For those of us here in the US celebrating Thanksgiving, one thing is always for sure….shopping the day after!  My inbox and mailbox are already full of wonderful savings on things I love so I’m happy that Stampin’ Up is offering a sale again this year!

This after Thanksgiving sale will be a little bit different than previous years.  Almost the entire Stampin’ Up annual catalog will be 10% off!  (BTW, our shipping is 10% on orders of $69 or more so it’s like getting free shipping:)

They are breaking the sale up over 6 days in THREE 48-hour periods:

There are a few exclusions.  The Big Shot machine, the Stamparatus, Paper Pumpkin subscriptions and Bundles with stamp sets & Framelits (Bundles are actually 10% off everyday anyway!)   SU said there would be limits on some items (they haven’t told us which ones) so just order early to avoid any disappointment.

Your own Custom Host Code

If you think you will be ordering online with me more than once during the sale, I can set you up a private host code to use when you order, which will combine your orders to earn host rewards. I’ll help you finalize your freebies and an extra perk if you will be collectively be ordering $150 or more so you can earn freebies!   Email me to set that up for you at Linda@stampingschool.com 

Some of you like to call or email me to order.  I’ll keep track of your purchases during that week and if you spend $150, I’ll honor the host rewards for you, too!

For those that order with me during the sale, I’ll mail a gift to you!
I’ve been making Holiday Grab Bags of embellishments, ribbon yards and 4×6 papers, ready to go to their new crafting rooms!   It’s been like a walk down memory lane going thru all these pretty holiday treasures.  I’ll vary the goodies per package but guaranteed to be full of fun, holiday craftiness!

Last Days for Snowflake Thinlits – Retires 11/30/18

I went a little rhinestone crazy on this one but I love how it sparkles!

I’ve made so many cards with this Stampin’ Up Bundle,  Beautiful Baubles.
Of course I said I didn’t need another ornament set but I’ve really enjoyed this one.

Beautiful Baubles Bundle (stamp set + framelits) $43  #149920

I layered it with some Crumb Cake card stock embossed with the Subtles folder, giving it a little texture.

I cut the ornament with Merry Merlot Glimmer paper and the leaves with Tranquil Tide from The Joyous Noel Glimmer paper.  It is on low inventory, so if you like the colors (Tranquil Tide, Merry Merlot and Gold) grab it up quickly.
It has 24, 6×6 sheets for $15  #147817

By the way, there will be a black Friday sale coming! The Online Extravaganza will be from Nov 23 – Nov 28.  Check back here on Nov 20th when we will have details!
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I’ve got 2 hours at the airport waiting for my flight home so I thought I’d share some photos with you from this last week!  (and yes, we are given the green light from SU to share everything except the inside pages of the new catalogs:)

About 6000 Stampin’ Up demonstrators landed in Orlando from all over the world this past week for the 30th Anniversary On Stage event!  (they call it On Stage now but it’s still called convention to me:)
My team are affectionately known as Roadies since my team name is Where The Rubber Hits the Road.  We had 72 Roadies attend this week and we managed to get almost all of us in the team photo above!  A little tricky but with the help of a friend on the 2nd floor, we all got in the frame!

One of our perks for going to the SU event is seeing the upcoming Occasions
and Sale a Bration catalogs early!   We haven’t even made it through the holidays but as demonstrators, we have to keep a little ahead to prepare for the next season.  These will begin January 3rd!  Lots of butterflies, hearts and flowers and several that I predict will be popular.  Here are a few sneak peeks of some things I really liked and some news!

There’s a suite of products called Needlepoint Nook.  Stamps, papers, cute mini buttons and these really great stitched framelits dies!  You can see the detail in the next 2 pics:

Look at how Ange embossed the stitched die as a background to created a quilted look:

We also heard some VERY good news that you may find exciting!  Some of you (depending on the state you live in) have trouble with our stickers on our rubber stamps staying on the acrylic blocks.  I know in Florida, they can fall off easily if you don’t keep the blocks clean and press firmly when adhering.   Stampin’ Up is changing the sticker AND the name to Cling Stamps!

Personally, I always found the name ‘clear mount’ for rubber stamps confusing.  I know it was supposed to mean mounting to a clear block but to many, they sounded like they were supposed to be clear stamps.  So hopefully this will help!

Everyone will get to experience the new material on all the rubber stamps in January in the Occasions and Sale a Bration catalogs!   We were able to use them this week and I can tell you, they STICK LIKE CRAZY!  Almost too much LOL (I had images of that Crazy Glue guy hanging from his helmet from a beam!)  I can’t wait to put them to the test.

When I checked in, I was so delighted to receive a gift from SU for being #21 in the US and #42 Global (world)!  It’s a beautiful leather purse and wallet in a granite gray color.  I’m so thankful for my customers and team that helped me place again this year!

The butterflies are back!  In a new punch AND framelits and a few new stamp sets!

Oh and the Gingham Gala Suite….small checks and big checks and LOTS of butterflies there, too!

Happiness Blooms is a happy happy suite with bold colors paired with Navy:

Most exciting for me?  Stitched RECTANGLE framelits!  Finally:)

When we checked in, we received this pretty canvas anniversary bag and a really great stamp set!  Love the fonts!

Fun fact!
Did you know there are 2 demonstrators named Linda Heller?
We finally found each other!  Crazy coincidence that we joined the same year, in 1999 only a month apart.  Hopefully we can both walk the stage together for our 20 year anniversary next November! She’s delightful and so fun to finally meet up:)

My plane has pulled in and I need to wrap up my post!
I hope you enjoyed a few sneak peeks and if you want to see more, hop over to my Stamping School Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/Stampingschool
where I posted a lot while I was there!

Go Stamp Something!

Look at all these die cut snowflakes!  (The largest one is about 3-3/4″)  These are from a limited time only set of products called Snowflake Showcase!  Watch a video from the home office:

There are 5 products in this suite available Nov – Nov 30th.

You can download the flyer HERE to see sizes and details

This photopolymer stamp set is all occasion and called Happiness Surrounds  $17

This holiday, photopolymer set is called Snow is Glistening  $21

To me, these are the really great deal not to be passed up!  If you don’t already have a good variety of snowflake dies, look at getting this set.  $39 for 20 dies, all different sizes of snowflakes plus a few leaves in there.  I made up these 2 cards using just the dies and the Joy stamp from the Snow is Glistening set.

For the navy card, I was playing around with spritzing the white glitter paper (sparkle glimmer I think it’s called)  I used Balmy Blue and 70% rubbing alcohol in my mister.

Then just for fun, I misted the dies over white paper and it created a ghosty effect.

(side note – when I ran the whole sheet of glimmer paper with all the dies, I needed a shim but on regular white I didn’t need a shim)

There are also shiny silver metal snowflakes $8 for 20
and Velvet White 12 x 12 paper 2 sheets for $5
Hard to see the velvety white paper but its’ nice !

Here are some samples from the home office:

If you see something you may want, drop me an email at Linda@stampingschool.com or order online HERE!

I’m away from home this week but wanted to share a few stamped birthday cards I received before I left!

The first one is a beautiful card from Connie
with a z-fold pop up using the Jar of love set:

Linda G sent this sweet card and I love the pop of yellow.

My friend Trish sent this Cute card with the frame. Love the layout!

A talented customer, Bev, sent me this card loaded with texture and depth:

This pretty botanical card is from my birthday twin, Mary:

This next one wasn’t a birthday card but came at the right time. It’s from Rich Jutkins at the SU home office sending me a note on a sales milestone.:

I love the easy layout on his card and it would be great in any color. Thanks, Rich!

Hope you find some time to stamp today!

Linda

One day only!  15% off 30 stamp sets on Tuesday October 23rd!
(wood mount 15% off for these also – see catalog for wood mount prices and take 15% off)

Print/view flyer HERE

See my favorites in red bold:

If you see anything you want to have, send me an email with your order or order online HERE!

I had a request for a Stamping School video to use the Pleasant Pheasants
stamp set with the Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers or watercolor pencils.
I found myself googling  ‘pheasant colors’
because I had no idea which colors to use!
They are very pretty birds, especially the male.

I did the video and while I ended up liking all the colors,
I wanted a quicker way to NOT color the pheasant
so I went old school and bleached them instead!

Bleaching removes the color from the cardstock,
so every color reacts differently.
In this case, Cajun Craze became a vanilla color.
Here are some tips for bleaching:

1.  Stamp image with VersaMark ink pad and use clear embossing powder to heat emboss image.  This sets it and protects the image from getting bleached.
2. Keep a ventilated work space.  I only used 1 tablespoon bleach and dipped an old blender pen into the bleach and ‘colored’ the cardstock where I wanted to bleach.
3. It dries fast and the bleaching happens as it dries.  If you are impatient, you can use your heat gun to quicken the process but again, ventilation is important.
4. You can reapply more bleach to lighten the areas more.
5. Cardstock that is white on the inside or the core won’t work as well. Try it with our Stampin’ Up card stocks, which have color all the way through.
6. Be prepared for everyone to say how clean your stamp room smells!  They will think you’ve been cleaning all day.

I used the Merry Christmas Thinlits dies for the sentiment label
and added a cute copper brad and some copper edged ribbon.
The paper strip is from the Country Lane designer series paper in the Holiday catalog.

I hope you try it if you haven’t yet!

Stampin’ Up supplies used – click on any item to view in my store