Hello stampers. What is one tool you simply couldn’t make cards without? Without a doubt, it would have to be the paper trimmer. Can you imagine cutting all your paper and cardstock with scissors? What a mess. So this tool should be a worthy investment, a workhorse that you can count on. Reliable. Trustworthy. Consistent. Sounds like the requirements for a spouse!! Let me introduce you to the Stampin’Up! Trimmer. In Canada this great tool is $40. I can honestly say that it is the best paper trimmer I have ever had. Let me tell you why.
Every trimmer I had before this one would wear out on me. I am talking the numbers and the grid lines wearing off. This one stays looking brand new! Also, the blades last a lot longer than with any other trimmer. I use mine a lot, I do most of my own prep work for probably 70 cards a week and a blade will last me for months. It has a scoring blade and a cutting blade so that is also very convenient so you can first score your 8 1/2 by 11 cardstock and then cut it in half. One score, two cards.
Here you can see the grey tab on the side, that locks the “blade arm” into position to keep it safe from children or when traveling. I find this to be a very thoughtful and handy feature.
Do you see how long this extension arm is? 14 1/2 inches! Wow, long enough to satisfy any scrapbooker. It also has a “foot” underneath to keep it level and an edge to keep your paper straight all the way! I also love how clear the measurement markings are, you don’t need a magnifying glass. All these little features make your basic prep work so much more satisfying.
This has got to be another great feature that some of you may not even know about. I mean, why would you turn your trimmer upside down? Well, a nice surprise is waiting for you there. Those little square compartments that I have left empty would perfectly fit some Ghiradelli chocolate!! Seriously though, you can see there is room for spare blades, a bone folder, a pokey tool, you could put an adhesive remover square in there. The compartment snaps shut securely so nothing will fall out by accident. There are also five rubber “feet” on the bottom to make sure your trimmer doesn’t slide around on your surface when you are trying to cut your cardstock. Do you have any special uses for your trimmer that I have not mentioned? I would love to see your comments. Here is a video I did extolling the virtues of this great tool. If you have any other tools you want me to review, let me know. I think the next one will be the embossing heat tool. The video is in two parts since I ran out of space on my phone!!
Hello stampers! When I first discovered Project Life I was a little hesitant. I thought it was cheating. I was a “real” scrapbooker. However, when I talk to scrapbookers, the most recurring theme is that they are always lamenting the fact that they are “behind”. They have to catch up on so many years of documenting their photos. Well, Project Life to the rescue. I made my first album a few years ago after a Stampin’Up! incentive trip. I had taken my daughter Rachel on the Caribbean cruise with me and I was bound and determined to get an album made. Using Project Life I had the week long cruise with hundreds of pictures done in less than one week. What an amazing feeling that was. So I have to say that I am rather shocked that this trend has not taken off with my customers. I had one Project Life club that lasted a year but whenever I offered an event, there were very few takers. Maybe this is about to change.
We made this set of 18 cards (some are missing because there are two of every type of card in the kit, so you could definitely make more) at our team retreat last week Saturday. They only need to be stamped with a sentiment, accented with some linen thread and then put on either an early espresso or whisper white base. Some of the cards are 4 1/4″ square cards, others are regular 4 1/4″ by 5 1/2″ cards.
Here I used the 3″ x 4″ Project Life cards and matted them with 3 1/4″ x 4 3/4″ early espresso mats and mounted them on our whisper white note cards and envelopes. They look great with or without the linen thread accent. The words came from Feather Together for the first two cards. The card on the far right uses Paisleys and Posies.
The stitched framelits also work very well with adding a simple sentiment to these beautiful Project Life cards. The artwork really is stunning. The linen thread really adds to the natural beauty of these cards. Both cards use the stamp set Feather Together.
So now I thought you might enjoy some close-up shots of the the big group of cards shown in the first picture. Another added benefit of Project Life with Stampin’Up! is the great organizer box you get with your card kit. It works perfectly for holding all your card inserts, a journalling pen AND your completed cards. It really reduces the mess and keeps you organized.
The word “hope” comes from the stamp set Watercolour Words and the “so sorry” comes from Here for You. I stamped the words in early espresso. One of my customers, Sonja, suggested that the hope card would be perfect for Remembrance Day with the poppy on it. A great gift for one of our veterans.
The “just for you” in the square card above comes from Watercolor Words and the “I am much more me when I’m with you” comes from Layering Love.I really love the next two cards. With the collection you could make doubles of these as there are two of each design in it. The “begin each day with a grateful heart” would also look great in a framed piece in your craft room or anywhere in the house really! I would put the “hello lovely” in my bathroom where I would see it each morning and be reminded to love myself.
Are you getting impressed with the number and variety of cards you can make with this kit? I sure am. And there are still lots and lots of cards left. You could even use them for their intended use! Scrapbooking!!
The “you are too kind” saying is from the stamp set One Big Meaning. My ink pad could definitely use some re-inking here. Did you know that you can extend the life of your ink pads by re-inking regularly. I am convinced that we have the best ink pads in the industry. Of course, an added bonus is that our inks coordinate perfectly with our cardstock and patterned paper.
I have two more cards to share with you. One uses the stamp set Layering Love. The other one just combines three different Project Life cards. I cat a strip of the blue and white striped one and used oval framelits to cut the words out of another one. Once you start going through all these beautiful cards in the kit the possibilities are endless. I had so much fun playing with them and I hope you do too.
The last one “Life is Beautiful” is a fitting end to this blog post. I have just spent a week at a friend’s cottage on the shore of Lake Erie, and life has indeed been beautiful. I was able to share the beauty with my team of Stampin’Up! demonstrators and my new recruits too. I hope you send out the cards that you make and in doing so make life more beautiful for your friends and loved ones, that is after all why we do what we do. Everyone needs happy mail sometimes. Of course, you can also use these cards to make quick and easy scrapbook pages. Get those pictures off your camera and off your computer and into a book that the kids can look at and remember all the good memories they are making with you.
Next time I hope to continue the series on the tools of the trade and I will be talking about our amazing paper trimmer. Don’t forget about sale-a-bration, this is the last month to be able to get a free item with every $60 purchase.
Hello stampers! When I first saw the So In Love bundle, it was really the framelits that I fell in love with, not the stamp set so much. Then I saw the happy anniversary saying in there and I knew that was exactly what I had been asking for. We do not have many happy anniversary sayings in our Stampin’Up! lineup, so that was very exciting. For some reason I was also inspired to use it with night of navy and whisper white. That led me to want to play with the Floral Boutique paper as well.
I have been spending a week at a friend’s cottage so that I could spoil my team members and new recruits with some retreat days. Those days were a big hit, everyone had a great time and it was wonderful to have fun together and relax as a team. I also planned for a personal retreat and of course I wanted to spend some time stamping. So in one container I had put my stash of Floral Boutique paper, some night of navy and whisper white cardstock and several shades of blue ink pads. Last night I decided to play! This is what happened.
The framelits from the So In Love bundle are an absolute delight to work with. Combined with the Big Shot die brush, all the little bits fall out easily. The one framelit is designed to be used as a belly band, but I prefer to use it simply as a card accent. Less fuss, less muss.
I just love how the framelits make this card look like a very fancy laser cut card that you would pay big bucks for in a store. Everyone will be so impressed that you made this card!! If only they knew how easy it was.
This card was made by repeatedly stamping the flower image from So In Love with night of navy. You get the different shades of blue by re-inking your stamp only after stamping three times. So, stamp, stamp, stamp, then ink up again. Stamp, stamp, stamp, then ink up. A good mantra to remember for making a beautiful monochrome card. I used stitched framelits for the “just for you”.
I thought Beautiful You was a good partner with the framelits from So In Love. With the bold pattern of the lace, the stamping can be kept to a minimum and no embellishments are needed. The result is a card that you can make in about five minutes! Of course you do need a Big Shot, a precision plate and the new platform is best. If you still have the old Big Shot (more than a year old) then you should definitely invest in the new platform, it really does make a big difference. Good tools are always a great investment. The starter kit is the most economical way to get a Big Shot. Message me if you have questions about that.
I love words, so I love the repeated words on this card. I also love that when you stamp multiple times before inking up your stamp again you get all these lovely shades of colour. So the “paper” at the bottom of this card is really just white card stock that I have stamped with the small leaf images in So In Love. It coordinates perfectly with the Floral Boutique paper in the annual catalog.
I made up these six cards in about two hours last night and the inspiration was totally just from the Floral Boutique paper. It is amazing what can happen when you just have some lovely paper spread out over your desk and some time on your hands. It felt great to create without copying anyone. I hope you enjoy these simple cards. Here is the last one:
The designer series paper was added to a navy base measuring 3 3/4″ by 5″. Then I thought it needed a pop of navy so I mounted it on a 4″ x 5 1/4″ piece of night of navy and then I had a dilemma! The white lacy piece now looked like it was floating on the navy, so I added a string of pearls on either side. Be sure to use the tiny pearls that are all attached to each other. It makes for a quick and easy accent.
Happy stamping everyone, it is time for me to have some supper with my husband. I haven’t seen him in a few days. Yes, I was at the cottage all by myself. Quite nice for a change to slow down. I really enjoyed nature, I even saw an eagle yesterday and four deer including a fawn. This morning I saw several flocks of tundra swans. We live in a beautiful world. God is good.
Hello stampers. What is your favourite tool in your stamp room? The one tool you could not do without? For me it is the BIg Shot. Of course you do need a paper trimmer, and I will talk about that one another day. The Big Shot is the tool that totally floored me when I first fell in love with card making. How a machine could turn plain paper into a beautifully textured work of art was just amazing to me. Of course, it not only embosses (which, if you are a brand new stamper is the word for turning a flat, plain piece of cardstock into a textured, patterned work of art) it also cuts and scores things.
You can also use the Big Shot to cut things using metal shapes called framelits or thinlets and they are either plain shapes such as ovals, squares, circles, hearts, stars, etc. Stampin’Up also carries Stitched Framelits which are my favourite because they add such classic detail with ease. They are also very hard to find since they are not in any of our catalogs yet, but if you click here you will have it at your fingertips. Use the host code on the side bar and you can have these beauties delivered to your door in no time at all!
When cutting out detailed shapes you will get amazing results with the Precision Base Plate. This is a very solid steel plate that has no give, so it works very well to cut in all those tiny spots. Combined with the die brush you will be so happy with the improved results. Worth every penny. The recipe is the Big Shot platform and thin die adaptor, then the precision base plate with the black side up, then your cardstock and your thinlet or framelit then ONE clear cutting plate. Here are the instructions in case you lost yours or have a hard time finding exactly where to look:
I am including a video at the end of this post of what to do if you order a Big Shot. It can be a bit overwhelming when the box arrives and you realize that there is “some assembly required”. Don’t let it scare you. All you have to do is attach the handle, but you can laugh along with me as I do it, or try to do it, without reading the instructions. Here are the instructions so I can encourage you to do it the better way! In Canada we call the “hex wrench” an Allen Key if that makes it more clear.
Here is a card made by one of my customers, Jane. I recreated it last night using the Happy Birthday from Rose Wonder, but I forgot to take a picture, so I am just going to use Jane’s. She did a beautiful job. You will recognize the copper foil leaves on here from the Botanical Builder Framelits that I showed above.
Finally, here is the video I made with Jeff showing how to put the BIg Shot together and how to use it properly. Remember, if you don’t have a Big Shot yet, the best way to buy it is to include it in your starter kit. That way you pay no shipping or tax plus you a few extra embossing folders as a bonus. Why? How? Because the kit is only $135 but you get to choose $165 in product, so that could include the BIg Shot for $136, a woodland embossing folder for $11.25, a brick wall embossing folder for $11.25 plus stampin’ mist cleaner for $6. You will only pay $135!! That is LESS than the price of the Big Shot in the catalog. PLUS you then get to pick out any two free stamp sets out of the Occasions or Annual catalogs. Stampin’Up also includes a past Paper Pumpkin kit in your starter kit as well as 8 annual catalogs, 8 Occasions catalogs, 8 sale-a-bration flyers and 50 order forms. You then get 20% off all your own orders and 20% instant income if you sell anything to your people. If you choose not to sell to anyone or not to buy another thing ever (really??) you will still have the great deal on your kit. Click here to join and get the starter kit.
Well, I wish you all the best with your Big Shot, if you have any questions or comments, please leave them here, I do love to hear from you. Next in this series will be the Stampin’ Trimmer.
Hello stampers. Project Kits are a wonderful form of “almost instant” gratification. They also come in a very nice package that is nice to give away as a gift complete with the finished cards or tags, or it makes a useful and pretty place to store crafting supplies in your stamp room. You also have the choice of buying your own stamp set to go with the kit, or just coming to my place and using my stamp set and saving some money. I also like them because they are very portable. So if you are going to the cottage or to visit your in-laws, or have to wait a while in a hospital waiting room you can take it with you to pass the time pleasantly. Here is a nice shot of one of each of the completed items.
Sometimes it is fun to stamp alone, but it is also great fun to get together with a group of friends or fellow crafters to stamp together. There is always so much laughter and sharing in my stamp room. Good food is also a great addition. That is why I like to offer kits as potluck parties. Everyone brings a dish to share and that way you may even go home with a new recipe! There is no extra cost for coming for the day or evening, just the cost of the kit. This kit, Birthday Bright Project Kit is very reasonable at only $37. You will make 12 cards and 12 gift tags. The date for this Potluck Party is Thursday March 30 at either 10am or 6:30pm. Deadline for registration is March 10.
This card has some adorable banners going across it. It is a little fiddly but not too bad at all. I think it is worth it for getting such an unusual card, but if this is not your thing we can find an alternative for it for sure. The card bases are all terrific, in fact they are so nice it is a shame to cover most of it up!
The last card in this kit has a recessed birthday cake. There is also a birthday cake shape that pops out of the card base which you can use on a different project. Bonus! The card also has some great colourful enamel shapes on it which give it some lovely detail. Whoever gets this card will be feeling the love.
Here are the tags included with the kit. You can either be an over-the-top gift giver and have a coordinating card and gift tag, or you can double the value of your money and give some people just a cute tag with their gift and no card. Sometimes that is not so bad. Depends on who is getting it right? If you know they are the type who don’t save cards for more than a few days, then a tag is just the thing.
Here is a close-up of the balloon tag that uses a honeycomb embellishment. I love the colour combination and all the little details on this one.
Here are the present tags. A word of caution here. If you look closely you will see that the silver foil on the saffron tag is a little gunky. Yup. Don’t use fast fuse to adhere those parts. I learned my lesson. Even that little adhesive remover tool wouldn’t get it off completely. It just kind of spread the gunk around. So on the watermelon wonder tag I just used a few glue dots. Your fine-tip glue pen will also do a fine job, pardon the pun!
So, if you are wishing that winter would just end, and you need a creative fix, come on out to the potluck party and we will have some fun together. You can also gather up a few friends and come together. What a wonderful day or evening out. Don’t forget about sale-a-bration too. This fabulous sale goes until the end of March and there are two great things about that. One, you get to choose a free item with every $60 purchase before shipping and tax. Two, the starter kit is a super amazing deal. Not only do you get to pick out $165 worth of product from the annual catalog, the Occasions catalog or the clearance rack, you only pay $135, no shipping, no tax. AND you get to choose two free stamps sets out of any catalog as well. You can also come to my team retreat day on Monday February 27. Check it out:
Well, happy stamping. Until next time, warm hugs, Jackie
