I Don't Always Scrapbook

but when I do.... I make sure they aren't overwhelming 12x12 pages ;) (gotta love the internet memes! lol) SO here I am, actually showcasing some scrapbook pages. I am more of a cardmaker myself, and even more of just a generic papercrafter than that- creating 3D items and home decor- that's my 'forte'. I only scrapbook when I need a page for an 'assignment' (the time I scrapbooked before these pages were for my daughter's end of year pre-school book. 2 years ago). or when I am creating an album as a gift. Those are easy because I love the small cohesiveness of it. It's not this one singe HUGE page looming at me. So when I decided I was going to try out for Stampin' Up!s Artisian Design team, lo-and-behold I had to create not one, but THREE seperate scrapbook pages. I, unfortunately, didn't make the deadline as my parcel didn't make it there in time (will try again next year! No worries!) but it does mean I have actual scrapbook pages to show you :)
The story of how I got into scrapbooking and cardmaking is pretty funny. All I wanted was a heart shaped punch. I was making my own wedding invites (nothing fancy- just basic computer invites, but I wanted to punch 2 hearts and weave a ribbon through) This was the first time I was attempting making my own cards, other than the ones they make you do in elementary school, so I didn't know you can just buy a heart punch. I honestly didn't know such things existed. I was pretty excited when I went through Canadian Tire with my parents for the heck of it and found a scrapbook kit that happened to have a heart punch in it. I only wanted the punch, but I got the entire kit for my birthday that year. Hole. Eee. Crap. Were my first pages ever horrific. I really got into it and made a mess in my wake. Glue sticks were my adhesive of choice as I hadn't heard of tape runners and that made all my photos gummy as I had NO clue what I was doing. So I bought some magazines and the world 'stamping' kept coming up. I honestly thought stamping was the stupidest thing ever. No. Really.
Then one year, as I was getting frusterated at not having the same clean and crisp layouts like I had seen in the magazines, that seemed to come naturally to these fine crafters, I decided to make my own Christmas cards one year and actually realized I would need a stamp and some ink. Went to my local craft store and they were helpful. I made the most hideous cards ever that year. My goodness they were ugly. I keep asking mom (who keeps almost everything I make) if she still has that old, ugly card so I can show people who say they aren't crafty and can't make cards like I do (now) just how I started. They couldn't be worse than my first one. Mom said if that's what I was using it for then 'no'. :/ Mothers. *sigh* SO at that time I really enjoyed it, more than scrapbooking as it was easier, quicker and you could do more in a shorter time. It wasn't as overwhelming. So more magazines and stumbling upon splitcoaststampers, I kept coming across stamping and Stampin' Up! I heard of them before, but wasn't impressed. So I decided to give them another chance and downloaded a catalogue. And behold the romance started :) I created wish list after wish list (not one less than a few hundred dollars) year after year with each new catalogue. Not having a demo OR the finances to back up such a large order (I am an all or nothing girl), so one day I was able to fullfill (that year's) wish list and I couldn't get enough :) 2 years later I signed up myself, and the rest, they say is history! So yea, a bit long winded :) but that's my own journey into the fun and playful world of Stampin' Up!

Now on to scrapbook pages. Ever since finding and delving right into cardmaking, every time I DO do a scrapbook page, I love to incorporate elements of cardmaking into my layouts. Stamping is something a lot of scrapbookers didn't realize they could do- and actually was the foundation of my first Stampers 10 group. Stamping is an easy way to add depth and dimension, create a fun background on a neutral cardstock, or create a title page. And if you mess up? 1. Stampin' Up!'s new ink makes it SO much easier to ensure a crisp image so, there's that ;) and 2. It's a scrapbook page. I have learned long ago that mistakes can be covered up with something even more amazing or used to your advantage to make it look like it was on purpose.

 All these pages are 8x8 as I work better with smaller paged layouts. This first one used the new Besty Blossom set and Standard Wheel. With just a basic Whisper White Cardstock, Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie and Pretty in Pink leap off the page. Creating strips and inking them up break up the page, and I took my scalloped punch to create depth on the right border. Mating pictures makes them the focus of the page, and of setting them adds fun dimension.

This one was different from any pages I have done in the past. I usually stick to traditional girl and boy pallets, so I went outside the box for this Real Red, Basic Grey and Basic Black colour combination. I took the paper daisies and inked the three sizes up in the colours I chose and layered them. The button is just a Real Red button from the Brights Buttons collection, inked with versamark and heat set with silver embossing powder. I created my own background here with versamark and Basic Grey ink and a few different hearts from a couple of different stamp sets (Create a Cupcake and Tiny Tags). The Real Red panels go back and forth from ink embossing to dry embossing.

This last page is hard to see all the elements with the photo. It was pretty neat in person. I created a quilt effect by cutting a bunch of Whisper White squares and embossing them with various embossing folders- Perfect Polka Dots and Petals a Plenty- and creating a quilt pattern with them. Using Chocolate Chip cardstock as my base, the 'empty' spaces I stamped in versamark and dotted with Dazzling Details.



These were a lot of fun to do, and maybe I'll pick up the scrapbook mantel more often, but card making is still my first true passion. Make sure to check out Stampin' Up!'s Simply Scrappin' Kits and Scrapbook page re-fills and books. They make every thing coordinated and easy, while giving the freedom to create in your own style. Punch it up with stamps, die cuts and embossing (not just for cards!) and you can create a breathtaking layout in minutes!

Thanks for stopping by and joining me in my scrapbook journey.

~Brandie~

Another Bunch of Rosettes

Good afternoon! The end of the school year approaches and I find myself busy with teacher's gifts and kids end-of-school favours. If you haven't tried pinterest yet- DO! Not only is it highly addictive- but it's the perfect 1 stop 'shop' for craft ideas (not to mention NUMMY recipes and home decor ideas- to name a few 'pin boards'). SO I have a parcel coming in the next few days and I am stoked to get my hands on some of the new SU! items out of the Annual Catalogue, as well as put some craft ideas into play that I have come across via youtube and pinterest. But that will come later :) For the past 3 years I have had the pleasure of watching a sweet little girl for a friend of mine. She and my daughter have become quite the BFF's and it doesn't hurt that they are in the same grade, same school (NOT the same class- which for their teachers is probably a good thing!) and their birthdays are a mere 2 months apart. So how could I NOT whip up a gift for this little girl who, with wide eyed wonder, always stares earnestly whenever I have a project on the go and announces "I wish *I* could have one of those!" (no matter what it is I am making). So using the awesome (not to mention highly addictive) rosettes I re-created some of the things I made for the baby shower a few weeks ago and created a fun and funky design for a 7 year old.

 So for her gift I whipped up another flower pot using some left over fillings and chocolate melts I had from the week previous. I then grabbed some Fuchia paint to go with the Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry colour combo I went with and nabbed some Licorice (as there are no grey jelly belly beans in my store), cotton candy and bubble gum flavoured jelly belly beans. Instead of creating a bunch of rosettes for the chocolate flowers, I opted for using the large scalloped circle punch. Quicker and easier, but still very elegant.

 

 I used versamark and silver embossing powder on the Melon Mambo rosette to create a punch of sparkle. It went really well with the grey silk ribbon I had found.

 The super long lollipop sticks helped the flowers not get lost in the almost-full pot of jelly beans (she must be the ONLY kid out there that likes black. I don't blame her. Black jelly beans are AWESOME!)

And then to finish off her gift, I created this name banner with some alphabet die cuts and 7 rosettes all hot glued together. It was really quick and simple, but a lot of fun and quite the impact. I hope you enjoy and are inspired to make your own. Next time- no rosettes ;) I promise!






~Brandie~

Baby Shower Blues....Browns & Vanillas

Hey all! Have been pretty busy whipping up goodies for my cousin's baby shower that was last Sunday. Then I gotta get going for my daughter's (2 month belated) birthday party and then some teacher's gifts and classmate favours.
As far as the baby shower is concerned, I had SO much fun creating Rosettes or Flourettes (whatever you'd like to call them). Stampin' Up! has a wonderful XL die that does the cutting and scoring for you, and you can trim your paper to the width you'd like. If you want to have a bit more versatility in sizes, you can just use the Simply Scored tool and create them that way! They can be tedious when you make dozens of them (as I did last week!) You can score them at 1/2 an inch or 1/4 of an inch. You can go as small as 1/2 inch wide (which you'd have to score at 1/4 of inch intervals) and only need 1 strip of paper 11 inches long, or you can do it as wide as 2 or 3 inches- but you'll need more than one strip.
So, using the Tempting Turquois, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla colour palette, I went ahead with a TON of  rosettes:

 Here I created the Free Standing Pop-Up card. The base is chocolate chip, and then I used Chocolate Chip ink and an expired Jumbo Wheel to create dimmension. I then created 3 rosettes, one in Very Vanilla, Tempting Turquois and Chocolate Chip at .5 inchx11 inch and scored at 1/4 inch intervals. It was pretty tricky to adhere them, so I used a hot glue gun, and dabbed it on the centre of the rosette and then added a 1/2 inch circle and some rhinestones. I used some cream colour and teal ribbons to finish off the front. The pop up portion is a sheet of Very Vanilla, stamped in Chocolate Chip using the jumbo wheel and inked on the edges with some Tempting Turquouis ink. I printed out the info on little baby Liam, and then added a black and white pic printed from my printer on some Very Vanilla cardstock.






After the baby announcements were finished, I made a cupcake tower and cupcake wrappers. Please note- you shouldn't just use an unassembled rosette for cupcake wrappers. They don't work. The curve in them flattens out and then they are just a circle *sigh*. Ah well. The rosette sign and tower turned out well, I think:

I used a die cut machine to create the "Baby" letters and then just glued the rosettes over and under each other. The layers go: Chocolate Chip Cardstock and cut with a border edge punch. Then Very Vanilla, stamped with a Stampin' Around Jumbo wheel and Tempting Turquois, using the Scalloped Border punch to create the edge. Then a jumbo scalloped circle and then the letters. The tower is created using some Wilton Cake rounds and just basic floral foam from a craft store. I covered the foam using hot glue and pieces of Very Vanilla stamped in a swirled jumbo wheel and Chocolate Chip ink. I added a silk brown ribbon around them and then glued the BABY sign to the top layer. Then I took some Tempting Turquois and trimmed it with the Scalloped border punch and adhered to the edge of each cake round.

For a new type of party favour, I created some flower pots with Chocolate Lollipops. The coolest thing? I filled the pots with Jelly Belly jelly beans. In my super market, they sell each flavour seperately, so I was able to get the three colours I wanted: I got "Chocolate Chip" (root beer), "Very Vanilla" (coconut) and "Tempting Turquois" (berry blue). It was kinda neat!

 They were so cute to throw together! I took some Turquois paint and painted the outside of the flower pot- 2 coats! I wrapped some cream coloured wedding tulle and tied a knot (being as they were in a bolt instead of circles- I had to cut my lengths and they were too narrow to wrap underneath so I just wrapped them around and tied them). Then I added some chocolate coloured silk ribbon around the top and I used a glue dot to make it stick and not shift.

I made three of these puppies, and I made 3 large rosettes as focal points on them. Instead of using an image on them, I decided to use a simple Tempting Turquois button. I added a strip of Chocolate Chip in the holes to give it a finished look.

I then made some Chocolate Lollipops- SUCH a cute, fun and easy party favour! I used a caramel recipe and peanut butter filling recipe and just coated some smiley faced lollipop moulds from Wilton and filled them with the candy filling. Let them chill and used strips of tulle to tie the lollys.

 I made even MORE rosettes (there were LOTS!) in Chocolate Chip and Tempting Turquois and then added a scalloped circle on each. I then cut out 1 1/2 circles that I embossed and inked. Then I filled the pot with jelly beans and that seemed to stabalize the candy.

My cousin just loved them so I was happy that she was happy. I am definately making more of these pots and these rosettes- so stay tuned to see more! Thanks for stopping by!


Brandie

June 1st News!

ALRIGHTY! So along with the new Catalogue, Stampin' Up! is offering some pretty amazing stuff! When you host a party- it's pretty easy to start earning free stuff right away. And, instead of telling you what you get for free, SU! gives you the ability to choose what you want up to certain hostess dollar amounts. It's easy to get there by hosting a $200 party, but for the month of June it's even better! If you host at least a $575 party you get an additional $60.00 of Hostess Rewards to spend on whatever you want out of the current catalogue! That's at least $150 PLUS your half off item. So before the kids let out for summer and the chaos of the warm months take over, take a break this month to host a party and get even more great rewards. As my hostess, you'll also get the new catalogue FREE, as well as a little thank you from me! What's better than having a group of friends over to create something special, while munching on cupcakes and earning free product?
Dates: June 1 - July 31, 2012
Details: During June and July, hostesses who hold a minimum $575 workshop will receive an additional $60 in hostess FREE merchandise dollars-that's in addition to the $90 they already receive for a $575 workshop!

Your Hostess' Party Sales	Regular Hostess Benefits	Additional Hostess Dollars	Total Hostess Benefits
$575*	$90 plus 1 item at 50% off	$60	$150 plus 1 item at 50% off

Along with the great benefits to being a hostess, there are also benefits to signing up to becoming a demonstrator! Remember: it's only $125 to sign up now, and you can completely customize your own starter kit! *up to $155 in current Stampin' Up! products*

Now, for the month of June, if you decide to sign up you get the chance to earn free products too!

Dates: 1-30 June 2012
Details: During June, new demonstrators not only get to choose the products for their fully customizable Starter Kit, they'll also get products from the brand-new Patio Party Suite for FREE, including the Make a Cake Set, Patio Party Designer Series Paper, and the Patio Party Digital Collection DVD! That's up to $60 in additional FREE products!

Page	Item	Description	Retail Value
44	126740	Make a Cake Set (wood-mount)*	$17.95
44	126742	Make a Cake Set (clear-mount)*	$14.95
165	126916	Patio Party Designer Series Paper	$13.50
199	127215	Patio Party Digital Collection DVD	$28.95

*Choose wood- or clear-mount; clear-mount set does not include clear blocks

Okay, that sounds like a pretty amazing deal! So if these were items you wanted ANYWAYS (as they are super cute AND brand new!) then you can just add something else to your Starter kit and get these as bonus! So what's there to lose by signing up? To remind you of the AMAZING benefits:

1. 20% instant income with the ability to earn more
2. discount on Stampin' Up's products- for fun personal use, and to grow your business as you demo the products to your customers
3. fantastic support from your upline, Stampin' Discuss website, the entire Stampin' Up! team, as well as a monthly subscription to Stampin' Success with ideas to promote and build your business
4. an excuse to craft with old friends and meet amazing new ones!
5. sneek peaks and pre-orders on new Stampin' Up! products (remember! This is June, in July SU! will be giving DEMOS ONLY sneek peeks on their Holiday Mini Catalogue- coming out August 1st!)

 So now is a great time to join! Feel free to contact me on my SU website, my email address or even leave a comment and I'll get back to you.


Thanks so much for stopping by!

~Brandie~

Crazy May and New Catalogue

Sorry for the obvious lack of posts folks, May has been chaotic. Trying to make my own submission for the Stampin' Up! artisian design team (in which my priority post parcel was NOT sent in on time so I am no longer a contestant- kinda upset about that. Will give myself more time next year). Then trying to do a few interviews to get more children into my dayhome. Then there is my daughter's (very) belated birthday party and my cousin's baby shower. Top that off with starting a new child in the day home at 6am and there is a big lack of creativity as of late. BUT being as I have newly found love in pinterest AND have just discovered the fun of creating my own paper flowers and rosettes, rest assured I'll have new stuff very soon (as soon as I work out the kinks in my schedule!)

BUT it's June 1st and I wanted to welcome in the new 2012-2013 Annual Catalogue. You may have heard tell it was smaller and that it got rid of a bunch of products- and while these are BOTH true, I haven't noticed a difference. My big "awes" that are gone are the Decor Blocks as the decor elements are no longer offered, as well as the simply sent card kits. The Simply Scrappin' kits are still here- and it looks like they added 1 or 2 kits more than they used to offer (I could be wrong there, I'll have to check)- but I also figured I'd make my own card kits as I've seen demos do. You can be more creative and aren't limited. The other things I've noticed was instead of pictures and a description of each item, a'la older catalogues, is that they have a more creative way of displaying the product so you can see close up what you'll be getting. It's really neat photography and more magazine-ish (to me anyways). There also isn't a photo index in the back with all the Stampin' Around wheels- just your basic product numbers BUT each wheel is in it's own home as all the products are divided up into their catagories as well as product suites. It's more stream line and yet still has the same amount of impact with full colour images of products, samples and, as always, full sized stamp images.

I have been pinteresting and googling a lot of different how-tos and images so I can't wait to share with you what I've learned and begin to incorporate all the awesome products in the new catalogue. Needless to say, my own wish list is pretty extensive ;) Glad that they've replaced old favourites with amazing new stuff!

Thanks for stopping by!

Brandie