Valentine Castle

When I was a kid I always had to go over the top decorating my "shoebox" for Valentine's Day. I don't remember ever winning any contests, but I always had a lot of fun making my creations! Being a mom I have always been very involved whenever one of my girls needed to decorate a poster board, or any kind of school project involving paper and creativity! In 2012 I helped my daughter Sydney make a Valentine Village and sadly her sister didn't "need" a box that year since the teacher made them for the class.  

Last year we didn't get started early enough, and opted for just simple ones made with cereal boxes. I even had a fantastic idea that I was super excited about doing in the future, sadly I forgot what it was!!! Whoops, back to brainstorming we go, and a castle it is! It was a bit of a group effort too. Since Sydney doesn't need a box this year, she pitched in to help make her little sisters castle awesome!

I had a few containers set aside and we began the process last Sunday...

Step One - Materials

We used a cracker box, 2 stackable chips containers, and an oatmeal container;
Paper bags to cover the exterior of the castle;

102482 - $6.95

Real Red card stock for the trim flags, and hearts;
Decorative Dots Embossing Folder - to give the paper bags texture;
Woodgrain Embossing Folder - for the drawbridge;
Baked Brown Sugar Classic Ink, to dab on the paper and make the texture pop;

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A couple of heart punches for decorations;
Metal wire for the flag hanger...I had this laying around;
And white glue and tape to put it all together.

Step Two - Putting it Together

I had to cut the paper in strips the width of the embossing folder, but left them twice the length. After running them through my Big Shot I just flipped them around and ran them back through. The dot pattern is random enough that you couldn't tell.

The embossed paper was inked to really show the texture

The chip canisters are upside down so the tops are metal, we put hearts on them! =)

The cracker box was cut so we could inset the oatmeal container. Once I had all the parts assembled we began gluing the paper on. It is totally pieced together.

The lid to the oatmeal container was removed and replaced with a cone we made. I stuffed it with leftover pieces of crumpled paper bag to make it more durable since kids will be lifting it off to put the valentines inside.

 Natalie put the lid in her backpack so she can close it up for the walk home after the Valentine party.

My husband helped her find some nice courtyard pictures to choose from and printed one for her to glue on. We considered connecting the drawbridge to a little "rope" or "chain" but since we wanted to leave it open Natalie decided she liked it fine like this. 

Here's a closer look at the little flags. We also used a little piece of Red Glimmer Paper and attached the flags with glue dots.

A couple more details...just little windows cut from the leftover border of the courtyard printout!

 Hope you enjoyed this, we certainly had a lot of fun putting it together!!

Creativity Delivered!

One of the cards from the January PP Kit

Hola! I'm posting today to let you know about a SWEET deal. If you haven't heard, Stampin' Up! has a monthly crafting kit by mail that is both easy to complete and inexpensive. It's the prefect way to get your feet wet if you are new to paper crafting or stamping. But even if you aren't, the projects are adorable and fun for everyone!!

Visit https://mypaperpumpkin.com?demoid=112971 to join!

I have a subscription for my 12 year-old daughter, and I'm thinking I might just need to add another subscription, because why should she have all the fun!? You can have multiple subscriptions, just increase the quantity to 2 or more and add the names and addresses of your lucky recipients.

Sydney loves getting a new kit every month!

A new promotion is going on you won't want to miss. If you sign up by February 10th you'll get a bonus gift. A set of 5 Stampin' Up! markers.

These markers are water based dye ink and acid free. They are designed  with dual tips so you can write with them, color in line art images, and also use the brush tip to add color to your stamps in lieu of an ink pad or spot. It's a GREAT way to stamp an image with more than one color! Check out this quick video:

The color selection is the 2012-2014 In Color Markers. When SU! released these colors in the 2012-2013 Annual Catalog these were the HOT new trending colors...I still love them all!

Gumball Green * Midnight Muse * Primrose Petals * Raspberry Ripple * Summer Starfruit

126856 - $14.95

This particular set of colors will only be available until the release of our new 2014-2015 Annual Idea Book and Catalog. When it's released this Summer, we'll have 5 new trending "In-Colors."

Anyway, back to PP. Just this month existing subscribers were treated to a little something extra....

Cute, no!? Everything is better with buttons. lol And even though one of the taglines above says, "No craft aftermath" you will have the stamps and ink spots to reuse and many times you'll be left with extra stickers and such!

Make sure you don't miss the bus on this offer. We never know what the future holds, but you can be sure your Paper Pumpkin kits will be creative and fun!

JOIN NOW
And if asked, make sure you name me (Sally Saenz) as your demonstrator! :)


Stampy Hugs,
Sally

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Saturday concluded our journey of learning and growing with the SU! staff spoiling us at every opportunity. The General Session in the morning was a hoot! We enjoyed a game show called

Loosely based on Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me, the game had guest appearances where they each answered questions on random topics to help a demo (that shared an embarrassing story) win a $50 shopping spree. Later 3 "panelists" competed to earn points for the audience members with certain wristband colors.

It was a unique way to reward us with multiple prize patrols as well as share some stats about how SU! did in 2013. Being a part of this company is something I can be really proud of. I love being a demonstrator!!

The answer was B. Our host Brian said Festive Furry when he read these off and after that the jokes about it were endless! We were cracking up constantly, they picked the right staff members to play the game. It was awesome!

While at lunch we took a group photo. Someone took our picture with Barbara's camera, Laura's camera, Becky's phone, and my phone...well they tried to take a picture with my phone. lol

Also, guess what!? Today is the start of a wonderful promotion!!

...and look what I got to do. =) There were cute cute things behind that curtain!!

Closing session started at 1:30. We were given some taffy from Utah (where our home office is) and demonstrators  that have earned a new title got to walk the stage. My sister and downline, Barbara earned Senior Manager this past year, and my friend Suzie earned Senior Executive. Way to go girls!!!

I would love to attend Convention in July this year, it's a really really BIG party! 

After the recognitions Shelli really wowed us with some beautiful creations...

We had one last all attendee giveaway which means I'm bringing home 4 stamp sets, an individual stamp and the custom stamp I made yesterday. One of them is in the upcoming catalog that releases later this year. A pretty nice haul since I didn't win any prize patrols with my Wild Wasabi wristband.

What an awesome time I had at Leadership this year. It gets better and better every year! If you have ever considered ways to earn extra income, Stampin' Up! is such a great company to represent. They announced a new perk for Leadership attendees. Join my team and sign up by early April 2014 and you qualify for FREE Convention Registration!!!

Crafting is such a passion for me, earning a discount on my own purchases is a no brainer, and doing a few workshops help pay for what I buy and then some. The minimums are easily attainable, just $100 every month, or $300 by the end of the quarter. I would love to share this opportunity with you. Read more about being a demonstrator on my website.

XOXO,

Sally

Friday's Festivities

Friday was another great day in Leadership Land. Lunch was immediately after the general session and after we ate, there was plenty of time to finally get over to the Undefined Booth and make a custom rubber stamp. I had no idea what I was going to do at first, and then it struck me. imagine & inspire, DOH!

The helper on my side of the booth thought I was ambitious to carve the design I drew, and suggested I leave the centers of my letters like "a" and "e" filled in. I also kept hearing the others around me get praise for their work, and I was second guessing my ability to make it look good since my design wasn't real big. I didn't follow her advice though and in the end I was pretty pleased with how it came out.

It's really not too difficult to carve these stamps, eventually I'll do another one. I made a volleyball last year and have rubber left over to make something else too. I'm still brainstorming on what a good representation for Tae Kwon Do would be. This would fulfill a need for me since SU! doesn't have any martial arts stamp sets.

After finishing a carved masterpiece, we all put a sample on a board. Check out some of my favorites.

We each had specific classes in the afternoon we'd signed up for. After this we had a nice break to get dinner before heading back at 7pm for our "Stampin' Night Out."

This was a lot of fun. The SU! staff were lined up along the walkway when we approached and they welcomed us with a "wave" and a cheer when we walked through them. There was a pop corn maker
and we each had a bag at our place setting on the make-n-take tables.

We enjoyed three presentations during which we made three 3-1/2 x 5" cards from a kit of 15, one pretty watercolored card, and three fun tags. I had to finish my last tag here in the hotel afterwards because we ran out of time.

Tomorrow's the last day...