Stampin' Creative Global Blog Hop - Hearts of Friendship

Happy Thursday!  Welcome to the first Stampin' Creative Global Blog Hop for 2020!

Tamara Bertram coming to you from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  Yes, Canada ... the coldest place on the planet a few weeks ago, which gave me the PERFECT opportunity to hibernate in my Craft Cave and play!  This month my demonstrator friends from around the globe and I worked on projects with a "Hearts of Friendship" theme.  What does that mean??  Well ... I'm not sure *lol*.  The themes are kept quite general and generic so that it doesn't limit our creativity and/or imagination.  I thought and thought and thought about it and I wanted to create a card that I could send to my Girlfriends for Valentine's Day.  My girlfriends have been SUCH a huge support to me over the last 12-18 months.  I truly don't know how I would cope without them in my life.  I am SO blessed to have four Sisters-of-the-Heart living near me that I KNOW always have my back.  Now I'm not a "red heart" kinda gal ... but I CAN get down with some pretty flowers (and of course chocolate but that's a whole other post! lol)

This is the card I created for them:

 I made a few with an alternate sentiment

This is a VERY simple project to put together (well ... full disclosure ... it took me about 3 HOURS to put together but that was 2 hours and 50 minutes of playing, overthinking and using every craft supply I've ever owned before deciding on this clean, simple design!)

I actually started OFF CASEing the catalogue, and THIS project (bottom left) ...

I find it so funny how I START with a certain idea but end with something SO different!

Details:
Card Base:  Standard 5 1/2" x 4 1/2" (8 1/2" x 5 1/2" folded in half)
Layer: 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Parisian Blossom Specialty DSP
Top Whisper White Layer: 2 1/2" x 4"
Crumb Cake mat:  2 1/2" plus 2 ticks x 4" plus 2 ticks (or 2 5/8" x 4 1/8" for adults lol)
Stamp set:  Forever Blossoms (for both flower image and sentiment)
Inks:  Pool Party and Memento Black
Small pearls
Dimensionals
Wink of Stella
Linen thread: 22"
I stamped the sentiment on scrap Crumb Cake card stock then snipped apart with my paper snips and used glue to adhere

For this card I used the sentiment from the Peaceful Moments stamp set:

That's it!  My take on "Hearts of Friendship".  I pretty card I have already addressed and have ready to mail for Valentines Day ... or maybe it should be called GALentine's Day??

Of course Sale-a-brations is still in full swing and you can purchase all of the items through my online store over on the Right Hand Side.  With every $60 you spend you get a SAB item of your choice.  I'd be thrilled to be your Canadian Demonstrator, if you don't currently have one.

Right!  Now off you hop to check out what my friends have to share with you.  Have a stampy day .. and happy hopping!

Tam

Lovely Lily Pad Fun Fold Card - Kylie's Maui Achievers Blog Hop

Welcome to the Maui Achievers Blog Hop for January!  I'm Tamara Bertram, coming to you from REALLY REALLY REALLY cold Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  One great thing about having the coldest temperatures on the PLANET last week is there was PLENTY of indoor crafting time!  Perfect timing for our Blog Hop.  Top Demonstrators from around the globe are bringing you AMAZING projects this month so grab a warm drink and hop along.  Leave us comments as you go - we LOVE hearing what you think!

The cards I'm sharing this week are a Fun-Fold card, using primarily FREE products from the 2020 Sale-a-brations Brochure.  I found the layout through Pinterest and was inspired by Melissa Kerman on her blog melissascraftingtreehouse.com.  This is her card that inspired me ...

I just love it ... and I love that I have THREE packs of that paper in my stash so plan to replicate it VERY soon.  Speaking of my stash of paper, I *may* also have a *few* pack of the FREE Lily Impressions Designer Paper on hand so I wanted to try her layout with my spin on it.  This is what I came up with ...

I just LOVE how the colours on this card POP!

Do you love it?  I do!  .. and it's so easy to make!

• Purple Posy Card Base; 4 1/4" x 9", scored at 5 1/2"
• Highland Heather layer; 4" x 5 1/4"
• Whisper White Insert Piece; 3 1/2" x 7", scored at 3 1/2"
• Lily Impressions Designer Paper (larger piece); 3 1/4" x 4"
• Lily Impressions Designer Paper (smaller, Melon Mambo piece); 3 1/4" x 3 1/4"
• Scraps of Whisper White for the sentiments and the lily image

It come together SO quickly!  To attach the Thank You (I used our Thank You die ($24.00 CDN)) I used our white multipurpose glue.  To attache the Lily I used our fine tip glue pen.  Both glues were quick and easy and no, there wasn't a big gluey mess!  They worked REALLY well.  Of course if you have any of our retired Multipurpose Adhesive sheets on hand you can use those too but, honestly, I used both and found the glue better.  It was faster and less fiddly!

As I'm SURE you are aware, the Sale-a-brations promotion is now on and you can get SO MANY awesome products for FREE with a qualifying order.  I used THREE such free items on my card; the Lily Impressions Designer Paper (free with a $60 order), the Lily Pad stamp set (free with a $60 order) and the Lily Pad dies (free with a $120 order).  If you are in Canada and looking for a demonstrator to order through I would be honoured if you chose me.  You can click on my links over on the right hand side-bar to check out the catalogues and sale-a-brations brochure and to place your order through my store.

I hope you like my project today.  I actually had so much fun making it I decided to make some birthday cards too, using our retired Happy Birthday die ...

Now hop along and check out the other Maui Achievers' Blogs to see what THEY have designed for you this month!  Have a stampy day :)

Tam

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Lovely Lily Pad - a MUST have set!

Happy Sunday!

Well!  With the temperature in Edmonton hitting a not-so-balmy MINUS 47 degrees with the wind chill today I figured it is a GREAT day to do a blog post and hibernate in my ugella FarrCraft Cave!  GEEZ that's cold!  In fact, I believe Edmonton, Alberta, Canada is destined to be the coldest place on Earth this week.  Swell!  Thinkin' Doodle Dog is gunna be missing a few walks!

Today I'm sharing my absolute favourite card in for-EVER!!  Seriously!  In fourteen years of playing with paper this has GOT to be in my top 3 faves.  I'll preface by saying I can't take credit for it - I CASEd it from Stampin' Up! Artisan Narella Farrugia over at https://narallafarrugia.com.  She is my new favourite stamper to stalk!   Check out this STUPENDOUS card she made!

It.  Is.  STUNNING!

I changed it EVER so slightly.  Here is my CASEd version:

 LOVE IT!!!!  The ONLY reason I changed it at all is because when I used the Cherry Cobbler blends, as she did, for the flowers I didn't get the bright intensity that is shown in her picture.  I suspect her lighting played a factor there.  To get the GORGEOUS deep red I used my Dark Poppy Parade blend and then did highlights with my Dark Cherry Cobbler.  I used my Granny Apple Greens for the lily pads, Soft Sea Foam for the leaves and Pool Party for the water.  Sparkle was a must, so out came the Wink of Stella.

The other minor change to Narella's card is I used our Adhesive Backed Sequins - she used a red rhinestones, I believe.

I could just stare at this card all day.  Did I mention I love it??  lol.

The set is "Lovely Lily Pad" and it is FREE with a $60 (CDN) order during our Sale-a-brations promotion that runs all month.  You can also get the coordinating Lily Pad DIES with a $120 order (so to get both you need a $180 order).  I realize a $180 is nothing to sneeze at so DO know that good old fashions SCISSORS can cut those bad boys out!  Speaking of, scissors are what I used to cut out the "Thinking of You" sentiment that came from the Woven Heirlooms stamp set. 

If you would like to place an order to get these items, I would SO appreciate you ordering through my online store (if you are in Canada).  You can do so here.  If your order is under $200 and you use hostess code BEGD7QRN at the the checkout I'll mail you a little thank you gift!

Here are the fine details and how-to's for the card:

Whisper White Card Base: 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"
Poppy Parade Layer (popped up on dimesionals): 4 3/4" plus 2 ticks x 3 1/2" plus 2 ticks
Whisper White top layer: 4 3/4" x 3 1/2"
Start by stamping the following pieces:

- Cut them out with scissors or dies.
- Colour the Lily Pads with the light Granny Apple Green Blend and then colour the second largest ring of the Lily Pad with your dark Granny Apple Green Blend
- Attach them to the card top layer using snail adhesive.
- Colour the leaves with your light and dark Soft Sea Foam Blends
- Colour the water at this point.  Use your light Pool Party blends to just add some blue around the lily pads and then use the dark Pool Party Blend for a little deeper colour under each of the lily pads for a shadow effect.
- Colour your flowers.  My preferred technique is to colour the entire flower with the dark Poppy Parade Blends and then highlight the base of each petal with your dark Cherry Cobbler blend.  I then take my Poppy Parade blend and go over the entire image again, to make sure there are no harsh lines between the two colours and that they blend nicely together for subtle shading.
- Attach the medium flower with snail.  Attach the two small flowers and large flower with dimensionals.  Attach the leaves with snail.
- stamp your sentiment in Black Memento Ink, fussy cut with scissors and pop up in dimensionals.
- use Wink of Stella for some glitz on your flowers
- add three sequins to finish it off.

To mass produce this card I stamped 10 sets of each of the pieces I needed and cut them out.  I then coloured them while watching a movie with my girls (GOTTA multitask! lol) and then just assembled.  I wasn't originally sold on this bundle ... until this card.  Now I say EVERYONE needs it - NEEDS it! lol.  Yes, I'm rather passionate about this one.

So that's it for today!  I hope it's warmer where you are ... and that you have a super stampy day!  Thanks for popping in.

Tam

2020 Occasions Catalogue and Sale-a-brations Promotion NOW AVAILABLE!

Happy Friday!

What a GREAT way to kick off the weekend!  The 2020 Occasions Catalogue products are now available ... and the annual Sale-a-brations promotion adds to the excitement!

For every $60 spent, customers earn a free items from the SAB Brochure.  There are two levels of free products - the $60 level and the $120 level. 

Click on the images over on the right hand side to see the catalogues.  Here are some quick pics of what you can choose for free!

These are the $60 level items:

These are the $120 level items:

Here are some ideas on what you can MAKE with the free items:

If you check out the new catalogue and your wish list is quite long I URGE you to get the Starter Kit!  It will save you money AND save you shipping and tax on TOP of the savings!  Need some extra incentive?  When you buy the kit this month you will ALSO get a mini paper trimmer, a designer paper sampler AND a free stamp set of YOUR CHOICE of ANY value! 

It's seriously the best way to get the products you want at a discount.  No, when you buy the Starter Kit ($135) you don't get SAB items on the purchase of that kit BUT you CAN then turn around and place an order to get those items.  I promise there are not strings attached - you can just grab the deal and run.  Drop me a line and I can answer any questions you have - no pressure!

Gotta dash - SO much to do for my Open House tomorrow morning!  Pop in, if you are in the Edmonton area, and grab the catalogues.  ALWAYS more fun to thumb through a physical book than look on a screen!

Have a stampy day!

Tam