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)

Some Days It just Doesn't Pay

Ever have one of those frustrating work-hard-but accomplish-next-to-nothing days?  That's the kind of day it's been around here.  Phone calls, door bells, and things just not working out!  I had a Thank You card commissioned by my pastor for a member of the congregation, and I set to work, all excited about using some more new Spring Mini products, and a technique I saw in the Spring Mini as well.  The technique worked, after a couple of trial runs, but I just didn't like the way the card turned out.  In fact, I made 2 versions of it, and didn't particularly like either.  You be the judge:

This is version 1.  That beautiful butterfly in the background is a new stamp set from the Spring Mini, called Swallowtail.  I stamped with VersaMark on a Crumb Cake background and embossed with Melon Mambo embossing powder.  Then I painted areas with Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint and heat set it.  So far so good.  But the more intense colours on the flags and the circles just don't seem to go with the butterfly, even though I used Melon Mambo card stock.  What a difference in intensity!  Maybe because of the fine lines in the stamped image.   That cute little thank you shape is stamped with a new set called Pretty Petites and punched with a new punch called Petite Curly Label Punch.  Each of these products you will be able to earn free with every $60 of product you order during Sale-A-Bration starting January 22, 2013!  Excited yet?

Well, I thought I would remove the flags with their more saturated colours and then see how that looked.  (By the way, the flags were cut with the Hearts a Flutter Framelit dies, new in the Spring Mini catalogue.  These dies can be bundled with the Hearts a Flutter stamp set, also new.)

Here is the result: 

This one seems a little more balanced, by taking off the flags and adding the butterflies, stamped with the Papillon Potpourri stamp set in VersaMark and embossed using Early Espresso embossing powder.  But still not sure I like it.  Maybe I should have used the lighter Pretty in Pink for the embellishments.  Oh well!  Onwards and Upwards, I always say!  Let me know what you think.

These are the last few days for the Holiday Mini catalogue, which you can order from until Jan. 2, 2013.  Were there some sets or tools or accessories that you have been meaning to order?  I will be putting in my last order of 2012 on Saturday, December 22, so make sure you phone or email me before then!  Enjoy your Christmas celebrations, my friend.  I will be doing one last post before Christmas, on Dec. 23.  See you soon!

Stamps: Swallowtail* (w129213; c129216); Papillon Potpourri (w123757; c123759); Pretty Petites** (w129639; c129642)
Paper:  Pretty in Pink (100459), Early Espresso (119686), Melon Mambo (115320), Crumb Cake (120953) and Pool Party (122924) card stock
Ink: VersaMark (102283)
Accessories:  Stampin' Emboss Powder in Melon Mambo (123223) and Early Espresso (128980 - a product that will carry over from the Holiday Mini, and be available until June), Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter (102023) -mixed with the embossing powder for some more sparkle; Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint (116806)
Tools:  Petite Curly Label punch** (129405), 2 3/8" Scallop Circle punch (119854); 1 3/4" Circle punch (119850), Curly Label punch (119851), Elegant Butterfly punch (127526), Heat tool (129053)
*From the Spring Mini Catalogue, coming into effect Jan.3, 2013
** Fron the Sale-A-Bration brochure, coming into effect Jan. 22, 2013