A Good Day

#stampinup  I received the "Happy Home" stamp set at last fall's OnStage Local event in Baltimore. It's not a set that I would choose myself. It requires some coloring and I don't like to color and I'm not very good at coloring. But this set has some cute images and I love the scrolly script on the sentiments, so I've been thinking and thinking for a while about how I could use this set.

Eventually, I got the idea to use a watercolor/color block technique that would add color without me having to actually color. Here's how I did it. 

I started with a piece of Shimmery White Card Stock cut to the same size as a D block (2-1/2" x 2-3/4"). I stamped the image in Basic Black Archival ink. Easy enough so far. Then, I put the clear acrylic block on top of the stamped image so I could see where the sky and land should be. I took a Pool Party stamp pad and stamped right onto the block. Then I took a Wild Wasabi block and stamped onto the block in the space I'd left for the grass. I gave the block a couple of squirts with water from a Stampin' Spritzer (PRO TIP: If you use alcohol, you'll get the same effect and it will dry faster) and stamped the block onto my already stamped image. I was really pleased with the mottled look of the colors.

I actually did a tiny bit of coloring. I used a Blender Pen to color the kid's (is that a boy or girl?) shirt and the kite in Calypso Coral and the shorts in Night of Navy. I colored the animal (I guess that's a dog because my cats would not be jumping for joy at a flying kit...I'm just sayin') in Soft Suede.

Once this piece was dry, I adhered it to a Basic Black mat. I used Fast Fuse Adhesive for this because the water had warped the paper a bit and I wanted it to lie flat, naturally!

I was momentarily stymied by the sentiment. I wanted to use "it's a good day," but the words are stacked vertically and I wanted a horizontal sentiment. Well, I hit a flash of inspiration to get a horizontal effect with a vertically stacked sentiment. I stamped the sentiment in Basic Black Archival Ink onto a Whisper White scrap and punched it out with the Note Tag Punch. I tucked the tag under the image so that it just peeks out from the side.

I embossed a Soft Sky panel with the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder. I added a Basic Black mat because I thought the Soft Sky Card Stock looked too washed out on the Wild Wasabi card base. I tied a length of Basic Black Stitched Satin Ribbon around the Soft Sky/Basic Black mat before adhering these to the card base.

Finally, I added the stamped image to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals. I'm really pleased with how the card turned out--even thought it took almost 5 months to come up with the design!

tams# 6662

Product List

Happy Home Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140503] $18.00	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931] $7.00	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad [131181] $6.50	Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pad [126959] $6.50
Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad [126983] $6.50	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad [126970] $6.50	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [126978] $6.50	Wild Wasabi 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [108641] $7.00
Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045] $7.00	Soft Sky 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131203] $7.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $8.50	Shimmery White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101910] $8.00
Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [133520] $7.50	Note Tag Punch [135860] $18.00	Basic Black 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon [138430] $9.00	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026] $10.00
Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $4.00	Clear Block D [118485] $8.50	Stampin' Spritzer [126185] $3.00	Blender Pens [102845] $10.00

Missing You--Sneak Peek

#stampinup   Today I'm sharing the last of the Product Playground projects we made at this fall's Stampin' Up OnStage Local event. This card is made with the awesome "Botanical Gardens" suite of projects. 

First, we had a piece of the ever-so-pretty Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper. It's beautiful on its own, but the coordinating stamp "Botanical Blooms" stamps set is meant to be stamped right on the DSP! Take a close look at the palm fronds--the veins are stamped onto the DSP. The centers of the flowers are also stamped with the stamp set--as are the veins in the large leaf at the bottom. So cool!!

Not only that, but this suite/stamp set comes with a coordinating set of Botanical Builder Framelit Dies. The flower on the left side is made using these dies and another sheet of the Botanical Gardens DSP. Notice how the Cajun Craze flower has dimension to it--that comes from the die. Love it!!

When I got home from the Stampin' Up event, I trimmed down the project pieces so they would fit onto a Mossy Meadow mat and then onto a Hello Honey card base. I also added a sentiment in Cajun Craze from the new "Happy Home" set.

I've gotta tell you that I didn't jump for joy over this set, but now that it's put together--I'm loving it!

It's not too early to schedule your Sale-a-Bration event with me. SAB starts on January 4th and runs through March 31st. Some of the SAB items are only available for the first half of the SAB period--and they'll be introducing new SAB items for the second half. So, you could schedule TWO SAB events with me!!! Just click on the "contact me" link under the banner and send me an email or give me a call. Lines are open!!