So Very Grateful....

I have to tell you, I have pretty much the best job in the entire world!  I get to stamp and be creative whenever I want.  Better yet, the more creative I get, the better I am at my job.  How awesome is that?!!?  But I have to admit, I wouldn't do any of it if it wasn't for the fantastic friends and acquaintances I have met along the way.  All of the ladies who come to my club nights, my classes, my Open House and my workshops....these are the reasons I keep doing this. 

I am blessed I tell you.  Truly and sincerely blessed to know these women.  And I am thankful for each and every one of them.  So I decided that with every order I send out, I will include a hand-stamped thank you card.  What's more, I have decided to write my personal thank you on a post-it note inside, so that "my ladies" can re-use the card and send it to someone else if they so wish.

 Here is the latest batch of cards, made by stamping the Fresh Vintage image in Island Indigo ink.  The cards are embossed with the Elegant Lines embossing folder, then sponged and adhered to the Island Indigo card base.  The addition of a few butterflies (and/or basic pearls) didn't hurt either!  They are all a little bit different.  And all equally lovely.  And I think "my ladies" will appreciate them too.

March Break has officially started and I will be driving down with my kids to visit Grandma and Grandpa for most of the week.  It is a pretty long drive, but the kids are very good travellers (they will pretty much read for the entire 6 hours) and the pot of gold at the end of this rainbow.....getting to see my parents...makes any length of drive worth taking.

Hope everyone else enjoys their March Break too!
God Bless,     ~Cynthia    <><

Saturday's Card Class

One of my friends (who also happens to be a customer) came to my card class on Saturday but had to leave early.  So she stamped and punched what she needed to then took all of her little "bits" with her and I promised her she could see how to piece them together if she just went to my blog. 

tick  tick  tick

She e-mailed me this week to suggest that perhaps I should post all the cards from Saturday's class - like I said I would - otherwise she would NEVER get her cards put together.  Silly me.  Sorry that I forgot.  In addition to the ones I posted on March 2, here are the other cards we made.

Saturday's class was a lot of fun!  I would like to point out that I was privileged and blessed to get to spend a creative morning with such a spectacular group of ladies!!   I can hardly wait till next time!





But for now.....March Break is only hours away from starting.  For those of you who will be travelling - have a healthy, happy and safe journey.  For those of you who will be staying close to home.....what are you waiting for?  Get stamping!!    :)

God Bless,    ~Cynthia     <><

A Doily Thank You

I told you I still had some cards to show you using the Paper Doily Sizzlit.  Well, now is as good a time as ever to show you another one.

The postage stamp image from the Fresh Vintage stamp set (FREE during Sale-A-Bration....) was stamped into the 4 corners of a Whisper White card, using Cherry Cobbler ink.

The sentiment, from Outlined Occasions (FREE during Sale-A-Bration....) was stamped in Cherry Cobbler onto a 3 inch Whisper White circle, then coloured in with a Night of Navy Marker.  The flower image from Fresh Vintage (FREE during Sale-A-Bration....) was also stamped around the outer edges of this circle, using Cherry Cobbler.  As a final touch, the edge of this circle was sponged with Night of Navy ink.

I cut a Night of Navy paper doily using the Big Shot, and once again, since the centre will be masked with a stamped circle, only the outer rows of cut-outs had to be removed from the doily.  What a time-saver!  The stamped white circle was adhered to the doily, then the doily was glued onto the white card base.  The whole card front was then embossed using the Square Lattice embossing folder, and the outer edges of the card were sponged in Night of Navy.

Voila - once again - an embedded-embossed doily card.   No fuss.  No muss.  No problem.

Have a wonderful day.  We are cold but sunny here in Ottawa.  Hope all is good for you too, wherever you are.

God Bless,     ~Cynthia    <><

Butterfly Birthday

Hello Friends

I had so much fun last night.  I created a card that is just a bit fussier than my usual quick and easy cards, but this one is so worth the little bit of extra effort!  I really love it!

This design starts with a side-step card made from Pool Party cardstock.  Various patterns of Everyday Enchantment Designer Paper (FREE during Sale-A-Bration.  Ask me how) were layered onto Lucky Limeade cardstock, and glued onto the front and rear "steps" of the card.

I used The Beautiful Butterfly die and my Big Shot to cut 2 different sized butterflies from Peach Parfait cardstock, then I stamped them with the Fresh Vintage image (FREE during Sale-A-Bration.  Ask me how) using Poppy Parade ink.  They were adhered one on the other using a part of a dimensional, and Basic Pearls were used to simulate the butterfly body.  An assortment of butterflies were also cut from Pool Party and Whisper White cardstock using the Beautiful Wings Embosslit.  Several of these were matched up and glued together on the card as needed.

The large flower was created using the the 5-Petal Flower Punch and the Everyday Enchantment Designer Paper (FREE during Sale-A-Bration.  Ask me how).  Two flowers were punched and overlayed together.  All three flowers from the Boho Blossom Punch were punched out of Peach Parfait cardstock, and the edges were sponged with Poppy Parade ink.   These were layered on top of the two 5-petal flowers, and a designer brad (FREE during Sale-A-Bration.  Ask me how) was put through the centre of all layers to hold the blossom together.  The 5-Petal Flower punch was used with Lucky Limeade cardstock to create leaves.  The 2 smaller blossoms are a repeat of the larger one, without the larger Designer Paper/5-Petal Flower pieces.  The smaller blossoms also use a white brad from the neutrals brad collection as their centre.

The sentiment is from the Elementary Elegance stamp set (FREE during Sale-A-Bration.  Ask me how), stamped in Poppy Parade on a scrap of Whisper White.  It was punched out using the Decorative Label Punch, and a frame for the Decorative label piece was made using Poppy Parade cardstock.

I really love how this card turned out and although it required a little more work than my usual quick and easy cards, it really wasn't difficult.  Once you figure out how to make your cuts and score lines for your side-step card, it really goes together quite well.

I have a whole lot of work to get done today so I better get at it!  I hope you like this card as much as I do.  And I hope you enjoy a wonderful day and are looking forward to the upcoming weekend!

God Bless,     ~Cynthia    <><

Birthday Fresh Vintage

Good Morning

It is sunny and gorgeous here in Ottawa and once again I have a very quick and easy card for you using the Fresh Vintage stamp set (FREE during Sale-A-Bration.  Ask me how).

The small flower from the Fresh Vintage set was randomly stamped over the upper and left sides of a Whisper White mat using Concord Crush ink.  Then the mat was embossed in the Big Shot using the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder.

The oval embossing folder from the Designer Frames set (also FREE during Sale-A-Bration.  Ask me how) was used to emboss an oval in the lower right corner, then this white mat was glued onto a Concord Crush card base.   The sentiment (from Sincere Salutations) was stamped on a scrap piece of white and punched out using the XL Oval Punch.  The edges were sponged and it was popped up in the oval, using dimensionals.  I just love the way that oval fits so neatly inside the embossed frame.

Once again - done in minutes!  The sentiment or the colours can be changed easily so I may make a few Thank You cards using this basic layout.  I predict that some of my customers will recognize a familiar-looking card included with their next order!

I hope everyone enjoys a wonderful week.  God Bless,
~Cynthia    <><

Mixed Bunch and SAB

Good Morning

I have a few more cards that use Stampin' Up!'s paper doily cut-out but I decided you needed to see something else first.  Today's card uses a Cherry Cobbler colour-scheme with just a touch of Lucky Limeade thrown in.  A Whisper White mat (4 x 5 1/4) was stamped in all 4 corners with the postage image from Fresh Vintage, and the small flower image was then stamped randomly over the rest of the white space.  This piece was embossed with the square lattice embossing folder, the edges were sponged and it was adhered to a white card base.

The daisy-type image from the Mixed Bunch set was stamped onto a piece of Whisper White and punched out using the new Blossom Punch.  This was layered over a blossom punched from Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  The Lucky Limeade leaves were punched using the Blossom Petals Builder Punch and 'vein' indentations were made using a bone folder.

Three of the largest Boho Blossom flower (in Cherry Cobbler) were scrunched together and a Limeade Sale-A-Bration brad and the coordinating Limeade SAB ribbon was used with these as the flower centre.

This is a cheery card, meant as a thank you to a very valued friend of mine.  I hope she enjoys my little token of appreciation to let her know how blessed I feel to have her as my friend.

For all those about to embark on a Lenten journey, I wish you a Happy Shrove Tuesday!  As for my household, pancakes are definitely on the menu for tonight's dinner!!

God Bless,     ~Cynthia    <><

A Fresh Vintage Thank You

If you're like me, you need to send out an awful lot more Thank You cards than you actually get around to sending.  We really need to spend more time thanking the people who enrich our lives, but sadly, we often let those moments pass.  So I am trying to create a series of Thank You cards to have on hand for just such moments as these.  And today's card happens to be one of them.

The border image from the Fresh Vintage set was stamped on either edge of a Whisper White card base. I used my Big Shot and the 3" circle die to cut a Whisper White circle.  The large flower image from the Fresh Vintage set was stamped (twice) in Night of Navy ink on the circle and a small flower from this set was stamped as well.  The sentiment, stamped in Night of Navy, comes from the Thank You Kindly set.  Then the edges of this white circle were sponged with Night of Navy ink.

I used the Paper Doily Sizzlit Die and my Big Shot to cut a Night of Navy doily.  Since only the outer edges of the doily are going to show, there are relatively few 'cut-out bits' that need to be removed - takes no time at all my friends!  The 3" circle was adhered to the doily cut-out and this assembly was glued to the front of the card.  The addition of some well-placed Basic Rhinestones and voila, an elegant but rather quick Thank You card.  Some bling, some blue and a Thank you too!

I really love it when I get stamp sets for free, and I really love the Fresh Vintage stamp set.  The fact that I earned this set FREE during Sale-A-Bration (on until Mar 31) makes me just that much happier!  Keep watching this site and I'll show you lots more ways to use the free items you can earn during Sale-A-Bration.

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

Day 2 - I'm still here - and Sale-A-Bration samples!

Good morning friends.

Last night my daughter made her own "bake sale" goodies for school with very little help from me, and this morning she frosted them all with pink icing and sprinkles. I know they will sell like the proverbial hotcakes!  I dropped her and my son and the tray full of cupcakes off at school so now it's time to get down to business.  I mean, I started this blog....I have a responsibility to keep it going, right?  Gulp.

This morning I wanted to share 2 of the cards I've made using the Fresh Vintage stamp set that is available for FREE from Stampin' Up! during Sale-A-Bration.  (and if you don't know what SAB is all about, then contact me because you are missing out!!  It is the BEST sale of the year).  Anyhow, I will admit that I didn't design either of these cards.  I CASEd them, which is considered a perfectly acceptable thing to do in the card-making world.  CASEing means to Copy And Share Everywhere.  And card-makers know and understand that if they post a card somewhere, they are giving unspoken permission for it to be CASEd.  As long as the person CASEing doesn't take credit for it, then no harm, no foul.

As for these 2 cards?  I cannot remember who I CASEd them from so I cannot give due credit.  But I will admit they are not my original designs.  I think the reason I love them so much is that they make very effective use of Poppy Parade - a colour that I have owned for almost a year but have never used until now.  Not once.  And looking at these cards, I cannot understand why?  The colour is gorgeous!  Vibrant!  Tantalizing even.  Of course, the coordinating designer paper (also an item that you can earn FREE from SU! during Sale-A-Bration) helps to pull together all the elements of the cards.  And there is even matching ribbon too.  That is what I love about SU!  They do all the coordinating for me so I don't really have to 'think' about it.

At any rate, here are the 2 cards for today.  We made the one with ribbon as part of a class I ran at the end of January (and let me tell you, I got to get creative with a couple dozen of the nicest women you could ever hope to meet!  And I met some wonderful new friends at the event too).

The second card is one that 'my ladies' have been making as part of their February Club nights.  Monthly clubs are another way I get to meet and be creative with some terrific ladies.  Club nights are great - There is always as much giggling and laughter as there is glueing and stamping!  (If you want more information about clubs, feel free to ask.  There's always room for more).

Both of these cards are quick, easy and eye-catching.  I can't decide which one I prefer?  Let me know which one is your favourite.

In the meantime, have a wonderful day and God Bless,
~ Cynthia    <><