Ink & Share Blog Hop: Occasions Catalogue

     Hello and welcome to another Ink & Share Blog Hop with this month's theme being the Occasions Catalogue! 

As I was sorting and organizing my stamp sets, I was disappointed to see so many of my stuff are retiring, and most of them are from the Occasions catty. The sad thing is that I haven't even played with two items from my retiring sets...the We Must Celebrate and You're Inspiring sets. So to remedy this, I decided to challenge myself and use both sets for my card for this month's blog hop. And this is what I came up with!

To make this card, I used the masking technique to stamp my three layers of images...one row of daffodils at the bottom, masked using my favorite masking tool: Magic Cover from the dollar store. Then I stamped my second layer which are my cute critters, masked again before stamping my last layer of flowers at the top. 

Hard to see in the picture but here are the masks I used. 

Also, because these stamps were rubber stamps, I used my handy-dandy Stampa-ma-jig to help me position my images. Now it's just a matter of colouring these images in! I used both watercolor pencils and markers to color these. Just like a good ol' coloring book!

I wanted to frame in my art piece, so I cut a frame out of a piece of Basic Black cardstock   (4 1/4 x 5 1/2), leaving a half inch border all around. Then I thought that this was too plain so I decided to gold heat emboss a pattern around my frame, and I chose the stamp from Southern Serenade for this. I adhered my frame onto my art piece using adhesive foam strips for dimesion, and then I just put this whole piece onto a Whisper White card base.

To finish my card, I just gold heat embossed my sentiment from We Must Celebrate on a strip of vellum, then outlined it with a black pen to make it stand out better. For embellishments I just added some glitter enamel dots on my sentiment piece, some Wink of Stella on my flowers, and a gold ribbon bow at the corner.

And that is my card for today's blog hop...I hope you guys like it. It was fun and challenging for me to combine these two stamp sets, and I like the outcome too! A very 'springy' card.

Thank you so much for stopping by and please continue hopping along and sharing in everyone's creativity! Have a lovely day!

Lisa Kmiec

Laura Kate Mackie

Sandrine Jse

Rhonda Waechter

Deb Naylor

Sandra Roberts

Joanne Hodge

Ingrid Heijnen-Hermens

Ginger Rabesa

Kirsten Aitchison

Shirley Merker

Linda Handford

Cindy Mitchell-Clark

Karen Pearmain

Tricia Butts

Amy Grendel

***Phoebe Borromeo-Carr***

Jacqueline Bobeldijk-Schilder

This card will also serve as my entry for this week's Global Design Project theme challenge: Show me the Sunshine, since I think that this card fits the theme perfectly! :)

Springtime Impressions Thinlits...Gorgeous!

     Need more reasons to love the Springtime Impressions Framelits? Well I have a few samples for ya! On today's post, I'm featuring two of my display sample cards for OnStage, and a video tutorial of how I made them. Easy peasy!

     When I received my display stamper supplies, I instantly gravitated towards this framelits set. It was just beautiful...I had a million ideas of how to use these dies. I was hoping that the big die would have a coordinating stamp, sadly that is not so. So I improvised. I made my own stamp!

     Watch the video below and see how I created these two cards. 

     PRODUCTS USED:

• Springtime Impressions Framelits(p.129)
• Gold embossing powder
• Blender pen
• Re-inkers: Lemon Lime Twist, Fresh Fig, Sweet Sugarplum and Tempting Turquoise
• Cardstock: Whisper White, Sweet Sugarplum and Tranquil Tide
• Detailed With Love stamp set (p.39)
• Timeless Textures stamp set
• Tranquil Tide and Sweet Sugarplum ink pads
• Metallic Ribbon combo pack (p.130)
• Pink Metallic thread (p.107)

     Here's another card I made with the same technique, just trimmed up a bit. 

     Well I hope you enjoyed these cards and thanks again for stopping by. See you next time! 

Butterfly Springtime Impressions

     Out of all the supplies I received for the display board samples, my most favorite item is the Springtime Impressions Thinlits (p.129). It is just beautiful! It only consists of 3 dies, but believe me, you can do so much with these 3 dies alone. I featured this thinlit set on my display board samples ALOT, from very simple projects to stepped up cards. I'll show more in my upcoming posts.

     Today I am featuring this card that I made using the butterfly die in the set. This butterfly is mid-sized, just perfect! 

I started with a Whisper White card base, and a Lemon Lime Twist layering piece. I wanted a debossed look with a little twist. For this effect, I used my Petal Burst embossing folder and lightly inked the side where the petals were raised with my Emerald Envy ink pad. With my piece of Lemon Lime twist inside the folder, I ran this through my Big Shot, effectively transferring the ink onto my cardstock. I then just lightly covered it with gold embossing powder, brushing off powder in some areas to achieve a 'rustic' look. Heat set it and my background piece is done.

Next I die cut my butterfly and my flower from a piece of Whisper White cardstock. The flower on the corner is from the big die in the set, I just trimmed off a small section of it. My sentiment is from the stamp set Feather Together, gold heat embossed on a strip of Whisper White and layered on top of an Emerald Envy piece.

For embellishment I used the green ribbon from the Metallic Ribbon combo pack (p.130) and wrapped it twice around my background piece. On my butterfly center I just added some Tutti Frutti adhesive-backed sequins with rhinestone jewels in the middle. 

I hope you enjoyed this card, and thanks for stopping by. Til next time!

Dream Catcher

   Well it is Day 4 of my OnStage Display Board samples, and today I am featuring another new item that I got sent. This card uses the Chase Your Dreams Thinlits (p.54), and it has a coordinating stamp set which I unfortunately didn't get. No biggie, I just used what dies I could, and are they ever intricate and beautifully detailed!

To make this simple card, I used Whisper White cardstock as my base with a layering piece of Marina Mist. I then added a piece of DSP from the Garden Impressions 6x6 pack (p.130) on top. I stuck a piece of our multipurpose adhesive sheet onto the back of a Whisper White cardstock and die cut my dream catchers and the word 'dream' out of this. This way all you need to do is peel the backing off and stick the die-cut pieces easily onto your card!

Before adhering my dream catchers, I wanted to heat emboss the strings as well. I just used a tiny brush and dipped it on my Versamark reinker, and then 'drew' the strings. Cover it with white embossing powder and they're done. 

Once my dream catchers were adhered I just added some rhinestone jewels at the centers for a little embellishment, and covered my 'dream' with some Wink of Stella for a bit of shimmer. I also rounded my corners off for a different look. 

And that is my simple card for today, hope you liked it! Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope to see you next time. Have a lovely day!

Simple Garden Impression card

     Part of my Display Stamper supply kit was the Garden Impressions 6x6 DSP (p.130), and when I first looked at it my immediate thought was that it was not my cup of tea. It wasn't because of anything against the product, it was just not my style. I thought that I would barely use it, maybe make one project out of it at least, and I'll be done with it. Well guess what? Just the opposite happened!

     I started playing with it and making projects with it, and before I knew it I had almost used up all my paper! Now if you knew me, you'd find this hard to believe because I am a HUGE paper hoarder! As of today, this stack is literally all that's left...crazy right!?

     Anyway for my display sample I decided to make use of this DSP and make a quick and easy card with it. This card would make such a great class project because it's so simple and uses minimal supplies!

     To make this I used Dapper Denim as my card base, and one of the floral DSP designs as my layering piece. I stamped my sentiment from the Beautiful Bouquet set on a piece of Pool Party stitched circle die-cut piece and layered this on top of a Dapper Denim circle die-cut. For additional interest, I die-cut the big flower from the Springtime Impressions Thinlits (p.129) on a piece of Champagne Foil, trimmed one of the big flowers and adhered it onto my sentiment piece. 

     To finish it off, I wrapped a silver ribbon around my DSP and adhered my sentiment piece on top using dimensionals. For embellishment I just added a few rhinestone jewels, and my card is complete!

     Super simple and easy to make, I can already see a class forming! Hope you enjoyed today's display board card and thanks for stopping by. See ya next time!

     

3D Swirly Frames

     I am not much of a scrapbooker...it just isn't my thing. I am always so envious of these talented people who can easily make a scrapbook page with no effort and it looks amazing. For me first of all, I don't print my pictures...they're all just stored on my devices. Then there's that huge space to fill! I have a thing about blank spaces...I don't like them for some reason. So to try and make use of all that 12x12 space is very intimidating to me. And lastly, thinking of a layout is another factor for  me. 

     

     Having said all that, I had to make a scrapbook page for my Display board at OnStage, and believe me I was not too keen about that. How am I supposed to feature the products I received on a scrapbook page?! So I racked my brain trying to come up with something, until I had a eureka moment. Why not just do a simple water-colored background with my stamps? And so that's what I did!

     I started with a Cherry Cobbler 12x12 sheet, then got out my new Swirly Frames stamp set (p.137) and again used the circles. I stamped them on a diagonal with my Versamark pad and then gold heat-embossed them. Then I randomly stamped the splatter from the Artisan Textures (p.130) in Night of Navy. Next, I taped my cardstock on my surface because I was gonna do watercoloring, and this will help prevent my paper from warping too much.

     For my watercoloring I used my Night of Navy re-inker and my Aqua Painter brush. I just colored the insides of my circles, creating shadows so that it looks kinda 3D. Very easy to do! Lastly for embellishment I decided to die cut the huge flower thinlit from Springtime Impressions Thinlits (p.129) out of gold foil sheet with the mutlipurpose adhesive sheet at the back for easy sticking. (This thinlit set is so beautiful, I could have made my entire display board using just these!)

     So after arranging my pictures and my sentiment piece from the Petal Passion Memories & More card pack, this is my finished scrapbook page. Admittedly, I had fun creating this page and creatively using my space...I thought it was a fun challenge. Maybe I will have to explore scrapbooking more in the future! 

     I loved this 3D look so much that I re-created it on a card too! And with that, I'll see you next time! Thanks so much for stopping by.

Colorful Background stamping

     So I have been so busy these past few weeks...First there was OnStage. And then afer OnStage, I got inspired to make a few changes in my craft room. By this, I mean a huge change...I decided to move my craft room altogether so I can have more space for all the awesome new stuff in our new catalogue! Now that was a huge project, but now I'm finally almost finished, just a few more tweaking. Pictures will be at the very end of this post.

     Now I wanted to move on and focus my attention on my Display Board samples. I'm gonna try to share one project a day (fingers crossed), and hopefully inspire you in using what supplies I received in my supplies box. So today I'll start with this colorful card I created. I love it because of all the vibrant colors in it, and because it was really easy to make too!

I just LOVE my light box, don't you?!?
It's the perfect addition to my craft room!

     To make this card, I used Whisper White for my base and for the layering 'art piece'. I used the circle stamps from the new Swirly Frames stamp set (p.137 in the catty) and clear heat embossed them all over my cardstock. Then I stamped my background using the Artisan Textures set (p.130) and the spritz-stamp technique (I don't know what the real name for this technique is, but basically you just ink up you stamp and spritz it with water to make it runny before stamping it on your paper. Makes for a watercolor-like effect!) For my background I used Tempting Turquoise, Lemon Lime Twist, Melon Mambo and Emerald Envy ink pads. Colorful, eh?

     

     Next I die-cut the feathers from the Chase Your Dreams Framelits (p.54) out of a Champagne foil sheet, and then just lightly sponged the edges with the Black Staz-On since I wasn't sure if our regular ink would stay on the foil. My sentiment is from the Birthday Blossoms stamp set, stamped with Basic Black ink and clear heat-embossed afterwards, then finally covered with Wink of Stella for some shimmer. 

     To complete my card I just added a few glitter enamel dots and a ribbon out of the silver baker's twine. And that is my colorful card! Simple to make but very eye-catching with all the vibrant colors!

     Now back to my new craft room, I moved from a basement bedroom and into our unused upstairs living room. So now I have lots of natural light for a change! So exciting! And my fur baby can hang out with me on the couch while I craft too, so win-win situation really. Here's a few pics...

     Still a work-in-progress, but at least I have most of my stuff in place now. Anyway thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope to see you next time! Cheers!

OnStage Red Deer

     What a blast OnStage in Red Deer was! I was in the company of some 350 other avid crafters, not to mention the lovely Canada Dale and Donna Griffith! I got to meet and chat with friendly people from all over, and share in our excitement for the new catalogue. I also got to see and play with some of the new catalogue items and make some beautiful cards. Plus this year, I also got to participate as a Display Stamper! What more could a girl ask for, right? (Well except maybe to be able to get my hands on all those new goodies without going bankrupt! LOL)

      I thought I'd share my experience at OnStage this year. I tried to take as much pictures along the way (when I remembered to), and here are some of them!

     Here is a group photo of Cloud 9 Stampers in Red Deer...there were 41 of us that were able to go, isn't that amazing?!? It was so much fun meeting other Cloud 9ers that I only see glimpses of in our group page as most of them are from Edmonton and area while I'm in Calgary. 

     And these are two awesome ladies from Cloud 9 Stampers presenting at OnStage! They were both super fantastic! On the left is our awesome team leader Lynsay Mahon, a very inspiring person and an awesome coach. I wish I lived in Edmonton just so I can attend her team meetings! And on the right is the very lovely Lauren Urbonas. I just met her in person at this event and she is genuinely the sweetest and loveliest person ever! Red Deer attendees were very lucky to have both these lovely ladies, together with the other ladies who presented, do product demos for us!

     Selfie time! During one of the breaks I bumped into Donna and of course I needed to take a selfie with her! She was so awesome. And on the right is a selfie of me and my stampin' buddy Angie DeWolfe! We didn't know each other, we just happened to be sitting next to each other at our table and we just bonded instantly! Don't you just love that?! She is super nice and friendly, another reason to move to Edmonton! LOL. Hopefully we'll cross paths again Angie!

     This is a pic of me and my display board! I had so much fun playing with the goodies that I was sent, it was hard to stop. This picture was taken by Lauren, who very wisely told me that I NEED to have a picture with my board. Good thing I listened to her! We took this picture at the end of the day, so my samples look a bit disheveled but owell, it is what it is. Lucky I even got a picture before taking them down! More on my samples in my next posts, I promise!

     Here's a pic of our anniversary cupcake. What a lovely treat it was, yummy! And why not celebrate the 30th anniversary with a shot?!? I'll go to any business meeting that has shots involved!!! LOL. 

     And lastly, these two...they are just hilarious! Sara and Shelli are just two awesome ladies. I envy their relationship with each other, I wish we all had that! Their love for each other, for their craft, for the business, and for others just really emanates from their words and actions...truly beautiful and inspiring. I am so amazed by all their plans for the future, for helping out various charities, for supporting demos involved in other charitable organizations, for establishing a Service Day! What awesome ideas! 40,000 demos from all over the world...WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! How exciting is that?!?!

     Sadly those are all the pictures I have. Not much I know, but I was too busy having a great time that I forgot to take pics! There's always a next time, right? I am so thankful that I got to experience OnStage again this year, I hope to see you at the next one! Cheers!

GDP132

     OnStage is almost upon us...it's crunch time!!! Swaps are all done and Display samples are all finally finished. Now time for some GDP fun!

     This week at Global Design Project the challenge is CASE the Designer, and what a beautiful card Stesha Bloodhart has created for us to CASE! 

     Just lovely, right?!? Now from her card, I decided to copy her flower and leaves theme and her stamp/die-cut placement. I made the leaves as my primary focus though, and the flowers kinda in the background. My leaves are from the Vintage Leaves stamp set, and I stamped it on a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock with Versamark ink. I then heat embossed it with my copper embossing powder and then cut my pieces out. 

     My flowers are die-cut pieces using my Flourish Thinlits dies on gold foil sheet. And finally my sentiment is from the Beautiful Bouquet stamp set, which I copper heat-embossed on a strip of Whisper white cardstock. 

     Putting my card together, I used Crumb Cake (A2 size) as my card base and Whisper White for my layering piece. I arranged my gold die-cut pieces around my leaves before finally adhering my leaves using dimensionals. I used dimensionals on my sentiment piece as well. Lastly to embellish my simple card, I just glued down a few scattered gold glitter flakes all over my card. 

     I hope you enjoyed my simple card for today, thanks so much for stopping by! Now who's going to OnStage in Red Deer?! Hope to see you guys there! Cheers!

Happy Easter

        Happy Easter to you! Recently, I received an Easter gift...my Stamparatus arrived! Yeah baby!!! So of course the first order of business is to play with my new toy and create an Easter card for this week's Global Design Project challenge. 

      When I first played with my Stamparatus, I wasn't used to not having the edges to put my paper against. And I discovered that stamping anywhere near the hinges did not work very well either, so I solved this problem by creating my own stamping guide.

     I just cut out a 7x7 piece from our grid paper, marked the inches and laminated the piece. I then cut out a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" (since this is the size I always use for my cards) piece from one edge and stuck a piece of window sheet at the back. This then serves as my guide...I just have to put my cardstock on this opening I made and my paper won't move!

     To test out my 'guide' and my Stamparatus, I made a 2-for-1 card...stamping the same images on two different cardstocks with two different inks. For my cards I used Tangerine Tango cardstock with my images gold heat embossed, and Tangerine Tango ink pad on my Very Vanilla cardstock. I wanted a flourish background so I used my Falling Flowers and Flourishing Phrases stamp sets.

       I must say that using my 'guide' really helped me out in placing my paper exactly where it needs to be, so I think it passed the test! So on with my card...I wanted to do a spotlight technique, sort of. So I taped my two pieces of background together and cut out my rectangles and crosses. As I wanted the cross to be the focal point, I did a little switcheroo so that it stands out more.

       To put my cards together, I used another piece of Tangerine Tango and Very Vanilla cardstock and cut them up for my mats. Before sticking my center mat, I wrapped ribbon around the frame. For the vanilla card, I used the SAB ribbon in Calypso Coral with a gold ribbon on top of it. I then put the orange cross in the center using dimensionals. For embellishment I used Wink of Stella on all the flowers and leaves and scattered some gold glitter flakes. 

     For the Tangerine card, I used an old SAB ribbon with the same gold ribbon on top. For embellishment I colored the insides of the flowers and leaves with Cherry Cobbler reinker and my AquaPainter brush followed by my Wink of Stella once dry. I also scattered a few iridescent sequins for embellishment.  

       My sentiment is from Sweet Little Something stamp set, stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock which I then cut out using my Duet Banner Punch. I also cut out a piece of gold foil banner for layering, and then just covered my sentiment piece in Wink of Stella and added a few sequins. 

     And these are my finished 2-for-1 cards! Using my Stamparatus sure made creating these cards super easy...can't wait to play more with this tool! Thanks once again for stopping by and see you next time!