'twas the night before Christmas...

Well, it feels like it for me anyway! The new Idea Book and Catalog goes live tomorrow at 1pm Central time. I can't wait!!! I am really excited to have all of my stamping friends over tomorrow evening to celebrate with me at my "Garden Party."

I thought I would throw in a quick post tonight of a project from a recent workshop. This big tag would be great to tie on the handles of a gift bag. Enjoy!

9 year anniversary

Nine years ago today, my husband married his better half ;)
All joking aside, I am so blessed to have such a wonderful partner and best friend. Here's the anniversary card I made for him today...

I used Very Vanilla, Night of Navy, and Rose Red card stock. The two stamp sets used for this card are Grateful Greetings and Punch Potpourri. I spritzed the Night of Navy card stock with my shimmer mixture: just fill a travel sized spray bottle about half-way with rubbing alcohol, add a few drops of Shimmer Paint (I used Champagne Mist on this card), and mix. I like to spritz a light layer, let it dry a second, and add another layer. Sooooo pretty!!

Card Template 1

I am really looking forward to my technique class on Tuesday! I will be sharing 5 card templates, and then everyone gets to make a card for each template. Plus, they get to keep a copy of the card templates for inspiration, so they can create more cards at home. *Smile!

Here's the the first template I created:

And here's the card we will be making:

Supplies: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, and Whisper White card stock; Sunny Garden DSP; Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon; A Flower for All Seasons and Happy Greetings stamp sets; Blender Pen; Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, and Peach Parfait ink; 2-3/8" Scallop Circle punch; 1-3/4" Circle punch; 1/16" Circle handheld punch.

Simple Gift Tag

I love that I can use the goodies in my stamp room to make cards and gifts. Recently I gave some of my hubby's homemade wine (yum!) as a gift. I grabbed my stamps and ribbon and whipped up a cute little tag.

Supplies: Just Believe stamp set, 1-1/4" Pumpkin Pie striped grosgrain ribbon, 2-1/2" Circle punch, circle punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch pack

Happy Father's Day!!

I got to spend some stamping time with my boys {Ben- 7yrs, Aaron- almost 4} this morning :)
We stamped Father's Day cards for my wonderful husband. He's such a great father! Our boys will have great memories to share with their children one day. I'll let you figure out on your own who made each card ;)

The colors retired long ago. We used two stamp sets to make our cards this morning: Bugs & Kisses (116580) and All Holidays (114916). Both of these stamp sets are on the "Last Chance" List, so they are only available until June 30th. Get them before they're gone!

Happiness Always cards

Every month a pretty magazine arrives in my mailbox from Stampin' Up! This demos-only publication is FULL of great ideas and projects. I fell in love with a card in the May issue, and had to make it right away. It uses some of my favorite products: the Top Note Die, Tangerine Tango and Wild Wasabi embossing powder, and the Aqua Painter®. I LOVE using the Aqua Painter® to watercolor stamped images!! Just be sure you either heat emboss your stamped image, or use a permanent solvent ink such as StazOn® before you start to watercolor.

I have been having so much fun using the Flower Fest stamp set from page 20 of the Summer Mini. For these cards, I stamped the largest flower in VersaMark® ink onto Confetti White card stock, and heat embossed with Tangerine Tango embossing powder (123106).  The leaf image is also stamped in VersaMark® ink onto Confetti White card stock, and then heat embossed using Wild Wasabi embossing powder (123224).  I used my Aqua Painter® with Wild Wasabi ink to lightly brush a little color onto the leaves. For the flower, I used my Aqua Painter® with So Saffron and Tangerine Tango ink to dab color randomly onto the petals. The flower and leaf images are adhered together, and then attached to the card with Dimensionals. A medium Basic Pearl fits perfectly into the flower center.
The card on the right is my version of the sample in the May Stampin' Success magazine. I cut about three-quarters of the Top Note shape from Greenhouse Gala DSP. Then I rolled the straight edge around a skewer, and adhered the roll down with a bit of Multipurpose Liquid Glue (110755). White Baker's Twine (124262) is wrapped around the Top Note shape before adhering it to the card front. The sentiment comes from Happy Greetings (Summer Mini p26), which is a great set with six sentiments :)
The card on the left is the Make & Take from a workshop I did on Monday. I really like the simple ribbon treatment; it's super easy for those of you who are still working on getting your ribbon to tie the perfect knot. The Daffodil Delight 5/8" grosgrain ribbon is simply folded around the Top Note die cut and tied at the top with a bit of white Baker's Twine. Easy peasy... no knot to fuss over. All colors of the 5/8" grosgrain ribbon are retiring, so be sure to get yours before they are gone!

**Mom note: My boys have their own set of Aqua Painter® brushes (103954). If your children like to paint with watercolor paints or use "paint-with-water" books, you must get a set for the kiddos. The water stays in the handle, so there's no cup of dirty water to spill. After my youngest tried a sip (yuck!!) of the paint water one day, I thought I would have to ban painting. I'm soooooo happy I decided to get them their own set of Aqua Painter® brushes!!

Summer Scrappin'

I wanted to share this cute scrapbook layout... perfect for summer! This is the project I had ready for my Scrapbook Club members on our crop night. I used the Summer Splash stamp set from page 17 of the Summer Mini Catalog. The colors are Daffodil Delight, Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake, Tangerine Tango, Peach Parfait, and Whisper White.

The surf board image is stamped in VersaMark® ink, and heat embossed with Tangerine Tango embossing powder (123106) - LOVE this stuff!! I inked the bucket-and-pail image with markers.
To create the "sand," I tore an edge along the long side of a strip of Crumb Cake card stock. Then I sponged Crumb Cake ink along the torn edge. Next I spritzed the strips with the Color Spritzer Tool and a Crumb Cake marker. The last step was to add a fine mist of Gold Glow Smooch Spritz® (118770). Be sure to completely cover your work area before spritzing :)
Other supplies: 1-3/4" and 1-3/8" Circle punches; 2-3/8" and 1-3/4" Scallop Circle punches; Simple Letters Alphabet Bigz Dies (115960) and the Big Shot.
If you are looking for a local group to stamp with, I have a new hostess club starting in July. Contact me to learn more :)

time to play "catch-up"

I can't believe how long it's been since I could steal a minute to post! It's been crazy busy around here, so now I have a little catching up to do. Last week was my oldest son's last week of school. His wonderful teacher retired at the end of the school year :( along with three other teachers in the school. Of course I volunteered to make the retirement cards! The colors I used are super-retired (as in, they probably have their own condos down in Florida by now), but they layout is great, and there's a really cool technique I wanted to share.

This square card measures 5"x5". (If you can't live without knowing which retired colors I used, they are Marigold Morning, Vintage Violet, and Baroque Burgundy.) I stamped the lovely message in Vintage Violet onto Whisper White card stock that I cut on the BigShot with the 3" Circle Die. I stamped again in Marigold Morning and used my Paper Snips to cut out the arrow image. After adhering the arrow image, I sponged the edges in both Marigold Morning and Vintage Violet. The 3-1/2" Circle Die makes a perfect layer behind the focal point. I used the Beautiful Wings Embosslit (118138) to make those fabulous butterflies, on which I sponged a little color around the edges.

Here's the cool technique I wanted to share with you. See that single "row" of dry embossing on the Vintage Violet card stock? Before spritzing the card stock with my Shimmer Paint mixture, I used the Finial Press Embossing Folder (115963) and my BigShot to add this subtle detail. Here's how I did it:

I actually bought two of these Embossing Folders. I used my second folder to dry emboss a layer of card stock. Then I drew out my cutting plan with a pencil onto the card stock. When I was satisfied, I used my Craft & Rubber Scissors (103179) to cut the plastic folder into strips. Just be sure to open the folder before you start cutting so you only cut one layer of plastic at a time.

Place your platform on your BigShot, using "no tabs." Build the layers as you normally would with an embossing folder - Standard Cutting Pad on the platform, cut embossing folder strip with card stock inside, another Standard Cutting Pad on top. Roll it through and you get a nice little detail to use on your project.

I hope you get a chance to try this technique on your own. It works really well when you want a subtle detail on a larger piece of card stock, but you don't want to add another layer.
After finishing these cards up, I had to pack all of my fun tools and toys for a weekend alumni event at a local college. I ran the cropping room and taught a class, where I got to introduce stamping to several people. It was an exhausting weekend, but so much fun!

In Color fun

I really like how the new "In Colors" look together! Scraps of each color were out on my desk this morning, which made me want to create a card to show them off. And that just made me happy :)

Supplies: Delicate Doilies and Heard from the Heart stamp sets; Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, & Wisteria Wonder card stock; Calypso Coral, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, & Wisteria Wonder ink; Basic Rhinestones, Doily Triple Layer Punch.

New Stamps! (Spoiler Alert)

I am in LOVE, LOVE, LOVE with the new Idea Book & Catalog!! It is sooooo stinkin' pretty, and filled with many, many goodies.  I can't wait to share it with everyone at my Cattie Party on July 1st  :)
One of my favorite reasons for becoming a demonstrator is getting to order from the Sneak Peek in June. I got to stamp a little today with one of my new stamp sets- My Friend.

Supplies: My Friend stamp set and Woodgrain background stamp; Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Calypso Coral, and (a tiny bit) Lucky Limeade card stock; First Edition DSP; Crumb Cake, Soft Suede (for sponging edges), Lucky Limeade, and VersaMark ink; clear embossing powder, Heat Tool, Crumb Cake marker, Color Spritzer Tool, a punch from Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack; Owl Punch (for the teeny tiny circles in the flower centers).

Ribbon Fibers

Looking for a fun new way to use your ribbon? You can create your own fibers using the 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon. This ribbon is available in Blushing Bride, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, Concord Crush, and Pear Pizzazz. To create the fibers, start by cutting your ribbon to the desired length; make sure you have enough length to tie the knot. Using your Craft & Paper Scissors (108360), cut one edge of the white stitching off. Hold the uncut edge in one hand, and use your free hand to pull the colored "threads" out of the weaving. Let the small pieces that were on the cut edge fall away. You will be left with the colored fibers, which you can tie onto your project. Easy and fun!

 Supplies: Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango, and Whisper White card stock; 1/2" Peach Parfait Stitched-Poly  Ribbon; Peach Parfait DSP from the Hostess Pack; Bold Blossom stamp set; Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango, and Pear Pizzazz ink.

time to say "goodbye"

The lists of retiring stamp sets, accessories, and Home Decor items are now posted. Retiring stamp sets are available until June 30, 2011. Retiring accessories and Home Decor products are only available while supplies last. Get your favorites today!

Anyone who places on Online Order through my Stampin' Up! website by June 10, 2011 will be mailed (from me) a surprise card kit. Your kit will contain a hand-stamped card and supplies for you to make 5 more!