Kieran leaves for camp today! :(

I am going to miss her so very much!!! She is going for a whole month this year!! As I was helping her pack on Saturday I realized that I didn't get her any stationary to take with her. And then I began thinking, why would I buy her stationary when I can make her some!! I mean, I am a serious paper crafter after all.

As soon as her brother went for a nap the two of us hit the Stampin' room for some stationary making fun!
I simply took some white printer paper and cut it in half with my paper cutter. I then took my 'Circle Circus' set and some of the new in-colours and stamped some circles on the top and the bottom of the page. I used the "Thinking of you" stamp from 'Trendy Trees' as well. Then I stamped corresponding envelopes. It took absolutely no time, and now she has really pretty paper to write us lots of letters!

Kieran's paper was even nicer than mine! She used some of her own stamp sets, retired 'Seeing spots' and retired 'So Very' to decorate hers. At the bottom it reads "So Very missed". I love the colours she chose. Lovely Lilac, Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green and Rose Red. She is a very talented stamper in her own right. And at 10 years old has already decided that she is going to be an SU demo just like her mom!

Cheers,

Hodgepodge Hardware sample #3

I stole away for a few minutes yesterday to play with some of my new stuff, and to do one more card using the Hodgepodge hardware.

As soon as I saw the 'Medalion' stamp in the new catalogue, I immediately started envisioning things that it could be used for. But the challenge I was having was finding some time to use it.

Then some serious inspiration hit yesterday. I had received my monthly Stampin' Up! demo magazine on Friday, but hadn't had a chance to look at it. So Saturday morning afforded me a few moments of "me" time and I started reading it. I came to a page that had beautiful treat boxes made with the matchbox die for the Big Shot. What caught my eye the most was the colour palette used. It was a combination of Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla and Blush Blossom.

Blush Blossom is a colour I rarely use, except for with my Stampin' Write markers if I am colouring my people from the 'All in the Family' set. However looking at these boxes I couldn't wait to work with it!!

So, out came my Blush Blossom paper for the first time, along with my Medalion stamp and some serious fun was had!! I also got a chance to use my 'Monogram Sweet' set for the first time. I absolutely LOVE making monogrammed note cards. I think it is a total throw-back to a time when communication was so much more formal and personal. I thought that these letters would look lovely framed using the Hodgepodge Hardware.

Don't forget that the hardware is still on sale (until tomorrow at noon) for only $26.99!! Contact me to orders your now!!

Products used:
Stampin' Up "Medalion" stamp set, "Monogram Sweet" stamp set
Stampin' Up Card stock- Chocolate Chip, Blush Blossom, Close to Cocoa.
Stampin' Up Ink- Chocolate chip, Close to Cocoa.
Accessories: Designer Label Punch, Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, 1/6" hole punch, Soft Suede polka dot (I used the non-polka dot side) grosgrain ribbon, sponge dauber.

Cheers,

My other laptop & the Distillery District

Hi Everyone.

I hope you are having a great weekend! Last night my husband Ed and I went on a date to celebrate my new promotion at work!!! I was promoted to Project Manager- Business Transformation! I am pretty excited about it, and it has been in the works a long time, so it is great to finally be able to talk about it publicly. We went to the Distillery District in Toronto. The Distillery District is a historical site which was once a thriving Distillery originally built in 1832. Today it is Canada's number one Movie filming location, and apparently it is second only to Hollywood in all of North America. In addition to being used in countless movies, it has been renovated and converted into a pedestrian shopping and entertainment area focusing on art, culture and entertainment and boost a whole host of yummy restaurants and artisan shops. We decided to try out the seafood restaurant called Pure Spirits Oyster bar, and we had an amazing dinner. Afterwards we wandered around to check out some of the stores etc. It was an awesome night out with my husband! And a great reason to celebrate!

Anyhow, as promised I wanted to share with you my other laptop and it's new decoration.
For this one I chose the 'Adornment' in Taken with Teal! I love these things!

Check the Definitely Decorative brochure for all of the beautiful options. This one is available in 8 different colours!!

Contact me to order yours today!

Cheers,

Hodgepodge Hardware Sample #3

Hey Guys,

I got a bit of time to create last night!!! :) So I thought I would use the Hodgepodge Hardware that's on sale this week. I will be placing an order this weekend, so if you have anything you want to pick up- please send the order to me by Saturday so that I can add it in (then you save on shipping).

This card uses one of my new stamp sets called "A Rose is a Rose". I have been eyeballing it for a few catalogues now, and decided that I wanted it for my collection! And I am so glad that I got it. I LOVE it! I love how the two step stampin' really gives this a beautiful. Look. 2 Step Stampin' works by having 2 stamps of the same image but slightly different. One is more solid than the other. You ink up the solid image in a ink colour then you stamp the second less solid image over top in a darker colour. The resulting image is beautiful!!! Then I trimmed all the bits and mounted some of them with dimensionals, but you can't really see that in the picture. The sentiment is also from the same stamp set, but I colour two words at a time with my Old Olive marker so that I could "stack" the sentiment instead of it being in a long line. That was then framed with some of the Hodgepodge Hardware (on sale right now for only $26.99!!!). And voila, a very pretty card to give to a close friend.

Products used:
Stampin' Up "A Rose is a Rose" stamp set
Stampin' Up Card stock- Rose Red, Old Olive, Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink.
Stampin' Up Ink- Regal Rose, Rose Red, Old Olive, Certainly Celery.
Accessories: Designer Label Punch, Dimensionals, Top Note Die, Big Shot, Perfect Details Texturz plate, Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, 1/6" hole punch, corner rounder, Rose Red 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, sponge dauber.

Cheers,

Hodgepodge Hardware Sample #2

Just a quick post to share a card made using the Hodgepodge Hardware.

As Demo's we have access to a daily feed of beautiful cards made by fellow demonstrators on the Stampers Showcase. This one was featured there a few weeks ago, and is an excellent example of the Hodgepodge Hardware in use. The card was created by a Demo named Andrea Borries. I think she did an amazing job!

I love how the centre tree was framed using the hardware that coordinates with the Designer Label punch. You know me and my love things that match punches!! This set of hardware certainly meets that criteria! I also love how she used one of the possible tree tops from the 'Trendy Trees set' as a background image. Beautiful! Well done Andrea.

Have a great day! And contact me right away to get your hands on that beautiful Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware for only $26.99!!!!

Cheers,

Wanna see my FREE stuff???

One of the MANY perks to being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is all the FREE stuff we get! We earn it many different ways. This picture shows all the free stuff I got this week!!!

• 7 stamp sets
• 1 scallop square punch
• 2 containers of Filigree brads
• 2-way Glue pen
• Pretties Kit
  

I earned these from a variety of different sources. I earned stamp sets from sales challenges, and Hostess rewards and some of this stuff was earned through a points program we have called Great Rewards. For every dollar we sell/purchase we earn points towards free stuff!!! It is so great being a SU Demo!!! Now I can start having some fun with all my new stuff!!!

Wanna be a Demo so you can earn free stuff too??? We have 2 Starter Kit promos running right now- $105 Mini Starter Kit or $269 Standard Starter Kit with the In-colour bonus pack!! Check out this post for more info. Contact me today to get started!

Cheers,

Deal of the Week- Hardware Sample

I thought I would share with you a sample of something made using the Deal of the Week, Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware.

The hardware is used for the centre of the flower from the Eastern Blooms set.

Beautiful!! Order the Styled Vanilla now for only $26.99!! You get 10 of each of all of the following:

Raised Dots Designer Holders
Small Rectangle Holders
Raised Dots Designer Holders
1" circle Holders
Square Holders
1/2 Genuine Brads
3/8" Star Brads
1/2" Flower Brads
3/8" Flower Brads
Flower ribbon slides
3/16" Brads

What an amazing deal! Contact me to orders yours now!

Cheers,

Deal of the Week #4 ... and it's a GOOD one!

I LOVE the Hodgepodge hardware! So naturally I was very excited to find out that this beauty is the Deal of the Week!! Regular price is $41.95, but you can buy it this week for only $26.99!!!!!!! AWESOME. Contact me to order yours now!!! I will for sure be stocking up on this one!! These are great additions to any type of card, but I can already for see my Holiday cards with a bit of hardware on them! YUM!

Cheers,

Decor Elements on my laptop!

Hey everyone!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend! I just have a quick one for you today. I have recently been pouring over our AWESOME new Decor Elements catalogue. What's that you ask? It is a separate catalogue from our main one that contains fabulous Vinyl Wall adhesives and stencils to brighten up your living space. Well, this time around the stuff is amazing!!! They even included some images for laptops!!! This is my work laptop with Rose Red daisys on it! I LOVE how this looks. I also put a different image on my home laptop, which I will show you another time. Oh, and there are even Hostess Decor Elements too!! For all 3 levels! Check out the new catalogue here. Don't forget to book a private class with me to find out how you can earn Decor Elements or Stamps!

Cheers,

Wanna know why I joined SU?

I have been a Stampin' Up! demonstrator since January of this year. Why did I choose to do it??? Well, I had recently returned to work after Mat leave, and was feeling the crunch of the loss of salary from the past year plus the added loss of money required to pay for daycare. I had also developed a nasty addiction to all things papercrafting and didn't want that to depleat my family's finances anymore.



When I was first introduced to SU it was love at first sight, and I instantly saw the potential of this as a business. And I had looked at some of the competion, so I was looking at things objectively. One of the big factors was that my Upline (the person who I signed up under) was a business builder. A person who works this business full time, and who is always growing it to make a profit as opposed to someone who is just doing it as a hobby, or to get the product discount (which, might I add is WONDERFUL). The fact that she was not only supporting her family by selling stamps etc, but that she earns 2 FREE trips a year!! One is the yearly incentive trip (which is usually a Cruise- and the cruise we are currently working towards is an Alaskan Cruise!!) and because she is in the Canadian top 10 she also earns a trip to Utah every fall for Leadership and stamping fun, and a whole lot of pampering!! The fact that she is doing it, is proof that these goals are attainable.



In my first six months with SU, I earn 50% of what I needed to earn the trip. If I had only started 6 months earlier, I would have earned a Caribean Cruise!! Ah well. Working on Alaska now!!!



So, by now you must be asking "But Blair, how do I become an SU demonstrator???". And my answer will be, "it's really quite simple, and there has never been a better time!!"



Starting today we have just launched 2 promotions for our Starter Kit.





Promo #1





$105 Mini Starter Kit!!

This is a smaller version of the Standard Kit and contains the following:

• For All You Do stamp set (or set of your choice)
• In Color Classic Stampin' Pads (6) (or your choice)
• Whisper White card stock (8-1/2" x 11")
• In Color assorted card stock (8-1/2" x 11") (or your choice)
• Business forms and tools

Promo #2

$269 Standard Starter Kit with In colour bonus Pack!

This is the full starter kit with 6 extra in colour ink pads and a pack of the in colour paper! The kit includes the following:

• Five stamp sets
• A Stampin' Around wheel, handle, and ink cartridge
• Stampin' Pastels
• Card stock
• Eastern Blooms Décor Elements and applicator tool
• Five Classic Stampin' Pads
• VersaMark Pad
• Stampin' Scrub and Mist
• Blender pens
• SNAIL
• Business forms and tools

Contact me ASAP to learn how you can join my team!

Cheers,

Happy Birthday to my Father-in-law & Deal of the Week #3...

First things first.... This weeks DEAL of the WEEK was released at noon today and is good until noon next Monday. And the deal is.....

Square Fire Rhinestone Brads for only $10.99!!!! That's $5 off the regular price! Wow!! Contact me now to order. This is a limited time offer!!! Don't delay!

Today is my Father-in-laws 65th!! So I made this card for him.... I cut the card using the Top Note Die for the Big Shot using Not Quite Navy paper. Then I cut a second top note and trimmed around the perforated edge of an Old Olive piece. I stamped the stars from the 'Starring You' set in Night of Navy. I then stamped the Happy Birthday from the same set in Night of Navy on Whisper White paper and mounted this to a scallop circle that I punched twice to form a starburst. Those who attended club this month learned how to do this for the Lion on our animal card. I was pleased how it turned out, and so was he. And I didn't even know that his favourite colour is green! Go me!!

Products used:
Stampin' Up "Starring You" stamp set
Stampin' Up Card stock- Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, Whisper White.
Stampin' Up Ink- Night of Navy.
Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, Dimensionals, Top Note Die, Big Shot.


Cheers,

A stamp set for the Hive

I had earned a bunch of free stamp sets during the Sale-a-bration Sales period (6 to be exact!) and waited until the new sneak peak stamp sets and the retiring list was launched to pick out my sets. Earning free stamp sets is just one of the many many perks of being a Stampin' Up! Demo!

One of the sets that I had my eye on from the previous catalogue was the "Just Buzzin' By" set. And the reason for that, was not only is is super cute (got to love those bees) but my Stampin' Up! team of fabulous downline Demonstrator's is called the Hive! So it just seemed like a set I NEEDED to have! So I brought it out for the first time yesterday to make a very belated Welcome card to one of my downline....

This was a really fun card to make. I had a blast colouring it with my Many Marvelous Markers and it goes wonderfully well with the new Crushed Curry cardstock.

I hope she likes it!

Speaking of Downline, in just 3 short days you too can become a member of my downline for only $105!!! Isn't that awesome!!! I will share more of the details with you as we get closer to the 15th. Want more info??? Contact me today!


Cheers,

Club cards for this month....

Sorry guys, just a quickie to show you the cards we are making for this months club. The team of the month is PUNCHES! And everyone knows how I love them!

Sorry for the picture quality, didn't have time to get out the real camera. Thank you iPhone for your ability to be there in a time of need! :)

The first card is using the Movers & Shapers die for the Big Shot and the NEW shapes! This is most obviously the scallop circle die. LOVE it. This is a beautifully simplistic card.

This next one is a card completely based on a card I once made at Caroline LeBel's studio. I changed up the colours, using Melon Mambo & Rich Razzleberry with the Razzleberry Lemonade paper! Yum! The punch is the 5 petal flower and the Large oval for the leaves.

The last and final card I had a ton of fun making. Lately I have noticed a ton of people making animals from our punches. I wanted to give it a try. The Lion and Horse were copies from others, and I could not begin to tell you who the originator is. The Hippo however is my own design as I loved the idea of doing a hippo but I didn't like the hippos that others were designing. I think he is adorable. And this is such a fun card for so many occations. Stick a party hat on one of these guys and you have a super fun Birthday card!

Interested in joining my club so you can come to my place once a month to make super fun projects? Contact me today!

Cheers,

Deal of the Week #2! Is there a Doctor in the house???

Do you have a Big Shot? I know so many of you do. Did you regret not buying the Starter Kit with the Doctor's Bag like I did??? Well now is you chance. Who's says that you never get a second chance???

You can purchase the Doctor's Bag this week for only $77.99!!!!! (Regular prices is $103.95).

Don't have a Big Shot but love the bag? This is a great bag for anything!!! Or contact me to purchase your very own Big Shot!

Hurry! The deal is only available until next Monday!!!


Cheers,

Do you Twitter???

I do! Follow me on Twitter to receive up to the minute promo's and specials exclusive to my Twitter followers!!

Visit Twitter now, and add me!!


Cheers,

Open House Winners!!!

There were a bunch of great prizes for people who came to my Open House yesterday! Again the picture is thanks to my new iPhone! :) Love'n it!

The prizes were:

1. Comfort Food stamp set
2. Flower Finesse Decor Element
3. Sale-a-bration Designer Series Paper
4. Free shipping for an order in July

And the winners were..............................

Susan Platt- Comfort Food stamp set
Marg Cochrane- Flower Finesse Decor Element
Meredith Cochrane- Sale-a-bration Designer Series Paper
Meredith Cochrane- Free shipping on an order in July

Congrats to everyone! I will be in touch with you to get you your winnings!! And thanks goes to my husband & father who drew the winning names!

Cheers,

iPhones & Open Houses

I was hoping to get this post out yesterday, but I was learning how to use my new iPhone!! I was determined to send the blog from there, but I couldn't get the pictures to work.... still need to figure some things out.

In the mean time however, I have a few projects to share with you from yesterday's New Catalogue Open House. My appologies because the pictures were taken with my iPhone so they aren't of the best quality but like I said, I was trying to figure out to work the thing! Love it though, love it emmensly, perhaps even more than I love my Big Shot... okay, well maybe not that much, but it's close! :)
We made 2 projects yesterday using some of the new stuff. The first one is a card using the VERY fabulous new Level 3 Hostess set called "The More the Merrier". I LOVE this set! It's awesome. I have already shown a card made with the line up of birds, and this time we used the line up of cupcakes! I will try and show you the rest of this awesome set over the next little while.

This card also uses the beautiful new Soft Suede as a card base! And we coloured the cupcakes with my Pencil crayons & blender pens. Oh and do you see the beautiful new Polka Dotted ribbon? LOVE this stuff!! And since the other side doesn't have any dots, you have a two sided ribbon. LOTS of variety with this stuff! And how could I forget the NEW Modern Label punch too! And the new sentiment set called "Teeny Tiny Wishes". Click on the image at the right to see this in all it's glory, there is truly a sentiment for ANY occasion. I really like this set a lot. I can tell right away that I will get lots of use.

Products used:
Stampin' Up "More the Merrier" Hostess Level 3 stamp set
Stampin' Up Card stock- Whisper White, Soft Suede, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue.
Stampin' Up Ink- Basic Black, Soft Suede.
Accessories: Water colour pencil crayons, blender pen, Polka Dot ribbon, Modern Label Punch, Dimensionals.

The seond project is a "Bag-a-lope". It's a bag, made using an envelop! And it's sooo easy.
Once again, I am showing one of the new sets. This one is called "Circle Circus". Again a really really versatile set. It has a bunch of different circle designs that of course coordinate with our circle punches, and our scallop circle punch! I love when things go with punches. Click on the picture to see it better. I am sure you guys will be seeing this set in use a lot. I have a ton of ideas for it. And it will likely be featured at my "Meet the new In-colours class" on July 17th! Have you RSVP'd for it yet??

Okay, back to the bag-a-lope. I promised the women who were at my Open House that I would share the instructions. So here they are! If you use these instructions to make a bag, send me a picture! I might even post it here! :)

Circle Circus Bag-a-lope:

1. You will need an envelope, any size. Seal the envelope.
2. Stamp random circles using the Melon Mambo ink on both sides of the envelope.
3. Using the paper cutter as a guide & a bone folder, score the envelope on 3 sides (the 2 long sides, and one of the short ones) 1" in. You can change the amount you score it at, every different option will result in a different dimensioned bag.
4. Using the Scalloop Edge punch, add a scallop border to the side with out the score.
5. Tuck the sides in, and fold the bottom flaps in and adhere with Snail or Sticky strip.
6. Punch holes for ribbon near the top of the bag using the double rectangle punch.
7. Feed the Polka Dot Bermuda Bay ribbon through the holes and tie in a knot (paying attention to the side with the dots.)

I will be back later with the winners of my Open House Door prizes!!!!

Cheers,

Blair

Wanna see some of the new stuff????

Look at this beauty!! I made this for my Quarterly Hive Team Meeting. What's "The Hive" you ask? The Hive is my wonderful group of Stampin' Up Demonstrators! Want to join in the fun??? There is a New Demonstrator promotion starting on July 15th! Stick around to learn more in the days to come! :)

Now, back to the card. This card is made entirely using some of the NEW in-colours for 2009/2010! And 2 of the new stamp sets from the NEW catty! "Circle Circus" and "Teeny Tiny Wishes", oh and any one notice that awesome new punch?? That is the Designer Label punch, also new to this catty!!

Wanna see more??? Join me tomorrow at my New Catalogue Open House from 1pm to 5pm. Drop in anytime!!!! Contact me to RSVP!! I would hate to not have enough stuff ready for you to play with the new stuff!!

Products used:
Stampin' Up "Circle Circus" stamp set & "Teeny Tiny Wishes"
Stampin' Up Card stock- Whisper White, Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry
Stampin' Up Ink- Versamark, Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry
Accessories- Scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1" circle punch, Designer Label punch, 2-way Glue pen, Dimensionals, Clear Embossing powder, embossing buddy, powder pals, Heat Tool.

Cheers,

Deal of the Week!

For the entire month of July, Stampin' Up! will be having a deal of the week! And this week's deal.....
The Scalloped Edge punch!! I know that many of you already have this very versitile punch, but if you don't, now is the perfect time to get it! It's only $15.99 (regular price $22.95) from now until July 5th!! Hurry because this offer is almost over!!

Contact me to order today!

Cheers,

Happy Canada Day, Happy new Catalogue Day!!!

Canada is 142 years old today!! Doesn't she look great for her age?? Happy Canada day to all! And mostly to those Canadian friends of mine who now live in far away places. I hope you manage to keep Canada in your heart & in your minds. We miss you!!

But, not only is today Canada Day, but it is also NEW Catalogue Day!! It was so nice of Stampin' Up! to celebrate Canada Day in this way!! Yeah SU!! :)

So, without further ado, I present to you the 2009/2010 Idea Book and Catalogue, and it is a beauty!! It is jam packed with all sorts of wonderful new products, and of course some old favorites. Some of the highlights include:

• more single stamp sets
• lots of Christmas & Halloween stuff
• new Dog & Cat sets
• Collections- Wedding, Xmas, Halloween etc.
• Birthday party kits (Princess & Pirate)
• Photo Xmas card kits
• New punches (snow flake & Butterfly)
• New dies for the BIG SHOT!
• and of course, new beautiful In-Colours!

I would like to provide all of my customers (Canadian's only) with a FREE catalogue ($12 value). Contact me with your email address, phone number and mailing address so that I can send one to you. Or contact me to pick it up at my place.

Or join me on Saturday, July 4th at my NEW Catalogue Open House!

Cheers,