Ice Cream Cone Birthday Card

These are the cards that I am making for my 5th grade students for each of their birthdays! Recognize the ice cream cone? It is the icing from the cupcake builder punch! The cone is from the Pennant Parade set! Love the cherry on top made from red glimmer paper! I cased this card and changed it a little. Cute huh? I hope that they will like them! What do you think?

Fall Card Samples

These are the cards for my September Take $2 Tuesday class which will be held next Tuesday, September 27th. This is the first time that I have used the background Sunflower and I love it!! Thanks to my friend Kathy Seals that I cased the card from. The other card is a case from page 16 of the Holiday Mini Catalog! Thanks to SU! for the inspiration! I offer three card designs for the class and I think that the last one is going to be a Halloween card!

Sweets for the Sweet

What a quick and simple card! It is hard to see in the picture, but I put a layer of Crystal Effects over top of the candy piece. In person, it really looks like a piece of hard candy! YUM!

First Christmas Card of the Year!

I guess it's never too early to start making your holiday cards right? Here is a sample of the card that we made on July 25 to celebrate Christmas in July! I cased this card from Robin Merriman, who recreated it from a card she saw in a craft magazine! Thanks for the inspiration Robin! Contact me if you are interested in coming to my next Christmas card class on September 19!

Take $2 Tuesdays Share

Here are this week's Take $2 Tuesdays cards! Enjoy them!

Here is a closeup of the cupcake card. I added some Crystal Effects and some Dazzling Diamonds tinted blue! It reminds me of the sugar crystals that my mom used to put on cupckaes when I was little! Yum!

Lace Ribbon Border Punch

Here is a clean and simple card using the Lace Ribbon Border punch! The punch does take a little getting used to, but thanks to my friend Kathy Seals she got me straightened out with some great tips for using the punch. Be sure that you are on a hard surface. The resin tables that I use in my stamp room have just enough give in them that I was not getting a firm punch. Also, be sure that you are standing when you use it. The punch needs to be flat on the table when you put the pressure on it. Even pressure with both palms help to give you a clean image. These tips were just what I needed to use the punch successfully! This is an easy card to duplicate! Enjoy!

Strength and Hope

This was one of my favorite sets from the just retired Summer Mini catalog. As I have mentioned before, I am active in our local Relay for Life. When this set came out, I was excited to see that some proceeds would be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation by Stampin' Up! These are the 3 cards that we made in a Strength and Hope Class. They were all cased from fellow stampers. Thanks for looking today.

Take $2 Tuesdays

Happy September! I know that it has been a month since I last posted! We were away for two weeks in August. It was a great family vacation in Myrtle Beach and Williamsburg! It was difficult to come home! When we returned, back to school took full attention. My son just started his freshman year in high school, my daughter began fourth grade and I am beginning my 20th year in education! This year I am teaching 5th grade and we are off to a great start! Today I am sharing cards that we created in a new class that I am teaching called Take $2 Tuesdays. Once per month, I hold this class. Attendees can choose from three different cards to recreate. They can make as many of each style as they would like to. Each card is $2 including the envelope, hence the name Take $2 Tuesdays. Here are the cards that we made at the first session! Let me know what you think!

Big Shot Class

These are 2 of the projects from the Big Shot class from last week!  They are purposely not complicated projects. The class was to introduce the ladies to their Big Shots!  We used different materials and different cutting and embossing tools to show the Big Shot's versatility!

This card shows the image being stamped on cork which was run through the Big Shot with the scallop squares die.  The card also shows how to get the edging of the large scallop square without cutting the card completely in half.

This is the Fancy Favor box which all of the ladies loved!  The butterfly is from the Big Shot Die.  It is cut on wood sheets!  I think that I am really beginning to like yellow and black together!Any thoughts!?

Mom and Me Projects

I still have some things to share with you from Convention, but I wanted to share the projects that I did with my Mom and Me class.  These are my nine year old daughter's samples.

This is our cute little fishy card!  Recognize the two punches that we used to make the fish?  Scroll to the end of the post to check your guess.

We covered those black and white composition books that we all had when we were in school with paper, ribbon and butterflies!  Best of all, the noteooks are on sale everywhere right now because the back to school sales have started, YIKES! 

The group also made this cute little door hanger.  I used a piece of chipboard covered with DSP as the base.  Then I ran the Chalkboard Vinyl Sheets through the Big Shot using the square scallop die.  We finished it off by coloring our paper daisies and adhering them to the corner. She was very proud of all of her projects and I think that she did a great job! 

Yes, that was the ornament punch and the small oval punch on the fish!!!

Wow!

One of the most amazing parts of Convention was all of the displays.  The theme this year was GROW.  So the main stage had this display the entire time with a change of color throughout the days.

It made a stunning backdrop don't you think?

These flowers were spread throughout the Salt Palace Convention Center.  That's me standing with one outside of the Gathering Place.

The displays of projects set up by the awesome Stampin' Up! staff were beautiful.  It was the catalog coming to life.  Here are just a few of my favorites:

We have very talented colleagues in our company!

Looking for Buttons!

I told you yesterday that I was sent on a scavenger hunt at Convention.  One of my uplines, Janet Wakeland gave each of her team members a wooden button just like this one before going to Convention.

All of the RemARKable Stampers that were at Convention were instructed to find teammates that they had never met before.  How would we know......they had this button tied to them, their bag, somewhere we could see it.  Once we found a teammate we had to sign a card with our name and state and take a pic with them if we wanted to.  I met teammates from Hawaii, Michigan, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maine, and Arkansas!  It was amazing!  Here a few of the pics that I did take:

This is Ruth from Virginia!

This is Jan from Michigan!

I did meet some friends that are not direct teammates that I had only connected with online before now.  This is Sherrill.  She has a great group called Late Night Stampers!  They do lots of fun things before, during and after Convention.  Sherrill also has a great business building program called Boot Camp.  Check it out if you get a chance http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LNSBootCamp/  Even though I am not in Sherrill's downline, she has always been willing to help out!  Thanks Sherrill!
Well, tomorrow I will share more Convention fun!  It was an absolute blast meeting all of these fabulous people! 

Back to Normal

Back to reality after my first Stampin' Up! Convention!  Whew!  It was FABULOUS!!!  Everyone had told me how great Convention is, but I had to see it to actually believe it!  The fun started at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 13 when my teammate Kristi picked me up to go to the airport.  I must say that I was wide awake on pure adrenaline.  One of the most fun parts of Convention was all of the great swaps and little handmade gifts from my teammates.  Today, I am going to share the wonderful and unexpected gifts from some of my RemARKable teammates.

These are from my teammate Kristi!  The little package on the left is hiding a mini hand sanitizer. The tag on the right is one of 2 luggage tags that she made for me (all of my contact info is on the back!)  And the layered flowers in the center make a beautiful pin!  Aren't they all great?

This adorable pin is from my teammate Deanna!  I wore it on my convention name tag all week and received so many compliments about it.  The picture does not do it justice. 

This cute little fabric tissue holder is from my teammate Anne.  This is one of the beautiful new SU! fabrics.  I wish that I could sew.....

This goody bag is from my teammate Cathy!  There is a little bit of everything in this one!  Chocolates, mints, lotion, a drink packet and a pen and sticky notes.  Cathy always takes care of all of us and makes sure we have everything we need (that we probably forgot to bring!).

This necklace is from teammate Janet.  I am a part of a group called Dreambuilders that she is the leader of.  This was her gift to all of the Dreambuilders!  Isn't it a great way to use the clear slides?  She also sent us on a scavenger hunt at Convention.  I will share that with your tomorrow!

If you would like to be a part of this awesome team and/or would love to go to Convention next year with us, join my team!  SU! is offering an awesome deal to join for $99.

Go to my website for more information http://www.kelliwolfel.stampinup.net/  I would love for you to join us!

On My Way!

As you are reading this today, I am on my way to Salt Lake City, Utah!  I am attending my first Stampin' Up! convention and I am very excited!  Be sure to check back to see some exciting new things and to hear about my adventure! 

Say Thank You!

We always are taught to say "thank you" as a child to anyone that does or says something nice for you right?  Well, sometimes words just aren't enough.  I whipped up a few of these quick little "thank you" envelopes to use for those people who don't always get a "thank you".......our customer service friends!  I have left these at restaurants with tips.  I have given them to my hairdresser and my eyebrow technician too!  It is just a nice little way to say "thank you" for their services!  We slip our cash tip in, but it would also work for a gift card to give to someone too!  This pattern was cased from someone a long time ago and I don't remember who, sorry! Enjoy!

Dominoes

This is the necklace that my hostess clubs made in June! Look closely....it is the smooth side of a domino! A fellow SU! demo sent her version to me and I cased it and changed it. If you would like to make your own, be sure to soak the dominoes in bleach for 2 to 3 hours first. This takes the shiny glaze off of the domino making it much easier to stamp on. I used black Staz-On. The words are from the French Foliage set and the flower is from the Punch Potpourri set that just ended as a Hostess set. We finished it off with a bead held on with Crystal Effects and a nice long piece of Basic Black taffeta ribbon. Some of the ladies made theirs into a pin which looked great too! Isn't it fascinating what you can do with a simple toy? What have you turned into something new? Share your ideas with us!

Join Stampin' Up!

$99 Starter Kit and Free Project Kit Promotion

Dates: July 1-31, 2011

Promotion Details: It's always more fun to stamp with friends! The limited-time $99 Starter Kit is the perfect choice for the lover of Stampin' Up! products. Use this exclusive Starter Kit to share the opportunity with your friends and hostesses who want to get the products they love at a 20 percent discount.

Plus, when you recruit in July, you and your recruit(s) will get a Christmas Keepsake project kit absolutely FREE--a $40 value! This exclusive kit contains everything you (and your recruits) need to create a beautiful Christmas Keepsake Box to hold your most treasured Christmas memories. Remember, you can only earn this special Shelli Signature Collection kit when you add new stamping friends to your downline!

See below for details on the limited-time $99 Starter Kit. Visit the Earn a Free Christmas Keepsake Project Kit page to learn more about the Christmas Keepsake project kit contents.

$99 Starter Kit
Contains over $180 in products and business supplies--including new products from the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog! All items below are recommended, but a new demonstrator can substitute a similar item of equal or lesser value.
Download our $99 Starter Kit flyer here.
Page Item Description
57 123225 Easy Events Clear-Mount Set*
69 122740 Pennant Parade Wood-Mount Set*
177 102277 Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad
177 105216 Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad
177 103133 Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
177 119706 Brights 8-1/2" x 11" Assorted Card Stock
180 101179 Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad
182 107311 Whisper White Note Cards (20)
185 124339 Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper*
195 124142 Chocolate Chip 1/2" Scallop Dots Ribbon*
203 122129 Blender Pen (1)
205 118486 Clear-Mount Block C
206 104332 SNAIL Adhesive
*New to the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog!

Business Supplies
The business supplies in these promotional mini kits will be the same business supplies that are in existing starter kits; no alternative selections can be made for business items.
• Getting Started DVD
• Getting Started Guide
• Guest Invitation Postcards (100)
• 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog (8)
• 2011 Summer Mini Catalog (8)
• Stampin' Up! logo vinyl
• Décor Elements applicator
• To My Hostess Envelopes (10)
• My Digital Studio Marketing DVD
• Recruit Folders (5)
• Recruit Brochures (20)
• Customer Order Forms (50)

More Tiles

I had promised you more tiles awhile back and here they are!These make a great housewarming gift.  They can totally be customized to the recipient's style and tastes.  Be sure to use permanent ink and I sealed them with a matte spray. They work like a dream!  Enjoy!

Double Embossing

This is a new technique that I learned from my June copy of Stampin' Success magazine.  Stampin' Success is a magazine that SU! demos receive once a month.  It is filled with great ideas! I used the card in the article as my inspiration.  Double embossing uses our embossing folders, versamark ink, and the embossing powder color of your choice!  It is so simple.  First ink the side of the folder that is pushed in.  For this card, I used a brayer to apply versamark to the top half of the Vintage Wallpaper folder.  Then, I laid a piece of First Edition Speciality DSP into the folder and ran it through the Big Shot as usual.  When I removed the paper, I covered the DSP with black embossing powder and then used the heat tool to set it.  The result is stunning!  I will use this technique more I am sure!  I also used some leftover Rich Razzleberry polka dot ribbon and pleated it across the card.  I really do like how it turned out.  What do you think?

Teacher Gift

Wonder what's inside?

Pretty retired DSP and a pocket, that can't be all.......

wonder what else?

Oh!  Two cute little magnetic bookmarks!  I gave these to my two co-workers that I shared my fifth grade class with this year, my school's librarian (who is also a great friend that loves to read on summer break), and to the seven other teachers and assistants that worked with my class this year. 

 It was a fun and quick little way to say thank you!

Flower Fest

This is a CASE from the Summer Mini page 20.  I made this card with my May hostess clubs and with my FREE birthday classes.  I used a good old standby technique!  Poppin' Pastels!  Each of the flowers were stamped with Versa Mark then pounced on with pastels.  It really does make the image pop don't you think?  What is your favorite stamping technique?  Leave a comment and share with everyone. 

I Really Wasn't Lost

Hi Friends!
I know, I know!!!  It has been 2 months today that I last posted!  Life has been unbelievably busy!  With the end of the school year for my kids and me (I am a proud 5th grade teacher too), school sports (for my just promoted to high school son), junior legion baseball (for that same son), little league baseball (for my 9 year old daughter), and travel soccer (for that same daughter) life has been chaotic to say the least!  Unfortunately, stamping and creating has pretty much taken a back seat.  Watch out this week though, I'm back!!  Look for some of the end of the year projects that we did for my daughter's teachers, little gifts that I gave to some of the staff that I work with, and some club projects!  Thanks for sticking around and still visiting My Stampin' Pad!
Kelli

Terrific Tiles

I had some of these very rustic tiles left over and I was looking through my favorite large stamps to see which ones would make a great coaster for someone. The Medallion background stamp is one of my all-time favorite stamp sets! I really like that the image looks worn away.  It gives the tile an aged look.  I also tried out the hydrangea from the Hostess Set, Because I Care.  Love how that turned out too!

Some of the tiles have a different color and I was anxious to see how the tiles looked with the different color variations!  I will be sharing 2 more tomorrow!