Stamps, Paper, Scissors

What you will not be seeing on this blog this year

And that is Artisan Award entries. 'Cause I didn't enter.

There were many reasons why I did not:

1) No time.

2) No ideas.

3) No time.

4) No mojo.

5) No time.

Did I mention "no time"? Oh yeah...guess I did!

However,the major reason I did not enter was not because of not enough time NOW. It was mostly because I have witnessed what my good friend Wendy has had to do as an Artisan Award winner this year, and I knew in my heart that I just could NOT commit to spending the significant amounts of time and energy needed. I could not do it justice, and so I decided to sit this year out. Maybe next year.

I could have scraped up the time now and the mojo would have come, but if I did and I were to win, I didn't think I could keep it up.

I think I do have the stuff to win though. I did make one card that I have been saving just in case I decided to jump into the ring. Now that the entry deadline is here, I guess I might as well show it to you! Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Stippled Rose, Just Thinking; Paper - Tea for Two DSP, Lucky Limeade, So Saffron, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake; Ink - Lucky Limeade, So Saffron, Calypso Coral, Early Espresso; Other - Window Frames Framelits, gold Stampin' Dazzle pen, So Saffron marker, Basics Jewels rhinestones, Very Vanilla Seam binding, sewing machine, Finishing Touches Edgelits, dimensionals, sponge wedges.

Yes, that is paper tole. It is GOJUS (YILM!) I coulda been a contendah!

In other news, I am down 27.3 pounds AND I have a new car,as mine would have cost $3600 to repair, which was almost as much as it was worth.  Lookie:

It is somewhere between Coastal Cabana and Bermuda Bay. It's a Honda Fit Sport and I am leasing it. It has been YEARS since I had a brand-new car to drive and I have to say...it's lovely!

Well, I need to head off to get my beauty sleep. Best of luck to all of you who entered Artisan this year! Ta!

Another class card

I had a nice class Friday, thanks to the ladies who came. We had a new stamper among them, and it's always fun for me to see the excitement of someone who has never stamped before. I spend a bit of time worrying that they will get freaked out by my cards, which can be...ahem..a bit involved. But this class was actually just stamping and coloring, for the most part, with no strenuous techniques so I think she had a lot of fun!

Here's another of the cards:

Ingredients: Stamps - Blooming with Kindness; Paper - 2011-2013 In Color Designer Patterns Paper Stack, Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral; Ink - Calypso Coral, Blushing Bride, Early Espresso; Other - 5/8" flower trim, Modern Label punch, Delicate Designs embossing folder, gold brads, Early Espresso stitched grosgrain, sponge wedge.

GOJUS! (YILM!)

I also mentioned my car had a boo boo. I got rear ended when I was in downtown Detroit on Monday. Lookie:

I'm still waiting to find out if they are going to total this heap. The doors and hatch on this van can be pretty darned expensive, apparently, since it's not the newest car and used parts tend to be on the rusty side. I was contemplating selling it anyway, so it would totally be great if they do total it. Keep your fingers crossed!

The good thing is that, between me and the girls, there were no major injuries. We are going to the chiropractor to make sure that anything that got knocked out of whack gets knocked back into whack.

Well, it's time to get ready for church. Ta!

25% off Select Digital Products

Dates: May 1-June 15, 2013

The Sale
Get 25 percent off select My Digital Studio content and print products.

Digital content includes: ALL ensemble, calendar, photobook, and swatchbook digital content. See it here.
Print products include: ALL photobooks, swatchbooks, cards, tags, individual pages, and calendars.See it here.

• Discount for downloads only available for artwork released prior to May 1, 2013.
• Make sure you have the latest version of the MDS software to get the discounts on print products.
• Bulk pricing not included.
• Offer deadlines:
  • Phone: Friday, June 14, 2013; 6:50 PM (MT)
  • OEX or online: Saturday, June 15, 2013; 11:50 PM (MT)

April class moved to May 3rd

I had a boo boo with my car Monday afternoon.  But my loss is your gain.  You still have time to come to my class!

When:  May 3rd from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m.

More details on my class page.  The class is called "Fanciful Flowers" and we will be using floral sets to make three delicious cards!

 

Paper Pumpkin Deviations #2

If you haven't  signed up for Paper Pumpkin, the new kit service from Stampin' Up!, you may or may not have heard the buzz about the latest kit, which arrived last week. Some folks didn't care for the cheeky nature of the stamps, but I really liked them. They are just what the doctor ordered when you need cards for teenagers. I know I showed the cards I made to my oldest, and she thought they were pretty darned cute!

Here's the card as designed by Stampin' Up!:

I think this is pretty cute, but as promised, I am here to show you what else can be done with the stuff in the kit.

Here's my first deviation from the original:

I turned the label sticker so that it became a banner instead and used the alternate greeting.

Then I tried changing the orientation:

I added some dimensionals, and I also put the secondary greeting slightly askew, which I think adds just a bit of whimsy.

Then finally, this is the third deviation:

On this one, I added dimensionals and a bit of ink swiped on the sides of the patterned paper and the secondary greeting piece. I also did a bit of doodling with an ink pen.

So that gives you three alternatives to the standard layout without adding extra product or stamps.

If you haven't signed up for Paper Pumpkin, head on over to the Paper Pumpkin site and have a look! Ta!

Fab Friday Challege Blog - Challeng #17

It's time for a new Fab Friday challenge over at the Fab Friday Challenge Blog!

This week we have a sketch challenge:

 Again, this is a simple sketch, but it's super fun to play with! Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Creative Elements, Sweet Floral, Teeny Tiny WIshes; Paper - First Edition DSP, 2011-2013 In Color DSP Paper Stack, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral; Ink - Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Wisteria Wonder, Calypso Coral; Other - 1" square punch, 1/2" circle punch, 1/4" hole punch, Crumb Cake marker, sponge wedge, Jewels Basics Pearls, dimensionals, Calypso Coral ruffled ribbon, Signo white gel pen, blender pen.

GOJUS! (YILM!) You will notice that yet again I have First Edition DSP on this card. Sigh...just cannot get enough of this wonderful stuff. Alas, it is retiring, so I am torn between using it all up and being done with it or buying lots and lots and hoarding it!

You'll be able to see all of our creations and post one of your own by visiting the Fab Friday blog. You can also visit the other DT members' blogs and see what they've done with this challenge:

Mindy Backes
Cindy Beach

Justin Krueger
Amanda Mertz
Brenda Myers
Amy O'Neill
Marla Reed
Pam Steckman
Wendy Weixler

Enjoy! Ta!

Something for Everyone - Stampin' Up! Retirement Lists are now available!

Retired List Promotion

Dates: April 24-June 3, 2013 (select items available while supplies last)

Details
Hundreds of stamps and accessories from the 2012-2013 catalogs are retiring, and this is your chance to get them before they're gone. Many products are only available while supplies last, so be sure to get your orders in early! (And remember that some items have amazing discounts!)

Retiring Lists

• Retiring Stamps (Available April 24-June 3, 2013)
  • PDF
  • Sortable Excel file
• Retiring Accessories (Available April 24-June 3, 2013, or while supplies last) 
  • PDF
  • Sortable Excel file

Well, isn't that exciting!!!

Are you wondering how I did with my predictions?

I had 78 items on my list. A whopping 60 of them retired, giving me a 77 percent accuracy rate, which I think is my best yet.   Of course, many more items ended up getting cut, something I am never prepared for!  I always think I am predicting too many, and I always end up coming up short.

So happy shopping!  Remember there is a hostess special going on right now, so if you have $350 worth of schtuff on this list you absolutely must have, this is the perfect time to reap the hostess rewards!  Head on over to my webstore and get 'em before they are gone! Ta!

We have a winner!

There were 63 people who commented (a couple people commented twice, but they were only counted once). I had Random.org work it's magic and here is the result:

Result: 29

For the winner, I counted people, not posts. So the 29th person from the top was:

 

I think most of us have been there done that. What an adorable little set. I would love to win that. I'm sorry you put the labels on both sets, but that's good for us followers and very generous of you. thanks.

Posted by: Kathy Thompson 

 

Kathy has been notified via email. Thanks for playing along!

Birthday Hoppin' and Boppin' with the Freaks!

It's that time again, time to freak out with the Freaks on our monthly blog tour! If you've just arrived from Dawn Olchefske's blog, you are in the right spot!

But if you started right here, fear not! You can manage to get all the way around the entire tour just by following the links at the bottom of each post.

This post is going live on the evening of the 19th, so if you find some posts in our tour have not yet posted, please be patient.  The entire tour should be accessible at some point this evening. Keep checking back!

The theme of this tour is Birthday projects. Who doesen't need birthday cards? NOBODY.

For my first project, I have a card using a set that I bought a while back but had not seen ink yet. Heck, it hadn't even SMELLED ink! So I got busy and....lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Patterned Party, Beyond Plaid; Paper - Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, Whisper White; Ink - Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, Old Olive; Other - Argyle embossing folder, Cupcake Builder punch, Old Olive 3/8" Striped Grosgrain, markers, dimensionals, Basics Jewels Rhinestones.

 GOJUS!!! (YILM!) I love argyle as a pattern, and so I knew I had to team up the Argyle stamp with the Patterned Party set AND the Argyle embossing folder. And if you are wondering, I cut out the flags indvidually and glued them in place for the banners, and the Argyle background was carefully lined up and stamped using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, just because I am that kind of crazy!

I decided to do a treat container for my next project. But not just ANY treat container. This is a party in a tiny box, or in this case, milk carton! I also decided it was time to ink up yet another set that was "virgin" rubbah! Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - A Fitting Occasion; Paper - Patio Party DSP, Baja Breeze, Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals;Ink - Midnight Muse; Other - Mini Milk Carton Bigz die, Pinwheel Sizzlits die, Bitty Banners framelits, Curly Lable punch, 1-1/4" Scallop Circle punch, 1" circle punch, Bitty Punch pack, Basics Jewels Rhinestones, Summer Starfruit stitched satin ribbon, Primrose Petals stitched satin ribbon, Metallic brads, dimensionals, binder clip, bamboo skewers.

STINKIN CUTE! (YILM!) Fill it with M&M's, and they will love you forever!

I went on to do another card. If you saw my card on my last post, this is the one that inspired it. I used a different color scheme, but the same formula: Light ink + dark ink + Crumb Cake cardstock = GOJUS! Lookie:

Ingredients:  Stamps - Field Flowers, From My Heart, Papillon Potpourri; Paper - Pool Party, Very Vanilla, Midnight Muse, Crumb Cake; Ink - Pool Party, Midnight Muse; Other - Pool Party Seam Binding, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Bitty Butterfly punch, Metallic brads, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Crumb Cake Marker, Sponge Wedge, Dimensionals, Crumb Cake marker.

Wowie Zowie! (YILM!) I love it when things turn out just about the way I think they will! This is such a bee-ewe-tiful color combination, you really must try it!

Well, it's time for you to head on down the blog tour road. Next stop is my BFF, Wendy Weixler! She's an ARTISAN, so natch, her projects are going to rock your stampin' world! Ta!

Lovely Little Labels Blog Candy or how I prove what a dufus I really am

My name is Jan and I have a problem.  A problem with stamps with matching punches, so when I saw this set in the 2012-2013 catalog and saw that it had matching punches, it went right on my wishlist:

So apparently, I ordered this set and the punches, and then I went back and ordered the set again.  Probably because the first one had not seen ink yet and so I forgot I had it.  I ended up putting the stickers on both of them, so I can't return one.

This past weekend I set out to remedy the non-inky thing plus to celebrate the imminent return of one of my all-time-favorite In Colors, Blushing Bride.  Lookie:

Ingredients:  Stamps - Field Flowers, Lovely Little Labels, Hey There Friend (Paper Pumpkin #1); Paper - Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake; Ink - Blushing Bride, Soft Suede; Other - Very Vanilla Seam Binding, Labels Collection Framelits, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Crumb Cake Marker, Little Labels punch pack; Sponge Wedge, Dimensionals, Crumb Cake marker. 

GOJUS!  (YILM) I love the feel of this soft vintage look!  It was inspired by a similar card I did for the Freaks Tour, coming up on the 20th!  Be sure to come back for that!

And now that I have gotten one of my sets inky, I'm going to remedy the other thing, the extra set thing.  If you live in the USA ONLY, leave a comment, and I will be selecting someone to get my extra clear-mount Lovely Little Labels set.  I will close comments on April 20th at 8 a.m. ET and select someone living in the USA only by using Random.org.  The winner will be notified by email, so be sure to leave yours in the comment form.  Good luck!