Year after Year

Isn't it typical that I finally start using a stamp set just before it becomes retired. This flower is from the Year after Year and I have recently realized how much I like it. On this card I used three of the "in colors" that are leaving us soon: Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi and Groovy Guava. The wheel on the Groovy Guava is See You Around and the "congratulations" is from the Birthday Hugs and Wishes.

Touch of Nature/Weathered

I am so sad weathered was retired, especially since I just got it. I sure hope the new catalogue has something similar. The main stamp is the bird from the soon to be retiring Touch of Nature which I watercoloured with Close to Cocoa and So Saffron. I layered it onto Always Artichoke and onto the Mellow Moss that was stamped with the Weathered background stamp (in Mellow Moss) I then added two Antique brass eyelets to the upper left hand side of the bird image.

Touch of Nature

Here is a card I made quite awhile ago using the soon to be retired Touch of Nature stamp set. I sponged the edges of a natural white piece of cardstock and then I stamped the flower using Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive inks. I used a blender pen to blend the orange colour and I used crystal effects in the center. I love the way the wide grosgrain finishes this card perfectly.

Polka Dots and Paisley

Here is a card I made almost a year ago that had been filed away so I thought I had better post it before the stamp set retires. It was a really quick and easy card using Really Rust ink and Old Olive ink

Pretty Amazing

Here is a card I made using the Pretty Amazing set and a great saying from the Hostess set Sweet Dreams. I usd two colours I just love together, Soft Sky and Chocolate Chip. It waa a pretty easy card to make and only took a few minutes to put together. I also used the Chocolate poly twill ribbon from the Ocassions mini which expires on Monday.

Crab and Company...again!

I sure do love this little Crab guy! I love anything that lets me use the little googly eyes! He was stamped in black, on red and carefully cut out. I stamped the shell and starfish with basic brown and masked them. To make the sand I stamped one of the background stamps from Itty Bitty Backgrounds repeatedly with River Rock. I then sponged river rock overtop of that to fill it in. I now have loads of free time so hopefully I will get some more stamping done with him and find more ways to use them.

Fresh Cuts Note card....

I just love the new FreshCuts note cards. In this card I cut the front with the laser cut off and layered it over a piece of Ginger Blossom Designer Paper. I then layered it onto Ruby Red cardstock and onto a Groovy Guava square card (stamped with the scroll from Priceless in Groovy Guava) The center of the flower was made using the ruby red punched with the Boho Blossoms punch. The half pearl is from the Pretties kit.

Spritzing technique...

On this card I did a very cool spritzing technique with ink re-fills and water. In two mini water spritzers I filler them both with water. I added about 5 drops of Purely Pomegranate to one and about 5 drops of Summer Sun to the other and shook the both well. On Naturals Ivory I spritzed the summer sun a few times and then I spritzed the Purely Pomegranate a few times until the paper was covered. This technique works better on the heavier cardstock such as the naturals and the confetti type over the Whisper White and Very Vanilla. The stamps I used on this card are the soon to be discontinued Polka Dots and Petals and Much Appreciated, stamped with the Purely Pomegrante and Pumpkin Pie inks. I also used a ticket corner punch on the corners.

Forever in My Heart

Another set that is about to be retired when the new catalogue comes out in August. It's only been around a year so I am sad to see these great hearts go. This card was made with Real Red, Regal Ros and the ever so versatile Certainly Celery. I used the word window punch on the side with two white eyelets to just add a little something to the card.

Retiring Stamp Sets....

I know that this card isn't very seasonal but Peaceful Wishes was one of the stamp sets on the Stampin Up retiring list yesterday. The mistletoe on this card was made by inking up the stamp with an Always Artichoke ink pad. I then used a Q-tip to remove the ink from the berries and then I used a Bravo Burgundy marker to colour them in. The Peaceful Wishes was stamped in Versamark Watermark and embossed with white embossing powder.

Year after Year

Here is a different card I made with the flower from the Year after Year stamp set and the all over embossing (Dazzling Diamonds and clear embossing mixed together) The background on the soft sky card was made with the See you Aound jumbo wheel and soft sky ink.

Wonderful You

One of the many cards I have made lately using the Wonderful You stamp set. First I stamped the solid flower with Versamark Watermark and I sponged on chalks. I then overstamped with the outline stamp with Ruby Red and Old Olive ink. The background on the card is done with the coordinating wheel, Stems and Sillhouettes in Ruby Red ink. The "wonderful you" was stamped with black Staz On ink on twill ribbon.

Baby Boy Star card....

Here is a boy version of the star card I made using the same Classic Background stamp set. I love the Barely Banana and Bashuful Blue together for a baby boy. I used the star punches, the oval punches and corner rounder on this card. The "sweet little one" stamp is from the Holiday and Wishes stamp set. The large star was made with a chipboard star (from On Board Simon Upper) covered with bashful blue cardstock and sponged on the edges with bashful blue.

Baby Girl Card

I haven't made any baby cards in a long time so I thought it was time to make a few since having babies seems to be in the air! (Amber, Julie and Diane!) I made this card with the star from the Classic Backgrounds set, my star punches and verse from Full of Life. I love the Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery together for a baby girl. I will post the boy version I made using the stars tomorrow.

Crab and Company....

My new favourite stamp set, I just love this little crab, especially when you add googly eyes. How cute is he! I just stamped him on red cardstock and cut him out very carefully (those legs are tricky!) "A pinch to grow and inch" is on the outside and "snappy birthday" is on the inside. I cut the River Rock cardstock with my Cutter kit and the background was done with real Red and the Polka Dot Background stamp.

Polka Dots and Petals...

It's been a while since I updated my blog so I thought I had better upload something. I't's been a really busy couple of weeks but things are starting to calm down now. This is an older card I made quite awhile ago using the Polka Dots and Petals stamp set but I had a picture of it on the computer so it was easy to upload :o)

I have done a few new cards this week so hopefully I will get up the strength to bring the camera all the way downstairs and take some pictures of them and get them up on here!

Glitter Priceless Card

A really quick and simple card with flowers from the Priceless stamp set and the chunky glitter. I love the turquoise and celery colours together on white. I used Crystal Effects and painted it onto the flowers with a paintbursh ( a thick layer) and then sprinkled on the clear chunky glitter. I sure hope the Chunky glitter makes it into the next catalogue in the fall because I think the clear chunky sprinkles are going to be awesome at Christmas.

Contest Winner.....

Thanks to all who sent me answers to my little questionnaire about the classes I give. There were some great helpful answers to help me create m classes in the future. Probably the two main themes were that people would like classes Saturday mornings, which I will try for my next class in June. Also people wanted to see something other than just cards, which hopefully I will have time to try in june as well. And the winner of the free Sale-a-bration set is Julie P-A. Congratulations Julie!

Here is a card that we made at my last class. It's a chipboard star covered with both chunky sprinkles and Fine Cosmo glitter. I love the Celery and Soft Sky together!

Picka Petal Lady Bug

Here is an old card I made almost a year ago when I got the Pick a Petal stamp set. The head an body were made with black circle punched. The antenae are just drawn on with a basic black marker and eyelets were attached at the end.

All over Glitter...

Here is a copy of another card we made on the weekend at my glitter class. It's somewhat hard to see in the picture but the entire white cardstock panel with the flowers is covered in glitter. I've had the stamp set Year after Year for quite a while now and I think this card, and the "love" card I posted a few days ago are the first I really made and loved with it. I think I will have to pull it out again soon!

Gift Cards and Box...

Here is the second project we made at my last Stampers 8 Club. It was kind of like stampers boot camp since we made 6 cards, 2 So Saffron (in picture), 2 River Rock, and 2 Mellow Moss. And of course we made the little box for them. The whole club made it through and got the whole project done with minimal complaining (OK, I'm being nice! There was a lot of complaining and a few threats of dropping out!)

It was a great 8 months and I will be starting a new club, probably later this summer to run for 8 to 10 months depending on how many people sign up.

In case you were wondering what a Stampers 8 Club is it is a group of 8 people who meet once a month for 8 months and place a minimum order of $25 (8 x $25=$220, enough for the first level of Hostess Benefits which is a free stamp set and $20 free) A club is usually between 8 and 10 people, the number of people in the club equals the number of months you are commmitted to buy the minimum, the amount changes depending on the number of people. Each member has a month where they receive the hostess benefits for the orders received. Once a month when we meet I have two projects for the club to do. I will announce it in my newsletter on here when a new club is forming.

Hat Pin Thank You Card...

This is one of the cards we made at the last meeting of my Stampers 8 Club. The Thank You stamp is from the Lovely Labels set and the background scroll is out of the Priceless set. The hat pin (from the Pretties kit) with beads gives this card a great finishing touch. I used River Rock, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla for this card and the ribbon is the Chocolate Poly-Twill Ribbon out of the Ocassions Mini.

Glitter "Love" card

Here is one of the cards we made at my Glitter class yesterday. The wedding cake is from the Year After Year set and the "love" is from Wonderful Words which I haven't used in a long time. I used a combination of dazzling diamonds glitter and the chunky sprinkles in the mini. My house is still full of glitter!

Unfrogettable

Here is a card I made quite a while ago and thought I should post it up on here since I have nothing else quine like it. All the stamps are from the Unfrogettable stamp set and I just love the "hoppy birthday" stamp. This cute little froggy looks especially cute if you glue on some nice googly eyes.

Celebrate

Here is a card I made using the Celebrate Everything stamp set and chipboard. The easiest technique in the world with chipboard is to just ink it up in Classic ink. I just dragged and pressed the chipboard pieces right into the Purely Pomegranate ink pad. To get the "friendship" straight under the Celebrate (harder than you think!) I used a Stamp-a-ma-jig, which is probably my new favourite tool. The spiral punch gived the card a nice finishing touch.

All that Glitters.....

This is one of the five cards we will be making at my All that Glitters Class next Sunday (May 4th), $25, my place! I used the petals from the Pick a Petal set and the hat pin and beads from the Pretties kit. I haven't used Bashful Blue much this year since Soft Sky came out but I love this colour with the Almost Amethyst!

One of a Kind/Boho Backgrounds

Here is another one of the cards we made on the weekend at my Flower Power card class. We used the flower from One of a Kind and white embossed it onto vellum. On the back side we sponged on Bayou Blue and let it dry. For the center of the flowers we stamped the three flowers and punched them with the Boho blossoms punch. Now that I am done school I will have time to stamp more, I hope so hopefully you will see some more samples with these great sets!

Pick a Petal Flower

It's been a while since I pulled out this stamp set so I thought a flower class would be the perfect time. I just love how bright and cheery this card is. The background was done with the polka dot backgroundstamp and the sewing was done by hand after piercing the paper with the paper piercing template in the mat pack.

Here is one of the cards we made yesterday at my Flower Power class. The flowers and the thanks stamp are from the Live your Dream stamp set and were inked with Pale Plum Elegant Eggplant and Old Olive, spritzed with water and stamped onto watercolor paper. I also posted the inside of the card, which I don't usually do but I just love this stamp set and wanted to use it more. It won't be available past the month of May unless it makes it into the Fall-Winter catalogue.

Wild About You

Here is a card I made a while ago but since I know so many people having babies this year (Amber, Julie and Diane!) I thought I would post a baby card I made with the Wild About You set. Giraffe's are my favourite "baby" animal, so cute! This card was made with Groovy Guava and Apricot Appeal and the "sweet little baby" stamp is from the Holiday and Wishes set.

White embossing....

Ok, this is an old card. I didn't get much stamping done yesterday because I decided to study instead, smart choice on my part!

I love the look of the flower from Embrace life stamped in Versamark Watermark and embossed with white EP. I then used the aquapainter and a sky blue ink refill to pian the flowers. The happy birthday stamp is from Stem Sayings. I hope I can find some time to stamp today!

If anyone cares to share their opinion on how the South changed and how it stayed the same between 1877 and 1900, e-mail me....I'm sure everyone has an opinion on this! LOL!

I'll get you my Pretty.....

Ok, I'm tired of studying and I think I might be losing my mind if it hasn't already happened, so I am spending some time this morning stamping. This card kind of reminds me of 70's wall paper but I still like it. I left the flowers white, which I think is nice and I used some of the paper from the Afternoon Tea Party DP that is in the Occasions Mini catalogue. Not a lot of stamping except the Thanks (from the Live Your Dreams set in the mini catalogue) Maybe I will post a completely stamped card tomorrow...I'm not sure I know how to make a card anymore without using DP.

Pretties, Pretties and more Pretties!

Ove the next few days I will be posting more cards made with the Pretties kit. Everything in the kit is so, well, pretty. I just love the clear rhinestone brads! this flower was coloured with the Aqua Painter and a Soft Sky ink refill, using more water to make the bigger flower a softer blue. The flower background (from the Sprinkles stamp set) was stamped with soft sky and the Happy Birthday stamp is from the cute little "A Little Birthday Cheer" stamp set. I know how much I go on and on about how much I love my Chocolate Chip ink pads paper etc but I am really going to miss using this colour when it retires in August.

Flower Power Class...

This is one of the cards we will be making on April 20th. The flower is from the awesome Pretties Kit (I will be posting a few more cards made with this kit in the next few days) and the beautiful Ginger Blossoms designer Paper. I just love the half pearls that come with the Pretties. The colours are a little washed out in this picture and the card is actually more vibrant in real life. The colour used are Ruby Red and Groovy Guava

Flower Fusion

Here is another simple card I made using the Flower Fusion tin of flowers. I love the button in the middle. I have just realized that I have been neglecting all my buttons and promise to use them more. The background paper is from the Bali Breeze designer Paper and the great "If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished" stamp is out of the Full of Life stamp set in the Occassions mini catalogue. If you don't have this catalogue, send me an e-mail and I will make sure you get one!

Tomorrow I will post one of the cards we will be making at my Flower Power class (if I remember to take a picture of it today!) on Sunday the 20th.

April Newsletter

Free Wheelin' Special

From March 18 through April 30, when you buy a preselected stamp set, you’ll receive the coordinating jumbo wheel absolutely FREE (a $10.95 value)! Don't forget the handle if you don't already have one!

Wonderful You bundle
Includes Wonderful You stamp set (page 91) and free Stems & Silhouettes jumbo wheel
112848 - $39.94
Life’s a Breeze bundle
Includes Life’s a Breeze stamp set (page 80) and free Something Fishy jumbo wheel
112851 - $35.29
Pun Fun bundle
Includes Pun Fun stamp set (page 66) and free Sweet Stars jumbo wheel
112850 - $37.15
Year after Year bundle
Includes Year after Year stamp set (page 60) and free See You Around jumbo wheel
112847 - $37.15
Stitched Exotics bundle
Includes Stitched Exotics stamp set(page 83) and free It’s Beautiful jumbo wheel
112849 - $39.94
Enjoy Every Moment bundle
Includes Enjoy Every Moment stamp set (page 51) and free Daisy Dash jumbo wheel
112853 - $35.29

Flower Power Card Class - $25

Spring is in the air so it's time to make a handful of cards with a spring feel. I love flowers so we will be doing 5 cards with a variety of flower stamps! Sunday April 20th, 2pm, my place. Sign up early

Garage Sale

I am having a "garage sale" here on Sunday April 2oth from 1 until 5. You don't have to be signed up for the class but your can just drop by to browse. We are going to be selling our house, hopefully listing it early in May so I have been cleaning out my stamp room and getting rid of LOTS of stuff. I have stamp sets, loose stamps, patterned paper, cardstock, embellishments etc etc etc. I will not be showing any of this before the 20th so if you want a look through it all it will be out at 1 on the 20th. There is a lot of stuff and it's really really cheap.


Hostess Promotion

Host a $450 workshop between March 18 and April 30, and earn an EXTRA $35 in hostess awards!

Intimidated by my beauty....

I LOVE this stamp...I wish I had time to make this card for all of my wonderful friends, but here it is on my blog for you all to enjoy because I am too lazy! I used chocolate chip and regal rose, which look fantastic together. I hope SU never retires chocolate chip because I don't think I will be capable of making a card without it. Although I am planning a class for this month and working hard to reduce the amount of chocolate chip on the cards. We will see how well that goes!

Sanded

Here is a birthday card I made a few weeks ago for my birthday card class using the Sanded background stamp. It has a more masculine feeling to it because of the colous,Old Olive and Chocolate Chip, but the Sanded background does a lot for it too. I find it so hard to make masculine cards so I know this stamp will make it easier.

Spring Card

I was in the mood for spring, especially since it appears as though we aren't going to be able to experience it this year. I used the Flowers for you Designer Paper and broke open my Pretties kit (I highly recommened buying two, one to hoard the other to actually use, like I did!) I love the little flowers and the clear rhinestone brads in the kit! The flowers can be coloured but I left mine white for this card. I will show more cards made with the Pretties kit in the next few weeks.

Pink and Black "True Friend"

This is one of the cards we made last month with the True Friend stamp set. My favourite part of this card is the piercing in the corners of the diamond piece. It's so easy to do and yet it adds so much. I used one of the pink rhinestone brads which I just love. I had to buy an extra package just so I could use the first package because I thought they were just too pretty to use!

Chunky Glitter

This is the first card I have made using the new Chunky Sprinkle Glitter and I just love it! I used the heart from the Sticky Cuts Letters and just sprinkled the glitter on. So easy. I just love this sentiment from the Full of Life set because it can be used for wedding, anniversary and even baby cards, which is what this card was meant to be.

True Friend/Full of Life Card

Welcome to the next phase of my Chocolate Chip obsession. Chocolate Chip with Old Olive! This is an older card from my True Friend class next month but I find myself reaching for these two colours whenever I sit down to make a card.

I just love this quote by John Lennon in the Full of Life stamps set (Occasions Mini Catalogue) In fact I love the whole set. And if you like Chocolate Chip the way I like Chocolate Chip you will definitely wants some of the Chocolate twill I used on this card. I am on my secon roll already.

Sassy Suzie

This is one of the cards I made with the new set Sassy Suzie (in the Occassions mini) I don't really have anything like this at all and it's usually not my style at all but I like her and her snarky sayings. The Designer Paper I used is East Coast Prep, which I bought because I had nothing to use for cards for men but here I am using it on girly cards anyways. If I need to send a card to a man in my life I guess I will just have to go to Hallmark!

Baroque Motifs

I haven't used this set for a few months but I really need to pull it out an use this one more. I doubt it will retire this year so I am sure I still have time to use it.

This card took about 2 minutes, which is the kind of card I like to make. Gold embossing makes sucha nice statement and is super easy to do!

True Friend

This is one of the cards we made at my True Friend card class at the beginning of the month. I used Purely Pomegranate, Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa and the beautiful Berry Bliss designer paper. The ribbon slide is from the Silver Hodgepodge hardware kit in the Mini Occassions catalogue

I love my chocolate chip and soft sky together! I think I could easily make every card these colours. This card is using Polka Dot and Petals, Sprinkles and Smarty Pants stamp sets. I just love this one background from the Sprinkles set and find myself using it a lot (mostly with the chocolate chip too) I really need to force myself to use another colour!

Flower Fusion Class

This is one of the cards we will be making at my Flower Fusion class on March 30th. It's a simple pocket card, using Bali Breeze DP with a jumbo paperclip bookmark made with the Flower Fusion flowers. It will be a great 3 card class especially since it includes the Flower Fusion tin. This class must be signed up and paid for ($25) by Sunday March 16th.

Live Your Dreams

This is my new FAVOURITE stamp set. I just love how pretty everything turns out when I use it. I also just love the Afternoon Tea Party Designer paper that looks so great with it, I actually just ordered my second pack because I love it so! The main flower was inked up with Blue Bayou, Soft Sky and Wild Wasabi and was spritzed with water before it was stamped onto watercolor paper.

The little silver ribbon slider is part of the Syled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware in the Occasion mini collection. To make the center match the card all I did was mix Crystal Effect and classic ink refills (about 6 drops to 3 drops) in a tiny ziploc bag. I then cut a tiny portion off the corner and dropped a few drops on to fill the ribbon slider.

Friendship Blooms

Here is a card I made using the SAB set "Friendship Blooms" and the background stamp "Pretty Petals", which I just LOVE! To make the flowers I embossed them using versamark watermark and white embossing powder. Then I cut them out. I flipped each flower over and coloured with the SU markers Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose. Once they were dry (a few minutes) I attached them to the card using Rhinestone brads (another new thing I just got and love!) I think the Pretty Petals stamp looks fabulous stamped with SU Whisper White craft ink on almost every colour of cardstock but I really love the soft pretty look it gives on pink.

Birthday Whimsy

Just one of the cards we will be making at my Birthday Card Workshop on the 16th. I used both the Birthday Whimsy and So Many Scallops stamp sets from the Sale-a-bration mini. To think I didn't really love Birthday Whimsy when I first saw it and now I just love it. There is nothing better than a versatile birthday set, especially when it's free. I also just love these colours together (Real red, Pumpkin Pie and Apricot Appeal) I have a really hard time using red when it's not Christmas or Valentine but this combination doesn't remind me of either of those holidays.