Cherish Friendship

This is another new set from the new catalog. It is a set of 4 and if you love coloring this set is for you! I water colored the bowl of cherries for this little 3 x 3 card. I also used the new In Color Island Indigo for the card base and scallop circle. The DSP is retiring so if you love the Elegant Soiree paper get it today!!

Exploding Birthday Box!

Looking for a great project that will allow you to share many photos, and display them in a pretty package? And you want to be able to finish this project in a flash? Then an exploding box may be just what you are looking for!

This is a fun project that can be completed in about an hour. The box has 3 layers that fold out or “explode” when you remove the lid. Each layer has space to hold photos or mementos.

When you remove the lid, the layers of the box pop out or “explode” before you. It’s a great way to present photos from a really special occurrence, or a year in review or even a gift card like this one has. These make great gifts and they look really cute!

CCMC 156 - A Color Challenge

What can I do with these colors??? That is the challenge for today.

So, I decided to play with some of my new stamps and made this card which is very similar to the one we will be making at my open house tomorrow!

Love and Care Hostess Set

This quick little card was made using the level 2 hostess set from the current mini catalog called Love and Care. I used a little piece of the Paisley Petals DSP along with Whisper White and Baja Breeze. The green is Pear Pizazz and I scrunched the Baja seam binding ribbon. This is a 4 1/2" square card.

I am looking forward to seeing you June 30th at my New Catalog Party. The hours again are 5 - 8 p.m. and we are making brownie sundaes....mmmmmmm!

Who wants to see the new In Colors???

2 days left until the Big new catalog party! Can you feel the excitement?? Do you want to see the 5 new In Colors for this year?? I am very happy with these colors and I think you will be too. Their names are Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder and Island Indigo. Well, being a very tropical girl I love the names. Without further ado, here is the card featuring all 5 new colors and a hostess set called Happiest Birthday Wishes was used for the sentiment. P.S. This is one of the cards we will be making on our Birthday Card Stamp-a-Stack on July 19th!

Stamping 411 Challenge

I love to do these challenges because well, they challenge me to make something and I need to tap my own brain every once in a while! So, today is from Stamping 411.  They posted a sketch and here is my rendition of their sketch.

Only 3 More Days!

3 more days until the new catalog party and the retirement sale. I will also be taking orders for any last minute retiring sets that you must have before they are gone. Of course, I can also take orders for the new catalog items and start booking your parties.

Today I am showing a card that features the Pretty Postage set and the postage punch. Yes, it is in the current mini catalog but I haven't featured it yet. I also used some of the DSP from the Beyond the Garden which is in the new catalog. Colors used are Pacific Point and Garden Green.

Final Countdown for New Catalog Party

There are only 4 days until the BIG new catalog party here at my home. We will be celebrating on June 30th and handing out the new catalogs. Until then I will be posting peeks with some of the new "toys" I have gotten. Don't forget, the hours are 5 PM - 8 PM and I will be serving some Yummy Brownie Sundaes!

OK, today's card features one of the new hostess sets. The hostess benefits have changed and you will want to see all the new things. This card was made using Faith in Nature. I used 2 of the In Colors, Pear Pizazz and Peach Parfait along with Basic Black and Whisper White for this little card. I water colored the pear and used the Tulip embossing plate for the background card stock.

Autumn Harvest

This will conclude my retiring showcase of stamps so I can start showing my Sneak Peeks! As usual, the ending of a catalog brings mixed emotions but hey, after using so many retiring sets, I am ready to move on! This one is Autumn Harvest and as hot as it has been here in ATL I cannot begin to think of Fall yet. But, this one has been water colored and looks cool and refreshing.

A Masculine Birthday Card

Here is a nice masculine birthday card I made using the retiring set, Birthday Bliss. I used the DSP from the Play Date and cut my own candles using Tempting Turquoise. Take a look at the flames for the candles, look familiar? I will give you a hint, I used the wing from the 2 step bird punch for my flames. And look, no bows!

Cheap Talk

This is a really different card for me. I used the large scalloped circle die cut and my Big Shot to make the base of this card. I then cut the white using the 3 1/2" circle die cut. I next used my Circle Scissors Plus to make the 3 3/4" layer. I sponged the background colors and used my black Stazon to do the stamping.

Forest Friends

Another cute little set with only 4 stamps in it and they are all small so they practically shout LAYERS! I used lots of layers for this card and I hand colored the stamp and stamped it on the So Saffron layer. I also colored and cut the owl and used dimensionals to pop him up.

Home for Christmas

Ok, I tried my hand at water coloring again. I can never make it look like I wanted but it will do! The card is Cherry Cobbler, layered with Very Vanilla and the DSP is from the Holly Jolly pack. The cute little button is from the brights collection. I like this card but would never attempt to mail out 75 or more of this one!

Dreams du Jour

What a fun set! I have made paper weights, cards and gifts using this little set. Today I am showing a square 4.5 x 4.5 card. The colors are Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze and some DSP in Real Red. I stamped the focal point twice and cut the flowers by hand for the Pink Pirouette flowers. The Baja was embossed using the Elegant Lines embossing folder. Simple and pretty.

Priceless

I again made a very simple card using this set. I used Whisper White, Early Expresso and So Saffron. The background is stamped using the So Saffron ink and the big swirly stamp along with the tiny flower. The butterflies were made using the butterfly embosslit. Hope you like it!

A Sneak Peek

Ok, so I got my first order from June and my new catalog was in it! As you can guess, I have been flipping through it non-stop while awake. I also got a few new things from the preview that demonstrators can order. One of the items is this Pennant punch. I am using it with retiring papers and accessories so it sort of counts as retiring AND a sneak peek. The sentiment is from the level 1 set in the current mini called Swirls and Curls verses. Isn't it cute? I actually made this card as a challenge for the U Stamp with Dawn and Friends Blog Hop. She said to make anything that this photo made you think of.

Things I Love

This card was made using Things I Love. I used Whisper White, Real Red and some DSP from last years SAB (front) and the red piece is from Play Date. (I am trying to use up retiring or retired DSP and accessories so I can get more!) This is a fun card because who doesn't love new shoes, chocolate and shopping???

Teddy and Train

I am a sucker for the "antique" looking sets and this one is very vintage with its images and it makes a great baby card. I water colored the teddy and cut him out of the water color paper. The card is Basic Black layered with Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink and So Saffron. Very soft ans sweet!

Big on Christmas

Another great set! This one has big images that totally make the card. I don't know if you can see it but I glittered the ornaments red and add dazzling diamonds to the star. The DSP is Jolly Holly also going away on June 30.

Be on the watch for my annual Christmas in July stamp-a-stack. I am planning it to be on July 30.

2 Posts in 1Day!

My timing will be off if I don't post twice and I wanted to add another card to the CCMC Sum 4 challenge so here it is. I used all Stampin' Up! supplies but the Fright Night stamp is not available any more except when it goes for sale during my retiring stamps sale. I hung on to it in case it made the 'A La Carte stamps but alas, it did not. However, it fits the design challenge(seen on the 12th) and it IS retiring so...

Animal Stories and Occasional Quotes

Sniff, sniff. More retiring sets. I always hate to lose the great word sets and this hostess set ranks as one of the great ones for me. It is so versatile. Today I made a card that I copied from the catalog. I made a couple of changes but the idea is the same. I used the Regals DSP stack and Baja Breeze. Aren't the owls cute? I used my white gel pen to put the dots on the hearts to match the owls tummy.

A Wish for Peace

As I say farewell to a Christmas set, I attempted to CASE the box in the catalog. My rendition is a little different than the one in the catty but it is a close facsimile.  I used Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler and Confetti White card stock with Always Artichoke, Soft Suede and Cherry Cobbler inks. It turned out cute and would be fun to hang on the tree with little treats in it. Oh, the box is the Box #2 die cut for the Big Shot.

Create with Connie and Mary Summer Challenge Week 4

OK, the gauntlet has been thrown out and I am determined to meet it. This week is a sketch and they are the simplest for me because you have the layout you just need to add stamps and colors. Here is the sketch...

Now, here is my attempt at their sketch. In keeping with my retiring stamp sets I am again using Always. I love that set and am so glad that Nature Walk is in the big catalog to lessen the blow!

Here are the supplies I used for this card...Early Expresso, Sahara  Sand, Very Vanilla and Baja Breeze card stock with a little strip of Elegant Soiree DSP. I also used my Big Shot for the Oval and and frame. The other punches are the Pinking Hearts Border and the Curly Label.  Thanks for looking!

Sense of Time

Well, as I continue saying "Good-Bye" to some favorite stamp sets I have to add this masculine set to the list. I used this one to make a simple card using the Sense of Time set and the Elegant Soiree DSP. Sniff, I hate to see it go. Hurry, you can only get these departing sets until June 30th. You can order on my website here.

Finished Stamp Space Make-Over

Well, I have been working for about a week on this space and while I have to make a few more tweaks I am mostly done. I still want to get a folding table or two down here to host our events in this room instead of having to run up and down the stairs every time I forget something! What do you think? Any suggestions?? It is working for me so far. Now, to keep it clean and organized!!! Thanks for any input.

P.S. I am still working on my shelves but have to blog up ahead for my upcoming vacation!!!

Create with Connie and Mary Week 3 Challenge

Well, we are finishing the forth week of Create with Connie and Mary subscription and again I have to say that it has been wonderful. The ideas just keep coming to these ladies! I am again posting another challenge card because I thought of it. It is very simple which is in keeping with my style. The colors again are Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight and Wild Wasabi. I used this set with my stampers club the other night and as I was putting it away I thought...hmm. And voila!

Basement Clean-Up Continues

Why does it always have to get soooo much worse before the clean-up gets better? Is it just me?? I know organization is NOT my forte but really. Could it not be a little more simple? It seems like I have been collecting stuff for decades and now it is time to donate or throw out. You should have seen the trash at the curb. It was plum embarrassing. Here are a couple of photos of the big mess inside the basement while I am "organizing" my stuff.

Create with Connie and May CCMC Sum03

Another week, another challenge. This one was a Color Challenge, sometimes very challenging for me. The colors are Wild Wasabi, Pacific Point and Daffodil Delight. Not three I would probably just put together but they are very pretty!

Now, here is my take on the color challenge. As I was cleaning my room I found some things I had not seen in quite a while. One was these little frames that can be fun to play with. So, I used the frame for my project. As you can see, I used 2 retiring sets for this project: Bella Toile and Freinds 24-7.

Play Date Rub-Ons

Well, as you can see the retiring lists are quite long! And, as usual I have been hit hard. But this year I am only losing 30 sets from the Big catalog. Now, what will be in the new catalog waits to be seen. So, as we say good-bye to some favorite stamp sets and accessories, I am planning to showcase many of the retiring sets over the month of June. Just a little temptation to get them while they are HOT!

Today I am showing the Play Date rub-ons and Play Date designer paper. This was a quick and easy no stamp card that anyone can do with the rub-ons.

Summer Time is Here!

Well, it has officially become summer here in Hotlanta! Our temps have been in the 90's for 2 weeks now. Whew! And to top it off, our air stopped working a few days ago. Finally got it fixed and feeling fine now.

Also, I finished working for the summer, at least with school. So, my heart has turned to cleaning up and clearing out. I always do this, every summer I clean up what I stacked up all year during school. This year is no exception except maybe my mess was worse! I worked in the garage and then proceeded to start on the basement which is where I make my cards and scrapbooking messes. Since I got called for jury duty during the week of convention, I figured that I could use some of the money I would have spent re-organizing my space. Today I am going to show before photos. I am not sure when the afters will come but they are coming! But first, get ready because it is BAD!  Get this, I was still making cards and doing work in all that clutter. I mean you have to keep busy, right?

I really wanted Shelly to do my make-over. But, alas, you had to be present to win.