Monday Mailers - July

Isn't it funny how great minds think alike!!  Our theme for Monday Mailers this month is to use color you don't usually use.  So, last week, this is the card I made using Rose Red and So Saffron which I don't seem to use much.   I love these little kids from the Summer Mini and hate that they didn't make it into the new catalog. 

RECIPE:

Stamp Set:  Sunny Fun

Paper:  So Saffron, Rose Red, Choc. Chip, Wild Wasabi, WW

Access:  Saffron Grosgrain Ribbon, Border Punch, Dotted Embossing Folder, Markers

So this card (below) is the one I received my Monday Mailer partner:

Kathy used this card to spotlight all the new In colors.  Isn't it funny how alike the two cards are!  Great minds I tell you!!

We had some crazy weather this weekend.  We went out to dinner Friday night with friends and it was pouring down rain when we left and mostly through dinner.  When we got ready to leave the restaurant, it started up again with the pouring rain so we stayed at the restaurant a little longer.  (It was an Irish pub and they had Sonny's new favorite Irish beer so it wasn't hard to twist his arm.)  Anyway, it probably rained really hard off and on for about 4-5 hours.  The next morning when I got up, I looked out in our back yard and boy, what a mess!  Sonny built a drainage area on the side of our house a couple of years ago - about a 10 x 3 foot area filled with rock because we had been having trouble with water washing away our yard.  It's been working ok until Friday!  Half the rock washed away into our back yard and down through the woods into the creek bed beside our house.  Sonny and I spent several hours Saturday trying to recover the rock.  We ended up recovering about half of it but it was a hot and humid day and we were drenched when we finished.  Later in the day, we rewarded ourselves by going to the movies.  I finally talked Sonny into going to see Mr Popper's Penguins.  It was really cute.  I remember reading the book when I was a child and wanted to see it.

Convention Swaps

I have been busy getting my swaps together for convention.  Next week this time, I will be there!!  Can't wait!   I've only been to convention once before - back in 2006 - just a year after I started with Stampin' Up.  So, I am looking forward to seeing all the changes that have been made since then.

I have signed up for just two organized swaps - one is for just 11 cards and the other I have made 50 cards to swap out.  The rest of the cards - about 50 - I will just use for general swapping on the floor of the convention.  So, I will be coming back with a lot of new ideas and samples!!

I love this snowman!!

Recipe:
Stamp:  Snow Much Fun
Paper:  Night of Navy, White
Accessories:  Markers, Dazzling Diamonds

This is one of the cards for the general swap.  I ran the Vellum through the Big Shot with the Dotted embossing folder (stamp the sentiment first!)

Stamp:  Vintage Vogue
Ink:  Calypso Coral, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive

Blog Problems

I want to apologize for my lack of posts this week.  I found out yesterday that my Image storage was full.  I didn't even know I had a limit but evidently, I do.  So, I have been trying to delete a bunch of un-needed pictures.  If you scroll way back to some of my posts, you may find missing pictures.  Sorry about that!  I may end up having to go to another blog server but not sure yet.  I'll let you know!

In the meantime, hang in there with me until I can get it all straightened out.

Happy 4th of July

Hope you are having a great 4th of July and are staying cool and safe.  We stayed pretty busy all weekend so today we decided to just "chill" at home!  Saturday night we watched fireworks from our boat.  They were shot off from Queens Landing and we threw anchor in a cove across the lake and had a great view.  We took a picnic dinner and enjoyed that with my mom and my sister while waiting for the fireworks to begin.  Sunday we were out on the boat most of the day.  It was pretty hot and I stayed in the water most of the time.  I was in an inner-tube and rigged a pool-chair in front of me that I was able to prop my book up on.  So, I stayed pretty cool while reading my book and not getting it wet!  Later in the evening we drove to Mooresville and had dinner at Hickory Tavern.  After dinner, we set up our lawn chairs in the parking lot and watched fireworks put on by the YMCA.  

I have made a couple of cards in honor of the holiday and also as a thank you to my daughter and all the others out there who are away from their family and serving their country. 

 These cards use a retired SU stamp set, Liberty for All and they are stamped on a piece of scrapbook paper that I bought several years ago.

Thank you Ashley.  You will be home soon.  Although I am sad to report that she will not be returning as soon as we thought.  She was informed yesterday that she will not be able to come home early like she had been told a month ago.  She now will return with the rest of the troop sometime toward the end of August.  She has been packing her things and getting rid of stuff she didn't need to take home - even threw away her sheets (except for 1 set) last week.  She had already gone around and gotten all the signatures she needed on the paperwork to return July 21.  AND, we had made airplane reservations to meet her the end of July.  Of course, the ticket is non-refundable so guess we will just have to pay the penalty to change it when we know a different date.  I just haven't felt like dealing with it and will do something next week about it.  Needless to say, Ashley was pretty upset and I was too.  But, what can you do when you're dealing with the government?

Join the Stampin' Up Family for just $99!!

During July, you can join the Stampin' Up! family as a demonstrator for only $99!  This limited time Starter Kit—valued at $185—comes with the following high-quality products:

• Easy Events Clear-Mount Set*
• Pennant Parade Wood-Mount Set*
• Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad
• Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad
• Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad
• Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
• Brights 8-1/2" x 11" Assorted Card Stock
• Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper*
• Chocolate Chip 1/2" Scallop Dots Ribbon*
• Note Cards (20)
• Clear-Mount Block C
• Blender Pen (1)
• SNAIL Adhesive
• Business supplies

*Brand new to the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog!

SAVE!!! Enjoy the new Stampin' Up! 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog using a one-time 30% Off Start Up Discount on product orders of $150 or more (placed within 45 days of start).

Get 20% off future Stampin' Up! orders, awesome exclusive resources and the opportunity to pre-order new products. 

Receive Stampin' Up! discounts and benefits through Dec. 31, 2011 with NO obligation to purchase anything further or hold a workshop. 

 

Just want to do it for the fun? Hobby demonstrators are welcome as well as  business builder demonstrators.   

There's no penalty to drop. You keep everything. PLUS Get a Christmas Keepsake project kit (example below) absolutely FREE--a $40 value! This exclusive kit contains everything you need to create a beautiful Christmas Keepsake Box to hold your most treasured Christmas memories. It will be available with your first demonstrator order in August and must be redeemed by Sept. 30.

Contact me to get started today!

Blog Candy Winners

Contratulations Friends!  I ended up with quite a few cards so I decided to pick 4 lucky winners for the month's blog candy!  I went through all the comments for the month and typed them all up in a numbered Exel file and then used Random.org  to pick the winners.  If your name is listed below, contact me with your address so I can get the cards in the mail to you.

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

22   Diane C said  Another reason to order more. These are great cards. Love the use of the papers done with stripes. The jewelry tag is one I have yet to order. Another idea waiting to be tried on a card. Your ideas are great and usually simple to do. Love that.

38  Chris R said - What fun! I would love to win, even just one card! Love all the details you put in the cards. Hard to pick just one favorite. All have great details. Thanks for sharing your talent with us.


17  Georgiegirl said - Why do I struggle to find colors that co-ordinate instead of coming to your site and making it easy on myself and just "steal" your color combinations. Very nice cards as always.

1   Teri  said -  Thanks for the chance to win!

Timestamp: 2011-07-02 03:18:09 UTC

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!!

Good-bye Old Friends

Today is the final day to order from the catalog.  The 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog goes live tomorrow at noon Mountain time!!  I'm excited but also sad to see some of the older stamps being retired.  My final retirement share for you today is from a Level Two Hostess set - Long Fellows.  I have not used this set very much but I will be hanging on to it.  I think it is great and has a variety of uses from birthdays to friendship.

I thought this card was appropriate for today!

 I used a variety of old and new products on this card.  Some of the cardstock is new - Island Indigo - one of the new In Colors.  The punches are old - the Spiral Punch is being retired and the smaller Star punch is already retired.  (The large Star punch is being retired this time.)

RECIPE:
Stamp:  Long Fellows
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Island Indigo, White
Access:  Small Star Punch, Spiral Punch, dimensionals, (non-SU) ribbon, Copic markers

I'll be drawing tomorrow for the winners of the card give-aways for this month!  Comments are appreciated!

A Sad Goodbye

 
It's time to say good bye to some old favorites .... stamps, accessories and Definately Decorative Accents.  Here are the lists of all the items going bye-bye!

STAMPS


ACCESSORIES


DECORATIVE ACCENTS


So get out your catalog and high-lighter and start marking which ones you can't live without.  Then run - don't walk - to your computer or phone and give me a holler to order your goodies.  The stamps should last a while but the Accessories will be on a first come, first serve basis.  When they are gone, they're GONE.  I will be updating the lists periodically for availability.

You can also click on my SIDEBAR for an updated list any time.   That link takes you to my online store where you can place your order also.

I will keep this post at the top for June with the updates so make sure you scan down to read my posts this month.

Monday Mailers for June

 I have been so busy with the retiring stamps that I haven't taken the time to share my Monday Mailers this month.  We also used the theme of retiring stamp sets so some of the cards I shared with you, I used for my Monday Mailers also.  But I received some great Monday Mailers from Laurie, a new member of our NC Demos group.

This last one I received today and it is by far my favorite!  I will be CASE-ing this one for sure.  The Brilliant Blue card stock is retired but I think the new in-color, Island Indigo will work well.  She used the Scallop Hearts Border Punch along the side and ran the vellum through the Big Shot with the Dotted embossing folder.  Thinking of You is stamped on the vellum.  The flowers are from Fresh Cuts which is retiring.

Tomorrow I will be posting the final Retirement set.  If you want to win, leave a comment!!

Last Chance to Party Hearty!

I only had time to make one card today.  I had a pretty busy day.  I met a group for lunch at a new restaurant in town and had a nice lunch and visit with my friends.  Then it was off to pick up everything I need for my big Southern Living Luncheon at my house on Thursday.  I am having 14 ladies for lunch.  Thankfully, I don't have to prepare the food - only the beverages.  Everyone brings a dish from a recent Southern Living Magazine and we critique the dishes.  It's a great way to taste some things you wouldn't ordinarily make for your family.  I am making Strawberry Margaritas and Sweet Tea Lemonade from the May issue.  I needed a new pitcher and went all over town looking for one today - Ross, TJ Max, Target, Pier One, World Market, Bed, Bath and Beyond!  I finally found one I liked at Bed and Bath but by that time I was sooo hot and exhausted.  The thermometer in my car was registering 100 degrees!  Then I had to make a stop at the grocery store and the liquor store.  Whew!!  Now tomorrow I have to dust and mop - yuck!!  (My least favorite thing to do.)

But I did take a little time out this evening to make a card with the retiring set, Party Hearty.  Pennants are going to be a big thing this fall.  Stampin' Up has a pennant die and punch in the new catalog!  So I decided to make a pennant using the hats in the stamp set.  I thought they turned out cute.  I used all In Colors too!  

RECIPE:

Stamp:  Party Hearty

Paper:  retired DSP, Pear Pizazz, Island Indigo (sneak peek), Calypso Coral (sneak peek)

Ink:  for pennants - Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Peach Parfait, Wisteria Wonder, Calypso Coral

Access:  Bakers Twine, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch

IF YOU WANT A CHANCE IN THE DRAWING FOR THIS CARD AND ALL THE CARDS I HAVE MADE THIS MONTH, LEAVE ME A COMMENT!  I WILL DRAW ON FRIDAY.