Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Happy New Year 2015 - Out with the Old and In with the New



One last holiday card for you today, in honour of it being New Year's Eve! Out with the old and in with the new! New Year's Eve is not my favourite holiday of all time. I think it has to do with all those perfect strangers coming up to you at midnight, wanting a kiss for Auld Lang's syne, and me having a fairly large personal space bubble. It was just too awkward. I don't mind celebrating with good friends with whom I have shared Auld Lang Syne (the old days), but I would avoid like the plaque parties where there were a lot of strangers and distant acquaintances in different stages of inebriation.

So, as we say good-bye to 2014 and welcome in 2015, this card has Stampin' Up! past, present and future as elements of it.




  • The stamp set, Mingle All the Way, is Stampin' Up! Past.  It was one of my most used stamp sets from the Holiday Catalogue 2014 and will no longer be available after Jan. 5. So, you know, make sure you get it before the deadline!  I heat embossed the sentiment from this set with a mixture of Gold and Silver Stampin' Emboss Powders - getting an almost pewter tone to it. Since I'm working with both metallics here, I wanted something in between for the sentiment.
  • The paper is definitely Stampin' Up! Present. All the paper used here is in the Annual Catalogue and will be available until at least June. I used Brushed Silver Cardstock as the card base and Shimmery White cardstock (which is impossible to catch the shimmer of with a camera) forms the background. I cut banners, using the Banners Framelits, from Silver Fancy Foil Designer Vellum and Gold Glimmer Paper and I added some Gold Glimmer Paper also on the sentiment banner (which is also on Shimmery White Cardstock.)
  • Stampin' Up! Future is embodied in that amazing embellishment on the bottom right! It can be found in the the up-coming Occasions 2015 Catalogue and available January 6!  It is part of the Artisan Embellishments kit, which is seriously amazing.
I hope all of you have your Occasions Catalogues now.  I was a little disappointed that it took so long for them to arrive, since they shipped on Dec. 1, but I guess the holiday mail was pretty slow!  Enjoy pouring over them and making your wish lists. 

Free Occasions Catalogue Launch - "Make Something Special"

I am planning a free event, the Occasions Catalogue Launch, entitled "Make Something Special!"  I will have some make and takes using the new products, there will be games and goodies, and I will have my retired product available, including sets and paper from last year's Occasions Catalogue.  It will be slightly discounted, but you can get 50% of the purchase price toward free new products from the Occasions (or Annual) Catalogue! It is held on Saturday, January 10 from 1 to 3 pm.  Register right away for that here.


Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today! *List does not include Stampin' Up! sneak peek items.  They will be available Jan. 6, 2015.

Product List

* Artisan Embellishment Kit

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Butterfly Basics Make a Clean and Simple Birthday Card




It's time for a Clean and Simple card! As I explore all my new products from my Occasions Catalogue pre-order, I have so many ideas floating around in my cranium that I have difficulty deciding what to do next! I was dying to use more of my Butterfly Basics images, especially the smaller lacy butterfly so I imagined a more Clean and Simple design.


  • The back panel Design Series Paper is from Best Year Ever, which is a Sale-A-Bration product. That means that during Sale-A-Bration, (January 6 - March 31, 2015) you can earn it free with every $60 spent in one order!  Awesome!
  • Don't you love the script on the sentiment? It is also from the Butterfly Basics Stamp Set, available January 6.  
  • The stamped lacy butterfly coordinates with one of the Thinlits in the Butterflies Thinlits Dies so it is easy to die cut it.
  • To make the looped linen thread behind it, just wrap the linen thread around all four fingers of one hand three times.  Remove it from your fingers and give one end a twist so you have a figure 8.  Add a glue dot to the middle of the twist and glue down on your paper.  Adjust the loops the way you want them.  Very easy to do.
  • You'll notice a little Gorgeous Grunge in the background, stamped in Coastal Cabana.  Then I added the honeycomb textured image from Butterfly Basics in Sahara Sand for contrast.

It's Tuesday and time for more:







Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today! *List does not include Stampin' Up! sneak peek items.  They will be available Jan. 6, 2015. 


Product List

*Butterfly Basics Stamp Set
*Best Year Ever DSP
*Butterflies Thinlits Dies

Monday, December 29, 2014

I Used Rose Red and I Liked It!!



You know how there are certain colours in the Stampin' Up! colour families that you like and some you just can't warm up to? Well, Rose Red was one of those colours for me. It was just like Garden Green until Stampin' Up! used it in a lot of the Christmas DSP! I saw how to combine it with other colours so I grew to like it. In the Occasions Catalogue, there is a lot of Rose Red in the Designer Series Paper, so I decided that I'd give it a try yesterday. Do you know what? I think that may have been the first time I'd used that Ink Pad! Truth! But I like how it turned out, especially paired with the gold accents, so I will probably use this colour more frequently now.


  • Snip! Snip! Snip!  I did a lot of fussy cutting on this card, but my fussy cutting days are numbered! You see, I got a Brother ScanNCut for Christmas - an ecutter. As soon as I get it set up and I learn how to use it, I may not have to go to these lengths anymore! How exciting is that? 
  • By the shape of the little hearts, I thought they would coordinate with our Sweetheart punch, but alas, they are too small and had to be hand cut.
  • The images and sentiments on this card are all from the new stamp set, Hello Life. It actually coordinates with the very cool Hello Life Project Kit, which I will be showing you soon, and seeing if there is any interest in doing a class with it.
  • I die cut the large sentiment with one of the Ovals Collection Framelits and wanted to matte it with the next size up oval cut from a Gold Foil sheet, but that made it too large for the card, so you'll never guess what I did! I used the next size up oval framelit, mounted the sentiment on it, then, using my Paper Snips, I trimmed it down to the size I wanted. It was difficult to get even, and kind of reminded me of when my mom used to cut my hair. It got shorter and shorter as she tried to even up both the sides! Fortunately, I didn't have too many adjustments to make.



    • I die cut that sweet little curvy sentiment on the bottom with one of the Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits and backed it with some more Rose Red.
    • The background DSP is from the new Occasions Catalogue and it's called Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper, a series of Water-coloured designs, some of which look good enough on their own to be framed!




    My Winter Class Schedule is up and you can check it out here. There are still a couple of links to post but they should be up sometime today. Pick the classes that fit your interest and schedule! Please make sure to register, and if possible, pay ahead of time.

    Also, let me know if you are interested in Product Shares with the new Occasions Catalogue for paper and ribbon and accessories. I will get it organized for you if there is enough interest.

    And just a reminder that there are only 8 more days to order from the Holiday Catalogue. Don't miss out on something you really wanted. There is very little likelihood of finding the same thing next year!

    Have a great Monday!  See you tomorrow with a new Sneak Peek and some new Weekly Deals!



    Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today! *List does not include Stampin' Up! sneak peek items.  They will be available Jan. 6, 2015. 


    Product List


    *Hello Life Stamp Set
    *Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper