Stamp Club Cards

I had my Stamp Club last week and we made these cards:

My Paper Pumpkin came in handy for this card.  They were able to pick which card they wanted to make and if it was to be a Valentine card or another type of card.

I love this panda from the Sale-a-Bration Catalog!  You can get it FREE by spending $50 on anything Stampin' Up sells.  Another great item on this card are the Tutti Free sequins - they have adhesive on the back so they are so much easier to use  The sentiment comes from the stamp set, Lovely Inside & Out.  Some of the gals die cut "hugs" and adhered it on the card instead of stamping HUGS.

• ·        Stamp the panda about 1/2” from the bottom of the Whisper White layer with Black ink.
• ·        Add a shadow under the panda w/High Tide stamp piece with Smokey Slate ink
• ·        Die cut a Lemon Lime Twist balloon using the 3” Layering Circle Framelit die in the Big Shot.
• ·        Add the die cut balloon to the Whisper White layer at the top of the stamped balloon string.
• ·        Stamp “sending you HUGS” in Black ink on the balloon as shown.
• ·        Trim the left side and top of the balloon off at the edge of the Whisper White layer.
• ·        Punch the balloon stem from the Tree Builder Punch and adhere to the balloon base.
• ·        Tie a bow with the black ribbon and add to card where shown with a Mini Glue Dot.
• ·        Adhere panda layer to Basic Black layer and then to card front.
• ·        Add sequins where desired.

Another panda - this time a party panda!  I also love this birthday set - Picture Perfect.  It's a great birthday set with confetti, candles, ribbons and more. 

• ·        Emboss Bermuda Bay cardstock w/polka dots folder (retired).  Adhere to Lemon Lime card.
• ·        Stamp “cue the confetti” on square of Whisper White.
• ·        Stamp party horn with Pool Party & Bermuda Bay (dots); Berry Burst & Peek-a-boo Peach.
• ·        Stamp panda on scrap white & cut him out.
• ·        Cut Clear Envelope apart so you have two pieces.  Wrap one piece around the white square & adhere 3 sides on the back. (like you are wrapping a present)  Put sequins inside and seal up the “package.”
• ·        Adhere white square to Lemon Lime Twist Scallop Square.  Adhere to card.
• ·        Use dimensionals to adhere panda to card.
• ·        Tie ribbon & use Glue Dot to adhere to card.
• ·        Decorate inside of card.

For this card, I used Touches of Texture.  I've had this stamp set for a while and only used it for backgrounds.  But I love the flowers and notice I also used the bee and flower in the background.

• Ø  Stamp flower outline & inside of flower with Sweet Sugarplum ink
• Ø  Stamp center of flower w/Early Espresso
• Ø  Randomly stamp flowers, bee, & splatters on card with Crumb Cake – stamp off for lighter images.
• Ø  Stamp sentiment with Early Espresso

Watercolor Stamp Set is a Keeper!!

I've had a great time today playing with the Waterfront stamp from the Occasions Catalog.  Wow!!  This stamp set can make anyone a watercoloring artist!  The soft, buildable images create scenes from the north woods to a beach front.  It's impossible to mess them up.  Well, I guess you COULD, if you really tried super hard.  The best part about this set is how it made me feel like an artist creating a tiny little scene on a small canvas.  I loved it!  Any time you can come out of your craft room feeling great about what you just made, I'll take it!

The colors I used on these cards are - mountains - Fresh Fig, Trees - Tranquil Tide, Water - Pool Party and Bermuda Bay, Sand - Crumb Cake

I added water marks using the High Tide stamp set

I used watercolor paper on this card and used my Aqua Pen with clear water to blend the colors.

I used Marina Mist for the water on this card.  The little houses are stamped with Lemon Lime Twist, Berry Burst and Tempting Turquoise.

The Waterfront Stamp set was inspired by Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and Million Dollar Sales Achiever, Connie Heisey.

Waterfront is only $17 (what a deal!) but if you need other supplies, now is the ideal time to add to your order.  With every $50 spent, you can choose anything out of the Sale-a-Bration Catalog.

Christmas Cards from 2017

I received some beautiful Christmas cards before I left for Hawaii.  I thought I'd share a few of them.

This was a beautiful frame that my downline, Debbie Michael, made for me.  She did a wonderful job on this!  I love it!

This was also made by Debbie.  It is a many dimensional card!  I asked her if all her Christmas cards were like this - if so, she deserves a medal!!  Isn't it beautiful?!!

Pictures from Hawaii 2018

How do you like that flower at the top of my blog?  That was taken last year.  It is a huge tree in Ashley's back yard.  We call it the Q-tip tree!  It is just starting to bloom now and I am think the flowers will be fully opened before I leave next week!

Thought I'd share a few more pictures from our trip in no particular order.

This was taken on our hike the first week we were here.  Ashley and I are giving the "shaka" sign.

The shaka sign, sometimes known as "hang loose", is a gesture often associated with Hawaii and surf culture. It consists of extending the thumb and smallest finger while holding the three middle fingers curled, and gesturing in salutation while presenting the front or back of the hand; the hand may be rotated back and forth for emphasis.

 Ashley's cat, Bogart watching the birds!  He loves it when we go out on the lanai so he can go too!  He drives us crazy though walking along the ledge.  I am so afraid he is going to jump from there onto the roof and down.  Her lanai is on her second story.

 This was a beautiful sunset on New Year's Eve at Molokai.  That missile looking thing is actually a torch that wasn't lit yet.  This picture was taken from the pool, bar and restaurant area of our hotel.

Ashley & I at the beach on the Marine Corps base while Sonny was playing golf.

Beautiful panoramic view!

Cool picture!  Me & my shadow!

This was one of the views from our hike.

We had dinner at Waikiki Friday night after enjoying a great show.  This was taken at an open air mall that we walked through.  The statue is the late, great Don Ho.

Aloha!

Aloha from Hawaii!

Well, it has been a while since I wrote on my blog.  We are in Hawaii with only a week left.  I will be sad to leave .... especially since back home the temperature hasn't been out of the 20s I don't think while I am enjoying high 70s and low 80s!!  What an adjustment we'll have to make!

The Occasions AND Sale-A-Bration catalog are ready to go.  There are some great products in there - hope you have had a chance to look through the catalog.  I have placed my first order and hopefully, it will be waiting for me when I return home next week!  I can't wait to play with new goodies.  I had a hard time narrowing down my choices since, of course, I wanted it all!!

We have been busy ever since arriving here on the 24th.  We had a quiet Christmas, just the 3 of us eating, visiting and watching football.  We went on a hike one day during the week and saw some awesome views.  The hike was not steep but was long - think we figured it was over 4 miles round trip.  I was glad to see the end!  For New Year's, we flew to the island of Molokai where the leper colony is.  Our plane was definitely a puddle jumper - only held 9 passengers and we were asked our weight before we boarded!  There are only 8 past patients living at the leper colony now.  I don't know what will happen to the "town" once they are all gone.  The only way to get to the colony is by hiking or riding a mule.  We chose the mule!   The route down to the colony was rocky with puddles of water everywhere (Hawaii set a record a few days before with rainfall!).  It was a trail with 26 switchbacks.  It was a little bit scary!!

Sonny and Ashley on the way back up

View from the top.  You can see the colony below.

Ashley made it safe on our puddle jumper!

Ashley in the saddle!  At the end of the ride, we had mud from our ankles to our knees!