Retiring Products Announcement & Sweet Purses

Aren't these sweet? The one on the left is so colorful! I am using the one on the right for my Mother's Day Workshop 3-D item. It's SO easy you would not believe it! I got the idea for the textured purse with flower closure from Elizabeth and she has an excellent tutorial for the flower on her blog Animal Scraps.

I used the Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder to doll up the Wisteria Wonder card stock. The rose is a Scallop Circle punched from Calypso Coral. I used a large Basic Pearl in the center, but you could use the Jumbo Pearls available in the Occasions Mini Catalog.

To dress up this pretty Summer Smooches print, I used the Daffodil Delight Seam Binding Ribbon, both from the Summer Smooches Preview (available April 1-30, 2012) and pinched the double bow into place with a Printed Designer In Color Brad.

Truly, these Petite Purses are so easy to make with the Bigz Die. You will want this die for it's versatility. Think of the many treats and jewels you could hide inside! It could be a gift box or party/wedding/shower favor. Use it with card stock, textured card stock or designer paper to match your party or holiday colors. It's available to order with all of the other Summer Smooches items from April 1-30th. Most of the items from the pre-order will be available in the brand new Catalog, which comes out on June 1st.

If you need a PDF copy of the Summer Smooches Flyer, please email me and I will send an electronic copy to you.

Stampin' Up! has let their demonstrators know that the Retired Stamp List will be coming out on April 15th. In the past all retired products were announced at the same time. This year the Retired Accessories/Decor Elements (Decor Elements are being Discontinued) Lists will be announced after the Stamp List, on April 25th. Both lists will be available to order from through May 31, 2012. (While Supplies Last!)

Be sure to mark your calendars for these special announcements, as the items tend to sell out quickly!

Inspiration - You Never Know When It Will Hit!

Hello Blog Friends! Thank you to all of you who inquired about my absence! I have been creating plenty, but have had no time to blog!

Here is a card I made just yesterday. The shopping bag was my inspiration! I have had this bag sitting on the dresser in my studio for at least six months. I just got around to making the card I had dreamed up! I hope you enjoy it.

The "gingham" was made by inking the logo side of the Stripes Embossing Folder with Pacific Point Classic Ink. I did this by just sliding the ink pad over the stripes until they were solidly covered. (You COULD use a brayer, but I could not find mine!) Then I lay my 4 x 5-1/2" piece of Whisper White card stock on the uninked side of the folder. Close it up, run it through the Big Shot and you have stripes. Do the whole operation over again, but lay the card stock the opposite way and you have gingham! I did trim my gingham down to a square size based on where the stripes fell. I did not measure it out specifically. Then I framed it with Whisper White card stock before mounting it on my folded 10" x 5" Melon Mambo card.

For the sentiment, I used a sentiment from the Happiest Birthday Wishes stamp set and inked it with Melon Mambo. The flowers are cut from the Floral Fusion Sizzlits Die, run through the Big Shot with Whisper White, Melon Mambo and Pacific Point card stock.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! See you soon. Thank you for your comments, I really appreciate each one!

PPA131 Sketch Challenge

Hello! Welcome to the Pals Paper Arts Challenge. Margaret Moody's Sketch is awesome! I had fun making my card. Won't you try? Create a card using the sketch below and upload it to the Pals site and you'll be "playing" along!

This shows a close-up of my neat piercing. I had LOTS of help! I used the Stampin' Up! Paper Piercing Tool and Matt Pack to guide me for perfect placement.

I had fun with all of the layers on my card today, but you could easily use this sketch with less layers. I can't wait to see what you will come up with! I hope you got a bit of inspiration from my take on this sketch.

Challenge Card Supplies:

Card Stock: Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Tangerine Tango

Designer Series Paper: Summer Smooches

Stamps: On Your Birthday

Ink: Tangerine Tango

Miscellaneous: Lucky Lime Stampin' Write Marker, Paper Piercing Tool & Mat Pack

If you are in need of Stampin' Up! supplies, please use my Website to order.

Pals Paper Arts Preview and Latest Digital Downloads

Hello! Just a reminder that we have a new Pals Paper Arts Challenge tomorrow! We hope that you will play along using your own favorite supplies! It's always such fun seeing what each person does with the "challenge."

Don't forget about the new My Digital Studio Digital Downloads! You can view them HERE.

In the mean time, please order your Stampin' Up! supplies from my Website.

Tuesday-My Friends are Blog Hopping!!

Please check out the Pals Blog Hop! It starts HERE

I could not participate this month, but I hope to be back in April.

Here is one card I made this weekend. My son works for a Major League Baseball team and is at Spring training in Florida for his birthday later this month. I made this for him.

I used my Scissor Circle Plus (112530) and Circle Scissors Plus Glass Mat (112531) to cut a circle the perfect size for my card front. Then for the stitches-here's where I got pretty clever- I used the Little Leaves Sizzlits Die (114511) in Real Red. I glued the "stitches" on using my 2-way glue pen. I ran the whole ball through my Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder to give the ball texture.

For the sentiment, I used one of the sayings from On Your Birthday (111644) and accented it with two Glimmer Basics Brads (121003). I've come to love these sparkly brads lately!

I hope you enjoyed this and might be able to use the baseball idea in a scrapbook or on a card.

For all of your Stampin' Up! supplies, please use my Website.

Stampin' Supplies:

Card Stock: Real Red, Basic Gray, Whisper White

Stamps: On Your Birthday

Ink: Basic Black

Etc: Scissor Circle Plus and Glass Mat

Big Shot: Little Leaves Sizzlits Die, Square Lattice Embossing Folder

Embellishments: Basics Glimmer Brads

Adhesives: Snail, Stampin' Dimensionals

Welcome Baby

Happy Monday! I'm glad to have had the time to make a card and get a blog post up. This card is to welcome a baby! My friend recently was blessed with a new granddaughter and I wanted to make a special card for her.

I put two colors together that I normally wouldn't think of myself, but they were just there on my desk, together and I thought, "Why not?" I also snipped the outer layer off of my Large Paper Doily cut out to make it a bit smaller.

Here you can see that I added some cute tags and tied them on with Wisteria Wonder baker's twine. They are tied over this beautiful scalloped edge cut from Poppy Parade using the Big Shot and the Adorning Accents Edgelits and Embossing folder.

First I stamped this Delicate Doilies image in Wisteria Wonder ink, and then I stamped it again in Poppy Parade ink and punched out the middle of the image using the 1-1/4" circle punch. I popped up the Poppy Parade image using Stampin' Dimensionals after centering an Everyday Enchantment brad, which I got for *free* with my $50 order during Sale-A-Bration.

I hope you enjoyed my Welcome Baby card and that you are inspired! I love to read your comments and I'm so thankful for all of them!

When you need Stampin' Up! supplies, please use my Website to order.

Baby Card Supplies:

Card Stock: Wisteria Wonder, Poppy Parade, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Flirtatious Specialty

Stamps: Delicate Doilies

Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Poppy Parade

Big Shot: Adorning Accents Edgelits and Embossing Folder, Large Paper Doily die

Punches: 1-1/4"

Embellishments: Everyday Enchantment Brad, Wisteria Wonder Baker's Twine

Summer Smooches Preview

Hello Everyone! Just a quick post to let you see what is going to be available on April 1st! For the month of April, customers will be able to pre-order some new items that will make their formal debut on June 1st in the 2012-2013 Idea Book & Catalog.

Above you will see that I made a quick card using the Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper ($10.95) and a new stamp set called Bright Blossoms W $16.95, C $12.95). I used the new BigzL Petite Purse ($32.95) die to cut my Rich Razzleberry purse in a snap! For the closure, I used another image from Bright Blossoms and a Basic Pearl. It looks like a button! The bow is tied from the new Daffodil Delight Seam Binding Ribbon. Also included as preview items are Summer Smooches Decor Stencil* ($7.95), Summer Smooches Designer Series Fabric ($9.95), Summer Smooches Designer Brads* ($6.95), Summer Smooches Photobook Template ($17.95) and Summer Smooches Digital Kit ($9.95)

*These items will NOT be carried over into the 2012-2013 IB & C

Sorry I had to be so brief, but time is short for playing these days. I'd love to hear what you think of this brief peek at the new items! I will try and get more up as the days go by! Thanks for visiting my blog.

If you'd like me to email a brochure with all of the Summer Smooches products, please email me. with all of the goodies available only during the month of April, please click here!

Don't forget to check out the latest Digital Downloads HERE.

PPA130 Color Challenge and a Question

Welcome to this week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge! We hope you will join us in creating a project using the colors: Lucky Limeade, Always Artichoke and another color of your choice!

I briefly thought I would use Crumb Cake as my third color, but I loved how the Whisper White set off my Lucky Limeade designer paper.

Here is a close up of my greeting, from Teeny Tiny Wishes. I stamped the phrase in Lucky Limeade, adorned it with Glimmer Brads and popped up the Modern Label using Stampin' Dimensionals.

After I was finished and had photographed my card, I saw this brand new roll of Lukcy Limeade 1/8" Organdy ribbon laying on my desk. It's one of the items I received *free* for placing a $50 order during Sale-A-Bration!

What do you think? Is it better with or without the ribbon??? I'd love to hear what you think, so please leave your comments below.

Card Supplies:

Card Stock: Lucky Limeade, Always Artichoke, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: In Colors Patterns 2011-2012

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes

Punches: Full Heart, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border, Modern Label

Big Shot: Adorning Accents Embossing Folder, Large Paper Doily die

Embellishments: Everyday Enchantment 1/8" Lucky Limeade Organdy Ribbon (available only as a Sale-A-Bration item), Glimmer Brights Brads

Adhesives: Sticky Strip, Snail and Stampin' Dimensionals