Christmas Cheer

I can't think of a better way to keep cool during this crazy September heat wave, than to stamp some Christmas cards. Today's project is one I designed as part of my Fall Fling Stamp 'n' Scrap Retreat coming up in October.

Can't you almost taste the pepperminty goodness of a cup of candy cane hot chocolate? I love that Stampin' Up! brought out a new seasonal stamp set that coordinates with the Coffee Cups framelits in the Annual Catalogue. It makes those dies so much more versatile! Here I've used the dies to cut the cup from a piece of Be Merry DSP. I used another pattern from the same pack to cut the sleeve that is around the cup and the circle in the background. (Be sure to read right to the end of this post for some exciting news about this DSP pack!). I stamped the whipped cream in Crumb Cake ink on Whisper White card stock and once again used the Coffee Cups framelits to die-cut it.

The sentiment is from the Merry Cafe stamp set and is stamped in Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green inks. I used the Layering Circles dies to die cut both the stamped image and the Cherry Cobbler card stock layer behind it. The pine boughs are die-cut from Garden Green card stock using the Christmas Staircase thinlits. I created my own sparkly embellishment using the Seasonal Tags Framelits to die cut the snowflake from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper and added a clear Faceted Gem to the centre.

The background is Whisper White card stock, embossed using the Brick Wall TIEF and then layered on a Cherry Cobbler card stock base. I added a some Cherry Cobbler stitched ribbon for added texture.

On the inside I stamped another sentiment from the Merry Cafe set in Garden Green and Cherry Cobbler and then added a cut little coffee cup stamped in Crumb Cake ink, stamped off once.

I so love this stamp set and the many possibilities it offers for seasonal coffee/tea/hot chocolate themed cards! Anything that makes products I already own (like the Coffee Cups Framelits) go further is a winner in my book!

Now for some exciting news! Are you ready for a sale?? There are some fabulous promotions starting October 1st. Firstly, World Card Making Day is coming! This year the world celebrates the day on October 7, but one day wasn’t enough for Stampin' Up!. For ten days (October 1–10), get 15% off Notecards & Envelopes and select stamp sets. Also, when you buy Fast Fuse Adhesive, you’ll get two refills for FREE! Yes. You read that right...buy a Fast Fuse and get TWO refills FREE (that's a $20 value!) Click the image below to view the flyer with all of the products that will be on sale.

Click the image to view the sale flyer!

As if this this weren't enough, a HUGE Designer Paper sale is coming too! From October 1st-31st, buy three packs/stacks of DSP and get a fourth pack/stack FREE. Now is the time to stock up for your Holiday crafting projects, because there are even Designer Paper packs from the new Holiday catalogue included in this promotion! Want to know what's even better? All of the stamp sets in the World Card Making Day Sale coordinate with the Designer Papers in the B3G1 promotion! How fantastic is that??
Click the image below to view the full list of pretty papers included in this amazing promotion and then start making your wishlist. Both promotions start October 1st.

Click the image to view the full list of Designer Paper included in this promotion.

Happy World Cardmaking Day!

...and happy October! There is a whole lot happening in the Stampin' Up! world today! Firstly it is the start of a brand new business year, a time when demonstrators like me sit down and look long and hard at the year that was and set goals for the year to come. I'll be doing some serious instrospection this weekend!

Today is also World Cardmaking Day and to celebrate I am hosting my quarterly Tri-City Stampers team training day. I am so looking forward to getting together with my stampin' friends to talk business, celebrate eachother's successes and of course, stamp! I love that I get to spoil them a little every now and then...they are such an amazing group of women!

Stampin' Up! is also celebrating World Cardmaking Day with a sale on a selection of products.

Click the image to enlarge and view discounted items

Now remember, these sale prices are only good until October 5th, so don't delay. Order your cardmaking supplies in my online store today. You can also email me directly and I can add them to the order I have going in tomorrow evening.

Have a super Saturday...find time to make a card!

Flurries of Joy

Happy Belated-World Cardmaking Day!  I was so busy with papercrafting events yesterday I had no time to post, but I sure do have LOTS to share with you!
First of all, I have a new project for you that I designed for our new sketch challenge over at Sunday Stamps.  Here is the sketch:

...and here is my project:

Holiday card featuring the Festive Flurry (retired) stamp set and Wonderful Wreath Framelits.

For this one I pulled out my beloved Festive Flurry stamp set and framelits.  These were, by far, my favourite products from last year's Holiday Catalogue and I couldn't resist using them for this challenge.  I stamped various-sized snowflakes in Bermuda Bay, Pool Party and Wild Wasabi ink and die cut them using the coordinating framelits.  I also die cut a couple of snowflakes from Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper to layer between the stamped flakes for added sparkle. 

The sentiment is die cut from silver glimmer paper using the Wonderous Wreath framelits.  The DSP in the background is from the Nordic Noel pack and the embossed panel was done using the (retired) Snowburst TIEF.  I added some silver stretchy cord I had in my stash and some rhinestones for added bling.

Inside view with sentiment from Christmas Messages (retired)

On the inside I stamped the snowflakes again and added the sentiment, which I stamped on a die cut Whisper White snowflake.
I love this week's sketch...so many possibilities!  You may just see another inspiration card or two from me on this one!  Why not play along with us and link up over at Sunday Stamps?  We'd love to see you creation!

Now for more on what kept me so busy the past couple of days.  Friday and Saturday was Stampin' Up Canada's Fall Conference.  It was held in Kitchener, which is only 20 minutes away from me, so I was plenty excited to attend.  The event was great fun, as members of my team and I got to do cute make-n-takes. play fun games and enjoy chatting with other demonstrators.  Oh, and did I mention we won FREE product??  I came home with over $150 in free stuff with another $20 to come!  I love being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator!!  Here is a shot of me with the FIVE sets of Blendabilities I won playing Let's Make a Deal!

I was just a wee bit excited...I NEVER win anything!  Sure is a nice feeling!
My fabulous day ended with a private class for some high school friends who get together every year for a girls' reunion weekend.  They rented a beautiful cottage and invited me to come and do a mini-stamp-a-stack of Christmas cards with them.  It was the perfect way to celebrate World Cardmaking Day!  Here they are, hard at work:

Everyone had a great time and I got to introduce three of them to the wonderful world of card making!  Have I mentioned how much I love what I do??

Now don't forget that the World Cardmaking Sale ends tomorrow at midnight.  Don't miss the chance to stock up on card stock, ink, envelopes and more at the sale prices!  Click HERE to shop now!