Today's the Day!

The 2014-2015 Annual Catalog comes out today!  If you'd like to place an order, or get your own copy of the catalog, let me know!  If you'd like to take a look but don't have a catalog yet, just click on the catalog image to the right.

Endless Birthday Wishes

Today my baby turns 10.  TEN.  Yes, I'm having one of those moments when I wonder how a decade passed in the time it took me to blink.  I just can't believe she's ten, and before I know it, another decade will have gone by and she'll be an adult.  I could go down a very bad and weepy road, so instead I'll chose to be thankful for the ten wonderful years we've had with her so far, and continue to enjoy the laughter and smiles she brings to our home.  This kid is one of a kind, and I simply can't imagine my life without her in it. 

So for her birthday, I had to make my pink girl a pink card.  I thought it was so funny when she noticed the Strawberry Slush ribbon on my desk the other day and started gushing about how much she loved it.  I had already made this card, so I know she'll be thrilled to see a couple of pieces of it on her card.  And I'm just now noticing (after it's too late to do anything about it) that the ribbon seems to have moved a bit in the picture.  I should have used a bone folder to really adhere it to the sticky strip!  Oops!  

You might notice something new on this card...a new stamp set!  It's the Endless Birthday Wishes photopolymer set, and it's adorable!  The cake is great for watercoloring, and the words are in the fun handwriting style that you see on the tag.  The best part is that there are tons of different words that you can combine for any birthday greeting.  I think this one will sell out fast, so if you like the looks of it, grab it while you can!

Big Shot Organization

I've taken a bit of a blogging break, and honestly, it's been kind of great.  I haven't been feeling all that creative lately...the organizational side of me has taken over.  It seems that I can't be both at once, so when I'm feeling creative, I'm pretty messy!  Anyway, I've been cleaning out my house, and have gotten rid of more bags of stuff than I can count.  And there's still more!  But it's so nice to be rid of so much clutter.

As part of my organizing project, I tackled my stamp corner.  I've just had my Big Shot sitting on top of a card board box off to the side of my desk, with the dies, Framelits, and embossing folders in various other spots.  I really wanted everything to be together, and what I had going on just wasn't working for me.  I had a brilliant plan to use this IKEA cart to put everything on, but when I got to the store, I discovered that the bottom shelf was about 1/2" too short to fit things the way I wanted.  I was so sad, but I immediately started thinking of a way to get what I wanted.  Initially, I was going to build a cart.  But I wasn't really wanting to take on that project, so I decided to check out the thrift store.  And guess what...I found a little shelf that was the perfect size!  Better yet, it was really cheap.  I wanted to have a cart, though, not a shelf, so I needed to put wheels on it.  I removed the little wooden feet on the shelf and replaced them with wheels so I could pull it over to where I'm working (I store it on the side of my desk).  The hardware ended up costing about as much as the shelf did! 

As you can see in the picture, the Big Shot fits on top, at a perfect height whether I'm sitting or standing.  The bottom shelf holds two Large Die Boxes perfectly.  All my dies are in those boxes, along with a few other random items.

The second shelf holds a Medium Die Box full of embossing folders and a container that holds all my Framelits.

I don't like the packaging the Framelits come in, so I put each set in an empty clear mount case with a strip of magnetic adhesive to hold them in place.  Right now I have them all lined up in a plastic container, but they will also fit in one of the Large Die Boxes.  Eventually I'll get one to store them in.  For now, I kind of like having the labels easy to see from the side.  However, the container is full, so the next set I get won't fit in there.

So there you go, my handy-dandy Big Shot cart that is far more sturdy than the one I set out to get in the first place, and it cost me less!

Check back on Saturday when I'll finally have a new project to post!

Purple Praying for You {Thoughts & Prayers}

If you love purple, then this is the card for you!  And if you don't, well, I guess you could just make this in a different color scheme. :)  I've actually made a version of this card in browns, which is gorgeous.  This time, I wanted to change things up, and since the stamped image looks kind of like lavender, purple was the natural choice.

I used one of my all time favorite stamp sets, Pocket Silhouettes, which retired years ago.  But I still love it.  I stamped the same image across the paper, at varying heights, in three different shades of purple.

I also used the retiring Square Lattice embossing folder.  The fact that it's retiring still has me scratching my head.  I love this folder.

Supplies

Stamps:  Pocket Silhouettes, Thoughts & Prayers
Ink:  Wisteria Wonder, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant
Paper:  Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, and Whisper White
Accessories:  Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, Linen Thread, Scallop Oval punch, Large Oval punch

Work of Art Thank You Card

I thought it would be fun to start the week off with a card that shows off tons of new products that will be available in the upcoming 2014-2015 Annual Catalog.  The Designer Series Paper you see here (twice!) is from the Moonlight DSP stack.  I'm really excited that the paper stacks are going to be in the catalog.  I've loved them since they were introduced in last year's holiday catalog.  It's such an inexpensive way to get a sampling of new Designer Series Papers.  Oh, and see those little flowers?  I just punched them out from a scrap of DSP that I had trimmed off.

This card also shows off two of the new In Colors, Hello Honey and Lost Lagoon.  I love these two colors together!  I used my Lost Lagoon marker to color some old satin and taffeta ribbons.  It was so easy to get the color I wanted. 

And I know I've mentioned it before, but I am SO HAPPY that the Tag Topper Punches will be carried over to the annual catalog!  This tag features three stamps from the new set, Work of Art.  The "thank" and the "you" are actually two different stamps, which is nice, because you can place them however you want.  There's also another stamp that says "just for" that matches the "thank" stamp.  There are also tons of different brush stroke images.  It's a very fun set!

Supplies

Stamps:  Work of Art
Ink:  Lost Lagoon and Basic Gray
Paper:  Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey, and Smokey Slate card stock, Moonlight DSP
Accessories:  Scallop Tag Topper Punch, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Dazzling Details, white satin ribbon, Very Vanilla 1/8" taffeta ribbon

2014-2016 In Color Sneak Peek

It might not be an elaborate card, but this one shows off some brand new products coming out in the new annual catalog on June 2.  (Need a catalog?  Just let me know!)

First, let me introduce the new In Colors, from top to bottom:

Blackberry Bliss
Lost Lagoon
Mossy Meadow
Hello Honey
Tangelo Twist

I think my favorite is Hello Honey.  It is very different from Summer Starfruit, but it helps ease the loss. :)

The other new product is the stamp set I used, which is called Work of Art.  It's full of images that look like brush strokes.  I LOVE it.  I'll warn you now that you'll probably be seeing a lot of cards that use this set!

Supplies

 

Stamps:  Work of Art

Paper:  Naturals White

Ink:  Blackberry Bliss, Lost Lagoon, Mossy Meadow, Hello Honey, Tangelo Twist, Basic Gray

Accessories:  you could use the Stamp-a-ma-jig, but I was actually able to line these brush strokes up without using it

Betsy's Blossoms Thank You Card

Um, whoops!  I completely forgot to post this card yesterday!   I love this card.  It's so simple to make.  I've always been someone who likes a lot of layers on a card (and I still do), but I've come to embrace the simple cards, too.  For someone like me, who loves lots of layers, it's a challenge to create simple cards, but I'm finding that it's getting easier to do.  I can't really take credit for this one, though.  I saw something similar somewhere online, so if I've CASEd your card, let me know so I can give credit where it's due!

Hey, speaking of simple cards, be sure to check back tomorrow.  I have a VERY simple card that not only shows a brand new stamp set, but a peek at the new In Colors for 2014-2016!

Tips & Tricks

• This card uses the retiring Betsy's Blossoms stamp set.  And what I love is that it uses the same large flower stamp for all three flowers.  I simply punched them out using different sized circle punches.

• If you look closely, you'll see that the "Thank You" is a little crooked.  Now, I'll confess that I used this picture because it doesn't look too bad.  But if you saw it straight on, you would wonder what was going on!  The way to avoid crooked stamping is to use the Stamp-a-ma-jig.  This handy tool helps align things perfectly!

Supplies

Stamps:  Betsy's Blossoms, Thank You Kindly (retired)
Ink:  Strawberry Slush, Crisp Cantaloupe, So Saffron, and Pistachio Pudding
Paper:  Naturals White card stock
Accessories:  2 1/2", 1 3/8", and 1 1/4" Circle Punches, Stampin' Dimensionals