Sponsor Spotlight: Our Craft Lounge

I'm taking a quick break from packing to thank one more sponsor for this weekend's stamping retreat its Our Craft Lounge!!

Joy, Cami and Kimberly launched Our Craft Lounge in November and since then, it has taken off in a simply huge way!  Did you see that they recently released twenty eight stamp sets!  Just take a peek over at Cami's blog at the adorable photos of their booth, I'm so sad I missed it.

I just happen to have a *thing* for tree stamps, so this one set "Tree Mendous Love" was a must have for me!

In addition to having adorable and fun stamp sets, the owners of OCL are just great people!  They were only way too happy to sponsor Stamp New England.  They sent Cindy a very sweet, sweet prize package and one of you is going to be going home with some Our Craft Lounge all for yourself!

Now, everyone.... back to packing!  giggle!

Its Almost time to STAMP New England!!

Hope you're all getting excited for Stamp New England as we're all in our final preparation modes! I went over to Karen's house the other night and we literally cut HUNDREDS of Nesties. We do have one last sponsor spotlight to write, which I should hopefully have done for you for tomorrow in the meantime, a few final details

1) Friday night’s project is a make and take station. It will be available from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. We’ll have light snacks available and would love to catch up with you. However, the event will be B.Y.O.B., so if you’d like to bring along a little adult beverage feel free! After 7:30pm, we’ll be packing up the Make and Take and heading into Downtown Portsmouth for a bite to eat. There are several restaurants in the area. Kim is working with the Inn on a list of recommended restaurants and we can designate a post dinner meeting place for anyone interested in meeting up afterwards for cocktails!

2) ETA: The Inn does have enough parking spaces for people registered and staying overnight. Those of you coming for Saturday only, however, will need to use the public lots which are within walking distance (there is on-street, metered parking but it is strictly enforced so use this at your own risk!) . Please be sure to check the Sise Inn Website for directions

3) We've been working on updating the Supplies list. Please be sure to check that post as it has been updated over the last few days. Don't forget your nametag **hint**, I'm off to print out some swaps for Karen's Sketch Swap and buy some chocolate for Lauren's chocolate swap. (yum, note to self, don't eat the candy before the chocolate swap.)

4) Swaps! I just noticed that 10 people did sign up for swaps. If you signed up to do the card swap, please don't space on your creations, there are still a few days if you've signed up and forgotten! ;-)

5) Most importantly, get ready to have fun and don't forget your camera! Can't wait to see you all! HUGS!!

Sponsor Spotlight: Beacon Adhesives

What a special treat we have for you ladies!! When I attended CHA Winter 2008 I was able to take a few classes. In one of those classes we were given a bottle of Zip Dry paper glue. Oh my goodness is this stuff amazing!!!! I hope I'm not the only one out there . . . but I am not a patient crafter, I do not like to wait for things to dry!

Zip Dry is the best - it works great for paper crafts because it doesn't make the paper pucker and buckle, it dries super fast and clear, it's acid & lignin free and if you get it on your fingers it rolls right off! I love this stuff and I'm super excited to be able to share some of these great benefits with you!

The folks at Beacon Adhesives responded so quickly when we requested a donation, and they were amazingly generous! 3 more sleeps!! :)

Sponsor Spotlight: Beth Silaika

I have just a few more sponsors to share with you . . . phew it was close to get them all in!! :)

Who doesn't know Beth Silaika of Freckled and Fun??! She's everywhere! An amazing designer of web & blog banners and custom watermarks, a brand new stamp designer for Papertrey Ink, the host of a weekly challenge on SCS and a design team member of Hanna Stamps and Scor-Pal! Plus, she is the mother of 6 children, how's that for busy!!

Beth lives in beautiful upstate NY (in my old "neck of the woods") and we're hoping will be able to attend our next event! She was so sweet to send us a door prize for this event!! Go check out her blog and see the beautiful designs she offers, like these watermarks, and blog banners! Thank you so much Beth!!

Sponsor Spotlight: Scor-Pal!

Yup, you saw that right, the one and only Scor-Pal is a sponsor for our event!!! Isn't that cool?! I'm telling you I just love this company! Even though I do not know Diana personally, I think she must be one of the nicest, most generous people out there!! I have heard those who know her say this about her and noticed that Scor-Pal is always willing to donate to a good cause (did you all know that on the Stamping cruise last October Scor-Pal donated a Scor-Pal for EACH person?! Amazing!!!). Diana was one of the first people to respond willing to donate to our event!

Ok, so we know they are generous, but they also have a fabulous product!! I have mine sitting right on my desk and use it every day! Having perfectly straight cut and scored cardstock is important to me! Scor-Pal makes it so easy to add scored embellishments to any project, it makes whipping up one of Lauren's My Timeless Templates a breeze and have you seen all the wonderful projects they have on their website, complete with instructions? There are so many things that you can do with a Scor-Pal!! Plus, they have Scor-Tape - the best strong adhesive out there!

Thank you so much to Scor-Pal for your generous donation to our event!! :)

Introducing Kim Schofield!

This is our final week of posts before the event - how exciting!! We are finishing up final details, gathering final supplies and packing our bags, are you?! :)

Today we wanted to introduce the third member of our coordinator team - Kim Schofield! Kim and I met almost 2 years ago when I came across her blog and realized she was from NH and possibly in the same downline as I was for Stampin' Up! I contacted her to see if she would be interested in working a vendor fair with me. During that day it was amazing to see how much we had in common and how our friendship began, and it has been growing ever since!

Kim's background is in the marketing communication and event management field and she now manages her own consulting business for the past seven years. When we started planning this event Kim was so willing to jump in and lend her expertise - finding our venue and helping organize so many aspects of this weekend! She even drove up to Maine this week to help me organize supplies and prepare for Friday! We could not have done it without her!!

That's not the end though! Kim is also a wonderful stamper - having a thriving Stampin' Up! business and being on two design teams! You can see all of Kim's beautiful work on her blog, Paperie Petals and you might catch a glimpse of the 2 adorable boys that she and her husband have been blessed with!

Thank you Kim for all your hard work and dedication to help make Stamp New England as success!!

Supplies to Bring - Updated with Additions

REPOSTED WITH ADDITIONS

Hope you're packing your bags and getting ready for our upcoming getaway!! Here's a quick list of things you'll need during the class!

Remember if you're travelling with a friend, you can share supplies. Most importantly, PLEASE BE SURE TO LABEL ALL YOUR ITEMS!

Your Camera!!

Paper Trimmer
Paper Snips
Bone Folder
Adhesive - LOTS of it!!
Redline tape
Dimensionals
Glue Dots
Acrylic Blocks - various sizes
Sketch Swaps if you're participating
Completed Name Tag

Chocolate/candy of choice for Lauren's Chocolate Swap - 36 pieces

Paper cutter with score blade, or Scor-Pal/Score tool
Hobby blade/Xacto knife
Ruler
Crop a dile (or 1/8 hole punch)
Corner rounder (if you have one)
Sanding block - tools (if you have a Basic Grey file set - bring that!) :)
Self-healing cutting mat (if you have one)
Cutting Mat (self-healing kind if you have one)

Soft Sky Ink Pad

Sponge Dauber

White Gel Pen

Water Brush

IF you have them:
Cantelope & Tangelo Memento Ink Pads
Ocean Breezes Papertrey Ink Pad

We'll be updating this list as additional things come to mind, and as we get supply lists finalized from instructors, so check back!

For two of the projects, the instructors will utilize Copic markers for their samples. Now, please feel free to bring along your preferred coloring medium as a substitute. Copic markers are NOT a required item.

For any of you that either already own, or have been looking for an **excuse** to buy some (wink) here are a few that the instructors will be using in their samples:

Cindy Lawrence will be demonstrating some dying techniques with Copic Markers.  If you happen to have either YR09 &/or RV00 Copic Markers please tote one along! Either color will work nicely for this project.

Friday Night Make and Take:

YR21, YR23

BG72, YG67,

R24, R29, R32

E00, R00

Saturday My Favorite Things Class:

E00*, R00 (skin tones)

E31, E33* (wood floor, Flopsey)

RV13*, RV04 (cupcake)

Y21*, Y23 (wallpaper)

If you're interested in buying some, but not all of these, I've marked with a ** the ones that would be my preference for my project if I had to choose! Or, you could pair off with a friend and each buy a few.

If your LSS doesn't happen to carry Copic Markers, I've always found really amazing prices at Carpe Diem you can also purchase Copics from my friends over at Eclectic Paperie. For anyone local to SouthEast New england, my local scrapbooking store Right at Home Scrapbooking does also offer a wide variety of Copic markers. Feel free to leave a comment on the thread if you have additional sources for Copics that you'd like to add here!

I'm so serious though when I say that Copics are not a requirement for either class. Feel free to bring along you preferred medium of choice, either pencils, markers even inks and blender pens, whatever you have and enjoy from your existing collection, etc.

Feel free to leave a question here on the thread if you have anything we can help with.

Introducing Julie Masse!

Today I have the very distinct pleasure of introducing my friend Julie Masse. Let me just say that this entire stamping weekend is her brainchild, so many thanks for Julie for deciding to get us all together!

Julie, was one of my very first blog visitors when I started writing two years ago, and for sure, she was my very first Blogging Friend! Although we only live a few hours apart, would you believe we met for real for the first time in Los Angeles, California?

However, we'd been chatting via email and on the phone for so long that it was so natural to meet up in person for the first time. Let me say, Julie is one of the most thoughtful, considerate and hardworking people you could ever hope to meet!

In addition to being a simply wonderful person, Julie is an equally wonderful designer! She's a member of several Design Teams, a Stampin Up Demonstrator and she's served as a guest designer for several amazing companies, been published, and I've also spied Julie's name many times on the Paper Trey Ink Honorable Mentions list and she was the Guest Star Stamper in July 2008. Yeah Julie!!

Here's a few quick words from Julie and a snippet of her adorable project! Thank you Julie for EVERYTHING you've done for Stamp New England, you're amazing and I'm simply honored to call you my friend! See you next FRIDAY!!

I am a SAHM of 4 children. I started stamping when my first daughter was born as just a little something fun for me!! My Stampin' Up! demo always used to say, "You should become a demo" but I it took me 2 years to finally take the plunge . . . that was the end! :) Like most of you out there reading I'm sure, stamping has become a bit more than "just a hobby"! I stamp to relax, I stamp to have fun, I stamp with my children, I stamp (best) without them (ha ha!), it's become an obsession, a passion! I've made so many friends through stamping and feel like I can go anywhere in the country and "know"someone - stampers are just the best people! I'm so honored to be a part of some wonderful design teams, Paper Pretties, Kitchen Sink Stamps, Say It With Letters and I do a bit of work for Rubber Soul too! I've had the pleasure of seeing my work published in several Paper Craft publications (including some not yet released) as well as Cards

magazine.

For my project I thought everyone might enjoy giving 2 things a try - working with multi-step stamps, and altering a shape! I designed a new shape just for our class and I hope you all will love it! Let's all get into a Spring-y state of mind!! :)

The supplies you need for my class are already listed in the preliminary supply list we have previously posted but there are also 3 ink colors we will use. If you have them, bring them, if not we will have several floating around for you to use - so don't stress!! The colors are Ocean Tides from Papertrey Ink, and Tangelo & Cantelope from Memento. Your craft knife/Xacto will be important in this class, as well as a file (if you have the Basic Grey file set that's great but a sanding block and/or emery board will work too!). I'm looking forward to meeting you all!!

Sponsor Spotlights Continue!!

I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again. You girls are going to be so seriously SPOILED! Are you ready for another one?

I continue to be amazed by the generosity of stampers and I've been simply overwhelmed by the generosity of the companies that immediately said "YES! We'd love to provide a door prize!"

Please welcome UNITY to the party ladies! Have you joined in on the Hip Hop Madness (here in their forum on SCS) on Thursdays? Have you seen the wide range of images they carry, and of course, the Hip Hop Girls! What an amazingly talented team. And all I can say is that a FEW OF YOU will be receiving door prizes at the event courtesy of UNITY STAMP CO!

Sponsor Spotlight: Paper Trey Ink

Happy Friday everyone.  Just think, this time next week, we'll be checking our lists, and getting on the road! hooray!

Today, I'm thrilled to chat about one of my favorite vendors, one that really, lets be honest, needs no introduction - Paper Trey Ink!  

Every month I continue to be completely amazed by Paper Trey's releases.  Nichole has an eye for identifying trends and keeping her customers on the cutting edge of paper crafting.  Her designs are clean, and perfectly executed in every way.  I love Paper Trey's Perfect Match product line, simply beautifully coordinated paper, ink and embellishments.  Perfectly designed stamp sets, and of course, an amazing Design Team.  

Lets not forget, Lauren Meader will be teaching for us at Stamp New England, and we'll be using stamps from Paper Trey Ink as well as one of her My Timeless Templates!  

I'm sure by now that you've already seen that the previews for Paper Trey Ink's March release have already begun on Nichole's blog Capture the Moment - and as always, I'm so impressed, and of course, madly enabled.  

This month, my friend Lisa Johnson has a stamp set being released. From what I've seen of the previews so far, I'm pretty sure it is going to be a must have for me!  Ever since I picked up her set "Remember" this past summer, I have not been able to put it away, it is a go to favorite of mine. 

We'd like to thank Nichole Heady from Paper Trey Ink for the truly enormous level of support they she has extended to Stamp New England.  Suffice it to say that you girls are going to be thrilled.  

Sponsor Spotlight: Flourishes

Hello everyone!!!

Can you even believe how close we're getting? Hope you're busy working on your name tags and gathering your supplies! I won't say too much except, you won't want to forget your name tag. Is that a hint enough??

Today, we'd like to thank Flourishes for sending us a door prize for one of you lucky stampers!

Flourishes has such a recognizable style, elegant, highly detailed and just gorgeous! My friend Cindy Lawrence let me pluck this gem off of her blog to share with you today, I tell you, she does such beautiful things with their stamps.

Flourishes is in their preview week for their upcoming launch of three new stamp sets this coming Friday. You'll find links to all their designers and follow along with all their previews on Flourishes Blog.

Thank you thank you to the owners of Flourishes for sharing a little something special for one of YOU to enjoy!

See you next Friday! (I know, can you believe it? Next FRIDAY!!)

Sponsor Spotlight: Say It With Letters

Good morning!! Here's another company near and dear to my heart . . . Say It With Letters! And I'm not just saying that because I'm their design team either!! I spent plenty of my own $$$ there before answering a dt call (sssshhh, don't tell my dh!). I love making cards - we all do right?! But sometimes I like to do something just a little bit different, break out of a rut, you know??

Say It With Letters is a great little company right here in New England, Manchester, NH to be exact! Owned and run by Deb Damboise and her husband (with their adorable twin babies help I'm sure!) they make and sell custom cut letters and shapes available in hundreds of lettering styles and several adorable designs! The shapes are custom cut, hand sanded and unfinished and made from sturdy 1/2 inch thick MDF (super smooth surface for painting, decoupaging or embellishing.) Each shape can be made anywhere from 6" up to 48"!!! Now that would be a big piece! :)

There are so many possibilities with these shapes - paint, decoupage, patterned paper, fabric, etc., etc. Check out Deb's blog to see all the beautiful work of the design team as well as gorgeous work from customers! It's amazing how different each piece can look and how creative people are! I altered this adorable house last year as a housewarming gift for a friend. It was so much fun making it with someone in mind (after I photographed it, I wrote in the actual date they closed on their house so they always have that reminder!).

Deb has been so generous to Stamp New England - giving us a fabulous discount on supplies for a class and also offering a door prize for some lucky attendee . . . it could be you!! Go browse around the store, I know you'll find something to love! :)

Sponsor Spotlight: Right at Home Scrapbooking

I'm back with another quick sponsor spotlight! Today, we're featuring Right at Home Scrapbooking. It is the Local Scrapbooking/Stamping Store for several of us that are attending Stamp New England!

Located in North Attleboro Massachusetts, Right at Home has a wonderful selection of papers, stamps, ribbons and embellishments. I'm always looking for ways to incorporate a quick peek at the latest arrivals into my weekly schedule.

Right at Home also carries Copic markers, and recently received a nice new shipment of goodies! I couldn't HELP but squeeze a little trip in there to pick up a few more!

You can find the class schedule, the Team Gallery, and lots of inspiration on the Right At Home Forum and Gallery! I'd like to take a quick moment to thank Right At Home for sponsoring us, they've given us a sweet discount on the adorable paper Karen has selected for our Friday night Make and Take!

--Joanne

Sponsor Spotlight: Taylored Expressions

Today's Sponsor Spotlight is brought to you by Karen Motz who was recently named to the Taylored Expressions Bakers Dozen. Congratulations Karen!

We're simply thrilled that Taylored Expressions has agreed to provide a door prize for one of our lucky attendees!  We're sure you'll just LOVE them!

Take a quick peek at Karen's adorable samples, and if you're not familiar with Taylored Expressions, you can read more here.....

The Taylored Expressions Store just celebrated it’s first birthday. Well before the store opened I’m sure many of us already knew of and loved Taylor’s work from her blog, Taylored Expressions. It seemed only logical that her impeccable taste and keen eye for design would lead her down the path to an online store.

Taylor introduced an adorable line of cupcake stamps last September - Stamp a Sweet Impression. These yummy Cuppie images (as they’re affectionately called) will warm your heart and the sayings in each set are cute and clever.

With Taylor’s March release, she just introduced a brand new line called Whimsical Wishes, which includes Branching Out and Branching Out Coordinates, with more sets planned for future releases. Proceeds from the sales of these sets will be donated to charity through The Giving Tree program.

In the store you’ll also find perfectly coordinated Key Ingredients kits, which contain an assortment of hand-selected solid and patterned papers, embellishments and ribbon. The Key Ingredients take the guess work out of creating fabulous projects because all of the components work so well together.

In addition to stamps and Key Ingredients, you’ll find a treasure chest of wonderful paper crafting supplies, ranging from basics like adhesives and storage solutions for your stamps, to inks, papers, die cut boxes, ribbons, embellishments, and so much more. And with Taylor’s lightning fast shipping, your new supplies will be in your hands before you know it.

The products you’ll find at the Taylored Expressions Store are fresh, fun, and always on the cutting edge of the industry. Taylor takes pride in choosing only quality products that she would be happy to use for her own cards and projects. Quite simply, Taylored Expressions is a paper crafter’s delight!

--Karen

Sponsor Spotlight; Rubber Soul

Only 11 more sleeps until Stamp New England '09!! Are you excited?? I can't wait!!

I have another fabulous donor to share with you today too - Rubber Soul! I remember a few years back when I had just started to discover stamps outside of Stampin' Up (sssshhhh!! No really, they do exist - lol!), I started seeing the cutest little stick figures - I remember especially a nurse and a cowgirl. I fell in love with them and of course had to have them! But that is only a very small sampling of Rubber Soul/Wordsworth!

Based in Washington state, Rubber Soul carries a wide range of wood mounted rubber stamps as well as clear stamps. Of course, I still love the Stick People but they also have adorable animal sets like A Day At The Zoo, some really neat alphabets, and lots of wonderful Sentiment and Quote sets (look at this very cool Emerson Collection!). They also carry their own printed papers and A2 Cards.

Be sure check out Rubber Soul's site for details on their "March Is In The Clear" promotion - lots of stamps on sale, and an opportunity to get FREE sets! Dani sent us some wonderful goodies for door prizes - you will LOVE them!! :)

Sponsor Spotlight: The Cat's Pajamas

Yet another amazing sponsor to share with you today! One of you is going to be so thrilled to receive a door prize donated by my adorably sweet friend Alma from The Cat's Pajamas!

I've actually got some new rubber on the way to me from their most recent release, I mean really, did you see this adorable image of Poochie driving a carrot car! Seriously, I was helpless and it literally drove right into my cart. Get it, carrot car, it drove into my cart? Oh man, I must be tired...

But seriously three new clear sets and 50 different rubber stamps were just released. What a bargain, you can get all three of the new sets as part of the "Kitty Kat Pack" at a serious discount. Check here for details!

As if Poochie and Sprinkle weren't cute enough, just get a load of these adorable penguins! They're so mischievous, but so totally adorable! I love it. That and their giant cupcake!

Have fun checking out The Cat's Pajama's - each Tuesday you'll see lots of Design Team samples on TCP Tuesday! Don't miss out on your chance to become The Cat's Pajama's Swanky Stamper each month. See Alma's Blog "Dancing in Pajamas" for all the details!

Welcoming Cindy Lawrence!

I'm so very excited to share that Cindy Lawrence will also be teaching at Stamp New England!  In addition to being an amazingly talented stamper (will you just look at her resume? Its so impressive!!)  When you meet her in person, you're just going to want to squeeze her because she's simply soo sweet! 

Want to hear something so funny - although I'd been reading her blog for months, it wasn't until Cindy and I served on the Splitcoast Dirty Dozen together that I realized I'm in her Stampin Up downline! Isn't that hilarious!  Although, since Cindy's been working for Stampin' Up for 10 years, chances are that many of you might be in her downline as well!!  

Personally, I'm dying to learn some watercoloring techniques from her, but I'm sure she has more than a few tricks up her sleeve.  Cindy's projects are always so perfectly put together, beautiful details, and rockin' layouts.  We have Cindy to thank for coordinating several of our recent event sponsors, and the coordinating eye candy to go with them too!  (Thanks Cindy!!)

When I asked Cindy for a few quick words about herself, here's what she had to say.  

Hello friends!  I was first introduced to the wonderful world of stamping nearly 12 years ago, and I cannot imagine what I did for fun before then! J   I've been a successful SU! demo for 10 of those years. I have also been blessed to be a part of several design teams, including the SCS Dirty Dozen, Flourishes, Gina K Designs, H&M Stamps, Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps, Whipper Snapper Designs, as well as a Featured Sampler for Taylored Expressions.  

My favorite technique is watercolor, but I honestly love all aspects of the craft. It is the best therapy around! When I am not stamping, I enjoy baking, interior design, reading, spending time with family and friends, and church activities. I live in beautiful southern NH with my husband Jim, three sons and a daughter. I am truly blessed! 

Please help me extend a warm welcome to Cindy!  Thanks everyone and have a GREAT day!

Sponsor Spotlight: Susana's Custom Art & Card Design

I have another treat for you today!! It was such a pleasure to be contacted by Susana Magenheimer and to take a spin around her wonderful online store, Susana's Custom Art & Card Design! Not only does Susana's store have a great selection of Lockhart stamps, and Rubber Romance (love those girls!) stamps, but she also has an exclusive line of rubber stamps called Anki's Sweethearts, and they are just that, sweet! Adorable girls AND boys with just the cutest faces - look at Julia, is she cute or what?? (and such a pretty name - hee hee!) Look at these 2 beautiful samples Susana sent to me from her Design Team!

Oh, and you know who her guest Designer is this month? Lynn Mercurio! I love Lynn and her wonderful blog, Stamperosity. She even had details on how you can be a Guest Designer for a month at Susana's Custom Art & Card Design! You can also find all this information on their Group page at Paper Craft Planet.

Susana also has the honor of being chosen 1 of 4 companies to carry exclusive images by the amazing Artist Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art & Card Design!!! What a talented artist she is! Susana expects these images to arrive in mid-July, so be sure to watch for those!

She also carries an exclusive line of DoveCraft Paper - be sure and check out the beautiful designs (if I say Laura Ashley that should be enough, right?)!

I know that several of you are going to be tickled at the wonderful door prizes Susana has provided for our event! Please swing by Susana's website and browse through all the goodies! Thanks so much Susana!

Sponsor Spotlight: Paper Addiction

I'd like to welcome another sponsor for Stamp New England. When we were at CHA this past summer, my friends Michelle and Laura decided that they found so many products that they couldn't live without that they'd just open a store. And that's how Paper Addiction was born. Now that's what I call a love of shopping. ...Giggle....

But seriously, I happen to actually have an addition to paper myself. And, I have been quite happy to help offload the girls of some inventory from time to time! Michelle and Laura have impeccable taste so I love all their finds. In particular, I love that they carry Scenic Route and October Afternoon paper. Its some of my very very favorite stuff!

You'll also find some darling templates that you can purchase and print out to make some truly fabulous gift items.

As we speak, a little prize package from Paper Addiction is making its way through the mail, for me to deliver to one of YOU at Stamp New England! Even though I might want to steal that package, I promise, I'll hand it over. **wink**

Michelle, aka FlaxyChick, hopes to make it to our next gathering! How fun is that, we haven't even had this event yet, and we're already looking forward to the next one. How about you? How deep is YOUR addiction to paper?

Sponsor Spotlight: Gina K Designs

I hope you've been having fun taking a little peek at all the amazing vendors that have agreed to send a little "somethin' somethin'" as a door prize for Stamp New England!

I have been truly blessed to work on the Gina K Design team for just about a year now.  Gina is truly amazing to work for...her fans know that she's so generous with the give aways. I'm telling you, don't ever miss her blog posts!  Or, you're sure to miss out!  

I love that with so many illustrators on her team there is always such a wonderful variety of artwork to choose from each month.  

Recently, you may have seen that Gina has started a truly amazing new venture, Stamp TV!  Each week Gina offers a broadcast quality video tutorial demonstrating a specific technique and then turns the element she created into a finished project!  It is Wednesday, which means a new Episode has posted!  Go check it out!

This card that I'm posting today uses stamps, cardstock and patterned paper and ribbon all from the Floral Frenzy Showtime Stamp Kit.  

We'd like to thank Gina for sending a door prize out for one lucky winner at Stamp New England, she's also sending a little product sampling for us all to share - and I can tell you know, you'll love it!  Thank you Gina!!

Sponsor Spotlight: Sweet 'n Sassy

Can you believe that March is here, which that means we're getting so close to our upcoming Stamping Retreat! I can't wait to meet all of you in person and dole out some big stampy hugs!!  *wink*

And, since we're getting so close to the event, we're stepping up the sponsor profiles - can you believe we have so many gracious donors that its going to be tough to be able to share them all with you before the event.  I know, I can't even stand it!  I hope that you're all as excited as we are!!  

My sweet friend Cindy Lawrence is on the Design Team for Sweet 'N Sassy and I asked her to tell me a little bit about the company.  I'll actually admit that this is a new company for me, but let me just say I'm sure that won't last for long because Cindy happens to be a major enabler! I'm sure you'll agree! Please check our her gorgeous eye candy that she's sharing with us today. 

Sweet ‘n Sassy stamps is a little stamp company that was started in November of 2007 by Korin Sutherland.  SNSS produces a sweet (and sassy) line of clear acrylic images to fit all your stamping needs.  Korin has generously offered to donate a fabulous door prize for Stamp New England!

Thank you Cindy, and of course, thank you to Korin from Sweet 'n Sassy for your generous donation!  Be sure to blurf on over to meet the Sweet 'N Sassy design team, view their stamp sets check out their Design Team Blog. 

Sponsor Spotlight: Innovative Stamp Creations

Are you amazed yet at all the wonderful sponsors?! It's been like Christmas at my house with all the packages arriving! On Friday I received a big box of goodies from Innovative Stamp Creations. The owner Betsy has spoiled us!! This was a new company to me (not new though, they are over 5 years old!) - and they are right here in New England - Hudson, NH to be exact! How neat!!

If you are a follower of Michelle Zindorf and her incredible work (can that lady create some beautiful works of art!!) then you may have noticed the gorgeous stamps that Innovative Stamp Creations creates! Michelle is one of the many talented Creative Architects that ISC has. Take a look at some work by their designers - they are all so detailed and realistic! Aren't those roses beautiful?! I had a hard time choosing cards to show you since there were so many sweet projects to choose from! Definitely go check out the Innovative Stamp Creations Blog to see a lot more amazing work (the jewelry on the most recent post is gorgeous!)

This company has a lot more to offer too!! Check out their store - lots of goodies!! They have a wonderful selection of Tim Holtz products and Spellbinders dies! And the stamps . . . oh my!! Look at this very cool background stamp!

Thank you so much to Betsy and Innovative Stamp Creations - we're thrilled to have you sponsor our event!!

Swaps Anyone??

I wasn't sure if any of you were interested in creating card swaps for the event. If you'd like to participate please leave a comment on this thread and I'll start a list of interested swappers!

I'll keep the requirements simple for all of you:

1) No Vendor Requirement - although I'd certainly encourage you to support any one of our numerous amazing sponsors!!

2) All swaps should be full cards, not card fronts

3) There should be a minimum of three layers, plus embellishments.

4) Please be sure to sign or handstamp your cardbacks

5) Please do your best work!

I'll start the first group with 10 swappers. Please bring 10 finished cards to the event, you'll swap with the other 9 swappers and if its okay with you, I'd love to send the 10th card from each of you to charity!

If the first group of ten fills, I'll open a second. Feel free to sign up for multiple groups if you are interested.

Sponsor Spotlight: Paper Pretties

Oh happy day!! One of my very favorite stamp companies (and not just because they call me a Prettie Girl- lol!) is our next sponsor to highlight!! Paper Pretties is a relatively "young" stamp company, they just celebrated their 2nd anniversary, but there is no lack for adorable stamps!

Their signature line of Sophia stamps perfectly capture the heart of a sweet little girl! They even have a Stamp of the Month Club that allows you to get a new Sophia each month before it's public release - sweet!

Of course such a cute little girl needs a brother and his name is Cooper. There always seems to be a clamor in the stamp world for boy images and Paper Pretties has delivered - from snails & turtles to pumpkins and shepherds, take a look at all the wonderful sets! The newest Cooper set was released just yesterday, Love You This Much!

Each month on the 1st they host Stamping in Your Jammies in their Forum. It's a fun night of challenges, chatting and even a few prizes!

But wait . . . there's more! hee hee! There's Snowflake the penguin, Wade E. Bug, Luke & Lexi and several other cute images, like the recently released Flirty Fortunes - one of my favorite sets at the moment!

Paper Pretties has graciously donated a door prize for our event - can you ladies even believe all the goodies you've seen so far?!! Head over and show Paper Pretties some love! :)

Sponsor Spotlight: Eclectic Paperie

Sometimes, you shop at a store so much, that you become friends with the owners. (or, whoops, is that just me?)  I have to say, truly I love when that happens!  

When shopping at Eclectic Paperie, I often leave notes for Joy and Daisy in the comments section that say "With love from your eP-aholic!" I was so excited when I first got to meet them in person at CHA last winter - those girls are just sooo sweet.

EP is really one of my go to sources.  I know that they always have the latest hot products, and that by following along with their weekly newsletter, I'll be "in the know" with the all latest trends!  I love browsing their "Brand Spankin New" section to see what I might *need!*

I also love that EP frequently offers package bundles on some of those "must have" items so that you can get your hands on the best of the best! As an example, I'm SO excited about this new Graphic 45 Special Offer!

Eclectic Paperie was only too happy to help us out with some of the supplies for our Friday night Make and Take and will also be providing a door prize for one of you lucky ladies!  How sweet is THAT? 

Be sure to go check out Eclectic Paperie  - what's your favorite??