My group of downline, the "Yes, Ma'am!" Stampers, met at my house this past Saturday evening for a fun time of stamping and fellowship. We meet once a month to stamp & share ideas, get to know each other better, and have fun! When you are the one bringing the fun to the party, it's nice to get to relax and let someone else bring the fun to you, which is what I hope to accomplish by hosting this monthly meeting.

Definition of "downline": people (usually but not limited to female) who join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator.

The members of the "Yes, Ma'am!" Stampers are ladies who have joined Stampin' Up! as hobby or business demonstrators to either get the demonstrator discount on their personal stamping supplies orders or to sell Stampin' Up! to other people to help pay monthly bills, save for a special treat or vacation, or any other reason they may have! These members include all the ladies who have directly joined Stampin' Up! under me, plus their downlines, and their downline's downline, all the way to 5 levels below me!

Before I explain what the "Yes, Ma'am" Stampers name means, I will show you the projects we made. Each project, while cute and fun all on it's own, had a purpose in how it could be used for their Stampin' Up! business.

First up, a Big Shot project, is an Easter carrot box made with the Occasions Mini Petal Cone Die! We used all the parts of this die to make the carrot, including using the banner to create the "greens" of the carrot top! We ran the Tangerine Tango cut pieces of the box through the Big Shot with one of the plates from the Texture Plates Kit #4 before putting the box together. The scalloped half-circles for the top of the carrot we cut using Pear Pizzazz from the Designer Series Paper Pack-In Color Level 1 Hostess, and the carrot top was created by cutting two Pear Pizzazz banners in half length-wise and curling them around a Paper Piercing Tool!

©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

Each half circle of the top was attached to only one side of the box top flaps so the flaps could still be folded under each other to close the box! This carrot box  was our "Big Shot" project!

©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

Next, we made a "give-a-way" project, which were these darling little chocolate holders! Who doesn't like to receive an unexpected piece of chocolate? I know I do! These are quick and easy to make when you use the free "Ice Cream Parlor" Designer Series Paper & Quick Accents Pack and the Ice Cream Parlor Ribbon & Button Pack, both free with $50 orders during Sale-a-bration! The middle chocolate holder uses the "Eat Chocolate" set from the Occasions Mini! If you notice something different behind the holders in this first picture, it's one of the Clear Mount Stamp Cases (they come in a set of 4 for $4.95 and are found on page 192 of the Big Catalog). I am putting the chocolate holders in one of these to keep them safe and muss-free in my purse!  These cases are great for lots of little things, from it's original intent of storing un-mounted stamps to notepads, to chocolate! Cool!

©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

As a potential Hostess Gift we made these cute and quick Hand Sanitizer Holders! I received this great idea from my good friend and fellow demonstrator, Meg Wheeler. She (and we!) embellished the holder with Creat a Cupcake stamps and the Build a Cupcake punch! SO CUTE!

Dimensions for the holder are as follows:

Cut strip of cardstock 2" x 11". Score at 1/2", 1 1/2", 3 1/2", 4 1/2", 7 1/2", and 8 1/2". Fold on all score lines, then punch a Large Oval between the 1/2" and 1 1/2" scored lines. Attach 1/2" section to back of holder with Sticky Strip.

©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

Inside:

©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

We made two more projects at our "Ma'am's" meeting, but I'm going to save them for tomorrow!

However, I did promise to tell you why my downline group is called the "Yes, Ma'am!" Stampers! Several years ago during the Stampin' Up! Convention in Denver Colorado, several of my downline and I attended a Shoebox Swap hosted at a nearby hotel. This shoebox swap consisted of 48 Stampin' Up! demonstrators from all over the country gathering in one rather small hotel conference room to stamp 24 different projects! Needless to say, it was a madhouse trying to get around to all the projects, sharing stamps and accessories with everyone else! One lady I was stamping next to asked me for a punch I had in front of me,  and as I handed it to her I said, "here you go, Ma'am!", which is a term I often use with all my stampers and friends. She was almost offended that I had called her "ma'am", which to her I guess meant "old lady"! But I explained to her that where I live in Southern Illinois it is a term used for endearment as well as respect. I later realized that this encounter had given me the perfect name for my downline group: "Yes, Ma'am!" means we are dedicated to friendship, respect, fun, and superior customer service! I was able to officially register our name with Stampin' Up!, and the "Yes, Ma'am!" Stampers we are!

A long-winded post today, I know, but I'll be back tomorrow with more fun ideas!

Until tomorrow, have a Stampingrox! Day!