Birthday Basics and Bring on the Cake for the May Pals Blog Hop

Welcome to the May Pals Blog Hop. This is the first hop on our new day - the second Wednesday of the month. Before we celebrate the release of the new Stampin' Up! catalog next month, it's time to say goodbye to our favorite retiring prodcts. This months we are showcasing projects that feature stamps or accessories that are retiring along with the 2013-14 Idea Book and Catalog on June 4th.

You may just be starting the blog hop or may have come from  Peggy Noe at Pretty Paper Cards on the Pals Blog Hop. If you get off track at any time, the full lineup below will help you move along from blog to blog.

For me, the set I will miss most (I haven't decided if I'm going to sell it or not!) is Bring on the Cake. It has so much birthday fun in it, yet over the year I have not even used all of the stamps in the set. The one stamp I chose for today's card is probably the first one I used and also my favorite. Coloring those letters in is too much fun!

This time I chose to use Water Color Paper and stamped the image using Black Stazon. I used the ombre effect of coloring dark at the top and light at the bottom. I did this by using pooled ink and a Blender Pen. I love how the water color paper grabs the ink.  The colors I used were: Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Gumball Green (retiring) and Raspberry Ripple (retiring).

The Birthday Basics Designer Paper is also a favorite that I'll be sad to say goodbye to. I have gone through almost two packages of it, saving each and every snippet to use on my projects.  You notice that I made peek-a-boo hearts using the retiring Small Heart Punch. I am not overly sad to see this punch retire, as there is a new small heart, but it has been a favorite since I got it. And last, but not least, I will miss all the Stretch Ruffle Trim that overlaps my candle print.

The next stop is Debbie Pierce at Stampin' Sunshine on the Pals Blog Hop. Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you next month!

1. Peggy Noe at Pretty Paper Cards
2. Patti MacLeith at Papercrafts by Patti
3. Debbie Pierce at Stampin' Sunshine
4. Jackie Diediker at Stampin' Jackie
5. Nancy Gleason at My Stampin Space
6. Sue Becker at RnR Stamping
7. Susan Itell at Simple Stampin
8. Michelle Quinno at Shell's Life
9. Beth Beard at My little craft blog
10. Amy Lazzell at Just A Thought...Cards by Amy
11. Debbie Mageed at Secret Stamper
12. Rae Harper at Wild West Paper Arts
13. Katie Ferguson at Cottage Paper
14. Colleen Mollema at Uncanny Crafting
15. Natalie Bradley at Natalie Bradley Events
16. Dawn Tidd at Tiddbits from Dawn
17. Kerry Willard Bray at Peonies and Paper Chains
18. Wendy Klein at Doggone Delightful Stampin' 
19. Marlene Heringer at So Many Toys So Little Time
20. Diane Roberts at Score at Four and a Quarter
21. Lynn Kolcun at Stamping With Avery's Owlery
22. Kelly DeTommaso at Kelly's Creative Corner
23. Shannon Hokanson at Paper Works by Shannon
24. Christie Crosby at Stampin' Creativity
25. Kalyn Shubnell at Stamping Chronicles
26. Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations
27. Michelle Gleeson at StampinMojo
28. Debra Simonis at Deb's Stampin' Grounds
29. Nicole Watt at Pixel Maven's Retreat
30. Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty
31. Maxine Conrad at Stamp to the MAX!
32. Donna Kopenski at Crafty Cardmaker
33. Angie Blake at Angie's Musings