Please join me for lots of stamping and papercrafting projects, news and fun by signing up for my monthly "Stamping With Karen" newsletter! The sign-up box is in the upper left corner of my blog.

I send out a main newsletter close to the beginning of the month with the latest news or specials from Stampin' Up! plus several projects and stamping tips I think that you will enjoy or find useful.  Mid-month I usually send out a very short newsletter  to update you or remind you of any specials or deadlines. It's my way to have a little stamping visit with you!

Right now is a great time to sign up with the Stampin' Up! retiring lists coming out and the new catalog coming in….soon!!  Be sure you stay on top of all things Stampin' Up! You won't want to miss a thing!

Here it is! The list of Stampin' Up! retiring stamp sets that will make room for NEW in the new Stampin' Up! Catalog in June!  These retiring stamp sets will be available until May 31st. It's a long list, as you will see, but that is because of the new catalog transition this year.

So click on these links and enjoy perusing this list and making out your wish list.  Be sure to check back again on April 25th when retiring Accessories and Definitely Decorative items will be revealed!

For the PDF list, click HERE.

For retiring Wood-mount stamps, click HERE.

(On the store page, at the top right, click on the drop down box for Show: ALL .  It's much easier to see all the sets than to have to go to the next page.)

For retiring Clear-Mount stamps, click HERE.

Email me at Karen@Karenstamps.com with any questions!

Enjoy your day!!

It's Daylight Savings Time! Did you remember to change your clocks today? "Spring forward" an hour! And they often recommend to check your smoke alarm batteries when you change your clocks.

I know Daylight time is earlier nowadays than it used to be, so I was surprised to hear it was starting this weekend already.  But it makes us think spring is coming soon!

I made this little reminder postcard in My Digital Studio. So fun!

This is the big weekend for the annual River Oaks Garden Club Azalea Trail in Houston. Unfortunately, the weather is a little iffy but I hope there is more cloudiness than rain for the weekend so everyone can see the beautiful homes and gardens. Sometimes you just tour the garden and sometimes you get to walk through the house to get to the yard and garden in back….that's my favorite part, to see the inside of the private homes!  The Garden Club makes beautiful floral arrangements inside all the rooms in the house that you get to see and you often can get decorating ideas or just enjoy the lovely homes.

Our home is not on the Azalea Trail, but we do have blooming azaleas!

Images copyright Stampin' Up! 2012

Here is a page from my My Digital Studio calendar. These are photos from our yard last year.  I simply chose a design in the Photo Layout section of My Digital Studio and plunked my photos into the boxes. I chose a background paper and added the stamps (branches) to the page, plus some text.  I love how this page turned out!  My Digital Studio can be as simple or as involved as you want it to be. If I wanted, I could play around with more embellishments or borders or colors or anything and make the page even "jazzier"….and then if I didn't like it, I could just delete those items.  The ease of changing any element in this program is its greatest strength, I think.

If you want to try it out, take the free 30-day trial of My Digital Studio Express!  Make all the projects you want during that time and see if you don't end up loving My Digital Studio! It's not only about scrapbooking!

By the way, the River Oaks Azalea Trail Home & Garden Tour is this weekend in Houston, March 9 – 12.. This has been a tradition every year with us and we always enjoy it.  My favorite part is getting to go inside some of the beautiful homes!  Sometimes you just see the gardens. The weather forecast, though, is for a rainy weekend…so sad!  But if that turns out to be wrong, be sure to head over and see the stops on the Azalea Trail!

Don't miss my March "Stamping With Karen" newsletter coming out soon!  It will be filled with stamping news, projects and tips!  To sign up for my mailing list, just find my Mailing List Sign up Box in the upper left of my blog. Whether you want to learn new things about stamping and papercrafting or just enjoy seeing new ideas, you'll want to be a part of this!  It's all fun and it's all doable!

Sign up now so you'll receive my March newsletter in your email box soon!

Fifty years ago today John Glenn orbited the earth and became the first American to do so. He was a member of the first group of astronauts, “Mercury Seven”. John Glenn was selected for this group in part for being known as one of the best test pilots in the country. After three years of training, on February 20, 1962 John Glenn climbed into his Mercury capsule Friendship 7, named after the group of seven astronauts, and orbited the earth three times in four hours and 56 minutes reaching speeds of more than 17,000 miles per hour. At the end of his successful mission, he splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, 800 miles southeast of Bermuda.

Space exploration back then was an amazing thing and not something taken for granted.  Everyone knew the names of those first astronauts. I probably even watched the launch on a big black and white TV at school. I’ve grown up with the space program and have always been fascinated with it. My mother would always say she felt bad for Alan Shepard, who was the first American to go up in space but did not orbit the earth, so it was John Glenn who got more of the glory. So many inventions and things we use and take for granted in our lives came from these space missions.

Here is a newsreel video of the event. The sinister music is a bit alarming but it is amazing to watch this old video!  Enjoy!

Here are the latest My Digital Studio downloads by Stampin' Up!, and I think they are really great ones! When you purchase My Digital Studio you will have plenty of images to play with for your projects….but rest assured that there will always be something new coming out to inspire and delight you! Click HERE or on the images above for a better look.  Then you can zoom in a bit with your computer to see them even better or go to my Online Store and check them out there.

And for a BONUS…..you can get a 30-day FREE trial with My Digital Studio Express! For more information, read my posts HERE and HERE.

What can you do with a digital program?  More than you think…..almost anything!  Contact me at Karen@Karenstamps.com if you have questions!