So Many Occasions!

I made this card for a friend's birthday this December. I love the Baroque Motifs stamp set, and use those Rhinestone Circle Brads whenever I can! I made a similar card for Christmas, using the Soft Sky/Blue Bayou combination, with "Warm Wishes" for the sentiment. I also decided it would look nice with Real Red and Whisper White for Christmas! So many ways to use this card! It is done with the Crayon Resist technique on glossy paper. For instructions on this technique, see my other Crayon Resist card here! This looks like a very fast card, but it is deceiving.... Adding crayon to all those little lines and loops is a lot of work - especially if you're making more than one (or ten! My fingers were cramping by the end of it!) ;) If you're going to make this card, take your time doing it, or you may find yourself with a stamping injury!

Wintergreen - Beautiful!

Awhile back I posted a card that I had made for a special class I did at a customer's church "Super Saturday" (see that card here). Well, I forgot to post the other projects! We actually did 2 different cards, as well as these cute tags and holder! I forgot to take a picture of the other card before I sent it as one of my own Christmas cards, but it was CASED from this card by girl3boys0 at Splitcoaststampers.com. Such a beautiful card, I couldn't resist! I actually made a bunch of them for my Christmas cards, with the only change being that I added some Dazzling Diamonds to the little snowflakes in the background (on the white card), and on some of them added Irredescent Ice to some White EP for the trees and saying.
These tags were gorgeous when I saw them on Splitcoast; I love that Wintergreen paper, and as soon as I saw this project on SCS, I knew it was just what I wanted for my class. Simple tags, but SO beautiful, and I love the holder. My friend asked what anyone would do with that holder after they'd used their tags, and I realized you could very easily turn it into a pocket card by slipping a piece of cardstock inside the pouch! I made a few of these and gave them away as prizes at my Hostess Christmas Appreciation Party and also included one in a Secret Santa gift exchange I was in at my upline Terri's Christmas party.
I'm a little sad they've retired this paper, but I anticipated it and bought a whole bunch! I love every project I see it on, and am looking forward to some stamping time this holiday to make a few more things with it.

Almost... But Not A Chance!

When I was at the Bloomin Inn this November, I brought everything I would need to make my Christmas cards; or at least what I had planned to be my Christmas cards. Then I sat down and made one. And that was the end, since it took me 2 hours to make!!! I had used some stamps from the Punch Pals set (beautiful set!), and every image I used was drawn double line. I decided to color them in; every tree, every trunk, every snowman. Add to that all the sponging and masking, and it was too much work to be a mass-produced Christmas card. Back at home, I tried again, using some different stamps. I thought that if I used different stamps (that had solid lines - not ones I thought needed to be more bold), it would go quicker. Well, maybe it did.... but not much quicker. At least not nearly fast enough for me to think I'd ever attempt to make a tonne of these! They were both fun to make, and turned out nice; whoever I send them to will be happy knowing they are each really one of a kind!

Beautiful Bloomin' Inn - In Any Kind Of Weather!

These are some pictures from my trip with some friends to a scrapbook retreat called the Bloomin' Inn, in Pincher Creek, Alberta. We went on the first weekend of November, and when we arrived, it was cool and VERY windy, but fairly typical fall weather. A couple of hours before we left for home, we were greeted with a blizzard! For driving home, that was the last thing we wanted, but it sure made for some beautiful pictures! We arrived Friday night, and scrapped until midnight, then crawled into bed. We scrapped all day Saturday and Sunday morning before our journey home as well! I loved this trip, especially because of the Inn itself. It was so warm and comfy; it was a place that encouraged you to relax and just enjoy being in the country with some good company and great food! The owners cooked every meal, and they were all delicious! One of my friend's also has a toddler at home, and we were both looking forward to sleeping in a bit each day (neither of our children sleep through the night). The food was too good to miss however, and breakfast was served at 8am; so no sleeping in for us! It was definitely a sacrifice we were willing to make though; the food was so good that we bought some to take home with us! They have farm eggs, sausages, steaks, baking, preserves, etc that you can buy before you go. I now know that next year I need to buy more; none of it lasted even a month in my house!

If you're thinking this is something you'd like to do,you'd better call early to book! They run this retreat every weekend of the year, and it takes about a year to get in! We've already booked for next year! :) Can't wait; next year I'll work on more of my own projects (I swear!) too. Here are a couple more pictures to leave you with:

The Retirement List Is Here!!!

I woke up early this morning to check the Stampin' Up website to see what stamp sets had made the retirement list. Well, the good news is, the list is short - much shorter than the last one! I was a little shocked to see some of the brand new sets make the list, but overall, I didn't fair too badly - I lost only 6 sets!

Click HERE for a link to the list, in order by page number.

SPECIAL: I am having a special on retired sets; from now until December 31st, order 1 set at 5% off, 2nd set at 10% off, 3rd set at 15% off and the 4th set at 20% off! Need more than 4 sets? No problem, because this offer will keep rolling over, every 4th set (so the 5th set will be 5% off, 2nd set at 10%, etc). This is a great way to get all the retiring stamp sets before they're gone! Email your order to me today!

Stay tuned for the Retiring Accessories list coming December 10th!

April 6x6 Bragbook Pages

It was nice to be able to think of spring a little bit this fall; I enjoyed using pink papers and making the tree with spring "blossoms". I'm not much of a scrapbooker, but managed to come up with this all by myself! Sometimes even I am struck by inspiration! ;)

This layout is for a 6x6 bragbook class I am offering in the new year. I was in a swap with 3 of my upline, and each of us had to come up with 2-page layouts for 3 months. I had April, May and June. For this one, I knew I wanted to use some fresh spring-like colors, and the striped paper from the Petals and Paisley DSP pack was just what I was looking for. I don't own any current Easter sets (yet! Stay tuned for the new 2008 Spring/Summer Catalog!), so I couldn't do an Easter themed layout. Instead I stuck to "Spring" as my theme, and that tree from "Lovely As A Tree" was perfect for this project. To make that tree multi-colored, I first colored it with my Marvelous Markers in Mellow Moss for the leaves and Chocolate Chip for the trunk. Then I used Pretty in Pink and Cameo Coral, and "bounced" them (one at a time) on the stamp. You need to use the paintbrush side of the marker to do this technique. Then I huffed and stamped! I didn't even mind doing this technique 4 times; it takes a little bit of time, but was not at all hard to do.

With spring on my mind, I have begun to look at my 2008 classes and clubs schedule. I'm starting 2 stamp clubs in January - one that will be held on a Friday of each month, and the other that will be either a Monday, Wednesday or Thursday of each month.
I also have a marker club starting, where there are 4 members and each month you receive a color family of markers, and one member will receive the box to store them in. Also each month I will teach this club 2 techniques using their markers.
February 1st I am holding a Valentine's card class. Please see my website for more information about this class.

Well, I'm off to get back in the Christmas frame of mind! Time to finish off my Christmas cards (before it's too late!) :)

A Penguin to Cow Twist!

I had my last Christmas Bundle class last week, where we made shaker cards. One of the ladies who came to the class is in love with cows. I don't mean she likes cows, I mean she's bonkers over anything cow! SO, she asked if she could bring her cow stamp to make special cow Christmas cards! It fit nicely where the penguin was supposed to go (see the original card here); I thought it was a nice way to personalize the card! We even sponged Green Galore around the cow, to give it a little extra something. I really like how it turned out, don't you? :)

Fun Fast Stampin'!

I held a class last week where we made some small Christmas gifts. Some were more intricate than others; some took a lot of preparation time, others took almost none - like these Christmas Gift Card holders! These were SO easy to make, and I think even with just a little effort they look beautiful! I used 2 stamps from the Punch Pals set, put the little snowflake in the middle on dimensionals, and tied Stampin' Up's beautiful ribbon in an easy knot - simple as that! What a nice way to give a gift card to someone special.

Here is a picture of all of the projects we made at that gifts class:

I gave them some chocolate treats to put inside the penguin pouch, and delicious hot chocolate to put inside the snowman slider. These are all great gifts to give anyone on your list: as a stocking stuffer, for a hostess gift, a teacher gift, etc. Anyone would love to receive a hand made gift like these, and none of them took longer than 45 minutes to make!

Have some fun this season making homemade gifts; whether it's a card, a book or home decor, they are all too much fun to make! :)

Simple Sparkly Christmas

I'm still searching for just the right Christmas card to send out to all my family and friends. I've seen tonnes of beautiful cards, but I haven't seen "the one" yet. In the meantime, I'm working on other Christmas projects. I made this card for a friend's workshop. I wanted a simple project that still had that "Wow!" factor, and I think this one did the trick! I embossed each snowflake with white embossing powder, then added Dazzling Diamonds to the ends of each one. Simple as that, but I love how the white pops on the red!

I Love This Scallop Punch!

About a month ago, one of the ladies in my stamp club asked if I would like to do a class for her church's Super Saturday, a day when a bunch of different craft classes are offered to the congregation and anyone else who wants to attend. Of course I said "Yes!", and went searching for some great ideas. I decided to teach them how to make 10 Christmas gift tags, a tag holder and 2 cards. On one card we will do some embossing, and the other will have Dazzling Diamonds. This is the card with the diamonds! I just got the scallop punch and decided I HAD to use it! I also haven't pulled out my Holiday Tag Team stamp set much this season since I've been so in love with all of our new Christmas stamp sets, and I love that little snowman! I thought he'd be perfect for this card. Blue Bayou and Soft Sky cardstock, Soft Sky ribbon, and Dazzling Diamonds around the edge of the scallop circle, and - voila! - a cute Christmas card! Since Blue Bayou doesn't come in a marker (and neither do any of the "In Colors" by the way), I pressed the top of my ink pad case into the ink pad itself, getting some ink on it, then used my blender pen to pick up the ink, turning it into a temporary marker! I like when ALL the colors on the card can match, and was glad to know I could do that so I didn't have to pick another color of blue for that little snowman's accessories! :)

I'll post the pictures for the other Super Saturday projects another time. Hope you enjoyed this one! :)

And The Winner Is...

...Gina Wrona! Using the Random Number Generator to pick the winner, number 19 was Gina! :) I have contacted Gina, and will get that candy out to her as soon as I hear from her.

Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments! One poster commented that sometimes people who visit blogs just like to "lurk", and I know that must be true as I'm one of those lurkers! That being the case, it was very nice to hear from all of those who regularly visit, and also from some new readers - welcome! :) Thanks for visiting, and I look forward to posting many more projects for all of you! :)

Trick or Treat!

At Scrapfest this year, my upline Bonnie brought a really cute altered bucket for display. It was decorated in a Halloween theme, with designer papers, Booglie Eyes stamp set and lots of ribbon on the handle. It was SO cute, I just HAD to make one too! So here's mine:

I think the "Creepy Crawly" designer paper is amazing: I love the colors! I have mixed feelings about the way my bucket turned out; I love it because it's done, and has been on my mind to do for a long time. I'm not so thrilled with the dazzling diamonds on the spider webs (I only did that on the one side), and I know I need more ribbon on the handle. But overall I'm happy with it, and think it will be a nice addition at the front door, filled with candy for the kiddies! :)

Halloween Cards - Do You or Don't You?

Just in time for Halloween, this was the second card made at my last stamp club. One of my ladies asked specifically for a Halloween card, and I was eager to grant her wish! I only own one Halloween stamp set though, so was a little limited. I also wanted to teach them how to do dry embossing, and I think the circles went well with the small stamps. I loved using the dry embossing template "Punches Plus"; it not only allowed for embossing, but also provided a template for circular holes (using the poker from the crafter's tool kit), as well as a good template for sponging (on the outer edges of each circle). I also taught them how to emboss using the Crop-a-dile! What a fun tool that is! Using the crop-a-dile for embossing does take a little practice; if you're not careful you'll have a hole instead of a raised circle!

To finish off the card, I sponged Only Orange onto the little "Eek" and "Happy Halloween" pieces. The "Happy Halloween" is from Everyday Flexible Phrases (the only stamps I had with that sentiment!).

I have to say that I have never given a Halloween card before, nor have I ever received one. As shocking as that might be to some, I know I'm not the only one, as most of my stamp club said the same thing! So, do you give Halloween cards out? I'd love to know if maybe I'm missing out on something here! ;)

Blog Candy Picture

Here it is! I went through my cupboards this morning, and came up with quite a few nice things: Apple Green ribbon, Turquoise Ribbon, Copper cord, 8 6x6 sheets of designer paper, pretty primas and some Icicles frames.

I'm enjoying your comments; thank you for all the nice feedback! :) To enter the contest, scroll to the next post and enter a comment there. Good luck! :)

Card, Cake And Candy!

I just checked my stat counter, and it's at 5015!!! You know, when I started this blog, I never and I mean NEVER thought I'd get to 5000 hits. I saw other blogs with 5000 and more hits, and wondered with admiration how they ever got so many people to look at their blog! Well, I'm not quite sure how, but somehow I did it! (Insert proud moment, and self-pat on the back here!) I really enjoy writing these posts; it helps me keep track of my projects, and it's also a bit of a diary of my stampin' life. Thank you to all of you out there who have been reading my blog; I enjoy your comments, and am happy to have you visit! :)

I'll talk about the "Candy" in a bit, but first I want to get to the Card and the Cake. My very good friend (and upline) Bonnie just had a baby girl 2 weeks ago today. Once I heard the news, I knew I wanted to do something special. I knew I'd make her a card (a given!), but I also wanted her gift to be different, and something I spent some time on. So off I went to Splitcoast in search of some ideas. What I ended up finding was this post of a "Diaper Cake"! WOW! - I thought; that's exactly what I want to do! Well, Joeknee (who made the cake on Splitcoast) even posted a link to a website that gave directions on how to make a diaper cake, so off I went. Once I knew all the things I needed to make it, I headed out to buy some baby clothes, diapers, pretty pink ribbon, and all the other items I needed to make my "cake". I splurged quite a bit on this one, but I just really wanted to make this, so I didn't mind spending the extra $$. I bought a pack of size 2 diapers (the directions say to buy more than one size, but at $18 a pack of diapers, that adds up - especially since you want to put gifts in there too!), and started rolling. I think I used about 52 of the 60 in the package! This cake was REALLY easy to make; the hardest part (I found) about it was wrapping it in the cello-wrap! The short ends wouldn't stay tucked in, so I had to tape them shut with a little piece of clear tape. For gifts, I added some sleepers, onesies and a little dress outfit (with wee little tights!). Other good things to include would be: receiving blankets, socks, stuffed animals, hats, etc. You could really go all out with this one! I had a lot of fun making this, and would do it again in a heartbeat. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of it wrapped in the cello; it looks really special all wrapped up with a nice pink bow at the top!

For the card I needed something really simple, since I had spend so much time on the gift, I had little time left to whip up the card (I was meeting the new little one the next day!)! I really like using PearlEx, so I VersaMarked the front of the card, and sprinkled some on. I love this little giraffe, and also really wanted to use a scalloped edge, so I came up with this little "window" card. It's hard to see the shiny surface in this picture, but if you click on it to make it bigger, you might be able to see it better. I used stamps from the "So Very" SAB set, and to finish it off, added some primas and of course a little glitz - a rhinestone brad.

SO, now for the Candy! Who wants some primas? How about ribbon? Maybe some designer paper? I'm putting together a nice little package for the winner, and will post a picture of it tomorrow! I will keep this open until Friday the 25th, at 7pm (Mountain time), when I will use the Random Number Selector to determine a winner! Here's what I want you to do: I love entering these posts, and enjoy watching the stat counter go up everyday, but other than the counter, I don't get a lot of comments on my blog. So, to enter for the blog candy, I would like you to reply to this post, and tell me which project on my blog you like the best, and why. I'd also like to hear any feedback about my blog; what you like, what you'd like to see, etc. I see that 5000 of you have visited, but I'd love to know what you actually think about what you see while you're here! :)

See you tomorrow with the yummy candy picture! :)

6x6 Ladybug Pages

I'm working on some pages for the newest 6x6 bragbook class I will be offering, and this layout is for May. I love the color combo with Soft Sky and Purely Pomegranite, and I saw that little ladybug made somewhere and knew I had to make one for this page! She is made by stamping the polka dot petal image from "Pick A Petal" twice and cutting them out, then punching a 1" circle for the head, and a 1 1/4" circle for the body! Simple as that! The flowers are from the Three For You punch box, with a little white dabbed inside with a gel pen. It's hard to see in the photo, but if you click on it you'll see that I've also stamped a background on both pages. I think this will be a good layout for spring photos, as well as Mother's Day pictures! :)

When Creativity Comes-A-Knockin'...

Lately I've been learning a lot about myself in the way of creativity, and in the last little while I've noticed I thrive on a deadline (nothing like leaving things till the last minute!), and I also create best late at night. I've been working away tonight on a card I'm doing with my stamp club this Friday, using the Crayon Resist technique. At first I went through Splitcoast (as I'm "sometimes" known to do!) looking for inspiration, or even a card I could C.A.S.E. I did find one I wanted to try, but then an idea struck me and I decided to try it instead. So, here it is, in it's finished format!

I thought of that little penguin, and had no idea in the beginning how the rest of the card would go; I only knew I wanted two little penguins holding "hands". Soft Sky gives a nice "icy" feeling, so I knew I wanted to use that to brayer overtop. So, on glossy cardstock, I stamped the penguins using Basic Black ink. I then used a white crayon to color their faces and tummies, making sure not to miss a spot. Anywhere I got the crayon where I didn't want it, I just lightly scratched it off with my fingernail. Then I brayered the Soft Sky ink overtop, and - voila! - 2 little blue penguins with nice white faces and tummies! I also used our Marvelous Markers to color their bodies, beaks and feet. I stamped some small snowflakes directly on the card in Craft White, and "Happy Holiday" in Basick Black. That's it! :) I thought that using Only Orange on a Christmas card was a little unusual, but I like it.

If you want to learn how to make cards like this (and many others!), ask me about joining my stamp club! :)

Blog Candy in the Horizon?

"It's beginning to look a lot like..." blog candy! I just looked at my sitemeter, and it's already passed 4800! Not long now until 5000, when I've decided I will give away a little extra something to celebrate and thank my blog readers. I'll post again when the "clock" hits the big 5 G's, with a picture of what's up for grabs! There will of course be a "skill testing question"... ;) I'll have to think of a good one!

Stay tuned, and the more people you refer to my site, the faster the blog candy will arrive! :)

A Little Inspiration...

...Is what I got when I stumbled upon this blog: Greatful Heart. I bought 2 packs of On Board Trimmings and a pack of On Board Garland Greetings, not really knowing what I was going to do with them, when I came across this amazing blog! Susan has some beautiful examples of holiday banners made with the Garland Greetings, and also some tree ornaments made with the On Board Trimmings - just what I needed to give my imagination a boost! Susan is also giving away some blog candy, so hurry over there and take a look - I'll bet she'll inspire you too! :)

Impressed With Myself!

While I was at Scrapfest this year, I bought a frame from the Creative Memories booth. I had several "plans" for it, but wondered if I would actually get around to even opening the box it came in! Well, tonight, around 9:30 I decided to open that box and try out a project I've been dreaming of. By midnight I was done, and I must say - Very proud of myself! I think it turned out lovely, and am SO glad I stayed up to do it!
While at Convention this summer, I saw a project that I loved, using a pine cone stamp and a stamp from the Peaceful Wishes set for the background. It was a 6x6 page in a smaller frame, and it really did look peaceful to me! So I tried it out on this frame using the Lovely As A Tree set for the trees, the branches from the Pines set, and "Season's Greetings" from Many Merry Messages. Then I faux stitched, roughed up, and sponged the edges! The frame already came "weathered", and it came with these great magnets to attach the sheet (making it easier to change the project anytime I want!), and also with these tiny little clothespins - so cute! Of course I added glitter and gold brads for some sparkle; otherwise it was looking to "fall", and not "holiday" enough. What do you think? I think my next project with it will involve some photos of my daughter, and I'll dress it up to put in her room - there are endless posibilities with this marvelous frame!
Click on the image to see the details up close!

September Projects, And A Whole Lot of Life!

Has life ever been busy lately! It just got busier in the last couple of weeks; not just my stamping life either - the whole kit and kaboodle has been off the charts! First, one of my cousins from Ontario moved out here (and is now moving back home this weekend... ), to try life on her own. Well, thank God she was here, because I ran into a babysitting emergency about 5 days after she got here, and well, even though I had to drive across the city to get her, and across the city again to bring her home, I'm so glad she was there to help!

Next, we had some friends stay with us for an emergency visit to a specialist; so our house was unexpectedly full for a few days. I never mind when they stay with us though; they are our best friends, and our kids love to see each other too!

I enrolled Kaitlyn into a few classes this fall, to help ease the boredom we are both feeling. I take her to 2 classes on Tuesday mornings; an Art and Stories class, and Kindermusik; both taught by the same teacher back to back, so at least I'm not driving here, there and everywhere! On Wednesdays I'm trying to go to yoga, and on Thursdays Kaitlyn is in a parented/unparented "My First" pre-school at the YMCA. I can tell you, all this has definitely eased our boredom!

On top of all this, I am in full swing when it comes to my Christmas classes! I had my first bundle class last Tuesday, and have a second round this coming Tuesday. I really enjoy having classes, and people seeing that they really can make some beautiful things with their own hands!

I also had my September stamp club meeting of Friday, and showed my ladies how to do the Polished Stone technique as well as Reverse Masking. I figured that since I had introduced the Masking technique last month, they would love to see how Reverse Masking works too. My best friend attended the class, and I think she was proud of me for the RM card - it was only 2 layers of paper!!! I love to use multiple layers, so this card was a definite departure for me. I love how it turned out, and love Splitcoast more for the inspiration! Since Stampin' Up doesn't sell an oval scallop punch, and I don't use any other company (I'm definitely an SU snob!), I cut out an oval using the oval Coluzzle template, then used the Slit punch to punch around the oval, making scallops. I did 6 of these for my ladies to share for the class, so they didn't have to make the mask themselves. Normally I let them do everything for the card they are making (other than the initial paper cutting), but since a number of them had been to my Christmas card bundle class that week and had used that Coluzzle until they were sick of it, I figured I would do them that small favor. Plus it cut the time involved in making the card. I did punch one out while they watched though, so they would get the idea of how to do it themselves.

The other card we did was for the Polished Stone technique, and I have to say that Splitcoast did not let me down for this one either (warning: blatent CASE!). I would have loved to put some ribbon on mine too, but didn't have the color I needed! :( I do love this technique though. I haven't done it in awhile, and now that I have again, I think I will do it more often on my own projects - it's just so easy! Everyone loved using the crimper on the bashful blue piece, and I showed them how to make a scalloped edge using the Corner Rounder punch. I am SO addicted to that Lovely As A Tree set though; I really need to find a new favorite now that I think everyone in the club has this one! ;) I can't help it; almost every card I want to make just screams out for that set! I'd love to know, what's your favorite, most used set?

Any Suggestions?

I'm sitting at my craft table tonight, with some actual time to stamp! My husband is gone for the evening, and my daughter is asleep, so I am so happy to be able to sit down and create without interuptions! :)

Tonight I am working on some pages for a 6x6 album I'm putting together for a class. I decided to use a color I have never used before - Elegant Eggplant! I've also used Certainly Celery, Rose Red, and So Saffron, which are some of my favorites. This page is meant to be the "June" page, in which Father's Day falls. I didn't want it to necessarily be ONLY for Father's Day, so I wanted to keep it more neutral; not a lot of froof (if you know what I mean). I do think it needs something else though; but cannot for the life of me decide what to do! Here's a picture:

I'm thinking I'd like to put something on the bottom left of the first page, and the top left of the second page. I'm not sure if it should be an image of some kind, or just a piece of embellishment, or what. If you have any ideas for me, I'd love to hear your suggestions! :)

Advent Calendar

Here are some pictures of the Advent Calendar you could make if you join my Christmas Card Bundle classes! See below post for more information on this class, or view details in the calendar section of my website! :)

Christmas Card Bundle Class

I am holding a whole bunch of classes at my home this year, and many are already filled up! I do have some spaces in a few of them though, so if you are interested in any that you see on my blog or on my website, please contact me at sherivan@telus.net to register! :)

Here are the pictures of the projects we will do at my Christmas Card Bundle class. This is a 3 part class, which runs once a month for three months (Sept., Oct., and Nov.). At each class you will make 8 cards, of 1 design, and at the end of the 3 classes you will have 24 cards of 3 designs. Also included if you take all 3 classes is a free advent calendar class which I will hold at the end of November. The fee for this class is $60 for the bundle, or $20 per class.

Here are the pictures! :)

Here is a picture of the inside of "Warm Wishes" card.

Stamp-A-Stack Christmas Cards

By popular request, I have found some time to get these pictures up so you can see what cards we will be making in the Stamp-A-Stack class in October. I still have a couple of spots left, so if you are interested please email me and I will get in touch with you to add you to the class! :)

This class consists of 5 each of 3 card designs, making 15 total. The cost for this class is $35.00, and will be on Sunday October 14th, at 1pm.

Here are the cards! :) Let me know what you think, and if you would like to join us!

What A Scrappy Weekend!

Whew! I just took the day to recuperate from 2 days of scrappin' mania at Scrapfest. We set up in the afternoon on Thursday, and were there meeting fellow scrappers and doing some shopping ourselves all day Friday (9am-9:30pm) and Saturday (9am-6pm). I met so many nice people this weekend; I went away smiling, thinking of all the ideas I saw and the contacts I made. I also got to spend a lot of time with 3 other demonstrators; the same demos I went to Convention with. They are all a lot of fun, and we made sure to have a good time while we were there. :) Here's a picture of me standing in our booth; we had retired stamp sets for sale, examples of the classes we are offering in the next few months, and other samples of projects you can make with SU supplies. I was very happy to be a part of Scrapfest, and can't wait for next year!

September Scrapfest!

September is almost here, and with it brings Scrapfest in Edmonton Sept. 7th and 8th! I am participating in the Marketplace, along with 3 other Stampin' Up demonstrators who are members of my upline. We've been planning like crazy, and are excited for it to get here! Of course we're excited to meet all the scrapbookers gathering to see the latest in scrapping gear; we're also excited to walk through the Marketplace ourselves! Yes, last year when we were there, it was really hard on our pocketbooks; all the papers, ribbons and all kinds of other accessories - it was like being a kid at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory (Sorry - that movie was just on, so it popped into my head when I thought of really excited children!)! We'll be setting up for a few hours on the 6th, and then we'll be there all day Friday and Saturday, from 9am to I think 9pm! A long couple of days (and on our feet too!), but so much fun! Check out Scrapfest.ca, register for some classes, buy a ticket to the Marketplace (over 30 vendors to oggle!) and come and visit us! :) Hope to see you there!

Tin Full of Cards

On a post further below, I mentioned I am doing a class using the Build a Flower tin from the SU catalog, and posted a picture of the altered tin. Well, I am now getting ready for that class, and have made the 5 cards that will go into the tin. Here is a picture of the whole project:

I had SO much fun making these little 3x3 cards last night! I flipped through the catalog, looking for inspiration, then went to work. 4 of these cards were inspired by other cards and projects out of the SU catalog (see if you can figure out which ones! ;) ), but the one with 3 flowers and grass was my own idea. I hope the ladies taking this class have as much fun as I did! Of course, they won't take NEARLY as long making these cards as I did - I worked non-stop from about 7:30 pm until 1 am! I have to say these little flowers are a little intimidating to use at first. Not that they are hard to use or anything, but I am a person who has trouble making decisions, and once you have decided to use one of these, that's it! Once you stamp on the little labels, if you screw it up you can't redo it! Yikes!!! You can pull the flower off the page a few times though, before it looses it's stickiness, so that helped ease my tension. This project actually helped me get over a little of that perfectionism; using these flowers is kind of fool-proof. They all look nice, no matter how you use them, and once I got over my idea that I had to have everything "perfect", they turned out pretty perfect after all (in my opinion, anyway!)! Let me know what you think! :)

An Amazing Starter Kit Special!

Promotions like this don't come around every day! From now until the end of September, you can get a full set of ink pads in one color family FREE with your starter kit!! That's a value of 79.95!! Yippee!!

Here's the details:

From August 10 - September 30, new demonstrators will get to choose a colour family of Classic Stampin' Pads® free when they purchase the Starter Kit. That's up to a $79.95 value in addition to the excellent value of the kit itself, valued at over $500! The cost of the Starter Kit is only $275 CDN (no S&H or GST!)

New recruits can choose between the four colour families (Bold Brights, Earth Elements, Rich Regals, and Soft Subtles - 12 pads each) or choose a 6-pack of our 2007 In Color pads.

Want to know more about the Demonstrator opportunity? Check out these links!

• Get 12 Free Ink Pads Now!
• FAQ's ABout Being A demonstrator
• What's in the Starter Kit

Request your free information package here! (Canadians only!)

My Own Website!

I finally did it - I signed up for the Stampin' Up Demonstrator Website! I'm so excited to use it; I love that I can put my classes up on the web for my customers to see, as well as any SU specials (and mine too!), etc. They're going to re-vamp it in the fall too, so that we can send ecards and newsletters, keep track of our classes/appointments, and our "to do's" for workshops, etc. What a great tool this will be! I need to do a few more things to tweak it, but here it is: http://sherivanhooren.stampinup.net . I'll put a link to it on the side of this blog so you can check it out any time you want! :)

Build A Flower Tin

Our first night at Convention we had a Slumber Party with 2600 Stampin' Up demo's! It was an absolute blast; everyone was in their pajamas, hootin' and hollerin', stampin' and having a great time. At the party, we had a few make n' takes, and one of them was decorating the tin from "Build A Flower" (Fall/Winter Collection, pg 178). Stampin Up gave us all the tin along with 3 stamp sets for attending Convention. Here is the tin after I decorated it:

It was so much fun to decorate this tin, and make some cards using the flower pieces inside it, that I decided to offer a class with it. In the class we'll decorate the tin and make 5 cards to put inside, all for $25! I think this would be a great gift for any occasion. I'm thinking of buying a few more for myself, decorating them and giving them out as gifts this Christmas season. So cute!

When we did this tin, we got to use the Crop-A-Dile. WOW! Is that ever an amazing tool! It punched through this tin like it was butter. We used it on some other projects for various purposes, and I was totally impressed. Another item to add on my "Must Have" list!

We also used the Build A Brads on a few of our make n' takes, and they're really neat. I'm not sure why we can't sell them yet; they say there are some quality control issues, but I'm not sure what it could be, because they worked fine when I used them. Well, I sure hope they get it figured out soon so I can buy more of them! :)

Wow! Card Convention Swap

Here is the card I made for the Wow! Card Swap, with other Splitcoast Stampers members. I had to make 21 of these, and they were NOT quick - let me tell you! I chose to do a shadowbox card (I wonder why? ;) I love these cards, but now that I've made so many of them, I'm thinking I just MAY take a break for awhile!), so I punched out a "window" using the 3/4" square punch. I added "curtains" using Mellow Moss cs; I crimped each one then tied them with Moss gingham ribbon and stuck them to the back of the windows using glue dots. Then I punched out flowers from the Spring Bouquet and Three For You punches, added stems, and stamped the Simply Said flowers stamp with markers. I stamped the "Weathered" background stamp on the Sage Shadow front, and cut out the oval with my Coluzzle (awesome tool!). Then I added my saying, from the new Hugs & Wishes set, distressing the sides and adding some sponging. That's it! Didn't seem so bad when I made the first one; by the time I'd made 21 though, I had some pretty good tendonitis from all that punching!

I did get a lot of great cards back from this swap though, and am glad I joined and made the effort. I can't wait to show my customers all the cards and ideas I got back! I'm hosting an open house this Saturday to sell my retired sets, and show off my great swaps. If you're in Edmonton and are interested in joining us, email me for further details! :)

Back From Convention!

I'm back!!! My first Convention experience was SO amazing; my head is just spinning with all the ideas and projects I saw! I'm trying very hard to get all my ideas on paper so I don't forget them. I know I've already forgotten some things; I just don't think my brain had the capacity to remember all that I saw and heard. Good think for digital cameras, and for the fact that many demonstrations are included on a cd! I met so many wonderful people; all demo's who were just as excited to be there as I was. :) I participated in 2 organized swaps, as well as swapped with demo's at random, and the projects I received in return are so inspiring! I'm glad I got to take them home with me; I get so much inspiration from actually seeing the project up close. I have class ideas galore running through my head right now, and can't wait to make the projects for them and promote them to my customers!

Anyway, while there, Stamping wasn't the only thing I did - if you can believe it! ;) I also went shopping - a tonne - with my upline/friends! Here's a picture of our first trip to the outlet mall!

This is my up-upline Terri, who has been a huge inspiration to me this weekend. We rented the van behind her, and 6 of us headed off to the outlet mall after our last class on Thursday. Needless to say, our way back was pretty uncomfortable, with bags stacked and crammed into the back "trunk" area (right to the ceiling!), bags at our legs, beside out seats, on our laps! It was incredible! This picture is of the shopping damage done by 4 of our spending dynamo's; our hotel bellman was laughing at us when we unloaded the van! Our second day shopping wasn't much different; you can bet we had to sit on our suitcases to close them at the end of our trip, even though we had brought extra bags just for this reason! ;)

Next time I'll post some of the make n' takes we did at the SU Pajama Party Wednesday night! SO much fun - everyone in their pajamas, stampin away! :)

I've Been Tagged!

Does everyone have a post titled something like that now? I've seen quite a few people "tagged" lately, and have enjoyed reading the neat little tidbits posted about themselves. So, it turns out that Kim at Inked has tagged ME! Wow; and just when I thought I was going to escape it... ;)

So here it is; these are the rules:

* I must post 7 random things about me.
* Tag 7 other Bloggers to do the same.
* Post the rules and the Bloggers I tagged here.
* Leave Tagged Bloggers a comment on their blog so they know they have been tagged.

7 Random Fact about me:

1. I am a huge choco-holic, and hope to have chocolate of some form or another delivered to my hotel room every day that I'm at Convention!
2. I LOVE cartoons! In fact, I just went to see the Backyardigans live at the Edmonton Capital Ex! Of course, I took my 2 and a half year old daughter with me so I didn't look too silly ;)
3. I am a SAHM right now, but would like to go back to work once my daughter is in school. I would eventually like to own my own business (other than being an SU demo - I want a real storefront!), but am still thinking about what type of business it would be...
4. My favorite place to be is relaxing by a lake (Not IN a lake... I am definitely NOT a swimmer) with a good book and good friends.
5. I am almost 31 years old, but have only had my driver's liscence for 4 years!
6. I love to travel, and not just to beach locations. I like to explore where I'm visiting, and find out what makes it a unique place to be.
7. My guilty pleasure (chocolate is definitely a pleasure, but for me it's not a guilty one!) is shopping. I LOVE to shop for almost anything, but the guilt comes in spending all that money! :(

There you have it! Now I need to tag 7 other Bloggers. Hmm... Okay, here they are:

1. Judy at Squashjunkie
2. Jen at Jen's Life of Stampin'
3. Tanis at Paper Princess at Play
4. Abra Leah at Abra Leah Stamps
5. Sara at Desperate Samper
6. Lisa at Inkerdoodles
7. Kim at Two Pink Fairies

Whew! That was harder than I thought! Many of you have already been tagged, so I had to try to find people who haven't yet! Hopefully I did it, and none of these 7 have been tagged yet. All of these blogs are on my personal blog roll, because I find much inspiration from them. Check them out! :)

A Quick Post

It's almost midnight, and I'm still awake working on my swaps for convention! Crazy, I know. Only 3 more sleeps!!! I'm so excited to get there and see all the amazing projects, go to Memento Mall, and hang out with a tonne of crazy stampers!

Here is a 6x6 page that I created all by myself! I can hardly believe it, since I am not a very experienced scrapbooker, and actually find the whole process a little overwhelming. While this is a simple page, I really liked the colors together, and can see so many other things I could add to it for embellishments! I used a retired stamp on it though - "Sew Sweet" from the retired hostess set "Tags So Much". I think I'll change it somehow to the "Wild About You" stamp, so everything on it is current. What do you think? Do I pass Scrapbooking 101? If you look closer at the page (click on the picture), you can see that I versamarked little polka dots from the "Three For You" set, under the flowers. I hope you like it! :)

Cinderella in Pearls!

My daughter went to a birthday party today for her friend who is turning 2. Her friend is princess Crazy (so is my daughter for that matter!), so I decided to make a card with a princess on it. I was inspired by this card on SCS; I loved the castle, and her watercoloring is beautiful too! I don't have any castle or other fairytale-like stamps, so I resorted to good old Clipart! I found the castle on my computer clipart, but the Cinderella image came from http://www.disneyclips.com/ . I found the Perfect image of her walking "toward" the castle! I used Pearl Ex in "Interference Gold" all over the front of the Groovy Guava cardstock, and I just love how it turned out!

I decided to post 2 pictures, to give you the full effect of the Pearl Ex. For those of you who haven't used it before, turning the page in different directions will give you different effects! So in one picture, you can see the Groovy Guava color behind a slightly golden "wash", and in the other picture all you see is this brilliant gold - beautiful! I also used some primas in the corner held together with one of SU's new Rhinestone Brads in Fire.

Overall, even though I "cheated" and didn't actually make the images, I think this card turned out pretty well! The party was a success as well; all the kids had a great time, and I think they will all sleep very well tonight! :) I have to say I think my daughter was very happy to have some other little girls her age to play with; most of her friends (with the exception of the birthday girl) are boys! She's a little more rough and tumble as a result of hanging out with the boys, but she loved dressing up with a pretty necklace and bracelet, and donning a princess crown at the party. A girly-girl at heart - I just Know she is! (somewhere in there anyway... ;) )