Feb 24, 2015 | specials, Stampin' Up!
No, not a reference to that 50 Shades movie….a reference to all the ribbon and twine in the offering this week for Stampin’ Up!’s Weekly Deals! Click on the link beside each item to see it in the YamStamps Online Stampin’ Up! Canada store – or click here to see all the specials at once. This week, I’ve got my eye on a few things – I don’t think you can EVER go wrong by having a stash of white ribbon of some sort, and I also love the colour blue… so may have to grab both of those this week!
By the way, please leave me some feedback – either by email or in the comments below – to let me know which format you prefer for the Weekly Deals – the individual items like today, or the “at a glance” posts like last week.
Feb 22, 2015 | cards, Occasions, Seasonal Catalogue, Stampin' Up!
This is a super quick and easy card to make! The stand up card is made the same way as the Valentine’s Card I did on Morning Live, and is based on the basics of card cutting and folding in the video I shared here. Using Stampin’ Up!’s Sheltering Tree set from the Occasions catalogue, it’s easy to create this card that reminds us that spring is on its way….sometime… This is 2 step stamping at it’s best – stamp the trunk in a brown tone of your choice, stamp the leaves in the colour of your choice, add a bit of ground and you’re done. The gradation of colour in the leaves is done by the stamp itself so it’s easy to look totally artistic!
If you’d like other ways to look totally artistic, don’t forget that TODAY is the last day to register for the upcoming Blendabilities class on March 12th. Space is limited, and payment due at time of registration. Don’t miss out! These are fun tools to use in your paper crafting and I’ll show you some tips and tricks to make your colouring look totally professional. And you know me – it’s going to be easy, because I’m a bit of a lazy crafter that way!!
Feb 19, 2015 | cards, Occasions, Seasonal Catalogue, Stampin' Up!
I just love the Butterfly Thinlits Dies in the Stampin’ Up! Canada Occasions Catalogue. They have been so popular that they went on backorder for a while! So easy to create a beautiful accent for your card or scrapbook page.
For this simple card, the Lullaby Designer Series Paper (have I mentioned how much I love this DSP that could be used for babies but is definitely all purpose?!) forms a backdrop and colour point. The butterfly is cut from Blushing Bride cardstock, with some additional Blushing Bride sponged at the edges to give a bit more contrast. The greeting from Butterfly Basics is stamped in Baked Brown Sugar and Hello Honey cardstock adds the matting.
To make it easier to remove your die cuts from the framelit there are a few things we’ve tried. (I will post a quick video comparing the two techniques to the YamStamps YouTube channel in the next day or so.) In the meantime… You can add a layer of wax paper between your cardstock and the framelit and your die cut is easily removed. The technique we tried at club was to cut the cardstock with the framelit, then to run the framelit (with the die cut image still stuck inside) through the Big Shot again, on top of a layer of folded dryer sheets. When you pull the folded dryer sheets away, the die cut image sticks to the dryer sheet, so you just peel it off and then you can re-use the dryer sheets (once you’ve picked off all the little bits left behind). The one thing about this technique, though, is that all the little guide holes that are in the framelit (designed so you can poke your paper piercer through to help remove the die cut) will get embossed into the die cut piece. On this card, I used the wax paper technique so you don’t see any guide holes.
Send a butterfly to a friend through the mail….since if you’re living in Southern Ontario these days, that’s the only way you’ll see one for the next few months!
Feb 17, 2015 | specials, Stampin' Up!
I hope you had a good Family Day (if you’re here in Ontario!). We had a relaxing day around here, and I had the opportunity to be on The Night Side on NewsTalk 1010 Radio last evening! I was interviewed on turning Passion into Profit (around here known as “50 Shades of Cardstock” LOL). I will post a link to the audio file that they kindly sent to me. It was a fun experience. If you would like to know more about having your own Stampin’ Up! business, check out this page here or contact me for more information.
In the meantime – here are this week’s deals! Great buy on the Designer Series Paper! Click on this link or the image to see the items in the YamStamps Online Stampin’ Up! Canada store.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. In the meantime, happy shopping! (and if you’re in my neck of the woods – stay warm!!)
Feb 16, 2015 | cards, Stampin' Up!
This is a recent card that we created in Stampers Club. Now, those of you that know me, don’t be too shocked, but YES that is a “fussy-cut” flower on the front!! I do tend to avoid fussy cutting as a general rule, especially in classes or clubs – it’s a polarizing thing (some people REALLY dislike cutting things by hand) and I also like to keep my crafting simple. However, there are times when a punch, die cut or whatever just don’t quite do it, and this is an example.
Other than that, this is a pretty straight forward card – really! It uses one image only – one of the flowers from Everything Eleanor. The sentiment is from A Dozen Thoughts and is stamped in Staz On onto a Window Sheet. The flowers are initially stamped in the centre of the cardfront, varying between first generation (ink the stamp, stamp on the paper) and second generation images (re-stamped onto paper without re-inking the stamp) to add variation and interest. The oval window is die cut from another piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, and THEN embossed with the Fancy Fan folder. Important to cut first, then emboss, otherwise your embossed pattern tends to get squashed when the cardstock is run through the Big Shot again. Stamp onto your window sheet, adhere to the back of your embossed cardstock, then put onto the front of the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals. As a bonus – if you don’t like how your sentiment stamped, clean the Window Sheet with some Staz On Cleaner and you can start again!! Hand cut one flower with your Paper Snips and then adhere to the cardfront for a finishing touch.
It’s always great to have a stash of cards on hand, and a “Just Because” card is so multipurpose and so fun to receive! Remember when we were so thrilled to get an email and were innundated with “snail mail”? It’s the opposite these days, isn’t it? Share the joy and send a hand made card! I am working on this for myself this year – send more cards! (Especially to those people who place orders with me, nudge, nudge! LOL). If you would like to build up your card stash, please consider attending a class with me! Monthly Card Class is always open to all levels of crafters – next one is Wednesday, March 4th. Hope to see you soon!!
