Life Doesn't Have to be Perfect to be Wonderful

We want everything to be perfect don't we?  But, as my mother-in-law says, everything works out in the end.  Most of the time things work out to be better than originally planned. Love when that happens!  Sorry for the blurry picture--that didn't work out as planned, but no biggie.  You still get the idea. 

Supplies used:  Perfect Pennants Stamp Set 

Basic Black, Strawberry Slush Ink

Bermuda Bay, Strawberry Slush, Whisper White CS

Kaleidoscope DSP, Silver Glimmer Paper

Big Shot with the Window Frames, Banner Framelits, Striped Embossing Folder, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder

Decorative Label, Boho Blossoms, Itty BItty Shapes Punches

Stampin'  Dimensionals, hot glue

This was on the last day of Leadership.  Almost time to leave the Stampin' Up! bubble.  Happy Stamping!

Bye for now, Maria

SU! Leadership 2014 Houston, Texas Fun

Leadership 2014 is being held in Houston, Texas.  I've been to Texas before, but never to Houston!  

Here's some "selfie" fun with my new SU! bag--love the bag!!!!  This is my MOST FAVORITE BAG EVER!!!!

Winning door prizes and all-attendee give-aways are the BEST and so much fun!!!  The crowd just goes crazy!!!!

Had a fabulous dinner on top of the city in a revolving restaurant.  Yes, those are PURPLE potatoes!!!  And, they were good too!!!

Next year, Leadership will be held in Orlando, Florida.  Hope to see you there!!!  If you would like to attend as a member of my team, you can sign up here.  Hope to see you there, Maria

Over the Top Tags

Another fun swap to participate in is the Over the Top Tags Swap. Over the Top means you're supposed to dress it up, spritz, embellish, shimmer, wrap and layer, layer, layer.  Hope I lived up to that expectation!  I was part of two groups for this swap. Every layer is popped up with dimensionals.  The base layer is embossed.  I really enjoyed creating for this swap--there was always one more thing I wanted to add. 

Supplies used:  Happy Watercolor Stamp Set

Baked Brown Sugar, Crisp Cantaloupe Ink

Baked Brown Sugar, Crisp Cantaloupe, Very Vanilla CS

Tea Lace Paper Doilies, Champagne Glimmer Paper

Decorative Label, Boho Blossoms, Itty Bitty Shapes Punches

Linen Thread, Crisp Cantaloupe Twine (from SAB), Naturals Chevron Ribbon

Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Hot Glue

Big Shot with the Oval Accent, Apothecary Accents, Window Frames, Decorative Dots Embossing Folder

Supplies used:  Perfect Pennants Stamp Set

Tangerine Tango, Coastal Cabana Ink

Big Shot with the Banners Framelits, Arrows Embossing Folder, Stripes Embossing Folder

Coastal Cabana, Very Vanilla, Tangerine Tango, So Saffron, CS

Champagne Glimmer Paper

Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon, Linen Thread, Ruffle Stretch Trim (Coastal Cabana & Baked Brown Sugar)
Very Vintage Designer Buttons
Stampin' Dimensionals
Full Heart, Small Heart Punches

And, a funny little story about what happened with me and this swap.  Our hotel was very close to the convention center.  So close in fact that it was attached by a sky bridge--didn't even have to go outside!  Earlier that day (and, before the swap took place) I went to my room to drop off all the stuff I collected in my bag that I no longer needed, and to pick up my tags for this swap.  Well, guess what?  Yup!  I grabbed the wrong bag of swaps, but didn't notice it until the swap was about to begin.  Right as we were beginning to swap our tags I realized the huge mistake I made.  I told the organizer, and she very graciously told me that she would swap my tags for group 1, and to go and get my tags for group 3.  Well, I walked/ran as fast as I could all the way all the way to my room, and walked/ran all the way back to the swap area.  There they were all 6 of the swappers were waiting patiently for me!  Someone said, you got your exercise for the day.  For the day--I said WEEK!!!  We all laughed!  How embarrassing!!!  Happy Stamping!  Bye for now, Maria

Very Vintage Card Swap

These are my two cards for the Very Vintage Card Swap at Leadership using more products from the Occasions Catalog. For the Peachy Keen card, I choose the DSP and the little camera framelit because I thought it fits in with "vintage" or, at least my idea of vintage anyway. The DSP is even called Retro Fresh. The little camera framelit is so cute!  I added some Linen Thread to the camera so it would look like a strap.  When I was in high school, people would say "snap!" all the time.  So, I guess that makes me vintage or retro!

Supplies used:  Peachy Keen, Hip Notes Stamp Sets

Retro Fresh DSP, Tangerine Tango, Coastal Cabana, Very Vanilla, Baked Brown Sugar CS

Tangerine Tango Ink

Big Shot with the On Film Framelits, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder

Linen Thread, Stampin' Dimensionals, Gold Sequin Trim

For this card, I choose Always Arichoke as the card base because it reminds me of the avacado green from the 70's. Do you remember that?  And, the harvest gold?  The mosaics also remind me of vintage things too. There's some old flooring in my kitchen that has the same pattern as the Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder.  We'll update the floor someday--husband says, "we can't rush into these things."  

Supplies used:  Mosaic Madness, Hip Notes Stamp Sets

Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla CS

Always Artichoke Ink

Stampin' Dimensionals, Always Artichoke Seam Binding Ribbon, Gold Sequin Trim

Big Shot with the Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder

Mosaic Punch

Happy Stamping!  Bye for now, Maria

Stampin' Up! Leadership 2014 Houston Texas

I have the opportunity to attend Leadership in Houston, Texas.  SU! has a way of educating its sales force while entertaining us at the same time.  They make you cry and laugh all in the same day.  Shelli, our CEO, came on the stage and started crying before she barely even said a word.  Of course, as soon as I see someone else cry, I cry too--can't help it, and don't even try to fight it or hide it.  

Here's my Leadership swap.  I used the new stamp set from Occasions Catalog called Happy Watercolor.  Makes me feel like a watercolor artist because it has that watercolor look--that's why it's called "Happy Watercolor."  It goes really nice with the background stamp called Poppy Parade.  I punched out the Glimmer Paper with the  Decorative Label Punch, cut it in half and then attached it to the Window Frames with hot glue.  

Supplies used:

Happy Watercolor, Pleasant Poppies stamp sets

Real Red, Very Vanilla CS; Champagne Glimmer paper

Real Red ink

Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon

Big Shot with the Window Frames Framelits, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder

Decorative Label Punch

Bye for now, Maria

That's the Ticket

One of my swaps from Leadership 2013. I was having fun distressing Core'dinations cardstock. Love the bling of the silver glimmer paper.

Leadership 2012 Make 'n Takes

As previously mentioned, I was able to be a helper during the Make 'n Takes. We had nine to choose from.  The wall art was made in My Digital Studio.  The flowers are from Blossom Builders Designer Printed Kit.  Very versatile kit especially when combined with Mixed Bunch stamp set and the Blossom punch.

Then, it was embellished with flowers, cardstock, and Tea Stain ink from the Distressing Kit.

The box (top and bottom) is the Fancy Favor Bigz EL die.  The one on top is used as a box with a smaller box that slides into it.  The bottom one is just pinched in on the sides and closed shut with Baker's Twine.

More Blossom Builders Designer Kit, Mixed Bunch, and the Blossom punch.

DSP is Twitterpatted.

A mason jar as a gift box--love it!  Who comes up with these clever ideas?

Cards inside the jar.

Make 'n Takes are the highlight of events for me.  We get to stamp at our business meeetings!  How cool is that?!  Just love going to events, stamping and learning how to use all the new stuff. 

Leadership 2012 San Antonio, Texas

As a Senior Supervisor, I had the privledge of attending my first Leadership event in San Antonio, Texas.  It was wonderful--not more wonderful than Convention, but wonderful in a different way!   Here's why....

Visiting the Alamo.

Being a Make 'n Taker Helper.  This job was so much fun!  I was able to assist other demonstrators with their projects.  Well, it was more like fetching missing items, or uncovering supplies on the tables.  Getting to mingle with Stampin' Up! staff was an added benefit!

Here's the cleanup!

Sorting all the stamps and supplies in tubs and boxes.  Tubs and boxes full of Snail adhesive, Crop-a-diles, Trimmers!  These are the large tubs every body buys at Walley World at the beginning of the year because they're going to get organized--they're that large!!!

Meeting up with friends...Cynthia and Mary Ellen.

Getting to know other demonstrators...I've met Cindy and Janell at Convention before, but was really able to spend time with them at Leadership.  They were gracious enough to let me pal around with them.  Very sweet ladies! 

Met Jan during Make 'n Takes. She has to be one of the nicest demos I've ever met.  Everytime I saw her at Leadership she had a great big smile, took time to say hello and chat.

Making new friends.  Cherie and Betty were so nice to me.  They saw me sitting down for dinner alone in the hotel restaurant.  Actually, I did not even have a chance to sit down at a table--they did not hesitate to ask me to join them. 

Taking a slow moving boat ride along with Riverwalk on the San Antonio  River. 

I enjoyed the Riverwalk so much I took a boat ride both day and night.

Don't forget swaps.

Lyssa's Convention Quality Swap.  You had to sign up for it ahead of time and meet certain criteria.  There are all kinds of swaps at events--card fronts, scrapbook pages, 3D, 3x3 cards, full cards just to name a few. 

I really had a great time in San Antonio.  Wish I could have spent more time sight-seeing the grand state of Texas.  My inention is to post the make 'n takes in a few days.  Happy Stamping!  Bye for now, Maria