Jun 7, 2007

My First Blog Candy Contest!!!!

I do not have it with me right now, but I will in a few hours!

I have some things that I can give out but I am going to see how quickly I can get to 1000 hits.

When I reach 1,000 hits, I will raffle off the "CANDY". So with that said, The best comment will take the prize.

What really got you into the Stamping Craze that we are all
c-c-c-c-razzyyy about?

I figure that by at least Sunday I should be up to 1,000 hits. The winner will be announced Monday morning and the candy should be out to the winner by Thursday.

Comment Away!

61 comments:

Mitzi Koons said...

I used to despise stamping and every thing about it! Can you even imagine the horror of such thoughts?? lol...then one day on a complete whim I entered a contest I found in an online newsletter from CK. The contest was sponsored by a company called Sugarloaf - you simply had to go to their site, register and enter. What the heck I thought - I'll never win, it can't hurt. YET only a week later I received an email saying I was the winner of the biggest prize draw ever - 72 SETS of stamps! OMG!!!! I didn't believe it at first...till about 5 big heavy boxes of stamps arrived at my doorstep. I didn't even own a single inkpad. I already scrapbooked, so I had plenty of cardstock and quickly remedied the lack of ink :o) I've been hooked ever since and shudder at the thought I'd never like it. Silly me!

Anonymous said...

I had a very good friend from Church who became a Stampin Up Demonstrator and she would hold workshops in her house each month and show us new techniques and take orders. I've learned some really fun stuff over the years and it gives me a night out with the girls. I also like it because there is a really different mixture of ages and we can all get to know each other through something we all enjoy. And now I'm trying to get her hooked on the bellas LOL. On another note I've seen your blog a few times since I joined the bella group and I like it. I love your bella holder!

Jill Hilliard said...

What a cute blog! and wow you link to me-- I am so flattered!

I got totally hooked when I went to a 20 birthday card card camp just over a year ago. I dabbled in a little bit here and there but until then. WOW ! Needless to say I am hooked far more that I thought and the woman who had that camp is now my upline! I have several fabulous crafty friends that keep me having so much fun!

Anna said...

My sister gave me a few stamp sets for my birthday, and I had played with them some. But some women from my church started having parties with stampin' up, I went and quickly became addicted. I became a demo. It was a great way to meet people, and pay for more supplies. It also gave me a break from my kids. (I am a SAHM) Now that we have moved to the middle of nowhere, I am just a hobby demo, but still really enjoying it. It gives me a chance to connect with other people.
Thanks for sharing with us on your blog. Keep up the great work.

Lorie said...

My bella obsession came from the fact that I used one just one time and I was smiling and so happy the entire time stamping. With that...how could I not enjoy them?

Just stamping itself...I feel good about myself when I stamp and who doesn't want to feel good about themselves? :0)

Debbie G said...

Well I was first into scrapbooking and then went to cardmaking. A firend of mine had a bunch of stamps and showed me how to emboss and then I was hooked. I have been stamping and embossing ever since and love it. I still scrapbook though but I use stamps there too.

Michelle Tweedy said...

My best friend was an enabler who became my SU! upline!! Been at it since 1999!! Congrats on your milestone!

Tanis said...

I got dragged to a Stampin'Up party that I REALLY didn't want to go to. "As if I need something else to do", I said to myself. And since it was for my friend's first ever party as a new demo, I had to buy something.
I bought the cheapest set I could and one ink pad.
And then my sister signed up.
So I had to support her new venture.
And it was all downhill (or is that uphill?) from there.
I couldn't live without my ink and stamps and am thankful I dragged my behind out the door to attend that first party. What a great medium to get my creative energies out. Thanks for the blog candy!

Unknown said...

I actually was only strictly scrapbooking from 7th grade until about 9th. Then my cousin had a Stampin Up! Party and while the woman was demonstrating I could NOT believe how awesome all of this stuff looked. So, I bought over $100.00 in products, then, I didn't know what the heck to do with all of it. So, I tried making a card, and of course, it was my first time so it looked like total crap! It ticked me off that my creation didn't look "awesome" and I actually packed up my stuff I had bought (A lot not opened yet) and put it in a closet. I then got back into scrapbooking after I had my son last year (I was 19) and I got into scrapbooking BIG after that. THEN, my cousin (The same one) had a Close To My Heart party. I fell in love with the stamps and everything else that I signed up the next day and sent in all of my information and they accepted me the day after. So, now that I am a Close To My Heart Consultant I buy mostly SU! stuff anyway,, hehe... I know, i'm bad. But now I make at least 2 to 3 cards a day and am always thinking of my next card to make. But, this is how I became a stamper. :o) And thank you for posting my Candy on your Blog. :) I will go link your's to mine as well..

Amie said...

Like mitzi, I've never been into stamping...but I have been exposed to some great techniques that I occasionally use in my scrap pages. I mostly like alphabet sets. Good luck on your 1000 and thanks for the blog candy offer.

Lisa C. said...

I swore I would never get into stamping as my mom did it and I was not interested, but then I started working on the steam trains at the Magic Kingdom and wanted some cards for people I work with, the All Aboard set was in the catalog then, so I ordered it then made mom show me how to use it and have been hooked since.

Anonymous said...

I remember the first time I was invited to a "Stamp Party". I figured she was talking about postage stamps. I went to make my friend happy and sat in awe as I watched the SU demonstrator. I have always been crafty and have always loved sending out greeting cards. The two went hand in hand and that was over 12 years ago. I am still stampin away!

Anonymous said...

A former neighbor who moved out of state started stamping (as a way to meet new people) and when she & her husband came to visit in their RV the following year she brought her "stuff" - so she's the one who turned me on to stamping, so thanks a lot, Joyce - it's all your fault I spend $$ on stamps etc.

Jessie said...

I got into stamping by going to a SU! party one friday night and frankly I hated it. (Might have been I was totally tired after a bad week) Then I was visiting my best friend and she got me into and now I am in a monthly group, addicted to SCS and Bella's! That's my story and I am sticking too it!! Jess:)

Estivalia said...

Penpalling, you could say :) I wanted to have some penpals and one of them send me deco FBs. I researched and eventually found ATCs. Rubber stamping is very popular in mailart, and I was easily hooked. Only recently I turned to cardmaking rather tan decos :)

Anonymous said...

I too did not understand this stamp craze. My new good friend sold SU, she invited me to a Christmas card workshop. I just wanted to get out of the house and away from my three kids. LOL So I went, when I came home I still thought it was not for me but had bought a little produced anyways. One item was Stazon, which I quickly learned would stamp on anything. That is what hooked me!! I made coasters and x-mas ornaments. Now I am stamping everything. I love making cards and gifts. Who knew?

Karen said...

I swore I would NEVER get into stamping. I went with a friend to a SU club get together as a favor. I kept telling her I wasn't buying a thing - didn't want it or need it. WELL...I walked out of there with a $100+ order!!! I kept thinking 'what am I doing????'!!! Went to the next month club and again - placed a $100+ order, SO I signed up that night! I figured I needed the discount to feed my new addiction! Needless to say, my DH dreads the day I went 6.5 years ago! :)

Anonymous said...

My Aunt got me into this. She had these SU parties every 3-4 months. So I decide to go and see what the fuss was about. I was hooked. Then this year I branched out to other stamp companies and was even more hooked.
Kristi

Shelly said...

I used to live a life immersed in creative arts. I was in drawing, photography, writing, drama, and music. Then after I had children all of my creative pursuits were put on the back burner- and the "stove" turned off. Then, 2 years ago I was invited to my friends first SU workshop when she was a brand new demo. I guess Oprah would say I had an "Ah,Ha!" moment as at the very moment I started stamping a light has turned on inside of me. Since then I have also talked 3 of my good friends into becoming SU demos. Talk about a stamping craze- it's contagious!

Sheri said...

Wow, I loved reading all the replies to this - great question!

For me, I met a lady in a new mom's group a few years ago who was an SU demo. She asked us if we wanted to make some cards for Father's Day. I liked what we did, so I did a couple more projects with her. I told her, "I love coming to your classes and making these projects, but I will never buy the product to do it myself". Then I got this brainy idea to make my Mother-In-Law a scrapbook of her first grandchild's first year. I needed supplies. Then I needed to learn how to use my supplies, so I joined her 10 for 10 club. I could see myself buying more and more, because well, once I started buying, I HAD to have it all! I hated not having the right color ribbon or marker. So I signed up to be a demo about 8 months after meeting my friend, and have loved every minute of stamping since! :)

Cheryl KVD said...

Hello! For so many years, I said that I would never ever get in to stamping and scrapbooking. I saw how much money my friends were spending on that stuff and I couldn't believe they would do that. But then I realized that I wasn't getting together with my friends anymore.....they were all together stamping and scrapbooking!! I figured that if I wanted to spend time with my friends, I had to join them. So reluctantly I went to a crop with some photos from a vacation. I did my first scrapbook page complete with stamping and I was hooked! Now I have more stuff than they do!!
Cheryl KVD

Unknown said...

We hired a new girl at work and one day we were talking and she asked if I did any stamping. I said no...none at all. She invited me over and helped me make my first card. That was near the end of January...I've been hooked ever since and have buitl up a nice collection of inks and stamps...of course still need lots more!!! I call my friend the Stampin Yoda because she is just brilliant! :)

Kristina Lewis said...

I started stamping 11 years ago because a friend was, but I didn't catch the bug, YET. Then I found the fabulous Magenta line and became hooked. This was soon followed by Stampin' Up! parties, signing up for Stampin' Up! and finally getting involved in A Muse and starting my own blog recently. It is now a CRAZE!! I am glad I am not alone!

jamlau said...

About 3 years ago, I remember someone saying to me, "Don't buy any stamps, because once you buy 1 you won't be able to stop." She was right. 2 years later, I have got at least 100 stamps and feel compelled to get more. They are so cute and I am definitely addicted!

Renée said...

Well, I went to a stampin' up party at my mom's house and was soon hooked. One of my good friends is really into stamping and so we had so much more in common once I started!

Wendy said...

After I got married 4 years ago, I found that I had all this free time on my hands at night and during the weekend. My husband likes to play computer games so I needed a hobby to keep me busy. A girlfriend at work invited me to a Stampin' Up party and I've been hooked ever since!

Pattyjo said...

I love your blog and I love stamping! My daughter got into Stampin Up years ago and I saw all the cool cards she was making. I could'nt believe she could make that...so she took me and I was hooked!

Debi Calandrelle said...

I was taking a scrapbooking class at ACM and one of the ladies in the class was a SU! demonstrator... she invited me to her house for a make-n-take class and it didn't take long before I was hooked! I couldn't believe that I could make those adorable cards and have so much fun doing it! Happy Stampin!
Debi

Linda SS said...

I have a good friend who makes & sells cards. After my cancer surgery, I called her to buy some of her Thank You cards to send to all the people who wished me well with flowers, etc. She told me she'd teach me how to make my own. She showed me all her techniques to make dozens of Thank You cards. I loved making them so much, I'm still doing it:)

Peggy Maier said...

I've always loved crafting with paper, sewing, etc. So when I attended a SU party I really liked the projects we did...but not enough to buy anything! It wasn't till a couple of parties later that I finally became interested enough to purchase some sets & of course became hooked! Now I make & sell cards & love creating new projects with paper even more.

Anonymous said...

I've been a scrapper for nine years - didn't quite get the stamping thing. Signed up with a company that did both - got stamps in my kit. I'm huge on the computer for graphics so still with the stamps in my hand I couldn't get the concept of WHY STAMP!! I called the company and very seriously asked them what do I tell my customers as to why they should stamp - they couldn't answer. I took a card stamping class - asked the attending ladies why do you stamp - what the heck to you do with all the cards - send them to friends they said - thought to myself "friends?" - wow how many friends could they possibly have. Well - I wish you could be here to see for yourself - I finally got it - the RUBBA BUG!! I now have somewhere around 800 sets of stamps (yes, that would be sets!). Now the trick is HOW DO I QUIT STAMPING!!! My husband thinks I'm nuts. Anyway - thanks for the contest.

http://scrappinlibrarian.wordpress.com/

Anonymous said...

Well - I put the wrong web page in - didn't check before I clicked send.

This is my webblog!!

http://celebrationmoments.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Anonymous said...

What started me was Michael's $1 bins of stamps. I started buying them and before I knew it, I had more than I knew what do do with. Then I met Katie....what a blessing. She's my best friend and a new SU demo and she showed me what SU had to offer. I was so excited to have a friend to craft with. None of my other friends were interested. I am grateful to have her in my life as well as learned about new craft tools out there. I have been hooked since. :)

Unknown said...

I've been scrapbooking for about 4years now and recently I've become more and more fascinated with stamps. For some reason they never really appealed, but as I've been trying to broaden my technique range I'm starting to really love those little suckers.

Scott Franson Photography said...

I got into stamping when the ladies on 2 peas in a bucket started talking about Split Coast Stampers, I went to the SCS website and fell in love with a card in the gallery. It was the prettiest thing I'd ever seen in a hand made card and I've been stamping ever since. I printed out a photo of that card and put it in my stamping inspiration book and look at it to this day.
Claudia

Anonymous said...

I started stamping after I had been in a small independently owned stamp store in Saskatchewan. There was this little villiage house and tea room with a few stores in it and this was one of the stores. The ladies there showed my mom, my aunty and me how to heat emboss using a clothes iron. Yes, it was many years ago. I was a pre-teen and hooked from day one.

doverdi said...

I joined a local stamp group to get new ideas to use on my scrapbook pages. Gradually I started buying a few products when a new technique was taught and the next thing I new, I was addicted. In my case, it was a silent addiction. lol

Allison Rankin said...

I guess SU's Sell-a-bration catalog from two years ago...who doesn't want free stuff? Once I started acquiring a stash and could work on sketches and color challenges from SCS, my cards improved and I was hooked!

Anonymous said...

What really got me into the Stamping Craze was a Pampered Chef party!

Let me start at the beginning.
I was new to the neighborhood, and received a postcard from one of the neighbors, inviting me to a Pampered Chef party.
Since I wanted to meet my new neighbors, I was delighted to go (even though I don’t cook…but that’s another story).

There was no stamping or cutting or coloring…
just lots of eating and chatting.
And some of the chatting got around to stamping, which I had never heard of.

Well, this neighbor hosting the Pampered Chef party is also an SU Demonstrator.
So, she invited me to her next home party,
and the rest is history!

I am now a member of the Yo-Yo’s. The name is a take off on the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, but it is definitely more appropriate for this bunch :)

We meet once a month to eat and talk and swap cards and talk and eat and learn a new technique and talk and make cards and, did I say eat :)

There are 12 of us and we’ve been told, by our demo, that we are like herding cats!

Anonymous said...

Great question. We to visit our family on vacation and my niece was into stamping. Ok the big mistake was I asked if she could show me how and I as hooked...ok obessed with it. I came home and went to Hobby Lobby and it was 1/2 price of stamps and inks. I was really being very selective, and then my husband came over and said you need this, you need that. He was throwning everything in the cart. Which is good, because I tend to watch that mighty dollar. Well I still watch the mighty dollars going out to my obbession now. When someone opens something you made from the heart, and they have a great big smile and appreciates it, with worth all the money I spend. Thanks for a chance for some sweet yuumy candy.

StampingJoan said...

What can I say! I am a Stampaholic and don't want recovery! My addiction began about 7 years ago. It started with a few stamps, then I discovered Stampin' Up and signed up. My 2 little Iris carts grew. Then it was time to move! Well I got my own room! Now my addiction is all over that room! OMG! I can't stop! I love SU, but I also love other stamps!~ And my latest non SU pleasure has been Bella stamps. Those girls make me feel like a skinny woman! Ya know.....There is a skinny woman inside me screaming to get out, but I usually shut her up with cookies!

Love your blog!
Joan

Anonymous said...

I used to scrapbook only until I went to a SU party - I still wasn't interested. Then, my friends started sending me these gorgeous cards they had made & they told me how easy it was. Now, I am totally into cards & journals and even selling them. My DH even built me my own card making studio with granite countertops & custom cabinets.

Anonymous said...

My friend got me into stamping (and debt. LOL!) It has to be one of the most addicting hobbies. I just love stamping though. I love to beable to play and be creative. Just don't tell dh how much I spend on my creativity. LOL!

Anonymous said...

Our new pastors wife asked me to go to a SU workshop. She is new to the area and didn't understand the directions. I thought it was a good time to get to know her a little better so I said yes. I enjoyed it so much I was hooked. This was the last week of Oct. 06 and by Thanksgiving I had signed up as a Demo. I stamp cards everyday. I never get tired of stamping. I send cards to all my church family for every occasion that comes along. My husband loves my cards and he even makes my cards. I am so blessed to have such an understanding man. I love STAMPING>

Diane said...

My niece was talking about scrapbooking all the time, so I went over to her house to check it out...which was last year.So I got hooked right away,we try to scrap at least once a week all day. Then she found SCS and got started with cards which is so much more fun,of course I got hooked on that as well. Oh and she also brought me to a SU night,now I never have enough $$$ each month,there's so much that I want !!! It's never ending and I just LOVE it, Thanks Shann if it wasn't for you I would of never started this passion I love so much!!

Betty O said...

You want the truth? The absolute truth? Here it is -- Pure threats and intimidation got me to stamping.

My DIL was a SU Demo and kept dropping hints for a year and showing me all the cute little things she was making. I'd smile and say, "Those are really cute." And then, I'd change the subject. I'd gone out to Texas to visit them and she started her little sales pitch again and I guess she caught me on a weak day and somehow convinced me that I NEEDED to make my own Christmas cards. (What was she thinking? She knew how bad I was at even sending Christmas cards; what made her think I was going to MAKE the darn things?)

Well, knowing how much my son loved her and how much he supported her and what a good Army wife and mommy she was, I caved. I picked out a card that I liked and told her to fill out an order form. Well, next thing I know, she's looking in the back of the catalog to find the recipe (dang, cards have RECIPES? She knows I don't even cook using recipes and she thinks I'm going to stamp using them?) and she begins filling out the form. I sat there wondering what the devil she was doing -- the order form was full!! Talk about UP-SELLING -- the dad-gum gal kept saying, "Well, you know you'll need this and of course you'll need that" and I just kept sitting there smiling. Finally she got through and said, "Oh, look, Betty, you are going to get a free hostess set and $20.00 in FREE product. How neat! And you know that I'm going to give you my 20% discount, don't you? This is going to be such fun!" Well, after I wrote her a check for $153.00 I went to bed wondering how in the world my son could have married such a con-artist. Who did she think she was? $153.00 for Christmas cards that she KNEW I wasn't going o make! $153.00 for Christmas cards that she KNEW I wasn't going to send.

I came back home to Georgia and a week later I got a box from SU with all kinds of goodies in it. Now what do I do? I let that box sit there, right through Christmas, New Years, Easter, 4th of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. That's what I did.

They came home to visit right before Christmas the NEXT year and she found the box with NOTHING out of it, NO stamps mounted, NOTHING done. She said that I HAD to make my cards and we sat down and stamped for the entire weekend. And, you know what?

I was hooked and I've been stamping like a fool ever since then. Oh, my son is such a SMART BOY for marrying her, isn't he?

So, that's how I started stamping!

Anonymous said...

My mom wanted me to start a scrapbook of our wedding photos. My aunt was really into scrapbooking and taught my mom & I how to do it. Now that I have a daughter, I'd like to do a scrapbook of her photos. I also enjoy making cards which come easier to me than scrapbooking does.

Dawn said...

I got started in stamping because I couldn't resist all the cute little stamps out there.

Anonymous said...

Its neat to read how everyone got started stamping or scrapbooking. I was born to stamp! I love to scrapbook but that isn't my passion. I think I am addicted to paper. I also have entered Sugarloaf contest but haven't won but had fun trying. Love your blog!

Anonymous said...

This is a crazy way to get into stamping! I took an orienteering course with my son for Cub Scouts. At the end of the class the instructor and I got to talking and she told me about letterboxing. (Letterboxing is basically treasure hunting for a log book and stamp. When found you exchange your stamped image for the stamped image in the logbook. www.letterboxing.org)

I would go out on the hunt and stamp. No big deal. But then I got into carving my own stamps.

Then on a whim I decided to search on the internet for rubber stamps and found Stampin' Up! My upline now was my demo at the time. She was so infectious and joyful that I was totally hooked!!

She showed me ways to color my stamped images ... emboss my stamped images ... etc. Wow! Even my letterboxing stamps took on a whole new dimension!!

I'm hooked!! LOL

Anonymous said...

One stampin up party was all it took.

Denise said...

I was hooked after meeting a Stampin Up rep at a fundraiser crop. She and I have been friends and business partners ever since!

Rosella said...

One of my excuses for being a stamper is that I ALWAYS forget to by cards. Now I can make them myself and it is so much fun to do. When I went to my first stamping up party I was hooked. I found out that I can be an artist without really having the talent to draw.

Jan Scholl said...

My daughter was a freshman at Michigan State and I saw her embossing over the heating element on her portable hotplate in her dorm. That was 15 years ago. I bought two stamps on clearance at a place called Too Much Rubber Fun in East Lansing and never looked back.

Heidi said...

I have been an avid scrapper and I saw a SU catalog one day and was going through the book and couldn't stop droolling...... I had to have it all. So, I started stamping and that was it........ have not turned back yet.

Mo Moss said...

It all started when I was working at a high school. There was another secretary who stamped and I went to a class that she was teaching. Then I heard about Stampin'Up. I looked at a catalog. called to have a demonstrator have a party at my house. That is how it began and it ain't ever going to stop.

Karen Lindsay said...

My addiction to stamping and all that goes with it started very innocently when I decided I wanted to make a handmade card for a grandson's birthday. I went to Michael's to look for ideas and discovered stamps. I bought a birthday cake with candles and some birthday stickers and built a card. From that point, I began prowling places for more stamps and discovered a store that provided classes. I started taking every class I could and things gradually got worse, or better, however you want to look at it. :) I am now teaching classes in the LSS and loving it. I used to think I had not imagination and felt I needed the classes in order to create. Since I started teaching, I've discovered that I actually do have an imagination when I challenge myself to create cards for classes. :) This is a totally addicting hobby!

Karen L.

T. Whitesell said...

I went to a SU class and loved the thought of giving handmade cards to my friends and family. I also love to use my stamps while scrapbooking.

Anonymous said...

About 5 months after I had my triplets, I needed a break!!! My good friend asked if I wanted to go to a SU! party. I was like anything to get out of the house. Mind you, I knew nothing about stamping and I thought the catalog was ridiculously huge. I thought, these stampers are insane. How could someone need this many stamps. The demonstrator was so sweet and she said they were having 10-10-10. 10 cards, 10 minutes each, for $10. So I went ahead and signed up for another chance to get out of the house. Well this time I was hooked. I have really enjoyed this little hobby and met lots of great people. Now I know why the catalog is so huge, and I can pretty much locate anything in it in a matter of seconds!!!

Carolyn Sharkas said...

I had been a scrapbooker for a couple of years and went to a SU workshop a friend was having and was hooked! Had my own party about a month later then signed up about a month after that. I love the variety SU has the paper, inks and markers are great and the best part are the friends you make. My best friends are stamping friends.

Jessica said...

I was a scrapbooker and was just getting into heat embossing. A neighbor invited me to a Stampin' Up! party and I instantly thought all the products were the coolest. That next week I signed up to be a demonstrator and now I have a hard time limiting my purchases to stay in budget. The first thing I loved was the Stampin' Scrub. I had been using paper towels at the sink and was not having fun with stamping.