Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Just Catching Up!

Ooh - I've been such a slacker! I could bore you with excuses but instead I'm just going to share some pictures of what I've been up to!

One of the cards we made at the library to send to the Ronald McDonald House in Denver.
Janessa, fellow BLISS teammate, sharing her adorable gift tag at our demonstrator meeting.

Projects we made at my customer appreciation Holiday open house - card, candy box & Santa gift card holder.Some of the adorable gifts and cards I received from my amazing customers & friends.

Finlay's Ninja birthday cake - pushing my creative boundaries!
Above is a "Packing Tape" card - November Stamp Club.
Making teacher gifts with Finlay and Callum - we made forty of these boxes!
The "Secret Santa" gift I made for one of our BLISS team... shhh... don't tell! Inspired by:
A beautiful candle, stamped by Rhonda, that I received in our December club gift exchange.
Leslie & Sherri munching on goodies at my customer appreciation Holiday open house.

So - this really is just the tip of the iceberg but hopefully gives you a glimpse into my crazy wonderful life! I have had such a great year and I am so grateful for all the people I get to stamp and create with. Sending you all the best for a wonderful Holiday season and I hope to see you soon!

Take care, Brenda

Friday, November 12, 2010

Half Price Starter Kit!!!

What do you call it when you get over $310 in crafting & business supplies for only $87.50? You can call it an amazing deal but I call it an AMAZING opportunity! From November 15-30, you can purchase either our Standard or Digital+ Starter Kits at 50% off the regular retail price of $175 (plus free shipping!), and enjoy these great benefits as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator.

  • Earn additional income while sharing creativity.
  • Make new and lasting friendships.
  • Receive a free subscription to an exclusive monthly magazine.
  • Receive two free months subscription to you own business website.
  • Opportunity to earn free products and incentive trips.
Interested? Please let me know if you have any questions or if you'd like to find out more!
Sincerely, Brenda

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween!





I had so much fun making this little house... did you see it in the mini? It's just $5.95 and is plain white heavy card stock so you can decorate it however you like, it's a bit like a gingerbread house (but you can't eat it!) I copied a design Brent showed at convention and sprayed mine black, stamped cobwebs onto vellum for behind the windows, punched out some bats to fly around the chimney and stamped a sign for over the door. Finally I spritzed the whole thing with some Smooch Spritz. Easy peasy! I put a battery operated tea-light inside and I was done. Callum wants to do a Christmas one now and I thought that would be fun to do together, and a good excuse to break out the glitter and fake snow, gotta love that!
Happy Halloween!
Brenda

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Handmade Holidays Promotion

Check out these fun bundles that are on special! The Vintage Christmas Bundle is only $19.92 for the Clear Mount Stamps Set and the Fabulous Designer Paper that goes so well with it. Make sure to check it out below.
If you decided to purchase you can either email me at BrendaStamps@Q.com or place an order online at my Stampin' Up! Store....click on Products and then Shop Now.
THE BUNDLE SALE
bells and boughs stamp setdeck the halls designer paper
Vintage Christmas Bundle #124067 wood $23.92
Vintage Christmas Bundle #124068 clear $19.92



contempo christmas stamp setjolly holiday designer paper
Contempo Christmas Card Bundle #124071 wood $20.72
Contempo Christmas Card Bundle #124072 clear $17.52



tags til christmasdecorative label punch
Tags Til Christmas Bundle #124077 wood $38.32
Tags Til Christmas Bundle #124078 clear $31.92



gifted stamp setmini lunch sacks
Gift Packaging Bundle #124083 wood $26.32
Gift Packaging Bundle #124084 clear $19.92



charmed stamp setsimply adorned charmsimply adorned chain
Simply Adorned Gift Bundle #124076 $39.88



chunky framedotted flourish
Frame Gift Bundle #124075 $19.92



ALL bundles represent a 20% savings from catalog pricing.

Have a great week and please let me know if you have any questions

Brenda

Friday, October 1, 2010

Eek - You're Sweet!

It's October and the weather has been just gorgeous around here... I love this time of year in Colorado - bright blue skies and amazing leaves. I'm loving it! And now I'm looking forward to Halloween! This week I held a class to make Halloween treats, I had so much fun prepping for this, we didn't celebrate Halloween growing up so I love to see all the kids dressing up and, of course, I love having an excuse to eat all that sweet stuff!

This week I had prepped everything for my Halloween class on Tuesday but I had an extended Christmas card making open house on Monday so I put the Halloween boxes in my office. However, when I went to bed I went into the office where the boys had been watching TV and found that they'd been snacking on the candy corn all night and there wasn't enough for my class! Ack! I had to run all over Bayfield looking for more and eventually I found some at the gas station - needless to say I bought it using THEIR pocket money ;-)

I had a couple of people who couldn't make the class on Tuesday so I'm holding it again this Monday, the 4th, at 7 p.m. Please let me know if you'd like to come along! More info. here

Have a great week, Brenda

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Express Card Class


I have been super busy this past couple of weeks so I wanted to share some of the fun projects with you... here are a couple of our cards from the Express Card Class last week. I love this one: we stamped the leaves from the French Foliage stamp set onto Naturals Ivory card stock and then ran that piece through the Big Shot in the Square Lattice embossing folder.


I haven't used my old favorite, The Sock Monkey, for ages but I saw an adorable card on Mary Fish's blog and had to copy it. It involves lots of cutting out to paper piece the monkey together but I love how he turned out. I made some into birthday cards like this and some I made into new baby cards for all the baby boys that are being born on my street! We have three in three months, pretty good going huh?

Have a great week, Brenda

Monday, September 20, 2010

More stamp club


Here's another card we made at stamp club this month. We stamped the leaves onto the wood sheets - the wood is thin so it's easy to cut around the shapes using craft scissors. I LOVE this French Foliage stamp set. The finishing touch was spritzing the complete card with the gold lame Smooch Spray, fun. I really like this time of year, especially in Colorado when we have bright blue days, pumpkins and the sun shining through luminescent leaves. But I kind of miss Autumn in England where it's damp and you can traipse through wet leaves-it's so pretty and soggy. This stamp set includes an abstract kind of splattery raindrops stamp and it really reminds me of England. Walking though the leaves here is usually dry and crunchy - that's not the way it was for me growing up! The only thing I don't like about Fall is that it precedes WINTER... groan. I'm trying to appreciate every sunny autumnal day while it lasts!

Have a great week! Brenda

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

I LOVE Stamp Club!

I love my stamp clubs... we just have the BEST time! These are groups of ladies who commit to stamping with me once a month for six months. Each month we learn about a technique or a product - I come up with some fun ideas and prepare projects for us all to make... The ladies take turns being "hostess" (which means bringing the snack!) and on their month they get the hostess benefits, yippee!

What I love about stamp club is the opportunity to move away from basic techniques and into exploring new ways to use old things, or playing with new techniques and toys. I always think I'm going to run out of ideas but there is such a WEALTH of creativity out there I never have a problem finding amazing ideas and things to share!

Sometimes I'm prompted by club members to do something specific. This was one of those months-Terri told me she loves Vintage look projects - I am way out of my comfort zone here but I ended up LOVING the projects I discovered researching this... Here is one of the cards we made and I'll be sharing more with you later this week:
I have two stamp clubs in the process of forming right now and we are looking for just a couple more people, interested? Please let me know and I'll be happy to give you the scoop!

Have a great week, Brenda

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Personalized JEWELRY!


You know I bought this locket style Simply Adorned Charm a year ago and for some reason I haven't done anything with it... well, this week, when I was supposed to be working on my schedule and was procrastinating by PLAYING in my craft room! I was goofing around and made a little charm insert based on one I saw in our Stampin' Success magazine, it took me all of five minutes and then I was OFF! I made a second, and then I thought it would be fun to do some Halloween ones, and then some Christmassy ones, it was SO FUN!!! So I apologize that I still don't have my calendar updated but don't you just love these little necklaces? The front is beveled and the back is plain glass so you can decorate both sides. It is thick enough to use some teeny embellishments like the small or medium pearls or rhinestones (not the large) ribbon or fabric. LOVE IT!
So this gave me a wonderful idea for another class, order any Simply Adorned jewelry piece and you can come and make 3 inserts per piece for free! Trust me, then you'll be hooked and be rushing home to make lots more! Wouldn't this be a lovely gift, an ornament or charm that the recipient can mix and match according to their mood or outfit? AND (this is a great idea I think) howabout giving your kids a teeny insert to decorate "their" way and then attach it a picture of them on the back? What Mum or Grandma wouldn't LOVE that?
Here is the info:

Charms:
116799 1 1/2" x 2" $21.95 (this could be an ornament or large pendant)
116798 1 1/4" x 1" $18.95 (this is the size I used)
116797 1" square $17.95
118476 5/8" square $8.95 (these work nicely on the bracelet)
117349 5/8" circle $8.95

Chains:
117342 bracelet 8" $7.95
116800 chain 24" $10.95
116853 chain 30" 12.95
Or you can clip the pendants to any necklace or ribbon. I used a necklace I already own.

The Holiday Mini includes some baubles you can clip to your chains too:
121011 Black crystal 5/8" $3.95
121012 Clear crystal 5/8" $3.95
121013 Pink crystal 5/8" $3.95
121014 Vanilla Pearl 1/2" $3.95

The charms are tempered, beveled glass and nickel plated with a lobster clasp and the chains are stainless steel with a toggle clasp.

Order your Charms either on my website or via me before the end of September and I will hold the free insert class on Wednesday October the 6th at 1 p.m. or 7 p.m. How fun!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Out with the old & in with the new!

Today is the last day to order from the Summer Mini and tomorrow is the first day to order from the Holiday mini! I've already pre-ordered several things and I've had fun making Halloween and Holiday cards already, too much fun! I love this time of year, collecting ideas for the Holidays - less than three months till Christmas! At stamp club this month we made the above card using the Tropical Oasis Designer Series Paper from the Summer mini, I've really enjoyed all the colors and designs in this pack. I stole the design of this card from one I received from Tara, here is her card, isn't it lovely? I loved how she used this unusual fold to make a fresh card. I copied the design and substituted different colors and stamp sets. I also made a new baby card using this design. I added the clear bitty buttons and punched shapes using the itty bitty punch pack too. Here is a close up of the detail from my finished card. I used the new Printed Petals set which co-ordinates with a few different punches. I liked how everybody's came out a little different. Here's a link to everything in the Summer Mini if you need a quick reminder. http://www.brendamarshall.stampinup.net Click on Shop Now>Summer Mini. It's the preferred price that you get if you order via me or my website of course.

Did you get your Holiday mini in the mail yet?? If you didn't PLEASE let me know and I'll be happy to pop one in the mail for you... I have to say there are lots of different sets you're going to love plus a whole host of wonderful new accessories I'm dying to learn to play with.

I hope you're having a great week! Brenda

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

What a Blast!


I had so much fun yesterday making cards and hanging out with some really lovely stampers. For a lot of the daytime it was just Sherri and I, which was a good thing, because I was having trouble getting focused, it took me ages to get down to something productive. I'm blaming the 6-10 little boys that were in my yard/house even though they were really good - that's the thing about living in a neighborhood like mine, as soon as you send your kids out to play they seem to multiply! Sherri was a card making MACHINE - she was a good influence - she just put her head down and got working, amazing! The Lynn joined us, she's kind of a "reluctant" stamper but you should see the lovely photo card she made. Then in the evening the party began... Terri, Julie, Sherri (still!) the other Sherrie, Barbara, Caroline, Marissa and Rhonda. We were eating and playing and those girls came up with some absolutely GORGEOUS designs! We got through a ton of supplies and turned them into works of art :-) I forgot to get my camera out until really late so I'm afraid I don't have many to show you but here are a couple of samples to give you an idea. Aren't they lovely?

This blue card is a mix of old and new... some leftover Brilliant Blue card stock, embossed with the beautiful snowflake folder that will be in the Winter Mini. Sherri spritzed this with lots of Smooch Spray and in real life it is VERY sparkly!

These are Marissa's cards, aren't they so cute? She used the Holly Jolly Designer Paper, Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive with Sparkly & Bright stamp set - you can't really see but the reindeer has a diamond on his nose!
Sherrie used the Poinsettia embossing folder for the background of these cards which is picked up in the poinsettias beneath the dove, I love this stamp set. Then she glued teeny tiny pearls in the middle of each of the flowers. Simple but really effective.
We're going to be making more Holiday cards on Monday, September 27th, mark your calendars now, I guarantee you'll have fun, and you might even get a couple of your cards made!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Gone Fishing!


Callum said I should put this on my blog after this weekend! So here's a pic of them fishing in their pajamas... we had a lovely weekend out at Vallecito, and NOW I'm getting ready to work on my Christmas cards tomorrow! If you're local and not out doing fun, summer, stuff, you are welcome to join me making cards tomorrow anytime from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. Stay as long (or short!) as you like - bring your card stock and adhesive (or use what I have on hand and replace) and feel free to use any of my non-consumable supplies, stamp sets, inks, Big Shot, punches etc. No charge but you might want to bring a snack to share. Here's a picture of Rhonda with the lovely card she designed last week... Hope to see you soon! Brenda


Friday, August 6, 2010

Maybe you like to send a photo card?





I love to send a card with a picture in - I love receiving those cards from my friends, I usually save the pictures and I love to see my loved ones' children and animals change over the years! Well, even if you want the photo's to be the focus you can still make it handmade. Here are a couple I have sent over the past few years, if you decide to do this the stamp sets will be different but they would be very easy to adapt, and you can use colors that go with your picture of course. Mine have been kind of funky but you can choose a more traditional design if you like. All these have been essentially quick and easy because I like to make lots of them! I've printed the pictures out on my computer and cut them down to the size I want by using my paper cutter or a punch. The boys' faces are really small here so I had to tuck a bigger picture inside.The card below has a window sheet in front of the photograph with snowflakes stamped on in White StayzOn ink - this was a really quick and easy cardIf you want you could bring a picture with you on Monday and we can design something around it! Have a great week-end, Brenda