New Toys

Shh... Don't tell my husband that yesterday I got a box full of new dies.  (Luckily for me he was out riding his bike when Purolator showed up.  I ripped the box from his hands, tore the wrappings off of all the goodies inside, threw them in a plastic bag, and immediately took the evidence out to the curb.  God bless the garbage man that shows up on Thursday.)  Since committing myself to the Fall Fair (see previous post about my questionable sanity) I decided that I needed some dies to help me make some projects.  The Matchbox die was first on the list.  Small things are always cute, and this box holds true to that.  It's friggin' adorable actually.  I had a good time making the little covers fun.  Inside I stashed some Hersey's kisses

Fun Flowers was also in my newest order, and I made a few of these up last night to see how well they'd sell.  Turns out, pretty well!  I sold out of them!  I'm going to make a LOT more for next week and even get started on a stash for the fall.  I really like making these little flowers.  I love the way the paper crinkles up like that.  A little vanilla smooch shimmer and they were ready to go!  Scale wise, I don't think you can really tell, but these paperclips are 4" long.  They're just awesome little bookmarks.

In LOVE

About 10 days ago I decided to try my hand at a ribbon share.  Everyone loves ribbon, but who needs 10 yards of the same colour?  Well, maybe you do, but I certainly don't.  Let's check that - my bank account doesn't need 10 yards of each of the colours out there.  That's more accurate.  Anywho, I posted a ribbon share on my SU page an offered it to my stamp club ladies as well.  It showed up this morning and I was sooo excited it get going on it.  When I say "it" I'm talking about 370 yards of various beauties, the In Colour Ruffled collection being one of them.

The Scallop Dots collection is also new to Stampin' Up this year, and I can see that it's going to do very well.  It's a really nice weight, and the colours they're offering are great.

I also ordered the Taffeta collection, though I wasn't sure I was going to like it all that much.  Turns out I love it too!  It's a really nice light weight, good for draping and bow making.  So how long did it take me to cut up 370 yards of ribbon into 1 yard lengths?  Not too long actually.  I was a horrible friend and mentioned to my lovely friend Heath that I had some cutting to do and asked if she'd help me, knowing full well that she would.  So when I turned on my cell this morning, there was already a message from her asking what time I was coming by.  What a dear.  So we cut and chatted and it was done before we knew it!

After cutting it all up I raced home to package it all up so I could send it out to the ladies anxiously awaiting.  On that note, I'm going to tie a ribbon around this post and get to crafting!

Call Me Crazy

I'm pretty sure this is where I'm headed - soon.  In my state of boredom due to bad weather, I've been going a little overboard with the crafting.  It's pretty much been raining here for 3 straight weeks, so I've been in my craft room for three straight weeks.  When the rain stops and the sun peeks out I run out to the yard to catch some much needed vitamin D, but I'm still inside way more than I should be.

Last week I had a brainwave that told me that I should get a booth for the Fall Fair.  Hmm.  Sounded like a good idea at the time.  So I went into town and talked with the lovely lady running the show, and she convinced me that it would be a great idea.  I filled in the paperwork, wrote a cheque, and voila! I'm in.  Holy you-know-what.

Now what?

Now I'm wracking my brain trying to come up with ideas for what the heck I can make to fill up a whole booth.  Here's what I've got so far:  I'll make LOTS of cards (obviously) and a bunch of altered journals since these seem to be very popular.  The fair is in September so I'm going to make a series of Christmas-themed items like tags, little gift boxes, pillow boxes, gift card holders, etc.  (Don't tell my husband that I just ordered an obscene amount of dies and supplies for this.)  I saw this cute little tag that has a little saying about you brewing a cup of tea at a certain time, "something something half past three.  I'll think of you, you'll think of me."  It's a little card that you put a tea bag in and attach to a card/gift, so I'll do up some of those.  I have a few of the flowers dies that I'll use with those ridiculously huge paper clips to make bookmarks out of, probably stick magnets to some too.  Ooh, and Snowman Soup.  Awesome.

That's a far as my ideas go.  Anyone have some amazing ideas that I can steal for making stuff using SU products that will wow people and make them want to form a Stamp Club or host classes/workshops?  I would love love love to hear what you've got to say.  I've got a little less than 2 months to get things ready, but really, only until about the last week of August because at that time I'm gearing up to return to work for another 10 months with teenagers.

Please help!

Generosity

Back in April, my husband's grandmother passed away at the age of 93.  Rather than receiving flowers and cards, the family asked that people donate to the Heart & Stroke Foundation.  The generosity showed by Celia's friends and family is a testament to the impact she had on their lives.

To thank those people for their generous donations that will help to make a difference in many peoples' lives, my mother in law asked me to make some thank you cards.  Gramma's favourite colours were pinks and purples, so it was only fitting that these were the shades I worked with.

Stamps:  Strength & Hope, Fabulous Florets
Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake, Perfect Plum
Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake, Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla
Extras:  Modern label punch, Word window punch, Scallop Oval punch, Oval punch

Girls' Night (well, evening anyways - we're not spring chickens anymore!)

 

Tonight I had a few girls from my Stamp Club come over to use my tools try out their new goodies.  Eating baked brie with roasted garlic and drinking wine is about the only thing I can think of that makes stamping even better than it already is.  This is really the first time venturing into crafting for one of my friends, so she took a little while to get going.  "I like it when we have the class and you have everything ready for us and just tell us what to do."  I smiled a little.  But after the first hour or so she was in full swing and made some really cute cards.  They each ended up making three cards, but I ended up with only one.  I will always choose helping someone else try something new over making my own cards on nights like these.  

Anywho, here's what I ended up with.  I've had Fox and Friends sitting around for quite some time now but hadn't felt the mood strike me up until now.  I took the colour combo from the holiday mini (you have to wait until September to see!).  There's a beautiful new paper and fabric series called Spice Cake.  I never would have thought to put these unlikely partners together, but they look really beautiful.  The lighting's a bit poor in this picture, but you get the idea.  I think I'll try this card again in a girly pallet too.

Stamps:  Fox and Friends, Petite Pairs

Ink:  More Mustard, Pool Party, River Rock, Pear Pizzazz

Paper: River Rock, More Mustard, Very Vanilla

Extras:  Postage Stamp punch, Pear Pizzazz seam binding ribbon

Man Cards!

I finally got my man stamps today.  I'll work on building this part of my collection, but for now these guys will have to do.  I'm not really crazy about nautical stuff, but this set is not toooooo shippy (though there is a ship stamp).  I have an awesome idea for a colour combo that I could use for this set, but already had Not Quite Navy and Cajun Craze cut and just sitting there, waiting to be used, so I answered their cries. This isn't the layout that I wanted, but I made a total rookie mistake and glued my background on UPSIDE DOWN!  Der.....  I still like how it turned out though.

I absolutely adore Tool Shed (the big background stamp).  I think it will look pretty cool clear embossed too.  Maybe I'll try that out once I'm finished this post....  This is a pretty simple card, but I think that's what's great about it.  The stamp really stands alone, so why fix a good thing?

Stamps:  Uncharted Territory, Tool Shed
Ink:  Not Quite Navy, Cajun Craze, Night of Navy
Paper:  Not Quite Navy, Cajun Craze, Night of Navy, Sahara Sand
Extras:  Hemp Twine, Modern Label Punch, Word Window punch

Card Buffet (Workshop)

 

 

Here's my newest workshop!  I'm going out on a limb here and trying something crazy.  I'd love it if a few of you girls that read this regularly (you know who you are) would grab a few friends and sign up for this one.  It's a pretty long one (three hours) so it would make for a good girls afternoon or night (wine anyone?).  For those of you with a small person (I mean child, not vertically challenged), you could divide the cards between you and each make 4.  I could also make up a few special kid-friendly options if you let me know you'd like that.  This workshop obviously offers a greater selection than the others due to the higher volume of cards you'll be turning out.  The difference here is that I won't be instructing you on how to do certain techniques.  Of course I will help you if there's something unfamiliar, but I won't be standing up there teaching everyone like I do in the other classes.

 

So take a read and please send me a reply if you're interested! 

 

Fee:  $25 each or free with $60 catalogue order
3 hours
This workshop requires a minimum of 4 participants, and a maximum of 8

This one's a doozy, but well worth it!

The way a card buffet works is that I will have 10 different selections for you to choose from.  During the workshop you will make 8 cards, choosing whichever styles you like the best (multiples are okay too, if you really like one style).  The cards will be displayed with containers behind each, full of all the supplies you need to complete them, ready for you to use.  You take a box to your seat and craft away!  Each buffet will feature a different selection of cards for you to choose from, so when you fall in love, we can book you another one right away! :)

If you wish to make extra cards once you have completed your 8, the charge is $2.00 per additional card.