Creative Elements Party

As I mentioned before, September & October are very busy months for me each year. September also coincides with the release of the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalogue every year. Hence, I think that I'll always be late having my annual SU IB & C party as I only managed to hold my party on 22 October. Be that as it may, better late than never.

For this year's IB & C party, the lovely people who came got to play with the Creative Elements stamp set. Many of them groaned about having to cut flowers and a butterfly out but I was gleefully unapologetic. We had a lovely afternoon and at times, the silence was deafening as they concentrated on their Make & Take task. Here it is.

 project recipe
stamps: Creative Elements (WM 124956, CM120647), Teeny Tiny Sentiments (WM 119185, CM 120024)
ink: Classic Stampin' Pad - Poppy Parade (119782), Pool Party (122938), Island Indigo (122937), Stampin' Write Marker - Poppy Parade (119801)
card stock: Poppy Parade (121694), Pool Party (124398), Whisper White (106549)

tools: Scallop Trim Border Punch (118402), Big Shot (113439), Square Lattice Textured Embossing Folder (119976), Stamp-a-ma-jig (101049),
the added pizzaz: Blender Pen (102845), Dazzling Diamonds (102023), Sponge Daubers (102892), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430), 2-way Glue Pen (100425)

cardessence tips

• stamp the flower 3 times on WW card stock and cut out in 3 layers to get the 3 different flower sizes;
• for the 2 toned butterfly, I first inked it with Pool Party (always the lighter colour first) and then "rocked n rolled" it in Poppy Parade before stamping;
• don't forget to leave a thin white border when you cut out the flowers and butterfly as this technique will preserve the edges of your stamped images;
• stamp and colour your background piece before running it through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder;
• depending on which look you like, you can daub the edges either before or after dry embossing (before embossing = soft edges, after embossing = worn look);
• I like my images precise and centred properly so I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig (SAMJ) to stamp the frame and sentiment.

Well, that's your lot for today, TTFN