Soft and Subtle Congratulations!

Hmmm!  Should congratulations ever be subtle?  I can't think of any occasion where you wouldn't want the congratulations to be hale and hearty!  Maybe you'd want them to be subtle if you had finally been able to make off with the Mona Lisa successfully and you didn't want the world to know about it!

Or maybe if you had just broken the world record for the most days without sleep!

 I don't know, but this card is for the Dynamic Duo's Subtly Yours Challenge #86:

                                       
I had a special congratulations card to make, so I combined the two and got... a subtle congrats card:

• I used the new Occasions stamp set So Very Grateful.  I wasn't going to get this one at first, but then I started seeing so many beautiful cards with it so I had to try it out.  I heat embossed the image on Watercolour Paper with Black Stampin' Emboss Powder and watercoloured the image using Stampin' Write Markers in Pool Party and Pink Pirouette and a Blender Pen.
• The image reminded me a bit of the embroidery I used to do back in the eighties with products from a company called Creative Circle.  I still have some of them framed.  So I thought it needed a frame and so I dug out Papaya Collage and heat embossed that frame in Pool Party Stampin' Emboss Powder.  To get it thicker and bolder, I re-embossed it twice, adding the embossing powder immediately after heating the last layer with the Heat Tool.
• The DSP on the panel behind it is from Retro Fresh Designer Series Paper, another one that I totally missed until I opened up the package.

• The sentiment is from the Pomp & Circumstance Stamp Set, for graduates, but it fit nicely on a Very Vanilla flag here.  I sponged the edges for definition and added some Pool Party splashes using the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set.
• A few pearls finish off this card with just the right touch.

Now, speaking of congratulations, I am hoping to be able to congratulate you on your rewards during Sale-A-Bration this year!  What is Sale-A-Bration, you may ask?  Well, it is Stampin' Up's biggest promotion of the year!  It runs from January 28 to March 31 this year.  There are three ways to earn rewards with Sale-A-Bration:

1. Purchase products from me.  With every $60 you spend (before tax and shipping) you earn one free Sale-A-Bration product.  You can check over what you'd like to earn by downloading the Sale-A-Bration brochure  when it's available.  Trust me, you're going to love it!
2. Host a party!  Invite your friends over to make Valentine cards or some home decor type projects or some beautiful birthday cards, your place or mine!  If you host a party where sales (before tax and shipping) are $400 or more, Stampin' Up! is adding an extra $40 dollars to your free product.  For a $400 party, that would be $70 plus another $40 dollars, giving you $110 in wonderful Stampin' Up! products from any current catalogue.  It is sooo worth it to do this and I can help you make your party successful.  I'm booking parties for Sale-A-Bration right now, so give me a call or send me an email.
3. Join my Papercraft Cats team!  When you purchase the Stampin' Up! kit during Sale-A-Bration, you will get $190 worth of products for only $125.  Usually, you would receive $155 dollars worth of products, plus a business pack, with free shipping.  During Sale-A-Bration, you would get $35 more. This is all in addition to 20% discounts on your stamping supplies, a little extra money (or a lot, depending on how much you want to work it) and a first time Demo order discount of 30%!  There's really nothing to lose!  Plus you get all the benefits of a demonstrator, with a sneak peek of the new Annual Catalogue and the chance to pre-order from it  a month before the public.

Get your wish lists ready for January 28th!!

• So Very Grateful [english, wood]
• So Very Grateful [english, clear]
• Pomp Circumstance [wood]
• Pomp Circumstance [clear]
• Gorgeous Grunge Clear-mount Stamp Set
• Gorgeous Grunge Wood-mount Stamp Set
• Retro Fresh Designer Series Paper
• 6 X 9 Watercolor Paper
• Pool Party 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock
• Pink Pirouette 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Very Vanilla 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Basic Black 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Versamark Pad
• Pool Party Stampin' Write Marker
• Blender Pens
• Pool Party Stampin' Emboss Powder
• Subtles Stampin' Write Markers
• Heat Tool