YNS Surprise Release Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Your Next Stamp Surprise Release Blog Hop! If you didn't arrive here from Diana's blog, please CLICK HERE to go to Karen's blog and begin hopping! The hop starts today (Friday, April 8th at 8:00 EDT) and ends on Sunday, April 10th at midnight (EDT).

So what's this surprise hop about? You may remember that last year Karen was approached by Lisa (owner of ScrapFest in Ontario) to design an exclusive stamp for ScrapFest October 2010. Well, Karen was asked to design another exclusive YNS stamp for this weekend's Kitchener ScrapFest so we're having a hop to celebrate! Woohoo!!

Both of the exclusive ScrapFest stamps will be available to buy at the YNS booth at ScrapFest or online from the YNS store for the duration of the hop only! And as an added incentive, Karen is offering both stamps at a special price of only $6 each, AND you also get FREE SHIPPING for your entire order - use code SF2011 when checking out.

As always here at YNS, we have a wonderful prize for you to win! One lucky winner will be drawn at random from the linky list to receive both ScrapFest stamps (Cropper Fhiona and the brand new Shopper Fhiona)! If you purchase one or both of the ScrapFest stamps and happen to win the prize draw, you will be given a $6 or $12 credit to spend at the YNS store as your blog hop prize instead!

It's not a requirement for you to comment at every stop along the hop to be eligible to be entered into the prize draw, but the DT would sure love to hear what you think of our ScrapFest creations!

Here is a complete blog hop list in hopping order:

Karen Dedman
Chris Olsen
Beth Ranney-Thomas
Crystal Irwin
Wendy Ramlakhan
Peggy Toole
Dana Joy
Jenny Suchin
Diana Genario
YOU ARE HERE ---> Maureen Wong <--- YOU ARE HERE
Kerri Michaud
Simonne Clay

*****And now on to the show!*****

Before I get to my ScrapFest projects, I wanted to show you a card I made with a super cute new stamp set that was just released called A Good Friend (you can click to enlarge all pics):


It's a pocket card and here's what the insert looks like when you pull it out:


Isn't that sentiment too funny? And I love all the different shopping bags! BTW - Kerri made the cutest pocket tag with this set and even posted a tutorial which you can find HERE. I also have another project using this set and will be posting it and a tutorial on the YNS blog in the near future - watch for it!

And now for my ScrapFest projects! Here's our brand new exclusive image called Shopper Fhiona:


This is a combo gatefold card with a pull-up gift card holder! You can open up the left side to write your message and then when you pull up the twine bow on the right, it reveals a gift card:


The pull-up idea isn't mine (it's been around for years) and I adapted this tutorial to my gatefold card. One little thing I did differently was to put the GC with twine into the right hand side of the card, insert the twine through the holes, then glue the bottom and side around the GC to make sure the fit wasn't too tight (hope that makes sense). If you glue the GC pocket flat, it will be really hard to slide the GC in and out of the pocket. The twine is Strawberry Cupcake Trendy Twine - love this twine!! I also used it for the bow in her hair and her bag handle. Lastly, the sentiment was computer generated.

And now here's a new project using last year's Cropper Fhiona:


It's a double stair step card (but this is different than the stair step card familiar to most stampers) - it's made with an electronic cutting machine. I was inspired by this post and this post both from Capadia Designs.

I used Make the Cut software to design the card and cut it with my machine. I also cut the "'til you" words with the machine. The panel that Cropper Fhiona is on lifts up to reveal a space to write a message. And I hope you can see that her bag handles are made from the same Strawberry Cupcake twine as the Shopper card.

So now it's time for you to hop on over to Kerri's blog as she is the next stop on our hop, but I'd love it if you left me a comment before you go!

Thanks so much for hopping with us today! I hope you enjoy our Surprise Release Hop!

Hugs,
Maureen =)