Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends and family! Pumpkin pie is baked and I will be putting the turkey in the oven in the next while. I am so grateful to be able to get together with family and friends this weekend. Sunday’s Swap Share celebrates this fact!
A tip if you are creating multiples of one design but want to use Designer Series Paper as part of the project – copy this card design – use smaller pieces as accents. You’ll be able to stretch your sheets a little further. For this demonstrator card swap, we had to make 21 cards. If you have a standard Designer Series Paper package, it will have two 12″ x 12″ sheets of each of the double sided designs. You could cut six 2″ strips and then cut them down further – if you make the pieces 2″ x 3″, you’ll get 24 pieces for example. If you’re trying to be super efficient and thrifty, I’d just recommend doing any number that divides into 12, if you’re trying not to tax your brain too much, I’d recommend doing whole numbers rather than fractions!
I’m looking forward to our family Thanksgiving dinner tonight, and will work it off by walking alongside the Burlington Teen Tour Band at the Kitchener Waterloo Oktoberfest Parade tomorrow! Happy Thanksgiving!
I used my favourite colour combination for this blue and silver holiday card! Plus it has some teeny stars on it – so an all around favourite for me I think. This is from the August Christmas Card Class – and I liked it so much, I included a variation of it for my regular September class too!
My Christmas Card Classes include product – and it’s typically a package of embellishments that we use on our cards and then class members take the remainder of their packages home to use for other projects. In August, I was only working out of the Annual Catalogue, since the Holiday Catalogue wasn’t available for customer orders yet! We used the Designer Elements in that class, and then used Clear Faceted Gems this month.
By the way – If you like bling, you’ll want to register for the October Christmas Card Class – we’ll be using the Holiday Rhinestone Basic Jewels!
This blue and silver holiday card could be used for Christmas, Hanukkah or New Years, don’t you think? The sentiment and dangling stars are from the Making Christmas Bright stamp set (the one with the Christmas bulbs!). The variety of stamps in the set means you can come up with a variety of “looks” from one stamp set. To extend the dangling stars, we used the Stamparatus to make sure the images were perfectly in line, and then stamped them twice – the sentiment hides the gap. I didn’t mind the lines running off the top of the card, but I wanted the finished effect at the bottom. (which I now realize you can’t really see well for the watermaking on the photo. Sorry!).
he image and sentiment were stamped in Versamark and then heat embossed with the Silver Embossing Powder. Heat embossing is always a winner for holiday cards in my opinion! The card is Smoky Slate, which I find really compliments any silver accents, without drawing attention away from them.
Hard to believe, but I’ve only got two more scheduled Christmas Card Classes this year! You have two more chances to make some beautiful handmade cards to give to the special people on your card list. Plus there’s an Advent Calendar Class too! Wednesday, November 13th – 1pm or 7pm – you can come to class, pick up your Christmas Countdown kit and use my stamps and ink to complete the project!
The class fee of $55 covers the kit (plus shipping/taxes) and the use of my adhesives/ink/stamps to complete the kit as per the instructions. You can contact me to register, or use the PayPal link on the YamStamps Events page. Registration & payment required by October 30th, or additional fees may apply in order to ensure that your kit will arrive in time for class.
Check out an alternative use for the kit that I shared here on the YamStamps Facebook Page! BONUS – you don’t have to use the kit for one or the other! The boxes have notches on two sides, so I’m thinking that after the Christmas season is over, I’ll flip the boxes around and use them for something else! What would you use them for?
Oh – and for my next Christmas Card share, I promise to try to show something OTHER than a blue and silver holiday card. No promises about the card AFTER that one though. hahaha!
This week’s Sunday Swap Share is from the Holiday Catalogue – but it’s not a Christmas Card! This Autumn Leaves Card was created by Christine Dionne and highlights some of the “other” holiday products in Stampin’ Up!’s Holiday Catalogue.
I’m just starting to go through the fantastic cards I received as part of this demonstrator card swap. This was another organized swap – focusing on Holiday Catalogue product, with some guidelines in terms of card construction. At Stampin’ Up! demonstrator gatherings, there’s usually a fair bit of swapping occuring! Demonstrators will create multiples of a cardfront, or full card, and then trade them with other demonstrators. It’s a great way to get ideas and inspiration. I’m looking forward to On Stage in November – it’s the Stampin’ Up! organized event for demonstrators. The main event moves from location to location, since Stampin’ Up! is a global company, but there are smaller, pretty much identical events that happen on the other continents. This fall there’s a local event in Toronto! I love that it’s just down the road from my home. If you’re interested in joining me at that event, check out my FAQ page about becoming a demonstrator with my team. You’ll be able to purchase a starter kit and once you’ve got your demonstrator number, you can buy your ticket to On Stage! I’ve also got an Information Evening scheduled for Thursday, so you could RSVP for that and join me to find out more and ask any questions. I’d love to have you as part of my group of demonstrators – known as the “Eh” Team!
Thought I’d share thiseasy springtime card or Easter card – depending on whether or not you use the Easter sentiment!
If you stopped by the YamStamps booth at Kitchener Scrapfest this past weekend, you may have seen a version of this card on my display board! It’s one of April’s class cards.
One of the things I love about making cards is that I have the fun of making the card, and the recipient has the fun of receiving a handmade card. Anne, of the demonstrators in my group, told a story about how a family member still has a handmade Christmas card displayed on her fridge because it reminds her how much Anne loves her! I think that’s a fantastic sentiment.
This card was particularly fun because the flower is coloured with Stampin’ Blends – I do enjoy a bit of colouring, and this was fast and easy because the image is not too big! Just remember to use Memento Ink if you’re reproducing this card – so that your image won’t smear when you use the Blends. The daffodil and the combination of Lemon Lime Twist Cardstock (grab it before it’s all gone…) and Daffodil Delight Cardstock help make this a truespringtime card!
I also wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by my booth at the Kitchener Scrapfest! Huge thanks to Anne and Mary who helped me out at my booth….and to my mother who did a quick round trip to drop off some items I accidentally left at home – true story!! I hope all the croppers, shoppers and vendors had a relaxing day today recovering!
If you filled out one of the door prize draw entries, I’ll be making the draw for the winner of the shopping spree tomorrow – I’ll do a Facebook Live on the YamStamps Page if all goes according to plan (and there’s not some weird outage like there was early today!). Maybe I’ll get someone at Stampers Club to help me out… I’ll also post links to the official Stampin’ Up! retiring list as soon as I’m able – so stay tuned!
In my Monthly Card Classes and Stampers Club, I always try to include a variety of cards in the class. Usually there will be one appropriate for the month – for example in February there was a “love” card that could be used as a Valentine, and this month there’s an Easter card. I also try to do one that is more “gender neutral”. Often when I do a hosted event the host will ask for a certain type of card, and I do my best to accomodate! It’s a way for me to stretch my creative muscle a bit, otherwise I tend to fall into a bit of a creative rut. These demonstrator card swaps are another great way to stretch my creativity – usually there are guidelines for materials, number of layers, accessories etc, and I actually find it can be easier for me to come up with something when I’m given these “rules”.
The Stampers Club meets on the third Monday of each month (in general, depending on stat holidays!) and each member signs up for six consecutive months. Once the six months are up, the member can either continue on for another six, or take a break. We have some members that join for certain seasons, based on work or travel, and some that enjoy a more consistent creative outlet. Check the YamStamps Events page for upcoming dates and information, or you can always contact me. Can’t make those dates? Get a group together and contact me to set up a private class date! No excuses – set aside some me time and get crafty!!
