Old and New!

For the past two weeks, I have been feverishly making lots of cards, trying to use up retiring designer papers and also using some of my retiring stamp setsbefore I put them up for sale! Under each of the cards, I will briefly list the retiring products I used on them. Please get these products for your personal collections before they are retired on May 31st!

The last card was made using a brand new set, Betsy's Blossoms, which will be available on June 1st. Tomorrow I will be bringing you a few more cards that I have recently made. Thanks for looking! I love your comments, so please leave one!

Retiring Products used on above card:

Peach Parfait card stock, Flirtatious Specialty designer series paper, Happiest Birthday Wishes stamp set

Retiring Products used on above card:

Poppy Parade card stock, Happiest Birthday Wishes stamp set

Flirtatious Specialty designer series paper, On Your Birthday stamp set (oh boy I'm going to miss this set!!)

NEW PRODUCT!

Birthday Card Supplies:

Card Stock: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White

Stamps: BETSY'S BLOSSOMS, On Your Birthday (retiring May 31)

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Gumball Green

Embellishments: Basic Pearls

Adhesives: Snail, Stampin' Dimensionals

Please use my Website to order! The new items will be available for order on June 1st at 12 noon Mountain Time.

Big Top Birthday

This card is for someone who works in the office I volunteer in. I kept it simple, but jazzed it up a bit by coloring my sentiment "Happy Birthday" with Stampin' Write markers in colors to match the Big Top Birthday designer series paper.

Here is a close up of the sentiment, which is also framed in Tempting Turquoise. I hope you enjoyed seeing my latest card and will leave your comments below. Thanks for visiting!

Big Top Birthday Supplies:

Card Stock: So Saffron, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Big Top Birthday

Stamps: Happy Birthday Wishes (Hostess)

Stampin' Write Markers in Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight

Inspiration - You Never Know When It Will Hit!

Hello Blog Friends! Thank you to all of you who inquired about my absence! I have been creating plenty, but have had no time to blog!

Here is a card I made just yesterday. The shopping bag was my inspiration! I have had this bag sitting on the dresser in my studio for at least six months. I just got around to making the card I had dreamed up! I hope you enjoy it.

The "gingham" was made by inking the logo side of the Stripes Embossing Folder with Pacific Point Classic Ink. I did this by just sliding the ink pad over the stripes until they were solidly covered. (You COULD use a brayer, but I could not find mine!) Then I lay my 4 x 5-1/2" piece of Whisper White card stock on the uninked side of the folder. Close it up, run it through the Big Shot and you have stripes. Do the whole operation over again, but lay the card stock the opposite way and you have gingham! I did trim my gingham down to a square size based on where the stripes fell. I did not measure it out specifically. Then I framed it with Whisper White card stock before mounting it on my folded 10" x 5" Melon Mambo card.

For the sentiment, I used a sentiment from the Happiest Birthday Wishes stamp set and inked it with Melon Mambo. The flowers are cut from the Floral Fusion Sizzlits Die, run through the Big Shot with Whisper White, Melon Mambo and Pacific Point card stock.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! See you soon. Thank you for your comments, I really appreciate each one!

PPA118 Color Challenge

This week our Celebrity Guest Artist is Carrie Gaskin and her blog is titled Artistic Avenger. Please check out her work, as well as all of our Design Team and Pals Paper Arts participants.

When I first saw these Challenge Colors, I was worried. How would they look together? What supplies would I use? Then it all came together, once I decided to use the above print from Well Worn designer series paper! The wood-look print was a perfect starting point, incorporating the Early Espresso/Chocolate Chip/Soft Suede in the grain of the print. Make the base of the card River Rock offset all of the darkness in the print.

I then decided that my element would bring all of the colors together by using the neutral colors of Naturals Ivory (1-3/8" circle) and Basic Black (1-3/4" circle). These were matted with the lighter River Rock scalloped circle from the Perfect Pennants Die and using my Big Shot. LOVE my Big Shot! Have you seen the extended promotion for a *free* Big Shot? Details here.

Supplies List:

Card Stock: Early Espresso, Soft Suede, River Rock, Naturals Ivory, Basic Black

Designer Series Paper: Well Worn

Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Punches: 1-3/8" and 1-3/4" circle

Extras: Big Shot, Perfect Pennants Die, Silver Mini Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals, Snail adhesive

Happy Birthday - Party on a Card

I made this for my daughter's birthday. Since I sent her a gift in the mail, there was room in there for this fluffy card. I loved making this flower.

After I made the flower, I sprayed it with Vanilla Smooch Spray! I love the dazzle it brings to anything you spray it with.

I hope you enjoy looking as much as I enjoy reading your comments!

Card Supply List:

Card Stock: Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Pool Party, Poppy Parade, Old Olive

Designer Series Paper: Pocketful of Posies

Stamps: Itty Bitty Bits, Happiest Birthday Wishes (hostess)

Ink: Poppy Parade, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise

Punches: Scallop Circle, Petite Pennants Builder, Dotted Scallop Border, Itty Bitty Shapes

Accessories: Big Shot, Stripes Embossing Folder, Sticky Strip, Stampin' Dimensionals

For your own supplies from Stampin' Up! please use my Website to order! Don't forget to check out the specials for October. I'd love to have you join my team and get a *FREE* Big Shot when you purchase the Starter Kit. Details below...

Buy 2 Simply Sent Kits, Get One Stamp Set *FREE*

Big Shot *FREE* when you become a Demonstrator and buy the Starter Kit!

Holiday Items in Clearance Rack:

Stampin' Up! has added more items to Clearance Rack in the Online Store, including some holiday products! Clearance Rack items are non-refundable and are only available while supplies last. You must order ONLINE.

PPA103 Sketch Challenge

You can see that I turned the sketch on it's side this time around. I love how my challenge card "turned" out! This is my husband's birthday card. We have a lot of activities over the week of his birthday. He is cooking with a chef friend at a local restaurant, we have a wedding to go to, and a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. It should be a fun weekend.

Isn't this Mini Vintage tag sweet? I accented it with a heart-shaped package (isolated with Stampin' Write markers from the Happiest Birthday Wishes hostess stamp set) and popped the package up with a Stampin' Dimensional--so easy to add a special touch. I tied a teeny knot in Marina Mist 1/8" taffeta through the hole in the tag.

I hope you will play along with us at Pals Paper Arts and provide a direct link to your project so you have a chance to be featured as one of our 3 picks of the week!

If you have a need for any supplies from Stampin' Up, I'd love to have you use my Website to order.

Today's Card Supplies:

Card Stock: Not Quite Navy, Pear Pizzazz, Very Vanilla

Designer Series Paper: Pocketful of Posies, First Edition

Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes (hostess), Fabulous Phrases

Ink: Not Quite Navy

Punches: Word Window, Small Heart, Dotted Scallop Border

Accessories: Not Quite Navy and Pear Pizzazz Stampin' Write Markers, Mini Vintage Tags, Marina Mist 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

PPA102- Fashion Inspiration-Summertime and the Livin' is Easy!

This week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge is Fashion Inspiration: Summertime and the Livin' is Easy! Won't YOU create a project using BBQ, Beach, Surf, Sand, or anything SUMMER and play along?

I don't have any beach-type stamps, so I had to get creative. Isn't that what challenges are supposed to do for you? I used one of the pennant shapes from the Pennant Parade stamp set to create be my sugar cone. Nothing says summer more than ice cream! I stamped the shape onto Very Vanilla 3 times using Crumb Cake ink. Now, I needed some scoops of ice cream. The more fancy pennant shape from the same stamp set has polka dots all over it. Hmmmmm. This could be ice cream with chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and cherry chips!

I stamped each color of ice cream, then embossed and punched out the cone shape using my 1" circle punch. Chocolate ice cream with white chocolate chips: Early Espresso card stock, stamped with Whisper White Craft Ink and heat embossed with Clear embossing powder. Vanilla Chocolate Chip ice cream: Very Vanilla card stock, stamped with Jet Black Stazon and heat embossed with Black embossing powder. Cherry Chip ice cream: Blushing Bride card stock, stamped with Cherry Cobbler craft ink and heat embossed with Clear embossing powder.

Serve it up!!

Lastly, my card needed a little something for balance. How about some CAKE to go with the ice cream? I used this image (isolated from a tag shape) from Happiest Birthday Wishes (hostess) stamp set, which was colored with my Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink and Daffodil Delight Stampin' Write markers. I punched it out with the 1" circle punch and added a 1-1/4" Blushing Bride circle. I popped it up on Stampin' Dimensionals.

Now my summer treat is almost finished. I added a "Happy Birthday" script sentiment inked in Early Espresso and stamped right onto my Neutral Designer Prints (Crumb Cake). The sentiment is also from the Happiest Birthday Wishes set.

Thank you for visiting today. I hope you will consider playing along with all of us at PPA. We have so much fun every week bringing you a fresh challenge. I love to read your comments and know that you are here, so please leave one at the bottom of this post! Have a great day!

To order your Stampin' Up! with me, please use my convenient Website. Your products will arrive at your doorstep!

July Pals Blog Hop! Featuring New IB & C Products

Welcome to the July Pals Hop! You probably hopped over from Mary Fish's Blog, Stampin' Pretty. I've joined with some of the Pretty Pals to bring you some projects made with NEW products from the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog.

The above 5 x 5" square card and mini square gift card are both made using the *new* Fancy Fan Letterpress Plate. I inked it with Whisper White Craft Ink and ran it through my Big Shot with a sheet of Island Indigo card stock, one of this year's In Colors. I LOVE this color! It reminds me of the ocean. I decided to use three other colors for my butterfly and flower: Daffodil Delight and two (more) new In Colors, Pool Party and Calypso Coral.

The butterfly and flower were made using the Floral Fusion Die (115969 $5.50) and my Big Shot. Super simple! Stack them and add embellishments and you have cute elements to add to any card or project.

On the 5 x 5" square card, I used one of the *new* Designer Frames textured embossing folders. They come in a set of two (123130 oval, above and a rectangular shape $8.95). Inside I placed a large oval punched image from the *new* Happiest Birthday Wishes hostess set (122617 Clear $15 hostess or 122615 Wood $21 hostess). This set is huge and will fulfill all of your birthday sentiment wishes! It really has something for everyone. Check it out on the Idea Book & Catalog page 10. With Stampin' Up's new hostess program, it is easier than ever to earn the free products YOU want, whether they be in the hostess-only section or in the rest of the catalog.

Do you spy one of the *new* Designer Printed Brads that makes up the center of my flower? They come in the 2011-2013 In Colors and they are delicious!! (122940 40ct. $7.95--they will go a long way!)

I hope you enjoyed seeing some new Stampin' Up! producst from the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog. Please leave your comments below. I love to read them all and thank you for all of the kind comments I've received so far!

Okay, now it's time for YOU to HOP on to Nina Dee's Blog! You can use this list, or use the spiffy buttons at the bottom of this post, which were created by Stephanie Uzee using My Digital Studio by Stampin' Up! You will notice she used the *new* Flirtatious Specialty Designer Series Paper.

Linda Fisher at Linda's Stampin Loft

Melissa Ordelheide at Natural Stampin

Linda Callahan at Stampin' Seasons

Barb Furlong at The Love of Stamping

Barbara Chatzkel at Take Out Paper Arts

Mikki Sarkisyan at Mikki's Creative Corner

Melanie Collins at Oops a Daisy Designs

Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty

Patti MacLeith at Papercrafts by Patti

Nina Dee at Deesigns by Nina Dee

Jeanne Norris at My Creative Impressions

Sandra Conner at Pretty Provisions

Joan Norris at My Stampin' Blog

Stephanie Uzee at Stampin' with Suzee

Joanna Munster at Inspired by Stamping

Carmen Sublasky at The Creative Stamptuary

Nicole Watt at Impressions by Nicole

Rae Harper at Wild West Stampin', Scrappin' & Crafts