My Last Post of 2017 – A Big Look Forward & A Short Look Back

I love this time of year – when we can look back at all the wonderful things that happened during the last 365 days and contemplate ways to make next year even better. I have so many great things in store for 2018, and I’m excited to share them with you! Today, I’m going to share some of my favorite projects from 2017 (this day deserves a parade), but first I’m going to share some upcoming and oh-so-exciting things with you:

Join Me for a Spring Event in Atlanta!

In April, Stampin’ Up! is hosting OnStage Local events for demonstrators all over the world. One of the local events will be local to me – here in Atlanta, Georgia! Along with some of my amazing team members, I’ll be hosting a Spring stamping event the day before OnStage. This event – still unnamed and not-yet-fully-planned – will be Friday, April 7 at Cobb Galleria Centre. I’d love for you to join us!

Registration for the Spring Event will be open to a limited number of demonstrators – and the day will be FILLED with fun. I can promise some inspiring presentations, super-fun games, a high-quality swap and make-and-takes like nothing you’ve ever seen. The event will mirror the World Card Making Day events we’ve hosted the last five years.

If you’d like to see some of my write-ups about past events to gauge your excitement about this event, please click on one of the below links:

• World Card Making Day 2017
• World Card Making Day 2016
• World Card Making Day 2015

If you have participated in my events before, I’d LOVE for you to leave comments below about how much fun you had. I’d ALSO love for you to share this message with your friends and team members to encourage them to join us, too!

EMAIL ME HERE if you would like to be included on my emails as we fine-tune this fun event.

Have you ever wished there was an “I Want Everything Button” for the launch of a catalog? Stampin’ Up!’s 2018 Occasions Catalog is AMAZING, and I’m thrilled to share it with you! To help you make the most of your new catalog purchases, I’ve created four bundles with select suites in the Occasions Catalog:

• Picture Perfect Party
• Cake Soirée
• Petal Palette
• Tutti-frutti
• True Gentleman

I added up products for each of these bundles (four of these already include a 10% off bundle) and shaved a little more off the cost of each to give you approximately 10% off. That’s like getting free shipping! I’ll even give you Sale-a-Bration rewards for your purchases. I hope you’ll check them out and sign up for one or more of these fun, new bundles! This is a limited-time offer from me and can only be offered to shoppers in the U.S.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE BUNDLES AND ORDER YOURS

Product Shares & Swatch Books

It’s not too late to sign up for my 2018 Occasions Catalog Product Shares or to order Designer Series Paper Swatch Books. You won’t regret either! For more information about either, please click on one of these pictures below.

Here are the shares I’m offering:

Here are the Swatch Books:

Brian’s Bulletin

I’m so excited to be sharing Stampin’ Up! promotions and events through my Newsletter that goes out once or twice a month. If you are a subscriber, then yesterday’s newsletter was delivered right to your mailbox. If you aren’t a subscriber, I hope you’ll sign up so you don’t miss anything! <3

Because I’m so sweet, here’s a link to yesterday’s newsletter (in case you missed out): CLICK HERE

A Quick Look Back

Now let’s take a look back at some of my favorite projects from this year. These are projects that either garnered lots of attention from you or that created special memories for me. Either way, I am grateful to have shared these once already – and hope you enjoy seeing them again (or, perhaps, for the first time). You can click on any of these projects to see the original post for each:

This is quite possibly my all-time favorite cards I’ve ever made – I love the colors, the patterns and the fun layout. I remember working on this card and how many pieces of paper were cut before I was happy with the layout. This Cupcakes & Carousels Designer Series Paper Stack wasn’t “my style” but I forced it to work for me.

I adore the simplicity of this card – and it received a lot of great comments from blog readers and repins on Pinterest. The gray-and-yellow combination is so soothing, the flowers are so beautiful and the technique for creating the circle is so easy. It’s such a simple card with a great effect:

My friend Kim Jolley inpsired me to make this card after learning how she paints on cardstock with baby wipes. Such a fun technique. Shared this card with my local club and many customers – we all loved making this card.

In April, I was fortunate to showcase a new stamp set from Stampin’ Up!’s 201-2018 Annual Catalog called Crafting Forever. This is one of the cards I showcased during my presentation – such a great memory for me! I loved working with the set that no one had yet seen. Such an honor!

I love the page of striped paper from Birthday Memories Designer Series Paper and used it often. For this project, I cut the paper into strips and then staggered the pattern for a new take on this gorgeous paper:

I created this card for a color challenge and a sketch challenge – I created a sweet wedding card with a Christmas-themed landscape. After several variations, this card came together just as I had hoped (but not necessarily as I had originally planned):

There was no bigger thrill for me this year than when I shared Bird Banter at Stampin’ Up!’s annual convention in Salt Lake City. I shared five projects I made with Bird Banter, a stamp set in the upcoming Occasions Catalog. What fun! This is the most repinned project from the collection of cards I shared on the main stage:

The number of shares and repins on this Lots of Lavender card caught me off guard. I loved the card and painted the leaves and petals after several tries that, together, worked. It’s a sweet card, but I never expected it to be as popular as it has been:

This is another of my all-time favorite cards. When Stampin’ Up! reintroduced alcohol markers in the form of Stampin’ Blends, I went right to work coloring this black-and-white Designer Series Paper with my light and dark Pool Party Stampin’ Blends Markers. I still remember how happy I felt when all of the elements of this simple-but-layered card came together to create a sophisticated and beautiful card:

I hope you enjoyed this look back and the information for the upcoming events and projects. I hope you have a wonderful New Year’s Day and look forward to sharing 2018 with you.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Brian

Your Very Own Copy of the New Catalog.  I’ve mailed out Occasions Catalogs and Sale-a-Bration brochures to all of my customers from the past year. If you haven’t purchased from me in over a year or if you’d like to be my customer, please reach out to me (CLICK HERE TO EMAIL ME) or place an order. I look forward to sharing these new products with you.