decor' Elements line from Stampin' Up!. These were super easy to make. Bought the containers at a local outlet store for around $10 for all three.
The vinyl images also included "coffee" & "tea"....which she didn't want so we just used the artwork without the words for the one canister and her and her roommate can use it for candy or hot cocoa etc. Thanks to my hostess free items these girls might have one of the most stylish kitchens at Univ.-Nebr.Lincoln! :-) Go HUSKERS! :-)
Jennifer Thomas

Adorable train project

I think this is just about the most adorable train project I have seen with this train set. This is from the convention displays in Salt Lake City earlier this month so I don't even know who made it so I can't list any names. I think this is just adorable. What a fun idea for decorating a baby's room or for a baby gift. You could even personalize it to make it extra special.
Happy stamping,
Jennifer Thomas

My Convention Swaps

I made 2 different cards to swap at convention this year. Here is a sample of those cards and also a variation of each card. I made each card simple and then a little more "involved" using either a jumbo grommet or adding designer papers, both which would make great upsell items.
I love all the new embossing items for our Big Shot Machine. I used the Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder on the Bermuda Bay & Melon Mambo card. The Rich Razzleberry card used the "HI" Embosslit Die. Both are on page 195 of the Stampin' Up! catalog.

Artisan Award Finalist!

One of the highlights for my convention was finding out I was one of the 30 finalists for the annual SU! Artisan Award. To enter that contest you have to create and send in 10 items (5 cards, 3 scrapbook pages & two 3-d items). When I was first considering entering this annual contest again this past year my first idea was this fun 3-D Santa's Pants favor. So once I dreamed up the pattern for this (the bottom of each leg uses the die cut piece from "Baskets & Blooms") I decided I needed to create the other 9 projects to enter this fun Christmas project for that contest. The pants are complete with suspenders, belt and a barn door on the back! :-)This project was also on the display boards at convention this year.

I think this pattern would also be fun as blue jean overalls: with a little boy theme and fill with gummy worms. Or complete as red overalls and fill with corn (pop corn, corn nuts etc.) for all those HERBY HUSKER NEBRASKA CORNHUSKER FANS!
GO BIG RED!,

Jennifer

One of my favorite parts of Stampin' Up! Convention is the display boards. I could spend hours (and I did!) looking at all the samples on these displays. They are color coordinated or grouped by new set samples and it is kind of tricky to fight the crowds to get in close enough for a photo. Since I spend alot of time throughout the year creating ideas for monthly/yearly contest and stamping challenges it is always a THRILL to see your artwork up on display! I found 9 different projects of mine on the display boards so I was thrilled! :-)Here is 12x12 scrapbook page that I entered in the Artisan Award this past year. I'll tell you more about that in a future post. :-) These are my kids, photo taken back in February, and they look very similar but Kaleb just got his braces off so now I can scrapbook him without the "tin grin". LOL!
Jennifer

Build-a-Bear products!

We have so many new products including the Build a Bear Workshop line and the company mascot came to Salt Lake City for our convention. We got to pose for a photo with the mascot. That new product line will be fun for kiddy workshops and scrapbooking layouts. Last year I was excited to see the Sizzix/Big Shot product line and I'll continue to be excited about the Big Shot with fun new dies like these. I'll be setting up some scrapbooking and card making classes with this theme so look for future details on that.

Jennifer

Stampin' Up! Convention 2009 was awesome. The theme for convention was Inspire,Create, Share. We saw fun logos at the Gathering Place and at the Stampin' Up! Headquarters. Here are my roomies (we had a big fun suite!) left to right: Holly, Laurie, me, Lynne, Kyle, Kim, Joanne.
Look for samples in future posts of all the fun things I saw at convention,

Jennifer

Cupcake card

This cupcake image is from a new hostess set in the 2009-10 Stampin' Up! Catalog & Idea Book called: "The More the Merrier". Stamp the row of cupcakes a few times to fill up your cardstock piece with lots of cupcakes, YUM! Of course you need a little Dazzling Diamond Glitter to finish it off!
This card shows the new inline colors for this catalog year, and these inline colors also come in the markers now too and they match the Razzleberry Lemonade designer paper used for the quilt block square type of design. The polka dotted ribbon is also a coordinating product in the Rich Razzleberry color.
Jennifer

"Girly" card and favor

The big shot die: large Scallop circle is used to make this adorable dress cut out. Once you have the fun dress you can make a card or a party favor. I used the Box #2 die for the party favor by making the box but leaving the flap up.

Jennifer

SO Sweet scrapbook page

Here is a fun sample using the Circle Circus (new Stampin' Up! stamp set)and the Big Flower Sizzix die for a scrapbook page layout. The word "so" is a "s" from the Serif Die in the Big Shot machine. The "o" is the large circle design from "Circle Circus" embossed with VersaMark and Clear embossing powder and punched out with the 1 3/4 circle punch from Stampin' Up!. The center of the flowers are also embossed images from the "Circle Circus" set and punched out with the 1 3/8 inch circle punch. This layout shows the new in-line colors for 2009-10 in the Stampin' Up! Catalog & Idea Book. Designer paper is: Razzleberry Lemonade.
Enjoy!
Jennifer
artwork copyright Stampin' Up!

Bag full of swap goodies!

Swapping at convention is always fun and I seem to get the best swaps when swapping with friends and having a planned and organized swap. This year we will be meeting in our hotel room again with 25 swappers consisting of my roomies from Nebraska and Colorado and downline groups of stamp friends Deb Valder, New York and Sue Hyer of Virginia. Here is a sneak peak of their swapping bags. All bags are set up in a circle and one of each item is placed into each swappers bag, once everyone has had a chance to place their items in the bags then each gal has a wonderful bag full of goodies to take home with them.....well that is after we eat pizza! :-) This is a fun way to get great quality swaps and have fun meeting stampers from around the country. Once I get home I'll share my pics of the swaps I received.
Jennifer

It's Time for Stamp CONVENTION!!!

Here are some pics from past convention. I can honestly say that I signed up to be a Stampin' Up! Demo in the fall of 1996 knowing that the convention was held in Las Vegas that coming summer. Since then I have been to every convention and have traveled to San Diego, Minneapolis, Orlando, Kansas City and Las Vegas and Salt Lake City both numerous times. Convention is always so much fun. 4-5 days of stampin' fun with other stamp crazed ladies (and a few men demostrators). Here's a few pics from past conventions in Salt Lake.


The top photo I am with Jennifer Thomas, another stamp demo with the same name! The other photos are my roommates and I either hanging out in our hotel suite or eating out!

Convention this summer is in Salt Lake City Aug. 5-8.
I'll post pictures of my swap cards later this week.
Have a great rest of the summer!
Jennifer

12x12 page from a 6x6 page

Here's a 12x12 sized page layout from the 6x6 design you've seen in a previous post. I like the "quilt" look this design has. The designer paper is: Sweet Slumber Speciality from Stampin' Up!.

Scrapbooking: rustic and distressed

I love the rustic and distressed look on my scrapbook pages. Here's a simple layout with several black and white photos and one colored photo framed to grab your attention. This color scheme plays off of the rustic old car in the background of the larger photo.
Happy scrappin,
Jennifer

Splish Splash I was taking .....

a BATH. Yep, same cute baby as past posts. Here is a scrapbook page focusing on one adorable photo and using alot of my Big Shot products and other fun embellishments from Stampin' Up!

Remember to check out the retired list of Stampin' Up! products as many of my favorite designer papers are on that list. I know we will have fabulous new designer series paper designs but now is your chance to get the current items before they retire. Many retiring items are 50% or 25% off. Click the link on the left side of my blog to see the complete list. Items available while supplies last so don't delay. Remember you can order online anytime.

Personalized card for Baby!

Lately I have been having fun creating personalized baby cards for newborns. This card is a 5x7 which is a size I have envelopes for and also a fun size for mom to frame in a 5x7 frame....makes a fun decoration for the baby's room.
These cards also make great scrapbook page layouts.
Of course you can make the card in a blue color scheme for boys. I buy alot of scrap ric-rac and lace from a local flea market and also use up all those scraps in my stamp room so this is a fun and easy project.

Jennifer

12x12 "Family" themed scrapbook page

Here's a fun 12x12 layout. I used Very Vanilla cardstock and I really like the vanilla letters: "family" at the top of the layout....subtle but still there for a title. For the vanilla title of "family" I first glued the vanilla cardstock onto coasters then cut the letters out on my Big Shot machine. This way the letters are thicker and can be easily glued to the page with glue dots. The rest of the page uses various rub-ons, chipboard shapes,ribbon and cardstock embellishments also cut from the Big Shot machine.
Enjoy,
Jennifer
artwork copyright Stampin' Up! 2009

Retiring Stampin' Up! List

The retired product list from Stampin' Up! is out and you can order these until June 30. Notice that some are 50% off or 25% off! Good while supplies last and the sooner you order the better your chances are of getting the items before they run out.
Click on the link on the left side of this blog to access this retired list.
New catalog comes out the first part of July.

6x6 page of Baby Reese

Here's a quick and easy 6x6 sized scrapbook page made with "Sweet Slumber Speciality" designer paper from Stampin' Up! and some of the Yellow ribbon from SAB '09 (have a ton of that to use up LOL!) The blue square in the top left corner was made by using two 6x6 pieces of of that designer paper with right sides (blue sides) together.....I folded down the top piece to create the 45 degree angle and the print on the blue paper creates the white square behind my chipboard "a".

Summer "Golf" card

Here's a fun summer card using the Big Shot texture plates to create a fun dimple look to a punched circle to create a golf ball. This could be a Father's Day card too, just change the stamped message.

School's out for Summer!

Yeah, school is out for the summer. I hope to find more time to post fun things to this blog. Today I thought I would show you a fun project (non stamping) that I completed with one of my classes at PDHS. Besides Art I also teach a Community Involvement class and we complete projects that improve our community. Once recent project was a license plate design of the state of Nebraska with a Husker "N" camouflaged in it. This art work is hanging in the Husker room at Bags'Bar & Steakhouse.

Scrapbook layouts

Here are the scrapbook layouts for March 20-21. Your layout will be the same design but a different color scheme depending on the paper kit you selected.
Happy scrappin'!
Jennifer

Stampin' Up! Regional in Lincoln

Alexis was my guest at the Lincoln, Nebraska SU! Regional training. It was fun to take her to her first SU! event. The baskets were a project I demoed for a 5 minute "Workshop WOW". These baskets will be a project at upcoming monthly classes as they make cute little baskets great for Easter, spring, May day etc.
Happy stamping,

Jennifer

Photo confusion

There seemed to be some photo confusion with the March issue of the Stampin' Up! Stampin' Success. So if you are a demonstrator and see the contest winning entries you will see my name but a photo of my daughter, Alexis. The wrong person was inadvertently cropped out of our family photo so this is me...I'm the one on the right. I guess I should be flattered that they thought I was 18! tee hee

"Wrap it Up" SU Contest Winner

Here's the bags I made for the December Stampin' Up! monthly art contest for demos: "Wrap it Up: gift wrap ideas for the whole year". Each design is a cardstock front and back that covers a lunch bag size sack. All the images were cut out of the Big Shot machine, well... the candle stick is just a strip of paper but the flame is the wing from the bird (nothing was stamped on this project!) I was fortunate to win this contest and received 3 stamp sets from Stampin' Up! Yeah, more free stamps! :-)

Jennifer
artwork copyright Stampin' Up!