butterfly for Mom's Day

Hey there blog peeps!  Soooo glad the weekend is here!  Today, I'm sharing my second swap card that I created for my SWAP Team group, which was a Mother's Day themed card.  I know you've probably figured out that I'm pretty infatuated with my Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die since I've rediscovered it a couple of weeks ago.  I can't seem to get enough of the butterflies!  Here's a look at the Mother's day card I made:

I do love the Melon Mambo and Apricot Appeal color combo!  It's such a bright and happy palette. Now that we'll be saying goodbye to Apricot Appeal at the end of June, I definitely want to show how pretty it looks, especially in the Springy and Summertime cards you can create!  I sure will miss it personally (of course, I will probably order a few packs of cardstock and hoard it for my own personal use!)  What's unexpected in the color combo is the little bit of Bashful Blue.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked my trio flowers with the soft blue centers!  Here's the recipe for you:

{Butterfly for Mom's Day}

All Supplies Stampin'Up!

*Stamp Set: Messages for Mom

*Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Kaleidoscope DSP, Bashful Blue, Whisper White

*Inks: Melon Mambo Classic Pad

*Accessories: Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, Perfect Details Texturz plate, Scallop Trim Border, Trio Flower punch, 1/4" Circle Punch, Sherbet Button, Pretties half pearl

Hope you like it!  Enjoy your weekend!  Bye for now :)

{color} my WORLD

Hi again!  I have yet another post today because I wanted to share Stampin'Up!'s Color Renovation!  What's that, you say?  Well, Stampin'Up! has made updates to it's traditional palette of 48 colors and has introduced a sneak peek of it's fresh and new palette that will be available in the upcoming Idea Book and Catalog that'll be released in July.  It's a combination of favorite In Colors, existing go-to colors, and a handful of brand-spankin' new colors!  Here's a breakdown of what this will look like:

And here are the colors organized by the new color families:

Isn't this exciting?  Oh - and if you have some favorites in the existing colors, now's the time to scoop up your supplies of cardstock, ink pads, and reinkers!  Here's a quick glance of the colors we'll be saying farewell to at the end of June:

Feel the need to go color shopping?  Just visit my demonstrator website and click on "Shop Now" to get your favorite colors!

PPA Flower Challenge

If you're wondering, I didn't draw this on a chalkboard :)....So, for my SWAP Team swaps this month, one of our cards had to use the Black Magic Technique.  Have you seen that?  It's when you stamp a solid image in white craft ink on black cardstock.  Then, you add color by using watercolor pencils or watercolor crayons {which is what I opted to use}.  I also decided to use the Awash With Flowers stamp set, too.  And, coincidently, it went with this week's Pals Paper Arts challenge to use FLOWERS! As for the black magic technique, I was pretty pleased with the outcome, considering it was my first attempt!  Here's a look at the full picture:

What do you think?  You've definitely gotta try this if you haven't already.  The effect reminds me of a canvas painting.  Here's the recipe for you: 

{Awash with Black Magic}

All supplies Stampin'Up!

*Stamp Sets: Awash with Flowers, With All My Heart

*Inks: Melon Mambo Classic Pad, Whisper White Craft Pad

*Cardstock: Going Gray and Basic Black textured cardstock, Whisper White and Melon Mambo carstock

*Accessories: Scallop Square Clear Bigz die, Scallop Oval and Large Oval punch; Taken with Teal, Summer Sun, Pixie Pink and Pretty In PinkWatercolor crayons, Linen Thread

Hope you like it! Have a great day!

April Final Friday Giveaway

Hi all!  I bet you were wondering when I'd post my Final Friday Giveaway!  Well, I really had intended to post it sooner, but time just got away from me.  It's been a crazy and hectic work week!  Anyway, I finally got a chance to get it together.  So here it is:

The lucky winner will get the Forever stamp and these pretty 6x6 DSP's from the Walk In The Park paper pack.  You'll get 4 sheets each of 6 double sided prints in the following designs (24 6x6 sheets total):

Aren't these fun?  I think you'll enjoy these spring time papers!  Are you ready to play?  Here are the rules {only enforced by the "Honor System"}:

1. Leave me a comment on this post by midnight Pacific Time, Wed, April 28th, 2010.

2. On your comment, please make sure to include a valid email address or a blog URL (where I can leave a comment or have a way of contacting you). For those of you that are uncomfortable with leaving an email in a post, you can write your info like this: yourname at emailaccount dot com.
3. One comment per person please. :)
4. Anyone can play - international visitors welcome!

You can leave me a comment about anything, or you can answer this question: If you could go back in time to whatever era and location, when and where would that be?  This is an interesting question I heard on the radio and it was good food for thought.  I actually have to think about my own answer on this.  I look forward to reading your comments!

The lucky winner will be announced on my blog on Friday, April 30th!

Thanks for visiting!  Good luck playing!

framed {appreciation}

Hi there and Happy Wednesday to you!  Today, I wanted to share a frame I created for my awesome downline, Kris!  We virtually "met" via my blog and she signed up as a Stampin'Up! demonstrator in February. It's been fun getting to know Kris and her excitement and enthusiasm has really been infectious!  Kris - congrats to you for all you've accomplished in your first 2 months!! Very proud of you! :)

Now, Here's some tidbits about the Frame....I used the the Serif Essentials for the K monogram, and the SU! Clear Scallop Square Bigz die, with the Perfect Details texturz plate.  I made the little flower with some fabric remnants and also used the some fabric pieces to "upholster" the K!  Wondering where I got the frame?  These little gems come in a 2-pak from Ikea.

Have a great day, all!  Thanks for visiting!

Happy Easter!

Hi there blog friends!  Hope you all had a Happy Easter today.  We had a great Easter Weekend with Michael's family, and spent the majority of today driving back home from Vegas.  There was even an earthquake here in California (the epicenter was in Mexicali), but we didn't feel it on our drive back home.  Anyway, I just wanted to share a quick Easter treat I made - I've been enamored with my Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die this week, in case you haven't noticed {wink}.  Here it is:

Hope you all enjoyed your festivities! Wishing you all a blessed Easter.  By for now.

got {MILK}?

Happy Good Friday to you!  So, I really wasn't planning on getting this Mini Milk Carton die.  I kept thinking - what am I gonna use that for?  But, as you can see, I folded.  After I made my mom's birthday favors, I've had favor boxes and packaging on the brain...so I took the plunge.  I finally got it the other day and it is just  SO DARN CUTE!  The size is just right for little chocolate eggs, or buttons or small little trinkets.  Great favor boxes too!  Here's a couple more pictures for you:

As you can see - I played with making another one.  I filled both with the chocolate eggs.  I have yet to make one of those containers with the Box #2 that will hold 4 of these little mini milk guys.  Once I make one, I'll post it soon :)  This cute Mini Milk Carton die is available in the Occasions Mini until April 30th.  Here's the info:

Enjoy your Friday.  Catch ya later!