Convention Make & Takes

Any time I host a workshop, or attend a demonstrator meeting, there is usually the chance to do 'make & takes', whether it be a card, 3D item, or other fun project.  At Convention a few weeks ago, we had a few Make & Takes that we got the chance to do.  There was SO much to take in and see with Convention in general, however, that most of mine turned into Take, then Make (once I returned home!!)!  A couple years ago I attended a Regional session, and a couple of those Make & Takes (yes, I'm cringing appropriately) just never got made, so I PROMISED myself that I would get them done this time!!   And I did!!  Talk about some super cute/adorable projects/cards!!

One of the easiest was the My Digital Studio Make & Take.  We just punched out the red hexagon with the greeting on it; trimmed the edges; mounted it with a dimensional and added a rhinestone for some 'bling'!  How cute is this?!

And for our second Make & Take 'mini' class we got to do these adorable bags (which will be available in the upcoming holiday catalog) using the 'rock-n-roll' technique on the Maple Leaf (also available in the upcoming holiday catalog).  

We used a Tag A Bag Gift bag (with matching accessories--page 158 of the Annual Catalog) and the Ronald McDonald House Charities set "Tag It" for this cute project  Love the addition of the clothespin at the top! 

For this next project, it's actually a set of 5 notecards and matching envelopes that go into another of the Tag A Bag Gift bags, and used the Hello, Lovely stamp set to complete the look.

LOVE this box.  And the feathers on here were SO fun to learn how to make!!  If you'd like to learn how to make them as well, talk to me about hosting a party or attending one of my upcoming workshops!!  I look forward to sharing the details with you!!  This set used images from Hello, Lovely & Gorgeous Grunge.  Two of my new favorite sets, I think!!

'Grunge' is really not my 'thing' but I absolutely LOVE how cute this card and matching envelope turned out.  And I'll let you in on a little hint (a.k.a. 'oops!') on my part--the Whisper White baker's twine was SUPPOSED to be colored using the Coastal Cabana ink pad.  I accidentally used Bermuda Bay instead.  Still turned out super cute, and other than me mentioning it, you would have never known I had used the wrong color!!

 

So, aren't all of these projects just totally adorable?!  Which one is your favorite?!  I'll bet you're getting the itch to host a party of your own, right?!  Well, just drop me a line and we'll get you taken care of!

And in the meantime, Happy Stamping!

Pam

Digital Download Tuesday 07/30/2013

It's Tuesday!  My favorite day of the week when it comes to Stampin' Up!  EVERY Tuesday, My Digital Studio fans are treated to new downloads available for purchase/use with the program!  And I'm loving this week's new arrivals.  There's even a FREE August Wallpaper available for ANYONE (you don't even need to own My Digital Studio to download the freebie, but at only $19.95 (US), why wouldn't you want to have/use it?!) to download and use.  

Here's a quick peek at the new sets that just came out, and you can check each of them out in more detail in my online store!

About to Blossom
134860
$9.95 (US)

About To Blossom August Wallpaper
134861
FREE

Birthday Candles Stamp Brush
134921
$2.95 (US)

Gingham Garden Designer Series Paper
134853
$4.95 (US)

Kind & Cozy Stamp Brush Set
134854
$3.95

Really Good Greetings Stamp Brush Set
134805
$3.95

I LOVE all of these--especially excited for the Really Good Greetings Stamp Brush Set and Gingham Garden Designer Papers.  I'm already picturing TONS of fun ideas with both of those!!

I hope your Tuesday is off to a great start! 

Happy Stamping!

Pam

Paper Pumpkin Brag Book

I know I talked about Paper Pumpkin the other day, and promised I'd share the finished project when I got it done.  Well, it's DONE!  :)  I shipped a whole box of goodies back from Convention (too heavy for my single bag of checked luggage), and it came in the mail yesterday (with my Paper Pumpkin box in it)!  But, lesson learned--in the future, I'll just pay for the second checked bag--I think it cost me almost as much to ship as it would have been to check it on my flight!!  I had a moment of panic when I got the box out of my mailbox, as it looks like one side of the box had gotten ripped open at some point (it was re-taped)--but thankfully everything still appears to have made it, and now I'm REALLY glad that I accidentally forgot to pack the stamp sets I got at Convention in the box!  Would NOT have been happy if those had gone missing on me!

O.K.  So on to Paper Pumpkin.  Here's the outside of the box:

So cute!!  Looks like fun to me already!!  And then opening it up, even more fun!!

I'm getting 'giddy' just thinking about opening it again!!  Don't you just LOVE that lovely blue tissue paper?!  So, I unwapped the box and came up with my ink pad, kit and stamps:

Here's a close-up of the two stamps included.  They read:  "The Good Life" & "Love This".  The stamps included in Paper Pumpkin are for Clear Mount blocks.  You 'should' just be able to peel off the backing and attach the labels.  I tend to still get 'marks' around the outside of my images, however, so I usually do go in and trim down just a smidge around the outside edge to try to prevent that!

And once I took everything out of the kit, here's what we have:

Remember, you DO need to provide your own adhesive for assembling your Paper Pumpkin projects!!  In the instructions, it also stated what colors coordinate with the kit, so I went into my stash and cut four 5" squares of Pool Party Cardstock to use to cover the chipboard covers.  You do NOT need to do this.  It was just something that I chose to do for mine.

I've told you I'm not a strong scrapbooker, right?!  Well, staring at this project, I was feeling at a loss yet again!!  BUT, Google was my friend, and as it turns out, the designer for this kit had a blog post on the Stampin' Up! web site (you can check it out HERE), as the 'Good Life Brag Book Kit' that I got at Convention was the May 2013 Paper Pumpkin offering.  Well, I decided to CASE (Copy And Share Everything!) the designer's layout to just make my creative flow work a little better.  I mean, if it's already been done and works, why try to change it?!

I should mention that this brag book is designed with the intent of using Instagram photos on the pages.  Something I have not yet gotten into using.  So I just cut down my desired photos (in most cases) to just 2" squares and ran with it!  Paper Pumpkin is intended as a 30-minute escape.  Truthfully, I think this project is a little more time intensive than that, but easily within 2 hours, I had the book done (and that was with a run to the drug store to pick up the photos I ordered online!).  And there are a LOT of fun, cute 'left overs' in the kit, so don't be surprised if you see a few cards/projects in the future using those things!!

Ready to see the finished book?  Here you go!  I did add a little journaling in pen, just as an added touch!

For the front cover, I just tore the bottom edge of the Pool Party cardstock and had a strip of the Coordinating designer paper that was included in the kit peeking out underneath it.  And here are the rest of the pages:

I decided to take the stamps that came in the kit to decorate up the Pool Party inside covers and back cover.  Just added a little interest to it all!

So, really, a [relatively] quick and easy project!!  And such a cute brag book!!  It doesn't hurt that I had pretty adorable subjects to work with!!  And yes, being related to most of them probably means I'm a tad biased on that count!!

Ready to sign up for Paper Pumpkin?  Just visit their web site and sign up!!  You will LOVE the creativity you get in the mailbox each month!

I hope your week is off to a great start!!

Happy Stamping!

Pam

MDS--Digital Templates

I am so lucky that while I was in Utah last week for the Stampin' Up! Convention, I was able to sandwich the convention between some much-needed family time!!  And, as a bonus, I got to show a few of them My Digital Studio, and let them play around with the program a bit!  In my opinion, there are SO many options when starting to use My Digital Studio, that I think the BEST way to go about creating a scrapbook page, is to use some of the page templates/layouts that come with the program, and that's what I did with each of them!

Heidi needed to chase after her (almost) 2-year-old Cooper as I was showing her the program, so we picked a pretty basic page to use:

I had an adorable picture of Cooper that we just dropped in the page of him with his pickup truck.  And then, instead of the teal color in the upper left block, we color-matched to a blue in his truck, then picked a lighter shade of that blue for the background in that section.  I love the olive green in the lower left section (above), but that just seems a tad 'old' for this little guy, so we changed that block to more of a 'John Deere' green.  Obviously we needed to change the 'S' to a 'C'.  And as a bonus touch (I added this later), I put an antique brad on the blue flower in front of his initial.  Add the journaling, title and date, and one page done!

 

Letty chose this page as her template:
 

Since she just got married last year, she decided to use some of the photos I had on my computer from her wedding, and she had a LOT of fun playing with colors and overlays (her wedding colors were purple and red).  Letty actually did a few versions of her page, but this is the one that she decided was her favorite:

Jess was able to play with the program while her little guy was snoozing, and it was a lot of fun to see her come up with what she wanted to do.  We started from this template:

And after changing up colors, designer series papers, overlays, etc., this is the final product she wound up with!  I gotta say, I LOVE the way the colors on this page just seem to work!  I threw out a few ideas for her, but really, she just ran with it!

All three of them had a lot of fun playing with My Digital Studio, and it just goes to show how easy and user-friendly the program is when you see their final creations!

My Digital Studio is available as a FREE 30-day trial or even for purchase in my online store!  

O.K. I'm off to go do some more creating!

Happy Stamping!

Pam

Paper Pumpkin Promotion

Stampin' Up! has a subscription program they've been offering for a while, and I thought I'd use this blog post to tell you all about it.  Paper Pumpkin is a monthly kit program that anyone can enjoy!  All the stamps, ink, paper, and accessories are included in an ADORABLE orange box that will allow you to create stuff like cards, journals, décor, and more!  There is a different project each month, and it's a surprise to see what the box has in store for you when it arrives at your door!

Now, admittedly, as a demo, I was a little unsure of Paper Pumpkin when it was initially released, but after seeing it at Convention and getting a kit of my very own, I cannot WAIT to get signed up for it and see what cool projects are in store for future months!!  I am looking forward to making my very first Paper Pumpkin, and I promise I'll share photos and blog about the completed project when I do!

A few basics about Paper Pumpkin:

It's SO easy to get started. Simply sign up for the program by visiting mypaperpumpkin.com and click 'Get it' in the lower left corner (and don't forget to put me--Pam Hoffmann [don't forget the second 'n' on my last name!!]--in as your demo!). Every month a new project kit arrives at your doorstep. Just think of the anticipation of creating a fun project to showoff and share with your friends and family every month!

Of course, you'll want to know more. So here's the nitty gritty:

• Each month Stampin' Up! will send you a unique, surprise kit with a project-- it could be cards, journals, décor, and more--you just won't know which you have until the box arrives! (They'll even color-coordinate, measure, and cut everything for you!)
• Each kit includes stamps, ink, paper, and accessories--everything but adhesive.
• Each kit gives you a 30-minute creativity escape.
• Your Paper Pumpkin will ship on or around the 15th of the month. 
• You need to sign up for a kit by the 10th of the month to get that month's kit. If you sign up on the 11th of the month, your first kit will come the next month. (Let's say you sign up on May 10, the kit will be sent around May 15. If you sign up on May 11, your first kit will be sent around the June 15.)
• A Paper Pumpkin membership is $19.95 per month (and shipping is included!). There's no commitment, you can cancel your monthly Paper Pumpkin at anytime. You can also skip a month if you want.
• Still not sure about joining?  Well, you also have the option of doing a one-time Try-It kit to give you a taste, and you can find more information about that at the link above as well.

Now, to make the deal even sweeter, Stampin' Up! is offering a 2-month promotion for NEW Paper Pumpkin customers who sign up between July 18, 2013 -August 31, 2013.  Use the promotion code PUMPKINDEAL to join Paper Pumpkin , and pay only $10 a month* for the first two months.
*plus tax, where applicable. Shipping included!

• This promotion is for new subscribers only.
• Promotion applies only to the first two months of a new subscription. After receiving two month's worth, the price for each month's kit will go to the regular price: $19.95.
• You need to visit mypaperpumpkin.com to join.
• You must click "Add Promo Code" and then enter the promo code PUMPKINDEAL in the "Promo Code" field when you sign up on the mypaperpumpkin.com website to take advantage of this promotion.
• You must join by Saturday, August 31, 2013; 11:50 PM (MT).

Do I have you convinced yet of how cool this product is?!  And the promotion?!  You're basically getting one month FREE of Paper Pumpkin when you sign up (and yes, I realize the numbers there aren't 'exact', but it's still pretty close!)!!!  

If you would like to see what a couple past Paper Pumpkin offerings have been, I am including video links below that show the June & July kits that were recently released.  BUT, there are no promises as to what the following months will be--I don't even know!  That's part of the fun of this cool program!

June 2013 Paper Pumpkin

July 2013 Paper Pumpkin

 Who wouldn't love a 30-minute guaranteed creativity escape each month?!  If you have any additional questions about this cool program, feel free to ask!

And in the meantime, Happy Stamping!

Pam

Traditional vs. Digital--Cycle Celebrations

I might as well let you know from the very beginning that one of my ABSOLUTE favorite products from Stampin' Up! is their digital scrapbooking & card-making program:  My Digital Studio (or MDS, for short!).  I love making traditional cards, but have never really been a strong scrapbooker.  MDS has allowed me to get better at the scrapbooking end of things, and I've been lucky in having some pretty amazing teachers to show me how to use the program.

One of the BEST ways I've found to get proficient in MDS is to take traditional cards that I've made, or received in swaps, or seen online, and challenge myself to create a digital version of the card!  This has allowed me to try techniques on a MUCH smaller scale before I try things on a larger canvas (such as a scrapbook page).

This card is one that created for an organized swap at the recent Stampin' Up! Convention:

Convention 2013 Swap Card

AS you can tell from the photo, I designed this card as an easel card, which is not exactly 'easy' to reproduce (it's possible, just not 'easy'!) in MDS!  So I decided to focus more on just the front of the card, rather than the Easel Card part of the technique, and this is what I designed:

Digital Version of Convention 2013 Swap Card

Not bad, huh?! 

Did you know you can try My Digital Studio for FREE for 30-days?!  Or that the actual program with TONS of content is only $19.95 (US)?!  You can find either link in my online store by clicking HERE!

Happy Stamping & Happy Friday!

Pam

Welcome!!

Welcome to Pam's Krafty Korner blog!  As you can tell, I like to have fun and play around with words, so it was fun to come up with my title for the site.  While the majority of my posts will be related to my business as an Independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator, from time to time, I might just have to post something cool about some of my other crafty interests (such as quilting!)--you will just have to stay tuned!

I became a demonstrator for Stampin' Up! in November of 2003, and have loved EVERY minute of it!  Getting the chance to meet new customers and fellow demonstrators while increasing my knowledge and abilities has been great! 

I recently returned from Salt Lake City, UT, and Stampin' Up!'s 25th Anniversary Celebration and Convention 2013.  I came away with some great samples, and a LOT of cool information that I am looking forward to sharing with you!

So, I'm going to sign off for now, but in the meantime, Happy Stamping!!

Pam