See Ya Later, Alligator!

"See ya later, Alligator," my mom would say to me when I was a kid. And if I wasn't in one of my moods, I'd respond "After a while, crocodile." This Sale-a-Bration stamp set reminds me of my mom--and that's a good thing. My mom was a wonderful woman and I'm indebted to her. She always said she was proud of me. I hope I can always live up to her opinion. And I hope I can instill in my children the things she gave to me--always look on the bright side, pick yourself up and keep going, do your best, don't sweat the small stuff. Those are all platitudes we can all live by.

Anyway (as Ellen would say), here's a card I CASEd almost exactly from last month's issue of Stampin' Success--the magazine we Stampin' Up demonstrators receive free every other month. It's one of our perqs and it is full of ideas on how to use our wonderful products. I loved the simplicity of this card and I loved the negative banner cut. It took me a minute, but I figured out how they made the banner longer than the actual framelit. Can you figure it out? I also put a button on it and used the Silver Baker's Twine (because that's what I had). Easy-peasy and quick! (It's a good thing it was quick because despite my "snow day" I worked harder at home than I would have at work and I didn't get to my stamping room until after 9:30 tonight. I know; I'm cray-cray, but whatevs).

(Stamp Set: See Ya Later; Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe; Card Stock: Sahara Sand, Whisper White; DSP: Sweet Sorbet; Accessories: Neutrals Basic Buttons, Silver Baker's Twine, Banners Framelit Dies)

Awesome, Thanks!

Our area is about to get somewhere between 4 and 8 inches of snow overnight. The county schools have already closed. I'm hoping my work will be closed because I love to do two things on a snow day: 1. Sleep in!! 2. Stamp!! (I guess I'll have to shovel at some point.)

I'd like to say, for the record, that I am NOT "so over" winter! I love winter! It's my favorite season. I'm thrilled to be getting another dump of snow. Mid-Maryland doesn't always get snow, so this winter has been really great. (I might not feel this way tomorrow, after I've shoveled my driveway.) So even though I'm not "over" winter, I seem to be making cards with subtle spring colors--like this one I made for Connie & Mary's Spring 2014 Sketch Challenge (CCMCSPRING14-03).  

I was fiddling around in my scraps pile--you know, that pile of paper and DSP that you've cut off the sheet and that you're planning to file neatly in the accordian folder where you keep you scraps, organized by color in the correct color family, but end up just piling scraps next to your cutter--that pile. I'd used this DSP on one of the Christmas cards I made for my stamp-a-stack series and these strips were just lying there in the pile waiting to be used again. The scraps determined my color scheme--especially since my go-to card base color is becoming Baked Brown Sugar. I'd seen someone else ink up the Yippee-Skippee! greetings with markers and "Awesome...Thanks" fit into my circle and the rest just all fell into place. Of course I also had to use my new fave embossing folder from Sale-a-Bration: Decorative Dots. I've said it before and I'm saying it again in the hope that my wish will waft on over to Riverton, Utah: I hope, I hope, I hope this folder gets carried over at the end of SAB!!

(Stamp Set: Yippee-Skippee!; Card Stock: Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding; DSP: 2013-1014 In Color DSP Stack; Accessories: Crisp Cantaloupe and Pistachio Pudding Stampin' Write Markers, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Circles Collection Framelits, Banner Framelit Dies, Pistachio Pudding Ruffled Stretch Ribbon, Decorative Dots Embossing Folder)

Sweet Sorbet Make & Take Idea

I've got a couple of workshops coming up during Sale-a-Bration and I'm looking for ideas for make-and-takes. When I saw this card that Marla Reed made, I knew that I had to CASE it...and then I thought it would be perfect for a make-and-take. I love Marla's stamping style--it's so fresh. The colors on this card are so sweet. I never would have thought about putting Sahara Sand and Pool Party together, but this combo rocks! I used a different background stamp on the tag and I used the Elegant Butterfly punch rather than the Bitty Butterfly punch that Marla used.

So this is one of my ideas for a workshop M&T. I have another up my sleeve that I'll share later this week. I'm hoping for a snow day on Thursday so I can stamp all day!!!

(Stamp Sets: Perfect Pennants, Papillion Potpourri, Delicate Doilies; Inks: Pool Party, Basic Gray, Summer Starfruit; Card Stock: Pool Party, Sahara Sand, Basic Black, Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe, Summer Starfruit; DSP: Sweet Sorbet; Accessories: Elegant Butterfly Punch, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Pistachio Pudding Ruffle Stretch Ribbon, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Basic Pearls)