New Catalog Party

The start of the new catalog year is always fun and exciting! My favorite part (besides getting NEW stuff!) is getting together with my stampin' friends to look over the new catalog and play with new goodies. I had my Catalog Pick Up Party yesterday (rescheduled from original date due to illness) and had so much fun visiting, talking about our new favorite offerings in the catalog, snacking and of course stamping! Thanks to everyone who came!

Of course the star of the party was the new catalog! Everyone received the catalog at 1/2 off or FREE if they placed an order. I made everyone a magnetic bookmark using the newest In Colors and the Pennant Parade stamps set. See the lacy scalloped circle? That is one of the shapes on the new Perfect Pennants Bigz Die. I use mine to hold my spot on the colors pages...which it seems I'm always needing to reference. It also makes it easier to read the chart.

I had a make & take ready for everyone...also using the latest In Colors and the adorable Hello Blossoms stamp.

Here are a few of the fruit and yogurt parfaits I made for our treat. I must say they were pretty yummy!

What's a party without prizes? And the winners are....

Roberta was excited to select the Sweet Summer set from my prize basket. Mary received Botanical Blooms for her online order and Julie was not here at the time of the drawing...so not sure what stamp set she will choose. Thanks again ladies...I hope you had as much fun as I did!

Have a wonderful & safe holiday weekend everybody!

Some Cheep Talk

It's hard to believe that today is the last day to place an order from the current IB&C! That means many of my favorite stamp sets are retiring. Don't forget to place your order for any retiring stamps and accessories you may want, so you don't miss out on your favorites. I thought I'd share a card today using one of  my favorite retiring sets that I haven't used in a while.

Stamps: Cheep Talk & Luv Ya Bunches (sentiment)
Card stock: Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Daffodil & Mambo DSP
Ink: Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight & Black Stazon
Accessories: White Organdy Ribbon, Mambo Button, Scallop Trim Border & Boho Blossoms Punches, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today!

How Sweet It Is!

I've been having a lot of fun with the new Hostess disk for My Digital Studio called Cheerful Treat. Not only did I re-design my blog using the papers & elements found on the disk...I also whipped up this scrapbook page.

My Mom & Iwent strawberry picking at a local farm on Tuesday morning, then spent the rest of the day making jam and of course...yummy strawberry shortcake. We hadn't been strawberry picking together in years, and we really enjoyed the day...even though it was a lot of work! My boys are happy to have some homemade jam again...they are so spoiled they won't eat store bought anymore. We are already talking about going again next year.

That's my beautiful Mom in the photo along with some of the strawberries we picked. The strawberry background "paper" was a closeup photo I took of the strawberries and then I just copy & pasted it a couple times to make a background paper. The teardrop shaped journaling block is one of the elements on the Cheerful Treat disk...I thought it kind of looked like a strawberry, so it was perfect.

The Level 1 Hostess Disk was first available to earn in the Summer Mini Catalog, but I'm happy to say it is also available in the NEW Idea Book & Catalog...along with a set of 12x12 papers for those who don't do digital paper crafting.

Have a sweet weekend!

Wisteria Tree

I was inspired by the sample on page 160 of the new catalog using the Thoughts & Prayers set. I just changed up the colors and the embellishments but used the pretty much the same layout. I really liked how they used the tree as a background on the bottom strip. Here's my version of that card...

Stamps: Thoughts & Prayers, Tiny Tags & Linen Background (retired)
Card stock: Basic Grey, Wisteria Wonder, Concord Crush & Whisper White
Ink: Basic Grey, Wisteria Wonder, Concord Crush
Accessories: Matchbox Die (label), Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Scalloped Trim Border, Mat Stack & Paper Piercer
If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you may have noticed that it looks different? I've been busy working with the Cheerful Treat Hostess Digital Content CD for My Digital Studio. I'm lovin' the new papers & accessories with this kit! Yeah...PURPLE!!! I still have some tweaking to get my page to look how I want it...but hopefully I will get to it later. Thanks for visiting.

Merry Pennants

Having fun playing with the new Pennant Parade set and coordinating Petite Pennants punch!

I purchased the clear mount in this set and it was so easy to stamp both the star & pot at the same time by lining them up on my block. The tree shapes were stamped and then punched out and popped up with dimensionals.

Stamps: Pennant Parade
Ink: Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Lucky Limeade, More Mustard & Chocolate Chip
Card stock: Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Lucky Limeade & Whisper White
Accessories: Petite Pennants, Scallop Trim & Jewelry Tag punches, Perfect Polka Dots EF, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon (so glad the seam binding ribbons carried over to the new catalog...{LOVE} this stuff!!!)

One down...49 + more to go! If I was smart I'd keep going with the Christmas cards so I'm not rushing to finish them in December. Someday I should really take my own advice! ;-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Matchbook for Dad

After seeing the cute matchbook albums in the July issue of Stampin' Success I just had to try one! So instead of making a regular card for my Dad for Father's Day this year I made him this matchbook album/card using my favorite photos of him & I. The masculine prints and colors of the Woodland Walk DSP was perfect for this project. Here is the cover.

 I used my new Simple Letters Bigz dies to cut the letters out of chipboard and DSP. Chocolate grosgrain ribbon and an Antique Brad with a little tag created using the Jewelry Tag punch embellish the cover.

 I also used the Lots Of Tags Sizzlets for several of the tags. The family quote is from a retired set called That's Nice. The photo is of my Grandpa, Dad & I on Christmas.

I added a bit of Victoria Lace layered on Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon for the next page. A chocolate button tied with some Linen Thread and a tag punched out using the Round Tab punch finish off this page.

The last page is a more recent photo that includes my boys...so like the 1st photo, it is also 3 generations. I used the Top Note & Petal Cone dies to create the message area on the opposite page. I stamped my greetings and left room to write my Dad a personal message as well. I used the Weathered Background stamp (retired) and an image from Tiny Tags to add interest to my tags.

After I completed the pages, I pierced them, along with the cover, down the center scored line using the Mat Pack & Paper Piercing Tool. Then using a large craft needle and Linen Thread I stitched the pages into the cover. I hope my Dad likes it.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hello In Colors

I just love playing with fun, new colors and this years addition to the In Color family are no exception. This first card shows 4 of the new colors using the Hello Blossom stamp from the Summer Mini...it's such a cute stamp!

The base of my card is Pool Party and I stamped two corners using the large stamp from the Always Elegant stamp set. The other new In Colors I used here are Calypso Coral, Island Indigo & Lucky Limeade...aren't they just perfect for summer? Here's another version of this card using the 5th In Color...Wisteria Wonder.

I love all shades of purple, so I was excited to get this color to pair up with Concord Crush...they look really good together, don't you think? I also pair the two greens from the In Color collection - Pear Pizzazz on the leaves and Lucky Limeade on the scalloped border.

I'm also using another Sneak Peek item here...see the scalloped die cut at the top of the card? That is one of the shapes included on the Perfect Pennant Bigz Die...I think you'll be seeing me using that die quite a bit! Since I don't have any In Color patterned papers (yet!;-) I made my own using the Solid Stripes stamp inked in Concord Crush on the Wisteria Wonder card stock.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Inlaid Potpourri

Have you tried the inlaid embossing technique yet? It's such a fun way to add texture to your project. I have two cards to share today using this technique. For this first card I stamped some flowers using the Punch Potpourri set and punched them out with the Boho Blossoms punch and some of the branches from the Two Step Bird Punch and adhered them onto my Crumb Cake card stock. Then, I ran it through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice Embossing folder.

I finished the card by layering the bird which was stamped in Espresso on Crumb Cake onto some leaves which were also punched out with the Two Step Bird Punch. The "thank you" sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and punched using the Small & Large Oval Punches. I cannot believe SU! is retiring the smaller Oval Punch...I use that all the time! If you don't already have it, I'd highly recommend getting it while it's still available.

Using the same technique and various sizes of circle punches, here's a fun masculine birthday card.

The only stamping on this one is the scalloped Happy Birthday square. That image is from this years Sale-a-Bration set Punch Bunch. The colors used here are Pacific Point, Real Red, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight & Tangerine Tango.

If you haven't tried this technique, you really need to give it a shot! Thanks for stopping by today.

Just Believe Wedding

We went to a wedding over the weekend and here's the card I made for the bride & groom.

The image was first stamped in Crumb Cake and then using my Stamp-a-ma-jig I offset the image and stamped it again in VersaMark. Then it was embossed using Winter White EP. To make the white image stand out even more on the Very Vanilla cardstock, I lightly sponged it with more Crumb Cake ink using a Sponge Dauber.

Stamps: Just Believe & Tiny Tags
Card stock: Very Vanilla & Whisper White
Ink: Crumb Cake & VersaMark
Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Winter White EP, Heat Tool, Basic Pearls, Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon, Jewelry Tag Punch & Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder

Thanks for stopping by today!

Saying Goodbye to a Great Friend

June & July are the most exciting Stampin' Up! months! A few days ago we learned which stamps and accessories will be retiring to make room for exciting new goodies in the upcoming Idea Book & Catalog! Even more exciting... as a demonstrator, I got to see some sneak peek items and place an order for my favorite items. My new stuff will be here next week...along with my copy of the new catalog! Can't wait to see it and play with new stuff! Until then...here is a card I made using one of my favorite retiring stamp sets...Great Friend.

I made this card for a good friends birthday a few days before I knew which stamps were going to retire..I guess I had a sneaky suspicion this one was going to be on it. I also used:

Stamps: Great Friend & Tiny Tags
Card stock: Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze, Melon Mambo & Whisper White
Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze & Melon Mambo
Accessories: Petals-a-Plenty Embossing Folder, Basic Rhinestones, White Organza Ribbon, Boho Blossoms & Jewelry Tag Punches & Oval & Scalloped Nestabilities

May Flowers

Wow...I guess it's been a while since I posted! I've been keeping busy working around the house...both inside and out. When the the weather has been nice...working in my garden and on not so nice days painting and re-organizing indoors. That has not left me a whole lot of time for stamping, posting here or visiting my blogging friends...sorry. I did make a thank you card that I thought was pretty cute, so thought I'd take time out to share here today since it's been a while.

The color combo of Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait & Melon Mambo make this flower pot pocket card so cheerful, don't you think? I used the rock 'n roll technique on the butterfly from the Great Friend set. I also used the flower image from the Level 1 set Punch Potpourri along with the Boho Blossoms Punch for the center of each flower. Here's what the card looks like when it's pulled from the flower pot pocket.

I attached the die cut Simple Flower Embosslits with pop dots towards the top so they could slip over top of the pot. For more instructions on how to create this card see this older post I made here.

Have a wonderful day!

Happy Mother's Day

Looks like we are going to have a beautiful day for Mother's Day here in Michigan! I'm lucky to be spending the day with my Mom. She is a quilter, so I like to incorporate that into my cards for her when I can. So I used the beautiful new Paisley Petals papers cut into 1" squares to make up my background "quilt" for her Mother's Day card.

I watercolored the flower image from Blessed Mother using Classic Inks and my aquapainter. I couldn't decide which sentiment I wanted to use, so I made an easel card so I could use them both! lol To make the easel base, just cut the card stock the same width as your card front (in this case 4 1/4") by 8". Then score at 2" and again at 4". Fold and then mount your card front to the easel base. It folds up to fit into an envelope. Here's another view to see the base...

I hope you have a beautiful day celebrating Mother's Day with your family.