Thailand Achiever's Blog Hop - Silver Snowflake Sentiments

Hello My Friends!  

Today we have another Holiday Catalogue Blog Hop to delight you. You are here at my blog - Cynthia Millan - But make certain you check out all the bloggers (list at bottom of this post) so you can see all the gorgeous projects we've shared.   

My card uses the Snowflake Sentiments bundle (Snowflake Sentiments stamp set and Swirly Snowflakes thinlits dies) and truly, this card is all about the sparkle and shine!   

I used the Swirly Snowflakes thinlits to cut 2 of the strips of snowflakes from Whisper White cardstock and glued these onto Silver Foil on either side of a gatefold card.

The sentiment is heat embossed using versamark and silver embossing powder on Whisper White cardstock.  Cut this with the Layering ovals framelit, then mount this onto a silver scalloped oval (same set of framelits) and this onto another white oval (same set of framelits).   

Sigh.  You didn't realize it would be so easy to create a STUNNING card, did you?

(Honestly, I mean it?  Who doesn't love silver?  And snowflakes?)

It was actually way harder to photograph this card (because of all the sparkle and shine) than it was to create it!

And by the way - the "new" Big Shot platform (see it HERE, #142802) is a WONDERFUL investment for those of you who still own the old-style multipurpose platform with layers that open up on a hinge.  The new platform, combined with the Big Shot die brush (see it HERE, #144262), make cutting intricate dies like this snowflake one an absolute breeze!  And all the little bits and chits pop out easily too.

And if you don't have a Big Shot....?  GASP!  You really, really, really, REALLY deserve one (as an early Christmas gift?).  Don't you??  Check it out HERE (#143263).
 
I know you will love the Holiday Catalogue as much as I do.  Take a look at the fun projects all my friends have created for you to see (The list of participants is below).  And feel free to leave comments.  We are suckers for a kind word of encouragement   :)

Remember, if you live ANYWHERE in Canada you can order Stampin' Up! supplies from me.  Feel free to visit my online store HERE.  If you don't already have a demonstrator and you'd like a Holiday Catalogue, you can contact me and we'll get you set up.  I want to help you achieve the Christmas creating joy that will bring a smile to your face!

Have fun hopping along my friends and as always, my wish for you is that you enjoy the rest of your day!  Happy Stamping and God Bless,    Cynthia   <><

List of Blog Hop Participants:
Product List

Snowflake Sentiments Clear-Mount Stamp Set [144820]	Swirly Snowflakes Thinlits Dies [144678]	Snowflake Sentiments Clear-Mount Bundle [146053]	Layering Ovals Framelits Dies [141706]	Silver Foil Sheets [132178]
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder [109131]	Versamark Pad [102283]	Big Shot Platform [142802]	Big Shot Die Brush - New Configuration [144262]

Starting Tomorrow - the Holiday Catalogue is LIVE

Hello my friends

Ready For Christmas stamp set and Christmas Staircase framelits - pg 6&7 in the Holiday Catalogue

Christmas is right around the corner - well - almost!  Because September begins tomorrow so that means YOU can start ordering from the Holiday Catalogue!

I just created these 2 cards for a swap with other Canadian demo friends and trust me, you WANT just about everything there is to order from the new Holiday Catalogue.  (*hint hint - in the second, white-on-white card, I used embossing paste to simulate snowbanks.  If you dump your Dazzling Diamonds glitter onto the paste while it is wet, you get beautiful, sparkling snow.  Love, love, LOVE this easy way to create totally gorgeous snow!)

The Holiday Catalogue will be posted on my blog tomorrow and there is so much goodness within.
CHRISTMAS IS MY FAVOURITE TIME OF THE YEAR!

Oh my friends - I have been DYING for you to see all the great new things in this new Holiday Catalogue.  You will love, love, love, love them, I swear.

Don't wait to order (we all know some of the goodies will go on backorder because they will be SO popular!).  So order yours now!

Hearts Come Home stamp set and Hometown Greetings edgelits - page 39 of the Holiday Catalogue

Order through my online store HERE (if your order is <$200, please use this hostess code at check-out  4HP4CGGT ).  Or contact me and I will place your order for you.  Let's get some of these goodies into your hands as soon as we can!

Enjoy tip-toeing through the Holiday catalogue!  Come get an english or french copy of the catalogue from me.  You won't be sorry.  

God Bless,   Cynthia   <><

Designer Paper Special - GET ONE FREE With a Purchase of 3

Hello Friends 

I am trying to get back into the swing of things - slowly but surely - and what better way to make a quick card, than to let the Designer paper do most of the work!

Thankfully, Stampin' Up! has a sale on Designer Paper for the entire month of October (not including Specialty paper or Paper Stacks).  

All 4 of these cards are made using the exact same design.... and it is all based on the designer paper.  Just cut a rectangle of your favourite pattern and glue it onto mat pieces of your choice.  Add a sentiment and there you have it.

Night of Navy Card with Floral Boutique Designer Paper

Whisper White Card with Floral Boutique Designer Paper

It really is that easy to create a beautiful card, and notice that when the focal piece is a 3 x 4" piece of pattern designer paper, you can get 12 focal blocks from every 12 x 12" piece of patterned paper.


That's a DOZEN CARDS from EACH sheet of Designer Paper!!


 


Think about that. You can create a full dozen extremely easy but absolutely gorgeous cards, in a very short time, from every piece of beautiful patterned paper. 


Why wouldn't you want to buy multiple packs of gorgeous patterns?? 


And when Stampin Up has a deal like this, where you get one package free when you purchase three others, they've made it really easy to create lots and lots (and LOTS) of gorgeous cards.

Emerald Envy Card with Presents & Pinecones Designer Paper

Whisper White Card with Presents & Pinecones Designer Paper

The Buy 3, Get 1 FREE deal is good from October 1 right through to October 31, but why wait?  Order your Designer Paper now.     


If you are anywhere in Canada, I would be happy to help you get your hands on these gorgeous papers.  


You can place your order online HERE and have it delivered right to your door (If your order is less than $200, please use the hostess code EWRZMGSR when you check out).  


If you are local to Ottawa and want to come pick your order up from my home, you can contact me HERE and I will be happy to place your orders for you.

 
The full list of Designer Papers available in this Buy 3, Get 1 FREE deal is listed below.  Pick your favourites then hurry to place your order.  The sooner you order, the sooner you will receive your paper and the sooner you can start creating....

Hope all my Canadian friends are looking forward to a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.  And I hope everyone is looking forward to getting some great deals on Stampin' Up!'s Designer Papers!

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


Product List

Floral Boutique Designer Series Paper [141663]	Presents & Pinecones Designer Series Paper [141986]	Holly Berry Happiness Photopolymer Stamp Set [142061]	Rose Wonder Photopolymer Stamp Set [140697]	Holly Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [141634]
Rose Garden Thinlits Dies [140619]	Layering Ovals Framelits Dies [141706]	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad [126966]	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad [126970]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]
Night Of Navy 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100867]	Emerald Envy 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [141415]	Cherry Cobbler 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119685]

Hop Along with us and "Be Thankful"

Hello my Friends.

This is officially the last Mediterranean Achiever's blog hop (don't worry, next month we will be starting with our Thailand Achiever's blog hop!) and it is also, officially, my favourite themed hop of all.....Thankfulness!  
(You may be starting at my blog - Cynthia Millan - or maybe you've already been hopping?  Whichever is the case, make certain you check the list at the bottom and visit everyone else's blog too.  You don't want to miss any of the great projects!)

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a LOT to be thankful for.  And believe me, I am!  I could, quite literally, fill up the page with a list of just some of the things that I have to be thankful for.   But being thankful is also a choice.  A matter of perspective.  And if you will allow me to set a serious tone for a moment, I want to point out how absolutely perfect the sentiment on this card is.

In everything

Give Thanks

The list of what I have to be thankful for is long. I have a wonderful family. A husband whom I adore. Four children that fill my heart to overflowing. Customers who have become cherished friends and good friends who have become faithful customers. A team that is supportive and caring, encouraging and crafty.  I work for a Catholic charity that trains missionary disciples to go onto university campuses and help heal lost or wandering souls. And I represent Stampin' Up!, a company that has rewarded my hard work by sending me on phenomenal trips to exotic places (I earned the 2017 trip to Thailand!!). And even in all this, in all the blessings that I have received, even in my life there has been pain. 

Three weeks ago my mother passed away from cancer. 

I will not say more about that right now. It is one of the hardest things I have ever lived through in my whole life.  
Ever.  
And it is a subject for a different post on a different day. 
But even in this, one of the most painful moments in my life, I still choose and believe that in everything, I will give thanks.

Everything.

Almost too shiny to capture all that gold!!

So my card is bright and shiny and reflective of the joy that is in my heart and how truly thankful I am. I might add that this card is so shiny with gold, it was difficult to photograph properly!

My sentiment, heat-embossed in gold, is from the Suite Seasons stamp set from the Holiday Catalogue. Layering oval framelits and gold foil are the perfect way to display the sentiment, and metallic gold doilies add even more shine.

But the golden gratitude doesn't stop there....I layered these elements onto a mat cut from the Fancy Frost Specialty designer paper.  You might have missed this paper in the Holiday catalogue but I sure didn't...Six lovely pre-embossed white patterns.  I used the foliage pattern and very, very lightly and carefully ran a sponge dauber (that I had inked up using my versamark ink pad) over the embossed raised pattern.  A bit of gold powder and heat-setting of this and voila.  A vintage look with a burnished gold pattern of leaves.

Can you see it in the close up? Imperfect, perhaps.  But a perfect effect, nonetheless.

Close up of gold-embossed, embossed leaf pattern on the Fancy Frost designer paper.

Some metallic gold thread.    Strips of gold foil behind the Fancy Frost paper (to make it seem like there is a gold mat behind the Fancy Frost DSP...but why waste all that gold foil, right?  Just use strips!).  And a few cut outs from the Paisleys thinlits (I even used some of the discarded foil bits from the framelits to add a couple of extra, small, gold foil elements to the card).  And there you have it.  A golden ray of sunshine.  A testament to Thankfulness.


Hope you like my card and are enjoying the rest of the Blog hop too.  If you are anywhere in Canada, you can contact me HERE and I will be happy to place your orders for you (or you can place your own order online HERE.  If your order is less than $200, please use the hostess code EWRZMGSR when you check out).

Thanks for stopping by.  
Have an absolutely fantastic rest-of-your-week.  And remember.  In everything (EVERYTHING...) Give Thanks! 
God Bless you all,    ~Cynthia   <><

List of blog hop participants: 

Hop Along With a Holiday Catalogue Sneak Peek

Hello my Friends.

The Holiday catalogue is SPECTACULAR and if you have seen it then you already KNOW what I am talking about.

Naturally for this month's Grand Vacation Achiever's Blog Hop we wanted to highlight some of the terrific products that will be available to order from this catalogue in just ONE SHORT WEEK! 

Gorgeous Emboss Resist Card using white embossing powder

(You may be starting at my blog  - Cynthia Millan - or maybe you've already been hopping?  Whichever is the case, make certain you check the list at the bottom and visit everyone else's blog too.  There are some phenomenal projects and you don't want to miss any of them!)

Now, about my project.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a Christmas junkie.  And heaven knows there are some brilliant and exciting Christmas sets in this new catalogue.  But we are still in the middle of a hot and humid August so I wanted to show you how useful and versatile one of my favourite "non-Christmas" stamp sets from this new catalogue is.  Not Christmas.  Not even Thanksgiving.  Just a couple of every day "WOW" Thank you cards.

Gorgeous Emboss Resist Card using copper embossing powder

The Paisleys & Posies stamp set that is featured in our new catalogue lends itself wonderfully to the "Emboss Resist" technique where you stamp the images onto Whisper White cardstock using versamark ink, then sprinkle on embossing powder (I used white embossing powder for one card, and copper embossing powder for its twin).  Once the powder is melted with a heat tool, you can sponge on colour(s) of your choice.  I used Rich Razzleberry, Pink Pirouette and the new 2016-17 In Color, Flirty Flamingo.  You sponge colour on, wipe off any residual that sits on top of the embossed lines (the melted embossing powder resists the ink), and voila, absolutely gorgeous works of art!

The cards were mounted onto two successive mats, then onto a card base, so that all 3 colours (Rich Razzleberry, Pink Pirouette and Flirty Flamingo) were also present in the "cardstock frame" around the image piece.  LOVE how these turned out.

In addition to 15 beautiful images the Paisleys & Posies set includes 3 wonderful sentiments.  This one of course (Thankful - Grateful, BLESSED) defines my life to a "T" and I think I will get to use it on a LOT of cards in the coming months.

I am really pleased with how both of these cards turned out!  I have a ton of Christmas goodies that I am playing with now since I have my 20-Card Class to launch the Holiday catalogue, coming up soon.  And I'll just bet that my friends and fellow blog-hoppers have created some extraordinary holiday projects for you using these goodies.  I can't wait to hop to the blogs of everyone else on the list to see what they've created. 

You should too!

Hope you enjoyed today's Blog Hop.  And I hope you are getting ideas and inspiration for what you want to order from the Holiday catalogue!  If you are anywhere in Canada, you can contact me HERE and I will be happy to place your orders for you beginning September 1 (or you can place your own order online HERE.  If your order is less than $200, please use the hostess code QBAYWFJF when you check out).

Thanks for stopping by.  
Have an absolutely fantastic rest-of-your-week and God Bless,    ~Cynthia   <><

List of blog hop participants: 

GV Blog Hop - Holiday Sneak Peek

Hello My Friends

This month our Grand Vacation blog hop will highlight some wonderful items from the new Holiday Catalogue that goes live on Sept 1.  So you get to enjoy a Sneak Peek of some fantastic treasures!

For me?  I LOVE cutting out and using the Santa images from the new "Home For Christmas" Designer Paper but my heart was breaking at the idea of leaving behind so many cute "partial" Santa Clauses around the edges of the paper.

Then the light bulb went off.  Or rather, should I say, the light bulb went "on".

Take a look at this cutie-pie.

I used one of the images from Cozy Christmas to stamp flying reindeer in the sky and used versamark and Iridescent Ice embossing powder to create the sparkle of gently falling snow (snow stamp from the Happy Scenes stamp set). 

Subtle sparkle of snow falling outside

See from a different angle how totally cute and totally effective, yet subtle the falling snow is? 


Torn and roughed-up white cardstock became a glittery snowbank, thanks to a 2-way glue pen and Dazzling Diamonds.

'He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake.  He knows when you've been bad or good....'   Can't you just picture Santa peeking in the window, keeping his eye on you!

The sentiment is from the new set 'Oh, What Fun'.  Considering that this is a sneak peek of new products, don't you think that "No Peeking" is a great sentiment for this card?  

Didn't look fast enough - and you almost missed seeing him!

Pretty neat, huh?  Even the partial Santas without any of the face showing lend themselves to really cool cards.  Almost as if you looked out the window a fraction of a second too late and almost "missed" seeing the jolly old guy completely!

All in all, I am very pleased with how these cards came out.  Every one is different.  Every one has character.  There are fuller images of Santa.  And there are images that are just fractions of him.  

I managed to get 16 partial Santas and made up 16 totally different cards.  And I still have all the complete Santas left, ready to be used in their entirety.

I plan to make up a whole lot more of these cards over the next little while - I have a special swap with some very special people coming up in September.  And I think they'll enjoy getting their very own "Peeking Santa", don't you?

In the meantime, you really should hop on over to the next blog on our blog hop.  You're going to want to visit them ALL!  I know you will see loads of wonderful projects using new products from the Holiday Catalogue.  The catty goes live on Sept 1 and you don't want to miss out.  (If you need to order some of these fantastic treasures, contact me and I will be happy to help you out! )

Have a terrific time hopping through the Sneak Peek posts.  Find some inspiration.  Leave a comment or two.  And enjoy your day!   
Till next time!    God Bless,    ~Cynthia