Swirly Sailboat Graduation - Stampin' Up! Swirly Bird

  It's that time of year where students are moving on to the next level of education or have finished and are heading out into the world to begin their careers.  Of course us stampers need to mark these milestones with cute cards of congratulations and encouragement!  I designed this card for my stampers to make last week at my May stamp club.

  I thought the sail boat was an appropriate image for a graduate heading out to their next adventure.  And the bright colors really pop against the white card base so it's perfect for the start of summer.

  We added some texture with the Seaside embossing folder and the wave die cut from the Swirly Scribbles thinlets.

  The boat is stamped on a strip of Whisper White and punched with the tag topper punch and tied with a bit of Night of Navy twine.

  A quick change of sentiment could turn this card into a birthday card, a Father's Day card or even a sweet baby boy card.

  You only have today and tomorrow to take advantage of the special bundle pricing for the Swirly Bird stamp set and Swirly Scribbles thinlets.  Save 10% on the bundle pricing before the new annual catalog goes live on June 1st.  You'll still be able to get both items but not in a bundle.  Might as well save yourself a bit of money if you have them on your wishlist!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Swirly Bird, Suite Sentiments

Ink: Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Night of Navy

Paper: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise

Accessories: Seaside embossing folder, Swirly Scribbles thinlets, tag topper punch, baker's twine, dimensionals

Jar of Thanks - Fab Friday 114 - Stampin' Up! Jar of Love

   My family is in a full on push to the end of the school year and we're trying to finish strong and I'm trying to set a good example but I am D-O-N-E and I'm just the mom...think of the poor kids!  My oldest has his last SOL test today and then we are finished with the standardized testing for this school year.  And I can't even say or write or hear SOL without laughing.  When we first moved to Virginia 16 years ago this new testing that was being enacted on the public schools was all in the news and not having kids then I didn't really know anything about the SOLs.  All I kept thinking was what my dad meant when he would tell us that we "were SOL"!  Ha!  But now, of course I realize that in Virginia SOL means Standards of Learning.  I think the other meaning is just as fitting sometimes after looking at test questions!

  Anyway on to the stamping!  We have a new challenge at Fab Friday starting today and we hope you'll join in on the fun!

  Here is the versatile sketch:

  I used our challenge sketch for double duty this week and designed one of my stamp club cards to use the layout.  Since the Jar of Love bundle will be retiring with the current catalog I wanted to show it off one more time to my stampers.  The stamp set and framelits are carrying over but you will have to purchase them separately without the 10% off bundle pricing.

  The color combination was one that I saw while browsing Pinterest and I never would have put them together myself but I'm really pleased with how they look together.  Peekaboo Peach was probably my least favorite color when that set of In Colors was released last year but it has certainly grown on me.

  There isn't any fancy stamping or techniques on this card, just some 2 step stamping for the flowers which are cut out and then popped on the edge of the jar with dimensionals.

  I hope you'll head over to Fab Friday and see what the rest of the Design Team has in store for you and then play along with us!  It's a long weekend for many so there aren't any excuses!  And don't tell me I'm SOL!  :)

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Jar of Love

Ink: Smoky Slate, Pear Pizzazz, Peekaboo Peach, So Saffron

Paper: Smoky Slate, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, A Little Foxy DSP

Accessories: Everyday Jars framelits, Peekaboo Peach ruched ribbon, dimensionals

  

Swirly Flowers in Fig - Stampin' Up! Swirly Bird

  Always so much to do and never quite enough hours in each day for me to feel caught up so it's going to a short and sweet post today!

  I made this card for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day.  Her favorite color is purple so I was excited when I could use the new In Color Fresh Fig to make her card.  She also loves flowers so really it was a no brainer on what kind of card to make!

  The card base is Fresh Fig with one of the larger Swirly Bird swirls/flowers stamped in Fresh Fig.  Then I embossed a panel of Whisper White with the Softly Falling embossing folder and cut it into 2 unequal pieces and adhered them to the card front leaving the stamped swirls/flowers peeking through.

  The trio of flowers are all a bit different.  The one in the back is embossed with white embossing powder and then watered down Fresh Fig ink is brushed over the top.  The next one is stamped in Fresh Fig and then colored over with clear Wink of Stella.  The one on top is Shimmery White cardstock with the swirl embossed with white embossing powder and then colored over with Fresh Fig ink using an Aquapainter.

   A little piece of the finely woven ribbon peeks out from the side of the top flower.  The sentiment is stamped in Fresh Fig and is popped on Dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Swirly Bird, Something to Celebrate (retired)

Ink: Versamark, Fresh Fig*

Paper: Fresh Fig*, Whisper White, Shimmery White

Accessories: Softly Falling embossing folder, white embossing powder, finely woven ribbon*, dimensionals

*New products available in the 2017-2018 Stampin' Up! Annual catalog out June 1

Shiplapped Wood Texture Winter - Stampin' Up! Seasonal Layers Thinlets

  I don't know if I would call this getting a really early start on Christmas cards or that I'm procrastinating doing some business-y type things that definitely aren't as much fun as playing with new products.  It's probably a bit of both!

  I have been working on making some little projects using the new Wood Textures DSP stack that will be available soon.  I had to cut a bunch of sheets down and had a nice little pile of scraps when I was finished.  And we know I have to save these little scraps!  And seeing these little wood textured scraps it made me think of those cool Pinterest projects out there with shiplapping and wood pallet projects.  So I made a little background with all those scraps.

  The scraps are adhered to a piece of Whisper White cardstock and I varied the length of each making sure the seams didn't line up with each other.  I learned that last year when we laid some hardwood floors in our house!  Next, I trimmed the edges down so the panel was nice and even all around.  

  I used some of the new 1/2" finely woven ribbon in the new In Color Tranquil Tide to go around the wood panel.  Then I added a slightly larger panel of Whisper White behind the wood and mounted it all onto a Tranquil Tide card base.

  To turn this one into a winter or Christmas card I used the awesome Seasonal Layers Thinlets and cut out 3 Whisper White snowflakes and adhered them down using the fine tip glue.  I added rhinestones to the centers of each snowflake.  

  I still have a lot of these scraps left so I think I'll be making a bunch of backgrounds to use on more cards.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: none 

Ink: none

Paper: Tranquil Tide*, Whisper White, Wood Textures DSP stack*

Accessories: Tranquil Tide finely woven ribbon*, Seasonal Layers Thinlets*, rhinestones

*Items will be available June 1 in the 2017-2018 Stampin' Up! annual catalog

Fresh Vintage Butterfly - Stampin' Up! Watercolor Wings

  I'm not sure if I pulled it off or not but I combined 2 challenges that seem to be on opposite ends of the style spectrum.  One one hand I've got the crisp, clean sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  My stamping buddy Jennifer Timko designed this one and it's great with tons of possibilities.  But then I decided I wanted to do the Vintage themed challenge at The Card Concept too.  I'll let you all decide on how this one came out!

  

  The card base is Basic Black and I used the dots stamp from Watercolor Wings and embossed them in clear embossing powder all over the front.  The bottom corner is punched with the corner rounder. Then I tore a strip of the retired Typeset DSP for the long panel of the card sketch.  I also stamped the butterfly on a piece of the Typeset DSP.  The base color of the butterfly is Lemon Lime Twist and then the highlights are Dapper Denim stamped off.  The body is stamped in black.

  The sentiment flag is Dapper Denim and the sentiment from Sunshine Sayings is stamped in black.

  I dug around in my retired ribbon bin and pulled out a small bit of retired Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon and a cute, little retired ribbon flower.  I pressed the flower into the Dapper Denim ink pad to give it some color.  I layered the seam binding ribbon with a bit of the new Lemon Lime Twist ribbon.  They are held together with a retired Vintage Trinkets safety pin.   A row of adhesive pearls finishes this card off.

  So I've got some fresh with the bright colors paired with the black and I've got the vintage with the DSP, torn edges and frayed ribbon.  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Watercolor Wings, Sunshine Sayings

Ink: Versamark, Lemon Lime Twist*, Dapper Denim, Basic Black

Paper: Basic Black, Dapper Denim, Typeset DSP (retired)

Accessories: Bold Butterfly framelits, Lemon Lime Twist ribbon*, adhesive pearls, Clear embossing powder, corner rounder, dimensionals, seam binding ribbon (retired) Vintage Trinket safety pin (retired), ribbon flower (retried)

Relax & Be Amazing - Stampin' Up! Seasonal Layers Thinlets

  We're back today at Fab Friday with a fun color combination challenge!  Check out these beauties!

  I pulled these ink pads out the other day to begin mulling over ideas and I kept coming back to summer and the beach and relaxing.  The colors reminded me of beach chairs and umbrellas.  And since the ink pads were sitting next to some of my new catalog items I thought it was only natural to put it all together!

  

  So the rainy days this week didn't help with the photography and it certainly didn't feel like warm beach weather but I'm please with bright cheery results.

  Definitely no fancy stamping here, just some fun with the colors to create the striped background.  I used the Thoughtful Banners stamp set to do the stripes as well as the sentiment in black.  The stripes just alternate the challenge colors with some stamping off to vary the shades.

  I used the Stitched Shapes framelits to cut a circle out of Dapper Denim and then used the new Seasonal Layers thinlets to cut out the super cute Adirondack chair.  I stamped little Rich Razzleberry cup (sounds like it could be a real drink right?) with a Calypso Coral straw to add to the arm of the chair.  I used the new stamp set, Colorful Seasons for the cup.

  A white baker's twine bow and a Rich Razzleberry enamel heart finish off the details to this mostly CAS card.

  I hope you'll take a peek at the rest of the Fab Friday Design Team samples and then play along with us.  Remember, our challenge runs for 2 weeks so that's plenty of time create and share!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Thoughtful Banners, Colorful Seasons*

Ink: Dapper Denim, Calypso Coral, Rich Razzleberry, black

Paper: Whisper White, Dapper Denim

Accessories: Stitched Shapes framelits, Seasonal Layers Thinlets*, white baker's twine, Brights enamel shapes, dimensionals

Classic Daisy - Stampin' Up! Daisy Delight

    The folks over at Global Design Project have a fun sketch challenge this week and I found some time to play along yesterday.  The Daisy Delight stamp set is so cheerful that I wanted to use it again for a classic daisy card.

  I  love this color combo; Daffodil Delight, Old Olive and Basic Black. 

  The card base is Whisper White thick, then a piece of the retired It's My Party DSP cut on an angle.  I didn't have any current Old Olive ribbon so I dug around in my ribbon scrap bin and pulled out some of this long, long, long retired wide grosgrain ribbon.  I adhered it on the edge of the DSP and trimmed the overhang.  I used a few dabs of glue to keep the ends from fraying.

  The large top panel is just Daffodil Delight topped by Whisper White.  I stamped the daisy in Daffodil Delight twice and punched it out.  2 leaves were stamped in Old Olive and cut out.  The daisies are layered and then popped on dimensionals with a gold faceted gem in the center.  The leaves are tucked under the petals.

  I embossed the sentiment on a narrow strip of Basic Black and flagged the ends.  The Sunshine Sayings stamp set makes it really easy to create a sentiment for just about any occasion. A linen thread bow was added to one end before adhering with dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Daisy Delight*, Sunshine Sayings

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Versamark

Paper: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, It's My Party DSP (retired)

Accessories: Daisy punch*, dimensionals, gold faceted gem*, white embossing powder, linen thread, wide grosgrain ribbon (retired)

*Items will be available in the upcoming 2017-2018 Stampin' Up! Annual catalog 

Pink Daisy Thank You - Stampin' Up! Daisy Delight

 One of the challenge sites that I follow had a Pink and Navy challenge a few weeks back.  I can't even remember which one but I started this card and pieces sat on my desk waiting to completed into a card as I was distracted by a few other time sensitive projects.  I finally got it pieced together and photographed so that I could share it.

  I bought the Daisy Delight bundle after the Richmond On Stage event when we had a short time to order some new annual catalog products.  I haven't had much time to use it but it's a fun set with a coordinating punch.

  The card base is Whisper White thick and I added a layer of the Delightful Daisy DSP that coordinates with the stamp set.  I stamped 2 daisies in Powder Pink ink onto Powder Pink cardstock.  Powder Pink is one of the new In Colors and is a nice soft pink.  I punched out both flowers and then layered them and popped them with a dimensional.  To highlight the center I added one of the new faceted gems.

  The Thank You strip is stamped in Night of Navy and I used one of the small stamps in the set and added a few small daisies to the sides.  Before adhering this strip down I added a small bakers twine bow.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Daisy Delight*

Ink: Powder Pink*, Night of Navy

Paper: Whisper White thick, Powder Pink*, Delightful Daisy DSP*

Accessories: Daisy punch*, faceted gem*, Night of Navy baker's twine, dimensionals

*items will be available in the 2017-2018 Stampin' Up! annual catalog June 1

Teacher Appreciation Pocket Card - Stampin' Up! Cool Treats

 This week we are celebrating all the fabulous teachers my boys lucky enough to have at their school.  I can't let the week go by without making some cards to say thank you.  The Cool Treats stamp set is perfect to go along with a gift card to Brusters Ice Cream for all those great educators.

  I designed a quick and easy pocket card and made 9 of these in no time.

  I pulled my colors right from the coordinating Tasty Treats DSP.  And as of this blog post, the paper is still available.  The stamp set and framelits are carrying over to the annual catalog but not at the bundle price which saves you 10% so if you're digging these ice cream and popsicle cards don't wait to order the bundle.

  I used my envelope punch board to create the pocket out of Crumb Cake cardstock.  I just folded in and adhered one of the small flaps to leave the top open.  So easy!  I used Tear Tape to adhere the flaps.

  The belly band is a strip of the Tasty Treats DSP with a Peekaboo Peach scalloped circle.  On top of the scalloped circle is a Whisper White circle which I layered my triple scoop ice cream cone.

  The cone is stamped in Crumb Cake with the crosshatch pattern added in Soft Suede and then cut out with the Frozen Treats framelits.  The scoops use (from the bottom up) Peekaboo Peach, Watermelon Wonder and Pool Party ink.  The scoops are cut out and the Pool Party scoop is popped on a dimensional.  

  The strawberry is stamped off in Real Red with the accents stamped in full strength Real Red.  The stem is Pear Pizzazz.  I hand cut the strawberry and adhered it with a dot of 2 way glue.

  The pull out is Watermelon Wonder with a layer of Whisper White for the stamping.  Pool Party is used for the greeting from One Big Meaning.  Another cone is stamped like the one on the pocket and I did some masking for the scoop.

  I punched a hole in the top for the pull and added some retired cotton Pool Party ribbon tied with a retired Calypso Coral baker's twine bow.

  Now I just need to have the boys write out a little note to the teachers and add the gift card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Cool Treats, One Big Meaning

Ink: Pool Party, Peekaboo Peach, Watermelon Wonder (retiring), Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Real Red, Pear Pizzazz

Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Peekaboo Peach, Watermelon Wonder, Tasty Treats DSP (retiring)

Accessories: Frozen Treats framelits, Layering Circles framelits, corner rounder, envelope punch board, dimensionals, Pool Party cotton ribbon (retired), Calypso Coral baker's twine (retired)

Sweet Daisy Hello - Stampin' Up! Daisy Delight

  I had a few minutes the other day after I had gotten to all of the items on my 'to do' list and before the boys were going to be home from school so I cleaned up my stamping desk and pulled out some of my new catalog products.

  The Daisy Delight stamp set and coordinating punch will be a go to flower set during this upcoming catalog period.  I like the mix of larger and smaller images and it has a really nice sized "Thank You" sentiment.

  For my card today I decided to focus on the some of the smaller flower images.  When working with smaller images it's a good idea to give them a base to layer them on so they don't get lost on the card front.  I used a stitched oval to build my flower arrangement on.

 The card base is thick Whisper White and then I pulled a smaller panel of Crumb Cake out of my scrap bag.  It already had the corners rounded so I popped it through the Big Shot with the retiring Polka Dot embossing folder.

  I used a narrow strip of the new In Color Berry Burst and flagged the ends and then stamped the small flower outline stamp all over to create my own tone on tone patterned paper.  

  The "hello" flag is stamped with another new set, Tabs for Everything.  This set has a lot of small sentiments which are perfect for a lot of different occasions.

  After deciding to use the oval shape to build my flowers on I grabbed Garden Green and stamped the stems.  On a piece of scrap Whisper White, I stamped off the solid leaf stamp for a lighter look and then did the outline in full strength ink.  I fussy cut both leaves out and then moved on to the flowers.

  2 flowers were stamped off in Berry Burst and then outlined in full strength ink.  For some contrast, I stamped one flower in the new In Color Powder Pink with the outline in Berry Burst.  I then hand cut them out.  This set doesn't come with framelits but not to worry they are small flowers and you can fussy cut them in no time at all!

  I added the flowers to the stems with 2 popped on dimensionals and added small rhinestones to the centers.   The leaves are adhered to the side.  A small linen thread bow pulls in the Crumb Cake from the background to finish off the details.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Daisy Delight, Tabs for Everything

Ink: Berry Burst, Garden Green, Powder Pink

Paper: Whisper White thick, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Berry Burst

Accessories: Stitched Shapes framelits, rhinestones, linen thread, Polka Dot embossing folder (retiring), dimensionals

Cool Popsicles Fancy Fold - Stampin' Up! Cool Treats

  I love it when I come across a new fancy fold that is really cool but is also really easy to make!  I like to introduce my stampers to new techniques and folds at my classes but I have to keep in mind the different experience levels of my stampers as well as make sure it doesn't take too long for a whole group to be able to complete.   This fold really fits the bill!  It's only 4 score lines....really that's it!

  I saw this card originally shared by Lyssa Zwolanek on her blog and she has a quick photo tutorial.  But really all you need is a half sheet of cardstock (8.5 x 5.5). Score on the long side at 2, 3 1/8, 5 3/8 & 6 1/2.  And that's it!  Thanks to Lyssa for sharing this fold!  Everyone loved it at my last class!

  Here is my version using the Cool Treats stamps, Frozen Treats framelits and Tasty Treats DSP.

  Again, I didn't want to show many items that might be retired once class came around so I focused on the stamp set and framelits which are carrying over but not in the money saving bundle.  The paper will be retiring and is currently being sold at a discount.  We used 2 of the paper patterns for the panels and mounted the popsicles on the center panel on a 2.5" circle.

  The blue popsicle is Pool Party stamped off once and then the highlights added in full strength ink,  The Peekaboo Peach one is stamped right on the circle.  The Pear Pizzazz is also stamped off once before adding the stripes in full strength.  The 2 side popsicles were cut out and adhered with dimensionals.

  The Pear Pizzazz sentiment banner is stamped with Crumb Cake and is also adhered with a dimensional.  When you trim the banner just make sure that it doesn't hang over the edges of the card so that you can fit it in the envelope.   Which is what makes this card so cool...once you flatten it down it fits in a regular A2 envelope!  But when you take it out of the envelope it opens and stands up for display! So cool!

    Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Cool Treats

Ink: Crumb Cake, Peekaboo Peach, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party

Paper: Peekaboo Peach, Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz, Tasty Treats DSP (retiring)

Accessories: Simply Scored, Circle framelits, dimensionals, Frozen Treats Framelits, white baker's twine

Sweet Fox Thank You - Stampin' Up! Foxy Friends

This time of year it's hard as Stampin' Up! demonstrator to decide which products to use for classes as you never want to have a card all designed and supplies prepared and then the day before the class find out that one of the key items has sold out.  It's a balancing act between trying to show off some favorites one last time and showing something that can't be purchased any longer.

  I tried to use mostly things that weren't on the retirement list at my last class and I decided to highlight a few bundles that are retiring but have the separate items carrying over to the new catalog.  So you'll still be able to get the Foxy Friends stamp set and Fox Builder punch in the new catalog but you won't save 10% like you can with the bundle that is available now until the end of May.

  I decided we needed to make a thank you card this time around at class since I had to send one out myself and found my stash of thank yous almost non-existant!  Nothing too crazy on this card but I did show my stampers how to line up the stamps onto one clear block so that you can stamp the fox head, tail, and body and punch all 3 out at once and have them lined up just right!

  All you do is take a piece of scrap cardstock and punch out the pieces with the Fox builder punch. Toss those punched pieces out...really it's ok, you don't need to keep them!  Then place the stamps you want to use in the negative of the punch with the image side down.  Now press your clear block down to pick up the stamps.  Test it out by stamping the images and seeing how they line up in the punch.  You might have to adjust them slightly but it makes stamping and punching multiple images out really fast....this comes in really handy at Christmas time when you might be making multiples and need to be quick!

  The tree stump is stamped in Early Espresso on Soft Suede cardstock and is cut out by hand.  The fox's head is adhered with a dimensional.  Told you it was an easy card!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Foxy Friends, One Big Meaning

Ink: Garden Green, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, black, Soft Sky

Paper: Soft Sky, Garden Green, Soft Suede, Whisper White

Accessories: Fox Builder punch, dimensional, Garden Green baker's twine (retired)

Best Guy T-Shirt - Stampin' Up! Custom Tee

 Today's card is a fun guy card for that special man in your life.  I designed this one for my monthly class last week and I wanted to show off a few retiring items one last time but also show the new Hexagons Dynamic Textured embossing folder from the Occasions catalog.  I was late getting in the game on this one but it's a very cool embossing folder and is perfect for guy cards!

 

  The card base is Delightful Dijon a retiring In Color.  This was definitely not my favorite In Color but I love it pair up with the grays.  I think it works perfectly in this masculine design.  Along the one edge, we stamped some of the small splatters from Gorgeous Grunge which is retiring.  

  We embossed the Basic Gray panel with the Hexagons Dynamic embossing folder.  Make sure to spritz your cardstock lightly with water prior to running it through the Big Shot.  The water helps soften the paper fibers and allows the impression to really be well defined.  

  The narrow Smoky Slate strip is stamped with the little arrow stamp from the Custom Tee stamp set.  This set and the matching framelits aren't carrying over to the new catalog so if you really like all the possibilities this set offers don't miss out.  We attached the stamped strip to the embossed panel and then added some staples to the top and bottom for a fun, masculine detail that isn't ribbon!  Do the staples before adhering the larger panel to the card front so you don't have the backs of the staples showing through on the inside of the card.  I would also suggest using Fast Fuse or Tear Tape to adhere the embossed panel to the front.  You need something a bit stronger than snail to keep the panel from curling and popping up.

  The t-shirt was made by first using markers to color the sentiment from Suite Sentiments and then stamping it on Whisper White cardstock.  Then the shirt was stamped in Basic Gray around the sentiment.  Much easier than trying to line up the large sentiment just right inside the shirt.  You can use the framelits to cut the shirt out or just hand cut it (we hand cut it in class).  Mount the shirt on the card front with dimensionals.

  I don't have a photo but on the inside of the card we stamped more of the splatters and then added another stamped t-shirt and customized the inside greeting with the Thoughtful Banners set.  I had some samples; Happy Father's Day, You're Amazing, Happy Birthday, and Thank You. 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Custom Tee (retiring), Suite Sentiments (retiring), Gorgeous Grunge (retiring)

Ink: Delightful Dijon (retiring), Basic Gray, Smoky Slate  Markers: Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Delightful Dijon (retiring)

Paper: Delightful Dijon, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Whisper White

Accessories: Hexagons Dynamic Impressions embossing folder, staples, dimensionals

  

Watercolored Little Piggy - Stampin' Up! This Little Piggy

  Today is another preview of a new set that will be in the Stampin' Up! 2017-2018 Annual Catalog.  This Little Piggy was an all attendee giveaway at the recent Stampin' Up! On Stage demonstrator event.  You've probably seen a bunch of samples already with this set but it's really cute.  The pigs have such happy little faces.

  I used this set to make a few quick thank yous to send out to a few long distance customers who had placed orders with me.  Isn't nice to get fun mail?  I try to send out a lot of cards and I do ok with birthday and thank yous but I need to do better with "just because" cards too.  It's nice to get a card for absolutely no reason than someone was thinking about you.

 

  I was pretty proud of myself when I put this card design together as I didn't need to cut into any large pieces of cardstock.  All the layers were pulled from my scrap bags and just trimmed a little to size.  I feel even more accomplished when I can use scraps and end up with a cute card!

  The card base is the Kraft cardstock that is retiring.  I really liked using this cardstock for boxes, pouches and giftcard holders since it came in 12x12 sheets.  This is one product I know I'll miss.  But I had some card base sized pieces that were perfect for this design.  I stamped the little cloud with white craft ink right onto the base.

  The piggy is stamped in Stazon onto watercolor paper and then I watercolored him/her? with the new Powder Pink In Color and the darker shade is Blushing Bride.  The aquapainter made it really easy to get the color where I wanted it.  The pinks blended quite well and I'm happy with the result as I'm not much of a watercolorer.  The sky is brushed with Soft Sky ink and the ground/grass is Old Olive.

  I added a narrow strip of Old Olive along one side and then added a small Powder Pink flag with a bit of burlap ribbon and a baker's twine bow.

  If you're interested in getting your hands on new Stampin' Up! products before the catalog goes live then you can join my team as a demonstrator and participate in the catalog preorder which starts tomorrow!  If you want to learn more about the opportunity please get in touch and I can tell you all about it!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: This Little Piggy*

Ink: Stazon, Powder Pink*, Blushing Bride, Soft Sky, Old Olive, White craft

Paper: Kraft (retiring), Old Olive, Watercolor paper, Powder Pink*

Accessories: burlap ribbon, bakers twine

*Items available with the release of the Stampin' Up! 2017-2018 Annual catalog