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Funny thing about happiness - the harder you pursue it, the further it eludes you! So many people are sure that just one more thing will make them happy. A better job, a better spouse, a better TV! But when all is said and done, happiness is really a choice you make. You learn to be content with what you have. There are some notable exceptions to this rule. You should never remain in a situation where you are abused or exploited, but by and large, you can teach yourself to be happy. I am convinced that practising gratitude is a big part of that. There has been a thing happening on Facebook among my friends where you nominate a friend to post three things that they are grateful for daily for a week. I'm kind of thinking it's something we should make a daily habit. I'll bet our happiness quotient would increase substantially! Why not give it a try?
I'm talking about happiness because the name of the stamp set I used for this entry to The Paper Players' Challenge this week is "Choose Happiness"! The theme for The Paper Players Challenge #207 is Buttons! I just used one, but gave it special treatment.
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- This is the third in the series of Blendabilities samples for my Technique Nights this month. I used a Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities marker to colour the embellishments - a Very Vintage Designer Button and some Pearl Basic Jewels. At Inspire, Create, Share! Convention this year, Stampin' Up! did warn us that when you use the brush tip on the Blendies to colour embellishments, eventually it can damage the tip, so take that into account when deciding to use it. They recommended having a set just for embellishments if you want to do lots of colouring them. I think I will just use my regular set, but sparingly, so as not to damage it too quickly.
- Are you looking at that gorgeous DSP in the background. Again, it is from the Gold Soiree Specialty Designer Series Paper and it has that metallic gold foil sheen to it.
- I used a mask to stamp the second flower here (in Soft Suede ink), so that it would look like it was behind the first flower. The same with the leaves. To make the mask, I just stamped the same image on a Post It Note and cut around the shape of the flower very close to the stamped lines but leaving the sticky part of the Post It Note attached. I lined it up exactly over the same image on the Very Vanilla paper and reinked my stamp and stamped overlapping the two images slightly. The mask catches the ink that would have overlapped and you end up with this layered effect. The images you see are all from the Choose Happiness stamp set.
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- To make the button, I took a Very Vintage Designer Button and coloured it red using the lightest shade of the Cherry Cobbler Assortment. After allowing it to dry, I pressed it on a VersaMark Ink pad and covered it with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, tapping it to knock off the excess. Using tweezers to hold it where there is no powder, I heated it with the Heat Gun to get the gold on the button.
- I used the Modern Label punch to add the fancy ends to the sentiment banner. If you insert the banner into the punch by turning the punch over and feeding the banner through the far side of the punch from the top, then punching, you will punch the ends but not the middle of the sentiment.
BLOG CANDY
Just a reminder about my awesome Blog Candy giveaway, open until tomorrow, Friday, August 8 at midnight PDT. To have a chance to win these prizes:
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Leave a comment on the Blog Candy post, telling me how you receive my blog: Bloglovin, Email, Facebook, Google + or some other way, and your name will be entered in a random drawing to take place on Friday, August 8 at midnight PDT. This is a great deal and well worth your while to enter.
US Residents may enter but will get a different prize, that I can more easily ship to you. See details on the post link above.
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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!
