Stippled Blossoms is a retiring favorite

 

Mother's day seems to be the perfect time for making floral cards, so that was my focus this past week.  I was so sorry to see Stippled Blossoms stamp set on the retired list, so I decided I needed to put it to use now.  I have to admit that the photo does not do this justice, as the colors seem a little off in the sunlight, but when I was making it all looked right.  I loved the color challenge at Inspired by Stamping #93, so I used Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Wisteria Wonder, and Blackberry Bliss.  The background paper is from Park Lane DSP, and it is Blackberry Bliss.  The Card Concept #34 had an inspirational picture, and I loved the floral tag in the photo, so I used that idea for my card.  The Friday Mashup Challenge #207 was to use their sketch and your Favorite Retiring Stamp set.  I have saved so many photos of cards I like with Stippled Blossoms, but I am 

not very good with 2-step stamping, and I seldom get the beautiful results that I seek.  I did not have my Stamp-a-majig, so I eyeballed it, and had okay results.  I am determined to get more use out of the stamp set, and maybe I will master it one of these days.
I am thinking about taking some of my favorite retired stamp sets up to my camper for my stamping stash up there, but then I thought "Who are you kidding?  Just as soon as you get your hands on the new stamp sets in the new catalog, you will forget all about using the old sets."  Am I right?  You betcha!   I used this beautiful sentiment from Butterfly Basics, because I love the script as well as the sentiment, and I kept it blank inside so I could use it for many occasions.
I could not believe how the woods changed this weekend with the wonderful warm temperatures we had.  The trees looked virtually bare when I arrived on Friday, and yesterday afternoon we noticed the wild plum trees had bloomed in the yard next door.  Usually by this time the ground is covered with Trillium in the woods, but there were none to be seen, until today when I found one.  The buds on the trees are about the size of my thumbnail, and as you look through the woods I could see an increase in green.  Can't wait to see what they look like next weekend.  We are looking forward to four days up at the DN (Do Nothin') Campground, so hope for nice weather.  Happy stamping to you this week, and stop by again real soon.

Mary Alice