Stamping Therapy

May Stamp Class—Birthday

2011-04-23T09:07:00.001-06:00

It’s Birthday Time!

A whole class, just with birthday cards. Just like you asked. Class includes cards and envelopes for 8 cards.

Choose from 2 dates:

Tuesday, May 24th 7:30 pm

Saturday, May 28th 10 am

Cost: $16

Please bring your own adhesive or preorder a SNAIL refill for $5. Classes fill up quickly, so call or email to reserve your seat. Stamp classes will be held at my home. No refunds on cancellations. If you are unable to attend class, I will gladly stamp and assemble your cards or projects for an additional fee. Payment by cash or check payable to me.

Inspired by Sherri Barron

April Stamp Class

2011-04-12T15:05:00.001-06:00

The countdown to the end of the school year has begun! Weddings, babies, graduation, mother’s day…is your calendar filled yet? I have a fun class to offer that will help you feel prepared for all those special events that come your way this time of year.

Card Buffet:

It’s one of my most popular classes! 5 different themes to choose from—you decide how many you need of each card. Make them yourself in class, or if you’re short on time, I can make them for you!

Saturday, April 30th 10 am

Cost: $16. Class includes supplies to make 8 cards. Add on as many as you need for an additional $2 each.

Don’t have time, only need a few cards? I’ll make your order for $3.25 per card—no minimum.

Class includes envelopes, please bring your own adhesive or preorder a SNAIL refill for $5. Please indicate how many of each card style you would like to make when you sign up. Classes fill up quickly, so call or email to reserve your seat. Stamp classes will be held at my home. No refunds on cancellations. If you are unable to attend class, I will gladly stamp and assemble your cards or projects for an additional fee. Payment by cash or check payable to me.

Graduation—custom colors for the school of your choice

Wedding—inspired by http://krystalscardsandmore.blogspot.com/

Mother’s Day—paper for dress will vary.

Inspired by Patty Bennett

Baby—choose from pink, blue, or green

Inspired by Maile Belles

Teacher Appreciation

Occasions Mini Catalog is Live!

2011-01-07T13:06:00.001-07:00

It feels like we are just getting started with winter here in Colorado, but if the cold temps and dead trees and grass are getting you down, the occasions mini catalog will blast you into spring at super speed. Filled with great colors, fun accessories, stamps, and inspiring samples, this collection is sure to inspire you! Click here to view the Occasions Mini. Contact me to place your order or order online anytime.

Filled with Love—at least until January 24th, anyway

2011-01-07T12:38:00.001-07:00

We survived the holidays (barely!) and though we didn’t have any major illnesses or traumas, I didn’t get everything done that I was hoping to. I am trying to catch up on many things—but forcing myself to be realistic in what I can do since I have just 3 weeks now until our little bundle arrives. I will not be having any classes or workshops during January or February, but would like to at least keep all of you informed regarding promotions and any other crafty news…so here’s the first of a few posts to bring you up to date.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Stampin' Up! is offering a great promotion right now with a stamp set, limited time patterned paper and free buttons. Order now through January 24th to take advantage of this one!

Halloween Extravaganza

2010-09-28T15:18:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, October 5th, 7:30 pm
Contact me to sign up at buechers@msn.com.

It’s time to get ready for Halloween! My class next week will offer a variety of home décor, treat packaging, cards and other fun stuff to pick and choose from. Class minimum is $10.

Project 1: Candy Wrapper Treats (this can be a take home kit).
These cute little treats are perfect for classmates, co-workers, neighbors, visitors, or just for decoration. Fee includes supplies for 8 candy wrapper treats (no candy included). Each candy wrapper treat will hold a handful of small candy (m&ms, candy corn, jelly beans, etc.)
Cost $3

Project 2: Paper Bag Treats
(this can be a take home kit)
These lunch bags are perfect for a little more significantly sized treat! Fee includes 5 bags and supplies to decorate them.
Cost $3

Project 3: Haunted House
This little chipboard house is so cute and can be used for so many different holidays. I will have the materials and supplies here to decorate for Halloween, including black spray paint, glitter, wire, bats, etc.

House only (no extras), $7
House + Halloween décor, $10

Project 4: Vinyl Package
This vinyl kit comes with 10 images to use around the house. Decorate pumpkins, mirrors, frames, vases, windows, etc. to get that spooky feeling all over!

Vinyl only $18
Vinyl plus black flourish designer jewels $24

These are the 10 images on the vinyl sheet.

This is the black flourish designer jewels. They are pictures on the pumpkins below as well.

Project 5: Halloween cards
These cards are great for sending the Halloween spirit to far away friends, grandkids, cousins, etc. Or just use them with a plate of goodies for neighbors, teacher, or coach. Fees include supplies for 4 cards.
Cost: $8

Project 6: Halloween banner
(this can be a take home kit)
Some of you missed it last year, so I am offering it again! Fee includes all pre-cut supplies for hanging banner including ribbon and jump ring. Halloween themed paper will vary.
Cost: $12

Summary:

Project	Amount	@ Price
#1 Candy Wrapper Treats	8	$3
#2 Paper Bag Treats	5	$3
#3 Haunted House + Decor	1	$10
#4 Vinyl Package (10 images)	1	$18
#5 Halloween Cards	4	$8
#6 Halloween Banner	1	$12

Please email or call me and indicate which projects you would like to do and the total amount in each project category. Bring your own adhesive. Specialty adhesive will be provided by me.

Holiday Mini!

2010-09-26T19:09:00.001-06:00

Have you received your holiday mini catalog in the mail yet? If not, let me know and I will mail you a copy!

Some of my favorites from the new mini:

The 1800s London Halloween Suite:

which includes the Spider Web Textured Impressions Embossing Folder:

and the Spooky Things vinyl:

I am also SUPER EXCITED to try the new Letterpress plates in my Big Shot:

which has some great options for Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day!

And of course the Christmas papers and stamp sets in the Vintage Christmas Suite:

Now is the time to start preparing for the busy holiday season. There are so many fun ideas for home decor, gifts, holiday cards, etc. Make time this season to create something from the heart!

USED STAMPS FOR SALE

2010-07-30T11:40:00.001-06:00

I have a lot of stamps. A whole room full of them. It’s time for me to share the love. I have at least 60 used stamp sets priced to MOVE!!! I will be showing them here in batches according to price. If you see something you like, let me know. Stamps sets will be sold on a first come first served basis. I will have all of these on display at my new catalog open house on Saturday, August 7th. If you would like to purchase in advance, let me know which ones you want, then stop by or mail a check. If you live long distance, I can ship them to you priority mail flat rate.

Buy them for your kids. Buy them for your grandkids. Buy them for yourself. I will have opened packages of retired color cardstock, ink, and ink refills as well for sale at the open house.

For those of you who have been with me for the past 6 years, this may be a little trip down memory lane…

Hover over picture with your mouse to see title of stamp set and price.

$2 stamp sets

$3 stamp sets

$4 stamp sets

$5 stamp sets

$6 stamp sets

$8 stamp sets

$10 stamp sets

My Digital Studio Baby Announcement

2010-01-18T00:00:00.001-07:00

After I made the baby shower invitation I thought it would be fun to do a few baby announcements with My Digital Studio. And since I never sent out announcements for my own kids (how sad is that!), why not do one for each of them! They’ll never know I was years behind in printing them right? Here’s what I came up with—again using inspiration from some online services:

These were super easy and very simple without a lot of fuss. If you know anyone who might be interested, I would love to help design a “real” baby announcement!

The best time of the year!

2010-01-16T07:28:00.001-07:00

Looking for a great discount on papercrafting supplies? Now is the best time of the year to sign up as a demonstrator for Stampin’ up! The Stampin' Up! Starter Kits are a great value! You can be a “hobby” demonstrator and enjoy many benefits:

Save 15% on the Starter Kit and choose a Bonus Stamp Set (valued to $47.95*). Ends March 31.
Choose from Two Kits: The Standard Starter Kit (Now $169) and Digital + Starter Kit (Now $157) offer over $295 in Stampin' Up! products and include free shipping. Customize the kit with your choice of stamp sets, ink colors and more (of equal or less value).
Sign Up On-line. Get immediate benefits. Just email me for my password.
There's no obligation to sell or hold workshops and no penalty if you decide to drop. You keep all your goodies.
Fill your Wish List! Receive 30% off your first order of $150 or more plus qualify for hostess benefits. During Sale-A-Bration you'll also earn 3 free gifts with a $150 order (one for every $50 in product).
Enjoy 20% off every day.
To remain active, $300 in total retail sales is required per quarter. This includes your own purchases and customer sales (based on retail prices).
Join now! The end of the first full quarter isn't until June 30. You would be guaranteed discounts and benefits until then.
If your sales reach $300 by June 30, you remain active through September 30 (third quarter). Your discounts continue through the release of the new 2010-2011 catalog (July 1) and In Colors.

Interested? I would love to have you on my team! Email me with your questions or to receive my password to sign up on-line.

My Digital Studio tutorial baby shower invitation

2010-01-12T13:29:00.002-07:00

I got an emergency email from a friend who needed a baby shower invite created in a hurry. Here’s what I came up with…

I got the inspiration from a pre-printed invitation online. Since I already showed the first few screens in the other MDS tutorials, I will skip them here and just tell you, I opened up MDS and selected the Greeting Card option, 5 x 7 portrait size, then “create your own” template. Then I named my project and here is my blank canvas:

Again there is a gray bleed area highlighted to show where the print service may cut the card.
Background Color: To make the entire background the hot pink color, I selected the background papers bar from the Design Center on the right side of the screen

I then chose the color palatte and selected Melon Mambo as the color choice.

Add a layer: To add a layer of color (white), I chose chose the cardstock option from the background paper bar and selected whisper white, and then clicked Add as page layer" in the bottom left of that screen.

This is how it inserts:

So I just moved it around and changed the shape using the “handles” on each of the sides and corners.

When you enlarge a “piece of cardstock” it is going to prompt you that it will pixelate when printed. As long as it is a solid color, you do not have to worry about pixelation. If you are working with a patterned piece of paper it is different—I will show you an example of that later.
Using Punches: Now I am going to show you another REALLY COOL feature of the MDS software. To add the scalloped border punch, I selected the punches bar from the design center on the right side of the screen:

Important note: in the MDS program, the punches are “vector images,” which allows us to change the size of the punch without pixelating it. Here’s what I did:

I clicked the add a punch box, then the drop down menu of all the available punches shows each punch shape and its name.
I selected the scallop edge punch, which then inserted into my document like this:

If I just drag the top “handle” of the punch, it will distort the punch by “stretching” the shape of the punch:

So, instead I hover over the punch until I see the 4 way move arrow, then I can move the punch image where I want it.

Now I want to “fill” the punch with whatever color or paper I choose, which for this design will just be white.

So I chose color fill from the punch menu, then I selected whisper white.

You can see that the scalloped area now matches the white cardstock above it.
To add the eyelet holes, I used the punch feature again. By selecting the circle punch and making it small enough to fit in the scallops, I can “fill” each punched circle hole with melon mambo, and make it look like the white scallops are punched out showing the melon mambo color underneath.
Here’s the circle punch:

I can resize it manually by grabbing one of the “handles” and shrinking the whole image, or I can just right click on the circle and choose edit object, which will bring up this window:

So then I am going to change with width and height to about 10 and see if that size is what I am looking for.

See that little gray square dot? That is the circle, reduced to 10 by 10 (measured in pixels). At this size it is a little tricky to work with, so I use my arrow keys to move it around to the place I want. I can then fill it with the melon mambo color. Once I do that, I just copy and paste all the circles down the line of scallops. There are a couple of tricks to help through this process. In the bottom right corner of the screen is the zoom button. I zoomed in to about 200% to work with the circles. I also added the grid to my canvas, which you can select from the top menu bar on the right hand side:

So I just select the little circle, then copy it (ctrl c), and if I want to keep them all in line, I can choose to paste it “in place” instead of offset.

Then I just move the pasted circle with my arrows over to the next scallop.
By zooming in and using the grid, you can line up those circles quickly and easily.

Adding Text: Then I added my text.

Then I typed my text in the box:

I then changed the font, and colors of text using the options on the design center on the right.

Using Stamps: Now I want to add the “oh baby” title at the top. So I click on the stamp icon in the resource palatte on the left side of the screen and a drop down menu of all th stamp sets available shows up.

I chose Schoolbook Serif Alphabet. Then I drag each letter for baby onto the screen and re-size it.

As long as you have the keep proportions box clicked, your alphabet letters will not distort.
Then I selected each letter individually and changed the color by using the “change color” button in the design pallete:

Then to line them up, I used the grid feature again:

For the oh, part of the title, I used added a text box and selected a font style instead of using an alphabet stamp.

Grouping: TO make it easier to move the word baby around to get it centered I selected each of the letters by clicking on them while holding down the control key on my keyboard. Then I made them a group by selecting the group button in the arrange menu, or just clicking ctrl+shift+G.

Now my project is done! I have several print options I want to show you. In the design center on the right side of the page, the very bottom bar is “share project”

Share your Project: You can see that there are two categories or sharing—create from home, and professional print. I am going to create from home—sort of. I want to export this file to a jpg and then upload it to a local print shop. So I click on export to jpg and follow the steps to save it to my computer as a jpg file. Then I can upload it to any print service. If I wanted to print this at home with my home printer, I could also just click on the print button and follow the steps there.
Professional Print Option: The professional print option offered through Stampin’ Up! takes me to an order screen which allows me to print multiple copies of this card professionally. The 5 x 7 greeting card choice prints as a folded card, and I created this to be a single sheet “panel” invitation, but if I wanted to use Stampin’ Up!s professional printing service, I could copy my design and paste it on the inner page of the card, then when I receive my printed order, cut the card in half to make two panels—which would also cut my price in half!
C0lor Match: I chose to send this file as a jpg to a local big box store for printing. I picked it up today and the card color was pure RED not pink!!! Many local print services have a hard time with matching the colors to what we see on our screen. Stampin’ Up!s print service matches the SU colors, so if for instance I was going to mount this card onto real SU Melon Mambo cardstock, or tie a Melon Mambo ribbon on it, I would be assured that it would match if I printed it through the professional print option. It would also qualify for any hostess benefits—so if I was printing a big order I could get free merchandise with my print job, or I could print a small order and add other supplies to qualify for hostess benefits.

Sweet Treat Heart Cups

2010-01-05T16:59:00.002-07:00

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Stampin’ Up! is offering a new heart shaped treat cup with coordinating accessories (of course!).
Available to order starting today, these heart cups will have a limited supply availability, so don’t procrastinate! I am planning on using these in an upcoming class, but you’ll love them so much you’ll want a whole box full to use for all your Valentine’s cards. Here’s the details:
Heart treat cups (#120435) coordinate with the full heart punch (#113693) and come in a box with 12 cups for $2.95. You can mail them in a sweet treat padded envelope (#116911). There is also a new stamp set that coordinates with the heart cups, “Sweetheart”. Which you can get as a traditional wood mounted stamp set (#120415) or in the new clear mounted set (#120780).

These cups and coordinating products would be fun to use for weddings, Mother’s Day, baby showers, birthdays, etc.
Download the flyer here.
Call or email me to place an order, or shop online 24/7 at www.melissab.stampinup.net

My Digital Studio 12 x 12 photo only tutorial or Scrapbooking for Strugglers.

2010-01-05T16:20:00.002-07:00

So now that Christmas is over, I imagine all of you have hundreds of photos trapped on your camera or if you are truly ambitious, maybe you have dumped your photos from the camera to your computer. But they are still sitting there. This next tutorial is a great way to create multiple no-fuss pages when you have so many photos you don’t know what to do with them!
I start again with the new project options window and choose photo album.

Then I am going to choose 12 x 12 again. If you don’t have a large format printer (who does?) and your local print store doesn’t offer 12 x 12 or they are too pricey, then you can always choose a smaller page size, print at home, and them mount the pages onto 12 x 12 cardstock (if you are keeping a 12 x 12 album)

This time, I am going to select photo only from the template window.

There is only one template choice for the photo only option. which includes 10 photo only layouts.

After I click next, MDS prompts me to arrange the layouts in any order. I can re-arrange pages at any time during my design process.

For this tutorial I am going to show you the auto-fill option.

After I choose auto-fill, I select the photo folder that I want select photos from.

The next step is to organize photos. I have 100 photos in this folder of Christmas morning. Of course there are many duplicates and bad shots, so by going through and deleting and sorting here, I can save myself a lot of time. I can even add photos from another folder if I want.

Then I name my project Christmas 2009 pages. Because that is how much creativity I have.

And here is my canvas pre-populated with the photos from Christmas morning.

You can see at the bottom of the screen there is a “filmstrip” of all the pages with my photos already filled in. I can change the order of the pages by clicking and dragging individual pages and dropping them in the order I want.
Now I want to do some re-arranging with the photos on this first page, so I can either delete some of the photos, then drag and drop the ones I want into the places I want them from the resource palette on the right. Or I can delete and drag within the page.

You can see above that I have deleted the photos I didn’t want from the page, but the photo boxes remain. Now I can choose the photos I want from the resource palette on the right and just drag and drop them into place.

I am going to delete the long skinny photo box and add a text box there in the same shape. Just click on the text bar in the design center and choose add text.

Then I moved the transparent text box and resized it to fit the open space.

And since I am journaling disabled, it will remain blank until I can think of something to say that doesn’t bore me.
Now if I want to add a page in the middle of the template pages,then I select Insert from the top menu, then choose add page.

Then I can choose which of the 10 templates I want to use or I can just insert a blank page. I want to put another this template—page 7.

Then I can drag the photos into the photo boxes that I want to use.

I would like the photo on the top right to be larger, so I am going to delete the photo box on the left and then drag the photo on the right to be larger.

MDS is warning me that by dragging the photo to be larger, that it might pixelate or distort, so instead, I am going to delete the photo and then drag the photo box to be larger.

This is one of the great beauties of MDS. It will fill the photo box with your photo without you having to mess around with ratios, or image sizes. Except now I think I would like it better if the top photo was centered. So I am going to move the photo be grabbing the whole thing, not just a “handle” on the side or corner.

Here is are a few more examples of the photo-only templates.
Are you smellin’ what I am cookin’? Doesn’t this look like scrapbooking for dummies? There is just not time in the world to scrap every photo you have ever taken, but with these templates, you can at least print a bunch of photos on one sheet in the album size of choice and go to sleep a little less guilty that your youngest child has no physical evidence of the past.
Now if you want to jazz things up just a little without spending an hour on each page, you can just change the background paper:

Arrange>Change Background Paper>Cardstock.
So I chose red, (Real Red to be exact) because it is so festive. Here’s another trick—if I want all the pages to have the same background, then I open the background papers bar, and click the apply background paper to all pages button near the bottom. This WARNING appeared on my screen

THIS ACTION CAN NOT BE UNDONE.
Watch me.
Here’s a page that if I were to print at home would drain every drop of magenta and cyan from my ink cartridge:

So, all I have to do now is click on cardstock, color, designer paper or custom and change the background.

TaaaDaaaa! Back to white, or any other color of my choice.
One more neato-frito trick. Let’s say I want captions under all my photos, in case my journaling is not coming along like I plan…
Just click Edit>Preferences>

Then click on the captions tab and enable auto captions. Now any photo you add to your page will have a caption at the bottom which defaults to the photo name (which from my camera is just a jumble of letters and numbers)

Can you see it? IMG_0125. But I can change the text to read something else:

Now you have no excuses. Get yourself a copy of My Digital Studio and stop the insanity! Your photos are calling you.

Seasons Change

2010-01-05T15:15:00.003-07:00

Have you taken down your Christmas decorations yet? Does your house feel bare and empty or did Christmas explode all over it? We didn’t do too bad with the explosion of presents. Our kids toys are fairly oversized, but nothing we can’t manage. Who am I kidding? There are toys everywhere.
Nevertheless, it is time to move on from red and green to RED AND PINK! Valentine’s Day is just over a month away and I have a little something you might want to make to dress up the bare doors or walls after taking down your wreaths and lights.

In the spirit of all things spooky and merry, I give you LOVE.
I will be offering this as a kit this month!
Love Banner Kit
Tuesday, January 12th, 7:30 pm
Cost $14 (make an second banner to give away for an additional $12)
Come over on Tuesday, January 12th at 7:30 if you want to assemble your kit at my house, otherwise, I will have them ready for you to pick up anytime after that date (or I can mail it to you—postage extra). Kits come unassembled, with all the pieces pre-cut and ready to assemble and includes ribbon and binder ring. You just need a glue stick. If you want to give your letters a little more dimension, you can use foam tape or stampin’ dimensionals (not included).
Please email me if you would like to request a kit.

My Digital Studio 12 x 12 page tutorial

2010-01-04T10:18:00.002-07:00

I promised my customers and friends to have an open house to show off the My Digital Studio (MDS) features and benefits, but the holidays got in the way! I thought I would try and show you all a few things here on the blog so you can get a feel for what MDS is like.
For this tutorial, I am going to show you step by step how easy it is to create an 12 x 12 scrapbook page using one of the provided designer templates. Most of this you could easily figure out on your own intuitively if you were to sit down with the software and just start playing around. But since most of you don’t own it yet…
When I open My Digital Studio, there are 4 “new project options” 1. photo album, 2. greeting card, 3. calendar, 4. multiple output options.

I clicked on Photo Album.

Then I chose what size I want (12 x 12)

Then I chose Designer template

Each of the designer template choices is listed in the window. For this tutorial, I chose Christmas Cocoa II, which is just a one page template. For the next few screens, I just clicked next, and I ended up here:

My Digital Studio will pre-populate all the photo boxes from a photo folder on my computer, or I can “pick and click” to fill the photo boxes myself. I’ll show you the pick and click option. Next I name my project. Then I click finish.

Here’s what my workspace looks like:

I’ll point out a few important things from this screen. The main canvas area is in the center which shows the designer template ready for me to add photos. There is a gray box around the template which shows the area which may get cut off during the printing process depending on how I print my project. On the left side of the screen is the Resource Palette. This is where I can choose my photos, as wells as stamps, punches, embellishments, photo layouts, and background papers. I have chosen to browse for photos, and then found my Christmas photo 2009 folder. All the pictures from that folder are now available to browse in the resource palette. Once I find the photos I am looking for, I just click and drag them into the photo boxes on the template page.

You can see that I have dragged 3 pictures into the photo boxes. MDS will automatically size your photo to fit the box provided, but I can re-crop my photos if necessary. On the right side of the screen is the Design Center. Here is where most of the editing features are for the program. To edit a photo, I click the photos bar.

You can see above that there are several editing options. I want to re-center the photo of my son.

By dragging the crop area, I can keep the dimension of the photo, but show more of his head.

The other photos look fine, so I will leave them as they are. But there is one more box for a photo. I only want to use three photos for this page, so I am going to delete the photo box. I just click on the photo box and then hit the delete button on my keyboard.

Now I want to resize the white mat frame around the pictures. So I click on the white mat, then I drag it up to fit around the pictures.

I’ll show you how to move several elements at once to center the photos on the green rectangle. Holding the control key on my keyboard, I click each element that I want to move (I clicked all three pictures plus the white mat). You can then drag them wherever you want on the page.

If you want to make subtle movements, just use the arrow keys to “nudge” the element you want to move after you select it.
For this template there is a text box under the word Merry available to write some journal info about the pictures/events. I double clicked the text box and typed the text I wanted
The last thing I want to add to the page is a text box with “2009” in it so I can record the year. In the design center, you can change the font, size, and color as well as a few other things for the text box.

I clicked on Add Text in the design center. Which gave me the transparent text box right in the middle of my canvas shown below:

Then I just drag the text box to where I want it on the page, and type the word I want.

I changed the font and color in the design center.
Here is the finished page as it looks on my screen:

From here you can print at home (if you have a large format printer), or save as a jpg file and upload it to your favorite local print shop. Stampin’ Up! will be offering single page printing in the future through their professional print services, but currently this option is not available.
This is a quick and easy page without a lot of changes or customizing. There are so many other things I can do to this page to make it “my own”, but I wanted to keep it simple.
If you have questions about this tutorial or other features of MDS, please leave a comment. I am planning on doing a whole series of tutorials to feature some of the options that MDS offers.
If you think you are ready to purchase My Digital Studio please call or email me (buechers@msn.com) and we can get it ordered! Or just go to www.melissab.stampinup.net and click on the shop now button in the top right to order it online.

MDS, Decor Elements, and Wood Blocks

2009-11-15T19:45:00.002-07:00

A few weeks ago my upline Patty Bennett challenged a few of us in the Luv2Stamp Group to use the Wood Blocks from the Holiday Mini Catalog in different ways. I am no original thinker, but I remembered playing with wooden block puzzles growing up (usually the blocks were about 1- 1 1/2 inches square). I thought it would be fun to do a block puzzle using pictures of my kids and some other fun accents. The blocks from the mini catalog are 3 x 3 inches and very lightweight (I am pretty sure they are not solid wood, but maybe a MDF fiberboard or something). Regardless of their weight, they are very sturdy and easy to work with. Here’s how mine turned out:

I used the brand new My Digital Studio software to create the photo pages. It was really easy and quick since I was able to just drag the photos into a template. I changed a few of the colors and re-arranged some of the embellishments. The animals are from the Decor Elements vinyl “Nursery Alphabet”. Those pages were also quick since all I had to do was transfer the vinyl to the cardstock. Once all the pages were ready, I trimmed them to 3 x 3 inch square, reassembled on top of the blocks, and glued them in place. I am planning on wrapping this up for Christmas for the kids to open. I think they will really like seeing their own faces as part of a “toy”. It is not a particularly tricky puzzle, with only 9 pieces, but sometimes the simplest toys are what keeps them amused for the longest time!

My Digital Studio

2009-10-18T08:07:00.001-06:00

SO MUCH MORE THAN DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING!!!

I have to be totally honest. I am not a huge fan of digital scrapbook pages. I have seen them around for a couple years, and they always feel so FLAT to me and I don’t really like the way the ribbon and other embellishments look fake. BUT I ordered the new My Digital Studio (MDS) software from Stampin’ Up! and I believe I have had a true conversion.

MDS offers all of the great products that many other photo printing services offer – bound photo books, greeting cards, calendars, etc., but the ADVANTAGE is that you get to use templates, layouts, or a blank canvas with exclusive Stampin’ Up! colors, artwork, patterned paper and embellishments! Plus, since all of the embellishments and stamps are true to size, you can do “hybrid” scrapbooking, by printing your MDS page, and then mounting it onto regular cardstock or adding real ribbon, buttons, brads, or whatever to give it dimension so it is not so FLAT!

The first thing I tried when I opened MDS was the Christmas Jingle Designer Template for a 12 x 12 photo book. Literally in a matter of minutes, I had 12 pages done! Here are a couple:

So all I had to do with these pages is drag and drop the photos from my December 2008 photo folder and type some journaling. It was so EASY and FAST!!!!

Here’s an example of a card I made using the software:

I got the layout idea from Jaydee at her blog. It also only took me a couple minutes, and I started with a blank canvas for this one. After I messed around with this, I figured I would try and make it with real cardstock and stamps. So that is what I’ll be working on today.

If you are interested in getting more information about My Digital Studio, I’ll be having an open house in early November, date TBA.

Holiday Banner Class

2009-10-08T09:23:00.002-06:00

So it turns out I am a lazy blogger. But I am having a class next week that I wanted to tell you about:

Halloween is fast approaching! Do you need a fresh update on your decorations? Come and make this spooky little hanging banner for your haunted house. Or get a leg up on Christmas and sign up for the Merry banner. Why not make them both!!! Details below. I copied this great banner idea from Sandy Hancock's blog http://www.sandystamper.com/. Thanks Sandy!

Spooky and/or Merry Banner Class or Kit:

Tuesday, October 13^th 7:30 pm

Cost: $14 (make a 2^nd banner for an additional $12)

Please indicate how many of which banner you would like to make

Banner is ~3 feet long. Class includes pre-cut paper supplies, ribbon, and “jump ring” to hang banner on hook. Halloween and Christmas patterns will vary. There is no stamping on this project so I can offer it as a “long distance” kit. If you can’t attend on the class date, want to make it sooner, or live too far away to attend, you can order the class as a kit to go. Kit will include everything listed for class, plus instruction sheet on how to assemble. You will need to provide your own adhesive for both class and kit. A glue stick and/or glue pen would work great for this project.

Classes fill up quickly, so call or email to reserve your seat. Stamp classes will be held at my home (see address listed below). No refunds on cancellations. Payment by cash or check payable to me.

You might notice the empty square at the bottom of the Merry Banner. Oops. I got interrupted while I was making the banner and didn’t get a chance to “embellish” that last square before I needed to take pictures of it. I have lots of Christmas stamps and die cuts that will go well there, so when you come to class you will have some choices or if you order the kit, I will include a couple options for you as well.

New Catalog Open House

2009-07-11T13:36:00.001-06:00

Thanks to everyone who came to my open house today. It was fun to see you all. Here’s a picture of the samples everyone got to make:

Supplies used:
Stamp set: Heard from the Heart
Cardstock: Naturals White, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP
Ink: White Craft Ink
Accessories: Scallop Square Die, Big Shot, Polk Dot Ribbon

Supplies used:
Stamp set: Sincere Salutations
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP
Ink: Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Scallop Square Die, Big Shot, Polk Dot Ribbon

Whenever I start working with new colors, it is always a challenge for me to get comfortable with what combinations will look good. I don’t feel like I have an eye for color so I tend to lean towards monochromatic combinations for simplicity. If I feel like branching out, then I usually go with color choices that are already together in a DSP (designer series paper) pattern. In these cards, I used the color combo from the Razzleberry Lemonade. At first I wasn’t sure about the curry color, but after I looked through the different patterns in the pack, I realized that there were lots of possible combinations.

Here are some more samples I’ve been playing with using the new fancy favor die and the same Razzleberry Lemonade DSP colors:

These little favor box/bags are a great size for a couple of large cookies in a cello bag, or I put a handful of the mini size snickers/milky way/twix candy. You can dress them up with a handle, or fun embellishments on the front.

What do you love in the new catalog? Still need a copy—contact me and I can drop one off or mail you one.

2009-07-05T07:10:00.002-06:00

Another card to share with you today. I copied this one from last year's catalog. I really like square cards a lot! And darn that post office for charging extra to mail them! I heat embossed the square image from A Little Somethin' (retired). Heat embossing is something you can do to really "step up" the look of your projects. It is super easy. I keep my embossing powder in the sandwich sized plastic storage tupperware kind of thingy. It makes it much less intimidating to clean up. I just sprinkle the embossing powder over the paper with a spoon that I keep inside the box. The little flower on the yellow square comes from the Filigree Designer Brads series. Supplies used:
Stamp Set: A Little Something'
Cardstock: Kraft, Whisper White, Old Olive, So Saffron, Bella Rose DSP (retired)
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Boho Blossoms Punch, Trio Flower Punch, Filigree Designer Brads, Square Punch

another in color card

2009-07-04T13:07:00.005-06:00

Here's another example of Rich Razzleberry with Orchid Opulence, it also uses the Great Friend stamp set. I copied the layout and colors from the new catalog:

Supplies used:
Stamp Set: Great Friend
Cardstock: old olive, whisper white, orchid opulence
Ink: Old Olive, Orchid Opulence
Accessories: punch windows movers die, paper piercing tool, brads, big shot

Rich Razzleberry and Melon Mambo

2009-07-03T09:37:00.007-06:00

A new catalog means new In Colors. My favorites so far are Rich Razzleberry and Melon Mambo. Here's a few samples:

Supplies Used:
Stamps: A Little Somethin' (retired)
CS:Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Whisper white
Ink: Melon Mambo ink
Accessories: Melon Mambo Polka Dot ribbon, Movers and Shapers die, punch windows die, heart punch, texture plate, big shot

Supplies used:
Stamp Set: Great Friend
CS: Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Ink: Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Rich Razzleberry polka dot ribbon, movers and shapers die, punch windows die, scallop oval punch texture plates, big shot

Great Friend Item #113792 $17.95

I NEVER thought I would see the day that I added Orchid Opulence to my order. The original pack that is sitting in my paper files is almost 5 years old! So dust off your Orchid Opulence paper and ink because it pairs really well with Rich Razzleberry. There's a new DSP in the catalog called Cottage Wall that combines Old Olive, Orchid Opulence, and Rich Razzleberry and I can't wait to get it!

used stamps for sale

2009-07-03T07:06:00.014-06:00

Stamp Sale!!! I have a ton of retired stamp sets that I am ready to sell. These are all "gently used". Most of the stamp sets have a little white dot with a price written on it. Please let me know if you are interested in purchasing any of these. Prices are somewhat negotiable. Stamp sets will be sold on a first come, first served basis. I will have these all on display at my new catalog open house on July 11th.

2009-2010 Idea Book and Catalog

2009-07-02T20:23:00.006-06:00

It is time for a new catalog! I'll be having my new catalog open house on Saturday, July 11th from 10-1. Free make and takes, door prizes, used stamps for sale, and of course new catalogs will be available for $5 or free if you host a workshop.

Click on the catalog picture in the sidebar on the left to view the catalog.

Contact me at buechers@msn.com for more info about my upcoming open house.

Valentine's Bundle

2009-01-20T13:53:00.008-07:00

Valentine's Day is fast approaching! Do you have your exclusive Love You Much Product Bundle yet?

Stampin’ Up!’s Love You Much Bundle contains a stamp set, designer paper and a 3-heart punch - the perfect products to create fun Valentine's Day projects that say "I love you" from the heart. And through January 31, 2009, you can purchase the Love You Much Bundle at 20% off the retail value! The Love You Much Bundle includes the following:

You can order this bundle using item code 115405 On Line 24/7 HERE, or feel free to contact me with any questions or your order and I'll help you place it.

Stamp Class Choices

2009-01-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

Since I am trying to start a few new stamp events, I thought it might be helpful to explain what choices you will have for stamp classes each month:

Regular Stamp Class: I will still be holding regular stamp classes each month that focus on stamping cards "in bulk", and/or other seasonal related items (mini-albums, home décor, etc.) for a fee--usually about $15-$20 per project or set.

Hostess Club: This is a new event I am hoping will interest those of you who do like to purchase your own supplies. As explained in previous email, if you would like to join the hostess club, you commit to submitting a minimum $20 order each month for 6-8 months (depending on how many members in the group), and during that time period, you will be assigned a month to receive the hostess benefits (minimum $15 free merchandise and a level 1 hostess stamp set). Each month I will have one "free class" open to those in the club where there will be time for more detailed instruction on products and stamping techniques as well as some fabulous make and take projects. I am really excited about this and hope you are too!

Open houses: Occasionally, I will host an open house during a new catalog period or other time to showcase new products or sale items. These events are always free and usually include make and take projects as sometimes door prizes, free give-aways, and used items for sale.

Workshops/Parties: I always appreciate when one of you is willing to host a workshop/party at your home. If you have never hosted one or attended one, it is a free event for you and your friends to learn about stamping with make and take projects that everyone will have a chance to try. It's a great girls night out and since your guests get to get their hands inky and go home with something for free, it's always fun for everyone!

So here are some dates I have scheduled in January and February for events (dates subject to change). Mark your calendars and try to come out and bring a new friend! More details with project sample photos will be posted soon.

January

Saturday, January 10th or Tuesday, January 13th: Valentine's cards and tags and/or mini album

Tuesday, January 27th: New Catalog Open House and Hostess Club night: This will be a free event open to everyone, and those who would like to commit to the hostess club can do so at this event (we'll try and get organized and set up). New catalogs will be available to pick up and I will have used or retired merchandise for sale. Anyone who comes will get a chance to make something with new stamps and accessories.

February
(this is a great month to host a workshop/party at your home since it is during the "Sale-a-Bration" promotion period where anyone who places a $50 order gets to choose a free, limited time stamp set)

Saturday, February 7th or Tuesday, February 10th: Stamp-a-stack card class featuring Sale-A-Bration stamp sets

Tuesday, February 24th (tentative date): Hostess Club night

March

Saturday, March 7th or Tuesday, March 10th: Stamp class TBD

Tuesday, March 24th (tentative date): Hostess club night

Retired Accessories--order before they are gone!

2009-01-05T12:18:00.002-07:00

Stampin' Up! just released their retired accessory list. These products will no longer be available after January 18th. Items are available in limited quantity and once they sell out, they are gone for good. Order soon if you would like anything on the list. You can call or email me with your order or go to www.melissab.stampinup.net to order online.

Item #
Product Description
Availability
111377 ACCENTS & ELEMENTS ROOF GARDEN
112012 ACCENTS & ELEMENTS SEASON TO SHARE
112088 ACCENTS & ELEMENTS TRUE ELEGANCE
102782 ALBUM LEATHER BLACK 12X12 Not Available
104188 ALBUM LEATHER BLACK 6X6
105384 ALBUM LINEN POST MELLOW MOSS 6X6*
104516 ALBUM LINEN POST NAVY 6X6
105381 ALBUM LINEN POST REAL RED 6X6*
103977 BUTTONS BOLD BRIGHTS*
103978 BUTTONS EARTH ELEMENTS
103981 BUTTONS EARTH ELEMENTS & NEUTRALS
105446 BUTTONS RICH REGALS
105445 BUTTONS SOFT SUBTLES
103604 DAYS-TO-REMEMBER CALENDAR 12X12
102174 DAYS-TO-REMEMBER CALENDAR 8 1/2X11
112465 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER BANBURY
112462 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER GEORGIA PEACH
112463 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER GHOSTLY GREETINGS
112040 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER GREEN TEA
112470 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER HAIKU
112460 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER HAWAII PAPAYA
112469 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER HOLIDAY TREASURES
112458 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER JUNIOR VARSITY
112459 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER MAINE BLUEBERRY
112466 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER MUIRFIELD
112149 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PARISIAN SUMMER
112467 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PRESTWICK
111355 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SUMMER PICNIC
112039 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER WINDSOR KNOT
112963 ELEMENTOS PARA TARJETAS DIAS FESTIVOS HECHOS A MANO SIMPLY SENT
106523 ENVELOPE TEMPLATE FIVE-IN-ONE CARD COVER
104104 ENVELOPE TEMPLATE MINI
107298 ENVELOPES CONFETTI WHITE MEDIUM
110695 ENVELOPES OPEN END KRAFT SMALL
109115 ENVELOPES OPEN END VERY VANILLA SMALL
103372 METAL EDGE TAGS ALUMINUM WHITE SQUARE
107925 ON BOARD BITTY BOOK*
109190 ON BOARD CLIPBOARD 9X9*
109180 ON BOARD SIMON UPPER
112086 ON BOARD SOMETHING SEASONAL
107923 PAGE PROTECTORS RING 3.25 X 3.25
104942 PUNCH 1/4 INCH CIRCLE
104943 PUNCH 1/4 INCH SQUARE
107273 PUNCH 3/4 INCH SQUARE
104389 PUNCH DOUBLE CIRCLE*
100391 PUNCH HANDHELD 1/8 INCH CIRCLE Not Available
104830 RIBBON GINGHAM CARAMEL
104829 RIBBON GINGHAM LIGHT BLUE
104828 RIBBON GINGHAM LIGHT PINK
104831 RIBBON GINGHAM MOSS
109037 RIBBON GROSGRAIN MORE MUSTARD 1/4 INCH
110282 RUB ON ANCHORED
111806 RUB ON CHILLS & THRILLS
111805 RUB ON SCHOOL DAYS
111417 RUB ON WORD FLURRIES
110283 RUB ONS TAKE NOTE
112193 SIMPLY SCRAPPIN I WISH
112186 SIMPLY SCRAPPIN PINA COLADA
112068 SIMPLY SCRAPPIN SUMMER HOME
112043 SIMPLY SCRAPPIN U R SWEET
112061 SIMPLY SCRAPPIN WINTER RETREAT
112016 SIMPLY SENT CARD ELEMENTS HANDMADE HOLIDAY
109868 SIMPLY SENT CARD KIT LIFELONG NOTES
103647 STAMPIN STORE MINI
105813 WRITE ME A MEMORY FONT CD VOL II
*This item is discounted and included on the Inventory Blowout.

Spooky Spider

2008-10-02T11:42:00.006-06:00

I've never been much of a home decorator...but I am trying a little harder these days. I love love love Halloween and have been seeing great ideas all over the place to add a little festivity to the walls and shelves of my house. Stampin' Up! has this great vinyl spider available right now until the 31st of October. I copied the idea straight from the promotional flyer. I think it turned out really cute! If you want one of your own, contact me to place an order!

Some other projects I have been working on the past couple of weeks...

A Halloween Banner using the sizzix big shot die cutting machine and exclusive pennant die.

Season of thanks shadow box

Another vinyl project...this one uses the season of thanks vinyl on the front of a shadow box I got at Michaels. The cool thing about this one is that it will be really easy to change the contents and backdrop to Christmas, Easter, etc.

See, I told you I was trying harder!

These last two projects I am offering in a class format in couple of weeks, so if you are interested in making them yourself, let me know.

Back from another long break

2008-08-16T20:22:00.003-06:00

After a busy summer, I am back, and SO EXCITED to share all the great new stuff from Stampin' Up! The new catalog is out with great new stamp sets, ribbon, patterned paper, and accessories. Stampin' Up! has also announced it's partnership with Sizzix. Customers will now be able to purchase the Sizzix Big Shot die cutting machine through Stampin' Up!, as well as exclusive dies great for papercrafting, scrapbooking, home decor, and fashion to name a few. The other exciting news is that Stampin' Up! will also now offer self-adhesive vinyl through it's Decor Elements line. Vinyl wall decor is a hot new trend and Stampin' Up! has hit the mark with images that will look great in your home.

Look on the sidebar and click on an image for more info on these exciting new products!

Some new cards to share

2008-04-29T15:09:00.004-06:00

After a 2 month hiatus, I am ready to start having stamp classes again... Card Buffet Class: Saturday, May 17th 12:30 pm, or Tuesday, May 20th 7:30 pm Cost $16 Five different cards will be available to choose from--you tell me how many of each card you'd like to make with a minimum of 10 cards total. Want to make more than 10? Each additional card will be $1.50. Choose from Wedding, Graduation, Birthday, and Friendship, and Teacher Thank You. Please indicate how many of each card you would like to make when you sign up and which day you'd like to attend. Bring your own adhesive. Classes fill up quickly, so call or email to reserve your seat. Stamp classes will be held at my home (see address listed below). No refunds on cancellations. If you sign up for class and are unable to attend, I will gladly stamp and assemble your projects for an additional fee. Cards cased from Patty Bennett, Jen delMuro, Kristina Werner, Dawn McVey.

New Stampin' Up! Catalog is available

2008-01-03T11:25:00.001-07:00

The new Spring-Summer Collection 2008 Stampin' Up! catalog is now available online here, or contact me to get a hard copy. Catalogs are $5 each or FREE if you host a workshop.

Stampin' Up! also has a Valentines Day Promotion available during the month of January. As well as extra incentives for hostesses during January.

Sale-a-Bration begins on February 1st and goes until March 15th. More details to follow.

January and February classes

2008-01-03T11:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday, January 12th 12:30 pm (NEW TIME), or Tuesday, January 15th 7:30 pm.
Stamp-a-stack: New Catalog--Designer Series Paper
Cost: $16

Class will include all supplies and envelopes needed to make 10 cards and envelopes featuring stamps and accessories from the new Spring-Summer Collection 2008 with an emphasis on using Designer Series Paper for card making. Please bring your own adhesive or pre-order a SNAIL refill for $5 extra.

Saturday, February 9th, 12:30 pm
THE MAN CLASS
Cost: $16

Calling all men, here's your chance to always have a special card ready for the women in your life. Simple and quick, this class will include valentine's (1), birthday (2), anniversary (1), and mother's day (1), themed cards--a total of 5 cards and envelopes. Surprise your wife, mom, mother-in-law, sisters, or any woman in your life with your crafting talent! Bonus: man snacks will be served, plus sports games showing on the HD satellite plasma (well, hockey at least). Don't miss it! (Adhesive included)

Brown paper packages tied up with string

2007-12-19T04:12:00.001-07:00

In the past 24 hours I made 10 of these tags! Plus, I wrapped and boxed all the stuff that is shipping out to my family to go to the post office. I am a little late, so I don't think it will all arrive in time for Christmas morning. But Christmas is a week long celebration in my opinion, and anything that arrives after Christmas is just a bonus!

More Christmas

2007-12-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

I modified the little memory book for my youngest neice, Elsa. Even thought the bigger books aren't exactly "delicate", I thought it would be easier for 6 year old hands to manipulate these pages on a jump ring, rather than trying to slide a book in and out of the cover. There are plenty of blank pages for her "artwork", and it can easily be added to as well.

Christmas projects & gifts

2007-12-16T14:40:00.001-07:00

I don't think anyone in my family ever looks at this, so it's probably pretty safe to post a few of the projects I am making for Christmas gifts here.

I have 6 nieces in grade school, so I made them each a little mini album to capture their memories from this school year. Inside are pages with titles like...This is me, My teachers, Some of my friends are, My favorite subjects, etc.

I figured it would be a fun way to keep a record of their handwriting, a few photos, and some of their thoughts about the school year.

I got the idea from the Stampin' Success magazine, and did very little alteration. They were sort of time consuming, but I started a couple of months ago and did most of the stamping and cutting. I took some time the last few days to assemble and print the inside pages. Now I just need to get them wrapped and in the mail in time for Christmas!

Christmas stuff

2007-12-10T06:38:00.000-07:00

Some Christmas stuff I have been working on the past couple of months... None of these are original ideas, but it has been such a long time that I worked on them that I can't remember where I got the ideas from. The advent calendar is from a tutorial on splitcoaststampers, and most of the card layouts are from Kristina Werner's blog.

holiday favors

2007-10-06T08:12:00.000-06:00

Here's a cute idea from splitcoaststampers in combination with this post from Valerie Stangle that I used for door prizes at a party last night. Each is based on the 2-5-7-10 box with modifications for the top flap. This is a great template you can change around based on your need for the height and width of the box. The stamped part of the box comes from the Batty for You stamp set, using the 1 1/4, 1 3/8, and scallop circle punches. The patterned paper is Creepy Crawly. These came together very quickly and were a big hit at the party.

September Class Schedule

2007-09-04T20:27:00.001-06:00

September Class: Stamp-a-Stack-Children's cards

Saturday, September 22nd 10:00 am or Tuesday, September 25th 7:30 pm.

Class will include all supplies and envelopes needed to make 10 cards intended for children. Please bring your own adhesive or pre-order a SNAIL refill for $5 extra.
Cost: $16

Here's a couple samples of the cards we'll be making:

MIA

2007-08-21T11:50:00.000-06:00

So I have been missing in action for sometime now, but all for good reasons...
This summer has been very busy for us so far. Both my parents, my husband's parents and my brother and his son were here visiting at different times. We babysat for some friends for a whole week, then I attended the Stampin' Up! convention in Denver for 4 days. Then my husband was gone for 4 days on a backpacking trip with the scouts. After that we took the kids to California for my niece's wedding...all of which happend during my first trimester of pregnancy with baby #3. You heard it here first!! Now we are home, most of the laundry is done, and the waves of nausea are subsiding (although my extreme fatigue is still lingering, and will probably never go away until we retire). The baby is due near the end of February, first of March, and since it is a leap year, we are hoping for a February 29th birthday so we only have to have a birthday party once every 4 years (is that how often leap years are???).

I do have some card samples to share, and an upcoming class to announce:

Class: Stamp-a-Stack (new catalog) Saturday, August 25th 10:00 am or Tuesday August 28th 7:30 pm

Class will include all supplies and envelopes needed to make 10 cards and envelopes featuring stamps and accessories from the new Fall/Winter Collection. Please bring your own adhesive or pre-order a SNAIL refill for $5 extra.

Cost: $16

This first sample was inspired by this post from Jenn Balcer.

This next one was inspired by a sample on the Stampin' Up! website.

There will be a couple other card choices available to complete 10 cards, and you can change the greeting to suit your needs.

Birthday cards

2007-07-03T09:38:00.000-06:00

So my husband is an engineer and after the past two and a half years of watching me stamp and letting our home get taken over by stamping paraphernalia, he refuses to let me or himself purchase a card at the store. I tried to get him to buy one for his brother's birthday a few months ago, since masculine cards are pretty difficult for me to do, but he would not go for it. Anyway, my birthday was last week, and this is the card he made for me. There's no stamping on it, but he created it himself at work using some sort of drawing software or whatever rocket scientists use. Here's the details: Happy Birthday, Size A, Case Code 06-27-1977 (my birthdate), Drawing No. I LOVE YOU, Rev. 0 (which should say 15 or so, since that's how many times he said he had to print it before he got it right). Scale none, drawn by David Buecher, Birthday 31 of ALOT (this was my 30th birthday, a small oversight!). By the way, he mounted it on mellow moss cardstock...his favorite Stampin' Up! color. What a guy!

More baby stuff

2007-07-03T09:06:00.000-06:00

This is a gift set I gave to a friend at her baby shower. I covered a wood frame from Michaels with patterned paper and Mod Podge, sanded the edges and wrapped the ribbon around the sides of the frame on top of sticky strip tape. The small tag in the middle is intended to be a diaper bag tag or luggage tag with the baby's name "Avery" on it. Both of these ideas came from Emily Giovanni's blog, and the scrapbook page layout came from the pagemaps website (I think!). It was really fun to make and fun to give as well. This was her 2nd girl, so she already has lots of clothes and baby essentials, so I thought she might like something handmade.

More name frames

2007-06-08T10:40:00.001-06:00

Here's another batch of the name frames. See this post for details. Thanks to all the leaders who helped again with this batch. There were a few that got away without being photographed!

Bundle of Joy baby thank you

2007-06-08T10:30:00.000-06:00

Isn't this so cute? I made two sets of 2o of this card for two friends who just had babies. One set was in purple colors (almost amethyst and elegant eggplant), and this one was in pinks. This one is notecard sized 5 x 3 1/2 inch, and the purple ones were sized for the smaller open end envelope in the catalog 6 1/2 x 3 1/4.
Supplies used: bundle of joy and noteworthy stamp sets, pretty in pink, regal rose, whisper white cardstock, regal rose, basic black, close to cocoa ink, rose ribbon, marvy mega scallop square punch, 1 3/8 square punch.

June Stamp Class

2007-05-23T10:18:00.001-06:00

3 + 4=10

How is this possible? My next stamp class will show you by using the Take three stamp set with Four seasons designer paper to make 10 cards and envelopes. These cards will all have the same layout and can be made in minutes! These projects are "notecard" sized (3 1/2 x 5 inch). They make a perfect gift set to give away, or keep on hand for your upcoming card giving needs. Contact me for more details. Thanks to this talented stamper for the inspiration on layout and design.

Another bundle of joy

2007-05-22T08:46:00.000-06:00

I wanted to make a gender neutral baby card for my last card class, so I used the paper from the spring mini catalog petals and paisleys and my new favorite stamp set, bundle of joy. It's not my favorite color combination, but I think it turned out cute.

Supplies used: Bundle of Joy stamp set, Certainly Celery, Old olive, So Saffron, Chocolate chip cardstock, petals and paisleys double sided paper, Close to Cocoa, So Saffron ink, Round Tab punch, blender pens.

Teacher thank you

2007-05-21T20:16:00.000-06:00

I wanted to design a thank you card for teachers for a few of my friends and family to use. This is what I came up with. I saw the general layout and colors in the February (I think) issue of the Stampin' Success magazine for demonstrators. I haven't made more than this one pictured here, so I guess I won't be giving any away to friends and family this year, since school is out this week for our district here, and by the time I make them and mail them to anyone, school would probably be out everywhere! Oh well. Maybe next year!

Supplies used: Basket full of fun, alphabits, warmest regards stamp sets, so saffron, old olive, real red cardstock, old olive, real red, going gray ink, ribbon, blender pens.

Bodacious Thanks

2007-05-21T16:35:00.000-06:00

I saw this layout in the latest Stampin' Up! magazine for demonstrators. I changed it a little and used my newest flower set, bodacious bouquet.

Supplies used: play on words, bodacious bouquet and mixed bouquet stamp sets, cool carribean cardstock and ink, old olive cardstock and ink, apricot appeal ink, only orange ink,

Bundle of Joy

2007-05-21T12:19:00.000-06:00

Here's another card I worked on this past week. This layout is from the spring mini catalog, but when I saw this card, I liked the colors better for a "gender neutral" baby card.

Supplies used: Bundle of Joy stamp set, canvas background stamp, play on words stamp set, sahara sand cardstock and ink, chocolate chip cardstock and ink, certainly celery cardstock and ribbon.

New Stuff

2007-05-21T10:40:00.000-06:00

Now that the retirement list is posted, I was able to place my order to redeem the free stamp sets I earned during sell-a-bration for my stellar sales (thanks customers!) I chose Bodacious Bouquet and and Well Worn Alphabet. I have a lot of flower stamps, but I liked the look of this one a lot. Here's a sample I made this morning. I saw this card and really liked the colors and layout.

Back from California

2007-05-13T19:56:00.000-06:00

I've been gone for two weeks visiting family in California, so nothing new to post. I am placing an order tonight, so hopefully I'll have something interesting to share in a week or so. I need to get a few batches of cards ready for gifts to give friends and relatives for different occasions. If I get a chance to work on that this week, I will definitely post the results of my labor.

On another note...my husband had a tile backsplash installed in our kitchen while I was away for my Mother's Day gift. I love it!!

2007-05-05T10:10:00.000-06:00

Today is National Scrapbook Day!!

Place an order of any amount today and get 20% off!! Just call or email me (buechers@msn.com) your order by midnight Saturday, May 5th and get 20% off your merchandise total (customer must pay tax and shipping on original price). Stock up on paper, albums, accessories, or choose a stamp set you've had on your wish list for months!

Just click here to view current Stampin' Up! Catalogs online. The list of retiring stamps is also posted on the SU! website!! The new idea book and catalog will be released in July, and these stamp sets will not be in the new catalog. Make your list now, and be sure to order your favorites before the time is up!

Mother's Day Wish List

Does your significant other struggle with gifts for Mother's Day? Pass along your Stampin' Up! wish list and make it easy for them to choose a gift you will love. Be sure to include my contact information so they'll know who to call or email to place an order.

Hope to hear from you soon!

What's new from Stampin' Up! in May

2007-05-01T00:24:00.000-06:00

Lots of cool stuff!

The retired list is out! Just click here to see a list of stamp sets that will be retiring as of June 30th this year.

Pallette o' Prints promotion! 12 patterns, 4 colors check it out here.

Thinking of becoming a demonstrator? Now is a great time...look at the extra FREE stuff you get for signing up by May 31st here.

Card Buffet Class

2007-04-29T11:11:00.000-06:00

This au chocolat birthday card is "CASED" from this talented stamper: http://stampedbyhand.blogspot.com/2007/04/oh-chocolat.html

Saturday May 19th 10 am or
Tuesday May 22nd 7:30 pm

Card Buffet Stamp Class
Dads, Grads, Babies, and Brides and by special request...birthdays
We all know them, so this year, instead of buying them a card (at the last minute most likely!) for their special day, come create a hand made card that will mean so much more! Choose how many of each theme you'd like to make. Minimum total is 10 cards.

Cost: $16 (For the first 10 cards. Each additional card is $1.50) Please indicate total number of each card you would like to make. (In other words, you could make 10 birthday cards if you wanted, or 2 of each theme, you choose from the "buffet"!)

Classes fill up quickly, so call or email to reserve your seat. Can't make the date, don't live in Colorado? Ask me about long-distance options. Stamp classes will be held at my home. No refunds on cancellations. If you sign up for class and are unable to attend, I will gladly stamp and assemble your projects for an additional fee.

Name Frames

2007-04-28T21:14:00.000-06:00

These name frames were created by our YW leaders for the girls' birthdays this year. Before they are presented to the girls, we add handwritten words around the border using adjectives submitted by their peers describing qualties they admire in that girl. Each leader worked on one name and took about 2 hours to complete! We've done about 10 and have another 15 to do over the next several months.

They are mounted on tagboard leftover from packs of designer series paper from Stampin' Up! A variety of alphabets were used--some SU! and some foam type. Also, most of the biggest letters on each name are from Stampin' Up! chipboard. You can't tell from the photos very well, but there are eyelets in the top corners with a ribbon attached so they can be hung on a wall.

Spring Notecard

2007-04-27T15:39:00.000-06:00

I rarely get time to stamp something during the day, but thanks to naptime for baby, and Cinderella for my 3 year old, I was able to hurry and make this little notecard. I pretty much copied it from one of the samples displayed on the Stampin' Up! Cruise. I haven't been able to earn the cruise yet, but my upline did and sent us some pictures of the samples. I didn't have the same stamps, so I substituted with Sweet Shapes. Ink and Paper colors are So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst, and Rose Red. Dotted background stamp was also used on the Certainly Celery portion. Copyright Stampin' Up! 1990-2007

A blog is born

2007-04-25T20:21:00.000-06:00

I wasn't too sure about this whole blogging thing...but after spending lots of time looking at so many other blogs, I thought it was time to start my own. I don't have much "original" creative talent, but I think I am pretty good at finding the good stuff and copying it. This will at least give my friends and customers a place to view projects and hopefully get inspiration as well. My goal is to post a few new ideas a week.

My mom told me once that I should charge more for my stamp classes since they often turn into a therapy session for everyone who's there. But really, it's therapy for me. So here it is...stamping therapy for me and you.