Thankful for "World of Dreams" stamp set

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!  Before I get cooking and baking (my signature dutch apple pie :) I wanted to post these simple thank you cards I made with the (new to me) "World of Dreams" stamp set.  I recently won this stamp set for free from SU, because I achieved a demo challenge that I participated in.  Yippee Skipeee!  I LOVE free stuff, and I have wanted this set since the new catalog came out.  I especially love this little flower/or grasses silhouette stamp in the set.  Perfect for creating a sunset/moonlight scene.

I used one of the oval framelits to create a reverse mask, through which I sponged the inks to create my moonlight/sunset scenes.  For the moonlit one, I used Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, Soft Suede, and Early Esspresso inks.  I used a 1 1/4" circle punched from a sticky note to mask the moon.  When I was done with the initial sponging of the sky colors, I removed the circle mask and then used another sticky note torn in a wide "V" shape, and laid that on top, so just the bottom of the "valley" overlapped the edge of the moon, and sponged more Bermuda Bay ink along the edge to create that mountain in the background look.  I love how it looks like the moon is peaking up over the mountain.  For the Sunset one, I first sponged the panel with Crushed Curry ink and then put my circle mask on for the sun, as I wanted the sun to be yellow, then sponged Tangelo Twist ink over top.

The thank you sentiment is from the set "Lots of Thanks" -- an absolute must for all your thank you card needs.

If you haven't checked out the Online Extravaganza sale going on through Dec 2nd, you simply must!  This is truly one of the best sales I've ever seen SU offer -- many wonderful punches on the 50% off list, the Big Shot magnetic platform for 40% off, and tons of ribbons and glimmer paper 50% off!

AND, if you've ever thought about joining SU, there is a pretty sweet recruiting deal going on this week as well -- join between now and Dec 2nd for 25% off the starter kit price -- get $125 worth of product for $75! AND get an additional 5% cash back on all commissionable purchases during the month of December.

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving Day! and take the time to make a list of all the things, both big and small, that you are thankful for today....

Sunset by the sea -- Wetlands stamp set

Happy Wednesday, Everyone!

I have been personally challenging myself to create at least one masculine card at every stampers' club class, so this is what we made for my Sept class.  I have seen many cards made with the Wetlands stamp set, and just love this stamp of the birds on the beach.  I wanted to show case reverse masking, and regular masking, and also the piercing templates and paper piercer that I have not show cased nearly enough.

I started by creating my "reverse mask" -- a pc of scrap card stock 4 x 5 1/4" that I centered one of the Labels framelits on and die cute it.  I stamped the birds and the grasses in Memebto Tuxedo Black ink.  I then laid my reverse mask on my card front and sponged on Coastal Cabana and Soft Suede inks.  I started with the Soft Suede and created my sand, I then stuck a 1 3/8" punched sticky note circle where I wanted my setting sun or moon to be.  I then sponged my Coastal Cabana ink on the top half until I was happy with the sky.  I then removed my sticky note mask and sponged a little Daffodil ink in there to make it look like a setting sun.  The final step was using the piercing template that matches the Labels framelits, to add the paper piercing around the focal image.  Subtle effect, but none-the-less gorgeous.  This card was a hit with all my class participants, and got some more tools in their hands to try.  That's what it's all about, right?

The card base was Coastal Cabana and the mat was Soft Suede.

New weekly deals just came out yesterday!  Check them out here: http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ItemList.aspx?categoryid=1634

Enjoy the rest of your day!