Nutz about Stamping

Join My Mailing List

Today is a really great day to join my mailing list! It is my un-birthday (I'm actually a Leap Year baby) and I have a special gift I will be sending out this afternoon only to my mailing list subscribers!

Now joining my mailing list just to get a free gift is not the only benefit, of course.There are many other benefits too:

- card and scrapbook and papercrafting project ideas not seen anywhere else

- the first to see Stampin' Up! specials

- tool tips

- techniques

- the first to see my customer specials

- notices of my Raleigh classes and clubs

- earn free product with my Referral program

- earn Customer Loyalty bucks to spend at my New Catalog Open House in July

If you are not on my mailing list and would like to be, here's what you do:

• Look for the Join My Mailing List heading in the top left-hand corner of this blog
• Type your email address in the box and click the "go" button
• Fill in the requested registration information
• Check off the "Scrapbooking" box if you want to receive an additional newsletter just for scrapbookers (digital or paper)
• Check off your birthday month only if you want to receive a special gift from me
• Click "Save Profile Changes" at the bottom of the registration page
• In a few minutes, check your email. I use a confirmed opt-in subscription process to guarantee that you do want to subscribe. Please watch your email and respond to the confirmation notice that you will receive.

And that's it. You will be begin receiving my monthly newsletters, designed to provide you some new creative ideas, tips and tricks to try the next time you are papercrafting! And this afternoon, you will receive a special un-birthday gift from me!

 

Sundays with Sizzix: Tasteful Trim

For last Sundays with Sizzix video tutorial, I introduced Tasteful Trim and used one sheet of 6x6 In Color designer series paper to make a Clean & Simple card. I had several pieces of scrap trim left over from that project so used one of those pieces to create today's project. The Bold Blossom stamp set is, once again, the perfect set to use as it is simple in design and matches the design feel of the designer series paper:

Tasteful Trim Notepad Cover

Stamp set: Bold Blossom

Markers: Pear Pizzazz, Poppy Parade

Paper: Whisper White (3 x 4 1/8, scraps), In Color designer series paper pack (Hostess Level One; one sheet 6x6)

Accessories: Big Shot, Extended cutting pads, Tasteful Trim XL die, Stampin' Dimensionals, ¾" circle punch, Snail Adhesive, Paper Cutter, Coil Notepad (3x5)

And now for the video tutorial. Enjoy!

 

This notepad would make a great Teacher Appeciation gift or small gift for another special someone in  your life. So why not pull out your Big Shot and give it a try - or if you don't have a Big Shot yet, contact me for a free demonstration!

Baby Tees card

In a couple of hours my Techniques Card club will meet and I had a bunch of fun preparing their technique cards. In the past couple of months some of the members commented that they had not learned how to use Stampin' Up! wheels on cards so that became my focus for their February club meeting. I also knew that these members had also not learned how to watercolor so I decided to combine these two techniques for all three cards.

Here's one of the cards they will make today. It uses the Baby Tees jumbo wheel which each "onesie" colored with blender pens and watercolor crayons :

This is certainly the time of year to start creating baby cards for all those little ones we will be welcoming into the world in the coming months. This card is easy and fun to create - contact me directly to purchase the Baby Tees card supplies or shop at my Online Store, open 24/7!

Bold Blossom

I bet you haven't even noticed this stamp set in the Occasions mini catalog (pg. 31) but if you like the Clean and Simple cards I have been creating lately, you will certainly want to take a second look at Bold Blossom:

Here's my Online Store description of this stamp set: The sweetly symmetrical stem and leaf, blossom, and butterfly images in this set are designed in a simple but stunning artistic style. Together they can create an eye-catching nature scene on cards and scrapbook pages that is sure to capture the attention and admiration of your family and friend—especially when stamped in bright, cheerful colors. A sincere greeting in a cute and curvy font accompanies these adorable images for expressing your feelings of gratitude in a tender tone.

Here's a Bold Blossom card that my Raleigh Card Club is making tonight:

Now this card looks very simple but the card base is not Bravo Burgundy. I will take a second photo of this card opening and post it on my Facebook Business page this weekend so pop on over there to see how cool this card really is! And while you are on my Facebook page, become a fan and have a look at my photo gallery. Many cards posted there are not seen anywhere else.

Big Shot Special

MY BIG SHOT HAS FOUND A NEW HOME! This past weekend I purchased a desk unit that will be used exclusively for my Big Shot projects and I am so excited that we all have to celebrate!

And in celebration....I'm offering an EXCLUSIVE BIG SHOT SPECIAL- NOW THROUGH MARCH 31ST, 2011!

When you purchase a Big Shot and two dies from me - I will give you a TEXTURED IMPRESSIONS EMBOSSING FOLDER for FREE! (purchase total of $150 before tax and shipping)

This purchase will also qualify you for 3 FREE STAMP SETS from the Sale-a-bration mini catalog AND 25 Customer Loyalty Bucks!

What are you waiting for? It doesn't get much better than this! Place your order today! Give me a call at (919.518.0607), place your order through my Online Store, or email me at: [email protected]

 

Already have the Big Shot? Don't worry - place a $150 order with me and all the "freebies" still apply!

Project 52 - Week 5

This page was almost a no-brainer with the weather we've been having this winter. I have experienced canceled and delayed flights, closed schools and treacherous driving conditions in a state known for its mild winters. Say, what? I moved here to avoid the cold winters back in Alberta and they seem to have found me here.

So of course I had to scrapbook one particularly nasty snowstorm we encountered - when we could safely leave our house to shovel and snap some photos!

 

For the first time I used a layout suggested by the My Digital Studio program - sort of like a template that I just dragged the photos into. Then I added several of the Snowflake punch images - the background snowflake images were at 60% Opacity to fade them into the background and the ones in the foreground were colored Whisper White.

Five weeks and going strong with Project 52. Every week when I make a new page I can't help but smile knowing that early next year I will have this fabulous book that recorded the small but important events of 2011.

If you'd like a close-up and personal look at My Digital Studio, contact me and I am happy to oblige!

Ice Cream Parlor

I sure hope you have not overlooked page 7 of the Sale-a-bration mini catalog. If you are a My Digital Studio lover (like me!) you will want to earn the FREE Digital Content CD with tons of new downloads for this fabulous program.

Also, don't miss out on the Ice Cream Parlor designer series paper pack and Quick Accents pack.

I received my pack last week and broke it open this weekend. I have created four completely different cards so far and have most of the pack left!

Here's one of the cards I created:

Isn't this a fun card? I am working on creating a complete set of cards that you will be able to make when you earn the Ice Cream Parlor pack for FREE!

President's Day Sale

I heard on the news yesterday that with today's President's Day Sales the average shopper will save about 7%. Immediately I thought to myself - well, I can certainly do better than that for my customers!

So for today only, all US orders of $25 or more that I receive via email or telephone between 5:00 am and 9:00 pm will receive FREE shipping! That's a 10% savings!

Don't forget: it is Sale-a-bration and all orders $50 or more will receive FREE Sale-a-bration benefits which could be a double savings for you today only! To see the products you can earn, click on the Sale-a-bration mini below:

 

 

So why bother wasting gas and fighting the crowds out there today, when you can save from the comfort of your home? Contact me at: [email protected] to save on some of your wish list items today!

Sundays with Sizzix: Tasteful Trim

Today's video tutorial is short and sweet – just like the card I feature in the video! I have shared a few Clean & Simple cards with you lately and here's another one to try at home. I used the Tasteful Trim die to create the border trim. Tasteful Trim was a die introduced in the Holiday Mini catalog and, although not in the Occasions Mini, is still available for purchase!

Here's the card I created:

Tasteful Trim Card

Stamp sets: Simply Said; Apple Blossoms

Ink: Basic Black

Paper: Whisper White (11 x 4 ¼"), Poppy Parade (scraps), Blushing Bride (scraps), Level One Hostess In Color paper pack (one sheet 6x6: Poppy Parade)

Accessories: Big Shot, Extended Cutting pads, Tasteful Trim die #120893, Snail Adhesive, Paper Snips, Bone folder

And now for the video tutorial. Enjoy!

 

If you'd like to order the Tasteful Trim die, contact me at [email protected] and I'd be happy to help you out.

Clean and Simple

Here's another "Clean and Simple" card that is easy to create but beautiful none-the-less. I used Because I Care, a set that is very versatile and well worth having in your stamp collection.

 

 

I inked the stamp using markers: first I used Bashful Blue over the whole flower and Pear Pizzazz on the stem and leaves. Then I added touches of Not Quite Navy to the flower before stamping on the Whisper White card layer. The phrase and darker layer under the flower layer uses Not Quite Navy to coordinate the colors. After the card was assembled, I then used my 2-Way Glue Pen and fabulous Dazzling Diamonds glitter (the best glitter in the whole world!) to add a touch of dazzle to a small number of flower petal centers - just enough to catch the light and add interest to the card.

Pull out your Because I Care and create several of this Clean and Simple layout. Store them away in a shoebox and when you need a card on short notice all you need to do is add a phrase to suit the occasion!

If you love the idea of creating Clean and Simple cards, register below for my:

Clean and Simple Card Class

 At this class you will learn how to create Clean and Simple cards - each card is simple to create but also beautiful to look at. Use several Stampin' Up! products to create 10 cards, two each of five different designs, for a variety of different occasions.

Date: Saturday, March 26th
Time: 2:00 - 4:00 pm.
Cost: $20

Deadline to RSVP: March 21st

Very Vintage Scrapbook page

My Scrapbook club meets this weekend and I have spent some time getting their three 12x12 pages designed and ready for them. For some reason, two of my three pages have a butterfly theme - can it be that I am very ready for Spring to finally arrive?

When I was designing the page below I decided to use the jumbo wheel called Very Vintage. I realized that this group of scrapbookers has not used a wheel on a scrapbook page all year - yikes! After I used the Very Vintage wheel I stamped over the wheeled image using the butterfly in Great Friend. This added to the vintage feel on the page:

Add a couple of punched images and a journaling box and this page is ready for a beautiful photo.

I have a new Raleigh Scrapbook Club forming in April and am looking for a couple of new members. We meet once a month for 10 months and one of those months you would earn the hostess benefits based on the sales that month. If you would like to join or would like more information, please contact me: [email protected]

I love my Big Shot

With such a busy world that we live in right now, we all love it when we can find something that makes our life so much easier. I think I told this story quite a while back but when Stampin' Up! announced that they were partnering with Sizzix to offer the Big Shot to you, the cheers from my fellow demonstrators were astonishing. I sat there clapping and wondered: What is a Big Shot?

My goodness, my life has certainly changed since I invested in a Big Shot! Paper crafting has become so much easier. The style of my cards has become more creative. My Sundays with Sizzix video tutorial is published each Sunday - that's how much I love this tool! The first thing I look for is new Big Shot products when new Mini Catalog is published and I know that many of my customers do the same. (Don't you love the embossing folders?)

 

If you joined my mailing list you should have seen my special announcement on February 15th for my birthday month Big Shot Giveaway. Contact me now to participate in this fun giveaway. And if you have not joined my mailing list, you can do so now - look for the Join My Mailing List box in the top left-hand corner of this blog. Subscribe to my newsletter by February 18th and I will resend my birthday announcement newsletter to you too.

Project 52 - Week 4

Last week I experienced such a funny event, I knew I had to scrapbook it for Project 52. It was one of those events that I knew I would forget many years from now but that if I scrapbooked this moment, my son and I would recall it with a smile some day.

I used My Digital Studio to create this page. The paper is from the Love Impressions designer series paper and I used Basic Black eyelets to add interest at the bottom and to the left and right of the title. The brackets are from the Notes and Details stamp brush set digital download, which is only $3.95:

The next time you sit down to scrapbook, think of those funny, memorable moments in your life and record them to chuckle at some future point in life.

 

Polished Stone Technique

I have a group of stampers who meet once each month not only to make cards but also to learn a new technique for card making. These are paper crafters who want to go beyond learning about new products and I love to choose a technique to teach them.

In January the technique they learned is called Polished Stone. This technique uses reinkers and rubbing alchohol to produce a lovely mottled effect on a card layer.

Here's the card they made using the Polished Stone technique:

The interesting thing about this technique is that each time you make the Polished Stone background it looks completely unique from the time before.

If you and your friends would like to learn this technique, contact me and I'd be happy to plan a Stampin' Up! party with you to teach you how to make this striking card.

My Top Five Reasons Why I Love Stampin' Up!

5 - the superior products. Plain and simply put - our products are the best quality you can find

4 - the guarantee. If a problem occurs, Stampin' Up! will fix it. No questions asked...ever

3 - the Statement of the Heart. It's what Stampin' Up! believes, and so do I! (click here to see Statement)

2 - the new friends I make. Customers and demonstrators - I have never met a stamper or scrapbooker I have not liked

1 - stamping. It's my relaxation, my stimulation, and my occupation - the best job ever!

Here's a special Valentine created just for you! It's using a technique called Clean and Simple.

Need a last minute card idea? Try this Clean & Simple technique idea for someone special! Thanks for stopping by - Happy Valentine's Day!