Jul 18, 2017 | Announcements, cards, online class, Stampin' Up!
Stampin’ Up!’s set This Little Piggy (available in wood mount or clear mount) is such a fun set. I used it to create some fun swap cards a while back. When Pigs Fly….we should celebrate! I love this sentiment in particular. The image itself is watercoloured, using the aquapainter and refills. Marina Mist is the sky, and Blushing Bride (if I recall correctly….) was used for the pig. I watercoloured on Shimmery White cardstock, and the clouds are cut from the same cardstock. It has a beautiful, subtle shimmery sparkle to it. To boost the shimmer a bit more, I used the Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush on the wings.
I love that watercolouring doesn’t have to be all smooth and washed out if you don’t want it to be! I filmed a tutorial on how to get the variegated wash background, and I’ll be sharing it in the Online Watercolouring Class (yes, I know, it’s still in final stages of production…life keeps getting in the way! LOL). (I know, sometimes it feels like this online class will be live when pigs fly….if you want to be notified when the class is available for registration, click here to join the list)
The clouds are die cut using the Up & Away Thinlit dies. A cheater trick of mine is to put the sentiment on a die cut or punch out, so if you mess it up, you only have to redo one portion, not the entire card….or if you happen to mess up stamping on the card itself, a die cut or punch out can cover that up! Trust me, after decades of paper crafting, I know how to cover up mistakes….LOL. What’s that sentiment? A mistake is just an opportunity for an embellishment?! When pigs fly…I will design a card without making a “forced creative detour”….hahaha!
I’ll be pulling out the Wink of Stella Brush Pens next week for the Christmas Card Class. Nothing like a little shimmer and shine to make your Christmas cards more special! You can still register to come to class and make 4 different Christmas cards. You’ll get to use the Wink of Stella Brush to try it out…and if you like it, you can always order one for yourself! Don’t forget that if you place a $60 order you’ll receive a coupon code for $6 to spend in August! Plus….if you made a purchase at my Open House / Retired Product Sale in June, you’ll have received the email with a coupon amount to use exclusively with me this summer!
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need to register for an upcoming class.
Jul 12, 2017 | cards, Christmas
Wow time flies when you’re busy….and look, it’s already time for a handmade Christmas card! OK, well, maybe not quite…. However, there is nothing like getting a jump on your holiday cards, especially if you’re hoping to create your own! Some smart YamStamps customers have already started by attending last month’s Christmas Card Class! This is one of the cards we created using the Be Merry Designer Series Paper that is available in the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalogue.
There’s a few thrifty tricks on this card – the backing layer for the sentiment is die cut with one of the Lots of Labels framelits dies from the backing cardstock, and the strip of complimentary designed paper is actually the flip side of the mittens designed paper. Stampin’ Up!’s Designer Series Papers have coordinating colours and patterns so it’s easy to mix and match without having to think too hard! Perfect for summer crafting. Or anytime crafting for me, really.
If you are looking to increase your stash of handmade Christmas cards, you can register to attend the next class! July 25th is the next installment, and each project will also use the Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush in the design. For the Christmas Card Classes, you’ll have the option of the “BASIC” Class Fee, which will cover all supplies required for the 4 cards, or the “BASIC+” Class Fee, which will also include the featured product for that class. For example, July is the Wink of Stella brush, August is going to be the Gold & Silver Edged Metallic Ribbons. September onwards will be announced once we get a look at the upcoming Holiday Catalogue! Check out the upcoming dates and other events on the YamStamps Events Page.
Don’t forget that every purchase of $60 or more in product during July will earn you a $6 coupon to spend in August! (See this post for all the details on the July promotions), You can shop anytime in the YamStamps Online Stampin’ Up! Canada store and have your product delivered to your door. If you live in Quebec, or need assistance placing your order, please contact me and I will place the order for you (and still have it delivered to your door). If you purchase a starter kit in July, you’ll get a new Christmas stamp set, which will really help you to create your own handmade Christmas Card! Get the Carols of Christmas set as part of your Essentials bonus kit (again, see this post for details as well as the stamp set images). You can find out more about being part of my demonstrator team here, or start picking your starter kit products here!
See? Really NO excuse for not getting started! Ho Ho Ho!
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 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!
