Stampin' Up!'s Flower Fancy stamp set...

Here is another card we made at the retiring class.  Again, it was made with retiring supplies:

• Poppy Parade cardstock
• Peach Parfait cardstock
• Poppy Parade DSP
• Flower Fancy stamp set
• Tagtastic stamp set
• Borderlines stamp set
• Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plate
• Pinking Hearts Border punch
• Poppy Parade Poly Twill ribbon
• Pear Pizzazz ink
• Peach Parfait ink
• Poppy Parade ink

The only items that are still current that were used in this card are:

• Whisper White cardstock
• Extra Large Oval punch
• Rhinestones

Stampin' Up!'s Triple Treat Flower Stamp...

In May, I hosted a "retiring class" where everything that we made was being retired -- or at least the vast majority of it was retiring.  Here's the card and all of the retiring items:

• Concord Crush cardstock
• Pear Pizzazz cardstock
• Cheerful Treat  DSP
• Triple Treat Flower stamp
• Belle standard wheel
• Short & Sweet stamp set
• Blushing Bride ink
• Pear Pizzazz ink
• Concord Crush ink
• Lace Ribbon Border punch
• 5-Petal Flower punch
• In Color Glitter Brads

Wow!  No wonder I didn't have many left over supplies!

Technique Tuesday - Box Fold Card....

This is a really cool card and you do not use any adhesive to hold the card together.  Let's get started...

 Here's what you will need:

• Simply Scored
• 1 sheet DSP
• Coordinating cardstock for inside and belly band decoration.
• Punch for edge embellishment
• Bone folder
• Stamp set (final picture has Nature's Pace although this pic has Field Flowers)

 Cut your cardstock along one side at 11".  Hold onto this piece.  You will use it for your belly band.  Cut the other way at 8 1/2" so you end up with a  piece that is 8 1/2" x 11".

 Score your DSP lengthwise at 2 1/8" and 6 3/8".

 Turn your DSP sideways and score at 1 1/4", 3 3/8", 7 5/8" and 9 3/4".

 Turn your paper lengthwise and fold in on the two inside score lines.  Fold your paper outward at the two outside score lines.  Do NOT burnish the lines really well yet.  Definitely do NOT use your bone folder at this point. 

 Fold you paper up along the the score line at the bottom.  Again, do not burnish well.

 Take the outside corner points and fold them down to the bottom center point.  Use your fingernail to make sure the paper doesn't tear and folds properly.

 Repeat the last two steps with the top of the paper.  Your box will look like this when you are done.

 Open your box up.  In the corners, you will see small vertical rectangles along the score and edge lines.  Trim the paper from half way in on the bottom to the top right corner of each of the rectangles.  You will end up with a small triangular piece from each corner.

 Take two pieces of coordinating cardstock and cut them at 4 1/8" x 2".  Punch along one side of each of the pieces as shown.

 Here is the only place that you use adhesive on the box itself.  Attach your punched strips to the back of the folded back pieces in the middle between the areas you just cut.

 Now, set your box on your work surface with the embellished folds out to the sides.  Fold the top and bottom up and press the sides together as shown in the top right.

 Repeat this for all four corners so you have the box with four triangular pieces sticking out at the corners.

 Fold those corners into the sides.  (Fold the bottom side pieces up and the top side pieces down).  This picture is actually showing you the side of the box, not the top or bottom.  Finally, fold the embellished edge down to hold it in place.

Gently press down on the box along the fold lines and the angled fold lines to make the box lay flat.  You may now take your bone folder and burnish your edges well.   Your box is done!  Now to make your belly band to hold it together:

 Take the strip that you originally cut off which is 1" x 12" and cut 2" off the end so it is 1" x 10".

Using the Labels Collection framelits and your stamp set, make a belly band decoration.

 Take your strip and place it around the box.  Place some adhesive on one end of the strip and secure it together.  Do NOT make it too tight; otherwise, it will not slide on and off your box easily.

 Here's what the final card looks like.  Isn't it cute?

Here is the inside which I have finished as well.  The two layers inside are 4" x 4" and 3 3/4" x 3 3/4".  This is a great card for placing a gift card inside of.  Enjoy and let me know how you do on making a box card too!

Strength & Hope Stamp Set...

Here is the final card from the Necessities Bags Sacramento fundraiser.  I thought it was appropriate to use this set since a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this set went to breast cancer research.  The colors are Baja Breeze, Peach Parfait and So Saffron on Blushing Bride cardstock.  I do miss those In Colors! The swirl at the bottom of the card is from the Best Friends Forever stamp set which retired after just one year in the catalog but you could use the new Flowering Flourishes stamp set.  For the butterflies, you could use the new Papillion Potpourri stamp set and the new butterfly punch to give it some depth.  Wouldn't that be cute?

Necessities Bags Sacramento Fundraiser Cards....

This card was made at the fundraiser as well.  The stamp sets used were Baroque Motifs (retired) and Perfect Punches (current).  The bottom of the card was made by punching several times using the Curly Label punch but with the new Edgelits, you can made something like it so easily now!

Necessities Bags Sacramento Fundraiser Card...

Today's card is another one we made at the Necessities Bags Sacramento fundraiser.  The flowers are from the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set which retired but you could use the flower from the Summer Solstice set which is in the new catalog.  The sentiment came from the Thank You Kindly stamp set which is also retired.  Made For You, a new set, has a great "thank you" as well as a "happy birthday" and an "especially for you" - all three for just $8.95.  That is less than $3 per stamp (in clear amount)!

The pearls are colored with a Sharpie marker but I just learned from another demonstrator (thank you Tina Shelton) that you can lightly coat the pearls with Modge Podge and then use Stampin' Up!'s markers to get a perfect match for your card.  Isn't that awesome! 

The colors are Poppy Parade and Peach Parfait which are now retired.  By using these materials, I ended up with very little left over when they finally retired.  The card would still look great in Pumpkin Pie and Real Red or perhaps even in Raspberry Ripple - one of our new in colors!

Did you miss me? Well, I am back!

Oh my gosh, I can't believe it has been over a month since I last blogged!  My apologies to those of you who have been missing out on your Technique Tuesdays and daily inspiration.  Life has just been so crazy lately and I just haven't had time to catch up on everything.

Okay, enough excuses, let's get to the cool stuff - stamping!  I have to catch you up on projects dating all the way back to May so there may be some retired items.  If so, I will make some suggestions for current product to use in its' place.

We made this card at a fundraiser for Necessities Bag Sacramento who provides tote bags filled with all the things a mastectomy patient needs during her stay.  The ribbon and DSP are both retired now.  If you wanted to go with the bright look of this card, you could use the Summer Smooches DSP and the new 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain ribbon in Pacific Point instead. 

The images are from the Fabulous Florets and Thank You Kindly stamp sets and we used the  Elegant Bouquet embossing folderwhich is still available.  The colors are Wild Wasabi and Pacific Point.  The wonderful women and young girl who came to the fundraiser made a total of 12 of this card.  A big thank you to everyone who participated!