How to make hills

I don’t know if this technique has a name or not, but my husband likes to call it shadow sponging. Here I will show you how to make hills on your card. You can do with with green for grassy hill, brown for dirt hills, light blue for snowy hills, or whatever you want.

faux metal embellishments

Welcome to my first technique video! Here I show you how to make your own faux metal embellishments (like the title says). There are pictures after the video showing more detail so please read to the end. Thanks.

Here is a picture of three different stages in the prossess. Starting on the left in one coat of embossing powder. The one in the middle has two coats. The one on the right has four coats.

You can see the embellishment get thicker with more coats of embossing powder. I have been able to get away with only three coasts. The thing you are looking for is that the whole piece looks rounded and there are no little dimples left.

Oh and be careful you don’t blow away all your embossing powder like I did in the video. It makes an awful mess and if you don’t vacuum it up right away it can get embedded into your carpet. It will eventually come up, it just takes a while.

June 2017 worshop

I decided that making different cards for each workshop was a bit too much. So now I am making three cards each month for all the workshops I do in that month. Here are the cards for June.

The dragonfly one says, “Happy Mother’s Day”. We can make it say something else seeing as mother’s day is over.

The tall Calypso Coral one on the right is one that we made at On Stage convention in November. It uses sale-a-bration colouring paper which is no longer available. However, there are different colouring pages available in the new 2017-2018 catalogue, so this card is still great for teaching how to use the water colour pencils.

2017 Occasions Catalogue

It’s finally here. I went to Stampin’ Up!’s convention call On Stage back in November and they revealed this wonderful catalogue there. I have been trying very hard to keep it a secret ever since. Not any more. Here it is, in all it’s glory! Along with a few projects I have done with the new product.

Occasions 2017

Click the image above to see the catalogue on-line. Or let me know you want one and I can get one to you.

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All but the box and the gray embossed paper are projects we did at On Stage. It’s a supper fun event only for demonstrators. If you join my team, you can get in on this exclusive event!

Pine Bow Embossing Folder

Holiday catalogue preview! These projects show off one of the new embossing folders. I love Chritmas bobbles, but I never had anything to hang them off of. Now I do! I hope you enjoy these creations of mine.

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Star of Wonder bundle

Week three of my sneak peak at the new Holiday Catalogue. This bundle comes with a photopolymer stamp set and a set of thinlet dies. I was struck by the elegance of this set, and the many sayings that come with it would suit anyone. I hope you like it as much as I do.

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I should have made the blue card with silver instead of gold. The star above the blue card is a Christmas tree ornament. However, I didn’t have anything to hang it from so there it is.

A curious thing has happened to me. In my business, I have tired to be mindful that not everyone believes the same things. As a result, my Christmas collection of stamps was lacking any saying that had anything to do with Christ. I didn’t realize this until I read the sayings that come in this set. I only show two sayings in this picture but there are many more. Some talk about the star that lead the wise men to Jesus, others are more simple, like, “Merry Christmas.” That is one of the reasons I love this set. You can use it to make Christmas cards for both, the people who believe in the true meaning of Christmas, and those who want to celebrate it as a meaningful holiday filled with family and friends.

A Spooky Bundle

I know everyone is excited about looking at the new Christmas items in the up coming Holiday Catalogue, but I thought a little something for Halloween might be nice too. So here are two things I made while the kids were leaving me alone (I didn’t have much time). Hope you like them!

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This bundle comes with a stamp set and a set of thinlets. There are a few more stamps that I haven’t shown off here. Maybe another post with a few more things is in order.

Christmas Tree Boxes

I know it’s still summer, but if you are going to be making your own Christmas cards this year, you had better start thinking about them. I usually start in September with the release of the new Holiday Catalogue from Stampin’ Up! I got a sneak peak at it yesterday… I’M SO EXCITED! Sorry for yelling. I’m just really excited. It not only has some great things for Christmas, but also some of the best Halloween things I’ve seen in a long time. So I’ve decided to do a little sneak peak for all my customers. Once a week (maybe more if I have time) I will be posting projects I’ve made using some of the new things you can find in the catalogue. Hope you like them as much as I do!

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I don’t have any of the new product yet, so this one is using some already available product. I used the Cutie Pie Thinlets to make the trees.

Why board games are for everyone

So my husband and I are into board games. He is a lot more into board games then I am. Really, he is more into board games then most people. And he wins a lot of the time. It makes playing games with him tiresome sometimes. So when events happen and I can play with other people, it’s great! Friends of ours are celebrating International Table Top day, a day to play “table top” games, by inviting people over for the weekend to play board games. Really, this was supposed to happen next weekend but people were busy. I got to meet new people, play games and have a lot of fun. And really, that’s what board games are all about. People. It’s a time for people to interact with each other. So in this world where people are so absorbed by social media and apps and texting and all that, it’s really good to take time and turn all that off to look at people face to face and have fun with them. It is our dream one day to open a board game cafe. A place where people can come and play games. No electronic games aloud. A place where people can interact with each other. A place where people can feel like they are a part of something and that they are no longer alone. We are a social race. Humans can only survive in a group. Studies show that people go insane if they are alone too long. So I encourage everyone, go out and by a board game. I recommend Ticket to Ride as a good starter game. Catan is also a good one. Play it with everyone you know. They ask for a recommendation for your next game. It’s amazing how it can bring people together. I look forward to hearing how much you enjoy it too.

Farwell

Retiring List

It’s that time of year again. Time to clean out the old and bring in the new. Stampin’ Up! has posed the retiring products. Anything that is not a stamp is only available while supplies last. And some of it is on sale (up to 50% off!) so get it while you can. The stamps (some are also on sale) will continue to be made until May 22nd. After that, they are only available while supplies last. So contact me as soon as you can and get all those things on your wishlist before they are gone forever!

Click this link to view the retiring list:

http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/CategoryPage.aspx?categoryid=110700