One Last Day to Sale-a-Brate!

Well, I'm writing this on March 30th, but most of you will see this on March 31st: the last day of Sale-a-Bration. The LAST day! How did over two months go by so quickly? I think my favorite product from this year's SAB was the Everyday Enchantment DSP. This paper is SO gorgeous, I really hope it somehow, magically carries over into the new catalogue. But that is probably just a dream, so I'll use it one more time!

How adorable is this little purse? It's a new Big Shot die: the Petite Purse Bigz L Die. Although the DSP is only available 'til tomorrow, this new die will be available from April 1st to April 30th and then in the new catalogue.

The photo above gives you an idea of how big the purse is. The little note cards are 1-3/4" x 1-3/4". Aren't they cute? The little purse is also perfect for a couple of chocolates, a little pillow gift such as lip balm - the possibilities are endless!

Tips & Tricks:

*I love the SAB Everyday Enchantment Brads so much I used one on my purse on the 'tab'.
*The variety of patterns and colors in the Everyday Enchantment DSP is amazing! I decided to go with the Lucky Limeade, Pool Party and Soft Suede colors for this project.
*The Petite Purse die is so well designed ~ a couple of folds, a bit of Sticky Strip and it comes together easily. No fumbling with a tricky die.
*The purse die does come with a handle, but I decided to do something I've seen a few other demos do: I used the Scallop Ribbon Border Punch. Love it!
*Don't miss out on SAB 2012 ~ for every $60 you order you'll get a free SAB product. Check out my Online Store before it's too late!

Hope you have all enjoyed SAB 2012 as much as I have! But don't fret, in April we'll have more fun stuff for you of course ;) 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out  your creativity.

Two Days Left to Sale-a-Brate!!!

Say it isn't so! We only have two days left to get a free Sale-a-Bration item with every $60 in product we order! I always find the end of March so hard. I can't use my gorgeous Sale-a-Bration stamp sets, DSPs and accessories in classes anymore (of course I can for my own projects! ;) ) and my customers don't get a freebie with their orders. After two months, it's easy to get used to, lol!

So using this week's Freshly Made Sketch as inspiration, I made a card full of Sale-a-Bration inspiration. I used the Everyday Enchantment DSP as well as the Ribbon & Brad Pack. I also use the Fresh Vintage stamp set. You'll notice that on the bottom flag I used the Tiny Tags stamp set which isn't part of Sale-a-Bration. But I thought it worked for this card.

Tips & Tricks:
*Love what I did with the Fresh Vintage flower? The technique is called Emboss Resist. I embossed the flower with White Stampin' Embossing Powder and then sponged around it with Soft Suede Ink. The melted embossing powder 'resists' the ink. Don't you love how it just 'pops' out from the card?

*On its own, the Calypso Coral strip of card stock looked too plain so I embossed it with the Lattice Embossing Folder.
*Yes - you see correctly. I have made my own envelope from the Everyday Enchantment DSP using the new Simply Scored Diagonal Board. How awesome is it that we can make our own envelopes with four score lines???
*I have a thing for flagging these days, so I flagged all my DSP strips :) I used my Bone Folder to curl the edges.

It is going to be *so* hard to bid all these gorgeous products farewell on Saturday :( I know SU! always has gorgeous new things all ready for us to fall in love with, but this time, the DSP, the ribbon, the printed brads - yep, I'm in premature mourning. But don't you worry, I'll be back with more SAB goodies before it's over ;)

'Til then, keep using your SAB goodies and keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Packed for a Birthday

I wanted to make another card for my Man Class that I will be holding on April 20th. I'm looking forward to this class because masculine cards are so hard to come by. So many stamp sets are feminine and it's the type of cards my customers struggle with the most.

I used this week's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge as inspiration for my card design. I did change it up a little and left only a little bit of the grey on the left side. But it's close :) I wanted to pack the Happy Birthday sentiment into this card, so I used the Delightful Dozen and Packed for Birthday stamps.

Tips & Tricks:

*Worried about coloring in stamps with a lot of line art? Spot color! Use those stamps and only color in a few images or certain elements on the stamp.
*I embossed the white strip of card stock with the Lattice Embossing Folder.
*Even though many of the Stampin' Up! stamps are feminine, you don't necessarily need big images on your masculine cards. The birthday stamp from Delightful Dozen is a perfect 'man' stamp. The cake just adds a bit of fun ;)

Hope you'll join me at my class! 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Vintage Heart Flower

When I was at Stampin' Up!'s Leadership a couple of weeks ago, I saw a wonderful card using the Full Heart Punch. I've been hesitant to buy this punch because I thought I would use it mainly around Valentine's Day. This year I broke down and added it to my stampin' stash. After seeing this lovely sample, was I ever glad! They created a gorgeous flower using several hearts. I thought this image would be a *perfect* focal point for this week's Freshly Made Sketch.

I used the Lace Ribbon Border Punch for my middle strip as well as the Sale-a-Bration Calypso Coral Organdy Ribbon. I wanted this to be a birthday card so I used the greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes. It's small enough to not take away from the flower.

Tips & Tricks:

*I punched out 8 hearts from two different sheets of Everyday Enchantment DSP. Because our DSP is two-sided, I get four different patterns this way :)

*To arrange the flower petals evenly on your card, find the center point on the card stock. Imagine a plus sign on the card stock and arrange four petals at 90 degree angles on the imaginary plus sign. Fill in the gaps with the other four petals.
*I adhered all the petals to the card stock with Snail but didn't adhere the two sides of the hearts together. I wanted the petals to pop up
*Something was missing at the top of the card, so I added the coordinating flower image from Fresh Vintage.
*Earn the Fresh vintage stamp set, Everyday Enchantment DSP, and Organdy Ribbon FREE with every $60 purchase during Sale-a-Bration. Shop my Online Store 24/7 :)

I love the look of this flower! It's so gorgeous and easy to make. The Everyday Enchantment DSP makes it even prettier ~ love love love that DSP.  'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

A Simple Blossom

I have a bunch of private stampin' classes coming up and we're into a new month so I need some new cards to show off! My most popular stamp set last month was the Mixed Bunch set and coordinating Blossom Punch. I think I sold about 15 sets of them! And I understand why ~ they're easy to use, give stampers many different options in design and they're just so frickin' cute!

What is my next most popular stampin' item in the last month? The Everyday Enchantment DSP! I love all the designs, love the fact that some sheets have a vintage feel yet others have a fresh, clean feel, and I especially love that there are feminine and masculine designs. So... for my first private stampin' class card I used both :) I used a swap I got at Leadership as my inspiration.

Tips & Tricks:

*Use your Paper Snips to clip little slits in your flower. It only takes a few seconds and gives it additional dimension.
*Use your Bone Folder to tease the flower petals to give them even more dimension.
*I love the brads that come in the Everyday Enchantment Brad & Ribbon Bundle. This is a Sale-a-Bration item ~ get 1 free for every $60 you order. Now that's a deal! Order now in my Online Store.

I hope the ladies who come to my private classes love this card and its simplicity. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

A Creepy Crawly Thank You

When you see the card I made for this week's Mojo Monday Challenge, you may be thinking "Oh no! She's finally lost it!". But don't worry my stampin' friends, I know it's not Hallowe'en... even though this week's card uses the Hallowe'en Scaredy Cat stamp set as well as the Frightful Sight DSP.

Why the spidery card? I needed a 'thank you' for the kids who came to my daughter's 6th birthday party last week (where did the time go?!?!). I wanted an insect-y card because for the party because Little Ray's Reptiles came and showed us some really great insects, reptiles and amphibians. It was awesome! If you're in the Ottawa area, I highly suggest you have them do a birthday party for your child. It was worth every single penny. Isn't she cute all wrapped up in a python?

I did change up the Mojo Monday Sketch a little bit to include pennants from the Petite Pennants punch.I thought the spiders worked really nicely with the pennants. To make the card less 'Hallowe-eny' (because it is NOT a Hallowe'en card ;) ) I used the Calypso Coral Organdy Ribbon which you can earn FREE during Sale-a-Bration when you place an order of $60 or more. Still gorgeous, can't get enough of it!

Tips & Tricks:

*Because the Organdy Ribbon is translucent and 1/8" inch wide, it's great for wrapping around a card multiple times. Adds a unique look without being too 'heavy' looking.

*Not sure how to layer your Modern Label Punch? Try layering it on top of the Scalloped Oval Punch - fits perfectly in the center and just peeks over the sides. Super cute!
*SU!'s Basic Black Ink is waterproof and some people don't like using it because it stains their stamps. Here's a little tip... ink your stamp in a dark ink such as Chocolate Chip or Early Espresso and then ink it in black. Makes it much easier to clean off with the Stampin' Scrub.
*Love the Baker's Twine and love how it's now available in the 2011-2013 In Colors. Isn't it lovely how it coordinates with the Calypso Coral card stock and ribbon?

Hope the kids love their cards and hope you like it too! I think I made pretty good use of my Hallowe'en stamps in February, too! 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Elementary Elegance

I love the name of this Sale-a-Bration stamp set. Elegance? Why it's Elementary! And this stamp set really is elegant. I thought it would work very well with this week's Mojo Monday sketch, as well. This week's challenge was Round or Square. How about rectangle? lol! I never could follow rules ;)

This card is a sample of one of the cards we'll be making at my Occasions Mini and Sale-a-Bration Kick-Off party this Friday. Love it? Why don't you come (if you're in the Ottawa area). As always, Stampin' Up! thinks of everything! See how the center image coordinates perfectly with the Curly Label punch? This makes it much easier to have a perfectly centered, perfectly stamped image. To add an extra dimension to my card, I raised the sentiment up on Stampin' Dimensionals.

Tips & Tricks: 

*I've once again used the Everyday Enchantment Sale-a-Bration DSP on my card. Isn't this just so different from some of the other patterns I've shown you on other cards?
*To make sure the 'Happy Birthday' sentiment really pops out, I sponged the edges of the curly label.
*Sometimes it's harder to ink and stamp larger stamps evenly. What I love about the vintage look is that things are supposed to look old and 'not perfect' so  it's okay if things aren't stamped perfectly.
*I've once again used the SAB Organdy Ribbon in Lucky Limeade. And once again, I love how I can see the DSP peeking through it.
*I didn't use the image of the bird found in the DSP, but the Elementary Elegance stamp set has a matching image in it. Oh SU!, how great are you at helping us coordinate our creations so well :)

I hope to see you at my SAB and Occasions Mini Kickoff if you're in the Ottawa area. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Sale-a-Bration... it's FINALLY here!!!

It's January 24, 2012. What does this mean? That Sale-a-Bration (SAB) starts TODAY! Yes, today! What does this mean? From January 24 to March 31 Stampin' Up! is offering:

*Customers: a FREE item from the Sale-a-Bration brochure for every $60 purchased (before tax and shipping). You can start shopping, 24/7, on my website :)

*Hostesses: A FREE, exclusive SU! tote in addition to regular hostess and SAB benefits when you host a workshop of $200 or more. When your workshop reaches $525, you'll get a FREE hostess bundle including the Fresh Vintage stamp set, Everyday Enchantment Ribbon & Brad Pack, and the Everyday Enchantment DSP (on pages 6-7 of the SAB Brochure).

*Demonstrators: Have you been thinking of joining SU!? Whether you just want the kit, you want to join for the discount or you want to give the business a go, this is THE TIME to join! The kit is only $150 (no tax or shipping) and includes over $385 in products! Not only that, you'll get a free package of DSP or a free Digi Download every month from February to December 2012! Get more info on joining here.

To celebrate the start of Sale-a-Bration and to make use of this week's fabulous Mojo Monday sketch, I made this thank you card for my wonderful roommate at Leadership, as well as for my monthly Fast & Fabulous class tomorrow.

Tips & Tricks:

*Love the DSP? So do I and every other demonstrator it seems! It's the gorgeous Everyday Enchanment paper in this year's SAB brochure. Love all the patterns and colors, especially the 'fan'-like pattern. It coordinates perfectly with the SAB Fresh Vintage stamp set.
*How about that ribbon? Because the organdy is slightly translucent, it lets some of the DSP behind it peek through. It's also got a shimmery look to it! In the SAB Ribbon and Brad Pack, you get a roll of Calypso Coral and Lucky Limeade Ribbon, as well as coordinating brads! Now *that* is a deal!

As you can see, now is the time to host your own stamping party or get the starter kit! Have any questions? Feel free to contact me anytime: stampingmonica@gmail.com. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

My Leadership Swaps

Eeeek - my first solo trip since becoming a mother almost 6 years ago! Well, I did go on a crafting week-end getaway last spring, but this is more real. I'm flying to San Antonio, Texas, for Stampin' Up!'s Leadership. I'm excited to learn how to run my business better, meet some absolutely awesome demonstrators and hopefully get a few more ideas for projects ;) I hear that SU! knows how to put on an event and can't wait to experience it!!!

A SU! event also means swaps. What is a swap? I made 50 cards and will swap them with other demonstrators. The idea is that I'll end up with 50 other gorgeous cards that will give me ideas, techniques to show my customers and hopefully samples with stamp sets/techniques I don't have displayed yet :) It is also a great way to break the ice and chat with some wonderful stampin' ladies!

I really wanted to do something special for my swaps and love playing around with vintage techniques. The Rue de Fleurs stamp set in the Occasions Mini is such an AWESOME vintage inspired stamp set. I just love love love the umbrella with watches... I didn't do it for this card, but wouldn't it make for a gorgeous retirement card image? I think that the next retirement card I'll make will use this set. This stamp set is one I really hope makes it into the 2012-2013 IB&C!

I am also loving the upcoming Sale-a-Bration DSP Everyday Enchantment. It is absolutely gorgeous and the catalogue doesn't do it justice. How do you 'buy' it do you ask? Well... you don't! During Sale-a-Bration, you get to choose ONE FREE item from the SAB Brochure for every $60 you order! How awesome is that? It starts on January 24th :)

This card was my original swap idea, but I soon realized that doing three colors on the umbrella, as well as distressing all the edges would take waaaaay too long! So I did the umbrella in Soft Suede only and sponged the edges of the Very Vanilla card stocks. I did tear the top of the DSP and sponged it to antique it and I did curl the edges of the Very Vanilla layer and its Soft Suede mat. So the swaps still took a really long time, but they could have taken longer ;)

Tips & Tricks:

*The umbrella image in this stamp set is so easy to color with markers. Even though it blends together it is well delineated and it's easy to see where to start each color. It does look gorgeous stamped in one solid color too ;)

*I love the play on words in this set. "Thanks" "For Watching Over Me" (see the watches and umbrella?) or "For the Support" (the bust :) ). So witty and fun!
*There is a gorgeous trumpet and pen image in this stamp set - works for women's AND men's cards - now how many stamp sets can do that?
*Like the curled edge on the card stock? So easy to do! Just use your bone folder to 'tease' the card stock. SU! card is nice and thick, so it'll separate into layers. It's also dyed all the way through! No white core... so you can do techniques like this with it.
*Did I mention I hope this set carries over into the next catty??? ;)

I'm off enjoying some more Leadership... 'til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Stamper's Technique Group Preview

A new year brings new stamper's groups. And that means new techniques to learn for me! I'm starting a card technique group on Saturday February 4th at 8PM, as well as an Anything but a Card class starting Sunday February 12th at 2 PM. Both groups will be every other month. I love these groups because not only do I get to stamp with some very awesome women, but I also have a reason to do some fancy shmancy cards. If you're in the Ottawa area and you'd like more info, email me at stampingmonica@gmail.com.

I have been wanting to try the Faux Tile technique out for a while, and the Fresh Vintage Sale-a-Bration stamp set (a sneak peek!!!) is perfect for it. The only thing I probably didn't do exactly right was that I stamped a bit too hard on the crease lines, but I still like the tile effect. And I love how striking it is with the Rich Razzleberry against Whisper White :)

I also used inspiration from this week's Friday Mashup Challenge. They asked us to do a thank you card, use Designer Series Paper or mash it up and do both. So mashed it all up and used the gorgeous Pocketful of Posies DSP.

Tips & Tricks:

*I love how Lucky Limeade ribbon looks with Rich Razzleberry. The contrast is stunning.

*Love the ribbon? It's the Lucky Limeade 1/8" Organdy Ribbon, part of a SAB bundle! Gorgeous and I love how because of its lightness I can wrap it around a few times without it looking too 'heavy'.
*Sale-a-Bration starts January 24th. Free goodies for every $60 spent ~ stamp sets, brads, ribbon, DSP and many other accessories! How awesome is that???
*I love sponging on my cards. Great effect that costs pennies. Our Stampin Sponges are only $4.75 for 3, and I take each sponge and cut them into 8 triangles. When they get dirty I wash them and reuse! I get over a year's use out of my 3 sponges.
*To do the accent sponging on the faux tiles, make sure you only ink the edge of the sponge so it doesn't spread elsewhere.
*I always use Glue Dots to adhere my buttons. Here I adhere the Tiny Tag with a Glue Dot and then adhered the button over top.

Hope I've inspired you to make a thank you card for someone special! 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out *your* creativity.