A New Catalogue Sneek Peak

We are counting down until the new Stampin' Up! Catalogue is live on May 31 (yes a day early since June 1 falls on Saturday) so as a double bonus, the new and old catalogues are active on the same day.  Sweet!!!  I have the new catalogue in my hot little hands for a little while now, and I can't wait to share it with you.  My poor budget is going to need some adjusting to accommodate my wish list.  Sorry family, looks like a Kraft dinner and hot dogs kind of summer, lol.  

As demonstrators we are able to order from a select list from the new catalogue and play.  While, we are not allowed to show you the actual products, we can show you projects made with them.  

This past weekend was Mother's Day here in Canada and the U.S.  My mother is still in the hospital, awaiting a room to free up in a long term care facility in her town.  Saturday, after I hosted a garage sale here at my home, I packed up the kids and gifts, cards, food (don't know about where you live, but here in Ontario hospital food can be blah)   and went to visit Mom/Beppe (Frisian for grandma).   

Below is the card I made for my Mom.  

Products used are:

CARDSTOCK:  Melon mambo, and  Whisper White

MARKERS:  Always Artichoke, Melon Mambo, Rose Red, Marina Mist

STAMP SET:   Wildflower Meadow Background Stamp (NEW CATALOGUE!!!)

EMBOSSING FOLDER:  Wildflower Meadow Textured Embossing Folder (NEW CATALOGUE!!!!)

I coloured directly onto the stamp it self and used the "huff" technique (breathing on to the inked stamp) to moisten the ink after colouring the images.  What is fabulous about this stamp set and embossing folder is how they co-ordinate together.  The image of the whole card doesn't capture the embossed image as well as I would have liked it to.  I did a closer shot on an angle in the second photo to help show you the embossing of the stamped image.  Gorgeous!!

I hope you are having a fabulous week so far.  Thank you for stopping by and visiting my little corner of the blogging world.  As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.

Retirement Lists are Up!!

Today is the day that Stampin' Up! releases their retirement lists.  So sad to see some of my favourite stamp sets going away.  But after looking at the catalogue (I can't wait to share it with everyone when the time comes), there is going to be so many new and exciting items to play with.   I just finished placing my sneek peak order.  Hopefully sometime next week I will have some new, product in my hot little hands.

Below you will find the links to the PDF files of the retiring product.  First will be the the stamps, they will be available to order until May 31.   The accessories list is marked as while supplies list.  Once these items are gone they are gone for good.  Some of the accessories are discounted from 25% to 60% off!  And I just noticed that some of the discontinued cardstock and watercolor crayons are already out of stock.

Retiring Stamps can be found HERE

Retiring Accessories can be HERE

Contact me via email:  riajenkins@rogers.com or comment below, or place your order through my personal Stampin' Up! website HERE

Thanks for stopping by and visiting my little corner of the blogging world.

Vintage Card Swap Fun

Dear friend and fellow CraftdBear Team member, Margie, hosted a vintage card swap.  And I love vintage, how could I say no.  Perfect opportunity for me to break out the Postage Due stamp set I bought myself a couple of months ago.   Love it!!  And all the cards I received back are absolutely gorgeous.  Thanks to all the ladies who participated in the swap.  I have a stack of ideas to work with, and cards ready to give away for birthdays etc.  

Here is my contribution to the swap.   I like vintage because you can get messy and dirty with distressing and smooching.  I decided to add some colorful butterflies for a pop of color.  

Supplies used in the project are:

Stamp Sets:  Postage Due, Papillon Potpourri, French Foliage and Teeny Tiny Wishes

Classic Ink:  Basic Black, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, More Mustard, Island Indigo, Riding Hood Red, Basic Gray.

Cardstock:  Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Crumb Cake

Ribbon: Riding Hood Red 3/8" Taffeta, and Basic Gray/Basic Black two tone 1 1/4" Ribbon (found in the current spring catalogue)

Punches:  Jewellry Tag, Elegant Butterfly, and Bitty Butterfly (found in the current spring catalogue)

Misc:  Gold Glow Smooch Spritz, Stampin Distress Tool (found in the current spring catalogue)

Thanks for stopping by and visiting my little corner of the blogging world.  I love to hear from you.  Comments and suggestions for a project you like to see are all welcome.

A Color Refresher

Things are gearing up for the arrival of the new 2013-2014 Stampin' Up! catalogue.  One of the changes in the coming months will be refreshing our color selection.  We will still have Brights, Subtles, Regals and Neutrals, but some colors will be going away to make way for one brand new color and some of the popular in-colors will be added to the core collection.  And yes, change can be difficult for all of us, but also with changes comes new exciting options.    I will admit when I first the read the list, I got a little anxious to see some of my favourites going away.  I am most upset seeing Baja Breeze, Pretty in Pink and More Mustard leaving.  But on the other hand I am thrilled to see Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral and Crushed Curry being added to the core colors. In the chart below you can see what is being added and what is being discontinued.  All colors that are being discontinued are on a while supplies last basis.  That includes EVERYTHING in those colors, paper, ink, ribbon, etc.  Now is your chance to stock up on what you love before it is going going gone.

One more piece of exciting news to tell you.  This weekend, April 6-8 we will be having FREE SHIPPING on EVERYTHING!!  That includes even the specials this month such as the This and That product line, our new photopolymer stamp set, all Best of 25 Years Stamp Sets etc.  I will be placing my order on April 7, I won't be around on April 8.   But you can also place your order online through my Stampin' Up! website, just follow the link HERE   Or email me:  riajenkins@rogers.com 

Keep watching my blog as more information will be released over the coming weeks of what items will be discontinued.  And hints at some of the exciting new things to come.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting my little corner of the blogging world.

This and That and Easter!

Hello spring!!!  Well, at least the calendar says its spring.  But if you were to look out my window you would wonder.  Still snow, still cold.  BUT my tulips are starting to peak out in my garden. 

I love spring.  And Stampin' Up! is kicking off spring by giving a wee peek into what the new main catalogue will have for us paper crafting addicts.  And they are offering a special bundle for a limited time to help get you excited for the new catalogue.

First up is the This and That bundle   In the bundle you get some sweet washi tape, an awesome rotary stamp, a pack of the gorgeous Epic Day This and That Designer Series paper, Epic Day This and That Designer Stickers, and an Epic Day This and That Journal.  All of these items are currently available in a bundle for 15% off. You can view the PDF HERE. to see the goodness that is This and That.  And don't forget to watch the video below to see some of the endless possibilities this bundle is capable of.  Mine is currently on order, and I CAN'T WAIT to get my hands on it.   And don't wait, this special bundle is available only until April 30.

I recently participated in a Swap put together for Stampin' Up! Demonstrators by my dear friend Margie   And now that the swap is officially over I thought I would share the card I made.  The theme was spring, and spring is of course Easter and bright happy colors.  

I had fun experimenting with Stampin' Up's Watercolor Pencils.  It was a fun card to put together.  

The supplies used are as follows:

Stamp Sets:  Everybunny Stamp Set 

Ink:  Staz On Black, Whisper White Craft Stampin Pad

Cardstock:  Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo and Whisper White 

Designer Series Paper:  Sunshine and Sprinkles (Spring Catalogue)

Tools:   Big Shot, Modern Label Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Sponge Daubers, Aqua Painters

Embossing Folder:  Cloudy Day Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Embellishments:  Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Silver Dazzling Details, Melon Mambo 3/8" Striped Organdy Ribbon (Spring Catalogue)

Adhesives:  Snail, Stampin' Dimensionals

Miscellaneous:  Watercolor Pencils

Want to book a class or workshop, contact me today:  riajenkins@rogers.com  

Thanks for stopping by and visiting my little corner of the blogging universe.  Comments are always welcome.  And if there are any projects you would like to see, just let me know.   

Quick Update and Treasure That Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight

Another non crafty post.  Just a quick update on what has been going in my corner of the world.  

Hard to believe its March already.  Wow.  And around here in Ontario, we are a week away from March Break for the kids.  Laura is anxiously awaiting to here from  a couple of universities she applied for. she heard back from one already.  Dave and I are finishing up packing up my mom's apartment, next up is arranging a storage locker and movers to transport her belongings.  

It was strange packing up her apartment.  Packing up someone's life, and she is still alive but unable to make the decisions of what stays and goes.  And all the photos I have found has me excited and overwhelmed.  I have about 4 large boxes full of photos and memorabilia.  We have photos not just from my sister's and my childhood and onward, we have heritage photos from my grandparents, great grandparents.  All kinds of memorabilia such as  immigration papers from both my parents (they came over separately and met here in Canada), letters my dad wrote to my mom when they were pen-pals (he lived in Houston, B.C., my mom in Brockville, Ontario).  Last weekend I came across the last letter my dad received from his best friend just before his friend was picked up by the Nazis and subsequently died in a concentration camp, Unfortunately it is completely in Dutch, I need to find someone to translate it for me and the other stacks of letters written by my grandparents. Sorting through these boxes and organizing everything, is a huge project that I will be working on for a long long time. Being the scrapbooker and having always been fascinated in old photos and documents, it is an exciting project that I am most definitely looking forward to. 

Last weekend we took the kids to Woodstock with us to visit my mom and help with some of the packing.  At the end of the day they were fighting over this object pictured below.  This little treasure has been used as an umbrella stand for as long as I can remember.  It has always sat by the door to the home we were currently living in. I knew what it was and thought it one of the coolest things ever.    My kids have always seen it, but never knew what it was.  I handed it to the kids and asked them what they thought it was, Daniel right away said, "It's a mortar shell casing!"  Ding Ding!!!  We have a winner.  My dad picked this up in Holland.  Not sure if he picked it up after or during the war.  I am sure there were hundreds of these laying around at the time.  We know it is an allied mortar shell since the writing is in English on the bottom.  And the kids fighting over who gets this item ensued.  I ruled for now it will be in a common area of the house.   

                                          

Hopefully by the end of this weekend the apartment will be completely packed up and ready for storage.  When this is done that will be one huge item on my long to do list scratched off.  

Thank you for visiting my little corner of the blogging universe.  I would love to hear from you!!

March 1 Update!

Hard to believe it is March already.  Amazing how time flies  And since it is the first day of another exciting month we a couple of announcements.  First we are introducing our first Photopolymer Stamp Set to our line of stamp sets.  They are transparent for perfect placement every time and work perfectly with our firm-foam ink pads.  I can't wait to get my set, it is on order and I am ready to start stalking UPS when I get my shipment notification!!   Photopolymer PDF

It is Stampin' Up!'s 25 year anniversary this year and they are celebrating in so many ways.  Including the Best of 25 Years Stamp Sets.  Each month they will be releasing a stamp set with some of their most popular images and one never before seen image.  For the month of March we have Best of Flowers.  Gorgeous!!!  And for each Best of stamp set you order during 2013 you will get a special 25 year proof of purchase sticker and a collectors card.  Fill up the card and get a FREE stamp set of your choice up to a $17.95 value.  How sweet is that!!!   Best Of Flowers PDF

I would like to leave you with a sneak peek of something I am working on for a card swap that I am participating in.  The theme is Easter and right now I am waiting for the Dazzling Details to dry before attaching to the cards.  They better hurry up.  I have to have these cards handed in tonight at our team Meeting!!

If you are interested in purchasing any of the new exciting products listed above feel free to contact me at riajenkins@rogers.com or shop via my stampin up website:   Ria's Stampin Up Website

Thank you for stopping by and visiting my little corner of the blogging universe.  Comments and questions are always welcome.