Stamping on Designer Paper - the Video

Hello Dear Friends

By now you *must* have seen my previous posts about stamping the Swallowtail image onto the Sweet Sorbet Designer Paper and heat embossing it!  I posted about it as a Fast and Fabulous Friday and showed you even more variations on Saturday.

Well, just to prove to you that this really *is* a fast and fabulous card to create, I made a video of me making one of the cards.  Honestly, I think if I did not talk as much in the video, it might have taken me less than 2 minutes to actually create the card - start to finish!  But since I decided to explain and talk while I made it on camera, the video is all of 4 minutes long.

Even at that - Fast and Fabulous I tell ya!

Have a spectacular day.  More March Break fun in this household but I'll be back tomorrow.  
Till then, take care and God Bless,     ~Cynthia     <><

More Designer Paper Butterflies

Good Morning Friends

I did it.  I made a whole series of yesterday's Swallowtail card, using various other colours of embossing powder.  Here is the entire series.  Let me know what you think.

Black Embossing Powder

Gold Embossing Powder

Pewter Embossing Powder

Silver Embossing Powder

Melon Mambo Embossing Powder

Turquoise Embossing Powder

Pool Party Embossing Powder

Tangerine Tango Embossing Powder

White Embossing Powder

Hope you all enjoy a wonderful weekend.  God Bless you all,    ~Cynthia   <><

Fast and Fabulous Friday - Designer Paper Butterflies!

Hello Friends and sorry that I am late.

March Break officially started for my 4 kids as of last evening so we all stayed up late, and all woke up late!  Of course, they are more "on holidays" this coming week than I am.  But I still got to enjoy a sleep in today!  So when I came down to create a Fast and Fabulous Friday, I really wanted FAST!

This card certainly fits the bill!  In fact, in the span of 15 minutes I had designed the card, made 3 variations and photographed them all.  Not bad since I came downstairs without any idea what I would do.  Sometimes it helps to just look at what is on your craft table and go from there.....

This particular piece of Designer Paper from the Sweet Sorbet collection (FREE during Sale-A-Bration) was sitting on my table - I keep trying to find ways to use it and I decided today to make it my main element.  And if you know anything at all about me, you'll know how much I LOVE the Swallowtail stamp.  So I combined the 2 with some embossing and voila.  Fast.  And Fabulous.

Of course, I started with the white powder, but couldn't quite decide if it needed something "more".  So I re-created the card with Pool Party embossing powder.  Then again with Tangerine Tango.  I had to stop myself form making a copy using all of the other colours too - or I'd NEVER get the post made!!  But as you can see, once you've decided on a design, if all you are changing is the embossing powder, you can alter your colours and create something new in seconds!

I hope they photographed well enough to really let you see how striking (dare I say....FABULOUS) they are in real life.  


I know which one is my favourite.  Please leave me a comment and tell me which one you prefer?

Hope you are looking forward to a Fabulous (but NOT fast) weekend!   God Bless,    ~Cynthia    <><



Product List
Stamp :

Happy Watercolor [clear] [133191], Swallowtail Clear-Mount Stamp [129216]
Ink : Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad [126980] , Versamark Pad [102283]
Card Stock : Basic Black 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [121045] , Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [100730]
Tools & Adhesive : Heat Tool [129053]
Accessory : Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper [133521] , White Stampin' Emboss Powder [109132] , Pool Party Stampin' Emboss Powder [129398] , Tangerine Tango Stampin' Emboss Powder [123106]

Happy Birthday Friend!!

I warned you that I have birthdays on the brain, right?

Well, today is the birthday of one of my very good friends!  Someone I respect and admire and I feel blessed and honoured to know.  She ia a beautiful woman inside and out and not only is it her birthday today, but in just a few short weeks it will be the "birth" day of her third child.  I am very excited for her and her growing family.  And I sent this card to her to let her know how much I cherish and appreciate her.

I CASed this card directly from the internet because I loved it from the moment I saw it - and I used it as one of our September club cards to remind my ladies that tone-on-tone can be one of the most beautiful colour combinations.  In fact, most of the stamping on this card is versamark (followed by clear embossing powder) so the darker images on the Soft Suede card really are tone-on-tone.  And Pool Party, combined with the Suede, is such a gorgeous punch of colour.

A bitty vellum butterfly atop the Suede/Pool Party larger one, and there is just enough dimension and 'movement' on the card to keep it bright and  interesting.

And speaking of interesting - you heard about my birthday special, right?  
From Oct 1-Oct 7, I will pay the shipping and handling on any order greater than $60.  Regular HST fees still apply.  But the s&h will be covered by me.  It is the week of my birthday and I am sharing my happiness with all my friends.   Contact me and take advantage of the FREE SHIPPING this week!

Back to work I go - so much to do to prepare for my World Card-Making Day Event this weekend!  Are you going to visit us on Saturday between 10 and 3 to take part in the BOGO?  Or come and take my Delightful Dahlias or Wetlands or Simply Sent Classes.  You won't regret it!

In the meantime and until then -- Have a wonderful evening my friends and God Bless,    ~Cynthia     <><

Happy Birthday Mom

Hello Friends

Yesterday was my mother's birthday and I wanted to post a picture of the card I made for her, but since we were not going to be home to see her until late into the evening (we live a 6 hr drive from my parents), I didn't want her - or anyone else for that matter - seeing her card online until she actually got to open it in person.  Well, long story short, we arrived, I gave her the card, she loved it, and now I can post it.

Did I mention I have the best mother in the entire world?!?

Ok - my wonderful mother notwithstanding, I suppose you want details about the card!

Supply List (Spring catalogue)
Stamps - Swallowtail (w129213, c129216), Itty Bitty Banners (w126255, c126257)
Ink - Versamark (102283)
Paper - Whisper White (100730)
Big Shot - Bitty Banner framelits (129267), Lacy Brocade embossing folder (127819)
Tools/Accessories - Heat Tool (129053), Gold Embossing Powder (109129), Silver Embossing Powder (109131), Embossing Buddy (103083)

Believe it or not, this card was made in exactly the same manner as you see in my Multi-coloured Chalkboard Butterfly video, except that gold and silver embossing powders were used (on white) instead of coloured powders on black.  The rest of it is pretty much the same.  Thank you to Kay Smith for her swap card (almost identical to this one) that reminded me that multi-coloured embossing works marvelously for metallics, too! 

And since I wanted my main card image to be framed in a special way, I put several layers of gold embossing along all the edges of a Whisper White card layer, then Big Shot-embossed this!  Doesn't it look like the vintage gilded frame for a masterpiece hanging in some museum somewhere?

I was pleased with how this card turned out, my mother loved it, and apparently my daughters are part-raccoon (or crow?) since they are captivated, entranced and positively fixated by how sparkly and shiny the card is.

It really is you know.  This card screams elegant and lovely!  And oh, so shiny.

Did I mention that I have the best mother in the entire world?!?

I am going to get back to visiting with this same wonderful mother now.  Have yourselves a fantastic day (and a great March Break for those of you enjoying time off from school).          God Bless,       ~Cynthia     <><

Multi-Coloured Chalkboard Technique and a Video!!

Well friends, this is it.

If all goes well, when I hit "Publish" there will actually be a video linked to this post.  I hope it works.  And if it does work, you can all watch and see how easy it is to do mutli-coloured embossing as a Chalkboard technique.

This is my first attempt at a video.  I hope it was successful.  Let me know what you think!  I'll be very interested in your comments.

In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend (a long weekend for the US and for many of us in Canada).  God Bless,       ~Cynthia   <><

Fast & Fabulous Chalkboard Swallowtail

Good Morning Friends

Remember when we were kids and we used all sorts of wonderful colours of chalk to create works of art on the chalkboard?  Well, I decided to use coloured embossing powder to try to achieve the same effect.  Naturally I wanted to re-create the chalkboard technique I showed yesterday.  So although this card may look like it took time (because of the multiple colours), it is really just various colours of embossing powder and took no time at all.  See?  Fast.  And fabulous!
     (Added note:  See the video to re-create this technique here)

Supply List (Spring or SAB catalogues)
Stamps - Swallowtail (w129213, c129216), Vintage Verses (w129633, c129636)
Paper - Whisper White (100730), Basic Black (121045)
Ink - Versamark (102283)
Tools/Accessories - Heat Tool (129053), Embossing Powder - White (109132), Melon Mambo (123223), Tangerine Tango (123106), Pool Party (129398), Tempting Turquoise (122950), Watercolor Pencils - white (101879), Stamping Sponges (101610), Embossing Buddy (103083)

I think I will do a video (!!) on the multi-coloured embossing technique so check back this weekend if you want to see how that is done.  (Gulp - there - I said it.  I am doing a video.  I've GOT to do one now!!).  I wonder....in today's day and age of white boards and "smart boards"...will kids forget what chalkboards, blackboards and coloured chalk is?  I guess not, since they will still have chalk to colour on the sidewalks.  But it just isn't the same thing in my books.  Oh well, the end of an era!

Don't forget about my Mystery Hostess event.  Offer open to ANYONE in Canada, and you don't need to be available to come to the event evening.  Just let me know you have a qualifying order to put in.  EVERYONE splits the hostess benefits so you will get one of the 10 bonuses listed!  Contact me today - It just doesn't get any better!    :)

In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful day and a superb weekend!!

Silver Butterfly Gifts

Hello Friends

So - a wonderful private Catholic school here in Ottawa (Maryvale Academy) is holding a Gala dinner as a fundraiser this weekend and I was honoured to be asked to contribute a gift for the Silent Auction table.  Some of the items being bid on at the Gala include rare vintage wines and weeks away at Florida vacation homes, so anything I might contribute is far less substantial.  But I did want to donate something that I thought might interest 'somebody', so I designed what I consider to be a wonderful Butterfly gift set.

Butterfly Gift Set - Viewed from above

Set of NoteCards, Box of Chocolates, TeaLight Holder & Table Decor

Box of Chocolates - Opened

Perhaps the most exciting piece of the collection is the beautiful box that holds some Ghirardelli chocolates.  Yum, yum.  Rather ironic that the sentiment on the top of the box says, "The Best things in life aren't things", but the "thing" inside the box is something that many of us crave!  

No matter -- this saying is one of many lovely sentiments included in a new stamp set from the Spring Catalogue called Feel Goods (w129681, c129684) and although this particular one ranks as one my favourites, they are all wonderful.

The basic design for the box was borrowed from a fellow SU! demonstrator in the US.  And the box can be re-used once the chocolates are consumed - either to re-stock with chocolates, or to hold another gift of some kind.

In addition to the box of chocolates, the collection includes a set of 12 all-occasion notecards with a silver embossed butterfly as the main image.  In the photo you see most of the notecards tied up with a ribbon but there is a single one standing 'on display'. 

Also included in the gift set is a table centrepiece comprised of a central tealight holder and surrounding decor elements.  These were all fashioned from aluminum flashing (think roof repairs) and were cut with the Big Shot. 

Tealight holder

Tealight holder - side view

The tealight holder is a set of nested blossoms (embossed with the Big Shot too) with butterflies sitting on petals.  The surrounding decor elements are cute little blossoms that make me think of the jacks we played with as children!  The entire ensemble is designed to be small enough to not take up too much "floor space" of your table, but striking enough to really be noticed.  I am going to have to make a second set for myself as I honestly love this entire ensemble!

The last part of the gift set that is not pictured here are 3 aluminum garden stakes that match the tealight element.  The garden stakes were also die-cut from flashing using the Big Shot, then embossed with various designs.  They, too, have butterflies attached in various positions and in various sizes.  I regret I did not take a photo of them before I delivered the gift set to the organizers of the Gala, but trust me when I tell you that they are a striking addition to any garden or potted plant.

Alas and alack, I will not be able to attend the Gala on Saturday night since I will be with all 4 of my children at a weekend Choir Camp retreat.  However, my darling husband will be at the Gala with dear friends of ours.  I wonder whether he will bid on this ensemble, just to get at the chocolate.  Do you think I should tell him I have more chocolate stashed in the basement??  Naw - the money goes for a good cause.  If he wants to bid on my chocolate, who am I to take away his fun, right?    ;)

Hope you are all looking forward to a wonderful weekend!  But don't be in too much of a rush to get there.....enjoy the rest of your week until the weekend is upon us.        
God Bless,       ~Cynthia      <><

Swallowtail Gift Bags

Wow.  I mean WOW!

Good Morning dear friends.  I am so excited to show you the gift bags that I just made for a friend.  I know the photos will not do them justice, but I trust you will use your imaginations to see and picture them as glorious as they truly are.  And no, I am not being prideful to say they are gorgeous.  I know completely that it is the image, that wonderful Swallowtail image, that makes them so outstanding.  Me?  I merely put the image on the medium.

Espresso, White and Black embossing powders

Wasabi, Pool Party and Turquoise embossing powders

Tangerine, Cherry Cobbler and Melon Mambo embossing powders

Silver, Pewter and Gold embossing powders

Supply List
Stamps - Swallowtail (w129213, c129216)
Paper - non-SU gift bags
Ink - Versamark (102283)
Tools/Accessories - Heat Tool (129053), Embossing Powder - Black (109133), White (109132), Early Espresso (128980), Gold (109129), Pewter (124114), Silver (109131), Cherry Cobbler (122949), Melon Mambo (123223), Tangerine Tango (123106), Pool Party (129398), Tempting Turquoise (122950), Wild Wasabi (123224)

Trust me when I say that these bags are far more impressive than the pictures can do justice to.  The embossed powders all give a shine to the raised images and there is an ethereal quality to the butterflies 'floating' off the bags,  In real life, I think my favourites are the Black, White, Pool Party, Turquoise and Pewter.  But that is only because the Kraft-coloured bags that I used are fairly 'dark' in their colouration.  I suspect if I used white bags, my favourites might be different.  No matter -- they are all stunning.  Simply and honestly stunning.  I can't wait for my friend to come and see them.  I just know she will be pleased with the results!

I am especially tickled because the bags are going to be used to hold small gifts to be given at her Bible Study this week.  The talk that morning will include the idea that change, although often difficult, can lead to beautiful and unimagineable things.  Sorta like the change that leads from a caterpillar to a butterfly, correct?  So these butterfly bags, in all their glorious splendour, will be the perfect housing for the recipients' gifts.

I think I might just have to make some more of these to keep for myself.  You never know when you'll need a gorgeous gift-bag to 'wrap up' a present.  And if the bag itself is almost as special as the present that it contains....even better, right?

I hope you are all having a wonderful day.  And I hope that any change you are going through, whether slight, or monumental, leads to butterflies and beauty!

God Bless,     ~Cynthia    <><

Butterfly Bonanza - Pt II

We had an absolutely wonderful time at the Butterfly Bonanza Class yesterday!  It's hard not to be excited when you get to create such gorgeous projects!.  And since I always refer to my customers (aka 'friends') as "my ladies", well I've just got to tell you....My ladies Rock!

Anyhow, a bunch of 'my ladies' wanted to come but just couldn't swing it for yesterday, so I am pretty certain I will be repeating this class later.  Stay tuned -- I promise to let you know when that will be!

Hope everyone is having a spectacular weekend!
God Bless,      ~Cynthia      <><

Butterfly Bonanza Class

Hello friends. 

Super quick today since I am running my Butterfly Bonanza Class in a few hours and there are still some little things left to do - so let me just show you another of the cards we'll be making at the class.  My upline, Deb, did a birthday rendition of this card at a recent club of hers, and as soon as I saw it I knew it had to be part of the Bonanza offerings!

Once again Swallowtail is stamped using Versamark but this time it is embossed with white embossing powder.  Some Crumb Cake ink sponged on after heating to provide more contrast, and there you have it, another stunning card.

Gotta run.  But if you are local and interested in making this card, I have had people who missed this session asking if I will re-run this class.  Let me know if you are interested too and we can find a mutually agreeable date and time for everyone's schedule.

In the meantime, enjoy your weekend.
God Bless,        ~Cynthia        <><

Fast and Fabulous Friday - Swallowtail

Wow - How long has it been since I posted a Fast & Fabulous Friday?!  Way, way way too long.  So now is as good a time as any to get back in the saddle (so to speak).

Any of you who 'hang around here' might remember that back in November, myself and 8 other lucky gals were at the Rising Star Retreat in Utah and were privileged to see the Spring Catalogue before pretty much anyone else had.  And one of the new stamps, a large a la carte butterfly called Swallowtail, caught my eye immediately.  But I will admit that I was more than just a little dismayed at the size and I wondered if I would ever find a way to use an image so large.  I do believe I actually pouted!

Boy was I ever a short-sighted dolt!

The very next day the Home Office treated us to an afternoon of stamping fun, and we got to get that big Swallowtail stamp inky.  And I was forced to take back every misgiving and ill-word about it that I had managed to either think or say.

Quite simply, Swallowtail is breathtaking!  Majestic.  Elegant.  And Breathtaking.

Here are 2 Fast & Fabulous Swallowtail cards to show you what I mean:

Supply List (Spring catalogue)
Stamps - Swallowtail (w129213, c129216), Sweet Essentials (w126455, 126457))
Paper - Whisper White (100730), Island Indigo (122923), Rich Razzleberry (115316)
Ink - Island Indigo (126986), Rich Razzleberry (126950)
Big Shot - Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder (127819)
Tools and Accessories - Large Oval Punch (119855), Modern Label Punch (119849), 2-way Glue pen (100425), Dazzling Diamonds (102023), dimensionals (104430)


It really doesn't get much easier (or quicker) to make a truly stunning card.  In fact, this is one of the cards that my friends will be making tomorrow at my Butterfly Bonanza Class.  This is the 'simplest' of the assortment in terms of techniques.  Wait till you see what you can do with this stamp image when you get just a bit fussier!    :)    I'll post the other projects over the next few days for you to see.  Because I tell you -- you cannot go wrong with a stamp set this beautiful.


Until next time, have a wonderful day and a terrific weekend,      God Bless,      ~Cynthia      <><