Celebrate Today - Birthday Balloons

I recently purchased the Celebrate Today Photopolymer stamp set from the Occasions Catalogue. Unfortunately life gets in the way, so I hadn't had any "me" time to ink it up and play with it.  All that changed however when I was checking out my stamping friend Diane Ison's class invite on her Face Book page Teach To Stamp. I took one look at her featured class card and began to smile.......no change that, I began to "grin".......... very widely!

Her delightful card featured a monochromatic card face filled with the balloons from Celebrate Today. From my first glimpse I wanted to CAS it. This is just totally a fun card, and one I would personally like to receive.   Here's Diane's version:

Diane stamped the balloons in Soft Sky, Pool Party and Bermuda Bay inks on a Whisper White card base, working from lightest to darkest ink, and centering her first balloon image. You couldn't get much easier than that, and oh my, what an impact this card has.  Easy to mail too!  Thanks Diane for always inspiring!
Here's My Version:

To make this card my own I started with a Bermuda Bay card stock base that measured 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 and was scored at 4 1/4".  Because I wanted a little glitz, I added a 5 1/4" x 4" layer of dazzling diamonds glimmer paper (which I can't get enough of).  And finally I added my stamped Whisper White layer which measures 5 x 3 3/4".  

I used Lost Lagoon, Pool Party and Soft Sky inks to stamp the balloons and went from lightest to darkest overlapping the balloons as I went. Note:  Quite truthfully, I had a little difficulty with my balloons stamping as evenly as Diane's did, but it appears there was a fine film or fluff on my stamp which blocked the colour application, and I don't believe my stamp pads which are the originally ones were juicy enough.  I've since cleaned the stamps and re-inked the pads and experienced instant stamping success.  The moral of this note is make sure you have clean stamps and juicy pads before you start your project.

To finish off the card face I added three basic rhinestones and stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment with two separate stamps from the Celebrate Today Photopolymer Stamp set, mounted on a clear block.

This is the Celebrate Today Stamp set and coordinating Balloon Framelits bundle.  The stamp set has 17 photopolomer two-step stamps that can be layered to give you many different images for your projects.  

Here's a view of the inside of my card I made.  The framelit that I used for the sentiment is from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Die. I know I'm going to be using these sentiments a lot because they're fun to make and they say it all!

 

Here's some additional cards I made with Blushing Bride, Pink Pirouette and Regal Rose inks and cardstock.    What fun!

Any one up for a class?  If so contact me by email.

I hope you enjoyed these cards.  The Occasions catalogue is only available until June 2nd so if you are interested in this stamp set don't delay, order today. 

Happy Stamping!

Penny Tokens 

Artisans Anonymous Quarterly Meeting

I first joined Stampin' Up! in 2006 and was introduced through my Up Line to a large group of stampers in the Fraser Valley area called "Colourful Impressions". 
This group of about 170 stampers led by Kristina Koch, met quarterly.  Everyone shared their love of stamping through displays, card swapping, demonstrations, and projects.  Through this wonderful group we learned a lot about Stampin' Up!, about being a hobby demonstrator or running a successful business.  Many of our group won honours such as the Rising Star award or top Canadian sales, had mention in the Stampin' Success demonstrator magazine, and so there was always something to share and be excited about.  Oh and did I mention we had a ton of fun going to these meetings.  

Unfortunately circumstances do change, and when Kristina left Stampin' Up! a year or so ago the group began to drift away and a big gap was left in my life and I'm sure in the lives of many of my fellow stampers.  We missed getting together and sharing our love of stamping. But, it looks like a new group is forming and things are about to change again.

Artisans Anonymous Quarterly Meeting

Last night, I got together with Diane Ison, Maureen Pollock, Debby Evoy and my sister to go on a road trip to Chilliwack where we  joined a group of ladies for a meeting of Jennilee Paul's Artisans Anonymous group.

We had lots of laughs on our road trip and a truly great evening of stamping, socializing and sharing.  It felt like old times being with my friends from Colourful Impressions and meeting all these new gals from the Artisans group, who welcomed us in.  All of us want to join this group for quarterly events.


How about you?  Are you a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator in the Fraser Valley area or elsewhere in the lower mainland looking for a group to join.  Well if so, you're welcome to attend these quarterly meetings too.  Jennilee has opened up her group to "all" current Stampin' Up Demonstrators in the area. The next meeting is on October 9th, and you can check out the details on Jennilee's events page.  Carpool like we did, we had fun! 

So What Did We Do and Talk About?

Our hostess, Jennilee attended the recent Inspire, Create and Share Stampin' Up! Convention in Salt Lake City along with Betty Gajsek, Tammie Thiessen and Diane Ison.  They were all excited to share "the news", regarding the upcoming Holiday catalogue, new products and promos, classes they attended and what impressed them most about the Convention.  It sounds like they learned a lot and came back with goals for the coming year and lots to show their customers.  Thanks ladies! 

Contact me by July 30th, to find out how you can get your free copy of this upcoming Holiday catalogue.

Make N' Takes:

What would be a gathering of stampers without Make N' Takes?  As it turns out we made two fantastic projects.  Our first project came from the July " Make a Wish" Paper Pumpkin Kit, which is just filled with exciting product:

July's Paper Pumpkin kit called Make a Wish contains 6 boxes, 6 card bases and 12 tags, along with a 10 piece stamp set, ribbon, stickers, an ink spot etc. to decorate with. Quite a lot in that little box!  You can check out a lot of great samples made with this Paper Pumpkin kit on Pinterest. 

I loved these stars!  They really look like chrome. 

Here is the card and gift box we made together - how nice this would be as a hostess or special occasion gift, and yes you can change the wording to suit the occasion.

The box assembles in about 3 seconds and there were these great round tags that could be decorated and tied to the boxes with the deluxe satin ribbon that's included. I really liked the combination of Blackberry Bliss (ink and stripes on the box) and the Soft Sky (stars and lettering). Very elegant and festive.

Paper Pumpkin currently has a 50% off sale on now until September 10th, for brand new subscribers, so if you're interested in received a monthly kit with all kinds of goodies in it for making quick and simple projects you'll want to sign up now.  Click here for more details on Paper Pumpkin.

My Paper Pumpkin

Make sure you use the PROMO CODE: HALFOFF2 when you place your order and pick me as your demonstrator so I can show you how to make the most of your kits.   

What's really great about Paper Pumpkin is that you can buy a monthly subscription or prepaid subscriptions for 3, 6 or 12 months. If at any time after subscribing to Paper Pumpkin you'd like to stop it can be cancelled without any hassle.  Watch this video to see what a kit looks like and how fast and easy it is to make something.

For Our Second Make N' Take:
We also made two cards using the Kinda Eclectic Stamp Set and some of the new In Colour products, that were demonstrated at Convention.  

Start your subscription now at My Paper Pumpkin.

Here are the two cards, a plain one on the left and then a stepped up version on the right.  

Both cards both were stamped with the Kinda Eclectic Stamp set  which is featured on page 164 of the 2014-2015 IB&C (Idea Book and Catalogue).  This six-piece stamp set co-ordinates with the Elegant and Bitty Butterfly punches and comes in clear and wood mount versions. 

This is the plain version of the card.  The base is a standard A2 Whisper White card stock measuring 81/2 x 5 1/2" and scored at the center. The sun was stamped in Hello Honey and the leaves were stamped in Mossey Meadow ink.  Some of the leaves were stamped off to give them a softer image.

A small piece of Sweet Taffy Designer Series Paper (DSP) was glued in the center on an angle and layered with a 4 x 1" piece of Crumb Cake card stock.  The dotted image from the Kinda Eclectic stamp set was stamped in Crumb Cake ink on this layer and followed by the sentiment "A little kindness goes a long way", in Mossey Meadow ink. The ends of this strip were cut into banner points using the Hexagon Punch.   

    

Kinda Eclectic 6 piece stamp set.  Wood Mount #135347 $33.95 or Clear Mount #135350 $24.95.

This is the stepped-up version of the card.  The little flowers which I've added with glue dots and decorated with basic pearls, were punched out with the new Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack.  The large butterfly was stamped in Tangelo Twist and then punched out with the Elegant Butterfly Punch.  

The small butterfly was punched from Vellum with the Small Butterfly Punch and attached with a glue dot to the center of the larger one. The smallest of the Basic Pears were added to the center crease of the butterfly. The brown loopy stuff is linen thread.  To get the loose loops, simply wrap a couple of loops of ribbon around your fingers and then adhere it to the design with glue dots or sticky strip, then cover with the banners.  

In this stepped up version, you can see the added background.  To achieve this look we inked up the back of the Honeycomb Embossing Folder with Crumb Cake ink and then transferred the ink to the front of the Whisper White card stock base. 

These were both fun cards to make and I can see the "Kinda Eclectic" Stamp set gaining a lot of popularity this summer because of the variety of stamps in the set.

Demonstration:

Zentangle Card by Lydia Fielder

Diane Ison was very impressed as were the others with the workshop she attended by Lydia Fielder on Zentangle techniques.  Zentangle is a relaxing form of doodle art that fast taking the country by storm.  

Diane shared some really great samples of Zentangle Designs that can be done simply with a black or coloured marking pen.  Diane used the pens from the Project Life set for her samples.  

Although I don't have a copy of the simple designs Diane showed us, I am posting a video by Lydia Fielder on Split Coast Stamping creating a Zentangle design with Stampin' Ups! Blended Bloom stamp. 

Here's another of Lydia's amazing designs with the Blended Bloom stamp that really impressed the gals.  This one is simply done with the Aqua Painter, Daffodil Delight ink and watercolour paper.  

Created by Lydia Fielder.  Posted on Split Coast Stampers.

Well I'm happy I could share this update on the Artisan's Anonymous group and this week's outing.  We had a lot of fun, learned a few things and are very excited about the upcoming catalogue and new products that will be coming out.  

Until next time, Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens

Lovely Cards in the Mail.......Card Share

Look at all my love cards! 

I love receiving cards in the mail, and Christmas time is just the best time of year for this particular treat!

Although I love all the cards that arrive, my heart understandably beats faster when I open the mail box and there's an envelope from one of my stampin' friends. I can't wait to get home and check out the treasure within .

Here are some of the awesome cards I received in this year's Southern batch. I know you'll love them as much as I did. 


Joni Metras sent me this beautiful card which features a telescope ink technique which is just jaw dropping!  Joni's card was the first to arrive in my mail box as part of a Pre-Christmas Technique card swap that she organized for our Cal Am Convention Girls group.  I was and still am blown away by this card which looks so awesome in real life...... the picture doesn't do it justice as the blend of colours fairly dance off the page.  Awesome card Joni!

Lighted Easel card

Diane Ison sent me an exceptionally beautiful easel card for our Cal Am Convention Girls Pre-Christmas technique card swap.    This easel card was fabulous just as it was, but Diane added a special twist for her technique.  She made this card into a luminary by adding a velum window where the big snowflake is stamped.  I kept this on display with a battery operated candle adding cheery little light in the background.  All my guests oohed and awed when they saw it. 

Adel Klassen from my Cal Am Convention Girls group created a beautiful textured card for our card swap using the Coredinations Early Espresso Designer Card Stock and the Lovely as a Tree Stamp Set.  She did a Shaving Cream Technique card to go with the swap. 

My wonderful and uber talented sister Heather created this delightful card for me using the Textured Impressions Holiday Frames Embossing Folder and the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set and matching framelits (available as a carry over in the Spring Mini Catalogue).  As you can see from the closeup shot she added some cute detail to the top of the ornament with a  little bird die cut from the Silver Glimmer Paper and some leaves from the Little Leaves Sizzlet die cut.

 

A dear friend, Betty Lee, created this beautiful card featuring the glorious tree and vintage sentiment from the Christmas Lodge stamp set.  Although you can't see it clearly in this picture the sentiment is embossed in Gold embossing powder and the gorgeous double scallop trim was achieved by layering a piece of brushed gold and certainly celery cardstocks that had been punched out with the Scallop Edge Border Punch and then offset in layers.  Very clever and oh so pretty! 



This beauty from Jan Meyns took my breath away!  She embossed a piece of metal foil with the Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder from the now retired holiday mini catalogue.  Simply awesome.  A Champagne and Silver Glimmer paper snowflake cut with the Bigz Snow Flurry Die Cut adds to the dazzle on this card. 

 

Spotlight on "Swap Shares" #1

Hi Stampers.  Today I'm going to begin my new series "Spotlight on Swap Cards" with a group of very talented stampers I had the pleasure of attending Convention with in July.  Not only are these gals talented but they were funny, spontaneous and oh so sharing................ great attributes for a group you just want to have fun with!

In this group photo Joni Metras from Charlton, Massachusetts is on my left while Adel Klassen and Diane Ison from British Columbia Canada are on my right.  For obvious reasons, we called our little group the "Can/Am Girls". We had so much fun this year we're hoping to join up for Stampin' Ups! 25th Anniversary celebration next summer.  It's sure to be a blast.  When we parted after convention it was with this thought........same time, same place, same group and more fun! 

 

And now for their great swaps.  I've thrown in some product and technique details but if you want more information just click on their links below I know they'll be thrilled to help you out with any questions or kudos.  I hope you enjoy these little works of art as much as I have! 

 

Spotlight on Diane Ison:

What new mom wouldn't want to receive this sweet little baby card? It was created by Diane Ison a very talented stamper from Richmond B.C.  Diane's featured stamp set is called Baby Prints. There are 7 great stamps in this set and she's used two of them to complete this great card. 

 

The image of the baby's feet was stamped in classic white ink and embossed.  The card base and the circle with the baby's feet were made with Baja Breeze cardstock and the Scalloped Circle is in Certainly Celery.  What a great colour combination. 

 

The sentiment Cherish the Moments is also in the Baby Prints set.  The cute ribbon detail is achieved with two small strips of 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Baja Breeze and Old Olive and the base ribbon is a strip of Whisper White 1/4" Grosgrain Striped Ribbon.  The Whisper White background  layer was embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder. 

Spotlight on Joni Metras:

How can you tell this card was created by a gal who loves the seashore with a passion?  When I look at this card I can feel the sand between my toes, the breeze on my face, and hear the roar of the waves.  Fantastic! 

 

Joni has featured the appropriately named Stampin' Up! stamp set "By The Seashore".  She used Naturals Ivory cardstock for her base and layered it with Baja Breeze and Crumb Cake that have been torn into strips.  Her seashell images are stamped with Early Espresso Ink on Crumb Cake, Natural Ivory and Baja Breeze cardstocks.  She's embellished the sand dollar image with a basic pearl.   The beautifully scripted sentiment "Imagine the Possibilities"  is from the Word Play stamp set and stamped in Baja Breeze ink. 

 

Don't you love the glitter along the water strip?  That was achieved with by laying down a strip of multipurpose liquid glue (pg. 177) and covering it with Glass Stampin Glitter.  This beautiful Glitter, which comes in Champagne and Silver is a chunky glitter that slightly tarnishes over time giving an aged vintage look to your projects.   

 

The final detail on Joni's card that I love is how she tied it with Linen Thread and then added some Baja Breeze Seam binding.  Can't get enough of that ribbon. 

Spotlight on Adel Klassen:

I travelled with Adel Klassen from Chilliwack BC to Convention this summer.  We were both first-timers and we had a couple of great pre-convention "swap assembling" sessions before we left on our big adventure.  This is one of many swaps Adele made.  She put so much work into this card and I was simply thrilled when she gave me one.  Thanks Adele!

 

Adele's beautiful wedding card features the "Love and Laughter" stamp set featured on page 38 of the IB&C.  This beautiful set has eight wonderful stamps that can be used for weddings, anniversarys and engagements.  The side-step card features five of the stamps from the set.  Adele did a beautiful job of embossing the dress in Pewter Embossing Powder and the cake and Congratulations sentiment in Black Embossing Powder.  Now that's a lot of embossing for one card. 

 

The side-step card base is made with Basic Grey cardstock and the contrasting Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White details really add some pizzazz to it.  The three Basic Pearls on the waist band of the wedding dress were coloured with a tempting turquoise marker and the heart on the top of the wedding cake was coloured with Perfect Primrose. 

 

Other accessories used to make this card included the Modern Label Punch, the Scalloped Oval and Large Oval Punches and the Labels Collection Framelits.  I can't remember how many of these cards Adele made but the number "50" comes to mind........... it might have been even more, and she told me her grandma, whom she adores fussy cut every single cake image by hand.  Now that's love!



Just in case you've never made a side-step card and would like to try, here is an easy video to help you out.  Side Step Card Video showing how to assemble the card base: