Stampin' Addicts Retiring Stamp Sets Blog Hop 2011

Welcome to the Stampin' Addicts Retiring Stamp Sets Blog Hop for 2011!

You've likely arrived from Betty's lovely blog  Kitty Stamp where you saw adorable designs with the Blowing Kisses stamp set. Such a CUTE set!  Should you get lost or need a list of the participants, you can see it at Stampin' Addicts.

I'm actually featuring two great stamp "sets" for the hop. (Thanks for allowing me to do that fellow hoppers!) The Simple Birthday Thanks background (page 142) and Birthday Bliss (page 57) were both favorites of mine for kids cards (and thank you cards of course).  The Simple Birthday Thanks Stamp was inadvertently skipped for the Retirement list. Stampin' Up! confirmed that the stamp is NOT on a carryover list and IS retiring by phone.

First up is this gift card holder.....I can't swear I haven't seen it before, but I didn't knowingly copy.  Well, I did copy a birthday cupcake I'd seen intentionally, and I was trying to match some of the colors in the balloon gift card. I love the intense boyish blue of the icing on the Simple Birthday Thanks stamp, and imagine what color your tongue would be after eating such a cupcake in real life! The tag punch shaped "make a wish" candle image makes a quick and easy way to attach the top/icing with a flourish. "Ice Cream and Presents and Cake Oh my!" makes a grand statement for the front of the cupcake liner area. I'll list a step by step tutorial (no pictures-sorry) on Monday, though you probably don't need it-I just used a Pumpkin Pie card base, stamped it, cut it out and cut off the icing.  A thin line of sticky strip on the sides and bottom---Quick and Easy.

This Fancy Favor is cute for giving a gift of 3X3 cards and envelopes.  I have a friend who really enjoys getting handmade cards for her birthday.  Luckily, I really enjoy ~making~ cards!  This set features the new 2011-12 designer series paper "Just Add Cake".  It is an usual color combination, but it is a lot of fun!

I made this cupcake card to match this fun wrapping paper.  I just did some cutting with the paper cutter for the squares and rectangles and punched the circles and half circles.  I also made some curlicues and attached them with mono multi/green lid glue.  I stamped Birthday Bliss from the Birthday Bliss stamp set for a vibrant sentiment.  A little ribbon completes the card.

Now it is time to continue on to Holly's Rubber Redneck blog where she'll show you lovely creations with the Always stamp set. We're going to miss that set!