Card Swapping

I have been working on making cards to swap at Stampin' Up's On Stage event in April.  Marianne and I are driving to Richmond, Virginia for the event.  Unfortunately, it coincides with my anniversary but Sonny and I will celebrate before or after April 7!  In preparation for the announcement of the retired stamp sets, I am trying to make a card using each of my stamp sets (that are current.)  Not sure if I will finish this task before On Stage.  So far I am only to the C's and I have 58 stamp sets to work through!  But I have skipped around a tad bit.

Here are a few I did this week:

This card uses Botanical Blooms - well, to be truthful, it uses the thinlits that coordinate with the stamp set mostly.  The sentiment comes from Garden in Bloom.  I used the Sale-a-Bration Glimmer paper for the first time.  It's so pretty!!  The flower is Sweet Sugarplum and the leaves are Mint Macaron and Wild Wasabi.  

This card is from Cake Crazy - stamp set found in the Occasions catalog that I have my fingers crossed that it will be in the annual catalog in June!  I love this color combo of Bermuda Bay, Night of Navy and Crumb Cake - don't you?  I alos used the Bermuda Bay sequin trim (for the first time also!)

This card is my favorite though!  Guess what the pink swirly's are cut from!!???

Well, did you make a few guesses?  It's not Stampin' Up's cardstock .... it is paint chips!  I have a whole container of paint chips that I picked up a couple of years ago.  I thought they would be great for the flower to get various shades of pinks that coordinate.  I took this picture on an angle so you could see the dimension of the flowers.  Each one is 3 layers that are glued together.  I thought about doing a 5th flower but I was done!!!  Actually, this card doesn't even use a stamp set!   How will I ever get through all my stamps if I keep this up??  The flower and leaves are from the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits that coordinate with Swirly Bird stamp set.  "Hello" is cut from Hello You thinlits.  

I made mention of my husband having surgery in my last blog posting.  Well, it is a long story but the short version was that we went to the hospital last Tuesday.  He was prepped for surgery with an IV, etc.  When the doc came in, we discovered the surgery was NOT going to be laproscopic.  That was a deal breaker for Sonny.  He had the nurses remove the IV and we were outta' there!   He wants the shorter recovery time that is allowed by doing the surgery laproscopic.  From everything we have read and heard, he should be able to have it done that way with a 3 week recovery verses a 6 week recovery for cutting him.  So he is going to get the name of another surgeon that does the surgery laproscopic.  More than likely, he is going to wait until the fall to get it done now.

Paisley and Posies

Today started out snowy and now the sun is shining and there's not a bit of snow left on the ground. When I woke up and looked out the window (while still snuggled up under the covers!), the snow was falling and all the trees were coated with the beautiful white snow.  It was so peaceful to lie there and watch the snowflakes fall.  When I got up, I took a few pictures.  Good thing because by 1:00 pm, it was all just a memory!!  It's pretty cold though (highs in the 40s).  For the past couple of weeks we have been having spring like weather and the flowers and trees are blooming.  Tomorrow's high is supposed to be 43 and rainy with warmer temps coming back by Friday.  Sonny is having surgery on Tuesday so I am glad the weather will be a little better for me to take him to the hospital.

I found a couple more cards that Ashley made when she was here at Thanksgiving.  She used the Paisley and Posies thinlits and stamps to make these cute birds sitting on the Swirly Scribbles thinlet.  I love it!

This next card also uses the Paisley theme.  The DSP is retired but you can still order the stamp set and thinlits to make these cards.

And a few hours later:

End of Sale-a-Bration and In Colors Retiring

It's almost that time again! Retirement for the In Colors.

If you are familiar with the Stampin' Up! In Colors, you know that we have a set of 5 colors that only last for two years.  Then they retire and are replaced with 5 new colors.  So, you may be wondering about the 5 retiring colors.  You can see them above.

NOW is the time to stock up on reinkers for your ink pads, on cardstock, designer paper and on the ribbon or embellishments you enjoy in these colors BEFORE they are sold out.  (They tend to sell out pretty quickly.)  AND if you order this month, you can enjoy FREE Sale-a-Bration gifts on your purchases.  A win-win for you!!

This is the final month for Sale-a-Bration.  You won't be able to order the Sale-a-Bration items after March.  Here are a couple of cards I have made using stamp sets from Sale-a-Bration.

I just love this chick!  I used my Watercolor Pencils to color them.  The DSP is some retired paper I have in my stash that I thought went well with the chicks.

This card uses the elegant Delicate Details.  It makes great backgrounds.  For this card, I embossed the images using white craft ink and white embossing powder.  I adhered a strip of glimmer paper between two of the borders.  (Sorry for the fuzzy picture.)

You're Sublime

When Ashley was here in November, she had fun playing with my stamps.  She is such a good little artist and doesn't have to CASE like I do!  Here are a few of the cards she made using You're Sublime.

This card is done in Elegant Eggplant and Daffodil Delight.  She stamped the Paisley and Posies (still available) stamp on the background.  The Daffodil piece was cut out using the Sunburst Thinlit.  She stamped the camper onto white cardstock and stamped the polka dots all over it with Perpetual Birthday Calendar.

This card uses the cute little crab from You're Sublime.  The embossing folder is a retired one but you could easily substitute the new Seaside folder.

I'm sure you will see the Beatle connection in this next card!  She is a HUGE Beatles fan and just doesn't understand why I didn't go see the Beatles in concert when I was a teenager.  The closest they came to Charlotte back then was Atlanta.  We didn't just get in the car and drive that far back then nor was concert going a regular thing for a teenager!  She hand wrote "We all live in a ...."

February Stamp Club Cards

I just realized I never shared my February club cards.  So ..... here they are!

I love the new embossing folders - celebrate and Happy.  They deboss the cardstock and when you put ink on top of the debossed letters, they appear like magic!  For this card, we used some retired DSP from a birthday stack.  (I have lots!)

Everyone enjoyed making this lighthouse scene and were amazed that it really wasn't that difficult.  The lighthouse was stamped with Cherry Cobbler and Smoky Slate and then masked to stamp the water and sand.  You know, I love this lighthouse stamp!

For this card, I used the Stylish Stems Framelits Dies (pg 42 of Occasions catalog) and put a 2 1/2" square of Falling in Love DSP behind the flower.  We stamped the scallops on the side in Mint Macaron and Blushing Bride with the Sale-a-Bration set, Delicate Details.

And we did 2 calendar pages this month - for February and March.

The background on the February calendar are the hearts from Perpetual Birthday Calendar (stamped in Red) as well as a single heart from Work of Art (stamped in Blushing Bride).

The March calendar uses the Owl Punch - which I have not used in a long time!  I made his "arms" by punching out a small heart and cutting it in half.  I could not find a branch stamp, so I drew my own!

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 -

Hexagon Embossing Folder

This weekend, I played around with the new thick embossing folder - Hexagons Dynamic Textured Impressions Folder (pg 46, Occasions catalog.)  If you are like most, you have a hard time making masculine cards.  Well, this first card does it.  It is a technique that one of NC demos has been doing and I thought I'd give it a try.  I did mine a bit differently than she does though.

I took a piece of Aluminum Foil and rubbed some Staz-On ink all over it.  Next, I adhered the piece of Aluminum Foil to black cardstock and ran it through the embossing folder.  Next step was to rub VersaMark on the Foil and sprinkle on some embossing powder - whatever color you desire!  I decided on copper.  There is such a glare on the piece, it is hard to see it well but I hope you get the idea.  Next I adhered the panel to a piece of Basic Gray cardstock that I had stamped with one of the grunge stamps from Touches of Textures (in Basic Gray ink.)  I adhered the whole piece to black cardstock.  I stamped the sentiment (retired) in Versa-Mark and embossed it with copper also onto black cardstock.  Don't forget to rub the piece first with the Embossing Buddy!  I mounted the sentiment piece onto Basic Gray and used dimensionals to pop it up.

My next card is a bit simpler!  I rubbed Early Espresso ink onto the embossing folder and embossed a piece of Tip Top Taupe.  The Espresso ink goes into the crevices of the embossing folder giving the illusion of chicken wire!  I stamped the chick with Staz-On ink and used the watercolor pencils to color him (on shimmery paper).  Everything is matted onto red cardstock.

Hope you enjoy these cards and will make some of your own!

High Tide Watercolor

I promised I would be back and share a few more High Tide cards - just didn't think it would take me all week!  I've had a pretty busy week.  Monday was bridge.  Tuesday was my day at home and I worked on getting my cards ready for Stamp Club.  Wednesday I took mom to get her hair done and afterwards to the Christian Women's luncheon.  They had a speaker who was a survivor from the Miracle on the Hudson.  He was really interesting!  We are having another speaker next month at our Newcomer's meeting.  It will be interesting to hear their prospective.   Wednesday night Sonny and I joined the Catawbans for a Valentine dinner at Linebergers.  I ate way too much on Wednesday!!


This first card uses the Sunburst Framelit for the card.  I also used a couple of pieces from it for the light coming out of the light house.  I used watercolor paper that I spritzed with water and reinkers for the background.  The light house and ground pieces were stamped on scraps of watercolor paper and cut out.

This next card also uses watercolor paper.  I used my aqua painter and ink to paint the background.  The lighthouse is stamped directly on the paper

Another watercolor card below.  I masked the edges before painting the ink on with my aqua painter. With this set, it is so easy to make a background and just stamp the images.

As you know the groundhog saw his shadow in Pennsylvania earlier this month.  Well, Sammie sure wishes he hadn't!  She does not like the cold.  I was looking for her on Tuesday and found her in our guest room (her favorite place).  She had crawled under the covers.  She stayed there most of the day!

High Tide - Wow!

This weekend the weather was spectacular!!  I think we broke records both days with high's in the upper 70s.  I loved it.  I'm guessing this beautiful weather is south of us too.  Ashley is on her annual Rock Boat Cruise with her friends and I am sure they are having a great time.  This year, she is doing back to back cruises!  When they return next week, I think they have a day in Tampa before heading out on a Train (musical group) Cruise.  Oh to be young again!!

My daughter in law posted a wonderful picture of her youngest daughter on Facebook.  I just have to share with you!  She is dressed and ready to go to the Tim Tebow Foundation's Night to Shine Prom!  It is put on annually for special needs teenagers 14 and up.  It is hard to believe she is so grown up.  I have not seen Cassidy in about eight years and she is now 16!!  I know she had a blast!

My son with Cassidy

Every time I think I've found my favorite stamp set in the Occasions catalog, another one beckons me to it.  This time it is High Tide!  I absolutely love this stamp set!  I've had it for a couple of weeks and wasn't so sure I could do it justice.  See, I really like lighthouses.  I don't know what it is about them but I like to go off the beaten path to find an old lighthouse.  I've been to Cape Hatteras here in NC and also to Peggy's Cove Lighthouse in Nova Scotia just to name a couple.

This first card is my favorite I think.  A lot of sponging went into it!  First I made a mask for the sun and the lighthouse before I started adding color.  The colors that I used were Crushed Curry, Perfect Plum, Tangerine Tango.  For the water I sponged Marina Mist and added a little craft White for the ripples.  The lighthouse is stamped in Smoky Slate and Cherry Cobbler.  This is a two-step stamp.  I stamped the rocks with Smoky Slate.  Then I stamped them again with Versamark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder to give the illusion that the rocks were wet.  I also stamped them a third time with White just for some added dimension.

After looking at a lot of images of lighthouses, I discovered that most of them are white.  But that is the thing about stamping - you can make them any color you want!!  Below are some color combinations that I tried.

My next lighthouse card also had sponging - on the sky and the water.  I used the negative mask to sponge the sun.  It's hard to see, but I pulled some of the Crushed Curry down into the water to make a reflection.  The lighthouse was stamped in Smoky Slate and Cherry Cobbler but I added a little touch to this one.  I used an old Blender Pen and the craft White Refill ink to paint the white areas on the lighthouse.  Instead of rocks I stamped grass around the lighthouse.

This card is a lot like the last one except - NO sponging!  I used a piece of DSP from the Serene Scenery Stack (pg 174).  I love this paper.  This was going to be my card for Stamp Club this month but I have used up most of the DSP (which is very unusual for me!)  I painted the white areas with the white craft ink like I did in the card above.

This next card will be the card for Stamp Club this month.  No sponging - just stamping so it should be ok.

Another thing I love about this stamp set is the sentiments.  Make sure you check out this set in the Occasions catalog on page 25.  I'll have more High Tides to share with you later in the week that are water colored.  There are so many possibilities with this set!

Valentine Cards

Since it is almost Valentine's Day, thought I'd share a few of the cards I made for the occasion.  You have a couple of days to get your Valentine cards made.  I hope these will give you some inspiration!!

This first card I made using the Jars of Love stamp set, one of my favorites from the Annual Catalog.  I stamped the jars onto the DSP which is retired.  I think it was a Valentine pack from last year.  I punched little heart flowers with a small heart punch that is now retired also.  Pretty simple but different, don't you think?

This is my Valentine Grunge card.  I stamped the vertical lines in Smoky Slate from Gorgeous Grunge.  The little hearts scattered around are from Perpetual Birthday Calendar, which is a set I tend to use a lot for it's backgrounds.  You should check it out.  I stamped the hearts in Melon Mambo and Smoky Slate.  The "Love" heart is from last month's Paper Pumpkin kit.

This card was an easy one to make.  The DSP is a piece I found in my paper stash.  I die cut the heart and "love" from Sunshine Wishes Thinlits. I found a heart button in my button jar and thread the black thread through it and tied it around the white card.  Easy peasy!

I hope these cards are a help to you as you make your Valentines.