Sassy Birthday

BIG NEWS from Stampin' Up!!  Yesterday they announced a brand new partnership with Becky Higgins and Project Life!  Now you can get authentic Project Life products in Stampin' Up's exclusive colours AND they coordinate with other fabulous Stampin' Up products!  Check out this video to learn more:

I just can't wait to get my hands on these fantastic products!  As a demonstrator I get to pre-order starting this coming Monday...woohoo!!  Want in on the action?  Join my team and you'll be able to place your order on Monday AND get a 30% discount!  Click Join My Team above to learn more!

Today I have another project for my upcoming Card Buffet...this time it is a simple birthday card for the women in your life...

Feminine Birthday card featuring the Sassy Salutations and Betsy's Blossoms stamp sets.

This is another one you can throw together in no time!  Here are some tips for you:

• The background is embossed using the (retired) Pretty Print TIEF (but just about any TIEF would do!)
• The DSP is leftover from the Sweet Sorbet Sale-a-bration DSP pack.
• The flower is from the Betsy's Blossoms set, is stamped in Pool Party in and then die cut using the smallest of the Starburst Framelits.
• The sparkly little flowers are punched with the Itty Bitty Punch pack.  The centres are some long-retired black rhinestones, but you can get the same look by colouring regular rhinestones with a black sharpie!

 On the inside I used some of the same DSP and a black card stock mat to echo what I had done on the front.  The inside sentiment is from the Another Great Year set.

The cool thing about this design is that you can easily switch up the DSP and the coordinating card base to use up those pesky scraps you have laying around!  Gotta love it!

Perfect Life

Happy Valentine's day!  I hope you get a chance to let those who matter to you know just how much you love them today.  My sweetie and I have no special plans for today, opting for a date night on Sunday, when the restaurants are a little less crowded!  Can't wait!  Tonight it will be heart-shaped pizza with our boy.
In the meantime, I have a cute project for you that could work for today or just about any day...

Any-occasion card featuring the Perfect Pennants and Betsy's Blossoms stamp sets.

I just love this sentiment from the Perfect Pennants stamp set!  It is so absolutely true.  So many people spend their lives trying to make their lives "perfect" and miss out on so many wonderful things along the way.  To accent the sentiment I stamped it in Basic Black ink over top of the flower from Betsy's Blossoms, stamped in Pool Party ink.  I die cut the flower using the new Starburst Framelits.  I added one of the cork accents from the Sweet Sorbet Accessories SAB pack and added an In-Colour Dahlia to the centre of the cork flower.  The DSP is from the Sweet Sorbet SAB pack.  The twine is also from the Sweet Sorbet Accessories pack.  I embossed the background using the Decorative Dots TIEF, which is also an SAB freebie! 

I added some sparkle with a Vintage Faceted button, a little silver glimmer heart and a few randomly scattered rhinestones.  The scalloped border is die cut from Crisp Cantaloupe card stock, using the Tasteful Trim die (on sale this week for 25% off!!).  Somehow I neglected to take a photo of the inside of this one...sorry 'bout that! 
Have a wonderful Heart Day and a super weekend!  It is a long one for us...wahoo!!

One in a Million Birthday

Today is my friend's birthday and, while  I remembered her birthday was coming up, and on several occasions thought about mailing her a card, sadly, I have not yet done so.  I am THE WORST when it comes to sending cards!!  I make dozens and dozens of them and they rarely see the inside of an envelope!  Today's project is one I designed for my techniques group that met this past week with the intention of sending it to my friend when I was done with it.  It is still sitting on my stamping table.  She'll get it next week and not be in the least bit surprised that I'm late...again!  I used this week's sketch over at Mojo Monday as my inspiration.  I made a few alterations to the original sketch, moving a few elements around. Here is the sketch:

And here is my version:

Birthday card for MOJO245 featuring the Tie-dye technique and Betsy's Blossoms stamp set with sentiment from One in a Million

Inside view

Fun and bright, eh?  I used the Tie-dye technique with Tangerine Tango and Melon Mambo to stamp the flowers from Betsy's Blossoms.  The leaves and sentiment are stamped in Gumball Green.  In case you're wondering what the DSP is, it is from the International Bazaar pack...so in love with that paper!  I also broke in my new chevron embossing folder...love that one too! 
I have SO much to do this weekend...two classes next week to prep for, a new project to design for another guest designer gig and more BIG cards to make for work...I need a four-day weekend!!  The good news is that I'll have lots to share with you next week!  In the meantime, have a great weekend!

Sending Love...

...on Mother's Day.  Yes, it still, technically is Mother's Day...there's a little more than an hour left to celebrate!  I've had such a busy weekend this is the first chance I've had to sit down at my computer!  I truly hope that all you Moms out there had a wonderful day and felt pampered and appreciated.  Today's post is a cute card I came up with while playing with the new Betsy's Blossoms stamp set.  I am always trying to find new ways to use stamps to make them more versatile and multipurpose.  Have a look...

Cute card featuring the Betsy's Blossoms stamp set with sentiment from Easy Events.

 This card is really simple, but kinda cute.  To create the tree I stamped the large floral image from Betsy's Blossoms in Gumball Green (my new favourite green!) and then punched it out using my 2 1/2", 1 3/4" and 1 1/4" circle punches.  I layered them with dimensionals so the tree really does have shape.  The trunk is a modern label punched out of chocolate chip cardstock.  Do you like the grass?  That was done by punching the edge using the scallop edge punch and then re-punching, offsetting the scallops.  Cute idea, huh?  The little banner was cut using the new Bitty Banners Framelits.  I layered it on real red and hand trimmed the mat.

Creating Pretty...

Another great feature over at Craft Project Central is the Creating Pretty Cards monthly sketch challenge.  This month's CAS sketch was designed by Kris Kilkenny...check it out:

 

 And here is my take on it...

Sunny card for CPC11

 So...wondering what that paper is?  It is the new Floral District DSP from the soon-to-be-released new Annual Catalogue.  Isn't it fun?  I love the bright, sunny colours and thought it worked perfectly with the sentiment from the Pursuit of Happiness set.  The little blossoms on the sentiment panel are from a new set called Betsy's Blossoms, which pairs perfectly with the DSP.  I so can't wait for you all to see the new catty!  It is chock full of fantastic new products...you'll have trouble deciding which ones to order first!

Just a quick reminder that today is the last day to enter my draw for a free month's subscription to Craft Project Central.  Simply leave a comment on any post between May 1st and May 8th (today!) to enter.  I will draw one lucky winner and post their name tomorrow...maybe it will be you!

And now for something new...

I know I've been featuring many projects over the last little while that use soon-to-be-retired projects from Stampin' Up's retiring lists; however today I just HAVE to show a little something NEW from the upcoming Annual Catalogue.  This new catty launches June 1st (not July 1st, as in past years) and I am SOOOOOOO excited about it!  This past week, we demonstrators were allowed to order some Sneak Peek products to give us a sampling of what will be in the new book.  I, being the very impatient person I am, had to expedite my order so I would have it to play with this weekend.  It arrived on Thursday and I immediately cracked it open to revel in all the new stampin' goodness.  Here is the very first card I created with some of my new stuff...

Any-Occasion card featuring the Betsy's Blossoms and Itty Bitty Banners stamp sets and Floral District DSP.

This card uses a bunch of new products...here is a quick rundown:
Betsy's Blossoms stamp set - fun and funky images perfect for spring
Betsy's Blooms wheel - cute floral images that coordinate with the above stamp set
Itty Bitty Banners stamp set - cute little banners with sentiments that coordinate perfectly with the...
Bitty Banners Framelits!!!!!! - three dies that cut the cutest little banners...perfect for those of you who "can't hand-cut a straight banner to save your life" (quote from a customer at a recent event)
Floral District Designer Series Paper - great, bright, colours with bold designs that coordinate perfectly with the Betsy's Blossoms stamp set
Stitched 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon - isn't it amazing what a little bit of stitching can do for lowly grosgrain?!?

I have so many more new products that I haven't even touched...can't wait for some stampin' time later today!  I will be sure to post more sneak peeks in the coming days.  In the meantime, don't forget to leave a comment to be entered in my draw for a free month's subscription to Craft Project Central.  In case you missed my earlier post, you will receive one entry in the draw for each comment you leave, so comment often to increase your chances of winning.  You can comment on any post between May 1st and 8th.  I will post the winner's name on May 9th.  So get your typing fingers warmed up and comment away...and good luck!