A stamp set for all seasons

Have you seen the new Thoughtful Branches stamp set?

Maui Stamper Thoughtful Branches Hydrangea Watercolor

It’s a limited time offer from Stampin’ Up! available through August 31, 2016.  I’m finding it extremely versatile with sentiments that cover all the basics and images that are adaptable throughout the year.

Maui Stamper Thoughtful Branches-Beautiful Branches Bundle from Stampin' Up!

The combination of trees, leaves, stems and foliage is perfect for summer and will take you through the seasons.  For my hydrangea card, I created a soft watercolor wash with Marina Mist on watercolor paper for the background and then stamped my blossoms in the same color on a Whisper White panel.

Maui Stamper Thoughtful Branches Hydrangea Watercolor

The stem was cut from a Whisper White panel and daubered (lol, my spell-check says that isn’t a word – we know better!) with Sahara Sand.  The band across the bottom is also Sahara Sand, and there’s a Wink of Stella tucked into the blooms.

The Big Shot makes quick work of cutting these intricate images, but you will definitely want a Precision Base Plate and the Big Shot Die Brush for this one.

The stamps, thinlits and bundle are available through August 31st, although Stampin’ Up! is always careful to add those 3 terrifying little words “while supplies last”.  If you love this one, don’t wait!  Shop HERE.

Maui Stamper Thoughtful Branches and Beautiful Branches Bundle from Stampin' Up!

Quick and easy cards this weekend!

I love having a stash of cards ready to go!  If you’d like to make a few of your own, I have just the thing:  make 5 cards in 2 hours for $10 this Saturday or Tuesday, August 2nd!

Maui Stamper Pop of Paradise Ombre Ink Pad Thank You

I’ve added this card to the lineup.  Each card is designed to be quick and easy to assemble and versatile to send.  I’ll have multiple sentiments available so that you can tailor your cards to say exactly what you need.

Maui Stamper Pop of Paradise Ombre Ink Pad Thank You

The flamingo from Pop of Paradise is stamped with our new Bermuda Bay Ombre ink pad – try it, you’ll like it!

Maui Stamper 2-5-10 Card class

You’ll make these cards plus one more that I’ll share before Saturday.  I hope you can join us – space is limited!

Two class dates: 

Saturday, July 30th 1-3pm

Tuesday, August 2nd  7-9pm

Cost is $10 – message me for details on the South Maui location.

It’s RemARKably Foxy around here {wink}

Welcome to the new Sunday RemARKable Blog Tour!  I hope you’ll enjoy our new day – third Sunday of the month, still 2pm HST (8pm EST – we won’t go into the business about when and how that changes.  I just use world clocks on my phone to keep track!)

RemARKable Blog Tour

This month I’m sharing a project I did for a dear friend who is expecting a baby boy in August.  I started by making her a card:

Maui Stamper Foxy Friends

I used a lot of different products, but the foundation is the Foxy Friends stamp set, the Fox Builder punch, and the A Little Foxy DSP stack.  You could spend DAYS (ask me how I know) playing with all of the variations of the stamps and punch.  And I kept it to a simple color palette – if I had started experimenting there I would still be stamping!!

Maui Stamper Foxy Friends

I cut an oval in the DSP and added a bit of background.  The Duet Builder punch gave me a frame for my sentiment, and the little toadstools from the Foxy Friends set were the perfect accent.

Maui Stamper Foxy Friends

  • Stamps:  Foxy Friends, Thoughtful Banners, retired sentiment
  • Color Palette:  Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray
  • Accessories:  Big Shot, Ovals Framelits, Fox Builder Punch, Duet Banner punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Maui Stamper Foxy Friends Thank You

The next step was to create some Thank You notes for the new Mama.  I used our Note Card sets – the cards are cut and scored and come with envelopes – and created three designs.  The grayscale images in the DSP stack are perfect when you’re working with this much color!

Maui Stamper Foxy Friends Thank You

I had a lot of fun playing with the tilted heads on these little guys.  Some of these poor critters may need a chiropractor.

Maui Stamper Foxy Friends Thank You

It’s a tough call, but I think the raccoon might be my favorite.  We don’t have any of these critters on Maui, but I have lots of raccoon memories from my mainland days.  Some are fond, and some are not so fond (trying to defeat a very determined raccoon intent on dumping our trash at 1am).

Maui Stamper Foxy Friends Thank You

I can’t imagine this sweet face digging in my trash!

Maui Stamper Foxy Friends Thank You

The third and final member of the the Thank You Trio is this little stinker.  Each card uses an identical layout, but has slight color and DSP variations.

Maui Stamper Foxy Friends Thank You

The punch has plenty of little shapes and pieces – enough to keep a creative mind at work for a long time.

Take a visit along the RemARKable tour – Heather Mathieson is next and she always has great ideas!  Thanks for stopping by today.

RemARKable Blog Tour Next Blog

Nancy Amato 

Melissa Bolinger 

Tamra Davis

Arden Dougan 

Tracie Langley

Deb Lehigh

Anne Matasci 

Heather Mathieson 

Audra Monk

Maria Pane

Michele Reynolds 

Pam Staples

Janet Wakeland 

Mary Jo Price-Wililams

Maui Stamper Bonus Days Unlimited $5 Coupon

Thoughtful Branches Sneak Peek

There are perks to being a demonstrator, you know.  One of the best perks is being able to order things before they’re available to the rest of the crafting world.  The new Thoughtful Branches stamp and thinlit bundle hit my doorstep a couple of days ago and this afternoon I set aside some time to play:

Maui Stamper Thoughtful Branches

  • Stamps:  Thoughtful Branches (available 8/1/16), Best Birds, Hardwood
  • Color Palette:  Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Pink Pirouette, Garden Green, Crumb Cake
  • Accessories:  Big Shot, Beautiful Branches Thinlits, Big Shot Die Brush, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Linen Thread, Fruit Stand DSP

Maui Stamper Thoughtful Branches

I used Tombo the Wonder Adhesive to adhere all of the pieces – just be patient and use little tiny dots.  A little dab’ll do ya!

The Thoughtful Branches set, Beautiful Branches Thinlits, and the bundle containing both items are available to demonstrators this month.  (Now don’t you need to be a demonstrator?)  It will be available to everyone on August 1st.

Maui Stamper Thoughtful Branches Stampin' Up! Available 8/1/16

Check back tomorrow at 2pm HST – the RemARKable Blog Tour has moved to a new day – third Sunday of the month!

Love You Lots

This happens every catalog.  {SIGH}

I go through the catalog and make my decisions.  I prioritize my list and make a rational plan for acquiring what I truly need.

And then I throw it all out the window.

Maui Stamper Love You Lots

I mean, HOW can I not have this adorable little green amphibian in my craft room?

Maui Stamper Love You Lots

Would you look into those eyes?  How could you say no?  {SIGH…}

Time for Plan B.  Or C, or D, or whatever it is now.

Uncle.

 

Let It Bee

Are you singing?  You don’t have to sing it out loud, but I hope you can hear Sir Paul singing that refrain in your head.

Personally, I am terribly disappointed that Stampin’ Up! retired the Honeycomb TIEF and THEN released this fabulous stamp.  What more perfect application could there “bee”?  I hope you’ve got this in your stash, because it’s more than likely that you’ll see it again.

Maui Stamper Pun Intended Let It Bee

  • Stamps:  Pun Intended (Host)
  • Color Palette:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Crushed Curry
  • Accessories:  Big Shot and Honeycomb TIEF (retired), Wink of Stella Clear, Stampin’ Write markers

Maui Stamper Pun Intended Let It Bee

No sentiment yet – I will add one inside when I am ready to send the card.  It’s one of my favorite tricks.  (Whisper words of wisdom…)

Wink of Stella is the perfect accent for wings.  I put on one layer, let it dry and added another so that my bees would truly sparkle.  This kind of glitter is on the Mr. Maui Stamper approved list 🙂

In order to line up all five bees, you’e got to squish them in quite close to one another.  I stamped one at the top of the panel, then stamped another at the very bottom.  From there, I stamped them alternately to get the balance just right.

Maui Stamper Pun Intended Let it Bee

If you love word play, this set is just the thing!  It’s a host set – you’ll need to gather some friends for an event – but how much fun would that be?  No time for a gathering? Talk to me about an online event, or perhaps you would rather just place a qualifying order yourself.  I can help!

Sweet cupcake

Cupcakes say “BIRTHDAY!!” better than any other treat I can imagine:

IMG_8279

  • Stamps:  Sweet Cupcake
  • Color Palette:  Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Flirty Flamingo, Watermelon Wonder
  • Accessories:  A Little Foxy DSP pack, Stampin’ Write markers, Wink of Stella Clear, Big Shot, Gently Falling TIEF, Cupcake Cutouts Framelits, Project Life Cards and Labels Framelits, Corner rounder punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

The Little Foxy DSP stack has wonderful designs – they’re very easy to use on a card – and I was thrilled to discover that while one side is in full Technicolor, the reverse is a design in grayscale. I have a lot of ideas about playing with those designs.

Say Happy Birthday with a cupcake that won’t derail anyone from a healthy eating plan!  Shop HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swirly Bird: One set to rule them all

There are many, many gorgeous new products in the latest version of the Stampin’ Up! annual catalog, but Swirly Bird gets my vote for the set that does it all:

Maui Stamper Swirly Bird

  • Stamps:  Swirly Bird, Tin of Cards
  • Color Palette:  Pear Pizazz, Tangerine Tango, Peekaboo Peach, Very Vanilla
  • Accessories:  Big Shot, Swirly Scribbles Thinlits, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I love the variety in the images, and I love the versatility of both the stamps and the thinlits. This card is quick and easy to put together and I already have a few ideas for changing it up.  I also love that Stampin’ Up! brought the original 2015-2016 Tin of Cards stamp set back, but also added a new Designer Tin of Cards set for 2016-2017.

Maui Stamper Swirly Bird

I want you to note that I avoided the (very strong) urge to make this a blue and green card.  It would be gorgeous with Pool Party or Island Indigo.  I’m making an effort to expand my horizons, and since orange isn’t exactly at the top of my list of favorites, I stretched.

Maui Stamper Swirly BirdI inked the Swirly shapes in Peekaboo Peach and then tapped the edges with Tangerine Tango.  Each one came out a little differently from the last, which is what flowers do in real life, right?  I like that.

Ready to add the Swirly Birds bundle to your craft table?  Shop HERE.

Craftin’ with my Bestie

I made a date yesterday to craft with my bestie:

Maui Stamper Craftin with my Bestie Love You Lots

She brought over her new things, and I set up a space for the two of us on my dining room table.  My craft room is just a little bit messy right now, and it’s not quite spacious enough for two crafters.  My bestie is a little bit of a space hog, anyways {wink}.  Don’t deny it, you know it’s true!

She had the new Love You Lots Host Rewards set, and I enjoyed those cute little critter images a lot more than I anticipated.  Cute isn’t really my thing, although every now and then something cute will catch my eye.

Maui Stamper Craftin with my Bestie Love You Lots

  • Stamps:  Love You Lots
  • Color Palette:  Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White, Emerald Envy
  • Accessories:  Emerald Envy Ruched Ribbon, Stampin’ Write markers, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Fruit Stand DSP

Maui Stamper Craftin with my Bestie Love You Lots

For the amount of time we were crafting, you would think we would have a mountain of cards.  That’s not the way it worked out.  But we did have a good time trying new things, and we got caught up on lots of news, and of course we had a lovely lunch!  (edited to add:  Cheryl posted too – see what she made HERE.)

Maui Stamper Craftin with my Bestie Love You Lots

After she left, I got more productive.  I think it just took a while to get my mojo going.

Ready to give your mojo a kick in the pants?  Shop HERE.

All Swirly Whirly

I had no idea I would be so crazy about this Swirly Bird bundle:

Maui Stamper Swirly Bird Fathers Day

Shoosh now.  Don’t tell my Dad.  This is his Fathers Day card and it’s going in the mail today.  I love the open sea feeling of it.

Maui Stamper Swirly Bird Fathers Day

  • Stamps:  Swirly Bird and Crazy About You
  • Color Palette:  Whisper White, Basic Grey, Real Red, Dapper Denim
  • Accessories:  Swirly Scribbles Thinlits, Layering Circle Framelits, Duet Banner Punch, Stampin’ Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Wink of Stella clear glitter brush

The new 2016-2018 In Colors are absolutely scrumptious.  (I always have a little heart failure when there’s a new set of In Colors and I have to put that 2-year-away date out there.  2018?  Holy Mackerel Andy.)  Dapper Denim is a beautiful shade of blue!

This card is based on a layout done by Janet Wakeland.  I tweaked it a bit – can you see the Wink of Stella?  {wink, wink}  I’ve been busy turning out all kinds of Swirly projects!

Maui Stamper Swirly Bird Fathers Day

Don’t judge me or anything, but Swirly Bird was a bit of a last minute, oh-why-not addition to my first big new catalog order.  I thought it was interesting, but I wasn’t exactly over the moon about it.

I also ordered the Layering Circle Framelits only because I had a demonstrator award that allowed me to get them for free.  I have the old Circle Framelits.  Why would I possibly need these?  There couldn’t be that much difference, could there?

I was wrong.  There is.

Want your own?  Shop HERE.