CIBC Run for the Cure

Or in my case, Walk for the Cure!

I'm participating in support of my friend Beth Heras who is battling breast cancer for the second time. She is now in Stage 4 so prognosis is grim but hopes are high. If you'd like to support me please go here to make a donation to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

I have (in typical Alison fashion) left this to the last minute! Life around here tends to swirl at such a pace it's easy to get swept along and forget to do things you've resolved to do. It's terrible and I'm not trying to make excuses. Supporting Beth and all the women who are fighting, will fight and especially those that have fought bravely and lost is important to me. The older I get the more my own mortality plays a role in my every day decisions. Not to say I dwell on it, but I'd like to be there for my kids when they are "all grown up". Beth is my age - younger actually - and her children are ages with mine so the parallels are unavoidable. The thought of leaving Marley, Paige and Christine right now freaks the living daylights out of me! They are so young! I have so much more that I want to teach them, share with them, experience with them. I can only imagine what Beth is going through!! If the little money I can raise can help find a cure that can save her or other young Moms like her, then it will be a job well done. Late or not!

I also want to sell some cards I've made with a stamp set Stampin' Up! released in the summer to raise money for Breast Cancer Research.  Here are some pictures of them. Once I figure out how to do this (paypal? etsy store? eBay?) I'll let you know. If you're interested, please leave me a comment.

Thanks. Think Pink!!

Last 2 Card Swaps

Just a quick post as my 2 year old is being particularly 'difficult' today. Right now I'm bribing my 7 year old with the promise of pop if she keeps an eye on her littlest sister! Yep. I'm a fantastic working Mom!! :)

Anyway, I decided to post both these cards together as I'm not sure where to give credit for them as there were no names on the backs. (If any of my Upline knows who these cards belong to please leave a comment  and I will edit the post to give credit where it's due!)

I love the colour combination on this card. It's so soft and simple! I also learned a new technique here (which I have yet to try.)  Before you score your paper strip to make the flower, run one side through an edge punch and then ink it. Voila! Softly rounded  and inked 'petals'!

Love the 3-D aspect of this card!

Well, there you have it. All the cards from the Card Swap last Monday night. Hope you enjoyed them? Some of you have been so kind as to insist that mine was your favourite (your cheques are in the mail - LOL!) Thank you. But really, I think they all deserve recognition for their creativity and excellence!

I was supposed to work on my Business Plan today (hubs and I had a chat!) but life with the 2 year old did not go as hoped so the Plan will have to wait until tomorrow. I'll be back on Thursday to share more projects with you. How about something spooky?

Card Swap #5

Back to Christmas again with this lovely one from Kelly.

I love how she used both the Pennant Parade stamp set and the Petite Pennants Builder punch to create these layered Christmas trees. It just goes to show how versatile Stampin' Up!'s sets are!! And if I'm not mistaken, the "Merry Christmas" on the banner is from the Pines and Poinsettias stamp set.

September is almost over people! Can you believe it?! Time to start making those Christmas cards!

I am currently booking October and November workshops so if you'd like to make one of the cards you've seen so far (well, except maybe Sandra's one from yesterday!) email me and we'll set you up with a workshop. If you and your friends purchase $200 or more, you will receive Hostess dollars to spend on products of your choice. 

Have fun, be creative, get free stuff. What could be better?!

Card Swap #4

This gorgeous one is from my Upline, Sandra. She does super amazing work that you really have to check out! This year she won an Artisan of the Year Award at Convention - for all you new to Stampin' Up!, this basically means she is a Creative Goddess and we all case her stuff like crazy!!

See what I mean? A-maz-ing!

This is a hybrid card. That means she created and printed off the patterned "Gratitude" piece in My Digital Studio (Stampin' Up!'s digital software) and then mounted it and added the ribbon and labels. Gorgeous right? You really have to check out her site for more of her amazing creations. Right now she's sharing swaps that she got at Convention plus other cards she's created for her Stampin' Royalty challenge blog. 

Does digital card making and scrapbooking sound like something you could do? Do you currently dabble in the digital world? Stampin' Up! is running a contest right now and the prize is $500 in digital downloads!!! That could allow you to purchase the full MDS suite plus just about everything in the catalogue! 

Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating ... a little ... 

For contest details click here or on the icon on my side bar. If you're a finalist you win $125 in digital downloads too! If you don't have MDS and want to enter the contest you can contact me and I'll see what I can do. I have a pretty basic version (waiting to upgrade when I upgrade my computer!) but I'm sure some magic could be created with it ... in the right hands!!

Card Swap #3

All this week I'm sharing the cards from the card swap I went to on Monday. This next one is by the lovely Leslie Slanisky.

I love how each stocking is embossed with a different pattern. They are punched with the Stocking Builder Punch (one I happen to have so I may have to case this card myself!) Her simple treatment to create a fireplace mantel is quite effective! Each stocking has a tiny Linen Thread bow attached to it as if they are hanging from that Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine. So clever!

Card swap #2

This is a very fun card made by the amazing Ida Chan using the Many Mustaches stamp.

She had tons of other ideas for mustachioed decorations - inked onto a coffee mug, attached to straws and stuck to lollipop sticks to name but a few. 

With Movember coming up, what are you going to make with this cute stamp?

Card swaps.

I went to my first card swap on Monday night. (It also happened to be the quarterly meeting of my upline group - Sea to Sky Stampers - led by this amazing woman.) Seeing as I am a "in for a penny, in for a pound" kind of gal, I made a swap! I was SO nervous. These ladies are amazingly talented! I'm going to share their cards over the next week but first up is mine.

I stamped Dasher in Early Espresso on some Frostwood Lodge birch bark looking DSP then stamped the Merry Christmas sentiment underneath in Cherry Cobbler. I mounted that onto another piece of  Frostwood Lodge DSP (this time a red plaid) using dimensionals, tied a piece of Early Espresso Quilted Satin ribbon around the whole thing and mounted in onto my Crumb Cake card stock. 

The inside is simple with just a stamped sentiment. I did jazz up the envelope a bit though with another image of Dasher - this time in Cherry Cobbler.

Not sure if you could see it in the top picture but I added some Basic Rhinestones to the stamped image of Dasher on the card.

If you'd like to learn how to make this card or order supplies so you can make your own, please check out my Stampin' Up! website for contact and ordering information.

Thanks!

Supplies used: 

Frostwood Lodge DSP

Crumb Cake card stock

Medium Naturals White Envelopes

Dasher wood mounted stamp

Christmas Greetings wood mounted stamp set

Early Espresso quilted satin ribbon

Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write marker

Stampin' Dimensionals

Supporting my Awesome Sister-in-law

My sister-in-law, Jonina Campbell, is running for School Board Trustee in New Westminster. Tomorrow she is having a campaign fundraiser (wine tasting - oh yeah!!) and she asked me to contribute a silent auction item as well as jazz up a couple of items she's putting in. I was honoured that she'd think of me - my Stampin' Up! career is still in its infancy to say the least! Here is what I came up with using an old stationary box I had kicking around.

I covered the box and lid with some Cheerful Treat DSP - making sure to have coordinating papers on the inside too (Lucky Limeade and Concord Crush DSP.) Since one of the items inside the box is the Hostess-only Posy Punch stamp set, I used mine to create embellishments for the lid. I pretty much went to town on this thing! I used my Big Shot to cut out a Top Note die and then embossed it with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. Then I put my new Simply Scored to good use and made the rosettes and the pleated ribbon effect on the Lucky Limeade DSP banding. 

The box was finished off with some Melon Mambo Scallop Dots ribbon around the rim and then it was ready to fill!

Inside I included the exclusive Posy Punch stamp set (in clear mount), a Clear Mount size C block and a Classic Stampin' Pad in Basic Black. But I thought it needed more so I created some greeting cards.

I loved the card in the catty (p. 11) and tried to make it but it looked like H-E-double hockey sticks so ... I turned to my fellow demonstrators for some help and Lisa Palmer came to my rescue. I redid it and this is the result! Wish I could keep it!!

Supplies used: Papers: Cheerful Treat DSP, Lucky Limeade, Concord Crush and Melon Mambo DSP, Lucky Limeade, Concord Crush, Melon Mambo and Whisper White card stock; Ribbons: Lucky Limeade 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon, Melon Mambo 1/2" Scallop Dots Ribbon and Concord Crush 1/2" Stitched-poly Ribbon;  Stamps: Posy Punch and Family Reunion; Inks: Lucky Limeade and Concord Crush Classic Stampin' Pads; Punches: Fancy Flower, 3/4" circle, Itty Bitty Shapes - scallop circle and Scallop Trim Border Punch; Embellishments: Bitty Buttons, Basic Rhinestones and white Bakers Twine.

And quickly, here are the packets she had me "jazz up".

She gave me two stacks of books - one for boys and one for girls - so I tried to come up with something gender neutral (ish!) Since I currently have mostly Christmas product, I scratched my head for a few days wondering what the heck to do! Then I remembered my Pennant Parade stamp set and Petite Pennants Builder Punch and ... voila!

I used some Spice Cake and First Edition Specialty DSP which I ran through my Big Shot using the Top Note die. I then took the First Edition piece, trimmed it by basically ripping along the perforations around the edge, ripped it some more, curled it then inked it. What I was left with was a piece of distressed paper that looks like it could have come out of an ancient library book! 

For the Boy bundle I used Soft Suede and Pear Pizzazz card stock to create my banner then strung it with some linen thread and tied on two Bitty Buttons to finish it. I Googled "quotes on reading" and found this one ("If you can read this, thank a teacher." - Anonymous Teacher) which I just knew was perfect for my teacher cum politician Sister-in-law! I printed it out onto Pear Pizzazz cardstock, folded it into a banner and attached it using dimensionals. 

The Girl Bundle got very similar treatment only this time I used Pool Party and Soft Suede card stock. The Spice Cake DSP pattern is actually the back side of the one above!

To attach this tag to the Early Espresso 3/8" Quilted Satin Ribbon, I punch a hole with my Crop-A-Dile then made a loop with some Linen Thread and strung it onto the ribbon before tying the bow. 

Supplies used: Papers: Spice Cake DSP, first Edition Specialty DSP, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party and Soft Suede card stock; Stamp set: Pennant Parade: Ink: Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad; Punch: Petite Pennants Builder Punch; Ribbon: Early Espresso 3/8" Quilted Satin Ribbon; Embellishments: Linen Thread and Bitty Buttons.

Thanks for looking!

If you'd like to come and support Jonina Campbell, her Wine Tasting Fundraiser is happening tomorrow evening from 7 - 9PM at The Pacific Breeze Winery 6-320 Stewardson Way, New Westminister. Tickets are $35 and you can pay at the door.