Graduation Thank You

It's time for the dreaded Thank You's.  With graduation over, my son is having to write out thank you notes.  Getting my sons to write anything is a chore but hopefully it won't be too much of a battle.  Last week I got out my embossing heat tool and made two dozen note cards.  I used a simple card design and carried over the chevron embossing from the graduation announcements I made.  And check it out--there are no ribbons, brads or any other type of embellishments.  The stamp came from a retired set called Engraved Greetings.

 

Preparing for my son's graduation party was a bit stressful.  Cleaning my house is always such a gargantuan job with all my clutter from hobbies and such.  When it was over I told my husband that I was never having another party here at the house.  I used some of the centerpieces from the Sr. Banquet to decorate the stairway and the bureau in our entryway.  Not too bad for a quick, last minute decorations.

 

 

 Michael's graduation announcement.

The happy graduate!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Hello!

What's your name again?  That's what happens when you go off the radar for awhile.  Now that graduation is over I am able to get back to stamping.  I've signed up for a number of swaps both for convention and with my local group so I really need to get busy.  July 17th is my departure date for Salt Lake City and with the way time flies it will be here before I know it. 

The card I'm sharing today was a CASE from the latest issue of Stampin' Success.  Last Monday I needed cards to swap for our Cyberstampers groups and this was a quick card to make in multiples.  The new Gingham Garden washi tape was fun to use.  The colors are so cheery.

 

Stampin' Supplies:

Stamp Set: Four You

Cardstock:  Melon Mambo, Island Indigo, Whisper White

Ink:  Melon Mambo

Accessories: Decorative Label Punch, Large Oval Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Gingham Garden Washi Tape, Island Indigo Baker's Twine, Basic Rhinestones

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Product Shares

I've decided to offer a few product shares from the new catalog.  We are in the final hours before the new catalog goes live!  Don't forget that on May 31st you are able to order from the current Spring catalog, the 2012-13 catalog, and the new 2013-14 catalog.  Someone described it as the Trifecta of Stamping!  I think I have to agree.  Check out the following shares and contact me to reserve your share spot.

Designer Series Paper Share

Quatrefancy Specialty DSP
Soho Subway
Afternoon Picnic
I Am Me
Gingham Garden
Etcetera
Eastern Elegance
Birthday Basics
Venetian Romance
Modern Medley
Epic Day

                             66 - 6"x6" squares     $16 + shipping
                             66 - 6" x 12" (1/2 sheets)  $32 + shipping


Ribbon Shares

7/8" Chevron Ribbon-12 colors, 1 yd. each
      Basic Black, Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry, Island Indigo, Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, Smoky Slate, Pumpkin Pie, Wisteria Wonder

                                                12 yds.  --  $12 + shipping


3/8" Ruffled Stretch Trim-5 colors, 1 yd. each
     Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana. Crisp Cantelope, Pistachio Pudding, Strawberry Slush

                                                  5 yds.  --  $5 + shipping

1/8" Taffeta Ribbon-7 colors, 1 yd. each
     Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Early Espresso, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red

                                                   7 yds.  --  $5 + shipping


Button & Accessories Shares

New Designer Buttons
    18 buttons (three designs in 6 colors) each from of the Subtles, Brights, Neutrals, and Regals

                                                     72 Buttons  -- $8.50 + shipping

Misc. Buttons & Accessories
     Very Vintage Buttons - 6 buttons, 2 each of 3 designs, Hardware Clips - 6 clips, 2 each of 3 designs, Candy Dots - 25 Brad Bases and 80 candy dots (20 dots from each color family)

                                                       107 pieces -- $8 + shipping


Don't miss out on this opportunity to get a sampler of all the great new papers, ribbons, buttons, and accessories!  Contact me at shari.fritz@yahoo.com or give me a call.  If you live in the San Antonio area you can pick up your order and save shipping costs.  Shipping costs will be calculated once you place your order, first class or priority--your choice.

Bloomin' Bouquet

Now here is a bouquet that will last a long time.  I put together Stampin' Up's new Bloomin' Bouquet Kit for my Mom.  I had a cute little watering can in my stash and it was just the perfect size for this project.  I plan to make myself a bouquet and put it in a Mason jar.  I think the flowers need leaves on their stems, what do you think?  I sure miss the wide, striped grosgrain ribbon. 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Butterflies and Rainbows

Each month at our Cyberstampin' meeting, we make card fronts using two different techniques.  This month one of the techniques was called Rainbow of Colors.   We colored the basic rhinestones with Sharpie Markers and punched butterflies from cardstock the colors of a rainbows.  You can also see a sneak peek of a greeting set from the new catalog. 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Label Love

I suppose you might be wondering why the title of this post is "Label Love"?  My card is made with a new set, called Label Love, that will be available on June 1st. I have to admit I found the layout on Mindy Backes blog, Bada Bing Papercrafting.  I made this as a swap for the Cyberstampin' group monthly business meeting.  The DSP coordinates with Island Indigo, Summer Starfruit, Blushing Bride, and Early Espresso.  It will be great for masculine cards and scrapbooking your travel photos.  Check out the cute button too!  Love these.

My next big project is making graduation announcements for my youngest son.  I have a few ideas and will make up a prototype or two and decide what will look best.  I will be using the last of my Brilliant Blue cardstock.  That was one color that should never have been retired.  Which retired color do you wish Stampin' Up would bring back?

There's a Senior in the House

My youngest son is graduating this year.  All I can say is "thank goodness"!  I was crazy enough to volunteer to make 40 table arrangements for his Senior Banquet.  As usual, I underestimated the time it would take for the project and ended up burning the midnight oil to get it done.  The banquet was this past Saturday.  The plan was to deliver the centerpieces at 4 p.m. for the final set-up.  Would you believe that I finished everything at 3 p.m.--talk about cutting it close.  Unfortunately, I also waited too long to really get after my Artisan Design Team entries and just couldn't get it all done.  It makes me quite sad, but I just keep telling myself that I can try again next year. 

Here are a few photos of the centerpieces and the assembly process.  I thought they looked pretty good for tissue paper, straws and glimmer paper.  I punched 320 scalloped circles, 320 circle punched numbers and too many stars to count!  I roped my older son into punching some of the stars and he asked how I was able to punch so many times without getting blisters.  The sacrifices we crafters make!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Fruit & Flowers Retiring Stamps

By now most everyone has seen the retiring lists from Stampin' Up.  Today my project uses one on the stamp sets that is soon to be retired.  I have been working on this small project for the past week trying to get my creative juices flowing.  I purchased some flower seeds for my mom and wanted to make a pretty package to present them.  I pulled out some older DSP from a couple of years ago that coordinated with the Fruits & Flowers stamp set.  In addition I used the new Round Array stamps and other miscellaneous word stamps.  As I  worked on my project I found myself wishing that Pure Poppy hadn't been retired.  It's such a vibrant red.

 

It's like a mini-album with pages that double as pockets.  As you can see, I attached a tab to each seed packet so they can be easily pulled out of the pockets. 

 

My posts are going to become extremely sparse in the coming month.  I have volunteered to make table arrangements for my son's senior banquet (40 of them), put together graduation announcements and work on my Artisan projects.  Oh, and I have a Retirement Party card class scheduled for May too!  I'd better step away from the computer and get busy.  Thanks for stopping by!

Patterned Occassions-Friday Mashup 105

I barely used my Patterned Occassions stamp set during Sale-a-Bration.  Lately that seems to be my modus operandi--never using current products and feeling like I'm always late to to market new promotions.  Stampin' Up has kicked it up into high gear for their 25th anniversary and there are new promotions on a regular basis.

 

This weekend I put together a couple of cards using a layout from The Friday Mashup Challenge Blog.

 

 

 

I don't know if I've said it before but I love this DSP.  But then I love everything flowers and bright colors.  This was a fun layout too.  I usually don't like a two panelled card (it's that even thing) but it works here. 

 

Yesterday I received my Stampin' Success magazine and saw a few sneak peeks of products that will be available with the new Stampin' Up year.  The new In-Colors were used in the samples and I must say I am surprised to see what will be offered.  I fully expected bold colors but that is not the case.  I will wait to pass my final judgement until after I see them IRL.  Demonstrators will be able to preorder some of the new stuff on April 24th--can't wait!  You too can get in on the pre-order if you become a demonstrator.  If you become a Demonstrator before the end of May you will also receive extra incentive.  Call me!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 



CCMC245 Sketch Challenge

Today I used my Secret Garden stamp set again since it was sitting out.  It just now hit me that I could have used the matching die set to cut out my daffodil-like flowers, duh!  I wish I had used a different color ribbon on this card.  There seems to be too much yellow going on.  But I used Tombow liquid glue to attach the card front to the base card and it can't be changed now.  I embossed the flowers with clear embossing powder.  The little cups of the daffodils were made with the new 7/8" scallop punch using Very Vanilla cardstock, spritzed with diluted alcohol and made into a cup with the non-pointy end of my piercing tool.  I also used my aqua painter to color the inside with Daffodil Delight ink.  The greeting is from the Wishes Your Way. 

 

We are in the midst of spring here in San Antonio and the wildflowers are blooming.  They are not as spectacular this year since we didn't get much in the way of rain this past winter.  We were lucky enough to get some rain today.  It has been so dry here that we may be looking at severe water restrictions by the end of the summer.  We'll take every drop that we can get. See you again in a day or two. 

 

 

Secret Garden-FabFri15

Hello to all you bloggers out there!  Today's card is inspired by this sketch from the Fab Friday Blog. As usual I am a few days behind.  Last week I was hoping to get my entries completed to submit for the Stampin' Up Display Stamper contest.  Alas, with Easter and my procrastination mixed together it just didn't happen for me.  I am a little sad but I have to look at it as a head start on projects for the Artisan Award contest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A month or two ago I was shopping in Target and saw this color combination.  I picked up some cute little dessert bowls in these colors and also a pretty teal color.  Well, back to the drawing board.  I'm collecting inspiration for my Artisan entries.  Where do you get inspiration for your projects?  Any favorite sites with scrapbooking layouts?  I'd love to hear from you!  Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Bloomin' Marvelous meets a Rogue Die

One of my good friends is always finding dies "to die for" and somehow a couple of them came home with me as loaners.  I just love this floral element.  I cut several in different colors and the daffodil delight one called out to me.  I usually like to start with a layout but somehow this card just came together on its own.  I had been working with the Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set so it seemed to make sense to use it again with a few other bright colors.  I just wish the jewels had photographed better.  It is much more sparkly IRL.

Thanks for stopping by!

Card Buffet Leftovers

I'm always so relieved after my card classes are over that I usually take a short break from all things stamping. But I can't stay away from it for too long--the past few days I have been working on Easter cards and also pulled out some of my card buffet leftovers to see what I could do with them.  I started with this card using the Bloomin' Marvelous set (a CASE from and paired it with an older sentiment set.  Then I proceeded to make three more cards with the same basic supplies.

Not sure which one I prefer the most.  I do like the Summer Starfruit ribbon with the Sycamore Street DSP.  Somehow I never manage to use my Sale-a-Bration rewards during the promotion period. Then it's over and I have to move on to a new promotion. Do you ever feel like you never have enough time to enjoy some of Stampin' Up's products? Maybe this is a function of my age--the time seems to fly by.  Before I know it we'll be looking at a new annual catalog.  I'm already broke from buying almost everything in the Spring catalog!  Oh well.....  Thanks for stopping by.  Come back tomorrow for another look!