My Open House is coming up next Friday, and these are the two free projects everyone gets to make.
First on my list of must haves, was the Colorful Seasons bundle. If you're looking for ONE set to make cards for ALL occasions, this is it! There is this awesome little branch die, with little pretty flowers to put on in for a spring time card, maple leaves in two sizes,with cut out ones to layer on top for fall or summer, and intricate, gorgeous snowflake dies for a winter card, PLUS!!! the cutest little beach chair die and beach chair stamp along with a little icy drink stamp, and even a tiny lemon stamp for your drink! Truly a must have bundle. For this card, I wanted to create a summer beach feeling, so I reached for another useful stamp set, High Tide stamp set, a set that carried over from the Occasions catalog.
Ok, here's a step by step on how to create this card. Start with a Whisper White panel -- 3 3/4 x 5". Start by sponging your sand first. Take some copy paper, and tear it in a jagged pattern. Put your torn edge of scratch paper about 1" from one of the short edges of your white panel. Sponge in a circular motion using Soft Suede ink. Make this layer of ink the darkest, as you want to give the impression of depth. When it's the shade you want, move your mask/torn copy paper down a little, moving your torn edge around to create a different looking layer of sand dunes -- sponge with soft Suede again. Move your mask a third time, making that third layer of sand. Now, decide where the edge of your "horizon" is going to be -- place the STRAIGHT edge of your copy paper mask here, and sponge towards your sand dunes using Bermuda Bay ink. Keep sponging, trying not to get too much blue into your sand. You want to create the look of a horizon, so make that edge by the straight part of your mask dark. Next, stamp the water from the High Tide stamp set in Bermuda Bay ink, taking care not to stamp it in your sand. Use more Bermuda Bay ink to sponge in the sky, making it lighter than your water. Stamp the grasses and birds from High Tide set in Old Olive and Early Espresso inks, respectively. The "Just Breathe" sentiment is from the Colorful Seasons stamp set. Finally, die cut that adorable beach chair out of Crumb Cake cardstock and add to the center of your sand and you're done! I used a tiny bit of chalk marker on my water to create the look of sun glistening off the water, as well as some clear wink of stella. Gotta add some shimmer and shine somewhere, right? :)
This second card features several new products as well. First, the new In Colors -- here I've combined the new Berry Burst and Powder Pink -- lovely combo! The Powder Pink calms down the brightness of the Berry Burst. There are two new background stamps that made my first order -- Marbled background and burlap background. I LOVE how the marble one looks when stamped! It is truly spectacular, and looks different than you would think it would. Adds a subtle, gorgeous look to your project. I used the largest stitched square die to die cut the white piece, and layered it onto a scalloped square cut from Berry Burst. The flowers are stamped in So Saffron, Berry Burst, and Powder Pink from the Beautiful Bouquet bundle, and die cut with the coordinating dies. I love the uniqueness of the dies that come with this set -- that bouquet of stems is so versatile. With one pass through your Big Shot, you have the base of your bouquet, and then you can just add whatever flowers you want. Those little die cut blue flowers here, were cut with other dies in the set -- from Pool Party card stock. I think these little dies would be gorgeous for a simple card featuring white or cream and black and crumb cake -- like for a wedding card. Can't wait to play with it some more. Two other new embellishments I used on this project, are the Berry Burst woven ribbon and the new Glitter Enamel dots. If you don't get any other embellishments from the catalog, you MUST get these dots! They are gorgeous, and each color fades out into white, so you can find a shade that will match almost any project you're working on! I think this gives you so much more bang for your buck, because you don't end up with half a package of your least liked colors, sitting around in your craft room forever -- just waiting for you to create a project in that color scheme you don't like!
Ok! that's it for today! Come to my Open House next Friday to see and play with LOTS of new products! There will be door prizes, chocolate, and lots of crafty inspiration -- not to mention, a big table of retired stuff marked down to 50% off it's original price!!!!!
