Granddaughter Birthday

Where did the time go? Can anyone tell me, please? Seriously, just a few months ago I was holding my first grandchild, who was a tiny 5 pounds, and two weeks ago she turned 15 years old and is now as tall as me. How did that happen?! There has to be an anomoly in the space/time continuum, right?

This is the card I made for her. Since her favorite color is purple, the Blackberry Bliss cardstock was perfect, and the Rich Razzleberry Blendabilities made coloring the flower a breeze. (I'm loving that I Like You hostess set a LOT, can you tell?)

I added some Dazzling Details to the yellow bloom because what girl doesn't like a little sparkle in her life? Did you see in the new catalog that there is going to be some Gold Glitz Dazzling Details? I squealed when I saw that!

Here's a close-up of the Dazzling Details:

And yes, I accidentally spattered the back ground when I opened the Rich Razz marker over the image, so I added more spatters to make it look like I meant to do that. Apparently, I'm a slow learner, haha.

STAMPS: I Like You, Remembering Your Birthday

CARDSTOCK: Whisper White, Basic Black, Blackberry Bliss, Hello Honey, Moonlight DSP Stack, Champagne Glimmer

INK: Memento Tuxedo Black, plus Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Coastal Cabana, and Daffodil Delight Blendabilities Markers

ACCESSORIES: Big Shot, Decorative Dots embossing folder, Decorative Label Punch, Dazzling Details

Tour de New Catalog!

Welcome to this month's Control Freaks "Tour de Freaks", where we will be giving you a sneak peek at some of the fantastic products coming in the new catalog! There are twelve of us on the tour, and if you started at the beginning, you just landed here from Wendy Weixler's blog. Aren't her creations to-die-for? I wish I had half her talent!

If you started here on my blog, just click the link at the bottom of the page to go to the next stop. If you do that on every blog, you'll make the full circle.

Well, where to start on that new catalog.......there are SO MANY things I want to show you, but I pared it down to two projects, otherwise you'd have been here all night looking at schtuff, and my fellow Freaks would wonder what happened to all their visitors.

So, I'm actually focusing on two of the hostess sets this time, along with some yummy Designer Series Paper, and the Blendbilities, of course. (Even though there will be a delay before you can order them, you NEED to know how fab they are!!!)

First up is a card using the I Like You hostess set AND the Let Your Hair Down hostess set. The new In Colors are so rich, they just begged to be used here. And, wouldn't ya know, the darkest of the Rich Razzleberry Blendabilities matches the Blackberry Bliss In Color! It's like they planned it, or sumpin'. AND, the medium of the Daffodil Delight Blendabilities matches the Hello Honey In Color!!! (Insert Twilight Zone music here.)

STAMPS: I Like You, Let Your Hair Down   CARDSTOCK: Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss, Mossy Meadow, Moonlight DSP Stack, Champagne Glimmer   INK: Blackberry Bliss, Memento Tuxedo Black, plus Old Olive, Daffodil Delight & Rich Razzleberry Blendabilities   ACCESSORIES: Big Shot, Banners Framelits, Circles Collection Framelits, Secret Garden Framelits, Blackberry Bliss 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon, Pearls Basic Jewels, 2-1/2" Scallop Circle Punch, Banner Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Next up is another card using the I Like You set. Can't help it; I love to color, and these stamps were MADE to be colored!

STAMPS: I Like You, Express Yourself   CARDSTOCK: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, Lullaby DSP   INK: Bermuda Bay, plus Coastal Cabana, Old Olive, and Daffodil Delight Blendabilities   Accessories: Linen Thread, Boutique Details, Bermuda Bay 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Crumb Cake 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon, Rhinestones Basic Jewels

Notice the lovely colored rhinestones! Those were colored with the markers. YES, we can custom-color our embellishments, woohoo! And see all those tiny dots? I didn't plan for there to be dots, but the markers are pretty juicy, and when I opened the lightest Coastal Cabana, I got a few spatters. So, I just added a bunch more and pretended like I meant to do that. So, that's my cautionary tale....when you open your marker, do it away from your work area! (Pssst - the medium Coastal Cabana marker matches Bermuda Bay, and the darkest one matches Island Indigo. Just so ya know!)

Up next is a new Control Freak, Heidi Boos! I can't wait to see what she has in store for her first Tour! Hop on over and give her a warm welcome.

Thanks So Much

The Blended Bloom stamp isn't just for Blendabilities - it works fabulously with watercoloring, too!

The blossom was heat-embossed in gold on watercolor paper, then colored using an Aqua Painter and the Blackberry Bliss ink pad. I probably should have gone a little darker, but I liked the way it looked and didn't want to "fix" it. Waaaay too often I make things worse when trying to make them better, so I quit while I was ahead, lol.

You can't see it very well, but I used the stamp with Illuminate ink (retired) on the Blackberry Bliss panel behind the image, too.

Notice the colored rhinestones? I made them using the darkest of the Daffodil Delight Blendabilities. I LOVE that I can make rhinestones to match my projects now! The Blendabilites are listed in the new catalog as a preview of coming attractions, meaning they won't be available to order until Stampin' Up is positive they can meet the demand for them. (And there WILL be a demand!) But never fear, they will be available to order soon, and when they are, I will be offering a free class on how to use them for anyone that's interested! Trust me, they are amazing, and will change they way you look at coloring your images!

STAMPS: Blended Bloom, Lots of Thanks
CARDSTOCK: Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss, Hello Honey, Moonlight DSP Stack, Watercolor Paper
INK: VersaMark, Blackberry Bliss, Hello Honey, Daffodil Delight Blendabilities
ACCESSORIES: Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, Hello Honey 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Aqua Painter, Rhinestones Basic Jewels

Happy Mother's Day!

I am so excited that, for the first time in YEARS, I get to spend Mother's Day with my mom. Last July she moved down here to Southern Cali to be nearer her girls, so this is a great day to celebrate together! My two kids will be coming over today, along with Mom and my sister and brother-in-law, for BBQ chicken. The chicken has been marinating all night, the potato salad and deviled eggs are waiting in the fridge, the beer is in the cooler on ice, and everyone is bringing a side dish or dessert.

Today is a good day!

The only thing that didn't happen today was, I didn't get breakfast in bed! I waited and waited, until finally I had to get up to let the dog out to potty. Sheesh, sometimes I get no respect.

This was one of the cards we made in the Second Saturday Stampers Club yesterday, and I let everyone customize the greeting the way they wanted. I wanted to make it for Mom, so I pulled out Delightful Dozen (retiring) to use that greeting.

I hope you all are having a wonderful day today, whether you are a mother, want to be a mother, are a mother-like figure to someone, or have a mother yourself (heehee)! Blessing to you all!

STAMPS: Regarding Dahlias, Delightful Dozen
CARDSTOCK: Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral, Champagne Glimmer Paper, Venetian Romance DSP
INK: VersaMark, Basic Black, Calypso Coral
ACCESSORIES: White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Sponge Daubers, Hexagon Punch (banner ends)

I Like You

Really, I do! That also happens to be the name of the stamp set I used on this CAS (clean and simple) card, but really......I like you! It still baffles amazes me that people actually look at my blog, so thank you for stopping by, and I hope you find/have found crafty inspiration here.

Sometimes, simple speaks volumes more than elaborate, and I think this is a good example. I wanted to play with my new Blendabilities markers some more (can't get enough of them!), and had already played with Blended Bloom. The I Like You stamp set is a hostess set that you can get using hostess dollars earned with a qualifying party. There are four images, perfect for coloring, and two greetings.

This looks like a framed art print in real life, because the image is framed by the Blackberry Bliss mat, rather than being adhered to the top of a mat. And then the Whisper White frame is popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals. The Squares Collection Framelits made cutting the frames super easy!

Thanks for stopping by today!

STAMPS: I Like You
CARDSTOCK: Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black, plus Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana, and Old Olive Blendabilities sets
ACCESSORIES: Big Shot, Squares Collection Framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals, Rhinestones Basic Jewels

More Sneak Peeks!

Hard to believe it's been a week since the catalog Premiere in Long Beach. Seems like it was just seven a couple days ago. ;-)

This is another sneak peek at coming attractions....on this card there are six new items!

1. Lost Lagoon cardstock and ink (new In Color)
2. Moonlight Designer Series Paper Stack (two designs shown)
3. Lost Lagoon 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon
4. Tap Tap Tap stamp set
5. Eclectic Paper Piercing Pack
6. And the sixth item is inside - The Alphabet Rotary Stamp

I'm having way too much fun with the new goodies from the preorder! You could be playing with new products, too, because you can choose preorder products in your starter kit! If you want to be the first to get your hands on products in the new catalog, join my team! It's easy, rewarding, shipping is FREE, and there's no further obligation if you decide it's not your cup of tea!

STAMPS: Tap Tap Tap, Work of Art, Alphabet Rotary

CARDSTOCK: Whisper White, Basic Black, Lost Lagoon, Moonlight DSP Stack, Gold Foil Sheets

INK: Basic Black, Lost Lagoon, Smoky Slate

ACCESSORIES: Big Shot, Word Bubbles Framelits, Eclectic Paper Piercing Pack, Lost Lagoon 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon, Paper PiercingTool, Stampin' Dimensionals

Bravo!

I promised to show you Shannon's card using all new products, and here it is! I've waited sooo long for Stampin' Up! to come out with their own alcohol markers, so obviously I was WAY excited when they announced last January that Blendabilities would be coming soon. May 1st was the first day we deomonstrators could preorder them, and you better believe I was all over it like syrup on a pancake!

I love to color, and Blendabilites make it so easy. You can color over and over the same spot, blending the ink, without wearing through the paper (unlike water-based ink markers). That makes it easy to add shadows and blend the edges. The markers come in sets of three of the specified color, a light, medium, and dark shade to make it easy to add shadow and depth to your images. When they are available to the public, they'll be $11.95 for the set of three, which is way less than three Copics!

Another fabulous thing about the alcohol ink is you can color your embellishments, like rhinestones, pearls, or metal embellies, and the ink stays put! Those lovely ruby-red rhinestones were colored with the darkest of the Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities.

So, let's see........on this card there are two new stamps (Blended Bloom and Bravo), the blossom was colored with Blendabilities (Cherry Cobbler and Daffodil Delight), the Designer Series Paper is Back to Black, and the ribbon is the Hello Honey 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon, which will be available in all the new In Colors.

So there you have a good sneak peek of fabulous things to come when the new catalog goes live on June 2nd. If you are a customer of mine and placed an order in the past year, you will be getting a catalog in the next two weeks or so. If you aren't a customer, and don't have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator of your own, I'd love to send you a catalog! Contact me and I'll take care of it.

STAMPS: Blended Bloom, Bravo
CARDSTOCK: Whisper White, Basic Black, Back to Black DSP
INK: Cherry Cobbler Classic Pad, Memento Tuxedo Black, Cherry Cobbler and Daffodil Delight Blendabilities
ACCESSORIES: Hello Honey 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon, Rhinestones Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals, Hexagon Punch (banner ends)

Carrie's Thank You

One of the stamp sets we were given at the Stampin' Up! Catalog Premiere was the new Ronald MacDonald House Charity stamp set. It's called Flamingo Lingo, and my pink-plastic-yard-flamingo-loving hubby is going to love it. It's so awesome that SU donates $3.00 from the sale of every RMHC stamp set to Ronald MacDonald House! Besides a flamingo, it has a cute flower the fits the Petite Petals Punch. LOVE it!

I did use a stamp from Work of Art for the left panel, as well as Gorgeous Grunge for the gold splattered background, and Lots of Thanks for the greeting. Wow, four stamp sets on one card!

This is the Thank You that I sent to Carrie Cudney for her presentation. She showed us how to put together a stamp pad that has come apart, and then she had a contest with Brian Pilling to see how many times they could take apart and put together their stamp pads in a set time. Needless to say, it was hysterically funny, and their hands were very inky when they were finished.

Tomorrow I'll show the card I made for Shannon West using ALL new products, including the Blended Bloom stamp, Back to Black DSP, Stitched Satin Ribbon, and the new Blendabilities alcohol ink markers! Oh. My. Heck. They are so easy to use, and the results are fabulous!

STAMPS: Flamingo Lingo, Work of Art, Gorgeous Grunge, Lots of Thanks
CARDSTOCK: Whisper White, Gold Foil Sheets
INK: Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey, Blackberry Bliss, Gold Metallic Encore
ACCESSORIES: Petite Petals Punch, Modern Label Punch, Decorative Label Punch

Fabulous Bonnie

Here's another thank you card for one of the presenters at last Monday's Stampin' Up! Catalog Premiere. This is for the fabulous Bonnie Thurber. She's such a delight, and always has us laughing!

The Work of Art stamp set was used on this one, too. I'm liking the ombre effect of inking up and stamping three or four times without re-inking. I lined up the edge of the wooden block with the edge of the cardstock, and then for each subsequent stmping, lined up with the cardstock and the middle of the previously stamped image. I could have used a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, but eye-balling it worked pretty well.

Mr. Brown delivered a big box of pre-ordered goodies today, and I'm having a blast playing with new products! I'll post some projects made with new goodies soon. As soon as I can drag myself away long enough to quit playing and take some pics, haha! Have I mentioned how much I love my job?

STAMP: Work of Art, Million & One
CARDSTOCK: Whisper White, Gold Foil Sheets
INK: Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey (NEW IN COLORS!)
ACCESSORIES: Gold Sequin Trim