June stamp-a-stack - triple flower punch

This was a quick card for the evening also.  These new style punches are such a great addition to the already amazing punches Stampin' Up! offers.  this punch can do triple duty - literally.

.This punch makes quick work of making fun flowers for any card design.  If you partner it with the stamp set Bold Blossom, it is a great card.  

I used the colors Daffodil Delight,Melon Mambo and Old Olive.  See how easy this card was?  I punched out once with Daffodil Delight and once with Melon Mambo and layered them together to make a super quick flower.  I used one part of the punched shapes to create a border for my stamped piece and accented with some retired Melon Mambo pom pom trim. (It is so fun!  I miss it.)

June stamp-a-stack

I struck again with the boats!  I love this set The Open Sea.  This card was one of favorites of all time.  The colors were inspired by the Designer Series Paper - Night of Navy and Early Espresso.

It also featured a definition from the set Define Your Life.  I will miss that set once it retires!

The second card is a very simple one with the new Flower Garden impressions folder - I saw this card on a blog and decided it was a quick addition to the evening.

Just a quick bit of ink to accent the flower and a strip of ribbon make this a card done in a flash.

Happy Father's Day!

This was my Father's Day to all my family.  Enjoy your special day dads!

May Stamp-a-stack - clear block stamping

This card was done to teach a little technique that is a great way to add a focal point to a simple stamp.  You simply ink up your acrylic block on any stamp pad and stamp directly onto your card.  With this card, it is done in Not Quite Navy to back the stamp Sail Away.  The ship stamps in the Stampin' Up! summer mini have taken me by surprise; I am drawn to them!

To finish off the card, I used the spiral border punch which is sadly being retired this week.  I love that border and will miss it dearly~! There was a little bakers twine accent and a sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set; that set is a MUST have!  The Designer series paper was from the Summer Mini Catalog also - Nautical Expressions.

May stamp-a-stack - Strength and Hope swirl

I saw a stamped gift set on Stampin' Addicts by Betty T and was so struck with the Swirly Sizzlets border Die on her gift set here that I wanted to replicate the feminine feel.  I came up with this card

The colors were Sahara Sand for the card base and Pink Pirouette and Rose Red for the pinks.  I loved the little touch of bling with the Rhinestones.  The focal point stamping in the center was punched around with the scallop trim border and corner punches.

May Stamp-a-stack - Strength and Hope CASE

Here are the cards that were made at the May Stamp-a-stack.  I used some of the new sets from the Summer Mini Catalog.  First was this card using Strength and Hope I saw on Wendy Hawkinson's blog.  I changed the colors but her card was the inspiration for it.

I used 2010-11 In Colors - Peach Parfait, Concord Crush and Pear Pizzazz for the inks and cardstocks.  I added a little tag from the Tiny Tags set to complete the card.  The background was stamped and then run through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice Impressions folder.

May club day 2 -

The next 2 cards were both from new items in the Summer Mini Catalog.  We had to have a Father's Day card ready for the men in our lives, so I used the new set Best Dad Ever and made a Joy fold card.  The ladies loved the look and the simplicity!

The colors we used were Not quite Navy, Garden Green and More Mustard.  I had them color the ties individually as they are all on one stamp, then we used a sentiment from Oval All and added a bit of texture to the front left flap with the Perfect Polka Dots impressions folder.

The last card from the Summer Mini catalog featured the striking set The Open Sea.  I am so driven to this set - Stampin' Up!  really hit the mark with this set!  I CASE'd this one from the mini catalog - thanks designers!

The colors on this one were inspired by the Designer Paper Nautical Expedition.  Not Quite Navy and Cherry Cobbler.  I think this card may be the graduation cards for all the graduates in my life this year!  (well, I thought they might - but haven't gotten them out yet!)  The greeting was from Word Play again!  I also used the Postage Stamp punch - NEW FABULOUS punch!

A Little Behind

Ok - so make that a LOT behind - May was so ridiculously busy I am finally starting to dig out from the mess!  So, I will start with May's Stampin' Up! Stamp club.  We had a great time at Tracy's house making some wonderful cards with NEW items from the Summer Mini catalog.

The first card was a simple one - it wasn't with new product, but fast!  It used Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set (love that set!)  The colors are Tempting Turquoise and Peach Parfait.  The sentiment is from the set On Your Birthday.

The second card we made was also simple - a little bling wedding card using the set Word Play.  We punched out a square with the Ribbon Border Punch out of Marina Mist CS and ran a white ribbon around the card and added a little 'bling' with a rhinestone jewel!  VIOLA!  

June Stamp Calendar

I wanted to get a move on June since it is the LAST month with our current catalog.  There are plenty of exciting things coming in July with the new Idea Book and Catalog!  I can't wait to get my copy later in June.  You will all be amazed that Stampin' Up! could get any better!

I will be holding a stamp a stack THIS weekend - $10 for 8 cards (4 designs, 2 each).  I know it's short notice, but I wanted to get one while my nieces were here (hoping they'll stay!)  AND I just have to use up some of the RETIRING products.  The retired list comes up this Wednesday and I will send it all to you so you can put in an order for your favs!  I will write more about that with the list.

I am also going to have a NEW Catalog Open House June 30 - come and see the new catalog, make a great project using NEW products and if you are an ongoing Club member, take home YOUR catalog!  If you want to join my clubs, now is the time!  You get lots of great perks... I will have a special gift for you at the first Club meeting in July.  

Graduation bliss....

Alright, so I decided that I would not wait until Graduation to announce which card was the one Michelle went with.  She actually had a tough time deciding - she loved almost ALL of them!  However, I told her we couldn't do all of them.  She said we could make the decision, but she liked the one with the photos - and she did not really like the black and white card.  So, it was narrowed down to the BLUE and GOLD school colors with my fav stamp set - Baroque Motifs and the feminine pink one.  Dad's fav is the pink one (all girl she is) but we decided to just go with BOTH of the ones with photos -SOOOO - there were 2 cards that won.

With that spirit, I will give 2 prizes!  Natalie and Heidi were the winners for the comments they shared - soooo.. I will get your prize out to you next week!

Here is a birthday card that I made with My Digital Studio. It uses one of the newest templates that was in a recent update.  I have been sending this to my Facebook friends on their birthdays - enjoy!

May Calendar

I have lot's of fun projects planned for everyone!  I hope to see some of you at them - let me know a few days ahead if you plan to attend or bring a guest

Graduation announcements - 4th card - and BLOG CANDY

This was the last card that I created.  It is a more traditional black and white graduation card.  I downloaded the stamp brush set for graduation from last year's Occasion's Mini catalog and added a bit of ribbon and a couple of punches.  It is simple, but sweet, just like Michelle!

Now that you have seen them all - which was YOUR favorite!  I will give away some BLOG CANDY to one random person who leaves a comment about which card was THEIR favorite.  Be watching tomorrow for the 2 cards that won~ and are being sent out to friends and family.

Graduation announcements - 3rd card

The next one I used my all time 'go to' stamp for backgrounds - Baroque Motifs.  I think that may be my favorite part of My Digital Studio - that I can get many of my favorite stamps in digital format to create wonderful projects.  If you are short on cash, you can buy a download and print off the stamped image!  What a great idea!

This card also uses the school colors for the stamps - I added a photo, a bit of text, and a stamp from my favorite Sale-a-bration stamp that I also got the digital format of - Bliss.  I really miss that set already!

Graduation announcements - 2nd card

The next card was very quick and easy.  I used the school colors of Michelle's high school to inspire me.  I added some punch shapes and of course ribbon and a bow to make it fancy and VOILA!

graduation announcements

So, I have another senior this year - Michelle will be graduating in just 3 short weeks!  Hard to believe.  I have always made the graduation announcements and invitations for my kids, so this would be no different, however this time around I was able to use the digital paper crafting software from Stampin' Up!   - My Digital Studio.  I created 4 different designs for her and we picked the 2 we loved.  I will share all of them with you, and then after you have shared which ones were your favs - I will let you all know which 2 WE picked.

Today's share is a very feminine pink card - I used the digital stamp brush of one of my favorite stamps - the Medallion stamp -