Unfrogettable Stamping!

In the spotlight: Fox & Friends

   What a cute set Fox & Friends is... so perfect for baby cards, kids projects and so much more as you will see in the samples I am sharing with you today.  Don't miss out on this fantastic solid image set before it's gone... you have until May 31st to order it.  It is available in both clear mount (#118565, $14.95) and wood mount (#117020, $18.95).  The set above was one I designed for a Mom & Me birthday class a while back.

Here is a cute Valentine card featuring the monkey from this set.

I love this owl - it fits well in the xl oval punch!

How cute is this chocolate bar cover?

This was a card created for one of our monthly swaps and features the whale - notice that it fits in the tag punch!

Darlene Crockett made this card for a catalog CASE swap - what a cute baby card.

Krid Sennett created this card for our shoe box swap last July featuring the Fox from this set.

 
A candy favor with the monkey hanging from the "vine" created with the image from the retiring Baroque Motifs.

This card was also for a swap and features many of the different images from the set.

   If you love this set, be sure to get it before it's gone for good!  Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful rest of your weekend!!

Kiss them Good-Bye!!!

   Stampin' Up! released the Retiring Stamps list today and there are some that I am sure are on your wish list... be sure to get them while you can!  These are available only through May 31st so please plan your purchases accordingly.  You can click on the links below and be taken directly to my online store to purchase or if you would like to contact me to place your order I will be happy to do so! 

If you'd like to print out a list for cross-reference you can click on the links below.

Click on the photo above to go to my online store or click here

 Download PDF file here

Download a sortable Retired Stamp List in Excel here

   If you decide to place your order online, you'll also be able to take advantage of the Clearance Rack!!  There are new items that have been added and you can ONLY buy these online!  You can combine these items on your order with retiring stamps and regular catalog merchandise.  How cool is that?!  Check it out here or click on the photo below.

   I will be featuring many of these retiring stamps in my upcoming classes.  My next two monthly stamp-a-stacks will be themed "Kiss Them Good-bye" and there will be a Christmas card as one of the designs each month (it's never too early to get started for next Christmas!).  Contact me to sign up for any of these classes.

In the meantime, here are some past favorites featuring some of the retiring sets... enjoy!

 
Sweetheart and Borderline stamp sets (card by Gerin Martin)

 

Ornate Blossom, Friends Never Fade and Sincere Salutations stamp sets

 

Flores Suaves (Celebrando Creatividad catalog)

 

Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set

 

C is for Cat stamp set

 

Nature Silhouettes and On Your Birthday stamp sets

 

Uncharted Territory stamp set

 

Plant Hope stamp set (card by Sherri Gough)

 

Crazy for Cupcakes (card by Michelle Arthur)

 

Fox & Friends stamp set

 

"Kiss them Good-bye" June stamp-a-stack cards

Every June I have a "kiss them good-bye" stamp-a-stack class featuring retiring sets and accessories and this year was no exception.  I normally do 4 cards each of 4 different designs but this time I couldn't decide on just 4 sets so actually changed it to 3 each of 5 different designs with a bonus card thrown in to keep the count at 16.  The card above is one of my go-to cards for teen/pre-teen boys... my kids are at that age now where they either give cash or a gift card to their friends and I love this Extreme Surfboard stamp along with the other Extreme sports stamps for cards for their male friends.  This look was achieved by stamping the main image with jet black StazOn ink and then using a stampin' sponge to swirl bashful blue ink around the surfer.  I pulled the blues from my color coach - the dynamic duo combination is marina mist with bashful blue.

This card features the Friends 24-7 stamp set and is a CASE of one created by user girlogan on Splitcoaststampers' website.  I had received a request from one of my stampers to have a sympathy/thinking of you card and I think this one is perfect.  I used very vanilla, pink pirouette and early espresso for my color palette... it's very soft, don't you think?

I know it's still a long way off, but I had to create one last Christmas card with the very fun Sparkly & Bright stamp set.  There are so many fun images in this stamp set... this card is CASE'd from Joanne Roehm.  Do you notice the background image?  It is the Sanded stamp and I will surely miss it... it is a great one for masculine cards and pairs so well with other background stamps for a neat vintage look.

 

 

These cards feature the retiring Razzle Dazzle stamp set and I used several of the images to create a beautiful black and white background.  I wasn't sure if everyone wanted to make monogram cards or those with a sentiment so I put both the Lovely Letters alphabet set and Sincere Salutations in my supply box for this project.  I will also miss the retiring 5/8" grosgrain ribbon - it adds such a nice texture to cards.  If this card looks familiar, I CASE'd one that my downline Gwen came up with our a downline meeting make-n-take last year (see it here).

The retiring Party Hearty stamp set is a great go-to set for quick and easy birthday cards - I love solid image stamps and this one will be missed!  I saw this fun layout posted by Amanda Mertz and had to CASE it... the scallop square punch makes it so easy to put together and gives you a reason to use up your card stock scraps!  Again, I will miss the 5/8" grosgrain ribbon!

 

This last card was the bonus card - I had a full unopened pack of the retiring Fresh Cut notecards and decided to use them.  While they are still available you can purchase them for 25% off for $6.71... a great price!  You get 15 pre-scored die-cut whisper white cards in a package along with matching envelopes.  These are sized at 4"x4" and require extra postage if you mail them in the square envelopes provided so I decided to trick the post office by putting them on a 4-1/4" x 4-1/4" base of pacific point and using a medium whisper white envelope.  I'll save the 4"x4" envelopes to stick in a gift bag.  These cards come die-cut and this one works perfectly with the 5-petal punch, which was adhered directly to the inside of the card.  I used my Color Coach to get the color combination of pacific point, daffodil delight and rich razzleberry.  The Brights stack has great DSP and I thought the sheet with the words had enough contrast to show off the punch.  It was adhered to the back-side of the card front with stampin' dimensionals.  The front of the card was stamped with the retiring Pretty Petals background stamp and embellished with a rich razzleberry flower from the itty bitty shapes punch along with a rhinestone.

If you'd like to purchase any of the retiring stamps or accessories used on these cards, please be sure and place your order ONLINE via my demonstrator website by midnight on June 30th.  After that, these items will be retired and unavailable for purchase.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day!!

2011 Summer Mini catalog swap samples from Rachel

My friend and fellow Sisters in Stamping design team member Rachel Yurkanin was a guest swapper with us this month.  I loved getting samples from Rachel because I really like her style!

Here's Rachel's first card... lots of coloring, but oh so cute!  This card features the Recess stamp set from the Summe Mini... I love how she used the hopscotch and alphabet images with whisper white ink and made it look like chalk images on a blacktop.  You have to agree that the colors are really fun on this one, too!

And this one is a great card for Father's Day featuring the Best Dad Ever stamp set from the Summer Mini!  I love the doodling that she did around the outside of the stamped panel and isn't it cool that each tie is a different color?  Our stampin' write markers are perfect for this stamp!  Color each image directly on the stamp and then huff on it to re-moisten the ink and stamp - easy-peasey!

Rachel's last card is this bright and cheerful peacock card featuring the Proud Peacock stamp set.  I love it!  The color combination of old olive, daffodil delight, rich razzleberry and pumpkin pie just makes me happy.  Great job, Rachel, on all three cards... thanks for swapping with us this month!

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the wonderful designs that my team came up with this month... isn't it funny that no two cards came out too similar.  I hope you fall in love with the Summer Mini as much as we have!

Thanks for visiting... have a great Sunday!

March 2011 Downline Swaps, part 2

As promised, here are the remainder of the cards from this month's swap for your inspiration...

Michelle Arthur created this beautiful card using the Big Shot (Top Note bigz die and Beautiful Wings embosslit) along with the dotted scallop ribbon border punch.  The colors were pulled from the Lap of Luxury DSP and she embellished with pretty in pink grosgrain ribbon and basic pearls - gorgeous!

This card was created by Darlene Crockett - I love it!  She CASE'd the magnifying glass idea from a card designed by Ros Davidson.  Inspired by Nature is a stamp set that I don't use often enough and it is great paired with the texture added by the Big Shot.  What a great reminder that spring is right around the corner!

Sherri Gough created this cute cupcake card featuring the In Colors and the Build a Cupcake punch.  Polka dotted texture was added to the concord crush background with the Big Shot and Perfect Polka Dots impressions folder.  This is a great birthday card that could be for a boy or girl.

This last card is mine - I used my favorite layout along with the Two Tags Bigz die for the Big Shot and Perfect Polka Dot impressions folder.  The apple image is from the Tart & Tangy stamp set - one you can choose for FREE with a qualifying $50 order during Sale-a-Bration.  It's available for purchase, too, in the big catalog - if you want it as your SAB selection, be sure you use the item number found on the back page of the Sale-a-Bration brochure!

Next month's swap is based on a challenge on my sister Cindy's blog.  Can't wait to get started on that one!!

February 2011 stamp-a-stack cards

I held my monthly stamp-a-stack class last night and the theme for the month was BIRTHDAYS!  That seems to be the most popular request for cards besides Christmas cards.  I decided to focus on four types - masculine (the hardest to create in my opinion), whimsical, teen and feminine.

Here is the masculine card - it features the beautiful deer from Nature Silhouettes.  The scene was created very easily with stampin' sponges and so saffron, pumpkin pie and early espresso ink pads.  The card also features the large pine tree from Lovely As a Tree (a must-have stamp set for your collection!).  Some of my stampers chose to use the wolf image from this stamp set - here is an example of that...

I used the "Happy Birthday" sentiment, punched out with the modern label punch, from the On Your Birthday stamp set and added texture to the cherry cobbler mat using the Square Lattice impressions folder with my Big Shot.  I realy like this warm color combination and will be using it again!

For the whimsical card I turned to my favorite stamp set Aviary from the Idea Book & Catalog.  I saw this layout on my friend LeeAnn Greff's blog here and this card by Diane Cramer and had to CASE them!  Funny thing is, LeeAnn's CASE'd one of my cards for her birthday stamp-a-stack class, too!!  The color combination is bright and cheery, don't you think?  I used pacific point, daffodil delight, rich razzleberry and whisper white.  The tag is from the Two Tags bigz die and was cut out with my Big Shot, which served double-duty because the top half of the white panel was embossed using the Finial Press impressions folder.  Don't recognize the birthday sentiment?  It comes from the Full of Life stamp set.

Now that my girls are getting older, I have found myself in need of some teen birthday cards... this Extreme Elements stamp set works so well with the Extreme sports line of single stamps - I chose to use the Extreme Skateboard stamp.  What do you think?  I like the way this one turned out!  The color scheme is sahara sand, not quite navy, real red, whisper white and soft suede.  I used the "true friend" and "Happy Birthday" stamps from the Punch Bunch stamp set - one you can earn for FREE during Sale-a-Bration (SAB) with a qualifying $50 order.

And here is the last card of the night - I've had the First Edition DSP for quite a while and finally broke the seal on it for these flower embellishments for this card.  It was created with 2 Scallop Circle punches and the large and small flowers from the Boho Blossoms punch which were crumpled then sponged with crumb cake ink.  The layers are all held together with an old olive brad and attached to the pear pizzazz polystitch ribbon with a stampin' dimensional.  The very vanilla panel was run through the Big Shot using the Framed Tulips impression folder with the Big Shot.  The "Happy Birthday" sentiment is from the Curly Cute stamp set - I really like this one and find myself using it a lot lately!

I hope you found some inspiration in my birthday cards!  Thanks for visiting.

Baltimore Regional swap cards - part 4

Just a few more to share...

Check out this beautiful Christmas card created by Jennifer Snyder that features the Peaceful Season hostess level 2 stamp set.

Isn't this a fun card?  It was created by Lorraine Cich.  There is an accordion fold on the inside that the Big Shot butterflies are attached to... very clever!

This gorgeous fall card was designed by Verda Murphy and features the Autumn Splendor stamp set along with gold smooch spritz on the main leaf.  It is very shimmery in real life!

Here is a super-cute punch art card for Christmas created by Sandy Silberquit... the penguin is made from the 2-step owl punch, minus the ears.  Very cute idea!

Here is another great Christmas card designed by Susan Peters.  She used the Vintage Frames stencil from the Holiday Mini along with the square lattice embossing folder - it is stunning in real life!

And this fun Sock Monkey card will be CASE'd by my daughter Kelsey I am sure as she LOVES this stamp set!  It was designed by Sue Redden-Bailey.

One last card to share... isn't this a cute Halloween card?  It was designed by Terry Haines and features the Fangtastic stamp set from the Holiday Mini.

I hope you've found some great inspiration from the swap cards I received last weekend as I know I did!

Over the next few days I'll be sharing photos of my downline swap from this month - we had a theme of sympathy cards.  Sadly, these are cards that I am finding myself needing more and more of these days.  And don't forget FABULOUS FRIDAY!!

Baltimore Regional swap cards - part 1

Oh my goodness... what a busy weekend!  We drove our daughter Kelsey to Washington, DC to attend the Junior National Young Leaders Conference this week and I forgot to schedule a posting for yesterday or today!  So sorry!

I wanted to share with you some of the fabulous swap cards I received last weekend at the Baltimore Regional... lots of great inspiration for you here!  The above bag tag was created by my "Sister" Rachel Yurkanin and is an example of the Big Shot/Sticky Pages/Glitter presentation she gave on stage.  Don't you love the butterfly?  It is so glittery in real life!

Rachel also made these cards - aren't they great?  One features the Make a Monster stamp set while the other features the Extreme Elements and Extreme Skateboard stamp sets - gotta love these for teenage boys!

Here are two cards created by my friend Terri Mongeon.  Both are great for fall - the first features the stamp set French Foliage from the Holiday Mini.  Our leaves are starting to turn here in Central Virginia and I can't wait until they are in full color - so beautiful!  The second card is a super cute card featuring lots of punches and the Big Shot with the Spiderweb embossing folder - can you guess how she created the ghosts?  They are the owl punch turned upside down with the feet trimmed off... how about that?!

Here is a gorgeous card created by my new friend Deb Horst, a fellow Virginian.  What a beautiful sympathy card featuring the Just Believe stamp set.  I hardly ever use basic gray, but love the monochromatic look of this card and will have to CASE for sure!  She was also kind enough to give me the ribbon flower, too - she did a presentation on stage during Friday's session sharing how to make these.  I love it!  Thanks, Deb - so sorry we didn't get to attend the same session.  Maybe next time...

Two last projects to share with you - these were created by my new friend Akemi Geary from Pennsylvania.  She took a transferred registration from my downline Gaylyn Pantana who wasn't able to attend.. I loved meeting her!  Her beautiful card also features the Just Believe stamp set.  And check out the fabric flower!!!  It is GORGEOUS in real life!  Lots and lots of layers - all created with the Big Shot!  Love it!!

Well, I'd better end now... I have many, many more cards to share plus my downline swaps for the month so look for more inspiration in the coming days!  Thanks for visiting me today... until next time, happy stamping!

 

 

Quick and easy birthday card for your favorite child

Remember how I told you I loved my new redesigned color coach?  Well, my daughter Kelsey was looking at it the other day and I asked her to pick a color combination for me to try.  She decided that she really liked tangerine tango and said the Sweet Set combination looked fun - tangerine tango, so saffron and pacific point.  Those colors just screamed "kids card" to me.

 

I have had the Look Who's Turning set for a while but haven't used it so decided to pull it out and give it some love.  Don't you just think the ostrich image is too funny?!  It just cracks me up to look at it!  I grabbed my 2-3/8" scallop and 1-3/4" circle punches along with some card stock scraps and this card came together in about 10 minutes!  The tangerine tango designer paper is from the Patterns Stack brights collection - I love these, lots of DSP in these stacks!!  Super fast and super quick... my kind of card!  All I have to do to personalize it is add the age and voila - done!

Products used with today's project include...