Never Too Much Happy for Dynamic Duos

Do you think it's possible to have too much happiness?  I'm not sure about that.  Could it be that too much happiness would stop feeling like happiness and that we can only know happiness when we've experienced sadness? Kind of like the lyrics for Let Her Go by Passenger:

             

That's kind of depressing to think about, so I'm going to go with the stamp I used on my card for Dynamic Duos Challenge # 94,

You Can Never Have Too Much Happy!

• I used a Whisper White card base which I only do rarely, but it was the right neutral to use in this case, with the Basic Black and Crushed Curry, which I used instead of the retired More Mustard.
• I wanted a light, springy feel and the use of negative space, so I got out my Bitty Butterfly punch and some Crushed Curry DSP from two collections, Eastern Elegance, and the Regals Designer Series Paper Stack.  
• The sentiment is from the Yippee Skippee stamp set and it fits perfectly on one of the Banner Framelits with room for a little black butterfly, the positive space to one of my negative spaces here.

• To get the Basic Black squares with the butterfly shape so perfectly centered, it's much easier to punch the butterfly first and then use one of the Squares Collection framelits and center the butterfly in the middle of it, then die cut using the Big Shot. (And the Magnetic Platform, which holds the framelit firmly in place while you're rolling it through the Big Shot.)
• To showcase the negative space, each black square was mounted with dimensionals on a square of Crushed Curry DSP, so the shadows cast would accentuate the punched hole.
• When mounting the squares on the card base, it is much easier to adhere the top and bottom square  a set distance from the edges and then center the third square between them.

Here are the regular Weekly Deals for the week of March 18 - 24:

CRISP CANTALOUPE 3/8" RUFFLE STRETCH TRIM Price: $12.50 $9.38	GRAD PARTY ENSEMBLE - DIGITAL DOWNLOAD Price: $10.95 $6.57	IN COLOR BOUTIQUE DETAILS Price: $11.50 $8.63	PEWTER STAMPIN' EMBOSS POWDER Price: $5.95 $4.46
SCALLOP TRIM BORDER PUNCH Price: $20.95 $15.71	SILVER GLASS GLITTER Price: $4.95 $3.71	TEMPTING TURQUOISE STAMPIN' EMBOSS POWDER Price: $5.95 $4.46	VINTAGE TRINKETS ACCENTS & ELEMENTS Price: $7.50 $5.63

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

131341	131344	130131	130139	100730	121045
129406	130921	122344

Framed!

I've just recently become enamoured with frames - old frames, weathered and ornate frames, repainted and distressed frames.  Keep your eyes open for me because I have lots of plans for them especially now that I finally was able to buy the Typeset Alphabet Bigz Dies!  So excited about all I'm going to be able to do with the letters.  Keep tuned for some great classes ahead!

We returned from visiting my daughter in Fort St. James today - brutal drive!  Eleven hours of sitting in the car!  Not my idea of fun, in fact I can hardly bear to be sitting here typing this blog post!  But it was worth it to spend some time with her and her family, including my grandson, Kesten!

I needed a creative fix when I got home, so I worked on a card idea I formulated in the car during those eleven interminable hours!  It involves a frame!  Guess where it's from:

Give up?  Okay, I'll tell you.  It's from the Papaya Collage stamp set.  It was one of the first stamp sets I purchased when the 2012/13 Catalogue came out, but after using it a few times, decided I didn't really like it, especially the frame, mostly because I always just stamped the frame, usually in black.  

But recently, I realized that it would perfectly frame some of the newer sentiments, like Feel Goods, shown here, and it would be great embossed in white or some other colour. ( It would work well with the Chalkboard Technique as well!)  So I decided to resurrect it and use it on a vintage-designed card like this one. 

I stamped some designs from the Established Elegance stamp set in StazOn Black on First Edition Specialty Designer Series paper.  I then punched out the bird, wing and branch shapes using the Bird Builder punch, and the large and small butterflies using the Elegant Butterfly and the Bitty Butterfly punches.  Then I sponged all the edges using Soft Suede Ink.  The card base and sentiment panel are Soft Suede, and the Very Vanilla back panel is embossed using the Lacy Brocade Embossing folder, held over from the Holiday Mini Catalogue, and available until May 31.  I used this method to tie a bow using Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon.  Then I added another bow, tying it onto the first one and trimming the ends.  The addition of a few Pearl Basic Jewels completed the look.

And MORE news from Stampin' Up:  They are changing the packaging for the wood mount stamps in a way I think you are all going to like!  Check it out here:

Did you catch some of those sneak peeks of the new catalogue as well?  No?  Better watch it again.

By the way, if some of you ordered Not Quite Navy card stock on the weekend, it is now completely out of stock, and they may not have been able to fill your order.  If this applies to you, Stampin' Up will be issuing refunds starting in a couple of weeks.  Boy, when they say "while supplies last", they mean it.  It's important to act quickly!

Have a great weekend, and we'll see you on Monday!

Stamps:  Papaya Collage (w126610; c126612); Established Elegance (w122530; c122532); Feel Goods (w129681; c129684)
Paper: First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper (121878); Soft Suede (115318) and Very Vanilla (101650) card stock
Ink:  StazOn Jet Black (101406); VersaMark (102283)
Accessories:  Stampin' Emboss Powder in White (109132); 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon in Crumb Cake (122332); Pearl Basic Jewels (119247); Large Pearl Basic Jewels (125577)
Tools:  Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (127819); Big Shot (113439); Bird Builder Punch (117191); Elegant Butterfly Punch (127526); Bitty Butterfly Punch (129406)

Established Elegance

Papaya Collage

Feel Goods

Bitty Butterfly Punch

Bird Builder Punch

Lacy Brocade TIEF

Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon

First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper

Vendor Fair Tomorrow and Blog Contest

I am excited to be a vendor at ...

...tomorrow!  I've been preparing for a while now.  I will have some retired rubber for sale as well as some cards  and some Try It Kits for My Paper Pumpkin.  I am super happy to be going back to Our Lady of Lourdes Spring Fling because it is really where I got my start as a Stampin' Up Demonstrator.

Yes, around a year ago, I had just signed up as a demo and, wet behind my ears, I was asked if I wanted to do this craft fair in place of my up line because she was too busy!  I had no clue what I was doing and I needed all her display items because I had none of my own, but the up shot was that I met some of my best customers at that fair and it was the start of my Stampin' Up career!  Fond memories!

Here are some of the things I've been working on:

Aren't these adorable?  I made a visit to the Bulk Barn for their great gourmet jelly beans and then got to work filling Stampin' Up's 1" x 8" cellophane bags (which have a great self-stick closure at the top) and creating the cute tags for them.  I used the Owl Builder Punch (SO versatile) to make the chicks along with the Boho Blossoms punch for their little top-knot!  

The Elegant Butterfly Punch and the Bitty Butterfly punch created the three layer butterfly tags, and I used the new Pinwheel Sizzlits S Die to make the pinwheel toppers.  Where you see DSP there, it is from the Sunshine and Sprinkles Series.  

Does anyone recognize the ribbon?  I'm batting 1000 this week with retired product, but I thought the craft fair was a good place to use up a some stuff I still had hanging around!  Leave me a comment with your name and email info if you recognize the ribbon and I will enter your name in the draw to win a little treat from Stampin' Up!

My other project is a fund raiser to benefit Breast Cancer Research.  I got the design from a Pin on Pinterest, created by Amanda Frankel.

Half of all the proceeds from the sale of these cards, I will donate to the BC Cancer Foundation!  And here's another little contest for you.  How did I get those bras made since I'm pretty sure Stampin' Up doesn't have a bra punch.  Yet it is made with a Stampin' Up punch.  Leave me a comment with the right answer and your  email info and you will have your name entered in the draw for a little treat.  

And if you live in my area, come and see me on Saturday, April 6 from 10 am to 2 pm at Our Lady of Lourdes school gym on Hebert Road, and pick up some of my goodies!  I hope to see you there.

Stamps:  Feel Goods (w129681; c129684); You Are Loved (w123777; c123779); Teeny Tiny Wishes (w115370; c127802)

Paper:  Daffodil Delight (119683), Melon Mambo (115320), Whisper White (100730), Regal Rose (105130), Pretty in Pink (100459), Pumpkin Pie (105117), So Saffron (105118), and Wild Wasabi (108641) card stock;  Sunshine and Sprinkles DSP (126922)

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pads in Melon Mambo (126948), Regal Rose (126947), and Basic Gray (126981)

Accessories:  Mini brads (), 1" x 8" Cellophane bags (), ___?____ ribbon; 3/8" Striped Organdy Ribbon in Melon Mambo (129293), Rhinestone Basic Jewels (119246)

Tools: Owl Builder Punch (118074); Elegant Butterfly Punch (127526); Bitty Butterfly Punch (129406); Pinwheel Sizzlites S Die (129411)

You're Such an Amazing Friend

You are.  Really!  You keep reading my posts day after day, making nice comments, coming to my classes!  I really value your friendship!  So this card is for YOU!

Thank you for everything!  I really enjoyed designing this card.  I was using the criteria for the Dynamic Duos challenge #37 this week:  Crumb Cake and Soft Suede.

I love the monochromatic look, especially in the neutral shades.  It looks so old fashioned like a sepia photograph.  I took a photo of our backyard this week, covered in a new blanket of snow.  I added a sepia filter and it does make it look aged.

Have you ever been really excited about a card design you've created, and then gone and checked your files and found a swap card you'd been given that was so similar that you couldn't take credit for the design without acknowledging at least the subconscious impression left by the other card's designer.  That's what happened with this card.  After I finished it, I was looking at my swap cards and came across a similar one created by Sandra Ross of Truro, Nova Scotia! Thanks, Sandra, for the inspiration!

The card, of course, uses a palette of Soft Suede, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla as a neutral, and uses the Amazing Family stamp set from the Spring Mini Catalogue.  It uses some of the lovely embellishments from the Spring Mini as well, like the 5/8" Flower trim and the Paper Doilies.  The little butterflies are stamped with the Papillon Potpourri Stamp set and punched out with the Bitty Butterfly coordinating punch.

And we now interrupt this post with an important announcement:

WE HAVE PRODUCT SHARES READY FOR YOU TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF!!!

If you have been wanting more of the amazing ribbons, papers and embellishments in the Spring Mini Catalogue, but your budget won't let you buy them all, then why not share your purchases with other customers so you can all have the variety in smaller quantities for less money.  Check out the shares available by going to the top menu bar and clicking on Product Shares or check it out here.  All the information will be there for you.  And readers who do not live close by, as long as you are in Canada, I can ship your product shares to you!  I'm really excited to offer my out-of-town readers the first of many opportunities to be part of my stampin' community!  

Stamps:  Amazing Family (w129189; c129192), En Francais (w109521), Papillon Potpourri (w123757; c123759)

Papers:  Soft Suede (115318), Crumb Cake (120953) and Very Vanilla (101650) card stock

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pad in Crumb Cake (126975) and Soft Suede (126978)

Embellishments:  Paper Doilies (129399); 5/8" Flower Trim (126869); Pearl Basic Jewels (119247); 5/8" Crochet Trim (118481); 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Soft Suede (122967)

Tools:  Square Lattice Embossing Folder (119976); Bitty Butterfly punch (129406); Ovals Collection Framelits (129381); Big Shot (113439)

Amazing Family

En Francais Stamp

Papillon Potpourri

Flower Trim