Anniversary and Teacher Thank You Cards

I may not be around much, but I have being trying to do some crafting when I can, or else I start to go squirrelly.  LOL  

On July 4 Dave and I celebrated our 20th anniversary.  The kids were at his parents house for the week (greatly appreciated) and we enjoyed a week of quiet and catching up on some much needed sleep amongst dinner out almost every single night, a play up in Drayton etc.  The kids are now back for the last couple of weeks and I am trying to catch up on my blogging this week, in between running at least one of the three kids somewhere.  In fact I have about 45 mins before I have to run out the door and get Laura from another activity.   Whew.

This first card is what I threw together to give to Dave for our Anniversary.  I wanted romantic but nothing to flowery.   And Paris is definitely one of the first things I think of when it comes to romantic. I have had this stamp set sitting on my shelf for a while, and decided to incorporate it with a simple but always elegant black and white colour combination.  This card is a mixture of discontinued and current Stampin' Up! product.  My goal was to use what I have, which is a lot!!!  LOL   

I will start by listing the discontinued product that I used in this project.  First up was Stampin' Glitter in black to give the card base some punch and the heart trinket to give it that little extra something I was looking for.

Current product I used was as follows:   

Stamp Set:  Artistic Etchings

Cardstock:   Basic Black and Whisper White

Inks and Embossing Powder:  VersaMark, Heat and Stick Powder and Black Stampin' Emboss Powder

Miscellaneous: Ticket Duo Builder Punch, Heat Gun, and Linen Thread

School this year ended on June 29, and this is the card I made as a simple thank you card for the teachers.  I forgot to take a picture of the inside, where I designed a simple pocket to hold a Chapters gift card.  

Again, there is a discontinued product that I used which is the Punch Bunch stamp set for the owl, this stamp set was from the 2011 Sale A Bration event.  (Have I mentioned I have a hard time letting crafting supplies go despite how full my studio gets?  LOL)  Patterned paper was just some bits I had in my stash that I am trying to use up as I accumulate more Stampin' Up! papers.

Current product used is:

Stamp Sets: Betsy's Blossom's for the branch the owl is sitting on, and Itty Bitty Banners
Dies and Punches:  Bitty Banners Framelits and Owl Builder Punch
Inks and Markers:   Staz On in black, Early Espresso Classic Ink Pad, Early Espresso and Old Olive Stampin' write markers.
Cardstock:  Chocolate Chip and Whisper.

And don't forget that for the month of July for every $60 you spend you can buy this exclusive Reason to Smile stamp set for only $5.00!!!!  How sweet a deal is that!!!  And this stamp set is not available in the current catalogue.  Believe me its even sweeter seeing it in real life!!!  Contact me today at riajenkins@rogers.com

That's it for today.  And Laura just texted me and it appears I screwed up the timing of her appointment and dropped her off 1/2 hour early.  Whoops, but bonus is I have some extra time to get stuff done before I am out the door again to pick her up.  Hmmm what shall I do???   Too hot and muggy to go for a walk or garden.   I know!!!!  I will  place a preorder from the new Holiday Mini Catalogue that will be going live August 1.  I love being a Stampin' Up demo, one of the perks besides a discount is getting my hands on product before its available to anybody else.  Awesome!!!  And, somehow during the chaos of June I lost my Stampin' Mist Stamp Cleaner.  Don't ask me how, maybe a Stampin' Up! gremlin snuck into my studio and stole it, that's gotta be it, because there is no way that my studio is a creative mess.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  And I would love it if you left some comments, if you like what you saw or if there is a particular project you would like to see me feature on my blog.  Enjoy the day!!!!

Booths, Dance, Dinner, Great Big Sea. It has been quite a weekend.

What a weekend!!!l  As you know I had my first booth at the Fresh Ayr Festival and it was a success. Some people coming to a class, new customer contacts, and some sales.  All in all a good weekend.  

Me posing in my first booth ever, and I now see that wearing shorts with my apron looks interesting from the front.  LOL  

Cash and carry table.

On of my volunteers, Marissa, playing Vanna LOL

I made a banner with the new In-Colors.  Quite happy with how it turned out.

My other volunteer, and upline extraordinaire, Denise.  Playing shy with the camera.  LOL  (Payback Denise for some of the other unflattering shots of me on your blog, bwahahaha!!!!)

I love how my Cookie Monster topper turned out.  Thanks to Dawn for the idea.

Loving the new Dahlia buttons.  So gorgeous!!!

And of course, Stampin Up! fabric, to die for!!!

Display board Denise lent me!!!

And this cool guy walking around with his stereo on his back.  And a hot sunny day made it perfect.

A big thanks to Marissa, Alexa, Laura, and Daniel for helping out with the booth and doing take down. Another thank you to Jamilla, who took time out to visit my booth and gave me a special give for having my first booth ever.  Jamilla is my upline x 2, she is Denise's upline and Denise is my upline, we are one big happy family at Stampin Up!!!  And a really really huge thank you thank you thank you to Denise for helping to run the booth, lending me tables, display boards etc, (I am still working on my collection of stuff) and of course take down.

I was unable to stay for the whole day because it was also Amanda's Dance Recital day, the date and time were different from other years, so there was a scramble in terms of what to do with my booth, do I stay and skip the dance recital.  But my volunteers saved the day and I was able to have the booth and see Amanda's Dance recital.  Which was of course AMAZING!!!!

And every year Amanda gets flowers from her Beppe and of course her dad for a job well done.  A quick pic of some of the flowers.  Gorgeous!!!

Yesterday was Father's Day, a day in which Dave was thoroughly spoiled with breakfast in bed, a do nothing day, followed by a dinner that I made.  On the menu was BBQ steak and garlic shrimp, roasted red and sweet potatoes, south west salad, and for dessert home made cherry pie (somebody else did the home-making on the pie, I was too busy)  

And after dinner Dave and I had a date watching Great Big Sea in concert.  I have been a fan of Great Big Sea for many years and seeing them in concert has been a long time wish of mine.  And for Mother's Day Dave gave me two tickets to their concert.  It was at the Whistle Bear Golf and Country club and was a fundraiser for Cambridge Memorial Hospital.  And of course the boys of Great Big Sea put on an amazing show, both Dave and I can't wait to see them in concert again soon.  Will be watching their tour schedule closely.

A perfect night to end a perfect weekend.

Needless to say I am a little tired today.  And after getting everybody out the door, breakfast into me, laundry started, looking around my house thinking what happened??  Followed by some customer calls, I went into my studio to this!!!  Looks like I have some cleaning and tidying to do.  LOL

Thanks for stopping by and visiting my blog.  Keep watching for some of my upcoming classes.

And don't forget to contact me anytime at riajenkins@rogers.com

A-Z

Yesterday and the days leading up to it have been a blur to say the least.  I will post more on how well my booth did later this week,and Amanda's dance recital.  My camera is somewhere in the chaos that is my home.  LOL  Just had a nap, getting ready to make dinner for Dave and then off to see Great Big Sea in concert (one of my awesome Mother's Day gift)  


I saw this on a blog I follow.  Since I am a tad whipped from this past week thought I would do this for fun.  

Age - 43
Bed size - King 
Chore that you hate - I would have to say is scooping up "dog bombs" from the yard after a real snowy winter in Southern Ontario.  yep, pretty nasty.
Dogs - 1, Golden Doodle named Dalwhinnie (yes, she is named after a brand of Scotch)
Essential start to your day - Showering and eating breakfast, if I haven't had either one of those,  it is not a happy world around me.
Favourite colour - Depends on my mood, sometimes blue, sometimes red, sometimes pink,I am a crafter and all kinds of color can rock my world.  Today, I love blue.
Gold or silver - Silver
Height - 5' 6" 
Instruments you play - I don't play any
Job title - Tough one, I have many jobs which include Mom, Wife, Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and maid, laundress, Taxi service (lots of that), chef, baker, party planner, etc.  
Kids - 2 girls Laura (16 years old), Amanda (14 years old) and 1 boy Daniel (11 years old)
Live - Ontario, Canada
Mother’s name - Sita
Nicknames - Don't have any
Overnight hospital stays - Delivery of all three kids of course, when I broke my leg in 1995 and had to have surgery, D & C for retained placenta after Amanda in 1998, and of course other procedures that were just "day trips"
Pet peeves - Whining and complaining, chronic liars, people lacking personal responsibility, camping lol,  
Quote from a movie - "You see that couple here?  Well, he's having an affair with the babysitter and she can eat a pound cake in under a minute"  Aunt Jet to Sally Owens pointing out that "normal" people aren't always "normal"   From one of my fav movies Practical Magic
Right or left handed - Right
Siblings - 1 older sister
Television - Supernatural, Hawaii Five-0, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, Bones, NCIS, 
Underwear - Depends on my mood and what I am wearing,
Vegetable you hate - Brussel Sprouts (little balls of satan I tell you!!!)
What makes you run late - Trying to get "one more thing done" before I have to leave.
X-Rays - Dental, when I broke my leg and numerous times after the surgery to make sure I was healing properly. 
Yummy food that you make - I like to think I'm a pretty decent cook and baker
Zoo animal - Dolphins are my fav but not many zoos have them, other one is monkey


Thanks for visiting my blog and keep checking for some crafty goodness.

Catalogue Launch at my Booth At the Fresh Ayr Festival

YOU ARE INVITED!!!

I will be having a booth at the Fresh Ayr Festival this year and everyone is invited to come and check it out.  Ayr is a beautiful town here in Southern Ontario, we are about an hour west of Toronto, just outside Kitchener-Waterloo. Every year in June we have the Fresh Ayr Festival, lots to see and do, numerous vendors, the Ayr Idol Contest, a Youth Art Contest and more.  

And this is the first year that I will be having a booth there.  And I am soooo excited.  I will have a free make n' take, there will be a door prize, retired Stampin' Up! product at a discounted price.  AND you can get a brand new Stampin' Up! catalogue for free with any purchase, AND free shipping on all orders this  week right through to Sunday, June 17, so if you can't make it to the festival but would like to place an order you can!!  Just contact me at: riajenkins@rogers.com for free shipping on any order this week.

Details are as follows:

WHEN:   Saturday, June 16, 9:00 a.m-4:00 p.m.

WHERE:  Fresh Ayr Festival, Victoria Park, Ayr, Ontario

For more information on the festival you can check out their website HERE:

Don't forget the free shipping on all orders for this week, even if you can't make it to the festival, just fire off an email to me.  Any orders that I receive from today, June 11 to Sunday, June 18 will have free shipping.  So if you can't make to Ayr Saturday, you can still take advantage of this fabulous offer. 

Saturday's Make N' Take

Saturday was Crop for The Cure in St. Jacob's.  And a fabulous day it was.  I got to catch up with some friends that I haven't seen in a while, and made some new friends as well.  Good company, good food, and lots of laughs with ladies I love.  Denise and I had a booth and I didn't really get to leave the booth much other than eating and going to the wash room,  it was a busy day, which was a good thing.  Denise and I donated 20% of our sales to the Crop for The Cure who donates all their proceeds to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation..  In total Denise and I were able to donate just over $73, thank you to all who were able to purchase from us.  Every dollar counts.  

I designed the make n' take for our booth and it was a hit.  It was this cute corner bookmark.  I had three samples with three different colour combinations, my yellow centre and green ribbon ended up being confiscated by Denise.  LOL  

See how perfectly this bookmark fits on the corner of any book or  any Stampin' Up! catalogue.

Supplies used were as follows:

Paper:   Crumb Cake 81/2x11 CS (#120953), Very Vanilla 8 1/2x11 CS (#101650)

Stamps:  Layered Labels (#127072 clear mount) (#127070 wood mount)

Classic Ink Pads:  Gumball Green (#126861), Raspberry Ripple (#126859), Daffodil Delight (#126944), and Early Espresso (#126974)

Markers: Early Espresso (#119680), Daffodil Delight (#119677),  2012-2014 In-Colour Marker set (#126856)

Ribbon:  3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon in Gumball Green (#126848), 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon in Daffodil Delight (#126872), 1/2" Seam Binding in Daffodil Delight (#125583)

Tools: Simply Scored Scoring Tool (#122334), Simply Scored Diagonal Plate (#125586), Scallop Edge Border Punch (#119882), Color Spritzer Tool (#107066), Big Shot Die Cutting Machine (#113439), Apothecary Accents Framelits dies (#127003)

If you have any questions on this project or would like to host a class or workshop feel free to contact me at riajenkins@rogers.com.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  And have a fabulous day!!!

New Catalogue and More!!!

Today is such an exciting day.  New Stampin' Up! catalogue day.  I have had one in my hot little hands for a few weeks and now I can share with the rest of you.  You can see the catalogue online by following the link in the sidebar to the right.  If you are like me and need an actual hard copy of the catalogue contact me today and I will set aside a copy for you.  You can reach me at: riajenkins@rogers.com.  I am not sure how they do it, but each new catalogue that Stampin' Up! releases is always better than the one before.  Just keeps getting better and better.  

And just when I thought things couldn't get better they announced some new promotions for this month.  

First is for those interested in signing up as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator.  If you want to build a business or want to join as a hobby demonstrator to supply your crafting needs, now is an amazing time to join.   In addition to getting  the Your Way Starter kit, which you can get up to $225 in value for only $125.  For the month of June you can get select products from our Takes the Cake suite for FREE!!!  YES!!!  That's right, up to an additional $60 in product for FREE!!!  How sweet a deal is this.  You can see the PDF flyer for this special promotion HERE.  And did I mention the shipping on all Starter Kits is FREE!!  

And things just keep getting better and better for hostesses as well.  During the months of June and July in addition to our regular amazing hostess benefits, they have an added bonus of even more free product for hostesses that have a workshop or class with sales of $575 or more.  They will be receiving an additional $60 towards free product.  For example, with sales of $575, the hostess gets $150 towards ANYTHING in our current catalogue AND 1 item 50% off.  AMAZING!!!  You can see the new benefits chart here

Tomorrow Denise and I will be a vendor at the Crop for The Cure in St. Jacob's.  Tracy and her family do an amazing job hosting this annual crop where all proceeds go to breast cancer research.  Denise and I will be donating 20% of our sales to Breast Cancer Research.  Such a worthy cause, especially at this crop where we remember and honour friends and family who we have lost to this disease.

Shoebox Swap

Hello!!!  I am back.  Life has been a little busy.  But I am still around.

Tonight is another Shoebox Swap with my Upline Denise  and other members of our CraftDBear team.  Last time I made a card that, well, took just a little more than 10 mins to complete,  whoops.  Can you say poor time management skills, yep, I am the Queen in that department.  LOL  This time, I am pretty sure I got it right.  Whoohoo!!!  

At Stampin' Up!, we are in transition to our new catalogue which will be unveiled June 1.  With the transition there are a number of products in our current catalogue that are being retired, and I decided to make a card with products that are available in both the new and old catalogue, and a design that someone should be able to complete in 10 mins.

Product I used are as follows:

CARDSTOCK AND DSP: 


Whisper White CS (#100730) for the card base.  Cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4" lengthwise.  Plus scraps for stamping and punching out the Postage Stamp Thanks
Basic Gray CS (#120966) cut out at 3 1/2" x 5"
Riding Hood Red CS  (#111348) cut at 5 1/2 " x 1" plus scraps for punching out the blossom
Island Indigo CS (#122923) scraps for punching out the blossom
Blue Floral DSP from the Twitterpated paper pack (#125406) cut at 5 1/2" x 1 1/2"

STAMP SETS:


Mixed Bunch (#125535 for wood) (#125537 for clear)
Pretty Postage (#123095 for wood) (#12309 for clear)

CLASSIC INK PADS:


Baja Breeze (#111833)
Basic Gray (#109120)

PUNCHES AND ACCESSORIES


Blossom punch (#125603)
Postage Stamp punch (#122344)
Boho Blossoms punch (#119858)
Scallop Trim Border Punch (#118402)
Basic Rhinestone Jewel Accents (#119246)

Thanks for stopping by and visiting.