Stampin' and Scrappin' With Kristin

Simple Friendship

In honor of National Scrapbooking Month, Stampin' Up! has discounted an assortment of stamp sets (and other items) for 30% off!!!  This sale runs all month long!  This sale was certainly a hit with my Open House crowd!!!  Here is one of the cards I created (cased directly from the catalog) to highlight the sale stamp sets.  I LOVE THIS CARD!  I love the colors, the simplicity, the way the stamps are layered!  I love it all!!!

Want to see what else is on sale this month?  Click here to check out all of the items that are 30% off!!!

Here are the supplies I used to create this card:
- Simple Friendship Stamp Set
- Whisper White Card Stock
- Crumb Cake Card Stock
- Crumb Cake Classic Ink
- Early Espresso Classic Ink
- Mat Pack
- Paper Piercing Tool
- 1-3/4" Circle Punch

Cinco de Mayo & Celebrating Divas!

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!  I wanted to share with you a stamp set many of you have probably never seen before, Cinco de Mayo!  It's part of Stampin' Up!s Spanish collection of stamps.  Did you know there's a whole catalog filled with Spanish stamps???  I bought a bunch a year or so ago with the intention of posting some projects on Cinco de Mayo!  Well, I finally did it!

This past Tuesday, I held a Mexican Fiesta for 11 of my demonstrators who achieved "Diva Night".  There are a variety of ways that they can earn it.  But, Diva Night is an evening where I provide dinner, stamping, and some stamping goodies.  Because I'm a HUGE fan of Mexican food, and because Cinco de Mayo was right around the corner, I made them a Mexican Fiesta!  I served them a menu of:
- Chips with homemade Pico and Guacamole
- Tacos
- Cilantro Rice
- Refried Beans
- Strawberry Shortcake or Boston Cream Pie

The Cilantro Rice recipe is a new favorite of mine.  I mix it up whenever I make it.  Here in S Jersey, it's hard to find Serrano Chiles.  I've omitted it before, used it, or used a Poblano Chile.  I also squeeze in the juice of a lime.  I'm not sure I've made it the same way any time.

Okay, back to Diva Night...after the Mexican feast, we did some stamping!  I designed four simple cards featuring the stamps in the Summer Mini Catalog.   I wanted them to be simple so that they could use them in their workshops.  Or, if they don't own the stamp sets, it was a nice addition to their sample basket for their workshops.  Everyone seemed to love them!

After stamping, I then "awarded them" the Diva Night award.  I created the Celebrate card shown at the top of this card for each of them.  I wrote a personalized message for each of them and created a Gift Certificate for FREE STAMPS in My Digital Studio!

Here are some pictures of the divas!  If you're interested in learning more about the opportunity to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and attend fun events like this one, give me a call (856-503-7459) or e-mail me (kristinkortonick@yahoo.com) or just sign up today!  I'd love to have you join our group!

From left to right:  Gail, Sue, Tanya, and April

From left to right:  Jill, Kristin, Lynn, and Megan

Kristin's concentrating on coloring those ties!!!

April and Tanya look happy to be Divas!

Lynn and Megan are really concentrating on something!!!

Gail and Sue are smiling about something - but there were a lot of smiles Tuesday night!

Jill is smiling, but is NOT happy that I made her cut out a flower!!!

 

Pretty Postage

I just love creating Love Notes - 3x3 mini cards!  They're fun and adorable!  And, based upon the comments on Sunday, I'm not alone in loving these guys!

Here are the supplies I used to make these three cards:
Stamps:  Pretty Postage, Touch of Kindness
Paper:  Melon Mambo CS, Daffodil Delight CS, Tempting Turquoise CS, Whisper White CS, Melon Mambo DSP, Daffodil Delight DSP, Old Olive CS, Tempting Turquoise DSP
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories:  Ribbon Punch, Pretty Postage Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Bird Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Whisper White Satin Ribbon, Pearls, Whisper White 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon

Strength and Hope Campaign

Did you notice the elegant stamp set on the last page of the new Summer Mini Catalog called Strength and Hope?  I made sure every person at my Open House saw it - we used it on one of the Make & Takes!  Stampin' Up! is donating $2 from your purchase of this stamp set to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation!  BCRF is dedicated to preventing breast cancer and finding a cure in our lifetime by funding clinical and translational research worldwide.  For more information about BCRF, visit www.bcrfcure.org.

I wanted to share with you some samples of cards that I've made with this beautiful set. 

The card on the left was the Make & Take from Sunday's open house.  The card in the center is a fun little 3x3 Love Note, and the card on the right was designed by Stampin' Up!  I "cased" it from our monthly Stampin' Success magazine!  Here are more details on each card:

Like I mentioned above, this first card was Sunday's Make & Take.  The colors used on the card are Whisper White, Crumb Cake (which everyone fell in love with), Rose Red, and Pink Pirouette.  The sentiment is actually an accident!  When I originally designed the card, I didn't have a sentiment.  But, at the last minute decided to stamp the "H".  Well, it was crooked.  Can you relate to that?  So, I quickly pulled out my "Hope Happens" stamp set, punched it out, and hid my mistake!

Next up is that cute little 3x3 love note.  Most of the cards that I've seen that use this set feature the butterfly cut out.  However, those antenna are a killer to cut! I love this butterfly cut out!  This card was also inspired by Stampin' Success magazine!  Of course they cut out their butterfly.  So I cheated!  I inked up the antenna, stamped it on my card base, then adhered my cut out butterfly (without the antenna) on top!  Don't you love that idea?!?!?!

Finally, here's a card that I cased from Stampin' Up!  I love that they send demonstrators a wonderful magazine packed full of business tips and projects and techniques every month!  I think I fell in love with the color combo on this card first!  Can you guess what colors I used?  I'ts Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Peach Parfait, Baja Breeze, and So Saffron.

MDS Monday - Cupcake Project

This week's challenge over on the Utah Divas Blog was to create a project in MDS that uses a Cupcake Stamp or the Build-a-Cupcake Punch.

Did you know that MDS now allows you to create tags?  That's what I chose to create this week since my cupcake image was tiny!  Imagine the possibilities!  If you're getting married, you could have personalized tags printed up for all of your favors.  Or they'd be perfect for Baby Showers - or any kind of shower for that matter!  Maybe that's what I'll do for Christmas this year!

Here are the digital elements that I used to create this tag:
- Big Bold Birthday "Stamp Set"
- Holiday Blitz "Stamp Set"
- So Saffron Textured Card Stock
- Whisper White Card Stock
- Certainly Celery Card Stock
- Rose Red "Ink"
- Certainly Celery "Ink"
- Scallop Circle Punch
- Circle Punch
- Scallop Border Punch
- Square Punch

Be sure to pop on over to the Utah Divas blog to see what everyone else created this week!

Did you know that as part of the National Scrapbooking Month promotion, several MDS products are also on sale?  Click here to learn more!

Also, if you are interested in becoming a demonstrator, you can join Stampin' Up! for only $122.50 (30% off) when you choose the Digital + Starter Kit which includes the MDS Software (a $79.95 value).

Introducing the 2011 Summer Mini Catalog!

Many of you have received this catalog in the mail and have told me how much you loved it!  Well, the wait is over!  The products contained within are available to purchase starting today!  And, to welcome the catalog properly, I'm hosting an Open House in its honor!

Feel free to stop by my house between 1pm and 8pm today to check out all of the new, wonderful products!  You can also sign up for all of my upcoming classes!  You can also sign up for my classes online if you can't attend my open house.

In addition to the new products in the mini, Stampin' Up! has also put a selection of stamps and MDS products on sale for 30% off during the month of May!  Be sure to check them out, too!

I hope to see you later today!!!