It's a Stampin' Up! Color Refresh! Colors Discontinued, Old Favorites Out of Retirement!

It's that time again...  Stampin' Up! has reintroduced old favorites, such as Soft Sky and Blushing Bride, while retiring colors like Pretty in Pink, Baja Breeze and More Mustard.  See the chart below for the new colors in the 2013 Color Refresh:

Just in the Color Renovation a few years ago, the Discontinue Colors (at the bottom of the above chart) will only be available as supplies last...  This applies to card stock, ribbon, reinkers, ink pads, etc.

Here's a {video} from the lovely Carrie Cudney telling us all about it...  Hooray!

Heart Blossoms

Happy Valentine's Day, Studio Visitors!


Here's a fun card that would work as a valentine for someone special or as a card for any special occasion!



I took the bird image from Fun & Fast Notes and inked it with black Stazon ink. Since I knew I'd be placing a paper heart on the stem instead of the blossom, I inked everything *except* the blossom. That technique sounds like a good post of its own (stay tuned)!



Next, I used my Blender Pen and Classic ink pads to watercolor the birds and their stems. For the middle bird, I used a scrap of sueded card stock (but used the smooth side). I just stamped it with the bird, cut it out with my Paper Snips (which make precision cutting like this a breeze), and used a Stampin' Dimensional to pop it up. I did the same thing with a teensy piece of Summer Sun for its beak.
For the hearts, I used my Big Shot and the Hearts and Brackets Bigz die. For some reason, I've never purchased a heart punch, so that was my only option. ;) I was still able to use scraps, which has been a recent mission of mine...
I finished it off with the Scallop Edge punch and a length of White Satin Ribbon tied in a knot. I also stamped the sentiment (a freebie choice from my Sale-A-Bration order!) in Bravo Burgundy at the bottom. For the first time, Stampin' Up! is offering items from the Idea Book and Catalog as freebies in addition to the limited edition Sale-A-Bration items. You & Moi had been a set on my wish list and now it's mine... for free!

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Fun & Fast Notes, You & Moi (SAB freebie)

Papers: Ruby Red, Apricot Appeal, Mellow Moss, Bravo Burgundy, Summer Sun and Whisper White card stocks

Inks: Black Stazon, Bravo Burgundy, Mellow Moss and Ruby Red Classics

Accessories: Big Shot, Hearts and Brackets Bigz die, Scallop Edge Punch, White Satin Ribbon, Blender Pen, Stampin' Dimensionals

Thank you for your visit! Hope you have a great day!

A Woodsy Happy Birthday to Uncle Coot!

First of all, I wanted to wish a very happy fortieth birthday to Uncle Coot! We love you very much and are so lucky to have you in our lives!

Uncle Coot is an avid outdoorsman, so for his birthday card, I went to one of my all-time favorite sets, Lovely as a Tree. Since he is also a woodworker extraordinaire (he does exquisite homebuilding, finishing work and has built some amazing furniture for my kids), I was also anxious to use the background stamp, Woodgrain. In an effort to capture rugged outdoorsman in papercraft, I opted to use three of my favorite techniques for texture. First, for the Bravo Burgundy piece, I sueded it and mounted it on a piece of Very Vanilla. The second rugged piece is a crinkled and crumpled piece of Brilliant Blue that I crumpled big-time, smoothed out, and then fed through my Big Shot with the Top Note Bigz die. Finally, for the piece with the pine tree, I used the Distressing Tool from the Cutting Tools to rough up the edges.

The birthday sentiment was inked in Garden Green then stamped on Very Vanilla and punched out using the Modern Label Punch. Finally, to make it stand out more and to tie it in with the rest of the card, I inked the edges with Bravo Burgundy. It's adhered to the Brilliant Blue piece with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Woodgrain, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Papers: Garden Green, Brilliant Blue, Bravo Burgundy and Very Vanilla card stocks

Inks: Garden Green and Bravo Burgundy Classics and VersaMark

Accessories: Big Shot, Stampin' Up! Top Note Bigz die, Distressing Tool, Modern Label Punch and Stampin' Dimensionals

Thank you so much for your visit to the studio! I will leave you with the beautiful morning we were given today... Not very rainy for the Pacific Northwest in January, but you won't hear me complaining!

Time to Write Thank You notes

This weekend marked the end of Christmas Break and at our house, that's the deadline for writing Thank You notes for Christmas gifts. As is often the case with making all of those Christmas cards, I'm left with bits of this and that (each step was made in mass quantities to make the process more efficient). I always seem to miscount and end up with extras of some of the pieces (and just enough of others -- go figure!). I hate to waste, so I incorporated them into my design... I also wanted to use my "From Our House" set.

The scalloped design from that set really stands out (in real person -- trust me!) when it's inked in Night of Navy and then embossed using Clear Detail Embossing Powder.

**STUDIO SUGGESTION: I use my VersaMark ink, followed by my choice of color in Classic Ink to ink my image (Craft Ink works here, as well, minus the VersaMark step). Once the image is stamped, I dump Stampin' Up! Clear Detail Embossing Powder all over it (in a Powder Pal or over a piece of scratch computer paper to catch the unused powder). Using my Heat Tool, I heat-set the image. The particles in the Detail Embossing Powders are so fine that they work well in small or detailed images really well. Another benefit of using the Clear Detail Embossing Powder is that it allows you to use it with *EVERY* one of Stampin' Up!'s great exclusive colors...**

I used my I'm-Cheaper-than-$4!! tool (Paper Piercing Tool) to pierce each dot in the scalloped image to add more texture.

You'll recognize the snowflake/scalloped circle/vellum circle piece from my family Christmas card. I also had the die-cut and embossed vellum circles, Bravo Burgundy circles, and polka-dot embossed Night of Navy pieces left-over to use in this card.

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Berry Christmas (from 2009 Holiday Mini)

Papers: Bordering Blue, Night of Navy and Bravo Burgundy card stocks and Vellum Paper

Ink: Whisper White Craft

Accessories: Big Shot, Finial Press and Petals-A-Plenty Textured Impressions Folders, Stampin' Up! Backgrounds I Texturz Plates (Small Polka Dots), Scallop Circle #2 Bigz Die, Merry Details Sizzlit, Scallop Circle, Modern Label, Small Oval and 1/16-inch punches, Circle Scissor Plus, Silver Brads, and Stampin' Dimensionals

**THANK YOU!!** for visiting today! ;)

O, Christmas Card...

Happy New Year!


As I was tidying up from Christmas, I realized that I never posted the card that our family sent out this year. I love Bordering Blue and Night of Navy (they're among my favorite color combos). This year I included Bravo Burgundy, as well.
This was the first year that I utilized my Big Shot in our Christmas card. What a fun way to add some delicious texture (and I could feed multiple layers of Vellum Paper through to make the card-making more efficient).


I embossed the Night of Navy piece with the Stampin' Up! Backgrounds I Texturz Plate (small polka dots).


The large Vellum Paper Scalloped Circle (made with the Scallop Circle #2 Bigz Die), Vellum Paper (Modern Label Punch) and Bordering Blue Scalloped Circle (Scallop Circle Punch) were fed through the Big Shot with the Finial Press Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.

The vellum circle over the Bravo Burgundy piece was embossed using the Petals-A-Plenty Textured Impressions Folder, but that is in the Holiday Mini, which is only available until January 4, 2010. Same goes for the snowflake, which was punched out, using the Merry Details Sizzlit and the "Merry!" from the Berry Christmas set, which was inked in Whisper White Craft Ink on a Small Oval Punch of Night of Navy card stock. I'm hopeful that the Petals-A-Plenty, Merry Details, and Berry Christmas set will show up in the 2010-11 Idea Book and Catalog...

It's hard to see in the photo, but the snowflake is attached to the Bordering Blue Scalloped Circle and Vellum Paper circle with a silver brad and adhered to the Bravo Burgundy piece with a Stampin' Dimensional.

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Berry Christmas (from 2009 Holiday Mini)

Papers: Bordering Blue, Night of Navy and Bravo Burgundy card stocks and Vellum Paper

Ink: Whisper White Craft

Accessories: Big Shot, Finial Press and Petals-A-Plenty Textured Impressions Folders, Stampin' Up! Backgrounds I Texturz Plates (Small Polka Dots), Scallop Circle #2 Bigz Die, Merry Details Sizzlit, Scallop Circle, Modern Label, Small Oval and 1/16-inch punches, Circle Scissor Plus, Silver Brads, and Stampin' Dimensionals

Since I make a slew of these (I won't tell you how many), I can't use bows or knots because they can sometimes result in extra postage. Take a lesson from my dear friend, Lori... If you make a card (or several) with a knot or bow, take it to the post office and have someone at the counter feed your card through their plastic template. If it gets hung up (because of thickness), the card will require more postage. Dear Lori didn't know her card was over 1/4-inch (I think that's the limit -- I'll verify that) and she got ALL of her LOVINGLY HANDMADE Christmas cards back in the mail due to insufficient postage...

Even without a bow or knot, I still take mine to the post office to make sure that they're not too heavy (due to photos) or thick (even this year, I wasn't 100% sure with the brad+Stampin' Dimensional combo).

I hope 2010 brings you good health and much joy. Thank you for your visit!

Soccer Moms Unite!

Whew! Soccer is ov-ah! What a relief!

Don't get me wrong... Soccer has brought my husband and children much joy and good exercise. I will say, though, that it has been a challenge to have him coach the two older kids' teams and have a two-year-old in the mix. Plus we sure had some rainy days this season!

The kids were darling and all commented on how much fun they had this season. We hope to see everyone back next year!

To thank the fellow Soccer Parents who helped order trophies, set up our team party for the end of the season, bake treats for the party, etc, I came up with some simple "Thank You" notes. I love this design, as I can tweak it to use elsewhere...

I made this card in both Bravo Burgundy and Orchid Opulence (for the parents on Jordan's team; their team color was light purple).

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Short and Sweet, I Love Soccer (Retired)

Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White, Basic Black

Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Going Grey and Basic Black Classics

Accessories: Blender Pens, Basic Black wide grosgrain ribbon, Word Slot Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Christmas Sketch

I've had a lot of fun tinkering with the Merry Moments Designer Series Paper. One of my favorite designs is the evergreen boughs. For the sketch this Sunday, I opted to use my Number One Go-To Set, "Lovely as a Tree" for the focal point. For fun, I chose non-traditional colors (using my Color Coach; you know how bad I am with color!). Finally, I stamped the flourish stamp (it's to signify wind blowing) from the "Snow Buddies" set on the backside of the More Mustard card stock and used that as my guide to pierce the design to the left of the pine tree. I am going to make several of this card, as it will be useful for "Thank You!" notes, cards for the men in my life, etc. Truthfully, it doesn't even have to be for Christmas giving!

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree (How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...)

Papers: Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, and Bravo Burgundy card stocks and Merry Moments Designer Series Paper

Inks: Old Olive

Accessories: Paper Piercing Tool (a *steal* at $3.50!), Paper Snips, Natural Hemp Twine, Ticket Corner and 1/16-inch Punches

I Heart Lists and Teeny Tiny Wishes

I've only *just* received these two new sets from the 2009-10 IB & C and I absolutely love the possibilities! I'm a fan of office ephemera and I look forward to using I Heart Lists for that reason. The Teeny Tiny Wishes set is one that I'll own and use forever. Talk about a ton of useful phrases!

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: I Heart Lists and Teeny Tiny Wishes

Papers: Kraft, Bravo Burgundy, Very Vanilla and Apricot Appeal card stocks

Inks: Handsome Hunter, Bravo Burgundy and Creamy Caramel Classics; Bravo Burgundy Stampin' Write Marker

Accessories: 1/16-inch Handheld, Spiral, 1/2-inch Circle, and Word Slot Punches, Stampin' Sponge, Very Vanilla Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon, Stamp-a-Ma-Jig and Linen Thread

Thanks so much for stopping by!