I'm Moving On Like Lovely as a Tree

As they say..."all good things must come to an end". The time has come for Stampin' Up! to retire their oldest stamp set, the iconic Lovely As A Tree.

Like Lovely as a Tree, the time has also come for me to say goodbye to Stampin' Up! as well.

I thought it was fitting to share a card made with this stamp set today as I tell you of my decision to leave Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator. The past couple of years I have been finding less and less time to stamp as my passion for portrait photography has grown.

While I love SU! products and sharing stamping time as well as my creations with family and friends, I feel it best to devote my time and energy into fulfilling my dream of launching my photography business. I'm still in the process, but hope to be officially in business later this year.

Over the years I have loved spending time being creative with such an amazing array of products, but the thing I loved most about Stampin' Up! was all the wonderful people I have met along the way. Several women who came into my life as casual acquaintances or even complete strangers, solely because of our common interest in paper crafting, have become dear friends.

Some I met when they came to my classes or invited me into their home for a workshop and others I met through my blog. Many of you have left encouraging comments, some have purchased SU! products or bought my tutorials...to all of you I say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! I don't honestly think I would have stayed at this for almost 15 years if it weren't for all of you!

OK...onto the card! :-)

Lovely as a Tree was first introduced in 2001 and it was one of the first stamp sets I purchased after signing up as a SU! Demonstrator in 2004. I have used it a lot! I've also used Hardwood and Thoughtful Banners quite a bit and those are retiring as well.

This set has always been so versatile and timeless. It is great for any season or occasion and perfect for a variety of techniques. I've used one of my favorite techniques...the Watercolor Background Technique to easily create a colorful blended background for the trees.

A photo I recently took in my backyard was the inspiration for my card. I love the beautiful colors of sunset...and on this evening the sky was absolutely spectacular with so many different hues and the clouds had created such an interesting pattern.

I still plan to post my occasional projects here, but if you would like to stay in touch I do have a Facebook page dedicated to my photography. I'd love for you to like my page and follow me on my new journey. You can also find me on Instagram. I have been re-organizing my studio space and plan to have some SU! products to sell...so check back here soon for updates.

Thanks again for being part of my Stampin' Up! journey!

Very Vintage Sitting Here

I'm here today to share a card using a couple of my very favorite stamps sets...sadly, both will be retiring when this current catalog ends.

The Very Vintage set adds a pretty floral design in the corner and helps break up the long lines of the rope on the swing. I also used the birthday sentiment from that set as well. I love the idea of sitting and relaxing on a porch swing, so even without the adorable critters and accessories to add to the swing I would still be drawn to the Sitting Here stamp set. Plus if you know me, you know I love to watercolor, so that is another plus.

If you don't already have these sets in your collection, you better grab them up while they are still available. While you are at it, make sure to check out the entire Retirement List for other favorite items before they are gone for good.

So Hoppy Valentine

I meant to post this card BEFORE Valentines day, but got busy with other things...sorry about that!  The little frogs in the So Hoppy Together set are just too cute, and just perfect for a Valentine or any occasion. This fun set can be yours for FREE during Sale-A-Bration!

The tiny hearts that the froggie is juggling and the "love you" sentiment are from the retired Bloomin' Love set. The DSP used here is also retired and is from the Stacked With Love Designer Series Paper Stack. The stack is loaded with cute Valentine themed prints and I had a lot of scraps left. This card layout is perfect for using up those scraps!

A quick brag to share my favorite sweet Valentine shown here in a surprise photo session I did for her Mommy & Daddy. The pennant banner in the background was created using SU! products.

She's at such a fun age and she sure brings so much joy into all our lives! Have a wonderful day!

Nine Lives

If you are a cat lover like I am, then you will love the new Nine Lives stamp set!

Here I have stamped one of the cat images and watercolored it using my Aqua Painter. I then masked the kitty and stamped some foliage and flowers using images from the Jar of Love set to create a little scene.

The cool thing about this set is that it coordinates with the Cat Punch! Even though I didn't use it here, it will be nice to have a set to go with the punch.

I also used a couple other products from the new Occasions Catalog...the Stitched Rectangle Framelits and the Lace Embossing Folder.

Thanks for visiting today!

Hoppy Birthday

Here's a fun birthday card featuring the adorable Sale-A-Bration set So Hoppy Together. When I was creating the Bella & Friends shaker card that I shared earlier this week I thought this cute froggie would be perfect holding a bunch of balloons, so I used the puppy and balloon image from that set...obviously just inking the balloon.

The Buffalo Check background inked in Bermuda Bay was perfect for this guy card.

I used some Crystal Effects over the balloons for some extra detail. As you can see, I'm already getting a lot of use out of my Stitched Rectangle Framelits...I seem to grab them for every card since I got them! Here's a look at the inside of the card and the coordinating envelope.

This set is so cute! It can be yours for free with any $50 order you place during Sale-A-Bration! Visit this link to see all your choices: 2019 Sale-A-Bration

Bella & Friend Shaker Card

It's hard to believe, but my sweet granddaughter has already turned two! She's at that age where everything she says, her adorable expressions, etc...are all just so darn CUTE! She just loves animals... and puppies are one of her favorites, so of course I had to use Bella & Friends to create her birthday card.

I thought a fun shaker card would be perfect, so I used the new Stitched Rectangle Framelits to easily create a frame. One balloon just wasn't enough, so I masked off the single balloon from the image and stamped a couple more. I watercolored the image using my Aqua Painter and various colored inks. Pool Party cardstock was used for the main, embossed panel and Berry Burst for the die cut frame.

Here's a look at the various confetti sequins and microbeads as they shake around inside the card. Madelyn liked the card because of the movement and the sound created by the shaker element. She wanted to inspect it closer and almost tore off the frame...but luckily her mommy was quicker than she was!

Very Vintage Friend

Better hope my friend who I made this birthday card for doesn't see this blog title! LOL Seriously though, at our age vintage does better than "old", right? Not sure "very" vintage sounds good, but hey, it works with what I have used here...

The new Lace Embossing Folder sure pairs up nicely with the beautiful host set Very Vintage, don't you think? I used Fresh Fig and Tranquil Tide card stock as well as the ink to watercolor the image using my Aqua Painter. 

One of the things I was most excited to see in the new Occasions Catalog were Stitched Rectangle Framelits! I used a couple of them here. The cool thing about these framelits is that it cuts out both a stitched frame and a layering piece at the same time. 

Have a GREAT weekend!

A Collection of Spirited Snowmen Cards

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Like many of you, I was super busy with the usual holiday preparations of shopping, baking, wrapping, etc...so I didn't have time to post on my blog. I did however manage to get some handmade Christmas cards finished and in the mail. I mainly used the adorable Spirited Snowman set along with Snow Is Glistening, Half Full and Buffalo Check stamps. Today I would like to share those cards.

I just love this cute skater snowman...above he is shown with the Buffalo Check background in Real Red  and layered die cut snowflakes. Below is the Granny Apple Green version with a hand cut holly image from the set.

Another version using the beautiful die cut snowflake swirl...

Here he is yet again using Pool Party and the Tin Tile Embossing Folder. I was happy to see that both this awesome new embossing folder and the Buffalo Check background will be sticking around after the Holiday Catalog.

This snowman couple and the sentiment is so sweet, isn't it? All these images were colored using my Aqua Painter and various inks pooled in the lids of the ink pads...still my favorite way to color. 

This snowman likes to have fun...here he is with some wine. I used the Half Full stamp set and the masking technique to create thses next couple of cards. 

A look at the inside...

As you can see, I have had a lot of fun with the Spirited Snowman set and have created a variety of fun cards with it. Today is the last day that you can purchase this stamp set and many others from the Holiday catalog. 

Cheers to you in the New Year! Wishing you much happiness and creativity in 2019!

So Hoppy Together

Taking a little break finishing up Christmas cards to play with a few new goodies that arrived here this week. It's that time of year when demonstrators can pre-order items from the upcoming Occasions and Sale-A-Bration catalogs. I grabbed a few of my favorite items offered along with some catalogs.

The So Hoppy Together stamp set is adorable and you can get it FREE with a $50 order during Sale-A-Bration! I was excited to play with this stamp set, but the item I was most excited to see offered are the Stitched Rectangle Framelits! I know these are going to get lots of use! Both the positive and negative pieces have the stitched look around the edges, which is really cool for both creating frames and layering.

Some Stampin' Up! news in the New Year...there will no longer be wood mounted stamps offered. The red rubber cling stamps will all have a new stickier cling mount that actually stick AWESOMELY to the blocks with the labels on! I was one to never use labels on my stamps because I hated them falling off when cleaning. These new labels were easy to apply and I am happy to report that the stamps stayed put on my blocks even when cleaning them on the Stampin' Scrub!

I used the Buffalo Check background stamp inked in Granny Apple Green for the base and my Aqua Painter to color the image. I've read of some having difficulties getting a good image with this stamp, so I hesitated to purchase it even though I loved it. I'm glad I went ahead and got it because I got a perfect image the very first time I inked it up. I have stamped many more backgrounds using it  since, all with good results, so I thought I would share how I like to stamp using the big background stamps.

First, lay the stamp face up on your work surface and ink as shown in the photo above. Lay your card stock piece on top of the image as shown below.

I then cover it with a piece of scrap paper that's bigger than the stamp and rub over the entire top surface with my bone folder. This method has always worked great for me. Hopefully this helps if you have been having a difficult time getting good images with your background stamps.

Have a GREAT weekend!

Snow is Glistening Advent Calendar

This project was a real labor of love. I had hoped to have it completed by December 1st, but it took me much longer than anticipated. I am really happy with the way it turned out though. The best part was giving it to my sweet granddaughter yesterday! Right now she is still a little young, but I hope it will become one of the holiday traditions she looks forward to each year. Here is the finished piece, along with lots of other photos below.

This is a kit from Kaisercraft that I purchased quite a while ago. I had forgotten I even had it but came across it when cleaning my studio one day this past summer. Wish I had started it then! The kit comes with a balsam wood frame, drawers and numbers made of chipboard, BUT absolutely no instructions! It only has one photo showing what it looks like completed. I thought perhaps my kit was packaged without the instructions by accident, but after searching online I found others complaining of the same thing. Unfortunately before I could get to the fun part of decorating there were several grueling steps that were required to start with. Let me tell you...this first part was absolutely NO FUN at all! I will share how I put this together to hopefully help others.

First, the wood parts came connected which required them to be cut apart. If I had access to a band saw it would have been a piece of cake. Instead, I had to snip each piece using tin snips. Honestly my hand hurt for days afterwards. I saw many others who created this project saying they used a pair of  Tim Holtz scissors which cut through easily...but I didn't have those. I tried my old SU! rubber cutting scissors but those didn't work, so I went with the tin snips. Each little nub had to be sanded afterward in order for it to fit into the slots on the main backing piece.

After the cutting and sanding, there was the task of painting each piece. I used red acrylic paint. I was careful not to paint the nibs or allow paint to drip into the slots. These pieces fit together quite snugly and even the slightest amount of paint would make assembly very difficult. As you can see, I wasn't too concerned about even coverage in the center of the piece because I knew that would be covered. After 2 coats of paint and allowing it to dry overnight I assembled the frame. Despite being careful while painting, several of the small pieces had to have the nibs sanded down to fit into the slots on the frame to create the cubbies for the drawers. After all the pieces were in place, I carefully applied wood glue to the slots from the back where each piece joined the wood backing frame.

Finally I could get to the fun part! I picked several patterned papers for the drawers...mostly retired SU!, but I also used a line from Simple Stories called Oh What Fun! that had adorable little characters like snowmen, reindeer and penguins on it. I cut each strip to cover three sides and a square of each for the back side to cover the seams.

The 3/4" Circle Punch worked perfectly for the notch in the center of each drawer. I used Tombo Multipurpose Adhesive to assemble the little chipboard drawers. As I assembled them I attached a small rubber band on each one to allow the glue to set. I also used the same glue on most of the paper so it would easily slide into place on the chipboard, but on each end I also used Tear & Tape Adhesive as well. This helped add strength to the drawers and really held the paper in place while the rest of the glue dried.

I decorated each drawer using a variety of punched and fussy hand cut pieces. Each one is numbered using die cuts, stickers and the Labeler Alphabet stamp set. Even though the kit came with nice chipboard numbers, I didn't use them because they were quite large and left little room for other embellishments.

After decorating all the little drawers I created a winter scene to fit into the center. I used the Snow Is Glistening stamp set embossed with White Embossing Powder for the trees and the coordinating snowflake dies for both this back ground piece and for many of the little drawers. Here's a closer look at the drawers...

and the bottom drawers...

The center part has some Evergreen Sprigs, Red Polka-dot Ribbon and some charms that were available from SU! during previous Holiday Catalogs.

The 3-D resin Santa figurine was something I found in my stash of craft supplies...not sure where I got it? He's holding one of the snowflake charms that were available last month with the Snowflake Showcase of products.

More detail on each of the little drawers.

The drawers are large enough to hold two little candies each

Next year when Madelyn is a little older, it will be fun to fill it with other little items besides candy. For now, I think she enjoyed looking at all the little drawers and eating the Reeses Peanut Butter cup.

Now that I have this project finished I can concentrate on getting other things done. It's such a busy time of year! Thanks for taking the time to visit me here.