by Jackie Bultje | Jan 20, 2020 | fancy fold, Perennial Essence designer series paper |
Hello stampers and happy Monday! Today I have two great cards for you, both of them happy mail in Holland contest cards. One is fun fold flap card with Perennial Essence, the other is a funny napkin card. These cards did come in the mailbox on Saturday but it was already later in the afternoon and there was no time to do a blog post.
Napkin Card from Letha Kay
The first card that I am going to share with you is a napkin card from Letha Kay. I first met Letha when she came to a training retreat that I hosted in Tennessee. We stayed in a gorgeous cabin and had such a wonderful time together. Letha also introduced me to my favourite magazine, Daphne’s Diary. Needless to say, Letha knows a thing or two about me, hence the fun card. She made it at her friend Susan Owen’s class. Susan was also at my retreat. Lovely ladies, both of them. Thanks for your fun card Letha, I have never made one, so feel free to leave some tips and tricks in the comments section so we can learn more about ti.
I do love pretty napkins but I am often too cheap to indulge. This card has inspired me to do just that the next time I see some that I love. If I can turn a few of them into cards then it will be a business expense and I will get double use out of them as well!
I almost forgot to tell you where Letha comes from! She comes from Liberty, South Carolina, doesn’t that sound patriotic? Liberty is a small town located in the northwest corner of the state. It has a very long history, first having been discovered by the Spanish and located on old Cherokee hunting grounds.
Happy Mail Details
Once again I had to take a picture of the envelopes as they also tell a story. I love the postmarks and I love the stamps. Somehow Letha managed to find some vintage Valentine’s themed stamps. Personally, I don’t mind paying for stamps if they have put in a little extra thought to make them more special, and that is definitely the case here. I also love the name of Faye’s home town, I have a feeling it tells a geographical story. Letha’s hometown also has a memorable name, although its origin is under dispute.
Faye’s Fun Fold Flap Card
Well, isn’t that a fun subtitle for a blog post? All kidding aside, I love your card Faye and it has also inspired me for my next Peaceful Poppies card. I haven’t made one of these cards in years! If fact, I think I should feature this fun fold flap card in my live video tomorrow. I am so thankful for all the inspiration I am receiving from the happy mail in Holland contest. Would you like to see Faye’s card?
Faye’s beautiful card uses three items from the Perennial Essence suite: Floral Essence stamp set, Perrenail Flower punch and Perennial Essence designer series paper. In this next picture you can see how the flap fold works.
Do you see all the lovely details and the product coordination? The softness of the paper is reflected in the highland heather sentiment. Even the back of the flap has a matching flower on it. I have one more picture showing the entire mechanism of the card. There is no picture of the back of the card but the flap part extends to the middle of the card. I will include measurements tomorrow both on my blog post and in my video. If you want to see another card made using this great suite as well as a video showing you how to make dry embossed flowers with the perennial flower punch, then check out this old blog post here.
What do you think of this fun fold flap card? I have to say, I am very much looking forward to making one as well. It is so refreshing making a “different” card once in a while. I am not obsessed with always having to make a different fold, but just like with cooking and baking and lots of other things in life, it’s good to switch things up once in a while. Here is a fun video from Dawn Griffith showing you how to do this fold, then you don’t have to wait for me to do it tomorrow. No worries, mine will be a little different anyways.
Central Butte, Saskatchewan
Now that is an intesting name isn’t it? What exactly is a butte? I wonder if my guess that it is a geographical feature is corect? This is what I found: is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. Central Butte is a very small town in the southern part of the province, about 200 km from the city of Saskatoon. ( I first said that this was the capital, but it isn’t! Thanks Carole Thomas for catching my mistake) Regina is the capital of Saskatchewan. The population of Central Butte as of 2016 was 372 people. That’s a pretty small town isn’t it?
Thanks!
Thanks so much for joining me again today. I thought I would share just a few pictures of my weekend. I will tell you a little bit more about it tomorrow because you already know that there is a story involved here.
Retreat in Feburary
If you would love to have a getaway yourself and be pampered for a weekend, experience the world through my eyes and stamp with me, please consider joining me in Muskoka! I would love to spend time with you. Message me if you want more details.
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by Jackie Bultje | Nov 27, 2019 | Christmas, double tri-fold shutter card, fancy fold, Snowman Season, Uncategorized |
Hello stampers and happy Wednesday to you. Today I have a tri-fold shutter card to show you. I made it two weeks ago for my Upon Request Club. Trust me, this is NOT the card to make if you are pressed for time. That will take all the fun out of it. You want to make this card when you have time to fuss a little.
The Inspiration
Normally I would not make a card like this for a class since it is just too much cutting and scoring, not to mention all the little pieces and layers, however…. For my Upon Request Club the host gets to request what we do so I could hardly say no! I’m glad we made the card since it really is lovely. The important thing is that you need to have the time to actually enjoy the process. Be sure to make a bunch of bases right away while you’re in the groove and then you will be all set to make more when you need them. Teri Pocock from the UK was the original creator of this card and her tutorial was super helpful. You can find it here.
My Card
When you see it all closed up like this with the cute belly band it looks like a pretty box.
It is a gray, rainy November day here so the conditions were not great for taking pictures. Please excuse the shadows! You still get a good idea of what the card looks like. This paper is so, so cute! The combinations are endless. I followed Teri’s tutorial but I balked at adding more little layers in the tiny squares that you see are just pure red. Follow your heart as to how much layering you do!
Here you can see a close-up of the middle part of the card. The felt hat and scarf and other embellishments are from the Let it Snow Embellishment kit which is so much fun to use! I used some Snowfall Accents puff paint and ice stampin’ glitter as well.
In the picture above you can see how the fold actually looks. If you go about it slowly and breathe deeply AND follow Teri’s tutorial, you will have no problem at all. This beauty definitely deserves a place of honour among your Christmas decorations this year.
A Reminder
I just want to gently urge you to order any Christmas items from the holiday catalog as soon as possible as things are beginning to sell out! I hate to see you disappointed. Be sure to tell your loved ones that I offer gift certificates that can be redeemed for product or classes. Have a super day!
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by Jackie Bultje | Oct 14, 2019 | Christmas, fancy fold, Feels Like Frost, reverse stamping, Stamparatus, Toile Christmas |
Hello stampers! Today I would like to tell you a cardinal love story. I love feeding and watching birds in my backyard, and cardinals are my favourite. The reason for this is not only their vivid colouring, it is the way they love each other. Did you know that cardinals mate for life? If you spend some time watching them you will inevitably see the male cardinal feeding the female berries or seeds. Now that is the most beautiful thing to witness! They also take turns sitting on the eggs and feeding their young.
That is why I wanted to make a card with a male and a female cardinal looking at each other. Their romance deserves to be celebrated and the stamparatus and the silicone mat make it easy to make a reverse facing cardinal. Would you like to see my card?
The Card
When you open the card then you get a lovely surprise with the female cardinal inside looking back at the love of her life! This is made possible through the reverse stamping technique. You can see a video on how to do that here.
How do you like the colours of the cardinals? I am thrilled with how they turned out and I will tell you all about it very soon.
I will show you a couple of pictures to try and do justice to the z-fold construction of this card. I shared the measurements in a previous post. This basic card design was inspired by Rachel Tessman. You can find the measurements for this card in a previous blog post here.
You can see that my cardinals are enjoying hanging out in the amaryllis greenhouse. The light in there is perfect for photographing my cards and I have to use the resources I have on hand! Today is my last day here with Gerard, I fly home very early tomorrow morning so there will be no blog post tomorrow.
The Colouring Trick
Do you remember that I told you that I had no cherry cobbler or real red ink? My Blends collection is also still in Canada, so I had to get creative with what I did have and I am so very pleased with how it turned out. It really is amazing what can happen when you layer colours. I started with shimmery white cardstock. The cardinals were stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and left to dry for a little while. The reason I let them dry for a while is because I was going to be colouring them with an aqua painter and ink. Water can make memento ink run if it hasn’t had time to set.
For the male cardinal I started with colouring him totally in Poppy Parade. This colour really lives up to its name, it really is exactly the colour of those large poppies in my garden, a beautiful orange-red. However, this is not the right colour for a cardinal. I decided to layer on some Lovely Lipstick. What a difference! After that I decided to add just a little more depth by adding a touch of Merry Merlot. Bingo!! It was just the right shade for my proud male cardinal. For his beak I first used Pineapple Punch and then coloured over with Flirty Flamingo.
The female cardinal was going to be a little more challenging because of her muted colouring. Mrs. Cardinal has a lot less red because she has to blend into her surroundings when sitting on the nest protecting her eggs and later her chicks. You have to remember that I used to question my talent as an artist, so this is a big deal for me! I started with a little Gray Granite around the edges and then filled in with Soft Suede that was really diluted with the aqua painter for a softer effect. I left a little white space which I then filled in with a little Poppy Parade also watered down significantly and then a touch of Flirty Flamingo. Her beak was done the same as for the male.
I no longer doubt my artistic abilities. Creating this pair of love birds was a lot of fun. I am so very happy with how they turned out. This card and this cardinal love story simply brings me joy and I hope it does the same for you.
Personal Reflections
Today is my last day in Holland. I wanted to do a blog post even though it is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. Here it is a regular work day. Thanksgiving Day is a “new world” holiday. Tomorrow my plane flies out of Amsterdam at 9:45am, that means I need to leave home at 6am, so there will be no blog post tomorrow!
My four weeks here have flown by. I am thankful that I was able to blog almost every week day and that I was able to do my weekly Facebook live videos both on my business Facebook page and also on my Pampered Stamper training group page. Many visits were made with my family here both over coffee and meals in their homes and also in fun restaurants and for this I am so very thankful. What an amazing opportunity to reconnect with my roots and also to hear stories about my parents that I had never heard before.
Gerard and I went to see a famous Dutch comedian and he was impressed that I was able to understand almost all of it. I met my cousin that night as well whom I hadn’t seen in twelve years! Last Friday we went to see a musical called Soldat van Oranje which is the longest running Dutch musical ever. It is in its 9th year and is a story about a student in World War 2 who flees to England to start an undercover operation with the help of Queen Wilhelmina. If you are interested in reading more about this, here is the link. I am sure there is a translate button so that you can read it in English too.
We only went out for supper three times in four weeks, the rest of the time we cooked together or we were at relatives. For the first time I had a taste of what it would be like to actually live here. Next time I will drive more myself and do some solo exploring. I was unable to unlock my phone so that means I had no GPS and having that would make me a lot more comfortable driving here.
It was interesting to work here with limited supplies. I have learned how to improvise and it has also stretched my creativity. My desire to share the opportunity of the starter kit has only grown through this experience. I am a firm believer that every new stamper should really start with this kit. Crafting is so much more rewarding, fun and easy when you have a few more supplies to work with. You may as well do that on a discount don’t you think?
Thank You
Thanks again for dropping by and for being a part of my journey. There is always room for you on my team if you live in Canada and I am always thrilled to help new customers get just what they need. I am looking forward to evolving my business to better serve my long distance customers. If you haven’t done so yet, please take the time to introduce yourself in the comments below. Have a super day and I will be back here when I am in Canada again.
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by Jackie Bultje | Oct 11, 2019 | Christmas, fancy fold, shimmery white cardstock, Toile Christmas |
Hello stampers! Today I want to share with you a Toile Christmas blue jay. There was a card I was planning to recreate that I had seen at our Twin Teams gathering made by the talented Marion Greenlund. When I was finally ready to make this card I realized I was missing some key components, the most crucial of which was the Peaceful Boughs Bundle. That is how the card for today has come to be!
Toile Christmas
Do you know the meaning of the word toile? It is actually a fabric and is derived from the French word meaning “linen cloth” or “canvas”, particularly cloth or canvas for painting on. In this case it refers to a type of repeated surface decoration traditionally printed on the same fabric. If you look at our Toile Tidings designer series paper you will see just that. Old Victorian wallpaper also looked just like that with a repeated picture or design.
The bird image in Toile Christmas is a cardinal which is a very popular bird in North America, but it can also be interpreted to be a blue jay. I don’t have any cherry cobbler or real red ink pads with me here in Holland, so I decided to make a blue jay. I combined it with the Feels Like Frost designer series paper for a look that I am really, really pleased with if I do say so myself.
The Card
Once again I really wanted to showcase the beauty of this paper without having to cut it down so I made a big 6 1/8″ square card. Of course that means that I will have to custom make an envelope to go with it but we have our envelope punch board to make that a relatively easy process.
Can you see why I am so happy with this card? The card itself is basic black and the panel on the right uses the full piece of 6″ by 6″ paper. I then cut a 2 3/8″ piece of the same paper (there are four sheets of each design in the pack) and I turned it upside down to get a bigger sky feeling. You can also see that it is a Z-fold card which allows the branches to overhang the one panel.
Here you can get a good look at the sentiment. This was also a stroke of genius inspired by necessity. I had no embossing powder so I used the Delicata copper ink pad and the stamparatus. That way I was able to ink up three times to get a nice bright image.
Two of the dies in Toile Christmas do not have coordinating stamps so I cut them out of shimmery white cardstock and coloured them with ink and an aqua painter. I added them to the stamped and coloured branch for some variety. After some close inspection I decided that something was missing. There was an extra branch laying on my stamp table just begging to be put to use, so I cut it up and added it in sprigs to the branches on the left. Do you like this version better as well?
I had more pictures of this version of the card but we had some major computer issues so these pictures are not currently available to me right now. It is imperative that I finish this blog post today so I don’t want to get bogged down into fixing computer issues, after all, here in Holland it is already late Friday afternoon.
To be totally honest, I am beyond thrilled with how this card turned out and I am also excited to share that I figured out how to paint a cardinal without using cherry cobbler or real red. He will be the feature of Monday’s blog post.
The Measurements
If you are like me, you find it most helpful to be given the dimensions so that you don’t have to guess and mess it up or waste paper, so here you go!
Card base: basic black 6 1/8″ by 11″ scored at 6 1/8″ and 8 5/8″
Feels Like Frost designer series paper: 6″ x 6″ and 2 3/8″ by 6″ (tow of these) one on the front of the card and one on the opposite side.
Thank You
Thanks again for stopping by to read my blog, I hope you were inspired by my creation for today. Stop by again on Monday to see how I made some beautiful cardinals. If you live in Canada and don’t already have a demonstrator, I would love for you to shop online with me or if you are local to Chatham, Ontario then come to a class some time. To stay connected you can subscribe to my newsletter, that is where I promote my classes as well as on my business Facebook page which you can find here.
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by Jackie Bultje | Oct 10, 2019 | Christmas, fancy fold, Feels Like Frost, gift card holder |
Hello stampers! I was so excited to play with crystal and ice and Feels Like Frost designer series paper. This is all in preparation for my epic Feels Like Frost sweet suite class. For a year now I have been offering a monthly Sweet Suite Saturday class. This class is just a variation on that theme. Let me tell you a little more about that.
Sweet Suite Saturday
Sweet Saturdays was born from a desire of mine to give my customers not only the best “bang for their buck” or in fancier English, more value for their money. I also wanted to create a more relaxed atmosphere and a more intimate environment. Suites are also a very smart way to buy your products. Rather than dabble and get a little of this and that, buying the suite lets you make beautiful things with all the coordinating products. It results in limitless creativity. It can be compared to buying a complete outfit with coordinating accessories so you don’t have to go assembling an outfit one piece at a time. I think we can all relate to the endless infuriating search for just the right colour top to go with a beautiful skirt or vice versa. Save yourself time and frustration and get it all at once.
When my customers purchase the bundle they get to make four free cards. If they aren’t thrilled with the bundle they can also choose to simply pay a $25 fee for the class. Now that Stampin’Up! has introduced a comprehensive price for the entire suite which includes the 10% discount on the stamp set and die bundle I have created an “epic” option where you get eight amazing cards to make for free. It really is an incredible deal but I like to reward my customers for investing in products that will bring them lots of creative potential. The Feels Like Frost class is coming up quickly with two available dates, Thursday October 17 at 7pm and Saturday October 19 at 1pm. I might offer another date in November, but that depends on when my third grandchild decides to enter this world and meet oma.
Crystal and Ice
Shimmery crystal effects and ice stampin’ glitter are included in the Feels Like Frost suite. I finally got a chance to make a card using both of these on vellum! I was really excited to try that because it reminds me of hoar frost which is one of my most favourite things about winters in Canada. It was also born of necessity because I didn’t bring any glimmer or foil paper with me to Holland. Necessity is the mother of invention and I am loving the challenge. I adhered the vellum pieces with a little bit of tombow liquid adhesive because I also forgot to bring glue dots along! Let’s take a look at the card.
The Card
Do you see how lovely the ice stampin’ glitter looks on the vellum? There is shimmery crystal effects underneath to hold it all together. I almost felt guilty for covering up the shimmery crystal effects, but now you get double bling. The shimmery crystal effects would probably look really nice on its own as well. It is so nice to have separate dies that just cut out branches and snowflakes that mimic the foliage that is found in the stamp set Frosted Foliage.
I was inspired to make this card by Bronwyn Eastley. She used the polar bears from the Snow Globe Scenes dies but I didn’t bring that bundle with me to Holland so I opted to use the deer die cut stickers from Most Wonderful Time product medley instead. You can find Bronwyn’s card here.
The party gets carried to the back of this card where there is room to write a personal message as well as include a gift card or cash, both are always appreciated at Christmas time! I changed up the size of the patterned paper panels and I added the vellum accents and the crystal and ice.
On the last panel of the back of this card is a gift card holder. I didn’t have a circle punch to cut the usual half circle for the traditional “grip” for the gift card so I used the inside stitched framelit from the Frosted Frame dies, I just turned it on an angle. The result is quite acceptable and the opening is a little larger which will make it easier to extract the gift card.
What I like best about this last panel is the way the stamp and the die cut mimic each other for a cohesive look. Once again the shimmery crystal effects with the ice stampin’ glitter on vellum creates an ethereal look reminiscent of hoar frost. I think I’m in love!
The Story
As promised, I am going to share why there was no blog post yesterday. Our day started with a dramatic and frightening event. Gerard’s right hand man called him at 7:30 am in great pain. It turns out he was having a heart attack! Waiting for the ambulance to arrive was excruciating. I kept praying that God would spare his life and He did. Turns out that Ali had two blocked arteries. He underwent surgery right away and had two stents put in. The doctor told him he was lucky to be alive. Ali is 62. How quickly our lives can change.
After destressing from that I cleared up my stamp table and then Caroline van der Straaten picked me up and we had a lovely day together. We started with coffee and pastries at Bakkerij Vreugdenhil, then we went to the market in Wateringen and then we went home and had lunch. After another trip to a store called Action to buy some little lights we got to work punching and die cutting. The project? A beautiful framed Christmas wreath. It is still under construction but it was just so lovely to get together with a fellow demonstrator and friend just to create and have fun and catch up on each other’s lives. I am blessed!
Thanks!
Thanks again for stopping by to join me for the day’s creation and a story. I am thankful for your presence in my life and I am happy to share my creativity with you. That really is a big deal as it took a long time for me to see myself as a creative person. Happy stamping and don’t forget to sign up for classes if you are local. I still have it in my list of goal to create online classes but for now online orders are also lovely. You really are the lifeblood of my business, without you there would be no Pampered Stamper. Have a super day.
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by Jackie Bultje | Oct 7, 2019 | Christmas, fancy fold, Most Wonderful Time, product medley |
Hello stampers! Have you noticed that there is a LOT of amazing paper in the holiday catalog? Maybe you missed the paper that is included in the Most Wonderful Time product medley. I thought I would showcase it by making a 6×6 easel card. Let’s take a look at it right away before I tell you some more stories.
The Easel Card
I thought I would include a close up of the presents in the bottom right hand corner. Did you know that when you make an easel card you need to have something dimensional to hold the popped up part in place? That is the purpose of the presents and the stars. Of course they had to look good too! I think I managed to combine function and style quite nicely. Some of the presents were stamped and cut using the framelit in the medley and some were cut from patterned paper. The one with the tinsel tied around it was inspired by a scrap laying on my stamp table. I thought, why not layer it on real red and turn it into a big present? Gold stars are also included in the medley.
Did I mention that there is a stamp in this product medley that stamps is a two-step DistINKtive stamp that is an image of three presents? There is a coordinating die that cuts all three presents out at once so you have three separate presents. I like to stamp them multiple times in different colour combinations so that when I create my scene I have different looking presents to choose from.
I will be offering a free class for everyone who orders the Most Wonderful Time product medley. The class will be held on Wednesday October 30 at 1pm and 7pm and we will make 6 amazing cards including this easel card.
The Measurements
I haven’t made an easel card in a while but it is one of the simpler folds to create and it is especially nice when you want to make a bigger card for a special occasion.
Card base: 5 1/2″ by 11″ scored at 2 3/4″ and 5 1/2″
The fold: fold the 2 3/4″ part up into a mountain fold. Make the fold sharp by using a bone folder.
Real red: 5 3/8″ square
Patterned paper: 5 1/4″ square.
Adhere this square to the bottom part of the mountain fold. I found it easier to put the liquid glue right on the white cardstock and then lay the patterned square in place. Tie a piece of cherry cobbler 3/8″ diagonally striped ribbon around this panel. Cut a vellum circle using a circle framelit. I had none of these with me in Holland so I traced a disposable coffee cup and hand cut it! Hand cut circles are never flawless so I disguised this by putting sparkling crystal effects around the edge and then sprinkling on ice stampin’ glitter on it.
I put some candy cane die cuts on this circle and a banner die cut stamped with “Hope You Have a Wonderful Christmas” on it. The banner was popped up. Some mini dimensionals were strategically placed on the back of the vellum circle where there was die cuts. That way you can’s see the dimensionals through the vellum; that would really ruin the look!
Remember that 3/4″ strip that I had to cut off to make my patterned paper 5 1/4″ square? Well, when you turn it around you get this delightful striped pattern. I adhered that to the base of the card for a nice contrast. Then I made a collage of presents with some of them popped up and a few gold stars and there you have it! It really is a very simple card to make but it definitely has a wow factor. I will be showing you how to make this card during my Facebook live video tomorrow at 9am EST or at 3pm European summer time.
If all you are interested in is the card, you can skip to the last paragraph. Otherwise read on for an interesting story about my family here in Holland.
A Story from the Weekend
On Saturday night we had dinner with two of my cousins and their partners. One of these cousins was Corrina, the first one I ever met and became friends with when I came to Holland. Her mom, my Tante Nel, is my mom’s younger sister by 14 years! I first set foot in Holland when I was a year old. My mom was returning to her family for the first time since she immigrated. She had to wait ten years before that was possible! I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been. No wonder there were so many letters written over the years.
The next time I went to Holland was when I was 14. That is when I met Corrina. I thought she was so lucky to have such a young cool mom who listened to Abba. My Mom didn’t even know about Abba! I think I may have met Macheld that year as well but only for a brief introduction. She owned a croissanterie in s’-Gravenzande which is also Gerard’s hometown. You can see how my world and his world intersected.
My other cousin Machteld is a daughter of my mom’s sister Adrie who died from cancer at the age of 42. She was not only mom’s sister but also her best friend. They were only a year apart in age. That is why it was so special to have this dinner and reconnect with the one cousin and get to know the other one. Wow, did we laugh a lot! We discovered that we have a lot in common. We love to cook and bake and eat. We order food the same way (two appetizers instead of a main) and we ordered the same dessert, and yes, we both feel that dessert is the proper way to end a special meal. We all love wine and we all have a very special man in our lives. I thought I would share these pictures with you too!
De Jutte was the name of the restaurant which means The Beachcomber. The view was incredible of the waterway that is part of the Maas River and the canal system from Rotterdam so every once in a while we would see a big ship going by and even the ferry going to England! It was so very special to spend time with my cousins and with the people we love. We all agreed there would be more evenings like this one. Unexpected blessings from being in the old country! I guess I just thought it would be so meaningful for my 86 year old mother to know that the daughter of her closest sister would become close friends with her own daughter even though she immigrated 61 years ago!
Thank You
As always I want to thank you so much for joining me here on my blog, I do so appreciate each and every one of you and I love it when you share your stories with me too. Be sure to take another look at page 39 of the holiday catalog and imagine a fun time with your friends creating beautiful Christmas cards that will surprise and delight your family, friends and neighbours. Take some time to slow down and do something meaningful together. Turn on some lovely Christmas music, pour a little wine and get creative. If you need help you know where to find me, there is nothing I would love more.
If you want to shop with me and you live in Canada, it is super easy. Just click on the images below and you will land in my online store. Just create an account and start ordering. Please do use the current host code as that really helps me out a lot. You can find that code in the column on the right hand side of the blog. Happy stamping and have a super day.
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