Sharing a few new shades of green

Posted on June 3, 2016 by mauistamper

Stampin’ Up! has beautiful shades of green, but I’ve just returned from a trip that took my appreciation of the color to new levels.

Mr. Maui Stamper and I traveled through Ireland for 2 weeks with our family. It was GLORIOUS. The wildflowers were in bloom everywhere, and many days we even got a bit of blue sky.

There are swans on this estuary where we stayed, and we loved watching them float gracefully on the water. We learned to appreciate those moments of sunshine!

Even on a grey day, the greens still dominated. One of the images I couldn’t seem to capture was the expanse of green pasture, divided by long stone walls and dotted with cattle, sheep or horses. This was as close as I got – my son was convinced this was simply a way of keeping people out of the field, but it worked for me!

Water – streams, lakes, estuaries, oceans, and rain – is a constant presence, and it feeds all that beautiful green. We were amazed at how plants large and small could gain a purchase in what seemed to be solid stone.

There’s a meadow growing on the top of this structure! Buildings, walls, stone – it seemed something could always find a way to root.

We passed this fellow looking for a meal as we walked to Charles Fort outside of Kinsale. On our return, the tide had completely withdrawn and there was nothing but mud.

Since I was away from home nearly the entire month of May, I chose not to place a pre-order from the new catalog. My first order from the 2016-2017 Annual Catalog has shipped and I can’t wait to get my hands on new things to share with you!

I’m sure I’ll be crafting in green.

Dragonflies for June

Posted on June 1, 2016 by mauistamper

There are dragonflies in my backyard, and I love to watch them hover and swoop over the water – they inspired the June calendar:

Stamps: Awesomely Artistic
Color Palette: Tip Top Taupe, Watermelon Wonder, Crisp Cantaloupe (retired)

I ought to apologize for using Crisp Cantaloupe, but I just can’t do that. I bought it, I kept it, and I love it – it wasn’t my decision to retire it!! If you’ve got it, rock it.

Visit Crystal and Cheryl to see their June calendars!

A Muted Garden

Posted on May 31, 2016 by mauistamper

I find the combination of these shades of blues and taupes to be very soothing:

Stamps: Botanical Blooms
Color palette: Very Vanilla, Tip Top Taupe, Soft Suede, Pool Party, and Island Indigo
Accessories: Botanical Blooms framelits, Big Shot, Designer Pearls, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Timeless Elegance DSP

How can you go wrong with these beautiful shapes? I cut out a stack and started playing.

There’s no greeting for now. I’ll add one when I’m ready to send this card. I like to have a stash on hand that I can personalize with just the right greeting.

It’s SO Timeless!

Posted on May 28, 2016 by mauistamper

i can’t resist this paper! It’s the perfect background for anything and everything:

Stamps: Serene Silhouette, Hello (retired SAB 2016)
Color Palette: Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow, Tip Top Taupe
Accessories: 2 1/2″ circle punch, Greetings thinlits (retired and sold out, sorry!), Linen thread, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Timeless Elegance DSP

I really like this layout. You may have seen it – and a few variations – a time or two this month {wink}

Same card, different layout

Posted on May 26, 2016 by mauistamper

My gate fold card from earlier this month began life as a simpler layout:

The color scheme and stamps are the same,but I added a little piercing and the Very Vanilla seam binding. The more I use the Timeless Elegance DSP, the more I’m tempted to add a couple of packs to my last Retiring Products order!

Funny, it seems that paper piercing had fallen out of favor. I hardly ever think to add it to a card, and I seldom see it in the work of other paper crafters. Do you still use it?

We’re proud of our grad

Posted on May 24, 2016 by mauistamper

Our son graduated this month and Mr. Maui Stamper and I are immensely proud of him. Of course, a special card was in order:

Stamps: Beautiful Ride, World Map
Color Palette: Notre Dame Blue and Gold 😄
Accessories: Aquapainter

We’re proud of all three of our children – seems odd to say that when they are all adults. I call them my chickens, and I’m always happy when we are all together. It’s been a good month.

Circles and Squares

Posted on May 22, 2016 by mauistamper

I’m still playing with the Everything set from the April Paper Pumpkin. For this gate-fold card, I chose to layer a circle onto a square – not my usual combination, but I’m happy with the result:

Stamps: Everything
Color palette: Watermelon Wonder, Tip Top Taupe, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Crushed Curry
Accessories: 2 1/2″ circle punch, corner rounder punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Tip Top Taupe lace, Timeless Elegance DSP

The Taupe lace is very soft and has nice stretch and give, so you can knot it and then manipulate it to your liking. I think I’ll be able to get away with regular postage if I add a single card stock layer in front of the bow before I put the card in the envelope.

Blackberry Birthday

Posted on May 14, 2016 by mauistamper

The Everything stamp set that was included in the latest Paper Pumpkin really does cover, well, anything:

Stamps: Everything Paper Pumpkin bonus)
Color palette: Blackberry Bliss, Blushing Bride, Mossy Meadow, Hello Honey, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Gold thread, Timeless Elegance DSP

I’ve worked hard this year to use as much of my DSP stash as I can. I tend to hoard it – for what, I’m not sure. How about you? What’s the oldest DSP in your stash?

Time is slipping away on the Retiring List. Last day to order is May 31st!

A little vintage love

Posted on May 10, 2016 by mauistamper

I don’t do a lot of vintage design. I’m drawn to the style but have a hard time adding the necessary bits and layers that define it.

Stamps: Timeless Texture, Birthday Blossoms
Color Palette: Very Vanilla, Lost Lagoon
Accessories: Big Shot and Little Letters Thinlits, Rhinestone Jewels, Aquapainter, Stampin’ Write markers, Pansy punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

I markered the word “you” from the phrase “celebrate you” and used the Aquapainter to add a little extra color to the flower.

Here’s a hint: when you’re using framelits or Thinlits to create negative space like these letters, put a sheet of thin paper (printer paper works well) between the cutting pad and the thinlit. It will protect your project from embossing any stray cut marks on your cutting pads.

I’m gonna miss this sweet little bird

Posted on May 6, 2016 by mauistamper

I have a bit of a thing for birds. It’s taken me a while to learn the ones that frequent my back yard, but I’ve made good if not perfect progress. I love to hear them when I wake up in the morning.