A Thank You package!

Good Morning!


Today I am heading up island for the day. I will be attending a women's retreat. Wow, a day away without kids. Almost seems untrue.


Well, I thought that I would leave you with a great little "thank you" package. This is a special "chocolate" box that I made recently. It holds a full package of Hershey's Kisses. I used Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White cardstock. Behind the main image is a piece of paisley patterned paper from the Rebecca Designer Series 12x12 paper. The images stamped on this box are from the Polka Dots & Paisley stamp set. The words "thank you" are from the hostess stamp set Warmest Regards.



Here is a card that goes wonderfully with the chocolate box. It uses the same paper with the addition of Pretty in Pink cardstock. I also "roughed" up the edges on the paper surrounding the main image using the distressing tool in the Cutter Kit. The main image is also adhered to the page using Stampin' Dimensionals to raise it off the page. I have many people in my life to thank! I'm sorry if you all do not receive this wonderful little thank you package. I sure would be making a lot of them!

Love what you do and share what you love....that's what I'm doing!

Have a wonderful day!

Stacey

(images copyright Stampin' Up! 1990-2007)

A RONA evening!

Good Morning Stamping and Scrapbooking friends!

This is a very exciting post for me! Last night I attended a Ladies Night at our newest local RONA Home and Garden store. It was a wonderful evening. They had 8 great "How to" stations set up. The ladies divided into groups and we rotated through the stations! I think the Flooring Instalation station was of the favorite...at least with the group I was in! But they were all wonderful! The staff at RONA and all of the area specialist at the stations were extremely freindly and knowlegable. Those are the most important aspects I look for.

At the end of the evening, there were a number of door prizes. The prizes were amazing; from specialty paint to $50-$75 gift certificates! There was, however, one final door prize which was the grand prize draw. There was one catch with the door prizes...you had to have stayed around at the end of the evening in order to win! They drew for the grand prize....announced the lady's name over the announcement system. As it was not mine, I started my way out. But.... she was not there. Just as I was about to leave they drew another name! You might have guessed it by now....it was MINE! My heart was beating like crazy as I couldn't believe my luck. I guess I should thank the lady who didn't stick around. But, a BIG thank you is in order to RONA!!!! My grand prize was a $100.00 gift card.

I arrived home and showed hubbie all of the great stuff(there was also a "goodie bag" everyone received at the beginning of the evening...a pair of work gloves, a RONA key chain, and my very own(YES, MINE Keith!) RONA measuring tape, a pen and notebook. Of course I had to drag out the fact that I indeed had won the grand prize. Keith was very pleased with me though! He really is envisioning a workshop/shed in the near future! Watch out RONA staff...here we come!

Well, there is more to let you know about. As Keith and I have been at RONA many times over the last few weeks, I thought that I would share what we have been working on. As I have mentioned in a post a while back, we had poured the step into the Stamping Studio. But as the weather was very odd to say the least, we were forced to wait to build the brick path leading into the studio. The weather had been much better lately, so Keith(and I ...but more Keith)have been busy working on the walkway. We used the bricks that we had removed from the front of the house from the beginning of our renos to frame the walkway. The rest of the bricks were from RONA! We used 24x24 inch blocks as well as charcoal coloured bricks to fill in the rest. Keith went out to RONA this morning to rent the stone/tile cutting tool. He is outside having fun right now as I am typing. He will be going full tilt ahead today until it is done. I can't wait to see the end result. Here are two pictures of what it looks like so far. One of the walkway and one with Keith working on the walkway(don't tell him his picture is on my website!). I will post another picture when the walkway is complete!

Again, a BIG thank you to RONA!

Happy Stamping!!!

Stacey

Petals & Paisley Card Swap

Good Morning Friends!

As I had mentioned in my previous post, I participated in a card swap last night. All of the demonstrators used the Petals & Paisley stamp set. This stamp set will be available in the upcoming Spring Mini . The Spring Mini will run from March 1st through to June 30th.

The first two cards that I will post featured the paisley print stamp from the set. Each demonstrator coloured in the paisley design as well used the "find joy in the little things" saying on the card. Both of these layouts are great. Take a look at the stamp sets you have and incorporate them into these layouts. These layouts are very versatile . Where they have stamped the saying, take one of your stamp sets and put an image there.

The card on the left was created by Alicia. She stamped all over the main piece of cardstock using the background stamp in the set. She then stamped the Paisley stamp on two pieces of whisper white cardstock, coloured the image with a Stampin' Write Marker(Pixie Pink), then the pieces were mounted on Basic Black cardstock. The vertical piece was embellished using black and white gingham ribbon. Note how Alicia alternated the ribbon colours. Finally, the saying was accomplished by actually colouring right on the stamp using the Stampin' Write Markers to achieve the two colours on the one stamp. Once you "colour" the stamp, you "huff - or breathe" on the stamp to moisten it again, then stamp onto the cardstock. The saying was double mounted which helps it stand out a bit more than the paisley image. Great card Alicia!

The second card to the right was created by Bev. She stamped the paisley design onto whisper white cardstock which was then mounted onto chocolate chip cardstock. Bev coloured the paisley with the Stampin' Write Markers but used two colours: Pretty in Pink and Mellow Moss. Bev also used Chocolate gingham ribbon to embellish her piece of paisley stamped cardstock. Bev also stamped the saying on whisper white cardstock and double mounted it on Mellow Moss and Chocolate Chip cardstock. In addition to the saying, Bev also used the flower image. The same technique was used to achieve the two colours on this stamp by using the Stampin' Write Markers. A final embellishment of three little brads from the Soft Subtles brad pack really finish this card off! Amazing card Bev!

There will be a few more cards from the swap to follow. Check back over the next few days!

Happy Stampin' and Scrappin'!

Stacey

(images copyright Stampin' Up! 1990-2007)

HAPPY swap cards!

Good Morning!

I am in a card swap this evening so I thought that I would share with you my creations. I took the card that I designed for our demonstrator's group colour challenge and "stamped" with it! I just changed the colour scheme and voila!...a new card. I wanted this card to be more "realistic" in a sense.

Stampin' Up! has a March art contest for demonstrators. I decided that I would make two of these little "HAPPY GIRLS" to submit for the contest. This is the first time that I have considered entering a Stampin' Up! contest . I must admit that I love these cards. I have also received such great feedback on them. Thanks for all of your wonderful words, it really inspires me and challenges me to push my creativity even further.

Here are individual pictures of the two cards that I am submitting for a better view. The only difference with these cards is the use of the Canvas background stamp. I used this stamp on the card to the left. I still prefer the card without the use of the background stamp. But, as each person has their own opinion, I am submitting both. Who ever judges the cards may have the opinion that the card that uses the background stamp might be a more complete card as there is less cardstock left unstamped. What do you think? I would love to hear your opinion.


Happy Stamping!


Stacey


(images copyright Stampin' Up! 1990-2007)

Scrappin' Card Samples!

Hello Stampers and Scrapbookers:

Here are 10 cards that my upline Bev made using the Simply Scrappin' Kit Just Delightful. This kit as well as 5 exclusive stamp sets are only available until the end of this month during the Sell-A-Bration promotion! You may choose one of these exclusive products for FREE with every $75.00 you spend on catalogue merchandise.

The Just Delightful Simply Scrappin' Kit is quite impressive! It would make some wonderful scrapbook pages. Bev created 4 of these cards in her first hour! She was able to complete all 10 cards last evening. And as she does, I love every one of them! There are no stamps used on any of these cards - just card stock and the Just Delightful Simply Scrapin' Kit. Bev informed me that even after making these 10 cards, she still has much of the kit left... She only cut into one of the patterned pieces of card stock. She still has lots of the self-adhesive die cuts left although she did use up all of the flowers. Some of the other pieces that are left over are more suited for scrapbooking so they can be used for scrapbooking purposes.

Bev just picked out some different colours of card stock that coordinated with the striped card stock for the main cards - Bashful Blue, Cameo Coral, Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal, Barely Banana and So Saffron. Then she played with some different layouts, added some brads and ribbon on a couple of cards... it was quick and easy!

Remember that this Just Delightful Simply Scrappin' Kit will only be available during Sell-A-Bration which ends on February 28th! Don't miss out!

Thank you to Bev for sharing these wonderful cards with me so I may share them with you!

Happy Stampin' and Scrappin'!

Stacey

(images copyright Stampin' Up! 1990-2007)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valnetine's Day to all of my stampin' and scrappin' friends!

I hope that you all had a wonderful day full of love and laughter! I thought that I would just post quickly to show you one of the cards that I made for Valentine's. It was the card that I designed for my silk scarf class. I simply changed the salutation....and voila! It is now a Valentine's card. This would also make a great card for an anniversary or wedding. The Petal Prints set is such a wonderful set. As I have also mentioned before, it is one of my favorites.

Wishing everyone love and laughter in your lives!

Happy Hugs and Warm Wishes!

Stacey

(images copyright Stampin' Up! 1990-2007)

A Birthday Gift

Hello Stampers and Scrapbookers!

This past week was very busy for me with Sell-A-Bration in-home workshops. The pace has just settled down over the weekend and I was able to spend a great deal of time with family and friends.
On Saturday evening I was invited out for dinner to celebrate my friend Trina's birthday. Since Trina had requested many of my cards over the past few months to give to others, I only thought that it would be fitting to give her a collection of cards for her birthday. I made her eight coordinating cards and packaged them in a paper-crafted handbag. I made the handbag to also coordinate with the cards. Since it was her birthday, each of the cards were birthday cards. We all have a need for birthday cards so it seemed fitting! You can see another sample of a paper handbag and card set in my posting from my Sell-A-Bration open-house. The handbag featured here was decorated using the Simply Scrappin' Just Delightful scrappin' kit (choose this kit or one of 5 exclusive stamp sets for free only until the end of this month with a $75.00 purchase). I chose to keep the decorations on the bag simple. The card layouts were all different. I kept them simple as well. In fact, I always have so many scrap pieces of paper in my scrap bin that I wonder if they will ever be used. For these cards, I made a point of choosing the colour scheme to match the colours in the scrapbook paper. I then went to my scrap paper bin, pulled out the folders holding each colour, and started to piece papers together. I literally made up the layouts depending on the pieces that were already cut up. If you have many scrap pieces of paper leftover from previous projects, pick a colour scheme and start to piece papers together. You will be amazed with what you can come up with!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRINA!

and...happy stampin' and scrappin' to everyone!

Stacey

Polka Dots and Paisley

Good Evening Stampers!

Sorry that I have delayed in posting. I have been busy designing cards and planning a few upcoming in-home workshops. February is the last month of Sell-A-Bration. If you were thinking about taking advantage of Sell-A-Bration to earn the free Sell-A-Bration stamp sets, please contact me at staceysstampingstudio@shaw.ca to book your in-home workshop. I still have a few workshop dates available towards the end of the month.

Here is another card that I made for the colour challenge. I used the Polka Dots and Paisley stamp set and all of the colours in the colour challenge. Also used on this card is an embellishment from the Hodgepodge Hardware kit. Attached to the Hodgepodge Hardware is white grosgrain ribbon and white narrow organdy ribbon. Note that I made the white grosgrain ribbon unique to this card. I used Rose Red Craft Ink on the background stamp in the Polka Dots and Paisley stamp set and stamped it directly onto the ribbon. Make sure that you leave plenty of time after stamping the ribbon for the ink to dry before handling. You can speed up the drying process by setting the ink with Stampin' Up's! Heat Tool. By using this technique, not only will the colour of your ribbon match your project, but now you can coordinate the design on your ribbon to match the stamp set that you use on your project! Sometimes it's all in the coordination! That is where Stampin' Up's! line of products make it easy for you to coorinate your project. Now you can take the coordination one step further! Give it a try! I'm sure you will be pleased with the outcome.

My postings may slow down over this next week as I will be busy with Sell-A-Bration in-home workshops. Please check back periodically. If I have a chance to make a post I will do so!

Happy stampin'!

Stacey