Unfrogettable Stamping!

We have a fabulous new catalog starting today!!!!!!

   The brand new Stampin' Up! catalog begins TODAY at Noon EST and I am *so* excited since there are some fabulous new products in it including awesome new stamp sets, Big Shot accessories, punches and ribbon!!!  Today on the Sisters in Stamping blog we are sharing projects designed with brand new product for Fabulous Friday.  The card above features the Everything Eleanor stamp set found on page 112.  It is available in both clear mount (#124164, $26.95) and wood mount (#124162, $36.95). 

   I just love using it for a monochromatic card with Island Indigo ink!!  Look, I even cut out the large flower and popped it up on my card... really completes it, don't you think?!  I colored the little anthers (had to look up the technical term) with a so saffron marker and added dazzling diamonds with a 2-way glue pen.

  Thanks for stopping by today - please be sure and hop on over to the Sisters in Stamping blog after Noon EST today to check out our other projects!!  I apologize for being MIA this week - it is my kids' last week of school and with our catalog ending it was filled with last-minute events and activity.  I promise to share some of the projects I worked on this week with you over the weekend so please come back for a visit!!

Happy Memorial Day!

  Here in the U.S., Memorial Day traditionally marks the beginning of summer and we always get together with family to celebrate it.  My cousin Christian and I share a May 30th birthday so it's a good time to celebrate our birthdays, too.  This year we celebrated it a day early - some of us had to work today and my three kids had swim practice at 6 am this morning so we plan to kick back and take it easy this afternoon!

  I remembered to pull out my camera and snap some pictures and dropped them into a scrapbook page I created in My Digital Studio.  I used a sketch from the Got Sketch? site that I found on Pinterest... I love how easy it is to create pages using sketches!!

  If you'd like to give My Digital Studio a try, be sure and download the FREE 30 day trial on my website here.

  Thanks for visiting - have a wonderful day!

In the spotlight: Awash with Flowers

  At my stamp-a-stack last week I wanted to feature retiring stamp sets and accessories for all the cards.  I always like to find inspiration for color combinations in every day items and this Awash with Flowers card was inspired by a note pad that my Mom had by her phone....

   I love the whimsical color combination of basic gray, whisper white, basic black and real red, don't you?!  This two-step stamp set is so fun and it is available in both clear mount (#120549, $27.95) and wood mount (#1117062 , $39.95):

   Here are a few more samples to inspire you with this set:

There are just a few days left to get your hands on this fun and versatile stamp set... don't miss your chance to purchase it before it is gone!!

Sneak Peek... Betsy's Blossoms and Wacky Wishes

  I've been featuring many retiring stamp sets lately and wanted to mix things up and throw out a sneak peek this weekend.  This card features some of the products that demonstrators were able to preorder:  Betsy's Blossoms (flower images) and Wacky Wishes - a fun new hostess set with great words!  What do you think of this daffodil delight 1/4" stitched grosgrain?  Isn't it fabulous?!  I stamped the piece of whisper white card stock with my various solid flower images and then ran it through the Big Shot with the square lattice impressions texturz folder to achieve this look... pretty cool, right?! 

  I can't wait until the new catalog goes live this coming Friday... less than a week now!  If you would like to get your hands on a new catalog, let me know!  My hostesses will be the first to receive theirs at my Hostess Appreciation event on Tuesday night... a perk extended as a show of appreciation.  Everyone else can get theirs beginning June 1st!!!

  I hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!

Fabulously Inspired by Nature

  This week on the Sisters in Stamping blog we are featuring our favorite retiring stamp sets for our Fabulous Friday projects.  I wanted to use my favorite Inspired by Nature set for my card... this card was inspired by the insert for the Simply Adorned charm that I CASE'd for my Diva Day last week (see that post here). 

  To create the sunset I made a mask by punching a 1-3/8" circle out of a Post-It note and stuck it on a piece of naturals white card stock and then used real red, pumpkin pie and daffodil delight to sponge the background.  After removing the mask I used jet black StazOn ink with both large images for the silhouette.  I then used the direct-to-paper technique and edged the whole piece with the black ink.  Pretty easy, just messy!!  The butterfly was cut out with the Big Shot using the Beautiful Butterflies die and embossed with the retiring Finial Press impressions folder.  I finished the card off with a knot of retiring 1/4" whisper white grosgrain ribbon and attached it to a base card of basic black.

  Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you hop on over to the Sisters in Stamping blog after Noon to get even more inspiration with our retiring stamp sets!!  Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!!!!

In the spotlight: Medallion

  This time of year is always bittersweet... saying good-bye to stamps and accessories that I have loved and anticipating a brand new catalog with lots of new stamping goodies to explore!  I want to continue to share with you some of my favorite past projects and swaps I've received featuring these retiring items as the current catalog comes to an end on May 31st.  If you see something that is a must-have, please be sure and place your online order through my Stampin' Up! store so that you know if it is still available or not.  As a thank you, I will send you a hand-stamped card and if you spend $50 or more you will get to choose a tutorial from my Get Creative with Rachel & Debbie series for FREE!!

  All of the cards I'm sharing with you today feature the Medallion stamp (#115223, $17.95) - isn't it beautiful?!  When I attended Founder's Circle back in 2009 we were told that it was the #1 selling stamp set that year... I would not be surprised if that didn't hold true for several years.  The top card was one I used to teach the emboss resist technique - I had stamped the image on some Designer Series Paper with Versamark and heat embossed it with clear powder.  To achieve that look I then used a brayer and elegant eggplant ink to cover the entire piece - the image that was embossed resisted the ink so that the patterned paper showed through, neat huh?!  The Christmas card was a swap I received that year at Founder's Circle from Jill Olsen - it is so glittery in real life, absolutely gorgeous!  

 

   And did you know that this same image can be purchased in our Decor Elements vinyl line in three different sizes?  These are retiring also, so be sure and get them before they're gone!

This card was designed by my friend and downline Sherri Gough for one of our Mega stamp-a-stack events.  I love the partial image of the Medallion!

Here is another sample - I CASE'd this one and used sponge daubers to apply the two different colors to the image.

  This is another stunning Christmas sample that I CASE'd from Kari Metzger.

One last card - this was a CASE of one designed by Sherri Gough (clearly a favorite set of hers, too!!)

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you can see what a fantastic stamp set this Medallion is and that you think about adding it to your collection!

 

In the spotlight: Vintage Vogue

  Vintage Vogue is a stamp set I will miss very much when it retires at the end of this month.  I love the solid images - they make for very quick and easy cards!  This photo is from a class offering I had with this stamp set a year or so ago.  It is amazing how changing the color palette with this set gives the finished projects such a different feel.

   This stamp set is available in both wood mount (#117690 , $23.95) and clear mount (#118598 , $17.95).  If you love it, make sure you purchase it before May 31st!  Here are some more projects to show you the versatility of this set...

 

Fabulous Father's Day Under the Stars

  This week for Fabulous Friday on the Sisters in Stamping blog we are featuring Father's Day cards... it will be here before you know it!  I decided to use a retiring set that I will miss a lot - Under the Stars.  This little bear is just so cute and I love having him hold a banner, or in this case a pennant.  I paper pieced him, stamping the image on the whisper white card stock panel as well as on soft suede, crumb cake and early espresso and then layering the cut pieces.  The color combination of cajun craze, more mustard and not quite navy was pulled from my Color Coach and I found that this piece of DSP from the retiring Well Worn pack worked great with it.  The sentiment comes from Teeny Tiny Wishes - a must-have stamp set that thankfully is not retiring!  Do you recognize the ribbon?  I turned the more mustard polka dot scallop ribbon around so that the solid side shows.  I like to embellish masculine cards with metal so I used mini silver brads on the sentiment piece.

  Here are two of the Father's Day cards that my husband received last year - the top one is mine and the bottom one was made by my daughter Kelsey... both featuring this same bear... cute, right?

   And how about this one - I made it at a shoebox swap a couple of years ago.  Don't forget to purchase this stamp set before it is gone if you love it as much as I do!

  Be sure and hop on over to the Sisters in Stamping blog after Noon EST today to find even more inspiration for  Father's Day cards.  Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous weekend!!

In the spotlight: Build-a-Bear product line

   The exclusive Build-a-Bear product line carried in our current Idea Book & Catalog will be retiring on May 31st so I wanted to spotlight some of my favorite projects featuring this line to inspire you.  I purchased my bear above at the Stampin' Up! Convention a few years ago when this product line first debuted.  We have an assortment of stamp sets along with coordinating Big Shot dies - order them now while they are still available!  Remember, it is easiest to order these retiring products online via my website here.

These projects were from a Mom & Me class that I did a few years ago.

I created this card as a Fabulous Friday project for the Sisters in Stamping blog.

This was a project featured on a display at Convention... what a cute idea!

Here is one other sample showing two card ideas.

If you love this product line, be sure and purchase your Big Shot dies and stamp sets before May 31st!!

 

 

 

Diva Day projects for 1st quarter 2012

  I held my Diva Day event last night for my Top 3 Demonstrators for the  Jan - Mar, 2012 earning period and wanted to share the projects with you.  I have been holding these incentive events for over a year now and love rewarding these leaders on my team for their hard work!  I have a point system that I use that is a combination of sales, recruiting and personal promotions.  The demonstrators that we celebrated last night were Jennifer Rawlings, Wendy Boothe and Julia Miller.  Congratulations, Ladies!!

  We started the night with a meal of Paula Deen's taco soup, chips & salsa, salad and orange creme cake for dessert (I pinned the taco soup recipe and it is sooooo good!).  Afterwards, everyone opened up their goodie bags that I stamped with my new favorite Island Indigo ink and Everything Eleanor stamp set.  Inside was a brand new large 2" x 1-1/2" Simply Adorned charm and 24" chain along with a sampler of the new daffodil delight stitched grosgrain ribbon and new In Color card stock.  The projects for the night were creating six different inserts for the charm.

  I CASE'd the black/First Edition insert in the lower right-hand corner from one we had made at Leadership last year and the sunset with butterfly in the lower left-hand corner is a CASE of one that was posted on Stampin' Connection by Ashley Sokal.  The rest are ones I designed.  Even though the Simply Adorned line is being retired at the end of this month, these are great conversation starters and a way for my business builders to share their Stampin' Up! story with others.

  Sadly, I forgot to take photos of everyone last night... thanks to Jennifer, Wendy and Julia for their hard work!   I hope you all had fun!!