Stampin' & Scrappin' with Donna

HALLOWE'EN SPIDER TREATS

One of my club members Amanda showed me these adorable and easy-to-make Hallowe'en treats, using Stampin' Up!'s "Sweet Treat Cups" - check them out!

Punches used: 1-3/4" circle for the body, 1" circle, 3/4" circle and 1/4" circle for the eyes (googly eyes would be fun to use too) and the photo corners punch for the legs.

I thought they'd be a perfect project to make tomorrow (Saturday) at my "Mom & Me" Hallowe'en classes ... there's still room in both the 9-11am group and the 1-3pm group. Roy will have the yard all decorated early tomorrow so the kids can see, I have a couple of fun crafts lined up (including these spiders!), and of course there will be treats, too.

This is a good way to burn off some of the kids' energy while they wait for the main event tomorrow night! Call or email me today to reserve your spot - $25 for mom & one child; second child is only $5 more.

cheers,

Donna

FINAL DEALS OF THE WEEK: OCT 26 - 31

Ahoy there!

Are you planning a party for the little pirates or princesses in your castle?

Here's a real time saver to help make it a festive occasion:

This is the final week of Stampin' Up!'s Deals of the Week promotion; contact me or use my online shopping service to order your deals ... but do it before Oct 31!

PIRATE PARTY KIT (item # 116213, pg 175) regularly $21.95; this week: $13.99!

PRINCESS PARTY KIT (item #116214, pg 174) regularly $21.95; this week: $13.99

cheers,

Donna

BEARS ON PARADE

Stampin' Up!'s Build-A-Bear dies are really addictive - I can't put them down!

Here's a couple that I came up with over the weekend ...

You've seen these two Hallowe'en bears, but the one on the left is new:  a Team Canada bear for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC

I made the scarf and hat from the two jacket pieces on the "Beary Essentials" clothing die, and the tiny maple leaf stamp is an old purchase I made when I was in Scouting (company unknown). I couldn't decide whether to make him some boots or skates - but isn't he cute?

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My second attempt took a little more time - this couple are from the 50's (she's wearing his sweater, 'cause they're going steady - aah, the good old days .. why don't kids like using that phrase anymore?)

I made the pants from Night of Navy card stock to look like a pair of jeans, and I cut the LP record with the Circle Cutter.

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And finally, here are the projects we made at Sunday's Mom & Me class. It was so cute: the kids showed up with their stuffed friends from the Build-a-Bear store.

They had a lot of fun making and dressing their paper bears using the Big Shot die cutter. 

cheers

Donna

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: GROWTH CHART

This just in from Stampin' Up!: "Demonstrators and customers alike love the Décor Elements Growth Chart special offer so much, it is now the top selling Décor Elements item for the month of August! Lucky for you, this offer is still available until September 30, during the Just for Kids campaign."

Stampin' Up! has received a lot of great photos and tips from demonstrators who have been selling and using this new, limited-time Décor Elements item; let me share a few of them with you...

Ideas for Marking Heights

Alana, a demonstrator from Alberta, uses the Décor Elements sheets (page 158 of the Idea Book & Catalog), the My Way punch (item #110709), and the White Gel pen (item # 105021)to create height markers for her Growth Chart.

Julienne, a demonstrator from Illinois, put her Growth Chart up in her playroom, and uses the cute birds made with the Birds & Blooms Sizzlit die (item #113485) to track her kids' growth. "Since my growth markers are movable," she says, "I plan to take photos of the children at various milestones and then record the date and measurement in a 'Watch me Grow' mini book."

And here's my personal favourite ... all you teachers out there, take note:

Dale, a demonstrator and second-grade teacher from Louisiana reports, "Everyone at my school decorates their classroom doors, so I decided to use the growth chart on mine. This was the first Décor Element I had put up . . . and I'm hooked!"

Here's how Dale plans to use the growth chart at her school:

"On the first day of school, I always take a picture of each student . . . so I will take it in front of the grow chart. At the end of the year, I'll take a second picture and send both of them home with our last writing project which will be a book about how they have grown to be better students during the year. I also plan to use the growth chart during Math and let the students compare the length and height of various objects. I'm going to invite other classes to send their tallest and shortest students to be measured on our door, and we'll compare the differences to the tallest and shortest in our room."

"Since my main focus is getting my students to be better readers, I also plan to use the chart to graph the number of books they have read at home . . . so I will be putting other numbers where the metric ones were and adding student names and small punched shapes to the door to show how many books they read."

"Last but not least, my new door decoration has already had lots of comments and questions about where I got it. It's a great conversation starter!"

Remember, the Décor Elements Growth Chart is only available through September 30, so order yours today!

cheers,

STAMPIN' UP! PARTNERS WITH BUILD-A-BEAR©

A note from Donna before you read the press release below: I've been waiting for weeks to share this news ... this new product line will be featured in Stampin' Up!'s Holiday Mini Catalogue, which starts on September 1st, and it is ADORABLE!

Register early for a very special "Mom & Me" workshop featuring our new Build-a-Bear products to be held on Sunday September 20th

PRESS RELEASE:

Stampin’ Up! ^® has partnered with Build-A-Bear Workshop^® to produce the first-ever paper-crafting products featuring the beloved Build-A-Bear Workshop mascot Bearemy^® and other furry friends. The exclusively designed product offering includes stamp sets, Designer Series papers and Sizzix dies, providing young and young-at-heart Build-A-Bear Workshop enthusiast endless hand crafted possibilities for scrapbook pages, cards, invitations, home décor and more. 

 

“I’m excited about the opportunity we have to partner with Build-A-Bear Workshop,” said Shelli Gardner, Stampin’ Up! cofounder and CEO. “The company has a strong reputation for inspiring creativity and encouraging imagination with its products, which is what we have done at Stampin’ Up! for more than 20 years. This is a great partnership that will provide unlimited opportunities for creativity—I know I will be spending hours playing with my grandchildren, making all kinds of Build-A-Bear creations.”

Transforming Build-A-Bear Workshop characters into a crafting line is one of the many ways Stampin’ Up! and its demonstrators plan to excite the next generation of crafters while revitalizing the art of creating and giving handcrafted items. 

 

“Like Build-A-Bear Workshop, Stampin’ Up! is a company that offers a variety of ways to express creativity. We are excited to partner with them to inspire the imagination in kids of all ages and to encourage this great hands-on activity.” said Maxine Clark, founder, chairman, and chief executive bear of Build-A-Bear Workshop.

 

AUG: JUST FOR KIDS (AND THE KID IN YOU)

From August 1st - 31st, Stampin' Up! has two great offers for the kid in all of us ...



• FREE DESIGNER BUTTONS: Spend $45 on stamp sets from the Growing Up section of the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalogue (Pages 74-90) and receive a FREE package of Designer buttons, a $10.95 value! (Choose from: Playground Designer buttons, Sherbet Designer buttons, Button Latte Designer buttons)


• GROWTH CHART SPECIAL OFFER: Purchase the brand-new Décor Elements Growth Chart, only available August 1-September 30, and as an added bonus, receive a free applicator tool with your purchase (a $2.25 value).

To see photos & details, click here: AUGUST PROMOTION FLYER

COME SEE US AT BINGEMANS' IN KITCHENER!

If you're around town on May 23 & 24, be sure to drop by
the Stampin' Up! booth at Bingeman's Convention Centre
to say hi to Wilma, Samantha & myself - we're participating in:

the Kitchener-Waterloo Baby & Toddler Show!

2009 Show dates....
Saturday May 23rd 10am to 5pm
&
Sunday May 24th 10am to 4pm

Oh, and bring the kids (or borrow someone's) - there's lots of fun stuff going on and it's only $5 to get in (kids are free) ...

Show Features...

• Elmo meet & greets Saturday 10-4, this year we have a special backdrop and area

TVO Kids "Don't Sit Still" Tour Sunday at 11am, admission is free till 11am Sunday so everyone in the community can enjoy the show

Regular admission is $5, kids are free

Kids play area by The Little Gym of Guelph

Feeding and changing area by Diapers N More

Breastfeeding Buddies lounge by Oh Baby Fitness

Art area sponsored by Toons for Toddlers

I HAD A BLAST ON SATURDAY!

I held my annual "Mom & Me" Christmas class yesterday and we had sooo much fun! It was a full house with 9 kids and 4 moms, plus baby Davin who wanted so much to be a part of it all ... maybe next year!

I really look forward to this event every year - some of these stampin' kids I've known since they were born, like Sean and Emily pictured left. They give the best hugs!

It's great to see the moms spending quality time & sharing their hobby with the next generation of stampers. Here's Lynda with her children Connor & Ryley, pictured right.

I also got to spend time stampin' with cousins Cassandra, Kaylee & Jacob; and brothers Johnathan & Thomas.

Even my own family got involved this year - my grown kids Mel & Jay helped decorated my basement studio ... "kid style" with their favourite childhood ornaments on the tree, and hubby Roy strung multi-coloured lights everywhere, inside and out. (He had to leave half-way through the party to go to work, poor guy - I could tell that he wanted to stay!)

As for the stamping, we made three projects: a treat bag, a jar full of tags, and a fridge magnet calendar for 2009. These are really simple projects that you can duplicate at home, with a couple of purchases from the dollar store.

Here's a close-up of the calendar (PHOTO TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE) - the kids started with a white piece of card stock cut to fit the acrylic frame. They adhered a strip of black card stock approximately an inch up from the bottom of the white piece, then stamped their own personalized family portrait using Stampin' Up!'s "All in the Family" stamp set and black ink.

What a hoot it was watching them choose (oh so carefully) from the assorted heads, bodies and feet in the set, discussing which features best matched their own siblings, parents & pets ... very serious work, lol.

The last step was to slip the card stock inside the frame, then tape the calendar to the outside, centred on the black mat.

NOTE: The decorated strips along the top & bottom of the frames were already in place (my dollar store had 2 designs: sun, clouds, stars & moon embossed in black, and hearts & zig zags embossed in pink) but this project would also work just as well with plain frames.

All in all, a great afternoon ... I can't believe I have to wait until Valentine's Day to do it all again!!!