Goodbye, Farewell - April Blog Hop with NC Demos

Welcome to the April NC Demos Blog Hop.   If you just arrived from Melissa's blog, isn't her Kleenex box cool?!!

Our theme this month gave us a lot of leeway.  We could choose cards that feature the retiring products, Mother's Day cards or Feminine cards.  My choice was retiring products.  I lost about 18 stamp sets not to mention several thinlits and punches.  Many of them did not surprise me since they had been around a while but I am still going to miss many of them! 

The first few cards I used a new technique that I had never done before - the Whitewash Technique.  There are several You-Tube videos that you can find to show the technique.  Basically, you stamp and emboss the image.  Next paint the image with the white re-inker (I used Aqua Brush.)  After that dries, add a little color to the image with a marker.  Then use your blender pen or Aqua Brush and blend the colors.  After it dries, you can go back and add a little more color as needed.

My first card uses Swallowtail stamp for the butterfly.  I also used the retiring DSP Typeset and the sentiment from And Many More (which is a great set for sentiments.)

The next two cards are made with Vivid Vases, a single stamp.

On this card, I also used the Curvy Corner Trio Punch which I love!

 This beauty uses three retiring stamp sets - Trust God, Everything Eleanor and the single stamp, Blended Blooms as well as the retiring Candy Dots.

Next I did a couple of cards using the blending technique with my sponges using Serene Silhouettes.

Next it was time for a little watercoloring.  I spritzed my Shimmery White cardstock with water and then using my Aqua Brush, colored Melon Mambo, Tangelo Twist and Daffodil Delight all over the card.  I cut another piece of cardstock using the Hexagon Hive Thinlit and adhere it on top of the watercolored piece.  The sentiment is from Feels Good.

 This is one of the cards we made in Stamp Club this month using the single stamp, Blooms for You.  The "seize the cake" sentiment is from the retiring set, Something to Say.

This final card also uses Blooms For You, Everything Eleanor (sentiment) and the Decorative Dots embossing folder.  This is one of the cards I made from pieces of the Paper Pumpkin April kit.

Hope you enjoyed my portion of the blog hop.  Continue along heading to Laurie Meir's blog next.

Below is a list of all the participants and their links:

Jo Anne Hewins

Michelle Irinyi

Melissa Kerman

Sharon Maranich

Laurie Meier

Sue Root

Karel Standish

Pam Staples

Frances Wagner

Thanks for stopping by!

Butterfly Fly Away

Stampin' Up is now offering an on-line class which will offer clever tips and techniques to get the most out of your stamping supplies. Divided into six PDF documents, this class includes written instructions, step out photos, a few videos, and supply lists for 34 projects.

•Stamping Basics (7 projects)


•Stamp-a-ma-jig (4 projects, video)

•Masking Techniques (4 projects, video)

•Embossing Techniques (7 projects, 2 videos)

•Markers and watercoloring Techniques (6 projects, video)

•Big Shot and punches (6 projects, 2 videos)

*No shipping, no tax!!

 The 34 projects are simple, creative, and cute! The material included is a great resource that gives comprehensive project details in one place. No searching all over the Internet for all of the different topics being covered.  Any stamper would love it! The projects range from simple to stepped up. A new stamper could learn a lot from the class, and there are more advanced techniques that even experienced stampers will be excited to learn.
PC Instructions:   The files will be downloaded as archive files that you can then extract and save on your computer. When you click on the download link, an extraction program will automatically launch. Choose the location where you would like to save the files (be sure to note where you save them). Follow the prompts on the extraction program, then navigate to the location where you saved the files. Click on the file and open.

Mac Instructions:   When you click on the download link, the file will be mounted as a drive. Once it is mounted, open the drive and drag and drop the files to the location of your choice on your hard drive. The files can then be opened.

Here is a card I made a couple of months ago and forgot to share with you.  I stamped the label from Everything Eleanor in Crumb Cake onto the Whisper White card stock and then embossed it with the Polka Dot embossing folder.  The leaves are cut using the leaves sizzlet.  I used some small pearls for the center of the flowers and colored them with a Sharpie marker.  The little blue flowers are punched with the Itty Bitty Punches and the butterfly is punched with the Butterfly Punch and some retired DSP.  I just love the way the Seam Binding ribbon ties into a bow!

Swap Cards from Spring Mini

Here are the swap cards that I came home with.  I also came home with a bunch of my own swaps back since several ladies canceled that were participating in the swaps.    Enjoy!!

by Marianne using Hearts A Flutter

by Debbie M using Feels Good

from Kathy (I think) using Feels Good stamped on canvas

from Nancy Carr using Everything Eleanor, Hearts a Flutter, Lovely Little Labels & Teeny Tiny
Wishes

from Marcia using Cross My Heart

from Karen using Oh Hello & Needlepoint Border embossing folder

Everything Eleanor

Another long day!  I left the house this morning at 9:30 and didn't return home until 6:30!  Luckily, Sonny grilled our dinner outside so I had a couple of glasses of wine and kept him company.  But it is so hot and humid here that it was not fun sitting outside tonight!  I played bridge today and had a pretty boring time.  I got a lot of really awful hands.  It it weren't for the fellowship with friends, I would have really been bummed.  After that, I picked up Mom for another doctor's appointment.  Marianne was working from home today so she met me at the doctor's office.  Mom was in really bad shape today.  She had a bad night and was in really bad pain all day.  When I got to her house, she asked me to get her the strongest pain meds that she had.  She has 3 different levels of hydrocodeine and has been taking the lowest dosage lately.  But today called for the "big dogs."  When I got her in to the doctor's office all she could do was cry.  It is heart breaking.  Dr. Allen is starting to believe that the cause of it all is her sciatica which I have been of the opinion from the start.  I have had debilitating sciatica pain twice and it is not something that I ever want to have again.  But I remember that the most pain I would have was trying to sit down or get up from a sitting position.  (It was hell trying to get on the toilet!) 

The common symptoms of sciatica include:

• Pain in the rear or leg that is worse when sitting
• Burning or tingling down the leg
• Weakness, numbness, or difficulty moving the leg or foot
• A constant pain on one side of the rear
• A shooting pain that makes it difficult to stand up

And these are all things Mom has been complaining about.  Dr. Allen said with the surgeries and the injections she has had, all the "mucking" around in her spine has caused it to be inflamed and if it is sciatica, it can't heal.  There's not a "fix" for it but she needs to get to the point that she can do some stretching exercises.  He gave her a prescription for a drug that is used to treat neuropathy to try and see if it will help.  On Thursday, I am taking her to see a neurologist in Huntersville.  After that, I am electing to find a good chiropractor to treat her.  That is who helped me both times I had my sciatica. 

OK - on to a couple of cards I created this weekend. 

I saw a card similar to this one on Pininterest and decided to CASE it.  I used one of the floral stamps from Everything Eleanor and Primrose Petals ink.  It's hard to tell but the card at the top is stamped with Pretty In Pink with a swirl stamp in the background.  The bottom card uses the swirl or flourish stamp but in Crumb Cake.  The saying on the bottom is from Heartfelt Creations. 

June Club Cards

These are the cards we did this week in my clubs.  I really love the Greetings stamp set, From My Heart and used it on a couple of the cards.   The sayings are so good.


I think this is my favorite one.  i just love the color combo.

Supplies:
Paper:  Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Whisper White
Stamps:  Everything Eleanor, From My Heart
Ink:  Calypso Coral, Pool Party
Acces:  Itty Bitty Buttons, Itty Bitty Punches, Dimensionals

Supplies:
Paper:  Whisper White, (retired) In Color DSP Paper Stack,  Daffodil Delight
Ink:  Concord Grape, Pear Pizazz,
Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Words,  Pennant Parade
Access:  Pennant Punch, Itty Bitty Label Die, 3/4" Circle Punch, Itty Bitty Punch, Bakers Twine

Supplies:
Paper:  Summer Starfruit, Whisper White
Ink:  Midnight Muse, Versamark, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green
Stamps:  Curly Cute, Papaya Collage
Access:  Jewels

Paper:  Rasperry Ripple, Gumball Green, Whisper White
Ink:  Gumball Green, Rasperry Ripple
Stamp:  From My Heart
Access:  Labels Framelits, Tulip Embossing Folder