Stamp By the Light of the Moon

Stampin' Up! Regionals: a recap

I had a very exciting weekend! The Stampin' Up! Maine Regionals were on Saturday. Two weeks' prior, I got a call from the SU home offices in Utah, asking if I'd consider being a presenter at the Regionals. I said that I absolutely would love to do it. The person on the phone, Donna (she's pictured on pages 8 and 10 of the catalog) said I'd be presenting a "Wow" technique or project. I had to keep my presentation to just five minutes. I also needed to prepare 2-3 other samples using the same technique, to show during my presentation and for SU's display boards.

And so, the pressure was on: think of something I've seen or shown that gets a "wow" from the audience, and that hasn't been done over and over before.  I wanted my presentation to be something new to the audience. I had a stampers' club meeting the next day, and I wanted to also be able to do the same project for them so that I could do all my prepping and packing at the same time, working smarter, not harder.

I went through all my past posts. I looked through all my samples in my office. I finally came across a shadowbox type of card with an accordian fold, that I'd learned from a customer in a past stampers' club, several years ago. I'd always loved that project. It was not a full card, but more of a box that could sit on display. I decided that I could create a similar project using the basics she'd taught us, but making it a full card instead. With the holidays coming up, I decided to do a Christmas card. Here it is:

I used Snow Swirled for my stamp set, one of my favorite snowflake sets. As I've said in the past, I love sets that include background stamps (the snowflakes,) a main image (the tree,) and greetings (there's this outside greeting that is visible on the front of this card and an inside phrase that I used inside.)

Now, I had to step it up and come up with some other samples. I worked backwards, starting with Halloween:

This card was simple. It used The More the Merrier for my stamp set, the jackolantern faces are from Holiday Blitz (I love that set!) and the greeting is from Holiday Best. Note that both The More the Merrier and Holiday Best are hostess sets and I earned them for free with past orders! I added some detail with my Stampin' Write Markers and some black gingham ribbon for effect and viola! Done.

The next holiday up was Thanksgiving. This would be my Stampers' Club card for the day following Regionals. Since it's October, the focus for my project is November's holiday. Next month they'll do a Christmas project. Here's what I came up with for them:

This card used Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red and Very Vanilla paper, Very Vanilla Craft Ink, and one of my all-time favorite sets: Lovely as a Tree. The Give Thanks stamp is also from Holiday Best. This card used the Watercolor Wonder Crayons, which one of the club members had asked for last month. I wanted to be sure to incorporate them into the project so she'd get to see how they are used. We painted them with the Aquapainter brushes and made a beautiful New England foliage scene, perfect for what we're seeing around here these days.

And finally, I made a stepped-up version of a Christmas Card that takes longer than the five minutes my presentation card takes.

 This card incorporates several stamp sets and the Big Shot for my snowflake. I used Holiday Blitz, Snow Swirled, and The More the Merrier, White Craft ink and Not Quite Navy Classic ink and paper. You may be able to see the Dazzling Diamonds Glitter on there too. I used the Stampin' Write Markers as well, for my coloring. Here's a look at the inside, from the top down:

Tomorrow I'll post my card swap for the event, as well as some photos of me doing my presentation. 

If anyone is in need of the directions for how to make this card, email me at jencowart@yahoo.com and I'll send them to you. I have them in a word document, ready to go. 
 

October brings lots of great specials, promotions and new products!

Happy October everyone!  Welcome to a new month of specials and new products!  Thanks to my friend Jen Foley, my blog has been updated with everything new in the right hand side bar.  Click on any of the specials to see the complete details.  There's a new product: My Digital Studio, a hostess special and a deal of the week every week this month!

Keep in mind also, sign ups for my November 15 Christmas Card Class are happening right now.  The deadline to register and pay is October 15.  Looking forward to seeing everyone then!

If you would like to watch a video about the My Digital Studio scrapbooking software, check out my Demonstrator Business Website under "products."  There are so many capabilities this software has, it's amazing! 

There's also a new Digital Scrapbooking Starter Kit for just $185 that includes the new software PLUS traditional rubber stamping & scrapbooking supplies!  Be sure to check it out and sign up today!

Why I Love What I Do: My Home Based Business

This photo of me at a May in home workshop was taken by Connie Grosch, a reporter/photographer for the Providence Journal, our local paper.  I was recently interviewed and featured in our Sunday newspaper, in the "Working" column that Connie writes, talking about my job and why I do what I do. 

June marked six years since I left my elementary teaching job to do my Stampin' Up! business full time, so it's appropriate that this article featuring my business and why I do it, appeared in June. 

My second daughter was born in July 2002, and with her birth came my career change to full time stay at home mom and Stampin' Up! demonstrator.  So many people ask me if I miss teaching and if I'll ever go back to it.  There are so many things I love about my job, that I can't imagine ever leaving it.  I thought I'd take a minute to post the top ten things I love about my job:

1) The chance to be home with my children full time and be a part of every moment I possibly can before the moments are gone.  Before I had this job, I sat one night and cried to my husband, "Who will watch her get on the bus on the first day of school?" as I thought about my oldest daughter's first day of kindergarten that wouldn't happen for five more years.  On that day in 2005, the big yellow school bus rolled into our neighborhood and I was there to see her get on that bus and wave good bye to me.  I have been there to see her every single day and I have been there each afternoon as she's gotten off the bus.  Some days she gets off smiling with great news to share and other days she gets of and bursts into tears about some thing or other that's upset her day.  No matter what, I am there, where I should be, to live those moments with her.  On August 26 I will be there as my second daughter boards that bus for Kindergarten and I will revel in that moment as well, and all the moments that go with being such a part of my girls' lives. 

2) The flexible schedule that allows me to work when I want to work, because I do need to work, and be home with my family when I want to and need to be home. I don't need to ask anyone for a day off for my childrens' birthdays, school events, field trips, sicknesses etc.  I schedule my family first at all times and work my job around that.  Our family's motto has always been Family First and I strive for that in my job as well.

3) The friends I've met have blessed my life and that of my family in more ways than I can count.  I include my customers, my hostesses and my uplines, downlines and sidelines as my friends.  My life has been enriched more than I ever imagined by knowing these people.  I never thought I'd be connected to so many wonderful people and I cannot imagine my life without them.  In some cases I've even gotten reconnected to old friends through my business.  Although it sounds so cliche to say, it's the people in the business that matter to me most.

4) The travel opportunities I've experienced have been fantastic.  I've gotten to travel to places I've never been to before, on the opposite side of the country as well as locally, and I've gained confidence from these experiences.  To date I've been to Orlando, Utah, Denver and New Jersey.  Some of those places I'd been before and some I'd never have reason to go to without this job.  I've seen sites I've always wanted to see and those memories are fantastic. 

5) The recognition I've received for a job well done has done wonders for my enthusiasm for the job.  Twice I was named a Top Ten Stampin' Up! Demonstrator in the United States.  Receiving this recognition, unexpected as it was, made me want to strive to do better year after year.  It was so nice to be recognized for all of my hard work.

6) The chance to keep teaching is something I love most about my job.  I feel as if I've never left my teaching job. I have the opportunity to teach people through my classes, workshops and my status as an upline to other demonstrators.  I teach stamping and scrapping techniques as well as motivate my downline in their businesses.

7) The chance to keep learning has been fantastic.  I have learned computer skills, management skills, marketing skills, sales skills and more.  When I recently needed a resume for a teaching position (to teach a stamping class) I was so pleased that despite being a stay at home mom for six years now, my resume was current and full of skills and experiences that I've gotten from this home based, direct sales business.

8) The ability to manage my family and our challenges has been crucial for us.  My ability to be at home has been so important to our family.  In the time that I have been home we have had two new babies.  We have done major construction to our home, both inside and out.  My husband has gone back to school for a master's degree.  He has changed jobs.  If I was not able to be home, to manage all of these events for our family, we would not have been able to do any of them.  I am the CEO of our family, the manager, the one who engineers our schedule and makes sure everything runs smoothly.  Had I been working full time outside of my home, I would not have had the ability to do all of these things.

9) The opportunity to make scrapbooking and cardmaking an important part of my life seems like a little thing, but to me it's been so important.  My children love all of the scrapbooks that I make for them.  They love to see their life stories in print and in full color.  They look at their scrapbooks all of the time.  My family and friends love to see my cards come in the mail.  I love that they don't want to throw them away.  To be able to make scrapbooking and cardmaking an important focus in my life has been beneficial to me and to those around me.

10) Knowing that I have the chance to change the world, one stamp at a time is empowering. Each time I send a handstamped card, I make someone's day a little bit brighter.  Each time I give a handstamped gift, it makes someone's heart a little bit lighter.  Each scrapbook page I stamp makes someone's life a little bit happier.  Knowing that I am spreading so much happiness with my job makes me feel so good about what I do.

It makes me want to keep on doing it, always.

For more information on how you too, can have the benefits that being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator offers, see the Stampin' Up! Opportunity Page.