by Jackie Bultje | Feb 7, 2020 | Birthday, Happy Birthday to You, sale-a-bration, saleabration |
Hello stampers and happy Friday to you. This day has been full of unexpected things which means another late blog post. That’s ok. Life happens and not always according to schedule. On Wednesday I promised that I would tell you all about my epic day on Thursday. What made this day so special you might ask. Let me tell you.
The Importance of Belonging
We all need to belong to something. That is just a truth as old as time. Some people have a greater need to belong to their extended family group, some put a higher importance on friends, others find their place in a church, but we all need other people to some extent. When you discover a fun hobby, it is even better when you connect with other people who share your passion. This is what happened yesterday.
Twin Teams Gathering
Every three months or so we have what I call a twin teams gathering. The reason for the name is that it was originally supposed to be a meeting of two teams, but then it grew before it even started and we never came up with another name. This gathering came about because as fellow leaders we really wanted to spend more time together and just have fun. We realized the importance of our team members meeting other people for both creative and business inspiration. It has been phenomenal! We have so much fun when we get together. There is a lot of laughter, food and creativity. So much inspiration, so much joy.
When Dale Hampshire, the head of Stampin’Up! Canada, mentioned that he would be visiting some demos, I messaged him right away with the date of our gathering. Imagine my delight when I got his email saying that he would love to join us! Not everyone was able to come because the weather acted up with snow and ice and some people were sick with colds and flu, but we had a great turnout and a fabulous day.
We all gathered around my stamp room table and everyone introduced themselves and told their story. It was so affirming to hear everyone and how they fit into the puzzle of belonging. It is great to belong to a tribe, even though we all have our unique reasons for doing so. There is a place for everyone, and there is the freedom to do with your hobby whatever you need to do. We all learn from each other and support each other and that is so very powerful. My team members have become family for each other.
It was also very special to be able to meet Mike de la Torre in person. Mike is the head of all things Saleabration at head office in Utah and is in charge of marketing. Dale and Mike drove all the way from Toronto to join us at our twin teams gathering and we truly appreciated it.
Thankfully Carolyn Hansen-Henderson took some photos of the day as well, so I am editing my post to include this photo since it really captures the joy and energy of the day. Amazing things happen when we gather together to create, inspire and share!
A Place For You
I just really want you to know that there is also a place in this stamping tribe for you! If you love to stamp, you really should get your own discount and you should go to one Stampin’Up! event just to experience what it is like to be in a room full of people who are just as crazy and passionate as you are. I really believe this with all my heart. There is not one person who has regretted getting the starter kit and there are so many who have told me that it has totally changed their life for the better.
Canadian demonstrators are an amazing group of people who encourage each other and work together and celebrate each other. I have also experienced deep connection and a sense of belonging with demonstrators around the world. Without getting the starter kit, I would never have had that experience. Who would have thought?
Saleabration Freebie
Every blog post should have at least one card to inspire you. I thought I would share this beautiful card made by Tammy Bendel from Sarnia. She was at our gathering on Thursday all the way from Sarnia and I hadn’t seen Tammy since OnStage in Quebec City a year ago. She used the free saleabration set Happy Birthday to You. If you spend $60 before shipping and taxes you get a free saleabration item until March 31, 2020.
At our twin teams gathering we always do shoebox swaps, and this card was Tammy’s swap card. There is now a set of dies to coordinate with this stamp set so that you don’t have to fussy cut the images. If you want to see more of the products that coordinate with the free saleabration items, click on this link. My favourite thing about this stamp set is the big beautiful “Happy BIrthday” sentiment.
This stamp set pairs beautifully with the Parisian Flourish embossing folder. The colours used for these two cards are pool party and petal pink. Blends were used to colour the cake and the flowers.
Thank You
I am so thankful for all the people I have met on my stamping journey. The importance of belonging is not to be underestimated. Belonging to a tribe is crucial to our mental health as is a meaningful hobby. Stampin’Up! does both. I hope you share your love of stamping with your friends and family and community. You never know whose life you will transform!
If you are looking for a sense of belonging and you live in Canada, my Beyond Pampered team would love to have you. To get the best deal in the catalog, click here to get started. This will also make you a part of my team and get you your very own 20% discount. No strings attached, no pressure to do anything. If you have any questions if this is really meant for you, please message me and I would be honoured to help you out.
Thanks for stopping by and have a super day.
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by Jackie Bultje | Feb 3, 2020 | Honey Bee, sale-a-bration, saleabration |
Hello stampers and happy Monday to you. Today I have a Honey Bee Valentine’s card for you. This is the first blog post that I am writing back in Canada at my own very messy desk. Everything else is fairly tidy, but the desk is the last fortress.
As expected, I came home to a whirlwind of activity. What I did not expect was to find my Pap in such a state of mental deterioration! I was in such utter shock that I totally forgot about my team meeting the next day. What heartbreak. We were all hoping and praying that it was only a temporary side effect of the Shingles or of all the medication he was on, but we also didn’t want to delude ourselves with false hope.
Imagine my utter surprise, delight and gratitude when I heard from my Mom that Pap was completely clear-headed by Saturday already. On Sunday he was doing so well that he was able to attend two church services! He hadn’t been in church for almost three months. Praise God!!
Honey Bee Valentine’s Card
Okay, now on to actual card making. I just had to share this happy personal news with you. The Honey Bee stamp set with coordinating dies is just such a happy set. The bees are stunning. The free saleabration paper that coordinates perfectly with this bundle just makes it even sweeter to work with. Here is my simple card that capitalizes on the beautiful paper.
I was inspired to make this card by the cute box I designed for the Valentine’s class on Saturday. Thankfully I had a stack of happy mail waiting for me when I came home from Holland since I had participated in a swap. Two of those cards used this bundle, so I only had to make one more card to be ready for my coffee and a card class tomorrow. You will see the other two cards in my blog post tomorrow.
Honey Bee Box
Here is the honey bee box we made at the Valentine’s class on Saturday. This was an easy project since it uses the gold mini pizza boxes in the annual catalog.
The die that comes in the detailed bees dies not only cuts out the stamped bee image, it also cuts out the bees from the patterned paper. I used a dark daffodil delight Blend to colour the stripes of the bee. A dark fine tip basic black Blend was used to add an extra “e” to the Bee Mine. The sentiment is from the Be Mine set from the annual Catalog.
Happy Mail in Holland Winner
Thanks again to everyone who participated in the happy mail in Holland contest. It was a lot of fun receiving happy mail from so many different places. In total I received 31 cards! The winner of the contest is Karen Silvester from Saskatchewan, Canada. She won the Painted Labels dies which is part of the Painted Poppies bundle. If you love this bundle you might be interested in my Peaceful Poppies pdf tutorial. Here are the cards included in it, ten in all.
New Contest
I have a great idea for a new contest and this one has to be kept hush-hush since I want it to be a surprise. Gerard is coming to Canada to visit me on March 29. I think it would be so amazing to show him some love from all of you when he comes. This will be a Happy Mail in Canada contest and the winner will receive a masculine stamp set of their choice. The only stipulation is that the card has to use current stamps and it has to be a masculine card.
Your card will be featured on my blog during the time that he is here. My mailing address is Jackie Bultje, 81 Delaware Ave, Chatham, Ontario N7l 2W3. Cards must be received between now and March 29. Yay!! I am so excited about this. It will be priceless to see his face when he sees all your beautiful cards for him.
Thanks!
Thanks so much for joining me today. Remember, Dale Hampshire from Stampin’Up! Canada is coming to my twin teams meeting on Thursday. It’s not too late for you to join my team so you can also be at this epic meeting. We are going to have SO much fun together. You also get to come to Diva Day at the end of March. Scoop up the great deal and the extra freebies and your very own 20% discount by getting the starter kit. Get started on this fun journey here.
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by Jackie Bultje | Jan 28, 2020 | Inspiring Iris, sale-a-bration, saleabration |
Hello stampers and happy Tuesday. Today’s card features Inspiring Iris and some saleabration items. One of the saleabration items is the stamp set Sending You Thoughts and the other is the assorted patterned paper pack that you can get for free when you get the starter kit. Sneaky of me right?
Inspiring Iris
Inspiring Iris is the stamp set that I got as one of the stamp sets in my starter kit in the Netherlands. I love DistINKtive stamps and this is a beautiful of example of this technology. One stamp looks like you did amazing things because it gives you different colours and textures. It is also a two-step stamp that gives you an outline stamp and then a “filler” stamp. Now that we have the stamparatus which is a fantastic stamp positioning tool, it makes it super easy to use two step stamps, even if you have shaky hands or bad eyes.
My Clean and Simple Card
I wanted to make a quick and easy card using this stamp set for two reasons. Time is short today with lots to do including baking, packing and shopping, not to mention a live video!! Secondly, it is important to know that you can make a beautiful card in very little time with just a few supplies. Here it is:
I will be showing this card during my Facebook live at 9amEST today or 3pm in Holland. This is my last full day here! It is amazing how quickly seven weeks flew by and also how at home I feel here. Love does amazing things.
Iris’s are a beautiful flower and I do love a purple and green colour combination. This paper pack was sitting on my desk and it inspired me. The paper is part of an assorted 6×6 inch pack that you can get for free if you get the starter kit during saleabration. The colours I used are highland heather and granny apple green. Isn’t it striking to have the focal point off to the side? The crinkled seam binding ties the image and the sentiment together into one beautiful focal point. Saleabration is a great time to get free items including this Sending You Thoughts stamp set which is where I got the sentiment from.
Thanks!
Thanks so much for joining me on my blog today and also throughout my time in Holland. I have greatly enjoyed sharing my experiences here in this beautiful little country. Tomorrow I fly home, but I will try to have a few blog posts ready to go before I leave. If for some reason this doesn’t happen you will hear from me again on Friday. Have a super day.
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by Jackie Bultje | Dec 5, 2019 | Little Ladybug, sale-a-bration, starter kit |
Hello stampers and happy Thursday! I am getting ready for saleabration a little bit earlier than usual this year. Do you know why? It is super important to me for everyone to realize the opportunities that are there to get more free stuff and to save more money AND have more fun. That’s quite the winning combination don’t you think?
What I want you to know
The reason that I am so passionate about the starter kit, especially during saleabration is that I think a lot of people are missing out because of misconceptions. Heck, I missed out for a lot of years. I had no idea that I could take advantage of the great deal on the starter kit and NOT be a demonstrator. There were five little kids needing my attention and I had no time or inclination to teach anything to anyone but I did love to scrapbook and stamp. A continual discount would have been great!
You need to know that you can get the starter kit with no strings attached, just for your own discount! There will be no pressure from Stampin’Up! or from me to achieve anything or to reach certain sales goals. Regardless of how much you buy or sell, you have six months to take advantage of your own discount which will be 20%. You also get early access to new catalogs. For example as demonstrators we can already order from the new mini AND earn free saleabration sets already.
The Details
Many people ask me, what is in the starter kit? Whatever you want! Yes, that’s right. You get to decide what you want in there. It’s like placing an order but with a limit. You only get to choose $165 worth of products, you can go less but you can’t go more. That is the hard part but it doesn’t have to be. Whatever doesn’t “fit” into the starter kit can go on your next order where you will get 20% off AND you will earn free saleabration items with every $60 you spend. Once your order gets to $200 you also get host benefits even if the order is just for you. If your order gets to $375 then you also get Little Ladybug for free. Did I mention there is no tax and no shipping? Also, you only pay $135.
The saleabration bonus
This is the best part. Not only do you get an extra $30 worth of product in the kit, you also get to choose a free stamp set. ANY stamp set in either the annual catalog or the mini catalog that you want, regardless of price!! You will also get a FREE paper sampler with 48 sheets of paper from different paper packs in the mini catalog. Lastly you will get an adorable mini paper trimmer that has a guillotine cutter! Let’s summarize the extra freebies:
- bonus free stamp set, any value from annual or mini catalog
- free paper sampler with 48 sheets
- free mini paper trimmer
- Diva Day March 27 from 5pm to 9pm
Diva Day and Beyond Pampered Team
These are the fun extra perks of getting the starter kit. I have an annual Diva Day for everyone who joins my team. The format varies from year to year but what remains the same is that I gather with all my new recruits to enjoy food, to stamp and to get spoiled with an amazing goodie bag to help you on your stamping journey. If you live far away then I will do a Facebook Live event with you and you will get a lovely surprise in the mail.
My Beyond Pampered team has a monthly gathering as well, the fourth Thursday of the month. We have a LOT of fun together, eating, drinking, stamping and laughing. We share our creativity and stories of what we have done in the last month. We talk a little shop but mostly this is just a fun time where we deepen our friendships. When Stampin’Up! has events we travel together as a team and stay in amazing places. I am loving the memories and the friendships that we have made as Beyond Pampered team.
This was the view from our Airbnb where we stayed for #OnStage2019 in Toronto. Without my team traveling together we could never stay in places like this!
When can you get the kit?
Of course you could get the kit right now but then you wouldn’t get the saleabration bonuses. Join on January 3 and you will have the most to gain! You will be able to enjoy three months of saleabration and even if you don’t intend to sell a thing, you should give out the free catalogs that you will get and share the great deals. It is so much fun to have some stamping buddies!! I will do a short video showing you the basics of how to sign up but of course it will not be completely accurate as there are no bonuses to include. That part should be quite straightforward as you will be prompted to make those extra choices. You can see the video here. A little later on you will also be able to see in on YouTube. If you have not yet subscribed to my YouTube channel, you can do that here as well.
A few little things
I thought I would share with you the cute little projects that we made during my saleabration Bingo last week. The purpose of this is to introduce my people to all the fantastic new products coming up in a fun way (everyone wins a prize!) as well as stamping with new products. We keep it simple so that we have time to play bingo and socialize too.
Thanks….and a contest!
Thanks for dropping by and if you haven’t already done so then do leave a comment and share my post or my projects on Pinterest or Facebook. Then you will have a chance to win the stamp set Holiday Haul. I will do the draw on Tuesday at noon. Some people were asking how to pin to Pinterest. If you hover with your mouse over one of my images a red Pinterest icon will appear. Just click on that and it will prompt you to “pin” it to one of your boards. If we need a video on how to do Pinterest, let me know!!
If you missed my Facebook live on Tuesday, you might want to check it out as I talk about the starter kit there too. You can see it here. Thanks again for stopping by, I appreciate it ever so much!!
by Jackie Bultje | Mar 19, 2019 | Flowing Fountain, sale-a-bration, watercolouring |
Hello stampers. I love fountains and birds. The two often go hand in hand because birds are attracted to fountains both for drinking and bathing. I love fountains because of the relaxing sound of the splashing water and the artistry of their designs. In public spaces huge fountains are iconic gathering places. This Flowing Fountain stamp set drew me not only because of the lovely artwork but also because of the beautiful words. It is perfect for sympathy cards and thinking of you cards. You can hone your colouring skills with this set using Blends, watercolour pencils or an aqua painter and ink. These cards are only a beginning of what you can do with this Flowing Fountain stamp set. Let’s take a look:
I stamped the image in Stayzon ink on shimmery white cardstock knowing that I would be colouring with an aqua painter. If you use Memento with water it will run or bleed. When you colour with Blends, then you need to use Memento ink. The shimmery white piece measures 3 5/8″ by 4 7/8″. With these measurements you can get five pieces out of a regular sheet. That is important because this paper is relatively expensive compared to whisper white cardstock but it is very well suited to watercolouring. The mat is pool party. I coloured with gray granite, pool party and granny apple green. Blueberry bushel, so saffron and calypso coral were used on the birds.
I couldn’t resist making another card with Painted Seasons. It is only available until March 31 or while supplies last. The sentiment is from Flowing Fountain however. Don’t you just love the font? I used early espresso and cherry cobbler on very vanilla cardstock. The images were stamped on very vanilla and then run through the Big Shot with the Subtles embossing folder. It is important that you first stamp your images on the smooth very vanilla cardstock and then run it through the embossing folder to get that beautiful texture. Texture is particularly dramatic and important when making a tone on tone card.
This card has the sentiment that I really, really loved in Flowing Fountain. I knew right away that I would use it over and over for making Hospice cards. I did a Facebook live video showing how to make this card this afternoon. Here is the link. Please do let me know if these links don’t work! I inked up the Country Floral embossing folder (on the logo side) with crumb cake ink. You just dab the ink pad directly on the folder. Then lay on your 4″ by 5 1/4″ piece of very vanilla cardstock and run it through the BIg Shot. Afterwards the folder rinses off beautifully just with water in the kitchen sink. I coloured the raised flowers with an aqua painter and ink squeezed into the lid of the ink pad or from an acrylic block dabbed directly into the ink pad. I used Petal Pink, So Saffron, Granny Apple Green and Blushing Bride.
I hope you were inspired by these cards today. Remember, the country floral embossing folder and the Painted Seasons stamp set are only available until March 31 or while supplies last as a free item during saleabration. The folder is available free with a $60 purchase and the Painted Seasons bundle (it also comes with adorable paper) is free with a $120 purchase. If you live in Canada, just click on any of the items at the end of my post and you will be taken directly to my online store. If you do not already have a demonstrator, I truly would appreciate your business. Of course, there is always a spot waiting for you on my team as well. The very best deal ever is the starter kit! If you have a wish list that is around $95, then your best bet is to spend $135 on the starter kit. You pay no tax and no shipping AND you get to choose $225 of any products you like. This is only valid until March 31. After that you can only choose $165 in product. This is still a good deal but not as amazing as the one you can get right now! Want to treat yourself? Click here and let the fun begin.
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by Jackie Bultje | Feb 11, 2019 | sale-a-bration |
Hello stampers! If you know me at all you know that I love birds. I love watching them, I love feeding them and I love to take pictures of them at my feeders. Roosters are the exception. While they are a beautiful, proud bird they are also quite mean. I am sure we all have a rooster story. I grew up on a dairy farm and I helped milk the cows many early mornings and evenings. That wasn’t so bad except for the resident rooster. He was mean! He had a nasty disposition and found great joy in sneaking up on me while I was sitting between the cows either washing an udder or putting a milk machine on. In other words when he knew my hands were occupied and I was vulnerable. He would literally attack with wings flapping and beak pecking. Given the chance I would send him flying with a well-placed kick, but sometimes he won. I swear that bird gave me a nervous disorder! That being said, I do love the free stamp set Home to Roost. The rooster is oh so fun to colour with our Blends either accurately or whimsically. Why not colour that bird any which way you want? He also looks good in a monochromatic scheme. Let’s take a look at a few different cards. Who knew a rooster could be this cute?
Stamping on patterned paper is fantastic. Here the rooster is stamped in blueberry bushel on our Wood Textures paper. The stitched shape framelits give just the right “country” feel to this card as does the gingham gala paper and the burlap ribbon. This card was made for me by my team member Alison Reid. Thanks Alison!! Don’t you think that balmy blue looks great with blueberry bushel? And don’t you agree that anyone not in the stamping world would wonder what the heck we are talking about?
This card was a swap card made by another team member, Yvonne Macfadyen. Simply lovely. This clean and simple card has only one difficult aspect to it. You have to fussy cut the rooster unless you have a scan and cut machine, that is a great way to cut down on cutting time (pardon the pun). Our nasty bird was stamped in Memento black and coloured with Blends.
I keep looking at these cards and thinking how beautiful they are and how much I love the set but hate the bird!! I am sure there must be some nice roosters out there. What do you think? This one was stamped on a window sheet (otherwise known as acetate) using Stayzon ink since it will not smear. Flip it over and colour with Blends on the back side. I used three glue dots to adhere it to a glimmer paper circle. Both were cut out using the layering circles framelits. The card base is basic black layered with bermuda bay and accented with lovely lipstick and the lovely lace edgelits. The polka dot paper is from the neutrals 6×6 designer series paper (boring name right?) on page 191 of the annual catalog.
This last card was also made by my team member Alison Reid and she was inspired by Amanda Petersen. It has a very vanilla base and the Buffalo Check background stamp was used to create the “patterned paper” look using cajun craze and it measures 5″ by 3 1/2″. The rooster was stamped in Memento Black and coloured with Blends. Our stitched shape framelits once again come in handy for creating a simple but elegant focal point. The burlap ribbon adds just the right finishing touch don’t you think?
I decided to add one more card to this post. I saw it posted and made by Brenda Keenan and I just tweaked a wee little bit. I love how she stamped the rooster in black on crumb cake as background paper. I used my Stamparatus so that the images would all be nice and dark. I add the black and silver ribbon from the Garage suite and it works! Sometimes it’s nice to mix things up a bit.
He is definitely magnificent to colour with the Blends. I used just two colours, cherry cobbler and crumb cake on the rooster and then bronze for the ground under his feet.
Well what do you think about our resident rooster? He is safe on paper and he colours beautifully. He makes no noise at 5am so that is an added bonus. He is also free with a $60 purchase during sale-a-bration which is the annual, epic Stampin’Up! sale that goes until March 31. He is also a part of a package deal that Stampin’Up! puts together for you. The package is called Home to Roost Cards on page 11 of the sale-a-bration brochure. They put together a collection of products that they have used to make the card samples, so no guesswork. If you scroll to the bottom of the post you will see the link to this collection. The best part of it in my opinion is that you can get the bundle for half price if you host an epic workshop. At $550 in sales you get a half price item. Before I was a demonstrator I always hosted a big party during sale-a-bration and everyone would order at least $60 to qualify for a freebie so I would always get a half price item too. I truly do not understand why people are so reluctant these days to host a workshop. It was such fun for everyone! If you would like to gather a group of friends for a workshop at my studio and get free stuff, please contact me. It is one of my favourite things to do.
I thought I would end this post sharing a fun card that fellow Canadian demonstrator Lynsay Mahon made. I just had to case it. Another confession. I was using the tiny letter stamps from Make A Difference and I totally lost patience and I hand wrote the last two letters. Do you like how vivid the roosters are in the samples that have colouring? You might want to consider joining the Blends Club. Read the details here. If you live in Canada and don’t already have a demonstrator, I would love to have you order from me. Just click on any of the icons below and it will take you straight to my online store. If you could also use the host code 2HGCDSXE that would make me very happy. Keep smiling and have a super day.
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