Unfrogettable Stamping!

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

 

Sharing my stamp-a-stack cards from last month...

I hold a monthly stamp-a-stack card class on the last Thursday of each month and I am sharing these from last week a little late because I had one stamper who wasn't able to attend and I wanted them to be a surprise for her when she came to my make-up class today.  The card above is one I had seen on Pinterest and was originally designed by Elaine Uhl.  I absolutely love black and white cards and doesn't this make a great wedding card?!  The flower image is from Mixed Bunch and the sentiment is from the Love & Laughter stamp set - both found in our Occasions Mini.  It may be hard to see, but there is a tiny pearl in the center of the main flower.

This island indigo sympathy card above is based on a swap (see calypso coral card below) that I received but sadly it doesn't have a name on the back.  I changed the card slightly by using naturals ivory with island indigo - I thought it had more of a sympathy card feel with this color scheme.  The small rectangular image was created by stamping a clear block with crumb cake ink... love it!  The stamp set used for the botanical images is Nature's Walk and the sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

This card is so simple yet I love it... I had seen it on display at Leadership.  The base of the card is soft suede and the stamped panel is very vanilla.  The flowers are from Fifth Avenue Floral and the words are from Sincere Salutations - one of my all-time favorite sentiment stamp sets!!  They were both inked with soft suede.  I added a pearl to the center of the main flower and the ribbon is the crumb cake seam binding ribbon.

I always try to include a seasonal card and with Easter coming up I wanted to have a card that could be used for that occasion.  The card stock and ribbon are the In Color Wisteria Wonder but the ink used for the Easter Dove stamp (Occasions Mini) is Elegant Eggplant.  I love the elegant bouquet embossing folder used on this card and who doesn't love glitter?  It was added to the dove with a 2-way glue pen and dazzling diamonds.

The last card was this one that I shared last week from Fabulous Friday.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a great rest of your week...

Pinterest Try It Tuesday... spotlighted sympathy card

 

How did it get to be Tuesday already?  I was checking out my boards on Pinterest and a card I had pinned really caught my eye - the colors are stunning and the simplicity of it just screams sympathy card to me.  My take on it is above and here is the card below originally created by Heather Telford of Bits & Pieces.

 

Here are my step-by-step instructions for creating it using Stampin' Up! products...

1. Choose a square punch (I used 1-1/4") and cut out a piece of card stock to 5-1/4" x 4" to use as your template.  Line it up with the left side of the card stock and make sure the punch is pushed as far up from the bottom as it can go.  Punch out your first square.

2. Slide the punch over slightly to the right, making sure that you keep the punch pushed up all the way against the bottom (this helps to keep it lined up).  Repeat this step until you have the size rectangle that you want for your card.

3. My punches are very well used so I had some rough edges... I used my sanding block to make sure no stray pieces of card stock would mess up my sponging.

4. Take a 2-way glue pen and scribble the adhesive all over the BACK side of your template - be especially sure to get near the edges of the rectangle that you've cut out on your template.  Allow this to dry so it becomes tacky.

5. Apply some Dotto repositionable adhesive to the back of a piece of 5-1/4" x 4" whisper white card stock and attach it to your grid paper.  This ensures that your paper won't move when you're sponging.  Place your template on top of it (please disregard the fact that I applied the 2-way glue pen to the wrong side of my template the first time!).

6. Choose several colors that work well together - I used more mustard, pumpkin pie and real red.  Beginning with your lightest color, sponge the inside of the rectangle.  Repeat with all your colors, making sure that you don't have all the color concentrated in one spot, blend them around a bit.

7. Remove the template and use jet black StazOn ink with the oak tree image from Lovely As a Tree and stamp image to the right of the sponged rectangle, overlapping it slightly.

8. Use a stamp-a-majig and the sentiment from Vintage Vogue with the StazOn ink at the bottom corner of the card stock.

9. Attach your card stock piece to a crumb cake base card (5-1/2" x 8-1/2") and you're done.

I really love the way this card turned out and think I will play with other color combinations.  What are you pinning on Pinterest that inspires you?

Happy World Card Making Day!!

Did you know that today is World Card Making Day?  I am celebrating it by holding a Mini stamp-a-stack class.  Everyone who attends is going to make two each of four different designs.

This is card #1 - I wanted to do a masculine birthday card since they're tough ones, at least for me!  I love the Well Worn DSP that I used for this card and you can never go wrong with the Lovely as a Tree stamp set!  The river rock looks very greenish against the not qutie navy and cajun craze, doesn't it?  The "happy birthday" sentiment is one I created from a large text personalized stamp... I really like it and the font is so simple that it works with a lot of different styles.

Here's my feminine card - I had to have one with pink!  It is a CASE of a swap I received from Colleen Magness at the Charlotte Regional and features the Awash with Flowers stamp set along with Curvy Verses.

This card is an all-occassion card and is a CASE of one that my downline member Jennifer Rawlings created for our Catalog CASE swap last month.  I love the colors - they are so rich and beautiful:  tempting turquoise, elegant eggplant, so saffron and whisper white.  The stamp set is Fifth Avenue Florals - one I haven't used in a while so I was glad to dust it off for the class today!

And the last card is this fall-themed one featuring the Gently Falling stamp set from the Holiday Mini.  It is a CASE of one I received in a Holiday Mini swap that didn't have a name on the back so I can't give credit.  I changed the colors a bit but loved the torn layers and collage of the various leaves.  My color scheme is more mustard, old olive, cajun craze, crumb cake, chocolate chip and naturals ivory and I used the Three Little Words stamp set to make this a "Thinking of You" card - I needed some sympathy cards and this fit the bill perfectly.

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you find the time to stamp some cards today in honor of World Card Making Day!!

July 2011 monthly stamp-a-stack projects

I held my monthly stamp-a-stack at the end of July and everyone got to make 3 each of 5 different card designs.  I featured many of the new stamp sets and accessories from the brand new Idea Book & Catalog.  One of my new favorites is the My Friend stamp set - here it is with the new In Colors pool party and calypso coral along with soft suede and whisper white.  The butterflies were cut out with the Big Shot and the Beautiful Wings embosslit and embellished with pearl accents.  This card was CASE'd from one that Karen Haman posted on Stampin' Connection - a demonstrator-only site (one of the best perks of being a demonstrator!).

This next card also featured a butterfly, this one is from the Creative Elements stamp set and has a color combination of whisper white, blushing bride and perfect plum.  I really like this set a lot, too (did you see my scrapbook page yesterday?).

One more butterfly card for you... this one features the Flight of the Butterfly stamp set in concord crush and certainly celery.  I punched the butterfly out of certainly celery DSP and embellished it with a rhinestone accent.

Card #4 was this one featuring the Delicate Doilies stamp set.  I saw this card design posted on a blog but didn't write down the stamper's name... if it is your design, please let me know so I can give you proper credit.  How fun is this new scalloped dotted ribbon?!

The last card was this one that I created for Fabulous Friday a couple of weeks ago.  For more details on that card please click here.

If you'd like to attend my August stamp-a-stack there is still room!  Just contact me to reserve your spot.

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

2011 Idea Book and Catalog Open House

I held my 2011 Idea Book and Catalog Open House kick-off event at the end of July and had a lot of the new products on display with make-n-takes and door prizes for those who came.  The card above, featuring the new Love & Sympathy stamp set, was one of the projects everyone made.  It has three of the new In Colors:  lucky limeade (leaves of the flower), island indigo (card stock mat, sentiment and ruffled ribbon) and pool party (flower).  The base of this card is sahara sand - an excellent neutral color that works well with this color combination.  The flower was inked using stampin' write markers and then stamped to give it a watercolored look. 

The ribbon is glued down with a pearl accent to mimic a brad.  I CASE'd this card design from Jennie Maier, tweaking it just a bit.  It's so easy but looks so elegant!

This second card features the new Button Buddies stamp set - I love this pig!  I didn't have enough buttons on hand to use for the card so improvised and used my button embosslit with pretty in pink DSP and created my own.  The backgound stamp is the new Netting stamp - you know I love background stamps so I had to get it as soon as I could!  The colors used for this card are whisper white, chocolate chip, pretty in pink and regal rose.

Don't you think the "button" makes the card?  All the images in this stamp set work well with our buttons.  For the eyes, I pulled out my 1/16" hand-held punch to make holes... the chocolate chip card stock mat shows through the holes from behind (clever, eh?).  A lot of people forgot this step and glued their panel down before punching the holes so I had a chocolate chip stampin' write marker in the box of supplies along with some googlie eyes for those who wanted that goofy look for their piggies.

If you didn't get a chance to attend my Open House but would like to make either of these cards you can host a workshop and have one or both as projects for you and your guests to make.  Contact me to book a date!

Sorry for the irregularity of posts this summer... things have been way busier than I thought.  I'm hoping things will calm down once my kids are back in school in just a few short weeks.

Please stop by tomorrow for my Fabulous Friday project for the Sisters in Stamping blog... we're continuing our catalog tour with a stop in the Elements section this week!!

Love and Sympathy stamp set is just Fabulous

This week on the Sisters in Stamping blog we are focusing on the "Occasions" section of the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog found on pages 51-80.  I decided to use the Love and Sympathy stamp set - it was one that was a "must-have" for me when I first had an opportunity to look through the catalog when we received it on the Alaska cruise because I L-O-V-E floral stamp sets, especially the ones that look watercolored or painted, and also because my stampers are always asking me to design sympathy cards for my monthly stamp-a-stacks.  This floral image is super-easy to color with stampin' write markers - that way your foliage and flower can be two different colors.  After inking the leaves with old olive and the flower with rich razzleberry I gave a little huff to the stamp to re-moisten the ink and then stamped it on a piece of whisper white card stock.

I don't know how I ever created cards without my Big Shot before we started carrying it!  I used the brand new Set of Designer Frames textured impressions folders (oval) on my whisper white card stock panel and the Framed Tulips textured impressions folder on the rich razzleberry card stock layer.  And here's a great thing to know - the extra large oval punch fits perfectly inside the oval frame!  That way I could stamp the larger flower image and attach it with stampin' dimensionals inside the textured frame.  Cool, huh?!  I wanted to keep this card clean and simple so just embellished it with small pieces of 1/8" early espresso taffeta ribbon which I ran across the corners of the whisper white card stock and taped behind it before attaching it with stampin' dimensionals to the rich razzleberry card stock layer. The base of my card is early espresso card stock, which matches the ink that I used for the sentiment.  I really love this color combination, don't you?!

Don't forget to stamp the inside of your card!  I stamped the flower image lighter by first stamping it full-strength on my grid paper and then huffing on it to re-moisten the ink and using the 2nd generation for the inside of my card.  I stamped the sentiment on top using my stamp-a-ma-jig for alignment with early espresso ink.  I like this card so much that it will be one of the ones I use for my next stamp-a-stack.  Hope you like it, too! 

For more inspiration from the Occasions section of the catalog, be sure and head over to the Sisters in Stamping blog after Noon EST today to see what Jacque, Karla and Rachel came up with this week.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!!

Products used with today's project include the following.  If you'd like to place an order for any of these items, please visit my online store or contact me to place it for you.  Thanks!

 

Tribute to Sugar

My downline Sarah Eller recently lost her beloved dog, Sugar.  When my husband and I went on the Stampin' Up! cruise to Alaska we stayed in Seattle for a few days prior to the cruise and spent some time with Sarah and Sugar (check out my blog post here).  I snapped this photo of Sugar while Sarah and Joe ran into a bakery - little did I know that Sarah was so sweetly picking me up a coconut tart for my birthday (thanks, Sarah - it was DELICIOUS!).

I took the photo and created an altered picture frame and mailed it to Sarah along with a sympathy card and DVD of all the photos I had taken of Sugar.   I wanted to send her something that she could display in her stamp room to remind her of her wonderul dog.

 

Isn't it great that you can take paper, ribbon, an inexpensive picture frame and some imagination and create a gift for a friend.  Here are some close-ups of the  Big Shot Fun Flowers die flower which I put on the outside of the glass and the photo of Sugar which I embellished with my Big Shot and the Go-Go Boots sizzlit dies.  Sarah told me she cried when she opened her package - I'm so glad that this gift had such meaning for her.  Sarah - I hope you know how much I am thinking of you and pray that the ache in your heart subsides in time.  I know Sugar cannot be replaced but at least she'll never be forgotten!

"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!!

May Demonstrator of the Month, part 1

I'd like to introduce you to my featured Demonstrator of the Month from my Little Debbies team for May 2011 - Jennifer Rawlings.  Jennifer has been a member of my downline since January of 2007 when she signed up during Sale-a-Bration.  Here's what she has to share about herself:

I’m a 2^nd time-around demonstrator with Stampin’ Up!  I signed up years ago, but had to quit due to life circumstances.  But as soon as I was able, I found a great demonstrator (Debbie Naylor) and signed up again in January of 2007.  I work full time, take care of my family full time, and find whatever time I have left to stamp.  Unfortunately, that’s not nearly as much as I would like.  I’m trying to be more of a business demonstrator than a hobbyist.  I have a small but wonderful collection of customers, hold monthly classes, and do workshops whenever possible.

I don’t really have a favorite SU! product – I like it all!  I love learning new ways of using my stamping stuff, which is why I hold technique classes.  Trying out new things to show my customers helps me to find more time to stamp. 

Jennifer created some beautiful projects to share with you all... including some of the techniques that she has taught in classes.

Here is a beautiful card featuring a cross made from the Lattice bigz die.  What a wonderful sympathy card or one to send to a friend who needs your prayers.

This card features the faux Mother of Pearl technique and the flower is die cut from the Fun Flowers die... it's gorgeous!  I love all the different textures.  The sentiment is from the Full of Life stamp set.

Jennifer used the faux bleach technique with this card that features the Fresh Cuts stamp set.  The colors are so pretty together.

Lastly, here is a fun colored card featuring The Nicest Things and Fifth Avenue Florals stamp sets.

If you liked these cards, you're definitely going to want to come back tomorrow when I share Jennifer's awesome 3-d project!