Gung Hay Fat Choy! Xin Nian Kuai Le! Happy Chinese New Year! The Year of the Dragon

The Year of the Dragon roared onto the calendar earlier this week.  Lunar New Year's celebrations are happening all over Metro Vancouver and the Chinatown Spring Festival Celebration is one of the biggest. 

At the heart of this wonderful Festival is the traditional Vancouver Chinese New Year Parade which features more than 3,000 participants and more than 50,000 spectators.  The parade this year begins at noon from the Millennium Gate and finishes up at Keefer and Columbia streets.




Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Chinatown will attract many visitors following the parade.  There will be many traditional Chinese events including caligraphy, bean toss, fortune-telling, wish making and more.  Dragons and Dragon Boat festivities will also abound.

Sale-A-Bration Has Started January 24th to March 31, 2012

After weeks of anticipation, it's finally here--

Sale-A-Bration starts today!

For more information on this fantastic promotion click here or contact me.

Sale -A-Bration Promotion - Join Stampin Up Today

• Sign up as a New Demonstrator on my Team during Sale-A-Bration and you'll get a FREE package of Designer Series Paper ($13.50 or less) or digital download (any price) beginning the month after you join Stampin' Up!
• As a new demonstrator you'll be able to alternate your choice between either Designer Series Paper or Digital Download each month.

Contact me today to find out how you can take advantage of this exciting and exclusive to Stampin' Up! offer. 

Valentine's Blog Hop - Join the Party!!!

 

Oh what fun!  I just heard Shirley Sumption's hosting a Valentine's Day Blog Hop and everyone's invited to play along.  I had such fun with her Halloween and Christmas Blog Hops that I'm really looking forward to this one.

So, what are you waiting for?  It starts tomorrow January 17th through Valentine's day (Jan 17, 24, Feb 6 and 14).  That's four weeks of fun! 

It's easy to play along here's all you need to know.  I'm running to my craft room now to make a card.  Hope you are too! 

Here are a few rules:

Anyone can  join the fun! 

1. Anything goes, Card, 3D project it just has to be Valentines.

2. Add the Hop to your Post, by using the code from Linky tools.

3. Add the badge to your post with a link to Shirley's blog at http://lookatmycutestuff.blogspot.com

4. Whatever you post has to be new not copied from a previous post or challenge.

Okay that's it.   Hope to see you there.

Penny

What do "Snow Days", "Puzzles" and "Birthday Cards" Have In Common?

How many more times do I have to shovel it?

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View from my office while I'm composing this note. What a sight!

It's snowing out today!.   We woke up this morning to about 6 inches of the fluffy stuff and it hasn't stopped all morning.  My DH's cleaned the driveway twice already, and is dreading the thought of having to do it again.


Guess that means we're stuck inside for as long as this lasts.  I have a grin on my face.  Wanna know why?  Okay, can you see my feet doing the happy dance?  It's because SNOW DAYS are productive days and I get to do my favourite thing........ play in my Stamp Room, have fun and be creative!!!!  Oh yeah, and get caught up on my January Birthday Cards. 

View from my office window to my upper deck.

My back yard.............. buried under a foot of soft fluffy snow!

While I'm stamping he's puzzling.  What a great way to spend a snowy day!

So in keeping with that thought, I've been in my craft room churning them out.  Here are two birthday cards I've made so far this morning.  Hopefully the gals I'm sending these too won't be peeking. Shhhhh.........

Here's my first Birthday Card of the day.  This little floral number was made with the following products:

Ink:  Perfect Plum, Versa Mark

Card stock:  Whisper White, Perfect Plum and Always Artichoke

Stamp Sets:  Perfect Punches #120517w/120516cm pg140), Happiest Birthday Wishes Hostess Set (#122615w/122617cm pg10), Fabulous Florets (#123025w/1123027cm pg. 107) and  Tiny Tags (118091w/118592cm pg.136).

Accessories:  Jewelry Tag Punch (117190pg 210), Two Tags Bigz Die (115954),  Bird Builder Punch (#117191 pg. 213), Extra-Large Oval Punch (#119859 pg 212), Lace Ribbon Border Punch (122362 pg. 211).  Basic Pearls (119247 pg 198), Dimensionals (104430 pg. 206).  White Embossing Powder (109132 pg. 201)

I've kept the inside of this card pretty basic, by just adding a 5 1/2" strip of Lacey Border punched out of Perfect Plum card stock.  The "A Little Bit Late" birthday wishes sentiment is one of eleven fabulous birthday greetings from the Hostess sets called "Happiest Birthday Wishes".    Ask me how you could purchase or earn this wonderful Birthday Greeting set for Free. 

The Fabulous Florets flower image that is featured here was stamped on Whisper White cardstock with Versa Mark Ink and then heat set with White Embossing Powder.  Both layers of Whisper White Cardstock on the front of the card were stamped randomly with the same image and embossed.  You have to look close to see the fine detail of the embossing on the white card stock. 

The flower image was sponged with Perfect Plum Classic Ink.  The Whisper White tag was stamped with the "hello" image from the Tiny Tags stamp set, and then punched out with the Jewelry Punch. 

The three tiny tags were mounted with dimensionals to give some definition from the plum tag.  The floral image from the Bird Builder punch was punched from Always Artichoke card stock.  A medium sized basic pearl was added to the center of the flower.  This floral arrangement and Jewlery Tags were mounted with dimensionals to the Perfect Plum tag which was die cut using the Bigz Two Tag Die.   

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Here's a closeup of the floral image and tags. 

  My second card is made with the Just Believe Stamp set. Here are the products used to complete this card:

Ink:  Baja Breeze, Soft Suede Classic Ink and Markers

Cardstock:  Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, Naturals Ivory Specialty Cardstock (pg. 181 IB&C).

Stampsets:  Just Believe (#116948w/120453 cm pg. 109), Tiny Tags (#118091w/118592cm pg 136), Perfect Punches (#117022w/120516cm pg 140).
Accessories: Framed Tulip Embossing Folder (#121809 pg 218), Silver Brad (#104336 pg. 199) Jewelry Tag Punch(#117190 pg. 210), Extra Large Oval Punch (#119859 pg. 212), 2-Way Glue Pen (100425), Stampin Dimensionals (104430 pg. 206)and Dazzling Diamonds (#102023 pg. 201).





Here's a close up of the detail of the details on the front of the card.  The Framed Tulips Textured Impressions Embossing Folder has created the perfect 5 1/4 x 4" frame for this floral image. 

To create the 2-toned floral image I used Soft Suede and Baja Breeze markers to colour the image and stamped it on a 3 x 4 1/4" piece of Naturals Ivory card stock.  Two-way glue was then applied to the flowers and they were sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds for a glittery effect. 

The Happy Birthday sentiment from Perfect Punches was stamped on a piece of Naturals Ivory Specialty card stock and then fussy cut around the inner oval. A piece of Baja Breeze was cut out with the Extra Large Oval punch and the sentiment was adhered with dimensionals. 

Before mounting the sentiment to the floral image, 3 jewelry tags in Soft Suede, Naturals Ivory and Baja Breeze were sponged, stamped with sentiments from  the Tiny Tags set, and mounted to the main sentiment with a silver brad.  The jewelry tags were fanned out and layered with dimensionals to make them stay in place.





The inside of the card has been stamped with one of the images from the Happiest Birthday Wishes - Clear-Mount Hostess Stamp set. 

SAB set "Fresh Vintage".  You can earn this set for FREE during the upcoming Sale-A-Bration sales event starting January 24, 2012.............ask me how?

Well that's it for today.  Now back to my card room.  Hope you enjoy these cards and thanks for dropping by.

Penny

Stampin' Queen's Sketch Challenge - SQSC21

Stampin' Queen's Wednesday Sketch Challenge #21 is out and I know it's going to be a popular and fun challenge.  The designers at Stampin' Queen really give their all in putting together their great renditions of the sketches.  Here's this week's sketch:

When I first saw this sketch it got my "vintage juices going".  I liked the layout and the colours they'd used and I immediately started visualizing how I would put my card together to achieve that same vintage look.  I'm using a fabulous new stamp set called "Fresh Vintage" which you can earn for FREE during the upcoming Sale-A-Bration sales period.

Here's my vintage card: 

My card base is Crumb Cake cardstock.  The next layer of Very Vanilla and Soft Suede cardstocks together only form one layer, because they're split into two separate pieces and adhered at the same level. 

The Very Vanilla piece measures 4 x 2" and was embossed with the Stripes Embossing folder and sponged in Crumb Cake. The Soft Suede piece measures 4 x 2 1/2" and is stamped with images from Fresh Vintage in Rich Razzleberry ink and heat set with Clear Embossing powder. 

Before securing these two layers with adhesive to the card front, I stamped  another image from the Fresh Vintage set which is a smaller version of the "Chamomile Wheel" on page 19 of the Occasions Mini. 

Here's a closer view of the detail on the main tag.  I die cut a second tag from Very Vanilla and then cut a 1/2" piece off the bottom, sponged it with Crumb Cake ink and adhered it to the bottom of the Rich Razzleberry tag.  I didn't emboss this piece.  The main tag is adhered to the card front with dimensionals.

The ribbon and small bow are Very Vanilla 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon (which I wished I had stocked up on before it retired).  Three tags were punched out with the Jewelry Tag and stamped with sentiments from the matching Tiny Tags stamp set (118592 pg 136 IB&C).  They were tied on with some gold cord and popped up with dimensionals.

I love these Rich Razzleberry Buttons.  They're from the Brights Collection of Designer Buttons #119747 on page 197 of the IB&C.  The buttons are attached to the card with large glue dots, and I've used very thin strips of Soft Suede cardstock instead of thread or ribbon for the centers of the buttons. 

Tip: Originally I was going to make buttons using my Buttons #5 sizzlet die cut.  To do this you simple die cut at least 3-4 layers of buttons.  Glue one layer to the next until you have a button sized stack and then do a wash of Crystal Effects over the top to make them all shiny.   

The sentiment is from the hostess set "Happiest Birthday Wishes" #122617 on pg. 10 of the IB&C.  It was stamped in Rich Razzleberry on Very Vanilla cardstock and then punched and layered with the Extra Large (#119866) and Large Tag Punches (#119876) sold on page 209. 

For the base tag, I cut a piece of Rich Razzleberry cardstock using the Bigz Two Tags Punch #115954 pg. 222 IB&C.  This tag was run through the Big Shot in the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing folder (#117335 pg 219) to give it some extra texture and the edges were sponged with Rich Razzleberry Ink. 

The corner element was punched with the Photo Corner punch (now retired), sponged with Rich Razzleberry and then Basic Pearls were added.  I coloured them to match the cardstock with a non SU alcohol based ink marker.

In the background you can see a little more detail of the three stamps I used from the Fresh Vintage SAB set. 

Here's the inside of my card which I stamped in Rich Razzleberry Ink.  The floral element is from the "Fresh Vintage" SAB set (#125117). 

The birthday sentiment, one of my favourite, is from the 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalogue and it's called "Perfect Punches" #120516.  I can't say enough about this 6 piece stamp set that coordinates with the Round Tab, 1 3/4" Scallop Circle, Scallop Oval, Curly and Modern Label punchs and the Extra Large Oval punch.  Check it out it's great value for your money and is on page 140 of the catalogue. 

 
Okay that's it for today.  Thanks for dropping by to visit and I hope you enjoyed this card.  It was fun to make and I really like this sketch. 

Penny

Spotlighted on Stampin' Queen's Sketch Challenge #20

As you can see by this beautiful little blinky here and on my sidebar my entry for the SQSC20 was one of three spotlighted cards featured this week on Stampin Queen's Sketch Challenge.  Click here to check out the other spotlighted cards by Rose-Ellen and Rachel, as well as all the other fabulous entries for the week.

I'm so thrilled this card was spotlighted, as I worked seriously hard on putting all the elements together, and wasn't sure if anyone would really like it. 

So "A Cup of Thanks" to the Stampin' Queens Design Team! This validation just made my day! 

Penny