Hello in the Meadow for Freshly Made Sketches

I just got back from a week's trip to Palm Springs and I had a wonderful time in the sunshine. Unfortunately, I was greeted by a big snowstorm as I touched down again at home. Not the welcoming committee I was hoping for! #sunnotsnow, #lizardsnotblizzards !

I had three big deliveries waiting for me to package for my customers and I really wanted to enter Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #221:

It is so simple yet gives you lots of creative leeway! So I decided to put a new stamp set, called In the Meadow to use. It's one of the first stamp sets that Stampin' Up! has put out with which you can actually build a scene. It's also perfect for watercolouring! I wanted to add an embossed large sentiment in the middle and used Sale-A-Bration's Hello stamp set for that purpose.

• On the Lost Lagoon base, I backed my watercoloured panel with some paper that totally escaped my notice in the excitement of my preorder, but really needs a close look. It's the Shine On Specialty Designer Series Paper. It's a heavy kraft base with one side that's got silver foil designs and the other side that has colourful patterns. It's a perfect weight for the Gift Box Punch Board and I'm planning on using it to make some treat boxes for a retreat I'm planning.
• Watercolouring these images was easy and a lot of fun using our Aqua Painters. Now that I'm trying out many different water colour techniques, I am appreciating the Aqua Painters more and more! They make painting so easy and without a lot of fuss! The tips are really good, allowing you to go from thick to thin strokes and you don't have to do a lot of cleaning in between colours. Simply wipe the tip across your scrap paper several times and your ready to go. 
• I stamped the images in our Archival Basic Black ink which is waterproof and perfect for watercolouring. I used Shimmery White cardstock, which holds up to water much better than our Whisper White.
• The sentiment was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder.

I wanted to share some photos of my trip south so you could see what I've been up to:

 Our welcome at the airport!

The hubby & I at Joshua Tree National Park:

 In the park, a view of the San Andreas fault and some of the rock formations with a Joshua tree.

 Our resort! Loved it there!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.

Product List

In The Meadow Wood-Mount Stamp Set [140751]	In The Meadow Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140754]	Hello Wood-Mount Stamp Set [141240]	Hello Clear-Mount Stamp Set [141243]	Shimmery White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101910]
Shine On Specialty Designer Series Paper [140579]	Lost Lagoon 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133679]	Versamark Pad [102283]	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad [131171]	Elegant Eggplant Classic Stampin' Pad [126969]
Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad [133644]	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad [133645]	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad [131180]	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad [126982]	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad [126945]
Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad [131181]	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder [109131]	Embossing Buddy [103083]	Heat Tool [129053]	1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon [132140]
Aqua Painters [103954]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Glue Dots [103683]

Hello for Freshly Made Sketches

Almost everyone has done a cover or a parody of Adele's new hit, "Hello", so I figured why not get in on the action here, especially when one of the stamp sets that you can earn for free during Sale-A-Bration is called Hello! I also wanted to get in on the action with Freshly Made Sketches, because I just love their unique challenge sketch this week:

When I first saw the sketch, I thought it would be perfect to use with the Botanical Gardens Suite, and I decided to use Basic Black as the main front panel, so I wanted a bold sentiment to emboss in White Stampin' Emboss Powder. And the Hello Stamp Set is perfect for the job!

You can earn this set in either wood mount or clear mount for free simply by purchasing $60 worth of Stampin' Up! products during the first half of Sale-A-Bration. Why only the first half? This is one of three Sale-A-Bration rewards that is available only for a limited time, through Feb. 15, 2016. After that these three will be replaced with 3 new products that none of us has even seen yet! So if you want this great set, make sure you don't wait too long.

• The unique strip on the top of the design was made from a piece of Designer Series Paper in the Botanical Gardens collection. The Botanical Gardens DSP features a palette that includes Basic Black, Cajun Craze, Hello Honey, Old Olive and Mossy Meadows, so those are the colours I've used for this card.
• Using those same colours of cardstock, I made the card base, the card front and I used Botanical Builder Framelits to die cut the tropical looking flowers and leaves at the top.
• As I mentioned before, I heat embossed the greeting from the Hello Stamp set in White Stampin' Emboss Powder.
• If you purchase the Botanical Blooms Bundle, which includes the Botanical Blooms Photopolymer Stamp Set, Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper and the Botanical Builder Framelit Dies, you would have ordered enough to earn the Hello Stamp Set for a Sale-A-Bration reward! How cool is that?

I'm planning to be back tomorrow with my top 10 products from the new Occasions Catalogue, just in case you need a little guidance to help you streamline your wishlist a little! Happy Monday!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.

Product List

Hello Wood-Mount Stamp Set [141240]	Hello Clear-Mount Stamp Set [141243]	Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper [140583]	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045]	Cajun Craze 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119684]
Hello Honey 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133678]	Mossy Meadow 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133676]	Old Olive 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100702]	Versamark Pad [102283]	White Stampin' Emboss Powder [109132]
Heat Tool [129053]	Botanical Builder Framelits Dies [140625]	Big Shot [113439]	Big Shot Die Brush [140603]	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]
Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Glue Dots [103683]