Best of 25th Years August Stamp Set

Best of 25 Years Stamps

It's the beginning of August and time for Stampin' Up!s latest Best of 25 Years stamp set release.   

For August they are bringing you some favourites from Best of Halloween and I'm sure you're going to love these! Check out my Best of 25 Years Page on the menu above or click here for all the details on this great purchase opportunity. You'll get these Clear Mount stamps for just $17.95 plus shipping and handling, and if you order now you'll be able to get all those Halloween cards and favours out of the way! 

So What's So Special About 25 Year Anniversary Stamp Sets?

• All "Best of" stamp sets include 3-5 images, including a never-before seen image (see yellow highlighted stamp on my post).  These sets are just $17.95, plus shipping and handling - a great bargain!
• Each month Stampin’ Up! releases a new “Best of" stamp set featuring a new theme.  But don't worry you can still get all the previous months sets, because they'll all be available until March 31, 2014.
• Check out the new PDF flyer posted every month for each new “Best of” set.
• All “Best of” stamp sets are only available in Clear-Mount and you will need Clear-Mount Blocks B, C, and G for this set

Thin Lit Dies Just Released and Life Just Got Easier!

Would you love to create movement or flip flop cards but you don't know how to go about cutting them out or you just don't want the hassle?  I've got news that will change your mind.  Thanks to Stampin' Up!, movement card creating just got a whole lot easier and you're going to love it!  And I can show you how!

I should know how difficult it can be, because I just recently demonstrated this flip card in my Masculine Card Class.  

This WOW factor card was a fun challenge for both my students and myself, but it could have been so much easier.  For one thing, it took a bit longer to demonstrate as I had to work closely with each member of the class on the scoring and placement of the framelit die, and making sure nothing moved during the process of creating the flip window.  

Now I know why they call it a WOW card! It's because it was a scary process both for me and my students, and at the end we all went "wow". Honestly, who'd want to ruin such a big chunk of card stock if the framelit die shifted  ............. not me!  Anyway the long and short of it is that doing it the old way was fun, but the whole process was really slow in a class.  And, even though I really loved this card and thought about making  a similar one for a swap card at Convention, the thought of duplicating all the steps over and over again, simply intimidated me.

Okay so what's changed and why am I excited now?  Simply this.  During Convention we saw the most awesome demonstration of a new product called "THINLIT CARD DIES".   What made it even super duper exciting is that right after Shelli demonstrated this new technique, I won the Label Card Thinlits Die during at Prize Patrol!!!!!! Dancing up and down here!

There are some products you just have to see in action before you realize how much you need them, right? This is one of them!   

These new card dies come with extra die pieces that have versatile designs, so you can use them on other projects, not just flip cards. (The Circle Card Thinlits Die comes with 10 total pieces; the Label Card Thinlits Die comes with nine total pieces.)  Great value-especially to create an interactive card!  So check out this video and then I'll give you some more details. 

Available August 1, 2013

These impressive "flip" cards will make perfect invitations, Christmas or All Occasion cards.  The main shape in the cards (circle and label) can work with a lot of Stampin' Up!s stamp images so you can create tons of different kinds cards using many different stamp sets. Here are just a few suggestions to get you started:

Label Card Thinlits Die (item 133479):

• Happy Day Stamp Set (item 130294 W item 130297 C)

Circle Card Thinlits Die (item 133480) - $40.95

• Worth the Wait Stamp (item 131094 W)

• Five-Way Flower Stamp (item 131088 W)

Both card dies pair well with:

• Oh, Hello Stamp Set (item 131931 W item 130733 C)
• Yippee-Skippee! Stamp Set (item 131341 W item 131344 C) 
• Really Good Greetings Stamp Set (item 130330 W item 130333 C) 
• Regarding Dahlias Stamp Set (item 130324 W item 130327 C)

These dies also work well with our new magnetic platform (item 130658) so you can place the dies exactly where you want them!

Want more information or to see a demonstration, "try" before you buy?  Then just call or email me on my web contact page to to arrange a time.  

Convention Swap Post: Day Four

Are you ready for some more fantastic swap cards?  

I just can't believe how many wonderful cards I traded for and I only participated in one swap.

So without further a-do, here are some more great cards! 

Card Thirty-Four:  This amazing wedding card was created by my downline Ethel DeTemple, who attended Convention with me this year. Ethel is an awesome and talented Demonstrator and crafter who lives in Surrey, British Columbia. If you're looking for a Demonstrator in the Surrey area, simply type Ethel's name into the Demonstrator Locator area on Stampin' Up!  You won't regret it!  The stamp set Ethel used on this card is the "This Day Forward" stamp set from page 114 of the catalogue.  This 6-piece set has the vintage love bird and small butterfly images as well as four beautifully scripted sentiments that make this set  perfect for wedding or anniversary cards.  Ethel use Whisper White card stock for her card base and then mounted a 4 x 5 1/4" piece of Pool Party that she embossed with the Fancy Fans Embossing Folder.  The Love Bird image has been stamped in Versa Mark Ink and them embossed with Pool Party Embossing Powder. To finish off this card Ethel added a medium size Basic Rhinestone Jewel between the birds and a beautiful little bow made with the Pool Party 1/2" seam binding ribbon finishes off the front of the card.    Loved this card Ethel and loved swapping with you in the New Card Catalogue Swap!

Card Thirty-Five: Paula Mann created this really great Bon Voyage card using the Around the World stamp set from page 48 of the catalogue.  I love the way she used several of the elements from the 9-piece stamp set to make this card have a feeling of movement and fun.  This 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" card made with a Crumb Cake card base is folded at the top.  Her first layer is a piece of Midnight Muse card stock which has been embossed with the Chevron Embossing Folder.   Her next layer is a piece of 4" x 2 1/2" Very Vanilla card stock which she's ripped across the bottom edge and punched the top corners away with the 1/2" circle punch.   She's also either splattered Crumb Cake ink across this piece or stamped it with the splatter stamp from Gorgeous Grunge for a very effective look.  I luv the way she's used Gumball Green, Strawberry Slush and Baked Brown Sugar inks when stamping the accessories.  Nice combination of elements.  Finally I like the cute little bow Paula's tied with Linen Thread to link the two banners at the top right hand corner of the card.  Very fresh ideas on this card, thanks Paula! 

Card Thirty-Six:  Annie Medigovich created this card front using a combination of DSP papers for her banners.I believe the black gingham banner was stamped using the Gingham Wheel (don't quote me on that), at any rate a very nice combination.  Annie stamped the coffee cup and sentiment from the Kind & Cozy stamp set on page 82 of the catalogue.  How cute is this?  With a little layering and some basic rhinestones, this is an awesome card.  Thanks Annie! 

Card Thirty-Seven:  Designed by Connie Tumm of Stamp Art Squared.  Connie chose the Polka Dot Pieces stamp set on page 85 of the catalogue for her New Card Catalogue Swap card.  I'm so glad she did, because what an awesome card!  I'm loving everything about this 6-piece stamp set which includes all the cute images Connie has used and to make it super simple, these stamps coordinate with the Bird Builder Punch, Elegant Butterfly, 3/4 circle, 1 1/4" and 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punches. The Gingham Garden DSP that Connie cut into 1 1/4" squares is perfect for showcasing the various images she chose.  Another thing I like about this card is the way she has layered Burnt Brown Sugar card stock for her card base and then matched that with another layer in the same colour.  The addition of sponging around the small squares and the top layer of this card adds a lot of depth to this card.  Thanks so much Connie, just love it!

Card Thirty-Eight:  If you love circles and medallions then you're going to love this next card designed  by Cindy Castleman.  Cindy started with a card base of Naturals Ivory and then layered it with Crumb Cake and a piece of So Saffron card stock that was embossed with the Honeycomb Embossing Folder.  What a nice combination. For her element layers and inks Cindy chose Night of Navy, Crisp Cranberry, So Saffron, and Primrose Petals card stocks lending a soft but coordinated look to the card. A beautiful strip of the new Denim Jean Ribbon tied with a Linen Thread bow completes the picture.  The stamp sets used for this card are the Happy Flowers Hostess set on page 202 and the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set on page 30.  These little banners are so easy to cut out using the Itty Bitty Framelits Dies on page 187.    Great choices all the way around, thanks Cindy. 
 

Card Thirty-Nine: This WOW card was designed by Serena Marsh another member of our small Canadian contingent.  Serena is a remarkable stamper who has lots of fresh ideas and is an adventuresome stamper.  If you're looking for a wonderful demo in the Burnaby, BC area, then contact Serena, she's your gal.  Serena's card was one of my favourites in terms of a simple but WOW card.  She used Bermuda Bay card stock for her base and then added a 2 3/4" x 5 1/2" strip of Whisper White  across the center.  Serena stamped the single wood mount stamp called "Fishing Around" on this piece and then cut it out with the 1 3/4" circle punch so she could add a Circle Treat Cup. You guessed it instant fish bowl!  Serena actually filled these little Circle Treat Cups with water so it looks like the little gold fish are floating. Unfortunately airplane travel and customs weren't so kind to these cards so a few of them suffered from water damage.  Some stampers have suggested that using a clear gel like Dippety Doo would probably have worked as well without the leakage problem. Whatever, it worked for me! She did a nice job of colouring the little gold fish and with markers.  Serena also added the birthday sentiment from the Label Love stamp set.  This awesome 7-piece set is available in English, Spanish and French and coordinates with the Artisan Label Punch sold on page 181.  Thanks Serena for joining us on our journey and making it such a fun and memorable week.  Can't wait until we can get together and stamp!   

Card Forty:  Here's another awesome birthday card using the "Fishing Around" stamp.  This one designed by Cindy Carroll also uses the "Remembering Your Birthday" set on page 16 of the catelogue.  If you have lots of birthdays in your life, then this 8-piece sentiment only stamp set may be just the ticket for you.  It's available in English, French and German. Cindy's card base is the new Coastal Cabana card stock that was embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. I like the way she only embossed 3/4 of the card face and left room for the sentiment at the base of the card.  I also like the way she mounted her fish bowl on a piece of Melon Mambo that's been cut out with the second of the Window Frames Collection dies.  This piece was embossed using the Fancy Fan embossing folder.  The additional special touches were the small strip of Daffodil Delight paper from the Quatrefancy Specialty DSP.  This is topped with a piece of the 3/8" Ruffled Stretch Trim in Coastal Cabana. Cindy has done a simply awesome job of colouring her little fishbowl with aqua painters and then adding a clear glaze with Crystal Effects.  I also like the way she added the Champagne Glass Stampin Glitter to the treasure chest...........deluxe detail!  What a delightful card Cindy thanks for sharing!

Card Forty-One:  Designed by Linda Elliott of McKinney Texas this boldly coloured card is very hip and with the times!  She's combined Melon Mambo, Whisper White and Basic Black card stock for a very urban look.  The chevron background was created using the Positively Chevron background stamp inked in basic black. It measures 4 1/2" x 5 3/4".  Linda used Whisper White Craft (stamped off) to stamp the tag from the Chalk Talk Stamp set and then cut it out with the Chalk Talk framelits,  which can be purchased as a bundle for a 15% discount savings. Linda's card also features some basic rhinestones jewels that are cleverly placed on the card and a strip of 5/8" Whisper White Organza Ribbon.    The inside of Linda's wonderful card features a piece of Melon Mambo stamped in Whisper White Ink and the Positively Chevron background stamp.  A 1" half circle was punched out at the top center of this piece so a gift card can be inserted.   Very cute!  Thanks Linda for sharing. 

Card Forty-Two: I love the card designed by my friend Debby Evoy from Abbotsford, BC, it's gorgeous.  Debbie also attended conference with Ethel and I and was such a wonderful addition to our group.  Funny and vivacious, this gal really knows her stampin' stuff!  If you're looking for a fun and energetic stamping demo in the Abbotsford, British Columbia area, look up Debby in the Demo locator.  Tell her I sent you her way, you won't regret it!   The stamp set Debby chose for her New Card Catalogue Swap is the Six-Sided Sampler on page 125 of the catelogue.  This awesome 11-piece stamp set can be bundled with the coordinating Hexagon punch for an additional savings of 15%......... such a great deal!  Debby's awesome card starts with a base of Burnt Brown Sugar followed by a layer of Pool Party.  Next comes a layer of Early Espresso that has been embossed with the Honeycomb Embossing Folder.  A banner in Calypso Coral is centered across the card  and to this Debby has centered a beautiful lacey doilies in Pool Party.  The doily was die cut using the Delicate Doilies Sizzlits L* set on page 188.  The hexagons and sentiment were stamped in Early Espresso Ink.  What an awesome card Debby.  Thanks so much!  You're the best. 

Card Forty-Three: This lovely card front was made with a base of Midnight Muse and a layer of Gumball Green card stock.  The sentiment from the Blessings from Heaven stamp set was stamped in Midnight Muse ink.  This beautiful 6-piece set has both friendship and sympathy sentiments included.  The small medallions are from an equally great stamp set called A Round Array.  This 8-piece set coordinates with the 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch and is available in English, Spanish and French. Extra detail was added to this card by scoring it in 1/4" intervals above and below the medallions.  This was a well designed card, but unfortunately because it comes unsigned I'm unable to give thanks for it.

Card Forty-Four: Betsy Crider created this fun card using the You're My Hero stamp set on page 51 of the catalogue. This is a great set for first responders and all the cute little guys in your life.  The card base is in Night of Navy that has a layer of Basic Grey embossed with the Houndstooth Embossing Folder.   I love how Betsy stamped off the police car three times in Basic Gray ink and coloured in the star and flashing light with markers.  For her final image she's added silver mini brads to the tire hubs and a cute basic rhinestone which she's coloured red for the flashing light on top of the police car.  Too cute!  I also love the piece of Cherry Cobbler Chevron ribbon she's added below the stamped images.  This card is as cute inside as it is outside and she's repeated the Police car image with the happy birthday sentiment from this set.  Well done Betsy!

Card Forty- Five:  This beautiful card was designed by my good friend Joni Metras from Charlton MA.  Check out Joni's wonderful blog, Joni In the Spotlight  which has so many great card samples on it, and if you live in the Charlton area you might want to think about making this gal your demo because she's simply terrific!  Tell her I sent you!   For this clean and simple card Joni used a Whisper White card stock base, topped with a layer of Melon Mambo and a coordinating piece of the new Gingham Garden DSP.  She stamped "smile" on the bottom of the DSP base and the Medallion from the "Happy Day" stamp set in Melon Mambo Ink on Natural Ivory card stock.  For the medallion center she used one of the large buttons from the beautiful  Vintage Faceted Designer Series buttons on page 169 of the catalogue, and then she mounted this piece onto Melon Mambo.  Both the Naturals and Melon Mambo pieces were cut out with the Window Frames Collection dies. This set of 6-layering dies offers perfect placement for your layers and can be paired up with the Festive Paper-Piercing Pack to add an additional glam touch, as Joni has done.  Awesome card girlfriend.  Thanks so much for sharing it! 

Well that's it for today's series of Convention Swap Cards.  I hope you've enjoyed them.  Drop by and leave me a comment I'd appreciate it! 

Convention Swap Post: Day Three

This is my third day of posting swap cards.  I hope that by posting the products below each of the cards it will help you out, should you decide to re-create any of these great designs.  Well let's get started then with card #21:

Card Twenty-One:  This is a really simple but cute card I traded Linda Madsen for.  It uses the Perfect Blend Stamp set which is very popular right now.  I love the Burnt Brown Sugar 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon wrapped around the sentiment piece.  Because the straight edge of this ribbon is a stretchy elastic, it makes it easy to shape around the oval punched sentiment.  I like the way Linda added texture to the Burnt Brown Sugar coffee wrap with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.  The base of this card is in Rose Red from the Regals Collection.  She's also used a small piece of Rose Red for the straw that's inserted through the cup lid.  Linda stamped the coffee cup onto the Very Vanilla card stock with Crumb Cake ink and then cut the cup out.  She then embossed the Very Vanilla piece with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder before mounting this piece to the card base and then popping the cup into place with dimensionals.  This is a really cool touch.  Thanks Linda for a great card.

Card Twenty-Two:  Diane Ison, a good friend from Richmond BC designed this gorgeous flower card using Betsy's Blossoms.  This card has a very clean and simple design starting with the card base in Early Espresso. It's quite effective in it's simplicity.  The giant blossom is stamped in the top center of the Whisper White card stock in Primrose Petals ink.  I like the way Diane stamped the leaf in Pistachio Pudding ink on such a jaunty angle. The sentiment is from the 6-piece Itty Bitty Banners stamp set on page 30 of the catalogue.  Diane just recently started a new blog called Teach To Stamp and she featured this card for her recent card class. 

Card Twenty-Three: This card was created by Rosemarrie Gonzalez.  This beautifully crafted card is made with a base of Cherry Cobbler card stock.  A layer of Very Vanilla that has been embossed with the new Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder follows.  Rosemarrie cut a series of banners in different widths from the Birthday Basics DSP on page 153, and layered them onto a 1/4" x 4" strip of very vanilla card stock and then glued them to the front of the card.  She then added a piece of 1" x 4" Very Vanilla card stock with dimensionals over top of the 1/4" strip.  I really liked this additional piece of card stock as it adds a lot of dimension to the card.  She stamped the "happy birthday" sentiment from the "Express Yourself" hostess stamp set on page 205 of the catalogue. This 12-piece stamp set has beautifully written sentiments for every occasion.   Three small basic rhinestone jewels are centered below the sentiment.  The last feature of this card that is really cute is the paperclip ribbon.  Rosemarie simply tied a small strip of the Gumball Green Double Stitched ribbon onto a paper clip and then added it to the top of the card.  Very nice touch.

Card Twenty-Four:  Debbie Prante came up with this uniquely designed card for the 64+1 New Catalogue Stamp Set swap. Debbie has stamped the mosaic pattern and the sentiment from the Lovely Romance stamp set on page 63 of the catalogue.  This set also coordinates with the Chalk Talk framelit dies that are oh so popular this year.  Debbie has used a combination of Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White card stock.  The Mosaic images were stamped on the Whisper White background piece in Basic Black ink before this piece was embossed with the new Beautifully Baroque textured embossing folder. Small basic rhinestone jewels were added to the center of each mosaic and to the "a" in Amazing on the sentiment piece.  Debbie finished off her card with a strip of 3/8" White Taffeta ribbon.  This card really is "amazing". 

Card Twenty-Five:  Talk about be in the right place at the right time.  I was feeling sorry for myself because not all the players in the New Catalogue Card Swap showed up at the same time as I did, leaving me with 15 cards left over to swap on the last day of Convention  and now it's lunch time.  But not all was lost, because not three minutes after we sat down to lunch some gals at the next table asked us if we had anything left to swap, and yes you guessed it, this is one of the fabulous cards I swapped for.  Isn't it a stunner?  This card was created by ChrisAnn Tomasso. Here's a picture that ChrisAnn took with all her supplies and the card.

She used Coastal Cabana, Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Cranberry, Strawberry Slush and Baked Brown Sugar to sponge and stamp on this card.  She used two stamp sets.  The first is the By The Tide featured on page 77 of the catalogue.  If you love the sea then this 7-piece set is a definite "must have".  The second set which was used for the sentiment is Chalk Talk.  I love the way ChrisAnn used little basic rhinestones to depict bubbles coming out of the fishes mouth.  Really cool card Chris Ann! 

Card Twenty-Six:  This beautiful floral card was made by Jessica McComish of Dalton MA.  Jessica's card is made with a combination of Rose Red, Basic Black and Whisper White card stocks.  The featured stamp set for the New Card Swap is the Banner Greetings hostess stamp set, which she has cleverly embossed with black embossing powder.  Jessica also used the Daydream jumbo stamping wheel to produce the mosaic pattern for the center of the card. 

Card Twenty-Seven:   This delightful masculine card was made by Laureen Hages of West Branch, MI.  Laureen has used the stamp set Rev Up the Fun for this cute birthday card.  You can find this 6-piece two-step stamp set on page 51 of the catalogue.  Its a great testosterone stamp set for that little boy or man in your life.  Laureen used Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie and Whisper White card stocks, generally a Halloween combination of colours, but let me tell you it works effectively with this card.  She stamped the images with Stazon Black Ink.  A little piece of Pumpkin Pie 1/8"Taffeta Ribbon ties this card together.  I also like that she embossed the Pumpkin Pie layer of card stock with the Houndstooth Embossing Folder and sponged it with black ink.  It really gives the impression of tire treads in the background.  Great card Laureen, one that I'll be happy to show my customers, who are looking for masculine card ideas. 

Card Twenty-Eight:  Pamela Wu created this Plain and Simple card using Coastal Cabana and Whisper White card stock.  She has used small strips of In Colour DSP for her banners and stamped the sentiment "Thank You" in Coastal Cabana ink. This sentiment is from the Four You 4 piece sentiment stamp set on page 22 of the catalogue.  This sentiment stamp is a very good buy at $14.95 CDN.   The only other embellishment on this card is one of the silver 1/8" mini brads which are sold on page 170 of the catalogue.  You get 200 of these eye popping little brads that can instantly dress up any project. 

Card Twenty-Nine:  Donna Lane from Windsor California created this cheery little card using the Perfect Blend stamp set for the New Catalogue Stamp Set 64+1 swap. I'm in love with her bold colour combination - Baked Brown Sugar, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White and Strawberry Slush.  These colours really rock.  Thanks Donna great card! 

Card Thirty:  Donna Lane also created this card which features the sentiment from the "Lots of Thanks" stamp set on page 29 of the catalogue.  If you're looking to build your selection of sentiment stamps then this is another of the "must have" stamp sets.  It includes 9 stamps and is available in English, French and German.   This simple card also features designer series paper from the Soho Subway DSP series.  I love the way the patterns blend so perfectly.  Thanks Donna for your two beautiful cards!

Card Thirty-One:   I'm so happy that the World Map stamp on page 23 of the catalogue is available again.  It got off to a bit of a rocky start, but this 4 1/2 x 5 1/2" background stamp is going to be a really hot number.  This card created by Jessica Lewis uses a combination of the World Map stamp with the Around the World Stamp set for a fun and moving card.  Although you probably can't see it from this photo, Jessica has stamped the background stamp on photocopy paper then splattered it with old olive ink, crumpled it up and then flattened it again and drawn a border this layer with Early Espresso Ink........... it looks like card stock but it's not.  She's also added details like stamping the plane in Summer Starfruit.  Wish you could see how absolutely amazing this card is, in real life.  Thanks Jessica for this well thought out card. 

Card Thirty-Two:  Here's a very cheery "thinking of you" type card, in Strawberry Slush and Whisper White card stock.  This card front was made by Cathy Tucker of Mattoon, Illinois.   Cathy stamped the flower from  the 7-piece two-step stamp set "Too Kind" in Strawberry Slush and then added the stems and sentiment in Coastal Cabana.  This is a really pretty combination of colours.  I love the little Coastal Cabana striped banner on the right hand side of the card. This little embellishment simply pulls the card together, and what a great way to use up your scrap paper.  It was cut from the 2013-2014 In Colour Designer Series Paper and topped up with a Coastal Cabana flower punched out with the Itty Bitty Shapes punch. She also used a 3 x 4 3/4 piece of Strawberry Slush DSP for one of her layers. Great card Cathy!

Card Thirty-Three:  Beth Schreiber designed this gorgeous card using the Beautifully Baroque stamp and embossing folder.  Her card background is in the new neutral colour, Smokey Slate. For the Basic Gray layer she dry embossed it with the Fancy Fan Embossing Folder and added a strip of 5/8" Whisper White organza ribbon.The so saffron layer is die cut using the Deco Label Framelits and then embossed with the Beautifully Baroque embossing folder.   She's stamped the Beautifully Baroque impression in Jet Black Stazon Ink on Whisper White card stock and topped it with two butterflies punched from DSP with the Bitty Butterfly and Elegant Butterfly punches. The oval sentiment is from the Chalk Talk stamp set and cut out with the  large oval punch. Lots of layers and fancy stamping on this beautiful card.  Thanks Beth!