Umbrella Duo

This week the Dynamic Duos Challenge #87 is a Black Tie Challenge:  Basic Black and Melon Mambo with a Dessert Option of Umbrellas.
                                           
I haven't had an umbrella stamp since last year at this time, but I didn't let that stop me.  I figured out how to use my punches to create not one but two umbrellas:

As I started to put it together, thinking of the shelter umbrellas provide against storms, and the umbrella duo, You & Me, I remembered a hit song by the Hollies, back when I was a teen.  I have it on my IPod still.  It's called Bus Stop, a song about how a boy and girl sharing an umbrella fell in love. As I was looking for it on YouTube, I came across so many good tunes done by the Hollies, and I realized their songs were a big part of my teen and young adult life.  Isn't it amazing how a single chord can bring back the entire lyrics of a song to your mind even if you haven't thought of it in years?

Anyway, to create the umbrellas I punched out a circle with the 2 1/2" Circle Punch from each of the Basic Black and Melon Mambo cardstock pieces.  I cut both in half with my Stampin' Trimmer, then used the 1/2" Circle Punch to create the little "bites" along the bottom edge of each.  So far, so good.  Then I needed a handle.  I knew that a hooked handle wasn't going to happen, so I looked for something that would just make a good straight one.  I found the perfect thing - the wand from the Dress Up Stamp set!

The punch art umbrella would cover up the star on the wand, except for a little nubbin of the top point, which created the knob on the top of the umbrella.
I used the sentiment from the Perfect Pennants stamp set and the card seemed to be saying, "You & Me together weathering the storms of life!"  I needed some raindrops and again had no punch that would do the trick so I punched some Silver Glimmer Paper with the Word Window punch for two rounded ends, then hand-snipped the top of the raindrops, one from each end of the Word Window.

The card was still a bit "Meh!", but when I got out the Gorgeous Grunge Stamp Set and added some grunge to the card, it livened it right up.  Can you believe that the Melon Mambo splotches are stamped off once or twice? Wow!  That's an intense colour!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  Feel free to leave a comment.  It's so much fun getting to know other fellow stampers!

To order any of the following supplies used to make this card, click on the links and they will take you directly to the product in my On-Line Stampin' Up! Store, where you can shop 24/7!

• Perfect Pennants [english, wood]
• Perfect Pennants [english, clear]
• Dress Up Wood-Mount Stamp Set
• Dress Up Clear-Mount Stamp Set
• Gorgeous Grunge Wood-mount Stamp Set
• Gorgeous Grunge Clear-mount Stamp Set
• Basic Black 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Melon Mambo 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Silver Glimmer Paper
• Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad
• Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad
• Jet Black StazOn Pad
• 2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch
• 1/2 Inch Circle Punch
• Word Window Punch