A Sad Goodbye

Very soon we will bid farewell to a number of Stampin' Up! stamps, tools, colors and accessories. However, until June 2, you have the chance to buy retiring products for up to 50% off, while supplies last! Stampin' Up! has declared this, though:

*Note: Due to high demand for retiring stamps, we'll keep producing retiring stamps until May 26 (not accessories-accessories are only while supplies last).

You can access a PDF of the Retiring Products. Don't wait! SHOP NOW and don't be disappointed!

To view projects made with other retiring products you can view the following blog posts:
Stippled Blossoms Background Technique – Stippled Blossoms stamp set
Remnants of Easter – Naturals White card stock, 2013-2015 In Color Designer Paper Stacks, Simply Pressed Clay, Buttons & Blossoms Simply Pressed Molds
My First Card Challenge – Bigz Autumn Accents
Here's Hoping It's Subtle – Dictionary Stamp
Love For The Lotus – Bloom With Kindness stamp set
Wreath Wrangling – Daydream Medallions stamp set
Watercolor Workout – Flower Frenzy Bigz L Die
My Least Favorite Card To Create – Love & Sympathy stamp set, Mossy Meadow 3/8" Stitched Ribbon
Stampin' Up! Weekly Deals, August 12-18 – Petite Purse Die
It's All About The Sparkle – On Film Framelits
Delightful Dahlias – Regarding Dahlias
Painted Blooms Valentine – Word Bubbles Framelits, Hearts Collection Framelits
Valentine Round Up – Hearts Collection Framelits
Starburst Meets Kinda Eclectic – Starburst Framelits
Hello Mojo! – Starburst Framelits, Sweet Taffy Designer Series Paper
Fusion Card Challenge – Hearts Collection Framelits

Also on the subject of goodbyes is the card I have for you today. An Assistant Manager at the Walmart where I work has just left us for greener pastures so I designed a card for him. The card uses three of the retiring products: Just Sayin' stamp set, Word Bubbles Framelits and Naturals White card stock.

Because I knew the card would be signed by several people, I decided to use the From The Herd stamp set.

I stamped onto the smooth side of a piece of Watercolor paper using Tuxedo Black Memento ink. I allowed it to dry thoroughly while I worked on the front of the card.

Using the MISTI to stamp my image.

I knew that I wanted the stamp to show through an opening so I decided to use a framelit from the Circles Collection to cut a hole in a Real Red matte.

After cutting the hole, I used my MISTI to help with using the Hardwood stamp. Because the stamp was not big enough to stamp the entire matte at once, I needed to be very accurate at lining up my stamp.

If the Hardwood stamp had been photopolymer, this would not have been such a problem. My stamp had actually been a Wood Mount stamp that I had converted to Clear Mount using some of the retiring clear-mount cling foam (I think this may already be sold out, probably to new MISTI owners!). I stamped the stamp onto the sheet from my Stamp-a-ma-jig so that I could use it to line up my matte precisely for stamping.

Stamping the Hardwood on stamp on my Stamp-a-ma-jig sheet.

I tested what ink would look best on the red to give a "red barn" feel to the matte. I tested Real Red, Cherry Cobbler and Blackberry Bliss. In the end, it was my favorite, Blackberry Bliss, that won out!

After stamping the matte, I inked the edges using a Sponge Dauber and then set it aside and used many reinkers and my Aqua Painter to color the stamped image. I found that by using an empty Aqua Painter and just dipping into water when needed, I could control how much water I added to my image.

I let the image dry naturally and then adhered it to a 5 x 7" Real Red card base, using Fuse Fast adhesive. I then used Dimensionals to mount the stamped matte on top of the card base, allowing the watercolored image to peek through the opening.

Using Memento ink with a stamp from Just Sayin', another retiring set, I stamped on Whisper White and then die cut using the also retiring Word Bubble Framelits. The sentiment was adhered on the card front with Dimensionals.

Inside the card, I cut and adhered two mattes, (so there would be plenty of room for people to sign the card) from the retiring Naturals White card stock.

For the final touch, I used Memento ink again to stamp one of the Just Sayin' stamp bubbles on Real Red card stock, however, before inking the stamp, I masked out the sentiment it contained using a piece of tape. After inking, I removed the tape and then stamped the word bubble. I then stamped the sentiment, "from the herd" into the stamped word bubble. The word bubble was then die cut using the coordinating framelit and adhered inside the card using Dimensionals, giving a "pop" of red to the inside. (Unfortunately, I had already written in the card before I photographed it so I don't have a photo of the inside.)

I am so glad that I have the retiring Word Bubbles Framelits as well as the Just Sayin' stamp set in my collection. There seems to be so many occasions when these can be used and they worked perfectly for my card! Be sure to get yours before they are gone!

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Stippled Blossoms Background Technique

Do you ever wish there were like 48 hours in a day? Maybe even 72? These days, no matter how much I wanted to get in my craft room to stamp, there always seemed to be something else to do. And of course sleeping is an important activity, too!

Anyway, amidst a pile of laundry, and dishes, etc. today, I was finally able to finish the card I started last week!

I had viewed a video by Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Brandy where she created a background by using one of the stamps in the Stippled Blossoms stamp set.

I was in love! Who'd have thought that ONE stamp could create such a lovely design?

I chose to create my design using Blackberry Bliss and my MISTI. Now though I love my MISTI dearly, creating the design could have been done more easily using the stamp on a block but I wanted to see how I could use MISTI to advantage to create the design. I believe I moved the stamp itself about three times in total to create the background, but instead kept shifting my paper in different directions.

After creating my background paper and mounting it onto a Blackberry Bliss card base using Dimensionals, I adhered a strip of Coastal Cabana across the middle using Fuse Fast. Next, I mixed Rubbing Alcohol with a few drops of Blackberry Bliss ink refill in my Stampin' Spritzer and spritzed a piece of the White Jute Ribbon to match my card colors. After it was dry, I adhered it over the Coastal Cabana strip using Sticky Strip.

I next utilized my Pentagon template and circles template (cut with my Circles Collection Framelits) and MISTI to line up the Mother's Day stamp so that I could stamp it around a circle of Whisper White card stock. This is a really cool technique that I was able to do only because I was using photopolymer stamps and the MISTI! You can view three videos by Maureen Wong here that show how to make the templates and how to use them with the MISTI. These will be invaluable to you! Also, you might like to join the MISTIfied Facebook Group to keep abreast of all things MISTI!

After stamping my sentiment on the circle, I inked the edges using Blackberry Bliss and a sponge dauber. I then used the Starburst Framelits to cut a circle from the dotted design from the Irresistibly Yours designer paper. I sponged it with Blackberry Bliss and then wiped the ink off the polka dots. This piece gave me some color and texture to layer onto the circle with my sentiment.

Next, I used Misti to stamp the largest flower from the Stippled Blossoms stamp set using Coastal Cabana for the solid stamp and Blackberry Bliss for the detailed stamp. The flower was fussy cut and then both the sponged starburst and the flower were adhered to the sentiment circle using Dimensionals. The entire sentiment circle was then adhered to the card front using Dimensionals.

I used a piece of Naturals White card stock to create a matte for the inside of the card. I used the MISTI again to stamp around the create a border around the matte using Coastal Cabana ink. To complete the card, I used Blackberry Bliss to stamp the sentiment from the Sweet Laughter stamp set.

I really like the mix of textures and patterns in this card! If I could change one thing, it would be to have stamped the circular sentiment using Coastal Cabana ink instead of the Tuxedo Black Memento.

I hope you will try the technique of creating your own background paper by using a stamp! Perhaps you will find other stamps that work well for this technique. If you do, please share your findings in the comments below!

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Remnants of Easter

Hi Everyone! Hope you all had a good Easter. We had a great day!

Courtney, Steffan and Raine had been out at Lee River for the weekend but arrived in the early afternoon on Sunday. Raine had slept a bit in the car but not as long as her nap would have been so she was a little out of sorts for awhile.

My husband picked up my mother to bring her over. At first, Raine was scared of her but by the end of the evening, she had given her THREE hugs–unheard of before this!

I tried rather unsuccessfully to get some good pictures of Raine in her fancy Easter dress but she was not happy to be in it and generally let me know that! I did manage three cute shots, even though the backgrounds are not great.

We had a nice dinner and then everyone left and it was quiet once again!

I have my Easter projects to show you today.

The first card is the one that I made for my mother. It was CASEd from this card. I loved this on sight because of the shabby chic style.

I enjoyed coloring the Whisper White Seam Binding to match my project by using a few drops of Rich Razzleberry reinker with Rubbing Alcohol and then spraying the ribbon with my Stampin' Spritzer.

I also enjoyed using the Simply Pressed clay to create the little roses. I worked a few drops of either Coastal Cabana or Rich Razzleberry into the clay before placing it in the molds.

Besides the items listed below, I used the now retired En Française stamp, Regal Rose ribbon, a leaf punch from Michaels, and the bunny was cut from a Silhouette file using my Silhouette.

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This next card was for my daughter. It was cased from this card. Everything I used is still available with the exception of the paper from the Best Year Ever which was in the Sale-a-Bration catalog.

It was fun to use my Blendabilities to color the little bunny! I will miss these markers when they eventually dry out.

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For my granddaughter, I CASEd this cute little bunny created with the Curvy Keepsakes Die. I filled the bunny with miniature Cadbury eggs. The only thing that I used not listed below is the now retired Pretty In Pink card stock.

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Lastly, I made little treat baskets for my mother and daughter that were CASEd from this basket. I placed EOS lip balms in each basket, matched to the paper colors. The "grass" was created by first crimping card stock and then cutting it with Fringe Scissors.

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I hope you have enjoyed viewing my Easter projects! Now, on with Spring!

Tim Holtz Meets Birthday Girl

I have a mostly non-Stampin' Up! card for you today.

For Courtney's 21st birthday, I decided to play with my Tim Holtz supplies—distress inks, distress paint and stencils.

I started by using Picket Fence (white) distress paint on a Whisper White matte with first the Dot Fade and then the Crocodile layering stencils. These are the coolest stencils—lots of funky, imperfect patterns with which to work!

After applying the paint I dried it with my heat tool and then started sponging on some distress inks. I used a combination of Evergreen Bough, Spun Sugar, Shaded Lilac, Vintage Photo and Scattered Straw. I then used a combination of Rusty Hinge, Gathered Twigs and Black Soot around the edges.

Next I used Tuxedo Black Memento ink to stamp (with MISTI, of course!) using the It Is Written stamp set from BoBunny.

Using Versamark, I stamped the dragonfly from the Dragonflies stamp set by Local King Rubber Stamps. I then heat embossed it with Gold Embossing Powder.

I stamped a 2 and a 1 and punched them with my 1/2" punch and inked them with some Rusty Hinge. These I glued in the top right corner of the card.

I then used the @SoSocial stamp set to stamp the sentiment and then punched it with the Word Window Punch. I also punched out a Modern Label. I applied Rusty Hinge and Twisted Twigs to both labels to distress them. They were layered with Dimensionals and adhered to the bottom right of the matte.

I knotted some Mossy Meadow thick Baker's Twine around the bottom of the matte and then adhered the matte to a Mossy Meadow card base using Dimensionals.

I inked up a Naturals White card stock matte using Rusty Hinge and Twisted Twigs and then stamped the sentiment from the Smart & Sassy Sayings stamp set by Hot Off The Press using Soft Suede.

A small dragonfly was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with Gold Embossing Powder. The matte was adhered inside the card using Fuse a Fast. Gold Stickles were added to accent the sentiment.

Finally, sequins were added to the front of the card for a little sparkle.

What do you think of this card? A bit of a departure from my usual but I enjoyed making it!

Love For The Lotus

With Sale-a-Bration quickly coming to an end, I feel myself drawn to play with the items that will no longer be available. Of course, my favorite product has to be the Lotus Blossom stamp set!

Being able to experiment with the myriad of possible color combinations for the flower is like giving a child a 48 pack of crayons! So much fun!

This time I created a card that uses a non-typical color scheme for a flower yet I love the look and the drama it lends to the card. As well as choosing a non-typical color scheme, I chose an unusual card size for this project, using a card base of 8.5 x 4.5.``

Of course, I utilized my MISTI for this card as it is perfect for multi-step stamping!

The colors I used for the flower are Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, and Island Indigo. Because of the way the inks combined, the Bermuda Bay areas came out looking more like Garden Green so that guided my paper choice for the card.

In stamping the lotus on the 2 x 2`` square of Whisper White, I stamped in reverse order. I used stamp #3 with Crushed Curry, then stamp #2 with Bermuda Bay, and finally stamp #1 was used with Island Indigo and stamped three times.

The squares were edged with Island Indigo ink, using a sponge dauber and then mounted on squares of Garden Green, using Dimensionals.

The sentiment from the Blooming With Kindness stamp set was stamped with Versamark and then Crushed Curry and embossed with Clear Embossing Powder. The Whisper White paper was also inked with Island Indigo and the sentiment mounted on a Garden Green strip of card stock.

A matte of Island Indigo was run through a crimper and then I applied a Garden Green stamp pad to it directly to highlight the texture. I think it makes it look sort of like corduroy.

I used a mixture of Rubbing Alcohol and Crushed Curry reinker in a Stampin` Spritzer to color a strip of Jute ribbon. Once dry it was adhered to the crimped matte using Sticky Strip and then the matte was adhered to the card base using Fuse Fast adhesive.

The three lotus flowers were adhered on top of the ribbon using Dimensionals.

Because the card base was dark in color, I adhered a panel of Naturals White card stock inside the card. It was also stamped with a Lotus Blossom and its edges were inked with Garden Green ink.

What are your favorite color combos for the Lotus Blossom stamp set? Drop me a comment below to let me know!

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Projects From Stamping Group

Yikes! Our last Stamp Group night was VERY LONG!

Note to self: Do not attempt to teach two involved projects to stamp group on the same night!

I had been really looking forward to presenting my two projects to the group and the projects themselves were well received WHEN I presented them. When the ladies were still finishing their projects at 10:30 pm, they weren`t loving the projects quite so much :(

Be that as it may, the projects turned out very nicely and they got to practice a variety of techniques.

The first project of the evening was similar in style to the card in my Play MISTI For Me post. I chose this project because I thought it was a simple project that provided a lot of impact.

Also, I wanted the give the group the chance to work with my MISTI tool as well as the Lotus Blossom stamp set from the soon to be ending Sale-a-Bration catalog.

When I created the card, I utilized the MISTI so that I could use the magnets to hold the Sun Rays mask from the Hooray It's Your Day Project Kit on top of the matte. The ladies in class first adhered their matte to scrap paper using repositionable adhesive and then used Washi tape to adhere the mask over their matte.

Using Crushed Curry with a sponge dauber, color was stroked onto the matte, with a heavier application of ink applied in a type of "Corona" around the circular area of the mask.

Adding Crushed Curry

Next, the mask was rotated so that only half of the yellow ray was showing in each opening. Tangerine Tango was now stroked onto the matte.

After adding Tangerine Tango

Finally, the mask was repositioned a third time, showing an inked strip on either side of the opening with a white area in the middle; Real Red was stroked onto the matte.

After the application of each of Tangerine Tango and Real Red inks, the matte had to be carefully repositioned a the edges to ensure proper ink coverage all the way to the edge of the matte. Also, the Corona was enhanced each time with the new ink.

Completed inking

Once the matte was inked using the stencil, the card was edged with Cajun Craze.

The MISTI was used to stamp the sentiment from the Lovely Amazing You photopolymer stamp set, using Jet Black Stazon ink.

The MISTI was also used to stamp the lotus blossom on a 3.5" square of Whisper White.

The flower was stamped in reverse order from the directions for using the stamp set. The #3 stamp was inked with Crushed Curry and stamped first. Next, the #2 stamp was used to stamp with Tangerine Tango. It was reinked and stamped again to provide a rich, vibrant orange. Finally, the #1 stamp was used with Real Red to provide the final details of this amazing flower.

Using the 4th from centre Circle Collections Framelits Die, the lotus was cut out using the Magnetic Platform on the Big Shot. The 3rd from centre die was used to cut out a circle from Gold Glimmer paper. Another circle of Real Red was cut out using the 2" Circle Punch.

The Lotus was adhered to the Real Red circle using adhesive and then mounted with Dimensionals on the Gold Glimmer circle.

The inked matte was adhered to the Real Red card base using Dimensionals and then glue dots were placed in the un-inked white circle. Gold cord was adhered in a pleasing circular arrangement and then the Lotus stack of circles was adhered using Dimensionals to finish the card.

Adhering gold cord below embellishment

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The second project was a 3D Book Card. I was inspired by the gorgeous card by Dawn Heuft that I pinned long ago on Pinterest. Following Dawn's video tutorial, I was able to create the Under The Sea card I had envisioned.

I used both Stampin' Up! and non Stampin' Up! materials to create this card.

To begin with, the inner "frame" of the card needed to be created by scoring and accordion-folding pieces of Lost Lagoon card stock. The folded pieces were then intertwined at each corner (easier to do than to describe with words!) and adhered with a drop of Tombow.

Next, the backdrop for the card was created by sponging ink onto a 4.25 x 5.5" piece of Whisper White. The colors used were, from the top, Pool Party, Lost Lagoon and Marina Mist. Using the coral stamp from the By The Sea stamp set, bits of coral were stamped using both Crisp Cantaloupe and Calypso Coral. The backdrop was adhered to the back of the frame using Sticky Strip.

I provided each lady with three shells and one seahorse (Sea Animals from Lin & Lene Design) die cut from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper as well as a lobster (Deep Ocean Lobster from Memory Box) and a crab (Coastal Crab from Memory Box) die cut from Whisper White. A starfish was die cut from sandpaper.

A variety of inks were used to color each die cut, using sponge daubers:

• Shells: Blushing Bride, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral and Cajun Craze
• Seahorse: Daffodil, Hello Honey, Crushed Curry, Tangerine Tango
• Lobster: Marine Mist, Night of Navy, Elegant Eggplant, Cajun Craze, Calypso Coral, Pacific Point
• Crab: Blushing Bride, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Cajun Craze and white dots from a White Signo Uni-Ball Gel Pen
• Starfish: Baked Brown Sugar, Chocolate Chip and white dots were added with a Chalk Marker

To create the three fish, we had to use a Mirror Stamping Technique to be able to create fish that were swimming to the right instead of the left.

The fish stamp in the By The Sea stamp set was swimming to the left and would not work right with the card. To bypass this obstacle we needed to use the leaf stamp from the Sheltering Tree stamp set.

This large photopolymer stamp was mounted on a clear block face down. This provided us with a large, smooth surface.

The fish stamp was inked using Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and then stamped onto the leaf stamp! This was then immediately stamped onto Whisper White card stock to produce a fish that was swimming in the correct direction!

The Mirror Stamping Technique does not have to be done using the Sheltering Tree stamp set; any photopolymer stamp set that has a very large stamp can be used. This is a handy technique to have in your stamping arsenal!

The fish was stamped three times and then was colored using Stampin` Write Markers in colors of Crushed Curry, Coastal Cabana, and Bermuda Bay. Each fish was fussy cut.

The cover of the book was cut from Lost Lagoon like the frame, 12 x 4 9/16`` in size and scored at 5.75`` from each end. Using Calypso Coral, the sentiment, from the now retired Sweet Essentials stamp set, was stamped on the front cover of the card.

The back of the cover was adhered to the back of the frame/backdrop using Sticky Strip. As well, Sticky Strip was placed on the spine of the frame and adhered to the cover.

A 30`` piece of Calypso Coral ribbon from the Best Year Ever Accessory Pack was adhered to the cover using Sticky Strip. The shells were adhered over the ribbon using Dimensionals.

The various sea creatures were temporarily arranged into the creases of the frame to find the best arrangement. They were then adhered using Crystal Effects. The seahorse and the starfish were adhered to the front of the frame.

A small amount of Crystal Effects was mixed with a drop of Soft Sky Party reinker and then droplets were placed on the backdrop to produce bubbles. In my card, the color of the bubbles was a bit dark. I should have used a bit more Crystal Effects.

Finally, the ribbon was tied in a bow to close the book card.

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In retrospect, this book card project was much too involved to pair with the first card at a stamping class! However, it would work fine as a single project for a class. Live and learn!

I really like this 3D book card idea. I already have another idea that I hope to be trying soon–stay tuned to the blog to see it!

Delightful Dahlias

Where does the time go?? I see that the last time I posted was March 6 :(

I had been working on projects for my stamp group that I could not show you at that time and then I got sick with a cold that kept me down for over a week. Finally, I am feeling like myself again and can get back to working in my craft room!

One of the projects that I couldn't show you before were some thank you cards for my stamping group. I gave my MISTI quite the workout in creating them!

The card design is cased from demo Elizabeth Holloway. She has a video on her blog to show how she creates the card. I did mine slightly differently.

I decided to use the Note Cards that Stampin' Up! sells because I wanted a smaller size so that I could use the Mini Treat Bag as an envelope for the cards.

Secondly, I opted for Watercolor Paper instead of Whisper White because it showcased the technique better. I also opted to fill my Stampin' Spritzer with rubbing alcohol instead of water so that the cards dried quicker.

To begin with, I used my MISTI tool to stamp a dahlia (from the gorgeous Regarding Dahlias stamp set) on each watercolor matte using Versamark. I made sure to stamp on the smooth side of the paper so that my stamps would look and stamp better. I then heat embossed each matte using White Embossing Powder.

Back to the MISTI to stamp a second dahlia on each matte; I heat embossed each matte as before.

Next, I filled my Stampin' Spritzer 3/4 full with rubbing alcohol and added about 14 drops of Coastal Cabana Ink Refill. I shook the spritzer to mix the color evenly.

I placed one of the watercolor mattes in my spray booth (a large box from a pair of boots) that helps to keep the spray from going everywhere in my craft room!

I held my spray about 5 inches from the card and spritzed a few times to get some light coverage on the card. As I sprayed, the flowers were revealed. I repeated the process with each watercolor matte.

Because I was using rubbing alcohol, the cards dried fairly quickly but I sped up the process a bit by using my Heat Tool.

I then used a Sponge Dauber with Coastal Cabana and rubbed in a circular motion out from each flower's centre to add a bit more color to the flowers. They contrasted nicely with the spritzed background.

I replaced the watercolor matte in my MISTI and arranged the Thank You sentiment on the lid. I stamped it with Smoky Slate, two times, re-inking the stamp each time. Only using the MISTI could I stamp the sentiment twice in exactly the same spot! I stamped twice because the watercolor paper tends to absorb the ink and I wanted the sentiment to be a bit darker without resorting to a darker ink. The Smoky Slate looks lovely with the Coastal Cabana.

After stamping each matte, I then adhered each to a Coastal Cabana matte using Fuse Fast. I wrapped each matte with Basic Gray Baker's Twine.

Finally, I adhered each matte to the note card.

What do you think? I love how they turned out!

I hope you'll try this technique and then drop me a link to show me YOUR creations!

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