Stampin' Addicts Retiring Blog Hop - Little Friends

Welcome to Stampin' Addicts retiring stamps blog hop!!  We will be showcasing 13 of our most loved retiring stamp sets from the 2012-2013 Stampin' Up! Catalog.

If you are hopping in order you just came from Katherine's Magical Inkery Tour where she is featuring the set Kindness Matters .. didn't you just love her projects??  If you started here no worries at the bottom of this post there is the next link and we are all connected so you won't miss any of the greats projects!!

I decided I want to work with Little Friends as it's such a cute little set!!  It has been one of my favorites to use my water color crayons which are also retiring (sob)!!

This first card uses the little boy image .. cute!!  I kept this one pretty simple as it is more of a masculine card.  I currently do not have a saying attached to it as I'm not sure who will get this lovely card!!

 My  second card is very cheery ...perfect for a thinking of you card so I added the sentiment so many smiles. Who would have thought Tangerine Tango and Perfect Plum would look good together!!  This card is slightly smaller and measures 5x3.

The last project I have to share with you is a little gift box with a mini 3x3 tag card. Who doesn't love this image!?  I've had a puppy or two who has done this same thing with my kiddos.

I hope you enjoyed my projects; I know I enjoyed making them!!  Sad to see this set go but since I keep ALL my stamp sets I'll still have it.  Be sure to get yours before they are no longer available!!

The next stop on the hop is Adriana's escape2stamp where she has made some awesome projects using another one of favorite sets Need for Speed.  Happy Stamping!!

Zoo Review Zebra

Zoo Review has been a favorite set of mine and here is another card I made using the Zebra stamp.  I went with an unusual color scheme here by using Pumpkin Pie which really brightened up the card.  I stamped the Zebra with Staz On then added some more "color" to him my water color crayons.  Other than that it was just all about adding layers.  Happy Stamping!!

Decorating Metal Tins

I must confess I bought about a hundred of these thin metal tins and have been hoarding them for who knows what! But I did manage to decorate on for a little gift. I used the retired set Just Buzzin' By ... one of my favorite sets. (I know I know I say that all the time!!) I water colored the hive and bee with the water color crayons and then used my aqua painter to add a bit of shimmer paint to the hive. I used some of that dreaded paper paisley petals but it works well here!! I used lots of different embellishments to pull the whole thing together. Happy Stamping!!

Hexagon Box - Easy Events Style

I shared a while back my tutorial for the hexagon box and here was the actual original one I made waaaay back in June when I was busy making my swaps for convention (yes I am still behind in sharing those projects)! I used the set Easy Events using the Rubber Duck image ... which I think is just too cute!! I stamped him with staz on then water colored the image with the water color crayons and my markers. Other than that just follow the tutorial to put the box together and you are all set. Happy Stamping!!

Easy Events - Duck

This was a swap card I made for convention ... yup I'm still trying to catch up projects I made last year. Kind of a good thing as I have been a little too busy this year. I thought the little duck image from Easy Events was the perfect image to make a welcome baby card! I wanted the card to be universal so I used Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, and Early Espresso for my color scheme. I water colored my duck with the water color crayons and then darkened the colors a bit with my markers. I used the perfect pennants die to make the the scallop circle. then added some ribbon and pearls! Happy Stamping!!

Send Me Soaring Kite Card

I want to give a closer look to the projects I made for the blog hop. The first I wanted to go over was the monochrome blue kite card. I stamped the background elements first and then watercolored the clouds with my water color crayons to give them dimension. The I added the polka dotted kite which I stamped with pacific point then ran my aqua painter over it to change the white dots to be blue. Then attached it to the card with dimensionals. I punched out circles and then sponged them with my white craft pad to make them pop more. The DSP I ran my sanding block along the sides to show the white. Lastly I added the strip with the wish big saying with some white brads to pull the card all together. Hope you enjoyed the card as much as I did!! Happy Stamping!!

Fall Where?

Well it's officially winter here I think we only had one week of fall here before it started snowing! I was hoping for a much longer fall season! Here's a card I made for a friend. It uses the gently falling set from the current mini. I got this color combo from the handy dandy color coach ... I don't think I would have normally put these colors together but they sure are pretty! I water colored the leave with my water color crayons and then added the gold shimmerry color with smooch pearlized ink ( I forget to use those) it adds a nice golden sheen! Happy Stamping!


ETA: I had a couple of questions on the color palette and they are Pear Pizzaz, More Mustard and Cajun Craze.

Holiday Wraps

Here is a swap card I made using the sets It's a Wrap Holidays and Gently Falling. I really like the combination of these two sets together. I like to use darker richer tones when making most of my falls cards and this one is definitely along those lines. I stamp the give thanks three times and then made some leaves to accent over two of them. I stamped the leaves and then used my water colors crayons to add more color and then of course watercolored some shimmer paint over to give them some sheen. Happy Stamping!

Stampin' Addicts Big Shot Blog Hop - Candy Wrapper Die

Welcome to Stampin' Addicts Big Shot blog hop where we are featuring some of the different big shot dies as well as a few accessories. I know I use my big shot on just about every project I make!! It's my most loved and well used "toy"!

If you are following the hop in order then you just came from Betty's site Kitty Stamp where she featured some great projects using the blossom box die. She sure has inspired me to get my die out and actually use it!!

On my stop I am showcasing the Candy Wrapper die and each of my projects show you ways to use your die in nontraditional ways. I love coming up with ways to use my dies in an alternate fashion.

Below is my first project and it is perfect for this time of the year, I know Fall is in full swing here (and a bit of winter) and is my favorite time of the year!

I made this using the Gently Falling stamp set as well as the perfect pennants die. Doesn't look like candy wrapper die does it. I used two partial candy wrapper pieces to make this darling little box similar to how I altered the Milk Carton die. To give the leaves the dimension of color I first stamp the main image and then used my water color crayons and markers to add additional color and I also watercolor some shimmer paint to them to add a bit of sparkle.

This next project is perfect for Halloween treats! Who doesn't love Halloween AND Treats?!!?

For this one I did the same technique to elongate my die as I did when I extended my matchbox die. I used the set Wicked Cool and made the little lolly which you can pull off and save after all the treats are gone and hang on a little Halloween tree.

Lastly I came up with this fun sparkly Christmas basket.

Besides the Candy Wrapper die I also used the Stocking Accents die to decorate the basket. I used two entire pieces to create the base of the basket, I flipped the bottom ends to make the basket base and flipped top ends over the sides to give my basket some fun depth. I also slide some out that wonderful glitter paper underneath the flaps to really make it sparkle!!

I hope you like my projects and have found a few new ways to use your Candy Wrapper die. Now hop on over to Sara's site Lily's Ink Pad and fun projects using the Milk Carton die!! Happy Stamping!

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Simply Soft

This was a quick little card I made for the secret sister swap I do over at spilcoast. I stamped the main image and then watercolored the flowers with my watercolor crayons and then had to add a bit of shimmer paint to them to make them sparkle. I love this color combo but I think that's because I partial to anything purple! Happy Stamping!

Display Stamper - Easy Events Baby Card

This way actually the very first card I put together for my submissions and was my favorite of them all!! This one I made with some scraps I had sitting out on my desk .... I seem to do that a lot!! I stamped the main image then added a few more wave lines to make them longer. I watercolored the image with my watercolor crayons, then I darkened a few spots with my markers to get a more textured look. I added a bit of yellow scallops to the back to help tie in the colors, then added the brads and ribbon to pull it all in together. It would be a perfect card as an announcement or really anything baby related. Happy Stamping!!

Display Stamper - Easy Events Clock

I really like this image from Easy Events and at first I had no idea how to use it, I had the image stamped and all colored before I even knew what I was going to do with it. I think it sat on my desk that way for a couple weeks before I finally figured it out. Basically I picked out a few different scraps I had that matched they way I colored it and played with them until I came out with this layout. It's really simple but very cute! Happy Stamping!

Zoo Review - Polar Bear Card

Here's a closer look at my Polar Bear card. This one was my fav ... it just has so much sparkle. I used my Northern Flurry EF on the base of the card and then sponged a bit of Marina Mist on the raised part to pop them a bit more. Then I tore up a bit of Marina mist and Whisper White card stock to get the snowy hills. But it need something more some i ran my crystal effects along the edges and sprinkled on some mica flakes to give is that sparkly look. I stamped my polar bear on shimmery white cardstock with staz on and used Sahara Sand watercolor crayon to add dimension to him. I also cut the bag leg from the front leg and used dimensionals to pop up the front leg to show some movement. Added a few rhinestones and this card was good to go! Happy Stamping!

Stampin' Addicts New Catalog Hop - Zoo Review

Welcome to Stampin' Addicts New Catalog Blog hop! Now that you have had a little bit of time to look at our new catty and pick all your favorites we thought it would be a good idea to share with you some of ours!!

If you are following the hop in order you just came from Tinkerin In Ink with Tanya! Didn't she make the cutest things with Dinoraor! But don't worry if you are starting here the links at the bottom will get you going!

One of the first sets I had to have from this catalog was Zoo Review ... love this set!! It'll be perfect for scrapping my zoo pics as they are a bit more realistic than I have seen lately. But today I won't be showing any scrapbook pages but instead a few cards and a cute little box. I found it kinda funny that a lot of people didn't really like this set so hopefully these will change their minds!

My first card is this masculine card ... that Lion is rather intimidating dontcha think? This card has a lot of textures to it which makes pretty cool!

This was actually the first card I put together. The lucky limeade sure adds a bit of pop to this card as well as the bit of fabric!

This one is my favorite and in person boy does this sparkle and the layers are just perfect!

Last but not least is this little box ... can you guess what die it's made out of? The milk carton! How cool it that!?! I made a box similar to this for a treat swap at convention and if you come back to my blog I put together s little tutorial on how to make it! Just sign up for email subscription and you'll know when it gets posted (it's on the right hand side or on my banner)! Don't forget to become a follower too!

Now that you've added this set to your must have lists are you ready to see what Kim made over at Stitchin in Stampin on Paper. She used the Raining Flowers Stamp set we got at convention and her projects are too cute! I have a bunch of samples to show that I made for the convention display boards using that set, as well as a few others, and I'll be sharing those later next month. I had a lot more fun with that set than I thought I would!! Happy Stamping!

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