Prairie Paperie

A Fred in need is a Fred indeed - A Blog Hop

2011-05-04T05:00:00.003-06:00

You've heard of flat Stanley, and versions of flat Stanley travelling the world on vacations...

Little paper likenesses of people going from place to place, taking photo opportunities where they may and sending images home to their friends and family...

(if you haven't heard of this then I can't explain the origins, google Flat Stanley, and talk to your friends).

Well I don't have a Flat Stanley today, but I do have a FRED.
Fred is a relative of Flat Stanley (kind of) (not really).

Fred is a card that has travelled all over the US and Canada, and Fred had a mission!

A mission of love and comfort.

Fred started in Austin, Texas with Lydia of Understand Blue...and travelled through many friends...each of us adding one element of love to the card and made it's way to Sue in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
(SO MAKE SURE, you all start at Lydia's page HERE and see the journey and creation of FRED) all the way through to Tara's blog HERE which is the next stop. Then you'll see what it looked like right before we sent it off to Sue.

Sue is our friend in need, because she lost her dear mum...and while she was away in Ireland taking care of her family and honouring her mum's memory...Fred started making his journey to Sue. (We're not sure if she received Fred yet...so we've been SO careful to hide our secret. I'm pretty sure no one accidentally spilled the beans...which means we're all pretty amazing).

Anyways. I only added one small element to Fred before sending him off. I added the body/antennae to the butterfly. Sidenote: I did this on my lap because I was knee deep (okay, ankle deep) in a water crisis in the basement that week.

But Love and Friendship prevail and a Fred in need is a Fred indeed!

We love you Sue!

Here's Fred before I sent him off:

NOW...don't forget to 'hop' on over to see Tara's blog HERE which is the next stop.

Punchy Party Planning

2010-07-05T16:29:00.000-06:00

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful summer weekend with the kids fresh out of school! Let the fun begin...

For us, we celebrated Canada Day (July 1st) with outdoor festivities, fireworks and of course outdoor food.

I love outdoor parties and I enjoyed the last watermelon craft (treat holder) in the previous post soooo much....that I had to make more. Lots more...

Card number one, in Melon Mambo and Garden Green....

The seeds are made from a scallop square punch, each scallop I cut at an angle like a teardrop and removed from the square. You can also use a scallop circle (or any scalloped shape) to make tear drop shapes for seeds, eyes etc.

Next...CHOMP...nom nom....a watermelon card (or invitation) with a wee bite taken out (thanks to my circle punches)

A closer look at this one and you can see it is done with Riding Hood Red (a more masculine watermelon?) and the seeds are arranged in a row across the melon.

The seeds are highlighted with white gel pen.

The watermelon rinds are sponged with green ink to give it a more true to life effect.

Decorate your drinks! Punch a little watermelon with your circle punches and sassy up those straws! Bendy straws would have been better...but I have none...so we improvise.

Punch up those paper plates with some watermelon funfetti! Okay so they are really only half circles of watermelon coloured circle punches...but they work very well! Cute!

Make a napkin ring/name card with your small circle punches and a ring of matching cardstock. Leave out the seeds and you have room to write a name!

I hope you've enjoyed our little watermelon punch party!

xo.
D.

PS. How did I get those round bottom cards to stand straight? On the back of the card, the bottom edge is trimmed flat so that it doesn't tip and roll. Have fun!

Watermelon Punch

2010-06-29T12:04:00.000-06:00

School is out, summer is here and there's nothing else that screams "summertime" to me quite like a fresh piece of watermelon!

Watermelon reminds me of picnics, BBQ, fireworks, ball games in the park, kids in bathing suits....ahhhhh summertime...

Here's a little something you can whip up for your summer parties and festivities....a little watermelon treat box with a surprise inside!

These would be cute at table settings, as birthday treats (really you can't go wrong with watermelon!)

This uses a few products from Stampin' Up! and assembles very quickly. You'll need:

Top Note die for the BigShot
Scallop circle punch for the watermelon seeds (cut off each scallop)
Punch an oval out of the top to make 'handles' for your treat box
cardstock of your watermelon choice! (we have so many delicious cardstock colours to choose from)

For the middle you have options! You can:

Use a small cut off gift bag
Use a mini lunch or food bag
make a gift bag from an envelope
use the box number 2 die for the BigShot
or make your own small box....

I like options. Options are always good.

Now, for you papercrafty teachers out there...wouldn't this be a GREAT hostess gift with a little stamp and an inkspot? Indeed!

Punch Art Rescue

2010-06-25T19:06:00.000-06:00

If you follow along on Facebook you will have heard my pre- Dad's day grumbling that the sneaky peeker (husband) came into the craft room and caught me unawares.

No that's not code for anything romantic, honest!

What did happen was he saw all of the delightful projects that had been prepared in advance of The Day. So I (with a 5 year old running after me) had to think of something new (with a 5 year old talking a mile a minute)...

The first attempt was an epic fail (if I may quote the 12 year old of the house)...

And then I remembered seeing a punched art owl card SOMEWHERE...a magazine? a blog? It said 'hi' or something like that...could I find it anywhere so that I could run my desperate eyeballs all over it? No.

So this is the interpretation of that card (wherever it is) with all Stampin' Up! punches (which are fabulous and amazing).

Cute hey? Whoo? Who's the best dad in the world? You Are!

I had a good laugh with the kids when I was gluing on this sleepy fella's eyes. If you turn them so that the outer corners of the eyelids are facing up....he becomes a very cross owl (angry eyes!)....and if you leave the eyelids off entirely...a very startled and surprised fellow!

Have fun and get punchy!

You know who to call for all things stampy now dontcha'? Just click here to go to my website for online orders!

I hope your Father's Day was great, ours was!

xo.

The Hoop-la (and my absence explained)

2010-06-23T01:16:00.000-06:00

This is not paper crafty, but I beg you to not turn away...

I have been creating...

In the garage (of all places!)

Beautiful things...amazing things.... I posted this today on Twitter and Facebook.....

Do you know what it is? Here's another....

You can really shaker yer booty to the pirates above....(hahaha, pirates...booty...get it?)

If I zoom out, you can SURELY tell what I'm up to now....

Hoops! 'Hula' hoops (but not your toy store hoop). No siree! These are handmade hoops made to work for Everybody and Every Body! These are Cirque-ular Hoops (squee! That's me!).

What's the hoop-la about these hoops?

What you buy in a toy store is a toy. It weighs a few ounces, it isn't sturdy, and it's slippery...and if you've tried one it likely fell to the ground a million times. My handmade hoops are built for adults (and kids), for real life and have these perks:

They weigh 1-3 lbs (not that you can tell) and when they spin around your body it is easier to keep the 'swing' or 'flow' of the hoop moving. Less drops! Great workout.
They all have a layer of grippy tape that helps keep the hoop at the spot on your body you are choosing to hoop at (chest, waist, hips, legs)
Custom sizes from 38" - 52" (and more). Variety!!
Bigger is better (and hard to find..until now!)

Let's face it, when you are five, you can spin a cheerio around your body with great success.
As an adult we take up more space within a hoop, therefore it is harder to spin a small hoop around our bodies. If you are carrying any extra weight (I am plus-sized) or are bigger of frame, or are an absolute beginner...YOU NEED A BIGGER HOOP!
Bigger hoops spin a little slower and easier around your body. You will be able to practise your movement and flow and ease into success! Eg. Think about spinning something around your finger (zip zip zip) try spinning it around your wrist, it slows down and you have to work harder to get it to go the same speed as around your finger, right?

Custom taping is available, so you get a hoop that you love.
Service packages available:

re-taping (if you need a change)
re-sizing (if you want your hoop cut down a size)

Why do I hoop?

Well, it's a pretty amazing (and personal story) but I'll lay it out there for you in short form.

As I mentioned, I'm plus-sized (very much so). I have weight related issues that could eventually be compromising to my health and over the last year I've been working hard to make better lifestyle choices. Lose weight. Eat healthy. Exercise.

These are not easy. I mean, I really struggle!!

I've lost some weight, I'm eating healthier...exercise has always been a challenge. I have hip pain and lets face it...being as heavy as I am, I cannot do many activities with ease. If the hip gets hurt, I'm down for a few days...this does not help me!

From stage right...enters hooping...totally by accident....

I was randomly searching the Internet for 'fun fitness' or something and completely stumbled upon a video of someone hooping. I'm not talking just at the waist. It was crazy...over the head, under the leg, around the body..up down...around. I was mesmerized. I said 'what on earth is this'....and then I found another video, this one completely opposite of the first. THIS video was calm, flowing, dance like, graceful and almost meditative.

I was in awe that a HOOP could provide athletic exercise as well as calm relaxing movement.

I needed this in my life! I showed my husband (who is a brilliant handyman and creator of things) and he said he could make me one. and...HE DID.

It's been great. I can do this exercise. I can go fast and really work my core and my legs/hips/thighs. I can go slow. I can exercise my arms with the hoop, I can use the hoop to stretch....and it doesn't matter what size I am because this hoop is built for my body, and I can make it do what I need it to do. I love being in charge!

Guess what? I rarely have hip pain anymore! Yesterday was the first day in about six weeks, but I had neglected my hooping routine for three days. Mhm!

I've also lost about an inch on each thigh (yay!)

So...I've told you things you may find interesting, or maybe you didn't want to know! heh heh. Maybe you're in the same boat and understand my frustrations and my celebrations? Please leave me a comment! I'd love to hear from you all.

And...if you've made it all the way to the end of this post, please be a friend and come say hello on our facebook page. There are some great people there and I do post pictures and some videos. I would love to meet you. Click the link: Cirque-ular Hoops.

Hugs!

Barbecue Punch Art (with faux cloud technique)

2010-06-04T10:19:00.000-06:00

What do you do when you need a card for a dude or a dad and you've already used your masculine stamp sets to death? They've seen them already! You're out of aces!

You make punch art. Yes you do!

Punch art....because it's easy, it's WOW and you can create anything, really you can!

To create a BBQ or (grill) you'll need a large 1 3/4" circle punch, word window punch and a 1/2" circle punch. That is it!

Faux clouds in the background were done with the scalloped oval punch.

The grass was made by punching the scalloped border and then going back over it (offset) to make the ends 'spikey' and more grass like. Voila. Man card. Fast. Easy. Me likey.

Shout out and thanks to all of the ladies who share their punched art with me through organized swaps and blogging we've received and given a lot of inspiration...and this BBQ saved my bacon....

speaking of bacon...

Doesn't that ribbon look like bacon? Perfect :)

That Old Black Magic

2010-05-31T20:01:00.003-06:00

What we do, when we do what we do, and oh we do it so well...

Let me mesmerize and tantalize you with our black magic spell...

Hey, it's my blog I can do lame poetry if I want, right? Okay, I'll knock it off. What isn't lame is this, lookie.....

Isn't it beautiful? Do you know what this is?

THIS, my lovely friends is the Black Magic Technique (or velvet Elvis painting as I like to call it). Do you see the printing/script to the left of the art? THAT is detailed instructions on how you do this beautiful technique....and THAT is what we do every month at Technique Club. Oh yes!

Every month I get together with my Technique Club ladies and we make a 6x6" embellished page with the technique instructions, the sample of the technique (which they add to a 6x6" scrapbook)...

PLUS...we make two projects in addition to learning the monthly technique.

It's a fun afternoon (or evening) out, and since they always leave with a detailed/sample of what they learned...they have a wonderful reference to keep and can reproduce everything at home!

It's brilliant, really, we have such a great time!

If you're in the Edmonton area and want to join or start a techniques class with me as your instructor, please contact me through the links in the header of this blog, or pop over to the Prairie Paperie page on facebook and send me a message!

When you do visit the Prairie Paperie page on facebook you'll meet some lovely people and see a variety of projects and my latest classes and events.

I've also posted this for the amusement and enjoyment of your eyeballs and inner craftmonster, isn't it pretty! Details are on the facebook page, come join us and say hello and introduce yourself why don't ya?

Do It Yourself (DIY) Postcard

2010-05-18T16:37:00.006-06:00

If you're a follower on the Prairie Paperie page on Facebook you may remember when I showed you this digital design that I made using My Digital Studio (and I promised to show you what it looked like made into a real postcard that you can mail!)

In the next photograph you can see that I've printed the graphic out on GLOSSY 4x6" photo paper on my home printer. (hurrah for the home printer!).

Note: in my settings I always choose vivid colour in the printer controls.

When you flip over to the back side of the glossy photo paper you have a GREAT canvas for stamping. The paper on the reverse side is matte and has a bit of a grain to it, so Classic Inks will adhere very nicely to this surface....

To get the visual layout of a 'real' postcard I drew a line down the center of the card with a Stampin' Write marker and a small ruler.

Tip: Use lighter colour inks when working on the back of the postcard, because the photo paper is thinner than cardstock and you do not want it to bleed through to the front.

I used my Winter Post stamp set to stamp the "Post Card" image in Sahara Sand Classic Ink.

For the 'post marked' image in the right hand corner I used a Stampin' Write marker, in Sahara Sand, and inked up everything but the middle of the circle (which had a Christmas sentiment inside)...this technique is called 'omitting'. I huffed on the stamp to remoisten the ink and stamped it onto the cardstock.

Next I inked up a small heart stamp from Holiday Blitz and the XOXOXO stamped it within the circular part of the postmark image. To finish it off, I watercoloured the heart with a blender pen and a pink watercolour wonder crayon.

My Digital Studio software, and all stamping products mentioned are guaranteed available through my Stampin' Up! store through June 30, 2010. You can go to the store by clicking HERE.

What happens after June 30...our new catalogue is released with some brand new stamp sets and colours!

I hope you enjoyed your tutorial on how to make a DIY Postcard!

Just think of the possibilities you have with your camera, My Digital Studio, your laptop/computer and your home printer!

~Dreena~

3D Thanks!

2010-05-14T11:54:00.001-06:00

A great big

(and I mean really big)

thank you to all my blog readers.

My blog is now over 5000 visits!

This goes out to you...

If you are a reader or a visitor would you please leave a comment and say "hi" maybe where you are from and how you discovered my blog? (or just hi!) I'd love to know who you are!

I hand cut this bad boy with a hobby blade. The proof is in the rough edges and awkward but beautiful hearts. Does anyone who specializes in 'fussy cuts' have tips you can share on how to cut around curves with a hobby blade?

Side note to my best friend: (Leigh if you are reading this I did NOT pick up a hobby blade...I hired trained professionals who specialize in the art of utilizing sharp utensils)....

I love this card, it was so fun to make and it's definitely a 'wow' item. It is a HUGE card at 4x8" and when you open the card the word THANKS pops right out at you! BAM! I like that...a bit of drama suits me fine!

~Dreena~

Pretty Vintage Butterfly

2010-05-10T20:57:00.000-06:00

Here's a quick and sneaky peek at what I'm working on....I've prepared this for the 90 beautiful stampers and scrappers who will be our team meeting/training event next weekend and I sure hope they love it!

It's all kinds of pretty when you see the whole thing, but I can't show you the whole thing...it's a secret.

I can tell you it uses the new Elements of Style stamp set from the new and fabulous Summer Mini Catalogue (which you can see on my website). Click here.

It also uses the butterfly die for the BigShot machine (every household should have one of these...I'm not kidding). Whether you papercraft, sew, quilt or work with metal...this machine is amazing. It puts the 'zing' in the word amazing. Trust me.

Have fun creating!

~Dreena~

Vintage Mother's Day Card

2010-05-03T14:25:00.001-06:00

Remember this? Do ya? If you caught my first (ever) video for Ruffled Grosgrain ribbon...this is the finished project. Voila!

Don't tell my mom I've posted her Mother's Day card here...it's a secret...and we don't want to ruin the surprise right?

I've been asked how I did the main flower...and it's so easy you're going to die....IT'S a STENCIL!

Yes! From the Stampin' Up! Definitely Decorative line of products (decor elements and stencils). This one in particular is part of a VERY LARGE (bigger than 12x12") stencil. I just used one small portion and applied the ink with a sponge dauber.

I love finding new ways to use my tools, don't you?

The other highlight of this project (okay I confess I love the whole thing).....is this....

Can you see it? It's the new vanilla SMOOCH Spritz from the Stampin Up! Summer Mini Catalogue.

It makes me want to SMOOCH everything. Everyone should SMOOCH. Hurrah for Smooch-ing!
Smooch. ---okay I'll stop. Back to the card, the Vanilla smooch spritz adds a pearly, glowy and gorgeous shimmer to the whole project. It is hard to catch shimmer or glitter with a camera, so you will just have to trust me that this is completely radiant in real life!

So, three things to remember.

Go have a look at the new Summer Mini Catalogue and promotions on my retail website
Stencils are awesome you can see the newest stencils and decor pieces on my website too (including fun and functional chalkboard decor elements) .....really, these are so cool!
Smooch, you know you wanna....

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Inspiration - A CREATIVE Challenge

2010-04-30T14:13:00.001-06:00

Earlier today I threw down a CREATIVE challenge on the Prairie Paperie Facebook page to my readers and I want my blog readers to get in on the fun too!

The challenge springs forth from yesterday's blog post where I shared a card that I made. You can read the blog post here (right after you finish reading this one!).

Here's the challenge:

1. Find something in your environment that inspires you, that pleases your eyes.

Good examples of places to look are:

signs
packaging
clothing
magazine ads
patterns in textiles
decorating

2. Figure out what you like about it? The colour? The shape?....take note of these things...jot it down.

3. Translate the things that you like from your inspiration piece into a scrapbook page, a scrapbook layout or a card.

4. Go to the Prairie Paperie Facebook page and share you creative challenge piece! Please leave us a photo and a comment....if there is a story, please share your story as well as your pictures!

5. Not a Facebook user? No problem! Leave us a link to your creation here (using the Mr. Linky widget) so that we can go to your blog or online posting and leave you a comment! (please ensure that you leave the direct link to the posting of your project, as we don't want to have to hunt for it!)

This was my inspiration piece...a portfolio from on of the schools in my city. Here I just want you to notice the funky, retro look to the art, the modern and fresh colours, the cute bird....

Here is a close - up of the finished card

I did my best to colour match (in real life it is VERY close).
I kept with the same layout, put my sentiment where they used a slogan or logo....
I 'cartoonized' my edges by distressing them/swiping them over my black ink pad...

I'm all kinds of happy about this!

So, what do you think? Are you ready to play, want to take the CREATIVE CHALLENGE?

Don't forget to visit the Prairie Paperie facebook page and become a fan....something fun happens when we reach 500.

Itty bitty bit of groovy...there is a new widget near the bottom by the comments. It's a little tiny toolbar that enables you to instantly 'share' my blog posts with others in your favourite social networks! It's itty bitty and down near the comments...please let me know if you use it, and if you like it. Your feedback is important to me!

Inspiration is Everywhere! The tale of a funky fresh card...

2010-04-29T10:01:00.009-06:00

First let me start this post by apologising for the photos.

They didn't mean to be blah...it's just that they couldn't get ready for you because their photo editing software was inaccessible.

They really wanted to spruce up, polish up and make themselves amazing for you...but we decided that rather than make you wait indefinitely for their appearance (which I had already been teasing you with on Facebook) we'd better just make do and get 'er done!

So...inspiration is everywhere, it really is!

My youngest is getting ready to attend school and as many parents know...you go to ALOT of open houses and schools with hopes of finding 'just the right one'. We were recipients of many information packages, hand outs, brochures, business cards etc. Most of them very blah, boring, get the job done kind of things....and then this one....

.....It whispered sweet things into my ears, pitched woo like (all I can think of is... like my coffee to my lips in the morning...lame!).....

I almost squealed and didn't want anyone to touch it. It was perfect! The colours, the arrangement, the funky styling, the little sassy bird!! (I'm still a bit giddy, forgive me).

I knew immediately that I could translate it into Stampin' Up! colours, shapes and materials. I had so much fun.

On the top right we have the portfolio folder from a very lovely school, and the bottom left...a picture of the folder with his new little Stampin' Up! friend....

SQUEE! Aren't they a perfect pair?

Can you see how I used the same basic layout from the portfolio? I'm tellin' ya people, if a graphic artist has gone through all the work making something look this pretty...you need to follow their lead!!!

I'm going to make more of these. What do you think?

This is just a subtle hint...but you have another challenge coming at you shortly...

Dreena

Roundup - I Want Candy

2010-04-23T20:53:00.005-06:00

Here it is!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the "I Want Candy" colour challenge in March. We had the deadline open for almost the entire month and we received a GREAT VARIETY of projects to share.

You all created beautiful samples and I wanted to do something fun and pretty to showcase your creations...

I used flowers and soft colours from the Candy challenge inspiration piece we saw back in March and turned your submissions into a bouquet of pretty spring posies! Have a look...

In randomly selected order from 1-8...I present to you the lovely creations of:

Please click on the linked names and go view the projects large and beautiful! While you're visiting..share some love and leave a comment. We like comments.

Thanks for visiting, and thanks for participating!

Dreena

How to Ruffle Grosgrain Ribbon - a video tutorial

2010-04-23T17:37:00.005-06:00

Hey stampers and blog readers, I've got something new and exciting to share with you today.

Are you ready?

Am I ready?

(drumroll please)

Now presenting...my first video EVAH! I'm really quite excited about it, as I'm sure you can tell. Woot!

So without further ado, here it is..the inaugural video in my Techniques 2 You series (do you like the name?)

Please be gentle...and I hope you enjoy it.

*Extra credit goes out to Leigh's tripod, without dear LT we wouldn't have been able to film this video.

You Gotta Have Faith

2010-04-13T13:13:00.014-06:00

Edited to Add: Due to a large response from people who do not live in the area but wished they could take the classes, I am currently developing a plan to offer Faithbooking as an online class option.

If you are interested in this class please leave me a comment or email me through the contact button on this blog and I'll be able to keep you informed. You can also follow me on Facebook as Prairie Paperie for updates and to send me a message.

A few years ago I was very shy, very reserved (it's true!) and feeling creatively, spiritually and emotionally exhausted.

I found myself in contemplative prayer, after an interesting chapter in a Robert Fulghum book I was reading. I was wondering some of those 'mother phrases' (you know the things you mom may have yelled at you when you were little)?

Oh you know what I mean...just say these like your mom is giving you what-for...

What on Earth do you think you're doing?
Who do you think you are?
What have YOU done?

You follow me now right? Ha!

So I prayed about these things, I wrote about these things, I journaled about these things.
What AM I doing here (on Earth?). What is my purpose? What are my talents, my gifts? Who DO I think I AM? What have I done...what will I do...who will I be...
Pretty huge? Yes, I thought so. How does this relate to papercrafting?

When you pray, God does listen.
If you ask Him these things, He will start to tell you. Believe me, you'd better listen because you are in for the ride of your life.

I was invited to a Stampin' Up! workshop, and I didn't even want to go, I hated the idea of papercrafting. GASP! However, I went...and I had a number of 'wow' moments that night. (It's a pretty cool story).
Within' 6 months of that party I was teaching crafting classes (remember I'm shy!) to complete strangers, to new friends, to old friends. I had a new business. New purpose. Direction....and then a new seed was planted. I was praying and I heard Him remind me that I had asked HIM to show me my gifts, my talents so that I could lead a purposeful life. I arrived in that moment and knew that I was meant to teach a faith-based series of scrapbooking classes.

Are you interested in learning answers to your Mother Questions?
Do you want to have fun and explore these topics (and more) in a group?
Do you want to encourage others?
Do you want to document this exploration of self and your Faith in a beautiful, fun and fresh way?
My faithbooking classes will allow you to start a fun, focused and uplifting journey (and learn a new hobby/craft), I invite you to join me.

If you have a home-group, church, or just a group of friends who would like to start faithbooking please email me by clicking on contact links above.

You can also send me a message on Twitter! My twitter account is @prairiepaperie

You can also join me on my facebook page Prairie Paperie, come say hello!

~Dreena~

Easter Bunny Carrots

2010-03-20T15:41:00.011-06:00

Don't you just love a card that is a little bit different from the usual?

I do! Stamps just give us such versatility with creation...if you can think it/dream it, chances are you can find something to make it.

Without further ado I give you the Easter Carrot:

So the carrot is actually made using the Pick-a-Petal stamp set!

When you look at the set, all you think of (as the name suggests) are various petals to make flowers. Isn't it more fun to think outside of the box though? YES IT IS!

MINI TUTORIAL:

1. Inked the solid petal image from Pick-a-Petal with pumpkin pie classic ink

2. Take a blender pen and remove colour from the stamp (the lines/striations)

3. Clean the pen tip on a scrap paper, go back and remove more colour... (I repeated until I had a fairly decent looking carrot)

4. "Huff" and stamp on whisper white cardstock.

VOILA! Carrot! Stinkin' cute hey? I know. I squealed...

Next steps...

For the leafy greens on the carrot:

I've used the filigree from the Baroque Motifs stamp set
Inked up only a small PORTION of the stamp with a Garden Green Stampin' Write marker (this technique is called OMITTING).
"huff" or breathe on the stamp to re-moisten the ink
line up your stamp with the top of the carrot, and press down.

You have just created the most cute and whimsical Easter Carrot! You rock with your uniqueness!

Speaking of uniqueness, please be sure to check out more Easter Carrots here: The Crooked Stamper, my dear Twitter friend Leslie made an irresistable card that was a springboard for my own carrot creation!

Other things that are groovy about this card:

the FREE scallop trim border punch (FREE with a $65 dollar order from my online store because it's Sale-A-Bration! until March 31)
The polka dot dry embossing (a BigShot embossing folder)
The Easter sentiment which is a NEW clear mount stamp from the Occasions Mini catalogue.
all of these things and more can be seen on my website (links on sidebar)
Questions? Contact me Links are on the top of the page!

Stamp Happy and go make something pretty now!

Dreena

Shabby Chic Gift Box

2010-03-10T23:45:00.015-07:00

Shabby Chic is not something I do very often. Usually because I feel that once I've 'shabbied' (is that even a word?) that I've gone too far and lost the Chic. I can't be the only one who feels this way?!

Anyways, I saw a cute box idea, and this beauty actually folds flat and pops open. It's 4x4" so you can use it as an awesome gift box, jewelery box, treats, cards.....(keys to a new car? Diamonds <--you never know, my husband COULD read this right?)

The flower is made from Bella Blue designer series paper! I love this technique for making flowers... (and my stamp club members will be learning how to do this next week!)

I distressed the corduroy button with Night of Navy ink...and used a sponge dauber on the flower to apply a bit of distressing with the same ink. I also stamped the textured chocolate chip paper and the kraft paper with the filigree from the Vintage Vogue stamp set.

This is the side view of the box as it's being folded flat. Neato! I kid you not when I say this box is amazing!!

So...what do you think?

Not too shabby? (bwaha!) If you know me...you KNEW I was going to slip that joke in...sigh. I love words (but not as much as this box!) Really, I don't think I went too far with the shabby...it's still a bit elegant.

Did you spy that teeny little rhinestone?

It's one of the sticky back rhinestones (which come on a 6x6 SHEET of goodness) in the Eggcellent Eggs Kit (for $13.25)! Did you know when you shop in my online store on my website you get preferred customer pricing 10% savings? Oh yes you do! (click here).

You can do so much more than JUST Easter with this kit. I'm not just fluffing your feathers when I tell you "chickie, you need this kit".

Here's the product shot of the Vintage Vogue stamp set. Available in clear mount or traditional wood mounted rubber.

Isn't this just all kinds of pretty? Wood mount is $31.95 and Clear is $23.95 (preferred customer pricing on my website).

Note: I've been redesigning my blog to make it easier for you to find the information you need. Please feel free to use the links on the right hand sidebar to visit my website where you will find:

projects for inspiration
product information
shopping
my calendar and links to book your own classes and parties
Links and information to join my Stampin' Up! group and start your own business!

I've also got tabs up at the top/header...where you can click to contact me and more.

Please feel free to comment on my new blog design and I'm open to suggestions!

Have fun stamping!

~Dreena

Giraffe!

2010-03-10T23:21:00.009-07:00

This is one of those cards that can really be anything, for any occasion, and THOSE are the best kind of cards! I love the flexibility that stamping offers!

Let me tell you about this card.

First of all, I'm a technique junkie and I never get bored with stamping, I love learning new things...see the plaid background, that's not a fancy shmancy paper...OH NO...I did that. Me. It's my 'faux plaid' technique...well I'm sure there could be many names and I don't claim to be the inventor of this...it's really just playing with chalk pastels and scrap paper...but here on this card...it's all mine!! (PS. my contact info and class schedules will be on my Stampin' Up! website HERE)

Now, take a peek...look reallllly close at that Giraffe too....

The Giraffe is from the new Fox and Friends clear mount stamp set (which is ONLY $19.95) seriously, you need this stamp set (or I'm not talking to you).

You can stamp baby cards, fun cards, birthday cards, romantic cards...YES, EVEN romantic cards with this set. This giraffe could be saying "wanna neck" very flirtatiously with it's husband or wife. OK, if that's not to your liking it could be saying 'thank you for always sticking your neck out for me'. It is always good to thank people, it's the right thing to do! Why not do it with a giraffe?

See the spots on the giraffe's neck? Those are itty bitty teeny weenie hearts that were left over from punching with my "pinking hearts" border punch. I applied them all ever so lovingly with glue and tweezers.

The yellow card stock is dry embossed with the BigShot 'Perfect Polka Dots' embossing folder. I can't tell you how much I love that machine! Do you have a BigShot? Don't you just LOVE the embossing folders? Squee!

The ribbon was a cute little trick I learned from Mary Dawn's blog 'My Pink Mexico' (and my friend Kerri) thanks ladies! Now, last but not least...the four 'quilt squares' behind the giraffe are punched scallop squares.

Cutie patootie. I love this card. It makes me smile.

PS. Lori-Ann, does this qualify as a submission to my own colour challenge (wink)...it's pretty close? I think it does!!

I WANT CANDY - Enjoy the Little Things Colour Challenge

2010-03-10T12:01:00.005-07:00

It's time for another crafty colour challenge!

Sorry it's taken so long to post an inspiration picture....I kept waffling back and forth and I was quite indecisive about what the next colour challenge should be.

I wanted something different from the last batches of colour and I wanted to stay away from MY personal 'go to colours'...which always seem to be chocolate and "insert colour here".

I said out loud to myself (and I'm so pathetically food centric) "what do I like other than chocolate..?" and then my inner-self replied "candy". I know, right? <--pathetic!!

So I give you the "I WANT CANDY" or "ENJOY THE LITTLE THINGS" colour challenge. OH and since candy is little, that's why you should have several. I'm just sayin....

So you have two weeks to submit your crafty goodness using the following colours:

pretty in pink
almost amethyst
apricot appeal
barely banana
sage shadow
whisper white (not listed but always accepted)

You do not have to use ALL of the colours listed, but be assured that if you DO...I will totally be WOW-ed. You will have wow-ed me.

OH, and see that little crown on the bubble gum wrapper...if you manage to work in a crown into your project(s)...I will be SUPER WOW-ed.

So who remembers the song "I Want Candy"? Who's got that going through their head now? What is your favourite candy? I'm curious...talk to me, leave me comments!

For those of you playing in the challenge, the deadline will be March 28, 2010 ( I'm feeling generous with time!!). Go crazy! Go create!

Please remember to submit a DIRECT link to your project (not just your blog address, but the link to the atual post that you want us all to admire!). If you don't blog, no worries...you can use a photo site such as Flickr or if you've posted to a gallery like Splitcoast Stampers...just hook us up through there!

Happy Creating! Please use the submission tool here:

Curry Chicken Showcase

2010-02-22T13:34:00.010-07:00

Ta-Da! I have to say that because you all really went above and beyond in the crafting this round. What a beautiful showcase of your art work I'm very proud to present!

11 crafters submitted their work for the Curry Chicken Colour Challenge and SEVENTEEN projects were submitted (Leslie aka. Crooked Stamper submitted 3 posts that had DOUBLE the projects each time!). I wish that I could show them ALL off in the showcase, but I can't...

However, YOU can visit each submission by going to the original post...and don't forget to leave each other comments! Share the love! Here's the original post (click here).

I'm also pleased to show off some mad skills with DIGITAL scrapbooking and projects! (PaperBatty and Stanza)

PLEASE...DO...click on the collage picture to see everything in more detail! The artwork is so pretty and you don't want to miss a thing!

Now, without further ado...here are the links to the projects showcased above. From left to right, working down to the bottom....

1. PaperBatty

2. Leslie

3. Sharon

4. Nicole B

5. Allison

6. Kerri

7. Leslie

8. Leslie

9. Lori-Anne

10. Stanza

Well done everyone! Thanks to those of you who came for the first time to do my colour challenge...and thanks to those of you who are return players! We'll have another colour challenge soon (follow my blog if you want to receive updates automatically in your Google Reader).

Toodles,
Dreena.

Peek-a-boo Punch Technique

2010-02-08T17:51:00.003-07:00

Valentine's Day is fast approaching! If you're like me, you'll need Valentine's for the kids, for the class, for the teacher, for your special someone...the list goes on...

One of my favourite tools are Stampin' Up! paper punches. I {heart} punches...and as it so happens...I used punches with hearts on them to do this project.

We've been doing techniques classes with our stamping club, and this Peek-a-boo Punch technique was part of January's stamping class. Check it out then scroll down for details...

Cute hey?

This uses the Heart to Heart punch to punch out the 'windows' on the front of the card. Then simply layer a beautiful piece of Designer Series Paper behind your windows and stick down (be careful not to have any adhesive show through your punched shapes). Voila!

To kick it up a notch, we used the new Pinking Hearts Border punch and layered it along the bottom edge (the front edge of the card is slightly shorter than the back).

Then stamp with your preferred sentiment, wrap some ribbon... DONE!

The stamp set used is the new Well Scripted stamp set, which you can search and view on my website and online store, and it is from the Occasions Mini. (stamp set is available as clear mount rubber, or traditional wood block mount).

And...just in case you didn't know...buying the stamp set, ribbon, punch and designer paper pictured above would get you a FREE Sale-a-bration stamp set. Who loves free? I do. Sale-a-bration Details and Online Ordering are on my website HERE.

I hope you enjoyed this project, and I encourage you to check out our full line of punches and think forward to other occasions where quick and beautiful cards are just what you need!

Have fun!

PaperGrace is Givin' STUFF away!

2010-02-05T12:41:00.002-07:00

It's her birthday and we ALL get to party!!

She went to CHA, she brought back goodies...and she's giving them away!

Go NOW!

GO see the PRETTY!

You can't win if you don't visit and enter....

While you're there...go see the beautimous things she makes.

Go here: PaperGrace Designs

Colour Challenge - Curry Chicken

2010-01-27T13:22:00.009-07:00

Colour Challenge 2 now being served! May I entice you with a little Curry Chicken?

Let me tell you how this challenge came to be...I was folding laundry and my eyeballs were drawn to this tea towel. The designs are crisp and clean and interesting. The details are excellent. The contrast of the colours is delicious. I like contrast (I miss those nautical themed clothes from the late 80's) white, blue...but this my friends...has a kick of red and Crushed Curry. BAM! <---ha!

Your colours for the Curry Chicken challenge are: Real Red, Night of Navy, Crushed Curry and Whisper White.

You MUST use these colours...and from there...there are no rules. Pick your own theme or use the collage I designed with My Digital Studio as inspiration. You can go country kitchen like the tea towel, go nautical...you decide! Edited to add: If you do not have the Stampin' Up! colours of cardstock, please feel free to substitute any colour of cardstock or papers that you have that come CLOSEST to the colours listed!

I'll leave the challenge open until February 10th, that gives us 2 weeks to create, inspire one another and above all...to have FUN! Don't forget...I'll also do a roundup photo when the challenge is closed, to show-off all of your creative works!

Use the Mr. Linky widget below and submit the link that takes us DIRECTLY to your project (not your blog in general, or your photostream in general, but copy and paste the exact link to your submission). That way we don't have to hunt around and 'guess' which one is your submission...we just get to oooh and ahh over the pretty that you created! Thanky!

1. leslie (crook)
2. Allison
3. leslie (crook)
4. leslie (crook)

5. Sharon
6. paperbatty
7. Stanza
8. Stanza

9. FieryCanuck
10. nicolebstampin
11. Kerri

This is a papercrafting blog, but if you've used the colour challenge to create...say...cupcakes, jewelry, fabric or other art...please leave us a comment and share! We love to celebrate creativity at PrairiePaperie!

Now, go make something...don't be a Chicken!

Cupcakes and Inspiration

2010-01-21T15:52:00.007-07:00

Wow, the Chocolate Orange challenge REALLY went off with a bang!

I love when my visitors link back to my blog and leave me comments, and I love trying to visit each and every one of you and reading about your creative process.

I love chocolate. I love orange.

Check out this bad boy... CHOCOLATE ORANGE CUPPY CAKE! YES! SQUEEE!!!

THIS, is WHAT I'm talking 'bout folks...look at all that fluffy whippy icing. *glarrrgle drool*

So I just had to do this little featurette because I'm pleased as punch that someone took my colour challenge and translated it into cooking.

Just feeling a little self-love and a little (okay a lot) of love for the cupcake.

Please go visit Yellow Pineapple HERE and enjoy, like I did. Thank YOU.

Chocolate Orange Challenge Roundup

2010-01-20T16:18:00.016-07:00

Here is the gorgeous display of beauty that is the Chocolate Orange Colour Challenge roundup!

Drumroll and applause please....You all created this!

Together you pushed your creative limits, used colours you weren't fond of together (I heard this one alot), you took a risk and posted for your very first time, or you did a challenge for your very first time, you thought outside of the box, you did something different, and all together you made a beautiful collection of art.

I celebrate all of your talents. I enjoyed each and every creation. Thank you for sharing yourselves and your talents with me.

You all helped me with my theme word of the year. BEGIN. Guess what: I learned how to use mr.linky and I learned to do a little funky collage with My Digital Studio to showcase your art, and I enjoyed this so much that I'd like to do 1-2 challenges per month.

Many of you have said that the 10 days (even 2 weeks) was a pleasurable deadline, no pressure and very rewarding to get to bring out your new/old or repurposed supplies. This is great feedback and I will keep the same timeframes for future challenges. My eyeballs have been all over a few things in the house for another challenge....so please stay tuned and check back in the next few days! Invite your friends to come and play as well!

Thank you for leaving comments and supporting each other. (If I knew how to put a hotspot or link over each picture so you could all click on each picture to get to one another's blogs...you know I would do it.) In the meantime, I will have to ask you visit each other by clicking on the links below.

PS. I was only going to pick 10, but 11 of you submitted, and we have 12 cards. That would be like making me pick only two of my 3 children. IMPOSSIBLE. So I picked all of you. Nicole B. who had posted two cards for the challenge, I pick them both! I loved it all. So go visit each other, tell each other how amazing you are and keep posting!

Just a quick summary by name (and as appearing left to right in the above collage):

PaperGrace (Lisa)

Sue F

Kerri R

Nicole B

Jillville

Kabluey (Ee)

Nicole B

CrookedStamper (Leslie)

LoriAnne.

Mary Dawn

Allison

Sharon W

I Love you Sweet Pea

2010-01-20T10:25:00.004-07:00

ahhh....amour, love is in the air....

chocolate...

smiles....

crafting...

YES, I said crafting. This is one of the things you missed if you don't come to class or stamp with me! You missed out on creating this GORGEOUS (tooting my own horn) valentine. In non-traditional valentine colours - yay me! So really, it can be used for loving someone up any time of year, but Valentine's is coming and you OUGHT to give your someone special something handmade and lovely!

Check out the texture and loveliness....the clean simple lines....(I think I have a crush on this card).

This card was inspired by the Sweet Pea Felt, a new Stampin' Up! product in the Occasions Mini Catalogue. Stinkin' cute! I squee'd when I saw them. I loved the colours and translated them over into my valentine (smart of me, now I can hoard my felt just a little longer...).

Here's the scoop:

Perfect Polka Dot Impressions Folder for the Bigshot (to get the sweet little dotted textured background) in Pretty In Pink
the Heart of Hearts Embosslits Die (for the scallopy white heart..which also has a dotted texture) in Whisper White
Stampin' Up! heart punch (layered on top) in Melon Mambo
Scallop Square die to make the card base in Old Olive
embellished with some mighty fine Stampin' Up! chocolate 1" grosgrain ribbon.

Voila! PSSST....see the pretty papers in the background?

That's the NEW glittery and GORGEOUS Sending Love Specialty Paper.

Every page has GLITTER accents on it! I might hoard that too!

You need to go to my website, you need to look at pretty things!

But don't listen to me here, go there and see for yourself ... http://www.doodlebug.stampinup.net/

I hope you liked the valentine. Tell me if you make one!

Hugs,

Dreena

Colour Challenge - Chocolate Orange

2010-01-05T14:33:00.010-07:00

***edited to add EXTENDED DATE!! We'll close the colour challenge Wednesday, Jan. 20, 8am MST. (on account of a small child in the house having a bad cold, and needing much momma time)...create away my friends! And read on if you've just landed here...

It's a new year and my theme word for the year is "Begin".

I want 2010 to be a year bursting with juicy newness! Doesn't that sound like a delicious way to live life? I think so.

There are a lot of delicious things I want to do with this year. I've got a journal, the word "begin" is on the front so that I am reminded every day of my promise to myself to "begin", to go for it,.. to do, ...to try, ...to start!

So here we are, with a new start and a new little something different on my blog.
A little beginning.
A colour challenge.

Play with me if you want to. Just use the two pictures below for inspiration and keep reading...

The words "chocolate orange" popped into my head today, so I ran with it...

Let your eyes feast on this. Chocolate and Orange are two of my favourite colours (and two of my favourite flavours) and you put them together and well...if a picture is worth a thousand words then I'll just shut up while you look at this.

Yumm, need I say more? Actually yes, has anyone out there actually had this?

and this....

Rudbeckia...even nature loves chocolate and orange!

The rules for Chocolate Orange Colour challenge are simple....use these two photos for inspiration and create a paper craft project celebrating chocolate and orange! It can be anything!

Send me a link to your creation (your blog post or picture on Flickr, for example) by using the Mr. Linky widget and:

I'll pick 10 drool worthy projects of chocolate orange goodness and feature them here on my blog...
because I'm not a pro blogger, 10 seems manageable and it's 2010 so it seems like a cool way to honour the number of the year
How about we try to accomplish this in 10 days? Sound good? (WILL NOW CLOSE WED. Jan 20, 8am MST)
Just a note...please ensure that it is the link to the specific photo or blog posting that you are sharing, not the general blog or web address. Thanks :)

Now, let's just "begin" ...

1. Kerri Renaud
2. Sue in Vancouver
3. Lisa - papergrace
4. Allison

5. Mary Dawn
6. Jillian L.
7. Sharon
8. FieryCanuck

9. leslie (crook)
10. Nicole Black
11. Ee

It's a Bookmark, It's a Card...It's a BOOKMARK CARD

2009-10-08T12:11:00.011-06:00

I love it when a project is 'multi-functional'. A little bit more than meets the eye.

I also love it when my club ladies 'ooh and ahh' and get that wicked gleam in their eye...they just KNOW they are going to home and make a mini-herd of the project before them.

A couple months ago I saw an idea by a fellow stamper for bookmark cards. It was just brilliant, and while I'd love to take the credit, I can't. I'd also love to GIVE credit, but if you've seen the state of my craft room...you know I've put the sheet of paper with the deets in a safe place.

If I ever find that safe place I put things there are keys, unread books, probably my missing socks, important slips of paper, and I'm convinced...several hundreds of dollars. Good thing my cat was self-sufficient, and my children are loud...

If I find you, oh creator of this pattern I will surely edit this post...and if you are the creator of this pattern, puh-leez leave me a comment and a blog address so that I can commend you!

On to the good and pretty!

Cute huh? The card is a 6x6" square of paper folded in half for the base. (You can get four of these bad boys from one sheet of 12x12..I LOVE THAT).

All of the products are Stampin' Up!,

Rich Razzleberry cardstock (base)
Melon Mambo cardstock (mat)
Razzleberry Lemonade Designer paper
Whisper White cardstock (ultra silky smooth)
Large Silver Grommet
Razzleberry Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon (I can't tell you how amazing this ribbon is!!)
Melon Mambo Classic Ink
Rich Razzleberry Classic Ink (butterfly) ..ooh matchy matchy me
Basic Black classic ink
Silver brads
Stampin Dimensionals (pop up the butterfly and act as a stopper against acetate)
a strip of acetate (used to make see through band to hold bookmark on card)

Additional Stampin' Up! items used but not pictured:

a hole piercing tool (for the brads)
Tombow "snail" tape runner adhesive
1" circle punch to make the hole for the grommet

Here's a shot of the card with the bookmark pulled out from behind the acetate band....see? Isn't this cutie patootie? You could stamp a message that shows through behind the acetate, like an additional sentiment.

Speaking of the stamp set used, it's a great little number called GREAT FRIEND, from Stampin' Up!

It's a rubber on wood mount stamp set, with 5 pieces in the set. It's gorgeous. It's only $23.95, and yes, it's available through me, as well as any of the products named above! You can place orders online or by contacting me (Canadians only).

Extra bonus this month!!! When you place any order of $50.00 with me by email or via my website I will send you a FREE step-by-step tutorial, with pictures, on how to create your own bookmark cards! Additional shots of inside and back of card will be included, as well as pictures of 2 alternative bookmark card ideas.

You can visit my website by clicking HERE.

Here's a peekaboo at the GREAT FRIEND stamp set.Happy Stamping! I hope you make a mini-herd of Bookmark Cards!

Dreena

Get Ill Soon - Blog Hop

2009-10-04T15:12:00.013-06:00

You read that right. Get Ill Soon.

I'm not sure how this started, but we have another blog hop that has been born of the ladies on Twitter. Join us, read on, follow along each stop on the Blog Hop (links will be provided within each stop) and you'll unravel the story of "Get Ill Soon" and you'll also be treating your eyeballs and funnybones to some really awesome creations of paper artistry.

If you've arrived from the previous blog stop, Lisa's blog, www.papergrace.blogspot.com a big welcome to you. If you've started here, then please do read on and the next stop is provided to you at the bottom of the posting. We'll take care of you...now on to the goods.

So, my friends, dont'cha sometimes wish that you had a magic prescription pad where you could prescribe that wonderful co-worker an extended sick leave, your ex-cheating boyfriend a little (erm...) well I'll leave that one alone...you get my point.

Well I have it. The magical GET ILL SOON prescription pad, for writing your own 'sick' prescriptions to those that are ticking you off.

A closeup of the focal point. NO SOUP FOR YOU...haahh, i've been dying to say that. All puns intended. See how all the feel goody-ness is crossed out? I can be bad like that. I had to add a little vellum and polkadot designer paper, to soften the blow...

Loads of funkeh grosgrain ribbons...in saffron, real red and basic black compliment the colour scheme....

Open up your 'sick' little prescription pad and give someone a piece of your mind...

"Dear Susy Snarky, please get ill soon. Take this prescription for 3 days sick leave , so that I can get my job done. " Sincerely, YOU KNOW WHO.

Now for your next spot on the Blog Hop please visit Ms. Understand Blue herself, Lydia Fiedler...where I'm sure she will shock, awe and amaze you with her mad skillz.

So go on....get ill with us....and go here: Understand Blue

If you would like to win your own sick little prescription pad please leave me a comment, a way to contact you, and tell me why you need the power of the 'Get Ill Soon'. I will do a draw next weekend!

Ta ta my lovelies!

Babyface! You've Got the Cutest Little Baby Face

2009-09-09T14:53:00.032-06:00

So this is what's been keeping me busy for the last couple of weeks. Babies....

Babies, we knew they were hard work, but I'm here to tell you 75 babies keep you very, very busy indeed. Aren't they just the most adorable bundles of joy? I love them. I've been making these babies for a 25 member punched art swap meet at our team convention on Saturday. I hope the ladies love them as much as I do.

Each baby is constructed from a variety of shapes of punched card stock, in this case a wide oval punch, circle and flower are used. See end of post for a more detailed list.

If you haven't tried punched art or you haven't been bold enough to do it alone, please come to class or email me! My contact is on my website here. The possibilities are endless with punched art.

Last week I used the scallop circle punch pictured here to make the background sky for the baby bundle cards. If you follow my blog you'll remember this...

The sky backgrounds, got trimmed and mounted onto a layer of Bermuda Bay cardstock, and stamped in Basic Black Classic Ink with the "Rock-a-Bye-Baby" sentiment from the stamp set Nursery Necessities. Nursery Necessities is a gem of a baby set for cards as well as scrapbooking. Details on the stamp set are at the end of the blog post.

Baby Faces up close! I have a few tips to share with you. When doing punched art there are a few things you can do to make your creating go smoother, faster and easy to store...

Can you see the little 'dotted' bits behind the faces, on the paper? That's a temporary adhesive that Stampin' Up! sells called Dotto.

Dotto is a sanity saver.

Really it is. Read on...

Let me tell you more about Dotto. Dotto is helpful when you are creating detailed work, or when you are fiddling with a scrap page layout.

Here I've run strips of Dotto across a piece of printer paper, and stuck down ROWS of baby faces... They are all ready for me to sponge and ink and add detail.

NOT ONLY THAT, but when it was time for supper, I just picked up the page and put it in a protective craft keeper envelope. It stays stuck and waiting for me to pull it out next time! MY FRIENDS...how easy is that?

Think of all the times you've been interrupted by say the phone, come back and the kiddies have picked up your scrapbook page and your layout went everywhere?! No more! Dotto! See the end of the post for product info.

See, here I'm putting down some Dotto and adhering my baby bundles and shapes so that I can do my inking and shading with my sponge daubers. Handy!

Here's a shot of the assembled baby bundles. These were so simple to make.

Close up time! Little rosy cheeks, and white gel pen dimples, awww. Note: the faces are popped up on a foam dimensional before they are stuck down to the bundles.

The sentiment from Nursery Necessities, gel pen highlights, pretty punched border (say ooh...say ahh). LOL!

Again, the finished baby bundles! Thanks to Sophia Landry for her inspiration on baby bundle punchies. I really enjoyed making these little guys.

All supplies used are Stampin' Up! and can be purchased from my store.

**The Almighty DOTTO temporary adhesive** (insert sound of trumpets and fanfare)

Dotto: 103305 $17.95 (Dotto is refillable, don't throw away your cartridge!)

Punches:

Wide Oval Punch 112082 $22.95
3/4" circle punch 107217 $15.95
5-Petal Flower 109041 $22.95

Border Punch: Eyelet Border 113692 $22.95

Cardstock:

whisper white (40 sheets) 100730 $9.95
Bermuda Bay (24 sheets) 115317 $7.25
Kraft (40 sheets) 102125 $9.95
Soft Subtles Assorted Pkg (pink/yellow/apricot/green) 36 sheets (3ea. of 12 colours) 105568 $10.50 *each colour is also available in single packs of 24 sheets for $7.25

Accessories:

Black Journaler 105394 $4.50
White Gel Pen 105021 $5.50
Sponge Daubers (12) 102892 $15.95
Stampin' Dimensionals 104430 $5.50
Hemp twine 12yds 100982 $3.95

Stamp Set:

Nursery Necessities 113506 (set of 12) $42.95

I Heart Paper Punch Art

2009-09-03T17:09:00.004-06:00

I'm still working away on my swaps for our team convention in a couple of weeks. The swap is all about punched art and there are 25 punch lovers participating. I can't wait to see all of the designs!

Here's a gem that I did for a punched art class as well as for my downline. A punchy peacock! Isn't he adorable? Truly a labour of love. (sorry for the thumb print on my camera lens!)

Punches used are :

scallop oval - body and wings #114889
boho blossoms - feet and 'crown' #110711
small star - beak #109045
word window - feathers, neck, head #105090

Additional:

mini glue dots #103683
tombow mono multi liquid glue (ESSENTIAL FOR PUNCH ART!) #110755
Fine Cosmo #108796

Sentiment on the inside: You did such a great job and I'm 'Proud as a Peacock'!

Of course, all supplies are available in my online store, HERE.

Stay tuned in October when My Digital Studio digi-scrapping becomes available!

Faux Clouds Stamping Technique

2009-08-29T16:16:00.018-06:00

What am I working on today?

Well you might say I have my head in the clouds!
FAUX CLOUDS, that is!

I'm prepping swaps for our annual local group's stamping convention. I can't show you the whole project yet as it is being prepped in stages (it's so cute!) What I CAN show you are my Faux Clouds (gosh I love all of the FAUX techniques out there!)

You can see my faux wood projects if you go HERE and HERE).

Aren't they pretty? Here's a close-up....

Can't you see this technique used for a summer time scrapbook page border with title, or even a complete background paper?

Supplies Needed:

a scallop circle punch (item #109043 $22.95)
a sponge, come in packs of 3 and I cut them up (item #101610 $4.95)
Tempting Turquoise classic ink (item #100814 $7.95)
whisper white card stock (item #106529 $9.95)

You can get all of the supplies listed by clicking here.

Hot Tip: The sponges come as a package of 3 large ROUNDS, see how I've cut mine into a wedge? They last FOREVER! Very good deal, and I really like how they apply and DON'T absorb the ink.

Technique: You might be able to see from the picture, that I lay down the scallop punched shape and drag/pounce ink over the template, onto the whisper white cardstock. Then move the punched scalloped circle template around, sponge/ink, move, sponge/ink, move...until the whole piece is covered. Leave some white space and then you can always go back and apply more ink.

Stay tuned, I'll show you the finished deal just as soon as I'm done!

No peeking Lori-Anne!

For the Love of BLUE

2009-08-26T15:06:00.013-06:00

Monday was a special day for a special lady. Lydia's great day started off with a big birthday bang! We secretly planned and schemed behind her back...she taught us all the previous week how to do a 'blog hop' and we used her own super powers against her. BWAHAHAHAHA. (evil laughter).

You all may know Lydia from http://www.understandblue.blogspot.com/ and I have had the good fortune to meet with her on Twitter as a person with an amazing sense of humour, a big, kind and generous heart, a lover and guardian angel of furry pets and animals, a fellow stamper....and well darn it, she's just AS SWEET AS PIE. (and she loves bacon)

So if you don't know her, you will soon because even though I'm late and I couldn't participate in the blog hop formal, I'm going to link you up with the first stop on the Understand BLUE Birthday Blog Hop, right after this tribute to Lydia.

So, last week I made playdough with my small girl. From scratch. Am I a good mommy or what?

It was a cinch, and I become Mommy/Hero to a four year old. Good times.

She of course wanted BLUE (who wouldn't, we understand blue, blue is good, Lydia has shown us the way!)

So we made a variety of things....oh wait what's THIS:

A BLUE ACORN....ODD, how did that get here? We shouldn't just have these things hanging around, because if you have acorns you'll attract...

Squirrels....whoa....see how fast that happened? Well hello little blue guy.

I see you like this little blue acorn. Would you like to have it ? (what am I going to do with this squirrel? I've got to play playdough with my small girl and then get a birthday wish out to Lydia???)

No. NO....c'mere little dude, come here...no no...don't go there, that's not for YOU.

OH NO. He's spied the Chocolate Espresso Bacon Cupcakes from the First Annual Twitter Bacon Blog Hop with Lydia and friends. Back away little Buddy! THAT CUPCAKE IS LYDIA'S! IT'S NOT EVEN FROSTED YET.

Oh dear, he's got a crazed bacon look in his eyes. His tail is twitching. What will he choose? BLUE ACORN or Bacon? (i know I KNOW...it's a hard choice!)

There he goes.....

Well there you have it. You can't resist anything with Bacon. Not even if you're a BLUE SQUIRREL!

Sorry Lydia, looks like this little guy had your cake and ate it too! But I hope your birthday was fan-freakin-tastic!

Now as promised, here is the first stop to Lydia's SURPRISE Understand Blue Birthday Blog Hop.

First Annual Twitter Bacon Blog Hop

2009-08-16T10:00:00.034-06:00

MMMM. Bacon

There's just something about bacon.

People love it.
People love to eat it.
People love to smell it frying.

People love to talk about it and blog about it (say what?)

Welcome! You've arrived to the final destination of the 1st Annual Twitter Bacon Blog Hop. We have 8 stops for your to browse and drool through (don't worry if you've arrived here first, I will bring you to the starting point of the Blog Hop at the end of my bacon rave).

First thing's first. As this IS a papercrafting blog and I'm committed to all things papercrafty, I just have to brag on this card I discovered while writing my blogpost. Bacon and papercrafts come together as one...sigh. CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS? It's a bacon and egg breakfast card! HOW happy would your eyeballs be to receive this?

Big huge thanks to Kathy (CAKath on Splitcoast) for allowing me to share her personal creation with you! You can see it here.

Bacon Blog Hop - How did this strange thing come to be?

So yesterday I'm knee deep in computer work and have tweetdeck open which allows me to categorize my tweeps (my twitter people I follow) and Lydia says something about bacon. Now, let me back up and say that I follow Lydia for her mad papercrafting skillz so the bacon caught me off guard.... and those who know me know that I'm one who can't resist putting in my 2 cents.

So I sent Lydia a message with an unconventional use of bacon. She replied back! Her office loved the idea. Really? Whoa. What have I stumbled upon here, but a cult-like following of fellow bacon lovers! How odd! How, how so very cool! Bacon lovers unite!

Over the course of the afternoon there were jokes of bacon bake-offs (a bac-off as Lydia called it, how clever!), messages of bacon recipies, and in the time it takes to fry up a pan of the good stuff we had a gregarious group of bacon foodies united through twitter. It turns out that we all blog so the natural progression to this new found bond would be to all blog about bacon, just to be cool, different and to share the love.

Let's take it one step further and we now have the 1st Annual Bacon Blog Hop organized and ready to take you an a small guided tour. Join us on each step of this tour and we'll share with you our thoughts on bacon, our love of bacon, odes to bacon, bacon stories and last but NOT LEAST each of us will share a favourite bacon RECIPE.

Let's take a moment to share a couple of video tributes to bacon, shall we?

Now this. Oh this had me busting a gut laughing. Watch the video and then I'll share something my good friend DG told me.

So my good friend DG, bless him, he's always sends me fun things and food for thought (literally). I posted a comment on my facebook page about the 1st Annual Bacon Bloghop and he posted this memory:

I once cooked off 3 pounds of bacon in the oven over a few hours one night in the oven, and when it was all cooled down, I put it all in a container and placed it in the freezer. I snacked on it off and on for the next couple days here and there, and when i wanted to use some for a burger, opened the container and realized that in 3 or so days, I ate all 3 pounds of bacon, except 3 pieces!

First let me say, what a brilliant idea. Often I want some bacon for my burger but don't want to dirty up another pan....or I've thought of it too late! Thanks DG, you da man! Second let me say, dude...you aren't the only one (mmm bacon) who would be guilty of this bacon snacking goodness.

Let's also give props where they are due and say that DG is also the very same person who led me to a site completely dedicated to all things bacon. www.bacontoday.com The cult of bacon lovers is bigger and badder than you ever knew! Recipes, jokes, a bacon babe of the day (not that I support this but hey, it doesn't come between me and my bacon, so whatevs!)

So I took the time to ask a few people how they like their bacon:

My hubby: a little bit crisp, in an egg sandwich (fried egg sandwich/rye bread)
My small girl: Wis mustard on it! (i know she's just going for the drama here)

My almost teenager: cooked. (hmm. The typical one word teenaged answer that can mean a multitude of things. 1. She'll take her bacon how and where she can get it as long as it's cooked. 2. She doesn't care to speak to me of such things. 3. She isn't speaking to me at all. 4. I'm lame. 5. There's bacon? Let's cut the small talk and start noshing!)
Me: BLT (oh baby oh baby) (on fresh french loaf, with mayo, fresh crisp lettuce, thinly sliced tomato, thick cut bayCON)

Graziela mentioned a spaghetti carbonara (and that made me drool)

Baba (my neighbour) gifted us with a MEAN dish of homemade pierogies with onion and butter and hunks of chopped up bacon love. I love when people reward my hubby's manual labour with home cookin'. OMG. It was comfort food utopia.

Lori-Anne said she didn't like it, so I think you all better change her mind....I said she's not doing it right. ha!

Now how about the unconventional? Something a little bit different? Tonight I will attempt to make the Dark Chocolate Bacon Espresso Cupcake. The thing about cupcakes is they need icing to be a cupcake....i'm a little concerned about this flavour blend, but how can bacon go wrong?

Dark Chocolate Bacon Espresso Cupcake Recipe

12 slices of your favourite bacon (the stronger flavour the better)
2 cups flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if your bacon is really salty)
2 eggs
1 cup cold STRONG brewed coffee
1 cup of buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp cocoa powder for dusting

OPTIONAL: 2/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 F/190 celsius

Cook 12 slices bacon to crisp, drain, cool then crumble. Crumble into small bits! Save 4 slices to cut up for garnish.

In large bowl stir together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the centre and pour in eggs, coffee, buttermilk and oil. Stir. Put in crumbled bacon. Stir. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin or foil cups.

Bake for 25 minutes for average muffin and 30 minutes for jumbo. Or until middle springs back when lightly pressed. Cool on wire rack. Frost with favourite chocolate or (creamcheese vanilla frosting) and dust with cocoa. Insert a piece of bacon into the top for garnish.
NOTE: next time I may try this recipe with maple extract and pecans.

Now, if you're ever in Edmonton, AB, rumour has it that Kerstin's Chocolate was selling chocolate covered bacon strips. I'm not kidding. I would never kid about bacon.

I'm officially the last stop and as I promised, I'd link you back to the first stop on the 1st Annual Twitter Bacon Blog Hop where you will be visiting a fellow stamper and bacon lover, Leslie. You will find her bacon bloggy goodness at The Crooked Stamper.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wanted

2009-06-26T23:51:00.015-06:00

Rewind to last Saturday..... my good friend DG had arranged and booked a Stampin' Up! workshop and a few of his close and wonderful friends were coming, which was exciting and fantastic....

So how do you balance a workshop for one dude, a few lovely ladies, all mixed interests and levels...and none I've previously met. Would feminine projects offend? Should we scrapbook? Make cards? BigShot? Small things, big things? Oh dear...

Stop thinking and start doing...just do what Stampin' Up! says to do...share what we love!

WELLLLLL, I loved the faux wood technique that I featured in a previous post...and what stamp set and colours would go with that 'look'? The stamp set...WANTED....check it out...

This starts off with an 8.5x11" piece of Kraft cardstock for the base scrapbook page. The supplies used are Kraft cardstock stamped with elements from Wanted in Ruby Red, Bordering Blue and Night of Navy. Then....sponged with Close to Cocoa, and Whisper White to give it 'grit' baby...I'm feelin' OLD WEST!

Here I've added a Very Vanilla strip along the bottom, and layered it on to a 12x12" piece of textured Chocolate Chip cardstock. A very special thanks goes out to my husband for playing a 'villainous' model so that I could have pictures for my western themed scrap page!

This would be an idea of what everything would look like with extra 'outtakes' and pictures or journalling and memorabilia added to the page. The embellished vanilla block at the top can be used for another photo or a nice journalling block!

I hope you enjoyed this other take on 'faux wood' technique and to see how easy it is to progress from small scrap page to large!

Here's the Wanted stamp set which you can order online (and all other inks and accessories as well*), even in your jammies right now, my store is always open (Canadian orders) here!

*husband not for sale, I'm keeping him as he is very WANTED

Cards for Dudes

2009-06-09T19:00:00.003-06:00

I (heart) this card so much. It was fast, it was easy and it was WAY FUNKY! Punchy cards are all the rage. I am constantly amazed by what my sistahs who stamp keep making with simple punched shapes!

Check out this card that we made in the Manly Men Class (I'm saving it for my hunny). He always fixes things around the house, big or small and it never ceases to amaze me how talented he is. I (heart) him too :)

All Supplies are Stampin Up! (of course)

Stamp set: retired <---- sniff...this is WHY it's important to get your wish list items before they retire! See the scoop on the current retiring lists by going to my AB FAB website HERE

Cardstock: brushed silver, Real Red, Kraft

Accessories: Large Grommet, silver brads

Inks: versamark, black Staz-On, circle punches, paper snips

Stamping Technique Faux Wood

2009-06-07T17:50:00.004-06:00

Awhile back I did a fun and funky Manly Men card class. All projects had a masculine touch and were geared towards the men and boys in our lives. It can be difficult to create these types of cards (or find projects to CASE). CASE= copy and share everything. Yep...we stampers and scrappers have a secret language...

The first card I want to share is the faux wood technique. We used this technique and paired it with the Stampin' Up! retired Stamp set Ahoy Matey! , which is in my stash of adorable things that I am hoarding. My customers are lucky I'm such a hoarder...they can still play with old sets from time to time. NOW, I also envision using this technique with my 'western' sets....Wanted with the cowboy would look REALLY good.

Have a look at the photos and then tell me what set you think would go well with this technique!

Here's a close-up of the wood....it looks strikingly similar to my piano wood! Isn't it brilliant? I also particularly enjoy my distressed and inked edges and that itty bitty library clip by the parrot.

Here is the card straight on. I CASED the project from Dawn Griffith, stamping guru. Her website is here Dawn's Stamping Thoughts.

In a nutshell, you start out with a piece of Stampin' Up!s More Mustard Cardstock. Swipe a More Mustard Classic inkpad in continuous, long, straight lines across the cardstock. Repeat with Close to Cocoa Classic ink. Repeat again with Chocolate Chip Classic ink (swipe swipe swipe). THEN....swipe with Whisper White CRAFT ink. NOT too heavy now....just enough to add some highlight/contrast to the magical wood colours you've just created. Then I drew in the planks with a ruler and black Stampin' Write Journaller. Do dots of ink for the nails and nail holes, I happened to have an old silver ink pen so i used those to make my nails. Pretty neato huh?

If you do try something with this technique I'd love for you to link back to me or send me a message so I can come and see yours!

So, for those who know me personally and KNOW that I'm a girly girl and a ribbon-a-holic. NONE of my manly projects had ribbon. Now, let me point out that yes..this one has cotton twill tape, but it's TAPE my friends, Stampin' UP! says so!!! Besides it lends to the 'nautical' theme of the card.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! I hope you like the technique!

Toodle-oo
Dreena

Where I've been Lately

2009-06-05T17:19:00.005-06:00

Sorry I've been away. I had a special request for this thing I used to do...

I used to make baby keepsake baskets. You know all of those itty bitty little baby hospital bracelets, keepsakes, footprints, first haircut snippets etc...well this is a 'home' for all of those little things (while you catch up on working to scrapbook them...or if you aren't a scrapbooker then this is a permanent and perfectly sweet little place for these special memories to stay).

It all starts where you take one plain Jane ordinary wicker basket.

Then with a few yards of cloth and flannel....(couldn't you just eat these adorable little critters up?) The covers, hinges, and ruffles are all hand made and hand sewn (by moi!)

Get some trimmin's and fixin's to match....(the other side has a Winnie the Pooh soft rattle, and we further decorated it by attaching baby washcloths and booties tied to the handles)

Add some baby lovin' mojo and ooey gooey goodness and you come up with this......(no pattern except in my head for now!) Of course I had to get some Stampin' Up! ribbons in there, my Sale-a-bration ribbons matched the fabric PERFECTLY!

NOTE: Currently there are discounts on some ribbons and accessories in my Stampin' Up! online store, and many more stamps and accessories retiring....go have a peek at the Last Chance Lists and Products. Go to my website here and click on the shopping button to view the products in the shop.

WANNA SEE WHAT'S INSIDE? YOU KNOW YOU DO! Here's the view from one side, chock full of baby goodness. What momma wouldn't LOVE to receive one of these keepsake baskets ready to go with items to USE? I hope she loved it...

Toodles! I'll have more yummy things for show soon now that baby's gift is done, I hope you enjoyed this.

THE LAST CHANCE LISTS....

2009-06-01T13:46:00.003-06:00

It's that time of year.....time to say goodbye to old friends, or in this case very dearly loved products, and make room for the new.

So it's farewell to alot of wonderful stamp sets, beautiful accessories and Decore Elements.

Please visit my website for the LATEST news, shop on my website for preferred customer pricing (Canadians), and to see the Summer Fun promotion for hostesses!

Now. Here is what you've been waiting for....

Last chance stamps list (alphabetical)

Last Chance Decor Elements List

For the Last Chance Accessories list, please visit my website, contact me and request that I email you the document, as it will be updated daily....then I can keep you up to speed.

The accessories list is a FIRST COME FIRST SERVED basis and also contains some items that are discounted up to 50%. You won't want to miss it! This list includes punches, papers, inks, scrappin' kits, tools, hardware, ribbons and 'bling'. Don't forget, you get preferred customer pricing when shopping on my web-store and your order is processed instantly!

In addition to pictures of our Last Chance products, you will also find the following on my website: video tutorials, product ideas, and the new Summer Fun promotions.

Toodles!

Wow. WOW. Have You Seen THIS?

2009-05-27T18:59:00.002-06:00

The 80's called and they want me back

2009-05-27T16:26:00.008-06:00

It's another colour challenge by Kristina Werner! You can view her blog here.

This colour challenge was difficult. I do not work well with primary colours. I almost bailed on this challenge, and maybe after you see what I created you might wish I had! ha!

And I'm not a practicing scrapbooker.

What did I make? You got it, a 12x12" scrapbook page with colours that made me lie awake at night thinking...what to do...what to do...

Then as I sat staring into my pile of designer papers...Rockabilly jumped out with its big jumbo polka dots and i was taken back to a time of big bold colours, big patterns, big hair, big flowers, big attitude, big music....YES YES...the 1980's called and they want me back!

So here's my Big Bad scrapbook page. It's got all the colours, big texture, big flowers, acrylic paint on window sheet, ....it's got it all.... The journalling is my favourite movies and bands from the 80's. The pictures are of me having an 80's moment with my shirt, hair and eyemakeup. The feel i was going for was kind of a funky 80's teen magazine pinup/locker layout...all that was missing was some notebook paper ripped from a scribbler.

The picture with the paper clip can hang from the black strip at the top, or tuck into the polkadot pocket....so there are options baby!

Next is a closeup of the flower, black Stampin' Up! grommets baby! YUMMO. The flower was created with my Daisy die and my BigShot die cutting machine. You can see THOSE in my online store HERE.

Next up you can see the matching blue paper clippie, the pockets, the painting and more. I hope you enjoy it! PS...did I mention that as I was printing my pix, the printer splatted black ink all over everything...it's the project that almost killed the crafter! Video may have killed the radio star...but I survived....oh dear...I'm about to go on an 80's music escapade...I leave you now!

The ROUNDUP

2009-05-22T10:34:00.006-06:00

If you've been following my blog in the past few days, you'll have seen my submission for Kristina Werner's colour challenge #52. My first challenge EVAH! (I'd been stalking for a long time, but not brave enough to participate).

This morning, I wake up and do the email and blog visit routine where I drink coffee and enjoy 'coffee for my eyeballs' ...which is what I call all of the wonderful visual creations posted by the paper ARTISTS I follow. There's a few comments to my blog, which makes my heart smile. Then I have an out of body, surreal, mind-blasting experience when I realize a few of the comments are telling me that I've made Kristina's top 20 picks for the challenge!

Envision coffee only half raised to lips, one eyebrow lifted, my brain racing...."top 20? There's a top 20? What does that mean"?

I DO follow Kristina's blog, so I'm slightly confused by the top 20 only because...... I know it as "The Roundup". THE ROUNDUP....

MY card made it to THE roundup....the one at the end of the challenge where the mighty Kristina whom I adore picks her favourites, puts their little images in a uber cool little collage and shows them to all of internet-dom (okay that's not a word) to feast their crafty eyes upon?

MY card...in THE roundup!

Why don't you go on over to Kristina's and feast your eyes upon the roundup, there is a herd of crafty goodness just waiting for you to point and click!

Isn't it pretty? I love the collage...(see me in the third row down, first card...yay!) Click on the image to go to Kristina's blog and see it all for yourself (bigger and better!)

Hugs, D.

How Challenging!

2009-05-20T14:49:00.026-06:00

I have a confession.

I have a few sweet blogs that I visit all of the time with my morning coffee. They are like coffee for my eyeballs in the morning. They get my eyes and creative soul up and jumpin', ready to proceed with the day.

One particular blog I visit routinely is Kristina Werner's blog. A few days ago, my eyes feasted upon her new colour challenge. She has a new one every week. The challenge has a groovy picture for inspiration, and with it a colour swatch of 'mandatory' colours that are to be used in your creation.

I loved the colours.

The colours drove me to do something I've never done in my 3+ years as a papercrafter.....I MADE SOMETHING FOR THE CHALLENGE! And if I may toot my own horn, it's kinda pretty!

So here is the inspiration picture for Challenge #52

Here's my creation, do you LIKE it? :)

This mini-card folio uses the Thoughts and Prayers stamp set (tree), Oval All Stamp set, the coordinating Scalloped Oval punch, a white Button Latte' flower button, Taffeta "Kraft coloured" ribbon, whisper white/so saffron/baja breeze/more mustard/kraft cardstock and inks. (All Stampin' Up! products were used).

Here's a few close-ups of the project:

First, the inside of the folio, holds a few little 'note cards' and envelopes. I plan to use mine as hostess gifts for ladies who book parties. They deserve a little something special! The note cards they can decorate and embellish with sentiments of their choice! Cool hey?

Next up is a close up of the embellishment. I just love these little buttons, they are so sweet and add a classy touch, I think it compliments the scallop oval very nicely! If you want to browse our fabulous products and accessories you can visit my online store here.

Last but not least....a zoom in on the paper piercing! I love my Crafter's Tool Kit. Faux stitching and paper piercing are a wonderful techniques that add a little texture to a project without going over the top. Check it out:

Here's a snapshot of the main stamp set that I used. I have a feeling I'll be using it a lot more :) You can click on the photos to see them in a larger format.

If you are in the Edmonton area and would like to host a Stampin' Up! party, contact me through my website here and I'll be bringing this cute little gifty to YOU! Click here to view the fun and benefits of having a home party where I bring the fun and crafting to your home.

Men Men Men...Manly Men (the card class)

2009-05-13T12:55:00.004-06:00

Any fans of the TV show Two and a Half Men will know that I totally hijacked a snippet of the theme song for Today's post title (and the name of the card class), but i'm okay with that!

I love the show not only because of the fast and witty verbal exchange between characters, but also because my husband (my non-tv watching husband...wait that sounds like I have more than one husband...believe me there's only ONE and he doesn't like TV) watches, and he laughs out loud, full on laughter.

If there's one thing I love, it's laughter. Laughter makes my heart smile.

Laughter, feeling good, good times, simple things :) Where am i going with this? Well, last night was my Manly Men Card Class! (*cue song in my head again*) We made 5 masculine themed cards, and enjoyed several hours of stampy bliss!

I feel pretty satisfied with the end results.....

Several hours before the class I changed my mind on a couple of things because i found a VERY COOL technique for 'faux woodgrain' and then stumbled upon a few equally adorable wallet cards for father's day. And wellllll...if you see something cool and masculine, you gotta do it! As many stampers know, it's a challenge to come up with masculine themes/cards for giving to the men in our lives.

NOTE: As a ribbon-a-holic I'm proud to say that NOTHING (zip zero zilch nada) had ribbon on it. Oh wait, one had a itty bitty bit of twill tape, but it went with the theme...and it was not tied, beribboned, knotted or bowed!!! I promise!

So do you want to see the yummy things we made? YES?! I'm taking pictures of the projects for your eyeballs to celebrate over, and some fun links to share with you. Let me get all of my ducks in a row, and y'all come back soon!

In the meantime, have you checked out the art gallery and videos on my stampin' up! homepage? You totally should! The video demos from head office are exceptionally well done. While you're there please check my calendar and see if there is any class that tickles your fancy (and check out our new business special too). Click here.

Now i must go make like a camera and be back in a FLASH. (HAR HAR HAR!)

One Sweet Bundle!

2009-05-06T12:41:00.020-06:00

Paper Sampler Share PLUS

Designer Papers are HOT right now….

Whether you use your papers for BigShot die cutting, cutting up to decorate cards & scrapbooks or for punching up with paper punches… designer papers add a gorgeous, finished look to all of your projects!

Right now I’m offering an opportunity to participate in a bulk buy paper sampler share.

In this paper share you will receive a 6x6” piece of each design/pattern from all 20 Designer Series Paper packages! You can view all of the papers on pages 158 - 161 of the current Stampin' Up! catalogue HERE.

You will receive a total of 120 sheets of paper for $35 + shipping*
(That’s only 29 cents per sheet!)

*This offer is only open to Canadians, shipping is via Canada Post and based on your location in Canada. There is no additional shipping cost to you if you are planning to pick up your order.

How Does it Work?

Each group will consist of 8 members (you may purchase more than one spot in the share) and I will place orders as each group fills and payment is received from all members. (payment options are cheque, cash, visa, mastercard, paypal, internet banking)

Why is this a Paper Sampler PLUS?

…the PLUS is there is a paper special in May (buy 3 get 1 free) and this means that as I place the order for each group of 8, I will also be able to get an additional 6 packages of designer series paper for the group.

This breaks down to an l bonus of an extra 36 pieces of assorted Designer Series Papers for FREE! Remember, this bonus is only available in May!

In the Merry Merry Month of May.....

2009-05-01T13:42:00.007-06:00

May 1 - 31 we're celebrating National Scrapbooking Month and Stampin' Up! is offering the following THREE special promotions (until May31):

Buy 3 get 1 free! It's time to stock up on your favourite packages of 12x12" designer series papers AND textured cardstock (textured specialty designer papers such as Rockabilly and To The Nines and Sweet Slumber ARE INCLUDED in this offer)

Purchase the NEW Jumble Alphabet stamp-set (sneak peek from the upcoming new release of the 2009-10 Idea Book and Catalogue) at 20% off! Item number 115199

Join my Smarty Pants Stampers team for $99! For the month of May, we have a special scrapbooking mini-kit which provides you with a great opportunity to get business started for a really smart price. If you are looking for a low start-up cost, or if you already have a collection of stampin' up supplies at home, this offer might be perfect for you! You will have all of the full demonstrator benefits and discounts as with purchasing the full-sized starter kit. Please visit my website for more information on this Promotion (promotions tab) and the "Join Now" tab will take you to the kit purchase pages. Both kits are available for selection. Click here to view this promotion now.

Your scrapbooking mini-kit contains:

Schoolbook Serif Alphabet stamp set $50.95
Simply Scrappin' Petal Party (scrapbooking kit) $23.95
Earth Elements Assorted 12x12" TEXTURED cardstock $13.95
Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad $8.95

*substitutions for personal preference are available on the stamp-set, scrappin' kit and cardstock (equal value)

Plus all of the business supplies contained in the STANDARD starter kit:

Getting started DVD
Getting Started Guide
Guest Invitations and Postcards (100)
Idea Book and Catalogue (8)
Occasions Mini Catalogue (8)
To My Hostess Envelope (10)
Recruit Folders (5)
Recruit Brochures (20)
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A Little Somethin' Somethin'

2009-04-14T14:32:00.009-06:00

Spring is here! Spring is here! Despite the snowfall today that is causing people to cast a mean eye at the sky...I can feel the difference. The squirrels are chasing each other, the geese are flocking back, the robins and chickadees are singing...and I'm planning new classes!

Bright, fun, new, fresh...it's time to shake of the winter blahs and get refreshed. Refreshed in mind, body and soul. If you feel like shaking off the doldrums and re-igniting some creative sparks please email me or contact me through my website here and I can give you the details on the up-and-coming! Here's a sample of one of the types of cards that I do in a stamp class...

If you've just received my newsletter, you'll know that May is Scrapbooking month! (If you would like a copy of the monthly newsletter, just click on my weblink or the title of this post and you can use the request newsletter link on the top corner of my home page).

What's on the fire for National
Scrapbooking Month?
We're going to bring back that ever-so- popular paper bag scrapbook
I'm offering a NEW and unique 'Get Real' scrapbooking session
a Faithbooking introduction class
.....and more!

In addition to the scrapbooking classes, there are ongoing card classes, and something just a little different. Punched Art. Punched Art is a NEW class which starts the last Monday of the month!

Come join me and get creative, take ordinary into "WOW" as you learn how to create punched characters, animals, flowers, people and more to decorate and embellish your cards, tags, and scrapbook pages!

The picture below is a treat bag with embellished dark chocolate mints...aren't they stinkin' cute???

This adorable little fella was an "Under 10 minute" card creation for one of my stamp clubs. The chick(en) is made from a combination of punches and the Sizzix BigShot die cutting system!

I love to treat everyone with the occasional BigShot project, so if you're curious about what out of the ordinary things you can make with the machine, why not join us?

This card can be modified into a treat box....wouldn't you love to have received this for Easter?

Now, here's a couple more yummy samples to inspire creativity. Below is a sample of just one of approximately 25 things you can do with Stampin' Up! Stampin' Write Markers....neat hey? And if i may quote my teenager...easy peasy lemon squeezy....

You can learn to make this set of note cards in 20 minutes flat

I hope you enjoyed the sneaky peeks and the updates, as with all of my classes, space will be limited. Make sure you sign up for my newsletter or contact me and I'll ensure that you get the details of each class as it is released!

If there is a class that you would like to host at your office or home, I'd be happy to tailor something to meet your needs.

Happy Spring!

Dreena

BigShots Under the Big Top

2009-04-07T08:51:00.015-06:00

I've been meaning to give you all a sneaky peek to the fun and fabulous times we have at our "Millet" meetings. What's a "Millet Meeting"? Let me tell Ya!

Every second month, Stampin' Up! demonstrators who are my colleagues and teammates, as well as my downline gather together in the town of Millet for some fantastic training, four fabulous make 'n' take projects, beautiful display board ideas, and 'jaw dropping' live demonstrations of new product and techniques. We have such a supportive, fun and awesome team. Check out some highlights of this meeting!

Cute swaps are traded around the room, lookie what I spied with my little eye!

In March we held a 'Win a BigShot Under the Big Top' theme party and information event for ladies who were interested in joining Stampin' Up!, ladies who wanted to know more and potentially join the team, and all of the new ladies who joined in February and March. At this event we gave away several BigShot machines to 8 lucky ladies who joined previously and on that day! Congratulations gals!

The Big Top.....

Lines of BigShot Machines waiting to be won.......

One of our winners was a new member to my team, and Corrie's new recruit, Trina (ohhhh you should have heard the screams of glee when Trina's name was called......oh wait, that was me...) Here's a picture of Corrie (yellow shirt) and Trina (in the front) watching Lisa's BigShot demonstration for a 5 point metal star. Yes the BigShot Bigz dies go through metal!

In addition to all the projects, products and greatness...we do doorprizes too! Guess what, our table was a very lucky (thanks Marion...she usually wins lots and couldn't come, i swear that i must have borrowed her luck that day as i have none of my own!) and i won twice! I won a large framed Statement of the Heart as well as a goodie bag full of ribbon/cardstock and brads (leftovers from project prep! Yummy!) Here's the framed deliciousness that i won...

Speaking of Yummy, you should have seen the table of food that the ladies prepared and decorations that Kathy envisioned and brought together! Great work ladies! Check out the circus decore on the food table...

Doesn't this look fun? I can't wait until our local convention in September! If you like papercrafting, and think you'd enjoy being a part of our fun dynamic team of stampers and scrapbookers why not join us? Right now you can sign-up online for your customizable starter kit and check out some other great projects on my website. My contact information and password to get you started are all on my website home page! To go take a peek at my website click here

The next Millet meeting is May 23, I hope you'll be with me! All new demonstrators will be entered in a draw for a full tower of 12 ink pads! Yippee!

Hitting the Road

2009-03-23T15:01:00.004-06:00

Howdy stampers!

I'm working like a busy bee trying to get everything ready for set-up at the Edmontonton Farm and Ranch Show at Northlands Agricom. We met some amazing people last year and we're excited to participate again in this 4 day event that brings people together from all over the western provinces!

If you have a chance come on down, we're in Hall E booth 4013, the show opens on Wednesday and goes through Saturday. We'll have handmade gifts for sale, a retired rubber rummage, as well as a show special of 10% off catalogue merchandise! The BigShot die cutting system will be ready to crank out some fun, why not come and give it a try? There's a lot more to do and see at our booth and around the show if you've never been up close to a combine or other farm equipment...THIS is a great chance to check it all out.

I hope to see you there!

Stay tuned for pictures from the show, and news from our booth!