Strength & Hope - Summer Mini Sneak

This is one of the cards we'll be making at my Summer Mini Kick-Off Party this Sunday/Monday...

It showcases the Strength & Hope stamp set, which is part of the Stampin' Up! Make a Difference campaign. $2.00 from every set sold (and $2.00 from every Strength & Hope digital kit) will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Fund (http://www.bcrfcure.org/). In addition, I will have a card kit (5 cards & envelopes with pictures and instructions) available for $10.00. I will be donating $5.00 from every card kit I sell to the Breast Cancer Society of Canada (http://www.bcsc.ca/). I will also be offering this as a class in my home at a future date. To complete the cards, you'll need the Strength & Hope stamp set (you can purchase from me, or from your Stampin' Up! Demonstrator) and a few different ink colours. I'll be posting the cards in this Class-to-Go kit in May.

I still have spaces if you'd like to come to my Kick-off Party, and I have three door prizes to give away during each time slot (one stamp set & two card kits). This will also be a Mystery Hostess event, so I'll be drawing for a Level 1 Hostess set and $20.00 in product of your choice. As a bonus, I also have an extra Four Frames stamp set to give away! If you can't make it to the party, you can still get in on the draws... for every $25.00 you spend, you'll get a ticket! Please contact me by Monday night with your order.

Stamps: Strength & Hope, Word Play (30% off until May 31st!)

Inks: StazOn Jet Black, VersaMark, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise

Card stock: Pear Pizzazz, Melon Mambo, Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake

Other: Melon Mambo Stampin' Emboss powder, Basic Pearls

More swap cards...

As promised, here are the rest of the cards I swapped with my downline on Monday... these ones include sneak peeks from the Summer Mini (available May 1st)!

Margaret's card features the Pretty Postage stamp set and the Postage Stamp punch.

Sherri's card features the Strength & Hope stamp set (love the way it can create this frame)!

Yvonne's card features the Sail Away single stamp and The Open Sea stamp set... I love the brayered background on this one!

Team Swap cards

I had my Team Stamp night on Monday, and had lots of fun stamping with some fabulous, talented women. I showed some new products from the Summer Mini (watch for them on my blog soon), and we had a Shoebox Swap. Our theme for this month was 'Summer'. I love these swaps because we each have our own style, and I always make cards that help me try something new, or use a product in a way I wouldn't think to use it. I'll show you the cards that don't include sneak peeks of Summer Mini products today, and I'll show you the ones that do tomorrow. Thanks for another fun night ladies! You don't have to be on my team to join in the fun... our next stamping night will be at the end of June, and I'll be showing products from the new Idea Book & Catalogue!

This is Susan's card from the swap, and it features fun, bright colours (Brights Patterns DSP) and the Watercolor Trio stamp set, which I'm really hoping will be in the new catalogue in July. It was my favourite stamp set in last year's Summer Mini.

Pauline's swap card features the Scallop Trim punch, more Brights Patterns DSP, A Flower for All Seasons stamp set, and the label is from the Four Frames stamp set (Sneak Peek from the new Idea Book & Catalogue - available during April).

Nancy's card features the Awash with Flowers Stamp set, and Polka Dots Textured Impressions Folder. A special thank you goes to her daughter Sebrina (not a stamper or card maker) for helping Nancy prep this card for all of us (she can only use one arm right now).

Scallop Circle Easel Card

I don't have much time to post, because I'm trying to get organized for my Team Stamp Night tonight, but I thought I'd sneak on to show you this fun card... It was inspired by a card sketch challenge (posted by Susie) this week on Stampin' Connection. She wanted us to create a circular card, and I remembered seeing an easel card and thought it would work perfectly!

I created a Scallop Circle Easel card fairly simply... I folded a piece of card stock (I believe it was 4 3/4" x 9 1/2") in half, then lined up the fold on my Scallop Circle die so that 4 scallops were showing (not being cut through). I folded one side of the resulting 'card' in half again, and cut a full Scallop Cricle to attach to the bottom half of the folded Scallop Circle (hopefully you can tell in the photo how I did this). The Clear Circle die was perfect for cutting my patterned paper circle to fit inside, and I added some crinkled Taffeta Ribbon (carefully heated with my Heat Tool) and a sentiment (embossed the Four Frames image, then stamped inside with Pear Pizazz ink and the Clearly For You image and the sentiment from Fabulous Phrases) to finish off the card.


Stamps: Four Frames, Clearly for You, Fabulous Phrases
Inks: VersaMark, Cherry Cobbler, Pearl Pizzazz
Card stock: Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White
Big Shot: Scallop Circle die, Clear Circle Die
Other: Botanical Gazette DSP, Black Stampin' Emboss powder, Taffeta Ribbon, Decorative Label punch, Heat Tool

Button Birthday

I love the Sweet Buttons embosslit, especially combined with the Button, Button stamp set. I added some Circle Circus too:

This is one of the cards we're making next week at my Quickie Card Class... I still have spaces available if you'd like to come! I'm very happy that the Sweet Buttons Embosslit and First Edition DSP I used on this card are on the Carryover list, and will still be available after the Occasions Mini expires April 30th.

Stamps: Button, Button, Circle Circus, Afterthoughts
Inks: Not Quite Navy, Garden Green, Cajun Craze
Card stock: Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla, Garden Green, Cajun Craze
Other: Wide Oval punch, Decorative Label punch, Sweet Buttons Embosslit, First Edition DSP

Lots of Shimmer!

This is card #2 for my Technique Class this weekend:

I'm showing different ways to add some Shimmer, and this card features the Smooch Illuminate Top Coat and Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz. I also wanted to showcase some products from the Occasions Mini (only available until April 30th). The flower was created with the Blossom Petal Punch and Build a Blossom stamp set, as well as the Fun Flowers Big Shot die. I also used the Tulip Frame Textured Impressions folder and the First Edition DSP.

Stamps: Build a Blossom, Oval All
Inks: Old Olive, Perfect Plum, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz, Smooch Illuminate Top Coat
Card stock: Rose Red, Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla, Pear Pizzazz, Chocolate Chip
Big Shot: Tasteful Trim, Fun Flowers, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Tulip Frame TIF
Other: Blossom Petal punch, 1 3/4"x7/8" Oval punch, Scallop Oval punch, 5/8" Neutral Brad, First Edition DSP

April Technique Class - Faux Mother of Pearl

This is one of the cards we're making in this weekend's Technique Class:

It features the Faux Mother of Pearl technique with the Nature Walk and Botanical Gazette papers and the Four Frames stamp set (part of the Spring is Blossoming sneak peek promotion this month). It also features a fun fold... I'm not sure what it's called, but I think it is a variation of the Side Step card... There is still room in the class if you'd like to come! I'm showing different ways to add shimmer to your projects and we make a technique reference card with instructions on one side and samples on the back, plus two cards.

Stamps: Nature Walk, Say it Simply, Four Frames
Inks: Frost White Shimmer paint, Early Expresso, Jet Black StazOn, Marina Mist, So Saffron (marker), Pear Pizzazz (marker), Cherry Cobbler (marker)
Card stock: Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White
Other: Botanical Gazette DSP, Decorative Label punch, Basic Pearls

April Make, Take & Donate

On the second Wednesday each month, I have a Make, Take and Donate class at the Crouch Library (550 Hamilton Rd) and this month we're making Easter/Mother's Day cards. This is a free class (15 spots available) for all ages, and we make three quick & easy cards. You choose two to keep and donate the third to the Ronald McDonald House. Come and check it out!

Stamps: Fancy Flowers, All Holidays
Inks: Blushing Bride, Peach Parfait, Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi, Regal Rose, Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip
Card stock: Whisper White, Bermuda Bay (retired)

More MDS... Hybrid Florets

This is a hybrid card (with a sneak peek at the Summer Mini).

I created the centre panel (white) in My Digital Studio with the Fabulous Florets Brush Stamps download (available May 1st) because my pre-order hasn't arrived, and I wanted to play! I created a full sheet with eight sentiments and the flowers and leaves stamped strategically (to look random) all over. I printed it out on Whisper White card stock, cut it apart into eight pieces and then created the rest of the card with traditional supplies. The design came from sketch #1 in the new Card Maps magazine/idea book. You can see my full sheet that I created in MDS below:

Stamps: Fabulous Florets (digital version)

Inks (in MDS): Concord Crush, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz

Card stock: Whisper White, Concord Crush, Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake, Tangerine Tango (textured)

Other: Pear Pizzazz Twill ribbon, My Digital Studio, Scallop Trim border punch

Playing with MDS...

I love creating with stamps, papers and glue, but I've been tinkering with My Digital Studio lately and I have to admit I'm liking what I'm creating with it too... My favourite is to create a piece to go on a tradtional card (especially if I don't have the stamp set, but want to use a certain image or sentiment) and then add other elements and embellishments. This card was created totally in My Digital Studio, and I love the way it turned out! I have to admit it did take me quite a while... the flower images (from Watercolor Trio - my favourite set in the last Summer Mini) can only be stamped in one colour, and I really wanted the leaves green and the flowers to be pretty colours. It took me a while, but I figured out a way to do it! I wrote out instructions on the My Digital Studio website: http://mydigitalstudio.net/forum/topics/using-multiple-colors-on-a-1 if you're interested...

As I posted, I realized that I've used papers that are only available to demonstrators right now (papers from the Strength & Hope kit - will be available May 1st). Everything else is available now in my online store: Digital Downloads

Downloads: Botanical Gazette DSP, Watercolour Trio Stamp Brushes, Seam Binding II Pack, Strength & Hope kit, Sweet Details Stamp Brush Kit, "punches" used come with My Digital Studio

"Happy" - April's Scrapbook Class

This is the layout we'll be creating in April's Scrapbook Class (this Sunday):

I love the way it turned out! I used some brand new products from the up-coming catalogue that are available this month as a sneak peek: Paisley Petals papers and the Four Frames stamp set. With this peek at the new catalogue, I'm so excited to see what else is new, because I LOVE these! The Four Frames stamp set co-ordinate with my favourite punch, the Decorative Label. I cut them in half to create the pennant title (not what I had planned when I started, but I love the way it looks). In case you're wondering... that happy girl in the photos is me (30 or so years ago).

If you like the look of these products, you can get them during April too! After April, they will be unavailable until the new catalogue goes live July 1st. Find all the info by clicking HERE. Let me know if you'd like to come and make this layout in one of my classes this Sunday.

Stamps: Four Frames, Nature Walk, Notes & Details
Inks: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Marina Mist, Crumb Cake, Early Expresso (marker)
Card stock: Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler
Other: Paisley Petals DSP, Billboard sizzlet, Decorative Label punch, Neutrals Button, Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch