It’s RemARKable By the Tide

Posted on May 11, 2013 by mauistamper

Welcome to another Stamp of the Month RemARKable Blog Tour! If you’re starting the tour here at the Maui Stamper, our featured set this month is By the Tide. We hope you’ll enjoy the creative expressions of this talented group of stampers.

Not sure what it was that inspired me to start embossing but I nearly burned down the studio with my heat gun, I embossed so many images! This seashell was embossed with Irridescent Ice embossing powder on Very Vanilla cardstock and was then sponged with Island Indigo. The sparkle is hard to see in the photo, but it’s there in real life.

A Baja Breeze card base (say au revoir to Baja Breeze!), a little 1/8 inch Very Vanilla ribbon and some stamped – and stamped-off – coral branches are all it took to finish this card off. The sentiment is from Loving Thoughts, with those beautiful script capital letters.

I tried over and over to capture this card, but my little camera was having nothing of it. Trust me when I say that the embossed coral image – again in Irridescent Ice – is sparkley and elegant and would be perfect to attach to a wedding gift.

There. Can you see it now? At least you get the idea, right? And Best Wishes is from Petite Pairs, a very useful little set to have on your stamp shelf.

I got a little bit giddy with this last card. I used clear embossing powder for the coral image (have you guessed which image I like the very best in this set?). I stamped some sea horses and cut one of them out, and then I started playing with my ink pads and some Stampin’ Sponges. The results surprised me – this is Lucky Limeade and Baja Breeze ink:

The yellow and green tones were much stronger than I expected, but I liked the finished card all the same. I think they call that serendipity 🙂

Time to sail on over to the Trinity Design Studio and see what Robin is up to. I’m sure she has a briny treat in store for you. Thanks for making the tour with us today!

One of a Kind

Posted on May 10, 2013 by mauistamper

In case you were wondering, I’m pretty sure God broke the mold when I was born. One of my little character quirks is that I like things to be Just So.

As a result, I’ve spent WEEKS fiddling around with my first This ‘n That journal. I finally settled on the “One of a Kind” theme, but kept going around and around with colors, papers and embellishments. Last weekend, while the stampers were working on their Manly Cards, it finally clicked in place for me. I’m not going to list every product I used on this, but many of them came from the April This ‘n That bundle and will be available in the 2013-2014 Annual catalog.

Love that Epic Day This ‘n That DSP. Every side is awesome. And I also love the little dots stamp that came with My Paper Pumpkin Welcome kit. It just stays on my craft table. It goes on everything!

There might be some retired stamps in this photo…couldn’t help it. But look at those tiny flags! And one of the DSP sheets has hexagons printed on it so you can just cut them out and add them to your project.

Washi tape is my new favorite embellishment. You can just tear it off. It’s kinda like a sticky note, so you can peel it off and re-position it. And I am using it for everything! I wrapped some around my iPhone charger so my son (who will be home from college TOMORROW) will know it is mine.

Now to fill the pages….

Can you Honeycomb?

Posted on May 8, 2013 by mauistamper

When it comes to a WOW product, I can’t think of a better bang-for-your-buck than the Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (TIEF – you don’t think I’m typing all that every time now, do you??). For just $7.95 – well, plus the cost of a Big Shot, but you needed that anyway – you can take any project from Ho, Hum to Whoo Hoo! in a matter of moments! The Honeycomb TIEF from the Spring catalog is one of my current favorites, and the Very Good News is that we will see it in the 2013-2014 catalog as well.

Now I’ll bet you’ve seen people do this Honeycomb mosaic thing and thought “WHAT A PAIN!! I could never cut out all those.”

There is a trick, my dears.

Run your DSP through the Honeycomb TIEF. Then take your paper snips and go zigety zagety down the line of combs, in that little trough. You’ll end up with a row of hexagons with very little effort. Now snip off what you need and whoop-dee-doo you are done! What’s more, those hexagons just scoot right into their spots on the honeycomb panel. No fuss, no muss.

You’re Amazing stamp set
Very Vanilla and Midnight Muse card stock
Print Poetry DSP pack (gone with the end of the Spring catalog!)
Summer Starfruit FFIP
Marina Mist Stampin’ Write marker
Blender pen
Apothecary Accents Framelits and the Big Shot
Brights brads (gonna retire!)
Stampin’ Dimensionals (Had better not retire, never ever ever!!!)

You could do this with any DSP you have – even scraps – and you could do it for Moms and Dads, Brides and Grads and Birthdays and Babies and – well, anything!

Go on, go and make a card.

EDITED TO ADD:

Here is the latest update of the Retired Accessories List, with availability as of May 8:

Stampin’ Up! Retired Accessories Availability as of 5-8-13

Soft and sweet for Mother’s Day

Posted on May 5, 2013 by mauistamper

A talented fellow stamper from the RemARKables Stampin’ Up! team (her name is Kim Fields – I don’t think she has a blog) made a beautiful monochromatic card that inspired this:

Bordering on Romance, Delightful Dozen and Best of Butterflies stamp sets
Whisper White, Certainly Celery (so long!) and Pretty in Pink (farewell!) card stock
Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink and Bashful Blue (auf wiedersehen!) FFIP
Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Certainly Celery and Bashful Blue Stampin’ Write markers
Elegant Butterfly punch
Stampin’ Dimensional

Easy as can be, and the little bit of coloring with the Stampin’ Write markers is amazingly therapeutic.

Honestly, I’m not really going to miss these colors too terribly, but I’ve enjoyed them a great deal. Stock up while you still can.

No one likes to be sick…

Posted on May 3, 2013 by mauistamper

…and I have the flu. Bah Humbug and all that.

I’m feeling pretty sorry for myself, and although it took me nearly all day to get it done, I made a little something to cheer myself up. It started when I had to go find a fresh box of tissue. It was an ugly box. I knew if I was going to get better, I needed more than an ugly box of tissues:

There, isn’t that better? If I’m going to need tissue (and unfortunately, I do) it should come from a pretty tissue box!

The new 2013-2014 catalog has LOTS of suites of products, and some of the suites have sweet bundles so that we can save a little extra. The Mosaic theme has stamps, a TIEF, AND a punch. Stampin’ Up! is known for coordination, and this catalog brings it to another level!

I scrunched up a bunch of different punched elements – mostly flowers and scallops – to create the flower trims for the top. I added a few ribbons with my trusty hot glue gun and finished off the project with a bunch of Rhinestone jewels.

The colors are Pool Party and Bermuda Bay. I kept a stash of retired In Color papers and ink, so I was ready for this new Color Refresh!

Now I just need to get healthy again so the creative process doesn’t take so long.

May Dandelion Wishes

Posted on May 1, 2013 by mauistamper

These flowers don’t have quite round enough a shape to be dandelions, but that’s what I see in them. I have enough of a romantic side that I still think of wishes when I see dandelions, not weed seeds heading off to yet another lawn.

Summer Silhouettes and Collage Curios stamp sets
Regal Rose and Lucky Limeade FFIP
Blender pen
Pink Pirouette Shimmer Mist in a Stampin’ Spritzer

You do know that you can make any color of Shimmer Mist (just a little Champagne Mist Shimmer paint mixed with rubbing alcohol) by adding a few drops from an Ink Refill don’t you? I always have a bunch of Stampin’ Spritzers on hand. They’re flat-out CHEAP and always good for a quick Wow.

Hurry off to the OnlineStore for your Champagne Shimmer – it’s headed for retirement.

Epic Day Bag in a Box

Posted on April 30, 2013 by mauistamper

The Epic Day This ‘n That Designer Series paper has my name written all over it. I’m not going to tell you how many This ‘n That bundles I bought, but I will tell you that today is the LAST day to get them at 15% off. Epic colors, epic designs – you can’t go wrong with this paper.

Hostess club made little Bag-in-a-Box packages:

We added flags, and the hot air balloon from You’re Amazing. We used the new little round scallop punch and an image from A Round Array, also available as a bundle (#133899, $23.95) through May 30. You could add all sorts of goodies to customize this idea – and isn’t that the point?

This ‘n That Epic Day Bundle includes the Epic Day dsp, Epic Day This ‘n That journal, This ‘n That Epic Day Washi Tape (OH BE STILL MY HEART), Remember This ‘n That Rotary stamp (you NEED this) and This ‘n That Epic Day This n That Designer Stickers. (These are not your grandmother’s stickers, either.) All five elements are available separately at my Online Store, but hurry over today and order them together as a bundle (#133350) for $32.08 – you’ll be saving 15%. You’ll be glad you did.

Pumpkin, pumpkin, who has a pumpkin?

Posted on April 28, 2013 by mauistamper

Didja subscribe to My Paper Pumpkin? Didja?

Well, I did, and it took me way too long to crack it open…I won’t bother you with the reasons because they’re not very good ones. To be honest, I wasn’t all that thrilled with the idea of a kit anyway. I am a Bona Fide Stampin’ Up! Independent Demonstrator! I don’t need a kit!! I MAKE kits!!!

For the record, I was wrong, 100% wrong. I LOVED MY PUMPKIN! Loved the stamps, loved the papers, loved their concept card, and loved creating my own variations! I was giggling and humming when I put these together, and in case you need to ask, the answer is yes, that’s a very good sign.

Here’s the My Paper Pumpkin card that you get when you follow their directions:

Actually, this is the card you get when you mess up when you are following their directions. I DROPPED the “hey there, friend” stamp when I was placing it on the card front, and it smudged. I sat there looking at it as though it had betrayed me (when in fact, I had betrayed it.) But Stampin’ Up! was clearly a step ahead of me and provided those little random dot things. They are clearly intended to cover up messes, so that’s how I used them.

I almost never make more than one of the same card and I was curious to see what I could do with the project pieces. I made three additional cards using some or all of the Paper Pumpkin supplies.

A few Basic Grey circles, some Tempting Turqoise ink, my Uniball white gel pen, a snip of 1/8 inch Daffodil taffeta ribbon, some Pewter Embossing Powder (you NEED this) and some bling were all added into the mix for this card. The stamps are You Rule from the Spring Catalog.

I wanted a banner, so I cut the circle die cut like a pizza and layered it on Daffodil Delight. The letters and the accents on the word birthday are from our new Designer Typeset Polymer stamp set – so easy to use – and the elephant and word Birthday are from You’re Amazing.

I think this card needs a little something, but it was the last card of the evening and I think I was out of mojo. I’ll stare at it a while and something will come up.

This last one is my favorite:

That “Hey There, Friend” sentiment is going to get a lot of use in my studio!

You can have this same kit – just log into My Paper Pumpkin to sign up. The Welcome kit is the first month’s kit for every new subscriber, and you can manage your subscription in case you’ll be away for a month and want to put a hold on your kit. Stampin’ Up! has told us that they will not be previewing the kits, and each kit will be an exclusive offer – meaning if you miss it, it’s gone. You need to commit by the 10th of each month to receive the current kit – don’t put it off, ok?

I would gladly pay you Tuesday…

Posted on April 26, 2013 by mauistamper

For a hamburger today!

ALMOST looks good enough to eat, eh?

You can do this with just a few punches and some paper. I’m generally not a big fan of punch art but this was too perfect for a Dad card. Here you go:

Birthday or Father’s Day, either way this card is a winner! We’re making this one at the Manly Cards class on May 5. There are still a few spots – let me know if you would like to join us.

And I am very sorry to report that not only is the First Editions dsp retiring, but it is sold out. We can only cross our fingers and hope that Stampin’ Up! Has something better in store in the new catalog. 😉

RETIRING STAMPS AND ACCESSORIES! The list is OUT!

Posted on April 23, 2013 by mauistamper

It’s time to check out that list of Retiring Stamps! Which of your favorites are retiring, and which ones will be available for another year? This list always includes a few that we groan over, but the truth is that retiring stamps make way for NEW STAMPS – and we ALL love new stamps! Think about it if you like – you have until Monday, June 3 to order these retiring stamps.

However, Stampin’ Up! also revealed the RETIRING ACCESSORIES list today – and that list requires immediate action. Accessories are While Supplies Last and that can mean that some accessories sell out within days or even hours of being announced. If you see something you love on the list, or if you have a project that is not quite done that uses something on the retired list, better get it now!

To encourage you to place that order today, I’ve set up a special order. When you shop in Anne’s Online Store and enter Hostess Code # ZBMZ722P, you will guarantee two things:

1) Your order will ship directly to YOU, and right away – no waiting for me to submit it.
2) YOU will be entered into a drawing to receive special Stampin’ Up! products – I’ll be sharing the Hostess Benefits for this order!

Here are the PDF’s –

Retired_List_stamps_2013

Stampin’ Up! Retired Accessories Availability as of 5-8-13