Party like a Ladybug

As mentioned in my last post, the Ladybug Ink Christmas Party was Thursday night. It was pretty awesome, and the Ladybugs made some awesome gifts. I wanted to highlight the Ladybugs and their gifts so that the world can marvel at their talents. One of the things I love about all the gifts is that they portray the versatility of Stampin' Up! products and shows how you can use stamping skills to make things other than cards.

Kim made a gift basket with a whole bunch of yummy goodness. She even included a recipe book of all the things she featured in the basket.

Amber made this frame that can be used as an earring holder or a bulletin board. She included some handmade earrings that were made from SU! accessories. By the way, I blame Amber for part of my addiction. She was the one who introduced me to Stampin' Up! and is my upline.

Ruth made this fabulous bag. She used the Big Shot to cut out each square. I had a chance to steal this bag from a fellow ladybug and didn't. If I knew how to sew, I would attempt to make this bag. But me and sewing machines don't get along.

Michelle made this cute calendar frame using the Calendar Kit from the Holiday Mini. In the lower left hand corner the saying said "Don't put off till tomorrow what you can ENJOY to today." Or something like that. Sounded like an anti-procrastination saying. :)

Corrina made this magnetic dry-erase board with letter and flower magnets. She used the Big Shot and the Alphabet dies to cut out the magnets.

Karen made this beautiful apron using a Decor Elements stencil and classic ink. It's amazing the many things you can use the Decor Elements stencils for. I never would have thought of using them to decorate fabric and make a pretty apron.

Kim (whom we call Kim 3) made this lovely frame using decor elements and SU! accessories. I love the colors in this frame and thought that it would go great in my living room because of the colors.

Look closely at Pam's wrist and you will see two bracelets. Pam made these bracelets by using SU! DSP paper and making paper beads. I heard it takes a lot of patience to make one of these.

Barb made this basket of bath salts and bath powder. I was the recipient of this awesome gift. As Barb was giving me more information about each thing in the basket she reminded me that essential oils may not be good for pregnant women. I assured Barb that I wasn't going to be pregnant forever, and will wait until after Baby is born to delve into my gift.

Mindy made this tin of ornaments and cookie cutters. She had a little helper to display her handmade gift.
And then there was my gift - Christmas for Two. You can see the details for this project in my previous post.

Hope you enjoyed seeing what the Ladybugs created. I know I enjoyed the gift exchange and loved seeing what everybody created. I'm already thinking about what I can make for next year......

Happy Stampin'
~Cita

Christmas for Two

Last night was the Ladybug Ink Christmas party. We munched on some food and had a gift exchange of handmade gifts. There was certain criteria that was set for us about our handmade gift, and these criteria actually challenged me a little bit to get out of my stamping box and think differently.

Well, I decided to jump into a box in order to get out of my box. After prowling around on the web and walking through craft stores, I decided that it would be fun to make a decorated box with hot cocoa paraphernalia. My husband and I have been drinking a lot of hot cocoa these past few weeks, so my mind has been a little stuck on cocoa. Here's what I came up with.

I started with a tin and decorated it using the Holiday Lounge DSP. Dasher is embossed in white on Brushed Silver, and "Merry Christmas" is embossed with iridescent ice, which makes it all sparkly! The snowflakes are actually rub-ons from the Icicle Rub-Ons set. They look awesome against the Taken with Teal background.

I included two mugs so you can drink the hot cocoa and continued with the Dasher theme. Experimenting with a "make-your-own-rub-ons" kit (not from SU!), I was able to use Real Red and Taken with Teal Classic Ink and the Dasher stamp to make a rub-on, which I used to decorate the mugs.
I also made a little book that can be used to write your sweetie Christmas sentiments or can be used as a little scrapbook. I cut the covers with the Top Note Die using chipboard. I also cut the pages with the Top Note Die, but used Taken with Teal, Very Vanilla, and Real Red cardstock. The whole book is bound with Real Red Grosgrain ribbon. And of course I had to find some place in my project to use my current favorite set, Patterned Pines.

Finally, I added some packets of hot cocoa and spiced apple cider and placed it in the tin. The picture above shows the whole Christmas for Two ensemble. I was very proud of my creation. It was a lot of fun putting together.
Karen was the recipient of my Christmas for Two gift, and I was excited about the enthusiasm she showed toward it. This was my first big stamping project, and I'm glad Karen and her hubby can enjoy it.

~Cita

Get Ready for 2010

One of my favorite things about a new year is buying a new calendar and planner pages for my planner. I tend to take quite a bit of time deciding what sort of topic or character I’m going to spend my year with. For 2009, I spent my workdays with cute puppies. Next year, I’ll be spending those workdays with Looney Tune Characters, and the I’m thinking the home days will be spent with memories of 2009 as I make my own calendar using My Digital Studio.

So who or what will you be spending your 2010 days with? Might I suggest making your own calendar this year to display in your office, kitchen, or any place you put a calendar? My Digital Studio is a perfect tool to make this happen, and the two newly released digital downloads for MDS make it easier to construct that calendar. Contact me for more information about creating calendars with MDS.

Calendar Basics Kit (118120, $9.95)

Calendar Grid Basic Kit (121423, $3.95)

~Cita

Say it with Pictures!

I LOVE pictures, and I love cards. So you won't be too surprised to hear that I absolutely love Christmas Photo Cards. I enjoy receiving any type of Christmas card during the holiday season, but my favorites are truly the ones that include pictures. So it was pretty excited to see that Stampin' Up! offers a Holiday Photo Card kit, which includes 12 printed cards, 6 sheets of self-adhesive die cuts, and 12 Very Vanilla envelopes. I had to try it out, and I was pretty content with my pretty, handmade photo card.

Holiday Photo Card details:

• All the die cut stickers are included in the Holiday Photo Card kit (115667, $19.95) and help make designing and assembling the photo cards quick and easy. The kit even includes several ideas for card designs for those of you who believe you are design-challenged.
• "Merry Christmas" is from the Christmas Greetings stamp set (115448, $10.95) and is stamped in Close to Cocoa (103139, $5.95) ink on a die cut sticker.
• I textured the envelope flap with the Stampin' Up! Textured Impressions Folder Petals-a-Plenty (116824, $7.95). This was a bit tricky and I'm still trying to perfect the technique, but basically I inserted just the envelope flap into the texture folder and ran that through the Big Shot. I then took a brayer, inked it with Real Red ink, and rolled it across the textured flowers to get a poinsettia-looking background.
  
• I had a bit of a crinkle in the texture, so I stamped a Christmas Tree from the Patterned Pines stamp set (116525, Hostess Level 1 in the Holiday Mini) and cut it out. I adhered it over the crinkle, and wa-la, it covered the blemish and added another element to the envelope.

Thanks to my wonderful husband, who looked absolutely wonderful for our 2006 Christmas picture. Yup, that picture is a few years old, but it's one of my favorites.

~Cita

Variation on the Gift Card Holder

I really like the Criss Cross Card design from Beate Johns, and I have made several iterations to use as gift card holders this Christmas season. In fact, I gave out this exact gift card holder with a special gift to a workshop guest who booked a workshop with me. Contact me if you want to host a workshop and receive the same special gift. (Remember, I'm in the Albuquerque, NM area).

Criss Cross Card Gift Card Holder (Say that 5 times fast) details:

• The base card is Old Olive, while the Designer Series Paper is Christmas Cocoa Specialty (116770) that is found in the Holiday Mini.
• The belly band is a piece of Chocolate Chip 1" Grosgrain Ribbon. Seasons Greetings is stamped in Whisper White Craft Ink directly on the ribbon. The stamp is from Snow Swirled (111690, $24.95).
  
• Stamp the snowflake on the belly band in Real Red ink on Whisper White cardstock. The snowflake is from the Sweet Season stamp set (116471, $18.95). Use the Scallop Circle punch (109043, $15.95) to punch out the snowflake.
• The inside card is where the gift card "sits." The base is Real Red with a piece of Whisper White attached on top. Before adhering the Whisper White piece to the base, I embossed it using the Stampin' Up! Textured Impressions Folder Petals-a-Plenty (116824, $7.95) and the Big Shot (113439, $99.95). I then inked a brayer with Real Red ink and rolled it across the embossed images to get the pretty red embossed flowers. Kind of looks likes poinsettias, huh?

~Cita

Double Duty

If you get involved in Stampin' Up! you will quickly be exposed to the SU jargon. Some of these terms include the phrase Hobby Demonstrator or Hobbyist. My interpretation of this phrase is one who is a Stampin' Up! demonstrator that does it for the discount, the resources, and the fun, not necessarily for the business or money-making aspect of the demonstratorship.

I am a Hobby Demonstrator, and I am quick to admit that the number one reason I joined Stampin' Up! was for the discount. How can you say no to 20% off all your Stampin' Up! orders? I'm a sucker for discounts, especially discounts of 20% and greater. And then there are all the added benefits, such as incentive rewards (free stamp sets, greater discounts, cruises, etc.), resources (monthly magazine, tutorials, gallery, etc.), demonstrator exclusive events (group meetings, convention, regionals), and the relationships (I have met so many new people through Stampin' Up!). There hasn't been a day that I have regretted signing up to be a demonstrator.

Since I am a hobby demonstrator, I also have another job. It's that thing I call a career that I went to college and got a degree for. Fortunately, I have a fantastic job that I tend to enjoy; however, I do tell my husband that the only reason I have this job is to support my stamping habit. :) Generally, this job is pretty calm and mild, but this week, it's going to take all my time and probably most of my energy as they sent me across the country to work. So, this week, I am going to excuse myself from all efforts of even trying to post and will post some more Christmas examples this weekend. So stay tuned.

If you are interested in learning more about the demonstratorship, contact me (stampincita@gmail.com) or visit my website. I would love to share with you about all the great aspects and perks of being a SU! demo, and even more so, I would love for you to join my stampin' team!

Till I return to my side of the country, Happy Stampin'.

~Cita

Have Yourself a SIMPLE Little Christmas

Many times, simplicity can go a long way. I don't know how many times in my life that I have been told that I make things too difficult, and I believe that oftentimes when designing scrapbook pages or cards that I make things more difficult than what they should be. I like elaborate pages and cards, and I LOVE to cut things out (which can be time consuming). However, there is always a time and place for simple designs, and these simple designs can still have a strong and loving impact on the recipient or viewer of your creation.

As I was prepping for my Christmas Card Stamp-a-Stack last week, I needed one more card design, and I knew I needed it to be a simple design. So I did what almost every demonstrator probably does when they need inspirations, I started to surf the internert; more specifically, I started to browse through other SU! demonstrators' blogs. That was when I found Kween Bee Kreations and her awesome take on this Clean and Simple layout . I loved her ideas and decided to CASE one for the stamp-a-stack.

CASEd Simple Christmas Card

• Use Garden Green CS (102584, $5.50) for your card base.
• Layer a strip of Christmas Cocoa DSP (116770, $11.95) on top a slightly bigger strip of Real Red CS (102482, $5.50).
• Adhere a strip of Whisper White Organza Ribbon (114319, $5.95) in the middle of the DSP.
• Stamp the Merry Christmas bird from the Holiday Best stamp set (Hostess Level1, 115364) in Real Red ink (103133, $5.95) on Whisper White CS (100730, $7.50). Use the 1-3/8" Circle punch (104401, $15.95) to punch out the image.
• Sponge the outside of the punched out image with Real Red ink. Adhere to middle of card using Stampin' Dimensionals (104430, $3.95).
• Use the 3/16" Corner Rounder (109047, $7.95) to round the right corners of your card. Remember to do this in the front and back.
• Don't forget your sentiment in the inside of the card.

~Cita

New My Digital Studio Images

I haven't said much about My Digital Studio, and I apologize for not promoting this awesome program. So, now I'm going to talk about it. My Digital Studio (MDS) is a digital crafting program. You can use it to make all sorts of awesome things, including scrapbooks, cards, calendars, interactive albums, and DVDs. One of my favorite features is the the fact that MDS features all Stampin' Up! artwork and accessories and you can print your projects using either your personal printer or SU's professional print services.

Recently, I went through and successfully completed the Stampin' Up! MDS Certification program, so I'm considered to be well-versed in MDS now. :) Ask me a question! Part of the certification required me to make several digital projects using MDS. Below is my digital card. I also went ahead and used the professional print services to print it, and I was impressed and amazed at how pretty it turned out. I'm liking MDS.





Periodically, Stampin' Up! releases new images for download for MDS. Here are the latest releases.

Berry Christmas Stamp Brush Set (118117, $5.95)

Friend by Definition Stamp Brush Set (118118, $1.95)

Just Perfect Alphabet Stamp Brush Set (118119, $9.95)

Christmas Cocoa II Digital Kit (120880, $9.95)

Write Stuff II Digital Kit (120881, $3.95)

Icicle Digital Photo Card Kit (120882, $3.95)
Merry Moments Digital Photo Card Kit (120883, $3.95)

To purchase, head on over to my website, click on "Shop Now" in the upper right-hand corner. Next, click on "Digital Crafting" in the left column and then click "My Digital Downloads."

~Cita

Loungin' Dasher

I have moved on from Bermuda Bay and discovered Taken with Teal. In this card, I had the opportunity to play with the oh-so-popular Dasher stamp. Dasher is one of the stamps that you can by as a single. It's such a fun and versatile stamp.

Loungin' Dasher Card Details

• Use Basic Gray Cardstock (108692, $7.95) for the card base.
• Emboss Dasher (116816, $8.95) with White Stampin' Emboss Powder (109132, $4.75) on Brushed Silver CS (100712, $7.95).
• Layer the Brushed Silver CS on top of Real Red CS (102482, $5.50).
  
• Use the Stampin' Up! Joyful Sizzlit Die (115973, $5.50) and the Big Shot Die-Cut Machine (113439, $99.95) to cut out the "Joy". Use a 2-Way Glue Pen (100425, $3.50) to adhere to the card. You'll probably end up getting glue on your fingers. :)
• Use the Holiday Lounge DSP (115676, $9.95) on the bottom of the card and line it with 1/4" Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon (109034, $4.95).
• Don't forget your greeting inside the card and to decorate your envelope.

~Cita

All I Want for Christmas....

If you are an avid stamper like I am, there are several stamping-related items that are going on my Christmas wish list. A lot of these items are Stampin' Up! items that I will probably hint at my husband to buy through my website. I know several of you out there may have items on your Christmas List from Stampin' Up! and I would like to make it easier on your friends, family, and, most importantly, signficant others, to make sure they order the right Stampin' Up! products for you! So here's how I'm going to do this:

Email me (Stampincita@gmail.com) your Stampin' Up! wish list and I will keep it on file and have it handy. Next, tell all your gift buyers that I have your wish list, give them my contact information, and I will work with them on making sure that they select the perfect gift for you. Sounds easy and fun, right?

This is also a good time to remind you about the Holiday Gift Giving Guide. There's some great ideas in there, and if you buy $5o worth of product from the guide, you get a free Decor Elements ($16.95 and below) for free! Merry Christmas!

Looking forward to receiving your wish list!

~Cita

Bermuda Pines

I'm a bit hooked on the Bermuda Bay/Soft Suede color combination. As in my previous post, I used the Cocoa Christmas Specialty Paper and Bermuda Bay to create this beautiful Christmas
card. I decided I needed to add a third color and ending up choosing Rose Red, which I think works out beautifully. We made this card at my Christmas Stamp-a-Stack. If you missed the Stamp-a-Stack and would like to learn how to make this card, I can always come over and demo this card at a workshop. Contact me to find out how to host a workshop.

Bermuda Pines Christmas Card Details:

• The base of the card is a 4.25" x 5.5" in tent orientation. Use Bermuda Bay cardstock (115317, $5.50) and then adhere the snowflake paper from the Christmas Cocoa Specialty paper (116770, $11.95). Make sure the Christmas Cocoa paper is not 4.25" wide. Cut it about a 1/4" shorter to leave a border on the edges.
• Use the Eyelet Border Punch (113692, $15.95) to punch the border on the bottom of a 1" strip of Whisper White cardstock. Adhere the border at the bottom of the Christmas Cocoa paper.
• Stamp the pine trees from Patterned Pines (Holiday Mini, Hostess Level 1) on Whisper White cardstock in Bermuda Bay (115655, $5.95), Rose Red(101778, $5.95), and Soft Suede (115657, $5.95) Classic ink. Make sure to use the Stampin' Scrub (115657, $16.95) with the Stampin' Mist (102394, $4.95) to clean off the stamp before switching inks.
• Use your Paper Snips (103579, $9.95) to cut out the trees. To add a decorative element to the trees, leave a little white as a border (e.g., do not cute on the "lines").
• Adhere the pine trees to the card. I used Snail to adhere the Bermuda Bay tree directly to the card. I then used one Stampin' Dimensional (104430, $3.95) to adhere the Soft Suede tree to the card, and then I used two Stampin' Dimensionals stacked on top of each other to adhere the Ruby Red tree. Doing this gives the tress a genuine layered look.
• Stamp the sentiment in Whisper White Craft Ink (101731, $7.50) in the lower right-hand corner
• Don't forget to stamp your sentiment inside the card.
• Remember that envelopes are a blank canvas! Stamp a few things on the envelope. Also personalized stamps are a great way to quickly add your address to all your envelopes!

~Cita

Snowflakes in Bermuda

I love finding different color schemes for Christmas that go beyond green and red. So I was extremely excited with a fellow Ladybug Stamper, Karen, showed off a Christmas Card using Bermuda Bay and Soft Suede with the Holiday Mini Catalog's Christmas Cocoa Specialty Paper. On top of that, as I was preparing for the Christmas Stampin Series Gift Tag class, I came across a gift tag holder idea from Andrea Walford.

Gift tag holder details:

• I used Andrea Walford's idea, but changed the dimensions a little bit. Sign up for my newsletter to get a tutorial for this exact gift tag holder.
• The base of the holder is Bermuda Bay and the snowflake paper is from the Christmas Cocoa Specialty paper (116770, $11.95)
• I punched the bottom of the lid with the eyelet border punch (113692, $15.95) and then tied a "fake" bow with Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon (109070, $6.95)
• The sentiment is from Christmas Greetings (115448, $10.95), and has become one of my favorite stamps of the season. I stamped the sentiment in Basic Black.
• Use a Small Flat Cellophane Bag (103104, $3.95) to hold the gift tags. Adhere to the base, but don't deal shut.
  

Gift tags details:

• I used the Scallop Circle punch (109043, $15.95) to punch the scallop bases using the snowflake paper once again.
  
• The Bermuda Bay outline is punched with the 1-3/8" Circle punch (104401, $15.95).
  
• The two snowflake stamps are from two different stamp sets - Snow Swirled (111690, $24.95) and Patterned Pines (Level 1 Hostess Set from the Holiday Mini). These snowflakes are punched out using the 1-1/4" Circle Punch (104404, $15.95).

~Cita

Christmas Series Gift Card Holder

One of the things I have reverted to doing for Christmas is giving out gift cards. This has become extremely handy with my brothers, who have become extremely hard to shop for now that they have long passed the Hotwheels cars phase. Now the hard part is figuring out which store to get their gift cards from, but the fun part is making their gift card holders.

On Tuesday, October 27, I will be hosting a Gift Card Holder class. In this class we'll learn how to make two different types of gift card holders. Below is the first gift card holder we will make - the Criss Cross Card. I cased this card from Splitcoast Stampers' Beate Johns Criss Cross Card Tutorial.

Here are some details of my version of the Criss Cross Card:

• The base card is Real Red, while the Designer Series Paper is Christmas Cocoa Specialty (116770) that is found in the Holiday Mini.
• The belly band is Old Olive cardstock. Merry Christmas is stamped in Chocolate Chip ink. The stamp is from Christmas Greetings (115448) and the ribbon is Sleigh Bells from the Holiday Mini (116795).
  
• The medallion on the belly band is stamp in Craft Whisper White ink on Soft Suede Cardstock with the snowflake from Patterned Pines, which is a Level 1 Hostess Stamp Set in the Holiday Mini. (Contact me if you want to learn how you can earn this stamp set for free.)
• The inside card (see below) is where the gift card "sits." The base is Old Olive with a piece of Very Vanilla attached on top. I used Soft Suede to stamp the snowflakes (which is also from Patterned Pines). The picture may not show it very well, but there are little snowflakes stamped in Frost White Shimmer Paint (116854) sprinkled throughout the big snowflakes. Shimmer paint comes in three different colors and can be found in the holiday mini. I love it because I always seem to get messy when I use it.

On an unrelated note, the gift card in the picture above is from Flying Star or Satellite Coffee, my favorite coffee place here in Albuquerque. If you have never visited either of these establishments, I highly recommend you check it out. Right now, I am hooked on their chai.

~Cita

Introducing Carmelita's Christmas Stampin' Series

It's October already! Christmas is just around the corner, and I'm super excited about it. For some reason, I'm overly excited about Christmas and have already started planning Christmas cards, presents, and parties. I have also planned my Stampin' UP! Christmas Stampin' Series, which is a series of classes starting October 13 that will focus on different projects you can make using paper and stamps (with some help with the Big Shot every now and then).

Here's the current Christmas Series schedule:

October 13: $5 Awesome Stamp Class - Photo Cards
6:30 PM Fee $5 (pay when you come). RSVP deadline has passed, but I have room for one more person in the class. Send me an email if you are interested in attending.
We will explore the Holiday Photo Card Kit and make two photo cards using this kit and Christmas stamps. Also, I will be offering the kit 20% off if you order during the class.

October 27: $5 Awesome Stamp Class - Gift Card Holders
6:30 PM Fee is $5 (pay when you come). Please RSVP by October 23.
We'll learn how to make two types of gift card holders.

November 10: $5 Awesome Stamp Class-Gift Tags
6:30 PM Fee $5 (Pay when you come). Please RSVP by November 8.
We will be making three gift tags.

November 14: Christmas Stamp-a-Stack
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Fee:$20 (pay when you come). Please RSVP by November 7.
Come make 20 Christmas cards for $20. There will be four designs, and you will make five of each design. Everything is already cut and ready for you to stamp and assemble.

December 4: Christmas Open House
6:00 PM FREE!
Come to this free Christmas Open House! Bring a friend and come make a Christmas Card and eat Christmas Food! This will also be a great time to order any last minute Christmas Gifts. This open house will conclude the Christmas Stampin' Series

If you would like to attend any of these classes, shoot me an email or check out my website. Also, watch my blog for samples from all these classes.

~Carmelita

P.S. That cute little graphic at the top of this post was made with My Digital Studio.

Convention 2009 (Part Two)

As promised, here's some more pics and stories from Convention.


Here's the ladies of Ladybug Ink, my stamping group. From left to right: Kim 2, Ruth, Pam, Amber, Karen, Me, Angela, and Kim 1.


This is me and Shelli Gardner, the Cofounder and CEO of Stampin' UP! Each day during the lunch hour, Shelli would go out to the Gathering Place and meet demos and give autographs. I had her sign my convention bag. She is such a beautiful lady, and I'm glad I got my few minutes with her.


Karen, one of the ladies in my stamping group, was selected to be a helper during Make-and-Takes. Here she is offering her expertise and help during one of the make-and-takes.


One of my favorite parts of convention was all the samples that were available to us. There were rows and rows of these display boards. There were probably thousands of samples to look at and take pictures. I loved it.


I won a prize from prize patrol. We each got wrist bands at the beginning of convention, and throughout the days they would call the color and shapes of the wrist band. I was practically asleep when they called my wrist band (blue stripes), but I sure woke up quick and got extremely excited that I won. I got the I Heart Lists stamp set and a package of the Thoroughly Modern File Folders.

How could I be falling asleep at convention? I have to defend myself. Right before convention, my husband and I went on vacation. At this point, I had been gone from my house for 10 days and had been staying up a little late during each night of convention. This was the last day of convention, and all my body wanted to do was sleep. Sometimes sleep trumps stamping. :)

Anyways, that's my convention experience in a nutshell. Convention is totally worth going to, and I'm looking forward to attending next year, God willing.

Happy Stampin'!
~Carmelita

Convention 2009

I love convention! The Stampin' Up! Convention last week was absolutely fabulous! I learned a lot, got some great ideas, experienced the ultimate swap, and even got to meet Shelli Gardner, the CEO and Co-founder of Stampin' Up! Here are some highlights from Convention.


The first night I was in Salt Lake City, I participated in a shoebox swap. We basically spent three hours making 19 different and wonderful cards. I actually only was able to make 16, but I had a blast. The great thing about a shoebox swap is that you get to use a variety of techniques with stamp sets I don't have.


This is the front of the Salt Lake City Convention Center. Stampin' Up! pretty much took over the entire convention center. Actually, it felt like Stampin' Up! took over the entire downtown. Most of the businesses had decals on their doors that welcomed SU! convention goers. Everywhere you looked there were SU! demos. It was like Stampin' Up! heaven.


Follow the ladybug umbrella! Here's Amber and Ruth with the ladybug. There were about 3000 attendees at convention and it was hard to pick out the group you wanted to sit with. Amber had the ladybug umbrella so everyone in our group could find where we were sitting. It was very effective.


Here's convention at 8am on Thursday. There was dancing and swapping and smiles and excitement. I'm a pretty happy person, but man was that a lot to take in at 8 in the morning! It was awesome.



Stampin' Up! is teaming with the Build-a-Bear Workshop and brought their mascot to convention on Thursday. I couldn't resist the opportunity to give him a hug and get a picture with him. On another note, SU! also offered convention attendees a Stampin' Up! bear complete with the SU! logo and an apron. I couldn't resist that one either and had to buy one.


Here are mine and my roommates' bears. I stole this picture from Ruth because I failed to ever take a picture of my cute and awesome bear.

I'm going to end this post for now so I don't overwhelm you with Convention. I'll post more about convention later.

On another note, if you want to attend convention next year, you can! All you have to do is sign up to be a demo. Right now SU! is offering a great deal to become a demo. You can sign up for $85 and get a mini-starter-kit. Visit my website if you'd like to join my team!

-C

A New Purpose

I've had this blog for several years, and there hasn't been much of a purpose for it other than for me to post a random ramble every six months to a year. Well, this weekend, I decided that I now have a purpose for it - I'm going to use it to post my Stampin' endeavors! It will have purpose!

I'm not sure how many people actually read my blog, but I'm hoping to increase the numbers. Especially since I'm hoping that this blog will complement my Stampin' Up! business and initiative. I love teaching people about stamping and scrapbooking, and I'm hoping that through this blog I can also teach someone a thing or two or at least inspire her about these fun activities.

In addition to my Stampin' endeavors, I am planning to post entries about my husband and my travels as well as random thoughts every now and then. My husband and I love to discover new places, especially in our surrounding area. It's amazing what we find!

Now, there are several very dedicated bloggers out there that will post every day; however, that will not happen in my case. I work at a full-time status and am currently in grad school. Posting everyday would probably make life a bit more crazier than it already is. So my goal is to post each Sunday at minimum. So stayed tuned for more posts!

The First Challenge

A lot can happen in a year. In fact, your entire life can change before your eyes within a year. I know mine has.

Last November, Rachel influenced me to go to Homespun Holidays, a half-day function at our church that involves craft classes, lunch, a garage sale, and a speaker. Rachel and I taught two classes, and for the third class, I went and stamped Christmas cards. This class forever changed my life. We only made three cards, but I enjoyed it so much. All of the sudden, I wanted to stamp. I went home that day and with gushing excitement told Steve that my new hobby would be stamping.

It took a little bit to get started. Stamps aren't cheap. And then you have to have ink (all sorts of colors) and paper (all sorts of colors as well) and accessories (like sparkly stuff and ribbon). My wonderful mother-in-law bought me a stamping set for Christmas, which was just enough to keep my interest alive.

Fast forward to this past summer. I decided to take a Stamping 101 class at UNM Continuing Education. Not only did I have a blast at the class and learn awesome techniques, but I met Amber, a Stampin' Up demonstrator. Next thing you know I'm committing to a ten month stamp club, attending stamp camp, and increasing my obsession and collection of stamps.

Recently, I was told about Split Coast Stampers, a stamping forum of wonder. Each day, they have a different challenge, and you make a card answering the challenge. Discovering this did not help my obsession.

Anyways, yesterday was a sketch challenge - they give me the layout and I make a card using that layout. Since it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, there's another challenge to incorporate pink into your card. It took me two evenings and a canceled class to finish my card for the sketch challenge, but I finally finished tonight. I'm so excited!!! I heart stamps. I feel so accomplished. I totally want to quit my job and just stamp and scrapbook all day, every day.

Real Quick

I forgot that said I would tell you how Laurie Notaro's Autobiography of a Fat Bride is. Quick review short, it wasn't as funny as the first book, but it was still quite entertaining, especially since I could identify with planning a wedding, being married, and buying a house. I still think she is a fabulous author and am looking forward to reading more of her books. The thing is, my mom bought me the Harry Potter series, and I think I'm going to concentrate on those for awhile. I shall return to Laurie. I shall.

Four More Years!!

No, I’m not rooting for George Bush for four more years. (I know that’s impossible anyways).

This past week, I started my first day of graduate school, which will take me four years to complete. I decided a while ago that I wanted, for some reason, to pursue an MBA with a concentration in marketing. After taking the GMAT, applying to UNM’s Anderson School of Management, getting accepted, and then fighting with UNM and trying to convince them that my name is NOT Carmelita Cereceres anymore, I went to my first day of class on Tuesday.

The whole UNM experience has been quite interesting so far. The more I deal with UNM, the more I realize just how well I had it at NM Tech. For example, you didn’t have to pay for parking at Tech. In fact, you could park right on campus for free! Right in front of the building you had class in if you were lucky. Personally, I could park at our house, which was two blocks from campus, and get to class in about 5-10 minutes depending on where I was going.

At UNM, free parking does not exist, and parking on campus is a bit tricky. I shelled out about $80 for a South Lot parking permit, which allows me to park at University Stadium (which is three miles south of campus) and ride the shuttle up to campus, where the shuttle will drop me off on the south side of campus and I have to walk completely across campus to my class. I’m trying not to complain, I really am, but after five years of being spoiled at Tech, it’s hard not to complain. The good thing in all this is that after 3:45, my parking permit become “universal” and I can park in almost any lot, including several on campus. Since my class is at 4, I think I will be able to find a parking spot in a nearby parking lot and just walk less than five minutes to class…I think! 

I won’t go describe ALL the differences that I’m experiencing, but I will say that my admission process to UNM has been hell. It got so bad last week, that I was actually thinking of disenrolling completely.

All that aside, I went to my first class on Tuesday. I was a bit in frantic mode from the beginning because I left work later than what I wanted to and was afraid I would be late (especially since I was planning on parking in South Lot and riding the shuttle). Luckily I found a parking spot not too far from my class. The next hurdle involved me finding my class. I went to the wrong building first, and then when I thought I found the building, I was hesitant that it was the right one because the sign called it something else. Once I decided the building was right, I realized that I had forgotten my class schedule and didn’t have the room number. Luckily, I’ve looked at it so many times that was about 90% sure that the class number was 230. In the end, I made it to class, on time, and in the right classroom.

I had 2 hours and 75 minutes of class, which I will spare you the details. I did experience a bit of culture shock, especially since the class is about 40 people, which 2/3 is female. I’m not used to being in such a big class dominated by women. My professor is awesome so far. I didn’t fall asleep in class, which says a lot, especially since I was in there for so long. (By the way, this class is called Statistical Analysis for Management Decisions). I made my first graduate school acquaintance, which turns out to be a roommate from an acquaintance at church (such a small world).

As of this writing, I have completed my first week’s homework, and am starting on next week’s. Figured I should get ahead now while I have the energy and time. Although I’m enjoying the homework so far, I’m still wondering if I can take four years of this along with working full-time. We’ll see how it goes.