30!

Happy Monday to you! I hope you had a lovely Easter weekend! Ours was good. Except winter abruptly ended and summer arrived and now its hot! 

Today's card uses retired and retiring products, lol, but worked great for someone special having a birthday soon! I liked the color combo from Inspire.Create.Challenges and I put it with the Freshly Made Sketch, and juuust missed getting it in before the deadline. You can't tell here, but I used a Blending Brush to add some swirls of Bermuda Bay ink under the die cut "30".

Supplies:
Stamps: Number of Years (retired)
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Polished Pink (both retiring)
Paper: Bermuda Bay (retiring), Basic White card stocks, Dandy Designs DP (retired Sale-A-Bration 2023)
Accessories: Blending Brush, Glitter Enamel Dots (retired), Large Numbers Framelits (retired), big shot

And hopefully this one arrives on time! I keep running behind! 

School Scrapping!

Happy Monday to you! I hope your weekend was good! I spent most of it sleeping because I am sick, but thank goodness this mama got sick on an open/boring weekend and not a jam-packed one!  

I'm sharing a lot of scrapping right now, because that's what I'm making. And don't you worry, I am still doing plenty of traditional scrapping with paper and stamps, haha. May as well use the stash I already own, right?? 

One project I have for myself this year is to get as much done as possible for my middle child, who is about to graduate. I set a bit of a precedent with my first graduating in 2020 and not getting a yearbook til late August, so now I feel like I need to work hard on getting her life done too. So she is definitely a main focus for me right now. And while it's fun to scrap the latest happenings, she has a shoebox full of photos that have already been printed, ranging from 2010 (seriously!!) to 2022, so I'm starting there. Ahem.

So on that note, here are three first days of school I've done for her this month! Ha! 

Supplies:
Paper: Pool Party shimmer?? Texture card stock (retired), Just Add Cake DP (retired)

Accessories: In Color Sequins (coastal cabana) (retired)

And as *very occasionally happens, two of these pages are NOT exclusively Stampin' Up!, because the local scrapbook store sells paper and stickers customized for our school! How can I resist that?? 

Supplies:
Paper: Pacific Point

Accessories: misc store stickers 

Journaling Font: Dreaming Out Loud Script Pro

Supplies:
Stamps: Number of Years (retired)
Ink: Pacific Point
Paper: Basic White, misc store DP
Accessories: misc store stickers 
Journaling Font: Baguet Script

What are you making this week?

1000 Books!

Not a lot of crafting time lately, but I have made a few scrapbook pages I can share.
Like this layout with this adorable stamp set that did not get enough attention it's one year. It retired a year ago but I really love it, and it was perfect for a page about my girl reading 1000 Books before she starts Kindergarten! (which isn't even this coming school year!) This is a thing our library does that I thought was definitely worth signing her up for. I was just surprised she was done so quickly! So she got a few prizes (dinner coupon, stuffed animal, stickers) and I made a layout of several of our times checking in. The tags have the dates on them, and the tags themselves came from the Dec 2019 Paper Pumpkin kit! love those "leftovers" for other projects!

But also, I stamped lots of books for the page and this super cute bookworm, and an adorable library card too! 

Supplies:

Stamps: Check You Out (retired), Number of Years (retired), Crayon Fun Alphabet Lower (retired)

Ink: Memento Black, Gorgeous Grape, Flirty Flamingo, Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay

Paper: Gorgeous Grape, Whisper White card stocks, Dec 2019 Paper Pumpkin
Accessories: Regals Candy Dots (retired)

Band Competition

Today I'm calling this the end of my son's band pictures, til I scrapbook from previous years, haha... 
This one's a three pager! Sheesh! haha..... of course it is- it's his final Marching Band event ever! This is at the state competition, which is an overnight trip for our school. As with most of my band pages, the photos are the main point, leaving little room for anything else. Which is why I ended up not choosing to share most of the band competition pages after all, haha. 

Stamps: Number of Years, ABC-123 Sketch Alphabet & Numbers
Ink: Seaside Spray, Night of Navy
Paper: Seaside Spray, Crushed Curry, Misc SB Store DP
Font: The Hand Extrablack
2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes

And here are some closeups! 

One kit, many pages!

In searching for long retired product to work on my son's books with, I found this very old kit. I won it from a blog in 2009, so the DP and stickers on these pages are not Stampin' Up!, but accessories, like buttons, are. I've made him maybe 5 pages using this same kit already, and here are three more events, totaling four more pages using it!

First up, this page was for another virtual scrap night challenge HERE. This time the point was to use up stash, and I definitely have that!!
Challenge #3 -- #theTPisGone! Let's stop the hoarding and use our supplies! It's 9-1-1 ....
(9) Use at least (nine) items you've been hoarding/holding onto
(1) Use at least (one) square on your layout/page (it can be the photo or another item.
(1) Use at least (one) item over a year old

Supplies:
Paper: Very Vanilla, Bashful Blue (retired) card stock, 2009 scrap kit by Cosmo Cricket, I think called Snorkel?
Accessories: Stampin' up! button stash
Font: Curlz

This layout was just what I came up with for his fifteenth birthday party:

 Along with a close up of each page:

Supplies:
Stamps: Number of Years
Ink: Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango (retired)
Paper: Very Vanilla card stock, 2009 scrap kit by Cosmo Cricket, I think called Snorkel?
Accessories: Stickers from 2009 scrap kit by Cosmo Cricket, I think called Snorkel?
font Mario Kart DS

Finally (for now) I have this page of his field trip to the pool in 1st Grade! Ha!

Supplies:
Paper: Very Vanilla card stock, 2009 scrap kit by Cosmo Cricket, I think called Snorkel?
font Century Schoolbook

Scrappy Friday

What a week this has been. So today I got a little more scrapping done. Three more pages for my boy. Here's the first one of the day. I used a brand-new-to-me set from the main catalog, and some retired stamps. The brads are retired and the colors are all current. We won't even talk about how long it took to get this one done...lol.

Supplies:
Stamps: Check You Out, Number of Years (retired), ABC Alphabet Upper (retired), ABC Alphabet Lower (retired)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy, Seaside Spray, Crushed Curry
Paper: Very Vanilla & Cherry Cobbler

And here's a little closeup of these cute books. This was one of those sets I didn't really notice in the beginning but then I suddenly fell in love with it and had to have it!

And I hope you have a crafty weekend!

Back to School!

This week I turned 40. I'm fine with that, haha. I totally feel "old" some days and most of the time it's just fine. But to celebrate, I decided to spend the day scrapbooking!! That's great...but I am still the mom, and I have a three year old full time, haha, so I didn't get to scrap the entire day. But I did get seven pages done and I am very happy about that! And if you recall, I'm cramming to get my son's books "done" before he graduates in a couple months. That means I have pages, not cards, to share right now.

Three of the pages I did on my birthday were back-to-school pages. Three different years of the first day of school! And I'm not done with that topic either! The pages are pretty simple but they're done and that is the point.

This page uses a Simply Sent kit which is so old I wasn't even blogging when it came out!

Supplies:

Stamps: Skinny Mini Alphabet (retired)

Ink: Pacific Point

Paper: Old Olive card stock, Rock Star Simply Sent kit (retired)

Accessories: Rock Star Simply Sent kit (retired)

This page used THIS sketch. I don't think I've ever made a circle of brads because it's time consuming and uses up product, but they've been retired for years so I think it's okay, haha! I layered some paper on the ends and used a retired stamp set for the title. Finally, the DP strip and the stickers came from the local store, but it's exactly my son's school sooooo I couldn't exactly resist.... 

Supplies:
Stamps: Number of Years (retired)
Ink: Blueberry Bushel
Paper: Whisper White, Blueberry Bushel, Seaside Spray, Real Red card stock, Come Sail Away DP, misc
Accessories: Silver brads (retired)

And finally this page. Again, very simple, but hey, it's done!

Supplies:

Stamps: Skinny Mini Alphabet (retired)

Ink: Pacific Point

Paper: Balmy Blue, Blueberry Bushel, Come Sail Away DP, misc

Accessories: White Baker's Twine, Star Brads (retired) stickers

Class of 2018

In case your world is calm and relaxed, can I just say that May is a jam-packed month for school age kids, and their parents. Between the end of year concerts and end of year projects and making sure the GPA stays up these last couple weeks...! Add to that the end of year "party" activities, and spring fever, haha, and yard work and it's just way too busy around here!

So today it finally crossed my mind that I have three cards I have to make, for big events the next few weeks. And I put the first one together within an hour of realizing that, haha!

My nephew graduates from high school next week! We live about four hours away, so a card is perfect. I wanted to use his school colors, which are gold and black, and I wanted to use a sketch. I picked the latest from Freshly Made Sketches and then fiddled with how I wanted to place the layers I'd picked. I finally decided to cut the numbers out of black card stock and then realized I like the negative piece even better, and! it fit the sketch perfectly! Voila- here's the card!
(and that is why the numbers aren't as straight as I might have done if I planned it that way, haha)
And a lot of it is retiring, so if you like it, don't miss out!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Number of Years (retiring), Teeny Tiny Wishes (retiring)
Ink: Memento Black
Paper: Crushed Curry & Basic Black card stocks, Gold Glimmer DP (retiring)
Accessories: Large Numbers framelits (retiring), Big Shot, Glue Dots

Pretty flowers

Happy Monday to you! I hope you had a great weekend!
Sometimes you create something exactly and sometimes it ends up not all that close to the idea you had. This card took it's own direction twice. First, I stamped the flowers in Fresh Fig, and then realized the DP is really Berry Burst! So I had to stamp a new main panel. Then, I had looked for sketches and meant to use THIS one from Viva la Verve sketches....but I kind of missed. The elements are all there, just stacked differently.

Welp, this is the card we're making at my class, and that's where it all came from, haha!

Supplies:

Stamps: Number of Years

Ink: Pear Pizazz, Berry Burst

Paper: Pear Pizazz, Berry Burst & Whisper White card stocks, Naturally Eclectic DP

Accessories: Metallic Foil Doilies

In Color Birthday

I think I got to stamp three days in a row last week! That is super exciting for me!

Today I am going to share this card that I think turned out really pretty. I got to use a current Freshly Made sketch (what?!) and brand new In Colors. This one is going on my display board, and it might end up in a very soon upcoming class!

Supplies:
Stamps: Number of Years
Ink: Lemon Lime Twist, Fresh Fig
Paper: Fresh Fig, Whisper White, Lemon Lime Twist card stock
Accessories: Pearls, staple

Cards In The Mail!

Happy Monday to you! Yesterday was Mother's Day and this is who I spent it with:

*those cards were made entirely on their own, using my retired supplies!

Today I have a post FULL of inspiration to get you going this week! These fabulous cards are form my Cards In The Mail swap with other Stampin' Up! demonstrators. I love getting these in the mail! Credit has been given to each creator.

(and I'll tell you a little secret... I got something else delivered: a big box from UPS on Friday that I cannot wait to play with...!!!)

 Above is closed, and below is pulled open!

Cards In The Mail!

Well today is the big moving day for my family! We hope to be completely out and sleeping at my parents tonight, haha....!
That means my own stamping is still on hold.
Which also means the Cards In The Mail are perfect for sharing and inspiring you this week! A few things have retired, like DP, but you can always adapt the designs and use what you have!

Blog Hop: Steppin' Up with the New Catalog!

And here comes summertime! This year is flying by!! And another month means another Blog Hop!
(I missed out on last month's hop, but you can still check it out if you start HERE)

This time I wanted to play with new-to-me products, and brand spankin' new catalog products! (btw- the new catalog debuts today!) I also happened to need a birthday/graduation card for my nephew! I chose the Freshly Made Sketch from last week for my layout. A masculine card is easy to keep super simple, and in this blog hop we like to show how to step it up. Perfect!
*sorry the photo is blurry!! The camera clearly thought you needed to see that pretty yellow dahlia!

Supplies:
Stamps: Number of Years
Ink: Dapper Denim
Paper: Dapper Denim, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Swirly Scribbles dies, Large Numbers Framelits, Big Shot

Did you notice the new shade of blue?? Love!! But I needed to step it up, and make it just a bit more interesting. I added some Linen Thread, a bit of subtle stamping, and Dimensionals to make the numbers and greeting pop right off the card!

Supplies:
Stamps: Number of Years
Ink: Dapper Denim
Paper: Dapper Denim, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Linen Thread, Swirly Scribbles dies, Large Numbers Framelits, Big Shot, Dimensionals

What do you think?
The new catalog comes out today and later I'll have it linked to my sidebar for your convenience! I am very excited about it and the new products!
Now go hop along and see what everyone else has to show you, and leave us your thoughts- we all love comments! We even have some new stampers in our line up, so don't miss out!

New Catalog is Coming!

I hadn't had a chance to make my March/April swap til I was way overdue! I hate that! Life has been much busier than I expected, even with allllllll the things I totally knew about. I dislike underestimating things, haha.....

But, I got to stamp, and I got to play with new toys! Wahoo!!
....and then I was late to link the sketch I used...yep, that's how it's going right now, haha...It was the Mojo Monday sketch from two weeks ago... So I went ahead and posted it even later so I could feature brand new catalog products just before it goes live! (that'd be Wednesday at 3am MT!) You're welcome! hahaha......

Oh well, I'm happy with my creation!

Supplies:
Stamps: Number of Years
Ink: Melon Mambo
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black & Melon Mambo card stocks, Pop Of Pink DP
Accessories: Big Shot, Swirly Scribbles thinlits, Silver 1/8 inch ribbon, Glue Dots

I actually ran out of the ribbon I wanted to use, just before I finished them all, darnit. But I found a decent substitute...

And I am excited to play more with the Swirly Scribbles dies!! SO many ideas...!

Saffron Birthday

Annnd another week blew by with no posts at all....
Once again I had to steal some craft time, but! The house is under contract and all the steps (inspection...assessment...) are moving along nicely...! We even have a date we plan to be moving out on, and since we're more than half way moved out that should work out just fine! YIKES!
It is also the last week of school, which...is...pretty much a waste, haha.... Just a lot of early mornings!

This is the last card made for the card job I mentioned clear back HERE. This one is pretty simple and very straightforward.

I used the newest Freshly Made Sketch and some retiring products. I have used Summer Silhouettes SO many times that sometimes I get tired of it. I think I'll still miss it anyway. But I really like this color combination, and I like the almost-frayed burlap ribbon peeking out the side- which is also retiring! I cut the ribbon in half the long way to help it fray, and to reduce the bulk. Also it feels like a long time since I've used So Saffron, which is a shade I have always liked!

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes (retiring!) Number of Years
Ink: So Saffron, Tip Top Taupe, Calypso Coral, Old Olive
Paper: So Saffron, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Burlap Ribbon (retiring!)

And if you're curious, here are the cards that I have sent this customer! Only six ended up birthday specific, and the others were also requested. It was really nice to have an excuse to create over the last several weeks!