Hoppy Birthday

I made this card this morning for my nephew, Owen, who is turning 2. Spent way to much time on a card for a 2 year old but it's just so darn cute and as you can see, it coordinates with his gift! (Which is very important to a 2 year old!) My daughter left her little backpack at his house a few weeks back and from what I hear he wore it around the house every day so we decided to get him his own for his birthday. I still need to pick something up to put in it but that shouldn't be too tough. Today I am meeting a good friend for lunch and a trip to our favorite scrapbook store - cuz I really need more stuff! LOL! Have a great day.

Poppin' Pastels

I actually made this card a long time ago but I simply have not had time to finish anything to post for a couple days so I dug this picture out of the "archives". I just love how it looks. I demoed this at a workshop and everyone was amazed by the technique. So simple but so pretty.
Recipe: Regal rose base. Used versamark for the background stamp and then used the sponge daubers with pastels to colour. I did a diagonal pattern but others did vertical and horizontal colouring and it looked nice, too. The heart is from Simply Said and "Love" is from Wonderful Words. I also used some pastels on the edge of the sentiment layer. The ribbon is the retired wide organdy.

I am working on a couple of coaster boxes right now. One for my daughter and one for me. I should have time to finish them tomorrow between my lunch with a friend and my nephew's 2nd birthday party.

My New Car

Since I mentioned that I picked up my new car I thought I should share at least one picture. It's a 2008 Volvo S80. I love it. So different from my mini van but I am getting used to the change. It has leather seats that are heated and airconditioned (who knew they even made those?!). The sunroof is awesome and it will soon have an entertainment system in the back for the kids (their own TV/DVD in the headrests!) which will be great for then AND me. I will actually be able to listed to MY music without complaints!

Time to Play!

I am so excited - I just picked up some new stuff to play with! Found a great on-line store that is based in Edmonton called PaperWorksCo. http://www.paperworksco.com/ They have all kinds of great things (at great prices) including coasters, tins and lunch boxes. Woohoo! And the best part is there are no minimum quantities! So, my downline, Jodie, and I picked out what we wanted I picked it up today. I am so hoping I have some time to play tomorrow. Work has been way too busy plus I picked up my new car today (yay!) and I am trying to get ready for my cheer team that starts next week. Anyway, just one card to share today. I used the new scallop edge punch to do the corners of the edges of the Close to Cocoa layer. This is the first time I have stamped on the twill tape. My SAMJ was not cooperating so it took a couple of tries but it looks good now.

Paper and Ribbon Shares!

What are shares? They are the BEST way to try out paper, ribbons, and other Stampin’ Up products for a fraction of the cost. By purchasing a “share” you will get a variety of papers or ribbons for a fraction of the cost of full packages or spools. Most people don’t need 15 yards of 1 type of ribbon but could sure use 2-3 yards of 10 different ribbons. And shares are how you can do that!

Paper Share

You will get 60 6”x6” pieces of Stampin’ Up’s Double Sided Designer Series Paper for just $18! These are great for card layers, small layers in large scrapbooks or layers in smaller books. They will also work great with chipboard and some great projects using coasters that I will feature this fall! I will also send you ideas on cards and other projects to make using your paper. (Optional)
Buying full packages of all this paper would cost you over $120. This is a great way to get lots of super papers and to see what paper you might want to buy full packages of later.

Paper Share #1: Designer Series Paper (p. 168-171)
Windsor Knot
Bella Rose
Georgia Peach
Maine Blueberry
Prestwick
Banbury
Muirfield
Junior Varsity
Rainbow Sherbet
Holiday Treasures

Share #2: Patterns Designer Series Paper (p.171)
Chocolate Chip
Pink Pirouette
Rose Red
Riding Hood Red
Perfect Plum
Pacific Point
Baja Breeze
Old Olive
Kiwi Kiss
Tangerine Tango

Ribbon Share

These ribbons will coordinate perfectly with the designer papers above as well as Stampin’ Up! cardstock. The cost of the ribbon share (10 different ribbons) is $25. Purchasing full spools of all these ribbons would cost nearly $120!

Ribbon Share #1: New Ribbons!

2 yards of each of the following 1” double stitched ribbon:
Bashful Blue
Chocolate Chip
Rose Red
3 yards of each of the following 5/8” striped grosgrain ribbon:
Pink Pirouette
Baja Breeze
Pacific Point
Kiwi Kiss
Tangerine Tango
Old Olive
2 yards of each of the following Taffeta ribbon:
Riding Hood Red

*Bonus: Purchase all 3 shares and save $6…just $55 for all 3! And order any share by September 1 and receive 2 yards of the new double sided Satin Ribbon for free! (Max. 2 free yards per person)

Paper and ribbon will be available for pick up at my house (Stony Plain) starting September 11th or add $1 per share and have it mailed right to your house! (Canada only...US shipping will be higher). Leave me a comment or email me at stampin.leanne@shaw.ca to purchase a share!

Quick Cards

Just a couple of simple and cute cards to show you today. The hippo is from Pun Fun. I did several cards like this using different colour combos and animals from the set. Colours are Real Red, Brilliant Blue and Only Orange. The ribbon is red & white gingham but I used the pastels to make it red & orange. The second card uses Seeing Spots. Colours are Certainly Celery and Bashful Blue with blue & white gingham ribbon. I have lots of work to get done today but I hope I may have time to play tonight. I placed another large order yesterday that includes some new dies for my Big Shot - super excited to get them next week!

Using the Catty

I find that most people I stamp with rarely use the Stampin' Up catalogue for ideas. So, I do my best to case cards from it now and again. This one is more "inspired by" than a case but the idea came from page 59 none the less. I don't use Not Quite Navy very often but I really like the look of it with Certainly Celery. This card was another one from last night's stamp a stack. This one is easy to make as a birthday card as well, which some ladies did. Thanks to the ladies who came - they were all awesome and efficient stampers completing 12 cards in less than 2 hours.
I have to get some "real work" done today but hope to have some time later to play a little more. I am also planning a ribbon and designer paper share so stay tuned for more information on those.

More S-A-S

These are the other 2 Christmas cards that we are making at the stamp-a-stack tonight. I decided we would do one of each of the Xmas cards and then 3 each of the other 3 cards (for a total of 12 cards) which I will post another day. Oddly enough this is the first time I have used kraft paper. I love it with the Chocolate Chip and Riding Hood Red. I just can't get enough of Deer Friends and Heard From the Heart. I am giving the option of using grosgrain ribbon or the retired satin ribbon on this card. The other Christmas card is Real Red with Glorious Green and uses the new set Spotlight on Christmas with the 5/8" grosgrain ribbon. I plan to host at least 3 Christmas card stamp-a-stacks over the next 3 months so stay tuned for details on how to register. I will also be selling Christmas card kits again this year. Details coming soon...

O Christmas Tree

This is one of the cards we will make at today's Stamp-a-Stack. I love the simple look of this card. I have several others using the same layout in different colours and with different stamps from the "Deer Friend" hostess set.
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Ink: Old Olive and Summer Sun & Chocolate Chip markers on tree
Embellishments: Old Olive Grosgrain
Punches: 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circles, Scallop circle

More Big Shot Fun

I saw a great card done by Jill Hilliard at Jills' Card Creations. Thought it was such a super idea for the little scallop envelope die. Wasn't sure what I would do with such a little envelope until I saw this card. I'm sure there will be lots more great ideas as more people play with their new toy.

Cardstock: Cameo Coral

Ink: Cameo Coral, Mellow Moss, Chocolate Chip

DSP: Retired and I can't remember the name

Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly

I made a whole pile of cards today so now I will have new ones to upload for several days even if I don't have time to stamp. Yay! :)