First, my Mom. She retired from nursing a few years ago after a 40+ year career. When I was little, she was a pediatric nurse. As I grew, her jobs changed as her interests and circumstances changed. At all times, I was proud of the work that she did! As many daughters do, I thought I might become a nurse myself.

My Mom, the nurse, taught me that shots DO hurt, but just for a minute. My Mom, the nurse, taught me that working hard at a job you love is a way to stay healthy. My Mom, the nurse, taught me that lime jello makes the pain of getting your braces adjusted subside for just a while.

Second, Nurse Ann. I met Nurse Ann a little over 14 years ago. I had had my baby girl a day earlier and she was fussy. I hadn’t experienced her being fussy yet, and I was working hard to try to soothe her. At the same time, some of my husband’s extended family were visiting us in the hospital and my husband was on the phone with the woman who would be our daughter’s Godmother. In short, it was NOT quiet or relaxing in our room.

As my daughter continued to fuss, I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Finally, I pressed the call button for help. Nurse Ann appeared. There are two things I remember about Nurse Ann: she had beautifully manicured red fingernails, and she rescued me! To the family members who were suggesting that what my daughter needed was macaroni (because she must be hungry!) she shushed them and stated “I’m Italian so you can’t push me around–the baby is too young to have macaroni! ” She then told my hubby–who was used to this much family chaos–to “get off the phone and help your wife!” Oh. My Goodness! Nurse Ann! My heroine!

After she shooed everyone out, we took a good look at my sweet baby girl. Oops, she was just a little gassy! Whew! The rest of the evening was blessedly peaceful. I never saw Nurse Ann again but I’ve never forgotten her! I wish I’d had the opportunity to say a proper thank you and let her know just how relieved she made a brand new Mother feel!

I guess my point is…thank your lucky stars for good nurses. Nursing isn’t just a career. It’s a calling. Today, they are even busier and have much more technology to learn, but even with that, their most important skill is the one in which they make YOU feel better. When you are at your worst, it is then that nurses are at their best! Say thank you to a nurse you know today during National Nurses Day!

Here’s what I used to make this thank you card:

Pretty Postage stamp set (w123095, c123097)–RETIRING–get it now!
Card Stock: Whisper White (100730), Daffodil Delight (119683) and Baja Breeze (111352)–RETIRING–get it now!
Ink: Baja Breeze (126960)–RETIRING–get it now!
Designer Buttons Brights (119747)–RETIRING–get it now!
1″ Square Punch (124094)
Postage Stamp Punch (122344)
Scallop Trim Border Punch (119402)
Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430)
Glue Dots (103683)

Don’t forget to order your retiring supplies SOON! Some items are in very low supply. Your best bet is to order straight through my online store so you don’t have to wait for me to place your order! You can order here:

My favorite thing to do with the largest stamp in this set, is to cut along the top edge and insert a tea bag with the card. If you’re going to do that, you’ll need to use at least 2 layers of Stampin’ Dimensionals, perhaps 3, depending on how thick your tea bag is. The layers of Dimensionals will prevent your image from bowing. I stamped my image on Whisper White card stock in Wisteria Wonder–woohoo, it’s being carried over into the 2013-2014 catalog! Here’s a tip: insert your teabag from the back and get it situated  before you adhere it. You’ll risk tearing the image if you try to stuff it in after. Ask me how I know…

I laid my largest Apothecary Accents Framelit centered over the image and ran it through my Big Shot. I ran the framelit again on So Saffron card stock to make my mat.  You can see how I used them in this video. I did the same with my sentiment–which is from the retiring set: Friendly Phrases–but trimmed the So Saffron mat so that I could place it under the top and bottom instead of left and right, as I did for the teacup!

The Wisteria Wonder card stock background was created using the Fancy Fan Folder and my Big Shot. (How did I ever live without my Big Shot???). The whole thing is mounted onto a piece of Midnight Muse card stock! I added a few of the small pearls to the flower centers on the teacup. What do you think? Would you like to receive a card like this? How about making one? What will you do to make your Mom’s day special? I’d love to hear your plans!

Here’s what I used:
Tea Shoppe Stamp Set (w125545, c155547)
Friendly Phrases Stamp Set (w126149, c126151)
Wisteria Wonder Ink (126985)
Wisteria Wonder Card Stock (122922)
Whisper White Card Stock (100730)
So Saffron Card Stock (105118)
Midnight Muse Card Stock (126843)
Big Shot Die Cutting Machine (113439)
Apothecary Accents Framelits (127003)
Fancy Fan Folder (127751)
Pearl Basic Jewels (119247)
Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430)
SNAIL Adhesive (104332)

Includes…
* Thank you greeting card template (3-1/2″ x 5″)
* Invitation greeting card template (5-1/2″ x 4-1/4″)
* Announcement double-sided postcard template (7″ x 5″)
* 9-page designer décor template (8-1/2″ x 11″)
* 49-piece SVG stamp brush set
* 5 Designer Series Papers
* 32 embellishments
* 1 punch
* Fun, fresh chalkboard-inspired baby shower with pops of color
* All the pieces you need to plan a shower start to finish: invites, framable, banner, food…
And…remember, you can recolor the stamped images to fit your color scheme!

I also love the new digital kit: Be Yourself May. The colors are awesome and the patterns are so playful. Inspire and brighten your day with this watercolor kit!

This kit includes:
* 10-piece stamp brush set
* 14 Designer Series Papers
* 33 embellishments
* Coordinates with the FREE Be Yourself May Wallpaper you can download here!

You can order My Digital Studio from my online store for $19.95. Or, you can try it FREE for 30 days to ensure that you like it!

I created a card this weekend featuring Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke and Whisper White!

Even though Always Artichoke isn’t a retiring color, the 1/2″ Seam Binding Ribbon in this color is. I think the Certainly Celery and Always Artichoke go well together! I also loved using the new Naturals Designer Buttons to dress up this masculine card!

Countryside, the set that contains this great old truck, is retiring. Kind of a bummer, because this set was great for watercoloring, too! If you like the old farmhouse, country look, this is the set for you!

I used another set that is retiring: Wordplay. This has great sentiments and I used “Remember When” for this card!

I have used every one of these sentiments at some point. It’s so versatile! Get it in Wood or Clear Mount! You won’t regret it!

You can get these supplies in my online store!

Supplies I used:
RETIRING Countryside stamp set (w116998, c120495)
RETIRING Wordplay stamp set (w120308, c120651)
Always Artichoke Ink (126972)
RETIRING Certainly Celery card stock (105125)
Whisper White card stock (100730)
RETIRING Always Artichoke 1/2″ Seam Binding Ribbon (121000)
Naturals Designer Buttons (127554)
Glue Dots (103683)
Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430)

Here’s what I have planned for your “insta-happiness”:

• A card featuring the new In-Colors and a new stamp set!
• A 3-D project featuring new stamps and designer series papers!
• A card featuring designer series papers!
• A double-page scrapbook layout using new colors, stamps, embellishments and designer series papers!
• A card featuring new embellishments and stamp sets!

Sign-up for my newsletter and, in addition to this great series, you’ll get 2 newsletters a month (sometimes 3 if I have something really exciting to share!) with projects, techniques, hints and tips for getting the most our of your supplies, and specials from me and Stampin’ Up! And…just for signing up, I’ll send you a free PDF that will help you more easily write meaningful cards!

Sign up using this link or using the box at the top of my website! I look forward to sharing with you!

You know that I love poetry, and when I found a poem, one of many by different poets, that put into words the way I feel about libraries, it quickly became a favorite!

Here’s what I used to create this layout:

• Well Worn DSP–the wood grain reminded me of the first library I worked in!
• Simple Snapshots Kit, Border 3–the floral border on the right, recolored with So Saffron and Ruby Red
• A Split Second Kit, Frame 4–the border around the poem, recolored with Ruby Red
• Oval Punch–resized, then recolored with So Saffron
• Enjoying Everything, Bunch–in the oval, recolored with Ruby Red
• Button Bouquet, Button 3–recolored with So Saffron

Give My Digital Studio a try and see how you like using it!

Once you decide that you love it, you can buy My Digital Studio for only $19.95!

Awesome Colors:
Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Sahara Sand, Summer Starfruit

And here’s the original photobook template!

Lucky YOU! This comes with My Digital Studio when you buy it for (only!) $19.95. Remember though…you can use MDS digital files in other digital design software! So, if you want to buy it, you can get the photobook here.

And…for the creative teens in your life:

The “See Ya Next Year Photobook Template” is full of great digital stamps to use with the book! Lookie:

Did you know that you can use these stamps and other kit elements in other digital projects? Isn’t that cool?

You can get these downloads in my online store. See Ya Next Year is going into my cart! I love the sayings and as my daughter enters high school, these will come in handy!

Our winner is Emily!!! And she wins…

AND

Congratulations, Emily! Thanks for playing along! You’ll get your goodies this week!

Retiring items will be available while supplies last, or until June 3rd! You can order directly through me or in my online store!

I’ll be pouring over the list, too, and will let you know my favorites on my Facebook Page–so don’t forget to “Like” it! Except for when the new annual catalog comes out, retirement time is my favorite time in the Stampin’ Up! year–there are great bargains!

My sweet husband made me my favorite birthday cake: German Chocolate! Now, I have very strict standards for my cake… Don’t mess it up with chocolate frosting or ganache or any other thing! It’s supposed to be German Chocolate cake layers with Coconut Pecan filling in between the layers and on top. That’s it. Poor guy once tried to gourmet-it-up for me. I appreciated the effort–and it was delicious–but I made it clear that, for me, there is no fancying up this cake! The photo above was so beautiful, I had to grab it but here’s a recipe from my awesome baker cousin! (Ignore the frosting on his cake. He now knows it is wrong–LOL!)

So, what’s your favorite kind of birthday cake? Help me celebrate my birthday today with a blog candy giveaway! Leave a comment today and tell me your favorite kind of Birthday Cake and I’ll choose a winner at random to win…

I’ll send the winner these cool supplies from Stampin’ Up!:

• “Quint-Essential Flower” Stamp, (wood mounted)
• Adorning Accents Edgelits
• Sycamore Street Ribbon & Button Pack (colors are: Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party, Island Indigo and Tangerine Tango!)
• A selection of 6″x6″ Sycamore Street Designer Series Paper
• and a surprise handmade treat!

Thanks for being loyal (or brand spanky new!) blog readers and good luck. On Wednesday morning, I’ll announce the winner on my blog!

Don’t forget, let me know what your favorite kind of birthday cake in the comments! Good luck!

I love the sponging and torn edge of this card, but that floral stamp set is retired…

Instead I used the Secret Garden stamp set.

You can see I copied the card pretty exactly. My colors were: Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight and Very Vanilla. It seems corny, but I chose these colors because blue represents water and yellow, the sun. Sun and water mixed with Mother Earth creates a beautiful planet for us to inhabit. I still remember cleaning up our neighborhood in the early days of Earth Day!

I switched out the sentiment because I wanted to use the Elegant Butterfly punch and wanted to be able to see it beneath the sentiment. Beside, these are great colors and this would be a great Mother’s Day card! I used First Edition DSP and tore the edge and sponged with Marina Mist. Then I stamped the largest outline flower from Secret Garden in Stazon ink. Using a sponge, I applied Daffodil Delight ink over the flowers. A rhinestone center adds a bit of sparkle!

The stamped image was layered onto a piece of Marina Mist Polka Dot Parade DSP. A length of Daffodil Delight Seam Binding was adhered to the card front before being decorated with the sentiment. This whole piece was mounted with Stampin’ Dimensionals onto Marina Mist card stock.

Why don’t you find an old card and recycle the design? I’d love to see your results! Leave me a comment and a link to your card so I can give you some comment love!

This year it’s Mum’s choice for a birthday cake. She chose yellow cake with chocolate frosting. My daughter is going to make the cake today when I’m at work and I’ll make the frosting and decorate. Mum and my brother, Paul, will arrive tonight and we’ll celebrate tomorrow.

I hope to make time to do a little paper crafting with Mum while she’s here. Paul and I are going to give blood tomorrow, in honor of his birthday and I’m giving away some primo blog candy on my birthday on Tuesday–so be sure to check back!

My little decoration above was made with Stampin’ Up!’s My Digital Studio: the Feeling Sentimental Stamp Brush Set [Sale-a-bration MDS Disc--no longer available ], Eclectic Overlays and Basic Pearl Jewels. Colors are Pool Party, Poppy Parade and Soft Suede.

So… HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MUM! I can’t wait to see you tonight!

I loved creating this layout! I used a background of Daffodil Delight card stock (digital, of course!) and layered a Vintage Overlay over it. I recolored the overlay white to keep the overall look light and spring-like. Here’s the Swallowtail butterfly again. I truly love this stamp in rubber or digital form! I recolored both the swallowtail and the title in Summer Starfruit. I love how it changes hue depending on what it’s paired with! The poem is typed into a text box.  Using text boxes for the poem, title and author of the poem allows me to move them around until I have a layout that I like.

So, from bottom-most layer to the top-most here are the elements:
Daffodil Delight Digital Card Stock (included with MDS!)
Vintage Overlays Texture 3 Stamp Brush (included with MDS!)
Swallowtail Stamp Brush (133011)
Text boxes for title, author and poem (included with MDS!)

It’s amazing what a simple layout this is and how much I like it. The Vintage Overlays Stamp Brushes add so much interest so easily! I love them, and this one in particular.

Don’t forget you can try My Digital Studio free for 30 days.

Once you’ve used it, I know you’ll love it and want to order it. It’s $19.95 for the software, which comes with card stock and standard designer series paper patterns, punches, some embellishments and lots of digital stamps. You can add more stamp sets, papers or embellishments from my online store! And, remember! Many of the new digital punches and stamps come as SVG files. If you have a digital cutting machine, you can customize and create in paper as well.

Also, spend some time on MyDigitalStudio.net. (It’s where all the cool digi crafters meet–LOL!)  Really, it’s been redesigned and there are dozens of video tutorials, weekly challenges and a message board to ask questions and meet new digital crafters! It’s well worth your time if you want to learn more about MDS.

This would be a great gift to get for your favorite Mom for Mother’s Day. She can make her own birthday cards or buy it yourself and make the cards for her. Better yet, buy two and make cards together! If you have other stamps you could change the greeting out easily! The only thing you don’t get with this kit is the Adhesive. Order a SNAIL or box of Glue Dots with the kit and you’re good to go!

Here’s what’s in the kit and the VERY simple directions:
Kit includes:
Dolled Up Birthday Photopolymer Stamp (1)
8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ Crumb Cake Cardstock (6 pieces)
2″ x 4-1/4″ Very Vanilla Cardstock (6 pieces)
Very Vanilla Medium Envelopes (6)
Tea Lace Paper Doilies (6)
Dress Up die-cuts (6)
Soft Suede Classic Stampin’ Spot (1)
Vanilla 5/8″ Flower Trim (6 pieces)
Sponge Dauber (1)

*Adhesive not included

To assemble one card, follow these simple instructions:
1. Place the stamp rubber side up and ink with the Soft Suede Classic Stampin’ Spot.
2. Stamp “Happy Birthday” at the bottom of the card front.
3. Ink the Sponge Dauber with Soft Suede ink and gently antique the doily and the edges of the dress form.
4. Adhere the pieces to the card front in this order:
1. Doily
2. Very Vanilla Cardstock
3. Dress form
4. Flower

Fun, no? You can order this kit in my online store!

Dolled-Up Birthday Kit
SNAIL
Glue Dots

This looks perfect for a summer trip–I know you’ve got a vacation or two planned! Here are the stamp brushes that come with the photobook!

It will be so easy to drop your photos in and then have the fun of applying stamps and captions with these!

There are two other stamp brushes available today as well: Beautiful Birthday and Wonderful Mother.

Check out my online store to buy these or any other Stampin’ Up! supplies!

The design is simple and the execution is easy. To get the different colored banners I stamped one or two banners onto a variety of patterns on the Tea for Two Designer Series Paper from the Spring Catalog. I then trimmed the triangles out just inside the stamped line and adhered them to the stamped banner on my card.  I stamped my sentiment, which is from Word Play, at the bottom of the card. I stamped it again onto some scrap card stock in Island Indigo, a color that coordinates with the DSP, and trimmed the “direction” arrow. I added that over the stamped image using a Stampin’ Dimensional. Oops! Before I added the arrow, I used the butterfly from the Occasions Paper-Piercing Pack to create interest and symbolism on the card. I enjoy paper piercing and this was a quick and easy image to pierce!

Even though my banners are straight, I could have easily curved them because the photopolymer is super flexible! Here’s a snippet of a layout where I curved the banner.

Look! It’s a sun!!!

Stampin’ Up! has released a new photopolymer stamp set: Bombs Away Birthday Stamp Set. It’s full of snarky and clever sentiments! I can’t wait to get it!

I’ll share some projects made with these later!

You can get both of these stamps sets in my online store!

I used the Print Poetry Designer Series Paper stack and Midnight Muse Ink. I think Midnight Muse might be my favorite blue right now. It’s sooooo rich and the perfect shade of dark blue! Put it with Whisper White and you have a crisp color combination. I love the roses from Elements of Style. Here, it is simply stamped. You can also color the roses and leaves with ink and Aqua painters, or sponge in the color, even color with markers! This stamp would also look beautiful colored with markers direct to rubber–color onto the stamp with markers and then stamp onto the paper!

The sentiment comes from the Loving Thoughts stamp set. This set has lots of sentiments as well as single words (“dream”, “create”, “imagine”, “inspire” among others!). This is one my my go-to sets for elegant sentiments.

Try this card in neutrals for a more masculine feel. Pinks or yellows are great for birthdays. Emboss the roses in gold, silver or pewter and make a great focal point for a wedding or anniversary card.

Supplies I used:
Elements of Style (w118611; c120045)Loving Thoughts (w125843; c125845)
Print Poetry Designer Series Paper Stack (129312)
Whisper White Card Stock (100730)
Midnight Muse Classic Ink (126860)
Pearl Basic Jewels (119247)

You can order these and any other supplies in my online store!

I’ve been creating some pages and have been wondering how to align my elements. This handy video from Stampin’ Up! helped a LOT!

Here is the project that I made…a card!

I used the Align Tool for the leaves on the left and the pearls on the top right. The colors I used were Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake and Soft Suede to recolor the pearls.  The background was selected from digital Card Stock and the leaves and sentiment are from the digital Sale-A-Bration set: Bloomin’ Marvelous.  Digital colors/stamps/kits/embellishments never retire! Woohoo! And now, Stampin’ Up! has permanently lowered the cost for My Digital Studio! It’s now only $19.95.

Click on the button below to try it free for 30 days and I’m sure you’ll find that it’s a great design software that you’ll want to own forever!

DON’T FORGET!!!

The Free Shipping Offer from Stampin’ Up! ends tonight at 11:30 MT! Get your order in before then! You can order directly through my online store and all items qualify–stamps, inks, papers, clearance, tools and more! Basically, anything in the catalog or on special can be ordered and you won’t pay a dime in shipping costs!

So…click on over to my Stampin’ Up! store and order to your heart’s content!

This weekend is a good time to stock up on any supplies you need and want!

Here are some specials and notices to be aware of:

• Petite Curly Label Punch (from the Sale-A-Bration promotion) will be carried over to the annual catalog, but you can get it now through May 31st! This punch coordinates with the Ciao, Baby! stamp set in the Spring Catalog.
• April’s “Best Of 25 Years” stamp set features BUTTERFLIES! You can buy this set now through the end of April!
• 
• A Round Array 7/8″ Scallop Circle Punch and Coordinating Stamps Bundle is available until May 30th!
•  
• Get your This and That Epic Day Bundle (with NO shipping cost!)
• Watercolor Wonder Crayons and the Watercolor Pencils are being discontinued because they’re no longer up to Stampin’ Up!’s quality standards.  Only the Watercolor Wonder Crayons in Subtles, the Regals and the Neutrals are available only while supplies last!
• Stock up on the Papers, Inks, Ink Refills, Ribbons, and Embellishments in our soon-to-be Discontinued Colors. These items are available only while supplies last!
• 
• Get the Sent With Love bundle at 20% off (!!!) until April 30!
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