The stamp sets on this list will NOT be available in future Stampin' Up! catalogs as of May 31. Have some you're interested in? Let me help you get them cheapter.

Buy two stamp sets – get 10% off

Buy three stamp sets – get 15% off

Buy four or more stamp sets – get 20% off!

This special is through me ONLY. To get the discount please email me your orders directly, do NOT place the order online.

Retired STAMP set list – in Excel… click HERE.

Retired STAMP set list as a pdf file… click HERE.

Reminder:

The Retired Accessories list comes out: April 25th

New Catalog Starts: June 1st

So, there are a few changes coming with the transitioning to the new catalog!  I wanted to let you all know the changes and the dates so you can see all the exciting things to look forward to very shortly!!

• the CURRENT Idea Book & Catalog ENDS on May 31 (therefore the NEW Idea Book & Catalog begins JUNE 1st!  An entire month earlier than usual.)
  • the NEW Catalog will be smaller and printed on lighter weight paper
• RETIRED LISTS!
  • The Retired STAMP list will be available April 15th (next month!!!)
  • The Retired ACCESSORIES list will be available April 25th  (as usual, with the accessories, once the accessories retired list is released these items are sold until the run out.  There is no guarantee that any accessories will be available thru the end of May.)
• Seasonal (mini) catalogs
  • these will be reduced from three a year to TWO a year
  • the HOLIDAY Seasonal catalog will run from August 1 – beginning of January 2013
  • the SPRING Seasonal catalog will run from beginning of January 2013 – May 31, 2013
  • these Seasonal catalogs will be larger in size and in page count! (that means MORE goodies in these catalogs!)

And just because you took the time to read all of the above here is a sample card for you too.

Have you seen our new scented embossing powders in the current Occasions mini?  No?  Look 'em up!  They're fun!  (Remember back in the day when we added bits of koolaid to our embossing powders to match the scratch and sniff smelly cards??!!  Well this is WAY easier!  LOL

This is a card my Card Club members made last week.  The top of the cupcake used the Melon scented embossing powder.  The powder is clear so it gave this Whisper White card stock a definite shiny Vanilla frosting look!  The DSP used (Sweet Shop) is also from the current Occasions mini.  Fun, right??

Well stranger things have happened, right?  Like 80 degrees in NH in March!  Yup, that's how our weather has been lately.  I'll take it!

Tonight was the first meeting of my Christmas Card club, so yes, we made Christmas cards on the first day of Spring!  Ahead of the game this year…. that's my mantra… we'll see if I can stick to it and maybe, just maybe, apply that mantra to other parts of my life.

Here's one of the cards they made tonight…

This one has a nice vintage, oh-so-me, feel to it!  I wish I could take a lot of credit for it but I really can't.  Here's why…

The layout came from Mojomonday.blogspot.com… it was sketch #227.  I loved the sketch so went searching for fun samples.  There were plenty to choose from but the one below caught my eye.

So as you can see I didn't change too much.  The color scheme of course is different completely.  Where this stamper used Calypso Coral, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake and Pool Party, I used Read Red, Early Espresso, Confetti Cream and the Berry Bouquet DSP from the last Holiday mini.  I also used Very Vanilla seam binding instead of the Crumb Cake one.  I believe this stamper has another oval punch and put on the designer frame where I just stamped inside the designer frame.  But clearly, the inspiration lies here and I'm so grateful because I really love both cards!  Hope you do too.

Yes, another Make a Monster card!  You saw the invites to my little one's party… and here are the Thank You notes. 

My baby wanted a Monsters, Inc party, that's why the Monster but that proved nearly impossible because there's just not much out there any more for Monsters, Inc.  But at least the invites and thank yous were Monsters, right?  And we played soccer and other games at a nearby indoor facility, hence the soccer balls on the thank yous.  Again, my youngest was on my lap while I made most of these and he would giggle every time I glued a googlie eye on them so I know he likes the cards!!    And I thought it fitting to post these on my blog today since today is his actually 3rd birthday!!

Have a great day!

So this is the status of my desk right now… and consequently my brain as well.  Too many projects going on at once with bits and pieces and tools strewn everywhere!  LOL  But I wouldn't have it any other way.  Love the creative process… don't love the mess!  (Imagine if my kids' rooms looked like this?!?!  They'd be in so much trouble!  LOL!!!!)

I can't get enough of the Apothecary Art Stamp set and the coordinating Labels Framelits so here's another sample for you!

Colors used include Soft Suede, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz (for the banner), Lucky Limeade (for the markering).  The DSP is from the In Color Stack.  Love.  And I used a couple different types of ribbons, some I put rhinestone brads on, others had pearls in the corner.  Just little touches here and there.  Love playing with all the doodads. I don't know if you can see it but I also put a dab of Dazzling Details in the center of all the flowers and used the Color Spritzer tool with the Peach Parfait marker on the main image just to shabby-it-up a little more.   Oh and if you look closely, the one with the Crumb Cake ribbon I put the Vintage Wallpaper embossed image "raised side up" and on the other card I put the embossed card stock "raised side down."  It's fun to play and change things up a bit here and there!

Hope you like!

So while I was borrowing Tracy's Make a Monster stamp set (see this earlier post) I used it again to make a fun, gender neutral, kids birthday card!  I wish my markering job was a little darker on the Happy Birthday stamp but oh well, some child won't really care I'm sure!  LOL

This stamp set is so fun to play with I think I will need to add it to my collection soon!

The designer paper is the Just Add Cake series.  And the base layers to the card are Poppy Parade and So Saffron.  (I'm LOVING the Poppy Parade color lately!)

How often do you check your snail mail?  6 days a week, right?  How often do you get something other than a bill or a catalog or junk?  Not often enough!  Back in January I made some cards and sent them out to a few people for no real reason than to say 'hi' and thank them for being a friend, on my Stampin' Up! team, themselves, or all of the above!  I heard back from many of the recipients saying how nice it was to get a card out of the blue.  I need to do this more often.  I mean, I love making the cards, right?  So why not send more??

These cards use the Apothecary Art stamp set from the Occasion mini  (I do LOVE this set!!) along with Sweetly Said.  I used the Labels Collection framelits as well.  I cut out around the edge of the first layer with my paper snips then popped this up with dimensionals on a label of the same color.  The designer paper is also from the Occasions mini, Attic Boutique. 

I don't know why these pictures are so blurry but I can't take anymore because like I said, these went out in January!

Maybe the picture below can show better the dimension and the various patterns of DSP I used, the various banner colors, and flower colors!

I know everyone says it but seriously, where does the time go?  I remember so clearly trying to have our first baby and now my youngest is three?!?!  Crazy!

Anywhooo… he requested a Monsters, Inc party and immediately I thought of our Make a Monster stamp set.  Of course I didn't have this set (sigh) but Tracy was kind enough to let me christen hers!  Thanks Tracy!  I thought I could for sure make a pretty believable Mike Wazowski (my son's favorite character from the movie).  And my thoughts were affirmed when I showed him the card and he blurted out "Mike Wazowski!".  Success!! 

Here's Mike Wazowski…

(C) Disney

And here are his invites…

 Supplies Used:
Pool Party CS and ink
Lucky Limeade CS and ink
Basic Black CS
Jet Black Stazon ink
Everyday Enchantment DSP (From Sale A Bration brochure)  I love how the blue dots look like eyes!
Star Punch – I punched out a Pool Party star, stamped the letters on the points, trimmed the points of the star and glued them to the
White Baker's twine and voila~ a party banner.
silver brads
Blender pen
Circle punch
Make a Monster stamp set

And to give credit where credit is due… I was certainly inspired by this great card I found on the Stampin' UP! demonstrator web site…