Yippe skippy, it's Friday! Are you ready for a busy holiday weekend? Do you have lots of activities planned, like parties, concerts, or other holiday events? Or are you staying home to finish decorating the house, baking cookies, or maybe making fudge for the neighbors? There are so many demands on our time during the weeks leading up to Christmas and if we don't prioritize and decide what's really important, we can end up feeling frazzled and burned out, rather than peaceful and relaxed. I promised to show you another sneak peek card today, so here it is...
This fun DSP is called Love Blossoms. It comes in a 6 x 6 stack of 48 sheets. There are 12 double-sided designs, so you have a choice of 24 different patterns. I used my Sweetheart Punch to punch out 4 of my favorite patterns, then layered them onto a white panel that I embossed with the Happy Heart embossing folder that's on page 174 of the annual catalog. The sentiment is from the Birthday Blooms stamp set, the one I showed you on Wednesday. I added some Blushing Bride ribbon and stamped the sentiment in Rose Red, one of the colors in the designer paper. The coordinating stamp set, called Bloomin' Love, has lots of fun images for Valentine's Day. Again, I wish I could show you a photo of the stamp set, but we'll have to wait until the Occasions Catalog goes "live" on January 5th. I hope you've enjoyed the sneak peeks I've been showing you the past 5 days. I'm excited to be handing out the new Occasions catalogs at my New Catalog and Sale-a-bration Kick Off on Saturday, January 9th. You'll get your Sale-a-bration brochure that day too, which will show you the great free items you'll be able to earn with every $50 you spend. There will be 2 sessions... a morning session that goes from 10 am to noon, and then an afternoon session that begins at 1 pm and goes until 3 pm. Be checking your email for an evite that will be coming soon. Please remember when you RSVP to state which session you'd like to attend. I'll be taking a break from The Classic Card for the next couple of weeks. I'll be back on January 1st with more stamping inspiration. Meanwhile, enjoy every minute of this special time of year! May you all have a wonderful Christmas celebration and may 2016 bring you many blessings! Christmas blessings, Susan
Hello stampers and happy Wednesday! The days are flying by and you know what that means... Christmas will soon be here... just a week from this Friday!
I hope you all agree that we are finished with Christmas cards, though. If you haven't stamped them yet, I'm afraid it's getting a bit late to start them now. So I'm going to continue showing you sneak peeks of the stamp sets and products in the new Occasions catalog, which we can start ordering from on January 5th. Let me show you the card, then I'll tell you about the new products I used....
Aren't these colors just so fresh and spring-y? The name of this product suite is Birthday Bouquet. The stamp set is called Birthday Blooms. I wish I could show you a photo of the whole set, but that's a "no-no." If you click on the photo, you'll see a larger image and that will allow you to see the tone-on-tone stamping on the Pool Party panel. I used the large rose image in the set to add interest to the background of the card. I stamped it in Pool Party ink on the Pool Party panel. The designer paper is part of the same suite and it's called Birthday Bouquet. It is some of the prettiest designer paper that Stampin'Up! has ever offered. There are stripes, dots, flowers, and balloons, all in the most yummy pastel colors. That amazing Pool Party glitter ribbon is soft and flexible and adds such a nice bit of gleam and glitz to the card, giving it an extra feminine touch. What woman wouldn't love getting a gorgeous card like this for her birthday? I can't wait for you to see this suite of products in real life. You are going to L. O. V. E. it! OK, my friends, that's a wrap for today! I'm off to finish up a few holiday tasks... a little bit of shopping and a little bit more gift wrapping. I'm 90 percent done and I hope you are too. It's important to finish all the work a few days early, so that you'll have some peaceful time to contemplate the true meaning of Christmas. Please come back on Friday when I'll have another pretty card for you using new products from the new Occasions Catalog. Hugs and happiness, Susan
Hey there, stampers! Welcome back! Did you have an enjoyable weekend and are you rested and ready for another busy week? I hope you are accomplishing all of your holiday tasks and still finding time for some fun.
As I mentioned on Friday, I'll be continuing with sneak peeks from the upcoming Occasions Catalog, which you can pick up at my New Catalog and Sale-a-bration Kick Off, coming up on Saturday January 9th. Today's card is from the Going Places suite of products. This is a masculine product suite which includes a stamp set, designer series paper, and an embossing folder. The colors in the DSP are Basic Black, Delightful Dijon, Lost Lagoon, Mossy Meadow, Sahara Sand, and Very Vanilla. Here's the card...
The card base is Lost Lagoon, with the next layer being Sahara Sand. We inked the inside of the embossing folder, then put the Sahara Sand panel inside. Then instead of sending it through the Big Shot, we just pressed the folder together to transfer the ink. We used the globe stamp on a piece of the DSP, then cut it out with the 2 inch circle punch. There are some great sentiments in this stamp set... "world's best dad," "you mean the world to me," "you are my greatest adventure," "the love between us knows no distance," "I'm lost without you," and "I thank my lucky stars for you." With a change of sentiments, you could use this set for any manly occasion... birthday, get well, thinking of you, retirement, etc. Thanks for checking in with me today on this rainy Monday! If you can, stay inside, keep warm, and have a cup of hot chocolate or tea while you stamp! Make this a great week, everyone! Hugs and happiness, Susan
Hurray, yippee, oh boy! It's Friday, people! It's time for another sneak peek of what is coming up very soon in the new Occasions Catalog. Today I'm going to tell you about the Botanical Gardens suite of products. First of all, there's a great set of stamps called Botanical Blooms. It's a beautiful set of tropical flowers and leaves, quite different from all of the other floral sets we've had. Of course there's a great set of Botanical Builder Framelit Dies to go along with the stamps. Plus, there's some gorgeous designer paper that coordinates with the stamps. Then to add to the fun, there are some Botanical Garden Jewels and some fun washi tape. The colors in this suite are quite bold... Basic Black, Cajun Craze, Hello Honey, Mint Macaron, Mossy Meadow, and Old Olive. When seen all together, these colors are just amazing. OK, so now that we've covered all of that information, let me show you the card...
As usual, my photograph doesn't do justice to the card, but I think you can get the idea. At the November demonstrator event that I attended, we got to play with this new suite of products and this is the card we all made. Of course I've got tons of other ideas for these products, but with Christmas on the horizon, I haven't had much time to try out my ideas. The tree is up, the house is decorated, the cards have been sent, but there's still a lot of wrapping to do, not to mention that I haven't baked a single cookie yet! Well, my friends, that's wraps up this week at The Classic Card. Please come back on Monday, when I'll have another sneak peek for you! May you have a wonderful weekend filled with holiday fun! Hugs and happiness, Susan
Hello Stampers! I hope all of you are staying in, keeping cozy and dry, and stamping up a storm! It's supposed to be a wet Wednesday. I guess that shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. After all, this is Oregon! Speaking of surprises... would you like one today? I thought I'd give you a little sneak peek of some of the new goodies that are coming your way on January 5th, when the new Occasions Catalog goes "live." Those of us who are lucky enough to be Stampin'Up! Demonstrators have the opportunity to purchase the new stuff ahead of time, so that we can start designing for our classes and events. The fun card that I'm about to show you is from the "It's My Party" product suite. The tag line for this suite says "Bright Colors and Patterns for Girls and Boys Both Young and Old," and that's a very good description! The stamps and designer paper in this suite are appropriate for everyone, with the exception of the predominately pink papers. You might want to save those for the girls and women. I don't think I've ever met a man who loves pink. Here's the card...
Let me tell you about some of the new products that are shown on this bright and happy card. First of all, there's the stamp set Party Wishes. One of my favorite sayings in this set is "A party without cake is just a meeting." So true! There's a set of three punches called the Party Punch Pack that goes along with this stamp set that punches out the candle, balloon, and cupcakes. The DSP that goes with this product suite comes in a BIG pack of 48 sheets of 12 by 12 paper. There are 12 different designs and you get 4 of each, so no worries about running out. I love the matching baker's twine too! You get two spools, one Basic Black and Mint Macaron, the other is Basic Black and Melon Mambo. You are going to L. O. V. E. this new catalog! There are so many fun things in it that it is almost impossible to decide what to get first. Don't forget that you won't be receiving this catalog in the mail. You can get one by coming to my Occasions Catalog/Sale-a-bration Kick Off on Saturday, January 9th. Please add this date to your calendar. You'll have the choice of a morning or afternoon session. That's all for today, but please come back on Friday for another sneak peek! Hugs and happiness, Susan
Hello all you stampers out there in stamping land! Wow! Is this great stamping weather or what? There's nothing like a rainy day to give the perfect excuse to stay home and stamp! I'm sorry if you have to brave the rain and wind to go out and shop for Christmas gifts. I've been doing my shopping online and I'm almost finished, thankfully! I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a nice long break from Christmas cards. Have you finished yours yet? Have they been mailed? I'm hoping to focus on other types of cards now. I hope that you aren't disappointed, but since I've been making Christmas cards since September, I think you'll understand that it's time for a change of pace. Check out this pretty card that I received in a swap with other demonstrators...
This beauty, made by Julie Pedersen, uses the Watercolor Wings set that's on page 75 of the annual catalog. The colors are Bermuda Bay, Tip Top Taupe, Mint Macaron, and Pool Party. The splatters in the background are from Gorgeous Grunge (p. 123). The sentiment is from the Butterfly Basics stamp set on page 124 of the annual catalog. It doesn't show up very well in my photo, but Julie used some ordinary gray sewing thread to accent her card, which gives the card a bit of extra texture. I hadn't thought of doing that, but it does look interesting! What's on your calendar this week? I'm pretty sure Christmas will be taking a spot at center stage this week for most of us. I've got a good head start, but there is still much to do, so I'm off to conquer my list. Have a great week everyone! Hugs and happiness, Susan
Yippee, it's Friday! I'm excited for tomorrow's class, my annual Santa's Workshop, where we make some fun packaging projects. It's great to give baked goodies like cookies or yummy treats like fudge or other homemade candies or snacks, but sometimes packaging them can be a challenge. So each year I host this class to help you think of interesting and attractive ways to present your gift. Since I've already shown you what we'll be making tomorrow, I'm going to show you a cute card today...
This card has a lot going on, but I just had to show it to you. Aren't those little fawns just the cutest? All of the designer paper on this card is from the Home For Christmas collection, shown on page 9 of the holiday catalog. The description of the Home for Christmas product suite says "hand-drawn imagery evokes the nostalgic feelings of Christmas past." I have to admit, those fawns look like a wrapping paper design from the 50's... very retro! Yes, you guessed correctly... this is another swap that I received. The stamp artist is Liz Thayer. To embellish her card, Liz used some Sahara Sand lace trim (page 159 of the annual catalog), along with some Real Red 1/4 inch Cotton Ribbon. She sponged the wooden Snowflake Element (page 23 of the holiday catalog) with some Real Red ink, then added a rhinestone in the center to jazz it up even more. The "celebrate" sentiment is from the Endless Birthday Wishes stamp set on page 6 of the annual catalog. Liz used the Washi Label punch on page 166 of the annual catalog to punch it out, then added a sparkly mat of Gold Glimmer Paper, also punched with the Washi Label Punch.
That's it for today, stampers! I'm off to bake a German Chocolate cake for my customer, Anita, who is having a birthday tomorrow! Thanks for reading my blog! Happy Friday and enjoy the weekend! Susan
The days are flying by and now that December is here, the countdown starts. How are you coming along with your Christmas "to-do" list? Right now I'm working on getting all of my cards addressed and mailed. Once I have that done, I always feel a great sense of accomplishment. Oh, and in case you are wondering, no I don't make hand-stamped cards for Christmas. As most of our friends and family are out-of-state and we don't see them often, it makes more sense that we send out photo cards so everyone can see how much we've aged over the past year. And of course we include pictures of the grandchildren on our photo cards as well. Here's the Wednesday card for your enjoyment...
This one was stamped by Geri Stuart and I received it in a recent swap. She used the branch and one of the sentiments from the Joyful Season stamp set (the one with the cardinal) that's in the holiday catalog. She used the Softly Falling embossing folder to make the snowy background, but the thing I like most is that she used the Bird Builder Punch to punch out the bird, then punched an extra wing piece to make the cardinal's little pointy crest. Pure genius! Why didn't I think of that??? I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be showing Christmas cards. At some point, I've got to pull the plug on Christmas, as by now most of you have picked a design and are in production mode. I'll probably finish out this week with another Christmas card, but after that, don't be surprised if you don't see any more Christmas designs for a long, long while! I hope you'll check back with me on Friday. Hugs, Susan
