November 21 – 28 get extra savings on selected items! It’s Stampin’ Up!’s Online Extravaganza! Click on the image above or HERE to see the list of all the items available at reduced prices while supplies last.
Shop early to take advantage of the savings, and your best bet is to place your order directly online due to the time sensitive nature. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I will have some limited connectivity at times during this sale (I know, what brilliant timing on my part), but will do my best to respond ASAP!
Thank you for your messages of support for my appearance yesterday on Morning Live! As always, it was a lot of fun. If you weren’t able to catch it, I’ve included the video below, or you could catch it at the YamStamps YouTube Channel or on the CHCH site. I made a collage of the projects I had on air (sometimes you can’t always see them in the shots. Most of them survived fairly unscathed, and I did leave Annette’s “Charlie Brown” Christmas tree as is.
I’m looking forward to the washi tape Christmas Card Classes this week. Don’t forget that there’s still a chance to get in on classes – the December Monthly Card Class is Wednesday, December 7th at 1pm or 7pm. It will feature a variety of cards, including one holiday specific card. On December 14th, it’s the Tin of Tags class – you’ll receive a full Tin of Tags kit, and I will supply the inks and stamps necessary to complete all the tags. You’ll end up with a cute tin with beautiful gift tags – a great hostess gift, or a great way to decorate the gifts you’ll be giving. See the YamStamps Events page for more information and registration links. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
In the meantime….for your viewing pleasure, here’s the video! Thanks as always to everyone at Morning Live. They are so professional and welcoming, and the makeup artist made me glam!
I’m in a holiday prep mode – tomorrow, tune in to CHCH TV’s Morning Live show – I’m scheduled to be on air around 840AM sharing holiday cards and projects featuring washi tape! (It’s also the main product we’re using in the Christmas Card Classes this week!). Wish me luck. I enjoy these appearances, and everyone at the show is wonderful, but I do still get a bit of “stage fright”. My biggest worry is that I’ll run out of things to show or talk about. (I know, if you’ve met me in person, you’re probably snickering right now). I’ll see if I can get footage to share here later.
This week marks Week 7 of the Twelve Weeks of Christmas Project Mailings – it will be out Wednesday, November 16th around 1pm Eastern to YamStamps subscribers, and this week was one of my favourites. Easy but impressive – my kind of project!! Sign up here or use the box at the top right of the blog, and thank you for being a subscriber!
This past weekend, Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators around the world gathered in various locations to learn, be inspired and have fun! Five of my demonstrator group (we are named the “Eh” Team!) members joined me in Ottawa, ON where we attended the On Stage event on Saturday. On Friday evening, I also attended a smaller leadership event called Centre Stage, where we also learned, were inspired and had fun, in a more intimate dinner meeting setting. I was actually a little worried about making it in time as my flight was cancelled at the last minute – however I did manage to make it in plenty of time.
At our Centre Stage dinner table (Kim photobombing LOL); and our table, with Carrie from the Canadian Stampin’ Up! office – Nancy, Kim, Jacinthe, Carrie, me, Jenn and Sofi.
I brought sparkly lanyards for each of my attending team members, but I realize you can’t see the bling in the above photo! I got a lovely number of ribbons to attach to my name tag as well. It was a good business year for me – thank you to all of my customers and team members! It’s great to be able to celebrate with friends.
Members of the “Eh” Team who were able to make it to Ottawa for the On Stage event! Gail, me, Mary, Karen, Kim and Leanne at the end of the day (which is why we look a little tired?!). We were too busy stamping, swapping and socializing to get a pic before then! We got lots of prizes and goodies, plus the upcoming Occasions and Sale-a-Bration catalogues! This is what I can show you so far of all that….
Sorry! We are under a gag order right now! (That’s Scott Nielsen, Stampin’ Up!’s CFO who hosted our Ottawa event). However, you can look forward to seeing lots of the new product very soon. The next seasonal catalogues and Sale-a-Bration will be in effect in January 2017. I’m working on my mailing list right now – if you’ve placed an order with me in the last year, I will automatically you the Occasions & Sale-a-Brations catalogues when they are available. If you are interested in getting them, and not sure if you automatically qualify for a free one from me, please fill out this form so I can get in touch with you and get you copies! If you absolutely can’t wait and need to see things NOW plus want to get in on the merchandise preorder, join my demonstrator group! In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or leave a comment below.
Starting today, Stampin’ Up! is offering the chance to pick up the new Stitched Shapes Framelits! These will be in the 2017-2018 Annual Catalogue, but you don’t have to wait until June to get them – they’re available for this month ONLY. As well, there are selected stamp sets on sale for 25% off that coordinate with the sizes of the shapes, but because these framelits feature ovals, circles and squares, they’re really quite suitable for a number of existing Stampin’ Up! sets.
I have included links to the items in the above table so that you can see them in the YamStamps Online Stampin’ Up! Canada store. You can take advantage of these deals by placing your order online before November 30, or by contacting me if you need assistance placing your order, or have any questions. Happy Shopping!
I don’t really send Halloween cards – it’s not that huge in our household, but I do recognize that it’s a big deal to others! (My American friends, not to generalize, but I’m looking at most of you!) Anyway, I thought I’d make up a quick embellishment for a card or candy treat, and was looking around the craft room for something that would suit. Again, realizing that I don’t have many/if any Halloween themed stamp sets….I remembered another demo friend, Ann Brown, mentioning that she had done a mummy with washi tape. Well, the only washi tape that I had was all pretty and coloured, and somehow I didn’t think it suited a mummy. So I tried masking tape (FAIL, the masking tape was beige so didn’t look quite right). I found some rolls of paper tape – the medical type that you can use to hold gauze bandages in place, and BINGO! It worked easily, even if it’s a little hard to see in the picture. The bonus with the paper tape, like washi tape, is that it’s tear-able. I tore length wise along strips of the tape to get a more ragged edge, and then just stuck pieces down, overlapping, to create the mummy bandages. The base is Stampin’ Up!’s Cookie Cutter Builder Punch, which I purchased as part of the Cookie Cutter Christmas discounted bundle with the Cookie Cutter Christmas Photopolymer Stamp Set. There is actually a coordinating Halloween set (available in wood mount or clear mount) but I hadn’t purchased it – hence my need to improvise! I used the brush end of the Stampin’ Write Basic Black marker to colour just the eyes from the bear face in the Christmas set to create the eyes for the mummy.
On a side note, current convention is to spell Halloween without any punctuation, and I realize that I’m revealing something about my age (and my grammar police side), but I have to retype the word every time because I automatically include the apostrophe. You know, Hallowe’en. I will go console myself with some chocolate now, I think. Good thing we have some extras here!
There’s a special starting on November 1st, so something to look forward to! I will post more details that day, so please come back to www.yamstamps.com and check it out!
I’m sure you can relate (perhaps especially on a Monday?). One of those days where nothing seems to work in your favour and you’re constantly swimming up stream. Like Dory, my mantra is often “Just keep swimming”. Here’s a great card to send to someone who’s going through a bit of a rough patch, and it’s perfect for a Manic Monday, I think! This card is easy to reproduce and a perfect way to brighten someone’s day. It uses the Stampin’ Up! Canada Weather Together Bundle which includes the Umbrella Weather Framelits and Weather Together photopolymer stamp set.
Colours used are Crushed Curry for the background and umbrella top; Island Indigo for the raindrops, Real Red for the hearts and Smoky Slate for the umbrella handle. I did the usual thrifty trick of stamping the umbrella top in the centre of the Crushed Curry cardstock, and die cutting it before using the remainder of the cardstock as the backing for the main image piece. Noone sees the umbrella shaped hole behind the other layers! Since this set has coordinating images and framelits, I was able to cut out a few hearts easily, and add one or two to the front of the card with the Fine-Tip Glue Pen. I combined Thick Whisper White cardstock for the cardbase and regular Whisper White for the top layer. This way, the whole card feels substantial, but it’s not too bulky or heavy, especially since the umbrella top is raised with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
I’m off to continue on my Manic Monday….prepping for the Christmas Card Class on Wednesday – going to be a fun one with lots of bling! The registration deadlines for the November Christmas Card Class and the Tin of Tags Class are coming up soon – visit the YamStamps Events page for more details and registration information. Hope to see you in class soon.
I love the Bokeh effect – in photography and in crafting – where the out of focus highlights are twinkling in the background of the shot…. and this stamp set makes it easy! Twinkle Trees, from the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalogue is a great holiday set, and I love when I can use a holiday set in a way that doesn’t scream CHRISTMAS!!!! (Though I have nothing against that, but it just makes the sets even more versatile, in my opinion!). The large circles stamped randomly in the background recreate a bokeh effect, and the little hearts rising from the mug also have a bit of the same effect. This is my Thank You card for September orders (and I’m working on getting them mailed out or handed out!). On some of the cards, I used the Gold Baker’s Twine from the Baker’s Twine trio, and I love that it’s a bit more substantial than the Metallic Gold Thread on this sample, but not too bulky. Of course, this card also uses my thrifty trick of punching something out of the background layer – so the circle that backs the mug circle is cut from the Elegant Eggplant layer that backs the bokeh piece.
I did a video a while back showing another way to do a bokeh background, with a watercolour wash and circles cut from a window sheet. Click here to visit the YamStamps YouTube channel if you can’t see it embedded below.
I was having some internet woes for a while, but it seems like they’re all resolved now (FINGERS CROSSED) so I should be able to get back to a regular schedule with online sites. Today is Stamper’s Club – always a fun time – and of course the ongoing Christmas Card Classes. (See the YamStamps Events page for upcoming events). If you’re in the Burlington Area and are attending the Black Cat Masquerade in support of the Burlington Humane Society, look for the basket of goodies I’m donating! It includes a free card making class for 6 people so please bid high and bid often. I’m happy to once again be supporting this event and organization. Ok I’m back to prepping for classes – but as always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me or leave a comment below!
Don’t forget to sign up for the YamStamps papercrafting newsletter – free ideas and inspiration each month, plus special editions, like the Twelve Weeks of Christmas!
This card sketch and samples show off Stampin’ Up!’s Designer Series Papers. How fun are these? You can use the Banner Triple Punch to make the symmetrical banner cuts at the bottom of the strips of Designer Series Paper (“DSP”) easily. If you use the papers from one package, they’ll coordinate with each other; the colours used in each package are also listed on the backing sheet, so you can pick out coordinating cardstock easily….or just purchase the coordinating cardstock package which features 8 sheets from 3 coordinating colours! (You can find the cardstock by looking up the name of the DSP – e.g. By the Shore – in the search box on the online store). Designer Series Papers are on sale – buy 3 get 1 free during October, so it’s a great time to stock up! Week 2 of my Twelve Weeks of Christmas mailings featured a card that used some Designer Series Paper – so if you purchased it now, you’d have lots of materials to make your Christmas cards!
If you use this sketch to create something, I’d love to see your results! Feel free to share it on the YamStamps Facebook page.
