Valentine Week - Day 1

I absolutely love Valentine's Day!! Now I know that there are a lot of people out there who do not share that feeling, and even some who *shudder* HATE Valentine's day. But I love the love and it's a great day to spread that lovin' feeling so just get on board with it already! ;)

This card actually came together because my 4 year old wanted to use glitter....sounds fun, eh? But it gave me the idea for this card so I have to be grateful to him for that! Very few products were used here but it's still sooo purty!

Tips & Tricks:

• After rolling the image onto my cardstock I used the 'direct to paper' technique with my Versamark pad and then covered it completely with Iridescent Ice embossing powder for that stunning sparkle!
  
• The scallop trim border punch makes a pretty frame for the main image.


• A little ribbon and button give this simple card a touch of extra sweetness...perfect for the holiday it will be used for!
  

Are you 'Sale-A-Brating' yet? Stampin' Up! has reported that sales from the first day of Sale-A-Bration doubled what it was last year! Must be the absolutely fantastic free products you get with every $60 purchase! Click the link on the left for more information...you DON'T want to miss this!
Altered Art: Tomorrow I'll show you a project that I made that I just can't stop staring at, hehe! Love 3D projects? Make sure to check back Tuesday morning!

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Cupcake Crazy

So when vintage became vogue I cringed because it seemed like a really hard look to acheive. But soon I realized it wasn't that difficult and next thing I knew it was my go to style! I'm returning to my clean and crisp roots with this card here and the simplicity of it is really beautiful.

The colour coach gave me this great combination of Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz and Early Espresso. Do you have a colour coach yet? It's a great tool! There are some truly funky combinations in there that I can't wait to try out.

Tips & Tricks:

• The clean and simple lines on this card let the adorable cupcakes be the stars of the show! I adhered them with dimenstionals for extra pop.
• Dainty pearls make the cupcakes a little more fancy...I love frilly foo foo things! :)
• The scalloped edge punch creates interest along the bottom edge.
  

SALE-A-BRATION IS FINALLY HERE! Earn free product with every $60 order, join the Stampin' Up! family and receive the starter kit at a 15% discount, or host a workshop of $395 and receve a bonus Sale-A-Bration gift!

Alive and Well....at long last!

So after never, ever having had the flu in my entire life, of course I get it when I have three children. Which means? Yep, they get it too! So you can imagine what a fabulous January it has been around here.

But everyone is back at it...and that means I'm back stamping! And after having such a dry spell I've been stamping like a crazy mama. Using every tool, accessory and punch I can get my hands on and even placing big orders for new stuff to play with. *ahem*, thank goodness my husband doesn't read my blog. Hehe!

I'll be back this evening with a great for you and get ready for some Valentine projects to come at you next week. It's just around the corner ya know!

Scrappin'!!

It's beginning to look a lot like...Canada!! I've just returned from my team meeting and the roads are terrible out there. The snow is blowing and the visibility is virtually nonexistent. But now, I'm all cozy in my jammies and the kettle is boiling for some hot chocolate and I can just look out and pity the poor souls still on the roads while I enjoy the beautiful world of snow outside my window! :)

On to business! I have spent the better part of the day scrapbooking. I have to be honest, it's been months and months since I have scrapbooked. And you know the kind I mean. Where you sit down with a pile of pictures and just go at it! Time ticks by, pieces of paper and the backing of dimenstionals litter the room, your children's cries go unnoticed.....okay, well that part isn't really true but you get me, right?

Anyways, I wanted to get my pictures and memories from our recent trip to New York City onto paper before time starts to get away from me, the way it always does. Four pages got hammered out today with a fifth almost completed. I'll show you the first four layouts and hopefully I'll have two more to show you tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Hope that you have been inspired by something you've seen tonight. I'm so happy I spent my day this way, it's such an amazing feeling of fulfillment to see your pages come together!

Good night!

New Year, New Ways to Save

I mentioned in a post just before Christmas that I had been working hard on rolling out a couple of really special new programs for you and today I'm excited to let you know what they are.

• Are you a Preferred Customer? Click here to find out if you are or how to become one today!


• Learn about the brand new StampALot Rewards Program! Earn rewards for being a frequent stamper.


• Save 20% every day and take your stamping to a whole new level! Learn how here.
  

I also wanted to leave you with a super cute stamped project today. This was going to be my Christmas card to my husband but then I decided to save it and use it as one of his Valentine cards. You know, one that isn't pink and covered with little hearts! ;)

Hope you're getting back into the swing of things and enjoying a healthy and prosperous New Year so far!

Tomorrow's post will feature another card using some of the brand new product from the Occasions Mini catalogue. Don't forget that you can order from this catalogue now!

Click here to shop Stampin' Up! products online 24/7!

Are you Filled With Love? From now until January 24 purchase the Filled With Love bundle and receive a FREE package of the adorable Bitty Buttons. Get ready for Valentine's Day with the beautiful Love Patterns paper and Filled With Love stamp set. Click here for more details.

Stamp Set: Artistic Etchings (120573)

Paper: Very Vanilla (101650), Basic Black (121045), Love Letter DSP (117162)

Ink: Riding Hood Red (111836), Black Staz-On (101406)

Cool Tools: Big Shot (113439), Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder (120175), 1 3/4 Circle Punch (119850)

Embellishments: Antique Brads (117273), Basic Rhinestones (119246), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

My Top 10 Faves

Today is the day and I am SO EXCITED! The 2011 Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini is here and you can order from it now! So seriously, do it, order now because all this stuff is gonna rock your world like you wouldn't believe.

I like to do a 'Top 10' list whenever a new mini comes out and this one was hard, let me tell you! I could have just posted a picture of the catalogue and called it a day but I did my best to narrow it down to just 10 things. Let's get started, shall we?

10. Build A Blossom punch (121808)- love how this punch and coordinating stamp set just took all the work out of creating a card with flowers and dimension! How many times have you painstakingly cut around a beatiful stamped flower just so you could pop it up on a few dimensionals to give your card that extra layer? You need this!

9. Notes & Details Stamp Set (122060)- Okay, so I'm thinking this is going to be my new 'go to' set for scrapbooking, what great sentiments and detail images! Really do love this set.

8. Trinket Crowns & Keys (121891, 121892)- BLING! And you all know how I love to bling out my cards. Crowns? Yes please!!

7. Bring On The Cake Stamp Set (121958)- Wow, this set is too cool. Love all the super fun birthday images in this. This set just replaced On Your Birthday as my new favourite set for bday cards. I especially am digging the samples using this set on pages 20-21 and am looking forward to doing a little CASE'ing on those!

6. Nature Walk Stamp Set (121997) & Botanical Gazette DSP (121783)- This set is not my style. Really, it isn't. But somehow it still placed on my list at #6 because it is so peaceful. I look at it and feel calm, that doesn't happen often in a house of 3 little boys! So I bought it and....use it all the time! I've already made and given 4 or 5 cards with this set. The paper is especially gorgeous and I can't wait to use it on some scrapbooking pages.

5. Seam Binding (Pg.16)- In seven gorgeous colours!! Enough said. And if you don't understand why I love this you obviously didn't try it when it was first offered in the Holiday Mini and you should definately join the party and get yourself some now! :)

4. Love Impressions Specialty DSP (121780)- This paper is rockin'! I believe I mentioned in an earlier post that it reminds me of clothing from the Aeropostale store and it's true. But the flocking is so fun and the designs are all fun and I am having so much fun using it!

3.Fabric Designer Brads (121880)- These really are the cutest things ever. I always forget to pull out my brads to use on projects but wow! My fabric brads are half gone already.

2. Designer Big Buttons (122301, 122302)- Many of you know how difficult it is for me to say a card is finished if there is no button on it and these buttons are even more awesome! They are super smooth and the size just makes them really fun to use. And now there 8 different colours of them...including crumb cake. Again I say, awesome!

1. Create A Cupcake Stamp Set (121982) & Build A Cupcake Punch (121807)- Where do I start? A cupcake punch complete with a cherry, sprinkles and a candle all punched out for you within seconds. There is nothing not to love about this and that is why it's coming in at #1! Oh, and a sentiment with the word fabulous?? It's freakin' fabulous is what it is!

So there you have it. My list of 10 things that I can't live without from this Mini. I hope you're enjoying this catalogue as much as I am!

If you live in Canada and would like a free mini catalogue, please send me an email including your name and address and I will send one off to you ASAP! This is a service for those who do not already have a demonstrator of their own.

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Want to start the New Year off with BIG SAVINGS? Be sure to visit my blog tomorrow morning for a roll out of my new Preferred Customer and Customer Referral programs! It's going to be exciting and I don't want anyone to miss out!

Happy Thoughts of Mojo

Just a quick post for you today. It's busy, busy in my stamp studio getting ready for a team meeting on Thursday and some other fun classes and events I've got on the calendar. I did want to give you my take on the Mojo Monday sketch for today though so here it is.

I actually have a second design that I'm working on using this same sketch and will post it here later if time allows. In the meantime, why not make your own? Happy stamping!

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