Flashback Friday - Noble Deer

Happy Friday! Today I would like to share a retirement card I made using, appropriately enough, a retired stamp set...Noble Deer. I remember purchasing this great set on my first order as a new demonstrator. It is still one of my favorite stamp sets.

My hubby's friend and co-worker is retiring after 40+ years on the job and he's an avid hunter, so I thought this card would be perfect for him. I watercolored the beautiful image using my Aqua Painter and die cut it using the largest square die in the Stitched Shapes Framelit set.

The "congratulations on your retirement" sentiment is from another great set, which is current...Wild About Flowers. I used my favorite new embossing folder - Pinewood Planks to give some texture to the Crumb Cake layer. The image and the base layer are both matted onto Always Artichoke.

Have a GREAT weekend!

Flippin' Flashback Friday: Joyous Snowflake Card

Happy Friday! Today's card is a double Flashback Friday! Before SU! retired all the flip card dies, I used to share flip cards on most Fridays and I called those posts Flippin' Friday. Recently I started sharing creations using some of my favorite retired items and I call it Flashback Friday...anyways...today's card uses retired items along with some current items as well!

Remember the Letterpress Winter stamp set with the coordinating Snowflake Card Thinlits? These great products were featured in the 2014 Holiday Catalog, but they are brand new to me! I purchased them last year (I think?) when they were either on Stampin' Up!'s Clearance Rack or another sale of some sort. They had been on my wish list, but I hadn't ended up getting them. Seeing them on such a great discount I just couldn't pass them up!

Yesterday Stampin' Up! released their Year End Closeout Sale...featuring many items at reduced prices! There are all sorts of items - some will be retiring from the current Holiday Catalog, some over-stock merchandise that is being offered at much reduced prices from the current annual catalog, as well as retired Clearance Rack merchandise. It is definitely worth a look to see if there is anything there you have been wanting! Check it out!

The flip side of the card uses a sentiment from the current Christmas Pines set. I masked over it before lightly stamping the large snowflake. It is stamped high enough to leave room to sign the card. I also used the tiny snowflake and dot image from the Christmas Pines set inked in Whisper White to stamp over the snowflakes on the left panel of the card. The right panel is embossed with a pretty snowflake and swirl embossing folder...it's not SU!, but it's so pretty I HAD to have it! (I believe I picked it up at Michaels.)

The gorgeous Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper along with the Fancy Frost Sequins make this card sparkle! Have a wonderful weekend!

Flashback Friday - Roses in Winter

It's Friday...and time for a blast from the past! Today I have a card to share using the gorgeous stamp set Roses In Winter. It is one of the sets I have available for sale on my Retired Stamps Page.

It is a 2 Step Definitely Decorative stamp set...meaning it uses more than one stamp, which are layered to create the finished image. The Definitely Decorative line of stamps are great to use on different surfaces such as painted furniture, walls, fabric...and of course paper.

Colors used are Watermelon Wonder, Mint Macaron, & Bermuda Bay and also the still current Gorgeous Grunge stamp set. The background was embossed using the Spring Flowers Embossing Folder, which is available right now on the Clearance Rack.

Roses in Winter was one of the first sets I purchase as a demo. It retired back in 2007, the same year I started my blog, so even though it was one of my most loved & used sets, most of  of my creations using it were not shared here. However, I did find this card here.

The sentiment on this card uses Sincere Salutations,which is an awesome set as well. I have both of these sets available for sale on my Retired Stamps page. If you would like to purchase the Roses In Winter set, as a bonus I am including the card and matching envelope I shared here today along with three other cards for inspiration...all for $20. Please contact me if you are interested in this or any other sets I have for sale.

For more info regarding these sets and to view all my retired stamps for sale, visit my Retired Stamps page.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Flashback Friday - Bloomin' Love & Laughter

It's Friday already!? This week flew by! A dear friend got engaged on Valentine's Day and this is the card I created for her and her husband to be.

I used the retired set Love & Laughter for the sentiment and one of my favorite wheels...Wedding Words to create the background. Does anyone else miss wheels? I especially love them for scrapbooking, and need to remember to use them more.

Of course, the beautiful heart was cut using the Bloomin' Heart Thinlit Die. Isn't it  simply gorgeous cut from the sparkling Black Glimmer Paper?  The little flowers, were first stamped in Crumb Cake using the Bloomin' Love stamp set and then die cut with the Bloomin' Heart Thinlit Dies as well. The larger flowers were cut from Red Glimmer Paper. The Bloomin' Heart Thinlits and the coordinating Bloomin' Love stamp set are still available in the current Occasions Catalog.

Have a bloomin' wonderful weekend!

Retired Stamps for Sale

It's that time of year again! With so many new stamp sets finding their way into my craft room recently, I had to make some room by sorting through all my retired items and deciding if there were any I could part with...lucky for you I have quite a few I am offering for sale.

Check out my Retired Stamps for Sale page to see the photos of retired stamps along with DSP and some misc listed here as well.

All my items come from a smoke free home and are in very good condition. I am hoping they will find a good home with you and you will be helping me avoid being on the next episode of the show Hoarders!

Bohemian Peace Within

Today I have a card to share that combines the old with the new. The old is one of my favorite retired sets...Peace Within and the new is basically everything else...

I used a bit of Bohemian DSP to paper piece the pillow on the chair. The Boho Chic Embossing Folder for the Blackberry Bliss background and Tip Top Taupe card stock was used for the base and the ink was used to watercolor the chair. I also used Tip Top Taupe Dotted Lace Trim to finish the card. I really like the lace trim much more than I thought I would! It makes such a lovely finishing touch.

Have a peaceful day!

Father's Day Coast To Coast

I was doing some re-organizing in my stampin' space recently and started looking through some of my favorite retired stamp sets. One of my very favorites has to be Coast To Coast...so I decided to use it for my Dad's Father's Day card this year.

This beautiful lighthouse image was stamped in Black Staz-on onto a leftover Behr paint chip that I brought home when trying to decide on a color for my bath a while back. Good way to recycle! Two of the colors were almost a perfect match to Night of Navy & Brocade Blue (retired), and just for good measure I added some Cherry Cobbler!

The En Francais background was stamped in Night of Navy. The "Happy Father's Day" greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and I stamped it inside a Bitty Banner image inked with just my marker to eliminate the original wording. I also used Tiny Tags (a newly retired favorite) along with "Dad" from Fancy Flexible Phrases.

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dad's out there! I hope you get to spend time tomorrow with all the favorite Father's in your life!

Up, Up Away...& Goodbye

Have you seen the retiring stamps & accessories list put out by Stampin' Up! a few days ago? One of my favorite retiring sets is Up, Up & Away. I love this set because it's so versatile...it can be used for both masculine and feminine cards as well as for pretty much any occasion. Here I've used it along with some of my favorite retiring colors for a masculine birthday card.

Stamps: Up, Up & Away, You're Amazing & Lable Single Stamp
Card stock: More Mustard, Riding Hood Red, Not Quite Navy & Baja Breeze
Ink: More Mustard, Riding Hood Red, Not Quite Navy & Early Espresso
Accessories: Stripes & Cloudy Day Embossing Folders, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Regals Brads

Here are the links to view the retired stamps & accessories. Remember...the retiring accessories are only available while supplies last (some are already gone) so place your order soon to help insure that you get the items you want. Also note: some of the accessories are being offered at a discount.

Retiring Stamps List
Retiring Accessories List

What are your favorite retiring stamp sets & accessories?

Subway Art Valentine

Today I'd like to share the Valentine card I created for my hubby. Since I wanted the card to be masculine looking, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to try the chalkboard technique and combine it with a subway art type background. Here's what I came up with...

The background is made up of 12 different stamps...both current and retired. I stamped each one in White Craft ink and then embossed with White Embossing Powder. I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to aid in placement and to help keep each one straight (that was the hardest part!)

The "there's only one you" sentiment at top left is from the SAB set Vintage Verses...a FREE choice right now during Sale-a-Bration. The long "love" stamp is from the retired set Wonderful Words, but it is included in this months Best Of 25 Years anniversary set called Best of Love. Other current stamps used were Loving Thoughts & Occasions Alphabet.

After I stamped and embossed all the images on the Basic Black panel I inked the edges using my White Craft ink pad and sponged some random white ink to make it look like a chalk board. This is a fun technique that I'm sure I'll try again.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Veggies Getting Stewed

Here's a birthday card I made for my hubby using the retired set Stew Pot Pals. I bought the set just to make cards for him since he's a produce manager AND he likes bad puns...win/win!

I created this party scene by masking the "punny" sentiments when inking the stamp with my Black Stazon pad, but each veggie has classic lines like, "a friend like you can't be beet!" or "How've you bean?" Corny I know...no pun intended ;-)... but it's a fun set. I watercolored the veggies using my Aquapainter and Classic Ink. The "cheers" & birthday sentiment are both from the Happy Hour set.

The fun paper is the new Sycamore Street DSP and the Pool Party, Tangerine Tango & Island Indigo ribbon (& button) used to create the banner are part of the Sycamore Street Ribbon & Button pack available for FREE when Sale-a-Bration starts on the 22nd. If you want more info on that, please contact me.

Have a fantastic weekend!

P is For Party!

I had my NEW Catalog Kick Off Party a few days ago and it was so much fun! Everyone loved the new stamp sets & accessories I shared with them and it was so nice catching up with some friends I haven't seen in a while and making some new friends as well. One of the make & takes used the Papillion Potpourri set with the matching punch.

I also had some of my retired stamp sets, papers & accessories for sale.

Each set that I had card samples for were included as a bonus.

Guests who brought a friends I hadn't met received their choice from these prizes.

I also had a door prize that all the guests were eligible to win...the Polka Dot Punches stamp set with a sampler pack of Delicate Dots DSP and a spool of So Saffron Ribbon.

Roberta was the lucky winner of the door prize. Actually she is very lucky at my events as she won the door prize last time as well!

I'll be updating my Stamps 4 Sale page soon...so check back to see if there's anything you might want. I'm heading off for a fun day with my Mom...shopping, lunch & then we're seeing the movie Magic Mike!

Saying Goodbye to Fox & Friends

Another one of my favorite sets that is retiring is Fox & Friends. It's such a darling little set to create cards for babies & kids. I went to a baby shower for my niece over the weekend and the theme for her baby's room is monkeys, so it was the perfect opportunity to play with this set. The monkey just happens to be my favorite image in this set too.

Since they already announced the baby's name, I was able to make her a name frame for his room.

The Serif Essential Letters are also on the retiring list, which makes me sad. I have gotten a lot of use out of this set of dies...they are great because you can cut through all sorts of materials. Here, I cut the letters out of chip board for extra dimension. Here's a closer look...

I cut out the little monkey heads and mounted in place with a dimensional to look 3D. The little felt leaves are a retired item from a couple years ago called Sweet Pea Stitched Felt. The brads are the In Color Designer Printed Brads.

The DSP I used is also retired...the Pool Party & Chocolate prints are from the Spice Cake papers, the Kiwi Kiss print is from A Walk in the Park and the Pumpkin Pie print is from the Haiku pack.

Part of the gift was a canvas tote with a monkey printed on it. The name frame fit perfectly inside along with some other little things. I made a tag to hang from the gift basket using the Scallop Circle Die.

Here's a look at the completed gift basket.

For the big gift I made another card using the Scallop Square Die.

I bought the gift wrap and then used Stampin' Up! colors to match. I used retired DSP for this one as well. These prints are from the Delicate Dots pack...it was one of the free selections during SAB in 2009, as was the So Saffron Grosgrain Ribbon. Here it is on the wrapped package.

My niece received some beautiful gifts at her shower, and she really loved the name frame. Baby Wyatt is already a lucky little guy...I cannot wait to meet him! She is due on my birthday...wouldn't that be a wonderful gift!?

I can stamp again!

I'm still putting the finishing touches on my room. I have lots of labeling to do yet and I'm still trying to find space for some items...but it's getting there! Yesterday I had to make a few birthday cards, so it was the first stamping I've done in my new room so far. It's going to take a little while to get used to where everything is, otherwise I LOVE it! When I walk into the room for the first time each day it still surprises me. It's so bright & cheery and so much more open than before. I cannot wait to share it here with you all!

Since I have so much to share, I decided to do a post each Wednesday called Workspace Wednesday that I'll share photos and show what works for me as far as organizing, etc...I hope you'll check back tomorrow to see a little bit of my stampin' space makeover! Until then, let me share the first card I created in my new space, along with some of the goodies I picked up at IKEA last week.

I made this card for my son, so I was going for a masculine looking card. I used one of my favorite sets on the retiring list...Crazy For Cupcakes along with my favorite Hostess set this year...Happiest Birthday Wishes. The DSP is from the Brights Collection Paper Stack.

Have you ever been to an IKEA store? Up until last week I hadn't. I've been wanting to go for a long time because I've seen such great organizing ideas in other peoples craft rooms done with things purchased at IKEA. Plus someone gave me a good tip on checking there to get a desk top rather than using a door like I had planned. As it turned out, any standard sized door was going to be a little too long to use for my desk top, so I headed to IKEA. Here's some of what I bought.

All the goodies are resting on my beautiful new desk top. My favorite purchase, other than the desk top, has got to be the Bygel rails for my punches. (Look for more on that in my Workspace Wednesday posts! ;-) The white things in the back are sets of Kasset boxes...here's what those look like all put together.

I thought these were a really good buy...the largest boxes were on sale for only $6.99, and I think the smaller ones were $4.99. They come as a 2 pack in an assortment of sizes. The large ones are 13x15 and 11 3/4" high. I plan to use them to store 3-D paper items I've created for samples, or maybe scrapbook pages in progress, etc...They are intended for magazines so I may also store older scrapping mags in them.

If you are like me and have never been to IKEA, be prepared! It is HUGE and can be very overwhelming! Make sure to go to their website and make your shopping list ahead of time and that will be a real lifesaver. Don't forget to visit me tomorrow for my first Workspace Wednesday posting.

Making Room For the New

I've been busy cleaning and reorganizing my stampin' space to make room for new goodies. The page I made below using MDS shows photos of the newest sets I have for sale. Please visit my Retired Stamps 4 Sale Page for all the details on these items and other stamps and Simply Scrappin' Kits I have for sale.

All sets will be shipped in padded Flat Rate Priority shipping envelopes unless otherwise requested. I can only accept Paypal as payment unless you live local and want to pick up at my home and pay in cash. For all the details check my Retired Stamps 4 Sale Page.

Graduation Pennant

A little bit of old stuff meets some new stuff...

I needed to make a graduation card so I pulled out my long retired set Tassel Time along with the new Pennant Parade set and matching Petite Pennant Punch. The school colors of the graduate are orange & black so that's where I got my color inspiration.

I can't wait to get my hands on the new scalloped polka dot ribbon...especially in black, but until then I made due with what I already had on hand. Since this card was for a girl I thought the polka dots on the embossed background, ribbon & DSP made for a more feminine touch.

Stamps: Pennant Parade & Tassel Time
Ink: Only Orange & Black Stazon
Card stock: Only Orange, Whisper White, Black Stazon & Brights Patterns DSP (Tangerine Tango)
Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, 1/2" Circle &Petite Pennant Punches & Basic Rhinestones

I'm trying to make room for new goodies (due here next week!), so cleaning out and re-organizing my stampin' space. Check back soon for my updated retired stamps for sale list.