Sizzling!!

For the next several days, my posting will be a little inconsistent, as I am on holidays and taking a good break from business related stuff!  But I don't want to leave you high and dry, especially with all the excitement over the retiring products and the new catalogue coming out.  I definitely feel at a disadvantage over that.  I've ordered my Sneak Peek products, but will be away when they first arrive and I won't have any projects with new products to show you.  I'll have to make up for lost time when I get back.  In the meantime, be happy for me as I soak up some sunshine and rest - as compared to my home town weather, where it is raining, hailing and SNOWING!  Mind you, 90 degree weather is a pretty big leap!  Gonna live in the pool, I think!

Our terrace!  Yes, that's a gas fireplace!

My goals are to share a few cards that I managed to make before we left and to keep you up-to-date on the latest developments from Stampin' Up.  

This card I made just before we left was created with both the Dynamic Duo challenge #50  and The Paper Player's Layout challenge #143 this week.

For the colours, I don't have any Blushing Bride, yet, so I had to use Pink Pirouette.  I'm not a real fan of that combination.  I also tried to use the Delicate Details Lace Tape as one of the flags and some Calypso Coral ruffled ribbon for another and I'm not sure that worked very well.  I do like the Calypso Coral rosette made from some Tea for Two Designer Series Paper, especially backed by the Paper Doily.  The image and the sentiment are from the Tea Shoppe stamp set, which is retiring June 3, so make sure you order it soon if you like it.  Did you notice that I did some shadow stamping using the Stamp-a-ma-jig?  The little vanilla and pink roses are from the Artisan Embellishments kit in the Spring catalogue, good until May 31.

In the Stampin' Up news, the latest kit has just come out.  Here are the deets:

Bloomin' Bouquet Kit

Mother's Day. Teacher appreciation. Just because. Say thank you with this no-maintenance bouquet. There's no watering, no weeding-just enjoying. This easy-to-assemble kit comes complete with the petals, stems, and buttons to create the flowers, as well as four different tags to make this the perfect gift for any occasion. All you need is some paper, ribbon or a vase to add the finishing touches to the bouquet.

As if that weren't enough, the kit contains a "baker's dozen"! This means you can create and give (or keep) a dozen flowers, and have a bonus flower left over to pass along to someone new! Give it to someone you wouldn't normally think of: a teller at the bank, a grocery store clerk, or the librarian at your local library. Anyone you encounter on your way that you'd like to give a little "thank you" to-and introduce them to Stampin' Up!

Ordering information:

Item 134542          $15.95
Available starting April 29, while supplies last.

Kit contents:

2 sheets of preprinted and precut flowers on 12" X 12" cardstock; makes 13 flowers using Pool Party, Gumball Green, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, and Rich Razzleberry
13 Vintage Faceted Buttons
13 green floral wire stems
Adhesive not included. (Glue gun recommended.)

Don't forget about my Mystery Hostess program!

And here are the links again to the retiring products:

Retiring Stamp Sets - available until June 3

Retiring Accessories - available while supplies last until June 3.

New sold out products since my last post are the Linen Ring Albums pg 169 Crumb Cake 12 x 12 Album and Early Espresso 12 x 12 Album; and the Comfort Cafe Collection DVD from My Digital Studio (pg. 198)

Stamps:  Tea Shoppe (w125545; c125547)*
Paper:  Calypso Coral (122925), Pink Pirouette (111351)* and Very Vanilla (101650) card stock; Tea for Two DSP (129311)*
Ink:  Classic Ink Pad in Calypso Coral (126983) and Stampin' Write marker in Pink Pirouette (119700 - as part of the Subtles bundle)*
Accessories - Paper Doilies (129399); Artisan Embellishments Kit (129328)*, Delicate Details Lace Tape (130966); 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon in Calypso Coral (122976)*
Tools:  Chevron Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (127749); Simply Scored Scoring Tool (122334)

Tea Shoppe Stamp Set

It's Too Late to Think Up a Title

Well, it is! (Too late to think up a title.) It's past 11 pm.  I just got back today from my youngest daughter's home where we spent a lovely Thanksgiving weekend.  She, my son-in-law and my sweet grandson live about three and a half hours away from us, which is much better than the eleven hours where she used to live!  I loved our visit.  We just enjoyed the time together, baked some pies, played with my grandson, went for a hike in the gorgeous fall colours and....I got to sleep in a Murphy bed for the first time in my life!  It was very comfortable!  I just loved the little welcome basket my daughter made for us!  It made me feel so special.

Parker, my little grandson, is energy in motion.  He's almost 9 months old and crawling and cruising!  But so cute with lots of smiles and giggles.  I miss him already!

 

 

                                    

 

But on to the reason you stopped by in the first place, a card sample.  Today's card is a birthday card for my younger sister. And it will be a push to get it to her on time!

 

 

This bright and cheery card shares three challenges today:

 

1. MOJO Monday for the layout

2. The Paper Players for the tea cup theme        and

3. Dynamic Duos for the colour palette of Old Olive and Tangerine Tango. 

 

It's not often that I can get a card to work well for that many challenges, but today's card is one of them.  The stamp sets I used were Tea Shoppe for the cups and the tea shoppe sign, Scentsational Season for the steam rising, and From My Heart for the sentiment.  The three teacups in Tea Shoppe are actually one long stamp, but I have them in clear mount and decided to cut them apart and use them separately, since I've always had a problem with the length of that one stamp.  It made it easier to ink them up in different colours as well.

 

I used the Chevron embossing folder to add some texture to the horizontal bar at the top, and Perfect Polka Dots to do the same on the Whisper White back panel.  The ribbon is Scallop Dots ribbon in Old Olive.

 

Here are the challenge logos:

 



 

 

I hope your weekend was as pleasant as mine!

 

Stamps: Tea Shoppe (w125545; c125547), Scentsational Season (w121026; c121190), From My Heart (w126555; 126557)

Paper:  Old Olive (100702), Tangerine Tango (111349) and Whisper White ( 100730) card stock

Ink: Classic Stampin' Pads in Old Olive (126953) and Tangerine Tango (126946)

Accessories: 1/2" Scallop Dots ribbon in Old Olive (124139); Brights Designer Buttons (119747); Rhinestone Basic Jewels (119246)

Tools:  Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder (117335); Chevron embossing folder ( 127749);  Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine (113439); Scallop Oval punch (119856); Large Oval punch (119855)

Summer Time, and the Livin' is Easy!

Do you recognize the title?  It's a jazz number that always evokes summer time images for me!  Today is the first day of official summer, and the first day that has actually felt like summer for ages around here.  June is usually an unsettled month in these parts, with lots of rain, but this year has been really wet and flood warnings are in effect all over BC as the temperatures rise and the higher than normal snow pack begins to melt.  Down by beautiful Okanagan Lake, the beach has disappeared and the willows are standing knee-deep in water.  One friend posted on Facebook that the Revelstoke Dam opened its spillway for the first time in 15 years!  You see the massive amounts of water thundering through and you've got to be thankful that you live in a country with an abundance of clean drinking water, when in so many places on earth, people are dying daily for a lack of it!
But, by August, we'll be hot, dry and wishing for a little rain, I'm sure.

Speaking of water, nothing is as comforting and down-home as a nice cup of tea!  Don't you agree?  Everything looks a little better as you cradle a warm, steaming cuppa in your cold hands!  Here's a card I created while waiting for Grandbaby #2 to decide to show up!

This card involves some layered stamping and emboss resist techniques and took a while to make, but I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.  I used the Framelits Labels collection and die cut a label in Very Vanilla.  I used Crumb Cake ink to stamp the background stamp, En Francais, then sponged over it randomly with Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral and Pool Party.  I then used Versamark ink to stamp the tea cup and the little violet-like flowers around the outside.  I covered them with clear embossing powder and heat set the powder for a clear finish.  Then I sponged Soft Suede ink over the whole label, which brought up the tea cup design beautifully, but leaving some of the background of the En Francais still visible.  The heat embossed areas resist the Soft Suede ink and it only colours the areas that are not embossed.

The Calypso Coral cardstock in the background was dry embossed using the Fancy Fan embossing folder (mmmm!  love it!) and I used some Very Vanilla Seam binding ribbon and some Paper Daisies to embellish, along with some Basic Pearls.  The sentiment is also part of this Tea Shoppe stamp set and it was punched out using the Modern Label punch. 

Looks like I'm on a kind of Calypso Coral kick right now, and why not?  It's such a great colour! I'll have to switch gears for my next blog, I think.  Have a wonderful Summer Solstice, everyone! 

Stamp Sets: Tea Shoppe, En Francais

Paper: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Calypso Coral and Very Vanilla cardstock

Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Calypso Coral and Pool Party

Accessories: Very Vanilla Seam Binding ribbon, Paper Daisies, Basic Pearls

Tools: Big Shot, Fancy Fan embossing folder, Framelits Labels Collection, Modern Label Punch, Boho Blossoms punch

Fancy Fan Embossing Folder

Tea Shoppe Stamp Set

En Francais background stamp