Floral Happiness

Today’s card has been sitting half done for months now. I had a whole stack of these unfinished cards and took a Saturday to knock them out. I had stamped a ton of flowers and random panels and these were the only ones left. I had the great idea to fussy cut all these stamped and colored flowers, but my goodness, I dislike fussy cutting. At any rate, this turned out to be a cute card.

• Stamps: Pieces and Patterns

• Inks: Basic Black; Flirty Flamingo; Crushed Curry

• Cardstock: Pick a Pattern DSP; Flirty Flamingo; Whisper White

• Accessories:

• Tools: Stitched Shapes Framelits

Repeating T-Rexes

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a kid's card. I love the cute Dinosaurs stamp and paper from the Pick a Pattern Suite. I'm going to be so sad when they retire at the end of the month. (Psst... I think I will be keeping this stamp set so I can make more cute kids' cards) For this card, I created a simple repeating T-Rex motif. I stamped my T-Rexes in the colors from the DSP to create a solid foundation. From there I simply added a sentiment and layered it all onto the piece of DSP. Easy peasy card!

• Stamps: Pieces and Patterns
• Inks: Crushed Curry, Emerald Envy, Flirty Flamingo, Basic Black, Tip Top Taupe (retired)
• Cardstock: Pick a Pattern DSP, Emerald Envy, Whisper White
• Accessories: 
• Tools: 1 1/4" Circle Punch

Wild About Pieces and Patterns

It's officially May which means it's time to say goodbye to all the retiring stamp sets. In total, I'm losing 18 stamp sets from my collection (although a few of those will be kept because I love them so much). Many of these stamp sets are still available, but they are no longer guaranteed. If you want any of the sets features, buy now before they are gone!

I just had to make another Pieces and Pattern card featuring all the fun little animals featured in the paper. I painstakingly cut out each one of these animals to add to my card. I contrast with the animals, I kept my DSP strips and cardstock simple with a black and Crushed Curry color scheme. 

• Stamps: Pieces and Patterns
• Inks: Basic Black
• Cardstock: Pick a Pattern DSP, Basic Black, Crushed Curry
• Accessories: 
• Tools: 

Favorite Retiring Products

I'm always sad to see certain things get retired, so today is all about celebrating my Top 10 Favorite Retiring Products.

1. 5/8" Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon -- This gorgeous ribbon comes in Berry Burst (my favorite), Night of Navy, Emerald Envy, and Peekaboo Peach. I love the crinkly texture and ease at tying bows. Thankfully I have a good chunk of Night of Navy ribbon left in my stash.

$8.00

• Berry Burst 144191
• Night of Navy 144189
• Peekaboo Peach 144192
• Emerald Envy 144190

2. Tutti Frutti DSP $10.00 145606-- Usually I'm okay with losing the current year's DSP. I love see the new designs and frankly after using the same patterns for an entire year, I am over them. The exception this year is the Tutti Frutti DSP. This 6x6" paper stack is just so much fun! One side had great fruit patterns while the opposite has great single color graphic patterns. 

3. Birthday Blooms Stamp Set $19.00 140658 (Clear Mount) -- Hands down the stamp set I will miss the most! This set had become my go-to set for fun techniques and great beautiful cards. I have used it so much in the past few years. Now I have to decided if I am going to keep it or sell it during my yard sale...

4. 2016-2018 In Colors (Ink Pad Collection $27.50 141818) -- This retiring In Color Collection has me more upset than usual. Included in this collection are two amazing colors that I keep going back to: Sweet Sugarplum and Emerald Envy. I'm so incredibly sad to be losing these. You know I will keeping both and using them on a variety of projects. At least we get to keep Flirty Flamingo as it is a part of the new Color Revamp. Good thing I stocked up on reinkers for this collection! And I have cardstock for all five of the colors. I should be okay for awhile...

5. Pieces and Patterns Stamp Set $19.00 143843 (Clear Mount) -- Such a cute stamp set! I love the different items and the little embellishment stamps. I think my favorite and most used piece is the little T-Rex. How cute is he? Perfect to make kids's birthday cards! 

6. Island Indigo (Ink Pad $6.50 126986) -- I'm going to miss this color the most. Island Indigo is my go-to blue if I want to something lighter than Navy. I love how rich the color is. It acts almost as a neutral when combine with other colors. I will miss you Island Indigo. We'll have to see if one of the new ink colors can take it's place...

7. Metallic Enamel Shapes $7.00 141678 -- These cute little silver and gold enamel shapes are one of my go-to embellishments. They add the perfect amount of shine to any card. And the fact that they are neutrals means they can go on almost any card. I'll be sad to lose these ones, but at least the faceted gems are carrying over. And we're getting some new pretty pearls and gems.

8. Magical Day Stamp Set $22.00 145857 (Clear Mount) -- I thought this set was cute when I first saw the Occasions catalog, but I didn't necessarily want it immediately. But then I started seeing cards being made with the set and knew I needed to buy it. I've been having so much fun making whimsical cards featuring these images. I think my favorite might be the mermaid. I'm sure another whimsical set is on the horizon, but I might just have to keep this set for awhile.

9. Brick Wall Embossing Folder $8.50 138288 -- I just bought this one in March and haven't used it that much, but know that it's a great texture. In the time that it took me to put together this post, the folder is completely sold out! 

10. Frozen Treats Dies $27.00 142756 -- And lastly, I love the Frozen Treats Dies. These are perfect for making cute ice cream cones, popsicles, and sundaes. I love the combinations you can make and just look at those texture pieces! I'll be sad to lose this one.

CASEing Pam

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to CASE a card from fellow design team member Pamela Wu. Pam is my friend and upline. We have very similar styles in card making. I love the simplistic approach she takes to cards. She doesn't overburden cards with layers and embellishments. For my card, I CASEd this cute Party Panda card. I took her basic design and made my own spin on it. I love the repeating floral images in the DSP and stamped onto the cardstock. I also added another layer because I wanted to showcase the gorgeous DSP. I love this fun and bright card. 

• Stamps: Pieces and Patterns
• Inks: Emerald Envy, Flirty Flamingo, Basic Gray
• Cardstock: Pick a Pattern DSP, Emerald Envy, Flirty Flamingo, Whisper White
• Accessories: Doilies
• Tools: Layering Circles Framelits

A Flock of Bird Cards

Today’s cards were half of the featured Make N Takes at my Spring Bingo event. Each Bingo participant received a goody bag with four variously colored cardstock bases, six 6x6 pieces of Naturally Eclectic DSP, two yards of Lemon Lime Twist Ombre Ribbon, a strip of White Accents, and four metallic doilies. From those supplies, the ladies made two cards at the Bingo event leaving plenty of supplies to take home and use later. For inspiration, I made four different cards using the same supplies. 

And here's what all the ladies at Bingo made from the supplies. Love the variety of designs and combinations!

• Stamps: Flying Home, Pieces and Patterns, Party Pandas (retired)
• Inks: Basic Black, Peekaboo Peach, Stampin' Blends, various markers
• Cardstock: Naturally Eclectic DSP, Soft Sky, Emerald Envy, Peekaboo Peach, Night of Navy, Whisper White
• Accessories: Metallic Doilies, White Accents, Lemon Lime Twist Ombre Ribbon
• Tools: Stitched Shapes Framelits, Layering Circles Framelits, Dots Embossing Folder

GDP098: Dinosaur Banners

Today's challenge is my submission for Global Design Projects Sketch Challenge. I love sketch challenges! They give me some start for my card but are really very open to interpretation. 

I pulled out one of my favorite patterns in the entire catalog: the dinosaur paper from Pick a Pattern. Those little dinosaurs are just so cute! Once I picked my focal paper, I grabbed some coordinating but more muted patterns to use as the base and as another banner. I added a simple sentiment from the same suite and a simple faux ribbon detail. This card was super easy and fun. I will be featuring it as a free make n take for my crop day this coming Sunday.

• Stamps: Pieces and Patterns
• Inks: Basic Black
• Cardstock: Pick a Pattern DSP, Emerald Envy, Crushed Curry 
• Accessories: Crushed Curry Ribbon
• Tools: 

Faux Patina

Today’s card challenge is a technique! I choose to attempt my hand at the faux patina technique. While this technique is more involved than some others, it's really not that hard to accomplish. I found a great tutorial here.

I ended up with a more colorful background than the card in the tutorial, but I love the peeks of color I get with this card. As I wanted the technique to be the focus of the card, I kept my embellishments to a minimum. I added a simple banner sentiment with coordinating cardstock banner put together with a brad. (Side note: Why did I stop using brads? I love how they look on cards. I need to make a mental note to use them more often...) I ended up sending this to my father-in-law for Father's Day last month. The ladies of stamp club made this in June and I loved seeing the varied results. Some chose a different metal (pewter, copper, or silver), some changed up the background color, and some changed the sentiment. I love when they made the cards their own! 

Detail of the heat embossing

• Stamps: Pieces and Patterns
• Inks: Tranquil Tide; Crumb Cake; Early Espresso; Marina Mist; Wild Wasabi; Pumpkin Pie
• Cardstock: Tranquil Tide; Very Vanilla; Kraft
• Accessories: random brad
• Tools: Hexagons Embossing Folder; Gold Embossing Powder

Pick a Pattern of Flowers

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a card using one of the new product suites. For preorder, I had to have the Pieces and Patterns Stamp Set, Pick a Pattern DSP, and matching Crushed Curry Ribbon. This card is a fun take on pattern play that so trendy right now! A simple design of strips of DSP over a stamped background. I finished off the card with a great sentiment and fun ribbon.

• Stamps: Pieces and Patterns
• Inks: Flirty Flamingo
• Cardstock: Pick a Pattern DSP; Sahara Sand; Flirty Flamingo
• Accessories: Crushed Curry Ribbon
• Tools:

Birthday Dino

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a card featuring new catalog products. .How cute is this paper? When I saw it was available for preorder, I knew I had to have it. The pack has some great patterns, but the dinosaurs are definitely my favorite. For my card, I pieced together a strip of fun dino dsp, a coordinating pattern, and a stamped piece of Sahara Sand. From there I added a great sentiment from my newest set, Better Together. I can't wait to use this stamp set and pattern paper pack more. Stay tuned for some great new product cards in June. 

• Stamps: Pieces and Patterns; Better Together
• Inks: Sahara Sand; Emerald Envy; Flirty Flamingo; Crushed Curry
• Cardstock: Pick a Pattern DSP; Emerald Envy; Sahara Sand
• Accessories: 
• Tools: Stitched Shapes Framelits