Goodbye!

We'll soon be retiring Blushing Bride, Concord Crush, Pear Pizazz, Peach Parfait and Poppy Parade In Colors. They are so pretty! Now is the time to stock up on ink or paper or ribbon while it's still available. I've used all of them on this card. It also uses the Vintage Vogue stamp set which is also retiring. I'm looking forward to the new catalog and seeing the new In Colors!

Stencil cards

I made these two cards using the Summer Smooches Decor Stencil. In the top card I used sponge daubers and classic ink pads to apply the color. In the bottom photo the reverse piece of the stencil was used to block the Island Indigo and Pool Party that was sponged around the flower image.  Then I used my Color Spritzer and Calypso Coral marker to add a little contrast all over the card. I haven't done much with stencils; it was fun to try some new techniques.

Masculine Birthday Mouse

A couple more masculine cards using some long retired Stampin' Up! stamp sets. One of my coworkers said she had some stamping things that she no longer used. She wondered if I wanted them; said to use what I wanted and find a home for anything I didn't want. These cards are made from two sets from her stash. I had fun making them. The little mouse just makes me feel happy. The expression that is on the stamp with it is "Hooray for You" so I just inked the mouse image and found this "Happy Birthday" in the same arc shape in another of her sets. The balloon also came from that set. I used markers to color in the mouse and the balloons. Coloring is so therapeutic for me!

Masculine birthday card

I realized last week my stash of birthday cards was low in the masculine category. So, today I came up with this design using some ribbon that I've had for a long time.

Curvy Verses

This is a Get Well card I put together using the Curvy Verses and Patterned Party stamp set. The ribbon is from my stash; suspect it came from the dollar bin at one of the big box hobby stores. I'm going to have to get better at photography... because what you can't really see in this picture is that the green balloon has the argyle print on it and that the lower half of the card base is dry embossed using the Stripes embossing folder with my Big Shot.

Do Good

I used the Raining Flowers and Pursuit of Happines stamp sets on this card. Sure glad they are not retiring!
The Pear Pizazz cs was embossed with the snowflake embossing folder. It's sure a pretty pattern and certainly can be used for more than just "snowy" cards.
I'm going to miss this set of retiring colors: pear pizazz, peach parfait, blushing bride, concord crush and poppy parade. But it will be fun to see what the 5 new colors will be!

Congratulations!

These cards use the same elements just varied them a bit. I can't decide which one I like better. Sometimes it's just fun to see where the scraps on desk top take you!