I’m sure many of you have been wondering what in heaven’s name is taking so long, this girl hasn’t posted since November LOL!   I’m excited to say, we’re very close to starting to implement some of the re-design elements we’ve been working on. 

With the fall being as busy as it was, it was hard to find the time to work on the changes I wanted for this site.  But as I’m sure many of you know, a new year generally brings new resolutions, new energy, new inspiration…..I’m still trying to feel my way through juggling all the different things I do, and creating a workable schedule for myself.

My new banner is almost ready (yay!) and I’m super excited about it because I feel that it’s a good reflection of where I am right now (the non-paper-crafting half of me anyways LOL).  I’ll be sharing more about that, and about my journey as an artist, mom, entrepreneur in the days to come (and I do mean days….posting regularly to this blog is part of my new schedule).

*We’ve put up a number of different posts today so please scroll down to see them all*

We’ve had a number of people asking us WHEN we’re going to put out more project kits.  While many of you enjoy our digital tutorials, there are times when it’s nice to not just get the instructions, but the supplies as well.  After all, I know from my own shopping experience that I’d rather pay shipping in ONE place, than pay shipping in all sorts of different places trying to get all the supplies I need for a project. Because let’s face it, there are SO MANY amazing products out there, it’s impossible for any one store to carry them all!

So, given that the Holiday Season is upon us, we’ve put together a number of kits that you can either use to create holiday-themed projects for yourself, OR you can use them to gift to all the crafty people on your list!

In this post, I’ll give you a quick snapshot of all the different kits we’ve put out this week, and then you can visit our store for full details on each kit. 

All kits include virtually ALL the supplies you need to make the projects (other than double-sided adhesive or sticky strip) as well as step-by-step written directions (in some cases, video tutorials).

To see our full range of kits click HERE.

Christmas Jingle Tri-Shutter Album

We’ve revamped and re-styled our popular Christmas Jingle Tri-Shutter album which we originally designed and created in 2009.  We’ve added in an extra insert in the center of the album allowing you to fit two more full-sized pictures – for a total of up to 9 pictures.  When closed, this little album is 6″ x 8″ inches.  It’s the perfect size to place as a showpiece on your coffee table, or to send as a photographic Christmas card to far-away loved ones! Click on the link above to see a picture of the inside.

Price: $29.95 + S&H

 Blitzen Holiday Planner in a DVD Tin

Give yourself peace of mind and an organized holiday season with this Blitzen Holiday Planner in a DVD tin. You’ll be able to keep track of your holiday events, shopping list, menus and more! Packaged in a sturdy tin, you’ll be able to tuck it into your purse and carry it wherever you go! This planner opens in an accordian format to reveal three pockets with planner inserts at the front, and two at the back. The planner inserts include: a 15 month calendar (from October 2011 until December 2013), a gift purchasing planner, stocking stuffer planner, menu planner and christmas card planner.  Each planner insert (other than the calendar) includes 5 sheets printed double sided on a tear-off pad - giving you 10 pages in all for each planning category. Click on the link above for a view of the inside.

*tins AND holiday planner insert pads are also being sold separately if you want to make more.  Please note though that our supplier has notified us that the tins are on backorder until mid-October.  We have a limited number of the kits in stock, and once those are gone, we are waiting on our order.

Price: $29.95 + S&H

Wonder & Wishes Gift Card Holder Tin

Pretty up all your gift cards this year with our Wonder & Wishes Gift Card Holder Tins.  These tins are the perfect size to hold a gift card.  Each kit comes with the supplies to make ONE tin. 

*we are also selling the tins individually*

Price: $6.00 + S&H

Wonder & Wishes Cards In A Tin Kit

Whether you are looking for a gift to give a paper crafter in your life, or you want to make this pretty set for yourself, you’re guaranteed to love the Wonder & Wishes Cards In a Tin.

As part of this kit you’ll make the six 4″ x 4″ cards pictured above, and decorate the tin to store them in. Please note that we have a very limited amount of this kit.

 Price: $24.95 + S&H

 North Country Card Kit

For those of you that live too far to attend, we have put together three different kit options for the North Country Christmas Cards you see picture here.

Option 1: includes ALL the products and supplies (retail value over $80)
Price: $60 + S&H

Option 2: stamp set and consumable supplies
Price: $30.oo + S&H

Option 3: consumable supplies ONLY
Price: $15 + S&H

Calendar & Note Pad Tin Kit

Finally, not a new product, it was released over a month ago, but we’ve ordered in supplies to put together more Calendar & Note Pad Tin kits.  Do you ever find yourself scrambling to find something to write on and write with?  I sure do…whether I’m home on the phone trying to take a message, or out and about trying to make a note to myself or wanting to check my calendar. If you’re like me then you’ll love my new Calendar & Note Pad tin…it’s portable, durable, small and of course pretty.  We also have a few bundles of the calendars and note pads, as well as the tins left.

Price: $17.95 + S&H

 I also wanted to let you know that we have decided to carry a small selection of our favorite adhesives – the ones you see us use in our videos and the ones we reach for over and over again in our store.  You can see them HERE.

And now for a GIVE-AWAY…..

I will be giving away the KIT OF YOUR CHOICE to THREE lucky winners.  All you have to do to enter this give-away is to leave a comment in the comments section. I’d love to hear which kit is your favorite, and what other kits you’d like to see.  Winners will be announced on Tuesday, October 11th. 

OH, and don’t forget, we are also having another give-away for the Stitched Stockings digital tutorial which you can enter HERE.

I really loved this little balloon set when I saw it.  I knew that I needed to do something simple in order to show it off to its best advantage.  How better to do this then to create a simple sky backdrop to feature the lively colors in the balloons.  I simply created a background wash for the sky, and then for the balloons, I used direct to rubber with marker.  On the whole I think it ended up with a simple elegance that shows it off perfectly!

Supplies:

• Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Poppy Parade, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Early Espresso, Basic Black, Distress Tea Dye ink (Ranger inc)
• Paper:  Watercolor paper, Basic Black, Real Red
• Stamps:  Up and Away
• Other:  Sticky Strip, Stampin’ Dimensionals, scissors, Gold Krylon pen,  Stamp-a-ma-jig, brushes

Hope you enjoy,

I don’t know about you all, but I go through a TON of Sticky Strip for all my 3D projects, PLUS anything else where I need to guarantee a super strong hold.  The problem of course is that with the volume I use for classes and personal projects, at Stampin’ Up!’s price of $8.50 (Canadian) plus tax, plus shipping price it can get really pricy.

A couple of years ago I found a source for super jumbo rolls – 36 yards (108 feet) of 1/4″ Red Liner Tape (exactly the same thing as Sticky Strip).  The only issue being that I needed to put in a massive order.  Which I did, but it’s pretty much all gone now between classes and personal use, so I need to order more.

That’s why I thought I’d put it out there for all of you avid paper crafters. 

I’m offering these 36 yard rolls of 1/4″ Red Liner Tape for only $10 CAN each.  I’m doing it on a pre-order since I don’t want to end up in the position of ordering way too much or way too little.  Shipping is $2.50 per roll within Canada, $3 per roll to the US and $5.50 per roll to the UK.  I anticipate that these will likely start shipping the week of Sept. 26th.  If the response is good enough and I can place my order sooner, then I’ll try and ship them out with the Calendar and Note Pad pre-orders which are due to start shipping on the 19th of Sept.

Note about shipping:  I only charge exact shipping.  Because I don’t know exactly how much something will be until I actually go to ship it out (it depends on quantity ordered, size and weight) – I have estimated what shipping of one roll will be.  Of course the more rolls you get, the better the value so when I do ship out, I will adjust shipping if necessary (i.e. offer a refund if you were charged too much).

Click HERE to Pre-order your Red Liner Tape.

I’m very sad to say that I’m writing today’s post here from home,  rather than from New York *sniff sniff*  After anxiously watching the progress and forecasts regarding Hurricane Irene on CNN and other news channels, on Friday morning we “officially” decided that it would probably be best if we cancelled our trip. 

It was such a hard decision to make because of course things could have gone either way – the hurricane could have downgraded in severity (which it did), or it could have gone as (or worse than) predicted.   When your own country is sending out travel advisories and your intended desitnation is shutting things down and putting evacuation plans in place it seemed like a no-brainer.   

Unfortunately though, as it stands, it looks like we’re going to end up losing about $600 over this.  We had already booked our tickets to the Broadway show Mary Poppins – and at this point in time they are refusing to refund our tickets unless Broadway itself cancels the show (which is scheduled for tomorrow night).  And, the hotel (called the Time Hotel) is holding onto a $283 “cancellation fee” despite the fact that we cancelled more than 24 hours before our booking, and despite the fact that we couldn’t get into New York anyways since trains and planes were cancelled on Sunday.  Pretty ludicrous if you ask me!

We’re hoping to re-book our trip for the first or second week of October, although that’s kind of  up in the air since my husband’s work schedule is pretty full in the fall – well actually, just about all year except for summer.  So we’ll see I guess.

Today I wanted to share with you a project I posted on Paper Crafter’s Library this past Friday – it’s a Back to School gift card holder.  You can see the inside in the picture below.

My almost 13 year old son is quite down about summer coming to a close and having to go back to school so I thought I’d cheer him up with a hand-made card (he loves it when I make him things) and a gift card to EB games (not pictured here).

Ink: Signo White Gel Pen, Real Red Craft ink
Paper:   Crumb Cake CS, Basic Black CS, Poppy Parade CS, Just Add Cake DP, Pacific Point DP (Stampin’ Up!)
Accessories:  Red Liner Tape (Sunny Stampin’ Store), Tombow Mono Multi-Liquid Glue, Stars #2 die, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet, Big Shot, heat tool, Iridescent Ice embossing powder (Stampin’ Up!); double-sided adhesive (Thermoweb); stapler (office supply store); chipboard number  (other)

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to enter into our draw for the 2012 Calendar and Note Pad tins – and if you’re interested, don’t forget to pre-order your bundles.  All the information is in this post.  Please note that we are no longer pre-ordering the Calendar and Tin kits as we’ve pretty much reached our max for what we’ll have time to pre-cut and prepare.

At this point in time, I’m only planning on continuing the pre-order until Sept. 12th and they are due to ship out starting the week of Sept. 19th.  When I place my order with the printer, I’ll probably order a few extra but not huge amounts since they are time sensitive (given that they are dated).  Once they are gone, they’ll be gone until 2013.

Oh, and one other piece of news, with all that was going on last week (first booking our trip and then cancelling our trip) I wasn’t able to put out the free video and tutorial. I anticipate that that will be out tomorrow.  The video and handout will be for the tin using all SU product.