WILD ABOUT WASABI

I have the house to myself today! I can't believe it ... it feels so weird (but nice!). John is on a business trip, Allie is at leadership camp all day, and Drew is at the local waterpark with his buddies. I plan to get some stamping time in between loads of laundry!

I stamped these cards last night. The first one is a case of THIS CARD by Vickie Waugh, the Featured Stamper #06 on the Great Swaps Girls blog. Vickie is known as VickieKy on SCS, and you can view her SCS gallery HERE, and her blog, Stamping Ever After, HERE. Anyone can play along with the Great Swaps Girls challenges, so hop on over and check 'em out!

With the retired Stampin' Up! stamp set list to be posted on Sunday, June 15 and the new catalog coming out in August, I'm motivated to use as much of my soon-to-be retired products as possible. As much as I THINK I'll continue to use them, I KNOW I won't! ... because Stampin' Up! always comes out with NEW fabulous colors and products! Remember last year's In Colors of Cranberry Crisp, True Thyme, Cool Caribbean, Marigold Morning, Vintage Violet, and Buckaroo Blue? I thought for sure that I wouldn't be able to live without them, so I stocked up on the cardstock, ribbon, etc. Do you think I've touched them since they retired? Not a chance! It's no surprise that the current six In Colors of Wild Wasabi, River Rock, Soft Sky, Groovy Guava, Soft Sky, and Purely Pomegranate will also be retiring with the introduction of the new catalog. The rest of the cards in this post use the soon-to-be-retired Wild Wasabi CS, Wild Wasabi Prints DP, Wild Wasabi Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, and the Wild Wasabi Build-A-Flower Accents & Elements. ... just goofing around with the supplies that were out on my work station.
4 1/4" x 4 1/4" Square Card ...
3" x 3" Note cards ...
RECIPE for all cards in this post...
Stamps: Much Appreciated
Paper: Wild Wasabi and Whisper White CS, Wild Wasabi Prints DP
Embellishments: Love & Happiness Rub-Ons, Build-A-Flower Accents & Elements, Wild Wasabi Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
Tools: Paper Piercing Tool & Mat Pack
Supplies: Stampin' Dimensionals

FEATURED SWAPPER CASE ... JACKIE PEDRO

There's a new blog in town called Great Swaps Girls, formed by an invitation-only swap group of Stampin' Up! Demos (lots of extremely talented stampers!). They've issued their first ever Featured Swapper Challenge, showcasing the gallery of my friend, Jackie Pedro (strappystamper on SCS)! I couldn't pass up the chance to case Jackie! You can view Jackie's incredible gallery on SCS HERE, and her blog, The Scalloped Edge HERE.

HERE is Jackie's card I chose to case. Things I changed: a) I used the color combo of Very Vanilla, Sage Shadow, and Basic Black ... Jackie's color combo is Whisper White, Soft Sky and Basic Black, b) I used the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, and Jackie used Diamond Rough Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, c) I used the Rub-On word "Dream" and Jackie used "Make A Wish", d) Jackie used pearls from the Pretties Kit, and I used gold brads and a non-SU pearl and gold brad.

No matter how many times I photographed this card, I could not get the paper piercing along the bottom to show up without distorting something else on the card. Just like Jackie's card, there IS paper piercing along the bottom edge. The large flower is a black Rub-On from Eastern Elegance on Very Vanilla CS.
RECIPE
Stamps: None. All images are Rub-Ons from Easter Elegance.
Paper: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Sage Shadow CS
Ink: None.
Embellishments: Gold Brads, Non-SU Pearl Brad
Tools: Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Paper Piercing Tool & Mat Pack
Supplies: Stampin' Dimensionals

SCS WAYS TO USE IT CHALLENGE WT160 RUB-ONS

Today's SCS Way To Use It Challenge (WT160) was to find ways to use Rub-Ons. My Rub-Ons project was so darn easy, I'm almost embarrassed to post it as a "project"! I simply altered a Target $1 Spot Metal Pail. It's hard to tell in the photo, but I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch holes to weave the Real Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon through the top of the pail. The A Perfect Day Rub-Ons from the Occasions Mini Collection literally took seconds to transfer onto the pail.RECIPE
Embellishments: Real Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, A Perfect Day Rub-Ons
Tools: Crop-A-Dile
Supplies: Target $1 Spot Metal Pail

ETA: Aime asked if I painted the pail. Answer: No, I bought it already red. The only alterations were the threaded ribbon with the Crop-A-Dile and the Rub-Ons.

LOVE & HAPPINESS RUB-ONS

I can't believe Sale-A-Bration ends today. That time went by really fast. Hope everyone earned all the neat stamp sets on their wish list!

I just had to show you a really quick and simple thing I did with my Sale-A-Bration Love & Happiness Rub-Ons. My friend, Karen Laub (nikesmom on SCS) , gave me this reed diffuser for Christmas, and I dressed it up a little with Stampin' Up! rub-ons. These reed diffusers are so popular right now, and I know many of you have them around your home. It took me seconds to alter it with Stampin' Up! Rub-Ons! The SAB Love & Happiness Rub-Ons come in white, black, old olive, and chocolate chip (as seen in the photo). Stampin' Up! Rub-Ons can be used on paper and most nonporous surfaces, even glass, photos, clipboards, candles, and more.

FRIEND PHOTO FRAME

I've been a busy girl cutting lots of cardstock for my stamp class next week, and plan to spend the next couple of days cleaning house to get ready for more company. The weekend holds more prom dress shopping with Allie and company staying with us for a couple of days. I guess what I'm trying to say is ... I'm sorry, in advance, for being a bad blogger! (As much as I'd LOVE to do a challenge card every single day, I'm only one person! ... yikes!)

I'll be giving away this photo frame as a door prize at my class next week. It is completely cased from the incredibly talented Joanne Basil, ...just a little something... Joanne said it literally took her two minutes to alter her $5 Target photo frame, so I thought I'd give it a shot since I had a Target photo frame begging to be altered, and the Sale-A-Bration Love & Happiness Rub-Ons waiting to be used! Yep, Joanne was right .... it took literally two minutes and was super easy with eye-appealing results!

The Love & Happiness Rub-Ons come in four colors -- White, Black, Old Olive, and Chocolate Chip .... and can be yours FREE as a Sale-A-Bration choice with any $50 Stampin' Up! purchase until March 17.

Off to cut more cardstock ...
Thanks for looking!

WHAT'S BREWING?

I'm posting much later than I had planned today ... I promised Allie I'd take her shopping this afternoon for a prom dress. If you know me, you know I don't care for shopping, especially when it is in a mall. And shopping for a prom dress is no easy task ... they're all made for barbie doll figures, not normal teenager figures! geezh! Not to mention, they're all very sexy ... hard to find a "hip" dress that is a little conservative! Unfortunately, we came home empty handed, and our search continues. Onto the card ...

This coffee mug image and sentiment are just two of the coffee-themed images from the new Paper Pretties stamp set, Look Who's Perky. I made this card using Jen del Muro's Sketch For You To Try from 2/23/08.

The flower on the coffee mug is a SAB Love & Happiness Rub-On in Old Olive, and the ribbon is the new Chocolate Chip Poly-Twill Ribbon in the new Occasions Mini Collection 2008. I finally used some of my Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware (I must quit hoarding that stuff!).

RECIPE
Stamps: Look Who's Perky from Paper Pretties
Paper: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, and Old Olive CS, Old Olive Prints DP
Ink: Chocolate Chip and Old Olive Classic Ink
Embellishments: Chocolate Chip Poly-Twill Ribbon, SAB Love & Happiness Rub-Ons (Old Olive), Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware
Tools: 1 1/4", 1 3/8", and Scallop Circle Punches, Paper Piercing Tool/Mat/Template
Supplies: Stampin' Dimensionals
Note: All Supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.

SCS FEATURED STAMPER CHALLENGE FS55 MARY JO ALBRIGHT

Today's SCS Featured Stamper (FS55) is Mary Jo Albright! Mary Jo is one of my all-time favorite stampers! The woman's got amazing talent ... always creative and unique! HERE is Mary Jo's SCS gallery, and THIS is Mary Jo's card I chose to case. You can see more details about Mary Jo's original card on her blog, Beauty Lies Within.

I was surprised to discover that Mary Jo's original card measured only 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" ... it looks much larger in her photo! Part of the challenge of case-ing the Featured Stamper's card is to change at least two things about the original. The things I changed include:

a) I used different colors and designer papers ... Jersey Shore DP along with Brilliant Blue (can't remember the last time I used that color!), Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, and Wild Wasabi.
b) I used three Bashful Blue brads on the right of the center Pumpkin Pie (Jersey Shore DP) horizontal strip instead of Mary Jo's paper piercing.
c) The three flowers along the top of the main image panel and the large flower in the center of the medallion are rub-ons from SAB Love & Happiness (white onto Wild Wasabi and Brilliant Blue CS).
d) The sentiment is from SAB Friendship Blooms.
e) The ribbon is Pumpkin Pie Striped Grosgrain Ribbon.
f) Mary Jo did some great things with vellum on her card, and I chose not to use any.

Like the look of the Bashful Blue CS piece on the medallion? Mary Jo shows how to do that with the Scallop Punch HERE on her blog.
RECIPE
Stamps: Friendship Blooms (Sale-A-Bration) and Love & Happiness Rub-Ons (Sale-A-Bration)
Paper: Jersey Shore DP, Brilliant Blue, Bashful Blue, Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie, and Whisper White CS
Ink: Pumpkin Pie Classic Ink Pad
Embellishments: Pumpkin Pie Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Bashful Blue Brads, Pumpkin Fire Circle Rhinestone Brad
Tools: Corner Rounder, Scallop Punch, 1/2", 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" Circle Punches
Supplies: Stampin' Dimensionals