Retiring Stamp Sets - Now Is the Time To Order Them!!

It happens every year and it always brings me just a little bit of sadness.

Stampin' Up! just announced the stamp sets that are retiring at the end of May.  And a few of them are ones I am going to really miss.

You can order any of these retiring sets through me and have them delivered right to your door, anywhere in Canada!   Take a look at what is retiring HERE and see if there is anything you want before it is gone for good.  If you'd prefer, use the button on the right to e-mail me to ask me to send you an Excel or pdf version of the list. 

Remember, if If there is something on this list that you want - now is the time to order it.  Once June 1st rolls around, they won't be available anymore and you will have missed your chance!

So get out your pen and start making your wish list......

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

Fast and Fabulous Mixed Bunch

Another Fast and Fabulous Friday?  Already?  Where does the time go?
When the clock is ticking and you just don't have time for all the extras, this card is quick and easy.  The definition of fast and fabulous.

The swirl from Baroque Motifs was stamped several times in Lucky Limeade on a Whisper White card base.  One of the Mixed Bunch blossom images was stamped in Concord Crush ink on a scrap piece of white and punched out with the Blossom Punch.  The edges were sponged with Concord ink and a basic pearl was added to the centre, then the blossom was mounted using dimensionals, onto the card.  A Thank You (from Thank You Kindly) was stamped in Concord Crush onto the card front, then a 2-way Glue Pen and Dazzling Diamonds glitter were used to accent the flower and parts of the Baroque vines.

And that's it.
Doesn't get much simpler than that, does it?

So next time you are pressed for time but you need a card in a hurry - remember that clean and simple is often fast and fabulous.

Hope everyone is looking forward to a wonderful weekend.   I know I am !
                God Bless,              ~Cynthia       <><

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Well I have told you all previously that I have the best mother in the world (sorry to disappoint all those out there who thought they had her).  I am here to add to that by telling you that I also have the world''s greatest father.  My cup runneth over and I am truly blessed.

I could wax poetic about my parents - but that's not why you came here   :)
Instead I will show you the card I made for my father - an avid fisherman - and hope that the pictures do it even just a little bit of justice!

I have an old retired Stampin' Up! set called Fishin' that came out in 1996.  This set was just itching to be used for my Dad's card so I stamped the bullrushes and weeds and water splash and fish all using Stazon Black ink, onto Naturals White cardstock.

I used my aquapainter to apply colour to the scene, including the water.  Once the image was coloured, I used a brayer to apply "sunrise" colours to the sky.  The image was cut out using the second largest Labels size of the Framelits, then the entire piece was spritzed liberally with a home-made shimmer mist.  It was mounted on a chocolate chip mat that had been embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder, then this was adhered to a Naturals White card.  Finally, the fish was covered with Crystal Effects to make him seem wet and slick.  Here is a close-up so you can see the shimmer on the scene, and the wet/slick look of the fish.

On the inside of the card I stamped a few more fish, a fishing pole and a tackle box and traditional fishing hat (think Tilley hat). 

 I really hope my father likes this card.  I tried to get the fish to resemble a rainbow trout (thank you Google Images!).  I am not certain how well I succeeded. But I know my father will appreciate the attempt!

This is a wonderful stamp set and perfect for my fisherman father.  I know it is retired and I really should sell it at my Open House in June but I am undecided so far.  I don't use if often enough to justify keeping it.  But will anyone else love it the way I do?!?!?  Certainly no one loves my father the way I do.  Well...maybe my 8 brothers and sisters (yes - you read that correctly.  I am one of 9 children.  Told you I had the world's greatest mother and father, didn't I?!).

At any rate, to that wonderful father (married to a wonderful woman), I say, "Happy Birthday and lots of love". 

And to the rest of you - enjoy your day.  The weekend is almost here!  God Bless,    ~Cynthia    <><

New Purse Die From Stampin' Up!

Oh my goodness gracious!  When I saw the little purses made from the new Petite Purse die that Stampin' Up! is selling, I thought they were "cute".  But I honestly didn't think I would have much use for them.  They seemed small - - - "Cute" but not particularly useful.

Then I made the mistake of making one of these darling little purses and now I am officially hooked!  Absolutely and completely hooked.  They are so stinking cute and so unbelievably easy to make, that it is hard not to make at least half a dozen at a time.  I want to make one in every colour, using every designer paper, and every embossing folder I own.  Every embellishment.  Every ribbon and button and rhinestone and brad in my collection. 

And I've already started.  See the gorgeous creations I made?  Some smart and spiffy purses for Spring, summer and every occasion.  And how about that Wedding White purse and Elegant Black Evening clutch?  Too cute or what?!

Did you know you can get 9 Hershey's Kisses into one of these little darlings?  My Club ladies this month are all going home with a purse full of chocolate!

And the purses can be used for so many things.  I can see these as wedding favours.  Bridal and Baby shower favours.  Birthday parties.  Christmas packaging.  Small gift "bags".  And so much more.

Can't you just see one of these being used as the gift box for a Pandora charm??  How's that for presentation?  Any guy who would use one of these as his gift box has my vote.

And this one - this Elegant Black clutch...don't you think it's the perfect gift box for an engagement ring?!?

The possibilities are endless.   But I seriously think the die should come with a warning.  Caution - using this die to create purses can be addictive!

And on that note - Time to go make some more purses!

To all of you, I wish a splendid day.     God Bless,        Cynthia     <><

Happy Easter !!

Happy Easter to everyone!!

A day of rebirth and renewal!  We celebrated a lovely Easter Vigil Mass at our church last night, followed by a Resurrection party.  Wonderful service.  Wonderful evening.  Truly He is Risen!

And on that note - one of my friends used the He Is Risen stamp set to create this beautiful card.  She is an amazing lady who, in addition to being my friend, happens to be the very first recruit I ever got.  Although, to be honest, she is a craft genius and I did not "recruit" her through any of my own merits.  She wanted to capitalize on the Demonstrator Starter Kit Special last summer, and I was lucky enough to be her upline of choice.  I am very thankful that she chose me and I have been extremely blessed in getting to know her better ever since.   

At any rate, Michelle gifted me with this stunning Easter card that I am sharing with you today.

Pear Pizzazz, Perfect Plum and Vanilla all come together beautifully in her creation.  The lilies from the He Is Risen stamp set were selectively coloured with the Perfect Plum Stampin' Write marker, then the leaves and stem were coloured in with Pear Pizzazz.  The sentiment is stamped on Very Vanilla in Perfect Plum, punched with the Wide Oval punch, and layered on a Plum backing made using the Decorative Label Punch.  All three pieces of cardstock  making up the front of the card were cut using the Adorning Accents Edgelit Die, and the vanilla piece was also embossed with the Adorning Accents Embossing Folder.

Some Pleated Satin Ribbon and Basic Pearls finish off what I am certain you will agree is an absolutely beautiful card.
Serene.  Peaceful.  Elegant.
Like the card's creator.
And, come to think of it, her Creator!

I pray that everyone enjoys a Peace-Filled Easter and basks in the glorious gift Our Lord and Saviour gave us.    He is Risen Indeed!

God Bless you all,    ~Cynthia    <><

Good Friday Easter Cross

Today is Good Friday - a day of paradox.  Profound sorrow leading to profound joy.  It took me until I was an adult to begin to truly wrap my head around this (and the movie, The Passion, was crucial in helping me even begin to understand it in a deeper manner....)....  Where was I?  Oh yes.  Good Friday.

It is a gloriously sunny morning and I was just blessed to spend a few minutes with someone who began as an acquaintance, became a customer, and quite quickly became a valued friend.  I wanted to give her something to let her know how blessed I feel to have met her, and to wish for her a wonderful, peace-filled and joyful Easter.  So I made her a card I know she will appreciate.  And I wanted to share it with you too.

I stamped the grass from Inspired By Nature in Lucky Limeade, then mounted 2 crosses onto the card front.  (Run your cardstock through the Big Shot with the Lattice Die, then selectively trim away a few rings to leave the cross shape).  The black cross is adhered directly to the card since death is but a shadow, and the victorious white cross is raised up on dimensionals just offset from this.  The white cross was then covered with dazzling diamonds glitter.

A few butterflies (Beautiful Wings embosslit), blossoms (Itty Bitty Punch) and basic pearls, and a Happy Easter from the Delightful Dozen stamp set, and my card was ready to give to my dear friend.

Believe it or not, this is actually a Fast and Fabulous card - in keeping with my Friday venture.  It did not take a long time to make.  But the sentiment and love it carries to my friend are meant to last a lifetime.

To all of you - Happy Good Friday.   And may you each enjoy a glorious and joy-filled Easter!

God Bless,    ~Cynthia    <><

I am Famous!!

Well, I am not actually "famous".  But I certainly FEEL famous!

I was surfing around blog sites the other evening, looking at cards, and I happened onto the site for Tami White.  She was Stampin' Up!'s #1 Demonstrator last year.  Number one!  And didn't I just about fall off my chair when there in her March 15 posting, I saw MY CARD!!  That's right...MY card!  Mine is the white card with the red rose buds.  I submitted it to a Stampin' Up! contest last Spring - which I did not win - but Stampin' Up! told us they might use our submissions on some of their display boards at Convention.  Sure enough, they must have displayed my card, and Tami saw it and liked it, took a photo of it and decided to post it!  So my card is posted on the blog site of Stampin' Up!'s Number One Demonstrator.  How very, very cool is that?!?!

The photo is a little blurred, and my own photos of this card are not much better (I was in a hurry to send it to the contest.  And I didn't have a blog last year so I wasn't concerned about a decent photo).  But I can show you the "twin" card that I sent to my mother for her birthday a year ago.

The roses are made by punching 3 bird wings (Bird Builder punch) and sponging around the edges of each.  They are glued together and the leaf and stems from the Bird Builder punch are altered a bit and glued together to form the foliage.  The sentiment was heat embossed in gold, then punched out using the Decorative Label punch.    A Cherry Cobbler frame was created for this, and a Modern Label punched piece was split then used beneath this.

The white on white background (Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Eyelet Border Punch, basic pearls) lends it all an elegant feel, don't you think?

I loved both versions of this card and really hoped I might win Stampin' Up!'s contest last Spring.  But you know....it is almost as gratifying to see my card displayed on the blog of their Number One demonstrator!  It certainly makes me feel famous!

Hope everyone has had a wonderful day.  And may you all enjoy a Peace-filled and truly Blessed Holy Week.  God Bless,     ~Cynthia     <><