Annual Retired Product Sale!

Saturday, June 2nd, 2018

9 am - 12:00 (noon)

This a such a great time for you to pick up lots of retired products - stamp sets, inks, paper, punches, dies and more, at discounted prices, AND get new products FREE.  

Here's How this BOGO Works

When you make a purchase from my huge selection of discounted products, you receive the equivalent value, of whatever you purchased, as a credit toward products from the new Annual Catalogue.  

For example - purchase $50 of my retired product and you get a $ for $ credit toward products from the new Annual Catalogue.  

In a nutshell - you're getting FREE products because you purchased retired products!!  

You'll want to shop early for the best selection, but please, no early birds.

The sale starts at 9.

Contact me HERE for the location of the sale.

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Colourful Seasons Sneak Peek

Are you looking forward to cottage, camping, beach time, or relaxing by the pool? I sure am! This card reminds me of summer, sitting in a beach chair, listening to the waves. If I wasn't dog sitting this weekend, I think I would have gone on a road trip to the beach.

I was fortunate to attend a Stampin' Up! On Stage event, where I was able to view cards featuring products from the new the 2017-2018 Annual Catalogue, which I also received - love it! Everyone in attendance got to play with some new products, and place a pre-order.   fell in love with the Colourful Seasons bundle. I'm thankful to Stampin' Up! for creating a set that can be used year-round.  You'll be able to purchase the bundle on June 1.

As a mixed media artist, I look for ways of creating something unique, whether it's for a card, painting or display - one of a kind works for me! I absolutely love the way this card looks - the die cut Muskoka chair, 'just breathe' sentiment and the background. Details on how I achieved the background are below.

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To make the background on the Whisper White layer, I picked up colour from the ink pad using my clear block.  To avoid getting an edge image, I swirled the Clear Block on my Grid Paper.  To  get the colour onto the paper, I very lightly touched the paper with the inked block, using a circular motion. I repeated that step until I was happy with the look. Remember - you can always add more colour, but you can't remove it, so go lightly.  

 Pool Party ink pad, Clear Block 'E' and my Grid Paper.

Check out this bundle with it's gorgeous images and sentiments, and all those dies, available June 1.  I'm booking now for class and workshop using this bundle.  Contact me now to set up a date.

I hope you'll stop by again - I'll be featuring more cards using this bundle.

Happy Crafting!

Save Big! Retiring Products & Clearance Rack

It's that time of year, when we say goodbye to retiring items that will not be carried over to the new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue that will be launched on June 1, 2017. 

In addition to the Retiring Products, you'll want to check out the Clearance Rack.  Items are up to 60% off - WOW!

Who doesn't like great savings!! With many items reduced in price, it's a great time to pick up those items from your wish list!  Don't delay - these items are going fast!

Click on the image below to view retiring stamps, bundles and everything else. 

Click below to view the Clearance Rack.

Happy Shopping!

Sand

A Walk in the Park, Snakeskin (?) and 15 years!

What a gorgeous spring day! Pippin enjoyed his walk at Huron Natural Park today.  If you're new to my blog, Pippin is a three year old Sheltie, who always attracts lots of attention wherever we go, probably because he's such a friendly dog, and he's pretty!  

 See what I mean - pretty!

Speaking of pretty...here's my daughter Erin, with Pippin.

Erin, her boyfriend Eric, and Pippin

A super creepy stump, but kind of awesome, eh!!

I thought these looked interesting.

Silly Pip, clearly enjoying a cool down in the car on the way home.

Happy pup!

On to my next topic - snakeskin.....or not.  It's a bit of a giveaway when you can see the dots of paint around the edges of this pic.  I altered a technique that uses grippy drawer liner and wow, I love the result.  As for the 'snakeskin' colours, well, those might end up different. Not sure yet 😊 Always a mystery...hehehe.  I may set this, and my other work-in-progress art pieces aside....because....my new Stampin' Up! goodies are set to arrive soon. and my attention will be on papercrafting for a bit.

Okay...last topic of the day!  Yesterday I attended a Stampin' Up! conference called OnStage 2017, and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!   Having received a hot-off -the-presses copy of the 2017-2018 Annual Stampin' Up! catalogue, I'm on cloud 9!  I've scoured the catty from cover to cover several times, taking in all the wonderful stamp sets, papers, dies, embellishments and more!  Sadly, I can't share any of the pics with you quite yet, but I will say this - you are going to fall in love with the A-M-A-Z-I-N-G (yes, I said it again) products.  

It's the 15th year of Stampin' Up! being available in Canada. Yay!  Above is one of the goodies everyone at the conference received. 

I'm so glad I went to OnStage!  What a fabulous fun-filled day!  We had the privilege of making cards using some of the new products from the 2017-2017 catalogue. One word - awesome!

I hope you had a fabulous weekend!

Happy Crafting!

Sand

Cheers!

Wow, here we are, almost at the end of another weekend - a lovely weekend with mild temps and sunshine.  Sunshine somehow lifts the spirits!

I have a simple card to show you today.  To get the funky colours on those little birds, I took a scrap of paper and sponged the ink in uneven rows alternating.  No overthinking, just laying down colours, then die cutting the birds.

The only stamping on this card is the sentiment 'Cheers', the tiny stars and inside verse. The rest was die cut - easy peasy.  This is another card that came together super fast. Be sure to visit my blog again soon because I'll have a card that is mostly stamped and yes, also super fast to make!

Here are the products I used for this card - all from Stampin' Up!

Dies:
Birds & Blooms
Flourish Thinlits
Balloon Pop-Up **
Stitched Framelits

Stamp Set:
Love Sparkles **

Cardstock:
Basic Black
Whisper White
Melon Mambo

Ink:
Melon Mambo
Tangerine Tango

**these are from the Occasions Catalogue, which you can view by clicking on the catalogue image on the top left of my blog.  The annual catalogue is just below and you can view it as well by clicking on the image.

This is one of those days where I did a bunch of this and that.  Made the card, started another mixed media piece, was outside for a while, and all in all had a laid back kind of day!  I hope you had a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Crafting!

Sand

Happy Birthday Wishes

Ah technology.  Sometimes a struggle for me.  I've wanted to add a watermark to my pics for a while and today I finally sat down and figured it out.  Apparently it's not rocket science - go figure!

My card today is quick and simple. I stepped out from my white on white comfort zone by using Blushing Bride cardstock for the base.  For the layer, I used Very Vanilla.  I wanted this card to have a soft look to it, which I think I achieved by using an embossing folder called Elegant Dots.

After adhering the layer to the base of the card, I stamped a few flowers from the Special Reason set, and added the sentiment from Avant Garden, die cut the ovals, and added the little bee.  Ta da, done. Super cute, eh!

As always, the supplies I used for this card are from Stampin' Up!  The link to the annual, Occasions & Sale-a-Bration catalogues are at the top left of my blog.  Please remember, Sale-a-Bration items are only available until March 31.  You earn one free Sale-a-Bration item with every $60 purchase from the Occasions and/or Annual catalogues.  Time is running out!  Contact me soon!

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend and that you'll stop by again!

Happy Crafting!

Sand

Celebrate

Dad described a car as four wheels and an engine.  I don't disagree....but.... add in a few bells and whistles and that would be the car I'm picking up today.  Yay!!

Here's a card I designed to celebrate.  The pink and grey - ah, love!  In this case, Smokey Slate and Melon Mambo. A clean and simple card.

 My Avant Garden stamp set (free from Sale-a-Bration) is getting a workout lately!  Amazing versatility!  Cards, scrapbooking, invitations, school projects, mixed media, plus oodles of Pinterest possibilities. The sentiment is from the Love Sparkles set, which is in the Occasions catalogue - available until May 31.  With a $60 order from the Occasions or Annual catalogues the Avant Garden stamp set is yours free! Please note - Sale-a-Bration ends on March 31. Be sure to click on the images on the left side of this page to view the 3 current catalogues.  To place your order, simply contact me.

Here's a catalogue recap:

• Occasions & Annual - available until May 31, 2017

• Sale-a-Bration - available until March 31, 2017 - one free item with every $60 purchase (before tax & shipping)

Inspired? Here are the Workshops I offer:

• Take a test drive of the products free.  Book a date & time, and invite 4-6 friends to your home.  We'll make 2 small cards using Stampin' Up! products. 

• Book a free workshop. Hostess invites guests to her home and provides simple refreshments.  I'll share what I love about Stampin' Up! products while we make a card or two. Browse the catalogues, orders are placed and the Hostess can earn Hostess Benefits - Hostess-only stamp sets and other goodies from the catalogues.  As an added bonus - when workshops are booked that day by your guests, they will get a free stamp pad and so will you!  And...if the orders that day are $400 or more (before taxes & shipping), you, the hostess will receive a stamp pad from me! Icing on the cake - book before March 31 and enjoy Sale-a-Bration freebies!  

Well, what a day!  I took a wee break from typing this post to pick up my car. Eeeeeek! This gal is happy! 

Have a wonderful weekend, and happy crafting!

Sand

A Sparkling Cheers to You!

Lately, I've been getting back to clearing out some of the excess 'stuff'' in my house.  Do you keep books you enjoyed because you might read them again and store things you might use in the future? I do, however I am attempting to turn over a new leaf.  Letting go is an effort, for me, but I'm forging ahead, donating and recycling as much as possible. Confession - I do have quite the stash of paper, ink and stamps, and although I only donated a few of those, so far. Good new though - I have organized my studio!

My card today uses Pool Party card stock for the base. Such a fresh and pretty colour!  To create the watermark effect, I used inked up a stamp from the Sale-a-Bration set called Avant Garden in the same colour ink as the card base.  Same for the layer.  I found a scrap of Whisper White to use for the sentiment Cheers, from Love Sparkles in the Occasions catty.  Using Foil Sheets, I die cut the balloons using the Balloon Pop-Up Thinlists Dies, also from the Occasions catty.  Aren't the balloons sweet!!

Using dimensionals I popped up one of the balloons and the layer. Then, to finish off the card with bit of bling and sparkle I used Silver Metallic thread looped around the layer, and Rhinestone Basic Jewels placed near the balloons.  Naturally, everything I used is from Stampin' Up!

So there you have it - a clean, crisp and simple card with some sparkle!

Be sure go to my main page (home) and click on the images of the Sale-a-Bration, Occasions, and Annual catalogues to view the items I used for this card, and so many more wonderful offerings from Stampin' Up!  Please contact me to place an order.

I hope you have a cheery day!  Thank you for stopping by and happy crafting!


Sand