Doesn’t this have a lovely, serene, beachy feel? This is made with Stampin’ Up!’s Picture Perfect set, and the watercolour wash effect paper on the bottom is the limited editionSale-a-Bration Perfectly Artistic Designer Series Paper. The flip side of this paper is a marbled look – it’s truly gorgeous and difficult to pick which side to use!! The paper will be available for free with a $60 product order until February 15th. There _may_ be an opportunity to get it after that date, depending on inventory, but it’s not guaranteed – so grab it now before you miss it. The other colours on this card are Crumb Cake and Chocolate Chip.
I’ve decided that I’m going to make an effort to send out more cards by mail. During the next 40 days, I’m going to mail out 40 cards – a card a day. I’m not going to count my “Thank You” customer cards in that total, because I want to challenge myself! This ties in nicely with a movement happening in the Stampin’ Up! world. One of the corporate team members is starting a trend to send out birthday cards – celebrating the handmade, mailed card as opposed to electronic messages (even though those are nice, too!). Shannon bravely put out a facebook post welcoming all to indicate their birthdays to receive a card. I think she has over 1000 birthdays to keep on top of, at last count?! I am being a little more realistic in my abilities and time allotment, so I’m going to do 1 random card per day over 40 days. I posted my first card for this challenge on the YamStamps facebook page yesterday.
If you’d like to bring back the art of the handmade, mailed greeting card, you can register for the Birthday Card Class!! February’s class will be Thursday, February 25th at 7pm in Burlington. The registration deadline is TOMORROW so don’t miss it. You receive a package of the Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper included in your class fee, so you’ll have plenty to take home after completing four different birthday cards in class. Please contact me if you have any questions, or use the registration link below.
Here are the latest Weekly Deals from Stampin’ Up! Canada – limited quantities, limited time, special pricing. My favourite this week? The Butterfly Basics set. This is a beautiful set, and can be used for cards for either gender. I know that when we see butterflies and flowers we automatically think of a more feminine card, but the fern leaf is great for a more masculine card, and there are some great elements that can be used for a more collage-type layout. (That being said, my eye is always caught by shiny objects, so the first thing I saw when I looked at the deals this morning was the sequin trim!! LOL). The second thing that caught my eye is that Stampin’ Up! must have gone alphabetical with the deals this week: Build a Baker’s Box, decorate it with Butterfly Basics, Bermuda Bay Trim & Blossoms, tied up with Baker’s Twine, all specially priced for one week!
Don’t forget that you get a package of the Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper with your registration to the next Birthday Card Class! The class date is Thursday, February 25 at 7pm here in Burlington, and the REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS THIS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11. (sorrry to shout, just wanted to make sure you didn’t miss that!). We will be using portions of the Designer Series Paper to create our cards in class, and you’ll take the rest home to use on your other projects. Cost is $25 and as always, includes all the supplies required for the class projects. Click on the Paypal button to register now, or contact me if you have any questions or wish to pay by cash or cheque. Come build up your card stash!
Sympathy cards – the ones you tend not to have on hand when you need one, and the ones you are least likely to feel very creative about at the time you need one. These are the kind of cards that it can be good to have an easy model to whip up, or have one or two in your stash of cards. This is a monochromatic card, using the Softly Falling Embossing Folder (which in my world often gets called the Gently Falling Folder….but I digress) and die cuts from the Rose Garden Thinlits Dies. The sentiment is from the Rose Wonder Stamp Set, and you can get the dies and stamps together in a discounted bundle. I love the coordinating stamps and dies or punches that Stampin’ Up! sells – the less brain work for me, the better and easier it is for my crafting!!
If you look closely at this card you may catch something here – the colours used were Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke….and Mellow Moss. The Mellow Moss leaves were a fluke that I discovered after the fact…I thought I had grabbed a piece of Always Artichoke – that’s what happens when I sort scraps too quickly I guess. Thankfully they do coordinate and are kind of tonal versions of each other. (sorry, for the artsy type out there that are cringing at my description….).
If you want to build up your stash of cards, please consider joining a class here in Burlington. The monthly card class is the first Wednesday of each month, open to all, and my Stampers Club meets the third Monday of the month (afternoon and evening options) – well, except this month, when we meet the second Monday so that we can relax with our families on Family Day. If an in person class is not an option for you, consider one of my online classes to learn from the comfort of your own home. See the YamStamps Events page for upcoming classes, or contact me if you have any questions.
One of my goals this year is to get more organized in how I work my business. Truthfully, I think every year I have some sort of organizing goal/resolution! I have spent some time and think I’ve hit a good method for me to keep on top of all the ongoing tasks….so we’ll see how it goes! Fingers crossed. One of the areas I needed to streamline was my thank you card process.
This is the thank you card for eveyone who placed an order in January. I came up with a quick card using some great Sale-a-Bration items – Botanicals for You stamp set and Botanical Gardens Designer Vellum stack, and teamed Elegant Eggplant and Wisteria Wonder together for a monochromatic colour scheme. I have post-it notes inside with a note to the recipient, with the intention that they can re-use the card for their own card giving needs!
I tried out a set up to shoot some quick videos on my iphone, and I can already tell I need to invest in a microphone to improve the sound quality. That being said, you can still hear what I’m saying, and see what I’m doing. This was a “one take wonder” video, no re-dos and no editing other than for time and to add the title and end slides. If you subscribe to the YamStamps YouTube Channel, you’ll hopefully have received notification of this video when it went live yesterday. In the meantime, here it is again for your viewing pleasure 😉 If you don’t see a video below, go to the YamStamps YouTube Channel to check it out. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. If you want to see what the February thank you card looks like…you should place an order!!
Here are the latest Weekly Deals from Stampin’ Up! Canada! I know that I often have a hard time picking my favourite, but this week, it was easy for me for a change because I saw that the Mini Treat Bag Dies are on the list. I know, it may not look like much at first glance…but this set of thinlits make the cutest little treat bags and it has a great variety of extra accents and labels to use! We made little bags to hold our projects for the Christmas Tags Class in December and they were so great!
Don’t forget that if you place an order for at least $60 merchandise, you get a free Sale-a-Bration item as well. There are a number of limited edition Sale-a-Bration items that will not be guaranteed after February 16th, so now is your chance to grab them while they’re available! Shop online at the YamStamps Stampin’ Up! Canada store – or contact me if you need assistance placing your order or have any questions. Happy shopping!
