The Paper Maven: It's So Hard To Say Goodbye

Welcome everyone to Glitter Queens Blog Hop! Wow, it's hard to believe another month has ended and May's first Friday is here. Time is flying by since I retired from the University of Cincinnati. I can't figure out how I ever had time to work. Retiring was a bitter sweet life change for me this year. It was sad to say goodbye to all my colleagues but so exciting to start my next journey in life.

Speaking of things retired, today's blog hop is all about Stampin'UP!'s retiring products. It 's so hard to say goodbye to some of our favorites as they step aside to make way for new products.

One of my favorite stamp sets this past year is Layering Love that I am sharing today. This set has a special place in my heart. I just love the sentiments .

This purple and orange color combo (retiring colors) is one of my favorites.

I tried very hard to capture the glitter from Wink of Stella that is all over the card. It really sparkles in strong light. I applied clear embossing powder twice to give the sentiment more dimension.

Recipe:
Card bases 5½ x 4¼
First mat is 4 1/8 x 5 3/8
Second mat is 3 7/8 x 5 1/8
Third mat is 3¾ x 5
The background stamp was inked, stamped off once and then stamped on the third mat.

The next two cards design is the same and highlights another favorite stamp set of mine, Thoughts and Prayers. The first card uses Night of Navy and the second, Emerald Envy (retiring color).

I used Emerald Envy a lot this year. My daughter Andrea and I made 75 thank you cards in Emerald Envy for her best friends wedding which, of course, coordinated with the bride's colors. I will share the card in an upcoming blog post.

Recipe:
Card bases 5½ x 4¼
First layer mat is 4 1/8 x 5 3/8
Second layer mat is 4 x 5 ¼ (embossed using reverse side)
Third layer is 4 5/8 x 3 3/8
Fourth layer is 3¼ x 4½

It's Stampin'UP's 30th anniversary and you will find new colors, new stamps and awesome accessories in this year's catalog coming to your mailbox soon!

Don't forget to hop along to all the Glitter Queens blog posts. You don't want to miss a thing this month.

We love and encourage your comments and questions. They make our blog hop so much more engaging and fun.

Next up is Davette Strange Miller. Here is a list of all the Glitter Queens in this month's hop: