LMac's Catered Crops

A Big Shot Trilogy

Gracious - when have you ever so much from me? Are you ready for more news from the regional convention? Well, okay, if you insist, here's another on-stage presentation, this time from Christie Daugherty of Tyler, Texas, with that stage hound, the Big Shot. 

 

Isn't this baby-bib card adorable? Chrsitie said she made it by starting with a 5" x 7-1/2" sheet of cardstock. She folded the cardstock in half and lined it up on the circle scallop about two inches down from the top of the scallop so the fold wouldn't cut. The wide oval punch made the collar.

   

Christie says she loves those little clips. Check out what else Christie made from the circle scallop dies. Hold on to your knickers . . .

 

And this Christmas card . . .

 

Oops, too soon for Christmas, how about a beach bikini? 

 

With pictures of the beach . . .

Owls are so "in" - check this out.

 

Someone else created this beauty. I'm sorry, I didn't get their name. One of my friends was lucky enough to get this in a swap. They kind of make an owl couple, don't you think?

 

If you go to Christie's blog today, you can see a video of her entire presentation. Click here: Stamp Shack Lady, and then check out the upper right hand corner.

There was so much more action on stage . . . including news about upcoming promotions, the Holiday Extravaganza and the Country Living special. I'm sworn to secrecy, but let's just say you're going to love Stampin' Up!'s rub on the next 20% for $20 promotion. Jaron showed us we could run Coke cans through the Big Shot for an eclectic Christmas tree ornament, and his inspiration journal was a huge hit. Carrie Cudney took the stage again and showed us how we could use the decor elements as a stencil for glass etching . . .  

The on-stage presentations are just a part of the convention. There's swapping, the display boards, and, the best part, seeing stamping friends again.

 

Next time - glitter takes the spot light at the convention.

The Big Shot takes the Big Stage

Carrie Cudney is so much fun to watch on the Stampin' Up! stage. Her giggles are infectious - and her projects are over-the-top fun. Next Carrie wanted to give us a peek of the different kinds of materials you can use on the Big Shot.

From the demonstrator side of the Stampin Up! web site, here are 50 approved materials you can use on the steel rule dies and your Big Shot machine. Note some of the materials have a maximum thickness.

Brass (.055) Light weight steel Aluminum (.016) Tin (.008) Aircraft plywood (1/64") Basswood (1/16") Balsa (3/32") Paperwood Mat board (adhesive or none) Chipboard Fabric Silicone Foam with chipboard (.1) Corrugated pad Adhesive-backed cork Fine sandpaper (.00) Styrene Extra thick template plastic Template plastic Plastic canvas (7 mesh) Bubble wrap Sheet foam Friendly (jewelry) plastic 100% pure beeswax (cut with parchment paper on top & bottom of beeswax) Adhesive and non-adhesive rubber Ruffleboard

Static cling vinyl Warm & natural batting Fusible fleece Quilt batting Adhesive and non-adhesive flexible magnet Heat n' shrink plastic Adhesive and non-adhesive felt Pop-up sponge Shiny self-adhesive and non-adhesive paper Iron-on fabric Poly foam adhesive and non adhesive 3-D illusionary plastic Glow in the dark adhesive and non adhesive Suede paper Funky fur Personal Embossing Plastic (PEP) Shaggy plush felt Canvas Vinyl flooring Shelf lining Placemats Embossing rubber Thin leather Gasket material

Cool, huh?! Although, what the heck is ruffleboard and funky fur? Sounds fun anyway. 

Carrie said, when she thought of fun foam, she thought about how it would stand up to snow. Okay, that's not the first thing I would think of, but who knows how her creative mind works. Well, check out what she made for her nieces and nephews - a snowman kit.

   

She painted the tips of clothes pins black and inserted them through flowers she made with the Flowers Layers with Leave die. She used clothes pins with each of her fun foam shapes so her nieces and nephews could push them into the snow balls. At this point I was wishing Carrie would adopt me, but there's more.

Carrie said she doesn't sew, much to the chagrin of her Mom, but check out what she made for her nieces and nephew's Christmas.

 

She said her mother used to tell her elves would visit on Christmas if she was good, so she even made a poem to put into her little elf hats.

 

There's more:

 

Isn't that just stinkin' cute?!

Before we leave Carrie's topic about using different materials with the Big Shot, check out this card from one of the display boards. Unfortunately, I have no idea who made this card, but she used cork board as her card base with the Top Note Bigz die. I love the results.

 

Next, Carrie wanted to show off how the Big Shot can help with event planning. Because you can cut so many identical images, it's great for making invitations and party favors. For a princess-theme party she made these invitations, crowns and scepter:

 

Carrie said she just had to model the crown for us . . . such a girly girl!

For a boy's party she made these glow-in-the-dark stars, running balsa wood through the Big Shot and applying glow-in-the-dark paint.

 

Lori Olaveson's talk about watercoloring and Carrie's talk about the Big Shot took us to just mid-morning, and I haven't even shown you all their projects. It's a lot of fun to take in one sitting. But, yes, there's more. Stay tuned for even more fun Big Shot projects, this time by Workshop Wow presenter, Christie Daugherty from Tyler, Texas.

The Star of the Show - Big Shot

Well, you might think the star of the San Antonio regionals would be our CEO, Shelli, but I think even Shelli might have gotten up-staged by the Big Shot. That diva was everywhere.

Carrie Cudney from the home office put the spot light on the Big Shot first. I love Carrie. She's such a self-professed girly-girl. Carrie started by showing us a mini album about - Candy! Don't you just love her?!

Funny how some candies bring back very specific memories - but that's a whole other post. Carrie first ran the Lovely Lilac cardstock through the Big Shot with the circle scallop die. Then that girl ran eight sheets of Whisper White card stock through the Big Shot at the same time! She said if the die doesn't have any embossing or creases, you can run eight sheets through at once. Wow, that's a big time saver! She did something really smart, too: she ran two sheet protectors through the Big Shot to cover the album. She just attached the sheet protectors to the cover with brads, so no adhesive was necessary.

Let's see what Carrie says about candy.

 

These are pictures I took of the big screens on the left and right sides of the stage. The quality isn't that great so just imagine you have a front-row seat with me in that dark auditorium. If you click on these pictures you can make them a little larger and easier to see. If I have a better picture of the products from the display table, I'll show you that instead of the screen shot. Onto another page of Carries album . . .

 

Next, Carrie showed us how she gave dimension to the die cuts.

 

This card uses the Blooms & Blossoms Die 4-Pack. Carrie sponged the white blossoms with the Stampin' Pastels using More Mustard. Then she used the 1" circle punch to make the centers of the flowers in So Saffron card stock, also sponging those with More Mustard.

 

Another way to use the die cuts - how about as a ribbon slide, this one using the Hearts Set.

 

Or, using the negative image from the die cut, you can use it to create a window on one of our On Board Journals.

 

Carrie said it's easy to disassemble the On Board Journals to run through the Big Shot, but . . . she said to buy two journals so you can see how to re-assemble your journal. To get that leather look Carrie painted her book with ModgePodge - one of my favorite final touches - you can find at any hobby store.

And, finally, for today's post, Carrie showed us an adorable accordian-fold card for Halloween.

Carrie used the Eat, Drink & Be Scary stamp set, and scallop circle and Serif Essentials dies. She folded her paper back and forth (accordian) before putting it on the Big Shot, keeping the crease within the circle to get this . . .

Shew - that's a lot, and that's not even all of Carrie's presentation . . . and she wasn't the only one who gave a presentation on the Big Shot. Stay turned . . . tomorrow, part two of Carrie's Big Shot presentation.

So . . . is this helpful? If you were at the convention, are these reports helping you remember everything so you can use it in your business? If you didn't get to go, are my notes giving you some good ideas? Please let me know because there's a lot more to come and I don't want to bore my dear peeps.

Cyndee Rust Presents

I am so very, very proud of my friend, swapping buddy and side-line sister, Cyndee Rust. Stampin' Up! always chooses four local stampers to present Workshop Wows - projects that just knock your knickers off. Stampin' Up! wisely choose Cyndee as a presenter at Saturday's regional convention - and she was fantastic! Not only were her projects true "WOW!" but she was a natural on the stage - just exuding excitement.

Here's her introduction by our CEO, Shelli Gardner.

 

Can you imagine trying to demonstrate your projects with Tom, the camera man breathing down your neck . . .

 

another camera man in front of you, an audience of hundreds (thousands?), a prompter clicking down the minutes, our cherished CEO watching from behind, and two screens on either side of you projecting your face some 20-feet tall?

Cyndee showed us what a great value our Simply Stamping kits are, showcasing the I Wish kit. She called her presentation: "Simply Scrapping kits - they're not just for scrapbooking any more."

I was so busy snapping pictures of my friend I didn't take very good notes, so stick with me. She showed us this buffet of non-scrapbooking projects using just products from the kit and starting with a wrapped Kit Kat candy bar.

   

She said this was a huge hit with her co-workers.

 

The most amazing project was her flip book. Cyndee's book was full of pockets, which she said would be perfect for giving gift cards. I got only one picture of it, unfortunately. I changed the shutter speed of my camera to get brighter pictures in the low light, and everything after that was just too fuzzy without a tripod.

 

After her presentation, Cyndee's projects were placed at the display area for some camera attention. I squeezed my way through the crowds to land these pictures.

Cyndee's cross-cross box.

A peek-a-boo box . . .

with peppermint patty sandwiches.

She made a scallop-envelope box filled with little tins for candy.

 

And, finally, a miniature pizza box jammed with adorable package tags.

 

Here it is closed so you can see how adorable the top is.

I don't have pictures of the inside of Cyndee's flip book, but I can direct you to a site where you can see a similar book and get the instructions and a template for making your own. You can find the flip book at Amy Celona's blog here: Flip Book Step-by-Step. 

Cyndee had only five minutes to give her entire presentation, so there was little time for details. A little web browsing and I found the instructions for the rest of Cyndee's projects for you. Nicole Heady's instructions for the criss-cross box are here: Criss-cross box. I don't have instructions for Cyndee's little peek-a-boo box, but here are instructions for a similar box: Peek-a-Box Box. Sheryl Dickinson has great instructions for Cyndee's box of tins here: Scallop Envelope Box Tutorial. And, finally, Jennifer del Muro has instructions for the mini-pizza box here: Mini Pizza Box.

If you were at the convention and got better pictures of Cyndee and her projects, be sure to leave us a comment with a link, so we can get a better view. Each year Stampin' Up! makes a DVD of the regional convention Workshop Wow's, so we'll be sure to look for her presentation on next year's DVD.

And the final WOW of Cyndee's presentation? All this was made with one Simply Scrapping kit, and she showed us how many materials she still had left over from the kit. It was amazing! I have to confess, I haven't bought many of the Simply Scrapping kits. I haven't done much scrapbooking recently, but when I do, I generally don't use stickers and die cuts, which, of course, is the guts of the Simply Scrapping kits. Well, after Cyndee's presentation, yep, the I Wish kit is on my wish list! When you start thinking of using them for 3-D projects, the possibilities are just endless.

Reporting from the Convention - Watercoloring

Linda McClain here, lead (and only) reporter for the KBSU, from the Stampin' Up! Regional Convention in San Antonio . . . here's the late-breaking news . . .

Lori Olaveson from Stampin' Up!'s home office presented six different ways to watercolor using the aqua painter. (The larger aqua painter is on sale for $7.25 through the end of October.)

 

Before presenting each technique, Lorie offered these tips:

• Get to know your aqua painter. Practice because each aqua painter is just a little different. Become one with the painter.
• The painter tip may get stained with use, but it will not affect the end product.
• Outline stamps work best for watercoloring.
• Use Staz-on ink pads to stamp the outline image. Because they're water-based, classic inks will smudge when in contact with the water from the painter.
• Start with lighter colors, then next darker to darkest to blend outward.
• Add a little neutral color under your stamped image to "ground" the image like a shadow.
• Keep paper towels handy. If the painter gets too juicy, you can use the paper towels to dry up the painter a little.

Lori used Stampin' Up!'s 40 lb watercolor paper, Textured Love Notes, Earth Element Brads, punches, and the stamp set, Pun Fun, for each of her examples.

1. Watercolor Pencils - You can use the pencils tp color directly on the stamped image and use your aqua painter to blend your colored image. Or, you can load the aqua painter with color by applying the painter to the tip of the the pencil.

 

2. Stampin' Pastels - Give a more fine and softer look. Tip your aqua painter into the pastels to pick up the color.

 

3. Classic Ink Pads- Make your ink pallet by squishing (yes, her technical term) the lid of a closed ink pad. That will place ink in the lid that you can dip your aqua painter in to load the color. Some areas of the lid will have more concentrated ink than others so you can vary the intensity of the color. For the most concentrated color, put drops of ink from the ink refillers of the same color into the lid. For the example below, Lori used More Mustard, Tangerine Tango and Close to Cocoa.

4. Craft Ink Pads - Craft ink pads are made of pigment ink and will give a more opaque look with a truer color. Load the aqua painter with color by applying it directly to the ink pad.

 

5. Stampin' Write Markers - You can pick up the color by applying the aqua painter to the brush end of the marker. Because our markers are water based, you can also draw on the image with the marker for more intense color where you want it and continue to blend it with the aqua painter.

 

6. Watercolor Crayons. Like the pencils, you can color the image with the watercolor crayons and then blend the color, or you can load the aqua painter with color by picking up the color from the crayon. Pick up the color from the bottom of the crayon so you keep the shape of your tip intact for coloring.

 

Lori showed a few more water colored projects for those who want to kick it up a notch.

Morning Soft - notice the stiching with hemp around the corners. (Sorry this picture is so fuzzy - these are pictures of the oversized screen in dark stadium lights.)

A tiny scallop envelope using the set Owl Together Now. After the presentation, the projects were placed in a display area where I could get a more upclose pictures. Here's Lori's final watercoloring project using Under the Stars.

And that's the way it was . . . Linda McClain for KLCC, coming to you from San Antonio.

Okay, that was me trying to be a news reporter. Think I should stick with my day job?

Lori did a great job. I didn't know you could use the aqua painters with the pastels, and I'm anxious to try the pencils. I love, love watercoloring. Any of my hostess club members will tell you we watercolor nearly every month. Here's a few other tidbits I've learned.

With any of these mediums (except possibly the pastels) you can try coloring directly onto your stamp, misting lightly with water, and stamping onto your paper. It's a great way to stamp the image once with more than one color and you will get an instant watercolor image that looks like a Monet!

You may notice aqua painters in hobby stores selling for a dollar or two and may be asking why you'd want to pay more for Stampin' Up! aqua painters. Yep, I tried to save some money and I found the tips on hobby-store aqua painters are not as pliable or amicable to painting finer images. Painting with one of them is a little like trying to do surgery with a hatchet instead of a scalpel (sorry for the graphic McCain/Obama debate reference). Our painters also have a filter that keeps the color you're using from going into the water reservoir. Without the filter, your colors can get muddy. The cheaper painters are great for licking stamps.

That's just the tip of the aqua painter (hee hee) . . . so many more things to share with you from the convention - stay tuned to the same channel. Next time - Cyndee Rust presents Simply Scrapping.
 

Shelli's Holiday Table

Oh, my head is still spinning from yesterday's Stampin' Up! regional convention in San Antonio. I took over 200 pictures of on-stage presentations, display boards and swaps. I took pretty good notes so I'm hoping to share some of the presentations with you here. Well, I'm partially self motivated. If I get them posted, it will help me remember all those wonderful ideas.

Shelli Gardner, co-founder and CEO of Stampin' Up!, was the emcee of the event.  - she's celebrity to us demonstrators. My friends landed us a front-row seat - check it out! 

While I'm getting all those pictures together, here's the next best thing for those of you who couldn't go. Last Tuesday, Shelli appeared on her local NBC affiliate's, Studio 5 program and showed some really beautiful projects for setting a holiday table. While my mother-in-law was with us, she always fixed us a fantastic Christmas Eve dinner taking great care with her table setting. She'd get out her mother's china and silver, some beautiful linen napkins, and our favorite, the little individual salt and pepper shakers. Each year she'd buy individual Christmas ornaments or candle holders for the name plates and some adorable matching napkin rings. She made Christmas Eve so special - and she made us feel special with all the care she made to make the meal so memorable.

Because Shelli's table creates a winter scene, it's not just for Christmas. It works for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. I can't wait to try it this year. It will let me put my twist on Mom McClain's Christmas dinner. I promise you my dinner won't be nearly as delicious as Mom's lamb and pearlized onions, but it will be a little like having her with us.

Here's the video - it takes about seven minutes to watch.

Here are the ingredients and instructions for Shelli's holiday table:

Stamp Sets
Cute & Curly Punch Label bundle
Everyday Flexible Phrases
Holiday Blitz
Simple Serif Mini Alphabet & Numbers
Wild West Alphabet

Stampin' Pads
Baja Breeze Classic
Chocolate Chip Classic
Old Olive Classic
Real Red Classic

Card Stock/Paper
Ski Slope Designer Series paper
Baja Breeze card stock
Chocolate Chip card stock
Naturals White card stock
Old Olive card stock
Real Red card stock

Accessories
Dies:
Big Shot die cutting machine
Pillow Box die
Scallop Circle #2 die
Top Note Bigz die

Accents:
Pretties Kit
Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware

Punches:
1/16" Circle punch
3/4" Circle punch
Horizontal Slot punch

Ribbon/Cord/Thread:
Alpine Ribbon Originals
Baja Breeze 5/8" striped grosgrain ribbon
Linen thread
Silver elastic cord

Miscellaneous:
Acetate (from office supply store; thick)
Bone folder
Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter

Instructions

Napkin ring
Make card stock note using Top Note Bigz die. Adhere Designer Series paper on card stock, stamp (on New Year's napkin ring), fold, and smooth folds using bone folder. Stamp label image, punch out and/or cut, and adhere to napkin ring. Punch out slots and tie together with ribbon (Note: New Year's napkin ring is tied together with Silver elastic cord). Accent as shown.

Name plate
Make card stock note using Top Note Bigz die; stamp (on New Year's name plate), fold in half, and smooth fold with bone folder. Adhere Designer Series paper on card stock (Note: layer paper on Old Olive card stock first for Christmas name plate). Accent as shown.

Favor
Make favor box using Pillow Box die, and fill with treats. Create belly band out of Designer Series paper (Note: layer paper for New Year's favor), and adhere to favor. Stamp label image, and punch out. Adhere label and accent as shown.

Confetti
Make several large and small scallop circles out of Designer Series paper. Stamp and cut out/punch smaller images (acorns for Thanksgiving, trees for Christmas, and snowflakes for New Year's) as shown. Glue glitter on snowflakes

Dancing the same crazy

A true friend is one who thinks you are a good egg
even if you are half-cracked.  ~Author Unknown

I have the very sweetest friends. They put up with me even though I am clearly half-cracked. Well, even beyond that, they do so many little things that keep me going.

Jennifer Fay sent me this beautiful card with pictures from the Stampin' Up! convention last summer. Really, I should be the one sending her a card because she was so wonderful to hang out with - she made my sis feel so welcome as a new stamper.

 

Then, my dear friend, Lisa, sent me this video. Lisa is my American hero - balancing family commitments while her husband is serving in Iraq. She sent this with the note that it would perk me up. It definitely does - it's a hoot! If you want to watch it in HD, click here: Where the Hell is Matt.

It's not nearly so lovely as Jennifer's card or as hillarious as Lisa's video, but, as a thanks to these sweet ladies, I'm going to share with them (and you) one of our family's favorite recipes. We used to make these for my daughter's volleyball tournaments. My daughter called me and asked for this recipe the other day, but I was in Lubbock. Home again - here's the recipe.

Bow Tie Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• One package Bow Tie Pasta
• 8 sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped (soak them in olive oil first to soften a little)
• 1/4 small red onion, roughly chopped
• 4-5 leaves of fresh basil, finely chopped
• 2 ounces of Feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 Tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Creamy Caesar salad dressing
• salt and pepper

Boil one package of bow tie pasta according to the package directions. Rinse with cold water and set aside. Add tomatoes, onion, basil, and cheeses. (You can also add chopped chicken breast, if desired.) Stir and combine. Add enough salad dressing to coat the pasta lightly, then salt and pepper to taste. It's best if allowed to sit in the refrigerator for several hours.

Not even one cracked egg - just yumm.

A Prairie Dog Companion

Okay, I admit it, I'm easily entertained. While I was in Lubbock, I checked out the Prairie Dog Farm. I've never seen a prairie dog before, and apparently they see them a lot on the south plains. I learned a lot, like, they're not really dogs, but ground squirrels who get their name because of their barking call (sounds more like a squeak to me, but we'll go with it). They only grow to about one to four pounds and are known for excavating huge and complex underground colonies. I couldn't get too close, and, unfortunately, I didn't have a telephoto lens, but here's a few pictures.

 

They made the funniest little movements - like they jump up in the air when they make their barking sound, and their little tails wag with such delight when a playmate.

Meanwhile, here are the last two cards from Laura Venverloh.

 

Laura was so sweet to make these for our hospice patients. I love how she used the background stamp to make this look like a canvas painting.

This one is so cheerful and bright, but still has the most gentle colors. Laura is going to school to be a nurse after a career in the mortgage company. With all the care she put into these cards, it's clear to me she's going to be a wonderful, compassionate nurse. Thank you again, Laura.

Laura Beautifies the Campus

This past week I was winding down some training in Lubbock, Texas, home of the Texas Tech University Red Raiders.

   

I checked out the campus and found it needed a few more colors than just red and black. (No offense, but I'm a UT Longhorn fan.) Laura Venverloh sent me some beautiful cards to share with hospice patients, and I used the campus as my backdrop for photographing them. I know you'll appreciate Laura's projects as much as I do.

 

This one is definitely my favorite - though I love all the cards she sent. It's just so vibrant and so sensitive to what the hospice families are enduring. Well, that, and my Dad was partial to light houses.

 

If I'm not mistaken, I think Laura used a poppin' pastels technique with this card. The colors are so gentle. I love the bow on the top - so elegant.

 

This one is so dear. I think she used a rock and roll technique on the branch to give it that little touch of brown on the edges of the leaves.

Yes, I'd say the campus scenery was definitely brightened with Laura's cards, and I know a few hospice patients' days will be brightened, too. Oh, and there's more. Next, a few more of Laura's cards and some pictures from my visit to Lubbock's prairie dog town. Meanwhile, be sure to go visit Laura at "What's scrapping?"

You're in the right place . . .

You're in the right place - I just remodeled again. Seems I'm kind of fickle with my blog design, and I was getting kind of bored of my old banner. I haven't quite got that whole digital scrapbooking thing down, so I made this with scapblog.com. It was pretty easy. I'm anxious to know what you think.