Inkredible Stamping with Julie

Flower Flair for a Coin Purse

I promised you a look at the gift I gave my Convention goers this year. Now that they are on their way to Salt Lake City and will soon be opening their gifts I can share with you!

Each year at convention Stampin' Up! gives out a bag to keep all your supplies in. They come up with some of the best bags ever!! (I'm a bit of a bag junkie and when it's done is SU colors and patterns there is nothing better in my book) But in that sea of similar bags it's easy to loose track of YOUR bag - so I always like to clip a few personal touches onto my bag to make it stand out better.

I found these adorable coin purses from Thirty One Gifts that could easily be clipped onto the bag. I knew they would be a perfect gift! But I HAD to dress them up a little :) So I decided to add some Flower Flair to the purses.

To create the pink flowers in the center of the coin purse I started by Die Cutting 9 of the largest circles from the Circle #2 Die. (I found the idea for these flowers along with a tutorial on 17 Turtles)

• Cut Each Circle in half
• Fold each half circle in half (right sides together)
• Sew straight up the open side of the folded half circle.
• Turn each half circle right side out, you'll have a bunch of little birthday hat cones.
• Flatten the cones so the seam is in the bottom middle.
• Sew the open side of the flower with needle and thread, up and down a few times so you get a nice gather.
• Continue sewing the next petal. Keep sewing until you have 9 gathered petals.
• Then pull your thread through the first petal to create the flower. Tie off with a knot.
• Embellish the center.

I used a White Jumbo Grommet and a Baja Breeze Button in the center of this flower.

Then I sewed the flower onto the Change Purse through the button hole.

I used just a little Crystal effects to hold the button in place on the Jumbo Grommet. Probably not necessary but it made sewing everything together a bit easier.

Here's just a little closer look at the flower. I love making fun things even better with just a little handmade touch!

If you would like to see more sewing projects featuring Stampin' Up! dies leave me a comment and let me know!

Gifts for My Convention Goers

Stampin' Up!'s Convention is coming up next week. This year I'm going in spirit but I couldn't make it work to go in body! :) But I wanted to make sure that my Create, Ink. team members that are going to convention this year still got a little spoiling from me. So I got their gifts all ready to go and wrapped them up. They're now snug in the carry on bags of my convention goers with instructions to open them once they get to the Hotel (that's when I usually hand out the gifts - kinda a welcome to convention kick off)

I'll show you the gifts wrapped up but I have to wait a few days to show off what's inside - don't want to give away the surprise!

 

My wrapping for these gifts was a little bit of old and a little bit of new. I had some Treat Boxes left over from last year's Idea Book and they were a perfect size for the gifts so I dropped them in there and tied a Chocolate Chip Satin ribbon through the handle. I added a Vintage Tag stamped with the first letter in each of their names to the box and I was finished. So quick and easy but I think they look great and best of all they'll hopefully travel pretty well in their catty ons - I wanted something that would take a little abuse! :)

Check back mid next week and I'll have a picture up of the gifts inside the box!

Initial Bag Tags are Fun and Easy with Fun Foam

Stampin' Up!'s annual convention started today. I decided not to go this year which turned out to be a good thing. I don't have the energy back yet to tackle convention excitement!! :) I was SO thrilled that some of my Create, Ink girls were still making the convention trip - so we'll all get to look over their swaps and hear about the convention excitement at our next meeting.

As many of you know I usually bring a fun gift to my team members at convention each year, and I didn't want this year's convention goers to miss out on the gifts. I wanted to make something small this year so it could easily be slid into their suitcase or carry on and I came up with the idea to make bag tags out of Fun Foam. I LOVE the way they turned out.

Here's a close up of Debbie's - LOVE IT!!

 

Supplies Used: Big Shot, Serif Essentials Bigz Die, Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Bermuda Bay Polka Dot Ribbon, Fun Foam (in Melon Mamboish Pink), Crop-a-Dile

- I started by using Spray Mount adhesive and sandwiching three pieces of Fun Foam together to create a great chunky piece of Fun Foam.

- Then I ran the Fun Foam through the Die Cut machine.

- I used the Crop-a-dile to punch a hole in the top of each letter. Attached a ball key chain, and tied some ribbon on to finish the bag tag off.

I made a card to place the bag tags in. Keeping with the same color theme.

This card uses the Great Friendstamp set. And Gayle and Tiffaney's Bag tags along with Debbie's.

I places the tags inside the card and then used a length of ribbon to tie the card shut so everything would stay inside until they arrived in Salt Lake City and Opened their gifts.

 

I can't wait until the next SU event - I plan to be there!! If you want to be at convention with me and the rest of the Create, Ink girls next year e-mail me to find out more about becoming a demonstrator.

Happy Stampin'

PS – For everyone who has been worrying about my health: I am slowly getting better – I’m starting to get some energy back (Wow this infection took it outta me!!) which means more items on my to do list finished and more stamping time! I know it’ll be a hard year but it’ll be easier with all of you!! I’m so blessed to have so many stamping and online friends to worry about me! Thanks everyone!! Just one more example of all the fabulous things Stampin’ Up! has brought into my life.

Exciting Announcements From Stampin' Up!

Whew! I'm home from convention, mostly unpacked, and FULL of fun new ideas and lots of exciting announcements from Stampin' Up! You will not want to miss this month's Inkredible Stamper's Club Stamp Camp - I'll have lots of fun samples for you to see and news to share! Bring your cameras and come join the fun on August 30th at the St. Louis County Library: Tesson Ferry Branch. E-mail me InkyFingrz@aol.com to RSVP or for More info.

Of all the FUN things Stampin' Up! announced at convention; Online Ordering, An extended Decor Elements Line, FABULOUS specials, and more - the One I'm more excited about is the Partnership with Sizzix!

Beginning September 2, 2008 SU will be offering a product line that includes the Sizzix Big Shot ($99.95) along with Exclusive Stampin' Up! Dies and some of the more popular Sizzix Dies.

The Big Shot is a sturdy manual die cutting machine used to die cut materials for use on crafts, home décor projects, and even clothing--it's a big deal! You'll love what the Big Shot machine, a 6-time winner of Creating Keepsakes Reader's Choice Award for best die cutting equipment and dies, can do for you.

Design your own custom pillow appliqués using the Tulipe Bigz die or make custom fabric flowers to embellish a quilt. From sewing to quilting to home décor, the Big Shot is the perfect tool for many types of crafting. The possibilities are endless and I'm going to have TONS of fun preparing classes and stamp camps featuring Big Shot projects!

Order your Big Shot through me beginning September 2, 2008.

Happy Stampin'

The Last Day

Today is the last day of Convention! I'll be headed back home full of fun new ideas to share with you all tomorrow!! I'm finishing off the festivities by attending a Shoe Box Swap tonight! For those of you who don't know, a Shoe Box Swap is a Like a Swap and a Stamp Camp combined. We each bring 10 cards to swap - but we bring them unassembled. So we get to have a "Mini" stamp camp and make each of the 10 swap cards we'll be receiving!!

The card I'm sharing for this swap is my favorite of everything I did for convention...

I used new In Colors again: Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, and some of the preview DSP.

I hope you've enjoyed my convention projects! I'm sure I'll have tons more to share with you when I'm home!!

If you want to know how you can join My team and have fun at convention next year, contact me.

Happy Stampin'
Julie

Color Re-Mix

Today I wanted to give you a look at some of the cards I made for general swapping at convention!

I know a lot of you will remember this card from Stamp Camp a couple of months ago...

I Loved this card - but it used last year's In Colors - So I decided to do a little Color Re-Mix and create the card using The New In Colors: Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, and Baja Breeze

My Second Swap Card Features one of the new Hostess Sets from the Spring Summer Idea Book: Window Dressing is a Level Three Set.

Are you inspired to stamp something yet?? Go create something fun and share it with me!! You know I love to see your creations!!

Happy Stampin'
Julie

Party Hearty with Pacific Point and Kiwi Kiss

Tonight I'll be at the SCSers Convention Dinner. One of the highlights of the SCSers dinner is the FABULOUS swaps we get there!!

My swap for tonight's dinner is another Sneak Peek. I used some of the new In Colors again, Pacific Point and Kiwi Kiss. The stamp set is a new one called Party Hearty. I stamped the top of the cup cake in Baja Breeze and added some Dazzling Diamonds for a little sparkle.

Happy Stampin'

The Snail Leash

One of the items that was included in my team gift bags is a Snail Leash. If you're anything like me you're forever loosing your Adhesive under a pile of paper on the table when your crafting! The Snail Leash is the perfect solution!!

The Snail Leash is so simple to make. You simply take one fo those badge holder reels and decorate them. I used the Scallop Circle punch as a base, added a layer of the new Riding Hood Red designer series paper and a Baja Breeze Button. Then you attach it to the Badge reel with a Glue Dot.

I removed the plastic clip part from the badge holder. To attach it to your SNAIL you just remove the cover, and then catch the plastic end in the snail and clip your cover back on.

Do you have a great solution for keeping your crafting essentials handy?? If you do leave a comment on this post and share your ideas with us!

Happy Stampin'

The Cutest Little Bags...

'm on the plane headed to Salt Lake City and it's time to start showing off all the fun goodies I created for the event!!

My team gift this year had a theme - cute little bags!! To wrap the gifts up I created a fun bag box using some of the new Designer Series Paper that I was able to order as a sneak peek! The bag box was super fast and easy to make and they are TOO cute for words!! I think we'll be making these at a stamp camp soon!!

 These bag boxes feature some of the new In Colors! I LOVE them!

I filled these packages with a few New Catalog Essentials, some snacks, a Snail Leash (I'll tell you more about this later today) and a little bag to hold their SNAIL and scissors.

I found these ADORABLE Cosmo Bags at Suzi Homemaker's website. You can check our all her fun items at www.suzihomemaker.net.

Suzi worked with me to personalize each bad and add our Team Logo to them! These bags are so bright and fun and Suzi was a delight to work with. The bags are the perfect size to hold the stamp essentials: Snail Adhesive, Scissors, a few markers, and even an ink pad if you want. Here's a close up look at the great embroidering on the bags.

I'm thinking about having some of these bags made up with my Inkredible Stamping Logo for my end of  year club gifts?? What do you think? If you would like your own personalized Inkredible Stamper Cosmo bag e-mail me or leave a comment on this post to let me know your interested!

Happy Stampin'

My Other Swaps

I forgot to post the pictures of my general swaps... so Here's a look at my general swaps for anyone and everyone I could find in Denver!! :).

I made 100 cards - It was tons of fun punching all those scallops!! :)

I also made 100 3D swaps.. These are the quickest and funnest halloween candies I've ever made!! I used Life Savers lillipops are these simple steps...

1. fold in all the extra wrapper on the lollipops and use packing tape to hold it down.
2. Punch two punches out of scrap card stock using the scallop punch.
3. Attach them to the suckers with Snail Adhesive.
4. Stamp one of the images from "Batty for You" in two different colors.
5. Punch one color out with the 1-1/4" circle punch.
6. Punch the other color center out with the 1" circle punch. Attach to the other circle.
7. Use Snail to attach this to the front scallop on your lollipop.
8. Tie a ribbon around the base of the lillipop.

Too much fun!!