Happy Easter!

I went to our quarterly PhillyInkers brunch today, and I brought these eggs to share with everyone. We also did a Shoebox Swap, so I'll be posting pictures of that soon. I had a bunch of rub-ons leftover from the Sale-a-Bration special, so I thought I would try them out on plastic Easter eggs. After some experimentation, I would say that the smaller images work better on curved surfaces. Have you had a chance to play with the new rub-ons yet? We made some cards with Rub-ons at our Stamp-a-Stack last weekend.

Does anyone know the history of Easter Eggs? I have been helping lead the kids group at my church recently, and we died eggs together on Sunday. We had a great time discussing the great symbolism of Easter eggs. Eggs are potential, new life, anticipation, and new beginnings. We had fun celebrating together. For more on the history of Easter eggs, check out the Easter Egg entry on wikipdedia.

I have really gotten into preparing for Easter this year. I have found the season of Lent to be a time of introspection and anticipation. For the first time ever, I actually gave up something for Lent. I've always been a bit skeptical about giving things up for Lent, since I know my tendency for drama and I feared that I would make a big to-do about my sacrifice. In past years, I've felt like it has been more beneficial for me to add things in to my life during the season of Lent - disciplines like praying, reading Scripture, listening to God. While I certainly am still working on those inward practices, this year, I chose to give up chocolate. I have to say, I had no idea how much chocolate I eat. It has been really challenging! I have tried to not make a big deal about giving it up, but I have had to acknowledge my choice several times as I was offered various chocoaltey treats. Sometime tomorrow, I plan to visit Philadelphia's Naked Chocolate to celebrate the end of my fast! They have this fabulous Drinking Chocolate, pictured above.


At dawn, I'll be attending a sunrise service marking Jesus' resurrection, and then I'm heading over to a friend's house for Easter brunch. How are you marking Easter this year? Post a comment letting us know the way you'll mark the day, and you will be entered into a drawing some Sale-a-Bration rubons, pictured at the left. To see a larger picture, just click on the image.

A Way to Budget Your Stamping Expenses - Stampers 6 Club

I'm looking for a few good stampers. If you are looking for a way to budget your spending on craft and scrapbooking supplies, the Stampers 6 Club may be a good solution for you. I am looking for 6 stampers to commit to ordering $25 of merchandise every other month for a year. Club members would place their orders together, and take turns receiving the hostess benefits on the months they order. If you have any questions about how the club would work or you would like to join the Stampers 6, contact me by April 1. I hope to place the first Stampers 6 order by April 15.

Here are a few more details:
Stampers 6 Club will keep you in stamps, accessories and more with a $25 order every other month. You may order anything you want from any of our current catalogs- and you receive the Hostess Benefits one out of those 6 months!

• Order amount: $25 minimum


• Commitment Time: 12 months (ordering every other month)


• Order by: 15th of each month (April, June, August, October, December, February)


• When am I the hostess? Hostessess go in rotating order of who joins the club first.
• Do we meet or do I have to have people to my home? No, but you can if you want to!
• Anything else I need to know? You will receive the Idea Book and Catalog FREE as well as specials and offers just for Stamper’s Club Members!!
  
  E-mail me at alison@shilohstamps.com if you would like to sign up.

Stamp-a-Stack Sneak Peak

There are still 2 spots left for Friday evening's Stamp-a-Stack and several spots available for Saturday afternoon. Here's a sneak peak at some of the cards we'll be making. Tiffany and I have planned 3 card-making stations, where stampers will make 4 of each card.

Here are 2 versions of a Stamp-a-Stack card using the same supplies. Both cards feature the Friendship Blooms Sale-a-Bration stamp set and the coordinating Love and Happiness Sale-a-Bration rub-ons. During Sale-a-Bration, customers receive a free stamp set for every $50 of merchandise ordered. Sale-a-Bration ends Monday, March 17, so contact me today to place your Sale-a-Bration order. To download the Sale-a-Bration brochure, click http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/US_SAB_08.pdf

For more details about this weekend's Stamp-a-Stack and registration information, go to http://gtownstampastack.eventbrite.com/

So Many Scallops - So Many Possibilities

I love this new stamp set, So Many Scallops! I have been enjoying learning new ways to use the scallop punch, and this stamp set makes creating unique cards super-simple. These four looks use the same supplies:

• So Many Scallops Stamp Set
• Canvas background stamp
• Print Pattern background stamp
• Night of Navy cardstock
• Mellow Moss Cardstock
• Ultrasmooth Vanilla Cardstock
• Mellow Moss classic ink
• Whisper White craft ink
• Night of Navy classic ink
• Night of Navy grosgrain ribbon
• scallop punch
• brayer

The So Many Scallops stamp set is part of the Sale-a-Bration promotion, and so this stamp set is only available until March 17. During the Sale-a-Bration promotion, customers receive a free stamp set for every $50 order, so this stamp set is actually free! Contact me today at alison@shilohstamps.com to place an order.

Next week's Spring Stamp a Stack will feature products from the Sale-a-Bration catalog and the new Occasions mini catalog. Click http://gtownstampastack.eventbrite.com/ for details and registration information.

I made these 4 cardfronts using my supplies from the Feb. 23 PhillyInkers Stamp and Scrap University. Each participant received a 6x6 scrapbook, and then filled it with 24 technique pages. These samples show the double background technique. We used a brayer to ink the print pattern background stamp with mellow moss ink and then used a brayer to ink the Canvas background background stamp. Voila! Double backgrounds. That picture over on the right is a brayer, and it makes using background stamps even easier. I like the way the finished card looks like a screened door. For some great pictures of the Stamp and Scrap University, check out Tiffany's recent TLKreations blog post.

Announcing Germantown Stamp-a-Stack

I have been asking around to see what kinds of classes would be most helpful, and I have learned that people would love to attend a Stamp a Stack. A Stamp-a-Stack is an event where stampers make several copies of a very similar card. This gives stampers the opportunities to experiment with different sentiments, interchange images, and have lots of cards to take home and send to friends. So Tiffany and I have planned a Stamp-a-Stack for March 14 and 15. We will be featuring some products from the Sale-a-Bration catalog and the Occassions mini. During Sale-a-Bration, customers receive a free stamp set for every $50 purchase until March 17. The Occassions mini debuts on March 1, and it's full of fresh ideas for Spring.

Follow this link for details on how to register: http://gtownstampastack.eventbrite.com/

Stamp-a-Stack attendees will receive a stamp on their Shiloh Stamps Frequent Stamper card, pictured above. Frequent Stampers who receive 5 stamps on their card receive the 6th class free!

Cards of Love

I had a wonderful Valentine's Day. How about you? My dear husband and I gave each other homemade cards. He made me a card that had pictures from each year of our five years together. Very sweet! Here's the card I gave him. I have to say, it's one of my favorite cards I've ever made. I made it a couple years ago, and I couldn't bear to give it away.

It uses a retired stamp set called Sweet of You, and a background called Handstitched. This was my first attempt at stitching on a card, and I have to say it's not too shabby. It's hard to tell, but I used Crystal Effects on the cake dome to make it look like glass. I love this color combination, too - close to cocoa, Chocolate Chip, and Regal Rose. Just sounds like Valentine's Day, doesn't it?



I have also been playing with my new A Little Birdie Told Me stamp set. Here's a wedding card I made for a swap with the PhillyInkers. I used a fun fold to showcase the 2-part sentiment. I have also used this set to make birthday cards. There's an itty birthday party hat with this set too. I gave those all away before I scanned a sample. Guess I'll just have to make some more!

This card uses:
A Little Birdie Told Me Stamp Set
Brocade Blue, Basic Black, and Confetti cardstock (recycled!)
Black Staz-On Ink
Brocade Blue and Sahara Sand classic ink pads
AquaPainter for watercoloring

What are your plans for Valentine's Day?

I've gotten some lovely Valentine's cards from my PhillyInkers friends lately, so I thought I'd share. I plan to make my own Valentines this weekend, so I'll be posting those soon.






Ilina Crouse made this lovely card using the White Magic Technique and the True Friend Stamp set. White Magic is one of the techniques we'll be teaching at Stamp and Scrap University on Feb. 23. Click the link below for more details. It's not too late to register!

http://www.stampandscrapuniversity.eventbrite.com/















Claire made this lovely card using the Sweet Shapes set and the black gingham ribbon. I love how she sprinkled the hearts with Dazzling Diamonds glitter! By the way, today's her birthday, so stop by her blog to wish her a Happy Birthday!









Tiffany made this Love Note card using the Embrace Life stamp set. She used this card as a Make and Take at her recent workshop.




















Kristin made this card using the Pick a Petal stamp set. I love how Purely Pomegranate and Groovy Guava work together so well. She added a pearl from the Pretties kit for a little extra flair.