Using Retired Colors

I am lucky that I do not have a ton of left over retiring Card Stock. I am also glad that Stampin' Up! told us what colors would be retiring before June 1st. June 1st is a magic date for Stampin' Up! June 1st is when the Last Chance list is posted telling us what is going and what is staying. This year it will be BIG. With the new Color Renovation that is happening ALOT of stamping supplies will be gone, gone, gone!

Most of the current Bold Brights are retiring and that was a color palette that I picked when I became a demonstrator a little over a year ago. For this project I wanted something bright and fun. I chose Green Galore and Pixie Pink. I am not sad about Pixie Pink because I love Melon Mambo, but Green Galore I like. I am excited about Wild Wasabi coming back so that will replace Green Galore on my shelf.

I made some book marks for some friends that I swap books with at PaperbackSwap.com . If you have never tried swapping books you should check it out. I have traded some books, cleaned off a shelf (or two) and received some great books. All for just postage which is usually just $2.40. Not too bad. I LOVE to read. Reading and Stamping are my passions and my escapes. Okay...I am rambling way too much today! Sorry!

I used the petal card die to make the actual bookmark. These are super easy to make and a great way to use up scraps or retired colors! You use a 4x4 piece of card stock and cut only 3 petals out of the shape. Fold them on the score lines and add a little sticky strip or a glue dot. I used a sentiment from the Whimsical Words set from Sale-A-Bration (a favorite of mine) and stamped that in Pixie Pink. I used up my scraps to cut the scallop circle and both circle punches. They were really cute and super easy to make. My book buddies were thrilled to get them and that made my day!

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

If anyone is interested in a tutorial for this, please let me know. June 1st is going to be crazy at my house, but I will try and post a tutorial this week.

Have a great day!

Melissa

Happy Memorial Day!

I just wanted to take some time today to say "Thank You!" to all the soldiers and soldiers' families today. It is a great sacrifice that they make and we have FREEDOM because of it.

My cousin is serving overseas right now. I think of him often and how proud I am of him. Thank you Tim for all that you do.

Have a Truly Blessed Day!

Take some time and Thank a soldier for your FREEDOM!!

Purse-A-Palooza is here!

Hello Stampers! I am excited to offer my Purse-A-Palooza Stamp Camp in June. I have added the details on my Stamp Camp page. Please click here to go there now.

Please email me to sign up. I will be sending out email reminders later this week. This will be a fun class! I can't wait to see everyone's creations!

Happy Stampin!

Melissa

Stampin' Up products are used for more than just cards and scrapbook pages!

I went to my RemARKable Team meeting on Saturday. It was amazing and I got loads of ideas that I have been busy working on to share with you. Check this out! Amazing team members Deb Lehigh and Linda Nagle created this from Stampin' Up supplies. It is a copy of our Stampin' Success magazine and it was so wonderful to see in real life. These ladies are super talented and took the challenge to heart! Everything is made from paper and ribbon! I especially love the candy dots that they created. That was a new idea and brought back wonderful memories from my childhood.

Thanks Deb and Linda!

Have a great day and see you soon!
Melissa

Wild about purses!

I love purses. I think that is an understatement if you see my craft room. I have purses of all shapes and sizes and colors. I think it is really amazing to see what you can make with paper if you let your imagination run wild.

I was walking through the mall the other day and saw this adorable straw purse. Instantly my mind was racing thinking how can I make a paper one? Enter the new Square Lattice Embossing Folder from Stampin' Up. This can be found on page 24 of the new Summer Mini catalog. After several attempts to make a purse I came up with this one. It is almost an exact replica of the one I saw at the store. It can hold 2-3 Ghiradeli chocolate square. What can be better than purses and chocolate?

Supplies Used:

Card Stock: Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Melon Mambo DSP

Accessories: Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Paper Piercer, Mat pack, Floral Fusion Die, and silver brads

I would love to hear what you think. I will be posting a tutorial early next week. I have a Stampin' Up Team meeting tomorrow and Sunday so my weekend will be filled with Stampin' Up! Hooray! I am looking forward to meeting Robin Merriman. I follow her blog (she is amazing)!

Have a great weekend!
Happy Stampin'
Melissa

Happy Birthday Amanda!

I made this adorable bag for my son's friend Amanda. She is having her Sweet 16 Birthday Party tonight. I hope that she likes the bag. I added an I-tunes guft card with the flower card from a previous post. What do you think? I would love to hear some comments!

This is the front. I used some Sweet Pea DSP (I am hoarding this!) and the Sweet Pea felt flowers. They are both no longer available from Stampin' Up! I am so sad. I hope they bring this back again.

Here is the back of the purse.

Happy Birthday Amanda!

Happy Stampin'

Melissa

Bright and Beautiful Colors

I saw this card on Stampin' Addicts and knew that I had to make one. I really love how it turned out. The color combo is not one that I would have picked but they really pop on the card. I am going to give this to my son's friend Amanda for her birthday. She is beautiful and bright, just like this card!

Supplies:

Card Stock: Whisper White, Only Orange, Melon Mambo, Old Olive and Real Red

Accesories: 2 step bird punch, Sizzix Die Flower Daisies #2, Scalloped Square and Big Shot (you need one of these!) and Melon Mambo ribbon.

Thanks for looking! Check back soon!