This is my son's right hand, immobilized in a trough cast. He broke it on Saturday morning so we spent most of the day shuttling between different health care facilities (walk in clinic, xray, urgent care…all because Mom wanted to avoid the ER on the weekend!).
Needless to say, a lot of other things got put on the backburner! Of course, he's right handed, so school was interesting (thank goodness it's now March Break!), and trumpet playing is out right now. Just Friday he got put into a lighter weight splint/cast which will be in place for at least another 2-3 weeks…we'll see how it goes!! It's been a reminder of how independent he truly is normally….(and how I need to schedule blog posts ahead of time more often! LOL).
Anyway, I apologize for the silence on the blog of late…but I did do some stamping to share with you! Little cards are the BEST when you need a quick card just to tell someone you're thinking of them, or to attach to a gift. (especially if you're creating at the last minute…not that I would know anything about that…ahem…ROFLOL) Here's a 3" x 3" card I made for my son…using the Patterned Occasions Sale-a-Bration freebie set stamped in Island Indigo, with the Sycamore Street Designer Series Paper (also a Sale-a-Bration freebie) as a backdrop.
Don't miss out on YOUR Sale-a-Bration freebies – it only runs until March 22nd – remember that you can select one item for each $60 of merchandise that you order – OR get 25% extra in your $125 starter kit (just like Amy did – woohoo! Welcome to the "eh" Team!!). Contact me for more information!
I have yet to decide if March is coming in like a lamb or a lion….I'll let you know what I think after I've been outside for a while!!
Today brings a new month, and a new "Best of" set from Stampin' Up! This month is the "Best of Flowers" set and features some of my personal favourites from past years – including the Hydrangea flower and the main image from Upsy Daisy. See, I even remember the names of the sets! Click here to see the flyer.
All "best of" sets will be available for purchase until March 31, 2014. Download your collector card and add your stickers – once you have 6 stickers, you get to select a set valued at $17.95 for FREE. (must be redeemed by April 30, 2014).
There are a couple of spots left for the March card class – Wednesday, March 6th at 7pm here in Burlington. If you'd like to attend, please register ASAP!! Space is limited.
I like Tuesdays….I go to choir rehearsal (weather allowing LOL) and get to sing with my friends, and OH YES there are new Stampin' Up! digital downloads! (and because I'm so prompt with this one…at the time of this writing, the images weren't yet available on the site, but I'm sure they will be there shortly…)
A SECOND free download – No Regrets pocket cards. I'm not sure if you saw them or not, but Stampin' Up! has great divided scrapbook pages. The Happy Things Pocket Cards kit will be GREAT for this! Perfect if you're doing Project Life or something like that. Smaller spaces to fill can feel less daunting and more easily completed (well, at least that's how I feel…LOL).
Happy Tuesday to you! Fingers crossed that the winter storm they're calling for isn't _too_ bad (though I'm sure there's many students out there with their fingers crossed for a snow day!!!). I'll be back with more updates later on!
Thought I'd share the project that my son created for school. He had to come up with some sort of advertisement for a product. Initially he chose a fictitious hat company, but was having trouble moving forwards from there. We brainstormed together and ended up using my Stampin' Up! business as a real-life example of a product. Having a real world item to focus on made this project so much easier for him! All of a sudden, it was much simpler to identify things like "target market" "message" and "product" – so the project was done quickly (much to the relief of BOTH of us! LOL you parents know what I mean).
So here is the poster presentation that he gave in class – and got top marks! Yay!
In case you're curious, he was focusing on the fact that you could learn to make cards by attending classes with me and using Stampin' Up! products. Always nice to have a cheerleader in your corner! …And of course, if you want to attend a class, you are always welcome! There's still a few spots open in March's card class but you'll need to RSVP to save your spot for Wednesday, March 6th at 7pm. 😉
My Stampin' Up! business helps fund my creative endeavours and I also use some of the funds towards family trips, which is why my son likes it! Of course, another thing that really made sure he was on board with my Stampin' Up! business was the fact that we were able to attend the Manager's Reception while at the Leadership conference earlier this year. We had already booked to be in Orlando as I was running the Disney Marathon when I found out Leadership was at the same time in the same place!! There was room for guests at the Manager's Reception, so I was able to bring my mom & son to enjoy my first time at this event. We had a FANTASTIC time. There is nothing like being able to run around The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the Universal Park when you are the ONLY ONES IN THERE!! It was amazing… I didn't take my big camera, so these are shots from my iphone…but you get the idea, right?
the invitation….
Stampin' Up! logo at the reception
Hogwarts at night…
inside the wand shop, where the wand is picking the wizard!!
So grateful to have been able to share this fun experience with my family and my Stampin' Up! friends. Thanks to my team of demonstrators and all my customers for making this career so fun and rewarding.
Tomorrow is the next installment of the Celebrate Sale-a-Bration emails – we are at week 5 – halfway through! This email program is going out to all my subscribers as a thanks and to help with creative ideas for all your papercrafting! Tomorrow's project features one of the images I just knew I had to pick as my free item…
In Ontario we had a long weekend – "Family Day" was yesterday. In our family, we celebrated by sleeping in!! We had a nice day just hanging around the house. I did do some crafting for upcoming projects, but you'll see those later on… in the meantime, I'm not sure that I've yet shared this card. Another from the Bootiful Occasions set. I always try to ensure that we do one masculine type card at each card class – so this was the masculine card a little while back. Love the Natural Trim Ribbon and Argyle Folder to add accents to the card that aren't overly feminine.
The next monthly card class will be Wednesday, March 6th at 7pm here in Burlington – registration required, and space is limited. Can't make it to class? Host a class with your friends (and earn free Sale-a-Bration items!) or try my online class! Happy crafting 🙂
Happy Valentine's Day to you! I hope that you are able to spend time with people that are special to you.
This is a quick and easy project that doesn't take too much to create – just some coordinating papers and accessories. You can form whatever shape you wish – in this case, I did a heart because it's for Valentine's Day – and punched a variety of circle sizes and hearts. I then threw in a few buttons for good measure. I don't like "naked" buttons but don't always have the patience to thread them, so in this case, I used some rhinestones and adhered them in the centres of the buttons. Use one of the Designer Series paper Stacks in one colour family to make it easy to have a cohesive look. Tada! A quick and easy decoration!
If you love to create things with paper, consider starting your own Stampin' Up! business. Right now is a great time – Sale-a-Bration means that you can get $194 worth of product of your choice for the regular starter kit price of $125! I hold get togethers for my group of demonstrators that are local to Burlington, but because my group includes demonstrators across Canada, I also use emails and a team blog to keep in touch with members. If you are interested in joining, us, please contact me for more information or read about the Stampin' Up! opportunity here.
This is the Valentine's Day spinner card that I shared on CH Morning Live last week – the heart spins along the slot in the card. These spinner cards are fun to create and once you've made one, it's easy to make more! I've always used pennies as the weights to create the spinning effect – so if you're in Canada, grab those pennies before they disappear!!
Don't forget that today is Week Four (one month!!) of my Celebrate Sale-a-Bration emails. Today's project idea could be used for Valentine's Day! Email goes out at 1pm Eastern Time, so be signed up for my mailing list (if you aren't already!) before then so you don't miss out.
Sharing a couple more "love"ly cards that I received in swaps from Stampin' Up! Leadership Conference. Great for Valentine's Day or any occasion that you'd give a card to someone you love or to celebrate love! Both these cards showcase punches.
This first card doesn't have ID on the back of it – so if you created it, please let me know so I can give you credit! Anyway, I love the clean graphic nature of this card and glimmer makes it more fun! Texture and pattern make a simple card more interesting.
This fun card is from Karen Duke who credits Karen Yeomans for the design. The body of the fish uses the Ornament Punch and Delightful Decorations – not just for Christmas!
There are new digital downloads available today for MDS2 and photo editing software – including a new, FREE download! The Label This Designer Template download is FREE so that you can get your Stampin' Up! supplies organized! OK I have few excuses left for my messy crafting area, obviously. Will have to get to work on that! In the meantime, happy crafting 🙂
This is one of the swaps I received at Stampin' Up!'s Leadership Event – perfect for a Valentine's Day Card! Created by April Lopez, I love how the framelit creates a window to showcase the More Amore Specialty Designer Series Paper underneath. The sentiment is from Seasonal Sayings – still available from the Holiday Catalogue. I love swapping at demonstrator events – it's a great way to get new ideas – with less work!!
If you're interested in becoming a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, now is a GREAT time – you will receive $194 of product of your choice for only $125 during Sale-a-Bration (until March 22nd). Contact me for more information or click here. Our next group get together will be on Wednesday, February 20th and we'd love for you to join us!
OK, so that's not actually what this kit is called…..BUT IT SHOULD BE!! LOL
Stampin' Up! has produced the "Dude, You're Welcome" card kit – apparently directed towards the male population…but honestly, do they think that will stop a crafty (and I mean that in the arts & crafts way…) female?! I personally quite like this set – 4 images, double mounted (so there's only 2 blocks), large graphic quality images that look slightly distressed, so quite forgiving for crafting. The kit also includes a Basic Gray ink pad, envelopes and postcard sized printed cardstock. No folding necessary! The example I've shown is the "fill in the blank" option – perfect for Valentine's Day?! I did use a non-kit item – the silver Stampin' Dazzle marker (from the Holiday Catalogue, still available!) to write "love". This kit is great for guys – for them to MAKE cards or to make cards FOR them as well. Get this kit and give it to the guy in your life, so that you never have the occasion to say…."DUDE, WHERE'S MY CARD??!!"
Here's the promotional video showing the contents of the kit…click here to come to the YamStamps website if you aren't able to see the embedded video below.
