Playtime

The focal image on this card is my favorite stamp from the starter kit.  I also really love the color of the ink.  This is Blue Lagoon True Fusion ink (item no. IP-0002).  The pads sell for $7.95.   I wasn't sure whether I'd like the inks but it's nice knowing that they work on just about any surface, no having to guess or switch between different pads.  They combine the ease and quick-drying features of dye ink with the durability of pigment ink.  Two of the 44 available colors are pigment inks (whip cream - item no. IP-0009 and butter cream - item no. IP-0031).  The True Fusion ink does need to be heatset on non-porous surfaces (like glossy cardstock, items besides paper).

The background was made by squirting tiny amounts of alcohol inks onto a non-stick craft sheet, then taking glossy cardstock facedown swirled thru the inks.  I stamped some swirls (can't remember which ones but don't we all have swirl stamps in our stash!) in black ink on the lower panel and the sentiment was stamped on another piece of cardstock that had the alcohol inks on it.  My next blog post will share some experiments I did with hardware store paste as the big box stores near me didn't have any of the trending texture/modeling pastes so I bought similar (less expensive) ones at Lowe's and got out all my stencils.  You will see that the cards I made don't have much stamping on them but the playtime was fun.

FREEBIES Fall Ball Party

I am holding an online party with giveaways (FREE STUFF!!!!) for Fun Stampers Journey where each customer will receive a bonus item from me.  I have one October Kit of the Month (see photo above) to give to one customer.  One customer will also be drawn at random for the hostess gifts (minimum of $20 in product and 1 ATS stamp set).   You can shop online at www.funstampers.com/104, click catalog and shop now.  When you check out, choose the FREEBIES Fall Ball Party for the event.  Your items will ship as soon as you complete checkout.  I got my last order in just 2 days!!!! If you have any issues or want me to enter your order, just email your list to me and I will let you know the total due.

The party is currently set to close on 11/14/14.  For anyone who decides to join and become a Journey Coach through my site, I will purchase your first stamp set or die set for you!   The kit is an awesome value - the quarterly minimum is $150 and if you're like me, you already spend $50/month on crafts. Why not buy from a place where what you buy benefits yourself?

The Grand Event

Fun Stampers Journey recently (early September 2014) held their Grand Event in Pomona, California to introduce their new products and catalog.  For coaches that were not able to attend, they had Elena @ Charity Wings livestream the event.   Click on Elena's name to get to the Charity Wings Art Center website and consider becoming a member to support her cause to bring art to everyone.  Fun Stampers Journey presented Elena with a check for $500.00 from the sale of a stamp set specifically sold to help her Art Center!  We got to see demonstrations, the new products and watch a lot of what was going on.  Elena also did some giveaways during the chats and below is a photo of what we got.  Each chat had a different giveaway, but it became too complex to keep track of who won what so we all got this awesome package.  (I was in a chat where all we actually won was the bow tie die set so how cool is this !!??? 5 Stamp Sets, 1 Die set, 2 packs of embellishments, along with a canvas Messenger Bag)  

They also announced that they would have their first convention next year in Phoenix, Arizona.  I don't recall the date but I know that I will be there!

Procrastination - not this time!!!

So yesterday I said I would share why it took me so long to get around to sharing this company with everyone.  While I may get accused of procrastinating now and then, it wasn't the issue for this.  I bought my kit in June and then it sat unused.  I wanted to open it and dig in but I was so busy at work that I didn't have time to play with my new toys until August when I had a 1-week vacation.  (I can also testify that the items traveled well halfway across the U.S. from TX to CA in the rolling tote.)

I could've just jumped on the bandwagon and proclaimed it to be a great company and wonderful products but I am not like that.  I have to try things for myself before I am willing to endorse it.  Here is the paper that I stamped on when trying out their products for the first time  -- the cupcake and damask images are from Fun Stampers Journey.  The other images were from cheapy clingmount sets picked up at JoAnn Fabrics. (less than $2 per set and low quality rubber, too.)  However, the inks that I used were all True Fusion inks from Fun Stampers Journey.  I think that they look really good considering that this is watercolor paper!  I used Copic marker in grey to color in some dimension on the telephone and I used portable watercolors on the cupcake.  I hope you agree that this is a worthwhile company and choose to become a customer or a coach yourself.

I Am Number 104........

Welcome to my blog!

If you are a paper crafter, you’ve no doubt heard of Spellbinders.  Spellbinders partnered with Richard Garay, Journey Blooms to support his concept of a home party rubber stamping business. Their products can only be bought through a coach.  Their first 500 coaches get an amazing starter kit at a fantastic price. But you need to hurry if you want to become a coach, as there are only about 200 spots left for founding coaches.  

I decided to become a Fun Stampers Journey Coach in late June 2014.  I took a look at the Starter Kit and found it hard to pass up.  Logically, for $10 more than the cost of just the Journey Grand Diecutting Machine with its full set of plates, I would also get 3 stamp sets, a stamp set with its matching die set, 75 sheets of cardstock, 4 inkpads, stamp cleaner, double-sided adhesive, glaze, sparkle dust AND a rolling tote and shoulder bag.  Purchasing it was a no-brainer.   I mean LOOK AT IT!!!!  

Home parties are NOT required.  I will occasionally do online parties and you can also shop online by going to FunStampersJourney.com and entering my my coach name (Vancy Faddis) or my coach # (104).  You can also get to my store by clicking this link: my Fun Stampers Journey store or by clicking the link on the right side of my blog.  If you choose to become a coach, too, you can click the link to become a coach.  They have a low minimum for sales and if you sign up for the kit of the month yourself, you’ve met almost half of that!

Tomorrow I will post about why it took so long to begin this blog....... (to be continued)