Year 2023 Ending

 THE 2023 YEAR ENDS...AND 2024 BEGINS!

For me the months of November and December flew by.  At first, I was consumed with preparing and participating in the St. Timothy's Holiday Craft Fair.  It only lasts one day, but it seems like I work on it for the entire year.  Any spare time is spent researching new ideas, buying needed supplies, and finally organizing and creating new products for sale.  

Next came Thanksgiving...we traveled to see our son and his family and enjoyed family and cooler weather brings us to December.

And of course, we're focusing on the tree. A few days into December my husband fell and ended up in the hospital and rehab center.  So he hasn't seen the tree and I've spent December through the first weeks running back and forth to see him and taking care of our fur baby brown lab.  

So finding time to do any stamping, posting, watching You Tube, etc., just didn't get to the top of the list.

It's New Year's Resolution time again...Organize my crafting supplies/room and be consistent on blogging and posting.  Any recommendations on how to assure success?  (Any suggestions posted below will result in a gift sent to you from me.)

My PaperCrafting class which meets bi-weekly is busy making cards with the new Lavender Designer Paper and coordinating Paper Pumpkin kit.   

The New Year brings a new mini catalog. YES! The new Mini Catalog became active on January 4th and ends in April 2024. (See link to the right)  Sale-a-Bration also started January 4th and ends February 29th.  This is a great way to receive FREE items unique to the Sale-a-Bration brochure. 

 

There's also a great new product only available as a selection when you JOIN!  You can get to choose  $125 products from any current catalog for only $99 and select the new product FREE.  What's the new product?  A GLASS MAT!  It allows you to stamp on it, emboss on it, ink areas to use for blending, and so much more!  It's a perfect size (although the cutter must be slightly slanted to fit).  If this doesn't get your heart pumping, you can choose to select additional products.  Interested?  Select the button to the right and it'll take you directly to joining assistance.

Or, you can opt out purchasing the glass mat and select to purchase an additional $30 worth of product!  What a WIN!   And, you'll be able to get 20% off your additional purchases (after the starter kit) PLUS as Sale-a-Bration continues into February, as a demonstrator you'll be able to receive FREE items for every $50 or multiple of $50 you purchase!  (Reminder: as you get 20% off the actual cost to you of items is $40 for demonstrators!). 

PLUS!  You have until June 2024 to meet your first $300 minimum purchase level.  This means you can receive the 20% discount on all the items listed in the NEW!!! 2024 - 2025 Annual Catalog!  And as usual, you have all the Online Store items.  As a Demonstrator, you'll receive a special release date to demonstrators (meaning you'll be able to purchase the new products a MONTH before they are released to customers.  

Of course, if by June 2024, you haven't reached the minimum $300 minimum purchase level, you simply return to being my customer!  

So much offered when you join Stampin' Up! and it's so easy to join!  Just contact me or Stampin' Up! Customer Service (800-782-6787 MT).

AND Sale-a-Bration products have added new items for February!  Check out the link to the right at the top!  Unbelievable...new Designer Paper, punches, and so much more!  

Now it's beginning of February!!!  Better get this posted or it'll be March!!!

Don't forget the Spring Crop at the Park being held on February 17th!  If you'd like to come and join us, be sure to email me at: creatingtreasures123@gmail.com ASAP because we're fill-in up.  FINAL cut off is Tuesday, February 6th.

And the next Papercrafting class is Friday, February 9th from 10:00 am to Noon.  Again, email me if you'd like more information.

Take care and stay warm...summer is coming!

--  Janice

Beautiful Paper Pumpkin + Free Shipping on Stampin' Up! Products!

 

Get everything you need to create shimmery, sparkling Christmas cards!

                                                THIS PAPER PUMPKIN KIT INCLUDES:

                • 8 card bases; 4 each of 2 designs • 8 coordinating envelopes    
                • 1 Real Red Stampin’ Spot
                • 1 glitter glue

                • Beautifully detailed precut pieces • 1 photopolymer stamp set

Yes, the holidays are only weeks away and if you haven't started on your cards, you are LATE!  So to get off to a beautiful start, look at this Paper Pumpkin Kit!  It makes 8 cards with envelopes and includes GLITTER GLUE!  Check back for some ideas of how to get many more cards out of the kit....but order NOW!  You must order by tomorrow, October 10th to get your kit.  

And speaking of holiday cards, the popular sets of Night Divine and Dies (Bundle 161997, $48.50) was used to created the card below.  Simple yes, but isn't it inspirational?  With the complete set of dies, you can create cards with the entire holy scene or choose parts (as shown below). Plus the beautiful sentiments in the stamp set to use with the dies, with other stamp sets, or alone.  Both the dies and stamps come together in a truly popular holiday bundle. Order it along with the scenic Designer Paper, "Oh Holy Night" (161986, $12.50) used in the card below.

And to further help you to get started on your holiday cards, from Monday, October 9th to Wednesday, October 11th, you receive free shipping for orders of $75 or more (not including taxes).

So get started!!!  Holiday movies start  24/7 on TV in a couple weeks and you'll want to have your supplies handy when those creative holiday juices start flowing!

Oh, and yes, the Mini Catalog has some beautiful Fall stamp sets and gorgeous Designer Paper as well as adorable spooky sets for those "goblins" that'll soon be coming to "Trick or Treat".  

Let's Celebrate!

-- Janice

IS IT REALLY OCTOBER??? What happened to September?

Wasn't it just yesterday that we celebrated July 4th?  This summer seemed to fly by so quickly, I can't believe we're discussing Thanksgiving plans and the Christmas Holiday already.

Well, somehow my crafting has changed from butterflies and flowers to Autumn Leaves and Holly and Christmas Trees.  As a result, there's been lots of activity in my paper crafting life over the past few weeks.  

1.  I've had another crop and have made wonderful new friends.

2.  I've participated in another "craft garage" sale and sold many of my older items, but seemed to come back with more than I took...how does that happen?

3.  I've been working hard on learning new paper crafting techniques. There's some wonderful training in which I participated that was available through Stampin' Up!

In September I had my 3rd crop which was SO much fun!  I met new people and used some of the beautiful new tools found in the fantastic newly released Mini Catalog (often referred to as the "Holiday Catalog").  Here's a sample of one of the cards I made as a sample for the crop:

The top card is the outside.  I used the stamp set Merry and Bright which includes two styles of lights often used to decorate a tree.  And the sentiment from the stamp set,  Christmas Classics.  The second picture is the inside of the card.  My idea was to represent the stringing of lights on the tree by having the cards "strung' along the strip of Designer Paper.  The sentiment that says, "Have a Merry & Bright Christmas"  came from the Merry and Bright stamp set while the Designer Paper, Merry Bold and Bright, light style was used on the connecting strip and the cards.  (If you're interested in more details, leave a message or add a note when you sign up for my Newsletter.)

The "garage" sale was as exciting as always.  Our local scrapbook store has a sale about twice a year.  Crafters bring in items that they have collected but haven't used (or hardly used) and want to clean out their craft room.  There are plenty of bargains!  I had three full tables and was pleased to see so many of my items going to crafters who had wonderful plans to use them.  It's always great to know that your goodies are going to good homes.

New products and techniques are always being introduced and there are training and classes available to learn and more ways to showcase these new products. Styles change so rapidly and new techniques are so much fun to learn. I offer a paper crafting class every other Friday at a local community center where we try new techniques and products and share our creations.  If you live in the Land O Lakes area of Florida, send me a message and add a note when you sign up for my Newsletter, and I'll provide the details.

One product technique was new to me, but you probably already know about it and maybe even used them...decorative masks.  I never knew how to use them and how easy it is to make cards with them.  So when I saw the Abundant Beauty Decorative Masks shown in the new Mini Catalog, I had to try them.  Talk about a great purchase, at only $10.50, you get 3 styles of masks and 1 special 4-layer set of masks!  There's one for snowflakes, one of leaves, and one of a herringbone pattern.  The set of 4 provides a detailed way to create sunflowers. Below is a card made with the new set of  masks.  It is so easy to layer the masks and various colors to create the flower.  I chose the typical colors of sunflowers, but I've seen cards with pink and blue and purple flowers!  

I introduced the masks and taught attendees at my crop how to make the card.  They loved it!

Over the next few weeks, I'll introduce in my blogs some of the other beautiful cards made with the new stamp sets and dies found in the new Mini Catalog.

CHECK OUT THE NEWS!!!

I want to be sure to let you know about a few exciting events occurring in the next few days and throughout the month of October:

1.  FREE SHIPPING!   That's right, Stampin' Up! is having 3 (that's right THREE!) days of Free shipping for orders totaling $75 or more (not including taxes).  You can save not only the new catalog items, but also the regular catalog!  

    I find that the Free Shipping time is always a great time to purchase items that never seem to go on sale (cardstock, envelopes, ink, scissors, dimentionals, glue, stamping blocks...you get the idea...the basics)!  You can replenish your necessities and SAVE!

    And of course, it's a great time to get the extra pack of your favorite Designer Papers from the catalogs.  You're probably doing more crafting at this time of the year and don't want to run out of your favorite DSP while making dozens of treat holders and gift cards.

2.  JOINING SPECIAL!  Stampin' Up! is celebrating their 35th Anniversary and you get the gifts!  The word "special" is an understatement.  You can SAVE big on your starter kit.  You have two choices, either save 35% on the cost of the starter kit (normally $99) or purchase 35% more product at the cost of $99.  

That's right, you'll get all the specials traditionally part of the starter kit...products of YOUR choice, a Paper Pumpkin kit, a discount of 20% on future purchases (after you've paid for the starter kit), and no shipping!  

But this time, you can also receive a FREE ticket to attend one of the most popular events offered to Demonstrators....the virtual OnStage event to be held November 11th, a $77 value!  You can watch the event indepently, gathered together with other demonstrators, or with your Team Leader.  Demonstrators who join during the promotion will be automatically added to the OnStage attendees, they do not have to register separately. 

There is a special link on the right which will take you directly to where you can get more information and complete your joining paperwork.  Any questions? please contact me or Demonstrator Support at 800.782.6787.  You DON"T want to miss this opportunity!

Hope Fall is bringing you cooler weather and all it's beauty.

-- Janice

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Thank You Card Blog Hop with the Bertucci's - July 2023

 Can you believe we're half way through the Year!  That's right, we have made it through half of 2023.  I can tell 2024 is racing forward as I already see 2024 calendars, day planners, and 18 month calendar books on store shelves.  Go into any craft location and you'll probably see not just sales on Spring, Summer, and Patriotic items, but Fall and Halloween items are on the shelves and priced at 40% off!  (As a big craft fair person, I actually like seeing the sales and are anxiously awaiting all Holiday items to be on the shelves!)

To help with the preparation for the next few months, I am looking over the items in my stash, shown on Clearance Rack (recently refreshed), and the new items from the Online Exclusives.  There are some great values.  For example, last month I really took advantage of the Designer Paper Sale.  One pack I've used on a few posts, the Delightfully Eclectic pack, I grabbed another pack and I'm using another page for my submission for this month's Blog Hop with Kylie and Bruno Bertucci.

Stampin' Up!©  Demonstrators from around the world participate in the Bertucci's Demonstrator Training Program Blog Hop. We, Demonstrators, learn from the training program provided by the Bertucci's to help us build a successful Stampin' Up! business and to reach some goals we have set for ourselves. 

You are invited to visit over 30 Stampin' Up! Demonstrator blogs which are showcasing "Thank You" cards they've created.  You can start here with my blog post and then jump on the links (below) to travel around the world and see the gorgeous cards created by the talented Demonstrators.  Have fun and enjoy the HOP!

As mentioned, I am using one of the sheets from the group of beautiful papers from the Delightfully Eclectic Designer Series paper pack.  I've chose the paper that looks like it's lemons with pink stripes.  I love the fresh and tangy look of this paper and using the Garden Green and Crushed Curry card stock provides the feeling of Summer.

The card is actually an angled fold card I saw on a video by Stamp with Lorraine.  The cutting is a little tricky (as in I used five sheets of card stock making the card base before it clicked!  Luckily, I love the card stock colors and know the scraps can easily be used on future projects.)

After mastering the cuts on the card base, I moved onto conquering the cuts on the DSP to make the cards correctly. It's easy to trim off where needed to make them fit.  

Beside stamping the sentiment, I decided to add a "belly" band.  A band not only helps to keep the sides flat, it also provides a place to decorate or add a sentiment. I used the So Refreshing Stamp set for the sentiment and stamped the lemon and leaves from the same set.  Finally, I added a few gems from my stash to the center of the lemon as well as a couple on the card.

Once I made a few, I realized that creating this card really wasn't difficult and gave the card a modern-design look.  I've listed the paper cuts below, if you want to give it a try.  If you'd like some cutting tips, you can contact me by leaving your email in the comments section below or by signing up for my newsletter and requesting the info.

Thanks for visiting my blog and please continue through the Blog Hop.  You'll find ideas from over 30 demonstrators from around the world.  Just click on one of the links below.  Thanks again and Keep Creating!

.. Janice