NC SU Demos May Blog Hop - Farewell Retiring Products

Welcome to the May NC Demos Blog Hop. This month we are celebrating our favorite retiring items. I started out featuring the Wish For It All bundle and ended up using several other retiring items including the Gallery Grunge stamp set, Swirls and Curls embossing folder, Come Sail Away Designer Series Paper (DSP), and some of the 2018-20 In Colors. If you want these or any other retiring items, remember to get them ASAP since retiring items are only available until June 2nd or while supplies last, whichever comes first. Current hostess code for my customers is WQNA3SZM.

The first card uses the retiring In Colors Lovely Lipstick, Blueberry Bushel, and Pineapple Punch. The embossing folder is Swirls and Curls. The label and sentiment are from the Wish For It All stamp set and the candles are from the Doily Wishes dies. Those last 2 products make up the Wish For It All bundle. Except for the Whisper White cardstock, everything on this card is retiring.

For this next card I actually used the negative from cutting out candles. I positioned the candle dies where I wanted them on the Lovely Lipstick layer before I ran it through my die cut machine. There are 2 candle dies in the die set, so I used both the first time and then ran it through the die cut machine another time with just 1 candle die to get the 3rd candle cut out. Two of the die cut candles were removed and used on the 1st card; the other is waiting to be used on another project. Then I put Daffodil Delight cardstock and retiring Come Sail Away DSP behind the candle cut outs and mounted the Lovely Lipstick layer on the card base.

This card also used the negative from cutting a candle for the first card. I used a stamp from Gallery Grunge on a piece of Pineapple Punch cardstock which was layered behind the cut out to make the candle striped. The sentiment is stamped on an oval from the Stitched Shapes dies and layered on a Pineapple Punch oval. I added some rhinestones for bling.

 I die cut the candle on this card from Whisper White cardstock and then sponged it with Daffodil Delight ink for the flame and Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, and Lovely Lipstick for the candle. The candle is layered on a Coastal Cabana die cut from the Stitched Nested Labels dies. I stamped the background with a stamp from Gallery Grunge. I stamped several times with each color used on the card.

Here's one last card I made with the Wish For It All bundle. I used the dies to create an ice cream cone. The cone is die cut from Soft Suede, then I layered it on top of a piece of Crumb Cake that had been sponged with Soft Suede. The ice cream is cut from Very Vanilla cardstock. I lightly sponged Soft Suede around the edge of the Pool Party background layer and then used a stamp from Gallery Grunge several times to add to the background. It's the same stamp I used to put stripes on the candle on the Blueberry Bushel card.

This is the first time I've inked up my Wish For It All bundle and already can tell I will miss it. I will still use it for personal projects and the Birthday Card Ministry at my church, but am sad I won't be able to use this with my stamp club. There are so many other ideas that I haven't even gotten to yet. I was having so much fun with the candles I never even got to the cake, cupcakes, doily backgrounds, and several other ideas.

Follow along the blog hop to see the next great project by Martinette Horner.

May Blog Hoppers
Amy Kinler 
Toni Campana 
Tina Lesson
Ariel Matera - 
Tracy Marie Lewis 
JoAnne Hewins - 
Jenn Hutt - 
Laurie Meier - 
Libby Foreman 
Tracie Evans Langley 
Sue Stapp
Sue Root - you are here
Martinette Horner
Nedine Dupree
Erin TCook 

NC SU Demos March Blog Hop - In Color Monochromatic Masterpieces

Welcome to the March NC Stampin' Up! Demos Blog Hop. I'm glad to be back in the blog hop this month after a bit of an absence. It's always so fun to see what everyone has made.  This month we are featuring retiring In Colors, with the added challenge of making our project monochromatic. We were allowed some neutral cardstock and black ink, but otherwise just one of the In Colors. If you are following through the hop, you just came from Laurie Meier's  blog. I hope you enjoyed her post as much as I did.

If you follow my blog or you've been to my classes, you know I enjoy taking an idea and trying several variations. Since there are 5 in colors, I chose to make 5 variations of the same card. All of the cards use an In Color, Whisper White cardstock, Memento Black ink, Stitched Nested Labels dies, the Crackle background stamp, and a sentiment from Rooted in Nature.

First up is Pineapple Punch. In addition to the items previously listed, I used Basic Black cardstock and White Baker's Twine. I guess this is the time for me to apologize for my photography. The strip really is straight, even though as I look at the picture on the computer, it doesn't appear that way.

 For the Lovely Lipstick card, I added another layer of die cut and some basic rhinestones.

The die cut is in a different position on the Blueberry Bushel card. I also chose not to add rhinestones. I really like the simplicity with this color.

I again used Memento black ink for the sentiment with a Basic Black background die cut for the Call Me Clover Card. I wrapped the White Baker's Twine around the card twice and tied it off. When I use Baker's Twine this way, I usually stick a little adhesive under the tie to keep my twine positioned how I want it. In this case, I used one of the little glue dots from an old Paper Pumpkin. I find those are perfect for this kind of task.

 When something doesn't go quite as I planned when I stamp, I try not to get upset. Rather, I look for ways I can fix it. I can't always and so sometimes have disappointments, but often I can find a solution. Usually I like the solution just as much as my original plan and sometimes I like it even more. I tell you this because these last two cards have solutions I'm going to share with you. Somehow I managed to get ink on the back of my Call Me Clover card. To fix it, I just stamped the Crackle background stamp on the backside. Now when I send my card, it will look pretty on the back, too, and no one will ever know that there used to be unsightly black smudges there. Well, no one except all of you reading my blog 😉

And last but not least is Grapefruit Grove. It's similar to the previous card except I changed the orientation and because that left a smaller area for the die cut, I sponged the edges rather than layering it. The fix on this card is the rhinestone placement. This is not where I would have put the rhinestones. However, apparently when I was sponging I got a few ink spots on my die cut. Rhinestones to the rescue!

Thank for joining us on this month's blog hop. Remember to stock up on your retiring In Colors before they are gone. Do it by March 31st and get a free Sale-a-Bration item with every $50 purchase (before shipping and tax). Current Hostess code for my customers is 6676WVZ4.

 Next up is Tamra Davis. I'm sure you'll love what she has to share.

This month's participants:

Amy Austin-Kinler
Jo Anne Hewins
Tina  Lesson
Ariel Matera
Tracy Marie Lewis
Libby Foreman
Toni Campana
Frances Wagner
Tracie Evans Langley
Laurie Meier
Sue Root: you are here
Tamra Davis
Sharon Maranich
Sue Stapp
Nedine Depree

NC SU Demos June Blog Hop - New Favorites

Welcome to the June NC Stampin' Up! Demos Blog Hop. This month we are featuring some of our favorite items from the new catalog. You probably just came from Frances Wagner's blog. I hope you enjoyed her post as much as I did.

There are TONS of things I love in the new catalog, so it was hard to narrow down which one to share. I went with the Free As A Bird bundle. It comes with the Free As A Bird stamp set and the Stitched Nested Labels Dies.

Here's a card we made in our recent club. The colors are Pool Party, Flirty Flamingo, Granny Apple Green, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, and a tiny bit of Pineapple Punch on the beaks. I used Tuxedo Black Memento ink to stamp the bird stamp (this is all one stamp) onto Whisper White cardstock and then cut it out with one of the larger dies in the set.

The Stitched Nested Labels dies cut out a label with a stitched border, but it also leaves an outer stitched border. The Flirty Flamingo is cut with the same size die as I used on the Pool Party. To get the Pool Party stitched border, I centered the die on my 4" x 5.25" layer and cut out the label. It left the stitched border after I removed the die cut label. I then put the Flirty Flamingo label in the spot where I had removed the Pool Party label and then used Stampin' Dimensionals to layer the white label. Can you see the texture on the Pool Party base layer? You can get a similar look using the Subtle embossing folder.

On of my regular stampers, Carolyn Clary, decided the birds would look cute with pink bellies. She made the card above. Another regular stamper, Vicki Yountz, liked that idea, too. Below is her rendition. I think both are cute and I especially love that the stampers in my classes feel free to share their creative ideas. Sometimes, one idea leads to another and we really get on a roll. That way we all learn more and it helps everyone get their creative juices flowing for future projects.

Below is the card I made with the Pool Party label I removed from the other card. I experimented with some other colors on this one. I have to admit I have half a dozen or more of these white, stamped labels ready for cards. I was having a great time experimenting with different colored birds, flowers, leaves, and branches. I used Garden Green on the leaves and Soft Suede on the branch. The birds and flowers are the same as the above, Pool Party and Flirty Flamingo. The "sending prayers" stamp is from Itty Bitty Greeting. One thing I love about that set is that the greetings are similarly sized, so once you have a card designed, you can swap out whatever message you want.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and following through the Blog Hop. Next up on the list is Erin Cook. I'm sure you'll love what she has to share.

This Month's Blog Hoppers:
Erin Cook
Tina Lesson
Tracie Evans Langley  
Jo Anne Hewins
Toni Campana
Frances Wagner
Sue Root - You are here.