Stampin’ Up! Love, Always – Best Bird

It’s Monday, y’all!  Hope you’re all ready for your week – cuz it’s happening whether you want it to, or not!  

I have a cute little card for you today, but first – as promised – I’ve got some veggie pics to share with you.

Ready?!  Try not to drool on your keyboard, it’s bad for it!

The Harvest

I know – you’re amazed at the quaint and rustic beauty of my vegetable “basket”, aren’t you?  Maybe even a little jealous?  Yes.  It’s true.  I gathered these in the same sundress I tried to lure Duck Duck in yesterday.

Oh – and I was wearing a sun bonnet, too.  Of course.

Ancho Magnifico Chili Peppers and Tomatoes!

I’ve got a lot of chili charring to do in my immediate future – the reward?  Chili rellenos casserole and chile relleno burritos!  Yummmmmo!!  The little maters are Sweethearts – those are a grape variety – and they’re so sweet and good.  The vine grows and produces prolific clusters of the tomatoes.  This barely dented what’s waiting!

French Algarve Green Beans

These are the most tender and tasty green beans I’ve even had.  Ever.  Now – these (some of them) are a little past where I’d normally have plucked them – but I’m going to cook them anyway.  I know they’ll still be good! 🙂

So there it is – the first “big” harvest of the summer!  One of the more gratifying parts of the year, heh?

And thus concludes this episode of “Mary’s Gardening on a (horse)Shoe String”….we’ll now get back to the real point of this blog…cards!

This one today uses the fun and pretty new stamp set bundle called Best Birds.  It has the Best Birds stamp set and the matching Birds & Berries Thinlits.  I added a sentiment from the Sunshine Sayings Bundle.  Take a look-see:

I played with a couple of challenges on this card.  The first, Freshly Made Sketches challenge #247, gave me the layout.

And the color scheme is a result of the Color Q challenge #352:

I started with the grid – I think it looks a bit like muslin – from the Best Birds set, stamping it in Rose Red on a Whisper White panel.  Then I SNAILd it to a Rich Razzleberry mat.

I made the bird a few times before I settled on this version.  This one I made by first sponging some So Saffron and Tangerine Tango inks on a scrap piece of Whisper White.  Then I stamped the Best Birds bird over the top in Basic Black Archival Ink – aligning the belly of the bird with the Tangerine Tango sponging. I used my Tangerine Tango Stampin’ Write Marker to color his tiny beak.

I cut it out with the matching die in Birds & Berries – but then I trimmed it up with my Paper Snips.  I just didn’t like how it looked with the sponged edges outside the image.  Fussy of me, I know.

Get it?

Fussy?

Cut?

Sorry.

I used my stylus on the back of the bird, creating some depth in his body, and set him aside for a few minutes.

I cut three of the Love sentiments from the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits in Rich Razzleberry card stock, and glued them into a stack with my Multi-Purpose Liquid Glue.  I used more Liquid Glue to adhere the sentiment to the panel.

I pulled my bird back out and used some Glue Dots to wind a few loops of Copper Metallic Thread around behind him – then I popped him onto the card with some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The berries and flowers are all from Best Birds, stamped on Whisper White.  The berries are stamped in Basic Black Archival Ink and the flowers in So Saffron and Tangerine Tango.  Then I used their matching Birds & Berries Thinlits to cut them all out.  I colored in the berries with my Rose Red Stampin’ Write Marker.

I glued the berries on with Liquid Glue and then popped the flowers on with Stampin’ Dimensionals (after rolling the backs with my stylus), added a tiny little Pearl Basic Jewel to each flower and the card front was done.

On the inside, I stamped a single word from the Sunshine Sayings stamp set in Rich Razzleberry in the middle of a Whisper White panel.  Then I added some Best Birds flowers and berries in the same color scheme as I’d used on the front.

I SNAILd it to a Rich Razzleberry mat and then into my So Saffron card base, popped the card front on with Stampin’ Dimensionals, and the card was done! 🙂

For my Whisper White Medium Envelope, I added more of the Best Birds flowers and berries on the front….

…and added some more to the envelope flap.

Et Voila!  Is this little bird cute?  I’m really glad I finally hit upon the best way to color him in – cuz I think he looks pretty natural!  I’m going to try it with different color combos and see how they turn out!

Scroll on down for the card cuts and all the goodies you need to make this for yourself! 

---

HOST CODE FOR 1 AUG – 15 AUG:  2WGEWYF6 

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 – your choice of any item valued up to $8.00 in the 2015-16 Annual Catalog.

---

There are 12 US states having state sales tax holidays for school supplies. What does that mean for you? Stampin’ Up! products that fall under that category will be tax free for a limited time! If you live in one of the lucky states, make sure to take advantage of the holiday!

You can click on the picture below or check out this PDF to see which states are offering the holiday and relevant information for each state including holiday dates, products that qualify, and dollar limits per item.
You must place your order with Stampin’ Up! during the tax holiday period in order to receive these items tax-free (midnight on the first day to 11:59 PM on the last day of the tax holiday).
Keep in mind that this is a state sales tax holiday and may not apply to additional county, city, and special jurisdiction taxes. Lastly, Massachusetts normally participates in this holiday but they are not participating this year.

ALABAMA, ARKASAS, FLORIDA, LOUSIANA, NEW MEXICO, OHIO, SOUTH CAROLINA, TEXAS AND VIRGINIA

– YOUR TURN IS THIS WEEKEND! 

---

….Available Tomorrow!….

TWO new stamp sets!

Thoughtful Branches Bundle

AVAILABLE 2 AUG – 31 AUG 16!

                          

“I Stamped This” Stamp Set

AVAILABLE 2 AUG 16 – 31 MAY 17

Available in wood-mount or clear-mount, the “I Stamped This” stamp set includes 16 stamps, giving you lots of ways to say that your project was created with care using quality Stampin’ Up! products. This set also includes two different sizes of “© Stampin’ Up!” for you to stamp onto projects that you create to sell (see http://www.stampinup.com/angelpolicy for more information). See the full sized flyer by clicking right here!

---

So – tomorrow’s a big day!

• You can start redeeming your Bonus Days coupons – you’ve got between 2 and 31 Aug to redeem them!
• You can get the Thankful Branches stamp set and Beautiful Branches Thinlits – separately or as a bundle!
• …and you can get the “I Stamped This” stamp set

Don’t forget to use the new Host Code for August! 🙂

TTFN

Mary

---

STAMPIN’ UP! PRODUCTS USED IN THIS PROJECT:     

CARD CUTS FOR THIS PROJECT:

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

Rich Razzleberry Card Stock: 4 1/8″ x 5 3/8″  (mats for card front and for inner liner)

Whisper White Card Stock: 4″ x 5 1/4″ (card front and inner liner); base for Birds & Berries die cuts

If you need any stamping supplies, I’d be very happy to be your Demonstrator. Just click on the Order Stampin’ Up! Online Now button on the right side of the screen to go directly to my online store or drop me an email if you have any questions. Happy Stamping!