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.

Spring Time! March Blog Hop

It's spring time and time for the March blog hop by the NC Stampin' Up demonstrators. We do a blog hop on the last Sunday of each month.  Glad that you have joined us this month.  Now let's see what spring'y cards I have for you!

First is this cute Swirly Bird card!  I won't tell you how long it took me to get all those colors embedded behind the black swirl!  It's not hard - just time consuming to run all the different colors through the framelit.  But I think it was worth it!  The sentiment comes from Sunshine Sayings - a great stamp set for putting together sentiments.

What is spring without flying a kite?  How many years has it been since you have run with a kite coaxing it to stay up in the air?  I can't count the years! Plus I was never very good - or patient to fly a kite! I remember beach days when my kids were young and they would get their daddy to fly the kite with them - not me!!

This card also uses the Swirly Bird stamp and framelits as well as Layering Love.  I just love the font and the words in this set!  For a little sparkle, I adhered a few sequins.

Finally, I have a cute little box (that I CASE-d from a UK demonstrator) that I made using Sale-A-Bration products.  I made the box with the Inside the Line DSP and made a belly band around it using the Sale-A-Bration Glimmer Paper (Sweet Sugarplum.)  I die cut the bee from Mint Macaron Glimmer Paper also to coordinate with the little bee on the DSP.  The box was super easy to make and only takes a few minutes.  Here are the directions if you want to make one:  It should hold a few small chocolates for a sweet little treat.

Cut your DSP to 6" x 12" (so you can make 2 from one sheet of paper)
Score on the long side at - 2, 5, 7, and 10"
Score on the short side at - 2" and 4"

That's it!

I hope you have enjoyed my spring projects.  Hop along to see what Laurie has to share with you HERE!!

Here is the complete list of our blog hop participants:

Jo Anne Hewins
Michelle Irinyi
Tracie Evans Langley
Sharon Maranich (you are HERE)
Laurie Meier
Sue Root
Lisa Tedder
Frances Wagner

How Much is That Doggie in the Window??

How much is that doggie in the window!  Doesn't this card make you sing that song?!!  He's just so cute!  I used two stamp sets on this card - Balloon Builders and Painters Pallette.  The doggie is made from stamps in the Balloon Builders set, stamped with Smoky Slate ink.  The frame is from Painters Pallette.  I stamped the frame in Versamark, embossed it with silver embossing powder and cut it out.  The inside of the frame is die cut with the Layering Squares framelits.  I cut off the top and the legs on the bottom and glued them directly onto the Pop of Pink designer paper.  The frame itself is popped up using the wonderful Foam Adhesive Strips (pg. 182.)

It was hard to see the free Sale-a-bration glimmer paper sell out so fast, but SU! did a great thing by adding some new items right from the catalog that we could choose for FREE instead. Several Designer Series Papers are on that list including Tasty Treats. This DSP is so much fun.  There's not much time left to take advantage of the Sale-A-Bration sale!!  If you place an order with me, please use the Hostess Code at the top of my blog (on the left).  Thanks!

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.