Blackberry Petite Petals

Hi there!  Today's card was CASE'd from Heather Van Looy (you can see her card here) who CASE'd Sam Donald's card seen here.  Love the color combination.  Thank you ladies for the inspiration for such a lovely card!

All Stampin' Up! supplies used unless otherwise noted.
Stamps:  Petite Petals, Gorgeous Grunge
Paper:  Blackberry Bliss, Basic Gray, White
Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Basic Gray, Smoky Slate
Other: Petite Petal punch, flower from Itty Bitty Accessory Pack, Linen Thread, Pearls, sponges, Dimensionals

Before I sign off, the Weekly Deals can be found by clicking here.  Please contact me if there is anything you'd like to order! 

Thank you for stopping in today!

Putting on the Spritz - Postage Due

Hi there!  This will be a quick post today - nursing a migraine.  Sorry, don't mean to be complaining.  Now on to the card.

The inspiration and technique for today's card came from Connie Stewart in her "Girls Gone Wild Wednesday" blog series seen here (scroll down to her May 29th post).  Connie referred to Margaret Rabum as being responsible for her inspiration.  Inking up a clear block with a stamp pad was not new to me.  I just never thought about using three different colors!  Duh!  The collage image of the Postage Due stamp lends itself perfectly to this technique.  I don't know the name of the technique so I'll call it clear block spritzing.  It is so easy!  All you do is add some ink to your clear block directly from the ink pad going from lightest to darkest color.  Don't worry about the lines or overlapping.  That's where the water spritzer comes in!  Spritz the clear block with a little water before stamping onto your light colored cardstock.   Those harsh lines disappear!  When the cardstock is dry (a heat tool could also be used to speed up the drying process), stamp your image.  How fun!  Give it a try and let me know how it turns out for you.

Must run for now!  Thank you for stopping in today!

All Stampin' Up! supplies used unless otherwise noted
Stamps:  Postage Due
Paper: So Saffron, White, Wisteria Wonder
Ink: So Saffron, Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder
Other: spritzer bottle, clear block, pearls

Elegant Eleanor

Hi there and happy Wednesday!  Gosh, I can't believe the week is almost over already!  Where did the time go?  Seems to be the way of life these days.  Hope you're having a good week.

Mary Hoganmiller had this card on her Apr 5th blog post, which I chose to CASE (Copy And Share Everything).  I used a different embossing folder, changed the ribbon treatment a bit, and chose not to put a sentiment on the front.  Guess those small changes make it my own!  lol

All Stampin' Up! supplies used unless otherwise noted  

Stamps: Everything Eleanor 

Paper: Certainly Celery, White 

Ink: Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette 

Tools:  Elegant Lines EF (retiring May 31, 2013), scissors 

Other:  3/8” Certainly Celery taffeta ribbon, 1-1/4” two-tone Pink Pirouette ribbon (both retire May 31), pearls – large & medium 

Inspiration: Mary Hoganmiller    http://www.stampinmary.com   posted April 2013

Must sign off for now get some tasks crossed off the to-do list before heading out to Carla's Card Buffet later.  Thanks for coming by today! 

Feeling Sentimental and French

Hi there!  The Stampin' Up! Feeling Sentimental stamp set was a freebie during SAB (Sale-a-bration).  I didn't have a chance to use it until this past weekend.  The French Foliage stamp set and First Edition Designer Series Paper used will be retiring May 31, 2013.  (Get them while you can!)   Sandy Mathis was the inspiration for this card.  You can view her card here.

All Stampin' Up! supplies used unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Feeling Sentimental, French Foliage
Paper: Crumb Cake, Black, Vanilla, First Edition DSP
Ink: Crumb Cake, Black
Other: flower punch from Itty Bitty punch pack, pearls

It's a busy week - making final preparations for our Card Buffet on Saturday.  So I must get back to it.  Thank you for visiting today!  Do come back.

So Sorry Swallowtail

CASE'd from  LeeAnn Greff     

Hi there!  Gosh, I didn't realize that it's been two weeks since my last post.  Yikes!  I returned home from the Girls' Getaway retreat Sunday evening (Apr 21st), spent time perusing the new Stampin' Up! catalog (available on-line to Demonstrators only.  Love it!) and deciding what to pre-order, attended a fellow Demo's Card Buffet Friday night, then attended a Crop for the Cure crop all day Saturday.  Yesterday was spent recuperating from all those late nights!  It's a tough job but somebody has to do it!  lol

There was some stamping going on during my blogging absence.  I was playing around with some techniques and CASE'd (Copy And Share Everything) some projects.  The above CASE'd card seen here - scroll down to April 19 post, was sent to a fellow Demonstrator who lost a family member.  I've never met the lady but wanted my "stampin' sister" to know she is in my thoughts during this difficult time. 

All Stampin' Up! supplies used unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Swallowtail Butterfly, So Sorry, Papillon Potpourri, Summer Silhouettes
Paper: Soft Suede, Pool Party
Ink: Versamark, Soft Suede
Other: Elegant Butterfly punch, 3/8" Pool Party ruffled ribbon, pearls, clear embossing powder

Enjoy this beautiful day and thank you for stopping in to visit!

Elements of Style

Hi there!  Today's card is one that was sent to my friend in the hospital to let her know she's in my thoughts.  The Elements of Style flower image was stamped on watercolor paper with black StazOn ink.  Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, and Old Olive ink was applied to the image with a blender pen.  The embellishment was made from the Decorative Label punch, oval punches, plus a sentiment from the Layered Labels set.  A 1/8" hole punch was used on the scallop oval piece along with a scrap of crochet trim tucked behind the Decorative Label to dress it up a bit.

Stampin' Up! supplies used unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Elements of Style, Layered Labels, French Foliage (text on Designer Label)
Paper: Old Olive, Night of Navy, Vanilla, watercolor
Ink: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Old Olive, Black StazOn
Other: Decorative Label punch, Large & Scallop oval punches, Victoria crochet trim, pearls, blender pen, hole punch

Must run along for now.  Thank you for coming by today! 

Easter Cross

Hi there!  Thought I'd share another Easter card we made at one of the Wednesday stamp club meetings.  I just love this technique of cutting the Lattice Die shape to create the cross.  Pretty cool, huh?  I'm constantly amazed by people's creativity.   This card can be adapted for other occasions such as a wedding, baptism, or sympathy just by changing colors.  Pearls, flowers, and/or ribbon dress it up.  I chose to keep mine plain for the recipient.  The cross was adhered to the White cardstock before running through the Big Shot in the Square Lattice emobssing folder.  It gave the card a nice texture - much better looking in real life.  The focal piece is matted on Concord Crush, which works well with the Wisteria Wonder.

Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Concord Crush, Whisper White
Other: Lattice Die, Square Lattice embossing folder, Pearl

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter.  I'll be spending time with family tomorrow.  Love it!  Need to sign off so I can prepare my food and begin packing for the Girls Getaway retreat next week.  Thanks for stopping in today!

Pacific Vintage

Hi there!  Hope your week is going well.  Mine has turned out to be very busy.  So with that said, I'll get on with today's card so I can go to bed.  This card came about as an accident.  The Pacific Point oval was cut out to use as a mat for a different project, when it occurred to me to use the "scrap" as the focal piece of the card shown below.  The image from Fresh Vintage (love this set - hope it makes it to the new annual catalog) peeks out from the oval cut-out.  A scallop border (from the Adorning Accents Edgelits Die collection) and butterflies helped "fancy" it up a bit.

Stamps: Fresh Vintage
Paper: Pacific Point, White, Vellum
Ink: Pacific Point
Other: Beautiful Wings embosslit, Edgelits Die, Pearls

Must get to bed.  Tomorrow is another full day.  I'll be checking in on a friend recuperating from surgery and picking up the granddaughter for an overnight visit.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Fresh Vintage Thank You

Hi there!  Hope you're enjoying the Spring weather we're having!  It's so nice but the downside is that the pollen is terrible.  All the cars in the neighborhood have a yellow cast to them.  lol.
Today I have two cards made with the Fresh Vintage Sale-a-bration set.  There are only 5 days left to get this FREE set with a $50 order (before tax & s/h).  So if you'd like to have this versatile set, contact me and I'd be happy to place an order for you.  (Please see right side bar for contact information.)

The postage stamp image was stamped on Crumb Cake card stock, then punched out with the Postage Stamp Punch, and mounted on a 1-1/2" Black square.  Arrange the three squares on a 4" x 5-1/4" piece of Crumb Cake and then to a Black card base.  Add sentiment of your choice - I used one from Sincere Salutations.  Add a pearl to the center of the flowers and you're done!  It's an easy and striking card.

This next version is the same except that I colored the pearls with a black Sharpie (who knew you could do that?) and added three pearls to the corner.  Not sure which version I like best.  How about you?

Need to scoot - dropping off our documents to the tax man.  Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Best Dad Ever

Hi there!
September is full of birthdays.  I needed a couple of masculine cards to send out.  This one was made at Pam D'Urso's Demo Stamp Camp a few months ago.  I saved it just for this occasion.  It is made from the Best Dad Ever set, which can be found in the current IBC (Idea Book & Catalog).

The ties were heat embossed with Black embossing powder.  The focal image was adhered to First Edition DSP, which was distressed a bit then glued to a Black mat.  The card base is Very Vanilla.  Doesn't that pearl on the single tie add just the right touch?

On my way to meet some friends for lunch.  Thanks for coming by today!

Manhattan Flower Wedding

Hi there!  Hope you're having a great day.  My day started with a migraine but it's better now thanks to medication.  Turning the a/c back on helped some, too.  Tomorrow our temps will be back down in the 70's for a high.  Crazy St Louis weather!
I want to share with you a technique I saw on the TOPICS (Demo only) blog.  It seems most of the members of the TOPICS reside in TX - with Penny Thomas being the "ring leader".  lol  Penny is Pam D'Urso's sister and up-line.  Pam happens to be my up-line.  They are both wonderful people and I am fortunate to have them as friends!  So.... here is the card showing this cool technique using the Manhattan Flower embossing folder as a wedding dress - or a party dress!  This was Jan Spencer's "Project Share" presentation at the TOPICS July meeting.  What a clever idea.  Thank you for sharing, Jan!

When you look at the embossing folder, it is the bottom flower.  You'll have to trim away the top petal to form the bodice.

Stamps: Word Play
Paper:  White, Black, Night & Day DSP (retired - but available in Clearance Rack)
Ink: Black
Other: Manhattan Flower embossing folder, Wide oval punch, rhinestones, pearls, 1/4" black satin ribbon (non-SU!)

Vintage Quilt

Happy Monday to you!  Can you believe it's now August?  Yikes!  Help - slow this train down! 
Saturday's Stamp Camp was such a fun time.  Thank you to those who attended and welcome to the newcomers!
Well I promised to show you the other card we made on Wed so without further ado....here it is.

The squares are 1-1/4".  It helps to adhere the corners on the 4" x 5-1/3" Very Vanilla panel first then space the remaining squares to your satisfaction.  Place panel in embossing folder and run through the Big Shot to achieve the imbedded look before attaching to the Rose Red card base.  Love this technique.  If you have any questions, please email me.

All SU! supplies used unless otherwise noted.

Stamps: Four Frames (W-123440, C-123442), Oval All (113790)  

Paper: Rose Red, Very Vanilla, Springtime Vintage DSP (retired), Pear Pizzazz

Ink: Pear Pizzazz

Tools: Scallop Oval punch, 1-3/4” x 7/8” Oval (large oval) punch, Decorative Label punch, Big Shot

Other:  Square Lattice embossing Folder, Victoria 5/8” crochet trim, pearls, dimensionals

Inspiration:  Maria Sanchez (www.mayicards.blogspot.com) and Pam D’Urso (www.sweetpeabunny.blogspot.com)

Next week is the quarterly Girls Getaway retreat.  I'll be busy this week getting ready for that.  Hope everyone has a great day and thank you for peeking in today!

May Buddy Swap

I am late posting this but wanted to share a cute card with you.  I participate in a monthly Buddy Swap among local area Demonstators.  We're always looking for new ideas, right?  Swapping one or two cards a month is also very do-able!  The card shown below came from my friend, Deana Schultz.

Supplies used (that I see):
Hello Blossoms stamp, Itty Bitty punch pack, Scallop border punch, Square Lattice embossing folder, Old Olive satin ribbon, pearls

Life at Camp Sumner

Hi there!  Hope you all haven't given up on me.  It's been busy around Camp Sumner to say the least.  Had the granddaughter overnight on Thu, dropped her off at daycare Fri morning then went to a 13 hr crop.   Saturday I helped my daughter clean her above ground pool that came with the house she recently purchased.  Boy we could have used a refreshing dip to cool off.  I learned later that we had a record temperature of 98 degrees.  No wonder I was so HOT!  That evening I attended a graduation party.  Sunday I cleaned MY house, which desperately needed it!  Tonight is our monthly Demo dinner meeting.  The challenge this month is a mini clipboard.  It will be interesting to see what everyone comes up with.  I decided to make a checklist to keep track of card stock, ink pads, and re-inkers I need to order.  Springtime Vintage DSP was used to cover the clipboard.  (Need to use up the retired stuff ya know.  I'm such a DSP hoarder!)  The checklist is computer generated (printed on Very Vanilla card stock) and adhered to an Old Olive mat.  There is a transparency overlay to write on that slips under the clip part. The magnetic flower embellishment is made from the Scallop circle punch, the new 3-step Doily punch, and one of the flowers from the retired Spring Flower Bouquet punch (sorry!).  A pearl was the finishing touch.   I tied a piece of gold embroidery floss to the dry erase pen and to the clipboard. The bottom of the pen is wrapped in Very Vanilla 5/8" Satin ribbon to hide the logo.  Here is a picture of my finished project.

OK, I'm off to meet the girls (and Don).  I'll post their projects later.  Thanks for stopping in today!

May Demo Stamp Camp Samples

Hi everyone!  Hope you had an awesome weekend.  Mine was pretty busy.  Spent Friday at a crop from 10 am until 11 pm.  Our granddaughter spent the night and was asleep when I got home.  Grandpa enjoyed his quality time with her while I was cropping.  Saturday Granddaughter and I played until her parents came to pick her up.  I then went to have my car door window repaired.  It is a mystery as to how it shattered.  Poor car was minding it's own business just sitting in the driveway!  Sunday I ran a couple of errands before our Demo Stamp Camp at Pam's.  The projects were great, the food was great,  but most of all the company was great!  I love hanging out with these ladies!  Wanna see what we did?  Here are three of the masculine cards we made.  Pam always has awesome projects!

Best Dad Ever set from 2011 Summer mini & First Edition DSP (carryover item from Occasions mini)  The ties were heat embossed.  Doesn't that pearl just set off the tie?  Too cute!

Travel Log stamp set from 2011 Summer mini (notice the Trinket Key - another carryover item)

Engraved Greetings set (IBC -  big catalog) & First Edition DSP

Must sign off for now.  Hope you have a great day.  Thanks for stopping by!

Another Easter Card

Hi there!  Here is an Easter card that was mostly a CASE (Copy And Share Everything) from Teneale Williams.   You can see her card here - posted Mar 11 
I only made a few minor changes.  The first being the Pear Pizzazz piece under the focal image.  I didn't have any DSP with me so I embossed the Pear Pizzazz card stock on my ScorBuddy to simulate striped paper.  I was pleased with the results.  The Pearls were left off of the Baja Breeze panel, the eggs are in a different color order, and I used Baja Breeze ink to stamp the sentiment.  She made such a beautiful card so why change it!  Thanks Teneale for the inspiration.

Recipe
Stamps:  Easter Blossoms, Teeny Tiny Wishes (such a versatile set!)
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz
Ink:  Regal Rose, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Versamark
Other:  Scallop border punch, Pearls, Very Vanilla satin ribbon, ScorBuddy

Tonight we Demos are meeting at Patty's house to work on our swaps for Saturday's Celebrate Summer Demo event.  (Looking forward to that!  It's like going to a mini convention.)  There are rumors that at tonight's meeting Don, the smoothie aficionado aka Patty's husband, just might be manning the "smoothie bar".  Hmmm, an evening with friends to stamp and slurp (er, I mean sip) some smoothies.  It's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it!  We have a good time - smoothies or no smoothies!  If you have ever thought about becoming a Demonstrator, give me a call.  I'd love to have you on my team and you can join us in the fun!

Hope you have a great day.  Thank you for stopping by!

A CASE of No More Bliss

Hi there and Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

Today's post is about no more Bliss - a free set that was only available during Sale-a-bration.  I absolutely LOVE this stamp set and hope it appears in the new catalog!  The neutral colors paired with the Framed Tulips embossing folder makes the most elegant cards.  Tamara Bertram's card was an absolute CASE (copy and share everything) except for a couple of minor changes.  click here to view her card - posted Mar 30   The only thing I changed was the ink and stamp for the sentiment.  Wouldn't this make a great gift in a little tote?  You could make up labels with different sentiments so the recipient could customize each card to suit the occasion.  Just don't remove the protective paper from the dimensionals on the backs of the labels.

Recipe
Stamps: Bliss, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Whisper White, Sahara Sand
Ink: Sahara Sand, Black
Other: Word Window & Modern Label punches, Framed Tulips embossing folder, Pearls, dimensionals

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by today!

Altered Creations (a bit late)

Happy Friday everyone!  Hope you had a good week.  I had promised to show you our first Demo challenge that my friend, Jayne, initiated.  She challenged our Pieces of HeART team to alter the notebooks she provided.  The pressure!  And who knew it would turn into a monthly thing!  The anticipation to see everyone's creations makes our meetings even more exciting.  Participation is optional, of course.  Jayne handed out the notebooks when we met at her house to carpool to the Branson Regional in March.  We were to bring our altered creations to the April Demo dinner meeting.  

Look what we came up with.

 Jayne's notebook - made from Love Letters DSP, the Fun Flowers die, the Dotted Scallop  Ribbon border punch, Scallop border punch, and the Round Tab punch

Pam's notebook -  made from layered strips of various border punches.  A trinket key dangles from the vintage flower she made from circle punches.

Another version of Pam's.  It was difficult to capture the IRL beauty.

Patty's notebook - she added dimension by using our Backgrounds 1 Texturz plates, the flower image is from the Because I Care stamp set. Pearls were the finishing touch.  Sorry for the blurry photo

My notebook - made from Greenhouse Gala DSP, Bold Blossom, Apple Blossoms, & Nature Walk stamp sets, Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch

A Taxing Day .....

Hi there and happy Friday!  Hope you have your taxes completed by now - or at least by Mon - the extended deadline.  (What's up with that anyway?)  It's always good to get tax season behind ya, huh?  Before you know it, it'll be Christmas again.  Time just flies by at what seems like break neck speed!
OK, enough about taxes and Christmas.  Let's move on to the card for today.  It's a wedding card that was CASE'd from Pam D'Urso (my friend and awesome upline).  Check out her card here (Mar 29th post).  Pam was inspired by Jan Tink.   I didn't have any of the specialty paper they used so I made my own.  Oh, so clever!  The swirl stamp from the "Elements of Style" set was used in a random pattern on Whisper White cardstock using Versamark ink, then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  The bells are made from the Round Tab and Wide Oval punches. (You can also use a circle punch to round off the tops of the bells.)   The Swirls Scribbles Sizzlet die was used for the curly clappers.  Some Organza and Pearls dress it up very nicely.

Recipe (Stampin' Up! supplies used unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Elements of Style, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: White, Basic Gray
Ink: Versamark, Basic Black
Tools: Round Tab punch, Wide Oval punch, Word Window punch,
Modern Label punch, Swirls Scribbles Sizzlet die
Other: Clear embossing powder, White 5/8" Organza ribbon, Basic Pearls, dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today and have a great weekend!