Did you enjoy the Royal Blog Tour? I hope so! I know I had fun preparing for it! I just want to thank each of you who took the time to go through the tour. It takes a lot of hard work from those involved behind the scenes to put a tour like this together and everyone did a wonderful job! A special thanks to everyone who took the time to leave me sweet comments and to those who subscribed to my blog feed too! I love hearing from you all. We can keep one another inspired!

Have a great day!

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Are You a Big Shot?

It's Wednesday again! They just come around so fast, but that is okay because I get to share a challenge with you. A Diva challenge! This week, we have another Big Shot challenge. You can use any current Stampin' Up! Big Shot die to create your card or project. Those are the only rules! How easy can that be?I received the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder in my last order and decided to put it to good use. I was going for simple and I think I actually achieved that with my first card. I just love the new Rich Razzleberry In Color! It is definitely one of my favorites! Since the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder only dry embosses half of the card, I simply used the "for you" sentiment from Great Friends in the upper left naked space and added some Rich Razzleberry ribbon. Pretty easy, huh?
Well, I thought so, anyway. My darling daughter, on the other hand, decided I did not pick a pretty color scheme. She felt I should be using Basic Black and Real Red for a more striking color combination. So, I whipped out the Manhattan Flower embossing folder as I thought that dry embossed image went better with the "striking color scheme" that she chose. I used the same Great Friend sentiment in the upper naked corner. But, she didn't like this one either. She felt the Basic Black should be the base of the card with just a layer of the Real Red and wanted to use the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder again. I wasn't happy with the scalloped black layer under the sentiment, but the Wide Oval punch was too large of a layer. I wish we had just one more punch... The butterfly was, of course, stamped in Real Red and cut out with snips, attached with a dimensional. This butterfly is also from the Great Friend stamp set.

Pop on over to the Diva Coffee Break Designs blog and see what the rest of the design team have come up with for your inspiration. They always have some good stuff! You can add your Big Shot creation to the Diva blog using Mr. Linky. It is very easy!

Thanks for stopping by!


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Welcome to the Royal Blog Tour!

Welcome to my blog! I am using the level 3 Hostess set, Kind and Caring Thoughts, to showcase 4 cards that I hope will bring you some inspiration. I think that decorating the inside of the card gives it an extra special touch and so I have done that as well on some of the cards.

My first card is a base of Whisper White with the color combination

layers of

Orchid Opulence and Rich Razzleberry. After stamping the main image in Rich Razzleberry,

I placed several circle rhinestone brads on the image before layering on the Orchid Opulence. A piece of Rich Razzleberry grosgrain ribbon is used across the layer of Orchid Opulence - on which I used the scallop edge punch and white gel pen dots on the scallops. The sentiment comes from the Fresh Cuts stamp set and is placed on a 1-1/4" punched circle, follow

ed by a 1-3/8" punched circle layer and a scallop circle punched layer.

The base of this second card is Kraft cardstock, on which I stamped the largest floral image in the Kind and Caring

Thoughts stamp set in Versamark ink randomly.

The layers of cardstock are Old Olive, Perfect Plum and Whisper White.

I colored the floral image with a Perfect Plum and Old Olive markers in order to get the different colors on the one stamp. On the edges that are scalloped, I used Stampin' Up!'s

scallop edge punch before using the white gel pen to place a white dot in each scallop.

The ribbon is Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain and the embellishment is a Filigree Designer Brad with a circle rhinestone brad in the middle.

My next card utilizes the new In-Colors again.

I am really enjoying these colors. I created the base of this standard-sized card in Bermuda Bay with a layer of Dusty Durango underneath a layer of Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. The ribbon is

Dusty D

urango polkadotted grosgrain with a

Flower Designer Brad attached.

My final card uses sketch SC237 from Splitcoast Stampers. I am very pleased with how this card came out.

The base of the card is Whisper White and it is folded so that it opens from the bottom - as were two of the other cards.

The bottom layer of DSP is from the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP packet and the next layer is

Certainly Celery DSP, followed by Crushed Curry grosgrain ribbon. The leaves were made from the Little Leaves S

izzlet die which was run through the Big Shot. The floral image was stamped in Crushed Curry onto Whisper White and then the top portion was cut out and placed on top of the die cut leaves with a dimensional. Six vintage brads were placed as shown.

Thanks for stopping and touring my blog. If you like what you see, please leave me a comment. I love to hear from my readers. Why not bookmark my blog or subscribe to the email feed.

Another Great Friend creation....this set is getting a lot of use! I love the boldness of the red against the softness of the green.

Supplies:

Stamps: Great Friend

Ink: Real Red

Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Real Red, So Saffron, Whisper White, Certainly Celery DSP

Accessories: Big Shot, Little Leaves Sizzlets die, Real Red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon

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A friend of our family has recently had her first baby and her grandma made these adorable birth announcements for little Amberly. Aren't they precious? The announcement was inspired by this card on Splitcoast by bwstamper. You did an awesome job, Jan!

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Bad Diva!

Sometimes I think I have really lost it! Did you ever feel that way? Here I am just blogging along with my cards and my calendar sitting right next to me, thinking today is Wednesday.....Duh! I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short!

Well, I apologize. My card for this week's Diva Coffee Break Designs was ready, but obviously my brain was not functioning at the proper capacity. We had a sketch this week to work with. I flipped my upside down.

Supplies:

Stamps: Friends 24/7, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Night of Navy

Cardstock: Brocade blue, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Night of Navy DSP (from Hostess Level 1 packet)

Accessories: White Organza Ribbon, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Dimensionals

Make sure you pop on over to the Diva Coffee Break Design blog and see what the rest of the design team has come up with for your inspiration. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a wonderful day.

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This card was completely inspired by another fellow demo, but I am so sorry that I did not record her name. She used a different animal and layered a tad differently, but basically it is the same card. I was having a hard time liking this Animal Stories stamp set so I decided to CASE the first time I used it. The designer paper (Tall Tales) matches the stamp set nicely.

Supplies:

Stamps: Animal Stories

Ink: Soft Suede

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede, Animal Stories DSP, Whisper White

Accessories: Soft Suede grosgrain ribbon

I don't normally make square cards, but this one measures 5-1/2" x 5-1/2".

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When I am away from those that I love, I sometimes like to send a little note to let them know I am still thinking about them and missing them. This card fits that occasion perfectly! I did make this card about a month and a half ago so, unfortunately, the designer paper is retired.

Supplies:

Stamps: Loads of Love

Ink: Black Craft Ink, Real Red

Cardstock: Basic Black, Real Red, Basic Gray, Urban Garden DSP (retired)

Accessories: Large black eyelets, 1-1/4" circle punch, 1" circle punch, black grosgrain ribbon, blender pen, Crop-A-Dile, Heart to Heart punch, clear embossing powder, heat gun

My image as well as the sentiment are embossed with Craft Ink and clear embossing powder. That made it pop out a little more and also made it easier to color in with the ink and blender pen.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Butterflies are so cheerful and carefree! Two of the new In Colors are used on this card, Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry along with the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. I didn't think I was going to like this designer paper, but I find myself using it more and more!

Supplies:

Stamps: Great Friend, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Rich Razzleberry and Melon Mambo

Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP

Accessories: Rich Razzleberry grosgrain ribbon, Modern Label punch

You can order these products from me online 24/7!

The Deal of the Week!

Each week in July, Stampin' Up! has been offering a "Deal of the Week". This is now week 4 and the Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware Kit is being offered at quite a deal! For this week only, July 20th through July 26th, you can purchase the Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware Kit for only $18.99 (more than a 30% savings!)

Period	Item	Page	Description	Regular Price	Special Price
July 20, 10 AM (MT) through July 27, 9:50 AM (MT)	112454	178	Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware	$29.95	$18.99

Contact me today to place your order at stampinsteph72858@gmail.com or (731) 513-0611 or you can place your order online 24/7!

Cute party favor!

Isn't this little party favor adorable? My kids make fun of me because I like tiny, cute things. For those of you just getting to know me, you will soon come to find that I LOVE my Big Shot and the dies that Stampin' Up! sells to go with it! This too was made with the Big Shot and the Bag with Scallops die (item #114519, $34.95 US). It is a tiny, little thing - measuring just 4" tall, but the perfect size to add some candies for a birthday party or shower favor or even a small gift for a class gift during the holidays. The Big Shot cuts three different pieces to the bag and it goes together quite easy!

Supplies:

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes (balloon), Tenny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Jet Black Stazon

Cardstock: Pumpkin Pik, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP

Accessories: Big Shot, Bag with Scallops die, scallop circle punch, Modern Label punch, SU! chalks, dimensionals, non-SU! brads

You can purchase these products from me online 24/7!

Anything BUT an A2

Happy Saturday Stampers! Our design team challenge this week over at Late Night Stampers Group is to make a card that is any size OTHER than a standard A2 sized card. For those of you who don't know, a standard A2 card measures 5-1/2" x 4-1/4". Pretty much all of my cards are made this size. But, I stepped out of my comfort zone and created a square card measuring 4-1/2" x 4-1/2" using the Baroque Motifs stamp set.

Supplies:

Stamps: Baroque Motifs

Ink: Barely Banana

Cardstock: Taken with Teal, Basic Black, Whisper White

Accessories: Vintage brad (black), photo corners punch, scallop edge punch, dimensionals

You can order any of these products online from me 24/7!

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

By the way~ please leave me a comment and let me know what you think of new look of my blog!

CASing Chat

This card is heavily inspired by Chat from memystampsandi.blogspot.com. It is hard to see with the lighting in this picture, but I used one of the images from Kind and Caring Thoughts, which is a Level 3 Hostess Set, and stamped it in Bashful Blue on Bashful Blue cardstock. The designer paper is also from the Bashful Blue collection. On the main image, some of the flower pieces are stamped a second time and cut out and placed on top of the first image with dimensionals.

Supplies:

Stamps: Kind and Caring Thoughts

Ink: Real Red

Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Real Red, Whisper White, Bashful Blue DSP

Accessories: Real Red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, paper piercer

Hope you enjoyed this card! You can order these products online 24/7!

It is a GREAT time to join Stampin' Up! Become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator with the limited-time $85 Mini Starter Kit. The Mini Starter Kit contains the following products:

Item Code	Page #*	Description	Retail Value**
115360	118	For All You Do stamp set	$28.95
115658	155	Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin' Pad	$5.95
115656	155	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	$5.95
115659	155	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	$5.95
115654	155	Dusty Durango Classic Stampin' Pad	$5.95
115655	155	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	$5.95
115657	155	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad	$5.95
100730	155	Whisper White card stock (8-1/2" x 11")	$7.50
115315	155	In Color assorted card stock (8-1/2" x 11")	$7.95

*All page numbers refer to the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog
**All products may be substituted for like items; see Mini Starter Kit order form for details.

The standard Starter Kit ($199) will continue to be available during this promotional period. During the promotional period there will also be a standard Starter Kit incentive for new recruits who choose the standard Starter Kit instead of the Mini Starter Kit; new recruits who choose the standard Starter Kit will receive the following, along with the standard Starter Kit supplies:

• All six of the new In Color Classic Stampin' Pads
• One pack of In Color assorted card stock (8-1/2" x 11")

Incentive items have a $43.65 value and are not substitutable.

The standard Starter Kit includes:

• A Stampin' Around wheel, handle and ink cartride
• Five stamp sets
• Five Classic Stampin' Pads
• Versamark Pad
• Card Stock
• Stampin' Scrub
• Stampin' Mist
• Blender pens
• Snail
• Eastern Blooms Decor Elements and applicator tool
• Business forms and tools

This is a GREAT time to join the Stampin' Up! Family and I would love to have you on my team. Whether you are interested in becoming a demonstrator as a hobby for the discount, part-time income or full-time income, this special offer is only available for a limited time.

To join my team or for more information on becoming a demonstrator, click here. My recruiter password is "stampinsteph".