Candidate #3: Mistletoe

This card almost didn't make the cut. Wendy wasn't too crazy about it, but an impromptu opinion poll determined that we'd include it. I'm so glad that we did, because I've heard lots of favourable feedback about this card from the participants.

This one uses Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, and Bravo Burgundy as the colour scheme. The background stamp is "Paisley", and the little flower sprig is from "Fresh Cuts". I needed to find a way to include coloured berries on the card without gluing seed beads or having to colour the stamp with markers before stamping. (That's just way too much work for an event like this). I elected to punch the berries out using a 1/8" hole punch so the burgundy paper peeks through. Neat!

The sheer ribbon is non-SU! ($1.50/5 yds at the M store), and it's held in place with a glue dot. The burgundy ribbon we used was legal (5/8" Bravo Burgundy grosgrain), though the ribbon in this sample photo is also illegal M-store ribbon.

Candidate #2: SnowDude

This little snowdude probably shouldn't have been included in the Stamp-A-Stack, because he's a retired stamp. But he was so perfect for this card, I couldn't resist including him.

Cardstock is Whisper White and Real Red. Ink is Basic Black. I've used a bunch of markers to colour him in: Old Olive, Real Red, Bashful Blue, Apricot Appeal, and Blush Blossom. Some 2-way and Dazzlin' Diamonds adds glitter to his hatband and pompom, as well as to the falling snow and snow on the ground.

Simple and clean.

Candidate #1: The tree

I am such a sucker for "Lovely as a Tree". This stamp set is sooooo overused, but I always get the nicest results from the simple silhouetted tree images.

This Christmas card is no exception. It's made in Kiwi kiss and Old Olive ink on Vanilla and Kiwi Kiss cardstock. The oval is masked, sponged, then stamped, and removed. The tree is stamped along with the sentiment, and the large tree gets treated to a dusting if Dazzlin' Diamonds. It's such a simple card, but it's a very versatile design. Change the colour combination, omit the glitter, pick a different sentiment. It could become a man card, a sympathy card, a Thinking of You card. There are so many possibilities.

Enjoy!

Stamp-A-Stack success!

This past Sunday we held our third Stamp-A-Stack. The turnout was great (filled to capacity!) and we had a great selection of cards for everyone to make.
Here are a few photos of the event:

Check back later this week as I upload the card samples of the final candidates.

Can't type... cutting... paper

I have been terribly remiss in my blog postings of late. My only excuse is my frantic schedule:
- workshops
- Stamp-A-stack prep
- birthday party prep
- cruise prep
- christmas prep
- prep for visit from in-laws
- prep for visit from sister (who lives in B.C.)
Did I mention I have a full-time day job as a mild-mannered technical writer?

*whirlwhirlwhirl*

When I stop spinning in circles long enough, I'll post a recent scrappy page and the 3 final candidates for the Stamp-A-Stack this Saturday.

Thanks for checking in.

My last reject

This is the last reject from my heap of Stamp-A-Stack candidates. I can't show you the three keepers, but I think they're great.

This one is mostly Very Vanilla cardstock with some Always Artichoke and Bravo Burgundy.

The wheel is actually a retired "Leaves ala Carte" wheel that matched the retired Carte Postale stamp set (oh, how I miss it!). If this had made it into the Stamp-A-Stack, I would've swapped that wheel out with a holly one.

The bottom half of the Very Vanilla layer (3.75 x 5") is wheeled in Artichoke before being layered onto a piece of Artichoke and tied with a Bravo Burgundy 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

The Peace Love Joy is stamped in Artichoke on vanilla (Stamp from All Holidays), and the vanilla is matted first on bravo burgundy and the on the artichoke. I raised it off the card a bit with some dimensions.

It's a pretty little card, but a titch on the "ho hum" side.

Now that you've seen all my Stamp-A-Stack rejects, sign up to come see the cards we'll be making at the Stamp-A-Stack!

A Pacific Point Reject

Welcome to my penultimate Stamp-A-Stack card reject. I actually kinda liked this guy, and probably would've added a mat under the centre blue mat, but in brushed silver cardstock. But, alas, he was rejected.

This card uses Pacific Point paper; one of the new In Colours.

The card is made from Whisper White, with a mat of Pacific Point on top.

Another layer of Whisper White is on top of that (3.75 x 5"), and I rolled it with the wheel from the Scandinavian set in the new Holiday Mini catalog. Of course, the name escapes me right now and I'm nowhere near my catalog. I'll add it in here later I guess. Sorry!

The sentiment stamp is from All Holidays, and again is in Pacific point. It's matted on some PP paper, and tied with some silver stretchy cord.

Thanks for dropping by,
C

Not my cuppa

Hi again!

This little card is another Stamp-A-Stack reject. I really am not crazy about this one; I tried something a little outside my comfort zone, and it crashed and burned. *laugh* (click the picture to view the catastrophe up close).

First up, the card base is Sahara Sand. I'd have used Kraft paper if I had it, but I didn't, so I didn't.

I made a cereal-box-cardboard embossing template (cut a rectangle out of the box), laid it under the card face, and rubbed the back of the card front with an embossing stylus - does that make sense? - to raise the rectangle on the front of the card. The three trees are from Holiday Blitz, and are stamped in Garden Green, Real Red, and Old Olive. I coloured them with a bit with a white gel pen, but that didn't improve them much. They were pretty lonely on that rectangle, so I added some faux stitching around the edge with a Real Red Stampin' Writer marker. The Sentiment at least suits the little trees; it's from Many Merry Messages, an amazing stamp set to get if you're making your own Christmas cards.

This one clearly deserved to be rejected. *laugh* Or it needs a bit of an overhaul.

Tune in next time for another exciting installment of: Stamp-A-Stack Rejects!

Flakey reject

Thanks for checking back again! Here's another one of the cards that was rejected as a candidate for the Stamp-A-Stack. (did you sign up yet?) Click the image to view it in detail.

It's probably just as well this one got vetoed, as the snowflake is one that's no longer available. I miss having a nice big legal snowflake set this year. I keep resorting to my contraband stamps.

Anywho, back to the card. The card base is Ballet blue (8.5 x 11", chopped in half).

The snowflake was created by first punching out 4 squares of whisper white using a 1" punch. I arranged them into a square (no spaces between the "tiles"), and then stamped on all 4 pieces simultaneously in Ballet Blue. You may want to mark the backs of the tiles (top left, bottom right, etc) so it's easy to reassemble the snowflake. It's not too tricky when you're making 1 card, but if you're mass producing them, things can get a little ugly. After I stamped the snowflake, 2-way glue and Dazzlin' Diamonds were applied. oooooo... glitter....

The tiles were then mounting on a slightly larger piece of Night of Navy, and raised off the card with dimensionals.

The sentiment (from All Holidays I think - correct me if I'm wrong) was stamped in Night of Navy.

Come back tomorrow for more!

C

Finally, some rejects!

OK, that's perhaps not the greatest hook for a post title, but after weeks of top-secret Christmas card making, we've finally settled on the 6 designs you'll be making at the Stamp-A-Stack (it's not too late to sign up). Consequently, I now have all the rejects that I can share with you.

Today's reject is a card a friend is making for her own Christmas cards, so I'm sure she'll be pleased we're not mass-producing it. (Hi Heather!) It is taken almost verbatim from SCS, so check out the Season of Joy gallery there if you're searching for the original. Click on the image on the left to view a close-up.

The card base is a typical 8.5x11 sheet of Real Red cardstock cut in half.

The Whisper White layer on top of that is 5.25 x 4" to start off with, but once you stamp the flowers from Season of Joy on it in Real Red classic ink and trim them with snips, it's more like 5.25 x 3". Around this piece of white I tied some 1/4" Real Red grosgrain ribbon.

The sentiment on the bottom is also from Season of Joy (I just love one-stop stamp sets) which was stamped in versamark, coated in white embossing powder, and heated with a heat tool.

A stamping pal (Hi Nicole!) decided it needed to be tarted up a bit, and added some 2-way glue and Dazzlin' Diamonds to the centre of each flower. I'm always a sucker for more glitter.

Apart from the cutting this is a dead simple - and affordable - card to make. It requires only two colours of paper, one colour of ink, and one stamp set. Email me know if you want a price list for the supplies needed (this will make 48 cards).

Check back tomorrow for more from my parade of rejects!

Pretty Happy

This is a pretty little birthday card I made for a friend's cutie-pie daughter and am just now getting around to uploading the photo. If it looks vaguely familiar, good for you; you have a killer memory! I made a card with a very similar layout for my m-i-l's birthday.

It's predominantly Pretty-In-Pink, with a hit of Rose Red on the sentiment (from It's Your Birthday - retired).

I inked the 'bug embossing folder before I ran the pink cardstock through it. I love the way it makes the embossing jump out a bit more. It also has a nice kind of aged or distressed look about it. I wrapped this lengthwise in a strip of pink 1/4" grosgrain ribbon before adhering it to the white card base.

I cut the oval out with my Nestabilities (swoon) and played with it a bit. After running the cutting die through the 'bug, I left the cardstock lodged in the die (perfectly normal), and ran it through a second time with the tan embossing mat to raise the edges. I removed the die from the bug, leaving the paper in it, and lightly sponged inside the die opening with some pink ink (I like to think and drink pink ink), which left a white frame where the paper was covered by the die. Sneaky!

I used my fake-a-ma-jig (like a stamp-a-ma-jig, but made by my dear Dad) to align the sentiment in the oval; after all that work, I needed to get it perfectly aligned the first time. It's adhered to the card with some pop dots and I finished it all off with a little pink bow.

So pretty.

Sunset

I've been scrapping again!

This time it's a 2-page spread for my 8x8 2007 album to capture the beautiful sunsets we see at the cottage every summer. On Lake Kashagawigamog. I love saying that. Kashagawigamog. Kashagawigamog.

The background paper is from an Old World slab at Michael's. I love this paper. I think I need to pick up the 12x12 slab too. The other papers are Soft Sky (ret.), Baja Breeze (new!), and Blue Bayou (ret.) with a splash of Apricot Appeal DS paper. That's such a tricky colour, Apricot Appeal. Is it orange? Is it yellow? It can't decide! But, it was the perfect complement to the colours in the photos.

The chipboard is all SU!, from the Loads of Letters package. I adhered some stripey greeny bluey plaidy paper from another Michael's slab to the big letter S with my new latex adhesive from SU!, and did the same with the wee hearts before giving them a coat of Crystal Effects to make them shine. The stickers are dollar-bin stickers, and the metal hardware is from my Hodge Podge Hardware pewter hardware kit. The remaining letters were punched using my 'bug. Love the bug. The circle and scalloped circle were punched using Stampin' Up! punches.

Thanks for checking it out,

C

Happy Girl

This is an 8x8 scrapbook page of my daughter. I'm cleaning out the 2007 photos and wrapping up the wee 8x8 album. I have little left other than mismatched photos that are too good to leave out of the album. Enter the random devotion to Adina.
<---(click on the thumbnail to enlarge)

The background polka-dotted paper is Michael's open stock. The green is also Michael's cardstock. I never thought I'd used that colour (I don't like green!) but it works really well with the photos and makes Adina pop to the forefront.

The title is a combination of the Happy stamp from Polka Dots and Paisley, and a Michael's dollar-bin acrylic stamp. To get it really white, it has been heat embossed with white embossing powder. The buttons are from Stampin' Up (soft subtles and bold brights), and the single flower punch is from EK success to which I've added a green soft-subtles brad. The hardware on the edges of the photos is from the dollarama.

The floral border across the bottom is my new 12" Sizzix die (love it!!). I punched it once in a floral patterned paper, and the second time in solid pink. I cut out a couple of the pink blooms and tarted them up with glitter before layering them on the border with popdots. A third bloom was cut out and added to the label with a Stampin' Up! rhinestone brad. I also put some retired celery organza ribbon and some 1/8" pink satin ribbon on the label with a glue dot.

The label is stamped on left-over floral paper from the border. It's stamped using the retired set "Label Classics", and has been layered on the page again with pop dots to add some depth.

Thanks for dropping in,
C

Paper quilt

This is a small card with a big story.

Last summer, my 28-yr-old cousin Ingrid (who was 7-months pregnant at the time) learned she had stage 3 breast cancer. After having her baby early, followed by surgery, chemo, and radiation, her cancer is now in remission. She has survived.

Last fall, I participated in my first CIBC Run for the Cure. I was walking for Ingrid, but also for my mom, who 5 years earlier had a similar brush with cancer (minus the pregnant part.)

This year, I'm participating in the CIBC Run for the Cure, but I'm running it this time. I've never run in my life (except as a kid) but I started a learn-to-run program at the end of July and have been training every other day since. I wanted to give more than just a few hours one Sunday morning. And I wanted to keep myself healthy, hopefully to avoid this disease myself.

When I put out the call for sponsors, I was overwhelmed by the generosity of my family - in particular Ingrid's mother, Anne, who donated $100. I needed to make her a really nice thank you card.

Anne is a serious quilter, so the idea of making a paper quilt came to me very quickly. My family also loves the outdoors and we go often go on canoe trips together. The quilt-block I chose is called "Tippecanoe".

The paper colours are Pretty-In-Pink and River Rock. The quilt blocks are each .5" squares - and boy, were they tedious. But I'm pleased with how it turned out.

I stamped the Thank You sentiment from All Holidays in Rose Red, punched it out with a small oval, inked the edges of the oval with Pink Pirouette, layered it on a 1" circle of Pretty-In-Pink that has been pierced and in turn layered on a designer-label-punched bit of River Rock. I fashioned a wee pink ribbon out of 1/8" satin ribbon and attached it to the label. The label is popped up on pop dots, and I strung some 1/4" sheer organza ribbon across the bottom of the card to anchor it.

I hope she'll like it.

Thanks for looking!
C

Wish Book #2

As promised, here's the wish book I made for my daughter (see yesterday's post for the book I made for my son). The dimensions are the same as my son's book.

Hers uses the retired pointsettia paper that's matted with Bravo Burgundy. The ornaments are stamped using Hung Up On The Holidays (retired) and is matted with Cranberry Crisp and True Thyme paper (both retired) that I cut out with my scalloped rectangular Nestabilities. The little seal is from Perfect Presentation and is punched out with circle punches and a scalloped circle punch. Some dots were added with a white gel pen.

The ribbon on the spine is retired stitched ribbon in Cranberry Crisp and True Thyme, and her name is just gold alphabet stickers from the clearance bin at Michael's.

Thanks for checking it out,
C

Wish Books

Every year my kids love to carve up the Christmas Wish Book from Sears, cutting out all the pictures of things they want Santa to bring them. Last year I made them little wish books they could paste their cut out pictures into. It turned out to be extremely handy when it came time to go shopping, because I had a ready-made booklet I could pop into my purse that contained everything they wanted.

This year I'm continuing the tradition. The booklets are a bit larger, but the idea is the same. They're 6x6 albums filled with blank white pages (about 10). Rowan's has some retired brown paper from SU!, some Baja Breeze for the title, and some Not-Quite Navy under the image and to mat the cover. The image is sponged in Soft Sky (retired), Baja Breeze, Blue Bayou (retired) and Not-Quite-Navy. The hockey dude you should recognize from last week's card (Michael's dollar bin) and the trees are from Lovely As A Tree. I added some gel-pen spots for snow, and a bit of sparkle because, well, I need a 12-step program for glitter.

The title is stamped in Baja Breeze with a sprig from Peaceful Wishes (retired, I think), and the pine cone is also from the same set. His name is just done in stickers.

The spine is tied with Blue Bayou double-stitched ribbon (retired) and some chocolate chip 1/4" twill ribbon. Not super Christmas-y, but at least it feels wintery.

I'll share Adina's booklet tomorrow.

Enjoy!
C

A little bird told me...

Birthday card #2 is finally done (click to see it up close). It's not at all what I was expecting it to be. I started out with the fern frond from the new hostess set Organic Grace and Celery and Sahara sand paper... How did I end up with this?!

Well, long story short, the frond/celery/sand card was drab, drab, drab. The frond got supplanted by the cute bird from Touch of Nature (retired) and it all needed a hit of colour.

The colours on this card are Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, and a dash of Basic Black. The bird was coloured with classic ink on a blender pen. The edges are pierced, and it's matted on celery and black. The flower is from one of my Got Flowers bottles, with a pretty new designer brad (filigree) and a small turquoise rhinestone brad. Oh, and although you can't really see it in the photo, the bird's feathers have been dusted with irridescent pearl-ex powder, so they're a bit shimmery.

The layered papers are Turquoise (pierced) on Celery, which is layered on some polka dots left over from the Polka Dots and Paisleys paper kit (retired), which is layerd on some whisper white. The Birthday sentiment is from All Holidays (p142). The ribbon is some 1/4" grosgrain black with a wee knot of turquoise and green polka dots.

The background is the big Baroque background (p135) stamped in Certainly Celery. And it's all been matted on some Celery cardstock.

Not at all what I intended to make. Funny how cards have a mind of their own.
Thanks for looking!
C

The good ole hockey game

One birthday card down, one more to go. I present for your viewing pleasure today: The Hockey Card.

My son is attending the birthday party of a sports fan this weekend, and I needed a card.

I appear to be suffering from the flu, so my energy and creative juices are completely sapped this week. Enter Splitcoaststampers. I found a card Beate made, and I unabashedly CASEd the design (copy and share everything). Thanks Beate!

All cardstock is from Stampin' Up. The base is Night of Navy, the leaf print is Bashful Blue, the brad strip is Sahara Sand, and the image is matted on Whisper White, Real Red, and Sahara Sand.

The leaf print is stamped in Bashful Blue with a dollar-bin stamp from Michael's. The Birthday sentiment is from It's Your Birthday (retired) and is stamped in Night of Navy.

The little hockey dude is also from the dollar bin (oh, I love that bin!) stamped in NoN and coloured in with a Real Red Stampin' Write marker.

The Sahara Sand background is stamped with the GOAL stamp from All Soccer in Sahara Sand and the edges are pierced with my piercing mat and tool.

Thanks for checking it out,
C

Thank you card (WSC56)

I decided to participate in Beate's weekend sketch challenge this week. I'm also trying to embrace the new "In Colours" from Stampin' Up. Kiwi Kiss was... underwhelming... the first time I saw it. I'm trying to use it so I can grow to love it, much as I did with Groovy Guava last time.

The primary stamp set used on this card is one of the new Level 2 Hostess Sets, called Fall Flair (book a workshop if you want to earn it!). I stamped the Whisper White background square in Kiwi Kiss at full and half strength (stamped off one time) using the solid leaf stamp, and then I went back over it with the leaf outline in Baja Breeze. I added a bit of light sponging in the Baja to tone down the bright white. It's matted on a square of Basic Black cardstock.

The main image is again from Fall Flair, stamped in the Fresh Cuts background at half strength in Baja Breeze, the stamped the stems in Kiwi Kiss, and the blossom dots in Pacific Point. It's matted first on Kiwi Kiss, then on Basic Black. I stamped the wee flower from Fresh Cuts in Pacific Point on Whisper White and cut it out, punched out a small black star with a dollar-bin Michael's punch, and held them together with an olive coloured brad.

The scalloped strip on the right is Kiwi Kiss again. The scallops were cut with a corner rounder (the new scallop punch would've been so much easier!) and small white dots were added with a white gel pen. The ribbon is white taffeta.

The little thank you is from All Holidays, and is stamped on a piece of Whisper White punched out with a Word Window punch.

It's all assembled onto a 4.25x4.25 square card made out of Baja Breeze cardstock.

Thanks for checking it out,
C

Celebrating 10 years

My anniversary is tomorrow. Ten years; holy cow!

I made this card for my DH. I hope it's not too girly? Stamps are always so girly.

The card base is Brave Burgundy, and it has been stamped in Bravo Burgundy ink using the Wild Hearts background stamp (retired). I also stamped two heart outlines (Michaels dollar bin) in Versamark in the bottom right corner, and heat embossed with gold embossing powder. I then cut out the insides of the hearts.

LOVE has been stamped in Kiwi Kiss on some Very Vanilla cardstock. (L-O-V-E stamps from an illuminated alphabet set from Michael's). I needed to use my stamp-a-ma-jig to align them neatly.

Celebrate (Wonderful Words) is stamped in Basic Black on a strip of white vellum, which I tore along the edges. The Vellum is attached to the vanilla cardstock with a couple of shiny gold brads. Although you can't see it well in the photo, there's also some gold elastic cord (SU!) tied around the spine of the card.

The inside is another piece of Very Vanilla cardstock upon which I stamped the bottom inch and a half with the Wild Hearts stamp in Bravo Burgundy, so you can see it through the cut-out hearts when the card is closed.

Still to come: a birthday card and a thank you card. Tick tock!

Anyone for some bowling?

My dear daughter, for reasons that I still do not fathom, has developed an unnatural affection for bowling. So much so that she's having her birthday party at the local alley.

I needed to make some invites that were suitably bowling-y. It all started with a search for bowling pins. I was quietly hoping for a QuicKutz die, but no such luck. Ultimately I found some sheets of bowling stickers that included numerous bowling pins.

After that, I trolled the internet for inspiration, looking at vintage bowling signs. All of the paper on the card (minus the stickers) is Michael's cardstock. I printed the letters on my printer, and the rest is tediously, painstakingly cut out by hand. Next year, she's allowed to invite 2 guests instead of 12!Thanks for checking them out.

The fastest card in the west

I love this layout; it's my default layout whenever I need to pound a card off quickly, like when it's 10 p.m. and I realize I need a birthday card for the next morning.
The colour combo is a little nutty, (sky blue, lovely lilac, pumpkin pie, and kiwi kiss!?!) but the colours are drawn directly from the floral paper (slab), so they kinda work.
The stamps, alas, are all retired: Bodacious Bouquet, It's Your Birthday, and Finest Flourishes.
I added some glitter around the big purple bloom, and punched a few brads into the centre of the bloom. Otherwise, it's pretty much as you see it.
Quick and easy.
Thanks for looking!
I bought a bunch of treasures at Michael's today (hooray clearance aisle!), so I might have some new scrappy pages to share soon. And a birthday invite. And a thank you card. So many things to make, so little time!

Snowball Fight!

There's something refreshing about scrappin' winter pages during August. This one is of a snowball fight on the Ides of March.

The paper is from an old Christmas slab I had lying around. The title was punched using a QuicKutz alphabet. The stamps are all Stampin' Up (Snowflake Spot, So Swirly). The snowflakes are a michael's punch. The text is printed with my printer using Trebuchet font for the journaling, and Frosty for the captions. Ribbons are Michael's. Splots are QuicKutz. Scalloped edge is the new SU! scallop punch. Eyelets are from the rama.

I find my scrapbook pages are less designed than evolved; I just keep slapping more and more on (because I'm generally disastisfied) until the paper can hold no more and is in danger of buckling under its own weight.

Thanks for looking!

C

Touchdown!

A dear football-loving friend celebrated a birthday recently. I happened upon this pig-skin textured paper at Michael's on a recent visit and couldn't pass it up; it was too perfect. I masked and sponged on the white stripes with white pigment ink. Perhaps a bad choice, because they were still a bit gummy when I had to give him the card. In retrospect, I think I would've sealed it up by putting some clear embossing powder over the white.
I cut the open edge of the card into a football shape (traced an arc with a compass and trimmed with scissors), and lined the inside flap with some discontinued Wild Wasabi. The sentiment inside is from the Smarty Pants set, and it says "You're never too old to do goofy stuff".
A simple card, but very fitting for a football fan.
Thanks for popping by.

Happy Birthday Adina!

Today is my baby-girl's 6th birthday, and this is the card that I made for her.
The stamp is a retired hostess set from a few cattys ago called Reason to Smile. It was tedious to individually marker each flower of the butterfly, but it was worth the effort. A quick spritz of water to get the ink flowing again, and the image transfered nicely.
The paper behind the butterfly is Regal Rose, and there's some Pumpkin Pie and Pretty in Pink as well, but the patterned paper is some Michael's open stock, and the textured paper is from an 8x8 birthday slab that I have.
I sponged the Regal and the striped paper with Regal ink, and stamped the Regal paper with the flower flourish from the butterfly stamp set. The butterfly is tarted up with rhinestones, glitter and some silver wire for the antennae (she loves sparkle).
The ribbon is some pumpkin 1/4" grosgrain from SU! and a 1/8" pink satin from Michael's. Oh, and the rectangles were punched out with my nesties.

Thanks for looking!

Save 15% on stamps

Check this out - Stampin' Up! is having a sale on brand new die-cut stamp sets from the new catalog! Click on the flyer on the left for details. Offer expires September 30th.

Item #	Page #	Description	Regular Price	Promotional Price
111690	32	Snow Swirled	$29.95	$25.46
111734	32	Folies de flocons (French Snow Swirled)	$29.95	$25.46
111586	55	It's a Stretch	$28.95	$24.61
111544	81	Putt Putt (available August 18)	$29.95	$25.46
111626	91	Eastern Blooms	$25.95	$22.06
111672	98	Pocket Silhouettes	$22.95	$19.51
111726	98	Silhouettes florales (French Pocket Silhouettes)	$22.95	$19.51
111710	101	Upsy Daisy	$22.95	$19.51
111746	101	Pensées en fleurs (French Upsy Daisy)	$22.95	$19.51
111556	109	Under the Stars	$35.95	$30.56
111644	145	Heard from the Heart	$26.95	$22.91
112875	145	Tout droit du coeur (French Heard from the Heart)	$26.95	$22.91
111570	157	Contempo Alphabet	$48.95	$22.91

You'd make an awesome demonstrator!

Seriously! Have you ever considered it? It's a great way to subsidize your habit.

There's a fantastic deal right now for people who are finally ready to sign up as a demonstrator. For only $119, you can get a mini starter kit, but still enjoy all the perks and discounts of a full-fledged demonstrator. There are three different kits to choose from: a stamping starter kit, a scrapping starter kit, and a home decor starter kit. Click on the flyer for more information.

The full starter kit is still available for $249, and you get to choose a bonus stamp set with that kit.

Talk to me to learn more about how easy it is to be a demonstrator.

The new catalog is out!

The new catalog is out and has finally landed on my doorstep.

It's beautiful, and it's full of lots of great stamps, papers, and papercraft supplies. To reserve your copy ($5) contact me today. For a free copy, let's talk about setting a workshop date at your place.

Oh, the things I want to buy...

Adorable Adina

Here's a scrapbook page dedicated to my adorable daughter, Adina. The paper is all from Michael's, except for the Close-To-Cocoa I used to cut the letters out (using Wendy's QuicKutz Alphabet). The ribbon is left over from her birth announcements, the metal hardware is from my SU! HodgePodge Hardware (pewter - retired), and sundry brads/flowers are from my stash. The pink gingham ribbon is SU! This was my first time using SU! rub-ons on a page (in white). They're so easy to use!

Click to view the photo up close.

Thanks for dropping by.
C

I made something!

I finally made something! I think it has been a month since I last worked on a card or a scrapbook page. I guess I've really been enjoying my summer. I've been updating the Retired Items list daily, so refer to that post if you want to know what's still available.

This card is made using the new In-Colour papers that will appear in the new catalog (available Aug 11 - so exciting!) Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, and Kiwi Kiss.

The stamp set is One of a Kind, and I used the Boho Blossom's punch to cut out the flowers. The sentiment is from an old hostess set.

Thanks for popping by.

Retired Accessories

The list of retired accessories is out!!

READ THE FOLLOWING LIST RIGHT NOW (after this note)

These items sell out fast, so if there's something on this list that you wanted, order it today, because there's a good chance it'll be gone tomorrow. Seriously. It's nuts.

Also, for the first time, there are some retired accessories being sold at a 25% discount.

See the list of discounted accessories here.

*last updated: 2008-08-01, 11.35 a.m*

Retired Accessories:

Item Number Product Description Availability
109200 Accents & Elements Build A Flower Not Available
110718 Accents & Elements Lucky Star
110719 Accents & Elements Messenger
103158 Acrylic Graph & Grid
108638 Card Stock 12 X 12 In Color
108642 Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 Blue Bayou
108643 Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 Groovy Guava
108637 Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 In Color
108640 Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 River Rock
108639 Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 Soft Sky
108641 Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 Wild Wasabi Not Available
108644 Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 Purely Pomegranate Not Available
103975 Card Stock Brushed Copper Not Available
108694 Card Stock Textured 12 X 12 In Color
107312 Cards & Envelopes Gift Whisper White
107292 Cards & Envelopes Greeting Whisper White
109116 Notes & Envelopes Long Notes
109118 Notes & Envelopes Love Notes
109117 Notes & Envelopes Pocket Notes* Not Available
110729 Notes & Envelopes Scallop Notes
109119 Notes & Envelopes Gift Notes
109018 Classic Stampin' Ink Blue Bayou Not Available
109019 Classic Stampin' Ink Groovy Guava
109017 Classic Stampin' Ink Purely Pomegranate Not Available
109016 Classic Stampin' Ink River Rock Not Available
109015 Classic Stampin' Ink Soft Sky
109020 Classic Stampin' Ink Wild Wasabi Not Available
109013 Classic Stampin' Pad Blue Bayou
109012 Classic Stampin' Pad Groovy Guava
109011 Classic Stampin' Pad Purely Pomegranate
109010 Classic Stampin' Pad River Rock
109009 Classic Stampin' Pad Soft Sky
109014 Classic Stampin' Pad Wild Wasabi
110751 Designer Series Paper Azure*
110749 Designer Series Paper Berry Bliss
109154 Designer Series Paper Cutie Pie
110699 Designer Series Paper East Coast Prep* Not Available
109160 Designer Series Paper Fall Flowers Not Available
109159 Designer Series Paper Flowers For You*
110697 Designer Series Paper Ginger Blossom
110479 Designer Series Paper Jersey Shore*
109151 Designer Series Paper Le Jardin
110748 Designer Series Paper Notebook*
110750 Designer Series Paper Olive Press
109153 Designer Series Paper Porcelain Prints* Not Available
109175 Designer Series Paper Prints Almost Amethyst* Not Available
109177 Designer Series Paper Prints Always Artichoke
110696 Designer Series Paper Prints Bali Breeze
109173 Designer Series Paper Prints Blue Bayou
109174 Designer Series Paper Prints Brilliant Blue
109178 Designer Series Paper Prints Certainly Celery
109169 Designer Series Paper Prints Close to Cocoa* Not Available
109168 Designer Series Paper Prints Groovy Guava* NotAvailable
109171 Designer Series Paper Prints Lovely Lilac
109172 Designer Series Paper Prints More Mustard
109176 Designer Series Paper Prints Old Olive
109170 Designer Series Paper Prints Pumpkin Pie Not Available
109164 Designer Series Paper Prints River Rock*
109167 Designer Series Paper Prints Rose Red
109166 Designer Series Paper Prints So Saffron
109165 Designer Series Paper Prints Soft Sky Not Available
109163 Designer Series Paper Prints Tempting Turquoise Not Available
110698 Designer Series Paper Prints Spring Break
110273 Designer Series Paper Prints Spring Fling*
110271 Designer Series Paper Prints Spring Silhouettes
110272 Designer Series Paper Prints Western Sky
107299 Envelope Confetti Cream Medium
105320 Eyelets Basic
100375 Eyelets Bold Brights
100381 Eyelets Earth Elements
107233 Eyelets Fresh Favorites I
107234 Eyelets Fresh Favorites II
105316 Eyelets Rich Regals
100378 Eyelets Soft Subtles Not Available
105515 Hodgepodge Hardware Pewter Not Available
105531 Hodgepodge Hardware Antique Brass Not Available
105532 Hodgepodge Hardware Aged Copper Not Available
101120 Metallic Art Pencils
107307 On Board Accents
109181 On Board Blossoms & Basic
109179 On Board Ginormous Pieces
107306 On Board Simon Lower
102678 Paper Mulberry White Not Available
109227 Punch Box Three For You
102686 Punch Handheld Rectangle
100271 Pure Color Pencils
109060 Ribbon Double-Stitched Blue Bayou Not Available
109063 Ribbon Double-Stitched Groovy Guava Not Available
109061 Ribbon Double-Stitched Purely Pomegranate Not Available
109062 Ribbon Double-Stitched River Rock*
109059 Ribbon Double-Stitched Soft Sky Not Available
109058 Ribbon Double-Stitched Wild Wasabi Not Available
109189 Ribbon Originals Beachfront*
109187 Ribbon Originals District*
109188 Ribbon Originals Fairy Tale
109185 Ribbon Originals Jersey*
109184 Ribbon Originals Sherbert
109186 Ribbon Originals Theater
110716 Ribbon Striped Grosgrain Wild Wasabi*
110281 Rub-Ons Cherished Memories* Not Available
110284 Rub-Ons Eastern Elegance*
110285 Rub-Ons Urban West*
110557 Simply Scrappin' Boho Blend
109610 Simply Scrappin' Confetti Not Available
110572 Simply Scrappin' Crew Kids Boy
110567 Simply Scrappin' Crew Kids Girl
109597 Simply Scrappin' Home Again
110562 Simply Scrappin' Rose Cottage
109648 Simply Scrappin' Special Delivery Boy
109627 Simply Scrappin' Special Delivery Girl Not Available
110587 Simply Scrappin' Summer Days
110577 Simply Scrappin' Tie The Knot
111184 Simply Sent Friendly Notes
109228 Simply Sent Simple Delights Not Available
109229 Simply Sent Three Thoughts Not Available
106662 Stampin'Around Wheel Daisy Field
107561 Stampin'Around Wheel Garden Annuals
109681 Stampin'Around Wheel Good Dog
109678 Stampin'Around Wheel Kisses
107482 Stampin'Around Wheel Lily Pad Not Available
109680 Stampin'Around Wheel Meow
109677 Stampin'Around Wheel Mistletoe Not Available
106610 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Basics Outline
107467 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Birthday
109571 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Dilly Dally Baby
109570 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Dilly Dally Friends
109569 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Dilly Dally Party
108423 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Leaves A La Carte Not Available
107468 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Nature Hike
108980 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Petals
107464 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Rough Texture Not Available
111261 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Spunky Spots
109554 Stampin' Color Index Labels
109553 Stampin' Color Index Labels (French)
106694 Stampin' Kids Markers
101399 Stipple Brushes Not Available
102673 Zig Painty

I'm back!

You came back! It's so nice of you to drop by again. Since I just returned yesterday from a week at the cottage, I haven't had a lot of creative time. I did, however, just have an order come in, so I have some new toys to play with. Until I have something new to share with you, here are a few photos from our trip:
(L-R: The TreeHouse Cottage, Dad on the dock, Sunset)

Wish you were here...

That's right, I'm on vacation!
I'll be back the week of July 21 and will have lots to share with you, including the Retired Accessories list.

Enjoy your summer - I know I am!

C

Back to School

Apparently I am on a scrapbook binge lately. I'm trying very hard to wrap up my 8x8 (2007) album. I desperately need to move up to 12x12 pages: I have too much stuff to put on each page!

The papers are all from Michael's. I stamped around the photo mats using All in a Row (this one is retiring! duly warned...) to create the faux stitching. I punched the Grade Two out using a large oval (SU!) and a Designer label punch. The words were stamped using Rough Edges Alphabet (retiring!). The hardware is all from the 'Rama with the exception of the brads (Making Memories - Michael's) and the buttons (Corrie's jar o' random buttons). The tab on the left side was created with the rounded tab punch from SU! Oh, and the title is printed on vellum with my wonderfulcheap printer.

Come back again soon.

Girly Girl scrapbook page

Here's the last in my latest flurry of scrapbook pages.

This one is for my 8x8 2007 album. The paper is 8.5x11 that I chopped down to size (chosen by my very girly dear daughter). I tarted up the butterflies with some sparkles, cut out the butterflies from the off-cut 3" piece of paper, and tacked them on the photos. The photos and mats are cut out using my oval Nestabilities. The paper and ribbon are from Michael's. The flowers are EK Success punches, except for the larger flower which is a Prima. The title was stamped using the Short Order Alphabet from SU! in Orchid Opulence ink. And yes, the photos are pretty random, but I had to get them into the book somehow.

Thanks for checking it out.

Epic ski page, part deux

Here's the companion page to the Epic ski adventure page in my last post. Of course, when you put the two side-by-each they say "EPIC SKI BUNNY". But it amuses me, so I'm leaving it that way. Again, same materials as the last page.

Thanks for looking!

I finally did something!

Sorry for the protracted hiatus: the summer has ambushed me. I finally got around to completing the scrapbook pages I started on June 22.

This page documents Eric's Epic ski adventure in Aspen, Co. He (insanely) hiked 45 minutes up the ridge of a mountain bowl, only to plunge down a 39 degree run. Once.

In. Sane.

Anywho: there are really no SU! goodies on this page. The paper, I think it's Bo Bunny, I picked up at a scrapbook store in Barrie (Scrap'n Joy) along with the stickers. The chipboard I found a while ago at Scrapbook Emporium here in town. Note the spiffy Cricut letters. OOoo...

Remember to check back here on July 21: the list of retired SU! accessories will be posted, and they fly off the shelves.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks for checking in

Thanks for checking in today. Unfortunately I have nothing new to share. It's been a nutty week. Caro sposo has been in Austin TX, and his flight back today was cancelled. As a result, I'm still playing single mom and running around like a crazy person. My mojo's gone! I have some nearly finished scrapbook pages, but I won't get around to them until next week: I'm going camping this weekend.

Possibly in the rain. Woo.

(-:

Come back after Canada Day, I should have more for you then.
C

More scrappin'

Here's another scrapbook spread completed this past weekend: our trip to Wonderland in May. Again, the paper was picked up at the scrapbook store en route, the title is from the Cricut, the sticker is Creative memories, the brads are mostly stolen from Wendy, and the buttons are SU!

Thanks for stopping by!

Scrappin' Aspen

I'm back from a glorious scrapbooking weekend with friends. I'd have gotten more done, I think, if I hadn't slept in so late on Sunday (*bliss*). That and less agonizing; I agonize too much over pages. Look at how many pages we completed:

Without further ado, I give you the first of my three 2-page spreads completed this weekend. (ok. the third wasn't quite done when I left. Stop quibbling!)

I am completely in love with my friend Marci's Cricut. I smell a purchase in my not-so-distant future. Either a Cricut or a Silhouette. They're both pretty slick. The title and the white snowflakers were done on the Cricut. The paper I picked up en route to the scrappy weekend at a scrapbooking store in Barrie (Nicole's inspired idea. Thanks!) The blue snowflake brads are SU! Build-A-Brads (love 'em), the flowers are Prima's from the Barrie store (flowers on a ski page?!), the white snowflakes were mooched from Marci (thanks!), the skis are a QuicKutz die I've been holding onto, and the bottom medallion is a cuttlebug embossing folder.

It's worth mentioning that I'm still pretty new to this whole scrapbooking thing, so if my pages are weak, bear with me.

Gosh, this weekend was a lot of fun. We ate until we were at risk of bursting, scrapped for hours on end, and laughed bunches. Heaven.

Please come back tomorrow for another spread.

C

Birthday RAK

It is so hard to do justice to a sparkly card in photos! This beauty was given to me for my birthday by a terrific friend. It's made with coloured vellum, and she has dry embossed the flowers and background. There are hints of glitter on the flowers, and the rhinestone brads add more twinkle. So pretty! For more of her creations, visit Wendy's Little Inklings (link is on the right).

I'm off now to try to pack for the scrapping weekend (which I'll be on by the time this posts).

Thanks for stopping by,

C

This isn't packing... (BIC18)

Last night, when I was supposed to be packing for a girly scrappy weekend (One bin? I can't fit it all in one bin!), I decided to try a challenge for the first time. I really liked the cake Beate posted as the inspiration for the "be inspired challenge" (aka: BIC18). Since my dear daughter is graduating today from Kindergarten, I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and make this her graduation card.
I used the following paper colours:

• Ruby Red
• Cameo Coral
• Bashful Blue
• Certainly Celery
• Very Vanilla

I punched bunches of little flowers out with a small EK Success flower punch (not SU!), and a bunch more smaller punches with a Michael's $1-bin punch. All of the flowers had Ruby Red ink added to their centres, with a few white dots.

The green leaves and blue buds were also punched using the EK Success flower punch, I just trimmed off each petal to make the leaves/buds. Did I mention there was a lot of cutting involved? A lot of cutting.

To map out where I was going to place my flowers, etc. I first stamped the very vanilla cardstock with one of the flower stems from Garden Silhouettes in Blush Blossom ink, just so I had something to follow. I traced over the stems with my Old Olive marker.

Then, with a lot of 2-way glue, I stuck everything down.

For the rick-rack across the middle, I had to wing it because I didn't have any ribbon. So, I grabbed a pair of my fancy scissors (which, I might add, I haven't used since I bought the darned things) and cut my own rick-rack out of Ruby Red paper. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

I stamped some cherries from Tart and Tangy and punched them out with a 1-3/8" punch before layering them onto a bit of Ruby Red that I had punched with my scallop punch. For touch of shine, I filled the cherries in with crystal effects.

It all got layered onto a few layers of bashful blue and vanilla to frame it all in.

Thanks for looking!

Woo! 1000 visitors

How exciting!
My wee little Blob has had 1000 visits. Thanks everyone for your interest! If I hit 10,000 I'll give away some SWAG.

Keep reading,

C

Stamped Tile class - the results

These are some of the tile coasters I made at the stamped tile class this weekend. The stamp is a background stamp I had from Michael's - the music was necessary; the coasters are teacher gifts for a very musical teacher and Stampin' Up! doesn't have a big music background. What I love about tile coasters as gifts is that they're easy, they're fast (I made four tiles and the box in under an hour), and they're extremely affordable; the whole shebang costs less than $5.00.

The tile is stamped with Black StazOn ink and I made a co-ordinating box to give the gift in.

If you want to make some yourself, we can do a mini class. Contact me to set up a date.

-Corrie.

New product line announced

Stampin' Up! has just announced their new product line:

~Decor Elements~

click to open PDF brochure

What are Decor Elements? They're vinyl wall transfers - similar in principle to the rub-ons in our current catalog, but much larger (meant for walls), made of vinyl, and removable. Neat!

They'll come in over 100 designs (alphabets, images, phrases) and in chocolate or white. You can begin ordering them on July 1.

C

Father's Day card

I made these paper wallets for my dad and my husband for Father's Day. What's great about this card is that you can use the credit card slits to hold a $gift card$ and write your sentiment on "money" in the money pocket, or you can make some fake credit cards, tuck in some photos of your kids, and punch out some pretend coins to add to the coin purse.

It's made out of chocolate chip and close to cocoa paper. The cocoa paper was dry embossed with a cuttlebug folder which was first inked with chocolate chip ink. Other than that, it's just a question of figuring out the dimensions and cutting and gluing your paper. Oh, and I used a brad from dollarama for the coin-purse snap.

My husband opened his and said, "You made this out of paper!?"

Ah, another job well done. I can't take credit for the idea, but some of the design elements I cooked up myself.

Thanks for reading,

C

Fresh Cuts

I finally received my new Fresh Cuts stamp set with the co-ordinating Fresh Cuts Notes (4"x4"). The die-cut cards are cute (though I seem to have issues extricating the cut pieces), and the quality of the envelopes is excellent. The stamp set is a sneak preview from the new catalog that will be released on August 11th. It's so cute, I'm sure it'll be one of my favourites. What has me excited is that the stamp set was die-cut when it arrived! I'm hoping that means all of the sets in the catalog will be die cut. This will make mounting new stamp sets so much easier. I'll cross my fingers if you cross yours.

I whipped up this quick card for my Mom's birthday. I used a square of mellow moss on the inside, which I had stamped in mellow moss using the background stamp from the set. Diagonally across the card face I stamped the sprig first in blush blossom, then again in mellow moss. I also stamped a sprig in the bottom right corner, and stamped over it with the sentiment stamp in mellow moss. I punched a flower out of blush blossom cardstock (punch by Marvy) and stuck it to the centre of the flower. Next I added a mellow moss button with linen thread which is adhered with a glue dot.

Thanks for looking!

(check back soon - there's a big SU! product announcement tomorrow)

Retiring Stamp Sets

It's that time of year again: the list of stamp sets that are retiring has been released. When the new catalog comes out on August 11, you won't be able to get these sets any longer. Peruse the lists to be sure you're not going to miss out on a set you had your eye on. You have two options:

View the list in alphabetical order.
View the list in numerical order by catalog page number.

I'll be placing an order on or before June 29 (no workshop attendance necessary). Let me know if you want to place an order; we can save on the shipping if we pool the orders together.

A new catalog is always bittersweet. I'm sad to lose some great stamp sets, but it's also exciting to see the new products that are being introduced.

Thanks for reading. I have a few new projects to post in the coming days.

C