BLISS team tea party!

Our team had a really lovely meeting on Monday! It was a tea party so I baked English scones for us to eat with cream and preserves - yum!

 Some of our team bought along some of their samples to share, aren't they so cute!

I love this frame-able Fall piece that Teresa made...

She also made this cute little winter scene, I love this tree made with the festive flurry snowflake framelits... 

 Here I am attempted to eat a whole pumpkin cheesecake... no contest!

Please let me know if you might be interested in joining our team, we have way too much fun and you can join locally or long distance as a hobby or business demonstrator.

Have a wonderful week! Brenda

Happy 25th Birthday Stampin' Up!

And Happy Deals for US! Yippee Skippee! (and that's one of the sale stamp sets, how appropriate!)

Here are thumbnails of all the stamp sets that we have on sale for 25% off for just one week... To order you can email me OR go online and order and use the Hostess Code ZQAXD2GR.

And wait - there's MORE! These items are on special too... squeal!
And there's MORE! The special to sign up to join the Stampin' Up! family as a business or hobby demonstrator is extended until TONIGHT too! Yippee indeed!!!

Please let me know if you have any questions... Have a wonderful week, Brenda

Eek! Join for just $25!

JUST ANNOUNCED - CONTINUING THROUGH TONIGHT! TUESDAY, OCT 22ND!!!

In honor of Stampin' Up's 25th anniversary YOU can join Stampin' Up! For Only $25!

October 7 - 21

 In 25 years there has NEVER been a deal like this!

 You can join Stampin' Up! between October 7 - 21 for just $25.

YOU PICK what you want in the "kit"  You get to select between $25 - $26.95 worth of ANY PRODUCTS.  You also receive catalogs and other supplies.  FREE SHIPPING!

 Once you purchase this kit, you are a demonstrator.....but what does that really mean????

• Most Importantly--THERE IS NO COMMITMENT!!!!   Once a demonstrator, YOU can choose if you want to do anything as one or not...
  • You may choose to do nothing
  • You may choose to purchase for yourself at the discount
  • You may choose to do some parties, classes, events and make a little money
  • You may be looking for a fun, flexible, part-time job--this is the best one in the world!
• 30% OFF FIRST ORDER--if you place an order of at least $150 within 45 days, you will get 30% off!!!  Great chance to stock up. 
• FREE STAMP SET OF YOUR CHOICE! - if you place a workshop order of at least $150 within your first 30 days you will also get a free stamp set of your choice! (Yes, you can combine this with the 30% off promo!)
• At least 20% off all other orders while you remain active
• ABSOLUTELY NO RISK OR OBLIGATION!!!
• To stay active you need just $300 by March 30th.......if you don't make it, no big deal at all!!  You would simply become a customer again...

BESIDES THE DISCOUNTS, OTHER BENEFITS OF PURCHASING THIS KIT

• Access to Stampin' Up! "demonstrator only" websites
• Pre-Order NEW Occasions Catalog Products in December
• Opportunity to earn FREE stamps
•  You would be part of our BLISS team of demonstrators! 
  • FREE product incentives through me
  • Sharing of lot's of projects and stamping ideas
• 12 years of experience to help you, no matter what your goals are as a demonstrator!
  • I am always there to help you--all you have to do is ask!
  • I could go on and on and on about this incredible opportunity........Any Questions?  
  • E-mail BrendaStamps@Q.com
  • Or give me a call at 970-884-733
  • Or sign up on my website

Please don't hesitate to ask me if you have any questions - I hope you're having a great day! Brenda

A little bit CRAZY!

I have been sooooo.... busy! But it's all good :-) Had some lovely visitors from the UK, kids are back in school (but have lots of activities that are keeping me running) and I took on a part-time job at the Bayfield library. Phew! Lots of transition and a pretty steep learning curve. I am LOVING the way everything is shaping up though. I do apologize if you've been feeling neglected. I have been pretty spacey but am planning some fun new things for October - I do hope you can join me... check out my  events calendar for details.

Check out this super easy Halloween card! I used the Witches Brew Washi Tape - have you tried this? It's so fun! Just tear off a strip and stick it on, it's a little translucent AND you can even write on it, it's a fun option to decorate with or to stick layers together.

I also used the fun stamp set Halloween Hello, it's only $14.95 in the clear mount set and it has 9 cute little images that are the perfect size to decorate cards or candy wrappers! LOVE!

Now that's Spooky!

Look at this super cute banner!!! Don't you just love it?! I had SO MUCH FUN making it... I used a couple of kits from the Holiday catalog, the Build a Banner simply created kit ($19.95 133507) and the Halloween Banner Simply Created Accessory Kit ($9.95 132698) 

The Build a Banner kit comes with a whole bunch of stencils and I simply sponged through the openings, easy peasy!

I will be holding a class to make this adorable banner? Are you interested?! Let me know and I'll try and schedule it when you can come...

If you sign up to join my team via my website www.brendamarshall.stampinup.net then you can add both the Build a Banner kit AND the Halloween OR Christmas Accessory kits onto your starter kit for FREE! Yay! And you already get $125 worth of stuff for only $99 so it's already a great deal even without that promo.

Have a wonderful day and please let me know if you have any questions.

Brenda

Stampin' Up! meets Minecraft!

My youngest son, Callum, is obsessed with Minecraft, know any kids like this? I have to admit I absolutely don't get it! To me it looks really old fashioned and boxy but (if I let him) he would spend HOURS in front of the computer screen building weird and wonderful landscapes, baking cakes, farming pigs and avoiding creepers. This summer he showed me a Papercraft App on his iPod that allows you to design your own "skin" and then print it out and build these cool 3D sculptures. As it involved paper and not the computer screen I was happy to let him do it (although, not so happy, when he and his friend decided they needed to print out 90 lime green wool blocks and used up all my color cartridges!) 

Then he dug into my Stampin' Up! supplies, apparently you need those nice pointy Paper Snips to get into all the corners...

 And the Simply Scored and Stylus are exactly what you need to score all the crease lines...

He and his friend are listening to Minecraft songs on their iPod, while wearing Minecraft t-shirts and creating Minecraft sculptures - I told you, it's an obsession!

Here he is with one of his creations, aren't they cool? He entered this one 'Steve' into the State fair and got a blue ribbon and a $2 prize! Go Callum!

BLISSful team meeting!

I had so much fun last night hanging out with some of our lovely BLISS team members! Most of us had been to convention and so we had a lot of fun stuff to share - and a few great ideas we'd picked up and wanted to follow up on.

Pam had got a lovely butterfly pin in a swap and wanted to show us all how to make it. It was hysterical! We had hot glue and Scotch tape all over the place, there was a definite learning curve! But, in the end we mastered it. This is Pam's second attempt, and now we're all set to share it with our friends. Check out our first attempts below though!

This is Pam's first try 

And this is mine, haha!

Well, we sure had fun figuring it out though, and of course, it ended up being much easier than we made it!!

Then Susan taught is how to make this super cute envelope to hold a business card and a little message explaining what we do - you can see Amber was particularly impressed! Love how Susan is modeling our Bliss shirt too!

Here's Linda sharing her take on the envelope - so cute!! 

Are you interested in joining our team? We have all sorts of demonstrators on our team, some who want to supplement their income, and some who want to save money on their own crafting supplies. Some who live locally and some who are out of town. Please let me know if you're interested, we'd love to have you! 

Sincerely, Brenda

Candy Kiss Flower Holder and Video Tutorial!

This was a super fun project that we made at our last stamp club! It actually uses no adhesive apart from attaching the flower on top and leaves behind! It's kind of hard to explain exactly how to make it so I made a short video explaining. Here you go! 

If you'd like the exact measurements and step by step instructions please email me for a free pdf tutorial. I cased this project from the talented Kim Huffman. 

I hope you're having a great week! 

Brenda

Getting ready for CONVENTION!

For the first time in the history of the world I actually started early on my swaps! Seriously I am a "do 'em in the car on the way there" kind of gal but this year I have to drive myself so I knew that wouldn't be a very good idea (and they would be all crooked so I probably wouldn't get anybody to swap with me anyway!) 

 My friend Tiffany came over and made her swaps at the same time. She and I are not "related" in the Stampin' Up world but we are both demonstrators and both going to convention so we had fun stamping together.

 We made quite a mess!

My pile is growing - it's a good job I did them then because life has been CRAZY since then and I have absolutely no time - I'll share some pictures of my finished card on Monday :-)
Have a great weekend!
Brenda

Notecard Envelope Gift Card Holder using the new Chalk Talk bundle!

Here's one of this month's stamp club projects - I was so excited to get this bundle - Chalk Talk, it has a set of seven super cute stamps and matching framelits. On this video I show you how to use the new magnetic platform and also how to use one of the new notecard sized envelopes to make this easy gift card holder! See below for all the measurements and materials. And shop now on my website! www.brendamarshall.stampinup.net 

Here's the video!

Crumb Cake note card envelopes - 131528

Chalk Talk stamp set & Chalk Talk framelits, BUY AS A BUNDLE FOR A 15% discount! 

132730 clear mount stamp set - 132731 wood mount stamp set

New Magnetic Platform for the Big Shot, no more Post-It notes! 130658

Whisper White card stock - 1 1/4" x 2 1/4" & scraps to stamp on - 100730

Coastal Cabana card stock - 1 3/8" x 2 3/8"- 131297

Designer Series Paper - new in-color stack 2 1/4" x 3 1/2" - 130136

Strawberry Slush Classic Ink Pad - 131178

Coastal Cabana Classic Ink Pad - 131175

Hung Up Cute Clips - 129389

I'm excited to see what you make using this design, be sure to share your creations! I hope you're having a wonderful day - please let me know if I can be of any help - Brenda

Birthday BOGO Sale!

 Oh I have been having a great time sorting through all my stuff and pulling together all this fun stuff for my giant sale on Monday & Tuesday! I have an embarrassing amount of stamp sets though. I don't think I've done a sale for three years and I have sure accumulated a TON of fun goodies in that time! And then Stampin' Up switched style of ink pads (and of course I had to get the new style) and then they re-shuffled the colors and so I have a lot of ink-pads, refills, markers and card stock to sell too, woo hoo!

The best part is - you can get EVERYTHING on sale! It's all 'Buy One Get One' in celebration of my big birthday! OR, if you prefer, instead of choosing your 'Get One' from the stash here you can get a gift certificate for the NEW BOOK for the value of what you spend! There are a couple of caveats - you can't put your certificate towards tax or shipping and you have to use your certificate within 3 days. Apart from that, no restrictions! Get BOGO on my previously loved stuff OR on some of the 'have to have it!' goodies in the new book, yippee!

Hope to see you on Monday (preferred customers + a friend) between 4 and 7 p.m. or on Tuesday (everybody welcome!) between 4 and 8!

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!
Brenda

Henry meets photopolymer!

I made this card for my lovely friend and fellow demonstrator, Tammy. I have had a blast matching Henry up with the adorable Designer Typeset photopolymer stamp set. I have to say these completely clear stamps are kind of different to use... but the one thing I LOVE about them is, because they are completely transparent, they are super easy to stamp in a specific place, like the numbers inside the pennants. The other great thing about them is that you can bend them when you stick them on the block. So I was able to curve the flags, so fun!

Did you know that the Happy Birthday greeting from Henry Says fits just perfectly inside the speech bubble from the Designer Typeset Photopolymer set? I was so excited to discover this (it doesn't take much!) I did that on this card, which was my first attempt for a swap card for Fiji. (I ended up choosing something else instead though!)

I had a lot of fun paper piecing Henry and these little banners. I think they made a super cute birthday card don't you?

Wish Big!

I have to confess that this, 'Wish Big' pointy hand was the MAIN reason I bought this Bring on the Cake stamp set, I just love this image! I have used it several times... you can stamp or write something different and stick it onto a card and put it in his hand too :-)  The other images are cool but this is the one that is always calling me!

I used a fun double embossing technique on this card too, it was re...ally hard to get it to show up on the the photo though, do you see it? There is a frame around the image using the Designer Frames embossing folder, and then the square lattice die over the whole piece.  Are you interested in learning how to do this? I'd be happy to do a tutorial.

I am so glad this Island Indigo color is rolling on through into our core colors, I LOVE IT! Actually, I don't think we've ever had a "blue" that I don't like. Always my fallback color!

Today I am celebrating finally feeling BETTER! I've had a virus that absolutely knocked me out, I had a fever for 7 days straight! We're going camping for a couple of days and I know that's going to be time to heal and relax. I hope you have a wonderful long weekend,

Brenda

FeeeJeee!

Oh my word, we had an amazingly brilliant, once in a lifetime trip to Fiji! I cannot even begin to tell you how wonderful it was... I was really anxious about leaving our children behind and traveling so far away without them, but, thanks to our lovely friends who stepped in to help, they did fine.

So, I'm going to try and squish some of our best experiences into this post... ready? Here we go! First picture at Albuquerque airport - I knew it was going to be a good trip when I discovered my bag was at exactly 50lbs!

Here's Marsh with his new best friend - Fiji Bitter - Bula!

 When we got to Nadi we met up with Marsh's sister Jill and her huband Mark who live in New Zealand and immediately transferred onto this tiny plane to Taveuni Island. The plane was so tiny they couldn't accommodate our luggage, that's why we're carrying our beach towels so we can go swimming while waiting!

Not much wiggle room on this flight!

 An hour and a bit later we landed at Taveuni Airport, hah! Bit different to LAX. We landed in the rain but that didn't last long...

From here we took a ride in a pick up truck and then a small boat out to Maqai beach on Qamea Island - we stayed in a tiny little backpacking place on the beach... here's the view from our "room"

 And here's our room! It was really just a tent on a platform...

 It was extremely basic but absolutely perfect, there was an outdoor shower and and outside toilet, a mosquito net over the bed and the ocean crashing outside. I took these pictures at low tide standing out in the sea!

The best thing about Fiji was how friendly all the people were - here Jill is learning how to weave a basket out of palm leaves...

We went for a jungle walk but couldn't quite find the path! So we ended up making our way back to the sea and walking around the shoreline, on the way we bumped into these fisherman with their collection of lobster and shellfish, yummy!

We went on a tour around Taveuni Island - here we are at the International Dateline we could jump over and be in yesterday or today, I didn't seem to look much younger though :-(

We swam in the pools below this amazing waterfall in Bouma National Heritage park - just beautiful, Marsh jumped off the ledge behind the waterfall but not me!

Also on Taveuni we went to the natural water slides - a TON of fun but I did get a massive bruise on my butt!

Kava ceremony on Maqai beach - it took Jill and I a couple of days to pluck up the courage to do this... not too bad but not something I'd particularly want to do again!

Leaving Maqai early in the morning... :-(

View of Maqai from the boat

 Back at Taveunu lodge, just time for a quick coffee before we head back to the airport, looks pretty different in the sunshine!

 This has to be one of the world's prettiest runways don't you think? Just a beautiful flight...

Well, I only managed to fit in the first few days of our trip! Haven't even got to the Stampin' Up! resort yet! I'm going to put the second half of our trip into a second post so please come back and check that out.  I hope you're having a wonderful week and please let me know if I can be of any help.

This is the FINAL week of our current annual catalog AND the Spring seasonal catalog so don't miss out if you still have things on your wish list. Click here to see list of retiring stamp sets.  Lots of accessories on SALE too! Click here to view sale accessories.  I have to tell you I have seen the upcoming book though and there is lots of fun stuff to look forward to :-)

Brenda