stampin the cold away

What to do on a cold winter day?  Make some hot chocolate, fire in the fireplace, favorite station on Pandora and STAMP!  Woo Hoo!  sounds like my kind of day!  Our winter has been wierd this year, setting records all over the place.  333 days with snowfall less than 1 inch and record temps (in the 60's!).  So I guess it is hard to complain when it gets cold now.  Well here is my card for today,

Hope that everyone has a great day!  Spend some of it stamping!

Paper Rosette Tutorial

Here is the tutorial for the rosette that I had on my thank you card.  There are a couple of different ways to do this and this is my method 1.  If anyone is interested, I might post method 2 one day!

Paper Rosette Tutorial

Method 1

Instructions by Cathy Auney inkspiredcardsandcrafts@gmail.com. Inspiration by many Demonstrators!

1.      Gather all supplies: Card Stock scraps and 1 to 1-1/2” Card Stock or Designer Series Paper Scrap Strips, 1-3/8” or 1-1/4” Circle Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, Pinking Hearts Border Punch, Crimper Sticky Strip, Glue Dots, Paper Snips, Buttons, Brads or other embellishments.

    

2. Punch a circle from the Card Stock scraps with one of the Circle Punches.

    

3. Punch Card Stock or DSP strips with Border Punch.

     

4. Run the punched Card Stock strips through the Crimper twice. (this will break down the Card Stock fibers and make it more flexible) *if using the DSP, only run it through once.

     

5. Smooth the crimped Card Stock out and apply the Sticky Strip. Remove the pink tape backing.

6.      Take one end of the Crimped Card Stock and put it on the edge of the Circle Punch.

7.      As you go around the edge of the circle, scrunch the Card Stock.

8.      Keep going around in a spiral until you get to the middle. 

     

9.Cut off the excess (if you cut it on an angle it looks better)

10.  For the center of your Rosette, use a Button, Brad, or other Embellishment to decorate the center. ( you can even use a 1/2” Circle Punch for this!)

 

11. Use Glue Dots to attach your Rosette to your card, scrapbook page or 3-D item!

3 X 3 Card

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial! I'd love to see your rosette and how you used it!  Post a comment with your project.

Quick and Cute Note Card

Just a quick and cute card today.  I used one of  our note cards and cut it down so that I could back it with a piece of card stock.  Love this look with a splash of color!  I also made the flower with a piece of Designer Series Paper.  A tutorial for making the flower will come soon.

Enjoy this quick thank you card!

Sale-A-Bration

I love January, February and March with Stampin' Up! This time is Sale-A-Bration!  With each $50.00 purchase from the main Catalog or the Spring Mini Catalog, you can get a free item from the Sale-A-Bration Catalog. Here is a card that I made with items that I received free!

I used Rich Razzleberry as the base card, Tangerine Tango, Basic Black and Whisper White Card Stock.  I also used Sycamore Street Designer Series Paper (free), Sycamore Street Ribbon and Button Pack (free) and the elephant stamp from Patterned Occasions stamp set (free).  Contact me today to place your order and get your free products!

inkspiredcardsandcrafts@gmail.com or shop 24 hours/day at http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx?email=C.AUNEY%40COMCAST.NET&phone=6302936181

s{ick}?

Today I participated in a chat and challenge.  Very easy sketch to follow!  I had fun chatting with my SUDSOL friends too.  I realized that I will probably never visit Winnipeg, Canada,  it was -40C today.  Brrrr,  too cold for me!  Here just outside of Chicago, IL it was a balmy 11F.  That is cold enough for me!
Speaking of colds, I know a lot of people that have been under the weather lately with colds, so here is my get well card to all of you!

I used the new Honeycomb Embossing Folder found in the mini catalog, on the piece of Whisper White card stock, and then on the Summer Smooch Designer Series Paper as well.  I then cut out the hexagon shapes to fill in some of the Whisper White.  Please e-mail or call me with any questions.  There is 24 hour shopping on my website!

Organized To Do List

I am part of an on-line group called SUDSOL. This stands for Simply Unique Demonstrators Sharing On Line. I absolutely LOVE these ladies. They inspire; share card, scrapbooking, class ideas; & swaps; are a shoulder to lean on or even cry on and they keep me going! The leadership board has been doing a 15 minute Business Builder Task post every day and have challenged us to work on these to help us build us business. Another way that SUDSOL is helping me! Sunday’s task was to do a Prioritized To Do List. Well I’ve tried to do to do lists in the past with spotty results. Enter in the great leaders at Stampin’ Up!
The past few days Stampin’ Up! held their Leadership Conference in Orlando, FL. There the demonstrators that went had a lot of fun, did a service project, got free Stampin’ Up! products, received new updates and did a lot of learning! One thing that was presented was an organizational tool. This was shared on SUDSOL. Claudia Perry started the information thread and Ingrid Blackburn chimed in. Thank you to these two ladies! Now back to my story!
 My husband and children bought this great white board (last March for my birthday) so I could use it in my business. My DH hung it right where I wanted it and I wrote my goals, to do list and a cute, meaningful saying on it. Well even with this, it didn't quite work for me. I even prioritized it by color coding it. But STILL it didn't work for me. Well today in the e-mails there was information from Claudia and Ingrid that just spoke to me; harps played, angels sang and that big light bulb went off! WOO HOO! This is what I needed! the post it note suggestion was probably the best part! I could move them around on my board as I needed! Also I could add or change the post it's when I needed to.
      Here is a picture of what I did to help get me and keep me organized.

At the top is a short but sweet saying that speaks to me.  I also have my goals written at the top.

the bottom part is divided into 4 sections.

I can add To Do items on post it notes to the 1st section, things that I need to do today go in the 2nd section.

  The 3rd section is divided into 2 sections

The top is To Do in Progress, these are things that I need to do that will take more than my standard 15 minutes.  (I try to break all of my to do items into 15 minute tasks.  If I know that something is going to take me 30 minutes I don't put it here, if I know that I can continue working right then. I will put it there if it is something that will take me a couple of days to complete.

The bottom is To Do that are Blocked or Stalled. There are things that I am waiting for to complete.  For example if I'm making a card and I don't have the right ribbon because it is in my order that hasn't come yet then I'll put that here.  Or if I need to make copies of something at the UPS store (love that place!) and I need those copies to complete my to do task, then it will go here. 

The last column (picture 3) is for To Do items that are Done but that are repeatable, such as blog posts, newsletter articles, sending cards, keeping my DBWS updated, etc. 

I am so excited that I have this new organizational and motivational tool to use! Thank you to SUDSOL and Stampin' Up! for being in tune with this timely tool to help me with my business!  I just love this company & I love my job! 

If you have different organizational practices or any time saver tips for me, please leave a comment!

Quiet Stamping Day

Quiet stamping day today. Just a quick thank you card, I'm going to need a bunch of these this week. I'll be sending out thank you's for all my Christmas gifts that I got and also to my customers for ordering last year! Send me a quick e-mail if you don't get one next week, I may not have your mailing address!

Now this is my kind of delivery truck!

Stampin’ Up! is on it’s way to Florida.  It is almost time for Leadership!  I’m not going this year, due to previous family plans, but next year… look for me there!  I would love for this truck to pull up to my front door and deliver my packages but I’ll keep the “man in brown”!  Love UPS!

Valentine Promotion

Valentine Treat Bundle
Just in time for your valentine creating, we're bringing you the Valentine Treat Bundle. This sweet bundle contains the all-new single stamp, Happy Valentine Heart, as well as a package of 1" x 8" cellophane bags. Use it to make treats for your child's classroom or for each of your 50 bestest friends. The possibilities are endless!

Order today because it's only available through January 21!

My Little Valentine Promotion
What? A second new stamp set? That's right! From January 3-21, purchase the brand-new My Little Valentine Stamp Set, and you'll get the Sealed with Love Simply Sent kit FREE! That's a $7.95 value for FREE just for buying a new stamp set that you'll definitely want to have anyway. Use the stamp set with the Simply Sent Kit to quickly create gorgeous love notes, or go out on your own and create something new and crazy-it's up to you! This four-piece set was created exclusively for this promotion and will not be available again after January 21! The My Little Valentine Stamp Set is only available in clear-mount.

Again, this offer and stamp set are only available through January 21, so contact me today!

Dates: January 3-21, 2013

Want to see these new items and make projects of your own?  I'm holding a class using these 2 products and showing you how you can make beautiful Valentines gifts for you or your loved ones! You will make 1 love note, 1 full sized card and 3 Valentine treat bags! The cost is only $15.00 for this fun event! Plus any thing that you order that day from the 2013 Spring Catalog or the Stampin' Up! catalog, I'll give you 10% off your order! Woo Hoo! Great projects, new stamps and fun with new and old friends, what better way to start the new year?

SIGN UP NOW! by contacting me at inkspiredcardsandcrafts@gmail.com

When: Monday, January 14, 2013 from 1-3pm or 6:30-8:30pm

Cost: $15.00

Where

: My Stampin' Spot in West Chicago, IL

2013 Spring Catalog
As if two new stamp sets weren't enough to go absolutely gaga over, the 2013 spring catalog is now available! 

More on that tomorrow! 

Sneak Peak

Don't you just love being the first one to see new things?  I love that I can tell my friends all about new products and projects! Tomorrow; January 3,2013; Stampin' Up! is releasing it's newest catalog!  The Spring Mini!!! I am loving all the ribbon, buttons, and accessories that are in this catalog.  Here is a sneak peak of the catalog and some cards that I've made with the new stamp sets!  I'll be releasing the full pictures of some of these cards once the catalog has been released. 

Come back often in the next few days for full views of these cards.  Contact me if you have any questions. You can always 24 shop hours a day to order any the items to make these products.
Thanks for stopping by, I'll chat with you tomorrow!

A New Year and a New Beginning

I am good about starting a blog, but not good with following through on keeping it going.  Well, it is a New Year and a New Beginning!  I've set new goals for myself this year.  One of them is to post a blog post every day.  I know that it is later in the evening on January 1st, but I didn't want to fail in this endeavor just because I worked all day at my part time job!  Check back every day or as often as you can for cards, scrapbook pages, gift items, tips, techniques and fun facts! There will be lots of pictures coming too.  Hopefully you will be inspired (or INKspired) by something that you see here!  Happy New Year everyone!