Feb 21, 2017 | cards, Sale-A-Bration, specials, Stampin' Up!
Happy Sale-a-Bration Second Release Day! Stampin’ Up! has some new freebies for you until the end of March with each $60 merchandise order! You can download the flyer here. My personal favourites are seen in the samples above from the flyer. I love the Reverse Words stamp set (item 143316 wood or 143319 clear), and of course, the Glimmer Paper (item 143831)! You get 12 sheets – 4 of 3 different colours, in 6″ x 6″ sheets. Bermuda Bay, Mint Macaron and Sweet Sugarplum – they coordinate with a number of suites (coordinating products) from the Occasions Catalogue (Cupcakes & Carousels, Falling in Love and Succulent Garden) – but for me, they also scream “SPRING” and “EASTER”.
Don’t you agree? I need to build up my stash of these…and I’m sure they’re going to be very popular! Don’t forget that Sale-a-Bration only runs until March 31st, so now is the time to grab your freebies while you can. Purchase the starter kit (more info here), and on top of everything ($165 product of your choice for $135, business supplies and a Paper Pumpkin kit) – you get an additional TWO stamp sets of your choice for free! Just FYI…when you go to the YamStamps Online Stampin’ Up! Canada store, did you know that you can select “Stamps” and the format of your choice (wood mount, clear mount or photopolymer), and then sort by “> price” ? That way….you can get the most bang for your buck!!
So far, the most popular item during Sale-a-Bration has been the “Hey Chick” set (item 143328 wood or 143331 clear). I used that for my Year of The Rooster card…I kind of cheated I think, and turned a chicken into a rooster by adding the little red “beard”. (Can you tell I don’t own chickens? Unlike some of my friends who proudly show off their egg hauls!). The original Sale-a-Bration catalogue is here.
There is still some space in the March Monthly Card Class if you want to get out to do some crafting and grab a free Sale-a-Bration item with your $60 product order (that’s multi-tasking that I can handle!). Please contact me to register, or if you have any questions. Otherwise – see you in class soon!
Feb 18, 2017 | cards, Occasions, Stampin' Up!
I love Stampin’ Up! Canada’s Lift Me Up stamp set & the coordinating Up & Away Thinlits Dies for easy handmade cards! The set is available in clear mount or wood mount, as well as a clear mount bundle or wood mount bundle with the dies at a discounted price. Hot air balloons are great images for all purpose cards, masculine cards, and all age ranges. The coordination of the stamp set and die always makes it easy to produce great images for the cardfront. I particularly love the irregular long cloud and the intricate hot air balloon dies in this set. For this card, the background is simply sponged with Marina Mist ink, and then the die cut balloons and clouds are adhered in place. During Sale-a-Bration (until March 31) there’s a coordinating Designer Series Paper availble for free with each $60 merchandise order as well – lots of coordinating images to go with the hot air balloon theme! (talk about making handmade cards even easier!). I did use this bundle and the Carried Away free Designer Series Paper (item 143608) for one of the projects in the Clever Cards Online Class. I couldn’t resist! When you spend a bit more time on the construction of the card itself, anything you can do to make the rest faster is always good, in my books.
It’s Family Day weekend in Ontario, so I hope that you are able to enjoy some time with your family – whether they be relations by genetics or by choice! I have a teenaged boy at home, so here’s hoping we get a few moments together at some point or another….LOL. It’s unusually warm out there too, which was a nice change when I was out for my early morning run today – not quite as many layer required (and not as much mental convincing to get out the door, to be truthful too!).
In any case, I’m also going to take advantage of a little extra down time to get caught up on some handmade cards! I’m owing a few thank you for your order cards….so if you’ve placed an order with me in the last while, you can definitely count on some “happy mail” in the next while. If you are needing to build up your stash of cards on hand, and are close to Burlington ON, join the Monthly Card Class – next one is Wednesday, March 1 at 1pm or 7pm. Cost is $20 and includes all supplies required to create 4 different cards using a variety of supplies and techniques Registration and payment required in advance. Can’t make that time? Get a group of friends together, and I’ll come to you! (well, within driving distance of Burlington…LOL). Not local to Burlington? Grab an Online Class and do some crafting when you have the time! No excuses not to get a little crafty soon!
Feb 9, 2017 | cards, Occasions, Sale-A-Bration, Seasonal Catalogue, Stampin' Up!, TV/Video/Web/Tech
Have you seen Stampin’ Up!’s Falling In Love Designer Series Paper? This is a gorgeous set of papers, double sided, with lots of bokeh effects and images. It’s hard to pick which side to use! (Good thing there’s duplicates!). They make a great background for a simple card.
This is a version of the card that I showed on Cogeco’s Halton Insider the other day. I realize that you have to be within the Cogeco Halton viewing area to catch the show (6pm, repeated the next day at 630). I am working on a way to get the recordings into a format I can share! The other night I actually did a facebook live video on the YamStamps page where I showed my TV screen!! (The recording is posted if you wanted to check it out). Much like at Christmas time, we recorded 5 segments in a row, featuring different projects, that will be aired during the shows this week.
Essentially, you heat emboss the graphic and word of your choice from the Love Sparkles set (available in clear or wood mount) with Gold Embossing Powder. I did an extra thin border for the matting piece in Soft Sky (rather than using a traditional 1/4″ larger piece of cardstock, I did 1/8″ larger), and then wrapped it with some of the gorgeous Metallic Woven Ribbon in Gold. You can get the ribbon for free with a $60 product order until the end of March for Sale-a-Bration! (Download the Sale-a-Bration catalogue here and the upcoming new releases here!). This makes a clean, simple and elegant card – perfect for Valentine’s Day, wedding, anniversary or “just because” kind of card!
I am putting the finishing touches on the Clever Cards Online Class and it will be open for registration in the next couple of days. It’s a great class (if I say so myself LOL) that will break down the construction of a few “fancy folds” type cards that you will be able to decorate for the occasions when you want to give a card that will really WOW the recipient! I’ll post the official release here on the YamStamps Blog so please be sure to come back to the site!
Feb 2, 2017 | cards, Stampin' Up!
The local newspaper, the Hamilton Spectator, recently highlighted a story that caught my eye. There was a study that was recently published in JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association) Neurology that showed that crafting may help reduce the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment in later life! (Read the summary here if you like). Mentally stimulating activities tend to ward off dementia – and they found that crafting, playing games, computer use and social activities all made a difference. So what are you waiting for? Sign up for one of my card making classes now! It’s good for you! The in-person classes will provide you with crafting and social activities, and an online class will get you using your computer and crafting as well. (My latest online class, Clever Cards launches next week!)
This is a recent class and club card – using one of the most popular sets from the Occasions Catalogue, Dragonfly Dreams. I do really like this set, and I used it for one of my swaps at the recent Canadian Business Conference (see this recent post). I used the same technique – reinkers on a baby wipe to create a custom multicoloured “ink pad” for the wings, and coated the finished image’s wings with some Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush. This is an example of a great card to have in your stash! You can pull it out, write whatever appropriate message on the inside, and send it off!
If you need a regular crafting “fix” and are within driving distance of Burlington ON, consider joining my Stampers Club. We meet for a monthly card class, and instead of paying a class fee, members place a $33 merchandise order. Members sign up for a 6 month session, and during that time will have a chance to build up their stash of cards (and crafting necessities), plus receive free product as the “host” one during that 6 month period. All that and keeping your brain sharp too! See the YamStamps events page for upcoming dates, or contact me to book a private cardmaking class with your friends!
Jan 28, 2017 | cards, Sale-A-Bration, Stampin' Up!
Happy Lunar New Year! Here’s a quick card to celebrate the Year of the Rooster – I used the Stampin’ Up! Sale-a-Bration set, Hey Chick, which you can get free with a $60 product order, and I added on the calligraphy from the Artistically Asian set (wood or clear mount) that apparently means “friend”. I also used the Stitched Shapes Framelits which are back in stock and available to order! Some basic colouring with the Stampin’ Write markers and it’s ready to mail!
I had great plans that have gone seriously awry the last couple of days 🙁 – I was set to do a big final push on the Online Class but instead have been trying to nurse myself back to some semblance of health. You know you’ve been pushing it a bit too much when your body pushes back. Nothing like a little enforced rest. Anyway. Starting to feel human again, so hopefully back at it shortly, with the launch not too delayed as a result. Fingers crossed!
Jan 27, 2017 | cards, Stampin' Up!
Lovely as a Tree (clear mount or wood mount) is the oldest stamp set in the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalogue…I think it’s been in there almost as long as I’ve been a demonstrator?! This was my contribution (oh – add some “bling” in the corners because it’s ANOTHER design that I had to add to in order to meet the Canadian Business Conference swap rules LOL – the swap version is on the YamStamps Instagram Account). We did a version of this in Stamp Club, and when I redid it for the swap, I left the ground white, so it looks kind of like snow. Hard to see, but the image is on Shimmery White cardstock so it gives a subtle sheen to everything, and stands up quite well to the watercolouring that I did for the sky.
In the meantime, if you registered for the Watercolour Pencil class, you will be glad to know that the order for supplies was put in well ahead of time – so the fact that the pencils are currently unorderable is not a factor. (phew). If you didn’t (why not?!), the pencils will be available to order again in a couple of weeks – contact me and I can place an order for you as soon as they’re available again. Good news, though, that the Stitched Shape Framelits are in stock and available for order once again. Contact me if you have any questions or concerns, or need to still register for the Monthly Card Class on Wednesday. Other than that, I’m working on the videos for my new Online Class, Clever Cards. If I wasn’t so much of a procrastinator, I’d have finished up the videos in advance of getting a touch of laryngitis….*sigh* Wish me luck.
