Hold Your Place

I belong to a reading group called "How Novel", a great group of women who gather once a month at one of our homes to share a few glasses of wine while discussing whatever book our hostess selected for us that month. Tonight was our monthly meeting and we chatted about the vampire-romance phenomenon Twilight... to honour the theme I made my fellow reading group members bookmarks as a little keepsake. The background layer is Basic Black, the top layer and grosgrain ribbon tie are both Real Red. The rose inked in Basic Black comes from the "Fifth Avenue Floral" set, and the quote I printed myself. If you're not familiar with it, it's taken directly from the novel and describes the relationship of the two main characters - the Vampire Edward and his human love Bella. Custom bookmarks may be something I look at more seriously going forward... wouldn't they make great wedding favours from a couple who love to read, or prizes for contests at school?

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Looking Back on Father's Day

As we were leading up to Father's Day I published several card ideas for Dads, but held off displaying the cards I created for my own father and my husband. Both of them visit Summer's Creative Corner and I wanted their cards to be a surprise on Sunday - but now that Father's Day is behind us it's time to share!

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The first, which I made for my husband, is garden-themed. The card base is More Mustard with a layer of Designer Series Paper from the Delicate Dots package. The outer layer of the "flower" and the "grass" are Old Olive and were trimmed with the Ticket Corner Punch and Scallop Punch respectively. The stem and petals were hand trimmed from scraps of older DSP (yet another reason I never throw away those scraps!), and the stamp used in the centre of the flower is from the "Eight Great Greetings" set. The tiny flowers popping up on the "grass" were created using the Boho Blossoms punch, and add a sweet extra touch to this many-layered card.

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The second card I made for my Dad using Chocolate Chip Card Stock for the Base with strips of Designer Series Paper from last year's "Tie the Knot" Simply Scrappin' Kit (which I loved so much I've kept using in bits and pieces, sad that eventually I'll run out!) The top layer is a 3" x 3" square of Creamy Caramel cut with the Scallop Edge Punch to create a buckle of sorts, and finished with the same lovely stamp from the "Eight Great Greetings" set. One of the creative bonuses of making a buckle design like this is your ability to slide the anchoring pieces of DSP around to shift the buckle up and down and from left to right until you find the place on your card where it looks just right - then all that's left is to anchor it and trim any excess paper.

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The Dads in my life seemed to appreciate their cards and assorted Father's Day treats... I hope that however you showed appreciation to the Dads and Father figures in your life last weekend that they felt loved on their special day.

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Sweet Sahara Sand

I've fallen in love with one of our lovely neutral colours lately - Sahara Sand. It's a beautifully soft grey-taupe that can be used easily in both masculine and feminine cards and blends exceptionally well with other colours. For this simple, versatile card I layered Sahara Sand card stock with "Delicate Dots" Designer Series Paper from our Sale-a-Bration campaign, then created another smaller layer of Whisper White and Sahara Sand card stock with the corners notched using the Ticket Corner punch. To add a bit of pizazz I stamped and cut out a flower from the Polka Dot Punches set and anchored it using a Filigree Designer Brad, then tied 1/4" white grosgrain ribbon around one of the clips from our Clips Assortment for a pretty little bow. The verse comes from the Best Wishes & More stamp set.

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I think it would make a lovely birthday or thank you card, and with just a bit more "dressing up" might also make a lovely congratulations card for a wedding. The versatility of a card like this makes it a great one to make and keep on hand for those last-minute occasions where you wish you had time to create a home-made card but don't. It will be featured in an upcoming class on my summer schedule - keep checking back to Summer's Creative Corner for details!

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Tick Tock, Tick Tock...

Just a reminder: there are only two days left until June is officially over and the NEW Stampin' Up Catalogue goes into effect! With the new catalogue come new stamp sets and some new prices, so if you would like to take advantage of some of the lower pre-catalogue release prices on your favourite basics or snap up a retired stamp set before it's gone for good... there's no time to waste! Contact me today at 519-672-5485 or summer.burton@sympatico.ca to check availability and place your order. Time's ticking!

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Birthday on the Brain

My daughter's fourth birthday is coming up in just over a month, and she's requested that we plan her very first "kids party". The past couple of weeks have been full of conversations about the guest list, location for the party, kind of cake, etc. and now that we've hammered out the details I knew it was time to get invitations made.

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For these party invitations I used a selection of paper from the Bold Brights collection and stamps from the Party Hearty set. The 1 1/2" squares of card stock on the front of the card are stamped in VersaMark, and I used the smaller Stampin' Spots ink pads for their versatility inking the cupcake design in two colours without having to use markers. Bright, fun and cheerful just like my (soon to be) four year old girl. We'll start delivering the invitations tomorrow!

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Last Chance List!

A new Stampin’ Up!® catalogue is right around the corner, which means it’s time to say farewell to dozens of stamp sets and accessories in the Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalogue. Don’t miss this opportunity to get the last chance products! They are only available until June 30, 2009. Check the list to see if any of your favourites are there—then contact me to place your order before they are going, going . . . gone.

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Last Chance Stamp Sets:

Page 26 - Happy Heart Day

Page 28 - Pinch Proof

Page 30 - Blooming with Love

Page 30 - Thoughts of Father

Page 32 - Snow Burst

Page 33 - Holidays & Wishes

Page 33 - Voeux en fête

Page 35 - Heritage Holiday

Page 38 - Big Birthday Candle

Page 40 - Big Bold Birthday

Page 40 - Un super anniversaire

Page 41 - L’heure de la fête

Page 41 - Time to Party

Page 42 - Boatloads of Love

Page 46 - Great Grads

Page 49 - Little Birdie Told Me, A

Page 50 - If the Halo Fits

Page 56 - God Is Love

Page 59 - Always in My Thoughts

Page 59 - Je pense toujours à toi

Page 60 - To Have and to Hold

Page 67 - Zoofari

Page 70 - Life’s a Breeze

Page 71 - Perfect Princess

Page 72 - Prehistoric Pals

Page 73 - Mon doudou à moi

Page 73 - Wild about You

Page 84 - Heartfelt Thanks

Page 84 - Sincères remerciements

Page 86 - Kindred Spirits

Page 87 - Organic Outlines

Page 88 - Doodle This

Page 93 - Pretty Amazing

Page 96 - Best Kind of Friend

Page 96 - Morning Soft

Page 97 - Seaside

Page 98 - Stitched Exotics

Page 108- Frames with a Flourish

Page 108 - Picotine

Page 108 - Seeing Spots

Page 117 - Illuminations

Page 118 - Beautiful Borders

Page 120 - Douces célébrations

Page 120 - Sweet Celebrations

Page 122 - Big Flowers

Page 125 - All Scallops

Page 126 - Sweet Sampler

Page 128 - Classic Stripes

Page 129 - Baroque

Page 132 - Absolutely Fabulous

Page 133 - Outlined for Fun

Page 134 - Des voeux parfaits

Page 134 - Hugs & Wishes

Page 135 - Elegant Cheer

Page 135 - Élégantes réjouissances

Page 136 - Heureux hasard

Page 136 - Sweet Serendipity

Page 137 - Many Happy Returns

Page 138 - It’s a Sign

Page 139 - One Smart Cookie

Page 140 - In Good Form

Page 140 – Just B

Page 141 - Lovely Labels

Page 144 - Numéros sur-le-champ

Page 144 - Short Order Alphabet

Page 144 - Short Order Numbers

Page 144 - Alphabet tout prêt

Page 144 - Ticker Tape Alphabet

Page 145 - Big Deal Alphabet

Page 145 - Big Deal Numbers

Page 146 - ABC Alphabet Lower

Page 146 - ABC Alphabet Upper

Page 146 - ABC Images

Page 148 - Simple Serif Mini

Page 149 - Best Bee Four-Line

Page 149 - Best Bee Three-Line

Page 149 - Classic Four-Line

Page 149 - Classic One-Line

Page 149 - Classic Three-Line

Page 149 - Classic Two-Line

Page 149 - Contemporary Four-Line

Page 149 - Contemporary One-Line

Page 149 - Contemporary Three-Line

Page 149 - Contemporary Two-Line

Page 149 - Decorative Design

Page 149 - Elegant Flower Four-Line

Page 149 - Elegant Flower Three-Line

Page 149 - Large Text-Only Simple

Page 149 - Serif One-Line

Page 149 - Large Text-Only Simple

Page 149 - Serif Two-Line

Page 149 - Tag It

Page 209 - Dites-le joliment

Page 209 - Say It with Scallops (kit)

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Last Chance items not currently appearing in the Idea Book (“Dormant” items)

Bella Blossoms

Happiness is a Journey

Holiday Trinkets

In Everything Give Thanks

Nouvelles raisons d’aimer

Something New to Love

Tableau of Terror

To You & Yours

Wonderful You

Beauté de la Création

Chère amie

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Last Chance Hostess Sets (shown on pages 17 through 22):

Comfort Food

Dear Friend

God’s Beauty

Darling Dots

Picots mignons

Sentiments chaleureux

Sweet Little Sentiments

Echoes of Kindness

Itty Bitty Buds

L’écho de la gentillesse

Little Somethin’, A

Rustic Rooster

Un p’tit quelque chose

Dream a Little

Rêvons un peu

Bon à croquer

Goody-Goody Gumdrops

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Inspired By... Loving Frank

Ready for the second card in my "Inspired By... Book Club" class?

Loving Frank is a novel following the scandalous relationship between architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheyney, the wife of one of his clients. Shortly after the turn of the century, when divorce was almost unheard of and suffrage was being passionately debated, the two fell in love and left their respective families to be together... a phenomenal scandal. The unique architectural vision of Frank Lloyd Wright and how Mamah influenced that vision make for a fascinating read, especially knowing that the novel itself is based on real-life events. This multi-layered card honours his vision, taking elements from several of his stained glass windows and the earthy colour pallet often used in his "prairie style" architecture. The verse inside also echoes the perfection Frank Lloyd Wright expected of both himself and others... "You only live once, but if you do it right once is enough".

If you would like to join my "Inspired By: Book Club" class on June 14th from 2-4pm, where we will make this card, the Twilight card/bookmark, and a soon-to-be revealed Eat, Pray, Love card, please contact me at either summer.burton@sympatico.ca or 519-672-5485.

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Inspired By... Twilight

As I mentioned in my class calendar for May & June, I'm starting a new series of classes called "Inspired By...", where I'll look to everything from popular media to movies and literature as a basis for designing cards. The first class in this series is "Inspired By... Book Club", and in it we will be making a set of three cards inspired by books read and discussed by my book club "How Novel". One of those books is the popular vampire romance novel "Twilight", and I thought this rainy grey day (if you've read the book, you'll recognize a similarity to the weather in the town of Forks) would be a good time to reveal my Twilight card.

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The card takes both the colour scheme and romantic message from the book. The layered card front holds a removable book mark perfect to hold your place if you're actually able to put the book down... and in several key spots there's a touch of sparkle (hmmm... wonder what inspired that?)

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Here, the card front is shown with the book mark removed and its quote, taken directly from the novel, revealed. The stamped quote on the front of the card reads "You mean everything to me" and the interior echoes both the card design and sentiment, {EVERYTHING}.

If you would like to join me on Sunday June 14th to make this card and two more "Inspired By... Book Club" creations, please contact me at summer.burton@sympatico.ca or 519-672-5485 today!

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