Retirement Party No. 4: I Dig You

I was really surprised to see that a lot of the kids/babies sets in the 2012 Stampin' Up! Catalog are retiring. I'll admit, I haven't really "internalized" (ok, ok, memorized!) that part of the new catalog, but I'm sure there will be plenty of great new ones. But the I Dig You set is certainly super cute and super fun! This is actually a card I made a while ago that I never got around to sharing. Very simple. I just stamped the truck with markers, and cut it out by hand. The "sky" part of the background is embossed with the Chevrons folder, and I distressed/tore Basic Gray and Basic Black cardstocks for the "ground" part of the background. It's a little hard to see in the picture, but I actually crumpled the black cardstock up and then smoothed it out to give it some great texture.

Don't forget, the retiring stamp sets are only available through Monday, June 3, 2013. That's a week from today! Visit my website or email me to order!

I Dig You
Clear mount #122722
Wood mount #122720 

Retirement Party No. 3: Flock Together

This is another card I made quite some time ago that I never got around to sharing! :) Birds have been very trendy in papercrafting, home decor, and fashion lately, so if you're a bird fan, you'll want to grab this set before it's gone! This card was a cinch to put together too. I love using repeated elements and just changing up the colors. I also really love the horizontal stripes - pretty much a no-brainer! (The sentiment is from Field Flowers.)

Don't forget: This set will only be available through Monday, June 3, 2013! Visit my website or email me to place your order!

Flock Together
Clear mount #126732
Wood mount #126730

Retirement Party No. 2: Tea Shoppe

This card is another reject from my Artisan Design Team submissions. I've been really into negative die cuts lately for some reason. :) These tea cups are actually one stamp, so you could certainly use markers to color just one at a time, but I actually chose to cut my stamp apart. More versatile that way for me. I also - fittingly - chose to use the Tea for Two DSP from the Spring Catalog on this card. Don't forget that a lot of those items - except the stamp sets that will be carrying over - are only available until May 31st! That's this Friday! And all retiring stamp sets will only be available through June 3rd! So get your orders in now - visit my website, or email me.

Tea Shoppe
Clear mount #125547
Wood moung #125545

Start-to-Finish Sunday #27 - Memorial Day Thank You Card

Hello! Happy Memorial Day Weekend! I hope it's been great so far. Do you have tomorrow off? I do, and I'm so thrilled. We've had a pretty crummy weekend here on Old Cape Cod... cold, Cold, COLD (I'm talking low to mid 40s!), super windy, and rainy! More like late fall than the official start of summer! But tomorrow's supposed to be way nicer - we're hoping to get out in the garden and get some planting done :) Anyway...

For this week's card, since it is Memorial Day Weekend, I decided to go with Red, White, and Blue. This was an idea I'd had while working on my Artisan Design Team application submissions, but I made enough other cards I liked before I got around to this one. But I still think it came out great! I used my favorite techniques: emboss resist. You can do this technique a bunch of different ways, but I chose to do it with watercolor. Check out the technique in the video below, or over on my YouTube channel.

Have a great week! Happy Stampin'! :)

P.S. The First Edition and Brights Collection Buttons that I used on this card are retiring products that have already sold out - Sorry!




Supply List:

InLinkz.com

Start-to-Finish Sunday #26 - CAS Mosaic Card

Happy Monday! So this week I decided to take a break from the retiring stamps and start playing with some new goodies! I got my new catalog preorder a couple days ago and this stuff is amazing! I am obsessed with the new colors - especially the new In Colors. I want them in my closet, on my nails, and on my walls! :) I used a stamp set called Mosaic Madness, as well as the coordinating embossing folder and punch. I also chose 4 of the new colors - Soft Sky, a previous In Color that is being integrated into the Subtles collection; 2 new In Colors, Crisp Cantaloupe and Pistachio Pudding; and a brand new, never-before-seen addition to the Neutrals collection, Smoky Slate. Love, LOVE, LOVE!

The sentiment is from the Welcome Kit that you get the first month you subscribe to Paper Pumpkin. I gotta say, even if you're not super keen on getting the monthly subscription, sign up anyway and get the Welcome Kit. You can always unsubscribe whenever you want to (although once you get the first kit, I doubt you'll want to!), but I just can't stop using the two stamps that come in the kit! :)

Have a great week and Happy Stampin'! :)



Supplies used in this card:
*Mosaic Madness stamp set #130246 wood/#130249 clear
*Modern Mosaic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder #129984
*Mosaic punch #131267
*Crisp Cantaloupe ink #131176
*Pistachio Pudding ink #131177
*Soft Sky ink #131181
*Smoky Slate ink #131179
*Smoky Slate cardstock #131202
Whisper White cardstock #100730
VersaMark ink #102283
Clear embossing powder #109130
Heat tool #129053
Basic pearls #119247
Sentiment stamp from Paper Pumpkin Welcome Kit (available here)

* denotes 2013 Catalog items that will be available at noon (Mountain time - that's 2pm Eastern) on May 31st

Think Outside the Box - Little Additions Birthday Card

I love stamp sets that have lots of little elements that you can use in a bunch of different ways. I had the Little Additions set on my desk after making all the baby projects I've been sharing with you, and I really wanted to use the cute little flag stamp. So I thought, why not use it to make something different? As in not a baby card :)

I had this Petite Pocket in my scrap basket left over from my Valentine mini album. Great start right there! I decorated it with a quick little embellishment - a DSP banner, and a button layered with a tag I made with Tiny Tags and the Jewelry Tag punch (both also retiring - *sniff*). Pool Party baker's twine tied through both, then an In Color Dahlia layered on top.

  

The card itself was really easy to make. I just cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock to fit the Petite Pocket, and sketched in a curved like with a pencil. I stamped the banners along the curve with Pool Party, Island Indigo, Summer Starfruit, and Certainly Celery. Then I used a Basic Black marker to draw a clean line over my pencil line. The Happy Birthday greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes (thankfully not retiring!), and I stamped two extra banners which I cut out and adhered as tabs to the end of the card.

Easy, quick, and super cute! Just how I like it! :)

Retiring items used in this project:

InLinkz.com

More Little Additions

How cute are these little 3x3 cards? While I had the Little Additions set and all these pastel inks and cardstocks on my desk, I thought I'd get as much out of them as I could! :) These little cuties came together so quickly and easily. The most time-consuming part was cutting out the little onesies, but I think the final product was worth it!

These little cards would be so cute on a present for a baby shower. I also love the idea of giving a handmade 3x3 card with a gift of flowers, instead of the generic cards they have at the florist. Or tied to a big bunch of balloons when visiting a new baby for the first time - that would be so fun! :)

Retirement Party No. 1: Little Additions and Tiny Tags

Welcome to the first post of my Retirement Party! Stampin' Up!'s new catalog will be available as of May 30, but before that, we have to say good bye to some favorites. But it doesn't have to be goodbye! The retiring stamps will be available through June 3rd! (Retiring accessories - ribbon, cardstock, DSP, dies, punches, etc. - are only available while supplies last, though, so check those out ASAP!) So to celebrate the retiring stamps, I'll be featuring some of them on my blog through the month of May. Today's celebrated retiree: Little Additions.

I really love this set, and I'm quite sad to see it go. I don't normally like sets designed to make "scenes" like this, but these images are just too cute! And actually this is the first card I've made with this set where I did create a scene. But I love how it turned out!

I paired this set with another retiring set: Tiny Tags. Also retiring is the coordinating Jewelry Tag Punch. I adore this pair, and I'm really not sure what I'm going to do without them! Whenever I'm not sure where to put a sentiment, or I just need a simple little embellishment, this duo never fails!

Oh! And those fun dots in the background on this card? That's the Distressed Dots stamp - one of my favorite background stamps. It's so great for a little tone-on-tone texture!


Retiring items used in this project:

InLinkz.com