More Highlights from Founder's Circle

Here are some highlights from day two during Founder's Circle. This is the day that those of us that chose to go see the home office of Stampin' Up! got to go. It is around a two hour business trip but the ladies working the bus make it super fun with games and snacks for us!!

I sat with my good friend Heather Summers and had a blast with her!!

Just look at what Kari won!! We had to all guess how many items were in the coke bottle and Kari's guess was the second closest (they gave out two of them!!). Way to go girlfriend!!!! You are all set now with buttons!!

During our tour/visit of the home office we get to visit with Shelli in her apartment. It is amazing!!!! Here I am with Shelli and one of her daughters, Shalae.

Here we are in the living room of Shelli's apartment. Myself, Missy Shipman, Heather Summers and Kari Metgzer.

And a stop at the home office is not a stop without visiting the big Stampin' Up! Rock!!!

Most of the brand new Advisory Board. Meg Wheeler, Janet Wakeland, Sharon Armstrong, Jodi Reinert, Georgia Giguere and Karen Duke.

What an amazing group of women!!!

After our visit to the home office we are then taken to the "Rubber Park" where we are served lunch and take pictures in the rubber. Is this bag not the cutest thing ever??!! Our lunch was served inside the bag that we all got to keep!!

These ladies are just too cute!!! Gotta love them!!

I had to show Diana how to throw rubber in the air!! She was unsure what to do but I told her that this is one of the photos I always do with my bff, Robin, so she had to do it with me this year since Robin wasn't with me. (missed you Robin but am happy I got to know Di a lot better!!!)

Kari Metzger, myself and Heather Summers.

Here I am with another one of Shelli's daughters, Sara. Both her daughters attended Founder's Circle with Shelli so we got to get to know them a lot better too!!

After the Rubber Park we always stop at one of Shelli's favorite shopping spots. Here are some of us outside the store posing with the horses. Glenda, Dawn, myself, Heather and Ann.

Heather, myself and Susie Woods.

After we got back from the day long trip we headed to the Gathering Place to work on our make'n takes and just hang out. Is this room not awesome??!!

Here we have Mandy, Diana and Kristin working on their make'n takes.

After along awesome day we were all greeted with this awesome necklace on our beds!!!! I just LOVE it and Shelli and her daughters actually made each one of them for us!!!!

More to come!!!!

Have a great day!!

Thankful For...

Who is loving this Fall weather we are having?? I know I am, love having my windows open!!! AND I have an update on my camera issues. I did indeed brake my camera but only the lens that comes with the Cannon Rebel Cameras. This past weekend we decided to head to Evansville (closest place for us to shop, 60 miles away) and stop by Best Buy to see about getting a new lens for my camera. Well they do not sale just the lens that comes with the camera, you have to go online and buy one. After being without a camera for this long (one day is long enough, let alone a week!!) I decided to upgrade and just get a new Cannon Rebel T2i (my old Cannon Rebel is the Tii). I am so stinkin' excited!!!! This one does video too!!!! All I have to do now is learn how to use the darn thing!!!!!

Since it is feeling more like Fall now I wanted to share with all of you a layout I did with my Scrapbooking Clubs last month. This layout was actually photographed before I broke my camera, but I will let you all know when I start uploading pictures using my new camera.

This layout uses lots of fun new things out of the Holiday Mini!! I started with the Autumn Spice Specialty DSP (yummy!!), More Mustard, Early Espresso, Old Olive & Cajun Craze Card Stock, Early Espresso 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Natural Twine, Jumbo Eyelets, Curly Label Punch, Funky Forest Standard Wheel, the stamp sets called Day of Gratitude & Thankful For, Sponge Daubers and my Big Shot with the Leaves #2 Original Die, Two Tags Bigz Die, Square Lattice Embossing Folder & Tasteful Trim Bigz XL Die.

I just love using these leaves in the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. It adds just the perfect touch!!

How do you like these colorful trees?? I showed my club members how to color on a wheel so they could get a different look besides just doing it all in one color. Loved that too!!!

I hope I have inspired some of you to break open some of the brand new Fall supplies that are in the Holiday Mini and get those Fall pictures scrapped!!!

Have a great day!!

Hightlights From Founder's Circle

Here are some snapshots from my recent Founder's Circle Retreat. What a blast I had and this company sure knows how to spoil you!!

How cute is Diana Gibbs??!! I had an awesome time with her and I loved getting to know her a lot better!!

Just look at how they decorated our doors!! Too fun and YES we get our OWN rooms!!

You go girl!!!! Eat that yummy snack!!

Hanging out in the Gathering Place meeting new people!! Always so much fun!! Here I am with new friends Kristin Kortonick & Diana Gibbs.

These ladies are amazing and treat us like Super Stars!!! BUT they are really the Super Stars!! Love all of you!!

How cute is Lynsay Mahon??!! She was one of my table mates for the Welcome Dinner.

When we arrived at St. George we were given our name tags and attached was a colored scarf. This was the "getting to know you" game and we had to go around and find seven other ladies with the same colored scarf. We also were asked to sit with these same ladies during our Welcome Dinner. This years theme was the 50's so we were all greeted with these eyeglasses at our table setting along with a vinyl record cover. We all just had to have our picture taken with these fun glasses on!!

Table mates are: Christie Daughetry, Lee Ann Greff, myself, Jodi Reinhart, Dena Rekow, Kimberly Van Diepen, Lynsay Mahon & Deb Valder.

And Shelli wore hers too!!!

After dinner we all reported to the Gathering Place where we were awarded with our prize, a BRAND NEW STAMP SET!!!! WHOOHOO!!!! Love getting FREE prizes and especially ones that are not even out yet!!! This stamp set will not be available until next January 2011 in the Occasions Mini.

Make sure to come back often as I will be sharing lots more fun pictures with all of you from Founder's Circle.

Have a great day!!

UDI Sketch Challenge #102

Today is the day that I get to take my camera to the doctor to see if they can fix my baby!! You see I live in a very small town, one stop sign, so we have to travel an hour west to Evansville, Indiana to do any kind of decent shopping and that is where the camera doctor is. We had already planned on taking the day (after my downline meeting in the morning) and going to Evansville for a huge craft fair and eating out so now we will just have to go see the doctor too. Wish me luck!!!

Are you ready for another UDI Saturday Sketch?? I hope so because I have an awesome card to show all of you!! Make sure to stop by the UDI Blog to check out the sketch but before you go take a look here:

How do you like? I actually had an order for a wedding card and a 4 x6 piece of art that uses the colors of the wedding. A friend of mine gave me the invitation so I could see the wedding colors and initials. I used Basic Black, Night of Navy & Whisper White Card Stock, Night of Navy 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Clear Rhinestone Brads, the stamp set called Teeny Tiny Wishes and the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder & the Little Leaves Sizzlits Die.

How do you like this ribbon flower? Pretty cool!!?? I have seen these a lot lately on the Internet so I thought I would try my hand at making one. I started with our Sticky Pages, cut out a circle using the Big Shot and the Circles #2 Original Die and then punched a hole in the middle with the Crop-A-Dile. I pealed off the top part of the Sticky Page, threaded the ribbon through the hole and held onto it as I started to twist the ribbon around and around. After twisting the ribbon as much as you like stick it to the sticky circle and keep going until you get the size flower you want.
I mentioned earlier that my friend also wanted a 4 x 6 piece of art. She wanted this so she could put it in the middle of a picture frame that has other slots around it. She wanted it to have the same colors as the wedding so I decided to use the same sketch for it and use the couples initials. So what do you think? Do you think the young couple liked it?? I have not heard back from my friend since I have returned home from my Founder's Circle trip. I hope they liked it!!!!

Now it is time for you to head on over to Carol's Blog to check out her creation she made using this same sketch.

Have a great day!!

Stamping 411-Sketch Challenge #170

I just want to apologize to everyone for not posting much this week since I have been home from my recent Founder's Circle Retreat trip. I have had the best intentions on showing everyone my hundreds of pictures from Founder's Circle but life just gets in the way!! Since turning 40 at the end of August my life has gone crazy!! I had my very first mammogram right before I left for Founder's Circle and the radiologist found something they wanted to ultrasound in both breasts. After doing the ultrasound they decided they wanted to biopsy something in my right breast but could not do it before I left. After returning home this past Sunday I had the biopsy on Monday. Everything turned out fine but I had a reaction to the dressing they put on me so now I have blisters and sores all around my breast. This is far worst then the actual biopsy!!

I also have had my laptop go out on me while traveling to Founder's Circle, but that has been fixed under warranty and now my beloved Rebel Camera has broken!! I was getting ready to photograph the card I did for this week's Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge and the strap got caught and the camera went flying out of my hands onto the floor in my scrap room. Needless to say it does not focus or take a picture with my standard lenses. So please bare with me for this weeks card. I had to take the picture with my daughter's camera and edit it on her computer (with no photo editing software).

There has been other minor bumps in the road lately but I want to get to my post which is for the brand new Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge this week. I just love this sketch and how my card turned out so I hope you all will be kind in regards to my photographing this time!!

Is this card not wicked cool??!! While at Founder's Circle I was hanging out with Heather Summers and she was telling me how much she loves this stamp set called Aviary. She said she uses it all the time and some of her customers questioned how versatile this stamp set can be. Well she took the challenge and used this stamp set for a Halloween card and I totally freaked when I saw it!!!! I told her I was going to CASE this idea and sure enough I have!! So how do you like??

I also used the stamp set called Wicked Cool, Nite Owl DSP, Basic Gray, Tangerine Tango & Whisper White Card Stock, Small Oval, Large Oval & Scallop Trim Border Punches, Neutrals Designer Buttons, Basic Rhinestones, Raven 1/2" Lace Trim and the Distressing Essentials.

This new Distressing Essentials Kit is awesome!!!! If you have not tried it yet I encourage you to do so. I used the solid stamp block and the Charcoal Vintage Ink Spot and just "wiped" it all over the card. Too fun!!!

Make sure you hop on over to the Stamping 411 Blog to check out what the other Operators have done with this same sketch. I am sure they have not disappointed!!

Have a great day!!!

Clear Block Storage Case

I am still working on getting my pictures downloaded and then uploaded from my recent Founder's Circle Retreat. But for now I thought I would show you all how I decorated our cute little Clear Block Storage Caddy.

If there is a space you know that a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator will have to decorate it right??!! Well isn't this just awesome?? I love how it turned out!! All I used was the Decor Elements Together Forever Circle Frame in White and my Big Shot with the Serif Essentials Bigz Die Alphabet along with the White Decor Elements Sheets.

Did you know that you can just buy the Decor Elements Sheets in 19 different colors? This makes using your own Big Shot dies a lot more fun!!!

Have a great day!!

Winner Announced!!

Just wanted to jump on here really quick to thank those of you that took advantage of my Founder's Circle Retreat offer and let you know who won their very own stamped tile!!!!

The Winner is............................

SUSAN BERANEK

Susan, if you could email me at trbauer@insightbb.com to let me know what colors and background stamp you want on your tile I will get done for you!!!

Thank you again!!! I will be back this week posting lots and lots of pictures from my Founder's Circle Retreat and of course I will have lots of inspiration posted for you too!!!

Off To Founder's Circle!!!

I am on my way to the most fabulous awesome exciting time of my life!! As you are reading this I am flying to St. George, Utah to spend time with the top demonstrators and the co-founder of Stampin' Up! This trip is the Founder's Circle Retreat and it is AMAZING!!!!!

Here is a picture of all of us at last years retreat. If you look closely you can see me in the front row fourth from the right. Is this scenery not beautiful??

This trip would not be at all possible without you, my loyal customers, so I want to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you!!!! AND offer you a huge special while I am gone. So go grab your Stampin' Up! Catalog and Holiday Mini and start shopping!!!

Any order placed through my online store HERE will receive a refund check of 20% plus your shipping charges on all orders over $50.00 starting today and ending on September 19th, 2010. PLUS anyone that takes advantage of this special will also have their name entered into a drawing for this:

One of my tiles!!! You can even pick the colors and stamps!! AND you will get your name in the drawing for every $50.00 you spend before the discount. So make sure to get your online order placed before Sunday, September 19th, 2010 so you will be in the drawing for this awesome tile!! AND also receive a 20% rebate check plus shipping charges.

Have a great day!!!

Founder's Circle Retreat Card

Today is the "Going Home Day" at Founder's Circle. What a sad sad day it is when we all have to say goodbye to everyone and such an awesome experience we all have shared. This retreat is truly the most fabulous awesome experience you can have!!

We are asked to make 135 swap cards to bring with us so we can all swap with each other during our pajama & share night. It is such an awesome time and I will be sharing pictures from this evening and the rest of the time after I get home and settled back in.

This card uses Basic Black & Whisper White Card Stock, Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set, Brights Designer Buttons, Basic Black 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Ornament Punch and the Big Shot with the Polka Dots Embossing Folder.

This card was truly fun to make and all these swaps took a ton of buttons!!!!! BUT I just LOVE our brand new buttons!!! I hope you all like and of course I hope all the gals at the retreat liked it as well.

Today is the very last day of my special offer I am offering while I am away at the Founder's Circle Retreat. Check it all out in this blog POST. I will be doing the drawing for the FREE tile on Monday so make sure you check back then to see if you are the lucky winner!!!

Have a great day!!

UDI Sketch Challenge #101

Still in St. George, Utah enjoying myself with all the Founder's Circle Retreat attendees. Now it is time for another UDI Saturday Sketch!!! You can view the sketch on the UDI Blog but first check out what I made.

Love this Wicked Fun Specialty DSP!! Just look at those flocked bats!! AND yes I said flocked!!!! You can touch and feel these little guys!!! Too cool!!! I also used Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black & Whisper White Card Stock, Raven 1/2" Lace Trim, Rich Razzleberry 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Curly Label Punch, the stamp set called Teeny Tiny Wishes and the Neutrals & Brights Designer Buttons.

I just love the look of the layered buttons topped with the Rhinestones!!! AND the layered ribbons!!! Too Wicked Cool!!!!

Now head on over to Carol's Blog to check out her creation using this same sketch!!

Have a great day!!