I'm Back!

So I know I have been missing for several months and believe me it has been a struggle. I have had some health issues which I have pretty much resolved except for cataract surgery next month. Then hopefully I will be stamping with full force. I have missed it so much and missed all my stamping friends. This is the first card I have really made in months and it is a birthday card for my mom. The card base is Rich Razzleberry with the Apothecary Art set from the Occasions Mini along with some of that beautiful pleated satin ribbon. I added pearls, a button and a lace bow. I hope she likes it. Hope to see you all soon.

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What's Your Poison?

I am so technically challenged some days. I made this card almost two weeks ago but couldn't figure out where it was in my files after I downloaded it off my camera. Luckily my daughter, Sarah, came home and helped her mom out. I love this stamp set, Poison Pieces, out of the Holiday Mini. The DSP is out of the catalog. I sponged everything with black ink and thought the Cherry Cobbler paper was blood curdling here!!! Well maybe if you use your imagination!

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Don't Faint!

Can you believe it? Two cards posted in less than a week! I'm on a roll!!!! I really am just avoiding other things that I should be doing. I just heard this new DSP, Spice Cake, from the Holiday Mini, calling my name. So I took the paper out of the package and looked through it all. I chose this pattern and used half of the front and half of the back to coordinate together with the colors, Soft Suede, Pool Party, Pear Pizazz, and a little of More Mustard. Then I pulled out some of my stamp sets to look for something with a similar pattern in it. I came up with Days of Gratitude and the words are from Creative Elements. So now I guess I'll go clean some windows. Yuk.

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Whew! I've Been Busy.

Today I sat down for the first time in a few weeks to stamp. I have all these new stamp sets and Designer papers and I was a little bit overwhelmed as to what I was going to play with first. I chose my paper first and selected the Pocket Full of Posies (ashes, ashes, we all fall down!) and cut up a sheet of each into 5 1/4 x 4 inch pieces. Then I pulled out all the colors that were suggested by Stampin Up and played around with them. I decided to use one of the new sets out of the catalog, Creative Elements. I tore my paper and sponged it with Early Espresso and added brads and ribbon for finishing touches along with a pearl on the butterfly.

So where have I been for the past week or so? In California! I flew out there with my 80 year old mom to surprise her baby brother for his 70th birthday. My uncle Richard was so surprised to see not only my mom but his older brother Dino as well! We all flew in from the east coast and so he was so overwhelmed with happiness. It was fun listening to the three of them talk about their childhood and their parents. And then if you have ever been around Italians when they get excited, you know you will need earplugs! OMG. They would get so loud and then the rest of us would have to quiet them down. Too funny. While I was there, my uncle took us down to Hollywood and Beverly Hills. I can honestly say, I wasn't too impressed but it was fun and a day out with the gang. What I really didn't like was riding on the interstate. Just give me a blindfold and let me know when we reach our destination! Yikes. So back home now, it took me a few days to get back to "normal". Traveling back and forth with time changes was hard but I hope I can get some time in to stamp a little more before I go back to work next week. So hope to see you back here soon!

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I've Got To Crow.

I just love this new Designer Series Paper called Beau Chateau. It reminds me of old time wallpaper. I saw this sheet with the chicken wire image on a Pink Pirouette background and immediately thought of the chicken from the stamp set"Countryside" Doesn't it go perfect with this paper? Anyway the rooster print with the Pink Pirouette and Marina Mist flower pattern is on the back of the chicken wire paper. So I took a piece and ripped it diagonally and then sponged the edges with Soft Suede. I wasn't really sure where I wanted to put the vintage ribbon or antique brad so I kind of just closed my eyes like Pin the Tail on the Donkey and well here you go! Not sure if I like it there or not but it's staying put. The whole time I was working on this card, I thought of my stamping friend in Arizona, Di Gibbs, who is an awesome stamper and who has several chicks that she is always talking about. So this one is for you Di! Hope you like it.

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Tart and Tangy Leaving Us Too Soon!

I mean, look at these two stamp images, the apple and lime from Tart and Tangy. They go perfect with the Berry Blossoms Designer Specialty Paper that is new this year. On the top one I used the new Just Thank You stamp that I am in love with. I love the crispness of the font and I stamped it in Early Espresso.
On this second card I used Lucky Limeade in the ink and cardstock. Just saying Lucky Limeade makes me pucker. I love limeades in the summer. My husband and I, when we were dating, use to ride our bikes down to the beach to an old drugstore that still had a soda fountain and get fresh squeezed limeades. They were the best. Okay back to this card. I used the scallop punch to add another layer of Lucky Limeade to the strip of Whisper White and Berry Blossoms DSP. Then I took my white gel pen and dotted all the scallops. Isn't it something how certain stamp sets get used at first and then pushed to the back, never to been used again until they retire. I hope I'm not pushed to the back when I retire!!! I hope I can be better about using older stamps this year that are in the current catalog. I get so hung up on the minis sometimes that I forget about the catalog stamps. Do you do that as well? I think if I could cram a few more hours into the day I could use them more. Anybody buying that one? Well going to go work on my Open House projects today. I hope you all have a great Sunday.

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Convention Blues

I missed Convention this year because of it being scheduled earlier and because my dad turned 80 this week and I wanted to see him and celebrate this milestone with him. My mom and dad are now both 80 and although Dad moves a little slower these days and is hard of hearing (even though he says he's not) they still get around pretty well.

So sometimes you just can't do it all right? And with that being said, I am still sorry I missed convention. If you have never been, let me tell you, it is so much fun. You laugh and meet new friends. You get free stuff, learn new stamping techniques, and get to see sneak previews. There are a lot more perks but the friendships are the best. So to ease my little convention depression, I stamped and stamped and stamped these last couple days. I just love the new designer papers. The ideas just run through my head and then of course most of them I can't remember when I sit down to create!!!! Any of you out there know what I mean? I bet there are a few of you.

Anyway today I made cards with the Berry Blossoms DSP (Designer Series Paper). It incorporates the new In colors this year and I just love them. This first card uses Calypso Coral and Early Espresso card stock, as well as inks in the same colors. I used a piece of the the new Scallop Dots Ribbon in Chocolate Chip and for my stamped image, I used one of the stamps from the new Hostess set in the catalog called Posey Punch. What I like about this set and a lot of SU's stamps is that they can be used with punches so you don't have to do all that cutting out! Unless you are like my friend, Tracey Old in New Zealand, who loves to cut and does a great job. (Oh did I mention she's a hairdresser by day?) Ha! Go figure.

This next card uses Wisteria Wonder Card stock and ink as well. I used my Sissix Fun Flowers Die with the Big Shot and then sponged the edges with some more Wisteria Wonder Ink and assembled and put a Early Espresso Designer Button in the middle of it. The sentiment comes from a new set called Petite Pairs. I didn't take a picture of the inside of the card but it completes the outside saying "so many smiles" with "begin with you" stamped on the inside.

I hope you like the cards today. If you have never stamped and are interested in trying it, give me a call or email me. Click on the daisy up in the right side of this blog. It will take you to my Stampin Up website with my contact info as well as a link to order anything you have seen here today. I will be happy to help you in any way possible.

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