A Colourful Life

It's Freezing here in Vancouver....but in 3 weeks this is where I'll be!

You have to excuse the music -- it's kind of annoying....but I can't wait!!!!

Vancouver Regionals

This weekend is Vancouver Regionals.  The Stampin' Up team  is coming into town for 2 days and offering local and nearby demonstrators an opportunity  to get some live training, see some fantastic presentations, do make n' takes and swap cards with each other.  Along with this is the opportunity to meet Shelli Gardner herself.  Hopefully she will be present as Regional appearances by Shelli are always dictated by her schedule.....and hopefully she will be here in Vancouver!  I've been lucky enough to meet Shelli several times prior to this Regional event, the first time being the Opportunity night way back in 2002 when Stampin' Up first came to Canada.  Then I met her at the first Vancouver Regionals where I was lucky enough to be a helper.  Then I met her again in Portland Regionals a few years ago.  She's the kindest, most warm hearted and genuine person I know.  I love being able to say that she stears the Stampin' Up ship!

I've been busy making swaps and because I get bored of the same design, I will probably make about 80 cards, 3 different designs.  The first design is the same as the one I posted 2 entries earlier in pink.  But this time I did it using So Saffron.  Look how many I've done!

When I was making this card, I realized I had run out of hemp twine to tie the ribbons with.  So you know what they say.....necessity is the mother of invention!  I just took my trusty old cutter out and cut really thin slivers of Old Olive cardstock and then used that as my ribbon. 

Cool, huh?  I love Stampin' Up's table top cutter....it really is the only cutter I've come across that can cut slivers of cardstock this thin!  So now if ever I need to tie ribbon onto my buttons, I can just make my own using any colour of cardstock I have on hand!  So cool.  The pic of the cutter is below.

The cutter features a stainless steel precision ground blade for accurate cuts time after time.  Item# 106959, $64.95   -- that's enough of a purchase to get one of the sale-a-bration sets free!

 

Seven Things

Seven Things.  What's that all about?

Well my friend Janice has nominated me for a Stylish Blogger Award and it entails me having to share 7 things about me that even my closest friends did not know.  Janice is a very creative person, a fantastic mother and educator and you can read all about her on her blog here.

 

Okay, so here goes.....7 things about me:

1. I am my own best friend.  Though I have many girlfriends, there is nothing I cherish more than alone time.   I find joy in just sitting by myself, thinking about things and contemplating life.  A good walk alone breathing in the fresh air is a luxury.

2. I don't like to fly alone.  I'm not scared of flying, by any means....but I've always traveled with Doug and as a result he handles all the details....customs, passports, gates, departure times, etc.  I just show up.  I guess you might say that I've been spoiled in that regard.

3. I don't get angry easily,  but when I do --- it's not pretty.

4. I like to have background sound when I sleep at night.  (Doug's fault).  We always have the t.v. on in the background in the master bedroom at night....or I'll have a fan on.  I find the constant whir of the fan soothing.   Weird, huh?

5. When I travel, I always wear socks in hotel rooms.  And I make my kids do it, too.  You don't know how dirty those carpets are.  Even the most expensive hotels can be scary.  Trust me, wear socks!  Bringing your own pillowcases are also a good idea.

6. My hair is quite curly and wavy when wet, straighter when dry.

7. I don't like milk and only have it if it's in coffee or cereal.  I won't drink it out of a glass as a beverage.  Don't know why.

 

Now, I am awarding the following bloggers the Stylish Blogger Award.

1. Alison Solven - my fellow Stampin' Up Demonstrator, who has always been a good and loyal friend.

2. Valerie McGowan - Valerie was a regular customer when I managed the Clipper Street store and I'm happy that we've become friends.  She bakes the best cupcakes!

3. Shannon Endicott - Shannon worked with me at Clipper Street and taught amazing classes at the store.  I was sad she had to go back to the U.S., but glad that we still keep in touch through FB and our blogs!  Oh, technology!

4. Katie Emerson Renz - a true inspiration to me.  Anyone who gets to know her, will agree.  Katie, you rock and I am honoured to call you a friend.

5. Linda Hansen - I met Linda awhile back through my demonstratorship with  Stampin' Up.  Linda is funny and witty and I remember laughing so hard when she was up on stage at Regionals when she presented....cause she's just that funny!  Linda, I miss you!

6.  Jillian Lewarne - the funniest redhead you ever did see!  Jillian always makes me laugh when I'm lucky enough to see her.  And her kids are the cutest ever. 

 

To the nominees, let's keep the love going by:

1. Writing seven things about yourself.
2. Presenting the award to six bloggers.
3. Contacting those people.
4. Creating a link back to the person who did this for you.

Thanks for nominating me, Janice!

Pink Pirouette

I love this pink.  I still love Stampin' Up's Pretty in Pink, but this new pink is a bit softer, lighter.....it brings to mind a ballet dancer in her tutu.  Which is why I love that it is called Pink Pirouette!  So suiting to what it reminds me of.  I made a card using this wonderful colour.

Below is a close up look at the card.

I used one of the Sale-a-Bration sets (which you can earn free with a purchase of $60!).  I knew I wanted to use this stamp image with buttons....but when I went to look at my button stash I realized that I didn't have much in the way of current product.  Now I know what I'll be ordering next!  For this card I had to use buttons that are now retired called Fresh Favourites.  Still looks cute, and I will remake the card with current buttons as soon as I get them!  To see the images in the Sweet Summer Sale-a-Bration set that I used click on my website here.  Choose SHOP NOW on the top right hand side, then choose Sale-a-Bration on the left margin.  This will bring up the Sale-a-Bration catalogue in PDF format and you can find it on page 8.  Get this set free with any purchase of at least $60 and I'll even throw in the finished card.  Email me to place your orders at inkfinity@gmail.com

Yesterday I was at the mall with my daughter and I heard her laughing and when I asked why she showed me this.   She found a birthday card -- below is the outside:

And below is the inside of the card.  We had a good laugh.  Stampin' Up must make an image of a surprised bear along with that saying.  It's too funny!

Have a good Sunday eveyone!

Upcoming Class

I have a class coming up this weekend called "Punch Bunch".  It features several of the Stampin' Up punches, including the Owl punch, the Cupcake punch, the decorative label punch and the tiny tag punch.  We will also be using some stamps from the Sale-A-Bration set "Punch Bunch"....thus the name of the class!  For class times and details email me at inkfinity@gmail.com    Here is the pic of the 4 cards we will make in class:

Hope to see some of you in class!  It will be fun.

Sweet Story:  My son has what seems to be his first serious girlfriend and by serious I mean she seems to really like him and he likes her in return.  So the day  before Valentine's he comes into my studio and asks me if I had some white cardstock.  I gave him some.  When I asked what he needed it for he said he was making her some "coupons".   So sweet.  He took her to a nice dinner and brought her a dozen red roses, a velvet shaped heart box full of truffles and his coupons, which by the way he hid.....because he knows me well enough to know that I would snoop in his room when he wasn't around to see what the coupons said!  Such a nosy Mama!  Aaaaaahhhhh.....young love....so refreshing and nice to see.  It makes me happy to see how happy he is : )

Happy Valentine's Day all!

Hope everyone is having a good Valentine's day so far!  Unfortunately for me, Doug had to travel back east for work, so he isn't home for this day, but we did go and celebrate with a lovely dinner out on Saturday night.  For the last few years on Valentine's day, he gets me a stuffed animal.  Here's what I got this year.

And this is my growing stash of Valentine stuffed animals from Doug.  I love them all!

I have them all on a shelf in my studio, so I can admire them everyday.

It's 8:30 in the morning, the kids have gone to school and guess what?  I'm going back to bed.  I had a hard time falling asleep last night, so I came down to work in the studio for a bit and started designing my next class.  I've done 3 of the cards so far, and the 4th one I will do later.  Here is one of them.

This card uses the Sale-A-Bration set called Punch Bunch as well as the matching owl punch.  It also uses the Tiny Tags stamp set and the matching punch.  Up close below:

Hope you like it!  Now, back to bed to catch a couple of hours more sleep before I get on with the day!  Happy Valentine's day everyone!

Hello Thursday!

It's Thursday -- our second day at the craft fair.  We arrived a bit later than we wanted to for set up yesterday.  Cathy had a good reason to be late with unexpected emergencies at home.....and I, well I was just procrastinating as usual.  But we got it all set up and our booth looks awesome!  So awesome that the guy in charge of the fair came down to take photos of it!  Thanks to Cathy who is the merchandising expert -- I just follow her along like a puppy and do as she says.  Here is a pic of our little chocolates.  We've dressed them up to look very Valentiney!!!!

We will be at the fair today and tomorrow, so come down to visit if you have time.  Say hi to us and then mosy on over to the lady at the corner booth so you can buy some of these!

Have a good Thursday, everyone!  One more day, then it's the weekend!

 

Valentine Treats & Avenue Q

This week I will be at the UBC Sweet Valentine's Fair.  This event runs from 10 - 5:30 on Feb. 9, 10 and 11 in the Student Union Building,  Main Concourse.  Me and my friend Cathy will be there so come down and look for us and say hi!  Here's one of the things I made for the fair.

First I cut out circles and stamped out hearts and cut them all out.  I used Stampin' Up's Melon Mambo ink -- I love this ink!

Then I popped the hearts up onto the circles using dimensionals.

And below is what the final product looks like -- I quite like them!

I just filled coffee bags with red and pink heart ju jubes and then added a topper and a greeting and it's done!  If you ask me how many of these hearts actually went in my mouth during the making process, the lie would be zero, and the truth will forever be a mystery. Ha!

Avenue Q was so wonderful -- Doug & I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was funny and the cast was amazing.  After the play, we went for coffee and met the cast -- they are all based in New York and are travelling on the national tour.....such friendly people!  We had a wonderful anniversary for sure!  Here we are posing for a picture -- sorry for the poor quality, we were only using a cellphone.

Have a good week, everyone!

Create a Cupcake - Valentine Style!

Another reason to love this stamp set -- it's so versatile.  Here's a card I recreated following an example from our monthly Stampin' Up! demonstrator magazine called Stampin' Success.  This cupcake set has seen lots of use in my studio and now, it's also great for creating those Valentine, I Love You, or Thinking of You greetings.

This will be one of the cards I will be teaching in my Valentine/Thinking of You class on Sunday, Feb. 13.  Stay tuned for the other card samples and more info on class times.  Save the date!