Oooo!  This week's Library Challenge #46 is the wonderful The Sewing Machine by Natalie Fergie - what a great read!
So this one ended up being a tough one for me, since I apparently don't have my Sew Suite set anymore - bummer!  Fortunately, I could still bring in my Needle & Thread set to save the day!  I kept things fairly simple and chose a lovely background sheet from the Needlepoint Nook DSP, then made a pretty stitched medallion for a quiet but cheery get well.  I finished with a few needlepoint details and tiny rhinestones.  I love all these blues together!
Needle & Thread Stamp Set (retired 2019); Needlepoint Nook DSP (retired); Whisper White & Balmy Blue CS; Night of Navy, Balmy Blue & Pretty Peacock Inks; Stitched Shapes & Needlepoint Elements Dies; Basic Jewel Rhinestones; #TLC046.

With a new month, Joy of Sets Tic Tac Toe #10 is back with a new grid for us to play with!  Fun!
I don't think I've ever done "watercolor smooching," so of course I have to pick a row that includes that!  How about Silver-Watercolor Smooching-Apples!  I wanted to smooch the apples themselves for this one, so out came my Harvest Hellos set - LOVE the punch that goes with it!  I started with a strip of Whisper White, then pressed my ink pads direct to am embossing plate and spritzed a few times with water.  Then I started smooching, lol.  I wiped down the plate between colors and did a bit of heat gun drying, too.  What a cool effect!  I totally want to try this again, what a fun way to play with color!
Harvest Hellos Stamp Set; Whisper White, Poppy Parade, Crumb Cake & Pear Pizzazz CS; Memento Tuxedo Black, Poppy Parade, Mango Melody & Merry Merlot Inks; Apple Builder Punch; Polka Dot Basics EF (retired); Silver Thread; Silver Pearls; #JOSTTT10.

Oh, good times - As You See It #210 has a "get well" recipe for us this week - cool idea!
Looking over my "ingredients," I decided the time was finally NOW to break out Daisy Lane - woot!  This is a lovely companion set to Daisy Delight, complete with its own punch, sized a bit smaller - yay!  I created a simple card using the fern-ish leaf from the set in the background, and then made a tag with a Stitched Oval.  My get well is from the July 2015 Thanks A Latte Paper Pumpkin - loved this one for the cute cups, but the sentiments were awesome, too, lol. 
Daisy Lane & Thanks a Latte Paper Pumpkin Stamp Sets; Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz & Soft Sea Foam CS; Memento Tuxedo Black & Pear Pizzazz Inks; Mango Melody Blends Marker; Medium Daisy Punch; Stitched Shapes Dies; Stitched White Grosgrain Ribbon; White Baker's Twine; Basic Jewel Pearls; #AYSI210.

Once again Back to Basics & Beyond #33 has a fun challenge to try this week - we're going "off the edge!"
I think most edge designs tend to be flowers - lots of room for sprays and coloring!  BUT, I have been really wanting to get back to Garden Goodness so I could stamp this avocado - the whole reason I got this set, lol.  So of course I did the tomatoes first!  Anyway, I went a little avo-crazy, and put them all around the edge, with just one fussy cut one popped up by the sentiment - silly, but so yummy, lol - yay for avocados!  Here's to the "good" fat!
Garden Goodness Stamp Set; Whisper White & Soft Suede CS; Granny Apple Green & Soft Suede Inks; #BBB33.

Oh gosh, The Library Challenge #31 is bringing us Chocolat this week - such a great story!!  I've only seen the movie - I'll have to get a copy of this one - check out the great cover!
Since I've been getting a closer look at my retired stamps lately (lots to make room for with the upcoming catty!) I knew right away that I had saved More Than Chocolate for just this occasion, lol.  It might be a little fussy for some, but I LOVED sitting here building my box of chocolates for this card!  Then I even got to "taste" one - see the crumbs??  Lol, at least I'm not passing out in the window of the chocolaterie the last day of Lent, if you know what I mean - I'm looking at YOU, Count!  Totally have to watch this movie tonight now, and imagine my surpise to realize that this actually a SERIES of books - kindle loaded and ready!
More Than Chocolate (retired 2018) & Love What You Do Stamp Sets; Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Whisper White & Flirty Flamingo CS; Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede & Flirty Flamingo Inks; Crumb Cake & Flirty Flamingo Blends Markers; Layering Circles Framelits; #TLC31.

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!

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.

We have another fun sketch this week from In{k}spire Me #384 - check out that bold center column!
Lucky for me, I have a little stack of new stamps to play with, and one of them is the suite for Needle & Thread!  There's paper, stamps, framelits, embellies, whew - I love it when there's lots of toys, lol...  I kept this one pretty calm color-wise, there are some bright patterns in the papers, but I did try out the piercing piece that came in the framelits - doesn't that make a pretty detail??  I love the realistic effect of the stamps, too - time to start a stitching project, maybe, lol.
Needle & Thread Stamp Set; Needlepoint Nook DSP; Whisper White & Pear Pizzazz CS; Mossy Meadow, Crushed Curry, Highland Heather & Berry Burst Inks; Needlepoint Elements Framelits; #IM384.

We have a lovely bold sketch for you this week at Try Stampin' on Tuesday #380!
I've been wanting to pull out my Dandelion Wishes set for a couple weeks now, and this sketch finally ticked the right boxes, lol.  One look at that nice big circle, and I knew this was my chance!  I love all the images in this set, but the one I gravitate towards seems to be the "blowing" dandelion - brings back so many memories of wishing, lol!  I added some pretty organic backgrounds with my Tranquil Textures DSP, too - a perfect fit.
I hope you'll join us - I can't wait to see your creations at the challenge!
Dandelion Wishes Stamp Set; Tranquil Textures DSP; Whisper White & Crumb Cake CS; Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; Layering Circles Framelits; Banner Triple Punch; Clear Epoxy Droplets; #TSOT380.

What a fun sketch Case This Sketch #284 has for us this week - so glad for a chance to play!
I decided I wanted some pretty background DSP for this one, to really make the main panel pop, and you can't get much prettier than teh Share What You Love DSP, sigh.  I haven't used the flower side of this sheet much - the other side are those awesome Razzleberry stripes I adore, lol.  So I pulled in some Razzleberry on this side to atone, lol.  I did some stamped-off background with my Spooky Sweets set, and used Dandelion Wishes for my theme - still love this set and all the versatility with the images!  I finished with some twine and glimmer dots - a Razzleberry dream, lol.
Dandelion Wishes & Spooky Sweets Stamp Sets; Share What You Love DSP; Whisper White & Rich Razzleberry CS; Rich Razzleberry & Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; White Baker's Twine; Rich Razzleberry Glitter Enamel Dots; #CTS284.

All About the Stamparatus Make-up Class Aug 18!
This class will include SIX (I just got so excited!) mixed occasion cards that all feature how to get the most out of our amazing new tool, the Stamparatus!  You will never go back, lol.  Every card will use a fun new stamp set from our still new 2018-19 Idea Book & Catalog, so you can play with as many fun sets as possible!  All supplies provided and prepped, as usual (bring your own snips and fave basic adhesive) plus snacks, drinks, and a special gift from me!  Class is $25, or can be FREE with your order of $30 or more!  EXTRA:  There is a make-up session already scheduled for this class on Saturday, August 18 at 1pm, make sure to RSVP if you plan to attend!

There's a fun "frame" challenge at this weeks AAA #118 - cool!
I felt totally inspired by the feature card by Shery - sort of a play on "spot-lighting" - I HAD to try it!  I started by going digging for a stamp-able frame, and found it in my retired Sophisticated Serifs set.  Nest up, I wanted some pretty lie-art that I could overlap and color in approriately, and since I was already over at the retired shelves, I grabbed my beloved Growing Green.  I finished with a cute get well sentiment from Itty Bitty Greetings - love this font.  I did my coloring with an aqua-painter, and decided to pop up my little flower on dimensionals - it was ALMOST a one-layer card, lol!
Itty Bitty Greetings, Growing Green (retired-2011 & Sophisticated Serifs (retired-2015) Stamp Sets; Whisper White CS; Memento Tuxedo Black, Pear Pizzazz & Mango Melody Inks; Glittered Enamel Dots in Old Olive; #AAA118.

Christmas in July 2018!
It's once again the most wonderful time of year - for Christmas in July!  This is your chance to get started early on your Christmas planning, and check out the beautiful new holiday suites available in our new 2018-19 Idea Book and Catalog, and a look at some favorite returning sets as well!  As always, I'll be ready with the sleigh bells!  Class will feature 5 holiday cards, and will include all your supplies (bring your own snips and fave adhesive), snacks, drinks and a special gift from me, all for $25!  This class can also be FREE with your order of $30 or more!  RSVP today to save your spot, for either Thursday, July 12 at 630 pm, or Saturday, July 14 at 3 pm, or contact me for make-up dates!  You don't want to miss it!