This is what matters...

Hi friends,
Although my blog is about 98% cards and Stampin'Up! related, I never want to convey that that is all there is to life, especially my life. It's Good Friday today and Sunday's a' comin...

I want to share one of my all time favorite reminders of what really matters.

I hope you have a blessed Easter as you celebrate the resurrection of King Jesus.
Blessings,
Sarah

It's a Cake Soiree!

Hi Stampers!
How are you this fine morning?  I find myself still looking out the window to see if snowed when I get up in the morning. It hasn't in a few days now so that's good news!  This time of year, we are kinda over it, so to speak.

One thing I'm never over is rubber stamping!  I love all the creative options in front of me and one of my favorite things to do is grab a stamp set and see what I can do with it. I recently picked up the Cake Soiree bundle from the 2018 Occasions catalog ( page 12-13) and played for an afternoon:

What do you think of the Designer Series Paper?  Gorgeous, isn't it!  It's full of rich and soft spring colors with some Rich Razzleberry thrown in for contrast. Because it's a "speciality" DSP, it has extra pizazz which in this case is silver foil accents throughout one side of every piece of paper. It comes with a two case stamp set with lots of stamp options and coordinating framelits to help you cut out your pieces easily.  There are also some extra framelits to add some embellishments to a project.  I loved adding some extra silver foil paper in the top card to emphasize the silver foil bling.

While Sale-A-Bration ends on Saturday, the Occasions Catalog keeps right on going through May 31st!  You have plenty of time to get some products and get going on your creative journey!  I recently sat down with an old, dear friend, who had never tried stamping. We spent a couple of hours on the basics and she took the leap and got some supplies. We didn't get too complicated but kept it to ink, some paper, a few stamp sets, some adhesives  and some blocks to mount the stamps on. I'm so excited for her to jump in. She doesn't live in Montana and so much of our interaction will be by text, email or phone but I assured her I can coach her long distance and get her going.  Are your curious about this whole hobby?  Contact me and we can chat. You don't have to spend a fortune to try it out and with the many avenues of technology, including Facetime, you won't be alone as you start out!  I love what I do and I love to share it with others. I can help you with a project idea or work with a budget.... your call!

Blessings to you as we move closer to Easter this Holy Week!
Sarah

Happy Easter!

Hi there Stamper Friends,
It almost seems impossible, but this is Holy Week and Easter is fast approaching. I haven't been able to give this week the attention it deserves up to now and am going to try and change that this week. It is a good time for me to reflect on my faith, cherish my blessings and focus on  the hope I have because of the cross. 

I also enjoy making Easter cards to share with others. The promise of spring is a great theme as well, especially when we continue to dig out of snow some days in Montana. Winter is looooooong here, but spring and summer are worth the wait when they finally arrive!

Here are some card ideas to inspire you. I used a couple of Sale-a-Bration goodies as well as the "Hold On to Hope" bundle and "Hello Easter" set.   Some of my other ideas feature retired or non-SU products, which I frequently pull out for specific holidays. I use different color schemes as well, but am drawn to purple more at this time of year than other times. I used my Stampin'Blends to color some and added some ribbon and  embellishments to create some layering. Have a look:

I hope you have a very blessed Easter! 
Until next time, happy stampin'!
Sarah

In Honor of all Heros

Hello friends!
I hope your week is winding down successfully and it's been a good one. It's amazing how fast they go sometimes. I'm sure you've packed a lot in as have I. I honestly thought I had a few more weeks before Easter but it is sneaking up on me! Guess I better give some thought to our plans, meal, etc. Our Easter and other holidays for that matter, used to be extremely traditional and predictable. Now, with grown children, we do what we can to make it work and accommodate all the different schedules. It's being together that counts, right?!

Today, I'm focusing on a wonderful set in the Annual Catalog. This won't be something everyone needs, but I like to include it as a reminder to honor those who serve and protect all of us. Handmade cards are a hug in an envelope to anyone, but especially someone far from home or in a tough job that doesn't get a lot of appreciation and love and possibly comes with a lot of danger. The set is called "Loyal and True" (#143879) and it was really fun to work with. I tried to challenge myself with different color schemes.

My first card was a traditional red, white and blue color scheme. I did use Basic Grey for the soldier stamp. My background paper is from the Tutti-Frutti collection and reminded me of stars on a navy background. The red/white striped ribbon is a retired product, but it worked perfectly.

For this card, I was thinking more of a khaki color scheme and ARMY! Basic Grey, Crumb Cake and Always Artichoke are the perfect khaki colors.  Have you ever stapled ribbon on a card? I really like that look with the burlap.

Lastly, I wanted to try and heat emboss the soldier image so I chose gold embossing powder and some gold embossed Designer Series Paper from the Eastern Palace Suite. The blue in this card is Dapper Denim.

I'm glad I purchased this set so I have it when I need it. In my downtime, I want to send cards to organizations that collect cards for the military and even my local law enforcement. They deserve way more than a card, but I suspect it would brighten their day to know someone appreciates them and is grateful for their service.

Thanks for stopping by! Leave a comment so I know you've been here and I'll respond!  I love to meet new friends through the hobby of papercrafting. Who knows what could come of it!

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

In the Trees, Just Hangin' Around

Happy Hump Day Stampers!
I'm back with some more fun with a stamp set that hasn't gotten a ton of love on Pinterest or other blogs. I like to challenge myself to think outside the box and see what I can come up with when a particular set doesn't get a lot of attention. The set I've chosen today is called "In the Trees" and there are some fun ways to use it.   Here are my ideas on my first run through...

I decided to try a Z-fold card and string some lights between the two trees!  I stamped full trees on the card base and then just tree tops on the Z-fold piece and adhered that over the card base. I did all my stamping before I put the card together!  The score lines are 2-1/8" and 4-1/4" on both the base and Z-fold piece, you just flip the Z fold piece the opposite way that the card folds.   Here are a few more looks:

I thought the animals from "We Must Celebrate" were especially cute on this card. I got my "celebrate" from the Amazing You Framelits that are an Sale-a-Bration freebie.

Here are some other ideas!

On this one, I added the "Glamper Greetings" stamp set... one of my favorites! For my tree stamping technique, I inked up the foliage part of the tree with a Lemon Lime Twist ink pad and then used a Early Espresso marker to color the trunk and branches. This technique worked really well.

This was the first one I made and it looks like some place I'd like to spend some time! I stamped with Momento ink and used my Stampin' Blends to color.

I hope you've been inspired to take a look at the stamp sets in the 2018 Occasions catalog that didn't catch your eye the first time. They are fun and interesting to work with.  One thing I absolutely love about this hobby, the ideas never quit coming!

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Tutti-Frutti FUN

Hey Stampers!
Just because I can, I hereby declare this Tutti-frutti Tuesday!  Have you seen this set in the 2018 Occasions Catalog? If you like bright colors and cheery themes, you will love this!  There is a complete stamp set of fruit and baskets and bowls to hold them in. There are adorable little punches to cut out your fruit (either that you stamp or cut on the Designer Series Paper) and there are some awesome accessories like Designer Series Paper, coordinating Washi tape and Sequins with adhesive already on them!  I had a lot of fun playing with these goodies!

I hand stamped the fruit, made a basket out of Vellum and made a table out of our Wood Textures Designer Series paper and a partial punch on the end with the Everyday Label Punch.

This card keeps it simple and I featured the sequins and the Washi Tape!

For this card, I punched the pineapples out of Designer Series Paper so minimal stamping!  I again used Stazon ink on Vellum cardstock for my bowl.

I had an extra strawberry from my 2nd card above so this time, I stamped some more strawberries and popped the one I had punched out with a mini dimensional. I embossed my Night of Navy base with the Scattered Sequin folder (currently an SAB freebie) and added some baker's twine to tie it all up ;)

This set is just fun!  There are also some coordinating ink spots you can buy if you don't have the coordinating ink colors and then you are set to whip up some Tutti-frutti fun of your own!

All the supplies are listed below and clicking on any one of them takes you right to the store. We are down to the last 2 weeks of Sale-A-Bration! The 2018 Occasions catalog lasts until the end of May but you won't be able to add any freebies to your order after March 31st. Contact me for any questions or more details. It's a great time to dive into Stampin'Up! as a customer or a demonstrator!

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Hello and Thanks!

Hi Stampin' Friends,

It is lovely to be back with some new work for my blog!  My creative mojo was briefly suffering for a few days as the daily cares of life took over and occupied my mind and time. I've learned to not stress when that happens because it's usually stress that precipitates it. Instead, I walk away from my stamp room, do something else for a couple hours or days and then return with some fresh energy and ideas. So far, that has worked rather well! It would be delusional of me to pretend that real life doesn't demand my attention everyday.

When I did get back to stampin', I had some fun with a set I hadn't played with yet called "Floral Satements".  The art work is a bit of an interesting twist with the words "hello" and "thanks" intertwined with flower images.   Here are a couple of the "hello" ones.

The first one I stamped in Momento ink and then colored with my Pool Party  and Old Olive Stampin' Blends.  I used an embossing folder and some vellum leaves and pearls to add some interest to the background. For the second one, I used gold embossing powder and heat embossed the image. I decided to make this one really striking and stick with all gold and Very Vanilla. I used our gold fold paper for one layer and the reverse side of the "Bundle of Love" Designer Series Paper.  The picture of this card doesn't do it justice!

Here are some ideas for the "thanks" stamp.

For the top card, I again used my Stampin' Blends to color. You could grab any color of pens and change the look easily for this idea. On my second card, I wanted to see what the stamp would like with a monochromatic feel to it. I picked "Fresh Fig" for my color and used some of the Fresh Florals Designer Series Paper behind the image. Again, alternating your main color would change the look of this a bit.

This stamp set ended up being pretty versatile because you could get fussy with more coloring and embellishments or keep it really simple and quick with  less.  They are also highly "useable" sentiments that I need all the time.

I hope you enjoyed a look at this stamp set!  I feel like part of my goal with my blog is to showcase different products and give you some ideas of how they could be used. You can then head to the store if it's something you think you would like to have for yourself!

We have 2 more weeks of Sale-A-Bration!  So far, none of the SAB freebies have been depleted so you can still get what you want with any $50 or $100 purchase!  Take a look at the items now and put in an order to take advantage of it!

Until next time,
Sarah

Happy Pi Day!

Hi Friends,
I wouldn't know it was Pi day unless I saw it on Facebook and of course, I had a great idea for a card!  The only personal memory I have of studying or using "Pi" was probably in geometry in 10th grade but definitely Honors Math in 7th grade. The kid that sat next to me, the class brain, wrote out a bazillion decimal points of Pi on some adding machine tape and it ran the entire perimeter of our class room. Obviously, he got extra extra credit for that one!

Anyway, here's my fun card to celebrate the day as I'm sure most of you prefer PIE, not PI!

I used the new Tutti Fruiti 6 x 6 Designer Series Paper for my background. It's so colorful and inviting!  I used  my Layering Circle Framelits to make the pie and then embossed the center one with the new basketweave embossing folder, which you can get for free, along with a coordinating stamp, with a purchase of $100!  I sponged the edges a little and added a button heart from my never ending supply of random doodads... Curious about the sentiment?  It came from the Birthday Memories Suite!

I hope you are having a great day and now I'm off to find a piece of Pie!
Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Wishing you a Dapper Day!

Hi there Stampers!
I recently had a class devoted to masculine cards!  These are the ones we seem to struggle with a little to make and are always out of, so I thought it would be a great idea!  It was well attended and we had a lot of fun. One set that was perfect for the occasion was the "Truly Tailored" suite in the 2018 Occasions catalog.  Here are some more fun ideas from this set!

For this first card, I kept my color scheme bold and simple - Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla!  The sentiment is perfect and I easily cut it out with the Stitched Framelit circles.  I remembered a retired mustache framelit I still had so of course, I had to add that to the card!

My next idea was to combine the Truly Tailored suite and the Pocket Full of Sunshine set. I made a couple of "glasses" and also used the pocket framelit.  Again, the Truly Tailored set had the perfect sentiment to suggest this theme. If you haven't tried the Night of Navy Corduroy ribbon, you really should!  It is wonderful and so soft!

I let yet another sentiment from Truly Tailored suggest my last theme - a fox!  We have a fox stamp set and fox builder punch so that was fun to play with!  I actually used four different punches on this card, showcasing how versatile and functional they are!

Take a look at your collection of products and see what you can combine for a great idea!  All of our products coordinate in color but many times, there is cross over in theme as well, you just have to search for it and think about it!

We just got word today that even MORE products will be released for the Sale-A-Bration freebie lineup!  These are select current catalog items that will be available starting March 15th! Get that order ready and check out the latest freebies. There are only 3 more weeks of SAB so don't miss out~!

Thanks for stopping by! It's always fun for me to share what I've been up to!
Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Making your own Background paper - Ink, Rubber and Paper

Hi Stampers!
I have something really fun to share today!  Yesterday, I wanted to challenge myself to keep things simple for a change and limit my use of all the extras like the Big Shot, the framelit dies, the embossing folders, etc.  I wanted to get back to basics with a stamp, some ink and some paper.

The set that inspired this challenge is the "Eclectic Expressions" set, a Sale-A-Bration freebie.  I think sometimes we get caught up in all the spectacular tools we have available to us and forget about where this papercrafting hobby started... rubber stamping with ink on paper!  For my first card, I used the largest "splotch" image with Lemon Lime Twist Ink. I then went back over it with Tranquil Tide dots in each splotch. After that, I added some Pool Party bubbles in all the white spaces.

For this card, I decided on  a more geometric look. I took the upright dashes stamp and started in the left lower corner and moved across and up one space to the right, then back to the left, back to the right, etc all the way up the card piece with Chocolate Chip ink.  After that, I used the circular dots stamp and Pacific Point to fill in the white spaces.  I actually love that this didn't work out perfectly. I didn't measure anything or use a stamping placement guide like a Stamparatus or a Stampamajig. For something like this, "eyeballing" it works just fine! If you're curious about the framing piece on my Happy Birthday, I punched two Pacific Point pieces with the Tailored Tag punch and put them together.

This card is actually the first one I made. I was so happy with it, it inspired me to keep going!  I used the watercolor circle stamp and Shimmery White paper. I started with random Peekaboo Peach circles, then Flirty Flamingo, then Sweet Sugarplum. I purposely overlapped my circles here and there to bring out even more shades of color.  For my sentiment, I grabbed Fresh Fig because I wanted it to really stand out.

I wanted to make one more Thank you card for my last idea and somehow, I'm not exactly sure, I thought of a flag image. I started in the upper left corner with four Dapper Denim large splotch stamps.  I added the dots with Night of Navy. I then used the upright dashes stamp in Cherry Cobbler for my stripes.  After that, I went over the stripes with the smaller splotch stamp in Real Red.  My stars are a combination of punched out Cherry Cobbler and some random old Paper Pumpkin gold stars.

It's exciting to see where your imagination will take you when you challenge yourself by setting out some parameters like... one stamp set, no tools (other than a couple of punches), keep it simple!  I loved trying this and sharing it with you.  This is particularly good to remember for that new stamper that is starting out and has a smaller budget. You don't need all the bells and whistles to have fun. All you need is ink, rubber and paper!

If you would like to get your own stamp set Eclectic Expressions, place an order over $50 and you can choose that stamp set as a freebie for the Sale-A-Bration promotion (#147338). This promotion will be ending March 31st so act now!

Back to more creating to ink, rubber and paper!~
Sarah

Birthday Cards with Birthday Wit

Hi there Stampers!
Are you like me in that you always are short of birthday cards? It's like I almost can't have too many to have on hand. That's the thing about birthdays... they keep coming around! Knowing that I need a lot of birthday cards both to sell and give, I decided I really should get the "Birthday Wit" stamp set in the 2018 Occasions catalog. It's not a set that you would automatically notice at first because there are no cute or amazing sketches or images included... it's just words, but they are GREAT words, especially for the non-mushy cards you want to give!  Here are some ideas I came up with:

 For this card, I used markers and hand colored each word separately, lightly "huffed" on the stamp before I stamped and voila!  I also incorporated some Picture Perfect Designer Series Paper and some Tutti Fruiti sequins. Did you know these sequins come with adhesive already on them?  Genius!! Take note of my embossed background on the card as well... It adds a little visual interest!

The sentiment in this card is perfect when you want to keep the fuss to a minimum. I'm sure you know several people who are not exactly shouting from the rooftops when they have another birthday. Some people just don't want that much attention on themselves and others just hate getting older!  This card perfectly reflects "I'm thinking of you, wish you well, but it's still no big deal." I kept it real simple with black ink on a white background and some of our Wood Textures Designer Series Paper. Can't get much more understated!

For this card, I wanted to incorporate some birthday paper from last year that I had plenty of. I love the slices of birthday cake and thought the sentiment was perfect, albeit tongue in cheek!

My final card ended up being my favorite!  I again used a piece of Wood Textures Designer Series paper and stamped with one of the "Lovely As a Tree" stamps. I then used a dauber and tried to daub some Pool Party ink in the background of the trees for a sky effect. I paired all this with Calypso Coral stamping and card stock. That is one of my favorite color combinations, Pool Party, Calypso Coral and any shade of brown. Unfortunately, sometimes I forget a birthday or am just a tad late so this sentiment will come in handy!

That's it for today, however, I know I will grab this set time and time again when the mushy sentiments, flowers and birds just won't work!  That's something I love about Stampin'Up! They try to create designs that appeal to all people for all occasions.  Their products are as diverse as all of us, which is just as it should be!

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek!  Contact me with any questions and I'll try to help you out. If you live in the United States and need to connect with a Stampin'Up! demonstrator (all purchases have to go through a demonstrator), I would love to be yours!  It's easy to shop online but you can always personally contact me to get you going. There are lots of helpful links on the right sidebar of this blog so be sure to check them out!

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Live in a barn? Or just like barn doors?!!

Good morning Stampin' Friends,
How are you this lovely day? Actually, it's still snowy and cold here but we are into March so that's great news! I have a most unique product bundle to show you today - a barn door theme!  I'll show you some cards and then talk about it.

Believe it or not, these are all standard A2 size cards (4-1/4" x 5-1/2").  While they look complicated, they are quite easy as all the sliding slots, hardware, door, etc are made with the use of framelits. It is quite easy really to get all your parts made and then assemble the card with a sliding door.  If you spend any time on Pinterest or watching the home design shows, you already know how popular these doors are! You can make them out of any colors and go for an outdoor or interior look as well.  on my top card, I didn't have the dog at first and it just looked a little empty, so I added him.

So what is the trick for getting the door to slide?  Here are a couple of my tips:
1) .  When you cut your upper and lower slot, using the framelit, place it slightly lower on your cardstock. You need room at the top for the door hardware to be glued on the card stock. You can see the different width in my red cardstock above and below the sliding slots. At this point, you can emboss this piece if you want. I used our new stripe folder so it looked like siding on a house on my Pool Party card.

2) Build 4 "washer sandwiches" to adhere to your door. These are what allow the door to slide. I used washer size 6 and our mini dimensionals. That is a great width. You can still get the mini dimensional through the slot, but the washer is wide enough to stay behind the slot opening.  The layering is
washer, then dimensional then washer. Think of the washers as the cookie part of the Oreo and the dimensional as the cream filling part.  I put one washer on the dimensional, laid it under the slot, dimensional side up and then peeled off the backing of the other side of the dimensional and placed the top washer.  That way, I didn't risk tearing my slot trying to get the washer sandwich in there. Here are some pics to make it more clear.

3) . Place the washer sandwiches in the slots. Add some of our dimensional strips above and below each slot. This card stock piece has to be raised above the actual card piece in order for the washers to move freely.

4) BEFORE you attach this piece to your card, add the door. I used a glue dot to adhere the door to the washer sandwiches. I did one side, top and bottom first, then the other side.

5) Once you have the door attached to the washer sandwiches, peel off the backing from the dimensional strips and attach this piece to your card. You can then continue decorating the card as you wish, adding sentiments, etc.

6) I recommend putting the "bar" piece across the top of the card on next  and then add your door sliding hardware to the door. I only glued the bottom of the hardware on the door. The upper "circle" part is sliding free so the door can move. It looks attached, but is not.

I hope my tips and pictures have helped you see how to do your own sliding barn door card. There are also several YouTube videos out there to help you, if needed.  I am hoping to transition to some short videos in my blog soon. I just need some courage!

If you like the barn door style, you will want this bundle!  What a fun way to play with paper and ink and a few tools.   I've listed my supplies below  and by the way, you can get washers at any local hardware or big box store. I was lucky... I only had to go as far as our garage and my husband gave me a whole bunch of them!

Until next time, Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

30th Anniversary of Paper Pumpkin!

Happy birthday to us! March 2018 is Paper Pumpkin’s 5th anniversary and we are kicking it off with a truly exciting campaign. Not only are we celebrating five years of creating and sharing together, but we also want to say thank you to all of our demonstrators and customers who have helped us reach this great milestone. And what better way to do that than with a March kit which includes a fantastic, FREE gift and a specially designed, one-of-a-kind box? This kit is gorgeous, collectible, and is almost sure to go down in Paper Pumpkin history as an all-time customer favorite!

Promotion Details

• The free gift complements the kit but is not needed to complete the kit.
• The free gift is exclusive to the March Paper Pumpkin kit and cannot be found anywhere else.
• The free gift is a crafting product with a wide range of use that can be used on a variety of papercrafting projects.
• The free gift holds an approximate retail value of $6-$8 USD/$8-$10 CAD when compared to similar products offered by Stampin’ Up!.
• Subscribe between February 11–March 10 at 11:50 PM (MT).

I've been a Paper Pumpkin subscriber for five years now and love the fresh ideas, exclusive stamps, ink spots and plentiful supplies that come each month with my kit. I make up the kit, save the extras and repurpose them for other projects!  Remember you can always pause or cancel or subscription at any time, no penalties or cost to you. You only pay for the months where you receive the kit.

If you need a small crafting break, once a month, with everything at your fingertips, this is the deal for you!

Don't miss out on the very special kit and order by the end of the day, March 10th!

Here's a quick and easy link to get you signed up!

Paper Pumpkin Sign-up!!

Start your week out right and get on the Paper Pumpkin Bandwagon!

Happy Stampin'!

Sarah

More Myths and Magic!

Happy Friday Stampers!
We made it!  We are looking over the finish line of this week. For those of you who work steadily, 8-5, Monday thru Friday, you are to be admired and congratulated!  I have a very part time job separate from my stamping business and whenever I have to work as many as 3 days, I'm exhausted! You GO!

I have a secret to share... It's a bit ironic actually. One of my favorite sets to play with from the new 2018 Occasions catalog is the Myths and Magic bundle. I skipped right over it in my initial perusal of the catalog and for several more times through. I don't have young children and haven't been blessed with grandchildren yet. I hardly even know any little kids so I feel quite out of my element when thinking about kid stuff, what they would like, what's popular, etc.   However, I had some hostess dollars on an order and decided to take the plunge and get the bundle. Boy was I wrong!   I've had so much fun playing with this set and creating cards that say a lot with a clear cut design theme. I guess you are never too old to think that magic is fun!

Here are some of my latest creations with this fun set!

I actually "dreamed" this card!  I had an idea of the knight and the dragon standing on opposing cliffs and a sentiment that said "You Can Do It".  This card is what happened!  I used the Waterfront stamp set (#1 best set in the Occasions Catalog!) to create my cliffs, background, trees, etc.  Living where we live in Montana, I'm very familiar with scenes like this in real life.  I sponged my sky in Soft Sky ink with a dauber and then used Smoky Slate for the dragon and knight. The set includes a flame stamp so I stamped it on Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie and Real Red and fussy cut the flames out.  I had to reach back into the retired stamp inventory for my sentiment. I really wanted it to say "You Can Do It"!  This is from a couple of years ago, a set called "Words of Truth". What a fun card to encourage someone with!

My next card features the oh-so-cute mermaids!  I stamped out three and cut them with the coordinating framelit. I used my Stampin' Blends alcohol markers to color them. My background was somewhat involved.  I first stamped a piece of Soft Sky card stock with Pool Party ink using the Marbled background stamp. I then ran this piece through the Big Shot with the Seaside embossing folder. I added some scrap Bermuda Bay glimmer paper to the corners (see card below and you'll see why I had scraps).  The sentiment is from the stamp set I featured in my blog yesterday, "We Must Celebrate".  Once again, putting the plural pronouns to good use!

For my final card, I played with the wizard stamp and framelit as I hadn't tried that one yet. I got the overall design idea from a good friend and popular stamper, Lavonne Schwendeman. I used a retired starburst framelit with glimmer paper, on top of the new Springtime Foils paper. I kept to my Bermuda Bay and Silver color scheme throughout, using our silver foil, rhinestone embellishments, etc.  My star paper behind the wizard comes from the Bubbles and Fizz Designer Series paper collection, a Sale-A-Bration freebie with a $50 purchase.  My favorite punch is getting a good workout all this winter, the "Tailored Tag" punch.

I have blogged on this "Myths and Magic" set before and if you'd like to see those cards, go here:

Myths and Magic, part 1

I hope you've realized that this set doesn't have to be just for kids!  There are fun and whimsical ways to use it for anyone and it will bring out the kid in you. I think I had a smile on my face the whole time I was making these cards!

Best wishes for a wonderful weekend, full of magic!
Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

From All of Us - when cards need to be plural!

Hi Stampin' Friends!
And just like that, it's March 1st!  We are no where near spring in Montana but the calendar assures us that we are closer than we were yesterday!  March and April can be some of our heaviest snow months so we don't let our boots, hats and mittens out of our sight at this point. While the winter is looooong, so is the opportunity to craft, read books, catch up on Netflix series, knit, etc. Once summer gets here, we play hard with a vengeance so there isn't much time to be more sedentary!

I wanted to share a stamp set from the new 2018 Occasions catalog that hasn't received a lot of attention in the online forums I watch, like Pinterest.  I think it's a set really worth considering for one huge reason. All of the sentiments use plural pronouns  like "we" and "us" rather than singular. That's huge when you need to make a card from a gang of people!  What better them than cute animals?  I really had fun with this set as I came up with some options!  Here they are:

Aren't these creatures adorable?  Of course, I couldn't resist coloring them with my Stampin' Blend markers!  I wanted to keep the colors somewhat realistic and even grabbed some Crumb Cake background paper from the Birthday Memories Designer Series Paper. I realize the paper has a baking motif, but I wanted the color too bad to reject it!

For this card above, I grabbed my all time favorite piece of paper this year from the Naturally Eclectic DSP set. It's a gradation of green-gray-blue that makes the best land and sky scenes. You do have to fussy cut it a bit to get the perfect amount of land and sky, but I love it!

One reason you need a plural pronoun card is when someone is leaving from a group or family. I thought traveling would be an excellent theme for one of my ideas. I used the retired world map background stamp and the "Going Far" stamp set from the Annual Catalog for my "good luck" sentiment.  I added some embossing to the top of this card and fiddled around with some retired ribbon and my stapler.  Never hurts to try different ways to use ribbon!

For this card, I masked off the rest of the stamp with a Post-It-Note and only stamped the rabbit. I wanted a cheerful Easter card. I used the fabulous new DSP, Springtime Foils, that is a Sale-A-Bration freebie with any purchase of $50.  I colored the leaves with my Old Olive Stampin' Blends markers. The paper is glossy but the ink dries quickly and doesn't smudge on this paper because it's formulated with alcohol, not water.

This last card is one I've shared before, but I bring to your attention now for different reasons!  Cute animals are quite often featured in baby-themed decor, clothing, toys, etc so they make the perfect baby card as well!

There are many more ideas that spring from this fun stamp set. I will be hanging on to this one long after it retires for the sentiments alone, even though the animals are super cute!  I've listed my supplies below so you are one click away from the online store. You can also contact me with any questions or help!

March is the final month of Sale-A-Bration!  Don't delay in getting some of your favorites or crossing some things off your wish list. This time of year, you are rewarded extra for shopping and that's always a good thing, right?!    Please share my blog link with friends too!  I'd love to expand my circle of stampers as new customers  and future demonstrators discover the wonder of rubber stamping and all the creativity it unleashes!

Until next time, happy stampin'!
Sarah