New Products Galore!

Hello stampers and welcome back to the Classic Card!

I'm back from my trip to California, where we enjoyed lots of sunshine and mild temperatures.  It felt so strange to go outside without a coat or sweater!  But now that we're back, winter seems to have arrived with a vengeance.  We had snow that stuck for a while last night, but this morning it is all gone, washed away by the heavy rain. Personally, I'm a bit sad about that, but when I think of the misery that commuters endure, I'm happy that it is mostly gone. 

I've got a great card for you today that features a lot of new products from the Occasions Mini-catalog that began on January 4th.  Most of my customers received one in the mail.  If you would like one, please email me (my contact info is at the top of the blog) and I will get one sent out to you.  I made this card for an organized swap I was in with other Stampin'Up! demonstrators in the Portland area.  Here it is!

The stamp set I used is called Bordering on Romance, which is on page 11 of the Occasions Mini-catalog.  The fun thing about this set is that it has a couple of options for stamping along the edge of the card.  Then you can cut the fancy edge with the new Edgelit dies, and then emboss the edge with the new Adorning Accents embossing folders (all on pg. 7 of the mini)  It's a three step process... first stamp, then cut, and finally emboss.  It doesn't take long with these new cool tools and produces such a professional look!

For the main image, I stamped on Whisper White card stock, then colored in the flowers with Blushing Bride and Pear Pizzazz markers.  I punched out the focal point with the2 3/8 Scallop Circle punch (p. 210), then adhered it to a larger circle of Basic Gray card stock, which was punched out with the 2 1/2 inch Circle punch.  The Blushing Bride panel was stamped along the edge, then cut and embossed as described above.  I then layered on the printed paper, which was cut in one inch strips.  Next I wrapped the panel with the seam binding, then adhered the focal image.  This completed panel was then adhered to the Basic Gray panel. 
The Designer Paper (printed paper) is the new Twitterpated collection, also in the Occasions Mini-catalog (p. 13).  The colors in this collection are perfect for early spring:  Pear Pizzazz, Basic Gray, Island Indigo, Riding Hood Red, Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze, and of course Whisper White.  I was going for a soft "girly" look for this card, so I chose the lighter papers in the collection.  A bit of Pear  Pizzazz Seam Binding (p. 195), a tiny tag (p. 136 for the stamp set, p. 210 for the matching punch), some White Baker's Twine (p. 194) and a few Basic Pearls for the flower centers (p. 198) finish it off perfectly.  I hope you like it as much as I do!

That's it for today, my stamping friends!  I'll miss you tomorrow, as I'm off to babysit, but I'll return on Friday with another fun Valentine for you.  Meanwhile, I hope you'll enjoy this great stamping weather we're having.  It is the perfect excuse to stay inside, all warm and cozy, drink a cup of hot coffee, tea, or cocoa, and stamp the day away.  If you are working today, I hope you'll find a minute or two for yourself this evening when you can stamp something pretty!
See you on Friday!
Susan