Where I Have Been....

Well that is a long story, but here goes.

If anybody reads this blog they will know that I bought a house recently. Well, I just took possession a couple of weeks ago and have been trying to get things ready. This involves contractors and painters. Plus there is furniture to buy.  I hope to be moved in a couple of weeks. One of the things I am REALLY looking forward to is finally having a proper place to stamp! Wee! One of my spare rooms will be turned into an office/stamp room.  Once I have everything set up and decorated I'll post a pick of my "lab"! Hee

I have therefore been rather lax in communicating things to you.  So here I will try and catch up on a few things.

The 2008 Occasions Mini is still available! They have extended the deadline until June 30th. For more info, click here.

Want a sneak peak into the Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book?  Who doesn't??!! Stampin' Up! is giving everyone the opportunity to get their hands on 2 new products!  Purchase the Fresh Cuts stamp set for $25.95 and you can get a set of Fresh Cut Notes for only $5.95. I received mine and I love them.  Plus, and I am salivating about this prospect, I hope this is a harbinger of things to come - the stamps were all die-cut!  No cutting!  There's so many things you can do with these.  Here's a sample of one that I did:

I used a piece of Tempting Turquoise designer paper for the background, some Bali Breeze paper (Hint:  This is going to RETIRE with the next catty!  Contact me to order some before it's all gone!) and then some layered pieces of Flower Fusion (this will also retire) and a rhinestone brad.  I think it's really pretty. Plus, the cards come with envies!

To view a copy of the flyer for this great promo, click here.

Check back in a few days for another post about the retired accessories list!

Announcing Decor Elements!

Stampin' Up! just announced a brand new product line:  Decor Elements. What are they?  Think large vinyl decals for your wall!  They're removable too!  It's a great way to give your home an extra decorative touch. Some of the elements co-ordinate with existing stamp sets too, which I think is really neat.

To view the flyer, click here.

I'll have some flyers available soon. If you're interested, drop me a line!

The Retired List is Here!

Every time Stampin' Up! releases a new catty, there are always a number of stamp sets that are retired.  Hey, they gotta make room for all the new stuff!  We're always sad to see our favourites go (fond farewells, Carte Postale) but I'm excited to see what the new catty will bring.

To view the list of retiring sets in alphabetical order, click here.

To view the list of retiring sets in numerical order (by page number), click here.

Happy Belated Mother's Day

Sorry I have not been posting much of late.  Remember a while back when I said I was looking for a house? Well I found one!  I will soon be living in Mississauga, which is not too far from where I am now. I have decided that this would make the perfect subject matter for my first scrapbook! Yes, I am going to start scrapping - I blame it all on Wendy!  Anyway, more on that later.

Here's a pic of the card I made my lovely mum for Mother's Day

The base is Brocade Blue, and the mats are Bashful Blue and Lavender Lace. This is my first go at watercolouring with ink (not the watercolour wonder crayons), and can I say, I think this is my favourite stamp set, Bloomin' Beautiful from the Occasions Mini. Perfect for watercolouring. I used some retired white organza ribbon (PLEASE, please, let them bring this stuff back!!) and a little Dazzling Diamonds for sparkle.  Mum really loved it.

Waterfall Cards

Ever wanted to know what a 'waterfall' card is? Well, it's this nifty little card that moves! What do I mean by that? Well, you pull the ribbon, and the images flip over onto themselves to reveal the final message. I have great fun making these. They're not very difficult, and they're a real show-stopper. Here's a couple that we made in a recent class

This one is done in Tempting Turquoise and uses the Carte Postale, probably my favourite set in the catty. Almost. Ok, ok, I have several favourites. Ok, many favourites. Sheesh!

Finished Flinging!

Wow, I had an amazing time at Spring Fling last weekend. Yes I know, it was last weekend and I haven't posted in a week - sorry!  I had a great trip there and back with my upline, Wendy, and another friend Colleen. I prepared 56 card fronts for swapping...odd number I know but hey. I had traded about 50 of them when the root beer I bought decided to explode when I opened it. So much for the other 6! :-) I also made 16 3-D mini photo albums. They took a long time but I love how they turned out.  Here's some pics

And here's a close-up of one of them:

These are the cards I took to swap. 

If they look familiar that's because they are.  I made a whack of these for another swap I was in, and just made extra for this swap. Less work is a good thing. The most popular one was the one with Gable Green background. So many people said they hadn't seen that colour combo before.  But I love it.

Check it Out!!

Here are the cards we completed today at Caroline's workshop. 

Card #1

I am in love with this colour combo- so fresh and "springy"!!  The stamp set is Just Like You, and $2 from the sale of each set goes to Ronald McDonald House.

Card #2

This card has a different fold, and is held closed using the slit punch and flowers from the Flower Fusion kit. Notice it uses the fabulous designer series paper Bali Breeze and has almost no stamping!   And I love the rhinestone brad in the middle of the flower.

Card #3

This card uses card stock from the the Wild Wasabi Special offer. I just trimmed a 1/4" off the long side and 3/8" off the short side. We embossed in clear on the background, and coloured in the flower with markers, and also used them for the ink on the sentiment. 

All in all, an excellent day up in Mansfield.  Now to go and work on my swaps!!