Jul 1, 2017 | cards, Stampin' Up!
Happy Sesquicentennial, Canada! We are celebrating 150 years of Canada today, and I’m hoping the weather clears up a bit so we can do so properly!! I received this fun card in a recent swap in which I participated. This swap had a set of rules and deadlines, and each demonstrator created multiples of their one design and sent it in. They then received the same number of cards back, but they were all different! It’s a great way to get ideas for sets you have and sets you (cough) don’t yet own… and more proof that you don’t need to come up with all the ideas yourself if you’re a demonstrator!
This card uses a number of Stampin’ Up! sets and dies – Colourful Seasons (I cannot bring myself to spell it Colorful as it is in the catalogue, sorry) and Seasonal Layers thinlits which are available as a discounted bundle , and the Large Numbers Framelits. Thank you Cynthia Millan for this fun card! I love that it showcases how you can customize handmade cards for whatever occasion you choose.
Don’t forget that it’s BONUS DAYS – for each $60 of product you order during July you’ll get a code for $6 towards a purchase in August! This is a non-cumulative amount – so the $60/$120/$180 etc has to be at one time – you can’t add up a bunch of $20 orders during July and get a coupon. You can shop online here. OR there’s the starter kit bonus in July – get a free “basics” kit that includes blocks, adhesive, snips, grid paper AND a not yet released Christmas stamp set! You can get more information about becoming part of my demonstrator group here, or start picking your $165 worth of merchandise for your starter kit here. As always, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
HAPPY CANADA DAY! Celebrate safely 🙂
Jun 30, 2017 | Announcements, specials, Stampin' Up!
Stampin’ Up! Canada is offering some specials to kick off summer! First things first – this special is ONLY GOOD TODAY, June 30th – new subscribers can get 75% off their first Paper Pumpkin kit! Paper Pumpkin is a monthly paper crafting kit that comes to your door! Each month brings the orange box with complete supplies and instructions to make a project. They’re perfect for taking to the cottage, on trips, or for the budding crafter in your life – and it’s a great time to try it out! Click on the image or HERE to start your month to month subscription and get your first kit for $7! Get more information on Paper Pumpkin here.
Next up….
Starting tomorrow – after celebrating Canada Day, you can celebrate Christmas?! Stampin’ Up! is offering a FREE essentials kit with your Starter Kit purchase! You’ll get 2 clear blocks (size D), Grid Paper, Paper Snips, SNAIL adhesive and a Bone Folder – PLUS a brand new Christmas stamp set called Carols of Christmas!
This is on top of the $165 in product that you get to choose, plus the basic business supplies (catalogues, order forms etc) that will let you run your business as you wish. The starter kit costs only $135 – no shipping, and if you’re in a province that has a blended tax rate, no taxes! Join my group of demonstrators and grab your starter kit here – or check out more information about being part of my demonstrator group here.
LAST but not least – you’ll get a bonus just for placing a qualifying order!
Shop in July, get a bonus to shop in August! For each $60 in product (before shipping/taxes), you’ll get a $6 coupon to spend in August! Pretty self explanatory I think….you can click on the image or here to shop 24/7 in the YamStamps Online Stampin’ Up! Canada store and have it shipped to your home! If you are in Quebec or would like more assistance in placing your order, you can pick out your items and then contact me with your order – I will place it for you and have it shipped to you.
REMEMBER – THE PAPER PUMPKIN SPECIAL IS ON TODAY – FRIDAY, JUNE 30TH. THE BONUS DAYS AND CHRISTMAS IN JULY START TOMORROW!
As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Jun 27, 2017 | cards, Stampin' Up!
You will likely have figured out that I love quick and easy cards. This quick colourful card is no exception! It uses Stampin’ Up!’s Crafting Forever set (available in wood mount or clear mount), and is an example of how you can use line art images without having to colour them.
Often when I see images that are outlines, I want to colour them – but that can be time consuming and fussy. While I do like colouring….sometimes I just need to get the project done, but I don’t want to have a boring card. This colour block technique is a perfect way to add colour without the time! For this quick colourful card, you only need ONE ink colour (another bonus). I used Stampin’ Up!’s Basic Black. It’s an archival ink, so you can colour the images with water based markers, aquapainters or blender pens, but in this case, I left it plain. The colour is added by using different background cardstocks. For this card, I used a selection of the 2016-2018 In Colours – a limited time colour selection that is rotated every 2 years. The colours on the card were Emerald Envy, Peekaboo Peach, Flirty Flamingo and Dapper Denim.
I did share this card at Stampin’ Up!’s On Stage event – I actually stamped on stage in front of stampers! Thankfully, this card is fairly straight forward and I don’t think I messed up too badly in front of a large, live audience. One more thing you can add to this quick colourful card – a bit of bling! I shared how you can add a bit of bling in the centre to hide if your cutting is not exactly perfect….which is usually the scenario for me!
If you need more “real life” tips for your cardmaking, you can always come to one of my card classes if you’re local to Burlington ON – or contact me to set up a private card class and I’ll come to you! (Well….within reasonable driving limits!). I recently updated the YamStamps Events page with dates for CHRISTMAS CARD CLASSES! Just hosted one this past week, and have now got one scheduled each month up to and including November! Every month’s class will feature a different crafting product, which you can have included in your class fee if you choose (there’s two price tiers). We will use that particular product on the 4 cards we create each month – and yes, each month will have different holiday cards, so if you attend every class from now on, you’ll end up with 20 different handcrafted by you cards in time to mail to friends and family! See the Events Page and contact me to register. If you’re not in the mindset for Christmas cards, you can always come to the “regular” Monthly Card Class to make a variety of cards for a variety of occasions – I’ve got you covered!! Hope to see you in class soon.
Jun 20, 2017 | Big Shot, cards, Stampin' Up!
If you’ve attended a card making class with me, you’ll know that one of of my favourite thrifty techniques is to die cut or punch from the mat layer of a card. This thrifty die cut birthday card is an example of that technique! The words are cut with the Happy Birthday Thinlits die – and they come out as a single piece which makes it easy to adhere in place. I used the Multipurpose Adhesive Sheet to make it even easier! I cut my Tranquil Tide cardstock to 4.25″ x 11″, and placed it onto the adhesive sheet. I replaced the top liner sheet and then trimmed the adhesive sheet/liner so it lined up with the edges of my cardstock. I then cut the cardstock (with the adhesive and back liner in place) to 5.25″ x 4″ (reserving the left over for other projects or smaller die cut pieces). The words were die cut from the centre of this piece of cardstock. Since the Designer Series Paper goes on top of the cardstock, noone knows about the gaping hole!
The Designer Series Paper showcased on this card is Delightful Daisy. I love the watercolour / wash type effect on this paper – it gives more interest when you’re using it as a backdrop for projects. It’s adhered onto the (front side of the) Tranquil Tide cardstock with SNAIL, but then I just peeled off the backing from the adhesive on the backside of the cardstock and adhered it onto my Whisper White card. I peeled the backing from the back of the die cut words and adhered them in place on the cardfront. No fuss, no muss, and no waiting for liquid adhesives to dry (I’m usually an impatient crafter).
I was really happy to see the return of adhesive sheets in the latest Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalogue. They make this thrifty die cut birthday card easy peasy! Another way to use the adhesive sheets is to take a die cut piece and place it onto the adhesive to transfer the adhesive to the back of the die cut shape. (I’m getting ready to re-shoot my Subscriber bonus video and use that technique in the project I share).
Stampers Club members got to make this card as part of the club class this month. I like this card so much, it may appear in a future Monthly Card Class as well! If you are local to Burlington, please consider joining me for a class! No experience is needed, and your class fee covers all supplies required for the projects. This Saturday, June 25th (which by no coincidence is 6 months until Christmas), I’ll be having a Christmas Card Class! We’ll make 4 different holiday cards. I’ll be having holiday card classes each month leading up to December, so the more classes you attend, the more cards you’ll have ready to mail out before the postage deadline! Please contact me to register and make arrangements to pay the $20 class fee for the Christmas Card Class by this Thursday. Check out the YamStamps Events page for upcoming dates. See you soon!
Jun 12, 2017 | cards
I love the combination of gold and navy, and this masculine card idea shows how classic this colour combo is! The pens are from Stampin’ Up!’s Crafting Forever stamp set (available as wood mount or clear mount), and they’re embossed in gold on Night of Navy Cardstock, with a Gold Foil Sheet layer behind to show it off. I don’t often do dark cardbases, but I wanted to keep this design clean and classic. If you do a dark cardbase, you can adhere a piece of paper or Whisper White cardstock inside so that your sentiment can be easily read – or use the White Stampin’ Chalk Marker.
If you check out the images in the stamp set, you’ll notice that the stamp with the pens actually has 3 pens, all facing the same direction. I decided to do a little “surgery” on my stamp, and actually cut the pens apart! (I have the clear mount version of the set). I did a single cut line between each pen, and then snipped off the corners (I often find if I have right angle corners on the image, I end up getting ink on them and messing up my stamped image). By doing this, I can re-align the images so they appear as their original version, should I desire. For this masculine card idea, I used two of the images and placed them facing in opposite directions on my clear block. I then stamped three times in Versamark, and heat embossed with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder. That was it! OK maybe not quite, I forgot to mention I used the Embossing Buddy on the Night of Navy cardstock before stamping to limit my stray embossing powder. Using the Embossing Buddy leaves a slight layer of magic dust that seems to reduce static (plus absorb any oils from my skin) so that the embossing powder sticks to the stamped image and nowhere else.
This would be a great graduation card or Father’s Day card, and while I did call this a masculine card idea, it’s not just for men – it would be suitable for any time you don’t want a frilly, flowery card. The YamStamps June Paper Crafting Projects Newsletter has other project ideas, including a fun gift card holder that is great for Father’s Day or someone who likes DIY. The big newsletter comes out the first Tuesday of each month. All new subscribers receive the current month’s Project Newsletter so you don’t miss out on the most recent version (i.e. if you subscribe today, you’ll still be able to check out that project I mentioned!). Plus you’ll receive a weekly update featuring different projects and updates, so you will constantly get new ideas in your inbox as well! Please let me know if you have any questions – otherwise I’ll “see” you online or in your inbox!
Jun 7, 2017 | Uncategorized
Join me on June 25th at 1pm to get a jump on your holiday cards! After all, it will be SIX months until Christmas!
Two options – Class Fee Only – $20 includes all supplies required to make 4 different Christmas Cards OR Class and Product – $30 includes all supplies to make 4 different Christmas cards, plus a package of the Be Merry Designer Series Paper (pictured above) – you’ll use a portion during the class and take the rest of the package home to use on other paper crafting projects.
Class and Product Registration Deadline: June 12
Class Only Registration Deadline: June 21
Contact me to register!
Payment due at time of registration please & thank you.
Jun 1, 2017 | cards, Stampin' Up!
Happy New Stampin’ Up! Catalogue Day! The new catalogue is now in effect! Please note that we will be able to place orders online around 2pm Eastern (12 pm Mountain) – so until then we have to wait patiently with our wishlists in hand…. The image above is linked to the Canadian English version pdf file – if you’d like the French version, please click here. Once online ordering is up, you will be able to place your order through my online Stampin’ Up! Canada store here. If you would like assistance or are in Quebec and would like to place an order, please contact me – I can place the order for you and have it delivered to your door (online ordering currently not available in Quebec, sorry).
There are so many great things in the new Stampin’ Up! Catalogue – it’s hard to pick a few! As demonstrators, we were able to place preorders for selected merchandise, but today will be the first day that we can order anything our heart desires….*sigh*. I have a wishlist that I’ve worked hard to keep to a “manageable” level…
This is me believing I can keep my wishlist to a manageable level. Haha! This fun card was sent to me by one of my newer team members and longtime club member, Arlene. She used the new stamp set, This Little Piggy. I love this set and sentiment! It’s available in English and French, and you can see it on page 48 of the new Stampin’ Up! catalogue. Right now, I can’t link to the actual set in the online store because as I write this…the online store/ordering isn’t yet available. I will be sure to come back and link it later when I can!
If you requested a new Stampin’ Up! catalogue from me, or placed an order with me in the last year, I will be following up in the next few weeks to be sure that you received it! I do know that I still have catalogues going in the mail this week, so please bear with me. In the meantime, there’s always the downloadable version (which I do like because you can enlarge it on the screen…LOL no need for reading glasses…).
In the meantime, I will leave you to your catalogue perusal…and remind you once more to contact me if you have any questions, or need assistance placing your order. I will also remind you that if you are in the Burlington area, contact me to RSVP for the New Catalogue Open House and Retired Product Sale THIS Saturday, June 3rd! Doors will open promptly at 9am…no sooner….no later (because if history repeats, the first people in line will ring the doorbell if their watch shows 9am and the door isn’t open yet!). Hope to see you there!
May 28, 2017 | cards, Stampin' Up!
I have to admit that initally, I wasn’t so overwhelmed with the colour in this card – Emerald Envy….but as I used it on this design, it REALLY grew on me! I love the bold tone, and it’s perfect for this easy and effective card design to celebrate any occasion! You may have overlooked this combination of products in the catalogue…I know I did initially! It combines the Celebrations Duo Textured Impressions FolderS (yes, you get two of them – one says Celebrate, the other says Happy)…and the Happy Celebrations stamp set. You emboss the word – well, I guess it technically debosses, because the word is indented – and then stamp over it with the sploosh image (for lack of a more technical term) to have the word really stand out.
The thing I love about the more graphic background type stamps is that they are very forgiving. If you don’t get a perfect image, or if you happen to smudge it with your finger….it kind of fits in still. It does help to stamp on top of a Silicone Craft Sheet or Stampin’ Pierce Mat when you are using Photopolymer stamps – that extra cushion helps with the images. Since the stamps are a little more flat than the traditional red rubber stamps (no extra padding behind the image), you do have to watch when you ink them up as well. Too aggressively inking your stamp will often wind up with you having ink on the block and then in unwanted spots on your card (or your hand). Ask me how I know these things…. Let’s return to the Easy and Effective Card Design to Celebrate though, shall we?! hahahaha.
Thanks to my helper (thanks Mom!), I produced a whole whack of these easy and effective card designs over the past little while – and now am in the process of delivering them all… Since I was doing an epic production, I ended up doing just a single layer version of this card (see the stack in the image above). I like simple designs anyway, and this simplifies the design a bit further. Sometimes it’s more important to be able to just get things done rather than fussing with them forever and then never getting the card sent. I figure that the recipients of the single layer cards can always trim down the front of the card to 5″ x 3.75″, adhere it onto a 5.25″ x 4″ piece of Emerald Envy, and then adhere it onto a half sheet card (8.5″ x 5.5″, folded at 4.25″) for that extra layer look if they wish, right?! When I send thank you cards or follow up cards to customers, I usually have a sticky note inside that reads “please reuse this card” so that the recipient can “pay it forward” so to speak – or they can keep it as a prototype to copy for their own creations. “Sharing is caring” as my son often says to me (though usually that’s when I have some food or something that he wants….).
This Saturday is my Annual New Catalogue Open House & Retired Product Sale from 9am til noon. Please RSVP if you are able to join us in Burlington ON – I’ll send you directions, and will set aside a copy of the new catalogue for you. If you are intending to shop the retired products, it’s first come, first served, and cash sales. Please let me know if you have any questions, and I look forward to seeing you soon!
May 25, 2017 | cards, Stampin' Up!
This is the “similar but different” easy die cut card to share! It also uses the Eastern Palace Suite, with a couple of add ons. You can see that they layout is essentially the same…. This version is done with Dapper Denim, with a strip from the Eastern Palace Specialty Designer Series Paper inspiring the colour choice. The die cut flower is from a Gold Foil sheet, and a new product – a Gold Faceted Gem is in the centre. The gems are NOT in the bundle….but I couldn’t resist using one on this card. You’ll be able to grab these in June (unless you’re a demonstrator, as these are part of the catalogue preorder merchandise offering so you can order them now…).
I did this card as part of a “swap” – we are given instructions on number of layers, any accessories to use etc, and then we can create something based on what stamp set we choose or are assigned. We each make multiples of the same card, send them to the “host” and then anxiously await the mail…..to receive a whole bunch of different creations back! In this case, I made 20 of these cards, and will receive 20 different cards (well, including one of these) in exchange. It’s a great way to get different ideas and to be inspired. I know that one of the things that can intimidate people about becoming a demonstrator is the (misguided) belief that you have to create everything yourself or be over the top artistic. NO! We get ideas and inspiration from others as well as coming up with designs ourselves – if we choose to do so. I personally like to spend a bit of time being creative in my stamp room, but I do find that I like similar designs, so often use the same base design, but change colours and images as I see fit. Long live the Easy Die Cut Card! I will see how many more times I can come up with variations on this theme! hahaha.
If you are attending my New Catalogue Open House and Retired Product Sale on June 3rd, I’ll be sure to have my swaps up on a display board for you to admire! Please RSVP to ensure that I will have a catalogue set aside for you, and will have enough light refreshments on hand. If I have time, maybe I’ll come up with some more Easy Die Cut Cards to share on a display board of their own….but then again, maybe I’ll be too busy laying out all my retired product and baking cherry pound cake. You’ll have to swing by to know for sure!
May 19, 2017 | cards, specials, Stampin' Up!
During the month of May, you can order Eastern Palace Suite products in a bundle before they are released in the new Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalogue! I used the products to create this easy die cut card. I love how detailed and intricate it is….and how easy it was to create! The circular die cut shape is one die, and the flower and petal cut outs are two nesting dies that you can run through the Big Shot at one time. The little petal flourishes around the border of the die cut are created using stamps – but because they coordinate with the backing cardstock, a lot of people think it’s a part of the die cut detail! Thank you, Stampin’ Up! coordinating inks and cardstock!
These products are available in two options – the Eastern Palace Starter Bundle and the Eastern Palace Premier Bundle. To recreate this card, you’ll need the Premier Bundle, which contains the Eastern Medallions Framelits Dies. I chose to use Rich Razzleberry and Bermuda Bay cardstocks & inks – which are similar to the new In Colours included in the kits – Fresh Fig and Tranquil Tide – only because of the numbers I had to prep (and didn’t have enough cardstock at the time to cover all I needed for classes!). So – 2 passes of the Big Shot with 3 dies, a bit of stamping and you have an easy die cut card!
I did a fancier variation of this design for a swap I participated in, so will share that version a little later as well. Just FYI – if you’re interested in the bundles, you can order them as part of your Starter Kit…plus still have room for a little more product! The Eastern Palace Flyer is here. If you want to create your own easy die cut card, just be aware that the bundles are available during May, but are NOT featured in the new catalogue – there is a bundle of the stamps and dies, and then all the individual products….so to make the easy die cut card….easier….consider grabbing a bundle! You can check out the Eastern Palace products in the YamStamps Online Stampin’ Up! Canada store here. As always – please contact me if you have any questions.
