Swaps Continued

This gal was a little late getting her swap out, so she chose a set from the new catalog. I just love it! That cherry cobbler looks awesome with black and vanilla. There were a couple more, but tomorrow I need to post our Club cards!

Swaps Continued

These mini buttons are in the Summer Mini and the new catalog, too! I haven't gotten any yet, but I did order the punches that coordinate with them. Do you recognize the paper?

Swaps Continued

Here's another swap using the Elements of Style set. I'm sure glad this set went into the new catalog! It's elegant, versatile and so easy to use!

Swaps Continued

This was one of the first swaps that arrived. Doesn't it have an interesting layout? I love the crystal effects on the front. I need to use that more often.

Swaps Continued

This set is a level1 Hostess set that I received FREE from SU! Didn't Lyn's card turn out cute?

May Swwaps

In May I participated in a swap (here's the card I sent) and this week I will be posting the swaps I received. The swap had to be something from the Summer Mini catalog. This one is from Denise, the fun demonstrator who runs our Vacaville Shoebox events. It's not too late to order from the Summer Mini, so let me know if you want anything.

Mom's Home!

Yay! Mom is out of the hospital and doing well. I was fretting who would take care of her because my sister Anne had to fly to San Diego for a few days and I'm leaving to Lake Shasta for a week. Well my brothers are awesome and stepped up to the plate. Paul is staying with her for a couple days, then Mark will take his place. After that Anne will be back, and I'll go up at the beginning of August. I'm hoping she will be able to do a little stamping with me! I'll place my new catalog order so I will have some new things to show her. The card above is something I saw at a demonstrator event in May. I think it's so pretty. Hope you are doing well! I've received most of my May swaps and will post those while I'm gone, so be sure to check back!

Mary

Get Well Soon, Mom!

card to mom from me

card to me from Jan - thanks Jan!

My mom had a thoracic aortic aneurysm on July 7th and was in ICU for ten days. She is out of ICU, but still in the hospital. She would have been transferred a couple days earlier, but they didn't have a bed available. They didn't do surgery, which would be too risky because it's so close to the heart. Also, they can control it with blood pressure medication. They can't release her until her blood pressure stays down, though. She'll be doing ok and then it gets too high. I've gone up (to Sacramento) to see her a couple of times. When I went on Thur I brought her a card, finally. She liked it and showed it off to the nurses. I'm so glad she's doing better. Thanks to everyone who's been praying for her! I'm sorry I had to cancel my new catalog open house. I still haven't placed an order from the new catalog! My heart's just not in it right now. Maybe after Mom gets released from the hospital.

Happy Birthday Dave!

I made this shaker card for my husband's birthday which was yesterday. I'm glad I made it early since my mom's been in ICU and I haven't been doing any stamping lately. I wanted to see if you could emboss on window sheets and you can! I used my ee craft spots and clear ep to emboss on a window sheet (the center unprinted part of the fantasy flower window sheets that I had leftover from a recent class). The back part was a piece of glossy white cs. I punched a "sun" with the Boho blossoms punch out of a sticky note. I used the negative part to mask around the sun and sponged in daffodil delight and pumpkin pie. Then I masked the sun and sponged colors to create sand, water, and a sunset. I added sand for the shaker mix. The frame was the leftover edge of a cut out top note. I layered it all on an old olive card. Dave liked it and that made me happy!

Supplies:
sets- tropical party, hostess level-1 set from the mini
cs- confetti cream, old olive, glossy white
ink- classic pads: basic black, daffodil delight, bashful blue, pacific point, pumpkin pie, tangerine tango, rose red, and tempting turquoise, sahara sand. Craft pads: old olive and chocolate chip
access- big shot, top note die, island oasis die, foam tape, window sheets, sponges, embossing buddy, heat tool, clear ep, boho blossoms punch, 1/soft subtle brads, dimensionals, sand

Happy Stamping! Mary

Tropical Tiki Hut Card

Last month my friend, Cheryl, showed me an ice cream parlor card she'd made & I couldn't wait to try it. We'll be making one in my August Club.

Of course, I was preoccupied with my upcoming Tropical Party Class. I kept thinking how fun it'd be to create a little tiki hut card based on the design of the ice cream parlor card. I decided to order the Cheers to You set to use with the Tropical Party set. Well, I finally made it the morning of my class - in time to use it as a decoration, but not in time to make as part of the class.

So anyway, this is how I made the card:

• I started with a top fold whisper white card base.
  
• I took old olive cs and scored it at 1" and 2", folding in opposite directions, to create an awning. I stamped the palm branches in olive on the olive cs, then cut between the fronds. Attach only the top 1/2" of the awning so it can stick out.
  
• I used more mustard cs for the bar/shelf of the hut and gave it texture with the "bark" texturz plate from Kit #4. I stamped some fronds in olive to look like grass at the base and "cheers to you" greeting in black.
  
• On the bar I stamped the daiquiri and margarita glasses in black from the Cheers to You set and the coconut drink in soft suede from the Tropical Party set. I colored them in with various markers.

• NOTE: I remade this card, but don't have photo. I inked the texturz plate with More Mustard and then ran it through the Big Shot and it looks great! The sentiment and "grass" still show up fine.

Isn't it just too cute?! I thought it'd make a great birthday card for someone's 21st birthday. Or maybe a fun anniversary card for my husband since we went to Hawaii on our honeymoon.

The size of the last image is a little distorted, but I wanted you to see the decoration next to the card. I cut out tropical flowers using the Island Oasis die and "skewered" them on straws. Then I put them in margarita glasses filled with tropical flavored candy.

Supplies:
sets- Tropical Party, Cheers to You
cs- 4-1/4 x 11" whisper white, 4-1/4 x 2-1/2" old olive scored at 1" & 2" (awning), 4-1/4 x 2-3/4" scored at 2-1/4" (bar/shelf)
ink- basic black, old olive & soft suede pads; various markers- poppy parade, peach parfait, blushing bride, tempting turquoise, summer sun, rose red, green galore, pear pizzazz, pumpkin pie
access- Big Shot, Texturz Plates Kit #4

Happy Stamping! Mary
p.s. let me know what you think!

Happy 4th of July!

We went out to pizza with our neighbor last Wed night to watch her son play the tuba with the East Bay Banjo group. The wife of one of the banjo players, Bonnie, made these cute little "fire crackers" and gave us a couple. They are actually pieces of paper that have been decorated with SU wheeled images and wrapped around a roll of lifesavers! Be safe and have fun today!

Tropical Party - What a Blast!

We made these cards in my Tropical Party Class and it was so much fun! I used the Island Oasis Bigz die to create some tropical flowers which I skewered on straws and put in margarita glasses full of various tropical flavored candy. You can see the decorations next week when I post my Tiki Hut card. Be sure to check back because it's too darn cute and you're going to love it!


Everyone had the choice of making either an olive or turquoise version of this coconut happiness card. I totally cased it from Dawn's card and why change anything when it's so great!

Supplies:
sets- Tropical Party, Warm Words
cs- tempting turquoise, old olive, pumpkin pie, wjisper white, chocolate chip, rose red, island oasis dp
ink- basic black pad, old olive or tempting turquoise pad
access- five petal flower punch, 1/16" hand held punch, soft subtle or gold brads, dimensionals, Big Shot, Island Floral Bigz die, Square Lattice embossing folder, straw

Everyone had the choice of making either an olive or turquoise version of this fun shaker card.

This shaker card is a different type of shaker. You add add sand to a small cello bag (with a bashful blue insert), fold over & seal the top with tape, then attach it behind your punched window. Add dimensionals and attach it to your card front. I learned this shaker method from Stampin Success (a monthly periodical SU demonstrators get free!) years ago and always wanted to give it a try.

Supplies:
sets- Tropical Party, Heard from the Heart, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
cs - tempting turquoise or old olive card base, confetti cream, rose red, bashful blue
ink- old olive marker & pad, rose red pad, close to cocoa marker
access- Big Shot, Top Note & Island Oasis Bigz dies, 1-3/4" circle punch, small cello bag (cut off about 1" from top of bag), dimensionals, scotch tape, sand (about 3/4 tsp)



Our third card was what I call a "designer paper crossover card." I learned how to make this type of card from my up-line, Tami Waddell. I'll have to ask her if there's an official name for this type of card. I love how it shows off both sides of the paper. It uses a quarter sheet (4-1/4 x 5-1/2") of colored card stock, 3-3/4 x 5" of light colored or neutral card stock, a 3-1/2 x 4" piece of dp, & a 4 x 4-1/2" piece of dp. On both pieces of dp, score the 4" side at 1/2". The 3-1/2 x 4" becomes 3-1/2 x 3-1/2" and the 4 x 4-1/2" becomes 3-1/2 x 4-1/2". Adhere them between the two pieces of card stock and stamp as desired. Add a focal point stamped image to the front. Sometimes I'll also add ribbon tied around the left piece of dp.

Supplies:
sets- Tropical Party, On Your Birthday
cs- whisper white, pumpkin pie, old olive, so saffron, Island Oasis designer paper
ink- old olive pad, pumpkin pie pad
access- bone folder, Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder



The last card was the best! When you open the card, the coconut cup mounds up for a 3-d effect. We made this card at our Shoebox Swap and I couldn't wait to duplicate it in class! Patti Lee designed this card based on Jan Tink's cylinder card. They are both very talented ladies. I'm lucky to have Patti in my demonstrator group of stampers. Here's a link to this card on Patti's blog. She has also made a lot of other cute cards with the Tropical Party set, paper etc.

Supplies:
sets- Tropical Party, On Your Birthday
cs- tempting turquoise, rose red, whisper white, close to cocoa
ink- close to cocoa pad, old olive, tempting turquoise, rose red, and pumpkin pie pads & markers
access- Big Shot, Texturz Plate Kit #4, melon mambo polka dot grosgrain ribbon(use non-polka dot side), word window & 1-3/4" circle punch, dimensionals, Sticky Strip, drink umbrella, straw

Happy Stamping! Mary
p.s. feel free to leave me a comment & let me know if you make a coconut cup pop-up card!