Cate Created Rotating Header Image

Last Chance Lists Are Here!

The Last Chance Lists of stamp sets, accessories and Decor Elements are here.  It’s a big deal this year because so many things are changing when the new Idea Book & Catalogue comes out!

If you want any cardstock, ink pads or markers for any of the retiring colours, you need to act fast.  These are only available while supplies last!  Check the list…if something is out of stock but you really want it, let me know.  I will do my best to hunt it down for you.

Please note in the accessories Last Chance List that some things that are retiring are actually “being reconfigured”.  This refers to bundles like markers, buttons, etc., that are being reconfigured because of the Colour Renovation.  Most of the punches are listed as “being reconfigured”.  I’m not sure, but this may just mean that they will now only be available in the new punch style.  I’m going to find out for you.

The accessories that are really retiring will be going fast, so if there’s something you want, order it now!

After June 30th these items will no longer be available – so take a couple minutes and check out what old favourites are going to be retiring.

Available for the month of June only

While supplies last and some items are up to 50% off…these will go fast!

All of the retiring Decor Elements are 20% off

The fastest way to order these items is to order through my online store by clicking HERE. The Accessories will move particularly fast and are likely to run out quickly – some are even on sale!

Make sure you order ASAP before they run out!

A Thank You Card Awash With Flowers

I am really loving this set!  It makes it super easy to make a beautiful card that looks like it took hours to make.  Especially with the clear mount option!

I had to make a thank you card, and I hadn’t had a chance to ink this set up so I thought it would be perfect.  The friend that I was making the card for loves the Cottage Wall DSP, so I started with that.  I also had to use the new Square Lattice embossing folder in the Summer Mini because it’s just gorgeous.

I used my BigShot to cut the scallop circle and the Circle Scissors Plus to cut the circle of Whisper White.  Then I stamped my flowers.

I normally take my photos with natural light in front of a window, but these were taken at my sister-in-law’s house at night, and my camera just didn’t get the colours right….so you’ll have to take that into account when looking at these pictures.

Tip: I stamped a couple of flowers on sticky notes and cut them out to mask off some of the flowers I had already stamped.  This allowed me to stamp flowers in the background without stamping on top of the flowers I had stamped first.

Recipe:

Stamp Sets – Awash with Flowers, Matchbox Messages
Inks – Basic Black, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Pale Plum, Orchid Opulence, Pretty in Pink
Cardstock – Pale Plum, Old Olive, Whisper White
Accessories – Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, BigShot, Square Lattice embossing folder, Scallop Circles #2 die, Circle Scissors Plus, Rich Razzleberry 1/2″ Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Stampin’ Sponges

It’s a Colour Renovation!!!!

I am SO excited about the news I’m about to tell you!  Stampin’ Up! is planning a Colour Renovation, and it’s HUGE!!!

The changes are drastic, but good.  A lot of colours are retiring….30 to be exact.  Yup, that’s right!  Thirty colours will be gone when this catalogue ends!  But you have plenty of time to stock up before they are gone forever.

The colour families we know and love will be gone, to be replaced by new Colour Collections.  Starting July 1st we will have the Brights Collection, Neutrals Collection, Regal Collection and Subtle Collection.  These collections will include colours that are carrying over from the current families (although they will be shuffled around), as well as 10 RETURNING IN COLOURS (Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede, River Rock and Wild Wasabi) and 5 BRAND NEW COLOURS!!!  AND Kraft will be renamed Crumb Cake, and there will be an INK PAD! I have been wishing for a Kraft ink pad for so long!!!!  Okay….go check out the new Colour Collections below!!!  What do you think?

I know I will miss the retiring colours, but the new collection is so fresh….I can’t wait till the new Idea Book & Catalogue comes out!  Remember, this Colour Renovation won’t take effect until July 1st, so the retiring colours will still be around till then!

So, what are your feelings on this upcoming change?  Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!

Two-Step into Spring Promotion

Stampin’ Up!’s Two-Step Stampin’ sets allow you to quickly and easily take your creativity to the next level. And now, from April 1-30 only, you can purchase the brand-new Awash with Flowers Two-Step Stampin’ set–or get it FREE when you host a $460 workshop!

Item Description Price
117062 Awash with Flowers (wood-mount; set of 18) $52.95
120549 Awash with Flowers (clear-mount; set of 18) $36.95

Plus, get 20 percent off a selection of perfectly springy Two-Step Stampin’ sets from our current catalogue:

Item Page Description Regular Price Sale Price
113824 94 Greenhouse Garden $34.95 $27.96
113734 98 Fifth Avenue Floral $32.95 $26.36
111578 101 Flower Fancy $48.95 $39.16
113258 112 Trendy Trees $23.95 $19.16

Contact me today to schedule a workshop or order your Two-Step Stampin’ sets.  See the Two-Steps into Spring flyer for more information.

Vintage Vogue Friend

Vintage Vogue is one of my absolute favourite stamp sets right now, and when I first saw the Occasions Mini catalogue, I knew I had to have it.

My latest card made with this stamp set also includes a new technique I just learned.  It’s called “Paper Lace” (Tana Conley is the originator of this technique), and it’s so easy and gives a great vintage look.  Believe it or not, but the fringe (or paper lace) is made using the Medallion stamp and the paper crimper!

I stamped the Medallion in Soft Suede onto Very Vanilla cardstock.  I cut the Medallion out, and then cut a notch out on one side so that I could fit the 1¾” Circle Punch to punch out the centre.  That left me with a C-shaped Medallion.  Then I ran it through the crimper over and over in different directions to break the fibers of the cardstock and soften it.  This allowed me to pleat it and create the paper lace effect.  It’s that simple.  I’ll try and take some pictures the next time I do it and make a tutorial for you.

I used Sticky Strip to hold the pleats in place, and then used some Soft Suede ribbon (I used the side without polka-dots because I thought it would make it too busy) to hide the top of the paper lace where it’s adhered to the card.

Oh, and don’t forget to stamp your envelopes!  Stampin’ Up! makes the BEST envelopes…the paper they are made with make them so nice to stamp on.  The colours turn out so rich, like you’re stamping on Whisper White or Very Vanilla cardstock!  Stamping on your envelopes is an easy way to make an extra “wow”!

Have a great day!

Recipe:

Stamp Sets – Vintage Vogue, Medallion
Inks – Soft Suede, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry
Cardstock – Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla
Accessories – 1¾” Circle Punch, Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, Soft Suede 1/2″ Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Cutter Kit, Paper Crimper, Vintage Brads (Antique Brass) Stampin’ Dimensionals, Very Vanilla Medium Envelopes, Stampin’ Sponges

Clear Mount Stamps

When I found out Stampin’ Up! was going to start carrying Clear Mount stamps (the same rubber, but they cling to acrylic blocks instead of being glued to wood blocks), I was so excited! I have loved this idea for a while, and even thought of changing my stamps over to cling mount.

I’ve been using the Clear Mount stamps for a couple of months now, and I’m definitely in love! They are so easy to use, and I can see where I’m stamping. Now I only bring out my Stamp-a-ma-Jig if I need absolutely precised placement, which isn’t often.

Stampin’ Up! has made a video to showcase these new stamps. Take a look to learn more!

Have a great day!

Happy Mother’s Day!


Happy Mother's DayFirst of all, I would like to say Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there.  It’s a tough job, but an amazing one….and we deserve to be celebrated! :)

I made this card for my sister-in-law, Sonia.  This was her first Mother’s Day, and I was so excited to make it for her!

I used the Parisian Breeze Specialty DSP (Designer Series Paper), for this card, and I absolutely LOVE it!  It’s so much thicker than normal DSP…it’s almost cardstock weight.  And the texture makes it really beautiful!

I coloured the stamped image with my ink pads and blender pens, and popped it up over the striped grosgrain ribbon, which I put over top of the cardstock matte for the stamped image.  The Kraft card base and the Parisian Breeze Specialty DSP are sponged just a bit with a sponge dauber and Close to Cocoa ink.  I added a flower ribbon slide from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware kit to add some subtle bling.

Hope she likes it!

Blooming with Love on Mother's Day

Recipe:

Stamp Sets – Blooming with Love
Inks – Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Ridinghood Red, Close to Cocoa and Chocolate Chip Classic Ink Pads
Cardstock – Kraft, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Parisian Breeze Specialty Designer Series Paper
Accessories – Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware Kit, Baja Breeze 5/8″ Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, sponge dauber, Stampin’ Dimensionals

‘Tis the Season…for Christmas Tags!

Ahh…the first Christmas tags of the Season for me.  I joined a swap with a bunch of very talented ladies (other demonstrators in the Ottawa area), and had to make groups of tags in two different designs.

For the first one, I used the Hostess set Deer Friends.  I love this set.  It’s so easy to make super quick tags and cards with this set and a couple of punches!

Deer Friends Christmas Tags

After stamping the reindeer (I inked up the stamp with my markers), I used my Versamarker to make his nose sticky, and then add some clear embossing powder and heated it up…I wanted Rudolph’s nose to be shiny!  I think it turned out pretty cute!  Then I punched him out, and layered him on top of some punched circles and a scalloped circle.

The tag itself is just a rectangle piece of cardstock with two corners at one end punched with the Scallop Edge Punch.  The I made a hole for the ribbon with the horizontal slot punch, pulled the ribbon through, and secured the ribbon with a brad.  To do this, I used my paper piercer to make a small hole through the ribbon, and slipped the brad through.

For the next set of tags I used the Winter Post stamp set from the Holiday Mini catalogue.  I love this set!

Winter Post Christmas Tags

The base of the tag is Very Vanilla cardstock sponged with Close to Cocoa Classic Ink. On the front, I stamped the postmark in Chocolate Chip. I used markers to ink up the “Do Not Open…” stamp, stamped it on Very Vanilla cardstock and then punched it out with the Designer Label Punch.  I used dimensionals to adhere this to the front.

On the inside of the tag, I stamped the reindeer, and adhered a small piece of Very Vanilla matted on Ridinghood Red cardstock.  And, of course, I did some more sponging!

I used the Slit Punch to create a closure for the tag, and used Jumbo Eyelets to hold the cord for the tag.

Hope you like them!

My First Sock Monkey

 

As soon as I saw this stamp set, I knew I had to have it.  It’s so cute and, better yet, so versatile…it can be used for children’s cards and adult card’s alike, and I think it would be really cute on a scrapbook pages of my boys.

This is the first Sock Monkey card I made.  The neat decorative corners on the Chocolate Chip matte under the main image were made, believe it or not, with the Scallop Edge Punch.  I will show this in a post I have coming soon.

I stamped the “thanks a bunch” sentiment from the set and then punched it with the Circle Punch.  I then layered it with a matte made with the Designer Label punch.

For the banana, I actually stamped the image on Barely Banana cardstock.  I used my blender pen with So Saffron and a touch of Chocolate Chip Classic Inks to colour in the banana peel.  I cut it out with my Papersnips, and popped it up with a dimensional.  Hopefully you can see this in the photos!  I think it really makes the banana “pop”.

Recipe:

Stamp Sets – Sock Monkey
Inks – Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel and So Saffron Classic, Black Staz On
Cardstock – Baja Blue, Kiwi Kiss, Barely Banana, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White
Accessories – 1/4″ Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, Blender Pens, Scallop Punch, Designer Label Punch, 1″ Circle Punch, Paper Piercer (Crafter’s Toolkit), dimensionals

A Wow Flowers Thank You

I absolutely love the new In Colors, so when I had to make a thank-you card for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law (hi Sonia and Vince!), those were the first colours I reached for.  I already had the new Wow Flowers stamp set in mind for this card, and it worked out well.  This stamp set makes it easy to make a nice card…you can make a great background with the flower stamp in seconds!

I used one of the label holders from the new Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware.  It matches the Designer Label punch perfectly.  Instead of using the brads (that are included in the kit) to attach it to the card, I used ribbon instead.  This gives a completely different look than using the brads…I love it!
Since I don’t have any Baja Breeze ribbon (yet!), I used the Baja Breeze reinker to die some 1/4″ white grosgrain ribbon to match.  (I hope to post a tutorial soon that will show you a couple of different ways to dye your ribbon!)

I used my new Scallop Edge Punch, and used my paper piercer to pierce each of the scallops at the bottom.  Hope you are enjoying the new Catalogue & Idea Book as much as I am!

 

Recipe:

Stamp Sets – Wow Flowers
Inks – Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss and Riding Hood Red Classic Inks, Baja Breeze Classic Ink Refill
Cardstock – Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red
Accessories – Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, Designer Label Punch, 1/4″ white grosgrain ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch, paper piercer (from Crafter’s Toolkit)