I have to admit that when Betsy first arrived at my door, I was completely stumped. Having no idea how to use it, I browsed through the Stampin Up! gallery at Splitcoast Stampers and found this card by Sandi MacIver. She always puts a fun and creative twist on any stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Betsy Tags

This set of tags was made to showcase this year's In Colors together. I used a combination of Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals and Summer Starfruit on these, along with my paper snips and the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch (#119275), the small flower from the Boho Blossoms Punch (#119858) and the circle from the Itty Bitty Shapes Pack (#118309). This is one of many ways you can use the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border - I also like to layer it from behind to create a teeny tiny scallop edge peeking out.

Thanks for stopping by today! Happy Monday!

Another from Betsy

On this card I kept to one of my favorite current color combinations once again, Gumball Green, Pool Party, So Saffron and Calypso Coral! This time I only used the branch image in combination with the Boho Blossom (#119858) and Blossom (#125603) Punches. I used my ink pad and a Whisper White scrap to get the So Saffron blossom. I made some of these Betsy cards at a family picnic while the kids went for a bike ride and had only packed a small container of supplies to take with me that day. Not bad, huh? We can always make do in a pinch with those scraps of paper!!

Making Betsy Beautiful

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I'll admit that this is my other favorite "Betsy". However, it was not my original idea. Lots of my Betsy inspirations came from other people I admire, such as this card designed by Paula Wright, that I recently - or maybe not so recently - received in a card swap.

I took Paula's card design, along with a recently released Finishing Touches Edgelit Die ( I love these surprise finds when the new catalogs come out!) and a color combination I hadn't seen yet - Early Espresso & Raspberry Ripple, think of it like a yummy Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cone! Isn't it Yummy?

Haha Paula! Betcha didn't see Betsy coming this time!

Betsy's Blossoms

I have a Love-Hate relationship going with Betsy. I really don't care for her very much, but everyone else seems to love her! I decided last week that I was going to work on making myself a better person, and try to find some beauty in Betsy. So I sat down one day and tried to see how many fabulous things I could create with a little inspiration... from none other than Betsy. I will be sharing some of those inspirations in the days to come, but here's one that I kinda like:



I began by stamping the dahlias in Calypso Coral in just a few spots on the front of the card. I have really come to love this color, and will be sad to see it retire next year, so I'm just warning you that it'll probably get a lot of use in the coming months!

Next I stamped the branch in Gumball Green. Since I was going for more of a muted look here, I off-stamped the image on scrap paper first. I stamped the little bird in Pool Party (another of my favs!)

Then using some scraps of white (I seem to be a scrap hoarder - anyone else out there? tee-hee) I stamped the little blossoms in So Saffron and cut them out to layer on top of the dahlias.

Lastly I took another scrap-this time in Pool Party- and used my Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border to add a teeny bit of dimension to the bottom of my card. And since I really dislike throwing away anything that is the littlest bit usable, I even added the teeny leftover piece from the punch!

I just noticed that photo looks a little crooked and askew. Guess it kinda matches the lopsided ribbon at the bottom, hehe. Thanks for stopping by today. Be sure to visit again this week to see other ways I've been able to put Betsy to use!

Summer Camp Flyer

Today I used My Digital Studio and created a Sample Flyer for a Summer Camp that a friend of mine runs. MDS comes with so many stamp sets, papers, and accessories that I haven't even begun to use it. I think this summer I will be using it a ton to design scrapbook pages and other projects when we go away on vacations or weekends. It's just too easy to bring my Stamping Studio with me now!

...and as far as Summer Camps go, I think this could be a fun summer, don't you?

A Thank You In Color

I've been interviewing for jobs lately, and like to send thank you's to follow up - and keep me in mind! This is the card I sent out last week to a couple of schools I recently visited. It was inspired by another Demonstrator, Christena Bagne. You can see her original card here.

I really liked her combinations on Marina Mist and Pool Party. I wanted to update my card with some of the new In Colors, so I used a combination of Marina Mist, Pool Party, Gumball Green, and Midnight Muse. I think those little hills are really stinkin' cute!

Wedding Invites

I am planning to work on some wedding invitations next week, so I thought I would share a couple of samples here. This is a beach themed wedding, and I'm waiting for my new stamp set to come in, so these are pro to-types until the real things get here. This first sample uses the stamp inked in Crumb Cake with the images behind the poem:
This second example shows the main image stamped in Marina Mist in the bottom corner:



This last picture shows the inside of the folder, with the invitation on the right side, and the response card and envelope on the left:



Thanks for stopping by, hope you are inspired today!

411 Challenge

Today I used this week's Stamping 411 Sketch for this card, featuring Betsy's Blossoms. This little bird is just so stinkin' cute, and the flowers are pretty neat too. They stamp divinely with our newly reconfigured stamp pads - wait until you try one of these things, you'll want to buy all new stamp pads - they are that good!

I just love sneak peeks - it's kinda like Christmas!!

Keeping Calm Here!

Here is another Keep Calm card made with some new In Colors (June 2012) and Floral District DSP. I just love this stamp set, and isn't this new paper just the sweetest? The teeny banner is from the Bitty Banners Framelit Die - it's been a fun weekend playing with goodies from the soon to be released 2012 Catalog!

Happy Monday!

Mother's Day Tea

I made my Mom a card for Mother's Day using a sketch from A Sketch for You To Try. I thought that the Tea Shoppe stamps pair really well with the new Floral District DSP. And since this card had a tea shop theme, I thought what would go better with this kind of card, than a box to hold tea? So I brought out my Simply Scored and whipped up this little baby. This Simply Scored really makes creating your own boxes and 3-D items easy peasy!



I made a little belly band to wrap around it, and hid the ends with this 3-D flower, made with 5 flowers punched from the Blossom Punch, and sponged using Primrose Petals In Color Ink - gosh these new stamp pads are a dream to use - they even ink your sponges beautifully, giving you a much different look than the traditional ink pads! I think I'm in love...

Here's a close up of the rolled flowers on the front of my card. I simply punched a 1 3/4" Circle, cut a circular pattern from the outside in, held it together with a dab of hot glue. Next I smeared a little white craft paint onto the the edges and added a teeny pearl to the center when the paint dried!

And Stamp On

I love the bright cheerfulness of this card. I used the Distressed Dots Background Stamp and a CAS design to showcase the Stay Calm stamp set.

And since it's Mother's Day today ~ a wish for a happy day to all the Mommies out there!

Keep Calm

Finally - my Sneak Peek order has arrived! I couldn't wait to start using this set - so stinkin' cute! I stayed up all night stamping with these babies, and I can't wait to show you what I got! I just couldn't resist making this Clean and Simple Card and sharing it first here:



It's a CASE of course of the original war propaganda poster that was printed in 1939 by the British Government - explains the little crown often pictured with the variations of this slogan. Here is an image of the original poster:

The copyright has run out on the British Government's version, allowing a slew of Keep Calm products to be made and sold, but I did find out that there is a company now trying to trademark it globally. Some people never do learn to share! But for now you can have this stamp set for yourself by booking a Stampin' Up! Party with me - it's available only to hostesses beginning June 1st! If you don't have a demonstrator, I'd be happy to be yours! You can visit my Stampin' Up! Website here to sign up for my newsletter!

Beau Chateau Side Notes & A Hat Pin!

Here's a fun card I created using the soon to be retired Beau Chateau side notes and the now retired Hat Pins. Now those things were fun! Thanks for stopping by!

A Little Something Sweet

We have been a bit spoiled here in New England these past months with temperatures in the 80's when we're usually 80 feet deep in snow. I think I've become a little soft, because while I am grateful that we have finally had some rain this week it's gotten quite cold and damp!

So Dear May, I could use just a tad bit of sunshine today, and a little warmth to go along with it would be very welcome!

So in the hopes of some warmer days I am sharing this Ice Cream card with you today!

I used the recently retired (2 days ago!) Sweet Shop Designer Series Paper as a back drop for this tag. The banner from Perfect Pennants Stamp Set makes the cutest ice cream cone when stamped in Soft Suede, and it pairs perfectly with the top from the Cupcake Punch to make a yummy ice cream cone. This one is a combination of a couple of my personal favorites Strawberry (Pink Pirouette) and Mint Chocolate Chip (Lucky Limeade). The sprinkles were hand drawn, though personally I think that some sort of plastic or glass sprinkles would be a very fun thing for Stampin' Up! to add to their product line!

I have also embellished the center tag with White Waffle Paper ( sadly we might have seen the last of this fun stuff!)Calypso Coral Seam Binding - now on Stampin' Up!'s Carryover List, and a cute little heart from the Fashionable Hearts Embosslit Die - also a Carryover Item!

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you were inspired to create something sweet!

Die of the Month Club

I recently joined a fabulous group of local stamp artists in a Die of the Month Club. Yesterday I saw firsthand some of their amazing projects (next time I'm bringing my camera!)and I'm excited about upcoming meetings! I felt inspired, so I decided to share them with you just in case you might be feeling inspired. I'm about to show a little bit of Contraband here, so if you're only in it for the Stampin' Up! it's your fair warning to look away! On the other hand, this is my Mostly Stampin' Up! blog, and these are mostly Stampin' Up! ATC's. This first sample features a teeny-tiny ice cream cone. Can't see it? Look closer at that little banner - it's the cone! I used SU's scallop border punch, then lobbed off the little ruffles from the ice cream scoops and tucked them under the punched border. Colors used on this project were: Early Espresso, Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, and Very Vanilla:

On this second card I used Mambo Melon (and tried the ric-rac technique for a little border at the bottom, combined with Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine and a Daffodil Delight Designer Button, Lucky Limeade, Mambo Melon and Daffodil Delight ink, and an image from the Just Believe Stamp Set.

My final card was a case of another I found online but forgot where - if it's yours my apologies! I used a little Bright Red Acrylic Craft Paint for the background. I've been seeing a lot of paint included on people's projects and thought I'd give it a try here. Also used on this card is: Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Billboard Die, Dazzling Details, Early Espresso Ink, Just Add Cake DSP, Glimmer Brad, Boho Blossom punch and Log Cabin Smooch. The image is from the soon to be retired Best Friends Forever stamp set and the card stock is Early Espresso, Poppy Parade, Crumb Cake:
Thanks for stopping by. Come back tomorrow because I am going to show you the most adorable Ice Cream Cone card I made last weekend using ALL Stampin' Up! Products.