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.
Hello stampers and happy Monday to you. Stamping with littles has been on my mind lately. Have you ever stamped with “littles”? It is my pet word for children and it is an inclusive and endearing term. I think it is super important to do meaningful activities in intergenerational groups. This used to happen in the distant past with quilting bees and baking events, but it is quite rare today.
Let Me Tell You About Stamping with Littles
This past Saturday I had a “Littles and Me” class and I really had no idea what to expect as I did not set any age specifications. It was the first of two classes and the second class was full with four adults and eight littles. This one was only one adult and two littles, but then one more adult and one more little came for a well rounded class. The youngest little was four and the oldest was twelve. One of the adults was a young mom, the other an oma. It was lovely to see everyone interact! Like all stamping events, it was about so much more than just making cards! It warmed my heart to see the quality time and the relationships that were strengthened through doing a meaningful and fun activity together.
Cheerful Chick
One of the cards that we made at my “Littles and Me” class was this cheerful chick card. It is perfect for all ages and everyone was delighted to see the chick take shape as we added eyes, beak and feet. Oh the joys of two step stamping!
Even the four year old was able to make this card with a bit of help. She stamped her background flowers all by herself and then chose to put the sentiment on her egg since she didn’t want to cover any of her flowers. Perfectly adorable!
Dino Days
The second card for my Littles and Me class featured the dinosaur set. The reason for that is because the die for the egg in the chick card comes from the Dino Days bundle! I also thought the littles could personalize their card by choosing which dinosaur to put on their card. This is a super fun set with adorable coordinating paper.
The littles were true to my expectations. They switched around the patterned paper, the placement of the hearts, their choice of dinosaurs, it was great! Children love to do their own thing much more than adults. They have confidence in what they like and are not at all worried about doing it “right”. We can learn from them. My next Littles and Me class is Saturday March 21 at 10am.
Memories and More cards with the Littles
If you want to create with the littles in your life, I highly recommend our Memories and More line of products. There are ready to go whisper white Memories & More cards and envelopes so that you do not need to cut and score them yourself. Match them up with the Memories & More card pack of your choice and you will have hours of easy fun with your littles. In the card pack there are also stickers and special cards. They are also perfectly suited for pocket card style scrapbooking, where you slip either photos or these cards into the various sized pockets. There are journaling cards included as well.
Tropical Oasis Memories & More tutorial
I have made a tutorial that includes 15 cards made using Memories & More cards. There are five “normal” cards included as well. If you love the Memories & More cards but need a help getting your creative juices flowing, then this tutorial is for you. Cheaper than a class and you can stay home in your pajamas to do it! Here is a photo of all the cards. You can examine them closely and probably figure it out on your own and that is fine too. The tutorial is there for instant gratification! Sometimes we need that. This will last longer than a bouquet of flowers, so indulge yourself.
If you want to purchase the tutorial, just click on the buy now below and when I get the PayPal notification I will send you the pdf.
Paper Pumpkin for Cancer Campaign
This blog post is all over the place today! There is just so much that I want to share with you. As you may know, Paper Pumpkin for March will have a bonus stamp set in it. What you might not know is that I was inspired by a fellow team member who is battling her second cancer right now. First she conquered breast cancer, now she is dealing with brain cancer. She is in the hospital right now and when I was chatting with her I found out that as she is pain free she has hours in the hospital spend sleeping and reading. What she needed was some paper crafting distraction! Paper Pumpkin to the rescue. It didn’t take much time to gather a few Paper Pumpkins, some extra ink spots from previous Paper Pumpkins, some scissors and some adhesive.
This made me think that it would be great to distribute more Paper Pumpkins to the cancer ward. Cancer patients and their families could benefit from having a fun and meaningful distraction. With March having a bonus stamp set I thought I would ask people to sponsor a Paper Pumpkin. The bonus stamp set would be mailed to them and that way people from all over the world could participate. You can too!! You have until tomorrow to do it! Time is of the essence. After the tenth there will be no more bonus stamp set. You could still sponsor a Paper Pumpkin but there would be no perk for you besides the joy of doing something special for someone.
I love it when I can use my business for the greater good and can mobilize other people to join me.
Thanks so Much!
Thanks so very much for joining me today and also for participating in fun ventures with me. I really hope that this impulsive, last minute idea to spread joy to cancer patients with Paper Pumpkin gets a lot of involvement, together we really can make a difference. On a personal note, keep those cards coming for Gerard and you will be in a draw for a masculine stamp set. Read more about it in this blog post. There is also the Honour and Remember event happening for our veteran community. You can read about that here.
Only three weeks left in saleabration so be sure to take advantage of the free products or the starter kit opportunity. More info on that in this post, OR if you are ready for the best deal in the catalog, simply click this link to get started.
Hello stampers and happy Friday to you. When writing a blog post you always have to decide what to call it and the blog people don’t like it when you use the same words too often. When I was in England 27 years ago, “Mind the Gap” amused me greatly. This is what was said in a lovely accent every time you were on the subway platform. “Mind the Gap” applies to my card today since it is a divided front card with a lovely gap that I really want you to notice.
Mind the Gap Card
If you look closely you will see that the “Rest & Relaxation” panel bridges that gap between the top and bottom of the card. People really notice this card when they are in my stamp room, it is really quite striking and piques ones interest. Let’s take a look at the inside.
Yes, I know this picture is slightly blurry. I am blaming it on my muscle relaxant pills. They apparently also affect my brain and ocular tissue. You get the idea though and that way I don’t have to take and edit another photo. I used the Tropical Oasis Memories and More cards to make this fun card.
Tropical Oasis Memories and More
Have you heard about our Memories and More cards? While they are meant for scrapbooking or memory keeping as some people like to call it, they are also fantastic for quick and easy card making. I have included lots of these great cards in my latest tutorial which I am happy to report is now available. Just click on the buy it now button below and you will get hours of easy crafting without any Google searches or frustrating mismeasurements that waste your cardstock and ruin your joy. There are twenty cards in this fun tutorial.
Here is a sneak peek of 16 cards in the tutorial.
If you want to see some other cards that are in this tutorial, check out this blog post.
I made a short video that shows 19 of the 20 cards (one was forgotten on my desk!!)
Did you know that if you buy the Tropical Oasis bundle you will get this tutorial for free? Definitely. I want to guarantee your stamping success. With any $50 purchase in March you will also get the Demo Design Dream Team tutorial, or you can get it for free if you join my team. Here is the link for joining and getting the amazing deal on the starter kit.
Here is the sneak peek for the March DDDT tutorial.
Thanks for Participating
I just want to thank you for participating in the happy mail for Gerard contest. The cards are flowing in and I am so very excited to see his face. This will be a surprise because he doesn’t read my blog. He does follow my Facebook page because he loves the interaction we all have there, but he thinks my blog is all technical about card details. Let’s keep it that way. If you send a masculine card to me for him by March 29 you will be in a contest to win a free masculine stamp set from the mini catalog. I will also blog about your card and do a video of Gerard opening them all. Please address your cards to Gerard van der Sar, c/o Jackie Bultje 81 Delaware Avenue, Chatham Ontario, N7L 2W3.
Thanks for stopping by today as well. I hope you have a super day, that you spread some joy with your cards and that you exercise some mindful gratitude for the blessings in your life.
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, I’m back with a gorgeous Come Sail Away sampler. It is so hard for me to stay away from this Come Sail Away suite as I am always drawn to the water and to all things nautical. I also love samplers! What about you? What’s your go to set in this catalog? Do you love making samplers too? This one is a 12 x 12 and will fit in either a regular frame or a shadow box. Mine is in a dark shadow box and I think it might look nicer in a simple white frame.
The Sampler
What makes this Come Sail Away Sampler so awesome is that it is so very easy and quick to make. The Memories and More pack make it this way. Three of the sections are made using the beautiful laser cut cards in this kit. I simply matted them with night of navy 1/4 inch bigger than the cards. I will include a list of supplies that you will need to make this sampler yourself at home. The whole thing took me about an hour to make.
Some Tips
Did you know that this sampler was made using no stamps at all? This is a great beginner project for that reason. I also thought it would be very nice to include a memorable picture in the bottom panel where it says celebrate today. That would add the perfect personal touch. These cards were designed to be used for scrapbooking but they can also be used for cards. In fact, Stampin’Up! makes special cards and envelopes to coordinate with these cards. If you are like most people and sometimes find yourself wishing you had more hours in a day, you might want to check out this product line. You can keep it simple or you can go fancy, but either way it is a wonderful time saver!
Facebook Live
Every Tuesday at 7pm EST I do a Facebook live video showing the cards that we made at coffee and a card that morning. This time we used the Come Sail Away suite. Here is the link so you can check it out too.
Thanks so much for joining me today, sorry it has been a while since I posted. This was due to my wanting to spend the last week of vacation with my kids and grandkids but also because I needed to rest my wrist and thumb some more. The healing is simply not happening. Tomorrow I am going to try acupuncture for the first time!
I always look forward to seeing your comments and every online order excites me and brings me deep gratitude.
Hello stampers. I decided to make a second twisted pop-up card with the Come Sail Away Suite as I needed to show you how I made it. It was time for an updated version, but the jury is still out whether or not it is an improved version or not. The first one was quite effective I am told. While the video is uploading I will write this blog post and show you some pictures of the actual card. For the card front I used a card from the Come Sail Away Memories and More card pack.
There are five different items from the Come Sail Away suite on this card: the baker’s twine, the sail away trinkets, the Come Sail Away Memories and More card, the Smooth Sailing dies and the Come Sail Away designer series paper. Suites make it a dream to coordinate and create a great card.
I really love how this card turned out in the inside. I stamped the sailboats in Memento Black and coloured them with Blends. In yesterday’s card I had them stamped just in one solid colour and that works too, but this is definitely a step up.
Here you can see the panels up close. Each panel has a piece of designer series paper measuring 2 1/2″ by 3 1/2″ as well as a stitched oval framelit (the second largest one) The sailboats, the anchor and the banner are all popped up with mini dimensionals. In this last shot you get a glimpse of the inner mechanism of the card fold.
Finally, here is the video that I made to show you how to put this card together. I hope you find it useful and that you feel inspired to make one of these beauties yourself. Thanks for stopping by, but before you leave, can I ask a favour? Please pin your favourite card as that really helps me get more traffic to my blog and that eventually will also help to grow my business. I really appreciate you! Have a super day.
