New Occasions Mini and Sale-A-Bration!

I've been having lots of fun playing with some of the great new products in Stampin'Up!'s new Occasions Mini Catalog.  You can view it online from the link in my sidebar.

AND Tuesday, January 24th, is the first day of Stampin'Up!'s biggest promotion of the year....SALE-A-BRATION (SAB)!!!  Check back here to view the SAB mini catalog online.  There are so many great products that you can get FREE...1 item for every $50 (net) that you spend!  What a great time to host a workshop since everyone can get FREE stuff!!!  There's even a special bundle available to hostesses whose workshop sales reach $400 or more (in addition to all the regular great hostess benefits).  AND get a super-cute Stampin'Up! tote bag with an order of at least $150.

Love stamping so much that you want to get a discount on your stamping products?  Join the Stampin'Up! family of demonstrators during SAB for ONLY $125....AND get a FREE paper pack or digital download every month for the rest of the year!

Scroll down to see some great projects that we made at the last Tons of Techniques class using products from the new Occasions Mini and Sale-a-bration (sneak peak!).  If you live in or around the Morris County, NJ, area and would like to join me, my next class is scheduled for this Thursday evening, January 26th, and Friday morning, January 27th.  Or check the link to my class schedule.  Space is limited so let me know asap.

The focal point on this card is created using the Frosted Window technique.  The set, Bordering on Romance comes from the Occasions Mini and coordinates with the new Adorning Accents Edgelits Dies and Textured Impressions Embossing Folders.  The frame was made with the new Framelits Dies - Labels Collection that coordinates with the Apothecary Art stamp set.  Other Mini caty products used here are Blushing Bride Pleated Satin Ribbon and Twitterpated DSP.  I love the color combo in that new DSP!

Sale-a-Bration Sneak Peak -- The stamp set used here is Fresh Vintage from the SAB mini.  Other SAB products used here...Everyday Enchantment DSP and the Everyday Enchantment Ribbon & Brad Pack.  These 3 products make up the special bundle available to hostesses whose workshop reach $400!!  The border under the greeting was made with the Labels Framelits Die.  Thank you to Patty Bennett for the idea.

This is a hybrid card (that means that part of the card is made using digital elements).  In this case, the medallion was made using elements from the stamp brush version of P.S. I love you (also available as a stamp set in the Occasions Mini) in MDS (My Digital Studio) printed on our Whisper White card stock.  The advantage of digital stamps...you can make them any size you want!  The background was made by spraying the Blushing Bride Smooch Spritz (from the Occasions Mini) over a stencil made with the Lace Ribbon Border Punch.  A piece of that stencil was used as the border on this card...it ends up with a beautiful shimmer.  Got this idea from the Stampin'Up! demonstrator website video technique area...one of the perks of being an SU demo!  It's hard to see from this photo, but I used Crystal Effects on the chocolate dipped part of the strawberry and Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details (another Occasions Mini product) on the scallops of the medallion.

I often look at lots of samples online to get inspired to create class samples, and sometimes it's difficult to remember who's creations inspired me the most.  I rarely CASE (copy and share everything) a project exactly, but if any of these projects appear to have been cased from a project on your blog, let me know, so I can give you credit.  

Happy Stamping!

Marge Thuen

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

 It's hard to believe that we are already 2 days into the year 2012!  Hopefully you had a wonderful holiday and a good start to the new year.  Life was very busy for us the last few months of the year with our daughter, Anna, playing Max, the dog, in the Christian Drama School play about the Grinch (a spin-off of the Grinch who Stole Christmas).  She did a fantastic job, along with the whole cast.  I get involved in costuming and helping backstage, so needless to say, my Christmas cards didn't quite get done (since the performances were the weekend before Christmas this year)!  So scroll down to see a couple of cards that we did in our year-end classes as well as one other card that may end up being next year's card.  Why not be ahead for next year!

REMINDERS...

Tomorrow, January 3rd, is the last day to order from the Holiday Mini Catalog.

January 5th is the last day for the Clearance Rack Blitz.  Check out the fantastic deals through my online store.

Technique Classes in January and February...

* Thursday, Jan. 12 @ 7 p.m. or Friday, Jan. 13 @ 10 a.m.

* Thursday, Jan. 26 @ 7 p.m. or Friday, Jan. 27 @ 10 a.m.

* Tuesday, Feb. 7 @ 7 p.m. or Wednesday, Feb. 8 @ 10 a.m.

* Thursday, Feb. 23 @ 7 p.m. or Friday, Feb. 24 @ 10 a.m.

Happy Stamping,
Marge

This actually uses the digital version of the Christmas Lodge set from the Holiday Mini Catalog.    It's hard to see, but I put Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the roof and overhang to add some sparkle.  The embossed border was resized to frame the image.

This is a side-step card with the new "Snow Much Fun" set in the main catalog.  The background was made by running vellum cardstock through the Big Shot with the Snow Burst embossing folder from the Holiday Mini. 

This uses the set "Come to Bethlehem" from the main catalog.  The image and scalloped border were embossed using the new Pewter embossing powder from the Holiday Mini Catalog, and the sky was "salted" which  gave it a mottled look.

This card incorporates the large star and saying from set "The Sounding Joy" from the Holiday Mini.  The image and greeting were embossed with Pewter embossing powder, and the background was brayered.