It's a Great Time to be a Stamper!

Hello stampers and welcome back to my blog!  Sorry I missed posting yesterday, but I'm back today with another classic card for you.

In case you're wondering about the title of this particular blog, let me give you just a few reasons why it is a great time to be a stamper:

#1  Check the weather.... cold, gray, and threatening to rain.  With stuff like this going on outside, how cozy would it be to stay inside and pull out your stamps, ink, paper, and embellishments and just play?

#2  It is almost the weekend, so you'll be able to make some time to be creative.

#3 The holiday season is coming up and you'll have plenty of excuses to stamp... Thanksgiving cards, Christmas cards, invitations to holiday parties, plus gift tags, bags, and other holiday packaging... lots of reasons to spend time being creative!

#4 Stampin'Up! has a great special going on which was announced on November 1st.  It's called "It's Good to be the Hostess."  If you host a $350 ( or more) party between November 1st and December 15th, you'll get an extra $35 added to the regular hostess benefits.  So for a party of $350, you'll get $85 in free product of your choice... that's more than a hostess usually gets for a $500 party! 

#4 You can get a FREE Big Shot (or $100 in extra product) for signing up to be a demonstrator.  This offer is good through 11/11/11.  If you'd like to get the demonstrator discount, plus a kit valued at $345 (plus the $100 extra), please contact me.  You don't have to hold workshops ever!  You just need to submit $300 in sales every quarter (every 3 months), which you could easily do if you get friends and family to order from you.  Of course your own orders count as well.  Send me a quick email at sjrstamp@gmail.com if you'd like more information.

So I hope I've convinced you that it's a great time to be a stamper.  By now you're probably wondering if I'll ever get to the card.  Thanks for being patient and here it is...

This pretty card in fall colors is what we'll be making this weekend at my "Give Thanks" class.  It's a gate-fold card, meaning that it opens in the middle.  I'm so bored with the traditional card that opens on the left, so I'm always looking for something... anything... different.  The base of the card is Very Vanilla, layered with More Mustard card stock which I put through the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder (p. 219). The Designer paper on the focal panel is the gorgeous Spice Cake paper, which is available in the Holiday Mini-catalog (p. 17).  The flower on the front was stamped with the Triple Treat Flower, which is one of the single stamps found in the a la carte section of the big catalog (pages 18-20).  I stamped it three times in Early Espresso on Old Olive, More Mustard, and Soft Suede card stock.  Then I used the 3 coordinating punches (1/2 in circle, Fancy Flower, and 5-Petal Flower) to punch each layer.These punches can be found on pages 209-213 of the big catalog.  Each layer is then popped up on a dimensional to give the flower more interest. The sentiment is from the great set Grateful Greetings, on page 27 of the big catalog.  It is stamped in  Early Espresso on Very Vanilla card stock, then punched out with the Large Oval punch (p. 212).  Some Scallop Dots ribbon in Chocolate Chip (p. 195, turned so the dots don't show) adds a pretty touch under the flower.  So that's it, stamping friends... a pretty yet classic card that you can be proud to send and anyone would love to receive for Thanksgiving. 

Have a great weekend and don't forget to take time to stamp something!
Susan
Happy