Jul 27, 2015 | cards, Events, Stampin' Up!
One of the reasons I love going to Stampin’ Up!’s Convention is to see my friends from across Canada and the USA! We get creative, get inspired and get tired….LOL. I flew in a day early and spent it learning a bunch of new techniques with my friend Lydia (Understand Blue). You can be sure I’ll be using these in upcoming classes! Here’s a sneak peek you may have seen on my Twitter account:
While at convention, we get creative ideas and inspiration plus business tips. We were able to see and play with a lot of the product from Stampin’ Up!’s upcoming Holiday Catalogue. Unfortunately, right now it’s for Demonstrator eyes only, so I can’t share it here – YET. (HINT: become a demonstrator now and get to see the product AND order it before the catalogue goes live in September….just saying….here’s the page for more information) teehee…
This year, I ended up running a 10km race on Friday morning (after finding out about it and signing up on Wednesday…LOL). In Utah, it’s Pioneer Day (a state holiday) and they have a big parade into the centre of Salt Lake. The 10km race finishes along the parade route, so that was kind of fun! My new friend Michelle (Suitably Stamped) and I ran the 10km. Here’s a before shot from my Instagram account:
As a footnote, I did actually get a PB (“personal best”) although not officially through the race timing system. If you want to get technical, the gun time (when they say “start”) and chip time (when YOU actually cross the start/finish lines) are typically not the same, the gun time being longer than the chip time since there’s a number of people to get across the start line. In this race, it says the gun time and my chip time were the same….which they weren’t, so I’m going to go by the time that was on my Garmin.
Turns out that run was a good warmup for my return home. The flight from Salt Lake City was early arriving at LAX but we had no gate to go to, so sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes, which ate up half of my time between flights. I sprinted through LAX to catch a shuttle bus to the proper terminal, cut in line at security (THANK YOU to all the people who let me do that as they saw my panicked face) while they were paging me overhead, and sprinted again to the gate, to JUST make it on the plane. (sorry to those who didn’t make the connection, I told them there were people still coming through but I guess they couldn’t hold the flight). So I made it, but my bag arrived later. Crossing my fingers that everything arrives safely on my doorstep in the next little while. Of course all my goodies are in the suitcase, so you will have to come back to see some of the swaps I received. I can however, a photo of my friend Bev (Texas Rubber and Ink)’s swap card that I took on my phone:
Anyway….I wait in suspense to get my bag delivered (it’s due to arrive in the next few hours so I’m told) and start the laundry cycle. Don’t worry, I don’t think I’ll be posting pictures of that.
Jul 23, 2015 | cards, Stampin' Up!
http://www.yamstamps.com
I have a weakness for butterflies I think! I love the Watercolo(u)r Wings set from Stampin’ Up! and the coordinating framelits dies. I used the grid-like background set from You’ve Got This to add some texture to the background. I based the colour scheme on the Blue Morpho butterfly
I created a version of this card for a demonstrator card swap that I’m participating in this week at Stampin’ Up!’s Inspire, Create, Share 2015 convention. I made 45 of these cards and will trade with others so I end up with 45 different cards at the end. It’s a great way to get new ideas and inspiration. I know, you thought that I came up with ALL my ideas by myself. The truth is out – while there are ideas that we come up with on our own, there are also cards that are based on great cards we see others produce. (This defeats argument #45 of “Why I can’t be a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator” – “I can’t come up with all these ideas by myself” LOL).
I’m looking forward to coming home with lots of new ideas and inspiration, and hopefully not a lot of extra pounds either! I get together with a group of friends from across Canada and the US and while we definitely share creative and business ideas, we also like to EAT! I am going to combat this by running a 10km race tomorrow if all goes according to plan. Found out about the Deseret Classic Race yesterday, signed up, have to get my race kit today at some time and will run the race early tomorrow morning (should have plenty of time to get back to the hotel, shower and change and get to the Opening Session of Convention Day 2….)! I hope to have other posts and updates either here, on facebook, Twitter or Instagram. I think it will just depend on what kind of internet connection I have at the time!!
Jul 21, 2015 | specials, Stampin' Up!
OK not the most glamourous shot I’ve ever produced but it’s hard to get things done on airport wifi…LOL These are the Stampin’ Up! Canada Deals of the week. I just invested in the Little Numbers Thinlits Dies that coordinate with the Little Letters dies, so I personally don’t need to grab those, but they are one of my favourites this week.
I’m on my way to join my friends at the Stampin’ Up! Annual Convention, where we’ve been promised peeks at the upcoming Holiday Catalogue (I know, I know, it’s still summer!!). I’m looking forward to catching up with my friends from the US & Canada and know that I’ll come back with lots of great ideas and inspiration! I’ll be sharing this with members of my demonstrator group when I get back. Let me know if you’re interested in joining us. We’ve had two new members this month alone so far, and there’s always room for more!
Jul 18, 2015 | cards, Stampin' Up!
Spotlighting is a great technique to use on detailed or large outline images. This card features Stampin’ Up!’s Corner Garden stamp – which is quite beautiful on its own simply embossed in Gold Embossing Powder. I picked one portion of the image to highlight, and used the aquapainter and Wisteria Wonder reinker to watercolour the one large flower and complimented that with the sentiment from And Many More stamped in Wisteria Wonder. This technique also makes colouring a large image less time consuming – by selectively colouring one area, you can add a detail and draw attention to one portion of the image without having to colour the entire image if you’re a little pressed for time, or just want to get it done.
My upcoming classes are listed on the YamStamps Events Page – attend a class or join Stampers Club it’s a great way to learn new techniques, get ideas and build up your card stash!
Jul 14, 2015 | specials, Stampin' Up!
Here are the latest deals from Stampin’ Up! Canada – and there’s a bunch of great items here! Don’t forget that all the Weekly Deals have a set quantity available, and once that number has been reached, the items revert to their regular price. A number of last week’s deals were no longer available at sales prices by THURSDAY so you don’t want to wait if there’s something on this list you want! I will be placing an order TOMORROW (Wednesday, July 15th) so if you’re in the Burlington area and would like me to include your items in the order, be sure to email me ASAP. If you’re not local to Burlington (or like the convenience of to your door shipping) – there’s always the shop online option. Hard again for me to pick just one favourite this week – I do love the Gift Box Punch Board, and I love the versatility of the Colo(u)r Me Irresistible Designer Series Paper, and you know that I love framelits that coordinate with stamp images! The Handpicked Framelits coordinate with the Stake Your Claim set in the current catalogue. Please don’t hesistate to contact me if you have any questions or need assistance with your order. Happy Shopping!
Jul 10, 2015 | cards, TV/Video/Web/Tech
I love the coordination of Stampin’ Up!’s stamps and punches. This card features the Sprinkles of Life set (proceeds towards Ronald McDonald House Charities too!!) and the coordinating Tree Builder punch. We used it for a fun birthday card and coordinated the circular punch outs with the circles on the Polka Dot Embossing Folder dry embossed background. Of late, I really like having elements of the main image hanging over the border of the background – I think it adds more interest to the main feature.
I’ve also posted a Quick Q&A video on the YamStamps YouTube Channel – so check it out! If you have a question about Stampin’ Up! products or papercrafting, please either email me or leave a comment on the blog or on the YouTube channel, and I may use it for a future Quick Q&A video!
Jul 7, 2015 | specials, Stampin' Up!
Stampin’ Up! Canada continues to offer a larger number of Weekly Deals this month! Check out this week’s grouping! I can tell what I feel I “need” more of because I’m drawn towards all the ribbon choices this time. Doesn’t that Crumb Cake Stitched Ribbon look luxurious?! I do love my Confetti Hearts Border Punch for adding an interesting edge or creating confetti for shaker cards and accents, and running right behind that – I always love a selection of framelits and the Floral Frames are so fun!
Don’t forget that there are a number of recent items on the Clearance Rack as well that you can add into your online shopping basket and have delivered to your door.
Please contact me if you have any questions or need assistance placing your order. I will be sending orders in on Thursday, so if you’re close to Burlington I can include your items with that batch if you contact me before then, and will contact you when they arrive. Happy Shopping!
Jul 6, 2015 | organizing, Stampin' Up!
For Manic Monday, I thought I could share an organization tip – because it might help the day be a little less crazy, AND it’s something you can do in a minute or less!
I have a love/hate affair going on with my stamp room. I do love it, lots of room and light, though it’s in sheer chaos most of the time – which is where the hate portion steps in. Nothing more frustrating than having to search for that item you need! Many of my friends have undertaken the “empty out the entire room, sort through everything and then put only what you love/need back into the room” approach. (You can read more about that in the Marie Kondo book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
) (and from this title, it’s SO obvious to me that I am far removed from my Japanese roots ROFLOL). I haven’t been able to muster up the courage to do that YET. In the meantime, I’m going to start using my Organizing Pinterest Board a bit more often! (Procrastinate much, me?!)
If you’re like me, when you get your new Stampin’ Up! products, you are so excited you tend to whip open the packaging to get to the fun new item inside…and then can’t find that little piece of folded paper in the chaos that gives you more information or instructions for your new item. In my case, it’s the Banner Triple Punch. Well, I did actually know where the piece of paper was, yay me, but I can see it easily getting waylaid or thrown into the recycling when I hit the “I can’t TAKE this mess anymore” level in my stamp room. Here’s my solution:
I recently got more tape (and batteries!) for my labeller (similar but different to this one in case you’re wondering: Brother PTD200 Home and Office Labeler
) so have been able to use it a bit more in my office and stamp room area. I decided that the best place for information about a tool would be with the tool – so in this case, I printed a label with the size of the channels in the Banner Triple Punch, and adhered it in plain sight (though not on the top edge of the punch where I tend to grab it). Yay! No searching for the paper or trying to hold the punch by my Grid Paper to guesstimate the size – which means I’ll be faster and happier when creating something! Don’t forget though, you probably want to cut your cardstock a “smidge” narrower than the listed widths to be sure it fits snugly in the channels.
Happy Crafting!
Jul 4, 2015 | Uncategorized
Happy Independence Day to my US friends and family! (and more significantly in our neck of the woods – Happy Birthday to my son!!)
Jul 1, 2015 | Uncategorized
Hope you are able to spend some time today with family and friends. Enjoy the day!!
