Cecile's Stampin' Newsletter -- August 2011

Hello Stampers!

Beat the 105-degree heat by staying inside and stamping! Right now there are a ton of fun things for August, like our special Buy 3, Get 1 Free Special on Designer Series Paper. It's a great time to stock up.

Two other things to look forward to from me:
A new video tutorial will be posted this Sunday on how Aquapainters work. You can find it on my events page or my blog.

Also I'll be starting Christmas Card Classes soon! (Starting at either the end of this month or beginning of September) Each class you'll do 10 cards (2 different designs) and I'll change it up every month, so that by the time December comes you'll have gotten a good amount out of the way. I'll post class dates and pictures as soon as it's available.

Don't forget, this is the last month to order from the Summer Mini catalog and also purchase the Strength & Hope set of which a portion of the proceeds go to benefit The Breast Cancer Research Foundation®.

Until then, stay cool and I hope to see all of you at some point soon. Thanks!

Happy Bird-Day

I love punny things, so I just felt the need to make a fun card with one of my favorite sets. Plus I had to use a really Spring-y palette... I'm so glad that winter is just about over! (Austin has relatively mild winters, I don't know how you folks with all that snow do it!) Anyways, I thought it came out kind of cute, so I thought I'd post it. I originally was going to enter it for a contest for Papercrafts magazine, although this one ended up not making it into the bag. I'm really proud of the other cards that my best friend and I made, so wish us luck! :)

For this card I used:
Stamps - Pun Fun (SU!), Occasional Quotes (SU!)
Card stock - Crumb Cake (Base), Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery and Whisper White
DSP - Delightful Dots (SU!) -- Retired from Sale-a-Bration 2009

I {Heart} Sharing

"To love what we do and share what we love, as we help others enjoy creativity and worthwhile accomplishments. . . in this we make a difference!"

I think this is an amazing motto for a company to have, but more than anything, I think it's amazing for a company to be able to live up to that standard every day.

Crafting for me has been an extremely joyous experience, not only for motivating me to be creative and take some "me time" but also for giving me a chance to share it with friends in family, be it when I give gifts, send cards or sitting down to craft and chat together.

For those who don't know, Shelli Gardner is kind of a rock star in the stamping world. She is the one of the founders of Stampin' Up! and today she posted a video about what Stampin' Up! is all about. I know it sounds cheesy, but just watching that video really made me feel warm and fuzzy about getting to be part of that company. I felt that she was very sincere in her delivery, and best of all, everything they showed was really inspiring. (OMG all those beautiful looking craft rooms! I wish I was at home crafting right now!)

This is essentially... crack, but for geeked out stampers like me.

I just thought I'd share so other people can go "ooooh ahhhh" about some of the cute things displayed, too. :)

Sunday on Congress

My best friend, Nicole, and I decided to try out a craft fair. We made a ton of cards to sell on Congress on Sunday. It was a beautiful day, albeit a little windy.

We shared a tent with her cousin Becky who was selling one of a kind feather accessories. (Visit her at Foxy Flight)

Here we are in our tent:

We met alot of nice people and had a fun time. It wasn't super busy... I think alot of people weren't walking around because they were prepping for their SuperBowl parties. But we did get alot of nice feedback from people who thought we did a great job.

Nicole and I really liked pushing ourselves to create alot of different designs. We crafted together weekly, and when we weren't crafting together we were sending photos back and forth of what all we came up with.

I also liked how we used many of the same stamps but came out with really unique end products. It just goes to show you how you can really add your own flair to things.

I had friends visit and show support, too, which I thought was really sweet.

All in all, we'll definitely be doing it again this Sunday (February 13th). We hope to see a ton more folks come out! And for those who can't come out to Austin, I'll be posting a video tutorial to make one of the Valentine's cards that I especially liked making.

Don't forget that Sale-a-Bration is still going on -- from now until the end of March, you can earn lots of free stamp sets, ribbons, paper, buttons and digital downloads. Check out my website to see the Sale-a-Bration specials.

Video Tutorial #2: Clear Mount Stamps

Hello!

For those of you who didn't get to see my first video tutorial I wanted to let you in on why I started making them: I love, love, LOVE stamping. But more than anything, I love sharing it with people I care about. Many friends and family members stamp with me. We live all over the place though, so it's difficult to find time together. That's what spurred this idea to create video tutorials.

This is my second video, and it shows you an easy peasy way to mount your clear mount stamps once you get them.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and check it out. :)

If there something in the Stampin' Up! catalog that you've always wondered "What does that do?" please send me a message and I'll see what I can do to help you out.

Feel Good Moments

I mostly like being a grown-up, but I have to say, I really miss those printed out certificates that you'd get for perfect attendance, honor roll or stuff like that in elementary. I was a good kid, so I got to take those home alot, and I'd get stickers and smiley faces on my homework, too.

I guess someone decides that when you grow up and get a job that you no longer need these kinds of rewards because you're given a monetary reward (your paycheck). I can't really argue that, I certainly like when my work gives me money -- but you know, I still think a small gesture like that can go a long way.

Why am I thinking about this? Well because I received something in the mail that I did not expect. Since joining Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator in July, I have had a consistent amount of sales, and as a result, I've been promoted to a Senior Associate. Look what they mailed me:

It's fun to be part of the Stampin' Up! team. It may seem silly to some people, but it really picked me up for the rest of my day. I know everyone has those days where you've worked your butt off all day, and you do it because you want to do a good job, not because you have to. This is like a pat on the back. It's not required, but it's still nice. :)

Steam Punk Invitations for my Sister

My sister got married in December in Orlando Florida, at the Disney Boardwalk. It was a very beautiful ceremony and I'm happy for her and my new brother-in-law (who I already felt like he a family member even before he was officially inducted)

She wants to have a party at their home for the folks who couldn't make it, so they are having a steam-punk themed party. Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, alternate history, and speculative fiction. Specifically, steampunk involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian era Britain -- that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy. (Thanks Wikipedia)

So here's what I came up with:

For this card I used:
Cardstock -- Basic Gray (base), Black, Whisper White
Stamps -- En Francais (SU!) and Extreme Elements (SU!)
Inks -- Tempting Turquoise, Concord Crush, Brushed Gold