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. Â 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?
Last weekend we made #ImBringingBirthdaysBack cards:
There were 10 cards and everyone could choose which card and how many to make. Â It was a lovely Saturday afternoon, and I made quite a few cards myself. Â It worked out so well that I’m planning on doing another one soon. Â Let me know if you’d like to come.
I lopped off the first HAPPY from this sentiment to make it fit the picture in my head. Â The retired Black Glimmer paper leaped out of my stash and insisted on being included in this card.
I love how this card feels like a square card – the Whisper White panel is 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ – but measures a standard 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ to make the whole envelope/mailing/postage thing work out. Â What’s the point of a birthday card that’s too much trouble to mail?
Sale-a-bration is wrapping up. Â The last day for orders is next week Thursday at 7:50pm HST. Â Avoid the rush: Â shop HERE.
And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I hope you’ll seriously consider the  April Paper Pumpkin.  The kits are beautifully designed and perfect to grab and go when you need a little crafty pick-me-up.  You can choose a one month subscription to try it out or save on a three month subscription and get a free SAB pick.  Deadline to receive the April kit is April 10th!
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.
Some of the flowers and cut and layered for extra dimension, and you can just see the window sheet strip that allows that Petite Petal to fly.
There’s a cupcake with a single candle right in the middle!
I even made a coordinating envelope. Hope you enjoy!
Well, my blog-hopping friends, we’ve reached the last moments of World Card Making Day – at least on the East Coast. Here in Hawaii, it’s time for pupu and a glass of wine, and Mr. Maui Stamper and I are heading over to the beach with our picnic basket for the sunset. I’m sure to lift my glass to all of you!! Thanks for sharing this day with all of us.
I left the neutrals for last because after my favorite blue + green combo, I love a neutral card. Granted, I often use an neutral palette to set of a pop! of color – Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist – but by themselves I find the neutrals very elegant. Tell me what you think:
Have you tried our new Core’dinations card stock yet? Hie thee off to thine own Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and order thyself some of this paper of the kings!! It is royally fabulous! And that tulle is pretty sweet too, and it sticketh to sticky strip quite welleth! (OK. Enough of that nonsense.)
There’s a little 3/4 inch circle of Early Espresso cardstock behind that Vintage Faceted Button to give it depth.
Black and white is classic, but black with Very Vanilla is just splendid – like deep, dark chocolate hot fudge with rich vanilla bean ice cream (did I send you off to the freezer there? Sorry ’bout that!) Our First Edition Specialty paper is one of my stamp room staples; it’s flexible enough for nearly any card-making situation.
Although the Neutral color family lends itself well to luxurious, elaborate cards, it certainly works well with other styles. This is about as close as I get to a Clean and Simple card, and I’m pretty sure that sparkly star at the top disqualifies me from the genre.
That’s my last card for this hop – or as Mr Maui Stamper called it the other day, the Blog Parade. We are all very grateful for each of you taking the time to hop, skip, jump and parade through our posts. If we’ve done our job well, you are inspired; perhaps you’ve left a comment or two, or pinned a few samples to your Pinterest board for later study.  I’ll be reviewing some of these projects over the next couple of weeks with a little more detail – if there’s one you’d especially like to see featured, just leave a comment.
A hui hou…until we meet again.
So glad you came back for more… at post time, it’s midnight in Hawaii, but you East Coast early risers are greeting the sun! A special shout out to all the crazy all-night crafters at the RemARKably Hot Retreat this weekend 🙂
Choosing a favorite color family is out of the question, but the Brights are easy and fun to work with. Face it – they’re like opening that fresh box of Crayolas on the first day of school, all shiny with their perfectly shaped crayon tops and intoxicating with that special waxy-Crayola smell. Brights inspire me in the same way – fresh and lively!
Wouldn’t this card brighten up your birthday? I’ve made a special effort to see that ALMOST every card in today’s blog hop can be popped into a (Stampin’ Up!) envelope and mailed without extra postage. There are a couple of exceptions, but with rules, as I said in my first post, I make ’em, I break ’em! The Brights just don’t seem to have any bad color combinations.
That being said, there MAY be some color combinations meant only for Very Special Friends. Tangerine Tango and Melon Mambo sound like dancing words…or cocktails…or a dance you do while drinking (plenty!) cocktails!! Life’s too short, and to quote my son “YOLO, Mom – You Only Live Once”. Sounds good to me.
I struggled with a place to put a nice “Merry Christmas” on this card, but friends, if this doesn’t say it out loud I don’t know what would! I assure you I stamped a greeting on the inside – and the insides of these cards will be part of the follow-up posts later this week – but who could argue with ornaments on a tree? Not this girl!
Do you feel brightened up? My Maui friends are up past their bedtimes, my Easties are greeting the day, and the Westies – well, I’m guessing most of you are sound asleep. Bright Dreams!
Now head on over to see what Stampin’ Riri has in store for you…
Aloha, and welcome to Maui! You’ve reached the western-most destination on today’s World Card Making Day RemARKable Blog Hop!! (Go ahead – say that 5 times!!!) I’m happy to be part of this adventure and hope you’ll enjoy all the fabulous cards the talented RemARKable artists have created.
There will be FIVE posts today in honor of WCMD, so be sure you check in throughout the day. The posts aren’t going anywhere, so if you want to come back and browse we hope you will. Be sure you leave these hard-working bloggers a little bloggin’ love – we appreciate each and every one of your comments so much.
I think I’ve found a fun way to organize my posts – we’ll explore one of the Stampin’ Up! color families each round. I’ve packed a lot into each post, so if you’re looking for specifics on each card, check back later this week. I’ll start with the most popular, so be sure and “vote” for yours!
Let’s get started with the 2012-2014 In Color Collection – Gumball Green, Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse and Raspberry Ripple:
 Love that Patio Party Designer Series paper and I will tell you right now that it was a struggle not to use that Summer Silhouettes stamp set for EVERY SINGLE POST. My absolute fave! This is definitely a card for that girlfriend who lives out loud!!
I’ll confess that I wasn’t a big fan of this particular crop of In Colors until I started to play with them, but I’m a convert now! Oh, Summer Starfruit! I apologize for saying you looked like – well, I don’t want to share the exact words I used but it wasn’t pretty! This not-quite-yellow, not-really-green hue is a natural companion to loads of combinations, but especially my favorite blues and greens. The versatiity of this color caught me completely by surprise and once again I must admit I was wrong to judge a book by it’s cover.
Gotta have some bling on a Christmas card, don’t we?? Our latest glimmer paper is Champagne (ooh, just the word makes me think party!)   Love that sparkle – and just for good measure, I added some Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint AND a couple of rhinestone jewels.
The Watercolor Winter set in our Holiday Catalog is my favorite of all the Christmas sets. I’m a poinsettia girl, and they grow – and bloom – all over in the islands. Not at my house, of course – I grow bugs on plants much more successfully than the plants themselves – but I catch my breath when I come around the corner on certain roads and see an entire poinsettia hedge blazing in red on the side of the road.
And yes, for you eagle-eyed, rules-checking blog readers, I DID use Early Espresso and Crumb Cake on that card. It had to be done. And she who makes the rules gets to break them too.
All right!! Hele on (get going) to see what Maria has in store for you! Mahalo for stopping by, and see you back in 6 hours 🙂
Today my oldest daughter celebrates her birthday…except of course she’s in Australia where it’s tomorrow, so she celebrated it yesterday. I think. Can you blame me for being confused? I hope she’s gotten her package, and here’s what I tucked inside:
Love that little joey in the pocket! I like to stamp the joey on a scrap, trim it and attach it with Tombo – there’s a little more dimension that way and it seems more real.
I took a deep breath and wrote my own sentiment. I always worry I’ll mess it up but for this card I knew just what I wanted to say and nothing else would do. Kristina Werner often hand writes her sentiments and they look great. I just need to learn to be more bold and increase my “font” size.
It’s not every day you turn 16.
Today is my son’s 16th birthday. I remember it very clearly – he was 11 days late, and our entire household was anxiously waiting for him to make up his mind. Turned out he was worth the wait.
Our host daughter was up VERY early and prepared a special surprise for him in the hallway outside his room:
She leaves the house at 6:30am to catch the bus, so she was at this very early. He thought it was pretty cool.
Here’s one of the cards he’ll be receiving later today:
Matt’s a wonderful kid, though at 16 I guess he’s not really a kid any more. He passed me up a long time ago and is very close to seeing eye-to-eye with his dad. He’s smart and has a wicked sense of humor, and he keeps us on our toes. He’s also very thoughtful (uh oh, I’ll be in trouble for that one) and we love him whole big bunches.
Happy Birthday, Matthew.
I saw a card posted the other day that made me stop and think. The creator of the card said she didn’t think it looked like a birthday card, but since it didn’t seem to suit any other occasion, she chose a birthday sentiment.  I’m sure there are exceptions, but in my opinion just about any card is a suitable birthday card.
I have to admit that it took me a while to find the right sentiment for the birthday greeting. It wasn’t so much the words as the font that I struggled with. I also confess to struggling with retired colors. I get really attached to some of them! River Rock was one of those colors that I didn’t especially care for until I started using it. If Stampin’ Up! revises their standard color palette, I really hope River Rock gets a permanent slot. Oh, and Baja Breeze. And Kiwi Kiss. And Riding Hood Red.   I guess I have some issues to deal with, don’t I?
How about a party in a box? The last October Deal of the Week features party kits – invitations, decorations, and favors for 8 of your favorite Pink Princesses or Swashbuckling Pirates for $9.99. Perfect for the grade school set, these creative tool kits would also put a fun spin on a baby or bridal shower, a night with your friends, or your club, game or team meetings. There’s no limit on the number of kits you can buy, but this offer turns to a pumpkin at 7:50pm Hawaii Standard Time on Saturday, October 31!
Princess Party Kit #116214 (Idea Book and Catalog p. 174 and 75) regularly $15.95, now $9.99 through October 31st!
Pirate Party Kit #116718 (Idea Book and Catalog p. 175 and 74) regularly $16.95, now $9.99 through October 31st!
You can place an order any time at my Demonstrator Website! Just don’t miss that deadline of 7:50 pm Hawaii Standard Time on Halloween!
The Maui Stamper 