Sneak Peek!

Today I have a little sneak peek for you! This cute stamp set is from the brand new catalog which starts June 1st. But, if you love it, you can order it early- starting tomorrow!! There are actually several products that will be available for a pre-order, and they all coordinate with this sweet stamp set!

For my card, I used the current Freshly Made Sketch, and the TGIF Challenges tic-tac-toe board. I picked the top row- pink, pearls and flowers! It was super quick to put together and I love how it turned out.

Supplies:
Stamps: Love What You Do
Ink: Memento Black, Powder Pink
Paper: Powder Pink, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Pearls

I am pretty sure I'll be using this card in my May class too!

Magical Mermaid!

I knew I was getting this stamp set and DP as soon as I saw the Occasions Mini. I just didn't know it was retiring the same time it would arrive at my house! So, I finally took some time to play with it, and since the paper is still available, you should hurry up and order it!!
*stamps are guaranteed thru May 25.

I used the previous Freshly Made Sketch for this card. Annnd note to self- classic ink smears on Shimmery Paper...rats. I also loved how Christy did a tiny black ink outline to define her layers in a recent card, so I used the same idea here.

Supplies:
Stamps: Magical Day (retiring!)
Ink: Memento Black, Rich Razzleberry, Rich Razzleberry marker, Bermuda Bay marker, Blushing Bride marker, Calypso Coral marker, Coastal Cabana marker (returning!)
Paper: Soft Sky card stock (retiring), Shimmery White card stock, Myths and Magic DP (retiring!)
Accessories: Silver 1/8 inch ribbon (retiring), Wink of Stella

You can't see it, but there is Wink of Stella on the mermaid's tail, scales and in her hair... I promise. haha. I have other ideas for this set, but this is all I got to play with that time. Maybe another day...!

Cards In the Mail

One last Card In the Mail swap came to my house, about a month ago. It is beautiful AND the stamp is retiring, so this is the only chance I get to share it!
I believe it is colored with Stampin' Blends, and I love the detail on the flowers!

Paper Pumpkin: New & Old!

I know, I know, lately, when I stamp, I've been sticking to Paper Pumpkin kits. And that's okay! :) Nothing wrong with something that's already prepped for you!

This past week we needed some masculine birthday cards and I gotta say- the latest Paper Pumpkin kit, from April, is fantastic!! I am a huge fan of lighthouses especially, and nautical everything. I'm not actually the hugest fan of the projects in the kit but I do love the stamps and the supplies- so here's a cute variation using some of my favorite pieces!

I needed more than one masculine card so I busted out this kit from last year, which I only first opened last month, and haven't had a chance to blog yet! I made my own design again this time. The newest card is shown first..

 And here is last month's card from the same kit, almost following the kit's instructions.

This is what I love- super easy cards to put together and send out almost as soon as they're done! Even when the kit may not be my favorite. Also okay. These cards are perfect for anybody- men included, and I know a lot of people struggle to make cards for men.

The light house kit refill just became available to subscribers HERE. The candle kit is still available to subscribers right HERE, both as the original kit, or just the refill. And as I said in the last post, there's a 50% off opportunity to first-time subscribers- but only til May 10!

March Paper Pumpkin!

The other day I had one of those days. You know- where everything just gets more frustrating as the day goes on? The kids were in bed a tiny bit earlier than usual (because that's what happens when Mom is done with the day) and I pulled out this gorgeous Paper Pumpkin kit I hadn't really had a chance to even look at! I absolutely love it!

The March kit was the 5 year anniversary kit and was all hyped up, and it really is beautiful. The only thing is- I'm not going to hand-deliver that many cards. Really. I think getting something in the mail is much more exciting, so unless the person lives on my street, it's going to arrive in the mailbox. So. The kit was designed to make four little note cards, to be put into four beautiful, and decidedly not-mailable envelopes. Instead, I turned those envelopes into card fronts!

Here are the two original card designs. I also used the exact stamps shown in the samples, for this first round.

and the two mostly-original envelopes:
The first mounted on to a Powder Pink card base...

 and the second mounted on an Early Espresso card base.

And then, I had all the regular left overs, plus the free gift AND the parts of the envelopes I had cut off! So now I have lots of other fun ideas swimming in my brain, I just need the hours in the day to get them done!

If you have never signed up to be a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, and you sign up by May 10, you can get 50% off the cost of your first two months by using the code above. As a subscriber, you can also purchase any available past kit or refill, which you can view HERE. To sign up, just click the Pumpkin button on my side bar!

We Create Last-Chance Blog Hop

I missed the April blog hop, so I'm excited we're having a little bonus blog hop! This is because we don't want you to miss out on all the soon-to-be-gone-for-good great stuff!

For my post, I am sharing the much-loved Butterfly Basics stamp set (and coordinating dies!) and two colors I have used a ton over the past few years- Always Artichoke and Elegant Eggplant. In fact, when I went looking for how I've used the butterflies in the past, there are a lot of purple cards! I also threw on some retiring Silver ribbon. Yep, that means everything you see here is on the Retiring List, which you can view HERE.
I also used last week's Clean & Simple sketch for the card layout.

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Basics
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Always Artichoke
Paper: Always Artichoke, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White card stock
Accessories: Silver Ribbon, Big Shot, Butterflies dies

I "stamped off" once to get the lighter shade of Always Artichoke for the ferns, and the full strength for the greeting.  It has been such a great green- so pretty for Christmas, autumn, and even summer! I am going to miss this shade! I have a lot of family and friends who really love purple so I'm glad we have some new purple shades coming to replace all the ones going away!

Don't forget to place your order quickly if you need to stock up on card stocks or ink refills for the retiring colors you own, and if you need some new-old colors for your inventory too!

Keep hopping through to see more stamps and colors we're about to say goodbye to! It's not a long hop, but it is a great one!

Celebrate!

March was a bust for stamping and blogging and April seems on track to be the same. I HAVE created some, (not much...) I just haven't blogged it. Today's card is another mix of old and new, but I like it, and it uses my newest (tho now retired, HA) Sale-A-Bration stamp set! Which, is another problem, when I use retired supplies I am less inclined to blog it. Soooo here I am again, hahaha.....

I wanted to play along with the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. The Razzleberry word was stamped off once to have a lighter shade. I tried layering the words but I like them side-by-side best. I also tried several flowers but nothing was quite right... til I used this one from a free Paper Pumpkin gift a few years ago. And I am happy with how it turned out!

Supplies:
Stamps: Amazing You (words- Sale-A-Bration 2018, now retired), Happy Everything? (flowers, Paper Pumpkin, no longer available)
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Memento Black
Paper: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black card stocks, Stacked With Love DP (retired)

Obviously I'm still on a birthday card streak, but maybe I'll break that soon...haha!

Birthday Balloons!

I was just looking, and every card I have made this month (three so far...ha!) is a birthday card, that one way or another comes from a Paper Pumpkin kit! And since it's my birthday month, I think that's kind of funny. And, I just realized it's also Paper Pumpkin's anniversary month, haha!

This card uses two past Paper Pumpkin kit stamp sets. Neither are still available, but there are lots of balloon stamps available for purchase if you wanted to create this same card.

Supplies:
Stamps: May 2015 Paper Pumpkin (balloons), Feb 2016 Paper Pumpkin (words)
Ink: Peekaboo Peach, Cucumber Crush (retired), Coastal Cabana (retired)
Paper: Whisper White
Accessories: Big Shot, Brick Wall embossing folder, Dimensionals, forgot-the-name-of-this-wintery Washi Tape (retired)

Or, the idea I used didn't have balloons at all... I saw these two ideas in the demonstrator magazine this month and combined what they did to create my card. I took the embossed card front from the Fresh Fig card, and the strips of Washi Tape from the Old Olive card, and a totally different birthday image. I also tipped it the other way.

Don't forget that if you have never signed up for Paper Pumpkin, and you do so now, you'll get your first two months half off!

And you have just a couple of days left to choose Sale-A-Bration items for FREE!!! See all the options HERE.

Old & New!

I have done a little bit of stamping this month, but mostly I've been cleaning and re-cleaning my house! We've had pneumonia, roseola, a stomach bug and several sore throats. All I have personally dealt with was a migraine, but holy cow! aaahhhh!!!! And, obviously, that means zero blogging.

So here we are on a Saturday, with a new, pretty card! Mostly because I wanted to link up to the sketch which comes from the Clean & Simple blog.
This card uses old DP but brand spankin' new stamps from the latest Paper Pumpkin kit! I haven't got to play with my kit yet, but it is really pretty and I am excited for it. Anyway, I like the color combo of this card and the simple-ness, haha. I think it is kind of striking in it's simplicity.

Supplies:
Stamps: March 2018 Paper Pumpkin Kit
Ink: Dapper Denim
Paper: Crumb Cake, Dapper Denim, Whisper White card stocks, Love Blossoms DP (long retired)

There will be more blogging next week, I promise! haha....

Blog Hop: Stepped up Paper Pumpkin!

Hello again and welcome to March! I mean, welcome to our blog hop!

Today I wanted to feature the latest Paper Pumpkin kit, to remind you that signing up for Paper Pumpkin not only gets you super cute kits sent to your door, but ALSO qualifies for free Sale-A-Bration items until March 31! Plus...this kit is really cute!

So first up, I made the three designs pretty much how the kit is designed. This kit makes three of each card.
(I totally forgot the pearls- I made the cards Tuesday and had to stop to make dinner, and then I took the pics just before the sun goes beneath the house across the street and it was very dark when I realized I left them off! Whoops...!)

But once you make those cards, you still have all the letters left, plenty of twine, easily some pearls, several vellum leaves, and a whole bunch of flower stickers! And you always get to keep the ink and stamps!

I put together two quick variations to kick start your own creativity.
For this one, I swapped out the card base for Garden Green instead of the Crumb Cake base the kit provides. I also used the flower stickers instead of the stamps to peek out the corners beneath the words.

And this one uses a Melon Mambo card stock base, the flower stickers, the letters left over from the original design, and I stamped straight on the card front instead of on the vellum.

I've pinned a bunch of great ideas, and my most recent post used the stamps on a totally un-related card! That's just one of the things I love about Paper Pumpkin kits- the limitless possibilities!

Now hop on over to see what Cheryl created!

And if you want to sign up for Paper Pumpkin, you can click the Pumpkin button on my sidebar, or contact me to help you place the order and get FREE Sale-A-Bration items too!
You can see the free options HERE.
Of course, you can order ANYTHING totalling $50 or $100 to get the free Sale-A-Bration items, and I can help you with that too!

Cute birthday card

Happy Saturday to you! This week included a big-deal birthday for my mom. The card I made for her uses the latest sketch from the Clean & Simple blog, and the newest Paper Pumpkin stamps I haven't even put together yet!

Supplies:
Stamps: Wildflower Wishes Feb 2018 Paper Pumpkin
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Real Red
Paper: Blushing Bride, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Watercolor Pencils

For years, I have had my kids make a card for their grandparents birthdays, which means they usually get three cards from our house. This time, I borrowed an idea my in-laws came up with several years ago. I contacted a bunch of family members, reminded them it was a special birthday, and asked everyone that could, to please send a card. My in-laws typically have every member of the house send a card so that the person gets as many cards as they are old. The idea was a big hit, and I can't wait to see how many cards she actually got! :)
These are the cards my big kids created, and I'm pretty sure my daughter picked the stamp set on the top of the pile, haha, so yes, same stamp set, and same retired Blackberry Bliss card stock!

and I even had the baby choose crayons and draw on a paper for Grandma! 

Additional Sale-A-Bration Items!

Today is the day the new Sale-A-Bration items are available for you to choose for FREE with your purchase!
You can go HERE to view all Sale-a-Bration items.

For a $50 purchase, you can choose this fun stamp set:
Eclectic Expressions

Or this cool paper:

Springtime Foils Specialty DP

And for a $100 purchase, you can choose this adorable bundle! There's a stamp in either wood or clear mount, and an exclusive embossing folder!

Blossoming Basket Bundle

Sale-A-Bration runs until March 31- don't miss your chance to pick these great products! Contact me if you need my help placing an order, or go to www.stampinup.com and choose me as your demonstrator! Sale-A-Bration is the BEST!