Kindness Comes in Many Forms

I know I posted a card similar to this one about a year ago, but I just really liked the layout, so I used it again with new colors and a cute addition:



I made this card for my Great Uncle who lives here in Chicago who has been more than wonderful to us since we got here. It's so nice to have some family here to make it feel more like home, even when we're hundreds of miles away from home :-)

Well, I hope you all are having a wonderful Wednesday! Why don't you sit down today and just write a quick thank-you note to someone who has been extra kind to you or has done something that meant a lot to you. You know they'd be happy to know that you noticed and cared :-)

To Order Current and Last Chance Stampin' Up! Products On-Line 24/7,
CLICK HERE!

Stamp Set: Heard from the Heart (111644--pictured above)
Paper: Kiwi Kiss (111353)*, Pacific Point (111350)*, Summer Sun (103124)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (100908)
The Little Something Extra: Filigree Designer Brads (112577), Chocolate Chip 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon (111367)

*Last Chance Stampin' Up! Products--only available through
June 30 (for accessories until supplies last)

Thank You Catalog CASE

Well, I mentioned CASE'ing in a post a few days ago, and this card is also a CASE from the current Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalog (p. 132):



I (unfortunately) do not have the beautiful background image SU! used on their card (the image from Organic Outlines p. 87), so I had to improvise. I have saved the large flower stamp from Sale-A-Bration about 2 years ago because I just loved the stamp! I'm glad it came in handy today :-)

To Order Current and Last Chance Stampin' Up! Products On-Line 24/7,
CLICK HERE!

Stamp Sets: Big Blossom (retired Sell-A-Bration 2007), Celebrate Everything (114942--pictured above), Short Order Alphabet (115062--pictured above)*
Paper: Chocolate Chip (102128), Real Red (102482), Apricot Appeal (105124), Whisper White (100730)
Ink: VersaMark (102283), Baja Breeze (111833)*, Chocolate Chip (100908)
Cool Tools: Stamp-a-ma-jig (101049)
Punches: Office Hole Punch (non-SU)
The Little Something Extra: Apricot Appeal 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon (109040)

*Last Chance Stampin' Up! Products--only available through
June 30 (for accessories until supplies last)

Dad's Day

I have one more project to show you with these lovely colors! This card is actually made with the Urban Garden DSP, which uses Basic Gray, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, and Not Quite Navy. It's so hard to make cards for boys--even though the two boys I most often make cards for (my husband and my dad) don't really care what the cards look like and just love them because I made them :-) Anyway, I used a Mojo Monday sketch for this card:





And I won't lie--if you scroll down on the Mojo Monday post, you will see two cards that are very similar to mine. I was obviously inspired by these wonderful ladies' creations!

Don't forget that Father's Day is this Sunday! Be sure to (make and) send your Dad a card this week!

To Order Current and Last Chance Stampin' Up! Products On-Line 24/7,
CLICK HERE!

Stamp Set: Letterpress Alphabet (retired)
Paper: Basic Gray (108692), Baja Breeze (111352)*, Kiwi Kiss (111353)*, Not Quite Navy (101722), Urban Garden DSP (112042)*, Hostess Level 1 DSP paper pack
Ink: Basic Gray (109120)
The Little Something Extra: Baja Breeze Corduroy Buttons (114344)**, Stampin' Dimensionals (104430), Mat Pack (105826)

*Last Chance Stampin' Up! Products--only available through
June 30 (for accessories until supplies last)
**Occasions Mini Catalog Items--only available through June 30

Scallop Oval Thank You

Well, I loved that Walk in the Park Designer Series Paper (DSP) so much, that I just had to make another card with it!



I CASE'd (Copy And Steal Everything) this card from the Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini catalog (p. 8). Normally when I copy a card, I try to change it at least a little, but I just liked this card so much that I copied it pretty much exactly. I guess I did use a different button than the one they used, but just because I didn't have that button :-)

Thankfully, it's perfectly okay to copy cards out of the Stampin' Up! catalog for your own use! That's half of the catalog anyway! It's called a "Catalog & Idea Book" for a reason! Stampin' Up! takes extra time to design plenty of projects and cards to inspire you in your own creations. That's one of the thousands of reasons why I love Stampin' Up! Take some time today and flip through your catalog & idea book to find a card you want to copy and just copy it! Sometimes it's easiest to flip to a page that features a stamp set you already have--then you're sure to have the stamps necessary to "CASE" the card for yourself :-)

By the way, if you're curious as to what materials were used for each project, you can click here or you can always visit my Stampin' Up! website (www.createwithcari.stampinup.net) and click on the "Stampin' Up Products" tap on the top of the page.

To Order Current and Last Chance Stampin' Up! Products On-Line 24/7,
CLICK HERE!

Stamp Set: Oval All (113790)**
Paper: Basic Gray (108692), Baja Breeze (111352)*, Kiwi Kiss (111353)*, So Saffron (105118), Walk in the Park DSP (115123)**, Whisper White (100730)
Ink: Cameo Coral (100475)
Cool Tools: Circle Scissor Plus (112530), Dotto Temporary Adhesive (to hold paper in place on the Circle Scissor Plus) (103305)
Punches: Scallop Oval Punch (114889)**, Large Oval (107305), 1-3/8" Circle Punch (104401), 1-1/4" Circle Punch (104403), 1" Circle Punch (109046)
The Little Something Extra: Button Bouquet (112092)*, Baja Breeze 5/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (111375)*, Mini Glue Dots (103683), White Gel Pen (105021)

*Last Chance Stampin' Up! Products--only available through
June 30 (for accessories until supplies last)
**Occasions Mini Catalog Items--only available through June 30

Thanks for Everything

So, about two months ago when the Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini Catalog came out, I purchased the Walk in the Park Designer Series Paper (DSP). I just LOVE the colors used in this paper (Basic Gray, Kiwi Kiss, Cameo Cral, Baja Breeze, & So Saffron)! I realized today that this paper would be retiring in just a few weeks (June 30), so I figured I should pull it out and use it! I made this card today:



I started with a sketch from SplitCoast Stampers:



I wanted a Basic Gray DSP that was a little more subdued than the basic gray that came in the pack, so I pulled out my Hostess DSP Pack (Current Level 1) and found the polka dot paper used under the bird. I also wanted to use some of my Chit Chat Rub-Ons because I love the look of a white sentiment on the card!

If you're interested in the DSP or the Kiwi Kiss ribbon, be sure to order it now since it won't be available after June 30!

By the way, I am LOVING my new apartment in Chicago! My old apartment in Manhattan, KS was in the basement of a house, so I had little natural light. As a result, the color in the pictures of my projects would never turn out. I'm so excited now because two walls in my living room are completely windows! I have all the natural light I could ever want! I just love taking pictures of my projects now because of the beautiful light :-) I just wanted to share my excitement! It's fun to get excited over such little things (which, by the way, I have been second most excited about my new apartment because it has a dishwasher...little thing, big excitement)!

To Order Current and Last Chance Stampin' Up! Products On-Line 24/7,
CLICK HERE!

Stamp Set: Best Wishes & More (111602)
Paper: Basic Gray (108692), Baja Breeze (111352)*, Kiwi Kiss (111353)*, So Saffron (105118), Walk in the Park DSP (115123)**, Hostess Level 1 DSP paper pack
Ink: Baja Breeze (111833)*
The Little Something Extra: Fresh Favorites II Buttons (107422)*, Stampin' Dimensionals (104430), Linen Thread (104199), Kiwi Kiss 5/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (111372)*, Chit Chat Rub-Ons (111804)

*Last Chance Stampin' Up! Products--only available through
June 30 (for accessories until supplies last)
**Occasions Mini Catalog Items--only available through June 30

Happy 25th Anniversary!

My parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary last week! I am so proud of them :-) Here's the card I made for them:





I'm not going to lie--this card took quite a while to make, and the instructions are really too complex to post here. If you are really interested in learning how to make a card like this, please let me know. I would be happy to forward on the instructions. I can at least explain how to stamp one image with three colors:


First, I stamped the entire image with Chocolate Chip Classic ink on my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig. I chose Chocolate Chip because it is the darkest and easiest to see. I then cleaned off the stamp with my stampin' scrub, but also I rubbed the stamp on my jeans to make sure it didn't have any residue from the scrub. Not kidding--I almost always clean my stamps that way. Otherwise the stampin' scrub usually leaves a little bit of grayish residue on my stamps.

Anyway, after I was sure my stamp was clean, I used scotch tape to cover up the "forever" and the flower. I then inked up the stamp with the Baja Breeze Classic ink. I then took off the tape so that the stamp would only stamp "together" in Baja Breeze. Using my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, I stamped the "together" on the Naturals White card stock. After I had thouroughly cleaned my stamp again (on my jeans), I covered up the "together" and the "forever" with tape and inked up the stamp with Kiwi Kiss Classic ink. After taking off the tape, I realigned the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig so that I could stamp the flower in the correct spot on the Naturals White card stock. I cleaned the stamp once more, but this time because I have a Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Marker, I used the brush tip of my marker to color in "forever." I used the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig one last time to finish off the stamp. If I had had markers in all three colors, I probably would have just used the markers for the whole stamp. But because I didn't, I used the tape masking technique instead. Ta-Da!

That's all for today!

To Order Current and Last Chance Stampin' Up! Products On-Line 24/7, CLICK HERE!

Stamp Set: Eastern Blooms (111626), Forever (114494)*
Paper: Kraft card stock (102125), Baja Breeze (111352)*, Kiwi Kiss (111353)*, Naturals White (102316)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (100908), Baja Breeze (111833)*, Kiwi Kiss (111835)*, VersaMark (102283)
Cool Tools: Stamp-a-ma-jig (101049), Crop-a-Dile (108362),
Punches: Scallop Edge (112091)
The Little Something Extra: Flower Fusion Too (112006)*, Stampin' Dimensionals (104430), Pretties Kit (109114), 1/4" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon (111367)

*Last Chance Stampin' Up! Products--only available through June 30 (for accessories until supplies last)