PPA 151- Sketch Challenge

When I saw the sketch for this week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge I instantly thought "gate fold card."  I think this card is bright and cheery with the Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP from the new Spring Catalog.  I dusted off my Circle Circus stamp set and put it to good use.  Sale-A-Bration started today and you'll want to make sure to add this paper to your $50 order.  I hope you like it.

Supplies: Lucky Limeade paper, Pacific Point paper, Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP, Lucky Limeade ink, Pacific Point ink, Melon Mambo ink, Circle Circus stamp set.

Leadership 2013- a recap

I was fortunate to be able to travel to Orlando, FL last weekend for the Stampin' Up Leadership Conference.  They're celebrating 25 years as a company and they treated us well! :)  Last year was my first year to attend Leadership and I really loved all the business tips that I walked away with.  This year did not disappoint.  They had several new product announcements and lots of new things they're going to try out. 

My favorite breakout session was presented by Brandi Barnard and Meg Daves called "Creating a Blueprint for Success."  They talked about a new tool available to demonstrators that will help us figure out how much each card or project will cost.  I think that's one of the toughest things for me: creating a project that is cost effective.  One of the things they said was that we needed to create a track for our business because you "can't get off track if you don't have a track to be on."  One of my goals for the year is to figure out my "track". 

Another session I attended was called "Meet New People, Find New Faces" by Shannon West.  I've seen her present several times and she always has a good presentation.  She gave us 10 different areas to think about to meet new people.  I know I need to be better about telling people about what I love.  I meet lots of new people every week and I don't tell them how cool Stampin Up is.

Holly Linford and Lynsay Mahon presented a session called "Success Strategies to Empower Your Downline."  I loved how Lynsay broke down the needs of someone new to Stampin' Up and talked about how to help them weed through it all.  I know I am so thankful that my upline took time with me when I joined.  One of the highlights of Leadership was getting to meet all my fellow Pals (my upline's group) and talk with them in person.  Here's a photo of us from pajama night.

I'd love to have you join me for Leadership 2014.  Ask me how to join!

A (tough) Double Dare Challenge

As a kid I grew up without cable [gasp, I know! Abuse, right?] but I remember going to my Grandma's house and watching Nickelodeon as much as she'd let me.  One of my favorite shows was Double Dare.  I loved watching the families do the challenges and get slimmed.  Two of my "pals" have started a Double Dare Challenge.  They each come up with a card element separately and then share with one another and you have to combine both elements.  This week the challenge was to use the color blue and to do a one layer card.  I found this a lot harder than I first thought it would be.  I guess I use layers more than I think I do.  I am pretty "type A", but for some reason I don't like using a stampamajig so the image is a little off center.  I think it's close enough that I'm still going to use it [don't judge!].  Be sure to visit Nina Dee's blog to learn more about the challenge.  I'm sure you'll have fun playing along too.

Here's my single layer card using blue.

getting my mojo back....

I took some time to hang out with the family over the holiday's and I'm trying to get back into the crafting/stampin' groove.  I find that challenges- sketch and color- help me get going.  Today I have a card that does both! (I love multi-tasking).  I'm rooming with two of my favorite Stampin' Up demonstrators at the Leadership Conference this week [Ginger Tiovonen and Ann Schach] and I wanted to take a special card for both of them.  A lot of people do major swapping and I just don't have the time for that.  I do enjoy exchanging with a few people though- just so I have a few different style samples for my customers to look at. 

Here's my card:

It's the sketch from Sketch Frenzy Friday (#122812) and the colors from the Nacho Average Challenge (#28).  I know I've said it before....but I LOVE the way Stampin' Up's colors coordinate and go with all the other products.  When I saw the Nacho colors of Marina Mist, Island Indigo and Lucky Limeade I knew I had hit the jackpot with the Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP (my only item from the spring catalog- so far).  I dusted off my Create a Cupcake set and had fun playing around with it.  What do you think?  Would you want this happy card for your birthday?

PPA 150- A color challenge

I'm getting ready to head to Orlando for the Stampin' Up Leadership Conference.  I'm looking forward to the getaway and the chance to re-energize my business.  I went last year for the first time and came back with a LOT of good information.  I'm expecting just as much (and maybe some free stuff too!).  I'll be sure to share that with you when I come back.  For now, I have a few challenge cards that I've made up and wanted to get posted before I left town.  There's still time for you to play along, too.  Here's my card for the Pals Paper Arts (PPA) Color Challenge.  I haven't ordered any new products from the spring catalog so I realized that I didn't have any Valentine's stamps (I'll have to make sure to correct that!).  It stretched me a little farther because the color combo just screams "Valentines" to me.  I think I might save this for a graduation card. 

Let me know what you think.  If you have any questions about what I used just send me a quick email.  I love hearing from you!