Month: February 2019

For whatever reason over the past few days it’s been hard to just tap into my creativity and find some inkspiration. So I thought I would share a few things that I do sometimes to help spark something.

• One thing I find helpful is to create projects using a kit. Whether it’s a Paper Pumpkin kit or just a kit from one of the catalogues I find that following the instructions to create an already determined project is nice in and of itself and sometimes may even open the door for other ideas (although not always).

• Craft with a purpose in mind. If someone you know has a birthday or anniversary coming up then maybe you can tap into a sense of urgency to get the project done in time. I actually needed to create a thank you card for a customer and afterwards I felt glad that I had been able to accomplish something.
• Look for inkspiration in the world around you. The picture below was taken on a hike with my family and made me immediately think of the Dandelion Wishes stamp set and I’ve seen others on my team be inspired by people’s houses or even today when I saw the stained-glass windows.

Or sometimes you may just need to take a break, get your energy back and then the inkspiration will flow. Inkspiration can be found everywhere, but sometimes different things get in the way of being able to tap into it. I hope that this is helpful when you’re feeling a bit stuck and struggling to find your creativity!

As some of you may know I LOVE butterflies, so when I opened the Occasions catalogue I was super excited and wasn’t sure which butterfly bundle I wanted more… the Beauty Abounds Cling stamp bundle or the Butterfly Gala bundle. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to play with both. Here is the project I made with the Butterfly Gala stamp set and punch (the punch will be available to order again I believe mid-March), using Daffodil Delight and Balmy Blue, as well as the Gingham Gala 6×6 Designer Series Paper and the 3/8″ Whisper White Classic Weave Ribbon. I also used a couple of Stampin’ Dimensionals to pop up the two butterflies. Enjoy recreating this cute card!

We’re halfway through February (spring is almost here, yah!) which means that we are halfway through Sale-a-bration…. which means that the second round of awesome FREE products are here!!! So I thought I would do a quick refresher of what Sale-a-bration is all about.

First things first…. with every $60 order you earn exclusive FREE product that you can only get until March 31st (or until supplies run out – which has happened already!). So if you spend $60 you can choose 1 Level One product (like the Lovely Lattice stamp set on the left) and if you spend $120 you can either choose 2 Level One products or 1 Level Two product (such as the Painted Seasons bundle on the right) and so on and so on.

Next if you host a party that totals $300 or more you will receive an additional $30 of Stampin’ Rewards (aka FREE product from any of the current catalogues) on top of what you would usually receive.

Plus if you join the Stampin’ Up! family before March 31st you receive $225 worth of great Stampin’ Up! product for only $135 (including tax and shipping) and for an extra $40 also get the super cute Craft & Carry Tote! (I have one and am amazed at how much it can hold!)

So make sure to head over to my website for everything you need to make the most of Sale-a-bration before it’s gone!

www.stampinup.com/inkspirationcards

I hope you have all enjoyed some special time with your loved ones! These are two of the cards I made for my family. I used the Jars I’d Love stamp set for all my cards and did some #simplestamping (I seem to be doing a lot more of this lately and I’m liking it).

The one made with Berry Burst and Powder Pink I made for my daughter and the one made with Tranquil Tide and Lemon Lime Twist was for my husband. For my son I made a cross between these two.

My kids love to play and watch TV, but they also LOVE to craft! (they come by it honestly I guess, lol) Whether it’s sticking stickers, creating stories or drawing, it doesn’t really matter. And when they see me stamping they are eager to get right in there and start stamping right along with me!

This is why I love Paper Pumpkin. Everything that you would possibly need is included and ready to go, so I can spend my time working on my projects and just checking in every once in a while to see if they need help, which often they don’t! As you can tell from the pictures above my two munchkins do it all. On the left is my little guy stamping the phrase for his Valentine’s. He is very insistent that he can do it himself. On the right is my daughter putting the final touches on hers before we assemble them.

Here are their final products. My little guy loved the little heart stickers as you can see on the left and my daughter pays close attention to detail so that it looks just like it does in the instructions. All I did was put the pillow boxes together!

If you’ve got crafty kids like me or are just looking for an easy activity for your kids to do then follow the link and sign up for Paper Pumpkin. Everything you need is shipped right to your door (and shipping is included)!

www.paperpumpkin.com/en-ca

This month’s #simplestamping challenge is a birthday card. The rules are still the same… you can only use stamps, ink and paper. Last month Stampin’ Up! gave the option of using a punch, this month the option, if you choose to accept it, is to use Designer Series Paper.

I decided to do one with DSP and one without. I used all the same supplies for both cards; the Amazing Life stamp set with Granny Apple Green and Blueberry Bushel ink on Whisper White cardstock. Then I added some Granny Apple Green Gingham Gala 6×6 DSP.

A little tip…. to make sure that you’re birthday cakes are level with one another I used a piece of paper to indicate my line and then stamped just above the line. I also added the DSP first so that I could better arrange my stamped images.

The Needle & Thread stamp set did not initially catch my eye when we were introduced to it and I was able to stamp with it at OnStage in Orlando this past November, but I think it may be growing on me. This is not the card I made at OnStage, but one that I made a couple of weekends ago with my Stampin’ Up! team (family).

I really like this card (not just because of the butterflies) because it is all stamped! The background images that look as though they have been stitched is a simple stamp from the Needle & Thread stamp set. It was stamped 3 times across the page for the top half and then flipped over and stamped 3 times for the bottom half of the image. If you like you can also get a similar stitched effect with the Needlepoint Element Framelits Dies which you can see used in my earlier blog post Needlepoint Nook.

Here are the rest of the details for this project….. the ink used was Soft Suede and Flirty Flamingo, the cardstock used was Flirty Flamingo and Whisper White, the ribbon used was the 1/8″ Flirty Flamingo from the All My Love Ribbon Combo Pack and the 5/8″ Whisper White Flax Ribbon and the Detailed Trio Punch.

Last weekend I joined my Stampin’ Up! family (team) for some crafting fun. Here is one of the cards that I made featuring the Piece of Cake stamp set and a colour combination that I wouldn’t have thought of myself (Night of Navy, Mint Macaron and Smoky Slate) and now that I’ve seen it I’m going to have to remember to use that one in the future! I also love that we had to colour for this card, I don’t have the chance to colour as often as I would like so it was nice to use the Stampin’ Blends to colour the cake and stand. Plus I was excited to learn that the stars on this card are adhesive-backed!