It’s that sad and exciting week in Stampin’ Up!  It’s our final time to say good bye to good ‘ol friends and hello to new ones.  What am I talking about, you may be wondering – well…it’s the final week for some of my all time favorite products – some that have been with me for 11 1/2 years!  And of course – hello to the brand spankin’ new ones in the new catalog.  If you want your very own free catalog click here!

Of course, what better way to send of our dear favs other than Mojo Monday!  I truly love creating in this fun Challenge.  I find that it really gets my week off to a great creative start.

Today we are saying good bye to my two favorite retiring colors – Not Quite Navy (Gasp!!) and More Mustard.  Not Quite Navy and I have been good friends my whole life.  So it was natural, when I joined the Stampin’ Up! sisterhood in January 2002, that Not Quite Navy quickly became my all time favorite color.  And More Mustard, which is the exact color of Dijon Mustard – another favorite of mine…I can’t eat a hard boiled egg without it, is sadly being depleted with each card here in the Creative Studio.  I think I only have three full sheets of it left!

And my favorite Designer Series Paper this year was hands down Fan Fair.  How could you not like something with a giant Eiffel Tower and World Map in it?! 

So since we’re saying good bye to some good friends, I thought I would say hello to a new one for me.  Not that the stamp set Happy Hour is new to the catalog, but it is new to me!  I’ve wanted this set all year, and felt it was about time to start stamping with it.  And since Champagne is a fitting beverage to toast our retiring and new friends, why not three glasses of it!

Of course, I had to sneak my signature smashed flower in there too – everything is better with a smashed flower!   And just plug in smashed flower into the search box on the right to see the many projects I’ve created with this easy and addictive flowers.  Click Here To learn how to make smashed flowers

Creative Tips:

• I gravitate to the square cards in this challenge, so that was an easy choice for me.
• I used my color coach to choose my colors and then decided on Early Espresso as a highlight. 
• Champagne is bubbly and sparkly, so I had to have Rhinestone Basic Jewels!  Instead of my usual flower center, I chose to add our Large Rhinestone Jewels. 
• My card needed a little something in the corners, so I added a large and two small Rhinestones instead of Paper Piercing.  But the Paper Piercing would have looked great too.
• I chose the Fan Fair DSP because it’s just the right amount of pattern without taking away from the spirit of card.  Balance is important when working with patterned paper, otherwise you can quickly overwhelm your project.
• To bring a little drama and emphasis to various spots, I popped up the Champagne glasses, banner flag and smashed flower.  Click Here for a video on how to make a perfect Banner Flag end
• I couldn’t get my greeting stamped right today for the life of me – ever had that happen?  So I finally just filled it in with my Not Quite Navy Stampin’ Write marker.  I’m so glad it’s the same ink as our Classic Ink Pads.  If you look closely at my photos you can tell, but only because it’s zoomed in, holding the card in front of you, you’d never notice.
• My card measures 5 3/8” x 5 3/8” and my white panel is 5” x 5”.  My Early Espresso panel is just an 1/8” larger so that I have a 1/16” border…or is it too early in the day for fractions…lol!
• My interior white square is 3”x 3” and the Not Quite Navy square is 3 1/8”x 3 1/8”. This card came together easily for me.  I hope you like it, it has a classic and traditional look to it.  I love the colors, I hope you do too!  Happy Memorial Day.

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Stamp Sets – Happy Hour (126642c, 132013w) Ink – Not Quite Navy (126971), Not Quite Navy Stampin’ Write Marker (Regals Collection – 119701) Paper – Whisper White (100730), Not Quite Navy (101722), Early Espresso (119686), More Mustard (100946), Fan Fair Designer Series Paper (126918) Cool Tools – 1” Square Punch (124094), Fancy Flower Punch (118073), Paper Snips (103579) Finishing Touch – Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430), Rhinestone Basic Jewels (119246), Large Rhinestone Basic Jewels (129324)