Annual Customer Appreciation Evening

On Wednesday night I held my Annual Customer Appreciation Evening.  It was a great event and everyone had a blast. 

Each year for the past 4 years, I have invited all of my customers to an evening of fun, food and stamping.  We have dinner - lasagna, spinach and strawberry salad, bacon wrapped dates and desert, There are LOTS of door prizes and I provide a make 'n take for everyone to do.

As usual, I completely forgot to take pictures!  I get so involved in the fun-ness of the evening that pictures do not enter my mind. Which is truly amazing because I am always taking pictures everywhere I go.  But I thought I would share a picture of the Bacon Wrapped Date appie that I made.  When I began this 4 years ago it was held in my studio (which is really my kitchen) and there was about 12 of us.  I made these little gems and they were a big hit.  The evening has grown each year, and this year was no exception.  I knew if I did not have the favorite appie that I would get flack, so I made sure I had lots again this year.  I used 3 packages of bacon, and there were only about 8 left at the end!  Here is a picture of what they look like ....

If you click on the picture it will take you back to the post I did in Dec of 2012 where I share the recipe.  They are quite easy to do, and are a mouthful of deliciousness.  We also collected food for our local food bank, and now I have 77 lbs of food to deliver today!

Thank you to everyone who came out to share the evening with me. It is my little way of paying back all of my customers for their continued support of me and my obsession of Card Making!

For the make 'n take, we made this cute Ghirardelli Treat Holder that I cased from Mary Fish ....

I just love all the gold we have to work with this season.  Stampin' Up! has come up with some wonderful co-ordinating products.  The base of the holder is a piece of Whisper White cardstock that is cut 5-1/2 x 2, then you use the Scallop Tag Topper Punch on each end.  Then it is scored at 2-5/8 and 2-7/8.  The washi tape is added on the front, then we layered the Flower Shop flower and the Petite Petals flower and topped them off with some Champagne Glimmer Paper that is punched with the Itty Bitty flower punch.  It is tied shut with a bit of 1/8" Striped Gross Grain Ribbon.  Then we slipped a Ghirardelli chocolate inside.

Maybe you can come and join us next year?  All you need to do is become a customer.  Contact me right away if you don't already have a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, I would love to become yours!

Happy stampin' . . . . .         

Congratulations Graduate Card

Last June our Grandson graduated from Pre-School into Kindergarten.  This is the cute card I made for him .....

And for the inside, I used some punches and created this cute "hat". 

Dawn O did an awesome tutorial on making this card.  HERE is the link to it.  It really is fun to make, and you can do it in any school's colours.  I did not have any "graduate" stamps, so I just drew it on free hand with a black marker.  The tassel is made out of some retired Stampin' Up! ribbon that I frayed.  I love different folding cards, don't you???

Happy Stampin' .....  

Banners Anniversary or Birthday Card

Last year I took an online course and this is cased from one of the cards we made.

I changed up the designer paper and the sentiment.  This designer series paper is from the the Sale-A-Bration brochure which goes live tomorrow!!!  Yippeee it's SAB time again.  You can earn it for FREE with a minimum order and it is called Sweet Sorbet!  I keep forgetting about these great 2013-15 In Colour Boutique Details (the flower button in the middle of the flower).  They are great and match the 5 In Colours - Crisp Cantaloupe, Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar and Coastal Cabana.

  Stamps:  Flower Shop, To You and Yours (R)
  Ink:  Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana
  Paper:  Crumb Cake, Crisp Cantaloupe, Coastal Cabana, Whisper White, Sweet Sorbet DSP
  Other:  1-3/4" Circle Punch, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, Pansy Punch, 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch, Word Window Punch, sponges, In Colour Boutique Details

Banners are truly "in" right now and this card came about before the introduction of the brand new Banners Framelits.  It would be great to use those dies on this card too!

Happy Stampin' ..... 

Stippled Blossom Birthday Card

This technique is called Two Step Stamping. 

I received this card from my friend and fellow demonstrator Barb Tripps in a swap in October.  It has been on my display board ever since and my "ladies" have expressed how much they like the card.  Now that Christmas is over, I scheduled a class where we made this card.  This was one of three cards we made in my Stress Free Stamp-A-Stack (SAS) class at the beginning of the month.

  Stamps:  Stippled Blossoms, Simply Sketched
  Ink:  Soft Sky, Midnight Muse
  Paper:  Whisper White, Midnight Muse, Soft Sky
  Other:  Basic Pearls, Circle Thinlits Die (frame for sentiment), Stamp-a-Ma-Jig

In my last post I shared card #1 of the SAS and next post I will share the third one.

Happy Stampin' ..... 

Peek-A-Boo Butterfly Birthday Card

This is another great card I received at the Stampin' Up! Convention last July.

I changed a bit on it, but the basic card is the same.  I used the soon to be released embossing folder called Decorative Dots.  This folder is in the Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration brochure which goes live January 28th.  You can earn this folder for FREE with a minimum order.  Email me to place your order and get your very own Decorative Dots Embossing Folder!  This is one of the cards we made in my recent Stress Free Stamp-A-Stack class. Over the next 2 posts I will share the other two with you.

  Stamps:  Papillon Potpourri, Blooming With Kindness
  Ink:  Strawberry Slush
  Paper:  Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Pistachio Pudding DSP
  Other:  Decorative Dots EF, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Itty Bitty Flower Punch, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, Rhinestones

Give one of these cute peek-a-boo cards a try today.  There are lots of different punches and papers to use.

Happy Stampin' ..... 

Flower Shop and Chevron Thank You card

I used the Chevron Border Punch on this great Thank You card ...

I repeated the Thank you to match the repetitions of the Chevron Border Punch.  A bit of bling on the flower and the card was done.  I could send you one of my hand made cards if you like, all you need to do is place a Stampin' Up! order through me and one will show up in your hands.  Just like magic!!!  LOL

  Stamps:  Flower Shop, Gifts of Kindness
  Ink:  Whisper White craft, StazOn
  Paper:  Primrose Petals, Basic Black, Champagne Glimmer
  Other:  Chevron Border Punch, Pansy Punch, 1/.2" Circle Punch, Itty Bitty Scallop Circle Punch

Sale-A-Bration is right around the corner, do you have your brochure yet?  Email me and I will get one out to you right away.  Lots of FREE items in it this year, and you can get one of my cards as well!!!!

Happy Stampin' ... ... ... ... 

Flower Shop Thank You card

Every one of my customers who orders from me receives a handmade Thank You card.  This was one of them in late December .....

I decided to pair the Off The Grid stamp with Flower Shop and got a great result.  It also uses the soon to be available Banner Punch from the Sale-A-Bration brochure.  You can earn this cute punch for FREE by ordering a minimum of $60 worth of Stampin' Up! product (before S&H and tax) during our annual Sale-A-Bration sale.  There are lots more products available as well and I will be sharing some of them with you soon.

  Stamps:  Off The Grid, Flower Shop, Pennant Parade
  Ink:  Very Vanilla craft, Primrose Petals, StazOn
  Paper:  Primrose Petals Core'dinations, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Champagne Glimmer
  Other:  Banner Punch, Pansy Punch, Itty Bitty Scallop Circle Punch

Want to get some Sale-A-Bration items for your very own?  Email me and we can talk about it!

Happy Stampin' ... ... ...         

Gifts Of Kindness Sympathy card

This is another Convention Swap card I received .....

This one is by Carol Warrenfeltz.  It took me quite a bit to talk myself into adopting this stamp set.  I have so many floral sets that I thought I did not need to own one more.  But, alas, I did!  LOL  Since then I have used it quite a bit and love it like I knew I would.

  Stamps:  Gifts Of Kindness
  Ink:  Crisp Cantaloupe
  Markers:  Crisp Cantaloupe, Pear Pizzazz
  Paper:  Crisp Cantaloupe, Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe Pattern DSP
  Other:  Beautifully Baroque EF, Deco Label Die (largest one), Modern Label Punch

I also made this card a few times using Thank You and Happy Birthday as the sentiment.  It is a great all around card.  You could even leave the sentiment off and have it for a note card.

Happy Stampin' .... 

Modern Medley Box Using The Envelope Punch Board by Stampin' Up!

I recently ran across this box on the internet and dropped everything to make it ....

Here is a picture of the top of the box ....

And here is a side view ....

This box was created by Connie Collins over at Constantly Stamping and HERE is a direct link to the tutorial for it.  Connie is part of the 2013 Artisan Design Team for Stampin' Up!  I changed the papers and embellishments originally used, but how to make it is the same.  I love the Modern Medley Designer Paper that Stampin' Up! has in the Annual Catalogue this year (page 154).  I keep asking them to please keep it in the next catalogue as well because it will be a very long time before I get tired of using it!

  Stamps:  Layered Labels
  Ink:  StazOn
  Paper:  Modern Medley DSP, Silver Glimmer, Very Vanilla
  Punches:  1/2" Circle, 7/8" Scallop Circle, Pansy, Blossom, Large Oval
  Other:  Secret Garden Dies

I am finding the Envelope Punch Board is very versatile to use and you can make so many great things out of it.  It is not just for making envelopes!!

Happy Stampin' ..... 

Black and White Thank You card

I have a great friend in Victoria, BC who is also a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and she makes the most amazing cards in black and white. . . . . . .

This is one of her cards, isn't it striking?  It is amazing to me how a card with two colours can be so awesome.

  Stamps:  Serene Silhouettes, Summer Silhouettes, Heartfelt Kindness
  Ink:  StazOn
  Paper:  Basic Black, Whisper White
  Other:  Decorative Label Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch

This is a great card if you are just getting started because it does not use a lot of supplies.

Happy Stampin' and Thanks for Visitin' . . . .

Elegant Eggplant Thank You card

Another one of my Thank You cards for my customers who placed orders with me for Stampin' Up! products ....

File Folder cards are all the rage right now, and with the new Envelope Punch Board by Stampin' Up! it is very easy to create one any size.  This one is 3" x 3", isn't it cute????

  Stamps:  Four Frames, Timeless Talk
  Ink:  Elegant Eggplant, Always Artichoke
  Paper:  Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, Always Artichoke
  Other:  Envelope Punch Board, Adorning Accents Heart EF, Needlepoint Border EF, Decorative Label Punch, Blender Pen

To colour the flowers and leaves I just used a blender pen and pulled the colour right from the stamped image.  This provides me with a lovely pale colouring of the images.  If you want it darker in some places, you can do this by just going over those spots again.  So easy with no extra supplies required, but you should do this as soon as you can after the image is stamped or the ink gets too dry and the paper pills when you use the blender pen.

Happy Stampin' .....   

Secret Garden Thank You cased card

I received this card in a swap I did with some local demonstrators back in October 2013.

This card was created by Susan Amundsen on Vancouver Island and it uses the Secret Garden stamp set and matching Secret Garden Framelits Dies (Annual Catalogue page 94 for stamp set, page 187 for the dies).  I love how Susan used tone on tone for the card making the flowers the center of attention.  The use of the Off The Grid stamp set (Annual Catalogue page 108) makes it very feminine. 

  Stamps:  Field Flowers, Off The Grid, Secret Garden, Occasional Quotes (R)
  Ink:  Old Olive, Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana, Island Indigo, StazOn, VersaMark
  Paper:  Sahara Sand, Whisper White
  Other:  Secret Garden dies, White Embossing Powder, Sponges, Dazzling Details

I hope you had a great holiday season and I wish you and your families all the best in 2014.

Happy Stampin' ... 

Another Great Year Make 'n Take Birthday Card

Yesterday I had a Tea Party showcasing some of the products in the new Stampin' Up! Occasions Catalogue and upcoming Sale-A-Bration brochure .....

Along with the Door Prize we also made this awesome happy and fun birthday card.  I used several of the new products from the Occasions Catalogue (available today!!!) and SAle-A-Bration brochure (available Jan 28th).
The background is made with the new Scallops Embossing Folder, I turned it sideways on the paper then I used the debossed side.  The tag on the front is a piece of Whisper White cardstock which started out 2" x 4".  Then I punched it with the new Scallop Tag Topper Punch.  I love how I can create tags any length I want and I can also scallop them on both ends too!  I stamped images from the new stamp set Another Great Year also in the new catalogue.  The designer series paper on the bottom is from the Sweet Sorbet DSP in the Sale-A-Bration brochure. You can get an entire package of 12 sheets for FREE with your $60 purchase of Stampin' Up! products.  Just that easy and quick.  Then I topped it all off with a bow made from the new Silver Baker's Twine. It was very fast and easy to make this eye catching card.

  Stamps:  Another Great Year                                                                       

  Ink:  StazOn                                                                                                

  Markers:  Pool Party, Crisp Cantaloupe, Summer Starfruit                           

  Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Crisp Cantaloupe, Sweet Sorbet DSP

  Other:  Silver Baker's Twine, Scallops EF, Scallop Tag Topper Punch         

If you would like a copy of the catalogue, and don't already have a demonstrator, please email me and I will get one in the mail to you along with the Sale-A-Bration brochure for the end of January.

Hope you had a great holiday season, now it is time to get back to crafting!!!
Happy Stampin' .... 

Timeless Talk Thank You cards ....

Another Thank You card for my Stampin' Up! orders ....

I thought I would continue on in the Thank You card theme and share this one with you.  It uses the Timeless Talk stamp set and Pretty Print embossing folder.  This embossing folder will retire as of January 2nd.  It is in the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalogue and will not be carried over.  I am so sorry to see this go as I love it.  If you would like to order one before it disappears, email me right away.  There is not much time left!  I will be putting in a final order today.

Happy New Year everyone!

  Stamps:  Timeless Talk
  Ink:  StazOn, Real Red
  Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red
  Other:  Pretty Print EF, Small Oval Punch (R)

Remember to drink and not drive while out ringing in the New Year.  Being a designated driver is one of the most important jobs there is.
Happy Stampin' ...