Saturday

My Workshop Results

This is the card we made last night. You may have seen it before because it's so easy to do for workshops and new stampers.


There were 14 people. It was a mother & daughter theme so there were 6 teenage girls. The girls all sat together and had a blast giggling and talking while they made their cards. The moms were at two additional tables. I was nervous, but thankfully I overcame it and got through the show without screwing up too badly. I think everyone had a good time. I wish someone would have booked a party, but at least the hostess had enough orders to get a level one set. I used a generic doorprize form which offered a newsletter. Unfortunately, several people signed up for the newsletter and I don't have one yet! I guess I'll be making one in the near future.





You would think I'd be on cloud 9, but since no one booked a party, I don't know where to go from here. One person said she'd think about it. Which means a probable "no." It was a good experience to get a workshop under my belt, now I can move on and hopefully find someone else to host one. I have a free class at the library on the 10th so perhaps someone there will want to be a hostess.





I've got a lot to do this week to get ready for stamp club and the library class. I also have to come up with a card for a shoebox swap toward the end of the month. I'm going to be busy, busy, busy. Plus I have to take my mom to doctor appointments and chemo next week three days in a row.



I hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July celebration.

Thursday

I Think I'm Ready


I worked on putting everything together for my workshop tomorrow night and I think I'm ready. Well, my nerves aren't ready because I'm feeling anxious and hoping I'll do everything right so that everyone has a good time. I haven't had time to make any cards for the last 2 or 3 days because of preparing for the party. I want to make something so badly, but it will have to wait until Friday. I made the card at the left a while ago. I hope you like it, it's one of my favorites. I'm sad that it's a hostess set and I won't be able to use it for workshops or other events anymore.


My order came in today with my pre-order stamp sets. Just in time to show the ladies how to put together a clear mount stamp. I'm loving all the new items we demonstrators are able to order before the new catalog goes live tomorrow. Speaking of which, there are so many great new stamp sets in there. I want ALL of them! I've made my list and checked it twice so I'll be putting in my order as soon as I get the party order finished. The only thing I'm disappointed about is the ribbon and the loss of the small star punch. There is a lot of new ribbon and some beautiful lace, but there isn't much of a selection of ribbon for the Regals color group. Oh well, the other colors will co-ordinate if used the right way.


Stamp club is coming up and I've decided to do a Christmas in July theme for it. I ordered a few Christmas sets a few weeks ago and have some ideas rolling around in my head. I just need to get them made and see how they look in real life. Does this ever happen to you--you have a great idea or envision something in your mind but when you put it together it just doesn't work? It happens to me. And then sometimes I'll try something new that my brain says "that will never work" but it does beautifully. Creativity is a strange thing.


I'm thinking about having my blog designed by a woman who does Stampin' Up! blog set ups for people. I'm not much of a techie and I'd like to have a really cool blog with lots of bells and whistles. It costs a little bit, but I think it would qualify as a business expense since this is a Stampin' Up! demonstrator site. There is also a subscription service that would update the site when new mini catalogs or other promo items come out. I'd have to sign up for that too if I want to keep the site current. I've been thinking about it for awhile and I just can't make up my mind to do it yet.




Monday







I spent a lot of time yesterday working on this diamond fold card. They are also called Spring fold cards. It was a little tricky at first, but once I played with it a few times I got it down pat. The hardest part was finding a tutorial that didn't use metric measurements. Here' a link to a good one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_371aq-5gI
Sorry about the way the pictures are arranged, I'm still trying to figure out this blog thing.

They are really fun to play with and are a big WOW at a workshop. I've seen another style using this technique where the diamond is on the far left side. I haven't found a tutorial for that one yet. When I do, I'll share the link to it.

I did find one that has the diamond on top and made one with copy paper. It's not too hard. NOTE: You really need a Scor-pal to make these cards or better yet, the new scoring board by Martha Stewart. I bought one of those a few weeks ago and I just LOVE it. It has score lines every quarter of an inch so it's very versatile.

I have a workshop on Thursday night at a friend's house. I'm so nervous because this is my first real workshop. It's a mother/daughter theme and so far 8 people are coming. That's a good turn out and there may be a few more. I hope I do well and that everyone has a good time learning how to make a card.

Today I took the other 2 mutts to the vet. Shadow didn't like getting into the van and it took three tries before we finally got her to stay. The actual ride was uneventful. Josh fell on his bad hip getting out of the van. I felt so sorry for him. The vet gave us some medicine to help with the swelling and pain. My son, John, went with me today and that helped a lot.