Craft Fair this weekend!

Can you believe that Christmas Craft Fairs are starting? Yep, it's true... Christmas is right around the corner! Mom and I will be in two fairs this year, the first one is this Saturday and Sunday. Maybe you'd like to drop by and see us:

Strawberry Vale Christmas Craft Fair
Saturday, November 1st & Sunday, November 2nd
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
11 High Street (corner of High St & Burnside Rd West)

Calico Christmas Arts & Crafts Show
Friday, November 7th, 6:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Saturday, November 8th, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Pacific Christian School
654 Agnes Street (off Glanford)
Admission $3

Flight of the Butterfly

Tonight, I had a stamping class at Karin's house... we had a fun evening and it was great to meet some new stampers! This is a card that I designed for Karin - she loves butterflies so I wanted to include a card using the Flight of the Butterfly stamp set. This is a simple card using one stamp set and two colours of ink - Pink Pirouette and Chocolate Chip. The Scallop Edge Punch and Pink Pirouette Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon add some fun touches.

We have a busy weekend ahead with 3 kids coming tomorrow night and staying until Sunday evening. We're looking forward to a trip to Oldfield Orchard with them to enjoy the fall festivities!

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!)

Beautiful Fall Colours

Today, I was driving home from a stampin' class (thanks for the fun afternoon Christine and everyone who was there!) and I couldn't help but notice some beautiful fall colours in the trees. It made me think about this card that I created for our last Stamp-A-Stack and I thought that I would share it on my blog today. It's stamped with the Season of Friendship set from the Holiday Mini Catalogue using Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Really Rust and Ruby Red. It's a fairly simple card and was fun to make!

And, as the leaves fall from the trees, the time for another kind of tree - the Christmas tree - is just around the corner. Here's a card from this year's Santa's workshop that I really like... it's stamped with the Season of Joy stamp set. I've also used the Canvas background stamp on this one. I love using the new Riding Hood Red colour on Christmas cards. On this one, I've combined it with Garden Green and Very Vanilla.

There are still a few seats available for Santa's Workshop on Sunday, November 9th at 1:00 pm, but they are filling quickly so be sure to register by emailing me at bevennis@shaw.ca soon!

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!)

Another Santa's Workshop Card

Here's another card that I've stamped for this year's Santa's Workshop... We have all of the cards ready now - 15 in total! It's quite a challenge to make that many Christmas cards without duplicating supplies... but it's done and I think we have a nice variety of cards to offer.

This one is such a simple card with classic Christmas colours and a nice touch of ribbon to finish it off. It's stamped with the Take Three stamp set using Stampin' Write Markers. I really like the layout on this card.

It's been a great week of staming and I'm very much looking forward to seeing many stamping friends over the weekend!

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!)

Santa's Workshop - additional date

Okay, thanks everyone for your patience as I worked through my schedule to find another date to run Santa's Workshop again... It will be Sunday, November 9th at 1:00 pm. The cards offered will be that same as are at the Santa's Workshop this Friday night. If you would like to register, please email me at bevennis@shaw.ca. Seating is limited so register early!

And, I hope you are all getting out to vote today!

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that you have had a happy Thanksgiving weekend. I sure have! We had our little baby house guest for the weekend... She arrived on Friday afternoon and was here until this afternoon. We enjoyed sharing her first Thanksgiving dinner with her. We also took her to the pumpkin patch (I've been anxiously waiting for the opportunity to scrapbook a pumpkin patch page!) and to Build-A-Bear... She and I now have matching Build-A-Bears! You can probably tell that we really enjoyed having a baby around the house for the weekend... We miss her like crazy now!

So, although I had big plans to do lots of stamping this weekend while "Little Miss" slept, it didn't work out as planned. Turns out that there's lots more to looking after a baby that even keeps you busy while they sleep (I know, it wasn't really a surprise) and when I was done the chores, it was just so enjoyable to watch her sleep...

We also celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on Sunday as well as our 1st anniversary of having our adoption application logged in in China. It was a pretty big day with so much to be thankful for!

I'm busy now creating cards for this weekend's Santa's Workshop. I thought I would give you a sneak peek at one of the cards that I made... It uses the Punch Pals stamp set and I think it's pretty cute! It opens in the centre which is a nice change. Although it looks like lots of colouring, it's all done with Stampin' Write Markers so it goes fairly quickly.

I do have two seats left for this Friday night's Santa's Workshop, starting at 7:00 pm. I'll have at least 10 new Christmas cards for you to pick from... maybe more, depending on how creative my week is! So, I better get back to stamping now... Oh, if you want to join us on Friday night, email me at bevennis@shaw.ca to register.

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!)

Thanks, Alison!

I received this adorable little book from my upline and friend, Alison. Isn't it fun? Alison cut the cover and back from chipboard using the Big Shot and my favourite die - the Top Note Bigz Die. She also used this die to cut the Parisien Summer Designer Series Paper that she used to cover the chipboard. She has also used the Big Shot to cut the letter "B" for the front which she then covered with Chocolate Chip Craft Ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. There are so many little details on this little book... You can click on the picture to see it larger.

On the inside, Alison stamped the cover with the Define Your Life stamp set and the Defining Alphabet. Then she included some blank pages... You could fill this little book with photos or favourite quotes. Wouldn't this make a cute recipe book that you could give someone? Thanks so much for this treasure, Alison!

I know some of you have heard me tell the story of how I met Alison before... it's really two stories in one - how I met a new friend and how I fell in love with Stampin' Up! A good friend of mine, Andrea, was getting married and had asked me to be her Maid of Honour. She lives in the lower mainland so I went over one weekend to help with wedding plans. She picked me up at the ferry early on Saturday morning and as she was running through the list of things she had planned for the day, she said that we were going to some woman's house in New Westminster that afternoon for a stamping open house. As I asked more about this part of the day, I found out that Andrea had been at their local Michael's (oh my gosh, I can't believe I said that on my blog!) and had ended up talking to this woman (Alison) who told her about some stamping company (Stampin' Up!) that was new in Canada. Alison invited her to come to her open house and that was what we were doing. Well, I must tell you that I was not at all fond of this idea and as the day progressed, I argued against this plan... imagining all the worst possible news stories that could come of this - what if Alison turned out to be luring people into her house for something other than stamping... what if she turned out to be an axe murderer? Okay, my mind was running wild... But we went and I can tell you that it was a very pleasant afternoon and about 2 and a half minutes in, I felt that our safety was in no way in jeopardy! Well, Alison started stamping and demonstrating and telling us about Stampin' Up! I was drooling over a catalogue... And, to make a long story short, three days later, my friend Jodi and I had both signed up as Stampin' Up! demonstrators... That was in June 2002 and it has been so much fun ever since. I'm so glad that Alison met Andrea that day and that Andrea insisted that we go to the open house. I have met some truly wonderful people through this "hobby"!

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!)

Happy (belated) World Card Making Day!

Yesterday, October 4th, was World Card Making Day... I'm a little late in posting this but, I wanted to be sure that you know all about Stampin' Up!'s fantastic special to mark this big day. Until October 11th, you can order any of the Simply Sent card kits or the Card Elements for 20% off the catalogue price! It's a fast and easy way to make cards... be sure to check the kits out on pages 176-177 of the Idea Book & Catalogue.

I've had a busy stamping weekend... Lots of fun at the Stamp-A-Stacks on Friday evening and Saturday morning. And, lots of cards were created... over 200! Isn't that amazing? There were some pretty serious stampers here!

Today, I am stamping Christmas cards... getting ready for the upcoming Santa's Workshops. I have one card created and lots more to come! There are still a few seats available for this workshop on Friday, October 17th, but they will fill quickly so be sure to register by emailing me at bevennis@shaw.ca. I will offer this same workshop again - I will announce additional dates soon...

Okay, must get back to my stamp room! : )

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!)

Holiday Mini Catalogue is here!

The Holiday 2008 Mini Catalogue is here! Filled with new stamp sets, ribbons, Designer Series Paper and more, this mini catalogue has something for everyone! Products in this mini catalogue are available for order until January 18, 2009.

Scallop Envelope Box

Isn't this just adorable? It's such a quick and easy project and such a cute little gift. Here's how you make it...

1 - Cut four scallop envelopes using the Scallop Envelope Bigz Die and the Big Shot. Fold each as pictured below. You will basically be folding both sides and the bottom up as though you are making an envelope and then the flap will be folded backwards. I like to use a Bone Folder to make sure the folds are nice and crisp. I've cut mine out of Pink Pirouette card stock.
2 - Line the four envelopes up. On one of the side flaps, run SNAIL adhesive all along the outside edge and attach one envelope to the next, lining up the flaps and pressing them together to be sure they are well adhered. Do this so that all four of the envelopes are adhered together. 3 - Now, run SNAIL adhesive down one of the outside flaps and adhere the two outside flaps together to form the box.4 - To close the bottom of the box, I find it best to stick opposite sides down as this keeps the box more square and it sits flat after. I would fold the bottoms from each of the two sides in then put SNAIL Adhesive on the inside of one of the remaining flaps and adhere it. Repeat with the remaining flap. Stand the box up and press down on the bottom from the inside to be sure the bottom is well adhered.
5 - You will notice that the bottom has a small opening - you could cover this with a piece of card stock in the inside if necessary, but it's probably not going to matter much depending on what you are putting in the box.6 - Decorate the outside of the box if you want. I used Parisien Summer Designer Series Paper to wrap the box. Then I punched two flowers using the 5-Petal Flower Punch, sponged the edges with Pink Pirouette ink, and attached them to a piece of Sage Shadow card stock that was layered on a piece of So Saffron card stock. I added a Filigree Designer Brad to the centre of the flower and attached this to the front of the box to cover the small gap in the ends of the Designer Series Paper.

7 - Fill your box and give it to its lucky recipient! I filled my box with little chocolate nuggets that I had wrapped with Parisien Summer Designer Series Paper.

I hope you will have fun making your own scallop envelope boxes!

Happy creating!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!)

New Decor Elements are here!

Stampin' Up! has launched new Decor Elements products and there are some great new additions! Check them all out here.