Under the Sea

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 featured, buy now before they are gone!

I wanted to make a masculine underwater card. After digging through my patterned paper stack, I landed on the True Gentleman DSP as the perfect compliment to the Seaside Shore fish and anchor. I love the use of the Embossing Folder as a background piece and the sparkly glitter enamel dots. 

For my second card, I wanted to use the Seaside Embossing Folder to create an underwater scene. I stamped on the seaweed and bubbles and then embossed my piece of Vanilla. From there I stamped and cut out the fish and sentiment. I layered those onto paper to create a ocean-like background and finished the card with some glitter enamel shapes and pearls.

• Stamps: Seaside Shore
• Inks: Night fo Navy; Dapper Denim; Emerald Envy; Calypso Coral; Soft Sky; Tranquil Tide
• Cardstock: True Gentleman DSP; Color Theory DSP; Very Vanilla; Night of Navy; Tranquil Tide; Dapper Denim
• Accessories: Pearls; Glitter Enamel Dots
• Tools: Seaside Embossing Folder

A CASE of Mermaids

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!

For today's cards, I made the first mermaid card (featuring Brusho) for Stamp Club and then went a little crazy and made three more mermaid cards. Except for the Brush card, these designs were all CASEd from great designers all around the web. The first one was a ton of fun layering on the Brusho crystals to create an undersea look. From them I stamped, colored, and die cut my mermaid. I added some layered DSP and a sentiment and finished my card with some bling. Always have to have a bit of bling.

My second card I CASEd the design from Amy O'Neill @ Amy's Paper Crafts. I replaced a few elements, but I loved the layered circles plus a piece of Calypso Coral ribbon. For a finishing touch, I colored some White Enamel Accents with the Bermuda Bay Stampin' Blends.

This card is a direct CASE from Katrina Duffell @ Ink Paper Girl. I did change the color from pink to purple and added some Copper Thread, but the design is the same. SO cute!

I've completely lost the link for this CASE, but isn't the little mermaid and glimmer paper just so cute. I love this card so much.

• Stamps: Magical Day; Pieces and Patterns
• Inks: Basic Black; Calypso Coral; Stampin' Blends
• Cardstock: Myths and Magic DSP; Bermuda Bay; Soft Sky; Whisper White; Bermuda Bay Glimmer Paper; Sweet Sugarplum; Calypso Coral; Old Olive; Watercolor Paper
• Accessories: Copper Trim; White Accents; Rhinestones; Calypso Coral Ribbon
• Tools: Stitched Shapes Framelits; Seaside Embossing Folder; Layering Circles Dies; Magical Mates Framelits; Copper Embossing Powder; Wink of Stella

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.

Dragon at the Keep

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create featuring animals. Surprisingly I have a ton of stamp sets featuring animals, but I chose to go in a slightly different direction. How about a mythical animal?

• Stamps: Magical Day
• Inks: Basic Black; Stampin' Blends
• Cardstock: Myths and Magic DSP; Smoky Slate; Whisper White
• Accessories: 
• Tools: Magical Mates Framelits; Brick Wall Embossing Folder

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

Coffee Break Today

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a coffee break card. Another excuse to pull out the Coffee Cafe Stamp Set. Even if SU decides to retire this set at the end of the catalog, I will be keeping this and making more coffee themed cards. I love it so much. Or maybe it's that I love coffee so much... Anyways, I chose to pick some fun DSP pieces, lay them in a pattern, and then emboss the entire piece using the Hexagons Embossing Folder. From there, it was just a matter of making a fun Coffee Cup to act as my focal point.

• Stamps: Coffee Cafe
• Inks: Garden Green
• Cardstock: Coffee Break DSP, Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso, Whisper White
• Accessories: Crumb Cake Classic Weave Ribbon
• Tools: Hexagons Embossing Folder, Coffee Cups Framelits

Happy Easter

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create an Easter card. The Flying Home stamp set is the perfect choice to create a festive card. I stamped and colored this great floral and bird house image using my Stampin' Blends. I simply colored the image, no modifications made. From there, I layered the piece onto a die cut piece of Calypso Coral and added a simple sentiment. As I don't have a "Happy Easter" stamp, I used the labeler alphabet to create one. For the background, I embossed a piece of Color Theory DSP. I love the ombre effect in the background. For a finishing touch, I added some yellow Glitter Enamel Shapes. 

• Stamps: Flying Home, Labeler Alphabet
• Inks: Calypso Coral, Basic Black, Stampin' Blends
• Cardstock: Color Theory DSP, Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Crushed Curry
• Accessories: Glitter Enamel Shapes
• Tools: Basket Weave Embossing Folder, Stitched Shapes Framelits

Layered Birthday

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a spring card. I always think flowers when I thinks spring. Pulling out my oldie but a goodie Flower Shop stamp set was the perfect choice. I stamped and punched some flowers, layering on top of an oval sentiment. From there I added a frame of embossed cardstock to complete the look. 

• Stamps: Flower Shop; Better Together
• Inks: Melon Mambo
• Cardstock: Whole Lot of Lovely DSP, Daffodil Delight, Blushing Bride, Melon Mambo, Whisper White
• Accessories: 
• Tools: Pansy Punch, Oval Framelits, Simple Striples Embossing Folder

A Juggling Panda for You!

As soon as I saw the Sale-a-Bration brochure, I had to have the Party Pandas stamp set! It's just so incredibly cute. I decided to play with circles and stripes for the design of the card. I embossed a piece of Whisper White paper with the Polka Dot embossing folder and repeated those dots in the DSP and the die cut shapes. For contrast I chose of piece of striped DSP as a background layer. After stamping and coloring my panda, I added some fun bright sequins. I love how the panda is juggling the sequins. 

• Stamps: Party Pandas
• Inks: Basic Black, Lemon Lime Twist, Berry Burst
• Cardstock: Picture Perfect Party DSP, Berry Burst, Pool Party, Whisper White
• Accessories: Tutti-Frutti Sequins
• Tools: Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Stitched Shapes Die Cuts, Washi Label Punch (retired)

Floral Scraps

Today's card is being featured at my Patterned Paper Extravaganza class. I love finding new ways to use up paper scraps laying around. For this card, I created a variety of banners from the dsp and adhered them to an embossed piece of cardstock. From there, it was just a matter of adding some coordinating ribbon and a sentiment.

• Stamps: Dragonfly Dreams
• Inks: Blackberry Bliss (retired)
• Cardstock: Wildflower Fields DSP (retired); Calypso Coral; Crushed Curry; Basic Black
• Accessories: Blackberry Bliss Ribbon (retired)
• Tools: Petal Burst Embossing Folder; Triple Banner Punch; Washi Tape Punch (retired)