Sunday, July 24, 2011

Mom & Child Class

I hope you're all enjoying the nice weather this week - we sure are! We have been taking day trips in the day and I have been stamping at night. My idea of a GREAT vacation :)

Last night I had a chance to play with my new favorite stamp set "Button Buddies" and had so much fun making these cute little cards I just HAD to turn it into a Mother / Child Class.

Details:

What: (18) 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" All Occasions Cards with envelopes
You work as a team to make (3) of the 6 different cards shown below
Where: My House - 10623 - 181 Avenue, Edmonton

When: Friday, August 12th from 10:00 am - 11:30 am

Cost: $35

The fee is non-refundable as I need to pre-order the supplies. If for some reason you register for the class and something comes up that you can't make it you will receive all the pre-cut supplies, ribbon, buttons and envelopes. You can either assemble them at home using your own stamp sets and sentiments or you can come to one of my Craft Nights at a later date to make them here using my stamp sets (I am not allowed to pre-stamp any images/sentiments for you per S.U. regulations)

I must receive your RSVP and non-refundable payment no later than THURSDAY, JULY 28TH at 7:00 pm in order for the supplies to arrive in time for the class.

These cards are great to have on hand for any occasion or you can package them up and use them for hostess gifts (or teacher gifts ... you'll be WAY ahead of schedule)

I hope you can come - the kids will LOVE making these with you!
    
(Note: the 3rd Cherry card uses slightly smaller buttons)

I hope you can come!


Tamara

Friday, July 22, 2011

Up, Up & Away

Happy Friday!  A perfectly rainy day in Edmonton - my favorite kind of day.  I'd love to stay home and craft all day but it's another Family Fun Day and we are taking the girls to Millemium Place to go swimming.  Too bad I can barely walk!  Yesterday I was a complete spaz and did a face plant walking from McDonald's to the car.  I managed to hurt my left foot pretty good.  I don't think anything is broken but the cartelidge running from my big toe is swollen and I can't bend it.  I'm walking like a penguin and feeling fairly sorry for myself.

On the bright side I managed to crack off 15 Thank You cards for my club members and used another new stamp set.  I'll start with the Thank You cards.  They are similar to the ones I posted the other day using the Button Buddies set.  This time I dug into my stash of retired "stuff" and used up the rest of my buttons from the SAB bundle.

I used Daffodil Delight cs and Pumpkin Pie & Old Olive ink.  The ribbon is also from the SAB bundle that coordinates with the buttons.  I attached the buttons with mini glue dots.

I played with my Up, Up & Away set.  I don't love this card but I don't hate it (the other 4 versions I tried are now in the garbage).  I embossed the balloons with the Tangerine Tango emboss powder (love it!) then cut them out and popped them up with dimensionals.  The sentiments is from Happiest Birthday Wishes hostess set and I used a turquoise brad to finish it off.
That's it for today.  I'm off to put on my bathing suit.  Ugh.  I'd rather be crafting ;)

Have a fun day

Tam

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

BFF

Happy Wednesday :)

Phew - I don't know what hurts more - my shoulders from Boot Camp yesterday or my ass from the 5 mile bike ride today!!  Yes, the never-ending search for health continues!

Soooo - given that I spent time 2 days ago making cards with my Button Buddies set, as of last night I still had four birthday cards to get out this week.  Down to my craft room I went.  Well, imagine my surprise when a mere 5 minute later I had come up with a card for my BFF that I absolutely LOVE!  Of course I couldn't actually be HAPPY with it 5 minutes later ... I had to spend them next HOUR trying to improve on it before convincing myself it was perfect just the way it was ... once again I say "It's hard being me"   :)

When I saw this BFF set in the new catalogue I knew I had to have it to make a card for my BFF, Marianne.  I wasn't sure what I was going to DO with it, but I had to have it.  I got downstairs and just stared at the stamps.  At first I thought embossing was the way to go.  Then I figured a vintage look - maybe with Vanilla, Espresso and some lace ribbon.  Hmmm ... I quickly settled on Cherry Cobbler for the "BFF".  That color just screams "Marianne" to me.  She loves red and looks great wearing it.  I decided on Whisper White rather than Vanilla - it is much crisper and "fits" Marianne better than Vanilla.  I played around with the other neutrals - Crumb Cake, River Rock, Espresso ... I think I nailed it with Sahara Sand.  OK - I loved the color combo.  Now ... what to do with them.  Like I said, 5 minutes later I came up with this:
I just love it.  It is absolutely "Marianne".  Crisp, elegant, uncomplicated.  Perfect.  The rhinestones added the perfect bling to add just a little "more" without being overdone.

Now - as I said - I spent about an hour making sure this was the perfect combo.  I embossed the BFF using the new Cherry Cobbler embossing powder.  It looked great ... but not quite right.  I tried using Sahara Sand Craft Ink with Clear embossing powder along with the embossed Cherry Cobbler BFF.  Nope - too much.  I tired every other combination of embossing and non embossing ... I played with a tiny Cherry Cobbler punched heart in 19 different positions on the card.  Nope - wrong feel.  In the end I stopped trying so hard and settled on this one.

Marianne is truly my Best Friend Forever.  She is the most beautiful person I know.  She is my biggest cheerleader, my biggest inspiration, my "safe" place to turn.  She ALWAYS has my back, she never judges me, she gives me a hug when I need one and a kick in the head when I need that too.  She would get me the moon if I asked her to and truly knows me.  She understands me, my hangups, my fears and my insecurities.  She also knows my strengths, my dreams and my heart.  She is my voice of reason and my security blanket.  She is the person I would choose to be my sister if I could.  I can't, so I choose her to be my BFF - My Best Friend Forever.  I can't imagine going through this journey of life without her.  Together we are better than either of us could possibly be apart.  Do you think this card captures all that?  I hope so.  Happy Birthday My Friend.  I love you <3

Have a great day.  Why not send your BFF a card?  I'm going to :)


Tam
Tam

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Button Buddies

Well hellooooooooooooo there!  I have an hour before I have to leave for Boot Camp so I figured I'd post my project while I have the time (and while the rest of the family is sleeping so I can do it uninterrupted!).

These cards were made using the new Button Buddies stamp set.  Yep - it's my new favorite by far (of course I'm quite sure the next new set I use will take the title a soon as I crack it open ... I'm kind of fickle that way ...)  This set is the PERFECT All Occasions set ever.  It covers, well, All Occasions (hee hee) and you can make them sooooo quickly!  Like I mentioned in my last post these 6 cards took me under 2 hours to come up with (and that is unHEARD of for me!)  I'm planning on doing a class/Stamp-a-stack for these ... I just have to cost it out ...


The sentiment is from Smarty Pants.  The colors are Real Red and Old Olive.

The sentiment is from the Happies Birthday Wishes Hostess set.  The colors are Daffodil Delight and the new Calypso Coral.

The sentiment is from Curls & Swirls Versus Hostess set.  The colors are Lucky Limeade and Pumpkin Pie

The sentiment is from Smarty Pants. The colors are Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Tempting Turquoise

The sentiment is from Curls & Swirls Versus Hostess set.  The colors are Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink & Bashful Blue

The sentiment is from the Happies Birthday Wishes Hostess set.  The colors are Rich Razzleberry and Lucky Limeade.

That's it for today!  I'll be costing the class fee out in the next few days.  If you aren't on my e-mail list and want details just get in touch - bertram4@shaw.ca

Have a fun day :)

Tam

Monday, July 18, 2011

Birthday Calendars

Heido Ho Stampers :)

Have I mentioned lately I LOVE STAMPING???  It was pretty hot in the house this evening - we had a quick and easy dinner - the girls headed off to play Barbies so I headed down to the cool basement to stamp.  YAY!  Usually I'm either too tired, don't have enough time to finish what I start or my creativity is in the toilet.  Tonight was FUN :)  I wanted to go down and play with some of my new toys to make a bunch of birthday cards ... I have four friends with birthday next week.  Alas my new Button Buddies set was screaming out to me so the birthday cards still aren't started BUT in 2 hours I cracked off 6 adorable little 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" All Occasions Cards.  I feel a class coming on :)  Now that I have your attention ... I'm not gunna show 'em to you yet - aren't I evil?  It's getting dark and my photography skills are average at the best of times (and with the best of lighting) so I'll take pictures of them tomorrow and post them soon (I'm off to Boot Camp in the morning and Jurasic Park with the family in the afternoon ...).

HOWEVER!  I DID take pictures of a project I've been working on for 1 1/2 years (yes ... years).  Last week I tried REALLY hard to finish them.  I had made a SU Birthday Calendar way back then but wasn't 100% happy with all 12 pages so I redid it.  I'm getting closer to being 100% happy ... I still have one page left to do.  April.  April is a hard one.  Should I go with "April Showers" theme ... or Easter ... but Easter isn't always in April ... these are the things that keep me up at night.  Yes ... I know ... I should seek therapy.  I think I have settled on just using my favorite swirls for the missing page.  Maybe I'll do that tonight - of course I have to decide on the swirls from Baroque Motifs or the swirls from Priceless or the Bliss flourish ... see?  It's hard being me.  What?  Shut up and get to the project?  OK.  Here it is :)












I love these calendars to keep track of whose birthday is when.  What I TRY to do is on the 1st of every month I check out who is having a birthday, anniversary or special day then make the necessary number of cards, sign them, address them and even put a stamp on them so they are ready to go in the mail on time.  Sometimes it works.  Sometimes not.  Regardless, these calendars are darned cute and make a great gift!

Right - I'm off to check on the girls ... it's a little too quiet for my comfort ...

Have a fun night :)

Tam

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Wedding Card & Thank You

Well helloooooooooooooooooo there :)  Miss me?  Don't you just HATE when you check a blog and there is nothing new posted for weeks on end?  Me too.  Sorry.  I've been stamping a lot but nothing new.  I've been not-so-patiently waiting for my shipment of stamp sets from the new catty ... it seems my box too the scenic tour of Edmonton this week but it arrived 2 hours ago so I'll be making new cards very soon (of course now the weather has improved and I'll be spending more time outside too!)  What have I been working on?  Well, after making my mom's scrapbook of our trip to Disneyland I had NO creative juices left so I dug out a swack of my left over templates from parties an Stamp-a-stacks that I've been keeping for just such creative slumps.  They are great to have around when I feel like stamping just for fun.  Now my "stash" of cards is back up to a reasonable level.  Okay, okay - enough rambling all ready.  I'll show you a little porject I made last week.  My brother's best friend is getting married at the end of the month and I wanted to make a wedding card and 25 Thank You cards for a gift.  The Thank You cards you have seen before but I tweaked it a little for their wedding card.  I like it.  Simple and clean but nice.
They both use the SAB "Bliss" set.  I used the Tulip Frame embossing folder and sponged the embossed part with Sahara Sand ink (using a finger dauber).  The swirl is in Sahara Sand and the butterfly is in Soft Suede.  The sentiment for the wedding card is from Full of Life - the Thank You is from Short and Sweet.  I added pearls to both cards for that little "extra".

That's it for now - I do have another project to post but dinner is ready (thank you Craig!!) so I'll save that for next time.

Thanks for coming back - have a fun day :)

Tam

Thursday, July 7, 2011

New Catalogue, New Hostess Benefits, New Promotion!

Have you seen the new 2011 - 2012 Idea Book & Catalogue yet?? Check it out by clicking on the image on my right hand side bar or host a party and get your FREE copy as well as FREE products of your choice!

Along with the new 2011 - 2012 catalogue, SU has released their new Hostess Benefit Program. I just placed an order for $200 and got 3 FREE HOSTESS SETS!! The new program is even MORE generous than their previous program! You earn Hostess Dollars based on party sales to spend any way you want! You can purchase exclusive Hostess sets for very little cost or you can put the dollars towards any item in the current catalogues. You can also earn 50% off any item in the catalogue! I am currently booking parties into September, if you are interested.

Once you've seen the new catalogue your Wish List will be lengthy - which means costly! Would you like to get what you want at 30% - 40% off? Purchase the Limited Time Starter Kit for $119 and not only will you receive over $200 in product and business supplies but you will be able to place your first order at 30% - 40% off! On top of THAT, you also get a Christmas Keepset Project Kit (a $50 Value) for FREE! Give me a call and I can go through all the details with you. (****See below for all the items you get in the Starter kit and Christmas kit!!!)

  
Have a fun day :)

Tamara


**** Here is what you get in the Limited Time Starter Kit (and yes, you can make substitutions of equal or lesser value):


Easy Event Clear Mount Set (from new catalogue)

Pennant Parade Wood Mount Set (from new catalogue)

Old Olive Classic Ink Pad

Real Red Classic Ink Pad

Brights 8 1/2" x 11" Assorted Card Stock

Basic Black Classic Ink Pad

Whisper White Note Cards (20)

Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper (from new catalogue)

Chocolate Chip 1/2" Scallop Dots Ribbon (from new catalogue)

Blender Pen (1)

Clear Mount Block C

Snail Adhesive


Also included in the kit are business supplies ... no alternative selections can be made for these items:
  • Getting Started DVD
  • Getting Started Guide
  • Guest Invitation Postcards (100)
  • 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalogue (8)
  • 2011 Summer Mini Catalogue (8)
  • Stampin' Up! logo vinyl
  • Décor Elements applicator
  • To My Hostess Envelopes (10)
  • My Digital Studio Marketing DVD
  • Recruit Folders (5)
  • Recruit Brochures (20)
  • Customer Order Forms (50)
Here is what you get in the Christmas Keepsake Kit:


  • Pines & Poinsettias Set *(wood-mount)
  • Keepsake box
  • Scallop borders (cut from Tasteful Trim Bigz XL Die)
    • First Edition Designer Series Paper (3)
    • Holly Berry Designer Series Paper (6)
  • First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper strip (2)
  • Holly Berry Designer Series Paper piece*
  • Real Red Top Note (cut from Top Note Bigz Die)
  • Real Red Decorative Label (cut from Matchbook Bigz XL Die)
  • Wild Wasabi Card Stock strips (3)
  • Naturals Ivory Card Stock piece
  • Holly Berry Bouquet Designer Fabric*
  • Real Red 1-1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
  • Real Red 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon
  • Victoria 5/8" Crochet Trim
  • Linen Thread
  • Champagne Fine Galaxy Stampin' Glitter
  • Vanilla Pearl 1/2" Simply Adorned Bauble
  • Pearl Basic Jewels (1 pkg.)
  • Holly Berry Bouquet Designer Buttons*
    • Large Wild Wasabi
    • Small Real Red
  • Mini Vintage Tags
Additional Supplies Needed
  • Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker
  • Real Red Stampin' Write Marker
  • Wild Wasabi Stampin' Write Marker
  • Adhesives
  • 3/16" Corner Punch
  • Scallop Circle Punch
  • Paper Cutter
  • Paper Snips
  • Needle
  • Glue gun
*From the 2011 Holiday Mini Catalogue!