Unfrogettable Stamping!

Countdown to June 30th - favorite retiring products parade, part 4

It has been a whirlwind past few days!  We had a 3-day long course swim meet in the sweltering heat all weekend, which our Lynchburg YMCA swim team hosted, and then a summer league dual meet last night and we are all exhausted - especially my kids, the swimmers!  But that is what summer is all about - getting to swim the meets in an outdoor pool.  Thank goodness I was able to schedule my posts the last few days... I have been falling into bed each night completely wiped out from the heat and humidity!

Today I am going to share some favorite cards from this past year featuring Hostess sets - as you well know, these are only current for the year that they are in the Idea Book & Catalog.  Speaking of Hostesses, I am having my annual Hostess Appreciation Event tonight and look forward to sharing fun times with 24 of my hostesses from this past year.  I will share photos and details on that tomorrow!  They will be the first to receive their BRAND NEW catalogs along with fun make-n-takes, a chocolate fondue fountain, gifts, incentives and door prizes.  Sounds like fun, right?!  If you want to be invited next year, be sure and host a workshop or private stamp-a-stack or join one of my clubs at least once during July-June!!

These first two cards feature the hostess level 2 stamp set Wings of Friendship - my downline and I have been affectionately referring to this as the "fat bird" set (along with the Spring Song bird).  I really love this birdie!  These are two cards I received while swapping with other demonstrators at Convention last August.

These cards feature the hostess level 2 stamp set Asian Artistry - the top card is one I created for a stamp-a-stack and it is a CASE of one created by my sister, fellow demonstrator Cindy Blekas.  You can find her original card here on her blog.  The bottom card was designed by Jody Sutula and I made it at a shoe box swap at Convention.  I like the fun fold of this card and the colors are great - rich razzleberry with always artichoke and very vanilla.

This last card is also a card I received at Convention while swapping - it features the hostess level 3 stamp set Kind & Caring Thoughts.  I love the fall colors!

Thanks for stopping by - remember, midnight on June 30th is the LAST possible time to place an order for anything on the Last Chance list that has not sold out already.  Be sure and place your last-minute orders ONLINE via my demonstrator website by choosing "Shop Now" from the menu.

Countdown to June 30th - favorite retiring products parade, part 3

I'd like to share some past scrapbook pages that feature retiring stamp sets with you today.

 

This 12 x 12 page features the retiring Good Friend (#113740, $28.95) stamp set along with the coordinating So Tweet On Board pack (#113893, $14.95) which is also retiring.  I created this layout for my first Beat the Winter Blues stamp camp in early 2009.  I'm so glad the pacific point on this page is coming back along with tangerine tango!  I am sorry to see summer sun retiring and that kiwi kiss will not be returning... you can easily substitute old olive and the new daffodil delght if you wanted to use this color combination.  This page is one that I actually have a photo on... it was taken up at Wintergreen resort when I celebrated my 40th birthday with some close friends - seems like just yesterday but it was actually 2 years ago!

 

 

This 12 x 12 page features my beloved Chef from the retiring Voila (#115102, $25.95) stamp set - I fell in love with him the first time I saw this set in our catalog and had to have it!  The alphabet set Jumbo Outline (#114998, $43.95) is also retiring along with the creamy caramel card stock that is the base of the page.  I created this layout for my Scrapbook club a couple of years ago.

 

This 12 x 12 page was the make-n-take at my crop a year ago.  The retiring Enjoy Every Moment (#113622, $31.95)  is one of those stamp sets that is a must-have for any scrapbooker - it will be retiring on June 30th so if you love it and don't own it yet, make sure you purchase it soon!  Glorious green was used on this page and it, too, is retiring on June 30th.

This last 12 x 12 I am sharing is one I created for a downline who was having her first workshop two years ago.  She wanted to use the All in the Family stamp set (luckily not retiring) and many of her guests had sons who played sports so we stuck with the bold brights color family which came in her starter kit and used the retiring Sporting stamp set (#115072, $18.95).  Many of the colors are retiring - yoyo yellow, brilliant blue and glorious green along with the My Way punch (see all the cute arrows?).

Here is a close-up of the family and you can see that the background paper was created using the images from the Sporting set.  They were stamped with bashful blue ink on bashful blue paper to be more subtle.

Thanks for visiting today - I will be sharing a few more projects with retiring product through June 30th so please come back tomorrow!

Countdown to June 30th - favorite retiring products parade, part 2

As many of you have probably already figured out, I am a sucker for any flower stamp!  I own way too many of them... but they're just so beautiful.  I love the realistic ones, the whimsical ones; solid images and outline images!!  A must-have floral stamp set that is retiring this year is A Rose is a Rose.

This is a scrapbook page I created for my scrapbook club a year or so ago when kiwi kiss, pink pirouette and riding hood red were our In Colors.  I'm happy that pink pirouette and riding hood red are returning in the next catalog to join our new color collections!  The designer paper used is now retired, but the Lovely Letters stamp set and organza ribbon are still current.  I do have to use my stamp-a-ma-jig when using this two-step stamp set to get the flowers aligned, but it is so worth the effort - these flowers are gorgeous!

Here are some close-ups of the flower images.  Beautiful, right?

I also wanted to share some cards that feature different color combinations for the flowers.  This one above I received as a swap at Founder's Circle 2008 from Amy Celona.  She used regal rose, pretty in pink, certainly celery, always artichoke and baja breeze (another In Color that is returning).  It's beautiful!

And this is a card I created for my Card of the Month club back during Sale-a-Bration featuring pale plum (retiring), perfect plum, elegant eggplant, old olive and always artichoke.  Do you see how the color change really affects the mood of the project? 

Thanks for stopping by today - I hope you can see what a versatile stamp set A Rose is a Rose is and found some inspiration here.  If you'd like to purchase this set before it is gone for good, please order it before June 30th!

Countdown to June 30th - favorite retiring products parade, part 1

As we near the end of the current catalog period, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite retiring products and projects from the past.  Not everything on these projects is current, but you'll still be able to purchase most of the products used.

Today I'd like to share a fun mini scrapbook that I featured in a class 2 or 3 years ago - I love fun scrapbooks like these to give as gifts to grandparents, new Moms, etc.  When you lift the lid of the box, the base opens up into a multi-page scrapbook. 

You can put photos and journaling on both the front and the backs of the pages since they are not adhered down except in the middle section.

This project features the retiring close to cocoa card stock along with the retiring stamp set One of a Kind, which just happens to have a flower image that works perfectly with the Boho Blossoms punch.  I pulled these colors from a pretty DSP package we had a few years ago called Berry Bliss - they are close to cocoa, pretty in pink and rose red.

Thanks for stopping by today - make sure and check back each day as I continue to share more retiring product projects!!

Saying Good-Bye to some of my favorite retiring products

This is our last Fabulous Friday on the Sisters in Stamping blog for the current Idea Book & Catalog and we chose to feature some of the retiring products one last time.  I wanted to share with you a fun mini scrapbook that I created using Just Jawing (my daughter Amanda's favorite set), Pink Flamingo DSP (one of my all-time favorite papers), some awesome punches and the Big Shot.  The colors I used are the retiring cameo coral and summer sun along with tempting turquoise, basic black and whisper white.  This album starts with a manilla file folder (do you remember this folder album from a couple of weeks ago?) that I altered - how easy is that?! 

To make the skull a little more girly, I added lots of sparkle by coloring in the eyes with my cameo coral stampin' write marker and then added dazzling diamonds with a 2-way glue pen.  The silver tooth was created using the silver glitter from the fine galaxy glitter pack.

This is the view when you open the front cover.  I love the flamingo on this DSP and wanted to use it on my border.  The tabs for opening the pages were created using the round tab punch.  Here is a close-up of that page...

And here is the view when the album is fully opened.

 

This is a close-up of the center page - I wanted to highlight the gorgeous flowers and flamingo on the page so kept it really simple by adding a photo mat using the Top Note die and the Big Shot and created the layered flower by using various Big Shot dies and my Boho Blossoms punch.

The right-hand page features another beautiful piece of DSP from this package for the border.  I used my Big Shot again to create a simple journaling area for this page.  The cherries are in the Just Jawing stamp set and I colored them using my markers to achieve the different colors on one stamp.

Thanks for stopping by today - I hope you get a chance to visit the Sisters in Stamping blog after Noon EST to see what my super-talented Sisters came up with this week to share with you!!

If you're interested in purchasing anything used on today's project, please visit my online store here and click on "Shop Now" on the left menu bar to order or contact me via phone or email and I'll be happy to assist you with it!  Remember, many of the products used on this project are retiring and will NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE after June 30th!!!!!  Don't delay - order today if you want any of these as some may already be sold out.  But don't worry - the stamp set is guaranteed through the end of the month!

Retiring products featured today include:

Card Club projects for June plus a new $50-50 winner!!!

Tonight was the final meeting of my Card of the Month club.  It has been a lot of fun over the last six months getting together with these wonderful women each month!  The cards tonight focused on 1) retiring items, 2) Summer Mini catalog items and 3) a fun punch card. 

Here is the first card featuring the retiring Humor in High Heels stamp set.  I love this set and will miss it!  I CASE'd a card that was in our catalog when the stamp set first debuted a few years ago, but changed the DSP to Tea Party and used Pretty in Pink satin ribbon instead of the Pink Pirouette (so glad that In Color is returning!!).  The sentiments were stamped with basic black ink and after coloring the cushion with pretty in pink ink with an aqua painter, the "glass" shoe was created using Crystal Effects.

This second card of the night featured items from the Summer Mini catalog - the Lattice Square texturz folder, Watercolor Trio stamp set and Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz (hard to see in the photo, sorry!).  I also used En Francais to create the background piece along with Teeny Tiny Wishes for the sentiment.  The colors include sahara sand, elegant eggplant, old olive, more mustard as well as naturals ivory card stock.  I CASE'd a card that my Design Team member Lori Subosits created for our Summer Mini swap earlier this month (thanks, Lori!).  I still need to post those, don't I?!

The third and final card is a CASE of a punch art card that I saw on Lee Ann Greff's blog.  I love these pansies that everyone is making and wanted to show my stampers another use for the butterfly punch!  I used the retiring orchid opulence card stock for the card base and orchid opulence, lovely lilac, yoyo yellow and elegant eggplant watercolor crayons for the pansies.  The sentiment is from the Sincere Salutations stamp set (thankfully, not retiring!).

During the club meeting tonight we completed another $50-50 board once all the orders were turned in and I was able to use Random.org to choose a winner.... and that winner is #10, which belongs to Sandy A.  Congratulations, Sandy!!!  Sandy is choosing to wait and spend her $50 when the new catalog debuts in July.  I can't say that I blame her - the new catalog is phenomenal!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful fathers out there!  We have had a major stamping session in our household this morning, making cards for our favorite Dad - my husband Joe. 

This card was created by my son Brandon, who is 8.  I asked him what stamp sets he wanted to use and he chose the colors and did the stamping and coloring - all I did was cut for him.  Didn't he do a great job?  The stamp sets used are Cheers to You and Under the Stars.  I asked him what he wanted to make and he said a card with beer on it since Daddy likes beer (no, he's not a lush - just likes drinking an occasional beer with friends when getting together to watch sports on tv).

This next card was created by my daughter Kelsey, who is 11.  She wanted to use the Sweet Scoops stamp set from the Summer mini catalog along with the Big Shot.  I didn't have to do anything to help her - she did it all on her own!  She chose the colors using my Color Coach and cut out all the cones and ice cream scoops... phew!  Kelsey decided to use this set since she knows Daddy loves ice cream!

This card was made by my daughter Amanda, who is 12.  She used the retired Have a Ball and All Year Cheer II stamp sets to make this baseball-themed card for her Dad.  He played baseball in college and is a huge Red Sox fan.  I love that my kids can create these personal expressions of love for others all on their own!

I love how my kids all chose different aspects of their Dad to create their cards!  My card is above - I wanted to use the Totally Tool stamp set and had an idea of the bear from Under the Stars holding some.  The scale's a little off, but it turned out kinda cute, didn't it?!

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you had a chance to create a hand-stamped Father's Day card for your favorite Dads.  We're off for a family barbecue later this afternoon and some pool time - hope you have a wonderful day!!

It's almost time to kiss these fabulous retiring accessories good-bye forever!

The Last Chance list items are ending on June 30th - do you have everything you want off the lists yet?  The time is drawing near when these items will no longer be available for purchase - in fact, some have already sold out!  Our focus for Fabulous Friday on the Sisters in Stamping blog this week is the retiring accessories on the Last Chance List.  Haven't seen this list?  Well, Stampin' Up! isn't posting a formal list anywhere because many items are selling out daily, so your best bet is to check out my online store here on my demonstrator website.  Click on "Shop Now" and then head over to the Last Chance area.  You can look up items by type or even see which ones are on sale.  If you are able to add an item to your shopping cart, the item is still available for purchase; therefore, the easiest way to ensure that you get these items is to place your order online.

In keeping with the product focus this week, I decided to create a project using one of my favorite accessories from this year - the polka-dotted ribbon in the In Colors.  I absolutely love polka-dots and am so sad to see these go!  I also wanted to use the Thoroughly Modern DSP, so pulled the melon mambo, soft suede and bermuda bay colors from it and used those ribbons to tie it all together (ha ha - no pun intended!).  This card is so simple to put together with just a few scraps of ribbon.  I also used the retiring Vintage Brads as well as the Happy Everything stamp set that is also retiring this month, too.

I hope you're inspired to keep your small scraps of ribbon to create a fun card like this one.   Thanks so much for stopping by today - please be sure and visit the Sisters in Stamping blog to see the fabulous projects that they've created with retiring accessories.

Have a wonderful weekend - I hope you find some time to stamp!

Products used for today's project:

- Bermuda Bay card stock (sold out in single color packs, but available for 25% off in an In Color assortment pack #115315, $5.96) retiring June 30th

- Whisper White card stock (#100730, $7.50)

- Thoroughly Modern DSP (#115673, $9.95) retiring June 30th

- Vintage Brads (#109109, $8.95) retiring June 30th

- Happy Everything stamp set #115235, $18.95) retiring June 30th

- Melon Mambo classic ink pad (#115656, $5.95)

- Soft Suede classic ink pad (#115657, $5.95)

- Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430, $3.95)

- SNAIL adhesive (#104332, $6.95)

Summer Mini catalog samples

I participated in a Summer Mini catalog swap with my Design Team and wanted to share what I contributed. 

This first card features some of the flower images from the Hostess Level 2 Punched Posies stamp set along with a sentiment from Favorite Thoughts.  I CASE'd a card that I saw on the display boards on the cruise last month.  I love these colors together:  tempting turquoise, melon mambo, so saffron, old olive and pumpkin pie!!  Did you know that this stamp set coordinates so well with many of our punches - it made putting the card together very quick and easy!

My second card for the swap is this one featuring the Fourth of July stamp set.  I used real red, night of navy and platinum shimmer paint to create the fireworks on the background panel.  It's a simple, but fun card that could be easily transformed into an embellishment on a 4th of July scrapbook layout.

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you are inspired to stamp something fun this afternoon.  I'm off to have dinner at one of my favorite restaurants... The Melting Pot.  YUM!!

WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! I earned Alaska!!!!!!

It's official - I am Alaska-bound next May!!!!  The above was in an email I received from my SAM (Service Account Manager) earlier today - woooooo hoooooooo!!!!

Thank you to everyone who helped me make this possible - from my wonderful stampers to my awesome downline to my super-supportive family.  I couldn't have done it without you!!!  I am truly blessed and cannot wait to go on this trip with my husband Joe next Spring.  He has always wanted to visit Alaska and I can't think of a better way to give that to him!!