Are you sick of me and my shell cards with the Seaside stamp set yet? I posted a different card here just a week or so ago) ) I just figure I might as well use it as much as I can now before it retires to a stamps senior retirement neighborhood somewhere and plays golf and shuffleboard with other retired shells under the palm trees! ) (Got you smilin’ at that visual, didn’t I?)

This card is so beautiful in person but the scanner just warped the soft Bashful Blue color on me! The layer under the shell and the ink are Bordering Blue and the Happy Anniversary greeting and Taffeta ribbon are in Basic Gray. This is one quick and easy card perfect for a last minute Stamp-A-Stack. The hardest part is masking the shells and that’s just a breeze!

Bye Bye, Seaside! Sniff….. (Picture a tear trickling down my chubby cheek as I wave goodbye to my stamp set riding off in a convertible into the sunset). It’s final send off are my two club classes Saturday and Tuesday. It’s beautiful sketchy style and elegant flair will be missed!

Here’s a cool card I created a while back using the stamp set Priceless and the Rose Red Patterns paper. I love the layout of this card! I used the Designer Label punch, punched holes with the Horizontal Slot punch on one end and then punched out the Word Window punch through the Horizontal Slot punch hole and back around and under the Designer paper basically folding the Word Windo in half. I then punched 1 3/8" hole punches with coordinated Card stock colors and then 1 1/4" in white for the stamped images. Cool huh? Can you tell I LOVE MY PUNCHES! Just don’t say that in the wrong crowd–some folks might think you’re a masochist! ha ha ha!

Hope you enjoy this sample of the day!

I love it when my upline, Susy Miller, sends me a card as I’m a big fan of her art. I’ll never forget when I first signed up 10 years ago and went to meetings (before she moved) how she made me fall in love with so many sets just with her stamping flair! I really miss those meetings now that she’s miles away in North Carolina–that’s why it’s such a treat to get one of her cards! So, when this one arrived in my mailbox for my birthday in April, I said, "Wow!" Then I stuck it away so I wouldn’t lose it. But then, usual Amanda style ) , I couldn’t remember where I stuck it! ha ha ha! I ran across it the other day cleaning up my work area and thought I’d share it with you! ) The style is very similar to a card I did here. Isn’t it cool to see how different a card looks changing it around a bit while using paper, ribbon and color schemes!?

This card inspires me to break open my new Magnetic Movers and Shapers from the NEW catalog (you’ll get to see that new book soon my stampin’ friends!) and get to playing. But alas, I have two classes tomorrow, a workshop Friday night and my clubs Sat. and next Tues. No time to play! (  But, soon…my pretty lil’ shapers dies….soon!

Looking around from some things to post (remember, I’ve never posted this much in one month in my entire blogging career so I’m running a little low on blog fodder here! )  ), I ran across this card I did last Fall for a swap. It wasn’t until I went to look up the paper that I realized it retired last catalog! MAN–where does time go? I’m so glad we’re back to one catalog a year again. I was having a hard time keeping up with all the "comings and goings".

I wanted to post this card as i hadn’t seen much out there using the Itty Bitty Buds hostess set and figured this might be something for all you folks who couldn’ t  think of a thing to do with that set. So for all you CASEr’s out there, just exchange the now retired Haiku DP with another one of your favorites and yours will look completely different than this one–especially if you coordinate your colors to your paper.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday and a Happy Father’s Day! TA!

Created this card REAL quick today. My wonderful husband requested it earlier this week and I just didn’t get the chance until today. The president of his work lost his brother and sister-in-law (they had two teenage sons) in a tragic whitewater rafting accident during a family vacation in the Caribbean. So sad for those boys! Used some retired brads and designer paper from the last catalog and the Thoughts and Prayers stamp set. This is a great staple stamp set to cover those sad occasions of loss and illness.

Making this short tonight as I’m just plain tired. I’m off to bed early tonight. Hope you have a great weekend!

Ha! I lied! I really did think I was done posting all the Manly Man cards until I realized I’d left this one out! So cute! I love that stamp set. I think it was the best male oriented set we’ve come out with in a long time and to be honest, I can’t believe it didn’t make the new catalog. It is so versatile.

Between the lawn mower, the golfer, the birthday and father’s day greetings, you can do quite a few different cards for various themes and occasions. I really have enjoyed working with this set…so get it while you can! It’s gone after June 30!

I crack up whenever I see this card! Yes, it’s a cute set with great sayings (and get it while you can because it’s in the mini catalog and won’t be in the 2009/2010 annual Catalog Idea Book either! Last Chance!) but it reminds me of all the fun we had in class with this funny little guy! First, we made fun of how small his feet were. Then I named him Mr. Percopi (after my elementary school music teacher who used to wear his pants that high). Someone wanted to know if we needed to pop up his shorts and I naughtily replied: "You mean you want to add some more junk in his trunks!" Of course we all lost it and started teasing Mr. Percopi about how much "he was getting around" with all the women! The funniest moment came when one of the gals had cut out his shorts and had them lying on his existing stamped shorts (to cover up his "nakedness" Ha ha ha!) when all of sudden she knocked them on the floor and out of the blue in the dead quiet she said, "Oh maaannn, he dropped his drawers!" We laughed and laughed  our fool heads off over that! Kinda like you had to be there, right? ) Could be we were kinda punchy from the late hour, too.   Ahhh…good times…good times!

Okay that does it for the manly man cards. Hope it gave you some inspiration for your upcoming masculine occasions! Now, everyone say, "See ya Mr. Percopi!"

I know…I know..not as masculine as others. But I did design this card with my 15-year-old nephew in mind. So it’s more of a teenage masculine card! So simple and I will miss this designer series paper….sigh.

Hey do you get the feeling that I’m in mourning over the retired stuff? Well…I kinda am but am REALLY EXCITED about the new catalog! Just waaaaiiiiiitttt!!!

Anyway, I’m back on my masculine cards rant that I started earlier this week and will finish it up with a couple more in the next couple days! Thanks for being so patient as I took a little diversion with the Love Sparkles album and my Just Beachy class!

Okay—on to even better NEWS!!! I achieved the Stampin’ Up! Incentive cruise today! YAHOO!!! Thanks so much to all my wonderful customers who came out of the woodwork to help me earn this trip. Thanks to all of you, my husband and I will be boarding the Royal Caribbean ship "The Adventure of the Seas" April 25, 2010 (NEXT YEAR!) from Puerto Rico (YES, SU! does pay for the airfare for both of us!) and after a day at sea we hit five Southern Caribbean islands in a row (not in order) Barbados, Antigua, St. Croix, St. Martin, St. Lucia!!! WOW!!! How awesome! So I have 10  months to lose weight so I can look decent in a bathing suit! Let me at my Wii Fit! ha ha ha!

Thanks again to all my wonderful stamping supporters! I could have never done it without you!

Okay, I know that I’ve already moaned about the loss of the Seaside stamp set, but I was just as bummed to find out that Just Beachy stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalog didn’t make the new catalog either! What’s a poor Florida girl supposed to use for the many beachy occasions and scrapbooking creations. I swear this stamp set was two in one — An adorable fishy set AND a beach set! Sigh….

But AHHHH…on to the good stuff! Isn’t the project above just darling? Wait until you see the cards I designed for the inside! You see, my loss was my customers’ gain since I had to do my VERY BEST to get them to want to own this set. To do this, I put together this stamp camp which included the Just Beachy stamp set. Whew, and was I right as 12 excited ladies are headed over tomorrow morning and evening to make my masterpieces! Wanna see the rest? )

DUHHH…of course you do:

I giggle looking at this ‘cuz it kinda looks like a picture I had where I cropped my chubby self out of a sandcastle building photograph my husband took. No one wants to see that is my thought! Ha ha!

What you can’t tell from the above card is that the popsicles have Crystal Effects on them and they are so shiny and yummy looking you wanna lick the paper! Also, FYI, the circles are punched out of the card and the popsicles peek through from the inside of the card.

But, hopefully, what  you could tell from all the cards is that I used the same Creamy Caramel, Ruby Red, Summer Sun and Bashful Blue color scheme. What I was hoping to point out to my customers is how you can use the same color scheme and the same stamp set and your cards CAN STILL ALL LOOK DIFFERENT! That’s the true sign of a good stamp set! And, of course, the last project they get to create tomorrow is my adorable tackle box I posted last month you can see at http://www.stampvamps.com/?p=356

Of course, even better, is the fact that the Lazy Days wheel that coordinates with the set is just as flippin’ cute! They will be missed. But never fear, my dears, we still have until June 30 to order anything from the Mini Catalog. If you don’t have this one yet, you might as well add it to your order form now!

Have a Just Beachy day!

I thought I’d give you all a quick break from the masculine cards and show you a class I have coming up next Tues., June 23, 10 am to 12:30 pm and 6:30 to 9 pm. My first intent was to use the Best Ever! birthday Simply Scrappin’ Kit when I planned the class a couple months ago. But what I didn’t figure into the equation was the kit making the retirement list and selling out right away. The Love Sparkles Simply Scrappin’ kit became Plan B — and I’m so glad!

So many cute die cuts and the Pretty in Pink, So Saffron and Chocolate Chip Designer papers made it easy to create this cool accordian album made from 10 medium sized envelopes.

This is the album closed all the way. It opens to the right trifold style. Below is the next view as you open the book.

This is the book opened all the way. As you can see, the left side has a separate fold out.

Here’s a close up of the left-hand-side pull-out:

 This is the middle envelope accordian book that holds ten  5 1/2 x 4 1/4 pull-outs. Each pull out is just as gorgeous as the next!

A close-up of the pull-outs:

A close up of page 1:

A close up of page 2:

And finally, the book opened up all the way:

Only 2 more days left to register this class. After 10 pm, Tues., June 16, you’ll be out of luck! To register, click here. The class is $25 and includes specialy brads like Filigree, Jumbo Chocolate and Rhinestone brads along with 30 silver brads. There’s plenty of bling in this beauty!

Hope to see you there!