Artfully Asian Swaps

Good morning all, Isaac is busy having a snack and watching a tv show so I thought it would be an ideal time to blog!

The three cards I am going to show you are all created with the Artfully Asian stamp set. This stamp set is NOT retiring. It's on page 89 of the current catalogue.

Isn't this card beautiful! This was one of Bev's swaps for Regionals. Bev stamped the Certainly Celery cardstock with the Linen background stamp. She then layered with Elegant Eggplant and Old Olive cardstock. Notice the finished corner with the Eggplant grosgrain ribbon. To colour the flowers and leaves she either used her Stampin' Write Markers or her blender pen and classic inks.

I received this pretty card from Miwa Komori, from Burnaby. Miwa has layered Close to Cocoa with Pretty in Pink cardstock. She has stamped the Crosshatch background on the Pretty in Pink. She stamped the main image on Very Vanilla, coloured the flowers and then used a little bit of Crystal Effects over the flowers to give a more dimensional look. I love how she used the hemp twine tied in a knot around the basic black. And to finish it off Miwa carefully cut out a few different leaves from the stamp set and added them to finish off the card.

This last card was created by Kari Metzger, from Vancouver. Kari layered Mellow Moss with Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla. This card has a very soft feeling to it. Kari stamped the background leaves with Mellow Moss and then lightly sponged it all over. The image is softly coloured in with Perfect Plum and Pale Plum markers. Thank you Kari!!

I have said it before, and I will say it again - Regionals was soooo much fun!! Thanks to all the demonstrators whom I swapped cards with!

Wishing everyone a sun shiny day!

Alicia

Retiring Stamp Sets

It's that time of the year again...out with the old in - with the new. Every year Stampin' Up! retires current stamp sets to make room in their new catalogue for new and exciting stamp sets. This year's list of retiring stamp sets came as an enormous shock to all of us demonstrators as Stampin' Up! says goodbye to over 200 sets!! I know, that's a good portion of the cataolgue. I will loose 32 sets of what I currently have in stock. It is heartbreaking but its also exciting to dream about what we'll have to choose from very soon. To view the list of retiring stamp sets go to www.stampinup.com, specials and promotions, 2007 retired list.

The cards pictured above (stamped by my good friend Stacey) were stamped with Petal Prints, which is retiring. This stamp set is one of Stacey's favorite sets along with many other demonstrators including myself! I can say with certainty that this particular set will be staying with my collection!

For those of you thinking about adding to your stamp collection or if you've been eyeing up anything in particular lately now is the time to get them before they are gone!! For those of you that purchase 2 or more retiring stamp sets I will cover the shipping and handling on your purchase. Give me a call (544-0202) or email me www.alipine@telus.net

Here are two more card samples I have using Petal Prints. I received both of these cards at Regionals a couple weeks ago. The card on the left is credited to Melissa Jung and unfortunately, the card on the right didn't have the demonstrators name on it...

Happy Stamping!

Alicia

New Home!!

Here's my new home!!! This is looking at the front entrance and little gated courtyard! The courtyard is so sweet with a pretty garden that the deer can't feast on.

We moved into our new home on May 6th and 7th. Thankfully, with the help of many friends/family we were able to get everything moved in quite quickly. My girlfriends dawned rubber gloves for much of the day to help with the cleaning - a huge thanks! to them!!

I made Isaac's room my first priority. I am glad I did as he loves his new bedroom/playroom. He spends much of his time in his playroom with all of his toys. His favorite thing being his giant train table with Thomas the train and friends. We've added a small sandbox to the deck where he can play safely as the yard (with pool) isn't quite ready for him yet!

I wish I could just snap my fingers and have all boxes unpacked and everything put away in its proper place...In my dreams right!! Oh well, it will take time, slowly it will all come together. My parents are coming in a week or so, so I'll probably put them to work! Mom says she loves to cut the lawn - well, just wait till she sees what we have waiting for her!!! And Dad, there's countless little things for him to do too!

My goal for thursday is to get my stamping room up and running again! As with our old house, I will also have a great stamping room here. I look forward to having friends over for workshops very soon!

Happy Stamping.

Alicia

Better Your Best

I can not tell you how much fun I had at Regionals on the weekend! It was such a great and positive experience! This is the group of girls I went with along with Shelli Gardner, the owner and CEO of Stampin' Up!

Check out our super cute t-shirts!! Melanie had a great idea to go with matching t-shirts. She stamped with the Bodacious Bouquet stamp set on iron-on material that she then applied to our t-shirts for us!! We got lots of great compliments on them all day long!

Our day began early - we were in line at 7:30am at the Convention Centre - and swapping took place instantly! Oh, it was so much fun just saching from one to another trading cards. You must know that swapping is quite a fast paced activity. There isn't alot of chit chat and oohing and ahhing that goes on between you and the other - you just trade cards and move onto the next!! So, I went with 100 cards, 4 different designs. I came home with 100 different cards! Lots of ideas to draw from! This card here was another one of my swap cards. I used the Bold Butterfly and Simple Saying stamp sets along with the Four Seasons designer paper.

The doors opened at 8:30am and all of a sudden 100's of women broke out into a mad rush to find the perfect table to settle down for the day. Melanie and Bev (seasoned attendees) were able to nab the front 2 tables nearest the stage which was excellent. However, this conference was so well set up. They had jumbo screens on either side of the stage so where ever you sat you could see what they were demo-ing on stage.

The day flew by. We were wowed by so many great new techniques. We learnt quite a few new scrapbook ideas too! Oh I wish I wasn't moving right now - poor timing because I just want to play play play!! (Don't get me wrong - I am looking forward to my new house!) Anyways, once I get set up in my new Stamping Room I will have you all over to 'wow' you with all that I learnt!

This is the last of 4 cards that I swapped. The first 2 I showed in a previous blog. I will also scan some of my swap cards I received later on in the month so check back ok!

May is National Scrapbooking Month so its a great time to get 'scrappin'!

Thanks for stopping by for a read,

Alicia