Fresh Cut Flowers Stampin' Up! Sneak Peek!

Sneak a peek of the Fresh Cut Flowers & Note Cards that will be available in the upcoming release of the Fall & Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog. Don't miss your chance to get this set even before the release of the new catalog in August.

Customers: Attend a workshop or stamp camp in June to take advantage of this great sneak peek offer. You can also just send me an e-mail or call to order. You may purchase them together (and receive a discount on the notes) or individually.
Purchase the Fresh Cut stamp set and get the Fresh-Cut Notes for just $5
(limit one Fresh-Cut Notes at $5).
Purchase just the stamp set for: $21.95.
Purchase just the Fresh-Cut Notes for $8.95
Hostesses: Book and hold your own $400 June Workshop and earn the Fresh Cut stamp set and Fresh-Cut Notes FREE. Email me today AT STAMPWITHROBIN@YAHOO.COM to set up your workshop for June!
This Sneak Peek is ONLY available for the month of June! Don't miss it!

Blogger's Challenge - Week 49 - Animals

I have to start this post by saying that all week long, I thought the challenge was a color challenge for Black and White.

Obviously, I was wrong!

When I came down to the studio to create my project, I checked my e-mail only to find a reminder from our Bloggers Challenge Mom that the theme for the week was Animals. Guess it's a good thing I checked my e-mail because the white on black embossed flowers idea I had been playing with just would not have worked for this week.

What is really funny is that I was in the middle of creating my piece when my stamping friend Natalie showed up at my front door for stamp camp. She was 2 days late for camp, but right on time with a good idea!

I was up to the point of placing the medallion and desperately wanted to use the Chocolate Chip Twill Ribbon on this card. (Yes, you all know how I LOVE my ribbon!) But it just didn't seem to look right anywhere I placed it. Well, Natalie, my muse, suggested that the medallion looked like a concho on a saddle and a couple of well placed pieces of ribbon would call to mind the leather straps. Genius! That was just the finishing touch I needed and Voila! Piece de resistance! (spoken in my best French accent!)

Supplies used for this card (All Stampin' Up!):
Stamp Sets: Wanted, Boho Backgrounds
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Whisper White, Blue Bayou Cardstock; River Rock Textured Cardstock: Western Sky Designer Series Paper
Inks: Chocolate Chip, River Rock Ink Pads; Chocolate Chip Marker
Accessories: Scallop Punch, Build A Brad, Chocolate Chip Twill Ribbon, Dimensionals, Crafters Tool Kit (for paper piercing), Crop-A-Dile, Metallic Eyelets, Stamping Sponges, 3/4" Circle Punch

Thanks, Natalie! You can be late for Stamp Camp anytime!

Don't Forget! Only 2 Days Left for May Specials!

That's right, the 25% off ALL Chipboard special ends THIS Saturday! Here is the discounted price list for each item. If you want to view photos of the items and don't have a catalog, go to this link from my website http://catalogs.shoplocal.com/stampinup/index.aspx?pagename=shopmain&fsid=1c055630-4dac-46bc-94d2-2865148db364&storeid=1038724&circularid=12339

Item
Number Description 25% off retail price
109181 On Board Blossoms & Basics $11.21
109179 On Board Ginormous Pieces $11.21
107925 On Board Bitty Book $7.46
108495 On Board 5" x 5" Art Journal $5.21
107065 On Board Art Journal (5-3/4" x 8-3/4") $7.13
107307 On Board Accents $9.71
109182 On Board Lots of Letters $9.71
109180 On Board Simon Upper $9.71
107306 On Board Simon Lower $9.71
109192 On Board Clipboard (13" x 7-1/2") $11.96
109190 On Board Clipboard (9" x 9") $5.96
109191 On Board Clipboard (4-1/2" x 9") $4.88
110713 On Board Book Basics Large $5.96
110712 On Board Book Basics Small $4.46

The OTHER Sale is for the Cutting Mat with FREE Hobby Blade - only $15.95!

Contact me before Saturday night at 9 pm to take advantage of these specials. I have to get all orders in before midnight that night!

What do you do with chipboard you ask? Well, you can stamp directly onto it, cover it with patterned paper, cover it with cardstock and/or stamp on it, you can glam it up with all the fabulous glitter choices Stampin' Up! offers, you can paint it either with acrylic paints or with Stampin' Up! craft ink, you can emboss it, add brads and eyelets to it, cover it with ribbon and/or cloth, you can create fabulous wall art and scrapbook pages with it, the clipboards make great gifts and the Bitty Books are wonderful mini memory keepers!

Check out some of my older blog posts to see some projects with chipboard. In fact, the Wish Big card from 5/28 uses a chipboard star as it's focal point. I covered it with patterned paper and used a rub-on and hodgepodge brad to decorate it. Endless possibilities with something that starts life looking like the inside of a cereal box - to quote a friend. I promise, if you give it a try, you will love working with it!

Double Take with a Twist!

This is what happens when you only have SO MUCH of that gorgeous Afternoon Tea Designer paper left to work with!

Can you spot the differences? Ok, it's not too hard, I had to use two different stripes for this card and because the card on the right has no Groovy Guava in the pattern, I changed out the ribbon to Guava.

This stamp set was just screaming "USE ME" since it sits lonely in my cabinet most days. It's the lovely Wild Rose 2 step stamping set and as you can see, gives fabulous results with very little effort.

If you are coming to stamp camp this Saturday, you will make this project as one of your cards! I hope you like it! This camp is now full by the way, but look for my June dates tomorrow - I just have to finalize my schedule with my dh's - you know how that is!

TTFN!

Wish Big!

Those who know me well know that I am a big believer in following your dreams and doing what makes your heart happy. Life is too short to spend it being miserable.

I had a chance to celebrate two milestones over the past weekend - thanks, by the way, for all the good wishes you sent! - and as I did my prep work for yesterday's stamp camps, I was able to reflect on things a bit.

This life is pretty darn good - yes, it has it's ups and downs, but when you get right down to it, happiness is what we choose and I choose to count my blessings and Be Happy! All of us have dreams and things we wish for - and I say GO FOR IT! Never be afraid to try something new; never stop believing in yourself and never let the details get the best of your dreams.

Thanks to my association with Stampin' Up! I have established wonderful relationships with so many of you, that is blessing #1. I am able to be the Mom my dear daughter needs and the wife my dear husband needs (even if HE does the cooking), that is blessing #2. And Stampin' Up! allows me to pursue my personal dreams of being successful at what I love to do. That is blessing #3. There are so many more and I've waxed philosophical long enough - But, stop to consider this:

What are your Dreams? Wishes? Hopes? I hope they are BIG! I wish you a generous life - make it an adventure. We only get one ride around on this merry go round - Wish Big!

Happy Wednesday!

It's My Birthday - But YOU Get the Gifts!

Guess what.. my birthday is this Sunday - May 25th, and I have 3 gifts to give away!! If you want one.. send me a Stampin' Up! stamped birthday card!
I'll pick my 3 favorites, post them to my blog, and send you a special Stampin' Up! gift in the mail (my choice). :) Send to: Robin Merriman 10017 Darnaway Ct., Bristow, VA 20136
Deadline to receive cards is Friday, May 30th. Winners will be posted on May 31.

AND...........

My Birthday Celebration SALE! - Now thru Tuesday, May 27th

Place any order of $25 or more and receive your choice of a FREE SNAIL refill, FREE Pack of Single Color Cardstock (8 1/2 x 11, 24 sheets) or FREE roll of Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon - your choice of gift! Get one gift for every $25 in product you purchase!

Are you coming to Stamp Camp on Tuesday or Saturday? Well then, you get some Birthday cake too! How great is that?

Have a wonderful holiday weekend everyone!
Robin

50 Golden Years Together

Hello to all my stamping friends! Yes, I know this is not a fabulous creation from my studio - but this picture is the reason that I have been totally non-productive this week.

This Saturday, May 24th is my parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary! My dh and I are hosting a special dinner for them tomorrow night to celebrate this truly remarkable milestone!

Their lasting marriage is a testament to their determination that thru thick and thin, they would stay together. As a child growing up, one of my most precious memories is hearing them speak the words "I love you" to each other every day and showing me what real love is.

Having been married now for almost 17 years myself, I know that real love is rarely hearts and flowers and an easy road. It's tough, heartbreaking work sometimes, but it's the most worthwhile thing in the world to work at outside of parenting. The cost is high but the rewards are so sweet!

So, Mom and Dad - I love you, I'm grateful to you and I'll always be proud to be your daughter! Congratulations and I pray God will continue to bless your life together.

Blogger's Challenge - Week 47 Layout challenge

I really love belonging to this group of super stampers known as Blogger's Challenge. This is the best thing I have right now to get me thinking outside the creative box. The challenge this week was to create a card based on the puppy dog card on page 21 of the Mini Catalog.

This was truly a thinking cap day for me because I don't particularly care for the color combo or the layout in the sample card. It's just not my "normal" style of stamping. I do love the stamp set used there, but I don't own it, which is all the better for a "challenge"!

Since my niece is getting married on Saturday, I took my color pallette from her wedding colors and used Certainly Celery and Almost Amethyst along with the Amethyst Prints dsp and Vellum cardstock. The background was stamped with my much loved "Canvas" in Certainly Celery and I only pushed lightly in places to create a worn look.

I then layered Almost Amethyst under Very Vanilla that was stamped and sponged in Celery with the Blossom definition from "Bloomin' Beautiful" from the mini catalog. (page 3)

The next layer is the Amethyst Prints dsp under a piece of Very Vanilla stamped with the long stemmed flower from "Bloomin' Beautiful". I stamped it 3 times, masking the flower head a bit. The images were colored in with matching markers (don't you just LOVE how SU! products all MATCH?) and this layer was covered with the Vellum Cardstock to give it a soft look. I did color the flowers extra dark so the color would show thru the vellum nicely. Then I tore the upper right corner to go with the layout scheme.

Next, I attached a medium 1/2 pearl from the Pretties Kit to the upper left corner to mimic the hodgepodge photo turn used in the catalog. Then I punched two slots with my Horizontal Slot punch for the ribbon. One on the front of the card, and one on the folded edge. Then Whisper White Taffeta ribbon was woven thru and knotted in the front.

Vellum is tricky to attach to projects because most adhesives show through it and THAT'S not a great look now is it? So I attached my Vellum with a Mini Glue Dot behind the pearl and a bit of SNAIL adhesive behind the ribbon. Voila!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. We are so busy, but it's all good. My best friend's daughter Elisha is getting married on Saturday morning. Her Mom died last August of cancer after a brave fight and this will be a bittersweet day for us all. We were best friends for over 20 years and she was the only "sister" I ever had. I feel her loss everyday, but have the joy of knowing that I'll see her again someday! God is so good and I count my blessings always. Thank YOU for blessing my life by being a part of it!

Fun and Fast Workshop cards

The other day I promised to post the two versions of the card that will be the make and take project for my weekend workshops.

I love this stamp set "Fun and Fast Notes" because it is truly that - fun artwork and fast cards. This set of stamps comes with the greetings placed directly below the image on the rubber, but I customized my set by trimming off the greeting and mounting it separately from the image on the end of the block. That way, I can more easily use one without the other!

My workshop hostess on Saturday (Hi Barbara!) requsted a baby card for the make and take, so I created the first card to be suitable for boy or girl. It uses the "Cutie Pie" designer paper which is great fun to work with. I just love the funky patterns and color combos. I also got to use my oft neglected buttons which added just the right finishing touch, I think.

Not desiring to re-invent the wheel, I created the second sample for my workshop on Sunday (Hi Paula!). I love working with supplies like this because you can get so many different looks just by switching out a color or two and changing the ribbon or embellishment. Same layout, very different cards. THIS is what makes cardmaking EASY!

Thanks for looking in on me today - I do love company! Please leave a comment to let me know you stopped by. My blog is approaching 3000 hits - so look for some blog candy to be coming your way soon!

It's all in my head....

Or WAS in my head anyway. I've had a piece of an idea for this card floating around in my head for a couple of days now. I stamped yesterday and created the make and take cards for my workshops coming up this weekend. And while I love those cards (I'll post them tomorrow) I really wanted to be working on this card yesterday.

So, of course, my life being the chaos that it is at times, I had errands to run this morning - had a Bridal shower gift to buy since the shower is TONIGHT - so off to the mall and to Target I went with my friend Lissa. You know, I just can't shop ALONE! I needed someone to ENABLE me to buy the cute newsboy hat for my daughter after I swore I wouldn't buy her any more clothes for this summer! TECHNICALLY, it's not clothes, but I digress..... ANYWAY, we finally made it out of the fragrance heaven that is Bath and Body Works (yes, we'd left Target long ago!) and I came home to get to work on this beauty!

The stamps I used are from Friendly Flowers in the Mini Catalog (good thru June 30!) and this color combo is Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue and Very Vanilla. LOVE these colors together! I embossed the center image with Chocolate Chip Craft ink and Clear EP.

The circles were cut out with my much loved Coluzzle. I know there are some who use other cutting systems and I admit to owning one from another company too. BUT, I honestly never use anything to cut circles except my Coluzzle. There is just something very pleasing about putting that clear circle (or oval) template down on top of my paper and zip, zip, cutting out my shape, in the size I need, and being finished - snap - just like that! Yes, it's use takes some getting used to, but the results are SO worth it!

To cut the bottom half circle, I just lined up the stops on the template with a vertical line on my grid paper - yes, I eyeballed it; and then laid the cardstock on my paper cutter to cut away the excess cardstock to reveal the curve.

The center of the embossed image has one of my FAVE Rhinestone circle Ice brads in it and I just popped it up on dimensionals over top of that luscious Chocolate Chip ribbbon. The ribbon runs through a slit in the fold of the card and underneath the inside Bashful Blue layer.

I am toying with doing this card at my "Just Cards" stamp camps this month. Leave me a comment and tell me what you think!

Happy Tuesday!

Robin

Stampers Showcase

One of the cool things about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is the access we have to a DAILY creative source on our demo website called Stampers Showcase. SU! takes a few projects from all the art that is submitted to them and "showcases" them each day to give us ideas and inspiration. Recently, I've been lucky enough to be included with these amazing stampers and three of my cards have been displayed on the showcase in the last month. This is such an honor and I'm humbled to be included.

Here are two of the cards that were posted recently, the third card was the "Celebrate" card that I posted for the Birthday card Bloggers Challenge a while ago.

The first card uses the beautiful Embrace Life stamp set and a fun color combo of Taken with Teal, Purely Pomegranate, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive. The 'bling' is from the Rhinestone Circle Ice Brads (love these!).

The second card is with Enjoy Every Moment stamp set and I cased the color combo from a Scrappin' Kit in the current Idea Book- Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi. I also used another of my favorite 'bling' embellishments - the Pretties kit, for the pearl and flower. The glitter is from the new Cosmo glitter pack - this is so fun to work with and adds a very fun element to any project.

Happy Monday everyone - thanks for stopping by! Be sure to leave a comment so I know you paid me a visit!

Blogger's Challenge - Mother's Day Cards

The title of this post really should be "Shameless Casing"! First of all, my Mother's Day card came about as a result of a wonderful card sketch by Lynn Mercurio found at this link: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=346067

It was an SCS sketch challenge this week and was just what I needed to get me jumpstarted! For my card, I used Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky and Shimmer White cardstock with the Spring Silhouettes DSP. (which is gorgeous btw, can't believe I hadn't used it until now!) The background was stamped with Baroque background in Soft Sky. The 1/2 circle layers were cut with my Coluzzle (love it!) and layered underneath that luscious Chocolate Satin ribbon with Soft Sky on top. I then stamped the flower from Bloomin' Beautiful on the Shimmer White cs, layered it on Chocolate chip and attached one of those fabulous brads from the Silver Hodgepodge Hardware. The flower was colored in with reinkers and a blender pen. I sure hope my Mom's like it, cuz I really am happy with the end result!

Next up is my SHAMELESS CASING of this gorgeous purse scrapbook created by the great JanTink (may she live forever) Her original design is found here at this link: http://stampspaperscissors.typepad.com/stamps_paper_scissors/2008/03/ive-been-neglec.html
I actually tweaked her original because I didn't own the stamp set she used and did a stamp camp with it this month - thanks Jan!
But then I got to thinking how fun it would be to do this with different papers and VOILA - here you go! I really LOVE the Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip and Soft Sky together. I used Purely Pomegranate to color in the flower.
Now I wonder which MOM gets this beauty - hmmm, maybe I'll gift myself with it! :)
Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful Mom's out there! See you on Monday.....

NEW E-Mail and a NEW Chipboard project

Hi everyone! I hope you are having a HAPPY Tuesday!

My first news is that I have a new e-mail address. It is: stampwithrobin@yahoo.com

Please take note of this and use this one to contact me from now on. My old one is still active, but I'm switching everything over in the hopes that I can start fresh now that my computer is out of the hospital! :)


The project today is using CHIPBOARD! Remember the great sale that is going on right now? Anyway, this one of the projects I created for my upline's website this winter. It uses a round cork trivet from Ikea as the base.

I used the large flower circle from On Board Ginormous Pieces and covered it with paper from the Summer Days Simply Scrappin Kit.

I glued it to the cork base with Crystal Effects and decorated it with the sticky die cuts from the scrappin kit and striped grosgrain ribbon. the "C" is a Sticky Cuts Letter covered with more patterned paper and attached to a circle that was cut with the Coluzzle.


This is a great, inexpensive project and would make a fun teacher's appreciation gift or even Mother's Day gift.

With the Chipboard Special, if you place an order for the Scrappin Kit, a roll of the striped grosgrain and the sticky cuts letters, you then have a $35 order which gets you the On Board Ginormous Pieces for just $11.21. There are more than 80 chipboard pieces in this kit which gives you lots of creative options!

Contact me today to find out more!


Happy Stampin!

Robin

Stampin' News and Updates

Great news for everyone!


Stampin' Up! is extending the ending date for the Occasions Mini Catalog until the END of JUNE! Yippee! That means you have almost 2 months to shop from this fabulous collection! If you don't have a copy, you can click on the link on my side bar or at the bottom of my blog to view it. OR, let me know and I'll mail a copy out to you! Just e-mail me at stampwithrobin@yahoo.com

Stampin' Up! is now accepting Customer Credit Cards!

It's now easier than even to place an order with me - simply e-mail me your order from any of the current catalogs and I'll contact you to obtain your payment information. Stampin' Up! will accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover. I am even able to keep your credit card information on file and completely safe with their new system. Ask me how this works!

The project in the picture today is direct from the Stampin' Up! website. It was so stinkin' cute, I just had to share it with you. It is using the 5 x 5 CHIPBOARD Art Journal that is 25% off this whole month with any $35 purchase. (Check out the information on this special on my sidebar!)

May Stamp Camp/Class list is posted!
Go to my website calendar for all the dates and times! http://www.robinstamps4u.stampinup.net/
I've even added a Just Cards class on a Saturday morning for all of you who have been asking for one! RSVP soon to hold your spot!

Happy Monday everyone!
Robin

It's About Time....

that I posted to my blog again!
Hi everyone - I'm baaaack!

I wanted to share the picture of this clock I created for my upline, Christina Crawford's team website. She selected me, along with 3 amazing stampers from her team to be the current "Featured Artists". We each had to create around 20 projects and the only limit was our imagination.

I'd purchased this blank plastic clock from the Target $1 spot last year and hadn't done anything with it and I knew it could be "Fabulous" with the right embellishments! I used the "Just B" stamp set and a color pallette of Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Purely Pomegranate, Pretty in Pink and Whisper White. As you can see, many punches, ribbon and the Pretties kit were used for this fun project. I had such a great "TIME" creating it - I hope you enjoy this idea!

Stamped blessings, everyone!

Almost Back!

Hey there, just a quick post to let you know that I finally have my computer back and am in the process of reconstructing (with backups this time!) all my stamping/work related stuff! There has been a lot of stamping going on here while I was sans computer and I'm anxious to post for you! Meanwhile, check out my website at www.robinstamps4u.stampinup.net so you can see the GREAT NEW Sales and Promotions that started today, May 1st! Can you say DEAL? Great stuff, trust me!
Back soon,
Robin