Yesterday was Beckett's, one of the grand Randall's and also one of my daycare angel, birthday party and he loves alligators/crocodiles. I bought him the Crocodile Dentist game and wanted a card to go along with it.  So, where is the first place I go for inspiration?  Yep, Pinterest!  Who doesn't love Pinterest.  

If you would like some ideas and inspiration I have a pinterest page called Stampin Scrapper.  Click HERE to check it out.

I found this adorable punch art, which I love doing, created by Alex's Creative Corner.  She created a great template for you to know what punches she used to make it.  A lot of the punches are retired, but I know a lot of you love Stampin' Up! punches as much as I do, and you may still have them.  If you don't have the exact ones, you may have something similar that you could use. Here is her picture of her template.  

Isn't this wonderful.  It didn't take me long at all to create this card.  I used the Garden Green and Pear Pizzazz cardstock for the majority of the design.  I sponged it using the Old Olive ink.  

It made my day when Beckett saw my card and his eyes lit up.  He loved it and so did everyone else.  Yay!

What a fun filled two weeks I have had.  Emily came home from Texas on Monday, June 12th and the fun started!  We went up to Michigan to see my family and go on a wine tour with the ladies in our family.  We had so much fun!  I was able to get more polish pottery, eat at fabulous restaurants and spend a lot of time with my family.  It doesn't get any better than that.

We came home on Father's Day and spent the rest of the day with Mark.  He had made us a wonderful dinner when we got home.  I think it might be a little backwards.  I am pretty sure I was suppose to do that for him.  While Emily was here she got to see a lot of her friends from college as one of them got married over the weekend.  I was so happy for her that she got to see them.  It is hard when you live so far away from everyone.  They made wonderful memories that she will have forever.

We also had our second Disney meeting with the Randall's.  If you don't know who the Randall's are let me share the short version of the story.  6 years ago Todd and Kumiko came to see me about taking care of their new baby, Beckett.  I was thrilled to be able to have him in my daycare.  Fast forward to 3 years ago when Todd started talking to me about God, my experience with my walk with Jesus and going to church.  Todd started to join us on Sunday mornings and was baptized two years ago.  Through all of this they have become our family.  We call their children, now 3 of them, our grand Randall's.  They are like our grandchildren and their last name is Randall.  So if you ever here of me saying the grand Randall's now you know who I am talking about.  Here is a picture of them with Erica. 

Aren't they so cute!  I just love them!  We will be going to Disney with them next year and it is going to so fun to see it through their eyes.  I still remember the first time we took Emily and Erica and watching their expressions.  A memory I will hold forever.  We are a little bit of Disney fanatics in our household.  This will be our 7 time as a family and Mark and myself have gone there 8 times.  It is truly magical!

Emily is going back to Texas today :(  It won't be long until we see her again.  Actually it will be in 5 days!  We are going to head to Texas this weekend to help her move into her new apartment and have some more family time.  I can't wait!  

Here are some pictures of when we were on our wine tour in Michigan.  The scenery was beautiful, wine delicious (so I was told) and the weather was perfect.  We had a lot of laughs, reconnected and just truly enjoyed each other.  

Thank you for stopping in today and I hope you have a marvelous Monday and week!

Did you know that you can shop with me 24/7.  Just click the SHOP NOW button below and it will take you right to my Stampin' Up! online store.  

I am going to really miss some of our retiring stamp sets.  I have used some of them for a very long time, others a short while, but I loved them all.  Here are my 10 top stamp sets:

The Wetlands 

Sponged Wetlands Card

Cottage Greetings 

What To Do With Scraps #4

This card has 2 of my favorites, Gorgeous Grunge and Tin of Cards

What To Do With Scraps #2

In The Meadow

Watercolor In The Meadow

Something for Baby

Baby Card using Succulent Garden DSP

Time of Year

Time of Year with Blooms and Bliss DSP
 

Grateful Bunch

Grateful Bunch Sympathy Card

Botanical Blooms and Tin of Cards

Blooms and Bliss Collar Fold Card

Peaceful Pines and Reason for the Season

Peaceful Pines Christmas

There are many more that I have loved and will miss.  It was fun going back through my blog looking at all the different cards I have made over the last year or so.  All information regarding the retirement list is further down on this post.

Yesterday I had a workshop with 8 wonderful ladies that I met for the first time.  Thank you Roselin for sharing your friends with me and picking me to have your workshop.  It was so much fun!  

I hope everyone has a marvelous Monday and week!

 Click HERE for the retiring list of products.  

Retiring accessories and tools will only be available while supplies last.

Retiring stamps sets are guaranteed available until May 22nd, 

after that it will be while supplies last.

All retiring items will be discontinued after May 31st. 

One of my customers had a beautiful little girl in December and this is the card I made for her.  The designers series paper on this card is from the Succulent Garden Suite in the occasions catalog.  I think this set of papers is one of my favorite in this catalog.  

To make this card you will need the following products:

Rich Razzleberry Card Stock #115316

• cut at 4 1/4" x 11" score at 5 1/2"

Sweet Sugarplum Card Stock #141418

• cut at 4 1/8" x 5 3/8"
• cut at 2 1/2" x 3 3/4"

Whisper White Card Stock #100730

• cut at 2 1/4" x 3 1/2"
• cut 2 at 4" x 5 1/4"

succulent Garden Designer Series Paper #142778

• cut at 4" x 5 1/2"

I stamped the hanger on one of the  2 1/4" x 3 1/2" piece of Whisper White card stock with Smoky Slate ink.  I then used the onesie stamp from the Something For Baby stamp set on the other one.  I then cut it out with the Big Shot and the Baby's First Framelits.  I used dimensionals to pop the onesie.  I added a little heart with a rhinestone to give it a little bit of bling.  

I wrapped the two top layers with 5/8" Organza Ribbon and tied a bow.

This is going to be a short post as I am busy working on projects for my Open House tomorrow.  

Blog Candy Winner is Susan K!! Susan I have sent you an email with the details.  

Have a fabulous Friday and a great weekend.

Happy Stampin!

Joyce

To order the supplies needed for this project, just click the picture below. 

Something For Baby Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[134030]

Baby's First Framelits Die

[133735]

Something For Baby Clear-Mount Bundle

[136791]

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad

[131179]

Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad

[141395]

Rich Razzleberry 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[115316]

Sweet Sugarplum 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[141418]

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[100730]

Succulent Garden Designer Series Paper

[142778]

Whisper White 5/8" Organza Ribbon

[114319]

Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments

[119246]

Oh My Goodness!! How cute is this bear?  I feel in love with him the first time I saw him.  He looks so cuddly, which makes him a perfect stamp for baby cards or young children.  Heck, even for someone who loves teddy bears at any age.  

The first time I tried to make this card, I will be honest, I got very frustrated!  I couldn't get him lined up correctly, so it would come out blurry.  This stamp set is a 3 step stamp, which means you stamp him 3 different time with 3 different stamps.  One stamp is for a light color, one is for medium color and one is for a dark color.  That give the bear a more realistic look and some dimension.  

After many tries I was able to line him up because I figured out a little, ok no, a big tip on how to get all 3 stamps to line up correctly. What I was doing was lining up the bottom of the stamps, which is what you need to do.  However, you also need to like up under his armpits, where there is nothing stamped.  If you do that, it will come out perfect.  I really wish I knew that before I tried it 10 times.  LOL

To make this adorable little bear you will need the following items:

Early Espresso Card Stock #119686

• cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" score at 4 /4"
• cut at 3 1/2" x 3 1/2"

Pink Pirouette Card Stock #111351

• cut 2 at 4" x 5 1/4" one for the inside and one for the front of the card
• scrap piece to stamp the bow

Crumb Cake Card Stock #120953

• cut at 3 1/4" x 3 1/4"
• scrap piece to stamp "hello, baby"

The inks I used for this card are Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Blushing Bride and Pink Pirouette.  

It was easiest for me to go from the darkest color to lightest color to make the bear.  I first stamped #3 with Early Espresso, then #2 with Crumb Cake.  The ink I used for the #1 bear was Crumb Cake stamped off once.  Stamped off means that you ink up your stamp and stamp it on a scrap piece of paper.  Then you stamp on your card with it and it is a lighter version of the color you were using.  This is a great technique if you want to do shadows.  

For the bow I did the first step with Pink Pirouette and the second with Blushing Bride.  

Here are two displays of other colors you can make the bear with.  I don't know who did these, but sure am glad they shared!

There are a lot of different colors you can put together that aren't even on these two pictures.  Let you imagine go wild and see what you can come up with!!  Please share if you do, I would love to see them!

Thank you for stopping by today!

Happy Stampin!

Joyce 

My first card made with new products from the Annual Catalog!!!  I can't wait to use the other stamp sets I bought.  It is going to be fun!

My good friend, Robin, became a Grandma again when her daughter had her first baby.  I wanted to make a card to congratulate her on this momentous occasion.  I loved this hostess set, Love You Lots #141801, from the new Annual Catalog the minute I saw it.  It has the cutest elephant with a little mouse, frog, ladybugs and hedgehogs.  

I wanted to use the elephant and mouse for this card.  I did watercolor the elephant and mouse using basic gray, smokey slate and pink pirouette ink.  For the saying I used the Tin of Cards Stamp Set and the little booties are from Something For Baby.  

Here are the measurements for this card:

Dapper Denim Card Stock #141414

• cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" score at 4 1/4"

Soft Sky Card Stock #131203

• cut at 4" x 5 1/4"

Smokey Slate Card Stock #131202

• cut at 2 3/4" x 4"

Watercolor Paper #122959

• cut at 2 1/2" x 3 1/2"

I used the basic gray and smokey slate ink to watercolor the elephant and mouse.  On the mouse I did one extra step, I started with pink pirouette on the edges and then added the grays. It gave it a little more distinction from the elephant.  

To make the circles I used the 1 3/4" and 2" circle punches.  I stamped the image with the Dapper Denim ink on Soft Sky paper and used Dapper Denim for the 2" circle.

Have a fabulous week!

Happy Stampin!

Joyce

I totally forgot to add the picture on this post!  I was waiting until I put it in the mail and forgot to add it.  I think this would count as a big oops!!  Here is the card and I hope you enjoy it!

One of my friends, Angie, had a baby boy this week and I made her this card to help celebrate this special event. We are all so happy for their family.  She will be very busy now that she has 4 children, 3 boys and 1 girl.  I know Angie will do great, she is a wonderful mom!  

To make this card I used the following products:

Crumb Cake Card Stock cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" score at 4 1/4" and enough to stamp the lamb and punch it out 

Whisper White Card Stock cut at 4" x 5 1/4"

Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper cut at 2 x 5 1/4"

Early Espresso cut at  1' x 5 1/4" and enough to punch out the scalloped circle, oval and heart

Mint Macaron just scraps to cut out 3 hearts

To make this card you first need to use the hexagon embossing folder on the whisper white piece.  Then stamp the little lamb from the Easter Lamb #140740 using basic black archival ink on the crumb cake paper.  Punch it out using the 2 inch circle punch.  I colored the lamb using the mint macaron, pink pirouette, basic black and the white chalk markers.  

I then punched out early espresso paper out with the 2 3/8" scallop circle punch.  I attached the lamb to the early espresso scallop circle and put dimensionals on the back.  I put the early espresso stripe on the back of the designer series paper so you can see about 1/8" of the early espresso about the dsp.  This is then attached to the whisper white paper.  I used snail adhesive for my adhesive to put all of this on the crumb cake base.  

I stamped the Welcome Baby with the And Many More stamp set #134276 on whisper white with mint macaron ink and punched out with the large oval circle.  I also punched out the scalloped oval in the early espresso and put dimensionals on the back of it to give it some height.  I used the heart from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack and used mint macaron and early espresso paper.  

I sponged around the Welcome Baby with the Mint Macaron ink to soften the look a little.  I also put three hearts, the same colors as the front of the card, on the inside of the card.  

Hope you have a great day and thank you for stopping by!

Happy Stampin!

Joyce

I made this card for my Open House in January and knew I wanted to use it for my Baby/Wedding/Anniversary class.  This lamb from the Easter Lamb #140740 in the Occasions Catalog.  You can make the color of cardstock you use for the base and the piece where I stamped "congrats" (cottage greetings #139962) to make it a girl or boy card.  

I used blushing bride cardstock for the base cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" score at 4 1/4".  You will need the following paper to make this card. 

Mint Macaron 4 x 5 1/4"

Birthday Bouquet DSP 3 7/8" x 5 1/8" and 1 1/4" x 2 7/8"

Basic Gray 3 x 4 1/4" and 7/8" x 3

Crumb Cake 2 7/8 x 3 

Blushing Bride 1" x 3 3/4"

I colored the lamb with pink pirouette, mint macaron, black and white stampin chalk markers.  

If you would like to order any of the products I used to make this card, just click the picture below.  

Yesterday I had the honor of attending a baby/adoption shower for my friend Amanda.  Nathan, Amanda and their 3 children are adopting a beautiful girl, Joanna, from China.  We are all so excited for them and wanted to show them how much they are loved.  

I had so much fun making the card, gift card holder and tag for the bag.  I got my idea for the card from another demonstrator Debbie Henderson and the matchbox gift card holder from Mary Fish.  I love how Stampin' Up! demonstrator share their ideas.  You can learn so much from others.  

To make all three items I used the stamp set Something For Baby #134030, Teeny Tiny Wishes #127802 and Hardwood #133035.  The colors I used were Tip Top Taupe, Mint Macaron, Pink Pirouette and So Saffron.  I also used the Baby's First Framelits #133735.  

I got finished the card and gift card holder and realized I forgot to buy a bag to put them in, of course it was right before the shower.  I went looking in my stash of gift bags and found this cute little bag that was the same color as the card.  How lucky was that!!!!  The scallops on the bottom of the tag were made with a retired border punch.  

This is the front of the gift card holder.  I will definitely be making more of these, as you can decorate it for any occasion.  

 The card fits perfectly inside.  I couldn't have found a better design on the gift card as their  little one is a year old.