Sometimes Simple is Best

As you know, last week, I spent 3 days at Stampin' Up!'s Leadership Conference. I have a growing team of demonstrators and I wanted to make sure that I have all the tools and ideas to lead them effectively. This conference provided that and then some. I took a class called "Coaching for Performance", led by Jim Pitt and Natalie White from the SU! Home Office and though their coaching model is SUPER simple, it makes so much sense. It is based on Active Coaching and brainstorming with your downline/employees rather than dictating to them to develop a way forward for them. There are four main phases to this coaching: 1) establishing a goal, 2) examining reality, 3) brainstorming for options to meet the goal and 4) developing a way forward. I was lucky enough to have one of my downline be a guinea pig for me and it was great. Simple, I wrote everything down for her and even got a few pointers from her! lol! I can't wait to try it with more of my downline. Curious about building a business with SU!? Sale-a-Bration is a great time to join! Check out more info on my website.

I also love simple cards, cards that express what you're trying to say but that are elegant at the same time. They don't take long to make (10 or so minutes) but look like they took a lot longer. Put together a gorgeous DSP and an elegant stamp set and a card like that is easy! My inspiration for this card layout was from the gorgeous, simple sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches.

I can't wait to give this card to my Leadership roommate - she was such a great roomie and I hope she loves it! You've seen me use the Rue de Fleurs stamp set in a card last week and believe it or not, this pen image is from the same stamp set! Although the stamp set is part of the Attic Boutique suite of products, I used the Twitterpated DSP. I love the Island Indigo color and how vibrant the pen looks stamped with it.

Tips & Tricks:

*Do you often rock your stamps? Especially the smaller ones? Make sure the ink pad you're stamping with is well inked and don't smoosh it in the ink. Tap gently. Then when stamping, be careful to apply even pressure without pushing down too hard. This should help eliminating those rock lines.
*If you're as picky as I am about even placement of brads, pearls, rhinestones, etc., look at this little trick I discovered with the grid from the SU! Mat Pack: the smallest rhinestones fit perfectly into the small placement holes, the medium ones into the bigger ones. Never again will my rhinestones be placed unevenly.
*When doing tone on tone, use Stampin' Dimensionals to pop up one of the layers. That way your colors won't just blend into each other.

Hope you've enjoyed this simple card as well as some of the coaching tips I learned at the Leadership Conference last week. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!