Holiday Mini is here!

Oops, it's been a while since I last posted - which co-incided with a busy time in my Other Life (day job, family, etc).  But I'm back! So much news - the first is the gorgeous Holiday Mini.  
I don't know where to start with this - I love everything in it, as usual.  I was able to pre-order some goodies, and I'll show and tell my experiments with them over the next few posts.  Here's what I ordered: Product List

Jingle All The Way Wood-Mount Bundle

[140861]

$59.50

Precision Base Plate

[139684]

$41.00

Embellished Ornaments Wood-Mount Bundle

[140856]

$85.00

Curvy Corner Trio Punch

[139683]

$35.00

Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

[139672]

$15.00

I ordered  few other things, too, which I'll tell you about later.  Also, save the date - next week I'm holding my regular class again (day and evening).   Maybe we can get started on a few Christmas projects?

Sugar Free Cake, anyone?

It was Thing 4's 8th birthday last week (where has the time gone?) and he invited 10 of his classmates to his birthday party yesterday, which we outsourced to a local ten pin bowling alley.  He was so excited!  I hadn't realised that the poor neglected child had never been bowling before.   The last time we'd hosted a children's birthday party at the bowling alley it was for Thing 1's 7th birthday when Thing 4 was only 3 months old.

Anyway, it was a blast - the kids enjoyed the bowling, the junk food and the ice cream cake, and we didn't have to clean our house, bake or entertain anyone.  Yay!  I did draw the line at outsourcing the party bags/party favours/whatever you call 'em.  That's because I just got my Stampin' Up! order delivered - and it contained exactly what I needed to make awesome party bags!  And by party bags, I mean cake.  And by cake, I mean cardstock and ink.  No sugar!  Except for the contents, which were 100% sugar.    Confused?

I used my last remaining stash of Naturals White (retired) cardstock to make these cute boxes.  Love how they looked all stacked together.

These cute boxes are perfect for filling with a small gift, or, as we did, sweet treats!  

The coordinating Sweet Stack stamp set makes it easy to make the boxes look more cake-like, LOL.  And I've just noticed that I used two different shades of pink ink there!

These were so easy to put together - I used the new Tape & Tear adhesive (it's a double sided tape) and it worked beautifully.  I think it is best to use this tape (or, perhaps, Fast Fuse) when making boxes.  SNAIL just isn't strong enough for 3D projects.

I already owned this cake stand and clear cover, which made it easy to keep little fingers away from the treats until the end of the party, and a snap to transport in the car.

Here's what you need to make your own sugar free birthday cake!

Product List

Big Shot

[113439]

$169.00

Tear & Tape Adhesive

[138995]

...

Cutie Pie Thinlits Dies

[138273]

...

Sweet Stack Photopolymer Stamp Set

[138948]

...

Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Pad

[126979]

$11.50

Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad

[126978]

$11.50

Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad

[138323]

$11.50

Clear Block A

[118487]

$7.00

Clear Block B

[117147]

$10.00

Clear Block D

[118485]

$14.00

Clear Block H

[118490]

$14.00

Recruiting Promotion for June - Which Stamps will You Choose?

Hello!

Been thinking of signing up as a Demonstrator for the sweet 20% discount?  Now is the perfect time - you get to pick two FREE stamp sets from the new catalogue as part of your Starter Kit!  Which will it be?

Here are a few suggestions:

Product List

Endless Birthday Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set

[137553]

...

Big News Wood-Mount Stamp Set

[134015]

$76.00

And Many More Wood-Mount Stamp Set

[134273]

$66.00

Watercolor Wings Photopolymer Stamp Set

[139424]

...

So what are you waiting for?  Go to the "Join My Team" Page and, well, join my team!  :-)

NEW Catalogue is LIVE!

So many gorgeous new products!  Here are some of my favourites so far - each time I look at my catalogue, I find something else I have to add to my Wish List.

New In Colours!  Yum!

New Punch Board!

Ronald McDonald House stamp set - Stampin' Up! donates $3 per stamp set .

New matching punch! 

Another new punch!

What are you ordering first?  I can't decide....

What to do now MDS is no longer available!

MDS ENDING SOON AND SPECIAL OFFER DETAILS 1 June 2015Now is your last chance to get Stampin’ Up! downloads at the discounted prices. Everything in the My Digital Studio product line is available for 30 percent off until the end of day on 2 June. See the spreadsheets of retiring MDS products here: SP (PDF, XLS) As a general reminder: 2 June is the last day to buy downloads with the 30 percent discount. After 2 June, Stampin’ Up! will no longer sell anything related to the My Digital Studio product line. On 2 June, all Online Store categories will be replaced with new categories in support of the 2015-2016 annual catalogue. The new categories will contain new and carryover items in the 2015-2016 annual catalogue. All other items, including the MDS software and digital downloads, will be searchable and orderable, but not categorised. 9 June is the last day that Stampin’ Up! will support the My Digital Studio product line. After 9 June, all of the MDS websites will be taken down. That list includes MyDigitalStudio.net, related content on the stampinup.com demonstrator website, the download manager, YouTube videos, Facebook and Pinterest. Make sure that you download and back up your digital downloads and software before 9 June. For help with backing up files, see MyDigitalStudio.net/backup. All of Stampin’ Up!’s digital downloads will be discontinued, including everything related to MDS, convention and leadership theme songs, photos, class recordings and all of our other online classes. You will want to make sure to back up all of your digital download files before the cutoff on 9 June. Our MDS playlist of YouTube videos on the Stampin’ Up! channel will be available (for the foreseeable future) via the following link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB85C76B5B74DB19A MyMemories Suite Offer Software We have worked with excellent partners to make the My Digital Studio product line. We’re pleased to announce that StoryRock, the partner who worked with us to develop the MDS software, has made an offer to Stampin’ Up!’s customers and demonstrators. Some MDS users may know that the original MDS software was based on StoryRock’s award-winning MyMemories Suite software. While the two softwares have diverged over the years, there are still many similarities--which we feel confident will enable MDS users to experience an easy transition to MyMemories Suite. MyMemories version 6 software is normally available for $39.99 USD, but StoryRock has cut the price to $19.99 USD for anyone who purchases the software via this special offer. See more details about the offer here. Artwork While Stampin’ Up! will not sell any digital downloads after 2 June, we have reached an agreement with StoryRock to offer a limited number of our existing digital downloads for sale via a Stampin’ Up! section of the MyMemories.com online store. You can expect to see a limited selection of digital downloads appearing on the MyMemories.com online store over the next few months. The price for downloads through the MyMemories.com online store may vary, but it will definitely be in your best interest to purchase the downloads available through Stampin’ Up! at a 30 percent discount until they are no longer available after 2 June. This content will not be new to you, but it will give you and your customers the opportunity to catch additional digital downloads you may have wanted and missed while our digital downloads were available for sale. You will not receive commissionable sales for purchases made for any of the artwork available in the MyMemories.com online store. Do I need to switch to MyMemories Suite? Stampin’ Up! will no longer support the MDS software after 9 June 2015. MDS will continue to work on existing computers for the foreseeable future. However, you will no longer be able to print directly from MDS after 2 June, and it is very probable that the software will not work with the upcoming Windows PC and Mac operating systems. It is also possible that other critical component updates like Java may cause the software to stop working as intended. In short, if you would like to continue with digital design on a supported platform, we recommend that you switch to the latest version of MyMemories Suite. MyMemories Suite consistently rates very high, we know and recommend the developers, and as we have mentioned, it is very similar to MDS. Stampin’ Up! will not provide support for switching your MDS projects and files over to MyMemories Suite, but StoryRock will be more than happy to help.

Reminder: Back Up Your MDS! And How to find the Product Key.

Hello all,
Just a friendly reminder to everyone who purchased My Digital Studio that you need to back up all your downloads and your MDS programme itself.  Remember too to make a note of your MDS Product Key in case you wish to reinstall it on another computer.  This is URGENT.
Not sure where to find your Product Key?  Here's how.
1.  Open MDS, open any project.   2.  Go to the HELP tab, then About MDS. 3. Click the Support Tab, and you'll see the product key. 4. Take a screen shot and upload the screenshot to the external hard drive/disc/USB you are saving everything to.
Please do this before the end of the month.  

Sneak Peek #1 - Hostess Sets!

One of the best perks of being a Demonstrator is that I get my hands on the new catalogue first - and I love it!  I've only had it less than a week, but already my copy of the 2015-16 catalogue is decidedly dog-eared and has highlighter scribbles all through it, LOL.  I still keep finding things I overlooked on the first 100 flips through! At Convention, we were shown the new Hostess sets.  What are hostess sets?  They are a perk for our Hostesses, because these special stamp sets can only be purchased using the Stampin' Rewards earned  by hosting a party that has a qualifying amount of sales.  Or who has a large enough personal order. Want to see some cute samples by Katie Adams (from Stampin' Up! home office in the USA)?  These pics aren't great, as I took them from the overhead screens while Katie was onstage.

There are five new Hostess sets in the upcoming catalogue, though I only have photos of three, as the other pictures didn't work out.  What other new products can you spy?

Stamp:  A Whole Lot of Lovely  

Katie showed us how to make this gorgeous tag - I can't wait to try this technique myself.  I spy new glassine sheets for the bag, too.  So many cute gift wrapping ideas in this catalogue!

Stamp: Best Thoughts

This is such an elegant image, perfect for watercoloring.  And did you know that aside from watercolour paper, our white shimmer paper is also excellent for watercoloring?

Stamp:  Floral Wings

This butterfly stamp is a two-step stamp.  Isn't it pretty?  Katie showed us how to make the personalised notebook to match the card.  Love how easy it is to make simple, heartfelt gifts with cardstock, ink, stamps and a little glue.

  I have some spaces available for parties from 2nd June if you'd like the chance to earn these gorgeous stamps - truly, once you see all the fantastic new products in the catalogue, your wish list will well and truly get you Stampin' Rewards.  I can also see a few classes making notebooks too....I'll be planning some classes shortly so watch this space!