A Rainbow of Retiring Colors

The background layer for this card was created using the Watercolor Background Technique . The colors used are all on the Retiring List.

To create the background I simply used my ink pads to ink up a large acrylic block and then spritzed it with a little water before using it to stamp the Whisper White background piece. These are the colors I used: 

• Island Indigo 
• Wild Wasabi 
• Tempting Turquoise 
• Sweet Sugarplum 
• Rose Red 
• Tangerine Tango 
• Peekaboo Peach

After the background was thoroughly dry I used the Awesomely Artistic stamp set (retiring) inked in Island Indigo to add even more interest to the background. I used post it notes to mask the edges of my background to prevent the floral design to extend beyond the background. (The full instructions are shared in the post linked above.)

The dragon fly wings were cut out and Wink of Stella added for some shimmer. The sentiment comes from the Birthday Blossoms set which is also retiring.

Make sure to shop early for your favorite retiring colors...while supplies last!

Bright & Cheery Birthday Blossoms

Kind of a funny story...as I was going over this years retiring list of stamps and marking my catalog  (I always use a highlighter so I can easily see at a glance what has retired) I came to the Birthday Blossom set. I was a little surprised to see this one on the retirement list...as I had already accidentally retired it myself last year!

So for an entire year, this poor neglected set had mistakenly been exiled to my retired shelf getting minimal use! It's companion set - Flower Shop and the coordinating Pansy Punch have always been well loved, and when the Birthday Blossom set came out I was happy to have the pretty background image, a leaf and the nice sentiments written in such a beautiful font. to go along with the set of six flowers.  I used both sets on this card along with several retiring colors. If you already have the Flower Shop set, I highly recommend getting this one to go with it.

To create the background I simply used my ink pads to ink up a large acrylic block and then spritzed it with a little water before using it to stamp the Whisper White background piece. The colors I used are:

• Island Indigo
• Rose Red
• Sweet Sugarplum
• Tempting Turquoise
• Wild Wasabi

You want to be sure that the colors you place side by side will mix  together well. For instance, placing the Wild Wasabi next to the Rose Red would have created a brownish tone, while placing it next to the Island Indigo instead, created more of a purple tone. For more on the Watercolor Background Technique you can check out this post I shared a while back. 

Pretty much everything used on this card, with exception of the Basic Black ink & card stock and the Whisper White card stock is being retired. 

Make sure to check out the retiring product list so that you don't miss out on anything. 

Awesomely Artistic Butterfly

On Monday Stampin' Up released this years retirement list...along with many favorite retiring stamp sets and accessories, there are 13 core colors retiring in addition to the 2015-17 In Colors! I created this card using many of my retiring favorite items...

There is kind of a lot going on in this card...but I had fun creating it. I used three different retiring stamp sets along with seven retiring colors...can you spot them all? Here's a little help...

Butterfly Basics and Awesomely Artistic are two of my all time favorite sets. I just love all the different elements that can be used to create collage style cards. Teeny Tiny Wishes...that one is a classic! I've used that one SO much!

I was a little surprised that Tempting Turquoise will be leaving. Tempting Turquoise and Perfect Plum have been around the longest of the departing colors used here. My Perfect Plum ink pad was part of my Demo Kit when I signed up 14 years ago! We are loosing several shades of purple, but the shades we are gaining are even more lovely...so t's a good trade. The other colors used here are: Always Artichoke, Wild Wasabi, Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder and Sweet Sugarplum.

Here are some more projects I created with the Awesomely Artistic and Butterfly Basics stamp sets.

Here's a look at all 17 colors that are leaving the Stampin' Up! color palette.

Do you have ink refills and cardstock of your favorite colors? If not, best to order those as soon as possible while they are still available.

Shop Now...don't forget to choose me as your demonstrator if you don't already have one.

Lots of Heartfelt Blooms

With Sale- A -Bration winding down to an end tomorrow, March 31st, I thought I would share some cards I created with one of my favorite Sale-A-Bration items...the Heartfelt Blooms stamp set.

This first card shows the gorgeous floral image used to create an allover pattern. It also uses the Basket Weave Dynamic Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder which is part of the Blossoming Basket Bundle available for free when you spend $100.

The next card uses the floral image as both the focal point and a background on the Dapper Denim cardstock. I used a Sponge Dauber to add some color to a few of the flowers.  Both cards use Crumb Cake and Whisper White as well.

Next up is a quick card using Berry Burst. A pop of black is added by adding a Basic Black mat and Black Mini Sequins layered over the Silver Metallic Ribbon.

Here's a look at a set of cards all are created using the same basic layout, but with different colors and accessories. The first two cards I have shared previously.

If you are one of the few who have yet to add this fabulous stamp set to your collection, please place your order as soon as possible! Select me as your demo and use Hostess Code: SDCGCVW6 and I will send you a free card kit to create one of each of these five cards! I am also doing a drawing for a pack of surprise goodies.

BE YOU (TIFUL)

One of my favorite photo sessions with my grand daughter to date was on this warm fall afternoon as we took her for a walk in our vintage radio flyer wagon. She was wearing little denim bib overalls and she was so happy being pulled around and taking it all in with her big wide eyes.

I used the retired Flower Patch stamp set and dies along with Painted Autumn DSP.

These photos are so cute I didn't want to crop them or add too much to them. They are just matted to fit into the pockets and a bit of the DSP was added to the corner of one photo. I plan to create a two page 12x12 layout in the future using these same photos. That way I can add more embellishments and some journaling to the pages.

Thanks for visiting.

Feathery Friends Congrats

A dear friend won a well deserved teaching award last week so I made this card for her using the Feathery Friends and Hardwood stamp sets along with a few sentiment stamps from some retired sets.

I inked Hardwood in White Craft ink and stamped on Crumb Cake cardstock to create the frame for the chalkboard. I cut it into strips and inked the edges with Soft Suede ink. The little banner was punched from Picture Perfect Party DSP.

The sweet little bird was stamped in Basic Black and watercolored using my Aqua Painter and colors of ink that are featured in the Picture Perfect Party DSP.

Have a GREAT weekend!

Fresh Fig Heartfelt Blooms

Here is a color combo I haven't used before...

Fresh Fig ink with Perfect Plum and Powder Pink card stock. I haven't really used Powder Pink at all... but here I quite like it! I used a bit of Powder Pink ink as well...along with a Sponge Dauber to add a bit of color to the main flower. 

If you are one of the few who still haven't received the gorgeous Heartfelt Blooms stamp set as your free gift during Sale-a-Bration, what are you waiting for!? Place your order with me today and select this stamp set in either wood or clear mount. 

Party Panda Balloon for Baby

The Party Panda set is not only cute, but versatile for many different happy occasions. This little guy makes an adorable baby card don't you think?

I used one of the prints that is featured on the back of the Picture Perfect Party DSP. I'm really enjoying that 6x6 stack, and highly recommend getting it if you haven't yet.  A bit of watercoloring was done on the bear and balloon using my Aqua Painter and the circles were cut using the Stitched Shapes and Layering Circles Framelits. I use both of those sets of framelits so often they are pretty much out permanently at my cutting station. 

Have a GREAT day!

Spooky Cat and a Bootiful Baby

Here we are on another Monday...and I have a four new scrapbook pages to share. The first two are from Maddy's 1st year album using Project Life pocket pages and the next two are traditional 12x12 pages. All four pages use items from the Spooky Night Suite of products that were in the Holiday Catalog.

I love the pop of Berry Burst used in this layout! While the Spooky Cat stamp set and the coordinating Spooky Night papers are no longer available, the Cat Punch is. I'm wondering if there is going to be another cat set in the next catalog that it will coordinate with?

Here's a look at the two pages in the album. I used the Labeler Alphabet to create titles for these pages and the next pages as well. For her 1st Halloween, Maddy couldn't have just one outfit! She was stinkin' cute dressed as a skunk, bootiful in her black cat jumper and even the cutest pumpkin in the pumpkin patch!

The scallop along the bottom was created by punching out circles of Spooky Night DSP with a 1" Circle Punch. I loved how the layered "bootiful baby" turned out for the first 8x6 page so I duplicated it for this page as well. I used the Stitched Shapes and Layering Ovals Framelits with the spiderweb label stamp included in the Spooky Cat set. Here's a closer look.

The pumpkin shown in the above photo was one I decorated several years ago using Black Flourish Designer Jewels.  All the details can be found in this post. You may also recognize this next page that I shared here back in October before I had any photos. Along with the sweet photo of Maddy, I also added a bat punched from Black Glimmer Paper to coordinate with the other page.

Here's a look at these two pages together. Make sure to click on these photos for a better look.

Thanks for joining me on another "Maddy Monday"!

Denim Blooms

What difference a day makes in the weather this time of year. Earlier this week we had a nice taste of Spring-like weather. Today...not so much!

It sure does look beautiful, but I'm done with snow and ready for some blooms! Unfortunately, the only blooms I'm going to see around these parts look something like this...

This floral image from Heartfelt Blooms is such a beautiful stamp, and it's so easy to create stunning cards. I do have to admit to a little boo boo with this stamped image, but it turned into a happy mistake. I inked the stamp in Dapper Denim and stamped onto Very Vanilla. When I lifted up my stamp there was a little fuzz on the stamp which resulted in a tiny uninked spot on one of the petals of the main flower. So I used my Aqua Painter to try and blend it in. Being that this image is made of tiny little dots, after blending in the boo boo, the one petal stood out from the others. I liked the look of the blended petal however, so I continued to lightly blend the other petals as well.

I added Crumb Cake to the center of the flower using a Sponge Dauber and then also added Wink of Stella to the blended petals. The shimmer on the one flower is really pretty, but didn't show up in the photo. The Crumb Cake background panel is embossed using the Basket Weave Dynamic Embossing Folder...easily my favorite embossing folder at the moment!

Both the Heartfelt Blooms and the Basket Weave Dynamic Embossing Folder are available for FREE during Sale-a-Bration. Place your order with me today to receive these amazing products.

Have a GREAT weekend!

Springtime Blooming Basket

Todays card is the first I've created using the beautiful new Blooming Basket Bundle. This new Sale-A-Bration Bundle includes the gorgeous Blooming Basket stamp set along with the incredible Basket Weave Dynamic Embossing Folder. I just love them both! You can chose this bundle as your free gift with a $100 Sale-A-Bration order. Isn't this image just perfect for Spring?

I used Peekaboo Peach cardstock for the main panel and embossed it with the Basket Weave EF. The basket of flowers is watercolored using my Aqua Painter, along with these inks: Flirty Flamingo, Peekaboo Peach, Crumb Cake & Lemon Lime Twist. The little butterfly is a separate image by itself, so I stamped, cut out, colored and popped him up with Stampin' Dimensionals. The card is finished with 1/2 of a Detailed Doily and Metallic Edged Ribbon. While this stamp set includes two sentiment stamps, I chose to leave this card without...it's always good to have a pretty card ready to go for any occasion.

ENJOY your day!

You Make Me Smile

It's Monday again already! Also know as Maddy Monday at our house! Here are a couple more pages from Maddy's 1st year album. I just love the photos from this shoot. She looked so cute in her black lace tutu and she was in such a giggly mood that day. Her mama was off to the side making her laugh.

The "you make me smile" sentiment from Colorful Seasons was perfect for these pics as was the black lace trim which was from the holiday catalog a couple years back.

A couple more simple pages. I did fussy cut the little banner on the bottom left photo. It was cropped from another photo. Here's a closer look...

You may recognize the items used to create the canvas banner? Most of the supplies are all retired now. I loved those blank canvas banners! This one spells out Madelyn. I made it to hang in her room, but used it in a couple photo shoots first. I will share more when I scrapbook those photos.

Have a HAPPY Monday!