Bits and Pieces

Happy Saturday! It's hard to believe that July is here and already in full-swing! I know it doesn't seem like summer is here, give the cooler weather, but I LOVE it! I'm enjoying the holidays but still managing to keep busy. I am taking an online course for work this month and although it is very interesting, it's rather time consuming. Oh well - I am getting a little stamping time in as well, which has been fabulous! I was playing with the new In-Colors this morning and will have to post my creation this week. In the meantime, I have a lot of samples from weeks ago that I hadn't had the chance to post. I will be playing catch up!

I had a few birthday cards to make a little while ago and came up with this. I love the colours! I ended up using bits and pieces left over from a Card Elements Kit, Flower Power Simply Sent Card Elements. It was in the last catalogue and is in the new catalogue as well. The kit is a fabulous deal at $21.95, and what's more - there's a stamp set to match for just $16.95 (WOW Flowers)! The kit comes with everything that you need to make 9 beautiful cards (three each of three designs) - textured cardstock, ribbon, brads, self-adhesive die-cuts and designer series paper. When you have completed all of the cards however, you are left with some fairly large scraps. I loved the DSP in this kit, so I've used it on a few cards since and can't get enough of the colour combination. It matches so well with the Felt Fusion Flowers, so I added a few of those as well. I had received the "On Your Birthday" stamp set free from Stampin' Up! for my Sale-A-Bration sales, so I added a sentiment from that set and popped up the "&" on Kraft Cardstock and a Build-A-Brad (minus the acrylic bubble).


Stamps: On Your Birthday
Paper: Rose Red Textured, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Kraft, DSP from the Flower Power Card Elements Kit
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Tools: 1/2" Circle Punch, Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool
Accessories: Felt Fusion Flowers, Pewter Build-A-Brad, Antique Brass Brad, Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals

By the way - have you checked out the new buttons on my sidebar? ----->

As I mentioned in my July Newsletter, which was e-mailed out yesterday, Stampin' Up! has a fabulous promotion going on for the month of July. Every week on Monday, a new DEAL OF THE WEEK will be announced. That item will be available for a fabulous price for one week only! This week's deal is a real steal - the Scallop Edge Punch is 30% off! It's only $15.99 until the next deal is announced on Monday though, so be sure to placed your order before the deal changes! Remember that you can order online and have it shipped directly to you, or you can order through me, so long as I have your order by Sunday at 6:00 p.m.! Many thanks to those of you who have placed online orders this week!

Adorable and Simple Project

We did a super cute and fairly simple project at Regionals a while back and I loved it so much I had to try it again! I think it makes an adorable gift for anyone - who doesn't like to receive handmade cards that they can mail!?

The only sad thing about this project is that these cute Scallop Notes are retiring! Why not order a set for yourself so that you can try this project?! They come cut and scored in a package of 30 with matching envelopes, which would make you 10 of these adorable card holders!

To decorate the cards, I used the Level 3 hostess set Goody-Goody Gumdrops. To decorate the holder, I used the Love You Much set as well as a 2" Aluminum Metal Edge Tag. I stamped the images and sentiments in Jet Black StazOn ink. I used Watercolour Paper, markers and an aqua painter to watercolour the images and then they were punched out with a 1 3/8" Circle Punch. I popped them up on Dimensionals and added some Dazzling Diamonds glitter with a Two-Way Glue Pen. A cherry was stamped on Real Red cardstock, decorated with glitter and adhered to the sundae.

The envelopes were lined with Baja Breeze Designer Series Paper, which is such a sweet detail. Not all that difficult to do, either. I cut pieces that measured 4 1/4" x 3" and inserted them into the envelope so that they just stuck out to the edge of the flap. I traced the shape of the flap on the wrong side of the DSP with a pencil, slid it out of the envelope and trimmed it with my Paper Snips. I then added SNAIL to the underside of the DSP, slid it back into the envelope and then carefully adhered it just below the envelope seal. You only need a little adhesive, that way the paper can move as the envelope is opened and closed.

To create the holder for these cards, I used a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock measuring 9 3/4" x 6". I scored it at 4 3/4" and 5" along the long edge, rotated it 90 degrees and scored at 2 1/2". When those lines are done, you should be able to fold along the score lines and create the folder. The front was decorated using Pink Pirouette cardstock, Baja Breeze DSP, Dimensionals, Rode Red cardstock, Heart to Heart Punch, Two-Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds and Kraft Taffeta Ribbon. The ribbon closure was adhered to the folder using Sticky Strip. For extra security, it was fastened under the layer of DSP on the front of the folder.

If you have fallen in love with these cute little Scallop Notecards, don't forget to place an order, as they are only around while supplies last! I will be placing an order on Tuesday evening, so be sure to e-mail me ASAP!

Need Anything?!

Just a quick post. I will be placing an order on Tuesday evening - if there is anything that you would like, please send me an e-mail and I will add it on. Order forms can be found here.

Don't forget that this is a great time to order your favourite In-Color products and retiring items before they are gone!

Let me know if you have any questions!

A Few Changes!

There have been slight changes to the Last Chance stamp and accessories lists.

The following stamp sets have been removed from the Last Chance stamp list and will be available for purchase from the dormant list during the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog sales period.

114494 Forever
114492 Beautiful Baby
114486 Birthday Wish
114490 Glad Friends
114498 Flowers in Silhouette
114496 Celebrations
114488 Fun Flowers
114032 Acurelas Maravillosas

Also, the following items were added to the Last Chance accessories list and are available for purchase only while supplies last.

114528 Embosslit Flower
116209 Note of Thanks *
116210 Birthdays Count *

* Be sure to order these cute stationary sets quickly! They make a beautiful, inexpensive gift and are great for beginning stampers, so they're bound to go quickly! Check page 208!

Last Chance!

Well, it is that time of year yet again! Sets and accessories are retiring from the current catalogue! :( The good news? These "Last Chance" lists will only be seen once a year from now on as Stampin' Up! is moving back to a yearly catalogue! The even better news? Some Last Chance accessories are now being offered at a discount! Check out the shopping area of my demonstrator website for more details!

Here are the lists for your convenience! Remember that while the listed stamp sets are available until the end of June, the accessories are only available while supplies last! Act quickly to avoid disappointment! Online orders can be placed here!

CLICK HERE for the "Last Chance" list in alphabetical order
CLICK HERE for the "Last Chance" list in order of page number
CLICK HERE for the Decor Elements “Last Chance” List

Retiring Accessories are not listed in a PDF, but you can look at the items and check their current availability through the shopping page of my demonstrator website! Click here and then select "SHOP NOW" from the top right-hand corner. You will find the retiring accessories by clicking on "SPECIALS" on the left. They've got them separated into categories based on the discount, as well as a list of all retiring items, whether discounted or not. If all else fails, e-mail me and I will e-mail you a list! :) It is just difficult for me to type them all in here and align the columns!

As always, e-mail me if you have any questions or if you would like to place an order!

A Special Book for a Special Girl!

We just finished spending the day with my amazing parents, sister and niece and had a fabulous time. The girls headed shopping while the boys watched sports and went to the European grocery store near our place. It was such a fun and relaxing time - a great way to spend a beautiful sunny day! We topped it off by heading to the pond in front of our building to feed the ducks and Canada geese. What a blast! I'm sure you'll be able to catch some pictures later on tonight on my sister's blog.

In the meantime, I realized that there was a special book that I forgot to share with you. The last time Ava visited our condo, we ended up going to Disney on Ice to see some of her favourite characters. We had a fabulous time and I decided to make a little memory book for Ava, filled with pictures from the show. Here's what the cover looked like. I used Pink Flamingo DSP, Longboard Chipboard for the cover (punched with the Big Shot and the Scallop Circle Die - it went through the chipboard and 2 layers of DSP all at once - a beautiful clean edge)! I added in some layered circles cut with every circle punch I own (Whisper White, Cameo Coral and Real Red cardstock). The letters were chipboard covered in Chunky Essentials Glitter, to which I added a flower brad with a Mini Glue Dot (the prongs were removed with the pliers from the Crafter's Tool Kit). I filled the petals of the flower with Crystal Effects mixed with Real Red reinker. The centre of the flower is the gem from a yellow Circle Rhinestone Brad that I had taken apart. To bind it all together, I used my Crop-A-Dile and a ring with a piece of Wide Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon.

The centre pages were just Cameo Coral Scallop Circles cut with the Big Shot and then layered with pictures that I had cut with the Clear Circle Die, which allowed me to crop the pics perfectly! So much fun!

Super Simple Birthday Wishes

Here's a super quick birthday card I put together. Not a colour combination I would usually use, but I love the bright colours! I started with a Taken With Teal card base cut at 4 1/4" x 11" and then scored it in half. I then stamped the background using Taken With Teal ink and the Polka Dot background stamp. I added a strip of Tangerine Tango that had been punched with the Scallop Edge Punch and then tied a length of Riding Hood Red Ribbon around the card and covered the straight edge of the Tangerine Tango. Before I tied the knot, I slipped the ends of the ribbon through one of the new Basic Jumbo Grommets (from the Occasions Mini catalogue) and tied a knot. In order to fasten the grommet to the card, I used my Mat Pack and Bone Folder - super easy to fasten.

The sentiment (from Wow Flowers) was stamped in Basic Gray ink on Whisper White cardstock and then punched with the Large Oval Punch. I layered it onto a piece of Taken With Teal punched with the new Scallop Oval and a piece of Riding Hood Red punched with the new Wide Oval Punch. All of the layers were popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals to add some interest!