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Tropical Party

Whew…the Wedding Reception is OVER and I'm SO thankful it went well.  Other than forgetting to bring containers to put leftover food, I did a pretty good job of remembering everything I had to take to the party house!  And really, other than fruit, we didn't have a lot of extra food left over!  It was a bigger group than I anticipated!  BIG thanks to my friend, Sue, for her help with the food…always a bigger job than you can anticipate!  Everyone raved about the food, so it was a success!  Here is a picture of the happy couple with their wedding cake.

Gosh…I feel like I've been neglecting my Summer Mini stamps since the new catalog came out and now I have the Holiday Mini products in my hands, too!  Since the Summer Mini only runs thru the end of August, today I thought I'd feature Stampin' Up!'s set, Tropical Party, that is one of my favorites!  I followed Mary Jo's Monday's Lunchtime Sketch Challenge (TSSC135) to get me started.

And here is my interpretation:

I thought the words from the stamp set, Level 1 Hostess set, Afterthoughts, was pretty funny with the Coconut Drink image from Tropical Party!  I started with a base of Old Olive cardstock.  I used the umbrella pattern from Island Oasis Designer Paper and layered it on Tempting Turquoise cardstock.  I used another pattern from Island Oasis DSP for the polka dots, then layered that on Old Olive.  I tied the new Pumpkin PIe Taffeta Ribbon around to the front and tied with a knot. 

I inked the Just for You image with Rose Red, then used Tempting Turquoise Marker for the "…so you don't have to share"…words and stamped it on Whisper White.  I layered it on Old Olive.  The coconut drink, I stamped on Whisper White with Chocolate Chip Classic Ink, cut it out, then placed it on a 1 3/8 circle of Rose Red cardstock.  Fun!

New Designer Paper and Ribbon Shares going on now!  Find more information HERE!

Friday is the last day to submit your application!  We are looking for FOUR Create with Connie and Mary Design Team Members for the next session of Create with Connie and Mary, featuring the Holiday Mini!  We'd love to have you apply!  If you applied last time, try again!  We had so many great applications last time it was very hard to choose!  You can find out more information over on Create with Connie and Mary!

Stamping 411 Sketch – Aviary

Time for another Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge!  A really fun and easy sketch this week…it came together pretty quickly!  We invite you to play along and upload your creation over on Stamping 411.  And, check out what the other Design Team Operators did this week!

And here is my card using the fun Stampin' Up! stamp set, Aviary!

I started with a base card of Daffodil Delight.  Then I cut strips of Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi and Marina Mist and ran them thru the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Impressions Folder.  I layered them onto Early Espresso cardstock.  I cut another strip of Early Espresso used the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punch, then placed it along the left side. 

For the center, I stamped the Birdcage from Stampin' Up!'s Aviary stamp set in Early Espresso on Whisper White, then added the Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi and Daffodil Delight birds inked with Stampin' Write Markers.  I punched it with the Wide Oval Punch and then I punched Marina Mist cardstock with the Modern Label Punch, cut it in half, and placed it behind the Wide Oval.  I added two Rhinestone jewels to each side.  I wrapped the 1/8 Taffeta Daffodil Delight Ribbon to the back and tied a bow at the top of the birdcage.  Finally, I stamped "let's celebrate" from On Your Birthday stamp set in Early Espresso, then punched with the Small Oval Punch and placed on the front with Stampin' Dimensionals.

I had lots of fun playing with this Stamping 411 sketch…hope you do, too!

Punched Posies – CC283

Gosh…I haven't played along with the SCS challenges in quite a while!  I was looking for a color challenge and decided to play along with them today!  The colors are Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade, Crumb Cake and a Neutral.  Very fun color combo!

Here is my take on those colors!

For my card, I started with the Top Note die and cut the Whisper White with the Big Shot.  I also knew I wanted to use one of the phrases in Stampin' Up!'s stamp set, Word Play…I love how large the font is on these!  I picked this greeting with the thought that I'd use hearts some way…then saw my Punched Posies stamp set and decided Poppy Parade and Baja Breeze flowers was the way to go.  I stamped the words in Poppy Parade on the Whisper White, then sponged around the edges with Baja Breeze ink.

I inked up the large flower in Poppy Parade and punched with the Fancy Flower punch.  Then I stamped the smaller flowers in Baja Breeze and cut them out (they are really intended to use with the 1" circle, but I like them cut out better).   I used Stampin' Dimensionals to place them on the bottom of the Top Note.  I used a button tied with Linen Thread for the center of the large flower and the new adhesive 1/2 pearls in the centers of the smaller flowers…I LOVE these! 

I decided to add the Crumb Cake color with a butterfly in the upper right corner, so I stamped her on Whisper White with Crumb Cake for the wings and Baja Breeze for the body , then used the Butterfly punch.  She is popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals, too.  Then I decided to use the itty bitt 1/2 pearls to define her flight pattern.  LOVE how that looks!  Since the punch cut off the antenna, I drew them back on with my Baja Breeze Stampin' Write Marker.

The base of the card is Poppy Parade and I layered some Sunny Garden Designer Paper onto Baja Breeze cardstock in the background.  I think this worked out great for the SCS283 Challenge!

Well, I'm off to help move my youngest son's household today…could he have picked a busier week?  lol!

Don't forget!  Create with Connie and Mary is looking for FOUR new Design Team Members for the next session of Create with Connie and Mary, featuring the Holiday Mini!  We'd love to have you apply!  If you applied last time, try again!  We had so many great applications last time it was very hard to choose!  You can find out more information over on Create with Connie and Mary!

Artistic Etchings

Look closely!  Can you believe it?  No Big Shot, no Designer Paper, no Punches!  What!  Well…back in the day…I remember we didn't have huge selections of those things to make our card creating easy!  We used SIP – stamps, ink, paper.  Now…don't get me wrong…I LOVE my Big Shot, Designer Paper and Punches, but it actually felt good just to use my stamps to create a background with ink and cardstock.  I didn't know it, but It happens that Stamping Royalty (SR 31) also has a challenge this week to create your own designer paper with stamps…so my card fits right in!

I took my color inspiration from this week's Curtain Call Challenge Act 41…love the blues in here and her inspiration of the shells.

Then I used Mary Jo's Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge TSSC133 for my layout:

The combination of the two gave me this:

I started by using the long medallion type stamp image in Artistic Etchings and my Stamp-a-ma-jig to create the Crumb Cake "designer paper" on the Whisper White in the background.  I added some speckles with my Color Spritzer and Marina Mist Stampin' Write Marker.  I roughed up the edges with my Distressing Tool and Marina Mist Classic Ink.  It is layered on Marina Mist cardstock, also distressed and finally on the Night of Navy base card. 

For the focal image, I stamped the Eiffel Tower from Artistic Etchings in Night of Navy on Crumb Cake cardstock, used my Color Spritzer and Distressing Tool again.  Added a small piece of Whisper White along the bottom that I stamped with the circle Medallion stamp image, again from Artistic Etchings, in Marina Mist and Crumb Cake Classic Inks randomly.   I used my Corner Rounder Punch (oops…I guess I did use ONE punch!)   I wrapped the Marina Mist Taffeta Ribbon around and secured with Linen Thread, then tied on the Night of Navy Designer Button with a bow.  I stamped Amour in Marina Mist and used more of the Color Spritzer on these layers, too.  (Darn…I just noticed that I forgot to add my scallop along the edge!  Oh well…not going to re-photograph it now!  lol!) 

I don't do Vintage a lot…I'm usually more of a "clean" type of stamper…but I did like how this turned out and how it fit the two challenges!

Don't forget!  Create with Connie and Mary is looking for FOUR new Design Team Members for the next session of Create with Connie and Mary, featuring the Holiday Mini!  We'd love to have you apply!  If you applied last time, try again!  We had so many great applications last time it was very hard to choose!  You can find out more information over on Create with Connie and Mary!

Morning Cup

Well, I'm DEFINITELY needing a Morning Cup of coffee today!  My husband woke me up getting ready this morning, usually I just sleep thru him getting dressed.  And, then my mind started going on all the things I need to do before leaving for Convention next week!  My poor blog has been suffering from neglect!  I have several things lined up for my Blog the rest of the week, then NEXT week is the Tour de Freaks Blog Hop!  I know you'll enjoy that!  Of course, I haven't even STARTED my projects for that!  lol!

I started by using Technostamper's Monday's Lunchtime Sketch Challenge (TSSC130). Then  I used one of my favorite sets from Stampin' Up!'s new catalog…called Morning Cup!  I love the little sayings in it.  Perk up would be a nice greeting to use when sending to a friend to cheer them up!  I took my colors from the new Sunny Garden Designer Paper…nice BRIGHT cheerful colors!  I did tone down the base card by using So Saffron instead of Daffodil Delight.

I added a strip of the Sunny Garden floral print to the left side of the So Saffron base card.  I ran the Poppy Parade piece thru the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Impressions Folder, then added the Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon around it and tied with a knot.  I stamped the stack of cups in Chocolate Chip Classic Ink, then carefully used my Stampin' Write Markers and AquaPainter to color them with Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Sahara Sand and Peach Parfait colors.  I added the words Perk Up! in Chocolate Chip ink.  The Whisper White was layered onto Chocolate Chip.  Finally, I wanted some bling to "perk up" the card and used a couple of Stampin' Up!'s new adhesive Rhinestone Jewels…I LOVE them!

This card just makes me HAPPY this morning…but it is time for another cup of coffee!  I hope you have a WONDERFUL day!

Create with Connie and Mary Thursday Challenge

This week over on Create with Connie and Mary's Thursday Challenge it is a sketch challenge!  Mary made up an awesome sketch from MDS for us to use.  Remember, it is for inspiration only, feel free to flip it around and use it as you are inspired!  Then upload your card over on the InLinkz gallery on Create with Connie and Mary!  Make sure you put CCMC106 in your post!  And, check out what the Challenge Design Team did this week…they are AWESOME!

And here is my card for this week!  I LOVE the colors of Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight together!  Throw in a little Pear Pizzazz and you have a P-A-R-T-Y!  lol!

I started with a base card of Marina Mist and embossed the front with the new Vintage Wallpaper Impressions Folder.  I cut a piece of Greenhouse Gala Designer Paper and layered it on Daffodil Delight cardatock.  I wrapped some Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon around and tied a knot.  (I'm SO happy we have some new colors in the Taffeta!)  I embossed the Pear Pizzazz piece with the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder and rounded the corners.

For the focal element, I stamped the large flower from Stampin' Up!'s Level 2 Hostess Set, Punched Posies, in Daffodil Delight Classic Ink on Whisper White and punched with the Fancy Flower Punch.  I stamped it again in Marina Mist and punched out the center with the 1" circle.  I stamped the leaves in Pear Pizzazz and cut them out individually.  In the center, I added a new Daffodil Delight Designer Button and added some Linen Thread tied in a bow in the center.  Finally, I used the X shaped flower punched from Daffodil Delight cardstock with the Itty Bitty Punch and placed it where the sketch shows brads.  I love how it turned out!  What do you think?

Again, check out what the other Challenge Team designers did over on Create with Connie and Mary this week!  FABULOUS!  Then get out your stuff and play along!  We love to see your creations, too!

Create with Connie and Mary Challenge

It's Thursday and time for another Create with Connie and Mary Thursday Challenge!  This week's theme was 4th of July!  A great reason to celebrate!  (Although I certainly don't know where JUNE went!)

We want to celebrate the addition of our Challenge Design Team, too!  We have four FABULOUS women joining us…their talent amazes me!  WELCOME!

Carrie Gaskin — Artistic Avenger

Deb Currier — ARTfelt Impressions

Lisa Martz — Get Your Stamp On!

Stacey Schafer — Stacey's Stamping Stage

And now for my Fourth of July submission.  I've done several cards, so I decided to do a little favor you could have on hand at your picnic!  Fill it with candy or some small "snaps" fireworks for the kids!

I used one of the returning colors, Pacific Point for the Pillow Box, cut with the Bigz Die in my Big Shot.  Before I folded it on the score lines, I adhered a strip of Whisper White that I stamped with Stampin' Up!'s July Fourth fireworks in Pacific Point and Poppy Parade, one of the NEW In Colors coming TOMORROW!  After folding it, I used the 5/8 Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon to hold it closed and tied a knot at the top.  I stamped two large stars from July Fourth in Poppy Parade and Pacific Point, then punched with the Large Star Punch.  Finally, I inked up the greeting with my Stampin' Write markers in those same colors and stamped on scrap Whisper White, punched with the 1 1/4 Circle, then layered on a Poppy Parade 1 3/8 circle.

These would be pretty easy to make up a bunch of them…the Big Shot does the hard part!

Make sure to check out what the rest of the Challenge Team did this week over on Create with Connie and Mary!

Tropical Party SSSC75

As you know, I think it is so much fun to do sketch challenges.  I picked up this sketch over at Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge (SSSC75) and thought it looked fun.  I must say, though, the little icons at the bottom of the sketch did give me a little problem!  lol!

For my card, I wanted to use some of the new colors coming in with the next catalog!  I started with a base of the new color, Marina Mist,  because I knew I wanted to create a water theme with Stampin' Up!'s Tropical Party Stamp Set from the Summer Mini.  I added a layer of Wild Wasabi, one of the returning In Colors, that I ran thru the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder.

I cut a Large Scallop Circle with the wonderful new In Color, Poppy Parade!  I LOVE this new red!  It pops!  Inside, I cut a 3 3/4 circle from Whisper White, then half circles from Marina Mist and Sahara Sand so I could layer them across the bottom of the circle.  I spritzed on Sahara Sand Ink with the Color Spritzer Tool and Marina Mist spritz for the water.  I used a 1 1/4 circle template to create the sun with the new Daffodil Delight Stampin' Write Marker.  The palm trees I inked up with Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Markers and stamped over the "sand" and background Whisper White. 

I added a row of the small flowers in Daffodil Delight and Poppy Parade, inked with the Stampin' Write Markers and cut out.  I wrapped Kraft Taffeta Ribbon around and tied (it's retiring!  Oh no!) and then stamped Just for You from Teeny Tiny Wishes and punched with the Small Oval Punch.  I'm pretty happy with how I worked the icons across the bottom!

CUSTOMERS – remember my ADHESIVE SALE going on now until June 30th!  Email me for more information!

Watercolor Trio

Wow…sorry this is posting so late.  I had major problems trying to get to my Dashboard to post!  It finally seems to be working ok. 

And another WOW…my count went over 500,000 blog hits without me even knowing it!  I guess I haven't paid attention since I got back from the wedding!  THANK YOU for visiting and for the nice comments you leave!  I know I appreciate knowing you are out there and checking in frequently.  I've been blogging now for 3 years…doesn't seem possible.

I used the square (rectangle) sketch over on Mojo Monday for the basis of my card.  I've had the idea for a red/white/blue card without using stars or a patriotic theme!  I think the red and blue flowers, although unusual, fit my idea nicely!

So for my card, I started with a base of Real Red cardstock.  I layered on a piece of Whisper White that I ran thru the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Impressions Folder.  Along the bottom on another piece of Whisper White, I stamped two of the flowers from Stampin' Up!'s Watercolor Trio stamp set in Real Red and Pacific Point randomly.  (I'm SO happy that Pacific Point is returning…I love the brightness of the blue color!)   I added a strip of Real Red cardstock to hide the seam between the top and the bottom.

I stamped Birthday Wishes in Pacific Point on Whisper White, then punched with the 1 3/8 circle punch.  I added a 1 3/4 circle of Real Red behind it.  I stamped the third flower on Whisper White by inking up the flower with my Real Red and Pacific Point Stampin' Write Markers.  It is layered on Real Red, too.  Finally, I punched the Butterfly from Real Red cardstock, added some Linen Thread for the body and popped it up with Stampin' Dimensionals on the front of the card!  I love how it turned out!

CUSTOMERS remember my STOCK UP ON ADHESIVE SALE going on now thru June 30th!  Don't forget to order NOW!

Create with Connie and Mary Challenge – Together Forever

This week's Create with Connie and Mary Thursday Challenge is a Sketch!  We've always had challenges for our subscribers, but now every Thursday we will offer a sketch, color or inspiration challenge for EVERYONE to try.  Just check to see what the challenge is for the week, then submit your entry via INLINKZ over on the Create with Connie and Mary blog.  Please state in your post that it is a Create with Connie and Mary Challenge and the corresponding challenge number (CCMC104 is today!)  Come play with us!

The retiring list has been out for several weeks and I'm trying to use my stamps a few more times before they retire.  This one, Together Forever, will go into my KEEP pile.  I love it for wedding cards!  I decided to mix the old with the new, by using Pink Pirouette cardstock…one of the returning In Colors in the new catalog!  I love the soft pink color!

I started by stamping the flower image in Basic Black on Whisper White and punching with the 1 3/4 Circle.  I used the new Pink Pirouette Stampin' Write Marker to color it in.  I layered it on the Pennant XL Die Scallop Circle I cut from Basic Black cardstock on the Big Shot.  I added it to a layer of Pink Pirouette that  I ran thru the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder…that was layered on another piece of Basic Black that I used the Scallop Trim Border Punch along the side.

I added a piece of Tea Party Designer Paper to the top of Pink Pirouette cardstock, then wrapped the White Satin Ribbon around twice to the back and secured.  The Pink Pirouette was layered onto more Basic Black, and then a base card of Whisper White.  I added a White Satin Bow on the front and used the Charming set to stamp Mr & Mrs. and Love in Basic Black Classic Ink on Whisper White.  They were punched with the Medium Jewelry Tag punch, pierced with a hole at the top and added to Linen Thread.  I wrapped the Thread around the bow and secured with Mini Glue Dots.

I love the softness of this card!  Pink and Black for weddings is really big right now…I think we saw two of them while in Cancun last week.  It was amazing at this resort…they have 1-2 weddings every day!  Big business!

Make sure to stop over at Create with Connie and Mary to see Mary's wonderful card this week!  Love the bright colors!