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    Hi stampers and welcome to this weeks Broke Stampers Unite challenge. This week our focus is color combo. Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral and Crumb Cake. They tell me that I'm the one that picked this combo. I'm not sure about that but if so what was I thinking??? Hahahaha talk about challenges. I was stuck. But then I grabbed my new Eastern Palace Bundle (that's available to preorder May 2nd by the way). I figured if I added a new set with a weird combo I'd get something that looked eye catching anyway.  This set has some really cool dies to it so I started there. Daffodil Delight was cut with the doily style die and the cool thing about it is that it doesn't cut it completely out of the card stock. More like a doily window cut. I was then able to layer color behind it as well as more die cut outs in front of it. The versatility of this set is amazing.  I just went through and started layering the different colors on the project. The stamps that coordinates with the dies are a fun way to add all over designs as well as having the featured sentiment. I do have a bit of contraband daffodil delight ribbon but a girls gotta use up even the old stuff right?  It worked. So that's my offering for this challenge. It's a lil different than the norm but I'm good with it. Hope you've enjoyed it also. 

Now hop on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE and see how these ladies fared with this color challenged. I'm sure it was better than my strange creation hahahaha then if you are feeling really ambitious and creative then try this combo out for yourself and share your creation with us at our Broke Stampers Unite Challenges Facebook page HERE

Have a great week and come back often. I'm doing a series on the blog of the upcoming retiring sets from the 2016-17 Stampin'Up! catalog. I'm showcasing a different set each day with links on where to purchase them Some are even as much as 50% off so check back each day. You can always look at what's retiring and the prices HERE

Enjoy your day and Thank You for stopping by.


Botanical Blooms


So this set of cards was made using the Botanical Blooms stamp set and dies. This set is also scheduled to retire May 31st. I'm a sucker for florals. and the bundle as a whole is such a great combo. This set is really great for basic quick cards as well as stepping them up a notch adding the dies and making masterpieces. Now for the great news....drum roll plz.......it's on sale! Yes that's right you can get not only the stamps but the dies at a special price. The dies are half off so at $16.50 makes a great steal of a deal. The stamps are only $12.75. Wow....awesome deal for both....what are you waiting for??? go get some. The link above with take you right to the items. 



Hello Stamper's,

I want to talk to you today about Paper Pumpkin. About a week ago or so I was urging you to get in on the Paper Pumpkin Kit for April because it was a special kit designed by the Stampin' Up! CEO Sara Douglas. Well those of you that ordered should be getting your kits soon.. Now it is too late to get this months kit but you can always sign up for next months.

In just a moment I'm going to show you a great video from Sara on how to assemble your kit contents. But keep in mind as you watch that even if you missed out on this months kit, these are monthly kits that will come straight to your door, and are different each month, with everything you need to assemble. You can sign up for 1 month and just try it out....or you can choose to prepay for 3, 6, or even 12 months. These kits would make a great gathering project for friends or even a family project for teachers and such. What a great way to get everything you need to make beautiful hand out gifts for your kids Teacher's. Think about it. Watch the video and see how easy it is to assemble and create beautiful projects.

Alright here's the video and enjoy.



Fresh Fruit

I'm going to continue my tour through my favorite retiring  sets. Again this Whole suite was one I didn't play with enough and hoped would make another year. Look at the colors in this suite....look at it! LOL I love love them. The stamp set is Fresh Fruit and it has some wonderful matching Designer Series Paper called Fruit Stand which just happens to be on sale. So you'll want to get on over to my store....(you can click the links above) and get these wonderful sets before they are gone. This again is one of those sets that has a lot of versatility to it. Not only can you do these fun fruits with it....but the lemon one can also be used as a flower! Yes...and I just love the two-step stamping aspect of this set. Two-Step stamping makes it so easy to create great card results by layering the inks instead of always having to color them in. BUT if you look at the outline images that are included here you can do the coloring book style coloring or even watercoloring of the images if you want also. You don't want to miss out on this set. I mean look at the great sentiments included with it. It's a great addition to your library of stamps. So hop on over to my store and get these product before they are gone. They have a tendency to sell out fast so don't miss your chance. Once they are gone they are gone for good. 

Kinda Eclectic

It's that time of year when we play out with the old and in with the new. Stamp Sets that is. Though I LOVE to get new sets we are left with having to say goodbye to some really good one's. So in this post I'm going to feature a stamp set that is going away but that has been a favorite of mine since it's release. This set will be available for purchase only until June 1. So be sure to get it before it's gone.  Kinda Eclectic The artistic qualities of this set makes it so easy to create stunning projects with only a few items. I've been favoring this color combo of Basic Black, Flirty Flamongo and the new Lemon Lime Twist
(in with the new right?) I love how simple these  cards are. Straight stamping, a little fussy cutting of the butterflies a couple card layers and Wow. These projects can be done in minutes for those of you who don't get a lot of time to play, but want great looking results. I'm a quick stamper at heart. I like to be able to sit down and get it done. This is one of those sets I could do that with. You can click the stamp set name above to place your order. Don't let this one slip away on you. 

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Hello Stampers and welcome to this weeks Broke Stampers Unite Challenge This is our Technique Week so we decided to do a technique that I personally haven't seen used in a while. It's called Classic Ink Wash. You basically take an image....stamp it and then with an Aqua painter and water you wash the lines to give it a more watercolor look. The example I found did a better job of washing away the original lines than my sample. When I tried to take it that far I ended up with a mess that looked like someone splashed water on and ruined. It wasn't pretty. So after another go round I ended up with these lovely washed pears. You can still see my lines but over all, I like the look. I used the set Fresh Fruit with the beautiful matching DSP Fruit Stand  and you can get these items and more at my 


Now hop on over to Terri's Blog Here and Stace's Blog HERE to see what these ladies came up with for this challenge. You can also play along and post your Challenge creation at our Facebook page here

If you'd like to see what I'm up to the rest of the week be sure to visit my Facebook page Stamping with Carol Read I try to post a creation or two at least once a day. 

Have a great week everyone, and get stampin' :)



TODAY is the last day to sign up for the Special and Awesome April Paper Pumpkin kit designed by our very own CEO Sara. You do not want to miss this kit. Unbox and unwind with Paper Pumpkin. We do all the work so you can skip to the fun. Join Here




Color


Today I was cleaning up the stamp room and when I got done I sat down at my nice clean work station and grabbed up a few colors. I had seen a card recently that was made by applying ink directly to the block then stamping the block on the paper for a background. In this case I grabbed my Stampin' Write markers in Island Indigo, Bermuda Bay and Pool Party. I then scribbled the clear stamp block with each color in an ombre' effect. I then stamped the dragonfly in each of the three ink pads of the same colors and fussy cut them out. I wrapped some silver cording..(long retired but I love it) and when I finished I had intentions of layering it all on a card base of Bermuda Bay. But this color combo just made me sit back and say WOW! that's such a pretty combo. So right away I needed to take a photo....all the elements were right there so I staged up my photo and was pretty happy with it. It wasn't until I posted it that I realized I forgot to put the card base on. Oh well it still looks great right? I love it when I can laugh at myself, and now you can laugh with me.
    
     I'm jiving on this color combo so much I decided the blog needed a change up so I set out and viola....after a couple hours..... new blog colors. I have a lil tweaking to do yet, I do this so infrequently that I have to learn it all over again when I change it. ANYWAY...that's my take on color for today. I love when I get inspired by it. 

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Hello and welcome to this weeks Broke Stampers Unite Challenge. This week our Theme is EASTER! Yes, can you believe it's just around the corner? I do wish everyone a very Happy Easter. Mine will be a pretty quiet one, not much happening around here. But I do know that many do family gatherings so if you are one of those then Enjoy your family time. 

Now to get to this weeks card. I am pretty shy on Easter style sets. The ones I do have are retired ones so this was sort of a challenge for me in that I had limited resources. BUT, I did manage to go with a floral style. I Started with Butterfly Basics stamp set. I stamped the base layer in a combination of Daffodil Delight and Pear Pizzazz inks. I inked my stamp in the DD first and then the PP and it gave a nice veragated look. gives it a lil depth and character I think. I then stamped the flower group image in Basic Gray ink on a scrap piece of Whisper White and fussy cut the image out. I colored it in using Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, Soft Sky and a bit of Wild Wasabi Stampin' Write Markers. It made it quick and simple. (I really like simple)! LOL 
I then centered it on the card using some Stampin' Dimensionals. I added a little ribbon tie with some retired DD cotton ribbon. This I have to say is one of my favorite ribbons and I sure do hope they bring it back soon. (a girl can dream) I finished by stamping my sentiment in Tempting Turquiose on some Whisper White and snipping the right edge with a a pair of snips. Yes I have the Banner Tripple punch but well I didn't use it but you totally could. LOL I then layered it all on a base of Daffodil Delight card stock and Voila done! 
Easy....Simple....Clean. 
Just how I like it. 

Now hop on over to Stace's Blog Here and Terri's Blog Here to see what they came up with this week. 

Have a great week everyone. Stay tuned over the next six weeks or so as the yearly retired list comes out followed by the New Annual Catalog. This is such an exciting time of the year. Also coming up will be our Annual Virtual Convention for us long time stampers that don't get the pleasure of making it to Stampin' Up's Big convention. What does that mean??? It means lots of stamping and blog postings besides just our weekly BSU posts. Thank You so much for coming by......take care.