Summer Basket

Tomorrow is my "Say Goodbye" class where we'll be using all sorts of SU goodies before they retire at the end of the month. One of my favorite 3D dies is on the Last Chance List-- the Basket & Blooms die. I often use it for Easter, of course, but also for fun little gift holders or favors. This fun little guy is all ready for a summer time birthday party! It's so quick & easy. I just cut the Melon Mambo paper using the die & cut my flowers out of Tangerine Tango & Old Olive at the very same time. Then I stamped the basket with the Daisy Dash wheel (also soon to retire) & ran my flower through the Big Shot with my Perfect Polka Dots folder. Add a little bling & a glue dot to attach. That's it! I can't wait to make this with everyone tomorrow. Hope you can come make one too!!

A Little Perk Up

Okay, this one is just too much fun. It struck me the other day that the "love you a late" stamp from Pun Fun is a perfect fit with all the tea/coffee stamps in Morning Cup. And since Pun Fun won't be around much longer, I just had to pair them up while I had the chance! This is a peek through card, so the cup & it's sentiment are stamped on the inside of the card. Then I punched through the layers of the card front to reveal just the cup & added a sentiment from Morning Cup. For the background, I just inked up a Texturz Plate before running it through the Big Shot. This plate is another of my retiring toys. I'll miss them! It took me so long to find my favorite way to use them, but once I started inking them up I thought they were great! I think we'll have great fun making this one in Sunday's class. There's still room if you want to join in the fun!

I love to use punches to create new & fun shapes! Who says a leaf has to be a leaf when it so clearly makes a great candle flame? This summery little number could be a great guy or even kid card too. Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, & Daffodil Delight team up to make a very bold color pallet. I needed just a sliver of my Sunny Garden designer paper to create the candle base. It's a good thing too because I'm almost out of it! That's what happens at the end of the catalog year. My designer paper supply starts to get thin. Never fear though, I've already got some from the new catalog and I can't wait to share it with all of you! Right now, I've got my focus on all the great sets that will soon go away (like Birthday Bliss), but soon I'll jump into the new stuff full force.

Forest Friends Sympathy

There are just so many sets I want to use before they retire at the end of the month! Forest Friends is included on that list. The little critters (deer, bunny, & owl) are all super cute, but I'm even more drawn to this tree. So, I embossed it on a bit of Always artichoke. Excellent! You really do need to see this one in person for the full effect. My base/background sheet of cardstock is confetti white with lots of little natural bits spread through out. Both the Early Espresso & Always artichoke cardstock pieces are Smooch Spritzed with gold. In fact, the satin Very Vanilla bow was added when a glob of Smooch Spritz gave me a "creative opportunity". Those of you in classes know all about them! I hope to be back with some Mojo Monday action after work, but wanted to share this one with you too. Happy Monday!

Convention Swap

We're quickly approaching my first ever SU convention. It's less than a month away and I know how fast that month will go! So, I sat down and tried to plan out a fun, yet simple swap project. I know my work schedule isn't going to leave me with much time for swap creation, so I thought I would stick to a bookmark rather than a full card or card front. I also wanted to make something that was really for my fellow demonstrators. My upline, Cindy, was kind enough to bring home a Statement of the Heart stamp from a past convention. That's what I used to create this little guy. I also took my triple layer blossom punch to several of my Occasion Mini Catalogs to make the frames for each flower. The end result is a little keepsake that I hope others will enjoy. Now, if I can just find the time to make them...

Not What I Expected.../ Color Throwdown 145

I sat down this morning with a pretty good idea about what I was going to make. Last night, I checked out the Color Throwdown colors of the week: Baja Breeze, So Saffron, & Pear Pizzazz. I decided that these colors would work great with Pick a Petal. So, this morning I made a super cool butterfly using Pick a Petal. I cut out the wings (gasp! You know I so rarely cut things by hand), embossed the wings, & textured the body. You may notice that this card is oddly butterfly free. Who knew? As I made my "butterfly" card I experimented with the soon to be retired Flower Blossom Sizzlet & just loved how it layered with my flower punch. I added the elegant lines background and soon realized that there really was no room on this card for the butterfly! For a while I tried to force it, but that so wasn't working. Instead, I trimmed down my Whisper White background, tried a couple different options for the layer behind it, & ended with more Pear Pizzazz and a bunch of cheery flowers. I guess it just goes to show that you never know where you'll end up. Perhaps that lovely butterfly will show up on another card some time soon. :)

On The Grow Scooter

Sometimes I think that SU could almost do the same sort of thing as movies do with product placement. I'm glad they don't, mind you, but it feels like the potential was there. I can't be the only person who saw the On the Grow set & started thinking about just how much fun it would be to have a little scooter of my own. Perhaps it is the warmer weather, or maybe seeing one at a yard sale really got me thinking. I'm pretty sure it was this little stamp though....

Today I wanted to experiment a little bit with shapes. I find that I keep things varied by using color challenges or sketches but sometimes I just need to switch it up a bit in terms of the shapes I use. I saw a sample card that used the Decorative Label Punch on the bottom of a rectangle with a brad in the middle & decided to make a card based on that shape. I've been wanting to use my scooter stamp, so that was a natural choice for the inside of the rectangle. Then the challenge of adding some ribbon to the bottom without the need to wrap the ends around (I simply CAN'T have exposed ends on the inside of my card!). A knot bow was close, but not quite the thing. Out came my Antique Brads---perfect for the bow center. Then, I needed a layer to hide the brad back. Ah ha! An extra circle would be just the thing. The end result is another combination of shapes that I haven't used before. Pretty fun!

Quail Mojo/ Mojo Monday #194

One of the worst part about the Last Chance list was that some of my last chance sets had never even seen ink! I'm determined to change that before I need to retire them. Happy Together is one of the sets I got through Sale-a-Bration this year that I had my eye on for a long time. Those little quail just make me smile. However, I just hadn't found the right opportunity to use them. So, I was ever so pleased that they worked well with this week's Mojo Monday sketch. Knowing I wanted to use them helped me narrow down my color pallet to Early Espresso, So Saffron, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, & Very Vanilla. Okay, perhaps "narrowed down" isn't the right term--- that's a pretty big color pallet! I even used two different colors of ribbon. Yikes! I think there is a lot of color without feeling too busy or disjointed though. They seem to complement each other well & I so rarely get to use More Mustard & Cajun Craze in the summer time. The four different textures also seem to work together well. They give the colors just a little extra richness. As usual, a fun sketch from the ladies over at Mojo Monday!

A Flower for All Seasons Farewell

When I talk about the Last Chance List, I tend to focus on just the stamps. However, there are other things that disappear at the end of the month too. For example, the Photo Corners Punch & Build a Brads will both "retire" come July 1st. Also, there are a whole bunch of Stampin' Around Wheels. The one used on this card, Whimsy, was my very first wheel & makes such a fun & versatile background. So this card is really a farewell to much more than just A Flower for All Seasons! It uses four different products that are on the list. Whew! That's a lot of goodbyes. Yesterday I finally got my copy of the new catalog & I can assure you we're in for a whole bunch of fun hellos soon! No worries.

Crimped Little Leaves

In class last month, we created a card with the Little Leaves Sizzlit and several folks wanted to know if we could do anything with the "frame" left behind. Of course we can! I decided to run mine through a crimper to give some extra dimension. I think dimension is the theme for this card...there are lots of Stampin' Dimensionals. Behind my Dotted Scallop Ribbon (laced with Hemp Twine), under my Confetti White layer, & under my crimped layer too. They combine to give this card a whole lot of depth! My large stamped image comes from Priceless, a set I will so miss! I've used the large & small swirls from this set for so many great cards & love all the little extras too--- the heart, butterfly, & flower. Of course, I will miss my seasonal & holiday favorites like A Good Egg & Autumn Harvest but I think I will miss the super versatile sets like Priceless even more! Remember, we need to order any of the Last Chance List sets before the end of the month...otherwise they are gone for good. No worries though, the more I see of the new catalog items, the more excited I become. I'll keep you updated!

Tart & Tangy Polka Dots/ Color Throwdown #144

Sorry for the lack of post yesterday. It was the release day for SU's Last Chance List & I spent the morning figuring out which of my favorite sets will be gone at the end of the month. Well, that and celebrating all the fun new stuff that is coming our way in the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog. I should have toys to make pre-view projects soon!
Today's card is a goodbye to two of my long time favorites: Tart & Tangy and Cheers to you. The fun summer colors from the Color Throwdown were a perfect match for a Tart & Tangy card--- Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, & Certainly Celery. I love making Gate Fold cards with the little citrus slices from this set. For the background flaps on this one, I used Shimmer Mist on the Mambo polka dots & then ran the whole thing through the Big Shot after I adhered my dots. The natural sentiment for this card came from the Cheers to you set, so I'll include a photo of the inside too. Typically, all my retired sets end up in my big retired sale in July, but Cheers to You is one of those I'm not going to be able to part with...at least not for a good long while. Make sure you get yours while there is still time!