NEWS FLASH!!! CHANGE IN HOSTESS PROGRAM

We were just informed today that there w/b a change in our TAC Hostess Program effective July 15th. This differs with what is printed in the new 2008 Fall/Winter Inspriation Book & Catalogue. Here’s the info we just received:

TAC Writes: Yesterday we reluctantly released an update to our Hostess Half Price Program as a result of being bombarded with continuous price increases and fuel surcharges due to current economic conditions and other factors. We know that our prices will continue to rise from vendors, some quite extensively, over these next few months and we are faced with finding solutions for what will become a problem. After releasing our updated Hostess Half Price Program (in which you could only redeem Hostess Half Price Items and Hostess Booking Items on rubber stamps and TAC™ papers or kits) we received some incredible feedback from our field along with some solutions that quite honestly, we hadn’t thought of. Finally, after sorting through enormous amounts of email we have found a solution, suggested by many of our Angels, which we believe will solve the issues we currently face and it’s a solution that works!

This new Hostess Half Price Program supersedes the Half Price Item update we posted yesterday (07/01/08). Effective July 15, 2008, the Hostess Half Price Program will operate as follows: For FUNshop Net Sales between:
• $100-249.99 hostesses may select 1 half price item from any item in our current catalogue
• $250-499.99 hostesses may select 2 half price items from any items in our current catalogue
• $500-749.99 hostesses may select 3 half price items from any items in our current catty
•$750 and above hostesses may select 4 half price items from any items in our current catty

Pease note: The Booking Bonus ½ price Item is being eliminated and will no longer be available on any order beginning July 15, 2008. While this is an unexpected hiccup, we are thrilled with this solution! By working together with our Angels we continue to grow and move in the right direction! These times that we have all faced lately have been difficult, but together we can find solutions that work for everyone and share the economic hardships which let us meet our customers halfway!

From Cereal Box to Gift Box

This is something I came up with a looooooooong time ago because I needed to wrap a present late one night and couldn't find a box or gift bag (I live out in the country-25 minutes from town/shopping). First I sealed both ends of an empty cereal box, cut it in half, covered it with three pieces of 8x8 (Brighten My Day designer collection papers), punched a hole in each side with the crop-a-dile, inserted a 'twisted paper' handle (that I'd recycled from a ripped shopping bag) and it took only 5-10 minutes to make.

Remember that you can click on ANY of the pictures to see a larger version. I 'roughed' up the edges of the cow image before I adhered it to the box...but it doesn't show up very well, even when enlarged. I still need to add ribbon to the handle to finish it off. I hope you'll try it!

Tote Bag w/Lazy Susan

If you're like me and bought your tote bag before the new ones with the build in lazy-susan came out, there's a way to have your bag spinning in no time! I bought a 10" lazy-susan at a Thrift Store for around $2 and it's made so much difference in my stamping/scrapping! Go for the wood ones as the plastic ones aren't strong enough to support the weight of a loaded tote bag. LOL (but so true!)

Tote Tag with an 'Avis' Twist

Okay, as Murphy's Law would have it, when I put my Tote Tag on my bag (photo on left), half the time it flipped around to the back so all you saw was white paper. My twist to the Tote Tag is to create another mini scrapbook page and adhere it to the back (white side) of the Tote Tag. To keep the photo (on right) from getting scratched, I cut a piece of plastic from the rest of the stamp box. The plastic is secured to the photo with two crystal brads (Brights Crystal Brads pg. 86), the ribbons were added and then the photo was adhered to the scrapbook page on the right with adhesive.

My Stamping Buddy, Jackie!

About 3-4 years ago, I started stamping with Jackie Lockwood. She's my friend, my neighbor and also my TAC customer. We get together almost every Monday morning at my house and stamp until early afternoon. It is a great way to start off the week and gives us both something to look forward to! This is a card that I designed for us to stamp last Monday and I thought I'd share it with you. We each make 24 cards, then we put these cards aside so we'll have a large assortment to give to our sisters for their birthdays. Thus, we make 'Sister Cards' on Mondays. We both have a lot of sisters and they enjoy getting a batch of handstamped cards that they can send out to their people. We mainly make 'Thinking of You' cards so by sticking to this generic theme, the exact same card can be sent to one person for a sympathy card, to another person for a birthday card and to a third person for a get-well card, etc.

The bottom of this card was done with the ScorPal. I scored the gridlines and then sanded them so they would POP!!!

Tote Tag

Here is the first Tote Tag that I made and I'm totally loving it!!! My talented friend, Heather Scott, came up with the idea to use the lid from our stamp boxes (GWP, Level A sets, etc.) to create these adorable tags to hang on your bags! It is SO easy and quick to make, not to mention a whole lot of FUN. To make yours...you will need the lid from one of our stamp boxes, paper, stamps, ink, Designer Dries Clear Glue (pg. 122), a photo and one or two embellishments. Because you are attaching your photo (mini scrapbook page) to the back side of the lid, you end up with a 3D shadow box effect, so the embellishments that you add don't need to be flat.

After you have created your 'mini scrapbook page' you will want to attach it to the lid of the stamp box. Simply lay the lid on your surface with the flat portion down on the table. Place a

dot of DDCGlue on your index (pointing) finger and run your finger down the side of the lid. The glue will 'roll' right onto the lip of the box. When done, wipe your finger off on a damp cloth so you don't get glue on your photo (like I did), then lay scrapbook page on top of the glue and press gently to secure. Add ribbons, tied in a square knot, attach to tote bag, purse, etc. with a book ring.

Luggage Tag

For all you Coluzzle lovers out there, did you know that TAC has a NEW much larger Coluzzle circle template in our catalogue?!!! It is called the Large Nested Circle (pg. 116). Of course that was one of the first things I had to purchase when our Spring/Summer Inspiration Book & Catalogue first came out! I used a flower stamp from 'Starburst Florals' and lines from 'Just a Note'. Punched a hole and set an eyelet with my Crop-a-dile and it was done! I did the same thing on the back so if the tag flips over, the info is still there for all to see.

Quick Halloween Bag

I whipped up these Halloween bags this afternoon for my nephew and for 3 of my grandbabies. They are full of candy guaranteed to rot out their little teeth! I used regular white lunch bags and attached handles to them (from some cheap Halloween bags I'd found at the Dollar Tree). Two of the stamp sets that I used "Giggly Goblins" and "Trick or Treaters" are from the new Fall Supplements. The paper is from our Simply Spooky pack (which is on sale right now but quantities are 'limited' so it will go FAST. To finish the bags off, I used two TAC alphabets. Hopefully Maggie who is in pre-school will be able to recognize her official name of 'Margaret' on her candy bag. LOL

while supplies last...

TAC has two promotions that I wanted to share with you right away because they are only available 'while supplies last' and I didn't want you to miss out on them! Please get your orders for them to me ASAP because these 'while supplies last' specials go QUICK and may not be available in November.

First, TAC is offering a SURPRISE BOX for $50. TAC says, "Everyone loves a great surprise, and we have gathered a wonderful array of our favorite products from past TAC catalogues and put together some amazing Surprise Box collections for you! These fun bundles of discontinued product have a retail value of at least $100! Available only while supplies last, don’t miss the opportunity to surprise yourself with the great papercrafting goodies found in these one-of-a-kind special boxes. Due to the special nature of this promotion, Surprise Boxes are only available while supplies last, and the products they contain are non-returnable and non-exchangeable.”

Second, this special is also starting now (October), TAC says, “A few of your favorite paper collections will be bidding you a heartfelt “good-bye” at the close of the Fall/Winter 2007 catalogue year. They will certainly be missed, but we promise some great new things are waiting to take their place. However, you won’t want to miss the opportunity to pick your favorite retiring collections at a wonderfully reduced price before they are all gone!
R-2500 Bella Flor and V-825 Kaleidoscope Brites were 19.95, now 10.00 (while supplies last). These 8 paper packs were 6.95 but are now 3.50 (while supplies last): Surf Shoppe, Simply Spooky, Vintage Holiday, Whimsy Blossoms, Finger Paints, Country Cottage, Metropolis and Lap of Luxury.

Fall/Halloween Cards

October is rushing by. I had my cousin (Ginger) from WA and her best friend (Mary) from CA here for three weeks and we stamped like crazy. Here are some cards I came up with while they were here. On this first one I used the darling scarecrow from the "Everyday Events" stamp set. He was so easy to color. Anyway, ALL stamps, papers, etc. that I use on my cards are from The Angel Company. The front of this card is folded in half so it pulls out from the left to reveal the inside of the card. I used the coluzzle on this card as well.

What you probably can't see on this card is that I used Crystal Stickles (the glitter glue that TAC carries) on the bubbles coming out of the caldron. This cute little witchie-poo comes from the stamp set called "You're a Treat". I love using orange, purple and black on my Halloween cards. If you've made some TAC Halloween cards, I'd love for you to share them with me.

The words on this card come from a non-Halloween stamp set that's called "Creepy Crawlies" but I thought it went well with the spider. Since it is so hard to punch through multiple layers of cardstock, I cut a 1" strip of printed paper and punched three squares in it. Then I adhered it to the front of my card and punched the squares again to get rid of the white cardstock beneath and create a peek-a-boo look. I stamped the left front side of my card and I was done. Quick, simple but eye-catching.

I know that traditionally the word 'boo' is used with ghosts but since this bat looks so scary, I went for it. The scrap of decorative paper from the 8"x 8" Simply Spooky paper pack was 'sewn' to the page with one of the stamps from "Running Stitches". I will use Crystal Lacquer on the bat's teeth to give some much needed dimension. To keep the bottle from clogging when done, wipe off the top and then blow into the bottle to remove the lacquer from the nozzle.

This monochromatic card is my last and probably least favorite of the bunch. It really DOES look better than the photograph shows it! To begin, tear off about 1" of the white cardstock on the front left of the card, ink the torn edge and set it aside (opened) so the ink will dry and not make a messy line on the inside of your card. To quicken the process, use your heat tool. I make 10-20 duplicate cards so by the time I'm ready to continue, the ink has already had time to dry. Place a 1-1/2" strip of printed paper on the inside (left) of the card and you're done!

Gift Cards

Several days ago I made some gift cards, at the request of my DH, and they turned out pretty good. Our swimming pool blew out/up on Father's Day so we recently bought a new pool and it is now OPERATIONAL. Yeah! My DH bought Home Depot gift certificates for the guys who helped him put the pool in so that is why he wanted me to make cards form them. It might be a little hard to see but the towel is glittered with Crystal Stickles. The flamingo flips up to reveal a pocket with a gift card inside. If you'd like the directions for this card, just send me an email!

Here is one that my friend Diane did that is exactly the same except it's turned on it's side.

I Am Now A Blogger

Hi this is Avis Anderson. I'm a little slow on the uptake and am just now getting into the blogging world but as 'they' say, better late than never...LOL. I hope to post my ideas and news here. Please check back often to see some of my creations and what is going on in my life.