Monthly Medley

I don’t know about you, but when I go to a restaurant I often choose the sampler plate…it’s too hard to choose just one main course when there are so many great things to try!

That’s my model for the Monthly Medley class.  It’s perfect for novice and experienced paper crafters wanting to experience a variety of designs, techniques and quality Stampin’ Up! products.  A great way to try out a little bit of everything!

Class format: This class will be held in-person as local guidelines allow, and appropriate distancing and sanitisation protocols will be maintained.  If circumstances change class kits will be available to pick up or post and an online assembly session will be scheduled.

Cost: $35 

Location: Nancy’s Stamping Studio, 1801/151 Berkeley Street, Melbourne 3000

Dates: Tuesday and Saturday afternoons, 1:00 – 4:00 PM
16 & 19 January, RSVP by Tuesday, 12 January
16 & 20 February, RSVP by Tuesday, 9 February
16 & 20 March, RSVP by Tuesday, 9 March
17 & 20 April, RSVP by Tuesday, 6 April
15 & 18 May, RSVP by Tuesday, 4 May
15 & 19 June, RSVP by Tuesday, 8 June

Product Playground
Some days I go to my stamp shelf, pull out a set that appeals and just sit down and create several different designs in one go.  It’s so satisfying to feel like I’ve really gotten a good play with my investment!  I’ve designed the Product Playground classes to give you the same experience in a fun and easy format.

Each 2-month series features one bundle (stamp set and coordinating punch or dies, plus a set colour palette of ink pads) that each participant purchases.  Each month you will receive supplies and directions to make 2 each of 4 card designs, so that you wind up with 16 cards made from each product bundle. These classes are a perfect way to slowly build your stamping stash and confidence.

Class format:  these class series will be by kit (local pick-up or post options available) with an online assembly session.

Cost: Class kits: $35 each, 2-month series commitment required; bundle prices will vary. 

Note: Participants will need to have their own basic card-making kit (Tear & Tape, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Glue Dots, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Paper Snips, Bone Folder). Classes with bundles that include dies also require a die-cutting machine.

Dates: Saturday afternoon, 1:00 – 4:00 PM
​Arrange A Wreath (Annual Catalogue p. 127)30 January
27 February
RSVP Deadline: Thursday, 14 January
Product To Be Announced
27 March
1 May
RSVP Deadline: Thursday, 11 March
Product To Be Announced
29 May
26 June
RSVP Deadline: Thursday, 13 May

Are you excited for the start of the January - June 2021 Mini Catalogue tomorrow?  Do you have your wish list filled out?  You should have the Fine Art Floral Suite at the top of it! I sat down during the holidays and in one day I made NINE totally different cards with this suite.  I am excited to share one of them today:

The flowers in this Art Gallery stamp set are so lush - in large part because they are Two-Step stamps and can layer colour really easily!  Photopolymer clear stamps mean lining up the images is a snap.  All of the images have coordinating dies and there are 9 sentiments with  2 coordinating dies as well.

For this card I cut a strip of the Fine Art Floral Designer Series Paper (DSP) and adhered it to my Thick White card base at an angle.  Tip: cut the DSP strip on the long side and use your Paper Trimmer or Paper Snips to trim it to the card's edge.

I stamped 3 flowers, using Flirty Flamingo ink for both layers of the Two-Step process.  Then I used small petal stamp with Versamark ink, Heat & Stick Powder and the scrumptious Gilded Leafing. More details on how to do this process are coming soon.

The leaves are stamped in Pear Pizzazz and Soft Sea Foam.  Hint: I snipped off the stems after stamping and die-cutting for this design...yes, you can do that! ​

​This card makes me smile - it's so fun and fresh!  Watch for my other Fine Art Floral designs here on my blog, in my email newsletter and in my Nancy's Nifty Notemakers Facebook group.  If you aren't following me everywhere you're going to miss something!

My brain has been whirling away the last few weeks, and now my content calendar is bursting with ideas! If you want to be sure you’re not missing a single thing you’ll need to be sure you’re connected with me.

I am so excited to share my new stamping hangout, Nancy’s Nifty Notemakers, a private, exclusive Facebook group where all my stamping friends can meet, create, share and learn together.

I will be posting a variety of content there, and encourage members to share their creations and stories, ask & answer questions, and build a fun, supportive stamping community.  To join, click on the link and answer the questions to be approved.

Subscribe to my email list right now so you’re all set to receive my stepped-up online newsletters! I will be sending exclusive projects, tool tips, techniques to try, and lots more. Keep your eyes open for these to come throughout the week.

So I don’t flood your inbox, I will no longer be sending out my individual blog posts.  Really - this is the last one!  I’ll still be posting at least 3 times per week…you’ll just need to hop over to NancysNiftyNotes.com to see them. Take this opportunity right now to bookmark this address - or even set it as your startup page in your browser!

My goal is to be sure that my stamping friends are receiving the best of what I have to offer…be sure you’re connected so you don’t miss out!

Nancy’s Nifty Notemakers Exclusive Facebook Group
Nancy’s Nifty Notes Blog
Nancy’s Nifty Notes Newsletter

This is the project I made during my Facebook Live video this week.  You can watch the replay on YouTube or Facebook.   Go follow my Nancy's Nifty Notes Facebook Page and get notified when I go Live every Wednesday at 10:00 am AET.

It was fun to break open the new Corner Bouquet stamp set for this video.  It is one of the new Level 1 Sale-A-Bration (SAB) items you can earn with a qualified purchase beginning 5 January.  

I began by using a Blending Brush (p. 70, January - June 2021 Mini Catalogue) to swirl on layers of Mango Melody, Flirty Flamingo and Calypso Coral inks.  Then I used an Embossing Buddy anti-static pouch before stamping the large Corner Bouquet image in Versamark ink and sprinkling it with Black Stampin’ Emboss Powder.  After I heated the powder to set it, I repeated the process with the sentiment from the Best Year set.
​
I think the Embossing Buddy anti-static pouch and the Adhesive Eraser are 2 must-have tools and it’s a shame Stampin’ Up! has stopped carrying them.  I have a few that I’ve sourced and am selling at cost + postage, so if you’re needing one let me know.

Also, if you are in Australia I’d be happy to send you your very own copies of the January - June 2021 Mini Catalogue and Sale-A-Bration Brochure.  Just drop me a note and I’ll get them right out to you.  (If you regularly order with another demonstrator and don’t plan to order from me, please request these from her/him, thank you.)

These are the cards I made on my Facebook Live this week.  You can watch the replay on YouTube or Facebook.  

I found this layout online, posted by Yvonne Simmons, a demonstrator from British Columbia, Canada.

This is the cardstock/Designer Series Paper combination that Yvette used: Cinnamon Cider, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso and Gilded Autumn DSP.

This one uses Night of Navy, Very Vanilla and Boho Indigo Product Medley.

And this one uses the Flower & Field DSP, which is a free offering with a qualifying purchase during the upcoming Sale-A-Bration which runs 5 January - 28 February.

Cardstock Base:
Centimetres: 29.7 x 10.5 scored at 14.9.  On score line cut down 5 cm.  Turn lengthwise and cut at the 5 cm mark to the score line.
Inches: :  4 ¼” x 11” scored at 5 1/2”. On score line cut down 2”. Turn lengthwise and cut at the  2” mark to the score line.
Cardstock Mats:
Centimetres: 14.4 x 10 cm, and 14.4 x 5 cm
Inches: 4”x 5 1/4” and 1- 2”x 5/14” 
Mat for Sentiment:
Centimetres. 3.3 x 8.3 cm
Inches:   1 ¼” x  3¼”.
Designer Series Paper:
Centimetres: 4.3 x 5.5 cm and 4.3 x 4.5 cm
Inches: 1 ½” x 3  ½” cut in half to 1 ¾”.

Are you like me and needing a stash of small gifts for people in your life?  Hairdressers, building staff, host gifts (maybe not so much this year), etc.? I've made 2 versions of this gift pack that holds 8 Merci chocolates.

I found boxes of the Merci chocolates at Aldi here in Australia.  I know I've seen them in the USA, too,  Here's what they look like:

I CASE'd the design from Janet Blaauw.  Here are measurements and directions:

Cardstock: (1) piece 22 x 15 cm, (2) pieces 7 x 11 cm, (1) piece 29.7 x 4 cm
DSP: (4) pieces 9.5 x 14.5 cm, (2) pieces 1.5 x 14.5 cm, (2) pieces 6.8 x 4.8 cm
Decorative pieces as desired.

• Score large cardstock piece on 22 cm side at 10 and 12 cm. Fold and burnish your score lines.
• Adhere DSP to both sides.
• Score both small pieces of cardstock at 1 cm and 1.9 cm on 1 long side and both short sides. Fold and burnish all score lines.
• Snip on score lines so that your pieces look like this:

Happy Winter Solstice today, Northern Hemisphere!

​Do I need to repeat my mini-rant from last week?  That all December holidays are really just about bringing the light into the darkest days in the Northern Hemisphere? Didn't think so.  

But you may need an explanation of the Winter Solstice theme...my parents, brother and I are non-religious, but still did a present exchange in December when all of the other families did.  When I was in early primary school this was questioned by my schoolmates, which made me go home and ask my parent.  So we discussed it at the dinner table and we decided that we didn't want to give up the practice just because we didn't observe one of the "standard" holidays, so we designated our holiday as Winter Solstice (see philosophical statement above) and gift giving as a family appreciation practice.  Thus, my Winter Solstice cards for this year:

These are very much like the other Feels Like Frost DSP and Evergreen Forest cards I showed here, but instead of a straight cut I used. my favourite Curvy die once again.  In fact, I used it twice, since I also cut a bit of Misty Moonlight cardstock to layer between the DSP and Seaside Spray cardstock. One has the Misty Moonlight In Color ribbon, and the other has the Flowers For Every Season Ribbon Combo Pack twine. I printed the sentiment from my computer (let me know if you ever want the codes to match SU! colours!) and cut them with the Stitched Rectangles dies.

Of course, with different sentiments (or none at all) these would be great for many occasions.  Here's what I used to make them...click on any picture to go to my online store.

These are the projects I made during this week's Facebook Live.  You can watch the video replay on YouTube or Facebook.  On either platform you'll find options to select to know when I go live or publish a new video...why not go ahead and take advantage of them?

This week I had my first dive into the Ice Cream Corner Suite, featured on pp. 48-49 of the January-June 2021 Mini Catalogue.  I had won the Sweet Ice Cream stamp set during the #OnstageAtHome event in November, so of course I had to order the rest of the suite when it became available to demonstrators at the start of December.

If you like what you see of this suite be sure to sign up for my newsletter because I will be sharing more projects, some of which will be exclusive for my newsletter subscribers!

I'm really digging the bright colours and yummy images and sentiments of this suite, which are really cheerful and appropriate for anyone.  I go through all the Designer Series Paper patterns on the video, and you can see 8 out of 12 of them on my 3 cards in this post!

On this card you will see that I'm using one of the new Blending Brushes to add some Bermuda Bay and Pool Party ink to the DSP to make a subtle ombré effect before mounting it on a mat of Bermuda Bay..  Then I punched 3 scoops of ice cream and 1 cone from different sheets of DSP.  I stamped the sentiment on white cardstock in Bermuda Bay ink and flagged both ends with the Banners Pick A Punch.  After mounting all the layers on a white card base I added a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

I can't take credit for thinking up making the ice cream cone into a bear, but this is my take on the concept.  I used a sentiment from the also brand-new Art Gallery stamp set.  I think the bear would be great on a 3" x 3" gift enclosure, but as I say in the video, I don't seem to actually use those, so I made this a 10.5 x 10.5 cm (4 ¼" x 4 ¼") square instead.  I've already got some more ideas of how use this bear concept on some different card bases.

The popsicles/icy poles/ice lollies are a 2-step stamping image, and as you saw on the video need to be hand-cut if you want them popped up.  But they and their sticks are simple shapes and so are quick and easy to do.  The camera was able to capture the sparkle of the Wink of Stella Glitter Pen on them, though it might just look like white specks to you.  Thanks to Paula's suggestion in the comments I added the Blackberry Bliss Striped Ribbon to the centre treat.

A gentle reminder that I have gift cards available in several formats for you to give or to request others give to you!  Happy to sort out bemused partners and family on your behalf!  Just contact me at nhoetker@mac.com or 0424 968 039.

Just a heads-up that I will be cutting back on my blogging for the next few weeks.  I've got a few posts scheduled and I'm sure I'll have some more things to share with you between now and New Year's. But I'm taking some time to do some planning for next year as well as some holiday prep in other areas of my life (a bit of shopping, a bit of baking...). I know my blog isn't the centre of your universe, but I didn't want you to worry that something is wrong if you go a few days without seeing a post from me.

There are just 2 places left for my class this Saturday, 19 December at 1:00.  We'll be making a couple of projects perfect for last-minute gifts or stocking fillers, plus some cards featuring new product from the January - June Mini Catalogue.

RSVP to nhoetker@mac.com by Thursday, 16 December.  $35.00.

Items are selling out quickly - be sure to get what you want while you can!
​Also, the Clearance Rack was recently updated - there's good stuff there, too!

Whisper White has been a Stampin’ Up! staple for so long. We love it and we know you love it, too. We are sad to announce that the supplier’s mill producing our Whisper White cardstock has permanently closed due to impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, we weren’t given much notice on this closure. This means that the technology unique to this particular supplier is now unavailable to us and we can no longer offer our Whisper White cardstock and related products, such as Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes. Please note that this won’t affect any of our other cardstocks, this only affects Whisper White.
 
Below is a list of all products that will be replaced with our new Basic White cardstock. These items are now available while supplies last with an order limit of 2 per item per order.

• Whisper White 3" x 3" (7.6 x 7.6 cm) Envelopes (145829)
• Whisper White A4 Cardstock (106549)
• Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (140490)
• Whisper White 12" x 12" (30.5 x 30.5 cm) Cardstock (sold out)
• Assorted Memories & More Cards & Envelopes (sold out)
• Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes (sold out)
• Whisper White C6 Envelopes (sold out)

Each year I make at least a few gift card holders, and I try to change up the design.  I found this one on Pinterest by Rosanne Mulhern and adapted the measurements for A4 cardstock.

Yes, that is a Nancy's Nifty Notes gift card peeking out from that pocket!  
I offer

• class punch cards for any number of classes, or
• gift cards in any dollar amount you wish  to use for Stampin' Up! product or classes.  

Each gift card comes with it's own holder, ready for presenting!  

Purchase yourself for crafty friends and family, or pass on my contact information to anyone who needs a hint what to get for you! nhoetker@mac.com or 0424 968 039

Gift Card Holder Measurements:

Cardstock Base: 14.9 x 10.5 cm
DSP Layer: 14.4 x 10 cm

Tri-Fold Cardstock: 24 x 10.5 cm, scored at 8 & 16 cm
DSP & Cardstock Layers: 10 x 7.5 cm

Gift Card Pocket Cardstock: 10.6 x 6 cm
DSP Layer: 10 x 5.5 cm