Tag: Friends

Stampin’ Up! Leadership 2014

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When asked what they loved best about Stampin’ Up!, what did demonstrators respond was at the top of their list?

  1. Free Stamps
  2. Friendships
  3. Flexible Hours
  4. Creativity
Here’s a hint:
While we love being creative and would never turn down free stamps (or chocolate), the thing we love most is the relationships we forge! I met Jan (right) at Leadership in San Antonio, TX in 2012 where we became roommates by finding each other in an online board. Within minutes, we were as close as sisters and then found Carolyn (front) who was attending alone from Canada. She couldn’t resist us 😉 and this year we were blessed to be roommates all together in Houston!
It was Jan’s idea to wear matching scarves each day:
What fun we had together! Our favorite activity was Managers Reception at the Houston Aquarium where they served “Light Refreshments” of sushi, shrimp, roast beef, mashed potatoes, dessert, hot cocoa bar, etc… This was Nirvana for me because I plan every successful trip around where I’m eating next (LOL). Oh yeah, there were also scuba divers, sharks, sting-ray feedings, and white tigers at the aquarium as well as a few rides like a Merry-Go-Round where we may or may not have let our hair down. 
Of course there was plenty of stamping, swapping, education, motivation and celebration (which is what we do best)! 
We also roamed the scariest parts of downtown Houston on foot searching for pizza, introduced Jan & Carolyn to Pizzookies (aka “Never On Sundae” at Utah Pizza Factory), survived Carolyn leaving her wallet in Canada (she had a little cash and her passport), and laughed at Jan the day she wore her shirt backward for the first 4 hours! In turn, they teased me about “sleeping around” because I took turns in Jan’s bed, then Carolyn’s (we had two beds in the hotel room, so I gave them each a chance to sleep alone). We made precious memories together.

Loved the service project we participated in:

One of the best Leadership announcements was this one: 
Join my stampin’ family and gain 5,000 new friends at Inspire. Create. Share. in Salt Lake City this summer! You don’t want to miss any of the fun!

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A Card for a Special Occasion

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Today I made a card for my dear friend and downline, Sally Hadley, who just passed $100,000 in career sales with Stampin’ Up! It had to be SPECIAL to celebrate such an awesome accomplishment, so I combined it with Connie & Mary’s color challenge and spent a happy hour crafting this masterpiece:

 To make it even more exciting, the inside slides out and the balloon floats up:

I was surprised at how much I thought about Sally as I created this card for her: She has been a friend for 14 years and I love visiting with her. We share the same faith, struggles and goals, and talking to her is easy. She is thoughtful and kind, sarcastic (in a good way), easy-going, dependable, loyal, tenacious, hard working and fun to be with.  She likes simple, quick crafting and you can see her artwork over on SallyStamper, Ink FB page. Yesterday was her birthday, too, so wish her a HBD if you stop by! That’s one of the benefits of stamping something specifically for a friend, I guess ~an opportunity to reflect on what they mean to you and the satisfaction of creating something special, just for them. 

Sadly, I don’t have a picture of us together (an error I intend to correct the next time I see her), but this is her doing what she loves best: Stamping!

Way to go, Sally! I’m proud of you and know this is going to be your best year ever 🙂

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Showered with Love

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It seems that weddings, births and deaths comes in clusters. Happily, I am in the midst of weddings and with a daughter that just got engaged last week, there is more to come 🙂

Today I wanted to share the shower my friend Rita and I hosted for our friend Sariah. I shared the invitation I created with My Digital Studio here and we used it for part of the decor:

We served sandwiches and guests made their own sugar cookie “fruit pizza”:
We played the guessing jar game  though what I failed to mention in the original post (which I’ll fix today) is that after you have made your guesses, the answers are revealed and whomever is closest to the correct answer wins that jar or container! We didn’t play it quite like that at Sariah’s party, but I think I would do it that way if I could do it over again. 
At the shower we called it the 5 Senses Game because they could feel (household items were tied up in the pillowcases below), smell or taste (spices from the kitchen), hear (some things were wrapped up) or look at the jars to make their guess (see). 
Here are some ideas if  you are doing this for a household shower:
  1. A small jar of chocolate chips (our half pint held over 300 chips!)
  2. Spices (just wrap a paper around the label and let them smell/taste): Basil, Oregano, Pumpkin Pie Spice, etc..
  3. Wrap a box of band aids or staples and let them shake to see if they can guess the sound
  4. Put household items into a pillowcase to let them feel them. In one we had kitchen utensils such as a garlic press, salad tongs, vegetable peeler, etc. In another were household items like a calculator, a 9 volt battery, a ratchet screwdriver, etc…
  5. A jar of paper clips (guess how many)
  6. A jar of loose change (guess how much $)
  7. Take the labels off cans (like mandarin oranges and sweetened condensed milk) and see if they can guess what’s inside.
You could also have them guess how much something weighs or what day the groom’s birthday is on (a calendar). Remember to NUMBER each item and let everyone have time to make their guesses. 
There were plenty of awesome gifts (you can imagine why she is blushing if you look at the bag): 

And finally, I was excited to try out this cool recipe from the gals over at Our Best Bites for a favor for each of the guests. It’s great for hands or feet! And it smells good enough to eat. 
Which technically, you could do. 
It was a beautiful shower for a beautiful friend.
I’d love to hear how any of these ideas work for you. Leave me a comment if you try something and tell me how it goes!
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Here for You

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I believe God gives us experiences to uniquely prepare us to help others. I’ve been blessed to have a dear friend who is struggling right now and trusts me to be there when she needs me because our experiences have been very similar. It is a stewardship I am grateful for, and pray every day for guidance from my Heavenly Father that I may say the right thing to help lift and strengthen her. Today’s card is for her.

Serendipitously, I was able to tie it to two of my favorite challenges at Create with Connie & Mary and SU Only 🙂 Wish you could see the sparkles on some of the raindrops just a little better…

Card Recipe (all supplies from Stampin’ Up!):

  • Stamps: Million-Dollar Moments (Spring catalog)  
  • Ink: Island Indigo (stamp it off to make it lighter) 
  • Paper: Whisper White, Island Indigo, Bashful Blue and vellum card stock, Sunshine & Sprinkles Designer Series Paper (126922) 
  • Accessories: Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch (119275), Designer Printed Brads (122940), 1/4″ White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon (126877), Dazzling Details (124117), Stampin’ Dimensionals 

One of my favorite quotes is from a modern day prophet, Spencer W. Kimball (1895-1985) who said, “God does watch over us and does notice us, 
but it usually through someone else that he meets our needs.”

May you find someone to serve who has been praying for you today!

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Shoebox Swap: Fun for All

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All for Fun and Fun for All!

That’s what happens when stampers get together: We enjoy the company and the creativity! Last week a few of the Stitched Stampers (my SU! family of demonstrators) met in St. George, Utah for a few days of FUN. Friday evening we held a shoebox swap and here is the result:

What is a shoebox swap? Each person brings one finished sample and all the supplies cut and prepared to allow everyone else to make the same project!
Anne is our resident dressmaker/seamstress, so this is her fitting card:
 
 Pam lives on land with animals, and we loved her masculine card using the pennant punch and boot:

Sue is clean and simple…with a little bling:
Angie is lighthearted and whimsical, matching the card she made:

You should see some of the beautiful cards Sally has created with the Secret Garden set…this is a cheerful one (and I smeared my ink, darn it!):

Then we put our cards into this card keeper I brought for the swap…and you can make it at the Spring Card Buffet on April 25th 🙂

We love expanding our circle of friends and if you want to join us for more fun as a demonstrator, NOW is the perfect time to be part of the family! During Sale-a-Bration, you get 25% MORE free product in your starter kit (that’s over $150 for just $99…includes shipping!!). Why not try it?

Join my Stampin’ family HERE.
There is no obligation, but I suspect that if you try it, you’ll discover that sharing your passion for paper, stamps and ink is addicting and you’ll LOVE IT!

After all, Stampin’ Up! is All for Fun, and Fun for ALL!

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I AM…Excited! (Stampin’ Up! Convention Report)

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Come along with me for a Stampin’ Up! Convention report!


For 20 summers I have reserved “Me Time” at convention, and with the exception of one year when my baby was just too small to travel with me, I haven’t missed it! There is nothing better than being surrounded by 3500 close friends, stamps, ink, paper and tons of creativity 🙂

It was fun to share updates from convention on my Facebook page, but here are a few more highlights:
We started the week at the Late Night Stampers Stamp Camp and Reunion Party:
Back: Kristi, Pam, Sally & Sherrill, my stampin’ “mom”
Front: Anne, Me, Sue
On check-in day, we toured the Stampin’ Up! home office in Riverton, including a visit to the Legacy Museum, where the decor changes every year and is open most business days for the public to visit:
  
 I took a LOT of photos of the amazing and creative ideas at the convention displays:
 
 This demonstrator’s shirt says it all:

We look forward to getting a new bag at each event, this year a chevron pattern in Summer Starfruit!
It was roomy enough to carry a lot of stuff we bought in the Memento Mall 🙂
I got to walk across the stage for an award:
Make & Take Projects are always a highlight:
And FREE stamps make us smile!
Finally, after convention was over, we got to attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Pioneer Day Concert with Katherine Jenkins, guest artist. Here we are on our way to the concert in front of the Salt Lake Temple! What a wonderful week! I’d love to have you join my stampin’ family and come with me to convention next year…

Wish I could share more, but we are moving to a new home, so I may be M.I.A. for a week…check back after August 1st for more creativity or RSVP for my Card Buffet this Saturday in Spanish Fork!

 

Friendship, Freshly Made

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Have you ever considered the value of friendships?  I thought it was interesting that it has been proven that healthy friendships and social interaction has been linked to a 50% better survival rate while being lonely could be as fatal as smoking 15 cigarettes a day!

Real friendship takes effort and time. Sometimes we get too busy to nurture our friendships and it is easy to let our frantic lifestyle keep us from reaching out to those we love. I know I have been guilty of this! When was the last time you took time to do something fun with (or for) a friend whom you cherish? Today I want to encourage you to do some small act of service that will strengthen a friendship, whether it be to send a card just to say “Hi”, schedule a lunch date, drop off a cupcake to a friend or simply pick up the phone and have a good chat with someone you haven’t visited with for a while! I will be sending a friend the card I created using a color challenge and the Freshly Made Sketch #24:

 The colors came from a challenge I shared with my Stampin’ Family in February:

Speaking of fun things to do with friends…I am holding a Stamp-a-Stack card class on Saturday, March 10th at 10 am. in Spanish Fork! Everything will be cut and prepared for you to come and be creative: You’ll make 6 cards for $10 (2 each of 3 different designs). If you want MORE than a short stack of cards, you can tell me that you want to create 2 (or more) stacks of cards when you register! If you register with an adult friend I haven’t met, you’ll get a FREE GIFT! The only things you need to bring are scissors, adhesive (SNAIL adhesive recommended) and a bone folder (if you have one). Make sure to label all your tools with your name or initials 🙂

Call me to reserve a spot by March 7th: 801-376-8685

It’s Always MORE Fun with Friends!

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There are many excellent reasons to be a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator, but I can tell you that the BEST reason is that you make life-long friends! This photo is from SU! Convention last July with Sally, Sue and Kristi…some of my dearest friends in the world whom I would never have met with Stampin’ Up!

Of course, there are a million other reasons to join my Stampin’ family, but now through March 31, there are 2 excellent motivations:

If you would like to know what is in the Starter Kit, check it out (over $345 Value!!):
Ready to join my Stampin’ Family and make new friends?  
Click here to go to my website and push the “Join Now” button!

If you would like more information or just have a few questions, please come to one of our Group Gatherings where your questions will be answered and you can get a taste of what being a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator is like!

Saturday, February 25th
Lion’s Head Clubhouse
Washington, UT
10 a.m.
Saturday, March 10th
Down Spendlove Lane
Spanish Fork, UT
2 p.m.
Drop me an email for more details or to RSVP for either event: loni@sfcn.org

Stamping Brings Us Together…

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Here are 10 great reasons I LOVE Stampin’ Up!
{cue music} We are family! I got all my girlfriends and me! {dancing follows}

These ladies are part of the reason I do what I do: reuniting with some of them year after year, meeting new friends, laughing/crying/stamping/creating/sharing/sleeping/eating/celebrating/mourning/working/playing together. In 17 years, we’ve done it all!

It would be great to have YOU with us next year at Convention (and all the fun in between now and then!). E-mail me (loni@sfcn.org) for a no-obligation packet to see if Stampin’ Up! is for you!