My Retiring Favorites - Blooming With Kindness

This morning I finally sat down and pulled out all my Stampin' UP! products that will be retiring soon.  The list is long.  I have 30 stamp sets, 20 punches, and half a dozen Framelits that are being retired, not to mention embossing folders and ribbon.  Normally this makes me so sad, but I am in purging mode, so it is a little bit exciting to clear off some shelf space.

Blooming With Kindness

Still, there are a few items that I am super sad to see go.  I may just hold on to some of them.  I keep a shelf of retired stamps in my stamp room.  It's up high, and I'm short, so I don't go to it often, but they are there if I need them.  Every year I am able to let a couple go so that I can put a couple more up there.   Here is one that I will be holding onto for at least a year because I love the scripted sentiments in Blooming With Kindness.

One of my favorite designs for this stamp set is making a stack of notecards.  They make great gifts.  I get bored easily with repetitive stamping, so I can change each card just a little bit to  make my stamping time enjoyable.  Can you spot the differences?

Can you spot the differences?  I cut all my layers the same to make the process go quickly.  With one exception.  There was one card that I double mounted.

Do you have any favorites that are retiring?  Clicky to check out the full list.  I'll be going through my retiring stamps and trying to use my favorites for the rest of the month before they are gone.  

Here are just a few of mine, in no particular order.

From My Heart

Apothecary Accents

Itty Bitty Banners Bundle

Love & Sympathy

Apothecary Art

Modern Label Punch

Beautiful Wings Embosslits

Stamps: Blooming With Kindness (Retiring)
Ink: Coastal Cabana , Crisp Canteloupe, Strawberry Slush (Retiring), Wisteria Wonder, Black (Memento); London Fog (Memento)
Paper: Whisper White, White Notecards + Cardstock to match ink colors
Accessories: 1 3/8" Circle, 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch

Elegant Birthday

So many special people celebrate their birthday in September, but the most special of all has to be my mom.  <3  Her birthday is later this week, but I am mailing this card to her today in hopes that she gets it before her birthday this weekend. 

This card didn't start out to be my mom's birthday card.  Actually I planned on making her card using the new label card framelit, but this card turned out so pretty that I wanted my mom to be the one to receive it. 

This card started with the Lacy Brocade embossing on Raspberry Ripple cardstock.  From there I just basically cleaned up my craft table.  I had some doilies, papers and a ribbon flower.  It all came together to make this eclectic focal point.   The real challenge came when I decided to play around with the decorative stitches on my sewing machine.  I broke 2 needles making this card. 

Honestly, that is the second reason I am sending this to my mom.  I put so much time and energy into it that I wanted it to go to someone who would cherish it.  Not that she has to keep the card forever, I never expect that from my cards, but that she will enjoy it and appreciate it for longer that 2 minutes.  :)  Mom's are great that way.  They love what we create simply because we made it.  <3

On the inside you can see the detail on the Apothecary Accents framelit label that I added.  It's from the stamp set Forever With You.  The greeting came from Blooming With Kindness.

Happy Birthday MOM!  I hope my card makes you feel as loved and appreciated as you are.

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

P.S.  When I made this card last week I had no idea that the Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder had been discontinued.  Good thing it is on the Clearance Rack right now.  :)  Get it while supplies last.

Card Recipe:
Stamps: A Round Array, Blooming With Kindness, Forever With You
Ink: Basic Grey, Raspberry Ripple
Paper: Birthday Basics DSP, Eastern Elegance DSP, Raspberry Ripple, Smoky Slate, Whisper White
Misc.: Tea Lace Doily, Ribbon Flower (retired), Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder (retired), Apothecary Accents Framelits, Punches, Basic Rhinestones




Lacy Brocade EF
Clearance-WSL



A Round Array



Forever With You



Friday Fun Day

On Tuesday I gave you a little glimpse of this card and promised to show you the rest.   The star of this card is the Soho Subway DSP (Designer Series Paper or Double Sided Paper) and the Postage Collection Stamp Set.

I used the paper as my backdrop.  Then I stamped the image and punched them out with my Postage Stamp Punch, then layered it with a slightly larger Crisp Canteloupe square. 

I also used my Tiny Tags (retired) and Gorgeous Grunge stamp sets on these postage squares.  The Happy Birthday square is layered with a bit of the Tea Lace Doily that I sponged with Crisp Cantaloupe ink before sticking it behind the square.

The inside carries over from the outside.  I again used Gorgeous Grunge stamp set, but added in the sentiment from Blooming with Kindness.  I used another small strip of DSP as well.  Many cardmakers leave the inside of their cards blank.  If I know who the card is going to and the occasion I will usually decorate, or at least stamp a sentiment, on the inside.

I wonder if it is too late to send this 3rd birthday card to my Mother-in-Law????  Her birthday was at the beginning of August, and I already sent her two cards.  I could save it for next year, but I would probably lose it again.  :)  What would you do?

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

P.S.  Did you know you can Hostess Credit for a personal order of $150 or more?  You can spend your Hostess $$$ on the exclusive hostess items or any other item SU carries in their current catalogs.  :)



Postage Collection
Hostess



Soho Subway DSP




Postage Stamp Punch



March Birthdays

Back in February I did my very first one on one card class.   A friend of mine asked me if I could help her makes some cards and gift cards for some family members that had birthdays in March.  We set a date and got together.  It was so much fun working with her.  One set of cards had a "blue" theme. 

She used Island Indigo and pulled colors and papers from the Tea For Two DSP.  Louise made most of the decisions, I just kept giving her more options. 

Each of the notecards had a monogram with her sister's initial or a stamped image from Collage Curios.

The second set of cards was very similar to the first, but had more of the Calypso Coral color in it.  Just changing one color can really change the look of a card.

She also had a chance to play with my scoring board to add score lines.

I just love the little stamped rose.  It's easy to get two colors by using markers to ink up your stamps.  ;)

Louise, I hope your sisters liked their cards that you made them.  How could they not love them when you put so much heart into each one.   Thanks for being my guinea girl. 

Wouldn't these cards be lovely for Mother's Day?   The little notecards are so quick and easy to make that you could whip up several to give to friends or teachers or anyone who sends cards.

Creative Blessings,
Heather North



Whisper White Notecards and Envelopes
Retiring (WSL)



Tea For Two DSP



Collage Curios



Pink Wishes

Did you see anything you MUST HAVE on the retirement list yesterday?  I know I did.  Some of my favorite stamp sets are on the list.  In fact, half my stamps are on the list.   So are many accessories, including the jewelry tag punch, DSP and the Pretty in Pink color I used on today's card.

 

 

The sentiment was stamped in versamark and then heat embossed with white embossing powder.  I love the way white pops against every color cardstock I have used it on. 

My card was made for a sketch challenge at Inspired to Scrap.  The sketch had 4 boxes with a heart in the middle of each.  Mine has a circle, but the concept is the same.  Each box is popped up using dimensionals.   It was a bit tricky finding the center of my squares, so I came up with a clever trick and decided to film a video so I could share it with you.

***Note: If you are reading this post in an email, you may need to click on the post title above "Pink Wishes" to take you to my blog to watch the video below.

A unique twist I added to the original sketch was to add some crepe paper flowers to each box.

If you haven't seen the video on how to make these flowers I will include it for you below.  I didn't sponge these flowers, but I did use my own home-made Shimmer Mist to add a bit of sparkle to them.

Of course the inside had to be decorated too.  Sometimes I wait to add my sentiment to the inside until I am ready to send a card, but this time I knew what I wanted inside. 

One of the great things about this card is that you can remake it with whatever colors you want.  I like to customize birthday cards if I know the favorite color of the birthday girl/boy.  You could also change the sentiment and make this a Mother's Day card.  (or any other occasion)  That's what I love about learning the art of card making.  Once you learn "how" the creativity can freely flow!

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

To visit my online store and see the retiring products available WSL click HERE.

Card Recipe
Stamps: Tiny Tags (Retiring), Blooming With Kindness
Paper: Pretty In Pink, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Subtles DSP Patterns Stack(retiring)
Ink: Versamark, Pretty In Pink, Primrose Petals(inside)
Misc: Jewelry Tag Punch((retiring), Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, Crepe Paper, WW Baker's Twine, Various Punches, Subtles Brads(retiring)


Tiny Tags
Retiring-WSL




Blooming with Kindness



Jewelry Tag Punch



Creped Filter Paper



Happy Birthday, Friend

For some reason this card makes me smile.  Perhaps it is because I know the friend I am sending it to will smile as well.   I inked up the flowers from the Oh, Hello stamp set with Regal Rose and Wild Wasabi markers.  Then I stamped them directly onto my doily. 

To make the image pop, I punched out a 2 1/2" Whisper White circle and adhered it behind the doily.  The nice thing about this is you can still see the Twitterpated DSP behind the lacy edges.

The strip along the bottom was made by stamping in versamark onto Regal Rose cardstock and adding clear embossing powder on top, then heat set it with my heat tool.  It's a fun way to make your own paper patterns.

Creative Blessings,
Heather North




Oh, Hello




Tea Lace Doily



Twitterpated DSP