Please see my most recent postings on my Stampin’ Up! blog at www.sherahlweadon.stampinup.net.

More Sweet Cakes!

Here’s a few more super quick, easy cards from my display board at Retreat to share with you using the Sweet Cake stamp set and the Sweet Shop Specialty DSP. The second card has some of the cute new Sweet Shop Designer Stickers on them. Very cool!  The Sweet Cake stamp set goes away on April 30, so don’t forget to place your order along with your favorite items which appear on the Retired Accessory List on April 25. These items will go very fast so you will not want to hesitate.

Supplies:

Card 1:  Stamp Set:  Sweet Cake; Card Stock: Pool Party, Soft Suede, and Whisper White; DSP: Sweet Shop Specialty; Ink: Wisteria Wonder and Soft Suede; Accessories:  Stampin’ Dimensionals, Basic Pearls, Scallop Oval Punch, Pool Party 3/8″ Ruffled Ribbon.

Card 2:  Stamp Set:  Sweet Cake; Cardstock:  Calypso Coral, Island Indigo,  and Whisper White; DSP:  Sweet Shop Specialty; Ink:  Calypso Coral; Accessories:  Sweet Shop Designer Stickers, Oval Scallop Punch, 2-3/8″ Scallop Circle Punch, Modern Label Punch, and Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Card 3:  Stamp Set: Sweet Cake and Fabulous Phrases; Cardstock:  Whisper White, Pool Party and Soft Suede; DSP:  Sweet Shop; Ink:  Soft Suede; Accessories:  3/8″ Ruffled Ribbon in Wisteria Wonder and Pool Party, Stampin’ Dimensionals and Jelly Bean Brad.

Card 4:  Stamp Set:  Sweet Cake; Cardstock:  Calypso Coral, Whisper White and Wisteria Wonder; DSP:  Sweet Shop; Ink:  Concord Crush; Accessories:  3/8″ Wisteria Wonder Ruffled Ribbon, Scallop Trim Border Punch and Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Retired Accessories List is Here!

Be sure to check out the newly released Retired Accessories List for some great deals! But don’t delay because they won’t last long. There are some awesome markdowns so grab your credit card and get them before they are gone!  If you would like me to send you a PDF file of the list, please comment with your e-mail and I would be happy to do so.

Cupcakes!

Don’t you just want to lick the frosting off all those cupcakes? This background paper is from the lovely pack of Specialty Designer Series Paper, Sweet Shop, two of which have embossed designs like the one from yesterday’s card (the lovely polka dots). But today’s card is just full of cupcakes! And the centerpiece – another cupcake from the Sweet Cake stamp set! Who wouldn’t want to celebrate with this card?!!

Supplies:  Stamp Set: Sweet Cake and Fabulous Phrases; Card Stock: Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Whisper White,  and Soft Suede; Ink: Soft Suede and Calypso Coral; Accessories:  Dimensionals, Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Fashionable Hearts Embosslits Die, and Scallop Oval Punch.

I’ve Got a Crush on You!

Concord Crush that is! Isn’t this color yummylicious? Is that a word? Not sure, but it sure describes this card. And not just for the cupcake!  This card is part of a group of cards that I made for a display board at the Asheville Retreat – the stamp set is Sweet Cake. It’s available through the end of April in the Mini Occasions Catalog as well as the Wisteria Wonder polka dot dsp featured in the Sweet Shop DSP paper pack. This is an easy card to make – just Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, and Concord Crush colors. I’ll be posting the rest of the cards in the next couple of days. But be sure to get your Concord Crush on because it will be retiring the end of May as part of the 2010-2012 In Colors. A new set of In Colors will be revealed in the new 2012-2013 Idea Book and Catalog in June.

Supplies:  Stamp Set:  Sweet Cake; Cardstock:  Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder and Concord Crush; Ink:  Concord Crush; DSP:  Sweet Shop; Accessories:  Dimensionals, 1/2″ Concord Crush Poly-Stitch Ribbon.

Retired Stamp List is Here!

There are over 300 stamp sets retiring from the 2011-2012 catalog, and this is your chance to get them before they’re gone. Many products are only available while supplies last, so be sure to get your orders in early!

Check out the Retired Stamps List at the bottom of the Promotions page on my demonstrator website!  The Retired Accessories List will be available on April 25.

Kindness Matters Binder Tutorial Now Available on Etsy!

You can now purchase the tutorial for my Kindness Matters class that I taught at retreat in Asheville, North Carolina. This class was very popular and I really enjoyed teaching it to a great bunch of ladies!  The binder holds eight 5-1/4″ square cards, 2 each of 4 different designs along with envelopes. The binder and cards can be easily adapted to any designer series paper and stamp set so it is great for classes or a stamp camp, and if you are not a demonstrator, just to make and give as a gift. The cost is $12.50. Here’s the link to my new Etsy Shop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/Sherindipity

Betsy’s Going Away Tea Party

One of my good friends and downline, Betsy, is moving to Florida so I gave her a going away tea party.  Most of the ladies from my Sherindipity Stampers group was in attendance for some great tea party make & take projects, food and fun.

Betsy was one of the first people I met when I moved to the Eastern Shore 7 years ago. It took a while but she finally took the plunge and became one of my Sherindipity Stampers and has been going full speed ahead since. She is a great networker so I know she will have no problem starting up her business once she gets to Florida. She recently recruited two new demonstrators in between packing up her house in MD, looking for a new house in FL, traveling back and forth and taking care of 3 kids and a husband.  She amazes me sometimes how much she manages to stuff in one day.  Betsy girl, I know you will do just fine.

Here are two of the projects we made at the party as well as a pic of the first chocolate cake pops I ever made. They were rich, but oh so Yummy!  The Tea for Two project is one of Stampin’ Up!’s clear stamp cases stuffed with pockets of different types of teas and Ghiradelli chocolates. The second is a cute little teacup card. Both projects were made using the Tea Shoppe stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalog. This catalog is set to expire on April 30 so be sure to get your Tea Shoppe stamp set now.  The DSP used is from the Everyday Enchantment that ended with Sale-A-Bration in March, but you can adapt any DSP to be used.

Bon Voyage Betsy!  I will miss you but thanks to Facebook we can always be in touch until you make your trips back home to see family in MD.

Mocha Morning I Do!

With Summer around the corner, so come the wedding processions. Here is a lovely card using the Mocha Morning Specialty DSP again. As you can see from all my cards posted this past week this DSP is great for any occasion.  To give this card some extra shine, I sprayed it with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz. I also sponged Very Vanilla Craft Ink onto the square behind the heart to give it an aged feeling and embossed it with the Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  Here is a closeup.

Here are some more pics of the ladies from the North Carolina Retreat too!

Supplies:  Stamp Set:  Word Play; Cardstock: Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla; DSP:  Mocha Morning Specialty; Ink:  Soft Suede and Very Vanilla Craft Ink; Accessories:  Soft Suede 3/8″ Taffeta Ribbon, Heart Punch, Big Shot, Fashionable Hearts Embosslits Die, Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Sponge Dauber, Dimensionals, Stampin’ Sponges, and Itty Bitty Backgrounds (retired).

Thanks ladies for such a great time in North Carolina!

Mocha Morning Graduate

Spring is in the air, but the end of the school year will be here before you know it. So here is a little Mocha Morning for your graduate!  The wording on this card is from Word Play and is one of my favorite stamps from the set and very versatile – works for graduation, new job or retirement.  And the Early Espresso ribbon and the mini library clip definitely are perfect embellishments for this card.  Get your Mocha Morning Specialty DSP before it’s gone!

Here’s another project using this great DSP from a class I took at the North Carolina Retreat. My friend Bonnie Henderson taught this beautiful Frame Class and I really loved making the flowers out of Mocha Morning Specialty DSP.   Check out the texture on the leaves – she showed us how to use the Spider Web Textured Impressions Embossing Folder to make the veins on the leaf. So cool!

Supplies for Card: Stamp Set:  Word Play; Cardstock:  Textured Crumbcake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Whisper White; Ink:   Early Espresso; DSP: Mocha Morning Specialty; Accessories:  1/8″ Early Espresso Taffeta Ribbon, Mini Library Clip, Dimensionals, Big Shot, Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:  The Retirement List will be out on April 15th, please be sure to check out this list on my demonstrator website by clicking on the “shop now shopping cart” button at the top right sidebar of my blog – it will take you to my site.  These items will start to go quick so don’t delay if there are items you want from the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog.

Also the Clearance Rack has added over 50 new items. You won’t want to pass up these items either. Fabulous markdowns!

Mocha Morning Continues!

Here are some more projects using the Mocha Morning Speciality DSP. What’s so special about a specialty DSP you say? Well, usually there are one or two sheets that have something special about them like flocking, raised images, glitter, etc. Mocha Morning has two different sheets that have beatiful black flocking on them so I thought I would show you two cards that have this feature. Here’s a close up pic of the flocking and the little embossed butterfly. Another Mocha Morning card with that specialty flocking on it is this one with a favorite saying from the “Style Beautiful” stamp set. That wording says it all. These two cards are also easy and quick to make but pack a punch in the style arena.

Supplies: Card 1 – Stamp Set: Word Play; Cardstock: Crumb Cake Plain and Textured, Whisper White, and Basic Black; DSP: Mocha Morning Specialty; Ink: Basic Black; Accessories:  5/8″ Basic Black Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals, Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Labels Collection Framelits Dies, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, and Basic Pearls. Card 2 – Stamp Set:  Style Beautiful; Cardstock:  Basic Black and Whisper White; Ink:  Basic Black; Accessories:  Whisper White 5/8″ Organza Ribbon.

Mocha Morning for Dad

Quick post before I head out the door to go grocery shopping! Stampin’ Up!’s Mocha Morning Specialty Designer Series Paper is great for making men’s cards too, like this one for Father’s Day. The colors are great – Soft Suede and Early Espresso, and this was one quick card too. To make this card especially manly, I pulled out my Big Shot and embossed the strip of Soft Suede CS behind the wording with  the Houndstooth Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  See you tomorrow with another Mocha Morning DSP card!

Supplies:  Stamp Set:  Delightful Dozen; Cardstock:  Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, and Soft Suede; Ink:  Early Espresso; DSP:  Mocha Morning Specialty; Accessories:  5/8″ Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon, Large Oval Punch, Decorative Label Punch, Dimensionals, Big Shot, Houndstooth Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.

It’s Going to be a Mocha Morning Kind of Week!

So much going on right now and I haven’t had a chance to post lately, but while brainstorming last night I remembered I hadn’t shared my Mocha Morning cards from my North Carolina retreat display board on my blog yet. So that’s what I’ll be doing all this week. After you see these cards, you will realize that if you haven’t purchased this lovely Stampin’ Up! Specialty Designer Series Paper yet, you must. But you will have to do it soon as it will be retiring as all good Stampin’ Up! designer series papers do when a new catalog comes out.  And that will be early this year, with the new catalog making its debut in June instead of July.  So I hope you enjoy my Mocha Morning DSP creation today and keep coming back for more the rest of the week.  This is my favorite of the bunch!

Here is a pic of me and my friend, Bonnie Henderson, another SU! demonstrator, who organized the retreat that I attended last month in Asheville, NC . Bonnie was also my roommate and we had so much fun – staying up until the wee hours of the morning laughing at each other’s escapades from years long ago! Thanks Bonnie for allowing me to teach at your retreat and I look forward to doing so again in the fall.

Here is another pic of a great bunch of gals that attended one or both of my classes that I taught at retreat.  They are referred to as the Tennessee Gals. They were so fun and willing to share all their ideas with me as well as including me in with their lunch and dinner groups.

Two of my friends that I met at retreat last fall, Kathy Williams and Sandy Sluder, both from Tennessee, were unable to attend this spring retreat so I decided to swing up through Tennessee on my way back home to Maryland and had dinner with them at the Chop House in Kingsport and got to share all my cards and ideas with them that we did at retreat. It was such a pleasant evening catching up with each other. For some reason my flash was not working on my camera and the room was so dark those pics did not turn out so I don’t have them to share with you.  But here is one of the Tennessee mountains that I took when I was on my way to meet up with them. Such a pretty state!

Supplies:

Stamp Sets:  Bordering on Romance (Mini Occasions – last day to order April 30) and Party Time; Cardstock:  Textured Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla and Early Espresso; Ink:  Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Lucky and Limeade; Specialty Designer Series Paper: Mocha Morning; and Accessories:  Big Shot, Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Linen Thread, Basic Pearls, Aqua Painter, Dimensionals and Itty Bitty Backgrounds (retired).

Thanks from Toby

Its been a few weeks since we laid our Toby to rest. He was such a beautiful dog that I wanted him to be the focal point on the card so all I added was just a simple linen thread bow and some brads to embellish. I gave this card to our vets, Dr. Harris and Dr. Kerns at Midshore Veterinary Service, to thank them for their friendship, care and support over the last seven years.  Toby was so protective of me each time we went to the vet’s and would sometimes growl at the staff that I often had to leave the exam room so they could work with him. But they always came out with a smile saying what a great and loyal dog he was to me. One of the things my husband will miss as Spring rolls around is his golf ball chaser. Toby loved to go over to the field with him while he practiced his swing and would bring back his balls for him. We keep looking to see him everywhere in the house as he was constantly under foot and following us from room to room. I can’t tell you how many times my husband and I tripped over him, especially getting out of the bed in the middle of the night. We never knew which side he was going to sleep on as it seemed he rotated sides torn between having to make the decision between the two of us. He was a extremely faithful and we love and miss him dearly.

Sugar & Spice – That’s what Girls are Made of!

My neighbors, Phil and Mary, just had a beautiful baby girl, named Catherine Rose. I decorated this cute frame with some flowers to spice it up for their little beauty. Thanks Mary for letting me have my baby fix this morning. I used the new Mixed Bunch stamp set from the Mini Occasions catalog along with the coordinating Blossom Punch to make the flowers. I stamped the flower image in Pretty in Pink and punched out centers of the same color card stock. That’s what’s great about Stampin’ Up! products – coordinating colors in everything from ink, cardstock, markers, ribbons, buttons, etc. ! I added the new 8 mm pearls to the centers of the flowers and on the bow which I made with my Perfect Bow Maker. The smaller flowers were made with the Boho Blossom punch and the Basic Pearls. I added all the flowers to a base which I made out of chipboard covered in Twitterpatted DSP and hot glued to the front of the frame. I also modge podged the large flowers so I could form them to flip up on the edges. Both the chipboard and the modge podge gives the flowers stability as well. I used the Two Step Bird punch (wing section) to make the leaves out of Certainly Celery card stock and sponged them on the edge to give them some depth. I used my Perfect Bow Maker to make the Pretty in Pink Bow. What a sweet little girl full of sugar and spice!

Supplies: Stamp Set: Mixed Bunches; Cardstock: Whispering White, Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery; DSP: Twitterpatted; Ink: Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery; Accessories: Punches: 3/4″ Circle, Boho Blossom, Two Step Bird and the Blossom Punch, 5/8″ Pretty in Pink Satin Ribbon, Basic Pearls and 8 mm Pearls, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Linen Thread, Chipboard, Frame, Modge Podge and Glue Gun.