Promotion Playtime - "We Create" Blog Hop

Welcome back! This month, we wanted to show you some of the great products that are available outside of our traditional catalog. Sometimes these fun offerings are overlooked, but they are too awesome to miss out on!

My projects use a few products from our Sale-a-Bration catalog that you can earn for FREE for every $50 you spend this month. Yep, for every $50 you spend, you get to chose a FREE item from the SAB mini catalog! (check out the sidebar for more info!) 

I started with a simple outline, inspired by Pinterest.

The banner "string" between pennants was simply drawn
in with the Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write marker - easy!

This simple, cute card uses the Banner Blast set and coordinating punch from the SAB catalog, as well as one of our new totally clear photopolymer stamps. The photopolymer stamps take some getting used to, but they do give a super-sharp image, as you can see above with the "Thank You." A little Cherry Cobbler baker's twine and a "string" (drawn with the Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write Marker) finish off the card. Love!

Then I moved on to a more-involved card. This one uses the same stamps and punches as the first, but I also used our super-fun Envelope Punch Board! You can use the punch board to make a custom envelope in pretty much any size, and it's so easy!

As you can see, I also added some DSP to this card, as well as using the polka-dot Textured Embossing Folder from the SAB catalog. I LOVE that the embossing folder coordinates so well with the pattern on one of the pennant stamps! (The orange one on the right end). I went through about 5 different color/paper/texture combinations before finally settling on this one, so now I have a bunch of itty-bitty envelopes laying around -- oh darn!  ;)  The layout for this card, and the instructions for the custom-sized envelope, were found over on Julie Kettlewell's blog.

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Be sure to check out the rest of the ladies in the Hop, and don't miss out on all these great products!!

Hearts & Sparkles Notebook (and an announcement!)

During my impromptu Castle & Cards night last week, I wanted to make something Valentine-themed, and I had a few of these mini notebooks left over from my Christmas card  classes. So I flipped through my stash of DSP and found this adorable pink argyle pattern and my silver glimmer paper. Perfect! Combined with the Fashionable Hearts Embosslits and a simple, artistic phrase from the Word Play set, this makes such a great little notebook to write in -- whether you're writing love notes or making a grocery list!

And an Announcement! 

This Friday, my group of Stampin' Up! demonstrators is doing its next monthly blog hop. We're doing a "Birthday Bash" theme, and we have a ton of great ideas lined up for you to enjoy! Be sure to check back on Friday to see what we came up with!


Notebook Details
Notebook: From Target; pack of 2 for $1 -- what a deal! (not at all sponsored by Target - I just really love that store!)
Paper: Patio Party DSP, Silver Glimmer Paper, Very Vanila & Crumb Cake CS
Ink: Crumb Cake, Melon Mambo Stampin' Write© Marker (Primrose Petals would have been a better match, but Melon Mambo is what I had)
Tools: Fashionable Hearts Embosslits, 3/16" Corner Rounder punch, SNAIL adhesive, Dimensionals

FMS70 - Happy Birthday!

This last week, I had planned a Valentine-themed card class. It turned out to be a total FLOP! Only one person came (my neighbor), so it really just turned into us watching Castle and making whatever sounded good -- so I guess it wasn't a total flop; I still got cards made. Anyway, during this impromptu Castle & Cards night, I decided to take a stab at this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge.

So, knowing that I have a lot of birthdays coming up, I decided to make a birthday card. It started out as a more masculine card, but once I found that gorgeous Daffodil Delight DSP and punched it with the large scallop circle, I knew my delusions of masculine card crafting were out the window. In the end, though, it didn't turn out too girly, I think. (Right? Tell me if I'm crazy.)

It's a little hard to tell from the angle in this photo, but I (once again) decided to make the banner "wave" by curling it a bit. The ends stick up off the card, and the center of the banner is raised as well.I love the dimension and movement such a simple little trick can give a card!

The layout, like I mentioned earlier, came from FMS70. Here's their sketch:

I love the butterfly! And I was pretty tempted to use it, except that I was going for a more masculine look, and evidently butterflies aren't masculine. (I guess that's something they can't fix!)


Card Details
Paper: Soft Suede, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White CS; International Bazaar DSP
Ink: Soft Suede; Daffodil Delight & Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write© Markers 
Stamp Sets: Bring on the Cake
Tools & Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots Textured Embossing Folder, Large Scallop Circle punch, Paper Snips (scissors), Dimensionals, SNAIL Adhesive.