Happy Mother's day and lots of inspiration!

Happy Mother's day to all the mothers out there!! I thought I would share with you the card that I made for my Mother-in-law. To make this card I stamped the Cherry blossom stamp from the "Soft Summer" set in the Occasions Mini. I LOVE this set. I stamped it 4 times in Basic black and then coloured it in with my Stampin' Write markers. Those of you who just took advantage of my first Marker club should pay close attention! I coloured both the base image and the ones that I was going to cut out, because when you adhere the cut out flowers with dimensionals you can still see underneath a bit. I absolutely love how this card turned out.

Products used:
Stampin' Up "Soft Summer" stamp set
Stampin' Up Card stock- Whisper White, Rose Red, Old Olive
Stampin' Up Ink- Basic Black, Rose Red (for the edge of the Whisper White piece)
Accessories- Paper snips, sponge dauber, Stampin' Write Markers (Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Old Olive).

I had a wonderful mother's day breakfast. My wonderful husband, who is a fabulous cook, prepared an incredible meal. I am on a low-carb diet and he managed to make me Eggs Benedict that fit my plan!! He is very talented!! I then spent most of the day making cards. Who could ask for a better day??

The following cards I made for Colour challenges. The first one is for Dawn McVey's challenge.

I used Basic Grey, Regal Rose and Rose Red, plus Whisper White of course. At least that's how I interpreted these colours. I really like the card and will be featuring it in my upcoming Occasions Mini class later this month.

Products used:
Stampin' Up "Soft Summer" stamp set
Stampin' Up Card stock- Whisper White, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Basic Grey
Stampin' Up Ink- Regal Rose, Rose Red
Accessories- Circle Cutter, Basic Grey DSP (from Hostess Level 1 pack), Eyelet Border punch, sponge daubers.

The second Inspired card was thanks to my wonderful 10 year old daughter Kieran. She wanted me to make a card using the following colours: Whisper White, Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive. So I took on her challenge. I did ask if I could add Bashful blue to that list as well (and I ended up sneaking in the tinyest bit of Close to Cocoa and Rose Red too..). This card is a total CASE from this card by Sophia Landry. Kieran really liked it though.

Products used:
Stampin' Up "Fun Fast notes" stamp set
Stampin' Up Card stock- Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive.
Stampin' Up Ink- Bashful Blue, Old Olive
Accessories- sponge daubers, Stampin' Write markers (Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Basic Black).

Hope you enjoy!

Cheers,

A fabulous Club night!

Thanks ladies!! I had a really fun time last night, as always. I always look forward to my club night. That's why I want to share it with others. I am still looking for members for my second club. Contact me ASAP if you are interested. Here are the cards we made last night. The technique we focused on was 'Stamping with Bleach'. I have wanted to try this technique out for sometime, and I figured these ladies were up to the challenge.

For the first card we started with a card base made using the Top Note die. The Elegant Eggplant piece was trimmed around the perforation and then stamped using the Cherry Blossoms from the "Soft Summer" stamp set (Occasions Mini). I love how the bleach almost gives the card a batiqued look. The greeting is from the "Great Friend" set (Occasions Mini). This second card uses bleach in a different way. For this one, we stamped the image with Versamark, embossed it with black embossing powder and then using a "dead" blender pen dipped in bleach, bleached out the center of the stamped image. The result is a whited out image on a coloured piece of paper that you can now colour in any way you like. We used Water colour pencil crayons and blender pens for this card.

The last card is just a little one. The dimensions are 3x3 and it fits perfectly inside one of our mini square envelopes. The butterfly was stamped with bleach on Night of Navy paper and then cut out using Paper snips. It was then mounted on a punch out from the Curly Label punch and then on Bella Bleu paper.

If you want all the details, you will have to join my club! :) One of the benefits of being a club member, is that I email you all of the instructions with pictures!

Just a reminder that I have 2 class scheduled for this month, a 4 card class featuring products from the Occasions Mini and a scrapbooking 101 class. Contact me if you need more information.

Cheers,

Cards with Patterned paper

Since Stampin' Up!'s promo this month is around our Designer Series paper, I figured I would show you come cards that use it! These are the last two cards from my Eight Great Greetings class.

I love love love Rose Red and Kiwi Kiss together!! It's sooo bold!! And therefore I LOVE the Raspberry Tart designer paper. The image was stamped with Basic Black and then coloured in with pastels and blender pens. And of course, no piece of cake would be complete without some dazzling diamonds glitter!

Products used:
Stampin' Up "Eight Great Greetings" stamp set
Stampin' Up Card stock- Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red
Stampin' Up Ink- Basic Black
Accessories- 1 3/4 circle punch, Rose Red Double Stitch Grosgrain ribbon, Raspberry Tart Designer Series paper, Stampin' Pastels, blender pen, 2-way Glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

I didn't love this card, and had difficulties coming up with the design. I think it was because I was trying to make a generic card. If it was for a specific type of shower (wedding vs. baby) or if I knew it would be for a baby girl vs. a baby boy I would have had an easier time. Either way, it uses the Pink Pirouette DSP and the image is stamped using Stampin' Write markers.

Products used:
Stampin' Up "Eight Great Greetings" stamp set
Stampin' Up Card stock- Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery
Stampin' Up Ink- Stampin' Write markers, Bashful Blue and Close to Cocoa.
Accessories- 1/4 inch Pretty in Pink Grograin Ribbon, Pink Pirouette Designer Series paper.

Later this month I will be holding a 4 card, Occasions Mini class. The class date is May 22nd and the cost is $20. Let me know if you can make it!

Cheers,

Happy Sunday, want to be a Demo?

I was just sitting here enjoying my morning cup of tea when I realized that I hadn't shared the current Stampin' Up! Demonstrator promotion! For a limited time you can join the Stampin' Up family for only $99!!! If you purchase the Scrapbooking Starter kit which includes everything you see here as well as all the business supplies from the regular kit, you can start your enjoying all the benefits of being a Demo right away!
As with our regular Starter kit (which is always available for $249) you can customize elements of the kit. You can choose any stamp set with a value of $51.95 or lower, change the Simply Scrappin' Kit, select the colour of paper you want to have and the ink colour of choice.

Take advantage of this fabulous opportunity by visiting my "Join Now" page, or contact me to learn more.

Have a great Sunday!

Cheers,

Scrapbooking Promotion for May!!!

Cheers,

Today is the last day of the Get Connected Promotion!!

Hey everyone! Just a reminder that today is the LAST day that you can take advantage of the "Get Connected" Promotion! For every $50 spent from the Occasions Mini Catalogue, or for every $200 spent on anything, you get to choose a freebie from the "Under $12" page in the Spring/Summer 2009 Catalogue!!!

*The items in the Occasions Mini are still available until June 30th. Just the promotion ends today.

If you want to take advantage of this, you have to contact me TODAY! Say tuned tomorrow for our May promotions! Here's a hint, think Scrapbooking!

I promised last week that I would share with you the cards that we made at last weeks Birthday card class. This first one is almost a total copy of my upline Caro's card (she has one version posted in October). We changed it up by stamping an addtional centre and 2 extra leaves. These were then cut out and mounted on dimensionals, but not before covering the centre with Dazling Diamonds!! Some of the women even glittered up the leaves too!

This second card uses the Big Bold Cupcake sizzlits dies for the Big Shot. It isn't on this version, but the one's the women made had the tops texturized with the small dots texturz plate, and the bottom of the cupcake was run through a crimper (Thanks to Wanda for letting us use hers!). The background is the Happy Birthday wheel.

The next one is a card for the men in our lives. I always find it so challenging making masculine cards, because I love to work with pink! For this one we used the "Celebrations" stamp from the "Under $12" page (FREE today, contact me to learn how). We coloured one of the celebrates with a Always Articoke marker and then stamped the entire image in Not quite navy. Then it was punched out with the large oval and mounted on to a Always Articoke scallop oval from the Occasions Mini. The patterned paper is from the Simply Scrapin' kit "Tailor Made".

And finally, this last card I think is my favorite! I absolutely love this image from the "Cupcakes for all" set. We coloured it in with Stampin' Pastels and then of course topped off the cupcakes with Dazzling Diamonds glitter! Inside we stamped the sentiment "Celebrate one cupcake at a time" from the Hostess set "Sweet little Sentiments".

In May I will be featuring a Scrapbooking 101 class and a card class using the Occasions Mini stamp sets. My newsletter will be going out shortly, so if you don't already subscribe enter your name today.

Cheers,

Another member has joined the "Hive"!!

Just a quick post on a beautiful evening (after what began as a very rainy day) to say WELCOME to Isabelle, the newest member of my team!

Just a reminder that my very first all-day crop is on Saturday, in honour of National Scrapbooking day. Contact me to book a spot, cost is $30 for the day and includes lunch, a make-and-take and use of my Big Shot and ALL my dies!!!!


Cheers,

Kristina's 50th Colour Inspiration Challenge!!!

That's right, Kristina has reached a milestone with her inspiration challenges! And to celebrate, this week she is offering prizes. So, if you have ever wanted to participate in one of these, now is a really good time. Here is the inspiration.....

And here is my card! What do you think?
Once again, these are colours that I would not normally put together. But I love how it worked out. I did use a few non-SU stuff (*smacks hand*) because I had it in my stash, but the stamps, paper and ink are all SU! One of my recent Hostesses can look forward to receiving this one in the mail!!

Products used:
Stampin' Up "Trendy Trees" stamp set, "Thank you Kindly" stamp set
Stampin' Up Card stock- Whisper White
Stampin' Up Ink- Versamark, Chocolate Chip
Accessories- heat and stick powder, Heat tool, mini glue dot, Non-SU ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Non-SU glitter (Doodlebug Designs).

Cheers,

French Rooster

Wow!! Two posts, two days in a row!! I know, I'm crazy!! But am also much less stressed today, because I wrote my final exam for my Project Management Certification last night!!!! And I passed!!!

I thought I would share with you a card I made a while ago using the hostess set "Rustic Rooster". My husband and I love all things French, we even spent our honeymoon in Burgundy, France. So I was immediately drawn to this set.

I actually used almost every stamp in this set (with the exception of the flourish, I wanted to work it in but was at a loss, I guess I could have used it in the inside).

I stamped the script stamp 4 times on the More Mustard cardstock in Basic Black and then again once on a piece of Very Vanilla which I then tore by hand and curled a bit with my bone folder. I inked both of these with a sponge dauber and Chocolate Chip ink. The Rooster was stamped in Basic Black and then coloured in using a blender pen and my ink pads. And then finally I stamped the "stamp" image, cut it out and inked it too. I like the outcome, what about you??

Products used:
Stampin' Up "Rustic Rooster" Hostess level 2 stamp set
Stampin' Up Card stock- More Mustard & Very Vanilla
Stampin' Up Ink- Basic Black, Chocolate Chip (other inks to colour in the rooster)
Accessories- sponge dauber, Dimensionals

If you want this set, contact me about hosting a workshop. Hostess sets can only be earned not purchased!

Cheers,

It's been ages... and introducing a Marker Club!!

I have been so crazy busy!! No time to blog!! I have been super busy at work on a new project, finishing my Project Management Certification at Ryerson University (I have my last exam tonight!), conducting workshops and prepping for my Birthday card class this Friday!! It's been insane to say the least! But that's okay, I am one of those people who get more done when there is more to do. The less I have to do, the less I do!So, what is a marker club you say?? Well, if you are anything like me, you covet the Many Marvelous Markers set, but don't want to outlay the money for it. And maybe you don't even know what the markers are used for..... Check out this link to give you just a few ideas on some of the many ways to use the Stampin' Up! Stampin' Write markers. After all, $158.95 is a lot to dish out in one shot. But $39.95 is much more managable. However, if you purchase the markers by colour family (or individually) you don't get the very practical storage case for the markers. Hmmmmm what to do? Well, I have solved your problem!! If you join my marker club, you pay only $39.95* a month for 4 months** and in one of the 4 months, you get your carrying case!! This way you get your cake, and eat it too!!!

*I must have your credit card number on file to join this club (contact me directly if this is a problem)
** You must remain in the club for the entire 4 months!

Now on to some cards!!!!

I had promised earlier that I would post the rest of the cards from my "Eight Great Greetings" class. I have 3 of the photographed, I will get around to posting the others another time.

This first one, I have to apologize about the terrible picture! It looks like I deleted the good one and kept the blurry one! Anyhow, it was a very simple card but looks great in person. I used the Hostess Paper pack for the Basic Grey patterned paper on the bottom of the card.

Products used:
Stampin' Up "Eight Great Greetings" stamp set (from the Occasions Mini Catalogue 2009),
Stampin' Up Card stock- Real Red, Whisper White
Stampin' Up DSP- Hostess Level 1: Patterns Pack Designer Series Paper II
Stampin' Up Ink- Basic Black
Accessories- Basic Grey Taffeta ribbon




The inspiration for this next card, a card for Mom's Day, came from my upline Caroline LeBel. She sends us monthly inspiration cards (yes, "The Hive" members can look forward to this feature beginning next month). I pretty much case'd (Copy And Share Everything) her card, changing the colours and using a Embosslit die for my flowers. The leaves in the background are from the Level 1 Hostess set "Darling Dots".

Products used:
Stampin' Up "Eight Great Greetings" stamp set (from the Occasions Mini Catalogue 2009), "Darling Dots" Hostess Level 1 set
Stampin' Up Card stock- Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose
Stampin' Up Ink- Basic Grey, Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette
Accessories- Stampin' Up Simple Flower Embosslit, Silver Brads, sponge dauber, Stampin' Up Top Note die, Big Shot, Regal Rose & Pretty in Pink Stampin' Write markers

And the last one I can show you today is the mini Thank you card we made. Again, super super simple and very very cute! This card has a demension of 3x3 to fit our mini square envelopes and is just a perfect size for a gift card. The image is stamped first in Whisper White and then a second time using Baja Breeze. The effect is a shadow effect.

Products used:
Stampin' Up "Eight Great Greetings" stamp set (from the Occasions Mini Catalogue 2009)
Stampin' Up Card stock- Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango & Whisper White
Stampin' Up Ink- Whisper White Craft Ink, Baja Breeze
Accessories- Square mini envelopes

There are still a few spots left for my Birthday card class this Friday. We will be making 4 Birthday cards using a variety of different techniques. The cost is $20 or free with a $50 order placed on Friday (Club members pay only $15 and Demonstrators pay only $10). Contact me if you would like to join us.

Cheers,

National Scrapbooking Day Crop announced!!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Easter!! Our long weekend, just didn't seem long enough, but isn't that always the case???

So, it's true I am hosting an ALL DAY crop for National Scrapbooking Day on May 2nd! It's my first ever crop and it will be oh so fun!! The crop starts at 10am and goes until 6pm. The cost is $30 and includes the following:

• lunch
• Door Prizes
• Prize for best card
  
• Prize for best scrapbooking layout
• Use of my BIG SHOT and all my dies (Sizzix, Stampin' Up exclusive and Quickutz)
• Use of my alphabet stamp sets

Bring your stash, your current projects (cards or scrapbooks) and join me for a fun filled day!! Contact me ASAP to book your spot as space is limited.

Hope to see you there!! :)

Cheers,

Kristina's Colour Challenge #49

I think that spring is FINALLY here in Toronto. There is no sign of snow and we actually have our screen door open in our kitchen! What a lovely start to the long weekend!!

Kristina Werner posted her 49th colour challenge last night, and I was so excited when I was check my blog subscriptions this morning. The colours are bold!! And bright and definitely not something I would come up with. And that's the point right?



I used the picture for more than just the colours. I loved the look of the flowers on the black background. I stamped the 3 flower stamp from "Eastern Blooms" once in Pacific Point then Kiwi kiss and finally in rose red. To change the colour of the centres I used a baby wipe to "erase" a portion of the inked stamp and then coloured them in with a Stampin' Write marker. One of the many ways you can acheive a multi-colour stamped image. I then cut them out with my paper snips. They were mounted to the card using Dimensionals. The "hi" was stamped using my serif alphabet set and my stamp-a-ma-jig. I stamped each letter 3 times with the Whisper White craft ink to acheive a bold white. For the bottom strip I used the scallop edge punch on Rose Red, Kiwi Kiss and Pacific Point card stock, lined them up and then adhered them together. Then I tied a ribbon on top! Hope you enjoy!

Products used:

Stampin' Up "Eastern Blooms" stamp set & "Serif Alphabet" stamp set

Stampin' Up Card stock- Basic Black, Whisper White, Rose Red, Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss

Stampin' Up Ink- Whisper White, Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red

Accessories- Scallop edge punch, Paper Snips, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals, 1/4" Whisper White grosgrain ribbon.


Cheers,

8 great Easters!

In honor of the long weekend that is starting tomorrow, I wanted to post an Easter card. This is one of the cards that we made at my Eight Great Greetings class last weekend.

I was quite please with how this card turned out. I punched out all the eggs from DSP using the Wide oval punch. The basket is the Scallop circle die for the Big Shot that I cut in half, ran one half through the big shot using a texturz plate and used the other half to cut out a handle for the basket. The Happy Easter greeting is stamped in Basic Black and coloured in with my SU markers. And then it was also punched out with the wide oval punch. He was then mounted with dimenstionals and I added a bow in 1/4" Pretty in Pink grosgrain ribbon.

And now the card is on it's way to Newfoundland for my niece and nephew who moved there just over a month ago. I hope they like it.

Over the next few days I will be posting the rest of the cards from my Eight Great Greeting class.


Cheers,

2 Colour challenges on a snowy Tuesday

Hi Guys,

Sorry that I didn't post my Brown Paper Packages feature this week, because truthfully I didn't have any time to go looking at stuff!! Hopefully this week I will have more time! :)

But I did get a chance to create some cards for a couple of Colour Inspiration challenges. The first one is Kristina Werner's Challenge which as some of you know I have participated in before the second one is a new one (I think this is just the second challenge) called Raspberry Suite. I like doing the challenges, and I encourage you to participate as well. I forces you to think outside the box and use colours you normally might not. You might surprise yourself and find a new favorite combination.

I used two of the SU Hostess sets to create this card. The first set is "Darling Dots" which is a level 1 set. The Sentiment on this card is from the level 2 set called "Echoes of Kindness". I stamped the flowers and leaves from "Darling Dots" and then cut them out. It takes a bit of time but the effect is very nice. I then mounted the flowers on Dimensionals and adhered the leaves underneath the raised flowers. I stamped the flower in Baja Breeze and then used a baby wipe to remove the ink on the centre which I then coloured with my Chocoloate Chip marker. It's hard to tell from the picture (because I suck at taking pictures of my cards) but I inked the edges of the Top Note with Baja Breeze ink and a sponge dauber. Contact me to find out how you can earn these stamp sets because you can't buy them!

Products used:

Stampin' Up "Darling Dots" hostess stamp set & "Echoes of Kindness" hostess stamp set

Stampin' Up Card stock- Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Stampin' Up Ink- Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss

Accessories- Big Shot & Top Note die, Paper Snips, Sponge dauber.

The second challenge uses a variety of pinks. And I love pinks! I used the "Great Friend" set from the new Occasions Mini Catalogue. I stamped the butterfly in 3 "pinks" (Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red and Cameo Coral) and then cut them out. I then stamped the frame from the same set using my stamp-a-ma-jig to ensure that they lined up nicely on my Whisper White card stock. The butterflies were then scored down the middle using my bone folder and then mounted to the frames using Tombow Multi-purpose adhesive.

Products used:

Stampin' Up "Great Friend" stamp set
Stampin' Up Card stock- Kraft, Whisper White
Stampin' Up Ink- Basic Black, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Cameo Coral
Accessories- Paper Snips, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Tombow Multi-purpose adhesive.


Cheers,

Happy rainy Friday and Club day!

I get so excited for my club day! And I am even more excited today because we are making 3D projects!! And that means that we get to play with the Big Shot.

I have 3 projects for the club girls today. The first project is the 2-5-7-10 treat box. It gets that name because that is where you need to score the paper. No fancy tools are required to make this one, and they come together in a jiffy! Perfect for putting Easter treats inside!

The second project uses my new Pillow box die. Talk about EASY! You run the paper through the Big Shot, use a little sticky strip to hold the box together and that's it! I love how the stamp 'Fabulous Friend' from the new "Oval all" set matches so beautifully with the Bella Rose paper.

And my last project was made with my much coveted Big Shot XL Matchbox Die. It is called a XL die because it is very big, but very easy to work with. And it produces the most adorable little matchbox which is just perfect as a party favor, gift box for some jewelry etc. I just absolutely LOVE it! I do want to let everyone know that to use this die you do require the extended cutting pads. Your regular cutting pads won't work. So if you plan on ordering this die, make sure you purchase the cutting pads too, if you don't already have them. I made that mistake and had to wait before I could use my die because I didn't have the cutting pads!! It really really sucked!

I hope you love these projects as much as I do. And I hope that my Club will have a blast making them tonight. If you think club sounds like a great idea, contact me to find out about joining my next one. I am currently looking for interested people who would love to to come to my place once a month to make some 2 to 3 fabulous projects and otherwise have a great time!!
Cheers,

The Occasions Mini Catalogue is here!!!

I love love love this new mini!! There a soooo many fabulous new sets in it. And not just sets, but there is a new scallop oval punch (and everyone knows how much I love my punches) and a new matchbox die for the Big shot!! Oh, and did I mention that both of these things have coordinating stamp sets?!? Punches & dies that match with stamp sets!! I am giddy with excitement! The girls coming by for club this week will be making one of the matchboxes I wonder if they are as excited as I am???

Tomorrow I will show you something from this months club projects.

Check out the mini here and let me know which stuff is your favorite.....

Contact me to place your orders today!

Cheers,