School's Out ...

Here in Calgary, Grade School usually ends for the year at the very end of June.  This year the end of June brought devastation to our Province and our City.  Floods closed down most of Calgary, including Downtown and All of the Schools in the city and surrounding areas.  Because of this some kids missed final exams, Grad and their last few days of school.   The School board was kind enough to open up for a half day on Thursday to allow children to say goodbye and collect belongings.

It also gave the kids the opportunity to thank their Teachers for all of the hard work they do all year.  This year I contributed to a gift card for my oldest daughters' teacher but I also made some little gifts for the end of year.

Right: We had a number of Teachers to Thank this year.  Jillian's Grade 3 Teacher as I said got a class gift but we also gave her this "Summer Survival Kit" with a beach towel, magazine and sunscreen.

I created the front of the card on MDS and then printed the top layer on Whisper White Card Stock.  I used my Label Framelits to cut it out and added it to the front of my Mambo/Pacific coloured card.

I got the idea for this from Pinterest.  I love that site.

 Below:  I also had a card for Jillian's Tutor.  She is a wonderful lady who was very helpful to Jillian over the year.   She is also a Steeped Tea representative so I thought this card would make her smile.
There is a removable bookmark on the card which is appropriate since she was helping Jillian with reading!

 

Above:  A number of years ago I created a gift box and added a spine to it to make it look like a small book!  Using my Simply Scored tool I created score marks in the spine to give it that book look.   I love this idea.  There are so many ways to make this unique and interesting, I mean face it there are thousands of books out there and the colours and styles are endless.

When I first created this I did not have a blog so my Demo (and now Up line) put it on her blog.  I changed things up a bit for this so it is easier to open.  Original post is Here but if you want the directions let me know and I will work on a Tutorial at some point.

 

I really hope Jillian's Piano teacher loves it as much as I do!

 Above:   These are the gifts for my youngest daughters Pre-school teachers, they are another Pinterest find!   This was a simple and pretty way to say thank you.  Plants and flowers are simple and thoughtful and this time of year we just love to have flowers everywhere.

I used some very old DSP from my stockpile to wrap the flowers. I added some butterflies and ribbon to spruce it up and then put a Starbucks Gift card in there for an extra little treat.

These Starbucks cards were perfect for this! I added some little butterflies for fun!








Well that is my quick post to showcase all of the Teachers gifts we made this year!  Sorry it is so late.  With everything going on in our community I just simply forgot to post it sooner.

To make a donation to Alberta Flood Relief visit www.redcross.ca

Have a wonderful Day!

Janet Y

janetyates@shaw.ca

 

Rule the World

Anyone who knows me, knows I don't drink coffee.  I love Starbucks for their many other wonderful drinks but I do not drink coffee.  Never have.   That said, I love this new little set from Stampin' Up!  Absolutely adorable.  I have enough coffee drinkers in my life that I can easily use this set.

For this card I used my Circle die and created a note card.  I then just free hand cut some green, continent shaped "land" and made my earth.


Perfect Blend 131392  $13.95 CAD

Today I am kind of wishing I drank coffee.   The clouds are making me tired, that and all of the late nights watching the news and gathering supplies to donate to flood victims. 

Please remember, Donations for Alberta Flood relief can be made at www.redcross.ca  the damage is extensive and the clean up as begun.   There are so many wonderful stories of hope and humanity it truly is uplifting.

Take Care

Janet Y

janetyates@shaw.ca

 

Getting ready for Convention 2013

My circle punch is about to go on strike!  

How many are there???  

As Alberta Floods ..

Over the years I have watched numerous natural disasters on television, I have always watched with a feeling of sadness for the people being effected, but this was always a detached kind of feeling.  I would sympathize and maybe donate a few dollars or send a supportive note, but I never really had that true understanding.   

For the past few days I have been glued to the television watching my province and city suffer through the worst flood in recorded history.    All the while I sat in my dry home on high ground with my family and friends. I have slept warm in my bed at night and have had very little change to my day to day life.   All of the schools have been closed and my husband cannot get to work as it is flooded, so it has felt more like an extended long weekend than a Natural Disaster.  

Only there is a major change for me, and it comes in the form of a very heavy heart and an deep empathy for all that are effected and working so hard to keep the waters at bay and the public safe.   There is not enough gratitude in the world for the Police, Firefighters, Paramedics, Military and Government officials who are working non-stop to get our communities back to normal.

Perhaps this is why I have been glued to the TV.  I don't want to shut it off and try to forget all that is going on, I want to be a part of it no matter how indirectly.   I want all of the information I can get and I want to find ways to help.  At the moment they are looking to keep Calgarians in their homes and off the roads.   The city has asked us to keep our water usage down and not go out to effected areas.   I can do that!

I fully expect there will be need for volunteers, money, food, toiletries and so on and I will do what I can.   I know I am one of thousands who are at home and want to help  We are ready, we are willing and when the time comes to get out there and do something, we will.

Here are just a few of the images from the past two days.

Edmonton Journal

Beacon News

Global News

 I noted under each picture where I got them from, there are thousands of images such as this.  As I said I have not been down to the flood zone as the city is asking people to stay away so I have no images of my own.   Most of our Downtown is covered in water as are the Stampede Grounds, Calgary Zoo (all of the animals are ok) and up to 23 neighbourhoods that have been evacuated, and that is just the City of Calgary.   There are up to 28 communities in Southern Alberta that have been effected and some, such as High River, are almost completely under water.

The  Canadian Red Cross is taking donations if you want to help out but of course thoughts and prayers are more than welcome too.

To all residents effected by this flood my thoughts are with you.

Janet Y

New Colours and a Six-Sided Sampler!

One of the most popular and amazing additions to this years New Annual Catalogue is the Six-sided Sampler bundle.  With this you get a Stamp Set of hexagon stamps with sentiments and a punch to match!  You can see below how wonderful this set is!

 With the punch this set is only $37.95 CAD!
Another very popular addition is the New In-colours for 2013-2014.  These colours are absolutely delicious! They remind me of ice cream.  Below I have used all of these products plus another New Colour "Smokey Slate."

You may have noticed that the Colour Spritzer tool from the past Catalogue is now retired!  I was so sad to see this go as it is a Go-To tool for me. I love the spritzed looking background it gives you.

Since it has retired I have been forced to find some new ways to create a splattered or spritzed looking background.   I found a quick little tutorial on the Stampin' Up Blog about How to use Aqua Pens and Re-inker to create a splattered look.  It is a little messier than the old way but I really like the results.

 Aqua Pens $20.95CAD for a set of 2

  Re-inkers are $3.75 CAD each

I hope you like today's card!   I am busy in my craft room this week doing up some gifts for Teachers and I will try to have those posted soon.

Take Care.

Janet Y

janetyates@shaw.ca

Challenge -- Freshly Made Sketches #90

Well last week I made a card but with all of my good intentions I did not get it entered to FMS on time so this week I felt I needed to do it just on principle LOL.   I actually really like this very simple sketch.  There are so many ways you could go with this.  I just got my brand new Sketched Birthday Stamp set and I wanted get creating with it.  I also just received my Core'dinations Paper and really wanted to play with that. 

I went with a Black and Bermuda Bay for my colours and I used Embossing Powders in Black and White.

I added a little splash of colour with a Real Red, Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight Balloons.

I just love this Stamp Set!!


Let me know what you think!  I would love to hear from you.

 

To see all of the great entries and examples for this challenge check out
Freshly Made Sketches #90

Janet Y

janetyates@shaw.ca

Check it out!!

My first Product Share showed up yesterday.  Check out the goodies my girls got!

I cannot decide what I want to play with first! 

If you are interested in being part of a share so you too can get your hands on all of this great product, check out the details at the top of this blog.

 

Janet Y

janetyates@shaw.ca

 

Busy, Busy Busy!!

I have spent the past 10 day's spring cleaning, having a yard sale and catching up on Breaking Bad.  All to keep me distracted until my order of New Catalogue Goodies arrives (today!). 

 I did fit in a little card making but got too busy to post it.  In fact I did the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge for last week.  Since I never posted it however I did not get it entered in time! 

The Sketch looks like this...
 Cute right?

My youngest daughter had two birthday party invites this past weekend and one of the parties was a bug party.  She even caught a very pretty little lady bug so this card was very appropriate.

I used the New Gingham Garden DSP for the little banners.  The Card Stock is Whisper White, Island Indigo and Melon Mambo.   Stamps used were "Bring on the Cake" and "Bug Me", and the twine is the Bakers Twine in Island Indigo.

The Gingham Garden just looks like summer to me.  I love the cheerful colours and designs in it.

 

 

 

 Remember the Digital Sale Ends June 15th so get your orders in now!


Also Remember 3 really great Greeting sets are 25% off this month only!



If you place an order with me you will get the new Catalogue FREE!  So get your orders in soon to get a look at all of the amazing goodies from SU!


Janet Y

janetyates@shaw.ca

June 1, Scrapbook Layout and Best Of..

It's June 1 and that means a new Scrapbook Layout, A new "Best Of" set and the ALL NEW Catalogue.    Let's start with this month's Scrapbook Layout!   It is a really simple layout with loads of room for photos and space for you to add as many or as few embellishments as you like.

 One of the great things about this layout is how the Journaling is broken up.  This allows you to print it off on the printer and simply cut out the sentences and paste them in.  I usually print them off on Stampin' Up's Whisper White Card Stock.

I really do not like my own hand writing so this is a good way to avoid that.






Page 1

                                                               Page 2

I love that Chevron is in style right now but you could use just about any border or ribbon to decorate this page and there are loads of options when it comes to Embellishments.  Flowers, butterflies, Soccer Balls.  Just go with what works for your page.





Page 1

Page 2



 For my pages I used the NEW and Free colours that came with the update for Stampin' Up's MDS.  Smokey Slate and Soft Sky.   I also used a few different flower punches to reflect the flowers in Megan's dress and add colour to my page.

 

If you use my Scrapbook sketches to create pages I would love to see them!

 

 

 

Now on to the "Best Of"  for June.   Best of Greetings is a set you cannot go without!  Greetings never go out of style and you can never have enough!!

This set is a great deal too.  You get 8 sentiments for the low price of 17.95 (133485).

 

 

 

 

Remember, if you like Sentiments or you have been putting off ordering them, Now is the time!!

 

Check out Yesterdays Post for Details.

 

 

 

Now on to the fun stuff.   As you know the New Catalogue started yesterday (a whole day early!!) and now I want to show you some of my favourite new products.

 

 

Candy Dots    Apply adhesive-backed dots to Candy Dots Brad Bases (sold separately) to create your own 3/16" colored brads. Or skip the brad base and apply them directly to paper.

* Available in color collections
* 100 pieces: 10 ea. of 10 colors   $7.95 CAD a package

 

 

  2013-2014 In Colours!  I just love these colours!  They are so beautiful.    Baked Brown Sugar, Costal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, and Strawberry Slush.

 

 

  A great new bundle!  Six-sided Sampler. If you like hexagons--our six-sided friends--you're going to love the Six-Sided Sampler set. With eight different hexagonal images and three sentiments, the creative possibilities are practically endless. Coordinates with the Hexagon Punch.

Buy the Six-Sided Sampler clear-mount stamp set and coordinating Hexagon Punch together at a 15% discount.  $37.95 CAD

 

 

and Finally

 

  Gorgeous Grunge Stamp Set.  You don't have to live in Seattle to appreciate some gorgeous grunge--use any of the five grunge-inspired elements here to "dirty" up your creation (in a cool way, of course!). Clear-mount. $21.95 CAD.

 

I really cannot wait to get my hands on this one!  Contact me if you are in the Calgary area and would like a Stampin' Up Catalogue or Click Here for my On-Line Store!

 



Janet Y

janetyates@shaw.ca