Are you a pet lover? I sometimes think that I get along better with animals than with people, lol. I know that I spend way more time with my dog and cat than with anyone other than my husband. So, when someone loses their pet, I understand how traumatic it can be.

My first card was for a friend whose kitty had passed away. The Nine Lives stamp set is a current set that is on the retiring list, but it didn’t have the words that I wanted. The only stamps that I have in any type of order are the ones that are currently in one of the Stampin’ Up! catalogs, so any time that I want to find a retired stamp set it becomes a TREASURE HUNT! The So Sorry stamp set was retired in 2014 so I didn’t have too much trouble finding this one. The kitty was black so I decided to go with a black and white color scheme.

Layer sizes: Black – 1″ x 4 1/2″, 2 1/2″ x 3/4″, 3″ x 3 3/4″, 3 3/4″ x 4 1/2″

Whisper White – 3 /4″ x 4 1/4″, 2 1/4″ x 5/8″, 2 3/4″ x 3 1/2″, 3 1/2″ x 4″

I wanted a certain look for the dog on the card that I wanted to make next. I wanted it to be a small shaggy white dog. I vaguely remembered a set from a really long time ago that might work. To find it, I had to climb up onto my counter and dig on the very top shelf. Wow, it was dusty up there! A job for another day. I actually found two stamp sets that fit what I was looking for. The above set is called Friendship Grows and was dated 2001. I think that this image is just so sweet. I also cut my last piece of this gorgeous foil designer series paper. The name of the paper was Affectionately Yours. The images were colored with Stampin’ Blends.

Layer Sizes: Night of Navy 5 1/4″ x 4″, Affectionately Yours 5″ x 3 3/4″, Basic Black 3 3/4″ x 3″, Whisper White 3 1/2″ x 2 3/4″

This is actually my favorite card of this batch. The dog and dog house are from the Bow Wow stamp set which had a date of 1997 on it. I loved how the older sets had dates on the labels. Of course they could perhaps be dated by the amount of dust on them as well. The D is for Dog image was from a stamp set with that same name. It didn’t have a date on it but I would have to guess maybe 2010-12? The red background matt was actually in my scrap pile but it was cut with the Project Life Cards and Labels Die, which I remember because I used that die A LOT. Once again, I used Stampin’ Blends to color the image.

I hope that you enjoyed this walk down memory lane with me. I usually try to post cards that are created with stamp sets and products that can still be purchased from Stampin’ Up! but now with the retiring list just out for the 2019-2020 catalog that will be ending soon, I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic. It’s a great time to check over the wish list from a year ago and see if any of those sets that aren’t yet on the stamp shelf need to be purchase before it’s too late. It’s also a great time to do some spring cleaning and find some new old friends.

Happy Stamping,

Robyn