I DO apologize for not posting last week. I just wasn't up to it, post-surgery and, to be honest, I really didn't have much TO post!
Things are healing, slowly but surely. Ya, I should be taking things a little easier than I am but, as all moms know, you really only ever get about 3 days of sympathy and help when you're not well! I was VERY blessed in that I really had the majority of SEVEN days to recover, with the help of family and friends who brought me meals and drove my youngest to/from school ... but after the seven days, well, things just had to get back to normal! The kids were begging for vegetables, which was my first clue to do a proper grocery shop! *lol*. I'm still not walking Koda as far and I'm not lifting things but everything else is pretty much business as usual .. including business!
I had a class last Saturday night (still haven't cleaned it UP yet but I had it! lol). I also had my Monday morning coffee and cards class at Second Cup. It was an easy "class" for me, as I just opened my Paper Pumpkin kit from last month. I LOVE these cards!
I also had my volunteering gig at Robin Hood Association, where the ladies made half the Incredible Like You card kit ...
... and I also managed to start on my "Operation Mr. Dan" cards that we'll be mass producing this Friday night!
I LOVE this card ... I'll be using my Brother Scan n' Cut machine to cut out the typewriters. I think this is an AWESOME way to use up the BUCKET full of washi tape I've been hoarding for the last 3 years!
I'm not sure about this one. I think I can do better ... but it's a start ...
I have one more design to come up with. As you know, I struggle with quick and easy and always want to add a little more "this or that" ... but I'll get there. The whole idea is quick, easy, no-layer cards that are still lovely! All part of the #simplestamping campaign Stampin' Up! is putting out there.
The other than I was working on this week was marketing material for the AWESOME new Storage by Stampin' Up!
We are all SOOOOOO excited about this new product line! The new style ink pads came out last April and now we finally have storage to house them! They are quite affordable (I think!) at $19 per section. You can buy what you need, as you need it and you can configure the pieces however you want! I have started a club so you can get the pieces a little each month, on a budget. The club is $45 per month (plus s/h/gst) and starts in April. If you are in Canada and would like more information, send me a message at bertram4@shaw.ca. Spaces are already filling up!
One last thing to mention ... today is THE LAST DAY OF SALE-A-BRATIONS! You can still place a $60 or $120 order to scoop some free product and/or you can still get $225 in product for a flat $135 when you buy the Starter Kit ... but only until 11:59 MDT tonight! Place your order here , using hostess code E2479V2Z if your order is under $200 ... and purchase your Starter Kit here. These offers won't be back until January 2020 so get 'em while you can!
That's it for today. I have a busy week ahead. I'll fill you in next Sunday. Until then, have a stampy week!
Today I'm SUPPOSED to be laying around all day, recovering from my surgery yesterday. I'm trying, I really am! Alas .. this spring weather (finally!!) has me wanting to clean and purge ... so I did do a bit of that. Nothing too crazy, just my bathroom and a little basket of toiletries. I'm not sure WHY I have four foot scrapers but I am now down to one! lol.
I HAVE been taking breaks. Sitting at the computer was a little uncomfortable so I've rotated back to the couch where I can sit more on my tailbone than my actual butt ... and am getting LOTS of computer work done! What is so urgent that I had to get done? Sending out "Welcome to the Group" cards, letters and labels! My customers are SMART and so far this year I have had TWELVE of them buy the Starter Kit. Every one of the them sees the value in the deal, whether they want to save some money, make a little money, dabble in a bit of a "side hustle" for fun or do the business like I do. The choice is theirs! ... but they all had to start by buying the kit.
Check out this visual. Really look at it ...
Can you spot the obvious difference?
Yes. If you were to order the products on the left through ME you would pay a darn site more than if you order the kit. You really don't need to give UPS and the Tax Man your hard earned cash. Keep it! ... or spend it on more craft supplies but DON'T just give it to them 'cause you're swell!
What you REALLY need to understand is that you will be saving a total of 48% by getting the kit ... that there are NO strings attached ... and that YOU get to choose what goes IN the kit! Bought the kit before? GREAT! You can absolutely buy it again! It's an annual sale that you can take advantage of year after year after year.
Here are some examples of what you can out in your kit ....
This one would be geared towards the beginner stamper; one with little or no crafting supplies (yet!)
This one is for people who love KITS!
Do you have lots of supplies but not a die cutting machine? Here are some suggestions to add to your collection ...
Do you like colouring? Alcohol Markers? You can get 18 SETS in your kit ...
Love colouring in general? Here is a great bundle of our "regular" markers (water based)
Maybe you don't stamp! Maybe you scrapbook and just want/need paper. No problem, get 18 packs of your favourites!
You can put ANY combination of products together that you want/need! You simply pick out $225 worth of product (pre s/h/gst) and "add to cart". You can't be a penny over, the system won't allow it. But once you get as close to $225 as possible you check out and you only pay $135. Flat. Period. No shipping. No GST. No strings attached. Take the deal and run, place a few orders at a discount or build a business. Your call. But you have to start with buying the kit. You can do that here
If you live in Canada I would LOVE to have you join my circle of friends and be on my "team". Tamara's Trail Blazers, I call you. I will support you in whatever way you want me to. I can guide you along the path or I can leave you be to do it on your own ... or you can just ride into the sunset. Just let me know. I have sold over 130 Starter Kits in my 13 year career. I know a few things about some stuff *lol*. Won't you join me??
I did a Facebook Live video last week where I talk about the kit. Sadly I can't for the life figure out how to upload it to YouTube (I'm actually not sure you CAN upload a FB Live to YouTube but anyway ....) ... so if you'd like to see it you have to click here. Hopefully we don't have to be "friends" for you to be able to watch it.
I'll leave at that for now .... you never know, I may post ONE more time about it before this Sale-a-brations promotion is over ... oh! That reminds me ... this deal IS a better deal than usual at the moment BECAUSE it's Sale-a-brations! Normally the deal is "pick out $165 in product for $135 flat" but right now you get an extra $60 in product ... but only until March 31st so DON'T WAIT! Get it before the sale is over!
If you have any questions you can, of course, get in touch with me. I'm more than happy to give you the information you want ... no strings attached.
Oops! I forgot to pre-schedule my post yesterday to post this morning. I usually DO my posts on Sunday but in 11 minutes I'm off to the hospital for some minor day surgery. I'll be sleeping most of today and tomorrow but I promise to pop in and post just as soon as I can!
I don't want to jinx it by saying so but I think Spring may peek it's head around the corner this week. The forecast is for ABOVE zero for the first time in forEVER. Whoot! Now whilst I MUCH prefer -30 degrees to +30 degrees I have to admit I'm pretty much done with all the snow around here and am very much looking forward to walking the dog when it takes just minute to throw on my running shoes and a sweater as opposed to half an hour of layering clothes and putting booties on Koda! Of course HE loves the cooler weather but even HE isn't a fan of -26 with a wind chill! He LOVES a good spring snow romp with his favourite blue ball. He will spend HOURS out there dropping it in a snowbank then jumping in to retrieve it. HE loves it ... Craig doesn't! All those snowballs melt all over the floor!
The longer days and brighter sun have me reaching for my "brights" collection of products. My friend Elizabeth Green over at www.stampscrapandmore.com send me this gorgeous card using the FREE Home to Roost SAB set ...
I ADORE all the details on the card - time consuming but oh so striking! The texture she added to the Coastal Cabana frame. The corrugated, stitched Crumb Cake heart, the copper thread, the pearl, the sponged grass layer. SO fantastic! I wanted to CASE it for my class this week ... alas all that detail takes a LOT of time and supplies and isn't ideal for a full class ... so I tweaked it a bit to simplify it ... and I used a brighter palette of Mango Melody, Coastal Cabana and Granny Apple Green. This is my version:
I used a number of blends for the rooster ... but I actually DIDN'T use the Cajun Craze Blend shown in the picture below. Instead I swapped it out for the dark Pumpkin Pie for a bit of a brighter Rooster head.
The Coastal Cabana Frame (and the wee heart on Elizabeth's card) are from the Stitched Labels Framelits. These are a MUST HAVE set for your collection. VERY versatile!
So the rooster card is one we will be making in class this week, focusing on using the Embossing paste. I did a video last year on colouring the paste. Check that out below ... and subscribe to my YouTube Channel "Tamara's Paper Trail" while you are there. I don't do videos as often as I would like but I do hope to do more moving forward!
Focusing on "embossing" in class the next card is simply embossing with the Big Shot, using the FREE Country Floral Dynamic Embossing Folder. Holy COW is this folder incredible! I'm not a "flower girl" but this folder blew my mind! The impression is SO deep and SO striking you just HAVE to touch it
To make the images REALLY pop I simply used my finger dauber to sponge on some White Craft Ink over the raised images. That's it! I used some of the Whisper White Flax Ribbon from the Occasions Catalogue, some butterflies made using the Butterfly Gala stamp set and coordinating punch and the sentiment from the Part of My Story free SAB set, punched out with the Pretty Label Punch. (I wanted to use the new one offered in the March Promotion "Story Label Punch", alas it hasn't arrived yet. This one worked well.
Finally. we are making THIS card in class, using the Rainbow Embossing Technique and the free Lattice SAB set:
I just don't heat emboss enough these days. This was fun to do! I used the In Color Embossing Powders Lovely Lipstick, Pineapple Punch and Grapefruit Grove (of course I've OWNED them for 11 months but hadn't actually OPENED them yet! *sigh) . I matted the image on Lovely Lipstick, added some of our Polka Dot Tulle ribbon and a sentiment from "Another Wonderful Year" stamped in Lovely Lipstick and DONE! Quick, easy and lovely.
To wrap things up I'll show you a few other things I got up to this week ...
On a mission to FINISH projects I've started so I'm not crushed to death by an avalanche of "stuff" I wanted to finish the 7 (yes seven!) part kits from this retired kit ...
I volunteer with the Robin Hood Association every month and their clients and I make cards. I really wanted some Easter Cards ... and didn't "love" the bottom right hand card so I switched it up a bit. here's what I came up with ....
So pretty, right? The butterflies are from the free SAB paper. I used my Brother Scan n Cut to cut out all the butterflies ...
LOVE it! Very little waste and saves a LOT of time over using the coordinating butterfly punch!
Another kit I wanted to get off my desk was from a Paper Pumpkin kit for ages ago. I *may* have had 56 (yes 56!) leftovers! The Robin Hood clients generally don't have the manual dexterity to do fiddly things like putting brads through the holes so these envelopes weren't a good option for them ... but the CARDS that had come in the kit were. So I had the pieces to these sitting around for EVER! It took me 3 evening to get them all done but done they are .. and I donated them to my gym (Orange Theory) to hand out to their clients on their birthdays. As much as I LOVE these I can't mail them - the flowers are popped up on dimensionals and have brads and twine on them so they can't be mailed as is. They are ideal for the gym to hand out. I get them gone, they get to make people smile on their birthday. Win/win!
I also made some little Easter treats. Quick and easy using our Tiny boxes, Gingham Gala Paper, Pins and Tags and Everyday Occasions stamp set:
My last card is one I, sadly, had to make for a dear friend who had her dog head over the rainbow bridge. Quick and easy, using the new dog punch. I just punched through the top white layer, added the hearts and some Smoky Slate Blends shading to ground him. A few red rhinestones on the hearts finished it off.
So that's it for today. It's now REALLY late (11:15 am) thanks to daylight savings time. I'm officially WAY behind schedule and Koda wants to get on with our walk so I'll sign off.
Whatever YOU get up to today, I hope you have a stampy day!
Another week has FLOWN by ... meaning we are HOPEFULLY one week closer to some spring-like weather. Holy SMOKES has it ever been cold up her in Edmonton! Yet another few days of -25 with winds that just feel like your face is being ripped right off your body! Walking the dog has NOT been as relaxing as usual ... and we certainly don't pass many other dog walkers when it's this cold! Having said that I DO prefer -30 to +30 ... but I'm quite ready for at least a few days of -5 for a change!
The AWESOME side of nasty weather is I can hibernate in my craft cave guilt-free ... and that is exactly what I have done this week. Sadly for YOU I have't actually been creating ... I've been sorting, purging and finishing. Yes, two weeks ago I had cards made (leftovers from my classes and Stamp-a-Stack) but I had run out of envelopes ... so I spent a few hours finishing off those projects. I purged/organized a few shelves, I completed a few old kits ... I generally "putzed" and it felt great. I ALSO took a few days OFF! Whaaaaatttt??? True story! I say again, I'm trying hard to get a better life/work balance and I HAVE taken a few days off. I even took some sleeping aids the last few nights to get some sleep and I am feeling MUCH more alert and rested. Long may it continue!
I would LOVE to continue "putzing" in my cave today alas, I have a lot of Demonstrator Council work to finish today. I have a deadline of tomorrow morning so I'll be spending a fair few hours at my computer working on that. I can't wait to share what I/we've been working on. SO exciting!!
So today I'll share projects that you will have seen on my Facebook page, if you follow me there. Last month I posted over 30 swaps I received from my friends and sidelines using products from the 2019 Occasions and SAB catalogues. Before I get to the swaps, though, I want to share another set of cards I shared on FB last month. My "One Layout Three Ways" cards.
Two of the swaps I had received from my friends Laurie LaRose and Leanne Livingstone looked very similar, despite using completely different (free) Sale-a-brations products. Check these out ...
Laurie made the frog card ...
... and Leanne made the cupcake card.
I was struck by the similarities! They both used green bases (I almost ALWAYS use white!). They both used ovals to spotlight the main image ... and they were both matted with a scalloped oval. They both used a wise banner ... and they both used Sale-a-brations sets. That got me thinking about what to make at my next class. The same MAIN pieces, but with different stamp sets and slightly different positioning of the elements ... hence "One Layout Three Ways".
These are the cards I came up with using the same main elements (matted ovals, banner and a SAB set) for each:
They are all similar in construction yet all have a very different feel, don't you think?
The frog card is from the Hoppy Together SAB set
The flower card is from the Lasting Lily SAB set
The cupcake card is from the Hello Cupcake SAB set
I have provided details on the cards on my FB page and/or in Youtube videos. You can subscribe to my channel here
Here is my video showing you how to make the Lily card ... and some tips on how to ink the new Dist"ink"tive stamps ...
and here is one showing you how to make the cupcake card. In usual Tamara fashion there are some errors in the video. I kept getting the ink colours wrong! I sued Lemon Lime Twist, BERRY BURST and SOFT SUEDE! .. not Sahara Sand and Rich Razzleberry!)
I don't have a video for my frog card but it's fairly self-explanatory. I will add that I used the Dot Dot Dot Embossing folder from the Occasions Catalogue to emboss the banner. I think it added a "froggy feel" to the card.
So now I'll move on to the 30+ swaps I received in January from my talented friends across the country.
Frog - made by Laurie LaRose
Lattice - made by Stephanie VanDorp
Cupcake - made by Leanne Livingstone
Vases - made by Diane Hutchinson
Lovely Day - made by Joan Jeffery
Flowers - made by Laurie LaRose
Tea Pot made by Elizabeth Green
Flower - made by Marcy Denning
Cactus - made by Lisa Henderson
Needlepoint - was a Make and Take from Convention
Team card - made by Cheryl Simpkins
Squirrel card - made by Marcy Denning
Flower card - made by Joan Jeffery
Butterfly card - made by Diane Inkster
Fish card - made by Cindy Piggott
Butterfly card - made by Diane Inkster
Flower card - made by Elizabeth Green
Flower card - made by Glenda Mollet
Memories card - made by Doreen Hewitson
Horse card - made by Cindy Piggott
Tufted card - made by Doreen Hewitson
Horse card - made by Lisa Henderson
Cake card - made by Stephanie VanDorp
Car/gear card made by Glenda Mollet
Gum ball card - made by Cheryl Simpkins
Flower card - Make and Take from Convention
3-D pop up box - made by Diane Hutchinson
"Post" cards - made from the free SAB Parcel Post kit (now sold out :( )
Flower/hostess set card - made by me for my Open House Make and Take back in January
Phew! That's a LOT of cards! If you have any questions on technique, colours or sets used for any of the above just drop me a comment and I'll give you specifics. As you can imagine, it would take a LONG time to post all the details on all the cards here so I'll do so on a "by request" basis.
That's it for now. I better get off my butt, grab some breaky, walk the dog then hit the computer to get at that homework! I hope it's not "rip your face off" cold where you are! If it is, stay in and CRAFT! Have a stampy Sunday!
