Good-bye Day of Gratitude!

Hello friends!  Wow!  What a busy girl I am! :0)

I know that it's going to start getting really warm this week and I know that time is also running out to share those beloved Stampin' Up! stamps that are retiring at the end of this month....so here's another stamp set that I wanted to use before it leaves and I don't use it as much:

This stamp set has been one of my faves for such a long time!  The floral design you see in the center along with the sentiment in the middle comes from the Day of Gratitude stamp set that is soon to retire at the end of this month, so I'm using again as I know I'll miss using it!  I love the versatile use of it although it's shown as a "Fall" type theme...there are different ways you can use it like shown here with a bit of a Vintage theme!

I also used the gorgeous Lacy Brocade embossing folder available in the Spring Catalog and paired it with a beautiful paper doily.  I've brushed my Whisper White ink pad on the embossed card base and then sponged some Crumb Cake ink along the edges of the doily to help with "antique" look.
One of my favorite "go to" grabs with a Vintage theme is the Seam Binding Ribbon and the yummy Vintage Brads which I've placed in the middle of the bow.

I would like to enter this creation for the following challenges:

(PCCCS041)

Dutch Dare - Ribbons & Lace
Crafty Catz - anything goes

Well I hope you like!  I'm off with my busy week this week as I have a class to get ready for and just lots of different things running around in my head right now!! LOL!  I hope to stop by and see what you are all up to very soon!  :0)

Thanks so much for stopping by today my friends!! I really appreciate your kind thoughts!

SMILES & HUGS

CAS on Sunday ~ Pastel Pretties!

Hello my friends!  Happy Mother's Day to ya!  

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Today I am off to go visit my mother and spend time with my family for a cook-out...I know it will be fun!

Today also starts up a brand new challenge for you over at

CAS ON SUNDAY

This time we would love to see those "Pastel Pretties"!  

(So obviously you will need to use some pastel colors on your CAS design.)  There is also a lovely prize available to a lucky winner...so stop by and check out the inspiration from the rest of my DT sistahs! 

I just LOVE using the SU! Soft Subtles collection!  So here's what I came up with:

Hexagons are just so HOT right now!  I love the fun and funky shape of them!!

So I dug out my beloved Honeycomb embossing folder to emboss the base of my Whisper White card.  I then took out some of my Tea for Two Designer Series Papers (which have some cool hexagon patterns in it) and I cut out some of them that had colors I wanted to use on my design. (So Saffron, Calypso Coral)  I also took one of the cut out hexagons to out-line and cut out a couple of others from retired Blush Blossom card stock and the *new In-Color Pistachio Pudding...as this was as close as I could come to for the retired "Sage Shadow" that I no longer have! LOL!  Some of the hexagons are attached directly over the embossed card and others I popped up on dimensionals.

For the sentiment panel, You may sort of recognize it from the Loving Thoughts stamp set...only the "wonderful you" goes straight across.  So I took out my handy dandy Stamp-a-ma-jig and lined up the "wonderful" right underneath the first without inking up the "you" part in it, and then I just inked up the "you" and stamped it underneath the two lined up "wonderful" words!  Straight up!  All that was left was to add the Pearl Jewels along the bottom edge of the sentiment panel.  So fun!

Here are some challenges that I'd like to enter this for:

Loves Rubber Stamps (LRSBC51) - anything goes

CCEE Stampers (CCEE1319) - CAS with Scraps (cut out hexagons)

Moving Along with the Times - CAS

So what do you think?!  Are you ready to play?  I know that the temps are going to be rising this week so I'm not sure if I'll be out in it or not, but I do know that I have some stamping to do...so I'll just go with that plan!   I hope that you all have an awesome week ahead of you!  Thanks for dropping in!

SMILES & HUGS

To My Mom

Hello friends!

Hope you are enjoying your week so far!  I was supposed to make this post yesterday, but the Spring weather got the best of me when I got sick from allergies...I spent most of my day sleeping it off.

It's rainy today and a good time to be stamping! :0)

Today, I'm trying to give tribute to one of my fave stamp sets from Stampin' Up! that is retiring...Greeting Card Kids.  I just love the Vintage style of these cutie pies!  Here's a Mother's Day card I made today:

On page 14 of the current catalog, you will see this darling set of Greeting Card Kids...this particular one actually holds a heart.  For this card, I've used my Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack to make a sweet little Calypso Coral flower for her to hold to give to her mom.  I just added a small pearl jewel to the middle of the flower after I popped it up a bit.  SO CUTE..isn't she?!

For the sentiment that you see underneath the little girl, I've used the retiring Family Reunion stamp set which is another I'm sad to see go, but I thought it would be great to personalize this card with.

I've also used the Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder which is still available for purchase in the Spring Catalog...so don't miss out on getting it before it's gone!

For the papers, I've used some more of my package of Sycamore Street DSP from SAB.  They match up great with the Calypso Coral and Pool Party card stock too!

And then to finish up with the "Vintage" theme, I've added some yummy Organza Ribbon and then placed a resin rose in the center of the bow.  Such fun stuff! :0)

So here's some challenges that I'd like to enter this one for:

Cupcake Craft - sketch

Chocolate Coffee & Cards - Mother's Day/For Mom

So now I will head back to my crafting cave and see if I can't make up some more creations before the end of the month and they all retire!!  Of course, I'd like to make more things with my new goodies too!!  I just love doing sneak peeks!! :0)  Hope you all have a fun crafty day!

SMILES & HUGS

{It's all REALLY good!} - New Catalog Sneak Peek...

...and it came!  It came!  It's just like Christmas came to my house yesterday:

Yeah, you know what I'm talking about, don't ya?!

After drooling over everything in the box including the new catalog...I took my goodies straight to my craft studio, put in place and started creating away with some of the new goodies!

Yes, after all of this time, I'm still excited when the new catalog arrives! :0)

Although I am not able to show you the actual goodies I got or the catalog, I am able to share with you a sneak peek of something I made, so I took all of the brand new In-Colors and had a play with them:

Everything I've used on this creation is something *new* coming out in the new catalog!

You will be able to make purchases from the 2013-2014 Stampin' Up! catalog beginning May 31st...so be sure to have your catalog on hand with a list and stop by my website to shop or give me a holler!

I wanted to be sure to use each of the new In-Colors coming out for this year, which are:

*Baked Brown Sugar

*Crisp Cantaloupe

*Strawberry Slush

*Coastal Cabana

*Pistachio Pudding

YUMMY....that's what comes to my mind when I think of these colors! :)

I stamped an image in each color from the up-coming *Mosaic Madness* stamp set and punched them out with the coordinating *Mosaic Punch*.  I then layered them onto a punched 1 - 1/4" square punch in the same color.  Some of them I layered with dimensionals and others I did not.  I also took a strip of the *Baked Brown Sugar card stock* and embossed it with the coordinating *Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder*.  I swiped it with a Whisper White ink pad to help the design stand out a bit.

And of course the sentiment in the bottom right corner is another new and soon-to-be available stamp set called *Really Good Greetings* which was stamped in the *Crisp Cantaloupe* ink.

It was such a fun set to play with and I'm sure I'll be bringing it out again shortly to have some more fun with it!  And of course a photo is only a photo...it's so much better to see in person!

I don't have any challenges to share this with, but I hope you enjoyed my creation and are looking forward to getting a look at the new catalog! :0)

I'll be back again tomorrow with something fun to share!!  Enjoy this beautiful day!

SMILES & HUGS

An Old and New Mojo

Hello friends!  Welcome to another beautiful Monday in May!

Although I must say that it was really rainy for most of this weekend, yesterday was really gorgeous out and I decided I needed to get out in it! :)  It was a great day at the park.

So since I neglected to finish a card that's been laying on my desk since last week, I decided to finish it up along with making a new creation today for the Monday Mojo sketch challenges!  I finished my one for the sketch from last week and then since I was so "lazy", I made one for today's sketch challenge! LOL!!

Here's the "NEW" MOJO challenge for today...

I really liked the sketch for today!  I thought to pull out my Blue Ribbon stamp set and make a graduation card that I'm probably going to need this month! :)

I wasn't sure what colors I wanted to use, but then remembered that I had the  World Spectacular Designer Papers and used the colors in that to put it all together.

So I hope you like!

Here are the challenges that I'd like to enter for this one:

MOJO Monday (MOJO292) - sketch

CRAFT - A "stitch" in time

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And then here's the card that I got "lazy" with and left it sitting on my craft table from Thursday and didn't finish it up until today...LOL!

I used my Simply Scored Diagonal Plate to make the lines on the green card base.

I thought it went well with the stripes in the Tea for Two Designer Papers that I used for the banners.

I used one of my "go to" faves stamp sets Itty Bitty Banners and cut it out with my coordinating Bitty Banners Framelits Dies.  I then layered it with several circle punches.

I have no idea why I left this card sitting...it was like I just had to run out immediately! LOL!

The good news is that I came back to finish it up and now have another thank you card...which I'm always running out of!!

So this is what challenge I actually was trying to make it for:  MOJO291 (sketch)

I will add this one to a current challenge:

Fussy and Fancy Friday - anything goes

ABC Challenges (ABC27) - Tic Tac Toe:  Ribbon, Punch, Designer Series Paper

Well, although I "abandoned" my creation, I had fun coming back and finding some time to get in my stamp studio and make up a couple of creations!  I'm getting excited because I should have some fun SNEAK PEEKS to share with you this week from items that are coming up in the NEW 2013-2014 Stampin' Up! catalog!!  (It's always like Christmas when a new box arrives at my door step!!)

Psst!  If you haven't reserved your copy yet...what are you waiting for?!  Give me a shout!

So, I will be back soon with another fun sumpin' sumpin' to share with you!!

Thank you so much for checking in with me today!!  I will have some time on my laptop this afternoon to come and see what you all have been up to!! :)  Have a great day!

SMILES & HUGS

A Round Array of Thanks

Hello friends!  WOW...I have to say what gorgeous weather we have!

I've been outside enjoying it all and watching the flower buds come up!  So beautiful!

Stopping in to share my obsession with this stamp set...I keep reaching for it! LOL!

I found a gorgeous color combo challenge and had to give it a whirl...

I just LOVE making multiple layers with this A Round Array stamp set!

This is the only stamp I used besides the background...which isn't actually a stamp!  It is a pencil head eraser!  So keep this in mind anytime you need a polka dotted background...it sure comes in handy!

I'm ALWAYS running out of "thank you" cards...so you'll be seeing me make up some more!

The colors I've used can be found below in the challenge I entered.  The punches I used are as follows:

* Curly Label, 2 -3/8" Scallop Circle, 1 - 3/4" Circle, 1" Circle & 7/8" Scallop Circle *

I fashioned my own Pretty in Pink banner and ran it through my Big Shot with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.  To finish it off, I added some Rhinestones.  Viola!

Here's the challenges I'd like to enter this for:

Our Creative Corner - anything goes

So that's it for me today!  Not sure if it's going to rain or not, but I still have lots of stamping to do and I'm impatiently waiting on my *new* shipment to arrive!!  Joy joy!! :0)

Hope you have a great day!  Thanks for checking in!! SMILES & HUGS

Month of May Stampin' News...

Hello friends!

Just squeezing in a little Stampin' Up! information for you with some fun promotions going on 

during the month of May!

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First there is this new "Best of ...Brides & Babies" for the month of May:

(Click on photo to view the stamp set!)

Remember for every SIX of these "Best of..." stamp sets you purchase, turn in your Collector's Card to redeem a FREE stamp set valued at $14.95!

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(Click photo above for further details and see the digital products!)

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Are you a photo-polymer clear stamp fan or curious to learn more about them?!

Click on the photo above to see how you can get a bundle deal on TWO brand new photo-polymer stamp sets along with an exclusive Stampin' Up! online class to learn different ways to use them!

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Don't forget about "sad to see going" retiring products where shopping online can get you 25%, 40% or even 60% off selected items! 

(Click on photo above to shop online with me now... But hurry!  

When they're sold out...they're gone!)

Retiring Lists

• Retiring Stamps (Available April 24-June 3, 2013)
  • PDF
  • Sortable Excel file
• Retiring Accessories (Available April 24-June 3, 2013, or while supplies last) 
  • PDF
  • Sortable Excel file

Things to Remember:

• Orders can be placed on a customer, workshop, or online order.
• Retiring accessories are only available while supplies last.

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Stamp Smiles - for sale!

And of course last, but certainly NOT least...be sure to take some time and check out the items I have up for sell in my "Stamps n Stuff" page at the top of this blog... or CLICK HERE

....more will be added shortly and some have already been sold!...first come, first serve basis...

*I also have a page that has a list of creations that I've made up for sale...check it out! CLICK HERE!*

(I will also take special orders/requests if you'd like!)

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Thanks so much for stopping by!  If you'd like to get on my mailing list, then you can sign up for it on

my Stampin' Up! website any time by clicking on "contact me" and indicating that you'd like to be included on my mailing list.  Sometimes there are exclusive benefits for my mailing list customers!

Have a beautiful day!  SMILES & HUGS