Hello stampers and happy Saturday to you. Today I am sharing a sneak peek video from the Holiday Catalog. A video is the best way to show off the new products, especially the beautiful patterned paper. It is my birthday weekend so all the kids have come home to celebrate with me. That means this will be the shortest blog post ever!!
Sneak Peek Holiday Catalog Video
Please Remember
Please do remember that the products in this video are not available until July 1. If you want instant gratification then you can put these items in your starter kit. There is no tax on the starter kit and you can choose $165 worth of products for only $135. It’s always a good deal! You also get 20% off any future orders. There are more details but it really is risk free and you have nothing to lose. Message me if you have any questions. Here is a helpful link.
Hello stampers and happy Thursday to you. Today I am sharing my Hope & Prayer Stack and Shuffle cards. Hope & Prayer is a beautiful stamp set and the stack and shuffle technique is perfect for making a stack of simply stunning sympathy cards. I hope you like them as much as I do!! Let’s take a look.
Hope & Prayer
Hope & Prayer is a stamp set with four images and four sayings. It is not only suited for sympathy cards but also for thinking of you and thank you. Use this stamp set to uplift your friends and the people in your life. Take the concept of happy mail one step further and turn it into a ministry of love, support and encouragement.
Here you can see the inside of the cards.
Finishing Touch
The finishing touch to these beautiful Hope & Prayer sympathy cards is definitely the Natural Finish Ribbon and Tailor Made Tags. You can see the lovely detail here below.
Measurements for Stack & Shuffle Technique
Here is a handy graphic for you to use so you can make these Stack and Shuffle cards yourself. Start with a 4″ by 6″ stack of four different patterns.
Video Tutorial
I did a video tutorial on YouTube but the technological gods were not smiling at me that day. The picture quality is a little blurry but at least I talk you through how to do this technique. My viewers said that they still enjoyed the video despite its visual shortcomings.
Shop With Me!
I really do hope that if you are looking for someone to buy your stamping supplies from that you will consider me. With the links below I have tried to make it as easy as possible for you to do just that! If you have any questions please message me and I will do my best to help you out. Have a super day!
Hello stampers. I am sitting at Raleigh-Durham airport waiting to fly home. I thought I would use this time to share some vacation wisdom. As you might know, this trip was planned to replace the Stampin’Up! incentive trip that was supposed to be a Caribbean cruise. Gerard has thus far NOT been able to go on an incentive trip because of COVID. I received a cash gift in lieu of the trip and I planned some stays in gorgeous cabins in the Smoky Mountains and then a few days in a romantic, historic bed and breakfast.
While there were many beautiful moments, there were also times of extreme frustration due to travel dilemmas. What wisdom did we glean from this?
Please note that I started writing this post more than a week ago, but I decided to publish it anyways. I hope you enjoy the travel adventures. I’m sure you will be able to relate to some of our experiences!
The Best Laid Plans…some vacation wisdom!
The best laid plans can indeed go awry. The Bible tells us that too. Another truth is that the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment. On his flight out Gerard’s first airplane had a mechanical issue. After waiting for two and half hours on the tarmac, everyone was deplaned and the flight was canceled. Picture long lineups with only two agents working. Long story short, he could not get a flight out and had to get a hotel and fly out the next morning.
In the meantime, I was in Charlotte airport where I needed to book a last minute Airbnb or hotel as I would not be driving three and a half hours to the first cabin only to drive back to the airport the next day. I decided to pick up the rental car that Gerard had arranged. No luck. It was fully paid and in his name and even with him on the phone to the agent, they would not let me pick up the car. I had to rent another car for one day so that I could get around. This whole process took about one and a half hours!
It gets worse!! When Gerard arrives the next day the first place we have to go is to the lost luggage department. You see, NO luggage had arrived. Not his carryon, not his big suitcase. Then we had to pick up his rental car. By the time we got to our cabin it was 7pm. A lot of precious time wasted and the uncertainty of if and when the luggage would arrive.
It was indeed Almost Heaven to soak in a hot tub on the deck of this beautiful cabin that was totally secluded on the side of a densely wooded mountain. You can check it out here.
The next day was Sunday and it was so good to worship with the locals in a little church just down the mountain from us. It was our first time in a Missionary Baptist church. My friend Letha took this picture of it.
Lemons out of Lemonade
When I realized that we would not be able to stay in our gorgeous cabin the first night I messaged my friend Letha who lives in North Carolina. I knew she would be up for an adventure and she was!! She went with her friend Ann and spent the night there so that really helped me out. I no longer felt like the cabin was “wasted”. Letha helped me out by giving lots of great travel suggestions and helpful tips for finding the cabin.
If you want to see another blog post about sunshine and lemons, you can. check out this one here.
White Water Rafting
We went white water rafting in the morning which was truly breathtaking. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be, with mostly level 2 and one level 3 rapids but that did let us enjoy the surroundings more instead of focusing on staying in the raft and out of the rapids! You can check out the website from this great company here.
In the back of Gerard’s mind was still his missing luggage. Would it get delivered to the one rental agency after we arrived at the second one? Would we have to retrace our steps and drive an extra three hours to track it down?
Cabin Number Two
On Tuesday afternoon we made our way to our second cabin which was closer to Asheville where we would go and visit the famous Biltmore Estates.
The drive to our second cabin was beautiful and at the end it was very steep with hairpin turns. I was so excited! This meant that our view was going to be beautiful!! It was!! The only trouble was, I couldn’t find the hot tub. Turns out there wasn’t one. This crazy squirrel was so enamoured with the view, with the cabin and with the wood burning fireplace that I had overlooked this important detail. You can check out the cabin here.
I think that my favourite thing about this cabin was the fact that Gerard taught me to play pool decently here. In the past I was so so bad at this game it was unbelievable. You see, after the first night here, the rain came and fog rolled in and there was no more view!!! We had a lot of fun playing pool and ping pong. Turns out that Gerard is a great ping-pong player . He used to play a lot as a teenager.
A Turn for the Worse
After an unremarkable afternoon in Asheville Gerard could no longer take the stress of the missing suitcases. After many calls to service agents from the airport and airline he was getting mixed messages. In fact, the lost luggage department at the airport only has voicemail. It is impossible to talk to a person and they do not answer their voicemail with either a phone call or an email. We spend four hours driving to Charlotte airport only to find out that there was still NO luggage. I was heartsick. All this hard earned SU money spend on beautiful cabins and we aren’t even in them to enjoy them. So what is the lesson here?
I kept telling myself, focus on the joy, focus on the joy. You are together. In a nice place. With fun games. We made a fire in the hearth, cooked some hot dogs and then played some games. The next day we would be up on time to explore Biltmore Estate!!
Biltmore Estate
Biltmore Estate is a beautiful chateau built by George Washington Vanderbilt in the 1890’s. Not only is there a gorgeous chateau to explore, there are also beautiful, extensive grounds to discover, a rose garden and a winery. Despite the bad weather forecast we had an incredible day.
Grove Park Inn
The guide in the smaller museum in Antler Village recommended a visit to the famous Grove Park Inn. We followed her advice and had some drinks by the fire and enjoyed reading about the history there. If you are ever even a few hours away from here, I would highly recommend a visit at any time of the year. Start with Biltmore and then end here with a nice drink on the patio enjoying the view. Be sure to stroll the hallways and soak up the history!
The Best for Last
Our last stop was the best for the simple reason that we were finally able to totally relax. We now knew that Gerard’s luggage was NOT going to arrive and we were also ensconced in luxury and in the capable hands of our talented innkeeper who spoiled us each morning with phenomenal breakfasts on the verandah. I chose this place because Stampin’Up! had given a generous cash allowance in lieu of the Caribbean cruise that I had earned. It was worth every penny and came close to what we would have experienced on an incentive trip.
If you want to read more about the Elmwood Inn you can do so here.
Back in the Saddle
I realize that I haven’t blogged in almost a month!! That is shocking, but given my hectic schedule, something had to give. It feels good to get back into the swing of things and I hope that you too are getting back into stamping. If you live in Canada and need a catalog, please let me know. You can always shop online with me here and every blog post has links to the products that I used for the post. This one only has links to great vacation spots!! I should be a tour guide instead of a demonstrator. All kidding aside, I love what I do and I hope that you continue to support me with your orders.
Follow me on YouTube
Looking for some fun and easy cards to make? You can find me on my YouTube channel here or check out my latest video below.
Thanks!
Thanks so much for joining me today, I really do appreciate you being here. If you order with me online you will receive at least one free tutorial as a gift. The Demo Design Dream Team has a summer theme to the tutorial this month, here is the sneak peek.
Hello stampers and happy Monday to you!! It has been SO long since I have written a blog post, but today I am bringing you Sending Smiles and the Tea Boutique paper. When the new annual catalog comes out, I like to dive in with the new in colours, especially when I love them. This year they are so fresh and bright, perfect for the sun-drenched spring days we are experiencing right now. Let’s take a look!
In Colours Made Easy
If you want to make using the in colours easy, just get some patterned paper that has the in colours in the design. Get a package of assorted in colour cardstock and then play with them together. You will soon discover which ones are your favourite and what other colours they coordinate well with. That is why I chose to work with the Tea Boutique paper which you can find here.
I combines the sentiment stamps and dies from Sending Smiles with the Tea Boutique paper. Don’t like tea yourself? No worries, there are a LOT of people who do and they would be thrilled to get a card like this from you. What do you think of the new in colours? Which one is your favourite? In case you can’t see the names of the colours in the photo, they are: Tahitian Tide, Orchid Oasis, Parakeet Party, Starry Sky and Sweet Sorbet. The sentiment on the Parakeet Party card is in Dutch from the Thee & Troost set.
Memories & More Tea Boutique Cards and Envelopes
These cards were even easier to make and more beautiful because they use the Memories & More Tea Boutique cards and envelopes. Pictured below are the Orchid Oasis and Tahitian Tide cards. The Orchid Oasis card uses the die cut word “Sending” whereas the Tahitian Tide card uses the stamped word “Sending”.
Cheer Corner Video
My Cheer Corner video from last week features the cards above. You will see how easy it is to make these cards and how you can adapt them for use with other suites.
This card has a Starry Sky and Orchid Oasis base. The sentiment was stamped in Fresh Freesia. The background of the photo is Sweet Sorbet. Are you impressed with how I am using all the new In Colours?
Here is a super fresh and very spring-like Parakeet Party card using the Tea Boutique paper and Memories & More cards and envelopes.
This last card uses Sweet Sorbet as the base colour with Parakeet Party as a mat. The little tea bag tag says I miss you in Dutch.
Sending Smiles and Tea Boutique Together
Here you can see the Sending Smiles stamp set along with the cards. I love that there are dies that cut out either the mat for the die cut word “Sending” which doubles as a die cut for the stamped word “Sending”. You can then combine the word or die “sending” with lots of other meaningful phrases.
Two More Cards using Sending Smiles
These two cards were made for my Global Monthly Video Hop. I love how the new in colours look totally different on each card.
Global Monthly Video Hop
I made the cards above for my collaborative work with the Global Monthly Video hop. Check out the video below and be inspired to use the new in colours and the Sending Smiles stamp set! When you scroll to the bottom of this blog post you will see a list of supplies that I used. Click on the photos and you will be in my online store where I sincerely hope you will shop with me!!
Back in Canada!
Thanks for joining me today! This is the first blog post that I am writing back in Canada. I arrived Saturday afternoon and spent some time with my son Oliver before we went to visit my parents together with his lovely wife Laura. Oliver and Laura went home after that and I spent the night and the next morning with my parents. They were over the moon happy to see me again and enjoyed the treats that I brought home from Holland. It was so gratifying to see Pap eat an entire “krentebol” (raisin bun). He also enjoyed a fresh “stroop wafel” (syrup waffle cookie) and some lovely Dutch tea.
Before I went home again I made a big pan of broccoli soup for my mom. It’s her favourite and it is so easy to make. Next time I will write down the exact measurements because this was just that annoying fill a pan with water, add some frozen broccoli and some bouillon cubes, boil till tender and add a package of cream cheese. Blend with immersion blender and add some pepper. Top with grated cheese and croutons if desired.
Hello stampers and happy Wednesday to you. Today I am sharing a fun card using Nuts About Squirrels. Can you believe that today was the first time that I inked it up? It is a perfect match for the retiring Beauty of the Earth paper. Let’s take a look.
Nuts About Squirrels Paper Strips Card
This card is a great template for any card that you want to make with the goal of showcasing your pretty patterned paper. Simply cut seven strips that are 3/4″ wide by 3 1/4″ tall. Adhere them on a basic white piece that is 3 3/4″ by 5″. My card base is Misty Moonlight which is also retiring April 30, 2022. You could choose any colour that is found in your patterned paper. This is just another way to #loveitchopit.
I featured this card in my Stamping Through My Stash video today, and when I do that I always stamp all the images from the stamp set. You can see that “swatch” here. It’s a great idea to stamp all the images from your stamp set when your order arrives as well as try out all the dies. Stampin’Up! has a three month guarantee on their products (three years on the Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine) If there is a problem, you want to know about it right away so you can get your defective products replaced. This is a rare occurrence, but one to be on the lookout for.
Inside the Nuts About Squirrels Card
For the inside of my card I used my second “fussy cut” squirrel and the stamparatus to stamp two different sentiments in two different colours, misty moonlight and cajun craze.
I used a blender pen to get rid of the stark contrast of my stamped squirrels. This one definitely looks like he is up to no good!!
Video Tutorial
Here is my video from YouTube. Click on the bottom left corner to watch on YouTube. If you haven’t already done so, be sure to subscribe to my channel so that you don’t miss out on the fun!!
Free Shipping Tomorrow!
Just a heads up that there is free shipping tomorrow on orders of $100 or more. This is an offer straight from Stampin’Up! I am also giving away two pdf tutorials with a $100 purchase and normally it is$120 to get two. One from the Demo Design Dream Team and one from the Create With Us International Team. Thanks for joining me today. Hugs from Holland!!
