NC Demos Blog Hop featuring Occasions Catty AND In Colors

Welcome to the second NC Demos Blog Hop.  You should have just come from Tracie Langley's blog.  I loved her two projects!!   Hope you are enjoying the projects this month from the Occasions Catalog and using Stampin' Up's In Colors and are getting a lot of ideas for your own projects.

Each year when the new annual catalog comes out (June 1), there will be 5 NEW In Colors introduced.  The sad news is that means 5 colors will RETIRE.  The retiring colors this year are shown below:

The ink pads, cardstock packs, ink refills and accessories will only be available while supplies last. They usually sell out quickly!!  So I would suggest if you love these colors, you order them now before they are gone AND also so that you can take advantage of the FREE gifts offered during Sale-a-Bration!

OK - on to my project.  This was a fun card to make!  It measures 5.5" x 5.5" so a special envelope was made for it using the Envelope Punch Board  The card folds flat for mailing but when the recipient receives it, he/or she can open each section like an easel card.  Wouldn't this look nice sitting on a desk for all to see?!

The In Colors I used are Hello Honey and Mossy Meadow.  I also used Cajun Craze and Mint Macaron which are the matching colors for the Botanical Gardens DSP.

This is the card flat - well sorta flat!  It kept popping up as I was trying to photograph it.  I needed a couple of extra hands to hold it shut but when you put it in an envelope, it will be flat.

This sentiment is from Flower Patch.  I used the Decorative Label Punch to punch it out and sponged the edges with Hello Honey ink.

Each top square (Hello Honey) measures 2.5" x 2.5".  They are attached to the bottom rectangles (measuring 2.5" x 5" and scored at 1.25" x 2.5".

The stamp set, Botanical Blooms, framelits AND DSP can be purchased as a bundle saving you 15%. It is a great set!!  If you would like to place an order online, please use my Hostess Code found at the top of my blog posts.  By purchasing this Bundle, you would qualify for a FREE item from Sale-a-Bration!  Who doesn't like free???!!

Hope you are enjoying the Blog Hop! Check out what my other NC pals have to show you!! Laura Meier is next on the Hop so make sure you click on her name.

Shavron Borders
Regina Campbell
Tamra Davis
Kitty Helton
Jo Anne Hewins
Amy Ingram
Michelle Irinyi
Melissa Kernan
Tracie Langley
Sharon Maranich (ME)
Laura Meier
Mary Robinette
Susan Root
Pam Staples
Lisa Tedder
Frances Wagner

Smithsonian Museum Photographs

We are having fun here in D.C. but it is freezing cold!!  The temps have not been out of the 40s since we have been here and the wind has been brutal - even Sonny agrees!  So it is not good weather to be walking around DC and exploring!  The drive here was not great either.  We were trying to outrun the storms and tornados but about every half hour we would run into the storms and could barely see the car in front of us for the rain pouring down.  I was a nervous wreck when we finally got here and Sonny was pretty wiped out too.  We had planned on eating at a favorite Italian restaurant of ours in Bethesda after we picked Ashley up from the airport but decided instead to head over to the hotel (at the National Harbor) and find a restaurant within walking distance.  Ashley was lucky to make it in. She was delayed a little bit but it was better than spending the night in another city.  They announced on her flight that they were going to have to divert to Pittsburgh but ended up being able to turn back and do an instrument landing in DC. 

Thursday she had most of the day free so we took the metro into DC and walked around a little bit.  I had on long johns, gloves, a hat, and a coat but was still really cold!  We went to the Natural History Museum and saw a fabulous photographic display of the "Best of the Best" of 20 years of Nature's finest moments.  The collection was of dramatic landscapes, wildlife behavior and pictures of Earth's ice peaks to the oceans.  There were more than 100 large format prints on the walls and I was snapping photographs like crazy. I want to use them to make a calendar or a date book!

Here are just a few of them.  I just can't imagine how many shots the photographer had to take to get the final and best one! 

PORCUPINE

THIRSTY LION

NORTHEN LIGHTS

LONG EARED OWL

 O

Gotta run - they are waiting for me.  We are driving over to Alexandria tonight for dinner.  There is a water taxi from here to there but we have all decided it's too cold for that!!

Enjoy Cheerwine!

I received this beautiful card this week from Regina Andari, who is a member of the NC Demo group.  Regina does not live too far from me but we have never met!  Regina was given several sheets of coupons (50cents off) for Cheerwine soda by the distributor who was stocking the shelves at a store she was shopping at.  She couldn't use all of them so offered them to Facebook friends and I was a lucky recipient.

I love this combo of Mint Macaron and Blushing Bride.  I don't have this DSP (sigh).  It is from Birthday Bouquet (pg 9 of Occasions catty).  Isn't this a gorgous card?  I love the pleating she has done.  I will be CASEing this one for sure!

If you are not local, you might not know about Cheerwine!  You are missing out.  It reminds me of cherry Dr Pepper.  It is hard to find outside of the Carolinas.  When I loved in Texas and Washington, I really missed drinking my Cheerwine.  I have also turned my daughter into a big fan of the drink.  Whenever she comes to visit, she always takes a 12 pack back with her in her luggage!  We are taking some to her this week in DC and we usually stock her up when we drive to Texas to visit.  I'm not sure what she is going to do in Hawaii!!

I got this from their website:

"Created in 1917 in Salisbury, North Carolina by a general store owner named L.D. Peeler, this singular soft drink with a hint of wild cherry and a bubbly effervescence became an immediate hit. Folks from all around the county came to LD's store to give it a try. 

Soon cold cases all over North Carolina were filled with the "Nectar of North Carolina." It was known to put a smile on everyone's lips who gave it a try, and the Legend was born. 

Raised in a glass. 

Generations later, the Legend has grown larger than life. Family and friends in every state of the Union clamor for this taste that always surprises. Cheerwine is regularly spotted in such far flung places as the great wall of China. The fjords of Northern Europe. The battlefields of Iraq. 

Today, L.D.’s great grandson Cliff Ritchie leads the company, as Cheerwine officially expands to new parts of the country and continues to win loyal fans with just one sip."

Surprise Pop Up Balloons

I have a special card to share with you today!

This is called a Surprise Slider Card.  Here is what the card looks like closed.

Pull the little tab at the top and surprise!  Up pops the balloons!

I found the instructions for this card on Splitcoast HERE

I used the stamp set, Balloon Celebration (pg 12) from the Occasions Catalog  I won't tell you how long it took me to get all those gold bows and strings on the card!  That was the hardest part!  I just love the color combo of Soft Sky and Blackberry Bliss!  Add a Touch of Stella and they really sparkle.  I am not a big champagne drinker but I have two friends who live in Texas that love it!!  (yes you, Margaret and Sharon!)

I hope this card will hold you for a few days.  We are driving to DC for several days to meet Ashley at a conference she will be attending.  We are trying to take advantage of seeing her as often as possible while she is still on the "mainland."  She received her orders yesterday for Hawaii so it is official.  Her report day in mid June.  Now she can get started figuring everything out.  Her car needs to be shipped to Hawaii and that will take anywhere from a month to two months.  She has gotten the blood work and immunizations for the cat, Bogart, so he won't have to stay in quarintine when she arrives.  She needs to figure out what to take with her (she is allowed 4 suitcases); what to send to Hawaii and what to put in long term storage!  Glad it's her and not me!  It boggles my mind!

Up, Up and Away!

I haven't made a card for a challenge in a long time.  I used to search out challenges and make cards to fit them but I haven't done that in a while.  Yesterday when I was looking at different blogs to get some inspiration, I came across the Paper Players Challenge with the theme of "up up and away." With so many balloon stamps available, I decided to make this card.

I stamped the sunburst with Versamark, sprinkled white embossing powder over it and sponged the area with Pool Party.  I used the Balloon Punch and punched out 3 balloons from Designer Paper.  I ended up not stamping any balloons after all!  I actually did stamp them (on the other side) but liked the un-stamped balloons best.  I die cut "happy" with framelets and glued them to the middle of the card.  I stamped the stars (from Balloon Celebration) with Pool Party and Pink Pirouette ink.  I used glue dots under the balloons to anchor the silver cord.  I used the Washi Tape punch for "birthday" (from Celebrate Today).  Next was to layer the white card stock onto Pink Pirouette and then onto the Pool Party card.

What do you think?

Final Stamp Club cards for Feb.

These are the last two cards that we made at Stamp Club last week.

This one uses the Botanical Blooms bundle - DSP, stamp set and framelets - a pretty good deal I think.  The card on the left is one I received at Quarterly but sorry to say, don't know whose card it is. I made the card on the right switching out the flower center to Cajun Craze and using a sentiment from Trust God.  I love the sentiment!!

This next card proved to be a bit tricky - only because of the math involved!!  I had mistakenly put the wrong measurements in the directions for cutting white panels so we had to do some "figuring!" The correct measurement is 1 3/8" x 3".  The "For You" is from a Paper Pumpkin set.  I had hoped to put all the flowers on a large block and stamp them all at the same time but I could not get them close enough since they are the rubber backed stamps and not photopolymer.  So we just passed the stamps around the table.  I really like the Sale-a-bration stamp set.

February Hostess Code

February Hostess Code is 2TA3GQ7G

If you are placing an on-line order, please use the code!  Thanks!

Stamp Club Picture Perfect

This is another one of the cards we made at Stamp Club this week.  It was so easy but looks so good.

 

The circle is watercolor paper.  I just used my Aqua Painter and ink that I squeezed into the lid.  I painted the bottom with Sahara Sand which I then stamped Gorgeous Grunge lightly.  The top is painted with Soft Sky with Lost Lagoon painted across the horizon.  The secret is not to think about it - just load your Aqua Brush with water and ink and swish it across the paper.  The rope image is from Sea Street.  I curved the stamp on the acrylic block.  Use Gorgeous Grunge all over the Vanilla card and glued a piece of burlap ribbon down one side.  On scrap vanilla card stock, I stamped the starfish from Picture Perfect (love this stamp!), cut it out and then went over it with Wink of Stella before adhering it to the circle with dimensionals.  The birds are done by hand (just make a check mark!)

 

While I was working on the cards, I was standing up to stamp and bent over my work table.  Sammie jumped up on my back and peered over my shoulder to make sure I was stamping straight!  I had my phone right beside me so was able to get a picture!

 

What a day!

How do you like the new blog header and background?  I didn't make this one.  Instead I got it from one of the free sites (Shabby Blog) and then just personalized it.  Inside the circles are parts of cards I cropped.  The middle one and the one on the right are from cards we will be making this month at Stamp Club.

I had a pretty scary morning.  I was supposed to play bridge in Mooresville this morning.  We had gotten just a bit of freezing rain in the early morning but it didn't look like anything to worry about. Sonny was a dear and started up my car when he went up to get the newspaper so it would be nice and toasty for me and so the ice would melt off the windows!  I left the house and headed out of the neighborhood.  I went really slow through the 2-3 really bad curves on Island Point just outside our neighborhood with no problem.  I picked up a little speed and was rounding another curve when my car started skidding on the black ice.  I skidded from one side of the road to the other until I finally landed in a field on the other side of the road with my car turned around and facing the road. Luckily, there were not any other cars around me.  After calming myself down, I pulled out of the field and into a parking lot that was just a couple of feet from me and called Sonny.  He got to me about 15 minutes later and checked out the car.  Luckily, no damage to it or to me!  He ended up following me up to Hwy 150 where more cars had been traveling on the road and it wasn't so treacherous.  When I finally arrived at bridge, it started sleeting again and the girls who were waiting for me decided not to play but to get in their cars and head home!  I did the same - much slower this time!!  It never got above freezing today but there is a warm up coming tomorrow!  Can't wait!!  I hate to see what our electric bill is going to be this month.



Tomorrow is stamp club.  Here is one of the cards we will be making using the Large Number framelits and Number of Years stamp set.  This is a good set to have!  I am going to let each one pick which card they want to make.

Happy Valentine's!

Happy Valentines!  We weren't sure what the weather was going to be like today so we went out to eat last night.  I suggested Hawthorne's Italian in Huntersville.  We have always liked the Hawthorne's in Charlotte and just found out they had a restaurant closer to us.  Well, forget about being the least bit romantic!  Right next to our booth was 4 tables pushed together with 4 or 5 young couples with a few of their kids.  The rest of the kids were seated in the booth behind us doing whatever they wanted!  The noise they made was crazy!  Plus where we were seated, every time the door opened to the restaurant (a lot!) a blast of freezing air blew over us.  (It never got past 35 degrees yesterday and it was 29 degrees on our way home.)  I ended up wearing my jacket most of the time.  Luckily, the food was really good even if I did blow all my Weight Watchers points.  

Sonny gave me a beautiful Valentine card.  I just hope he didn't pay the $7.99 that it had on the back of it!!  Makes my Stampin' Up cards worth a lot more than I charge for them that's for sure!  My new neighbor left me a sweet Valentine's gift on my front porch too.  Plus, her card is beautiful!

My son, Jeff, and his family left Arizona on Friday and are moving to Alabama.  They will be closing on their house at the end of the month.  Yay for them!!  Luckily, my Valentines to Jayce arrived before they left.

Sky is the Limit Congratulations!

I made a card using the Sale-a-bration airplane set.  I really like this stamp set and am sad to see it be retired so soon.  This card was my "congrats" card to Ashley for getting the new job in Hawaii.  Now that she has received it, I can show it to you.

When you pull on the tab on the right side, the airplane flies across the card and the message pops out.  I used some non-SU paper that I found in my stash.  I found the video for making this card on Splitcoast.  Here is the link for the SLIDER.  I find it easier to follow a video for instructions so that I can start and stop it when I need to.

Hope you are staying warm wherever you are!!  Haven't seen any snow here yet but it is bitter cold!

Number of Years Fancy Fold

I am almost to the end of my swap cards from Quarterly.  This next card was my sister's shoebox card!  She had all the pieces cut out so it was just a matter of putting it all together but what a beautiful job she did!

I love this set!  The stamp set and the framelits are ones you will use over and over - for birthdays, special events, anniversaries, etc.  

Here is another card using the Number of Years set.

It has turned super cold here!  Yesterday I think our upstairs heater ran all day trying to get to 68 degrees!  I was cold all day and I had my Cuddle Duds on!  Don't think we got out of the 30s.  And it is not going to be much better the rest of the week.   Ashley didn't want to tell me that the high in San Antonio on Thursday was supposed to be 80!!  Wahhhhhh!!!   So where ever you are .... stay warm!

Sale-a-bration & Occasions Swaps

Well, the Super Bowl has come and gone and the team I was rooting for did not win.  In fact, not even sure they showed up for the game!  What a disappointment.  But I am happy for Peyton Manning (Denver QB) that he is going to retire (we think) with a Super Bowl win.  Always good to go out a winner!  I am really sick of hearing about all the hype about Cam Newton.  It is time to go on to other topics!!

A bit of news from Stampin' Up:  The Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (item 139673) has been so popular that we are going to do something that we don't normally do: we've decided to bring it back in the 2016 annual catalog! It will be available in the new Upcoming catalog this June. 

This is the final week for a few items from Sale-a-Bration - like this one - Sky Is The Limit.  This has been a very popular set.  If you want it, it will only be available until Feb. 15!  With a $50 order, you can get this set for FREE!

The SAB sets will be replaced with some great items.  Check them out HERE.


This next set (Flowering Fields) has also been a popular item and one of my fav's.  I like to put all the stamps on a large clear block and stamp them all at the same time.  Sure makes things easier!

These next swap cards are from (top) Botanicals For You and (bottom) Hello.  The Hello set will also be retiring Feb. 15.

This set is from the Occasions catalog and perfect for your special Valentine!  You can find these items on pages 16-17.

Here are more swap samples that come from the Occasions Swap at Quarterly.

I hope these cards have inspired you today!

Go Panthers!! plus Playful Pals

Well .... it is SUPER SUNDAY!  Go Panthers!!!  We are going to join some friends at a restaurant/bar in Mooresville to cheer on the Carolina Panthers.  (Yes, I can cheer for a team other than the Steelers!)  I even have a couple of Panther tee shirts!  It's just that Carolina didn't have a team when I became a Steeler fan - and they didn't have one for many years while I was cheering on the Steelers.  But as you can see below, I have my own little Panther.

She didn't like having her picture made and was roaring to get down!  But makes a cute picture.

Isn't this the cutest??  I love this card.  This is one I saw when I was at Quarterly.  I think this will make a great Valentine for someone special. 

Go Wild Collage Frame

My new neighbor's daughter had their first grandchild in October.  With the holidays and all the craziness in the fall, I wasn't able to get around to making something for him.  Well, finally I did and took it to her Tuesday.  She was thrilled!

Check out my baby collage.  She had told me that their nursery theme was animals so I dug out all the animal stamps I could find!  I used the DSP from Stampin' Up's Go Wild stack.  The animal images are from various stamps I had - not all Stampin' Up.

Occasions Catalog Swaps

I still have loads of samples to share with you.  These are some of the swaps I received at Quarterly. I tried to group them together so you can get an idea of the different variations you can make with each stamp set.

A Nice Cuppa (pg 35) comes with framelets, DSP Stack, embellishments as well as the stamp set.

These are from two different balloon sets - Balloon Celebration and Balloon Builders.  There is also a Balloon Bouquet Punch that punches large and small balloons.  (pgs 12-14)

Beautiful Ride (pg 15)is a great set for several different occasions.  

Birthday Blooms (pg 9) is a beautiful set - ideal for watercoloring or just using markers or Copics.

This is one of my favorites!  Botanical Blooms (pg 26-27) comes bundled with the gorgeous DSP and the Framelits Dies.  I just got this set late last week and haven't had a lot of time to play with it yet.

Don't miss this week's Weekly Deals.  There are some good things offered up at good prices.  The Mini Treat Bog Die is a great deal as is the Crazy About You stamp set!

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