I am super excited to be attending OnStage Local in Fort Worth, Texas this weekend! My mother-in-law, daughter, and I are loading up the car early Friday morning and the picking up a teammate in north Austin and driving northward! I have rehearsals for my OnStage presentation that afternoon, so we will stop for lunch and then after rehearsals we will go to the house we are renting for the team-- so fun! It's like a huge crafting slumber party!

So, I didn't think I had participated in many swaps, but when it's all said and done, I should come home with about 60 swaps-- which is awesome! I signed up for two sets of ATCs (Artisan Trading Cards) which are like mini works of art (baseball card size). For these I went more mixed media, as that seems to be the trend-- so Brusho all the way!

Then I did a fun fold swap and had to feature one of my favorite fun folds- the Flap Fold but this time with the Petal Palette suite. I just love that little birdie! For directions and measurements on this fold, check out my previous post here. 

Then I did one regular full card swap and for that I went with the theme of CentreStage (our leadership dinner), which is 1988, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Stampin' Up! 

And my final swaps were for a shoebox swap at the house (think simple) but they showcase how to use the Stamparatus to do the "hinge step" which makes an ombre look down the side of the card. Fun right?

Now, if you want to follow along with all the fun, make sure you are following my Facebook page here!! I will be posting there all weekend!

And if you want to get a sneak peek at the annual catalog (out for customers on June 1) then you need to become a demonstrator and join my team! Not only can you see the catalog on Monday, April 9th, but you would get projects from the suite I am showcasing on Saturday for the April team meeting packet and you can order from the new catalog on May 1st!

Hope you do something crafty this weekend- I know I will be!
Happy crafting,
​Melissa

​Thanks for joining six of the presenters from OnStage Local in Ft. Worth on this blog hop! We are going to do several more over the next few months, so stay tuned...

For this first hop we are featuring the highlights of our presentations from OnStage. I was thrilled to be asked to present a suite from the upcoming Annual Catalog for Stampin’ Up! and my business building ideas for this suite. But I will be the first to admit that this suite would not have been my first purchase. The laser cut paper looked too delicate to me and soft, feminine looks aren’t really my style, but the more I played with it, the more I loved it!

​First, the products— they include the Delightfully Detailed Stamp Set, Delightfully Detailed Laser Cut Specialty Designer Series Paper (which has two designs and has a Whisper White and Very Vanilla side), the NEW trio punch, and the watercolor notecards! There are also faceted dots in Mint Macaron, Blackberry Bliss, Grapefruit Grove, and Black, plus two rolls of Polka Dot ribbons in Very Vanilla and Whisper White!

The suite also features a Memories and More card pack for just $10 and I will do a full class for it next month on our next blog hop! It has two sets of stickers and three different kinds of laser cut pieces which make fun Moroccan windows!

I made this cute banner from the Memories and More card set that hopefully I will give to the hostess of my first class idea...

Which was the "Power of Gratitude" where we take stamping to the workplace as a professional development activity! I am actually doing this class this weekend at the East Austin YMCA. I will talk a little about the research behind gratitude and then everyone will do a gratitude activity and make two simple thank you cards, like these below. 

My second class idea was to host a product based class where my very awesome, advanced stampers make a box and four cards using the laser cut DSP and faceted gems. The cards will be made using four different techniques using the laser cut DSP-- embossing paste, sponge brayer, spritzer, and sponge dauber. 

I hope you loved my presentation at OnStage or the recap here! Please stay tuned for many more samples from my display board and ones I didn't have room for, plus a whole other class idea with the Memories and More card set in a few weeks when our group hops again. For now, I will leave you with the little tealight luminaria that I made from the paper (once it had dried from having shimmery embossing paste on it as a mask).  I just used some tear and tape adhesive around the base and up one side at the back, plus a little ribbon on the bottom to cover the tea light base. 

Don't forget to keep hopping along to the other presenters-- everyone has beautiful projects and products to show off!
​
1. Melissa Thomas (you are here!)
2. Alejandra Gomez
3. Susan Legits
4. Sherry Lovelady
5. Elizabeth Mayfield-Hart
6. Jessica Strange

Happy crafting,
Melissa

Thank you for hopping over to my blog from Candy's! Weren't her projects cute? I will admit... this month's kit just wasn't my style. But I have plenty of customers who love the vintage look, so I know it was well loved by many... 

What it required me to do was break outside the box quite a bit. For my card I actually used one of the lovely free Tutti Frutti Sale-a-bration notecards! You get 20 cards and envelopes free with a $50 order, but only through Saturday and then my favorite time of the Stampin' Up! year is over... Sadness. (I love free stuff!)

I will say this, I fell in love with the little brads! We used to carry them in the annual catalog and when they retired I might have hoarded a few boxes of them (ssssshhhhhh....) Plus, that Fresh Fig ribbon is LUSCIOUS!! 

Now, my customers get a free add-on project from me and I knew I wanted to share my Perfectly Posh Hand Creme with them this month, just so they know I love them! I made this perfectly sized bag by die-cutting just the one small flap of the Mini Treat Bag dies twice and the adhering them together with our Tear n Tape. I stamped the sentiment on the wood piece with the included Early Espresso ink. Cute right??

Make sure you keep hopping right along! I am #10, so next up is Pam Staples! I can't wait to see what she has whipped up!

And don't forget that this month and next, if you don't already subscribe, you can get half off your kit by using the phrase SAVEFIFTY0418. (Plus, if you pick me as your demonstrator, I send you a monthly add-on project. Who doesn't love happy mail?)

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

I made my own DSP again, but this time I used the stickers in the kit (yes, almost all of them!) I laid down my piece of white cardstock on a silicone mat and started with the long pink flowers and kept going... Then I turned it over and trimmed off the edges!

I have been wanting to make one of these large gusseted bag inserts for quite some time! I used the 4 inch by 12 inch gusseted bags and cut my Crushed Curry cardstock to 4 inches by 11 inches. Then I scored at 1.5 inches, 4 inches, and 10 inches on the long side. It is cinched with one of those cute gold library clips!

I then cut out a stitched shape circle from the inside of an envelope (you can't even see the crease behind the Crushed Curry one inch banner made with the Banner Punch) and backed it with a piece of Melon Mambo cardstock for stability and to draw out the pretty pink flowers in the DSP. 

I am still slightly obsessed with the Monty's chocolates that I talked about a few weeks ago on another project and they are so bright and spring looking I thought they would go great with this project... And they do!

One last look before you hop along to Kelly's terrific projects! ​(And don't forget, if you don't already subscribe to Paper Pumpkin, start by March 10th to get the special box and a special 5th Anniversary Gift! Can't wait to see what it is... See you next month!)

Welcome to another month of our Stampin’ Friends blog hop! We have fourteen awesome women hopping this weekend! I was excited to tackle our theme of “Birthday Bash” since everyone needs birthday cards and the spring Stampin’ Up! Catalog has so much cute birthday stuff!

First up is my 3D project! I knew I wanted to learn how to make these square bottom, rounded top bags... so I tore apart one I had and ta-da! (I recently found out that Billie Moan has retired as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator so I had to make a "Billie bow" for the bag on the left!)

You take a 6x6 inch piece of paper and then score 1 3/8 inch from the bottom. Then score and cut the four bottom flaps at 1 3/8 inch intervals-- they will form a square base. The two full-side scores are at 2 3/4 and 5 1/2 inches. Cut the bottom flaps and angle in the right-side small flap.

What really inspired me to make these little bags is a set of chocolate truffles that I found on Boxed for a great deal! The colors of the wrappers were a terrific match to our Picture Perfect Party Designer Series Paper (DSP). Two chocolates fit in each little bag!

You can get $15 off your first order at Boxed here! The truffles are called Monty's truffles and I tasted tested a few yesterday, just to be sure they were good... They are awesome!

Now on to my card... When I saw the spring catalog I knew I needed the Birthday Wit stamp set and when I saw this card that my upline Candy cased from Connie Stewart, I knew I would be casing to too! Except... I had to use Birthday Wit. 

This past fall I committed to teaching a fancy fold card at every class and I did it! This one will be perfect for my class the week after next... 

I find this stamp set hysterical and it brings up a funny scene from the movie Bad Moms. If you haven't seen it... you should! But this stamp is the perfect stamp for using our Stampin Write Markers to color each line with a different color, then breathe on it, and stamp-- perfection!

So, that's the birthday bash over here at Sea to Sea Stampin! Now go ahead and comment below, pin our projects, and hop along to #7- Sandra from Australia! I love all of our new artists who joined this past month!!! Don't you? 

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

When I joined Stampin' Up! four years ago I just wanted to "cover my craft habit." I had no visions for building a successful business or a robust team but guess what? I have!

Last week I held my monthly team meeting on Zoom (a fun free web conferencing tool that allows each team member to be seen and heard) and had several guests come to check it out. If you ever want to come as a guest, please just email me and we will get you in. Here we are talking,  laughing, and sharing this month... 

I was also excited to recognize three of my team members for their accomplishments! See below their terrific prizes! 

Qualified Recruit ($900 in sales)- Sea to Sea personalized bone folder
Andrea Wilson

Bronze Elite- customized stamp for the back of cards
Kim Cavallin
​Patsy Palmer

And although this picture is from several months back, I never formally shared it here on my blog. I am so proud of Patsy Palmer and all that she has accomplished with this business. Yes, she is my mother-in-law and yes, she joined to "help me" but I would say that she has taken this to the next level! She recently promoted to Silver and I am beyond excited! Here she is glowing silver from receiving her Silver promotion gift from me at an Austin meeting-- $25 worth of silvery awesomeness! 

So, my question is... why haven't you joined my team yet? The benefits are so great and right now, during Sale-a-bration, on top of the deal you normally get ($125 of product of your choice for $99 with FREE shipping) you can select ANY TWO STAMP SETS FOR FREE!

Reasons to purchase the starter kit:
1) You get your hands on new catalog items more than a month before everyone else (annual catalog in April!)
2) You pay $99 but get $125 of WHATEVER you want
3) You pay ZERO shipping on the kit
4) You get a discount (at least 20% off)
5) You don't have to host classes or parties, or blog, or anything
6) There is ZERO commitment.
7) But if you meet your quarterly minimum (only $300 in sales/purchases by June 30th) then you can keep enjoying your discount!

So what two stamp sets would you pick?

And what are you waiting for? Join now!

Happy crafting,
Melissa

I am so excited to be participating in Kylie's international blog highlight contest. If you came here via her page, make sure to vote for my project, and if you came here because you are one of my loyal followers, please make sure to vote for my project on her site here!

(If I am in the top 10 then I am featured in a special international blog hop later! Fun stuff!)

For this month's projects Kylie wanted to feature all the new beautiful spring products in the Occasions catalog and the free items you can earn in the Sale-a-bration Catalog! I have managed to feature four new products-- two from each catalog!

As many of you know, I have been playing with the new watercolor crystals, Brusho, for weeks now, and I just can't get enough! You can see my latest Facebook Live video here or my previous blog post here!

For this card, I used the Decorative Masks meant for embossing paste, laid them down on our watercolor paper, sprinkled the Brilliant Red, Gamboge, and Yellow Brushos, then spritzed with water.  I left the mask on the sheet of watercolor paper to dry overnight and the next morning when I lifted it, the image was still there!

Then I die cut "Celebrate" in black and silver foil paper (free Sale-a-bration item with a $100 order, Celebrate You thinlit dies) and layered those on the top, along with the Tutti-Frutti Adhesive-backed Sequins. All of this was attached to another free Sale-a-bration item, the Tutti-Frutti cards and envelopes, 16 of them, which are free with a $50 order!

Here is another closer angle of the card...

I hope you have loved my card! Don't forget to vote for it on Kylie's page! 

And I will be doing a Brusho class to go (similar to my Watercolor Pencils class last spring) where I post videos for you to follow along with. At this point I have discovered 14 different techniques and ways to use Brusho so if you are interested in the class- let me know below in the comments! 

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

This year Stampin' Up! asked us to apply to be display stampers for our upcoming Onstage Live in Salt Lake City (convention) and in order to do so we had to create a blog post about our creations! We were asked to create three cards, two 3D projects, and a scrapbook page. I decided to look back over the past couple of months and pick a few of my favorites-- including some I haven't blogged about!

First up, my three cards! The first is a stamp set that I knew I had to get the minute I saw it-- Quirky Critters-- it as a narwhale and snail too! Seriously cute! The DSP behind the sloth is from the Coffee suite! 

Then another stamp set I knew I would be getting-- I am a sucker for quick stamps that fill a card front and Floral Statements does just that! So pretty on Emerald Envy with the watercolor pencils!

Then my most creative moment-- I wanted to create one of those cool ornaments with a bulb inside a mason jar-- and the Watts of Occasions stamp set made it possible... Just love it with the gold embossing, a touch of watercolor, and the embossing paste!!

Now my 3D items! These are tougher for me because I really need an occasion to get inspired but here we go... two recent creations! One inspired by Paper Pumpkin and the new Pick a Pattern DSP and the other inspired by our new Fresh Florals DSP and the new in-colors! 

And finally, a scrapbook page. I don't do traditional scrapbooking but I do love pocket style memory keeping and am so happy that Stampin' Up! has kept that feature in their Memories & More card packs-- I have one and can't wait for a break in the summer to work on it-- so for now-- a layout I created at a recent craft retreat from this past Hello December will have to do! I just love how this one came out! Sometimes people are afraid to chop up their pictures and their cards but I say do it-- it can look terrific! 

Here is wishing me luck as I hope to be selected as a display stamper! I will be attending Onstage Live for the first time in it's new format and with my mother-in-law who is on my team-- with hopefully lots of other teammates! 

Happy crafting,
Melissa

Last weekend our upline, Candy Rattray (Top 100 Global Demonstrator),  hosted her quarterly demonstrator training and asked me to be a Table Captain for the event. This entailed tackling a suite from the new catalog and I decided to tackle the Pick a Pattern suite from pages 40-41. You might recall a few other projects that I have posted about recently, like my fancy fold Crafting Forever card below and my Paper Pumpkin Add-on Project Post-it note holder.

Below is my swap card for the event...

These were the cards that I put on my display board. 

We changed up how we did the event (BTW you can come when we do the next one-- we do allow customers to come!) and I hosted a table where five people visited the table and made two projects with me! It was so fun to meet and chat with everyone... 

I love this stamp set and matching paper-- I believe it has something for everyone (dinos, flowers, cameras, mushrooms, woodland animals/camping, and art supplies)! Let me know if you have questions or need dimensions for anything!

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

Welcome to the Stampin' Friends Blog Hop! This month’s theme is Birthday Surprise! If you’re following along the hop, you’ve arrived from Kirsteen’s blog. And we have one guest hopper this month: Jennifer Knape Cerizo! I can't wait to see what she has created!

Each April/May you will see Stampin' Up! demonstrators all over the world get excited about new product coming out in our June annual catalog and sad about things "retiring" from the old catalog. For me, it's always bittersweet, as I love new play things but I hate to let go of some... I also have an intense need to put the old things to use before I bring new ones in-- therefore this month's post is dedicated to the "One Sheet Wonder." 

One Sheet Wonders are opportunities to take our coveted and beautiful Designer Series Paper (DSP) and cut it up! GASP! I know. It looks really pretty in the package displayed on the walls of my craft room-- but guess what, equally nice paper is on the horizon. I have finally gotten a handle on DSP and understand better how much to order and how to use it so that I don't feel guilty about it sitting around. I am proud to say that I have NO unopened packages of DSP and a few are almost gone! 

So, the goal is to take one piece of paper and make a bunch of cards with it. This past weekend, on Easter actually, a very dear family friend was having her birthday. I was in charge of the bunny cake and other desserts... I also felt that I could make Nellie a really sweet gift of cards (she comes to my classes and my mother-in-law's classes)! Plus, I wanted to take on the challenge of designing a One Sheet Wonder. At the bottom of this post I have a link for you to view how to cut the sheets of paper and the sizes of the pieces! 

​But, without further ado... all 7 cards!

And the case is below! (I even stamped the envelopes with the butterflies from the Perpetual Birthday Calendar set because they matched the cute butterflies in the Falling in Love DSP).  And this stamp set is an oldie but goodie. Every year when stamp sets retire, I take a look at them and decide which ones I truly and personally love and will use again and again. Banner Blessings is a keeper. 

So, ready to see the cards up close? This OSW made two of the Friend cards on the Sweet Sugarplum base so I didn't feel the need to show you those twice. I used papers and inks that coordinated with the paper (Crumb Cake, Sweet Sugarplum, Soft Sky, and Blushing Bride)!

And finally, I also wanted to give her a card but needed a quick one (as icing that Easter Bunny cake took a lot of my night)! This one used the same stack of DSP with a splash of gold heat embossing... (And she loved it all, BTW)!

If you would like to get the dimensions for cutting up your DSP you can find directions and a diagram here! 

Hopefully, you found this post useful as we think about our paper hoarding issues! If you haven't already, consider following me on Facebook or Pinterest! And make sure to COMMENT below-- you could win a special prize from me! I will take a prized piece of DSP and cut it up-- just for you! 

And now, on with the blog hop! You hopefully came here from Kirsteen Gill and are headed to Twila Davis's blog! 

Happy crafting,
Melissa