Saturday, January 31, 2015

Easy, Shiny, & Glitzy Valentine

My last Valentine card for one more Grand-daughter. This one is very shiny with silver foil, and glitzy with Silver Glimmer hearts.


This is a little different form the traditional Valentine card, but very much suites the Grand-daughter that will receive this card. She takes after her Mom, one of my daughters.

For this very easy card I used Silver Foil cardstock as the card base, used silver metallic ink to second stamp the flower border, and mounted it onto Strawberry Slush cardstock with  1/4" border. I usually prefer 1/8" or 1/16" borders, but this card called for wider boarders.


You can see in this close up the layering. The Sweetheart heart has two layers of dimensionals, while the glitzy Itty Bitty hearts have only one layer, as does the Strawberry Slush piece on the Silver Foil card base.

Have you ever considered using foil cardstock as a card base? Try it! It's fun and makes a very unique card! You can see the product I used, below.

Thanks for stopping by today!







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Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Tall & Skinny, Girly & Bright Valentine

Today I'm sharing with you one more Valentine card for another Grand-daughter. I had fun playing with my
ink pads, stamps and sponge.

If you'd like to do something similar or copy this card, here are some helps.

Strawberry Slush - 9 1/4" x 8"
With 8" across top of your score board, score @ 4"

Whisper White - 8 7/8" x 3 5/8"
With a sponge blend together Calypso Coral, Strawberry Slush, and  Crushed Curry, covering the entire piece.

Strawberry Slush - 2" x 8"
Punch each end with your favorite tag Topper Punch

Whisper White - 2" x 7 3/4"
Punch each end with your favorite tag Topper Punch and then trim 1/16" off each side and with your scissors round the corners.

Stamp and mask your choice of stamps, in the same ink colours, all over the strip. Attach to the Strawberry Slush strip and feed ribbon through the slots and tie with string.

Whisper White - Stamp your sentiment or image and punch or die cut out.

In this next photo you see a close up of the sentiment.


And next, you see how the layers of the card were done.


Hope this has given you some inspiration to play with your inks too! What colour combination would you use? You can see what I used, below.

Thanks for stopping by to have a peek. Happy stamping!







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Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Texture Lovers' Weekly Deals!

This week's Weekly Deal is for those that love embossing paper with Textured Impressions Embossing Folders! It even includes the Texture Boutique Machine at a reduced price!


Wow, these folders would certainly add some fun to our creative tools!

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Well, I'm trying to decide which ones I would like to add to my folders. Maybe, Decorative Dots, Lucky Stars, and Zig Zag Texture....

Remember to take advantage of free items from the Sale-a-bration catalogue for every $60 you spend from the Occasions and Annual Catalogues til March 31st! After that, those Sale-a-bration items are gone.

Have fun shopping and stamping!





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Monday, January 26, 2015

All Abloom Valentine & Freshly Made Sketch Challenge


I can't believe it's been nearly a week since I posted on my Stampin' Up blog! I've had a very interesting week which, unfortunately, kept me quite busy. This morning I realized I had to complete those Valentine cards for the rest of my Grandchildren, so I will post a few more over the next few days.

For this one I decided to use a challenge to create the card with. I chose Freshly Made Sketches with the current challenge #170.



This is a nontraditional Valentine card using the "All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack" and the sketch from FMS to the left.

The yellow ribbon came out a bit brighter in the photo than it really is in real. This is a very quick card to make, and to add a little something different I decided to punch a half circle where the ribbon would wrap around feeding from the right end of the tag topper , around the back, and up through the left end of the tag topper. You use a bit more ribbon, but it is a different look.


In this next photo you can see a little better the layering of the card.


If you'd like to make this card yourself, following are the measurements, and below are the product used.

Pistachio Pudding - cut 1 @ 5 x 10 & score with 10" at the top @ 5"
Pink Pirouette (Blushing Bride would be better) - cut 1 @ 4 5/8" sq
All Abloom - 1 @ 4 1/2" sq
Whisper White - 1 @ 2" x 3 1/4" and use a Tag Topper Punch at each end
Punch out a "Sweetheart" heart and a "Itty Bitty" heart.
1/2" ribbon @ 24"

Punch a 3/4" circle about 3" up from the bottom on each side of the pink & All Abloom layer.


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Thank you for stopping by today to have a look at my latest Valentine card. 
Happy Stamping!

Looks like I missed entering by one minute or less. Oh well maybe next time.






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Tuesday, January 20, 2015

New Weekly Deals & A Hostess Give-a-way!


It's another Tuesday which means new Stampin' Up Deals for this week! And here are the great deals!


Most of these are going onto my list! Especially those skin tone Blendabilities! Look at that price!!

I also have something special to give to the first person here in the Victoria, BC area to hold a workshop, open house, or class in their home by the end of February. Let me know what you think will work for you! You can have a kit class (this includes Paper Pumpkin too), a just stamping party, or make a couple of cards, and so on.

Have questions? Contact me at sabradcreations@gmail.com (just so that you know, I do not hold such event on Sundays).

Want to know what the Hostess Give-a-way is? Its the Label Card Thinlit valued at $40.95!


The first person to have a function in their home by the end of February, will receive this Hostess Give-a-way from me! Flip cards are so fun and this die set will make the job so easy!

Two great things for this post. Remember to use the Hostess Code in the upper right corner of this blog for your order this week, as long as it is under $200.

Looking forward to a Stampin' Up event in your home!

Happy Stamping!





How to use the Hostess code (upper right corner of blog):
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Monday, January 19, 2015

A Lotus Blossom Valentine

I have 7 Grandchildren with one more due in February. There are 5 grand-daughters and 2 grandsons (February brings the 3rd grandson). I have a couple more Valentine cards to make after this one. Obviously this one is for a girl.


Playing with this three step stamp set, "Lotus Blossom" is so much fun. At the Open House I had on the tenth, this stamp was played with by almost everyone that came! I think that says how much fun it is to use. One blossom is stamped directly onto the card piece, while another is stamped onto a scrap piece and cut out. This one is then popped up with dimensionals.


The two hearts were punched out of the DSP and then sponged with Calypso Coral to give them a finishing touch. They are also popped up with dimensionals as is the white confetti heart strip.

On the inside of the card I added a sponged heart as well.


I was thinking after I made this card that it could be a wedding card too! Just add the names of the bride & groom in the hearts, or some sentiments of some kind.


Hope you've received some inspiration from this card. To view the product used you can scroll down to the end. Thank you for checking out my creation for you today!

Happy Stamping!






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Saturday, January 17, 2015

Using Velum to Tone Down a Busy Pattern

I realized that if I wanted to get Valentine cards out to my Grandchildren I had better get a move on and make a few more!

I love the "Stacked With Love" DSP stack, but what to do when the pattern may be too busy or strong for your project? That's what happened to me in creating this card.


I didn't want to use a different pattern, because I felt that the arrow pattern was a good fit for my Grandson and for a more masculine card. After a few minutes of trying to solve the problem I remembered 'velum'! I cut a piece the same size at the arrow paper and when I placed it over the paper, not only did it tone down the pattern, it also has a slight gray hue that goes well with the Basic Gray cardstock.

You can see that I used the "You Plus Me" stamp set for this card. I hand cut the ampersand after stamping in with black onto the Basic Gray cardstock.

You can see in this next video how I layered everything on the card.


The circle has one layer of dimensionals, the ampersand has two layers of dimensionals, and the heart has three layers! The little punched hearts are attached with a glue dot giving them, too, an ever so slight popped up dimension.


You'll also note that I took my Cherry Cobbler ink pad and a sponge to add shadow and dimension to the punched hearts. It only takes a few seconds and gives the punched shapes a little more of a finished look. To learn what products were used for this card, see below. (I forgot to put the velum in the list)

Thank you for stopping by for a peek at this card. Hope it gives you some inspiration. Happy stamping!





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Thursday, January 15, 2015

Sale-a-Bration Product Technique Videos!

I have another busy day today, so I will be sharing another couple of Stampin' Up videos with you.

This one shows how to mask so that you can can create a lemon branch rather than a single lemon using the new Sale-a-Bration stamps set (free with a $60 purchase)"Happy Day". This is a technique that you will use over and over again!


I do have a card I was working on that I used the masking technique on, but it isn't ready yet and no photos in time to post with this. Have fun watching this and then go use this technique right away.

This next video shows you techniques to maximize the beautiful "Irresistibly Yours" Specialty Designer Paper!


See what you can do with these techniques on the beautiful Specialty Designer Papers that you can get free with a $60 order (Sale-a-Brations page 15). Which technique will you start with?

Have a great day! And thank you for stopping by!





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Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Sympathy Cards With Stippled Blossoms and Petite Pairs

I am in need of a few Sympathy cards and sat down the other to make a couple. I will need a couple more and will post them another day. The two I am showing you today are made using the same colours and stamps, but one is for a woman who lost her husband, and another is for my Landlord who just lost his wife.

I wanted to experiment to see if I could make Sympathy cards for both a man and a woman loosing their spouse, using the the same ingredients, and each having masculine and feminine components. First let's look at the card for a woman who lost her husband.


I chose to make hers tall and skinny. Hers is more feminine but has rustic masculine colours including the neutrals white cardstock. I love the flecks in the cardstock as it reminds me of handmade paper. The seam binging ribbon/bow adds another feminine touch as does using roses. I chose to make them a little more masculine by using Cajun Craze ink and stamped off once, twice and three times to get the differing colours. I never used the full strength of the colour.

Now let's look at the more masculine card using the same product.


This time I chose to go long with the same size card, and focused on the darker colours. I added the woodgrain texture, and used the stippled roses as his wife loved flowers, especially roses. By using the wider natural ribbon with its texture as well as the linen thread, it adds to the masculine feel of the card.

I had fun with my experiment and am pleased with the results. I challenge you to create cards using the same product, and making one more feminine and the other more masculine. If we did this all the time I think we would have a better balance of cards and fewer scraps....

The product I used can be viewed below.

Thank you for joining me today. Happy Stamping!





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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Better Than Email!

OK, so this is the third post for today! A lot to share.

Every so often, Stampin' Up puts out a new photopolymer stamp set that is not in the catalogues. By keeping alert we can catch these sets. The new one being offered, is a great set to have for all creative people, whether it be in the kitchen, sewing room, knitting, card making or paper crafting, there is a stamp for every creative kind of project!

Since this set is not in any of the catalogues you will need the item name & code - "Better Than Email" - 140463

This set would make a great gift for any family member or friend that loves to create!

Happy Stamping!





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Tuesday's Weekly Deals!

This is my second post for today. If you'd like to see the project posted earlier scroll down to the next post.

It's always exciting to see what new deals Stapin' Up will post each Tuesday, As always there are some great deals for things that are on my list!



Check out the details here! And remember, for every $60 you spend, you can choose a Sale-a-bration item for FREE!

Happy Stamping!





How to use the Hostess code (upper right corner of blog):

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Baby Girl Wall Hanging - Sold!

A couple of weeks ago I made a wall hanging for my home (view here). I decided to make another to display and sell at the Open House. I must apologize for the poor lighting in these photos. My usual photo spot couldn't be used the evening I took these.



Maybe in this next one you can see the layers a bit better.


I think I could easily become addicted to making a number of different framed wall hangings like this one and the previous one. There was interest at the Open House to have a class on making a couple projects like this, and this one I had up for sale at the Open House and it wasn't long before it was sold. Product used to make this project can be found below.

Hoping your week is off to a good start. Thank you for checking in for a peek. Happy Stamping!





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Sunday, January 11, 2015

Open House Photos & A Couple Of Projects

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend! I had a very busy one, and my back was causing me some great difficulty by the end, but I had a great time! (My back was fine the next day after a good night's sleep)

Have you ever brought your camera somewhere, planning to take a lot of lovely and detailed photos, and then forget to take the photos?! Well, that's exactly what happened at my Open House! If it wasn't for a friend that was there, I wouldn't have the photos I'm about to show you.





Everyone reported having  good time. Thank you to those who attended!

Over the next few days I will show you some more projects that I made to showcase at the Open Hose. Now let me show you the Birthday Box & Gift Door Prize I made for this event. It is a box you will find familiar, just created with a different DSP.


Here are the products used for this project. To make this gift box, click here, for the instructions. (There's another project below the product list)
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Let me show you another of the little Open House Projects. A little lamp shade lantern using a plastic wine glass, a $1 store battery operated tea light, and some DSP or Velum and ribbon!


Using 12" x 12" DSP you need 2 strips at 12" x 5" scored every 1/2" OR with 8 1/2" x 11" paper, you will need 2 strips at 5" x 11" scored every 3/8".

These are quick and easy to make, as well as a lot of fun! Great for any event - showers, parties, dinners, weddings.....
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Glad you stopped by today for a peek at more fun stuff! Have a great week and come back to view some more Open House projects as well as Tuesday's new Weekly Deals!





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Saturday, January 10, 2015

Lotus Blossom, Bow Builder & Project Life!

Good Day Everyone!

Today is my Open House, so I'll be away all day, and busy.

Yesterday I mentioned that I would be showcasing some of the new Stampin' Up videos. Now some of you may have enjoyed yesterday's so much that you went to YouTube to watch more of them. That's what I would have done, lol! But for those of you that didn't do that I'm going to share two today that are about items that I actually have and have used!

Lets begin with a technique video showcasing the beautiful new "Lotus" 3 step stamp set.


To see what I did with my "Lotus" stamp set, see it here.



Now lets have a look at another product video with a construction tip it for you. It is about the "Bow Builder' Punch! I love this punch and you have already seen that I have used it here just a few days ago.



And one more for today. This one is a "Project Life" video using the Sale-a-bration free "This Day" mini-set. She shows you how to use it basically and different stepped up versions! A great video.


I look forward to working with some of these products too!

Wait till you see the ones I post tomorrow! Lots of fantastic tips and ideas to learn form some of these videos. Tomorrow's are no exception!

Thank you for stopping by! Happy Stamping & Crafting!





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NOTE: If your order is $200 or more, do not use this code