I Spy with my Little Eye

something blue, a dolphin, a dog, an A, something pink, love, and sooooo much more! All in my card for the Treat Cup Swap at the Stampin' Addicts Meet and Greet during Stampin' Up! Convention (which is two weeks away!).

Stamps: Something Sweet
Paper: Tangerine Tango, Tempting Turquoise, Peach Parfait, Bright Designer Series Paper Pack, Silver, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: 1 ¾” Circle Punch, 2 ½” Circle Punch, Big Shot, Tasteful Trims Bigz XL Die, Paper Piercing Tool and matte, Silver Brads, Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Glass Glitter, assorted beads and trinkets

I love this Designer Series Paper Pack for it's ability to liven up any card. This idea has been in my head for a while--a kid card that's like a finder. Finally, it occured to me to make it a magnifying glass and here it is. Clare helped me sort beads this weekend. I found this crazy assortment at our local Goodwill. I am sure you can find similar things other places.

She was very patiently putting beads into the cups. Whenever she dropped one, she said, "Uh, oh" and only tried to eat one (that looked suspiciously like candy).

Now, with less than two weeks to go, I have some more stamping to get to!

Happy Stamping!

Monday, Monday Matchbook Cover

The song, Monday, Monday, has been going in my head all day. Well, not actually, just those two words with a tune! Today, I am going to share how I made the matchbox cover for my post-it notes. Ready?

I first laid my post-it note pads on my grid paper to determine their width and length. Luckily for me, the pads were 4" by 3". Unlucky for me, the sticky was on the 4" side. I wanted to make them tall and thin, so I placed the sticky on the left hand side.  I then cut my cardstock into a 3 1/4" by 11" strip. I scored at 1", 6 1/4" and 6 3/4" Fold the bottom up and staple. Fold the top over and tuck inside the bottom. Tadah!

Stamps: None
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Love Letters Designer Series Paper
Ink: none
Accessories: 12" Paper Cutter with Scoring Blade, Big Shot, Fun Flowers Bigz Die, Designer Buttons, Ribbon Punch

I hope my retreat attendees loved them and use them to mark up their new Idea Book and Catalogs!

Happy Stamping!

Lovely Pillow Gifts

It's Lily Ink Pad Retreat Weekend and we are all stamping, stitching,and scrapping. That, and, playing with Clare who had to join us (bummer) so her bros could do teen boy things with their dad. As at all Stampin' Up! events, there are gifts, and here are the pillow gifts I made:

Stamps: A Walk in the Park
Paper: Love Letters Designer Series Paper, Red Riding Hood, Elegant Notes Notecards
Ink: Basic Black, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Big Shot, Fun Flowers Bigz L Die, Assorted Designer Buttons, Scallop Edge Punch, Paper Trimmer with Scoring Blade


Each person got the bag with a notepad in a matchbook, a stamp set, and a luminary. Today, I am going to show you the luminary up close:

I simply cut the Elegant Notes (retiring) about 1/4" past the fold, stamped on them, and adhered three together.  I added the layered and crumpled flowers and ta dah! a luminary!

Happy Stamping!

Did You Get One of These?

Well, Did you?

This was my invitation to my Hostess Appreciation Party coming up on Friday, where I will smother my past hostesses in love and affection (and free stuff). I also use this time to honor my downline for their accomplishments. We have fun while stamping, playing, and LOOKING AT THE NEW CATALOG!

Speaking of which, this card uses some NEW items. Can you guess?

That's right--the new border punch is to die for! Plus, that's not a die cut on there, I cut it from a new Designer Series Paper pack! AND...the stamps are new, too! WHOOO HOO. Having fun as a demonstrator since I can pre-order the new stuff and play early!

This card can also be folded to fit into a 3x6 envelope and then pop out when opened!

Oh yeah, here's the recipe for those that need it. It's a fun fold card, but I'm not sharing the directions quite yet. A future July post will have that--with the swaps I designed for it! I am so excited I could burst!

Stamps: Pennant Parade
Paper: Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Peach Parfait, Flirtatious Specialty Paper
Ink: Melon Mambo
Accessories: Blossom Bouquet Triple Punch, Lace Ribbon Border Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch

The coolest part--- My inside ink matches my paper perfectly because I designed it on My Digital Studio:

How cool!

Happy Stamping!

Merry Christmas for June!

I've been cleaning, sorting, organizing,and dumping. Part of that was deciding which of my unfinished projects to finish and which to not. Here is a group of cards I decided to finish (and use for my Monthly Christmas Card Challenge on Stampin' Addicts).

Stamps: Grateful Greetings
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Riding Hood Red Designer Series Paper (retired),Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink: Whisper White Craft Ink

Accessories: Big Shot, Ovals Bigz Die, Snowflake Punch, Assorted Retired Buttons, Retired Riding Hood Red Ribbon


I used up some retired stuff, however, the new Idea Book and Catalog has great substitutes in the Designer Series Paper Packs and ribbon. So much fun!

Happy Stamping!

Mega Blog Hop Recap

I just love the colors I used on my blog hop projects, so I feel no pity that you all get to see them all again. I hope you didn't miss the Stampin' Addicts Mega Blog Hop last weekend. If you did, I'd bet many of the links still work or you can go to Stampin Addicts and get the link list for yourself.

THE CARD or INVITATION

Stamps: Lots of Bots
Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Pacific Point, Brights Designer Series Paper Pack, Earth Elements Designer Series Paper Pack
Ink: Pacfic Point, Image colored with markers
Accessories: Silver Brads, Basic Gray Satin Ribbon, Paper Crimper, 1" Circle Punch

The Notebook and Straw Bling

Stamps: Lots of Bots
Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Pacific Point, Brights Designer Series Paper Pack, Earth Elements Designer Series Paper Pack, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Pacfic Point, Image colored with markers
Accessories: Silver Brads, Basic Gray Satin Ribbon, 1" Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Itty Bitty Circle Punch


Candy Wrapper and Badge

Stamps: Lots of Bots
Paper: Whisper White, Brights Designer Series Paper Pack, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight
Ink: Pacific Point, Image colored with markers
Accessories: Silver Brads, Basic Gray Satin Ribbon, 1" Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, Itty Bitty Circle Punch, Candy Wrapper Bigz Die, Big Shot


I love layering circles, can you tell? That's really all I did--punch, punch, punch, layer, layer, layer, play, play, play!

Happy Stamping!

Welcome to the Stampin' Addicts Retiring Sets Mega Blog Hop!

What's a Mega Blog Hop, you say? A blog hop put on by an amazing group of Stampin' Up! demonstrators celebrating one last hurrah with some favorite stamp sets before they (the stamp sets, not the demonstrators) retire forever!

My stop is #6 between the talented Holly Krautkremer at Rubber Redneck featuring Always and the elegant Adriana Benitez at Escape2Stamp with Animal Stories. You can click on either name to proceed forward or go back. Either way, it's one big loop of great ideas!

I am lucky to feature, Lots of Bots. Boy, am I, (and my nephew Nathan) going to miss this one! Therefore, I decided to design a birthday ensemble we could have used for Nathan (if he wasn't too old for such things).

Come back on Monday for full recipes. Until then, enjoy a close up of the card (or invite):

The sketch is based on MojoMonday, but I did simplify it a bit for a boy card. I love these colors together. Thank goodness the Designer Series Paper Pack isn't retiring yet. I love those packs!

The thing with the pen attached is a notebook for all those spy files boys like to keep (and girls). I had these perfectly colored in Pumpkin Pie mini composition notebooks just lying around (in my stash) and decided to just make a the cover a bit more fun. The binder clip is also from my stash (opps, some of it made it to the new stamp room). The straw decoration is something I saw on a birthday website when I was surfing for good ideas on the latest and greatest in birthday treat favors. Apparently, a well-dressed straw is where it's at.

Finally, here the button and candy wrapper:

I loved the idea of a nametag, but had a hard time when I realized I couldn't really add any bling to them since the room inside was limited. Bummer. No dimensonals, brads, or googlie eyes on these! Lucky for me the 2 1/2" Circle Punch made the perfect sized circle for this prefab button (also from my stash). Inside the candy wrapper are 6 Rollo's which looked like nuts for bolts to me when I bought them (and subsequently ate wayyyyyy toooooo mannnnny of them!).

I hope you've enjoyed your stop here at Lily's Ink Pad. If you get lost, you can always go to Stampin' Addicts and find the link you need! Otherwise, click here to go to Adriana's blog and Animal Stories.

Remember, Stampin' Up! is only offering these retiring sets until June 30th. Contact your demonstrator to place an order today!

Oh no! They're Retiring!!!

I've been a little focused on the end of my school year. Even though I sorted my retiring stamps, marked my catalogs, and was sad. Today, it really hit me-- They're retiring! Today, I am just posting some of my favorite creations using the retiring stamp sets.

Always

Forest Friends

Razzle Dazzle

Eastern Blooms

Honey of a Day

Lots of Bots



Tart and Tangy

Pun Fun

Love You Much


If you want to see the whole list--click on the flyer in the right column or click here:

Don't forget: You have until June 30th to order, but sooner is better! You can order at my online store!

Happy Stamping!

More MDS downloads!

I love my My Digital Studio! I made some amazing business cards and labels last week as well as some pretty great invites for email, wedding favors, words for my technique cards, and well, some scrappin'.

Click here for the new downloads in pdf.

You can also get a ton and I mean, a ton, of resources and help at mydigitalstudio.net.

Happy Designing!

Fun in the Sand

Today is the first official day of my summer vacation. I am fortunate to be able to ---teach! I am leading a workshop for pre-college middle schoolers on Engineering for three weeks. It'll be fun, but I'll miss out on some beach time, if I was the beach type.

Stamps: Summer Splash, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze, Peach Parfait
Ink: Rich Razzlberry, Peach Parfait, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Rich Razzleberry 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Double Ribbon Punch, 3" Circle Bigz Die, 3 1/2" Circle Bigz Die, Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Word Window Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Brights Brads, Paper Piercing Tool and Matte pack

I wanted a different kind of color combination and found this one in a sweater online. I thought, can I really bring fall to my summer card? Sure I can. The Peach Parfait and Rich Razzleberry are so fun together!

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for ICE CREAM!

Earlier this week we had a heat wave and I got used to a little cold treat now and then. Now, it's in the 50's outside and I'm back to drinking hot tea. Here's a couple of cards to remind us all of summer:

Stamps: It's Your Birthday
Paper: Crumb Cake, Regal Rose, Tempting Turquoise
Ink: Regal Rose, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Details Texturz Plate, Petal Cone Die, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, 3 1/2" Circle Bigz Die, Scallop Edge Punch, Red Glimmer Paper, 3/4" Circle Punch, Certainly Celery 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon

Here's the inside:

My upline Sandy told me about BJ Peters's ice cream cards back in January (or was it December) and I found her video off of Tami White's blog. I followed her example pretty exactly. Thanks, BJ!

I wasn't sure if my Stampin' Celebrations stampers had enough time to add the ink to the texturez plate before embossing the texture. Can you see the difference in my picture? Of course they had time once they saw how big the difference between uninked and inked texturz plate!

How about some mint chocolate chip or bubble gum ice cream?

Happy Stamping!

Happy Father's Day, Camper Dad!

Remember the family vacations spent at the lake sleeping in a tent with bears roaming around the campground? How about the racoons who invaded our coolers at night? I'm sure you remember dad digging a trench around the canvas tent so the water stopped rushing through it and instead went around. No? Oh wait, that was my childhood. Well, hopefully, you have some fun memories that can appreciate this card:

Stamps: Under the Stars, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Mosquito Wheel
Paper: Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Marina Mist, Soft Suede
Ink: Soft Suede, Marina Mist
Accessories: Postage Stamp Punch, Standard Wheel Handle, Baker's Twine

I love this stamp set, so I wanted to use it for my dad this year. Hopefully, he gets one. The colors may not seem masculine, but I like them! The ladies at my Stampin' Celebrations Club this month made 4 of this one, including choosing their sentiment if didn't want too many father's day cards!

Happy Stamping!

Embossing Folder Coloring

During the last Stampin' Addicts Blog Hop for the Occasions Mini Catalog Release, Cindy Elam did this technique and I was WOWED.

Stamps: Happy Greetings
Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, Daffodil Delight
Ink: Elegant Eggplant
Accessories: Flower Garden Textured Impressions Folder, Big Shot, Elegant Eggplant, Pear Pizzaz, and Daffodil Delight Markers, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Decorative Label Punch, Wide Oval Punch

I found the coloring sometimes tricky, but Cindy's tip about erasing mistakes with a blender pen was spot on.

A funny about this one is that I used practically the same color combination for this technique card as I did the last one, even though I planned them a month apart! I guess when you love a color combo, it keeps showing up!

Happy Stamping!

Hope and Strength on Tiles

I feel as though I am in a whirlwind- end of school, moving all our stuff and Bubba up here to Shawano, summer, new catalog (oh yes, it's beautiful), classes, and just daily life! But today, Sunday, is my day. I plan to spend at least 6 hours stamping (and planning for Convention). Let's see if we can start off with a great blog post with a beautiful technique:

Stamps: Hope and Strength
Paper: Concord Crush, Pear Pizzaz, Whisper White
Ink: Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz
Accessories: 12" Paper cutter with Scoring blade, Certainly Celery Satin Ribbon, Oval Bigz Die, Big Shot, Sponge Daubers

I got a card in the mail through a swap from Jackie Ridley who made this look beautiful and easy. In reality, it's not a hard technique, but you have to be careful and precise--not my strength. My Technique ladies, however, did  a great job on their cards and I learned a bit more how to do it.

Basically, this is done in three easy steps:

1. Score your cardstock.
2. Stamp your background images.
3. Sponge tiles, not grout.

On a 3 3/4 by 5" base, I scored the sides each at 1 1/4. The top and bottom, I scored at 1 5/8". The middle tile isn't perfectly 1 5/8" but no one notices.

On the 3 x4" base, I scored at 1" on the short sides and 2" on the long side.

I'd love to see other examples of this technique, so if you do it or have done it, link a comment to your beauty.

Happy Stamping!