In its 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog, Stampin' Up! promotes its Blossom Builders Kit as one that will allow us to layer up one-of-a-kind flowers.  So, with today's card, that's just what I did! 

     I also made the card in response to the Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition Sketch Challenge today.  While I rarely take a sketch challenge literally, this time there were two flowers in the sketch, and I used that as my opportunity to use the heretofore unused (at least in Robin's Craft Room) Blossom Builders kit!

     Besides the Blossom Builders Kit, I also used the Hat Pins, some of the Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine, the Mixed Bunch Stamp Set, and the Blossom Punch – all from the Occasions Mini Catalog.  Oh, and I can't forget the Labels Framelit!  I can't stop using them!!!  The colors in this card are predominantly Poppy Parade and Lucky Limeade, so I decided to use the Poppy Parade Stitched Poly Ribbon for the ribbon accent.  Poppy Parade is a 2010 – 2012 Stampin' Up! In Color, so it won't be around for many more months.  I'm going to try to use as much of this as possible before it's retired the first of June this year.  Lucky Limeade will be around for another year, but I still used some of the Patterns Designer Series Paper in that color for the paper on the right side of the card.  Fun stuff, that Patterns paper!

     The addition of the Baker's Twine to this card is an idea that I got from looking at the samples in the Occasions Mini Catalog.  Using the samples in the catalogs is a great way to get your creative juices flowing when they seem to be stagnating a bit as mine have been this week.  Now I'm ready to go at some more projects – including my project for the Create With Connie and Mary Occasions Edition Week 4 next week!  It's not too late to subscribe to this fantastic edition of Create with Connie and Mary!  You never miss a project – they're all there for you from day 1, no matter when you sign up! 

     So – off to finish up my blog post for Monday, my assigned day for the Occasions Edition.  You just don't know what you're missing if you haven't subscribed!

     I may have mentioned that I'm going to become a Great Aunt to two babies this spring.  Next month one nephew will be welcoming a baby boy, and in June – for the first time in decades! – my side of the family, courtesy of another nephew and his wife, will be welcoming a baby girl!  My niece, Margie, who is a 30-something, has been the only girl baby in our family since the day she was born.  She indicates that she is more than ready to give up that honor. 

     So I'd better start shifting into "pink" mode for some of my cards and projects!  I have plenty of blue stuff in storage, and now I need to get cracking to welcome a baby girl.  She may not want pink down the road a bit.  But for now, this Great Aunt will be making pink!

     The paper with those darling little birds is from the Designer Series Paper set, Nursery Nest.  I cut it with the Circle Scissors Plus, and mounted it on a card made with the Scallop Circle Bigz Die.  But before I did, I attached a piece of the Blushing Bride 3/8" Pleated Satin Ribbon behind it.  This ribbon does so well going around corners!  I love it for a lot of its characteristics, but I think this is my favorite.

     To set off the greeting (from Teeny Tiny Wishes), I included a Scallop Circle punched with the 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, which I then embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder.  And after I adhered everything together, I added some of the Twitterpated Designer Buttons. Both the Pleated Ribbon and the Twitterpated Designer Buttons are from the Stampin' Up! 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog, which will be around until the end of April.  I'm thinking that these not only look like baby colors, they look like Easter colors!  So I'm sure you'll be seeing them here again!

     Whoever it is for whom you're creating something this week, I hope you have as much fun – and wear as big a smile – doing it as I had making this card!

Aloha, all!

     Not only is this my card for the Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition Challenge, it's a birthday card for my granddaughter, Morgan, who will turn 9 tomorrow!  She is such the little lady now, and I just know that she'll love all the fun stuff from the Stampin' Up! 2012 Sale-a-bration Catalog!  I can remember being so excited when the Build-a-Bear Workshop images came out and I was excited to be using those.  Somehow I figured that they would be good for her for years.  Not so!  She's into the feminine, now!

     And are these colors not just perfect for that "Celebrate" greeting?!  The stamp set is called Outlined Occasions, and I just love outlined stamps so that I can color them in.  Can you tell that I'm really a 9-year old at heart myself?  Give me markers, and I'll use them just like I used my crayons back in grammar school (oh, can you tell my real age?  It's "elementary" school these days, isn't it?).  I'm even critical of myself when I color outside the lines!  Oh, for heaven's sake, I can't just let go of Mrs. Matson's pointing out when I did that in 3rd grade! 

     But enough of the reminiscences.  The colors in the Sale-a-brations products this year are just fabulous!  And the Create with Connie and Mary challenge picked up my favorites among them for this color challenge:  Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Peach Parfait and Calypso Coral. The Limeade and Coral Colors are featured in the ribbons – they're 1/8" wide Organdy Ribbon, and they tie like a dream.  And they're oh so frilly, perfect for this card for a little girl! 

     Now my little "secret" about this card.  It's been put together and pulled apart again. (Boy, have I learned to do that well!)  I originally had the layers with the greetings down a little bit on the card.  But when I stood back and looked at it, I realized that the Poppy Parade brad (also from the Sale-a-bration Catalog) would look oh so much better if I placed it as if it were the center of the flower.  So I broke out the bone folder and pried that layer off (it was adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals, so not much to pry off) and moved it up a skosh. Much better.

     Kind of like coloring outside the lines – gotta have those layers lined up just right.  I have GOT to get a life!  

     Speaking of getting a life – I have been ooohing and aaahing over all the projects at the Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition, and I have just got to make the time go DO something with them!  They are truly fabulous, from simple to complex and with so many styles.  It's not to late for you, too, to register!  We're only just finishing Week 2 and you'll have access to everything since the beginning – and all the rest of the next 4 weeks of projects – for a full year!  Plenty of time to have fun with all those projects yourself!

     But no matter what you do this week, have fun with it – and don't worry about coloring outside the lines.

     This week's challenge over at the Stampin' Up! Only Challenge blog is to make a project with my favorite product from the 2012 Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini Catalog.  My FAVORITE?  How do I pick a favorite????

     Well, as you can see by this card, I cheated a bit.  I started out thinking that the Twitterpated Designer Series Paper was my favorite.  But which sheet?  Ah – three of them.  OK, so I took the three, punched them with the 1" Square Punch and made a pieced design.  But that was kind of plain.  So off I went to find the new Labels Collection Sizzix Framelits to cut the pieced section.  Nice!  I also used the same label framelit to cut a piece of Riding Hood Red Card Stock to use as a mat.  Now that should make THIS my favorite, right? 

     Ah, not so quick.  I just had to spruce up the little squares, and what better embellishment to use than the Twitterpated Designer Buttons.  Hmmm.  Maybe that's my favorite.  But then I realized that this card didn't have an appropriate sentiment.  So off I went to find the sentiment from the Loving Thoughts Stamp Set.  Nice!  But what to use to stamp on?  Ah, I went off to yet another favorite, that label stamp in the Take It To Heart Stamp Set!  Another possibility for a favorite.

     But then I realized that the card base of Blushing Bride Card Stock looked much too plain.  Embossing is always in style, and we have that fab new Adorning Accents Embossing Folder with all the hearts on it!  Wow, what a difference that made – times two!  But still too plain in the middle of the card.  Ah – maybe it's the Pleated Satin Ribbon that's my favorite!  It even sits so nicely without having to be tucked under anything when you snip off a piece of the back of a pleat – even better when you use TWO pieces of the ribbon and have them facing in opposite directions behind the central motif!

     Update to answer a question:  When snipping off a piece of the back of the ribbon isn't an option – for example, when that would make the ribbon too short – I cut the ribbon a bit longer than I want it to be.  Then I use my paper snips to cut the thread holding the last pleat in place.  Finally, I tuck the flat piece that I just made under the strip of ribbon, keeping the ribbon the length that I want it, and trimming the piece on the back down to about 1/4."  I adhere the ribbon to the card with Sticky Strip.  In some cases (a project I’m working on right now needed this) I use a mini glue dot to keep that tucked piece in place.

     OK – how many "favorites" is that?  SEVEN!  I give up – I can't name my favorite!  Oh, the shame of it being so indecisive!  I just may have to go make something with Bordering on Romance to get my spirits up.   Hmmm.  Maybe I should have made that……  No; we'll just leave this whole thing where it sits now!

     I hope you're better at figuring out YOUR favorite than I am.  And then go post a link to your card on SUO Challenges!

     Where have I been all week?  All over Hawaii's Big Island!  We have family visiting and my husband and I have been playing tour guide.  Of course, this is play and not work.  There's so much to see on our island, and I love showing it off to people who are new here, and I always learn something new myself along the way.

     But also along the way, I had some time to make a card for the first weekend challenge of the Create With Connie and Mary Occasions Edition!  On the other hand, I was almost late with it because, well, I haven't had much craft time!  So when I got that reminder on my computer that it was due in 2 hours, was I surprised – and panicked!  But it all turned out well because I had all the "stuff" from the 2012 Occasions mini out that I'd been using to make my projects for the subscription.  (It's still not too late to subscribe!  Everything is available to everyone who subscribes – you never miss a thing no matter when you subscribe!)

     But I digress (happens to me more than most, I think).

     I'm not sure which part of this card is my favorite.  OK, I'll confess that I really loved cutting up the front of the Designer Cuts Card and doing something different with it.  I actually did something different with the Designer Cuts Cards in my Week 1 project for the Occasions Edition, but this wasn't it.  So I've been having fun with them – and not using them in any traditional manner at all!

     I have to tell you that I'm loving using Riding Hood Red!  Up until Christmas, I hadn't been using it much at all.  Then Stampin' Up! started making it a part of some gorgeous Designer Series Paper sets, and I was hooked on the color all over again much as I had been when it first came out.  This time around, I am so loving the look in the printed papers that are part of the Twitterpated Designer Series Paper set.  This is actually the first time that I used the darker of the floral patterns in a project.  I liked the pastels so much that I've been overlooking this print.  Now I wish I had more sheets of it!

     This is also the first time that I've matted the Labels Collection Framelits like this.  I cut the same size for the mat as for the stamped layer, and then cut the mat in half and have it peeking out at the top and bottom of the stamped layer.  With a little more effort I could have made it peek out at the sides, too.  But I'd put in just about as much effort as I could for this project before I had to go play tour guide again!

     Except for the card stock and the Little Leaves Sizzlit, everything in this card is from the Occasions Mini Catalog!  It's a great mini catalog, and I'm really looking forward to using more and more of its products as the next couple of months go on!  If you don't have a copy of the mini, yet, be sure to let me know and I'll get one right out to you!

     We're off doing our last weekend of touring this morning – to the south side of the island, hopefully to see some green sea turtles basking on the black sand beaches of Punalu'u.  I love living in Hawaii!  I hope you love living where you are – and will have lots of fun with whatever you're doing this weekend!

     One of my hobbies used to be painting with watercolors.  I took several years of lessons, but that was ages ago, and I probably have forgotten more about how to use watercolor than I remember.  Nonetheless, I have had the Stampin' Up! Watercolor Wonder Crayons in my craft room since back when you could buy all the colors at once in a big tin (awhile ago!).  And even though I hadn't used them in a long time, when the new Stampin' Up! color families came out in 2010, I went ahead and ordered the updated colors of the crayons.

     Yesterday, for the first time since I ordered them, I opened them up.  In fact, when I went to the drawer in which I keep the crayons and the Watercolor Pencils, I was surprised to have to remove the paper from the packaging and then find that there were only 3 or 4 crayons in the boxes I opened!  It took awhile to remember that that's how they came back when we were able just to purchase updates for our collections.  So I think that I'm comfortable with my Stampin' Up! Only Challenge entry for the week!  The challenge was to use a new technique – or one that you've not used in a long while.  Using Watercolor Wonder Crayons with an Aquapainter certainly meets that criterion!

     The stamp set that I used for my card is one that cries out to be watercolored!  It's the set, Bordering on Romance from the Stampin' Up! 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog, and its line art is perfect for this.  For my stamped image, I combined two of the stamps to make an L-shaped image and then went after the watercolors.  I started the pink flowers with Pretty in Pink and then started adding in a big of Riding Hood Red.  I let the Riding Hood Red bleed into the Pretty in Pink for the start, and then added just a bit more at the centers when the paint had dried.  For the leaves, I laid down a base of Wild Wasabi and then some darker accents with Always Artichoke.  For the blue, I started with Baja Breeze and, just in the larger flowers, accented that color with Night of Navy. 

     It's a lot of fun making card fronts with the new Sizzix Framelits with their wonderful curves and overall shapes!  For this card, I used two of the shapes from the Labels Collection Framelits.  They cut into the Watercolor Paper beautifully – just in case you were wondering!  I accented the card with the larger lable framelit and Riding Hood Red (nice touch to bring out the Riding Hood Red in the coloring). 

     I tied the whole thing together with ribbon (what a surprise), this time Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, and accented that with one of the Trinket Hearts, also from the Occasions Mini Catalog.

     Fun card!  I hope whatever you do with your crafting today, you have just as much fun!  And maybe you can even share a project with the Stampin' Up! Only Challenge Team!

     With all that I'm doing the next few weeks, I decided I had to take some time this morning to show off some of the products from the brand new Stampin' Up! 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog.  On the other hand, it had to be quick because I'm already behind on so many new year's projects and it's only the 4th!!!

     Believe me, this was quick – and it was fun on top of it!  The basic card design was one that was featured in this month's magazine for Stampin' Up! Demonstrators as something we could easily demonstrate at a workshop.  They were right, even though I had to think for a few minutes because I wanted the colors and design just a tad different from those in the magazine.

     What really makes this easy are the two brand new products from the Occasions Mini Catalog that I used:  the stamp set, Mixed Bunch, and the brand new punch made just for the stamp set (or is it the other way around??), the Blossom Punch.  There are three big flowers in the stamp set, and this shows off just one of them.  I'll be getting to the other two before long, I hope!

     The card base is Sahara Sand, and the colors that I used to stamp the flowers were (left to right) Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, and Tangerine Tango.  I stamped the Peach Parfait and Tangerine Tango flowers on So Saffron Card Stock, and the Poppy Parade flower on Peach Parfait Card Stock.  The center image on each flower is also from the Mixed Bunch Stamp Set and cuts perfectly with the 1" Circle Punch. 

     To finish this quick and easy card off, I punched some Whisper White Card Stock with the Scallop Edge Border Punch, then quickly colored in some circles using Poppy Parade Stampin' Write Marker, the Paper Piercing Template from Stampin' Up!'s Mat Pack.  I trimmed the Whisper White Card stock and mounted it on a strip of Poppy Parade Card Stock.  The sentiment is from the stamp set, Petite Pairs, and I just had to punch it with the Postage Stamp Punch.  I've been dying to do that to a sentiment with the word, "Sending," in it!  I tied on a little bow with Linen Thread.

     The one thing that's not quite evident from the photo is that I made my card base 5-1/4" wide rather than 5-1/2" so that I could let the flowers hang off the edges a bit, yet still allow the card to fit in a standard A2 envelope (Stampin' Up!'s Medium Envelope). 

     OK – I've had my fun for the day, now back to work.  Hmmm.  Actually, my "work" IS fun!  How many people get to say that?  It's easy when you're a Stampin' Up! demonstrator!  Hope you're having fun today, too!

     Earlier in the week, I shared a sample of a Thank You card that I'd made with all NEW products – from the 2012 Sale-a-Bration catalog.  But today I'm taking a hint from fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator (and my 2nd upline) Sandy Hancock, and using up some of my left over Christmas paper to make those Thank You notes!

     This was a quick card that I made last night with scraps from the Letters to Santa Designer Series Paper that is featured in the 2012 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog.  While you and I know it came from Christmas paper, there's no design that requires it to be used on a Christmas card (no santas or ornaments).  But sending it out this time of the year, with red and green as the main color, still feels holiday-ish to me!

     The red here is Riding Hood Red and the green is Old Olive.  The Taffeta Ribbon is also Riding Hood Red.  My first go round with this card had the background Riding Hood Red Card Stock looking awfully plain, so I pulled out the Snow Burst Textured Impressions Embossing Folder to give it a bit more interest.  Good News – this Embossing Folder will still be available after the Holiday Mini expires next week!

     Here is the sketch that I used for this card.  It's not a new sketch, but it's been awhile since I used it.  I just love having sketches around and this one was on page 43 of my 2010 Greeting Card Layout eBook, which is still available on a CD.  Just check over on the right for more information about both of my Card Layout eBooks!  Of course, the sketch in the eBook has all the measurements included!

     I hope you're having fun making your own Thank You cards after a fun holiday season!  I still have a couple more to make and hope to be able to share them before the year is out!

     Aaaaahhhh!  While I do love Christmas, it is SOOO good to have it over and be able to relax a bit.  Actually, I did a lot of relaxing over the weekend.  I put away the last of my Christmas Card making supplies and tools on Friday night, and did not touch a thing related to paper crafting until this morning.  In fact, I was so relaxed about everything that I forgot to give my husband the very special card I'd made for him weeks ago!  If I had gone into the craft room I would have seen it lying there.  But at least I remembered before Christmas Day was over.

     And of course now that Christmas is over, it's time for Thank You notes!  This is also the day for the bi-weekly Stampin' Up! Only Challenge, and this is the card I made for the challenge to make a punch the center of attraction on a project.  I looked at all those fancy punches that Stampin' Up! has been putting out lately, but then decided on a really simple one – the 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch. 

     Usually I have an item punched with that as the background for something else.  This time, though, I was inspired by the fan-style design in the new set of paper, EverydayEnchantment Designer Series Paper, that Stampin' Up! will be giving away as part of the 2012 Sale-a-Bration Event, which begins a month from now.  So, since that paper inspired me, I decided to use it, as well as the coordinating Everyday Enchantment Ribbon and Brad Pack.  I thought that the brad with the scallop shape on it was perfect for the center of the punch feature.  To help it stand out a bit more, I used a second punch, the Boho Blossoms Punch, to make the little flower behind the brad.

     The colors in the Designer Series Paper – and the colors of Card Stock that I used to accent it – are Lucky Limeade, Peach Parfait, and Pool Party.  Oh, and Very Vanilla is in there, too!

     To make the Scalloped Punch element, I drew lines on the back of all three colors that I punched out and then snipped along the lines from the indentations to the center point (where the lines all crossed).  To find the center of the Very Vanilla piece, I drew a couple of lines on the back of it, too, and used the Paper Piercer to punch through a pinpoint hole which is there the points of the cut pieces all met.  Once I glued on all the cut pieces, I enlarged the hole to allow the brad to fit through easily.

     The scallop circle in the background is a die-cut image from the Sizzix Scallop Circles #2 die, which I also texturized with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder.

     The Thank You Stamp is also from the Sale-a-Bration catalog – one of the 6 stamps in the Outlined Occasions Stamp Set.  Love those outline-style designs that I can color in!  I wrapped each end of the greeting element with the ribbon from the ribbon pack.  I adhered both the greeting and the punched scallop to the card front with Stampin' Dimensionals to give the card just a bit more, well, dimension!

     I hope you had a lot of fun during your holiday celebrations!  And I hope you'll have as much fun as I'm having now that I'm back in my Craft Room again!

     I'm hostessing my last Christmas Card making class today and last night realized that I definitely needed a card for a younger person.  So I pulled out Forest Festivities, with the cute little animals, and was stopped dead in my tracks.  It was late and I couldn't figure out what to do with it! 

     Create With Connie and Mary to the rescue!!  I was going to go to my own Card Layout Sketchbook, but then I remembered that Create With Connie and Mary is giving away FREE Occasions Edition subscriptions to one person who enters their sketch challenge each week this month.  Now, I don't count for this as I already have an "in" for the Occasions Edition.  But YOU might want to try this sketch out!

     And here's the card I made using the sketch.  I managed to change the shapes around a bit, but it still accomplished what I wanted!

     Besides the sketch, I didn't want to recreate the wheel on the coloring of the picture (who has time for that when you're getting ready for a class??!!).  So I went to Split Coast Stampers and found this picture colored by Marilyn SanClemente. I tweaked it a bit, but this is what I wanted it to look like.  The colors are Real Red, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron and Blush Blossom.  Marilyn used watercolor pencils, but I used Blender Pens and Classic Ink Pads – except for the Blush Blossom, where I used the Stampin' Write Marker, the only way you can get that color these days.  The greeting is from the same stamp set.

     The Snowflake is from the Winter Wishes Stitched Felt set that's in the Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Catalog (as is the Forest Festivities Stamp Set).  I decided to add a So Saffron Button from the Subtles Collection to pick up the color from the stamped image.  I glued both the felt and the button on with Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue.  It takes awhile for it to dry; but once it dries, it's on there!

     Thanks to Create With Connie and Mary and Marilyn SanClemente for saving the day for me!  And don't forget to go over to Create With Connie and Mary and enter your card in their challenge!  You could win a subscription to their fabulous 6-week, project-every-day, Occasions Edition!