March Stamp Club

I had Stamp Club next week and we did a lot of birthday cards (although I gave them the option of changing the sentiment if they wanted to.)

This first card is ideal for a masculine birthday.  I don't know about you but seems I never have enough masculine cards when I need them.  Using the Wood Textures Paper Stack (6x6) makes it a lot easier.  The "celebrate" sentiment is from Amazing You (Sale-a-Bration) and the other two sentiments are from We Must Celebrate (Occasions Catalog.)  Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig made lining up these sentiments a breeze.

This card was so simple but I just love it!  The sentiment is from Special Occasions which is a wonderful stamp set for sentiments!  And how about that little bitty cake???  I got that from Tabs for Everything which is a set I got from Stampin' Up for free.  I didn't think I'd use it but it has come in handy for a lot of uses - words, hearts, cake, stars and to stamp tabs.  Take the time to look at the samples using this set in the catalog (pg 43 of the Annual Catalog.)   I love, love, love the DSP on this card.  You can get it FREE from the Sale-a-bration catalog with a $50 order - BUT only until the end of the month.  So, if you love it like I do, put an order in soon!!

I think this next one is my favorite for this month and it's another Sale-a-Bration project.  The stamp set is Epic Celebrations (for the tennis shoes) and the birthday sentiment is from We Must Celebrate.  I used my new Stamp-a-ratus to line up the sentiment all the way down the card - easy, easy!!  The Stamp-a-ra-tus will be available in the new 2018-19 catalog which will debut in June.

I borrowed the Hold On to Hope stamp set and framelits for this card from my downline, Debbie.  It makes a beautiful card.  I really love the filigree cross.  By using Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets on the back of the card stock before die cutting it makes it so easy to adhere to the solid cross.  This was my first time to use the Ruffled embossing folder and I love the look!

I just finished packing for a trip to Atlanta.   Ashley has a pediatric conference in Atlanta and will be there all week so we are driving down tomorrow afternoon.  We will stay with her a few days and a few days with some good friends of ours.  Sonny will play golf and Melanie and I will probably do a little shopping!!  Fun times!!  Can't wait.

Stamp 'N Hop Blog Hop #2 featuring Sale-a-Bration Products

Hi!!  Welcome to the Stamp 'N Hop blog hop.  I am blogging to you from beautiful Lake Norman in North Carolina.  I am so glad you have decided to join us.  We love comments so would love to hear what you think of our projects.  This month we are featuring the Sale-A-Bration Second Release stamps as well as other stamp sets from Sale-A-Bration.  You can earn these stamps for FREE by placing a $50 order.  I hope you enjoy my post and will take the time to visit (and comment) on all the other blogs posted at the end of my post.

My first card I made using the Epic Celebration stamp set.  This set is timeless yet it also represents youth and creativity.  I just love these tennis shoes!  Since I just got my Stamparatus last week, I had to try it out on this card to line up the birthday sentiment!  Wow!  How great is that tool!!

I used my paper snips to cut out the tennis shoes but if you are not into cutting, you could always stamp them on Whisper White cardstock and punch it out with a Circle Punch or Die.  I used several stamp sets for the sentiments - Happy Birthday is from a Paper Pumpkin set but there are a lot of other sets that have Happy Birthday in them that you could substitute (like We Must Celebrate.)  "Hip, Hip, Hooray" and "celebrate" are from Happy Birthday Gorgeous.  The background behind the shoes is from Eclectic Expressions (Sale-A-Bration set) stamped in Dapper Denim (but stamp off first for a lighter color.)

Cardstock:  Dapper Denim, Real Red, Whisper White

Ink:  Real Red, Dapper Denim, Daffodil Delight

Dies:  Stitched Shapes, Circles

Stamp Sets:  Eclectic Expressions, Epic Celebrations, Happy Birthday Gorgeous

My next card also uses the Epic Celebration set as well as Eclectic Expressions.  I stamped the background with Tangerine Tango using full strength ink and stamping off to make some of the impressions lighter.  I used Lemon Lime Twist (my favorite!) for the dots.  I stamped the guitar with VersaMark ink and embossed it in Copper.  That really made the guitar stand out.  For the inside of the guitar, I used Brusho crystals (Gamboge) with my Aqua Brush.

 Cardstock:  Lemon Lime Twist, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White

Ink:  Lemon Lime Twist, Tangerine Tango, Basic Black, VersaMark

For my next card, I pulled out Eclectic Expressions again for "thank you" stamping it in Bermuda Bay, each time getting lighter and lighter.  I used that wonderful Stamparatus to line up the "thank you's."  If you are new to Stampin' Up and are wondering what the Stamparatus is, watch the video below.  I have used other stamp positioning tools, but this is the best!  The flower is stamped with Lemon Lime Twist.  I stamped the flower again on scrap white card stock, cut it out and mounted it with dimensionals.

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Bubbles & Fizz DSP (from Sale-a-bration)

Ink:  Lemon Lime Twist, Bermuda Bay

I hope you have enjoyed the products I have shared with you.  Please continue to hop along and see what other demonstrators have made!

Idonna Miller
Ilka Teschke
Tracey Gouraud
Kayla Adams
Joanne Hodge
Sandra Roberts
Melissa Tennison
Mo Rootes
Britney Vanderlaan
Tracie Evans Langley
Melissa Kerman
Georgia Gaydos
Shannon Cole
Lisa Kmiec
Amy Grendel
Jenn Charles
Laura Mackie
Eva Pottsova
Rachel Traudt
Laurie Meier
Susan Simpson
Kimberly Smith
Tracy Lewis
Karen Pearmain
Christina Walker
Bobbi Miller
Danielle Kassing
Kirsten Aitchison
Sharleen Luciano
Rebecca Fellows
Arden Dougan
Linda Handford
SHARON MARANICH (you are here)
Mikaela Titheridge
Andre Gordon

Cats in a Crate!

Hello Stampin' friends!  Do you like cats?  If so, I have a really cute card to share with you today!!  I made this last week for a fellow cat lover friend using the stamp set, Pretty Kitty.  You can find this stamp in Stampin' Up's annual catalog on page 49.  My daughter is actually the big cat lover in our family.  If I were to choose, I would probably pick a small dog over a cat.  But I love my cat, Sammie, who I inherited from my mom.  She is definitely a one person cat though - me!  When my daughter was a child, there was a house at the end of our alley (in Texas, most houses have the garage at the back of the house and an alley for coming and going) that every few months would have the "free kitten" sign in the yard.  She and I tried to adopt one of those cats several times - even once, bringing the kitten home with us - but Sonny would not have any part of a cat so we walked back and returned the kitten.  Finally when she was in middle school and I was working at the public library, someone brought in a mother cat and her litter that had been abandoned.  It was close to Christmas and the public buildings would be shut down.  They were going to put the kittens and the mama cat to sleep if no one would take them.  I called Sonny and got the "ok" and brought a kitten home to Ashley for her birthday.  She named him Mr. Claus.  She loved that cat - not me so much.  We had him for several years.  Eventually, of course, I ended up taking care of him when she went to college until he got sick and we had to put him to sleep.  No more cats in our life until about 8 years later when someone abandoned a kitten in the parking lot of the hospital in Washington where she was doing her residency.  Since it was a military hospital, we figured someone got transferred and left the kitten behind.  Ashley named him Taco.  He was a great cat!!  Much more lovable than Mr. Claus!!   He made the cross country trip from Washington to D.C. laying on a pillow on the console between us happy as a lark.  Unfortunately, he got sick after 2-3 years and died unexpectedly when he was being sedated to give him fluids.  That was the worst!  She went several years before she'd even think of getting another cat but finally, she and I made a trip to the pound and found Bogart.  He is the BEST cat ever!!  Everyone loves him - even Sonny!!

So - now that you have read all that, I guess you would like to see the card!

This card took a little longer to make than the average card.  I stamped the kittens on neutral card stock (Basic Gray, Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Smoky Grey) and cut them out with my paper snips.  The "crate" is from the Wood Textures DSP.  I used dimensionals on the "crate" and just fit my cats in using Glue Dots.  I used markers to color their bows and put a little pink on the ears.  The push pin holding the sign is from Painters Palette.  I used the Mini Treat Bag Thinlets for the zig zag ends of the sign.

Here's a funny picture for you.  I was doing some spring cleaning Saturday and when Sonny moved the chest in our room so he could vacuum behind it, we found the hiding place for all Sammie's toys:

I think spring will be here soon - at least I am hoping!  These are some pictures I took in the last couple of weeks.

Beautiful sky!

Sunset through the trees.

Flowering spring trees!

Another beautiful sign of spring!