Elegantly embossed...

It's easy to see why heat embossing is such a WOW for most stampers. It adds an easy elegance.

The little flower is from Baroque Motifs while the saying is from Elegant Inspirations.

There's a square fire rhinestone brad in the turned-up corner of the double-sided paper called Brocade Background. What's great about this sheet of paper is that it looks like four different pieces of paper were used.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas? No, not really. But this new Level 2 hostess set, Perfect Presentation, is too adorable to not play with now!

The colors are Purely Pomegranate and Blue Bayou. The white StazOn obviously needs reinking... but you get the idea. The rhinestone brads are all from the fire circle collection, and coordinate nicely with the pomegranate, though it's hard to tell from this scan.

Fall into summer...

Though we've just started summer, it's fun to dabble in fall colors. This pumpkin is part of the Year after Year set in the new catalog.

The sweeping bold lines make it easy to watercolor with an aqua painter and watercolor crayons.

The leaves down the right side of the card come from Perennial Favorites, and the background is Flannel stamped in Pumpkin Pie ink on More Mustard card stock.

To finish, crimp some Old Olive card stock, add some linen thread and a couple of fire rhinestones.

Did you know: The largest pumpkins are really squash.

Stripes are the rage this summer...

Zebra stripes, that is. This female (you can tell by her eyelashes) is from Zoofari.

This card also uses the Word Search and Aida Cloth backgrounds, as well as the Tag Corner Punch.

And we had to have the zebra's bird friends along, too.... It's a birthday party, after all.

Trivia: Zebras are black with white stripes. If you shaved a zebra, you would see that its skin is black. Source: Knoxville Zoo, which has apparently shaved a zebra!

Gift idea: A card holder!

How cute are rows of bugs stamped in VersaMark on Purely Pomegranate card stock? Almost good enough to eat!

This card holder features a cut-down brown lunch bag (5 3/4" tall) between two layers (5 1/4" x 8 1/2") of Purely Pomegranate card stock.

Punch the handles one at a time, moving the key tag punch as far into the top of the card stock as you can before punching, then laying it over the other side as a template.

Stamp the greeting, use the ticket corner punch for a little added somethin'-somethin' on the corners, layer on black card stock and add silver brads in the corners.

Add a little hemp and enough gingham ribbon to tie a nice bow and you've got yourself a great gift.

Sending worm wishes...

Bugs and Kisses is hanging around another year. Doesn't it look great with new In Color Soft Sky?

The scalloped edge at the bottom was made using a small corner rounder punch. It was EASY!

The other colors on this card are Regal Rose and Chocolate Chip.

Blessed are...

the happiness makers. That's a stamp from an upcoming Level 2 hostess set called Word on Word. Some demos reported problems stamping these images (the HAPPINESS and phrase are all one stamp), but this was a first try.

The other stamps used on this card: Paisley background in Purely Pomegranate, and All Through the Year. The card body is River Rock.

Tip: The legs are bigger on the new rhinestone brads than on the other brads Stampin' Up! carries, so use a 1/8" punch to make the hole for these instead of the 1/16" punch.

Trivia: The full quote by Henry Ward Beecher is "Blessed are the happiness makers. Blessed are they who know how to shine on one's gloom with their cheer."

A little hello...

The 2007-2008 In Colors go so well with each other. Here's Blue Bayou with Soft Sky card stock, Prints Soft Sky designer paper, and River Rock.

The stamp set is a new Level 3 hostess set called Vases in Vogue - well worth having a $500+ workshop anytime between July 1 and December 30. There are 14 stamps in the set!

The other In Colors are: Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi and Purely Pomegranate.

Pick a Petal, any petal...

This is a first attempt at using Pick a Petal, a new set coming out July 1 in the new SU! catalog.
The background is Aida Cloth, with a little fancy donut from the set stamped over the top of it in Close to Cocoa. And it's hard to see, but the Chocolate Chip card stock behind the flower is crimped.

So how do you like it?

A card for any occasion...

This card features the new River Rock color (In Color for 2007-08), as well as Not Quite Navy. The greeting is from Artfully Asian and fits in well with Baroque Motifs, don't you think? The Brocade Background paper works wonderfully with these stamps.

New stamps spotted...

Hugs & Wishes and Year After Year are two more of the new stamp sets you'll be seeing in the new catalog.

Other products on the card: Ice circle rhinestones, Sweet Shop ribbon, wine narrow organdy ribbon, white gel pen, and Linen background stamp.

If it's not baroque, don't fix it...

Baroque Motifs is just one of the many new stamp sets you'll find in the new catalog July 1. It's wonderful stamped simply in classic ink, or embossed (copper is a favorite!).

Also new on the card: Ice circle rhinestones for that extra little sparkle.

Did you know: Baroque is the style in art during the 1600s that used exaggerated motion and abundant detail.

Sending you a note...

These 3" x 3" notes are great for every occasion! A bit of designer paper, a bit of ribbon and a "bling" like Hodgepodge Hardware, a metal-edged tag or brads, and you're good to go!
All of these stamps are retiring soon: Petal Pushers, Best of Cluck and the Simply Sent Kit "Remembering You."

Thinking of Dad...

Here are three great sets that are retiring at the end of the month: D.D. Pines, Lexicon of Love, and Classic Alphabet.

At our stamp camp this past weekend, this card was a popular choice. Who doesn't want to make something special for Dad?

Trivia: A moose can swim for up to two hours and as far as 12 miles at a speed of up to 10 km/h (6 mph).

Lovely gift idea...

A hand-stamped tile makes a great gift!

This 6" x 6" Rialto beige tile was purchased at Home Depot (4 for $6.25 or something like that). Wipe off the chalkiness with a wet cloth, then stamp with Stampin' Up! craft pads.

This tile uses the Print Pattern background stamp, as well as the monogram letter "L" and Whimsical Upper & Lower alphabets (retiring June 30).

Pour Glassy Glaze embossing powder over the surface, tap off the excess, and sponge more craft ink around the edges for an antiqued look. Bake in your home or toaster oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. When the tile cools, add ribbons and set on a nice easel. I found a wooden easel that matches the Chocolate Chip craft ink at Six Star (similar to a Dollar Store) for $1.25.

Tile trivia: The breaking strength of Rialto beige 6" x 6" tile is 500 pounds.

Paper wallet fun...

Believe it or not, this adorable paper wallet is made using only one piece of 12" x 12" double-sided paper! There are six pockets. The photo below shows the outside, which has two pockets. You can see two of the inserts and the various ways you can decorate them - with SU! tag punches or using a round tab punch and brads - as well as the belly band used to hold it closed.

This is a great gift idea! Especially for Father's Day... though we'd recommend choosing a more masculine paper.

You make me happy...

You Make Me Happy is a fun set to play with. It's in the soon-to-be-retired Spring Mini Catalog (as of June 30).

It's hard to tell by the photo, but there's Crystal Effects in the middle of the flowers, with Dazzling Diamonds glitter sprinkled on the middle flower. The butterfly's flight path is made with a paper piercer, and the words were inked with markers.

If there's anything you'd like out of the Spring Mini, be sure to order it soon! I'll make you happy - you'll be rewarded with a 10% savings (no sales tax) on any order you place this month.

Summertime fun...

The beach is a favorite hangout for us, with serene views of the water, mountains, and sunsets, as well as beachcombing and building driftwood forts.

It's a shame Beautiful Beach is retiring June 30. Hopefully some other gorgeous shell set will take it's place!

This card is great for beginning stampers since it only uses one pad (Sahara Sand) and a couple pieces of colored card stock (Bashful Blue and Sahara Sand) with Confetti White card stock for the top layer. It's finished with some blue gingham ribbon, paper piercing and sponging.

Random fact: The typical peanut butter and jelly sandwich eaten on the beach contains over 7,000 grains of sand! (This is according to http://www.ed.uri.edu/homepage/projects/ocean/SandFacts.htm)

Happy Days...

You know what made this day so great? A bunch of women from our group got together here to stamp, swap, eat and chat. It was so much fun!!!

The 6" x 6" brag book page above uses Happy Everything, which sums up our lives pretty well. The Paisley background stamp was inked in VersaMark and Bashful Blue Stampin' Pastels was applied with a sponge (a technique called Poppin' Pastels). The cherries come from All Through the Year, which is a great scrapbooking set. Add some Hodgepodge Hardware, red gingham and Sweet Shop ribbon originals... badda bing, badda bang... you've got Happy Days!

Sing a song...

This card makes me happy! These days, I hear birds chirping and singing all day long and I love it. I think this would make a great Father's Day card.

Song Birds is a retiring Stampin' Up! set, but Artfully Asian (word stamp) will be around for awhile longer, as will Weathered (background).

This was colored using watercolor crayons and an aquapainter.

And goin' all out with stamping

Slam back a good drink with a friend and save the coasters! Then cover them with some of Stampin' Up!'s Recollections paper and create a one-of-a-kind gift like what you see on the left.

The inside is one sheet of Cranberry Crisp card stock (only available till June 29).

Easy, breezy, beautiful... Stampin' Up!