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Have you ever considered becoming a Stampin' Up demonstrator? If so, now is the time to join. Starting today, the regular starter kit is $99. There is also a $50 reduced price starter kit, available for a limited time only. Anyone who signs up today through June 30th can take advantage of these great prices. 

Now is a great time to join. As a demonstrator, you can preorder the Blendabilities markers, which won't be available to customers until the middle of summer. This is but one small perk. Truth be told, it is what inspired me to sign up. I figured that I already spent enough to meet the minimum sales requirements, so why not take advantage of discounts and being able to preorder products? It is also a great way to make new friends who share your passion. That wasn't the reason I joined, but surprisingly, it has been the biggest benefit so far, and there is no putting a price tag on the value of friendship. 

If you've ever thought about becoming a demonstrator, or found yourself thinking that you order enough product that maybe you should just become a demonstrator, now is a great time to sign up. Contact me if you are even the slightest bit interested. I'm more than happy to give an honest opinion. I wish I had signed up long before I finally did. I didn't realize just how much fun it was, or that my orders alone could keep me afloat. I had totally forgotten about this little thing called Convention, which is going to be AWESOME! 

The $50 Starter Kit includes:

$55 worth of products
A 30 percent discount on your first order*
A 20 percent discount on all your orders
Free Paper Pumpkin Kit
Free entrance to our annual Convention* (must register by June 20th)

The $99 Starter Kit includes all of the above plus $49 worth of product of your choice.

*Order must be a minimum of $150 and placed within your first 45 days as a demonstrator.  Free Convention Offer is for the registration cost of Convention $295 - does not include transportation, hotel and food costs.

If you have any questions, email me or call me at 253-215-0199.  Or if you are the do it yourself type, like myself, you can click here to Join Today!

Not a Flower!

(Stamps: Vivid Vases, Express Yourself, Gorgeous Grunge. Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, StaZon Jet Black, SU Crumb Cake. Paper: Crumb Cake, Rich Razzleberry, & Whisper White Card Stock, Coastal Cabana DSP. Accessories: Deco Labels Framelits, Banners Framelits, Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, & Rich Razzleberry Blendabilities, SNAIL Adhesive, Glue Dots, Dimensionals)

 

This is my first attempt at coloring anything other than a flower with large open spaces. Not a ton of colors to work with...yet. I'm looking forward to the full release of these. I will probably be supplementing with some Copics for what I don't have. I am terrible at watercoloring, so the Blendabilities are a good fit for me.

 

This was a simple card to color and piece together. I started by coloring the image on Whisper White card stock, then ran it through the Big Shot with the Deco Labels die. I stamped the sentiment on a 1/2" thick strip of Rich Razzleberry that had been run through the Big Shot with the Banners die on both ends. I used my new favorite accessory, the Stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect alignment. So much less waste(and frustration). After running the Coastal Cabana DSP through the Big Shot with the largest Banners die I stamped Gorgeous Grunge at random on Crumb Cake with in of the same color.

 

It's quite a quick and easy card, but it is by no means plain and boring. Time from concept to taking a photo of it was less than half an hour. Not too bad considering that most of that time was spent choosing my papers and sentiment. Still keeping it clean and simple, just the way I like it. 

Blendabilities Basics

(Stamp: blended bloom. Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black. Blendabilites: Cherry Cobbler & Daffodil Delight. Paper: Whisper White)

(Stamps: Secret Garden. Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black. Blendabilites: Cherry Cobbler & Rich Razzlebery. Paper: X-Press Blending Card)

I apologize for the image quality. It's about as good as I can get with 2 screaming kids and a cat that has been hell bent on sending my Big Shot from my desk to the floor. I haven't spent much time working with alcohol based markers, but was quite excited when I was able to preorder the Blendabilites(being a demo has it's perks!). I think the belief has been that the Blendabilities would function exactly as Copics. This is not accurate, though they are similar. On that note, a common misconception in the stamping world is that Copics are more or less an "Artist in a Box." They are not.

They are easy to use once you get the basics down, but even then a basic knowledge of shading and highlighting is definitely needed. The look of an image colored with alcohol based markers of any brand is indeed very unique and hard to replicate with any other medium. I personally believe that they are worth taking the time to get acquainted with. I have always loved the look of art that has been at least somewhat skillfully colored with them. I am still learning, but there are some basics that I've picked up.

1. Start with your darkest marker and end with the lightest.

2. Work fast. Time is NOT your friend. Flowers are the best place to start as they allow you to take things one petal at a time. 

3. Use ONLY Momento Tuxedo Black ink. If you are trying to use StaZon, you will blend it in, since it too is alcohol based.

4. PAPER MATTERS! I can't stress this enough. I will not assume that just because a person forks over what some might consider to be a small fortune on markers that they buy the best paper. Why? Because that HP printer card stock, well it doesn't function the same as Whisper White, at all, not even for basic stamping. I know this because I have tried to cut costs in all of the wrong places before. Totally guilty of it. Two paper choices that I recommend are Whisper White and X-Press Blending Card(not a Stampin Up item). I prefer the X-Press Blending Card myself. Blending seems to go a lot more smoothly on it. I have also found that the end result is a better match to the papers and accessories. 

5. Use the fine tip, not the brush. The brush doesn't apply the pressure needed to move color from point A to point B. 

6. When you are done shading with your lightest shade, start to pull from the light area through the medium and dark areas. This will help blend. I see a lot of people using the "blender pen" for this. Some situations it may be the best option, but unless you are trying to remove ink because you put down too much, it isn't the best tool for this. Just start at the top of your light area with your lightest color and flick down, maybe throw in a few blending circles down in your darker area, and see what happens.

7. Don't expect to get it on the first try. There is a reason they've allowed us to preorder these. It's so we have time to get familiar with them and find a method that works best for us. Don't compare yourselves to others. Some people have an eye for shadowing and highlighting, most of us don't. You'll get there, and when you do, you will have something that even makes you say "wow" every time you look at it.

8. Don't be afraid to ask. Most of us would be more than happy, especially when we know there isn't an over abundance of information available, to answer any questions. If you're on Stampin' Connection, Splitcoast, or someone's blog, don't hesitate to send them a private message and ask for tips. After all, we are demonstrators. We have a passion for what we do, and we love sharing our knowledge with others. Most of us at this point wouldn't see a question as an inconvenience, but more of a compliment, since we are all winging it.

9. Each color behaves differently. Coastal Cabana, Cherry Cobbler, and Rich Razzleberry are the colors I would recommend starting with. Just as we have developed our own way of working with every other product we sell, or have sold in the past, we will one day work with these without much thought. It will become natural the more you do it.

10. Share your work and ask for tips. No one is judging. Most of us are far too busy criticizing our own work to take the time to look at others work and scoff. Again, helping and sharing what we do know is what we love to do.

I apologize for the layout of this post. My computer, which I despise anyway, has been taken over by my hubby. I'm posting from an app on my iPad. If it only had the controls that are available on the PC I'd be in love. I will be posting a photo heavy tutorial on my blog tomorrow along with a downloadable PDF step by step for use at classes. All I ask is that you don't charge for any classes that you happen to hand the tutorial out at. Also, please don't charge for online tutorials that are a copy of my work. I don't believe in charging to teach people how to use products that they buy from me. A minimum order requirement is fine. Due to high demand, I will get over the fact that I HATE my voice and have dry, cracked hands and make a video tomorrow.