Happy Birthday, Kathy!

 I have a friend and 

fellow demonstrator,

Kathy Boxdorfer,

who loves all things lady bugs.

Whenever I see one, 

I think of her.  

So seeing this lady bug card,

I knew I had to make it for her birthday. 

It uses a Treat Cup in the center of the flower

with several loose, pearl-accented mini-flowers. 

Using the same designer paper, I made an envelope 

with our new

Diagonal Simply Scored.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATHY!

Lace Ribbon Border

I never have been a big fan of the

Lace Ribbon Border Punch.....

until I saw this card made by 

Lee Conrey.

Why didn't I think of just lining them 

up and setting them off with

Pearls?  

Perfect for birthdays, weddings, or

Mother's Day!

This punch is on the retiring list,

so grab it while you can!

Best Dad Ever

Never too early to think of Father's Day!

The stamp set is called 

Best Dad Ever

and believe it or not,

it's NOT retiring!

I'm glad, because I love those ties.

The Designer Paper is called

Mocha Morning Specialty.

Very manly-man!

I copied the envelope example from the 

catalog, page 182.

Elegant Bouquet

This is another quick, pretty card, 

found on Pinterest,

with so many pretty elements.  

I added pearls to the flowers made from the

Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder.

Along the edge the Eyelet Border Punch was

used to make it look lacy. 

Sincere Salutations is the stamp set used.

Sadly, retiring. 

Retiring Baroque Motifs

One of my favorite stamp sets is retiring.

Baroque Motifs has such a pretty flourish

that I have used so many times.  

I saw this card on Pinterest using 

one of our die cut butterflies.

I thought it would make a beautiful

wedding card using a heart and

pulling the sides up to look like a butterfly.  

The texture underneath was made

using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.  

Curly Label

There are so many possibilities here.

With the Curly Label Punch, 

you can add all kinds of little interesting

tidbits to personalize this card. 

Clean & Simple

Following the butterfly theme this week is another

card I found on Pinterest.  

I just love the simplicity of it.

I used textured card stock and an embossing folder 

to add an elegance to the butterfly.  

So pretty.

My Interest in Pinterest

I resist new computer sites as long as possible.

It took me years to check out Facebook.

I go kicking and screaming.

But, I have changed my mind.

I have caught the Pinterest craze.

OMG! 

I have found so many pretty cards, recipes, and ideas there.

This card is just one of them.  

It uses the Butterfly Punch with card stock,

designer paper and Window sheets.

The Window Sheets are then run through the 

Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder

in the Big Shot.  

If you would like to see or follow my Pinterest page click here: 

http://pinterest.com/pamspinboard/

Prettiness

This pretty card was sent to me 

from fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, 

Deana Schultz,

and I have to say it made my day. 

Don't you just love finding a card from a 

friend in amongst all those pesky bills 

and junk mail?

Thanks, Deana.  I love it. 

RETIRING STAMPS SETS

 

Check out my website to see the list. www.pamdurso.stampinup.net

Award

Wow, I've been given an award for my blog!  

How nice!

'Liebster' is German for dearest.

It comes from Sue Dean, in Castle Hill, NSW Australia!

Her blog is www.addictedstampers.blogspot.com.

Thanks, Sue.  You made my day.

Here are the rules that come with such an honor:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who nominated you for the award.

2. Link back to the blogger who nominated you.

3. Copy and paste the award to your blog.

4. Present the award to 5 other bloggers with less than 200 followers.

5. Let them know they have been nominated by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here are my five deserving nominees for 

the Liebster Blog Award:

1.  Judy Sumner - www.judysstamppad.blogspot.com 

2.  Jayne Singleton - www.stampnpunch.com

3.  Diane Burns - www.diburns.blogspot.com 

4.  Karen Graff-Povis - www.stampwithkarengp.blogspot.com

5.  Penny Thomas - www.penguinstamper.blogspot.com
Please check out these very talented stampers' blogs!

Thanks, ladies, for being an inspiration to me.

Happy Easter

Unashamedly copied from a card

Judy Sumner sent me.  

Thanks, Judy, 

and 

Happy Easter!

Easter Dove Stamp Set.

I love how the ribbon takes on the look of

a cross.

The dove has been stamped on 

Pool Party Card Stock

 and popped up with 

Dimensionals.  

Pearls are added to the wings.  

Inspired by Mary Fish

Birthday Cupcake

Easy Events Stamp Set.

Fresh Vintage Stamp Set

on Very Vanilla Card Stock.

Chocolate Chip 

and Cajun Craze Ink.

Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon.

Accented with Pearls.  

Inspired by Sandi McIver

Quilling and Flowers

 (Click on photo for a closer look.)

It's not very often you can get a one-on-one 

tutorial with a

Stampin' Up! Artisan Award Winner, 

but I did!

Heather Klump, of Downstairs Designs,

(hlkdownstairsdesigns.blogspot.com)

recently showed me how to make that little

flower using a quilling tool.  

You start with a circle and carefully cut around it

until you have a spiral. 

Then wrap it around the tool until you have 

a flower shape as on this 2 x 2 card, above.  

Attach the center to another circle with a

Glue Dot and place a little pearl inside.  

   Just plain sweetness. 

Don't Let This Be YOU!

Oh no!

The deadline to save big bucks is fast approaching!

Don't miss out.

Join my team of 

Pieces of Heart Stampers 

while you can for

just $125!

Contact me ASAP

stamppad@sbcglobal.net

Ugh...Taxes

Steve has always encouraged me to gather my tax information quarterly, if not monthly.  But, of course, who can be bothered with that stuff when there is stamping to be done!  So, needless to say, right now there is no stamping happening in my 'studio'.  I'll have something here in a few days, as soon as I can get through this pile of receipts and spreadsheets.  Wish me luck.

Thanks, Mike!

(Click photo for closer view)

Steve and I are very blessed to have so many friends in the 

St. Louis area.

Two of those friends are our former neighbors,

Kathy and Mike.

They have been exceedingly helpful by keeping an eye on the 

house and checking the mailbox.  

Mike is even mowing our yard!

So, of course, I had to make a card to show our

gratitude.

This is a retired stamp set that I could not part with called

And Many Mower.

The tricky part is that little man was facing the opposite

direction and had a golf club in his hand.  

I wanted him to be mowing, 

so I stamped his image on the transfer sheet of the 

Stamp-a-ma-jig.

A piece of acetate would work too.

Then I turned that sheet over and pressed it onto a piece of 

Crumb Cake Card Stock.  

With my Basic Black Marker,

I carefully darkened the lines, cut him out

and placed him behind the mower.  

I love his skinny legs...

kinda like Mike's!

Thanks, Mike!

We owe you a cold one!

New Home

(Click photo for a closer view)

My oldest daughter, Megan, and her husband, Brian,

just purchased their first home.

I needed a special card to put a little 

'somethin' somethin'

inside for them 

and remembered this fun designer paper.

It's a couple of years old, 

but that's why I held on to it.

I knew it would come in handy.

It's called 

Welcome Neighbor!

Congratulations,

Megan and Brian!