getting ready for BOGO event

BigShot stuff

okay, I have been working now for 2 days to sort through my stuff. I hadn't removed the retired items from my shelves (as I was gone all summer), so I had to do it now. Let me tell you it is not easy... you go through the new catalogue and see what stamp sets are still available. Then I have to look at the clearance rack, as I don't necessarily want to sell stuff, that I technically could still use at a class.

papers

Then I have to look if there are things that I still want to keep for my personal use. And I always keep stuff, but funny enough, I never end up using them. I always say "maybe when I'm no longer a Stampin'Up! representative...."

This time I was much stricter on what I allowed myself to keep. Few christmas and halloween sets, and some sentiments. I always think that I can use old sentiment sets as long as there is something similar in the current catalogue.

stamps, papers, embellishments....

So this time, I really have tons of stamp sets, plenty of Designer Series Papers, Embossing folders, framelits, embellishments and punches to sell. And tons of bundles (matching stamp set and punch/framelits)

I needed to get all the stuff out of my craft room so I could get some cards done too!

Long silence....

I know, I know.... 

I was supposed to post things during my summer - of all the things I did, crafting and travelling.... oh well... 

I did do both, craft and travel

I was in Finland for June and July, Tom joined me for the month of July. We spent most of the time at my parents cottage near the Russian border, some time in Helsinki area and we did make a 3 day trip to St. Petersburg, Russia. 

Here are some pictures from that trip. But before that, let me just warn you my Canadian friends.... if you plan to travel there, the easiest way is to either go with a cruise line, as you can travel without a Russian visa (3 days). If you wish to take the train, like we did, be prepared for a bunch of paperwork. I mean, list your schooling, all your trips within the past 10 (!!) years (max 30 trips, so if you travel a lot, then just pull out your current passport.

New catalogue is here!

How to spend time at the airport waiting for your flight to board....

Posting long needed posts on the blog :-) 

I'm just on my way to Finland, so haven't had the time to update my catalogue links on this site. Will do that as soon as I get my internet set up in Helsinki.

I LOVE all the new stuff!! Cannot wait to get home and play with all the new goodies!

Here is a card I made using the swirly bird stamp set and using the new in colours!

Building up a business

I feel so ashamed.... it has been SOOOOO long since I posted here last.
Don't think I haven't been thinking about posting, but then life happens and whoops... month has passed.

I have been focusing on starting my Etsy-business. Attending lectures on starting a business, building a web-site, doing accounting, taxes etc, and then actually setting everything up.



Trust me, building a website and Etsy-shop sounds easy, when using pre-made platforms (Etsy and wordpress) but it still is time consuming.

And on top of that, you have to build your merchandise :-)

I was surprised how critical I became of the things I made the moment I started making them for sale, instead of making them for friends and family.

Spring cards in my mind....

Even tough it is the middle of the winter, I cannot help but creating spring themed cards already.

these 2 cards are using Six-sided sampler stamp set and the matching hexagon punch, the butterfly punch and some silver metallic thread. 

The colours on these cards are: Smokey Slate, Wisteria Wonder, Mint Macaroon and Pink Pirouette. The cards have exactly same pieces, but they are organized a bit differently.

Going global without getting lost

I love to travel! And I love everything related to travelling, like the new Stampin'Up! stamp set Going Global, the matching designer series pack and embossing folder.

The funny thing is, though, that I have hard time making any cards with these travel related stamp sets! I find them easy to use with scrapbooking, but for cards....

I guess I associate it for travel, and since I seldom make a card for anyone for 'bon voyage', I'm trying to associate them more with masculine cards.

The colours are Island Indigo, Soft Sky, Early Espresso and Calypso Coral.

I ruffeled some Early Espresso seam binding under the chevron ribbon and added a bit of lace on top. The sentiment is stamped with Early Espresso and mounted on top of a Calypso Coral punched out with washi tape punch.

The big dibber is from Going Global stamp set also, and I used Encore gold ink with golden embossing powder.

Sale-a-bration glitter tape - oh wow!

As of February 16th, Stampin'Up! added some new sale-a-bration items. These are available as long as supplies last and you can get them only by placing an order. Every $60 earns you one free sale-a-bration item.





I fell in love with this glitter tape!
The package contains 3 tape rolls: one golden, one silver and one white/clear, which you can actually ink with a sponge to any colour you want! Say what!!!???

In the first card I used the golden tape. The stamp set is Build a Birthday and the colours used are Bermuda Bay, Pumpkin Pie and Strawberry Slush.

The second card is using only clear/white glitter tape
The top one is inked with Pear Pizzazz, the second has no added ink and the bottom piece is inked with Smokey Slate.

The pattern paper is actually from last falls Holiday Catalogue, but to me it looked a bit like willow branches, which work perfectly for an easter card.

And you might ask, how did I get that sheep cut out so sharply?? I purchased a die matching this stamp set from Dave Guy. He makes dies to match Stampin'Up! stamps that don't have a die created by Stampin'Up!

The third card has no glitter tape, but is using the same stamp as the above one, it is from the spring Occasions catalogue and is called Easter Lamb. Again, the lamb is partly cut out with the framelit die by Dave Guy. And the flowers are from Sheltering Tree stamp set.