Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Edited to Add: Caitlin's I Want It All! package as SOLD!
If you’ve followed my blog for long (God bless you!) you know I’m crazy proud of my daughter. She’s so much more courageous than I’ve ever been. You’d never catch met doing this!
Yeah, that’s her jumping off only the tallest building in the universe (Macau tower, okay, it's really only the 10th tallest)!
Well, now she’s jumping off to new adventures. In May she’s moving to Costa Rica to begin a new adventure teaching young Costa Ricans to speak English. To help fund her adventure, I told her she could sell some of my Stampin’ Up! sets. It’s a win-win for me – she gets some money for her travels and I get to make room for, yes, more stamps!
So . . . here’s my Caitlin’s sales pitch . . .
For $1,000, the I WANT IT ALL package includes
- 100 retired and new Stampin’ Up! stamp sets and Stampin’ Around wheels (652 individual stamps). Many of these sets are retired or were never offered for sale to the public (hostess, sale-a-bration sets, etc.) and include fun extras like a demonstration card or matching Stampin’ Around wheel.
- Over 50 beautifully crafted cards, many of them featured on Catered Crop.
- 3 packages of Designer Series Papers.
- Project kits.
- Items that were sold exclusively to Stampin’ Up! demonstrators at Conventions such as a pens, cloth bag, stuffed puppy, water bottle and umbrella that match Stampin’ Up! sets;
- Lots of surprises!
The stamps alone in this package retail at over $2,500 (not including the dozens of stamps we do not have are retail price for)! And, with 652 stamps in the package, that’s less than $1.55 per stamp.
You can find all the details such as the condition of the sets, fun extras included, original sale price, how many stamps are included in each set, which catalogs they appeared in, etc., in the spreadsheet below. Be sure to check the column “Item Details.” It will tell you really fun things, like that the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set includes the matching embossing folder and a limited edition matching umbrella.
Caitlin's I Want It All Stamp Up! Sale
The $1,000 I Want It All package comes tax-free and with drum roll . . . . free shipping! Payment will be through Paypal.
The I Want It All package is only available until March 31. Beginning April 1 we will begin selling the sets individually (no April fool) at the prices listed at the column “Caitlin’s Sale price.”
This is the perfect package for anyone looking to extensively expand their Stampin’ Up! collection! If you’re interested in the package – do not leave a comment here, but instead, e-mail Caitlin at Caitlin_McClain@yahoo.com.
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Stop the Press! Headline news -
Saturday, September 26
8:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Behran’s Ranch Amenity Center
2503 Arbor Drive, Round Rock, Texas
Multiple Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators’
Paper Craft Garage Sale and
Homemade Crafts Fair
I’m so excited about this. I’ve teamed together with six current and past Stampin’ Up! demonstrators for a Crafter’s sale of retired and gently used Stampin’ Up! and non-Stampin’ Up! crafter supplies. This is not your Mom’s garage sale – no hand-me-down house dresses or lamp shades. Nope, this is for scrapbookers, rubber stamp enthusiasts, and people who love making or giving home made cards and gifts -
- Over 100 retired Stampin’ Up! sets at 40% off original prices;
- Patterned paper, colored card stock and ink;
- Organization tools;
- Demonstrator business supplies;
- Card kits;
- Stampin’ Up! contraband (non-Stampin’ Up! craft supplies);
- Card swaps and workshop samples.
And, I’m even more excited about this, our fabulous paper craft artists are also bringing some of their creations for you to purchase while they last.
Come early and bring cash.
So, who made it a rule that men can’t be paper crafters?
After looking at all the store bought college graduation announcements, my Caitlin asked me to help her make handmade, custom announcements. She wanted her graduation announcements to more closely match her personality, which is more about reckless creativity and less about gold seals and parchment. I was in heaven. You know nothing makes me more happy than doing my favorite thing with my favorite people, and Caitlin is such an adventurer with her art. I told her, you figure out what you want it to look like and I’ll figure out how to make it work. Wait ’till you see the results – they’re stunning.
We kind of waited to the last minute to pull it all together, and it took Caitlin and me three days to make a prototype we liked. So, actually producing the cards became a family assembly line. Tom tackled the Score-Pal, and he was so adorable doing it, well, my heart still goes pitter patter.
Don’t you just love that man?!
Oh my, I’m so excited about this new home for Catered Crop. If you’ve come here from our previous home at Typepad, Yea, you survived the move. After packing our 300+ posts and moving them along with all the other behind-the-scenes stuff, you, my precious readers, are by far the most precious of my things to move.
So, for those of you interested, I thought I’d share what all was involved in making this move.
First, there were a lot of decisions to be made. I was using Typepad as my blogging software, but I wanted more control. I decided to move to Wordpress.org because it’s one of the most commonly used blogging software. We don’t see that as much with Stampin’ Up! demonstrators, but it’s more true outside our community. Because Wordpress is so popular, there are many more resources.
When you go with Wordpress.org, you have to do many of the things other blogging services do that you usually don’t even have to know about: finding a host web server, loading your files up to a server with a file transfer protocol (FTP) system, performing backups, providing security and spam protection, registering and mapping a domaine . . . It was daunting, but, honestly, I really enjoyed learning all that stuff. Okay, I can barely remember who I am most of the time, but I do love learning new technology.
Thank God for the Wordpress for Dummies book, and a really big thanks to Amy Celona. She spent no less than an hour on the phone giving me her sage advice and encouragement. Although I couldn’t use her services this go-round (I was already committed to a web host), I strongly recommend her.
After I (sort-of) figured out all that technical stuff, I got to begin the fun, creative stuff. I found a digital scrapbooking kit I love, Little Sous Chef, by Courtney Wilson of Skittles and Scraps. I had fun building the little click-here buttons and banner and found a great program to create my own WordPress theme (Artisteer). Veronica McCullum gave me some timely advice to tweak the design, and I’m working with her to make even more improvements.
So, Yea, I’m glad you’re all here. We have a lot of fun things coming up, like the Catty Cruise next weekend and, with hopefully most of the work behind me in creating and moving this site, I can get back to my first love . . . Stamping! New projects are on the way!
There's an amazing event going on this Memorial Day weekend for stampers and Heroes. Over at CardsforHeroes.org there's a Blog Hop of 135 paper crafters showcasing cards they've created to send to our troops. If you've never been to the CFH site, you'll definitely want to check it out. The mission of the site is to "support our nation’s armed forces by sending blank greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." To date, they've sent 147,875 cards.
Ooh, my craft space has been calling me all week and I'm getting stamping withdrawal pains. But, my work as a nursing home surveyor called me out of town unexpectedly and I didn't get to play. Shoot, I barely got to sleep at all. I tell you what, though, my job is never boring. I mean, really, I bet last week's soap operas didn't have as much drama. I'll just say this . . . I wish some folks had read these articles: from Newsweek, Sex, Love and Nursing Homes, and from Slate, Naughty Nursing Homes.
Okay, enough of that.
Okay, now, really, where else but at Catered Crop could you read about sex in nursing homes and Stampin' Up! in one post. Is this crazy or what?
I love this picture of Mom and my baby girl. Mom was always so vibrant before that retched dementia took its toll. When my normally very intelligent and proud Mom suffered from the indignities of dementia, we considered ourselves fortunate that she never became so confused that she didn't recognize us. I was with her every day, but you'd thought I brought in the sunshine every time she saw me.
Alzheimer is sometimes called the long goodbye – I know it can be much harder on some families than it was on ours. Here's the good news. Jen Tapler, from Jen Tapler Designs, and Suzanna Boyd Card of the Week.com are hosting a 7 day stamping and scrapbooking event to help raise money and awareness for Alzheimer's Disease. The site, Stampin Out Alzheimers.ning.com, will feature challenges, contests, classes and more – with prizes donated from over 30 generous sponsors. They've worked it as a "Pay to Play" community. For a small donation (any amount will do), you'll get permission to join their online community which will be up from May 25 to June 1st. The site isn't "live" yet – it will open soon and the events will begin on Monday.
You can click on the button below to join us or visit Suzanna Boyd's blog (link above) for more information.
Yep, couldn't resist . . . my Grandpuppy, Pillow Pup, is visiting us again and getting bigger.
Have you ever watched the television show, Ace of Cakes on the Food Network? The cakes Chef Duff and his crew build are freakin' amazing. But, wait – you've got to see what these paper cake makers have put together with our pop-up cake die.
Ilina Crouse made this adorable card for her mother. To make that bouquet, she used the Flower Trio punch and Small Leaves Sizzlet.
The outside of Ilina's mother's day card is gorgeous. You can see the front of the card and more pictures of the inside here.
Janet Wakeland made this precious baby boy cake. Oh, but she also made a delicious cake with a cup-cake on the top tier, and a mother's day photo pop-up card, here.
Heather Summers really takes the cake (sorry, pun intended) with these four amazing cakes.
Isn't that Daisy stunning? Heather made it with the Daisy Die. Heather's got some great ideas for keeping these rather thick cards closed and more beautiful pictures of this card, here.
Heather's Mom put together this card in a challenge Heather gave her. Wow, what a talented Mom!
Heather's Mom has an incredible skill mixing stamp sets. She used the stamp sets Under the Stars, Hit the Road, Season of Friendship, and Loads of Love for the presents on top of the truck! Check out the front of the card and more details, here.
Heather made this precious Noah's Ark cake for a little baby boy. Heather used the Wild About You set for the critters. You can find the adorable details and a cake made into a bee hive here.
Still not done, Heather also made this amazing pirate cake and gives you all the details, here.
Here's a few more cakes just for giggles and grins:
- Julie Dinn made a basketball net at Kreative Jewels.
- Patti Lee made a princess castle cake at Creations by Patti.
- Patti also made a Bunny cake, Train cake, and all-white Wedding Cake.
Oh yeah, and you can even make a birthday cake . . .
Heather Summers gives great tips for making this cake and even a video to help you make it, here.
Be sure and visit these folks and tell them Linda said hey -thanks for all their calorie-free inspiration.
As always, you can purchase any of the items to make these delicious cakes, including the "Three Tier Cake Pop-up Bigz Xl Die" (116760) here.
Most of you who hang out with me know that occasionally I get the privilege of swapping with some really talented stampers. I'm embarrassed to tell you how long I've had this card because I should have shared this with you weeks ago. So, maybe its especially appropriate that this card is about time. Apparently, I am not the best time manager.
Anyway, Pam Norris made this beautiful card highlighting the Sense of Time set in the Occasions Mini Catalog. She's also showing off that fun Designer Hardware.
I love any images of clocks and time. That clock in the background of Pam's card is a steeple clock my Dad made for my Mom. Dad made mantle clocks for all of us children, but he was most proud of the Grandfather clock he made. I love to hear it chime the hour. Maybe that's why I like Pam's card so much.
So, since we've been talking about images with clocks and time, tomorrow I'm going to share with you one of my all-time favorite scrapbooking pages. I made it a long time ago, but it's still one of my favs.
You can purchase any of these items 24/7 by clicking here.
- Stamps – Sense of Time (113804)
- Paper – Chocolate Chip (102128), Close to Cocoa (101341), Pink Pirouette cardstock (111351), Vellum (101856)
- Misc. – Eyelet Border Punch (113692), Basic Jumbo Grommets (114348), Pink Pirouette 1-1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon (111363)
- Ink: Chocolate Chip (100908)
