Fun New Hostess Set

Hello, wow what a week I have had. I returned from Stampin'Up! Convention last night and it was a great time. I have new ideas to try and lots of new card samples to share with you as well as ways to make my business better and help my downline with their business too. I have a lot of things to share with you but first let me tell you about a hostess special that starts July 27th and ends August 31. If you host a workshop that has a sales total before taxes and shipping of $350 or more you will receive an additional $25 in hostess benefits. This is on top of our other hostess benefits so you can get more free merchandise. I can't believe it! Want to host a workshop and earn free merchandise then give me a call and we will set up a date and time.
Today I want to share with you one of the swaps I took to Convention. I was making 50 of these cards so I decided not to watercolor the whole image but rather spotlight a small portion of it. I used Pretty in Pink Card Stock and added texture with the Polka Dots Embossing Folder. I also used Riding Hood Red Card Stock, Whisper White Card Stock and Baja Breeze Card Stock. I used the new Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border on the Baja Breeze Card Stock. I used two stamp sets the new hostess set Birthday Bakery and All Holidays for the Happy Birthday Sentiment. I used the Stampin' Write Markers in Early Espresso, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, and Pretty in Pink to color the image I spotlighted. For the spotlighting I used the 1" Circle Punch and the 1 1/4" Circle Punch. Now usually for spotlighting I stamp the image twice and punch out the portion I want from the second image to use on the first, but I decided that instead of wasting paper and stamping the second image I would just punch out the portion I wanted from the main image and cover the hole with the Pretty in Pink 1 1/4" Circle, then the cake image. I also used the new 1/4" Early Espresso Grosgrain Ribbon on the card and paper pierced about the ribbon for extra interest. I have a few more swaps that I haven't shared with you yet and I am going to start working on new samples for August as well as workshop cards.
Thank you for stopping by today and if I can help you with any of your stamping needs just let me know. Thanks, Tonya

A Very Special Birthday Card

Good afternoon, I am sorry that I have been quiet this week. We have had a busy week with six baseball games since my last post. On top of that we also got to spend 4 1/2 hours on Thursday in the ER with middle son. He is fine now after a few stitches to the mouth but it sure cuts out on my crafting time when every thing else gets behind. Today's card is a very special one as the title of the post implies. It was made for me by my wonderfully talented daughter. She is becoming quite the card maker. She is also very green in her cardmaking (something her mother is trying harder to be). She will use punched items that I leave laying on my workshop or even prestamped images and make them her own. She started with one of my favorite stamp sets and one that I am offering through today 10% off. Crazy for Cupcakes is just a fun set to use. She stamped it twice with Chocolate Chip Classic Ink. On the first image she sponged Pink Pirouette all over. Then sponged the edges with Riding Hood Red. Both of these colors will be retiring at the end of June so if you don't have a reinker for your pads you might want to add it to your next order. On the second image she punched out just the top cupcake and the next two on the layers. She colored the icing in and paper pieced the cupcake liner with Candy Cane Lane Designer Paper. The technique she used is called spotlighting. I think she did a great job and I am not just saying that because I am her mom. ;) The cupcakes are mounted on a textured piece of Close to Cocoa. She texturized it by running it through the Big Shot and added polka dots to the card stock. The sentiment is also from the Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set and was stamped with Pink Pirouette Classic Ink punched with the small oval punch and layered on the Wide Oval Punch. She used White Taffeta ribbon across the bottom. I really love that she takes the time to make me cards. I know that she is busy and with me in my craftroom she often has to work around my schedule to make something to surprise me. IF you feel inclined leave her a comment I am sure she would love it.
Just a reminder Monday the Last Chance List will be coming out for the Spring Summer Catalog. I will post it as soon as it is available. Also if you are local and interested in hosting a workshop during June Stampin'Up! is offering extra Hostess Awards for hosting and having a qualifying workshop. As always thank you for stopping by and I will be back on Monday with a new post. Have a great weekend, Tonya