Time to party - SU Only #226 is hosting a birthday challenge this week - woo hoo!
I have to admit, when I think birthdays, I can't help but think of cake, lol, so out came our adorable Piece of Cake set!  Who wouldn't love to get a fancy birthday cake like this??  I decided to browse my DSP real quick, and came across this bright sheet from the Follow Your Art collection, so I took my cake colors from this a little.  A tiny bit of sparkle and we are set - quick AND tasty!
Piece of Cake Stamp Set; Follow Your Art DSP; Whisper White & Calypso Coral CS; Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; Gray Granite, Calypso Coral, So Saffron & Soft Sea Foam Blends; Cake Builder Punch; Stitched Labels Dies; Iridescent Sequins; #SUOC226.

Christmas in July 2019, July 11 & 13!
You know my philosophy:  it's never too early to start thinking Christmas!  Christmas in July is always our "Part 1" class, and features our holiday stamp sets and goodies from the Big Book - look for Part 2 in October!  Class includes all supplies needed (bring your own snips & fave adhesive!) for 6 cards and envelopes, plus drinks, snacks & a special gift from me, all for $25!  This class can also be FREE with your order of $30 or more!  RSVP to save your spot, for either Thursday, July 11 at 630 pm, or Saturday July 13 at 3 pm!  See you soon!

I love our landscape sketch at this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday #413 - like an ocean view!
Following that theme, I just HAD to try out my new 3-D Embossing Folder, High Seas!  I'm pretty sure it was made for the whole gorgeous Sailing Home suite, BUT, we also still have High Tide to play with!  TWO lighthouses, people!  Amazing!  So, I had to play around a little bit to get the right sandwich in my Big Shot for this folder - the new 3-D folders are just a tiny bit slimmer than the old dynamic jobs.  The sandwich that worked for me was original platform with no tabs, one chipboard insert from a Paper Pumpkin kit, and the new folder with the CS inside.  I guess all machines might be a tiny bit different, and I may try to add just a hair more depth to my homemade "plate," but I did find that a regular cutting plate was just too thick.  Learning new skills - yay!
High Tide Stamp Set; Whisper White, Pretty Peacock & Seaside Spray CS; Memento Tuxedo Black, Seaside Spray, Smoky Slate & Pretty Peacock Inks; High Seas 3-D Embossing Folder; Pretty Peacock Sequins; #TSOT413.

Wow!  AAA #141 is turning 5!  They're celebrating with an extra long birthday party, lol, can't wait to get in on it!  I think I'll use Inspire Create Challenge #044's perfect versatile sketch to help me along, too!
Now that we're in the new catty, but I'm still waiting for my first order, lol, my pickins' are slim!  I decided to combine my two silhouette sets for this one, and bring these ladies out for some air.  And how about a new dress??  I love this miss from Wonderful Moments - I usually have her holding balloons, but today she gets some flowers!  And my fave birthday sentiment is this one from Beautiful You - the best of everything!  I'm giving my new 2019-20 In Color DSP some air time, too, and I pieced a coordinating dress from Woven Threads.  Even without any ink yet, Purple Posy can get some play!
Beautiful You & Wonderful Moments Stamp Sets; Woven Threads & Purple Posy DSP; Whisper White CS; Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; Nude, Cajun Craze, Old Olive & Highland Heather (shh!) Blends; Rectangle Stitched Dies; Faceted Dots in Purple Posy; #AAA141; #ICC044.

2019 New Catty Preview Class June 13 & 15!
OK, shout it with me now:  who's ready for a NEW CATALOG!!!  How about a sneak peak with 6 fun projects, all from our brand new book??  Get a look at all the new goods, and of course, our new In Colors, and get inky with some hands-on stampin' time!  Class will feature 6 all-occasion cards, all from our 2019 Idea Book & Catalog, envelopes, drinks, snacks and a special gift from me, all for $25!  Class can also be FREE with your order of $30 or more!  RSVP to save your spot!  Class is on for Thursday, June 13 at 630 pm, or Saturday, June 15 at 3 pm.  See you there!

I'm seeing layers this week at our beautiful new sketch at Try Stampin' on Tuesday #409!  We're also teaming up with Double Trouble #29 this week and celebrating National Brown Bag It Day!  Awesome - bring on the brown bag!
I went with a Crumb Cake base to Double Trouble, and the brown made me think "nature," so I pulled out Peaceful Place.  I just got this set, once I realized it would be carrying over - I thought it would be fun to color!  I tried today with Blends markers, but I'm thinking aqua-painting or watercolor pencils would be even better!  I added this lovely sympathy sentiment, and a couple matching Faceted Dots.  I think this could definitely be my peaceful place!
So, what will YOU come up with?  I can't wait to see, over at the challenge!
Peaceful Place Stamp Set; Nature's Poem DSP; Crumb Cake, Whisper White & Petal Pink CS; Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; Mossy Meadow, Old Olive, Granny Apple Green, Soft Sky (retired), Pool Party Soft Suede & Crumb Cake Blends; Stitched Shapes Dies; Faceted Dots in Petal Pink; #TSOT409; #DTPC029.

Sketch time again at this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday #406!  At the last minute, I decided to add in this week's color challenge from Color Throwdown #540 - I needed the inspiration!
I decided to feature another retiring set - today it's teh Eastern Beauty bundle.  I've had so much fun with one, building delicate and colorful patterns and designs - I love all the tiny detail pieces to play with!  The gorgeous Eastern Medallions thinlits really take this one over the top, too, I squeezed in one little shape to show those off, too!  The colors were perfect for adding little splashes of color - good times!  Better get this one before it's gone!
Eastern Beauty Stamp Set; Whisper White, Granny Apple Green, So Saffron & Mango Melody CS; Memento Tuxedo Black, Blueberry Bushel, Granny Apple Green & Mango Melody Inks; Eastern Medallions Thinlits; Rectangle Stitched & Stitched Shapes Framelits; Iridescent Sequins; #TSOT406; #CTD540.

Fancy Folds Card Class May 9 & 11!
I'm so excited to bring on the techniques this month with Fancy Folds!  We'll be learning how to make it fancy the easy way, featuring 6 all-occasion cards each using a brand new idea for some extra fun in the folds!  I promise you will love them all!  Class will be $25, and will include all supplies needed, plus drinks, snacks and a special gift from me!  Class can also be FREE with your order of $30 or more!   Classes will be held on Thursday, May 9 at 630 pm and also on Saturday, May 11 at 3 pm.  RSVP today to save your spot!

Such pretty layers in this week's As You See It #198 "wings" sketch!
It's so funny, I just wrapped up my "Butterflies Galore" class, so I wasn't feeling like pulling in any more wings, lol.  Then the retiring lists hit, and I realized I was gonna need a LOT of room on my retired shelves for all the new items about to migrate over, lol.  While I started my "purge" (have I used this in the last year?  two??) I came across this old lovely, Watercolor Wings.  And I realized I maybe have one more butterfly in me this month, lol.  I kept it fairly simple, and featured one of the large wings arrangement front and center - good times!  I added a few details for a bit of shine, but that's it.  I forgot how much I miss this beauty!
Watercolor Wings Stamp Set (retired 2018); Whisper White & So Saffron CS; Early Espresso DSP; Early Espresso & Crushed Curry Inks; Stitched Shapes & Bold Butterfly Framelits; Gold Cording Trim; Crushed Curry Glimmer Dots; #AYSI198.

Aww, CAS on Friday #154 has a sweet baby challenge for us this week!  I don't get to make these too often!
You know, I actually have a few sets to go for the babies these days, but I couldn't help go for A Little Wild for this one - I just love putting an elephant butt on the envelope, I guess, lol!  I tried to stay true to the CAS mandate, I think I might actually be getting better at it!  I still couldn't resist a few tiny sparklies, though...
A Little Wild & Special Celebrations Stamp Sets; Twinkle Twinkle DSP; Whisper White & Soft Sea Foam CS; Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; Smoky Slate & Flirty Flamingo Blends Markers; Stitched Shapes & Little Loves Framelits; Green Glitter Dots; #CASOF154.

Butterflies Galore Class April 11 & 13!
We have a couple gorgeous new butterfly sets this Spring and I think we should get out ALL the toys to do them up right!   Let's hear it for wings everywhere!  This class will highlight 6 all-occasion cards all featuring different elements of our amazing collections, even pulling in a few Sale-A-Bration items I saved just for this!  Class includes all supplies needed (bring your own snips and fave adhesive!), drinks, snacks and a special gift from me, all for $25!  This class can also be FREE with your order of $30 or more!  Class is on for Thursday, April 11 at 630 pm or Saturday, April 13 at 3 pm!  RSVP today to save your spot - hope you can flutter on by!

Another cool new book cover for me from the Library Challenge #28:  The Party!  Pretty building...
So, I don't know this book, but I knew I had the perfect set to make a card version of the cover!  At Home With You has everything you need for the well-dress front door, lol, and I went with a birthday theme to go with the title.  Now, looking more closely at the picture, I have realized that this actually must be some kind of scary book - woops!  Too bad!  I see "party" and I'm all over it in the best way, lol!
At Home With You Stamp Set; Adventure Bound DSP; Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana & Gray Granite CS; Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; Mango Melody & Bermuda Bay Blends Markers; At Home & Stitched Shapes Framelits; #TLC028.

Lovely - CAS on Friday #152 has a fun vellum challenge for us this week - yay!
For some reason, I really was stuck on wanting to use my Dragonfly Dreams for this one today - by hook or by crook!  I though originally that I'd do something with the pretty little "spray" of dragonflies in the thinlit set, but it just didn't look how I'd envisioned, sigh.  Then I realized that I could make an embossed vellum background for a larger one - I LOVE embossing vellum, and the bonus is that you can usually hide the adhesive pretty well somewhere in all that texture!  I settled on my beloved Layered Leaves folder, over Pear Pizzazz, and stamped a lovely detailed dragonfly to go on top.  Hopefully this is CAS enough!
Dragonfly Dreams Stamp Set; Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz & Vellum CS; Memento Tuxedo Black & Soft Sea Foam Inks; Layered Leaves DEF; Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits; Faceted Dots; #CASOF152.

Man Cards 2019
Yay!  It's finally time for THE class for the men in our life!  Sometimes it can be a little tough to "go manly" for our guys, but this class guarantees something for all our dudes!  This class will feature 6 all-occasion "man" cards, without a doily or a butterfly in sight, lol.  You'll have your choice of sentiments that most suit your needs, too!  Class is $25, and provides all supplies (bring your own snips and fave adhesive!), drinks, snacks and a special gift from me!  You can also take this class for FREE with your order of $30 or more!  RSVP today!  Class is on for Thursday, March 14 at 630 pm, or Saturday, March 16 at 3 pm.  See you there!

We have a lovely slant to this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday #396!
As soon as I saw our optional theme of "flower fun," I knew I wanted to try out our brand new Country Floral Dynamic Embossing Folder.  This beauty is in the second wave of Sale-A-Bration releases, and I snapped it up right away!  The dynamic folders give such a deep emboss - so much detail!  The flyer showed a piece of the emboss colored, and I immediately knew I would be trying that - here it is!  I wanted it to be bright and bold, but really, I think the softer colors are better for this technique.  I went to town with my blends, as usual, and I think it was fairly successful - I'm thinking I might need more practice - but it was FUN - and that was the idea!
So, what will you have for us this week?  I can't wait to see your creations over at the challenge!
Itty Bitty Greetings Stamp Set; Granny Apple Green & Whisper White CS; Country Floral DEF; Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; Mango Melody, Poppy Parade, Petal Pink, Pool Party, Highland Heather, Soft Sea Foam & Granny Apple Green Blends; Basic Jewel Pearls; #TSOT396.