More inspiration from my sister's house

No finished product to show today, just something I'm working on. The picture below shows a beautiful piece my sister has hanging over her fireplace.  I was intrigued by the design and took a picture of it, thinking I might like to try to duplicate it as a feature on a card in the future.  The picture above is my second attempt at trying to duplicate it. Still not quite happy with it yet.

 The picture below is my first attempt at duplicating it. Almost quit trying because it turned out so bad, but I decided to try again and the second attempt is much better than the first.

For both of these attempts I used a Stampin' Write Marker and stamps from the Perpetual Birthday Calendar stamp set.

These stamps actually have a lot going on in each stamp but I masked off part of each stamp so that I could stamp just one image for each stamp.

I'm away from my stamping supplies for the weekend so I'm not going to get to try it again until I get home. I've also had trouble connecting to the internet here so I missed posting last night. Hopefully it won't be too long before I get to try it again and finally feature it in a card.

Super simple card, inspired by a couch cushion

Below is a picture of my sister's couch cushion. I just got home from spending some wonderful days at my sister's and she laughed at me one day because I took a picture of her cushion. I told her I liked the look of it and I thought it might inspire a card. Above is the card that it inspired.

This card is super simple to make. I used four of the new 2015-2017 In-colours for this card, but I'm thinking I might try it again with different colours because I really like it, and it really is fast and simple to do.

All I did was ink up my Clear Block A with the ink and stamp it on the card stock. Yep, I just dapped the block on the ink pad until it was good and inked and then stamped it onto the card stock. So simple!

When I had the pattern all done, I drew some lines with a Stampin' Write Marker.

Once the lines were all drawn, I stamped a greeting using the Tip Top Taupe and one of the greetings from one of my favourite Paper Pumpkin Kit stamp sets, from the All Shook Up Paper Pumpkin Kit.

And that's it! Easy peasy! And pretty cool!

Playing with our Paper Pumpkin Kits

Anna and I are playing with our Paper Pumpkin kits tonight. The above card is one I made with some supplies from the Sew You Paper Pumpkin kit and an ink spot from the Layers of Gratitude Paper Pumpkin kit. The butterfly is not from either kit. I had cut it using one of the Butterfly thinlits dies and added rhinestones to it a while back but ended up not using. I thought it looked good on this card. Inside the card says -

Anna was playing with the Birthday Bundle kit. Here's what she did

I liked her's better before she added the gold strips but she thinks they're great, and it's her card so I have to let it go.  :-)

She even decorated her envelope

Time is almost up to take advantage of the Paper Pumpkin Special. You have until 11:50 PM Mountain time to take advantage of the special.

Click on Join Now! and you will be brought to the Paper Pumpkin page. Click on Join on that page and then enter SAVE50 in the promocode box. You will receive the first two months for half price! It really is a deal that is too good to miss. You are free to cancel your subscription any time you want and if you ever receive a kit that you are not happy with, you can return it.

Fun week with family and friends

The Sheraton was invaded by excited Stampers yesterday. It was the last stop for the Stampin' Up! Open Houses hosted by Stampin' Up! Canada across Newfoundland this week. I was lucky enough to get to attend the event with family and friends at 3 different locations throughout the week. For many of my family and friends this was their first experience with Stampin' Up! and I was happy to share it with them. It's been a crazy, but fun, week!

The focus of these events was to introduce the Stampin' Up! 2015 Annual Catalogue. Each attendee was presented with a physical copy of the catalogue and given the chance to try out some of the product from the catalogue.

Every year Stampin' Up! introduces five new colours to their collection. These In-Colours are only available for two years. One of the activities at the Open Houses gave the attendees a chance to try out some of the product that is available in the new colours. In the Stampin' Up bag that each attendee received was a sheet for them to take to the In-Colour station and use to make themselves an In-Colour product sample guide. I loved this activity! Here's the completed sheet of one of my guests.

To complete the chart we used the 2015-2017 In Colour Cardstock and Classic Stampin' Pads, along with the Itty Bitty Accents punches, stamps from the Over the Rainbow stamp set and the 2015-2017 In Colour Stampin' Write Markers. 

It has been a great week getting to meet other stampers and getting to share Stampin' Up! with my family and friends. I'm looking forward to lots more stampin' fun together.

It was especially nice to meet Dale and Carrie from Stampin' Up! Canada, and Melody from the Stampin' Up! head office in Utah. I think they enjoyed their visit to Newfoundland and I hope they'll come back to visit again.

I love playing with new things

This is a card we made at the Stampin' Up Open House. To make it I got to try out a couple of tools that I hadn't used before. One of them is a new tool, one of them has been around for a while. In this post I'm going to tell you about the tool that's been around for a while.

I have heard about the Stamp-a-ma-jig for while and watched all kinds of videos featuring it but I had never actually seen it in person or tried it. I want one!

Stampin' Up! has three kinds of stamps - wood mount, clear mount, and photopolymer. This YouTube video from Stampin' Up! explains the three types of stamps.



I have tried, and own sets of, all three. My preference is photopolymer because they are see through and it is therefore easier to place them where you want to place them. I get very frustrated trying to place the wood mount and clear mount stamps in the right place, but the Stamp-a-ma-jig helps with this. Here's a video that explains how.



After playing with the Stamp-a-ma-jig at the open houses, it will definitely go on my next order, and it may even entice me to buy more wood mount and clear mount stamps.

Fun at the First Stampin' Up! Open House

The Riverwood Inn banquet room was packed with excited stampers last night. It was so much fun!

I finally got to meet Kay, our fearless Newfoundland Stampin' Up! leader. I had meet her virtually through FaceBook and she has sent me a number of nice cards since I joined the Stampin' Up! group but it was nice to finally meet her in person.

It was nice to see Lola and Deidre, a couple of fellow demonstrators that I knew before they were demonstrators. They both have great groups of stampers to have fun with.

I also got to met Dale, from Stampin' Up ! Canada. I had received emails from him before but had never met him. Here's a funny true confession, because Dale is one of those gender neutral names (I personally know both males and females named Dale) I wasn't sure if Dale was male or female, until I met him at the event last night.

There was even a lady there from Stampin' Up! head office in Utah! This is her first trip to Canada and she came all the way to Newfoundland. I didn't get a chance to talk to her last night.

I was, however, talking to another really nice lady from the Stampin' Up! Canada head office but I've been wrecking my brain and I can't remember her name! She was super nice.

I was happy to have a few of my friends join me at the event and the photo above shows what we left with - a neat Stampin' Up! bag and three projects that we made at the event, using products from the new Annual Catalogue. The photo below shows our messy table and my friends busy hands at work.

The new Catalogue went live yesterday. Click on the words to download a PDF version of the Stampin' Up! 2015-2016 Annual Catalogue or browse through the categories at the Stampin' Up! online store.

One thing that I'm sad about, I missed posting to my blog yesterday! I had a mishap in the morning and did something to my foot. I spent the rest of the day in agony and pulled myself together enough to go to the event and hit the bed as soon as I got home from it. I was bummed that I didn't get a post done but life happens.

I finally went and had my foot looked at today. I wouldn't go yesterday because I was afraid I would end up missing the event last night, so I borrowed crutches and hobbled to the event. Tonight there is an event in Corner Brook and I will be sporting lovely new footwear, along with the crutches.

I'm looking forward to the event tonight. It should be another packed room full of happy stampers.

Seriously Amazing Paper Pumpkin Kit

Aren't these cute! These were made using supplies in the Seriously Amazing Paper Pumpkin Kit. It was the August 2014 Paper Pumpkin kit but I received it recently as a prize from Stampin' Up! I got to pick which past kit I wanted and I choose this one because I really liked it.

This is all the stuff that was packed into that little orange box.

Every Paper Pumpkin kit comes with all you need to complete a project. Every month the project is different. Each kit includes an exclusive stamp set that is only available in that Paper Pumpkin kit. It also includes at least one ink spot, or miniature ink pad. No ink colour is repeated in a 12 month period so by being a Paper Pumpkin subscriber for a year would give you 12 different stamp sets and at least 12 different ink spots. It's a great way to get a collection of ink and stamps. Another advantage is that they are so small that you could fit a whole year's worth of ink spots and stamp sets in one of the orange boxes.

Here's a close up of the stamp set and ink spot in the Seriously Amazing kit.

There are supplies in the Seriously Amazing kit to make four 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 cards and four 3 1/4 x 2 1/4 cards, along with envelopes for all these cards. I played with the kit tonight and followed the instructions and made one of each size of the cards and envelopes.

I followed the instructions included in the kit to make these cards, but you don't have too and I'm always amazed at the creative ways others used the kit contents. I make a pinterest board for each Paper Pumpkin kit that I receive to collect ideas from others on how to use the kits in different ways. Here is a widget of my pinterest board for the Seriously Amazing kit.

Follow Jacqueline's board Seriously Amazing Paper Pumpkin kit on Pinterest.

As I said, the Seriously Amazing kit is a past kit, and as such is only available for purchase by people that are current subscribers to Paper Pumpkin. One of the perks of being a current subscriber is that you can purchase past kits, and you can also purchase refills of past kits. A refill is just like a full kit except that it doesn't include the stamp set or ink spot. If you get a kit that you really like you can get the supplies to make more, using the ink spot and stamps that you already have.

It is so much fun to have the little Orange box show up at your door each month. We actually have three kits come to our house. My adult daughter, my almost double digiter, and I each get our own kit so that we can have our own collection of inks and stamp sets to play with.

Stampin' Up! has a great special right now for new Paper Pumpkin Subscribers.

Click on Join Now! and you will be brought to a page with all the info you need to subscribe. You will receive the first two months for half price! It really is a deal that is too good to miss. You are free to cancel your subscription any time you want and if you ever receive a kit that you are not happy with, you can return it.

Hurry, though, this deal ends June 10. Also, if you sign up with me before June 2nd I will give you a roll of Designer Series Washi Tape.

I have been thinking that these kits would be great for a summer craft club for kids. I talked it over with my almost double digiter and she loves the idea. If you live near me and have a child that would be interested let me know asap. We'd love to set up a Summer Paper Pumpkin Club for Children in our community. If you don't live near me and you'd like more info on how to set up a Summer Paper Pumpkin Club near you, let me know and I'll help you set it up.

Simple card with matching envelope

A fast, simple card today. Can't seem to get the time or the mojo to do much more than that at the moment.

Remember when I told you I got the New Catalogue, new product? This simple card is made using stamps from this new hostess set in the new catalogue.

This set is one of five stamp sets that are only available to hosts. It is a very pretty set and I'd love to help you become eligible to purchase it. Invite some friends over and I'll come show you all how to make this card, along with some others, and you'll be able to purchase this stamp set.

The ink I used for the card above is one of the new In Colour inks. Here are all of the new In Colour ink pads, card stock, embellishments and envelope paper.

Yes, I said envelope paper. Envelope Paper is a new product coming in the new catalogue. I used my Envelope Punch Board and a sheet of the Envelope Paper to make the envelope pictured with the card above.

The new catalogue will going live online June 2nd, and this is just a small sample of some of the great product that will be available.

If you are interested in receiving a physical copy of the new catalogue let me know.

For the card above I simply stamped the image with Watermelon Wonder and then used my blender pen to draw some colour from the stamped image into the flower. So simple, and yet so nice.

Finding a new purpose

A few posts ago, in my Butterfly Decorations and Stands post, I posted a picture of a few elements that I was hoping to use in cards soon. I made use of one of them in this card. The stamped image was one I made when I was working on my Blue Morpho card, thinking I would use it as the background for the Blue Morpho butterfly, but when I went to place the butterfly on the card I didn't like how the butterfly covered up the beautiful flowers and ferns. I decided to use a different background for the butterfly and laid this piece aside for another time. Tonight was the time.

I stamped the flowers and ferns with Pistachio Pudding using stamps from the Butterfly Basics stamp set. I used my Blender Pens and Pistachio Pudding, Strawberry Slush, and Crushed Curry ink pads to fill in the leaves and add some colour to the flowers. I stamped the greeting using another one of the stamps from the Butterfly Basics stamp set and Crushed Curry ink.

I decided to tear the edges of the whisper white card stock to give it a soft look and tied a piece of Crushed Curry ribbon across the bottom before attaching it to a Strawberry Slush mat and then to a Pistachio Pudding card base.

I added a couple of Pearls for a little extra punch.

**Strawberry Slush and Pistachio Pudding were part of the 2013-2015 in Colours so will no longer be available after June 2. Melon Mambo and Wild Wasbi could be used in their place.

Waste not, want not

Some might think it's weird, but the first work of my three works in progress pieces that I decided to make use of is the one that turned out the worse. I almost threw this watercolour piece in the garbage, but I'm glad I didn't. I like how it turned out.

As I explained in my Works in Progress post, the focal point of this card was inspired by Heather Telford's Distress Stain Watercolour tutorial at SplitcoastStampers. I didn't have the stains, markers, or paper that she used in her tutorial, but I decided to try her techniques with the supplies that I had.

I started with a piece of Stampin' Up! Watercolour Paper. I used Stampin' Write Markers to ink up one of the stamps in the Butterfly Basics by colouring right onto the stamp. Then, before stamping on the watercolour paper, I gave the stamp a few sprays of water with my Stampin' Spritzer. Unfortunately I sprayed it a bit too much and a bit too close causing the image to totally lose it's definition when I stamped it. I was bummed, but I recognized what I had done wrong and decided to try again, but I also decided to keep this particular piece and see if I could redeem it some how.

The more I looked at the piece, the more it grew on me and I finally came up with a plan. I cut the watercolour piece to 4 x 5 1/4.

I cut another 1 x 2 piece of watercolour paper for the sentiment. Using Baked Brown Sugar I inked up one of the stamps from Butterfly Basics stamp set and I misted it just a touch with my Stampin' Spritzer before stamping it.

I cut a 1 1/4 x 2 1/4 piece of Summer Starfruit card stock and adhered the stamped greeting to it.

I cut a 6" piece of ribbon and adhered the matted greeting to it before adhering the ribbon around the watercolour piece.

I cut a 4 1/4 x 11 piece of Primrose Petals and scored it at 5 1/2 to make the card base and adhered the watercolour piece to the base.

I decided to add three Pearl Basic Jewel Embellishments as an extra touch but it still seemed to be missing something. I didn't like how the flowers lacked detail so I decided to add some details with my Dazzling Details. It was the finishing touch I was looking for.

The colours I used in this card are all past In Colors and are no longer available, but comparable colours can be found in the current Stampin' Up! Colours Collections.

I'm devouring the new catalogue

No new creations today. I've spent the day drooling over the new catalogue. While the 2015-2016 Annual Catalogue will not be available to the general public online until June 2, demonstrators got a sneak peek at it today. I downloaded it to my iPad as soon as I could and I have been spending every minute I could pouring over it.

I have a ritual I go through when a new catalogue comes out. I go through the catalogue one page at a time, recording the contents in a note book under pages for different categories - photopolymer stamps, clear stamps, bundles, etc. I know, it's weird, but it helps me to get a better handle on what's in the catalogue. I haven't managed to make my way through the whole catalogue yet but I'm getting there. Here's a sneak peek of what I've been doing.

That's my iPad with part of the catalogue front showing and my note book showing part of my list of clear stamp sets. I record what each set co-ordinates with too so I can get a better handle on what goes together.

I can't wait to be able to share more with you! But guidelines say that's as much as I can share yet. Stay tuned for more.

If you'd like to get your own copy of the new catalogue when it becomes available, drop me a line before May 7 and I'll tell you how you can get one delivered to your door.

Flowing flowers on a simple card

While browsing pinterest recently, a card from Lin's Another 1-Layer Card post caught my eye and I scooped out my stamps for similar stamps that I could use to create a card like it. I love how simple this card is to make.

First I masked off a strip across the card around the middle. Then I used one of the stamps from the Mother's Love stamp set and used some of the colours from the Brights Colour Collection (Bermuda Bay, Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo, and Pumpkin Pie). After that I inked up just a small part of another one of the stamps in the set with Old Olive and stamped here and there to give the idea of leaves scattered through the flowers. When I removed the mask, I stamped one flower part way in the stamped area and part way in the previous masked area. The greeting was stamped, using Memento, with a stamp from the All Shook Up Paper Pumpkin kit.

Mother's Love stamp set

All Shook Up stamp set

If you are interested in learning how to make a similar card, let me know. I'd love to teach you how to do it.

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Experimenting with a new technique

No finished project to post tonight because I've been experimenting with a new technique all day, in between all the other things I had to do, and I just wasn't satisfied with any of my attempts, until really late....so....maybe there will be a finished project tomorrow using the new technique.

As you can see, I'm playing with the 2013-2015 In Colour ink pads. I love these colours! I think i'm going to take advantage of the free shipping this week to order the cardstock and re-inkers. I can't believe they will soon be on the retired list and unavailable. The 2013-2015 In-Colour cardstock and ink pad kit was one of the first things I ordered.

20 pieces of cardstock and 5 ink pads for just $36.95. I think it's a great deal! Be sure to order some for yourself before they are gone.

Trying out new-to-us products

Trying out some new stuff with the neighbour tonight. We're both in love with the Hardwood Background stamp.  If you look close you can also see part of a card the neighbour made with the Mother's Love stamp set. Also on the table are two Sale-a-Bration items - the In Colour Accessory Pack and the Sheer Perfection Vellum Stack. I'm sure you'll see all these things featured in upcoming creations.

Chase away the winter blues with stampin' and tunes

My "almost double digiter" "CASEd" my Easy Stained Glass Look Butterfly card. I love what she did with it! She embossed the card front with the Lovely Lace embossing folder. You can get the rest of the instructions on my Easy Stained Glass Look post.

Here's what she wrote on the inside:

Isn't that cute!?! What a great way to make a blue day brighter.

My oldest daughter is singing her Winter Blues away. This is a song she wrote and recorded recently. Have a listen. Maybe you'll be like me and think she must have been inside your head and stole your thoughts when she was writing the lyrics.

So, if you're suffering with the blues, maybe some stampin' and tunes will turn your day around, I know it does mine.

bokeh and butterfly basics

I created the bokeh piece on this card when I was preparing for the Bokeh card class I did a short while ago. I had seen Lisa Young's beautiful card on her Details for the Butterfly Bokeh Card post and loved it so I decided to CASE it.

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I want it all!

Have you seen this week's deals at Stampin' Up!? I want it all!

To be honest, I wasn't at all interested in the weekly deals last week, but this week I seriously want it all.

And then there's this new Just Kidding photopolymer stamp set:

How much fun is that!?  I want it too. 

Just added it all up to see how much it would be - $61.57 - That means I could pick a free item from the Sale-a-Bration Brochure or Sale-a-Bration Second Release Flyer.  Hmmm...must see if I can sweet talk my way into making an order for my birthday, which is coming up soon.  :-) One of my customer's had her husband place a surprise order for her last week. Maybe I can get him to plant the idea into my husband's head.  :)

What is your favourite thing in the weekly sales this week? Would you like to have the new stamp set?

My Stampin' Buddy Inspires Me

I have a remarkable Stampin' Buddy. I don't know what I'd do without her. She is so creative! We get together to stamp at my house at least once a week. One of the reasons I joined Stampin' Up! was because I hoped it would be a vehicle to help me get to know people in the community, and I am so thankful for the relationship it has allowed me to develop with this special lady. She lives right across the street from me, but we had rarely spoken before I started Stampin' Up!.

I made the above card during one of our recent Stampin' nights. It was inspired by this pin which is from Patty's Stamping Spot's post Luv 2 Stamp Group Samples of Butterfly Basics, Part 1.

I didn't have the wood grain stamp that she appeared to have used as the background for her card so, with some encouragement from my Stampin' Buddy, I improvised. I inked up a clear block the same size as the paper I was using by rubbing my Baked Brown Sugar ink pad down the block to create streaks. It took a few tries but I finally got a look I was happy with and proceeded to stamp the images on top of the background I had created.

My Stampin' Buddy always totally finishes her cards by stamping the inside of the card. I often don't bother with that but this time, inspired by her, I stamped the inside of the card too, leaving a space in the middle for a personal message.

I did one more simple card that night during our Stampin' time. Meanwhile the following is just some of the cards that my Stampin' Buddy completed that night! 

She seriously is a Super Stamper! This really is only a portion of the cards she made that night. I forgot to get pictures of the rest. To check out more of her beautiful creations check out Sarah's Card Creations pinterest board. How could you not be inspired Stampin' with someone as creative as her?

I can't wait for our next Stampin' time to see what she'll create.

If you live close by, you are welcome to join us Stampin'. Wednesday night's are our main nights. No set plan, just come and stamp with us. Check out my Whatever You Want Wednesday Facebook page for details and to let me know if you want to join us.

Stampin' with my Sister

My sister, my only sibling, lives on the other side of the island from me. She has been a big encouragement and supporter in my Stampin' Up journey. She came to visit this past weekend and we had some fun stamping together. I finally got to show her all the neat stuff I have been getting since I signed on as a demonstrator. She got to try out some of the product and tools I have and, at her request, I had a Bokeh card class while she was here.

The picture above is one she took of the cards she created during her visit. She's so creative! Even her picture looks cool. The bag in the picture is a gift bag she picked up in a store while we were shopping.

The two cards in the bag and the one on the left hand side are ones she made during the Bokeh card class, I'll tell you more about them in another post.

I forgot to take a picture of the card on the right. She used one of the butterfly thinlits, a stamp from the butterfly basics stamp set, and some Irresistibly Yours DSP to create the card. You can see my card that she cased for this one on my Changing Plans result in two cards instead of one post.

The middle card I do have a picture of.  Here's a closer look:

I wanted her to try out the Lotus Blossom Stamp set so she searched pinterest for some ideas and she was inspired by Sarah's pin of a Lotus Blossom Card. Here's a funny for you - I didn't know until just now when I went to find out who this pin was from that it is actually a pin from my very own neighbour and stamping buddy! 

The weekend went by way too fast. We had lots of fun, but it was a crazy busy weekend. Can't wait for her next visit. Hopefully we'll have more time to stamp next time.