June is Almost Over

There's not much new information from Stampin' Up! to share with you today, but because June is almost over you have only 2 more days to take advantage of a couple of old promotions that expire at the end of June!

The first one is one I think everyone should take advantage of. It's the offer of 2 free stamp sets when you purchase the Starter Kit in June. Only 3 days left to do take advantage of this promotion! Buy the Starter Kit for only $135 and get $165 worth of any current products that you want, free shipping! PLUS choose ANY TWO stamp sets free, regardless of price! That could mean up to $130 more in value, depending on which ones you choose! With all the wonderful new products to choose from, I would recommend this for everyone. You don't need to sell to take advantage of this offer, but you will be able to take advantage of 4 months of 20% discounts, even if you don't! No brainer!

The second is going to be a little harder to make happen in the short time we have left, but is still possible:

If you place an order of  $400 or more at my On-Line Store you can get an extra $40 in free product. Unfortunately, I have no openings in my schedule to do a workshop for you before the end of June, but you could also get together with some friends and send me your orders and you could reap the rewards if they total $400 before tax and shipping.

So just keep those in mind today and tomorrow! In the meantime, here is another couple of informative tutorials from Stampin' Up! to keep you going:


            



           

Sneak Peak!!

Yesterday was the first day that we, as Stampin' Up! demonstrators were able to order from a selection of Sneak Peek products from the new 2015/16 Annual Catalogue. I've got to tell you that it is one of the most exciting things about being a Stampin' Up! demo! And we can now show you products and samples from the Sneak Peek selection to whet your curiosity and excitement before you can order from the catalogue starting June 2, 2015.

Here are the new 2015 - 17 In Colours:

These are the latest on trend colours and we'll be able to play with them for 2 years before they retire! Which is your favourite? I'm going with Mint Macaron and Watermelon Wonder.


And while the new colours are awesome, these aren't even the best things in the new catalogue, as far as I'm concerned. You're going to love it!  I will be getting your new catalogues to you if you are an active customer starting around May 18.  If you haven't been active but would like a free new catalogue, place an order for $50 in the next couple of weeks and I will see that you get one.

CAN'T WAIT??

I never could either! If you don't want to have to wait until June 2 to see, touch, smell and taste the new goodies, I have a solution for you: Get your $125 Starter Kit from Stampin' Up! You'll probably be ordering that much anyway over the next two months. In your Starter Kit you will be able to order $155 dollars worth of any current product you like, INCLUDING any of the Sneak Peek products!
How cool is that? And want to know another COOL thing? Stampin' Up! ships it to you with no shipping charges!

What other benefits are there to purchasing the Starter Kit?

• You will be able to order subsequent products at a minimum 20% discount! Now, that comes in handy.
• Your first $200 or more demonstrator order will have a one time 30% discount if it is within 45 days! How good would that be for stocking up on new catalogue items?
• You will be part of a community of like-minded people who love to stamp and love to share ideas and help you with your stamping needs. There are several Facebook pages to which you will have access, including my own Papercraft Cats page, as well as Stampin' Connection, a demo-only on-line community.

   What's the Catch?

• Honestly, there is none! You don't need to do another thing if you don't want to. If you sign up in May you will continue to enjoy the 20% discount on your favourite papercrafting products until September 30th, 2015. If you order or sell a minimum  of $400 by then, you can keep your demonstrator status. If not, simply drop with no costs or penalties. 
• You are not required to sell, hold parties, carry inventory, attend meetings or anything else unless you want to. If you don't make your quarterly minimums then you just drop. And if you want to make some extra money, the products practically sell themselves when you demonstrate them. I will help you get a good start and support you in building your business your way.

 So How Do I Get the Starter Kit?

• I'm glad you asked. Check the menu at the top of this page and click on the button that says, "Join My Team", then follow the prompts from there. Make sure you have banking info and SIN number as well as a credit card to pay. Make a list of products you'd like to include in your kit up to a value of $155 dollars.  If you'd like some help to navigate your way through, give me a phone call and I can answer all your questions.

 I'm So Excited to Have You Join My Team, the Papercraft Cats!

Non-Christmas Birthday Awareness for Freshly Made Sketches

I needed a break from Christmas cards!  I've been going non-stop Christmas for days now.  It was refreshing to check out my other stamp stash.  When I looked at Freshly Made Sketches Challenge Sketch # 164, the first thing I thought of was Striped Grosgrain Ribbon.  I know most people used the middle panel for a stamped image, but the striped ribbon vision was a persistent one, and, as you can see, it won out!  The ribbon in the sketch was kind of incorporated into the ribbon panel.Then I had to come up with images and/or a sentiment that would go above and below the panel, and Age Awareness was a clear winner!

Here's my birthday card:

• LOVE the colours in this card! Silver, Whisper White and Bermuda Bay make such an eye-catching combination.
• The Striped Grosgrain ribbon looks like it was made for this stamp set, Age Awareness because of the stripes in the letters.  This font is a personal favourite.  I think it's the roundness of the letters, the scrolly lines and the striping inside the letters that caught my eye when I first saw it and have kept my attention all the way through.
• You may be wondering about the little silver stars.  They were from July 2014's Paper Pumpkin Kit.  
  

This is just one of the perks of having a Paper Pumpkin Subscription - you sometimes get left-over materials that you can use on other projects.  Paper Pumpkin prepaid subscriptions are a great Christmas gift for the crafter in your family.  Email me if you are interested.

• Now for the star of the show, Ta Da!:  The Bow!!  To make it I simply crossed the ends of a 10 inch piece of the Bermuda Bay Striped Grosgrain Ribbon over each other on a bit of an angle and flipped it over, the pinched it in the middle.  I secured it in the middle with a scrap piece of Bermuda Bay 1/8" Taffeta ribbon, tied in the back with a knot after one or two wraps around the middle.  I trimmed the ends with a V notch by folding the ribbon exactly in half and snipping from the center on a angle to the outside corners.  Glue dots adhere it to the ribbon wrapped around the center of the Whisper White panel.

These are the last 2 days of the big OnLine Extravaganza sale from Stampin' Up! and today is the second set of Door Busters available for 24 hours only, from 11:00 pm PST  Sunday to 11:00 pm PST tonight. There is an amazing Project Life bundle that will help you get started with your Memory Keeping at 15% off.

There is the Gift Box Bundle - great timing to help you with your Christmas gift packaging for 30% off and....

30% off   12 Blendabilities Assortments, not including the Skin Tone Assortment or the Colour Lifter.

I will put an order in at 5 pm, so if you want anything at all from the sale, don't hesitate to call or email.

Similarly, these are the last two days to join my team for 25% off the Starter Kit!  You do not want to miss out on all the benefits you could get for NO RISK!  Basically, you're getting $155 worth of your favourite Stampin' Up! products for only $93.75 with FREE SHIPPING!  And that's all you have to do.  Even if you never make a single sale, you will get a 20% discount until April, plus your first order you will get 30% off if it is $200 or more.  It's a no brainer folks!  And if you want to make some money and set your own hours and work from home, BONUS!  Contact me today or click on this link and follow the prompts!  By the way, did you know that we don't have to carry inventory? There are not many businesses you could get into that are any safer than this.

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

Age Awareness Photopolymer Stamp Set [135381]	Silver Foil Sheets [132178]	Bermuda Bay 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131197]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad [131171]
Bermuda Bay 1-1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon [134551]	Bermuda Bay 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon [131206]	Glue Dots [103683]	Fuse Fast Adhesive [129026]	Stampin' Trimmer [126889]

Fly Away with Faux Canvas

I'm like many Stampin' Up demonstrators when it comes to Swallowtail, the Giant Behemoth Butterfly!  I love butterflies - don't get me wrong!  But old Swallowtail is just SOO big!  It doesn't even fit on a standard sized card!  I couldn't imagine how to use it.

But a couple of months have passed, and I have had a chance to play around with it a bit, and see how others have used it, and now I kinda like the big fella! 

For my next Technique Night Classes, the theme is Crystal Effects and one of the projects we will be tackling uses the Faux Canvas technique with Crystal Effects.  I learned how to do this technique from Lyssa Zwolanek's blog, and it is fairly simple and works REALLY well!

Here's my version of it:

For once, the photograph does the technique justice and you can see the canvas-like texture created by the Crystal Effects.  I love the Basic Gray image with the Pool Party and Island Indigo card stock.  I hemmed and hawed about what embellishments to add:  brads, buttons, punched butterflies, but in the end I decided that less is more and I let Mr. Swallowtail be the "stah of the show!"

The canvas effect is created by adding Crystal Effect and brushing with a toothbrush first vertically, then horizontally.  Make sure your ink is completely dry before adding the Crystal Effects.  My Island Indigo was not completely dry and bled a tiny bit, but the Basic Gray had been stamped before and was totally dry and there was not a problem with it.  Give it a try!

Another amazing recent announcement from Stampin' Up is that the awesome Starter Kit Deal that you got if you joined Stampin' Up during Sale-A-Bration, has been continued until March 31!  That means, if you sign up to get the Starter Kit, which is already a good deal - $155 worth of any Stampin' Up products you choose for only $125 with free shipping - you get $194 worth for only $125!  Even if you just want to get started stamping, this is your best deal! And you would have at least 3 months of a 20% discount even if you didn't make your minimums (but I can help you with that, too!)  You can't lose with a deal this good!  

I would love to have you join my team!  Give me a call if you are interested or even if you have questions.

Stamps:  Swallowtail (w129213; c129216); Perfectly Penned (w122890; c122892)
Paper:  Pool Party (122924), Island Indigo (122923) and Whisper White (100730) card stock
Accessories:  Crystal Effects (101055); Sycamore Street Button and Ribbon Pack (from Sale-A-Bration; no longer available)

Before the Snow Flies

Travelling can be fun, but there is so much preparation sometimes, that it can get tiring as well.  We want to head out soon on one more expedition to the north before the snow flies, to see our youngest grandbaby and our daughter and son-in-law.  They live about 11 hours north of us, and it won't be long until the temperature drops and the snow packs in for the winter, so it's now or never - or at least until late spring.

You'll get a taste of life in a small northern town by reading her blog:  Honey Nutbrown's.

I've been working hard to prepare for workshops and classes when I get back and I came up with one design to use for our November Technique Nights.  This month the theme is Fancy Fold cards, and I am planning to do an Easel Card, a Gate-Fold Card and this one:  A Swing Card.

I know, I know, it doesn't look much different, but see it in action:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, it was lots of fun to make using the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set and the Holiday Ornaments framelits.  I also used some of the Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper!  It's sooo pretty.  And, of course you know that, during October, if you purchase this stamp set along with the Candlelight Christmas paper, that you will receive a FREE Festive Paper Piercing Pack, with templates for all these framelits and much more.  You need to use a special order code for this bundle, so let me know if you are interested. 

 

And NOW would be a great time to book a party during November.  My November time is quickly filling up, but there are going to be some special reasons why you'll want to book in November.  Just sayin'!  Wink, wink!

 

And finally, you should seriously consider joining my Stampin' Up team for the Christmas season.  Imagine getting all the Stampin' Up products you love at a 20% discount!  How about getting a sneak peek at all the new catalogue products before everyone else and a chance to pre-order the same products?  How about being independent and owning your own business in the fast-growing hobby and craft sector and representing a savvy but caring company with a heart for its demonstrators?  You can have all this and more for just $125!  And what's great is that you can pick any products from the current catalogues to a value of $155 to make up your Starter Kit and Stampin' Up with throw in $70 of business supplies for free!  Whether you are looking to start a profitable and fun home business, or just hobby craft for a discount, look into this wonderful opportunity here.

 

Stamps:  Ornament Keepsakes (w128048; c128051); Seasonal Sayings (w128006; c128009); Christmas Deer (w128144; c128146)

Paper:  Candlelight Christmas Specialty DSP (126901); Early Espresso (119686), Real Red (102482) and Very Vanilla (101650) cardstock

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pads in Real Red (126949) and Early Espresso (126974)

Accessories: 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Real Red (119251); Rhinestone Basic Jewels (119246)

Tools: Big Shot Die Cutting Machine (113439); Scallop Circle Bigz die (113468); Holiday Ornaments Framelits (127816) or bundled with the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set (w129949; c129950)

 

Special October Christmas Gift order codes are found here.



What is Masculine Part Two

Okay, here's my second attempt at Masculine!  This elicited a much more favourable response from my husband.  It was, after all, his anniversary card for our 34th anniversary.  Wow! 34 years!  Where have they gone?

 

 I used Baja Breeze and Early Espresso as my palette and The Open Sea stamp set, which, although unavailable now, is making a comeback in the new catalogue and will be available June 1!  I'm really excited about that because it is a great masculine set. The back panel is dry embossed with the Stripes embossing folder, using the Big Shot.

 The baker's twine around the rectangular panel is in Pool Party!  Have I said how much I love that colour?  The new In Colours for 2012-13 are also really awesome.  Just wait until you see them.  I have had a sneak peak at the new catalogue and I am really impressed.  I'm just waiting to receive my advance order and then I will be creating up a storm to show you the great things you have in store for you.

Speaking of the Big Shot, did you know that if you join my Stampin' Up team, that our NEW starter kit has become much more affordable and versatile.  For only $125, you get to choose ANY merchandise you want from the catalogue, to a maximum value of $155.  That means you could get a Big Shot if you wanted to, plus a few other supplies to start your business, or to add to your hobby supplies. Stampin' Up will also send you a business supply pack worth $70, for a total value of $225.  In addition, your first order as a new demonstrator allows you to get a 30% discount, a full 10% increase over the regular 20% discount.  It sounds like a no brainer to me!!  Contact me for more information.