Retired Stamp Set Contest is Over

I held my annual "Retired Stamp Set Contest" and I have a Winner! Congratulations Joannie A.!!! Every year I have my customers try to guess what stamps will be retiring. They get to choose 30 sets of what they think will retire. Usually they choose the sets they think of been in the catalog the longest but it doesn't always work that way. This year the winner picked 19 correct stamp sets that were retired. That is the highest number that anyone has ever picked. This is what the winner got. I have have these tins that I bought a few years back and was going to do something wonderful with but never did. I think it is a great container to put some of her stamping stuff in.

Well back to work. I received the new catalog yesterday and some new sneak peek items, so I can't wait to get to play with all the new stuff I got. You will love the new In Colors and new stamp sets that are in the new catalog! Gotta go now and play. Enjoy the day!

Last Chance Lists are Out

It is that time of the year again when Stampin' Up lets us know what will be leaving the 2010-11 catalog to make room for great new products for the 2011-12 Idea Book and Catalog. The new catalog will be released on July 1. This month is your last chance to purchase the stamp sets that will be retiring at the end of June. Stampin' Up has also posted a list of accessories and Decorative Decor which will also be retired. To check outwhat is being retired, you can click on the icons on the top side of my blog.

The discontinued stamps will be available until June 30th. But the accessories and Decorative Decor items on the retired lists will only be there while supplies last. As soon as they are sold out they are gone. So don't delay and check out what is available. You can contact me to place an order or you can order on my Online Store .

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial day to all of you. This card was sent to me by my friend Susan. This is another card that showcases the stamp,"Land of the Free". What a perfect card to celebrate Memorial Day!

This past weekend has been memorable for us. Thursday night we got hit by a strong storm. In the beginning of the week, they had called for Tornadoes and we did have funnel clouds near us but none touched down. It did rain extremely hard and the creek behind our house did flood over into our back yard. Those are things that we can live with. We felt very fortunate especially after what happened to Joplin, Missouri. But on Thursday night, no Tornado watches or warnings were called. The wind

started to pick up, rain started to fall, and then we heard a crash and it went dark. What happened was the wind got up to over 60 mph and it sheared the top off of one of the trees which it landed on the power lines. Our block was lined with fire trucks from various fire departments in the area. There were live wires down but other than that I don't know why they were there. It looked so funny because our backyard looked more like a crime scene than wires down. But I added a few photos of our adventure. We were without power for 16 hours. I felt very grateful it was not worse. The whole block had wires frayed and downed in their yards but it could have been much worse. There are still some wires and trees down in our backyards but we have power. This just surprised us because no weather watches were called in our area at that time. My blog was able to post on Friday because I had written it earlier and had it timed to post on Friday otherwise I would not have been able to post because we had no phone or internet because our cable was also hit.

Oh well, it has been a beautiful weekend so far. It is supposed to get very hot here today. So I will stay inside in the air conditioning and get some stamping done. I need to finish my cards for my technique classes this month. Enjoy your day!

Memorial Day Weekend

A friend of mine made this card for me. The stamp used on this card is called "Land of the Free" and can be found in the Summer Mini. It is sold as a single stamp. I looked at this stamp but wondered how I would be able to use it. Well my friend showed me how by making this great card. How perfect for this weekend coming up. The supplies used for this card were:

STAMP SET: Land of the Free

PAPER: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy

INK: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler

ACCESSORIES: Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Sponge, Rhinestone Jewels, Night of Navy and Cherry Cobbler Markers, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Big Shot

After seeing this card, I am thinking about getting that stamp. It is a perfect stamp to make cards for the holidays coming up this summer, for people who have family who serve in the service, or for those with summer birthdays. Enjoy the holiday weekend!

Flowers Everywhere

Isn't this card beautiful? My sideline sent it to me to let me know she is thinking of me. It is so simple but I think it is so gorgeous. Cindyrae used only 2 colors- Wild Wasabi and Whisper White. The ribbon is Stampin' Up's but it is retired ribbon from when Wild Wasabi was an In Color. But it looks so nice with this card. The supplies used for this card were:

STAMP SETS: Fabulous Florets, Pretty Postage

PAPER: Wild Wasabi, Whisper White

INK: Wild Wasabi

ACCESSORIES: Flower Garden Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Retired SU Ribbon, Postage Stamp Punch

I just want want to thank Cindyrae for her thoughtfulness. She knew I needed this card as a pick me up. My stamping family is great. They are always there when I need them.

Just had to throw this picture in of Eli. We were sitting outside over the weekend and of course made sure he was wearing his hat and wearing his shades in the sun. My husband is holding him here and he is asleep in his arms. It was fun having him here over the weekend.

Enjoy your day!

Fast and Easy Card

I needed a fast card for a guys birthday. I had seen a lot of different things done with this particular stamp and came up with this simple and easy card. I took the "Medallion" stamp, stamped it in the corner using Versamark , and clear embossed it. I then took Soft Suede and Tempting Turquoise Ink Pads and sponged those colors over top the embossed image. I used an Ice Rhinestone in the middle of the medallion and Early Espresso Ribbon to finish off the card. Here is a list of supplies that I used to make the card:

STAMP SETS: Medallion, Tiny Teeny Wishes

PAPER: Tempting Turquoise. Soft Suede, Very Vanilla

INK: Soft Suede, Tempting Turquoise, Versamark

ACCESSORIES: Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Ice Rhinestone Brads, Early Espresso 1/8" Ribbon, Clear EP, Heating Tool

And there you have it, a quick and easy card that any guy would like. Enjoy your day!

Fabulous Florets

There is a great new set in the Summer Mini, named "Fabulous Florets". I love it. I think the reason I like it so much is that the set contains both solid image stamps and outline stamps. It gives you a nice variety. This is one of my reject cards for the Summer Mini Stamp A Stack. It did not make it into the event because I felt it would take too much time to make because of all the small details that had to be done on it. The leaves that are on the Pear Pizazz cardstock was made by embossing with using Clear EP. I love the color combination on this card though. And I have used this color combination on a number of the cards that I have made the last few days. The supplies that I used for this card were:

STAMP SET: Fabulous Florets

PAPER: Peach Parfait, Pear Pizazz, Whisper White

INK: Peach Parfait, Pear Pizazz, Poppy Parade

ACCESSORIES: Certainly Celery 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Clear EP, Heating Tool, Scallop Oval Frame Sizziz Die

I took a break from stamping this weekend to watch my grandson while his parents went to Dorney Park for the day. We had so much fun watching him. I had my cousins drive down for the day from Connecticut. They came to see Eli and visit with my father. What a wonderful day it was! Here is a picture of Eli playing with his toys while everyone was visiting with each other.

Like I said before, it was a fantastic day! Enjoy your day!