Serenity in Winter

Hello My Friends

While we get pummeled with blustery winds and "the white stuff", I thought I would very quickly show you some variations on a card that is all about winter, but has nothing to do with a storm.

Apothecary Accents Framelit

Oval Framelit (large)

The Serene Silhouettes stamp set really is just that...."serene".  Combine that with muted colours (Sahara Sand with Cherry Cobbler birds) and a white-on-white background, and I think I've achieved a card that is both peaceful and classy / classic.  More "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" than "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree".  Don't you think?    :)

Oval Framelit (small)

 














The photographs do not seem to quite catch the sparkle and shine of the glitter (so reminiscent of our new-fallen snow here today) - it is subtle, yet striking.  Does that make sense?   :)




I hope to show you the ins and outs of these cards tomorrow.  For now I will just quickly post them and wish you all a wonderful rest-of-your-week!

God Bless,   ~Cynthia   <><

• Apothecary Accents Framelits Dies
• Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder Die
• Serene Silhouettes Clear-Mount Stamp Set
• Cherry Cobbler 1" Grosgrain Stitched Edge Ribbon
• Cherry Cobbler Stampin Write Marker
• Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad
• 2-Way Glue Pen
• Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter
• Ovals Collection Framelits Dies

Weekly Deals Still Going Strong

We had so many wonderful deals announced last week, that I completely forgot that new One-Week, 25% off deals were going to be announced today!  But here they are, just in time for you to make out your wish list......

Which reminds me, you do know, of course, that if you reside anywhere in Canada, you can get a Gift Certificate from me, right?  Or better yet, you can direct your friends and family to get you a gift certificate!  Just send them over to me.  Get what *you* want for Christmas!  A Stampin' Up! gift certificate from me will let you do just that!

And on to the weekly deals:

Just so you know, Beautifully Baroque is one of my favourite embossing folders in this catalogue!  If you don't own it yet, you really want it, trust me!  
And on that note - Have a wonderful day and God Bless,      ~Cynthia    <><

Fast & Fabulous Friday - Christmas Stampers Dozen Cards

 Hello Friends,

I am holding a Christmas Stamper's Dozen class later today, using the Christmas Banner Accessory kit to create a dozen beautiful cards.  And I realized that each and every one of these cards qualifies as a Fast & Fabulous card!!  Every single one of them.  Honest!  The 12 take no time at all to create.  And are they gorgeous?  Completely and absolutely!!  Take a look for yourself!  

 (My thank you to Krista Frattin who created these designs)

I am offering this class again on Sunday evening (Nov 24) and the following Saturday afternoon (Nov 30) for those of you who may be interested (see Upcoming Classes).  I am also going to offer this as a Class-To-Go, so if you are interested in these cards but cannot make it to my home for a class, contact me and I can send you the details! 

All right then....No time for idle chit chat - I have lots of work to do. But do let me know if you are interested in obtaining one of these kits as a class-to-go.  

You will love making them.  They truly are Fast.  And Fabulous!!

Have a wonderful weekend and God Bless,     ~Cynthia   <><

• Christmas Banner Simply Created Accessory Kit
• Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad
• Smoky Slate 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad
• Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad

Thankful Thursday - What's Not to be Thankful For?

Hello Friends.  

Stampin' Up! is giving us a chance to buy a whole bunch of really great products, at a fantastic discount (see list here).  If Stampin' supplies make you as happy as they make me.....then what's not to be thankful for?  

Seriously, there are many more reasons in life to be thankful than just craft sales.   :)       Family.  Friends.  Health.  Happiness.  If you have any one of these, you should be thankful.  Me?  I have *all* of them!  And I know it.  And my heart is glad!

But for the purposes of today, and this blog, I am going to keep this short....the fantastic November sale is too exciting to try to take any attention away from it.  But do keep this in mind...no matter how tired you get or how busy or how overworked, in the grand scheme of things...what's not to be thankful for?

Have a spectacular day and God Bless,    ~Cynthia    <><

• Sponge Daubers
• Labels Collection Framelits Dies
• Elegant Eggplant Classic Stampin' Pad
• Marina Mist Classic Stampin' Pad
• White Stampin' Emboss Powder
• Heat Tool
• Basic Pearls Jewel Accents
• Fancy Fan Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Big Shot Die-Cut Machine

HUGE November Sale

And I mean....HUGE.

Lots of items on sale until Dec 2.  But 3 Knock-out 24-hr only sales.

TODAY ONLY (Nov 20):
Many Marvelous Markers - that's right, ALL of them, for 30% OFF 
Stampin' Trimmer (NOTHING else compares) - 30% OFF 
Diagonal Score Plate - makes things so easy - 30% OFF 

Regular weekly sales (see the post below this one) - fantastic items at 25% off - one week only!

LOTS of great sales starting today and continuing on until Dec 2.  

Check these 3 out - today only:

 

And on sale from Nov 20 until Dec 2: 

Weekly Sales 25% off until Nov 25

Hey Friends

Check out the great items on sale from Nov 19 through until Nov 25!

Cobbler and Gold Collection

Hello Friends

I was invited recently to donate a basket of goods to my church's Christmas Bazaar raffle table.  I wanted to include more than 'just' stamps and inks as a raffle (although in truth, that is EXACTLY what I would love to win!) so I came up with this Christmas collection in Cherry Cobbler and Gold.  You'll have to let me know what you think.

The collection includes six different co-ordinating Christmas cards, a handmade box that holds a dozen Ghirardelli chocolates, and a 12x12 framed wall decoration.  For many of the pieces, I incorporated poinsettias (gold embossing powder on Cherry Cobbler cardstock) made from one of my favourite stamp sets from last year (Watercolour Winter).  These all had to be fussy-cut of course.  urgh....   Whose idea was this again?!?

Moving on - The framed wall art has the Special Season tree embossed in gold, and a 3-D Christmas Star (embossed in gold) as its focal point.  I love the gold-foil "Merry", cut using the Expressions thinlits, and the addition of Merry Mini punched stars (from gold foil and also brushed gold paper) balance everything out nicely.

Box of Chocolates

And inside the box......deliciousness!

The box of chocolates carry on the Cherry Cobbler/gold theme and the poinsettias.  











The Ghirardelli chocolates inside even have shiny packaging.  Woot woot.  Even I couldn't "plan" that kind of coordination!






And lastly, the set of Christmas cards.  Several of the cards use the Labels Thinlit die to create a flip-card with the ever-present poinsettias.  

The Christmas Star and several of the other Single Stamps figure prominently too!  You know, when they were released, I didn't think I was interested.  I ordered them, only because I thought I should...and boy am I ever glad I did!!  They are wonderful and trust me, you *need* them too!

Overall, I was quite pleased with the entire collection.  pleased enough that I think I need to make another set for myself to keep!   So that is what I am setting off to do now.

I have a whole slew of classes and events coming up soon so if you are interested in attending one, but you are not on my e-mail list, then sign up for my newsletter now (top right of the blog) so you can be "in-the-know" with everyone else!

Hope you are all enjoying a wonderful weekend!     God Bless,     ~Cynthia    <><

Fast and Fabulous Friday - Merry Mini Punches

Hello Dear Friends

Ready to see some cards that are so quick to make, I almost feel 'guilty' claiming them as hand-made?

I used several products that people either don't realize we sell at all, or products from the CarryOver list from last year - meaning they are still available to purchase, but they do not appear in any current catalogue.   And despite using some 'obscure' or lesser known products, I managed to create arguably the quickest cards I have ever created in my life!  Thanks to Julie Davison for the idea!





Moving on then -- These cute little cards are fast for many reasons:

1)  I used the notecards that Stampin' Up! sells so I didn't even have to cut or score my cardstock.  These notecards are a wonderful and often-neglected item in the catalogue (go on and admit it....you didn't even *know* we had notecards, did you?!?).  And with 20 cards and 20 envelopes for $7.50, they are a bargain!









2)  The only stamping I did was the sentiment from More Merry Messages.  And I stamped that in Real Red or Gumball Green or Crushed Curry, depending on which punch I decided to use.  (So glad More Merry Messages carried over from last year.  This is my go-to set for Christmas sentiments).

3)  Okay then...FIRST punch the star or tree or bulb using the Merry Mini Punch pack, THEN punch the 1" square around it (so much easier to centre the punched void this way!).  Mount this on a postage punched piece of coloured cardstock and voila.

I told you it didn't take long to make.  Add on 10 seconds more for the placement of a rhinestone, and the card is complete!

I used a variation of this to produce an easy peasy Thank You card too.  The sentiment from Lots of Thanks was stamped using Raspberry Ripple ink.  Cut this out using the one inch square punch, then use coloured paper and the postage stamp punch, a few ribbon bits and some bling and Ta Da....we're done!

Glad this was so Fast to make since I have too much to do today to linger too long on card-making.  I will see about my reality jobs now.  As for you my friends.....I hope you enjoy a terrific day and a wonderful weekend!!   ~God Bless,    ~Cynthia   <><

Thankful Thursday and So Many Deals.....

Hello Friends

First things first - another Thankful Thursday here for your card-making pleasure.  Many of my customers received this Thank You card this month and it certainly seemed to be a hit.  Tell me what you think?

I stamped the Gifts of Kindness image and sentiment with Wisteria Wonder ink then embossed the main panel with the square lattice embossing folder.  A Flower Shop bloom stamped separately and punched out with the Pansy Punch, affixed to the card with a dimensional (and a luscious large rhinestone) pretty much complete this card.  Oh yeah - and the Itty Bitty punched blossoms in the corner - they count too!

On this particular Thursday I want to reiterate my Thank You to all of our military men and women who we honoured on Remembrance Day.  Your sacrifice did not go unnoticed.  Thank You!!

And on a much lesser scale of gratitude....I am thankful that Stampin' Up! has continued to offer its weekly deals -- knocking 25% off the price of various items.  This week you can get the Gift Bow BigZ die for just $30.71!!  And I happen to really love the extra-large boxes and mini-muslin bags!

I think it is wonderful that Stampin' Up! is continuing to offer these sweet deals to us.  Don't you?

I hope you continue to have many things to be thankful for in your own lives.  Just don't forget to remain thankful to all those men and women who served and sacrificed so we could enjoy things as mundane as crafts and cards!

God Bless you all,       ~Cynthia     <><

Santa's List

Hello Dear Friends

Just a quick, quick post to show you some of the wonderful ways you can use the Santa's List stamp set.  I resisted buying this stamp set at first since I am not a "Santa-Christmas card kinda gal".  But after seeing so many wonderful card variations on the internet, I broke down and bought it and I have not regretted it one bit!

This Santa has an air of sophistication to him - he is neither childish nor cartoonish.  He has a vintage feel and a certain elegance to him.  More Saint Nicholas / Macy's Department Store Santa, and less child's colouring book Santa.  Hopefully you get the picture.  And if I have not made myself quite clear....then just take a look at the cards that I made and see what you think.  Many of these were inspired by cards I saw online, and they all have one thing in common....they are CUTE!    :)

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And on that note, hope your week has started off wonderfully.  Have a terrific day and God Bless,       ~Cynthia   <><

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In Humble Gratitude For Your Sacrifice....

Hello Friends

I've been away all weekend at Children's Choir Camp with 80 young people and among the wonderful things we did (singing ranked very high on the list), we made a wreath to lay at the National Military Cemetery today for Remembrance Day.

If you remember, last year at this time we also made a wreath and one of the choir members lay it during the ceremony while the rest of the Children's Choir sang.  Today will mark the second time we have been asked to lay a wreath on behalf of the Children of Canada, and we will be both honoured and humbled to do so.

Making the wreath at Choir Camp was tons of fun.  We cut Real Red cardstock using the Big Shot and Fun Flowers BigZ dies, then spritzed the resulting flower shapes with water and scrunched them to give the petals a realistic ruffling.  We then un-scrunched them and placed a Basic Black Boho Blossom punched piece onto the centre and pierced through all of the layers.  Simple florists' wire was threaded through the pierced holes and this wire was used to hold the resulting poppies onto a grapevine wreath.  Letters were cut from Whisper White cardstock using the Typeset Alphabet Bigz die, and these were attached to a purple sash that was tied across the wreath.  

Isn't the resulting wreath gorgeous?  Simply and beautifully gorgeous?  It has been a privilege to be invited to sing year after year at the National Military Cemetery to honour our fallen soldiers.  And it has been our pleasure (literally!) these last 2 years to make and lay a wreath of our own during the poignant ceremony.

And it is totally cool that every child's poppy looked different and individualistic...just as each child is!  The cumulative effect on the wreath of each of these individual blooms is quite stunning, just as the cumulative effect of each of our choristers' individual voices is.

I am blessed to be a part of this choir organization.  I am blessed to live in this wonderful country.  I am blessed with freedoms that were hard-won by many fallen countrymen.
In short - I am blessed.

I hope you are feeling equally blessed both this day and all the rest.
Lest We Forget......                              ~Cynthia    <><
 

Fast & Fabulous Friday With Wheels

Hello Again Dear Friends

Here is a quick card - hence the name Fast and Fabulous.  

This is another one of my Thank You cards for this month and I have to tell you, I totally love this card.  

I used Island Indigo ink and rolled the Daydream wheel across the bottom of the card.  And like yesterday's card, I used one of the sentiments from the photopolymer stamp set, Another Thank You.  A faux ribbon of embossed Island Indigo cardstock across the top edge of the wheel line quite effectively hides whether or not the wheel stamping is straight or not!!

Love how forgiving this is.

A couple of Island Indigo butterflies punched out and nested on top of each other, and a rhinestone for shine, and this card is complete.  Ta da!!  Fast.  And Fabulous.

My customers all received a Thank You card like this with their orders this month.  I love being able to bless them just a little bit, to say thank you for the way in which they have each blessed me!

Hope you are all blessed in your lives as well/  And that you are looking forward to a wonderful weekend.  God Bless,    ~Cynthia     <><

Whatever Happened to....Thankful Thursday?

Hello Friends

And I apologize!  I haven't been very consistent at posting cards lately, have I?  Truth be told, I often don't post a card simply because I don't "have time to write" about it.  But believe me, I am still making LOTS of cards!!  I just don't post them when I think I don't have a lot of time to describe them or the techniques involved.

Well you know what?  That stops now!    :)

I am going to photograph and post my cards anyways, whether I have time to give you details or not.  Know that if I am super-silent with respect to the card, it is merely an indication of me having lots/too much to do.

So without further ado....here (finally) is a Thankful Thursday installment.  My card uses two huge images - the Thank You from one of the Photopolymer sets (Another Thank You) and the World Map stamp.  Love them both!   This is one of the Thank You cards that I've made this month for my customers.  And I am thankful to them.  Without them I wouldn't be as successful at my Stampin' Up! business as I am.  And without them, I wouldn't be in a position to share my love of stamping with so many others.  

So - you there.....  Yes, that's right, I'm talking to you.....  Yes..........YOU!  Thank You!!

Have a wonderful day.  I hope you all have much to be Thankful for!   God Bless,      ~Cynthia   <><

And the Weekly Deals Continue.....

Wow Friends

I am happy as a lark!  I thought Stampin' Up!'s weekly 25% off deals were going to end when October ended.  But it seems that I was wrong.  And *that* makes me very happy indeed!

Today SU! announced another set of 25% off deals and I am pretty sure you are going to want to get at least a few of these!  Check them out:

Feel free to place your order online or contact me and I can order them for you.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far.  God Bless,    ~Cynthia   <><

Best of November and Blog Candy Winner For Real

Hello Dear Friends

I am back from being away all weekend at a Women's Retreat and let me tell you ....it was WONDERFUL!  Absolutely food for the soul.  And now, at long last, I can return to blog about the Late Night Stampers Fall Treasure Hunt.  I have to be honest...I do not yet know who won the whole kit and kaboodle (the organizers haven't let me know so presumably it was none of the ladies' names that I submitted).  But certainly, I *do* know who won the blog candy that I had advertised.  

Best of Snow    #134387     $17.95

But first - have you seen the November "Best of" stamp?   Each month during Stampin' Up!'s 25th anniversary year they are releasing a gorgeous "Best of 25 years" stamp set, including several of their most popular stamps from the past 25 years, plus a new image each month.  November's set is called Best of Snow and let me tell you, it is cute, cute, cute!  What do you think??

Isn't this just to die for?  Love the hedgehogs!  And the new Let It Snow stamp fits perfectly within our Label Bracket Punch from the holiday catalogue.

And moving on....back to the Blog Candy and the winner - a news item that you may have been trying to ascertain.  Sorry that I was a trifle cryptic last week when I 'sort of' announced a winner.  Well, that was because my winner had signed only their first name to their blog entry.  And had not left an e-mail address either!  I tried to contact the friend whom I "thought" had left that blog posting, and did finally get through to verify her identity.  So now I can tell you too.....
Nancy H is the winner of my blog candy.

Edited Nov 6:  Winner of the Fall LNS Treasure Hunt is Sheri Lee!


Hmmm?  Was that worth 2 separate blog posts and all the mystery do you think??  Actually, if you knew Nancy, you might agree that she is indeed worthy of 2 blog posts and quite a bit of hoopla!  So there!

I am looking forward to moving on to more craft-related blog-posts.  Like a gorgeous new card.  Want to see it?  Okay then - check back tomorrow..........

And on that note, after a wonderful but tiring Retreat away from home, I am off to sleep.
Have a wonderful and restful sleep yourselves and I will 'see' you tomorrow!

God Bless,  ~Cynthia    <><