Shake, Rattle & Roll!

Welcome to the February NC Demos Blog Hop.  This month we are making cards that .... shake, rattle and roll - meaning there should be movement with your project!   

Have you ever made a Flip-Flap card?  Well, that's what I've made for this Shake, Rattle & Roll blog hop for the NC demos.  I have two samples to share with you.

The first card I have made with this technique uses the adorable Woodland Wonder stamp set.  You can find this stamp in the current Mini Catalog on page 53.  This was my first time using this stamp set but I can tell I will be using it a lot!  The little creatures poking out of the tree are so cute!

Here is the card closed.  I used Granny Apple Green and Daffodil Delight for my card.  The DSP is Artistry Blooms.  I used SU's Blends to color the images.  I also used my Blending Brushes to blend Balmy Blue ink and Granny Apple Green ink on the image.  I love those Blending Brushes!!

When you pull the tab (Daffodil Delight), you get another cute woodland image hidden on the inside.  I used the Scalloped Tag Topper for the "mechanism" tab but you could also the Delightful Tag Topper.

This is the card open.  I put a small strip of the Artistry Blooms DSP at the bottom of the inside page.

Here are the measurements for my Woodland Wonder card above:

• Granny Apple Green card base - standard card 8 1/2" x 11" and scored at 5 1/2"  
• Daffodil Delight (mechanism) 6" x 2" / scored at 2" and 2 1/2"
• Whisper White (inside of card) 5 1/4" x 4"
• Daffodil Delight - 4 3/4" x 3 1/2"
• Artistry Blooms DSP 4 5/8" x 3 3/8"
• Granny Apple Green (door panel) 3 7/8" x 2 7/8"
• DSP 3 3/4" x 2 3/4"
• Granny Apple Green (hidden panel on right side) 3 7/8" x 2"
• Whisper White 3 3/4" x 1 7/8"
• Ribbon - approx 4"

Here is another Flip Flap card I made to show that you can make this card in different sizes.

For this card, I used the Hey Chick Birthday stamp set and colored everything with Blends (Calypso Coral, Magenta and Daffodil.)  The card is Cinnamon Cider and the mat piece is Calypso Coral.  The Calypso Coral check DSP is retired.  I also used the Blending Brushes on the image - blue and cinnamon.

I used the Classic Label punch to punch the slot in the DSP that the tag fits through.  The square of DSP that the tag goes through is from World of Good (which I think is retired.)  I used the Layering Squares for the Calypso Coral  "door."

And this is the card fully opened.   

I loved making these cards and hope you will give it a try also.  I got my tutorial on-line by googling "flip flap card."  There are several tutorials on the web for this kind of card.  I used one by Terri Pocock from the UK.

Continue the blog hop and see what Tracie has made for us.  I'm sure it will be something great!

Enjoy all the other great Shake, Rattle and Roll projects!

Tina Lessons

Amy Kinler

Toni Campana

Sharon Maranich (you are here)

Tracie Evans Langley

Jo Anne Hewins

Sue Root

Clumsy Clara Checking In!

I'm starting to feel a little back to normal!  Playing cards with friends on Monday helped a lot.   I went to our neighborhood pool the past two mornings for water exercise class.  The water is still a bit nippy but once you get in and get wet, it's not bad - even refreshing.   My back is not liking me doing anything but I have got to do some kind of exercise and I am being careful.  I just take an Aleve when I get home and get out the ice pack.  I have found that it is limiting what I can do though which I don't like.  I can make one card and then I have to take a break.  My friend called me Clumsy Clara and my mom and husband want to give me a walker!  I get no respect!!  ha ha!

I hope by the time I get all the goodies I ordered yesterday from the NEW Annual Catalog, I'll be good to go and I'll be able to make lots of cards!  I ordered a lot more than I usually do but I figure I haven't spent much money in the past 3 months so I gave myself permission to splurge!  It took me about 2 hours yesterday to get my order in.  I kept getting error messages and the wait time to talk to Stampin' Up was crazy!  But I finally got it all in the computer.  Now just to wait for my order to be winging it's way to me!  I ordered a few of the new Stampin' Blends, all the In Color reinkers and stamp pads, some shimmer paint, Playing With Patterns DSP (6x6), Playing with Patterns Ribbon Combo Pack and the Stampin' Blends Storage Trays (pg 145).  The stamp sets I got are:  Blossoms In Bloom, Celebrate Sunflowers, Sending Sunshine, Drybrush, Tasteful Touches and some dies to match some of the sets.  Now looking over my order, I realize I ordered a stamp pad twice and neglected to make one of the stamp sets a bundle.  I think a lot of that was due to the error messages and how many times I had to close the order and come back to it.  I hate when that happens, but it's ok.

Here are a few cards I have made this week.

This card uses current product!!!  The card is Old Olive cut at 7 1/2" x 5 1/2" and scored at 4 1/4".  I matted the Ornate Garden DSP onto Terracotta Tile cardstock.  The flower image is stamped onto watercolor paper and colored with my Aqua Pen and ink refills.  It is adhered to the front flap just on the left side.  I cut a 1" piece of Terracotta Tile cardstock to mat the small strip of DSP on the inside right of the card.

I know we all like to look at our Designer Papers, maybe even take them out of the package and stroke them sometimes .... but come on, let's share the love and get cutting into those lovely designs or you'll be like me and have a LOT of left over DSP when a new catalog comes along!

I used the Tailored Tag punch and the Sale-A-Bration Golden Honey DSP for this card.  I did a lot  of layering using the Rectangle Dies.

By doing all the layering on both cards, I was able to get 2 cards out of it.  (I like the first one better!)

Happy Birthday To You!

Hope you had a nice weekend.  Mine was pretty quiet but I got a few things done that have been on my list for a while - like mopping the floor!  Ugh!  But it's got to be done.  Saturday I spent a lot of time in the kitchen.  I am trying to do a weekly meal plan so I'm not just rummaging in the fridge to find something for dinner every night.  I made a big pot of onion soup for dinner last night.  I have never made onion soup from scratch but it turned out really good.  I also made a chocolate fudge cheesecake .... well, it's really a fake cheesecake but it's good anyway.  It's really easy too.  If you want to give it a try, here's the recipe -

3 eggs
3 cups fat free plain yogurt
1 small box sugar free, fat free chocolate fudge pudding mix
1/2 Tbs vanilla
3 Tbs sugar substitute (I used Splenda)

Whisk eggs, vanilla, Spenda mixing well.  Add yogurt and pudding mix and mix all together.  Pour into lightly greased springform pan.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  (It will look jiggly but it sill set when chilled.)  Let cool for 15-20 minutes before covering it with plastic wrap and put in fridge.  Best chilled overnight.

Enjoy!

I have been binge watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.  I got an Amazon Fire Stick last week so I could get movies and other things on tv.  We have cable but I wanted to watch some of the Amazon Prime movies and enjoy the music I can get now.  So far, I'm loving it.  I finished the first season of Mrs. Maisel this afternoon.  I recommend it to you.  It's really funny.

Here is the card I am sharing with you today.  You can never have too many birthday cards!  I used Happy Birthday to You from the Sale-a-Bration catalog.  With a purchase of $50, you can get this stamp set for FREE!

For this card, I used a piece of Designer Series Paper on the background from Lily Impressions.  This DSP is in the Sale-a-Bration catalog and you can get it FREE with a $50 purchase.  I colored the cake and flowers with the SU Blends.  I put rhinestones in the centers of the flowers.

For this card, I used DSP from Best Dressed.  I embossed the cake and flowers with white embossing powder and used the Stitched Rectangle Dies on the white cardstock.  The card is from Lovely Lipstick and matted onto Petal Pink cardstock.

90 Candles!

I had fun making Mom's birthday card.  I had to have 90 candles on it and I did!!  It took me almost all day to make this card!!

Each panel is 6" x 6".  I used tape to adhere the panels to each other and accordian folded it.  I cut 1/2" candles out of Designer Paper and adhered them to the panels.  I stamped the flame using Broadway Birthday stamp set and stamped "happy birthday" on each panel.  

This is the card all tied up with pretty ribbon.

The front of the card.

We collected over $900 in donations for Camp Dogwood.  Camp Dogwood is a wonderful retreat for the visually impaired and blind sponsored by the North Carolina Lions Clubs.  The camp is located on Lake Norman so the campers get to go on boat rides, swim, tube, and fish.  Mom did not go to Dogwood this year because of her trip to Hawaii but she has gone the last two years and just loved it!

These are the thank you cards I made for Mom to send to her friends.

I used Share What You Love for these cards.

I used one of my favorites, Daisy Delight for these cards.

Broadway Star Paper Pumpkin

Yay!!  Another opportunity to spread the word about Paper Pumpkin.  These kits just keep getting better.  If you have not subscribed to Paper Pumpkin in the past, NOW is the time!  Please choose me as your demonstrator when signing up for Paper Pumpkin and use the Promo Code BLOOMO818.

I broke into my June Paper Pumpkin kit last weekend and made 2 of the cards per the included instructions and four alternative cards.  I still have materials to make several more cards.  I just love this kit - the Lemon Lime Twist and Lovely Lipstick go great together!

Card #1 per instructions included in Paper Pumpkin kit.

Card #2 per the instructions.

Alternative card #1 - I pieced the "Yay" together from the Hooray sticker that was included.  Peel and stick it with the balloons and stamp "It's your day."  Super easy!!

Alternative card #2 - I stamped the party hats, candles, etc. on the white sticker using the stamp set from Broadway Birthday (pg 69, annual catalog).  The die cut "WISH" is from the Broadway Lights Framelits.  I love how this bundle coordinated with the Paper Pumpkin this month.

Alternative card #3 - I die cut "happy" (retired Hello You framelits) from Lovely Lipstick cardstock and stamped "birthday" from Special Celebrations, masking "happy" that was on the stamp.

Alternative card #4 - The white piece with green dots down the side is one of the envelopes that came with the kit that I cut down.  The "hello" die cut is also from the retired Hello You framelits.  It is cut out from Gold Foil Sheets.

Bird Banter

Remember me???  I've been AWOL .... again!  I just need to slow down and take time to keep up with my blog.

We were in Atlanta for a week recently and had a good time.  Ashley was there for the week attending a pediatric conference so it was a good time for us to see her.  We stayed with her downtown for a couple of nights before driving to Dunwoody (suburb of Atlanta) and staying with some old friends for a couple of nights.  During the day, Sonny and Jim played golf while Melanie took me to a couple of historic homes and museums.  It would have been better if the weather had been a little warmer!!  I was prepared for 60+ days and while it may have gotten to 60 degrees, the wind was terrible and just about knocked you off your feet.  Luckily, I brought Ashley a jacket to wear or our Hawaiian girl would have froze!

I have a couple of birthday cards that I have made lately using the Bird Banter set and sent to friends.  I'm giving myself a pat on the back that I remembered to take a picture of them before mailing!!

I love the bright colors on this card!  The birds are so much fun to color using the Stampin' Blends.

This is a simple card but I love how the balloon continues on past the square.

This card I sent to my granddaughter in Colorado.  Her birthday was while I was in Hawaii and it was a little late getting to her!  It is a tri-fold card as you can see in the next picture.

Love this "early bird" saying for the card!!

Saying Good Bye to Retiring Products - May Blog Hop

Welcome to the NC Demos Blog Hop!  Did you enjoy the projects that Tracie shared with you?  She always has great cards!  It's time to say good-bye to our favorite retiring products from the 2016-17 catalog, so our May theme is all about saying farewell before we concentrate on our new catalog which premiers on June 1.

My first share in my favorites is a card made with Gorgeous Grunge and a new stamp set, Lovely Friends.  This card literally took me about 5 minutes to make!  I think it took longer to decide on what colors to use (Pacific Point, Lemon Lime and Daffodil Delight) than to make the card! Seriously!

My next favorite stamp set that is retiring is Wetlands.  I love the sea oats and the little birds in the set.  In the card below, I stamped the birds onto a piece of card stock that I did the Marbeling Technique on using shaving cream.  We did that technique in April at my stamp club and my gals loved it!

This next card is also from Wetlands but using the goose this time.  I have not used him very much but I thought this makes a good masculine card.  There is a 2 1/2" piece of window sheet on the card and I masked off a 1 1/4" strip on the inside (that you can see through the window sheet) and sponged Mint Macaron and Crumb Cake.  (Mint Macaron is a color that I am going to sorely miss!!  I am hoping it will return in the future to our color line up.)  Next I stamped the grass in Old Olive.  I also stamped a bit of the grass on the outside of the card.

Here is the card open so you can see how I made it.  You just sandwich the window sheet between the 1/2" strip and the 2 1/2" piece of the card.  We are going to do a similar card in Stamp Club next month but I will be using the Seaside Shores fish that is carrying over to the new catalog.

Another thing I will miss is some of the DSP that we had in the retiring catalog.  I need to stop hoarding all the DSP and use it up during the year.  Don't know why I do that every year - it's not like I can't just order more if I need it!  The card below uses the stamps from Seaside Shore and the corresponding DSP, By the Shore.  I love this DSP and another great one is the paper stacks.   

When I went to my daughter's house last Christmas, I made her a collage frame to hang in her guest bathroom using the By the Shore DSP.  She lives in Hawaii so this was a perfect addition to her "beachy" bathroom!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed the projects I have shared with you.  I didn't mean to put so many on this page but I just couldn't stop!  There are a lot of favorites leaving us but also a lot of new favorites coming our way!!

I know you will enjoy the rest of the stops on the blog hop!  Just follow along below.  If you are going in order, Laurie Meier will be your next stop.

Debra Ballance-Byrd  

Tamra Davis  

Jo Anne Hewins

Michelle Irinyi 

Tracie Evans Langley

Sharon Maranich  - YOU ARE HERE

Laurie Meier

Frances Wagner 

NC Blog Hop Favorite Occasions!

Welcome to the February 2017 NC Demos Blog Hop - whew!  That was a mouthful!  This month we are concentrating of Favorite Occasions.  We are using stamps from the Occasions Catalog with an emphasis on a Spring Holiday or event.

If you follow my blog, you might know that I am obsessed with the High Tide stamp set.  I have made several cards using the beautiful lighthouse stamp.  You can see them HERE and HERE and I still have others I haven't posted yet!  But I thought this card would be perfect for this year's anniversary card for my hubbie!  What do you think?  We will be celebrating 44 years of marriage on April 7.  (How did that happen?  Seems like we were just dating a few years ago!)

Not only do I have an anniversary card to share, but there are several birthdays coming up so I thought it would be great to catch up on some birthday cards so they will be ready to go when I need them!

This card uses the "celebrate" embossing folder from the Occasions catalog along with "you" from Hello You Framelits.  The stripes running down and the "swish" are from Gorgeous Grunge.  I stamped them in Bermuda Bay, Peekaboo Peach, Rich Razzleberry and Watermelon Wonder.  This was a really easy card to make.

Here is another stamp set that I have been having fun using.  It is in the Occasions catalog and is called Crazy Cake.  There are so many variations that you can put together using this stamp set.  It is a two-step stamp set but since it is photopolymer, it is easy to line up.  I love two-step stamps and that is what got me hooked on Stampin' Up 12 years ago.  (I just passed my 12 year demonstrator anniversary on Feb. 16!) The cute little frog popping up from the cake is from the hostess set, Love you Lots.  I don't normally get the hostess sets but I got this one right away and have used it so much! The sentiment is from Sunshine Sayings.  I stamped each cake part onto white cardstock (except the one on the bottom which is stamped onto Sweet Sugarplum cs), cut them out and popped them up with dimensionals.  That made it easy to line up the frog and the stars directly onto the card.  The colors I used are Rich Razzleberry, Sweet Sugarplum, Marina Mist, and Perfect Plum.

Here is another card using the Crazy Cake stamp set.  These cake pieces were stamped directly on the white cardstock panel using Tempting Turquoise, Cucumber Crush, Peekaboo Peach and Denim. Unfortunately, I could not find the flame for the candles in the set.  It is really teeny tiny and probably got stuck to something and will never be found again.  But I found a candle flame in the set, Sprinkles of Life that that worked.  The sprinkles on the sides of the turquoise card are also from the Sprinkles of Life set.

Here is one last card using Crazy Cake to show that you don't have to use all the parts of the cake.  I stamped you're from Watercolor Words (just mask off the "the best")  I love the color combo of Dapper Denim and Emerald Envy.   (This layout was cased from Brian King.)

I hope you enjoyed my anniversary and birthday cards and they will inspire you to make a few of your own.

Enjoy the blog hop and hop right along to the see what Laurie Meier has prepared for you.

Debra Ballance-Byrd -
Tamra Davis 
Jo Anne Hewins 
Michelle Irinyl 
Melissa Kerman 
Tracie Evans Langley -
Sharon Maranich (You are here)
Laurie Meier 
Lisa Tedder
Frances Wagner -

Fantastic Birthday!

It's Super Bowl Sunday.  Sure wish my team was playing but hopefully, next year.  I'm pulling for Atlanta since I am just NOT a fan of Brady or Belichek!!  I'm watching the game now and it's half-time and Lady GaGa is performing!  I'd prefer a country singer at half time but I guess I got my fix watching Luke Bryan sing the National Anthem tonight!  I'm loving the score as of now!  (Sorry if you are a New England fan.)  So far, there have only been a couple of commercials that have stood out for me - one being the one with Terry Bradshaw in it.

I had fun today making this card.  It's a CASE from Pinterest (my favorite source for CASEing cards!)   I can't tell you how long it took me though!! I definitely wouldn't do many of them.  Of course, it took me a couple of tries.  I worked up from the bottom and when I stamped the lady bugs on my first try, I rocked my stamp plus had it too far down.  So, try again on a new slate.  The card is a big one and fits into a legal envelope.  

The stamp set is Crazy Cake and is in the Occasions Catalog.  I also used a hostess set that I love called "Love You Lots."  My Stamp-a-ma-jig was a big help getting the animals positioned the way I wanted them.  I also did a lot of masking - mostly just putting sticky notes over the sides of the cake layers when I was stamping the animals.  After I got the card stamped, I just did some doodling on the card.  The Crazy Cake stamp is a fun set.  It provides a great building block for cakes, backgrounds, and birthday celebrations.

Well, time to get back to the game.  Hoping for an Atlanta WIN!

November Paper Pumpkin

Be aware - the November Hostess Code is in the column on the left side of this blog.

 If you are short on time, space, supplies, etc. . . . Paper Pumpkin might be a great solution for you.  The November box is sure to hold something exciting for the holidays!  Now would be the perfect time to try it for yourself.  Sign up by the 10th to get the November box.  Remember, you can skip or cancel anytime AND your satisfaction is guaranteed!  I also think this would be a great Christmas present for a teen on your list.

This past weekend was Stampin' Up's On Stage which is an events program designed to bring together SU demonstrators from all over the world.  At the event, the newest catalog is revealed and well as demonstrators being recognized for their achievements.  It's been described as a little like attending a very big and fun party where you can meet new friends, re-connect with old friends, create Make and Takes, do some card swapping, take home free products and much more.  There is one big live On Stage and several local ones where you watch some of the recorded content from the live On Stage.  Last weekend the live On Stage was held in Brisbane, AU and the closest local event for NC was Atlanta.  I had a lot of friends who attended.  Sadly, I did not - too much traveling for me lately so had to sit this one out.  I hope to attend the next local On Stage in Savannah thought in April!

But, I didn't miss out on all the fun of On Stage.  A lot of demos posted picture on Facebook or on their blogs of the fun they were having.  Last night was my monthly demo meeting with Allison and, what a sweetie!  She brought us the Occasions Catalog which will be revealed Jan. 1!!  Plus we got to see all the swaps that she and the other gals had gotten at the event.

I have a few more birthday cards to share with you today.

My card from Ashley

Sweet card from an NC Demo friend, Jo Anne

Love all the details in this card from Margaret.

This was Ashley's card to her dad.  His birthday was a week after mine.