Skies on a Card

        Its’ another cold and windy day here which is so very typical of the middle of October. I’m thinking its going to be a direct slide into winter now – the warm spell is over. Brrrr.

        Yesterday I thought I would be making a quick trip to Michaels to buy a new heat gun… I was so wrong. They did not have any in the scrapbooking section….one person there didn’t even know what I was talking about….another one showed me a glue gun…jeesh….and then a third one came up with a heat tool that was in a totally different section….it was to shrink the plastic on fruit baskets. It was a brand I had never heard of but she assured me it would work but if I didn’t like it I could return it. Against my better judgment I bought it - $40 but they had a 40% off coupon for me. When I got home I looked to see who made it and it was a “made in China and distributed by …” and the distribution company did not have a website and there is no company that makes the name that was on the heat tool – it was returned. I have no idea why Michaels is selling cheap made in China products instead of reliable ones like Tonic and Sizzix but I’m not falling for it….okay I do know- greed. I ordered a Sizzix one from a Stampin’ Up dealer. At least I know if there is a problem with it, there is an actual company I can contact and deal with. Michaels in Canada needs some serious competition! If we don’t buy from Michaels we pretty much have to order on-line and if the product is only available in USA, the shipping charge is ridiculous most of the time. So annoying.

I had a question from a Kathy on where I buy my products. Thank you for your kind comments. I'm glad you like my cards and feel free to copy any of them for yourself. Well, I actually have quite a stash already as I've been scrapbooking for about 20 years. We used to go to Port Huron Michigan for hockey games so I would pick up a few things there that I couldn't buy here. We quit going over there about 4 years ago....insurance was too high...so lately I have picked up a ton of stuff at the thrift stores....it's amazing what you can find there....dies, stamps, and scrapbook paper galore. Lately I've been buying a few unbranded dies and stamps from Aliexpress in China. Its been an interesting experience and mostly successful. The downside is you have to wait for about 45-60 days, yes up to 60 days, to receive your order but the prices are unbelievably low...and mostly free shipping....and you have to make sure all the items are there or if you do not receive your order, you have to start a 'dispute'. The stamps and dies are pretty much discontinued ones so I'm not hurting the stores or dealers here in Canada and quite frankly, I cannot afford to buy very many stamps and dies full price. If you decide to try Aliexpress, I suggest you start small and buy a few things from one seller until you get used to it. I do miss the Pickle, our local craft store that closed. There is another small crafting store in Blenheim, ON and I don't get to Blenheim often but I'm about to start going there more often. Here is that link: http://www.paperangelstudios.ca/studio.html. Hope that helps a bit.
The Stampin' Up dealer I use is "The Pampered Stamper", Jackie Bultje Here is her link: https://thepamperedstamper.com. Hope this helps.

        Here is another quick and easy, but very cute, Christmas card. It looks more complicated than it is.

         Once again, I’m using up scraps by taping two pieces from the same paper pack together (a Tim Holtz paper pack) with a punched snowflake in red and glued to a white strip and then glued down the seam. The skies were die cut twice (unbranded die from Aliexpress) and glued together and then the edges were inked with Walnut Distress Ink. I glued them on and then glued on a Tim Holtz frosty tree branch that I made the other day….scroll back a few days to see how I make them… and a small red bow. Then I die cut the sentiment three times and glued it together. I keep seeing sentiments and matching shadow die sets on Pinterest and YouTube and I do like the sentiments on a shadow but I don’t own any with a shadow die so I simply glued it to a piece of white cardstock and cut around it – it worked.

        That’s all for a cold and windy Wednesday, October 16, 2019. There is a quilt guild meeting tonight so in spite of the cold wind, I’m going to go….it’s not far from house to car to the church where the meetings are held.

        Cheers

Violet

PS: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply hover over the image until the ‘Pin It” symbol appears and then click…it sometimes take a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.