Stylin' Stampin' Squad Blog Hop - "Best Of"

It's the first Thursday of the month and if you have been following my blog, you might know that this means it's time for the monthly Stylin' Stampin' Squad Blog Hop!! I had to skip last month due to an overwhelming "to do" list, but I'm back this month to join in the fun!!

Have you heard yet? The retiring stamp set and accessories list it out!! And, part of this month's theme is sharing in the {Best Of} that Stampin' Up! has to offer. We were encouraged to pull out one of our favorite stamp sets that is on the retiring list...or we could choose one of the "Best Of" sets that Stampin' Up! is putting out monthly in celebration of 25 years in the business!! I don't own one of these sets, so I chose to reach for a retiring set that I am bummed will be going way, and ironcially it's called "Best of Everything".

Although this card doesn't showcase any of the retiring colors (the color refresh can be found here), it does show a handful of retiring products, such as the "Best of Everything" stamp set, "Pursuit of Happiness" stamp set (sentiment), and the Summer Smooches DSP. I have to be honest and share that I have been in a bit of a creative slump (hence the lack in posting lately!!), so I had to reach in my own {Best Of} card samples for some inspiration. I created something very similar to this card about a year ago (see it here)...except with all different colors! Sometimes it's fun to be able to recreate the exact same card just by changing up the paper and color choice, especially when the creativity flow is not quite flowing properly. LOL!

Thanks for coming by!

Continue on the hop and visit Craft-somnia Momma!

 

Blog Hop Participants:

1. Pam S. of Stampin' in the Sun!
2. Nancy B. of Lady Stamps-A-Lot
3. Rose C. of Stamp with Rose
4. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya
5. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet
6. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place
7. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
8. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
9. Heidi B of Stuck on Stampin'
10. Bree R. of Craft-somnia
11. Diana E. of Stampin' Fun with Diana

free shipping!!

Shop my online website at heidiboos.stampinup.net!

No minimum purchase...you can get something as small as a pack of Dimensionals or as big as a Big Shot! Take advantage of this rare offer by April 8th at 10:50 PM.

color refresh!

**For a video and more detail on the new color collections, visit this YouTube video created by Stampin' Up!

The biggest question that many have when there are colors retiring is...why??

In a nutshell (as quoted from the Stampin' Up! demonstrator website)...We retired colors based on sales history and focus group feedback. We also looked at our overall color offering and determined what colors were not working with others.We sent out surveys, looked at trends, and determined what colors are out of date, etc.

Beginning April 4, 2013 all retiring/discontinued color products (ie ink, paper, accessories, ribbon, etc.) will only be available while supplies last. This means that some of these products will not be available through the retired list period, so be sure to act fast!
 
I hope that you will get excited with me as we look forward to the new 2013-2014 catalog being released in June 2013!! Can't wait for all of the fun new goodies I get to share!!

happy easter!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter with your family & friends!!

Sorry I have been MIA...
I hope to be back soon with many inspiring ideas to share!

live in the sunshine

We made this card for my February Big Shot Club. Just a little reminder to embrace each day, each moment...and to live in the sunshine!!

Card Recipe

Stamp Set: Pursuit of Happiness

Paper: Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP, Polka Dot Parade DSP (Marina Mist)

Ink: Marina Mist

Accessories: Dimensionals, mini brads, 1/4" Marina Mist grosgrain (retired)

Tools: Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine, Cloudy Day Embossing Folder, Pinwheel Sizzlits Die

Stylin' Stampin' Squad Blog Hop - Spring!

It's that time of the month for the Stylin' Stampin' Squad Blog Hop! We're embracing Spring this month, so that means many of our projects are representing "new life"...Easter, babies, and more! I am doing a little {TWO FOR ONE} as the projects I'm sharing today are ones we made for Big Shot Club! I chose Easter as my theme...and with Easter come cute little bunny rabbits!!

I had so much fun putting together this first project...an Easter bunny treat holder! Have you ever googled "bunny punch art" ~ wowza! There is a lot to look at! I wanted to be able to say that this little cutie was mine, so I decided to do a little of this and that of what I saw here and there, but ultimately she came together and is one of a kind! (This doesn't mean there isn't a matching twin out there somewhere, but I never saw it!)

Punches Needed:
1-3/8" x 5/8" Oval Punch
Large Oval Punch
Extra-Large Oval Punch
1-3/4" Circle Punch
3/4" Circle Punch
Heart to Heart Punch (smallest heart)
Itty Bitty Circle Punch
 
I attached it to a Crumb Cake Petite Purse and inside I tucked a Reese's PB egg, which fits perfectly.

And for a little extra cuteness, I added a cotton tail to the back!

This next project was inspired by one of my favorite stamping bloggers, Julie Davison. I just LOVE her simple style!! This cute little carrot was created using the Petal Cone Die.

You will need 1 and 1/2 of the petal cone die cut outs. Snip off two scallops on either side of the scallop piece and attach to the inside.

I stamped it with the Distressed Dots stamp. Place Sticky Strip on both of the folds and assemble together into a triangle.

I stamped a chocolate bunny (using the Spring Sampler stamp set) and added a Happy Easter banner from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

 Add some treats to the inside...Happy Easter!

Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions!

 

Thanks for taking the time to stop by! Now hop on over to Jennifer's blog at NW Stamper and then don't forget to continue through with the rest of the Stampin' Stylin' Squad as listed below.

 

Blog Hop Participants:

1. Shellie G. of Craft Smashup
2. Annie L. of Love Me Cards
3. Nancy B. of Lady Stamps-A-Lot
4. Rose C. of Stamp with Rose
5. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya
6. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet
7. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place
8. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
9. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
10. Heidi B of Stuck on Stampin'
11. Jennifer B of NW Stamper
12. Bree of Craft-somnia
13. Diana E of Stampin' Fun with Diana

february card club - consider it CASEd...and simple!

February Card Club has come and gone by a week and a half, so it's better late than never to share with you the cards we made! With the busy-ness that February brought I knew that I needed to keep everything simple this month. To help with that I did some browsing of the web (and Pinterest!) to help me out with layouts and ideas. So, my theme for the night was simple and CASEd (Copy And Share Everything). Because I did keep the cards a little more simple than normal, I let the ladies make four cards instead of three. Lucky stampers, right?! And, although I did CASE these cards, I wanted to add my own little touch to each one just to make a little bit different than the original.

CASE - Jill Franchett

How I changed it up ~ I stamped and then punched out a small circle from the center of the largest shape, then popped it up with a Dimensional. I also added rhinestones to the center of each image.

Card Recipe

Stamp Set: Lacey & Lovely

Paper: Whisper White

Ink: Island Indigo, Wild Wasabi, Pool Party

Accessories: Dimensionals, Rhinestone Accents, Island Indigo Satin Ribbon (SAB)

Tools: N/A

CASE - Mary Fish

How I changed it up ~ I decided to go with brighter colors (sorry about the picture...the Calypso Coral looks more red in the above picture). I also added some leaves and used Dazzling Details for the center of each flower to give it some sparkle.

Card Recipe

Stamp Set: Bloomin' Marvelous

Paper: Whisper White, Calypso Coral

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, Baja Breeze, Lucky Limeade, Black Staz-On

Accessories: Dimensionals, Dazzling Details

Tools: N/A

CASE - Julie Davison

How I changed it up ~ I stayed with the color scheme, but instead of lining up the circles in a row, I laid them down in a wavy pattern. I also chose to use a different image and sentiment.

Card Recipe

Stamp Set: Spring Sampler, Fabulous Phrases

Paper: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade, Summer Smooches DSP

Ink: Lucky Limeade, markers - Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade

Accessories: Dimensionals

Tools: 1-3/4" Circle punch, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle punch, 1-3/8" Circle punch, Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder

CASE - Deena Boos

 

How I changed it up ~ I used a slightly different color scheme and added polka dotted paper for the background. I also went with a star punch and rhinestone instead of a button and added a sentiment onto the front.

Card Recipe

Stamp Set: Moving Forward, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper: Whisper White, Pacific Point, Real Red, Polka Dot Parade DSP (Pumpkin Pie)

Ink: Pacific Point, markers - Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie

Accessories: Dimensionals, Rhinestone Accents

Tools: Word Window Punch, Scallop Edge punch, Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine, Cloud Days Embossing Folder

Come on back again soon...we just had Big Shot Club on Tuesday this week, so there's more to share!! Leave me a comment if you have any questions!

you're the sprinkles to my cupcake

I hope everyone had a fun Valentine's Day with your loved ones! I shared my son's class valentines earlier this week, but I didn't have the chance to share my daughter's until now, but I figure even if it's after Valentine's Day I can still share, right?

Last Valentine's Day (or was it the one before?) I purchased these awesome sprinkles at Target in hopes that I would create a stamping class that would use them. Well, all good ideas don't always come to fruition, so for the last year+ they have been taking up space in my craft closet. When I was thinking of ideas that Mikayla could do for her class valentines I came across all 35 jars of sprinkles (yes, I bought 7 packages!!) Mikayla has 25 classmates, so this was going to perfect!

Next, was to come up with a cute little saying to go with the sprinkles. My mom and I brainstormed a bit together and I chose... "You're the sprinkles to my cupcake." I created a document in Word and printed out a page full using red ink. Then I die cut them into tags using one of the Apothecary Framelits. And all it needed after that was a stamp!

 My daughter was a part of the process with me...she loves to craft just like her momma!! We chose to make the cupcake (from the Sale-A-Bration set "Patterned Occasions") all different colors using markers. She wanted me to do that part!

 And, she helped with the stamping.

 After they were all stamped, I trimmed the bottom of each of them.

 She signed her name on the back of all 25 tags.

 She put all of the jars of sprinkles in baggies and then I tied on the tags.

 You're the sprinkles to my cupcake!

Happy Valentine's Day!

bugs and kisses on valentine's day!

I am sooooooo excited for my son's class valentines this year. I think I have one more year to be "cutesie" before he starts to get a real opinion (he's in pre-school, Jr. K). I saw this idea on Pinterest where you attach a plastic bug to a paper jar cut out and it was so cute! I looked high and low (well, honestly I probably could have looked a little harder) until I realized that there weren't any plastic bugs I thought were cute enough. Really?! Can plastic bugs even be cute??

Anyway, I knew I still wanted to go with the bug in a jar theme because Austin LOVES bugs (mostly plastic ones) and I figured it was still boy enough. I wanted to try to go the Stampin' Up! route as much as I could, so I pulled out the little jar from the Perfectly Preserved stamp set (and the coordinating framelit from the Cannery framelits) and started brainstorming. Then, one day browsing my favorite blogs, I saw this post on Becky Roberts' blog where she shared that the little jar fits perfectly inside the pretzel bags...and it all suddenly came together!

I called up my mom because I knew she had the retired Bugs & Kisses stamp set and once I had the set in my hands, I got to work and this is what came together...

 

The jar was actually a little bit smaller than what I first envisioned so the only bugs from the set that truly fit inside was the ladybug or the ant. And, since I was going for "love bugs" I opted for the red ladybug. To show you how small these came out to be, I put it next to a regular size pack of Tic Tacs to compare. Teeny tiny, but so cute!

 

Don't you just adore this sentiment ~ bugs and kisses!! Love it! I topped it off with a bow using retired 1/4" Real Red grosgrain...gotta use up that retired stuff sometime!

Now, since I had the "bug" part, I needed the "kisses" part, so behind the jar are chocolate kisses!!

Oh me oh my I just love when an idea comes to life!!

Just two days left to get those valentines completed!! My daughter's class valentines are up next. She's at the age where she is part of the process, so we'll be working on these together...stay tuned!

monkey & owl toppers for valentine's day!

I have been busy punching out monkey faces and owls over the last couple of weeks! I was so excited to get a couple of Etsy orders for my monkey class valentines I had made for my son's class last year. On top of those two online orders, I also had two friends who wanted these for their kids. Overall, I punched out and inked the edges of 83 monkey faces! Whew...my punching hand got a work out to say the least! *wink*

One of the gals who ordered through Etsy wanted me to make these same valentines, but in pink and suggested adding a heart onto the ear. I went along with her vision and came up with another option that I ended up really loving...and so did she! Super cute for any little girl who loves pink!! (My original design was in red as seen HERE.) These are great little toppers for a baggie filled with banana flavored runts or banana flavored Laffy Taffy. So fun!

30 out of 83 monkey toppers...

...all packaged and ready to ship! 

I also had a friend who asked if I might have an idea for a treat topper to go along with the theme of owls for her son's preschool class. And, of course, I grabbed my owl punch and started punching away...

 I added a 1-3/4" circle and 2-3/8" scallop circle behind the owl.

 

 And then attached a banner tag with the message...

"Owl be your friend forever."

 

 These will be toppers for a skinny bag filled with treats!

 

 I also wanted to see what it would like using a top note topper attached to a baggie filled with even more goodies. I think they are both adorable!!

 

 

 Now it's onto making my OWN children's class valentines!

Have a great weekend, Stampers! Feel free to leave a comment with any questions or just to say hello!