by Jackie Bultje | Oct 17, 2019 | embossing, fall, Framelits, Halloween, Uncategorized |
Hello stampers. I love words and I love puns so it is only natural that I love the saying “Ghoul Friends”. This saying is part of the stamp set Spooktacular Bash which is part of the Monster Bash suite. You can find it on page 54 of the holiday catalog.
The Card
I don’t send out Halloween cards but I do love dressing up and handing out candy. Someday I hope to throw an epic Halloween party complete with fantastic ghoulish treats and fun costumes and of course scary games. This lovely card was a swap card that I received from Christina Walker.
Do you see all the lovely details on this card? The gorgeous ornate frames die and the Stylish Scroll embossing background? The glittered black organdy ribbon is the perfect finishing touch for this card. Here is a closeup picture so you can see it even better.
More Time
Do you ever wish that you had more time? I sure do!! Maybe it could also be a matter or prioritizing things. I know that I absolutely love Christmas so I often jump right into Christmas card making and I forget about fall cards or Halloween. If I would make a point of making all kinds of fun things for Halloween then perhaps I would host a big Halloween party and we could use all the fun stuff I had made. There’s always next year, but maybe I have inspired you to get creative for Halloween.
Share Your Story
If you have fun Halloween traditions, I would love to hear about them. Share your stories in the comments below and I will choose someone to get this fun card in the mail. Blogs are more fun when they are interactive don’t you think? If you do have a fun tradition, maybe you want to scrapbook it too. There was a fun sample in the holiday catalog and I’m going to share it here too.
Thanks!
I’m so glad you stopped by today. I hope you have fun decorating for Halloween, even if it is just a few pumpkins on the porch. Celebrating death is not my thing at all, but dressing up and sharing candy, well that is something quite different. Enjoy the little things and remember, #itsallaboutthetreats.
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by Jackie Bultje | Sep 30, 2019 | Come to Gather, community, fall, fancy fold, harvest hellos, leaves |
Hello stampers! Many of you know that I am in the Netherlands for four weeks. Today I wanted to share some insights with you that I have gleaned over the weekend. It all comes down to the power of community. I had four totally different experience of gathering but all showed the need for and power of community.
A Funeral
On Saturday morning I had a family funeral. Of course it was a sad event, but in this case there was more joy than sadness. My Tante Irene had lived much longer than expected and she died both pain free and with the full assurance of salvation. She knew she was going to heaven! The beautiful thing for me was gathering with family members, some of whom I had not seen since I was a young teenager. One of my cousins is battling cancer, one of my aunts is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, many more are dealing the regular vicissitudes of life, but all together there was just such a beautiful power of community. Together we are strong. Together we are weak, together we are sad or joyful. I was so thankful that I could be a part of this. To be in such a big group of my mom’s family in the “old country” was meaningful and powerful for this immigrant’s daughter. Our extended family in Canada was small. I had one uncle on my dad’s side and one aunt on my mom’s side, that’s it. Eight cousins in all. When you have so much family so far away it really is beyond words to finally be part of this tribe in a very real way.
A Community Race
On Saturday afternoon Gerard had a community race. There were two options, either a 5km or a “ten English miles” which is 16km. Normally he runs a 10k but that was not an option. He wasn’t feeling great and a 5km is not a real challenge for him so I was curious as to why he would still want to run. Turns out it was all about community, about gathering with all the runners before the race and after the race and with running together in a big group. It was the energy of the group that was the big factor. It was not running a 5km. It was being connected with the power of community. How awesome is that?
A Retirement Party
Saturday night there was a retirement party for two brothers who are in the same business as Gerard; they are amaryllis growers. They sold their business and they wanted to celebrate with all their colleagues, friends and family. The amazing thing is that I met total strangers who had unknown connections to me. One man told me that his mother and my oldest aunt were best friends. Another man told me that his oma was a good friend of my mother’s!! Another man asked me where I was from so I said southern Ontario. Where he persisted. Somewhat impatiently I said Chatham. He then tells me that he has nephews there. Do I know the VanderEndes? Well, yes I do. Crazy small world. Even though the music was so loud that we had to shout in each other’s ears (boy was I feeling old!!) it was still wonderful to connect with all these people and to feel the power of community. Together we could celebrate with these two amaryllis growers and be happy for their success and also for the coming time where they can enjoy the fruits of their labour. With the power of community our joys are doubled and our sorrows are made less.
The Connection
Now what on earth does this all have to do with card making? Well, now I am going to tell you about the fourth event. I was invited to go to a good friend’s team gathering on Sunday afternoon. What a delightful group of women. I learned from them that also here in Holland, they get great satisfaction of gathering together as a team. They just love to meet in person once in a while and create together, to touch base and catch up with each other’s lives. Inspiration and energy is derived from these gatherings. I know that I certainly left inspired by their creativity and enthusiasm! Once again I was witness to the power of community. My friend told me that without these gatherings she would have stopped with Stampin’Up! when the going got tough. It was the power of community that kept her strong and motivated. Wondering who this friend is? It is the lovely and talented Caroline van der Straaten. You can check out her blog here.
How very fitting that the cards I am going to share today are made with the Come to Gather suite of products. Gathering with these ladies was so lovely. Even though I was still feeling under the weather with a bad cold, I am so very glad that I went. Believe it or not for the first five or ten minutes I was feeling a little overwhelmed and almost decided not to make a card. I was just going to take all the pieces back home and make them quietly alone later. It is a very enlightening experience for me to be on the other side of the creative experience. Does this surprise you?
I absolutely love this card that Annette Koolmees designed. While I love the Come to Gather paper, I have to admit that this particular sheet didn’t at first appeal to me. After seeing and making this card, I changed my mind. The tipping point was that Annette chose to stamp the pumpkin and the leaf on crumb cake card stock and then use an aqua painter to colour it. The result is an entirely different effect. My cajun craze leaf didn’t quite turn out the way it should have because I was using a brand new Wink of Stella and I squeezed a little too aggressively!! This led to a little heavier application of what should have been a subtle touch of bling.
A better surprise with this card is in the inside when you open it. It is a fancy fold with a tea light inside! The picture definitely doesn’t do it justice. Do go on over and check out Annette’s blog here. I see that she has already blogged about our wonderful afternoon together!
I used this card to participate in a tic-tac-toe challenge with The Joy Of Sets. You can check that out here!
Annette had more cards using this suite of products but I will share just one more with you. I might share some more of them tomorrow if I run out of time to create myself!
Here is a closeup of this fantastic card. the leaves have been blinged up with a bit of wink of stella.
The Power of Community for You
If you are feeling like you could use a little more “power of community” you may want to consider coming to a card making class. Maybe you are not into cards and scrapbooking is your thing. Perhaps neither of those things make your heart sing, but you really do love home decor. Well, paper, stamps and ink can be used to make some pretty amazing things and making them together with other people is simply wonderful. No classes offered in your area? Then I challenge you to step outside your comfort zone, get the starter kit and start playing. There is so much information on this hobby online, so many videos and tutorials to watch that you will have no problem figuring out how to do it. Once you get a feel for it you will be ready to share the love of your new hobby with other people and YOU can create the power of community and bring joy to the world through paper crafting. Click here to get the starter kit. You can put anything you want into this kit. You pay only $135 but you get $165 worth of product with no shipping or tax. It really is wonderful thing. I’m happy for you. I’m hazarding a guess that if you are here you are already either hooked into this lovely hobby or intrigued by it. Happy stamping and thanks for dropping by!
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by Jackie Bultje | Sep 25, 2019 | Come to Gather, fall, framed art sampler, Thanksgiving |
Hello stampers. It was quite a stamping and teaching frenzy before I left for Holland last week so I didn’t have a chance to blog about my alternative cards using Come to Gather from last week’s Facebook live. I was actually quite pleased with how they turned out so I would love to share them with you. It seems that every week something crazy happens during my weekly Facebook live, so maybe you should check it out. For the next three weeks they will be on Tuesday morning 9am EST or 3pm European summer time. I would love for you to come to gather with me during these Facebook live events. We have so much fun together!
Come to Gather designer series paper
When the paper is this gorgeous it is easy to create beautiful cards. My original card was a swap card that I had received and was not allowed to share just yet, so I changed it up and made this one instead. I really like the white ghost pumpkins so I used Harvest Hellos to stamp one on shimmery white cardstock and one on the Come to Gather designer series paper.The sentiment is from a Paper Pumpkin stamp set and is stamped in Pretty Peacock.
There is a sheet of paper in the Come to Gather collection that reminds me of the printing books we had when I was in grade one, so I made a school inspired card with it.This was actually cased from a swap card that I received earlier in the month.
I love how you can make two totally different cards with the same set of paper. One is vintage and the other is clean and fresh.This last one uses the September Paper Pumpkin stamp set for the saying. Where you see the leaf at the bottom? That was an embellishment opportunity as I had smudged some ink there! It looks even better now. Embrace the imperfections!
More than Cards
This gorgeous framed art piece was made by Lisa Lange, one of the display artists at the Holiday Hoopla event I spoke at in Illinois the weekend before I left for Holland. One of the things you will need to create this beauty is the Hand-lettered Prose dies. I am not sure about the size of the frame but I am guessing either 5 x 7 or 8 x 10. Isn’t the Come to Gather paper just spectacular?
The Purpose
If you have never put ink to paper then you are in for a very pleasant surprise. You will truly be amazed at the creativity that this simple act unleashes.With creativity comes joy, and joy begs to be shared. I would love to help you start on this journey of discovery. Please comment below and we will connect! I post videos on my Facebook page which you can find here. I also share a bit on YouTube. If you want to follow me there, just click here. If you click on subscribe then you will never miss another video!
The purpose of making cards is double. You get the joy and satisfaction out of making something special with your own two hands. Someone else will then get the pleasure of receiving what you have made.I am a firm believer that every card makes the world a better place, as long as you take the time to send it.
Thank You
Thanks so much for joining me today. I really do get a lot of joy from seeing you come on over and reading my blog. You are noticed and appreciated! This is just another place to come to gather!
You can help me by pinning my creations to Pinterest. If you hover your mouse over the pictures on this blog a red Pinterest button shows up, just click on that and away you go! Your comments are also very encouraging. Lastly, if you live in Canada you can order from me through the shop now button or by clicking on any of the supply items below. Of course, there is always room on my team for you as well! The best deal in the catalog is always the starter kit. Click here if you want to save a LOT of money and get exactly what you want, not just what’s on sale. Every day is a sale day with the starter kit.
I hope you have a wonderful day. I am coming down with the first cold I have had in over a year, so I am going to take some more oil of oregano and am going to go for a walk along the sea with Gerard.
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