A New Look . . .

Just thought I would try out something new. Not sure it goes with the Christmas photos I am posting, but I thought it was a cute layout. Gotta love cupcakes! I have been blogging for the last two hours (these things take up a lot of time)!

This past Friday and Sunday I held my Christmas Stamp Class and it was well-attended. There were 5 people on Friday and 10 people on Sunday. Everyone seemed to be in Christmas mode and I think we all enjoyed our stamping time together.

So - here are some of the projects we made, a couple of new things that you may not have seen and a few ideas for using your Christmas envelope items. If you have questions about any of the projects, just shoot me an e-mail - I'll be happy to help!

I made this snowman card last night with my Two Cool Dudes set in an attempt to come up with an idea for my Christmas cards. While I think he is cute, I'm not sure I am up for making him 50 - 60 times. I used the Frost White Shimmer Paint to make him shiny and then tied a scarf on him with embroidery floss. I love the scarf! It turned out better than I had hoped. Because there are so many layers, I think this card would probably need lots of extra postage. Another reason to not make 50 or 60 of them.

The tags below were cut with my Big Shot Two Tags Die and I included three of them in each person's Christmas envelope. You can always use tags around the holidays and these were super simple. I used the Simply Scrappin' Christmas Jingle Kit to embellish the cardstock. Super easy and no adhesive required!!! Just peel and stick and add string. Anyone can do this!

The same for the cards below. All peel and stick from the Christmas Jingle Kit. I embellished a little with the snowflake punch, a bit of red ribbon and a "Merry Christmas" sentiment and that is it - some super simple cards.

So why is it that I think my Christmas cards need to be so complicated and time consuming? Must be that stamper's illness that I have - you know what I'm talking about because I know a few of you who share my affliction!

Well, now I must go to sleep so that I can wake up when the alarm goes off at 4 a.m. Maybe I'll get to work on my cards tomorrow afternoon. Hope you are further along than I am! ~Amy

Continue reading...

Back to blogging . . . it's been a while!

This may be a long post, I have lots to share!

Last weekend I spent Saturday with my husband and kids at Elephant Rocks State Park. If you have never been, you should go! It was a great day - the trees were beautiful, the rocks are


amazing and the company couldn't have been better. The drive was about 1 1/2 hours, but it was scenic the whole way. We packed a picnic lunch and ate at the van before taking our climb up the rocks. The view from the top was spectacular! It was a nice relaxing day - something we don't get to experience very often.

On that Sunday I hosted my Thanksgiving stamp class and had six attendees. We had a great time making five different Thanksgiving themed projects. On the acorn card, the bottom of the acorn is the ornament punch upside down and the top of the acorn is a wide oval punch with a little bit taken off the bottom with the scalloped border punch. Very simple, but very cute! I have seen several ideas for the ornament punch that have nothing to do with Christmas. It is nice to know that that punch can be used all year long!
I needed to make Halloween treats for Holly's volleyball team (Mark is the coach) so I used the idea from my Halloween class and came up with yet another Halloween bag. I used the same idea for the faces from the Dracula bag that we had made but instead cut out 3 1/2 inch ovals and made pumpkins. These turned out to be really cute and they were super easy!

While I was on a roll, I made this little bag for my niece and nephew. Of course this year, only my nephew will be able to eat the candy!

On Saturday, we ran around all day between First Communion Class, Volleyball and lots of shopping for Sunday. Then spent the evening sitting around our firepit with a good friend while our kids all trick-or-treated. It was a Harry Potter and Star Wars theme this year. Macy and her friend Anna were both Darth Vader and Holly was Hermione Granger. Holly's friend Kaitlin was Princess Leia.
This Sunday, Macy made her first communion. We were all dressed up and looking sharp for the service. Just three kids made their first communion - Macy, Kailip and Sarah. Macy did great and we enjoyed a mini reception after the service with friends. My mom was at our house making Macy's requested lunch for her special day - turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans and crescent rolls. Lots of leftover treats from Halloween for dessert. Thanks to all for the first communion gifts!
Whew!!! That was a lot. Just thinking about it makes me kind of tired.

My next stamp class will be a Christmas Class on November 20 and 22. Let me know if you would like to attend. The Friday class is at 7:00 and the Sunday class is at 2:00.

That is it for me, for now! Thanks for stopping by!

Amy

Continue reading...

Sneak Peeks!

Just thought I would give you a sneak peek of the projects for Sunday. The Halloween candy holders and the Build-A-Bear cards were demonstrated projects at convention. I've altered them slightly, because as you all know, I have to layer my papers! The Christmas tree was a project that was submitted by another demonstrator and was posted on the display boards at convention - again, slight alterations by me.

This picture is to entice you to sign up for my September Halloween class. This will be one of the projects - you will have to come to see the rest!

Hope to see most of you on Sunday! ~Amy

Continue reading...

Stampin' Up Convention News

I am back from Salt Lake City and am super excited to share all of the new products and ideas from convention. My Stampin' Up Website is back up and running! I have posted many, many dates for workshops, classes and local events that I will be participating in over the next several months on my SU page. I hope to see many of you at these events.!!!!

The first event is scheduled for August 30 at 1:00. I will be hosting a workshop at my house to relay some of the exciting new products that Stampin' Up will be providing in the very near future. I took lots of pictures while at convention and I know you will be interested in seeing all of the cards, scrapbook pages and gift items that were displayed. Please let me know if you plan to attend so I can be sure to have plenty of make-and-takes ready for you.

There will be a hostess promotion running from September 1 - November 30. Any hostess with $250 in orders will be able to pick any item from the Holiday Mini Catalog (excludes hostess items and my digital studio) for $10. But not only that, as soon as My Digital Studio becomes available, hostesses with a $400 workshop can order it for half price (regular price is $79.95)!!!!! I am super excited about this product and can't wait to tell you about it. Please let me know soon if you would like to host a workshop in the next few months. My calendar fills up fast and I would like to put you on it!

The above display was set up for photo opportunities at convention. Occasionally, Shelli would be seated in front of this and if you were one of the lucky ones, you could get your picture made with her. Susan and I were not fast enough, the line was always closed by the time we got there. This card was one of my swaps that I made for convention. I took four other items and will post those later. Luckily, I saved a copy of each of them because all of my swaps were gone in about 30 minutes. Some people said they made around 1,000 swaps!!! I guess I should start now if I plan to attend next year!!!!

Talk to you all very soon!!! Amy

Continue reading...

Christmas In July

Thanks to all who attended my Christmas In July stamp class this weekend. I had a great time and it felt good to feel like I might have a jump start on my Christmas projects this year. Hope

everyone got an idea or two for your own holiday projects. We are headed west this week for our family vacation. We will be stopping in Estes Park, Colorado this week and then on to Salt Lake City, Utah the following week for the annual Stampin' Up Convention. I am getting very excited and working feverishly on my swaps. I hope to bring home around 100 new ideas to share with all of you. In the meantime, here are some pictures from this weekend. At the end of August or early in September, I am planning to share all of the new things I learn at convention. We will be receiving five stamp sets from the new catalog in which to make the make and takes

during convention. So, that means we will be using the following stamp sets in my next class: Hello Again (pg. 114), Sweet Season (pg. 29), Things I Love (pg. 54), Tree Trimmings (pg. 28) and Retro Remix (wheel on pg. 114). Talk to you in a couple weeks!!!!!!

Continue reading...

Out with the old, in with the new . . .

So, I sort of fell off the face of the earth for a little while, but was very busy during my non-stamping hiatus. I painted two rooms in my house, had a garage sale, cleaned my house, and got a puppy. Needless to say, we have been busy. I am ready to stamp again!!!!

My plan is this . . .

June 27 -

A happy retirement party!!! Not for me, but for many of my stamp sets. You can find a list below of the stamps that I am retiring from my collection. I am planning to hold a silent auction through the 27th. You can bid on sets by e-mail or by phone starting today. I will periodically let you know who is in the lead for which sets and you can choose to outbid them, or not. On the 27th, I will host an open house, where we will stamp a little, bid a little, and eat a little. The winners of the auctioned sets will be able to take them home on the 27th following the open house. I will have a project or two for you to make and take. Let me know if you are interested in attending.

July -

Christmas in July!!!! Get a big jump on your Christmas projects and maybe feel a little bit cooler in the July heat by planning for the holidays. Also, the new catalog comes out July 1!!!!!!

More information to follow.

August -

I will be on vacation for two weeks (Stampin' Up Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah) and then it is back to school for the kiddos. I think August is going to be one of those months where I am too busy to stamp!

September -

Halloween and Thanksgiving theme.

Hope you will be able to make an event or two! ~Amy

Here's the silent auction list (it's kind of long, sorry . . .) You can view most of these at http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ or just let me know and I can e-mail you a picture of any stamp set that you are interested in.

Name of Set and Starting Bid:
Background Basics (set of 4) $3.00
Beyond the Basics (set of 4) $3.00
Big Bold Birthday (set of 13) slightly stained $7.00
Classic Alphabet (set of 56) $14.00
Darling Dots (set of 8) $4.00
Darling Dots (set of 8) $4.00
Fresh Flowers (set of 9) $5.00
Greetings Galore (set of 8) $6.00
Happy Fall, Y’all (set of 7) $5.00
Headline Alphabet (set of 28) $12.00
Headline Numbers (set of 12) $6.00
Hey, Ghoul Friend (set of 6) $5.00
Itty Bitty Backgrounds (set of 4) $3.00
Itty Bitty Buds (set of 14) $6.00
Just B (set of twelve) $7.00
Kids at Play (set of 9) $6.00
A Little Somethin’ (set of 6) $5.00
Little Somethings (set of 12) slightly stained $4.00
A Merry Season (set of 4) stained $4.00
On the Beach (set of 13) $7.00
Polka Dot Punches (set of 4) $3.00
Riveting (set of 8) slightly stained $4.00
Something to Celebrate (set of 9) $5.00
Sweet Little Sentiments (set of 8) $5.00
Sweet of You (set of 6) $5.00
Tagger’s Dozen (set of 12) $6.00
The Fine Print (set of 6) $5.00
Too Terrific Tags (set of 6) $4.00
Web Wishes (set of 6) $5.00

Wonderful Words (set of 4) $3.00

Continue reading...

Dates: June 1-30, 2009
Promotion Details:
The Summer Fun Hostess Bonus Promotion has two parts:

Hostesses who hold a $250-$399.99 workshop

will receive an additional $20 in hostess free merchandise dollars.

Hostesses who hold a $400 or more workshop

will receive an additional $40 in hostess free merchandise dollars.

If you would like to host a workshop in June,

please e-mail or call me to reserve your date!!!!

Continue reading...

Easter Class Information - Finally!!!!

Sorry this is so late getting out. As I said before, my camera broke and I was unable to take a picture of our upcoming projects. We just got our camera back a couple hours ago, so I am posting a picture of four of our projects for this

weekend. The fifth project will be a surprise

(mostly because I haven't yet decided what I want to do)!!! If you plan to attend either Friday at 7:00 or Sunday at 1:00, please let me know as soon as you can. I have four people signed up for Friday and a couple people on Sunday. The fee is $20 or free with a $35 purchase. I am thinking about ideas for April's class. If there is a technique or product that you would like to try, please let me know and I will try to incorporate it in the next class. I think we will either do Mother's Day projects or I was thinking about a Brides and Babies class. Hope to see you this weekend!!!!

Continue reading...

Get Your Copy Today!

Free Idea Book with Online Purchase

From February 1-April 30, 2009

To receive a free Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalog, all you have to do is:

Place an online order during the promotional period.

Shop through a demonstrator's Stampin' Up! website - mine is, http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/amynielsen .

There is no minimum order amount required, so anyone can take advantage of this offer.
Existing customers can also receive a free idea book with the same requirements.

Stampin' Up! will be offering a free Idea Book & Catalog with the first 22,000 orders or until April 30, 2009, whichever comes first.

Continue reading...

Valentine's Day is Fast Approaching!

Love You Much . . .

That's the name of this new stamp set that is available in the new Spring/Summer 2009 catalog. I was able to pre-order the stamp set in a bundle, which also included the new Candy Lane Designer Series Paper and the new Heart to Heart Punch. This bundle is also available to customers through January 31 at 20% off.

Our next class project . . . this milk carton container, which holds four mini milk cartons and the matching Love You Much card. I actually paid money to get the pattern for the container and the cartons because it was so cute!

I made a few of these for my family at Christmas time with the makings for hot chocolate and they turned out really cute. I punched windows in the cartons so that you could see what was inside each of them. The best thing about them is that each carton opens from the bottom, so you can fill them and they can be opened without being ruined.

I had originally planned to hold the January classes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but unfortunately I chose Super Bowl Weekend. While this is usually not an issue for me (I'm not a football fan), we are hosting the Super Bowl Party this year so I will be unable to hold the class on Sunday. If there is enough interest, I would be happy to do the Sunday class the weekend before or after the Superbowl or switch the Saturday class from an evening class to an afternoon class. Let me know if you plan to attend and what day/time would be best for you.

Oh, did I mention that the new catalog is available January 19th??!!!! Hope to see you at the end of the month.

Continue reading...