May Stylin' Stampin' Hop

It's time to hop again! Plus with this crazy weather we're having, hopping may be the only way to stay warm. (IN MAY!!!!)
By now you've probably heard about (and seen) Stampin' Up!'s retirement lists. There are so many great stamp sets and accessories leaving us on June 3rd; but trust me, there's some happy surprises coming soon!
This month we're using either one of the Best Of stamp sets (being released each month in honor of Stampin' Up!'s 25th anniversary), or our favorite retiring products.
While I'm most sad to see Curly Cute leave (you won't see it on my sale table!); I've used it on blog projects before, so I opted to use a set I've not used before. Circle Circus has been on my wish list since the day it came out. I was bummed when I saw it on the retirement list; however, I had purchased the digital download of it already. Three great things about the digital download: it saved me money, it doesn't take up space, and I'll have it forever! Have I told you how much I love My Digital Studio? ;) I hope you enjoy my projects featuring Circle Circus. How many retiring colors can you find in my projects?

My first project is a tag I made featuring my fur baby, Abby. Ironically, I made this; then 30 minutes later I was just venting to the other hop members about how annoying she was being. As my husband and I often say, "it's a good thing she's cute." Now you can see how cute she is, and how much she loves her heat vent!

My next project is a quick, simple card. I love so many of the new MDS features, but I think my favorite is the ability to color the stamp images!

Thanks for joining us on the hop. Please continue on to Pam's blog, and then through the rest of the hop to see everyone's fabulous projects! We'll see ya back here next month with some brand new products! (If I were you, I'd come back before then to see some sneak peek projects!)




Blog Hop Participants:

1. Pam S. of Stampin' in the Sun!
2. Nancy B. of Lady Stamps-A-Lot
3. Rose C. of Stamp with Rose
4. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya
5. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet
6. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place
7. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
8. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
9. Heidi B of Stuck on Stampin'
10. Bree R. of Craft-somnia
11. Diana E. of Stampin' Fun with Diana

Photopolymer Stamps

Good morning!

The sun is finally shining again in KS, and I'm hoping that it will warm up quickly.

Have you tried the new photopolymer stamps from Stampin' Up! yet? I absolutely love them! They are completely clear so you can see where you're positioning them, and you're still getting they great quality image that we're used to from Stampin' Up! rubber stamps. Plus you can "manipulate" the images on your block, such as the making the banner from the Typeset stamp set curve.

The Designer Typeset  was the first set to come out. Many of the clients that I make graduation announcements for prefer that they year is on them, and this set is perfect for that. You can see from my recent Graduation post that I used this set on the card and the inserts. The time saving trick was that I was able to put 2013 on one block and stamp it once on each card instead of having to do each number separately like I used to!

Item # 132956
Price: $13.95

The newest photopolymer set, Bombs Away Birthday, was released this week. I can't wait to get my hands on this set. I'm a little sassy in daily life, so this is a set I see getting a lot of use out of!

Item # 133411
Price: $13.95

Both of these sets can be ordered through my online store at http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx. One heads up, they do have quite a "manufacturing" smell to them when you first receive them. Leave them out of their package for a few days and that smell wears off.

Graduation announcements

I just finished graduation announcements and BBQ inserts for a client this morning. I love making announcements for people because it makes me feel honored to be a small part of celebrating one of their major life accomplishments!

While I have weeded out most of my retired Stampin' Up! sets, there's a few I do keep around for client orders such as these. In particular, two alphabet sets and the calendar set used for the insert.
Here are individual pictures of each one:

Before assembling the announcement, I ran the base through my printer to print the announcement part on the inside. On the back of the insert is information detailing the BBQ celebration.

April Edition of Stylin' Stampin' Blog Hop

Welcome to our April blog hop! Are you just joining or did you hop over from Dawn's blog? I love all of her creations! This month we are using one of my favorite products: the silver glimmer paper! It's so shiny and adds a lot of pop to any project.

Today could have been classified as a craft room disaster; especially since I don't currently have a craft space. We are in the process of rearranging and organizing the entire house and things are in shambles. There are craft supplies in every room of the house except the bathroom (and if it were bigger, there might be some in there too). My husband walked in today and said, "Really?" when he saw that I had pushed the coffee table against the tv stand, cedar chest against the coffee table, and then set up my craft table between that and the couch. I merely looked at him and said, "hey, I needed a work space."

Despite a few hiccups and the fact that I still can't locate my Simply Scored or Paper Trimmer, I'm happy with the outcome of my wedding card. I find that I really enjoy making the clean and simple cards lately, which is a huge leap for me because I used to think "boring and plain" when I would find simple cards I made way back in the day. I was inspired for the colors of this card by a picture that a friend posted on Facebook the other day of a bouquet of flowers she had received that had some gorgeous orange flowers in it.

Supplies used:
Paper: Basic Grey, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer
Ink: Old Olive, Tangerine Tango
Stamps: Word Play
Punches: Blossom, 7/8" Scallop Circle
Embellishments: Old Olive Striped Organdy ribbon, Brights Designer buttons, Basic Rhinestone Jewels

Thanks for stopping by! Are you a clean and simple card maker, or do you prefer many layers and details? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. After you comment, be sure to hop on over to Pamela's blog and then finish the circle!



Blog Hop Participants:

1. Shellie G. of Craft Smashup
2. Pam S. of Stampin' in the Sun!
3. Nancy B. of Lady Stamps-A-Lot
4. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya
5. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet
6. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place
7. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
8. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
9. Justin K. of JK Cards
10. Jennifer B. of NW Stamper
11. Bree R. of Craft-somnia
12. Diana E. of Stampin' Fun with Diana

March Blog Hop

Welcome to our March edition of the Stylin' Stampin' Squad Blog Hop! Spring is my favorite time of year; I just hope the best parts of it get here soon. Seeing all of the flowers in bloom and everything getting green always bring a smile to my face. Even though I don't run like I used to, walking outside on a crisp, spring day and taking a deep breath takes me back to my track days and I think, "today's a good running day."

As always this card did not end up like I had envisioned it, but I was very happy with the outcome. This would make a great happy spring card to brighten someone's day; or a congratulations card for a growing family.

The most exciting thing about this card for me is that it's my FIRST hybrid project! I've been a My Digital Studio junkie since it came out in 2009 but I've always just used it for scrapbooks or flyers and gift certificates for my businesses.

Supplies used:
Card stock: Daffodil Delight, Pink Pirouette
DSP: Sunshine & Sprinkles
Stamp set: Secret Garden
Ink: Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade
Accessories: Big Shot, Secret Garden Framelits, Designer Vintage Faceted buttons, Melon Mambo Striped Organdy ribbon
Adhesive: Glue Dots, Snail, Stampin' Dimensionals
My Digital Studio 2
Love Birds Alphabets and Numbers-grow digital stamp brush set in Pacific Point

I hope that you have enjoyed my card and it made you smile and inspired you to get to your craft room and make something bright! Please leave a comment; we love to hear what you think of our projects! Then, hop on over to Pamela's blog using the Next button. If you get lost on the hop or want to go back to a specific blog, the list of participants is available to you for just that reason!

Happy Spring Stamping!




Blog Hop Participants:

1. Shellie G. of Craft Smashup
2. Annie L. of Love Me Cards
3. Nancy B. of Lady Stamps-A-Lot
4. Rose C. of Stamp with Rose
5. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya
6. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet
7. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place
8. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
9. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
10. Heidi B of Stuck on Stampin'
11. Jennifer B of NW Stamper
12. Bree of Craft-somnia
13. Diana E of Stampin' Fun with Diana

Valentine treats

These are the Valentine's treats I made for everyone in my office. The M&Ms for the student employees & the pens for the full timers since most of us are on a diet. So quick & easy!

Fabric February Blog Hop

Greetings! Thanks for joining us on this Fabric edition of our blog hop. Chances are you just came from Diana's page. Doesn't she have the cutest creations?

Ok, I admit it; I'm a Fish McBites addict. The only thing I have a bigger addiction to is the Dress Up Framelits! What better way to showcase fabric on a card than to make it a dress. :)

Products used:
Cardstock: Marina Mist, Whisper White
Paper: Champagne Glimmer
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Fabric: Twitterpated
Adhesive: Tombow, Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals
Accessories: Cute Clips-Hung Up, Big Shot, Top Note, Dress Up framelits, Stampin' Trimmer

Last weekend I spent 2.5 glorious days at Creative Convention Online, where I gained some valuable tips to use in my Stampin' Up! business and made Make & Takes galore! This layout was one of the M&Ts that we did. Change the paper, change the images on the front, and voila, I now have an encouraging card to give to a friend before her job interview.

This picture isn't as good, but I wanted to show that the dress is hanging on the hanger and not actually glued to the card.

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear what you thought of my latest dress creation and see what you've been making with your dress framelits!
Head on over to Shellie's blog now. She's so creative and crafy!



Blog Hop Participants:

1. Shellie G. of Craft Smashup
2. Annie L. of Love Me Cards
3. Nancy B. of Lady Stamps-A-Lot
4. Rose C. of Stamp with Rose
5. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya
6. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet
7. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
8. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
9. Justin K of JK Cards
10. Heidi B of Stuck on Stampin'
11. Jennifer B of NW Stamper
12. Bree of Craft-somnia
13. Diana E of Stampin' Fun with Diana
14. Darcy J of Dj's Stampin Place