Hello stampers and happy Monday to you. What is the most important thing in your life? That was the question we were asked in church yesterday and it really made me think. Sometimes we get so busy with our lives and the day to day things that need to get done that we forget to ask ourselves that question. At the beginning of a new year, indeed a new decade, I think it is a very good question to ponder. What do you spend the most time doing? If you have extra money where does it go? What do you spend a lot of time thinking about? When you answer those questions, you get closer to finding your “dioko”, the Greek word that means to seek after eagerly, earnestly endeavour to acquire.
There are lots of things that I love and that are very important to me and card making and stamping is at the top of the list. Traveling, baking, reading, pickleball, walking, wine, those are all great, but without my faith, without salvation, they would mean absolutely nothing. That is a sobering reality but also a deep comfort. What is your most important thing? What do you believe?
Happy Mail from Janis
On Friday I received this beautiful card from Janis Taylor from Chatham, Ontario. Janis is also on my team and I happen to know that she sends a LOT of cards to a lot of people. I first met Janis when she came to my Hearts for Haiti fundraiser. At that time Janis was still a public health nurse. Now she is a regular volunteer at the Chatham-Kent Hospice. We also play pickleball together once in a while and when we pair up we make a pretty mean team that I affectionately refer to as “Tall and Small”. Janis is convinced that all Dutch people are giants!
Here you can see some more detail in Janis’ card. The touch of silver thread in behind that gorgeous embossed frame from the Heirloom frames collection is so pretty. A few shiny black sequins add just the right added interest. I’m pretty sure she also ran the patterned paper through the Subtle embossing folder for a truly subtle touch. If you want to kick up your card a notch, this is a great way to do it! The focal point of this card is actually a Memories and More card from a few years ago. If you are looking for fun and easy card making, be sure to check out our Memories and More cards, they are definitely for more than just memory keeping.
Janis’ card fits in so well with what is on my mind today. It is so true that if you begin each day with a grateful heart you will be so much happier and your joy and gratitude will spill over to others that you meet. I am so grateful to Janis and to everyone else who has a sent happy mail to Holland. Your cards are a vivid reminder of how important card making really is. I am firmly convinced that it is so much more than just a hobby. What are you grateful for today?
Grateful
I am so grateful for the added benefit of being close to my extended family while I am in Holland visiting Gerard. For most of my life my cousins have been people I saw only rarely and I often missed having family near by. Now it’s time to make up for lost time!! This weekend I visited with these cousins and my Dad’s youngest brother. Have you noticed that as you get older differences in age matter less and less? Staying in contact with my relatives is super important to me.
Being surrounded by centuries of history never gets old either!! Pardon the pun. Zierikzee is the beautiful city that is very close to the village where my Pap was born. This past Saturday I was able to show it off to Gerard.
This scene captures what I love so much about Dutch cities. They all have large open squares that serve so many purposes. It allows restaurants to have large terraces (patios) so people can sit outside. This space also serves as the location for the weekly farmer’s market and also for other town celebrations. It is just the perfect place to be gezellig. This time they had a skating rink set up for the kids as well as an “oliebollen kraam” where you get fresh treats and another booth where you could get a shot of Jagermeister or hot mulled wine or hot chocolate. So nice to see everyone outside together enjoying themselves.
#itsallaboutthetreats
Dutch people might not bake a lot at home, but there is no shortage of good food. All those lovely cheese shops!! Be still my heart. We did go into a bakery, but only to look. Carrying around pastries for a few hours didn’t seem like a great idea. Self-control was necessary because I was planning to bake an apple cake for my other cousins the next day!
I love seeing all the detail in the old architecture as well, so traipsing around an old city on a Saturday afternoon and ending with dinner in a small Thai restaurant was definitely a great way to spend a weekend. The weather wasn’t great, the sun had disappeared but at least it wasn’t raining and the wool hat that I bought at #OnStageQuebec has served me very well.
Free Tutorial with $50 order
Just a reminder that with a $50 purchase you get an amazing pdf tutorial with 16 cards from the demo design dream team. With a $60 purchase you get a free saleabration product. I am so happy to be able to offer you this little perk for shopping with me. I hope you have a super day. Thanks for dropping by.
Hello stampers! This thought has been brewing in my head for the last couple of days: the power of affirmation. The simple truth is that we don’t affirm each other often enough. We are bombarded by advertising that shows us fake perfection that we simply can’t live up to and this can lead to feelings of inadequacy. There is a simple antidote to that. When you think something positive about someone, tell them.
How does affirmation relate to card making?
It totally relates!! I am on a bandstand right now trying to encourage people to send cards just because. Send a card to affirm someone, to tell them that they are loved, that they are wonderful and that you are just happy to have them in your life. That simple act can transform a day, a week, a month or even a life. Words of affirmation are priceless. So get out of the box of just giving birthday cards, Christmas cards and sympathy cards. It starts with turning thoughts into actions.
Pre-Christmas card
This idea just came to me because I really wanted to make this card but wasn’t sure how I could get it to fit my theme for today. Why not give a Christmas card ahead of time with the purpose being to not only affirm your friend but to give them a Christmas card that they can now give to someone else? All they have to do is change the sentiment which you could include in the inside of your card? I really like this idea. Let’s take a look at the card.
My inspiration came from a swap card from Carole Thomas, my talented team member from Olds, Alberta. This one has the heirloom embossing frame and die done in retired galvanized metallic paper. You see, I ran out of silver foil paper. My second card is done with champagne foil paper. Which one do you like better?
My photo didn’t turn out very well, it looks like it is only focused on the card on the right but maybe that is a trompe l’oeil? I used the Stylish Scroll embossing folder in the background which is hidden away as part of the Monster Bash suite on page 53 of the holiday catalog.
Inspired?
I hope you feel inspired today to send a card to someone for no reason other than to affirm them. Maybe you were also inspired by my idea to send an early Christmas card that they can re-gift to someone else. That way your card has served at least three purposes. First it made you happy making it. Second, the person who received it was affirmed and delighted with happy mail. Third, your recipient now gets to pay it forward to someone else with a beautiful Christmas card.
Thanks!
I’m so happy you stopped by today. I have been so blessed with lots of comments in the past few days, thank you so very much! I hope you have a super day. If you need any of the products for your own card making and you live in Canada then you can just click the links below and go straight to my online store. Please consider using the current host code. I appreciate you!
On a very important side note, we had our first prayer group after coffee and a card class this morning and it was so wonderful. A big thank you to my daughter Katrina for suggesting it. What a blessing it was to everyone who participated.
Hello stampers! Did you know that this is the first time that Stampin’Up! has offered a coordinating combination of dies and embossing folders? Yes, this brand new product has dies that cut out an oval and a rectangular frame as well as embossing folders that transform these frames into works of art. I am even more excited to use the heirloom frames dies and 3D embossing folders now that my new 3D embossing plate came in. It is so easy to use with just the Big Shot base. At the end of this post I will share a video so that you can see it in action.
Why Get the new Embossing Plate?
When Stampin’Up! announced that they were no longer going to be selling the Big Shot I was rather alarmed. What were we going to do without a die cutting machine? It is true that they are working on a new machine but it will not be available for a while. I firmly believe that it will be a superlative product just like our Stamparatus is way better than any other product in its class. However, I am frugal and I didn’t really want to spend any more money making the Big Shot work for me. Our new 3D embossing folders are made to work in the new machine that is being developed and they will only work in the Big Shot with some tweaking. I used two pieces of thicker cardstock that come in our specialty designer series paper to create a shim. What a nuisance!! It was tricky to use and boy was it getting ugly. For $13 I have a beautiful 3D embossing plate which works like a dream. I can totally vouch for it as it will just make your life so much easier. No muss, no fuss. Yay!!
The Cards
What I like most about this card is the duplication of colour between the designer series paper and the stamped birds in the frame. It highlights one of the best features of Stampin’Up! products: colour coordination. You never have to guess. Your cards always look professional even if they are very simple. Colour coordination saves you time and simplifies the creative process.
Do you notice that this card is larger? That is because it is! It is a large Memories and More card measuring 6 1/4″ by 4 1/4″. I wanted a larger card to better showcase the pretty feather paper from the Bird Ballad suite. Otherwise the pretty grey heirloom frame would cover most of it up. the bird was fussy cut from the Bird Ballad paper as well.
The Opportunity
Did you know that the starter kit is also an option for someone who has no intention of becoming a demonstrator? Furthermore, did you know that you can put whatever you want into this kit? Yes! It is totally customizable to whatever you want and it costs only $135 in Canada with no shipping and tax. Normally you would get to choose $165 worth of products to put in your kit, but for the month of August you can choose $205 worth of product. There is an “Extra, Extra” promotion going on right now where you get an extra $40 worth of free product and then in September you get an extra $14 coupon code to use on your order.
You can get the kit just to get the great deal, but after that you will have until the end of December to use your own 20% discount. If you want to stay active as a demonstrator or keep getting your discount you need to spend or buy $400 each quarter. If you order the starter kit through me that automatically makes you a member of my Beyond Pampered Team. We have free monthly gatherings where we get together to stamp and enjoy treats. I also have a team training page that is free. My goal is to help you meet your goals and to live your dreams. Click here if you want to get started. You will be asked if you have a host code, click “no”, then click “apply”. The only time you have a host code is if you hosted a workshop and you wanted to use your host rewards towards the purchase of a starter kit.
The Video Must-See
Here is the video I made to show you a very important trick to using the Heirloom Frames Dies and 3D embossing folders without messing up. Without this trick it can be troublesome indeed, in fact, I wasn’t sure if I was going to promote this product until I discovered this trick. Happy stamping and thanks so much for stopping by.
