Flashback Friday: Tropical Party Layout

Today I have a two page layout, using a fun, but now retired set called Tropical Party along with the coordinating Island Oasis  DSP. Both of these items were available from the 2010 Summer Mini Catalog.

The smaller flowers, palm fronds and the palm trees were stamped and cut out, while the larger flowers were cut from a piece of the DSP. I cut the title using a Sizzix Bigz Die set called Go Slim. I cut the letters from both DSP and chipboard for some added dimension.

The second page of my two page layout uses an addition retired set called Happy Hour along with the current, new set Botanical Blooms. Look how nicely the stamped and die cut leaves on the right hand side of page coordinate with the leaves in the DSP running along the bottom of the page.

Most of the elements on these two pages went together easily, but I kept going back and forth with one little piece...

See the little flagged strip of umbrella DSP on the left side of the photo...not sure I like it or not? I think it needed something, but not sure if that is the "something" it needed. It's still only attached with temporary adhesive! LOL. What do you think? With or without?

Here's a look at both pages together.

Have a wonderful weekend! I have more tropical photos from our Hawaiian vacation to scrap, so I'm going to pretend I'm somewhere warm and sunny! 

Birthday Keepsake Mini Album

Frequent visitors of my blog may remember that this past November I shared a mini pocket album made using the envelope punch board and the All Is Calm products along with the Festival of Trees stamp set. Today I have another mini album to share...this one with a birthday theme!

I made this album the same way as the All Is Calm Album, I just changed up the papers and stamps. I used Basic Black for the base and bright, fun colors from the Brights Collection...Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive.

This keepsake album was a gift for a good friend who celebrated her 50th. The papers I used are all retired, but they were perfect for the photos from this fun party. I printed my photos wallet sized - 3x4 so that they would fit the pages.

Each page has a pocket with a pullout to include additional photos and memories. Here's a look at the pages pulled out...

Each side of the pocket pages have photos or journaling...just need to be sure to not make those pages over embellished or too thick so that they fit into the pocket easily.

I included fun facts of things that happened the year she was born along with a CD with all the photos I took at her party. She loved the little album, and I had fun making it.

While I no longer have kits available for the All Is Calm Album, I do have the tutorial available, here. Once you know how the album goes together, it is easy to change the theme to fit any occasion. It makes a wonderful gift that is sure to be cherished for years to come.

Cheers...Life is Good Pages

My last post was a couple Fall themed scrapbook pages taken over a weekend of wine tasting in Northern Michigan. I took so many photos that I decided to do a Project Life page as well. Since I am adding PL pages in with my traditional scrapbook pages, I also needed to create a page to go with the previous two that I shared. So first, here is page three...

and then this Project Life page next...

One of the papers in the retired DSP I used had a grid patterned paper which was perfect for my journaling square. I used a #5 PL Page Protector which was perfect to hold a few small photos showing some details of our weekend. The "life is good" stamp from the Project Life Remember This stamp set was the perfect little title for my journaling square.

Scroll down if you would like to see my previous pages that go with these. Thanks for visiting today.

Endless Wishes Happy Hour

Here's a card appropriate to share on "Thirsty Thursday". It's made using Happy Hour and the Endless Wishes Photopolymer set...which is super cute, and unfortunately officially sold out. All the photopolymer sets are only available for a limited time, and in this case it was so popular it sold out in record time.

The set came with three snowflake images and a large variety of phrases that can be mixed and matched. I used my largest Clear Mount Block F and arranged the snowflakes to create my own background stamp. It was easy to then stamp the Soft Sky layer with VersaMark and then emboss with White EP. The hardest part about this card was deciding which greeting to choose, so I did a variety...

It's hard to tell from the photo, but I used Crystal Effects on each glass to make it shiny.

Don't have any red rhinestones? Easy...color the clear ones with a sharpie marker like I did here. I used the Deco Labels Framelits to cut the Real Red mat for the image...and they're on SALE for 25% off right now during Stampin' Up!'s Holiday Sale!

Thanks for popping in today...wishing you good cheer!
Supply List:

• Happy Hour
• Endless Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set
• Pear Pizzazz 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Soft Sky 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Real Red 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad
• Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
• Versamark Pad
• White Stampin' Emboss Powder
• Heat Tool
• Deco Labels Collection Framelits Dies
• 1-3/4 Inch Circle Punch
• Silver 1/8" Ribbon
• Crystal Effects
• Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents
• Clear Block F

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!

Here's to the Last Day of Summer

Even though the calendar and all other signs point to the fact, it's hard to believe that tomorrow is the first official day of Fall. The weather certainly has cooled down and the trees are starting to change, but it just can't be...Summer just went by way to fast! So, for the last official day of Summer I have two cards to share that feature fun, summer colors along with flowers, a butterfly, and an ice cold cocktail.

As you can see, I was inspired by this card over at SCS. I  just changed up the colors and the DSP and added a few other details, like the piercing around the Label die cut and the pennant shape at bottom of each strip of DSP. This is a fairly simple, quick & easy card and was one of the cards we made at my last card class. To show how versatile this layout is and how easy you can change the look, here's another version using the Happy Hour set.

Both use Floral District DSP and the same layout, but look so much different.

Enjoy this last day of Summer and the weekend too!

Happy Hour CD Pockets

For almost 20 years now, a group of my girlfriends and I have a weekend getaway each summer. For the most part,  the destination has remained the same...near or on the water in beautiful Northern Michigan! We enjoy a relaxing weekend of fun in the sun, eating & drinking...probably more than we should, laughing until our stomachs hurt and just enjoying each other's company. Most of us have known each other since way back in high school, and I don't really remember who came up with the name, "Wild Women Weekend" but it has stuck! Anyways...I'm usually the photographer of the group, so this year after I went through all the photos, I compiled the best ones on a CD for each of my friends and made this cute little CD pocket to hold the disk.

I used some retired product here...Taken With Teal & Pear Pizzazz along with  Sweet Pea DSP, one of my all time favorite wheels...Lazy Days and the cute Happy Hour stamp set. Here's a closer look...

I had the girls who live local over last week for some wine & delicious appetizers I've been wanting to try that I found on Pinterest. We had fun...and they loved their CD's.

Have a great day!

Floral District Happy Hour

It's been a while since I stamped and posted anything, but I had to create a fun card for a friends upcoming birthday, so it was just the excuse I needed to get in my studio and stamp! I used the super cute set Happy Hour along with a few goodies from the new Holiday Mini Catalog.

I used the new Window Frames Framelits to cut out the two layering shapes and then the Festive Paper Piercing pack to easily add some detail. I colored the glass image with my VersaMarker (which unfortunately is retired from SU!...but you could use a blender pen and VersaMark re-inker to do this) and embossed it with Clear EP to make it shiny like a glass...see the close up when the light hits it.

I got my color combo of Baja Breeze, Rose Red, Rich Razzleberry & Tangerine Tango from the fun print in the Floral District pack of DSP. I was also inspired by a M&T shown in a recent Stampin' Success for my layout. Even with all this inspiration, since I hadn't stamped for a while it seemed to take me forever just to create this one card! Tomorrow one of my friends is coming over to stamp, so hopefully I will find my mojo and have more to share here again soon.

Hope you are enjoying the summer! Thanks for stopping by today!