Farewell to The Angel Company

Hello Friend. Today's post will be a trip down memory lane. I'm using old card creations and photos to help me say what I want to say. It's a long post, but I'm hoping you think it's a fun way to say Farewell to The Angel Company. (Feel free to laugh at the old cards. LOL) It's also an Angel Blog Hop, so be sure to check out all the other blogs too! (forgive the funky spacing--I couldn't get it to work right.grrrr)

First comes a Thank You to Lori B for introducing me to The Angel Company and then becoming my upline.

When I found out that TAC was closing its doors, I went through several stages of grief, including my own personal little "Hissy Fit."

After the hissy fit, I thought about all the fun times I've had with The Angel Company.

I started to remember all of the friends I have made in the last 7.5 years I've been an Angel. It was fun to think about all of the Angel Gatherings I have been to. It was at this one in 2006 that Awna S asked me to be a part of a monthly swap. Those swap ladies amazed me with their creativity. Leslie L was my first downline to ever go to a gathering with me. :-)

This picture if from my very first Seminar in Kansas City in 2006. My Angel "sisters" Amy K and Karla M had not been to Seminar before either, and we had so much fun! This pic is from opening night, and that's Mischelle Smith to my left. She has always been so "available" to Angels, and that's one thing I always appreciated.

Because Angels wanted a place online to gather every day, A Shade of Blue became our online message board. It was there that many of us became better friends, then met each other for the first time at Seminar 2006. (notice our plan to wear shirts in shades of blue?)

Every year at Seminar, I enjoyed getting together with the teams I was on--such creative women! This pic is Mama Mary's team in 2007. She was always so generous with us! She put me to shame by ALWAYS sending me a hand-stamped birthday card every year!

From the very first time we met, Diana S and I hit it off. We started a tradition of getting our picture taken as "the Dianes" at every gathering where we were together. Here we are flying high (yeah, right) at Seminar 2007.

Oh, and I can't forget to add that Becky C always managed to pop up in our Dianes photo because she wanted to be one of us! Love ya, Becky! (this pic is from Seminar 2008)

In this Seminar 2009 photo, we had welcomed a new "Diane" to our group--Diana M. She's such a sweetheart! (We've got pix from Seminar 2008, but I had to limit this somewhere!)

Remember I said I enjoy my "sister Angels" on my teams? This is Lori B's team at Seminar 2009. I haven't included pix of my own Smilin Stampers over the years because those gals are also part of the other teams I'm on (Lori's and Mary's).

So, bouquets of flowers to Mischelle and all of you other wonderfully creative women!

Thanks for a fun ride these last 7.5 years! (This stamp set "Frazzled" was my very first TAC purchase as Lori's customer.)

To Mischelle and all you other Angels, blessings as you decide what to do next.

(oops this card isn't posting and no time to fix it--trust me it was an oldie but goodie)

(keep scrolling--there's more...)

Remember Prov. 3: 5-6 as you take the next steps.

Even though this is good-bye to The Angel Company, I know it's not good-bye to my Angel friends. Now be sure to hop the other blogs.

Julie
Seleise
Rita W
Donna
Chan
Mary
Angela
Laura
Barbara
Trudy
Shirley
Wendy
Carol
Rita K.
Chelsea
Kim
PaulaKay
Ginger
Teresa
Maria
Angie
Deb
Diana
Betty
Christine
Sandy
Char
Diane
Chris
Stacy
Rita

The Angel Company is Closing

It is with a heavy heart that I must announce to my stamping friends that The Angel Company is closing its doors. TAC simply could not hold out any longer in this difficult economy. In the last 7.5 years, I have met many wonderful friends and learned more about others, myself and the business world.

I wish Mischelle (TAC owner and CEO) and her family the very best. You can read her message on TAC's site here. Thanks to my friends, family and customers for your support while I was an Angel.

At this point, I don't plan to join with another company just yet. However, I will keep stamping, holding classes and selling hand-made items. It seems as though my customers enjoy the fun, friendship and creativity of classes and events. I know I really do!

For now, I'm thinking this is the way to go. I'd love to hear your feedback, so please let me know what you're thinking.

It's a very sad day in the stamping world. :-(

August Card Class Samples

For a totally different look, I decided to use my watercolor crayons on the stamp before spritzing it with water. I then cut it out--some people call it fussy cutting. ;-)


The cut out stamp is on a die I cut using "Eyelet Circles" then placed on a card front embossed using the Impressies called "circles." Figured I might as well stick with the circle theme for this one. LOL
The card below is also pretty plain and simple. The dark brown on the front doesn't really look so dark/odd/out of place in person. :-) I wanted to do something different with the sentiment banner, so I did what you see below. I've never seen it done (though I'm sure I'm not *that* original!), and I'm honestly not sure what I think. I might have liked it better if I'd done it like this card where I adhered the two ends and let the middle be slightly raised.

More Clard Class Samples

It's so much fun to use the same stamps for entirely new and different looks! That's what I was hoping to show by using Lotsa Dotsa for all six cards for the August stamp class--and by posting them here too. ;-)

This one uses the same butterfly as the previous post too. I totally CASEd this card by Nichole Heady (scroll half way down the post). Inside it says, "Thinking about you!" Sweet, huh?

The leaves were made by punching out a circle, then cutting off the "sides" of the circle to make leaf shapes. I scored the middle using my Scor Buddy, then sponged them with the same Momento ink that I'd used on the rest of the card. Stamps used: Lotsa Dotsa, Here I Am, Happily Grateful, Gift of Friendship.

This one is pretty straight forward. I used the Bricks texture plate from the Brick & Woodgrain set with the "mortar" pushed out to look like dripping mortar. A makeup pad with Burnt Umber made the texture really pop. That's Labels 3 you see there, too.

Stay tuned for two more in the next post...

Card Class Samples

The other day I showed you a sneak peek of the August Card Class cards using Lotsa Dotsa. Now you get to see them up close and personal. Well, maybe not so personal, but at least up close!


It's hard to tell in the photo above, but the butterfly is stamped in black on the card front. I then stamped the same butterfly on black cardstock and cut it out. I glued the body to the card, but left the wings up so it could "fly." I was inspired by this card (scroll to bottom of post) that I CASEd.


This card is CASEd straight from this one here. I thought it was so creative that I HAD to do it! Although her stems are ribbon, I simply used a ruler and black marker to make mine. Much easier to get them straight. LOL


I'll post more class cards later...

A DIFFERENT stamp set!

Finally something other than Lotsa Dotsa! Don't worry, though, that set will return over the next several days. This stamp is called Lovely Butterfly and is a Level A Hostess set. I decided to try spotlighting without exactly doing the spotlighting technique. I like the overall effect, but I'm not sure I'm thrilled with the color of the butterfly.

I used the Flourishes Impressabilities on black, then went over it DTP with my Starlight Black Brilliance Dew Drop. It was the perfect touch to give it a touch of color and sparkle. In the close-up below, you can see the black gem that I used for the center of the butterfly.

To see more cards with this same image, click HERE. They are done by the owner/CEO of The Angel Company, Mischelle Smith.

On a side note, I spent the fall semester last year teaching 4th grade. We had a unit on butterflies in which we learned the difference between butterflies and moths. This image doesn't really have the complete characteristics of either! I think is a buth, or maybe a buttermoth, or even a motherfly. Bad humor, I know... :-)

Bubble Shooter

Ok. I admit it. My name is Diane, and I like to play Bubble Shooter. It's mindless, senseless, and great for when I need to chill and escape. The card below comes from a Bubble Shooter "ah hah" moment. Unfortunately I didn't have quite the right colors.

So, I was playing Bubble Shooter and I got rid of all the colors except lime green, turquoise, purple and royal blue. I thought to myself, "Oh, what a pretty color combo for a card. LOL Then the ah hah moment came...you guessed it, Lotsa Dotsa--again! But would you believe I don't have a royal blue ink pad? Nope! I've got oodles of inks, including lots of blues, but not one is royal blue. I had to make due with Reflection Blue (see smallest dots). The other color isn't truly turquoise either, but it'll do in a pinch.
It's hard to see, but I used my Stardust Clear Gelly Pen on the swirl under the sentiment and the exclamation mark. It's also on every dot on the inner ring of the purple and the outermost big dots on the turquoise. In this photo you can just barely see the sparkle. It makes a simple and otherwise boring card not quite to simple and boring. :-)

Lotsa Dotsa Rainbow

As I was falling asleep the other night, the idea came to me to turn this stamp into a rainbow card. So, here it is! I was going to put ribbon where the rick-rack is, but it was too see-through. When I saw the yellow rick-rack staring back at me, I knew it was just the whimsy that I wanted this card to have.

Once again, the stamp set is Lotsa Dotsa. Surprise, right?!?!! :-) Oh, and it just seemed like a "happy card" so I used the sentiment from Oh Happy Day.

Lotsa Dotsa Make-n-Take

Oops! The photo makes it look like the Leaning Tower of Dots. It's not really a crooked card. :-) This is the card that the ladies who came to my Open House/Catalogue Premiere had a chance to do as a make-n-take.

You'll notice that it's very similar to yesterday's post, but I changed the colors, no banner for the sentiment, and added the floss that TAC is now carrying. It was fun to see how each gal's card turned out just a bit different. I love that part of stamping with a group!

Don't forget to sign up for my August stamping class--we're using this set!

Lotsa Dotsa Birthday

This is the very first card I made with the Lotsa Dotsa set. I knew as soon as I saw the new Catalogue that this set would be on my very first order.

The card was for my oldest daughter's birthday--her favorite colors are teal and red. It's hard to tell in the photo, but I used two different colors of the teal ink! The one in the upper right corner was actually a mistake--I had the red ink open and went to that pad. :-(

The heart from our Gems Collection was the perfect touch for my girl! She loves anything sparkly. :-) Note: I could have taken the time to line everything up perfectly so that the centers were truly centered, but I like the "not so perfect" look.

Stay tuned for another Lotsa Dotsa set tomorrow.

Lotsa Dotsa

Are you wondering what this hodge podge is?!?!? It's the pile of samples for my August 9 Card Class. Wanna come?

These sneak peeks let you know that we'll be using Lotsa Dotsa (click to view full set) in a number of different ways, for a number of different looks. I just LOVE this new set!!!

Class is Tuesday, August 9 at 6:30 p.m. at my house. Register by August 7. Contact me for more info.