More team make & takes with another Sneak Peek

Barb brought this Crumb Cake make & take for us Saturday. It uses a new hostess set called Faith in Nature. The sentiment is from Happy Greetings (Summer Mini Catalog). We burnished the pear using a sponge dauber, and used the Cutter Kit on the top two layers. You can also see the Framed Tulips embossing folder used for the front of the card.

Bea's make & take uses Paisley Petals dsp, which is going to be in the new catalog July 1. This card also used the Fun Flower die for the Big Shot, Scallop Trim Border and Modern Label punches.

Debbie brought this beautiful Very Vanilla square sympathy card, which uses a phrase from Thoughts & Prayers along with the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder and a piece of vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware with a few inches of taffeta.

Heather brought this clean and simple make & take, which uses the Cottage Garden stamp set with some 1-1/4" Old Olive striped grosgrain and basic rhinestones.

A handful of our American Ink group. (Top) Kay, Barb, and Bea; (Bottom) Karen and Terry S.

We have lots of fun at these gatherings! In addition to catching up on Stampin' Up! events and promotions and such, we enjoy great company, food, make & takes and swapping. If you'd like to come and see for yourself, email me at ericandterry@comcast.net and you can be my guest to our next American Ink gathering. We meet the 2nd Saturday of every month. Thanks!

Variety of swaps from American Ink downline

Mary Ann's swap uses the Four Frames stamp set

Karen's swap uses Elegant Lines embossing folder, Strength & Hope, and Butterfly Punch

Barb's swap with Just Believe and Elegant Soiree dsp

All in the Family/Best Dad Ever swap by Terry S.

Alaska Cruise update: We'll be at sea all day. There'll be plenty of time for good food, swimming, stamping, taking in a show, and more!

Happy Greetings and Nature Walk swaps by Michelle

One of my downline, Michelle, created these two cards to swap. Above, the card uses the Happy Greetings stamp set, Decorative Label and Eyelet Border punches, and Flower Garden dsp. Below, her card uses Nature Walk and Something to Celebrate stamp sets.

Alaska cruise update: Today I had to eat my friend. Oh, just kidding. We're on Day 5 of the seven-day cruise and will spend the day in Skagway. It's incredible to see how the cruise ship looms over the town, which still has false-fronted buildings and wooden sidewalks. The hot souvenir here is the hand-painted gold-mining pans. I want to get a photo of those!

After 6 p.m., we'll be cruising the Inside Passage. It's prime habitat for bald eagles, sea lions, and whales.

I have 5 cards to share from my Summer Mini stamp-a-stack, and a baby bunny to show from my yard...

My customers played withStampin' Up! Summer Mini products at a recent stamp-a-stack at my studio. The first card features a Level 2 hostess set, and the last two cards are single stamps. There's alot of variety in this mini that I think you'll love! My favorites are the stamp sets that coordinate with designer series paper.

These colors for this Love & Care card came from the Color Coach. I have never used them together before. They're Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake, and Always Artichoke. You may get this stamp set with a $300+ party.

It'd been awhile since I'd used a jumbo wheel at a class, so when I saw Fish Frenzy, I thought it'd be great with Summer Splash. The Scallop Border Punch mimics waves, and the silver brads just add a little bling. The greeting is from another Summer Mini stamp set called Best Dad Ever.

This Daffodil Delight card uses Fabulous Florets and Beyond the Garden dsp with 5/8" Real Red satin ribbon. I used the Daffodil Delight reinker and an aqua painter to apply the color. This card is CASe'd from Dawn Olchefske. The sentiment is from Happy Greetings.

Sail Away is a great single stamp for a man card. This was stamped in Night of Navy on Naturals Ivory card stock, and features some Nautical Expedition dsp, and Cherry Cobbler/White baker's twine. The "for you" is from the All Holidays stamp set, and the Crumb Cake layer was run through the Square Lattice Embossing Folder for the Big Shot.

I used Pretty in Pink and Old Olive markers for the Hello Blossom single stamp. I saw this card online somewhere (sorry, I don't remember!), though it had an extra layer or two.

Finally, I have to share this little guy. I was looking out into the backyard from our sliding glass window when I saw a single green leaf moving. No other leaves in the yard were moving. When I looked closer, I saw the baby rabbit nibbling on a weed! This rabbit was so tiny - it could fit in a child's hand. I wanted to hold it so badly, but it hopped away... probably through a little notch in the fence.

I think this baby's mom is a rabbit that appeared in our front yard and driveway the past two days. Here's a photo of it:

It looks the same, only different, doesn't it? It's not a huge rabbit, but it definitely is grown, compared to the baby one. Thanks to my hubby, Eric, for taking the photos.

Rich Razzleberry Proud Peacock...

I really need to look at deadlines for challenges! Once again this week, I made a card for a sketch challenge, only to find the Linky tool closed when I went to upload my card! Oh well.... I'll share the card anyway. I stamped this peacock from the Summer Mini stamp set Proud Peacock in Rich Razzleberry ink, then used markers to color in some areas before adding Dazzling Diamonds glitter with a 2-way glue pen. A tiny pearl makes a nice eyeball.

I love a monochromatic card. I used Brights dsp - the patterns shown on the card are both sides of the same sheet - as well as Rich Razzleberry satin ribbon. I made this card using the sketch shown below for Stamping 411.

Stamps:  Proud Peacock, Happy Greetings (both Summer Mini Catalog sets);

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Pear Pizzazz;

Paper: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Brights dsp pad;

Accessories: Scallop Border Punch, 2-1/2" Circle Punch, 5/8" Rich Razzleberry satin ribbon, dimensionals, 2-way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, basic pearls, small oval punch.

Fabulous Florets, Happy Greetings, The Open Sea, Recess, and Touch of Kindness Summer Mini sneak peek...

I had fun today at my 10-card class using upcoming Summer Mini Catalog items. This card above uses a stamp set called Fabulous Florets. I love the sentiment. It's the only word stamp in the set.

Touch of Kindness is the name of the stamp set used above.

Above and below are two versions of the same card using the Recess stamp set with the Brights dsp pad and either Tangerine Tango or Wild Wasabi card stock.

The upcoming mini catalog features some great man stamps, including The Open Sea, shown here, Nautical Expedition dsp, Espresso/White Baker's Twine and a sentiment from the Best Dad Ever stamp set.

For the fifth card, we used the Flower Garden embossing folder and Happy Greetings stamp set. Baja Breeze, Old Olive and So Saffron were sponged on using sponge daubers, with 1/8" Baja Breeze taffeta knotted at the top.

Michelle, Kim and Barb came to class today, as well as Marie and Mary Lee below.

Also there were Donna, Gaila, Christy, and Mary Ann.