A little bit of happiness

Part of my daily routine is checking the Stampin' Up demonstrator website, since they post new samples of cards and scrapbook pages daily. It's a great place for ideas and inspiration. Here's one of today's samples, by Michelle VanWiggeren. I like how it shows a trail of dots tracing the path of the butterfly. The card also uses Stampin' Pastels for some soft coloring. It features the A Little Bit of Happiness hostess set that Amy P. just earned as part of the Stampers 6 Club.

Here are the other supplies it uses:

Paper:
CARD STOCK APRICOT APPEAL 8 1/2X11
CARD STOCK ALMOST AMETHYST 8 1/2X11
CARD STOCK CERTAINLY CELERY 8 1/2X11
CARD STOCK WHISPER WHITE 8 1/2X11

Inks:
CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD APRICOT APPEAL, BASIC BLACK
STAMPIN WRITE MARKERS SOFT SUBTLES

Accessories:
STAMPIN PASTELS
SNAIL ADHESIVE PERMANENT
CRYSTAL EFFECTS

If you would like access to the Stampin' Up Demonstrator website, which includes thousands of professional samples, patterns, and business resources, consider signing up to be an SU demonstator. During the month of May, SU is offering 20% off the regular price of the new demonstrator Starter Kit and a free Hodgepodge Hardware set for everyone who enrolls in May. Click here for more details, or e-mail me at alison@shilohstamps.com.

Free Shipping now until April 30

Since I haven't done any classes or workshops this month, I'm offering FREE STANDARD SHIPPING from now until April 30. This would be a great time to take advantage of the Free Wheelin' special, which is a free coordinating Stampin' Around when you order any of 6 pre-selected stamp sets. All of the Free Wheelin' wheels feature the jumbo wheels, which I find much more forgiving to use. Contact me today at alison@shilohstamps.com to place your order and take advantage of free shipping.

Also, here's a picture of the swap I made for our PhillyInkers meeting a few weeks back. I made a whole bunch of these, and I've been using them for all sorts of cards - thank you cards, sympathy cards, birthday cards, Thinking of You. I like that it's a pretty neutral floral motif that can be used for many different purposes. Here are the supplies for the card:

• From the Garden hostess set


• Basic Grey, Pretty in Pink, and Regal Rose Cardstock


• Basic Grey Taffeta Ribbon (new in the Spring Summer catty)


• Rhinestone Brads in Fire (the rhinestone is pink, but it's hard to tell from the scan)

I got the Fire and Ice rhinestone brads free as part of Great Rewards, an incentive program for Stampin' Up demonstrators. They are $10.95 a box, and I got both boxes FREE! Let me know if you would like to know more about the benefits of being a Stampin' Up demonstrator.

Sale-a-Bration is Here!

Starting today, when you place a $50 order you receive a free limited-edition stamp set from the Sale-a-Bration catalog. When you place a $100 order, you receive 2 free stamp sets. There's no limit to the number of free sets you can earn! This is one of the best specials during the Stampin' Up calendar year.

Here's the link to the Sale-a-Bration catalog. I especially like So Many Scallops, a collection of stamps that coordinate perfectly with the scallop punch. Contact me today at alison@shilohstamps.com to place your Sale-a-Bration order.

Gift Wrapping Fun

My satin ribbon arrived the other day, and I think it's so elegant! Here's a gift I wrapped for new demonstrator Tiffany King, using the Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon, the On Board trimmings snowflake as a gift tag/ornament, and the Holiday Harmony paper as a belly band around the gift. Isn't it lovely? This didn't take very long to make, either. Us PhillyInkers are having a brunch over at Claire's tomorrow, so I'm hoping to bring some special gifts along. Here's the first one!

On Sunday, I'm having a Gift-Tag Making Drop-In. We'll drink egg nog, make some creative gift tags, and play with some stamps from the catalog. If you stop by, you'll also receive a voucher for a Spring-Summer Collection catalog when I receive them. Hope to see you Sunday!

Designer Series Paper is on sale!

Stampin' Up has announced another great special this month - Buy 3, Get 1 free on all Designer Series Papers. I have really enjoyed using this paper for cards, 3-D projects, Christmas ornaments, scrapbooking, and all sorts of other things. If you click designer paper in my link list on the right, you'll see all the blog posts that inlcude designer series paper.

Here's a link that shows a large swatch of each of the papers.

Here's a link to some project ideas that use the Designer Series papers.

Here's a link to a list of colors that coordinate with our Designer Series Papers.

Jon's Birthday Special - stamps at 40% off!

Jon's birthday is tomorrow, and I'm in the mood to celebrate. Stampin' Up is offering the Wishing You Cheer stamp set at 20% until November 3, and I'm going to increase the savings to 40% for my blog readers. That means the set, regularly priced at $13.95 is now $8.37. It includes 4 stamps that would be perfect for holiday cards, gift tags, and ornaments.

If you would like to order this set, please e-mail me at alison@shilohstamps.com by tomorrow. Please include "Jon's birthday special" in your subject line.

Simply Sent Kits - 20% off plus free shipping

To commemorate World Card-Making Day (Oct. 6), Stampin' Up is offering 20% off their Simply Sent kits from today until October 8. To sweeten the deal, I'm offering free shipping as well. Here are some samples using one of the kits. Contact me at alison@shilohstamps.com to place an order
Super-stamper Erica made these cards using supplies from the Friendship Shapes Simply Sent card kit. Aren't they cute? In the first card, Erica used only supplies that are included the kit:

• Cameo Coral, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, and Whisper White cardstock
• stamps
• Cameo Coral stampin' spot
• Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon

This kit also includes:

• 4 piece die-cut stamp set (that means no trimming for you)
• Bashful Blue Stampin' Spot
• Certainly Celery Stampin' Spot
• light blue gingham ribbon
• stampin' dimensionals
• glue dots
• 12 whisper white envelopes

That means you get all the ingredients for making a minimum of 10 cards for $34.36 (regular price is $42.95).
Erica made this Certainly Celery card as one of her swaps at the Stampin' Up Regional Convention in Philadelphia. The background is Certainly Celery, from the Simply Sent kit, and Erica used Whisper White craft ink on Basic Black cardstock in the middle of this card. Then she stamped another image from the kit in Basic Black on the Certainly Celery background. I love the whimsical style of this card.

Here are some samples using the other Simply Sent kits, which include:

• Happy Day - great for birthdays, includes a cute snowflake, includes supplies to make 20 cards!

• Sending Happy Thoughts - a lovely flower and hip colors
• Simple Delights - an ornate motif in Anna Griffin style
• Three Thoughts - Happy Birthday, thanks, and thinking of you

Fall Frenzy - stamps at 30% off!

Stampin' Up has just announced Fall Frenzy, one of the specials I've seen yet as demonstrator. They're offering 30% off selected Fall stamp sets with a $30 purchase until Sept. 30.

Here's the deal:

Spend $30 in regular priced merchandise and qualify to purchase one of each of the six promotional stamp sets at 30 percent off!

• Bitty Boos Too (Item 105355, page 26) discounted price $12.57
  
• Haunting Halloween (Item 109284, page 29) discounted price $13.27
  
• Thoroughly Thankful (Item 107383, page 30) discounted price $16.07 - I just ordered this one, so I'll post some samples when I get to play with it a bit. I'm planning on using these for Thanksgiving invitations, placecards, and favors. (here's a link to a sample)
  
• Autumn Fest (Item 109373, page 108) discounted price $16.77 - This is the set used in the card above.
  
• Elementary Essentials (Item 109421, page 91) discounted price $19.57
  
• Stem Silhouettes (Item 110366, page 17 from the Holiday Mini Collection) discounted price $22.37

Contact me at alison@shilohstamps.com if you would like to place an order.

Shiloh Stamps Early Christmas Special

Get started on Christmas cards this summer!

So I've gotten inspired by reading The Martha Rules. Since I'm starting a new crafty business, my mom gave me Martha Stewart's rulebook about starting a new business. I admit, I was skeptical, but the lady has sure made some dough with all her cooking/cleaning/crafty tips. Much to my chagrin, the book opens by Martha talking about doing time. She says that while she was locked up, lots of women approached her with business ideas. You see, when people do time, they have lots of time to think and dream about what can happen on the outside. At the minimum-security facility where Martha paid her debt to society, many of the women had aspirations about starting businesses. Martha described one pair of ladies who had drawn up a business plan with lots of specifics and concrete plans. Martha decided that she could help others with entrepreneurial spirits by putting some of her lessons learned into a book.

In the chapter entitled "Teach so you can Learn", she tells how business owners should 'think like a customer'. So I started thinking about what my customers have told me. Many have said that they would like to make birthday cards and they have trouble keeping up with birthdays. So I knew I was on track with planning my birthday calendar workshop I hosted earlier this week. Many others told me they would like to make homemade Christmas cards. Then I thought about what challenges people face in trying to make Christmas and birthday cards. I addressed all of these challenges by designing the Shiloh Stamps Early Christmas Special. For many stampers, the first challenge after choosing the perfect stamp set is getting those darn stamps mounted. This was a pain for me for 3 years until I got the Craft and Rubber Scissors as part of my new demonstrator kit. Now it takes me minutes to mount a stamp set. Another barrier to making cards is not having all the right supplies, so I will pledge to help my stampers inventory their supplies and order the proper quantities. The next challenge is cutting all that cardstock, which can be difficult if you don't have a paper trimmer. Finally, I decided it would be helpful to make each stamper a page of address labels. So here's the Shiloh Stamps early Christmas Special, inspired by The Martha Rules.

Many of you have told me that you would like to start on your Christmas cards early this year, or perhaps make handmade Christmas cards for the first time this year. I would love to help you make that happen. I have designed a special to help you bypass some of the challenges that can keep you from getting your cards done in a timely manner. I will help you by mounting your stamps, cutting your cardstock, and making return address labels if you follow the steps below:

1. I can help you design a card that suits your style and schedule, whether simple or complex, modern or classic, bold or subtle; I would love to help you design your cards. I am hosting a Christmas in August Stamp Camp to help people design their Christmas cards.

2. You take a look at your address book and decide how many home-made cards you would like to send.

3. I will help you inventory what supplies and quantities you will need to complete your cards.

4. You place an order by August 29 that includes:
page numbers refer to the Fall-Winter Collection 2007
a. A stamp set –or- wheel and handle
b. Ink (pp. 165-167, 186)
c. Cardstock (pp. 165-167, 170-179) - colors, neutrals, designer paper included
d. Adhesive(p.185) - includes SNAIL, glue dots, etc.
e. Embellishments (pp.178, 187-191) - ribbon, brads, eyelets, etc.
f. Envelopes (p. 169)

5. When your order arrives, I will
a. Cut and mount your stamps
b. Cut your cardstock into cards
c. Print a page of custom address labels for you

For all those who take advantage of this promotion, I will schedule a special Christmas card assembly session in September. We will meet at my home and work on our cards together, and maybe even listen to Christmas music.

Remember – this offer ends August 29, so contact me soon and we can start designing your Christmas cards together.

alison@shilohstamps.com