This Little Piggy Hiding in the Barn

Hello there!

I just had a chance to break out my Barn Door Stamp Set along with its coordinating Sliding Door Framelits set. I knew I wanted to pair it with This Little Piggy. I mean, seriously, the two were made for each other. After making one, I decided I wanted to use it at my June TNT (Tips N Techniques) class, but I knew that the piggy one was going to be a bit too time consuming, so I came up with a slightly simpler version.

The card with the red bow is my Little Piggy one. Although you can't see it well in the photo, I scored lines across the background piece to mimic a barn. I wasn't sure if the lines should go vertical or horizontal. I looked up photos online and found that some barns are built one way, and some the other. I realize what I really should have done was make this in red instead of Crumb Cake. Definitely would have looked more like a barn then. I also water colored a bit of shading on the door.

On the second card, I didn't score the background or watercolor the door. Just a simple matter of stamping and die cutting. I even decided to stamp the door handle rather than using the die cut one. Love that you have options and they both look great.

I watched a video that Stampin' Up! put out showcasing this set and how to assemble your cards. In it they recommend you use washers for the sliding mechanism. I remember when doing spinner cards, washers or pennies were recommended as you needed the weight to help the spinner spin, but after making my piggy card with pennies. I found that the card seemed a bit too heavy and knew it would definitely cost more to send, so I tried using 3/4 inch circles of cardstock. Worked like a charm. My other tip would be to make sure that whatever you use doesn't stick out farther than your door when you stick them to the dimensionals.  Otherwise they will show when you slide the door back and forth.

Here's what my doors open up to:

Cute little water colored piggy...

and a simple sentiment.

And inside the cards:

A little more water coloring on the piggy one along with an extra layer of cardstock.

Well, now I think I need to go make a red one. Maybe with a little kitty hiding in the barn. Hmm. So many options. :o)

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

Mail A Card Monday--Graduation Cards

Hello there!

It's Mail A Card Monday again. I have to confess that I don't actually have any cards in my mail box today. My daughter does, but I don't. I did however, hand out quite a few graduation cards this weekend or rather, my hubby did. My Handsome Hubby is a high school teacher which means lots of invites to Open Houses. The end of the year snuck up on me, so I spent Mother's Day afternoon creating a variety of graduation cards for him to hand out. Here's what I came up with.

Hard to tell in these photos, but the school colors are purple and white. It was a cloudy day when I took these photos, and they look black and white to me. I used Elegant Eggplant for all of the stamping on these cards. I think next year I will have to use the new Gorgeous Grape color.

The first card I designed was simply a bunch of purple and gold balloons with a "Congratulations" banner across them.

I used both the Gold Foil and Gold Glimmer paper for the balloons. The strings were just hand drawn on. Some of the cards I did a better job of drawing the strings than others. The "Congratulations" came from the Petal Palette set and it just perfectly fit inside the banner from the Number of Years set.

Speaking of the Number of Years set. I used it for the next card along with the matching dies. So sad to see this set retire. I don't see myself getting rid of them as I do most of my retiring stuff, as they are perfect to use for both graduation and birthday cards.

You may also notice a new set on here. This is the new Pick a Pennant set that I received at OnStage a few weeks ago. To achieve the lighter purple color on the banner, I just stamped off once on scrap paper and then stamped onto the card front. I used the Stamparatus to stamp the "Congrats" on there. I lined up all the letters where I wanted them and then it was just a matter of stamping once for each card front I did. So easy!

The next card is my favorite. I made a shaker card using the Gold Glitter Flakes from the Occasions Catalog.

A few balloons and a "Congratulations" banner and this card was done. Whew! I made 4 of each of these designs for him, and he just informed me he has 1 left and several more open houses to attend next weekend. Guess I know what I'll be doing in the craft room tonight. :o)

So, while I didn't get anything in the mail box today, I did send out quite a few cards over the weekend. I think that counts. :o) How about you? What's in your mail box this week?

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

Garden In Bloom Anniversary Cards

Hello there! This past week I finished up my birthday and anniversary cards for May. For the anniversary cards I wanted to use one of my retiring sets that I just hadn't used very much. I also used the retiring Marina Mist color for my cardstock and flowers. 

This is one of those sets that's not only very pretty, but it's pretty easy to use. It's a 2-Step set, with a hand sketched, watercolor kind of look to it. This means that the stamp that colors in the image doesn't perfectly line up with the outline, which makes stamping pretty easy since you don't have to be precise. 

Since I was making multiples of this card, I used my Stamparatus. Having the removable/flip-able plates made this go pretty quick. I was able to have the outline on one plate, the blue image on another plate, and the green on the back of that one. I did have to rearrange the stamps a couple of times on the plates as I used the flowers and leaves multiple times on each card front. I stamped all the card fronts with the flower in one spot, moved the flowers and then stamped all the card fronts again. I had to do this multiple times, but it was still much easier than making sure all my flowers were lined up each time. 

Not much time left to get this stamp set. I think it's a pretty versatile set as you can even do some more masculine themed cards by using the bumble bee in the set rather than the flowers. How about you? What set do you love that can be used for both feminine and masculine cards?

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

June's Suite Sampler Craft Kit

Hello there!

I am so excited to share with you June's Suite Sampler Craft Kit. For those who don't know, this is a specially curated box of crafting goodies based off of one of Stampin' Up!'s suites. It's a sampling of the suite along with some other goodies added to round out your crafting possibilities.

This month's kit is based on the new Rooted in Nature Suite coming out in 2018/2019 Annual catalog. You guys, this kit is so gorgeous, and so versatile!

It's also perfect for Father's Day, which in the US is celebrated on June 17th this year. I am posting this now so you have plenty of time to let me know that you want the kit. I will place the order for the products June 1st (when the products will come available). I will post them out to you as quickly as I can so that, hopefully, you will have time to make something awesome to give for Father's Day. I already have a couple of projects planned and will post them over the next couple of weeks along with instructions so you can make them to.

So, what's in June's kit?

Isn't this paper gorgeous!?!

All of this, and actually, a little more. There are a couple of things missing from this picture. For $20 ($25 with shipping) you get:
     *1/2 pack Nature's Poem DSP (6 x 12)
     *2 sheets each Blackberry Bliss, Tranquil Tide, Soft Suede, Petal Pink, Calypso Coral cardstock
     *4 sheets Whisper White
     *10 Whisper White envelopes
     *8 Leaves Trinkets (2 each of 4 designs)
     *1 yd Blackberry Bliss Twine
     *1 yd Crumb Cake Twine
     *1 yd Grapefruit Grove Twine
     *1 yd Mint Macaron Twine
     * 1 sheet Watercolor Paper
     *2 Kraft Pillow Boxes (shown in very top photo)
     *6 True Gentlemen Buttons (2 each of 3 designs) (not shown)
     *BONUS: 11 each gold and silver pearls (not shown)

If you were to buy all of these products in their original packaging it would cost over $105! You get a sampling of them for just $20! Plus, you get some project ideas from me so you can put your kit to use right away.

As usual, there are some optional extras that you can add with no additional shipping charges, and they will also get you a few extra goodies from me.

Optional Extras:
     *Pinewood Planks 3D Dynamic Impressions Embossing Folder (not shown)  $10
     *Rooted in Nature Stamp Set $55 wood mount/$42 clear mount
     *Nature's Roots Framelits Dies $39
     *Rooted In Nature Bundle (includes stamp set and Framelits) $84.50 wood mount/$72.75 clear mount

BONUS: If you add on any of Optional Extras, I will add 1 yard of our Burlap Ribbon, and any 2 products will get you an entire package of Corrugated Elements. (The Rooted in Nature Bundle counts as 2 items.)

I'm so excited to share this Suite Sampling with you. I can't wait to post the projects I've made. :-)

RESERVE YOUR KIT

The deadline to reserve your kit is May 31. Remember that you need to email me to reserve your Suite Samplings Craft Kit. I will send you an invoice and payment will be to me in advance of the order being placed and sent out.  

Shipping Notes: If you live local to me and would like to pick up your kit, your total price is $20. If you are not local to me I will send the Suite Samplings Craft kit and any Optional Extras in a Priority Flat Rate padded envelope. Your total price will be $25. 

This is only available in the United States. You need to email me to order. You cannot order this kit through my online Stampin' Up! store as this is a kit that I have specially curated for you. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello there, and Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there. I don't usually blog on Sunday, but, as usual, I am a bit behind on my crafting. I actually spent today and yesterday making Mother's Day cards. I was going to make a couple of Mother's Day cards for my mom, mother-in-law, daughter and daughter-in-law, but then I realized I needed to make a few more.

I realized I know quite a few amazing moms, most of which will be thoroughly enjoying today and getting spoiled by loved ones, but there are a few out there that this might be a pretty tough day for them. Maybe someone whose lost a child, or has a wayward child, maybe she's a widow, or in a nursing home with no one coming to visit. So, I decided to make several more cards and send them out to women I know that may need a little pick-me-up today. (Yes, they will be late, but I'm sure they'll love them just the same.)

I used the new Love What You Do stamp set that is offered right now as a pre-order in some pretty amazing bundles for this card, along with the Large Letters Framelits and the Celebrate You Thinlits. (SOO glad those dies didn't retire after Sale-a-Bration!)

I used all three of the watercolor stamps in the set to achieve the Blushing Bride background by simply stamping them randomly in the corner. The flowers were water colored in with Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry, which I have to admit, is a color I don't use very often. My daughter and I were undecided as to which of those two colors to use for the letters and card base, and eventually settled on the Rich Razzleberry. I thought about using some of the pearls from the bundle, but I really like it just as it is.

I really do like how this came out, and hope it can help cheer up some pretty amazing women in my life.

How about you? Know any amazing women in your life? I challenge you this week to drop them a letter, or better yet, give them a call. I'm sure they'd love to hear from you.

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

Cozy Cottage Home Decor Piece

Hello there! How are you on this fine spring day? Our snow is finally melted, and much to my delight, the tulips are coming up! Spring is so fun here. It seems like every time we go outside there's something new growing. Of course a lot of those are weeds, but we'll overlook that for now. They're green. 

I've been working on this piece for a little while. I had the idea back in February and started working on it then. I got the layout planned, finished the stamping and the water coloring in just a couple of days. Unfortunately, life got in the way after that and it sat unfinished on the corner of my desk for several weeks. It is finally done and currently hanging in my craft studio, but I think it may find a permanent home in our living/dining room pretty soon. 

Considering how many different sets and products I used on this sampler, I was surprised to see that only 4 or them were retiring. I will list below all the sets that I've used along with the paper and other supplies. The Cozy Cottage set is a Hostess set, so it will be retiring along with the Friendship's Sweetest Thoughts stamp set, In the Trees stamp set and the Island Indigo cardstock and inks. Of all the colors retiring, I think I'm going to miss that one the most since it closely matches the color scheme in my living/dining area.

This is in a 12 x 12 frame.  All of the coloring was done by squishing my closed pad so that the lid of the pad touched the pad itself and left an ink puddle there. I then used an Aqua Painter to lift the color from the lid and used it as I would watercolor to paint in the design. If you're interested in the measurements of each of the blocks, let me know in the comments and I will measure them out and edit this post with them. I have listed below the various sets and supplies that I used on it.

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

April Suite Sampler #4-A Pretty Foil Bag

Hello there! The snow is melting and the creek is flowing! I think spring is finally here. Might get to take the outside Christmas decor down this weekend. I even noticed my daylilies are coming up. Yep, spring is here. :o)

I thought I'd share with you another project from the April Suite Samplings Kit. If you're not sure what that is, check out this post. The kit included a couple of the gold Striped Treat Bags. These are flat treat bags, but with a couple of score lines, it's pretty easy to make a gusseted, stand up style bag.

Start by scoring a line 3/4 of an inch in from each side and the bottom.

It's a good idea to then fold the bag along those lines in both directions. Then it's just a matter of opening up the bag and creasing along those folds.

Just pinch along the edges to crease them. The bottom corner will end up making these little triangles. You can use a glue dot or Tear & Tape to adhere them to the bottom of the bag.

Voila! You have a gusseted bag! Once the bag is filled, fold over the top and add your decor. For my bag I cut a 2 x 6 piece of DSP and a 1 1/2 x 5 1/2 piece of vellum. They were both banner punched and then folded about 2 inches down from the top and simply laid over the top of the bag. I didn't even glue the vellum to the DSP. The library clip is holding it all together. Some simple stamping and fussy cutting, along with some sequin trim finishes up the tag. I used the Sweet & Sassy heart dies to cut out my heart, but you could easily fussy cut that out.

What do you think? Are you enjoying these projects? I hope so. I've been perusing through the new catalog and picking out which suites I love the best and what items to put together with them to make up next year's kits. So many super-awesome choices! It's gonna be hard narrowing things down. I do have June's picked out and most of the details figured out. Can't wait to share it with you. Remember, there won't be a kit in May due to most of the DSP retiring. I will announce the June kit as soon as I am able to.

I will be back with at least one more project using the April kit. If I have time, I will show more because I have a LOT of paper and supplies still left from this kit. Just not sure I'm going to have time to make more goodies before April is gone. I would love to know where time flies to. If anyone finds out, could you please let me know? Thanks.

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

Mail A Card Monday--Turquoise Dragonfly

Hello there! Doing my part to make Mondays a little more enjoyable. It's Mail-a-Card Monday again. Here's a look at the cards I mailed out today.

Two of these are from my stash and were made a while ago. Unfortunately, the food truck stamp set has been long retired, but, as you may remember from my last post, I love a good pun, so I've been holding onto this card for a while. Thought it was time to bless someone else with it. It's on its way to my super awesome sister. (Hi, Pam!!) The middle card uses the Flourishing Phrases stamp set that has been in the catalog for a while, but is retiring soon.

The dragonfly card we made at last month's TNT (Tips N Techniques) Class. All of our projects that day focused on embossing--heat embossing, dry embossing, and embossing paste.

On this card we used the embossing paste and colored it with several shades of blue and green. As we smeared the paste over the stencil, the colors blended together. It came out pretty awesome! Thankfully, the Detailed Dragonfly Framelits are not retiring, but the Tempting Turquoise cardstock is. I actually designed this card specifically for one of the ladies who comes to class as it is her favorite color.

Kind of hard to see in the pictures, but there is vellum behind the wings that we colored with blends in various shades of blue and green. Then, of course had to use a spattering of iridescent sequins to mimic real dragonflies.

Another dragonfly stamped in Lemon Lime Twist for the inside. Love how this came out. What do you think? I wasn't real fond of Lemon Lime Twist when is first came out, but it really is such a fun color to use and I love it with the Turquoise. 

It looks like spring is finally coming to Wisconsin. Our creek is flowing and I can see patches of grass here and there. Still have 2 feet of snow on the flower bed, but that'a half of what it was this time last week, so that's good. Hoping it will warm up enough to open some windows soon so we can hear the water. Love that sound. 

Till next time...

God's love and blessings!

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

You Octopi My Thoughts!

Hello there! What do you think of this fun card? My family well knows that I love a good pun. My daughter's and I are constantly sending jokes to each other. Sometimes, when you're having a bad day, a random joke is just the thing to put a smile on your face, and puns like this are so fun. 

So, there's actually quite a lot going on on this card. Lots of texture and movement. I used the "Smoosh" technique to apply Bermuda Bay ink to the watercolor paper background. Once that was dry, I used some Embossing Paste that I colored with Bermuda Bay and added Dazzling Diamond glitter to. I made a stencil to apply the Embossing Paste through by cutting some scrap paper with the Swirly Scribbles wavy thinlit.

The "netting" is a piece of the Copper Trim that I stretched out. Super simple stamping and a splattering of copper sequins from the Metallics Sequin Assortment finishes off the card.

Unfortunately, the Message in a Bottle stamp set is retiring, so be sure to order yours soon if you are like me and you love a good pun.

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

A Cherry Pie Card

Hello there!

I have a fun card to share with you today.

Isn't it cute? To make my pie I used the Basket Weave embossing folder that I got for free during Sale-A-Bration. Didn't get one? Don't worry, it will be available when the new catalog comes out in June. I think it is one of my absolute favorite embossing folders. To get the look, I cut out the largest circle from the Stitched Shapes Framelits and one of the scallop circles from the Layering Circles. Before I put the stitched circle into the embossing folder, I lightly ran my Crumb Cake ink pad over the raised side of the folder. This helped add shading to my lattice without a lot of work. Since my pie was a cherry pie, I used the Real Red marker to fill in the little squares between the lattice. Then it was just a matter of gluing the two circles together and cutting out a pie piece.

My plate was made with 1 inch and 1 3/8 inch circles.

I love how the background paper turned out. We don't have any DSP with this pattern. I just randomly stamped cherries from the Cool Treats stamp set all over some Pool Party paper. Reminds me of a kitchen from the 50's.

I stamped a couple extra cherries and cut them out with the matching dies. You might notice that a couple of them are raised up. I cut one of the mini Dimensionals into fourths. Those were a bit fiddly to work with, but I was able to use the Paper Piercer to grab and put them where I wanted them. After they were adhered to the card, I added some Fine Tip Glue over the cherry part to make them shiny.

For some reason, the Real Red ink under the Fine Tip Glue turned super light, almost white, so once it was totally dry I went over them with the Cherry Cobbler Blends pen. Worked like a charm.

This card reminds me of summer time. My hubby keeps telling me it will be summer in just a couple of months. Since this was the view outside my craft room this weekend, I'm not sure I believe him. :o) Bonus though--no mosquitoes!

Till next time...
Stay warm, enjoy whatever season you are in, and God's love and blessings to you!

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

April Suite Sampler #3.

Hello there! I am back with some more ideas to use the April Suite Sampling Kit. This time I'm going to share 2 cards with you. The first one is a great way to show off both sides of some Designer Series Paper that you love. Sometimes I hate using DSP because I love both sides and I don't want to glue down one side and not be able to see it. This way you get to see both.

To make this card, I cut a piece of DSP 4 x 6. Since the sheets of DSP are cut to 6 x 12, it was simply a matter of cutting off a 4 inch piece. I then tore the paper by hand about 5 inches down. I glued smaller piece to the bottom of the card front and then flipped it over and glued the larger piece on top. By cutting the paper at 6 inches your bottom piece should be large enough for the top to overlap it and not have any gaps for the card base to show through.

The sentiment was stamped onto Whisper White and then punched out with a 1 3/4 inch circle punch and mounted on one of the larger gold circles included in the kit. That was adhered with dimensionals. In the picture below, you can see that I glued some of the mini sequins included in the kit between the flowers on the larger piece of DSP. They co-ordinate well with the gold foil circle.

For the inside I stamped some Whisper White with one of the flowers in the stamp set and some leaves. To get a bit of a watercolored look, I inked up the stamp and then sprayed it lightly with some water before stamping onto the cardstock. Super simple. I did create a mask to go over the flower before I stamped the leaves.

My second card showcases one of the other floral patterns in this kit, but on the envelope flap. The card highlights the various stamps in the set. I love that you can get this multi-colored stamped look super easily. I simply started by stamping the sentiment, and then stamped the various leaves and flowers around it. Most of them are just ink straight from the pad, but the little flower and what I think are berries were inked up with Stampin' Write markers so I could get the various colors. 

I little strip of DSP and some shimmery ribbon complete the card.

To cover the envelope flap, I traced the flap onto the DSP and fussy-cut it out. I glued it on with Tombow Multi Adhesive as I wanted to make sure I got the adhesive all the way to the edge. 

One last thing before I go: this stamp set and the coordinating DSP on the retiring list. So, if you didn't order the April Suite Sampler, but you would like to make these projects, you will want to get an order in for them as soon as possible. 

I will be back later with some other projects using some of my favorite retiring products. Gotta use 'em while I can! 

Till next time...

God's love and blessings!

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

5 Year "Wooden" Anniversary Card

I figured out something kind of fun earlier last week. My hubby and I will be celebrating our 30th anniversary this year, and so is Stampin' Up! My daughter and her hubby just celebrated their 5th anniversary, and so did Paper Pumpkin! How cool is that!?! Just one of those funnies.

Do you remember this picture from this Mail a Card Monday post?

Well, one of those cards actually wasn't finished when I took this photo. Do you see a difference?

I didn't want to stamp the Happy Anniversary on it as I know my daughter reads my blog (Hi, Angel!), and I didn't want her to suspect this was for them. After chatting with my daughter while she told me what she was getting her hubby for their anniversary, I realized it was no coincidence that the free gift in the March kit was a set of wooden embellishments. Wood is the traditional gift for a 5th anniversary. I don't really keep up with those things.

Anyway, the embellishments were the perfect things to use on this card for them. While I used the embellishments from Paper Pumpkin, you could use the Touches of Nature Elements instead. I CASED this card from Mary Fish at Stampinpretty almost exactly. 

I don't have the Wood Textures paper, but I do have the Hardwood stamp, and a retired wood grain embossing folder. I'm loving the Pinewood Planks embossing folder. I think I'm going to have to get that one soon. I used the stamp and embossing folder with various shades of brown to make my different "woods". 

The cute little "Always" heart comes from the Sure Do Love You stamp set, which is also retiring. Thankfully, the Happy Anniversary is from Beautiful Bouquet and that is NOT retiring. Whew! I love that set. The fonts are so pretty. 

The end of my banner was cut with the banner punch--love that thing! The hearts were cut with the Sweet & Sassy Framelits (Yes, these are retiring. Let's just stop and have a moment of silence. So sad.) 

And a little Linen Thread and Burlap Ribbon add just the right amount of texture to the card. 

I totally love how this came out. Often times my anniversary cards come out very feminine, but this one I think is equally balanced. 

Thanks to Stampin' Up! and one of their new DSP's coming out (which is gorgeous, by the way), I realized that the traditional gift for 30th anniversary is pearl. What do you get a guy that's pearly--besides a pearl handled pistol. :o) Hmm. I have till August to figure that out. 

Check out my website to see what else is retiring and what's still left. I still can't believe my favorite butterfly dies are going. Gonna have to plan some projects for this month's classes with them. 

Till next time...

God's love and blessings!

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

Stampin' Up's! 2018 Retiring Colors

Hello there!

I'm sure you've probably heard by now that Stampin' Up! is introducing a color revamp this June when the new Idea Book and Catalog goes live. Not only will there be new colors introduced and old ones returning, but they've also redesigned the ink pads themselves. I got to play with the new ones last weekend while I attended OnStage and I really like the new, streamlined look. For those of us that have been using SU pads for quite a while, it will take a bit to get used to, simply because they open slightly different than our current pads. Everyone at our table kept trying to push the pads forward to open them. The new ones are actually easier to open, just different, and different takes some getting used to. :o)

I will write another post on the new colors and pads a little later, but for now I wanted to share with you the colors that we will have to say "good by" to. I know, it hurts my heart too to see some of these go. We've been good friends for quite some time (yes, Chocolate Chip, I'm talking to you). There has been some confusion when looking at the retiring list that is on the website. It lists ALL the colors. That's simply because all the colors are retiring in the old pad style. Most of the colors will stay, they will just be in the new pads. The colors listed below are the ones that are actually retiring, as in not coming back. :o( We will also be losing our Archival Black and Basic Gray, but both colors will still be available, just in different forms; the black in the form of Staz-On and Memento, and the gray as one of our Classic Stampin' Pads.

Always Artichoke

Chocolate Chip

Dapper Denim

Elegant Eggplant

Emerald Envy

Island Indigo

Marina Mist

Peekaboo Peach

Perfect Plum

Pink Pirouette

Rose Red

Soft Sky

Sweet Sugarplum

Tangerine Tango

Tempting Turquoise

Wild Wasabi

Wisteria Wonder

(The names above will take you to my store and show you what's available in that color.)

Why am I sharing this with you? Because I know some of you love these colors just as much as I do. If you have the ink pads for any of these, I highly recommend you pick up some re-inkers so your pads will last you as long as possible. You may also want to stock up on cardstock and/or ribbons in your favorite colors.

One other confusion on the retiring list. All of the bundles are retiring, but not all of the stamps/dies. Many of the stamp sets and dies in those bundles are staying, but they will not be available as a bundle which means you would miss out on the discount. Does that make sense? My suggestion is, if you see something on the list that you love, order it quick! Everything on there is "while supplies last", so don't delay.

Well, I spent the afternoon putting together a bit of a different area for taking photos, and got pictures of several projects I want to share with you, including some more ideas for April's Suite Sampler. I'm waiting on the order for that now and will get those divided up and out to everyone early next week, I hope. It looks like we may get a snow day from church tomorrow, so I may have a little extra time to get some posts ready for next week. :o) (Yes, it is the middle of April and we are still looking at up to 3 feet of snow in some areas of my yard (namely my flower bed) and they say we're supposed to get several more inches tonight. I might get to take my outdoor Christmas decor down before the 4th of July, but I'm not counting on it!)

Anyway, just for fun, please comment below with which of the retiring colors you will miss the most. I would love to hear from you! Mine will definitely be Chocolate Chip, with Island Indigo a very close second.

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!!

March Customer Thank You Gifts

Hello there! I am writing this a bit early, because, when this goes live, I will be on my way to Milwaukee for Stampin' Up!'s Onstage Local. I am so super excited!! This is an event for demonstrators to learn new techniques, swap ideas, receive recognition for special achievements, but most of all, we will get to see the new catalog and new goodies!! Ack! The hardest part is that we have to censor what we can show and tell for the next 2 months till it goes live. The good part is that, as a demonstrator, there will be items we can order early so we can play with them and come up with lots of fun projects to share with you. You're welcome.

This is also a reminder that the retiring list will be posting pretty soon (like in a couple days) and many of the items will be "while supplies last", and they won't last long. I don't know what the list is, but I am pretty sure the 2016-2018 In-Colors and the majority, if not all, of the Designer Series Papers will retire. If you are interested in any of these items, I suggest you get an order in quick or you may miss out.

Now, on to the project I have to share with you. First off, I want to say, I have the most awesome customers. I am so grateful that they choose to purchase some of their crafting goodies through me, and I like to send them a little "Thank You" at the end of the month. It isn't much, but I do so appreciate their business, and I hope that they know it.

I usually send a card along with a gift of some kind. Sometimes it's a hand made item, sometimes it's a prettily packaged chocolate treat. If they have chosen to use that month's hostess code, I also send out some free merchandise as well, since I use the hostess credit from that "workshop" to buy little goodies for them. It might be some ribbon, or sparkly gems and such.

This month, the Thank You card included the gift on it.

Can you find the gift?

They are magnetic bookmarks! The colored rectangle on the card front was only adhered on the sides and bottom, making a pocket for me to slide the bookmark into. I sized the Thank You embellishment so that it would hide beneath the bookmark. I did this on purpose as I generally do not sign the cards that I send out. This way they can reuse the card and send it along to someone else if they would like. I wanted the card to look nice without the bookmark in case they wanted to keep the bookmark but pass the card along. The pocket is done in such a way that it could be left as is, no one would really notice it is open at the top, or it could be used to tuck a gift card, or even a tea bag into it.

I did use some of my Sale-a-Bration stash for these cards, but the idea is easy enough to replicate with just about any stamp set or paper that we have. Wouldn't this be darling with our Pretty Kitty, or Bella and Friends stamps? Ooh, more ideas!

I need to head out the door and pick up my daughter from orchestra practice.

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

April Suite Samplings #2-A "Locking" Card

Hello there! I'm back with the first of several cards using the April Suite Sampling.

This pack of DSP has quite a variety of colors and patterns. I think the multi-colored florals are my favorite, but for this design I wanted something a bit simpler so the heart wouldn't get lost. The front is a simple layering of Basic Black Cardstock and the pink floral DSP, each 1/4 inch smaller than the layer behind. I tied a bit of the Black Shimmer Ribbon around the two layers before adhering them to the Powder Pink card base. The shimmer in this ribbon is very subtle, but, oh so pretty.

The fun part is the little heart. I used the Sweet & Sassy hearts dies to cut the stamped image, and 2 Basic Black hearts. If you don't have the dies, you could use the gold hearts that I include in the kit as a template and trace around them and fussy cut. The black hearts are folded in half and then glued to the back of the stamped heart so that they form an X.

I used the retired Word Window punch to punch out a slot in the card front, but you could use the Classic Label punch for it as well. Slide the heart into the slot so that the stamped image is in the front and the other half of the black "X" is inside. Apply adhesive and stick the heart to the inside of the card. Now the heart acts as a lock to keep the card closed, but when you open the card, the heart is on the inside. Does that make sense? If not, leave me a comment and I'll see if I can put together a better tutorial on it. 

What a fun card. I do like interactive cards and this one has a sweet message. :o) Only a couple more days to get your reservation in for the April Suite Sampling Kit. Don't miss out. I do have several more projects to share with you over the month, so as you get your kit, you will have lots of ideas of things to make with it.

Email me to reserve your kit.

Be sure to check out this post for all the information on the kit, and this one for another fun idea. Deadline to reserve your kit is April 6th!

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!!

Mail a Card Monday-A Little Wild Card

Hello there, and Happy April to you!! I would love to say Happy Spring, but here in Wisconsin, spring is slow to wake up. I'm sure it will be glorious when it does, but in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the excuse to stay inside and craft. :o)

I did put on my snow boots and hiked out to our mailbox (we have a long driveway) so that I could get a few cards out today. Glad it was today and not tomorrow--we're expecting another 6+ inches of white fluffy stuff tonight. Anyway, here's a quick shot of the cards I mailed out today. I'm not going to say a lot about them as the recipients may read my blog and I don't want to spoil any surprises.

Two of the cards are from my stash, but one was made special last night. I will post more on it later. Here's a card I mailed out a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure it has arrived, so I can talk about it now.

Isn't he just adorable? I CASED this card almost exactly. Nikki even has a little tutorial on the bottom for the sky. LOVE how it came out. I used a couple of sets for this: A Little Wild, Butterfly Basics, and Sitting Here. I think I may have to make a whole set of these as I have so many long distance friends I could send it to, and it was actually quite quick and simple to make.

I will be back with another project for April's Suite Samplings Kit. Remember, this Friday (April 6th) is the deadline to reserve your kit. I've been having so much fun making projects with it. I have 5 so far and I haven't really made a dent in it. Check out this post for all the details and this one for the first project I posted.

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!!

April Suite Sampling Project #1

Hello there! I'm back with the first project using the April Suite Sampling. I wanted to start with this project because even if you don't have the kit, this would be a super quick, easy project you could do for table favors for Resurrection Sunday. I know that's just 2 days away, but these are seriously, super easy and you could use whatever paper you happen to have on hand.

Bonus, this bag uses exactly one half sheet of cardstock (8 1/2 x 5 1/2), so you can get 2 bags from one sheet with minimal waste.

On the long side, score at 3 3/4 and 4 3/4
On the short side, score at 1 1/4 and 4 1/4

Cut along the long score lines, stopping at the short score lines. Then chop off an inch or so from the flaps you just made.

If you want to emboss your bag, this is the time to do it. Most embossing folders won't be large enough to do the whole bag in one shot, so this is a way around that. First, line the embossing folder up in this corner.

Then flip it around and line it up in this corner.

The bottom of the bag will be double embossed, but that's OK.

Then simply fold on the score lines and glue the flaps together.

You can opt to glue the front and back flaps to the inside ones if you want, or just leave them loose. I glued mine.

I filled mine with a little of our Ready Shreddie and some Robin Eggs. I think this would also be the good size for some Girhardelli Squares which would be the perfect treat to keep on hand for those times when a friend needs a little pick-me-up.

To finish off the bag, I added a strip of Designer Series Paper and I used our Fine Tip Glue Pen to adhere a strip of the Black Mini Sequin Trip to the bottom of it. I inked the flower stamp with Stampin' Write Markers and punched it and the black cardstock out with simple circles. I stamped the sentiment and then cut the words out with Paper Snips. Then, I simply closed the bag with a gold Library Clip.

I hope you like my little project. Remember, you can get all the supplies for this project and LOTS more in the April Suite Samplings Kit. See this post for more details.

Hostess Code Bonus: Please use this month's Hostess Code when you place an order. It will allow me to pick up some goodies to share with you when I send out your Thank You gift at the end of the month. (If you check the "Do No Contact" button when you order, I cannot legally contact you in any way, which means I cannot send you a Thank You gift or any extra goodies. :o(  )