It’s Thursday, and time to play at Pals Paper Arts! This week is a sketch challenge, designed by the talented Nicole Watt.  I was fortunate enough to win the Holiday Home stamp set and coordinating Homemade Holiday Framelits from the upcoming Holiday Catalog during the first Prize Patrol of Convention.  I hope you enjoy this peek at a holiday set!

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips
This finished card measures 4-1/4″ wide by 5-1/2″ long.

• Deciduous delights! Snowy hills were created by tearing Whisper White card stock, while Dazzling Diamonds Stampin’ Glitter creates a glistening effect.  The Leafless Trees were inked in Soft Suede, while the sky is a wash of Lost Lagoon.  Your science tidbit for today…deciduous trees are those which lose their leaves in the fall!

• Coniferous confections! The darling Evergreen Trees were inked in Mossy Meadow.  Smoky Slate Snowflakes, and a trio of Pearls, fall from the sky.

• A happy holiday home!  An adorable Mossy Meadow Wreath, decorated with Cherry Cobbler Pearls, graces the facade of this cute home.  The bonus is that there is a framelit that fits each of the three homes in the set! Woo hoo! How cool is that!

Holiday Homes is a photopolymer set.  I am a little embarrassed to say that this is really the first time I have used a photopolymer set.  I have “collected” a few of them, but I really have not used them.  Yikes! What kind of a demonstrator am I! However, I can now truthfully tell you that I LOVE Stampin’ Up!’s photopolymer stamps…and you can bet that I will be inking up some of the ones that are collecting dust!

I hope you enjoyed today’s card.  I think this set is going to be a hit for sure. What do you think? Won’t you let me know in today’s comment? Your comments are important to me, and I do read each and every one of them.  As always, if you ever have a question about the cards I create, or the techniques I use, I am only an email away! Until next time…

 

Stamp Set: Holiday Home:  Inks:  Lost Lagoon, Soft Suede, Mossy Meadow, Smoky Slate, Cherry Cobbler Blendability; Card Stock: Shimmer White, Whisper White, Lost Lagoon; Tools:  Aqua Painter, Big Shot, Homemade Holiday Framelits, Distressed Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder; Glitz and Glam: Pearls Basic Jewels, Dazzling Diamonds Stampin’ Emboss Powder

Buy 3 Designer Series Papers, and Get 1 FREE!

 

During the entire month of July, when you purchase three Designer Series Paper packs, valued at $10.95 each, you’ll get one free. There is no limit to the number of FREE Designer Series Paper packs you can receive.  Here are the papers eligible for this special offer:

133698	Flowerpot Designer Series Paper
133699	Flashback Designer Series Paper
133693	Sweet Taffy Designer Series Paper
133692	Confetti Celebration Designer Series Paper
133694	Park Lane Designer Series Paper
133696	Maritime Designer Series Paper
133695	Lullaby Designer Series Paper
133700	Back to Black Designer Series Paper

  

New Stamp Sets Available

Dear Hearts Photopolymer Stamp Set

Item #138157, $25.95 

“Boy” version of the sold out Sweetie Pie set!

 

 

 

Beauty of the Season 

Clear Mount – Item #135779, $16.95 

Wood Mount – Item #135776, $21.95

Christmas in July! You have the opportunity to purchase the Beauty of the Season Stamp Set – now available as a special sneak peek of the 2014 Holiday Catalog!

Available Stampin’ Blendabilities Markers
 

These exclusive, alcohol-based marker sets come in a 3-pack of light, medium and dark shades (of the same color), and provide your projects a more saturated look with blended colors. Stampin’ Up! recommends using Stampin’ Up! Whisper White Cardstock with your Stampin’ Up! Blendabilities, but choosing any one of Stampin’ Up!’s cardstocks will add a unique look to your project. 

Corner Garden:  A card I colored with Blendabilities

Additional Blendabilities color assortments will be available August 1st:  Crumb Cake, Melon Mambo, Wisteria Wonder, Calypso Coral, Night of Navy and Smoky Slate

If you do not currently have a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, I would LOVE to be yours!!! Until next time…

Convention 2014 is history…but the memories will linger on. 

I arrived early Wednesday afternoon, only to rush to the Salt Palace in order to rehearse my “In a Nutshell” presentation.  It was thrilling to see my name and picture in the official Convention program.

Yep…there I am on the left-hand page in the lower right hand corner.  I truly enjoyed presenting on Thursday, and received many wonderful compliments. 

Old teachers never die.  I hope those who attended walked away with useful tips to help them achieve balance in their lives.

Thursday was also great because I won the very first prize patrol of Convention…the Holiday Home set with the matching Homemade Holiday Framelits. 

My floral sweater made me easy to spot in a crowd. Can you find me taking a selfie with one of my fellow Stampin’ Pretty Pals?

 Here is how that selfie turned out:

 

Of course, I also wanted to have my picture taken with fellow Paper Player teammates LeAnne Pugliese and Nance Leedy…

and my partner in crime at Pals Paper Arts, Linda Callahan.

I presented twice on Thursday, so I was more than ready for a little fun at the organized classes that evening. I attended the Trends, Techniques and Tips class.  I learned so much!

Day Two was filled with marches.  Here I am marching across the stage for Sales.

Because of my wonderful downline and fabulous customers, 2014 was an excellent year for me. 

Of course, the highlight of Day 2 is Awards Night.  But before it started, I ate supper with fellow Pals at Caffe Molise.  The food there is incredible, as you can see.

I was so proud to march across the stage with the other winners of the Achiever’s Bonus.  We were all given beautiful wrist corsages made from fresh flowers.  Although mine looks a little worse for wear, it was gorgeous when I first received it.

 

But there was another march to make. You cannot imagine how shocked I was to earn Founder’s Circle, where Stampin’ Up! recognizes it’s Top 100 demonstrators in the United States.  As you can tell from my attire I was not dressed to be parading across the stage with my fabulous upline, Mary Fish, and her upline, Lisa Pretto.  In fact, Mary came running back to get me when she heard my name announced, with Lisa close behind.  We crossed the stage together.

This will forever be my most cherished memory of Convention.

On the final day, I was able to snap a few pictures of display boards.  The Stamp Review Crew created a board featuring Lovely As a Tree.  Can you spy which two cards are mine?

Just in case you could not tell, they are the Christmas tree, with pearls, and the sympathy card, with pearls.

My favorite part of Convention is reconnecting with old friends, and meeting new ones. I am always sad when it ends.

But I returned home to three happy dogs…and my son and husband were happy to see me, too. On the flight home I planned all of my fall classes, which I will be posting soon.  In addition, I also planned my Holiday Catalog shares…the paper, ribbon, and embellishments are awesome! I will be putting the finishing touches on my next Lesson of the Month, featuring Choose Happiness. I can’t wait for you to see the cards I have designed.

As always, I would LOVE to be your demonstrator.  And if YOU would like to join me at Convention next year, please email me and we will set up a time to talk.  I would LOVE to discuss having you join me in the Schach Pack Pals. With the Holiday Catalog preorder just around the corner, couldn’t you benefit from all of the perks demonstrators receive?  Until next time…

(A huge thank-you to my fellow Pals for taking such fabulous pictures, including the very talented Amanda, Kris, Beth, Mary and Lisa!)