A Spooktacular Promotion!

Have you been thinking of signing up with Stampin' Up!? From August 1st to August 31st, when you purchase the Starter Kit, you will get the Howl-o-ween Painter's Tray Project Kit absolutely FREE! That's up to $75 in product including:
*The Toxic Treat Stamp Set in either wood or clear mount
*A package of Basic Jewels - Rhinestones
*A package of Baker's Twine
*Ribbon, buttons and other stampin' elements to make the project.

That's in addition to the Starter Kit which is only $125, tax and shipping included. With the starter Kit you get $155 in product of your choice as well as all the business materials you need if you decide to do some demos. But... there are NO STRINGS ATTACHED. You can get your Starter Kit, Howl-o-ween Project Kit and run ;) But you do get a 20% discount on your favorite SU! products as well as a wonderful community to share stampin' fun with. I'm part of a great group of demos - in fact, we're having a demonstrator potluck tomorrow :)

Check out my SU! website for more info: http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/stampingwithmonica/promotions

You can sign up on my website too, or email me if you have any questions :) For all demos who join in the Ottawa area, I'll be welcoming you to my home sometime in September and we can do our projects together! I can't wait, especially since it's going to going to be in my new Stampin' Studio.

'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Leadership Recap

Last week, I attended Stampin' Up!'s Leadership Conference in San Antonio. In short, it was awesome. I'm not sure what I enjoyed more: the conference, touring gorgeous San Antonio, or getting away by myself for 6 days! I think it was a pretty even tie! The first day, we collected our gorgeous Leadership Bags and made some Make & Takes.

As usual, SU! did not disappoint with the bags and yes, the fabric is a sneak peek from the new catalogue!!! I'm pretty picky, but I am in love with this bag! The bottom part is attached by our Neutrals Designer Buttons and can be removed or flipped inside out! How awesome is that?

Look at what else you can you can do with this awesome fabric. I love all the ideas SU! gives us for using their products:

One of our M&T's was a card for Ronald McDonald House. I love this card and have already used this design in one of my classes (and plan on using it some more)!

Another perk of Leadership was watching some of the head people in company tell us about upcoming changes, financials and doing some stamping. Additionally, I was able to take some Leadership-based clases.

The first class I took was on titled "Sharing the Stampin' Up! Opportunity" by Brian Pilling, which was essentially a class to help demonstrators with their recruiting efforts. It was fantastic, and offered a different way of looking at the progress of a relationship between a demonstrator and a new customer / potential recruit. It involves looking at the relationship in a staircase model starting from initiation of a relationship to experimenting, intensifying, integrating and finally bonding (in a romantic relationship, this would be marriage - in a demo-customer relationship, this would be the customer becoming a demo). I loved the ideas I got and how the presentation gave me a new idea on how to approach recruiting.

I also took a class on "Retaining and Engaging Your Downline" by Donna Griffith and fellow Demonstrator Patsy Waggoner. Although most new demonstrators think that getting someone to sign up with Stampin' Up! is the difficult part of being an upline, we all quickly realize that it's the easy part! The hard part is actually retaining your downline and have them sell and recruit themselves. Patsy told us how she has grown and changed her business in the last year and I have to say, this was my favorite class. I was inspired by her. She has completely turned her business around and grown it significantly. For me, her tips on engaging my downline such as sending cards monthly to top sellers/recruiters as well as celebrating their achievements with them really made sense! I've tried doing them in the past and got lazy after 1 or 2 months. But Patsy's results were inspiring and I'm going to give it a good go this time!

I know there wasn't much stamping in this post, but hope you enjoyed hearing about my Leadership experiences. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Paper Piercing - with a Punch

Those who know me, know I'm a perfectionist. I like everything to be lined up just so, evenly spaced, etc. Which is why when I do any paper piercing (and it's not often) that I use Stampin' Up!'s Mat Pack to get evenly spaced holes. But even then, the holes aren't always the same size. So, I love to create 'holes' in paper with punches, such as the Scallop Dotted Ribbon Border Punch. No guesswork, just perfect pierced paper every time.

This week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge invited us to do paper piercing on our projects. I'll be honest, I didn't have time to come up with a card specifically for this challenge. Put I did use my favorite 'paper piercer' on a card for my Fast & Fabulous Monthly Card Class. I love it, the new Striped Embossing Folder is so much fun, and this stamp set, Sweets for the Sweet, is just too cute!  Create lollipops, pinwheels, little umbrellas and so much more for your 'sweet' ;)

Little Hints:

*My class goers were very concerned about having the lollipop sticks perfectly spaced, horizontally and vertically. Even though I tend to be a perfectionist, I reminded them that this is supposed to be a fun card and doesn't have to be perfect - mine isn't!

*The 1" Circle Punch coordinates perfectly with this stamp set making lollipop creation a breeze!
*The Scallop Ribbon Border Punch allows you to included pierced card stock without actual piercing and gives the appearance of ribbon when you don't have any (or just don't want to use it!).
*Don't you just love the Adhesive Jewels? Available in Rhinestones or Pearls, they a fast and economical way of embellishing your card!

Don't forget - if you want to have as much fun as me, our $119 Starter Kit deal is ending on July 31st!  Sign up today so you don't miss out!  Keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Mini Starter Kit @ only $119 and New Cattie Preview

This month - meaning only 'til June 30th - you can join Stampin' Up! for only $119 with the Mini Starter Kit! In your Mini Starter Kit you get Sneak Peak products, new colour products, AND you'll get a box of the 2010/2011 catalogues in July! Everything to get you started in your new business! It's a value of over $220 for only $119 + PST. These Mini Kits don't come along too often so if you've been thinking about joining, now's the time to do it! There's no commitment after you've joined, no risk. But as a member of my team, Creativity Ink, you'll get support from me my fantastic uplines in taking your business where you want to take it. Whether that's as a hobbyist, a part time demo or a full time demo like me! I'm part of one of the largest demo teams in Canada and having that experience and support to draw upon has been great!

Why join now? Well this upcoming SU! year is so exciting. New colours. New In Colours. And an awesome new catalogue with some of the best stamp sets and accessories I've seen in a long time! With all this excitement it's the the best time to join! And then you can get 20% (or more) off on all your stampin' supplies! The card below highlights on of the great new Level 1 Hostess Sets - Because I Care - and new colours. I'm also lovin' that I can get all the new colours and returing In Colors in markers (can you say YAY for Baja Breeze in a marker?!?!?!). And the embossing on the Cherry Cobbler is using the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder - love it! I have to say that I got my idea for this card from a great sideline - Jo-Ann Pullen!



What's included in the Mini Kit? Everything below. And stamp sets/inks are customizable!

Item	Description	Price
117050	Watercolor Trio stamp set (wood-mount)	$30.95
118571	I {Heart} Hearts stamp set (clear-mount)	$22.95
118486	Clear-Mount Block C	$8.95
116978	Homemade single stamp*	$10.95
100730	Whisper White card stock (8-1/2" x 11")	$9.25
119706	Brights Collection assorted card stock (8-1/2" x 11")*	$8.50
115656	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	$7.25
119667	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad*	$7.25
115658	Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin' Pad	$7.25
100814	Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin' Pad	$7.25
119261	Basic Black 1/8" taffeta ribbon*	$8.25
121620	Color Coach*	$18.95
104332	SNAIL Adhesive	$9.75
	Retail value of products in kit	$157.50

*Sneak peek items!

The Mini Starter Kit also includes the same business supplies that are in the standard Starter Kit; no alternative selections can be made for business items. Contents are listed below:

• Getting Started DVD
• Getting Started Guide
• Guest Invitation Postcards (100)
• 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalogue (8)
• Summer Mini Catalogue (8)
• To My Hostess Envelopes (10)
• Recruit Folders (5)
• Recruit Brochures (20)
• Hostess Brochure (20)
• Hostess Benefits Form (10)
• Customer Order Form (50)

So contact me (stampingmonica@gmail.com) today to order your own Mini Starter Kit or Join Now using password 'stampingwithmonica'. You won't regret it!

I hope to have you a part of my team and keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!






Love this project? Click here to shop Stampin' Up! with me now! (Canada only)

How did I make my card?
Stamp Set: Because I Care (2010/2011 Level 1 Hostess Set)
Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Whisper White (100730)
Ink: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist Stampin' Write
Accessories: Modern Label Punch (116630), 1-1/4" Square Punch (104400), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430), Big Shot (113439), Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder (2010/2011 Sneak Peak)