Hello stampers. Just a short post today and sorry for my absence. Not only was it a long weekend but I got hit by a very bad case of carpal tunnel syndrome or something very similar. Typing on a keyboard was brutal!! So you might find more videos and less words for the next little while as I try to take care of myself. Today I am going to share the perfect oval! I am sure you have seen the cute frames that say “Home”. The stitched shape oval dressed up in different ways takes the place of the “O”. This is a fun project that you can easily switch up according to mood or season.
I used Beach Happy for this insert. There is fussy cutting involved but when you strategically place your chair on the white oval you don’t notice that the difficult bits between the arms and legs of the chair are not cut out. For the rest of the tips and tricks watch the video!
Thanks so much for stopping by. I realize that the video is sideways but in my fog of pain I simply didn’t have the gumption to try to fix it or do it over. I think you can see what needs to be seen. I know that you are patient and kind and will understand. Have a super day!
Hello stampers. Do you like colouring? Do you hate colouring? Beautiful Blends are the answer. If you love colouring then you will love it even more when you colour with Blends. Do you hate colouring? You just might be very pleasantly surprised if you try the Blends. How do I know this? I think I have now had around 50 Blends club members as well as people at my coffee and a card classes say that they hated colouring until they tried the Blends. That just makes me so happy. Did you know that when I was in grade 2 I won second prize in a colouring contest run by the Guelph Daily Mercury? I was so happy! My prize was a dozen tulip bulbs and this was a kids colouring contest. How silly is that? Anyways, even with that legacy, colouring can still stress me out sometimes especially if it is a really detailed line image stamp. But Blends are different. Try out a few and you will see what I mean. I would like to show you two cards we made at our last Blends Club. Both of them are using stamp sets that will soon retire, so if you love them, be sure to add them to your collection before they are gone and sell for an astronomical price on Ebay.
Now doesn’t this card just make you smile? Two by Two is great for baby cards but also for birthday cards or get well cards for kids. It is also perfect for colouring therapy. I used flirty flamingo, balmy blue, soft suede, smoky slate, daffodil delight, pumpkin pie, basic black, real red, crumb cake, old olive and pool party to colour this card. I think it is a winner. I used the stamparatus to make sure my sentiment was a beautiful, deep black.
Bubbles and Bubbly just recently made its way to my house. This bathtub looks a lot like mine, and with a saying like that, don’t you think The Pampered Stamper needed to own this set? I thought so too and just in time too since it is retiring at the end of May. I layered vellum over top of the pool party circles to soften it up a bit but you could also use our sequins for a fun look. I am sure there are not too many rich razzleberry bathtubs in the world but I like the funky look of it.
Thanks so much for stopping by and get ready for six more Blends colours coming in the new annual catalog: so saffron, gray granite, pretty peacock, seaside spray, rococo rose and purple posy. Have a super day.
Hello stampers. Hugs From Shelli arrived yesterday and today I got to play with it. What are Hugs From Shelli? It is the name of the latest Paper Pumpkin that Shelli designed and it is a stunner. Shelli loves all things vintage and this kit reflects that. Sumptuous velvet ribbon, pretty bronze metal birds, vellum feathers and the most gorgeous cards in four different patterns. This kit has twelve cards in it!! I am on a Paper Pumpkin kick and I am really, really promoting it right now because you can still save significant money if you get a twelve month prepaid subscription before June. Why? Because in June the price is going up $3 a month. The twelve month pre-paid is always the best deal because you not only save $1 per month, you also get a month for free AND you get host benefits of $27.50. It is a win-win. Do you want to see what the cards in the kit look like?
One thing to be careful of when making these beautiful cards is that there are three different sized labels to put on the front of the cards. I made a mistake on the “Hello Friend” card. I used the wrong size!! I didn’t feel like taking it apart but it does look better on a smaller label.
The embellishments and elements from the kit looked so pretty laying on my table that I just had to take a picture to show you. Even the envelopes are special. I decided to use my kits to make anniversary and wedding cards for my regular Coffee and a card class on Tuesday morning. I am so happy with how they turned out. If you look closely at the anniversary card you will see that our nested label framelits coordinate perfectly.
I want to show you closeups of all the cards that I made.
I made a little mistake on this next card. I used the wrong sized label. The picture also does not capture the pretty detail in the metal bird embellishment.
I just love the vellum feathers in this set. The pretty peacock velvet ribbon is so beautiful in real life, this picture does not do it justice.
This next card I had already made a month ago at OnStage in Quebec City when we were given a sneak peek at the amazing Paper Pumpkin designed by Shelli Gardner, cofounder of Stampin’Up!. I was stamping in a room full of ladies and I didn’t do it perfectly, but it is what it is, and it is still perfectly lovely.
Here are the closeups of my alternatives.
This wedding card made me think of something borrowed, something blue, so I added a blue feather and some speckling in the background. Both of those images are in the Hugs from Shelli stamp set.
Now this is the right size label for this card but I turned it into an anniversary card and layered it with a blushing bride nested label framelit. I tied a bow using the twine provided but adding some old olive linen thread as well. My reasoning here was the quote from the Bible ” a three-fold cord is not easily broken”.
This last card is a vintage for the bride card. I added some pearls and the polka dot tulle ribbon. The sentiment is from Special Celebrations. You could step it up a notch by adding another layer of cardstock behind the sentiment. I actually just got up to look at the card, but in real life it doesn’t look as stark or need that extra layer. I had so much fun playing with this set and am excited to share it at coffee and a card class on Tuesday. I know everyone is just going to love adding their own touch to the cards. Some people might not need wedding or anniversary cards. If not, they can make the originals or change them to suit their needs. Here is a picture of the stamp set. Even the tissue paper in this kit was different, a lovely vintage pink!
Thanks so much for stopping by. If you live in Canada and decide that you want to get Paper Pumpkin, then you do that by clicking here. Have a super day and a great long weekend if you are in Canada. Long live the queen!
Hello stampers. Yesterday I had two sympathy card classes and the base for these was Paper Pumpkin. I wanted to show the versatility of Paper Pumpkin. At the end of the class I unpacked my least favourite Paper Pumpkin of the year. It had been moldering in my basement for six months!! I wanted to show that you could still use a Paper Pumpkin that you really disliked and then totally change your mind by using it in a different way. Why am I telling you this? It is because I think Paper Pumpkin is awesome and the price is going up in June by three dollars per month so I am encouraging everyone to sign up now for a 12 month prepaid subscription. If you do that you get one month for free based on what you would pay if you were just paying month by month. You also get $27.50 in host credits which you can use not only on our beautiful, exclusive host sets but on any product in the catalogue or on the clearance rack. We are going to revisit Paper Pumpkin!
The original Paper Pumpkin kit was for a 24 month calendar in a cute box. Now some people might find something like this super cute and useful but I wasn’t of that mindset. I do however love the saying in the stamp set “Every day is a fresh start” so I thought it would be perfect for a birthday, for the start of a new job, graduation or even after some life-changing event. The ribbon in the kit is sumptuous, so that was another bonus. This kit also came with two ink spots, grapefruit grove and pool party. Let’s take a look at the kit.
Do you see the stamp set? Lots of geometric shapes. That is not my forté. Some people look at stamps like this and see all kinds of possibilities, but for me it is more of a challenge. What is a girl to do? Well, ink up those stamps and start playing on some grid paper and see what happens. I was really pleased with how my card turned out and it totally changed my mind about the kit. There were also ten cute gift tags in the kit which would have been very handy in December!
Here are my two cards side by side. You could also do a pool party card base to give yourself another alternative. These were literally a five minute card, only because I had to run some cardstock through the Big Shot with the stitched rectangle framelits. I think it is a great idea to get a personalized card with the significant date circled. The circle is also one of the stamps in the kit. You could use the sturdy box to hold your extra cards that you could give away as a thoughtful gift. I am so happy that I rescued this kit from my basement and turned into fun cards.
Why would I want to subscribe to Paper Pumpkin? I have a room full of stamps! I will tell you a story. You probably know that I really like to cook and bake, but sometimes it is still a real treat to order takeout and have some delicious food dropped off at my house. Paper Pumpkin is a monthly crafting surprise of instant gratification. No fuss, no muss, everything included! It is also nice that it is a surprise. I have found that it can be a lot fun to not look at the kit right away. The stamp set is always sitting on top of the kit so I take that out right away and play with it. If you run stuck for ideas there is a great online community for Paper Pumpkin on Facebook but also on Pinterest. Remember, Google is your friend. Paper Pumpkin is also compact and portable, so you can take it with you anywhere and surprise and delight your friends and family members with a great rainy day activity or to help you get through a lengthy wait in a doctor’s office or other waiting room. You can also skip a month whenever you want so that is a great feature that most craft box subscriptions do not offer. Crafting together is a great way to spend meaningful time with your children or aging parents. Creativity is therapeutic!
If you live in Canada, I would love for you to subscribe to Paper Pumpkin through me. Here is the link, or click on the image below.
Hello stampers. I decided to make a second twisted pop-up card with the Come Sail Away Suite as I needed to show you how I made it. It was time for an updated version, but the jury is still out whether or not it is an improved version or not. The first one was quite effective I am told. While the video is uploading I will write this blog post and show you some pictures of the actual card. For the card front I used a card from the Come Sail Away Memories and More card pack.
There are five different items from the Come Sail Away suite on this card: the baker’s twine, the sail away trinkets, the Come Sail Away Memories and More card, the Smooth Sailing dies and the Come Sail Away designer series paper. Suites make it a dream to coordinate and create a great card.
I really love how this card turned out in the inside. I stamped the sailboats in Memento Black and coloured them with Blends. In yesterday’s card I had them stamped just in one solid colour and that works too, but this is definitely a step up.
Here you can see the panels up close. Each panel has a piece of designer series paper measuring 2 1/2″ by 3 1/2″ as well as a stitched oval framelit (the second largest one) The sailboats, the anchor and the banner are all popped up with mini dimensionals. In this last shot you get a glimpse of the inner mechanism of the card fold.
Finally, here is the video that I made to show you how to put this card together. I hope you find it useful and that you feel inspired to make one of these beauties yourself. Thanks for stopping by, but before you leave, can I ask a favour? Please pin your favourite card as that really helps me get more traffic to my blog and that eventually will also help to grow my business. I really appreciate you! Have a super day.
