Retiring in 2015

Well, the time has come again to say goodbye to some of our favourite Stampin' Up! products!  Some of my favourite punches and stamp sets are going.  And, of course, the 2013-2015 In Colours are leaving too....sigh.



There is a silver lining to this.  Many of these products are now available at discount prices.  But, be warned.....they do not last long....and once they are gone.  They're gone!  So order early at http://lauragardiner.stampinup.net or by sending me an email with your requests.

Check out a full list of 2015 retiring products here.

Simple Thanks (SSSC265)

Spring has sprung so I decided to use "springy" colours for this simple card.  I'm in need of a whole bunch of thank you cards and I wanted to create something that I could reproduce many times without a lot of effort.

I started with a sketch from the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge and some left overs from other projects to come up with this card.

Here's my version:

I started with a Crisp Cantaloupe card base and layered Sahara Sand with "Best Day Ever" DSP...which was a Sale-a-bration freebie but is STILL AVAILABLE until April 30th if you order the new Butterfly Thinlets on sale.  Finally, I added a strip of Coastal Cabana.

The stamps I used are from the "Work of Art", "Papillon Potpourri" and "Layers of Gratitude" (a Paper Pumpkin set) stamp sets.

Stay tuned for the Retired Lists...coming out tomorrow.  

Happy Stamping!

Today's the Big Day!!!

Happy New Year!  I hope you all had a lovely holiday season!  Stampin' Up! knows how to keep the good feelings flowing.....the 2015 Occasions Catalogue launched today and the annual Sale-a-bration promotion started too!!!   It's almost too much to handle :)

One of the perks of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is that we have an opportunity to pre-order from the Occasions Catalogue and pre-earn from Sale-a-bration!  Today's card features my favourite Sale-a-bration set, "Big Day".

The front of the card features 2 stamps from the set...."celebrate your Big Day with cake" and the "and perhaps a little ice cream" sentiments are 2 separate stamps!

Use Blendabilities markers to colour Rhinestones and Pearls!

I used the other 2 stamps from the set on the inside of the card.

I had fun using my Rich Razzleberry and Daffodil Delight assortment Blendabilities to colour in the text.

You can earn this stamp set and/or Blendabilities markers during Sale-a-bration!  There are 3 ways to earn:

1. Shop
2. Host
3. Join

Click here to see the Sale-a-bration brochure and learn how you can earn!

Happy Stamping!

Click the image below to see the Occasions Catalogue!

Day 12: Wonderful Wreath

When I saw the "Wondrous Wreath" stamp set in Stampin' Up's Holiday catalogue I knew it was one I was going to "have" to have!  When it arrived I realized it was even better than I imagined.  It's a "2-step" stamping set.  Usually that means I've got to pull out my stamp-a-ma-jig and try to line things up.  Generally getting frustrated in the process.  Because "Wondrous Wreath" is a photopolymer set it is TOTALLY clear AND it has nifty little tabs on it to aid in lining up the layered stamping!

I stamped 3 layers on this wreath....the Old Olive "base", Mossy Meadow darker leaves, and Cherry Cobbler holly berries.   All without my Stamp-a-ma-jig!  Yay!

To add a little more texture and "step-up" my card, I coloured some Pearl Basic Jewels with my Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities and then put them on some of the stamped holly berries.

Colour your Pearl Basic Jewels with Blendabilities to "step-up" your card

Click here to see Day 11 of the "Twelve Days of Christmas Cards".

Happy Stampin'

P.S. Place an order with me before November 30th and receive FREE shipping on your entire order :)

Day 11: Happy Winter (FMS 164)

It's hard to believe that December is only days away.  I'm left wondering where November went and realizing I'd better get going on getting the rest of my Christmas cards made and sent out.  Not to mention decorating the house, baking cookies, and all of the other fun things to do before Christmas actually arrives!

For today's "Twelve Days of Christmas Cards" card I used this week's sketch from the lovely designers over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I love the simplicity of the sketch and the endless possibilities it conjures up.

Here's what I did with it (this time):

I love this colour combination; Cool Cabana and Real Red.  Using the Cool Cabana Blendabilities markers allows you to explore the different "saturations" within that colour.

Consider "stepping up" this card by using the Filigree Frame TIEF or by adding some sparkle through Rhinestone Basic Jewels or Dazzling Details.

Click here to see Day 10 of my Twelve Days of Christmas Cards posts.

Happy Stampin'!

Day 10: That's shiny ;)

So, I got side-tracked off my Twelve Days of Christmas Cards postings.   I got distracted on Friday by taking one kid to the doctor because of an endless cough and a little bout of stomach flu.  No worries, I'd have the weekend to catch up, right?

I was SO excited to have a weekend with "nothing" going on.  No parties, no places to go, no big errands to run.  I had a breakfast date with my son and then my lovely father-in-law arrived.  He not only brought us winter tires and put them on the car (THANK YOU, THANK YOU!), he took the kids away for a few hours!

Yay!

That's shiny!

Okay, so put aside stamping for a bit...let's go Christmas shopping for the kids and out for lunch.  It was great, we went to our favourite Indian place, then across the street to our favourite toy store and topped it off with a yummy holiday drink before heading home.

I fully planned on capping off my wonderful day by spending the late afternoon and evening stamping and watching a movie with my husband.

Cue the stomach flu!

Yuck!

I'm beginning to feel myself again and got stamping again this evening.   I turned to CAS -- Colours and Sketches and The Paper Players for colour and sketch inspiration for today's Christmas card:

I LOVE this colour combination and the sketch is so versatile.

That's shiny!

 The Metallic Silver (Encore) ink adds a little bit of "shininess" to the tree in the forefront as well as the Letterpress Winter snowflakes in the background.  Here's a better look at it:

Use Encore Silver ink to add some texture to your Christmas trees

Happy Stampin'!

Click here to see Day Nine of the Twelve Days of Christmas Cards.

Day Ten: A Merry Little Wish

A number of weeks ago Stampin' Up! held an event for demonstrators in my city.  I always enjoy getting together with other stampers and crafting, especially when I don't have to do the prep :)   It's also fun because I always learn something new.

At this particular event, we used the Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities markers to colour Basic Pearls!  I wanted to use that technique again and found that using them to decorate a tree from the Festival of Trees stamp set was perfect.

Use Blendabilities markers to colour your pearls

Here's what the whole card looks like.

Here's another tip:  Did you know that you can curve the Photopolymer stamps?  That's what I did here to make them "hug" the circle.  They are "bendy" stamps and you just have to adhere them to your clear blocks with a little curve and you're all set to go.

Try stepping up this card by using the "On Point" TIEF to emboss the circle.

Click here to see yesterday's Twelve Days of Christmas Cards post.

Happy Stampin'!