I'm sad that the Umbrella Punch is being retired!  I pulled out some retired DSP (Pleased As Punch), stamped the umbrellas with Memento Black Ink and punched out several of them.  I scattered rain drops (again using the black ink) all over the card front before adhering the umbrellas on the page.  The sentiment is from Comfort and Hope and the labels are from the die set, Stitched So Sweetly.  I adhered a few colored Dew Drops (non SU) on the card.  

I'm happy that the Stitched Triangles Die will not be retiring!!  This was a fun and easy card to make.  I just found some retired DSP in browns and blues and die cut a bunch of triangles all different sizes.  Then I just played around arranging them on my card.  The funny thing is after I got everything done on the card, I adhered the triangle layer upside down!  Oh well, it really didn't matter.

I will be flying to visit my daughter tomorrow!  I can't wait.  We have no plans but will have fun I'm sure.  She will be working most of the time and I will probably be working in her yard while she is gone.  I'm sure Bogey (her cat) will keep me company!

Boots and Umbrellas!

Where did spring go?  The furnace is going in my house!  I'm ready for the temps to get back in the 70s at least!   Last night Sonny and I played Music Bingo on-line again.  It is something different to do at home while we are stuck at home. 

Here are a few more Paper Pumpkin cards I made.

Paper Pumpkin + Under My Umbrella - a great fit!   The pink stripe piece in the background is the inside of one of the envelopes that I cut open.  I don't know if you can tell, but the boots are shiny.  I covered the boots with glue from the Fine Tip Glue.

I used another envelope inside for the card (green stripe.)  The scallop rectangle is from the Sweetly Stitched dies.

This time the envelope insert is the yellow striped piece.  I cut down the card with the girl and boots and layered it onto Calypso Coral.  

This one was so fun to make!  I used the negative part of the circle page after popping out all the circles.  I masked and sponged Balmy Blue and Pear Pizzazz onto the circles.  Next I flicked some Wink of Stella all over.  

March Paper Pumpkin Alternatives

I've almost finished with the March Paper Pumpkin.  I think I have enough scraps for 3 more cards.  Then what??!  I have a new stamp set I haven't used so I'll be making cards with Ride With Me next.  Stay tuned.

This is the first card I've made with the door stamp.  I used the SU Blends to color the door.  This would be a great stamp to send to someone who is moving into a new home.  (I'll have to remember that!)

This is a notecard that came with the Paper Pumpkin and I used Under My Umbrella for the umbrella and flowers.

I love these meerkats peeking out of the boots.  And how about the frog down in the corner - did you miss him?  

This is my favorite I think.  I found that border (?) in the Good Morning Magnolia stamp set.  I used Dapper Denim for this card which is a retired in-color but I had the ribbon to match plus the retired "crackle" paper that I stamped the boots onto.  Don't you love the sentiment?  Great for these crazy times.

I know one thing - I need to stop baking during this panademic!  The scales are starting to be mean to me.  Sonny is getting used to having sweets every night with his tea plus I'm eating my share of the cakes, cookies and pies I've been making.  I'm trying to make them a little healthy by using applesauce in place of oil in the cakes and Splenda instead of sugar in cookies.  Sonny finished off the chocolate cake on Monday and was looking for his next treat yesterday.  I ended up making an apple tart but did it in two days.  He was looking for it last night but I'd only made the dough so he had to eat one of his Little Debbie cakes!  I finished making the tart this morning.  The instructions said to eat it immediately!  So I had a bite!  It was fairly easy to make.  I made a crust and put in my fluted tart pan that I've had for probably 5 years and never used!  I peeled and cored 4 apples and used my food processor to get them really thin.  The apples went in on top of the crust and I baked it at 400 for 40 minutes.  When I took it out of the oven, I drizzled caramel sauce on top .... yum!

No Matter the Weather - Under My Umbrella

I'm having fun with Under My Umbrella stamp set!  We have had a lot of rain this winter but I guess that's better than having a lot of snow and ice!  Last Friday, Sonny and I drove to Troutman to try out a restaurant someone had told him about.  It was a cold and rainy day but while we were out, it turned to a beautiful snowfall.  The flakes were huge and it was so pretty.  It didn't last long - maybe an hour or so - which was fine by me.  Anyway, we got to Troutman and proceeded to try and find this restaurant.  All Sonny could remember was that it was near Food Lion.  He couldn't remember who told him about the place, what they served, or the name of the restaurant - just that the food they had sounded good to him.  Needless to say, we did not find the restaurant although there was a restaurant right in front of Food Lion called Dixie that I think was probably the one.  He wasn't sure so we drove on to Statesville to a little dive (Phifers) that we like that serves the best fried chicken!  That's when it started to snow.  

OK - on to my cards.

Aren't those rain boots the cutest?  I stamped the umbrellas onto Gingham paper (retired 6x6 pack) and fussy cut the boots.  The sentiment is punched with the Pretty Label Punch.  I stamped the flowers directly on the Whisper White cardstock and colored them with my SU Blends.  The card base is Lemon Lime Twist (retired, but one of my favorite colors - I stocked up on it when it retired.)

This card was a fun one!  I stamped the umbrellas with black Staz-On ink, masking the umbrellas as I moved up the card.  I first used Watercolor Pencils and the Aqua Pen to color the umbrellas but I didn't like it.  So, I pulled out my Watercolor Crayons that have probably been retired about 10 years but I still love them.  They worked much better and I just colored right over the pencils. 

Under My Umbrella

I got some new stamps this week  ... and I am excited to be using them!  How do you like this card using the Under My Umbrella Bundle?  I love being able to use a punch for this instead of a die for a change.  Don't get me wrong - I love the dies but I also enjoy going back old school when punches were all we had.  This punch punches out the open and closed umbrellas as well as the umbrella handle.  Plus there is going to be a package of Designer Series Paper that will coordinate with this stamp set as well as 3 other stamp sets!  I just pre-ordered it but you can order it starting Feb. 4 (next week.)

For this card, I cut out watercolor paper with the Stitched Rectangles Die.  I used my Aqua Painter to watercolor Bermuda Bay, Highland Heather and Daffodil Delight on the side of the watercolor cardstock as well as down the side of the base card (thick Whisper White cardstock.)  I white embossed the umbrellas onto vellum and colored the back with my SU Blends (Bermuda Bay, Highland Heather and Flirty Flamingo.  I punched the handles out of Soft Suede cardstock.

Take a look at the Coordinating Product that you can purchase next week.  I put my order in yesterday and it has already shipped!!