Retired Products list tomorrow, June 1st!

Get ready for tomorrow's listing of retired Stampin' Up! stamps and accessories. Retired products sell out quickly, so get your wish list ready so you don't miss out on ordering your favorites! I will post as products sell out and become unavailable.

Ready for the Beach!

Happy Memorial Day Holiday to everyone! I am so looking forward to spending a few days with family and friends at the beach. We have 2 birthdays to celebrate this weekend, and how appropriate is this birthday card for a summer beach birthday. I used the single stamp, Extreme Surfboard and added a background from Extreme Elememts. I love how well these stamp sets go together. To add some texture to the background I embossed my piece of Old Olive Cardstock with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder from the Summer Mini catalog.
The sentiment is from the Four Square Stamp Set which works really nice with the square punches. All done just in time to get ready for a nice weekend. Have a great weekend everyone and hope you all get to relax with family and friends.

For this card I used the following:
Stamp Sets: Four Square #111632, Extreme Surfboard #115173, Extreme Elements #115181
Cardstock: Ballet Blue #100613, Old Olive #100702, Whisper White #100730, Basic Gray #108692
Ink: Ballet Blue #100907, Basic Gray #109120
Embellishments: Big Shot Die Cut Machine #113439, Square Lattice Embossing Folder #119976 (Summer Mini Catalog)
Punches: Scallop Square #112081, 1 1/4" Square #104400

My Favorite Things

The Fifth Avenue Floral Stamp Set is quickly becoming one of my favorite things. I love the large flowers that are great for creating backgrounds(see the card I posted on May 22nd), and I really like how the image pops when it is embossed, as seen in today's cards. I don't know which card I like better. The first one I made by using Versa Mark Ink to stamp the image all over a piece of Whisper White Cardstock and embossing it with White Embossing Powder and my Heat Tool. I then took my brayer and rolled over the images in Pumpkin Pie ink. As you can see the embossed images did not pick up the ink which really made them stand out. I layered this on top of another piece of Whisper White Cardstock, and used Pumpkin Pie Cardstock as my base. A piece of Whisper White Organza ribbon and the sentiment finished the card. I looked at it for awhile and then thought I would try one doing the same steps but instead of a whole layer of flowers I cut two out and placed them on a piece of Whisper White Cardstock. I thought it needed just a bit more color so I added the Photo Corners in Chocolate Chip Cardstock, and placed this layer on Kraft Cardstock and Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain Ribbon, another one of my favorite things. As you can see you get two totally different looks. Let me know which one is your favorite. And as always, have fun experimenting because you never know what you may come up with!

For the first card I used:
Cardstock: Whisper White #100730, Pumpkin Pie #105117, Chocolate Chip #102128
Ink: Versa Mark #102283, Pumpkin Pie #105216
Punches: Scallop Oval #114889, Modern Label #116630
Stamp Sets: Fifth Avenue Floral #113734, Warm Words #115108
Embellishment: White Embossing Powder #109132
Accessories: Heat Tool #100005, Brayer #102395
Ribbon: Whisper White Organza #114319

For the second card:
Cardstock: Whisper White #100730, Chocolate Chip #102128, Kraft #102125
Ink: Versa Mark #102283, Pumpkin Pie #105216, Chocolate Chip #100908
Punch: Photo Corner #109042
Stamp Sets: Fifth Avenue Floral #113734, Teeny Tiny Wishes #115370
Ribbon: Pumpkin Pie 1 1/4" Striped Grosgrain #115616
Embellishment: White Embossing Powder #109132
Accessories: Heat Tool #100005, Brayer #102395

Congratulations!

One of the many perks of being a Stampin' Up demonstrator is the wealth of information available from the company and fellow demonstrators. We have our own web-site where talented men and women post pictures of their cards and projects. We are encouraged to Case each other's work (Copy and Share Everything) and when I needed some new inspiration for wedding cards, (I have 4 to attend in the next few months), I knew that inspiration was only a click away. I would like to give credit to Shauna Mikuliak for her design that I based today's card on. After changing a few things I came up with a wedding card that I really love.
I started with a base of Whisper White Cardstock, layered with Brushed Gold and Bride Specialty Designer Series paper. A smaller layer of Brushed Gold and Whisper White were used for the sentiment which I embossed with Gold embossing powder. This really makes it stand out and gives the card an elegant look. I punched two hearts with my Full Heart Punch and then ran them through my Big Shot using the Polka Dot Impressions Folder. I hope the Bride and Groom like it as much as I do.

To make today's card:
Cardstock: Whisper White #100730, Brushed Gold #102935
Designer Series Paper: Bride #115669
Stamp Set: Well Scripted (Occasions Mini)
Ink: Versa Mark #102283 used with Gold Embossing Powder #109129
Punch: Full Heart #113693
Accessories: Big Shot Machine #113439, Textured Impressions Folder Perfect Polka Dots #117335 (Occasions Mini - will be carried over in the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog)

To join my team of Independent Stampin' Up Demonstrators and receive wonderful benefits from the company as well as access to fellow demonstrators who share their creativity and knowledge you can click the Join My Team button on my blog, send me an e-mail, or give me a call. I will be happy to work with you, and help you get your business started and start you off on your own journey of creativity and fun!

Scallop Envelop Box Gift Set

Making gift boxes with the Scallop Envelope Die is easy once you do the first one, and see how it all comes together. I hope the following pictures and instructions help you to see how I put it together.




By cutting two Big Die Scallop Envelopes, an extra strip of 1 1/2" x 11" cardstock to go around the sides and bottom, you have created a really cute gift box that holds your selection of 3 x 3 cards.
To put the box together first you cut your two envelopes. Place sticky strip along one of the bottom flaps and adhere the two flaps together. Now you have a partial box with no sides. Take your strip of cardstock and place it evenly around the bottom and sides. I placed sticky strip on the bottom of the box and the two small side flaps on each envelope and folded the small strip of cardstock over the sides.
Now you have your box, and all that is left to do is to decorate it. I used coordinating cardstock and Designer Series paper for both the box, the cards, and envelopes.
To make the box I used the following:
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry #115216, Crushed Curry #115319
Designer Series Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade #115675
Ribbon: Dusty Durango Polka Dot Grosgrain #115609
Embellishment: Flower Brad #112579
Big Shot Machine #113449, Scallop Envelop Bigz Die #113462
Accessories: Sticky Strip #104294
For the 3 x 3 cards:
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry #115316, Crushed Curry #115319, Dusty Durango #115321, Melon Mambo #115320, Very Vanilla #101650
Designer Series Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade #115675
Ribbon: Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot #115613, Dusty Durango Polka Dot #115609, Crushed Curry Polka Dot #115614
Punches: Scallop Square #112081, 1 1/4" Square #104400, Scallop Oval #114889, Wide Oval #112082, Eyelet Border #113692, Scallop Oval #109043, 1 1/4" Circle #104403, Small Oval #107304 - I also used a gift tag cut from the Matchbox Die #114890
Stamp Sets: Teeny Tiny wishes @115370, Sincere Salutations @115058, Four Square #111632, Circle Circus #115778
Accessories: Mini Square Envelopes #107309

Happy Graduation

Sorry for the wording on the side. Don't know what happened!

Over the weekend we celebrated our son's girlfriends college graduation. I knew I wanted to get her a nice pair of earrings, and the Matchbox Die is the right size box for small items and the earrings fit perfectly. Matching the card with the box gives your gift that extra special look and it shows that you put thought into making it. I love being able to make handmade cards and presents, and Stampin' Up! makes it easy with their matching cardstock, ink, and accessories.
To make the card:
Cardstock: Whisper White #100730
Designer Series Paper: Cottage Wall #115671
Ink: Rich Razzleberry #115658
Stamp Set: Teeny Tiny Wishes #115370, Well Scripted #117072 (Occasions Mini)
Punch: Scallop Square #112082
Accessories: Big Shot Die Cut Machine #113439, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die #118138 (Occasions Mini - will be carried over in the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog)
Embellishments: Dimensionals #104430

For the box:
Cardstock: Certain Celery #105125 (for the bottom of the box)
Designer Series Paper: Cottage Wall #15671 (for the top of the box)
Accessories: Big Shot Machine #113439, Matchbox Die #114890, Extended Cutting Pads #113478
Ribbon: Whisper White Organza #114319

New Fifth Avenue Floral

Here is the updated version of the card I made yesterday. I thought it needed a little something extra in the flowers so I just took my basic black marker(#100082) and using the fine tip end I just added some dots to the middle of my flowers. Now it looks finished to me, and I am happy with the results.