Birthday Sale-a-bration!

Woohoo!  3 great things to celebrate in my world.;

1.  It's getting a little warmer...only -19 C with windchill today!  So much better than -35C!!!!

2.  The framing started in our new addition today!  Now we can see the new space we'll have, including an 8 foot coat closet!  So much better than my 2 foot one now : )

3.  SALE-A-BRATION started this week!  WOOHOO!  FREE STUFF!!!!!

Stampin' Up! has done a great job with their Sale-a-bration items this year!  I LOVE them all!  And I also really like how they've made it really easy to coordinate items.  Take the "Birthday Bash Bundle" (on p. 5 of the Sale-a-bration brochure) for example.  The bundle includes the following:  the 2013-2015 In-Colour Markers, Whisper White card stock, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Whisper White envelopes and the Remembering your Birthday stamp set.  Everything you need to make some great birthday cards...all for $69.55 (Clear Mount or $77.55 Wood Mount).  Because you've spent over $60 that means you can choose the Banner Blast Sale-a-bration stamp set for FREE : )   Click on the "Sale-a-bration" icon in the right side-bar to view the entire catalogue!

Check out this example of what you could make with that bundle:

Birthday Sale-a-bration

I totally CASE'd this from the Sale-a-bration catalogue!  It was super simple to make and looks great don't you think?!

Contact me today to order your "Birthday Bash Bundle" and to learn more about how you can earn more FREE product during Sale-a-bration.

Happy Stamping!

Black Tie Language of Love

My, my!  I've spent more time in my stamping space in the last 3 days than I have in a while.  Partly because I'm getting ready for my Sale-a-bration Kick-Off party on Tuesday and some upcoming parties and partly because I've got so many fun new stamps that I want to use!

For this card I took inspiration from Freshly Made Sketches  and  Dynamic Duos,

FMS Sketch 120

Dynamic Duos #87

I love the "pop" created by the Melon Mambo.  I think if I was going to re-do anything on this card I'd texture to the black banner but otherwise I'm happy with how it came together.

Here's what you'll need to create this card:

Stamps:  Language of Love (Occasions 2014 catalogue)

Ink and Card Stock:  Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer paper

Big Shot and Punches:  Perfect Polka Dots TIEF, Banners Framelits (Occasions 2014 catalogue), Hearts Framelits, Small Heart punch

Happy Stamping!

A Perfect Blend for ColourQ 225

If you're ever stuck for a colour combination for your cards I would highly suggest going over to the Colour Q challenge blog.   I love their tag line:  "Your weekly cue to challenge yourself...."!  This week's colour combination was certainly challenging:

Interesting choice isn't it?  Certainly not colours I would put together normally (or even use for that matter) but I was up for a challenge this week so I gave it a go.  

I wanted to do something other than flowers because that seemed like an obvious choice, so I pulled out the next obvious choice...."Gorgeous Grunge".  Originally I had a strip of Calypso Coral washi tape but it was too bold for the look I was after so I flipped my card stock over and started again.

I've been itching to use my "Perfect Blend" stamp set so I took this opportunity to ink it up.  Fun, eh?

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

Stamp Sets:  Gorgeous Grunge, Perfect Blend

Ink and Card Stock:  Whisper White, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip,  Cherry Cobbler, Calypso Coral

Other:  Stampin' Dimensionals, Paper Snips.

Happy Stamping!

Thinking of Spring for JAI

It's a bit of a wild day in my neck of the woods.  Most of the roads are closed and we got quite a bit of snow last night.  It's a bit warmer today though (only -14C with wind chill) so we could actually get outside today to play....yay!  I LOVE winter but it is fun at this time of year to pull out my flowery stamps and butterflies : )

I recently came across a great challenge blog called Just Add Ink and really liked this week's sketch.  The possibilities for creativity are endless and I just had to try my hand at it.

Just Add Ink Challenge 199

For my colour inspiration I turned to a Sale-a-bration freebie that I got last week...the Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack come with 3 colours of twine and adhesive-backed cork embellishments.  Don't forget, Sale-a-bration starts Tuesday!  

A Sale-a-bration FREEBIE!

After playing around with a few different ideas of circles and scallops I changed tack and decided to do a "springy" theme of flowers and butterflies.  Pretty, eh?  There are tons of spring birthdays in my family so I'm getting a head start on my cards : )

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

Stamps:  Mixed Bunch, Petite Petals, Papillon Potpourri, Bring on the Cake

Ink and Card Stock:  Crisp Cantaloupe, Pool Party, Summer Starfruit, Whisper White

Punches: Blossom Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Petite Petals Punch (Occasions 2014 Catalogue), Elegant Butterfly Punch

Other:  Sweet Sorbet Accessories (SAB 2014),  Fancy Fan TIEF,  Rhinestones Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals.

Happy Stamping!

Simple Petite Petals

I LOVE Friday mornings!  It is my one chance in the week to have the house all to myself!  Once the my son is safely off at JK I hurry my daughter over to her preschool program and then I'm FREE for 1 1/2 hours!

So this morning after having a HOT cup of coffee I decided to neglect all of my housework and come down and play a little.  I saw a card on Pinterest last night that inspired this Clean and Simple (CAS) card.

Isn't it pretty?!  I went a little out of my comfort zone with the colours and pulled out two Regals; Elegant Egglplant and Rose Red.  I love how using my Simply Scored tool I can create a quick and simple frame around the image.

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

Stamps:  Petite Petals (Occasions 2014 catalogue), Teeny Tiny Wishes, Fabulous Florets

Ink and Paper:  Elegant Egglplant, Rose Red, Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White

Other:  Simply Scored tool, Stampin' Dimensionals.

Happy Stamping!

One Layer Valentine for PP179

Wow!  This was a difficult card to come up.  I didn't realize how much I rely on layers to create interest in my cards until I tried this week's Paper Players Challenge:  One Layer Valentine.  It was all I could not to punch something out or add ribbon!!!  It took me 3 tries to settle on something I really like and here's the result:

I did a lot of "masking" to create this look.  I stamped the Real Red heart first then placed a cut-out of the same heart over it and sponged the Coastal Cabana heart.  Finally, I covered the Coastal Cabana heart and stamped the "Gorgeous Grunge" lines in Smoky Slate.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out and the simplicity of the card.  Take a closer look:

Here are the supplies you'll need to make this card:

Stamp Sets:  Language of Love (Occasions 2014 catalogue), Gorgeous Grunge, Express Yourself (hostess set).

Ink:  Real Red, Coastal Cabana, Smoky Slate

Misc:  Stampin' Pierce Mat, Paper Piercing tool, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, "masks" -- mine were from various cut-outs using the Hearts Framelits dies.

Happy Stamping!

Blowing Bubbles

I was doing my Saturday morning blog surf and came across a technique that I'd never seen before.  My friend, Leena at A La Cards designs for The Technique Twist Challenge.  This morning she showcased this week's technique, "bubble backgrounds".  After reading her description I just HAD to try it and my husband off to the dollar store to get me some acrylic paint!

Simply combine some white acrylic paint with any colour of Stampin' Up ink using a re-inker, add a little dish soap and some water and you're all set to begin blowing bubbles.  I combined my paint and ink in an empty accessories container (e.g. brads or buttons, etc.) because I didn't want to use a lot and I need something fairly shallow.  I held my Whisper White card stock over top of the container while I blew bubbles using a drinking straw and as they popped they coloured the paper.  So cool!

"Bubbles" using Island Indigo and Real Red

Then I turned to one of my favourite sketch challenge blogs, Try Stampin' On Tuesday, for some sketch inspiration:

Try Stampin' On Tuesday Sketch #151

I really like how the banners alternate and wanted to capture that with my "Bubble Background"

I LOVE the look that the "bubbles" have on the paper.  I used Stampin' Up's Island Indigo and Real Red to tint my acrylic paint.  It created a lovely, soft background for my "Language of Love" stamps.

I deliberately did not put a specific sentiment on the card.  I thought it could be used for Valentine's Day, a wedding, a baby's arrival, a birthday or just about anything really.  I wanted to leave it open-ended so that when the right occasion comes along I can use it.

Here is a list of all the supplies you'll need to make this card:

Stamps:  Language of Love (item # 133077 CM or #133074 WM, Occasions Catalogue)

Ink:  Island Indigo, Real Red, Pink Pirouette, Pool Party

Paper: Whisper White, Pink Pirouette

Other:  Decorative Dots TIEF (item #133520, Sale-a-bration item), Hearts Framelits (item # 125599), white acrylic paint, dish soap, drinking straws.

Happy Stamping!

New Year, New Stamps!

Happy (belated) New Year everyone!  Now that the craziness (and illness) of the holiday season is over and my desk is clean again it's time to break out the new stamps.  YAY!!!!!!   Before Christmas I ordered a whole bunch of new stamps from Stampin' Up's annual catalogue and the new "Occasions Catalogue".  There's nothing quite like putting 10+ stamp sets together at one time!

I had a moment of quiet this afternoon during which I was able to sit down and focus for a bit on stamping.   I feel a little bit adrift without an anchor at this time of year in terms of crafting.  I find making Christmas cards so all-consuming that when faced with a blank slate I'm really at a loss.  To get my brain back into crafting mode I took a look through the most recent issue of "Stampin' Success" (our demonstrator magazine) and found inspiration with the "Happy Congratulations" stamp set.  It is a new set out of the Occasions Catalogue and is super simple to use to make a pretty little card.

Simple stamp with a black ink.  I used Basic Black and then used the lower setting on my embossing tool to dry the ink.  Then I stamped the individual lanterns using Bermuda Bay, Crisp Cantaloupe and Crushed Curry inks.  I've been itching to use my Banners Framelits and wasn't disappointed (yes, perfect banners in one easy step!).

Finally, here's a shot of my stamping space....any bets on how long it will stay like this?  Those that really know me know it won't be long....lol : )

Happy Stamping!