Sale-a-bration, 2015 Occasions Catalog and Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge

It's finally THE day! The 2015 Occasions Catalog is live and Sale-a-Bration is in full swing! If you are a customer of mine, by now you should have received your Sale-a-Bration brochure and 2015 Occasions Catalog. However, for your convenience, you may access both of these resources in PDF form by scrolling down and looking to the right on my blog.

There are SO many wonderful products in the Occasions Catalog and by placing an order of $60 you have several amazing products to select from for FREE from the Sale-a-Bration Brochure! I know you will want to receive them all so plan your purchases carefully. Sale-a-Bration only lasts from January 6 to March 31 and once it is over, it's over!

Click here to view a video tutorial on how you can use two of my favorite Freebies from Sale-a-Bration–Irresistibly Yours Designer Series Paper and Blendabilities!

As Sale-a-Bration continues, I will post about other products as well as share projects created with products from both the Occasions Catalog and the Freebies from Sale-a-Bration. Be sure to subscribe to my blog so you will not miss a post!

Now, let's take a look at the card I designed for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge!

For this card, I used the free Irresistibly Yours paper and the Sheltering Tree stamp set from the Occasions Catalog.

To begin with, I cut a 5 x 7 card base from Chocolate Chip card stock. I then cut a panel from one of the Irresistibly Yours papers.

I used a combination of Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral and Strawberry Slush to sponge a gradient from top to bottom on the panel. I then adhered the inked panel and a strip of Pink Pirouette to the card base.

Using the Banner Punch, I punched two banners, one from Crisp Cantaloupe and one from Strawberry Slush.

On a piece of Whisper White, I stamped the grass in Pear Pizzazz and then the tree base in Chocolate Chip. Of course, since I was using photopolymer stamps, I was sure to stamp on top of my Stampin' Pierce Mat like I mentioned in 3 Things To Know Before Using The Flower Patch Stamp Set.

For the leaves, I first inked up the stamp using Pink Pirouette. I then used the Thumping Technique to add more color to the leaves. To do this, I used my Crisp Cantaloupe and Strawberry Slush Stampin' Write Markers.

After stamping the leaves, I stamped the sentiment using Chocolate Chip. The stamped panel was then mounted on Dimensionals, with the little banners attached at the bottom right edge.

Because the card base was dark, I added an inner panel of Naturals White card stock to the inside, stamped with some of the leaves. This time for the Thumping Technique I added the Calypso Coral Stampin' Write Marker to give a bit more variety to the leaves.

The Sheltering Tree stamp set is wonderful to work with and I will use it again soon! I also enjoyed using the Irresistibly Yours paper–sponging is just one technique you can use with it to create your own one-of-a-kind paper. Be sure to place your $60 order with me so you can receive this paper as one of your freebies!

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Stampin' Up! Giveaway and Fab Friday Challenge

Project Life fans and those who should be fans will want to enter the contest that Stampin' Up! is hosting. Simply click the image below to enter and have a chance at winning either your choice of Card & coordinating Accessory Pack or the grand prize of every current Project Life by Stampin' Up! product available!

WOW!

Don't miss your chance–register to win before November 30 by clicking the image below.



Other than the above announcement, it was kind of a dreary day today. It only got worse as the day went on . . . rain, wind . . . the dogs didn't even want to venture outside!

To stoke my creative juices, I opted for the color challenge at the Fab Friday Stampin Challenge blog.

Small wonder, right? Blackberry Bliss was on the menu! (Have I mentioned that is my FAVORITE color?)

I gathered some scraps of each color and played around to see which I would use for the card base, which would be accent colors, etc. I also decided to use the now retired Sunflower stamp which lent itself nicely to stamping with all three of the colors.

Because the Sunflower is a HUGE stamp, I turned it on its back to ink it. I used a sponge daubers to ink the outer petals with Crushed Curry, the ring around the flower centre with Cajun Craze, and finally the centre with Blackberry Bliss.

I decided that the Crushed Curry petals might need a bit more life to them so I used the Thumping Technique. This technique requires you to ink up a stamp normally and then use a darker color of one or more Stampin Write Markers to tap on the stamp (sort of like beating with a drumstick on a drum) using the painting tip of the marker. Finally, I huffed (technical term) on the stamp to refresh the applied ink.

I left the stamp on its back and carefully laid Whisper White card stock on top of it and then a sheet of scrap paper. This allowed me to smooth all over the surface of the stamp without inking up my hand on the exposed bits of it. I use this procedure for all large and/or background stamps.

The resulting print was quite to my liking and the thumping produced some interesting flecks in the petals.

I proceeded to cut the flower in half with my Stampin Trimmer and then fussy cut one of the halves.

I intended to mount the flower on the edge of a Cajun Craze matte but decided to add a strip of Designer Paper from the Color Me Autumn paper pack. That added additional interest to the design but I still needed more.

Out came the burlap ribbon but it looked too pristine so I cut off the sewn edges and removed some short strands to fray it out a bit. That helped. I layered the sunflower half on top of it and followed that with Blackberry Bliss ribbon. Better but still needed a bit more something.

I chose to distress the Cajun Craze matte by using Cajun Craze ink with the Gorgeous Grunge stamps. Much better! I added the Blackberry Bliss sentiment from the Kinda Eclectic stamp. but something still wasn't quite right.

I dug around in my embellishments drawer and twirled my Stack & Store Caddy till I found my Essential Wooden Elements. I chose a circle with a starburst edge and four chevrons.

I used my Stampin Write markers to color the wooden pieces. In coloring the starburst with Blackberry Bliss I inked up myself rather well. This ink then transferred itself to the chevrons when I colored them with Crushed Curry. I decided that it gave them a good grungy feel, in keeping with the style of the card. (Some mistakes actually turn out for the better!)

Because I wanted the embellishments to be held firmly, I used Crystal Effects to adhere them on top of the ribbon. They were the crowning touch to my card!

Here's a close up so you can see more details of the burlap.

I think my card has a shabby chic style to it, don't you?

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