A Saffron Pear by the Pool…

Posted on June 7, 2014 by mauistamper

I’ve spent a couple of days since my return from Merry Olde England playing with color and today it’s all about my favorite combination: shades of yellow, blue and green. Specifically, I’ve chosen So Saffron, Pear Pizazz and Pool Party:

Stamps: Work of Art
Color Palette: So Saffron, Pear Pizazz and Pool Party, plus a little Coastal Cabana
Accessories: Daffodil Delight Seam Binding, Candy Dots, Large oval punch, Oval Framelits, Stampin’ Dimensionals

The chevrons in the Work of Art stamp set are super easy to line up. I generally have serious issues with that sort of alignment, but this as a happy surprise. I also broke all the color-coordinating rules in this one – sort of. I used Coastal Cabana Ink and Pool Party card stock. I chose So Saffron ink and a Candy Dot but I used the Daffodil Delight Seam Binding. Walkin’ on the wild side, I guess. Speaking of…

We spent the first week that we were in England in the Cotswolds, exploring a different town each day. We’d seen a photo of this door, and when we were in Stow-on-the-Wold my son said he thought it was nearby. We walked around the perimeter of St. Edward’s Church and there it was – how could we not take a photo?

It wasn’t as cold as we make it look, but remember, we’re from Maui. I put on a sweater when it gets to 76°. The weather was lovely, although I’m pretty sure it drizzled off and on this day. There were some glorious views through the clouds, though:

Even through the windshield you can appreciate the glorious blues, greens and yellows!! Enjoy!

Love ya, Blackberry Bliss!

Posted on June 5, 2014 by mauistamper

Oooh, have you gotten your hands on the new 2014-2016 In Colors yet? I mean for reals, not just looking at them on a printed page or a computer screen. Up close and personal. Oh yeah…

Every year when the new crop of In Colors are released, my first impression is “meh”. I don’t mean to be cynical, but I just can’t seem to drum up a lot of enthusiasm for colors on a screen. I faithfully place my order and wait to see what comes, and when I get my hands on them I ALWAYS fall in love. This batch is no different; they are rich, saturated colors that combine beautifully with our existing colors.

Stamps: Tape It, Just Sayin’ and Happy Hour
Color Palette: Blackberry Bliss, Hello Honey, Rich Razzleberry and Lost Lagoon
Accessories: Apothecary Accents Framelits, circle punches, Candy Dots, Stampin’ Dimensionals and Hello Honey Stitched Satin Ribbon

This simple concept can be re-interpreted so many ways – a geometric base, a label, and a few accents. Break out something new or maybe dig out something neglected and give it a shot!

Bloomin’ June

Posted on June 1, 2014 by mauistamper

Although parts of the country were extremely dry this year, we had more rain than usual on the Valley Isle. As a result, it seems that anything that could bloom is blooming. That includes my June calendar:

I’ve been slightly obsessed with birds recently. This one is looking for a little snack beneath the flower bed.

I used Petite Petals and Everything Eleanor for this calendar page, and did a little bit of masking to create some dimension amongst the flowers. These calendars are fun precisely because the area to embellish is small, and it’s more of a challenge than you might think to get the image balance right. A little sparkle makes it all work out…

You may be wondering where I’ve been…it’s been a while since I’ve posted. My family is literally spread across the world from Western Australia to Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Maui Stamper and I got it into our heads that we should have a reunion, and that a nice middle spot would be in England. We had a fabulous time with the family, including loads of sight-seeing, great food, and of course photos. My son was tremendously amused when I tried to take a selfie with the Tower Bridge in the background, and once he started taking pictures of me taking pictures of myself…well, it was pretty hopeless:

At least I ended up with a photo – or three – of myself with the Tower Bridge in the background.

There are three of us posting these little calendar pages today – take a look and see what Cheryl and Crystal have done with their calendars this month. I’m pretty sure they’re not posting selfies.

the May Paper Pumpkin

Posted on May 20, 2014 by mauistamper

Have you tried My Paper Pumpkin?

I had some fun with the kit for May:

Love the stamps that come with these kits! They’re so fresh and fun. And I couldn’t resist making it REALLY 3-D:

I wanted to play with that chubby bird from Betsy’s Blooms. I haven’t used that set much lately but I’m fond of that goofy birds. Actually, I’m fond of birds in general.

Im also going to miss those Lovely Words. I like the font and I like the words themselves. But it’s time to make room for new things.

Circles and lines

Posted on May 17, 2014 by mauistamper

I can’t remember much of high school geometry – I was good at math, but I didn’t enjoy it – but I do love playing with shapes.

Stamps: Oh Hello (retiring)
Color Palette: Basic Black, Whisper White and Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: 1/8 inch Black Taffeta ribbon, Cute Clips, Kaleidoscope DSP, the Big Shot and Circles Framelits, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I love using Basic Black and Whisper White (or Basic Black and Very Vanilla) as a foundation for my color palette. Change out the contrasting bright color and change the feeling of the project! This DSP is from Kaleidoscope, which is retiring, as is the Black/Vanilla combination in Modern Medley – my favorite 2013-2014 DSP.

I used a Post-it® note to mask the words and stamped that fabulous chevron image from Oh Hello above and below them. Don’t try to do both sides at once. Trust me.

Now that’s geometry I can love.

Friends across the miles

Posted on May 13, 2014 by mauistamper

One of my absolute FAVORITE things about blogging is the sweet serendipity of making new friends. My post on May first inspired a Maui Stamper reader to share a photo with me, and one thing led to another…

Cheryl Hasson gave her permission for me to share this photo. Here’s what she said:

I was born in 1947 in Wailuku and this pic was taken on Lei Day in Keokea at an Hawaiian school where my mother was teaching (now the site of an Episcopal church.) I woke up this morning wishing I was in Maui on Lei Day.

I love the sweetness that this photo represents. Someone lovingly made all those flower petal skirs complete with greenery sashes. The circle on the grass is almost surely flour, and the teacher (Kumu) is watching carefully in the background. May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii (are you hearing the melody?) and there are still celebrations in schools across the islands on or around the first of May.

After we corresponded a bit, Cheryl sent me one more photo of a May Day celebration:

I’ll have to dig back into the Stamper Family archives…I have a few May Day program photos that are a little more recent 🙂

Thank you, Cheryl, for sharing your beautiful photos! Aloha…

A Housewarming Giftcard

Posted on May 10, 2014 by mauistamper

I feel really blessed to have lots of young couples in my life. It’s a joy to watch them settle into their marriages, and lately that has included moving into new spaces. Mr. Maui Stamper and I were invited to a celebration last weekend; he couldn’t attend as he was busy surprising his sister for her birthday, but I went and had a fabulous time.

Being a practical sort of mama, I thought the perfect gift was a gift card to a home improvement store. Being a Maui Stamper, it needed a little dressing up:

Stamps: Oh Hello, On the Grid, Yippee Skippee and Day to Day (Project Life®)
Color Palette: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Tangerine Tango, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Antique Brads, Gold Clothespin, Big Shot and Polka Dots TIEF, Fringe Scissors, Circles Framelits, Word Window punch, Tangerine Tango Embossing Powder, Piercing templates, Chevron Gift Bags, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Older-than-the-hills-retired Ribbon.

Here’s the note card that fits in the back of the bag. I grunged it up a bit with On the Grid and the piercing template – just a double line of dots.

Sometimes the best things happen when you make a “mistake”. I originally stamped the word “happy” in ink, but it needed some oomph so I decided to emboss it. I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig (TOTALLY ESSENTIAL TOOL, friends) to stamp “happy” again in Versamark ink and must have jiggled it, because it was offset just a bit. I think it’s PERFECT.

Gotta make it personal. Don’t know what I would do without all my Stampin’ Write markers. I am addicted to coordination.

Needless to say, this was presented in a clear envelope. Who would want to cover it up?

RemARKable Memory Keeping

Posted on May 8, 2014 by mauistamper

Welcome to the May edition of the RemARKable blog tour!

It’s National Scrapbooking month and that’s our topic for the tour. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’ve only completed one scrapbook – ever – and it was intended to be Volume I of 2 to document a two-part family vacation. While I love photos – and have boxes, bags and stacks of them – I struggle with putting them together.

Our collaboration with Project Life inspired me, and I decided to drag out a photo collage frame that’s been gathering dust and pair it with some of the Project Life by Stampin’ Up! products to see what would happen:

To say I’m thrilled would be an understatement! I love the journaling cards, I love the embellishments, I love the colors, and I love the stamps! (I know, that’s a lotta lovin’). This went together REALLY quickly.

The card on the right is straight out of the box, matted and stuck into the opening. The red word bubble and the little red heart are from the Point and Click photopolymer stamp set.

Stamps, stickers, cards…it went together in about a half an hour. SERIOUSLY.

I took all the words and mashed them up for a simple embellishment – and then I had an inspiration. I took all the pieces OUT of the frames…

I know it’s hard to see, but these are the Project Life 12×12 photo pages. I did the happy dance when I realized I had finally found a solution for my bags, boxes and stacks!

I had to play with one more set of photos – these are pretty special to me:

It’s been almost a year and a half since our oldest daughter was married. These photos will slip out of the frame and right into Project Life pages – you have no idea how this delights me!

The wedding invitations were hand-stamped – SURPRISE! – and I had a few extra inserts left over.

I also had a bit of lace and some tulle from my daughter’s dress that will tuck into the pages. A few stamped images (and oh, will I miss Loving Thoughts) and this was done.

What I love about the Project Life concept is that it’s so flexible. It can be anything you need it to be! The objective is to record the memories in a way that can be shared – or re-visited – to keep the emotion of the moment alive.

Enjoy the rest of the tour – Audra Monk is next, but the rest of the tour is at the bottom of the post in case you want to go your own way! Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy Amato
Missy Bolinger
Tamra Davis
Sherri Eddleblute
Anne Matasci     YOU ARE HERE
Audra Monk
Maria Pane
Andi Potler
Michele Reynolds
Pam Staples

Weekly Deals May 6 to 12

Posted on May 6, 2014 by mauistamper

Check out this week’s DEALS – retiring products are selling out quickly!

Shop for these HERE – and if you haven’t treated yourself to our 1 1/4″ Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, this is your chance to fall in love at a discount!

Digital Crafters, there’s something for you too:

Download these gorgeous new images HERE!

Thanks for stopping by today!

A Glorious Birthday Card in a Box

Posted on May 3, 2014 by mauistamper

I love that word – Glorious. It’s one of Crystal‘s favorites 🙂 And it’s very appropriate for this card:

Yes, it’s full of Sale-a-bration product that you can no longer get…and I’m sorry. But for those of you who have leftover Sweet Sorbet paper, you need some ideas, right?

I had a fabulous time with this one – there’s a lot crammed into a little space. I used the Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die (so sad this is retiring!!) to help stabilize the folds. In my excitement I scored them a leetle bit too hard and they were thinking about breaking, so that Calypso Coral scallop actually folds and adheres inside the wall of the box to give it strength.

Lots of flowers – Petal Parade from SAB but also Petite Petals and the little scallop from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack (also retiring). That gorgeous Happy Birthday is from the retiring stamp set You’re Amazing – and is only available now in wood.