Stampin' Addict's Retiring Stamp Set Blog Hop: Simply Stars

It is that time of year again. Stampin' Up! has posted the Retiring Stamps and Accessories Lists and we must say goodbye to a few of our favorites. Join us in the Sixth Annual Stampin' Addicts Retiring Stamp Sets Blog Hop as we share a few projects with some of the sets on this list.

This hop was put together very quickly, lol! We had to wait until the retiring list came to do anything, and this is what we came up with in just 4 days :)  If you are following in order, you just arrived from Rhonda Griffin's blog where she featured Secret Garden. Such a lovely set, and didn't she do just a lovely job?! If you get lost along the way, you can always pop back to the Stampin' Addicts thread for this hop and find your way again :)

I am the last stop on the hop and I am featuring Simply Stars as my set. It was a new set in the catalog this year, and I knew I had to have it right away. Sadly, there was so much new stuff that I had to have right away, this set was rather neglected.... but I was able to come up with these three cards within 4 hours of signing up to feature them for this blog hop!

 My first card is a combination of two challenges: Nacho Average Challenges color challenge (Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, and Strawberry Slush), and Retro Sketches challenge #111. I managed to use all but one of the stamps in this set. There is actually another star in the Perfect Pennants set that the sentiment came from , but I didn't think about that until the card was done.

Next up we have this card that had a bit of a bulls-eye and some sparkle. The bulls-eye was created with the Circles framelits and is two hollow circles glued onto a gray circle, and then paper piercing with the Essentials Paper Piercing Mat. The little star popped up on the Glimmer star is actually cut from the center of the same star image as is in the background. And MDS is always helpful to get just the right sentiment.

Last up, I have these little stars strung across the card front. The "string" was actually drawn on with an Early Espresso marker after the stars were stamped. The sentiment is from Just Sayin' and I just inked the saying with a marker so I did not get the word bubble with it.

Sadly, the day before this post goes live, Simply Stars has already sold out!

I hope you enjoyed this stop on the hop, and now it is time to head on over to Adriana Benitez's blog to check out the amazing things she has done with Blast Off!

My First Gandbaby is Born!

We have been patiently anxiously for this little peanut to arrive, and last night he finally did! Our oldest son and his wife have blessed us all with a darling baby boy! He was 40 weeks 6 days gestation. That's 1 week overdue for those who didn't know :) Carrie was induced Wednesday morning at 08:30 and did not progress well, only getting as far as 4 cm dilation by 10:00pm, and her epidural did not work... she was getting pretty worn out after many hours of contractions 2-5 minutes apart. So, she had baby by c-section! Both mom and baby are doing well :)

Here he is! Look at that hair! It is kind of curly and dark brown with maybe a little red tinge to it. Believe it or not, his father had more hair!

Carrie will probably want to kill me for posting this picture seeing as I had to almost beg to get her to let me take this picture! She felt like she really needed a shower and to fix her hair first. That was not going to be happening for a while yet, but I think she looks beautiful! David is a big gooey mess over his new baby, but he is so darn cute, how could he not be :)

Grandpa Jamie loves babies so much already, it is fantastic to watch him cuddle and coo over his first grandbaby! I almost didn't get a turn to hold him!

Uncle Geoffrey getting to hold Cameron. Geoffrey has held some of his little cousins, but not much! He will have to learn all kinds of baby stuff now :)

I finally got a turn, and thought I might like a picture of me holding the little peanut someday, so here it is. I unwrapped him and was trying to wake him up so momma could feed him. It had been about 6 hours since he had breastfed last and momma was getting worried. Already a great mom!

At 4 months gestation, the ultrasound had shown that baby was a girl, so momma had gotten all kinds of baby girl stuff, and baby girl type gifts and hand-me-downs were gathered and given. Momma had dreams of the things she would do with a little girl. Then last week, they did another ultrasound and found evidence of baby being a boy! Momma had to mourn the dream of her baby girl and think about getting baby boy clothes, blankets, etc for this little fella! It was probably a good thing she had a week to get used to the idea of a little boy :) This is the second time in the last 6 years in our immediate family that this has happened! My husband's brother Jeff and his wife Heidi thought they were having a girl, right up until they delivered little baby boy Caden! Surprise!

I am sure you will be seeing more of this handsome little man in the future :)

Kind and Cozy Thoughts

This is the second card design I did for the recent swap. I think it turned out quite nicely :) It is also the first time I used the Kind & Cozy set, even though I have had it for months! I tend to think I am going to use stamp sets sooner than I do. Mostly because I make sure I have plenty of stamping "assignments" between the Stamp Review Crew, the Paper Crafters Sampler, swaps, and Stampin' Addicts blog hops that I rarely have a time when I don't have a deadline approaching. This is self induced, mind you, lol! And I like to have goals.

I had not used my colored embossing powders lately and thought this would be the perfect time. The gingham label circle is embossed with Cherry Cobbler embossing powder. I have found that this particular embossing powder will turn color if heated to long, just as an FYI. Doesn't it look sharp on the Baked Brown Sugar cardstock?! I also did a lot of inking with markers. I found a great tip on how to refill your markers here, so I was able to get my Old Olive nice and juicy again in just a few minutes. The rest were still nice and juicy already. 
I don't know if you can see it on your computer screen, but I also stamped the Hardwood BG in Illuminate ink on the Whisper White panel. It looks quite lovely in person :)

• Stamps: Kind & Cozy, Hardwood BG
• Ink: Bermuda Bay, Old Olive, Baked Brown Sugar, Cherry Cobbler, Illuminate
• Paper: Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White, Bermuda Bay
• Other: Burlap ribbon, Signo white gel pen, 2½" and 1¾" Circle punches, Brights and Regals Candy Dots, dimensionals, Embossing Buddy, Cherry Cobbler embossing powder, Heat Tool

 Since I used a dark card base, I needed to line the card. A white panel is stamped in the lower corner with the floral image from the set.

Stamp Review Crew: Six-Sided Sampler Edition

Woo-hoo! Another Stamp Review Crew hop! These are my favorite days of the month :) We have quite the challenge for the Crew members this time. How much can you do with a set of seven hexagons and three sentiments?! Well, we are about to find out, lol!

If you are following along in order, then you just arrived from Shana Graff's blog. Such awesome stuff, right! If you started with me, I'm so honored :) Otherwise, if you ever get lost along the way, you can refer back to the Stamp Review Crew site and post for this hop. While you are there, you can check out any of our past hops. The links always go directly to the projects for that hop :)

I went a little crazy with the little flowers on this card. Well, it is spring! At least in most of the country, lol! I still have some snow on the ground and some gladiolus and dahlias just waiting for the ground to thaw so I can plant them :) Until then, I have to make do with creating them, instead of growing them.
I used some Silver Encore ink to stamp the outlined hexagons, then glued a little flower into the centers. I couldn't decide between pearls and rhinestones, so I both :)
I just got my Fringe Scissors too, so I had to play with them on this project!

You can see the hexagons a little better in this picture. It is sure tough to photograph shiny things!

Here is the inside of the card.  I love how easy it is to create a pattern with these little hexagons :)

Now it is time to hit the next stop with Betty Traciak, I can't wait to see what she has created!

 

Free Shipping at SU April 21-25

Can you believe it?! Stampin' Up! is having a FREE SHIPPING special from April 21-25, 2014! (Exception: expedited shipping) It just so happens to coincide with the release of this year's Retirement List. So, come on and get it, your last chance at these goodies, or a few that are NOT retiring-its still free shipping :)

Speckles and Feathers

Have I mentioned lately that I love the Fine Feathers set? Well, I really, really do! I needed to make a couple of card designs for a swap, and this is one of them. Everybody should have all of their swaps by now, so I think it is safe to post this :)

You can just barely see the Pistachio Pudding feather on this card, but I think it still looks good. I added the Gold Encore and Whisper White spatters with a stamp from Gorgeous Grunge, which is another must-have stamp set in my book. Gold washi tape adds detail to the embossed strip and ties all of the gold together in the card design.

• Stamps: Fine Feathers, Gorgeous Grunge
• Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana, Pistachio Pudding, Gold Encore, Whisper White
• Paper: White, Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana Core'dinations
• Other: Big Shot with Modern Mosaic embossing folder, Sanding Block, Watercolor Wonder Washi Tape, Gold Baker's Twine, Signo white gel pen, Distressing Tool

 The feathers are added to the inside corner, along with some gold spatters.

You and Me!

This card was made a couple of weeks ago using a color challenge from Nacho Average Challenges, but I did not get this post done in time. But that does not mean I can't share the card with you anyway!

This was the challenge I used. What an interesting combo, right! I think I used a sketch challenge from somewhere too, but I have no idea which one it was anymore. Oh, well!

The stamped hearts were inked once and stamped twice to get different tones of each color. You can barely see it, but I stamped a spatter image in Illuminate ink over the trail of hearts also. The Washi tape boarders add just the right touch without adding any bulk. Gotta love that!

• Stamps: Perfect Pennants
• Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Rose Red, Blushing Bride, Illuminate, Gold Encore
• Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Rose Red Core'dinations
• Other: Big Shot with Hearts framelits and Scallops embossing folder, Gold Baker's Twine, Watercolor Wonder Washi Tape. Occasions Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer and Mat, Sanding Block, Signo white gel pen, dimensionals, staples, Gold Gelly Roll pen

 I carried the hearts, Washi, and faux stitching to the inside as well. It is a very sweet looking card. Now I just need to find a good time to give it to my sweet hubby :)

Wishing on a Star

I am seeing stars tonight! Home Free, the winners of the Sing Off, have been performing in Bemidji as a fundraiser for the Bemidji High School's competitive show choirs, Vocalmotive and La Voce Ballo, for the last several years. They had to postpone after they won that amazing competion, but they really wanted to continue to support this program. How cool is that?! Here is a little video of Home Free performing.

Are they amazing, or what?!

 I have been doing a lot of stamping on just white cardstock lately, I am not sure why. It's not a bad thing, just a new thing for me :) I was just daydreaming one day and thought about a card with numbered stars as the focus and this is what came of that daydream.
I was wishing I already had the Morning Post Numbers set, but found the Memorable Moments set instead. It worked just fine! I do want some nice big solid numbers, so the Morning Post Numbers set is on my next order. I only used two stamp sets on this card, I thought it was going to take more. But Perfect Pennants has plenty of great sayings, and a star!

• Stamps: Perfect Pennants, Memorable Moments
• Ink: Wild Wasabi, Wisteria Wonder, Pool party, Calypso Coral, Gold Encore
• Paper: White, Pool Party
• Other: Big Shot with Chalk Talk framelits, Burlap and Natural Chevron ribbons, dimensionals

 Wow, this qualifies as a limited supplies card, don't you think?! It will work well for guys and kids, and it is pretty flat, so it is mailing-friendly too! I really like how the gold ink shows up so well over the stamped stars. I am so glad Stampin' Up! decided to carry the Gold and Silver Encore pads again!

Fine Feathered Silver

Have I mentioned that I love Fine Feathers? Well, I do! It such a versatile set! And feathers are still so popular right now. I had to pull this set out and play with it recently. I actually made two cards that day, but I am only sharing one today :)

I wanted to make something with a hint of print and some soft sponging, but not distressed. Clean sponging? Does that make sense? Well this is what I did!

1. I started with a piece of Whisper White cardstock. I inked up the Dictionary BG stamp unevenly with Smoky Slate ink, stamped off once, then stamped partially onto the white. 
2. After that dried, I then rubbed my embossing buddy all over and stamped a variety of feathers in Versamark and then heat embossed with White embossing powder. 
3. Next came the sponging in Pistachio Pudding and Coastal Cabana. 
4. Then I stamped the smallest feather in Silver all over a ¾" wide piece of Smoky Slate, and the smallest two feathers on the main piece of white.Stamp "hello" in silver on a ¾" wide piece of Pistachio Pudding.
5. Cut a 1" strip of the striped Foil Vellum. Dove tail all three strips. Use corner rounder on the main white panel and a Coastal Cabana card base.
6. Outline the Pistachio, Coastal Cabana, and the white panel with a Signo with gel pen.
7. Adhere the layers as you see them. 
8. Make another white panel to line the card, sponge green and teal in a corner, then stamp some silver feathers over the sponging. Adhere the panel to the inside of your card. 

 What do you think? Does it look to flat? I can't believe I didn't use any dimensionals!!

• Stamps: Fine Feathers, For You, Dictionary
• Ink: Coastal Cabana, Pistachio Pudding, Smoky Slate, Silver Encore, Versamark
• Paper: Coastal Cabana, Whisper White, Pistachio Pudding, Smoky Slate, Silver Foil Vellum
• Other: Signo white gel pen, Embossing Buddy, White embossing powder, Heat Tool, Envelope Punch Board corner rounder, sponges

 Check out this week's deals, there are some really good ones here! I can't live without my Itty Bitty Punch Pack, myself....

Paper Crafters Sampler: Fabulous Florals

It is time for another issue of the Paper Crafters Sampler! Here is what Melanie has to say about this issue:

"Gardens are coming to life.  Budding trees and perennials will soon fill our homes with bursts of color and fragrance.  If your garden hasn’t awakened quite yet, try decorating with a few paper beauties.

The April issue of the Paper Crafter Sampler, “Fabulous Floral”, issue shares an array of ideas for beautifying your home with flowers until your outdoor garden is in full bloom.  All projects in this issue are focused around a floral theme.  You’ll find cheery and feminine crepe paper poppies, pop-up flower box cards and several lovely cards with flowers popping off the front.

This month’s template is a “Strawberry Pot”.  A little table top container for stuffing with faux strawberries or flowers."

This is a little taste of the project I designed for this issue. There several really WOW projects this time around!

No Stems Here

I have been a bit MIA lately, on purpose. As many of you know, I work 12 hour night shifts. I also stay up all night on my days off because this bod of mine does not function well flipping back and forth anymore. I think I wore that switch out over the years ;) So, being a person who does my best work when I just get up, I usually go right up to my stamp room on my days off. Then when I am ready to go do housework and cook and socialize, everybody else is ready for bed! Well, I have been trying to spend that time with my family instead. And then I find myself missing the creative juices when they all go to bed. ARGH! I will adapt, I swear!

 Here is a picture I nabbed off of my son's Facebook page from his very recent trip to New York city. No, he did not bring his mother with! But since I would have had to shell out $800 to chaperone this school trip, I chose to stay home. This was a week long bus trip for orchestra, band, and choir. They played in a performed and recorded in a cathedral, and performed in a big Baptist church and the Trump Tower. I think they performed a couple other places too. It was a fantastic trip. And I kid you not, he talked for 5 hours straight about the trip when he got back, lol!
Geoffrey is in orchestra (plays viola) and choir this year. He is also in Vocalmotive, which is our local high school's competitive show choir. I mention this because last year he was in orchestra with the viola, and band with baritone and alto saxophone. He has some musical talent :) And he wants to be a nurse like his parents!

Now, how about a card? I was inspired by the layouts I have seen lately with the tilted layers in one corner of the card and thought I would give it a try. It is a little more challenging than I thought! Mostly because I tried to use smaller pieces of cardstock to create those tilted layers, lol!

• Stamps: Simple Stems, Perfect Pennants
• Ink: Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Sky, Wisteria Wonder
• Paper: White, Soft Sky Core'dinations
• Other: Signo white gel pen, sewing machine and thread

 I have been drooling over the creations I have seen made with this stamp set. The flowers are so lush and fun! I just had to make a parade of blooms on this card. I sure have been wishing for flowers outside lately :) I tried to use some of the soft pastels that I have neglected lately :)

In case you needed an excuse to do some crafty shopping, here  are this week's deals!

I always love to hear the thoughts of those who stop by to check out what I have been up to. Please don't be shy!

Stamp Review Crew: Oh, Hello Edition

Is it spring yet? I think it might be thinking about being spring here in northern Minnesota. I'll let you know when I don't have 2 feet of snow covering my yard anymore, lol!
The Stamp Review Crew is definitely thinking spring with this round! Oh, Hello  is a stamp set that first appeared in a Spring/Occasions Mini then was carried over into the main catty, for which I was very grateful :) I am stop #16, so if you are following the order of the hop, then you just arrived from Betty Traciak's blog. Didn't she do a great job?! If you get lost along the way at all, just pop over to the main page for the hop here and you can find the right path again, anytime :)

I only came up with one project this time, suffering from procrastinationitis! I was hoping for rainbows and sunshine, so this is what popped into my head. Each line of color is just one inking and repeated stamping. Consider this card was made in 10 minutes, from conception to completion. I know, my stamping is crooked. Sorry folks...

• Stamps: Oh, Hello
• Ink: Island Indigo, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler, Gold Encore
• Paper: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake
• Other: Big Shot with Starburst framelit, Wide Oval punch, Gold Bakers Twine, Signo white gel pen, dimensionals

And the peek inside! I hope you have a bright and sunshiny day! :)

Now it is time to go see Mary Rindal has cooked up for us!