Blast from the past

Sometimes I like to pull out an old set. There a hundreds and hundreds of wonderful stamps in the Stampin' Up! catalog but sometimes I pull out a stamp that isn't in the catalog anymore. If Stampin' Up! kept all of the wonderful sets they ever made in the catalog it would just get too huge - so that is why the retire sets. I love that when sets are retired because it means that there are great new sets coming but I still love some of my old sets. I made a card today using all retired sets.
All Supplies Stampin' Up!: Delight in Life and All Year Cheer I stamp sets; Simple Stripes BG Stamp; Soft Sky, Certainly Celery, Barely Banana and whisper card stock; Soft Sky, Certainly Celery, and Barely Banana classic ink pads; 1/4 white grosgrain; blender pen.

I guess the moral of the story is -if you see a set that you REALLY want you might want to get it now because who knows how much longer it will be available. The current mini catalog has products that available to order until May 31st. The only way to know for sure that you can get the set that you want from the occasions mini catalog is to order it before the end of May.

When it was cute - make it smaller.

I did a card several weeks ago that had this same theme. I needed a quick gift card for a Thank you and with a few changes came up with this cute little 3" x 3" card and envelope. I think that when a card looks cute it may look really cute smaller - why is that? They do say that the best things come in small packages.
I also love to stamp on the envelope! I think that when you add a little hand stamped touch to the outside it gets people ready for the artwork inside!

All Supplies Stampin' Up!: Tart & Tangy and Everyday Flexible Phrases stamp sets; Old Olive, Real Red and whisper card stock; Old Olive and Real Red Stampin' Write markers; red gingham ribbon; olive poly twill ribbon; scallop, 1/16 and 1 1/4 circle punches.

I also realized that I hadn't ever posted this card that I made weeks ago to take to the regional meeting and swap. I thought that I would share it with you all as well. I think everyone should have this cute little Tart & Tangy stamp set it is just so cherry.
All Supplies Stampin' Up!: Tart & Tangy and Much appreciated stamp sets; Old Olive, Real Red and whisper card stock; Old Olive and Real Red Stampin' Write markers; Old Olive and Real Red classic ink pads; red gingham ribbon; olive poly twill ribbon;1 3/8 and 1 1/4 circle punches; ribbon slide from styled silver hardware.

Sympathy

We got news today that one of our friends' grandmothers passed away. I made a sympathy card to send to him and his family. This is one of those times when I really like to be able to craft something special. I hope that when I send a card like this the family knows just how much they mean to us. I know that when I have had family members pass away the cards from friends and family really did bring a bright moment especially those that were handmade.
All Supplies Stampin' Up!: Heartfelt Thanks stamp set; Certainly Celery, Perfect Plum and Very Vanilla card stock; Perfect Plum classic ink pads; Perfect Plum and Certainly Celery Stampin' Write Markers; 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

Seeing Spots

I was feeling like some dry embossing. I just hadn't done that in a while so here is what I came up with. I love to use a contrasting ink to sponge over a dry embossed image to really make it pop. The colors are a little off in this photo but the effect is really pretty in real life. I hope you like it.
All Supplies Stampin' Up!: Seeing Spots stamp set; Chocolate Chip, Close to Coca and Barely Banana card stock; Chocolate Chip, Close to Coca and Barely Banana classic ink pads; Seeing Spots classy brass template; Chocolate Chip 5/8" grosgrain ribbon; 1 3/8", 1 1/4" and 3/4" circle punches; sponges.

Mon Amie

There was a color challenge on splitcoast a few weeks ago and I hadn't had a chance to try it. The combo was Basic Black, River Rock, and Very Vanilla. It is a really simple but really elegant color combo and I love the was it made a really elegant card.

All Supplies Stampin' Up!: Carte Postale stamp set; Basic Black, River Rock and Very Vanilla card stock; Basic Black and River Rock classic ink pad; 1/4" Black grosgrain; Slot punch.

Miss Me?

Sorry I disappeared for about a week but I was blessed with a fun little bout of the flu. I hope that the rest of you can avoid the bug. I really did start to feel better Monday night but I just haven't really pushed myself to move too quickly for the last couple of days. I will try to get some new projects posted very soon, as you can imagine, I haven't done much of anything in the past several days.

So Much Fun!

We made this cute 4"x4" card at regional meeting and I really love how the fold that we used makes a little pocket inside.
All Supplies Stampin' Up!: So Much and Fundamental Phrases stamp sets; Kraft, Real Red, Soft Sky and Textured So Saffron card stock; Basic Black classic ink pad; White SatzOn ink pad; pewter jumbo eyelet.

Here is my version of the card using the beautiful Ginger Blossom DSP and I just love the In Color line for 07-08. I did an outside and inside picture so that you can see how a little gift card could fit inside.

All Supplies Stampin' Up!: True Friend stamp set; Very Vanilla card stock; Purely Pomegranate and Groovy Guava classic ink pads; River Rock, Purely Pomegranate, Groovy Guava double stitched ribbon.

Inspired by SU! Regional

Here is another project that we did at the SU! regional meeting in Tulsa. How cute to make a really quick pocket card by sealing an envelope and cutting an 1" off the top? I loved the look and it came together really quickly.

All Supplies Stampin' Up!: Live Your Dream stamp set; Soft Sky card stock; Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, and Groovy Guava classic ink pads; Medium Kraft envelope, Groovy Guava double stitched ribbon, White circle aluminum metal edge tag, Afternoon Tea DSP, 3/16 corner rounder and 1/8 circle punch.

Here is the project that this sample inspired me to make.
All Supplies Stampin' Up!: So Much & Tres Chic stamp sets; Almost Amethyst card stock; Almost Amethyst classic ink pad; Medium White envelope, White Taffeta ribbon, Almost Amethyst Prints DSP, Pretties Kit and corner rounder punch.

A tiny sample from Tulsa regional meeting

I had such a great time at the Stampin' Up! Regional meeting in Tulsa this past weekend. My brain is on overload!! I got a ton of great ideas and I have to take the time to filter it all and it will take me a few weeks to post all the info. I don't have a ton of time today but I have to start sharing some of what we did. This was a cute thank you card that they had us do for one of our stamp times. I really like the clean lines of this card and I will have to work on some cards that use this layout as the inspiration.
All Supplies Stampin' Up!: Live Your Dream stamp set; Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi and Very Vanilla card stock; Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, and Groovy Guava classic ink pads; Groovy Guava double stitched ribbon, small rhinestone brad from Pretties kit, and 3/16 corner rounder punch.

I made someone’s day!

Laura passed the you make my day award onto me! How cool is that? I have to say that she has an awesome blog and I am really pleased that I made her list.
SO - Here is who I am passing the award to.

Check out the Triangle Box Tutorial over at Mocha Memories it will make your day!
Sharon has a great set of projects and they use one of the new papers coming out in the Occasions mini-catalog.
Britta took the embrace life flowers to a whole new level.
More fun from the Occasions mini can be found on Beate's blog.
and finally
Leslie has a beautiful example of what can be done to make a really beautiful card with water coloring and an interesting cut.

Then these recipients do the the following. If you already have this award don’t worry about passing it on, just display it proudly:)
1) Write a post with links to 5 blogs you find of interest and that inspire you.
2) Acknowledge the post of the award giver.
3) Display the logo “You Make My Day”
4) Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news

"Love" to scrapbook

I make a lot of cards but I also love to scrapbook and I think this page turned out really well . I hope that you all like the layout and I am just really loving this paper. I am headed to the Regional meeting in tomorrow and I will not have a chance to post until Monday. I am sure that I will get some great ideas and some great projects to post next week.

All Supplies Stampin' Up!: Jumbo Outline Alphabet stamp set; Close to Coca, Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate and Whisper White card stock; Purely Pomegranate classic ink pad; Close to Coca Stampin' Write Marker; Pretty in Pink 1/4"grosgrain, light pink gingham ribbon, Berry Bliss Designer Series Paper.

Berry Bliss

I had a crazy day yesterday, sorry no post. I have been very busy getting ready for the Stampin' Up! Regional meeting in Tulsa OK. I am getting really excited about spending time with other stampers and getting great ideas. Regional meetings are always high energy events. I did get some more Stampin' done today and spent a lot of time working on swaps to take to Tulsa. I made a card for my friend Diana who will be presenting at the meeting. I used the berry bliss designer series paper and I just love the colors and the patterns in this paper.

All Supplies Stampin' Up!: Happy Everything stamp set; Close to Coca, Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate and Whisper White card stock; Purely Pomegranate and Close to Coca classic ink pads; White and Pretty in Pink 1/4"grosgrain, Purely Pomegranate double stitched ribbon., Berry Bliss Designer Series Paper.

I love this paper so much I am working on a 6x6 scrapbook page to swap at regionals using it. I will have to post that tomorrow.

Only Two Weeks Left!

Two weeks left! I am so excited that St. Patrick's Day is only two weeks away and that makes me happy - I love St. Patrick's Day. There is also only two weeks left of sale-a-bration and that makes me sad because I love sale-a-bration and I always hate for it to end.
I just got started on my St. Patrick's Day cards and I thought that I would post one.

All Supplies Stampin' Up!: Pinch Proof stamp set; Kraft, Old Olive, Garden Green and Very Vanilla card stock; Sahara Sand, Old Olive and Garden Green classic ink pads; Old Olive, Garden Green, and Really Rust Stampin' Write Markers.