May 2022 - Volume 2, Issue 2
Hello and welcome! Click any bulleted item to jump directly to an article. Here's what you'll find in this issue:
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News and promotions from Stampin' Up!
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2022-2023 Annual Catalog Launch Day
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Get a Great Deal by Joining Stampin' Up!
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Upcoming Holidays and Important Events
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ALS Awareness Month
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Mental Health Awareness Month
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National Bike Month
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National Pet Month
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National Smile Month
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May 1-31 "In Color Starter Kit" promotion (Score big by joining my team!)
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3 - 2022-2023 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog LAUNCH!!!
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5 - Battle of Puebla Day (Mexico); Cinco de Mayo
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5 - National Day of Prayer
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6 - Nurses Day
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7 - National Scrapbook Day
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8 - Mother's Day
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10 - Last day to subscribe for this month's Paper Pumpkin kit
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20 - Rescue Dog Day
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21 - Armed Forces Day (honor someone who's in active service)
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30 - Memorial Day
Monthly Host Code (Find here!)
How it works: Place a Stampin' Up! product order for $50-$149.99 (before tax and shipping) using my Stampin' Up! shopping link, enter the monthly host code, and I'll send you an additional reward! If your product order totals $150 or more, Stampin' Up! will offer you host rewards, and you should not enter my host code. I'll still reward you, though. Simply email me at kbrstamping@gmail.com to request your reward from me!
Note: The host code is for a Stampin' Up! order only. It does not apply to orders through Paper Pumpkin or Karen's Online Store. I can serve USA customers only.
Celebrating Mom
We're just a few days away from Mother's Day 2022, and if you are blessed enough to have your mother with you still, I pray you will celebrate her in some special way. My mother (Julia) is in her late 80's, and I am so blessed to be able to see her about twice a week - and we talk on the phone every night. The lessons I learned from my mom - and still learn sometimes - will carry me through life in as good a fashion as anyone could possibly hope for.
I'm looking forward to Sunday, when I can celebrate Mother's Day with my Mom. We'll share a meal and some laughs, tell some stories, and hopefully make some new memories to last for a lifetime. In fact, we get a double blessing this year, as we also will be celebrating my Dad's birthday. He's in his 90's.
Don't forget: Stampin' Up! is all about sharing joy with others through cards, memory keeping, and so much more. Better hurry! Only a few days left to send a special card to your Mom for her special day!
News and Promotions from Stampin' Up!
2022-2023 Annual Catalog Launch Day: May 3!!
Today's a big day in the Stampin' Up! world, as we are launching the new 2022-2023 annual catalog. That means new product suites, new stamp and die bundles (10% off), new punches, and new designer series papers guaranteed to make you ooh and aah!!
I've already been playing with some of the new products, and I am looking forward to sharing many of my projects with you in the coming weeks and months. There also are a number of products carried over from last year's catalog, as well as this year's January to June mini-catalog, so I feel that I'm a little ahead of the game just now. You can see a few samples in the gallery at the bottom of this newsletter.
Get a Great Deal by Joining Stampin' Up! in the Month of May!
Stampin' Up! is offering a very special promotion during the month of May for those who join the company as independent demonstrators. We welcome both business demonstrators (those striving to earn income), as well as hobby demonstrators (who simply join for the great 20%+ discounts on personal purchases). I'm not kidding! Stampin' Up! knows that many of our current demonstrators are their own best customers. And everyone is perfectly fine with that!
So, if you want a great deal this month, you can pay $99 (plus your normal sales tax where you live) when you join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator. Each new demonstrator chooses whatever they want from current catalogs, or even business supplies, up to a retail price of $125. That's a great bargain, even without a promotion. During May, however, Stampin' Up! is jump-starting demonstrator kits with a FREE In Color Starter Kit, valued at more than $65. Here's what's in it:
I thought last year's (2021-2023) In Color collection just couldn't be beat, but 2022-2024? WOW! These colors are eye-popping. The colors are (left to right):
Sweet Sorbet, Parakeet Party, Tahitian Tide, Orchid Oasis, and Starry Sky. People everywhere are raving about them - and so am I! I'm waiting (im)patiently for my new ink pads to arrive, along with some of the new products that just launched today.
What's Happening in My Studio!
I mentioned in my last newsletter that my Etsy store was taking off! That has continued to be the case this spring. In fact, I have sold out of so many items that I'm busily trying to re-stock now.
I hope you'll check it out. In the next couple of weeks, I'll be posting:
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a punch deck with templates for many of our Stampin' Up! punches, including blanks and refills to add your own retired punches or even die-cuts
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digital download files featuring custom insert tabs to organize Stampin' Up! cardstock and designer series papers into hanging file folders
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a cardstock swatch ring with all current Stampin' Up! cardstock, including the new 2022-2024 In Color collection
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tons of handmade cards
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and even a few retired stamp sets and dies.
To see the new products, please visit www.etsy.com/shop/KarensBlueRidgeStamp. I hope you'll find something useful!
Fussy Cut
Use a pair of Snips or fine-point scissors to cut manually around a stamped image. This is often done when there is no die-cut available for your image, or you simply want to eliminate some part of an image. The hummingbird at right was fussy-cut before being mounted on its card.
Dancing Baseline
Every line of text has a baseline. It is a real or imaginary line upon which the text is grounded. The bottom of each letter generally sits on a baseline, except when letters have descenders that fall below the main body of the letter (x-height); i.e. g, j, p, q, and y.
Dancing baselines are often seen in modern calligraphy, where letters are drawn for artistic interest. (See the "Sorry for your loss" sentiment at right.) Not only are dancing baselines visually interesting, but they are a wonderful friend to people who have trouble getting a stamp straight on a card or other project. The dancing baseline makes perfect stamping rather irrelevant! If you have this issue, consider buying stamps with this feature, and no one will ever be the wiser that you are "straight-challenged."
Host Your Own Virtual Stampin' Party! Earn Great Rewards!
As I write this newsletter, some parts of the country are emerging from COVID, even as other areas are seeing a resurgence in the number of cases. As a person with several high-risk factors, I am remaining cautious about my activities. For that reason, I will continue to offer virtual parties to anyone who wants to have them. I have a dedicated Zoom account where I can host dozens of your friends and loved ones. You provide the guests - I provide the technology! Zoom is easy to use and costs you nothing.
While in-person events are always desirable for the personal touch, a virtual Zoom party allows everyone with a webcam or a smart phone to interact with everyone else. Everyone with an active camera can see all other guests and talk with them whenever they like. There's also a chat box so that people can say a private or a public hello by typing it on the screen.
A virtual party offers the same hosting benefits as an in-person party. You get host rewards for a qualifying party of $150 or more. You'll be able to join with your friends and family to have a good time. And I'll be there to guide you along the way, regardless of your past experience.
There are a number of ways to host your party. People can buy Stampin' Up! kits from the Kits Collection, or I can provide pre-paid kits from my studio. It's really all about what you want.
I'd love to earn your business! Contact me today to select an available date and time. Email kbrstamping@gmail.com or call 704-325-3096. I can't wait to hear from you! Let's create together!
From My Craft Table this Spring
From Nature's Harvest bundle (156813), page 68 of new 2022-2023 Annual Catalog. In a rare move, the stamps and dies carried over from last year's annual catalog and KEPT their bundled 10% discount!
A second card from Flowing Flowers (157880). I love it so much I just couldn't help myself! Look at that elegant font!
This card features the same type of mask as the Shaded Summer one. I used three shades of ink and blended them onto the card, and then stamped them with the On the Horizon cling stamps (157770) on page 43 of the January-June mini-catalog and black ink. So simple and so fast! This one qualifies for #SimpleStamping.
This Blessings of Home Bundle (157939) promises to be a real favorite of mine for the foreseeable future. This large floral stamp, which is complemented by a smaller one in the set, lends itself well to almost any stamping and coloring techniques. I have used ink blending, alcohol markers, watercolor pencils, etc. to color this image, and every one comes out great! You can truly choose your medium! I used only gray, yellow, and green alcohol markers for this one. I was finished in a snap! Love it! You can find the bundle (discount of 10%) on page 75 of the new 2022-2023 Annual Catalog.
Final Tip
If you have a die-cutting machine, you'll want to pay careful attention to all of the products in the new Annual Catalog. You'll find a number of die sets in the back that stand alone; i.e. they have no matching stamps. You'll also find many "bonus" dies in the stamp and die bundles; i.e. there are dies that complement the stamps without matching them directly. Be sure to study the dies carefully to see how many extras there are. You'll be astounded at the extra designs you can make!
The Flowing Flowers cling stamp set (157880) is featured in the January-June 2022 mini catalog on page 36. This is a DistInkTive set that provides artist-quality dimension to the stamps in a single pass. I find this set elegant and time-saving. No word yet on whether it may retire from the line on June 30; you'll know when I know.
A mask, three shades of blue with blending brushes (153611), a quick stamp and die-cut, and this card is ready to go! Shaded Summer cling stamps (155783) first appeared in last year's annual catalog and their matching dies (Summer Shadows 156618) were a part of last fall's Sale-a-Bration event. Now, they've both carried over to the new 2022-2023 annual catalog on pages 102 and 175, respectively. Another elegant, time-saving set!
Introducing the new He's All That Bundle (159079) and He's the Man Suite Collection (159083), on pages 78-79 of the 2022-2023 Annual Catalog. Technically, there are only two items from the suite here: the stamp of the classic car and its greeting, as well as the Rustic Metallic Adhesive-Backed Dots (159082) in the four corners. This decidedly masculine set has some really interesting specialty designer series papers, featuring a sheet or two of stickers. If you're looking for something masculine, as well as something to save time, you should check this out.
Want versatility? This is your set! The Sending Smiles Bundle (158707) is found on page 14 of the new 2022-2023 Annual Catalog. The designers really gave thoughtful consideration to stampers by separating flower parts to allow easy stamping of multiple colors. There are 8 different greetings, as well, for a host of occasions. This set makes my heart so happy! I think it's destined to be a classic - in my studio, at least!
You have received this newsletter because you opted-in to the website for Karen's Blue Ridge Stamping. Karen is an independent demonstrator for Stampin' Up! If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here. I would be sorry to see you go, but everyone has their priorities. Thanks for reading! Hope to see you next month!