I was overdue in sending out some customer thank you cards – so I’m sharing sunshine with Stampin’ Up!’s new digital download fundraiser – the Share Sunshine pdf!
These days, my creative mojo is actually starting to come back a bit – in the early days of all this COVID-19 craziness, I found at times all I could do was plod along doing my job and keeping the house from falling down, so I didn’t really have the creative juice to make much. These days, I’m adjusting to our new temporary normal I guess, and my energy and creative flow are returning.
Anyway – I was overdue in sending out some thank you cards, so I whipped a bunch up, using some Designer Series Paper and the Share Sunshine pdf. I printed out the pdf (well, selected pages) onto Whisper White cardstock. I have a colour laser printer so I was able to print out in colour as well. I cut up the sheets, using my Paper Trimmer and whatever dies fit the sentiments, added some coordinating cardstock as mats and was done. The picture shows just a few of the variations. I was able to mix and match the coloured sentiments with papers that coordinated, and added a bit of silver metallic thread as an extra touch. I think most of the cards in this picture use the Best Dressed Designer Series Paper.
Extra tip for crafting in the time of COVID-19 – seal your envelopes using your Aquapainters! I tend to do this anyway, especially when I’m crafting/mailing in bulk. The current style of Aquapainters is on the retiring list but there will be a similar but different option in the new catalogue.
Try not to be horrified by the state of my working spot LOL. If you can’t tell, I reuse grid paper as long as possible! It gets used first for in person classes (not right at this moment, obviously), and then once it’s too inky, if it’s not covered in adhesive, it moves to my craft area where I use it until it gets crumpled, covered in adhesive or whatever… (oh and the aquapainter tip is a little stained. What can I say? I use my crafting tools!)
Anyway – I’m looking forward to sharing sunshine with others – I’ve got cards going out to members of my demonstrator group and those who have purchased with me in the first part of this year. Sending happy mail is a great way to let others know you are thinking of them, even if you can’t be with them in person. If you want happy mail in the form of the new Stampin’ Up! Canada catalogue (goes live in June) – be sure to fill out this form! (FIne print – must be a resident of Canada and not have a demonstrator that you work with already)
How appropriate is this sentiment right now?! Far apart but close at heart.
The sentiment is from the Well Said stamp set, which has so many sentiments and sayings, that you may have overlooked one or two, like me! The card itself is quite straightforward, and showcases the beautiful Peaceful Poppies Designer Series Paper.
Stampers Club did our first Virtual Club Get together this week – and this is one of the card patterns we created. For April’s club we did a One Sheet Wonder – where you get many different card designs out of a single 12″ x 12″ piece of patterned paper. Club members who are local enough picked up their class kits and then we went over the designs together in two different virtual meetings (because my in person clubs have an afternoon and an evening session). Some of my demonstrator group joined in as well. It was great to see everyone, and I’m appreciative of their patience as I worked out the kinks. With all the distancing measures, I’ve also had to pay a bit more attention to the slightly neglected club membership site, so I guess there’s some good coming out of all of this. Club members have access to the site which houses photos of our projects plus instructions for them as well. I am looking at doing some “one off” virtual classes as well, so watch for more news on that. If you’re interested in joining us in Stampers Club in the meantime, be sure to contact me.
In other news, the reveal of the Retiring List will happen shortly, and for Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators, it’s also new catalogue access day! Demonstrators will be able to see a digital copy of the upcoming Annual Catalogue – so we may all be a bit quiet online for a little while?!
Would you like a copy of the upcoming catalogue? If you live in Canada and don’t have a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator that you deal with already, please fill out this form! I’ll get in touch with you to confirm your information and will put you on the list. If you have placed an order with me in the past year, I will automatically send a new catalogue to you. (If you’re not sure if you’ve made a purchase in the past year or not, fill out the form, and then you’re covered, right?!).
In the meantime, stay far apart but close at heart. Keep healthy, everyone!
Hi! Apparently I haven’t posted on the blog in a little while….oops! Here I am, asking for forgiveness by sharing this Ornate Garden Thank You Card. It’s made using the Early AccessOrnate Garden Suite of products that will be coming in the 2020-2021 Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalogue.
It probably would would have been more appropriate to use the Ornate Garden Specialty Designer Series Paper…but in my defense, I really like the Parisian Blossoms paper. It is okay to mix and match suites of products to come up with something you like! In all reality, though, I think it’s because I had pulled out a few sheets to look at, and then moved everything to one side to clear a spot so I could work on a card design, and just grabbed a sheet that caught my eye. This is what happens when you tend to create in chaos, and are living through a pandemic that tends to sap your energy and mojo. Is it just me??!! Well, that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking with it.
Stampers Club is moving online this month. We usually get to meet in person and craft, but this month we’ll be meeting virtually, but still crafting together! If all goes well, I’m hoping to offer this format for future Monthly Card Classes as well. Club members (and some of my demonstrator group “Eh” Team members) are going to be the test run. Wish us luck! New club members can start their six month membership at any club meeting, so if you’re interested in joining us, you can message me for information, or see the description on the YamStamps Events Page.
The YamStamps Newsletter is out tomorrow, so if you’re subscribed, watch for it around 1pm Eastern! Just like the Ornate Garden Thank You Card says – thank you for making my day by stopping by!
I love Stampin’ Up!’s Parisian Dies! I used them to make this Eiffel Tower Thank You Card.
I had the great good fortune to be able to travel to France last June, so had the opportunity to see the tower in person. We only had a few hours, so I ended up choosing to wander around (okay, actually walk purposefully since our time was limited LOL) Paris and see as much as possible, rather than climb the stairs of the Tower. Maybe my next trip to Paris?!!
cheesy tourist shot at the Eiffel Tower!
There’s actually NO stamping involved in this card! It’s just ink and die cuts. I chose Gold Foil Sheets for the die cut tower and word (don’t lose the dot for the “i” when you’re doing this one), and then just sponged inked onto a strip of cardstock. You can choose whatever colours you like -so you could mass produce this card but have a number of different “looks”! If you are subscribed to the YamStamps Newsletter, you should have received a tutorial video showing a similar card and technique when you signed up.
We can’t travel right now, but we can still at least make cards and scrapbook pages that celebrate it – like this Eiffel Tower Thank You Card. My staycation is over so I don’t have quite as much time to spend in my craft room, but I’ll be trying to make a point of doing so because it’s a great break from the craziness of everyday life right now. I hope to get onto another Facebook Live in the next while, so be sure to like and follow the YamStamps Page to be notified when it happens! In the meantime, I hope that you are staying healthy and finding the chance to be creative.
Happy Spring! The weather is definitely getting more mild, and today was filled with wind and rain, but also a bit of sun. Here’s a tulip card to celebrate spring – though I do know that tulips are one of the later blooming flowers, from my limited gardening experience. I gardened more when I was living in British Columbia because, well, it’s milder weather, so more enjoyable to be outside lots, and I had more time on my hands then….LOL.
This card features the Timeless Tulips Bundle which contains the Tulip Builder Punch and the Timeless Tulips stamp set. To make the positioning of the stems and flowers easy, I stamped & punched the tulip heads first, and then laid them out on the cardstock to figure out the placement. Once I was happy with it, I stamped the stems (working fairly quickly so I wouldn’t forget where I wanted them haha!!) and then added the leaves before adhering the punched tulips in place. It was a happy accident that the stems ended up converging in one area – that was not what I was going for, actually, but I’ll take it.
A design element I’ve been embracing a bit more is letting elements hang off the edge of the cardstock (but not the card, because then it won’t fit in an envelope if I ever get around to mailing it). It makes fitting everything on the cardfront a little easier. I left this card without a sentiment on the front because I liked the white space effect. Is it called vanilla space for this one since it’s Very Vanilla Cardstock? (oh dear – Can you tell I’ve been social distancing effectively?!!!)
I have done a couple of Facebook Lives this week on the YamStamps Facebook Page, because I have appreciated and been inspired by watching live videos from creative people that I follow on various platforms – it truly is a stress reliever! I will see how many I can continue to do – I had the luxury of being at home this week, since my travel plans were cancelled. I’m due to return to work next week so I imagine I won’t have quite as much time to myself as I’ve had this week! I did treat it like a vacation, and I am amazed at how little I can productively do in a 24 hour period…..LOL. Future me is not impressed with how little present me got done on those nagging jobs around the house….apparently my powers of procrastination are strong!!
I hope that you are keeping well, and doing things to keep your stress levels down. I need to work on a few new card designs so here’s hoping I find some creative inspiration and motivation somewhere….in the meantime, enjoy this tulip card until we get to see the real deal? Happy Spring and Hang In There!!
Love these meerkats – because we all need a reason to smile these days! I thought it was appropriate to make a stand alone pop up card for this card/sentiment…
Get it….stand up friend….stand up card? (The social distancing is obviously getting to me a bit more than I thought). Anyway….this card features the Sale-a-Bration Level 1 reward stamp set The Gang’s All Meer and the suuuper cute Birthday Bonanza Designer Series Paper from the Jan-June Mini Catalogue. This is one of those papers that it’s hard to pick a favourite side – since these papers are double sided. While the patterns are really functional for all sorts of cards, you are inevitably hiding a cute design on the other side (in this case I think we hid some koalas….).
I am planning on doing a facebook live for this card tomorrow (Thursday), I’ll do it on the YamStamps Facebook Page, so please “like” and “follow” the page to get notified when I go live. (Please note how close I am to a nice round number of “likes”, not that numbers are all I care about and all that it’s about, but come on). At this point I’m thinking late morning, depends on how my day is going. You know, jobs to avoid doing, dust bunnies to step around…I am actually amazed at how little I can truly get accomplished in one day, even when I’m not leaving the house – though I justify it by saying that I am on vacation (which I am)….but still. I’ll probably get a huge burst of initiative and inspiration on Sunday! LOL.
Anyway, I’ll show the construction of this card, and then I will post an instruction file in the Paper Crafting with YamStamps Facebook Group, (if you’re not a member, click on the link and request to join). Just a heads up if you want to craft along with me – You’ll need 4.5″ x 11″ piece of cardstock, plus a 3″ x 4.5″ and 2.75″ x 4.25″ (those last two measurements are off the top of my head right now, hoping I got it correct…I guess we’ll find out tomorrow). I hope that you can join me for a break in your day and make this stand alone pop up card with me live! See you then!
