Ribbon of Courage and Refugees

One of the new stamp sets in the upcoming 2017 - 18 Annual Catalogue is a set called Ribbon of Courage*, which is a set inspired by Million Dollar Sales Achiever Patty Bennett. It was an all-attendee give-away at OnStage this time. There is a coordinating set of framelits called Support Ribbon Framelit Dies* that can be bundled with this stamp set for a 10% saving, but they weren't part of the give away so I don't have those yet. These loops of ribbons in all different colours signify support for different causes and salute the courage of the victims and survivors of different diseases or experiences.

I wanted to highlight one of the new In Colours, and I chose Berry Burst*, but I found later that there are no causes that use ribbons of this colour, so I decided to pick one myself. Today our Refugee Care Collective from our church met for a pot luck lunch, and for the first time, we were able, via Messenger, to meet and interact with the Syrian Refugee family that we are sponsoring to bring to Canada in the next ten to twelve months! It was wonderful to see them all and talk to them. The family consists of a mother - a widow - and her 6 children ranging in age from 9 to 18 years of age. The mother's sister already lives in our area, sponsored by another group, and her family joined us as well and helped to act as our translators. It was very exciting. In the meantime, we have a lot of fundraising to do, so that we are well prepared to support our family for a year and beyond when they arrive!

Since the father of our family was killed in the bombing in Syria, the family have had a very difficult time ever since and have certainly earned a ribbon of courage! My proposal is that this colour, Berry Burst, be the colour saluting the courage of refugees fleeing their homes in effort to find safe haven from the horrors of war. What do you think?

• The ombre-looking Berry Burst Designer Series Paper you see is a new product called Colour Theory Designer Series Paper Stack*. There are some fantastic ombre and crackle designs in this series. You'll have to have it when you see it! I've paired this Berry Burst hue up with Crumb Cake and I think it's a good fit!
• The ribbon and sentiment are both stamped with the Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad*. The enamel shapes you see are new and are called Glitter Enamel Dots* and will be available in the Annual Catalogue. I love that they are ombre as well!
• The Layering Ovals Framelit Dies die cut the ribbon and the backing for this card and the new Pretty Label Punch* took care of the sentiment and its backing.

*New products from the 2017-18 Annual Catalogue, available on June 1.

Starting today, you can order the beautiful Eastern Palace Suite of products in an early release bundle. You have to buy one of two bundles, outlined below; The smaller bundle, geared to beginner stampers, is $77.75, and the larger bundle for the experienced stampers is $134.75.

Message me if you interested in learning more about this offer or placing an offer.

Speaking of our Syrian refugees, I am sponsoring a fundraising 1 Day Crop/Retreat in the bright, spacious lobby of our church on Saturday, May 27.

It goes from 9 am to 9 pm and Lunch and Supper are provided. There will be a goody bag for each participant as well as door prizes and make & takes and challenges! The cost is $50. The proceeds will go to the Refugee Resettlement Fund. If you are interested, here is the Facebook Link to the event.

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

Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [120953]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Layering Ovals Framelits Dies [141706]	Big Shot [143263]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]
Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]

Ribbon of Courage Stamp Set*, Berry Burst  8 1/2" x 11" Cardstock*, Colour Theory Designer Series Paper Stack*, Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad*, Pretty Label Punch*

*New products from the 2017-18 Annual Catalogue, available on June 1.

Traveler for The Paper Players

Today I'm continuing with my idea of using one sketch to highlight both retiring product and new products in two different cards. My sketch today comes from The Paper Players' latest challenge: a clean and simple project featuring a method of transportation. I chose an ocean liner.

It's interesting, because just this past Sunday, I was watching a documentary about the first steam powered ocean liners between North America and the UK. They were proposed and designed and built by a man called Sir Samuel Cunard. He was so successful that his line of steamships actually exceeded expectations and not only greatly reduced the time and danger of transporting the mail and freight across the Atlantic, but passengers as well. This opened North America up to greatly increased immigration. I was thinking of this as I chose the retiring stamp set I wanted to use for this challenge: Traveler. Here's my design:

• I chose the ship from the Traveler set and stamped it in Soft Suede, but before I stamped, I removed the Soft Suede ink from the top of the three smokestacks and the flag at the front with a Qtip. I then coloured them in with a Real Red Stampin' Write Marker for a little pop of colour in the general sepia tones of the card. I wanted a little more for the water than the stamp provides so I used one of the splatter images from another retiring set (sob!) Gorgeous Grunge with Crumb Cake ink to create some splashy looking waves, then used the same image with VersaMark ink and White Stampin' Emboss Powder, heat set to make some white caps.
• Another spatter image from Gorgeous Grunge was used to add a little grunge to the front panel with Crumb Cake ink.
• The sentiment is from a third retiring set called Suite Sentiments, stamped here in Early Espresso.
• The ship is die cut using the Stitched Shapes Framelits and backed with a Scallop Square from the Layering Squares Framelits.

I then took the same layout and used it to make a similar card with mostly new products from the 2017 - 18 Annual Catalogue. The bundle I chose to use for this is quite possibly the most versatile bundle Stampin' Up! has put out for quite a while! It's called the Colourful Seasons Bundle* and it represents all four seasons with blossoms, leaves, snowflakes and chairs & cold drinks! I've picked summer here and die cut an Adirondack chair with a cold drink of limeade on it, using the Seasonal Layers Thinlits Dies*. Instead of an ocean cruise, we have a Stacation!

• The Colourful Seasons stamp set* includes the sentiment you see and the cold drink, both stamped in the new In Colour, Lemon-Lime Twist*. The chair was die cut as I mentioned before, using the coordinating Thinlits, Seasonal Layers*. The Stitched Shapes Framelits and the Layering Squares Framelits created the panel for the chair just as they did for the ship in the previous card.
• The background texture came from a continuing stamp set called Timeless Textures and a little Bermuda Bay ink added over only part of the image using a Stampin' Write Marker.

There you have my two examples! I hope you're finding this useful. Let me know with a comment!

*New products from the 2017-18 Annual Catalogue, available on June 1.

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

Traveler Wood-Mount Stamp Set** [134510]	Traveler Clear-Mount Stamp Set** [134513]	Suite Sentiments Wood-Mount Stamp Set** [142968]	Suite Sentiments Clear-Mount Stamp Set** [142971]	Gorgeous Grunge Wood Stamp Set** [130514]
Gorgeous Grunge Clear Stamp Set** [130517]	Soft Suede 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [115318]	Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119686]	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101650]	Versamark Pad [102283]
Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [126978]	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974]	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975]	Brights Stampin' Write Markers [131259]	White Stampin' Emboss Powder [109132]
Heat Tool [129053]	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372]	Layering Squares Framelits Dies [141708]	Big Shot [143263]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]
Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]

** Retiring Product - available while supplies last until May 31, 2017

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

Timeless Textures Wood-Mount Stamp Set [140514]	Timeless Textures Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140517]	Bermuda Bay 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131197]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Brights Stampin' Write Markers [131259]
Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372]	Layering Squares Framelits Dies [141708]	Big Shot [143263]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]
Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]

Colourful Seasons Stamp Set*, Lemon Lime Twist 8 1/2 x 11 Cardstock*, Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad*, Seasonal Layers Thinlits Dies*

*New products from the 2017-18 Annual Catalogue, available on June 1.