Wowzers, What a Deal!!

Stampin' Up! has announced a new promotion:

(The following is partially copied and pasted from the Stampin' Up! website:)
From 1 November through 16 December, host a minimum $575 Stampin’ Up! party and get a FREE collection of ink pads*—a $64.95 value—in addition to our other fantastic benefits!

Your Party Sales**	Free Ink Collection	Hostess Dollars	Items at 50%
$575	Yes!	$90	1 item
$650	Yes!	$110	2 items
$900	Yes!	$150	3 items
$1,150	Yes!	$190	4 items

Contact me today to take advantage of this INK-redible offer.

Don't have time to host a party this month? That's okay! You can place a $575 order (you can collect orders from friends--it doesn't have to be all yours!) through me and still earn a FREE collection of ink! Here are the collections you can choose from:

• 132652 Brights Classic Stampin' Pads
• 132653 Subtles Classic Stampin' Pads
• 132654 Regals Classic Stampin' Pads

(End of modified copy and paste)

There is another way you can earn that free stamp pad collection: by becoming a demonstrator! It is only $125 to become a demonstrator in Canada--and with that $125 order, you get to choose $155 worth of products and they throw in $70 worth of business things, if you decide to do the business. The benefits of becoming a demonstrator are that you get to have at least 20% off EVERYTHING you order! With the Ink-Redible! deal going on, you will actually get over $200 worth of Stampin' Up! products you can play with for only $125. If this sounds interesting to you and you are in Canada, email me! :)

Just Getting Started?

I actually have another post that has been in the works for over a month, but the images I wanted to add to it are being uncooperative (okay, that means I'm having difficulty with my photo editing programs because I haven't used them enough). It will eventually get posted.

In the meantime, I have been asked by a friend what would be some materials to just get started in stamping. I thought that would make a really great blog post, so here I am.

The absolute basics would be:

• Whisper White card stock #100703 - $9.25 for 40 sheets--this paper works so well with Stampin' Up! inks and gives a much clearer image than other card stocks I've tried
  
• Coloured card stock: A multi-pack of some sort that comes with 2 of each colour in the collection. These cost $8.25. If you get the Getting Started pack, you get an extra 2 colours and sheets of paper--for the same price.
  
• Ink: my recommendation if you don't have specific colour ideas, try the Getting Started Stampin' Spots collection #119979 $26.95.
  
• A stamp set of your choice
  
• Adhesive: The SNAIL is my favourite (#104322 $9.75; refills available at a reduced price)

  All images copyright Stampin' Up!



A nice touch would be to add envelopes and an embellishment of some sort: pearls or rhinestones or ribbon... Something to add that extra something special. :)


Of course, if there is a particular product you have tried or maybe seen a video, and you really want it, that would be a good one to add on!

So, it's pretty simple. The hard part will be picking the stamp set. ;)

More projects to share

The following is made with some retired products, so... If you have the stuff, here's an idea! :D If you don't, you can still take the same basic principle and create a card with the same type of layout.

You can't tell very well in the picture, but I did some distressing of the base brown paper with my nail. The two papers below that are a single sheet that was ripped and one side was flipped. (I love how the Stampin' Up paper has the complementary sides!)

This is another with retired stamps and paper. I followed somebody else's card, but it's been a while since I made this, so I don't remember how I found it and can't give proper credit! Again, though, you can take your papers and available stamps and do a similar layout:

Another card with the same same stamp:

You can't really tell, but I used Crystal Effects on the flower to make it pop out more. (I always love people's reactions to that! "How'd you do that??" :D )

All right, enough for now. More to come later!

My New Favourite Stamp Set!

A quick post about a new stamp set that I really, really love. I can only find two project pictures at the moment, but I know I have some more somewhere. The following pictures are from my phone camera; it's possible the other pictures are on the actual camera.

In any case, my new beloved stamp set is Flowering Flourishes (page 121 of the 2012/2013 Annual Catalogue):

It caught my eye in the new catalogue and was on my first order. I just love it! It is so lovely and elegant. Here are two cards I've made so far with this stamp set:

The textured part of the first card is the Square Lattice Textured Impression Folder. I kept seeing projects recently using that folder and loved every single one of them! It adds such a neat touch. (Do make sure to stamp the paper BEFORE adding the texture! :) ) The coloured paper and the ink are Not Quite Navy with matching Not Quite Navy Taffeta Ribbon. Truly, you could use any colour you wish! I've seen black and white combinations that are just so amazingly elegant. Just gorgeous.

The second card has, I think, Marina Mist for the first layer, then Night of Navy and is stamped in Night of Navy. The rhinestones just give it that extra little something!

That's my quick post for today! :)

Updates coming!

I've been meaning for ages to get to this blog and just haven't. I have pictures of projects to share and all that; I just need to be able to get that all organized and transferred to a computer.

In any case, I felt like blogging about my newest stuff. :) I got a shipment yesterday, a shipment I forgot I was expecting. lol. It's been a busy week! Looking after my two nieces and nephew, taking all five kids (those three plus my two) to swimming every day, busy long weekend... It completely slipped my mind. It was a delightful surprise! :D

I didn't get a lot of stuff this time, a little more than enough to get the Reason to Smile stamp set for $5. The image is no longer available on the website because it was a limited offer, but you can see projects for it here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=23222

I decided to start investing in markers. I see so many projects where markers were used directly on the stamps to create a multicolour image and I decided to go ahead and make a small investment to start. I picked two sets:

and .

We were heading off to the pool right after I got the shipment, but seeing the markers (and going, "Oh yeah! I forgot I was getting those.") I decided to try something really quickly. This is what I did:

(Sorry, I know the image isn't the greatest! I'm rushing! lol)

Another great thing with using markers is that if you want just part of the stamp, you can easily have just part of the stamp! This is something I really like for the sentiments, since sometimes they have extra stuff I just don't want. (Btw, the letters above were done with the 2011-2012 In Color set.)

I will post back as soon as I can with recent projects! .
 

I got new retiring stuff!

I got my latest order in last night. I don't have time to put up pictures right now, but I'm so very glad I bought these items before they are no longer available! Almost all of my order was retiring products. Don't wait: get them while you can!

All Kinds of Things Are Retiring!

I'm finally sitting down to finalize my Stampin' Up order and look at the retiring products. There are some great things I'm sad to see go--which means they're being added to my list! lol. (Good thing I already had some of them. hehe) Here are just a few things.

*ALL textured card stock is being retired. There is no textured card stock in the new catalogue. This makes me really sad. lol. I *love* using textured card stock when making cards and what I've used that I've bought elsewhere doesn't compare. (Guess what I'm stocking up on? :D)

*The All in the Family set is retiring!

 http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=113488
I've always thought this cute and wanted to wait to get it because I do have to limit myself but with it retiring, I guess it's time to get it. Also retiring are the complementing Family Accessories set http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=113494 as well as the Family Business set http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=116964


All I have time to blog about at the moment! Links to the retiring products are found on the right. If you are in Canada and would like to order something, just email me: emicolas@yahoo.ca . If you are in the Edmonton area and want to get in on my group order (saves on shipping if your order is fairly small), email me ASAP! I'll be placing an order this weekend.