Enjoy your day!

After being inspired by the beautiful peonies that are blooming in my yard right now I decided to create something using my Still Life Stems set. An "old" friend of mine is celebrating a birthday in the next couple of days so I thought she would like a card made with this set since she is both a stamper and a gardener. When I call her an old friend I mean that in the best possible way - we've been friends since high school and if she is old - then so am I because we were born only days apart.

I thought I'd try using one of my favorite background stamps - Floral, with one of my favorite color of cardstock - Celery. Can you beleive I never used the two of these together before? I love the look of the stamp inked in Celery on the Vanilla cardstock...never tried that either, but I'm sure I will again in the future.

I wanted to use the "enjoy your day" stamp from Riveting on the card, but didn't want the little present in the middle. So, I punched out the little peony bud with my 1/2 circle punch and glued that over the present. I think it is more fitting for this card.

Stamps: Still Life Stems, Riveting & Floral background

Card stock: Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla & Regal Rose

Ink: Certainly Celery, Regal Rose & Black Stazon

Accessories: Circle punches, Aqua painter, black polka-dot organdy

Still Life Stems and Frolicking Frogs

It was another beautiful day today! I worked a bit in the garden and there were some beautiful blooms so I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures. The first two remind me of one of my favorite stamp sets: Still Life Stems. I just love peonies! They are so pretty and ruffled looking, plus they smell so good! They remind me of my grandmother. She had them growing around the perimeter of her yard and every year she would bring us a huge bouquet when she would come to visit for my birthday. She had several different colors, I just have this one, but I think I need more!

Another one of my favorite flowers has got to be the Iris. There is so much detail on these flowers I love to look at them. It's a shame they don't bloom all season long! These Iris' are special in that these came from some plants originally planted by my husbands grandmother. I hadn't seen this particular shade of iris before. It is really pretty - the inner petals are a mauve shade and the outer petals are more of the color you would expect an Iris to be. With both a Peony and an Iris stamp in the Still Life Stems set, it's no wonder it's one of my favorites!

This evening while watering I had to run in for my camera again! This time it wasn't to photograph a flower, but a frolicking frog! OK...I'm exaggerating...he wasn't exactly frolicking, but he was looking pretty cute hanging onto on of my rose bushes, don't you think?

I got a lot of stamping inspiration in my garden today. Guess which sets I plan to play with tonight?

New catalog excitement!

I got my demo copy of the Fall-Winter Preview brochure a few days ago and I must say that I'm getting really excited about the new catalog! I decided to make a card with stuff that I already had, but will also be brand new to the catalog on July 1st. How could I already have new merchandise in my hands you may ask? Well, let me explain...I purchased the Palette O' Prints pad of designer papers, which is this months special and the stamp set I used was a set that was given to me at the regional seminar I went to last October.


The Almost Amethyst double-sided designer paper will be available in the new catalog, but sized at 12x12 along with other prints in the same color. There will be 16 color packs to choose from. Won't that be cool!? It is fun to have a sample of four of the colors to play with right now. There is still a few more days to get your Palette O' Prints if you would like. The 6x6 pad comes with Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery, Rose Red & So Saffron prints, and I know from the preview brochure that these prints will also be available in Soft Sky which is one of the great new In Colors offered in the new catalog. I wonder what other colors it will be available in?


The stamp set I used is called Double Line Doodles. It is a really cute set! I love the paisley-flower stamp I used for the background on the Bashful Blue card stock, don't you? The bottom half of the card shows the Palette O' Prints paper. Since it is double sided, the strip in the middle is the other side of the floral design. I simply folded it over to create the band. Because I'm excited about the new rhinestone brads that will soon be available, I used 3 rhinestones glued to the middle of the flowers to add some bling. It will be so much quicker & easier to use the rhinestone brads...plus they come in SU! colors!

I used my mat pack and white gel pen to create the faux stitching and then attached the matted image to the card using stampin' dimensionals. I left the bottom of card blank to add my sentiment later when needed.


If you are on my mailing list, you too will be receiving a copy of the Fall-Winter preview brochure in June.

Looks Like Spring...but Feels Like Summer!

I've been really bad about posting to my blog lately. This past week I've been busy working in my flower garden. Up until now it had been very neglected! A friend of mine gave me all sorts of perennials from her garden, so that got me motivated to get out there and do some digging, planting and weeding. Except for the weeding it has been fun! With the extremely warm weather we've been having everything is really starting to fill in. I love to go out and look at the changes each day. I noticed this morning that I have the first bloom on one of my iris plants.

Well...onto the card! I made this thank you card for my friend that gave me the plants. I took the photo out in my garden with the Bleeding Hearts she gave me in the background. I used the Palette O' Prints paper for the bottom and middle piece and then used the argyle stamps from the Looks Like Spring set to create the background for the top part. It looks like a mini version of the Palette O' Print paper, doesn't it?

Stamps: Looks Like Spring & wonderful Words
Card stock: Rose Red, Basic Black, So Saffron & Whisper White
Ink: Rose Red, Regal Rose, So Saffron & Whisper White craft
Accessories: Mat Pack & Signo white gel pen (for the faux stitching) Spring Bouquet punch, Vintage Brad

Have a fun Memorial Day weekend!

Got 'er done!

As Larry the Cable Guy would say, "Git 'er done!" Well, I got 'er done! In case you're wondering, I'm talking about the graduation open house invitations I've been busy working on for my son's high school graduation. I came up with a few ideas and then got his input on what he liked the best.

His school colors are green & gold, but we opted to use metallic gold card stock rather than bright gold. The cap and the "Class of 2007" are all embossed with gold embossing powder. There is a gold brad in the center of each cap. I printed the inside on a golden parchment paper.

I was pretty happy with the way they turned out, and I've even gotten several positive comments from those that have received theirs already. Like most guys, my son wasn't too excited, I think I got a "that's cool" response out of him along with an "I don't have to hand those out to my friends do I?" Even though it took some time, I'm glad I made them instead of buying them. Now that those are done, I just need to worry about the party!

Stamps: Tassel Time & Typeset Numbers
Card stock: Handsome Hunter, Basic Black & Brushed Gold
Ink: Handsome Hunter & Versa Mark
Accessories: Gold Glory embossing powder, Simplicity Corner Slot punch & gold brads

That's Nice

I've been super busy working on graduation invitations for my sons open house next month. I've got them almost finished, but haven't had much time to work on anything else...so I haven't posted here in a while. I did however spend my time on Monday working on a few projects that I needed to present at a group meeting the following day. That meeting ended up getting cancelled, so I thought I'd share the projects here.

Since May is National Scrapbooking month, one of the projects I prepared was a simple 6x6 scrapbook page. This is a bright and cheerful page don't you think? A sharp contrast to what's going on outside this morning...it's a dark and rainy day.

The polka dot "ribbon" I used to hold on the friend label, is actually a strip of one of the new papers from the Palette O' Prints collection from Stampin' Up!

I used the Garden Annual wheel to create the background and then added the white centers to the flowers using my white gel pen. The flower was cut out and attached with a dimensional.

Stamps: Garden Annual wheel, All Through the Year, That's Nice
Card stock: Tempting Turquoise, Pixie Pink, Certainly Celery, Whisper White & Palette O' Prints
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Pixie Pink & Certainly Celery
Accessories: White Gel Pen, Ticket Corner & Slot punches, brad

Hopefully tomorrow I will be ready to share the finished graduation invitations I've been working on. Have a great day!

Saying goodbye is hard to do!

This morning Stampin' Up! posted the long anticipated retirement list. I'm sad to say many of my favorite sets are on the list. *sob* Funny, I just made the card shown here the other night and all but one set I used is on the list. Still Life Stems is a beautiful set that was only in the catalog one year. Many other of my beloved floral sets are going, including Roses in Winter & Petal Prints. So are Balmy Breezes & Beautiful Beach- another one that was only around for a year. French Script & Cheesecloth backgrounds. Natural Beauty and Autumn Leaf Prints...and the list goes on. While I mourn the loss of some of my favorites, I'm excited to see what they put in their place!

Do you love those big scalloped punches you've been seeing, but don't own one? Well if you have the SU! slit punch you can make all kinds of scalloped shapes like the one shown here on this card. You simply need to cut out a donut shape with a cutting system like the Coluzzle and then use your slit punch to create the scalloped circle. There is a great tutorial here that shows exactly how to do it. I made a little boo boo on the top of this card and had to cover it up with something hence the two punch outs from the Window Word punch. I think it would have looked better without them, but had to cover up a hole. ;-) Other than that I love the way this turned out.

Stamps: Still Life Stems, Cheesecloth, French Script, Sincere Salutations
Card stock: Mellow Moss, Buckaroo Blue, Regal Rose, Always Artichoke & Whisper White
Ink: Mellow Moss, Brocade Blue, Always Artichoke, Black Stazon & various to watercolor
Accessories: Brads, Rose grosgrain, Window Word & Slit punches, Coluzzle, Tearing Edge & Aqua Painters

Thanks for checking in...have a great day!

Exciting NEW Stampin' Up! products!

In just a few days the retiring list will come out from Stampin' Up telling us which beloved stamp sets they will be letting go to make room for lots of new exciting sets. I'm always sad to see some of my favorites go, but always very excited to see what they have in store for us!

I think this year will prove to be even more exciting. As many of you already know, SU! is moving away from one large Idea Book & Catalog per year and will be introducing two new catalogs per year! In July, when the present catalog ends, a new Fall/Winter 2007 Collection will be unveiled. This catalog will run though December 2007. In January they will then introduce the Spring/Summer 2008 Collection.

At this time of year I'm always excited...wondering what will be available in the upcoming catalog. While browsing the net I came across another blog belonging to a woman who just came back from the Stampin' Up! cruise to the Bahamas. While on the cruise they got a sneak peak at some of the new products! She took photos to share on her blog. This years '07 In Color line will be going bye-bye, but they will be bringing out 6 more fun In Colors, plus a new addition to the Neutrals line. Check these out:

Wild Wasabi & Purely Pomegranate

Groovy Guava & Soft Sky

Blue Bayou, River Rock & Basic Gray

I was really excited to see some fun, new bling...rhinestone brads!!! How cool is that? They will come in two different color collections called Fire & Ice in both circle shapes and square shapes. These will be fun to add to cards and scrapbook pages! There will also be a new Punch Box Kit. This is really cute, don't you think?

Towards the end of May, be on the lookout for a preview brochure that will be mailed to everybody that provided me with their address to be on my mailing list. I'm interested to see what will be in there...but until then, thanks so much to Caroline from Caro's Adventures in StampingLand for sharing all the great photos and info from the Stampin' Up! Bahama Cruise!

This afternoon we are off to Detroit to see a Red Wings game! I've never been to a game during the playoffs so it should be extra exciting!!!

GO WINGS!!!

It's all about the accessories

This week I made a few cards, all for men. My inspiration was a really nice color block design that I remembered seeing in a gallery on SCS. Since two of the cards were sympathy cards, I wanted a more toned down color scheme, but I basically used that design, with a few changes. I made the two sympathy cards first, and when I got to assembling the birthday cards, I decided to try using a couple different accessories. I thought I'd show you all three variations.For the sympathy cards I wanted a simple, clean layout so I didn't add any embellishments at all.
The first birthday card was for my brother, so I used some twill tape stamped with the word brother. A simple touch that adds a little extra to the card.



The final card uses a line of three copper brads along the side. I think I like the look of this one the best because it looks so nice with the brushed copper card stock used for matting the tree image. However, I was happy with the way all three cards turned out and it was fun making each one just a bit different.
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Weathered background, Warmest Regards (Level 1 hostess set) and Everyday Flexible Phrases
Ink: True Thyme, Chocolate Chip & various for water coloring
Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand, Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Brushed Copper & Watercolor paper
Have a nice weekend!

Spring All Occasion Card Class

Here is half of the assorted cards plus the matching tote we made at my Spring-themed All Occasion Card Class on Friday. For those who missed out - I am offering this class once again on May 11th! This set makes a nice gift! Mother's day is on the 13th, and since you can choose which sentiments you want for each card - you can make your Mother's Day cards at this class if you choose.

These classes are always a lot of fun! You will get to try a variety of different techniques, stamp sets and accessories, and the best part is everything is pre-cut and ready to go! So you get to skip the prep work and get right to the fun part...stamping! Contact me today if you are interested. Hurry...sign up deadline is May 3rd and there is a limited space.

Happy Card

I got my bedroom all done! Well...almost. I still need to hang the window treatment (Mike doesn't know this but he's going to help me with that at some point today. ;-) and I have to paint the door. I love the way it turned out! I'll share a few photos here soon. Along with my painting projects, I've been busy getting things ready for a spring card class I had here last night, so I've been bad about posting for the past few days.

On Wednesday it was my friend Rachel's birthday and this is the card I made for her. I used all of my favorite items that I got from the Spring Mini plus some of my favorite colors. The result is a fun, happy card. I hope she liked it, and had a great birthday!

I used the rock 'n roll technique to create the shaded flower - first I inked the stamp with Saffron and then rolled it in the Rose. We did this card last night at my class and I think it was one of their favorites.

Stamps: You Make Me Happy, Everyday Flexible Phrases
Ink: So Saffron, Regal Rose & Old Olive
Card stock: Regal Rose, So Saffron, Whisper White & Petals & Paisley Double-sided Designer paper
Accessories: Soft Subtle button, Turquoise grosgrain & Rounded Tab Punch

Tomorrow I hope to post a photo of what we made at my card class last night. The girls loved their projects and were excited with each card they made, so that made it even more fun for me. Seeing such enthusiasm and excitement is the best part of teaching the art of stamping.

Have a beautiful day! It's supposed to be in the 70's here today! Yippee!!!

Quick & Easy Pocket Card

I'm still busy finishing up painting my bedroom. So far I painted the walls, stenciled at ceiling around the entire room and then added a faux treatment - lighter glaze which I rag rolled onto the walls. Today it's time to paint the trim. It will be nice to get everything moved back in there later.

Yesterday was my oldest son's birthday. He turned 19! I can hardly believe it! (I was only 10 when he was born! hehe) Where does the time go? Since I have been so busy painting, I needed to make him a quick and easy card. Teens...I think they really only care what's inside the card anyways! So I made him a pocket card to hold the cash we gave him as a gift.

All I did was score and fold my card stock at 2" and again at 6". I folded up the bottom 2" and secured the sides with sticky strip and this became my pocket. Super easy and I think it turned out cute. He liked it! (well, what was in it anyways!)

Stamps: A Greeting For All Reasons, Canvas background, Everyday Flexible Phrases - on sale this month
Card stock: Yo Yo Yellow, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black & whisper White

Ink: Black Stazon, Summer Sun

Accessories: Watercolor pencils, Aqua painter

I also managed to get a cute card stamped for a friend who also has a birthday coming up. I'll wait to share that one in case she looks here. Have a great day!