May 15, 2016 | cards, Events, Stampin' Up!
I recently celebrated fourteen years with Stampin’ Up! Hard to believe that time has flown so quickly and that my business has grown as much as it has. I bought the starter kit simply to get easy access to my own paper crafting supplies (at the time I lived a ferry ride and a good car drive away from any sort of craft store whatsoever!). These days I enjoy having classes, clubs and working online as well. Of late though, my online work has been suffering a bit because my computer has been ailing….and as we speak it is in the shop getting an overhaul. Fingers crossed it happens quickly. Thankfully, I do have other options to get online access, though it’s making me think a bit harder, adapting to different devices….though apparently that’s good for fighting off aging. Must look on the bright side.
In any case, this is the lovely card that was sent to me by the Stampin’ Up! Canada home office. Dale and Carrie do their best for the Canadian demonstrators, and I know they have a group of crafty helpers who create anniversary cards for Dale to sign and send out!
In the meantime, a reminder that my New Catalogue Open House will be held Saturday, June 4 from 9am til noon in Burlington. Please RSVP to have a copy of the catalogue set aside for you, and so that I can give you directions. You’ll be able to pick up the catalogue and have a shop at the Retired Product sale! I look forward to seeing you.
Apr 26, 2016 | cards, Stampin' Up!
You may have heard about the #Imbringingbirthdaysback movement. Celebrating birthdays by sending real cards in the mail, not just a cyber greeting! There’s even a stamp that’s been based on the hand carved original by Shannon West (who started this!) it’s item 143573 and costs $15 CAD. The card above is inspired by a card I received from Shannon. It’s a fun, easy card that you can whip up to get in the mail quickly! The sentiment is from Big News – available in clear mount or wood mount and at a discounted price while it’s still available – the set has been retired so will not be available after the end of May (or when supplies are exhausted). The swooshes are from Work of Art (clear mount or wood mount) and the splatters, because I couldn’t resist are from the set Gorgeous Grunge (clear mount or wood mount). The colours used are Calypso Coral, Pool Party and Island Indigo.
The theme of this post is timely as I just spent a “Girls Weekend” away in Montreal to celebrate a friend’s “significant number” birthday.
What I realized on this trip:
1) It’s good to have a bit of a break every now and then – makes me appreciate home once I’m back!
2) I do tourist eating – planning my day around what specialty foods I want to eat – and thankfully my friends are the same. We hit all the biggies – croissants, crepes, Montreal Smoked Meat sandwiches, poutine, macarons and bagels. (I need to be sure I go for a few runs this week now….)
3) I don’t remember as much of my high school French as I thought I did. (Thankfully everyone spoke better English than I spoke French).
If you’d like to get some cards made that you can share with friends, the Monthly Card Class is coming up on Wednesday, May 4th. I’ve added a 1pm afternoon option for the Monthly Classes – and the May one is almost at capacity! There’s still space in the 7pm evening class as well. Contact me to register. Check out the YamStamps Events page for other upcoming classes, and don’t forget the Online Classes via YamStampsMore!
Apr 21, 2016 | Big Shot, cards, Occasions, Retired List, Seasonal Catalogue, Stampin' Up!
I love Stampin’ Up!’s English Garden Designer Series Paper, and will miss it when it’s gone at the end of the month! I know that Stampin’ Up! has some AMAZING new things for us in the upcoming Annual Catalogue, but still…parting is such sweet sorrow. It’s featured on this card, and makes a beautiful backdrop for the gorgeous butterfly (from the Butterflies Thinlits Dies) cut from the Gold Foil sheet. I experimented with this die cut, and tried cutting with the gold surface away from the die – so the edges of the die cut curl towards you slightly. I just wanted to see how it looked, and how the foil sheets tolerated going through the Big Shot this way. I think it almost looks more like thin metal than when the edge is rolled away from you – what do you think? The Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder used on the Blushing Bride cardstock in the background is also retiring at the end of the month (and is one of the items being offered at a discounted price!). Don’t forget that retired product is available WHILE SUPPLIES LAST – so again, don’t hesitate if there’s something on that retired list that you’ve been coveting.
Here’s the links to see all the Retired Stamps and Retired Accessories and Tools in the YamStamps Online Stampin’ Up! Canada store. Please contact me if you have any questions or need assistance placing your order. Happy Shopping!
Apr 14, 2016 | Big Shot, cards, Stampin' Up!
It’s me….with a card….that I SWORE I had shared already but now for the life of me can’t find it…. Anyway….this uses the gorgeous Timeless Textures stamp set, available in clear mount or wood mount. Combined with the Hello You thinlits, it makes for a lovely artistic card, good for males or females. The card base is Lost Lagoon, one of the 2014-2016 In Colours, which means it will be leaving us soon *sniff*. Early Espresso and Crumb Cake are the other colours featured on the card. We found that the Die Brush was useful in popping out the die cut, and one layer of wax paper between the cardstock and die also made it quick to remove.
If you like Lost Lagoon, NOW is the time to grab more of it – before it’s gone! Don’t wait until the official retirement announcement. The retiring In Colours go quickly, and often are the first items to go. You can shop online and place your order, or contact me if you have questions, or need assistance.
Don’t forget to enter my retiring list contest – everyone who enters gets a $5 gift certificate to use in May!
Mar 24, 2016 | cards, Occasions, Seasonal Catalogue, Stampin' Up!
Apparently it’s spring, and Easter is this weekend, though it’s snow/freezing rain around here and schools have been cancelled! So – if you need something to keep the kids occupied….consider some punch art! This fun card was created using the Friends and Flowers set (available in clear mount or wood mount), the Festive Flower Builder Punch and some circle punches! We used a couple of different sentiment sets – Hippity Hoppity is from And Many More (clear mount or wood mount) and the inside Happy Easter sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes (clear mount or wood mount) – one of my most used sentiment sets for sure. The Designer Series Paper is from the Pretty Petals stack. The bunny is peeking through a window cut with one of the square framelits from the Pear Pizzazz card.
My favourite part about this card is the inside…
heehee!
Enjoy your “Snow Day” if you’re in the affected areas. Otherwise…happy Thursday! If you are looking for some more fun – try one of my online classes – if you like punch art, there’s a holiday punch art class that you could use to get a jump on your Christmas cards?!
I hope that you stay warm today, and if you’re going out, have a safe journey, and a wonderful Easter weekend with your family & friends.
Mar 19, 2016 | cards, Occasions, Seasonal Catalogue, Stampin' Up!
Do you remember this card that I shared with you previously? I shared a Thrifty Vellum Trick Video (you can see it at the YamStamps YouTube Channel) at the same time. Here’s the card that I made with the cut out piece from that – since it’s not thrifty to cut something out and then throw it away! It’s made with Stampin’ Up!’s Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes. Besides the vellum banner, we added a piece of Hello Honey cardstock, stamped with one of the Dotty Angles stamps, and a butterfly from the Watercolour Wings set die cut with the Butterflies Thinlits Dies. Added a touch of Gold Wink of Stella to the butterfly and to either end of the sentiment tag. Here, we just used a touch of SNAIL adhesive on the vellum behind where the butterfly was going to be attached to hold the banner in place but not be visible.
This is an example of a more feminine card, and we’ll be making four feminine cards for different occasions at the April Occasions Feminine Card Class. Your $25 class fee will include a package of Botanical Garden Jewels. We’ll use some in class, and you’ll take the remainder home for your other projects. Class Date is Thursday, April 21 at 7pm, and registration deadline is April 7th. Payment is due at time of registration – you can click on the PayPal button below, or contact me if you have any questions.
