Graduation Congratulations!

I was thrilled to make a graduation card last week for a dear friend who has been diligently working towards her Ph.D.!! Now that DR. Katie has the card in hand, I can share it here.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't struggle with this one. When I finally agreed with myself to use her school colors, though, the rest of the card fell into place. I wanted to give Dr. Katie the ultimate gold star (remember getting those stars as a little kid?), and the Medallion stamp seemed perfect. I embossed it with a very juicy Versamark pad and Gold Fire Opal embossing powder onto Elegant Eggplant cardstock. No sooner did I finish that step than I wished I had used textured cardstock -- so I added my own look of texture with a stamp from Stampin' Up!'s Extreme Elements set.

I've had my eye on the Happy Grad single stamp and Go, Graduate stamp set in the Summer Mini since I first saw them, and was sitting here kicking myself for not getting them in time to make this card -- when suddenly I remembered that Stampin' Up! offers both of them as digital downloads! I dashed to the SU! website to download them, and then spent a nice hunk of time playing with the images to get them the sizes I wanted. (This process would have been faster if I owned SU!'s My Digital Studio program... but it's still on my wishlist!) When everything was the way I wanted it, I printed it onto Shimmer White cardstock for an added touch of sophistication.

I settled on the Happy Grad sentiment for the front of the card. I didn't want to totally cover the Medallion, but I also didn't want the sentiment so small it couldn't be read. I did a happy dance when I realized that since I was sending this card inside a package, an envelope would be optional! I could let the sentiment hang off the edge of the card! I really, really like this look!


Here you can get an idea of how glitzy the embossed Medallion is:


I decided the inside of the card should be a little more whimsical to reflect Dr. Katie's personality. I had fun using the spotlight technique to highlight the grad in tennis shoes:


Stamps: Extreme Elements, Medallion
Digital stamps: Go, Graduate (includes Happy Grad)
Colors: Elegant Eggplant
Punches: Ticket Corner, circle punches
And: Shimmer White cardstock, Gold Fire Opal embossing powder, Copic markers

I've probably been driving Dr. Katie crazy with all my gushing these past few weeks, but I really am so very proud of her! (Got that, Katie? Love you!)

Smiles,
Joyce Spear a.k.a. StamperJoyce

Tart & Tangy Birthday Card

My home health aide gave me the heads up that our produce guy at the local grocery store has a birthday next week, so I thought it fitting to pull out my Tart & Tangy set to make a card for him. He goes out of his way to help my aide pick out the very best produce for me, often bringing out new stuff from the back -- and I feel service like that should be acknowledged!




Stamp sets: Tart & Tangy, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Colors: Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red, So Saffron
DSP: Island Oasis
Punches: Large Square, Small Square, Word Window, Modern Label
And: Old Olive satin ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Smiles,
Joyce Spear, a.k.a. StamperJoyce

ETA: I saw the little nick in the sentiment after I posted the card, and (of course) I redid the "Happy Birthday" label so it looks right.

The Times, They are a-Changin'!

Today begins an exciting time for fans of Stampin' Up! It's LAST CHANCE LIST time! Stamps, stamping accessories, and Definitely Decorative products will be retiring at the end of the month to make room for the brand new products that will be released when the new Idea Book & Catalog comes out on July 1st. Retiring stamps and Definitely Decorative items will be available through the end of the month, but the stamping Accessories will be sold on a first come, first served basis until product is depleted. This means that if you want things on these lists, especially accessories, NOW is the time to order! Check my sidebar to the right for links to these three Last Chance Lists. If you have any questions, please leave a comment or email me and I will get back to you pronto.

Oh, did I forget to mention that some of the Accessory items are being sold at a discount? *smile*

Why is there SO MUCH retiring? Much of it has to do with the Color Renovation that goes into effect July 1 with the new catalog. Stampin' Up! is retiring a slew of colors and introducing all new color collections made up of 5 brand new colors, a bunch of former In Colors, and some of the current colors. I am SO excited about this change, as the colors will be more current and the color combinations will be more eye-pleasing than ever!

Click here to see the new color collections:



Click below to see the colors that are being retired on June 30. If you want any products in these colors, now is the time to order as product is flying off the shelves at an unprecedented speed -- and once they're gone, they're gone.



As ever, if there's anything I can help you with as you sort through all the changes and explore what is available to you during this very special month, please let me know!