Friday, July 5, 2013

Stamp to the Max July Blog Hop

Hey there! Welcome to the blog hop for July.  I have been MIA for a while and for that I am sorry.  My husband was let go from his job and received an offer for a better job within a couple weeks of his last day at the old job.  But that meant that we had to relocate our family 100 miles south of Logan to the Salt Lake Valley.  We are currently squatting in my mother's basement while our home sells and we look for another home.  And if all of that wasn't stressful enough...I am 19 weeks pregnant as we speak.  Whew!

I am feeling a little better now and I am on pins and needles waiting to find out what the next baby is tomorrow morning at an ultrasound.  I hope to be around a little more often now, even though we are in temporary quarters.

On to the good stuff! We are doing a fabulous Red, White, and Blue hop this month in honor of the July 4th holiday. I hear fireworks outside as I am writing this.  I have two cards to show you and then a great idea for future cards.  Stampin' Up! has retired a lot of their stars and July related items it seems.  But don't worry! 

The first card is an old card that I made a few years ago when I first joined the Stampin' Up! family.  The set was in a mini catalog and I have held on to it just because I like it.  It is fireworks and stars and perfect for the holiday.  So, the colors on the card are still current, but everything else you see is retired.  It was just an old one that I found while packing up my stuff and moving and I held on to it.

 
The second card is one that I just made and even though the star punches are no longer current, star shapes are easy to snip (especially if you are following a stamp outline, but more on that later).  I inked up my lined embossing folder with Real Red ink and then ran a piece of Whisper White through it and the ink transfers to the cardstock as it embosses.  The stars are cut from the Polka Dot Parade DSP in Marina Mist.  Pretty quick and easy and makes the perfect American flag.

 
So here is the great thing.  We now have this great new catalog and there is an awesome stamp set in it that will work perfectly for this idea.  I just haven't snagged it for myself yet.  It is called Simply Stars and is really versatile in making holiday cards along with just celebrating events in general.  If you hoard punches like me, your old punches match perfectly to it.  If you don't have the old star punches, it is okay because stars are really easy to snip out using scissors since it is all straight lines and you just follow the inked image.  This set is on my wish list and at only $10.95 for a clear mount set it is worth is!

I hope you enjoyed the samples I had and move along to the next lovely project we have for you.  Enjoy your holiday and THANK YOU to all those who make this land the Land of the Free. 

1.  Elizabeth Harris         www.elizabethloves2stamp.com
2.  Martha Haddock        www.stampinmartha.blogspot.com (you are here)
3.  Stephanie Bradley     www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/stampwithsteph/blog
4.  Lisa Fennewald          www.lisaloostamps.com
5.  Norma Fox                www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/normafox/blog

Happy Stamping!
 
Martha