Stampin' with Kristin

Build-a-Bear Viewing Party - Part 2

Oh gosh, I realized I never posted pictures from my second Build-a-Bear event which was so very long ago.  One of my friends, Julie, who attended that night pointed it out to me a couple of weeks ago.  Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the projects they made, but check out the smiles on their faces!!!  Everyone had so much fun playing with the Build-a-Bear Workshop products offered by Stampin' Up!  Be on the lookout - new Build-a-Bear Workshop products are coming in the Occasions Mini Catalog later this week!

 

Build-a-Bear Workshop Parties

Last week I hosted my first of two Build-a-Bear Workshop parties.  My second one is tonight!  We had a great time!  Everyone had a chance to watch the new Holly & Hal movie and then make a couple of projects.  I think everyone had fun playing with the Build-a-Bear products. 

We made two projects.  The first used the stamp sets.  They watercolored the bears with a blender pen and watercolor crayons.  But, I think they most loved playing with the Big Shot Dies!  I pulled out my scrap bin and let them design their own bears.  I know how much I loved playing with the bears.

I wanted to share with you some of the photos I took...sorry if they're not great, I lost my camera for about a week!  I took these with my iPhone.

 

 

And here are just a few of the cards they made.  I LOVE their creativity!!!

This first card was made by Bonnie.  I love her use of the Christmas Cocoa patterned paper to make the clothes and accents!  I also love the rhinestone brads.  She's adorable!
 

This next card was Jane's.  Check out the details!  I LOVE the baseball bat.  How'd she do that?  That's the Word Window punch shaped to look like a baseball bat.  She then drew the woodgrain using the blender pens and watercolor crayons (I think).

 

Finally is Suzie's!  Isn't this little ballerina adorable?  She used the Snowflake Punch to make the skirt.

Build-A-Bear Workshop® and Viewing Parties!

I've been chomping at the bit for the last few days to share this news with you!  I've been selected as one of only 60 demonstrators across the United States to host a couple of exclusive Build-A-Bear Workshop®/Viewing Party events in December!

Last year, Build-A-Bear Workshop® introduced Holly & Hal Moose™ plush animals for the holiday season. They became the top-selling holiday plush in the history of BABW. In 2009, these two adorable animals get their own animated television special that will appear on ABC Family Television the week of Thanksgiving.  At my workshop/viewing party, you will get the chance to watch the animated television special on DVD and make some adorable projects.  Of course I'll have a bunch of tasty snacks as well.  I may even have some sneak peek products that will be available in the Occasions Mini Catalog.

I'm still waiting to hear what info I can and cannot share with you at this time!  But, I will tell you that each attendee will go home with some free stuff from Build-A-Bear Workshop® and will have the opportunity to make some free projects using our Build-A-Bear Workshop® line of products!

If you're interested, I've set aside two dates for my parties!  Friday, December 4th at 7pm and Thursday, December 10th at 7pm.  Space is limited, so please e-mail me at (kristinfuller@aol.com) if you're interested in attending!!!  And, I'll post more information as I learn more.

However, in the spirit of Build-A-Bear Workshop®, I'm posting a couple of additional samples that I made back in September.  I don't believe I've shared these with you - and these probably won't be the projects you're making in December.  I just thought I needed a corresponding project to go with today's post!  These projects I CASEd directly from Stampin' Up! - these were both projects they shared during convention.

Thoroughly Modern Build-a-Bear Office Accessories

The next set of items I'd like to share from my Fall Fest Build-a-Bear display is my "Thoroughly Modern Build-a-Bear Office Accessory Collection".  Wow, that's a mouthful!

The first piece in the collection that I made was the folder.  This was something that was shown in the Stampin' Success Magazine - it's a magazine that demonstrators receive each month.  It's packed full of ideas!  Then, I saw it again on Patty Bennett's blog - including instructions.  The folder is actually made out of the Thoroughly Modern File Folders on page 169 of the Idea Book and Catalog.  After you get over your fear of cutting into the folder, it's easy to make!  But, you shouldn't have much fear - they come as a pack of 12....plenty of backups!  I also picked up some small notepads at the local office supply store and adhered it in the folder with sticky strip.  Using some of the leftover scraps, I was even able to decorate the notepad!  I decorated my folder with a coordinating Build-a-Bear!

The folder then inspired the bulletin board.  It actually happened completely by accident.  This one is another 2am creation.  And, I'm pretty proud of myself!  I had some 12x12 cork sitting around from a recent trip to my drug store.  YES!  I found 12x12 sheets of cork at a drug store.  The 12x12 frame was an old frame that had been collecting dust.  I popped out the glass and it worked perfectly!  I adhered some Throughly Modern DSP to the wooden frame using Tombo Anywhere Adhesive - it worked GREAT!  I cut out some bear paws for the corner using my Embosslit!  Finally, I made a bear that matched my folder's bear and used Glue Dots to attach her to the board.  I then cut out the "notes" word from Bermuda Bay Card Stock and adhered them as well with Glue Dots.

To round out the collection, I emptied a can of soup...right down the drain...washed out the can, and wrapped some more DSP around the can, some coordinating ribbon, and a little stamped embellishment.

I thought this collection looked a little more grown-up!  What do you think?  Here are some close-ups of the projects:

Build-a-Bear Outfits

OH MY GOSH!!!  Can I just tell you...I'm COMPLETELY addicted to dressing silly bears!  I could just spend hours pairing up DSP and card stock and figuring out what else to make using the dies.  For example, you can take the bear's pants and cut them down to be shorts or capris.  You can also tear the edge for a more casual look.  Santa's outfit works great as PJs for the bears!  And there are a ZILLION different things to do with the girl's skirt...ballerina, cheerleader...I'm still looking for a teeny tiny poodle so that I can make it into a poodle skirt!  Here are twelve different outfits I pulled together for my Fall Fest display.  Some of them are originals, some of them are straight from the Mini Catalog, and some of them are from out in blogland (Tamie Ackerson).

Build-a-Bear Fest!

Get ready for a Build-a-Bear fest!  Today I'm demonstrating the Build-a-Bear products to a group of about 120 demonstrators at our Fall Fest event!  It's a fabulous event where demonstrators from all over the Northeast...and then some...get together to stamp, swap, share, inspire, create, and chat!  It's SO much fun.  At today's event, we're lucky enough to have TWO fabulous demonstrators from Ohio demonstrate and teach us some stamping techniques - Karen Barber (my "grandma" in the SU family) and Michelle Zindorf (one of my "aunts" in the SU family) - both stamping "royalty"!

I thought I'd give you a sneak peek of one of the projects I've made to display.  It was inspired by a project shown at convention.  It's a dress-up bear game.  I've cut lots of clothes and accessories out of DSP and magnet sheets.  It's SO simple to make magnets with your Big Shot.  I found self-adhesive sheets online.  I just cut the DSP and the magnet sheet to the size I needed, adhered the DSP to the magnet, then ran it through the Big Shot! I placed a circular magnet to the back of a couple of SU containers.  One is for boys clothes.  One is for girls clothes.  It keeps them all nice and organized.

(Side note....I made this project at 1am on Friday morning.  When decorating the tin I was very focused on choosing colors that coordinated with the teal tin.  Apparently I forgot the tin was teal when I dressed my bear!  What was I thinking???  Olive Sweater???  Oh gosh!  It's still cute, though!

I used an empty Hodgepodge Hardware box as the case (thanks, Tina, for the idea).  It's the perfect travel-size companion!  I decorated the box - and turned it into a purse (inspired by a convention project from a few years back).  I think the result is absolutely adorable.

I'll be sharing more of the projects over the next few days.  But, let me tell you....these little guys are ADDICTIVE!!!  I couldn't stop cutting out little bears - trying to find new ways to use their accessories.