Happy Memorial Day

Hope your long weekend and Memorial Day were restful and fun.  Ours was pretty quiet.  We took the boat out on Saturday - first time this year!  Believe it or not, but we have not even turned on the A/C in our house!!  Our house is so shaded that it stays fairly cool.  My craft room is starting to get a little warm so the A/C will probably be switched on in the next few days.  But, June & no A/C is a record for us.  Sunday we went out for breakfast and then to the movies in Mooresville.  Afterwards, we ran a few errands before returning home.  Today started out overcast so Sonny went to the Y and I lazed around the house!  I did make a wreath for the front door.  I've seen these wreaths made with red, white and blue bandanas but I couldn't find any (cheap anyway!).  So when I saw this material at JoAnne's, I bought it.  The Craft group in our neighborhood is making them this week and I was going to make it then.  But I decided to go ahead and put it together today since I had time and wanted to hang it on my door.  Plus, I was afraid I would have a conflict on Wednesday night with the Stanley Cup game.  Pittsburgh won their last play-off game last week and that win put them into playing for the Stanley Cup!!  We are excited - the first game in tonight.

I die cut stars from glitter paper and hot glued them to the wreath.

When we were in town on Sunday, we drove by the YMCA and saw this awesome flag display.

Each flag had a card on it with a veteran's name - either "in honor of" or "in memoriam"

May NC Blog Hop - New Catalog Sneak Peeks!!

It's the last Sunday of the month which means it's time for the NC Demos Blog Hop!

Welcome to the NC Demos Blog Hop for May, 2016.  We are grateful that you stopped by to take a look at our creations this month.  Get your Wish Lists out because this month we are featuring projects using items from the NEW 2016-17 Annual Stampin' Up Catalog!!  We hope to provide you with lots of ideas.

As demonstrators, we are able to pre-order a few select items from the new catalog before it is released.  This time (for the first time!) I decided not to purchase any new stamp sets and only bought the new In Color card stock and ink pads.  So that is what I am concentrating on in my blog creations today.

The new 2016-18 In Colors are:  Dapper Denim, Peekaboo Peach, Emerald Envy, Flirty Flamingo and Sweet Sugarplum.  I keep changing my mind about which color is my favorite one!  I don't know if you noticed, but I have also used the new In Colors in my Blog Banner "splats" and in the letters above.

One of my favorite tools in years past was always the Stampin' Up Color Coach.  Unfortunately, SU retired it a year or two ago so I have made up my own using the In Colors.  Click on the chart below to see it better.  Of course, these are not all the combinations .... see what you can come up with!

I made a bookmark for my club members to show them the new colors.  Love the ribbon!!

My first card uses a technique called Bouncing Brayer.  When was the last time you used your brayer?  Ha!  Dig it out and try this technique.  Ink up your brayer in your choice of ink and place one edge of the brayer near the cardstock center.  Press the brayer to the cardstock but don't roll it.  Lift off paper.  Continue this process moving the brayer about 1/2" - 3/4" each time.  Makes a unique background.  I did mine in Peekaboo Peach, Emerald Envy and Flirty Flamingo.

My next card uses a stamp set that was in the Spring Mini Catalog and is carrying over.  It is called Grateful Bunch and comes with a coordinating punch.  I used ink from the lid of the pad and watercolored the flower with Sweet Sugarplum ink.  The leaves are stamped with Emerald Envy.

This is the card opened up - a fun fold!!

Next I decided to try another background that I created myself.  I masked the card with a circle and sponged in-color stripes.  (I used a striped mask that was included in the retired Banner Kit but you could easily use a ruler or cardboard.)  I stamped the leaves from Grateful Bunch (Emerald Envy) and stamped the flowers from the same set using the In Colors.

This one is my favorite!  I cut strips of In Color cardstock (1") and angled them onto a Basic Black card base.  After trimming the edges, I adhered the piece to the Dapper Denim card.  The sentiment is from Cottage Greetings and the punched flowers are from Grateful Bunch.

I hope you have gotten some inspiration for using the new In Colors from my projects.

Your next stop on the Hop is Sue Root -

You may just be starting the Blog Hop or may have come from Tracie Langley's blog.  The full line-up listed below will help you move along from blog to blog so you can see all the projects.


 Michelle Irinyi - http://makingmemorieswithmichelle.weebly.com/home/nc-demos-blog-hop-marquee-messages

Melissa Kerman - http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/thecraftingtreehouse/blog?directBlogUrl=/blog/60800/entry/thoughtful_banners_with_sweet_sugarplum

Tracie Langley - http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/traciesallaboutstamping/blog?directBlogUrl=/blog/86481/entry/nc_demos_may_blog_hop

(YOU ARE HERE) Sharon Maranich - http://inkiefinger.blogspot.com/2016/05/may-nc-blog-hop-new-catalog-sneak-peeks.html

Sue Root - http://stampin-with-sue.blogspot.com/2016/05/nc-su-demos-new-catalog-blog-hop.html

Pam Staples - http://wp.me/p3p2VA-1pB

Frances Wagner - http://wagstamps.blogspot.com/2016/05/nc-su-demo-hop-team-meeting-swaps-gifts.html

May Club Cards

I held my May Stamp Club on Tuesday and we made some fun cards using a lot retired items.  You only have a few days left to buy these retired items!!  So if you know of something you really want, order now.  I would appreciate it if you used my May Hostess Code:  4FAMTZF3

Base:  Crushed Curry – 8 ½” x 5 ½”, scored & folded

Whisper White – 5 ¼” x 4”

It's My Party DSP (retiring) – 1 ½” x 5 ¼”

Color Squares – Melon Mambo; Mint Macaron, Crushed Curry – 1 3/8” square

Party Punch Pack Cupcake and Candle (retiring)

·        Punch the Candle Punch first in the white square (1 1/8”).   Slide it all the way up as far as it will go & punch.  Then take the Cupcake Punch & put it in so that just a bit of white is at the bottom.

·        Stamp sentiment at bottom.

·        Line up squares and assemble. (Use grid on your grid paper to make it easier to line up.) 

·        On Watercolor Paper (could also use Shimmery White paper), make a watercolor wash of 3 colors.

·        Colors I used are:

o   Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango & Melon Mambo

o   Tempting Turquoise, Wisteria, Cucumber Crush

·        Die cut white paper using the Hexagon Hive thinlet (retiring).

·        Stamp sentiment on scrap white paper from Feel Goods (retiring) stamp set and die cut using Labels framelits (retiring). 

·        Assemble card.

·        Stamp Swallowtail (retiring) using Versamark and heat emboss it with your choice of embossing powder.  (Black embossing powder is retiring and is already sold out.)

·        Use markers and color the butterfly.

·        Cut out with Paper Snips.

·        Wrap your choice of ribbon around Newsprint Designer Paper (retiring). 

      All of the ribbon used above is retiring ....  except for the purple card - that is the new rouched ribbon in Sweet Sugarplum.

·        Adhere DSP to card.

·        Cut 2 banners out using Banners Framelets (retiring) and adhere to Newsprint paper.

·        Adhere butterfly to card.

·        Stamp sentiment and cut out with Bitty Banners (retiring).

·        Use Wink of Stella for accent on butterfly.

Blended Bloom

 

We said good-bye to Ft Lauderdale yesterday morning, dropped Ashley off at the airport, and headed north.  Our plans (I thought) were to drive as far as Brunswick, GA and stop for the night.  Pittsburgh was playing hockey (Stanley Cup play offs) at 8 pm and I had already scoped out a place for us to watch the game there.  Well, best laid plans .... or .... I should know my husband better!  When I looked up from reading my book, we were crossing the line into South Carolina!  We ended up stopping in a little "po-dunk" town that had 2 motels and a lot of fast food restaurants.  We did find a regular restaurant next to the motel for dinner but ended up sitting in the motel room to watch the game.  (Pittsburgh ended up losing in over-time.)  We are getting ready to get back on the road.  Next stop (other than gas) I hope will be Front Porch Restaurant for fried chicken.  That is definitely NOT on Weight Watchers but it is soooo good and I have been pretty good this past week even if I was on vacation. 

 

I wanted to share this card I made a couple of weeks ago that uses a single stamp that is retiring.  I am not sure if it is still available to purchase since I have not checked the Retiring List this week.  But if it is, I would recommend you purchase it!  I love it and don't think I have used it enough.  I stamped the flower on Shimmery White cardstock and used my Aqua Pen and the ink that I squeezed into the top of my ink pad (Watermelon) to color the flower.  For the darker areas, I used the Watermelon marker.  I cut the flower out and used dimensionals to pop it up.   For the background, I made a rectangle mask and used sponges to color the area in Tangerine, Old Olive and Marina Mist.  I stamped the swirl from Everything Eleanor in gray ink.  The "hello" is die cut from Basic Gray and glittered with my Stella Pen.  

  

 

 

Happy Spring in a Box Card

 

Hi!  Miss me?  I am in Florida and have been laying out in the sun every day this week!   Love it!!

 

Here is a Box Card I made before I left.  It was a fun card to make.  I got the dimensions from another website that I don't have with me.  When I return, I will share the website.  My friend, Kathryn, made several of these in different sizes and shared them with us at Allison's a couple of months ago. 

 

Sympathy

Thought you'd enjoy this picture of Ashley and I at a Mexican restaurant in San Antonio.  Fun!

 This next picture was taken on Mother's Day.  I don't have many pictures of us 3 girls with mom.  Of course, I always tower over all of them!

 

I needed a sympathy card for a friend of Ashley's who lost her grandmother last week.  I love this white on white!  I used Botanical Blooms thinlets for the flower and leaves and added a bit of Marina Mist as a mat for the card.



 

 

This is the inside of the card.  I typed the sentiment and glued it inside.  I love the message.  When my dad died in 2001, Marianne sent me a card (we had different dads) with this message and I read it over and over.  It really helped me in that trying time.  Feel free to use it in your own sympathy cards.

 

Octopus Birthday

I am still playing with the soon to be retired stamps.  This octopus from Sea Street is just so stinkin' cute!  I stamped him in Cucumber Crush (a color I really haven't used much).  I stamped the balloons and cut them out - drawing in the strings.  The little cupcake and the balloons are from Party Wishes - a great stamp set from the Occasions Catalog that will be retiring also.  Another retiring item that I will really miss is the Washi Label Punch.  It was just the right size for some of the sentiments.  

I don't have any sneak previews for you .... yet!  My order is supposed to be come on Wednesday. As demonstrators, we are allowed to pre-order a select few stamp sets and accessories.  I have only ordered the InColor stuff - paper, reinkers and stamp sets.  I decided to save my money and order products that are on my wish list from the new catalog along with everyone else in June.  I think this is the first time I haven't ordered a stamp set from the pre-order sets!

I hope you had a nice Mothers Day.  Ours was pretty low key.  Ashley called me after church to wish me Happy Mother's Day.  She had taken me shopping at Chico's while I was with her last week in Texas.  We went over to Marianne's house around 1 pm and played cards with mom and had dinner.  We decided on Mexican - Marianne made tacos and beans; I made a Mexican quiche, fresh salsa and guacamole and Angela did strawberry shortcake.  I think Mom enjoyed it.  Angela bought Mom, Marianne and I each a beautiful orchid.  I'm taking bets on how long Marianne's plant will last.  She did not inherit Mom's green thumb.  If anything, hers is black!  I'm hoping for good luck for mine!!

We had a bit of excitement in this area yesterday.  Sonny had gone up to the gas station to get gas for his boat when he heard that a section of I-150, our main road to and from Mooresville, was closed due to an armed gunman and a stand-off with the police.  Evidently the incident started about 4:30 a.m. and the highway was not opened back up until around noon.  I think it started as a domestic situation and the police ended up shooting out his tires.  Here is an article about the incident.  We waited until hearing that the road was clear before going to Marianne's.

Resist Happy Birthday

The emboss resist technique is such a good technique and a favorite of mine.  I love to use it - makes a card really pop.  On this card I stamped Happy Birthday (from a Sale-a-bration set) with Versamark ink.  Next I used Sponge Daubers to rub ink (Mint Macaron, Watermelon and Daffodil Delight) over the Versamark.  Next use a paper towel to rub the ink off the Versamark.  That's it - easy, peasy!

I had a great visit with Ashley in Texas.  Mom and I flew down last Wednesday.  We just hung out by the pool on Thursday and Friday while Ashley was at work.  I filled up on my favorite Texas foods - Rudy's BBQ, Mexican food (twice!), Josephine's T-Bone steak to name a few.  Ashley's best friends and their kids came over on Sunday for a cook out.  The pool water was too cold for me but the kids didn't have any problems jumping in.  On Monday, we went to the Botanical Gardens and I took bunches of pictures of the beautiful plants.  I will be sharing them as soon as I get them downloaded from my phone.  Tuesday Ashley took us to the airport and we headed back to NC.

April Club Cards

I haven't had time to share my Stamp Club cards for this month.  We met last week and made these cards.  I had designed the cards before the Retiring List came out and I was trying to predict which stamps were retiring.  I guessed correctly on some of them.

This first one uses Blooms for You which is retiring.  It is a single stamp.  Other stamp sets used were:  Hardwood Background Stamp; Tin of Cards; Papillion Potpourri; and Something to Say (retiring).  I used Early Espresso on everything except the middle of the flower which is Soft Sky.

The only things retiring on this card is the DSP - both the Botanical and the Color Me Irresistible which is a resist paper that I sponged with Mint Macaron.  Thank goodness this stamp and die set will carry over.

I will be sad to see The Open Sea leave.  It was such a great set for masculine cards.  I did my first - successful - Reflection Technique on this card.  I stamped the water on the bottom with Pool Party using one of the stamps from Timeless Textures.  Don't overlook this stamp set - it is a good one for lots of different backgrounds.  Next I stamped the ship in Early Espresso on the card AND on a piece of acrylic transparency.  I turned the transparency over, line it up with the ship and rubbed the ink onto the card.  Easy, peasy!!  The sun is from Kinda Eclectic stamped and embossed in white.  I sponged Soft Sky on the top.

This card was a fun one to make.  I stamped the flower from Watercolor Words with Versamark and used Clear powder to heat emboss them.  Next I spritzed the card with water or you can just use your Aqua Brush to brush on clear water.  Make sure you are using either Watercolor Paper OR Shimmery White Paper.  I used the Shimmery White.  After the paper is damp, brush on three different colors from top to bottom letting each one blend into the next.  I used:  Calypso Coral, Pink Pirouette and Rich Razzleberry on the pink one and Bermuda Bay, Soft Sky and Tempting Turquoise for the blue one.  I am sad to see the Corner Punch leaving us but that is the only retiring item on these cards (oh - also the thick twine.)

My postings may be a little sporadic for the next week (aren't they always???)  I am "leaving on a jet plane" tomorrow for Texas - my final trip for a few years.  I am taking my Mom to spend a little time with Ashley before she moves to Hawaii.  I have been doing really good on Weight Watchers but don't think I will be counting points next week as I enjoy Mexican, BBQ, and steaks at Josephines!!

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!