You Asked For It....

Hello Friends

Black Ornament with Gold or Silver Embossing

It was so nice to have several of you weigh in yesterday with the versions of the Gentle Peace Ornament card you wanted to see.

Blackberry Bliss or Night of Navy Ornament with Silver Embossing

So here they all are.  Hopefully you see something you like!

Cherry Cobbler Ornament with Gold Embossing Powder, with or without embossed edges

And if not, let me know what combination you would be open to seeing!

Lost Lagoon Ornament with Silver Embossing

Cajun Craze Ornament with Gold Embossing

Just so you know, the gold 1/8" ribbon seems to be showing up a little bit paler (almost silver) in the photos, but it really does match the gold embossing powder well!.  Don't be misled by my lack of photography skills.  These cards really are stunning! 

All in all, I was pleased with each of these card combinations.  And some of them surprised me.   (Left to myself, I would never have thought of Cajun Craze for a Christmas card, but Susan you were right...it works!)

I may keep experimenting in the colour and combinations department, but until then, thanks so much to all of you who weighed in with suggestions.

Hope everyone is about to enjoy a terrific weekend!
God Bless,    ~Cynthia  <><

Fast and Fabulous Friday - Gentle Peace Christmas Ornament

Good Morning Friends 

And happy Black Friday.    :)

Finally - I have another Fast and Fabulous Friday installment for you again!  And I think you are really going to like this one!

I have seen this stamp-set-turned-ornament several times on the internet and I just had to reproduce a version for myself.  It was very fast.  It is super-cute.  And I think I will have to make several versions of it in several different colour combinations.  What do you think?  Sound like a good plan?

So tell me - what colour(s) would you like to see this done in?  I might just be convinced to "take a few orders".  Feel free to leave me a comment to let me know what you think and what your choice would be.

I hope everyone is looking forward to a spectacular weekend.  For my American friends who will be shopping today (and my brave Canadian friends who will drive across the border for that very reason), have a successful - and safe - shopping experience.

And to all of you, have a wonderful day and God Bless,     ~Cynthia    <><  


Product List

Gentle Peace Photopolymer Stamp Set [139523]	Versamark Pad [102283]	White Stampin' Emboss Powder [109132]
2-1/2" Circle Punch [120906]	Circles Collection Framelits Die [130911]	Little Labels Punch Pack [126881]
Silver 1/8" Ribbon [132137]	Elegant Eggplant 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [105126]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]

Quick and Cute Blackberry Bauble

Hello My Friends

When you just don't have time to do much more than cut, stamp and glue....this is what you can accomplish!

I loved the Christmas Bauble right from the moment I saw the catalogue.  Don't ask me why, but something in that image just makes me feel nostalgic!

So here you go.  Some silver embossing against a Blackberry background and voila, a bauble worthy of the season that is fast approaching.

Hope you all have a wonderful day.  
And for my American friends - Happy Thanksgiving!!

God Bless you all,
~Cynthia    <><  

Product List

Christmas Bauble Wood-Mount Stamp Set Wood-mount Stamp Set [133824]	Versamark Pad [102283]	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder [109131]
Filigree Frame Textured Impressions Embossing Folders [135818]	Frosted Sequins [135835]	Silver 1/8" Ribbon [132137]
Blackberry Bliss 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133675]	Smoky Slate 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131202]

Happy Anniversary To Me!

Hi there Friends

I got the most amazing surprise in the mail today!!   :)

Today (Nov 24 - when I am typing this) is my 4 year anniversary.  Four years ago today I bought my Starter Kit.   I bought it for the discount, because as everyone knows, I had NO INTENTION of becoming a demonstrator.  

Ha!  Look at me now!!

At any rate, today in my mailbox I found this wonderful card from Stampin' Up! Canada, congratulating me on my 4-year anniversary.

That is just so cool!!

I have been thoroughly blessed in the past 4 years.  Yes, because I have earned some amazing perks from an amazing company.  But even more so because I have met some of the most incredible friends and shared smiles and laughter and glitter and ink with them!

It just so happens that just like 4 years ago when I bought in, Stampin' Up! is offering an amazing deal on their Starter Kit.  In fact, the kit is being offered at 25% off.  So you pay just $93.25, but you choose $155-worth of products.  And you pay NO SHIPPING.  And no HST (you do pay PST if you are in Quebec).

There are so many reasons to purchase the Starter Kit - any time, in fact - but this week in particular the deal just can't be beat!  Want more information?  Check out THIS PAGE, or contact me and ask.  I would be only too happy to let you in on all the reasons this deal is the best Christmas present you could give yourself.  And what's more.....it will give me an excuse to get inky with you sometime soon!

Hope you are all enjoying your week.  My surprise Anniversary card has me grinning from ear to ear and I can't wait to reproduce this beauty for some of my own Team members!  Thank you Stampin' Up! Canada for a wonderful start to my week!

God Bless you all,      ~Cynthia   <><

My Spectacular Team

Good Morning My Friends!

I hope everyone has been keeping well while I took a bit of a hiatus from blogging!?  But now that I am back, let me show you something thoroughly spectacular!

I challenged my downline to create a card and use something I supplied.  And honestly, all I gave them as a starting point was a small piece of ribbon and a couple of the snowflake embellishments.  With these they had to make a card and send it to me.

They could use one snowflake.  Or both.  They could use a tny bit of ribbon.  Or all of it.  The only rule was that they had to use at least one snowflake and at least a bit of ribbon.  

And man oh man oh man oh man!  Take a look at the gorgeous creations that I got back!

My apologies in advance - there are so many of them - and they are so gorgeous - there is just no way I could say everything about them that I would like to so I am afraid I did not do them any kind of justice at all.  All I could do was list them by name and leave you to admire how wonderful the artistic and creative efforts of my friends are!

Take a look and see what I mean:

Valerie V (LOVE the cardinal)

Janet B (love, love, love the use of texture)

Cecilia C (so classic and beautiful)

Dianne R (this.  is.  so.  CUTE!)

Cecilia C (loving the pale snowflakes in the background)

Carolyne J (this 3D tree is so stunning!)

Carolyn P (This card also has an uber-cute patterned inside)

Frances W (Classic and elegant)

Janet B (the fussy-cut Pine Cones make this a STUNNING card)

Janet B (Can you see that the snowflakes is *stitched*?!)

Janet B (this is her swing card opened)

Jennifer D (The rhinestone placement is terrific!)

Julie G (shimmer all over the front of this card!

Kathy M (loving this colour combination)

Lynn CG (My favourite stamp set.  Ever)

Melanie M (cool pearlized card!)

Meredith M (clean and simple wow card)

Monique C (Brilliant to stamp on the scalloped wreath)

Rachelle A (LOVE the rustic look to this)

Sonya L (Perfect coordination of stars!)

Susan T (Loving the iridescent ice)

Suzane R (LOVE the pinwheel and this paper pattern is brilliant)

Fast and Fabulous Friday - One Day Late

Hello My Friends

I meant to post this yesterday, but got all caught up in other things so did not get around to it.  (That is not meant to be an excuse.  Merely an explanation.  I do take full responsibility!)

So let's pretend it is Friday.  My Fast and Fabulous card for you today features a "guest designer".  One of my Team members sent me this card as part of a Designer Paper challenge I gave them last month.  Her card would have been featured in the post HERE, except that she is moving and her craft paraphernalia is packed up and inaccessible.  But she was finally able to grab some of it the other day and created this Fast and Fabulous card.

How cute is that?

And the thing I like the most?   This is Hallowe'en paper on an all-occasion-type card!!  I love that she re-purposed the paper into something that does not limit it to Hallowe'en!!   

Sorry that it took me so long to get Friday's post to you!  Hoping I don't run a week behind in everything else in my life for the next few days!!

Have a spectacular weekend and God Bless!     ~Cynthia   <><

Back To The Drawing Board

Good Morning My Friends

Well, I thought I had it.  I mean, I really thought I had it!  

One of my friends reminded me the other day about a technique I showed her several years ago - you cover an image with versamark and apply clear embossing powder on top of that and then you heat it.  You repeat this versamark-plus-clear embossing powder-then-heat 2 or 3 times until there is a shiny layer of clear embossing powder over the image....and I thought this would be just the thing to make my Gentle Peace stamp set come alive. 

I figured this would emulate glass much better than the Iridescent Ice embossing powder I tried a few days ago (which ended up being a little bit of a disappointment).

So I tried the layers of clear embossing powder.  Underwhelmed, for sure.

Don't get me wrong.  It's nice.  It is just a bit different.  But Wowzer?  Not really.  Not this time.

So, it'll be back to the drawing room to figure out some combinations of colours that please me in terms of this set.  Come back again tomorrow and you can see how far I've gotten.

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

Sporadic Internet

Hi Friends

Our internet is cutting in and out and I am uncertain if I will get my post up tonight.  Sorry for the interruption - (and I am sorry to realize how dependent I have become on computers) - but that's just the way it is....

Enjoy your evening.   God Bless,    ~Cynthia   <><

And the Winner Is......

Wouldn't you know it?  I told you I would pick a winner for the Gentle Peace card last Friday...but Friday was Hallowe'en and I got preoccupied doing other things and I never picked that fabled name.  Not till the next day.  And then...then....did I post it?  Did I even bother to tell all of YOU who won?........

Everyone was assigned a number, then I entered all the eligible numbers into the Random Number Generator and it spit out the number 22....and THAT happens to correspond to Nadine S.  So Nadine....keep an eye on your mailbox since your card will be coming to you soon!

Thank you to everyone who weighed in both here and on Facebook and gave me your opinion about which card option you liked the best.  I am gearing up to try some of your suggestions, so stay tuned!  

And thank you to Cathy who reminded me this morning in the comments section that I posted "who" the winner is....but not "which card" was the winner!  Ha ha.  Card #4, no glimmer, was the runaway lead contender.  Turns out all that shimmer can turn Pine Cones into magic, but too much shimmer makes Gentle Peace just a little over-done.  (I was given a better idea though and hope to try it out tonight!)

Hope everyone has a wonderful day,   God Bless,     ~Cynthia    <><