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

Looking Ahead to Spring

These are the dreary days of the year.  Nights are long, air is cold, colours are dull.  It's so nice to have spring to look forward to.  Imagine if it was "always winter and never Christmas" (from the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis)...

Thankfully, there is a world of spring-like treats in our new Spring Mini Catalogue and I can now show them to you, and you can order!  Hurray!

Click on the picture to download the catalogue!

Inside there is so much to fill your artistic senses, you'll be drooling over it for days.  Go on, take a peek!  You know you want to!

Stampin' Up has also announced two Valentine promotions:

Click on the picture to take you to my online store to take advantage of this new offer!

Soon I will be heading off to Orlando, Florida, to attend Stampin' Up's Leadership Conference, and I will have some time to vacation with my DH before it starts!  I know I will come back with more great ideas and motivation!  Before I go, I have to finish making my swap cards - daunting task, so I must get at it.  I'll share the designs with you after the swaps are done.  In the meantime, Happy Stamping!



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

The Best of Both Worlds

Well, we have only a few days left with our Holiday Mini catalogue.  It's become so well-loved, it's like one of the family, but it never promised to stay, and we only have until January 2, 2013 to order from it!  So better make sure you get what you want, because January 2 is only 17 days away!!

But just wait until you see what's in store for you with our new Spring Mini catalogue!  I just received my preorder on Friday and I could hardly wait to start creating with all the gorgeous products!  I know you're going to love it as much, if not more than you do the Holiday Mini!

My sample today is a Christmas Card, as is fitting 9 days away from Christmas, but it also includes some of my favourite embellishments from the Spring Mini!

 

The two stamp sets I used for this sort of shabby chic style of Christmas were Water Colour Winter from the Holiday Mini and Rejoicing with You from the 2011 - 2012 Idea Book and Catalogue.

 

But do you see that gorgeous lace and ribbon?  That's all from the new Spring Mini, and also that wonderful little medallion!  They are all part of the Artisans Embellishments Kit!  So happy to be able to use more lace!  I think they work well!  What do you think?

 

 

It's definitely winter here!  We had a huge snowfall yesterday, and it is starting again tonight.  Looks like it might be a white Christmas!  I love Christmas time, but the rest of the winter is kind of meh!  So it's nice to look forward to Spring with all the amazing stamps, embellishments, embossing folders and more in the Spring Mini.  I've got a lot more to show you in the days to come!  Stay tuned!

 

 

Stamps: Watercolour Winter (w129724; c129727); Rejoicing with You (w126300; c126302)

Paper:  Crumb Cake (120953) and Very Vanilla (101650) card stock

Ink: Classic Stampin' Pads in Soft Suede (126978), Primrose Petals (126858) and Raspberry Ripple (126859)

Embellishements:  Artisan Embellishments Kit (129328)*

Tools: 3 1/2" Circle Die (121811); Fancy Fan Embossing Folder (127751); Big Shot (113439)