Stampin' Up!'s New Catalog...In My Hands

Today is the first day of convention and that means it's the first look at the new catalog for demonstrators. I just LOVE this day! Our copy of the catalog came in a gorgeous brown, turquoise and kiwi colored bag. I put the picture of the NEW CATALOG farther into my post in case you choose not to view it. If you prefer not to see the new catalog look away now.

My upline, Jacki (You can find her bog here: http://jackimontgomery.blogspot.com) and I made a beeline to grab our new convention bags before getting in line for Momento Mall. Momento Mall is like a shopping area where demonstrators can purchase exclusive stampin' up merchandise for us to use in our business. We got in line for Momento Mall at 9:30 am and did not enter the room until 12:15. Now that is determination! The line went all the way down and then wrapped around the entire length of the ground floor of the Salt Palace Convention Center and then through twists and turns as if waiting to go on a ride. Well let me tell you, it was definitely well worth the "ride!" We wanted the goodies we saw other people walking away with. We waited for such a long time and then breezed through the store in 15 minutes flat!


















These are views of both the line behind us and then the line ahead of us where it began to twist and turn. In case you are wondering it truly was worth the wait!

While waiting we talked to so many wonderful and friendly people. One of those people was a lovely woman named, Brandy. Brandy was carrying the most beautiful magnetic calendar with manipulative pieces that she created using a baking pan and Stampin' Up! merchandise. What a great idea for a teacher or a parent who home schools.






































Now for the catalog, the bag, and some other fun stuff.


































Notice the scalloped edge down the side of the catalog. It is beautiful! Full of some favorites and LOTS of new sets. The new sets are ALL die cut. NO need for your craft and rubber scissors for the new ones. Woo Hoo! This new catalog will be available for purchase on August 11th. Email me today to reserve your copy. MLGOLD@comcast.net



































MY KRISTINA WERNER SIGHTING
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that while checking out at Momento Mall, Jacki and I got a chance to say hello to one of the greatest bloggers out there...Kristina Werner, yep she was checking people out. I just LOVE her blog and her make a card Monday. You can check our her blog at (www.kwernerdesigns.com) It is a must see! She was so nice and appreciative of our compliments. She was such a joy to talk to. Now, I like her even more! I guess you could say that I am true Kristina Werner groupie. Yes, that's ME!

A View From My Room in Salt Lake

I've arrived safe and sound. I have a myriad of views from my hotel window. After a long nap I took these pix to share. First, the beautiful Wasatch mountains. Being from New Jersey, these mountains are a beautiful sight! There is some construction outside my window so just look beyond it for the view.

















It was approximately 8:30 here when I took this picture of the sunset. It's much better in person to see the sun go down slowly beyond the mountains.


















Tomorrow, is Day one of Convention, also kown as "check in day," when the real crazy swapping begins! Some people were showing their swaps in the airport but I didn't see any real swapping just lots of friendly and happy women. I will post my new convention bag, some random wild swapping, and also the new catalog!! I am so excited. I can't wait to see it!

A Little Help With My Convention Swap!

Tomorrow I will be heading over to Utah for Stampin' Up!'s annual convention. I am so excited but I have had a bit of a problem lately with time. It has not been on my side. My upline, Jacki, and other gals in our stamping group, Donna, Jean(my secret stamper), and Terry got together tonight to help Jacki put the finishing touches on her swaps. They invited me over to join them and bring what I needed to work on. Well, I brought over what I had precut, but let me just tell you how wonderful these ladies are. I only precut for a few because as I stated earlier, time has not been something reachable for me lately. These wonderful women helped me put together what I had prepared and then Jacki started cutting more out for me and these women did not skip a beat as they helped me to double what I had and then some. I am so thankful that there are such wonderful people in my life. Thanks ladies.


Do you remember my secret stamper, Jean? Well, the AMAZING Jean had a goody bag for me! For little ole me! She stamped the cutest 3D holiday treat/favor. I get teary eyed just thinking of her kindness. "Wow! All I can say is Wow!" Check out these cute and tasty treats. Check out Jean's blog to see her other awesome creations. (http://jeandelaney.typepad.com/)














While at Convention I am going to a shoebox share/swap. This is the card I made for it using some of the new In Colors and stamps. I love these new stamps!

Stamp sets: Heard from the Heart, Fresh Cuts
Cardstock: Choc Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Classic Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette
Accessories: Brads, Light Pink Pirouette











Just playing with my new stuff! I will post details later on all items posted tonight.

Stamp set: Window Dressing
Cardstock: Bella Rose Paper, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Brown, I used a blender pen with Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, and Pink Pirouette inks.

Well, I am off to Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. I must finish packing (smile). I will be posting from there all the goodies that Stampin' Up! has to offer so check back!

Update On My Header

Well it looks like I got it up there. Thanks to all of you who left a comment or emailed me directions on how to do this. I still can't make it work when using my Mac. I had to email the picture to myself and then use our desktop DELL computer to upload it. I think I lack the needed software on my MAC. Go figure.... "Anywho" It's there and I think I like it!
Okay...off to bed for me.

My New Stuff!

My new Stampin' Up! stuff has arrived. Well, it has actually been here for a week, but now I can think about doing something with it. I love the Bella Rosa paper, it is amazing! The colors are fabulous. I also LOVE the fact that the stamp sets are all die cut. This is a BIG time saver. Now, what will I do with my craft and rubber scissors. I am sure I'll come up with something.I think I just might use this paper for my swaps along with the new Window Dressing stamp set


I leave for Stampin' Up!'s annual convention on Tuesday and I have not cut a bit of paper yet! My plan is to focus on this all day later today once I sleep and wake up again (smile). My husband says he will take the kiddos out for the day so that I can get busy cutting. That is the hard part... Then I will be able to start putting them together. Believe it or not I am not stressed about it. I do feel it will get done. I will keep you posted on what I come up with.

A Fresh Cuts Thank You!

It has been awhile since I blogged last. Things have been a bit hectic in my life. I want to thank all of the peole who have left me a comment or sent a card or an email to check on me. I appreciate your thoughtfulness during this life changing time for me and my familys. For this, I say, "Thank you so very much."

This was my first opportunity to stamp in quite a while.

For this card I decided to mix some of the old with the new. I used some of the retiring In Colors. I am going to find it hard to say goodbye to these colors. I have grown very fond of them. I know I will continue to use them for my personal use.

Card Recipe:
Stamp set: Fresh Cuts
Cardstock and Ink: Purely Pomegranate, River Rock, and Wild Wasabi
Cardstock: Very Vanilla
Accessories: buttons, ribbon, and brads

Ode To My Grandfather

Yesterday, my 89 year old grandfather died suddenly in his home. He was at home with my grandmother, his wife of 72 years. He leaves us with so many fond memories and phrases that will resound in my head for the rest of my life. The one that rings the strongest, "See ya Saturday," the phrase he would always utter to us kids as we said goodbye regardless of the day or day we would see him again. So to my grandfather whom I love so very much, "See ya Saturday!"
Love your granddaughter, Maureen....one of ten.

Wonderfully Wild Grid Rose

This card features the grid technique that I learned last Friday night, thanks to my friend, Donna. You can check out her new blog at: http://Donnastampsandscraps.blogspot.com. She is a very talented stamper and scrapbooker. She also takes great pictures (smile).

I created this card as part of the Splitcoaststampers technique challenge in my quest to partake of more challenges to increase my repertoire of stamping layouts, techniques, color combinations and such. I just love this flower set. It is great for so many different themes. Very versatile!



Stamp recipe:
stamp set:Wild Rose and Warm words
Cardstock: Purely Pomegranate, Pale Plum. Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink: Purely Pomegranate and Old Olive
Accessories: Old Olive
Technique: Grid Technique

A Header

I am working on trying to make one of these into my blog header. I am having no success on my own. Please help if you know how to do this on a mac...and/or ... also how to add a hyperlink, in a post, using a mac computer. If you know how to do either of these, please leave me a commet or email me at MLGOLD@comcast.net. I would soooooo appreciate it.
Thanks so much.

A Ribbon Jar

After receiving one of these from my Secret Stamper (Jean), I decided to try my hand at making one for the person I've been surprising. This was more tricky than I thought. Finding a jar at ACMOORE was incredibly easy. Covering the lid...easy, stamping the flowers and adding the brad...easy. Creating holes at the top and adding an eyelet with my cropodile...still easy. But this is where the easy part ended. The challenging part.....finding ribbon that was both festive enough and thin enough to fit through the little hole in the eyelet. Had I planned ahead I would have purchased some non SU ribbon to make this easier. SU! ribbon tends to be thicker due to its' excellent quality. This is usually a good thing but not when making a ribbon jar. After much searching I had success with some of the thinner ribbons in the ribbon originals packs. A sigh of relief happened here. Last I wanted to do as my Secret Stamper did and adhere ribbon around the jar. One would think this would be easy but for me it wasn't. The ribbon kept sliding off. At first I tried to wrap it around and use 2 dimensionals to hold it all together. Didn't work for me so I then decided to add some glue dots around the jar to hold the ribbon in place and I added another dimensional and found success. It was more work than I thought but I do like the outcome and hope she likes it too! She should have it by now. I hope I have made her feel as special as Jean has made me feel.

Thank You Jean

Here is a thankyou card I made for my Secret Stamper. I used the layout from Splitcoast stampers sketch challenge 182. I just love this sketch! It's so very easy and fun to create with a cute outcome...I think. Add a bit of ribbon on the side and wahla. The card is complete! I had it with me for the big reveal. At that time I wasn't sure who I was giving it to but I wanted to thank the dedicated stamper who had me. I think she (Jean) liked the card. I know I had fun making it!

My Secret Stamper Revealed

I have had the most amazing time being a Secret Stamper to one of my stamping friends and also receiving so many wonderful things from my Secret Stamper. Some of the members of our group met last Friday for the big reveal. This was so much fun and exciting at the same time. Everyone was so anxious while waiting with eager anticipation for the moment of truth. We gathered in the evening for some tasty barbequed foods, salads of various sorts, and tasty desserts. After dinner when we could wait no longer we announced one by one who we've been surprising for the last year and gave them their last surprise. The person I've been sending surprises to lives in NY, a couple hours drive away, so she was unable to make it....BUT...the person who has been making me smile for the last year WAS in attendance. In fact she was the host of the evening!

My Seret Stamper has been the talented Mrs. Jean Delaney. She is awesome!!! Check out her creativity at her blog: http://jeandelaney.typepad.com/


After our big reveal, we went into her amazing stamping room for a shoebox share. After all, what's a party without stamps, ink, and paper right??? If you want to see what we stamped. Visit my upline and friend's blog: http://jackimontgomery.blogspot.com, she has them all posted there.


Below I am sharing the last few gifts the amazing Jean surprised me with.



















These are the cutest note cards. A perfect gift for me. They are a great way to leave someone a little note without feeling like you need to fill a complete card with lots of words. You can be quick and right to the point and it looks like you wrote a lot! Just what I need to go along with the theme of my life..."quick and easy." Just keep it moving (smile)


This bag is fabulous! Perfect for my swaps for Stampin' Up's! annual Convention....note to self, get busy stamping those tomorrow...I can display my swaps in the pockets and give options to my fellow swappers. I am so excited about convention. I CAN'T WAIT!!!! I love the ribbon straps on this bag! If you are coming to convention you will see me and my bag there!

Included in this beautiful bag was a sweet-smelling shower gel and lotion. Anyone who really knows me, knows that I just love these shower gels and lotions. I love the smells and smelling fresh ALWAYS. Very important to me. I guess Jean really knows me (smile).

This was such a great experience. Jean made it very special. I can tell she took lots of time and put lots of thought and energy into all of her treats for me. Thank you sooooooo much Jean. I LOVED EVERYTHING you did for me. You are something SPECIAL!!!

Simply Sent....Cards in a Tin

My gifts from my Secret Stamper inspired me to try my hand at creating a card set and holder. I've had a couple sets of these tins for months just collecting dust in one of my "filled to the brim," cabinets. After seeing what could be done with these tims I decided to give it a try. Mine is pretty simple but serves its' purpose. I feel pretty good about it. I will be sending this to a special friend. I hope she likes it. To design the cards, I followed the same layout and color combination from the tin. I used several punches for the focal point and some ribbon. Very fun and simple.

Card Tin recipe:
Cardstock: Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Rose Red, More Mustard, Whisper White
Stamp Set: Enjoy Every Moment, Gift Labels
Ink: Certainly Celery, Rose Red, More Mustard
Accessories: Purely Pomegranate stitched ribbon
Punches: 1-3/4 circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, Snow Blossom

A Quick Card

This was a fun and quick card to make. To create the scallop edge look at the top of the card I used my circle punch to punch out 6 circles and adhered them to the back of the white cardstock close together. I can't wait to receive the new scallop edge that Stampin' Up! now sells. I just placed my order. It looks like fun...can't wait to put it to use!

Card Recipe:
Cardstock: River Rock, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, So Saffron
Stamp Set: Thanks So Much
Ink: So Saffron, Wild Wasabi
Accessories: White grosgrain, Wild Wasabi stitched ribbon

Our Baby Boy...A Scrapbook Page

Well, he's two now but here is a completed page of my youngest. I cased some of this layout from my upline's upline, Gail. I added a little touch to make it my own. I love these pictures of my little guy. He has changed a lot since these photos but I remember it like it was just yesterday.

I stamped the word, baby, in craft white onto the bashful blue cardstock to create the background paper. I used the jumbo wheel of the clothesline with baby clothes to create a bottom border. I forget the name of this retired wheel. I just love anything and everything baby. I am hoping to get more of his pages done. He has the least of all my kids. My first born daughter has the most. Two books full! I've gotta catch my boys up or I'll be paying for therapy for them later.
Thanks for stopping by and looking.

The Fun Continues

On my way to my tennis lesson, which was cancelled once I arrived due to rain, I decided to check the mailbox for more treats and guess what? Yes, you guessed right. There was a long rectangular box with my name on it. On my drive to my lesson I waited for a red light so I could open it. Inside was this beautiful album with three peek a boo windows where my secret stamper stamped and colored three very pretty flowers. My secret stamper used rub-ons on the cover of it and it is absolutely adorable. The flowers and the rub-ons coordinate so well. These rub-ons are fantastic. They look great on everything! There was a note card with it that suggested I use this album to hold my SU! convention photos and I think that is a perfect use for this album. I can't wait to fill it up and share it with everybody!

She Stirkes Again!

My secret stamper has left me yet another wonderful treat! This gorgeous decorated tin with a set of beautiful cards came in the mail for ME. What creativity! I love it!!! Her layouts are endless and the color combinations she chooses are so complimentary!

Our big reveal is this Friday and she, my secret stamper, has been sending me a daily surprise. It is so much fun. The anticipation. The unwrapping. The everything about it. She is so good at this. I am learning how to be a better secret stamper from her. This is such an exciting week! I am off to a tennis lesson but will upload pictures tonight. I haven't received today's mail yet so who knows...I may have 2 fun things to share. My kids are away so I am hoping to get some stamping done later tonight. Enjoy the rest of your day.

The Countdown Begins...

The Countdown begins to the end of this years' "Secret Stamper." Yesterday I received this great surprise. I smiled ear to ear as I ripped open the box to see what goody would be hiding inside. Here is what I found....something so adorable and fun. I'll just call it "fudorable," or better yet "Ingenius!" A ribbon jar! I've seen this on other sites and didn't see what the fuss was all about but now that I can actually SEE it. This is GREAT! I can just pull out ribbon from the top and the rest of it remains neatly tucked away inside. The colors are beautiful and festive. This is fabulous. My secret stamper is making this a wonderful experience. I am so lucky and thankful.

A Sweet New Arrival

A neighbor of mine recently gave birth to a little girl. I wanted to celebrate this occasion with a card. Last week there was a sketch challenge on Splitcoaststampers that intrigued me so... that I just couldn't wait to try it out and woohoo, tonight I got my opportunity. I don't get to these challenges as often as I would like but here is my attempt at sketch challenge 182. Hope you like it! I first created this card by layering just the pink sheets of cardstock and printed paper on the white, then I got the idea to add basic black cardstock to create a border from the pink unit to the white card base. Also I hoped this might make the pink parts of the card pop a bit and also it ties in with the ribbon. I'm posting both for your viewing pleasure.

To create the clothed baby I first stamped the image on whisper white cardstock and then on the printed paper. Next, I cut out the clothing part of the image that I stamped on the printed paper and lastly, I adhered the clothing to the image I stamped on the white cardstock. To complete the look I punched out the dressed baby using a 1-1/4" square punch, then punched the background/layered pixie pink square using the 1-3/8'' square punch.
Stamp sets: Baby Talk, Baby Firsts, and In My Thoughts.
Cardstock: Pixie Pink, Basic Black, Whisper white, and Bright Tints, Pink Swirls by Paper Pizazz.
Ink: Basic Black, Pixie Pink, Blender pens with blush blossom, yo-yo yellow, and certainly celery
Accessories: black organza ribbon.