Hello stampers! Have you discovered the Online Exclusives section of products from Stampin’Up? These are not found in any catalog, only online. Today I am featured the Latte Love bundle which is a fabulous online exclusive. There is a whole suite of coordinating products called A Little Latte Suite Collection. I quite adore this suite, but then coffee is a huge part of my life. I am even learning to try a cappuccino once in a while because they are really pretty!! Together with my good friend and team member, Caroline, we held a fabulous class with this suite. I am planning to bring the samples along to my St. Jacobs Fall Retreat.
Some Details on this Latte Love card
It really is all in the details isn’t it?? I love the patterns in this designer series paper and the colour is just right. I love Lost Lagoon and Crumb Cake together. Add in some Early Espresso and Pool Party and it just looks fabulous!! Do you see those adorable little cups? The dies cut and emboss them at the same time.
Time to Spoil Yourself
Have you heard about my St Jacobs Fall Retreat? This is the second annual one and it will take place in a quaint Mennonite village right beside the famous Farmers Market. Imagine two days of stamping, laughing and sharing with your friends and soon to be friends. Lasting relationships are formed at these retreats, and I am so excited to be able to offer this to you. Registration closes on August 25, but there are still a few spots left for you and your friends!! Here is the link so you can check it out and decide if it is for you.
Testimonials
I can tell you how awesome this retreat is, but of course I am biased. It is much nicer to hear from other people what they thought of the experience last year.
Anne Wallace: “This was a fabulous, fun-filled weekend. My sister and I have already signed up for this year. To anyone who’s ‘on the fence’ about attending this retreat – jump off the fence and onto the list of attendees. This was the most amazing weekend last year and great value for the money. The instructions were clear and concise, (I’ve referred back to the instructions for several card ideas since then). The Goodie Bags were awesome. Friendships were begun and/or renewed and I truly believe a great time was had by all who attended. Don’t hesitate and miss out on this great opportunity!”
Sharon Verbeem: “We had loads of fun“
Marion Greenlund
Every retreat is unique and I am a firm believer that just the right mix of people attend each retreat. Blessings abound!! I really hope that YOU can be a part of it too. If your heart and soul are stirring as you read this, then I hope I can help you make it a reality.
The Theme of the Retreat
The theme of the retreat this year is Reindeer Fun. You will get a 20 card pdf tutorial and a goodie bag worth $140!! There will be lots of samples to inspire you and a host of new products for you to play with as well. This all happens in a gorgeous floor to ceiling windowed room that will make you feel like you are at an official Stampin’Up! event. Throughout the weekend I will be doing stamping demonstrations so that you will go home having learned some new tips and tricks to make you an even better card maker!! Ready to have some unforgettable fun? Click this link to sign up and share this blog post with anyone who you think will also love an event like this. Sharing is caring!!
There will be a “latte love” shared at this event. Be sure to take your phone so you can take lots of pictures!!
Hello stampers and happy Saturday to you! I am so excited to tell you about the brand new, first ever St. Jacob’s Fall Retreat! I have paired up with Northern Stamper, Tina Kvrgic to host this event. You can read all about the event here. We chose to host it in St. Jacob’s because this place is truly magical! The hotel where we will be sleeping and crafting is just minutes from the St. Jacob’s Market. This amazing retreat will take place from September 22 to September 24.
We have put together two options for you, the Basic Retreat for $139 and the Full Retreat for $199. This doesn’t include the hotel room fee but it does include the fee that we need to pay for the big crafting room. You will be getting a big goodie bag full of brand new products from the holiday mini catalog. Want to read all the details and reserve your spot? Just click here.
Once you have registered for the event, be sure to book your hotel room. We have reserved a block of rooms for a discount, so be sure to use the code FLC (I know it doesn’t make sense, but that is the code that they gave us) Here is the link for the hotel.
We are excited to be able to use this lovely place to host you! I grew up near St. Jacob’s and every year we would take our Dutch relatives who were visiting to see the market, the towns and the countryside.
What will you get??
You will get LOTS of great classes taught by both Tina and myself. There will be a complete pdf tutorial for you so that there is no pressure to get all the cards and 3D items made. If you are too busy chatting, eating and having fun doing touristy stuff, then you can finish them at home! We will get you an amazing amount of product including one stamp set in the basic retreat and two stamp sets in the full retreat package.
Tina was a Scout leader, so she has lots of great game ideas; be prepared to have fun! Of course there will be prizes as well.
Hot breakfast is included on Saturday and Sunday and coffee, tea and snacks will also be provided.
The best part is spending time with fellow crafters and being inspired and having fun with brand new products. Whenever I have attended stamping retreats, I go home energized and happy! I know you will too! I am hoping this will be the first of many retreats, and as a first time attendee, you will have the first chance at signing up for the next one.This will be a sold out event!!
Looking Forward to Pampering YOU!!
Having been on several retreats myself, I know what makes one magical! Tina and I are looking forward to pampering you, to inspiring you and most of all to having a LOT of fun. Who are you going to take with you??
Hello stampers and happy Tuesday to you. I am SO very excited to announce my first ever Cozy Christmas Online Retreat. It will be so wonderful for you to receive a box full of products that will enable you to gather with other stampers and craft together. Do you want to hear more about it?
How the Online Retreat Will Work
The date for the retreat is Friday November 13 and Saturday November 14. You need to pre-register by October 16 to give me enough time to order the supplies, prep all the projects and send them to you in good time. The cost is $160 but will include at least $120 in product plus all the supplies needed to create the projects. Definitely included in your box of goodies is the Snow Wonder bundle and the Evergreen Forest and Winter Snow embossing folders. If you already have the Snow Wonder bundle you can substitute another bundle and just pay the difference if there is any.
Retreat Schedule
Friday night, 7-9pm We will play a mini Bingo game with three games and three prizes. I will have a creative challenge, one with a colour combo and one with a sketch and they will be sent to you one week before the event. You can participate in one or both and you will have a chance to win a prize. Photos of your cards can be sent to me and I will create an album for each challenge and everyone can vote which card they like the best. The person with the most votes will win a prize.
We will also have a cut, colour and chat session on Friday night. Many snowmen will have to be stamped, coloured and cut to prepare for card making the following day. Why not do this together and have a nice chin wag while we’re at it?
Saturday morning from ten till noon will be the optional add on class featuring the Coming Home Bundle. If you choose to participate in this class you will get the bundle for $63, no shipping or tax AND you will get to make four great cards with me using this awesome set. Card kit included in your goodie box, so instant gratification, no measuring and cutting, just stamping and assembling.
Saturday afternoon from 1pm till 3pm we will make five cards and the home decor project. Saturday evening from 7pm till 9pm we will make the last five cards.
One of the Cards
Here is one of the cards that we will be making, it is a fun fold with a vintage snowman.
Great Technique for Home Decor Project
Here is a little teaser picture for the Home Decor project that is included with the Cozy Christmas Online Retreat. It uses a fantastic technique that is stunning in its simplicity. I will teach this to you during the retreat and it will double the use of your stamps!
The Clock is Ticking
When you do an online retreat time can get tight. First I have to order the supplies, then I have to kit up all the projects and get them sent to you on time. Usually I should have allowed more time for this, but I have to take into account that I will hopefully to flying back to Holland the week of November 19th, so I had to do the retreat the week before. That being said, you need to register by October 17. That date is fast approaching!!
How to Pay
Your payment is your registration. Etransfer is preferred but PayPal is also accepted as are cheques and cash. If you have any questions, please let me know. This event will be by Zoom only. Thanks for joining me today, I hope you have a super day and I also hope that you are able to join me in this very fun event. It would make my heart very happy to have someone from each province!!
Hello stampers. Today I was inking up in Holland for the first time. I hadn’t stamped in exactly a week!! That is a very rare occurrence and I was worried that my creativity might lag. I used my usual tricks and it all worked out just fine. Do you want to know what I do to jump start my creativity?
Jump Starting my Creativity
I have a fairly simple system to jump start my creativity. In the past I would have trolled the internet and wasted a LOT of time. Now I simply stamp all the images in the set a few times. I colour the ones that could use that approach and then I use the framelits to cut out a bunch of images as well. Everything is laid out: all the patterned paper, the copper bees, the ribbon and the die cuts. I tied a few bows and knots and then I start playing with layouts, deciding which paper to use, what to cut in strips and which sentiment to use. It helps to have had a cup of coffee or your favourite beverage and to have some nice music going.
Use the Stamparatus for your sentiments
The stamparatus is perfect for stamping your images correctly on the labels from the Botanical Prints Product Medley. After I have stamped the three I pop them out and put a new blank one in the template. That way I can leave my stamps in the right position. It is also super helpful when you are working with a relatively old and abused Memento ink pad. I had to stamp three times to get the right intensity and that would have been a nightmare without the Stamparatus.
The Basic Layout for the Card
This is the basic layout for the card. I used a whisper white thick cardstock base of 8 1/2″ by 5 1/2″ scored at 4 1/4″. I then cut a card front out of mossy meadow, 4 1/4″ by 5 1/2″. I used tombow and a sponge with the silicone mat to adhere the detailed die cut piece to the front. There are four of these included in the product medley. It was so much fun to use the mini paper trimmer to cut a strip of paper for some pretty contrast.
There are four different coloured die cuts all ready for to use when you want instant gratification. Now to decide whether we like the peaches or the plums best. Tomorrow I will use a different die cut on my card, but you can see it already in the live video. One thing is certain, those copper bees are adorable!!
Everything on this card comes from the Botanical Prints Product Medley. The card base is mossy meadow but the ribbon is old olive. These two greens work very well together and I am really happy about that because I have no old olive paper with me. It is a good challenge for me to work with what I have. Makes me feel a bit more like my customers!! I am so happy that the copper bees came in this product medley.
Copper Bee Embellishments
I used a copper bee embellishment on both of the cards, they are just so very pretty. Of course they will work very well with several of our new stamp sets in the new mini catalog and the saleabration catalog. These bees are only available as part of the Botanical Product Medley. Here is a close-up of the bee:
When Can You Get It?
Well, that is always the million dollar question isn’t it? If you are a demonstrator you can get it right now. If you get the starter kit, you can put it in your kit right now as well. Or you can get it as part of my retreat in February. This entire kit is included in your cost which is an amazing deal. We will be making all the cards that I blog about as well as the one I am designing for the new design team I am a part of. How exciting is that? Of course, if you are a patient person, you can wait until January 3 to order this great product medley.
Facebook Live
I showed how to make these cards at my Facebook live this morning (or afternoon depending on where you live). If you missed it, you can catch it here. I will go live every Tuesday at 9am EST which is 3pm in Holland. The one on New Year’s Eve day will probably just be a live video showing me making oliebollen.
Thanks so much for joining me today, I love connecting with you on my blog. I almost forgot to remind you that there are LOTS of amazing new deals on the clearance rack. You can check them out here, there are lots of amazing framelits, embossing folders and ribbon for really good prices.
Hello stampers! Have you ever gone on a retreat with like-minded people? People who share the same interests and passion as you do? It is so rewarding to do that! I have gone on several in the past few years and it has been such a worthwhile investment of both time and money. When I was looking for a great cottage to spend some time with my kids and grandkids I was inspired to also offer a retreat for stampers. Do you want to hear some more about it?
My Retreat
My retreat will be the weekend after Valentine’s Day and Family Day in Canada. The cottage is near a town called Huntsville in the Muskoka area of Ontario. It is two hours from Pearson International Airport in Toronto. More importantly, it is nestled in the woods with complete privacy. You can see no other cottages from this one!
What will you do? What is included? Good questions! Wake up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and home baked scones! Sit around in your pajamas and ease into the day. We will explore the town, go for walks in the woods and of course we will stamp.
I hope to teach you and inspire you based on my fourteen years experience as a Stampin’Up! demonstrator and global and national achiever. All your meals will be provided for you as well as a beautiful creative kit called Botanical Prints product medley. I will have a ton of projects made with this medley to inspire you and enable you to recreate some of them at the cottage.
The retreat will be from Thursday February 20 at 4pm until Sunday February 23 at 10am. There is a gorgeous provincial park nearby that has a skating trail that I hope to visit. The town of Huntsville has some lovely bakeries and boutiques. One of the nights will be a cozy pjs and hot chocolate movie night. The cost for all this is only $400. A small deposit of $100 will guarantee your spot and the balance can be paid the week before. You can etransfer if you live in Canada, otherwise just click on the buy now button to use PayPal.
Here you can see one of the cozy bedrooms. There is an assortment of sleeping options- three queen beds (price is based on double occupancy, that means you share with a friend) four singles and two doubles. If you prefer to have a queen bed to yourself there is $200 surcharge to offset the loss of one more person being able to attend.
Business or pleasure?
This retreat will definitely be both!! If you are a business minded demo there will be lots of informal training available for you as well. Creating together and chatting in a relaxed setting is priceless. When is the last time you just had fun with no agenda? I hope this excites you as much as it does me. I’m looking forward to spending time with you.
Botanical Prints card samples
The following are some cards that were made at #OnStage2019. Inside the hall the lighting was terrible, so these aren’t the best pictures, but rest assured, this product medley is gorgeous!!
Thanks!
Thanks so much for dropping by today. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, mine will be filled with kids and grandkids and my heart is full just thinking about it! I have a favour to ask. Even if this retreat is not something that will work for you this time, please share this post with anyone who you think could use this in their lives. Together we can make a difference.
Hello stampers. It has been too long since I have posted on this blog but there is a good reason for it. I was in Tennessee for two weeks, definitely at “new levels” in the mountains. The first week was a true family vacation and the second one was my first ever retreat in the US of A!! I had so much fun hanging out with my American friends and their awesome accents. My favourite quote from “Dixie Sue” after a delicious meal was: “I’m gonna be fussin’ when I get on the scale next week”! How funny is that? I must confess, I have not yet dared get on the scale, but it was worth it.
Can you picture yourself all cozy on the couch discussing how to change your business in simple, manageable ways that will bring you more joy, peace and success? Well, that is what we did, surrounded by breath-taking views and enjoying great food. If you are interested in joining the next retreat, message me and we can make it happen.
We made sure to take time to relax and enjoy the views as well as each other’s company. This lodge was so amazing that we kept having to pinch ourselves to be sure it was reality and not a dream.
One of the highlights of the retreat for me was having Billie Moan come and share a fun technique with us. I posted a video on my Facebook business page and rather than posting it again, just click here and you should be able to view it. Whenever a group of demonstrators get together and really spend time together, amazing things happen. It brings me such joy to facilitate such gatherings, so do stay tuned for the exciting things that are going to happen!
Here is the card we made with Billie. Who knew you could use a butterfly framelit and fun foam to make a great stamp? We hope to use this technique at our club meetings this week.
Here is a close up of the card. We first made a background on watercolour paper with pigment powder and water spritzing. Then we stamped the butterfly (it was made using the framelit and fun foam to make a homemade stamp!!) with black archival ink and cut out with the open butterfly framelit. I added some Wink of Stella to the black lines of the butterfly.
Don’t forget that it is the last week of sale-a-bration and that seven new items have been added to the “freebie” selection. It is also the last week to get the amazing deal on the starter kit. This is what I wrote in my newsletter and I am just going to copy and paste it here to save some time and effort. I really don’t want anyone to miss out:
” It is also the last week to get the best deal ever, yes, the starter kit. I feel like a broken record, but honestly, this is such a great deal, you really should take a good look at it. Some people think it is morally wrong to take advantage of this deal if they do not intend to become a “bona fide” SU demonstrator. Not so. Believe me when I say that MOST demonstrators, including our top award winners bought the kit only because they wanted a good deal.They had no intention of ever doing this for a business. Stampin’Up! knows this, and they want to entice you with a wonderful deal just in case you do fall in love with the opportunity. So here you go:
-pick out your two favourite, most expensive stamp sets in either the annual catalog or the Occasions catalog
-make a wish list of $165
-go here
-make sure you have your credit card and your social insurance number
-then know that for all this (and yes, you also get a Paper Pumpkin kit surprise, from a previous month) and 8 catalogs and 8 mini catalogs and 50 order forms- you will only pay $135
-you pay no shipping and no tax in Ontario- some provinces you do have to pay tax.
-then you will be on my team and you get to come to a free card party once a month, the second Thursday of each month at 7pm. What fun!! You also get the opportunity to attend Stampin’Up! events and you get their Stampin’ Success magazine as well as access to a ton of great videos and card samples. WOW!!!! What are you waiting for? Message me if you have any questions. jackiebultje@gmail.com”.
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