Step-by-step: Happy Harvest Card

Step 1: Stamp the 'happy harvest' image from "Loads of Love Accessories" in Really Rust ink on the Really Rust cardfont.







Step 2: Flip the Really Rust ink pad upside down, using the side grips on the ink pad (what a great feature!). Stamp the ink directly onto the piece of Summer Sun cardstock, rotating and moving the pad to cover the strip with as much colour as you desire. (This technique is called "Direct-to-Paper" or DTP. If you try it with ink and paper that are the same colour, it gives a suede look to your cardstock!)



Step 3: Adhere the Summer Sun strip of cardstock about 2/3 of the way down on the cardfront with SNAIL.







Step 4: On the piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, stamp the truck image from "Loads of Love" in Basic Brown ink.







Step 5: Stamp the pumpkin image from "Loads of Love Accessories" in Basic Brown ink into the back of the truck. If you're having a difficult time lining up the images, use your Stamp-a-ma-jig - it works like a charm! The tutorial can be found here.





Step 6: Use the following Stampin' Write Markers to colour the pumpkins, wheels, bumpers and door handle: Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Basic Black, Going Gray.






Step 7: You will need a puddle of Always Artichoke ink with which you can do your watercolouring. You can either place a drop of reinker in a plastic container or "burp" your ink pad, as seen in the photograph. To do this, simply squeeze the ink pad while it is closed, and then open the pad so that you can see the inside of the lid. There will be a small puddle of ink here that you can use to watercolour.



Step 8: Pick up the ink with the tip of an aqua painter. Make sure that there is water in the barrel of the aqua painter, but be careful not to squeeze the barrel while you're watercolouring - the water will come out too fast. I know that I'm not using it this way in the picture here, but you might find it helpful to hold the aqua painter down further (around the threaded part) so that you don't accidentally squeeze the barrel. The water will come out automatically as needed.


Step 9: Paint the ink onto the image. I usually do the edges of the image first so that they are darker and then I go back to blend it into the other areas. Pick up more colour from the lid as necessary. (If you find that your aqua painter is releasing too much water and things are beginning to smudge, why not try Stampin' Up!'s watercolour cardstock - it's fabulous!) Once your image is coloured, adhere to the layer of Always Artichoke cardstock.


Step 10: Adhere this layer to the cardfront, overlapping the strip of Summer Sun cardstock.

Only 3 spots left!

Only 3 spots left for my Open House/Mini Stamping Session! E-mail me soon to reserve a spot!

Here are the details, in case you missed them:

I will be holding an Open House/Mini Stamping Session here at my house this Saturday, September 29th at 1:00 p.m. We will be making 3 cards and I'll be teaching you a few of the tricks I have up my sleeve from Regionals. The cost? A mere $5! Place an order of $25 or more on Saturday and your Stamping Session is FREE! Place an order of $50 or more and be entered into a draw to win a free Simply Scrappin' Kit - that's a $27.95 value!

Can't make it to the class, but you'd like to place an order anyway? If it's over $25, you'll receive a set of the make & take materials along with full-colour instructions! Place an order over $50 and you'll also be entered in the draw! (Note: All order amounts are before shipping and taxes. Orders and payment must be received by Saturday, September 29th in order to take advantage of the perks!)

Don't forget - until the end of September, when you place an order of $40 or more, you can save 30% off of a fantastic selection of fall themed-stamp sets. More details about this great Fall Frenzy promotion can be found here. Don't miss out on the frenzy!

Step-by-step: Halloween Card and Sucker

Here are the three projects that we did for the Stamper's 6 Stamp Club Technique Night. I just love this Halloween set, "Batty For You" and it was nice to make a fall-themed card as well. I don't seem to pull out these Earth Elements colours very often, so it was a nice challenge.

I'll post the instructions for the Halloween projects today, but stay tuned for tomorrow's post, as it will be the fall card step-by-step!




"TRICK OR TREAT SMELL MY FEET" Sucker

Step 1: Using Green Galore and Basic Black markers, colour directly onto the rubber of the stamp. If it happens to dry before you stamp it, simply breathe on the stamp and it will remoisten. Stamp on Whisper White cardstock.





Step 2: Punch out the image using the 1 1/4" circle punch.








Step 3: Punch a 1 3/8" circle out of Lovely Lilac cardstock and a scallop circle out of Basic Black cardstock.





Step 4: Using SNAIL adhesive, adhere the layers together as shown. Apply SNAIL to the back of the scallop circle and adhere to the plastic cover of the sucker.






Step 5: Tie Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon and Black Gingham ribbon around the sucker stick. Trim excess ribbon.









"FANGS FOR THE MEMORIES" Halloween Card

Step 1: Stamp the "spraypaint" image from "Itty Bitty Backgrounds" repeatedly over the Green Galore cardfront in Basic Black ink.







Step 2: Stamp the "Fangs for the Memories" image in Basic Black ink on Whisper White cardstock. Punch out the image using the 1 1/4" circle punch.






Step 3: Punch a 1 3/8" circle out of Green Galore cardstock. Adhere this to the back of the image layer.







Step 4: Using the 3/8" corner rounder, punch all four corners of the Lovely Lilac piece of cardstock.







Step 5: Stamp the 'Happy Halloween' stamp (from "All Holidays") repeatedly in Lovely Lilac ink on the Lovely Lilac cardstock to create a background.






Step 6: Using a sponge, apply Lovely Lilac ink to the edges of the piece of Lovely Lilac cardstock.







Step 7: Adhere a piece of Basic Black grosgrain ribbon across the centre of the Lovely Lilac. Adhere this piece to the centre of the cardfront.







Step 8: Add Stampin' Dimensionals to the back of the vampire image and add to the card front, ensuring that the dimensionals straddle the ribbon. This will help to keep things in place.

Cupcakes and a Card

We have secret Birthday Buddies at work and my buddy's day was today. I couldn't resist the opportunity to make her a 2-4 of cupcakes, complete with grey icing and pop-tabs! Of course, once the cupcakes were made and decorated, I couldn't resist the opportunity to make a matching card - a 6-pack! Super simple - I used Basic Black for the card front and added a piece of vellum punched with the Word Window punch to look like the plastic rings around a 6-pack. The "cans" themselves are just made with the 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" circle punches and Basic Grey cardstock. The little label attached to the 6-pack was made with Purely Pomegranate cardstock, Basic Black ink, the "Happy Everything" stamp set and the Word Window Punch. To attach it, I punched a hole with the Crop-A-Dile and added an eyelet and some hemp twine. I used glue dots to adhere the pop tabs to the card front and Voila!

SOOOOO Pumped!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Stampin' Up!'s Hamilton Regionals were this past weekend and it took me a while to get ready and then to recover from all of the excitement!! I had an absolutely FANTASTIC time! There were somewhere around 300 demonstrators there from all over! The day was filled with stamping, tips, tricks, giveaways, laughs and so much fun. I met some truly wonderful and talented women and it was so cool to see a few celebrities from the blogs that I read. Following the seminar, we had a dinner and swap at the Convention Centre for members of Splitcoast Stampers. The fun continued quite late into the evening, and I was sad to have to head out early. I would have loved to stick around for the shoebox swap, but I was just too tired (I think I got maybe 3 hours of sleep the night before as I was so excited!) It's hard to believe that it's all over.

Anyway, here's why I'm pumped...I came back from Regionals with so many fantastic ideas and projects and I can't wait to share them with you! I don't even remember taking this many notes in university! :)

Here's the plan - I will be holding an Open House/Mini Stamping Session here at my house this Saturday, September 29th at 1:00 p.m. We will be making 3 cards and I'll be teaching you a few of the tricks I have up my sleeve from Regionals. The cost? A mere $5!

Place an order of $25 or more on Saturday and your Stamping Session is FREE! Place an order of $50 or more and be entered into a draw to win a free Simply Scrappin' Kit - that's a $27.95 value!

Can't make it to the class, but you'd like to place an order anyway? If it's over $25, you'll receive a set of the make & take materials along with full-colour instructions! Place an order over $50 and you'll also be entered in the draw! (Note: All order amounts are before shipping and taxes. Orders and payment must be received by Saturday, September 29th in order to take advantage of the perks!)

Contact me ASAP to reserve your spot at the Open House/Mini Stamping Session. There are only 10 spots available!

Don't forget - until the end of September, when you place an order of $40 or more, you can save 30% off of a fantastic selection of fall themed-stamp sets. More details about this great Fall Frenzy promotion can be found here. Don't miss out on the frenzy!

Batty for Punches!

Last night was a very productive one. I managed to get all of my Halloween stamping done for my students! I teach 85 kids, so I don't usually give out anything too big for Halloween or Christmas, but I can't let the occasion go past without bringing in a little something for them, as Halloween is such a fun occasion. Last year I gave them mini chocolate bars with little tags attached, but this year it's suckers. I love the set "Batty For You" and it's just perfect for a little treat like a sucker. Super simple to decorate, too. To make these little covers, I stamped the images in Basic Black ink on Whisper White cardstock and then punched them out with my 1 1/4" circle punch. This was then layered onto a 1 3/8" circle punched out of Glorious Green and a scallop circle punched out of Only Orange. It was a lot of punching, but I love the look of them and my punches are still super sharp!

Here's a picture of some other completed suckers that I made a little while ago. I love the little ribbon accents and the little holes in the scallop (done with the 1/16" handheld punch), but these ones are way too labour intensive when I've got to make 85 of them. I think I'll keep it simple! Now all I need to do is buy the suckers and get gluing - Lifesaver suckers are the best, but hard to find!!

Tip: Regular SNAIL adhesive does the trick - a little on the back of the scallop and it sticks to the plastic wrapper perfectly! Why not try making some for your favourite trick-or-treaters!?!

Any takers?

I've been giving something a lot of thought lately, and I wanted to run it past my customers and blog readers to see what you think.

I've been so busy lately with school and wedding plans and the stamp clubs that I haven't had much time for much else. I used to do a class once a month - something that I loved and looked forward to, but lately it's so hard to squeeze it in. I know that it's always difficult to get a date that works for myself as well as everyone else, and there are always the unexpected things that pop up...

Anyway - here's my thought. If I were to offer a "kit" of sorts on a somewhat regular basis (monthly, hopefully), would anyone be interested in these as an alternative to a stamping class? All materials would be cut and prepared and step-by-step instructions with photographs would be provided of course. I'm thinking that it would be something where you wouldn't need to sign up for a specific number of kits - just whichever ones interested you. I would post a picture of it here on my blog along with the details (i.e., cost, materials included, etc). It would be a way to try something new and get some new ideas. It could be anything from a journal to a 3-D project to a set of cards - anything and everything - requests encouraged! Cost would depend on the items included and whether or not it would need to be shipped to you (those who live close wouldn't have to worry).

I just thought that I'd put it out there to see if there was any interest before I invest in the time and materials. If you think it's something you'd be interested in, let me know so I can get a sense of whether or not it would be worth giving a shot. You can either e-mail me personally or post a comment here. Suggestions welcome - it's still in the beginning stages!

For now, I'm off to stamp. My sister, mom and I are having a stamping evening. It's a tradition I'd like to carry on to remember my Nana who passed away almost a year ago now. Nine days before she passed away, my mom and I spent the afternoon stamping with her. We had a fantastic time together and it was something that Nana had never done before. She loved receiving handmade cards from us but hadn't gotten into the hobby herself yet. She was a natural and made 8 beautiful cards! It was an afternoon that I will never forget. She was such a beautiful person and was always eager to spend time with her family and friends - the life of the party.

And now for my soapbox: Whether it's stamping or playing a board game or just spending time with your family and loved ones, make sure you take the time to share those special moments. It can be a few hours or just a few minutes - such a small gesture but such important memories are made and treasured.

Catching Up!

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts this past week. It was a super-busy week with school commitments and stamping classes. I will try to make up for it this week, although it appears to be a busy one too.

Anyway, I finally got caught up tonight on cards that needed to be sent out. It has been a little while since I last stamped from scratch, so it took me a little while to get started. I needed anniversary cards, so this is what I came up with. It was nice to pull out a background stamp this time - I haven't used them in ages!

Stamps: Paisley, Hugs & Wishes
Paper: Not Quite Navy, Sage Shadow, Very Vanilla
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Sage Shadow
Tools: Sponge daubers, Photo Corner Punch, Crafter's Tool Kit
Accessories: Vintage Brads

My SCS Swap Card

As promised, here's the card front that I'm swapping at the SCS Dinner and Swap happening after the Hamilton Regional.

I bought this set, Snow Burst, a little while ago as a pre-order from the Holiday Mini, but I hadn't gotten around to playing with it until I pulled it out for this swap. This set is just beautiful! I love it! What's even better - the rubber was die-cut, so all I had to do was pop the images out of the rubber, peel off the backing and mount them! It made it so easy for me to put the set together! Did you know that all of the sets in the new Holiday Mini are die cut??? A great time saver when you're making your holiday cards! Enjoy!

Stamps: Snow Burst, Holidays & Wishes
Paper: Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue, Whisper White
Ink: Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue, Night of Navy, Versamark
Tools: Ticket Corner Punch, sponges, Cutter Kit, Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy, Powder Pals, Paper Snips, Coluzzle
Accessories: Whisper White Grosgrain Ribbon, Clear Embossing Powder

Okay - not yet, but soon!

It's been a really busy week this week, and things don't seem to be slowing down much. I have a new creation waiting to be photographed, but I just can't seem to get around to it. Anyway - I am hoping to take a picture of it tomorrow and get it up here for you to check out. It's a card that I designed for the SCS swap and dinner I'm going to after Stampin' Up!'s Regional in Hamilton. I have the original design done and most of the materials cut and prepped. Only 29 more to finish sponging, embossing and embellishing and then I can assemble! :)

Our local Fall Fair kicked off today with a fantastic beef BBQ and loonie midway rides, so needless to say, we spent the evening there tonight. I took my niece Ava on the carousel, which was exciting. She liked it at first, but then I ended up holding her for the last half of the ride. Who knows - maybe the carousel wasn't exciting enough for her. When we got off, she wouldn't take her eyes off of the crazy octopus ride. Oh my - she's one adventurous little girl! Seventeen months old and braver than me! :)

Well, before I go for the night, here are a few very exciting things to check out from Stampin' Up! They have two fantastic promotions going on until the end of the month:

• Fall Frenzy: Spend $40 and get 30% off of eight selected stamp sets! Click here for more details (I'm placing an order next weekend, so send me an e-mail if you'd like to take advantage of this great promotion!).
• Choose Your Family: Sign up to become a demonstrator before the end of September and receive one free colour family of Classic Ink Pads absolutely free! The starter kit is a fantastic deal on it's own, but add this promotion, and it's irresistible! :) Click here for more information, or contact me to find out more about the demonstrator opportunity!

Sorry - bad blogger!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Things have been super hectic with getting ready for school and enjoying the last real weekend of the summer. I am working on my September newsletter and I hope that it will be e-mailed out later on today. There are so many exciting offers from Stampin' Up! this month, so there's a lot to include in the newsletter! I'm hoping to get some time to stamp later on today as well, so I will hopefully have a new creation to post! Stay tuned!