March Customer Thank You Gifts

Hello there! I am writing this a bit early, because, when this goes live, I will be on my way to Milwaukee for Stampin' Up!'s Onstage Local. I am so super excited!! This is an event for demonstrators to learn new techniques, swap ideas, receive recognition for special achievements, but most of all, we will get to see the new catalog and new goodies!! Ack! The hardest part is that we have to censor what we can show and tell for the next 2 months till it goes live. The good part is that, as a demonstrator, there will be items we can order early so we can play with them and come up with lots of fun projects to share with you. You're welcome.

This is also a reminder that the retiring list will be posting pretty soon (like in a couple days) and many of the items will be "while supplies last", and they won't last long. I don't know what the list is, but I am pretty sure the 2016-2018 In-Colors and the majority, if not all, of the Designer Series Papers will retire. If you are interested in any of these items, I suggest you get an order in quick or you may miss out.

Now, on to the project I have to share with you. First off, I want to say, I have the most awesome customers. I am so grateful that they choose to purchase some of their crafting goodies through me, and I like to send them a little "Thank You" at the end of the month. It isn't much, but I do so appreciate their business, and I hope that they know it.

I usually send a card along with a gift of some kind. Sometimes it's a hand made item, sometimes it's a prettily packaged chocolate treat. If they have chosen to use that month's hostess code, I also send out some free merchandise as well, since I use the hostess credit from that "workshop" to buy little goodies for them. It might be some ribbon, or sparkly gems and such.

This month, the Thank You card included the gift on it.

Can you find the gift?

They are magnetic bookmarks! The colored rectangle on the card front was only adhered on the sides and bottom, making a pocket for me to slide the bookmark into. I sized the Thank You embellishment so that it would hide beneath the bookmark. I did this on purpose as I generally do not sign the cards that I send out. This way they can reuse the card and send it along to someone else if they would like. I wanted the card to look nice without the bookmark in case they wanted to keep the bookmark but pass the card along. The pocket is done in such a way that it could be left as is, no one would really notice it is open at the top, or it could be used to tuck a gift card, or even a tea bag into it.

I did use some of my Sale-a-Bration stash for these cards, but the idea is easy enough to replicate with just about any stamp set or paper that we have. Wouldn't this be darling with our Pretty Kitty, or Bella and Friends stamps? Ooh, more ideas!

I need to head out the door and pick up my daughter from orchestra practice.

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

April Suite Samplings #2-A "Locking" Card

Hello there! I'm back with the first of several cards using the April Suite Sampling.

This pack of DSP has quite a variety of colors and patterns. I think the multi-colored florals are my favorite, but for this design I wanted something a bit simpler so the heart wouldn't get lost. The front is a simple layering of Basic Black Cardstock and the pink floral DSP, each 1/4 inch smaller than the layer behind. I tied a bit of the Black Shimmer Ribbon around the two layers before adhering them to the Powder Pink card base. The shimmer in this ribbon is very subtle, but, oh so pretty.

The fun part is the little heart. I used the Sweet & Sassy hearts dies to cut the stamped image, and 2 Basic Black hearts. If you don't have the dies, you could use the gold hearts that I include in the kit as a template and trace around them and fussy cut. The black hearts are folded in half and then glued to the back of the stamped heart so that they form an X.

I used the retired Word Window punch to punch out a slot in the card front, but you could use the Classic Label punch for it as well. Slide the heart into the slot so that the stamped image is in the front and the other half of the black "X" is inside. Apply adhesive and stick the heart to the inside of the card. Now the heart acts as a lock to keep the card closed, but when you open the card, the heart is on the inside. Does that make sense? If not, leave me a comment and I'll see if I can put together a better tutorial on it. 

What a fun card. I do like interactive cards and this one has a sweet message. :o) Only a couple more days to get your reservation in for the April Suite Sampling Kit. Don't miss out. I do have several more projects to share with you over the month, so as you get your kit, you will have lots of ideas of things to make with it.

Email me to reserve your kit.

Be sure to check out this post for all the information on the kit, and this one for another fun idea. Deadline to reserve your kit is April 6th!

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!!

Mail a Card Monday-A Little Wild Card

Hello there, and Happy April to you!! I would love to say Happy Spring, but here in Wisconsin, spring is slow to wake up. I'm sure it will be glorious when it does, but in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the excuse to stay inside and craft. :o)

I did put on my snow boots and hiked out to our mailbox (we have a long driveway) so that I could get a few cards out today. Glad it was today and not tomorrow--we're expecting another 6+ inches of white fluffy stuff tonight. Anyway, here's a quick shot of the cards I mailed out today. I'm not going to say a lot about them as the recipients may read my blog and I don't want to spoil any surprises.

Two of the cards are from my stash, but one was made special last night. I will post more on it later. Here's a card I mailed out a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure it has arrived, so I can talk about it now.

Isn't he just adorable? I CASED this card almost exactly. Nikki even has a little tutorial on the bottom for the sky. LOVE how it came out. I used a couple of sets for this: A Little Wild, Butterfly Basics, and Sitting Here. I think I may have to make a whole set of these as I have so many long distance friends I could send it to, and it was actually quite quick and simple to make.

I will be back with another project for April's Suite Samplings Kit. Remember, this Friday (April 6th) is the deadline to reserve your kit. I've been having so much fun making projects with it. I have 5 so far and I haven't really made a dent in it. Check out this post for all the details and this one for the first project I posted.

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!!

April Suite Sampling Project #1

Hello there! I'm back with the first project using the April Suite Sampling. I wanted to start with this project because even if you don't have the kit, this would be a super quick, easy project you could do for table favors for Resurrection Sunday. I know that's just 2 days away, but these are seriously, super easy and you could use whatever paper you happen to have on hand.

Bonus, this bag uses exactly one half sheet of cardstock (8 1/2 x 5 1/2), so you can get 2 bags from one sheet with minimal waste.

On the long side, score at 3 3/4 and 4 3/4
On the short side, score at 1 1/4 and 4 1/4

Cut along the long score lines, stopping at the short score lines. Then chop off an inch or so from the flaps you just made.

If you want to emboss your bag, this is the time to do it. Most embossing folders won't be large enough to do the whole bag in one shot, so this is a way around that. First, line the embossing folder up in this corner.

Then flip it around and line it up in this corner.

The bottom of the bag will be double embossed, but that's OK.

Then simply fold on the score lines and glue the flaps together.

You can opt to glue the front and back flaps to the inside ones if you want, or just leave them loose. I glued mine.

I filled mine with a little of our Ready Shreddie and some Robin Eggs. I think this would also be the good size for some Girhardelli Squares which would be the perfect treat to keep on hand for those times when a friend needs a little pick-me-up.

To finish off the bag, I added a strip of Designer Series Paper and I used our Fine Tip Glue Pen to adhere a strip of the Black Mini Sequin Trip to the bottom of it. I inked the flower stamp with Stampin' Write Markers and punched it and the black cardstock out with simple circles. I stamped the sentiment and then cut the words out with Paper Snips. Then, I simply closed the bag with a gold Library Clip.

I hope you like my little project. Remember, you can get all the supplies for this project and LOTS more in the April Suite Samplings Kit. See this post for more details.

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

April Suite Sampling

Hello there! I was really hoping to get this post up earlier, but I was busy this last week snuggling with this little cutie. 

It's so much fun being a Grammy. Just wish they lived closer so I could snuggle him more often. They headed back home yesterday, and my house is now way too quiet. :o( 

I do have something to show you today, but, I'm afraid it's not as cute as that little guy. ;o) I've put together April's Suite Sampler, and I think you're going to like it. It showcases the Whole Lot of Lovely Suite (pg 86-87 in the Annual Catalog). This is my second favorite set in the catalog.

This photo doesn't do the papers justice. I absolutely LOVE the two floral prints and the stripes. So feminine and almost Victorian in style. 

Here's what comes in the April Suite Samplings Kit:

• 1/2 pack Whole Lot of Lovely Designer Series Paper (6 x 12)
• 2 sheets ea. Pool Party, Powder Pink, Tranquil Tide, Crushed Curry, Basic Black Cardstock
• 4 sheets Whisper White Cardstock
• 10 Whisper White Envelopes
• 5 Gold Library Clips
• 1 yd. Shimmer Ribbon, Basic Black
• 1 yd. Shimmer Ribbon, Pear Pizzazz
• 1 yd. Shimmer Ribbon, Pool Party
• 1 yd. Shimmer Ribbon, Powder Pink
• 1 yd. Mini Sequin Trim, Gold
• 1 yd. Mini Sequin Trim, Black
• 1/4 sheet Gold Foil (6 x 6) + *Gold Foil cut outs
• 15 White Perfect Accents (5 each of 3 sizes)
• 1 sheet Glossy Cardstock
• 2 Gold Striped Treat Bags
• Bonus: 1/2 sheet Vellum Cardstock (5.5 x 8.5)

You get all of this for $25! That includes shipping! If you are local to me and want to pick up your kit, your total is $20

To get all of this in their full size packaging, you would be paying $118 plus shipping and taxes, but you get a sampling of it all for $25. I think that's a pretty good deal. PLUS, I will be posting projects over the next couple of weeks to give you ideas to use your kit. 

Optional Extras:

• Layered Leaved Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder $9
• Lots of Love Stamp Set Wood $27 or Clear Mount $19

Bonus: Purchase 1 of the Optional Extras and receive 1 yd. Whisper White Baker's Twine. Purchase any 2 and get the Baker's Twine and a Stampin' Spot inked in the color of your choice (Pool Party, Powder Pink, Tranquil Tide, or Crushed Curry). 

How do you get your kit? You must email me with your order and I will send you an invoice. Payment must be made by deadline (April 6th) and then I will put in an order for all the product. As soon as it arrives, I will divide everything up and package it and mail it out to you. 

*Gold Foil Cut Outs--I will take a 6 x 6 piece of Gold Foil paper and cut out as many hearts and circles as I can from the sheet. These will be sized to coordinate with the stamp in the Lots of Love Stamp Set. I managed to get 1 small, 3 large circles and 3 small, 4 large hearts out of it. 

Email me to reserve your kit.

Shipping Notes:

I took my kit over to the Post Office and worked with the awesome ladies there to find the best and most economical way to ship these kits out to you. I will be able to send them out in a Priority Flat Rate padded envelope for $7.25. So, just to make it a nice round number I will add on $5 for shipping which will make your total $25. If you add on the Optional Extras, your shipping cost does NOT increase. :o) 

This is only available in the US. You need to email me to order. I will send an invoice and payment will be to me, in advance of the order being placed and sent out.

Deadline for ordering is Friday, April 6th. I will place the order early the following morning and hope to have the packages ready to ship out to you by April 18th (My Birthday!!!) (delivery from Stampin' Up! permitting).

I hope you're as excited about this as I am. I will be posting a couple of projects over the next few days to give you some inspiration for the kit. There's SO many things you can make.

One more thing, I will not be offering a kit in May. With the retiring list coming out, I'm afraid items will be sold out before I'm able to put the kits together, so the next Suite Sampler will not be until the new catalog comes out in June! Can't believe we're this close to a new catalog coming out. Time flies when your happy crafting. :o) 

I'm off to go finish up a few more projects to share with you later. 

Till next time...

God's love and blessings! 

Mail-a-Card Monday & March Suite Samplings #2

Yes, another week has gone by and it's Mail-a-Card Monday again. How many did you mail out? I've got a couple in the box. One is a get well card, and one is for my Mom. I'll share pics of those a little later. Today I wanted to share some more projects using the Suite Samplings for March. You can check out this post to see what's in this month's kit. 

What do you think of my cards? Here are 4 (actually 5) more ideas using the Suite Samplings. Since these cards are pretty straight forward, I will simply give you the measurements I used for the papers.

This first card showcases another one of the prints I wasn't immediately drawn to, but I love how it became the focal piece for the card. You could switch out the sentiment for just about anything. For this one you need:

Card base--5 1/2 x 8 1/2 scored in the middle
DSP--4 3/4 x 1
          4 3/4 x 2
          4 3/4 x 1/2
Banner piece--5/8 x 2 1/4

This is a fun design to showcase the DSP. For this one you need:

Card Base--8 1/2 x 5 1/2 scored in the middle
Cardstock of choice--3 1/4 x 4 1/4
DSP--3 x 1 (4 different prints)
Daisy punched from color of choice

This card showcases the beautiful stamp set and bits and pieces of paper. The stamping was done on one of the tags that I include as a bonus in the kit. Measurements for this one are:

Card base--5 1/2 x 8 1/2 scored in the middle
Tag--4 x 2 (included in Suite Sampler kit)
DSP--4 x 1
Cardstock of choice (for sentiment)--1/2 x 2

This card has a lot of layers, and it is done slightly differently than most. Normally, you would think the card base for this is the largest Night of Navy layer, but that would make it difficult to write anything in the card, so instead, it is actually the Daffodil Delight layer.

This one I will list the size from back to front of the card.

Night of Navy--5 1/2 x 4 1/4
Daffodil Delight--5 1/4 x 8
Night of Navy--5 x 3 3/4
Top DSP--3 3/4 x 3 3/4
Bottom DSP--1 1/4 x 3 3/4
Sentiment banner--1 x 3 1/2

You may of noticed project #5 in the photos, my cute little jar of daisies. I used this tutorial to make my daisies, and then just covered a jar with a piece of DSP. I may decide later to decorate the jar a little more, but I wanted it to be neutral so I could use it as a back drop for my card photos and such. I filled the jar with a little bit of our Ready Shreddie. This helps disguise the ends of the wires a bit and helps the flowers stay where I wanted them. I happened to have some baby's breath left from the Valentine's bouquet my handsome hubby bought me, so that was added to fill it in a bit. I found it easier to put the baby's breath in first, and then add the flowers.

I hope you like my projects. Remember today (March 5, 2018) is the last day to reserve your Suite Samplings kit. I will be putting in the orders tomorrow morning and getting them out to you as quickly as I can. I still have at least one more project to share with you using this kit. I hope to be back tomorrow with that.

Email me to Reserve Your Kit 

Shipping Notes:

I took my kit over to the Post Office and worked with the awesome ladies there to find the best and most economical way to ship these kits out to you. I will be able to send them out in a Priority Flat Rate padded envelope for $7.25. So, just to make it a nice round number I will add on $5 for shipping which will make your total $25.

This is only available in the US. You need to email me to order. I will send an invoice and payment will be to me, in advance of the order being placed and sent out.

Deadline for ordering is Monday, March 5th. I will place the order early the following morning and hope to have the packages ready to ship out to you by March 16th (delivery from Stampin' Up! permitting).

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

March Suite Samplings #1

Hello there! I'm here with the first of my projects using the March Suite Samplings kit.Check out this post for more info on the kit. I hope to post several different ones over the next week or so and, while my internet makes doing videos quite a pain, I can do a step-by-step pictorial tutorial. (Say that 5 times fast!)

For this project I used one of the Mini Pizza Boxes to make a fun gift of 3x3 note cards. I actually used one of my least favorite patterns in this kit, but after I started playing with it, I found it to be one of my favorites. I think it's funny how we perceive things differently based on how they are used. The large print of this design didn't thrill me, but I LOVE it in small pieces like this.

The box itself was pretty simple to cover. The pieces you will need are :

1--3 1/4" x 3 1/4" square DSP for the top
4--3/4' x 3 1/4" DSP for the sides.
1--2 1/2" Whisper White circle for the top

I used a 3/4" circle punch to make a notch in the front piece. I used our Tombow Multipurpose Glue to adhere the paper to the box as I didn't want any edges lifting up. The circle is adhered with Dimensionals.

To make the flower, I stamped the Daisy 3 times with Calypso Coral ink and lightly colored it in with an Aqua Painter. The flowers were then punched out and glued atop one another with the petals staggered. Once the glue dried I used a Bone Folder to gently curl the petals back.

I wanted a yellow center, but thought the Daffodil Delight cardstock was a bit dark for this pattern, so I opted to create my own yellow paper by coloring 2  3/4" circles with Daffodil Delight ink on both sides. I didn't try to color it perfectly, I was going for a watercolor wash look.

Then I held the two circles together and snipped in from the edges.

To make the leaves, I cut a 3" piece of Old Olive ribbon, looped it around and used a glue dot to hold the ends together.

These were then glued to the back of the flower.

The yellow centers were glued on and then fluffed up after the Faceted Gem was adhered to the middle.

The Notecards to go inside are simply 6x3 piece of Whisper White cardstock scored and folded in half. The DSP strip on the bottom is 1x3, and I used stamps from the Daisy Delight stamp set for the flowers and saying. I did get to use my Stamparatus for the first time. I think I love it! There is a slight learning curve, and I managed to get my hands all kinds of messy, but it sure made stamping all 4 cards go a lot faster, even with me experimenting with how it works. If you weren't able to reserve one already, they will be available when the new catalog comes out in June. In the meantime, I'm going to keep playing and practicing with mine so I can help you not make the mistakes I have/will.

I hope you like this project. I will be back again with a couple of cards and another 3D project over the next couple of days. Remember, Monday, March 5th is the deadline to reserve your kit. Then you can craft along with me!

Email Me to Reserve Your Kit 

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )