Stamps, Paper, Scissors

It was a night to remember....

It was the best of times, it was the...BEST OF TIMES! LOL!

Yes, Dawn's downline meeting with Shelli Gardner (may she live forever!!!) and Sara was absolutely fabulous!

First of all, I left very early. The road I had to travel, Telegraph (aka US 24) had been reduced to two lanes for half of the way to where I was going and it was just going to be hitting the beginning of rush hour. So I thought it might take me an hour instead of the 45 that Mapquest was saying, so I left an hour and a half early.

But it only took me 35 minutes. I got there VERY early.

I was prepared, though. I had brought a book. I didn't want to go and interrupt what Dawn was doing or anything. So I read and waited until 4:30 PM, then I went into the hotel.

There were other ladies there who were talking to the lady at the desk, who was saying, "I don't know if they are letting people in yet, I will have to ask Dawn over there." And sure enough, I looked around and I could see that Dawn was sitting at a table behind a curtain, so I walked around the curtain to say hi and OMGosh, there was Shelli (may she live forever!!!) Gardner and her daughter, Sara!!! In the flesh!

I managed to not SQUEAL and fall over, but managed, by a supreme effort of will and determination, to act quite calm and friendly. Like I said, I didn't want to make Shelli (may she live forever!) think I was as stalker or anything! Dawn said, "This is Jan Tinklenberg" and I said, "Hi! We've met before, actually, but it's been a long time." Shelli (may she live forever!) and Sara excused themselves so they could go up to their hotel room and get ready and I followed Dawn into the room.

Dawn was welcoming people in and I gave her a copy of the new book, Interactive Cards, as a thank you for inviting me. She loved it and asked me to autograph it, which I was glad to do!

After Shelli and Sara came down, most of us were there, so Dawn asked us to start swapping. Shelli (may she live forever!) said that they hadn't brought swaps, but we assured her we had planned for all of us to make enough to give her and Sara each one. They were excited and loved all the swaps, which were all beautiful.

As I was sitting there, Shelli (may she live forever!) said, "Jan! You've got 'Color Renovation Celebration' on the back of your swaps...you must have created these quite recently, like in the past two days?" I said that yes, I had, in fact, I had made them all the night before, staying up until 3 AM to finish them. Shelli (may she live forever!) loved the color combination!

After that, Shelli (may she liver forever) and Sara were taking pictures of Dawn's cards on her card tree, so I was talking to the ladies at my table and brought out the cards that were returned to me from CardMaker that had been used in the Interactive Cards book to show to them. Shelli (may she live forever!) and Sara came over to see and oohed and ahhed and Dawn brought over the book for them to see and they went through it page by page! Shelli (may she live forever) knew who I was, from the article in Stampin' Success as well as having won the contest on her blog once and told me that she loved all of my work...it was so wonderful to me to hear her say that! I pointed out that Wendy Weixler, my fellow demo and one of my very best friends, also had a card in the book and she said, "Wendy, now she's another one of those ladies...the ones that could win my contest every time they enter it because their projects are always fantastic, but I can't let them win every time!" We talked some more about submitting work for publications and what you have to send in to the publisher and how much work is involved for the little amount of money you get.

Anyway, after a while of chatting and talking, Shelli (may she live forever!) got up to talk and told us all about how the company was started and why she loved her job and Stampin' Up! Then she took questions from us. My question was, "Did  you bring any of the new colors that we can see?" At first, Shelli (may she live forever!) didn't think she had, but then she remembered there was a color chart with cardstock samples on it in her briefcase, so she sent Sara upstairs to get it and we passed it around. The new colors are WONDERFUL and I can't wait to get my hands on 'em!

After that we had make and takes, which Dawn demonstrated. She also gave us some gifts!

We all did make and takes, including Shelli (may she live forever!) and Sara.

Then it was time to take pictures.

Me and Dawn. I'm looking all pale and washed out next to Dawn! She is so tan...I am just not made to tan, though!

Me and Shelli (may she live forever!)

The really thrilling thing about the whole thing, for me, was that having Shelli (may she live forever) and Sara there was just like being with a couple of girlfriends that you know at a workshop. I felt like we really got to know each other a little, not at all like being at Convention or Regionals where you are another person in a long line of people that Shelli (may she live forever) has talked to. I can imagine it is hard to remember names and faces and details, but I really remember that the first time I met Shelli (may she live forever), she asked me how long I had been a demonstrator. When I said 3 years, she said, "And we've never met?" That more than anything else impressed me at that time. I struggle to remember people's names and sometimes totally blank out even with people I've known a while!

Some of the pictures I took did not turn out, which makes me sad. And I wish I had taken MORE pictures, especially of Dawn's daughter, Jessica and her best friend, who were helping out and were so fun! But if you want to see pictures of them, you can tool on over to Shelli's (may she live forever!) blog, SoShelli.com. You can see even more photos on Dawn's blog, Dawn's Stamping Thoughts.

After the pictures were taken, it was time to set up for the workshop. We were not allowed to attend the workshop as well, it was only for customers. Shelli (may she live forever!) and Sara started setting up for the workshop. I took some pictures:

GOJUS!!!

All in all, I won't ever forget this event...I just can't explain what a wonderful time I had and it was so nice to meet all of the ladies who were there as well, including some of you who read my blog! Dawn is such a sweet person and I was so happy to have been invited!

As you read this....

I may be hyperventilating...

I was so very fortunate and blessed that my friend, Dawn Griffith, invited me to her downline meeting this evening. I am not in Dawn's downline, but since we are good friends, she invited me...why?

BECAUSE...(tamping down the feeling of excitement...EEEEEEEEHHHHHHH!!!!)

Dawn was one of the lucky winners of the Workshop of a Lifetime, where Shelli Gardner (may she live forever!) comes and does her workshop for her!!

And Shelli (may she live forever!!!) also will be at the downline meeting tonight!!!

I am going to try to keep quite calm about it...I don't want Shelli (may she live forever!!!) to think I'm some sort of skeery stalker chick or nuthin'! I'm going to try to keep down the blatant heroine worship down to a dull roar, but it might pop out occasionally, without my being able to help it!

Ooops! Sorry 'bout that...DOWN! DOWN I SAY!!!

One of the most exciting things is that we are swapping at this meeting and we are all making extra for Shelli (may she live forever!!) and Sara (most fortunate daughter of our beloved leader!) So, natch, I had to make the most GOJOMACIOUS Shelli-inspired (may she live forever!) swap EVAH!

And since finding out yesterday that Stampin' Up!'s color palette is undergoing a significant and much-needed renovation in July, I just had to celebrate the fact that Pink Pirouette and Baja Breeze are makin' a comeback, baby!

Here is the new palette:

40 colors plus 5 In Colors which will last 2 years not 1. Five more In Colors for next year that will also last two years! Five brand new core colors, 10 returning In Colors!

But the sad thing is that all of these will be going away:

So be sure to stock up on your favorites while you can! At some point, it will be while supplies last only. There are a few I will miss, but not too many. I'm WAY excited about the new colors! There will be special kits available to both demos and customers that will allow us to update our pastels, markers, Watercolor Wonder crayons, etc. All coming our way in July! I can't wait!!!

I'm so excited that not only are some of my favorite PAST In Colors coming back, some of this year's get to stick around! So why not combine them? Why not indeed! Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Elements of Style (Summer Mini), Itty Bitty Backgrounds; Paper - Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla; Ink - Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette, Old Olive, So Saffron, Basic Brown, Versamark: Other - 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" circle punches, Modern Label punch, Very Vanilla Tafetta ribbon, SU! Texturz Plates Backgrounds #1, Vintage Brads, Clear EP, White Signo gel pen, dimensionals, sponge wedges, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz

OMGosh, it's just GOJALICIOUS!!! (YILM!) But the best part is hard to see...lookiee:

 

It be shimmerryyyyyyyy!!!! Oooh, it's SO PRETTY!!!

I was up quite late last night working on these and they will be hard to give away, but I will do my best. And doing my best to tamp down my fantasy too...ya know, the one where Shelli (may she live forever!!!) says, "Oh, Jan...this is just so wonderful, so beautiful...won't you work for us? You can live in Michigan, but we want you to design things for us from now on! If you want to live in Utah, we will pay to relocate you and your family and give you a big salary and all the stamps, ink, paper, embellishments you want! Just work for us, oh please?!?!?!"

Yes, it's  hard to come back to earth after indulging myself in such things. {smack!}{smack!}

So think of me this evening...I'll be back tomorrow with all the deets! Ta!

Get a Jump on Your Jingle

This past Saturday I held my very first holiday open house under the psychic compulsion of Shelli Gardner (may she live forever), which I called "Get a Jump on Your Jingle" in order to indoctrinate more people into the cult of SU! Are you a demo yet? We got a speccciiaalllll!!! You know you want it, c'mon!!! You will be assimilated, resistance is futile...

ANYWAY...I assemblied all kinds of objects with a psychic resonance which would compel those attending to order in mass quantities, all with a holiday theme. And I did have 5 people come, 4 of whom ordered, so it must have worked to a point...just not to the mass quantity point. I think there was a dampening field generated by the banks of these ladies...or maybe their husbands. However, it was lots of fun and more profitable than most of the open houses I have had, so I will make it an annual event. Assuming I'm still a demo next year, if my husband has not decided to have me deprogrammed.

I spent all of Friday evening assembling these objects, so naturally did not get around to designing a make and take for attendees until Saturday, two hours before show time! I fiddled around with a couple of ideas and finally came up with this, in my favorite color scheme:

We learned to do a card like this at our major indoctrination event of the year, CONVENTION, in the center of the known universe, Salt Lake City, where I got to again meet my cult-mistress, Shelli Gardner (may she live forever) and she *hugged me.* I'll pause to let that sink in.

Here she is with me...she is really quite a wonderfully nice person. I thought about not washing after this event, but consideration for my convention roomate made me change my mind. For another thing, Shelli actually touched my shirt, not me. I thought about not washing the shirt, putting it in a glass case for all eternity, but then I'd have to explain to people just WHY I had the shirt in the case and I don't think, for some reason, that they would GET IT.

Of course, this isn't the first time I'd met Shelli Gardner (may she live forever.) Here we are in Toronto:

And I even saw Shelli (may she live forever) just last month in Lansing...but I decided to be magnaminous and let others get their picture taken with her. And I thought she might just say, "YOU AGAIN?!?!?" Well, no I didn't...but it sounded good when I typed it the first time. My camera batteries had actually failed long before. Dang camera batteries.

ANYWAY, as you can see by the insert in the card photo above, by slightly offseting the Riveting piece (mounted on a dimensional) so that it overlaps the notch in the card front, you can tuck the cardfront behind the the Riveting piece, holding it closed. The card we did at CONVENTION, in Salt Lake City, center of the known universe, actually was done 180 degrees the other way; the tuck was at the top and the front of the card opened like a drawbridge. Very cute, but I like this better.

Before this card, I had messed around with this one:

I like it, but it was too fussy...you have to line up the different pieces of cardstock (four 4 1/4" squares scored down the middle and woven together) exactly right or it will not close properly.

And while my customers were looking at the objects of psychic resonance or shopping in THE BOOK, I messed around with a new color combination and got this; a card which refuses to be fancy, no matter what I tried to do to fancy it up. Sometimes, you just gotta stamp.

Whaddya do with the small open ended envies?

You may have noticed in our catalog this year that SU! has what are called open-ended envelopes. These envelopes, rather than opening at the top, open at one end (the short end of the rectangle.)

So, like the SU! cult member I am, I bought some of these things in July under psychic compulsion from my cult-mistress, Shelli Gardner (may she live forever), and they have sat in my drawer doing nothing ever since. I had some time to kill on Halloween after the kids were in bed, so I pulled them out, thinking I'd make a card or two that would fit in the envelopes.

The envelopes are 3 3/8" x 6 3/4". So the card would need to be 3 1/4" x 6 1/2" (6 1/2" x 6 1/2" before folding.) So I cut a piece of cardstock that size and got going. I chose another In Color combination off my chart (Real Red, Cool Caribbean, Not Quite Navy, Certainly Celery) and decided to do a donut card. I decided to pull myself away from the awful fascination of Flannel Plaid (undoubtedly another psychic compulsion from Shelli Gardner (may she live forever)) and with mighty effort, I pulled another background, Dotted, out of the stack and got going.

When I'd almost finished it, though, I realized, with one of those blinding flashes of intuition (they don't come too often with me, so I cherish them when they do) that this card was just a little bigger than a currency note! In fact, I pulled out a $20 bill and it was just a little narrower than the note...hmmm.....

Immediately, I abandoned my card base for one that had a flap that would fold in to hold the bill. I realized that I had to keep the adhesive to a very thin strip on the edge of the folded up flat or there wouldn't be enough room to put the bill in. I cut the flap on an angle so I only had to adhere one edge. And here is what I ended up with:

Now, I was mighty pleased with myself for actually doing something that used something that I hadn't done anything with since I bought it and was in love with the color combo and the Dotted background, as well as my own cleverness. Plus I thought it was STINKIN' CUTE and thought I should submit it to SU! (which I am going to!) And I looked at the interior and another blinding flash of sheer genius (yes, I love myself..heh heh) overcame me. How cool it would be if you could see the bill inside from the outside. And once you punched a hole through the front of the card, surely there would be a way of making the image on the bill, showing through, part of the design.

Now, one thing you may note about our currency is that those guys (Lincoln, Hamilton, Jackson et al) don't look very cheerful at all. They look like they are stern fathers of our country (or yelling at you for spending them so freely, I don't know which.) None of which is very humorous or cheerful when presenting their faces as a gift. So I decided to lay on the whimsy and another brilliant flash of genius overcame me (yes, I love myself) and I got to work. I was up until 12:30 AM working on this...I tore it apart more than once trying to get it just right. And here it is:

Cold Play is the set I used to make this along with Riveting and the Dotted background. Isn't it cute? Even cuter than the other one. STINKIN' CUTE, in fact (yes, I love myself.)

I hasten to add that the Hamilton, on the $10 bill, does not work well with the same layout that works for Jackson ($20) and Lincoln ($5)...he is over too much to the left. And Washington is still dead center like he has been for years, so you would have to make major adjustments for him. Though if you have a habit of giving away $1 bills for presents, you have other adjustments to make, IMHO! And his head isn't as big, so it would look not quite in proportion. As far as bigger bills, though I don't normally have them around, my husband was gracious enough to lend them to me long enough to see that Grant ($50) and Franklin ($100) work just fine in this holder too (Franklin looks especially hilarious)...and if you are in the habit of giving those away for Christmas, I'd like to get to know you better!

So now they are in an envelope on the way to SU! and I have made myself another one of each to keep.

To make either one, cut your card base 6 1/2" x 9 1/2". Score at 3 1/4" and 6 1/2". The remaining 3" is for the flap.

To determine where to put my hole for the Cold Play card, I took the 1 3/8" circle punch, punched a piece of sticky note out and put it over the part of the bill I wanted to show through the hole. Then I put the bill on the cardfront in about the place I thought it would rest inside the card and took my paper piercing tool and poked a hole through the center of sticky note, through the bill and through the cardstock. I then removed the bill, put the sticky note back on the cardstock and punched using the punch trick. Then I used the punch trick again to make the holes in the flap (which I turned into a slot) and the matt on the front of the card.

I know, I know...you are saying, "But JAN!!! You already did this, so just tell us where the hole needs to go so we don't have to do that!!!" You guys...you want everything! But I am so nice (along with being a genius...yes, I love myself!) that I will tell you:

For Mr. Franklin, Mr. Grant, Mr. Jackson, and Mr. Lincoln, the left edge of the hole needs to be 2 3/16" from the left side of the cardfront and the bottom of the hole needs to be 5/8" from the bottom of the cardfront. If you are making a holder for Mr. Hamilton, move the hole to 1 7/8" from the left side. And if you are making one for Mr. Washington...let's not go there.

I used a Scotch ATG gun to glue my flap down, but if you don't have one of those, use sticky strip...and use half the width...otherwise, not enough room to slide your bill in.

So now, you can make one of these, insert the bill of your choice and send me one for a present!!!