You're Invited!!!

Help me celebrate the new Fall/Winter Catalog at my Open House!

Saturday, July 21st
1-4pm
312 Clifford Dr.
Vestal, NY 13850

Come and enjoy an afternoon of seemingly endless door prizes, delicious food, great conversation, and a chance to get a look at the new Stampin’ Up! catalog. You will also have the opportunity to make 2 great projects! Plus, anyone who places a qualifying order will be entered into a drawing for a free stamp set! Stamp Club members will be able to pick up their complementary copies of the Fall-Winter catalog, and copies will be available for purchase for all other attendees.

Please RSVP by July 6th to ensure that supplies are available for the 2 projects.
Guests are welcome!

Retiring Accessories List is Here!

To view the list click here: Retired Accessories List

Now, for some important information about the retirement list:

• Discontinued accessories are available until June 30, or while supplies last.
• Quantities are limited to stock on hand, so once they're gone, they're gone!
• Items can move quickly so don’t wait if there is something you have to have.
• Rememember that this is your last chance to stock up on 2006-2007 In Color ink, card stock, and ribbon. Consider purchasing extra ink refills to extend the life of your In Color pads after these colors are no longer available.
• Retiring Stamps and Stampin' Around wheels will be available through June 30.

In addition to discontinued items, there are also a number of items that are being offered in a different quantity or assortment in the upcoming catalog. This year, the following items will be offered differently in the Fall-Winter Collection 2007:

• Select individual color packs of 12" x 12" card stock
• Confetti White & Kraft Tiny Takeout boxes & tags
• Select embossing powder colors
• Select 1/4" grosgrain ribbon colors
• Corner Rounder punch

These items appear on the retired list and will be retired in their current quantity or assortment, but you will be able to purchase these or similar items in a different configuration, quantity, or assortment in the Fall-Winter Collection 2007.

Pick A Petal

This set is so much fun! With so many different petals to choose from, the combinations are endless! Here I used the polka dotted petal to form the daisy (cut the tail off to make the center), and then the triple outline petal to form the leaf. Add a stem with the Old Olive marker and a greeting from the "Hugs & Wishes" set, and you are good to go.

Stamps: Pick A Petal, Hugs & Wishes
Paper: Whisper White, Rose Red
Ink: Rose Red, Soft Sky, Old Olive
Accessories: Ticket Corner punch, Dazzlin Diamonds, Old Olive marker

Baroque Motifs

When I saw this set, I instantly knew that it HAD to be mine! It is just so darn elegant, and I have to admit, I am a sucker for anything with swirls.

I think this card would be perfect for a wedding - either as the invitation, or the card for the lucky bride & groom. I broke down and used some of my stash of Brushed Gold card stock for the layer on this one. It was the perfect accent to the Gold Glory embossing powder used on the main layer.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Paper: Whisper White, Brushed Gold
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: Gold Glory EP, ribbon, heat gun, 1/4 circle punch
Technique: Faux Metal

This card is a bit more whimsical than the last. I used the "Three For You" punch to make the little flowers, and sprinkled Dazzlin Diamonds in the centers to make them stand out. There is also Dazzlin Diamonds on the Groovy Guava swirls. This card is very sparkly in real life.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Holidays & Wishes
Paper: Whisper White, Blush Blossom, Groovy Guava
Ink: Groovy Guava, Whisper White Craft
Accessories: Dazzlin Diamonds, Three For You punch

New Stuff!!!

One of the perks of being a SU demonstrator is that you get a chance to pre-order merchandise. I just got my box of goodies yesterday, and I have been busy playing with all of my new stuff. Can I just tell you that the new In Colors are SO much better in person?!? I ordered an assortment of the cardstock so I could determine which colors I like - I find it hard to tell what they really look like from the pictures in the preview brochure. Now I am wishing I had purchased all of the ink pads instead of just Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, and Groovy Guava. The Wild Wasabi and Purely Pomegranate are just gorgeous, and River Rock is going to make a wonderful neutral. *sigh* I'm making myself be good, so I'll just have to wait til my July 2nd order to get the rest of the colors.

Now on to the part you've been waiting for - samples made with the sets from the Fall/Winter Preview...

Baby Announcement

I made this as a gift for my cousin's baby shower. I hope she likes it! I used "Bundle of Joy" from the Spring Mini for this project. The bear and giraffe are just so cute! I actually broke out my Stamp-a-ma-jig for this project - it would have been impossible to line up the swirls without it. The announcement part in the middle can easily be popped out so she can use this as a picture frame if she prefers.

More baby cards

Ok, I am having way too much fun with "A New Little Someone". That darn rabbit is just so much fun to watercolor! Plus, I just found out that one of my friends is pregnant, so of course I need more baby cards.

Stamps: A New Little Someone, Riveting, Flannel Plaid
Paper: Apricot Appeal, Barely Banana, Whisper White
Ink: Apricot Appeal, Basic Black

Accessories: Watercolor Crayons, Blender Pens, White narrow organdy ribbon, circle punches

Stamps: A New Little Someone, Happy Everything
Paper: Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Watercolor Crayons, markers, blender pen, hole punch, celery narrow organdy ribbon

Baby Card

My cousin is expecting her first child this summer, and the baby shower is in a few weeks. I wanted to make her something special and love how this angled card turned out. Any writing will go on the inside of the Lavender Lace card base so that she can use the front in a baby scrapbook if she so chooses. I think "A New Little Someone" is just the cutest baby set, and I am sad to see it retiring come June 30th.



Stamps: A New Little Someone, In My Thoughts
Paper: Lavender Lace
Ink: Mellow Moss, Basic Black
Accessories: Moss gingham ribbon, watercolor crayons, aquapainter, mellow moss and lavender lace markers, dimensionals

Watercolored card for Dad

I always have the hardest time coming up with ideas for cards for the men in my life. So I was pretty happy with the results I got when I whipped out my watercolor crayons to make a card for my dad.

Stamps: Lovely As a Tree, Wildlife Reserve, Flannel Plaid, Warmest Regards
Paper & Ink: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Watercolor Crayons, Aquapainters, dimensionals

For the moose, I stamped the image in Choc Chip ink, and then colored it in with my watercolor crayons, using the aquapainter to blend colors. I made the grass by touching my barely wet aquapainter to the tip of the crayon to pick up the color, and then tapped it onto the paper. For the trees, I used the watercolor crayons to color directly onto the stamp, and then misted it with water before stamping onto paper that had also been lightly misted with water. I then used the crayons and my aquapainter to add more color for the leaves and grass. I love that when you are using the watercolor crayons and an aquapainter, you can layer on more color as needed to get the results you want. I made the sky in both images by repeatedly picking up a little bit of color from my Bordering Blue crayon and swirling it around on the paper. It helps to have a good amount of water on the aquapainter tip for this step as it helps the color to blend more evenly.

* Favorite watercoloring tip: have a paper towel handy to blot up any excess water and to wipe the tip of the aquapainter between color changes.

Ready to peel off that rubber?

From your wheels, silly! (Get your mind out of the gutter! Really!) I love my wheels, but find myself wishing that some of them were mounted on wood blocks to make it easier to only ink up part of the image. So what's a girl to do? Turn her wheels into stamps of course!



I used an exacto knife to cut the seam line on the wheel, and then very carefully peeled the rubber off of the wheel base. Flip the rubber over, and smear Aleene's Tack It Over & Over glue on the flat side. Once it dries, it will give you a nice tacky surface that will stick to your wood block with ease. And just like the name implies, this glue from Aleene's will allow you to peel the rubber back off the wood if you so desire, so you can use the same block for more than one wheel. If you would like to permanently mount your wheel to the block, then use rubber cement, or use some EZ-Mount foam if you want a more cushy backing like on a regular stamp.


You can find the wood blocks pictured above at Soc's Blocks. I ordered a 2 1/4 by 7 inch block for my jumbo wheels, and a 1 1/4 by 7 inch block for my regular wheels. You can also order extra smaller blocks for those pesky word sets where you want to break the phrases up. Just measure your rubber to figure out what sizes to order. I did this with the "In My Thoughts" set and turned it into an 11 piece set instead of an 8 piece set. I like it much better that way!