Steal of the Week

This weekend is busy, busy, busy yet so FUN! Friday we took Brandon to a local carnival, yesterday was our family golf and BBQ day and today we are off to my Aunt’s for another family gathering! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

I’ve got the ‘Steal of the Week’ up on the website plus August 29th is the last day for you to take advantage of the amazing birthday sale!!! Be sure to stop by the YNS website and grab a deal while you can cause these CRAZY birthday sale discounts won’t be back anytime soon!

Here are some awesome samples featuring some of the Steal of the Week stamps…

Happy Stamping!

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CCC #1 Prize Winner

Thank you for giving Carole a much deserved warm welcome to YNS!!! Her first CCC post was so fun and informative and I loved reading all your fabulous comments too! I look forward to seeing what she has in store for us on September 18th! YIPPEE!!

Rainbows and Happiness along with a Stamped By… stamp for the back of your cards
I took all the comments and mixed them up and drew a name at random and our winner of this fabulous and fun prize pack is…

Virgo5 with this comment…

I totally agree with signing the back of cards, my problem is I want it to be a the perfect whimsical signature…but I can’t decide what that is! So I’m waiting til I figure it out!!!! Should I include my email in case someone wants to order cards? What if my email changes!!!! What if I never do and I have unsigned cards everywhere! So many decisions!

I love the little YNS for the back & the place to sign, great idea!
Congrats!!! Email me to claim your prize!!!

Happy Stamping!

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Pizza Box Tutorial by Maureen Wong

Hi everybody! It’s Maureen here and I have a tutorial for you today! It’s a little Make & Take that I designed for a past ScrapFest show, but since not many people got to make it, I thought some people might be interested in a tutorial for it. Since it was meant to be a M&T, it’s pretty simple, but you could easily fancy it up by adding more layers to the belly band or embellishments of your choice.

Pizza Box Surprise Gift Card Holder

Materials needed:
Sturdy patterned paper or cardstock for box: 4 ½” x 9 ½”
PP or CS for belly band and insert: 1 ½” x 9, 3 7/16″ x 3 15/16″
White CS: 3 7/16″ x 2 5/16″ (for writing a note), 3 pieces 1 ½” x 3 7/16″ and to stamp bag images 2″ piece of ribbon

A Good Friend YNS stamp set

Score board
¾” circle punch
Adhesive (regular and foam)
Coloring medium of choice
Scissors
Pencil

Instructions:
1) Take piece for box and place short edge along top of scoring board.
Score at ½” and 4″. Turn piece and score at ½”, 4 ½”, 5″, 9 ½”. Cut on
all score marks on each long edge as shown in pen (8 in all):


2) Lightly mark center of one short edge of the piece. Using the ¾”
circle punch, punch a notch where you marked (shown above).

3) Adhere short flaps inside box and you should have this:


4) Take the insert piece and place 4″ side along top of scoring board.
Score at 1 ½”. Before folding, stamp “true friend” image inside the
smaller top area and color as desired. Now fold back and forth along
score line a couple times to make sure it bends easily.


5) Take piece of ribbon and lightly fold in half. Tape to back of bottom
edge of insert (in this picture and the one below, the insert is upside
down):


6) Write a note to the recipient and stick piece onto back of bottom of
insert. Take the 3 small white pieces and stick to the back of the top
of the insert. (These will help the insert lie flat even when the gift
card is underneath the bottom portion.)


7) Place adhesive on back of top portion ONLY and adhere inside box bottom.

8) Decorate bottom of insert as desired. (I stuck the 2 smaller bags
directly to the insert and then popped the big bag up on foam tape.)


9) Lift up insert flap and place gift card underneath. Surprise! 🙂


10) Take piece for the belly band and make light marks on the back and
score at the following: 2 ⅜”, 2 15/16″, 6 ½”, 7 1/16″. Before folding,
stamp the “good friend” sentiment in the middle section of the band and
color as desired.


11) Fold band around box and adhere it to itself (NOT to the box!),
making sure that the band isn’t too tight so it can slip on and off
easily.And your box is done! Yay!

FINAL NOTE: I know a lot of the insert measurements are in 16ths of an
inch – if it’s easier to think about it, they’re all based on the pieces
being slightly smaller than 3 ½” x 4″. So, you could always cut the
pieces the full size, and then just slice off a 16th of an inch wherever
necessary to make the pieces fit!

I hope you like my project and that you’ll give it a try! If you do,
please leave a comment so we can check it out!

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Up and Coming Events

Do you want to join me for some FABULOUS and FUN make n’ takes?

I hope you just screamed YES at your computer screen!!!

2 wonderful store owners Lora (One Crazy Stamper Inc.) and Hannah (The Scrapping Turtle) have invited me to join their store celebrations and I would LOVE for you to come by and join in all the FUN!

Here are the details…

Sept 10th 2011 – One Crazy Stamper Inc
Location – 25 Mill Street, Unit A – Bolton Ontario
Sept 11th 2011 – The Scrapping Turtle
Location – 1440 King Street North – St. Jacobs, Ontario
They are celebrating 1 year at their new location!!!

Plus YNS will once again be at ScrapFest Oshawa so be sure to mark your calendars and check out the website for pre registration which starts tomorrow, Wednesday September 24th at 8pm.

And if you want to get your hands on the ADORABLE YNS Scrapfest Fhiona stamps then be sure to mark your calendar and hop on over to the YNS website between Oct 13th and 16th to grab yours for your collection – these cuties are only available to purchase twice a year!

ScrapFest Cropper Fhiona (2010) and ScrapFest Shopper Fhiona (2011)

Later this week I’ll post Maureen’s super awesome pizza box tutorial! YAY!

Have a fun and creative day!


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Steal of the Week and Other Stuff

I’m so happy that everyone enjoyed Carole’s first CCC post! YAY! I know I really enjoyed what she had to say about stamping the back of your cards and couldn’t agree more – thanks for the great post Carole! I can’t wait to see what she has to say on September 18th. If you haven’t checked out CCC #1 yet be sure to do so HERE. Leave Carole a lovely comment before Aug 28th and your name will be entered into win some YNS stamps!

Here’s some DT cards featuring the some of the Steal of the Week stamps…

Summer Fun Fhiona
Thankful for You Fhiona
Rockstar Fhiona
Flower Fhiona

Be sure to check out all the Steal of the Week stamps and all the AMAZING deals over at the YNS website. The YNS 2nd birthday sale ends on Aug 29th so grab all the stamps you want at these amazing prices!!!

I hope you are having a fabulous weekend! We went to the Zoo yesterday and a blast! Here’s a few fun pics of our little cutie Brandon being all goofy…trying to get a 3 year old to smile for the camera is almost impossible! LOL

Have a fun and creative day!


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CCC #1

Hello Friends!

I’m so excited to finally introduce you to our first and only (for now) Special Event Design Team member…the super talented, hilarious and oh so smart Carole Burrage! Carole will be hijacking posting on the YNS blog the 18th day of every month – how cool is that?! If you’ve never stopped by her own personal blog Mother’s Little Helper than you are missing out on some amazing talent and ton of laughs! I was introduced to Carole’s blog well over a year ago by my sister and instantly thought to myself…’Karen, this is a gal you need to get to know’ so I stalked read her blog for many many months before ever saying anything and the moment I emailed her there was an instant connection and I’m so happy to now call her a friend and fabulous member of the YNS family. Please give her a warm welcome and be sure to leave a comment on her posts because not only will she entertain you but there will be YNS prizes up for grabs every month too!!! WHOOT WHOOT!!!

Ok so without further ado…take it away Carole!

——————-
Welcome to the very first Carole’s Creative Commotion blog post! When Karen approached me with the idea of giving me the YNS Blog for one day each month TO DO WHATEVER I WANT TO WITH IT, I leapt at this unheard-of-opportunity. Then I wondered if she was off her meds/on a bender/cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. But who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth? If Karen wants to give me this platform and let me expound on whatever topic flits into my fool head, I’m going to accept it with gratitude.
Thanks, Karen!
Now that we’re done with the niceties, shall we get started?
Here’s what I’m thinking about today: taking ownership of and pride in your art. That’s the big theme. And, looking at the little picture: I want you to start signing the backs of your cards.
Let me explain where I’m coming from. I’ve been active in the stamping industry and online stamping community for several years now and one of the happy results of that involvement is that I’ve developed great friendships with some amazing stampers. A benefit of friendships with stampers? Happy mail! I’ve received so many gorgeous cards over the years, I could open a stamp art gallery. No joke.
But you know what drives me crazier than I accused Karen of being, earlier? When people don’t sign their work! Seriously – most of the cards I receive lack any indication of who created them. I think that’s a crying shame. Do you think Picasso or Matisse would fail to sign their work? If they did, it’d sure fetch a lot less on the open market. Think about it: anything, from art to literature to baseball cards, is worth more when it bears the artist’s signature or stamp of authenticity. If you don’t believe me, just watch an episode of Antiques Roadshow.
Now, some of you may be thinking, “Well, that’s real art. Stamping isn’t art. It’s just my little hobby…” No, no, no, no! I disagree (in case you didn’t catch my drift from the four previous ‘no’s’). By typing “What is art?” into Google, the first definition it provides is this:
The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
I think we can all agree that creating handcrafted greeting cards out of paper, ink, and glue falls under this definition. Is stamping what some might consider ‘fine art’? Maybe not. But it’s as close as I’m going to get, and I’m proud of my small contributions towards making this world a cuter place.
Thus, I want to encourage you to embrace your art and on the back of your card, to make some sort of declaration that indicates that YOU took the time and made the effort to create the little masterpiece the recipient is fortunate enough to hold in his or her hands. Let me show you what I mean. Here’s the front of my card, using YNS’s adorable new Rainbows and Happiness set:
And here’s the back:
I made my mark using YNS’s “Stamped By…” stamp, which is on sale for less than $1.00! (Seriously, is there anything these days that costs less than a dollar?!) I love a stamp like this, and I have several that feature the copyrights of the different stamp companies whose images I use. They typically ‘fit’ with the look and feel of my card, and they let the recipient know where I got the images, in case they’re interested.
Anyway, I hope I’ve given you a little food for thought. Leave a comment and tell me if signing your cards is something you already do, will do from now on, or are opposed to and why. Let’s discuss! And just to provide you with an incentive, the oh-so-generous and lovely Karen is sponsoring a giveaway of Rainbows & Happiness and Stamped By… to one lucky commenter. Here’s a photo of the prize package for you visual learners:

 

Karen will announce the winner on August 25th, so that gives you a full week to give me your thoughts.
Okay, chickadees, I look forward to hearing from you. And remember to mark you calendars – we have a date on the 18th of each month!
XO – Carole
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YNS Challenge #49 – Fruit Inspiration

It’s time for YNS Challenge #49 and I’m your hostess – YAY! I’m challenging everyone to use FRUIT as your INSPIRATION for your cards and/or projects. You can use fun fruit papers, images, embellies or just a certain color that screams FRUIT!!!

For my card I decided to use the stamps set Cheers and my fruit inspiration is fun and fruity summer drinks – YUMMY! Nothing like lounging around on a hot summer day with a nice cold freshly blended fruit slushy!!! I added a little bling to my card by adding some YNS glittered skittles, a glitter button and a few YNS sparkly flat backs.

We would love to have you join us over at the YNS challenge blog so hop on over to check out all the details and play along for your chance to win some YNS goodies!
Be sure to stop by the YNS Store and grab a deal! The YNS Birthday Sale is on all week but sale items are limited to stock on hand plus I’m not restocking any non YNS items so once they’re gone they’re gone for good!
Happy Stamping!
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Birthday Blog Hop Winners

Thank you so much for joining in all the YNS Birthday FUN! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the fabulous blog hop and fun puzzle game!!!

The YNS Birthday Sale is on all week so be sure to check out all the fabulous new stamps and all the great deals over at the YNS Store!

The winners of the blog hop prize packs were drawn at random by an online random generator.

Here are our winners!!!

Prize Package #1 – #23 Heather
Prize Package #2  – #31 Becky ABC
Congratulations! Email me to claim your prize!

See you tomorrow for YNS Challenge #49!

Have a fun and creative day!

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YNS’ 2nd Birthday Blog Hop and New Release!

Welcome to YNS’ Birthday Celebration Blog Hop! I am so excited about this fabulous hop! Grab a coffee/tea or favorite beverage and enjoy all the fun and excitement we have planned for you today! 

YNS Blog Hop Starts – Wednesday August 10th at 8am EST
YNS Blog Hop Ends – Monday August 15th at midnight EST (this is when the puzzle contest entry closes)

Now the hop starts over at the uber talented Peggy’s blog but before you go and start hopping let me give you a little run down on what to expect today…

  • New Stamps! Lots of super cute new Fhiona Designs as well as a few awesome new Franfou designs and some super fun Heather Designs. All these wonderful new stamps along with your favorite YNS stamps are available now at the YNS Store. YAY!
  • Birthday FUN! Thanks to Peggy and her wonderful hubby Lee we’ve got a super COOL hop puzzle planned for you plus 2 wonderful PRIZES!!!
  • AMAZING DT and FABULOUS YNS guest creations – be sure to hop along and leave them some lovely comments as they have worked hard to create stunning creations for this super fun event!
  • SUPER AWESOME deals over at the YNS Store – be sure grab all the deals you want early because these deals are only for in stock items!!!

Ok now off you go to see Peggy! I’m the last stop so be sure to come back and visit me really soon!

______________________________
Welcome back! I really hope you enjoyed our YNS Birthday Hop! It’s ok if you drooled all over your keyboard, I won’t tell anyone! I know I did when I saw all the stunning DT and Guest projects! WOW!!!
You should have all your puzzle pieces but before you submit your puzzle I’d like to share my hop projects with you!
First off I made a bright and cheery birthday card! I inked up Heather R.’s Make a Wish stamp set and added a little shine with my glitter pen and a little sparkle by adding some YNS Sparkly Flat Backs and YNS Glittered Skittles. Check out my floating flames! LOL I put it all together and forgot the twine to connect the flame to the candle! OOPS!
Next up is my new release project. I decided to ink up Fhiona’s new set Rainbows and Happiness for my card. I got out my sparkly Twinkling H20’s {which I totally heart} and then added some YNS Sparkly Flat Backs for some extra bling. The sentiment is stamped with my all time favorite stamp pad Calypso and the white cardstock is Cryogen White which has a built in shimmer. Oh and we must not forget the fuzz I added to the clouds – messy stuff to work with but so FUN! It’s hard to see all the sparkle in the photo but this card definitely twinkles!
OK so now how about some Birthday Prizes! YAY! Be sure to have all your puzzle pieces and then submit your final puzzle below for your chance to win one of these FABULOUS prize packs!
 YNS Birthday Prize #1
YNS Birthday Prize #2
I’ll announce the winners on Tuesday August 16th! YAY!
Thank you so much for joining in all our YNS Birthday FUN!

Just in case you get lost along the way here is the hop line up and if you have any questions or concerns with the puzzle please leave me a comment and I’ll be happy to assist you!

Peggy- http://cardcrazy.wordpress.com/
Kerri – http://cardsbykerri.blogspot.com/
Cindy – http://cindyhaffnerscorner.blogspot.com/ {YNS Guest}
Beth http://inkyfingersrule.blogspot.com/
Jen R. – http://www.tennisgirl27.blogspot.com/ {YNS Guest}
Crystal http://crystalkbk.blogspot.com/
Julie – http://www.lastminutecrafter.blogspot.com/  {YNS Guest}
Dana http://gotjoycreations.blogspot.com/
Jenny P. – http://mylittlestampinspot.blogspot.com/  {YNS Guest}
Jen D. http://iheart2stamp.com/  { YNS Guest}
Susan – http://www.susiestampalot.com/  {YNS Guest}
Wendy – http://sugarpea-designs.blogspot.com/
Diana – http://doodledeedesigns.blogspot.com/
Maureen – http://mycasestudies.blogspot.com/
Carole – http://motherslittlehelper.typepad.com/  {YNS Guest}
Amy – http://inkaboutme.blogspot.com/  {YNS Guest}
Karen – https://blog.yournextstamp.com/ 


Don’t forget to enter your puzzle in the link below and then stop by the YNS Store and grab some bargains and new stamps!!! Remember sale items are only available while quantities last.
I really appreciate you celebrating with myself and my YNS DT and Guests. I look forward to many more amazing years filled with CUTE stamps and amazing friendships!
Happy Stamping Hugs!
**Please note that if you having trouble with the puzzle please leave me a comment letting me know that you tried and I will enter your name into the grand prize draw**
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Birthday Badge Contest Winner

The winner of the adorable Big Surprise For You (Birthday Boy) stamp is…

MaryAnn 
Congrats! Email me to claim your prize!
See everyone Wednesday morning for the super fun birthday blog hop – we’ve got prizes and a fun game planned too!
Until then…Happy Stamping!
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