Wendy's Little Inklings

Mom & Me Class: Your kids make 'em, and you stash 'em

My next Mom & Me stamping class is on Wednesday, August 5th.  I just realized this morning that it's next Wednesday!  This is a long weekend for us in most of Canada (yippee!), and I'm going away for most of it.  So, I've been madly planning and stamping this morning to prepare for next week's class.

The kids will be making 3 birthday cards, that you can stash and hold onto for the next three birthday parties that they are invited to.  It saves you running around trying to make (or buy) a card, AND they get to tell their friends that they made it.

Here's one of the cards that the kids will be making.  It's a simple card, but with kids simple is better.  They still get to rip paper, stamp and colour images, and use the punches - most kids love these!

Boys will making "boy cards" using "boy colours".  Girls will make a more feminine version of the same card.

The cost for this class is $10/child.  Start time is 10am, and the class will run between one and one and a half hours.  If you'd like to register, give me a call at 905-655-9347 or e-mail me at wendy@wendyslittleinklings.com.

The last Mom & Me Summer Stamping class will be on Thursday, August 20th.  We'll be making bookmarks, backpack tags, and a funky mug for drinks.  Watch for photos soon! 

Happy stamping!

Calling all Build-A-Bear fanatics...

I haven't publicized this as of yet but now that the press release has been issued by Stampin' Up! it's time to share the news!!  See below...

Stampin' Up!'s exclusive offering to include stamp sets, Designer Series papers and Sizzix dies-available September 1st

SALT LAKE CITY/ST. LOUIS--Stampin' Up!®, a Utah-based manufacturer of rubber stamps and accessories for paper crafting, scrapbooking and home décor, has partnered with Build-A-Bear Workshop® to produce the first-ever collection of paper-crafting products featuring the Build-A-Bear Workshop brand. The exclusively designed collection includes stamp sets, Designer Series papers and Sizzix dies providing young and young-at-heart Build-A-Bear Workshop enthusiast endless handcrafted possibilities for scrapbook pages, cards, invitations, home décor and more. 

"I'm excited about the opportunity we have to partner with Build-A-Bear Workshop," said Shelli Gardner, Stampin' Up! cofounder and CEO. "The company has a strong reputation for inspiring creativity and encouraging imagination with its products, which is what we have done at Stampin' Up! for more than 20 years. This is a great partnership that will provide unlimited opportunities for creativity--I know I will be spending hours playing with my grandchildren, making all kinds of Build-A-Bear creations."

Transforming Build-A-Bear Workshop characters into a crafting line is one of the many ways Stampin' Up! and its demonstrators plan to excite the next generation of crafters while revitalizing the art of creating and giving handcrafted items. 

"Like Build-A-Bear Workshop, Stampin' Up! is a company that offers a variety of ways to express creativity. We are excited to partner with them to inspire the imagination in kids of all ages and to encourage this great hands-on activity. " said Maxine Clark, founder, chairman, and chief executive bear of Build-A-Bear Workshop.
 
Stampin' Up!'s Build-A-Bear Workshop Collection will feature products portraying the adorable Build-A-Bear Workshop mascot Bearemy® and other furry friends.

I have already begun planning some amazing projects that can be completed in workshops, classes, or on your own, using these wonderful projects.  I can't release any of the photos until I have some finished samples to show you, and I can't create any samples until I order my stamps and dies (early August).  Stay tuned for further updates!

Whew!  What a busy day.  And it's not over yet!  I was about to shut the computer off when I realized that I had forgotten to post one of this week's stamp club cards.  And I promised!  So, here's one of the cards that the ladies are putting together this week.  It was the most time-intensive of the three, but they all really liked the end result.

We used 5 of the 6 new In Colours at our club this week, and this card uses two of them - Bermuda Bay and Melon Mambo.  This is also another one of those cards that looks better in person.  It's not quite as bright!  The stamps used on this card came from the Itty Bitty Backgrounds, On Your Birthday and On a Pedestal sets.  The gorgeous purple is Elegant Eggplant.  These three colours really do look very sharp when placed together. 

As soon as I can manage it, I will get someone to help me describe & photograph the method for tying a nice knot on a ribbon.  It's really quite easy, it just takes a bit of practice. 

I finished my swap cards this afternoon, and am heading off to stamp a few more of my holiday cards.  I'll post another fun thing tomorrow.

Happy stamping!

Stampin' Up!'s Final Deal of the Week

Well, it's official.  Stampin' Up! has released their final Deal of the Week.  It's a very cute punch!

From now until 8:30pm EDT on Friday, July 31st, our Heart to Heart punch is on sale for $15.99.  The regular price is $22.95.  Once again, an amazing deal!

To order your punch, simply click on the Online Ordering button in the top right corner, give me a call at 905-655-9347 or e-mail me.  One small caveat though... you MUST e-mail me by 5pm on Friday evening to ensure that your order makes it in on time. 

Tomorrow I'll post one of our cards from this week's stamp club gatherings.  Until then, happy stamping!!

Gettin' ready to do some swapping!

I had mentioned a couple of days ago that I'm going to be in a decent sized card swap in August.  All of the cards will feature stamps that are new to the 2009-2010 Idea Book and Catalogue.  The set that I'll be using is Greenhouse Garden.  I'm also adding a dash of Sincere Salutations as well, as Greenhouse Garden features lots of flowers, but no salutations. 

This card was based on a Mojo Monday challenge that was posted in early July.  The sketch is as follows:

The colours on my finished card are taken from the Pink Flamingo Designer Series Paper.  It has flamingos in it, so it's some of the best paper ever printed :)  I really need to crack open my flamingo stamps again.  But I digress...  There is some Pink Flamingo DSP on the card.  The remaining colours are Cameo Coral, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, and Chocolate Chip.  Not colours that I would normally put together, but they totally work!

I didn't add anything else to the card simply because I'm making 35 of them, and I need to be sure that I have enough supplies to create the cards.  I don't have enough time to order new materials, make the cards, and mail them to the other end of the city.  It would be simple enough though to add some bling to this card.  A couple of brads could be added to the end of the piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock, and the flowers could always use a bit of Diamonds!

I'm off to read books to my Christopher, and then do some more work on the "Big" Order I have waiting for me.

Happy stamping!

Happy Birthday to my good friend!

Today is my friend Karen's 40th birthday.  She's been a friend since university, and is in my downline.  She's also the one that made the very awesome fold-out card for my birthday a few weeks ago, that I posted on my blog.  When I was in my crazy colour cardmaking frenzy last weekend, I created her card.  It uses very little of Bermuda Bay, so it's really toned down. 

Karen LOVES purple, so her card has a base of Elegant Eggplant, with a touch of Melon Mambo and Bermuda Bay thrown in.  The stamps used came from On a Pedestal, and On Your Birthday.  The image itself was created with Stampin' Write Markers, and I stamped the sentiment on shrink plastic, using black Staz-On ink.  Then I shrunk it (watching it shrink was too much fun!) and attached it to the card using linen thread and a glue dot behind the plastic.

Happy Birthday Karen!!

Did you ever love writing on the chalkboards at school? Try this!

Last night I was getting caught up on my TV watching (I really don't follow a lot of shows during the summer, but I still record everything on the PVR and watch it later - without the commercials!), and decided to try and design my swap card for a big New Catalogue swap that I'm in next month.

I had decided to make a card using the Chalkboard Techniques, and the Greenhouse Garden stamp set.  The set is new to the catalogue, and is perfect for a swap.

Well, when I sat down it was dark out, and I had NO idea what colours to use for my chalking!  So, rather than just throw the evening away, I created a chalkboard colour chart for my Stampin' Pastels.  When I sat down this afternoon to create some cards, it was VERY helpful!

When creating this sample board, I used a piece of Basic Black cardstock, with an inch sliced off the end.  Each block is 1 1/4" x 1 1/4".  I could have stamped each tree a bit higher in the block, but it was late :)

I did create a couple of cards with this technique this afternoon.  One card uses Basic Black cardstock, while the second uses Chocolate Chip cardstock.  The key is to use dark cardstock, to get the "chalkboard" look.

I've never done this technique on Chocolate Chip cardstock before, but it turned out quite nicely.  The colours on this card are Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise & Cameo Coral.  The sentiments on both cards are from the "Heard from the Heart" set.  If you look closely, you'll see that the centres of the larger flowers are a different colour from the rest of the flower.  Easy to do with sponge daubers!

This second card is more bold than the card above, and it's even more striking in person!  The layouts for both of these cards are very simple, but effective.  I've had a lot of success with this layout at workshops for beginners as they are able to see just how easy it is to stamp a card with a minimum number of stamps, paper, and ink.  The only ink on this card is Whisper White and Basic Black craft ink.  I like using Black craft ink for sentiments as they really stand out from the card. 

Now... for those of you that have never tried this technique, you can go to Splitcoaststampers for a great tutorial! 

Stay tuned for more cards using this set.  My swap card is designed, but it doesn't use the chalkboard technique (after all that!). 

Happy stamping! 

Have a drink on me!

We've been playing around with ribbon this past weekend, in an effort to plan out our Stamp Club cards for this month.  Colleen and I decided to focus on ribbon this month, and once again have too many ideas floating around in our heads, resulting in decision making difficulties!

The cards have been set, so it's just a case of chopping some paper and ribbon.  This particular card didn't make it past the chopping block.  I used some of the new In Colour paper, ribbon and ink, combined with Elegant Eggplant.  We were able to buy some Elegant Eggplant rickrack ribbon in bulk (really nice ribbon I might add!), and I was trying to find a way to use it on a card. 

It's bright!  There is another card out there that has the same colours on it, and we are using that one for stamp club.  The cards aren't quite as loud in person as they are on your computer screen.  The fact that the photos aren't the best as they were taken indoors, fairly quickly, doesn't help!

It's Hell's Kitchen night so I'm off to stamp some more holiday cards, and watch Gordon Ramsey run off at the mouth.  Always entertaining!

Happy stamping!

This week's Deal of the Week is awesome!

Stampin' Up!'s fourth Deal of the Week is a good one!!! 

From now until 10:30am EDT on Monday, July 27th, our Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware is on sale for $26.99!  The regular price is $41.95!!!  What a steal of a deal.

This kit contains 50 Designer holders (10 ea of 5 designs), 5 different stylized brad designs (10 ea of 5 designs), and 100 brads to anchor the holders to your project.

This is a superb deal, and there are several ways that you can get it!  Simply click on the Online Ordering button in the top right corner, give me a call at 905-655-9347 or e-mail me.  But... make sure you do it before 10:30am on Monday the 27th. 

Four down... one more to go.  What do you think next week's deal will be? 

Stay tuned, and happy stamping!!

Ultra-sparkly Convention Christmas swap cards

Stampin' Up!'s annual convention takes place in the first week of August.  I'd love to go, but alas, I'm not.  A couple of good friends are however, and one of them was kind enough to enter me into a Christmas Card swap.  It always seems kind of funny making Christmas cards in July, but it's a nice change from birthday cards.

I made 22 cards for the swap, all of which look like this:

Now, for those of you that think you've seen this card before, you have - but not in these colours!  I designed this card for my stamp club a couple of months ago, and told them at the time that I thought that this card would be great for Christmas, done in blues with lots of sparkles.

Before I created 22 of these, I made the sample below, using different colours and a bit of ribbon:

Both cards were stamped using Night of Navy ink, and both of them have Night of Navy paper behind the Whisper White.  It's hard to see on the photo, but the trees are covered in glitter.  I was covered in glitter!!!  The second card has a base of Bashful Blue instead of white, with a bit of Bashful Blue ribbon.  They both look good, but are different.

I was back to my 2000 cards this afternoon.  A lot of work, but not unenjoyable.  I'm still stamping!

Happy stamping!