Swaps to Share #1

I recently attended the Quarterly get-together of the NC Demo group.  We always have so much fun! I missed attending the event with my sister, Marianne, but had another good friend along, Debbie.  It's so fun stamping with a room full of friends who all love stamping just like I do.  It is always good to get together with old friends and make new ones.  This time the hostesses made the Quarterly "old school."  We had assigned seat so we could make new friends; re-visited some projects that I haven't done in years; had snacks that we used to eat as kids - Double Bubble, Mary Janes, chocolate candies, etc.  I thought I'd share some of the swaps I received.  These swaps are based on a sketch that we were given to follow.  It's interesting how different they all are.

My swap was this one.  I embossed the daisy (Daisy Delight) with white embossing powder on the turquoise strip and stamped the daisy in turquoise ink on the white panel.  The circle with HUGS is a new framelit and it and the ribbon are Berry Burst (a new in color.)

This card is by Debra Byrd.  She used the Eastern Medallion dies and a new hostess set, Tranquil Tulips.

There was no name on this card so I can't give credit.  She used the new Daisy Delight set along with the gorgeous Delightful Daisy DSP.  (You know, I have this paper but can't bring myself to cut into it!)

Again, no name.  She used Touches of Texture stamp set and Falling in Love DSP (which is retiring.)  It is a gorgeous card!

This card was made by my sister, Marianne.  She used Colorful Seasons stamp set and the new Color Theory DSP pack.  I love this stamp set!!!

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 

Mother's Day Cards 2017

I can't believe I have not written on this blog all month!!  May has just been crazy for me with Mother's Day, graduations, traveling, company, stamp club and just regular life happenings!  Our friends from Texas came to visit for a week in early May.  Margaret and I were able to do some stamping and also had time to fit in a few shopping excursions while the guys went to South Carolina with a group for target shooting for a few days.  They returned on a Thursday and on Friday we attended my nephew's graduation party.  Wouldn't you know it - it was nice and warm all week but on Friday it was downright cold and the party was outside!  We all had our jackets and sweaters on plus they had a fire going in the back yard so that made it fun for everyone.  Margaret and Graham were able to have their first smore!!  On Saturday, Sonny dropped me and our friends off at the Charlotte airport.  They were catching a plane back to Dallas and I was on my way to New Orleans to meet Ashley.  She had a conference there the week before and took a few days of leave for some "girl time."  We had a great time exploring parts of the city we had never been before.  Plus we took a cooking class at New Orleans School of Cooking that was wonderful!  We learned to make gumbo, shrimp and grits, pralines and bananas foster with crepes!  It was a short trip - we both headed back home on Tuesday.  The day after I returned home, Sonny went back to Myrtle Beach with a group of guys for 5 days of golfing.  While he was gone, I drove to Haw River State Park with my downline for the NC Quarterly.  We ran into some terrible weather driving down there Friday - heavy rain and hail - and on our return trip Saturday - it was road construction that had us at a dead stop for about 45 minutes!  I could hardly get out of bed on Sunday because my back was killing me.  I'm sure it was from being tensed up from the drive and sitting all day on Saturday.  In the midst of all this, I am worried about my mom and a health issue of mine.  Mom is having difficulty getting her breath and the dr. thinks it is congestive heart failure.  She is going to see a cardiologist hopefully tomorrow or Friday.  I had some blood work done last week and my liver count was elevated.  So I was a little worried.  Yesterday I saw my doctor and had more blood work done and everything is back to normal now so I didn't really need to worry!

These are the cards I made for Mothers Day.

This one was made for my mom.  This set is retiring and I have not used it enough!!!

For this card, I used the a mask to sponge Pool Party on the white cardstock.  I also used Gorgeous Grunge (a favorite that is also retiring - boo hoo) to lightly stamp the background.  The flower stamp set is a new one in the 2017-18 catalog, Daisy Delight.  I think you will be seeing a lot of this set!

For this card, I paired the old with the new.  The old is Swirly Scribbles and Thoughtful Banners with it's matching punch (both are carrying over to the new catalog).  The new is the Oh So Eclectic stamp set and the new in-color ink colors - Powder Pink and my favorite, Lemon Lime Twist.  I sponged the half doily.

This card uses the Daisy Delight stamp set and I sprinkled a few sequins around.  The ribbon is retired.

Another card using new products!  The sentiment is from Lovely Friends and the flowers are again from Oh So Eclectic.  The DSP is a great one called Color Theory.  I can't wait for you to be able to order this pack of paper.  It features six designs in four colors - Berry Burst (new In Color & the one I used above), Old Olive, Crushed Curry and Dapper Denim.  The designs include pages that look like a paint chip, some pages of color gradients, and some with a crackle appearance (which I used.)  They come in a 6"x6" pad - 4 each of the 12 double sided designs.  The card above also uses another new in color, Tranquil Tide.

April Blog Hop - Thankful for Mothers

Welcome to the April NC Blog Hop!  We are happy to share our Mother's Day projects with you.  Mother's Day is just around the corner - May 14.  I will be in New Orleans with my daughter on Mother's Day - wonder what we will do special!

Here are a few facts that I didn't know about Mothers Day -

In the US, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May.  In some countries, it was changed to dates that were significant to the majority religion or to historical dates.  In most Arab countries, Mother's Day is always celebrated on the 21st of March, which is the Spring equinox.  In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Mother's Day is celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent (Mothering Sunday).

Ok - now that you have learned a few facts, it's time to share my Mother's Day cards with you.  I think you'll be able to figure out my favorite new In Color!!

This first card is a sneak peek at a new stamp set - Lovely Inside and Out.  (It also has a coordinating set of thinlits.)  I paired the Lemon Lime Twist with black and love how the colors pop!  I also used Work of Art on the card and some retired washi tape.

This is the card I will be giving to my mom.  She loves flowers.  I took her yesterday to a local nursery and she bought a hanging basket that attracts hummingbirds and a camelia bush.  I ended up buying her a second hanging basket for her porch for an early Mother's Day gift since I will be out of town.  Mom is 88 and legally blind so she has a little trouble getting around.  The people at the nursery were great with her.  They got a wagon and pulled her around the nursery in it!!  I wish I had thought to take a picture.

This card uses another sneak peek stamp set - Oh So Eclectic which also has matching thinlits!  The "Happy" is from the new Happy Birthday thinlet - I just cut away the birthday portion.  The bird is stamped in Lemon Lime Twist and Always Artichoke.  The flowers are Fresh Fig and Berry Burst which is also the color of the card stock.The Mother's Day sentiment is from the retiring Crazy About You.

My final card is oh so simple!  I wish you could see how sparkly it is up close with Wink of Stella on the Dragonfly wings.  I stamped the dragonfly from Dragonfly Dreams in Lemon Lime Twist (told you it's my fav!), Peekaboo Peach and Soft Sky.  Each was stamped off first.  The body was stamped full strength.  The sentiment comes from another sneak peek set - Happy Birthday Gorgeous.

I hope you enjoyed the cards I made to share with you today.  Hop on along to the next blog and see what Laurie has in store for you.

Our April Blogs:

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

April Stamp Club

This week is my Stamp Club week - we moved it a week after we normally have it because of spring break.  Many of the gals were visiting family last week.   I am concentrating on retired stamp this month.  Here are the cards we will be making:

I think everyone will miss the Owl Punch!  I know I will.  So I thought I'd dress my owls up ready for the beach .... or maybe they'll go with me to Hawaii!  I'm sure Ashley wouldn't mind having them visit for a few days.  the "happy birthday" sentiment is from Watercolor Words - a good selection of sentiments plus I love the font!  The DSP is from Party Animal in the Occasions catalog.

My next card uses Grateful Bunch and the coordinating Blossom Punch which punches 3 flowers at once.  I love the convenience of using a punch.  Don't get me wrong - I like the thinlits too but at Club, it is much easier to just pass the punch around instead of waiting in line for the Big Shot and thinlits.  I love this color combination of Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla and Blushing Bride.  I think this is the first time I used the lace trim stamp from the set!

This card is my favorite this month!  For the small panel, I sponged Pool Party at the top and Crumb Cake at the bottom, blending the two together in the middle.  Then I used Gorgeous Grunge (oh, how I will miss this stamp set!!!) and stamped it is Versamark ink in the middle.  I heat embossed it with white embossing powder.  Does it give you the impression of the frothy white of the waves?  The background of the main card is made with the Marbeling Technique - using shaving cream!  I have not done this technique in probably 10 years so decided to revisit it and teach it to my club gals.  I stamped the starfish (Picture Perfect stamp set) with Crushed Curry and Soft Suede ink onto Crumb Cake card stock.  After adhering it with dimensionals, I painted clear Wink of Stella on it.

Last but not least is our May calendar page.  I actually copied this from a calendar page my sister made for me!  Made it a little easier.  I stamped the set from Flourishing Phrases with VersaMark onto Vanilla card stock and heat embossed it with Copper powder.  The stamp set is not retiring but the card stock and ribbon I used are retired.

Organizing my Craft Room!!

I have been trying to get my stamp room into shape.  I need to get it organized so I can bring in my new goodies and know where they are!  I told Sonny Saturday morning that I was going to work on my room and pull the vacuum out and clean it up.  Well, after almost all day Saturday and all day Sunday, he poked his head in and couldn't tell that I had done anything except make a bigger mess! You know how when you clean or rearrange, everything has to come out before you can figure out how to arrange it all again!  Most of that time was spent trying to organize my 12x12 DSP.  I had one whole unit of non Stampin' Up paper - some of it probably 12-15 years old.  I threw out a bunch of scraps or pieces that I knew I wouldn't use.  So I organized all that paper into another rack by colors (reds, orange, purple, neutral, etc.), put tags on the unit to identify the colors and put the larger scraps that are usable into baggies.  These are some wire racks that I got several years ago at WalMart.  I use plastic ties to locate the shelves where I need them.

Next I tackled my Stampin' Up DSP that I had in various places in my room!  My goal was  is to have it all in one place so I can find it when I want it.  I have made a good start with that but I still have a ways to go.  I actually thought I was done until I discovered I had another drawer full of DSP that I hadn't sorted through!  My plan is to find some kind of 12x12 plastic like envelopes to put the packs of DSP together when I order it so I will know which pieces go together and what card stock colors match.  I found some of the envelopes on Amazon.  They were pretty cheap - about $3.50 for a packet of 3 but they were not sold by Amazon but someone else through Amazon.  I put 7 of the packs in my shopping bag to see how much it would come to with shipping.  Well, they wanted $25 for shipping!!!  I promptly emptied my shopping bag and will be going to Staples this week to look for something I can use.  Here is the shelving for my DSP in a few plastic envelopes I already had.  They are a little too wide for the shelves so I will be looking for others.  The DSP in them is some that is current (as of now but not much longer).  Below in the small rack is the DSP that is retired.  I have separated it into colors.  At the top, is a small file box that I have 6x6 paper in (for now!)

I also found a good use for my Paper Pumpkin boxes!  If you turn them inside out, they are these kraft colored boxes and you can write on them, decorate them, etc.  For my use, I am storing different items in them and labeling them so I'll know where these things are!

I have a lot more Paper Pumpkin boxes to work with as you can see here -

I also worked on organizing my thinlits last week.  I'm still not sure about this method.  I am going to try it out for a while and see what I think. I have always put the thinlits onto a magnetic sheet and slid them back in their plastic envelope.   I kept my thinlits and dies in their plastic envelope with the name of the die written with a Sharpie at the top in a rectangle basket (and how many dies were in the packet) and I would just flip through them to pick out the one I wanted.  But I don't always remember what dies are in the packets.  Sooooo, I had an old photo album and slid the magnetic sheets into the plastic pages.  That way, I can look through the album to see all my dies/thinlits.  The only problem is my album is really bulging and a few of the thinlits won't fit in the pages.  I just have them in a small basket beside this album.

Instead of buying magnetic sheets, I buy these Magnetic Vent Covers at Lowe's or Home Depot. They are easy to cut to size and much cheaper.

I hope I have given you a few organizational tips.  PLEASE .... if you have any tips to give me, please do!!  I need all the help I can get!

Watercolored Dragonfly

Hope your Easter was a joyous one.  Ours was relatively quiet.  It was a beautiful sun shiny day - temps in the 80s!!  Sonny and I went to church and afterwards, headed over to pick up my mom.  We had reservations at Galway Hooker for their Easter brunch.  We arrived almost an hour early so we sat outside and enjoyed a Bloody Mary!  Mom really enjoyed herself.  Because of the weather, we chose to sit outside in their patio area and it was perfect.

I made this card a while ago and really love the colors.  Thankfully, this stamp set (Dragonfly Dreams) is carrying over to the new catalog.  It is such a beautiful set along with the matching framelits.  I sponged the Whisper White panel in the center using Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight and Bermuda Bay inks.  It was a very simple card to make but I love it.

I am patiently waiting for my new Stampin' Up items to arrive (from the new catalog.)  By attending On-Stage, participants were allowed to order a few of the new items early.  I put my order in last Monday and it sat in "picking" all week.  It is due to be delivered on Wednesday!  In the mean time, I am taking my retired stamp sets out for one last spin and making a few cards with them.

I have Weight Watchers tonight and am keeping my fingers crossed for that as well!  The maintaining is the hard part I think.  I am really proud of myself though.  I started WW in a size 16 and I am now buying (and wearing) size 10!   So far I have been a couple of pounds less than my goal weight but I splurged a bit this weekend with shrimp and grits on Saturday and the brunch buffet (and chocolates) on Sunday (not to mention the 2 bloody mary's!)

Retiring List plus new In Colors

Bundles are retiring!  If you want any of the bundles, get them NOW for the 10% off price.  The new 2017-18 catalog may have the bundle items that get carried over .... BUT the bundle price will no longer be available in the new annual catalog.

To see a list of the Retiring items, click HERE.  Be prepared - it is 10 pages!!

A few things to remember:

• While supplies last!
• Accessories always sell out the quickest.
• the list includes Occasions Catalog and 2016-17 catalog
• Some items are up to 50% off!

I know it is always a shock when you see all the items retiring BUT we are making room for more wonderful sets that will be in the new 2017-18 catalog.  I really like the new catalog (coming available in June) and I think you will too!

Let me introduce you to the new In Colors from the new catalog.  

It's hard to capture the true colors but hope this helps a little bit.

The 2017-19 In Colors are:  Tranquil Tide, Lemon Lime Twist, Berry Burst, Fresh Fig and Powder Pink.  They are rich, beautiful colors.  I wasn't sure about Lemon Lime but after seeing a few samples made with it, I like it.  I think it's a "love it, or hate it" kind of color.  The designer paper is what put me over the top.  There are some beautiful patterns! 

Grateful Bunch Swaps

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted on my blog.  I've had this one almost ready to go and just kept forgetting to post!!  Last week was pretty busy for us.  Sonny found a new surgeon and had his hernia surgery on Friday morning.  We were back home by noon so it was pretty fast.  They did it laproscopic and he has not had a minutes pain.  We are both just amazed.  I don't know what the first surgeon was talking about when he told us recovery was the same with laproscopic and cutting you.  He is back to doing his regular activities and went golfing on Monday!

On Saturday, he and I went to downtown Charlotte and walked around an old historic cemetery for about 4 hours as the Mecklenburg Historical Society put on "Voices of the Past."  It was so interesting!!  I would highly recommend you go if you are in the area when they do this again next year.  (Yes, it was such a hit that they plan on doing it again.)  Here is a link that tells about the wonderful event of Voices of the Past.

Below are a couple of the swap cards that I made for the Stampin' Up On Stage event which is this Saturday.  Marianne and I are driving to Richmond, Virginia later today.  We will do some sightseeing on Friday and the SU event is Saturday.  I am excited as we will be receiving the new annual catalog!

These cards use the set Grateful Bunch.  For the first card I used the matching punch for the flowers that I had stamped in Elegant Eggplant.

This second card is stamped in Soft Suede.  I used my Blender Pen and watercolor pencils for the flowers - a really easy card!

Happy Birthday Paper Pumpkin - Alternatives

When I bring the mail in, it's usually promotional flyers, bills, junk mail that goes straight in the recycle bin  .... but once a month, I get a bright red box that makes me smile.  It makes my day!  Paper Pumpkin is a monthly project kit subscription.  Each box is a surprise but it always contains a project that is completely designed, cut, and ready to create.  You also get exclusive photopolymer stamp sets each month and mini ink spots.

Sometimes I make up the Paper Pumpkin projects exactly like they are intended.  But often times I prefer to make alternative projects to share and inspire you.  The February Paper Pumpkin kit has been sitting on my desk over a month now and today I decided to create it.  A friend recently asked me about alternate projects to make with this kit so I hope she enjoys these cards I made today.

For this card I cut apart one of the cards from the kit and made this candle.  It measures about 1 1/2" x 3".  I tied some white yarn around the candle and popped it up on dimensionals.   I adhered the candle flame to the Night of Navy card with glue.  I used one of the kit inserts for the white piece across the card and stamped the sentiment on it.

For the next card, I used another piece that I cut down from the card kit and matted it onto Flirty Flamingo card stock.  I used the Stitched Labels die to cut the oval.  I punched out flowers from Crushed Curry and the gold paper from the candle flames in the kit.

I think this one is my favorite!  I made a spinner card (with 2 pennies) so the Taco Truck (Sale-A-Bration) could move along the card.  It's been a long time since I made a spinner card and had to go to Splitcoast Stampers for a tutorial!

This is the original card from the Paper Pumpkin kit following the instructions given.

When you pull the tab at the bottom, you can see the rest of the message.

This next card is similar to the card above.  I cut down the DSP card and used the Adhesive Strips down the sides and top so the pull down piece slides down to reveal the message.

Most of the cards were CASEd from others I found on Pinterest.  I hope they give you some ideas to make your own alternative projects from the Paper Pumpkin Kit.