The concept of being a host for a direct sales party probably doesn't as often mean what it used to. Remember the days when we'd all gather at a hosts's house, eat, have some beverages, and sit at the kitchen table with the seller to place our orders? I know that occasionally still happens - and honestly, I wish it would happen more often. Currently, even without the actual act of inviting friends over to stamp, you can receive some of the benefits of being a Stampin' Up!® host.
One way to host is by having me set up a host code and having friends order in my online store using that host code. The order totals accumulate so you can earn free dollars to spend on the products you want. There are even two host items you can choose to spend your free money on, although it's not required. Here are the two current host-only stamp sets:
Night of Flight stamp set
Carnival Treats stamp set
On Wednesday during What's Up! Stampers? I used the Carnival Treats stamp set to create a couple of adorable gift card holders. I used a couple of retiring Designer Series Papers on the cards, as well as a couple simple techniques that jazzed up the cards just a bit.
I made the first card with the cotton candy stamp in portrait orientation.
To make the pretty cotton candy, I used two Stampin' Write Markers - Bubble Bath and Melon Mambo - to color blobs of color directly onto the stamp. I spritzed the stamp with water before stamping onto a piece of Basic White cardstock and fussy cutting it out to layer over the Crumb Cake image I stamped on the Basic White layer. By stamping the Crumb Cake first and layering the fussy cut part of the image on top, I could then get the two colors I wanted for the image.
The gift card holder part on the inside of the card is simply a 3" x 2" pieces of Lighter Than Air Designer Series Paper with Stampin' Dimensionals on three sides, creating a pocket.
I used the donut stamp for the second card:
Notice I changed this one to landscape orientation so it opens to the left instead of opening up. I used Blackberry Bliss ink to stamp the donuts, then stamped them again in the color I wanted for the frosting. I fussy cut out the frosting to layer over the donuts, then ran the frosting through the Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine with the Painted Texture 3D Embossing Folder. Pretty stinkin' cute.
Here are the sizes of cardstock and papers:
Thick Basic White cardstock:
-4 1/4" x 5 1/2" for each card base
Basic White cardstock:
-2 7/8" x 3 5/8"
-scraps for the top of the cotton candy and for the donuts
Melon Mambo (cotton candy card) and Orchid Oasis (donut card) cardstock:
-3" x 3 1/2"
Lemon Lime Twist (cotton candy card) and Blackberry Bliss (donut card) cardstock:
3 1/2" x 8", scored in half at 4"
Lighter Than Air (cotton candy card) and 2022-2024 In Color (donut card) Designer Series Paper:
-4" x 2 1/2"
-3" x 2" (cotton candy card)
-3 3/4" x 1 1/2" (donut card)
For a complete list of supplies - along with links to my online store - scroll to the bottom of this post. You can watch the video tutorial for this card here.
Please contact me if you have any questions about getting your hands on the two amazing host items available now. And note: because of some changes in the Stampin' Rewards coming later this year or early next year, there are no host items in the new catalog.
Happy hosting!
Amy