April Update - Stampin' Up! Onstage

I can't believe how fast April went by! It seems just like yesterday I was hopping on a bus to Red Deer, Alberta, after work for OnStage. This is a special Stampin' Up event for demonstrators only and it is loads of fun! Not only do you get to meet other demonstrators and hang out with your team mates, you are treated to sneak peeks of new stuff, craft with new stuff and go home with new stuff! It's such an exciting event and one where I feel special and recognized. It's thrilling to see others accomplishments and celebrate their successes. It was also extra special because it was SU's 30th anniversary!

Woo!

Everyone received a reversible tote bag with a planner and stamps - naturally!

Inside the bag was also a fun surprise - a light up letter box. Fuuuunnnnn!

I learned a lot of new techniques just by swapping with other demos. My favourite tip from OnStage was to fill a plastic baggie with embossing powder, stamp with Versamark and then dip the piece of paper into the baggie to coat. Using embossing powder has always been a little scary for me because I just picture glitter getting everywhere. My favourite part of the event was swaps. I just loved coming home with new ideas and my swaps were well received. I remembered to keep one of each for myself.

I can't wait until next year!

March Stamping Project: Happy Easter Egg Greeting Cards

Somehow Easter always sneaks up on me, so I designed a simple card for a fast turnaround. I made these double sided flat cards, but with a few changes you can make them into regular cards.



Supply list for four flat cards

• 1 sheet Elegant Eggplant 8.5x11" cardstock
• 3 sheets Whisper White 8.5x11" cardstock
• Elegant Eggplant ink
• Daffodil Delight ink
• Hello Easter stamp set (only available until the end of May!)
• Scissor snips, ruler and craft knife or Stampin' Trimmer
• Adhesive and Stampin' Dimensionals
• Stampin' Sponges

Click for larger

Cut a sheet of Elegant Eggplant cardstock into 4 4.25x5.5" pieces.

1. Cut two sheets of Whisper White cardstock into 8 pieces. First, trim the cardstock down to 7.5x10" sheets. Save the scraps for later. Cut the sheets in half at 5" on the longest side and then in half again at 3.75".
2. Trim the leftover strips to 0.75x3.5".
3. Stamp "Happy Easter" on the strips with Elegant Eggplant ink and notch each end.
4. On another piece of cardstock, stamp the largest egg in Elegant Eggplant. Colour if you wish.
5. Carefully cut out each large egg with scissor snips.
6. Sponge the front panel all over with Daffodil Delight and affix to one side of the Elegant Eggplant panel.
7. Take the back panel and sponge the edges with Daffodil Delight. Stamp leaves and a rabbit in Elegant Eggplant ink. Affix that to the Elegant Eggplant panel. Make sure both front and back are facing the same way and one isn't upside down :)
8. Stick down the Easter egg to the front.
9. Place 2 Stampin Dimensionals on the back of the Happy Easter sentiment and stick on the front.

One of the reasons that I chose the decorative egg over the striped one in the set was that it reminded me of eggs I used to make in school back home in Edmonton. The art of traditional Eastern European egg decorating is lots of of fun! Have a happy and blessed Easter!

Keeping Cutting Dies Organized - How I Do It

I have a funny story about why paying attention to storing dies is so important. Years ago I bought a rectangular die set because it had one or two sizes I needed. Well, I misplaced those dies. No problem, I ordered another set and strived to look after them better. Wellllll...I misplaced the dies from the second set. Then I ordered a third set! Somehow I managed to find all the missing dies, so now I can do my die cutting thrice as fast.

The problem is though, dies are expensive and you can’t always get a replacement set. Unlike stamps, dies present their own little storage problem. They don’t always stick back on the sheet nicely and the packaging is a little mysterious. Some people get magnet sheets for their dies and empty DVD cases. You can also make a binder with magnet sheets and plastic sleeves.

Leaflets Framelits dies

I use the original packaging because I’m cheap and eco-friendly like that, plus I don’t want to take up more space than I have to. I may get to the binder stage some day! But what's working for me now is identifying all my dies by cutting each one out on scrap paper and affixing them to the paper liner. This way I can test them out, use up scraps and identify them quickly by grouping them together. Any other suggestions? Leave a comment!

February Stamping Project: Lovely Swan Centrepiece or Decoration

LOL you may have expected a Valentine’s Day card or project this month, but instead I present a project that is just as full of romance and love as any card. When I saw that display stampers were wanted for for OnStage, I literally jumped at the opportunity to apply. And I had to jump because I only had a few things that qualified for the three cards, one scrapbook page and two 3-D objects.

This idea materialized somehow except that I was lying in bed thinking about it and had to get out of bed to quickly sketch it before I forgot. When the Lovely Swan stamp set appeared in last year’s Occasions catalog, I knew I had to order it not just because it featured a bird - but because it looked so versatile for any card that needed a touch of flowers or nature. I will get around to updating this post with some instructions and a supply list - I didn't really keep track of how I made it!

Click image for larger

The One Piece of IKEA Furniture Stampers Can't Live Without

A funny thing happens when you become a Stamping’ Up demonstrator - you acquire a lot of stamps! One of the reasons I joined was due to the discount but I was surprised how easily I fell in love with some designs. My stamp collection was pretty small before, but it exploded last year. How to store them all?

I have a small office/craft room that I kitted out with Billy bookshelves years ago to display my toy horse collections and be a reading nook. Unfortunately I never get the chance to read anymore - it’s a hobby that requires time and peace, which is hard to do with my pet birds. I donated some of my books, moved some things around and bought an extra book shelf for my biggest Billy bookcase (yes, you can do that!). This freed up my two Benno CD/DVD towers. It wasn’t quite enough room because I still had books I wanted to keep. Eight or nine stamp case sized cubbyholes can be configured and depending on whether you collect wood or cling stamps, 6-11 sets can be stashed per cubby.

Since we don’t live near the IKEA, I plotted and planned my shopping list. The Gnedby CD/DVD towers are now a fraction of the price of the old ones and I had just enough space left in the office for one, where I stashed the books. Whew! Now that I had space for all my stamp cases, I had to organize them. But, that is another post! You will see that I marked all the discontinued sets with a red sticker. I always try to feature current products just in case you see them and want to order them right away. Speaking of, Sale-A-Bration is one until the end of March, so make sure you make a qualifying order in case you want some of the free stamps.

Here's a little peek at my craft room - if it wasn't a disaster at the moment, I would take a wider photo. Each month gets better and better though. In theory I should be able to make a video by December ;-)

Click for larger

January Update

I can't believe I'm running out of January! There was so much I wanted to share, but I was too busy being sick or crafting. I'll wrap up three things in one post though!

First things first, it's time to Sale-A-Brate! I could not wait to put my order in on January 3rd. Sale-A-Brate is more than a great time to join Stampin' Up, it's a fun time to earn bonus stamps and paper. I can't wait to make something with my Lovely Friend set. There are two reward levels at $60 and $120 purchases, so now might be a good time to stock up on supplies for a year of card making and card giving :-) One of the products I have my eye on is the Mixed Medallions set. Check out the Sale-A-Bration brochure.


Woohoo! Stampin' Up has been around 30 years. That's quite a milestone for many companies. With my last order I received this lovely pin. I was looking over some of my older SU catalogues and it's fascinating how trends come and go in the crafting world. I used to work at a Canadian craft store chain, Lewiscraft, and someone there told me that crafts are always on a ten year cycle. Maybe that has shrunk since the advent of YouTube and Pinterest - a lot of crafts seem pretty evergreen these days. I registered for OnStage in April and I can't wait - it's going to be a great time!

January might be a great time to start goals, but remember you can start goals any time of the year. I jotted down six things I wanted to accomplish this month and one of them was to create an Instagram account. One of the things that was stopping me is that I did not have a stamp that said "hello" for my first post. How ridiculous is that? Problem solved with the Eastern Beauty stamp set. This set is actually quite versatile and you can make a lot of cool repeating patterns with it.

A post shared by Christine Anne (@yourfriendchristine77) on Jan 28, 2018 at 10:48am PST

Happy New Year! Time to get organized

Happy new year friends! I don't have much in the way of 2018 resolutions this year, but I have been dying to reorganize my office/craft room. We promptly went to IKEA and then we promptly came down with colds, so I haven't had a chance to assemble my new Gnedby CD/DVD shelf. I have a couple from when they were called Benno. Not only are they good for CDs and DVDs, but paperbacks and Stampin' Up sets!

In the spirit of SU's motto "Inspire create, share", I hope to inspire you to create more by sharing by sharing this tip. I find when I'm designing and making cards, bits get everywhere and then I have to re-stamp or cut them again. Usually I toss everything into a dollar store basket, but do you know what's better than a dollar store basket? An IKEA Antonius basket. They're the ultimate project basket. The 6" middle compartments will hold your small paper pads and embossing folders or a bunch of quarter fold cards. The smaller compartments will wrangle your adhesives and scissors or keep all your Stampin' Blends markers together too! They are $2.99 Canadian and I scooped up four of them because IKEA is an all day trip for us. Oh, and the Antonius basket will fit in your Raskog. What's a Raskog? Stay tuned :-D

You'll thank me at Christmas!