Crochet Flowers - Free Offer for Canadian Customers

My mom is amazing with a crochet hook! When my girls were babies, they had the most amazing blankets and sweaters thanks to her talent. Several months ago while we were browsing the local scrapbook store, I pointed out a package of crochet flowers and asked her if she could make some for me. The next time I saw her, she handed me a little package of the cutest little crochet flowers - perfect for my scrapbook pages and cards. When I saw the crochet flowers in the brand new Stampin' UP! catalogue, I decided to pull out a couple of my mom's flowers and try dying them to match my paper. It works beautifully! The flower on this card was dyed using a few drops of Pink Pirouette reinker mixed with water. Although I think the ones in the catalogue are nice, I like my mom's better, especially since I can dye them to match any paper (and yes, I am biased - sorry Stampin' UP!).

Do you want to try dying your own flowers? My mom has agreed to make some crochet flowers for me to give away, so I have decided to send an assortment of five of her crochet flowers to everyone who orders online through my Demonstrator Website between now and February 14th (Canadian orders only). In addition, Stampin' UP! will include a FREE 2009 Spring/Summer Idea Book & Catalogue with all online orders placed between Feb 1 and Apr 30th! The free crochet flower offer is available only through me. Place your order by clicking on the 24 hour shopping link under my profile and then clicking on the shop now button on the top right of my demonstrator business website.

New Catalogue Inspiration

My demonstrator copy of the brand new Spring/Summer Idea Book & Catalogue has arrived and there are SO many new things to drool over! However, it wasn't just the new sets and accessories that struck my eye. I love how all the examples in the catalogue got my creativity flowing again. After marking English Essays all weekend, I decided to take a break and actually make something. I came across the Pick a Petal sample in the new catalogue and had one of those "Why didn't I think of that?" moments. I will admit that I sometimes buy stamp sets that I later realize I don't even like. Sometimes they don't even see ink! Pick a Petal was one of those sets for me. I used it for a few demonstrations, but I couldn't seem to make it work. THEN, I saw the amazing sample in the catalogue. Of course! How perfect! I used the new Raspberry Tart Designer Series Paper (which will also need to "grow" on me) and my Birds & Blooms die for the leaves, and dusted off my sewing machine for my own take on this card.

Snow Tic Tac Toe

It's been a long time since I've posted - my apologies. November and December are always very busy months for me at work and with workshops and Christmas parties. I don't usually breathe again until after the new year - just in time to go back to work! I'm easing my way into posts again with an old project that I passed around at workshops a year ago, but never posted online.

I made this last November after being inspired by a CD case tic tac toe game in Papercrafts magazine. Of course that was before Stampin' UP sold the skinny tins individually, so I pulled all the Accents and Elements pieces out of one of my tins in order to create this magnetic game. The game pieces are made of chipboard circles covered with paper with magnets on the backs. The lines are created with ribbon and there is a simple belly band to hold everything together. For a striking effect, emboss your tins with silver embossing powder and people will be left wondering how'd she do that?

Top Note Snowman

This was a club project a couple of months ago. I made several of them and filled them with treats for my kids' teachers. The box/bag was originally designed by Judy Morrow. For this project, I was inspired by the Frankie Boxes on Cambria's blog (Stamp a Little Love Baby), as well as by all the great top note snowmen cards I've seen posted on blogs and in galleries. I think I'll get started making these now so they're ready for next Christmas! Instructions can be found both here and here.

Birthday Gift Set

Tomorrow is my daughter's birthday. It's hard to believe that eight years have already gone by! Naturally, being the true procrastinator that I am, I waited until the last minute to make a card, so I whipped together this gift set for her using a card that I demonstrated during a workshop last month as a guide. I used the Big Bold Birthday stamp set and Bella Designer Series Patterned Paper, along with some felt flowers, brads, and iridescent ice embossing powder for that extra girly touch.

I created a topper for a paper bag that I had leftover from Halloween. Then I used my Big Shot to cut an acetate pillow box, which I filled with Starburst, one of my daughter's favorite candies.

The Square Spring Card is not my original idea. I found an online tutorial by Sandy Hulsart and modified the dimensions to create a smaller card. To create your own Square Spring Card, you will need a piece of cardstock that measures 8.5"x4 1/4" (you can change the size - just make sure that the length is double the width).

1. Begin by scoring the long side at 4 1/4".

2. Next, fold the right end in to meet the score line in the middle. I used a bone folder to create a sharp crease.

3. Fold in along the score lines and flip over your cardstock.

4. Fold the top left corner down to meet the score line that you created in step 2.
5. Open your card and fold the bottom left down to meet the same score line.

Your cardstock should look like this when opened:

6. Find the centre point on the side opposite the one on which you created the score line and use a ruler to draw two lines from this point to the tips of the triangular score lines.

Your cardstock should now look like this:

7. Cut along your pencil line. Your card should now fold into a spring. I glued the bottom triangle piece to the base to make it more sturdy.

Peace Joy Love & Cheer Scrapbook Page

I finally sat down to make a scrapbook page. It's been far too long since I've added to the kids' albums (obviously, since this photo was taken for Christmas 2003)! I was inspired by a sketch I saw in this month's Scrapbooks Etc. and I went with it, giving myself permission to actually use all those cute little felt flurry snowflakes! I also thought it was about time to try out my "Join the Cheer" Big Shot Die since it hadn't been used yet.

Paper: Baja Breeze & Kiwi Kiss Cardstock, Ski Slope Designer Series Patterned Paper
Stamps: Snow Swirled, Every Day Flexible Phrases
Ink: Whisper White
Accessories: Felt Flurries, Designer Brads, Pretties Kit Brads, Library Clip, Chipboard

Christmas Reed Diffuser

First of all, I'm sorry that I haven't posted in such a long time. Most people become too busy to stamp during Summer, while that seems to be the only time I have time to stamp! My September was filled with getting back to work (up to 80% instead of the 40% I taught the last five years), getting the girls settled into a new routine (especially with my youngest starting Kindergarten), and taking a group of students to Prince Edward Island for a National Leadership Conference (which was a blast, even if it did leave me far behind in my marking!). Today, however, I set aside some time before cleaning my stampin' space for tomorrow's club night to make a simple project. Yesterday I found this reed diffuser on sale. My wheels have been turning since I saw something similar altered in one of my Stampin' UP! magazines, so I happily picked up a couple of them. This is what I had time for today.

Stamp: Season of Joy

Paper: Ski Slope Designer Series Patterned Paper

Accessories: Chocolate Chip Ribbon, rub-ons, Hodgepodge hardware