I am choosing to focus on stars and rainbows today (happy thoughts, happy thoughts)….because it’s Monday and because Facebook hates me LOL. If you follow the YamStamps Facebook Page and have visited it recently, you may notice that a lot of my recent project posts are GONE. This goes for the same in the Paper Crafting with YamStamps Facebook Group. Trust me, this wasn’t by my choice! Facebook decided that it didn’t like the Canadian Stampin’ Up! official site (you know, where the YamStamps Online Store is essentially housed) – so every single post that I had tagged with a product or anything that linked to the online store got taken down without any notice. If you heard a collective wail in the wind – it was all the affected Canadian Stampin’ Up! demonstrators. Painful.
So.
I am choosing to focus on positive things and things I can control as much as I can (stars and rainbows, stars and rainbows….LOL) – like most of the YamStamps Instagram is intact, and of course, best of all, the YamStamps Site and emails are not touched by the far reach of Facebook/Meta/whatever it’s called now.
Stars and Rainbows card
Stars and Rainbows Card! So here’s a card that makes me happy. I love the Pattern Party Host Designer Series Paper – it’s got so many patterns – black and white or full of colour, depending on which side of the 12″ x 12″ sheet you choose! Obviously for this card, I chose the full of colour sides…
It’s often the little details on a project that make it stand out – so I coordinated the stitched effect on the Stitched Die Stars and the Stitched Rectangle die cut background – and please notice the stitched edges on the strip of Designer Series Paper along the bottom of the card! I cut the strips and then ran them through my Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine in the Stitched Rectangle die so that I could get that effect.
Stars and Rainbows interior
This was the fun detail from the inside of the card – I love the peek through effect. The die cut star ended up on the front of the card – so no waste on this project at all!
If you want to be sure not to miss a project that I share, be sure to come back and visit the YamStamps blog, and subscribe to the YamStamps newsletter – that way, you _know_ you’ll be seeing what I’m up to (and I will know too!). I will continue to use Facebook and Instagram too, but here’s hoping they don’t mess with my posts anymore!! Sending stars and rainbows in your direction in the meantime.
This is a purple hello card that I made recently and have been working on sending out in the mail! Honestly, the most difficult part for me is the getting the envelope delivered to the mailbox…so in the meantime, here’s the card.
Purple Hello Card
I coordinated a scalloped edge on the cardfront with the scalloped rectangle for the main sentiment/image area, and added a Highland Heather strip of cardstock along in the inside of the card to show off the detail. I love this abstract stamp! It’s from the Artistically Inked Stamp Set.
closeup – can you see what I see?
I stamped the abstract swirl numerous times on the diagonal across my die cut piece. Posting this closeup I discovered something – can you see what I see? I stamped the swirl and then would restamp to get different depths of ink and colour coverage…. Now that I post it – I can see the line of dots from where I had stamped over the stitched die cut area, and then restamped – so there was more ink left on the stamp in the area of the stitched marks that transferred to the next image! Ah well. I don’t think it’s the end of the world…and as I always say – if the recipient critiques a handmade card, they don’t deserve it!!
(by the way, if you received this particular purple hello card – sorry, oops, and consider it a unique little mark of the maker).
I mass produced a number of these for my Demonstrator Team reward recipients and recent customers. After I die cut the scalloped rectangles, I kept one outline of the rectangle (with the scalloped rectangle hole in it) and put that into my Stamparatus. I used it as a guide for placing the scalloped rectangles and lining up the “hello” stamp on the stamping plate. I only had to fuss over the alignment and placement at the beginning, and after that, I could watch Netflix and stamp cards at the same time!! Simply put a scalloped rectangle into the hole of my template, ink up the stamp on the plate and close the Stamparatus. Remove and repeat!
Hopefully that mass production tip helps you with your holiday cards…since today marks 2 months until Christmas!!! This week’s Twelve Weeks of Christmas email will be the last card project – we move on to giftables/packaging next – you can still catch the remaining weeks if you subscribe to the YamStamps newsletter today!
Happy World Cardmaking Day! The first Saturday in October is designated as a day to celebrate the art and craft of cardmaking, so I’m sharing this easy elegant card that I created and haven’t yet shared here. I hope you are able to take a bit of time to be creative this weekend! More significantly for me, I plan to follow up with Card SENDING Day. True Confession: I seem to have issues with getting things into the mail – I’m one of those people that will walk around with mail to post and days later I will still have it on me and not into a mailbox yet. I’m getting better….but it’s a work in progress. Like most of my life LOL.
Anyway – here’s the card. It’s one that highlights the beauty of the patterned paper and die cuts, and it’s a quick one to make. Probably faster for me to make than for me to get into the mail….
easy elegant card
One of my current favourite Designer Series Papers, Expressions in Ink, is the main focal point of this easy elegant card. Since this design has gold foiled leaves on it, I used the similar leaf die from the Artistic Dies (also part of the Expressions in Ink Suite Collection) to cut out some Gold Foil Sheet. To make adding the die cut to the cardfront clean and easy, I put a strip of the Adhesive Sheet on the back of the Gold Foil Sheet prior to running it through the Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine. I also find that after die cutting, and using the Brush Tip attachment for my Take Your Pick tool, when I take off the liner for the Adhesive Sheet, it tends to pull off any remaining bits from detailed die cuts. Yay! Even cleaner and easier!
easy elegant card – close up
Cardmaking doesn’t have to be difficult to be enjoyable – both for the creator and for the recipient of the finished card!
I send out project tutorials, crafting ideas and information weekly to YamStamps Newsletter Subscribers. Right now, the Twelve Weeks of Christmas are also on – so it’s double the dose of creativity in your inbox for a few months! More information about my newsletters is at yamstamps.com/nl or you can sign up in the box at the top right of the YamStamps blog.
I love easy and effective paper crafting – of which this autumn card is a perfect example. Stampin’ Up! Canada’s Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper has colours and patterns that feature natural elements that cover four seasons so could be used for all sorts of paper crafting projects.
Autumn Card
I love the pattern on this paper! It’s a border pattern, so by cutting the sheet in half, many cards could be created with this design. The leaves are all die cut from the Giving Gifts Dies, including the one used for the sentiment, which I though was a fun accent on top of the Cherry Cobber & Gold Metallic Ribbon. If you’ve been following the YamStamps blog for a while, you’ll have figured out that I cut the detailed leaves from the backing Cherry Cobbler Cardstock since the holes would be covered by the Designer Series Paper. Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals were perfect for adding the leaves in place, and by placing them at different angles, they look like they’re falling – so perfect for an Autumn card!
Autumn Card Close Up
The Cherry Cobbler ribbon is currently on backorder, which means at this time, it can still be ordered, but it will ship out separately once it arrives at Stampin’ Up!’s North American warehouse. The good news is that means that while it’s still orderable, it will count towards the total product order and can help earn Sale-a-Bration rewards. The bad news is that you will have to wait for a bit before it arrives…and there is always a risk that it could go into unorderable status. If there are too many backorders for an item, Stampin’ Up! will cut off the ability to order that product until it arrives in stock again.
Sale-a-Bration runs until September 30th. The Be Dazzling Specialty Paper is sold out, and the remaining products are while supplies last/September 30th – whichever comes first. You can place your order online at https://yamstamps.com/shop or email me if you would like assistance placing your order or would like to pay by etransfer. Canadian addresses only due to Stampin’ Up! regulations.
Hello! I was just dwelling on the fact that my wall calendar was still on August…as of yesterday. It’s now showing the correct month. And while I faithfully send out my weekly emails and have gotten back to posting on Facebook a bit, I am still trying to climb back on the wagon for Instagram and the YamStamps blog. So I decided I would share a paper hug with you all.
The Basic White background is given detail with the Stitched Greenery Die. I love how this die adds a stitched accent that is perfect for a background, and ties in with the botanical theme of the card. The Layering Hugs dies have one larger die that cuts the word and all the detailed flowers, and a second die that cuts out a slightly smaller version of the letters. I die cut the letters from the In Colo(u)r Shimmer Vellum – another of my favourite items in the catalogue. The letters are from the Polished Pink sheet, but the cardstock that I used was actually Magenta Madness because I wanted a bit more “pop”. The Foam Adhesive Strips were a perfect width to use behind the letters (you can see it if you look at the detailed angle shot) – so I just cut up chunks to use behind portions of the letters.
I’m sure you know of someone that could use a Paper Hug! Right now, I am still at the paper hug level – not quite to the hugging everyone level that I was at pre-COVID (LOL) but I’m working on it… I fully acknowledge that my level of caution is a little higher than a lot of others, but at this point in time, it’s what I do to keep myself calm and sane in these crazy times. (Also when you work in health care it’s sometimes hard to reconcile the levels of precautions at work with the levels of precaution that happen in the community at large).
If you’re looking for a creative outlet, consider joining my (currently online) Monthly Stampers Club! Although technically right now, I guess it’s more accurate to call us a Card Club – we meet online and create 4 different projects, and each month a different club member gets a turn to receive the Stampin’ Rewards benefits from the orders placed. New members can start at any month for a 6 month cycle. Since we’re online, you can join from wherever you are in Canada, and even if you can’t make it at club time, you can access the recording of the club session in our members only site. Contact me for more information!
In the meantime, consider yourself hugged! See you here on the YamStamps site again soon.
I used Stampin’ Up!’s Counting Sheep stamp set and coordinating Sheep Dies to make this fun balloon birthdaycard – a non-sheep based project!
Balloon Birthday Card
The Counting Sheep stamp set and the Sheep Dies are both Level One Sale-a-Bration items – so you can pick one of them with a $60CAD product order (before shipping/taxes) – so if you wanted both of these items and didn’t want to wait, a $120CAD product order would entitle you to two Level one items – so you could get both (plus enough supplies to make a whole bunch of these cards!).
My favourite feature on this balloon birthday card is the balloons (hence the title of this post!). I die cut them (the Sheep Dies include a balloon die) from the 2021-2023 In Color Shimmer Vellum. I think that the translucent shimmer makes for some realistic type balloons – and I made sure to overlap the balloons to show off the their translucency. I used the Adhesive Sheets on the back of the Vellum (and there is definitely a back and front to this vellum) so that when the balloons are adhered in place, you really can’t see any evidence of the adhesive at all. Love it!
Sale-a-Bration runs until September 30, 2021, but Stampin’ Up! have advised us that certain items will not be guaranteed until the end of the period – the Sheep Dies are one of them – so if you have your eye set on them, or want to create your own Balloon Birthday Card, you’ll want to be sure that they are one of your first Sale-a-Bration picks…and save some of your others for your later orders. Online shopping shortcut is https://yamstamps.com/shop for 24/7 shopping in Canada (Canadian addresses only, due to Stampin’ Up! regulations). If you would like assistance placing your order or want to pay by etransfer, you can always message me. Happy Sale-a-Bration!
