Ornate Garden

So for those of you who are not on my Facebook page, a quick update on what I've been up to this past week. I found some  Stampin' Up! fabric that I had forgotten that I had and was sewing bags for delivering my orders. This is something that I have wanted to do since Stampin' Up! was no longer supplying plastic bags with orders. (I am all for the plastic free movement.) I hadn't had the time to sew these bags so in the meantime I was using the heavy duty plastic bags, as seen in the picture, and my customers would bring them back to be used again and again. I'm just not sure how long the virus may survive on plastic and I don't want to have to clean them so I made these fabric bags. I can simply throw them into the washer and dryer and they will be all clean and ready for another delivery. I was able to make 15 large bags and one small bag. I still have fabric to make more small ones but I needed to get back to making cards. The fact that I was able to use Stampin' Up! fabric is a huge bonus. This is my cat Bailey photobombing the picture. She is a big helper when I am crafting.

Now for today's card. I made this card for my friend Susanne Netz. She was so incredibly helpful when I was getting my blog started that I can never thank her enough. The patience that she showed while I was learning the computer stuff and photo editing was outstanding. When I saw this new suite, I knew right away that I wanted to make a thank you card for Susanne. This suite is so versatile. It has beautiful dies, stamps, embossing folder, border dies, ribbon and gilded gems. The sentiments are useful for every occasion you could need. The fact that they are photopolymer makes them easy to line up as well. This suite is available as a sneak peek until May 31st and then will be in the new annual catalog which will go live on June 3rd.

I used the large floral stamp and stamped it with Tuxedo black Memento ink onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock. Then I stamped the "Thanks" sentiment at the top and "for all your help" at the bottom using the same ink. I used my Stampin' Blends to color in the flowers. I placed this piece on a piece of Basic Black cardstock and then placed it onto a piece of Calypso Coral cardstock that I folded into a Z-fold card. For the inside piece, I used one of the beautiful border dies in the suite to cut out the flower border edge. I think it makes the card look pretty and when you fold it up, you still see the flower border. I also added some of the gilded gems to the front of the cards just to add some glitz. I hope Susanne liked this card!

What I used to make this card:

Ornate Garden Suite

Old Olive Stampin' Blends

Petal Pink Stampin' Blends

Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends

Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Calypso Coral Cardstock

Basic Black Cardstock

Whisper White Cardstock

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you like today's card. Stay healthy and keep creating!!
Terry

By the Dock

I hope everyone is continuing to stay healthy. This is definitely a different world than what we are used to. I have been getting caught up on those things I said I'd get to "one day". I found some fabric that I forgot I had and am going to sew bags with it. I will probably have some done by next week so check back in to see them.

I completed April's Paper Pumpkin kit this week. I was pretty pleased with myself as I received it on Friday and it was all finished on Sunday. The kit was designed to make 8 tri-fold cards. I decided to change them up a little and was able to get 11 regular A2 cards from all of the supplies using some extra cardstock. I would have had 12 but I ruined one of the pieces beyond saving. Here are pictures of the completed cards.

So for today's card, I used the By the Dock bundle. This card was one that I did with my stamp group when we were still able to get together. The dock and boat are stamped on real wood veneer. A friend of mine found a huge roll of the wood veneer in one of the common rooms at her Mom's condo building. It was up for grabs so she took some of it and kindly shared it with me and some of her other friends. I knew immediately that I wanted to stamp the dock and boat on it if it was going to work. I tried it and liked how it turned out so this card was created.

I started with a piece of Shimmery White cardstock. I used the Balmy Blue ink refill and the aqua painter to paint on the water. Then I used the 1 3/8" circle punch to punch out a Post-It note. I placed this in the center of the water line so the water line was at the center of the circle. I sponged Petal Pink ink, then Crumb Cake ink and finally Early Espresso ink to create the sky. I stamped the water ripples using Balmy Blue ink and set this piece aside to dry. I stamped the dock and the boat images onto the wood veneer using the Saddle Brown Staz On ink. Then I cut them out using the corresponding dies from the bundle. I cut the little seagull off of the post on the dock because I didn't think it went well with over all look. I layered the Shimmery White piece onto a piece of Early Espresso cardstock and put this onto a Pacific Point card base. I attached the dock and boat using Tombo multipurpose liquid glue. I stamped the sentiment on to a piece of Shimmery White cardstock using Early Espresso ink and cut this out using the Stitched Nested Labels dies. I put this onto the card front using dimensionals.

I hope you enjoyed this card.

What I used for this card:

By the Dock Bundle

Stitched Nested Labels Dies

Shimmery White Cardstock

Saddle Brown Staz On ink

Aqua Painter

Balmy Blue Ink Refill

Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' Pad

Petal Pink Classic Stampin' Pad

Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

Thanks for stopping by today. Stay healthy and safe and keep creating!
Terry

Timeless Tulips

Well this has been an interesting week for me. I stepped way out of my comfort zone this past week and made some videos for online classes. I did a couple of videos for the Timeless Tulips bundle and gave the links and kits to make the cards to everyone in my group that recently purchased this bundle. I was looking for their feedback on the video and kit idea. Their feedback was very positive so I am going to continue on with this.

The winner of the prize for guessing the oldest Paper Pumpkin kit I did is Sharon M.The oldest kit I did was from August, 2015. It was a perfect example of one that I bought twice thinking that my daughter might want to do it with me but she wasn't able to. Sharon is going to get a brand new stamp set from the May 2019 Paper Pumpkin kit. Another kit that I had two of and neither of my girls were able to do the kit with me. It is a super cute set so I hope she likes it. Thanks for your comments Sharon!

Today's card is one that I made for Jackie Bultje, a fellow Canadian demonstrator who recently reached a huge milestone in her Stampin' Up! career. She hit the $500,000 mark for career sales. This is an incredible accomplishment and one to be very proud of! I have never met Jackie in person but I definitely hope to one day. I have been following her blog for a few years now but I never commented on her blog so she didn't know I was following her. Now that I have my own blog, I understand how much the comments mean to the blogger. Jackie held a contest this past Christmas season where she asked people to send cards to her while she was in Holland visiting the love of her life, Gerard. I sent a card and Jackie featured it on her blog. I was so excited! Since that time, Jackie and I have "spoken" on Facebook messenger, she has featured another of my cards on her blog and was kind enough to give me a shout out about my blog. This "meeting" is just one example of how amazing the Stampin' Up! family is. I have made friends with people all across Canada and the United States. I have even met some people from Australia! If you are in Stampin' Up!, no matter where in the world you are, you are like family. I have made so many incredible friends because of Stampin' Up!, be they fellow demonstrators, stamp group members or customers. I am very thankful for my Stampin' Up! family.

So here is the card. I think it is appropriate for Jackie as Gerard is a tulip grower in Holland.

First, I stamped the "Congratulations" sentiment from the Special Celebrations set in the top right corner of a piece of Whisper White cardstock using Tuxedo black Memento ink. Then I stamped the larger tulip in the set three times using Petal Pink ink. I stamped one in the center and then one on either side of it but slightly off the page. I also stamped three tulips on another piece of Whisper White cardstock to punch out using the corresponding punch from the bundle. Next I stamped the stems and leaves using Pear Pizzazz ink. I layered this piece of cardstock onto a piece of Basic Gray cardstock. I wrapped some Petal Pink metallic edged ribbon around the cardstock and tied a faux knot. After punching out the second set of tulips, I layered them on top of the stamped tulips using dimensionals. I used a Pear Pizzazz card base and added a layer of Petal Pink cardstock on top of it. I added the other layers on top of the Petal Pink cardstock using dimensionals. To finish off the card, I added some Champagne rhinestones.

I hope Jackie likes the card. I'm not sure if she has received it yet but hopefully she receives it before she sees it here.

What I used for today's card:

Timeless Tulip Bundle

Special Celebrations Stamp

Petal Pink Metallic edge Ribbon

Petal Pink Classic Stampin' Pad

Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Champagne Rhinestones

Thanks for popping in today. I hope you enjoyed today's card and  are all staying healthy and safe. Keep creating!
Terry

Grandma's House

So as I keep saying, this is a learning curve for me. Last week, I asked you to guess which month and year was the oldest Paper Pumpkin that I got caught up on and you could win a prize. Well I neglected to set any rules to this little contest so here are the details: the contest will close at 12:00 noon Pacific Time on Thursday, April 16th, 2020. If you are going to guess, you must post it in a comment on the blog. You can guess up to a maximum of three times. I will announce the winning guess on my blog post on Friday, April 17th , 2020.

Okay, now that I have that straightened out, on to today's post. When my oldest daughter made me a Grandma in August of 2016, it was one of the happiest days of my life. Being Nana to those two little munchkins is the absolute best! They are 3 1/2 now and the loves of my live. A friend of mine became a Grandma last month for the first time so of course I had to make her a card.

First I need to share the story of our meeting with you because it is a good one too. Cindy and I met years ago in the Medical Lab program at BCIT . We were really good friends. After we graduated, we ended up working at different hospitals. Then I moved to Edmonton and we lost touch. This was way before Facebook so it was easier to lose track of friends back then. Fast forward 25+ years and I am at Christina Lake for the weekend with another friend. We went up to the ice cream shop on a Saturday night and this woman comes up to me and says "I know you, don't I". Well that was Cindy, who I hadn't seen since after we graduated. We picked up like it was just yesterday that we had seen each other. We have been keeping in touch regularly ever since that fateful evening at the ice cream shop. I was fortunate enough to meet her daughter last September when they were all up here in Kelowna for a wedding. She is a lovely girl and her baby daughter is beautiful!

So here is the card I made for Cindy:

I used the Grandma's House stamp set to make this card. It is a fairly simple but cute card that uses stamping and coloring. I repeatedly stamped the flower image to get the pattern I liked. Then I colored the flowers using Stampin' Blends. I stamped the sentiment at the top and then cut out the entire image using the Stitched Rectangle dies. Then I thought it needed a little something so I added the two little hearts on either side of the sentiment. I used a Petal Pink card base and a piece of DSP from the Perennial Essence Designer Series Paper matted on a piece of Whisper White cardstock. I wrapped some white baker's twine around the image piece and tied a bow and then popped this piece on dimensionals to finish the card. I mailed the card to Cindy and she has already received it and loved it so I am able to post it here now.

What I used for today's card:

Grandma's House Stamp set

Stitched Rectangle Framelet dies

Perennial Essence DSP

Soft Sea Foam Stampin' Blends

Petal Pink Stampin' Blends

Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends

Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends

Thanks again for visiting. I hope you enjoyed today's card. Stay healthy and keep creating!!
Terry

On to Adventure

I hope you are all doing well and keeping busy during this isolation period.

As promised, I am going to post a picture of my tower of empty Paper Pumpkin boxes. I finished the last one on Sunday. It was one of those things that I kept saying I would get caught up on "one day". Well I am officially caught up and am NOT going to let it get that bad again. In my defense though, some were duplicates that I ordered thinking one of my daughters would like to do but they didn't do them. And some of the kits were partially completed. I just had to do a little tweaking and they were done. Also, I love taking the Paper Pumpkin kits camping because everything is there and it is nice and small. Since I was so far behind, clearly we didn't get out camping enough in the past few years.

The card I am sharing today is a retirement card I made for the husband of one of my best friends. First I have to share the story of how we met. I moved into this house in August of 1992. At that time, the YMCA was offering swimming lessons in neighborhood backyard pools. One of the families on our street was hosting the swimming program so I signed my girls up so they would be able to meet the kids in the neighborhood. My oldest daughter was turning 6 on the last day of swimming lessons so I invited all of the kids from swimming lessons over for snacks and cake. The night before the last day I got a phone call from one of the neighbors. She said that since I had just moved in I probably didn't know all of the kids and her daughter was not in the swimming lessons but knew all of the other kids and would like to come for snacks and cake if that was okay. I felt terrible for not including this little girl but I honestly didn't know. Well that was my friend Valerie and we have been best friends ever since. Her husband, Les, was so mad at her for phoning and "butting in" and "making" me invite their daughter over, he still talks about it to this day. Val and I on the other hand are so grateful that she did because our girls grew up together and we are all great friends still.

So on to the card... I used the On to Adventure stamp set. It is perfect for retirement cards. I stamped the golfer dude on to a piece of Whisper White cardstock and then again on a piece of DSP from Come Sail Away. I used the Stitched Rectangle Framelits to cut out the Whisper White image and colored it using Blends markers. I fussy cut his shirt from the DSP and glued it on to the other stamped image so it looks like he is wearing a striped shirt. This technique is called paper piecing. I used a Night of Navy card base and another piece of DSP from Come Sail Away layered on to a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock. I tied a piece of Sahara Sand/Night of Navy bakers twine around the rectangle piece and popped it up with dimensionals. I stamped the sentiment in Cherry Cobbler ink and cut it out using one of the smaller Stitched Rectangle Framelits. I framed this using a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock and popped this up with dimensionals as well.

Les loved the card. He said the golfer dude was him exactly. Actually, he does kind of look like Les. He has graying hair and a big mustache. He calls himself an old, fat guy but he is not fat. His hair is thinning a little and sometimes he has a beard but always the mustache. I don't think I've ever seen him without a mustache. The most important thing is that he liked the card and he is enjoying his retirement.

What I used to create this card:

On to Adventure stamp

Stitched Rectangles dies

Come Sail Away DSP

Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blends

Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends

Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends

Night of Navy Stampin' Blends

Old Olive Stampin' Blends

Ivory Stampin' Blends

I think I need to have a giveaway in celebration of me getting all of my Paper Pumpkins finished. Leave me a comment and let me know what is the oldest Paper Pumpkin that I completed in the last 2 weeks. The person that guesses closest to the correct answer (month and year) will get a prize. I'm not saying what it will be but I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Thanks again for visiting. Stay healthy and keep creating!!
Terry