Shut the Barn Door! And Happy New Year!

Hi! How was your Christmas, everyone! Are you still partly tranquilized from eating turkey? You know, all the L-tryptophan your body has ingested with the turkey, which is needed to create serotonin, which in turn is needed to produce melatonin - the sleep enhancing hormone. In truth, this is more of a myth than fact, since turkey is no higher in L-tryptophan than chicken and we certainly don't notice the effect after a chicken bbq! But it's always a good excuse for a nap and to get out of Christmas dinner dishes!!

I had a wonderful time on the island with my daughter Erin and her family. If I get home in time, I'll add a few photos, otherwise you'll see them later in the week.

I wanted to share with you a multi-function card today: it's a New Year's Card, it gives you a sneak peek of a new bundle from the Occasions catalogue, it promotes a retiring bundle, and it is my FREE PHOTO TUTORIAL for my January Newsletter. You can subscribe to my FREE monthly newsletter by entering your email address in the box below and clicking on GO!

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• The card features the new *Barn Door Bundle from the Occasions Catalogue and is it ever a cool set! Look at that hardware and the door handle. And it really does slide although the hardware is just for show and it's really a slider card mechanism that makes it work!
• The texture on the Very Vanilla paper behind the barn door is embossed using the *Simple Stripes embossing folder, making it look like siding or panelling.
• I was going to just do something springy with the set, but then I noticed that the sentiments for the *Barn Door stamp set are perfect for a wish for someone at the beginning of a brand new year: Check them out:

*Product will be available to order when the 2018 Occasions Catalogue is in effect starting Jan. 3, 2018.

• so I add a stitched circle with a sentiment from Cheers to the Year stamp set, which is in the Holiday Catalogue and is retiring Jan. 2, to make it into a New Year's card. It was one of my favourites from the Holiday Catalogue and I got a lot of use out of it and if you think weddings, anniversaries, Canada Day, and winter birthdays, you could be using it a good portion of the year! Don't wait too long to get it though, because it's retiring and will no longer be available after Jan. 2.
• But because my tutorial will probably get to you after New Year's, I picked a different embellishment on the front for my newsletter card:

• If you want to know how I got the single words on those "behind the door" sentiments embossed without masking anything, you'll definitely want to get the free photo tutorial.

My photo tutorials feature clear step-by-step photo-enhanced directions plus a list of supplies and tools needed, including all measurements. I have a whole whack of them stored on my computer that I think should be doing someone some good, so starting in January, I will be making them available on this blogsite. Once a tutorial has been in my newsletter, I will wait 4 - 5 months before posting it on this blogsite so there is still an advantage to subscribing to the newsletter.

It's almost over! Only 6 more days to get those products you had your eyes on in the Holiday catalogue before they are gone for good, so let me know if you want to place an order before the 31st of December. 

Only 5 more days to reserve yours! Go to my On-Line Store and click on Stamparatus to reserve!

Merry Christmas!

To all my readers, wherever you are: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

If you don't celebrate Christmas: Happy Holidays!

I hope you have a day filled with family, friends and fun! If you happen to be alone or sad this year, here is an extra hug and prayer coming your way. Remember, this too will pass. Things will get better! Be good to yourself.

God Bless Us, Everyone!

Just a Note of Thanks

Sometimes, some of the most stamping fun I have is making these little 3" x 3" mini cards, which I often do for customer thank yous! They are quick and cute for sure, but you can really exercise some creativity to get a pleasing image on a tiny space without a lot of room for gobs of technique and embellishment. Then there is the pleasure of being able to use up bits and pieces of materials that would otherwise go to waste! I combined some pretty diverse elements to make these little 'notes' of thanks (did you see what I did there?) for my last order to go out before Christmas! I wanted them to be elegant and glitzy but not too much work as I prepare to take a bit of a break for about a week surrounding Christmas. Here's a closer look:

• I made use of bits of leftover Merry Music Specialty Designer Series Paper for the background. I've loved having this sheet music DSP for Christmas cards this year and I hope this is not the only time we'll have some. However, we always have the Sheet Music Background stamp to fall back on, I guess.
• I love the Black, White and Gold colour palette. So elegant, especially when you throw in some Glimmer Paper! I die cut the treble clefs from the Musical Instruments Framelits from Gold Glimmer Paper backed with Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets to turn them into stickers, easy to adhere.
• I'm sure you've noticed the little leaf cut outs behind the treble clefs. Those were punched from Whisper White paper with a Martha Stewart leaf punch that I've treasured for awhile. It creates a texture that you can't get from anything else.
• The sentiment is from the Floral Phrases stamp set, but I've cropped off the ending "to you..." so it would fit on this small space.

I hope you're almost ready for the big day and starting to take some time to enjoy yourselves! What will Santa be bringing you this year? Let me know what you asked him for in the comments below. And don't forget about the year end sale and the Stamparatus Reservation Window still open.  

Merry Christmas!

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

Floral Phrases Wood-Mount Stamp Set [141764] $33.00	Floral Phrases Clear-Mount Stamp Set [141767] $24.00	Merry Music Specialty Designer Series Paper [144623] $17.00	Gold Glimmer Paper [133719] $6.75	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [140272] $9.25
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $11.25	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931] $9.25	Musical Instruments Framelits Dies [144677] $38.00	Big Shot [143263] $136.00	Big Shot Die Brush - New Configuration [144262] $16.50
Stampin' Trimmer [126889] $40.00	Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets [144106] $13.50	Glue Dots [103683] $7.00	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755] $5.25	SNAIL Permanent Adhesive [104332] $9.00

Party Pandas Sneak Peek!

There is always that one stamp set in every new batch that has everyone talking. Last year's Sale-A-Bration, it was Hey, Chick - the one with the crazy chickens! This year, I'm pretty sure it's going to be these adorable **Party Pandas! Look at them in all their pulchritudinous plumpness! It was one of the stamp sets I had to get out and assemble before all the others. This makes a really cute card for one of my grandkids doesn't it? But a person of any age, if they have any sense of fun at all, with adore these little guys! They are one of the Level 1 Sale-A-Bration rewards that you can earn with a purchase of $60 on an order once SAB gets started on Jan. 3.

**Product will be available to order when the 2018 Sale-A-Bration Brochure is in effect starting  Jan. 3, 2018.

• I stamped these images in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink so that I could use my Stampin' Blends to add little pops of colour to the mainly black and white cards. You might want to use a Stampin' Pierce Mat underneath your cardstock to ensure that you get complete coverage on your stamped images, even though they are red rubber stamps.
• This stamp set has three cute little sentiment as well, in the bold printed font! I used the Happy Birthday. The other two say Hi and Love You.   
• I used the Daffodil Delight Light and Dark Stampin' Blends for the balloon and the Rich Razzleberry Light and Dark Stampin' Blends for the party hat.
• The finishing touch was the addition was the enamel shapes used as juggling  balls!
• The background Designer Series Paper is from the Occasions catalogue and is known as *Petal Passion Designer Series paper, a series of Black and White floral designs.    

 *Product will be available to order when the 2018 Occasions Catalogue is in effect starting Jan. 3, 2018.                            

                     

Have you reserved your Stamparatus yet? If not, you still can do it, by going to my On-Line Store and clicking on Stamparatus to resevere. Just follow the prompts but make sure you have a customer account set up and your credit card hand! You have until Dec. 31st to do it and it will be first come first served in terms of when yours is shipped out in March and beyond. 

                                                                                                                                                             This will be the Last Reservation Window opened, your last opportunity to reserve one!                                          

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

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [140272] $9.25	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $11.25	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] $8.00	Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack [144603] $12.00	Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack [144602] $12.00
Stampin' Pierce Mat [126199] $7.00	Brights Enamel Shapes [141680] $12.00	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755] $5.25	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026] $13.50

**Party Pandas Stamp Set
*Petal Passion Designer Series Paper

**Product will be available to order when the 2018 Sale-A-Bration Brochure is in effect starting  Jan. 3, 2018.    

*Product will be available to order when the 2018 Occasions Catalogue is in effect starting Jan. 3, 2018.

Heartfelt Blooms - A SAB Sneak Peek and Clearance Rack Refresh

Remember me telling you about the Stampin' Up! 2018 Sale-A-Bration Brochure? Remember me saying that the products in the brochure were almost better than the products in the Occasions Catalogue? Well, if you go look on a number of Stampin' Up! demos' blogs, you'll see a lot of Sale-A-Bration products being demonstrated compared to the number of products from the regular Occasions catalogue. All this to say that the rewards you can earn in this year's Sale-A-Bration are well worth it!

Today, I'm showing you the first stamp set in the brochure, **Heartfelt Blooms! It has this gorgeous floral image, which is a new type of stamp called a Distinktive* stamp (*Patent pending) which lays down the ink at different opacities, giving the finished image more depth. All you have to do is to lightly ink the the stamp surface and you get a perfect photographic finish! Then there are three different sentiments, one of which you can see here, in a lovely script that I fell in love with at first sight!

**Product will be available to order when the 2018 Sale-A-Bration Brochure is in effect starting         Jan. 3, 2018.

• The Designer Series Paper you see the image mounted on (after fussy cutting, I'm afraid, as there are no coordinating framelits unfortunately) is from the Sweet Soiree suite in the Occasions Catalogue and it's a specialty paper filled with designs that have silver foil highlights on one side, and colourful printed images on the other side. It's called *Sweet Soiree Specialty Designer Series Paper.
• The ribbon you see is from the same suite. It's *Berry Burst 3/8" Metallic-Edge Ribbon, fitting in with the family we have from the Annual Catalogue of the Gold and the Silver Metallic-Edged ribbon of the same kind.
• I punched out the sentiment with the Pretty Label Punch from the Annual Catalogue as well.

*Product will be available to order when the 2018 Occasions Catalogue is in effect starting Jan. 3, 2018.

Sale-A-Bration is coming and I'm excited! You should be, too, because it's the best we've had in a very long time, as far as I'm concerned! Not only are the rewards you can earn for free when you purchase $60 worth of product better than anything we've had in a long while, but we have, for the first time, two tiers of rewards: one level for spending $60 before tax and shipping, and another level you can access if you want, when you spend $120 or more before tax and shipping. Anyone who earns at least one SAB reward during the period of Jan. 3 - Mar. 31st will also earn an invitation to my exclusive, invitation-only Celebrate Sale-A-Bration Party in April, one that you don't want to miss!

You can also earn more Stampin' Awards when you Host a Stampin' Up! party or private class! Stampin' Up! has added an extra $35 in rewards when you reach an easy qualifying level in sales.

But the best news is when you buy the Starter Kit, giving you Demonstrator status! Not only do you get the regular amazing deal of $165 worth of any current product you want for only $135 with free shipping, but you can also choose TWO additional FREE stamp sets (no bundles, kits or SAB items) with your kit - that's up to a $132 extra in value!! WOW! Who wouldn't go for that amazing deal, especially when there are no risks to take?!

All this crazy, happy madness starts JAN. 3rd, so get yourself prepared! It lasts until March 31st!

Stampin' Up! has refilled the Clearance Rack with new products up to 60% off. Check it out and move quickly on the popular items! They disappear quickly! Here's the link.

This event continues until Jan. 2, 2018! Go to my On-Line Store to check out the deals and the products on sale. Many products from the Holiday Catalogue are retiring and won't be available after Jan. 2nd. Get them while supplies last.

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

Sweet Soirée Specialty Designer Series Paper [145564] $17.00	Berry Burst 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [144243] $10.00	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045] $10.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $11.25	Basic Gray Archival Stampin’ Pad [140932] $9.25
Pretty Label Punch [143715] $23.50	Paper Snips Scissors [103579] $13.50	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755] $5.25	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026] $13.50	Glue Dots [103683] $7.00
Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $5.25

**Heartfelt Blooms stamp set

*Sweet Soiree Specialty Designer Series Paper, *Berry Burst Metallic Edge Ribbon

*Product will be available to order when the 2018 Occasions Catalogue is in effect starting Jan. 3, 2018.

**Product will be available to order when the 2018 Sale-A-Bration Brochure is in effect starting         Jan. 3, 2018.