Thursday, July 31, 2014

Back to Black - Last Day of Designer Series Paper Promotion

Today is the last day of Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Paper Promotion!  So I designed this card to promote one of the collections that is part of the sale:  Back to Black!


In our last catalogue, we had a Basic Black Designer series but it was paired with Very Vanilla, which didn't sit right with a few people. This year we have a series in Basic Black and Whisper White for all the purists out there!  I love black and white cards, with maybe a little silver thrown it!  It's so elegant and a tad dramatic which suits me just fine!  Me, Heather Cooper, aka "The Drama Queen" according to my hubby! Not for a tendency to blow everything out of proportion, but because I ran the drama ministry at our church and the drama program at the school where I taught, for so long.


The Designer Series Paper Promotion, in case you've forgotten the details, is Buy 3 packages of any of the Designer Series Paper on pages 186 - 187 in the 2014-15 Annual Catalogue and get one package free. That is like 25% off!  But you need to act fast to take advantage of the offer.  Call or email me today.



  • On the Basic Black cardstock we have the Whisper White panel and covering half of that is the Back To Black DSP.  
  • I used some of the new Silver Satin Ribbon to mask the join of the DSP.  It is the most elegant ribbon I've owned in quite some time.  It has a heavy weight and a glossy sheen and it's just beautiful, as are the other colours, Gold, Whisper White and Very Vanilla.
  • The leaves are die cut with the Flower Frenzy Bigz L die.  This is one large die that I will never regret purchasing because I know that I am going to get a lot of use out of it.  It has probably already paid for itself!  I used both Basic Black cardstock and our Brushed Silver Cardstock.


  • The Flower Shop Stamp Set is another really useful set that I have inked up continually since I purchased it last year.  It pairs with the Pansy Punch, although sometimes it can be tricky to line them up.  I have marked where the bottom of the punch should fit, on my wood block so I know to stamp that petal towards the bottom of the paper. Hope that little tip helps.
  • The sentiment is actually a Photopolymer Stamp from the Project Life Remember This set.  I loved the look of the little fireworks on each end of the congratulations, and actually, after I took this photo, I added some Rhinestones on the stars to up the bling factor!!
Thanks for dropping by today.  By the way, I am getting awfully close to 150,00 page views!  I think it is about time for another Blog Candy Give Away!  Stay tuned this weekend for the details! 

Also, tomorrow, August 1, you will be able to order ALL the colours of the Blendabilities Markers and there is a Big Shot promotion coming.  Pop back tomorrow to find out the details!


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! 


Product List

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Kick Up Yer Heels for Mojo Monday!


I was designing some cards for my Backyard Quick and Cute class, and I was wanting to showcase some of the Designer Series Paper Collections, because they are on sale until tomorrow - Buy 3 packages and get 1 package free.



I wanted to use a collection that I had not yet tried and settled on the retro-looking Flashback series!  To be honest, I wasn't really drawn to this collection at first, because - seriously?  I lived through them and there are aspects to the seventies that I would rather forget, like Disco Music, for example!  You can read all about my views on that decade here.

But as I leafed through the package, I came across this design and a bunch of ideas flooded into my head.
I thought Western design, Bootiful Occasions, Kraft Paper.... and a swag of ribbons!  I worked on the layout, and when I was done, I thought that it just might work for MOJO Monday Challenge #356!

I did choose not to go with the Tall & Skinny, though, because it doesn't work well for a quick and cute class as you would need to make an appropriately sized envelope, and also because, well, I had already made the card.  So I am taking quite a bit of artistic licence with this one.




  • I used the new Kraft Cardstock for the card base.  It is heavier than our regular cardstock and is a natural Kraft colour.  It adds just the right rustic touch to the card.
  • I finally got an opportunity to use the the Bootiful Occasions stamp set again.  It's one of those sets that I keep getting out to use, but another set gets chosen instead.  Do you have one of those?  Well, this was the perfect occasion, because that DSP looks so western, like calico or bandana material.

Red Bandana Material


Red Calico



See what I mean?















  • I stamped the boot in Crumb Cake and Real Red, but used Stampin' Write Markers so that I could leave out the sentiment and add it separately.  After I stamped the image, I coloured in parts of the boot with the Crumb Cake Marker.  I then die cut a circle containing the boot using the Circles Collection Framelit that just fits inside the Starburst Framelit I used for the matte.
  • After cleaning the stamp thoroughly, I inked up the sentiment using a Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker and stamped it on some Very Vanilla cardstock.  I punched it out using the Large Oval Punch and matted it with a Scallop Oval in the Kraft cardstock.
  • This is what I like best about the card, though - that cute swag made of several lengths of different ribbons!  I've see them on a few cards on blogs and Pinterest and then, on Sunday, my upline included one in the cards we were making on our Diva Rewards Day.  I fell in love right away and felt it would be a perfect embellishment for this card.  All that is missing is a real feather or two!
  • The finishing touch is a star punched from Real Red cardstock with the star from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack, with a Crumb Cake Candy do on it!
And that's all there is to it!  Yee haw!

I just wanted to remind you again that you have until tomorrow to take advantage of the Buy 3, Get 1 Free DSP sale!  I am putting in an order tonight, so email me or give me a call if you want something.  Also, starting August 1, ALL the Stampin' Blendabilities Assortments will be available to you as a customer!

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! 


Product List

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

July's Paper Pumpkin Kit and Weekly Deals!



When I returned home from Stampin' Up!'s Annual Convention last week, I had a little red box awaiting me.  It looked something like this:











And when I opened it up....



There was quite a treat in store:


I have been promoting My Paper Pumpkin, Stampin' Up!'s subscription craft kits for a long time now, but I have never been so proud to display the contents as now!  I'll be the first to admit that the old kits, though cute, were not the value that we have been taught to expect from Stampin' Up!  I am excited to say, that has ALL CHANGED.  The kits that are delivered to your door after the 15th of the month, every month, are an AMAZING value for the $24.95 that you pay!

This July 2014 kit is a prime example.  I finally got time to get it out and put some of it together and I am blown away by what is included in this kit.  You get everything you need, except for adhesive, to make 6 of these classy looking gift boxes with tags and 6 beautiful greeting cards plus lots of stickers and tags left over! And the quality of all the materials is top notch!

Take the ribbon for example.  It is beautiful gleaming white satin ribbon of the finest quality, and you get lots of it! The stickers are all cardstock weight and stick well.  You have many more of the cute silver foil stars than you need for the tags and the cards and I'll bet you can come up with some amazing uses for them!!


You get 12 of the punch out round tags, so you can use them for other birthday gifts, and they would make great tags for Christmas gifts as well as well as the white baker's twine with which to tie them on.


And look at the variety of photopolymer stamps that come in this one kit.  You can make so many different greetings with both these and the WISH stickers that you can see on the card above:
Happy Birthday, Make a Wish, Make a Big Wish,  Wish Big, Wish You Were Here, Wish on a Star, Happy For You, Thanks, Big Thanks, Thanks For You .... to name a few.  You would have almost every sentiment you could need, plus those adorables little hearts and stars.

You get a small Stampin' Spot (a mini stamp pad) in Blackberry Bliss, my new favourite In Colour this year. Purple is very trending this year and, if you had subscribed before the 10th of this month, you would have that colour in your collection!

Leave me a message today, and tell me what you would use the gift boxes for from this month's Paper Pumpkin.

Each month is a surprise, but I am confident you will be pleased with them.  I have seen sneak peeks of the next couple of months and they are equally awesome!  And here's THE KICKER!  New subscribers to Paper Pumpkin will get their first two kits at 50% off if they subscribe by September 10th!  How awesome is that?


Well, by now, you'll be wondering how you can go about getting a subscription to My Paper Pumpkin!  It's easy!  Go to the My Paper Pumpkin Website , click on subscribe, and follow the prompts.  Use the special code:  HALFOFF2.  When it asks you for your demonstrator, I'd be ever so pleased if you would select me, Heather Cooper!  Email me when you have done that, and I will send you a free step by step photo tutorial for a cute card you can make!