ReluctantFarmChick.com

Seems like I’m a stamping fool these days.  Not that I have more time or anything - just a higher need for stamped stuff around holidays, I suppose.  And I’ve signed up for some stamping - just so I’d have an excuse to do something I love, and in some cases get paid for it.  I’ll share a few of my recent projects:

October was Pastor Appreciation month.  We generally do something for the entire family.  This year we got the kids each a gift card.  Here is the card I made to hold the gift card.

This is just a little card - can’t remember the exact dimensions, but something like 3" wide and 4" tall.  It’s made from a single strip of cardstock, so when you open it, it looks like this:

I totally copied this idea from Amy.  She’s got way more time on her stamping hands than I do on mine - so it’s a fair trade :-)  The card (or money, in this case) slides in a little slot created with a word-window punch, and the bit of folded up card is kept in place with brads.  Very convenient.

Of course, the pastor has 5 kids, so this is what I ended up with:

That was a midnight project.  Luckily they didn’t take too much thought or time.  The fronts of them are decorated with Designer Series paper and ribbon - only one little stamped image.  And another on the inside.  As an afterthought.

Another project that had to be mass-produced was a batch of cards for Prince Farming and his brother to send to people who send them referrals.  I also copied this one - but not as shamefully.  I don’t remember where the original idea came from, but I think I changed it enough to call it mostly mine.  Nothing I stamp is ever my own original idea though.  Just for the record.

Here’s the card front:

The inside goes like this:

I printed the cards on my printer - except for that little "thank you" - it’s totally and completely hand stamped.  Thank you very much.

And of course, the pile shot:

I used another set of Designer Series paper for the card fronts.  And the fold-down part is punched with a spiral punch - to make it look like it was torn out of a notebook.  Sort of.  The window for the "thank you" was punched with small and large oval punches.  And the little tab thing on the white card was punched with the "round tab" punch.  Lots of punching, a bit of gluing.  And voila.  Done.  I had a friend help me with most of the process - stamping is always better with friends.  Thanks Rhylma!

The next project is not stamped.  Not at all.  And it went together in like 5 minutes flat.  The original idea was shown at St*mpin’Up! Convention in July.  Then my friend Louise posted a copy on her blog.  And so I jumped on the band wagon and made one too.  Very fun.  And seasonal.

Excuse the flash on the glass-  couldn’t figure out how to get a decent picture without the camera and ceiling reflecting in the glass - the flash was a better alternative.  This was created with a shadow box, miscellaneous fall findings (fake) and a vinyl "rub-on" otherwise known as "Decor Elements" created for Home-Decor purposes.  Way fun.  Now I need to create something similar for the other seasons so I can create a corner just for seasonal decor.  Fun.

My next stamping will show the cards we’re making at my "stamp-a-stack" next Monday evening. (For the record, when I last blogged about this event, I thought it was coming up imminently - as in tomorrow night.  Part way through the week I realized that I had an extra week to work with.  There is absolutely NOTHING like the gift of time - it’s a wonderful thing.)  And of course I need to design and stamp our Christmas Cards for the year.  AND I’ve signed up for the "Very Vintage Christmas Swap" over at Foxgloves, Fabric, and Folly.  So there’ll definitely be some stamping happening there.  I’m excited about that opportunity.

Here’s wishing a happy week to everyone.  Thanks for stopping by.

Stampin’Up! is an amazing company.  The vision, mission, and implementation of their ideas is totally inspiring.  While at convention, demonstrators had the opportunity to visit the home office.  This is a fairly new building that includes the corporate office and distribution center.  Walking in to the building is breath-taking.  Shelly has brought the outside in with the atrium garden and water feature.

This is taken from the top floor, looking down three stories.  The natural light is gorgeous, and the sound of running water is relaxing.  I would love to work in this building.  It seems like everyone who works here totally loves it.

Stampin’Up! really made us feel welcome by decorating with the convention theme banners - not only at the convention center and at the home office, but also through-out Salt Lake City (outside on the electrical poles and columns etc. around the Salt Palace).

Of course anywhere you have something stamping-related with a group of Stampin’Up! demonstrators, there will be a line.  Here we go again. . . this time waiting to get in to the Legacy Museum.

The Legacy Museum is an area where there are pictures and flash-backs from years past in Stampin’Up! life.  It’s amazing to see the difference between old Stampin’Up! catalogs and the current ones.  The art work and ideas have developed and become trend-setting (vs. trend-following).  There are amazing stamped art and home-decor ideas in the museum as well.  Each time I’ve visited the museum there have been different ideas that have been updated.  They can come and practice decorating in my home any time.  I’ll have to post some pictures of the home-decor ideas in another post.

This is one of the Demonstrator Services cubicles.  We got to walk through the call center to get a feel for the work environment.  I’m amazed at the positive attitude that Stampin’Up! staff consistently exhibits.  I know that working in the home office is a great opportunity - and people who work there totally know how blessed they are (based on what they say and how they interact with the demonstrators.) 

We got a birds-eye glimpse of the distribution center.  This is a state-of-the-art facility that is totally mechanized.  One of the things we learned at convention is that compared to 10 years ago, Stampin’Up! ships 100,000 more orders per day (during peak Sale-A-Bration promotion) with 40 fewer staff.  That’s just amazing!  The work environment in here is also great.  There is natural light (sky-lights) and music piped in.  It is amazing to see the whole thing work. Order accuracy is incredible, because after an order is entered (by a demonstrator), the system knows exactly how much that order will weigh, so when the order is completely picked the box will go over a scale to check for accuracy.