Friday, April 27, 2012

Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini Projects Recap...



The Occasions Mini Catalog expires this Monday, April 30.  I just thought I'd share a few projects I'd created recently.

I'm crossing my fingers that Tea Shoppe (see my blog header) makes it into the 2012-2013 Annual Catalog (WANT ONE FOR *FREE*?).

I'm also hopeful that we'll see more of those Framelits and Edgelits!













There's A TON of merchandise retiring.  More about that here.  Click for *Retiring Stamps* and *Retiring Accessories* lists.  Remember, those accessories (especially retiring 2010-2012 In Colors) are only available as supplies last, so don't wait!  Already at this posting, a lot of the reinkers are out-of-stock!

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps:  Packed for Baby (125672), Gnome Sweet Gnome (C126537, W126535), Tea Shoppe (C125547, W125545), Packed for Birthday (125746)

Papers:  Perfect Plum, Blushing Bride, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Garden Green, Regal Rose, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla, Real Red, Night of Navy, So Saffron, and Whisper White Card Stock and Subtles Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack
Inks:  Basic Black, Regal Rose, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, and Real Red Classics, Stampin' Write Markers
Accessories:  Eyelet Border, Petite Pennants Builder, Decorative Label, Modern Label, Scallop Oval, Word Window, 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" Circles and Scallop Edge Border Punches, Big Shot, Circles #2 Bigz Die, Vintage Wallpaper and Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folders, Very Vanilla Taffeta ribbon, Whisper White Organza ribbon, Baker's Twine, Blender Pen 

 Please email me if you have any questions!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Get Your Free Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog!

We're just weeks away from the retirement of a lot of great stamps and accessories and what helps to make saying "Good-bye!" easier is the knowledge that the new Annual Catalog and all of its treasures is on its way...

Wish to receive yours, delivered to your door, for free?  Here's how...  Between now and May 31, place a merchandise order of $50 or more and receive your catalog, posted via Priority Mail, for free (I'll ship yours within 24 hours of receiving the order of catalogs myself).

Place an order today (you don't want to miss out on the Retiring Accessories, which are available as supplies last).  Catalogs will be mailed out in order of the date on which qualifying orders were placed.




Stampin' Up! Retired Accessories List is here!

The Retired Accessories List is now available {here}!  You know I hate to say it, but ORDER NOW -- SUPPLIES ARE LIMITED.  While you have until May 31 to order Retired Stamps, the Accessories fly off the warehouse shelves and once the stock is depleted, it is unavailable.  If a favorite is retiring (especially the 2010-2012 In Colors), order it now!


To recap, here are the Retiring 2010-2012 In Colors:









What surprised me most from the Retired Accessories List?  
  1. Not all of the Stampin' Write Markers can be purchased individually in the new catalog.
  2. 12 x 12 Textured Card Stock will no longer be available.
  3. 12 x 12" Smooth Card Stock will be available in a limited number of individual colors and color families.
  4. Grosgrain ribbon will no longer be offered (and you know how I *love* my grosgrain)!
  5. Craft ink will only be available in black and white (no more Color Collections in Craft ink).
I'm formulating my order now, as there a few favorite items I don't want to miss out on.  If you're local and want to piggyback on my order, please let me know.

Click *HERE* to learn how to earn the 2012-2013 Annual Catalog for *FREE*!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Last Week for Occasions Mini and Retiring Accessories List to be Released




Sadly, the Occasions Mini Catalog is in its final week.  If there's something in there that you've had your eye on, be sure to order it before April 30!  For a list of my favorite things from the Occasions Mini, click *HERE*.

Speaking of "sadly," click on the right to see the list of stamps which are retiring on May 31 (not June 30, as in past years!).  As of April 25, we'll get to see the Retired List of Accessories and Definitely Decorative items (the Definitely Decorative and Simply Adorned lines retire completely).  

The trick about the Retiring Accessories is that they're only available as supplies last.  The same is true for the Retiring 2010-12 In Colors (Concord Crush, Poppy Parade, Blushing Bride, Peach Parfait and Pear Pizzazz).  Especially in terms of the card stock, these colors will *Fah-LY* off the Stampin' Up! warehouse shelves.  Do you have your reinkers, too?

Stay tuned...  Tonight, at midnight Mountain Daylight Time (which to us on the West Coast = 11:00 PM), the Retiring Accessories List posts.  Check here first...  I'll link you right up!




Monday, April 16, 2012

Stampin' Up! Retiring Stamps List!


The wait is over...  Stampin' Up! posted its list of Retiring Stamps yesterday and it's a doozy!  Stampin' Up! has some exciting changes coming to its catalog (#1 being that it comes out June 1 instead of July 1). This means that the Retiring Stamps will only be available until *May 31*, not June 30.  After 10 years as a demo, this is going to take some getting used to for me!  

The catalog will also be fewer pages, so there are *A LOT* of items retiring this year (including the ENTIRE Definitely Decorative and Simply Adorned lines).

You can view the Retiring Stamps list here.

The Retiring Accessories and Retiring Definitely Decorative lists will be posted on April 25.  These items may only be available until May 31, as they are only available *while supplies last.*

In the weeks to come, I'll be writing about projects made with Occasions Mini items (available until April 30) and projects made with Retiring Items.  Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.  




Friday, April 13, 2012

Happy Birthday, Mom with Stampin' Up! Occasions Tea Shoppe

First of all, I want to wish my sweet mom a "Happy, happy birthday!"  Sending you hugs!!

This is the card I made for her birthday.  Mom and I love tea and all things British, so I knew this was the set for her!

I also entered this card a couple of weeks ago in a 365 Cards Challenge for stamping one's background.  You can see that I did that with the flower image from Tea Shoppe in both Regal Rose and Not Quite Navy.  That blossom is also stamped on the envelope (No Naked Envelopes!).
This sweet bow is made with the taffeta ribbon (I used my Paper Snips to trim around the tea cup and then I tied the ribbon around the handle).  You'll notice that I also ran the large piece of Not Quite Navy through the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  It adds such a sophisticated texture to the project!  The big scalloped circle is Scallop Circle #2, a die that I used with my Big Shot, as well.
The sentiment was inked on Very Vanilla, using my Regal Rose and Not Quite Navy Stampin' Write Markers and punched using the Scallop Oval.
Finally, I used the Modern Label punch and added a crinkled blossom to make the sentiment...  They're popped up using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps:  Tea Shoppe, found in the Occasions Mini Catalog, available until April 30, 2012 (W125545, C125547) 

Papers:  Regal Rose (105130), Not Quite Navy (101722) and Very Vanilla (101650) card stocks

Inks:  Regal Rose (105211) and Not Quite Navy (103008) Classic Ink Pads and Regal Rose (105108), Not Quite Navy (100059) Stampin' Write Markers

Accessories:  Taffeta Ribbon (Very Vanilla is retired in this width, but it's available in 1/8-inch (119960), Big Shot (113439), Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (120175), Scallop Circle #2 die (113469), Scallop Oval Punch (119856), Modern Label Punch (119849), Paper Snips (103579), and Stampin' Dimensionals (104430).

Thursday, April 12, 2012

A Little Peace, Love, and Happiness (and a 365 Cards Challenge Winner)!

Things have been busy around here with Easter and our dear daughter's birthday on Tuesday.  She is a big fan of peace signs and while I don't have one of those, she helped to inspire this card, which was made for a 365 Cards Challenge a couple of weeks back (we were to show "peace, love and happiness" on our cards).
I used the word "peace" from the Christmas set, "Snow Swirled."  It's inked in Pacific Point and then punched from the Whisper White with a 1-inch Circle.  The circle was drug across my Rich Razzleberry pad to give it a little oomph before it was popped up with a Stampin' Dimensional.  I tied a little bow through the Daffodil Delight Lace Ribbon Border punch using the Whisper White 5/8-inch Organza ribbon.
The heart and sun images come from the "Every Little Bit" set.  I punched the solid image from the Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch in Rich Razzleberry to make that Daffodil Delight Lace Ribbon Border piece stand out more.

I wanted to make the "peace, love and happiness" a wish or sentiment, not just a theme for my card, so I inked "wishing you" in Rich Razzleberry, punched it with the Word Window and mounted it on a snipped piece of Daffodil Daffodil that was punched using the Modern Label punch.  The flower comes from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (I used a circle punched using my Crop-A-Dile for the inside of the flower).  As you'll notice, I fed the card body through my Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  Super easy and I love what it adds to the project!
I wanted to add a little surprise to the inside of the card, so I punched the same "flower" from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack from the Whisper White insert so that the Pacific Point showed behind.  I also used a scrap of cardboard punched with the Lace Ribbon Border punch as a stencil with the Pacific Point ink on the envelope.  I love adding a little extra to the envelope and inside of a card; I'll be posting about that idea soon...

So the happy news about *THIS* card is that I won Spotlight Designer at 365 Cards with it!  :)  Thanks, guys!  So many great cards get entered in their challenges, it's an honor to be selected!

Stampin' Up! Supplies:


Stamps:  Snow Swirled (111690), Every Little Bit (W117096, C120558)

Papers:  Pacific Point (111350), Daffodil Delight (119683), Rich Razzleberry (115316) and Whisper White (100730) card stocks

Inks:  Pacific Point (111837), Daffodil Delight (119667) and Rich Razzleberry (115658) Classic Inks

Accessories:  Big Shot (113439), Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folders (117335), Word Window (119857), Modern Label (119849), Lace Ribbon Border (122362), Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer (122464), Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (118309) punches, Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)


Friday, April 6, 2012

Stampin' Up! Nature Walk for Easter...

Easter is upon us!  Here's an Easter Card I made for the "Super Sketchy Sunday" challenge at 365 Cards.I am so inspired by the sketches there!


I love the earthy feel of the eggs from the Nature Walk set...


I used my Scallop Edge Border punch to create the border along the Marina Mist and that always produces a slim scrap.  You can see I added it behind the Round Tab punch with "Happy Easter."

The Scallop Trim Border punch adds further interest...

I've been busy enjoying my kids' Spring Break and sewing the girls' Easter dresses.  I'll be posting the rest of the week's projects soon!

Stampin' Up! Supplies:


Stamps:  Nature Walk (W121925, C121997), Teeny TIny Wishes (W115370)

Papers:  Crumb Cake (120953), Marina Mist (119682), Bashful Blue (105120) and Very Vanilla (101650) card stocks

Inks:  Marina Mist (119668), Bashful Blue (105209), and Crumb Cake (121030) Classics

Accessories:  Round Tab (119864), Scallop Trim Border (118402), Scallop Edge Border (119882) and Scallop Circle (119854) punches, and Paper Snips (103579)

Monday, April 2, 2012

A Monday {Sneak Peek}...

These sweet little gnomes make for some fun all-purpose cards...
I *love* Easter and the sweet natural eggs from the Nature Walk set are "spot on!"
Just how many different ways will I find to use the Petite Pennants Builder Punch in this week's projects?
This Lace Ribbon Border Punch is such quick way to add "WOW!" to a project...  Wait for the post to see how I used it in the coordinating envelope...
There's that Petite Pennants Builder Punch *again*!

Kermie may think it's not easy being green, but o, how I love the Wild Wasabi!
This is my favorite card that I've made recently.  I'm sending it to my mum, who celebrates her birthday next week...  I've always called her "Mom," but between the fact that she's Canadian and this card highlights a cuppa tea, I thought "Mum" was more appropriate.  ;)

Spring Break is here!  Woot!