Jul 11, 2016 | cards, Manic Monday, Stampin' Up!
I love the set Places You’ll Go from Stampin’ Up! It’s a great set that works for cards or memory keeping, and themes of travel or graduation and more masculine cards. This is a pretty straightforward card, but I think that the layout gives a bit of interest – perfect for a Manic Monday card – quick but still impressive. If you wanted to “step it up” a bit more, you could add texture with an embossing folder to one or both of the cardstock accent strips. The colour theme of this card gives it a more masculine feel – it’s the combination of Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip and Island Indigo. The set is photopolymer, so you can see through your stamp to where you want to position it on the cardstock. (or you could use a cool tool that I will talk about more in later posts….)
These past few days I’ve been hanging out in Texas, visiting with friends old and new, and learning some fun techniques. My friend Lydia hosted the Understand Blue Unwind Retreat, and I flew down to take part (because it wasn’t hot and humid enough in Ontario so far this summer for me….*sarcasm*). It’s been a lot of fun, and I will have more photos to share here once I find my USB cable….or you can see some of my posts on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook – though I admit there weren’t that many so far because the wifi was rather iffy (not a bad thing, made us focus on being present). Hence the slight later in the day post because of my out of routine confusion (“What day is it?”).
While I’m getting some creative ideas and inspiration, I’m also looking forward to getting home in the next while and Stampers Club on Monday! Nothing like hitting the ground running. Don’t forget that until the end of July, you’ll earn a $6 coupon code with each $60 in product that you order….PLUS if you attended the YamStamps Open House / Retired Product sale you’ll have a coupon to use this month – so lots of opportunity to get more bang for your buck. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, and don’t forget that to take advantage of the YamStamps July coupon, you’ll need to contact me with your order so that I can properly adjust your total. Happy Shopping!
Jun 27, 2016 | cards, Manic Monday, specials, Stampin' Up!
I love this simple but effective design! I apologize to purists though, I had to drop the “Y” from the “ROYGBV” format because I didn’t quite have enough room….and yes, I did do some reinking of my ink pads after I did this card and realized that a few of the colours were a little faded – though it helps to show off the punched butterflies a bit more, right? I used the colours Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Night of Navy and Perfect Plum. The “splat” is from Gorgeous Grunge (available in wood mount or clear mount), and the butterflies are punched with the Bitty Butterfly punch. One of the best things about Stampin’ Up! products is that you don’t have to worry if the cardstock and ink will match. If products have the same name, they will coordinate! (no more searching for a red ribbon or ink that’s a little more blue based than orange based so it matches the cardstock you have….you know what I mean!). A little rhinestone bling helps the butterflies stand out a bit more. Easy, quick and effective – a perfect card to make on a Manic Monday!
I copied the design from one of the cards that Shannon West received for her birthday (sorry, cardmaker unknown). The #imbringingbirthdaysback handmade / mailed card movement has been embraced by cardmakers and Stampin’ Up! lovers! This is a great design that could be used for all sorts of occasions – like Thank You Teacher?!
Don’t forget that you only have 3 days left to take advantage of the Stampin’ Up! Starter Kit special – get an extra two stamp sets of your choice (above the $165 worth of product you can choose for $135) until June 30! Don’t wait until the evening of June 30….because you don’t have to be a psychic to know that the system is going to get bogged down with everyone rushing to beat the deadline! You can find more information here, or contact me for more information!
Aug 10, 2015 | Manic Monday, organizing
I love Washi Tape for use on my paper crafting projects and in my organizer…but I also like to know what “set” it’s from – handy when I’m doing the class supply list! I use an open bin to store my washi and ribbons, but when the retired list came out or I was searching for an accent for a card, it was frustrating to figure out what set the tape came from, or if it was still available! (I told you, the quest to be organized is an ongoing one in my life, and often only small areas achieve it at any given time!!). So for Manic Monday, here’s my quick organizing tip for Washi Tape.
My solution (for now) – I used a piece of ribbon (retired) to keep all the washi together from one set, and stuck the label from the end of the tape roll to one end of the ribbon (it still had sticky left on it). This way, I can tell at a glance what tapes came together, and what set they’re from. I can go to the catalogue and easily look up what colours are in the tapes if I need/want. I can still store them in the open bin, too!
Hope this helps you, as well. If you have any organizing tips or problems, please share via the comments or email! I’m always looking for ideas…
Apr 13, 2015 | cards, Manic Monday
If memory serves me, I believe that this card was inspired by my friend Lydia, who did something very similar but different LOL. (and did it first so I could copy her). It uses the Butterfly Basics set, and what I particularly love about this is that it could be seen as a more masculine card, and there’s nary a butterfly in sight!! Crumb Cake cardstock and ink provide a monochromatic background for the Mossy Meadow leaves. Quick and easy. Stamp the leaves once, then re-stamp without reinking the stamp for paler background images. When you’re done, use a Crumb Cake envelope for total coordination!
Today was particularly manic around our household this morning as it was a band weekend. Burlington Teen Tour Band, that is. My son is now part of this fantastic organization that I myself was part of when I was a teen (so that was a little while ago…). 
This weekend the band did two performances at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre on Sunday, so Saturday was a rehearsal day. I am lucky to be one of the photographers for the group so spent time taking photos and videos, so needless to say, we were all a bit tired and had a rougher start to our Monday than usual. Here’s hoping that it gets a bit easier as the week goes on?! (one can hope, can’t one?). Anyway, hope your Monday isn’t TOO manic and see you here tomorrow at the YamStamps blog for the latest batch of Weekly Deals! I’m off to finish up the tutorial for everyone who purchased during the free shipping fun last week as promised.
