it's a boy!

A friend from church had a baby boy a few weeks ago. I sat down today to make the card for her. I love simple. I CASE'd this right from a sample on the demonstrator forum. I've never used not quite navy, wild wasabi and marina mist together before. I like the combo!

I think I am starting to figure out how to work with wild wasabi. I really liked the colour but had no idea what to pair it with. Now with summer coming, wild wasabi is starting to seem like it belongs. The constant playing and experimenting I get to do as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is great. Honestly, if I didn't "have to" come up with new workshop samples and class ideas, I'd probably still be stamping exactly the same things as I did 4 years ago. Don't get me wrong, it's totally fine to do things the same. Same is good. Same is calm; but wow, all the new products and colours and stamp sets that I get to acquire and techniques I get to learn... it's an adventure I wouldn't trade for the world!

Happy Easter

I hope you all had a nice Easter weekend. We had a very lovely Easter weekend. It was full of activity but not crazy busy.

Let me backtrack and talk about last weekend. Last weekend I had a number of stampin' events. Kevin took one look at my schedule and decided that it was best if he take the kids up north to our timeshare. He felt it would be best to give me peace and space to prepare and host my events without having to worry about what to do with the kids and he didn't want the kids to be in the way. At first I was a bit insulted. I felt like I would be missing out spending time with the family. However, it turned out he was absolutely right! I didn't get home from the Friday evening workshop until past 11:00 (much socializing and shopping going on...) which meant I was far too tired to pack for the birthday party event the next day. It was so incredibly peaceful to wake up the next morning and lie around. I finally got around to cutting paper and packing up for the late afternoon event around 11:00am (after I had gone to Tim's for a coffee and calorie laden breakfast sandwich). I realized that my wise husband knew me better than I knew myself. I would've been much more stressed out thinking about what I had to do when I would be dividing myself between workshop prep and taking care of the kids, getting their meals etc. This way, the kids were having fun with daddy (apparently they watched videos all weekend since it was so rainy outside) and I was cherishing my alone time in absolute silence. Refreshing! Isn't it strange how other people can know us better than we know ourselves?

I was also scheduled to volunteer in the Sunday school room last Sunday. I very rarely help out in the Sunday school classes but sometimes they call me in a pinch. I think the regular teachers are awesome. So much energy and creativity. Last Sunday they made palm branches. It was so cute to see all the kids dancing and singing with their handmade palm branches.

This weekend was the annual Easter fun fair at our church. As usual, hundreds of families from the community came through the doors to take in the event. I helped out at the toddler egg hunt booth. Since we were in the school staff room, there wasn't much mystery in terms of where to hide the eggs. Someone had made props to help create some places to hide the eggs. What's funny is that many little todders didn't even know they were supposed to pick up the eggs and put them in the basket. Some little ones just sat on the floor and rolled the eggs around. Others would get one egg and figure that was good enough. Those little kids were so cute. Here's a picture of our props and some of the volunteers.

As you can see, the eggs were not really "hidden".

What's a long weekend without getting some Stampin' done? I have been desperate to CASE this card since I saw it on Paula Stewart's blog (a fellow Team S.T.I.C gal). The colours just grabbed me. This card uses the printed petals stamp set and the FYI sentiment set. (inside the card it says: you make me smile)

The colours are perfect plum, baja breeze and pear pizzazz

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. Feel free to send me an e-mail and tell me all about it. I enjoy hearing from you!

Paisley Petals Gift Card Holder

Here's a super easy gift card holder. All you have to do is cut the cardstock in half at 4.25" (I used river rock here) and then score at 2 1/4" and 6 3/4" (thanks Vicki O'hara for sharing this at Leadership!)

I decorated with some paisley petals paper and used the word window punch one and a half times to make the slot for the gift card.

I wanted to share some words of inspiration from the bible with a friend and Easter seemed like a great time to write them to her and send a card. So instead of slipping a gift card in the slot, I made up these little cards with the verses on them. I like this idea so much I might have to make more!

Tantalizing

I got my box of pre-ordered summer mini products last week. Can you believe I haven't had time to play with all my new things yet? I tried really hard to finish work early today so I could play stamps before I had to pick up the kids from the babysitter.

I'm preparing a mini stamp a stack for my Team S.T.I.C girls. I thought they would enjoy getting their hands on new product and who is not going to enjoy a five card stamp a stack?!

I don't know if this will be one of the cards we do...if I have time I will play more with this set. I am happy with how it turned out. Once again the markers are my first and fastest choice for adding colour.

What is that green thing at the bottom you ask? That is the sentiment heat embossed in wild wasabi embossing powder! Yes, coloured embossing powder is coming in the summer mini!

Here's a close up of the stamped and coloured image.

If getting a taste of what is going to be available in the summer mini is tantalizing, then you must come to my summer mini party on May 1st at 2:00. Please RSVP so I can have the correct amount of supplies.

If you think it's cool that I get to play with new products before they are released and you like the idea of buying stamping products at a discount, then check out this video and consider joining my team. I'd love to have you at my next team stamp a stack!

Get it while you can!

Here's my plug! Get the paisley petals dsp and four frames stamp set now while it's here. It's only here for April and then we won't see it again until the new catalogue in July. As a secret, I "think" that the dsp in the new catalogue will be slightly higher priced so buy it now. Just e-mail me your order. To qualify to purchase the four frames stamp set and/or paisley petals paper, just have a minimum order of $25.

Here's a couple of fast and easy cards you can make with the stamp set and paper. The colours in the dsp really pop out when you matte it was the co-ordinating cardstock. The base cardstock is river rock. The blue I'm using is baja breeze and the deep red is cherry cobbler. I left the frame empty for now so I can put in whatever teeny tiny wish when the occasion calls.

Cute bunnies

I can't believe Easter is coming up next week. I know that our church will be hopping next week because we always have a free Easter fun fair for the community. I requested not to help out at the craft booth this year. (sometimes a girl has to experience other things!) So, if you've got little ones and want to do something fun, come and drop by! I'm going to be helping out with the toddler egg hunt so make sure to say hi!

Here's some funEaster cards to inspire you to create something cute. Once again no stamping...just lots of punching. Punches are such a great investment because they are so versatile. You can use them to create punch art as I've done here but you can also use them to punch out stamped images.

This card was CASE'd from a swap I received at leadership from Michelle Deslandes. The dsp is the new sneak peek product on promotion this month: paisley petals.

The eyes and nose are from the owl punch.

When I made this card below, Nathaniel loved it. He carried it around the house for a little while. He told me: "I can't take my eyes off it!" (Although I believe he thinks it's a cat, not a bunny)

The scallop circle body is the scallop circle #2 die for the big shot.

life happenings.

So many good things going on in life. So many times I have started blog posts in my head but haven't gotten around to actually typing them out.

As usual, our family has been busy. A recent fun activity we did was the Awana Grand Prix race. I'm sure none of you know what this is. I didn't know either until recently. Our kids go to a children's program called awana. (it's sort of like the Christian version of brownies/beavers). There are different activities. Last week was the car race. All the kids had been given wooden blocks to turn into cars and then the cars race down this premade track. The previous week I had gotten the cars cut and told the kids to paint them however they wanted. Then Kevin attached the wheels (not so easy...lots of glue required). We arrive at race night to discover that many kids and parents alike were SERIOUS about this race. Cans of WD40 were everywhere as parents were greasing up the kids wheels. Several false starts occurred as parents disputed whether their child's car was properly lined up on the track. Many cars were designed in fun and detailed ways. I found it mildly humerous but at the same time worried that my kids would freak out that their car was substandard. Fortunately Nathaniel only watched his car when it was racing so in his mind he won every race since he only watched one car. Michelle noticed that she came last in every race but was easily distracted by timbits. Ethan busied himself by adding washers to his car to give it extra weight and he told me later that he had lots of fun. I was thankful that no wheels fell off. This is just one of the examples where as parents we worry and fret and don't enjoy something as much as we should. The kids had a good time even though I was having small fits that everything took so LONG and my kids should be home in bed and worried that I didn't do my parental duty by researching aerodynamic race car designs.

Anyway, the awana car race is just one of the activities we've been busy with lately.

Speaking of being busy, I have been cutting paper for upcoming clubs and workshops and noticed that I had lots of very vanilla scraps. Here's a three minute super easy card I did just because I wanted to use the beautiful springtime vintage paper and my very vanilla scraps.

Try it! It's not hard to make a 3 minute card.

I really wanted to put a rhinestone bling thing on the middle flower but that would've taken four minutes and I really couldn't spare the time. Grin.

Not quite navy and baja breeze is a great combo.

Happy

I am loving the nice weather. It makes me feel happy to go outside and not shiver. It makes me happy to not have to dress my children in a million layers just to walk to the garage. So many things to be happy about. Here's a cute project that I prepared for someone who asked me to do their child's birthday party. Instead of hiring a clown or magician, they hired me. Hmmm, I've never done a birthday party before but it shouldn't be too hard. I've been researching bright, cute ideas because I figure that's what kids always like.

This little fellow gets us ready for Easter and doesn't just looking at him make you happy? I got this idea from Kristine Burns, a fellow demonstrator.

Look ma! No stamping! The scallop circle and wings are from the scallop circle #2 big shot die. The tuft of hair on the head is the boho blossoms punch and the feet are the modern label punch. The beak is a square punch trimmed down a bit. I used white gel pen for the glimmer in the eyes.

I hope you have a happy day!

Bright Apple Blossoms

The weather today is fabulous! We were outside without coats and enjoyed ice cream at Licks. The kids are giddy with excitement that they can ride their bikes in the laneway and play ball. Since it is so bright and sunny, I thought I would share a bright card from Pei Pei. Pei Pei recently bought the brights ink pads and sent me a picture of a card that she made using her new ink pads. The brights are so cheerful! The image is from the level 2 hostess set Apple Blossoms Enjoy the beautiful weather!

Paisley petals with bling!

The promotion for April is the release of two items from the idea book in July 2011: Four Frames Stamp set and Paisley Petals DSP. The stamp set co-ordinates with the decorative label punch. The paper is funky and floral at the same time.

You can only purchase these two sneak peek items when you place a minimum $25 order. Hostesses can earn both these items free with a qualifying workshop. If you missed sale-a-bration, it's never too late to host your own workshop to see some fun ideas and earn freebies.

I've started playing with the paper so stay tuned for more cards with this dsp. Here's one card I made at a team meeting.

The chunky bling at the bottom kind of looks better in real life...

So fun to play with new things!!!!

Workshop Wow's from stamp camp

As promised, here are pictures of some of my favourite workshop wow things that I showed at stamp camp.

Creating the fringe on the ribbon is so easy. Just cut along the length of the ribbon (this is the 1 1/4" striped grosgrain) and then pull. You can make the fringe as longor short as you want. (as an aside, I am so bummed that this is the last month for Nature's nest. I am seriously hoping it will make it into the big catalogue in July so I can demo it more.)

Here is a mini scrapbook or a fancy card. All it takes is cardstock and you fan fold the top portion. Then cover as desired with dsp and attach small cardstock pieces to the folds. Voila. You've got a mini scrapbook to house the kids pictures. Perfect to give to grandparents. It could also be a card and you could just put different images or sentiments on the little flaps.

Creating something fun doesn't have to be complicated. Just do it!

Upcoming Classes

I have so many upcoming classes. Make sure to check regularly on my events page to see what's coming up.

I want to highlight two today.

Spring Basket Class: This is a class where you will learn to make a darling treat basket and matching card.

Date: April 19th, 7:00pm

Cost: $15 ($10 club members)

e-mail me to register

Pink Tea:

I've mentioned this fundraiser before so check out all the details here. I just wanted to share one of the make n take cards that we will be making. Talk it up at your workplace, your social networks, your gym...anywhere. Let's stamp together to make a difference!

Date: May 14th

Drop in 10-2

Cost: $35 includes strength and hope stamp set, donation to the Markham Stouffville Hospital, make n take cards and tea and pink frosted cupcakes.

Don't worry if you can't make the date. I can still give you your stamp set and cardstock with your registration fee and you can make the projects at home.

Bold Blossom makes me think of spring!

Today is such a lovely spring day. I took out some make n take supplies that Lyne gave me. While I designed the scrapbook pages for stamp camp, she designed the cards and it was so kind of her to give me a bag of cut paper so I could make some of the cards as well. Here's two that I made this afternoon. You'd think that after using this set so much while preparing for stamp camp, I'd be sick of it but in fact the opposite is true: this stamp set is so sweet. It's really growing on me more and more. If you change up the colour it can totally change the look of the set. Bold blossom is only $15.95 and has 4 stamps that you can use in different ways.

This card uses white staz on ink on clear acetate. Stampin' Up! sells window sheets which would be a little sturdier but the effect is the same. What a stunning and unique card. Wouldn't you love to make this card to give to a special friend?

I think the wow feature on this next card is the tearing as well as the use of the boho blossoms punch with brad to give some texture and interest. I hope you are all enjoying the arrival of spring as much as I am. It's a wonderful reason to stamp something cheerful.