Amid all the excitement over the new SU sets I decided to pull out a tried & true set, Heartfelt Thanks. I used river rock ribbon even though there is no river rock card stock. I am still hoarding my river rock paper and using it sparingly.

The crimper was one of the first tools I purchased when I started making cards. I thought it was the coolest! I would put crimped paper on all my cards.

Soon after I purchased my crimper, one of my friends & her kids came to my house for a Valentine Day Party. While she was in my basement she spotted my crimper!! She just happened to have a stash of paper in her van which she promptly crimped. And she used every single piece of that crimped paper-of course now she has her own crimper!!!
Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks, SU sentiment
Paper: kraft, not quite navy, close to cocoa, hostess prints pack
Ink: close to cocoa, not quite navy
Accessories: river rock ribbon, crimper, hodgepodge hardware,

I love making Valentines! The more glitter & bling the better the card! I enjoy working with all the color families but I do tend to gravitate toward the pastels. This is one of my favorite color combos, pink pirouette and bashful blue. I used lots of dazzling diamonds glitter attached with my 2-way glue pen. When putting glitter on a card I usually use a 2 way glue pen because it dries fast. I have used the tombow liquid glue but it is thicker & takes longer to dry. The background paper has been sponged with bashful blue & pink pirouette. You can't really see it in the photo but I stamped along the edges of the background paper with a heart stamp inked with white craft ink. This is a stamp set from the Holiday Mini catalog called Love Owl-Ways. Unfortunately it did not make it into the new catalog but maybe it will the next one. And it doesn't really matter because I like it so I intend to use it anyway!!!

The flowers were punched with the Boho Blossoms punch, I traced around the top note with a white gel pen and added a little pink grosgrain at the top. Yeah, yeah, yeah the ribbon is pretty in pink and the paper is pink piourette-I think they go to together just fine!!

So how bee you today? Are you beeing good?
I finally broke out my watercolor wonder crayons for this card. I do like them but I usually grab my markers or blender pen for coloring. I used the aquapainter to smooth out the color and to put color on the bees. I wanted to put glitter on the bee's wings but somehow twill & glitter don't seem to go together. I am still using the retired hodgepodge hardware because I think UPS has lost my order AGAIN!! or maybe delivered it to another SU demonstrator (no kidding!). I received my other order yesterday that was ordered 10 days later!!! Go figure!! Good thing I AM BEEEING PATIENT!!!! Anyhow-I still have new rubber that I haven't inked yet so I am good for a little while BUT I REALLY WANT MY NEW HODGEPODGE HARDWARE!!! Ok, I am good now!!!
Stamps: Just Buzzin' By
Ink: stazon black, chocolate chip,
Paper: chocolate chip, garden green, summer sun, naturals white
Accessories: twill ribbon, watercolor wonder crayons, aquapainter, mat pack, paper piercer, spiral punch, RETIRED HODGEPODGE BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE MY NEW SET YET!!!!!!!

I am such a sucker for "cute" sets like the Sock Monkey and this one, Just Buzzin By. This set is in the new SU catalog which is awesome by the way! Many people have expressed a concern over these bees with faces but they remind me of the photos that Anne Geddes takes of babies in different costumes.
This set works well with paper piecing-the pieces are fairly large so it is not hard to do. Thanks to Lisa T. I know now to put the glue on the larger piece. You know it is really nice that others share these little tidbits of wisdom! Whenever I read or hear helps like this I just want to do the V-8 thunk on my forehead!!
The "hello" stamp I had in my stash of words, I am not sure from what SU set it is. The flowers are cut with the Big Shot using the SU sizzlet die. I really like this sizzlet die set. The DP is from the Sale-A-Bration catalog that starts Feb. 1. It is one of the free items you can receive with every $50 purchase.The colors in this paper are so easy work with and great for spring.The colors are: so saffron, bashful blue, certainly celery, and sahara sand. .

A word of caution or from the ask me how I know dept. , always place a piece of paper large enough to cover the entire sizzlet or the marks from your cutting plates will indent on the sizzlets. This doesn't seem to happen on the regular dies, only the sizzlets. Another thing I learned is that sometimes the cutting marks from the cutting plates will indent on thinner scrapbooking or SU Designer Paper when using the sizzlets. To avoid this happening just place a piece of scrap paper between the DP and the cutting plate.
Enjoy the long weekend and create something!

I am so sad that this set did not make it into the new catalog. This is really a nice set that could be used for different occasions and not just Valentine's. I just love the images and they are great to color. I haven't tried yet but you could paper piece these images also! I used my new Koh-i-Noor pencils to color the image and some SU chunky pink glitter around the edges. What would a Valentine be without glitter? Love those rhinestone brads!! I thought the "heart" flower made the perfect stand for the mailbox-and I did not use a stamp-a-ma-jig to get it in the right place.

I started this card because I had this little piece I cut off the side of the top note. I just couldn't let it go to waste so I made this card around it! I used the stamp set from the Holiday Mini called Love Owlways. The heart flower stamp was inked with markers and then I colored in the hearts. The felt flowers have rhinestone brads in the middle. I used the curly label punch to make a frame for the main image and a background layer for the flower on the bottom. The DP is from the Hostess Prints Pack, Real Red, the card base is chocolate chip. And of course the white stitching is the white gel pen in the SU catalog.

INVENTORY BLOWOUT SALE!!!!

LOTS OF ITEMS ON SALE!!!! SOME ARE RETIRING, SOME ITEMS ARE LAST YEARS IN COLOR ITEMS. ALL ITEMS ARE QUANTITIES LIMITED. ITEMS ARE UP TO 50% OFF.

TO SEE THE COMPLETE LIST OF SALE ITEMS CLICK HERE

TO SEE PHOTOS OF SALE ITEMS THAT ARE IN LAST YEAR'S CATALOG CLICK HERE

HERE IS A LIST OF RETIRING ACCESSORIES. I WILL TRY TO KEEP THIS UPDATED AS ITEMS ARE SOLD OUT.

Item #	Product Description	Availability
111377	ACCENTS & ELEMENTS ROOF GARDEN
112012	ACCENTS & ELEMENTS SEASON TO SHARE
112088	ACCENTS & ELEMENTS TRUE ELEGANCE	unavailable
102782	ALBUM LEATHER BLACK 12X12	Not Available
104188	ALBUM LEATHER BLACK 6X6
105384	ALBUM LINEN POST MELLOW MOSS 6X6*	unavailable
104516	ALBUM LINEN POST NAVY 6X6
105381	ALBUM LINEN POST REAL RED 6X6*	unavailable
103977	BUTTONS BOLD BRIGHTS*
103978	BUTTONS EARTH ELEMENTS
103981	BUTTONS EARTH ELEMENTS & NEUTRALS
105446	BUTTONS RICH REGALS
105445	BUTTONS SOFT SUBTLES
103604	DAYS-TO-REMEMBER CALENDAR 12X12	unavailable
102174	DAYS-TO-REMEMBER CALENDAR 8 1/2X11
112465	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER BANBURY	unavailable
112462	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER GEORGIA PEACH
112463	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER GHOSTLY GREETINGS
112040	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER GREEN TEA
112470	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER HAIKU
112460	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER HAWAII PAPAYA
112469	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER HOLIDAY TREASURES
112458	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER JUNIOR VARSITY
112459	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER MAINE BLUEBERRY
112466	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER MUIRFIELD
112149	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PARISIAN SUMMER	unavailable
112467	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PRESTWICK	unavailable
111355	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SUMMER PICNIC
112039	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER WINDSOR KNOT
112963	ELEMENTOS PARA TARJETAS DIAS FESTIVOS HECHOS A MANO SIMPLY SENT
106523	ENVELOPE TEMPLATE FIVE-IN-ONE CARD COVER
104104	ENVELOPE TEMPLATE MINI	unavailable
107298	ENVELOPES CONFETTI WHITE MEDIUM
110695	ENVELOPES OPEN END KRAFT SMALL
109115	ENVELOPES OPEN END VERY VANILLA SMALL
103372	METAL EDGE TAGS ALUMINUM WHITE SQUARE
107925	ON BOARD BITTY BOOK*
109190	ON BOARD CLIPBOARD 9X9*
109180	ON BOARD SIMON UPPER
112086	ON BOARD SOMETHING SEASONAL
107923	PAGE PROTECTORS RING 3.25 X 3.25	unavailable
104942	PUNCH 1/4 INCH CIRCLE	unavailable
104943	PUNCH 1/4 INCH SQUARE
107273	PUNCH 3/4 INCH SQUARE
104389	PUNCH DOUBLE CIRCLE*
100391	PUNCH HANDHELD 1/8 INCH CIRCLE	Not Available
104830	RIBBON GINGHAM CARAMEL
104829	RIBBON GINGHAM LIGHT BLUE
104828	RIBBON GINGHAM LIGHT PINK
104831	RIBBON GINGHAM MOSS
109037	RIBBON GROSGRAIN MORE MUSTARD 1/4 INCH
110282	RUB ON ANCHORED
111806	RUB ON CHILLS & THRILLS
111805	RUB ON SCHOOL DAYS
111417	RUB ON WORD FLURRIES
110283	RUB ONS TAKE NOTE
112193	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN I WISH
112186	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN PINA COLADA
112068	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN SUMMER HOME	unavailable
112043	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN U R SWEET
112061	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN WINTER RETREAT	unavailable
112016	SIMPLY SENT CARD ELEMENTS HANDMADE HOLIDAY
109868	SIMPLY SENT CARD KIT LIFELONG NOTES
103647	STAMPIN STORE MINI
105813	WRITE ME A MEMORY FONT CD VOL II
107212	MATEYS MAP
106749	BRIGHT BULBS
109672	BRONCO	unavailable
104100	MAKING TRACKS	unavailable
108978	SANDY SHELLS	unavailable
110332	SNOW
101233	SNOWFLAKE
109694	SWEET STARS
111249	TAKE A NUMBER

One More!!!

One more card made with my koh-i-noor pencils and Feathered Hope. The twill ribbon was stamped with garden green ink. The image was colored with my new pencils and blended with OMS (gamsol). The card base is naturals white with more mustard layered on top. I sponged around the more mustard with close to cocoa and stamped the leaves around the edge with garden green. The sentiment is a rubon. Time to put this set away and pull out another!! I do have a set that I purchased and it has not been inked yet. It is calling my name jumping up and down saying, "Ink me!! Ink me!!" Actually I think I can use my new pencils with it . . .

HAPPY 2009!!!!!

Here is another card made with the same stamp from Feathered Hope. This time I played with my new toys-Koh-I-Noor pencils. They are so fun to color with. They remind me of the delight I felt as a kid when I would get a brand new box of 64 crayons. They were all sharp and bright and unbroken!! Just having them in your hands is almost as much fun as actually coloring with them. Anyway. . . I used gamsol & a blending stump to blend the colors after I colored the image with the pencils. The image and sentiment are attached with dimensionals for a little depth. I used my coluzzle to cut the ovals and sponged bordering blue around the white oval and really rust around the garden green oval. The stitches were made with the white gel pen and garden green SU marker. The sentiment is from the Curly Label Punch Bundle. The paper is natural white, garden green, and really rust.