More Sneak Peeks from Convention

My box of Holiday Catalogue pre-order products came this week and I STILL haven't had a chance to play with it!  Too much catching up to do after being away at Convention last week.  Not that I'm complaining...I wouldn't trade that experience for anything, but it sure is torture having a whole box of new stamps, embossing folders, dies and pretty new paper calling my name and not being able to dig into it! Saturday will be play day for Mommy and woe to anyone who comes between me and my stamps ;)
In the meantime, I thought I'd show you a few more samples from Convention.

Fall-themed card featuring the Happy Scenes stamp set, coordinating Hearth and Home Thinlits, Into the Woods DSP and Into the Woods Elements as well as the new gold Cording Trim.  So many amazing new products available September 1st.

Christmas card featuring the Festive Fireplace stamp set and coordinating Festive Fireside Framelits, and Hearth and Home Thinlits...all available September 1st in the Holiday Catalogue.

Christmas card featuring the Festive Fireplace and Happy Scenes stamp sets, as well as the Festive Fireside Framelits and Hearth and Home Thinlits.

Can you believe there is actually a die to cut out that sweet little kitty??  So excited about these products!  I can't wait to get my hands on them :)  Lucky for me, our general pre-order for demonstrators begins next week on August 4th, so I won't have to wait too long. 
If you're like me, and can't wait to get ahold of these fantastic new products, why not purchase the Starter Kit and join my circle of stamping friends?  You can even choose items from the Holiday Catalogue if you order your kit on or after August 4th.  You can get all of the items on your Wishlist at a discount AND enjoy the benefits of being a part of my stamping community, including monthly Stamp 'n' Share meetings (both face-to-face and virtual), project inspiration, free product incentives, access to my team Facebook group and more. You'll also have me to answer any questions you may have and to support you if you decide you want to earn a little bit of extra money with the business opportunity. Contact me today to learn more!

Sneak Peeks from Convention

Happy Wednesday...half way to the weekend!  Can you believe it is nearly the end of July?  Where is this summer going???
Today I want to share some Holiday Catalogue sneak peek photos of samples from convention.  These ones use a fantastic new embossing folder and coordinating stamp set.

Fall-themed card using the new Woodland TIEF and Among the Branches stamp set, available September 1st in the new Holiday Catalogue.  I am IN LOVE with this bundle!!

Halloween card featuring the Woodland TIEF and Seasonal Frame Thinlits dies.  This one also uses new Spider Web Doilies, Happy Haunting DSP and I|nto the Woods 3/8" Cotton Ribbon.  So many awesome new products!

Beautiful Christmas card made using the Woodland TIEF and coordinating Among the Branches stamp set and featuring one of the new Winter Wonderland embellishments.

This bundle is actually in my pre-order that arrives today...so stay tuned for more ideas using these fabulous new products.

Want to get your hands on the new Holiday Catalogue products early?  Did you know that if you join my team of stamping friends you can choose Holiday Catalogue items for your Starter Kit?  You get to choose $155 worth of product and pay only $125. Talk about a great way to get these fabulous new products a whole month before everyone else AND at a discount.  PLUS there is no shipping or HST on the Starter Kit for Canadians.  I would love to have you join my circle of stamping friends...contact me for details today!

Convention Recap

Well, I'm back home from convention and completely exhausted!  What a whirlwind few days it was.  I had an absolutely fantastic time meeting new people and catching up with friends.  The best part was, of course, the unveiling of the new Holiday Catalogue, which is off-the-charts AWESOME!  Start saving your pennies, because I can guarantee you will fall in love with the entire book!  Before I give you a sneak peek of some projects made with new Holiday Catty products, I thought I'd share a few photos of my time at convention:

I spent my first evening in Salt Lake at the Olive Garden for dinner with friends Michelle Suit and France (Frenchie) Martin and her team.  

I was very honoured to celebrate my five-year anniversary as a demonstrator with the awesomely talented Michelle Suit, who was also marking her fifth year.

This group of amazing ladies were among the top achievers in the US last year and I am so honoured to call them my friends: (l-r) Cherie Hunt, Yours Truly, Connie Stewart, Patty Bennet, Michelle Suit and Jennifer Blomquist. This photo was taken after Awards Night when they were recognized for their hard work this year.

I made some special gifts for each of them...I think Patty liked hers ;)

One of the all-attendee give-aways was a pack of gorgeous hand-painted DSP from the new Holiday Catty.  So fabulous!

I also won Prize Patrol on the last day:  an adorable new stamp set from the upcoming catalogue.

Check out the haul of loot I came home with...all free product from a company that knows how to make it's demonstrators happy.  I LOVE what I do!

The first convention bag I will actually use.  I love it!!

Mainstage was beautifully decorated.  Stampin' Up knows a thing or two about colour and design ;)

Now for the Make-n-Takes we did using one of the new stamp sets from the upcoming Holiday Catalogue called Your Presents.  It is a super-versatile set!

Christmas card featuring the Your Presents stamp set available September 1st in the Holiday Catalogue.

Check out that striped ribbon!  It is fabulous...perfect for Christmas. And that crisp black ink?  It is our new Basic Black archival ink...totally fantastic and we each got to bring home a free ink pad!

Birthday card featuring the Your Presents set...this one has so many possibilities!  See that silver cord...another new product to look forward to!

Notice the absence of glue dots peeking out from behind those sequins?  They are adhered using the new Fine-Tip Glue Pen. It puts a tiny amount of glue exactly where you want it.  No more sticky fingers!

I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into Inspire, Create, Share 2015 and the sneak peek of new catty products.  I will have more sneak peeks all week with photos of samples from convention, as well as my Convention-attendee pre-order that arrives tomorrow...yippee!!  Stay tuned...

Now for this week's Weekly Bonus Deals.  Remember that quantities at these prices are limited so you'll want to take advantage of them sooner than later to ensure you don't miss out :)

Basic Black 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon Price: $11.25   Sale: $8.44	Happy Patterns Decorative Masks Price: $7.50   Sale: $5.25	Hearts Border Punch Price: $20.00  Sale: $14.00
Lost Lagoon 5/8" Striped Cotton Ribbon Price: $8.75   Sale: $6.56	Melon Mambo 1/4" Cotton Ribbon Price: $7.50   Sale: $5.63	Melon Mambo 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon Price: $11.25   Sale: $8.44
Metallic Foil Doilies Price: $5.00   Sale: $3.50	Pacific Point 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon Price: $11.25   Sale: $8.44	Sweet Li'l Things Designer Washi Tape Price: $6.25   Sale: $4.69
Very Vanilla Thick Baker’S Twine Price: $4.50   Sale: $3.38

A New Sketch Challenge!

Happy Sunday!  As you read this I am likely in the air on my way back from Salt Lake City.  I always find the first few days after convention a bit chaotic as I try to organize all of the ideas swimming around in my head after the inspiration overload of convention.  Here is a new sketch from Sunday Stamps to keep you busy while I get a handle on things around here:

...and here is my take on it for the Design Team:

Thank you card featuring the Awesomely Artistic stamp set with sentiment from One Big Meaning

As you can see, I opted for square elements rather than circles.  I always like to try a slightly different take on the sketch so that you can see the possibilities and how easy it is to use a sketch as a jumping off point for creativity.  I started by punching four 1" squares from Whisper White card stock and temporarily adhering them to a Whisper White card front.  Then I stamped the floral image from the Awesomely Artistic stamp set using black Staz On ink.  I removed the 1" squares and adhered them to 1-1/4" squares of Blackberry Bliss card stock and then permanently adhered them to the card front.  I then coloured the image using Rich Razzleberry and Mossy Meadow Stampin' Write markers.

I added a few little tiny pearls by way of embellishment and stamped the sentiment from the One Big Meaning set in Memento Tuxedo black ink.  I layered the card front on a mat of Mossy Meadow card stock and then adhered it to a Blackberry Bliss card base.

On the inside I simply stamped the floral image a couple of times using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.
I hope this take on the sketch inspires you to give it a go.  There are SO many possibilities!  Be sure to post your project over at Sunday Stamps so we can admire your artistic awesomeness!!

Merry Little Shaker Card

Happy Friday!  I hope your week has been as good as mine!  I am away at the Stampin' Up convention in Salt Lake City this week, but I have pre-posted a few Christmas in July projects for you.  Be sure to follow me on Twitter, as I'm tweeting all the news from convention over there.  Just click the Twitter button in the left sidebar.

Now for a fun little shaker card...

Christmas card featuring the Festival of Trees stamp set.

This is another one that will most certainly find it's way into my class line-up this Fall!  I love shaker cards...so much fun!  For this one I used the Festival of Trees stamp set and Mossy Meadow ink to stamp the trees and the sentiment.  The confetti was punched from silver and gold glimmer paper using the Confetti Stars punch.  I used the Woodgrain TIEF to emboss the Kraft card stock background panel and die cut the window for the shaker using the Circles Collection framelits.

I used a gold metallic doily, a star frame cut using the Stars framelits and a bit of gold Baker's twine to embellish the sentiment.  The card is built on a Mossy Meadow card base.

On the inside I simply stamped the trees again in Mossy Meadow ink and added a sentiment from the Festival of Trees set.

Have a great weekend!  Be sure to stop by on Sunday for a new sketch challenge from Sunday Stamps!

Convention, here I come!

Today is the day!  I leave this morning for Salt Lake City and convention!  I am SOO excited!  I have pre-posted a few projects for you to keep you inpired while I'm away, and I'll also be tweeting from convention all week long, so be sure to follow me by clicking the  Twitter button in the left sidebar.

Now for another Christmas in July project.  This one will most definitely make it into my Christmas Card Buffet line-up this Fall!

Christmas card featuring the Wondrous Wreath stamp set and coordinating Wonderful Wreath framelits.

I am so glad this stamp set and matching framelits made it into the new Annual Catalogue!  I love how easy it is to get multi-coloured images by layering stamps.  Here, I started by stamping the wreath image from the Wondrous Wreath set in Old Olive ink.  I then stamped the detail leaves in Mossy Meadow and the berries in Cherry Cobbler.  I die-cut the wreath using the Wonderful Wreath framelits, which I also used to die-cut the sentiment from gold glimmer paper.  The DSP I used is from the Merry Moments pack.  

The Whisper White background panel is embossing using the Stylish Stripes TIEF and is layered on a card base of thick Whisper White card stock.  The little tiny star embellishments are punched using the Confetti Stars punch from gold glimmer paper.

On the inside I stamped the sentiment from the Wondrous Wreath set in Cherry Cobbler ink and added a few more little glimmer stars.

Merry Little Wish

It's Christmas in July week here at A La Cards!  I hope you're in the mood for a little festive inspiration.  I've been working on Christmas projects for a while in preparation for an event I held last weekend and now I get to share some of them with you :)
Today I have a quick and cute little project perfect for mass producing.

Christmas card featuring the Festival of Trees stamp set

This one starts with an embossed piece of Crumb Cake card stock, done using the Lucky Stars TIEF.  I added a strip of Merry Moments DSP and then wrapped some thick Cherry Cobbler baker's twine before adhering it to a Mossy Meadow card base.  The sentiment, from the Festival of Trees stamp set, is stamped in Mossy Meadow ink.  The tree, also from Festival of Trees, is stamped in Old Olive ink and punched using the Tree punch.  For added bling I punched a 1-3/4" circle and then punched around the hole using the 2" circle to get a gold glimmer ring.  I also added a gold glimmer star punched using the Itty Bitty Accents pack.

How's that for quick and easy??
Now, here are this week's bonus Weekly Deals.  Remember that there are limited quantities available at the sale prices, so be sure to get your order in early so you don't miss out.

Blackberry Bliss 5/8" Striped Cotton Ribbon Price: $8.75   Sale: $6.56	Fast Fuse Adhesive Refill Price: $9.25   Sale: $6.48	Fun Frames Textured Impressions Embossing Folders Price: $10.50   Sale: $7.35
Go Wild 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock Assortment Pack Price: $8.75  Sale: $6.56	Hello Honey 5/8" Striped Cotton Ribbon Price: $8.75   Sale: $6.13	Little Numbers Thinlits Dies Price: $25.00  Sale: $18.75
Schoolhouse 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock Assortment Pack Price: $8.75   Sale: $6.56	Smoky Slate 5/8" Chevron Ribbon Price: $8.75   Sale: $6.56	Stars Framelits Dies Price: $33.00   Sale: $24.75
Tangelo Twist 5/8" Striped Cotton Ribbon Price: $8.75   Sale: $6.56	Updated Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack Price: $10.00   Sale: $7.50