Monday, December 31, 2018

Happy New Year 2019 and New Suite Shares!


The last day of 2018! On the cusp of 2019! I hope 2018 was a good year for you, but I hope 2019 will be better! How are you celebrating New Year's Eve? We have good friends that always have a party going and it is always a lot of fun because it doesn't involve liquor, there are always silly games to play so that you get to know people even better and everyone is included, and there is the infamous White Elephant Gift Exchange!

We have been doing this gift exchange for years and there are two gifts that reappear annually in different guises and it's always a guess to see who will end up with them the next year: Manikin legs, very similar to the one that is part of the lamp on the Christmas Story movie, minus the lamp shade and light.
Over the years, we've added fishnet stockings, boots, stilettos, made them into planters, you name it! But each year, it's different and we can hardly wait to see what will be new this year! I'll let you know if we end up with one!

Here's my card for you this New Year's:


  • This one heavily features Broadway Bound Specialty Designer Series Paper, both the polka dot design and the stars, in metallics.
  • The numbers are made with the retired but I kept 'em 'cause they're so useful Large Numbers Framelits. I die cut each number twice: once in Gold Glimmer Paper and once in Basic Black cardstock to make the shadow. I backed each with Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets so I could just pull off the backing and stick on like stickers.
  • The Happy is from the Merry Christmas Thinlit Dies and I used the Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets on that as well.
LAST CALL FOR HOLIDAY CATALOGUE ORDERS

Wednesday, January 2 is the last day to order from the Holiday Catalogue and I'll be putting my last order in on Tuesday. So get your orders to me if you want me to submit them or head on over to my Online Store to place your own. Don't miss out if there's something you wanted.


SOMETHING NEW!!
SUITE SHARES!!

For the last couple of years, I've offered regular paper, ribbon  and embellishment shares, and they have not been very popular. In an effort to find something more useful to my customers, I'm trying something new this year:

SUITE SHARES

With Suite Shares, I offer you a half share of all the paper, ribbon and embellishments that are part of one particular suite in the new Occasions Catalogue. That way you get enough to work with, all the products coordinate, you only choose the suites you really like and you have the option of adding the stamp set and tool bundle to your share and earn Sale-A-Bration rewards and a special treat from me, if you do. The shares themselves are very affordable, so you can afford to do more than one if you would like to. Here is what I'm offering:

A. All My Love Suite Share (pg. 5)  $24 + shipping to your location in Canada
All My Love Designer Series Paper - twelve 6" x 12" sheets,  2 each of 6 double sided images
All My Love Ribbon Combo Pack - 2 1/2 yds each of Flirty Flamingo 1/8" ribbon and Lovely                                                                                                   Lipstick 1/2" ribbon with white stitched edges
Heart Epoxy Droplets - 36 clear, adhesive backed accents. Heart shapes in 3 sizes: 5mm, 7mm, 9mm

Add on: Forever Lovely Bundle ( Forever Lovely stamp set & Lovely Flower Edgelit Dies)
 $105 + shipping to your location in Canada 
Includes one $60 Sale-A-Bration Reward and the All My Love cardstock pack as a free gift from me.


B. Floral Romance Suite Share (pg. 11) $34 + shipping to your location in Canada
Floral Romance Specialty Designer Series Paper - twelve 6" x 12" sheets, 3 vellum, 3 printed
Petal Pink/Whisper White Variegated Ribbon - 5 yds of the 5/8" wide  soft, flowing ribbon
Frosted Flower Embellishments - 6 each of 3 colours
Floral Romance Seals - six 3/4" pieces
Add on: Wonderful Romance Bundle ( Wonderful Romance stamp set & Wonderful Floral Framelit Dies)
 $120 + shipping to your location in Canada 
Includes two $60 or one $120 Sale-A-Bration Reward and the Floral Romance cardstock pack as a free gift from me.



C. How Sweet It Is Suite Share (pg. 15)  $22 + shipping to your location in Canada
How Sweet It Is Designer Series Paper - twelve 6" x 12" sheets,  2 each of 6 double sided images
Coastal Cabana/Granny Apple Green Reversible Ribbon - 5 yds of the 3/8" wide playful ribbon
Sweet Pins & Tags - 12 Tags - 4 each of 3 designs; 12 hangtag pins - 6 each of 2 colours
Add on: Sweetest Thing Bundle ( Sweetest Thing stamp set & Jar of Sweets Framelit Dies)
 $100 + shipping to your location in Canada 
Includes one $60 Sale-A-Bration Reward and the How Sweet It Is cardstock pack as a free gift from me.

D. Happiness Blooms Suite Share (pg. 25)  $22 + shipping to your location in Canada
Happiness Blooms Designer Series Paper - twelve 6" x 12" sheets,  2 each of 6 double sided images
Calypso Coral Satin Ribbon - 5 yds of the 3/8" wide lustrous ribbon
Happiness Blooms Enamel Dots - 75 dots - 5 each of 5 colours in 3 Sizes.
Add on: Bloom by Bloom Bundle (Bloom by Bloom stamp set & Bitty Blooms Punch Pack)
 $82 + shipping to your location in Canada 
Includes one $60 Sale-A-Bration Reward and the Happiness Blooms cardstock pack as a free gift from me.

E. Gingham Gala Suite Share (pg. 35)  $25 + shipping to your location in Canada
Gingham Gala Designer Series Paper - twenty 6" x 6" sheets,  4 each of 5 colours
Whisper White Flax Ribbon - 2 1/2 yds of the 5/8" wide light and airy ribbon
Gingham Gala Adhesive Backed Sequins - 125 sequins in total including 5 colours and 2 shapes.
Add on: Butterfly Gala Bundle ( Butterfly Gala stamp set & Butterfly Duet Punch)
 $80 + shipping to your location in Canada 
Includes one $60 Sale-A-Bration Reward and the Gingham Gala cardstock pack as a free gift from me.

F. Needlepoint Nook Suite Share (pg. 30)  $22 + shipping to your location in Canada
Needlepoint Nook Designer Series Paper - twelve 6" x 12" sheets,  2 each of 6 double sided images
Old Olive Linen Thread -7 1/2 yds
Needlepoint Nook Mini Buttons - 12 mini buttons in total, 4 each of 3 colours. 1/4"
Add on: Needle & Thread Bundle ( Needle & Thread stamp set & Needlepoint Elements Framelit Dies)
 $98 + shipping to your location in Canada 
Includes one $60 Sale-A-Bration Reward and the Needlepoint Nook cardstock pack as a free gift from me.

G. Classic Garage Suite Share (pg. 43)  $22 + shipping to your location in Canada
Classic Garage Designer Series Paper - twenty-four 6" x 6" sheets,  2 each of 12 double-sided designs
Black/Silver Striped Metallic Ribbon - 5 yds of the 1/4" black ribbon with the silver striped center
Classic Garage Metal Elements - 8 pieces: 4 each of 2 designs: keys & wrenches
Add on: Geared Up Garage Bundle ( Geared Up Garage stamp set & Garage Gears Thinlits Dies)
 $105 + shipping to your location in Canada 
Includes one $60 Sale-A-Bration Reward and the Classic Garage cardstock pack as a free gift from me.



To sign up, fill out the form below.  You will not have to pay anything until the share is filled. (Until I have the 2 people the share requires.)  I will then send you a PayPal invoice, which you can pay on-line in a very secure way using a credit card, or you can mail me a cheque or send me an etransfer.  Once you have paid, I will place the order and when it comes, I will divide up all the products and get them to you.  Make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom and fill out all the information. *Sorry, but I can only ship to locations in Canada.*

Make sure you scroll down to the bottom of the response form below and complete all fields before submitting.  Filling out this form does not constitute a full commitment.  You will only be billed when the share is filled with enough people.  I will not order until I have received payment from all share members.


Friday, December 28, 2018

Best Catch with Waterfront for a Masculine Birthday


I have a son-in-law with a birthday on New Year's Eve! How's that for a great day for a birthday? Built in party day! But in the business surrounding Christmas, it can be easy to overlook and suddenly, I realized that I had better get a move on to make his birthday card! I wanted to do a sneak peek for you from the new Occasions Catalogue, which comes into effect next week on Jan. 3, so I got out the new masculine stamp set, Best Catch*! Now, I should qualify that, because there are many women who love fishing as well so it's not exclusively masculine, but it's one of the few sets we have that does contain images that would work well on masculine cards. I also thought that it might work well with a stamp set from the Annual Catalogue called Waterfront, which was a carryover from last year's Occasions Catalogue.

*New products from the 2019 Occasions Catalogue and Sale-A-Bration Brochure, available for purchase starting January 3, 2019.

I did a fair amount of background watercolouring on this card, as well as on the fish. Take a closer look here:


  • The mountains and the sky behind are shades of Fresh Fig. I used an Aqua Painter to do the watercolour wash behind for the sky and the mountain stamp from Waterfront to create the mountains at the end of the water.
  • The water is in shades of Shaded Spruce, Coastal Cabana, Pool Party, Blueberry Bushel and Balmy Blue, layered using the Aqua Painter, and the Heat Tool in between layers.
  • I stamped the fisherman on using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and also used it to stamp the fish on a seperate piece of Whisper White.
  • I used the spotted texture stamp from the Waterfront stamp set and a smaller, similar one from the Best Catch* stamp set to create the sparkles on the water that you might see as you fished on a really sunny morning. I stamped them in Versamark ink and sprinkled on Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder and heat set it with the Heat Tool
  • I used the smaller of those two stamps to add some sparkle to the back of the fish as well. The fish is Granny Apple Green with Shaded Spruce and Fresh Fig highlights painted on with the Aqua Painter. The Stamparatus came in really handy for the stamping in Tuxedo Black and also in the Granny Apple Green, before using the Aqua Painter to spread the colour around and add highlights.
  • There are thinlits to go with this set, but I haven't yet ordered them. I fussy cut the fish and added it with dimensionals. The sentiment is from the Best Catch* set and is die cut with Stitched Shapes framelits and mounted with dimensionals.       
*New products from the 2019 Occasions Catalogue and Sale-A-Bration Brochure, available for purchase starting January 3, 2019.                                                                 



Won't be long before it's time for Sale-A-Bration! January 3, to be exact! And there are 3 ways to earn BIG REWARDS during Sale-A-Bration! The first way is to shop: for every $60 you spend per order before tax and shipping, you can choose a special Sale-A-Bration Reward item from the brochure and there are some wonderful ones to choose from. You're going to want a few of them. Some are double rewards, meaning you need to spend $120 to earn those. Make sure you get an Occasions Catalogue and Sale-A-Bration Brochure from me before January 3.


The second way of earning rewards is to host a party during Sale-A-Bration! Stampin' Up! is adding and extra $30 to the rewards you already earn, once you reach a $300 party before tax and shipping are added. That means, once you pass that point you will get your normal 10%, 12%, 14% or 16% rewards depending on the level plus an extra $30 in rewards!! Great deal!!


Finally, and this is the best deal of all, JOIN during Sale-A-Bration by purchasing the Starter Kit, and Stampin' Up! will let you choose $225 worth of products for only $135 (free shipping) which is an extra $60 over the usual great deal! Also you have the option of adding another $40 and getting one of these amazing Craft & Carry Totes (which are worth $68) and are only available to new Stampin' Up recruits. But you will have to act quickly on this one. I'll bet anything that these will be snapped up quickly once Jan.3 rolls around. I have one and they are excellent quality and very useful. Here's a closer look:

I'd love to have you as a member of my team. Just go to the top menu and click on "Join My Team" and follow the prompts.


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
Stamparatus
[146276]
$67.00
Heat Tool
[129053]
$41.00
Big Shot
[143263]
$150.00


*New products from the 2019 Occasions Catalogue and Sale-A-Bration Brochure, available for purchase starting January 3, 2019.

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Christmas Pines for After Christmas Thank You Notes


How was your Christmas Day? Did you overeat? Oversleep? Overdrink? Overplay? Or did you just enjoy the joys of the day with moderation? My day was very quiet, because none of my kids or grandkids could be here with us (insert very sad face here) and because my husband had to work both Christmas Eve and Boxing Day (today) we couldn't get away to visit any of them either! But quiet does have it's bonuses. I've had such a busy run up until Christmas that it's nice to just enjoy the extra rest and sleep without the hassle of cooking a big meal and waking up early early to excited little ones (although I'd exchange it in a minute if I could!)

Did you get what you wanted for Christmas? Do you participate in the ritual of sending Thank You notes to people who have sent you gifts from out of town? My mother always insisted that we sit down after Christmas to write a thank you note to Grandma and Aunt Mabel and whoever else had sent us a gift and I think it is a charming way of acknowledging their effort in going to the trouble of selecting, wrapping and sending you a gift. I continued that tradition with my own girls and we always kept a list as we unwrapped gifts, so we remembered who sent what to whom! Very handy when it came time for Thank You notes.

I think having a cute card to write in makes it much more fun and easier than just scribbling on a piece of paper. These cards were actually customer thank yous, but would work perfectly as gift thank yous as well.


  • I used two different stamp sets for this card, both from the Annual Catalogue. One is Christmas Pines, a set from last year's Holiday Catalogue, carried over into this year's Annual Catalogue. The other is Thankful Thoughts, a set of thank you sentiments that comes in handy.
  • The Designer Series Paper is Dashing Along, which has some really subtle yet elegant designs just made for Christmas themed cards.
  • The cards you see here are notecard sized - 3 1/2" x 5" - which is a quick size to make and fill up with images and sentiments.
  • The embellishments are either Cherry Cobbler Braided Linen Trim - a leftover from my November Paper Pumpkin Kit, or Rhinestone Basic Jewels coloured with the Dark Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blends.
  • The card base is Thick Whisper White cardstock.


During this week of Boxing Day sales, let me remind you that the retiring products from the Holiday Catalogue only have a week to go until they are gone for good, and some of them are available at substantial savings. Let me know quickly if you want to place an order with me, or go to my On-Line Store and place an order yourself.

I am working on something new from the Occasions Catalogue to share with you on Friday! Stay tuned!!


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