Butterflies Back in Stock!

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butterfly punchThe Butterfly Duet Punch is back in stock WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!  This little punch has been quite popular so get it while you can!  We haven’t been able to order it for quite a while!  I have quite a few customers who have been waiting patiently for this punch who will be quite happy today!  🙂

Seriously, this punch and the COORDINATING Butterfly Gala stamp set are perfect for Spring and Easter!  I’m actually working on a project right now using this Butterfly Gala Bundle.   I’ll share it with you in a few weeks when I return from Stampin’ Up!’s On Stage event.

Butterfly gala..The best part of having the Butterfly Gala Bundle available now is that Sale-a-bration is still going on.  This means that you can order the bundle (#150599 $35) and a few other items like cardstock, adhesive and envelopes getting your order up to $50 and then you can choose the Botanical Butterfly Designer Series Paper pack as your FREE Sale-a-bration item.

Did you know that you the Butterfly Duet Punch will punch out some of the butterflies on the designer paper?  Oh, yeah!  Coordination at it’s best!  I love when Stampin’ Up! makes my crafting so easy!

Botanical Buttefly DP.blog.0119Here’s a card we made in class a month or so ago using the Butterfly Duet Punch and the Botanical Butterfly Designer Paper.  This gorgeous butterfly was punched directly from the designer paper!  No coloring involved!  I simply stamped the background piece with the fun Handwritten background stamp (W-#146521 $20 C-#146524 $15) die cut a circle in the Grapefruit Grove cardstock and ran it through the Big Shot with one of the new Rectangle Stitched Framelits (148551 $35) before adding ribbon and adhering it all to the front of the card.  I actually popped up the Grapefruit Grove cardstock to add a little dimension.  I then punched out my butterfly, folded up the wings a bit and adhered just the body to the front of the card!  Pretty easy.

I do love the Butterfly Gala bundle.  You get a four different butterfly designs and some nice sentiments in the stamp set.  Best of all, the large butterfly and the small butterfly are both on the same stamp which makes punching them out EASY!  Thank you Stampin’ Up!

I’m off to place an order for this bundle for one of my customers!  Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Colors!

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Stampin’ Up!’s spectrum of colors is wonderful.  Did you know that each year Stampin’ Up! introduces 5 new colors to their spectrum?  These are called “In-Colors” as they try to represent trending colors like the Pantone Colors.  These “In-Colors” are available for two years at a time so each time they introduce 5 new colors they need to say good-bye to 5 colors.  These colors may or may not turn up again when Stampin’ Up! does a color revamp to their spectrum.  When they did a major color overhaul with this current catalog a number of favorite “In-Colors” returned include Flirty Flamingo, Coastal Cabana, Poppy Parade and Mossy Meadow.

1719InColorsThis year we have to say good-bye to one of my favorite colors:  Berry Burst.  I will admit that I am going to be sad to see that one go.  The other colors that will be leaving are Tranquil Tide, Fresh Fig, Powder Pink and Lemon Lime Twist.  Which color will you be sad to see go?

If you really love any of these colors I would recommend purchasing them now.  Get the ink pad, the cardstock and most importantly, the ink refill!  When Stampin’ Up! releases the 2019 Retiring List these “In-Color” ink refills are some of the first things to go.

1719refillWhenever you purchase an ink pad I would highly recommend purchasing the coordinating ink refill.  That way you will always have it on hand.  You’d hate to have your ink pad run dry if you’re in the middle of a project!  Believe me, there’s nothing worse!

I’m very curious to see what the 5 new 2019-2021 In-Colors are going to be.  The 2019 Pantone color of the year is called Living Coral but Stampin’ Up! already has Calypso Coral and the colors look fairly close.  Hmm…

I guess we’ll have to wait and see.  Although….the wait won’t be too long.  I just a few weeks I am heading to Minneapolis for a Stampin’ Up! On Stage gathering.  While there I will get a copy of the upcoming 2019-2020  Annual Catalog, get to play with some new products and yes….see what the new 5 “In-Colors” will be!

What I think is kind of fun is to get a catalog in the mail and browse through it and look at the trending colors in it and see how close Stampin’ Up! came with their choices of the new “In-Colors”.  I have to say that they usually do a pretty good job with their choices.  Their job is hard though.  Not only do they want to pick trending colors but they need to choose colors that coordinate with the rest of the Stampin’ Up! color palette.  Whew!  I’m glad it’s not my job!

So as we say good-bye to Fresh Fig, Berry Burst, Powder Pink, Lemon Lime Twist and Tranquil Tide, which one will you be sad to see go.  I’ve already told you that I will definitely miss Berry burst and I think Tranquil Tide is pretty close behind it.  Leave a comment and let me know which one of these five colors is your favorite.

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping.

Something to Remember

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032719Most of the time I post projects, things about Stampin’ Up! or at least things that are related to stamping and crafting.  I saw this today on Facebook and it really resonated with me.

I love the first line.  Focus on what’s important.  So often we get hung up on the little things in life and those things we can’t change.  I’m discovering that I’m becoming much mellower in my “old” age and to be honest, it’s quite nice.  Something will happen and I’ll just shrug it off.  It’ll hit me that before I would have been bent out of shape about it and now it’s no big deal.  I like that feeling.

Live life to the fullest.  Give it all you’ve got.  And most of all hang in there!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

STORAGE by Stampin’ Up!

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Storage.1Woo Hoo!  Stampin’ Up! is coming out with a new line of products on Monday called STORAGE by Stampin’ Up!.  Stampin’ Up! is coming out with some modular storage solutions to all of our stamping needs!

Store your ink pads, markers, Stampin’ Blends, ink refills and anything else you can think of!  Keep your crafting area organized!  (Or, if you’re like me,  GET your space organized!).  I can hardly wait!

I had an organizer for my old Stampin’ Up! alcohol markers but it’s not the right size or configuration for all my Stampin’ Blends so I am very excited about the Stampin’ Blends storage.  Woo Hoo!

Check out this fun little video about the storage items:

Here’s a link to a flyer that lists the items, the sizes and the prices.  And here’s a link to a flyer that gives you a little more information on how you can configure the different pieces.

These items will be available for purchase on Monday, April 1st!  Have a great day.  Take care and Happy Stamping!

One Week Left!

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2019SABOh, no!  There is only one week left of Sale-a-bration!  How did that happen.  I know that Spring has sprung and all that but where did the last three months go?  I’m not sure I have all the Sale-a-bration items that I wanted to get.  How about you?

Well, don’t worry…we still have time.  Seven days to be exact!  We could place an order every day or maybe just one big one.  Hmm….I like the idea of one big order with everything I need to stock up on.  Cardstock, envelopes, adhesive…..

If I place one big order and it just happens to be over $250 I will get $25 in extra Stampin’ Rewards.  Woo Hoo!  I just may need to work on that because there are things I need.  How about you?  Are you working on that last minute Sale-a-bration order?

Now, $250 may seem like a big order but what about $99?  I know, the threshold for Sale-a-bration items is in $50 increments.  Why would you only spend $99?  Well, if you are going to spend $99 you definitely should purchase the Demonstrator Starter Kit!  This is the BEST deal EVER!  If you purchase the $99 Starter Kit you get to choose $175 in Stampin’ Up! merchandise!  That’s $76 of FREE product!  On top of that you will receive a 20% discount on all future orders!  Woo Hoo!  Best Deal Ever!

Don’t miss out on Sale-a-bration 2019!  Check out all of those items you can get for FREE right here!  Or even better!  Click on over to this page and sign up NOW to become a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator….$175 worth of product for only $99 AND a 20% discount on ALL future purchases!  You can’t go wrong!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!  And don’t miss out on Sale-a-bration 2019!

The Basic Tools

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Wow!  There is only a little over a week left of Sale-a-bration 2019!  How did that happen?

Is there still a Sale-a-bration item or two that you have your eye on but have no idea what you want (need?) to purchase to get to that $50 (or $100) threshold?  What are the items you use all the time when you’re making projects?  What items would you like to add to your projects that you haven’t before?  Get that roll of ribbon that you’re in love with or that package of designer paper that you’ve had your eye on.

Better yet…stock up on the Basics or if you’re new to paper crafting stock up on some of the tools that you’ll use all the time.  Check out my photo below.  These are some of the items that I use all the time and couldn’t craft without.

Basic Tool CollageMost of my cards have white in them so I am always in need of Whisper White cardstock and Whisper White envelope.  It’s pretty hard to send a card without an envelope!

I love my Paper Snips!  I think I have at least 6 pair lying around (and can never find any when I need them!)

The Stampin’ Trimmer is perfect for individual projects…especially when you need to cut AND score!

My Paper Piercing Tool gets used a lot.  I like to use it for placing jewels and other small embellishments on my project.  I also use it sometimes to help get intricate die cuts out of the die.

I would be lost without my SNAIL adhesive and my Stampin’ Dimensionals!  How else am I going to adhere my projects together?

If I need a little bling on my project I head for my Basic Rhinestone Jewels or Pearls.  The great thing about these little beauties is that you can color them with your Stampin’ Blends to match almost any project!  Woo Hoo!

What items are on your favorites list?  Have you stocked up on them yet during Sale-a-bration?  Don’t wait!  Sale-a-bration 2019 is almost over!

Who Loves Frogs?

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Frogs can be so stinkin’ cute!  I actually used to collect frogs.  Little glass one, stuffed animals and anything in between.   I still think frogs are cute but I got rid of the collection when we started to move.

So Hoppy CollageWhen Stampin’ Up! came out with the So Hoppy Together stamp set for Sale-a-bration I was pretty excited.  TSC!  Too Stinkin’ Cute!  I designed a card back in December with the set but I knew I needed to use it again before Sale-a-bration.  I designed this card for my most recent class.

Do you recognize the die cut words that I used on the card?  They were a Sale-a-bration item last year.  I love them and am so glad they carried over into the new Annual Catalog.

The designer paper I used on the card is from the Tropical Escape pack in the Annual Catalog.  As you can see from this pattern, not all of the designs are “tropical”.  There are some great designs.

The Granny Apple Green color works perfectly with the frog, don’t you think?  Not only does the designer paper coordinate with the cardstock but I was able to color the frog with my Granny Apple Green Stampin’ Blends.  I LOVE COORDINATION!  🙂

I hope you have a “hoppy” day!  Take care and “Hoppy” Stamping!  😀

 

Happy Birthday Paper Pumpkin!

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PP0319Look what came in the mail for me yesterday!  My March Paper Pumpkin Kit!  Check out thies fun box!  Paper Pumpkin is celebrating it’s 6th birthday this month!  Happy Birthday!  Woo Hoo!

To celebrate their birthday this contains not one, but 2 stamp sets!  How fun is that?  Just think of all the fun birthday cards you can make with these two stamp sets.  The PP0319.1numbers are a good size so they’ll make the perfect focal point for your cards.

The Paper Pumpkin kits have come a LONG way over the years.  They keep getting better and better!  Check out these fun pop-up cards in this month’s kit!  Too fun!  I can’t wait to put my kit together!

The Paper Pumpkin kits are meant to be a surprise but lately we’ve been getting hints through social media as to what’s coming in the next month.   For this March kit we knew it was going to be some kind of pop-up project and we knew that we would be getting an extra stamp set in the kit.  Too fun!

They’ve already started the hints for the April Kit.  They’ve already shared with us that the kit will include a Distinktive stamp set.  This is the new type of stamp that Stampin’ Up! has come out with that has a very realistic, dimensional look.  You can learn more about Distinktive stamps here.  Are you ready for it?  Don’t miss out on the April Paper Pumpkin kit.  You can sign up here today!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Butterfly Gala

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I can’t believe that Spring is in just a few days!  How did that happen?

Butterfly Gala.a.0119What do you think of when someone says Spring?  I think of flowers and…..BUTTERFLIES!  Stampin’ Up!’s Occasions has plenty of butterflies:  two stamp sets, a punch and framelits!  On today’s card I used the Butterfly Gala Bundle.  This bundle includes the Butterfly Gala stamp set and the Butterfly Duet Punch.

I also used the Botanical Butterfly Designer Series Paper which is a Sale-a-bration item.  I love how all these items coordinate together!  Thank you Stampin’ Up! for making creating SO easy!  🙂

What’s really great about this stamp set/punch combination is that Stampin’ Up! made the stamped Butterfly gala..images the exact same as the punch!  The large and small butterfly are on one stamp in the same positions they are on the punch.

COORDINATION!!!!  My favorite word!  Thank you Stampin’ Up!

I need to thank a couple of people for this card as I CASEd it.  I CASEd it from Brenda Sprenger who CASEd it from Betty Weisbrich.  I love that we all are so willing to share with each other.

I hope you’re ready for Spring! Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Invitations & Cookies!

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Apron of Love.0119A few weeks ago I shared with you a bridal shower invitation that I made for my nephew’s fiance.  I had a lot of fun making the cards and I think they turned out pretty darn cute.

The shower was this past weekend and it was in Minneapolis so I wasn’t able to attend.  One of my sisters (not the future MIL) helped plan the shower and she had someone make sugar cookies to go along with the cooking theme of the shower.  This talented person made a cookie that looked almost exactly like my invitation!  Wow!  I couldn’t believe it when my sister texted me a picture.

cookiesWhen I first got the text from my sister I thought that she said that SHE made the cookies and I was more than amazed.  I knew she’s made candy in the past but I didn’t realize she had taken up cookie decorating.  I guess I should read my texts better.  She had said that she had them made by someone.  Whew…I was feeling a little inferior there for a minute!  Ha!

Aren’t these cookies adorable?!  I am amazed at how creative and talented some people are.  I’ve never tried making and decorating cookies like this.  For one thing, my skills in the kitchen aren’t that great.  Ha!  I’m thinking I’ll just stick with cookies.1paper and ink!  😀

A few years ago we had someone make cookies for our customer treat at Stamp Camp.  Aren’t these cookies amazing too?  I was really impressed with the logo.  It looked just like the Stampin’ Up! logo at the time!

When my friends and I go to Stampin’ Up! On Stage events some of us like to bring little treats for each other.  Last November Laura K. had some fun cookies made for us.  These look very similar to Stampin’ Up!’s 30th Anniversary logo.  Again, I am amazed at the talent some people have.  Not Treat.Laura2aonly do these cookies look amazing they taste pretty darn good too!

Have a wonderful day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

It’s All About the GREEN!

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Hello!  Are you ready for St. Patrick’s Day?  Do you like to drink Green Beer or eat Corned Beef & Cabbage?  Even if you’re not Irish you probably at least think about wearing GREEN on St. Patrick’s Day.  I don’t have a lot of green clothes in my closet but I do have a lot of green paper in my craft room!  Do you?

Did you know that this year Stampin’ Up! has 11-13 different greens in there colors?  I didn’t give you an exact amount because it depends on if you count Bermuda Bay and Coastal Cabana as blues or greens.  Personally I say they’re blues which means I think that Stampin’ Up! has 11 different greens.  That’s a lot.

Greens.0319Now the big questions is which green is your favorite?  I have only given you 9 choices here because that is all that would fit in my grid.  Ha!

We’re going to have a contest…I need you to vote for your favorite green.  You can leave a comment here on my blog or you can go over to my Facebook Page to vote.  Let’s see which green gets the most votes!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Fable Friends

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Easter is on it’s way!  It’s time for flowers, sunshine and bunnies.  Unfortunately the weatherman is predicting a blizzard here in Colorado today…we’ll see what happens.  🙂

Fable Friends.031319But back to….BUNNIES!  Really, what is Easter without a bunny?!  Here is an cute bunny card I made for class today.  I used the adorable Fable Friends stamp set.  This bunny isn’t the only cute, well dressed critter from this stamp set.  There’s a little squirrel with a sailor’s hat and a mama duck with three little ducklings that are all wearing rain hats and rain jackets.  TSC!  Too Stinkin’ Cute!

I stamped the bunny with Memento Black Tuxedo Ink and colored him with my Stampin’ Blends.  I die cut him with the Stitched Shaped Oval and layered him on a scallop oval.  For the background I naturally had to use my favorite Subtle Embossing Folder.  Simple, yet adorable!

Smile if you love bunnies!  Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Painted Seasons Fun Fold

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I love fun folds!  They are so fun and make your cards WOW!  I also love the Painted Seasons Bundle that you can earn as a Level 2 Sale-a-bration item!  Pair them together and you have a gorgeous, fun card!

Painted Seasons.1.0319That’s what I did for today’s card.  I also used a color combination that I would never have chosen on my own.  I love that Stampin’ Up! does that for me with their designer series paper.  Poppy Parade isn’t my favorite color but it sure makes this card pop!  I love it paired with the Early Espresso and the Call Me Clover.  This card is so bright and cheerful.  It makes me smile!

Don’t you love the look of Stampin’ Up!’s new DistINKtive stamps?  They are so realistic looking.  I used my new Four Seasons Framelits that COORDINATE perfectly with the Painted Seasons stamp set to die cut the flower and leaves.  These fun dies are only available during the month of March so don’t miss out.  Other framelits in the Sale-a-bration Coordination campaign are already sold Painted Seasons.2.0319out.  You can no longer get the framelits that coordinate with So Hoppy Together or Hello Cupcake.  🙁

This fun fold is pretty easy to make.  You start by shortening your card front by 1″.  To make your little flap that goes across the front you add about 1/2″ to the size of flap you want.  This will tuck behind the piece you adhere to the inside of your card.  Decorate your flap and your card is complete!

I found out the hard way that when you are decorating the flap of your card you want to make sure and only put adhesive/dimensionals on the part of the image that will actually attach to the flap.  The first time I made this card I had a few too many dimensionals on it and my flower not only stuck to the flap but it also stuck to the designer paper on the front of the card!  Sheesh!  After 15 years of making cards you’d think I’d have this figured out…oh, well….live and learn!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

The Most Gorgeous Embossing Folder!

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daylightDid everyone survive Daylight Savings Time yesterday?  It definitely was a bit difficult getting up that hour earlier.  Yuck!  I was just getting used to the sun shining when I got up in the morning.  Now its dark again…ok…not pitch black or anything, but dark!

There’s only a little over two weeks left of Sale-a-bration 2019.  What is your favorite Sale-a-bration item?  I will have to say that my favorite is the Country Floral Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  Whew….that was a mouthful.  I think I’ll just call it the Country Floral Embossing Folder and be done with it!  Ha!  This embossing folder is absolutely GORGEOUS!  If you don’t have it yet, place an order now and get it will you can!  You are definitely going to want this embossing folder.

Country Floral Sympathy.031319I can’t get enough of it!  It’s not like my other favorite embossing folder….the Subtle Embossing folder…that I can use on every card I make but I definitely want to use it whenever I can!

We are using on a card for this week’s Card Buffet class.  Here I have it as a sympathy card but this embossing folder would work for many occasions….just change the sentiment.

Butterfly BeautyDoesn’t the butterfly work perfectly with all of those embossed flowers?  This butterfly is from the Butterfly Beauty Thinlits from page 13 in the Occasions Catalog.  This set of thinlits is amazing!  Look at all of those butterflies!  The little butterfly on my card is actually the small one on the two larger dies.  Yes…coordination again!  You die cut two different images and overlap them to get the layered butterfly.  On my butterfly I used both the Copper Foil Sheets and the Champagne Foil Sheets.  I just die cut that small section with both dies and trimmed them down.

As I’m typing this and looking at the picture of the dies I was thinking how lovely just one big butterfly on the front of the card with the Country Floral Embossing Folder would be.  Hmmm…..I may have to try that when I’m done with this post!  I’ll let you know how it turns out.

This was my first time playing with these dies and I can’t wait to try them again!  You can purchase these thinlits in a bundle with the Beauty Abounds stamp set (#150617 $55.75).   How great is that?….if you purchase the bundle you qualify for a Sale-a-bration item and you can choose the FABULOUS Country Floral Embossing Folder for FREE!  Woo Hoo!

Think about it but don’t wait.  Some of the Sale-a-bration items are gone for good already.  You don’t want to miss out on this embossing folder!  🙂

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays!

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March is definitely Birthday Month!  I know so many people who have birthdays this month!  Today is only the 8th and I know 8 people who’ve had birthdays already this month including a couple of special ones.  My niece turned 18 on Monday (how in the world did THAT happen!?) and another one of my friends from high school turned the big 6-0!

Birthday.RachelI want to make each one of my close high school friends a special birthday card this year since we’re all celebrating the big mile stone 6-0.  I shared Linda’s card with you last month.  Here’s Rachel’s card.

Rachel loves Hawaii so I decided to use the Tropical Escape Designer Series Paper and the Tropical Thinlits on her card.  I love that leafy square die cut.  It makes the perfect backdrop for that big 6-0! Ha!

Don’t you just love the way that Stampin’ Up! products all coordinate together?  You get the card stock colors coordinating with the designer paper colors and the designer paper designs coordinating with framelits.  Stampin’ Up! makes creating projects SO easy!  I LOVE it!

If you live in one of those freezing cold states that getting walloped in snow this year just look at this card and think of Hawaii!  You’re sitting on the beach with a Mai Tai looking at the waves rolling in as the warm breeze blows.  Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!