Something old, new, pink and brown!

It seems far too long since I made a card so, when I finally emerged from under the pile of holiday laundry I popped over to the Less is More blog where I found the lovely Chrissie and Mandi are looking for pink and brown cards this week.

Stampin' Up published lists of Retiring Stamps and Retiring Accessories on Saturday (why not have a browse? - there are some real bargains to be had!) and I'm show-casing some of them this week. Come and have a look:

The textured card stock, the butterfly stamp and coordinating punch and the sentiment I've used are all on the retirement lists and won't be available after this month. I've combined them with the gorgeous flourish from Creative Elements (which definitely won't be retiring!) and something else that's brand, spanking new - the colour of the butterfly! It's called Primrose Petals and is one of the five exciting new in-colours for 2012-2014. (And yes, it IS available now!)

I like the way the flourish looks stamped in Early Espresso on the Pretty in Pink textured card stock. It's coloured with Soft Suede ink and a blender pen and I added detail with an Early Espresso marker before stamping the butterflies. The butterflies were stamped again, on Pink Pirouette smooth card stock this time, then cut out with the butterfly punch. I popped them up over the original stamped ones and added fussy cut bodies.

This lovely flowing sentiment comes from one of my favourite and very well-used sentiment sets, Sincere Salutations. It's one of a set of eight and if you've been thinking about adding it to your collection, I wouldn't delay as I can't see it hanging around on the shelves for long!

Here's what you'll need to make today's card
Stamps: Butterfly Prints (retiring), Sincere Salutations (retiring), Creative Elements
Ink: Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Primrose Petals (new)
Card stock: Pretty in Pink textured (retiring), Pink Pirouette smooth
Other: Blender pen, Early Espresso marker, Butterfly punch (retiring), stamp-a-majig

I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and have them delivered straight to your address in the UK. I'm committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to offer help and advice. To place your order, just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593. If you are ordering from the Retiring Stamps list or the Retiring Accessories list, please be aware that items are only available while stocks last.

It feels so good to be creating things again although it does everyone good to take a break I think. Thank you for all the good wishes you left for me - I had a wonderful time in beautiful Kent with plenty of sunshine and the best company in the world, my family. I'll tell you more about it this week but for now, I'll leave you with some very good advice from a bench we saw in Margate outside a shop that was being renovated:

See you tomorrow,