Albuquerque Regional Samples

This past weekend, Stampin' Up! visited Albuquerque and held a half-day regional. In true Stampin' Up! style, there was a set of sample boards set up for our viewing pleasures. Here are some of my favorites.

Punch Art Examples.

Beautiful Halloween Card using the shaker frames.

Punch art on a gift bag.

Christmas card made from a Simply Sent kit.

Cute reindeer made from the stocking punch.

Love the glitter paper on the stockings.

More awesome glitter paper.

Beautiful card using masking technique. 

Fun, huh? All these Christmas-related samples are a huge reminder that Christmas is around the corner. I have already started making my cards. How about you? Are you prepping for Christmas yet?

Happy Stampin'
~Cita

Albuquerque Stampin' Up Regional

Stampin' Up! visited Albuquerque today!

Today, was the Albuquerque Half Day Regional, and it was amazing! Fun, stamping, swaps, free stuff.....I couldn't have had a better Saturday. Here's a few highlights from today's regional.

I wish you could see how sparkly this card was in real life. This card makes me want to actually design a Halloween card.

Carrie Cudney showed us this cute Christmas tag you can make.

This is a cute little coupon book Carrie showed us. We all got a packet with all the supplies and instructions to make this.

This card was designed by one of Stampin' Up!'s IT guys. :) They had a challenge to design a card using items from their desk.

I love this card!

Card using items from a Simply Sent kit.

Punch art card.

Decorated card holder. We all got the card holder (just not decorated).

We learned how to make this sparkly border using just the Scallop Border punch.

Fellow Ladybug stamper, Ruth, being prize patrol.

Another Albuquerque demonstrator showed us how to make a telescoping card.

Fellow Ladybug demonstrator, Ruth, takes the stage to show us a Workshop Wow.

Ruth demoing on stage.

Ruth showing off her cute card. She got a lot of "oooo" and "ah"s

Bonnie Thurber thanking Ruth.

Stampin' Up! Regionals are held in select cities across the nation. (Albuquerque was very fortunate to have been selected this year!) They are first open to only demonstrators, but after a few days, and if there is space available, SU! will open up the regional to non-demonstrators. The Albuquerque regional was full in less than two days, so it was definitely worth being a demonstrator. Hopefully you can attend a Stampin' Up! regional one day.

Happy Stampin',
~Cita 
 

Buy Two Simply Sent Kits-Get a Free Stamp

October has been a great month for Stampin' Up! promotions.

Until October 31, if you buy any two Simple Sent Kits you get a FREE coordinating stamp set. The card kits offer a variety of basic themes, so it's easy to create cards for any occasion. These kits are great for those of you who want to dabble in stamping but are unsure to take the plunge or those of you who need a quick way to make handmade cards.

Details:

• Promotion is good until October 31, 2011. 
• Simply Sent kits ordered as part of a hostess's free benefits do not qualify for the promotion.
• There is no limit to the number of times a customer may participate.  

Simply Sent Kits (Buy any two)

• Simply Sent Great Day, 122375, $12.95
• Simply Sent Everyday Elegance, 122377, $11.95
• Simply Sent Sweet Moments, 122376, $13.95

 Free Coordinating Stamp Set

• It's Your Day, 123682
• Es tu día (Spanish It's Your day), 124685
• C'est ta fete (French It's Your Day), 124800
• Everyday Wishes, 123686
• You're Cherished, 123684
• Chérissons les anges (French You're Cherished), 124865

Head over to my website to order you two Simple Sent Kits and get your free coordinating stamp.

Happy Stampin',
~Cita 
 

The Energizer Card

 

Where's the Energizer Bunny? Watch closely and you will see that cute little thing bang his drum across the picture of this card. Not really, but sometimes I feel that this card is the Energizer card, it just keeps going and going and going. Or actually, I keep making it and making it and making it. It started off as a swap. And then it was my Stamp Camp card. And then it was my convention swap, and now I think I'm going to use it for my regional swap because I have some left over from convention. 

Stampin' Cita Tips:

• Stamps Sets: Delicate Doilies, Teeny Tiny Wishes
• Color Scheme: Concord Crush, Melon Mambo, Wisteria Wonder, So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
• Accessories: Filigree designer brads, 5/8” Pretty In Pink Satin Ribbon, Ticket Punch, Beautiful Butterflies Stampin' Up! Bigz Die, Flirtatious Specialty DSP
• Stamp the images from the Delicate Doilies on Whisper White using Melon Mambo for the biggest doily, Wisteria Wonder for the middle-sized doily, and So Saffron for the small doily.  
• Use the ticket punch to punch the corners of the Melon Mambo and Whisper White cardstock. Layer the Whisper White on top of the Melon Mambo.  
• Wrap some Pretty in Pink Satin Ribbon around a piece of Wisteria Wonder cardstock. Stamp a greeting from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set under the ribbon and then adhere your Flirtacious DSP butterfly to the ribbon. Another idea is to stamp the greeting on the ribbon, but I don't think it looks as good doing this. You can decide for yourself.   

The Albuquerque Stampin' Up! regional is in a week and a half. I'm hoping to get more swaps done, but I'm just super excited about the regional. I love Stampin' Up!


Happy Stampin', 
~Cita

 

Get a Free Big Shot!!!

Yes, you read that correctly. :)

Join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator during the month of October and you will get a FREE BIG SHOT  (or up to $100 in free Stampin' Up! products) in addition to all the great stuff you get in the starter kit.Think of it this way, you're getting over $400 of product for only $175. That's a deal. Contact me for more information or to sign up.

Happy Stampin'!

~Cita

Who Who Who is Having a Birthday?

I'm once again reminiscing about the 2011 Sale-a-Bration stamp sets. I loved loved loved the sets this past year, and I refuse to get rid of some of them. Such as the SAB Punch Bunch set. Nope. Never. I'm not getting rid of it. And one of the reasons is the owl image. It's so STINKIN Cute. And then you can easily punch him (or her) out with the Owl Punch, use some DSP to dress him up, and then adhere him to almost any type of card. In this case, Mr. Owl went to a birthday party at my spring stamp-a-stack. 

Stampin' Cita Tips:

• Stamp Sets: SAB 2011 Punch Bunch, Party Hearty (retired)
• Color scheme: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Real Red, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip 
• Accessories: Owl Punch, Scallop Square Duo Bigz Die, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder Die, Silver Brads, Modern Label punch.
• Use the Scallop Square Duo Bigz Die to cut out the bigger scalloped square. Then, use the Perfect Polka Dot Textured Impressions Embossing folder to emboss the polka dots on the scalloped square. 
• Stamp the owl image three times in Chocolate Chip. Use the Owl Punch to punch out each owl. Take a piece of scrap DSP and punch out a "body" from the Owl Punch. Adhere that to one of the owls. On that same "dressed up" owl, use Stampin' Write markers to color its eyes and beak. 
• Use Stampin' Write markers to color one of the birthday hats on the Party Hearty stamp set birthday hats stamp. Remember to "huff" on it before stamping the image to make sure the ink isn't completely dry. Cut out the birthday hat with some Snips and adhere it to the head of the "dressed up" owl. 
• Stamp the "Pearty Hearty" greeting in Real Red on Whisper White and punch out the greeting using the Modern Label punch. Use a paper piercer to pierce two holes in each side of the modern label and insert silver brads. Attach using dimensionals.   

Overall, this is a simple card, but if you want to mass produce this card, stamper beware. The polka dot scallop can take some time since you can only run one scallop square in the embossing folder at a time. 

Happy Stampin'!
~Cita   

Punch Out Birthday

 

Here's another card from the 2011 Sale-a-Bration timeframe. I love how the Punch Bunch stamp set would help to make simple cards, such as this birthday card. Three stamps, punch, DSP, and a little ribbon, and wa-la a cute, simple birthday card that could be used for a boy or girl.

Stampin Cita Tips:

• Stamp Sets: 2011 SAB Punch Bunch 
• Color Scheme: Real Red, Pacific Point
• Accessories: Brights Patterns DSP, Real Red 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Scallop Square Punch 
• Stamp the "happy birthday" image three times in Real Red and then once in Pacific Point. Punch out the three Real Red images with the Scallop Square punch and then cut out the middle square of the Pacific Point image. Adhere the Pacific Point square to one of the Real Red images. 
• Adhere your piece of DSP to the Pacific Point card base. Adhere two pieces of Real Red 1/8" Tafetta Ribbon to the DSP parallel to each other.

Super easy, huh?

Happy Stampin'
~Cita

Stampin' Up! on Top Ten List!

When you buy stamps from Stampin’ Up! you are buying the best. And here’s proof!

Creating Keepsakes magazine recently named Stampin’ Up!’s wood- and clear-mount rubber stamps as one of its Top 10 Tools for 2011.

And now, a personal testimony:

I’m a bargain hunter. My loyalty to brands is few and far between, but I am loyal to a few of them – Stampin Up! being one of them. But I didn’t fall in love with Stampin’ Up! overnight. It took me several months to realize just how awesome Stampin’ Up! products are. Their quality can’t be beat, and the prices really are not that bad. Having tried numerous other stamp brands, ink brands, and cardstock brands, Stampin’ Up! is truly the best. Thus, one of the reasons why I decided to sign up as a demonstrator and get 20% off my personal orders. 

I love Stampin’ Up!

Happy Stampin’

~Cita

Variation of a Mother's Day Card

When I have classes they are generally small. At first, wanting to be a successful demonstrator, I was a little discouraged on my average class size (which is three people). However, in the past two years, I have learned to love my small classes. Not only am I able to share what I love, but each attendee usually gets a lot of attention, something they may not get if I had a huge class. I have also learned that by having small classes I am able to unleash my attendees' creativity. They learn to use my card designs as a starting base and customize it according to their preferences, materials available, and needs.

In April, I had an Occasions Card Class, where we made three cards for upcoming holidays (Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Graduations). One of the ladies mentioned that she didn't need a Mother's Day Card, but she needed a Sympathy Card. So I pulled out a greeting stamp that could be used for a Sympathy card and opened a door of creativity for all three of my attendees. It was so much fun. I thought I'd share what we created that evening.

This is my original design. This color scheme (Pumpkin Pie, Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze, and Old Olive) is out of my comfort zone, but I think it worked.

This is Donna's card. She didn't need a Mother's Day card, so we used "Thinking of You" and then embossed it with white embossing powder. I love how this came out and how the embossing makes the sentiment pop from the card.

This inspired Sylvia to go all out. She wanted a Mother's Day card, but she didn't want her sentiment on the DSP, so she moved it. After rummaging through some of my ribbon scraps she found some scrap Soft Suede ribbon that she bunched up.

Phoebe had a blast playing with her card. Having never embossed, she took to it quickly and fell in love with it. She added a little tilt to her embossed sentiment.

I may be a little biased, but my classes are fun. We have a great time stamping and unleashing creativity. If you are in the Albuquerque area and would like to attend a class, please contact me. A list of my upcoming classes can be found on my Stampin' Up! website.

Happy Stampin'
~Cita

Show-and-Tell: Nursery Thank You Cards

This past spring, I made a few thank you cards for the ladies who work in the nursery during my Tuesday morning Bible study. These ladies take great care of my little Bella Bug each week, and all the ladies in the Bible study wanted to express our thanks. I made these cards for everyone to sign, thus the reason they are not the standard 4.25"x5.5" card size. I figured that these cards needed to be big enough for about 20-30 women to sign, so I just took a 8.5"x11" piece of cardstock, scored it at 5.5" and decorated. These were the perfect size.

I wanted to use as many scraps as I could in this card, and I succeeded. :) Scraps are great to decorate the owls.

I CASEd this card from fellow Ladybug, Karen.

I am not a big fan of yellow and was amazed when this card was finished.

I CASEd this card from Ladybug, Corrina. No stamping was involved in this card.

This card was inspired from a card my former manager gave to me. The white flower and thank you are embossed.

Happy Stampin'
~Cita

My Digital Studio Contest

Stampin' Up! is offering another opportunity to score free product with their My Digital Studio contest. If you win, you can get up to $400 in FREE My Digital Studio digital downloads plus a a digital pin for your DBWS site, personal blog, or Facebook page. Here are the details:

• Design one digital card and one single-page layout using only
  My Digital Studio products.
• Entries will be judged on creativity, style, composition, color,
  originality, and overall design.
• Ten finalists—five customers and five demonstrators—will be
  chosen by Stampin’ Up! judges.
• Six winners—three customers and three demonstrators—will be
  chosen via online voting from the group of finalists.
• Customers and demonstrators will be judged separately. Prizes
  will not be combined.
• Submit your entry to MDScontest@stampinup.com by October 15, 2011.

For more information, visit MyDigitalStudio.net. 

~Cita

June Ladybug Projects

These are late, but better late than never. In June we held the Ladybug Ink monthly meeting. These meetings take place in Albuquerque, NM  and feature a night of make-and-takes, 3-minute demos, swaps, the latest Stampin' Up! news, and lots of visiting with other demonstrators. You have to be a demonstrator (or thinking about becoming a demonstrator) to attend this meeting. 

These projects are the 3-minute demos from the June meeting. These three ladies are super talented and showed us some amazing projects. 

This first project is from one of the newest demonstrators in the Ladybug group. For the life of me, I can't remember her name, but I'm pretty sure it begins with an M, so I'm going to call her M. 

She demoed how to make a matchbook scrapbook album. She got the idea from the monthly demonstrator Stampin' Success magazine, and put her own little spin on it.

Ladybug M's Matchbook Scrapbook project

The next project was from Mindy, who actually gave us some tips on how to use Big Shot dies to make unconventional shapes, such as the one featured on the card below. She took the beloved Top Note die and ran the cardstock through the Big Shot twice. The first time she got a regular top note shape. Mindy then rotated the shape 90 degrees and ran the cardstock through the Big Shot a second time, coming out with the beautiful shape in the card below.

Mindy's project featuring the Big Shot and Top Note Die.

This last project is from Ruth. I was pretty excited and impressed with her project because it's what we call a hybrid project, which uses My Digital Studio and then traditional stamping techniques. She designed the words and the background in MDS and then printed it out. She then stamped the s'more images, colored them, cut them out, and then adhered them to the MDS background. (She also made the box too). Inside is a whole bunch of sweet goodness that you can use to make your own s'mores. mmmmm...Ruth is so talented.

 

There are some amazingly talented women in the Ladybug Ink group. I am blessed to be among them and am constantly inspired by them. Interested in joining our amazing stamp group? Contact me, and I can tell you how. You don't have to be in Albuquerque. :)

Happy Stampin', 

~Cita

Hello new Holiday Mini Catalog

EXCITED!!!!
The New Holiday Mini Catalog has been released today and is ready for your viewing and ordering pleasures. I have to say, that I believe this is the best Holiday Mini I have ever seen. With the new Simply Scored tool, the amazing stamp sets, the new Stocking punch, and the beautiful DSP, I can't get enough of it.

Check it out and then head on over to my website to place your order. If you want any of the items for free, contact me and we can set up a workshop where you can earn free product.

Happy Browsin'

~Cita

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas (a sneak peek)

 

Umm…well maybe not. At least not with the 100 degree weather outside. But, in Stampin’ Up! world it certainly is, especially with the new Holiday Mini being released in less than a month.

I made this card for my Fall Open House and featured a new stamp set form the Holiday Mini Catalog. I have to say that this year’s Holiday Mini is amazing. I’m not usually such a quick fan of new catalogs ( I have problems with change), but this one is absolutely fabulous. Here’s a little sneak peek of what’s coming at you.

Stampin’ Cita Tips:

• Stamp sets: Christmas Lodge
• Color Scheme: Early Espresso, Garden Green, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, and Cherry Cobbler
• Accessories: Frostwood Lodge DSP
• Stamp the tree image in Always Artichoke on Very Vanilla. Since the stamp is a pretty big one, reverse the inking process. Lay your stamp on the table face up and use the ink pad to apply the ink. Give it a little huff before you stamp on the cardstock to make sure the ink is “alive.”
• Cut the Garden Green cardstock ¼” wider than the Very Vanilla cardstock piece to give it a framing layered effect.
• Stamp the “Merry Christmas” sentiment in Cherry Cobbler on a piece of 1” x 4.24” of Very Vanilla cardstock. Tear the bottom of the cardstock and use a bone folder to slightly curl up the end of the banner.

I hope you enjoyed your sneak peek. Book your workshops now so you can earn your free product from the mini.

~Cita

3 Reasons Why You Should Join Stampin' Up!

Because I want a free stamp set, I'm blogging about why you should join Stampin' Up! in hopes that you will decide to sign-up and join my team of the Ladybug Ink stampers.


Reason #1: 20% Discount on all your orders. And if you sell Stampin' Up! to other people, you get to keep 20% of your sales (and spend it on more stamps....)
Reason #2: $99 Starter Kit. Through July 31, new demonstrators can purchase a specially-priced Starter Kit for just $99! You'll get over $180 worth of product in the starter kit. 
Reason #3. Free Christmas Keepsake Project Kit. Join Stampin' Up! before July 31 and you'll get a free kit that contains everything you need to make a beautiful Christmas box. The kit even includes a stamp set from the upcoming Holiday Mini Catalog. 

Christmas Keepsake Box

The time has never been better to join Stampin' Up! If you are interested in joining, please email me (stampincita@gmail.com) and I'll walk you through the process. I don't think you'll ever regret joining Stampin' Up!


Happy Stampin'
~Cita

Doilies Aren't for Old People

 

The Delicate Doilies stamp set was one of the sets that Stampin' Up! offered to us demonstrators as a sneak peak item in June. When I first saw it I was not to thrilled with this set. But for some weird reason, I ended up buying it, and I haven't really been able to put it down for the last two months. I did decide that one reason I was so turned off to stamp set was because it had doilies in its name. I think of my Grandma's bright yellow doilies when I think of doilies. And although those doilies are amazing, I think old people (no offense wiser, older generation. I have lots of respect for you and your doilies). However, once I got past the name, I'm obsessed with this set. 

I made this card for the June Ladybug Ink card swap. I CASEd it from a fellow demonstrator I found on Stampin' Connection. This color scheme is definitely out of my comfort zone, but I ended up loving it. I hope you enjoy it too. 

Stampin' Cita Tips: 

• Stamp Sets: Delicate Doilies, Upsy Daisy, Strength & Hope
• Color Scheme: Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, Wisteria Wonder, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Concord Crush
• Accessories:Decorative Label Punch, 1/2" Scallop Dots Ribbon Chocolate Chip
• Stamp the doily images using Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, and Wisteria Wonder. Focus on the middle of the card concentrating the images from corner to corner. Don't be afraid to overlap some of the images. 
• Layer the Whisper White Cardstock on top of of the Poppy Parade cardstock. Wrap a piece of Chocolate Chip 1/2" Scallop Dots Ribbon in each corner.
• To create the greeting, stamp the words from Strength & Hope in Wisteria Wonder ink on a piece of Wisteria Wonder cardstock. Stamp the birthday greeting from the Upsy Daisy stamp set in Concord Grape over the words. Use the Decorative Label punch to punch out the greeting and then use a sponge to add a little of Concord Grape around the edges. Adhere the greeting to your card using a Stampin' Dimensional.

Happy Stampin'
~Cita

Stampin' Up! Convention 2011 - Swaps Round 1

 I recently got a chance to sit down and really look at my swaps I got at convention, and I was not disappointed. They are so great!! I loved them so much, that I decided I must share them. Hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

Here's an interesting story about this last card. Well, it may not be too interesting, but I think it's neat. I live about three hours away from my mom, and she has a friend, Rhonda, who is a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. I've heard about Rhonda for years, and finally, at convention, I was able to meet Rhonda and we swapped cards. This is Rhonda's card. I love the Flirtatious suite, and I love her card. I think I may be purchasing the lace ribbon border punch soon. 

Happy Stampin',
Cita