bye bye birdie

Hidey Ho!  Well, the retired list came out today.  All I can say is, WOW!  A 2 page list.  I'm losing 21 sets.  Usually I lose maybe 5 or 6.  So 21 is quite the shock. 

Good Bye!

2 of them I just got and haven't even inked up yet!  I got them both for free but still. 

This is what I have left.  9 sets.  9.  Thats it. 

Needless to say I'll be going through my older sets and selling off a bunch.  Once the new catalog comes out on June 1st, I'll be updating my "for sale" list big time. 

Here is a card I haven't showed you yet:

Season of Friendship and woodgrain.  Marina Mist, crumb cake, whisper white, old olive, wild wasabi, lucky limeade and early espresso cardstock.  Early espresso, marina mist, lucky limeade and crumb cake inks.  Big shot, label framelits, 1/2" circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, sponges and dimensionals. 

I really like this card.  It has a 4.25 x 4.25 base and the framelit sticks over the top but it still fits in a regular envelope.  Cute!

See that cute little nest?  I used the 1/2" circle punch and the little birdie fit just perfectly.  In fact this little birdie is on the retired list.  I sure hope they give us a great/wonderful/superduper tree set in the new catalog. 

Alrighty then, I got lots done this weekend but I still didn't get through my to-do list.  I did work on my Project Life for March, I'll get it done this week. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and hanging out.  Don't forget to check out the Retired List.

Blessings, b.

just call me, Dr. Beth

Howdy!

It decided to be Fall today.  It only got to 65 degrees and was windy and had big puffy clouds.  Perfect!  I hope your weather was as perfect wherever you are. 

I want to show you another project we made last week.  Everyone gives out gift cards, right?  Well you might as well put them in something super duper cute.  That makes the gift card extra special. 

Christmas Classics and snowflake from Season of Friendship sets.  Crumb cake, blue bayou and whisper white cardstock.  Whisper white craft ink and old olive and real red markers.  Dotted ribbon punch, 1/2" circle punch, 1/8" circle punch, crimper, crumb cake envelope, real red striped grosgrain ribbon, curly label punch, hemp, corner rounder and sticky rhinestones.

This is one of the first things I learned how to make almost 8 years ago when I became a demo.  I'm such a loser I can't even think what its called; envelope gift card holder?, crimped envelope envelope?, uuummmmm........help me out here folks. 

Anyway, you take a regular envelope and seal it.  Then lop off 1 1/2" from the side.  Then crimp the large piece.  (You remember the crimper right?  That tool you hardly ever use?  Well dust that bad boy off).  Then the little piece you cut off will fit on like a lid.  Cute huh?

 
I used the snowflake from Season of Friendship and stamped snowflakes on the lid and then swiped the white ink pad along the edges.  I punched a strip of Blue Bayou with the Dotted Ribbon Punch and stuck it inside the lid so just the little scallops showed. 

Inside I made a little card.  I used the markers to ink up the stamp.  I used my AWESOME Tombow Multi glue to put a very thin line of glue on 3 sides of the whisper white and left the top open to slip the gift card into. 

For the tag, I just cut a 2 1/2" x 2" piece of crumb cake and rounded the top corners.  Added some snowflakes and punched ribbon.  Check out the holly berries.  Can you see?  I used a red Sharpie to color in some of our Sticky Rhinestones!  Can't you just see all different colored rhinestones on a stamped tree?  I see one in my future. 

Anyhow, I used my old olive marker to ink up just the leaves.  Then punched out.  Stuck on some holly berries and put it on the tag.  I love it!

Put it all together and tied it up with the striped grosgrain.  Tie on the tag and you're good to go.  Super easy way to dress up a gift card.  I like to hide the gift cards in the tree.  That way they have to look for them.  When they're all pretty like this, they just look like another ornament.  Makes it more fun.  For me anyway.......

late sunflower

Alrighty then, I know you're all dying for a garden update.  Since the weather has stayed pretty warm here (it was 100 last week) the veggies are hanging on.  But the bees seem to have left.  So I did a little artificial insemination.  Yes, you can just call me Dr. Beth from now on, thank you very much. 

I had a few zucchini that were blooming and there were no bees around so I took it upon myself to do the deed.  I had done this earlier in the summer and had great results.  You just take a male flower, take off the petals and, (ahem) rub the stamin inside the female flower.

I know, I know, its all very embarrassing.  But sometimes you just have to help.  Become one with nature and all that. 

Okay, thats all for today.   Thanks so much for stopping by and putting up with me.  You guys rock!

Blessings, b.

owlie birthday

Hey stampers!  Just a quickie post for you tonight. 

A friend of mine had a birthday last week.  So I made her a card.

Season of Friendship, Woodgrain background and A Word for You.  Cajun craze, not quite navy, early espresso, whisper white, basic black, daffodil delight and crumb cake cardstock.  Early espresso, not quite navy, whisper white and crumb cake inks.  Cutter kit (distresser), Owl punch, vanilla seam binding (holiday mini), 2 step bird punch, small oval punch and dimensionals.

Cute huh?  She came to the card class a few weeks ago and fell in love with the little owl punch.  And she LOVES Halloween.  So I combined them. 

I cut out a circle and used it for a mask.  I sponged crumb cake ink onto the crumb cake cardstock to make the moon.  The Season of Friendship tree makes a perfect size branch for our cute little owl. 

I used the wing from the 2 step bird punch and a small oval brushed with whisper white ink for the hat. 

I'm loving the seam binding!  I aged this ribbon with some water and crumb cake ink.  Crumple it up and let it dry.  Instantly aged!  Thats kinda how I feel most days.......instantly aged.  Hmph........

Alrighty then, we've had 2 celebrations lately.  I'll get some pics and show you those cards this weekend.  I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday.  And, I had a short week this week!

Thanks for stopping by.  You warm my cockels.  

What are cockels? 

Blessings, b.

stamping...........again?

Hey everyone!  Its Monday again.  Seems like we get to Wed. and Thur. and then its Monday again.  Where did the weekend go? 

We had a preview concert for the band on Saturday night.  We heard 2 movements of the field show.  Its so amazing how great these kids sound!  Makes me a really proud momma.  BUT, I forgot my camera!  I had 16 take pics with her phone but now I have to call Verizon and find out how to get the pics from her phone to the computer.  This shouldn't be so hard. 

School starts on Wed. around here.  Then I get a whole week to stay home by myself while the kids are in school before I have to go back to work.  I'm giddy just thinking about it. 

Anyhow, today I needed some Thank You cards.  So inbetween going to Grace's school and finding out who her teacher is and going to Target to get a new lunch box, etc., and chatting with neighbors and getting dinner together, I worked on cards. 

You know how when you haven't stamped in a long time and you sit down to do it, it feels like you're trying to decipher ancient Hebrew?  Yeah, thats what happened to me today.  Of course once I'd get the feel of an idea, I would get interrupted and lose the idea. 

So I tripped on over to the Stamping 411 site for inspiration.  Now this seemed like an easy enough sketch but holy cow I was struggling!  I ended up with 2 cards.

Flight of the Butterfly, Inspired by Nature and A Word for You sets.  Crumb cake, old olive and whisper white cardstock.  Tangerine tango, old olive, more mustard, pumpkin pie and soft suede inks.  Large oval punch, Newsprint DSP, round tab punch, spiral tab punch, scallop edge punch, 1/8" circle punch, stapler and sponges.


Now, I know this DSP makes no sense with this card, but I've seen so many cards lately that when I look at the elements of the card separately, they make no sense.  But when you look at the whole, its cute.  Not sure I accomplished this here, but I tried. 

I got the new Newsprint DSP back in June with my demo preorder.  I think I've used it once.  I sometimes have a hard time coming up with ideas to use DSP and I thought maybe you would too.  Here is my solution:

CUT IT UP! 

Really.  I only do a sheet when I think I'd like to use it but don't know how.  So take a sheet and cut it up into 4x4 squares.  You'll get 9.  They layer very nicely on a regular sized cardfront.  When I see it in a smaller size I seem to get ideas for it.  Does that make sense?  Try it.


I really need some new stamps!  Maybe a fairy Godmother could bring me some.  There are so many stamps and half back pearls and sticky rhinestones and brads and ribbon and wheels and diecuts that I want out of the new catalog.  AND JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THE HOLIDAY MINI CATALOG!!  Love the stuff in there too.  Yours should be coming your way in the next few weeks. 

See this stamp?  Its a new one out of the catalog.  SU! gave it to me for FREE!  Aren't they nice?  Its on page 158 of the new catalog.  This stamp originally said, "thanks big time".  I decided I didn't like the "big time" part so I cut if off.  I could have just used a marker and inked up the "thanks" but I decided I would never in real life say, "thanks big time".  So its gone and I'm happy. 

One of the new punches in the new catalog is the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border.  I like this punch but of course don't own it.  So I made my own version of it. 

See the old olive strip?  I took a 1 1/8" wide strip of old olive and used my Scallop Border punch on one edge.  Then I turned it over, lined up the top scallops with the bottom and punched out that edge.  Then I used the 1/8" circle punch and eyeballed the little holes.  Its a little funky but I think I like it. 

I used the Spiral Tab punch for this edge.  Looks like real notebook paper huh?  I got a wild hair and decided to scrunch up and abuse the DSP.  Really it makes no sense to the card but, its done now. 

Okay, moving on..........

Season of Friendship set.  Crumb cake, soft suede, very vanilla and real red cardstock.  Soft suede, old olive and black Stazon inks.  Scallop border punch, Newsprint DSP, dimensionals and sponging. 

I like this card but I feel like it needs something.  For one, I need to reink my soft suede ink pad.  It gets alot of love. 

When I first got this stamp set, the first idea I had was to make a mask for a full tree.  I just freehanded it and it stays in the box with the stamp.  Again this DSP has nothing to do with a tree but............. 

I did the scallop edge punch trick again here.  This time I used a 1 1/4" wide strip of cardstock.  Really changes the look of it. 

When I get up tomorrow and look at this card with fresh eyes, maybe I'll see what it needs.  Otherwise its going in the mail tomorrow.  I won't say who its for but, act surprised when you see it.  Okay?

Alrighty then, this old lady is going to bed. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

Blessings, b.

teacher appreciation week

Hey everybody!

I know I promised a tutorial tonight but, its teacher appreciation week and I needed 2 cards. 

Because I'm such a procrastinator and a slowpoke, it is now 10:03 at night and I just finished them.  And what am I doing?  Showing you how much I love you by posting my beautiful cards tonight so you can enjoy them tomorrow. 

Geez.......a little full of myself aren't I?  Well, I can't help it, I do think they are beautiful.  And maybe someone else needs a little thank you card inspiration. 


Anyhow, Grace's school PTA is awesome and they make sure we show our love for our teachers and staff.  They gave us a schedule to follow.  Which you know, makes it easy on the moms and dads that are procrastinators and slowpokes. 

Yesterday we gave her teacher a flower.  Plucked out of the neighbor's garden.  Shhhh..........

Today we gave her a little gifty bag of Jolly Ranchers.  With a tag that said, " You're a jolly good teacher!"  Well, I thought it was funny anyway.  Sorry, no pics.  Procrastinator/slowpoke remember?

Then for tomorrow, the PTA gave each student a paper with a prompt to write a little note as to why they love/like their teacher.  Grace wrote 2 notes.  One for her teacher and one for the custodian. 

Mr. Dale (the custodian) is retiring this year.  He loves the kids.  Remembers everyones names, including parents, and always buys Girl Scout Cookies from us.   He deserves a thank you note. 

Since the letters are on 8 1/2x 11 paper and we put a 3x5 pic on the bottom, I didn't want to fold them up and ruin the pic.  So I made the cards business size. 

Here is Mr. Dale's

Season of Friendship and Sincere Salutations.  Soft suede and whisper white cardstock.  Black Stazon, old olive, soft suede and brocade blue inks.  Merry Moments DSP, hemp, sponges and dimensionals.

Look familiar?  I just took the card I made last week and made it taller.  See?

Because there was so much more white space I decided to add some clouds.    Don't look too closely at the clouds.  I accidently grabbed Always Aritchoke and inked up my sponge without looking.  I so did NOT want to make  another card so I tried to forget it was there.  Grace said she didn't notice.  Love that kid! 

 Look at my hills:

Nifty huh?  I just changed the way the stripes went and made it groovy, man!  The kids hate it when I say that. 

I'm not sure why I added the hemp to the bottom.  It just seemed to break it up some.  Anyway, I like it and so does Grace.  It ended up being 9 x 3 3/4.  Fits in a regular size business envelope.

This one is for the teacher.

Elements of Style (Summer mini) and Sincere Salutations.  Kraft (crumb cake), very vanilla and soft suede cardstock.  Soft suede ink.  Kraft taffeta ribbon, large oval punch, scallop oval punch, hemp, sponges, misc. button, and dimensionals.

I like it!  Again it fits in a regular size business envelope.  This came out 4x9. 

Fuzzy pic warning! 

I just put a little glue on the edge of the tag and slid it under the knot.  Then I took a small glue dot and stuck the knot down. 

Now they are all ready for Grace to sign and give away.  Hopefully I won't forget to have her do that in the morning.  I'm forgetful in the morning. 

Cutting myself a little slack, I'm going to say, tutorial, either tomorrow or Thursday.   Survivor is over so I'll probably get it up Thursday night. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Blessings, b.

new colors and a card

Hey there!

What a week it was!  Did you have a good week? 

I got home from work yesterday wanting a margarita.  Maybe 2 margaritas.  But, I didn't have any margarita mix.  I even went online to find out how to make the mix.  Limeade.  Thats what people use.  Anyway, I guess I didn't want one that badly because I didn't feel like going to the store to buy it.  But you can betcha that I'll be buying some limeade next time I go to the store.  Just in case...........

Thank goodness there are only a few weeks of school left. 

Anyhow, I wanted to show you something that we made Thursday night.  I get to meet up with a group of ladies every few months or so and we have a great time.  Here is one of the cards we did:

Season of Friendship, Woodgrain background and Sincere Salutations. Soft suede and whisper white cardstock.  Soft suede, old olive and black Stazon inks.  Merry Moments DSP, hemp and dimensionals. 

Super duper easy card for a man.  I wanted to do a couple of manly cards.  They are so hard to come up with.  And the only stamps I have that work for a man are either trees or fish.  I guess I need some help in that department. 

This group had no use for Father's Day cards so we made them birthday cards.  Even men need some birthday love.   Oh............that is NOT what I mean......................GEEZ!

See that DSP strip on the bottom?  That is the Christmas DSP called Merry Moments.  The other side has snowflakes on it!  So make sure you look at both sides of your DSP when you're crafting.  You never know, you might have the perfect summertime grass on the back of your Christmas paper! 


I seem to be on a Soft Suede kick.  I love it so much and am so happy that it is becoming one of our core colors next year.
Which reminds me of something else I made.

I made some sample color cards of the new core colors we're getting in July.  I love this Cherry Cobbler! ( I know, I spelled cobbler wrong)  Riding Hood Red is coming back next year and I like it but, this Cherry Cobbler is awesome!

                                    

You can't see it very well here but the Early Espresso is so pretty! Its like dark chocolate.  As you can see, Kraft will be renamed Crumb Cake.  It will still be the same cardstock though. 

Daffodil Delight is the next new color.  I love it!  I'm not really a yellow kinda girl but I really like this one. 

Here is Marina Mist. 

Here is Cajun Craze.  I really love this color too.  Its so rich looking next to the Really Rust.  I used to love really rust but now, there is a new color in town baby!. 

Here are the links again for the retiring colors and new color families:

New Color Families       retiring colors

Also note:  Stock up on your favorite colors now.  Stampin' Up! will guarantee your order only until May 31st.  After that, if they're gone, they're gone. 

Out of all the colors that are retiring, I'm only going to miss Brocade Blue.  I'm glad they are changing things up a bit. 

They also annouced in our monthly demo magazine we get, the 5 "In Colors" we'll be getting next year.  Concord Crush (purply), Poppy Parade (pretty bright red, reminds me of a popsicle), Pear Pizzazz ( think Jolly Rancher Apple), Peach Parfait (orangey), and Blushing Bride (looks like a stronger Pretty in Pink). 

They didn't give us samples of these.  I am excited that these 5 In Colors are going to be around for 2 years!  Sometimes it takes me that long to realize I love it.   

Okie dokie, I'll be showing you the other cards we made but I want to make a photo tutorial for you so you can see how I did what I did. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Sunday.

Blessings, b.

lots to say, lots to say

Hey there!  I miss you guys! 

Although its funny I say that, I was talking to a friend today about the garden and she says, " Yeah, I saw the pictures of the garden."

I'm like, "what pictures?"

"The ones on the blog."

Holy crap!  People actually read this!  I feel like I'm writing to myself most of the time.  Or people that I haven't met yet.  So anyway, thank you, because now I feel a little bit special. 

I did stamp today.  I haven't stamped in a week!  Just one thing after another.  So I promised myself I was going to make time today, and to make that happen, I put a frozen lasagne in the oven, I plugged in a movie to my little DVD player on my desk, put in my earbud thingys and tuned out the world.

Today I watched August Rush.  I love that movie.  I love the music.  Especially the end, I get goosebumps everytime, when everything starts falling into place.  And then at the very very end, it looks like he looks up to Heaven to say, thank you.  I love it.

So here is my card:  I'm a little rusty so...................be gentle.

Season of Friendship and Trendy Trees.  More mustard, garden green, bashful blue, soft suede and WILD WASABI.  Whisper white, DAFFODIL DELIGHT.  2 step bird punch, stampamajig and paper piercer.

I have no reason for this design or layout or whatever you want to call it.  For some reason I just wanted to make this happen.  Its certainly not my favoritist card I ever made.  But for today, its okay.  

I have to share what my hubby had to say about it though.  I asked him if it needed a sentiment on the front.  He looked at it and said, "Is you bird drunk?  Why is it climbing the tree?"

"What?"

                                            

"Turn it around, its a branch."  said I.

"That is the ugliest looking branch!  Its a tree!  An ugly tree!  Why did you buy this stamp?"  said he.

"WHATEVER!"  said I.

I also have something to tell you all:  Stampin' Up!  is changing the color families!  Now, at first I was not happy about this, but then I saw the new colors and WOW!  You're gonna love them too!  Check this out:

Notice my little birdie?  That is a new color coming out in July!  Its called Daffodil Delight.  I love it!  I sponged the edges with More Mustard because I don't have the ink yet.  SU! is so awesome that they sent us each an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of each new color. 

I know alot of you that trip the internet regularly have already seen the new colors and I know that I'm slower than molasses in January, so I apologize for being late with this news. 

I also used an old "In Color", Wild Wasabi.  That is a color that is coming back! 

Here is the link to see the new color families.  

Here is the link to see which colors are being retired June 30th. 

I can't get the document to show up here so check out the links.  I'll also be getting a color comparison up this weekend so you can better see what the new colors look like. 

Okay, I'm sure I'm forgetting about 50 things to tell you.  But this old lady has got to hit the hay. 

Oh yeah, tomorrow is the last day to order from the Occasions Mini Catalog.  So let me know if there is anything in there you'd like to have.  Did you get your Summer Mini Catalog yet?  Let me know if you'd like a hardcopy. 

Okay, now I'm really going to bed.  Thanks so much for being patient with me.  You guys rock!

Blessings, b.