Stampin’ Up! Helping Me Grow Thanks!

Well, a very scary thing showed up today!  It was very very bright.  Seemed to radiate a little heat.  Not a lot, just a little.  It’s gone now – hoping it will show back up tomorrow!

And, of course it will.  Tomorrow is supposed to be up in the 60’s and then into the 70’s early next week.  Quite the roller coaster!

I have a pretty card to share today, that only needs one stamp set.  And a set of good paper snips (aka scissors) cuz there’s some fussy cutting in this one.  Don’t fret, though – it’s easy peasy.  The pretty stamp set I used is Helping Me Grow – a new one in the Occasions catalog that, for some reason, I haven’t really used yet.  Oh, I’ve pulled a couple of sentiments from it, but never really used it.  Until today – and it’s so cool – it’s all I needed.  Take a look-see:

I used the sketch challenge #232 from Hand Stamped Sentiments as the inspiration for the design of the card:

And selected my color scheme after seeing the TGIFColor Challenge #45:

I started by stamping a couple of the….hyacinth?…flower images from Helping You Grow, in Basic Black Archival ink on an oval of Shimmery White card stock.  I’d cut the oval using my Ovals Collection Framelits.  I colored the flowers using Pool Party and Mint Macaron – picking the color up with my Clear Wink of Stella.

Just a word about the Clear Wink of Stella brushes.  I’ve had a few questions about how and why I’ve mentioned in the past adding water to my almost-empty Clear Winks.  I think I read that it was doable online somewhere and I figured “what the heck?”.  All you do is unscrew the brush end from the barrel of the pen.  The little hole in the top of the barrel won’t look like you could get water in there – but you can.  Just hold the barrel under your kitchen faucet with the water gently on.  It doesn’t take (or need!) much.  Screw the brush end back on and give it a shake.  You’ll probably need to squeeze it a bit to get the water flowing.  The result will be a cool, slightly watery brush that you can pick up color from an ink pad lid (or an acrylic block that you’ve scribbled some color on with a Stampin’ Write Marker!) and color your project with.  You’ll get a shimmery color – obviously the more times you refill with water, the less shimmery it’ll get.  It’s up to you to decide many times you do it – when it gets not-shimmery-enough for you….toss it! 🙂  If you guys have other questions, let me know, okay?

Alright – back to our regularly scheduled blog post!  We were coloring the flower images from Helping Me Grow.  I first colored the whole flower with the Pool Party, then went back and shaded with my Mint Macaron.  I used the Mint on the stem, too.

Then I sponged the edges of the oval with Pink Pirouette and edged it with the Pink Pirouette Stampin’ Write Marker.  I SNAILd the oval onto a Mint Macaron mat – cut with the next largest oval die.  I used my Updated Essentials Paper Piercing pack – it doesn’t have an oval, but I improvised!  And I knew it would be covered with my fussy cut flowers, so…. 🙂

Speaking of fussy cut flowers…I stamped the second flower image a couple of times on a scrap of Shimmery White (in Basic Black Archival Ink).  Then I cut them all out.

To color them, I used Pink Pirouette, brushing it on with the Clear Wink.  To shade it, I just picked up extra ink and added it over the first coat of ink.  I used Mint Macaron for the stems.  And dotted Gold Wink of Stella in the flower centers.

For the card front, I used a Shimmery White panel and stamped the hyacinth (okay – I’ve decided that’s what they are, so…) all over in Mint Macaron – stamping it off once each time before I stamped the card.  I also added the pretty floral corner image from Helping Me Grow, in Pool Party, in each corner.  I roughly colored the corner flowers with my Pink Pirouette marker and lightly sponged the edges with more Pink Pirouette.  Then I SNAILd it onto a Mint Macaron mat.  You’ll notice I left a larger border than I normally do – I wanted to balance the border on my ovals.  I added my piercing accent to the mat.

I wrapped a length of Mint Macaron 1″ Dotted Lace Trim around the card, securing it in the back with scotch tape.  I made the center banner elements using the Irresistibly Yours Specialty DSP.  The mat is the Mint Macaron design and the front piece was white.  I used my brayer to color it with Pool Party, wiping the embossed design with a paper towel to return them to their white state!  I punched both ends of both banners with the Banner Triple Punch, and SNAILd them over the lace trim.

I used Stampin’ Dimensionals to adhere the matted oval over the banners, and then used a combination of Dimensionals and the Fine-Tip Glue Pen to adhere my fussy cut flowers over that.  The three large flowers are all popped up with Dimensionals!

The sentiment frame was stamped in Pool Party on Shimmery White, and then the sentiment stamped in Mint Macaron in the center.  I fussy cut it out and adhered it with Stampin’ Dimensionals to the card front.  I added a little line of small Pearl Basic Jewels and that was it!

On the inside, I stamped the floral Helping Me Grow corners in Pool Party on a Shimmery White panel.  I also sponged the edges with Pink Piouette and SNAILd it to a Mint Macaron mat.  To coordinate with the card front, I pierced a line all around the mat.

I used SNAIL to adhere the card front to a Pink Pirouette card base and added the liner on the inside.  And the card was done!

The envelope was quick and easy to decorate.  I stamped the Helping Me Grow floral corners in Mint Macaron – coloring the flowers with Pink Pirouette – to a Medium Whisper White Envelope…

…and added a Pool Party design from the Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack, cutting it with my Envelope Liner Framelits.

Et Voila!  A little bit vintage/antique-y thank you card for someone special from a really beautiful and versatile stamp set!  I hope that you like it and will give it a shot – don’t be put off by the fussy cutting – it’s a pretty straightforward design to cut. 🙂

Let’s bring back the idea of sending real birthday cards, shall we?  Get your very own #imbringingbirthdaysback stamp to show your support of this grassroots movement.  It’s going to be available at midnight mountain time on Monday the 7th (that’s this coming Monday!) and will be just $12!

Enjoy your Saturday and I’ll see you tomorrow!

TTFN

Mary

HOST CODE FOR 1 Mar – 15 Mar 16: J9VBU4KX

Use this host code when you order and receive a free gift from me! But, if your order is over $150, please don’t use this code (you’ll miss out on your own Stampin’ Rewards if you use it) but you’ll still get the free gift. The free gift for March is your choice of any item valued up to $8.00 in the 2015-16 Annual Catalog or the 2015 Occasions Catalog.

STAMPIN’ UP! PRODUCTS USED IN TODAY’S CARD 

Product List

CARD CUTS USED IN TODAY’S PROJECT

Pink Pirouette Card Stock: 4 1/4″ x 11″ (card base, scored and folded at 5 1/2″)

Mint Macaron Card Stock: 4 1/8″ x 5 3/8″ (mats for card front and inner liner); oval 3 3/8″ long (mat for front)

Subtles DSP Stack (Pool Party): envelope liner