Cheerful Treat Digital Page

I made this MDS page using the Cheerful Treat kit that is a current hostess reward in the Summer Mini, and the good news I have for you is.... there is a Cheerful Treat designer series paper pack choice for hostesses in the new catalog which will be released tomorrow!!

I'm so excited about the new catalog coming out tomorrow, and I will be emailing a link to all of those who are on my mailing list as soon as it goes live tomorrow plus I will be having a new catalog open house/workshop on Thursday July 21st for those of you who can't wait to get your hands on one:) ...be sure to register fast because space is limited!;)

That being said, I'm so sad to see so many products I love retire as of tonight... like the Define Your Life stampset I used on this 12 x 12 scrapbook page. That's the wonderful thing about digital though...many products that retire from papercrafts, remain on in the digital world.... Define Your Life comes with the MDS full software pack:) You've ever thought about My Digital Studio there are more options than ever in the new catalog!:)

If there is something you still want from the old catty, best go online right now and place an order because in just a few short hours it is done.

I'll be posting soon lots of fun new things in the new catalog and be sure to watch for the upcoming ribbon shares from the new catalog. Oh the new ribbon is so adorable...I can hardly wait!:)

What To Do with Empty Brad & Bauble Containers...

I saw this cute video from Tami a couple of weeks ago and thought 'how clever'. This little hat is made out of a couple of circles run through the big shot and some ribbons, embossing, etc. and voila...super cute!;)

Supplies (all SU):

- baja breeze cardstock

- vintage wallpaper embossing folder

- large scallop circle bigz die

- large circle punch

- so saffron grosgrain ribbon

- fun flowers bigz die

- boho flowers punch

- filigree flower & brad

For My Rockstar Husband

I made this easel card for my rockstar husband for father's day (which is today). I've been teasing him that I hope he likes his card...that it has a sail boat on it even! (not something he's fond of;) He is fond of this image which is from the Extreme Guitar stampset which, sadly, is retiring. You, my dear friends, though will still be seeing it around here as it is one of my husband's favourite...he even requests it. It actually does bear a striking resemblance to him back in his rockband days!:) ...so I gladly oblige:) He is the best father to our girl...and the best husband I could ever ask for!!

This card was made using basic black, cherry cobbler and naturals ivory cardstock. The DSP is Love Letter which is also retiring. The ribbon is black striped grosgrain. The lettering was cutout with my bigshot. The heart behind the 'U' was punched with the Heart to Heart punch. And everything was inked for a vintage feel (with soft suede ink, whatelse?)! Also, as I do on most projects I finished it off with the spritzer tool...just adds that little something that makes them go 'hmmm'!;) Hope he likes it...he left for work at 6 this morning and so will get his stuff when he gets home around lunch time:)

Vintage Journal

This journal goes with yesterday's card. I picked the sentiment 'remember when' because she recently talked about loving that stamp from the Word Play set:)

I used the same border punches as on yesterday's card and the same cardstock and dsp - along with all of my favourite ribbons: black satin, black taffeta, victoria lace, crumb cake taffeta and cherry cobbler seam binding.

I vintaged up the edges of the central piece the same way as on yesterday's card with the soft suede ink (my new favourite!:) But my absolute favourite part of this project is the flower and the swirls...all created with my bigshot and the fun flowers die and swirls sizzlet:) The technique for the flower is the same as I used on this card. I love the effect it gives to the cardstock:) ...and it was finished off with a vintage brad:)) What would I do without vintage brads?! How did I live before them?!!;)

The charms that finish off the bookmark ribbon inside the journal are all from ACP which is selling off stock right now on ebay as I mentioned yesterday (very sad!) All other supplies are SU:)

Vintage Birthday

I made this birthday card for a sweet friend who recently had a special birthday. I used something old and something new:) The birthday greeting comes from the engraved greetings stampset which is retiring at the end of this month. I love the vintage feel of the greetings in that set. The new is the butterfly which comes from the Strength & Hope set in the current mini (the set where part of the proceeds go to BCRF:) For the butterfly to take flight I gently coaxed the wings up and then I sealed the butterfly with crystal effects...love the way that works:) I used black, crumb cake and cherry cobbler cardstock and also some black taffeta ribbon. I also used all 3 of my border punches from eyelet to scallop:) And I used the first edition dsp which I'm happy to announce is IN the new Idea Book & Catalog coming out on July 1st!

Speaking of vintage, I used my soft suede ink pad with a sponge to distress/vintage up some of the edges. Soft suede is my favourite ink right now for vintage! I also used the vintage wallpaper embossing folder for the black strip behind the greeting and the greeting was black embossed. The card was finished off with charms from ACP (which is unfortunately going out of business...see ebay for great deals on remaining charms:( ) and a rhinestone jewel. All supplies SU except for the charms.

More Love & Care

You can tell I was losing the daylight when I photographed this card...oh well;) Today's card was also made with the Love & Care stampset I spoke about yesterday. This set is so versatile. As I finished yesterday's card I was thinking about the watercolouring feel of the images and so I stamped my 'impression' of a field of flowers and then I cut it into 3 panels and matted it onto some rich razzelberry cardstock. The flowers were stamped using the rocking & rolling technique to get the two tone effect. I used the same naturals white cardstock today as yesterday. I'm really liking this paper...it's more me than whisper white...just has the bit more of a vintage feel...less shiny! I finished the card off with a double bow in baja breeze seam binding with a cordoroy button (last I looked there were still some of these in the online store on clearance for cheap!)

Love & Care

I made this card with the hostess level 2 set from the Summer Mini called Love & Care. For me, this stampset gives the feel of watercoloring with just stamping:) Also I used the naturals white card stock for the base of this card, for the stamped focal point and for the matt for the image. I like the effect of using the same color for the matt although I'm not sure if the camera picks up the impact? I also used a piece of baja breeze cardstock, some dsp from the neutrals pack and some baja breeze seam binding ribbon (which will be carrying over to the new catty...yeah!) Inks used were: marina mist, always artichoke (stamped off once first) and basic black.

Just Because

I love this card. I was trying out a new technique, double embossing...the bottom piece is first edition dsp embossed with an embossing plate inked with versamark and then heat embossed with black embossing powder. The flower is made with a new technique as well. It's two of the flowers from the Fun Flowers die, but I have done a technique to separate the paper layers and turned them inside out creating a softer brushed texture which I'm in love with!:) Stamps are from the beautiful Notably Ornate stampset, one of my favourites of all time!

Happy I Do Day

This was the first card I made for my cousin's recent wedding, but I wasn't sure about it when I was done, so I made another. Now, the card is growing on me. The background was done by stamping the Always Elegant flourish in versa mark and then clear embossing and then sponging in rose red. The greeting comes from the Word Play stampset and is finished off with rhinestone jewels:)

Pretty Postage

One of my favourite things in the Summer Mini is the new postage stamp punch and the stampset I used on these little thank you notes, Pretty Postage, coordinates perfectly with it. The cards were finished off with the swirls from the Priceless stampset stamped in the background - this stampset is retiring by June 30th. The bow on the button to finish it off is the new bakers twine in the Summer Mini:)

Strength & Hope Campaign & Class

Over the last 2 weeks I have held two classes to make the mini album pictured here. Both the album and the card are made with the Strength & Hope set which as noted in this post benefits the BCRF. If you haven't gotten your set, it will be available until August if you would like to support this very worthy cause. You can order by clicking on my website or contacting me.

I am sending my album to a lovely aunt who unfortunate lost her mum and am hoping that the classes and contributions from all the sets sold will benefit BCRF so that others will never have to experience what she did. (I'm sending it, that is, as soon as this silly postal strike is over!)

You Mean the World to Me

This was the 2nd make & take at this weekend's workshop. I combined the Open Sea stamp images with this greeting from the Word Play stampset. The card base is soft suede and the layers are cherry cobbler, crumb cake, not quite navy and naturals ivory cardstock. It's finished off with a button and some linen thread and voila a card for anyone special in your life. (I provided an option which turns this card into a Father's Day card for participants too:)

Retirement Workshop - Make & Take #1

We made this card and little gift bag as our first make & take at today's retirement party/workshop. We used both old and new things. As for the old, we used the in color DSP from the 6 x 6 pack in the current catalog that retires on June 30th (it's a level 1 hostess). As for new, we used the new blossom bouquet triple layer punch for the bows on the presents! (Thanks Becky for the idea!) The presents themselves were made with the 1 1/4 and 1 3/8 square punches. The greeting comes from the Word Play set and we finished it off with rhinestones from the jewel pack:)

I'm Still Loving MDS

My first MDS book was delivered this week from printing and I sent 2 more books in in time to get the 30% off printing deal that ended May 31st. This morning I was just playing around with a scrapbook page because I think I'm becoming addicted!:)

Also, I printed the page above and saw the value in Stampin' Up's printing service because the quality is so much better than what I can do and the colours...just amazing:) If you saw it in person you would understand.

Last Chance Stamps & Accessories

Well yesterday was a sad day, Stampin' Up announced the products that are retiring on June 30th, and among them were some of my very favourites like the following stampsets:
- Sense of Time
- Priceless

- Favourite Things

- Define Your Life.....just to mention a few.

The retiring accessories list includes some favourite punches like the spiral punch, the designer label punch and the small oval among others. However, the good news is that some of the retiring accessories have a discount applied (some have no discount, some 25% off and some 40% off). Retiring accessories are available only while quantities last so it's first come, first serve. Some good deals I noticed are: the presto patterns designer specialty paper is on 25% off, the wicked fun patterned paper (for halloween) is on 40% off and the hodgepodge hardware is 40% off. Also, there are quite a few dies for the Big Shot on the retiring accessories list, so if you have a Big Shot you will want to check that out.

There is also a long retiring list for Decor Elements. Stampin Up will be combining the decor elements flyer into the main catalog when the new Idea Book & Catalog is released on July 1st, so as a result they are streamlining their offering. This means a significant number of current decor elements will only be available until June 30th, so if you had your eye on one, you'll want to check out that list.

If there is anything you want from the retirement lists you can either place an online order (use this link) or you can contact me to place an order. I will likely have an order going in this Saturday at the retirement workshop. It's also possible that I might have another order going in around June 23rd when the Travel/Journal class takes place. Also, there are just a few spots left in this class, so let me know if you still want to register (cost is $20).

Retiring Lists:
Stamps
Accessories
Decor Elements