Season of love...

As we finish last-minute preparations for the BIG day tomorrow, I have a card for the other season of love...Valentines Day!  This was made with more items from my Occasions Mini pre-order...check it out!

Valentine's Card made using the new Love Impressions DSP & Valentine Defined set from the Occasions Mini

Close up of the sentiment...I love this 'cuz its perfect for just about anyone.

Close up of inside sentiment

Full view of inside of card

Isn't this cute?  I am not big into Valentines Day...beyond making a card for my hubby and my son, I really don't do much.  But the new Valentine Defined set may just change that!  I like that this set has something for everyone, making it easy to create cute Valentines projects for friends and family.  This set and the coordinating DSP go on sale January 4th when the Occasions Mini goes live.  This mini is full of great new products.  If you still need a copy, drop me a line and I will send you a copy for FREE!

In the meantime, good luck finishing that last-minute wrapping and have a wonderful Christmas Eve!

Plays well with others...

One of the things I love most about this hobby is the social aspect and the opportunity to just sit and play with ink and paper while hanging out with  friends.  Today one of my stampin' buddies came over to play and we had fun experimenting with my Occasions Mini pre-order stuff.  She also taught me a cool new technique that I used to make a wedding card for a colleague who is getting married next week.  I can't post that card till after the wedding to ensure she doesn't see it before her big day, but I do have a card that my buddy Christine made using some of my new stamps.  Check this out!

Pretty vintage style birthday card using a new set called "Bliss" available for FREE during Sale-a-bration.

Close up of the sentiment from the retired Watercolour Trio set.

The butterfly is stamped in Bravo Burgundy and then sponged lightly with Champagne shimmer paint...unfortunately the sparkle doesn't show up in the photo!

Isn't this such a pretty card?  Christine is not an embellishment kinda gal...I, on the other hand, can't seem to stop adding stuff to my cards.  So I just kept suggesting things she could add and ways she could layer.  She certainly was pushed out of her comfort zone, but I think she was happy with the end result!  Thanks, Christine,  for an afternoon of stampin' fun and for the sweet treats too!

Last day for Holiday Bundles!

Tonight is our Christmas concert at school, so I am completely swamped, but I just wanted to post a quick reminder that today is the last day to take advantage of the holiday bundles offer.  Click here to go to my website and enter my online store to save 20% on selected holiday products.

One more day till the Christmas break...I'm counting the hours...

Woohoo...my pre-order has arrived!

Buh-bye Christmas cards...hello Occasions mini!  I am so done with Christmas and ready to move on to new and exciting things...like my pre-order stuff from the Occasions mini and Sale-a-bration!  Mr. UPS dropped a big box of goodies off on Friday and I was so busy with Christmas baking on the weekend my poor box sat unopened until today!  (A crying shame, I know!)  When I finished with dinner tonight I wasted no time in getting down to my stamping corner and inking up some of the GORGEOUS new stamps from the upcoming mini and Sale-a-bration.  Check this out!

Ooh...so pretty!!  I am in L-O-V-E with the new DSP

Close up of focal image.  Stamps are from Clearly For You and Bliss sets.

Inside of card.

Close-up of inside sentiment

Well, where do I start?  The new mini is full of terrific new products and I've used many of them on this card!  Here is a list of some of the new goodies you have to look forward to:
Clearly For You stamp set, Bevelled window panes (coordinate with images in Clearly for You set), Nature Walk DSP, Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon (yes, same stuff as is in the Holiday mini but in fresh, new spring colours!), ribbon rosettes.  The butterfly image is from a Sale-A-bration set called Bliss.  This set is so beautiful I actually paid to get it on pre-order (even though I will most certainly earn it during SAB!!) 

There is just so much to love in both the upcoming mini and Sale-A-Bration, you won't want to wait to receive your catalogues!  If you'd like me to send you one of each for free, drop me an email with your contact info and I will put one in the mail!  Don't forget, the last day to order from the Holiday mini is Jan. 3rd and the Occasions mini goes live Jan. 4th.  Sale-a-bration starts Jan. 25th, so call and book your workshop early before my calendar fills up!  You could earn all of the great products I used in the card for free!

 

Wow...a non-Christmas card!

It has been so long since I've done a card that isn't for Christmas I was afraid I had forgotten how!  I was looking through some old posts and realized I've been doing Christmas since AUGUST!!  Time  for a change, folks!  Today's post is a cute birthday card I made for a friend of my son's.  She is turning two and I had fun making this girlie little card!

This is the first time I've use my number dies with my big shot!  LOVE how easily it cuts chipboard!

Close up of that slick chipboard number and the polka dot embossing.  I love my Big Shot!

Finally some stamping!  The Happy birthday image is from a retired set called Say it with Scallops.  The sentiment is from the current level one hostess set called Birthday Bakery.

Isn't this sweet?  I broke out my virgin blushing bride ink pad for this card.  I've had all of the in-colour inks since the summer but haven't even used most of them yet!  I kept the colour scheme very feminine...just pink and white.  The patterned paper on the front of the card is from the 6x6 DSP stack  level one hostess option.  I love that there is the option to get the DSP for the in-colours this way.  I raided my button stash for this card as well.  They are a cute little addition to the flower border at the top and bottom of the card.  The recipe for this one is pretty simple...just get in touch with your girlie side!

Quick and Easy Deck the Halls card

Simple holiday card using Deck the Halls DSP and Perfect Punches stamp set

 Today's post is a quickie I made last weekend from scraps that were left on my stamping table after I finished prepping for some classes.  I was determined to use up some of my huge scrap pile and I'm happy to say I was successful!

Inside of card.  Sentiment is from the Many Merry Messages set.

Close up of the embossed focal image

This card was really quick and uses a minimum of layers.  I started with a 5 3/8" x 4 1/8" piece of crumb cake cardstock to which I adhered the poinsettia printed DSP piece.  I layered two more smaller pieces of the holly print DSP at right angles to eachother.  I tied some very vanilla seam binding ribbon over the holly DSP and tied it to look like a gift. 
For the focal image, I stamped the Joy at Christmas sentiment in versamark on very vanilla cardstock and then heat embossed it in gold.  I punched it out using my 1 3/4" scalloped circle punch.  I layered it on a 2" circle in brushed gold and a 2 3/8" scalloped circle in early espresso.  I adhered it to the card using dimensionals.  I then adhered the whole card front to an early espresso card base.
The inside of the card uses another piece of the poinsettia print DSP.  I stamped the sentiment in early espresso ink on very vanilla cardstock.  I punched it out using a 2" circle punch and then layered it on a 2 3/8" scalloped circle in brushed gold and a 2 1/2" circle in early espresso.  I added a little elegance with three little pearls...I love using embellishments INSIDE a card!

That's it...quick and easy.  The gorgeous paper does all the work on this card.

Dasher-ing towards Christmas

This time of year is busy for we crafters...so many great holiday craft and gift ideas and so little time to complete them!  As this is my first Christmas as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I had no idea just how crazy things can get with clients and new customers wanting to hold workshops and Stamp-A-Stacks.  I have been spending all of my crafting time cutting paper and prepping for various events and have had almost no time to create anything for myself!  If only I didn't have a full-time teaching job during the day!  Ah well, the Christmas break will be here soon and I'll have a full week off to get my Christmas crafting done!

Today's post is a card I created for one of the Stamp-A-Stack classes I held last week.

Simple card using the Dasher a la carte stamp.

Close up of Dasher...isn't he a handsome fella?

Sentiment is from the Contempo Christmas set.  I used one of the big designer buttons in Baja Breeze to embellish it.

Inside of card.  Snowflake images are from Serene Snowflakes.  Sentiment is from Christmas Greetings.

This card came together as I was prepping for my SAS and realized I was out of Cherry Cobbler cardstock!  I didn't have enough to do the card I had planned to, so I had to think fast and come up with something that used the supplies I had enough of on hand.  I was quite happy with the way it turned out and my SAS guests liked it too!  Here is what I did:

I started with a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of baja breeze cardstock.  I stamped the snowflakes all over the top half using baja breeze ink.  I adhered a 3" x 4" piece of Candy Cane DSP to the bottom half of the baja breeze piece.  I then punched a 4" wide piece of whisper white with my dotted scallop ribbon border and adhered it over the seam.  I added a piece of 1/8" taffeta ribbon in real red and adhered it to the back of the cardfront.  I adhered the whole thing to a real red card base. 
For the focal image I stamped Dasher in baja breeze on whisper white cardstock, punched him out with a 2" circle punch and then sponged the edge with baja breeze ink.  I layered this on a 2 3/8" scallop circle in baja breeze and a 2 1/2" circle in real red and adhered the finished piece using dimensionals.  I added a little rhinestone gem to one of the snowflakes for some sparkle.
For the sentiment I coloured the Merry Christmas from the Contempo Christmas set using my baja breeze and real red markers, stamped it on whisper white and then punched it out using my decorative label punch.  I layered this on another decorative label in real red and adhered it to the cardfront using dimensionals.  I threaded some 1/8" taffeta riboon through a big designer button in baja breeze and tied it in a knot.  I adhered it to the upper right corner of the sentiment using glue dots. 
The inside of the card is fairly self-explanatory.  I stamped the snowflakes in baja breeze and sponged the edges of the white before I adhered the white piece to the inside of the card.  The sentiment is from the Christmas Greetings set and is stamped in real red and then punched out using the decorative label punch again.  It is sponged using baja breeze, layered on another real red label and then adhered inside the card using dimensionals.
A cute card using one of my favourite holiday images!