August 31st marks the last day to order from the Summer Mini.  As always, I am sad to see my favorites leave.  The Open Sea is a classic with which I will not part, as is Sail Away.  I will definitely be saving these stamps for my own personal use, along with Strength and Hope.  My grandmother died of breast cancer, so this set supports a cause that is dear to my heart.  So please, enjoy this parade of cards from this year’s Summer Mini, in lieu of my usual Friday Buried Treasure.

On the Grow (W 123075, C 123077)

Strength and Hope  (W 118100, C 123660)

The Open Sea  (W 123030, C 123032)

Touch of Kindness  (W 123201, C 123203)

Proud Peacock (W 122020, C 122031)

Sunny Fun  (W 123040,  C 123042)

Sail Away (123013)

Remember,  the Summer Mini leaves us on August 31st, so do not hesitate to order those last few sets which you know you NEED! And to be perfectly honest, I am ordering a few more of the Sail Away stamps to give as gifts for some of my friends who are just starting out in stamping.  An inexpensive ($9.95) stamp, it is just perfect for a wide variety of occasions…especially those hard to design masculine cards.  Birthdays, Thank-Yous, Congrats, Thinking of You, and even Sympathy cards…this stamp fills the bill.  Keep it clean or dirty it up, whatever style strikes you at the moment!

Designer Paper Special

Don’t hesitate! Stampin’ Up!s “Buy Three…Get One Free” Designer Paper Special ends August 31st.  Now is the time to stock up!

• Choose from a wide variety of designs and colors available in both the 2011 – 2012 and the Summer Mini!

• SPECIALTY Designer Series Paper and Hostess Designer Series Paper are not eligible for this promotion.
• There is no limit to the number of free packages you can earn.
• Hurry! The promotion ends August 31, at 11:50 PM Mountain Time.

Christmas Lodge Card Winner

Congrats to Pauline, as randomly selected through Random. org, who gave us comment #1:

Pauline said…

I hope you enjoyed today’s retrospective.  It’s like the Circle of Life…one Mini leaves us, but another arrives to capture our hearts and creative souls.  Stay tuned…because I will be presenting a list of my Top Ten Picks from the Holiday Mini! Until next time…

It’s Thursday and time to play at Pals Paper Arts! We hope you will join us in our “Clean and Simple Soften the Edges” challenge.  Yep…some days you just need to take the edge off.  Whether you are rounding, accessorizing or even smudging them, we are challenging you to “soften those edges”!  For my first card created with the Christmas Lodge stamp set, I wanted to design a “rustic” style card.  Although I may have “over-distressed” a wee bit, I hope that you still enjoy it.

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips: Rustic Meets Distressing

• Prepare the Paper!  Frostwood Lodge Designer Series Paper is absolutely stunning.  The only fault I find is that it incorporates Whisper White into its patterns.  For something rustic, I prefer paper which coordinates with Very Vanilla.  So I lightly brayered it with Crumb Cake ink to take the edge off the white.
• Emboss! The Christmas Lodge stamp was inked with VersaMark, stamped onto Very Vanilla card stock and then heat embossed with Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Emboss Powder. What could be yummier!

• Stitch!  Small holes were punched around the perimeter of the image oval.  Hemp Twine was then whipstitched around the edge.  Don’t worry if your holes are not spaced evenly…you are trying to achieve a “rustic” look…not a “perfect” look!

• Hemp Twine was also used to cross-stitch on the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch.

• Improvise!  I created the elongated Decorative Label mat behind the sentiment simply by punching out the label and tracing the design at the ends of an appropriate length of Very Vanilla card stock.  I then cut it out with scissors and sanded the edges to remove any bumps.

• Distress! The Waterspot stamp from French Foliage was inked in Soft Suede and stamped off once.  It was used to randomly stamped the image and the sentiment, re-inking and stamping off as needed.  Soft Suede and a Sponge Dauber was used to soften all of the edges.  The Color Spritzer Tool and a Soft Suede Stampin’ Write Marker provides instant speckles.

I spent a long time debating what to do at the interface between the two patterns of paper.  Originally I had a snippet of the new Early Espresso Quilted Ribbon.  But you know what…it was just too formal for the look I was trying to achieve.  So I covered it up the ribbon with the cross-stitched border, and I am much happier with the look.  What do you think?

Your comments are important to me, and I enjoy our little chats! Of course, if you ever have any questions about the cards that I create or the techniques I use, I am only an email away! Until next time…

Coming Soon:  Good-by to the Summer Mini; My Picks from the Holiday Mini

Stamp Sets:  Christmas Lodge (W 123767, C 123769), French Foliage (W 120845,  C 121166); Inks: VersaMark (102283), Crumb Cake (121030), Soft Suede (115657), Soft Suede Stampin’ Write Marker (120973); Designer Series Paper:  Frostwood Lodge (124002);  Card Stock: Soft Suede (115318), Naturals Ivory (101849), Very Vanilla (101650), Cherry Cobbler (119685);  Tools:  Heat Tool (100005), Sponge Dauber (102892), Color Spritzer Tool (107066), Decorative Label Punch (120907), Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch (119275), Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Emboss Powder (122949), Big Shot (113439), Ovals Orginals Die (114525), Brayer (102395), Corner Rounder (119871), 1/16″ Circle Handheld Punch (101227);  Glitz and Glam:  Chantilly Crochet Trim (118480), Hemp Twine (100982), Vintage Trinkets (118764)

How about a peek at this week’s Pals Paper Arts card?  It features two new products from the Holiday Mini.  This card is rustic and distressed.  Will you join me for the reveal Thursday?  And don’t forget to stop by to see this week’s Pals Artist Picks! 

This Card Can Be Yours

I will randomly select one person to receive this card from all comments left on today’s and Thursday’s post.  I LOVE to share my cards with you!

Brody Update

The histiopathology report is back.  Brody wanted to tell you about it himself.

Brody:  My favorite vet called my Mom Tuesday and said that I was “be nine”.  I don’t really know what Dr. Rita meant by that because I only be one.  But Muffy told me that is a good thing.
Muffy: Did you tell Mom’s stamping friends about me?
Brody:  Did you have an opurration, too?
Muffy:  No, silly! I won another point toward my Champion title in Indiana.  The judge said I was very nice.
Brody:  If the judd said that he doesn’t know you very well.
Muffy:  Why…if you weren’t recuperating I would bite you for that remark!
Me:  Muffy Lin Schach! Did I hear you say you were going to bite your brother?  You head to your crate right this minute. We don’t bite!
Muffy: But Mom…
Me: No “But Moms” this time! Get that Boxer butt moving!
Muffy:  You just wait, Brody! You’ll get yours!
Brody:  I’ll get mine?  Did you bring me something from Indy-Anna?  Did you bring me a toy???  I LOVE you Muffy!

Unfortunately, after Brody and Muffy wrote their part of the post Tuesday evening, poor Brody did something to cause his incision to begin bleeding again.  I applied pressure to stop the bleeding, and we have limited his movement.  I called the vet. He goes in to see Dr. Rita first thing in morning, before he has anything to eat or drink…just in case they need to anesthesize.  Arghhh! But the good news is that the tumor was not cancerous and yes….little Muffy continues her march to her title.  I am sure they will both keep you posted.  Until next time…

Coming Soon:  Farewell to the Summer Mini; My Holiday Mini Top Ten; Pals Paper Arts Challenge