Stampin' Up! Valentine

Today is a quick post because my Financial Adviser is coming to visit to help me get a new account set up. I have so many things to take care of in the craft room and my card inventory is a mess. So, instead of creating a puppy card, I decided to show you the last of the cards we made when I hosted the card group last Thursday. It is a very simple CASE of Jaimie's card. She is one of my teammates and very creative. You can see her card on our Happy Inkin' Thursday Blog Hop. She used current product and I used retired SU product and a Darice embossing folder.

Thanks for stopping by and tomorrow I should have that puppy card up and running!

Stampin' Up! Nine Lives

Woo hoo...if you are following me, you will be pleased to see I'm not using Lasting Lily again today...lol. I told you yesterday I would have something better today...and here he is...let me introduce you to Lord Chesterfield, a/k/a Chester.

My followers know that on 12/22/18 we lost our precious Tini (a/k/a Martini) suddenly and unexpectedly. She was 9 and a Tuxedo polydactyl kitty. My son's heart was broken, especially after having lost his father the month before. He needed another kitty to love but I was enjoying not having to vacuum up half a cat every other day!

Friday, January 11, I caved! He had his eye on just what he was looking for so we went to the store and that cat had been adopted (along with all the other rescued cats). We stopped at several other pet stores and there was no one for us. We went home, had lunch and then drove to the Animal Rescue Center near us. We took a tour of the facilities and then met all the cats that were up for adoption. 

I fell in love with "Mindy" until we were told she was a biter. Gene fell in love with a kitten. We have leather furniture and there was no way I was going to give into that. 

Then we met "Rizzo". He took to us and we took to him! He was 4, a Tuxedo, and was declawed. A family had adopted him a few weeks before and after 6 days returned him because their other cat could not get along with him. Well, he was meant to be ours! We knew on the ride home that we had made the right decision. As you can see from the pics, Chester has made himself right at home and is training us to cater to all his wishes! He is such a sweet boy and craves affection. We have a lot to give!!

My son has named all his cats after alcoholic beverages. He has never been without a cat since he was 7. He has had Butterscotch (inherited from his sister who married and left home); Michelob (Micki), Midori (Dori), Jagermeister (Jager) and Martini (Tini). Well, Rizzo...from the Muppets, Grease or Midnight Cowboy was not going to work for us so we re-named him after the beer my late husband and our son loved to drink. It's a Yuengling beer from PA.  Here's a pic of Tini sitting atop of a case of Lord Chesterfield ale . 

Perry and Tini would have loved Chester too.

To honor Chester's arrival, I made this card...

I used my Buffalo Check stamp and the Nine Lives stamp to create a monochromatic card. I also used white twine and black twine as I wanted to make it look like two panels. The sentiment is punched out with the Everyday Label punch and the edges are sponged with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink (how appropriate!).

I'm playing at International Art & Soul Ch #49 Cats and/or Dogs today, which is a site that is just for fun...and what's more fun than a playful kitty? a playful dog? ... maybe tomorrow!

Thank you for visiting me today and I hope you'll be back tomorrow.

Partial List of Products Used:

Nine Lives Photopolymer Stamp Set [148703] $16.00	Buffalo Check Clear-Mount Stamp Set [147794] $15.00	Basic Black Solid Baker's Twine [141682] $3.00
Everyday Label Punch [144668] $18.00	Stamparatus [146276] $49.00

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Stampin' Up! Healing Hugs Meets Lasting Lily

Good Sunday morning, peeps. Are you getting tired of seeing this stamp set? I'm not tired of using it yet so hang in there with me! I thought I was going to create it in Daffodil Delight, but Fab Friday led me in another direction! I hope you'll get a chance to visit their site. The design team created some marvelous cards.

In the meantime, here's what I created for their challenge. 

I was inspired by Jackie Bolhuis' and Liza Handerhan.

My card base is Whisper White. I cut a piece of Mint Macaron the same size as the card front. I cut the oval out with the Layering Oval dies using the largest one in the set. Then I ran the panel through my Big Shot with the Pinewood Planks DTIEF.

I laid the panel in my Stamparatus and arranged all my stamps to fit inside the oval according to my liking. I removed the panel and placed a piece of Whisper White the same size as the card front in the same location. 

With my Lemon Lime Twist Stampin' Write Marker, I colored the spadix in each spathe. (Say that ten times fast!) and stamped. Then I used a sponge dauber to color the spathes in Highland Heather and the stems/leaves in Pear Pizzazz. I trimmed the panel an 1/8" on each side. I then adhered the Mint Macaron front to the art panel with mini Dimensionals and glued the whole thing to the card front.

I used the Petals and More Thinlits to cut the Tranquil Tide filigree (2 times). I glued the two pieces together to put behind my sentiment. I used  Tranquil Tide ink to stamp the sentiment from Healing Hugs. I used one of the dies from Petals and More to cut it out and adhered it with Dimensionals.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you'll come back tomorrow...I promise it won't be another lily...it's even better!

Stampin' Up! Lasting Lily No. 2

Welcome back, peeps. The other night I posted a card we made at our group. There were 5 different colors to choose from: Highland Heather (Thursday's card), Grapefruit Grove (today's card), Daffodil Delight, Lemon Lime Twist and Balmy Blue (upcoming posts).

My card today is a CASE of Mary Fish and I thank her for her inspiration.

This was my first attempt to get the stamps lined up perfectly on my Stamparatus. As you can see, my perfectionism fell short but I wasn't going to throw the card away! Even with my previous card I still want to do some tweaking on the base of the flower.

The sentiment was die cut from the Stitched Labels Framelits Dies. The dies in that set are wonderful but under utilized! Again, because of the stitching, I am playing at Alphabet Challenge - U is for Use Some Stitching-Real or Faux for the second time. For the first time, I am playing at Festive Friday Challenge #FF0025, which involves stitching.

Thank you for stopping by today and I wonder which color I will choose for tomorrow...it will be a surprise even for me!

Stampin' Up! Beautiful Bouqet Sentiment Meets Flowery Pink and Grey Challenge

Hidey ho neighbor...remember who said that? You do if you watched Home Improvement!

My card today is one we made at card group yesterday. Again my card-making friends had their choice of colors: Lemon Lime Twist, Night of Navy, Berry Burst, Fresh Fig, Powder Pink, and Tranquil Tide. The paper we used is retired but you can substitute with any flowery paper you want. I posted the Night of Navy one I did a few days ago and you can view it here.

As you can see, I CASEd my own card using Powder Pink and different vellum. I also found my retired Tags and Labels dies so that made the tags a heck of a lot easier!

I must admit, I like this one better than the Navy one I made. Since this was created like the Navy, I won't give any instructions. However, I will give measurements today. I wish I had taken pics of the ones created in the other colors. The ladies did a marvelous job and I think they enjoyed themselves. I know I did!

Today I am participating in three challenges:

The Flower Challenge #28 - Pink and Grey

The Card Concept Pink Party #106

I consider my style for the Card Concept, Clean and Layered and I hope they agree!

and again at WWC203 - Karen's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Thanks for stopping by and I'd love it if you'd leave a comment. I'm a hobby demonstrator so I still use retired products BUT if you don't have a demonstrator and would like to purchase current products, just click on the tab above my post...it will take you directly to my online store.

Measurements (in inches):

Card Base: 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 scored and folded at 4 1/4
Floral Bouquet DSP Mat: 5 1/4 x 4
DSP Silver Foil Vellum: 3 3/4 x 4
Silver Foil Tag: 2 x 3
Whisper White Tag: 2 x 3
Whisper White Cotton Twine: 6"

Stampin' Up! Lasting Lily

This morning I should have been hopping with the Inkin' Krew but I totally forgot that my card was to be made using a color challenge. Needless to say, I couldn't be part of the hop. I didn't even have it written down on my planner...boo, hiss! Next Thursday, I'll do better.

So what was occupying my mind this week? Glad you asked...I was getting ready to host our card group and I was making up kits for 9 ladies...4 kits each AND two of the kits were custom made as I let them pick the colors they wanted to use. We had a special guest, Jari Francis, a former Inkin' Krew member...what a delight! We all enjoyed Chicken Spinach Tortellini soup and a spinach, beet, orange, sunflower seed salad. Chocolate cookies and lemon cookies were compliments of my sister-in-law.

The card I'm showing you tonight was my demo card. I CASEd Amy's card, which you can see here...and now mine...

My card base is Highland Heather with a mat of Gingham Gala DSP in the same color. The art panel was stamped in Highland Heather and Mint Macaron. I used my Stamparatus to line up all the images. I then ran the art panel through my Big Shot, using the Subtle DTIEF (Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder). I wrapped a piece of matching Organdy ribbon around the panel and mat once they were adhered together. Then I adhered that to the card base. 

To finish off the card front, I used my Layering Ovals Framelits and Stitched Shapes Framelits for the sentiment and mat. Because stitching is involved, I decided to play at Alphabet Challenge Blog: U is for Use Some Stitching-Real or Faux. Karen has an All About Occasions Challenge at Watercooler Wednesday where I am playing too.

Thank you for stopping by and if you would like further info about how I made the card, just let me know in a comment.

Partial List of Products Used:

Lasting Lily Photopolymer Stamp Set [149717] $0.00	Gingham Gala 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper [148554] $11.00	Subtle Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [143706] $10.00
Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372] $30.00	Layering Ovals Framelits Dies [141706] $35.00

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Stampin' Up! Nine Lives for Amy's Inkin' Krew Love Themed Blog Hop

January 2019...wow! You are in for 12 wonderful installments of the Inkin' Krew themed hops. This month Amy has given us "Love" as our theme. We can interpret that any way we want and we can use any products we want.

I have decided to use the Nine Lives stamp set from the new 2019 Occasions catalog.

If you follow my blog, you know we lost our beloved Martini (Tini) on December 22. She definitely left paw prints on our hearts. We are hoping the Lord will bring another polydactyl kitty into our lives who likes to be held and only scratches at the scratching posts! Tini never scratched at anything other than those. BUT she did not like to be held even though she was loving! They all have their own personalities, that's for sure.

There are several "Critter" challenges out there so I thought, "Why not play along in honor of Tini?"

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge #22 and
• The Paper Players PP423 - A Theme Challenge from Ann

My card base is Grapefruit Grove with a mat of Calypso Coral and panels of Grapefruit Grove Gingham DSP and Whisper White card stock. 

I die cut the edged strip, from a Whisper White scrap, with a die from the Delicate Lace Edgelits Dies and glued it to the back of the Calypso Coral mat. 

The kitty is a two-step stamp. Using Basic Gray ink, I stamped the outline of her after I had stamped the striped body. I tried stamping the outline first, then the body but my way seemed to get the best result. I punched the kitty out with the cat punch and mounted her with Dimensionals on the next-to-largest Stitched Frame circle die. I also used Dimensionals on the back of the circle to adhere it to the panels. Before I did that, I stamped the sentiment in Calypso Coral and the hearts in Grapefruit Grove inks on the Whisper White panel. 

I adhered the panels to the mat and wrapped a piece of Calypso Coral Ombre Ribbon between the two panels to hide the seam and taped the ends to the back of the mat. Then I adhered the mat to the card base. Fini! I want to thank Janet Wakeland for her inspiration.

I have not decided what I'm going to do with the inside. This card could be for my son's birthday, January 17, and perhaps his present will be a real live kitty. That would ease his heartache! His true love does have four paws!

Thanks for stopping by today. Clicking on the "next" button will take you to Amy Koenders. Clicking on the "previous" button will take you to Connie Troyer. If you like, you can also click on each name on the list below. Have fun hopping!

1. Shirley Gentry:
2. Jaimie Babarczy:
3. Julie Johnston:
4. Karen Ksenzakovic:
5. Mary Deatherage:
6. Sue Prather:
7. Connie Troyer:
8. Karen Finkle: you are here!
9. Amy Koenders:

Measurements and Partial List of Product Used:

Card Base: 4 1/4" x 11", scored and folded at 5 1/2"
Calypso Coral Mat: 3 1/4" x 5 1/4"
Gingham DSP: 1" x 5"
Whisper White sentiment panel: 1 3/4" x 5"
Scrap of Whisper White for cat
Scrap of Grapefruit Grove for circle
Lace Edge Whisper White Scrap: 1" x 5 1/4" long
Ribbon: 6 1/2"

Nine Lives Photopolymer Stamp Set [148703] $16.00	Cat Punch [144666] $18.00	Delicate Lace Edgelits Dies [147053] $29.00
Gingham Gala 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper [148554] $11.00	Calypso Coral 1/4" Ombre Ribbon [144235] $7.00

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com