Isn’t this a great card? It was sent to me by one of my demonstrator team members, Arlene. Arlene was a longtime Stampers Club member who took the plunge just over a year ago and joined my team of demonstrators (we’re called the “Eh” Team!) – and her business is going great! Not bad for someone who was just looking to do something extra during the off season from golf…LOL. This gorgeous card features the Sale-a-Bration set Beautiful Peacock, and combined with a little Eastern Palace Designer Series Paper and Eastern Medallions Thinlits Dies for this gorgeous result. (Check the YamStamps Facebook Page a little later to see another card using these products from another friend!).
I’m looking to celebrate all this week – well, at least until the end of the month, so you get the presents! Here’s how to get in on the birthday gifting….
1) Place an order before the end of the month, and receive a little extra “bling” from me (under separate cover, in most cases…) AND an entry to a draw for either a Big Shot or set of Stampin’ Write Markers!
2) If you place your order ONLINE HERE and either use host code CS2YEX9SOR place an order of $200 or more (which qualifies for Stampin’ Rewards), I’ll also send you a tutorial bundle at the end of the month via email
3) Join my group of demonstrators by the end of the month – receive the bling and tutorials AND an extra draw entry! More information on joining my group here.
Just a word of warning – PLEASE don’t leave it to the last minute! Traditionally the Stampin’ Up! site gets bogged down on the last day of Sale-a-Bration (this year – March 31st) – because everyone is trying to get in before the deadline! (Fine print – promotion valid only through me, and offer open to Canadians only due to Stampin’ Up! regulations)
When my friends and I get together to celebrate a birthday, there’s always lots of laughter. This Birthday Wit Card – using Stampin’ Up!’s Birthday Wit set (available in wood mount or clear mount) is perfect for my birthday card needs. It’s got a number of funny sentiments perfect for birthday cards – this is just one of them. Plus, you can get one of the items on this card for FREE as part of the last batch of Sale-a-Bration choices – do you know which one?
To create the rainbow effect on the sentiment, I used the brush end of the Stampin’ Write markers to colour directly onto the ruber portion of the stamp. Top to bottom, colours are Early Espresso, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry, Garden Green, Pacific Point, Night of Navy…and I think Rich Razzleberry….and then Early Espresso again. “Huff” on the stamp (breathe like Darth Vadar) to make sure the ink is moist and then stamp onto your cardstock. Here’s a cheater tip for you – if you adhere your image on an angle, noone will be able to tell if your image isn’t perfectly aligned on the cardstock itself. (Now you are all looking at the image to figure out if it’s straight or not, aren’t you….) I did that on purpose, really. The Tutti-Frutti Adhesive Backed Sequins easily add a little bling to the card as does the Gold 1/8″ Ribbon, (regular item / Sale-a-Bration item) which is included in the latest list of options for Sale-a-Bration freebies! Please note that there are DIFFERENT item codes for the non-exclusive Sale-a-Bration items (that is, items that you can also purchase individually) so be sure to use the correct code if you are placing an online order (otherwise you will end up buying it rather than getting it for free!). The background paper is one of the patterns from the Petal Passion Designer Series Paper from the Occasions Catalogue. I think the black and white is a great background for the colourful main image.
Don’t forget that Sale-a-Bration ends at the end of March, and you don’t want to miss out on grabbing some freebies! Place an online order of $200 or more OR using the host code CS2YEX9S and you’ll receive a bundle of exclusive tutorials via email! Please contact me if you have any questions or need assistance placing your order.
Surprise! Stampin’ Up! Is giving you a few more options to Sale-a-Brate while you can! These are catalogue items with special item numbers so that you can get them for free with a $60 or $120 product order. Check out the image below or click here to download this flyer.
Every once in a while I like to do a “Frugal Friday” post – so today’s post features a Daisy Punch Out Card. This card is in the frugal category because the negative space is the part featured on this card – so that you can use the flower for another project – or to decorate the envelope or a package.
This card uses Flirty Flamingo cardstock as the backdrop. Flirty Flamingo is one of Stampin’ Up!’s 2016-2018 In Colours which will be retiring at the end of May. If you love one of these colours, you will want to stock up ASAP – including a reinker for that ink pad. That way, you’ll be able to use the colour for quite a while! I would recommend grabbing your supplies sooner rather than later, because retiring product like cardstock, accessories and ink pads are available while supplies last once they’re officially on the retiring list – as opposed to most of the stamp sets which usually have guaranteed availability to closer to the end date of the catalogue. The Daisy Punchis used on a piece of Thick Whisper White cardstock which is accented with a stripe of Tutti Frutti washi tape. The cardbase itself is actually one of Stampin’ Up!’s notecards. You can get a set of 20 Whisper White Notecards and Envelopes which are 5″ x 3.5″ – a little smaller than the half sheet cards that we traditionally make, but still within Canada Post mailing requirements. The centre of the flower is a large Gold Faceted Gem, which doesn’t stick out too much because the punched out cardstock is mounted with Stampin’ Dimensionals. The sentiment, stamped in Lemon Lime Twistis from Teeny Tiny Wishes (available in wood mount or clear mount) – one of the most functional stamp sets because it covers SO many different occasions! We made this card in the Monthly Card Class the other day and other options chosen included “Just For You” and “Happy Birthday”.
If you live in the Halton region, you may have been able to catch me on YourTV’s Halton News TV Program earlier in the week. I’m working on getting a copy of the short segment so I can post it to the YamStamps YouTube channel. It was a very quick card (actually using the Daisy Punch!) since it was a quick spot – mentioning the fact that it’s International Craft Month! Thanks to Jessica and everyone who works on the show for having me. It’s always a fun experience! In the meantime, I hope that you will celebrate Craft Month by spending a bit of time crafting – obviously I’m biased towards paper crafting….but anything creative is good! If you need a little help kick starting your creativity and crafting, consider joining me at one of my Monthly Card Classes, or join the Stampers Club for some regular craft time (and freebies)! See the YamStamps Events page for details. Please contact me if you have any questions or to register for an upcoming event!
Paper Pumpkin subscribers also get to purchase past kits and refills when they are available – here’s a cute one from July 2017 that’s called Positively Picturesque.
If you’re a new subscriber, you’ll receive a clear block in your first kit to use with all your upcoming Paper Pumpkin kits. From then on, each kit will be a “stand alone”. The kits include all the supplies needed to complete that month’s projects – stamp set, ink(s), accessories (such as pearls, twine, sequins etc), adhesive (glue dots and dimensionals are usually in each kit, but I like to use my own SNAIL adhesive if I can), and of course the consumable supplies – cardstock, envelopes, papers, stickers etc. It varies from month to month depending on the project. Kits can be for cards, packaging, tags, giftables/3D items… and you can choose to follow the instructions – or not! It’s up to you. I always find that there’s plenty of “extras” left over (stickers, die cuts etc) that I can use to further embellish the month’s projects, or use on my own projects.
Oh – and before you ask, demonstrators don’t know what the March free gift is, so don’t ask us. (Trust me, the lack of knowledge is not for lack of trying! haha). I will just have to wait for my March kit to arrive! I did post the “unboxing” of the February Paper Pumpkin kit in the YamStamps Facebook Group, so will likely do so for the March kit as well – so don’t watch the video if you want to be surprised!! The YamStamps Facebook Group is something new – started because people were finding even though they have “liked” the YamStamps Facebook page, they weren’t always getting to see updates from the page itself. By hosting a group as well, the hope is that the group posts will be seen more regularly. I will post to both areas, but some things will be exclusive to the group, so please come and make a request to join us.
I seem to be on a bit of a congratulations / celebration card kick of late. This quick and easy congratulations card was made after I received my Stamparatus the other day! When I saw the Amazing Congratulations stamp set in the Stampin’ Up! Occasions Catalogue, I knew it would be a great one for the Stamparatus, since it was multiple step stamping. I was one of the lucky ones who got in on the first preorder window for this new stamp positioning tool from Stampin’ Up! (check out the GIF below to see it in action)
The main sentiment is stamped with two different stamps. I decided to do a multicolour version of this, because I could! I lined up the one set of letters, stamped it, then lined up the second set of letters and stamped with a different coloured ink. The two inks in this sample are Tangerine Tango and Melon Mambo, because I wanted something bright. I used the Scattered Sequins Embossing Folder in the background, and the Self Adhesive Tutti-Frutti sequins as accents. So even though the lettering looks complicated, this really was a quick and easy congratulations card! I am going to send out these cards to some members of my Stampin’ Up! demonstrator group, the “Eh” Team to congratulate them on hitting some targets and promotions!
I’ve done some work on hand lettering, and I know I have a ways to go to continue to improve my skills there, so in the meantime, this is a great way for me to get the handlettered look (and know it will look okay!! haha).Check out the YamStamps Facebook page for a slightly different colour combination on this quick and easy congratulations card. The great thing is when I used the Stamparatus, I simply cleaned the stamps off (left them attached to the plates) and just changed the ink colours as I wished. If you weren’t able to get in on the preorder for the Stamparatus, you’ll be able to place an order for one when it’s available in the next catalogue in June. Members of the Paper Crafting with YamStamps Facebook Group or the YamStamps mailing list may also have another opportunity to get their hands on a Stamparatus….just saying…. and then maybe I’ll have to make more quick and easy congratulations cards!!
In the meantime, please feel free to contact meif you have any questions, or want to come to a class or club to make one of these cards yourself!
I love the new Springtime Foils Specialty Designer Series Paper! This rainbow striped card was created using one of the sheets included in this Stampin’ Up! Sale-a-Bration freebie. I shared a card the other day using one of the other patterns with a rose gold floral pattern. This sheet has silver stripes. I coloured the negative spaces between the metallic stripes with Stampin’ Write markers, in ROYGBV rainbow order. (Chanting to myself each time I switched colours to make sure I didn’t mess up haha!). I also tried using Stampin’ Blends, but found I got better results with the water based Stampin’ Write markers – in part because I could remove any excess from the silver stripes more easily with a kleenex.
I shared this photo earlier on the YamStamps Instagram feed (plus a video to show off the metallic stripes!). I used Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry, Garden Green, Pacific Point and Elegant Eggplant to colour my rainbow stripes. There’s a few options to get this combination of colours – you could purchase the Brights and RegalsStampin’ Write markers, or you could go all in and get the Many Marvelous Markers set. I coloured one or two stripes at a time, then ran a kleenex along the stripes (carefully, not to spread the colour!) to remove excess ink. It was a calming thing to do, and easy to multitask – so I watched some Olympic coverage while I did this. There are four sheets in each package, so I have more colouring I could do while watching the games so I could make a bunch more rainbow striped cards….well, depending on what sport is being shown. If it’s hockey, I wouldn’t dare try to multitask! (too busy yelling at the TV screen haha).
I created a number of cards with this technique – you can get 18 cards out of one sheet of cardstock (each strip is 4″ x 2″), so I’ll be mailing them out shortly! In the meantime, I’m off to watch the Women’s Hockey Gold Medal Game – or at least try to watch it….if I can stay awake! Go Canada Go!
Happy Saturday! Around here we are also enjoying a three day Family Day weekend…unless you are a student in this area, then you had a FOUR day weekend….(super envious). Plus Springtime Foils – gives us more to Sale-a-Brate! These are new Stampin’ Up! freebies to keep us happy.Springtime Foils Specialty Designer Series Paper features 12 sheets (3 each of 4 different single sided designs) of metallic images, and you can select it as your free choice with each $60 product purchase until the end of March. Stampin’ Up! has introduced new items for the last half of Sale-a-Bration.
For this elegant Springtime Foils sale-a-brate card, I used strips of Copper Foil sheet along the edge of the strip of Designer Series Paper, and then added some Gold Faceted gems on either side. When making a clean and simple card, I love putting the main image strip on an angle for extra drama and interest. The sentiment is from the Floral Phrases stamp set (available in wood mountor clear mount), stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in gold.
I will be sharing the instruction sheet for this card in the new YamStamps Facebook Group. I still have the YamStamps Facebook page, but with changes in Facebook, it seems like the page posts may not always get shown to you – even if you’ve liked and followed the page – so I’m starting up a group as well. It will have similar but different stuff….LOL. Anywayclick here to join the group! We are just getting started up and established.
Happy Valentine’s Day! I get to spend the day doing things I love to do! We are having a make-up date today for the February Card Class that was supposed to happen last Wednesday, but was weather delayed. I thought I’d share this video from last year when I was on Halton Insider, showing some quick and easy Valentine’s Day decorations. If you want to see more videos, please be sure to subscribe to the YamStamps YouTube channel. I do still post videos….in fact, I should be due to upload something in the near future. (that’s not really a teaser, that’s more of a “make sure this is on my to do list” thing LOL).
A really quick Flashback Friday Olympic Stampin’ Up! style card! This is one that I made in 2010 (??!!) and redid in July 2012 when one of my friends participated in the opening ceremonies for the London Olympics. I love watching the Olympics – always inspiring. It will make mornings more exciting for sure – due to the time change, when I wake up, I can turn on the TV and see live coverage!
I typically use circle punches to make the rings – because it’s quick and easy. Punch the centre of the circle first, and then centre and punch the outer circle. I’ve used 1-1/4″ and 1-3/4″ circle punches to do this. You could also easily use the Layering Circle Framelits and your Big Shot. I would highly recommend the Magnetic Platform as well, since it will hold those metal framelits in the right spot! You’ll want to snip each circle once and then play with them to get the correct order and layering. Recommended colours for this year’s games: Pacific Point, Basic Black, Real Red, Crushed Curry and Emerald Envy.
I can’t believe I’ve been blogging (or trying to blog) for as long as I have – but this Flashback Friday is proof! Perhaps if I get the chance, I will re-do this card while I’m watching some of the Olympic events (not the really fast moving ones though, and not hockey, because if Canada is playing I’ll be busy yelling at the TV screen….yes, I’m one of those types LOL). If I do get the chance, I will share it, and will also make sure that the green ring is in better alignment than it is in this old sample. Now that I’ve drawn your attention to that, it’s all you can see, isn’t it….. but it doesn’t have to be a perfect project to be perfect for the occasion.
I am holding another Monthly Card Class THIS Wednesday (yes, I realize it’s Valentine’s Day, still time to make a heart themed card though, technically?!) – since I postponed this week’s class due to the snow storm we had. It actually wasn’t too bad out by 1pm, but not all the roads were cleared, and there was no street parking allowed due to the ploughing schedule. SO. If the weather cooperates, fingers crossed,let me know if you’d like to take advantage of a late month card class!
C
