Song of My Heart Stampers

FREE My Digital Studio offer!

Guess what I have in my hot little hands? A free brand new Stampin’ Up My Digital Studio for someone!

 I will be giving away a free MDS (value $79.95+shipping and tax) to a very lucky lady the first week of November—totally free. No shipping, no tax, nothing. Just the MDS, FREE.

 Simply place an order of $40 or more between now and November 7th at midnight. Every person’s name will go in the drawing once for every $40 they spent. I will draw the name and announce the winner(s) on Monday, November 9th.

 WINNERS—did I make a typo? NO.

 This offer is contingent on at least 10 participants. I will be giving away TWO FREE MDS for every ten $40 increments ordered! That ups your chances considerably! I have never EVER run a sale like this before—I’m so excited to be able to offer it!

WOW!

Why not place your Christmas card-supply order or holiday gift-making order, and possibly win this fabulous new software for free? Or tell your significant other that if he places that Christmas present order for you during that week, he could possibly additionally win and extra $80 worth of something you’ll love!

 Each MDS (whether free or purchased) always comes with a personal one-on-one training session with me, your certified My Digital Studio instructor. You’ll be blown away at how easily and quickly you can put together fantastic gifts for friends and family, and make stunning scrapbook pages and calendars for yourself. It’s so easy to use, you don’t really need me, but I can show you some great tips and open your eyes to all the possibilities with this amazing new papercrafting solution.

 Increase your chances of winning one of the two MDS by placing a $80 or $120 order or even more if you like (total before shipping and tax). This offer cannot be used in conjunction with other coupons, specials or offers. Please read all the fine print at the bottom of this email.

 Now is the time, ladies…. I know many of you have been interested in this software but hesitant because of the initial expense. NOW is your chance to get the MDS for 100% free!

Contact me ASAP to place your order! I’m so excited for the two or more of you who are going to WIN!!! I love my job!!!

Call Lyssa: (920) 261-3962 or email: Zwolaneks@att.net

 

Fine Print: The Free MDS offer is not to be combined with any other promotion, coupon, or sale. Offer is contingent on at least ten $40 increments having been ordered. If there are less than ten $40 increments ordered, the drawing will not be held. This is unlikely. Winners will be notified via email on Monday, November 9th and posted to my blog the same day.

Classic cards with timeless inspiration

Here are a few more photos of inspirational cards I have been making lately. I love how this simple layout puts the emphasis on the textured specialty DSP (To the Nines) and the rich, wide satin Chocolate Chip ribbon.

these are some quick ones made with the gorgeous Bella Toile background stamp on Pale Plum with Perfect Plum and Elegant Eggplant accents. I love this verse. Not one word has failed of all His good promises--that's so true!

And I know I showed these once already, but here is a new favorite way to use the versatile and lovely Thoughts & Prayers stamp set. That set has seen more ink than all the other sets in my cupboard, I think!

I hope you've been inspired by my inspirational cards today! The God Who wrote the Scriptures certainly blessed my heart as I meditated on them while stamping and embossing them. I often pray for friends and family and for our country while I work. If you get a card from me, know that more than just a whiff of glue and paper went into that creation--love and prayers are stamped into everything I make! 

Craft Fair Craziness!

I am up to my eyeballs in cards--literally hundreds of them--and other projects for tomorrow's enormous craft show at Maranatha College in Watertown. I am looking forward to it immensely! I hope you can swing by--it's the best craft fair in the area--and I'm not just saying that because I have two booths there : )

Yep, that's duct tape on the one card!! I love my Big Shot. I will have a variety of masculine cards to suit all the men in your life.

I always make a lot of inspirational cards especially for this fair, so I have enjoyed getting out my extremely varied collection of Scripture stamps from all over the place and making cards with those. I always get lots of requests for my "Shadow of the Almighty" cards.

As you can see I have done a lot of heat embossing lately! Last week it was Iridescent Ice, this week it was Brushed Gold. My craft room looks like a Saharan dust storm came through. I just can not keep that stuff in the container and the Powder Pals trays no matter how hard I try to stay tidy!

Since there's so many music majors and music teachers at the college, I always try to have a lot of musical cards made up. I enjoyed using the retired set Musical Manuscript for this set. It's not showing up, but there is a subtle sheen to these cards--the shimmer paint spray struck again!

And while I mostly mass-produce for craft shows, I still have more than 150 single cards, many of which  could never be recreated exactly the same way. These vintage cards are made with the Pun Fun set and each one is different and unique. If you like one of a kind cards instead of sets, you will not be disappointed! 

Last but not least, I am offering something new this year. I have made up about 20 Mega Tote Bags (see photo tutorial) and will be offering them as a package deal with either a set of cards or a "pick your own" assortment of cards. Fun! Hope to see you there.

Scrapper's Sketch of the Week: 11/5/09

 

Today's sketch is super fun! Take a 5x7 photo and cut it into three equal sections. Adhere them down in the correct order, but with a little space in between them. Then use a 4x6 vertically-oriented photo as the main focal point of the page. The background piece is an 8.5x11 sheet of cardstock.

Use this layout with busy background papers, to make sure the eye goes where it is supposed to--to the photos! Don't make the rookie mistake of letting the patterns overpower the pictures.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

I can hardly credit it, but my little baby girl turned six years old today. I enjoyed snuggling with her in the warm bed this morning at 6:47 a.m. and reminiscing about how happy we were at that very moment six years ago. I am so blessed.

In Natalie's honor today, I have a "blast from the past" for you--girly themed scrapbook projects from my past six years of stamping! The page above celebrates cupcakes and being three. Glitter and sparkles were a MUST! The cupcake wrapper is also made of vertical strips of Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon.

Nest is one of my favorite scrapbook pages of all time. I made it soon after Natalie got her diagnosis of SPD. I created this red, black and white layout for a contest (didn't win), so unfortunately I no longer have it in my possession to take a better photo of it.

BONUS TIP: The technique on the letters is negative emboss--something I invented as far as I know--where you heat emboss with embossing powders just like normal, only right before heating, you use a pencils or stylus to scrape off some of the powder in a pattern such as the flowers I drew here. Stripes, swirls, whatever--then heat set the powder. It adds marvelously unique texture to any embossed project.

I spent a likewise very long time on this page, also for a contest, but it did "win" in that it was put on display at the Stampin' Up National Convention in 2008. It's hard to tell in the photo, but there is a lot of texture here with the stitched photo frame, chipboard flowers, brad, paper crimping and more... I stamped, used rub-ons, chalks and even the gel pen on this page!

And finally, here's a quick little mini photo book made from a single piece of 12x4 DSP. Watch for a photo tutorial on this, coming soon!

Big Shot mini matchbox scrapbook, and ornament idea

I love getting little unexpected gifts, and if they come in a tiny and cute little box, so much the better! Think you have no need for a box-making die because you don't need any party favors right now? Think again! The Stampin' Up Matchbox die is perfect for making someone's day, and that is something we can all do, regardless of whether or not we have a wedding or shower coming up.

To make this great little matchbox with its surprise mini scrapbook inside, simple run your favorite DSP and cardstock through the Big Shot and fold into the matchbox. SU's great design makes it so the "drawer" needs no adhesive when put together correctly. The lid just needs two mini glue dots or a dab of Tombow Multi. Easy! The cut a strip of neutral cardstock the length of the box minus 1/4 inch, by 12 inches long. Score every two inches and fold into an accordion. Adhere to the bottom inside of the box with Sticky Strip.

Decorate both the box lid and the mini srapbook as desired. These are perfect for those little bitty school photos that for whatever reason are smaller than wallet-size (who came up with that genius idea, anyway?). It's also great for writing a list like "10 reasons I love you" or other similarly mushy love stuff. \

BONUS TIP: Add an ornament hanger to your matchbook and you will have a fabulous, one of a kind Christmas ornament to hang on your tree. Write your blessings, favorite Christmas traditions, or special holiday memories from years past.

Leadership '09 12x12 pages

I finally got my Orlando Leadership Convention pages scrapped at the all day crop last Saturday. What great memories of a fantastic time with my extended SU family, having four days of fun in Orlando in the middle of January!! I am really looking forward to conference in Phoenix this coming January. Got my flights booked and my hotel room reserved--just waiting on registration on Wednesday and I'll be all set.

 

Yes, the top spread has pictures of food. One of the perks of this smaller conference as opposed to convention is the fantastic sit down lunches served on real china with linens and waiters--and it was all served so prettily I just had to take a picture.

This Soft Subtles page above was just a bunch of fun pictures of Florida stuff. Those orange flowers were amazing, just draped everything in gorgeous color. I had to take a photo of the lobster deliery card--what a hoot. And who makes a "speed limit 7 mph" sign?
 

This pink and black quilted page chronicles the intense shopping we did, the door prizes some of us won, and the new products we got to be the first to try out! It's kind of hard to see, but each photo has a different ribbon wrapped around it.

For our yearly Manager's reception, Stampin' Up rented an island at Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure theme park and we had the whole place to ourselves--no lines for the rides, no wait for the fantastic food, those handsome super heroes--all to ourselves! My group all had super hero caricatures drawn (free)--you can see my reaction  on the left hand page of this Bold Brights spread--mine was so embarrassing I couldn't look at it! And then at the end we got Spidey lunchboxes with a free stamp set inside.

For a slide show of all my Manager's Reception photos and Leadership news, click here. I don't think I have laughed that hard since I was a little kid. I loved the colors in these photos and was happy to use one last sheet of Kiwi Kiss DSP from the Hoppy Memories kit (now available only through MDS) along with a background color I have NEVER used before--Only Orange. It was a fun page to do.

Some unfortunate news

Yesterday I got some very unfortunate news that has me feeling pretty low. My long-suffering, ever patient, ever encouraging husband Mike is not going to be allowed the time off in April to come with me on the Stampin' Up cruise we earned together last year.

Mike is not only my helpmeet and the fantastic father of my children, but my best friend, and I am absolutely crushed with disappointment not to be able to share this once-in-a-lifetime experience with him, he who earned it just as much as I did, although he's never lifted a single stamp. 

The photo below may help illustrate some of the things I love Mike for. He is a far better father than I am a mother. He always has made me want to be better than I am, from the moment I first laid eyes on him. I am fantastically grateful God saw fit to give him to me. It is a great joy when I am able to give him something really awesome like the incentive trip in repayment for a teeny fraction of what he has meant in my life.

I don't blame the school--though I wish the Executive Council's decision had been otherwise, rules are there for a reason, and the timing really did stink. I am thankful my husband has a good job with insurance in this economy, and he loves being a college teacher. I just let myself get my hopes too high and the crash back down to earth has been painful. It has been discouraging. I am not sure I will even try to earn the Alaska trip right now as it would fall in the final full week of May 2011.

Being down about this accomplishes nothing, yet I seem unable to pull myself out of the funk just yet. Bear with me, my friends. I'll be back with my attitude adjusted shortly. Thanks for listening to my ramble.

Scrapper's Sketch of the Week: 10/29/09

Going a little asymmetrical here as this week's theme for Lyssa is apparently "Let's Learn Flexibility!"

This layout has space for three photos and ample room for journalling. A headline at the bottom left weights the flighty pinwheel-inspired design down to earth, and now's the chance to use some some big, fun embellishments.

Big Shot Pennant Die Halloween projects

Couple last Halloweeny projects for those of you who enjoy the cute side of the occasion. At "So Ya Wanna Be A Big Shot?" club last night, we made these cute candy corn pouches from two Basic Black Pennant die cuts. They are easy enough that you could do them with kindergartners if you wanted! I also showed the witches hat, a folded small pennant used as a pocket to enclose hot cider or tea packets in a card, and the scallop and Photo Corners punch peppermint patty spiders.

Lots of amazing things you can do with that die besides just make cute banners! I hope I have helped you take a second look at a die that, like many, I thought I would never in a million years spend the money on. I have found it to be incredibly versatile for multiple holidays and the perfect way to mark special occasions, too.

Movers and Shapers Curly Label Gift Card Holder

We enjoyed making this quick gift card holder at Incredible Cards Club this past week, and playing with the Library Clips that were last week's Deal of the Week, too. This card uses Soft Suede for the base and Bermuda Bay and Dusty Durango for the stamping. Googlie eyes on the grasshopper were a must!

Inside the card, we used the Word Window punch to create an extra long vertical slit in the Whisper White piece that gets adhered to the back of the card. This made a secure place to tuck our gift card. We decorated it with more bugs and "bites," and left room for a greeting inside, too. This would make a cute "out of the box" baby shower present for a little boy, and add some handmade love to the old standby gift card.

Stay tuned for more Movers & Shapers fun--my die comes today! I can't wait.