Oh My Gosh!!!

I cannot believe it has been such a long time since I posted.  Goodness, where does the time go.

Well, I have to say, 2012 has certainly a massive improvement over last year and now everyone is back on track and healthy and my husband and I are very thankful for those blessings for our family.  I'm home, in the USA and loving it.

In July I went to convention and loved it.  I so want to go next year as it is the 25th Anniversary of Stampin' Up and I'm sure it will be bursting at the seams with demonstrator's helping to celebrate!

By the way, don't you just love the new sizzlets?  So many choices, so little time.  

At the moment I'm waiting on a delivery from my favorite UPS guy.  (Fingers tapping, looking out the window, pacing).  It should arrive today-please-please-please.  I have actually cleaned off my working space in preparation for new activity--Halloween.  I have in my mind a Halloween treat for my "Grands" so I need to get started on that and in the mail obviously so they receive it before trick or treating is past.  lol

Next on my list is of course Thanksgiving cards and then my favorite of all holidays:  Christmas!  Those cards also must be finished before I head back to China.  Oh yes, didn't I mention;  just one more trip to spend time with my hubby who says he will be retiring next year.  Of course, none of the family believes him about retiring.  The guy wouldn't know what to do if he stopped working.  Did I suggest my hubby is a work-a-holic?  Imagine that!  At any rate it should be the last Christmas there and let me tell you, the Chinese have discovered Christmas SALES.  They sell everything for the holidays as many expats living there celebrate Christmas.  Our apartment complexes have about seven apartments that put Christmas decorations on display and as the Chinese holidays start fairly quickly in January or February depending on the Chinese calendar cycle, we combine the two.  It makes for a very festive look throughout the complexes for a period of a couple months.

This year in China is the year of the Dragon and in 2013 it will be the year of the Snake.  Our son was born in the year of the Dragon and those born in the year of the Dragon have lots of luck since the Dragon is said to be a deliverer of good fortune.  Not sure if he thinks he's lucky though.  He is once again serving in Afghanistan.  Keep him in your prayers please.  :)

Starting a New Year 2012

Hello and greetings to one and all,

WELL, lets hope that 2012 improves over 2011.  Geez!  I am so grateful that 2011 ended positive, I was beginning to wonder.  This past year I lived out of a suitcase and I can tell you, I don't want to do this in 2012 although I have learned to pack far less as time moved on in 2011.

Unfortunately, my creative endeavors have been put on hold till this Spring when I think, I will actually have time to do some card creating.  At least I'm thinking of ideas for Convention in Salt Lake.  While here in China, I miss my creative buddies as we always have so much fun together coming up with new designs and ideas.  Always trying to improve can be a daunting task at times but with challenging one another, it keeps the three of us hustling to do the best we can.  Then, we fall back and go to lunch.  :)

I have to say, once again I am so pleased with Stampin Up products.  Really, it is very difficult to not buy everything and use some self-restraint.  LOL   Me?  Using self-restraint?  Ha!  That new Spring book has so many great products.  I love the folded ribbon but could use some more colors.  Not every card I make do I want to look like it is a summer card.  And why can't we carry over the stamps and punches for the bitty Christmas stocking.  It is so new and now it is so not being moved into the IB&C  catalog.  Bummer!

Well, I am in China after only being in the States from November to January and all but two weeks of that time was spent with relatives in the ICU unit of the hospital.  Boy, worrying can sure turn hair more grey in a hurry for sure.  Things are more positive now so I should begin working on design ideas for SU. 

Obviously I accomplished nothing the last quarter of 2011 and have lots of product from the holiday catalog that will gather cobwebs but I definitely need to get going on ideas and product for Spring and July.

Wonder what this years theme is going to be at Convention?

Today, I baked for my husband cookies he didn't get for the holidays and now I just have to stop eating them before they are all gone before he gets any. 

Love the new metal templates for the Sizzix and have seen some interesting uses on the Stampin Connection site.  Looks like a winning product for SU as there are so many uses for those designs in my opinion.

So, that is it for now from me, as I need to now figure out what I'm going to design in my mind as (did I tell you) the new products I brought with me to China aren't here!  Bummer again.  No, they didn't disappear from my suitcase, dummy here forgot to put them in as planned with all the things my husband and I are dealing with. 

Well, this isn't a good start for 2012 is it?  Hopefully your year is starting off better.  My next blog should be all positive.  :)

Okay, FINALLY, here are my convention swap cards.  Whew!  Just in time before I head off to China.                                                                                                                                                            These are the cards I made for SU 2011 Convention swaps, you know the one, back in July.  Well at least I made it before six months from convention, but only almost.  

The brown one with the sweet stamp on it is a 3x3 card and I made 125.  The other cards are all 4.25 x 5.5 or A2 size (convenient for mailing obviously) and were special sign-up swaps with limited numbers.  I would not recommend doing nine swaps in any given convention though.  I won't being doing so many swaps next year IF I can be rational and use some self-restraint.  :)  Did spell check and I think I passed this time.   :)


I know you are wondering where the other two swaps are after all, I did say I did nine swaps.  I don't know where they are.  I can't remember.  :(

Cards that Fold Swap

step card ( I think)

Thanksgiving 2010

 

Christmas card swap

3x3 convention swap 2011

Cards that Move Swap

LNS Fan Card

WOW here it is September with October around the corner.  What a rush of activity summer was.  Traveled to Salt Lake to Convention and of course loved every minute trudging up and down the halls for all the activities.  My favorite part besides the main stage activities of course were the free hand outs of products and this year there were so many.  WOW is all I can say and thank you to Stampin Up!!!

Starting my fall projects now with an Advent Calendar.  (post it soon) Opps, forgot to upload my cards I made for convention.  Need to attend to that also, AND then there is the annual packing to head back to Beijing, China.  I seem to live out of a suitcase this year. 

See you soon!

Convention is coming in July and the NEW IB&C

Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait.  I sound like a child at the holidays.  I am soooooooo looking forward to the new catalog and goodies and then Convention!   I've been busy doing my basic cards for convention, the bases that is.  Going just so far till the new info is available to demonstrators and available to the public July 1 OR if you are interested in hostessing an event for Stampin Up, you can get an early peek at the catalog after June 21. Are you interested in hostessing and inviting your friends?  I do all the work.  I bring the projects, supplies, and information and directions on how to do your project.  You come and have fun!  Doesn't that sound easy?

Along with our soon to be revealed new IB & C is the current Summer Mini full of great ideas and supplies for those projects you might wish to do with your children during the summer days when they are saying "I'm bored!"  Our summer catalog is available through the end of August.

Enjoy stamping, sharing and the joy of friends and wishing all of you a relaxing Memorial Day weekend and please don't forget those men and women who have given their all and those that are serving and protecting our freedoms so that we might be with our families.

I found a quote that means a lot to me. Our son is active military and has already done two tours in Iraq and has received the purple heart twice and I have told him I don't want him to get another one.  Here is the quote:


"What men write about war, saying that it is a great plague, is all true.  But they should also consider how great the plague is that war prevents." quote by Martin Luther

Back in China

Well I've been back here in China a few weeks now.  It seems like forever though.  Cast was taken off a few days before I flew back here April 12.  It was interesting however to fly from the Midwest back to the east coast with a cast on my leg.  Besides being hugely cumbersome, it was interesting going through security.  Actually, it wasn't as I had expected at all with not much of a hassle.  Thank goodness.  It was hard to carry a suitcase however and try and gimp along.  But, I made it.

At the moment I'm working on my Convention cards.  Again, I signed for too many things, with too little time, and lots of effort to get these done..... It is nice to be settled in one place for awhile so I can figure out why it is I didn't bring the proper product from SU with me to here.  I will have a few boxes to open when I get back to my house in New York. 

Last week I accompanied my favorite guy on a Silk Road  adventure.  Lamb was the meat of choice throughout the week and I wish I could fix lamb that deliciously.  What an adventure we had with 8 other travelers from around the world.  It was a good group and we all interacted very well.  The wildest adventure was the sale of animals in the animal market in Kashgar.  Yikes!  Between seeing animals fighting all day, one hugh mean looking bull falling into a water canal out of a tractor cart, and kids trying to herd goats, there were just too many photo opts to take them all in.  Forget about the dust.  I purchased a yak tail dust-buster that works pretty good moving dirt off of your clothes.  LOL

I wanted to mention the new summer catalog and comment.   I love it for the most part.  It has assortment and has choices.  There is some carryover from the previous mini which I find very interesting.  Do you think the products will then be carried in our next year's catalog? 

I have heard mumblings that some do not like it and the catalog is too short, unlike the other mini catalogs.  And, as I understand, the mini before the hugh yearly catalog is always somewhat shorter than the others.   At any rate, the nautical themed items I love, along with the vintage style stamps.  As I love to do miniature cards and things, the smaller stamps are perfect for me. 

Did you think about using these small stamps to create paper pieces to put into your jewelry necklace and bracelet.  Sort of hard to stamp a large print and try to get it to fit into the glass area unless you use something small don't you think. 

Here are some ideas for you:

Save paper by making small gift cards, you know, the 3x3 inch size.  One 12x12 inch piece of paper will give you 8 of the 3x3 inch size cards.  Cut your paper in half so you have two 6x6 inch pieces.  Then cut that into 3x6 inch sections, fold over and viola' a 3x3 card.  Now all you have to do is decorate it however you wish.

How about gift tags.  Layer some of the scrap pieces and you can make a very unusual card with just a few embellishments and it will be greatly appreciated by the recipient. 

Then we have the awesome bookmark!  Kids love bookmarks as do adults.  I hate to bend down the corner of a page in a book I'm reading!

Okay, that should get you started in your creative process.
Create and create but most of all---have lots of fun.

See you soon,  Marilyn

Can You Believe It?

Well, I am back in the wonderful USA.  Apparently I don't know how to walk though as I tripped down four steps, fell like a lump and thinking I twisted my ankle I continued to limp for a few days.  How wrong I was.  It is broken.  Good thing I was visiting my sister who insisted I have it checked.  Yep, it is broken so now I have a cast for the next 6 to 8 weeks.  lol  But as it is a walking cast, I don't think it will slow me down too much.  ha, ha. 

So, I have my stampin up goodies to color and cut out to keep me busy and new designs to think of.

That is all for now