Thank You Ticket Tag Card

Wow, it has been a while, hasn't it?

There has been much going on "behind the scenes" at my house, so I apologize (yet again) for my lack of posts. I crammed every available time on my schedule making cards prior to the holidays, that I felt I needed a bit of a break! The holidays & New Year flew by, then my family and I travelled to Riviera Maya, Mexico for some WARMTH. It has been brutally cold lately, hasn't it?

Back on our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend (mid-October), my husband suffered a massive heart attack. Out of the blue! No history, no warning signs, nadda! I mean, really, people our age don't suffer heart attacks!!! That's for much older folks, isn't it?
Well ... NO! Such thinking makes us complacent to the point where we neglect, or even take for granted, our health as we get older. A BIG learning experience, and we're (both) the better for it. So I must admit that I've been spending a lot of my time with my hunny-bunny, rather than in my craft room. He will be returning to work soon, so that means extra free time by myself - TO MAKE CARDS! Yay!

I'm not going to promise (I hate breaking promises), but I truly hope that this little ole blog will be seeing more of me - and my cards, natch!

When Simon Says Stamp released their Cold Hands Warm Heart exclusive products, I was smitten with this Thank You Ticket die, especially after seeing some lovely cards made with it. So I thought I'd give it a try too, and paired it with Lil'Inker Designs Anytime Tags 2, which has fabulous stitched edges for that little bit extra. Believe it or not, this is my first card (that I've posted) for which I've added sequins! I always seem to be intimidated disappointed with my placement so end up scrapping a project.

But I'm happy with this one! :-)

Thanks for stopping in to take a peek - have a lovely day & keep warm!

Porch "Urn"

Just a quick post to show off this lovely urn that I completed today for the middle of our front porch for the coming holidays.

Normally I do a very "elegant" urn, in brown/gold tones to match our stone front home, but this year I decided I wanted to do something fun & whimsical (which is VERY unlike me).

I have 2 iron urns - the ones you normally see dressed up at this time of year with winter greenery/decor - but decided I wanted to use them to adorn either side of our front door with small-ish lighted Christmas trees (fake).

So I was on the hunt for an idea of adding a bit of Christmas flair to the front of our house, and where else should I seek this inspiration but on PINTEREST??? That website eats up my spare time like it never existed ... oh wait, it doesn't exist! :-)

I saw this Pin that I thought was a lovely idea for a table centrepiece -

My only problem was that I needed it on a larger scale so that it could easily be seen by the street, so I went on the hunt for a metal 5-gallon pail. What I found instead was an old medium-sized metal garbage can, that was a little bit worse for wear (and years), but in my opinion, the dents only added to the can's "character".

Three coats of Apple Red high gloss paint, a belt found after scouring all the local shops/thrift shops, and VOILA!!! My porch urn came to life and now sits proudly in the middle of our porch.

I absolutely LOVE IT!!! What do you think?

I'm now ready for the holidays. Bring on the SNOW! :-)

Christmas Blessings Candle

I think Pinterest is the biggest "enabler" around for crafty goodness, don't you? So many beautiful cards, so many new products, that I just want them all!!!

Thankfully, my pocketbook keeps me in check :-)

But when I saw a card made with this lovely Memory Box die - called Tall Tapered Candle - I couldn't resist purchasing it!

I had a holiday table centerpiece in mind while putting my card together, so had to hunt in my stash of dies for the appropriate die cuts to place at it's bottom. This is what I came up with:

The Tall Tapered Candle was cut from a pearlescent white cardstock. I left the "ribbon" section empty, but re-added the pearlescent pieces for the candle sections. I used Stampin' Up's Old Olive cardstock to cut the Memory Box Glowing Candles die (see below), then I proceeded to cut off the candle sections so that I was left only with the leaf & sprig sections:

The wee poinsettia die cuts were added using Poppystamps Small Blooming Poinsettias die set - the perfect size. 3 white pearls were added to their centres (3 mm & 4mm sizes).

The sentiment was heat embossed in gold using PTI's Signature Christmas stamp set, which matches the glittery gold cardstock I paper pieced into the candle's flame.

Hope you have a fabulous day - thanks for popping in!

Brilliant Christmas Gifts

I'm here again to post yet another holiday card I've made recently, and yes, I know what you're thinking ...
I can't believe I'm posting so soon after my last post either! LOL

Usually, when I have spare time (what's that?? right), I`m usually online checking out blogs (I follow A LOT of lovely blogs!!!), or looking at all the lovely cards posted on Pinterest (follow me, the link is above, just under my blog banner ..... ), or cooking (especially on weekends as I like to prepare meals for the coming week. I work full time and it`s challenging getting healthy meals on the table at night when I`m exhausted from work).

I envy those who are dedicated enough to post on a regular basis, and one day, I hope I am one of them :-)

So, back to my card ... SO easy, as truly, this die does all the work.

This is an exclusive Simon Says Stamp die called Brilliant Gifts.

I die cut it from a mirror gold cardstock, as well as some DP from my stash that I thought would suit (I chose small patterns for it to show through, and matched it to coordinated cardstock colours to add variety). My card uses the DP along with Stampin` Up`s Real Red and Gumball Green cardstock.

The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted`s Ornamental Style stamp set.

I have a hard time making CAS cards, so all this white space made me sweat a bit (haha!), but truly, this die is so beautiful that it looks just lovely on it`s own, so I left this card as CAS as I could. Do you agree with me?

Since the diecut is made from metallic gold cardstock, I`m also entering this card on Virginia`s View November Challenge Blog `All Things Metallic`.

Have you seen all the beautiful cards posted for this challenge? You just have to go check it out!

It`s now snowing here north of Toronto - a gently falling, thick snowflake kinda snow. Peaceful ... like Sunday mornings should be. Hope your day is A-MAZING and thanks for spending a wee bit of it on my blog.

Simon Says Stamp Holiday Frame Dies Card Set

Happy Saturday morning!

We are starting to see snow falling here in the Toronto area, but fortunately (for now), it's not sticking around. Tomorrow the downtown area of Toronto will experience the 110th Santa Claus Parade, so it's definitely beginning to feel like Christmas is right around the corner!

When my kids were younger, we loved going downtown to watch all the amazing floats drive by, waving at them, and humming along to the holiday tunes played by the many talented bands that went by. One amazing experience, made all the better with hot chocolate to keep us warm on a chilly day :-)

I'm popping in to post a couple of cards I made recently (I have 4 craft sales to prepare for in the coming weeks so I apologize about my lack of posting).

I purchased this lovely die set from Simon Says Stamp - Holiday Frame Dies - and couldn't wait to use it as I've seen some beautiful cards on Pinterest with it. (Psstt ... Pinterest is my current addiction, and is wonderful for enabling my craft spending habits LOL)

I decided to do a red & navy colour scheme, sprinkled with silver. I used 2 different stamp images, 1 from PSX (G1602) of the Snowmen Trio, and one purchased at Michael's in their dollar bin of a Winter Cardinal (CraftSmart). Both were embossed in red ink inside the frame.

The background was created using JustRite's Retro Sparkle Background Stamp, in silver ink.

I added a few scattered Iridescent 4mm and 3mm rhinestones to bling them up a bit (Pizzazz Aplenty) :-)

Here are the 2 side-by-side:

Have a lovely weekend, and thank you for stopping by my blog.

Happiest of Holidays

I know I've been neglecting my little blog for some time, and truly, it was never my intent! I've been busy creating tons and tons of cards (unfortunately, mass producing them in preparation for several holiday craft sales I have coming up in the coming months). This has taken up a lot of my crafting time, but I've promised myself that I would take pictures of my cards and post them soon. Keeping my fingers crossed :-)

In the meantime, I did manage to put this quick card together with these ice skate diecuts that have been sitting on my craft desk for a couple of months. I added mini white pompoms and silver marker to embellish them a tad.

Thanks for popping in - hope you like my card!

Supplies used: Papertrey Ink On Ice stamp set & die; Papertrey Ink Happiest of Holidays (sentiment); Spellbinders Labels 4; pop dots; silver marker; Pumice Stone Distress Ink; Stampin' Up Baja Breeze cardstock; Bo Bunny DP

Papertrey Ink's (Lack of) Customer Service

I am a Canadian customer of Papertrey Ink and have been for some years (i.e. I've spent literally THOUSANDS of $$$ on their beautiful products). Of course, shipping to me here in Canada is expensive, but as there is no Canadian supplier, I don't have much of a choice. On occasion, perhaps once a year, I go into the US for vacation and arrange to ship my goodies (from Papertrey as well as other online suppliers) to a Kinek point located just across the border. I avoid the shipping costs and duties, and pay a minimal $5 pick-up fee.

One such occasion occurred recently, and I had actually placed SEVERAL ORDERS with Papertrey to pick-up at Kinek during my vacation, my last one including a die set that was recently re-stocked and for which I ordered another set for a friend (as we often combine our orders). Well, when I opened the box, one of those die sets was missing - only 1 was shipped, so I contacted Customer Service (Julie Heskamp, the owner of Papertrey Ink).

Of course, by this time, I was back home from my vacation here in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). Actually about an hour north-east of Toronto.

Julie was very quick to reply, and exceptionally pleasant ("hope you're having a fabulous day" etc.), and replied back to me that yes, IT WAS THEIR ERROR IN NOT SENDING THE 2ND SET.

When she advised me of her resolution, it floored me!!! Even after admitting it was THEIR FAULT, they advised me that they could only send the missing die set to the original destination - i.e. the Kinek point in New York state, which is a 3-hour drive (one way) from my home!!

When I explained my situation - the distance, the pick-up fee, the fact I wasn't going to be visiting the States again for some time, the fact that almost all of my orders have been shipped to me here in the GTA with those few cross-border occasions, the fact that 1 die set can be sent to me here in Canada for minimal cost, and the fact that they admitted fault in this situation - she reiterated that they were only willing to send it to the original destination ("company policy"), or I could receive a credit for the $10 product.

It's a shame how dreadful their "Customer Service" is. They definitely have a way of making customers feel like their satisfaction is not worth their efforts or added expense, no matter how small.

No wonder they have an "F" rating at the BBB!

I'm saddened because I still like their product and realize that my decision to cease buying from them would mean absolutely nothing to them, no matter how much money I've spent with them over the years. I also can't help thinking that, if I were an American customer, would they be willing to send that missing die set to my home address in the US, or would they still insist on sending it to the Kinek point because it's their "Company Policy"??? I mean, 1 US address is the same as sending it to another US address, right?

It's highly likely it's because I'm a Canadian customer and it's too much trouble for them to correct THEIR error by sending the die set to me here in Canada at an added cost to them.

Shame on Papertrey Ink!