Epic Project Catchup!

Happy Saturday!


Ahhhhhh Saturday ... and the first week of December gone.  You know what THAT means??  I get to start to relax a little!  Yes, while other moms around the world are getting busier than ever this is my "down time".  I have crossed the finish line!  Yes, I have a few small Christmas gifts tucked away for the family but no, I haven't given any SERIOUS thought to "the big gifts", or Christmas dinner, or baking, wrapping, parties ... and of the CHRISTMAS stuff.  My focus has been making it to Saturday, Dec 6th and I'm here and still upright!  Last night was my second last class of the year.  I have the same class again Monday morning but all I need to to do for that is tidy up from last night and make sure I have enough supplies cut for my Monday stampers.  The designing and prep for this year is DONE!  I have LOVED the last few months of crafting with some of the most amazing women I know but it is now time to breathe and get on with my favourite time of year.  Oh, you better believe I'll still be sending a few hours a day planning projects and classes for the new catalogue in the new year but I won't have the same time pressures as I do the rest of the year.  I have 3 weeks to do a LITTLE work and a LOT of fun and family.

So! I wanted to share a SWACK of project from Oct, Nov and Dec that I simply didn't have time to blog about!  If you follow me on Facebook (and you SHOULD!  Find me at "Tamara's Paper Trail") you will have seen all of these at some point.  Yes, I had PLANNED to give detailed instruction on all of them alas, blogging takes a LOT of time and THAT I just didn't have this fall.  If there are any projects you can't figure out and want help with recreating please don't hesitate to snd me a message and I'll help you out!  Oh!  On that note ... I don't know WHAT has happened on my blogger page but I can't ever reply to anyone who comments!  My reply goes into some sort of black hole, never to be sen again!  So know that I SEE your comments, I just can't REPLY to them.  ONE DAY I'll figure out what changed ... but not today *lol*.

So here we go ... my swack of projects for your viewing enjoyment ...

 LOVE this bow!!!

 CASEd from Mary Fish ...

LOVE THIS ONE!

 Yes, we can colour those sacks!

 LOVE!

LOVE LOVE LOVE!

 My favourite card this year ...

 CASEd from another demo ... can't remember her name!  Sorry!

My 3" x 3" swap card for Convention ...

... pop 5 in a pizza box for a quick and easy gift!

 CASE'd from The Pampered Stamper ...

 CASE'd from Brian King ...

 Zipper Gift Card Holder (SO fun!)

Quick, easy notecard!

Winter Birthday Card!

 ... used home made shimmer spray ...

 Notecard size ...

 Mailable Desk Calendar (I did a video on this one ...)

Made this one last night - I DO plan to do a blog post on it this week ...

 So there you have it!  LOADS of inspiration in one post!

I'm sure you know by now the Year End Closeout Event is going on.  Holiday Catalogue items that are retiring are only while supplies last so don't wait to order them!  Many are discounted, too.  Check out my website here and Canadians can have items shipped directly to their door.  Be aware that delivery before Christmas is no longer guaranteed!  I find MY packages arrive within 7 business days but at this time of year it's a gamble for sure.  Get those orders in!  Anyone who uses the hostess code FKUEU7EF at the checkout will get at thank you in the mail from me.

Whatever you are up to today I truly hope you have a lovely, stampy day.  Me?  I'm take Daughter #1 skating with a friend ... and ya, I *may* be taking my Occasions Catalogue, pen, paper and calculator with me to plan a few classes while I wait ... 'cause I LOVE what I do and I do it whenever and wherever I can!

Happy Saturday Friends! xo



Tam

2018 Year End Clearance Sale starts tomorrow ...

Happy Tuesday!

Have you heard???


TOMORROW!  December 5th .... the Year End Clearance Sale starts!!!  Shop EARLY as the best items always sell out FAST!

Oh!  Another thing! The long-awaited Stamparatus carrying case will also be available for purchase!  Only $39 CAD (plus s/h/gst).  PErhaps your husband/mother/sister/kids need to buy one for you for Christmas?!

*** As an added bonus, local (Edmonton, Alberta) customers who order the carrying case will receive a laminated Stamparatus-sized grid paper from me as a thank you!  Use it over and over and just wipe it clean between uses :)

Canadians can shop my online store here as early as 12:01 am Dec 5th and have items delivered directly to your door!

Use hostess code FKUEU76F at the check out to receive a thank you in the mail from me :)

Have a stampy day!


Tam

QUICK QUICK QUICK and cute tea or gift card holders

Happy Monday!

No time to chat - a million things to do ... but I wanted to share these RIDICULOUSLY quick and cute standard size cards that hold a little treat inside - tea sachet or gift card ... and you can mail them!

Aren't they CUTE???  They come together SO quickly ... and a GREAT way to use up some of that gorgeous designer series paper you've been hoarding!

Check out my video ...

Any questions, let me know!

Have a stampy night!


Tam

Stunning Snowflake Showcase

Happy Thursday!

I'm still in "full go mode" around here so just a quick one to share from last month!

You can still purchase items from the Snowflake Showcase - but only until November 30th!  The gorgeous velvet paper is sold out but these MUST HAVE DIES are still available!

This cards is so quick, easy! 

I used Shaded Spruce for the top layer.  The snowflake is popped up on dimensionals.  The small snowflakes are retired sequins we had many years ago (and which I STILL have 3 or 4 packs of.  I loved them SO much and hoarded them for my Stamp-a-Stack classes for years to come!)

The sentiment is heat embossed.  The sentiment is from out hostess set "Warm Hearted".  It's in the Holiday Catalogue so that one is only available until the end of December.

Quick, easy, cute and a pop of WOW colour.  My kind of card!

That's it for today.  I'm off to cut more templates for my Advent Calendar class on Friday.  Have a stampy day!  (and Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends!)


Tam

Mailable Desk Calendars

Happy Sunday!

Wow!  Two posts in two days!  I'm either really on top of things or I'm procrastinating on something!  (no prizes for correctly guessing which one!)

I just HAD to share my video on how to make these awesome little desk calendars!  Check them out!

I LOVE it!  ... and it was SO quick and easy to make!  I cracked off 16 in about an hour (the bow is what took the most time, once I figured out exactly what size to cut the layers of white!)

The video tells all ...

Did you catch those dimensions?  *lol*

4" x 2" PLUS 2 ticks
3" LESS 2 ticks x 2" LESS 2 ticks

The calendars are from Taylored Expressions and can be found here

That's it for now!  I'm early to start on today's "Yay!" List, designing the Advent Calendars for class this week.  I have 17 people who will be a little upset if they show up and have nothing to make!

Have yourself a super stampy Sunday!


xox
Tam

Zipper Card and Convention Hilights ...

Happy Saturday!

Well!  It has only been two weeks since I posted but it feels like I've lived 6 months worth of fun and excitement in that time!

If you follow me on Facebook ("Tamara's Paper Trail") you will have seen alllll my Facebook Live videos from last weeks Convention in Orlando.  I really don't have the word to describe the depth of emotions I felt that week.  There were SO many and they were SO intense.  Truly.  In fact, I had been on SUCH a wave of adrenalin, nerves, smiles and lack of sleep that I ended up hugging the toilet in the week hours of the morning Friday morning.  It was all just too much for too long for my system!  I'm happy to say, though, that I was up and at 'em Friday morning for more fun, prizes and laughs (although I DID take a brief nap on the Convention Centre floor mid afternoon! *lol*)

If you would like to see all the swaps I got from other stampers how over to my Facebook Page.  I have some in picture form and some in video form.  They're all lovely - check them out!

Today I wanted to share my video on how to make a "Zipper Card".  I had received a swap using this "technique" last April and vowed I'd make one *one day*.  Thursday was that day.  It's CRAZY quick and easy but packs SUCH a wow for the recipient!  Here's a picture of the project ...

... and here is the YouTube video on how to make it ...

*** PS *** in the video I showed the tape in the INSIDE of the perforated line.  That's wrong!  Don't put tape there or your gift card will be trapped inside! *lol*.  I got a little carried away with the tape!

Doesn't it make you want to run right down to your Craft Cave and make one??  SUCH a fun idea and, if you're like me, you give a LOT of gift cards for Christmas and Birthdays.  This is a fun, quick packaging idea that everyone loves (and a FAB way to use up some of the designer paper you're hoarding!!) . Give it a try and let me know how it works for you!

Right!  I need to walk my Doodle Bug, design my Advent Calendar for class next week and hit Ikea for accessories for my youngest daughters room (Craig painted her room while I was in Orland so now she apparently *needs* all new EVERYTHING! lol)

Whatever YOU get up to this weekend, I hope you have a stampy time!

(I'll leave you with a few pics from Convention ...


xox
Tam

Holy COW!

Happy Friday!

Wow. 

I've been sitting here for 10 minutes trying to figure out how to start this post and all I keep coming up with is "wow".  Yes, it's 3:30 in the morning.  Yes, for the third night in a row I can't sleep.  Too much going on in my head ... so I thought I'd share ...

This has, hands down, been one of the most exciting, emotional, thrilling, happy, sad, AMAZING week of my life ... and I have lived approximately 2,652 weeks.  THIS particular week was a good one.

I don't share this to brag.  Truly I don't.  I share this to try to put into words how blessed, grateful, proud, humbled and thrilled I am ... and how overwhelming it all is.

This week two major things happened.

#1.  Stampin' Up! announced that I was chosen as one of only SEVEN demonstrators in Canada to be a part of the newly formed "Canadian Demonstrator Council".  As SU puts it ...

We’re excited to announce that we’ve chosen the members of our 13 Demonstrator Councils in areas throughout the world! These demonstrators were selected through an application process, and we were strategic in choosing councils so they each include a broad base of demonstrators with a diverse range of backgrounds and skills.

These 2018–2019 Demonstrator Council members will partner with the Demonstrator Development Managers (DDMs) as ambassadors for and champions of Stampin’ Up! to motivate and inspire demonstrators. They will serve in this role for at least a year.

The councils will work with their DDM to focus on issues such as:

• Finding ways to keep demonstrators connected and engaged with Stampin’ Up!
• Helping demonstrators get new customers.
• Helping demonstrators increase their sales.
• Finding ways to make recruiting easier.

To say I am THRILLED to be part of the CDC is a gross understatement!  What a dream-come-true for me!!  I RELISH the thought of being able to help find ways to make being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator even better than it already is!  To have the chance to inspire and motivate my Sisters??  Sign me UP! ... and they did!  SO humbling!

#2.  Yesterday the list of Top Achievers was released, both for Canada and Globally.  I was shocked and thrilled to see my name appear a few times.  Ya, I *might* have found out standing in the lobby of the chiropractor.  Ya, I *might* have teared up a *little*!  How did I rank?

• Recruiting - #5 in Canada
• Overall - #20 in Canada
• Globally - #161

There are approximately 5,000 Canadian demonstrators and approximately 60,000 Globally.  Whaaattttt?  For me to even come CLOSE to being on ANY list blows my mind, let alone being ranked where I am!  

Truly gobsmacked.

What thrills me even MORE than my own success this year is the success of some of the best ladies I know.  They are my "sidelines", in Stampin' Up! lingo.  We are all SU demos but we have no formal "ties" to each other (ie we don't have the same leaders above us).  We came together in early 2017, after the Canadian Business Conference I attended in Toronto.  Long story short, we formed a Facebook group to support each other in our businesses as we strove to reach our individual goals.  This team of women knocked every single one of them out of the PARK!  There were 6 of us originally.  Five of us will be on the cruise to Greece.  Five of us are in the top 50 Canadian Demonstrators.  All six of us achieved what we set out to and then some.  You know what is better than succeeding?  Watching those you LOVE succeed - watching them set goals, work towards them and cross that finish line.  We all crossed it together and it is truly one of the most rewarding experiences of my 2,652 weeks on this planet.  

Now, for all the joy that I have experienced this week I have also experienced great sadness.  I don't think an hour has passed this week that I haven't thought of, and missed, my dear friend, and upline, Tamye.  She was my biggest cheerleader. There was never any doubt in HER mind that I could achieve all I set out to.  That belief made ME believe I could ... and I set out on my journey.   Tamye passed away this March, just three months before I earned the Greece Incentive Trip and, now, just seven months before I achieved some to rankings in the company.  I owe SO much of my success to her.  Her guidance, her leadership, her friendship.  It is SO bittersweet achieving these things without her physically by my side.  Oh sure, I do know she is with me, celebrating with me and watching over me.  That makes me smile.  It would just be so great to have her here to celebrate with.

So ya.  This week has been one of the best weeks of my life.  

I am SO overwhelmed.

I am SO humbled.

I am SO grateful.

I am so, so, SO very blessed.

Thank you for YOUR part in my journey.  I appreciate it more than words can say.

Have a stampy day 

xoxox  Tam