by Jackie Bultje | Apr 17, 2020 | By The Dock, masculine cards, Masking |
Hello stampers and happy Friday to you. Today I am continuing to share masculine cards from the Happy Mail for Gerard Contest. Both cards today use the fantastic set By The Dock. Can you believe that I haven’t used this set yet? Before we get started on this post, I want to address a possible concern and get your feedback.
Yes or No?
When I share happy mail contest cards that I receive I often share the envelope as well because many of you add special touches or the stamp is eyecatching. It has been brought to my attention that I should be blocking out the addresses because of privacy issues. How do you feel about that?
Here is what was going on in my mind when posting these pictures. Given my blog audience I didn’t think it was an issue to show these addresses. In fact, I thought that these people might even get surprise happy mail from some of you just for fun. So I am asking you, should I block them out or not? If it was your card, would you want your address kept private? From now on, mention it to me in your card if you want me to not show the envelope and I will happily honour your wishes.
By The Dock Cards: Ann-Marie Paré
This card is from Ann-Marie Paré, a darling woman who comes from Lachine, Quebec, just outside of Montreal. I love Ann-Marie’s delicate sponging of her sky and water. She captured the light perfectly! My second favourite thing is how she coloured her dock, it looks so weathered and worn. I can just picture looking at this dock on a foggy morning from a cozy cabin with the man that I love. Thank you so much for your fantastic card! The saying comes from a saleabration stamp set whose name is slipping my mind right now.
Lachine, Quebec
Of course I had to look up Lachine, Quebec, which is Ann-Marie’s hometown. Wow! Looks like the cradle of some amazing history. This is what I read: Lachine, apparently from the French term la Chine , is often said to have been named in 1667, in mockery of its then owner René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle, who explored the interior of North America trying to find a passage to China. When he returned without success, he and his men were derisively named les Chinois (the Chinese). The name was adopted when the parish of Saints-Anges-de-la-Chine was created in 1676, with the form Lachine appearing with the opening of a post office in 1829.
The picture above is from the Fur Trade National Historic site. If you want to read more about it or see some more great pictures, click here.
Terry Hamilton’s Card
I really love how two people can use the same stamp set and get a completely different look. Terry used shimmery white cardstock, she also sponged her background and masked a sun (or a moon). The dock and the boat were stamped on crumb cake with soft suede ink and cut out with the coordinating Dockside Dies. Simple bus striking. Terry used the stitched nested dies for the sentiment which was stamped in early espresso.
If you want to see a great technique for flawless sponging, check out this blog post from last year.
Kelowna, British Columbia
Terry comes from Kelowna, British Columbia. I just looked it up and I want to jump in my car and start driving. Kelowna is a small city in the Okanagan valley which is renowned for its orchards and vineyards. The wines that I have had from the Okanagan valley have been phenomenal!
If you want to read more about it, just click here. A visit to Terry is starting to sound like a great idea! You are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place.
Thank You
Thanks so much for joining me today, I hope you are keeping well with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. I am thankful that my business keeps me busy and engaged. The only big difference in my day to day life is that in person classes have stopped and I cannot see my loved ones. That is pretty huge, but I have been super busy, so that helps a lot. Like many of you, I have gone through a lot of flour and yeast baking delicious things and trying new recipes. There is a lot of good to be found in this trying time. Please take the time to comment, it is always so nice to read your thoughts.
Fancy Folds Contest
If you love to make fancy fold cards, please consider sending one to me and you might win the Little Ladybug stamp set. Contest ends May 31. You can send your cards to Jackie Bultje, 81 Delaware Ave, Chatham, Ontario N7L 2W3. Thanks and have a super day.
I forgot to say that if you live in Canada, you can shop with me simply by clicking on the images below in the product list. Now is the perfect time to start a new hobby! Message me if you have any questions. Please.
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by Jackie Bultje | Apr 15, 2020 | A Good Man, masculine cards, Memories & More cards, Snow Front |
Hello stampers and happy Wednesday to you. Today I will be showcasing some more Happy Mail for Gerard cards, and the first one uses the stamp set A Good Man. How appropriate! Gerard is a good man indeed. Thanks to Sharon Meyer for this great card.
Sharon Meyer’s Card
I really love how Sharon created a scene for her good man who is relaxing in the sun. Perhaps she knew that Gerard does indeed like to soak up some sun in the summertime when he is not as busy in his greenhouses. From my time in Holland I have come to understand why Dutch people are sun worshippers. Sometimes the sun is quite a rare visitor to this lovely country.
I love how you coloured the man Sharon! Where is the grass from? Another reason this card is perfect for Gerard is that we are hoping to do lots of road trips in the future including an epic one across Canada and another one to explore the States. With the COVID-19 this seems a long way off! It’s good to have dreams though, and this card evokes that feeling very well. Thank you!
Farmington, New York
Sharon comes from a town called Farmington. When I looked up I had to chuckle: Farmington is a town located in the northern part of Ontario County, New York United States. What’s the chance of her county being named after my province? It is highly likely that I have driven through Farmington on my way to Vermont on more than one occasion. Upper New York State is beautiful!
More Cards with A Good Man
If you want to see some more cards that I have made with this great stamp set “A Good Man”, you should check out this blog post from last year. I know I gave one of these cards to my son Alex for Father’s Day because I truly think he is a good man and a great dad. There is something truly beautiful when you see your son in his role as a father; it melts my heart.
This Good Man Plays Guitar
The next card I want to share with you was made by Shel Anderson from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Winnipeg is known for its music scene, so this card is very appropriate coming from there. It is also perfect for Gerard since he plays base guitar. The next Stampin’Up! trip is a Caribbean cruise, and I have almost earned it. Who knows if cruises will be ok again next year? This corona virus has put everything into a different light, hasn’t it? Let’s take a look at Shel’s card.
The Little Details
Do you see how Shel stamped a tulip beside the address? A subtle nod to his country. No one can visit the tulip fields and the beautiful Keukenhof gardens this year. It was supposed to be my first visit there as well but now it will have to happen another year. The guitar and the “thanks” are from the Tropical Oasis Memories and More cards. Monday’s card also used the Memories and More cards. Have you ever used these? They are fantastic, both for scrapbooking and for card making.
New Items on the Clearance Rack
Yesterday new items were added to the clearance rack. There are some amazing deals and I think they will disappear quickly, so be sure to check it out. If you live in Canada, I would be so happy if you ordered through me. Here is the host code: CWD9ZZ2H. Click here to see all the bargains.
Thanks!
Thanks for joining me today. I will be live at 1pm showing you how to make the Dutch Door card, hopefully you can join me on my Facebook page. I try to upload my videos to YouTube as well, if you subscribe to my channel you won’t miss any. See you here on Friday with more cards from the Happy Mail for Gerard contest. Don’t forget about my new contest! It’s a fancy folds one. Send me your favourite fancy fold card and I will blog about it and you will be in a contest to win the Little Ladybug stamp set. Contest ends May 31.
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by Jackie Bultje | Apr 13, 2020 | Come Sail Away, fancy fold, masculine cards |
Hello stampers and happy Monday to you. Today I will be showing you a fantastic Dutch Door card made by Ina Eisen for the happy mail for Gerard contest. How appropriate is this fold for this contest? I love it so much!
Ina Eisen’s Card
Ina told me that the name of the fancy fold that she used for this card is called a Dutch Door. Can you believe that I have never seen this fold before? The Demo Design Dream team tutorial this month is going to be all about fancy folds, so Ina’s card is going to be my inspiration. Ina is a retired nurse who comes from the same town as my parents. What a small world! I will tell a little bit more about Fergus later, first let’s take a look at this terrific card.
In this picture you can see how the bottom parts fold out.
It’s All in the Details
This card has so many details that I love besides this very fun Dutch Door fold. Ina used the Come Sail Away suite for her card, especially the Memories & More pack for the focal point. The paper that goes with this suite is so fantastic. I hope to create a class to go with these two products. Stay tuned for more details!
I love Ina’s envelope too. Even the postage stamp is iconically Canadian, and her address label has a lighthouse!! The finishing touch is her impeccable cursive writing. I must say, I am a little jealous of your beautiful handwriting Ina.
How Did She Do It?
What I love so much about this fold is that it looks far more complicated than it is. Impressive, but not difficult, that is my kind of card. You start with an old olive base of 4 1/4″ by 9″, scored at 5 1/2″. Cut another piece of old olive 2 1/4″ by 8 1/2″ scored at 2 1/8″ from either end. Adhere this to the back of the card at the bottom, so that the smaller parts fold towards the front.
Ina even wrote a nice note for Gerard in Dutch, wow!! So happy that you joined in on the Happy Mail for Gerard contest. The front panels are decorated with mats in whisper white that go right to the middle edge- they measure 2″ by 2 1/8″. The patterned paper mats are 1 7/8″ by 2″. I am so looking forward to creating a card like this one. Will you give it a try too? If you do, please send me a picture of your finished work and I will share it on my page or perhaps even here on my blog.
Fergus, Ontario
I would love to share with you just a few details about Fergus, which is sort of my home town as well. Why the confusion? Let me tell you. Our farm was situated in the country about five kilometres from Fergus, but also five kilometres from Elora. Our mailing address was Elora, but our church and school were Fergus, so I honestly never know which town to claim as my home town!
Fergus has deep Scottish roots and hosts Canada’s largest Highland Games and it was founded in 1833. It now has a population of just over 20,000 people.
Fergus and Elora are both lovely towns with lots of quaint shops. They are also very cultural with theatres, music festivals and local artists. Below is Templeton Gardens, a popular wedding photo location along the Grand River. This same river runs through my parents’ backyard, which is the reason mom fell in love with their house.
Many of the buildings in Fergus and Elora are built from yellow brick which is locally sourced and so, so beautiful. You also see a lot of limestone architecture.
The building here below used to be an amazing indoor Farmer’s Market. Our grade 7 Home Economics class once made these huge stuffed monkeys, and we had a booth here to sell them. That was my first experience as a huckster.
Coffee and a Card Subscriptions
I hope you enjoyed this little walk down memory lane. Thanks again Ina for the very inspirational card. I think I should encourage you to join my team!! Have a super day everyone and don’t forget about my coffee and a card subscription. The first official Zoom video starts tomorrow at 10am. It is exclusive for subscribers. You can choose two different subscriptions: video only for $20 a month or all the cards, videos and a $20 voucher for $60 a month.
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by Jackie Bultje | Apr 8, 2020 | masculine cards, Parisian Blossoms |
Hello stampers and happy Wednesday to you. Today I will be talking some more about making cards for me as we continue the sharing of the happy mail for Gerard contest. If you don’t have an image appropriate for your man and his interests, you can make a very nice card using patterns and textures. That is exactly what Joanne Foster from Australia did.
Joanne Foster’s Card
Joanne was very thoughtful and included a note with her card telling me exactly what she used to make it. While we use Stampin’Up! products all the time, sometimes it takes a little digging to remember what stamp set a certain saying is from or which patterned paper was used. The colour scheme is tranquil tide, very vanilla and night of navy. For beautiful texture, the Tin Tile embossing folder and the tranquil tide velvet ribbon was used. Two different patterned paper groups were used, True Gentleman from last year and a tranquil tide muted paper from Classic Garage. The words are from a saleabration set called Sending You Thoughts. In the inside of the card Joanne used Timeless Textures stamped off for a subtle effect.
Jo is from Grovedale, Victoria, Australia. She also participated in my happy mail in Holland contest. You can read more about her hometown and see that card in this blog post.
When I looked back at that post I see that I really didn’t write much at all about her hometown, so let me give you some more details here. Grovedale is a suburb of Geelong and has German roots. The area used to be known for its vineyards but it seems the vines were wiped out by a nasty aphid in the 1870’s. What a shame! This town is located on the Surfcoast Highway which sounds like a lovely roadtrip to me.
Peggy Dotson’s card
Peggy used one of my favourite sets in the mini catalog and the same one that I was chosen to present on at OnStage in Toronto in November. Did you know that I have made a tutorial on all those great cards so that you can recreate them with ease? Just click here to find it.
Peggy was the lucky winner of the Happy Mail for Gerard contest and she chose the stamp set Pedal to the Metal for her prize. I think Peggy must be a romantic at heart. Paris is definitely on my bucket list to visit with Gerard. I was there for my fiftieth birthday with my daughter Rachel and I loved this city. At the time I was hoping that someday I would be able to return with someone who truly loved me, I think it will happen sooner than later! The grey script in behind the Eiffel tower is a lovely vintage touch. Thanks for participating Peg!
Fancy Folds Contest
Are you enjoying seeing all the cards that were a part of the Happy Mail for Gerard contest? I love checking my mailbox for happy mail and then blogging about the cards later. It is a wonderful way to connect with you my readers. That is why I have decided to host another contest. This one will feature fancy folds cards which basically means anything but your standard card. I know that there is a lot of hidden talent out there and I would love to be inspired by you and feature your cards on my blog. The prize for this contest will be Little Ladybug OR a stamp set of your choice up to $30 in value. Anyone can participate. The contest ends May 30. 2020. You can mail your cards to Jackie Bultje, 81 Delaware Avenue, Chatham, Ontario N7L 2W3.
Coffee and a Card Monthly Subscription
Do you enjoy watching my weekly coffee and a card live videos on Tuesdays? I hope you will consider subscribing to my coffee and a card monthly subscription. This is my solution for keeping my business viable during COVID19. For $60 a month I will mail your card kits to you and you will get a $20 coupon towards Stampin’Up! products. If you do not live in Canada then you can use this coupon for my tutorials or for retired product including Paper Pumpkin stamps. Please message me with your email address if you are interested so that I can send you a PayPal invoice. Instead of a live video there will be an exclusive Zoom meeting so you can see the cards being made. I will also share a recipe each week to inspire you with great treats at home. All my other videos will remain accessible to all.
Zoom Only Option
If you do not wish to subscribe to the monthly coffee and a card class, you can still join in on the Zoom meeting for a nominal fee of $5. I am hoping that this will help keep me in business! I will send you the link for the meeting after I receive your payment. If it makes it easier for you, you can also choose to do this monthly.
Here are the first cards included in this subscription:
I cannot include stamped images in the kits, but for this first kit I did include the “I miss your face” label as it is so very appropriate for the COVID19 situation and it is from a stamp set that you can not buy as it was a free saleabration set called Tags in Bloom.
Thanks for joining me, I hope you have a super day. See you live at 1pm on my Pampered Stamper Facebook page. You can also see these videos on my YouTube channel. Subscribe here so you never miss another video!
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by Jackie Bultje | Apr 6, 2020 | masculine cards, Sea of textures, shells |
Happy Monday stampers. Today’s card features Sea of Textures which is a fantastic stamp set on page 153 of the annual catalog. Now that saleabration is over it will be nice to take a look at the annual catalog again, it needs a little love don’t you think?
Happy Mail from Sandra Allman
This beautiful card was made by Sandra Allman from Prince George British Columbia. Sandy used lots of extra details to make this card stand out. What she might not have known is that Gerard is an avid scuba diver! He loves to scuba dive when he goes on holidays, so he is really excited about our upcoming trip to Maui. This is the first Stampin’Up! trip that he is going to experience. Hopefully it will be the first of many. Let’s take a look at this bright and happy card.
Here is the inside of the card. The coordinating Under the Sea dies make is easy to add those special extra touches such as sand dollars, sea grass, anemones and an octopus of course. Sandy added a whimsical fun touch with the little googly eyes which made me smile.
I searched my older blog posts and found one from 2018 where I also used Sea of Textures. The best part is that this blog posts also had some super cool pictures from my trip to Alaska with my son Oliver. Isn’t it wonderful how pictures can bring back a flood of great memories? You can see them too right here!
Prince George, British Columbia
It’s always interesting to know a little bit more about the place a person comes from. Prince George is the largest city in Northern British Columbia and it was named after King George lll. It started as a fur trading outpost but really became established when the railway came. Doesn’t it look beautiful?
Coffee and a Card subscriptions
I am super excited to share with you a new program that was suggested by a customer who lives out of town. She requested a coffee and a card monthly subscription. This is how it works. You pay $60 a month and you get a packet mailed to you every week. As a bonus you will get a $20 gift certificate towards Stampin’Up! product. If you order online from me, I will etransfer you the $20 after you place your order. In the event that you do not live in Canada, you can use this $20 towards other card kits or pdf tutorials.
Thanks!
Thanks so much for joining me today, I am so happy you are here. Please leave a comment if you were inspired by Sandy’s card. The sun is shining today and I am already looking forward to spending time outside. With all the social isolation it is so good for the soul to commune with nature. It is God’s balm for the weary and the worn. Breathe deeply and know that you are loved with an everlasting love.
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Lemon Lime Twist 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock [144245] $11.50 |
