Is spring finally here?

I finally have time to post some of my most recent cards. I've been so busy lately - that is the professional way to say I've been hopelessly addicted to the lastest book that I picked up. So addicted so that I had to send my husband out while my club ladies came over so he could pick me up the second book in the series and then when he returned, book in hand, I basically ignored him for the rest of the night so I could read.

But enough about that, here is one of the cards that we made at the club on Sunday. This is using the Pick A Petal set which is amazingly versatile. I love the combination of the Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip and Kraft. I think it is uber springy. Since this class was all about the VersaMark I had to show how it make awesome backgrounds so the little flower from the same set was used. For this club I had a request to use a button at this class to it made total sense to make it the flower center and since I had the Button Latte it totally makes it look like a sunflower. I finished it off with the Sincere Salutations greeting and some paper piercing to add interest to the lower right corner.

Sweet Stems in pots

Here is a nice spring themed card to make us all believe it really is coming. I originally saw a card similar to this at my uplines place but she used the Pocket Sillouhettes set and it makes a more sophisitcated looking card because of the style of the stamp. I don't have that set and I'm all for making it work with what you have and if you go on Splitcoast this style of card is all over so I just looked around and made it work.

I did this card at a few workshops that I've had recently and it went over really well. Not only is it quick and easy but it would work for a variety of occasions from mother's day to birthday to sympathy.

To make this card I used the Sweet Stems stamp set and stamped the flowers in basic black ink. Then I coloured in the flowers with Kiwi Kiss, Pretty in Pink and Rose Red and blender pens. The blue is sponged with Baja Breeze and I put a sticky note over the top portion of the card to make the line. The flower pots are probably my favourite part of this card, I used scrap 1in strips of Rose Red, Pretty in Pink and Old Olive (again making it work with what I have) cardstock and my 1-1/4in circle punch. This makes a flat bottom and top to give the flower pot look. Then I clipped the corners with my ticket corner punch and mounted it on the Baja Breeze card.

Lastly the greeting is with the hostess set which I love, it has something for every occasion. I highly recommend it if you have a workshop.

My first swap

Making my first swat was a nerve wracking experience for absolutely no reason. Participating in a swap is a great thing actually, you get lots of ideas for cards, in fact you get cards, in exchange for cards that you have made yourself. The main rule is that the card needs to be an original design. This is what made me self consious since almost all of my cards have been heavily inspired by things I have seen on Splitcoast. This one I can truly say is my own. Ya me!

I used the Eastern Blooms set and inked the branch in Regal Rose then coloured the stem in with a Basic Grey marker. On this card I used a Versamark pen to colour the flowers in as well then embossed with clear embossing powder. I realized that this was more work than I wanted to do so for the other cards I used Crystal Effects on the flowers afterwards (see second picture). I think I like it better with the crystal effects, it adds a little bit more shine and shine is good, almost as good as bling. The patterened paper is Regal Rose from the hostess pack and I paired it with Rose Red and Basic Grey cardstock. I love the new organza ribbon, it adds a touch of class to whatever you add it to. Love it!

Another Purse

I love making purses out of paper. I don't even love them this much in real life but there is something adorable about them when they are made of paper. This is one I made at the Sea to Sky Stampers group that I am a part of. At our meetings we always get to make something super cute to take home and this was what we did this time.

This purse is made with the Big Shot and some coordinating papers. I made mine with the Pacific Point and the Good Morning Sunshine designer paper but had some problems getting the birds going the right way. Next time I'm going to choose something without a direction, like just about any other paper :) On the back I got the birds going the right way and I had intended to make that the front, but then I forgot. I love the motto that you can't make mistakes in crafting you only leave room for embellishment, but I'm having a hard time framing the sideways birds as a sort of embellishment...

As for size it is a little on the smaller side, so you wouldn't want to swap out your regular purse for it :) But it would be perfect for a gift card or a small gift for a birthday or mother's day. Also if you book a workshop with me you may see one of these show up as a hostess gift, you never know.

Now easier than ever!

I know I posted previously how the starter kit was on sale until the end of March and that you get a free stamp set when you sign up until the end of March (full details here) and now you can get all this for a limited time on a payment plan! I almost wish I had waited for this promotion, but if I had I couldn't be telling you about it now so I'm glad I didn't wait.

Here are the details:
the Starter Kit for $209 instead of the regular $249 ($435 in merchandise)
Free shipping
Free stamp set (up to $56.95 in value)
and now you are able to make three payments of :
$66.68 (+taxes ) First monthly payment
$69.66 Second Monthly Payment
$69.66 Third Monthly Payment

It is important to note that this payment option is only available for mailed in applications so if you want to sign up then contact me as soon as possible (applications need to be at Stampin' Up! no later than March 13). The payment plan option (at regular price) is scheduled to end on April 30 so it won't be around forever.

History of the Greeting Card

Card from Stampin Up! website, information from the Postcard and Greeting Card Museum (also from Kari's blog).

Sending greeting cards to friends and family is a tradition that goes back about 200 years. They were mostly sent by the elite and wealthy in the early to mid 1800's. Most of the early greeting cards were hand delivered and many were quite expensive, but they soon gained mass popularity with the introduction of the world's first postage stamp issued in 1840 and a few ambitious printer's and manufacturer's perfecting printing methods, hiring artists and designed both elaborate expensive cards as well as simple affordable ones by the 1850's.

As you visit our galleries you will see that cards of the past were fine pieces of art. Manufacturer's used quality artists and many of the large manufacturer's held "art" competitions to generate interest and to get new ideas for cards. Some of these competitions awarded as much as $1,000.00 to the winner!

The oldest known greeting card in existence is a Valentine made in the 1400's and is in the British Museum. New Year's cards can be dated back to this period as well, but the New Year greeting didn't gain popularity until the late 1700's. The Valentine and Christmas Card were the most popular cards, with Valentine's offering us the most "mechanical", "pop-up" and filigree cards, followed by Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Cards gained their highest popularity in the late 1800's and early 1900's offering us cards with some of the most unusual art. The Victorian age give us the most prolific cards.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, when lovers said or sang their Valentines. Written Valentines began to appear after 1400. Paper Valentines were exchanged in Europe where they were given in place of Valentine gifts. Handmade paper Valentines were especially popular in England. In the mid to early 1800's, Valentines began to be assembled in factories. Early manufactured Valentines were black and white pictures painted by workers in a factory. Esther Howland (see below) known as the Mother of the Valentine made fancy Valentines with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap". She introduced the Paper Lace Valentine in the mid 1800's. By the end of the 1800's, Valentines were being made entirely by machine.

Christmas cards were introduced and popularized by John Calcott Horsley, the artist of what is known as the world's first Christmas Card and Louis Prang, known as the Father of the American Christmas Card.

The rest is History. With the exchange of New Year's, Valentine's, Easter, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Birthday Cards, just to name a few, there is probably no occasion that doesn't have its own greeting card!

Scrapbook Page #3

I thought with putting the scrapbooking tips up I should show everyone my next page. This is the page I made for Holly's baby shower. I am most proud of this page because I made the background paper out of wrapping paper from some of her presents. How did I do this you may be asking? I covered the white sheets that come in the scrapbook with tombow glue (a glue stick would probably work better though) and then layed on my pre-cut pieces of wrapping paper. I used strips of matching cardstock to cover the seams and them just added matted pictures and my journaling block. Super easy and it really means something to me. I think it is pretty too.

Stamping scrapbook titles

Here is another scrapbook page that I liked from Scrapbooks etc., this one is page 10 of the 15 examples. This idea is from their newsletter again but this time tells tips for stamping titles. On this page the happily is stickers but they stamped over the white stickers to give a little more interest. I love this idea and it could totally be done with the chipboard letters if you are like me and are too lazy to cover them with designer paper. You could cover them with craft ink or paint and then stamp them to give them some pizazz.

I am getting so many ideas from just putting up these posts, I think my scrapbook obsession is really coming to light now....

Stamping and Scrapbooking combined

I got this in my inbox since I am a subscriber to Scrapbooks etc. They have a weekly newsletter that comees out with lots of neat scrapbooking tips. I thought this week was especially relevant since it pertained to stamping and scrapbooking. I thought I'd share some of the links in the email so everyone can see how versatile and easy it is to incorporate stamps in your scrapbook. This tip is how to create custom backgrounds for your scrapbook pages with stamps. I liked this one because you don't need patterened paper, even though there are tonnes of great ones out there, sometimes you don't have exactly what you need. I also liked it because it gives you ideas how to use any stamp, not just those specifically designed for backgrounds. There are 15 examples of beautiful pages so there really is something for everyone.

This page was my favourite and it could totally be done with any large flower set. It also uses strips of designer paper that coordinates with the pink in the little girls shirt. I think that is what I like so much about this page, they pulled the colours out of the photo to make the page. I must try that next.

Spring mini-catalogue sneak-peek

The new mini catalogue is out! Yaaa, but technically it doesn't start until April 1. So why I am telling you this you may be asking? Because since Easter is so early in April SU! decided to help you guys out and offer a selection of sets in March so you can get your Easter cards done in time. How fabulous is that. You can see the selection offered here or click on the picture.

Keep in mind that if you order over $60 worth of stamps you can also qualify for the sale-a-bration freebies (see flyer on left). So you can get sneak-peek sets and free sets, how great is that! If you want one for freebie then if you order online for over $25 you get a free catalogue. I'm not sure the pot can get any sweeter, but all this sweetness is only until March 31 so make sure you don't miss out.

Purse Card

Here is one of my favourite cards to make. It is really easy and really cute too. I found it on splitcoast here and modified it slightly. It uses the set Eastern Blooms but could use any solid image stamp. The first picture is of all the supplies that you will need to make this card. If you'll notice there really aren't that many!

To start this card you use the Pretty in Pink cs and fold it like a regular card, then I took 1/4" off the top and cut the sides on an angle to make the base. From there you just stamp in PIP ink with the big flower all over. I added some faux stitching with my white gel pen to the sides. The base is now done, how easy was that?

The handle is Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon that is fed through the top and taped to the back. I tried knots but then the card was too bulky and wouldn't close nicely. The flower is stamped in Chocolate Chip and then cut out, I popped it up on a dimension too. To close the card I used a bit of sticky velcro, so it really is a closing purse.

For a bit of extra bling I used shimmery white paper for the top and put some crystal effects in the center of the brown flower.

Here is another example of the same card but I used bleach instead of PIP ink. Also my faux stitching here is done with the help of my mat pack. I added a greeting to this card to with the hostess set, Sweet Little Sentiments. Does it really get any cuter than this card?