Encre, papier, ciseaux

Vellum Stain Glass

One of the techniques I've done with my club before and that has always been popular was the stained glass look on vellum, so when I received the Botanical Garden vellum stack during Sale-A-Bration, I thought I could use it to recreate this technique. It took a little while to color all of the leaves and flowers, but the result is pretty cool!

I used the In Color Designer tape offered as a hostess gift in the Occasions catalogue to hold my piece of vellum on the card. It's not only pretty, but it solves the problem of how to affix the vellum to the card without having adhesive showing through it.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Coffret de souhaits (Tin of Cards)
Cardstock: Hello Honey
Designer Series Paper: Botanical Garden, Botanical Garden Vellum
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Stampin' Write Markers, White Stampin' Emboss Powder,
Botanical Builder Framelits Dies, White Medium Envelope, Rhinestone basic Jewels,
2015-2017 In Color Designer Washi Tape (hostess), Circle Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Botanical Card Series

Through the Succeed Weekly bulletin sent by Stampin' Up!, I got a tutorial for five cards and a card holder made with the beautiful Botanical Garden line. I really liked the projects, so I decided to use the tutorial to make cards to send out to my downline members. I didn't need the card holder, so I transferred its design to a regular card with a belly band on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Botanical Blooms, Des fleurs pour toi (Botanicals for You), Timeless Textures
Cardstock: Mint Macaron, Old Olive, Cajun Craze, Hello Honey
Designer Series Papers: Botanical Garden, Botanical Garden Vellum
Ink: Mint Macaron, Old Olive, Hello Honey, Cajun Craze, VersaMark, Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Botanical Builder Framelits Dies, White Medium Envelopes,
White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Rhinestone Basic Jewels,
Brick Wall Embossing Folder, Twine, Scallop Tag Topper Punch, Glimmer Tape

 

Rocking Around the Christmas Tree

This card was inspired by Merry Monday #198 (Christmas Carol Theme), Simon Says Stamp and Mojo Monday #441.

I found some cute patterned papers from Kaiser Craft in the liquidation pile during a Easter sale my local store was holding, so it was a good opportunity to crack the pack open when working on the Merry Monday challenge. One of the patterned papers had a bunch of little sentiments lined up and I looked at them to see if anything was linked to a Christmas carol. A lot were, but I ended up choosing Rocking around the Christmas tree and pairing it with the tree-patterned paper, and the cute tree from one of my favorite sets, Color Me Christmas. The card came together very easily, thanks in part to the scallop border die-cut which was included in the paper pack. It might be hard to tell in the picture, but I added a line of white fine glitter between the two papers as well, and the doily was die-cut out of a piece of patterned paper from the same pack that was already embossed with a glossy doily pattern.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Color Me Christmas (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Glorious Green, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Holly Jolly (Kaiser Craft)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento
Accessories: Decorative Doily Duo Die-namics (MFT), Jumbo Rhinestone Basic Jewels,
White Square Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals, Markers,
Wonky Stitches Square Die-namics (MFT), Sticky Strip, White Fine Glitter

 

Cold Sledding Day

I wanted to ink my In the Meadow stamp set so I looked through past sketches to find one that could work with this set and settled on MFT Sketch #265. It also happened to fit nicely with this week's Merry Monday challenge #198, since the sentiment I used is part of the We Wish You a Merry Christmas carol. I really like how everything pulled together nicely: the papers and colors, the sparkly die-cut tree, the Metallics Glitter Tape (from Sale-A-Bration), the enamel dots, the pewter embossed sentiment... This will be going into the vault to be sent out next Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: In the Meadow (Paper Trey)
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Winter Fun (Carta Bella)
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, VersaMark, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: In the Meadow Dies (Paper Trey), Silver Glimmer Paper, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Home for Christmas Enamel Dots, Pewter Stampin' Emboss Powder, Crumb Cake Medium Envelope,
Metallics Glitter Tape

 

Li'l Ski Dude

We had one of our colleagues announce that he was leaving for another job, which I was sad to hear since it was someone I was directly assisting and that was great to have around at the office. I wanted to make a fun card for him to wish him good luck that we could all sign, and since he's a skier, I thought this little dude would be perfect.

I've told you before I have a reference binder with images from my stamp collection to help me when I'm looking for something specific, but more recently, I also put together an Excel file where I listed the actual sentiments I have in my stamp sets for when I'm looking for exact wordings. This came in handy here to quickly find a "good luck" stamp (and as it turns out, there aren't a whole lot of those - Stampin' Up! is high on the thank yous, but not so much on the good lucks, it seems). The one I picked comes from the very first sentiment set they translated ten years ago, Sincères salutations.

I also used the Love You Sew Hostess Set (currently offered in the Occasions catalogue) to add stiching on my paper.

Design was inspired by Mojo Monday #418.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Skiing Don (Marianne Design), Sincères salutations (Stampin' Up!), Love You Sew (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Morning Marigold, Very Vanilla
Patterned Papers: Boy Crazy (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Tango Tangerine
Accessories: Markers, Gold Baker's Twine, Buttons,
Gold Glimmer Paper, Stars Framelits Dies, Star Punch,
Project Life Corner Punch, Vanilla Medium Envelope

 

2016 Easter Treats

I found some mini eggs at my local Bulk Barn and decided to treat my colleagues to a little Easter sugar. I looked at my box dies and settled on the milk carton, which is the right size for the eggs and still one of my favorite container die. I also pulled out my favorite retired Easter set, An Egg-cellent Easter. Once my sample box was done, the other boxes came together pretty quickly, as I worked assembly-style to put them together.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: An Egg-cellent Easter
Patterned Papers: Painted Fancy (Recollections)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Wisteria Wonder, Blushing Bride, Soft Sky,
Pistachio Pudding
Accessories: Glimmer Tape, Milk Box Die, Scallop Oval Punch,
Silver Gel Pen, Stampin' Dimensionals, Blending Pen,
Stapler, Ribbon, Mini Decorative Label Punch

 

Tea for Mom

This card was inspired by Create with Connie and Mary #399 and Pals Paper Arts #293. The card base was stamped with the Brushstrokes background stamp. I didn't mean to cut the stripes off at the bottom, I was just a little off when stamping but that actually made the card design a little more interesting in the end. The lovely bit of glimmer is the glimmer tape offered during Sale-A-Bration.

The teapot was die-cut using the Cups & Kettle Framelits and I flipped the cardstock upside down to have the teacup facing left. The steam was die-cut out of vellum, and the little spoon was die-cut out of Silver Foil Paper. The sentiment reads, "Best Mom in the World."

The stitching design at top was stamped with the hostess set Love You Sew (Occasions Catalogue).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Petite tasse (A Nice Cuppa), Brushstrokes, Love You Sew
Cardstock: Blushing Bride, Mint Macaron, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Blushing Bride, So Saffron
Accessories: Glimmer Tape, Mint Macaron/Black Baker's Twine, Silver Foil Paper,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Vellum Paper, Cups & Kettle Framelits Dies

 

Sweet Thank You

This card was inspired by the Paper Craft Crew Card Sketch #187. As I was about 2/3 done with coloring my image, one of my markers unexpectedly dripped a big green blob on my cardstock. I took the ink out as best as I could but you could still see a slight green outline, so I added other colored blobs in the sky, which happened to look like clouds, so I was able to save my work, as I was too lazy to start again from scratch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: The Pretend Friend (Gorjuss), Ce que j'aime (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Green Galore, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Spring Garden (Doodlebug)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento
Accessories: Die-namics Dies, Buttons, Gingham Ribbon,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Markers, White Medium Envelope

 

Twice as Many Thanks

This is two versions of a design inspired by the Stampin' Royalty #322 color combo and the Try Stampin' on Tuesday #263 sketch. I used the Sale-A-Bration set called What I Love to make cards for my downline members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Hardwood, Ce que j'aime (What I Love), Coffret de souhaits (Tin of Cards)
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Tip Top Taupe, Very Vanilla
Ink: Sahara Sand, Tip Top Taupe, Watermelon Wonder
Accessories: Watermelon Wonder Ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Project Life Corner Punch, Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder,
Vanilla Medium Envelopes

 

101 Dalmatians

Years ago (and I mean years ago), a demonstrator friend of mine started selling scrapbook kits put together with Stampin' Up! supplies. She had some really interesting kits available, so when I was visiting for a team event, I bought a couple of kits from her. I used the first one almost right away, but the Halloween one was put aside because I didn't really have any pictures fit for it. Flash forward to last month as I was putting supplies away and decided I was tired of always pulling it out then back in my stash, so I pulled out my pictures to try and find something appropriate to finally use the kit. I found the pictures of us at the office the year we had a costume contest and my team and I decided to do a group costume and all dress as Cruella and the 10q dalmatians. Christine actually won with her Cruella costume, which she had put a lot of thoughts and efforts into, so it was a well-deserved win. I think we made pretty cute dalmatians ourselves. I had made my ears out of black and red felt, and had glue metal wire between the two layers to be able to give the ears the shape I wanted. I then wrapped a headband with black satin ribbon, and glued the ears on it. Worked pretty well! We had also found some gold plastic medals at the dollar store, which I transformed into dog collars using wide velvet ribbon (with velcro in the back) and I used my Big Shot to die-cut each of our initials to put on the medals.

The girls handcut their dots, but I used my Circles Bigz die to cut out mine. The worst part of the costume was stitching the dots to my clothes one by one, being careful since those were clothes I was actually planning on wearing again after Halloween. That part took the better part of an evening!

The funny part about the kit I used is that back then, the demo had shown the layout she had made with the kit, but that was so long ago that I wasn't sure what the design looked like anymore, so I just placed all of the parts on the table and simply created something from scratch using the pieces available. A nice coincidence was that the kit had a bunch of circles punched out of patterned papers and cardstock - perfect for the dalmatians theme!

My favorite part of the page is the "101" numbers, which I die-cut using the Big Numbers Framelits dies (from the Occasions catalogue). But if you click on the picture to see the details better, you'll see the spotty paper I used is actually a card from the Specialty Project Life Cards pack that was offered during Sale-A-Bration. (Did you get yours?) The cards have embossed details on them, which you can highlight by sponging ink in the colour of your choice on it. I used black ink on mine.

Here's a piece of advice for you: I started with our Basic Black Archival Ink and before I was halfway done, I realized it was staining the embossing instead of being resisted by it, so I switched to Tuxedo Black Memento ink for the other side to see if I would like the result better, and I did. This time, I was able to wipe away the extra ink from the dots and have them appear white, which made the pattern stand out way better. Something to keep in mind with that technique...

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Old Olive
Designer Series Papers: ?
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento
Accessories: Glimmer Brads, Glimmer Tape, Dymo Tape,
Circle Punch, Black Journaling Pen, Black Lace Trim, Rich Razzleberry Ribbon,
Border CutUp Dies, Perfect Print Alphabet Bigz Dies, Big Numbers Framelits Dies,
Specialty Memories in the Making Project Life Cards, Sponge

 

On Santa's Lap

My friend sent a picture of her baby girl on Santa's lap this Christmas and it was so adorable, I knew I wanted to include it in my scrapbook to keep it. I also happened to have Christmas stickers that were very similar in colours to the card, so they were the starting point of my page. I looked through my papers to find something that would match and found papers that have been in my stash for a long time. I always found them to be very pretty, but their designs is so big that it can only be used as a full page, because if you cut them up, you lose the pattern. I picked the red paper with snwflakes for this page, and mounted it on green cardstock to make it sturdier. I then looked at past Page Maps sketches to find one I could work with to make my page.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz
Patterned Papers: ?
Accessories: Decorative Doily Duo Die-namics (My Favorite Things), Christmas Stickers,
Rickrack, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stamp Punch, Buttons, Twine,
White Polka Dot Organza Ribbon, Eyelet, Library Card Die-Cut (My Mind's Eye),
    Snowflake Stickers (Doodlebug Design), Silver Glimmer Paper, Big Snowflake Die,
White Paper Doily

 

Thirties Style

When my brother-in-law turned 30, my sister gave him a waist bag as a joke, saying that he was now old and that he would soon be starting to dress like an old man. He was quick to bring back the bag when it was her thirtieth birthday. The kids starting trying on the bag, and my niece was just hilarious with the bag on over her pink-heart pj's, drinking milk out of a sippy cup... Seems like everything is cuter on a 1½ year old!

I used the Number of Years stamp set and matching Big Numbers Framelits to cut out my 30 out of red paper.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Au fil des ans (Number of Years), Mois de l'année Courrier (Lime Citron)
Ink:VersaMark, Bermuda Bay
Patterned Papers: Life in Color (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Life in Color stickers (Simple Stories), Wooden Elements, Big Numbers Framelits Dies,
Project Life Corner Punch, Real Red Satin Ribbon, Alphabet Stickers,
Red and Black Glimmer Paper, Black Journaling Pen

 

Get Better Soon (And Get Off That Couch)

I had listed the types of cards I was low on and get well soon was one of them. I thought the On My Couch set could work well for that, so I paired it with some papers from Kesi'art I hadn't gotten out in quite some time and used one of the die-cuts from the patterned paper to add the sentiment on. The sentiment was pulled from the retired Delightful Dozen stamp set.

The card was designed around the Tuesday Morning Sketch #343.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: On My Couch (Paper Trey), Douze douzaine (Delightful Dozen - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Very Vanilla, Marina Mist
Patterned Papers: Collection Edwin (Kesi'art)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Curry, Marina Mist
Accessories: Satin Ribbon, Oval Nestabilities Dies, Stitched Oval Scallop Frames Dies (MFT),
Stampin' Dimensionals, Brads, Vanilla Square Envelope

 

Monster Birthday Bash

I wanted to pull out my My Little Monsters stamp set because I haven't used it in a while and because looking at the adorable monsters from the set just always make me smile - they are just beyond cute! I also have papers from Bo Bunny called Our Little Monsters that happened to be the perfect fit, so those two elements were the starting point for my card. I then paired them with Mojo Monday Sketch #439 and a Virtual Stamping Night challenge (from Splitcoast Stampers) calling for yellow elements.

The card might look busy but the design is actually quite simple: paper layering, handcut stamped image and the sentiment was actually created using letters from patterned paper found in the paper collection itself. I simply cut the letters apart and mounted them on Stampin' Dimensionals to create my "Happy birthday" sentiment. A piece of yellow trim and yellow buttons were added. The card was mounted on Thick Whisper White cardstock (I love the stuff!).

Come on, admit it - you can't resist that grin either!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: My Little Monsters (Recollections)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Our Little Monster (Bo Bunny)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Green Galore, Daffodil Delight
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Yellow Trim, Yellow Buttons,
Markers, Wonky Stitches Squares Dies, White Medium Envelope

 

Gift for the New Homeowner

When I bought my condo, my dad had to borrow my brother-in-law's power tools a few times to set things up around the place, so for Christmas, he thought the new homeowner might benefit from having her own drill. My mom reported that he totally took it upon himself to go shopping for what I needed (and my dad is really not big on shopping...) so I was pretty impressed - and grateful not to have to spend pocket change on power tools myself.

Now, I can't say the drill has been used a whole lot since Christmas, but it'll be right there when I will need it.  The cute inserts are from the Cozy Christmas collection by Simple Stories.

 

 

Magical Birthday

When I got that adorable fairy stamp set, I immediately thought of some Cosmo Cricket papers from my stash I wanted to pair them with. I found the remaining scraps of paper in my stash and wen to work putting a card with them. My card's design was inspired by the MFT Sketch #272. I made my little scene a little more magical with the use of the Clear Wink of Stella brush, which doesn't show in the picture.

When creating my scene, I didn't want the mushroom to be black, so I stamped it with Calypso Coral ink. It looked a little odd with the other images being line art, so I used my Memento black pen to add an outline to the mushroom and little dots on it, after coloring the dots and bottom part of the mushroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Fairy Friends (Lawn Fawn), Type Strips (Paper Trey)
Cardstock: Concord Crush, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Pixie-licious (Cosmo Cricket)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento
Accessories: Circle Framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals, Markers, Silver Gel Pen,
Rhinestone Basic Jewels, White Medium Envelope, Clear Wink of Stella Brush,
Tiny Bit Strips Die (Paper Trey), Black Memento Marker

 

Sticky Kiddo

For Megan's second birthday, her mom made a rainbow cake decorated with Smarties. When Megan got her cake, the only thing she was interested in were the Smarties, so she proceeded to get them out of the chocolate frosting one by one with her fingers, managing to get all sticky in the process. (And very proud of it, judging from the last picture!)

I wanted the letters to look like they were dipped in chocolate and in sugar, so I used temporary adhesive to place the Pool Party letters on a sheet of paper and used a Chocolate Chip Craft ink pad (now retired) to cover the bottom of the letters with ink, then dipped them a few times in clear embossing powder. (Alternatively, you could sponge the bottom of the letter with Classic Chocolate Chip ink and use Crystal Effects on the bottom of them.)

For the sugar-coated letters, I applied a piece of adhesive sheets on the back AND the front of the cardstock BEFORE die-cutting the letters. The back part transformed the letters into stickers and helped glue them to the page quickly. And by adding the adhesive sheets to the front, I was able to cover the whole letter with Dazzling Diamonds glitter quickly and evenly.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: C pour Toi (Tags 4 You), Mois de l'année Courrier (Lime Citron)
Cardstock: Pool Party Core'dinations, Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder, Vellum
Designer Series Paper: Sweet Shoppe
Ink: Chocolate Chip (Craft)
Accessories: Dymo Tape Runner, Sanding Block, Project Life Corner Punch,
Stampin' Emboss Powders (Clear, Pool Party), Big Shot Adhesive Sheets, Big Shot Alphabet Dies,
Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Silver Glimmer Paper, Owl Punch, Artisan Tag Punch,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Sweet Shoppe Designer Brads, Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon,
Island Indigo Satin Ribbon, Banner Punch, Months Dies (Echo Park), Dear Lizzie Project Life Cards,
Stampin' Write Markers

 

First Apartment

Looking through pictures, I stumbled onto an old picture taken when I moved into my first apartment in university. The picture is a little hazy and just show me with my family sitting down at the kitchen table after moving in, but the pictures I have of those years are limited because I didn't have a camera back then. It was also a good opportunity to use my new Carpe Diem stuff - so pretty and joyful!

If you look closely at the second card in the middle row, I've used one of the frame overlays from the Memories in the Making Project Life Specialty Card Collection (offered during SAB). I layered it over one of our Project Life 3" x 4" Grid Cards, on which I stamped my title in Bermuda Bay and Melon Mambo inks. I added small It's My Birthday enamel dots (Occasions catalogue) in the corners. I've also used two of the In Color Designer Washi Tape (hostess gift from Occasions catalogue) on one of the die-cuts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Alphabet (Studio G)
Patterned Papers: Carpe Diem (Simple Stories)
Ink: Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay
Accessories: Project Life 3" x 4" Grid Cards, Project Life Corner Punch, Iced Rhinestones,
Crystal Effects, Stampin' Dimensionals, Dazzling Details, It's My Birthday Enamel Dots,
Memories in the Making Specialty Project Life Card Collection, Carpe Diem Die-Cuts,
Carpe Diem Stickers, Black Checkered Ribbon, Silver Gel Pen, Black Journaling Pen,
Ticket Corner Punch, 2015-2017 In Color Designer Washi Tape

 

You Are Stronger Than You Think

Another set I had wanted for a while was Heartfelt Sympathy and this one also found its way into my latest order. I really liked the sentiments but wasn't sure about the font, which I felt was a little "country" looking. After seeing a few cards online, I decided it looked better once inked that in grey in the catalogue, so I put it back on my wish list.

This card was intended as a sympathy card, but since the sentiment reads "You Are Stronger Thank You Think", the card could also be used for other occasions when someone is going through a rough patch. The nice glittery stripe was created with the Metallics Glitter Tape offered as a freebie during the second half of the Sale-A-Bration promotion. I received mine this week and I'm already in love with the stuff. So easy to use, with a very nice sparkly finish and it doesn't shed glitter (a very important plus!).

The design of the card was inspired by Mojo Monday Sketch #438.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Des adieux du fond du coeur (Heartfelt Sympathy)
Cardstock: Soft Sky
Patterned Papers: Moments (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Night of Navy
Accessories: Iced Rhinestones, Paper Doily, Flower Punch, Pearl Basic Jewels,
Wonky Stitches Square Dies (MFT), Soft Sky Cotton Twine,
Metallics Glitter Tape, Circle Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, White Medium Envelope

 

Retirement Flowers

It took me a while to get around to ordering the Wild About Flowers stamp set, but this was one of the sets that caught my eye when I saw the new catalogue because of the retirement sentiments in it (not that I need more flowers...) - and the fact it was available in French. I finally added it to my last order and since I'm out of retirement cards in my basket at the office, I drew inspiration from the Just Add Ink color challenge #302 and the sketch from Create with Connie and Mary #397.

The polka dot Tip Top Taupe washi tape is from the In Color Designer Tape offered as a hostess gift in the Occasions catalogue (get yours while it's available), and I also used the Timeless Textures stamp set to add details to the card (the tape on the left side, the flourish on my sentiment banner and the splashes on the card background).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Fleurs de l'âge (Wild About Flowers), Timeless Textures
Cardstock: Tip Top Taupe, Blackberry Bliss, Rich Razzleberry
Designer Series Paper: 2015-2017 In Color
Ink: Tip Top Taupe, Blackberry Bliss, Rich Razzleberry, VersaMark
Accessories: Neutrals Designer Buttons, Baker's Twine, 2015-2017 In Color Designer Tape (hostess),
Stampin' Dimensionals, Pewter Stampin' Emboss Powder, Crumb Cake Medium Envelope

 

'Tis the Season

This card was the sum of a few different sources of inspiration: paper scraps, new stamps, the Merry Monday challenge #195 (use buttons) and the MFT Sketch #271. I added big buttons to the main stamped Christmas tree and smaller buttons to the little trees on my background paper.

I wasn't sure where to fit my sentiment on the layout and the solution came in the form of a printed ribbon. I was looking at my ribbon stash to mimick the stripe on the sketch and when I found the red ribbon with the "'tis the season" print on it, the problem took care of itself right there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Tree Trimming Trio (Paper Trey)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: SEI
Ink: Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Star Punches, Silver Glimmer Paper, Envelope Punch Board,
Buttons, Printed Satin Ribbon, Subtles Candy Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Ticket Corner Punch

 

Pedaling with You

I was in Victoria last weekend for the 2016 Canadian Summit meeting with fellow Canadian demonstrators and Stampin' Up! Canada's General Manager, Dale Hampshire. We had a terrific time, enjoyed the very mild weather Victoria was offering and had really interesting conversations about our respective experiences with the new compensation plan. I also stayed an extra day so I would have the chance to see my family that lives there (I have a cousin that lives in Victoria and another one that lives in Nanaimo). I've stayed in touch with them through Christmas cards and emails, but it was the first time in 15 years I was seeing them in person (the downside of living on opposite side of a very large country).

I had a box of brand new Stampin' Up! supplies waiting for me at home on the way back, including the additional items that were released for the second half of the Sale-A-Bration promotion. Have you seen that adorable tandem bike from the Pedal Pusher stamp set? Couldn't resist it! I'm also in love with the Metallics Glitter Tape, so much so that I stocked up on two of them! You can see I used some to tape my main image in place on the card, and added a Calypso Coral Designer Button on top of it.

The cute little flying hearts come from the Brights Sequins pack. The bottom panel was created with the Specialty Project Life cards that are still offered as a Sale-A-Bration freebie - I layered a gold-chevron acetate card over a calypso heart-printed card. The card base was stamped with the Brushstrokes background stamp.

Design was inspired by Match the Sketch #115 and colors come from the Hand-Stamped Sentiments challenge #233.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Sur deux roues (Pedal Pusher), Brushstrokes
Cardstock: So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Gold Foil
Ink: So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral, Mint Macaron, Basic Black Archival
Accessories: Metallics Glitter Tape, Subtles Designer Buttons, Gold Cord,
Brights Sequins, Scallop Square Die, Sponges, Memories in the Making Specialty Project Life Cards,
Blending Pen, White Medium Envelope

Birthday Bouquet

I have been following Paper Trey projects for years since I knew Nichole Heady's work through the Paper Crafts magazine initially (and her Stampin' Up! creations when she first started publishing her work). Up until now, I had never purchased anything from the company, mainly because the stamp sets include a lot of English sentiments and are not offered in French and because the shipping fees to Canada were a deterrent. But when the company recently had a sale, I decided to splurge and get the alphabet sets with matching die I had been really wanting since they first came out, and I got a few extras as well. With the brutal rate of the current USD/CAD exchange rate and the additional custom fees that were waiting for me at the post office, this ended up a pricey purchase, but hopefully, I'll enjoy my purchases enough to make the purchase worth it.

Fresh Floral Wrap-Ups was one of the sets I got. I liked the bouquet image and that this set actually has some French words in it! (Simple words that anglophones can understand and use - merci, bonjour.) I used the Freshly Made Sketch #227 for the design of the card, and the Fab Friday Challenge #82 reminded me of the colours in the Life in Colour collection from Simple Stories, so I paired them with the stamp set.

I used a few Stampin' Up! elements on this card. The first one is the Pool Party 3/8" glitter ribbon. I took it off my first order from the Occasions catalogue because I just had to reduce the total down, but I will say I'm really glad I finally got it. It is really shimmery, and yet surprisingly soft. I've used glitter ribbon in my scrapbook before and I've found them to be really stiff, but this one tied beautifully in a bow. The second element I pulled is the Botanical Gardens Designer Vellum Stack (one of the SAB freebies) to create a border (showing the Blushing Bride card base underneath). Finally, the "happy birthday" sentiment was stamped with the Silhouettes & Script hostess stamp set. I was inspired to pull that one out because the Simply Stories Life in Color papers have some Dymo tape wording on them, so I was reminded of the sentiments in the hostess stamp set.

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Fresh Floral Wrap-Ups (Paper Trey), Silhouettes en script (Silhouettes & Script - hostess - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla, Mint Macaron
Ink: Basic Grey Archival, Basic Black Archival, Mint Macaron, Blushing Bride, Pool Party
Patterned Papers: Life in Color (Simply Stories)
Accessories: Fresh Floral Wrap-Ups Die (Paper Trey), Stampin' Dimensionals, Botanical Gardens Designer Vellum Stack,
Decorative Doily Duo (My Favorite Things), Pool Party 3/8" Glitter Ribbon, Project Life Corner Punch,
Blushing Bride Medium Envelope (from Simply Sent Kit)

 

First Subway Ride

My sister and I went to the museum with Megan on the Sunday when all museum access was free in Montreal. My sister's spouse drove us there, but we came back to Laval on the subway, and it was the first time Megan rode it. The bottom picture is funny because we were trying to have Megan show one finger up to indicate her first trip on the subway, but I think she got confused with showing her age, being used to showing two fingers. It cracked everybody up, including the lady that was sitting on the bench with us, waiting for the subway!

I made my own pocket inserts out of Authentique patterned papers, which matched the colours of the subway tiles in my picture nicely.

 

 

 

Warm Winter Wishes

I wanted to ink my Two Feet Deep stamp set and the Sleigh Ride papers from Bo Bunny were the perfect fit for it. I drew inspiration from the Global Design Project challenge #26.

The design is quite simple, but I liked that it let the sleigh and pretty papers shine. The bottom of the card felt a little bare, so I stamped the snowflakes from the same stamp set in the corner and embossed them with Pewter powder, as well as a small snowflake in the top corner. The sentiment was also embossed in pewter powder on a piece of brown patterned paper for a nice sepia look. A few sequins were randomly added around as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Two Feet Deeo (Paper Trey)
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Sleigh Ride (Bo Bunny)
Ink: Bordering Blue, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz, Night of Navy
Accessories: Pewter Embossing Powder, Crumb Cake Medium Envelope,
Metallics Glitter Tape (inside of card), Two Feet Deep Dies, Sequins,
Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Easter 2014

It was Megan's first Easter where she was old enough to understand the egg hunt concept, so her mom went all out with the bunny ears, the mini egg trail and the bunny plush toy. Megan loved the reaction she was getting with the bunny ears, so she hammed it up and we got some pretty cute pictures out of it.

I used the Project Life Dear Lizzie card set, and the soft pastel colours were perfect for Easter.

 

 

 

 

Sigh of Relief

My sister's spouse pretended he gotten her a camping weekend in a national park as her 30th birthday gift. My sister is not big into camping, so you can see on her face as she's reading the gift certificate that she thinks he's kidding, though she's really not sure... The look of relief on her face when the end of the letter says that he actually got them tickets for a show was priceless. She said, "I knew it!" but I think for a few seconds there, she was really wondering if the camping trip was serious or not.

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Modern Miss (Bo Bunny)
Accessories: Silver Rub-ons (Doodlebug Design),
Project Life Corner Punch, Circle Punch, Wooden Embellishments, Clips,
Designer Washi Tape, Alphabet Thickers (American Crafts), Rhinestones,
Stampin' Write Markers

 

Safety First

My sister work in the Health and Safety field, so a friend gave her a gag gift for her 30th anniversary. Even wrapped it in caution tape!

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Project Life Cards: Midnight
Accessories: Alphabet Stickers, Alphabet Rub-ons, Number Stickers,
Silver Frame (leftover from Hello Life Project Kit), Designer Washi Tape

 

Rockaberry

My sister's spouse hit it right on the head with her 30th birthday cake and got her favorite from our local cake place (which we hid at my place until the surprise party so she wouldn't suspect anything).

I made my own sparkly alphabet letters by die-cutting red glimmer paper.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mois de l'année Courrier (Lime Citron)
Ink: Real Red
Project LIfe: Midnight
Accessories: Designer Washi Tape, Project Life Journaling Pen,
Red Glimmer Paper, Naturally Serif Die

 

Sshh... It Hurts My Ears!

For a little while, Megan got in the habit of telling us "Sshh, it hurts my ears!", even when we were not talking loudly. We weren't sure where she got that (it wasn't from home), so we figured it might be something she was hearing at day care and that the educators there used to teach the kids not to yell. When I saw this picture of her with her mom covering her ears, I thought it was the perfect picture to record that phase of hers (which, luckily, she seems to have already outgrown).

The Project Life cards come from last year's Hello December card collection (2014), and selecting cards with no Holidays images on them worked well for a regular layout.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Calendar Alphabet (Stampin' Up!), Mois de l'année courrier (Lime citron)
Project Life Cards and Accessory Kit: Hello December 2014
Ink: Lost Lagoon, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Blue Pen, Alphabet Stickers (American Crafts), Project Life Corner Punch