{Sneak Peek}: Retiring Countdown: Final Week

With less than a week remaining before Stampin' Up!'s 2012-2013 Annual Catalog goes live and the 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog retires, I thought I'd share some projects I made this weekend using retiring stamps and/or accessories.  Stay tuned this week for detailed posts about each...  Enjoy!  

I'll be sad to see the Scallop Circles #2 Bigz die and the 5-Petal Flower Punch retire this week; I really enjoy using those!

As a gardener, I love the Herb Expressions set.  This project highlights the rosemary stamp...

And this one features the basil...

Baroque Motifs is the stamp set used in the following "Keep It Simple" challenge entry...

I used the Nursery Nest Designer Series Paper, which includes Blushing Bride and Pear Pizzazz, two retiring 2010-2012 In Colors.

I simply love the Vintage Vogue set.  I paired it with the bird from the Notably Ornate set, both of which retire this week.  The card body, though, is of Summer Starfruit, which is a new 2012-2014 In Color.

This card is one of my favorites from this weekend.  I used the Doily Triple Layer Punch, which is among the retirées.

I'm making my list for when the new catalog goes live (Friday, noon).  If you're interested in anything that is retiring, please check these links here to verify their availability:  {stamps} and {accessories}.

Got the new 2012-2013 Annual Catalog in your hands yet?  Get it for free (click *HERE* for more details) or order it delivered for $5.

White Space with Vintage Vogue

Hey, hey and welcome to the Studio!

For today's card, I participated in a white space challenge over at 365 Cards. I've never tried a white space challenge before and found it to be a fun and interesting one. Basically, the rules were that stampers could do whatever they wanted outside of the oval, but that the oval in the middle had to stay, well, white...

I was excited to get to use one of my favorite sets from the new Occasions Mini Catalog. It's Vintage Vogue...

As you'll notice, I used my Backgrounds I Texturz Plate ("Flourish") to add some dimension and visual interest to the white vellum oval in the center.

The "Friends" piece was inked with Elegant Eggplant and stamped on Whisper White card stock. I tore the edges to give a bit of a shabby chic effect...

I love the look of layering punches (stay tuned -- that's going to be a post all its own someday). Anyhoo, this sentiment and flower were too big to do a Word Window/Modern Label combo, so I trimmed the sentiment/flower piece to replicate that effect, using my Paper Snips.

Finally, since Valentine's Day is in the offing, I chose to use Pretty in Pink card stock (with images from Vintage Vogue inked in Classic Elegant Eggplant) and the softness of a satin bow. The Pretty in Pink portion was adhered to the card body using Stampin' Dimensionals. Speaking of the card body, I used an 8 1/2- x 11-inch piece of card stock and cut it in half lengthwise ("hot dog" style, to my former students), or at 4 1/4-inches. Then at the 5 1/2-inch mark, I folded it in half to create the card body.

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Vintage Vogue (please refer to the link on the right for the Occasions Mini or contact me for your own hard copy)

Ink: Elegant Eggplant Classic

Papers: Elegant Eggplant, Pretty in Pink and Whisper White card stocks, Vellum paper

Accessories: Big Shot, Stampin' Up! Backgrounds I Texturz Plates, Paper Snips, Modern Label Punch, Whisper White Satin Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Hope you have a great start to your short week! Thanks so much for joining me here!

Stay tuned for a post about Stampin' Up!'s new clear mount stamps...

Just Hanging Around with Vintage Vogue...

Welcome to the Studio! When I made this card, I was interested in creating a little "movement." I wanted the flower to be the focal point of the card, but I also wanted it to move a little. Here's how I did it:

• I stamped the large flower image from the Vintage Vogue set on Whisper White card stock, using Dusty Durango Classic ink. Then I used my Paper Snips (they have super-sharp tips) to cut right along the edge.

**Studio Suggestion: Be careful when you return your snips to their sheath (REALLY! They're *THAT* sharp!), as you can permanently bend the tip if it gets caught funny going back in...**

• Punch a small hole in the center of the flower and add the Chocolate Chip Jumbo Brad.

• Lay a piece of Linen Thread so that the middle of the thread is over the middle of the flower image (the piece I used was about five inches to start). The flower image was then attached to Dusty Durango card stock and the flower is once again cut out, using Paper Snips, along its very edge.

• For the "banner" at the top of the card, I inked the stamp in Soft Suede Classic ink and stamped it on Very Vanilla card stock. I also inked the edges of that piece of card stock with Night of Navy Classic ink. **Be sure to let that dry** and then distress it with the Distressing Tool from the Cutter Kit.

• Punch two tiny holes (with a 1/16-inch Punch) and thread the two ends of the linen thread through, making sure that the flower is centered and then knot.

• Adhere the Very Vanilla piece to a piece of Night of Navy card stock that has been sueded.

• Finally, for the textured Garden Green piece, run it through your Big Shot with the "Flourish" Texturz Plate from the Stampin' Up! Backgrounds I set.

• Attach the banner at the top of the Garden Green piece and then add to the Very Vanilla card body using Stampin' Dimensionals and you're finished!

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Vintage Vogue

Inks: Dusty Durango, Soft Suede and Night of Navy Classics

Papers: Dusty Durango, Night of Navy, Garden Green and Very Vanilla

Accessories: Big Shot, "Flourish" Texturz Plate from Stampin' Up! Backgrounds I set, Jumbo Brad, Distressing Tool, Linen Thread, Paper Snips, Stampin' Dimensionals

Thank you so much for visiting! I hope you have a great end-of-the-week!