Hello Fabulous Friend

I can’t believe this is the first time I have pulled out the All Dressed Up Dies (pg 56 of the Occasions Catalogue)! It was actually quite easy to assemble this little purse, which can also convert into a cute backpack too by just placing the straps in different spots. I love the stitched details around the edges of the purse and because of that I decided to leave it ‘clean’ and just have an over the top embellishment instead. I paired the Dressed to Impress stamp set with the Cherry Blossoms and Painted Labels Dies and added in some Pineapple Punch ribbon, Bakers Twine and Metallic Thread. I reached into my stash and pulled out some Faceted Gems (pg 178 of the Idea Book & Catalogue).

Sometimes our scraps can create the most beautiful things!

The best part of this card is the fact that it was created almost entirely with scraps I had laying around in my craft room! I had already created the purse and thought it would be fun to create a coordinating card. The purse is a perfect way to give a gift card! I stamped the large cherry blossom stem from the Forever Blossoms stamp set (pg 16 of the Occasions Catalogue) straight on the card base, a very rare occurrence for me, and added a few flicks of my Call Me Clover marker. I had a scrap of white card stock on my table so I ran it though the Parisian Flourish 3D Embossing Folder and layered on top some of the Braided Burlap Trim and Pineapple Punch ribbon. I cut another shape from the Painted Labels Dies and added in some Metallic Thread. I left the sentiment at ‘friend’ and inside stamped ‘you mean so much to me’. Together I think they make an awesome combo!

A little Tropical Fun!

I recently hosted a team event where we had a Tropical Theme. I do love a good theme and with the Tropical Oasis Suite (which by the way, I will never ever get rid of it, the pineapple frame lit can’t be beat!) it was easy to come up with these 3 amazing cards!

I started by using the Magnolia Lane Large Specialty Memories & More Cards & Envelopes (pg 171 of the Idea Book and Catalogue). The silver edge of the card added a nice detail and an anchor for designing the cards.

The first card featuring the awesome pineapple die also ties in the Seriously The Best stamp set (pg 60 of the Occasions Catty). I isolated the word Hello and fussy cut it out using Pretty Peacock. I added in some Sale-a-bration items—can you spot them?

The flower card in the center was stamped in Whisper White Kraft ink and embossed with white embossing powder. I coloured it using, the Mango Melody pigment sprinkles! You simply tap some onto a block, give it a light spritz of water and use an Aqua Painter to color it in. I should note that it is also stamped on Shimmery White card stock to hold the water. You should give this colouring technique a try!

The final card I used Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay and Pretty Peacock and the foam brayers to create the background. The small flower is stamped with the Saddle Brown Stazon Ink and coloured with the Mango Melody Stampin’ Blends. And the palm trees are coloured with good ole regular Stampin’ Write markers!

You are Simply Wonderful

One of the team building things my team does each month is choose a card from the Idea Book and Catalogue and case it. Sometimes I make small modifications such as the sentiment. The original card used for this Case had the sentiment ‘Forever Starts Today’ but it doesn’t really apply to my life stage right now so I thought I would swap it out for ‘You are Simply Wonderful’, which can be sent to anyone for pretty much any reason. I did use the Stampin’ Supply guide (published on the demo page under the Printing Place) to see exactly how they achieved the soft coloured feel. I loved how the flowers were stamped with Sahara Sand and then coloured with water colored pencils, but the surprise was the adding Pretty Peacock ink and a blender pen on the tips of the blue flowers!

I know everyone will be happy to get this card as I love receiving what they have created for me!

Its a Valentine's Bonanza!

I absolutely love Valentine’s Day. I love making V Day projects, cards and buying special gifts for my family. When my kids were little we developed a “Pink Dinner” tradition. My husband and I realized that we probably wouldn’t be going out to romantic dinners anymore with having three kids, so we decided to create something special for our whole family to enjoy. So I decorate our table with Valentine’s Decor and even pull out real wine glasses for the kids to use. We drink pink pop, eat heart shaped pizza and all the other foods are either pink or red. I will admit, it makes for a pretty interesting dinner sometimes. But it is fun and the kids all look forward to it. I will make sure to do a blog post of my table!

This year I will be adding these adorable heart tin treat boxes to each persons spot at the table and I will fill them with the candies each kid likes best (probably Skittles, Reeses pieces and Kit Kat’s!). I cannot resist these Bonanza Buddies, the Koala (fun fact: its one of my favourite animals, tied with the panda bear and an Ewok if they really existed!) and the lion are just beyond adorable! They can be found on page 33 of the Mini Catalogue. The entire Birthday Bonanza Suite is colourful, whimsical, and fun!

I love our new heart punches pack on page 10 as they are so easy for kids to use and the layering option of the two is fabulous. And personally, I think you can use hearts all year long! This project was a great way to use up some ribbon scraps as well. The sentiment, For You, is from the Label Me Bold stamp set which is a Million Dollar Achiever stamp set.

Hot Tip: you can use the classic label punch for any of the sentiments in the stamp set and just quickly snip the edges to get a perfect cut!

I added in the heart doilies to the bottom of the tins as well for that added detail. I think its awesome they come in a package of 40! Way to go Stampin’ Up!

I hope you are inspired by these super cute projects. I had so much fun making them and will be offering them at two different class times—-Wed, Jan 29th at 6:30 pm and Monday, Feb 10th at 6:30. They are perfect for kids and adults to make! Imagine finding one of these on your desk at work! Click on the Sign Up Now button to register for this class!

Honestly, I don’t care if you are 5 or 50, I think these would make anyone happy!

I thought it would be fun to add something to the inside of the lids. It is like a little extra surprise!

Thanks for the Laughs...

As soon as I saw this new stamp set, Thanks for the Laughs, I knew it would be on my very first order from the upcoming Handmade for You Mini Catalogue. It has some amazing friendship themed sentiments including this one, “No one will ever be as entertained by us as us”. I am sure we all have a girlfriend or two that this applies to! I combined this sentiment with the color palette, DSP and embellishments from the Birthday Bonanza suite—-when you see it in the catalogue you will be amazed! I have popped a few of these in the mail which will be an happy and unexpected surprise in my friends mailboxes as it won’t be a Christmas card inside! And are those mini pompoms not the cutest! #everythingisbettermini