If you follow YamStamps on Facebook, you’ll know that I love sharing “Days” on the page – like today, which is Mario Day! MAR-1-0 – get it? Someone very clever (presuming someone at Nintendo) came up with that one! It inspired me to create a quick and easy Mario themed card!
I cut the Azure Afternoon Cardstock to resemble overalls, added a Poppy Parade inner card and used the cut outs from a number 8 from the Alphabet A La Mode Dies for the overall buttons. I found a free font on the web that resembled the Mario lettering and used that to create a sentiment that I stuck on the inside of the card – and it’s a SUPER card for a Nintendo lover!
I thought the overalls theme would be the easiest to use for a card – and going with this, you could also easily make a matching Luigi card by using a green inner card rather than a red one!
Did you play a lot of Mario games in the past – or are you still playing them? I played more when my son was younger since we would play together….and I do remember playing Super Mario Universe on my own after he’d gone to bed because I really wanted to beat certain levels. (I can be a little goal oriented that way I guess!!). We also played Mario Kart and Mario Party with a group, which was fun (though our family can get a little competitive at times!!). Must be a genetic thing.
Check out the quick Mario Day card video I did of the card making process – I shared it pretty much everywhere….YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook….and now here on YamStamps.com as well! I like being able to create quick videos and then find some appropriate and fun music to use with them….though a bunch of my TikToks are now quiet (they even removed MY voice in some of the voice overs) because they’ve stopped allowing Universal Music for Tik Toks (and apparently I used a bunch of their songs). I might get around to picking new music for them at some point (or maybe the music will be allowed again at some point in the future??). Anyway, for now, at least, the Mario Day video has sound!!
Save this so you can remember to make a Mario themed card for the game lover in your life!
Check out this Super Simple Fancy Fold Card! (Does it still count as a fancy fold when it’s this easy?)
You may know that I love quick and easy crafting. This super simple fancy fold card is definitely in that category – to the point where I almost wondered if I could call it a fancy fold?! I decided that I could, since anything other than a standard “cut the cardstock and fold it in half” seems fancy to me.
It’s a simple extra fold with a “closure” card.
I love that we can still order the Winter Meadow Designer Series Paper – because it’s definitely still winter here. (Now we even have snow and sub-zero temperatures to boot, not like that freaky warm weather last week!!). This was one of my favourite papers from the September-December Mini Catalogue, so I’m happy that it’s still available! I featured it on this card, using two sides of the same piece which makes it even easier to create!!
It’s a standard sized card to start – so cut to 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″, but there’s an extra score line at 1″ – so scored at 1″, then 5-1/4″. The 1″ score line is folded, and then stuck in place, leaving a shorter front portion of the card that meets up. Add a die cut shape and sentiment to the flap (making sure to ONLY stick it to the flap) and then you have a closure piece! Tada! A super simple fancy fold card! The sentiment is from Timeless Arrangements, and my go to dies for sentiments for card fronts are the Stylish Shapes Dies – so I used the squares for this card. I used Blueberry Bushel ink, Blueberry Bushel cardstock for the backing square, and Very Vanilla Cardstock for the base.
We made this super simple fancy fold card during Monthly Card Club, and my prototype was actually in Basic White Cardstock, which worked, but the more I looked at it, I felt like the Vanilla cardstock was a better match – a little “softer” look. What do you think?? Here’s the Basic White version:
The white version is definitely brighter, and I do think either one works…but went with the Vanilla version for club. I tend to use white a lot for my cards, so it’s good to force myself to remember that there’s other options for cardbases!!
If you’re interested in joining Monthly Card Club, it’s open to anyone in Canada! We meet virtually by Zoom the third Monday of each month. Participants place a minimum order, and once during their 6 month membership will receive the Stampin’ Rewards generated by club members’ orders. New members can start their 6 month membership at any time! Please contact me if you’re interested in joining us starting in March.
Let’s Sale-a-Brate Valentine’s Day with this clean and simple card!
I love easy crafting, and I also love clean and simple cards, so I am ready to Sale-a-Brate Valentine’s Day with this card that ticks all of those boxes!
The Sale-a-Brating part comes from the background – Most Adored Designer Series Paper – which is one of the Level 1 choices. You can select it as your free product with a $60CAD product order. IT’S SHINY!! I love shiny things 🙂 I also love the gradient on it – more hearts at one end than the other.
I used the Bee Builder punch to quickly punch out some hearts – the large one is Cherry Cobbler Cardstock, and the smaller one is from a different sheet of the Most Adored DSP.
A sweet and simple way to sale-a-brate Valentine’s Day!
In any case, you have a couple of weeks left to Sale-a-Brate! The Bee Builder punch is from the January-April Mini Catalogue, so is available until the end of April/while supplies last, but the Most Adored Designer Series Paper is only around until the end of February (when Sale-a-Bration ends) or while supplies last!! Shortcut to shopping in Canada is YamStamps.com/shop or you can message me if you’d like to pay by etransfer or would like assistance placing your order.
Pre-Launch sale for Dynamic Designs Online Class happening NOW!
My next online class is Dynamic Designs and I think I say this about every class, but I love these cards! They spin, slide, arch and wobble – and because it’s MY class, you know that they won’t be over the top in difficulty!! Pre-launch sale is on until 15 February at 7pm Eastern (when the class launches) – you can save $10 off the regular price if you register before then!
Fun, right? I walk you through the construction (trust me, I made MANY prototypes while working some of them out) and once you know how to make them (and how easy they actually are), you’ll be able to use whatever you have in your craft room to create your own versions! The videos are pre-recorded, and edited for clarity and brevity. Since it is an online class and there’s no physical product involved, this class is available internationally! You’ll pay in Canadian dollars (your bank or credit card company will convert to your local currency). If you live in Canada and would like to pay by etransfer, you can contact me for more details on how to do so.
Use the Perennial Lavender Suite to create a lovely Thinking of You Card.
I always try to have a stash of “thinking of you” cards because they cover so many reasons you might send someone a card. I created this one for a recent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator only card swap featuring products from the January-April Mini Catalogue. I chose to use elements from the Perennial Lavender Suite as well as the Thoughtful Moments Hybrid Embossing Folder.
Since the background of the floral print is beige, I chose to use Crumb Cake Cardstock for the cardbase to tie things together, plus I chose to use Very Vanilla Cardstock as I felt like Basic White Cardstock might be too stark a contrast. I stamped the leaves along the side in Shaded Spruce Ink (I think….I can’t quite remember and I didn’t write it down….oops)
I die cut circles with the Stylish Shapes dies from the Perennial Lavender Designer Series Paper. The horizontal strip is also from the same DSP package – since the designs are two sided, there’s twice as many options to choose from! When you use a card design like this one, your DSP stretches a long way.
The “thinking of you” sentiment is from the Thoughtful Moments hybrid embossing folder – when you purchase it, you receive both a 3D embossing folder plus a coordinating die set. I inked up the portion that included the “Thinking of You” sentiment, “locked” the die in place (it fits around all the embossed/debossed areas) and then closed it on some Very Vanilla Cardstock before running it through the Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine.
I like how adding just a bit of ink to the embossing folder makes the words stand out a little bit more – plus using Highland Heather Ink ties it into the colour scheme of the card. I finished off the card with a bit of bling with the Purple Fine Shimmer Gems.
Stampin’ Glass Mat Studio – includes glass mat, grey cleaning cloth and white silicone mat
Being a Stampin’ Up! Canada Demonstrator means I get to dedicate time to paper crafting and learning new skills….and call it “work”! Or as some of the Demonstrators in my group call it – a “jobby” (job / hobby)! If you’re interested in learning more about becoming a Stampin’ Up! Canada Demonstrator with my group, known as the “Eh” Team, you can click here to read more, or contact me if you have questions. We’d love to have you join us – and during Sale-a-Bration, you can get more in your Demonstrator Starter kit – your choice of the Stampin’ Glass Mat studio, or an additional $41CAD worth of product of your choice. Sale-a-Bration runs until 29 February this year, and there’s ALWAYS a rush at the last minute – so don’t wait until the system gets bogged down with all the Last Minute Lucys – the sooner the better!
One of the best ways to show your appreciation – custom thank you cards!
One of the things that I love about making my own cards is that I can customize them! I recently made a custom thank you card for some Burlington Teen Tour Band members.
I volunteer as a photographer for our city’s marching band – the Burlington Teen Tour Band, and recently wanted to give a custom thank you card – so this is the card I made! Quick and easy (you know, the projects that I prefer) but I added details particular to the band. I chose the colours based on the band uniforms and added a vertical stripe because their navy pants have a red stripe down the outside of the leg. Added the sentiment and had an extra embossed heart on my craft table so added that as well!
I chose to use Night of Navy and Cherry Cobbler as my colours. The sentiment is from Artistically Inked (one of my favourite ones to use for a thank you card), and it’s on a Stylish Shape die cut pennant piece. The heart was created with the Adoring Hearts Hybrid Embossing Folder – so I could emboss AND die cut the heart at the same time. Bonus – if you’re making cards in bulk, you can emboss and die cut 9 hearts at the same time!
Making a custom card thank you card doesn’t have to be difficult! Choose appropriate colours for the person receiving it – do they have a favourite colour? Or if you’re making a card for a person who has affiliations with a team or organization – pick those colours, or a detail from their uniforms – like this card, with the stripe like the band pants!
I send out a weekly email newsletter with paper crafting ideas and information – so if you’d like to get project tutorials and notifications of upcoming sales and specials, please sign up for the YamStamps Newsletter! You can sign up through the box on the YamStamps site, or click here. Weekly newsletters go out each Tuesday!
We are already over halfway through January! How will you Sale-a-Brate 2024? For every $60CAD product order, you can select a Level 1 Sale-a-Bration item for free – at $120CAD, you could select either two Level 1 items, or one Level 2 item for free……and so on, and so on, and so on…. As long as the amount is at least $60CAD in a single order (before shipping/taxes. after any discounts), you’ll qualify to get something for free!
I also used the Level 2 Sale-a-Bration Softly Sophisticated bundle – the sentiment is from the stamp set, and I used the embossing folder on the blue DSP. I like the “debossed” effect of this one – it almost looks like stitching! I did this card for the Demonstrator Only Sale-a-Bration swap, and some of the panels I debossed and others were embossed (bumpy side showing). FYI – it’s a little easier to adhere when the bumpy side is showing! Either way, I still like the effect. I used the Double Oval Punch to make the sentiment stand out.
How will you Sale-a-Brate 2024? So far, the Designer Series Paper choices have been the favourites for Sale-a-Bration – both with my customers and with the general Stampin’ Up! customer base! That being said, if you have your eye on one of the DSP choices for your Sale-a-Bration freebie, you will want to make sure you get your $60CAD product order in sooner rather than later. Sale-a-Bration items are available while supplies last / 29 February (one extra day to Sale-a-Brate this year!) – whichever comes first.
If you want to see some of the swap cards I received, be sure to check out the Sunday Swaps Page here on the YamStamps blog – I also highlight a card each Sunday on the YamStamps Facebook Page.
Demonstrator Only Swaps are one of the many fun activities that you can participate in if you’re a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator – and it’s more fun to join during Sale-a-Bration! How will you Sale-a-Brate 2024?! You could purchase a Demonstrator starter kit and get the exclusive Stampin’ Glass Mat Studio, currently available only to new Demonstrators in the starter kit! You have to make a choice, though – the Glass Mat Studio OR you could select $41CAD more product in your starter kit. More information on joining my group of Stampin’ Up! Canada Demonstrators known as the “Eh” Team!
The Stampin’ Glass Mat Studio includes the glass mat, the grey cleaning cloth and the white silicone tray (i.e. the stencil/blending brush/water painter/ink pad/spots and reinker are not part of the studio).
Happy Sale-a-Bration 2024 and January-April Mini Catalogue launch day!
Happy Sale-a-Bration 2024! There’s a LOT of things happening in the Stampin’ Up! world today, so if you’re like me and still trying to figure out what day of the week it is, buckle up!
SHOP: For each $60CAD in product order (single order, before shipping/taxes) you can select one free Sale-a-Bration item! There are selected items that are available only at the $120CAD product order level. Shortcut to shop in Canada is https://yamstamps.com/shop or you can message me if you’d like to pay by etransfer or want assistance placing your order.
HOST: if you host an online/catalogue party, you can earn extra free product once the product total hits the $375 threshold. Contact me for more information.
JOIN: Purchase a Demonstrator Starter kit for just $135CAD (that’s the regular, good deal price) – and during Sale-a-Bration, you’ll get your choice: An extra $41CAD in product of your choice OR a Stampin’ Glass Mat Studio – which includes a tempered glass crafting mat, a silicone craft mat (that can be used for ink blending or holding your ink spots/pads), and a cleaning cloth. Get more information about joining my group of Demonstrators here.
New Online Class – launching 11 January – Card FUNdamentals!
Pre-launch sale pricing is available now for the Card FUNdamentals Online Class! The class will launch on Thursday, 11 January at 7pm Eastern, at which time regular class pricing will be in effect – but until then, you can register for $10 off!
The Card FUNdamentals class will cover all the essentials of cardmaking – back to the basics so to speak. What should be in your basic tool kit, how to use those tools, and tips and tricks to make your card making easier. We’ll also go over basic card construction and design – a real “101” for your cardmaking.
If you have drifted away from cardmaking, just getting started with cards, or just want a bit of a primer on cardmaking, this is the class for you! Like all my online classes, you’ll have lifetime access (or reasonable facsimile) to the class information. The class consists of pre-recorded and edited videos housed on my Online Class site (so no Facebook required). Since there is no physical product included, it is open to international students!
Pay just $20CAD now until class launch 11 January! Please feel free to message me if you have any questions.
Depending on how you write the date, today is “123123” day! Of course, if you write the day first, then it’s 311223, so not quite as poetic…..so for today, let’s all do month first! (Not my usual way, if you can tell LOL).
It’s natural to reflect back on the year and look forward to the next, especially today. Looking back at the YamStamps 2023 year, there’s a lot of things for which I am thankful!
So for 2024, I’m looking forward to continuing to bring you new ideas and fun samples here on the YamStamps site to help inspire YOUR creativity – with the ongoing angle of techniques and designs that are impressive but not overly difficult to recreate! The YamStamps Sketch System Subscription program is ongoing, aimed to help subscribers create cards quickly and easily, and YamStamps More online classes for more in depth teaching of techniques and designs (though, again, focusing on the impressive but not overly difficult to recreate!).
THANK YOU for stopping by and continuing to support me! Other no-cost ways of supporting me and my small business – subscribing to my email list, liking/following YamStamps on social media, and leaving a comment on blog or social media posts!
Leaving you with this “thank you” card that features the Winter Meadow Designer Series Paper which is being CARRIED OVER from the Sept-Dec Mini Catalogue – so it will be available to order (as supply allows) even after that catalogue is finished on 3 January 2024! It’s got some beautiful designs and colours, so I’m happy to be able to replenish my supply for a little longer!
Thank you for stopping by the YamStamps blog! Wishing you a happy, healthy and creatively inspired 2024!!
