Sweet Summer - Get it for FREE!

Make someone special’s summer sweet when you give them this beautiful water-colored card. Get the Sweet Summer set FREE with a $60 purchase—only during Sale-A-Bration!

Click here to get all the supplies you need!

MOJO Monday on a Thursday with a little Springtime Vintage

When I saw the MOJO Monday sketch, I knew I had to try it out, but I was waiting for just the right idea to pop into my head...and yesterday, that's JUST what happened!

I started off with the Springtime Vintage DSP as my inspiration. From that I chose Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz and Baja Breeze as my cardstock colours. There are so many wonderful designs in this DSP pack and they go with eight (yes, EIGHT!) of our cardstock colours. Talk about versatile!

Anyway...here is the card I came up with:

I started with the Crumb Cake base and then used another piece of Crumb Cake in my Big Shot with the Framed Tulips Embossing Folder. I just LOVE that you get a blank canvas with which to work and still get the texture when using this folder.

I chose a piece of DSP with Baja Breeze in it and then matted it on a piece of Baja Breeze Cardstock. I scrunched up the Baja Breeze Seam Binding by tugging on a couple of the middle threads to get it all rouched up. I love this effect and you can do it with MANY of our ribbons. I wrapped it around the panel and affixed it using glue dots on the back.

I stamped the image from Pocket Silhouettes (one of my all time FAVOURITE sets!) on Very Vanilla Cardstock using Pear Pizzazz Classic Ink. I punched out the image using my 1 3/8" circle punch and then matted it using both the small and large scallop circle punches. It was adhered using Stampin' Dimensionals.

The finishing touch is a scrunched up double bow of Baja Breeze Seam Binding. To achieve this look, I dampened the seam binding with just a touch of water and smooshed it up in my hands. I flattened it only slightly to tie the bow.

To add even more dimension, I affixed a Vintage Flower using a glue dot.

If you've read this far, and your name just happens to be Cheryl...this is one of the cards we'll be making at your SAB workshop!

What do you think?

STAMPS: Stem Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Wishes

INK: Pear Pizzazz

PAPERS: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze and Pear Pizzazz Cardstock; Springtime Vintage DSP

ACCESSORIES: Big Shot, Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, Seam Binding, Vintage Flowers

Happy Stampin'!

A little MOJO from long ago

So...I get a lot of email...I mean, I get a LOT of email. And a big portion of that is stamping related - you're surprised, I can tell - LOL!

Whenever I get something REALLY awesome, I always file it under "Stamping Goodness". I have a LOT of "Stamping Goodness"...over 3,000 "Stamping Goodness" to be precise.

Today, I was perusing some of the older goodness and came across a blog post from Dannie who used an older Mojo Monday Sketch to create her card. Well, I was struck by her card and decided to try my hand at the sketch. I made a few changes (there was a ribbon on the sketch and I didn't use any) and came up with this:

I can't tell you how absolutely TICKLED I am with this card! I started off with the idea that I wanted to use black and just went from there. I used the Love Letter DSP (Item # 117162) which also contains the colours Riding Hood Red and Very Vanilla.

I stamped some buttons from the set Button, Button (Item # 122040 in Clear or # 122026 in Wood) which I earned during a book-a-thon held by Stampin' UP! last year. I love that Stampin' UP! has special promotions not only for their customers, but for their demonstrators too! This is a GREAT time to join my team since it's SALE-A-BRATION and not only will you get 15% off the starter kit, you'll also get a bonus bundle worth $60 which includes the Colour Coach, a Simply Sent Kit, a Simply Sent Stamp set valued at $14.95 and a punch valued at $23.95! What a great deal!

Thanks to Gretchen Barron and her AWESOME tutorial, I was able to cut my Basic Black Cardstock square to just right size in order to punch it using my Scalloped Trim Border and Scalloped Trim Corner Punches. I added a layer of Love Letter DSP on top of that before adhering my stamped piece.

My card base is Riding Hood Red and the next layer up (cut to 4" x 5 1/4") is Basic Black. I added a piece of Love Letter DSP to it and affixed two antique brads (LOVE!) before adhering the whole thing to the front of the card using a LOT of Stampin' Dimensionals.

I stamped the sentiment from A Word for You (Item # 120528 in Clear or # 117032 in Wood) on Very Vanilla Cardstock using Basic Black Ink and punched it out using my large oval punch (Item # 119855). It was matted on a piece of Basic Black Cardstock, punched using my scalloped oval punch (Item # 119856) and adhered to the front of the card using Stampin' Dimensionals.

I also finished the inside of the card, using the same papers:

And here's a close up of the sentiment detail:

What do you think?

STAMPS: Button, Button and A Word for You

INK: Basic Black, Riding Hood Red

PAPERS: Very Vanilla, Basic Black and Riding Hood Red Cardstock, Love Letter DSP

ACCESSORIES: Punches, Antique Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals

It's time to SALE-A-BRATE! Are you ready???

WOOHOO!!! Sale-a-brate good times, come on!!! We're gonna sale-a-brate and party with you!

It's SALE-A-BRATION and everywhere in Stampin' UP! land, people are already placing orders to earn their free SALE-A-BRATION sets! YOU can get a free set with every $60 you order (in Canada only). Who doesn't LOVE free stuff?

Which set will YOU choose first??? Knowing I would earn most of them, I chose not to pre-order any sale-a-bration sets. I do have the CD that goes with MDS though and it has it ALL on there - WOOT!!!

Here's a card I made using MDS and new goodies on the CD:

I am just LOVING the new Ice Cream Parlour papers and embellishments - SO fun and summery!

Both the stamped images are from sets available in the Sale-a-Bration brochure. If you're one of my customers, you've probably already got it, but if not, you can see it online here. The Birthday Wishes sentiment is from the set "So Happy for You" and the floral image is from the "Sweet Summer" set. Both MUST HAVES!

You can place your orders starting RIGHT NOW and each and every $60 in merchandise orders will get you a FREE set! Order $120, get two sets! Order $240, get 4 sets as well as a free Level 1 hostess set from either the main catalog or the Occasions Mini and $20 in free Hostess Merchandise.

What are waiting for? CLICK HERE and place your order now!!! Sale-a-Bration only lasts a short time!

Every day, do something that makes your heart sing!

Great advice from none other than Jessica Sprague! If you know digi, you know Jessica. She rocks the digi world with Photoshop classes and tutorials. Just last Friday she started doing a livestream chat type thing, which she hopes to continue on the first and third Friday of each month. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to this!

Anyway, this is my SECOND post for today, so scroll down to see what's making my heart sing today!

I logged on to my various web sites this morning (google, Facebook, SplitCoast) and came across Mary Jo's lunchtime sketch challenge as well as the CAS challenge on SplitCoast.

Here's the card I came up with:

I used the "Priceless" stamp set along with Peach Parfait and Poppy Parade to create the design. I just LOVE that our In Colours go so well together!

I stamped my images on Whisper White Cardstock and added a piece of Sunny Garden DSP at the bottom of the card. Then I tied a piece of Peach Parfait Ribbon around the card.

I stamped my sentiment using Poppy Parade Classic Ink on Whisper White Cardstock and because it looked a little plain, I addeds some doodling around the edge.

I finished the inside of the card too:

I cut my piece of Whisper White Cardstock to 4 X 5 1/4 and just ran the edges of the paper directly on my Poppy Parade Classic Ink Pad. I added the little strip of Sunny Garden DSP toward the bottom and stamped a swirl in the top left hand corner.

What do you think?

STAMPS: Priceless

INK: Peach Parfait and Poppy Parade

PAPERS: Whisper White and Peach Parfait Cardstock; Sunny Garden DSP

ACCESSORIES: Peach Parfait Ribbon

Happy Stampin'!

MDS Monday - Banana Bread

It seems I sparked some interest when I posted my banana bread cupcakes last week...I also got a few comments from people who weren't too happy with the fact that I didn't post the recipe...not mentioning any names *coughcoughkarenandpaigecoughcough*

So...here it is, created in MDS (man I love that program!) just for you!

Enjoy!

Also, don't forget that today is the VERY LAST DAY for you to get the "Filled with Love" bundle from Stampin' UP! You can get a head start on your Valentine's cards!

CLICK HERE to start shopping!

I'm sorry for your loss...

I love doing custom work...especially when I have full creative license!

A little while ago, I was tasked with creating some understated cards so that our local children's hospital cardiac unit would have cards to send to bereaved parents. Nathalie knew I made cards and so she asked me if I would make some for the cardiac families. Of course, I said yes. The Hospital for Sick Children is VERY important to us and I like to give back whenever I can.

When I make the cards that I sell at the hospital, I cover my costs (with just a little bit for my time) and the rest of my "fee" gets donated right back to the hospital. It's the least I can do since they continue to take excellent care of my two cardiac kids.

As I was thinking about creating the cards, I remembered that Nathalie said that she didn't want any words on the front of the cards, so I wanted a set that was elegant. I chose the Level 2 hostess set "Fast and Fabulous". This set is SO versatile. There are no words in the set, but it can easily be paired with any of our sentiment sets, such as Teeny Tiny Wishes, Fabulous Phrases and Word Play to name a few.

For this set of cards, I wanted to use Whisper White as my background and add just a touch of colour, which I did using Baja Breeze and Blushing Bride.

I stamped the outline image in Not Quite Navy/Regal Rose and then filled it in using Baja Breeze/Blushing Bride. The 2 1/2 X 3 1/2" piece of Whisper White was adhered to the 2 5/8 X 3 5/8" piece of either Baja Breeze or Blushing Bride Cardstock using snail and then affixed to the front of the card using Stampin' Dimensionals. I tied the Baja Breeze Seam Binding/Blushing Bride Ribbon in a bow and attached it by wrapping it around the polka dot layer using glue dots. The polka dot layer was attached to the card base once again using Stampin' Dimensionals.

What do you think?

STAMP: Level 2 Hostess Set Fast and Fabulous

INK: Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy/Blushing Bride, Regal Rose

PAPERS: Whisper White, Baja Breeze and Blushing Bride Cardstock

ACCESSORIES: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Baja Breeze Seam Binding Ribbon, Blushing Bride Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals (yeah...I pretty much use these on EVERYTHING!)

Happy Stampin'!

Old Colours Don't Retire...

...they just go DIGITAL!

Do YOU have My Digital Studio? If not, what are you waiting for? It's your resource for Stampin' UP! retired colours! Love Kiwi Kiss? It's there! Can't live without Handsome Hunter? You got it! It's also just awesome for scrapbooking (no wasted paper - if you do something you don't like, just hit the undo button!) and card planning (make a sketch!)

Today is my littlest man's birthday. I can't believe he's already 8 years old - WOW!!! He tasked me with bringing treats to school so that he could celebrate with his friends. I used my mom's banana bread recipe and baked them into tiny cupcakes - they were a hit!

Of course, I couldn't just take NAKED cupcakes to school! They didn't need icing, because they're JUST. THAT. GOOD. However, since I am THAT mom (I may have mentioned this before - LOL!) I did have to decorate them though, so here they are:

While I was making the little picks in My Digital Studio, I used Perfect Plum and Elegant Eggplant since purple is Jonathan's favourite colour.

When I printed them (on my OLD printer), they came out looking more like Orchid Opulence - OOPS!!! Oh well...it did the job. And did I mention my printer is OLD?? Yeah...

Anyway...I made two sheets of scalloped circles - one with the sentiment and the other with the stars from Extreme Elements - and punched them out with...yes! my scallop circle punch - LOL!

I loaded them up with glue dots and sandwiched a toothpick between them. The kids in Jonathan's class LOVED them!

What do you think?

STAMPS: Digital Extreme Elements (this set is also available as a wood mount set)

INK: Digital Versions of Perfect Plum and Elegant Eggplant

PAPERS: Whisper White on which to print the images

ACCESSORIES: MDS, Scallop Circle Punch

Happy Stampin'!

SALE-A-BRATION is right around the corner! Time to Party Hearty!

I just LOVE the "Party Hearty" set and you will too! It's so versatile as you can see in this card:
Who would have thought to use the party hats as a banner? Brilliant! And banners are SO in right now! Cutting out the little party hats to MAKE the banner is a little time consuming, but I'm sure you'll agree that the result is WELL worth it!

What do you think?

STAMPS: Party Hearty
INK: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Wild Wasabi, Riding Hood Red
PAPERS: Whisper White, Pacific Point, Riding Hood Red
ACCESSORIES: Pumpkin Pie Ribbon, Punches, Markers

Happy Stampin!

Stampin' UP sells FABRIC?

Oh yeah! You bet they do! And it's FABULOUS too! You're going to love it - check it out:

Sweet Stitches:

Springtime Vintage:

And if you CLICK HERE, you can check out the cool PDF with tutorials to make some fabric goodness! Then, when you're ready to ORDER the fabric to MAKE the fabric goodness, CLICK HERE and you can shop right from home!

Are you ready for Valentine's Day?

Have you looked at the calendar? Valentine's Day is less than a month away! Are you ready?

In order to help you GET ready, Stampin' UP! is offering you a FABULOUS Filled with Love Bundle.

You will receive either the Clear Mount or Wood Mount Set as well as an EXCLUSIVE pack of paper available ONLY with this special bundle. As an added bonus, there's a free pack of bitty buttons in it for you! But wait...there's MORE! Are you one of my newsletter subscribers? If you are - GREAT! You've probably already received it. If not, then you want to click on the top left hand box and sign up right away! There's a special offer available only to my newsletter subscribers. Don't worry that I've already sent it out, if you sign up now, I'll be happy to send it out again, just for you!

Click here to shop now!!!!

It's a special OCCASION!

If you're already one of my customers, you're in luck! You've already got your Occasions Mini and Sale-a-Bration catalog. If you're not, please contact me and I can get one (or both!) out to you RIGHT AWAY (Canadians only please)!

The Occasions Mini starts today, which means you can now officially order all the amazing goodness you can find here. If you're like me and you LOVE to see the catalog in person, just let me know!

Here's one of the cards I made using the new Sew Suite stamp set. It's just one of many fun sets to be had.

I stamped my image in Basic Grey Ink (it's waterproof) on Whisper White Cardstock. I smooshed some ink (Melon Mambo) into the lid of my ink pad and used my Aqua Painter to colour in the spool of thread and the little pin cushion.

I punched out the image using my large scallop circle punch and used my Melon Mambo marker to doodle around the edges of the punch.

The measuring tape was stamped in Melon Mambo Ink on Whisper White Cardstock and trimmed to fit the front of the card. It "measures" to 12 inches, but it's actually only about 6" long.

The Designer Series Paper is one piece cut and flipped to show off both sides. I just LOVE that our DSP is double sided. Twice the possibilities for the same price!

What do you think?

STAMPS: Sew Suite

INK: Melon Mambo, Basic Grey

PAPERS: Whisper White and Melon Mambo Cardstock, Sweet Stitches DSP

ACCESSORIES: Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Scallop Circle Punch

Happy Stampin'!