Happy Watercolour for the Pals

I loved this stamp set the moment I saw it!  And once I used Happy Watercolour, I was even more in love, because of the amazing properties of the stamps.  They somehow give a gradated colour from what looks like a flat surface!  But after the first try, I never used the stamps again!  Why??  I'm not exactly sure, except they were never quite right for the cards I wanted to make.  Have you ever had a set like that?

But Pals to the rescue!  I saw the latest Pals Paper Arts Challenge sketch and wanted to do it, as I had missed quite a few of them lately.

As I was looking for a sentiment to fit into the horizontal panel,  I saw the "You Make Me Happy"  stamp from Happy Watercolour and "FLASH!!" - the whole card popped into my head!  Then I just needed a colour scheme and I went back to Pinterest and found this one:

                                                
I came as close as I could to these colours and here's the result:

• This card "makes me HAPPY"!  I would have never thought to get out Tempting Turquoise and match it with So Saffron, but I will now!  They are gorgeous together with a little Smoky Slate for a neutral.
• Don't you love that poppy?  Are there such things as turquoise poppies?  Probably not, but there should be!

                                                      

There are - a Himalayan Blue Poppy!  You learn something new every day!

• I added some dimension to the poppy by stamping it twice in StazOn Jet Black and colouring both images with Tempting Turquoise and Bermuda Bay Stampin' Write Markers.  I cut two of the petals out from one image and use glue dots to adhere them on to the main image.
• I love the whimsical look of the little dots on one of the stamps.  Makes me think of wisps in the wind.

• I had to use that amazing watercolour swoosh stamp again! (The one that gives the graded intensity!) It worked so well as the background to the sentiment.
• Candy dots and a Designer Button in So Saffron added balance and interest to the design.

What do you think of this stamp set?  How have you used that swoosh stamp?  Let me know in a comment below!  

WEEKLY DEALS

Here are the weekly deals for March 25 - 31.

   

BRIGHTS CORE'DINATIONS CARDSTOCK Price: $29.95 $22.46	CAJUN CRAZE 8-1/2X11 CARD STOCK Price: $8.50 $6.38	CHAMPAGNE GLIMMER PAPER Price: $5.95 $4.46	SILVER GLIMMER PAPER Price: $5.95 $4.46
SOHO SUBWAY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER Price: $13.50 $10.13	SUBTLES CORE'DINATIONS Price: $29.95 $22.46	THIS AND THAT EPIC DAY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER Price: $13.50 $10.13	WONDERFUL YOU BOARD BOOK TEMPLATE - DIGITAL DOWNLOAD Price: $16.50 $9.90

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

133188	133191	132994	102067	105118	100730
101406	131259	131179	126952	126957	103579
103683	130933	130030	124262

The Occasions Catalogue Goes Live Today and Lots of Arrows!!

Well, it's finally here!  The first day that you can order from the Occasions Catalogue!

                        

There is so much cool stuff that I know I kind of overspent my budget in the pre-order period for demonstrators. So I know it's going to be hard for you to put a limit on it!  (Make sure you save a bit for Sale-A-Bration starting on January 28, though, because then, for every $60 you spend, you get a free Sale-A-Bration product.  Let me know if you would like a Sale-A-Bration flyer.)  I will be by the phone and email today, if you want to give me your order.  Or you could order through my On-Line Store any time, day or night, and it will be delivered straight to you!

                                                   (Just click on the catalogue to download.)


Today is also a new As You See It Challenge!  Number 018 to be exact and it's a theme challenge.  The theme for this week is ARROWS!

Here's my Design Team Sample:

• This card uses some Watercolour Wonder DSP for the back panel mounted askew on a Smoky Slate cardstock card base.  
• I used a new photoframe framelit from the On Film Framelits* set.  It's so neat because it embosses as well as diecuts.  It's a little hard to see on this darker Island Indigo cardstock.
• The images come from two different stamp sets, Peachy Keen* and Off the Grid.  The ink used is Smoky Slate, Crushed Curry and Island Indigo.
• The little ribbon flags are made with Naturals 7/16" Trim, stamped with an image from Gorgeous Grunge.

• In compliance with the theme, we have two different kinds of arrow, both stamped from stamps from the Peachy Keen stamp set.  The larger ones are also cut with one of the On Film Framelits.
• This is a great example of the grunge style, which is so on trend these days.  It's also a lot of fun to do.

Come back and visit me tomorrow when I will unveil a new customer rewards program, designed to help you earn free stamp sets through your customer loyalty!  

Better Late Than Never for As You See It Challenge 017

It's really late, I know, but I needed a blog post for you today and I really liked the sketch for As You See It Challenge 017, so I decided to do a card for the challenge anyway!  Besides, I'm itching to get into the new Occasions Catalogue material anyway!  Here's the sketch:

That Amanda, she's so talented!  You really should try some of these sketches and enter these challenges!

Here's my Design Team Sample:

• I'll bet you can hardly wait to get your hands on some of these new products from the Occasions Catalogue!  As soon as it goes live on Jan. 3, I'll be taking orders!  Or you can shop on-line 24/7 at my On-Line Stampin' Up! Store.
• On my Smoky Slate card base, I've used a background panel of Watercolour Wonder Design Series paper.  All the new Design Series Paper will be included in the product shares from the new catalogue.  Keep an eye on my blog for the details next week.
• The sentiment is one I keep having to remind myself about (see my Christmas story below) and you will be able to get this stamp and more like it in the Perfect Pennants stamp set

• I've used a torn piece of Crisp Cantaloupe cardstock to emphasize the "Life doesn't have to be perfect" bit.  The little chevron arrows are from the Circle Card Thinlit accessories dies.
• The rolled flowers are made with a new Originals Die - the Spiral Flower Originals Die.  The size of the flowers it creates are quite large, but I think you could make them smaller by cutting off some of the spiral.  I trimmed off some of the edge to make it shorter.  I will do a video tutorial on how to use it when the catalogue goes live.

I hope your Christmas was a wonderful one.  I know mine was!  It wasn't perfect or even as we had planned, but in the end, it was satisfying and heart-warming.  My daughter, son-in-law and my almost 2 year old grandson came to spend the holiday with us.  We were so excited to have a little one in the house again for the Christmas season!  We planned all sorts of fun activities.  Then, two days before they were to travel here, little Parker came down with a fever and illness, probably the flu.  The fever left before they travelled but he was still very sick and had no energy at all, poor little fellow.

We scaled down our plans considerably, and spent our days looking after him and his mom and dad, who were pretty tired, having to get up with him all the time.  By Christmas morning, he was a little better, but not even remotely interested in opening presents.  We finally got him perked up enough to get interested in the big package for him in the living room, and when he opened it, he was delighted to find a retro style play kitchen with all the accessories!  

Well, that changed the whole atmosphere and he dug into the rest of his presents with gusto, ending the day by eating some Christmas dinner with the rest of us and going to bed happily with some of his new toys.  So Christmas wasn't perfect, but it was wonderful!    

What did you do for Christmas this year?

• Smoky Slate 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Crisp Cantaloupe 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Island Indigo 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock
• Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad
• Circle card Thinlits Die
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Watercolour Wonder Designer Series Paper *
• Perfect Pennants Stamp Set *
• Spiral Flower Originals Die*

* Products found in the new Occasions Catalogue, available for order Jan. 3, 2014.