Hopefully I'm back online for good this time...

Hi Stampers,

I am back on-line sooner than expected so I thought I'd share something with you from my Copy the Catalog Stamp Camp. I have held this stamp camp for about the last 5 or 6 years at the end of June - last chance to use some of the stamp sets and/or accessories that are soon to be retired. I copy them right from the fabulous Stampin' Up Publications - our monthly demonstrator only magazine, mini catalog and regular catalog.

The first sample I'm sharing with you came from our monthly demonstrator magazine, Stampin' Success. This sample uses the Strength & Hope set from the Summer Mini Catalog and money from each stamp set sold goes to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Most of us have been touched by this disease in one way or another and this is a great cause and a very pretty stamp set. This is a 3"X6" Blushing Bride card. The butterflies are stamped in So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie and Baja Breeze and accented with some Rhinestone Bling. The words from the stamp set are stamped in Blushing Bride and a piece of Blushing Bride ribbon completes this quick and easy card.

The second card I'm sharing today is from page 138 of the main catalog. The card itself is Crumb Cake and the other card colors are Not Quite Navy and So Saffron. On the So Saffron piece, the center image is from Friends 24-7 (soon to be retiring) stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed with Clear Embossing Powder. Then I used the Beautiful Wings embosslit for the Big Shot to cut the large butterfly in So Saffron and the smaller butterflies in Not Quite Navy DSP from the Regals stack. The butterflies are accented with Pearls and the So Saffron butterfly has a Vanilla Flower Button tied with Crochet Thread. The So Saffron piece is attached to a piece of Not Quite Navy cardstock and a piece of Crumb Cake DSP from the Neutrals stack. I also used the Paper Piercer and mat to accent the top and bottom of the So Saffron piece.

Hope that you are having a great Sunday - we had an absolutely fantastic day with beautiful weather for my son's party celebrating his college graduation - good times with our family and Jordan's friends as well.

Keep Stamping,

A different kind of challenge

Hi Stampers,

Just wanted to let you know that due to the storms that hit Chicagoland this week, I have been without power and now internet, phone and cable for at least a few more days. Thanks for your patience! I hope to be posting again in the next day or so!

Another Challenge for Summer

Hi Stampers,

I decided to make a few cards last night for some challenges this week - the first is for this week's Create with Connie & Mary Sketch Challenge.

This card uses the On the Grow set from the Summer Mini Catalog. I wasn't sure I wanted to get this set, but as usually happens, I'm glad I did. The colors I used were Very Vanilla, Old Olive and Rich Razzleberry. I stamped the image in Black Stazon on Watercolor Paper so I could watercolor it with ink and Blender Pens. I used Razzleberry for the flowers, Old Olive for the leaves and Tempting Turquoise for the jar -such an easy image to watercolor! After I finished watercoloring, I punched out the image with the 2.5" punch and attached it to the Razzleberry piece I used the Scallop Circle Big Shot die on. The Old Olive piece underneath is punched with the Scallop Border punch. I used the soon to be retiring Old Olive wide grosgrain ribbon and two punches with the new Bouquet Bouquet Triple Punch in Razzleberry as well. The card itself is Very Vanilla and the "Thinking of You" is also from On the Grow.

Keep Stamping,

Father's Day is this week!

Hi Stampers,

Today I'm sharing a Father's Day card - taking a break from graduation, although I have a few more cards to share for that too.

I made this card a few weeks back for a VC Rocks challenge to use colors from the Regals Collection and thought I'd share it with you today. I used Night of Navy, Garden Green and Cherry Cobbler - a great masculine color combo. I stamped the On the Green stamp 3 times - once in Garden Green, once in Cherry Cobbler and once in Night of Navy and used different parts to highlight the "golf ball". I stamped the image in Garden Green and then used the 2.5" circle punch to punch it out and then put it through the Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder to deboss it to look like a golf ball. I attached some Cherry Cobbler DSP from the Regals stack to the bottom and put the Night of Navy strip over that, accenting it with 2 Cherry Cobbler brads. The greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes stamped in Night of Navy and I punched it out with the Modern Label punch and sponged the edges with Night of Navy.

Enjoy the week - what a beautiful day we had today in Chicago!

VC Rocks Blog Hop - Big Shot Madness!

Hi Stampers,

I am participating in a Blog Hop this weekend for a great group of stampers called VC Rocks! This weekend's Blog Hop is all about the Big Shot. You may have come from enjoying the great projects on Shari's Blog or you may be starting with my blog. Just click on the link at the bottom of this post to go to the next blog for this hop! The Big Shot is my favorite product and I love thinking of projects to show it off!

This first project I'm sharing with you could be used for an anniversary or wedding card. The colors for this card are: Shimmery White, Elegant Eggplant and Metallic Gold. I used the Lattice Die and Metallic Gold cardstock for the lattice. To give it some extra shine, I also sponged some Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint on the lattice. Then I took my Boho Blossoms punch with some of the Shimmery White and punched out the white flowers and the Itty Bitty Shapes punch in Elegant Eggplant for the centers of the flowers and finished them with Gold Brads. The Congratulations stamp is from the new Level 1 Hostess Set Swirls & Curls Verses stamped in Elegant Eggplant.

The next project is made with the soon to be retiring Baskets & Blooms set - this is a great treat holder or shower favor for summer. I used Crumb Cake, Tempting Turquoise and Melon Mambo for this Beach Bag. After I used the Big Shot for the Basket Pieces in Crumb Cake I ran them through the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. Then I ran the Melon Mambo and Turquoise through the Baskets & Blooms die for the flowers and attached them to the basket.
Then I used the Melon Mambo buttons from Sale-a-bration for the centers on the Turquoise flowers. A piece of Tempting Turquoise Ribbon (which was retired but is now back in the new Catalog) finishes this Beach Bag.

The next card is for Father's Day and uses the Top Note Die as the pocket card insert. The colors for this project are Cherry Cobbler, Not Quite Navy, Early Espresso and Naturals White. I used two different patterns from the Nautical Expressions DSP from the Summer Mini for the background and pocket of this card as well as using the Tasteful Trim die for the Not Quite Navy "rope (at least that's what I thought it looked like). I stamped "Happy Father's Day" from Best Dad Ever for the greeting and used one of the Square punches for the pennant shape. An Early Espresso button and some of the new Baker's Twine complete the front of the card. I stamped the Top Note piece with more of the stamps from this set - the Compass in Cherry Cobbler and the ship colored with Stampin' Write Markers in Cherry Cobbler and Not Quite Navy.

The last project I'm sharing with you is my version of the Ice Cream Cone which others have shown on their blogs. For this project, you use the Petal Cone die for the cone in Chocolate Chip and then run it through the Square Lattice (one of my favorite dies) to give it some texture. The scoops for the ice cream cone are also found on the Petal Cone die - one is Certainly Celery DSP and Pretty in Pink, which I ran through the Elegant Lines embossing folder. The greeting is from Swirls & Curls Verses Hostess stamp set.

I hope you've enjoyed these projects and if you'd like to see the other blogs on the hop, follow this link to Robin's blog, where I know she'll have great projects to share with you.

More Grads

Hi Stampers,

Well the very hot weather we're having in Chicago is perfect for staying inside and creating and today I'm continuing with some more of the graduation cards I've been making for all the parties all of us have been attending the past few weeks.

As I said in one of my earlier posts, I never get rid of graduation stamp sets because I end up making so many cards with them. This card uses the Great Grads stamp set in Whisper White, Real Red and Basic Black. I used markers to color the main image stamp and then used a Real Red marker to color just the Congrats from another stamp in this set and cut it out to add it to the card. I also used the soon to be retiring Classic Stars Jumbo Wheel in Real Red for the background on the card - kind of tough to see it, but it's there.

The card on the right uses Great Grads for the Congratulations stamp and Go, Graduate for the "feet" image and the hats I stamped on the bottom of this pocket card - I have figured out that Real Red on Real Red cardstock doesn't show up so well so sorry about that but it's there. Same colors for both cards as there were 2 graduates at the party from the same high school.

Hope that you are all having a great week! Stay cool!

All Graduation, All the Time...

Hi Stampers,

This week I have been busy stamping graduation cards - I think I made about 8 in all and so I decided that I should start showing them to you so here's the first in the series.

This card was made for a recent college graduate, who is one of my son's friends and whose mom is a friend and customer of mine. I decided to use Night of Navy and Brushed Gold as the colors, along with Whisper White.

Currently the only graduation "stamps" we have are the Go Graduate set in My Digital Studio so when I created Graduation cards I have to reach back to my collection of retired stamps including the sentiment here, which was a single stamp available last year. I stamped it in Night of Navy and attached it to a piece of Metallic Gold. Then I punched out 3 Large stars (Retiring List Alert...this punch will be unavailable by July 1. I attached the stars to the piece of Night of Navy and ran it through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder - this is my favorite technique right now - Inlaid Embossing. Then I attached it to a piece of Metallic Gold and then to the Night of Navy. I will miss that Large Star punch, that's for sure!

Keep Stamping and Stay Cool - it's hot out there today in Chicagoland!